Tatler magazine has "apologised unreservedly" to Daisy Lewis for printing a sexist caption next to a photo of the Downton Abbey actress.
The high-end British monthly included Lewis, who played schoolteacher Sarah Bunting in the acclaimed period drama, in its Little Black Book list of the "most selectable, delectable eligibles of the year."
The magazine wrote of the actress: "As Daisy is quite small, you might be tricked into believing she's quiet. LOL. She isn't. This actress is LOUD. Which makes her fun at a party. And in bed. Probably."
It's difficult to know where to begin with what's offensive in this caption. Can small women not be loud? Is being "LOUD" in itself a problem?And why is a magazine speculating about whether any woman seems "fun in bed?"
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Sharing a picture of the caption on Twitter, Lewis wrote: "I'm really shocked and upset by this. But thankfully I'm 'loud' enough to say it. Does anyone at Tatler read the news? #misogyny #loudwomen."
I'm really shocked and upset by this. But thankfully I'm 'loud' enough to say it. Does anyone at Tatler read the news? #misogyny #loudwomen pic.twitter.com/VOEXxreH7r
— Daisy Lewis (@daisylflewis) November 3, 2017
At the time of writing, Lewis's tweet has been retweeted over 1,000 times and liked nearly 3,000 times. After seeing Lewis's tweet, the magazine wrote on Twitter: "Tatler apologises unreservedly to @daisylflewis. We will also be publishing a full apology in the next issue."
Meanwhile, Lewis has spoken to HuffPost to explain precisely what she found so upsetting about the article.
"The fact that it’s women writing that about other women is what upset me the most, really. And to think that it was funny," she said. "I genuinely believe that the people who wrote it thought I would be pleased.
“That’s what makes me so sad, that [they thought] I would have been pleased to be included on a list of eligible - and for eligible to mean marriageable - people, as a sort of catalogue. It feels like being part of a horse trade show or something."
Lewis also told HuffPost: "It’s one thing to try and address a patriarchal structure, but then to have that patriarchal structure internalised within us - that’s what is scary. It's almost like Stockholm Syndrome. But the response to it has been incredible and gives me a lot of hope."
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