The Mayor of London in the U.K. is pushing a progressive campaign meant to convince British men to call out their friends for committing sexism or misogyny, particularly with the words they use. It’s a continuation of a PSA-type narrative that Mayor Sadiq Khan introduced in 2022 called “Have A Word.” But now, it’s morphed into a hashtag campaign, with Khan urging men to police their friends (mates) with an anti-sexism codeword:
Sadiq Khan has launched a new campaign telling men and boys to say the word “maaate” to each other when their friends are sexist and misogynistic.
The mayor of London wants them to step in when they see pals use language or behave in a way with women and girls that “crosses the line”.
Khan explained:
‘Maaate’ is a simple and effective intervention that can help stop problematic language and behaviour in its tracks.
Last year I urged men and boys to challenge sexist behaviour and misogynistic attitudes with my award-winning “Have A Word” campaign. Now, we’re giving them the word to say.
It is only by ensuring that women and girls are both protected and respected that we can continue to build a better, safer London for everyone.
Apparently, the choice of the word “maaate” was the brainchild of “world-leading behavioural scientists” Khan consulted. And what did the scientists say was the solution to “problematic language” like this? Conning men into forcing leftist woke strictures about the English language on their male friends:
Research shows two in three men want to intervene when they hear misogynistic language being used but don’t know what to say, the mayor’s office explained.
One in four male Londoners aged between 19 and 34 said they regretted not calling out a friend or relative over misogyny.
Shaming friends was deemed to be a worse way of dealing with it than challenging the behaviour respectfully.
Would you be surprised to hear that joining Khan’s progressive campaign is someone from the entertainment world? They drafted U.K. comedian Romesh Ranganathan to sell the sexism correction message to young people. The comedian said:
I’m backing this campaign because we can no longer allow sexism and misogyny to be dismissed as “banter.”
By asking men and boys to say “maaate” to a mate we can be better friends to each other and better allies to women and girls.
As men, we have a responsibility to work together to stop sexist and misogynistic behaviour. Whether it’s in the classroom, the boardroom or onstage, everyone deserves to be treated with respect.
If there’s anything more stiff or unnatural than this supposed plan to help men combat sexism and misogyny, I don’t know about it. It’s so artificial. Notice the similarity to radical transgender wording, like “allies.” Men don’t have to be allies to women and girls because females aren’t a minority group (as far as I know). But, maybe there’s something to it. As we all remember from previous situations when leftist politicians have used hashtags to fight real-world problems, this codeword business should solve sexism and misogyny (and violence against women) in no time at all.