The female MP who faced a torrent of sexist criticism this week after wearing an off-the-shoulder dress in the House of Commons has responded in the best possible way.
Tracy Brabin, the Labour MP for Batley and Spen, has listed her black "shouldergate" dress on eBay and pledged to donate the proceeds to Girlguiding UK.
"This is an ASOS dress which has been flying off the shelves as a result of the coverage - and is now sold out!" the eBay listing states. "All money raised will go to Girlguiding UK to support their work helping girls build confidence and self-esteem, in the hope that they grow up to be leaders."
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With five days to go, the black dress has already attracted more than 130 bids and now has an asking price of £13,000. The auction is scheduled to end just after 6.30pm on Thursday 13th February.
Brabin wore the off-the-shoulder dress in the House of Commons on Monday and told the BBC that she was "startled by the vitriolic nature" of some of the criticism she received on social media.
Brabin, the Shadow Culture Secretary, said she had worn the dress to a music event earlier in the day, and was not expecting to be called up to the dispatch box to give an address.
While she was talking to dispatch box, her shoulder was briefly exposed, prompting a response on social media which Brabin called "frankly pretty absurd".
On Twitter, she shared a grim list of the sexist slurs she'd received for wearing the dress in the House of Commons, which included "slag", "slapper" and "about to breastfeed".
Hello. Sorry I don’t have time to reply to all of you commenting on this but I can confirm I’m not....
— Tracy Brabin MP 🌹 (@TracyBrabin) February 4, 2020
A slag
Hungover
A tart
About to breastfeed
A slapper
Drunk
Just been banged over a wheelie bin.
Who knew people could get so emotional over a shoulder... 🙄 https://t.co/sTWWiEY2TF
"This is everyday sexism where women are continually judged for what they wear, how they look and not what they say," Brabin told BBC Radio Leeds. "Why is that? It's a way to silence us."
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