I know it very occasionally happens, usually when the wife is more famous than the husband, but when did you last hear a man referred to as 'Mr Wife's Name'? eg. Tony Blair as 'Mr Cherie Booth QC' or Paul McCartney as 'Mr Nancy Shevell' or Adrian Edmondson as 'Mr Jennifer Saunders'?
Pretty much never.
So why do the Daily Mail find it necessary, in their coverage of Angelina Jolie receiving a honorary Damehood from HM The Queen for her work on rape in war zones, to inform us that she's also known as 'Mrs Brad Pitt'?
When I was at junior school in the 1970s, we were taught how to properly address a letter. We were told that officially, if writing to a married woman you would properly address her as 'Mrs Brad Pitt'. However, in these enlightened times you would address her as Mrs Angelina Pitt - once you had ascertained that she had not in fact retained her maiden name, which some very liberated ladies chose to do in those days of Jaime Summers the Bionic Woman, the Wimbledon Ladies Champion being an actual real-life lesbian and Germaine Greer talking about orgasms in public.
I don't recall Angelina Jolie having made it known since her marriage to Mr Pitt that she wanted to be known by his name from now on, what with her being a very traditional kinda girl with Victorian values and all that. I can't imagine that she is happy to be defined by who she chose to marry - not this time or the two previous times. I'm fairly sure I've never heard her referred to as 'Mrs Jonny Lee Miller' or 'Mrs Billy Bob Thornton'.
She is who she is. She is very much her own person. She is not defined by who her husband is, regardless of how famous, successful, talented or gorgeous he is.
So why, Daily Mail, in the 21st Century, are you demeaning this strong, independent, caring, intelligent woman who is being rewarded not for being an actress but for her work in the world's war zones with the most vulnerable of people? Can't you just admire her for the brilliant work she's doing?
They also made a little joke about the Queen of Britain meeting the Queen of Hollywood. Oh please!
But if you must insist on this Neanderthal form of address, dear Daily Mail, at least be consistent and use the headline 'Mrs Brad Pitt meets Mrs Duke of Edinburgh'. Let's see what HM thinks of that one.
Friday, 10 October 2014
Tuesday, 7 October 2014
Feminist Misogynist -v- Cllr Karen Danczuk's Boobs
Women should be treated as equal to men.
We are making progress in this fight, particularly in the emancipated West, but in order for our cause to have credibility we have to stop relying on our 'feminine wiles' to get ahead.
Karen Danczuk, Councillor for Rochdale in Lancashire and wife of the town's MP, Simon Danczuk, is a wife, mother, businesswoman and a town councillor. She clearly works very hard and it makes you wonder how she fits everything into her busy life - lovely family, husband away in Westminster a lot etc. And now she is a bit of a media darling.
You'd think that in the 21st century, appearing to 'have it all' would be enough to get the nation's attention. Career? tick. Family? tick. MP for a spouse? tick. Attractive? tick. Intelligent? tick. Tits out for the lads? tick..............
Oh, hang on a minute.
The one and only reason that Mrs Danczuk has come to the attention of the winder world is her penchant for posting selfies showing off her not-inconsiderable cleavage.
How to get ahead in politics. Harman's done the hypocritical bitch thing. Widdecombe did the Christian virgin thing. Currie shagged a Prime Minister. Mensch did the 'being controversial on Twitter' thing. Beckett did the 'looking like a horse' thing and good old Shirley Williams cornered the market in bag lady chic.
All there really was left for Mrs Danczuk was to get her tits out Linda Lusardi style and hope the good gentlemen of Rochdale muttered a quick "Phwoar!" Syd James style as they put an X (triple X, eh lads?) next to her name on the ballot paper.
Blair Babes aint got nothin' on this chick.
Well, Karen, you've got our attention now. If you want to be taken seriously from now on may I suggest that you keep your chest to yourself (and Mr Danczuk) and rely on the contents of your cranium rather than your bra to advance your political career. We need young, committed women in politics, particularly those who've got some experience of the 'real world' rather than career politicians with no concept of life on the outside. Please be one of them - but for the right reasons.
A quick edit to this post. As well as Janet Street-Porter and Jamelia on Loose Women (see link above), Karren Brady also agrees with me on this. "Women in business don't need to wear short skirts" says Baroness Brady. Too right.
We are making progress in this fight, particularly in the emancipated West, but in order for our cause to have credibility we have to stop relying on our 'feminine wiles' to get ahead.
Karen Danczuk, Councillor for Rochdale in Lancashire and wife of the town's MP, Simon Danczuk, is a wife, mother, businesswoman and a town councillor. She clearly works very hard and it makes you wonder how she fits everything into her busy life - lovely family, husband away in Westminster a lot etc. And now she is a bit of a media darling.
You'd think that in the 21st century, appearing to 'have it all' would be enough to get the nation's attention. Career? tick. Family? tick. MP for a spouse? tick. Attractive? tick. Intelligent? tick. Tits out for the lads? tick..............
Oh, hang on a minute.
The one and only reason that Mrs Danczuk has come to the attention of the winder world is her penchant for posting selfies showing off her not-inconsiderable cleavage.
How to get ahead in politics. Harman's done the hypocritical bitch thing. Widdecombe did the Christian virgin thing. Currie shagged a Prime Minister. Mensch did the 'being controversial on Twitter' thing. Beckett did the 'looking like a horse' thing and good old Shirley Williams cornered the market in bag lady chic.
All there really was left for Mrs Danczuk was to get her tits out Linda Lusardi style and hope the good gentlemen of Rochdale muttered a quick "Phwoar!" Syd James style as they put an X (triple X, eh lads?) next to her name on the ballot paper.
Blair Babes aint got nothin' on this chick.
Well, Karen, you've got our attention now. If you want to be taken seriously from now on may I suggest that you keep your chest to yourself (and Mr Danczuk) and rely on the contents of your cranium rather than your bra to advance your political career. We need young, committed women in politics, particularly those who've got some experience of the 'real world' rather than career politicians with no concept of life on the outside. Please be one of them - but for the right reasons.
A quick edit to this post. As well as Janet Street-Porter and Jamelia on Loose Women (see link above), Karren Brady also agrees with me on this. "Women in business don't need to wear short skirts" says Baroness Brady. Too right.
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