Is Woman’s Hour matron a good patron?

Writing recently in the Daily Mail, Radio 4 Woman’s Hour presenter Jenni Murray brands women like Lily Allen and writers Caitlin Moran and Bryony Gordon, “shameless ‘stars’,” rebuking them for “over-sharing” about their sexual encounters and wearing their “embarrassing exploits … as badges of honour”. Naturally it caused a Twitter storm. So it’s curious to find Murray is a patron of the Family Planning Association, the sexual health charity which says it takes a non-judgmental view of such matters. The detail was seen by the Sunday Times’s Katie Glass.

“I think she should seriously consider her position as patron of the FPA,” says Glass, who has written on it for feminist website The Debrief. Gordon, quoted in the piece, says Murray “clearly hasn’t read my book — it is basically dripping in shame. It would probably have been more helpful if instead she had asked ‘Why is it that when a woman writes a book about casual sex in the year 2014, she has to feel ashamed?’”

On its website the FPA optimistically talks about “our vision is of a country where talking sense about sex is the norm not the exception”. “The FPA’s job is to encourage women to speak openly about their sex lives so they can receive advice,” Glass tells me. “How can Murray call herself a journalist and criticise people for telling the truth?”

Over to FPA director Nikita Hall, who sends a long quote about their objectives, “things like consent and negotiation, as Jenni touches on”, and “how to recognise what makes a healthy or “good” relationship, self-esteem and body image, and to actually enjoy relationships”. But no direct answer to the question on Murray’s patronage.