In every article about Ulrika Jonsson and the arrival of her fourth child, the Daily Mail has included a line like this:

“Miss Jonsson - who was labelled 4X4 by cruel detractors after the announcement of her fourth pregnancy - blah blah blah”

(From today’s article about the family)

As far as I’ve seen, they’re the ones that came up with that label and are certainly the only ones to repeat it in every single article. They’re also the only ones I’ve seen who refer to the fact Ulrika’s four children all have different fathers - in every, single, article. Most other sources seem more interested in the arrival of the new baby and the seemingly happy family he’s been born into.

As Ulrika has said herself, a man in the same situation doesn’t get the same treatment: Rod Stewart has seven children by five women but tends to be considered at worst a ‘womaniser’ (which typically has caddish overtones instead of slutty ones). In fact, an article from April this year was headlined: “Rod Stewart: Three wives, seven children and my beloved train set - why it’s such fun being me!” Rod gets to have fun while Ulrika is vilified.

They want to pass judgement about her but as a “respected newspaper” are supposed to be a bit more objective than that, so wrap it up in commentary written in the passive tense. They’re the “cruel detractors” as they are about every woman in the public eye. It’s just horrible.