4 July 1948
I've annoyed a couple of friends today - both educated, intelligent women - by commenting on the way we (note: the collective we - not they) are obsessing about Mrs May's clothes. They object to the word obsess.
So far we've had three pictures of Mrs May's clothes:
- the leather trousers
- the 'lucky' suit
- the other suit
If you want me to comment on Mrs May's clothes, I'd have to say she has money and nae taste.
But there is a more important point here. Mrs May's government is overseeing the biggest political change in the UK in 40-odd years. Her government needs to be held to account over that change. And, in my opinion, having her clothes all over every newspaper front page, and all over twitter and Facebook trivialises the job she's meant to be doing and distracts the public from close scrutiny of government actions. And since most newspapers in the UK are right wing and seem quite happy to walk us off a cliff over the EU, I can only suppose the distraction and trivialisation are deliberate.
I reckon it's now almost 30 years since I wrote my first letter to a national newspaper about sexism. My letter was in criticism of an item they had printed describing GTCS action against a female headteacher. Their piece included the deathless phrase: 'Ms X wore a black suit to the hearing and carried a matching briefcase.' My letter congratulated the paper on the detail they had provided and invited them to include a similar description every time they reported the actions of any man. They printed my letter but didn't comment. How much longer do you suppose this kind of crap will go on? Well, it would help if women could control their inner bitch and not join in the fun.
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