Labour frontbencher Tracy Brabin has compared the outcry over her off-the-shoulder dress to The Handmaid’s Tale.
The Shadow Culture Secretary believes the uproar about “Shouldergate” was down to the “everyday, boring old sexism” endured by every woman.
She said: “It’s my responsibility to my constituents to look smart. I represent them. I don’t want to come in looking like a bag of shopping. But what is wrong with a bit of shoulder?
“We have agreed there can be breast feeding in the House of Commons but if you can’t show your shoulders how are women going to breast feed? It’s all bonkers.
“The reaction was overblown. All of that sexualisation about a shoulder, it’s like The Handmaid’s Tale gone mad. Or Victorian England, with an ankle showing.
“It’s part of the same narrative that says some women cover up too much, they wear the scarf and the veil.
“So many men feel they have carte blanche to just comment on women’s attire without any push back.”
Ms Brabin was subjected to online abuse after the black dress slipped off her shoulder in the House of Commons last week. The former Coronation Street actress said all women encountered sexism about their choice of clothes.
The Labour MP said: “I have two daughters, 21 and 26, and everywhere they go, they get all of that.
“It happens to Angela Merkel, Theresa May, every woman.”
The £35 ASOS dress is now being auctioned to raise money for Girlguiding, and bids have already topped £14,000.
Ms Brabin added: “I’m auctioning my dress for the Girl Guides because they did a survey and one in six girls under-12 now feels ashamed of her body. Where does that shame come from? Boys don’t feel the same.
“That is why girls don’t do PE, why they feel judged. They’re navel-gazing at home, looking at Instagram saying I’m not good enough. This is part of our mental health problem with women.”
She called for more opportunities for women but said the change must start in childhood, singling out teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg for particular praise.
Ms Brabin said the message should be: “Stop thinking how you look and focus on what you want to achieve. Greta Thunberg has made quite a powerful statement for young girls’ activism.”
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