Accusations of sexism towards the BBC were fired last month, when the broadcaster decided to choose a ‘Sports Personality of the Year’ from a male shortlist.
But the row has re-erupted after the BBC decided to grace a panda as ‘Female Face of 2011.’
Tian Tian, which means Sweetie, arrived at Edinburgh Zoo on a loan fromChinaearly last month, which attracted a large amount of publicity.
But the animal’s honour has also attracted a large amount of angry tweets, particularly from former deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and a Labour MP.
Prescottwrote, “So the BBC couldn’t find a woman for Sports Personality of the Year, but they could find a panda for a female face of 2011.”
Labour MP Stella Creasly added, “No offence to Sweetie — sure a lovely panda and best in the class etc — but clue is in the title ‘women’ not ‘female of the species’ of the year.”
However, the BBC argued that it was not the first time an animal appeared in an awards list.
They said in a statement, “Including Sweetie (Tian Tian) as one of the annual headline makers was a light-hearted addition to the list.”
“In 2009, Benson the Carp, a much-caught giant fish, was August’s entry on the male list and last year Peppa the Pig was on the female list for April.”
