Sauce for the Goose

VenusSuffragette, the movie, has highlighted what a long way we’ve come in terms of the equality of men and women to have and express their opinions. Gone too are the days when women were seen as somehow lesser than men in the workplace, constrained by society to specific job roles, although there are still some jobs where it is not straight forward for women to fill a role.

Campaigners have worked hard to get equal pay for women and men who do the same job role…and quite right too.

But when did the tables turn in the predatory leering stakes? When did it become OK for women to ogle men, but not OK for men to ogle women?

The male celebrities and/or dancers from Strictly Come Dancing take off their shirts and unleash a full-on female fancy-fest.

One person stated: “Christmas has come early tonight #Gleb #Strictly.” Others posted in agreement: “Can Gleb have his shirt undone every week please? #strictly #scd,” and: “Gleb Savchenko on Strictly wow.”

What is the difference between this behaviour (his and theirs), and the advertising poster featuring a scantily clad woman, enjoyed by passers-by?

For some reason, women saying they admire attractive men is now acceptable while men saying they admire attractive women isn’t.

Charlotte Proudman’s outrage at comments made about her LinkedIn photo being “the best LinkedIn picture I have ever seen” is an example of how women can claim to be offended by men commenting on their attractiveness.

We all appreciate beautiful things and personally, it doesn’t faze me either way around; it’s the dual standards that I can’t accept.

Is it OK to comment on attractiveness when the person, of either sex, is a “celebrity” who puts themselves in the public eye, but not when they are a private individual…?