Thursday 8 March 2012

Stand Up and Speak Out!!


Today is International Women’s Day, a day for marking the achievements of the so-called fairer-sex.  How ironic, then, that on this day – when the theme of this year’s event is “Empower Women: End Hunger and Poverty” – I read on the Independent’s website that President Karzai of Afghanistan has taken a major step backwards for his country and endorsed the recommendation by the religious council that women go back to second-class citizen status.

It’s believed the recommendation that “men are fundamental and women are secondary” came about as a means of placating the Taliban and bringing them to the table in an attempt to bring the war in Afghanistan to an end, although the fact that President Karzai endorsed the motion on the very same day six British soldiers were killed has raised questions in some quarters as to whether we should still be sending our service personnel to die in a country which appears to be reneging on the issue.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all for bringing this war to an end as quickly as is humanly possible, and I’m not so naïve as to think this is something we in the West can achieve with our Afghan counterparts without including the Taliban, but am I prepared to countenance this at the loss of the progress which has been made to the issue of women’s rights in the country?  No sir, I am not.  Under the Taliban girls were barred from school and women from employment, and that’s without invoking the ridiculous laws about wearing make-up or the brutal public stonings they carried out (if you haven’t seen Sairah Shah’s powerful and moving documentary ‘Beneath the Veil’, which focuses on this issue, I strongly suggest you try and track a copy down); on the day which aims to bring the issue of women’s poverty – which lack of education is a huge contributor to – to the attention of the wider world, how anyone can sit by and allow such a thing to pass without comment is beyond me. 

But it’s not just in Afghanistan that women’s issues need to be shouted from the rooftops as proof of how far we haven’t come; in the UK, too, we’re not exempt from gender inequality.  The most obvious issue, of course, and the one which everyone seems aware of, is the pay gap between men and women and that infamous ‘glass ceiling’, but it’s not just economics.  The past week has seen scathing comments directed at the Government over the funding cuts to organisations which support women fleeing domestic violence; the closing of at least two women’s refuges; and the proposed changes to the Legal Aid Bill, all of which are, for the most part, going to affect women rather than men.  Now obviously men are victims of domestic abuse, but the vast majority of those enduring the abuse are women, and this is yet another example of the gender inequality which exists in our green and pleasant land.  If a victim approaching the courts for help in getting away from her violent partner or ex-partner cannot say she has a non-molestation order against them, and if there has not been a criminal conviction, then legal aid will not be granted.  Given that the vast majority of domestic abuse victims don’t go through the criminal justice system, this puts yet another obstacle in the path of anyone wanting to get out of a situation which no one should ever have to find themselves in.

Then there are our teenage daughters, sisters, cousins.  Oh ladies, we’ve let them down as well.  According to a new report by the NSPCC, more than a third of teenage girls have experienced some form of sexual violence; one in five believe that if a boy spends money on them, he has the right to receive sex in return, regardless of the girl’s own feelings; and some even believe that if they have sex with one boy, his friends have the right to have sex with her as well.  They don’t recognise that what’s happening to them is sexual violence, sexual assault, even rape.  How did we let this happen?  How did we as a society make it acceptable for the next generation not to believe they are entitled to keep their bodies sacred; that no means no; that achieving social status doesn’t have to mean having sex with as many people as possible?  How did we let them think that rape is only what happens when a stranger grabs you off the street and bundles you into an alleyway or a deserted park when it’s dark, and not tell them that rape can also be about giving into pressure from the boy you sit next to in maths class every day?  Are we raising a generation that won’t be empowered enough to say no; who think that the battles for feminism – that dirty word – have all been won and so they have to go along with these things?

It’s not just sex, either – what of the pressure on women to be ‘thin’?  There was a report on the Independent’s website this week about modelling agencies once again standing accused of putting pressure on their models to maintain ridiculous and unobtainable weights, contributing to yet another rise in the eating disorders anorexia and bulimia.  These models, and myriad celebrities along with them, are everywhere; their thinness is constantly being pushed into the consciousness of our society and so no one whatsoever should be remotely surprised that girls as young as eight are being admitted to treatment centres with anorexia.  Enough already.

When the original Suffragettes chained themselves to railings, threw themselves under horses, endured hunger strikes and the barbaric consequences of the Cat and Mouse Act – and, yes, used violence – to get their message across, they envisioned a better word for their daughters; a world where men and women would be treated fairly and equally.  They would have been horrified that we have ‘settled’ for a bland version of equality; where ‘flexible’ working hours often means less pay and where we are still taught to be ‘the little woman’, although with a focus on being the right weight, staying off our own streets after dark because of the danger and accepting the still deeply misogynistic culture which constantly pervades our society.  The women who fought for abortion and contraceptive rights would be outraged that these things were still under attack, that women in Virginia could be subjected to a new law which would force them to have a vaginal ultrasound when seeking an abortion, no matter what their reason.  The women who bravely stood up for the rights of all men and all women to be equal would shake their heads in confusion at the fate of the women in Egypt, who were physically and sexually assaulted on International Women’s Day last year by the same men who had stood side-by-side with them months earlier to bring about the downfall of President Mubarak.  And the ghosts of those women who starved themselves to death in the name of women’s suffrage would quiver with rage at the discovery that women are still having to take such extreme measures to get their voices heard, that two members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot are on hunger strike in a Moscow jail after their arrest for singing less-than-complimentary songs about Vladimir Putin and his not-at-all-rigged election victory.

Our foremothers fought and died for our right to vote, to be treated as equal citizens.  Even in the US, that great bastion of supposed tolerance and equality, had to amend its great Constitution from “all Men are created equal under God” to include women and the black population.  In the Sixties our mothers fought for the right to the contraceptive pill; in the Seventies our older sisters marched for all sorts of issues.  How horrified would they be at the way things have turned out, I wonder…?

I know it isn’t all doom and gloom.  I know that in the Western World, at least, things have come a long way.  But the battles haven’t all been won and it’s up to us to stand up and speak out; to rally together as all those women who went before us once did; and to shake ourselves out of our complacency and polite acceptance of the status quo.  I want you to be furious at the plight of women in Afghanistan if this new ‘recommendation’ becomes enforceable.  I want you to be sickened by the illegal weddings of young girls in India – some as young as 7 or 8 – to men old enough to be their fathers or grandfathers, which are all done under the cover of night to prevent not the police being informed (for they turn a blind eye in many regions) but to stop the NGO’s coming and taking the girls away to safety.  But I also want you to be furious that Bob across the office from you, who does exactly the same job you do, still gets paid more than you do.  I want you to be sickened that your 8 year old daughter worries she might be too fat to be considered worthwhile, or that your 15 year old niece thinks the only way to get anywhere in life is to let some boy have sex with her even though she’s not really sure she’s ready for it.  I want you to stand up and scream from the rooftops that domestic abuse is an aberration which needs to be destroyed once and for all; that you have the right to choose an abortion if you so wish it, without being made to feel like a criminal; that you are more – so very much more – than that fabulous haircut and superb bikini body you so pride yourself on. 

Deeds, not words, was the motto of the original Suffragettes.  Enough is enough.  It’s time to stop talking about how “something needs to be done” and time to actually do it.  We need to educate ourselves as well as the next generation, and we need to make sure we fight as hard for our rights as Sylvia Pankhurst and the rest did.  We know things aren’t right, girls, but unless we take that first step to trying to change it, they aren’t going to get any better…

Monday 27 February 2012

Fight the Fascists...

Now here's a terrifying prospect...I read in The Independent today that the English Defence League, that bastion of all things far-right and extremist, are uniting with their counterparts from other EU countries including host nation Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Italy and Poland - as well as the Ronseal-named groups Stop Islamisation of Europe and Stop Islamisation of the world and the more intriguingly-titled European Freedom Initiative - to take part in the first ever European Counter-Jihad Meeting.  In the words of the Almighty Eddie Izzard - quod the actual fuck?

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not going to suddenly reveal myself as a leading cheerleader for the Al Quaida group or anything - as far as I'm concerned, any form of militant extremism and fundamentalism, be it religious or nationalistic, is an abhorrent thing that needs wiping out, particularly when the tactics these groups choose to implement result in the murders of innocent people (yes, AQ, I'm looking at you...)  However, the idea of the EDL and their little friends having some form of tea party in Denmark in order to consolidate and politicise their hate-fuelled, bigoted and ignorant agenda makes me want to go rushing to the nearest mosque to beg their faiths collective forgiveness on behalf of everyone in England with even half a brain cell.  The point of the meeting in Aarhus, according to the EDL leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is to "discuss tactics.  Each country's delegates will get time to describe the problems they have.  We will try to pool resources.  For example, if another defence league wants to run a demonstration in their own country they are unlikely to get as much media interest as if we were involved, so we would go over there and lend our support".  Ah, the EDL, doing their bit to ensure that historical depictions of the English as "thugs for hire" remains resolutely and charmingly intact...

Seriously, though, surely there has to be some sort of law against a meeting of this type?  There's a difference between allowing freedom of speech and allowing incitement of racial/religious hatred, which is what this little shindig is coming down to.  At the moment the EDL resemble nothing more than a bunch of hooligans out to cause trouble and stir up hatred; bad enough in itself, but can you imagine them getting together with the likes of the Norwegian Defence League (who spawned Anders Brevik, the man who went on a murderous rampage in the country late last year) or some of the other groups who have political wings and are elected to local, and in some instances national, government?  What a terrifying prospect...and this meeting is expected to be only the first; the various defence leagues intend to make their little get-together a regular thing, eventually forming a European Defence League which will model itself on the EU and both politicise and unify these disparate groups.

In the 1930's the right-wing Fascist movement gained popularity not just here in the UK (Oswald Mosley and his 'Black Shirts' for example) but across Europe - and we all know what happened next.  Now I'm not suggesting for one second that this gathering in Denmark is going to lead to a full-scale persecution of Muslims and the outbreak of World War Three, but I think it should make us wary.  Very wary.  And when I say 'us' I mean all of us; every sensible, right-thinking human being in Europe needs to be aware of this and put pressure on those in power to ensure that history doesn't end up repeating itself and these mindless idiots don't get the chance to do something the rest of us will regret.  It is completely unacceptable for Al Quaida and their ilk to go around deliberately misinterpreting and twisting the Q'uran for their own ends and murdering innocent people.  It is equally unacceptable for the EDL and their European counterparts to go around tarring all Muslims with the same brush and advocating the brutal disrespect of their faith.  Some of our European neighbours already have far-right politicians making threats at coming into power, even in some small and seemingly insignificant way, but any advance the far-right makes is something which should send a small shiver of warning down the spines of anyone with the aforementioned half a braincell and a conscience.

So let the 50 members of the EDL go to Denmark, if that's what they want, and let them have their little chinwag with their mates.  Perhaps the UK border agency could do the rest of us a favour, however, and have another one of their 'glitches'.  Lost passports, mislaid documentation, closing the borders to anyone inciting racial hatred...given the reaction of most Daily Mail readers to the news this was happening to that exotic and dangerous foreign 'other', I'm sure they'd quite understand if the Government announced it was having to really tighten up and clamp down on its border checks and so on...

Be afraid, Europe.  Be very, very afraid...and also vigilant.  If one side goes off you just know the extremist wings of the other side will feel the need to jump up and down as well, and frankly the last thing any of us normal citizens need is to be caught in the cross fire.

Thursday 23 February 2012

Beat the Bullies...

I hate the fact we live in a world where someone can be judged on something trivial - the colour of their skin, their sexuality, how they dress - and bullied because of it.  I hate the fact that, as I type this, there are entire legions of young (and not-so-young) people who are suffering at the hands of bullies.  I hate the fact that between 15 and 25 teenagers a year kill themselves because they are being bullied, and I hate the fact that, thanks to the wonders of the World Wide Web and mobile phones, this bullying can continue even in the sanctity of their own bedrooms. 

Now I was lucky.  Although I had my 'differences' with one of the girls I was at secondary school with it never really degenerated into out-and-out bullying, although there were days when she made my life utterly miserable, and we certainly never had the technology for her to be able to continue tormenting me outside the school gates.  These days thanks to Facebook, Twitter and the rest, some kids are being bullied even when they're in the so-called safety of their own homes.  I just cannot get my head around the fact that some people clearly have such pointless and pathetic lives they feel they have some god-given right to inflict such suffering on others.

It is never ok to pick on someone, to mentally and emotionally torture them, to beat them up or drive them to complete and utter misery because they happen to look/act/think differently to you.  It doesn't make you cool.  Calling someone fat or queer, beating someone up because they dress 'Goth', driving another human being into taking their own life because they can't put up with the relentless torture - because that, my friends, is what it is - is NEVER ACCEPTABLE.

If you're being bullied, the first thing I want to tell you is it isn't your fault.  The second thing I want to tell you is you aren't alone.  The third and most important thing I want to tell you is that there are people out there who can help you.  I know it's hard, but you need to talk to someone about it and, if you don't feel confident enough to tell a friend, parent, teacher or colleague then there are other agencies out there who will be able to help you.  You can contact Kidscape who also have a phone line for parents of children who are being bullied.  You can call Childline on 0800 1111.  You can call the Samaritans on 08457 909090 - they also have a website detailing the other ways you can contact them.  

What you are going through is NOT ok.  Don't let the bullies win.  Talk to someone.  Please.  It does get better and you don't have to end up a statistic.  You can beat the bullies and go on to live a full and happy life; you just need to realise that you aren't fighting on your own...

Tuesday 14 February 2012

It Can't Rain All The Time...

...Or why "The Crow" is, in fact, the perfect movie for Valentine's Day.

No, this is not going to be some bitter and twisted singleton's post about how much I hate Valentine's Day, how it reeks of commercialism and how you don't need one day to show someone how much you love them (although all of the above is, in fact, true - seventy five quid for a bunch of flowers in Tesco; I ask you!)  Instead it's my attempt to prove to people - well, mainly to the GBF, since he maintains watching a film this violent on the day of Love is tantamount to needing a quick side-trip to a padded cell - that actually my annual ritual for V-Day is entirely appropriate...

For those of you who haven't seen the film, what's wrong with you?  Hang your heads in shame and go immediately to your nearest DVD outlet to rent/purchase it immediately.  Ok, ok, I'll help you out.  The film starts in an apartment in Detroit on Devils Night, the night before Halloween.  A young woman is severely injured and later dies in hospital; her fiance, a musician, lies dead outside having taken a swan dive through the window.  No one is caught and the murders remain unsolved.  A year later the musician, Eric Draven, is brought back from the Land of the Dead by a crow and sets about systematically targeting everyone responsible for the death of his beloved Shelly and his own murder, being helped along the way by a friendly cop and Sarah, a young girl befriended by Eric and Shelly when they were still alive.  The film ends with Eric returning to his grave, where he is reunited with Shelly.

Yes, The Crow is violent. There's no getting away from that - a variety of people get beaten up and killed in various nasty ways throughout the film, and of course the wonderful Brandon Lee died as the result of a tragic accident during the making of the movie.  The Bad Guys get got in this one, and its violence - while justified in the context of the story - can at times seem a little disturbing. The film is absolutely about violence and vengeance, but at the core of the film - at the core of the story - is love.  And what could be more appropriate on this day of Love than that?  The love between Eric Draven and Shelly Webster is the beating heart of this movie; love that goes beyond the grave; the kind of love you read about in sappy chick-lit books or see in the 'great' love stories of classic film history - and no amount of violence can ever take that away from it...


Happy Valentine's Day, everyone...

Saturday 11 February 2012

Snow Patrol!

Ok, so there was no Lust List last night because yours truly was at the O2 Arena, freezing my sexy little arse off (why do I never remember how cold it is in that place?) to go and see the absolutely wonderful Snow Patrol, and of course the lead singer of the Belfast band, Gary Lightbody, has already had the dubious honour of making the list.  Well.  Just...well.  It.  Was.  Incredible.  I know people go on an on about how boring they are (yes, Mother, I'm looking at you) but it was one hell of a show - easily in the top five gigs I've ever been to, and that's saying something.  Gary and the boys put on one hell of a show - I literally ran the entire gamut of emotions from hysterical laughter (oh, Mr Lightbody, you are such a funny guy!) to hysterical sobbing to dancing like a crazy thing and then shrieking like a demented harpy when old old songs got pulled out of the bag.  It was completely amazing and Gary has just rocketed up into my Top 10 Live Frontman/woman list - not only is he very sweet and charming, he's also very humble and witty.  The rest of the guys were also astonishingly good; they're all awesome musicians anyway, and live they are just something else.  I really, really recommend going to see them if you ever get the chance (and can get a ticket, because the Gods alone know how lucky I was to get mine!)

So, a treasured memory of the night...



I LOVE this photo - I managed to catch Gary just as he turned to the band and started to laugh; I think they were all a bit staggered by just how many people were rammed inside the (not exactly tiny) arena, and I've rarely been to a gig with such a good atmosphere.  It was staggering.  It was magic.  I got goosebumps, I cried, I laughed...I want to go again.  Now.  Looks like I'll just have to play my videos instead...which apparently I can't upload, so you'll have to ask me to email them to you if want to see them...