Am I Offensive To Women?

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An important venue for me as a performance poet was Manchester’s Green Room Theatre, where I debuted in 2003. Sadly the venue closed about ten years ago after its 25th anniversary party which I attended and barely a month later I also attended the last night party there. I wore a tee-shirt depicting burlesque queen, Dita Von Teese, as I am a burlesque fan, occasional promoter and co-performer and I have been involved in burlesque cabarets at The Green Room itself. I was enjoying the party in the company of fellow poets when a rather humourless lady walked up to me and slapped me in the chest. She actually pinned a sticker to my burlesque tee-shirt with the words ‘this is offensive to women’ on it and walked off without a word. I was tempted to pursue her and argue a defence but I felt it would be fruitless to challenge someone walking round clutching such stickers just looking for people and things to be offended by. I later heard from a friend that such stickers were common a few decades before but they hadn’t been seen for years until this lady’s effort to revive the tradition. I was going to throw the sticker away but fellow poet, Dermot Glennon cheerfully stuck it to his own face and walked round with it all night. I wonder what my angry assailant made of someone taking cynical pride in being offensive, though in fact Dermot is a very nice, decent person. Arthur Chappell