With women like this there is no hope of dismantling the patriarchy

[badgeronthedrums]

Adele Geras on Twitter:
I’m going to enjoy @harrywalker1 s take on Victoria Starmer’s clothes! She was brilliant on the Royals and this Parliament is going to be fun to follow, fashionwise!

Please, just scoop my brains out with a spoon.

https://x.com/adelegeras/status/1811662747353919511

I enjoy Harriet Walker's articles. My brains are just fine but thank you for asking.

Are women not allowed to be interested in fashion?

Some people like fashion…. It doesn’t actually make them brain dead, it’s just an interest.

I like plants and follow people who post about them with interest. I still maintain an interest in politics, despite my lowbrow interests.

Ah but enjoying plants and baking is acceptable for some reason.

How dare people enjoy things!

But Victoria Starmer has never set out to be in the public eye; she's not Victoria Beckham. Why does she have to have this level of scrutiny? How are women - or indeed men whose wives don't want it - going to contribute to public life if they know that they are going to get a fashion correspondent assigned to them.

If your op had read like that I might have been interested in discussing it further with you. But as you chose to start with an implied sneer, I don't think I can be bothered. Good day.

Oh dear, OP, that didn't go too well did it?
I agree with you that women in the public eye are subjected to much more scrutiny than men as regards what they choose to wear, and I agree with you that that's not right.
I agree with other posters that I like fashion and clothes and all that kind of thing, but I don't think it should be used in a judgmental way against women, which it undoubtedly is.
I don't think it's the worst manifestation of the patriarchy though, so the title of your thread was OTT, wasn't it?

I don't believe the patriarchy will ever be dismantled, alas, I think we are in a permanent state of resistance, one step forward two steps back. Women not being judged on their appearance would be a small but valuable win.

I'm sure she will have been well prepped as to what to expect.
I actually wish the press would leave people's partners etc alone but sadly they won't.

Adele Geras is a well respected novelist, children's writer and fellow of the Royal Society of literature. I've been following her on twitter for years and this one tweet is in no way representative of her full output.

You on the other hand have sneered at her, come over to another platform to slag her off and then failed to make a decent argument.

Derek Guy creates a mass internet following talking about fashion / tailoring and its history - everyone applauds him. Women writers talking about fashion and politics = brain dead. Maybe a bit of internalised misogyny in there?

Women public figures are held to a different standard to male public figures but why can Derek Guy dissect the tailoring choices of Sunak, Tate, etc but women can't do the same?

And VS went to a tax payer funded trip to the US as PM's spouse. She has chosen to be in the public eye.

I don't like the way women are judged on how they look and men on their actions. I remember there was a newsreader who wore the same suit for a year to see if he'd get a reaction but no one noticed. Whereas his female colleague was constantly criticised for her clothes. I also remember Kate Adie (news correspondent to war zones) criticised once for wearing pearls.
https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/karl-stefanovics-sexism-experiment-today-presenter-wears-same-suit-for-a-year-20141115-11ncdz.html

I'm grumpy today, sorry. Sometimes things don't come out right. Never mind.

The Times fashion section on a Wednesday is second to none, and Harriet Walker is a top notch journalist. I never miss it.

Nothing wrong with being interested in fashion. Plenty wrong with focussing on Victoria Starmer's clothes. She is not a celebrity.

And I love fashion!

"And VS went to a tax payer funded trip to the US as PM's spouse. She has chosen to be in the public eye."

Yes- bet she loved her freebie holiday!

Agreed, and that's how I interpreted your OP @badgeronthedrums with a side of exasperation. Not sneery or whatever. It's like: 'and here you go Victoria,enjoy your new role as window dressing!' I'd respect her so much for opting out in the same normal clothes every day. And before pps jump down my throat, I wouldn't respect her less if she's into fashion- nothing wrong with that. But it takes guts not to play the game

I don't disagree with you OP and I really don't care who the journo is. If they want to talk about the clothes that somebody is wearing then fine - the minute that they talk about how the person looks in those clothes then they are being dicks. As are the sycophants who follow it.

I agree with you OP and read your post as exasperation not snark. I think you've been mauled a bit unduly here.

I don't see a problem. Should women in the public eye dress like old washer women?
Can't they dress well without the screeching harpies coming out ....screeching?

Who defines what 'dressing well' is? Talking about the clothes isn't an issue - talking about how the person is wearing them, is.

Your 'old washer women' and 'screaming harpies' is misogynistic and a bit misplaced on this board I would have thought?

Carrie Johnson's taste in interior design and fashion seems to have been fair game for media - not sure why this is any different?

Generally speaking from my perspective men don't wear "fashion" to work.

They just wear business suits. Cheap to expensive they are quite ubiquitous and therefore serve as a neutral enough background for what they are doing and saying to be at the front, not their bodies and how they are draped.

Women don't follow this business convention, they wear all sorts of stuff which this thread has called fashion.

Definition
a popular or the latest style of clothing, hair, decoration, or behaviour.

So women and men are doing two different things, fashion being about "popular" clothing, and therefore likely to be discussed.

Men's suits are not "fashion" in the same way and unlikely to be discussed as a result.

It's two different behaviours not double standards.

I would just like to point this out.....
Style, Beauty & Fashion Forum | Mumsnet | Mumsnet

Just sayin'

Im fairness I think the interior design choices were scrutinised because of who might be paying...