Fuck off, dear.

Saying, "Calm down, dear," is not sexism.

I hate sexism. I hate racism, sexism, homophobia and xenophobia. When I use the word hate, I don't mean dislike. I mean hate. If I find out one of my friends is any of these things, they cease to be my friend. I hate sexism. I also think that quite frequently the right wing parties in this country and the press that represent those parties (looking at you: Daily Mail, Express, red-top tabloids et. al) go out of their way to patronise those represented by equality campaigns; what these people use is rarely anything but a diversion technique, or a movement against equality, which shifts the focus of the discourse from real discrimination to positively inane discussions of the plight of Christians. Please.

But tonight, I find myself in the unusal position of unequivocally agreeing with the right-wing press. I don't know to what extent this makes me disagree with the left-wing press but I would assume there's a substantial degree of discord.

But saying, in Prime Minister's Questions - a notoriously raucous affair - "Calm down dear," is not even remotely sexist. It is arguably not even offensive. It is a very fleeting jibe, one which encapsulates friendly rivalry at the same time as being mildly condescending. There is literally no way that David Cameron intended his comments to be a statement on women's inferiority, and nor is there even the most minute of possibilities that Cameron said what he said as the result of a prejudiced nature which he failed to control or appreciate. I wish it were so. I would adore the chance to nail Cameron as a sexist or a homophobe or a racist or anything else which could explain why the government he leads continues to penalise the most vulnerable members of society instead of the most prosperous.

But this is not the case. Why? Because freedom of speech, you stupid little fuck. It sounds like a Daily Mail argument, but it is infinitely true: if things continue like this, alongside cases like that of the man that joked about blowing up Robin Hood airport due to delays, we will find ourselves in a situation where every person considers the social and potentially offensive consequences of everything they say. This is the masked death of freedom of speech.

Anybody who thinks that what David Cameron said tonight is sexist, is a moron. I make no apologies for the blunt nature of that assertion.

Sexism only happens in domains where the perpetrators of sexism believe they can get away with being sexist.