Stop with the #NotAllMen and ‘a few bad apples’ excuses – women are sick of hearing them

From porn to harassment to sexist jokes, it’s clear that Westminster has a very serious problem with women

A Tory MP allegedly watched pornography on his mobile phone in the House of Commons chamber (PA Archive)

I’ll be honest with you: I’m a bit concerned about the type of places frequented by Attorney General Suella Braverman.

Just this week, she made the astonishing claim that watching porn in public has been “normalised”. Er, what? No it hasn’t.

Watching porn in public is a form of sexual harassment. It’s unacceptable and, frankly, weird. So why oh why would the Attorney General claim anything different? Watching porn in public isn’t the norm – the norm seems to be making misleading comments to downplay structural misogyny.

During her interview with Women’s Hour about misogyny in Westminster, Braverman tried every trick in the book to minimise the scale of the issue. First of all, she made the now standard #NotAllMen move. Sexism in parliament is down to “a very small minority of men who fall short”, Braverman claimed. Ah yes, that old chestnut.

Misogyny isn’t a widespread problem, it’s not culturally embedded, it’s all just down a couple of really awful men. Next she’ll be saying it’s “just a few bad apples”, I thought as I listened. Barely a moment later, I heard it: “There are some bad apples.” Face palm.

We’ve heard it all before, particularly that one. In fact, the “few bad apples” excuse has been used so often to undermine institutional and structural sexism that it’s a become a nauseating cliché.

You may remember that in the wake of the abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by serving Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens – who was nicknamed “The Rapist” by colleagues – protesters were so incensed by the “few bad apples” excuse for institutional misogyny in the police that they emptied a barrel of rotten apples outside Scotland Yard, including the note, “Dear home secretary, It’s not one bad apple. It’s the whole f***ing orchard. Sincerely, women”.

To dust off the #NotAllMen and “a few bad apples” excuses is not only grossly distasteful, but dangerous and misleading. With all due respect to the Attorney General, 56 MPs under investigation for sexual misconduct is hardly “a very small minority”, and – after the torrent of sexism we’ve witnessed this week alone, including a shocking account by international trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who claims she was once “pinned up against a wall” by a male MP – it’s clear that Westminster has a serious issue with its treatment of women.

Braverman attempted to deflect the allegations of misogyny away from the Tory party by blaming… well, women. What a novel move! No one’s ever done that before! According to the Attorney General, sexism in Westminster – and, it seems, an MP watching porn in the House of Commons – is a “worrying symptom” of a permissive society.

“We’ve got to look more profoundly at the coarsening of behaviour in our culture and some of the mixed messages we are sending our children,” Braverman said.

“On the one hand, we have women saying, ‘it is my right to post photos of myself in underwear, it is empowering to pose naked online, don’t be so prudish, don’t curb my liberty’ – and on other hand, we are denouncing the permissiveness that is enabling that. We’ve got to take this moment to reflect on what we are doing to lower standards of behaviour.”

Now that was impressive – not so much of a side-step of the issue, as a full-on foxtrot.

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I think Braverman could more usefully take this moment to reflect on what she’s doing to excuse and minimise blatant misogyny, rather than blaming women for experiencing sexism.

According to her comments, it seems to be women’s growing autonomy over the representation of their bodies that’s the source of lower moral standards. After all, we can’t blame an MP for watching porn in the House of Commons if all those shameless women are putting up nudes on OnlyFans… what’s a bloke to do? Have a heart!

The Attorney General’s wrong. It’s not a few bad apples and an increasingly permissive society that’s to blame for Westminster’s misogyny problem – more like the #NotAllMen excuses and “a few bad apples” deflection that perpetuate sexism in the House of Commons and in society more broadly.

Braverman can talk about rotten apples all she likes but ultimately it’s the whole barrel that’s rancid and overdue for replacement.