Gene Pool Monitor—Ugly Duckling Edition

By Jennifer J. Foster

Published: August 18, 2008

From our Gene Pool Monitor file, today I bring you the curious case of John Moloney.

Moloney is mayor of Mount Isa, Queensland, down under in Australia. It seems the town of 25,000 has a bit of a gender imbalance, what with its remote location and rural-outpost character.

Mayor Moloney decided he needed to use his influence to encourage women to come to Mount Isa to even things out a bit.

Well, this is one politician who doesn’t have a way with words – or, apparently, women.

Basically, Moloney invited “beauty disadvantaged” women to move to Mount Isa.

“Beauty disadvantaged” – that’s ugly, in non-PC speak.

Mount Isa is a place for “ugly ducklings to flourish into beautiful swans,” the mayor told a newspaper.

Again, in other words, come on down, ugly gals; the men here are so desperate for female companionship, you’re bound to land a guy.

Moloney seemed genuinely surprised when his comments touched off a fury – among men as well as women:

Mount Isa city councillor Gary Asmus said that while there was a shortage of women, Moloney’s comments were an insult to the town’s menfolk.

The mayor was “returning us to the Dark Ages and making the guys that live in this town seem like sex-hungry starved men that will pounce upon the first girl that they see walking down the street,“ he said.

One Mount Isa resident, who has lived in the town for 50 years, told the radio “she had not come across anyone who she would call ugly.”

(Oh, there are so many good quotes in this story, it’s impossible to pick a favorite!)

Mayor Moloney went into damage-control mode and went on Australian national radio to clarify his comments. He didn’t mean any offense, he said:

“Well I said beauty disadvantaged … Now beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Beauty can be a good set of teeth, beauty is nice wavy hair. Beauty can be blue eyes or green eyes.

“There is such a thing as disposition, temperament, manners, general attractiveness, attitude and demeanour, all those things tend to make a person attractive.“

Yes, yes … and there is such a thing as knowing when to keep your mouth shut – i.e., cutting your losses. Politicians are notorious for not knowing when to lock it up, but this guy takes the cake: Not only do his comments actually discourage women from coming to Mount Isa, thus defeating his original purpose that led to him put his foot in his mouth, but in one fell swoop, he also managed to insult and alienate the entire town.

… And by “the entire town,” I mean all the people who actually vote for mayor.

But take heart, Mount Isians! There is yet hope for your fair city:

The operations manager of the city’s popular Irish club, Bernard Gillick, said he sees the gender imbalance daily but suggests the mayor’s solution might not be the right one.

“Anyone who moves to Mount Isa, beautiful or not so beautiful, they have a great chance to make a great life here. It is a fantastic town.“ he said.

“If guys have the right attitude then, you know, any type of girl will be happy to be with them so maybe the guys need to fix their attitudes a little bit.“

Gillick for Mayor!!

And …

Mayor John Moloney: You!! Out of the gene pool!!