Mary Portas has put her well-heeled boot into the Cabinet’s women this week with a scathing attack on their dress sense. The retail guru hit out at the likes of Caroline Spelman and Theresa May for crimes against fashion, branding them an "ugly bunch".
Instead of concerning herself with the recession or the revival of boarded-up ghost towns like Margate, Portas is focusing on makeovers for female MPs.
Let’s face it, our leading ladies will never strut the catwalk – and thank God! Women and men alike should make an effort with their appearance, especially if they are in the public eye, but looking good is not essential for our elected representatives – just ask John Prescott.
Besides which, haven’t we got more to worry about than what shoes our MPs wear? Like most people in this country, I’d rather Theresa May had her mind on the job and not on kittens, or kitten heels.
I’d rather substance over style, Mary! Look what glamour and sex appeal did for Labour with Blair and Brown’s babes... Such as ‘window dressing’ Caroline Flint.
I find Portas’s whole argument to be yet another attack on women in politics. Working women regularly find themselves under scrutiny based on their appearance – and how sad that fellow women are usually the ones wielding the knife. What happened to solidarity? There are plenty of male scruffs who find themselves in power, but they seem to get let off even in the modern metrosexual world.
Even I, as a humble activist, have felt public scrutiny in this regard. A female journalist from a so-called quality newspaper thought it was acceptable to criticise my wardrobe choices, just because I happened to stand next to David Cameron as he made a public appearance while bidding for Downing Street.
When are women going to get their opportunity to show their worth without the fashion pack or the sexist parade passing their judgement on things that shouldn’t matter? Perhaps Baroness Warsi is at home in her golf jumpers, maybe Theresa’s shoes do for her what Maggie’s statement bag did for her. Who cares if their clothes don’t fit with society’s concept of what is proper? They ought to look smart, but being stylish is irrelevant. If May wants to wear an olive coat with a fuschia pair of heels and purple tote, so be it.
Unfortunately any career woman will face such difficulties. Workplaces are still male-dominated, and a woman’s appearance carries too much importance. We are still not taken seriously, so much so that a flippant decision to pick a certain blouse to wear one day is seized upon. Anyway, politics never was the career for the handsome and the pretty – we have catwalks for them.
Like most voters, I just want an MP who represents me, works hard without a grumble and goes on with their day-to-day business.
I want substance and a strong woman (a bit like Maggie) who won’t be shouted down by boisterous male colleagues. I want women who have transcended the dreaded equality quota and have made their name by their policies and not because of their agenda.
Yes Mary, these women need a makeover but not for their style. They need to line themselves up as potential contenders for power. It is time a woman came to the fore. And not for the shoes she was wearing at the time.
Comments
Ian T / October 28 2011 7:05pm
You've hit the nail on the head there !