Another reality show, another example of the public clutching its pearls at a woman – heaven forbid – feeling herself.
This time the target is Love Island winner Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu, who has found herself facing elimination following last weekend's (January 15) premiere episode of the new Dancing on Ice.
Despite gaining a fairly respectable score of 21.5 from the judges, placing her fourth on the leaderboard, it was the public backing (or lack of it) that let her down. As a result, she'll face the contestant with the lowest overall score in Sunday's show (airing January 22) and one of them will be sent packing.
If we were to give the benefit of the doubt, it's entirely possible that Ekin-Su's routine just didn't grip audiences as much as the others. But the beloved reality star went from being dubbed a line-up favourite to becoming a possible early exit, all in one swift swoop of an ice skate. And we think we know why.
It's a tale as old as time: a woman dares not to hide her confidence, so she must be torn down. It was a narrative that circled Ekin-Su during her time in the Love Island villa, when she was crawling across roof terraces and being open to getting to know a number of the boys (which is the point of the show, is it not?).
Basically, she was criticised for doing the very same thing that many male contestants had done before her, and we rolled our eyes in the misogyny of it all. And her treatment while on Dancing on Ice is another piece of the same puzzle.
We've also seen sexist double standards when it comes to contestants taking part on the BBC's flagship dance show Strictly Come Dancing, with the likes of Maisie Smith, Alexandra Burke, Ashley Roberts and Fleur East being among those to have consistently performed well on the floor, only to have found themselves in the dance-off due to the public.
For Ekin-Su, the criticism has been taken one step further. It's been reported that Ofcom has received more than 100 complaints due to her costume and the 'sexiness' of her skating routine, with some branding it 'inappropriate' for a pre-watershed show.
The choreography was based on the 'Toxic' music video by Britney Spears, which we probably shouldn't need to remind you has been widely available to watch around the clock on music channels since 2004.
"It was a tribute to Britney, that's where the inspiration came from," the ITV show's creative director Dan Whiston confirmed to Digital Spy, before defending Ekin-Su's performance, saying: "I think she carried it off really well."
If the issue really were about its sexiness, then surely we'd all have had the same energy for Kelvin Fletcher's snakey hip movements on Strictly?
Not only was he heavily hyped up for getting folks 'hot under the collar' during his stint on the show, but the former Emmerdale star became a firm viewer favourite and ended up winning his Strictly series alongside the brilliant Oti Mabuse.
A woman can be attractive, society favours it in fact. But should she know about it, or actually own it and utilise it to her own advantage, then it won't be long before she's put in her place.
We're pleased to see that Ekin-Su isn't playing ball. In response to the reaction to her performance, she's been quoted as saying (via The Sun): "You know what? If you have 'em flaunt them.
"I mean if you've got a nice bum and you look sexy in a unitard, why not. Who cares?"
It's also worth noting that leotards are common costumes when it comes to ice skating, and many have been worn on Dancing on Ice before now by both men and women. This recent response speaks more to society's attitude towards women's bodies than it does to the outfit.
We've all seen the tabloid headlines that shout about a woman 'flaunting' something or other, or 'putting on a busty display', when all they're actually doing is, you know, wearing clothes and going about their days.
We're pleased to see that Ekin-Su is standing defiantly against the reaction – but then, we'd expect nothing less.
Dancing on Ice airs on Sundays on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
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