We’ve made vast strides in representing women — so why are we still picking over their looks?

Phoebe Luckhurst
Daniel Hambury
WEST END FINAL

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What do these three things have in common? A row about whether Carey Mulligan is “hot” enough to be a leading lady; a government #StayHome infographic depicting women as child-rearers and homemakers; and prudishness about the YouTuber Zoella reviewing some vibrators? They all happened in the last week, and tell a dispiriting story about the representation of women in media.  

The Mulligan row was straightforward misogyny, while the #StayHome clanger just shows what happens when you have no women at the top table. Dropping Zoella from GCSE courses after she roadtested some sex toys shows how unthinkingly people marginalise female pleasure. (Side note: you have to worry about the judgment of people who think that a slightly giggly video about vibrators is the worst thing kids could find on YouTube).

Obviously, no three headlines tell the whole story. In the last year, we’ve also had I May Destroy You’s radical depiction of female agency; the first female vice-president; and TV shows like Bridgerton and Industry, where women call the sexual shots. Still, this week’s examples show how there’s no straightforward victories in a culture that still feels liberated to pick over women’s looks, limit their ambitions and outlaw their sexuality. God, it’s boring, isn’t it? You also wonder what it’s doing to the next generation.

 This week is Children’s Mental Health Week; experts speak of a crisis among teenagers. They are more anxious and more depressed than ever before; the number of teenage girls admitted to hospital in England for self-harm has more than tripled in the last decade.  

Correlation is not causation and misery is complicated — but it’s not reductive to reflect on the lives of sad girls mainlining a culture served up to them through every screen, and, apparently, by their homework and government. I have a teenage sister and another in her twenties, and watching them navigate the cesspit of “likes” has made me quietly furious for years.  

But whether or not they’re watching all this and despairing, let’s stop admitting these own goals and make progress the real story. Repeat after me: a woman’s looks are irrelevant to her competency at work — whatever your job. Install some women at the top of government — you might start thinking of them as equals. Oh and teach the next generation that female pleasure is important — so they don’t internalise the idea  it isn’t important at all. It sounds so simple when you write it out, eh?

Marilyn Manson has been dropped by his record label after  actress Evan Rachel Wood alleged he was abusive towards her during their relationship. “He started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years,” Wood wrote. “I am here to expose this dangerous man and call out the many industries that have enabled him.” Since Wood spoke out, four other women have also alleged abuse by Manson. He denies the accusations.  

There’s a fairly regular debate, when a famous or powerful man is accused of  sexual assault, about whether it is possible to separate artist from man: whether it’s possible to, say, enjoy the music without condoning his actions. But the power success brings can enable abuse —  and men who commit abuse should be punished, rather than continuing to enjoy the spoils of a system loaded in their favour. Again, it’s straightforward.

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