Is Harriet Harman or the media in the wrong for stirring the latest gender controversy?
Tracy Clark-Flory Aug. 03, 2009 | When I first read The Sunday Times headline, “Harriet Harman: you can’t trust men in power,” I simply thought: Oh, she’s at it again. The deputy leader of Britain’s Labour Party is known for her raging case of foot-in-mouth disease and, despite her feminist bent, I rarely agree with her political calculations. Now she’s being slagged off by the UK press, per the usual — but this is one of those rare moments where I actually feel compelled to defend her. The incendiary headline was tied to an editorial in response to a profile of the politician in the same paper. The latter ran with the bland teaser, “News review interview: Harriet Harman” — so you can imagine which version is getting more play. The truth of what she actually said, taken within the context of the profile, isn’t the least bit shocking: “Men cannot be left to run things on their own,” she said. There was no mention of trust, no suggestion that men make incompetent politicians — only th
