#WomanUp: Women of Twitter respond brilliantly to Piers Morgan’s misogynist bulls**t

People


#WomanUp: Women of Twitter respond brilliantly to Piers Morgan’s misogynist bulls**t

By Kayleigh Dray

8 years ago

Whether he’s spouting ageist twaddle, body-shaming opinions, or laughably sexist arguments, Piers Morgan continues to be an eternal thorn in womankind’s side.

But, while his vitriolic bulls**t often goes unchecked, the women of the internet recently joined forces to take him down – and it was truly glorious.



It all kicked off when Morgan decided to make A Very Big Deal out of the fact that he was returning to work with an injury.

“I’ll be co-hosting Good Morning Britain tomorrow with three broken ribs,” he bragged.

Annoying, we suppose, but not enough to get our blood boiling. That came in Morgan’s second statement, which read: “For the more fragile snowflakes among you, this is called ‘manning up’.”

Yes, really.

It wasn’t one of the worst things that Morgan has ever said, by far (trust us on this one) and he no doubt used the phrase on purpose given his previous ridiculous and dangerous statements on men and mental health, but his tweet proved to be the metaphorical straw that broke the camel’s back.

As one, the women of the internet came together to roar back at the television presenter – and, thus, a very badass hashtag was born: #WomanUp.



Some reminded Morgan that they were forced to deal with chronic illnesses every single day of their lives.

Others opened up about returning to work following serious operations of their own:

Some battle flu, fever, and sickness to get back on the daily grind:

There were plenty of nightmarish childbirth stories to wade through:

And let’s not forget the monster that is PMS:

Susanna Reid, naturally, couldn’t resist getting in on the Morgan-shaming action herself.

Many used it to school Morgan on the fact that some illnesses cannot be seen – and that, despite his past comments to the contrary, mental health is every bit as important as the physical.

It goes without saying that Morgan’s message was not only sexist in terms of the vernacular used, but also sent an incredibly dangerous message: that we should always put work ahead of our own wellbeing, no matter what.

And, judging by all of the women struggling to make it into the office when they're feeling awful, it's clear that this toxic culture of presenteeism is even more pervasice than we first thought.



Our culture’s emphasis on 100% attendance means that  seven out of 10 employees working in private firms – which equates to a not-insignificant 18 million of us – have headed into work despite being unwell.

Additionally, so many of us going into work with visible (or audible – think of all the coughing and sneezing fits) conditions makes it even more difficult for those with invisible conditions to request a day off.

Earlier this year, Lena Dunham revealed that she had been called out for taking a sick day by a fan, who informed her that she had been at work just six days after a caesarean.

Writing about the interaction, Dunham said: “At first it made me laugh a lot- like, oh, I'm sorry, I left your award in the car. But then I really contemplated how dark it is that our culture prizes these speedy recovery narratives, because guess what?

“They're actually ways to keep women from feeling f**king pissed that they don't have proper maternity leave or medical and family care resources.”

She finished: “We may not have an imminent policy change on the way, but we can change the way we talk about this stuff, and treat childbirth (or fatherhood! Or illness!) as the serious and personal journeys that they are.#leftyourawardinthecar #nooffense#paidfamilyleaveforall



Dunham’s words echoed that of our very own Lucy Mangan, who says that we “need to break this vicious cycle in which we have all become prepared to work until we drop – and then crawl on the floor to the office instead – and learn to put our health first.

“Employers need to accept that without this happening both we and they have nothing.

“And if we can’t do it? Well, a great sickness indeed infects us all.”

Images: Rex Features

undefined

By signing up you agree to occasionally receive offers and promotions from Stylist. Newsletters may contain online ads and content funded by carefully selected partners. Don’t worry, we’ll never share or sell your data. You can opt-out at any time. For more information read Stylist’s Privacy Policy

Thank you!

You’re now subscribed to all our newsletters. You can manage your subscriptions at any time from an email or from a MyStylist account.