His mother going on a hunger strike may be the last thing Luis Rubiales needs. Not now, mom!
After locking herself in a church and refusing to eat, the Spanish football chief’s mother is now in hospital. She continues her protest as pressure mounts on her son to resign from the Royal Spanish Football Federation. His sin was that he kissed soccer player Jenni Hermoso on the lips without her permission after her team won the Women’s World Cup. Ay dios mio!
Angeles Bejar is 72, a former hairdresser and the kind of matriarch who believes her golden boy can do no wrong; not now, not then, not ever. The question for all of us is this: is she right?
The kissgate storm is far from clear, though I believe it is an insurmountable incident for Rubiales; Sooner or later he’ll have to go, especially after his crude claim that the kiss was “consensual.”
Even his uncle agrees that his fate is sealed. Juan Rubiales told a Spanish newspaper that his cousin is a “boy” who is “obsessed with women and power,” a “proud, arrogant person whose great enemy is himself,” a “cowardly man” who has been overthrown by “arrogance ‘. ‘ and – wait a minute, there is more – a person who does not possess the ‘slightest dignity’ to get out of this situation in an ‘honourable way’.
JAN MOIR: Perhaps part of the problem is that the still image — the infamous kissgate photo of the incident — seems to tell a very different story than the fleeting, blinking and you’ll miss it video footage of the kiss
Gee, thanks, uncle. It’s hard to imagine future family gatherings at Rancho Rubiales being a laughing stock.
Spanish prosecutors are assessing whether the kiss constitutes assault, while the country’s football federation has asked Rubiales to stop, despite initially supporting him. I can see why. Surely Spain cannot allow its international reputation to be damaged by this caveman – as some see him – taking advantage of an elevated moment to kiss a young woman.
But is that really what happened? Perhaps part of the problem is that the still image — the infamous kissgate photo of the incident — seems to tell a very different story than the fleeting, blink-and-you-miss-it video footage of the kiss. The picture looks passionate, wild and gripped; her head cradled in his outstretched fingers, as the video footage seems almost perfunctory.
Yet time is not a measure of transgression. From Taylor Swift suing the DJ who groped her buttocks by sticking a cursory hand up her skirt during a photo interview, to Hermoso now denouncing Rubiales’ attention as a sexist act, young women whose talents connect them with powerful older men need to be supported and protected from unwanted interest.
JAN MOIR: His mother going on a hunger strike may be the last thing Luis Rubiales needs. Not now, mom!
Followers of Rubiales might argue that effervescent kissing is part of the culture of Latin American countries. But while it wouldn’t be unusual for a male boss to kiss a female employee on the cheek by way of greeting or salutation, kissing her on the lips is quite another.
It’s such an intimate and invasive thing to do, no matter how much Mediterranean blood flows through your veins. And you doubt that Rubiales, a divorced father of three daughters, would have done the same with a young male player. How would he feel if a random older dude kissed his own daughters the same way without their consent? Please answer on a postcard.
At first, Spanish team captain Hermoso seemed to shrug off the incident and even laugh about it on the team bus, but what else could she do? As Lioness Leah Williamson explained on ITV’s Lorraine show this week, laughing at such sexist or misogynistic incidents is now ‘conditioned behaviour’ for women.
As the clamor grew, Hermoso’s attitude hardened and she denounced the unwanted, unnecessary, and unwelcome kiss as a sexist act.
Her critics, including Rubiales’ mother, claim she’s opportunistic, but seriously: what does Hermoso have to gain from making her case? Nothing.
JAN MOIR: At first the Spanish team captain Hermoso seemed to shrug off the incident and even laugh about it on the team bus, but what else could she do?
The Spanish side’s glorious World Cup victory has already been tarnished by this medieval nonsense. I suspect that the continued furore gave Hermoso the courage to come forward and express her true feelings, supported by her teammates who now say they will not play any more international matches if Rubiales stays in office.
Isn’t this overwhelming support for their captain enough to silence any criticism of the kissgate response? If an entire team feels that something has been done wrong, then the football world must listen and act accordingly.
Rubiales’ mother may be distraught, she may think that the fate that befell her son is harsh and vengeful, punishment without crime. Perhaps, like me, she comes from that generation of women who simply tolerated men’s casually sexist and misogynistic behavior, even congratulating ourselves on our toughness in doing so.
But we were wrong, and the young women of today are right. If a man puts his hand on a female body involuntarily or plants an unsolicited kiss on the lips of an unsuspecting girl, he can expect a red card. This generation just won’t tolerate it for a second, and I admire them for that.
Respect their body and their space. Or else.
Poor Helen had to sink or Schwim
A quarter of a century after she first appeared on the series, poor Helen Baxendale was sampled by Friends director James Burrows.
“She was nice but not funny,” he sniffs at her cameo. So mean!
Baxendale joined Friends in 1998, playing Ross’ (David Schwimmer) English girlfriend.
“He had nothing to bounce back on,” Burrows groaned.
It’s true that Baxendale, in the middle of the picture, never quite fit in and moved through her scenes with the dramatic smoothness of an ironing board, but was that her fault?
JAN MOIR: A quarter of a century after she first appeared on the series, poor Helen Baxendale (third from right) was sampled by Friends director James Burrows
Isn’t it rather the case that she was horribly misplaced? Helen had previously triumphed as Rachel in Cold Feet, though she had to pretend she fell in love with James Nesbitt and was killed for her trouble.
Anyway, I absolutely loved Cold Feet and wish they would bring it back again, with or without the irresistible Miss Baxendale.
Penny Mordaunt has supported a kind of National Service system for 16-year-olds. The teens would be asked to take part in a two-week “citizen exploration” trip, volunteer several hours each year, and generally look beyond the boundaries of their TikTok accounts.
It’s a great idea, but will it happen at all? It’s hard to imagine today’s teens doing anything they don’t want to, even within the family home, let alone outside. This week in a garden café, I saw a boy lift his head off his iPad for five seconds to complain about his fate.
JAN MOIR: Penny Mordaunt supports some kind of National Service system for 16 year olds. It’s a great idea, but will it happen at all?
“Mom,” he said, “why do I have to go to school now that there’s Google?” This is what Penny has to deal with.
When Meghan Markle first dated Prince Harry and was still appearing on the TV series Suits, Buckingham Palace somehow maneuvered herself into a position of approving her dialogue on the show. In one episode they insisted that the word ‘poppycock’ be changed to ‘bull****’.
Could this be true? Yes, says Aaron Korsh, creator of Suits. “It was a little irritating,” he said. Honestly. You’d think he wrote Succession rather than writing a script where the pre-duchess said things like, “Does a girl need a reason to look spectacular?” Poppy indeed.
This week, Florence Pugh was busy explaining that she wears see-through dresses in a way that isn’t meant to be erotic or sensual, as she doesn’t welcome the attention of those who find her nearly naked breasts in public with a sexy baby -arousal. .
“People can’t even look at my two cute nipples behind fabric in a way that isn’t sexual,” she complained.
The 27-year-old adds that “society has become terrified of the human body,” although most of us fear Florence even more.
JAN MOIR: This week Florence Pugh was busy explaining that she wears see-through dresses in a way that isn’t meant to be erotic or sensual
Maybe someone can tell her that society has also come up with a simple two-word solution to her existential sexual dilemma. A bra.
Sales are declining at The Body Shop, which is back on sale. Launched in 1976, it was decades ahead of its time by championing environmental causes.
Today, the brand has been through some rough times as customers turn away from sloshing natural products and turn to creams that promise lab-based excellence.
It can’t have helped that The Body Shop has also championed issues such as refugee rights and 16-year-old voting. Wake up, break down, as they say.
Actresses explaining that they posed naked exclusively for artistic reasons? So passé, dear.