AIBU to question criticism of a female MP’s outfit in maiden speech?

[Browningpers]

Spectator article asking whether Hannah Spencer’s outfit detracted from her maiden speech. Seen similar elsewhere too.

I can’t ever recall the same being asked of a male politician.

Article by a woman too.

AIBU?

The UK is full of shallow, narrow minded people who judge on appearance, not substance.

And you wonder why the country is a mess...

Hannah Spencer is not just a woman, but a working class woman, two characteristics she shares with Angela Rayner. A sitting target for the snobby misogynist. It is amusing that she is wearing trousers, a shirt and a waistcoat, the attire of many male MPs.

I think she'd be criticised whatever she wore. It's not really about her outfit though. It's her politics and her gender. How very dare she!!

Happy to report that I saw Hannah Spencer at work in Parliament today (by coincidence) and no-one struggled to take her seriously. Phew.

It does. She was dressed as a clown. If a man showed up in Parliament dressed as a children's party entertainer, he'd be subject to scrutiny too. Women aren't owed a blind eye to a lack of professionalism based on our sex.

And yet nobody commented on Boris Johnson's perma-dishevelled appearance, or called him unprofessional. This is shades of 'Jeremy Corbyn doesn't have a nice suit' all over again - sexist, snobby, classist, backward-looking nonsense. The British obsession with style over substance is one of the things holding it back.

Wtf planet have you been on? Johnson's appearance was a constant source of scrutiny, ridicule, debate about how it was a deliberate strategy on his part to come across in a carefully curated manner.

That's actually such a staggeringly ridiculous comment, the man's appearance probably got more column inches than anything else about him.

There's a huge difference between commenting that someone's appearance is carefully curated to make him come across in a certain way and calling a woman a clown for the way she dresses. Your faux outrage about this is hilarious. And yes, they did it to Theresa May too - because casual sexism.

The British obsession with corporate conformist dressing is ridiculous. It makes us dress our young people like estate agent wannabes in polyester while teachers spend more time policing clothes than they do teaching. What a pathetic waste of time and energy. Judge Hannah Spencer on her performance in Parliament, not on what she's wearing.

Professionalism is in your head, not what you choose to wear.

No. It's just her politics. And its sex not gender.

Depends on the business. Not everyone has to wear boring charcoal to work. The creative industries for instance are an eceonomic heavyweight. And to be frank the country would be in a much better state with fewer men in suits and more people who work with their hands and dress how the fuck they want.

I'm not fan of either, but I thought that Spencer's working class credentials had been thoroughly debunked on account of her property portfolio and political links within her family. I read that her childhood home was just along the road from where Sam Allardyce used to live. 😂 Doesn't sound like a tough estate to me.

All of this class stuff is a uniquely British thing and incredibly cynical. I heard Starmer banging on about being working class today, too, sitting around a kitchen table. I suspect having a kitchen table was as foreign to most working class kids in the 1970s as it is now.

She's 34, 35 in April, not that young but regardless, people shouldn't be commenting on the woman's clothes.

You can tell he's working class from his accent. Also, I'm pretty sure a table is not the domain of the middle classes what 40/50 years ago!

I think double standards are rife but I do think a man with a similarly 'out there' outfit would probably get commented on. Boris appearance and Jeremy Corbyn both got trashed for their appearance

We had a kitchen table in the 70s - single parent household in a two bed flat. Class isn’t predicated on property incidentally, it’s occupation based and plumbers are as working class as it gets. Not that it has any relevance to this topic.

Funny that, I know a couple of plumbers. Neither of them live next door to a Premier league manager. . .

I also disagree that class is based on occupation. I grew up in a tower block, my husband grew up on a council estate. We both now have professional grade occupations and are quite wealthy. My 'class' hasn't altered. I still save money, I'm not wasteful and I still live as though it could all be taken away from me in an instant.

So working class people shouldn’t be able to buy their own homes? As far as I know she owns a house she lives in and one other property that is derelict. I don’t consider that a portfolio, maybe you do.

No idea what to make of the Sam Allardyce reference. Do you mean when he managed Bolton?

So he lives in Bolton? Presumably she is referencing 30 years ago as a child, was the area that premium then?

You can disagree as much as you like, you’ll be wrong. The A,B,C social classes system is predicated on occupation. You’ve changed classes if you’re in a professional occupation. Just like my dad did.

So two properties, do you think that everyone should have two properties.

I don’t think everyone ‘should’ have two no, but I don’t really understand the objection in this case. As I understand it, she lives in one and the other is not fit for habitation, so at this point no-one is being deprived of the opportunity to own their home. She may move into it herself in time, or not, and then no doubt there would be opinions about it. But for now, I don’t consider one liveable and one derelict property a portfolio. What do you think?

According to the Daily Mail Hannah Spencer doesn't own two properties. She co-owns two houses with her partner.

"Ms Spencer and Dr Holman were living in a smart, £280,000 terraced home in affluent Sale, but splurged £750,000 on another property five miles away in Altrincham 18 months ago, which is still a building site."

So Angela Rayner ceased to be working class when she became Deputy PM because class is entirely predicated on occupation? That'll be news to her, I'm sure.

Open secret that RS and DC both spent mega bucks though - and it’s often discussed that Labour MPs dress to look a bit poorer; Michael Foot in his duffel coat, Jeremy Corbin always.

I thought she looked like a Child Catcher Bubblegum Nightmare myself - and also foolish, which is up to her. However, if you dress as a Children’s tv presenter to represent your constituency you can reasonably be assumed to be expecting to get a reaction.