More hate-filled vitriol from the Daily Mail.
As revulsion at Jan Moir’s article in today’s Daily Mail bubbles over on the web, Left Foot Forward can outline why Moir is categorically wrong about two specific claims.
In an article full of bile and innuendo titled “Why there was nothing ‘natural’ about Stephen Gately’s death,” Moir states:
“Healthy and fit 33-year-old men do not just climb into their pyjamas and go to sleep on the sofa, never to wake up again.”
The Telegraph reported on Wednesday that Gateley’s death “may have been sudden adult death syndrome” sometimes referred to as Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome. In December 2006, the BBC reported:
“Around 500 people may die every year from sudden arrhythmic death syndrome, a study published in Heart shows … The average age of death was 32 and 63 per cent were men.”
In her article Moir goes on to write:
“Another real sadness about Gately’s death is that it strikes another blow to the happy-ever-after myth of civil partnerships.”
What is this myth? According to the Office of National Statistics, “In 2007 there were 26.6 divorces per 1,000 married men aged 25-29 and 26.9 divorces per 1,000 married women aged 25-29.”
Over a longer 18-month period from December 2006 to July 2008, fewer than one per cent of civil partnerships ended in dissolution. This is not a direct comparison since civil partnerships only came into existence in December 2005.
Jan Moir and #janmoir are two of the trending terms today on twitter while bloggers have reacted angrily to the article.
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12 Responses to “The hateful Jan Moir: wrong on every level”
Primper
I have read the entire Moir piece and it made me feel physically ill as only the listeriosis bacteria has been able to before. I also – holding down my rising gorge the entire time – took the trouble to read some of her other pieces, just in case (I knew it was a long shot)the Gately article was an aberration. Everything she writes is bilious, bigoted, nasty vitriol: everything, on every subject. Her comments on a recent Nolan sisters concert are focused on how they have all put on weight now they are middle-aged. This from a middle-aged woman with a very well-fed looking face. I could weep. How can she be earning money working in a high profile industry in a recession when so many decent, intelligent people are out of work?
Shamik Das
MosesO, thanks for that link, shocking stuff, truly shocking. Primper – I’ve resisted the urge to read any of her other articles, but it looks like this wasn’t a one-off and she truly is a vile piece of work.