Back to Basics

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Anyone who follows me on twitter will know I'm a sucker for a good feminist debate. I'm that person who quotes Caitlin Moran on a regular basis, thinks rape culture is a perfectly legitimite topic on a night out and has no qualms with pointing out when a colleague has made a sexist remark.

Recently I've become very conscious that a lot of my views have come about since I started working in the Student Movement. A few years back, when I began my time as a Student Officer, I didn't really appreciate the feminist argument (I was too preoccupied with the worry that the Women's Officer might want to ban pole dancing). Fast forward to today and it's become an integral part of my life and what I believe in. It would be silly to pretend that these beliefs haven't been influenced by the environment I've worked in for the past three years. Students' Unions are absolutely brilliant for their stance on equality and desire to make everyone feel safe and included. I think they're fairly unique in that sense. As a result this is often on my radar. Even when there's a topic I don't feel particularly strongly about, when I'm with people who don't come at it from an officer/adviser/general Union-ista's stance, I will often get defensive on behalf of the minority group in question. A good example is the gender neutral toilet debate. Not something I spend a great deal of time pondering however last night I found myself automatically explaining the merits of it just because it came up in conversation and, well, I felt I should.

I'm often surrounded by people who have similar views to me on feminism and so there's no real need to defend my beliefs on a day to day basis. However when I'm with different groups of people, there's a need to legitimise what I'm saying with well-reasoned arguments. This is where I often fall down. Feminism is now in the spotlight and there's a plethora of well written pieces in support of the movement. In my excitement to discover all of this, however, I've almost forgotton where my own beliefs actually stem from and why they're important to me (and not the author of the vagenda blog, for instance). I've therefore often bypassed the core arguments which have made me feel a certain way and headed straight to buzz words like 'safe space' and 'equality' in order to uphold a view which I'm not fully certain is even my own.

Take my previously cited example of rape culture. Last night a friend said something along the lines of girls being stupid for dressing promiscuously. I'll admit, I found it difficult to distinguish my emotional response ("I can't believe you just said that!") from a more reasoned rebuttal. This could have been down to the fact I'd already had a couple of glasses of wine or, quite simply, because I'm not normally in an environment where I'm required to defend this topic.

I think it's important that we all challenge our own views. Not to fit in with what others think but to feel comfortable that they really are our own. In the same way people with a religious upbringing may question whether their faith stems from those around them, I'm now questioning why I hold certain beliefs. I'm hoping this will strengthen my feminist argument so that next time I'm sat there open mouthed at a friend's comment I can actually put together a coherent response.

(For the record, I'm a feminist because I believe that both genders should be valued equally, which they currently aren't, and not just because I quite liked Caitlin Moran's witty take on female body hair.).

Wanted: Role Model

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I was watching a programme about female role models the other night which I think needs to be compulsory viewing for anyone who works with young people/the media. It basically illustrated how many young girls have no interest in making a name for themselves through hard work, instead harbouring ambitions to marry into success or to let their image do the talking. This is, of course, all a little misleading. All of these so called 'shallow' icons (Katie Price, Kim Kardashian, etc) have certainly put the hours in to get where they are today. However, as the programme acknowledged when interviewing TOWIE's Amy Childs, this hard work isn't always so visible (and can lead to young people viewing certain paths as the easy option).

We were then shocked with statistics telling us how few girls could name a female scientist/politician/business woman. I was actually horrified by the fact that I also struggled to come up with many myself. Having always considered myself as having ambition beyond what handbag I'd eventually like to own, it's worrying to realise that I'm probably more familiar with Emma Watson's style evolution than any great scientific discoveries made by a fellow woman. It's not that I don't care. It's just that, as the programme said, women don't tend to be talked about quite so much as men for reasons other than what they look like or who they're dating. This is a subject close to many feminist's hearts, with Caitlin Moran even dedicating a whole chapter of her book to role models (I'm seriously trying to mention this woman in as many posts as possible!).

It wasn't all doom and gloom. The programme also took three work-shy young girls and paired them with mentors (such as the founder of Nails inc and the CEO of a charity) in order to show them that there's more to life than fake tan and becoming a WAG. As predicted, once these girls had been shown an alternative, they were all for the world of work.

As many people say, feminism often deals with economic issues. Your aims in life are largely a sum of your background and education- if you've never been inspired to believe that hard work will get you places (places which allow you to keep your clothes firmly on) then of course you're more likely to be drawn in by a job which promises fame and glamour. Life can be mundane and uninspiring if you don't have people to look up to, people to show you that things can get better. So instead of frowning upon the girls who see themselves as the next Katie Price, why not ask ourselves if society has done enough to show them that there are other options?

I just want to end on an observation. I googled 'CEO' to see if there were any fitting images for this post. Needless to say, I was greeted by countless photos of men with a mere scattering of women, the third of which was CEO Barbie (as seen above). I think it says a lot when google ranks a plastic doll more highly in relevance than real, living and breathing women.

Green eyed monster

I like to think that I follow an eclectic mix of bloggers however, more often than not, they have one thing in common. Whether they're writing about fashion or feminism, I can't help but get a bit of an inferiority complex as I work my way through my reading list. Of course bloggers want you to view their world through rose tinted Ray Bans and are very selective about what they post however, as the following points show, it's not just their writing style I'm pining after...

The Fashionista

It's currently London Fashion Week and any blogger worth their shiny Cambridge satchel is out there photographing every moment of it. I always knew fashion blogging wasn't for me however, thanks to twitter, it's incredibly easy to feel left out of something you weren't even sure you wanted to be part of to begin with. I guess when your life seems to comprise of rum-induced disasters you do start to question your extracurricular activities.

The (Health) Foodie

If, like myself, you count blueberry muffins as one of your five a day you're bound to feel the guilt when reading someone rave about their latest healthly concoctions. For some reason I often find myself reading said blog whilst eating chocolate digestives, every bite reminding me of why I will never be able to wear that studded crop top from Urban Outfitters I have my eye on.

The Rich Kid

These kinds of blogs are pure escapism (oh how I long for the day when I can afford Mulberry accessories) with the sole purpose of illustrating just how fabulous the writer's life is. They also make me resent the fact that I am probably sat in my H&M jeggings on my lunch break rather than wearing Prada on a boat.

I realise this could possibly be one of my more negative blog posts. It's not supposed to be. I genuinely love reading these kinds of blogs and a little bit of envy is totally worth the potential outfit ideas/new recipes/general enjoyment I get out of them. In short, the rich, clever, witty, and beautiful people should keep writing (but perhaps throw the rest of us some more tips along the way, yeah?).

Six years later...

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It's funny how A Level results day always prompts people to reminisce about their school days and ponder the direction their lives could have taken had they chosen differently. Like many people, my life has taken on a very different path to those I was toying with in sixth form (mainly because I didn't know the role of 'Advice Coordinator' existed back then but that's beside the point).

For some reason I had my heart set on doing Biomedical Science at University despite a clear lack of ability and interest in the area. Having shunned the subjects I actually had a decent level of understanding in, I embarked on what was to be three years of pretending my degree didn't exist. Instead I threw myself into extracurricular activities from the word go (gospel choir in fresher's week, anyone?) and learned just how amazing the Students' Union was. Of course this stood me in good stead for going on to work in the student movement and I genuinely believe that had my course been more riveting the opportunity to get involved in the Union might have passed me by.

On the flip side, not doing what I was really passionate about meant that my last memories of education are not great. Don't get me wrong, I adored University, but that was more to do with my new found independence as opposed to lectures and lab sessions (those weeks of sketching rat brain were the worst of my life!).

So six years later what have I learnt? Not much in the area of my degree but we all know that learning is hardly restricted to academia:


1). Don't pick a subject because it sounds clever!
 This may be obvious but it's so easy to get sucked into something because you like the way it sounds (I guess this goes for job roles, too). A few impressed looks were so not worth trying to get to grips with cell biology.

2). Blessings in disguise do exist.
I ended up at my insurance choice as I missed out on the grades I needed however I can honestly say that I can't imagine spending my student days anywhere else. Not that underperforming in your exams is to be encouraged however in my case this actually worked out pretty well!

3). There's usually another way.
Unless you're looking at a really specific career (such as Medicine or Dentistry) then you can often find your own way into a job. I'm not saying it's easy but sometimes you just need to explore your options at your own pace rather than following your life plan to the last detail. As the majority of the twitter world have been saying to those getting results, today does not need to dictate the rest of your life. You have more power than you realise to change direction and so don't let less than perfect grades lead you to compromise your ambitions.

New Stuff

In the interest of showing that my life is about more than eating all the cake, here's a glimpse into what's new in my world:

1). Just in case you've missed my incessant tweeting about my new living arrangements, I have finally moved out. This has taken me the best part of a year and so I am indescribably relieved to no longer be living with my parents. Not that they weren't a treat, I just don't think they need to see their daughter stumble in drunkenly on a Friday night any longer.

2). The whole world is getting married. I've never felt particularly pressurised to find myself a husband however the thought of people my age walking down the aisle is always a little unnerving (committment phobe, moi?). Obviously I wish them all the luck in the world (what with the rocketing divorce rate and all...jokes) and await the facebook photos eagerly as Weddings are facestalking gold!

3). Driving lessons. These are currently the worst part of my life. I think it's safe to say I'm not a natural. My main reasons for learning are because my dad told me to and the fact that I want to be able to go to a drive through McDonalds on my own.

4). I signed up to present at the next Ignite session in Liverpool. I probably shouldn't broadcast this fact as part of me expects to drop out when the fear gets the better of me. I mean I'm all for stepping out of my comfort zone but a five minute presentation on what Sex and the City has done for feminism (yes that is my topic of choice)? I think I may have stepped out a little too far.

When Russell Brand met the Dalai Lama...

Yesterday a group of us went to see the Dalai Lama talk at an event called Stand Up and Be the Change. I'm not particularly religious (my Catholic upbringing kind of fell by the wayside once church was no longer a mandatory Sunday activity) however, with free tickets for under 25's, this seemed like too good an opportunity to miss. Plus as soon as I heard that Russell Brand was acting as compere I was sold (he's my guilty pleasure, what can I say?).

I must admit I was a little apprehensive. I think I was half expecting to be preached at however there was a refreshing lack of religious terminology and the principles explored were not particularly controversial (such as the importance of forgiveness and how we all have the right to find spiritual happiness). The general consensus on our way out was that a lot of what was said made perfect sense however I did feel that the event lacked practical advice. It's all very well telling a group of people to 'Stand Up and Be the Change' however I'm still not quite clear about what I'm supposed to be changing and how I should go about doing so. Either way, I liked the focus on empowering young people and it did hit home that it is now our generation's turn to do our thing (no pressure...).

All in all it was a great way to spend a Saturday, especially the parts were Russell Brand attempted to interpret the Dalai Lama's advice on spiritual wellbeing (there's a sentence I never thought I'd write!).

Mersey Tunnel 10K

Last Sunday I ran the Mersey Tunnel 10K. I'd heard about it a while ago and vowed to take part, mainly for the novelty factor of running through the tunnel (for similar reasons I also want to run the London Zoo 10K). Having completed a half marathon in the past I knew this distance was certainly do-able however, as I've been somewhat lacking in motivation, felt it would still be a decent challenge.

The race itself didn't disappoint. Sure parts were tough (I wasn't counting on the sun making a rare appearance) and negotiating my way through fellow runners at the beginning was a pain, however the great atmosphere meant that I genuinely enjoyed myself. Crossing the finish line in just over 53 minutes, I was reminded of why I am so determined to make running a part of my life.

I wish every run felt like a race (and not just because I'm weirdly competitive). I love the shift in attitude that race day brings. Of course the crowds spur you on however there's also that constant voice in your head telling you that stopping/walking just isn't an option. Sometimes it takes a certain kind of environment to really push yourself and lone training runs don't always cut it. When I'm jogging around my local park I will use any excuse to stop for a breather (my ipod needs adjusting, I need to tie my lace, I have to stretch... you get the picture) despite the fact that I know my body is more than capable of carrying on.

My next step is to join a running club. Having briefly dabbled in the past, I think I now need to make the commitment and find somewhere that won't let me stop unnecessarily as soon my legs get a little achy! I also need to work on my general overall fitness however the longer I can put off attending circuit training during my lunch break the better.