![]() ![]() Some, but by no means the majority, are meteorologists by training, and their CVs are impressive, with stints working for the Met Office, the RAF and NASA. The interviews show the range of skills and experience to be found among them, and the many ways into the role. My book also features interviews with presenters past and present. Played by the late Caroline Aherne, Poula is beautifully empty-headed and appears as the ‘dolly filler’ at the end of Chanel 9’s bizarre news programme hosted by characters played by Paul Whitehouse and Simon Day.īut our brilliant weather presenters are much, much more than that. I’ve called it Scorchio! to reference The Fast Show’s Poula Fisch character, perhaps the most eloquent embodiment of the general perception of the weather girl. The book is a club sandwich of comic memoir and TV history analysing the evolution of weather presentation and its place in the cultural landscape. I set out to explore the term first in the stand-up show I took to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2018, and more recently in a book I’m working on with the crowdfunding publisher,. What I hadn’t realised when I agreed to present the weather was quite how objectified the weather girl had become. I’d absolutely never thought of myself as a ‘babe’, but a little dive into some of the discussions about me – the shape of my body, my bottom and other parts of my anatomy (who knew a dart on a tailored dress could spark such a debate) – pretty soon put paid to that. ![]() However, it seems these things come with the territory.Īt first, I’ll admit, I was rather flattered. When I took a job as a standby weather presenter at a regional TV station in 2012, I had no idea that within a fortnight of my first appearance I’d find myself on a social media channel entitled Babes of Britain (don’t tell my dad!). And it opened my eyes to a world of casual sexism and misogyny that is the continuing legacy of the term. I did it once and it took me to parts of the internet I hadn’t known existed. Enter the term ‘weather girl’ into your search engine and see what comes up.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |