Strangled with his old school tie
In the experience of former NSW Supreme Court Judge Jack Lee QC, men and women had been "getting along very well for years" until someone took a Victorian Supreme Court judge's comments in a rape case out of context and started a spiteful rumour about a sexist judiciary.
The weekend before last, in the all-male environment of the annual dinner of the Newcastle Boys' High School Old Boys Association, Jack Lee, who retired from the NSW Supreme Court in 1991, decided to strike back at the political correctness police, and to put things in their proper context — his personal experience.
He told the audience that when he was 15 "no meant maybe, maybe meant yes, and yes meant 'she ain't no lady'". To further illustrate the absurdity of the yes/no dichotomy, he gave an example of a dinner date where a woman "says no" at 7 p.m., but by 10 p.m., "at great expense to yourself, she's been well fed and with half a bottle of red in her". Does the original "no" still operate, he asked.
But there was a mole at the dinner and Lee's speech made the pages of the Sydney Morning Herald. They elicited the now familiar flurry of "shocked", "appalled" and "mortified" responses from politicians and other public figures — perhaps worded more strongly than usual since Lee has retired and doesn't require the same level of protection as a serving judge.
But how much longer can politicians and lawyers claim shock at the misogynist attitudes displayed by these old men who think they can't be called to account? How many more instances will it take until they can no longer feign surprise?
Jack Lee obviously thought he was pretty safe to speak his mind at an Old Boys' dinner, and usually he would probably be right. Was it one of the catering staff who dobbed him in, or did one of the Old Boys themselves break the code? Whoever it was, it has got Lee pretty pissed off.
"People don't know where they stand", he said in response to claims that his speech was "sleazy", "ignorant" and "unacceptable", "These days, if you seem to contradict, or your opinion conflicts with a section of the community either in matters of sex or matters of race... they just brand you... What I object to are these nasty labels [sexist and racist] being put on people who are expressing their opinion."
Time was when you could speak your mind at an old boys' dinner, at the footy, at the pub, in the boardroom, in the cabinet room, in the court room, and you were safe from any nasty labels. If you want to be safe these days you'll just have to be a bit more careful Mr Lee.
By Karen Fredericks