Who should take responsibility for the fact that Lisa’s Today show co-host, Karl Stefanovic, actually did wear the same suit, on air, every day for a whole year without anyone saying a word?
You know the answer.
We all do.
Women are to blame.
It is women who get stuck into other women about the clothes they wear.
It is women dragging other women down.
Think about it.
Can you really imagine a man getting on the phone to the Channel Nine switchboard to say: ‘What on earth was Lisa thinking when she put that frock on today?’
Can you imagine a bloke getting on Twitter to say: ‘Lisa’s top is so horrible! She really needs to take some fashion advice!’
No, because men don’t do that. They don’t do it to each other, and generally speaking, they don’t do it to us.
Women do that, to each other.
If you don’t believe me, go onto the Today show’s Instagram page.
There’s half a dozen pictures of Lisa posted there. Most of the comments refer not to what she said or did on the show, but to her clothes, her shoes, and her hair – and most, if not all, of the comments come from other women.
One of the most recent photographs is of Lisa being inducted into the Cosmo magazine hall of fame (she was the youngest ever editor of Dolly, and she’s a former editor-in-chief of Cleo.)
Most of the comments underneath the photograph are about her dress, and most are from women, who quite liked it.
Woe betide she wear something they don’t like. That’s when the claws come out.
It’s not only Lisa who cops it.
There’s another picture of Deborah Knight, standing with the former Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh, who is the only woman ever to stand for that office and get elected.
They are launching a program designed to boost self-esteem in young girls.
The comments?
Love those pants!!! – Kathleen.
Love those pants!! – Michelle.
I also love those pants!! – Kerry.
Then there’s this, from last May, when Lisa had the temerity to wear a gold top from Sass and Bide on the show.
A woman called Shelley wrote in: ‘Oh, Lisa, what were you thinking when you put that top on!!!!’
Lisa replied: ‘I was thinking: Gold Telethon today for the Sydney Children’s Hospital: why not put on something that reflects the spirit of generosity and giving?’
She is all class, always has been.
The rest of us need to have a good, hard look at ourselves.
For the record: I see Karl Stefanovic, on average, once a week.
I go into the Nine studios to do a segment on Mornings. He’s usually just finishing up his show on Today.
We talk. We chat. We joke.
I did not notice that every time I saw him, he was wearing the same suit (if it smells, as has been suggested, I didn’t notice that either.)
Nobody did.
But if Lisa had worn the same dress two, three, four, eight, 12 days in row?
Everyone would have noticed – but women would have noticed, first.