NEWSPAPERS: The Daily Mail & the Lesbian Teacher

I'm always willing to do a bit Daily Mail bashing as I dislike their right wing political stance and their conservative social views. These, to judge from email comments on articles I've read, tend to be out of tune with their readership which is more liberal (see earlier posts).

This time I'm focussing on an article about a 26 year old woman who had a consensual affair with a 15 year old pupil. Much to my surprise, rather than being censorious, the article was balanced and not without some sympathy for the woman, Helen Goddard, who is currently awaiting sentencing. The girl is, by all accounts, mature for her age, Goddard less so, and the girl wants to resume the relationship once she's 16. Goddard has, as far as the Mail knows, not had any prior lesbian affairs.

I emailed my own comment, which was duly printed-

Anyone who can't muster at least some sympathy for this vulnerable young woman must have a very cold heart. I do not believe she is a predator so much as someone who fell in love with someone and let her feelings overrule her common sense. She does not deserve a prison sentence.

However, for a change, the majority of Mail readers take a more censorious view, some commenting that the Mail would not have been so lenient with a male teacher doing this, indeed the paper would be calling for his head. My comments get a fair number of approving votes, but the majority would lock her up.


This doesn't mean I think she was right. She should not have had any physical contact with an under-age girl, especially her pupil. If they had waited a few months, she wouldn't be in this mess now. I hope both of them are going to come out of this okay, whether together or not.

NEWSPAPERS: The Daily Mail and Girls Kissing Girls

I don't like newspapers with a right wing agenda, newspapers such as the Daily Express and the Dail Mail in particular, those middle class bastions of a Little Britain mentality. Disguised by respectability and writers who can string a series of coherent sentences together, they put over views I generally disagree with. It's not just their political agenda that I dislike, more that it's their views on society and culture which get right up my nose and none more so than an article I read on their website this morning. Here's the headline-

Lipstick lesbians: How this kiss sparked a teenage trend that will disturb every parent

The image is the old one of Madonna kissing Britney. This apparently has set a trend for middle class girls to kiss each other, usually at parties. The article seems relatively straight forward, getting quotes from girls of the targeted age group who generally express that they see nothing wrong with it and it rarely goes any further.

But this isn't enough for the Daily Mail and the writer, Penny Marshall, spends some time looking at celebrities who get easy publicity by kissing a girl in public or by admitting previous bisexual dalliances. Bad girls!

Marshall reports that psychologist Donna Dawson warns that such things can lead to problems - as a result of undue peer pressure.

'Some impressionable young girls may be influenced to behave in a way they really don't want to. It's a trend they may feel they have to latch on to.'


Marshall concludes that, And while the ordinary young girls who set out to copy them ( i.e. celebrities) might feel they are being terribly grown-up and cool, the reality is that such behaviour can compromise both their dignity and self-respect.

Hang on a minute. We're talking about having a quick (or even maybe not so quick) snog with a mate. They aren't suddenly turning into man-hating dykes. They aren't doing anything which is going to scar them for life. Chances are they'll have a laugh about it later. They are kissing someone. They aren't mainlining heroin, selling themselves to disease-ridden men, or knifing someone. What they are doing is harmless and nice and fun.

But this is typical Daily Mail right wing morality. This time, however, they seem to have shot themselves in the foot because, when checking out the comments on the piece the general feeling is very similar to mine and those that agree with Marshall get a lot of negative ratings. It's also pointed out that this is hardly new behaviour among teenagers.

I'm so annoyed that from now on I am going to stop reading the Femail Today celebrity column.

Bugger.