LONDON -- British Prime Minister David Cameron has turned down a UK fashion magazine’s request to be photographed in a T-shirt with the slogan “This is What a Feminist Looks Like” despite other political leaders and personalities opting to wear the garment.
UK Elle asked Cameron to wear the T-shirt for the magazine's inaugural feminism issue, due out this month but the magazine said he refused five times. When asked why he wouldn’t wear the T-shirt, the magazine said the prime minister’s team offered to give a quote instead.
Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, Labour Party Leader Ed Miliband and other figures including actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Joseph Gordon Levitt and Tom Hiddleston all donned the T-shirts for the magazine.
Writing on UK Elle’s website, the magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Lorraine Candy says: "This is a shame on so many levels, especially given he knew Nick Clegg and David Miliband had agreed without hesitation, alongside many other influential men who were more than happy to call themselves feminists."
"It seems the prime minister still has an issue with the word 'feminist.'"
"I was personally disappointed that we couldn't feature Mr. Cameron in our Feminism Issue because it is ELLE’s aim to engage with men in the fight for equality: because of parliament’s current gender imbalance, it is men who have the power to make changes in every area of British women’s lives. When the man in charge doesn’t engage, it doesn't bode well."
We salute u @nick_clegg & @ed_miliband for wearing our feminist Tee with pride #ellefeminism http://t.co/DE4v78O6Gp pic.twitter.com/qc89EW6ZGe— Lorraine Candy (@LorraineELLE) October 27, 2014
The magazine said when the Prime Minister’s team was asked why he wouldn’t wear the T-shirt, they said he would rather give the following quote instead:
“Whether you are a man or a woman, I passionately believe that everyone has a part to play in achieving full equality for women and girls. As a parent I feel strongly that my daughters should have the same opportunities as my son. As a society we have come a long way in gender equality – but the journey hasn’t finished yet, which is why I am committed to doing everything I can do to remove barriers for women and achieve a fairer society.”
The Fawcett Society, a UK charity working on women’s rights and equality that collaborated on the T-shirt, expressed disappointment that the prime minister didn’t partake.
Daisy Sands, head of policy and campaigns at the Fawcett Society said she was pleased that Clegg and Miliband participated but added: “It would appear that Cameron is not comfortable with identifying himself with the cause of feminism which, given the huge contribution that the feminist movement has made to advancing women’s rights, is unfortunate.”
This isn’t the first time the Prime Minister has been in the headlines for not describing himself as a feminist. Last year, when asked by another UK publication, Red magazine, if he was a feminist, Cameron responded: “I don’t know what I’d call myself... it’s up to others to attach labels. But I believe men and women should be treated equally.”