Tuesday's @DailyMailUK #MailFrontPages pic.twitter.com/QepUfSKKYN
— Daily Mail U.K. (@DailyMailUK) March 27, 2017
Personally I prefer trolling to the alternative that this cover represents a serious depiction of the thought processes of the editors of a national newspaper. About two of the powerful politicians in the UK.
I’d prefer to think someone is antagonising all of us who believe men and women ought to have the same opportunities as one another, rather than contemplate that someone, or several someones, in all seriousness, made the determination that the LEGS of these two national leaders were worthy of the front page and the lead headline.
We all put our clocks forward an hour on Sunday yet @DailyMailUK put their clock back 40 years #everydaysexism pic.twitter.com/4HfeFIQD2o
— Jonathon Murphy (@Jonathon_Murphy) March 27, 2017
Never mind the historic occasion, as Britain prepares to exit the European Union. Forget the fact it’s the UK’s Prime Minister Theresa May and Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon being photographed.
It’s two women, so their legs must be the focal point. And, to be sure, the pair ought to be pitted against one another. Why else would two women be convening if not to compete on the aesthetics of their legs?
Hey @DailyMailUK – want to try again? How about "the most powerful women in the UK meet to discuss the future of the country"? pic.twitter.com/1SWJdSa7op
— Women 50:50 (@Women5050) March 27, 2017
It is beyond parody and entirely demeaning. To the women themselves, to the men and women they represent, to politics. This cover very clearly illustrates how starkly sexist the world remains.
If Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon’s predecessors, David Cameron and Alex Salmond, had met yesterday, there is not even a remote chance that any corresponding front page would bare even a slight resemblance to this.
Admittedly it was quick but a cursory Google search confirmed, their physical attributes were never compared, debated or even raised following official meetings. How could this be?
Why were they entitled to pursue their positions of power without regard to their appearance? And, more to the point, why aren’t May and Sturgeon entitled to?
The answer is deeply entrenched, and deeply disturbing, double standards.