Is it offensive to tell a woman that she looks nice?

I meant going public by tweeting about it.

There is this about her now
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3229951/Ooh-la-la-hot-stuff-s-prim-barrister-centre-sexism-storm-said-men-ogled-web.html

What a daft post STB.

Going public? It was on LinkedIn. That's where you put your CV. It's about WORK not dating.

Her photo was of her. Do you really think a woman has to look like something the cat dragged in to be professional?

She is a user of social media, so must have known how social media is.
She misjudged going public in the first place, and she misjudged public reaction, both to her and the situation.

If she is now not going to be instructed by solicitors' offices, I can sort of understand it because they would not want someone who misjudges both herself and situations.

If she is going to fight sexism in the industry, in my opinion, she needs to handle it in a bit of a more private way, and different ways. Though she is young, so has time to learn that.

If you want my opinion - you may not - if you said a woman doctor had behaved unprofessionally and it was true it's just a fact. If you decided to make comments about how she looks in the photo of practice doctors in the waiting room it may be, particularly if you are using it as a tool to decide whether or not she is professional or unprofessional

If a doctor has a less than professional picture in their waiting room, I would consider that unprofessional.

medium.com/@martinbelam/a-four-hour-window-into-the-storm-of-abuse-feminazi-lawyer-charlotte-proudman-faces-on-twitter-b654f5fa36ce

Those two question marks should have been a long dash. HQ, please sort out the ridiculousness!

As it is, the social media lynching she set in motion appears to have backfired a bit. Which is another reason not to use mob rule??you can throw actual justice out the window with mob rule.

The photo in the Guardian article that gg says is the "original" is a good photo. Proudman (who made up that name, apparently; why a name containing 'man' one wonders? and, no, that itsn't a misogynist comment) looks paler in other photographs and the reposting of the "original" must have messed with the processing.

It's a stunning photograph picture, which is what Carter-Silk said. I too have wondered if he was being sarcastic.

The main point I'm left with is the one that is, to me, the most important one: I think she should have challenged him privately, at least initially. If his response to a private challenge had been outrageous she might have had a case for the social media lynching she set in motion. Please note the word might.

I think she had and has every right to challenge him on what he said. I don't think she had a right to make it public at the point at which she did make it public.

I too am amazed at some of the really nasty comments that have made about this woman.

I cannot imagine a woman writing such a message to another woman unless they were friends. It certainly wouldn't even occur to me to do so - would it to any of you? And again I ask - would this man have written a similar message to another man - and how might it be construed if a young woman barrister wrote a similar message to a much older senior partner in a well known city law firm?

I think this message was probably the last straw for her - she did say something along the lines that unashamed sexism and arrogance were fairly common features of the legal profession. Having worked in several large legal offices in central London, I tend to agree with her - particularly in the more "corporate" firms (though that is not to say that all male solicitors behaved in such a way - some were very pleasant and courteous). Apparently she has already been informed by a number of solicitors' offices that they will not be instructing her in the future.

From the article linked to by Gracesgran:
Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism project, said an amazing number of women from the legal profession had contacted her since the story broke "to say just how much they face and experience, and how difficult it can be to speak out about more minor things".

Vitriol was perhaps too strong jane but I still find the personal comments about how she looks in the photo that some have made disappointing in this day and age.

Criticism of a women isn't necessarily misogyny in my opinion but some of what has been said certainly is.

If you want my opinion - you may not - if you said a woman doctor had behaved unprofessionally and it was true it's just a fact. If you decided to make comments about how she looks in the photo of practice doctors in the waiting room it may be, particularly if you are using it as a tool to decide whether or not she is professional or unprofessional.

And is all criticism of a woman necessarily misogyny?
If I said a woman doctor had behaved unprofessionally, would that be misogyny too?

Gg who has expressed vitriol? Who has been 'tearing her apart'?
I have expressed no opinion of Charlotte Proudman as a person. I'm not that interested in her, to be honest.
I thought we had been discussing her wisdom in using that particular image on her LinkedIn Profile and whether she was right to go public with her complaints.
We were discussing issues, not being vitriolic or tearing her apart.

I can't help feeling there's a difference between someone commenting on a photo being stunning and commenting on the actual woman. I've seen photo's of male friends and said "Wow that's a great picture" without there being any suggestion that I think they were more than normally attractive themselves.

It's the same photo that janea put up.

I am lost for words at your vitriol towards a women who is obviously both capable and successful professionally, on a site that is a business site.

This article contains the original photo - it is the photo that was used. You can click on it to enlarge it and see her hair looks like hair - neatly cut, she even has a line or two for all that it matters and she is looking at the photographer. You will now doubt go on tearing her apart as it must give you some satisfaction to do so but I will not be part of it.

I frequently find mankind's inhumanity to his fellow disappointing but I cannot remember being so disappointed by the misogyny of my fellow women.

. . as she appears in the other pictures . .

And yes, I agree that it is over-enhanced.

The photography is rather more "stunning" than the real woman, as in the other pictures. Perhaps he was praising that, and perhaps he was being sarcastic. If so, that'll larn 'im.

It's not a "simple photograph", gg. It's a digitally over-enhanced photograph.

gracesgran No, the woman doesn't look how she looks. She looks how she looks when she's had her photo enhanced.
She's the one who thinks her appearance is more important than her professional experience which I agree is very impressive.
I think it's a pity that someone of her obvious ability feels the need to focus on her appearance rather than her intellect.
And you didn't answer my question about Elizabeth Butler- Sloss and Helena Kennedy.

Yes, that's the photo. I just don't get the remarks, janeainsworth. The woman looks how she looks, it's nothing to do with how she does her job other than being able to recognise her. Some of the comments are just plain nasty - catty I think we would have called them when we were young. Surely people are projecting their own feelings onto a simple photograph. It still means people are defining her by how she looks; what that has to do with how she does her job? Female misogyny is very sad because this could be your daughter or granddaughter and those judging this women in this way are setting their own relatives up for more difficulty in their working life than is necessary.

Well done for bringing up a thinking daughter jane although I hope she explained that we almost certainly all have because of our upbringing. It takes time for change to happen and we have had so much happen recently that make us say "times were different then" and those are the times that made us. If we are bringing our daughters and sons up to be thinking people things will slowly change.

'come-hither' eyes was how one commentator put it.

However, I will not comment on that.

gap year, sabbatical, the list goes on and on doesn't it!
We just went out to work and got a fortnight's holiday!

I still think I'm a Celebrity beckons..

What I couldnt understand is why she is on sabbatical at the age of 27. I always thought sabbaticals were if you had worked 10 years. I wouldnt have thought she had worked any more than 5.
Anyone know?

A right poser.

Oh, I wish you hadn't put that pic up ja. She looks a very self-satisfied young lady.