Cameron does Cabinet reshuffle. Cameron increases the number of women in the Cabinet. News media report on reshuffle and increase in number of women.
What’s the next sentence? You know this one.
Today’s coverage in the London Evening Standard was shocking. The male subjects who were profiled had standard bios – career highs and lows, nothing about their personal lives. Michael Gove was said to have “one of the most acute political brains of his generation”, while Philip Hammond apparently has “a hard edge” and set up his own companies at a very young age.
The profiles of the three women who’d been promoted, although containing factual and some complimentary descriptions, all mentioned their marital status and how many children they had. The unmarried woman – Esther McVey – was singled out for special treatment. In the West End final version of the paper, there were not one but two photos of her, one as a young TV presenter in a revealing crop-top and skin-tight satin trousers, and the other as she was this morning, the wind blowing up her otherwise respectable business skirt such that the slit parted and revealed a bit of thigh. In the text, of all the thousands of phrases she’s ever uttered in her time on GMTV, the journalist chose one in which she mentioned sex, and readers are also helpfully informed that she once flashed her underwear on air. Most disturbingly, she has an entire paragraph about her relationship status that would not be out of place in a gossip column. In it, we learn that although she’s “unmarried”, she’s been “linked” with two prominent men, one of whom proposed marriage. (One cannot help suddenly picturing her as a feisty Lizzy Bennet, spurning not only Mr Collins’ advances, but Mr Darcy’s as well!) Coyly, the piece concludes that she “shares a flat” with a male MP, and allows readers to draw their own conclusions.
Well what else can a newspaper possibly say about a woman in the Cabinet? Come on – be sensible about this. Obviously there can’t be anything substantive to say about their political views, their political record, their work – I mean get real. So what’s left? Their looks and their sex lives, duh. That’s all there is to women when you get right down to it.
Sorry if this offends anybody (not really), but Jack Lew is HOT STUFF!
Never heard of Jack Lew? Shame on you.
He’s the avuncular teddy bear heading up the US Department of the Treasury.
C’mon admit it gals (along with gay guys like me), wouldn’t you love a piece of THIS:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Lew
This is so freaking depressing.
Hmmm. “Secretary of Hotness”. That would be a position somewhat akin to the legendary Ministry of Silly Walks?
It’s relentless. Don’t read the Daily Mail’s coverage of the reshuffle unless you want your head to pop off like a champagne cork. And if you do and it does, don’t, whatever you do, read the comments.
The DM describes her as ‘sashaying’ to number 10 ‘carrying a delicate clutch bag that would not be out of place at a cocktail party’. The following day she wore factory issued protective shoes to tour a factory and the Mail hooted something along the lines of ‘not so glamorous now, are you?’ despite the fact that she was standing right next to Cameron who was wearing exactly the same type of shoes. So she’s attacked for being too glamorous and the next day for not being glamorous enough.
She’s not the only one. While McVey was ‘dubbed’ (DM speak for they called her that yesterday and are now pretending that’s what *everyone* said) the “queen of the number 10 catwalk”, those women who dressed in a way the DM decided was less glamorous were dowdy or old-fashioned.
Nobody mentioned what the men wore.
The really stupid thing is that there are plenty of real reasons to criticise the reshuffle. There is now an equalities minister who does not believe in equality, energy and environment ministers opposed to green energy and an education minister who knows nothing about education.
And there are very good reasons to think McVey is a horrible person devoid of empathy and compassion. One ony needs to look at her record as minister for disabled people.
But, ya know, it’s not cultural. There’s no ‘sexist culture’.
All these millions of examples of widespread sexism?
Totally and completely independent and coincidental.
Nothing to see here.
Well now, did any other of the new (or extant) Ministers flash their underwear on air?
Or even hang some on a clothesline?
“Coyly, the piece concludes blah blah blah”
“The piece”?? She IS the piece!!
May I suggest this week’s “Friday Night Comedy” from BBC Radio 4? It’s the latest edition of “The News Quiz” with Sandy Toksvig, and they do a good long segment on the reshuffling, with some choice words about The Daily Mail’s requirements when it comes to handbag size.
So, no change there.