Prue Leith thinks women today are too self-obsessed – she’s being misogynistic
'So many women seem to think of nothing but themselves.'
Dame Prue Leith thinks women are too self-obsessed.
‘I do get irritated by the endless self-absorption and constant “me, me, me” stuff,’ she said in a sprawling interview today about everything from wellness to Adolescence.
‘Something’s wrong when we seem to want or need so much pampering all the time,’ she added to The Sun, likely wearing her carefully selected colour-schemed glasses and bright lipstick.
Then came the slam-dunk that had me spitting at my computer screen and getting up for a quick stress walk around my dark living room on a sunny spring morning.
Here goes. Prue’s truth. Prepare yourself.
‘I’m not saying we shouldn’t have these things [like massage places, wellness centres and foot clinics] but so many women seem to think of nothing but themselves,’ said Prue.
Her words are not what I – or any woman on this planet – need to hear.
There isn’t a day that goes by where we don’t hear of a depressing news story about male violence against women.
Prue reckons women need to stop being so self-absorbed with their wellness and beauty habits (Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire)Just this morning, The Guardian revealed boys are targeting young, vulnerable girls to exploit on suicide forums.
And honest to God, if I see Andrew Tate’s vacant face anywhere else – or even hear a mutter of the shiny-headed buffoon – I am going to consider throwing my laptop against a wall.
Perhaps instead of rage, I should log off and go for a nice long bubble bath. Oh, sorry! According to Prue Leith that would be an extremely self-absorbed thing to do. Next time I will just, I don’t know, laugh it off!
My point being: It is a particularly stressful time to be a woman right now. So Prue’s irritation is frustrating, totally misguided – and even misogynistic.
There’s no other word to describe her apparent contempt for women.
I don’t understand why us pampering ourselves is self-obsessed when it’s totally personal and affects no one but us.
Are women not allowed to try and make themselves feel happy, however much of a fruitless, waste of money that might be?
Let’s be clear – Prue is a woman who cares about fashion and her image, as she’s always immaculately turned out (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images) So by her own definition – why isn’t she self-absorbed too? (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)Sometimes, the only thing that helps with my mental anxieties is looking after myself. If I can’t go for a run at night without fear of being murdered, at least I can moisturise my legs and feel in control.
When women take on the lion’s share of unpaid caring duties and domestic work, can them reclaiming some time for themselves with say, a foot bath, really be considered selfish?
God forbid we need a massage after all of that heavy lifting.
It would also be remiss of me not to mention that women also have beauty standards to contend with. Did Prue not think that could be why we get our hair, nails, and skin cleansed within an inch of our sanity, perhaps?
In light of all of this, I can’t help but feel disappointed that this is how she is choosing to use her platform; that she has opted to drag other women down, instead of lifting them up.
In fact, when I first read her interview, it felt exactly like the kind of nonsense you hear from those arguing that ‘feminism has gone too far’.
That women are so selfish nowadays – looking after themselves and their wellbeing, when actually things were better before, when their priority was to care for everyone else first and themselves last.
The last thing we need is women tearing other women down for just trying to get by (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)It’s sadly a prevalent point of view. An Ipsos survey in 2023 found that 58% of men surveyed across 32 countries thought ‘when it comes to giving women equal rights with men, things have gone far enough in my country’.
Prue, darkening all our Saturday mornings in jarring contrast to her sunny disposition, also said she thinks feminism has an ‘unsettling effect on young men’ and that ‘confident women’ provoke a reaction in men.
The last thing we need is Prue Leith feeding into this narrative.
I could write another 10,000 words on this. But at its base level, Prue Leith isn’t exactly running around in grotty tracksuit bottoms with a birds’ nest on her head, so her words are hypocritical, too.
On the contrary, she’s known for being well-manicured, with her carefully considered jazzy glasses, brilliant colourful outfits and sharp lipstick.
Why isn’t that self-absorbation too by her own definition?
It also feels sad Prue, a woman, is lashing out at other women for simply trying to get by. Women supporting women is an important part of the fight for our collective rights.
Let’s not blame confident, manicured women for everything now, shall we? If I had another three hours to write about this, I would. But quite honestly I am knackered and in desperate need of a lie down and a facemask.
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