While The Media Focuses On Theresa May’s Legs, Something Huge Is Happening In Ireland

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Two female political leaders walked into a meeting, using their legs, to discuss the future of Britain, using their brains.

Then, The Daily Mail stepped in – or should I say waded in through their quagmire of sexist bullshit – and things got weird… So weird, in fact, that the public have missed a huge government admission regarding Northern Ireland’s EU membership post-Brexit and the potential reunification of a country that has been divided for almost a century.

Amid the triggering of Article 50, serious talks over a Scottish referendum, and the potential breakdown of Great Britain as we know it, The Daily Wail thought to themselves, ‘Never mind Brexit, who won Legs-it!’

Captioning their headline with, ‘It wasn’t quite stilettos at dawn, but there was a distinctly frosty atmosphere when Theresa May met Nicola Sturgeon yesterday’, The Daily Fail lived up to their nickname.

I mean, would The Daily Mail rather they showed up legless?

What is the point here really, if not to yet again degrade women and belittle their integrity by pitting May and Sturgeon against each other on the basis of their appearance, rather than their political credentials and viewpoints.

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The so-called joke feeds into the perpetual objectification and competition women are subjected to every day… And it wasn’t even clever or funny or nuanced or witty.

It has overshadowed the pivotal head-to-head in which the PM refused to give ground on the Scottish First Minister’s demand for a second independence referendum.

Social media was quick to react to the newspaper’s sexual objectification of the political leaders of England and Scotland, branding the writers’ actions as akin to those of ‘drunken prepubescent boys’.

May and Sturgeon are yet to comment on their unwilful sexualisation in the workplace… Probably because they just can’t be arsed with the legwork of explaining why national newspapers shouldn’t print sexist remarks. Again.

As shocking as this blatant sexism is, the Daily Mail‘s headline also served to cloud the transfer of knowledge to the British people, opting to ignore a major update in the Brexit saga regarding Northern Ireland, from SDLP MP David Davis.

Moreover, Theresa May is more likely busy going about her business of protecting the unification of Great Britain at this tumultuous time, particularly as ministers have conceded for the first time that Northern Ireland has the right to leave the UK and join the EU as part of the Republic of Ireland.

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A leaked letter to an SDLP MP from the Brexit secretary, David Davis, stated:

If a majority of the people of Northern Ireland were ever to vote to become part of a united Ireland, the UK Government will honour its commitment to enable that to happen.

In that event, Northern Ireland would be in a position of becoming part of an existing EU member state, rather than seeking to join the EU as a new independent state.

The leaked revelation from Davis, a politician dubbed, ‘the acceptable face of the Cabinet’, was published in The Times – and the implications of Ireland reunifying as one nation have huge implications.

This comes as Northern Ireland’s political parties failed to restore power-sharing in the province over budget disagreements at Stormont, reports the Independent.

Meanwhile, Scotland could be forced to join the back of the queue for EU membership if the country votes for independence from England.

It marks yet another blow to Theresa May’s efforts to keep Britain unified – and keep her anatomy out of the gutter press.

Francesca Donovan

A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.