Katharine Perry’s appearance on the quiz this week prompted a Twitter commentary that was all too familiar to former contestant Hannah Rose Woods I regret to inform you that we’re just three episodes into the latest series of University Challenge, and we’re already facing another sexism row. The captain of the Pembroke, Oxford team, Katharine Perry, may have spent the better part of a decade honing her expertise in New Testament Greek and cognitive linguistics, but she has now been immortalised on the internet as the owner of a pair of breasts. Tabloid journalists and Twitter users have been rolling out eye-popping Gifs and cleavage puns since Monday night – ding dong, bloody hell, look at those “attributes”. There has been a backlash against the sexism and a backlash against the backlash: “What are the rules RE: the new feminism? Must Perry’s knockers be the unspoken elephant in the room?” bemoaned one Twitter user. Sadly, I can report from my own experience as a contestant on the programme that the no-cleavage alternative of a high-necked collar will simply prompt a slew of sadomasochistic speculation about Victorian schoolmistresses, and three years’ worth of strangers sliding into your DMs offering to pay you to talk down to them. Continue reading...
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