Letters | 4 February 2012

A woman’s work

Sir: I enjoyed Andrew M. Brown’s article on the rise of the ‘Dalis’ (28 January). As the working wife of a man who earns more than I do, I drew comfort from the fact that more and more women are becoming the main breadwinners. At the same time, it is irritating to think of all those useless men sitting about dreaming while their wives slave away from home. Perhaps we will all eventually reach the same conclusion as our more militant sisters — we don’t really need men at all.
Florence Hayden-Smith
Hampshire

Sir: How typical to find that, at a time when women’s magazines endlessly discuss whether the gentler sex can ‘have it all’ (by all they mean a job, a family, and happiness), ‘Dali’ men are the ones having things entirely their way. They get income without the work, the satisfaction of family life, and the freedom to pursue their dreams. Lucky sods.
Anna Simonds
London W11

Speaking for England

Sir: Is it not a little presumptuous of Elizabeth McFarlane (Letters, 28 January) to assume that we English welcome the widespread presence of her fellow countrymen’s ‘genteel and intelligent’ Scottish accents on Radio 4? As a gesture towards addressing the prevailing imbalance, Radio 4 might offer one day a year with no Scottish accents — what about the under-recognised St George’s Day?
John Heywood
East Sussex

Resistance and murder

Most popular

Bruce Anderson

To rehydrate, drink beer

Sir: In his television review (21 January) James Delingpole commends Jonathan Meades for having little time for General de Gaulle, citing just one reason, the ‘disgraceful treatment’ of the OAS leader Roger Degueldre and his ‘messy execution’ to ‘sate liberal bloodlust’. Delingpole backs his condemnation of De Gaulle by describing Degueldre simply as ‘one of the few genuine resistants’.

This is revisionism carried to indecent lengths. One may judge De Gaulle as one wishes. But whatever his past in the second world war and Indochina, Degueldre was a mass murderer in Algeria, a ruthless nihilist whose Delta Commando began by stabbing a liberal lawyer and a police commander to death and went on to slaughter civilians in an attempt to create anarchy. That Delingpole should condemn De Gaulle and his administration for having put a stop to this indicates a very strange set of values.
Jonathan Fenby
London WC1

True colours

Sir: Yellow Friday (‘What colour is Wednesday?’, 21 January)? Ridiculous. Friday is white, Sunday is green. Every day has a definite colour, as do all numbers. Seven is dark blue, five is red, three is pink, zero is white. Hence ten is black-and-white. This has been so all my life and I am now 75 (dark blue and red!).
Anne Fisher
Hampshire

The meaning of intersex

Sir: Rod Liddle (31 December) gives a wholly misleading impression of the term intersex. Intersex is nothing to do with sexual orientation. It refers to physiological variations affecting between 1 and 4 per cent of the population. Whether or not a person is biologically identified as a male or female depends on a cluster of characteristics. In intersex people, these characteristics do not align in the way we might usually expect. Most intersex people still consider themselves to be male or female, but they are often subject to prejudice because of their variance. Sadly, it is still common for intersex people to be subjected to ‘normalising’ surgery when they are too young to consent, often leaving them with lifelong health problems. It is important that publications like The Spectator avoid contributing to a climate of prejudice and misunderstanding.
Jennie Kermode
Glasgow

Shared view

Sir: I have been feeling uneasy about David Hockney’s Yorkshire landscape paintings. The lack of feeling in these works, and, dare I say it, of observation, makes me sad. I get the idea that he is doing them because he can, not from any real joy in the landscape. Like Andrew Lambirth (Exhibitions, 28 January), I really admire Hockney’s early work and adore his portraits and the swimming pool paintings. I am very, very happy to find that I am not alone.
Shirley Page
Cambridgeshire

Birthday present

Sir: To Paul Johnson (‘Age of achievement’, 21 January) please convey my sincerest thanks. His uplifting piece was published the day after my 40th birthday. Perhaps with the publication of this letter my own rise from obscurity begins?
Chris Shelley
Woodbridge, Suffolk

Gathering fluff

Sir: If Deborah Ross wants to get crumbs as well as fluff out of her keyboard (Film, 28 January), may I suggest she gets hold of some of the little brushes that dentists use to clean between the teeth? The ones we use are called TePe, and they are much more efficient than pins.
Olivia Bell
Edinburgh