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Jason Manford has praised the decision to put at least one woman on each comedy panel line-up, but questioned why they publicly announced the decision to do so, saying it "undermines" women.
"I just don't think they should have said it out loud," Manford told the Radio Times . "Why say it? Just do it."
Manford argued that publicly enforcing a quota of women on the programmes made female contestants question their talent. "By saying it, you're undermining the female on the panel show because now she's thinking: 'Am I here because I'm funny or because they needed one?'"
Show all 18 1 /18Feminist Quotes From Leading Men Feminist Quotes From Leading Men John Legend “All men should be feminists. If men care about women’s rights, the world will be a better place. We are better off when women are empowered — it leads to a better society.”
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Feminist Quotes From Leading Men Matt McGorry “I'm embarrassed to admit that I only recently discovered the ACTUAL definition of "feminism". The fact that the term is sometimes clouded with anything other than pure support and positivity in our society is very tragic. I believe in gender equality. Being a feminist is for both women AND men. I AM A FEMINIST. In for equality? Pass it on.”
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Feminist Quotes From Leading Men Hugh Jackman “I'm for gender equality because it should’ve never been any other way!”
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Feminist Quotes From Leading Men Seth Meyers “When you work with the sort of really strong women that I work with, the idea that anyone would want to make decisions for them is hard to wrap your head around.”
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Feminist Quotes From Leading Men Ezra Miller “I feel that all revolutionary causes should start with addressing misogyny.” Joseph Gordon-Levitt: “I do call myself a feminist. Absolutely! It’s worth paying attention to the roles that are sort of dictated to us and that we don’t have to fit into those roles. We can be anybody we wanna be.”
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Feminist Quotes From Leading Men Joss Whedon “[My mother] really was an extraordinary, inspirational, tough, cool, sexy, funny woman. And that’s the kind of woman I’ve always surrounded myself with, my friends and particularly my wife, who is not only smarter than and stronger than I am, but occasionally taller too. I think it also goes back to my father and my stepfather, because they prized wit and resolve in the women they were with above all things and they were among the rare men who understood that recognizing someone else’s power doesn’t diminish your own.”
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Feminist Quotes From Leading Men Ryan Gosling “I’m attracted to films that have strong female characters because there are strong female characters in my life.”
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Feminist Quotes From Leading Men Eddie Vedder “I’m usually good about my temper, but all these men trying to control women’s bodies are really beginning to piss me off. They’re talking from a bubble. They’re not talking from the street, and they’re not in touch with what’s real.”
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Feminist Quotes From Leading Men Mark Ruffalo “My own mother fought to make herself more than a possession; she lived her life as a mother who chose when she would have children, and a wife who could earn a living if she so chose. I want my daughters to enjoy that same choice. I don’t want to turn back the hands of time to when women shuttled across state lines in the thick of night to resolve an unwanted pregnancy, in a cheap hotel room just south of the state line. Where a transaction of $600 cash becomes the worth of a young woman’s life.”
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Feminist Quotes From Leading Men Prince Harry “We know that when women are empowered, they immeasurably improve the lives of those around them – their families, their communities and their countries.”
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Feminist Quotes From Leading Men Iggy Pop “I’m not ashamed to dress ‘like a woman’ because I don’t think it’s shameful to be a woman.”
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Feminist Quotes From Leading Men Daniel Craig “Women are responsible for two-thirds of the work done worldwide, yet earn only 10 percent of the total income and own 1 percent of the property… So, are we equals? Until the answer is yes, we must never stop asking.”
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Feminist Quotes From Leading Men Jon Hamm "Men ruled the roost and women played a subservient role [in the Sixties]. Working wives were a rarity, because their place was in the home, bringing up the kids. The women who did work were treated as second-class citizens because it was a male-dominated society. That was a fact of life then. But it wouldn't be tolerated today, and that's quite right in my book... people look back on those days through a thick veil of nostalgia, but life was hard if you were anything other than a rich, powerful, white male."
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Feminist Quotes From Leading Men Dalai Lama “I call myself a feminist. Isn’t that what you call someone who fights for women’s rights?”
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Feminist Quotes From Leading Men Alan Alda "I think [misogyny] is like a disease that needs to be cured. And if we could eradicate polio, I don't see why we can't eradicate misogyny."
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Feminist Quotes From Leading Men Andy Samberg "Since there have been men and women, there have been funny women... f***ing idiot-ass men keep saying that women aren't funny. It makes me crazy. I find it disgusting and offensive every time."
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Feminist Quotes From Leading Men Barack Obama “We stand with women by fighting for economic security, protecting access to health care and supporting women’s leadership across the country.”
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Feminist Quotes From Leading Men Kurt Cobain “Rape is one of the most terrible crimes on earth and it happens every few minutes. The problem with groups who deal with rape is that they try to educate women about how to defend themselves. What really needs to be done is teaching men not to rape. Go to the source and start there.”
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The comedian is a regular on panel shows such as Would I Lie To You? and 8 Out of 10 Cats.
In 2014, the BBC Trust was reported to have said there was "no excuse" for not having more women on the programmes, after they were widely panned for being too "blokey". Danny Cohen, director of BBC TV, then announced they were no longer going to have panel shows without women.
Manford also said that having more women on comedy nights "makes [the events] better".
"When I see a female act who's totally nailing it, I think: 'Well, she's worked harder than most blokes to get to this point,'" he said.
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