The Spectator’s theatre critic has suggested that a blonde lecturer’s appearance made him so aroused he later had to pay for the services of a sex worker near a train station, in a misogynistic column about his libido.
The article was widely condemned as sexist immediately after publication, with journalists and commentators appalled – and confused – by the magazine’s decision to commission such a piece.
Writing in the magazine, Lloyd Evans described a trip to Darwin College – or Downing College, as he incorrectly calls it in the piece – at the University of Cambridge, to attend a lecture from Professor Lea Ypi, an academic from Albania who lectures on political theory at the London School of Economics.
Mr Evans, who has written for the right-wing publication since the 1980s, said he was distracted throughout the talk on Kant and revolutions by the “beautiful historian’s” appearance.
He writes: “Her blonde hair spilling over her shoulders absorbed far more of my attention than her political reflections and I was desperate to speak to her afterwards, but I had no way to orchestrate a meeting.”
Unable to meet the distinguished academic, he instead goes to the “rougher end of Cambridge”.
Mr Evans writes that he had already arranged a “social rendezvous” with a “petite” and “buxom” woman called Shea, who “looked Chinese”.
Advice for scholars: next time you lecture on Kant and revolutions at “Downing” (@DarwinCollege) Cambridge, make sure your hair is neatly tied and that you’re not blonde. Or else your research impact will be on the @spectator libido section. pic.twitter.com/j9qbo0p2Ai
— Lea Ypi (@lea_ypi) April 18, 2024
He then describes being covered in hot wax before she “ordered me to flip on to my back as she dimmed the lights and raised one eyebrow at me suggestively. This was the cue for negotiations.”
The piece prompted an immediate backlash online.
Writing on her X/Twitter account, Lea Ypi, said: “Advice for scholars: next time you lecture on Kant and revolutions at “Downing” (@DarwinCollege) Cambridge, make sure your hair is neatly tied and that you’re not blonde.
this is horrific I’m so sorry!
— Dr Charlotte Lydia Riley (@lottelydia) April 18, 2024
“Or else your research impact will be on the @spectator libido section.”
Academics were quick to support their colleague. Dr Charlotte Lydia Riley, a historian, said the article was “horrific” and Colin Wight, an academic, added: “Just such a weird piece to write. I can’t see the point of it.”
Other X/Twitter users branded the piece “grim” and “misogynistic”, questioning why it would be published by The Spectator or what the piece was trying to articulate.
Absolutely appalled to see this Lea. Your fascinating, beautifully crafted lecture was a hugely appreciated highlight of the College's cultural year, and we hope your memory of the event won't be tainted by an audience member using it to write something so crude and offensive.
— Darwin College (@DarwinCollege) April 18, 2024
Darwin College, the constituent college at the University of Cambridge where the talk took place, also called out the article.
In a post on X/Twitter, it said: “Absolutely appalled to see this Lea. Your fascinating, beautifully crafted lecture was a hugely appreciated highlight of the College’s cultural year, and we hope your memory of the event won’t be tainted by an audience member using it to write something so crude and offensive.”
The Spectator and Lloyd Evans have been contacted for comment.