Égalita by Kay Chantelle

ĂŠgalita

"We need to teach young people about equality and not to reinforce gender stereotypes, so that when they grow up, equality is a natural concept and gender stereotypes are something to laugh at."

Kay Chantelle - Editor

égalita is a quarterly journal aimed

at exploring feminism and gender equality in an unbiased way. The aim to simplifying a complex and confusing matter with hopes of inspiring the conversation of gender equality to open up and become an inclusive movement, focusing on solidarity rather than pitting men and women against each other. Founded in 2015, égalita is built up of opinions, interviews and theories, in the hope of opening up minds and creating thought.

égalita, Issue one, May 2015

printed in the UK by Mail Boxes Ect. Number Four 7 Woodcroft Close Eltham SE9 2AS office@égalita.com www.égalita.com Subscribe and support published on a quarterly basis, égalita relies on your support to survive www. égalita.com/subscribe For subscription enquires subscription@égalita.com All rights reserved. No part of this publications may be reproduced without permission from the editor. The views expressed in égalita are those of its contributors and editors and not of its publishers. 2| égalitA

the task force behind égalita Editor-in-Chief KAY CHANTELLE with many many thanks to...

Appearance is such a powerful thing, first impressions are based marginally on them no matter how much we’d hate to admit it, we are imprisoned by them. And for this reason our contributors will remain faceless so that their voices are unhindered by prior judgement, so that they are free to speak and you are free to listen.

MAISY SKEGGS Aspiring Actress

FRANCESCA COOMBS PR and Brand Consultant

AARON MCULLOCH Retail Manager

JAYNE SMITH Preschool Nursery Nurse

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a note from the editor Someone Once Asked Me: “Are You A Feminist?”

Feminism and Feminist used to be two words that made me squirm. Why start with such a bold statement? Well because the conversation of feminism, what it means, what it aims to achieve, who even is a feminist and more importantly what it represents, the pressures and power of such a conversation is outstanding and enough to paralyse the most talkative. Feminism is a complex matter, filled with varied and heavily argued debate. I personally after extensive research into the movement still feel bemused and overwhelmed by the conflicting voices and representations. I feel strongly against the discrimination and restrictions of gender norms and I support it wholeheartedly. However, when recently asked if I was a feminist, I crumbled, I recoiled, shivered even before snapping back at my accuser “no, absolutely not!” What surprised me was his response; he calmly stated “yes you are, what about you isn’t?” I felt shame at the fact I was offended to be called a feminist, even slightly outraged. I am definitely not man hating, I love wearing my make-up and heels, I even shave my armpits! The thought of being classed as a feminist made me evaluate myself – was I sending out negative vibes, I started questioning my ability of being seen as a women. And then it hit me, this is wrong. I should be proud to be a feminist. Deep down I knew I should not feel like this, I was letting assumptions define that, letting stereotypes be in control, the very thing that I dislike about gender norms in the first place. This journal aims to explore not only what modern feminism is but equal rights, and that starts with the dismissal of all the negativity that surrounds the movement. I propose solidarity and equality for all, not just a focus for women but for men too. To start this, we need to challenge and clarify what is already happening in today’s society. Emma Watson once stated “the ground is fertile”, and now more than ever there needs to be unity. There has been progress and there have been some recessions. In recent times the use of woman and man to describe many professional positions has been changed and gender assumptions have been challenged. In schools, nurses can now be represented by an image of a man – but we still have a long way to go to teach children about equality and eradicating it. However, before we start trying to educate our children’s we need to re-educate ourselves. If this journal can make you question even the smallest thing about gender stereotyping and feminism, then it is on it is way to achieving its goals. My hope is that after all is said and done and you will put this journal aside, you will be more positive towards the movement. For too long it has been a battle of the sexes, I call for you to unite with me, and together maybe, just maybe change will happen.

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Our pledge to you

THE MANIFESTO égalita is comprised from the term egalitarianism meaning equal rights for all, égal means ‘equal’ in French and ‘all the same’ in German. égalita will not define feminism or the equal rights movement because there is no one definite definition. The goal of this journal is to decrease the negativity surrounding the movement that has for so long discouraged people from associating themselves with it. I think that it can mean different things to each individual and I do not think you have to agree with everything that it presents. We will leave it up to you to make your own definition. I feel people are either confused by it or do not feel that is relevant. Some distance themselves from feminism and equal rights, possibly in fear of being associated with negative connotations, sometimes being disassociated with the movement has similar effects. The conflicting views surrounding feminism, in some cases creates an element of confusion over what the movement attempts to achieve and the message it wants to convey becomes mixed. égalita will discuss the different viewpoints of events and people in today’s society regarding feminism, with the aim to explore what modern day feminism represents. The feminist movement, the equal rights movement, egalitarianism, they are all interconnecting and can learn from one another. Some will say this is a feminist journal, which it is not, it aims to explore feminism and equal rights in an objective and open minded manner, unbiased and explorative. It is not an advocate for equal rights, it is not a campaign for feminism, it purely a platform for discussion and inspiration. What this journal will do is explore opinion and stand for change. It was created to inspire and to help shed light on the illusions and disillusions of feminism and equal rights movement but most importantly to promote solidarity. It does not matter what your beliefs are, if you support equal rights then it is time to join together. For too long there has been divide created between radical feminists and those who are concealed feminist fearing association. For too long there has been a

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divide between male and female, and the connotations of man hating. For too long people have accepted gender stereotypes and reinforced them without thought for what the consequences of them are. It is a challenge; I would be the first to admit that. I do it all the time, I enforce gender stereotypes and I judge people when they do not abide by them, but that needs to change. I am disillusioned by gender stereotypes, but I am challenging them and I invite you to join me, no one ever said it would be easy. égalita, will take on that challenge and explore how to overcome them. In today’s society, feminism is seen as too radical and creating uncomfortable tension, which some see as unnecessary. égalita acknowledges this, when creating this journal I did not want to discuss the concept with people out of the fear they would judge me or become disinterested. I cringed every time I heard myself saying the words feminism because from that announcement I feared the worst. In the back of their heads they are thinking ‘oh here we go’, whilst simultaneously inside rolling their eyes. And some people did react like this. They pushed away the subject and completely shut down on me. But when I questioned this disinterest, it turned out to be a lack of understanding and confusion that made them brush off the subject. égalita will address this. égalita aims to take the negativity away and discuss real campaigns, real statistics and real opinions. Giving you an insight into how you can support the cause – we know this will not happen after just one issue, for some maybe, but it will take longer than that. No matter how insignificant you feel, even the slightest, smallest stand for gender equality might just convince another to do the same, and before long what seemed to be a small snowflake turns into a flurry and then becomes strong enough to snow ball, covering the planet in a fresh clean surface to start again.

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PAGE BY PAGE What Is The F Word? An exploration of the meaning of feminism

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Feminism

The Waves Of Feminism

My Personal Journey

Two Dimensional Gender Gender stereotypes are holding us back

Case Study

The Trouble With Gender

You Can’t Play With That

Interview: Jayne Smith

Gender Oppression: The Male Kind

Real Life: Aaron Mculloch

Harriet Harman Was Right About Sexism In Politics

The Agender Project: Selfridges Challenges The Gendered Shopping Experience

“All Women Do Is Campaign” An analysis of just a hand full of campaigns for equal rights

ELLE And The Feminist Rebrand

Interview: Maisy Skeggs

The Power Of Tumblr

He For She Campaign

Mrs? Miss? Ms.

Emma Watson International Women’s Day Conference

Word’s More Offensive That Fuck

Always: Like A Girl

The Debate Of Empowered Or Objectified? With the rise in self-objectification, I ask is anyone empowered anymore?

Living In A Sexualised Culture: Good Or Bad?

Self-Objectification In The Music Industry

Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting: “I’ve Never Really Faced Inequality”

The Parody Of Self-Objectification

In Conversation With Francesca Coombs

The Media: Friend Or Enemy? Is the media reinforcing gender oppression or does it play on them?

Remembered As Pretty?

In The Media

Sia: The Woman Who Is Afraid Of The Media

Over To You 79

For The Inquisitive Mind For those of you that want more, more, more

Glossary 86 Dictionary definitions of terms used throughout

An Invitation For You

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WHAT IS THE

Fairness Faith Fake False Falter Fanciful Farce Fashion Fearless Fearsome Feasibly Feelings Feisty Female Feminazi Feminine Feminism Femininity Femme Fierce Fight Fine Firm Fist Fixable Flexibility Flirty Flouting Fluidity Fooled Fooling Forbid F o r c e Furious Forgive Fortify Fragile Free Fun

WORD?

“I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat.”

Quote taken from goodreads.com

Dame Rebecca West - British Journalist and Author

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FE MI NIS M

Have you ever taken the time to sit and think about whether you are a feminist? If you haven’t then why not? I am a feminist, but I do not hate the male race, in fact I love my boyfriend and he supports me in whatever I do. Now that might make you laugh, my boyfriend supports me, then how can I be a feminist? I can because feminism is not a campaign against men. It is about solidarity, working together, supporting each other for equality for all, not just women. It is a fight against presumptions of gender that harm both male and females, challenging the language and the attitudes that people have toward gender and making our world a fairer place for everyone.

Debbie Harry quote taken from marieclaire.co.uk

My feminism is my own, it is unique to me. I am quite tired to be frank; tired of being told to be someone that I am not, I am tired that I am stereotyped constantly by people regarding feminism and most importantly I am tired of being tired. I love all things feminine, I love the idea of family and I love tradition, three things that most would tell me make me an anti– feminist but they are not. There seems a common misconception that one cannot be any of these things if they wish to be a feminist, but that would be a stereotype. At the beginning I was curious and wanted to question gender stereotypes, I felt there was an issue in the way I was perceived as a woman but what I found is not what I expected. I will be honest the more I researched the more anxious and confused I became, there is so much wrong that I could not begin to see how to make it right. It seems an impossible task to change stereotypes, and yes now more than ever I fear that it is, but that is not reason enough to give in.

Through research I came across the concept of bad feminism, I was critical. If anyone tells themselves they are a ‘perfect’ feminist then they are lying. The Author, Roxane Gay, of the collection of essays titled Bad Feminist (2014) states in her manifesto. “I am failing as a woman. I am failing as a feminist. To freely accept the feminist label would not be fair to good feminists. If I am, indeed, a feminist, I am a rather bad one. I am a mess of contradictions.”

Being classed as a feminist does not mean you have a

assume that means they do not want to be reliant on a man or need anything from them. This needs context, I want to be independent, I want to make my own decisions, I want my own money and career, it does not make me any less independent though if I also want my partner to look after me when I am ill, or for also wanting him to be there when I need a hug and someone to support me. These are very two different wants and it should not be made into a choice between them. It does not make any less of a woman or feminist, or a bad one of either. There is no one who truly agrees and abides with every part of feminism and you should not feel bad or a failure if you do not.

Feminism could be implied to have an element of changeability regarding its aims and appearance, natural modifications to its theory as time passes, evident in most theories; however it could be a suggestion that feminism has an element of capriciousness and inconsistency. Nevertheless, it is viewed feminism has reaffirmed itself in both academic discourse and in the media.

I am questioned all the time what is a feminist and if I am one? – Some people almost postulate that all women should class themselves as one. In the words of Debbie Harry – “how can one be a woman and not be a feminist?” The thing is people do not like to be told what they are – and so reluctance to announce feminist status is created. I know groups of people who are feminists, believe in gender equality, but being told that they should be a feminist, inverts them away from it.

It is not just feminism that is a mess of contradictions; the world is because people have different opinions. They might agree with part of a movement and not another, that does not make us bad at it or wrong. My writing and ideas are a mess of contradictions, but that is because there needs to be context. When people make generalisations, for example saying feminists want independence they generalise and

What feminism aims to achieve can be represented differently to each person, which has negatives and positives. Feminism needs to remain open and inclusive to everyone’s representation of feminism, but theorist Sally Scholz discusses solidarity and creating a unified message could be the only way forward and until this happens feminism will remain forever confused and confusing.

fixed identity.

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The Waves of Feminism There is growing complexity of the theory of feminism and whether current attitudes are either challenging or reinforcing gender norms and the oppression of women. This is the case especially when relating to use of women in the public eye, self-objectifying themselves and flaunting sexuality. The use of sexual objectification has developed rapidly and seems to have become more socially acceptable.

over the ages of 25 would have been faced with a different feminist ideology than those who are younger than this. It implies that this could be one a of the reasons why there is so much debate into whether women who dress ‘sexily’ are either seen as regaining control of their bodies and are empowered (third wave) or whether they are displaying worrying signs of oppression (second wave).

The journey of feminism is divided into waves. The first wave of feminism focused on opening up opportunities to women by gaining the right to vote, which was represented by the suffragette movement. It was however a movement focused at mainly white middle classed women. The second wave, which was more inclusive in nature and sought solidarity, was also a time where gender and sex were differentiated. Sex began to be referred to as a biological term of physical characteristics to categorise, whilst gender was formed from social roles that focus on attributes like behaviour. The third wave seems to destabilise or contest the notions of sexuality and gender altogether.

Some theorists suggest in today’s society we live in postfeminism or the fourth wave. I do not know about you but the waves of feminism dehumanises the movement into become associated with waves of power (much like a tidal wave) that causes destruction and are to be feared. If you did not give in to the first, second or third then maybe the fourth will wash you down. However, excuse the pun, fourth wave feminism seems to drowning in confusion.

Imelda Whelehan, a research professor at the University of Tasmania, describes in the text Modern Feminist Thought (1995) the idea that the third wave feminist movement is a “rejection of normative notions of gender… a women can be girlish and powerful, or feminine and self-confidently strong”. Third wave feminism is particularly interesting to note that it goes against what the other two waves stood for. Second wave feminist ideology still lives on within the generation of over 25’s , that is not to say that the different waves are confined to an age group but it shows that those

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Women are often presented with two forms of feminism: post feminism seems to involve females, purposely sexualising themselves using nudity and compromising displays of vulnerability, in a portrayal of owning ones sexuality and body. The opposition to this is to grow out your armpit and hate on men. It is almost a battle of the outrageous and overtly sexualised against the angry extremists, but there is more choice than this. Self-objectification sends a confusing message. Feminism asks for woman to reclaim their bodies for what they are; bodies, it aims to allow women to validated and equal. It is effective but some are oblivious and naïve to the context and reasoning, without context these displays of flaunting sexuality may be misconstrued and copied in a negative way.

Feminism has fought no wars.

It has killed no opponents,

it has set up no concentration camps,

starved no enemies, practiced no cruelties.

Its battles have been for education, for safety in the streets, for child care, for social welfare, for rape crisis centres, women’s refuges, reforms in the law. If someone says "oh, I’m not a feminist" I ask "why? What’s your problem?"

Dale Spender - Man Made Language (1988)

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I guess you could say that was the moment I found my passion for the feminist movement; I was angry how women had been treated in the past. I have since let go of that anger, we have come a long way, but there is still so much further to go. My interests spread out by studying the ‘femme fatal’ and then I moved into self-objectification 16| égalitA

– this was the turning point that I knew I had enough research to make a decision that it was time for change. Time for me personally to stand up and be heard. In today’s society it is more than people being classed as equal, for me it is a stand against gender stereotypes that are so embedded in our culture; they help neither men nor women. That is a concept that does not present itself regularly, it helps neither men nor women, normally feminism is pitted against the men’s right movement instead of joining together, working together, and instead it becomes a war. It might only be 12 years since rape of all kinds was considered illegal, but it has only been 3 since that law was expanded by definition to included men. This is because of stereotypes presenting males as always being the aggressor, much like in domestic violence too. Gender stereotypes do not necessarily sound like an equal rights issue; they stem from how people/children are taught to act, think and be like to function in society. However gender as a constitution has begun to be challenged. I know that gender should not be a way to discriminate against someone, but equal rights has become more than this, it is not about equal opportunities, it is about the right to not be ridiculed, not to be put into a box, not to be told who you are because of your gender. Equal rights is about stopping sexism. It is wrong that I have experienced sexism and not even realised it or reacted to it. I am not saying I go looking for it, but it is

such a regular part of my life that it has become acceptable. The first company I worked for was predominantly known for selling car parts. This made it a man’s world. I experienced sexism more times than I could count on my two hands and two feet. I experienced it unnecessarily and it was unjustifiable, but I did nothing about it. I was under attack from customers (of both sexes) and my own colleagues, so much so that I was forced out of my job; it became battle to go to work. I was a fully trained member of staff, like my male colleagues, if not more than some of them. I was pushed into learning every single thing I could about cars just to be able to compete with the respect they received over me, as if them being male immediately made them more qualified than me. On more than one occasion I was asked by customer if there were someone else they could talk to, in other words was there a male to serve them. My most memorial customer though was a women, she wanted advice on roof racks, to which I had received training from the manufacturers about. She asked if there was anyone else around to serve and when I replied nobody else was free to serve her she reluctantly agreed to talk to me. After supplying her with all the necessary information she left the store. But it did not finish there, she then returned to the store all of five minutes later and demanded to speak to somebody

Information regarding history of law on rape taken from gov.uk

often wonder when I starting feeling this way about equality. What was it that tipped me past passiveness to a desire to stand for change? The truth is I cannot remember one particular event, growing up I have always wondered why about certain things but never thought on it too long. Then I studied identity and gender and was utterly surprised by the history of women. I was shocked that as little as 12 years ago in 2003, it was made law that sexual intercourse of ALL kinds (vaginal, oral or anal), without consent would be punishable in the court of law as rape. I was stunned to learn that it has only been 21 years since sexual intercourse (only vaginal) between a married couple that was not consensual could be defined as rape. Previously a marriage license had classed a written consent for a husband to have sexual intercourse with his wife whenever he wished and could not be convicted unless he has used force, in which he would be convicted of assault instead. It has only been 35 years since women were permitted to have their own bank accounts and credit. It has been less than 100 year since women became a person in their own right.

who was male. She told my colleague she wanted to speak to someone who knew what they were talking about. She left the store for a second time armed with the same information I had given her previously. I was later taken into the office about this complaint, not to discuss it with me and tell me she was in the wrong but to tell me I should have asked her to wait for other member of staff - the customer is always right. It was not just the customer I had to be on defence with though; it was my male colleagues too. It was an environment where women were only employed to work as cashiers and little else. I was lucky; I started on the tills but had managed to show my potential and was ‘promoted’ to sales assistant. After already being hounded by one of the duty managers for dates, I was now exposed to a whole host of ‘banter’. After months of begging for a fleece to wear at work and a new top, my mangers finally gave in. This moment has stuck with me ever since. I was presented my new uniform by my manager, who pointed out I had been ordered an extra small because it would enhance certain features of my body. This came from a man who regularly asked me for ‘meetings’ in his office, and the offer for other staff to cover me whilst I spent time with him. This man was 20 year older than me, he told me he wished he was my age because there were so many things he wished to do to me. I was not part of a union because the firm found ways to sack anyone that was, all I could do was take it to human resources. The term whistle-blower to me has always seemed so negative, implying you are a grass. It would be no use though because this behaviour was the nature of the business. What made matters worse was I since started a causal relationship with one of my colleagues and this seems to open me up a whole new barrage of

sexism. It seemed to imply that my open relationship made me open to everyone. When this relationship became more serious I was frozen out, there was an air of bitterness. My new boyfriend left shortly after and I knew it was time that I had to leave too. I know part of you will not believe me and that is OK, people do not like to admit that behaviour like this still happens but I know it is the truth. If this had not of happened I would not be here today, this is my stand for the 17 year old me who was too scared to stand up and say this is wrong. Although this does not mean I am still not exposed. I have current issues of a male manager who is ‘too friendly’ shall we say, but I have little power to stop this. To complain will only make my work life harder. It is wrong that the only option for anyone who is been sexually harassed at work is to launch a complaint, in which follows a lengthy ‘your word against theirs’ investigation most likely resulting in nothing happen and your life becoming hell at work, the other option is to remain silent. Most of us would pick silence, especially as an investigation of this manner could affect our career progression. I have a million real life stories of sexism, from the builders that work on my road who catcalled me into taking longer routes just to avoid them, to the paranoia I have when working out in the gym. I am not alone and it works both ways, I am guilty of gender assumptions but it comes down to if you act on them - from a young age you have been taught this is how it is. Feminism to me is about challenging that. When I think something that could be seen as sexist, feminism makes me pause and question why. It is learning process, I know I need to change my habits, don’t you think it is time you change yours?

I was angry; but you have to let that go. We have achieved so much, but we have so much further to go. We need to liberate men AND women from gender stereotypes and inequality

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“ I call myself a feminist when people ask me if I am, and of course I am 'cause it's about equality, so I hope everyone is. You know you're working in a patriarchal society when the word ‘feminist’ has a weird connotation.”

“So many girls out there say, "I'm not a feminist" because they think it means something angry or disgruntled or complaining or they picture, like, rioting and picketing. It is not that at all. It just simply means that you believe that women and men should have equal rights and opportunities.' 'To say that you're not a feminist means that you think men should have more rights and opportunities than women. I just think that a lot of girls don't know the definition and the fact that Emma got up and explained it I think is an incredible thing and I'm happy to live in a world where that happened.”

“We need to reclaim the word ‘feminism’. We need the word ‘feminism’ back real bad. When statistics come in saying that only 29% of American women would describe themselves as feminist - and only 42% of British women - I used to think, What do you think feminism IS, ladies? What part of ‘liberation for women’ is not for you? Is it freedom to vote? The right not to be owned by the man you marry? The campaign for equal pay? ‘Vogue’ by Madonna? Jeans? Did all that good shit GET ON YOUR NERVES? Or were you just DRUNK AT THE TIME OF THE SURVEY?”

“'Women saying "I’m not a feminist’ is my greatest pet peeve. Do you believe that women should be paid the same for doing the same jobs? Do you believe that women should be allowed to leave the house? Do you think that women and men both deserve equal rights? Great, then you’re a feminist.”

On people who say they aren't feminists: “That's such a strange thing to say, isn't it? Like, what do you mean? Do you not believe in equality for men and women?”

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Quote from: Elle.com

Kristen Stewart

LD and KS - .usmagazine.com

Lena Dunham

CM - goodfuneralguide.co.uk

Caitlin Moran

TS - eonline.com

Taylor Swift

Photograph: EP - .people.com

Ellen Page

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fear of a name only increases the fear of the thing itselfâ&#x20AC;? Written by J K Rowling, Said by Hermione Granger. Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone

TWO DIMENSIONAL GENDER

Observing my younger sister getting ready for a non-school uniform day was an eye opening experience. She went from belt to belt, top to dress, flicking her hair back and forth before breaking down from the stress of it all. My sister is six years old. At six years old she is concerned about her appearance, worried she’ll not look feminine enough by wearing trousers, worried her hair doesn’t look ‘pretty’ enough tied back, worried that she looks fat because she is wearing a jersey knit top. It raises the question when did the pressure of appearance become such a concern for our children? Who is at fault for these developing increased pressures on children and adults alike? And most interestingly, whose issue is it? My sister Jessica is only one example of how the pressures of appearance and stereotypes are present in children’s everyday lives.

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Image: clker.com

The Trouble with Gender

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ender Stereotypes are so imbued in today’s society – stereotypes even are passed through from generation to generation, it is a kind of curse that our parents give us growing up. I have always thought that it is our responsibility as parents, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles to challenge to age old traditions of gender, starting with changing how we dress from birth new born girls in pink and new born boys in blue. Gender does not only form the basis of many feminist theories but hinders it too. Judith Butler is an American philosopher, best known for her development of the theory of gender performativity in the book Gender Trouble (1990). She claims that as long as feminist theorists, such as Sigmund Freud, Simone De Beauvoir and Michel Foucault, refer to gender to identify inequality and restrictions of a gender, then these said restrictions will always exist through the mechanism of repetition. Feminism needs to rid itself of gender stereotypes to be able to move forward and objectively assess equality, whilst feminists use gender stereotypes to apply to inequality this inequality will always exists. Judith Butler also explores gender as a fluid concept that is socially constructed with various influential considerations of class, sexuality and ethnicity that obscures the identity of a gender, of which some feminist theorists do not tend to consider. Alongside this Butler challenges assumptions that sex and gender are differentiated, asserting through the theory of constructivism the notions of personal traits and physical appearance being applied as natural. Without previous discourse sex would not function without gender and therefore both are constructed and discursively produced. These theories expressed by Butler highlight how the discourses in which feminism uses to evaluate and discuss women in society are constructed and may not be an effective way of analysing the subject. This presents the argument of feminism that it does not

consider the idea of intersectionality; it focuses on one type of women to base its campaigns on. As Butler describes an “unmarked material body” is not subjected to gender norms. By providing gender to a subject Butler suggest that it “both conceals itself and enforces its rules”. Whilst one may attempt to challenge gender norms one must not disassociate themselves from all aspects of that gender in order to still belong to that constitution. Butler refers to: “The process of ‘girling’ … begins with what seems like a moment of recognition (it’s a girl), but is in fact an act of constitution (this body must remain recognisable in these terms in order to continue to be accorded this status)” This could be applied to females in the public eye who oppose society’s gender norms and announce themselves as feminists, whilst using their image to portray themselves as sexually desirable in order to still be classed under the gender of female. Simone De Beauvoir, French writer and feminist theorist, claims in her book ‘The Second Sex’ (1949) the theory that “‘one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman” By being assigned a gender at birth, one grows up learning the constitution of that gender and ultimately becomes it. For women this is the idea of femininity, with characteristics being evaluated on how effective a female is at being it. It discusses the idea of gender as an aspect of identity which forms as one grows up and the term ‘women’ being a construct that is something a persona acquires. Ultimately these theories explore how women are not biologically programmed to wear pretty dresses and makeup, like men are not biologically programmed to hide their emotions and play football. It is something we learn to act like, think like and be like. Gender is something that we enact in ourselves and we perform to its guidelines. What nobody tells you is, you do have a choice and you do not have to be confined to one gender (yes there is more than two) just because of your sex.

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YOU CAN’T PLAY WITH THAT “The Fightback Against Gendered Toys” was an article written by Kira Cochrane for The Guardian Online in April 2014. Most interestingly it details the journey of two parents and their children’s exposure to gender stereotypes. Journalist Ros Ball and her husband James, started to keep a diary assessing how and when their children came into contact with the concept of gender. The twitter page, Gender Diary has gained support ever since, with a book of this diary due for release just over a year after the article. The diary explores how in nursery they were dictated toys to play with, the toy cars were referred to as the ‘boy’s’ area and during a visit to the pantomime her daughter was directed to the pink flurry tiaras whilst her son was asked if he would prefer a blue light up torch to the pink one he had already chosen. And they aren’t alone, Tricia Lowther’s, launched the campaign 'Let Toys Be Toys' which has seen brands like Boots and Marks and Spencer’s change how they categorise their toys from gender to interests. She inspired to challenge these gender stereotypes after her daughter stated she liked cars but said she didn’t want anyone to know because they are ‘boyish’. This could imply that nurture plays a big part in the upbringing of children rather that it being a natural process for girls to play with dolls and boys to play with cars. It highlights how

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we are programmed to think that genders are different. Changing people’s ideas of gender requires changing how people think, which can be a sometimes tricky and daunting task. Everything revolves around stereotypes, but I ask you who on earth created these? Why must girls like pink and boys blue? Personally as a child I loved red and in my adult life I prefer green.

fight against appearance being a form of worth but it is rarely considered the effects of gender equality on children. There’s a focus on teenage girls becoming sexualised too early but it starts a long time before this for both girls and boys, it starts from birth.

Second wave feminists starting questioning gender roles in the 1970’s with the hope that effective parenting that avoided sexist attitudes would help to eradicate gender stereotypes. 40 years on they are still here, but things are on the change. In that time gender roles have been challenged, women have left the kitchen behind and entered the work place, the LGBT community have had great success on the pathway to equality and people have begun to be accepting towards a world of equality for everyone where they can be who they would like. It’s great to be part of this and I feel now more than ever this patriarchal idea of people is starting to break down. But I have to ask, what about our children?

There was a story in The Metro that really encouraged me to believe children are starting to challenge gender stereotypes themselves. It was the story of eight year old girl, Sophia Trow, she wrote a letter to Clarks shoe store regarding their ‘sexist shoes’, blue dinosaur trainers for boys opposed to pink glittery trainers for girls, she was refused the ‘boys’ shoes because they would not be suitable for girls feet. The metro are excellent at covering the topic of sexism. Daily I pick up my free copy and I can guarantee there will be some coverage in there, no matter how small it will be there, and I believe this somewhat a triumph. The media are not very forthcoming with positivity for the feminist movement and in some cases only hinder the movement by reinforcing gender stereotypes and stereotypes of feminists.

If there is anyone suffering from gender equality it is children because gender stereotypes are still being forced on them. There has been so much focus on gender equality regarding equal pay for women, domestic violence, the

In today’s society where clothing is becoming interchangeable between genders it seems an odd reality that we still encourage pink for girls and blue for boys. However, it think this is not solely down to parents, working in a clothes

Photograph: Tom Gautier/Getty Images

Metro story published on Friday 6th March 2015

shop I very aware of the only option for new borns are pink, blue or cream for those unsure of the sex of their unborn child and time and time and time again I am moaned to about the selectiveness of our colouring. People want more option, I am told they are tired of this relentless colour scheme and it needs changing. Much like Tricia Lowther’s campaigns have changed the way toys are advertised in gender there needs to be a brand that’s strong enough to stand up and challenge these conventional gender colour codes and styles like dresses for girls and trousers for boys. It has gradually happened for women and men, now it’s time for children to rid them too. I have had people approach me and tell me how lucky they feel that we stock a range of boys clothing, they remember only years ago they wouldn’t be able to buy anything other than jeans and round neck t-shirts, slowly there’s been the introduction of chinos, shirts, jumpers. I’m told the boys clothing market is slowly catching up with the diverse girls market. I myself have always wondered how boring it must be to have a boy in terms of clothing because there is not a lot on offer than navy or dark styles. For girls there is a whole host of styles, accessories and shoes.

Past new born age there is some admiration for our clothing, parents tell me they are thankful for our range of colours, they are sick of pink, and so our their children. A little girl once told me her favourite colour was yellow. Yellow not pink. I sold £150 worth of tops, dresses and trousers in that transaction. Not one item was oink. This shows there is a demand for alternatives, this shows that children’s clothing manufactures should be responding to this, if not to break down this nonsense that girls only wear pink, but from a profits point of view. Each week my store along turns over around £40,000 in children’s clothing alone; it must be doing something right.

This little boy’s favourite toy is a doll, who dictated this was inappropriate? and why on earth did we listen to them?

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Interview Jayne Smith has had a career in childcare spanning 21 years, you did not need qualifications and it was a women’s world. She states it was “a woman’s job to look after the children” and even today there is still some reservations when a man enters the career. She discusses with me how gender specific toys are slowly becoming a thing of the past.

Do you feel in the nursery you work in that there are different toys for the both genders? Yeah, we have girl’s toys and boys toys but they all use them. You have your prams and your kitchen sets and then you have the cars. They all play with everything. The boys don’t just go for the cars and the girls the kitchen. In fact a lot of the boys are more interested in the kitchen. Do you ever refer to the toys with a gender? No, we call them ‘home corners’ and ‘small world toys’. They are not actually labelled anymore. They aren’t put in these groups. When you first started your career, were they? How long ago do you think attitudes started changing? Yes, it started changing probably about 10 years ago when they brought in EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage, legislation set out by the government giving guidelines on how to run nurseries and the treatment the children receive). It is called inclusion, meaning everyone should be able to play with all types of toys. Everyone has to abide by this, if they don’t and label toys, they face failing Ofsted reports. I know a lot of places from experience have the children’s names displayed, are these to any colour code? Pink for girls, blue for boys. We don’t colour code but we do have monkeys for boys and butterflies for girls. There isn’t a difference in the colour code but there is in the imagery.

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So you don’t think the educational system is sexist in any way? Not really now because it’s not allowed to be. Certain members of staff, the older staff, disapprove maybe of boys playing with the dolls. It is mainly the parents now, not all but a lot of fathers have issues with their sons hovering. They say “boys shouldn’t be doing that”, it’s becoming better now, it’s becoming more excepting that boys do the hovering and play with the dolls and girls will be climbing and playing with cars. It is not been the mum’s that have had the issues, it’s normally dads with their sons. Mums don’t mind girls playing with the cars. We have some boys that actually dress up in the dresses, and it’s more acceptable now, the dads’ years ago would say “my sons not gay”. They are only 4 years old they wouldn’t know if they was or wasn’t anyway, I wouldn’t have thought. It did used to be an issue with the dads, but it’s got a lot better. How long do you it will be before gender stereotyping of toys is eradicated? I think they are doing very well now but I don’t know what it is like after preschool age. There might be issues in education after early years. Boys do boys things like play football and girls go skipping. I think as time has gone on girls have begun to join in but I think there is a long way to go for boys. Do you think boys are more oppressed than girls? I think there’s more of an issue when it comes to boys, yes. A lot is to do with parenting over schools, how their dads perceive them. I am not saying mums don’t do it, but men tend to associate their sons participating in ‘feminine’ activities as being gay. I am sure as time goes on this will change.

Quote taken from Laci Green YouTube - episode ‘Why I am a Feminist’

“Gender shoves us into boxes and erases who we are” Laci Green - Feminist Vlogger

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Gender Oppression: The Male Kind I have been in an abusive relationship, he was controlling, he stole my happiness, he stopped me from seeing my friends until I had none and he mentally played with my mind. This is a side of domestic abuse that isn’t talked about, not all domestic abuse is physical. But I am not bitter towards men; he wasn’t like this because he was male. He wasn’t like this because that’s how he had been taught to treat women by his parents; I don’t even think he was like this because he wanted to be. I think he was like this because he felt pressure to be a man, to trap him emotions inside. He held his cards always very close to his chest because he didn’t want to be hurt by me, he didn’t want his emotions to show and so he closed me out. I was isolated, the only thing I had was him and inevitably I was trapped so I couldn’t even leave him. He would be teased by his peers that he was soppy if he spoke about me in a loving way. He was told it was ‘bros before hoes’ if he wanted to stay in with me over a night out with his friends. I would never make excuses for the way he treated me but I synthesise a little. He was restricted from what he truly wanted to be because it wasn’t masculine for him to do so. He used to talk nonstop about football, but I fear not because he enjoyed it, maybe on a surface level but not to the extent he presented. He did this because that is what all his male friends did. He has discussed football for hours

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with some of his closest girl mates, but then they were treated like one of the boys because they were far too knowledgeable about football to be seen as girls. The male to male interaction is interesting to watch, when I introduced my current boyfriend to my father for the first time, the first thing that followed his greeting was “do you want a beer?” To which my boyfriend agreed knowing that he did not even like Fosters. For the rest of that night he sat chasing to keep up with my father, in what can only be described as a binge of beer. My boyfriend was trying to prove his manliness and my father was testing him, even if they did not realise it. I have observed similar behaviour from my boyfriend before, he drops his voice whenever he is in conversation with another male, every sentence is ended with ‘mate’ in an affirmation that they are friends; this happens unintentionally and seems to part of the subconscious. When I quizzed him about it, he seemed unaware of what I was talking about. There is so much discussion about women and how stereotypes and pressures to be seen as feminine affect them. Yet it is very rarely discussed about the affects the stereotypes of masculinity has on males. It is still considered unusual for a man to stay at home and care for the children, it is still odd for a man to

be a nurse, some would question as to why he is only a nurse and if he failed as a doctor. The ridicule that he could be exposed to is unjustifiable. Even though the language has been changed to show both of these occupations as unisex, our attitudes and assumptions have not. The women’s movement has also created new pressures on men. If a woman holds a higher position than a male counterpart, he could be mocked for being weak or under the control of a woman, coerced into presenting himself in a more masculine state. Feminism challenges the patriarchal hierarchy, as a counteraction to this some men are further forced to prove themselves as masculine and reaffirm themselves as the traditional gender of male. Challenging gender oppression seems to have created a maximised and over-exaggeration situation, where gender stereotypes are threatened. The attempt to overcome this is presenting a person using masculinity or femininity to the extreme so show they still abide by their gender. I do not think gender oppression is caused by one gender oppressing the other, it works both ways. It is in a person’s culture and upbringing that perpetrate gender oppression in the first place. It is down to the individual to challenge people when they are mocked, and make them realise they are the ones who are truly oppressed by conforming to gender stereotypes.

Real Life Aaron Mculloch grew up under the pressures of masculinity; he decides to finally tell his story. “It all started when I was about 10. My brother and my dad started saying I was gay. I was a rent boy. That went on until I was about 16; I used to hang around with someone who was gay, which there is nothing wrong with. Obviously because I have a feminine side to myself, I like shopping and doing the house work, people think I’m gay too. That is my experience. A man can have a feminine side without being gay; in this day in age if you’re like that people automatically want to label you, which is totally wrong. They label you, he’s gay, or there’s something wrong with him, he shouldn’t be acting like this. I have always been one from the age of 16 done my own shopping; my own cleaning and I don’t find nothing wrong with that. Even when I got married, it was me that did everything. I tended to stay away from sports at school. I wasn’t ridiculed for that, at school I was really quite and that’s why I was picked on. Even at school I was called gay, throughout my whole childhood I was given this label. From when I was about 9 or 10 I started to think maybe I was, it had been implanted in me so much. When I was at school I was pressured into being more masculine, joining in with football, rugby and sports. I started hanging around with more males. It was being who I am not, I am not all masculine. I admit I am more feminine than masculine. I get on better with women than I do men. I can have a better friendship with women than men. I became so depressed at one stage, I felt like I could kill myself, it got that bad. I obviously started to question if I was gay. No I’m not; it’s just my way of coming across. As I got older I started to change, but I finally realised I shouldn’t change who I am because of what people think. There’s no point, I wouldn’t be me. I am who I am and if people don’t like it then fine. So I have stayed as I was, when I got married I did all the shopping, cleaning and went out to work. I was ridiculed for that, “why don’t your Mrs do it? It’s her job”. No it isn’t her job, we are both supposed to share but I liked doing it all. When I was younger I felt pressured to be more masculine, it’s not so bad now, and people have become used to who I am.. If people do not like it then I am not interested. You don’t have to decide what you want to be, feminine or masculine; I have learnt you can be both.”

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Harriet Harman Was Right About Sexism In Politics

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Information regarding voting from ipsos-mori.com, Quotes from theguardian.com

The general election is always an anxious time and this one will be no different. The fear of who might be successful is worrying to say the least, but it is not just the confusion of knowing who to pledge your vote to, for some it is debating whether they are going to vote at all. It is normally a time when accusations are at a high to bring down opposing parties, but it seems Labour have decided to risk it all themselves. Their new ‘Woman to Woman’ campaign was launched by Harriet Harman to encourage women to vote. The campaign consists of a pink bus that will travel the country in the hope to reaching out to women voters, and ultimately increase Labour’s chance in the election. However, there has been the undesired response of criticism and mockery. A man was said to have heckled Harman on one of her stops, whilst wearing a ‘This Is What A Victim Of Feminism Looks Like’ t-shirt - this needs addressing. I understand Labour’s incentives, 9 million women in the UK did not vote in the last election and that is outstanding. Harman aims to address policies like childcare, social care, domestic violence, equal pay and political representation, which she believes mainly appeal to women. It seems fitting that Labour have decided to carry out this campaign – at first this seems in no way derogatory to men. However, this ‘victim’ regardless of his ill-informed reasons for interrupting Harman's campaign, declares the truth, she is causing a divide. There

is something odd about the women’s right advocate choosing to represent her campaign in this way. It is like she threw everything she has learnt and campaigned for out of the window. Nick Clegg, the current deputy prime minister, told the Western Morning News: “It’s just a tiny bit condescending because it’s bright and pink therefore women relate to it more. It’s a bit like saying that political parties should drive around in macho red sports cars and blokes across the country will suddenly listen to them.” She stated the bus needed to stand out and align with the colours of One Nation but there is an argument as to why there was no male focused campaign. Where is the big blue bus tackling policies that ‘appeal more to men’, it does raise questions as to why this is a one sided campaign. Harman has attempted to justify by claiming women “just don't think that politicians have any interest in their lives” but is this true? On research I found that only 65% of the UK voted in the last general election in May 2010, 62.25% of men, 58.25% of women – a 4% gap, that is hardly a significant difference to base a women’s only campaign on. I see now how this male may think he is a victim to feminism. But is this really to do with feminism? After all it uses a stereotype of pink as appealing to women, its policies focus on children and home life and Labour stated it wanted to “have a conversation about the kitchen table and around

the kitchen table”, rather than having an “economy that just reaches the boardroom table”. And if this didn’t play on stereotypes enough, the places they would be having these ‘conversations’ included super markets and outside schools. I do not feel that this is something feminism would approve of, I certainly don’t. I know a lot of men who are more interested in childcare than women and I know a lot of women who do more with their life than the food shopping and pick up their children. It is patronising and divisive to say certain policies affect one gender over the other. Among child care, the other chosen policies were equal pay and domestic violence, but these are two issues that affect EVERYONE. Harman once stated that “One of the things that has always beset struggles for social justice is creating a hierarchy of inequalities, like: let’s decide whether it’s worse to be black or to be a woman. Actually there’s a range of ways you can have unequal life chances and we ought to be working to tackle all of those, not setting one against the other.” So you would think she would want this campaign to be inclusive, reaching out to all that chose not to vote. Instead it is choosing woman’s votes as being more important for topics like childcare. All this campaign does it create a parallel where men begin to think politicians are not interested in their lives and not the other way round.

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The Agender Project: Selfridges Challenges The Gendered Shopping Experience

and renowned, designers. It provides people the freedom to choose clothing based on style and fit rather than abiding by the notions of male and female styled clothing.

So, let’s start with what is Agender? It means without gender, and Selfridges sums this up perfectly. They collaborate with designers and musicians to create fashion that is without definition, examining the shift in gender identities and challenging gender norms. The concept store, created by designer Faye Toogood, features exclusive designs by Comme Des Garcons, Haider Ackermann and Isabel Benenato, amongst a continuing list of talented, emerging

Selfridges released the statement “We want to take our customers on a journey where they can shop and dress without limitations or stereotypes… A space where clothing is no longer imbued with directive gender values, enabling fashion to exist as a purer expression of self.''

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The department store stays true throughout, with their visual merchandising designed to be nongendered. Hannah Emslie, senior creative director, states that there

is "not a mannequin in sight, our challenge with Agender was to create windows without using any gender forms. The result is something entirely abstract, allowing us to really focus on the detail of the products. We want everyone to walk past the windows and be attracted to the items on display, completely unrestricted by traditional gender ideas." And did they deliver! The results are mesmerising displays that completely draw in any passer-by: the visual merchandising is coupled with photography, film and music to promote and display the exclusive collections without a specified gender.

Images and quotes from : selfridges.com

he pioneering department store Selfridges does it again. Always ahead of its time, it has just launched the first Agender store for all your gender-free needs.

Selfridges’ timing couldn’t be more relevant and powerful in challenging how we think about gendered fashion and style. With the rise in androgyny, Agender clothing has proven its place in fashion. It was present at Gucci’s A/W 15 Menswear catwalk in Milan, and alongside their traditional masculine tailored coats were flowing silhouettes, silk blouses and floral lace reminiscent of David Bowie in the 1970’s. Accompanying the male models walked women, in duplicate outfits, creating a conversation that surrounded the gendered body. This was complimented by Prada’s menswear show that saw models of both sexes wearing minimalistic styles in an attempt to challenge traditional gendered clothing and highlight an element of interchangeability between the two. With the current fight for gender equality and transcending gender it seems that, now more than ever, is a positive time when change may actually happen. For so long eradicating gender stereotypes seemed like an impossible task with people’s reluctance to change. However, designers are beginning to step up and Selfridges is pledging to dismiss the old-fashioned idea that men’s and women's fashion are separate entities which are kept on two different floors. If anyone is to have success in trying something that once seemed so radical, there’s no store better to lead the way than Selfridges. Hopefully this is a sign of change to come and not just a brief fashion trend. Selfridges vows to welcome you “to the future of genderless shopping”, I personally welcome this revolution.

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“ALL WOMEN DO IS ENDLESSLY CAMPAIGN”

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and the feminism rebrand Over recent years ELLE has sat up and took notice of feminism and has been a driving force behind many of the recent campaigns. It has attempted to rebrand feminism because they believe there is issue with its image. I think it is ironic that this negative representation of feminism that follows the movement around could be partially down to magazines like ELLE in the first place. I decided to explore the effectiveness of their campaigns and whether they helped us with our pesky image problem or not.

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Photographs: elleuk.com All information ad quotes taken from ELLE November 2014 and December 2015 issues

This Is What A Feminist Looks Like It was a collaboration between ELLE, The Fawcett Society and Whistles to create a collection using the slogan “This Is What A Feminist Looks Like” The collection consists of a t-shirt, sweater, phone case and clutch for the everyday needs of a feminist. I mock of course but 100% of the profits are donated to The Fawcett Society, with the starting price for the tees at £45. I must not be alone in saying that is a lot of money for a t-shirt, but it is Whistles, so I guess that makes it more acceptable? The campaign was tarred with accusations the tops were made in a factory where the staff (women) were

paid as little as 62p an hour. The Fawcett Society issued a statement of regret for collaborating with Whistles and that began the end of the ‘iconic’ t-shirt. It annoys me that the Daily Mail went to lengths to investigate and find any issue with the t-shirt, to dismantle the campaign and tarnish it, whether the claims be true or not. But at the same time I disagree with the motives of the campaign, it took a meaningful cause and made it into a fashion item, which saw a whole host of male and female celebrities wearing the top in a declaration. This further raises the question for me as what these issues ELLE believes feminism’s image has; do they not think it is cool enough? What they really mean by this image problem is it is not very marketable.

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#MakeThemPay #MakeThemPay campaign, highlighting the shocking gender inequality still present in UK salaries. We encouraged you to ask male colleagues who did the same job what they earned, and visitmakethempay.co.uk to work out exactly what the average pay gap meant for you in hard cash. We earned your support – and that of the Prime Minister, David Cameron.

Whilst I believe there should be a lot of support for equal pay, not because it will benefit women but men too, I cannot help but feel this campaign is filled with anger. ‘Make Them Pay’ the very hashtag given to this campaign is emotive, to me it seems aimed at making men pay for not allowing women to have equality, but this could not be further from the truth. Women hold women back too and until we realise this is not a battle of the sexes nothing will truly ever be achieved. The use of ‘them’ implies it is them against us, this is not how it should be, we need solidarity and to join together as one. It is also important to note that the Make Them Pay website is no longer functional; maybe this shows that campaign was not the right way to reach out to people regarding the issue. Throughout this research there has been a constant negativity, lists of unfairness towards women, statistics that go on and on and on and

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on, opinions, theories, love and hate, this research has thrown it all at me. However, I do not want to focus on all of this. It is more than comparing how much women earn less than men, more than how many women are in leading roles in Hollywood compared to men. I do not necessarily campaign for this because I can see BOTH sides of the argument. I can see the reasons why there might be more males in lead roles, because there is more male directors, they are going to cast strong male roles, and sexy women. The questions need to be asked why females are not receiving these roles, why are women not asking for equal pay. Why is there a gap? There is also the argument that not all women are paid less than men, sometimes it is the other way round, this is true and this further highlights equal pay has not been achieved. It is not a myth. It exists for everyone and so it should be an issue everyone cares about. I do not feel that we should say women deserve equal pay, and then not say these women that do occasionally earn more than men are not included in that. Campaigns like Make Them Pay create blame, blame for men, they make it always the males fault. Why do males get paid more? Because it is a man’s world, because the boss’s boss boss is male, so therefore he decided women should be paid less? So am I right in thinking all companies owned by women, pay women equally? Just a thought? The question is who is REALLY to blame for the pay gap?

Ariane Hegewisch’s study can be found at the Institute OF Women’s Policy

As part of ELLE’s rebrand they backed the campaign #MakeThemPay, aimed at highlighting that there is still a massive gap between male and female pay of those in the same job. 40 years after the Equal Pay Act passed through government and there is still a 20% pay gap. Ariane Hegewisch at the Institute for Women’s Policy found that assuming employees work 260 days per year, the gender pay gap equates to women working about 59 days for free compared to their male colleagues. At the current rate equal pay will not equalise until 2057, 84 years after the act was first passed.

I am a woman and …

The third campaign had little success either, copying the more successful Who Needs Feminism concept to create ‘I am a woman and…’ in which women are invited to create signs explaining their stand on feminism and equality. “We believe that feminism should still have a role in women's lives, but perhaps it has an image problem.” In a partnership with sartorial website Vagenda, they called for readers to write a ‘declaration of independence’.” ELLE finishes questioning ‘Who runs the world?’ – This phrase makes me want to scream. No one person or gender should. Feminism is not about taking over control, if ELLE really wanted to help they would stop using language like this. Empowering women is not about power, as much as feminism is not about being in charge and making men our inferiors. Phrases like this imply feminism is about toppling males from the top, it makes it sound like a war in which we females can win, it does not sound like freedom, and it makes it sound like a dictatorship. This is why men feel threatened by feminism; this is why some women find feminism aggressive. If men were to shout this out, they would be criticised for being sexism. Much like a chant for ‘White Power’ is unacceptable and offensive, then so should ‘Girl Power’ be too. It cannot be acceptable for one selection of people and not for another.

Magazines like ELLE say are supportive of feminism yet are so contradictory with their content and advertising. The magazine explores ways of enhancing oneself with make-up and fashion, coupled with flawless photo shopped imagery of models and stars. It is a confusing message. To be supportive of feminism should it not feature real looking women instead of the imagery of unattainable perfection to aspire to? I cannot help but think ELLE have been half-hearted with their attempt to align themselves with feminism. It is part of popular discourse at the moment and so every magazine, newspaper and website seems to what to join the feminist band wagon. I fear this over exposure is only further complicating the matter. ELLE decided to take on as many campaigns as they could without strategically planning one of them out. The ‘I am a women’ campaign does not even appear on Google, the ‘Make Them Pay’ website has since closed down and the ‘This Is What A Feminist Looks Like’ t-shirt is riddled with controversy of sweat shops and was removed from stores. I think ELLE has the right idea and was on the path to inspiration, it presented such interesting content like Amanda Palmers memoirs (it is a must read). But ELLE did not fully commit, maybe out of the fear that everything would go south for feminism and they could pull out their support easily. Well I have news for you, Feminism is here to stay.

Feminism isn’t Zeitgeist

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Interview

MAISY SKEGGS

ith Patricia Arquette calling for equal pay in Hollywood during her Oscar acceptance speech and the discovery that Jennifer Lawrence was paid less than her male colleagues in hacked emails from Sony, the film industry has been thrust into the spotlight. This was supported by Reese Witherspoons, who fronts the Ask Her More campaign, that actresses are worth more than the dress they wear and interviewers should start asking them more than where their clothing is from. Where better to question the world of acting than to interview an aspiring actress, 18 year old Maisy Skeggs. Whilst she is just starting out in her career, I wanted to explore how she felt about going into one of the most sexism industries and whether she had yet come across the pressures of appearance. Who influenced you the most in your early years? And who are your inspirations now? In my early years, I would say my mum influenced my style purely because she was the one who would go out and by outfits and style my hair however she wanted, as I wasn't too bothered. Now I seem to just wear anything I see that catches my eye, but If I had to say someone who inspired my style I would probably say Kylie Jenner, purely due to fact she has jet black hair and her clothes really compliment this. Which celebrities you believe are the most influential in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s society? I personally think the 'Kardashian' family have a big impact

on society these days, purely to the fact everyone has either heard of them or somewhat following them on some sort of media. As they are such a big family and are best known for Kim Kardashian, many people envy and look up to how they live, what they wear, where they go and other things that influences someone to do something like them. I also think any 'A' list celebrity has a big influence on people because their fame is based around their fans, and the more they give, the more they gain. So if Taylor Swift releases a perfume or a line of clothing, she is going to gain a lot more popularity with her audiences because they are going to want to dress the way she does.

Do you feel the media heightens the pressures of appearance of women? In most cases, yes. Most media's these days are posting celebrities with 'the perfect body' which is usually known as having the 'bum and boobs' as well as 'the slim' waist. Because the media are telling their audiences what they love, it's almost as like they are also showing them that this is what the need to look like. If you see say for example; Michelle Keegan in the paper in her bikini with a good review from the writer, you are going to compare yourself, which in my opinion is sad because many young girls (mainly) rely very much on what others think of them than what they think of themselves. Also some magazines will post a 'before' and 'after' photo of a celebrity and talk about how much weight is gained or loss. This I feel can

start losing the real you. You should never feel like you have to be better than someone else just because of the media around us. So many people get overtaken by media sites such as Instagram and Twitter that they begin to believe they have to change themselves in a way they feel they can get 'accepted'. You should never have to do that. Do you feel that being confident in your appearance empowers you as a woman? What does empowerment mean to you? Yes, I do feel that if you are confident in the way you look, dress etc. you can feel more powerful in yourself, and begin to 'love' you. Empowerment to me means you are given the rights and confidence of your own way of life, and to make you/someone else a stronger person.

'Stay true to yourself' because the second you start trying to convince yourself your someone else, is the second you start losing the real you. also put pressure on women because they can relate to celebrities, and they know if a celebrity is getting almost 'slated' for it, so will they. You are confident in yourself, if you were famous now and you could give one piece of advice to all of your followers what would it be? 'Stay true to yourself' because the second you start trying to convince yourself your someone else, is the second you

What does feminism mean to you? And would you say you are a feminist? Feminism to me means that men and women are both equal and should be entitled to the same rights, meaning no one sex is better than the other. In my opinion, it is quite sad that there are still people out there who still think it's OK to judge a person on their sex. A man could be very good at sewing and other 'typical women stuff', whilst a woman could be very talented at building and other 'typical men

stuff'. So for someone to discriminate someone else due to their sex is poor and shallow. I strongly agree with this as I feel that men and women are absolutely no different to each other, apart from the obvious, but mentally they are both equally the same, and should be accepted. Even though I strongly believe in the movement of feminist, I wouldn't consider myself as a feminist because I would never go out of my own way to have a say, unless I felt it was needed. I feel sometimes women who call themselves 'feminists' become too picky and try to make everything seem sexist, but to be honest some stuff is just so silly that it's embarrassing. In acting do you feel there is a focus on women’s appearance? And have you ever experienced this first hand, in either a negative or positive way? In some cases I feel your appearance plays a massive part in whether or not you get given a certain role, and that's not because you’re not good enough, it’s purely due to character behind the role. If they are looking for a geek teenager character, they aren't going to audition someone who looks in their 30's. So in a way, your appearance can aid you, yet can hold you back, but it's never personal in my opinion, because the director and casting agencies know the type of person they are looking for, as they created them. I don't think there is a specific focus on a women's appearance due to the fact of its normally down to whether their looks match the description, but for certain things I feel it can play a massive part. For example, most adverts which involve girls usually are beautiful, natural, curvy females who are perfectly OK with flaunting their stuff, and this may sometimes come across as intimidating to other women watching. As I look young for my age, I am quite often getting offered characters that are the youngest in the play and have quite natural facial features. For example, my most recent play is The Seagull, by Anton Chekov, and my role is Nina. She is the youngest in the play, and her

description is 'a very young looking 19 year old'. So I think my feature of being able to look younger has helped with this, and hopefully will in the future. Do you feel that the same pressures on woman’s appearance effect men too? Yes definitely. We don't hear much about it, and that could be because men find it 'embarrassing', but it happens. It's just the same as women, men see other photos on media sites of other men possibly looking 'stronger', and feel like they need to look like that to be 'a man'. This creates a lot of pressure on them too, as most people these days, both sexes, tend to think it is more on how you look than any other skills you may have. The saying “if you don’t look the part, you won’t get it” do you feel this is justified? To an extent. If there is a description of a character and you fit every criteria you are more likely to get the role than someone who doesn't. On the other hand, in some cases if you can convince a director or the panel you are capable of that role and are determined to show them this, you have also got a very high chance. You could then flip it over, and if you are 100% physically what they are looking for, but can't act the way they want, you won't get the part, because you need to be able to have it all. Most of the characters directors are looking for are people that are around in the public world, so there is always a connection. For example if someone is looking for a tall women, in her 20's, blue eyes, brown bob, slim size 6, chances are there will be a lot of women looking like this at the audition, and even some that could look exactly like you, so you need to be able to bring the personality of the character to live and the way the director visions it. It was discovered recently that Jennifer Lawrence was paid considerably less that her male colleagues in

Information regarding Patricia Arquette and Jennifer Lawrence published in The Guardian Tuesday 24th February 2015 Statistics from therepresentationproject.org

“In 2011, only 11% of protagonists in films were female.” “Between 1937 and 2005 there were only 13 female protagonists in animated films…All of them except one had the aspiration of finding romance.” The Representation Project

the American Hustle, and Patricia Arquette dedicated her Oscar acceptance speech to equal pay. How do you feel about the pay gap in Hollywood? And how do you feel about possibly going into an industry that is infamous for its sexism? I was actually unaware of that Jennifer Lawrence was paid a smaller amount, which I think already shows that it’s disgusting the way that the media, for example don’t make such a big deal of it. In my opinion she was one of the main character in American Hustle, so to then get paid less than her male colleagues is wrong. It’s not because of her gender, but because she had a lot more screen time. I personally don’t really think about the money gap in Hollywood as I enjoy acting for the thrill or it, not the money and fame. In the bigger picture though, in my opinion it is 100% wrong to pay someone more or less due to their gender. Even though I disagree hugely with the difference between gender pay, it doesn’t put me off my idea of becoming an actress and that is purely because I do it as I enjoy it. However, if I was to come across a role and the pay was less that a male role, purely because of the gender, I would have to second think about it. I believe everything you do should be appreciated. “Females are 7 percent of directors, 19.7 percent of writers, and 22.7 percent of producers” Do you feel this is true? Is it something that bothers you? To be honest it doesn't matter to me whether is it true of not because I generally don't think it's to the fact of the sex, I purely think it's about the talent and commitment someone has to the job. It's also a lot about who you know, so it may just be men are easier to get into contact with in the industry. I am very interest in directing myself, and would never put myself down due to the fact of my sex, but more to how much I put in to how much I get out. So again, I think it's wrong that some people choose to say 'directors are more male' and think it's some kind of sign that 'men are better' because to be honest, it may be just they have the better ideas for a certain film/play etc. Female characters are more than twice as likely to be either partially or fully naked (24.2 percent females vs. 11.5 percent males) Knowing this statistic does it concern you that with your interested in becoming an actress this is something you will have to do (appear partially/fully naked)? In my opinion the reason why more females go naked is because of their audience. A director knows their audience and so if they are looking to attract the late teens/older generation that putting naked women in are going to help, because they know that's what men want to see, well most anyway. I think also the female number is higher because men get a lot more out of seeing a naked women, than a women does seeing a man. This does not concern me one bit, because I would never let something this big that could feel uneasy for me, overtake me as a person. I would never do something that I wasn't fully comfortable with, just so I could satisfy a director or an audience. All I hope for the future is Maisy stands her grounds and sticks to her morals.

The Power Of Tumblr

Tumblr is micro blogging platform that allows users to reblog unoriginal artwork alongside their own imagery. There has

been a vast amount of controversy surrounding the site but it has recently become a platform for campaigning and is an opposition to the more popular hashtag activism.

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Who Needs Feminism? “Feminism is still seen as too radical, too uncomfortable, or simply unnecessary. Feminism is both misunderstood and denigrated regularly on a broad societal scale.”

Quote from whoneedsfeminism.com

Tumblr address: whoneedsfeminism.Tumblr.com

The site was set up by a group of University students to fight back against the issues and negativity surrounding the feminist movement. They were inspired to prove that feminism still has a place in modern day society and challenge stereotypes, presenting reasons why feminism is still needed. Bloggers are invited to post imagery of their stories using the slogan ‘I need feminism because…’ I support the Tumblr page because it highlights experiences of inequality through the use of gender stereotypes and invites children into the conversation. The promotional strategy is well thought out and I admire that it refuses to give feminism a definition; it leaves it up to the individual to form their own opinions feminism represents to them.

The campaign was first launched in Duke University but received a backlash with many posters being torn down or vandalised with writing like “I need feminism because sandwiches cannot make themselves.” The campaign faced a wall of obstruction but triumphed with over 40 universities supporting their cause. This teaches the young adolescents, but also younger children who use the site, that to not respond in an aggressive way to criticism and allow it to actually further prove the point that feminism is still needed. It sends a positive message of feminism but also how to deal with opposition to it.

just open up a dialogue between people, but it also provides support and information regarding the path to gender equality. Like the He For She campaign, it provides a guide for people to create their own campaigns. However, it is more approachable, inclusive and to be honest achievable. It does not use political language or legislation, which to some can find confusing, I know I did. It also amasses to 7 pages unlike the lengthy guide set out by the UN which amounts to 16. It’s a simple concept, and provides a healthy way to interact with those who criticise and ‘troll’, moving the conversation away from being a battle of ideas and controversy, to one of diplomacy.

The site does what a lot of other campaigns fails to do, it does not

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Women Against feminism

Exploring the Tumblr page objectively, it has valid points to make and should not be dismissed all together because it is anti-feminist. Most the content highlights extremist things that activists are doing in the name of ‘feminism’. It is important to

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acknowledge that there are extremists in feminism, but those people should not be allowed to define the movement. This website represents the feelings and issues facing feminism and proves that there is a problem in the way it is being presented. There needs to be recognition that in every movement there are extremists, it would be silly to deny this. However, this should not be applied to every feminist and people should not be tarnished with the same brush. This is only one part of feminism – this needs to be realised – feminism is a complex movement with many layers and types of people.

Tumblr address: womenagainstfeminism.Tumblr.com

Like majority of the campaigns of feminism there always arises a counter campaign that hopes to derail or undermine the progression that feminism is trying to make. Who Needs Feminism inspired the Women Against Feminism Tumblr page, using the same context but with the renewed slogan ‘I don’t need feminism because…’

The Criticism Of Feminism Unfortunately feminists do not help themselves because they retaliate to such criticism, sometimes in a negative manner, no matter how true this criticism may be and feminists seem to take it personally. It has created an environment where no one can speak up against women without the fear of being branded sexist. I suppose this is true to an extent, I feel personally with feminism you need to be open minded, and not take everything at face value. Not everything is intended in a sexist way or has oppressive motives. Everything needs context.

Kristen Stewart quote taken from The Metro Friday 13th February 2015

Tumblr address confusedcatsagainstfeminism.tumblr.com

There is evidence that feminism is not tolerant of criticism when it comes to parody campaigns like Confused Cats Against Feminism. It was created to compare how cats that know nothing about feminism are as ‘illinformed’ as those using the Tumblr page Women Against Feminism. It was championed as being the best response to the anti-feminist page, showing that cats protesting feminism is just as bazaar as women protesting against it. But surely by belittling these women it only further proves their point. Mocking them only shows that feminism is not accepting of them and so further affirms that feminism does not have any room for them in its campaign.

Feminist: You have nothing against feminism itself, but when did it become a thing that every celebrity had to state their position on whether this word applies to them, like some politician declaring a party? Let’s stick to the issues and quit throwing this label around like ticker tape at a Susan B. Anthony parade. Extract from the TIME.com

Another example of feminisms intolerance can be seen when TIME magazine published an article online questioning “Which Word Should Be Banned in 2015?” Feminist appeared on that list. After a backlash the editor was forced to issue an apology. An apology that I do not think was justified. TIME had opened a discussion, a light hearted debate, about words that have been overused, sometimes in the wrong way, during 2014. It is also important that I point out that it was not the word feminism; it was the word feminist that appeared on the list. To me this implies TIME is not against the movement of feminism but highlighting the concept of a feminist has lost its way. This shows that some feminists did not listen to the valid points that TIME was attempting to point out, instead forced the magazine to back track and retract its argument. I strongly believe that whilst there is such divide between feminists and those who not, nothing will ever be achieved, every day that we do not work together to progress we risk going backwards.

I think the inability to critically evaluate feminism without a backlash creates the aggregation that people have towards the movement. Some see it as a very exclusive movement that solely focuses on women and their rights. I think people sometimes mask it under the name of gender equality, to sound more inclusive, so much so that not only feminism but the phrase gender equality has been tarnish with the same negativity. Kristen Stewart, spoke out against the fear of being classed a feminist, stating “they don’t get that there is no one particular way you have to be in order to stand for all of the things feminism stands for”. Feminism and its label has implication for its bearer, it makes them seem aggressive and so people avoid it. Stewart explains this idea of avoiding feminism as “reverse feminism”. If a celebrity mentions the word feminism – to align or dis-align it spreads like wildfire – and everyone has an opinion – agreements and disagreements arise depending on how spoken that celebrity has been about feminism. That is the problem - people like Angry Harry, Paul Elam and The Red Pill Philosophy are so widely read because the more controversy and conflict of ideas someone can cause the more the same people receive exposure. Thus creating a state a war, with feminism routed as the cause.

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Image: theinspirationroom.com Speech extracts and quotes transcribed by Kay Chantelle from He For She YouTube 21st September 2014

He For She

‘A solidarity movement for gender equality’ Emma Watson might seem like unusual candidate to be a UN Ambassador, but she is effective. She is everything a feminist can be and does it with conviction. There is something endearing listening to her speak about equal rights and it is inspiring. As the face of the new He For She campaign, I was drawn in from the start. I believe she is right person for this job but I am not fully supportive of her new campaign. Everything about the ideas behind #HeForShe for the first time seem to realise gender equality as a problem for both male and females, both are oppressed by the pressures of gender norms. However from listening to the speeches and reading their manifesto the concept is flawed. He For She is efficient in encouraging people to become involved in the equal rights movement but it gives no guidance in how they can actually help gender equality and its cause. This is a negative and a positive. It is a positive because it allows others to make their own judgements and does not dictate how they should be, act and think which turns some people away from equal rights. However, once signing up it leaves that person with very little information as to how they can be a force for change. It is also important to note that only males can sign up.

For a movement that uses the slogan ‘A Solidarity Movement For Gender Equality’ there seems a conflict in their campaign. This does not make it inclusive as Emma Watson explains the movement aims to be. The website and the documentation to support the cause it very rigorous and in some ways excludes those who might not understand the wording. From the first impression you can tell this is organised by the UN, using legislation and political language to support the campaign. This idea and the concept are meaningful. I applaud every time I see someone fighting for women’s rights do not get me wrong, but I also question who is standing up for men? The UN’s new campaign is supposed to unite male and females in a fight for gender equality – yet even in the title it's he FOR she. This does not sound like a union at all. I know various men’s rights movement have declared their dissatisfaction with the campaign, and I understand why. In her speech Emma discusses the oppression of men and how gender stereotypes are having negative implications on their lives, going far enough to highlight that “suicide is the biggest killer of men between 2049, eclipsing road accidents, cancer and coronary heart disease”. This to

me sets off alarm bells, this shows that there is such a problem in how we treat genders, putting them into boxes and shows that men do not benefit from gender inequality either. However, I feel the conversation then changes back to women’s right, and does not fully explore and explain how they want to help men too. It is almost as if by highlighting male inequality in the hope to win men around, making it sounds like care about them, when actually they are asking men to help women. No wonder some men feel like they are the oppressed sex, a movement that explicitly highlights their own oppression but yet still puts women’s rights first. Emma’s title is UN Women Goodwill Ambassador; this in itself shows her job focuses on equal rights for women. She finishes her speech with “We are struggling for a uniting word, but the good news is, we have a uniting movement.” I think they might to rethink. They need to invite women back into the conversation instead of excluding them from their website, and ask men to become involved for men’s rights not just for women. You would be surprised how much more support a movement that does that would achieve. After all it is meant to be ‘a solidarity movement’, the UN might want to rethink how they go about promoting that.

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Emma Watson has changed her name to Ms in the wake of partnership with the UN. But what does it mean and should we be doing the same? Ms. is historically represented as a default form of address for women regardless of their marital status, derived from mistress as did Miss and Mrs, Ms has dropped in and out of favour with people over the years. Throughout my childhood Ms has been represented to me by my family and surroundings as a name you take if you are divorced or very regrettably taking the name means you are spinsters (what a horrible word!) that does not want people to know that they have never married. The latter is a strong and very very very wrong judgement to have. Emma Watson represents it as a way of not being easily identifiable as being in wed lock and it a rebellion against the Mrs as a way of displaying you are taken and subsequently owned. I understand this. I question why it is there are several titles for women to indicate their marriage status, yet for males there is just one? That does not seem fair? Why

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should there be a focus on marital status for women but there is none for men , almost as if historically there has been a focus on how successful a woman is in finding a husband or ultimately if she is available for one? Surely not... Oh wait historically there was, but that does not matter in today’s society right? So I decided to put it to the test does it REALLY matter what title I used? For a week I went around and used Ms. and the responses of some people really surprised me. On telling my mother and stepfather, they laughed and asked had I suddenly become divorced, a response I had anticipated as previously explained that is what Ms. meant to them. I also saw an element of worry appear on my mother’s face, she was nervous for what using this title would mean for how people would treat me. The next hurdle was my boyfriend; he doesn’t fully understand my fight for gender equality and comes from a very traditional family, although having said this he fully supports me because it is something I am passionate about. He remained silent at first, but his thoughts were written all over his face, with each crease and wince I read intolerance, almost as if changing my name to Ms had pushed my rebellion of traditional

patriarchy just one step too far. He has already faced the ‘I’m not conforming to society and getting married’ rebellious phase of my life which he had managed to overcome and bring me round to the idea, and has faced the subsequent rebellion of ‘okay we can get married but by absolutely no means am I taking your name’ (and hey why should I, taking his family’s name seems to me to be a disowning my own family, but I digress) his mother nearly fainted at my revelations of such a comment. And that brings me nicely onto my possible future in-laws reactions, I’m not sure if his mother wanted to laugh or cry and his father left the room for it was a discussion he just wasn’t ready for. My boyfriend’s mother began her line of questioning, for she too like my boyfriend doesn’t understand my fight for gender equality and I feel sometime I over step the boundaries in some our discussions, especially when it comes to traditional gender roles. Herself and her husband married young, had children, he worked; she stayed at home and looked after the children. It was a different age and she did not have access to the career that today’s women do, having said this it is no surprise that she sees there something romantic and whimsical about her marriage and why

Historical facts from newstatesman.com

Does it really matter?

Doctor Who? article published in The Metro Thursday 19th March 2015

wouldn’t she 25 years is a long time, that’s no mean feat. But I digress again, I think sometimes my independence and lack of respect for traditional gender roles scares her and it also highlights that there might be an incompatibility between her son and I. After all he has grown up witnessing a fulfilled marriage and a bond of his parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, none of which have ever been divorced. I on the other hand have witnessed divorce over and over; I witness adultery of both my parents and grandparents. I have never seen a happy marriage, no wonder it does not appeal, my dad is a prime example of that at 44 years old with two children he has never married, engaged more than a handful of times but never quite made it down the aisle. Now he is a man that I would not even dare tell about my new found title, he would call me ridiculous and shut me out, because he does not understand, the fear takes over and he closes up. Fear is a powerful thing, fear is feminisms greatest opponent, people fear its strength and ultimately shut it out because they do not understand, what is the saying "people fear the unknown" and that is exactly what this

is. Feminism is an unknown movement, people used to know what it stood for what it aimed to achieve, now people do not know, and they are worried about what it could achieve, they fear the change it could bring and so they close it down. The media are the biggest implementer of this. The Metro covered a story in which a woman was refused entry to a female changing room because the code she was given to access it was assigned to the male changing rooms not the female. The reason for this? Her title was Dr, and according to their systems that made her a man, the gyms reaction to this? They told her that the system could not be changed and she would have to lose her title. In the 21st century if you ever needed more proof that feminists work is not done that this proves how far we have left to come. But I would like to finish with my reactions to Ms, my test drive of Ms left me with mixed emotions. I told friends and colleagues who all laughed, it made me insecure that people were able to judge me on a whole new level, much like the effect of revealing I am feminism has, it made me feel like I should be ashamed and this lead to a great deal of push to stick with the name, I didn’t want to be

controlled by the fear of being ridiculed, I wanted to rebel, something I am very good at. For now however I do not think I am quite brave enough to be a Ms full time, I applauded Emma Watson for making her stand and committing 100% to her cause, but there is something deep down that makes me think this sends the wrong message to people about feminism. There is an element of changing your name to Ms that seems so radical it almost that it puts peoples backs up and annoys them, and I am not convinced it is necessary. After all gender equality is a fight to break down gender assumptions of people and giving male and females titles is just another form of labelling. Even if you eradicate Mrs and Miss so all women are Ms and all males are Mr there is still a divide. Would it not be more beneficial to the cause to create a new title that could be applied to both male and female so there is not this immediate signifier of one’s gender? But hey you might just say that is creating another label for people to be defined by, whatever your thoughts on a subject, you can be feminist whatever your choice of title is.

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Emma Watson International Women’s Day Conference

On the surface, equality is used to define feminism and so it should, after all it is the underpinning for what the movement is campaigning for, although it is much much more than this. Fundamentally Emma is correct in saying if you aspire to the idea of gender equality then this qualifies you to be a feminist. However, the following issue of apology implies this is a bad thing, or something that should cause shock. I admire Emma’s attempt to simplify feminism all the same. Emma spoke out about issues , her own issues, with inequality in today’s society. The pay gap in Hollywood and the hate letters she received for fronting the He For She campaign. Underneath the live stream there was a comment box that allowed people to discuss and present their own views. Whilst most were supportive of Emma and her campaign, there were some comments that were

"If you stand for equality, you're a feminist - I'm sorry to tell you, but you are."

Emma Watson addressed the need for intersectionality. This is the first time I have seen a campaign acknowledge this. Feminism has always received negativity surrounding its exclusiveness and narrowness on focusing on white middle class able bodied woman. She turned the conversation towards all women, regardless of race, class or sexuality. She then turned her attention to those who are not feminist, by declaring if you stand for equality, then you are one. Simple as that. 52| égalitA

so sexist I couldn’t believe. Threats of rape and violence stunned me the most. The phrase “but we do have equality” was stated too many times to count, each time I read one of these comments deep down I could feel my insides screaming. But you have to take a positive from such sexist comments (they are only baiting you for an argument) Instead I take some comfort knowing people are only actually further proving that equal rights has not been achieved. I hope, if you have not already, you will take the time to listen to Emma Watson’s speeches because she is a truly inspiring woman.

Photographs: pinterest.com/kaychantelle

Emma Watson invited everybody to join her for a conference on this year’s International Women’s Day. The promotional film to advertise the conference was genuine and sincere; I knew that I had to be part of the conversation. On the day I remember sitting patiently refreshing my page, waiting for Emma to appear on my laptop screen. I think I was more excited to watch Emma, than I was to hear what she had to say, but she inspired all the same. She discussed inequality as being an imbalance and created distortion in how we view society. She called for people to be comfortable and have the confidence to acknowledge there is still a problem with inequality. She expressed that what people are doing and saying are more important than how they look, and to judge someone’s worth on their appearance is wrong, a concept that by now seems all too familiar

Quotes transcribed by Kay Chantelle from Emma Watson’s Speech 8th March 2015

“I support feminism because its right, it’s just right”

Madonna quote from An Audience With Her Madgesty published 10th March 2015 on out.com Definition from geekfeminism.wikia.com

Intersectionality is a term that Emma Watson’s referred to in her International Women’s day conference. Intersectionality is a concept often used in critical theories to describe the ways in which oppressive institutions (racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, xenophobia, classism, etc.) are interconnected and cannot be examined separately from one another It suggests that feminist theory may be flawed with its attribution of gender; it fails to recognise there are more than two genders and various other influences on a person’s identity. It does present ideas that critically evaluating subjects on their gender by dividing male and female into separate groups, creates an expectation of gender through the use of masculine and feminine and limits all sexes. Madonna was heavily criticised recently for stating “Gay rights are way more advanced than women’s rights. People are a lot more open-minded to the gay community than they are to women, period… It’s moved along for the gay community, for the African-American community, but women are still just trading on their ass. To me, the last great frontier is women…. Women are still the most marginalized group. You’re still categorized—you’re still either a virgin or a whore. If you’re a certain age, you’re not allowed to express your sexuality, be single, or date younger men.” To make comparisons to others that are also seeking equality like the LGBT community, makes it a contest, to compare does not help anybody it only further causes tensions between communities. égalita | 53

FCKH8.com released its new promotional film, aptly titled:

“Words More Offensive That Fuck”

rom the outside this looks like feminism has recruited five young girls, dressed as princesses, to cuss their way to equal rights, but wow it made me sit back and think finally! The strength and attitude from these young girls seems more adhering than those of women – who in the same situation may be classed as aggressive. For a moment I sat there and felt the passion and the anger of how young children feel about inequality. And it did not stop there, alongside these girls was featured a young boy dressed in matching princess outfit, demanding that he was no less of a ‘man’ for doing so, and that it should not be an insult to be a female or feminine. The video would be even more powerful if it at the end it did not turn out to be an ad for a t-shirt. It is a shame that this video is a marketing ploy because it has great potential, controversy is key and this promotional film sums that up.

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Whilst regrettably this film was created to make money, it still effective in getting across some key issues. My only wish is that these young people do share the passion that they elude in the film because opening their eyes to sexism, and teaching them it is not OK, it is a step in on the right path to challenging inequality and gender stereotypes. The film received a lot of criticism, fuelled by the use of swear words but also a negativity around drawing children into ‘adult propaganda’. For me it wasn’t about the swearing – I am not sure I agree with it, but I am pretty sure I remember at 7-8 years old, you knew them words already and by then I was very aware of gender inequality. What inspired me about this film is the passion, scripted or not these children had it. I also respect that the brand is open and honest, with the declaration on their about page explaining its morals “FCKH8.com is a for-profit T-shirt company with an activist heart and

a passionate social change mission: arming thousands of people with pro-LGBT equality, anti-racism and anti-sexism T-shirts that act as “minibillboards” for change.” At the end of the film it explains how much of your money will be donated and where is will go. In 6 months it has raised $31,645 for the cause and chose to donate the full amount to five charities, including Equality Now and Legal Momentum. It annoys me that equal rights has been used in such a way, and almost capitalises on, much like I fear the ‘This Is What A Feminist Looks Like’ t-shirt campaign was too, I do at the same time have a small amount of admiration for whoever created this concept. Ultimately although the film revolves around increasing sales, it remains honest, with activism being part of its ethos, if it is going to make people sit back and listen, like I did, then who am I to disapprove.

Promotional film and information from fckh8.com

ALWAYS: LIKE A GIRL

Promotional film and information from always.com

In the same year that saw young girls cussing in the name of women’s rights, Always launched their ‘Like A Girl’ campaign. They call it the social experiment, exploring claims that girls begin to lose their confidence between the ages of 10-12 because the insult ‘like a girl’ enforces that girls are weak in their minds. The film directed by Lauren Greenfield, features teenagers of both sexes acting out a series of actions ‘like a girl’. The girl in these actions is presented as weak, unable throw and fights like what can only be described as a cat clawing at the curtains. A group of pre-adolescents are then asked to carry out the same actions. They act out the actions without judgement and presumptions of what ‘like a girl’ means, showing the difference of how young women, girls and boys perceive the phrase. The films focuses on changing the meaning of ‘like a girl’, after questioning the women why they have acted out the phrase in the way they did, they were then asked if they would like to start again. This time they ran, fought and threw to the best of their abilities, owning the phrase for themselves. This, of course, was a marketing campaign from the sanitary towel company, who have chosen to align themselves with teenage girls at a time in their life when they would be getting their first period, telling

them they understand them. If an insult such as ‘like a girl’ is an offense and has a great impact on female adolescents then surely insults such as ‘smell like a boy’ having a great impact on male adolescents’ confidence too. To call for this phrase to become empowering over insulting, but not exploring phrases that effect young boys further reiterates that this is a marketing campaign, boys are not Always’ target consumer.

“We’re kicking off an epic battle to make sure that girls everywhere keep their confidence throughout puberty and beyond, and making a start by showing them that doing it #LikeAGirl is an awesome thing.” The ad could be seen as more effective in empowering young girls than the FCKH8.com, yet the latter is aimed at women over children so a comparison does not seem fitting. Nevertheless, Always has created the hashtag #LikeAGirl for the opportunity for young people and women to have an open conversation about what empowers them. However, I feel hash tags are not effective as they used to be. The concept of hash tag activism leads to new petitions starting every

day on social media platforms – it is easy and pretty much effortless to create a hash tags, and sometimes the most ridiculous things start to trend. Some causes that could be powerful and movements for real change are diluted and potentially lost within the social media stratosphere. Every part of our daily lives has a hashtag, whether it is a charitable cause or what we had for lunch. Social media is a powerful thing and is part of everyday life. I myself have resisted social media for years; the stress of portraying my life on various media platforms scared me. But at last I joined Instagram, not because I wanted to but because I was turned down for a job due to my absence from the site. My short few weeks on Instagram lead me to being inundated with research, articles and campaigns surrounding the equal rights movement. So much so that I was overwhelmed, I could discuss the topic for hours on end. I ended up removing myself from social media in order to gain perspective. Hash tag activism deals with momentary causes; they do not deal with the bigger, long term issues. #LikeAGirl may have opened a conversation for today, but what happens tomorrow when another ten pop up in its place? Especially when they could have a negative focus for equal rights?

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THE DEBATE OF EMPOWERED OR OBJECTIFIED?

IS ANYONE ACTUALLY ‘EMPOWERED’ ANYMORE?

Living In a Sexualised Culture: Good or Bad? For years it has been debated whether the new sexualised culture is aiding women’s social standing in society or hindering it. Theorist has argued the outcome and effect this culture is having with little agreement. An example of a theorist, who herself has changed opinion of this is sexualised culture over the last 20 years is Natasha Walters, writer and human rights activist. She has written two main books exploring the different sides of feminism. The first instalment The New Feminism (1999) she claims that feminists should no longer be too anxious about the sexual objectification of women, explaining that she believes as women become more equal to men that sexism will either “wither away” or be equal to the amount men are sexualised. In some cases this has happened, with an increase in women self-sexualising and objectifying themselves, there has had also been an increase in male sexualisation. Take the Diet Coke advert for example. Yet, eleven years later Waters declares in Living Dolls: the Return of Sexism (2010) her previous ideas and statements were wrong and retracts them. She now begins to explore this new sexism as damaging the perception of women. The change in direction for this theorist implies that the theories of our sexual culture sixteen years ago may have little representation in today’s society with, Walters now debating the opposite to her original argument.

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This also shows that it difficult to really measure the effect of this heighten sexualised celebrity culture, whether it is reversing the achievements of feminism in the terms of dismissing women just purely objects in order to breed and please men. Instead it could be seen as reinforcing these, it is such a hard topic to take a side on. I believe in terms of allowing women to explore their sexuality it is beneficial, but it cannot be equal unless males are doing the same to a similar amount. I am not sure if it is re-attributing the measure of success to how physically desirable a women is. If this is the case it is a worrying trend. Especially when stars and females alike are using self-objectification as a form of empowerment, is this also just passing on this stereotype to adolescents, affecting their perception of the gender of female. Walter is confusing in herself with her arguments though and it proves how complex this matter is. She claims girls as young as eight are “dieting, grooming and shopping” as a result, but then later defends the use of girls playing ‘dress up’ by stating there is a huge different between that and “believing that the only route to confidence and power for a women lies through constant physical vigilance”. However, does the focus on appearance not begin with girls dressing up and experimenting with make-up, whilst boys tend to not carry out the same activities? Is

this not the beginning of young girls assuming the gender of female and learning how to be one? I can speak from experience that I loved dressing up as a little girl and experimenting with make-up, especially as I was an only child, this was an activity I could do by myself. I do not remember ever referencing celebrities’ when choosing what to wear and how to present myself; I was creative and made it up as I went along. I also do not remember this being something I was told to do, I fully believe I chose to play dress up on my own accord. Having said this I am from a different age to the culture that we live in now. When I reflect on sister outlook on life, she has very strong opinions and knowledge of the concept of feminine. At six years old, I have asked time and time again where she has picked this ideology up from; she tells me she does not know. How can we challenge a stereotype or sexist upbringing when children seem to choose this pathway for themselves? I know I am very careful of how I act around my sister so to not influence her to act a certain way and to choose for herself, yet it seems something is influencing her. Could it be the imagery presented by those in the public eye? Another theorist that is particularly interesting in this topic is Ariel Levy, an academic, who focuses on the changing attitudes towards feminism regarding the increased culture of

Radio One interview transcribed by Kay Chantelle from bbc.co.uk

sexualisation. In her book Female Chauvinistic Pigs (2005) she questions does “this barwdy world of boobs and gams we have resurrected reflects how far we’ve come or how far we have left to go” Levy argues that this display and casual attitude to the glamourification of self-sexualisation “is resurrecting every stereotype of female sexuality that feminism endeavoured to banish good for women” by using sexuality to inspire arousal in men. She explains does this imply that this not only “resurrects” the ideology that women are to be sexually desirable to please men but also implies we are controlled by this much like, as Levy illustrates, a stripper or porn star. She explains “raunchy’ and ‘liberated’ are not synonyms”. I find that there is an element of double standards: self-objectification and being seen as sexually desirable and objectified had previously been seen as oppressive because it judges women on their ability to be attractive. In current day some musicians like Beyoncé and Miley Cyrus are applauded for their use of self-objectification in a notion of being self-empowered and in control, comfortable with their appearance. It raises the question as to why some nature of oppressive behaviour is condemned but others seen as a successful notion; no wonder people find feminism confusing. This culture is not only affecting those who partake in it but women on a whole. Taylor Swift, a musician who does not take part in self-sexualisation, in a

recent interview with Nick Grimshaw on radio one, discussed a trip to Hawaii where she was stalked by the paparazzi. What they wanted was a bikini shot of her and her friends, the price for that was one hundred thousand dollars. This shows the price and then length that the paparazzi have gone and the focus that they have created on a woman’s body. Singer song writer Ed Sheeran was also present in the interview and had stated he had visited a strip club in the previous week with a group of

“I like that you (Ed Sheeran) can go to a strip club with a harem of dancers and not get caught but Taylor can’t even look at a whale” – Nick Grimshaw

body out of the papers and now she has been forced to exposing herself. Either way the media achieves in objectifying her body. The question is, are these stars really empowered? Are they really sexualising themselves because they are choosing to? Or is the media playing a bigger part in this than we think?

friends, to which he was not hassled once by the media. In fact he stated he is never hassled by paparazzi, yet Taylor Swift is followed where ever she goes, not even able to watch whales in Hawaii without being sort after. Some would argue Taylor is empowering because she stands up to the media and takes back control. To overcome the paparazzi making money from these shots of her and her friends, she returns to shore and takes a series of photos which are then uploaded to her Instagram, immediately decreasing the value of the photos. However, on the other hand for me this only further reiterates the power of the media, for so long she has struggled to keep her

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Lucy O’Brien, a theorist in the field of women in music, investigates what or who is driving women to self-sexualise, and whether they truly believe it is in the name of empowerment or whether this masks the control men still have over women in the public eye. She Bop: The Definitive History Of Women In Popular Music (2013) explores the use of sex to sell records. In an interview with video director Tamsin Haughton, she discovers that “it’s not simply a case of men pushing women into being sex objects” women are becoming more forthcoming and encourage themselves. Miley Cyrus for example, uses her sexuality to draw in the media and fans alike, knowing that “controversy catches peoples ‘attention”, exploiting this to sell records and gain publicity. Personally speaking it was this controversy that drew myself to attend her concert, in the hope she would both shock and entertain me. She delivered. I do not think my jaw left the floor all night, and it was the only thing I talked about for a week. She definitely achieved what she set out to, and I strangely had a new found respect for her. Some will argue she is an inappropriate role model for all those children that attended along with their parents, but she was not for me, she inspired me and told me it was OK to be true to who I am. Putting the

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use of her sexuality aside, she taught me that people are going to hate you no matter what you do. I have always been a people pleaser, putting others opinions, strangers mostly, before my own, never fully being myself.

thing. I remember my sex education class at the age of 8, a class full of boys and girls watching a woman have a baby. It was enough to gross anyone out and swerve them away from sexual intercourse. Sex was a naughty word for me growing up and this followed through into my adolescents, to this day that imagery stays with me. My best friend first had sex at 13, not only was she ridiculed in school for being a ‘slut’, I also struggled to come to terms with it. Sex had been droned into me that it was something you did when you were married or in love, so her casual nature to sex made me uncomfortable. This unease has stayed with me; sex is still an uncomfortable matter.

“What’s crazy to me, and this is nuts, is that sexuality is still so offensive. Kids need to know about sexuality. Girls need to be comfortable in that. You know, people laugh and think it’s funny that I said I’m a big feminist, but what about me isn’t? I tell girls, be who you are. Do whatever the fuck you want.” The issue with Cyrus is she was an - Miley Cyrus idol to girls as young as 4 in the role This forms the argument that children should be exposed to this type of sexual imagery because it helps to educate them about the concept of sex, and how to be comfortable with their sexuality. She expresses that she is feminist because she encourages girls be who they are, something that I can relate to. I fully support her argument that children should be allowed to gain a better understanding of sexuality. In my upbringing, it was repetitively implied to me that sexuality is a bad

of Hannah Montana, and so whilst this attitude may be more acceptable to have towards women, it could be adopted in a negative way by children, sexualising them at an inappropriate age. My sister is 6 years old, slightly too young for the influences of Hannah Montana, but nevertheless she is more knowledgeable of sex than I ever was. She discusses ‘boobies and bums’ with me and the concept of love, she understands what a stripper is and she knows the word sex. I cannot help but wonder whether this is a direct influence of the sexuality we see in today’s music

Miley Cyrus taken from interview in LOVE Magazine, Issue 11 Spring/Summer 2014

Self-objectification In The Music Industry

industry. This self-objectification of these stars raises questions as to what their motives are, and it is something that is required of them or is their true identities. Whatever their reasons it is still viewable as a potential lifestyle to aspire to and impressionable adolescents may be influenced by this imagery. It sends mixed messages to adolescents who might take this sexuality at face value because they do not have prior contextual knowledge. Thus fuelling the use of sexuality being adopted in an oppressive manner instead of an empowering one and contributing to the survival of gender stereotypes and appearance being a value as a measure of women’s worth.

Throughout history there is evidence across all cultures of female objectification and its use as a decorative form to please men. O’Brien explores how these pressures on women are increased within the pop and rock genre with the aim of female musicians being “first and foremost to look attractive”. If this attitude is not relevant to modern day artists then why does their sexual provocativeness become a focus of their music and why is it necessary? To me this raises questions regarding the effectiveness of the third wave feminist movement, and whether the feminist movement is used as an excuse to conceal the reasons behind sexual objectification in the music industry.

“We are literally sabotaging ourselves”

Jameela Jamil interview transcribe by Kay Chantelle from theguardian.com

O’Brien supports prior research into the effects of these mixed messages women in the public eye and in particular female musicians are sending: “The relentless sexualisation of female singers, however, sends out a distorted message – an old adage that to be successful as a female artist means turning oneself into a sex object.” This quote explains that this “distorted message” these female musicians relay distracts from their talent and puts a renewed emphasis on their appearance, and their ability to be sexually desirable to create an image of femininity. Miley’s use of empowerment is represented by her being in control of her body, with the self-objectification being acceptable as it is now on her terms. However as presented in this analysis of selfsexualisation it provides a mixed message, for some it could be implied there is not obvious differences between women being sexualised and being influenced by the notions of gender and femininity.

Radio One presenter, Jameela Jamil, expresses her fears of self-objection in a recent interview at Ad Week Europe. She states “women using sexuality themselves, marketing it themselves, taking the initiative to do it and calling it empowerment because they are taking back the ownership of their bodies but they're not, they're just further perpetuating something that was created by men in this industry, and these men aren't thinking wow their empowered ... We are literally sabotaging ourselves” I found this a particularly interesting view on the topic and quite a powerful one. She goes on to point out that men are getting what they wanted all along, they get to watch women flaunting themselves without even asking because women believe it empowers them to ‘own their sexuality’. She discusses how she wears miniskirts and this could be seen as a sexual outfit but she would never go so far as to pose naked because it is unnecessarily and degrading.

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Feminism could be implied to have an element of changeability regarding its aims and appearance, natural modifications to its theory as time passes, evident in most theories. However, it could be a suggestion that feminism has an element of capriciousness and inconsistency. Feminism, for some has become a confused matter; some of those in the public eye announce feminist status and pride themselves on it. Whilst others suggest they would not represent or support feminism at the consequence of reprisal. Evidence of this can be seen in December 2014 when American actress Kaley CuocoSweeting stated in an interview “Things are different now, and I know a lot of the work that paved the way for women happened before I was around... I've never really faced inequality. This quote for me represents how some in today’s society feel the campaign of feminism is part of history and that it accomplished what it aimed to achieve. It frightens me to think that people feel this way; it is also alarming that people seem to be oblivious to sexism. Like Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting she states she has ‘never really’ faced inequality but I 62| égalitA

bet if she thinks deep down there will be memories of times she has been oppressed but accepted it. Cuoco-Sweeting has performed in various roles; her most recent success is as Penny in the American comedy The Big Bang Theory. Her character is displayed as having casual sex and can use her sexuality in a provocative way to manipulate her neighbour. This is a role that she has played over and over, and portrays women in a negative way, how can she not see that there is problem with this stereotype? I feel this statement is a bold and naïve, I would not like to be one of the women that say how can she not believe in feminism and that she wrong for saying she does not because that is not the problem here. The problem is she feels equality has been reached because women can now vote and are ‘sexually liberated’ (as a third wave feminist would say). It is also important to note that CuocoSweeting has succumbed to body modification surgery with a breast enlargement, stating that she “always felt ill-proportioned. My implants made me feel more confident in my

body.” This shows that there was a part of her life where she struggled with her body image, implying that she is not immune to the pressures on appearance to look a certain way. She stated that she has always been conscious because she felt they were too small. This could relate to the idea that having breasts make one a women, it goes back to the time of the focus on one’s ability as a women to have children and let’s not forget that was not that long ago. Even today that pressure can be felt. Whatever her reasoning for her surgery whether it is personal or society, it does show that there are disillusions of what feminism stands for. She may never have felt unequal but she abides by many of the restrictions that feminism attempts to overcome, like the pressures on women to remain as this patriarchal idea of a woman. She also caused outrage with the statement that she enjoyed “serving” her husband; it raises the question that some feminists believe any form of oppressive behaviour, in the case referring to how women historically were refined to housework and the rearing of their children, as a negative thing. I do not feel this is true, I can

Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting interview from redbookmag.com

Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting: “I’ve never really faced inequality” ... wait what?

statistics from money.cnn.com Photographs: maxim.com

speak from experience that I too enjoy making dinner for my boyfriend, this does not make me less equal to him, it is because it is convenient. I work part time and normally finish before he does so it makes sense for me to cook for him, cooking is a passion and so I enjoy it. However if I was to take on a full time job, I know and he understands that this would change and that he might be required to cook instead.

this is an isolated matter. In films it is widely shown as one of the only roles women can play but I question if this was the case and women really do use their sexuality to manipulate men then why are out of 500 companies on the Fortune list are there are only 24 female CEO’s, that is just over 14%. That to me does not sound like women are using their sexuality to prosper and if they are then they are not being very successful at it.

The previous quote from Cuoco-Sweeting shows that although she now feels happy in life, without realising she has benefited from feminism and defines what the movement campaigns for, having both a career and home life. I think in certain respects she has been able to advance in her professional life due to her sexuality as many of her roles involve her acting as the ‘ditsy, blonde who is sexually desired’ showing she has used her sexuality to her advantage. The question of equality is a varied debate, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting may have achieved the career she wants without the “help of a man” but could be perceived as using her sexuality to achieve it. This is a sexuality that is not as forthcoming to men and so questions could be raised that by using sex to gain does not promote equality. Furthermore is this teaching young girls that being seen as sexually attractive equates to power? And it is supporting what anti-feminists say about women manipulating men with their appearance? I for one feel that the pressures on women’s appearance are not only harming women but men too.

I myself have not intentionally benefited from my appearance. My first job was given to me on the basis the manager thought I was attractive, I did not use my

The text by theorist Jennifer Stevens Aubrey Check That Body! The Effects of Sexually Objectifying Music Videos on College Men's Sexual Beliefs (2011) draws on the ideas that “women use their bodies and sexuality to unfairly manipulate men” and how men then perceive women as responsible for the way they are at times mistreated. It presents the idea that men fail to sympathise with women over the pressures on appearance and sexuality because in some cases this sexuality is used in an unfair manner. From experience I have seen women use their sexuality to gain things they have desired but I feel

a p p e a ra n c e or sexuality to manipulate him. It became clear that when his advances were not welcome that for me it was time to leave my job and move on, I had been made to feel like I had tricked my manager into hiring me. I am living proof that appearance can hinder as much as I can helped. I was left unemployed for 5 months, only surviving because my mother finally came into a position where she could employ me. Not only is it this negative opinion of women effecting women but it also implies men are powerless to women’s sexuality

and that it controls them, I am pretty sure the last time I checked men have brains. This shows that gender stereotypes are affecting me too, it portrays them as weak to a women’s sexuality and they this all they desire. Women are told they need to look a certain way and men are being told they should care how a women looks, this myth that men only think about sex is delusional to me. Much like stereotypes I believe this behaviour is taught to them, especially in lad culture which breeds an environment of masculinity. Lad culture encourages men to believe they should be thinking a b o u t

w o m e n sexually and it also tells them they have any feminine traits, i.e. emotions weaken them as men. Thus is born a male who sees women as sex and nothing else and further encourages the pressure of appearance. This lad culture is negative for women but incredibly damaging to the representation of men, if you do not conform then you are seen as less of a man. I think it is time that we stop putting people in these boxes especially those of gender, it does not help anybody.

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THE PARODY OF SELF-OBJECTIFICATION

Lily Allen mocks Cyrus and those a like her in the 2014 song ‘Hard Out Here’, in which Allen and her backing dancers can be seen undergoing body modification surgery, licking Beats and ‘twerking’ on car bonnets. The music video was applauded and criticised. One of them critics is Prachi Gupta, writer for Salon. She discusses how Allen’s satire however humorous or thought provoking it was intended to be, fails by becoming the very example of what the music video is mocking. Irony only works by over exaggerating the topic, which as Gupta explains in an industry where everything is: “already so over-the-top it’s hard, if not impossible, for Allen to heighten the absurdity of the sexism at play in music.” She goes on stating Allen’s take “doesn’t really separate it from other videos that do that in earnest. It just stuffs it all in everyone’s face again, while simultaneously shaming women who choose to display their sexuality by choice.”

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Whilst Allen is attempting to convey a message of opposing sexism in an industry, where this type of imagery is seen daily, it seems ineffective in cause and the irony becomes lost. This can be seen in other music videos of parody where a female artist attempts to undermine her fellow musicians and their use of sexuality or even femininity against male authority. However, my argument is if the viewer is unable to understand the mockery does this not further reinforce the type of behaviour and imagery that it is attempting to poke fun at? This proves more than anything that everything needs context, without it this is just another music video. Young children especially may not have background knowledge to understand this irony in Allen’s video and other like her and instead take this a form of inspiration to aspire to. In Allen’s music video she is surrounded by numerous half naked women, there was a row following this music videos release over the ethnicity of these models and how Allen is basically mocking black women, undermining them like the musicians she is parodying. The initial message of this video is lost with a misunderstanding of what it is supposed to stand for. Allen is virtually fully clothed compared to her backing dancers, and due to their ethnicity this in some cases has been viewed as putting herself above black women.

This implies a hierarchy where males are at the top followed by white women and then women of other ethnicities. This presents the argument regarding the equality of women against other women of different class, ethnicity and background. A criticism that constantly hinders feminism is it fails to take into consideration intersectionality; whilst at the same time there is an argument that you can’t compare equality in terms of white to black or heterosexual to homosexual. It almost seems that whatever is done, receives criticism. I personally find Lily Allen’s attempts to make announcements against the music industry and Cyrus an ironic one in itself. Whilst making a stand against the current state where musicians promote sexual objectification and pressures of appearance, she also supports these very artists. Allen tweeted after Cyrus’ May 2014 Bangerz tour performance in which she attended, “That was basically the best thing I've ever seen #BangerzTour #MileyCyrus”. She applauded the very imagery and behaviour that she disregards in the song ‘Hard out Here’. Allen was also the opening act for Cyrus’ New York concerts. This raises the questions as to whether she uses the publicity from speaking out against sexism to promote and ultimately sell her records. For a person so outspoken on these matters there is an element of irony

Prachi Gupta article for Salon Magazine Wednesday 13th November 2013

Parody has always been a form of contesting or mocking a certain person, event or subject for ironic or satirical effect. Madonna rose to fame on such a concept, and in the process broke down the boundaries of using sexuality, for herself, women and particularly the female musicians that followed her. Miley Cyrus is one these, yet now she finds herself the one being parodied.

Amanda Palmer quote from her memoirs published in ELLE May 2015 Lady Gaga quote taken from goodreads.com and transcribed by Kay Chantelle from The Ellen DeGeneres Show September 10 2010

in supporting stars like Miley Cyrus the very ideology she attempts to dismount through her music. One person in the music industry that I do believe conveys parodies very well is Lady Gaga. She doesn’t mock her fellow female musicians but instead questions the male onlookers of their music video. She explains “A girl’s got to use what she’s given and I’m not going to make a guy drool the way a Britney video does. So I take it to extremes. I don’t say I dress sexily on stage - what I do is so extreme. It’s meant to make guys think: ‘I don’t know if this is sexy or just weird.” She challenges what males are supposedly meant to find attractive and ‘sexy’ by getting the males to challenge it themselves. Some criticise her because she’s different, ‘weird’ especially after appearances wearing such things like a dress made of meat, but then it comes back to context. What people do not realise is the reasons behind her crazy outfits and instead exclude her because she is different. She explains to Ellen DeGeneres 'If we don't stand up for what we believe in, if we don't fight for our rights, pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our bones” whilst also announcing that she herself is not a piece of meat. The ‘meat dress’, as it was dubbed, could be said to be inspired by the artwork of Jane Sterbak, it comes back to CONTEXT.

“I watch women arguing about Miley vs Sinead vs Madonna vs Rihanna vs Lily Allen, arguing who’s the bravest of them all and who’s the real feminist? I think we’re arguing about the wrong thing. The right thing to argue about is who’s actually empowered? It’s not about wearing the least clothes: it’s about who feels the most stability, the deepest connection and trust with their beholder.” Amanda Palmer - Singer Song Writer

She is also in the entertainment is she not? So what about this isn’t part of her job role? Tell me you are not entertained or anticipate what Lady Gaga might wear next.

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In Conversation With Francesca Coombs

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Francesca Coombs, lecturer at the University For The Creative Arts and London College of Fashion she has worked with The Future Laboratory, and has consulted a variety of brands in brand strategy, trend forecasting and consumer insight. From the moment Fran sits down her passion comes through, with a keen interest in lifestyle, culture and fashion, I had high hopes for our conversation. So my first question to you is what influenced you to choose what you’re wearing today? I suppose it was more comfort today, I wanted something where I didn’t – this going to be quite laughable – where I didn’t have to worry about holding myself in or you know – in terms of – I’ve put on a bit of weight recently so I suppose that I wanted something baggy and loose. And I quite like this top actually, it’s my kind of my Pocahontas top –um so it’s something that I feel comfortable in and in both respects of you know visuals and feeling comfortable around the stomach area where I don’t have to feel restricted in any way. So yes comfort factor. Do you have an item that is your favourite? Favourite item, I want it to change to be honest, but it’s probably is a pair of jeans, it is very cliché but they are comfortable, they go with everything, and boots as well. I’ve always since being a young girl worn boots, whether that was when I was a teenager wearing Dr Martens or wearing any kind of chunky, clunky boot. It’s something that I can run around in and not feel like I have to totter around in like heels or anything. Even though I obviously I do make occasional effort, my heels do come out sometimes but its comfort for me, I really feel like an old lady when I say about comfort, I really do. Your journal had made me think about the daily routine, I go through a step by step process of thinking of right what am I going to wear today? It made me reflect on that a little more and I suppose that’s why I think boots as my main staple item, I’ll always find something that goes with my boots, whereas I suppose I want to make a bit more effort like I used to and dress up a little bit more so to speak, so that’s something you made me think I want to think about my choices a little bit more. I think we can get into a routine of wearing anything that’s close enough, that you can grab or our usual suspects, don’t we, like I know that will work and make us feel comfortable.

Yeah, I wear the same set of items over and over again; I’ve got so many clothes. I was reading a book, it was looking at different types of women in terms of problems they face with choosing clothes, and for me there was a section about clutter, and I’m not saying I’m like a hoarder, my house is mess or anything but I’ve got so many clothes, that I just can’t get rid of for nostalgic reasons. I’m making more room and kind of thinking about a new version, because we do go through those transitions don’t we, whether we’re influenced by something, a film, my friend saw this really interesting art house film where she said “I really want to start wearing capes and little peter pan collars” because she was so obsessed by this film. So we kind of do go through those transitions but I think it’s about for me it’s about those staple items that are always true to your identity and I think whether it’s a person where they feel that they can be comfortable to run for the bus or just feel comfortable in their actions and everyday role. I always feel like I can run, I don’t have to be restricted in a tight skirt and the rest of it. You mentioned that you don’t like to get rid of clothes because of nostalgic reasons, what are these reasons? What makes you feel about your clothing in this way? Yeah, I think it’s sort of clothes that I remembered being with a certain person or certain events, or for instance someone brought me, like my mum brought me a certain piece of clothing and I almost feel guilty about I no longer wear it, it’s just in my cupboard but I feel guilty throwing it away because that person is no longer with me so there’s an extra guilt, and I’ve always been that person to cling on to things for memories. What was quite useful was the book - this woman said instead of feeling you’ve got to keep that item, you take a photo of it and keep it in journal so you can keep a memory of it that way. And some people might think gosh that’s absurd but for me it

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made sense, I’ve still got some sort of reference. Wearing Dr Martens when you were younger, what or who inspired you to wear them – they have such connotations of subculture with them – did you want to be part of that? You can look at certain types of people and say they are goths they will wear this and they will love this certain music. I think I was one of those people that, I grew up in a school that was quite rough and I always felt the odd one out anyway. If we had one of them school days where we could come in and wear what we wanted I would definitely be wearing something completely different from everyone else. Like this kind of long hippie dress and everyone would be going “oh what are you wearing”, I can remember having this red or dead, it’s a company that just does shoes now but it was created by Wayne Hemmingway, and you’d only find it in Selfridges up in London and I remember buying this black jersey dress with red and dead on it and these big fluted green arms and I loved it. It was so my style, a little bit hippish. And I remember wearing this and the girls at the school were like “what an earth are you wearing” because they would be the type of girls that would wear a certain bag, a certain type of shoe and if you didn’t fit into their kind of uniform look, then you was seen as very odd. That’s quite natural as you’re growing up to be in certain kind of groups. I always felt that I never really did look like anyone else in terms of my choices, and that’s not being oh I was different it’s just because I don’t think I attached myself to any types of particular music, I loved so many different things, I was brought up on 50’s music so I was quite old fashioned in my ways and referencing, and I love like the Morissey and The Smiths, loads of different things, an eclectic mix, eclectic is probably a good word.

burst out on the scene, but when I look back at it in some sort of context. When the spice girls started it was almost like from then on all the girl bands and all the pop stars really started to have dramatic influence on peoples styles, and not just saying spice girls because then you had all saints with the big baggy trousers. I think also programmes like X-Factor started to generate not just in the music industry but this kind of production line of this certain type of person. I think it’s more of those type of shows that make people feel that they have to be, and look a certain way. You do see some people who might love a celebrity, singer or pop star and they want to mimic them and look like mini-me’s and I’ve never really understood that personally, I’ve never really wanted to wish to look like someone else but yeah I think it’s a big pressure today. So how do you feel about the use of say Miley Cyrus with her nudity and she is selfsexualising herself? Someone like Miley Cyrus, I think she’s quite an interesting character, when you see her videos you do kind of squirm and you think oh god don’t do that, or I think from an old fashioned viewpoint you think oh god it’s a shame that she’s twerking on MTV, rubbing herself against Robin Thicke and you think it’s a bit embarrassing, but I don’t look down at it. I think she is just being herself almost and she wants express herself in that way. I think my philosophy is everyone to their own. If you want to act in a certain way, as long as you don’t hurt anyone, but then I do worry about that attitude and way of presenting yourself to younger people, that is the really scary thing because as we see so many younger people are being impressed by these people and being very sexual and they are taking it very literally.

I think my philosophy is everyone to their own. If you want to act in a certain way, as long as you don’t hurt anyone.

There is a heightened celebrity factor in today’s society, people take inspiration from these celebrities and I know you’ve said that you are not necessarily inspired by celebrities growing up but how do you feel about this celebrity culture? Do you feel you are pressured by it? Do you feel the media heightens pressures on appearance? I think it does dramatically so and I think it was almost around when I was in secondary school when the spice girls

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She said this makes her empowered because she is in control of her sexuality, so what does empowerment mean to you and do you feel that it empowerment? In terms of empowerment I think she’s empowering because she is being true to herself, so yes that is a form of empowerment but for me I think it’s more, it’s not so much for style or the way people dress its more about them being honest, I think honest is a good word and being very passionate about something. I think it’s about being

passionate, about helping people, helping things to change for the better. I find women that have those roles or are helping other women and being positive and being a catalyst for change, that’s more inspiring and empowering than how we present ourselves visually. Beyoncé is renowned for being this empowered woman and a strong feminist but yet she uses nudity in her videos, I know you’ve said you don’t personally feel your clothing is a form of empowerment but do you think there is a link between how you look and empowerment? Yes I think it has an effect on how you hold yourself and your confidence and how you communicate with each other. Clothing IS an extension of ourselves, communicating something by what we are wearing, whether that’s taken how we want to be taken or not. I think it can be used as a positive tool, a tool for communicating but with someone like Beyoncé, I’m quite a fan, she’s obviously tried to infuse that into her lyrics, there was that song she brought out last year, the feminist song ‘Flawless’. I think there is a link but it is more to do with the person’s actions and obviously if they are a good person, an ambassador, helping other people, I think there’s scariness, coming back to Miley Cyrus and young people, I worry about people presenting themselves in a certain way and thinking that’s all there is, they should look at the whole picture. What do you think? It concerns me, it really does, and I mean I’ve seen it, my sisters six years old and she’s already really influenced by it, she’s worried about having her hair tied up because it might make her look like a boy. I think people like Beyoncé and Miley Cyrus have benefits to them, and they are showing that you can be who you want to be but I don’t think that it is fully understood, it needs context. Exactly that’s the thing, I’m old enough to look at certain things and be objective and contextualise certain things but I think like you say someone who’s very impressionable, it’s worrying. For me it’s interesting, social media, Facebook, there are young girls that are like 11-12 and they are starting

to do all these looks in the camera like you know pouting and with their hair and I’m looking at these pictures going oh my god they are only 10-11 thinking they are Katie Price in the mirror, I think I am so lucky that I didn’t have Facebook around when I was younger because they see all the other older girls all doing these very sexual poses, laughing about in clubs and they are looking at that and thinking that’s the way to be. Like you say they are worried about their hair, their makeup and I just feel quite relieved that it’s not me basically. I think making sure young girls have hobbies and making sure peoples worth, I think that’s a good word, should be applied in a different way, of course we all want to present ourselves with fashion and power. But this idea of worth and how this can be translated into other areas, I’m not saying everyone should dress in dowdy clothes, I’m all for visually interesting people. It’s exciting, I love the kind of eccentrics but I think it’s coming back down to worth and showing young children what it means to be an interesting empowered woman - its self-understanding. Understanding ourselves because some people are influenced very easily, perhaps some people don’t have role models to guide them. It’s crazy, my sister she won’t even wear trousers from the fear of not being seen girly. Really?! Yes because that’s a boy’s thing to do It’s interesting to see what images she’s seen or comments she’s heard at school or a family situation she might have misconstrued something. It’s worth asking people to reflect on the comments they’ve heard in their child hood that can as we shape our identities and how we see ourselves and other people in such a strong way. Have you reflected on your own choices? I am very pressured by self-appearance and I wish it didn’t have that control over me. I don’t feel that I was aware at my sister’s ages though. I think that’s the problem, everything’s so magnified these days.

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MEDIA: FRIEND OR ENEMY?

Quote taken from TIME.com

“Feminism was targeted for ridicule. Here’s how it plays: first they ignore you, then laugh at you, then prosecute you, then try to co-opt you, then — once you win — they claim they gave you your rights: after a century of women organizing, protesting, being jailed, going on hunger strikes and being brutally force-fed, “they” gave women the vote.” Robin Morgan - Political Theorist and Activist

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Grace Kelly: Actress, Princess of Monaco, La Leche League Advocate and founder of AMADE Remembered as style icon and eluding elegance

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ET babble.com GK biography.com

Elizabeth Taylor: Actress and Head of two AIDS organisations. Remembered as the greatest movie star of all time

BB huffingtonpost.com

Brigitte Bardot: Actress, Singer, Model and Animal Right Activist Remembered as the sex symbol of the 1950’s and 60’s

Cleopatra: Pharaoh and Visionary Remembered as the great beauty and her affairs with Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony

Photographs: Anti-clockwise AH thefashiontag.com

Audrey Hepburn: Actress, Aided the Dutch Resistance, Humanitarian and UNICEF Ambassador Remembered as the most naturally beautiful woman of all time.

The media remembers these talented and influential women for the wrong reasons, their appearance.

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In The Media

Definition of oppression from encyclopedia.com

My confusion with feminism is that I find there is such a focus on women’s plights - coverage in newspaper reports focuses on rape, violence and abuse of women, but there is an unprecedented amount of abuse that happens to men at the hands of women that isn’t reported on. An example of this, in recent weeks, appeared in every newspaper of the country. Three schoolgirls from Bethnal Green boarded a flight to Turkey and travelled to the Islamic State. It was widely covered in the papers, on the news, on the radio; a discussion emerged as to whether they were victims of manipulation, or terrorists. Reports detailed what will happen to these girls - forced marriages, sexual abuse, manipulation and radicalisation. However, there was very little, if any, of significance, detailing all the boys who have fallen prey to the same manipulation. I couldn’t tell you the name of one single male who has travelled to Syria, yet I could tell you the address of all three girls.

The coverage focused on the victimisation of these girls, their weakness and how easy it is to manipulate young girls’ minds into thinking that becoming a Jihadist bride is attractive and cool. But hang on a second… aren’t these young boys also victims? They have been sold the idea of the life of a martyr, glorification even; they have been promised wives and, in the process, they have been radicalised. Are they not also victims? Yes they are and yet there is a focus on young weak girls as opposed to young ‘immature’ boys. The sympathy towards the girls is emotive, yet on discussion of the boys who have travelled to Syria there is nothing but disregard at their naivety. I believe there is something wrong with the way the media picks and chooses how to represent both women and men, it picks and chooses when a gender is oppressed and when it is free.

Now I know the example of the three young girls travelling to Syria is not about women’s rights or oppression, but it does raise questions as to how women are portrayed in the media and how men aren’t, and that’s when it becomes an equal rights issue. Due to their gender, these girls and these boys have been portrayed in very different ways. One is a victim, the other is the aggressor and this isn’t an isolated issue, it’s an international issue, it happens every single day. People are portrayed differently not just in the media in everyday life. The media is a very powerful force that could be the source of change if it wished, but right now it’s one of the main issues. It controls the news we see and hear, it decides what side of the story that we are presented and it’s heighten the celebrity culture that we live in today.

The dictionary definition of the word oppression is “unjustly inflicting hardship and constraint, especially on a minority or other subordinate group” this can be applied in many ways to the way women are oppressed through pressures on appearance to an increased hardship of the scrutiny they face justified by their gender. However, I want to challenge the definition of oppression – men are a majority and there are still circumstances where they are oppressed. This is only one example were men are portrayed in a negative light and differentiated to the portrayal of women. The media further fuels gender stereotypes and at times plays on them; if we are to overcome stereotypes then we need to start questioning the media. For now though, I and hope you will too remain open minded to the news the media presents us, and acknowledge that it plays on stereotypes in an unfair manner.

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SIA: The Woman Who Is Afraid Of The Media

I admire people who challenge stereotypes, who step outside the box, and what I admire most are people who have been through troubles and come out the other side. Sia Furler is one of those people. Since the mid-nineties Sia has been in the public eye, with her fame increasing year on year. She is the genius behind many hits such as David Guetta’s ‘Titanium’ (she does the vocals) and Rihanna’s ‘Diamonds’, that’s has over 3 million downloads. Yet her struggles with the spotlight have led her to gradually covering more and more of herself, to the current day in which she now does not show her face. She describes herself as anti-fame. During an article with New York Times she discussed when she realised enough was enough, she was tired of having her private life interrupted. “It’s horrible. I just wanted to have a private life. Once, as my friend was telling me they had 76| égalitA

cancer, someone came up and asked, in the middle of the conversation, if they could take a photograph with me. You get me? That’s enough, right?” Even though this fan could not have known the seriousness of this conversation, it is clear to see why she has shut the media out. Suffering with a social phobia whilst overcoming a drug addiction, Sia decided her return as a solo artist would be in her control, removing her identity. She had appeared on Saturday Night Live with her face covered and back to the crowd, absent from her music videos, album cover and promotional launches. It is argued that fame and media attention is part of her job, I suppose this is true, but the power the media has on one’s confidence and self-worth is something that no musician or anyone in the public eye should not have to injure.

Having said this, there is almost something disrespectful about refusing to face the audience. All any fan wants to do is engage with the singer and personally connect with them, Sia denies them this. I feel that her later development of covering her face with overgrown wigs allows her to become part of the performance again and does not isolate her, or her fans as much. Whatever the opinion, it is creative and sends a powerful message. She will not let the media control her private life and restrict her with negative coverage of how she looks because she does not look like the ‘conventional’ pop star. She removes the opportunity for the media to have this control. I applaud her for having the guts to stand up against this. However, it also seems a little hypocritical that she recently graced the cover of

Quotes taken from Sia’s interview for Billboard Magazine billboard.com 25th October 2013

“I don’t read reviews or interviews or anything, just because I’m afraid; If I believed the good, then I’d believe the bad, and there will be bad.”

Catherine Tate transcribed by Kay Chantelle from Michel MacIntyre’s Easter Night At The Coliseum aired on BBC 6th April 2015

Billboard Magazine, unconventionally yes, but she still opened herself to the chance to appear on the front cover of a magazine, if she was so against fame would this really be something she would do? The cover saw her with a paper bag over her head, much like Shia LaBeouf had previously for the launch of his film nymphomaniac, in stand against being judged by the media. On the other hand though, this resonates that the coverage she receives from this stand may actually be the point and that she does want attention but she is in control of it. After all controversy sells, much like sex. During an appearance on Micheal MacIntyre’s Easter Night At the Coliseum, which was to promote her new release Big Girls Cry, she appeared wearing an oversized bob that masked her face. The lyrics are strong “I don't care if I don't look pretty, Big girls cry when their hearts are breaking”, the audience applauds. However, after Sia has left the stage, Catherine Tate’s character ‘Nan’ begins to mock her, drawing notice away from her performance and talent and shifting it onto her appearance. I personally felt annoyed by this, I felt that no matter what this woman does she it ridiculed or judged. She states she is trying to remove herself from just that and yet the media and people just refocus their attention on oppressing her in a new way. All this does is further perpetuating her cause, to me it further highlights that there is an issue with how people are judging one another; she did not fit in with society’s ideal with her natural appearance and now because she covering her face she does not fit in because she is ‘different and weird’.

This is not right, whatever Sia’s reasoning’s for covering her identity, whether it truly is to hide from the media or to gain more attention, it still highlights that there is little one can do in the eye of the media that won’t be mocked.

“If anyone besides famous people knew what it was like to be a famous person, they would never want to be famous. Imagine the stereotypical highly opinionated, completely uninformed mother-inlaw character and apply it to every teenager with a computer in the entire world. Then add in all bored people, as well as people whose job it is to report on celebrities. Then, picture that creature, that force, criticizing you for an hour straight once a day, every day, day after day.”

In a discussion of this I was told to lighten up, I was being too sensitive. I was told that Catherine Tate was ‘just having a bit of fun and when did life become so serious’. Well didn’t life become serious when we mock other people for their choices, especially when they are not in on the joke? Surely it is obvious that this is wrong. Sia has been strong enough to stand up and make this choice and yet there are still people who wish to bring her down? The reason I took offence to Catherine Tate’s comments is because she did little to actually praise the star, other than say “good luck to her”. Instead she mocked her for wearing “a lampshade on her head” and turned her name into a pun “Oh Sia but you can’t”. The reasons I did not find this funny is because she is a woman trying to deal with her own phobias and remove herself from the criticism of her appearance, I feel sad that her talent was lost and undermined by these ‘jokes’. But what many do not realise is Tate is mocking the very thing Sia herself is attempting to mock, the irony is laughable. I would love to know how Sia feels deep down about the comments, on surface value I see it was meant as a joke but is that not the problem. Jokes, much like stereotypes,

seem to become fact. It’s like when someone jokes about a ‘women’s place being in the kitchen’ it reaffirms a stereotype, people hear it enough that it becomes acceptable. I accept maybe I have been ‘too sensitive’ in the respect to Tate’s jokes, but it was the response that I received when discussing my opinions that annoyed me the most. My opposition in discussion of this stated that Sia had opened herself up to such mockery, with the claim “if she is to dress like that, how can she not expect people to take the pee”, almost as if because she is different she deserves this in some way. This shows that people are not accepting of those who are different and it is no surprise as to why people so rigorously abide by gender norms, they do it to survive. The slightest rebellion of these ‘norms’ opens them up to criticism and disapproval. It should be a time where everyone can be individual if they please, dip in and out of different genders and identities, and accepted because they are being themselves. Instead it is a time where people are taught to act and dress in a certain way, with most of us following the rules. I question who are really the ones hiding, it is Sia behind her overgrown wigs, or is it those who hide behind gender norms in fear of being ‘different’? égalita | 77

Over To You

Gender equality is still failing as there are a lot of people still struggling to get noticed or treated equally, although we are all individuals - we all deserve the same treatment when getting a job, benefits, etc.

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I feel myself gender equality is still falling behind in times compared to other countries in this century but moving in the right direction. But it is moving very slowly as to working and sports and government shall we say where women are still behind men in most cases which I believe is wrong and we all should be seen as equals and not one being inferior to the other.

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equality still needs to be gained, and the wage gap still needs to be addressed, but I feel equality for women and appreciation for each gender starts with school and integration with boys and girls, teach relationship education and understand womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s issues.

I think gender equality is a very important part of society today, we have made progress but there is still so far to go. I think everybody should support the cause because it is beneficial to society as a whole.

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MEN AND WOMEN SHOULD BE EQUAL. WE ARE BORN, WE LIVE AND WE DIE. OUR REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS SHOULD HAVE NO IMPACT ON THE WAY WE ARE TREATED.

I’m not sure we will ever achieve complete equality - if so we need to begin at birth in stereotypes and cliché.

Definitely for it, gender should NOT be a problem.

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I feel that gender equality is moving in the right direction. However, in some cases there are still a lot more that can be done. For example women working and taking part in sports.

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for the inquisitive mind Academic Theories and Books Bad Feminist: Essays 5 August 2014 by Roxane Gay

Living Dolls: The Return of Sexism 5 May 2011 by Natasha Walter

Everyday Sexism 10 Apr 2014 by Laura Bates

The Lolita Effect: The Media Sexualization of Young Girls and What We Can Do About It May 1, 2008 by M. Gigi Durham

Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture: Woman and the Rise of Raunch 19 Jun 2006 by Ariel Levy

Modern Feminist Thought: From the Second Wave to Post Feminism 1 Jun 1995 by Imelda Whelehan

Feminism: A Beginner’s Guide (Beginner’s Guides) 1 Jan 2010 by Sally J. Scholz

The New Feminism 11 Feb 1999 by Natasha Walter

Feminism: A Very Short Introduction January 12, 2006 by Margaret Walters

Living Dolls: The Return of SexismPaperback 5 May 2011 by Natasha Walter

Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman’s Guide to Why Feminism Matters 27 Mar 2007 by Jessica Valenti

Who’s Afraid of Feminism?: Seeing Through the Backlash September 1, 1997 Ann Oakley and Juliet Mitchell

Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity May 1, 2006 Judith Butler Girls Will Be Girls: Dressing Up, Playing Parts and Daring to Act Differently 26 Feb 2015 by Emer O’Toole

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Women of the Revolution: Forty Years of Feminism 25 Nov 2010 by Kira Cochrane

Articles and Magazines Miley Cyrus Interview LOVE Magazine Issue 11 Spring/Summer 2014

Naked Power by Amanda Palmer ELLE Magazine May 2015

An Audience With Her Madgesty by Christopher Glazek Out Magazine March 2015 www.out.com

HE’S BEHIND YOU! by Andrew O’Hagan Porter Magazine Spring 2015

The Crisis of Bad Feminism Is Worse Than You Think by Andi Zeisler Salon Magazine September 2014 www.salon.com i-D Online Whole host of interesting articles regarding modern day feminism and gender

How Men’s Rights Leader Paul Elam Turned Being A Deadbeat Dad Into A Moneymaking Movement by Adam Serwer and Katie J.M. Baker www.buzzfeed.com

Equal Opportunity by Laura Weir Vogue Magazine January 2015

Changing The World #ELLE Feminism ELLE Magazine December 2014

ELLE Inspire ELLE Magazine November 2013

People and Causes Laci Green Feminist Youtuber lacigreen

The Representation Project therepresentationproject.org/

Paul Elam Men’s Rights Activist www.avoiceformen.com

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Glossary

Bad Feminism: a concept created by Roxane Gay in which she believes you can be a feminist without living up to every ‘rule’ set out by feminism. Constructivism: a view which admits as valid only constructive proofs and entities demonstrable by them, implying that the latter have no independent existence. Discourse: written or spoken communication or debate. Eclectic: deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources. Egalitarianism: belief in the equality of all people, especially in political, social, or economic life First Wave Feminism: refers to a period of feminist activity during the 19th and early 20th century. It focused on legal issues, primarily on gaining the right to vote. Gender Norms: define what society considers male and female behaviour, and it leads to the formation of gender roles. Gender Oppression: gendered oppression is the systemic manner in which certain groups are privileged or disadvantaged because of their gender. Gender Performativity: term created by Judith Butler in her 1990 book Gender Trouble, exploring the use of gender as a performance and that is it “real only to the extent that it is performed” Gender: the state of being male or female categorised with a reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones.

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Intersectionality: the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage. LGBT: stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. Patriarchy: a system of society or government in which the father or eldest male is head of the family and descent is traced through the male line. So a patriarchal society is one where males are at the top or with power. Second Wave Feminism: a period of feminist activity that first began in the early 1960s it broadened the debate to a wide range of issues including sexuality, family, the workplace, reproductive rights, de facto inequalities, and official legal inequalities. Self-objectification: sexual objectification is the act of treating a person as an instrument of sexual pleasure, however some women objectify themselves as an expression of their empowerment and increased sexual freedom for women Sex: either of the two main categories (male and female) into which humans and many other living things are divided on the basis of their reproductive functions. Social Construct: a social mechanism, phenomenon, or category created and developed by society; a perception of an individual, group, or idea that is 'constructed' through cultural or social practice Stereotype: a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. Third Wave Feminism: a period of feminist movement that began in the 1990’s. There is no true definition of third wave feminism but it seems to challenge gender roles and stereotypes.

All definitions created or adapted by Kay Chatelle from the Oxford Dictionary and Google Dictionary

Anti-Feminist: someone opposed to feminism, or nonbelieving in economic, political or social equality of the sexes.

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