How does she do it?

The ever loathsome Mail on Sunday yesterday ran a vital story on its front page headed: “Gorgeous beach pictures of SamCam in Ibiza that will make every mum ask: how does she do it?” There, on the front page, is a photograph of the prime minister’s wife Samantha Cameron wearing nothing more than a bikini. I understand that there are more pictures of Mrs Cameron on the inside pages. Regardless of whether Mrs Cameron looks good in beachwear is of little interest to me, but is it right that these photos were published in the first place?

I doubt whether Mrs Cameron gave permission to editor Paul Dacre to publish pictures of her in little more than her birthday suit. And the reason they were published are quite simple: for titillation and the Mail’s usual agenda of telling women what they are supposed to look like. It is likely that the Mail photographer, or more likely some local stringer, was as discreet as he could be when he took the photos. He – and it’s bound to be a he, lets be honest – is nothing better than a voyeur, a peeping tom. And the audience the paper is looking for? A certain type of male for whom the photograph will provide, shall we say, a little excitement, that’s for sure. Men do not purchase top shelf magazines just to read the words so work the rest out yourself. But it’s the headline that gets me. Will “every mum ask how does she does it?” I certainly hope not.

There are probably good reasons why Mrs Cameron does “it” which may include being a fabulous wealthy woman with plenty of time on her hands, who can afford the best food and belong to the most exclusive gyms, but so what? If she chooses to look a certain way, isn’t it a matter for her? The Mail’s readership is almost exclusively female and, particularly on its website, there are numerous photographs of slim, even thin, women because, as the paper plainly suggests in the Cameron “story”, this is how women are supposed to look. This must be true because “every mum” is interested.

And there is an image of women, as viewed through both newspapers and glossy gossip magazines, that must surely put pressure on women. A celebrity who is carrying a little extra fat around her middle will see her photo on the front page of ‘Turd!” magazine (I think that is what the magazine is called) with the caption pointing out that she is overweight. That all of us are of differing shapes and sizes does not come into it. If you are not thin, you do not conform, regardless of middle age which naturally starts to send everything southbound.

I am the last person to avoid looking at an attractive woman. It’s just the type of person I am, but I am not obsessed with shape and size. I absolutely despair of women who are told they are too fat, not directly of course, but through media imagery. Beauty really isn’t skin deep. I know some girls who are constantly dieting, attending expensive diet classes, belonging to various weight loss clubs and I sort of get that. I am trying to lose some weight, not necessarily to look better (I think I am beyond help on that one!) but for health reasons. I know I will never achieve a body like Daniel Craig and I am not all that bothered about that. But by the same token, “every mum” should not be told she should look like the prime minister’s wife.

Most women don’t buy the Mail, most women certainly don’t follow its line on how they should look and nor should they. Not everyone can look like Kate Moss or Jessica Ennis-Hill, but that doesn’t mean they look inferior or less attractive. Women are what they are and it’s not the Mail’s business, nor anyone else’s, to tell them any different.