Barrister Charlotte Proudman, pictured at an event to celebrate International Women's Day made comments online about the way two men looked

The barrister who accused a male solicitor of sexism after he described her photograph on a business website as 'stunning' has previously told men online they were 'hot stuff'.

Charlotte Proudman, 27, claimed Alexander Carter-Silk had 'objectified her' with the message he sent on the networking site LinkedIn.

She then posted his comments – and her outraged response – on Twitter, telling the married 57-year-old that focusing on women's looks 'silences women's professional attributes as their physical appearance becomes the subject'.

The row was triggered on Monday when Mr Carter-Silk responded to an approach from her to 'connect' on LinkedIn.

He wrote: 'I appreciate that this is probably horrendously politically incorrect but that is a stunning picture!!! You definitely win the prize for the best LinkedIn picture I have ever seen.'

She responded: 'Alex, I find your message offensive. I am on Linked-in [sic] for business purposes, not to be approached about my physical appearance or to be objectified by sexist men.'

He emailed her an apology on Wednesday, but Miss Proudman said there was 'no acknowledgement that the message he sent was inappropriate or is sexist'.

Within hours, thousands of people were replying to her tweets, praising and ridiculing her for shaming Mr Carter-Silk.

However, it emerged yesterday that the award-winning human rights barrister has commented on pictures of men on Facebook herself to praise their looks.

She also told female friends they looked 'sexy' and 'stunning' – the same word used by Mr Carter-Silk.

On the profile of a postgraduate student at Cambridge, where Miss Proudman is on sabbatical from her chambers to study for a PhD, she wrote: 'Hot stuff!', while under an image of a long-haired male friend, she wrote: 'oooo lalala!'

Beneath photos from women, she was also happy to compliment their looks, saying to different friends: 'Oh ladies, wowwweeeeee!!!!!!', 'wow! stunning!!!!' and 'Sexy lady!'

Ms Proudman described this man's photograph as 'hot stuff' when commenting on his Facebook profile

This gentleman received an 'Oooo la la' from Ms Proudman who complained about being objectified online

'Offensive': Married father-of-two Alexander Carter-Silk, 57, (pictured left) was accused of 'disgusting' sexism for messaging high-flying barrister Charlotte Proudman, 27, (right), praising her 'stunning' picture on LinkedIn

Mr Carter-Silk said Miss Proudman should 'win a prize' for her photograph, adding it was 'the best I have ever seen' on the site. She responded saying she was not on LinkedIn 'to be objectified by sexist men' (pictured)

Miss Proudman said Mr Carter-Silk's comments were particularly unacceptable because he made them in a workplace environment in his capacity as a senior solicitor.

She told the Mail: 'I have received messages from LinkedIn before but never one from a senior partner at a solicitors' firm, which is why I called it out. As a solicitor he has a duty to uphold the law, which includes sexual discrimination.'

When women enter the male realm whether law, politics, or a construction site, they find themselves in a repugnant world Charlotte Proudman

Yesterday, she hit back after receiving a torrent of abuse online for her comments and being labelled a cause celebre for armies of 'Feminazis'.

Miss Proudman told the London Evening Standard: 'Of course I am not a man-hating Feminazi. That is an incredibly insulting thing to say and just another mechanism to silence women.'

She said the public interest in exposing sexism outweighed Mr Carter-Silk's right to privacy, and repeated her demand for a public apology, and pointed out that her boyfriend, a 30-year-old Cambridge PhD student, received job offers to work at hedge funds via LinkedIn while she got 'propositions from men'.

She added: 'There is a continuum between receiving a sexist message on LinkedIn and being discriminated against in the workplace.

'It has a huge, profound effect on women's career opportunities, making them feel uncomfortable working in male-dominated places, for example in the law. That is why I try to nip it in the bud before it escalates.'

Complimentary: Alexander Carter-Silk, 57, praised this picture of his daughter Ellie on social media, saying: 'Yeee gods she is hot!!'

Comments: Mr Carter-Silk put these comments online last year and a colleague said today: 'He is not a sexist pig. He just doesn't have a filter on his mouth'

Sexism row: Mr Carter-Silk's wife of nearly 30 years, Jacqueline, 60, pictured, has refused to comment on her husband's message

However, in a blog on the left-wing website Left Foot Forward, Ms Proudman wrote: 'The crux of the matter is that men live and work in a brutal society, which is maintained through stratified social order based on ritual humiliation, gentleman's clubs, fights, rites of passage, sexism, and banter.

'When women enter the male realm whether law, politics, or a construction site, they find themselves in a repugnant world in which their only means of survival is by undergoing a fundamental transformation leaving them with little opportunity to make any change.'

She has been warned she has 'ruined her career' by criticising Mr Carter-Silk and speaking out about sexism. Franklin Sinclair, a partner in one of the country's largest criminal law firms, warned she could be blacklisted.

Miss Proudman, from Leek in Staffordshire, specialises in the law surrounding female genital mutilation. She said LinkedIn was seen by some members as being like the dating app Tinder, adding: 'Professionals are using LinkedIn as if it were Tinder. There are websites designed for professionals to date. There is no need to use LinkedIn.'

She did not respond last night to requests to comment on the remarks she had made about friends on Facebook.

LinkedIn lawyer: Male-dominated workplaces are 'repugnant' places where women suffer 'ritual humiliation'

LinkedIn barrister believes men make offices a 'repugnant world' and blames male dominance for 'rape, prostitution and pornography'

Outspoken: Charlotte Proudman, pictured as a trainee barrister in 2010, has said previously that male-dominated workplaces are repugnant

The outspoken lawyer at the centre of the LinkedIn sexism row believes male-dominated workplaces are 'repugnant'.

Charlotte Proudman, who is a human rights specialist, also claims on her Twitter account that 'rape, prostitution and pornography are problems of male dominance'.

The 27-year-old Cambridge PHD student has written dozens of articles on sexism and is also a favourite on BBC Radio 4.

Miss Proudman describes herself as fighting for feminism not equality, claiming the latter is not possible for women.

Miss Proudman, writing for left-leaning website Left Foot Forward said: 'The crux of the matter is that men live and work in a brutal society, which is maintained through stratified social order based on ritual humiliation, gentleman's clubs, fights, rites of passage, sexism, and banter.

'When women enter the male realm whether law, politics, or a construction site, they find themselves in a repugnant world in which their only means of survival is by undergoing a fundamental transformation leaving them with little opportunity to make any change.

The barrister, has also written for the Fabian Society, the socialist group linked to the Labour party.

Describing herself on Women's Hour in March she said: 'I define myself as a feminist who supports the liberation of women. In my view we need feminism to address the fact that women are systematically disadvantaged because we are women, because of our gender. Equalists ignore the gendered nature of the oppression of women'.

In her career Miss Proudman has managed to build up a well regarded practice while working with 'Super QC' Michael Mansfield.

She grew up in the small Staffordshire town of Leek where she went to the local comprehensive, Westwood High School, which specialises in modern languages.

She was brought up by her fashion lecturer mother Kirsten Baiyle after her engineer father died when she was a young child. Four years ago she changed her name to Proudman, her grandmother's name.

Miss Proudman went to the nearby Keele University to read law so she could stay at home and keep her job in the local supermarket to pay for her studies.

But while there she managed to show her feisty side in a row over almost £500 of parking tickets she received on campus.

The then 21-year-old received the tickets after parking illegally on the campus between November 2008 and March, and took her battle to court for herself and other students.

She told her local paper the Stoke Sentinel: 'I was never able to find anywhere to park, despite being in possession of a permit, so I was forced to park where I could.

'At the moment it is purely a money-making scheme which is plunging students into further financial hardship.

'I am going to fight this fine all the way for myself and the many other students who have been unfairly targeted.'

After moving to London the trainee barrister found success but also claimed that she suffered discrimination because she is a woman.

Describing sexist comments while at the Bar she said: ' 'It is typical of the sexism at the Bar, exposed in a recent Bar report, which is very bad and which I have experienced myself from other barristers and judges.'

Citing one child abuse case she claimed judge 'kept attacking her' because of her gender.