It's 2020 folks. 2020!

My worry is whilst we are all faffing over discussing her outfit we didn’t listen to what she was saying? I mean it’s our Parliament important things do get discussed there.

And that's why she shouldn't have worn such an inappropriate outfit. She must have known that it would detract from whatever point she was making. Appalling lack of judgement.

I did it because it was what we all did.

I was in no way looking to attract 'lustful glances' from men, in fact I hated being ogled. I also hated being shouted at, followed etc. And all this was down to my skirt length?

Interesting.

I know that logically that clothes shouldn't matter, and that people should be able to do whatever they want - but realistically they do. There are intricate social codes of conduct at play in what you wear and where you wear it.

I can't think why you'd wear something like this unless you were very naive or very attention-seeking. She must have known it would get some kind of fuss and that bothers me more than anything. Whatever she was actually saying has been negated by a silly outfit choice.

we definitely were doing it to attract the attention of boys. Not random old men driving cars

Of course we did it to attract boys. It wasn't because our legs were feeling hot!

We didn't stop to think about the old men in cars.

I think the outfit is unprofessional and not suitable for parliament. Doesn't matter who she is or whether she's male/female or whatever, it is not suitable for the House of Commons. She wants to be taken seriously as a professional in a leadership position? Then she (or any male for that matter) should dress appropriately.

That said, the nasty comments are also inappropriate too. To say someone is not dressed correctly is very different from calling them all sorts of names and making sexualised comments.
In my opinion, they should all be a bit more mature about it. Very sad state of affairs....

And penguin is right - when we were shortening our skirts at school, we definitely were doing it to attract the attention of boys. Not random old men driving cars, but at that age girls want to attract boys and boys want to attract girls.

I was watching Parliament TV when she stood up to speak. I did think she looked unprofessional and it did distract me from what she was saying. I thought she had suffered some sort of wardrobe disaster and was trying to figure out what had gone wrong.

Yes, the sexist comments are appalling, and I make no excuse for them.

So penguin when my 10yo DD goes out in leggings and a skirt, and gets lustful glances from men, your view is that she is

A. Aiming for this reaction from men and
B. Enjoys it

Can't you see how this attitude is a massive problem for girls?

Men behave inappropriately to girls starting when their bodies develop and irrespective of what they are wearing.

Putting this on the girls and their clothes is a real problem. The idea that young girls can be sexually knowing and looking to get adult men feeling lustful is a path that starts with people turning a blind eye to men ogling children and ends with things like Rotherham.

I don’t know nor particularly care what she was wearing. Imagine if it was against HoC rules she wouldn’t be admitted.

My worry is whilst we are all faffing over discussing her outfit we didn’t listen to what she was saying? I mean it’s our Parliament important things do get discussed there.

The sexist comments were inexcusable but I thought her dress was utterly unprofessional. I work with many professional women who look very attractive, sexy even but in a classy, professional manner.

Like it or not, people view our professionalism and work ethic partially on our appearance at the office - it's just human nature. Tracy Brabin is not impressing me at all so far. I hope she proves me wrong in future, I would like to see her succeed and it doesn't mean she'll lose her authenticity to dress in a way that shows she respects her role.

Woman on the radio rang in to say that poor men won't know what to do!

Saying things like what if they accidentally put an arm round her waist to guide her out; or touch her bare flesh - and then get accused of sexual harassment.

I was brushing my teeth at the time and was going to phone in but by the time I'd finished they'd changed topic. I was livid!

(Having seen the pics now, it does look very weird, like it's torn or something. Apparently she says the camera angle/her leaning in distorts it. I guess she won't wear it again though)

I think it's an inappropriate / unprofessional outfit for work.
When I was teaching, I would not have worn it to school.

My opinion would not be different if Jacob R-M was wearing it.

A poster upthread has specifically said that schoolgirls are looking to get ogled by adult men and that they like it.

Certainly when I rolled my skirt up I did it because that's what we all did. I absolutely did not want to be followed, ogled, stared at etc by adult men.

This attitude that girls are sexually knowing and looking to elicit a sexual response from men, from when their bodies start developing (which is when the men start looking, irrespective of the age of the child), is a massive problem.

She is local to me so this story was featured on my local paper's facebook page.
I was sad to see that 100%, yes all, of the comments saying her attire was unsuitable were from women

Those defending her were both women and men.
There were a few predictable "I would" comments from men.
Depressing that it's women policing women yet again.

This is about MEN, not women

It is about men & women. There are two sexes, and various sexual orientations. We are never going to get away from that.

Schoolgirls who roll their skirts up aren't aiming to get 'lustful glances' from adult men, FFS

No, they don't aim for that...but they are unconscious of the way in which clothing, even for very young girls and children is increasingly sexualised. Have you seem much of the stuff that NEXT, for example, sells for girls as young as 5 years old these days?

Fucking hell just no. Most women girls are dressing according to fashion and what they are told looks 'nice'

Exactly! But what they are wearing has been designed to emphasise their sexuality......and also in doing so you seen many people wearing clothing which does not suit them at all........

And as women we should be strongly challenging those misogynistic, sexist people not meekly accepting it confused

How about not conforming to sexist dress codes then? Codes which suggest that women should show as much flesh as permissible....wear bras which emphasise their cleavage in dresses etc? Teeter along in ridiculous high heels......

I don’t think it is appropriate. I can’t understand how she thought it was, or why she would want to wear something that shows so much skin in that setting.

I think this is a feminist issue in that it appears she thinks she needs to show flesh. In every setting. She doesn’t; none of us do.

I once worked for a company where the big boss wore shorts every day.

(Even in the winter. Didn't think he was a slut, just that he must have rather cold resistant legs.)

how un PC that may look or sound to you

* That is just naive......if you wear clothing which is deemed, in your culture, to be sexy...then that is the response you are going to receive.

This is about MEN, not women.

I was in a shop today and the young female advisor was dressed in a buttoned up polo shirt and trousers and the man in front of me still managed to perv on her.

Many schoolgirls absolutely are aiming to get lustful glances by rolling their skirts up! That was exactly what we were all after in the 80s when we did it, and we were hardly the first or the last generation to do so.

We certainly weren't rolling them up for the warmth or the comfort factor were we

Most of us graduated through that stage of dressing for the male gaze and came out the other end, but to deny that it was a specific phase is just bonkers.

And yes this was an utterly unprofessional outfit.

Men wear shorts to work all the time where I work and I'm fairly sure no one thinks they are sluts etc

Women judging other women for their clothing choices...Now, that's really not a good look

I don't care what it looks like , I'm saying what I believe to be true. It is naive to assume that people don't judge each other on first appearances; they most often do.....which is why people make such an effort with clothing and presentation. It sends out signals and messages...no matter how un PC they might look or sound to you.

If we lived in a culture in which public nudity was the norm then it would be less of an issue...but we don't.......And the fact is that women are still judged, primarily, on how attractive or sexy they are.

I'm older now...and was always considered attractive when young.....after about 40, I noticed that i got a lot less attention or glances from men...it was quite obvious to me......so rather than dwell on that and try to recapture lost youthful/sexual appeal...I ploughed on with developing myself as a person...and as a woman not dependent on being considered as attractive according to our culture's sexualised norms.