to feel slightly repulsed by this photo of Mr Gove in his too tight trousers?

[LuluJakey1]

The phrase 'mountain out of a molehill' comes to mind, along with 'Brain bleach needed'.

I saw that last week and have been struggling to put it out of my mind. Thanks for re-traumatising me. He's not wrong when he says he doesn't have any charisma is he?

Hidious man inside and out.

What you need is a pair of Michael Gove political pants!

Oh, he's not going to be PM, too divisive in the party. (And the daily mail want May)

But yes, those are some unfortunate trousers.

The clapping thing, the actual changes of direction I could understand out of sheer boredom or having got tired hands after a day of clapping at conference, but it's the wobbly lip going with it that's just ...odd.

He's not normal is he?

If men discussed women in this way....

Whatever you think about his looks ( and I try very hard to avoid thinking about his looks and those of his wife,) he is an arrogant, back stabbing weasel, with no moral compass. Imo of course.

ahh- he even 'dresses' to the far right

Chunterbust They do.

"If men discussed women in this way..."

oh but they do, volubly ..in the press and in public

If men discussed women in this way....

Have ypu not seen the endless magazine articles, the websites, the newspaper articles, segments in daytime tv, so on and so forth. That are all designed to Judge womens dress sense and outifts?

Every wards ceremony breeds a winners and loser list based purely on what some very talented actresses wore.

The difference is he's a powerful man who may have damaged our country for generations, and a divisive backstabbing bastard, not some soap actress with a bit of cellulite. Open season on repulsion and mockery IMO.

Well, OK. So long as you are happy for women to be described in the same terms. I'm not.

There are plenty of odious and repulsive things to talk about with Gove without descending to mocking his looks.

It's all a load of bollocks.

His wife looks really miserable in that picture.
Poor woman - fancy having to be intimate with that thing!

Gatekeeper. That doesn't make it right. It's not okay to mock someone for what they have no control over like physical attributes and afflictions, even if they are a prominent person. I'm with Bertrand on this.

BertrandRussell and Chunterbust I agree. I am no fan of Gove but feel really uncomfortable making fun of someone for the way they look, or mannerisms they can't change.

There was a thread about Theresa May's fashion choices on here which was relatively restrained. Some people liked the way she dressed, others didn't - I thought it was reasonable to discuss her clothes on S&B since she is obviously interested in, and enjoys, fashion. And clothes/accessories are something people make an aesthetic choice about rather than something they're born with. There were a few comments about appearance but nothing like the level of personal criticism in the Gove threads. Lots of posters felt that as a woman who wasn't in the public eye because of her looks, we should be focusing on her policies and not picking holes in her appearance.

Men have traditionally escaped this scrutiny, so there isn't the same context or misogyny, but I don't think this makes it okay to mock men for the way they look either.

I slate Gove for his politics, his backstabbing, his arrogance and his inability to engage with the voters. I don't think he's fit to run the country. But his looks don't help his cause.

People mocked Milliband when he was eating a bacon sandwich, called him Wallace, mock Corbyn for his attire, mocked William Hague for his voice and bald head and Neil Kinnock for falling over in the sea.
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They put themselves in he public eye. The public are going to comment.

He has control over whether he wears trousers that give him a lop-sided, hanging mangina!

Agree he could have made a better choice of trousers.

Bertrand I agree with you, there are lots of reasons to dislike Gove, but this constant harping on about his appearance is really unpleasant. Hopefully you'll all be fine about it if your children aren't conventionally attractive and dare to step forward for public office.

I see his Twitter campaign's going well

I loathe him with a passion only a teacher could feel, but I agree with Bertrand Russell about the thread.

Apart from the clip of him falling over...

OMG Gove has what I call a FF (fat fanny). He also has the most unsnoggable lips I have ever seen, other than David Mellor's.

I can't believe he's only 48!

Michael Gove political pants!

ANd I think mocking his looks is fine - they're an accurate expression of his nasty inner nature.