A compliment isn’t misogynistic

Article here. Excerpt:

'If you were in any doubt that we live in mean-spirited and vengeful times, then Complimentgate should put you straight. Complimentgate is the name I’m giving to the naming and shaming of a solicitor who had the temerity to say something nice about a woman’s looks. For doing this, for paying someone a compliment, he has now become an object of Twitter-ridicule, fodder for the insatiable global outrage industry, which rails not only against people who are abusive online but also against people who are nice. No one is safe from their virtual slings and arrows.

The man in question is Alexander Carter-Silk. Via LinkedIn, he sent what the press is bizarrely referring to as a ‘controversial message’ to one Charlotte Proudman, a barrister. His crime was to describe Ms Proudman’s profile pic as ‘stunning’, which was a bit too generous in my view – her fringe needs work and her pout is too severe. Ms Proudman, describing herself as a ‘fearless feminist’, informed Mr Carter-Silk that his message was ‘offensive and misogynistic’ and then splashed his wicked words on Twitter. Before long the Twitterati, sniffing an opportunity for outrage, were churning out 140 characters of fury about what a twisted, disgusting world we live in, whereby a man thinks he can say something nice about a woman and get away with it.'