Invisible irony

It IS surely a good example of irony that in Saturday’s paper (14 September) we can read on page one of Hillary Clinton’s honorary degree for her work championing democracy; on page 12 about the barriers to women taking on senior roles in public 
life; on page 15 of the campaign by MSP Dennis Robertson 
to get fashion manufacturers 
to stop insisting that female models are so anorexic as to be 
almost invisible … and then on page 19 we have a piece on the soul singers the Three Degrees as guests of honour at an event to raise money for the Prince’s Trust named “Lunch with an Old Bag”. Before I am accused of having no sense of humour – which is often used as an excuse for putting up with disrespect – I would point out that language is extraordinarily powerful in confirming or challenging people’s prejudices. Given The Scotsman’s good record in challenging stereotypes such as that of older women as figures of fun, I hope there will be more critique of events such as the Prince’s Trust one, whose title reinforces disempowering views of women.

Dr Mary Brown

Dalvenie Road

Banchory, Aberdeenshire