The Observer - 11.08.2019

• The Observer
  11.08.19 25

Boris Johnson has a

woman problem. No, not the rascally

lady-killer stuff he probably loves

people talking about. This problem

is that female voters don’t like him.

A YouGov poll shows that, while

men give him a net favourability

of -17, with women he scores lower

with -25. Even Tory female Leavers

aren’t as keen on Johnson as the

Conservative Leave men.

This isn’t about women

disapproving of Johnson’s personal

life. A 2018 Survation poll revealed

that people didn’t care that Johnson

was getting divorced, but they

would still be less likely to vote for

the Conservatives if he were leader,

debunking the myth that only

prudes and killjoys object to him.

Similarly, the new poll doesn’t mean

that women are having a fi t of the

vapours over Johnson’s personal life,

however revealing it is for a grown

man to drunkenly shout and swear

at his much younger partner.

This is purely about women not

trusting a character such as Johnson,

maybe because most of us have

already been there , so to speak.

Many women would have spotted

that Johnson is the original man-

child. Yes, with his personal shit , but

politically, where it counts, Johnson

comes across as an irresponsible

brat who needs constant

monitoring. If he’s not showing off

and playing up, he’s tipping up his

toybox in a temper to get his own

way. Now Boris-Baby-Bunting has

brought in his Leave-pal, Dominic

Cummings, another reckless, self-

styled daredevil (unelected), who

seems to think that no deal is just a

bit of a larf , like mooning at the EU

out of the back of the car on an old-

style Calais booze cruise.

Boris and Dom – they even sound

like a double-act on CBeebies. While

it’s true that using fi rst names makes

worrying people sound cuddly ,

maybe, just this once, it could be

viewed as apposite for the “Double-

dare ya!” infantilisation passing for

Brexit policy in Westminster.

Dom might be a key adolescent

phase that Johnson has to go

through, but most women (most

people) want leaders to be grown-

ups, not having to be monitored like

feral schoolchildren who’ll run off to

play with matches the moment your

back is turned. While New Labour

was mocked for nannying , with

Johnson it’s the opposite – there’s

the constant feeling of having to

nanny him, neurotically checking

Barbara

Ellen

Johnson has a problem with women

... and it’s not the one you think

what he’s getting up to with his

weird, sneaky, inappropriate mates.

Excruciating displays of political

machismo are nothing new, from

Vladimir Putin riding bareback, like

a Slavic “Tom of Finland” , to Matteo

Salvini strutting preposterously in

Italy. Some (sad) men may be fooled,

but to women it signals a toxic

carnival of fragile male egos where

a plan should be. This is Johnson’s

true woman problem. Most women

would have met and coped with a

posturing man-child (or two) – in

relationships, at work, in bars, on

streets. However, if you think we’re

going to vote for one, forget it.

Unfortunately for him

they can see through

the bluster to the

fragile ego of a toddler

Why do we

still turn a hair

over women’s

armpits?

All football, not

just Rooney,

is tainted by

gambling ties

Who’s still

fretting about female armpit hair?

Two decades ago, Julia Roberts

caused a furore by fl ashing tufts

at the Notting Hill fi lm premiere.

Considering the fuss, you’d have

thought that Roberts had nuclear

missiles tucked in her pits. Now

Emily Ratajkowski has appeared in

Harper’s Bazaar magazine fl ashing

Wayne Rooney

has been criticised by the Church of

England for promoting gambling

with his £7.8m player-coach signing

with Derby County, where part of his

salary will be paid by sponsors, the

betting company 32Red , with him

wearing the number 32 on his shirt.

Dr Alan Smith, the bishop of

St Albans, said it was harmful to

impressionable young fans to see

gambling promoted in this way.

Rooney had his own gambling

problems , so the decision is even

odder. Still, why are people focusing

on Rooney in particular?

This is beyond one player – this is

about the greed and irresponsibility

of football clubs and English

football generally. Half of the

Premier League’s football shirts

will feature a gambling company’s

logo this season , while 17 out of 24

Championship shirts will sport a

betting logo. Football is awash with

advertising revenue, not just from

gambling but also from alcohol and

unaffordable designer labels.

Advertising is as defi ning a

feature of high-level football

culture as the pitch itself, but what

advertising should be permitted?

Of course, Rooney could have

turned down the Derby County

deal. However, it seems unfair

to concentrate on him when the

problems run far deeper. In this

case, the celebrity footballer is the

symptom, not the cause.

her underarm hair in a portrait

by Michael Avedon, leading to the

model being criticised as unclean

and disgusting. In the accompanying

essay, Ratajkowski cites Roxane

Gay’s book, Bad Feminist, and says

that sometimes she shaves her

armpits, sometimes she doesn’t

and that’s her choice. Bravo, Ms

Ratajkowski.

Some may sneer at Ratajkowski’s

brand of feminism. A lingerie model

who appeared in the notorious

Blurred Lines video, she was

arrested for protesting against

Brett Kavanaugh’s supreme court

nomination. But since when did

being a model make someone stupid

or irrelevant? What Ratajkowski has

to say about body hair is especially

interesting: if anyone is in the

frontline of the “male gaze” and

idealised perceptions of beauty, it’s

her. Moreover, for someone in her

line of work, subverting her image

is a huge commercial risk and

therefore a statement.

What’s astonishing is that, 20

years after Roberts’s fl ash, anyone

cares. Hair grows on women’s

bodies. If they want to get rid of

hair (leg, armpit, bikini, anywhere),

then they do so. If they don’t wish to

get rid of it (for aesthetic or socio-

political reasons or they just forgot),

they don’t have to. It is that simple.

Young men are coming under

similar pressure to get rid of body

hair, although whether this is good

or bad news is open to debate.

Regarding female underarm hair,

everyone might at least consider

getting over the fact that it exists.

Come 2039, will we still be having

the same conversation?

Comment & Analysis

Women don’t

disapprove of

Boris Johnson’s

personal life, but

of his politics.

Photograph by

Geoff Pugh/AFP

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