Muireann O’Connell has taken aim at those people who called out how female television presenters stand on RTÉ’s Liveline this week.
Using her signature wit, Muireann filmed a video to joke about what some Liveline callers referred to as ‘sexually provocative’ and ‘vulgar’ stances.
A woman called into the show and told Katie Hannon who was filling in for Joe Duffy, “I am speaking mostly about presenters on current affairs programmes and the news. I’m talking about the nuances of visual presentation, and particularly the way presenters tend to stand.
“You know their posture to me seems exaggerated, contrived, unnatural. They tend to stand with their feet maybe 2ft apart and sometimes swivel on their left hip, and I just think it seems unnatural.”
She added: “I think the natural way would probably be the way you would stand normally on a bus or in front of a group of people.
“My background is in teaching, and if I was addressing a group of students, there is no way I would stand with my two feet about 2ft apart.
“I think less distance between your two feet. I think maybe one foot maybe slightly in front of the other I do think it does seem kind of denigrating, debasing, demeaning.
“Now, the PR people who are in charge of this would probably say that it’s a powerful kind of a stance, but I just don’t like it.”
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She went on to say, “I think it could be slightly sexually provocative. I think it’s bordering on looking vulgar.”
Of course, Muireann was not taking this nonsense lying down and made a video of all the incorrect and “correct” ways to stand.
She began, “Every day before Ireland AM I come into a quite room, and I practice how I should stand as a female television presenter that would be acceptable to Liveline listeners.”
Muireann then went through a series of poses wondering if they were okay before sidling into a corner and asking, “How about if I put myself in the corner? Like Baby?”
She captioned the tongue-in-cheek video, “Female telly presenters trying to make simply existing be acceptable to Liveline listeners.”
