JANET STREET-PORTER: Why are masculine bullies called strong... and women crazy?

Gabby Logan freely admits she had a "meltdown" when she turned up too late to board the Eurostar in Paris

Gabby Logan freelyadmits she had a "meltdown" when she turned up too late to board theEurostar in Paris and was escorted from the station after being caughttrying to crawl under the barrier.

A new book sensationally claims Gordon Brown pushed aroundpeople in his office and stabbed the back of a cream car seatrepeatedly with a black pen while an official cowered next to him.

Unrepentant, the Prime Minister declares: "I"m not perfect - but I know where I come from and what I stand for."

Gordon insists he"s angry with himself, not others, but theimpression remains that this big bruiser is frightening to be aroundwhen he erupts.

Another difference between Gabby and Gordon: she fessed up to her strop on her blog, made a joke and said sorry.

ForGordon to admit having a temper would be construed as a sign ofweakness - he now sees himself as the victim of a hostile media.

If he behaved so appallingly, why didn"t any of those on thereceiving end speak out? In my long experience, this kind of volatilebehaviour is pretty common, and when male bosses lose their temper,they usually get away with it.

I"ve been an executive and I"ve been a boss. When I was incharge and lost my temper, I was called "crazy" by my critics. When menbehave in this fashion, they"re described as "forceful" or"opinionated".

When I dared to sack or criticise anyone, I was berated aserratic. When a man does the same, we say he"s "decisive". Anger in thework place is all about double standards, as I know only too well.

Once, my boss at the Beeb was so annoyed at my failure to geta comedy star to appear in a show that he went beetroot, screamed hishead off, smashed a pencil through a thick notepad and threw everythingon his desk on to the floor.

I thought he was having a fit and wondered if I should callfor medical help. Two minutes later, his pallor returned to normal andhe resumed our conversation as if nothing had happened. I left theroom, shaking. The incident was never referred to again.

A new book claims Mr Brown pushed around people in his office and stabbed the back of a cream car seat with a black pen while an official cowered next to him

When I told someone else, I discovered they had experienced asimilar strop. We didn"t report this man for bullying, but accepted itas part of the high-pressure world in which we worked.

Gordon"stemper tantrums are replicated in offices all over Britain. Lots of uswill have the misfortune to sit through the frightening experience of aboss in meltdown. Why do we put up with it?

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One reason is that we accept anger in men far more readilythan in women. Female bosses who lose their temper are seen as lesscompetent, according to a study by Yale University.

It concluded that angry men will earn a higher salary, get abetter job and be more successful than bad-tempered women. And femaleworkers are more tolerant of men who behave badly than they are ofwomen. Anger remains a male privilege.

If men apologise for losing their temper, it works againstthem - research shows we don"t rate their chance of succeeding sohighly afterwards. But if women apologise, then it can actually helpthem.

That might explain why Gordon Brown is not going to admit verymuch. I admit I"ve been guilty of Brown-style swearing and cussing inthe workplace - maybe I"ve just worked with too many men. But I haven"tstooped to ranting and raging in a taxi in front of witnesses.

Isn"t there something rather worrying about the revelationthat our Prime Minister gets into his official car and spends thejourney smashing his fist into the back of the seat in front ordefacing it with a pen when he"s in a strop?

That sounds like a toddler who can"t get his way, not someonewho"s supposed to be leading us back into the black and out ofrecession.

Disraeli said "a person"s fate is their own temper". We shall see if it"s true for Mr Brown.

More...RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: "If you"ve been called a Scottish sociopath, please press three..."A.N. WILSON: Sorry, bullies often make the best leadersDAILY MAIL COMMENT: Dialling the hotline to our victim cultureRICHARD O"HAGAN: Fresh bullying claims for Gordon after more calls for help revealed

GOLDEN FUTURE FOR CURLY WURLY

Victory: Amy Williams celebrates winning gold

Shetook up the sport only eight years ago; now Amy Williams (nicknamedCurly Wurly) has won our first gold at the Winter Olympics since 1980.

Overnight, she"s the nation"s pin-up, so can she expect to earnthousands from advertising and sponsorship by cashing in on her newstardom?

Given she scrimped to pay her own expenses for years,training six days a week - and every day from October to March when shecompeted - I hope so.

PR expert Max Clifford reckons Amy can expectthree years of earning up to 300,000 because she"s attractive andarticulate.

Sounds good, but compared to the millions dodgy role modelTiger Woods has racked up, it seems unfair.

The trouble is that, unlikegolf, the bob skeleton isn"t exactly something youngsters have evenheard of.

But that could change if we get more winters like thisone.

There"s been a lot of youngsters tobogganing on trays andfertiliser bags during our prolonged periods of snow - maybe one willturn out to be the next Amy.

Meanwhile, expectWoods to be back on the golf coursesoon, supported by his sponsors. He"s so watchable, the sport can"tafford to lose him - and it doesn"t matter whether he"s married or not.

I"ve got my ticket to the opening night of Andrew LloydWebber"s musical Love Never Dies in a couple of weeks, but I"ve alreadyheard the beginning - twice.

The first time, when part of the show was staged at Andrew"s house last July, was a bit confusing. He is a formidable character and I was the only person present brave enough to tell him it needed a bit of a tweak.

When I saw him in the autumn, he insisted I listened to the opening of the show again - and now it works. So don"t tell me he doesn"t listen to critics.

STINGING REBUKE

Controversial visit: Sting with Gulnara Karimova

Sting has been widely criticised for playing a concert in Uzbekistan, where President Islam Karimov has an appalling human rights record.

Thousands of people who protested about poverty and corruption have been killed and it"s said that some of his enemies have been boiled alive, so how did Sting square that with pocketing millions to play at the National Opera House?

The singer says: "Cultural boycotts are not only pointless gestures, they are counter-productive."

How does he square being photographed at a fashion show sittingnext to the president"s daughter with his campaigning work for AmnestyInternational?

Uzbekistan is a country where smallchildren are forced to work in state-owned cotton plantations; perhapsSting"s wife Trudie could produce a documentary about these youngslaves, who don"t have a choice about how they earn their living.

Unlike Sting.

I"M QUAKING AT THE THOUGHT OF NAOMI

Imagine the scene: you"re a mother struggling to feed your family, living in a makeshift shelter in Haiti, when your day is graced by a visit from a tall, glamorous woman in heels and tight jeans.

Yes, Naomi Campbell is planning to see how the 77 million donated by the British public for quake victims is being spent.

Naomi Campbell struts her stuff at the Fashion For Relief catwalk show at Somerset House, London

She should be applauded for raising 1 million by staging fashion showsin London and New York, but what about all the other fundraisers?

Sarah Brown can"t go because of the General Election, but why send her new best pal in a private jet?

The islanders have only just got over a whirlwind visit from Angelina Jolie - give them a break. The only people visiting the earthquake survivors should be experts who can speed up the process of rebuilding their lives, not stars hoping for a photo opportunity.