Came across an article in the Western Morning News that made me bridle slightly:
“Sophie [Rhys-Jones] at mum-baby music group. The Countess of Wessex kicked off her shoes & knelt on the floor when she visited a mother & baby group- & could not resist holding one little girl. Sophie had joined Colombia’s First Lady Maria Clemencia Rodriguez de Santos on a tour of a West London nursery school, founded by Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave, & a nearby children’s centre that provides a range of services from midwifery & health visitors to play sessions. In Cathnor Park Children’s Centre- run by Michelle Barrett, executive head teacher of Vanessa Nursery School- the countess & Mrs Rodriguez de Santos joined mothers & their babies who were aged up to 10 months. The babies were lying on their bellies for the interactive music sessions, with their mothers sat beside them, when the leader got the group to sing a song. Sophie, who has 2 children with the Earl of Wessex, picked up one baby called Maggie & bounced her on her knee after chatting to her mother. She had taken off her stiletto heels & knelt down in her grey dress by Suzannah. Ms Rodriguez de Santos was with her husband, Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos, on his historic 3-day trip to the UK, the first state visit by a leader of the South American nation. The nursery school in Shepherd’s Bush was established in 1973 by the Vanessa Redgrave Educational Trust & is run by a local authority.”
The first issue: why go into detail about what Sophie is wearing? How is the fact that she’s wearing a grey dress by Suzannah & stiletto heels relevant to this news story, & to the fact that she visited a mother & baby group? We never get given the details of what male members of the Royal family are wearing when they go on royal visits (& the president’s clothes aren’t described in the article either).
The second issue: The fact that the group in question is a MOTHER & baby group. What about fathers in the West London area who want to engage with other parents & take an active part in child-rearing (or are stay-at-home dads)? It strikes me- from posts I’ve read on here, & from what I’ve seen in public & in the media- that anything to do with children is geared towards mothers, & seems to wilfully exclude fathers. Mother & baby groups are a case in point.