Oh the irony

No, I don't read Heat magazine, nor anything similar. Why would I?

I agree entirely with and feel exactly the same about what you say in your last sentence, jess.

I also agree with your penultimate sentence.

Where our views diverge, possibly, is that I think kids need to be educated to withstand both sides of the coin. They need to know what reality is and how to cope with it. They won't learn this if it is hidden from them.

In some ways, I suspect that Minibags is a lot tougher than I am when it comes to the more revolting side of life. In other ways, she has a long way to go, but it is my criticism of stupid ideas and sexist rubbishing that will strengthen her, not hiding the stupid ideas and sexist rubbishing from her. You have to be tough to live in a free society but that doesn't mean a free society is a bad thing.

I don't think it was overt criticism bags but do you ever read things like Heat magazine? - your daughter probably sees this kind of thing in school. One minute they are praising some beautiful "celeb" like Kate for looking stunning and the next minute showing a pic of her looking slightly less than perfect (getting the milk in without makeup!), suffering a "wardrobe malfunction" or commenting on her "baby weight" or the loss of it. All this commenting makes up two sides of the same coin.
It makes me sad that women lap up this sexist crap and buy the nasty magazines and newspapers that trade in it.

Well she has got beautiful legs so I don't really mind the pictures!

Was the press publicity a criticism of Kate (or her clothes) or just enjoyment of a Marilyn Moment?

Were my comments about her possibly liking to show off her legs a criticism or just my interpretation? I'll help you decide by saying that this press publicity about Kate's clothes (and, therefore, by implication, her clothing choices) has not changed my opinion of her one iota from what it was before.

And I will maintain further that I'm not only allowed to have such opinions, but I'm allowed to voice them. So is the press, whether we like it or not. It is stupidity and nastiness that causes bullying, not freedom of speech.

I thought she was bullied at one school. I read Tanya Byron's comments in the Times. I think a pretty face sells copy and if people read beyond the piccies then they would see the charity. Actually I think she has an infectious smile and I find myself smiling back.

There is an incredibly nasty current in the UK press that is based on a continuous flow of criticism of women about their appearance. It is tapping into tendency most of us have "what is she wearing! - but it is not a nice tendency and the constant harping on this theme along the lines of "she's too fat" "she's too thin" "she looks a mess" "she's trying too hard" is not only sexist it encourages bullying because young women in their teens, and young men, see this stuff in newspapers and magazines and then make very similar criticisms during cyberbullying.

Well it wasn't me!

This discussion is taking a bizarre twist!

I thought one poster was suggesting that my first comment was a kind of cyber-bullying.

Thatbags. Nobody has said SHE was bullied.
She was supporting an charity which combats cyber bullying.
Very different.

Now I'm going to make a sexist comment

About men's clothes...

Suits are unutterably boring, therefore men who wear them must be boring too.

Who am I bullying?

And if she's that naive, what are her advisors doing (or not doing, as the case may be)?

For all we know, they may not mind the press focussing on her legs at charity functions. All publicity is good publicity, so it is said.

I thought part of the reason for the monarchy was so we (everyone from the gutter press to the posh press) can comment on their clothes.

Also, how, exactly, is making comments about the practicality (for whatever purpose) of someone's clothes cyber-bullying, or bullying of any kind.

If I take Cubs on a muddy walk, I tell them (and their parents) that wellies or hiking boots are needed. I'm not then "bullying" them by pointing out that their loosely tied trainers may well come off in the mud (and guess who has to retrieve said sunken shoes? ); I'm teaching them how to be prepared for the activity in question.

As for young... huh... Kate's old enough to have worked out by now that flippy skirts might reveal her legs in breezy conditions. There have been press pics before. So she's either naive or she likes showing off her legs. That's not a criticism. It's a statement of what appears to me to be the case.

It was a shame that the purpose of her visit was overlooked. I think the comments about the her dress are uncalled for. I thought GN was above judging someone by the way they dress.

...or maybe the paper just wanted to appeal to their frivolous readers and sell more copy???

Maybe she was badly advised /naive enough to think that the press would actually be interested in the issue of cyber bullying and be more grown up than to focus on an incidental frivolous moment at a serious occasion.

Word to her dress maker..weights into the hems please!

Whether we want one or not, we have a monarchy and I much prefer to see them highlighting issues like cyber bullying, than shooting pheasants for example. They can shoot pheasants (if they must) on their days off, but on working days like this one, I'm delighted to see her raising the profile of such an important issue.

I'm genuinely surprised to see some posters making unpleasant, judgemental comments about this young woman's choice of dress. Bullying of young women in the public eye seems to me to be getting worse and it shocks me that older women can enjoy criticising this young mother's skirt lengths, rather than consider the reason for her visit.

Not quite Aka, bags also said ".... public appearances where the focus should be on the whats and whys of her presence rather than what her clothes are doing"

If she doesn't want to draw attention from those in the press who delight in the type of Marylin comments which were made, then (unfortunately) she will have to consider what she is wearing to public appearances - but actually, why should she?

I think she was inappropriately dressed for the windy weather, and as this has happened before, maybe she should have known better.
However, she is young and still learning.

Aren't nonu and Bags saying the same thing?

If I had her legs I would want to show them off too !

It would have only been bullying if she had varicose veins or stretch marks.

I agree with you thatbags

Ironic ..... cyber bullying!

Unless she actually wants to show off her legs, of course