This is what a feminist looks like.....
Really? Let's have a roll-call of which politicians and celebs have been seen sporting one of these feminist t-shirts shall we? Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg, Harriet Harman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tinie Tempah, Eddie Izzard, Richard E Grant and Simon Pegg to date. All encourage by Elle Magazine to support the feminist cause in a very public way.
Yet when you go to such lengths to highlight feminism you have to bear in mind that some people - most notably the Daily Mail - will go to similar lengths to burst your bubble. So you make damn sure that every single loose end is tied up and that your back is covered, right?
Shame that both Elle magazine and the Fawcett Society didn't take such measures before they launched their t-shirt campaign to get major celebs and politicians to wear them. It didn't take long for the Mail on Sunday to discover that the t-shirts were made in Mauritius by women who sleep 16 to a room and are paid a measly 62p an hour. Some women workers told the Mail on Sunday reporter that they struggle to earn a living based on what they are paid. It turns out that the irony of their situation wasn't lost on them either.
Now the Fawcett Society have given a statement distancing themselves from the rather embarrassing revelation. It turns out that they were told the t-shirts would be ethically produced here in the UK - but getting British workers to work for 62p per hour was no doubt too tricky, so Whistles (the company behind the t-shirt production) took the decision to have them produced cheaper in Mauritius and get them shipped over here. Not very supportive of UK trade or workers is it?
The Fawcett Society then claim that only after the t-shirts had been produced did they notice the labels which said "Made in Mauritius". Now I can see that this put the Society in a difficult position as no doubt they had already invested into this campaign and given it their backing, so when they were told that the factory adhered to ethical standards, you can almost hear the collective sigh of relief. But why was this not investigated further? Surely they knew that any mistakes would be pounced upon and given more publicity than the message they were trying to send out?
Even if the t-shirts had been produced in the UK, the hacks would have been quick to question the motives of some of the celebrities that Elle Magazine had persuaded to back their campaign. Celebrities like Tinie Tempah whose songs such as "Frisky" has been criticised for sexist lyrics "I would put her in positions like the mission. Leave her twitchin', twitchin', twitchin', twitchin" - what a charmer.
I don't want to see a load of celebrities and politicians sporting a t-shirt just at the moment when a photographer happens to be around them. I want actions and not words. I want campaigns that tackle the real threat of pornography to our children, that tackle the rising number of sexual attacks in the UK, that campaign for an end to the sexualisation of children and the gender stereotypes used in adverts and toy shops. I want campaigns that stand up to misogyny and sexism in the media and money spent on educating our children on respect and equality. Those are the things that can make a difference in our society. Not a t-shirt.