CONTEXT, it’s a wonderful thing.

First thing on Monday morning I saw the headlines about Sunderland manager David Moyes threatening to slap a female reporter.

I could already feel the outrage bubbling up inside and could not wait to do it justice in these pages.

I was shocked that he was still in a job, that the Black Cats hadn’t terminated his contract immediately.

They are about to be relegated but surely there was no way they could allow the former Manchester United and Everton boss to stay on.

I scrolled through the reactions on Twitter. Words such as appalling, despicable and sexist littered my timeline and I couldn’t agree more.

When I got to work I actually read what happened and everything got put into context.

Moyes had threatened to slap the reporter Vicki Sparks — up until this point I hadn’t seen her name — a few weeks ago.

“You were just getting a wee bit naughty at the end there, so just watch yourself,” said Moyes. “You still might get a slap, even though you’re a woman. Careful the next time you come in.”

It was allegedly said in jest, with both parties laughing, and Moyes had already apologised for saying what he did.

At no point then, or now, do I believe that what Moyes said was OK. It has no place in the workplace. But I cannot lie and say that I haven’t struggled to get my head around this.

I don’t think we can just brush this under the carpet as “banter” because it isn’t. Violence against women is a very serious problem and if anything this incident has once again brought it to the surface.

Those saying this is political correctness gone mad and everyone needs to lighten up are missing the point.

But I am literally scratching my head as I type this as I don’t agree with all the calls that he should lose his job.

Because of this, I’ve actually been quite appalled with myself. There’s an internal battle which I didn’t think I would be having.

I understand the outrage and the calls for Moyes to be sacked. Jokingly or not, he threatened to slap a woman.

It wouldn’t be tolerated if he said it to a male reporter and, to be honest, he probably wouldn’t ever said it to them.

I tried to imagine if he had said that to me and how I would have reacted. I don’t know Moyes, have never come across him in a press conference and have no relationship with him.

I don’t think I would have laughed and probably would have been quite shocked if he spoke to me like that, it’s not something I expect from a manager.

But then I firmly believe that had he said it to me, it wouldn’t make headlines. It may make for a few tweets but that’s it.

The public reaction to this would be totally different had Moyes said this to a man, especially if it was a in a jokey tone.

Does that make it OK? Of course not. But again, this is where context plays a huge role for me.

What I have focused on is the last thing he says. “Careful the next time you come in.” Joking or not, that is a very threatening thing to say.

It would not be surprising if Sparks, or anyone else, felt intimidated by that. It has a menacing tone to — a clear warning that the next time she questions him and he doesn’t like it, he will do something about it.

For me, the Football Association needs to look into that and if they haven’t already they need to speak to Sparks. At the time of writing, I haven’t seen anything from her about how she felt or feels now.

She didn’t report what happened, it seems her colleagues did and only after a few weeks.

She genuinely might not have been bothered by anything he said and I don’t think it is right that we tell her how she should feel.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion and if she was, and is, OK with what Moyes said that doesn’t mean that the rest of the media and public have to accept it.

A few weeks ago I was coming back from lunch with two colleagues, one male and the other female, when we came across a man shouting at his girlfriend.

The three of us walked over to make sure she was OK and she said she was.

We didn’t feel comfortable with her response so we stayed near the couple for a little while as they continued their argument and she kept on reassuring us that everything was fine so we eventually left.

I bring that up because while she may have felt what was happening to her was normal and fine, it wasn’t and she should never have to accept that.

But I can’t feign outrage and disgust, that isn’t fair to readers as I have always been fully honest.

Moyes shouldn’t have said what he said and if Sparks is OK with it, she shouldn’t be. He should be punished by the club and the FA.

But should it cost him his job? It may make men more aware of what is unacceptable but I hardly doubt that.

And that’s the most upsetting thing, this acceptance and defeatist attitude that these issues are still going on and that my reaction to it isn’t as strong as I had hoped, almost as if I don’t expect anything better from the industry I cover.