This morning I walked, as usual, past rows of council houses on my way to the station. There were white vans and cheerful-looking workers a plenty as the windows on a large number of houses were being replaced. As I reached the bottom of the hill I passed the hugely obese woman who can sometimes be seen 'walking' her dogs all of 200 yards to a nearby square of grass but this time, instead of the small canine companions, she was wandering next to a similarly obese and sour-faced man. As I passed them on the street, the man pointed to the workers who were busily lifting window units out of their vehicles and said, "I bet they're all fackin' Polish too". He said that like it was in insult.
These men may well have been Polish. I don't know and, quite frankly, I don't care. They were on the job at 8.15am with smiles on their faces and were clearly not working illegally, so why on earth should he care? If you're going to make assumptions then, what the hell, so shall I. I assume that a family as overweight and sour-faced as that perhaps don't have jobs and just sit on their backsides moaning about the state of the country instead. I also suspect they might want to vote BNP... if they can be bothered to vote, that is.
The other day on Twitter, Hannah M mentioned a fantastic website which aims to inform people of the increasing number of ways that there is nothing British about the BNP. I can only hope that, come election time, more people agree with us than them.
Rape is about power, not sex
Yesterday I heard about the results of a survey on rape and blame. I set my alarm to wake me up with the radio every morning and heard about it on the news but, being half asleep at the time, thought I'd better check the story online in case I'd misheard. Apparently not.
In my opinion, part of the problem is that most people think that rape is about sex, when it's actually far more about power, and quite often, violence. When searching for other people who have written about this online, I came across and old blog post from Abstract Nonsense who shares my view that rape is a violent crime that is as enjoyable as being beaten up. Quite simply, rape is about power. In the case of an attack by someone you know (date rape), it is often a case that the woman has the power over whether or not the couple have sex, and so a rejected man may want to take that power back. Frustrating though it must be for them, thankfully most men in that situation don't continue when told no. In the case of an attack by a stranger, it's about exerting power over another person in the same way that any assault is. It's not just young attractive girls in short skirts who get raped so I'm unsure as to why this idea of 'asking for it' has hung around. Sadly, stories like this don't help stop the 'women enjoy it' myth either.
I had planned a much longer article on this for another website but am not sure I'll have the time so, for now, why not check out this piece on Rape myths past and present from the New Statesman. It's well worth reading.
"The majority of women surveyed believed that some rape victims should take responsibility for what happened to them."The idea that victims (usually women) are to blame in rape cases is not only offensive to women; it is also offensive to men too. It implies that men can't help themselves and are all just aggressive Neanderthals who can and will attack others because it's part of their nature. Individual circumstances should obviously be very carefully considered every time an accusation goes to court, and sometimes the victim may be considered to have put themselves at increased risk of attack, but the idea that victims "should take responsibility for what happened to them" equates in a lot of people's minds to "the victim is to blame". How is this going to help juries remain impartial? How is this going to help friends and relatives of victims to provide support when it's most needed?
In my opinion, part of the problem is that most people think that rape is about sex, when it's actually far more about power, and quite often, violence. When searching for other people who have written about this online, I came across and old blog post from Abstract Nonsense who shares my view that rape is a violent crime that is as enjoyable as being beaten up. Quite simply, rape is about power. In the case of an attack by someone you know (date rape), it is often a case that the woman has the power over whether or not the couple have sex, and so a rejected man may want to take that power back. Frustrating though it must be for them, thankfully most men in that situation don't continue when told no. In the case of an attack by a stranger, it's about exerting power over another person in the same way that any assault is. It's not just young attractive girls in short skirts who get raped so I'm unsure as to why this idea of 'asking for it' has hung around. Sadly, stories like this don't help stop the 'women enjoy it' myth either.
I had planned a much longer article on this for another website but am not sure I'll have the time so, for now, why not check out this piece on Rape myths past and present from the New Statesman. It's well worth reading.
Happy Birthday Photoshop
Believe it or not, Photoshop is almost 20 years old. There's a very interesting article on The Guardian's website on how we learned to love Photoshop, charting its journey from software that fitted on to a single floppy disk to a verb that is often used to insinuate that all commercial photography now lies to us. Especially in magazines and advertising.
However, to celebrate such a wonderful anniversary, I thought it was only fitting to point you in the direction of what is quite possibly the best use of Photoshop (and whatever other photo manipulation or drawing tool you can get your hands on) ever invented... the B3ta challenges. If the unlikely company mergers challenge doesn't make you at the very least giggle to yourself in a childish fashion, then you are clearly not my sort of person and I bid you farewell.
However, to celebrate such a wonderful anniversary, I thought it was only fitting to point you in the direction of what is quite possibly the best use of Photoshop (and whatever other photo manipulation or drawing tool you can get your hands on) ever invented... the B3ta challenges. If the unlikely company mergers challenge doesn't make you at the very least giggle to yourself in a childish fashion, then you are clearly not my sort of person and I bid you farewell.
What Katie Wore
As 9.30am approached, I was squashed into lift number one at Goodge Street tube station, listening to a guy behind me mock his colleague for saying that fitting us all in there was "just like Tetris". This made me smile. Then I left the station and discovered that the sun had started to peep out from behind the sky's grey covering of cloud. This also made me smile. However, both of these things paled into insignificance compared to what happened next. I started to walk down Chenies Street and found myself staring at a pair of Irregular Choice silver and blue ankle boots, out of which emerged a pair of pink neon clad legs. This had to be the best leg/footwear combination I have ever seen! The rest of the outfit was amazing too, but that boots/hosiery combo was simply astonishing.
Fast-forward to this afternoon and I find myself reading a tweet which led me to a blog... which is the blog of the woman from this morning! How spooky is that? London and the internet are both much smaller than they seem.
Fast-forward to this afternoon and I find myself reading a tweet which led me to a blog... which is the blog of the woman from this morning! How spooky is that? London and the internet are both much smaller than they seem.
Mademoiselle Style: Redux
Amazingly, it's been seven months since I had my consultation with Mademoiselle Style so I thought I'd provide a bit of an update on how things are going. You know, a bit like the part on those television shows where the expert re-visits the person they helped to see whether or not they've reverted to their old ways. Did I take all Laëtitia's advice on board and then promptly forget it once I next went shopping for clothes? I thought the best thing to do was form some outfits around the items I've purchased since the consultation and then take some photos so you can judge for yourselves. Well, what do you think?
(Click the image to view larger)
1. Dress from Heaven & Earth (sale bargain), shoes from Office
2. Dress from New Look (bought for a burlesque performance for a mere £12!)
3. Skirt from Ted Baker, jumper from Monsoon (both bought with birthday money)
4. Jumper from New Look, Whistles skirt from Bang Bang (£20!), vintage shoes
5. Vivienne Westwood trousers from Bang Bang, cardie from French Connection (an Xmas pressie from my sister)
6. Luella blouse from Bang Bang, skirt from John Lewis (unsure about those petrol blue tights though!)
In related news... I bought Mr Topper some shopping time with Laëtitia as a Christmas present and I am happy to report that she is just as successful when shopping for men's clothes. So that's two very enthusiastic thumbs-up from this household for Mademoiselle Style.
(Click the image to view larger)
1. Dress from Heaven & Earth (sale bargain), shoes from Office
2. Dress from New Look (bought for a burlesque performance for a mere £12!)
3. Skirt from Ted Baker, jumper from Monsoon (both bought with birthday money)
4. Jumper from New Look, Whistles skirt from Bang Bang (£20!), vintage shoes
5. Vivienne Westwood trousers from Bang Bang, cardie from French Connection (an Xmas pressie from my sister)
6. Luella blouse from Bang Bang, skirt from John Lewis (unsure about those petrol blue tights though!)
In related news... I bought Mr Topper some shopping time with Laëtitia as a Christmas present and I am happy to report that she is just as successful when shopping for men's clothes. So that's two very enthusiastic thumbs-up from this household for Mademoiselle Style.
Feminism vs. Burlesque
My love affair with burlesque is like a rollercoaster. Some days that's a good thing and it's like Nemesis - really exciting with plenty of ups and downs, but the highs are so great that they compensate for the lows. On other days it's like Oblivion - it has the potential to make me feel quite queasy and I simply want to see the back of it. Today I have once again started to wonder if my burlesque hobby is compatible with my feminist views. Someone I met on Twitter and invited into my burlesque world on Facebook said that:
I have found that planning routines, costumes and shows has given me a sense of empowerment, and has made me feel more confident than I would usually. However, burlesque performances themselves are not empowering as it's simply light entertainment. More importantly, what is the point if people other than my friends view what I do simply as stripping? I'm not a stripper. I don't do it for sexual reasons and I definitely don't want to perform for an audience who thinks I'm up for a shag purely because I've removed some items of clothing on stage. Think what you want of me when you know me but, until then, please don't assume anything. I really feel that I need to make my future routines less 'strippy' and more comical/theatrical or I simply won't feel comfortable with it. Now that I've got over the initial performance 'high' that burlesque provides, I'd like to make what I do a bit more... well, me. Let's see how the next two shows go and I'll report back.
Burlesque is interesting cause it makes it 'ok' for women to undress and people to watch under some 'artistic' guise ...but basically it's posh stripping that draws the line before 'non posh' stripping does. (badly explained, sorry).Badly explained or not, some people do think of burlesque as posh stripping and an awful lot of acts are essentially only that. I have had fun getting to grips with the basics, putting together routines and performing on stage, but now I'm thinking I really have to try to move onto the next level with my burlesque or ditch it all together.
I have found that planning routines, costumes and shows has given me a sense of empowerment, and has made me feel more confident than I would usually. However, burlesque performances themselves are not empowering as it's simply light entertainment. More importantly, what is the point if people other than my friends view what I do simply as stripping? I'm not a stripper. I don't do it for sexual reasons and I definitely don't want to perform for an audience who thinks I'm up for a shag purely because I've removed some items of clothing on stage. Think what you want of me when you know me but, until then, please don't assume anything. I really feel that I need to make my future routines less 'strippy' and more comical/theatrical or I simply won't feel comfortable with it. Now that I've got over the initial performance 'high' that burlesque provides, I'd like to make what I do a bit more... well, me. Let's see how the next two shows go and I'll report back.
