The Daily Mail has come under some major criticism this morning, and rightly so.

The tabloid is notorious for its hyped-up headlines, but this morning's serving of sexism completely took the biscuit.

The paper covered yesterday’s meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on their front page, but rather than focusing on the powerful women's political statements, the red top took an entirely different angle. 

Quick recap – headline in Ireland today & a headline in the U.K. tomorrow.
For all those who glibly ask "when is International Men's Day?" pic.twitter.com/KEW0xMK9U0

— Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (@AodhanORiordain) March 27, 2017

The paper chose to discuss the women's bodies rather than what they had to say. 

Pitting the women against one another, "Never mind Brexit, who won Legs-it!" screams the headline, which, first of all, is an idiotic sentence which barely rhymes, and secondly, is a blatant example of everyday sexism.

How ridiculous would it look if this was an image of two male politicians, whose figures were being critiqued rather than what they said?

But of course that would never happen, purely on the basis that they are men and what men have to say and contribute is always valued more than how they look.

I know why Hillary became Queen of the pantsuit. Because "Legs-it" is the kind of comment wearing a skirt gets you

— Claire OT (@claireOT) March 28, 2017

This headline proves that women are still seen by some people to be purely ornamental, that their worth is based completely on what they have to aesthetically offer the world. 

These are two women in positions of power, who have gotten to where they are based on intelligence, skill and hard work, and yet their worth is boiled down to who has the better, more shapely pair of legs? 

It's a completely ludicrous display of flagrant sexism and as women we simply should not condone it. 

"Legs-it" pic.twitter.com/d3axdijsvu

— Mr Hits (@darrenjl) March 27, 2017

"It wasn't quite stilettos at dawn, but there was a distinctly frosty atmosphere when Theresa May met Nicola Sturgeon yesterday," reads the first line of the article, playing up to old stereotypes that women must always be in competition with each other.

We saw it for a whole decade on the X Factor as rumours of female judges nonexistent rivalries made front page news, and comments about how the women looked compared to each other were rife with every single show.

Now, arguably two of the most important women on this side of the pond discussing a massive political issue have become victims to the same kind of thoughtless, sexist rhetoric. 

Feature image: Reuters/Russell Cheyne

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