Are women aged between 40 and 55.

Going by some of my friends it seems to be a reflection on their own inadequacies rather than Pamela's ability.

I am a woman in that age range, and I think she's great. I also think Kara is amazing. I would like to see either of them win ahead of Matt, but more so Pam, because she is has broken through the ageism barrier which has been an ever present on SCD

Same old lazy argument.

Hmm. I think it's simply because when I watch Strictly I don't see what the judges do. I see heavy steps, wobbles and a rictus grin (which never gets the criticism that Matt's constipated expression gets and it's just as bad imo).

I don't like her being over marked and shoved down my neck as 'representing' mature women - she in no way represents me - I find her very faux. - and, personally, I don't feel the need to be 'represented' by any random woman of a certain age. If she danced better I'd admire her more.

Simples.

I find that ridiculous . I am not keen on Pamelas behaviour for lots of reasons, none of them are my own inadequacies.
I am very happy with my lot Thank you , Love my family and career .No I cant dance like Pamela and have no ambitions too .
I find her gushing and OTT cackling and attention seeking grates on my very last nerve .It would do the same to me if she were 21 , 41 ,0r 61 .
People cant warm to other people for a million reasons so to lump us all into one herd who all dislike her behaviour for the same reason is incredibly patronizing .
Pamela may very well be a nice person , kind and understanding and we will never know that because what we see is her TV persona perhaps ,I dont know .All I know is I could not spend 10 minutes in her company as I couldnt really cope with the gushing and OTT personality .
For those reasons I find it very hard to connect with her dancing too .

I don't hate Pamela and I have no problem with her personally but I'm sick of being told by the judges that she is a dancer worthy of 10s when she so patently isn't. She's lumpen, awkward, slow, heavy and very hammy.

When you compare her dancing to Kara's, there is just no comparison. Kara is elegant, beautiful, dramatic and moving.

It has nothing to do with age either because Felicity was older but so much more graceful.

Pamela is good but she's not brilliant.

LOL.... what's wrong with just looking how someone is dancing ?

I'm that age and í'm not loving her dances, like I wasn't fond of many other female dancers a lot younger.

what would be the "psychological motive" of people who like to generalise things like this

I completely agree with you. Pamela is great for a 61-year-old, but she does verge on the cart-horse sometimes, and the fixed grin is annoying. Kara almost floats across the floor, she's beautiful. I don't know about the technicalities of dance, so I have to go by the experience, but Pamela has completely failed to move me at any time, whereas Kara's performances have been magical. I wouldn't go so far as to shout "Fix" if Pamela wins, but I won't be very happy about it.

There is no psychological motive , it just suits their own personal predudices to lump "woman of a certain age" into a particular bracken.

someone else (or perhaps even the same person) will say that "40 - 55 year old women are again'st kara cos she is young" or "40 - 55 year old women are again'st Matt cos he's a man" etc etc etc.

I agree with that , Pamela is heavy footed and lacks grace . Not bothered what age she is , her dancing does nothing for me .

With friends like you, who needs enemies?

I suppose that if your friends actually said to you, 'oh well, I know I'm a jellus hatah and it's my own inadequacies talking, but I really don't like Pamela' - well, then I might accept your judgement of their prejudice as being factually based and not a judgement on your own prejudice.

I like and admire Pamela. I love the way she is utterly committed to doing the best she possibly can. I love her musicality. I wish I had legs like hers (and I could give her a few years). If she gets to the final, she will deserve her place there as she is a fine, fine dancer. But I think she has been outrageously over-marked and over-hyped and she is not the best left in the competition, so I won't be voting for her if she gets there, but for Kara, who is the best dancer.

Not sure which of my own inadequacies that opinion highlights.

man 60 and i Love Kara
Don`t like to see pam

Please don't be so ridiculous!

I like Pamela, but don't want her to win. I am 50 in 8 weeks time, slimmer, fitter, healthier and happier than I have been in my whole life.

Don't judge!

I think that's a very honest post, and I agree completely. Pamela is good, and might have been a real contender 25 years ago, but she's absolutely NOT better than Kara, and possibly not even better than Matt (who has a real disadvantage with his partner's choreography, unfortunately).

Firstly, I absolutely and totally abhor the use of the term 'haters' . 'Haters' is a very strong term and should always be used sparingly. Reading this forum, I can see no evidence of fms 'hating' Pamela......disliking, yes, hating,no! Is it no longer possible to dislike someone or their actions without being termed a 'hater'?

However to answer your question, IMO many fms seem to dislike Pamela either because of her attitude which can appear to be 'simpering/gushing' at times, or because they feel that her dancing is not as good as some of the others and appears to be overmarked. I would adore to be able to dance as well as Pamela at her age (and I am very near it!) but I do not feel her dancing is as good as the judges would like us to believe!

I am 'of a certain age' and I don't like Pamela for several reasons, none to do with any inadequecies I may have but to do with hers.

She is a good dancer but not great and not deserving of 4 tens
I find her very false, all that gurning, breathy thank yous and coy behaviour with James is cringeworthy to watch
Her constant banging on about her age, all that 'granny' stuff. Ok we get it you're 61.. however she signed up for this show to compete against people of all ages and levels, why should we make allowances for her age... no one did for Felicity and neither did she ask for it
Bottom line is IMO she is on that show because of who she is married to not for her own fame, if she wasn't married to BC I doubt she'd be on there.

You could say that I shouldn't like Kara because I should be jealous of such a pretty talented young thing, but I think she's a fantastic dancer and comes across as a genuine lovely girl, and that's what I base my likes and dislikes on on this show.

I thought Patsy was a better role model for someone my age if you want to go down that route of generalisation - a trier, good sense of humour, grew in confidence and seemed again a genuinely nice person

Me too!

But I think Kara is better.

don't give a toss about her age - I do give a toss about her dancing which is blatantly NOT up to 40 standard in anyone's language (except Craig's)

I'm 55 and enjoy her dancing enormously.
I want Pam or Kara to win.
Matt I dislike.

I know a lot of women between those ages and it would seem that their support is split between Matt and Pamela.

I think Pamela is like marmite in terms of her personality - you're either going to like her or not and I do think someone's personality impacts on other people's enjoyment of watching them dance.I'm not saying she's a perfect dancer by any means but I really, really enjoy watching her dance and for me that is enough as I dont profess to understand the technical aspects of dance. Strictly for me has always been about the enjoyment of watching people learn to dance and I dont want to get caught up in the technical side too much. I will continue to vote for both Pamela and Kara (I am the same age as Kara).

I am a woman in my 50s I am in awe of Pams ability at 61, she isnt my favourite but I dont hate her, I think she is being a tad overmarked by the judges but she has been consistantly one of the best in the show and in terms of that deserved to be in the semi finals and probably the final if she gets through tonight. She isnt my first choice to win but I wouldnt be too upset if she did and I would be thrilled for James.

I am 33 and I don't hate her, I just don't take to her, can't fault her dancing though.

Actually my perception is that a lot of the so called 'Pamela haters' are younger than 40-55.

No doubt people of all ages are voting for all the celebs, but personally I think the posts of many of the Kara fans/Pamela haters (don't really like that word) sound like something written by young girls.

A few things...

1. I am not a Pamela "hater", nor have I seen much evidence of hating anywhere on this forum. Yes, I dislike her as a contestant, but I do not hate her.

2. I am not in the age bracket that you seem to lump all Pamela "haters" into - I am 24, and the majority of my friends who are watching the show - aged from 19-28, and both male and female - don't overly like Pamela either.

3. I have genuine reasons for disliking Pamela, rather than it being in any way linked to anything to dow ith my own "inadequecies." If that was the case, surely it would be Kara that I would "hate"?

I think Pamela is grossly overmarked, and has been right from the beginning of the series when she ended up top of the leaderboard after almost falling over in her Salsa. She is being given extra "benefit of the doubt" in the scoring due to her age; it's almost like they're trying to go all-out to prove they're not ageist after all the accusations last year following Arlene's replacement by Alesha. Kara, in particular, has been given much more difficult routines week on week than Pamela has, but this is never taken into account.

Also, Pamela's gushing and over-the-top attitude is really grating, and has been since around week 2. I can't stand watching her in interviews (even the brief ones with Bruce / Tess after the dance) and think she comes across as very false.

So, that's why I dislike Pamela. Though if you want to find a psychological reason relating to my own flaws and inadequecies, I suppose that's up to you......

I'll take that as a compliment.