After school in Room 9 on Thursday, we debated the place of women’s sport in society: should the media be required to devote equal airtime to men’s and women’s sports? The opening half of the debate covered the expected points about how the current situation is fundamentally unfair, and that women’s sports by now deserve (or don’t deserve) an equal billing with men’s sports. We heard a lot about the recent success of the Lionesses. However, it was Jess Bell’s point – that if women’s sports had a higher profile, we would just be putting more pressure on women, to be fitter, thinner, and to look and behave a certain way – which helped their team to win. Jess Bell and Ella Goodman were winners, with Georgia Holmes and Saleha Hashemi a close second.

 

Mr Ahern & Mr Murphy