Jilly Cooper slammed for opinions on ‘modern men’
Fear of women and being branded a harasser is turning men to gay sex, author Jilly Cooper has claimed.
The 81-year-old romance novelist, best known for writing the Rutshire Chronicles, has slammed ‘modern men’.
She said she worried by the effect of the Me Too and Times Up movements, the hope to stop sexual harassment in the workplace.
Jilly Cooper slammed for comments on ‘modern men’
Speaking at the Hay literacy festival, Cooper said: ‘I have one adorable gay friend whose lover died. He’s just started going on the internet now.
‘It’s all married men wanting to have gay affairs. Do you think men are so terrified of women, it’s safer to get [it] on with their own sex?’
Cooper said men’s behavior is ‘cyclical’, referencing how men cried and grew beards in the Shakespearean era.
She said her father and late husband Leo did neither.
‘Men cry all the time now and they have beards,’ she said.
Describing how campaigns against sexual harassment such as Me Too have affected relationships, Cooper said: ‘One lovely man said “I can’t flirt any more”. You have a mini skirt up to here, then “do not touch” tattooed across your knees.’
Criticized on social media
Cooper’s comments have been slammed on social media.
One man, Martin Walker, said: ‘That’s news. As a married man, I’ve never considered having a gay affair. If men are terrified of women, how are they managing to get married in the first place?’
Michelle Kelly responded: ‘A lovely bundle of sexism and homophobia rolled into one!’
Another man said: ‘LOL. I’m scared of my wife too. Perhaps I should try it. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it they say.’
And another said: ‘It’s always possible that they just like cock.’
Cooper has written 41 books, and sold more than 11 million copies in Britain alone.
