Men are having gay sex because they’re scared of women, author Jilly Cooper claims
Novelist Jilly Cooper (Michael Steele/Getty)
An author has claimed that modern men are turning to gay sex on Grindr because they have a fear of women.
The claim comes from Jilly Cooper, an erotic romance novelist most famous for her Rutshire Chronicles books.
In an appearance at the Hay Festival, Cooper claimed that men are now having gay affairs instead of sleeping with women – because they are afraid of the political climate.
She said: “I have one adorable gay friend whose lover died. He’s just started going on the internet now.
“He said it is extraordinary – it is all married men wanting to have gay affairs!!
“Do you think they are so terrified of women now it is safer to go with their own sex?”
Author Jilly Cooper (JOHN STILLWELL/AFP/Getty)
Alluding to the Me Too movement, she added: “You can’t flirt any more, it is so sad.
“You have a mini skirt up to here, then ‘do not touch’ tattooed across your knees.”
Cooper also observed: “Men cry all the time now… the whole time, always crying. And they have beards.”
Her comments were challenged online.
TV psychologist Jo Hemmings said: “Jilly Cooper is a legend, but maybe better sticking with fiction.
“Men may have had to learn a few new behaviours (and forget others) but being gay isn’t a passing fad in response to women being more empowered/assertive.
“I doubt there are ANY men who have had a gay affair as a result!”
Jilly Cooper attends the Oldie of the Year awards Stuart C. Wilson/Getty)
Elsewhere in her speech Cooper accused feminist author Germaine Greer of being an attention seeker – after Greer had used her platform at the event to make divisive comments about rape.
Cooper branded Greer an “applause junkie,” adding: “I think she is wonderful, but she has got to the stage now where she will say something outrageous to get everyone going.”
Speaking at the event earlier this week, Greer had said: “[Most] rapes don’t involve any injury whatsoever. We are told it’s one of the most violent crimes in the world. Bullshit.
“Most rape is just lazy, just careless, just insensitive. Every time a man rolls over on his exhausted wife and insists on enjoying his conjugal right, he is raping her. It will never end up in a court of law.”
Germaine Greer (Kane Hibberd/Getty)
“Instead of thinking of rape as a spectacularly violent crime — and some rapes are — think about it as non-consensual, that is, bad sex.
“Sex where there is no communication, no tenderness, no mention of love. We used to talk about lovemaking.”
Dismissing studies that show rape victims suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), she added: “At this point you think, what the hell are you saying? That something that leaves no sign, no injury, nothing, is more damaging to women than seeing your best friend blown up by an IED is to a veteran?
“We haven’t been destroyed, we’ve been bloody annoyed, is what we’ve been.
“I reckon 200 hours of community service will do — would do me. I suggested a long time ago that maybe a little tattoo would be a good thing. Maybe an ‘R’ on your hand. I’d prefer it on your cheek.”
Greer has previously opposed male same-sex parenting on the grounds of “motherhood”.
