Sexism Experiment Makes Karl Stefanovic World Famous

Nobody noticed – or at least if they did, they didn’t bother to comment – and yesterday, when Stefanovic revealed what he’d done, social media reacted with a level of amazement that usually doesn’t happen for people not named Kardashian.

In fact, per a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, Stefanovic’s viral experiment has made headlines around the world, from the The BBC to the New York Daily News, and reactions, although mostly positive, have been varied.

High-profile feminist site Jezebel ran with it as a lead story today, and writer Isha Aran pointed out that “[as] interesting as this is, he simply proved something we all already know, the double standard women deal with on a day-to-day basis.”

While this is definitely true, it’s also worth considering that Stefanovic, by the sheer novelty of his experiment, arguably proved his point to a bunch of people who don’t regularly stop and think about ingrained privilege and everyday sexism.

The stunt, meanwhile, has turned Stefanovic into something of a folk hero on Twitter, with grudging respect emerging as a common theme:

Here we are indeed. RT @ccpopculture: I never expected to respect Karl Stefanovic yet, here we are. http://t.co/T09pL4LP9r

— Marieke Hardy (@mariekehardy) November 15, 2014

love this comment under a fb story about Karl Stefanovic’s suit thing pic.twitter.com/Cplz2dUyGc

— Bec (@Brocklesnitch) November 16, 2014

.@karlstefanovic you’re a bloody hero. Making a point about sexism in media in front of our eyes and no one noticed.
http://t.co/EEbJSRXORT

— Maudie Garrett (@maudegarrett) November 15, 2014

Today posted a selection of Karl’s best looks from the last year on their Facebook page:

Stefanovic himself hasn’t commented since yesterday’s Fairfax interview, although it’s a safe bet tomorrow’s show will be an interesting one.

Image via YouTube