IPPN

Published: 02 March 2011

Thanks to the general election providing us with a paucity of female TDs, sexism is back on the staff room conversation agenda.

Now, I've always defended sexism as an vital source of humour (just between guys, naturally) and one of my favourite jokes goes like this: Question: Why did the woman cross the road?' Answer: Who knows? Who knows why they do anything?'

That's as bad as I get, to be honest; I'm too afraid of women to make jokes about them. Still, last September when we guys set up the online staff fantasy football league just for a laugh I included a person who knew absolutely zilch about soccer -- Miss Gossard -- and so it is that she is the only female 'manager' of a team.

Hilarious, I know, and this is what I am saying to my fellow male School Fantasy Football League managers in the staff room on Monday.

The PE teacher, still amazed to find himself working with people who have actually been to university, is thrilled to have the chance to explain the subtleties of the rule in this case. Though because he is a PE teacher, he lacks the verbal skills to clarify the issue one iota and we just ignore him.

Also there is Tim the Villa fan (manager of the fantasy team 'That's Enough from You, Murphy F.C.'), Finnegan who supports QPR and so is irrelevant, and of course our esteemed colleague and sole female member of the league, Miss Gossard for whom I picked players and named the team 'Barbie County' when we set up the league online in September.

Full Story: www.independent.ie