Why Jackie O is Worse than Vile Kyle

A lot has been written about Vile Kyle and his revolting attitude to women, but from what I've found (and believe me, I've looked) not much has been said on this topic about the other person who sits behind that microphone, Jackie O. So I'm going to do that right here and now.

Over the course of the last few months I have found Jackie O to be even more disgusting than Kyle. Yes, you read that right. I really do.
Why, you ask?

Because at least Kyle is consistent in his mysoginy and rudeness. At least he is open and upfront in his vitriol. As disgusting, rude and cruel as I think he is, there's no surprises when he says what he says, just surprise he's still given the air-time in which to say it. But Jackie O is, in my opinion, even worse than that. Kyle is a bully, sure, but she is something worse than that. She is the silent and dangerous companion to all bullies. Jackie O is an enabler.

Think of the school playground where a bully is picking on a kid. Now think of the Crabbe and Goyle type people that stand around sniggering and egging them on. That's how and why the bully is effective at intimidation and how they get away with it.

If those people were to stand up and say, "No, this is wrong." the bully would have no-one to "perform" to. No-one to "impress". And we all need to remember that bullying is NOT impressive. It is cowardly and cruel and thrives on complacency and ignorance.

And here we come to Jackie O.
When Kyle went on his "fat slag" rant she just sat there. She "tut tutted" and then she laughed a bit and that was it.
When I read the transcripts and listened to the podcast I was angry! So fucking angry. But at her more than him!
Like I've said, I'm pretty aware of what a pig he is. He doesn't "shock" me when he opens his mouth, he just confirms what I've always known about him. But Jackie O is another story.

How dare she just sit there and let him say those degrading, debasing and demoralising things about another woman. Especially after millions of Australian women jumped to her defence during both the "returning to work" scandal in which Annette Sharp from The Daily Telegraph wrote an open letter questioning Jackie O's choice to return to work so soon after the birth of her baby, and the "feeding while crossing" controversy where she was called a bad mother by Prue Goward for feeding her baby a bottle as she crossed a zebra crossing. (Have just spent over an hour searching for the original articles to link here to no avail! Just a million other articles referencing the two. have they been deleted??)

When these articles came out I defended her without question. I defended her right to work or not work as she chose fit, knowing that women are capable of making their own decisions about how they feel and when they are ready to return to work after having a baby. I felt for her when she broke down in tears on her show and tried to explain why she had returned to work and again when she felt forced to answer why she'd fed her baby that way.

I actually don't think she needed to do that (justify herself), because I don't think it's any of my business how long she has off after her baby was born and because I don't believe her child was endangered in any way at all.
And because I am sick to death of women being women's worst critics! I defended her because no mother should ever be made to feel guilty about being a mother, especially by another mother!

But I'm through defending her any more. She handed in her "woman" card the minute she sat passively by and let him say the things he said, and therefore deserves none of my respect.

I have to wonder, though, why does she let him get away with it? Aren't they supposed to be equals on that show? Why can Kyle turn around and say something as vicious and revolting as threatening to "hunt down" the "fat slag" that happened to write an article about the ratings (or lack thereof) on his new TV show, and she think it's okay to just sit there and laugh?
Is she frightened of him perhaps?  Frightened to stand up to him and put forward her own opinion?
Maybe she agrees. But then, considering Kyle has reduced her to tears on more than one occasion by calling her fat, I really doubt that is the case. 

I wonder if Jackie O knows just how many people (not just women) would stand up and applaud her if she was to once stand up and say No, Kyle. It is unacceptable. Does she not realise the power she holds in her hands?
Right now she is giving him permission to be a chauvanist pig. By not standing up and saying enough is enough she is basically saying it's perfectly okay for him to make comment on the size of her thighs, or baby belly or anything that he thinks is physically wrong with her. She is giving all the young boys who listen to the show permission to judge women by the size of their bottoms. She is saying it's okay for women to be valued by what they look like and how much they weigh. And she is basically saying to all the girls that listen to her that their weight and what they look like is all they are worth and that it's perfectly okay for men to treat them that way. This is the lesson she is teaching to her daughter. 

But imagine what she could do for women and girls around the country who listen to her and look up to her by saying (as we all did when she was judged so harshly and cruelly) This Is Not Acceptable. I Refuse To Enable You Any More, Kyle.
Seriously! 

So yes, I think Jackie O is a silent, dangerous and toxic woman, giving the wrong message to males and females everywhere. 
I doubt she will read my little rant, and even if she does I doubt it will change anything, but I hope she does, and I hope she listens.
And I hope hope hope that the next Kyle and Jackie O story we hear is the one where Jackie O finally steps up to the plate, stops enabling his vileness and says enough!