Australian MP Nicolle Flint wears bin bag to call out 'rubbish' sexist remarks on her looks
"How about a garbage bag, to match your rubbish views?," Liberal MP Nicolle Flint remarked in a video on Twitter.
Monday 27 July 2020 14:58, UK
An Australian politician has worn a bin bag to protest what she condemned as "rubbish" sexist remarks made about her appearance.
Liberal MP Nicolle Flint posted a one-minute video to Twitter in response to an article written by ABC columnist and broadcaster Peter Goers, which mocked her "pearl earrings and a pearly smile", as well as her clothing.
Mr Goers criticised her "vast wardrobe of blazers, coats and tight, black, ankle-freezing trousers and stiletto heels".
In the Twitter video, Ms Flint recalled past experiences of misogyny in her career.
"I've put up with a lot as a woman in politics," she said, while wearing a black coat along with the very shoes and trousers Mr Goers had commented on.
"Police charged a creepy old man with stalking me, my campaign office was vandalised (with graffiti) calling me a skank and a prostitute who charges 60 dollars an hour."
"So, Mr Goers," Ms Flint continued, as she removed her coat to reveal the bin bag underneath.
"What I want to know is, what should a woman in politics wear?
"How about a garbage bag, to match your rubbish views?"
The video attracted widespread support, including tweets from several other female politicians.
Australian Labor Party MP Anika Wells wrote: "Be authentic but appeal widely. Be charming but don't try too hard.
"Put together, but not like you spent much time on it. Made up but not like you care so much.
"Confident, but modest ya know? I'm with Nicolle Flint. The standards expected of women politicians are garbage."
Ms Flint is not the first Australian politician to have publicly called out sexism.
Former prime minister Julia Gillard - leader of the Australian Labor Party from 2010 to 2013 - famously condemned sexist behaviour and gendered double-standards in a speech to parliament in 2012.
Ms Gillard faced constant commentary about the way she dressed, how she sounded, and also the fact she was unmarried and childless.
And more recently, Australian Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young won a defamation case against former senator David Leyonhjelm over a series of "slut-shaming" interviews in 2018.