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Rachel Smalley: Theresa May already faced with sexist, Jurassic attitudes

Author
Rachel Smalley,
Publish Date
Tue, 12 Jul 2016, 7:01AM
Theresa May (Photo / Getty Images)
Theresa May (Photo / Getty Images)

Rachel Smalley: Theresa May already faced with sexist, Jurassic attitudes

Author
Rachel Smalley,
Publish Date
Tue, 12 Jul 2016, 7:01AM

Theresa May will be the next British prime minister.

There's been some interesting reaction.

Quite mind-blowing reaction, actually.

You could be forgiven for thinking we're back living in the 1950s, if you look at the reaction from some of the old boys in the establishment. The rather Jurassic political editors and correspondents who've looked to profile her in the last hour or so, after the news broke.

Theresa May is a vicar's daughter, and is a fan of the cricket commentator Geoffrey Boycott, kitten heels, colourful clothes and cooking.

She drinks earl grey tea, has more then 100 cook books and lives in the same picture postcard village as George Clooney.

And it goes on.

"Two years ago she revealed she was diabetic and has to inject insulin four times a day.

Typically, she gets on with it without fuss...

....She has also made little fuss about her failure to have children."

Yes, you heard correctly. 'failure'.

Mary mother of god.

See what I mean, it's as if we're back in the 1950s.

And then the author goes back to talking about tea.

"As for earl grey tea," he says, "She always takes some bags with her when she stays in a hotel, at party conferences for example, in case there aren't any in her bedroom. That's how meticulous she is at preparing for the unexpected. But that sort of preparation is about to be put to the biggest test."

Honestly, do you they'd profile Boris Johnson in the same way if he were the next prime minister?

"Her shoes and clothes," the article goes on to say, "Are from the unflashy LK Bennett shop."

I don't care where she buys her clothes. Truly.

"And although her house is full of cook books, she is not a fan of the showy Delia Smith or Jamie Oliver."

Suddenly, I feel a little sorry for Theresa May.

She is the prime minister who will have to negotiate Britain's exit from the E.U. She will likely be at the helm when the country goes through a recession, and has to unite a very fractured nation where race hate and race crimes have spiked.

Never mind the detail. Let's talk about her cook books.

It is not as if May is the first woman to be in a position of considerable power.

Look around the world right now.

Janet Vellen chairs the U.S federal reserve.

Hillary Clinton, potentially, will be the next U.S president.

Germany, in the wake of Brexit, now the most powerful country in the E.U is governed by Angela Merkel.

Christine Lagarde is head of the international monetary fund.

And what if Helen Clark takes over as the secretary general of the UN?

It is not new to have a woman in a position of major influence - but despite this, profilers are still talking about where she buys her clothes, how many cook books she has, and her childless state is referred to as 'a failure'.

Welcome to 2016, Theresa May. You're a vicar's daughter which may come in pretty handy over the next couple of years, because when you're faced with such sexist, Jurassic attitudes, it may well be that only god can help you now.

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