“It wasn’t quite stilettos at dawn,” read the Daily Mail’s front-page tease, alongside a photograph of British Prime Minister Theresa May and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Not that shoes had anything to do with it, given that the photo was taken at a meeting between the two leaders to discuss Britain’s strategy for leaving the European Union and how that might affect the relationship between Scotland and the rest of the UK.
But for the Mail, these weighty matters were of far less concern than how the two leaders looked. “Never mind Brexit, who won Legs-it!” shouted the headline on the British tabloid’s print edition.
The Mail’s presentation drew fury from politicians and commentators, angry that the paper was — not for the first time — objectifying women to boost sales.
‘Moronic’
The Mail’s presentation drew anger from politicians and commentators.
“It’s 2017. Two women’s decisions will determine if United Kingdom continues to exist,” tweeted Yvette Cooper, a prominent MP in the opposition Labour Party. “And front page news is their lower limbs. Obviously.”
Harriet Harman, a former deputy leader of the Labour Party, called it “moronic.”
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn also took a dim view of the Mail’s headline choice, saying that such sexism “must be consigned to history.”
A later edition of the day’s paper appeared to acknowledge the controversy, with a front-page tease altered to note
columnist Sarah Vine’s “lighthearted verdict on the big showdown” on an inside page.
May unfazed
The Prime Minister brushed the controversy aside.
Speaking to the Express and Star newspaper in Wolverhampton while on a visit to the central England, May said, “You will notice that I am wearing trousers today.”
She added: “As a woman in politics, throughout my whole career I have found that very often, what I wear — particularly my shoes — has been an issue that has been looked at rather closely by people. Obviously what we do as politicians is what makes a difference to people’s lives. I think that most people concentrate on what we do as politicians.”
May did not appear to be upset with the Daily Mail headline: “But if people want to have a bit of fun about how we dress, then so be it.”
Sturgeon was less accommodating. A spokesman for the First Minister told the Press Association: “It is slightly surprising that when the First Minister of Scotland and the Prime Minister of the UK meet to discuss the key issues of the UK’s departure from the EU and giving the people of Scotland a choice over their future, the main focus should be on their legs and what they are wearing.
“Brexit may risk taking Britain back to the early 1970s but there is no need for coverage of events to lead the way.”
Mail hits back
The Mail told its critics to “get a life.”
It added: “Sarah Vine’s piece, which was flagged as lighthearted, was a side-bar alongside a serious political story. It appeared in an 84-page paper packed with important new and analysis, a front page exclusive on cost-cutting in the NHS and a health supplement devoted to women’s health issues.
“For the record, the Mail was the paper which, more than any other, backed Theresa May for the top job.”
It went on to say that it often comments on the appearance of male politicians, such as former Prime Minister David Cameron’s hair, and Corbyn’s clothes.”
But the story drew criticism from prominent journalists in the UK.
Alan Rusbridger, the veteran former editor-in-chief of the left-leading Guardian newspaper, highlighted the ridiculousness of judging leaders on their physical attributes by tweeting “Nice pins” above a famous picture of wartime leaders Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin at the Yalta conference in 1945.
Other social media users were acerbic. “Hello, Daily Mail? 1972 called. They want their casually sexist & demeaning front page headline back,” said one Twitter user.
Another drew comparisons between the tabloid media’s approach to women and last year’s presidential campaign, in which Hillary Clinton struggled against sexist tropes in her failed White House bid.
“Ignoring an actual story in an attempt to demean & humiliate successful women..dated, unimaginative & so, so boring,” tweeted a user identified as Chloe Wood.
The paper’s Scottish edition used a different headline: “Oh so frosty! Secrets of Nicola and PM’s talk-in.”