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| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| Daily Mail goes back in time to analyse female MPs as sex objects | Daily Mail goes back in time to analyse female MPs as sex objects |
| (6 months later) | |
| One of the mystifying things about the Daily Mail is that although it boasts the largest proportion of female readers among national newspapers it is so blatantly sexist in tone and content. | One of the mystifying things about the Daily Mail is that although it boasts the largest proportion of female readers among national newspapers it is so blatantly sexist in tone and content. |
| Consider, for instance, today's front page picture and its spread on David Cameron's reshuffle. On page 1, the headline refers to her "thigh-flashing". Inside, above nine pictures of Tory women entering or leaving No 10, the headline says: "Esther, the queen of the Downing Street catwalk." | Consider, for instance, today's front page picture and its spread on David Cameron's reshuffle. On page 1, the headline refers to her "thigh-flashing". Inside, above nine pictures of Tory women entering or leaving No 10, the headline says: "Esther, the queen of the Downing Street catwalk." |
| Catwalk? Can they be serious? This was not a fashion parade. These were not models on a runway (to use the less sexist US term). It was a wholly inappropriate description, redolent of the red-top tabloids that the Mail affects to despise. | Catwalk? Can they be serious? This was not a fashion parade. These were not models on a runway (to use the less sexist US term). It was a wholly inappropriate description, redolent of the red-top tabloids that the Mail affects to despise. |
| Esther McVey and her eight political colleagues deserve better than to be treated as clothes horses. | Esther McVey and her eight political colleagues deserve better than to be treated as clothes horses. |
| The Mail Online version was hardly better: 'Cameron's cuties' make their presence felt as they march into Downing Street following dramatic Cabinet reshuffle. Those quote marks do not let the paper off the hook. The other odd reality is that the Mail boasts a large number of females on its editorial staff. Yet these women do not only appear content with the output, they actually write stuff they must know is demeaning to their own gender. | |
| I accept that in the hierarchical nature of male-dominated newsrooms they are powerless to prevent it. But do they have to collude in the objectification of women? | I accept that in the hierarchical nature of male-dominated newsrooms they are powerless to prevent it. But do they have to collude in the objectification of women? |
| For example, McVey's image was "analysed" by Catherine Ostler, a former editor of Tatler and a journalist whose work I generally admire, in terms of her hair, bag, dress, shoes and - would you believe it? - legs. | For example, McVey's image was "analysed" by Catherine Ostler, a former editor of Tatler and a journalist whose work I generally admire, in terms of her hair, bag, dress, shoes and - would you believe it? - legs. |
| The other eight received similar treatment. This one was "a little bit too Eighties air hostess". Another wore "sensible shoes". A third was criticised for wearing "a bold teal jacket" two sizes too big for her. And so on and on... | The other eight received similar treatment. This one was "a little bit too Eighties air hostess". Another wore "sensible shoes". A third was criticised for wearing "a bold teal jacket" two sizes too big for her. And so on and on... |
| An accompanying piece, written by a man - political editor James Chapman - reported that McVey "sashayed into Downing Street" with "her blonde mane thrown backwards as in a shampoo advert." | An accompanying piece, written by a man - political editor James Chapman - reported that McVey "sashayed into Downing Street" with "her blonde mane thrown backwards as in a shampoo advert." |
| I seem to recall reading this kind of stuff in the Daily Mirror in the 1950s. We, the people, have moved on. The Mail clearly hasn't. | I seem to recall reading this kind of stuff in the Daily Mirror in the 1950s. We, the people, have moved on. The Mail clearly hasn't. |
| But McVey, the new employment minister, has refused to complain about the Mail's portrayal of her and her colleagues. The former TV presenter brushed aside a question about the coverage in a Sky News interview. | But McVey, the new employment minister, has refused to complain about the Mail's portrayal of her and her colleagues. The former TV presenter brushed aside a question about the coverage in a Sky News interview. |
| She said: "All I can say is it's fantastic having women in powerful positions in the newspapers, and if that meant that we were walking – you might call it, or the papers might have called it, the catwalk – we were walking into Number 10 Downing Street." | She said: "All I can say is it's fantastic having women in powerful positions in the newspapers, and if that meant that we were walking – you might call it, or the papers might have called it, the catwalk – we were walking into Number 10 Downing Street." |
| This is par for the course among so many victims of the Mail's reactionary editorial agenda, especially within the government. They don't want to be critical of the paper lest it turn on them. | This is par for the course among so many victims of the Mail's reactionary editorial agenda, especially within the government. They don't want to be critical of the paper lest it turn on them. |
| A couple of female politicians - former Tory minister Cheryl Gillan and Green MP Caroline Lucas - did dare to be critical. But it was deputy prime minister Nick Clegg who found a way to show solidarity with the sisterhood by poking fun at the Mail. | A couple of female politicians - former Tory minister Cheryl Gillan and Green MP Caroline Lucas - did dare to be critical. But it was deputy prime minister Nick Clegg who found a way to show solidarity with the sisterhood by poking fun at the Mail. |
| He tweeted a picture of himself outside No 10, writing: "What I wore to the office today. Fingers crossed the Mail approves. Hope I don't look too '80s cabin attendant'". | He tweeted a picture of himself outside No 10, writing: "What I wore to the office today. Fingers crossed the Mail approves. Hope I don't look too '80s cabin attendant'". |
| • The fashion journalist's view: is it OK to talk about politicians' clothes? | • The fashion journalist's view: is it OK to talk about politicians' clothes? |