Alt-right blogger Stefan Molyneux says lipstick should be banned in workplace

It's just lipstick. Photo / 123RF

A controversial blogger has been slammed online after claiming that lipstick should be banned in the workplace.

Stefan Molyneux, who hit the headlines in New Zealand when his speaking tour with fellow right-winger Lauren Southern was hit by protests, made the astonishing claim on Twitter.

He wrote: "So strange. Do you know that female lipstick simulates sexual arousal?
Can you imagine a man showing up for a business meeting with a giant artificial boner straining at his pants? Yet lipstick is perfectly acceptable in the business world."

Molyneux was widely criticised for his comments, with one person writing: "I have had internet access for something like 30 years. That tweet right there ranks in the 10 stupidest things I have ever seen."

Women were quick to clap back at Molyneux with one replying: "Are you projecting your own lack of control around women? It sure sounds like it."

A second wrote: "He just sounds like a horny dingbat to me."

Are you projecting your own lack of control around women? It sure sounds like it.

— Angela Stefanie Wenk 🇩🇪🇺🇸 (@AngelaSWenk) August 9, 2019

Molyneux attempted to defend his position, citing research that says: "Red lips have been considered attractive in women... possibly because they mimic vasodilation associated with sexual arousal."

Or alternatively, some woman just like to wear lipstick.

— Paul 🌈 (@MPCmonkey) August 11, 2019

It’s true that cosmetics have a basis in human biology, but your comparing the subtle to the overt, a look to a lewd invitation.

If you really think they’re comparable, you’re an idiot.

— BallsOut (@bjcreigh) August 10, 2019

Battling the comments, Molyneux took another tack and claimed that women's use of lipstick was an attempt to pass themselves off as younger and healthier.

One woman cheekily suggested to Molyneux that she took a "professional" approach to her choice of lip colour, writing: "When I attend a business meeting I stay professional by matching the colour of my lipstick to my labia when in a non-aroused state."

Lipstick simulates the lips of youth, health and fertility because these are the commodities men seek in women. When I attend a business meeting I stay professional by matching the colour of my lipstick to my labia when in a non-aroused state. pic.twitter.com/loxYIerxr9

— Amanda Jeyaretnam (@Liberal_Isms) August 10, 2019

Molyneux and Southern were hit with protests and bomb threats when they attempted to speak in New Zealand in 2018.

At the time Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that New Zealand was "hostile to their views," while their eventual departure was cheered by Justice Minister Andrew Little, who said: "Their message is insidious, it's nasty and of course you can say anything in the interest of freedom of speech but to just attempt to sow a destructive message … I'm glad they are going sooner rather than later".