Today the Prime Minister said there was "absolutely no place" for sexist behaviour in the House of Commons following claims in the Mail on Sunday from Conservative MPs that Labour's Angela Rayner has sought to distract the PM "Basic Instinct style".
The Mail On Sunday (MoS) reported Conservatives claimed Ms Rayner enjoyed attempting to put Mr Johnson "off his stride" during Prime Minister's Questions by "crossing and uncrossing her legs". Ms Rayner often sits next to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and opposite the Prime Minister during the weekly Commons clashes.
After the story was published there was, rightly, an outcry of horror from MPs on all sides and Ms Rayner herself said they were "vile lies" and that she was “fearful” and “really down” when tipped off, worrying about what her teenage sons would think.
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And on Monday the Speaker of the House Lindsay Hoyle summoned the Mail on Sunday’s editor for a meeting over the "offensive" article - in an open letter, the Mail declined and said it "deplores sexism and misogyny in all its forms".
The letter was featured in a story that claimed Ms Rayner "laughed about Sharon Stone comparisons", which she later responded to in a series of tweets, she said: "The Mail implies today that I somehow enjoy being subjected to sexist slurs. I don’t. They are mortifying and deeply hurtful."
But there lies one of the major problems with this type of sexism - the belief women should be flattered in a way. The idea that you're being compared to a beautiful actor, why not take it as a compliment?
And this happens every time a woman is wolf-whistled, or has some comment passed about their appearance. We should be flattered that a strange man has taken one look at us and decided to give us attention, should we not?
It is 2022 and we are still having this conversation?
Women didn't ask for your backhanded "compliments", women don't want them and women are far more than what they look like.
And even if a woman was to laugh off sexist comments, that could come from a place of fear of what would happen if they confront them; or a place of exhaustion because they are so overwhelmed by the amount of sexism they face every day.
As Ms Rayner said "As women we sometimes try to brush aside the sexism we face, but that doesn’t make it ok.
"‘She loves it really’ is a typical excuse so many women are familiar with. But it can’t be women’s responsibility to call it out every time. I don’t need anyone to explain sexism to me - I experience it every day."
Stories and comments like the ones directed at Ms Rayner show how little some people have changed, dilute the real political debate and, perhaps more deeply, may deter other women from pursuing a career in politics.
Today at Prime Minister's Questions Boris Johnson said he had "exchanged messages" with Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner at the weekend after a Mail On Sunday article about her, Ms Rayner said in a tweet before PMQs he had given "assurances he would unleash ‘the terrors of the earth’ on the Tory MPs spreading this vile sexism".
He addedin PMQs: "I repeat what I said to her, there can be absolutely no place for such behaviour or such expression in this House and we should treat each other frankly, with the respect that each other deserves."
Let's hope he means it as it will take both men and women to stamp out sexism.
