entertainment

You can buy Karl Stefanovic's stinky feminist fighter suit.

UPDATE: Karl Stefanovic’s famous ‘I-wore-this-every-day-for-a-year-because-SEXISM’ suit is being auctioned off for charity.

White Ribbon, a campaign to end violence against women, is keeping the proceeds. Bidding opened on eBay at $1,000.

It’s a suit that represents a wonderful experiment (see post below). But we warn you… according to Karl, it’s “a little bit stanky”.

“The truth is, with the scant dry-cleaning it’s had over the past year, these days it could probably get up and walk around the studio all by itself.”

If you win the bid, you’ll even score a pocketful of surprises.

“I’m happy to get it dry-cleaned if they want but I think it’s best the way it is. The selling points for the suit are that it’s had world coverage – and the great thing about world coverage is that you can’t smell it. There’s a Queensland flag on it and there’s all kinds of weird things in the pockets, including cough lollies and airline tickets. It’s like the TARDIS in there. You go into the pocket and you don’t know where you’re going to come out.”

 

Karl is a big advocate of preventing violence against women. “It needs to stop and it needs to stop now, and men need to play a role in all of that.”

What a legend. You’ve earned yourself a whole new suit, Stefanovic.

 

Update: What has Karl learned about sexism?

Karl Stefanovic has spoken again about his suit experiment, during which he wore the same suit every day for a year to see if anyone noticed.

ADVERTISEMENT

On the Today show this morning, however, Karl questioned whether the experiment highlighted really was sexism.

“Can sexism be women judging women…is that sexism?,” he asked.

Co-host Lisa Wilkinson conceded that it was often women she felt judged by.

“When I get criticism, it’s mostly from women…and this leans towards a lack of support,” she said.

Previously, Mamamia wrote:

Female morning tv hosts are no stranger to sexism, especially when it comes to viewers making vicious comments on their outfits.

In defence of his female co-hosts, Karl Stefanovic has conducted an experiment.

He’s worn the same suit every day for a year. And by his own admission, it’s a cheap Burberry knock-off.

“I’ve worn the same suit on air for a year – except for a couple of times because of circumstance – to make a point”, Stefanovic told Fairfax Media.

And the viewers’ reaction? “No one has noticed; no one gives a shit.”

But Stefanovic knows that things are different for his co-hosts: “I’m judged on my interviews, my appalling sense of humour – on how I do my job, basically. Whereas women are quite often judged on what they’re wearing or how their hair is”

And Karl has put his body on the line to prove it.

ADVERTISEMENT

Karl, wearing the suit.

 

 

Of course, Karl’s not wrong.

During her 2013 Andrew Olle media lecture, journalist and Nine’s Today Show host, Lisa Wilkinson told of what she’d come to expect as a high-profile female journalist, saying, “when you’re a woman doing breakfast TV, you quickly learn the sad truth, that what you wear can sometimes generate a bigger reaction than even any political interview you ever do.”

Accomplished journalist Tracey Spicer has previously told the Guardian about some feedback she received after covering last decade’s biggest story for nine hours: “I’ll never forget walking off air after nine hours of rolling coverage of the September 11 attacks to read an email from a viewer criticising my ‘straggly’ hair and ‘inappropriate brown jacket, which did nothing for my colouring’.”

And last month, Virginia Trioli got a letter from a viewer asking whether she bought her clothes at charity shops. The letter took a pot shot at Trioli’s hair (“straggly”, should be shorter, needs highlights), her glasses (“ugh!” and “owlish”), and the colour of her clothes (“get rid of blacks and browns” because they are very ageing; “light and bright is the go!”).

So, bravo to Karl for his sartorial experiment – and for being an excellent ally to woman on tv.

Speaking of excellent women on tv, click here for a few of our favourites…