A Conservative Magazine Is Under Fire For Slut-Shaming Sarah Hanson-Young
"Any woman with anything upstairs knows you don't win a debate with your boobs hanging out."
Conservative rag Spectator Australia has come under fire for slut-shaming Sarah Hanson-Young after publishing a letter criticising the Greens senator for the way she dresses, accompanied by a cropped photo of her breasts.
Titled “Sarah Hanson-Young’s credibility gap”, the letter, which the magazine pointedly stressed was written by a female reader, ridiculed the senator for her outfit choices.
“If [Hanson-Young] wants to be taken seriously why is she wearing a dress in the Senate that looks like she’s on her way to a Christmas party?” the reader asked. “Any woman with anything upstairs knows you don’t win a debate with your boobs hanging out.”
The letter has since been deleted from the Spectator Australia website after it was criticised by a number of prominent female journalists.
This is the image and text published by Spectator Australia today. On what planet is this acceptable to publish ? @FraserNelson @spectator pic.twitter.com/WRxy5fHvL7
— ???????? ?????? (@samanthamaiden) November 28, 2018
Appalling. https://t.co/qtMAQKsOJv
— Tracey Spicer (@TraceySpicer) November 28, 2018
So I guess no one who works at or reads @spectator has seen boobs before, hey. pic.twitter.com/nWBG6sr9Pi
— Katy Hall (@katyhallway) November 28, 2018
“You don’t win a debate with your boobs hanging out.”
This is absolutely disgusting, Spectator Australia. pic.twitter.com/2cFnh4G812— Dr Julia Baird (@bairdjulia) November 28, 2018
In a statement to BuzzFeed, Hanson-Young called the letter “juvenile and pathetic”.
“It’s 2018, for heaven’s sake,” she said. “The suggestion that a woman’s opinion is not valid because of the way she dresses is as out of touch as it is offensive.”
On Monday, Greens leader Richard DiNatale was ejected from the Senate for refusing to withdraw comments calling LNP senator Barry O’Sullivan “an absolute pig” after O’Sullivan made a sexist jibe about Hanson-Young. The following day, Hanson-Young gave an impassioned speech calling out O’Sullivan, as well as senators Cory Bernardi, David Leyonhjelm and Fraser Anning.
“I have sat in this chamber for weeks and weeks and heard the disgusting slurs and attacks coming from a particular group in this place,” she said. “You are not fit to be in this chamber, you are not fit to represent your constituents, and you are not fit to call yourselves men.”
Sarah Hanson-Young takes a big swing at male senators Cory Bernardi, David Leyonhjelm, Fraser Anning, and Barry O’Sullivan pic.twitter.com/dFAnKf7F2k
— BuzzFeedOz Politics (@BuzzFeedOzPol) November 27, 2018
In a piece for Junkee published today, Hanson-Young said she was “sick of being targeted by some men in my workplace who, rather than debating ideas with polices, reason and fact, resort to personal insults and sexualised taunts”.
“I’ve had enough of this bullying and disrespect, and I know women and girls across the country deserve better,” she wrote. “Women, no matter their profession or experience, must feel safe to speak up and call out intimidation and sexist put downs. We deserve to have our voices heard and we’re not going to be silenced by slut-shaming and sexist bullying.”