It occurs to me that I have fallen once again into the trap of misdirected anger. Trinny and Susannah are, after all, also a product of the society that pushes the anti-women values I outline below, and as such should probably not be blamed quite so vehemently for their actions.

It’s always a difficult one, this: if we took that argument to its logical conclusion it would mean rapists weren’t to blame for their actions because they were brought up in a society that more or less condones, or at least ignores, male rape of women. I of course believe that rapists must be held accountable for their actions. So where is the line? Where do we place the blame for xyz?

An initial sugestion would be that we need to take a holistic approach to the problems we face: while we need to ensure rapists are held to account for their actions, we also need to change the society that says men cannot help themselves when faced with women who go around ‘flaunting it’.

But Trinny and Susannah still piss me right off. I think it’s their obvious delight in women’s humiliation in that nasty mirror box and the refusal to accept that the reason so many women keep telling them they don’t care what they look like is because they genuinely don’t care: there are, in fact, more important things in life.

Hmmm.

Any more answers and suggestions on a postcard, please.

Posted by Laura Woodhouse on 13 November 2007, at 12:54 AM