Is It Now ‘Disgusting’ Sexism To Praise The Opposite Sex?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3226916/Sexism-row-lawyer-compliments-woman-barrister-s-stunning-LinkedIn-picture.html

Or even the quality of a photograph it would seem.

[woofgang]

I agree andy.

[woofgang]

...pressed submit too soon. What might be acceptable in a team who know each other well and understand the roolz can be embarrassing, insulting, hurtful, unacceptable in other circs. And when the person you are messaging is a complete stranger differnt rules apply

[jno]

a guy who is out clubbing with a gal might feel free to tell her she's stunning. Trying the same line on someone half his age, on a website for professionals, is... well, ludicrously unprofessional. Has he no idea what's appropriate and what isn't? Who needs a dinosaur like that as their lawyer?

[andy-hughes]

jno -"a guy who is out clubbing with a gal might feel free to tell her she's stunning. Trying the same line on someone half his age, on a website for professionals, is... well, ludicrously unprofessional. Has he no idea what's appropriate and what isn't? Who needs a dinosaur like that as their lawyer?"

I can see your point jno, but I do think that maybe this gentleman's intentions were innocent, and not as loaded with sleazy innuendo as some people appear to think.

However, he will have hopefully learned his lesson - and so have a lot of other men who use the same corporate linking service.

[jno]

andy, this was a professional networking website; he was behaving as though it was Ashley Madison. His intentions may well have been "innocent" but his action was still somewhere between creepy (what barrister wants that sort of compliment from a much older married man?) and plain dumb.

[andy-hughes]

jno - "andy, this was a professional networking website; he was behaving as though it was Ashley Madison. His intentions may well have been "innocent" but his action was still somewhere between creepy (what barrister wants that sort of compliment from a much older married man?) and plain dumb."

I would certainly err on the side of 'dumb' without a doubt!

[Retrochic]

If this is taken in context then it is inappropriate -it is flirting in an inappropriate situation. If I was in a Business meeting and someone I was introduced to as Professor of Geology came back with 'cor you're a bit of a stunner for an old prof' I wold not be well-pleased. However, if I were in the Bar afterwards and the same thing was said, by the person I had already been introduced to, then that is a different context and I would be graceful and thank them for the compliment, while reminding them that you can have brains and beauty ;-)

[douglas9401]

"Proudman". I'll bet that rankles, every day. :-)

[jno]

quite so, Retrochic. I think this is the sort of compliment that should be reserved for face-to-face meetings, not one you should try out on total strangers online except on dating sites. If she hadn't called him out on it, I suspect he (and many like him) would have gone on doing it for ever, like a sort of digital wolf-whistling. If it brings them to their senses, that's fine by me; I don't think a public horsewhipping is called for.

[LewPaper]

You really do have a chip on your shoulder don't you woof? So it wasn't a dating site (I bow to your greater experience on that subject) - so what are you saying? Compliments are only permitted on such sites? THEN you castigate Sqad for daring to say something you don't like and as such should shut up. We're all different (I'm very glad to say in some cases).

[ToraToraTora]

what's happening when you cannot compliment a lady anymore? PC gone mental.

[ummmm]

Of course you can compliment a lady. Just not a complete stranger on a business site.

[jno]

useful rules of thumb from the Guardian

here are three simple rules that should keep most men out of trouble. First, if you need to preface something with the words “horrendously politically incorrect”, then you probably don’t want to be saying it to a total stranger in a work context.

Second, if you routinely compliment someone on their looks but never on their thinking, you’re basically saying that you don’t take them remotely seriously. Amazingly, people dislike this.

And third, as ever, it’s all about tone and context. From someone junior at work, “nice dress” can be smarmy; from someone senior, it can be faintly pervy. But from someone who has always treated you as an intellectual equal, isn’t visibly panting or staring down your cleavage and generally isn’t a jerk? I reckon we can all live with that.

[andy-hughes]

In the Mail today, this has blown up into a major deal.

It turns out that the gentleman in question has out-Trumped Donald Trump (leave it!) and made inappropriate remarks about his daughter, and that the lady in question has been fairly frank on social media as well.

There seems to be more to the initial story than was apparent, and of course, the media will dig until they find it.

[Old_Geezer]

I doubt there is much more to it. Someone paid a compliment that some might consider inappropriate but hardly worth commenting on. The receiver of the comment then had an epic fail by not simply thanking the giver and letting it pass but used the situation to be extremely rude, and state a complete load of garbage during her ballistic rant. This has resulted in criticism of her unprofessional behaviour plus a number of apologists trying to excuse it.

In a slow news period, a godsend to the papers.