The F Word: Media

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The Langton Feminist Society Presents

The F-Word The Langton Feminist Society is a student run and student funded organisation encouraging the advocacy of Women’s Rights. We aim to raise social consciousness of feminism, and in doing so challenge the sexism still inherent in our society.

In this issue, we explore the representation of women and the role of feminism in modern media.

As the annual gender report has recently shown, the UK has dropped down the global scale for gender equality to 26th place, the first time it has been ranked out of the top 20. It’s official that life for women in the UK is getting tougher, but what’s gone wrong, and what can we do about it?

Politically, the UK is 74th of 186 in terms of female representation in parliament. That’s below Sudan, which operates Sharia law, China, where professional women are coerced into marriage, the patriarchal dictatorship of Belarus, and Iraq, where it is possible for a woman to be stoned to death for being raped. This may seem at first surprising, but with a quick recall of the treatment of female politicians this position can be more easily explained.

We have a Prime Minister who responds to female MPs with the embarrassing contemptuousness of a school boy (“Calm down, dear”; “I know the honourable lady is extremely frustrated”) inducing near hysteria from his chums in the back benches. We have a Liberal Democrat party that refuses to investigate multiple accusations of harassment against a party member, and a Labour Party which trots out female MPs onto the front benches of Prime Ministers question time for no other reason than to execute a childish jab at the Conservatives. In fact, when the British political establishment seems at times more of an extended Eton reunion than a government, what is surprising is that anyone who doesn’t conform to the white, rich, middle class sector of society gets a word in the edgeways. And, as the report shows, few do. The media clearly has a role, and if you are a woman in politics you should ideally also be a supermodel-mother-without-a-childminder. But as this is not entirely realistic (most supermodel vacancies are sadly filled up by supermodels) the media is content with policing outfits, childcare arrangements and love lives, and Liz Truss, Louise Mensch and Theresa May are all subject to such scrutiny. The double standard here is succinctly put by Guardian reporter Zoe Williams: “when you’re a man, people will leave you alone until you’re literally taking photographs of your penis and sending them to people.”

In economics, the news is similarly gloomy, as women remain badly paid in all sectors and badly represented in senior positions. Women earn 80p for every £1 earned by a man, and thanks to this growing pay gap, from November 4th women are effectively working for free until the New Year. So despite the UK having 1.3 women in university to every man, women who graduate into the workforce are paid on average 19.1% less than their male counterparts, and those that make it to senior positions earn three quarters as much as men in the same position. To top this off, the media induced ‘woman tax’, that is, the higher cost of ‘female’ advertised products means that women have to spend more money than men on pink razors, tweezers, shampoo, and of course the ‘Bic for her’ pens that we so desperately need to support our weak, floppy (low paid) lady-hands.

Cover by Amy Moss

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As if women weren’t being discouraged enough from becoming active members of the British workforce, the media constantly adopts a ‘looks over achievement’ approach to prominent female workers, and the ever increasing number of female professors, scientists and politicians are exposed to this ritual patronisation. For example, the Russian cosmonaut Yelena Serova found herself batting back questions asking her how she will style her hair in space at a pre-launch press conference, replying “aren’t you interested in the hair styles of my [male] colleagues?” Of course, as a woman, it is Serova’s priority to look her absolute best for the benefit of the cosmos. This reduction of women who challenge gender stereotypes to objects of no more worth than their appearance is having a hugely detrimental effect on the education and health of women and girls, because it gives the message that a woman’s breast size is more important than the size of her brain. The repercussions of this are visible through the statistics that 31% of girls don’t engage in class debate because they don’t want to draw attention to the way they look, whilst 1 in 5 don’t show up to lessons at all because of body confidence issues.

The report may give a pessimistic view of life as a woman in the UK, but it is vital in letting us see where we are failing as a country. And as consumers of the media and soon to be political voters, we have greater autonomy than may be apparent. There are obvious steps we can take to action change, such as petitioning for the motion to make it compulsory for companies to publish their gender pay gap, which is being debated later this year. It is also useful to pressure political leaders to commit to measures to improve some of the report statistics by next year, so that change can be accurately monitored. But in order to truly dismantle the obstacles preventing women’s equal political, economical and social participation, we must first dismantle the everyday sexist stereotypes that contribute towards the bigger picture of gender inequality. Because sexist attitudes towards women in the workplace are often a result of the longstanding belief of a woman’s role as a submissive wife and mother, supporting campaigns such as “No More Page Three” is useful as it challenges the idea that women are sex objects and blatant sexual objectification is acceptable in today’s society. In addition to this, by refusing to give money to corporations which endorse sexism, whether in advertising or in their treatment of employees, companies are forced to adopt a more ethical approach. Organisations such as Miss Representation highlight the importance of this in their #notbuyingit campaign. Perhaps more important than supporting single campaigns is personally recognising and confronting sexism and sexist attitudes, because the more people contribute towards the voice against gender inequality, the greater the shift in the perception of women in society for our generation and generations to come. As author and activist Alice Walker stated, “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”

- Greta Gillham Wright

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Contents The Women Behind the Camera - page 6 Louise Dunk What is the Bechdel Test and What Does it Do? - page 8 Beth Madeley Why are people so afraid of outspoken women?- page 11 Sophie Quinn Book Reviews - page 12 Greta Gillham Wright ‘Who Run the World?’ Playlist of Feminist Jams 2 - page 13 Beth Madeley The Sexualisation of Women in the Media - page 14 Sophie Quinn How ‘Hard Out Here’ is it? - page 15 Jomana Fahmy I’m not paying for our sexual objectification, are you? - page 16 Trinity Hunt The Problem with ‘White Feminism’ - page 17 Nika Bienko Women in Science - page 18 Camille Flavell and Ciara Leonard Booker Slut Shaming - page 20 Emily Tewkesbury-Johnson Dressing up isn’t a crime... - page 21 Sami Henry Everybody Wants to Rule the World - page 22 Paige Williams Anna Doyle Wheeler - page 23 Ella Sbaraini Modern Icons - page 24 Greta Gillham Wright Character Selection- page 26 Lauren Henry Sexism in the Gaming Industry - page 27 Hollie Bramwell What is a ‘real’ woman? - page 28 Jasmin Brown Eleanor of Aquitaine - page 30 Lydia McCutcheon

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The Women Behind the Camera

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he director is usually the most well known person behind the camera, and when asked to name a few directors most people will give a list something along the lines of “Stephen Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Tim Burton...” But how many people can name a female director? Not many. It is not a matter of how many female directors there are, but how many are getting noticed.

The Oscars began in 1929 and have been running every single year since. One of the best known awards is “Best Director”, and since the beginning of the awards it has been a driving point for many film makers. The opportunity to get up on stage in front of millions viewing at home, claiming the award of all awards and giving an acceptance speech that they have definitely not been practicing for their whole career. Throughout the Oscars, 65 different directors have had this opportunity (some have even had it multiple times) but outrageously, only one is a woman. That means until Kathryn Bigelow stood up to collect her award for “The Hurt Locker” in 2009 there had never been a woman recognised by the Academy for directing and there hasn’t been one since. Kathryn Bigelow didn’t just win the first Oscar as a female director but was also the first female director to receive a BAFTA for directing and Directors’ Guild of America Award.

It’s not just female directors being under represented, recent statistics show that in camera and electrical departments as little as 5% of the crew are female.

However women in traditionally “feminine” roles in the film industry such as make-up and costume have continued to rise, as participation in “masculine” roles falls considerably each year.

One justification for these statistics is: maybe women just aren’t interested in those roles? However, the British Film Institute has recently started investing more in educational courses for 1619 year olds known as “The BFI Film Academy” and from my own experience of the courses, I can assure you that the male/female ratio is 50:50. Clearly this shows young women have an interest in the film industry that stretches further than

“The movie industry is failing women. And until the industry starts making serious changes, nothing is going to change.”

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make-up and costume, and in to the technical based roles of editors and cinematographers.

This begs the question, if so many young women have an interest in film, why are there so few women in the industry?

During the BFI course at the National Film and Television School in April, I decided to ask my tutor Lesley Manning this question.

She admitted that it is probably due to the extra challenges that women face in the industry that can leave them feeling discouraged from following that line of work.

Lesley told me that on one of her first directing jobs she walked on to an all male set and did not get as much as a “hello”. She told me that most of the crew doubted her abilities purely because of her gender and when she would spend extra time setting up a shot (as most directors should) she would hear comments like “this is why women shouldn’t be on set” or “typical woman”. It wasn’t until she fired a crew member on set for ignoring her decision as a director and being disrespectful that the crew started to treat her as a director should be treated.

Perhaps the New York Times’ film critic Manohla Dargis evaluated the situation best when she stated: “The movie industry is failing women. And until the industry starts making serious changes, nothing is going to change.”

Luckily, there are still women in the film industry who won’t let the negativity stand in the way of great film making. Kathryn Bigelow stood in her now ex-husband James Cameron’s shadow for years; which makes her winning the Oscar even more satisfying as Cameron was also nominated for “Avatar”. Despite her struggle to be taken seriously as a director, in 1990 Bigelow gave a positive message for female film makers everywhere: “If there’s specific resistance to women making movies, I just choose to ignore that as an obstacle for two reasons: I can’t

change my gender, and I refuse to stop making movies. It’s irrelevant who or what directed a movie, the important thing is that you either respond to it or you don’t. There should be more women directing; I think there’s just not the awareness that it’s really possible. It is.”

addressed more. If Bigelow is right in suggesting that awareness is key, this could mean that women will start to be taken seriously as professionals in one of the fastest growing creative industries there is and a rise in recognised female film makers will follow.

- Louise Dunk

Thankfully with the rise of women on-screen with films like “Gravity” and “The Hunger Games” making millions at the Box Office, female roles in the film industry are being

- Anna Fulcher

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What is The Bechdel Test and What Does it Do?

amed in honour of cartoonist Alison Bechdel,The Bechdel Test was first voiced by a character in her comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For and checks for three simple criteria in a film (or indeed, any fictional work) to ascertain whether it is feminist-forward or not: 1. It has to have at least two [named] female characters in it 2. Who talk to each other 3. About something besides a man This sounds like a low bar to set in this day and age, but it shocking to discover how few current releases manage to fulfill such basic measures. An article

by Vocativ investigating the top 50 grossing films of 2013 and whether or not they passed the Bechdel Test found that only 17 clearly did, whilst “An additional seven technically passed, but are deemed “dubious” by Bechdelwatchers because of the dialogue (some of it was about a man, some of it wasn’t, but not much).”

There are many other failings of the Bechdel Test which allow films that are less than feminist to pass.

For instance- a single scene which satisfies the criteria of the Bechdel Test within a two hour film would allow the film to technically pass. Furthermore, there are many other topics besides men which female characters can

discuss whilst still falling into the role of a female stereotype, or a weak female character- for example, a female character who only ever discusses marriage or having children is not necessiarily any stronger a character than one who only ever discusses men.

characters for the interest of the male lead.This ultimately avoids a harmful portrayal of women as one-dimensional or of a heterosexual relationship as the ultimate goal for a woman. Film creators and critics implementing the Bechdel Test allow for more realistic female characters to develop stronger bonds between each other, creating films which However, passing the show friendship between girls, Bechdel Test is still a fairly rather than competition for reliable indicator that a film male attention, as aspirational. will contain more multifaceted female characters, In conclusion, although the rather than the clichés or Bechdel Test has it’s flaws and tropes that continue to riddle may not be an indicator of the films, such as the centuries- quality of writing, directorship old ‘Damsel in Distress’ or the or cinematography within a film, more contemporary ‘Manic it is the best measure of gender Pixie Dream Girl’, a phrase equality in cinema to date, and coined by film critic Nathan adherence to it can create better Rabin to describe “that female role models within fictional bubbly, shallow cinematic works. The Bechdel Test is also creature that exists solely beginning to have a more direct in the fevered imaginations status within the film industryof sensitive writer-directors last year multiple Swedish cinemas to teach broodingly soulful began implementing the Bechdel young men to embrace life Test as part of their film rating and its infinite mysteries and system, a move that was endorsed adventures”. See: Garden by the Swedish Film Institute.

State, Ruby Sparks, Her. This may be a small step, but it Implementing the Bechdel is a step nonetheless, and one Test ensures that female which has the potential to result characters are interested in greater representation of in more than giving women in all aspects of the media. themselves up to “save” a male character, effectively The Very Best eliminating the Manic Pixie of The Bechdel Test : Dream Girl trope as well as FILMS: putting an end to division Frances Ha, an honest portrayal of and rivalry between female female best friendship and growing 8

up in general. Lead character Frances has a hard time adjusting after her best friend moves out from their apartment, and has a mid-life crisis or crises of sorts.

It’s in black and white and set in New York, but I like it anyway.

Whip It, Ellen Page turns from beauty pageants to roller derby in small-town America and it is amazing. It’s written and directed by women as well as having a female protagonist with another strong female friendship throughout.

There is a male love interest but it’s revolutionary how insignificant his character is. Probably the first feminist film I ever watched without realising. Ten out of ten do recommend to a friend.

Ghost World, based on the exceptional graphic novel by Dan Clowes. Two teenage girls figure out what to do with their lives now that school is over and that their friendship is deteriorating. A very poignant depiction of life as a grumpy and confused teenage girl.

Legally Blonde, not to my personal taste and I didn’t think it was at all feminist until I was forced into watching it but here we go. Although protagonist Elle Woods begins the film motivated to enter Harvard in order to keep tabs on her ex boyfriend, she ends up asserting herself as the best law student ever probably. AND whilst entirely clad in pink at all times, thus flipping ‘dumb blonde’ stereotypes up on their heads.

AND she even makes friends with the female character that’s meant to be her competition, in love and in law. BOOM, feminist icon.

TELEVISION: Orange Is The New Black, not a film but so important that it gets in the list anyway.

This depiction of a womens’ prison includes Trans, Gay, Queer, non-white and autistic characters, all in an authentic way- they aren’t just token characters, each prisoner is portrayed with depth.

Excellent social criticism abound, as well as being incredibly funny and moving.

Parks and Recreation, Amy Poehler (total feminist icon-look up her Youtube channel ‘Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls’ for “extraordinary individuals who are changing the world by being themselves”including a seven and three quarter year old feminist) plays an incredibly dedicated government employee for the otherwise ineffectual department of Parks and Recreation and is my fictional political hero.

AND her relationship with her best friend Ann is what I believe we should all aim for in every interaction with another person, ever.

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Broad City, produced by Amy Poehler (Amy also plays the cool mum in Mean Girls, so what hasn’t she done?) and described by The New Yorker “an unpretentious portrait of a friendship between women” and “idols of a largely under-served and under-chronicled female id.” This show centres around another early-20’s female best friendship in New York, but the characters are very refreshing in that they’re kind of gross, and not ashamed of it. I find it liberating and much more honest to see girls having a sense of humour that isn’t polite and restrained by what we expect to be feminine.

Girls, written, directed by and starring Lena Dunham also follows four different female archetypes. What they have in common is being lost Young Women living in New York. The comedic tone in this show differs from Broad City in that it’s much more self-effacing, and more of a comic tragedy. It’s like a postpost-modern Sex In The City with overly-honest sex scenes.

- Beth Madeley

- Alison Bechdel

Greta’s Top Picks * August, Osage County is a brilliant study of family dynamic, headed by a confident female cast and featuring none other than the full time goddess Meryl Streep.

All the characters in this film are rounded and well developed, but it is the women who lead the plot and who are responsible for the film’s emotional strength. * Frida is the biopic of Frida Kahlo, Mexico’s most prominent 20th century artist. Salma Hayek captures Kahlo’s complex character perfectly, whilst the screenplay and visuals present the artist’s tragic life in a compelling and filmic way.

Shakespearian-esque study of power and those who pursue it. Perhaps more compellingly, it is also a study of the marriage of the two protagonists, Frank and Claire Underwood.

Interestingly, the power in their dynamic constantly shifts, so that Claire, like Lady Macbeth, is equally responsible for orchestrating the couple’s rise to power. Certainly the female characters, minor or major, are as developed and complex as the men, and contribute fully to the tension and drive of the show.

* Seinfeld is a hilarious * House of Cards is essentially a sitcom that centres on the

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lives of four friends: Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer. One of the many refreshing things about the show is that the friendship between the four characters is completely equal in the sense that Elaine isn’t objectified or reduced to a stereotype. As a character her storylines carry just as much hilarity as the men, and her sassy reposts to the many abstract situations the characters find themselves in are hysterical and noteworthy.

- Greta Gillham Wright

Why are people so afraid of outspoken women?

A conversation between Mary Beard and Laurie Penny.

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friend of mine suggested to while away one of the many long summer days we go to see a talk in London.

So we went along to Conway Hall where Cambridge Classics professor Mary Beard and blogger, activist and New Statesman columnist Laurie Penny tackled the question: why are we so afraid of outspoken women?

From the Ancient Roman forum to Twitter, women have long had to fight for the basic human right of freedom of speech. In 2014, the most obvious manifestation of this fight takes the form of online abuse directed at women, which crosses all forums of the internet. Few women writers and campaigners have not had their views or arguments mocked online at some point. And many women also regularly face abuse, harassment, intimidation and violent threats. The purpose

of this abuse remains the same as 100 years ago - to silence women and remove them from public debate.

Both Mary Beard and Laurie Penny spoke movingly and inspirationally about the extreme abuse that they have been receiving on Twitter. Beard pointed out that when being harassed; the justification from the harassers was often that they were martyrs of freedom of speech. However, when she shared the abuse and showed the world that people were sending her death threats, she was ruining the lives of the abusers, and had no right to freedom of speech of her own. It seems as though freedom of speech in the public sphere is often only for men, and only for people who speak in the voice of men.

Penny emphasized that one of the recurring themes of refrain against the speech of women was the description of their voices – shrill, shrieking, screaming and whining – as if a woman’s speech is just a series of indecipherable noise, and reducing such women to animals. An incredibly shocking story that Mary Beard told was that when she was quoted in a mainstream newspaper responding to the Twitter abuse, the newspaper wrote “The misogyny was 11

gobsmacking,’ she whined.” There is a dangerous parallel between language used to silence women in the public eye and language used to justify domestic violence, e.g. ‘she wound him up’, and ‘she was always nagging’. This encapsulates the idea that men’s violence is justified by women’s speech.

Both women came across as incredibly intelligent, fearless, and likeable – and their discussion was very eye-opening to the amount of backlash any woman in the spotlight receives. One particularly poignant story was one Penny recounted about when she wrote a piece in the new Statesman about owls – yes, owls. It was simply about how everyone should have their own owl. Suddenly, she was getting the same abuse; “you’re so shrill” “you have no right to speak” – and all she wanted was an owl. She came to the conclusion then, that it did not matter what she was saying, just that she was the person saying it; so she may as well say whatever she wanted.

The statement that most struck me and inspired me further still to be a part of the feminist movement was Penny’s response to the ‘women against feminism’ movement. She retorted, “It’s fine if women are against feminism, because feminism isn’t against them. We will keep on fighting for them and their right to express whatever opinion they want, even if it is different to ours.”

- Sophie Quinn

Book Reviews

Whether you’re looking to read an academic feminist text or a brilliant novel by a female author, look no further. Here are the society’s favourite feminist books reviewed: ‘How to be a Woman’ - Caitlin Moran What is so refreshing about ‘How to be a Woman’ is that it is intelligent, provocative and insightful, whilst remaining essentially witty and charming. Always engaging, one gets the sense that Moran is narrating her hilarious biography from a brilliantly passionate feminist perspective, over several glasses of wine.

‘The Female Eunuch’ - Germaine Greer The definitive feminist text of the 1970’s, Greer’s argument remains timeless and eye opening.

Although some topics seem outdated by the progression of society in the 21st century and development of social media, the Female Eunuch is an excellent bridge to academic feminist reading.

‘Mrs Dalloway’ - Virginia Woolf Mrs Dalloway is perhaps one of the best British books of all time in that it is so perceptive about human nature whilst being beautifully and thoughtfully written. Woolf includes strong feminist themes that undercut a larger comment on modern societal structures that are still prevalent within the feminist movement today.

‘The Bell Jar’ - Sylvia Plath A haunting novel and one that leaves an unnervingly strong impression on the reader. Whilst at times hard to read, it is an excellent observation of society’s ‘glass ceiling’ and its effects. The protagonist is frustrating and sometimes dislikeable, but always starkly and honestly portrayed.

‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ - Maya Angelou This heartbreaking and beautiful book offers a portrait of courage in the eyes of a young girl who is both a victim of racism and sexism within her society. Both a challenging and poignant read, it provokes a discussion on the different methods of protest can be used in the eyes of oppression.

‘Everyday Sexism’ - Laura Bates The aim of the everyday sexism movement is to bring to light and challenge the everyday ‘microagressions’ that contribute towards the larger oppression of women in society. This book slams the argument from thousands of first hand experiences that sexism does not exist in 21st century Britain, so be prepared to be patriarchy-punchingly angry by the end of it.

- Greta Gillham Wright 12

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The Sexualisation of Women in the Media:

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Liberation or Oppression?

e are all familiar with the controversy surrounding female nudity and provocative behavior in pop music videos, advertising, and live performances. However, the big question is this: do these women own their sexualities, and represent the empowerment and liberation of adult women in control of their own bodies, or are the simply desperately playing up to the expectations of the industry and pandering to a male audience? Are women represented as the subjects of their own desires, or do they seem to be performing as the objects of someone else’s? When we condemn someone like Miley Cyrus for being naked and licking things, are we slutshaming? Shouldn’t she be allowed to do whatever she wants with her own body without judgment?

The answer, I believe, lies in the intention of the artist. Of course, most will claim it is their own choice and they are not being exploited, but it is difficult for us as a viewer and consumer of this media to tell if this is true. We can only really get an impression of the artist’s real motivation for their actions. In my opinion, someone like Lady Gaga or Beyonce is not playing up to the misogyny of the music industry, but is rather being comfortable in her body and sexuality to encourage other women to do the same and promote being independently sexual and powerful without being submissive. Perhaps it is the message of self-love and equality their music, or the fact that while Lady Gaga embraces traditional sex appeal she also explores the grotesque, such as her famous meat dress, or the fact that they while they both wear little

clothing fairly regularly, their images and ‘brands’ are of being strong, and in control.

When I see Madonna, Lady Gaga or Beyonce on stage dressed in provocative outfits, they’re sexual – but they aren’t sex objects.

However, an example of the other side of it could be Miley Cyrus, or a young Britney Spears, both coming from Disney child stardom and making uncomfortable transitions into sexual beings. Miley could be seen as oppressed and exploited because I personally get the impression that her sexuality doesn’t belong to her, and it feels like she is doing this because she thinks it’ll make people take her seriously. However, this does not mean we should make her feel ashamed, because we cannot and should not be able to stop her from expressing her sexuality, even if it is in a way that may not be entirely her own.

However, what also determines whether an artist is liberated is how the audience can be expected to perceive their work. If we cast our minds back to the controversial song Blurred Lines, the model featured dancing naked in the music video, Emily Ratajkowski, makes in interesting point.

She explains that growing up with a feminist mother made her realize that her body could 14

be a source of pride. “It’s something very important for young women today to have that confidence. [The video] is actually celebrating women and their bodies.” So according to Ratajkowski, naked female bodies on television can be empowering. She also positions the video as a critique of the misogynistic music video genre.

“Pop music is great, but there’s a lot of BS about the attitude of guys being super-gangster — that’s why the whole video is silly. It’s making fun of itself.”

If a woman is objectified by the viewer, but she isn’t objectifying herself, is she still an object? In this case I would say yes. Sexism can’t be subtly ironic because it is still so prevalent.

It is not ironic to put women naked in a music video because it is not anything new, it is just what is happening everywhere else. And in the case of Blurred Lines, that model was employed by Robin Thicke and his cronies. She could not have been reasonably seen as in control.

Really, we have no way of knowing if a particular women who claims to be liberated actually is, because we cannot read their minds and know their intentions. But if a seemingly strong, powerful, and sexual woman makes her audience feel empowered and independent, then surely they are doing good for the world.

- Sophie Quinn

- Beth Madeley

How ‘Hard Out Here’ is it?

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ou may have heard of Lily Allen’s song entitled “hard out here” in which she attempts to satirize women’s representation in most music videos such as Robin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’. Although the video features women dancing provocatively, similar to those in other music videos, Allen makes it quite clear in her lyrics that “if you can’t detect the sarcasm you’ve misunderstood.”

Therefore, by using those dancers, she is actually exaggerating aspects of music videos in order to condemn the way in which women are represented in the music industry and media in general.

Looking at the comments, it

seems many people, including women; feel that by giving women the same representation in the videos she is trying to condemn, Allen is a hypocrite (even if she is ‘blatantly’ taking the mickey.) So is there room for subtle irony in the overtly sexist media?

success.

However, I do not think that women who don’t want to dance provocatively in their music videos should be disadvantaged in the music industry, which is unjustly true.

The point is that it should be a matter of CHOICE. Its fine Although I think the message to dance provocatively or not in the song was difficult to wear much if you want to, but it understand, Allen has a point. should also be fine to not do any The media is so packed with of that and still be as likely to what can be seen as provocative succeed in the industries reliant depictions of women, both in on the media, whether it be music videos, magazines and music or acting. But by looking advertising. I do think this is through a magazine or scrolling ABSOLUTELY FINE, as long as through the music channels we a woman’s sexual representation can see that this is really not the is her own choice and not a case. forced decision in order to gain -Jomana Fahmy 15

I’m not paying for our sexual objectification, are you?

‘Sex Sells’ A sexy woman sells, rather.

Advertising is truly that simple; most men bask in the hundreds upon thousands of images of scantily clad ladies; women are cornered by these images wherever we may turn and observe impressively high standards that have been created for us. Every few minutes we are reminded of our role in society whether it is on the television, radio, internet or on 5 metre Bill Boards. After only fifteen minutes on YouTube or similar you are guaranteed that a pop up showing ‘Lash enhancing mascara’ or the latest dieting product will be flashing on your screens. And yet society continues to endorse these activities by buying products that are advertised through certain gender stereotypes.

The greatest offense of advertising is that many companies think that they celebrate women’s beauty and offer all women to gain confidence in themselves but rather they continue to instil core chauvinist ideals. Companies such as Dove, often loved for their acceptance of curves and wobbly bits, were allegedly using Photoshop to eliminate imperfections on ‘imperfect’ bodies in 2004. Even our imperfect bodies are wrong, shameful, with no individuality and are now even less dignified.

But Dove is not the only company to do so, clothing companies hand pick women to be in their adverts, who are most likely stick thin, thick blonde hair and wide blue eyes, in short the picture of a fresh, young lady. The saddest part is that if the woman in the picture hadn’t accepted the job, there’d been scores of women willing to fill that gap.

Sexual attitudes and values are sold along with the product by enticing the consumers with beliefs that the product will make them attractive to the opposite sex, or that certain character traits such as innocence are sexually appealing. For example, perfume adverts often show women with the ‘feminine touch’, a delicate touch, caress or embrace to the bottle suggesting that the woman is barely there or perhaps she is unaware of her surrounds and is vulnerable.

On the other hand, men are often shown grasping the product and looking deep into the camera, a symbol of strength and control.

These men do not need protecting or a leader. I almost sympathise But there’s some good news, with these men who believe there have been many feminist corporate advertising lies. Almost. advertisements since 1943, when 16

‘We can do it’ was run during the Second World War as women claimed previously masculine roles. The same advert was rerun during the 1980’s and was revived

by Beyonce, which ought to be checked out. Again, Polo Ralph Lauren is notorious for gifting women with the 1980’s power suit and the advertisements for them were brilliant; women could be corporate powerhouses.

And again, in 2012 J C Penney, an American department store ran a lesbian Mother’s day advertisement featuring Ellen DeGeneres, although sparking public protests the gender binary had begun to break.

On a recent trip to London I also felt more empowered as a woman, watching other women dress modestly or showing their bodies, these women were at ease advertising themselves. But Oxford Street was different; I couldn’t help but gawp at the American Apparel ads plastered on the sides of buildings and feeling a little bit of shame as a Chinese couple tutted at the giant woman with only her underwear on. It was then that I decided to donate all the clothes that I had bought from similar stores; how could I call myself a feminist and yet promote these products showing a fake woman biting her lip, lying on the floor and being basically submissive?

Simply, I can’t. Now, I’d much rather buy products from more wholesome companies that won’t objectify women. It doesn’t leave many options however.

- Trinity Hunt

The Problem with ‘White Feminism’

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any of the popular heroines of feminism, both modern and historical, expound what has since been termed “white feminism” – not feminism supported by white women, but a feminism focused entirely on and for the benefit of white women, who are usually also heterosexual, cisgender, physically and mentally well, relatively affluent, very Western, and either mainstream Christian or atheist.

Although the term only excludes consideration of racism by name, in practice it does the same for all other axes of oppressions. This excludes everybody else, not only to focus on the problems experienced of a subset, but to promote this as the standard experience. This is reflected, for example, in the claim that, at any time in history that you choose, “women didn’t work”. But women have always worked. Even excluding the denigration of domestic work, women have contributed to scientific discoveries, worked in commerce and farming, as warriors and as slaves. But still the claim is repeated, because as a society we are only really interested in the achievements of a very small subsection of women, the part whose historical work has been left to us in the arts, and whose social influence we only acknowledge in relation to the men in their lives.

Those are the very women whose modern day descendants dominate conversations about modern day feminism. White women who fought for enfranchisement in the USA often did so by emphasising how much more right, they, white women, were to have the vote than black men, who

were de jure enfranchised. The point was made that allowing women to vote would, in the words of Belle Kearney, later a state senator for Mississippi, “insure immediate and durable white supremacy”. Recently, the popular feminist, Caitlin Moran, asked on twitter about the lack of representation of women of colour in ‘Girls’, replied, “I literally couldn’t give a shit about it.” When someone responded to her tweet about people queuing early for BBC’s “Sherlock” at the BFI with the hashtag #virgins, she replied that it was “SO TRUE” as though having had sex changes something fundamentally about a person, and that those who have not are somehow worthy of mockery. Many have praised the new Scarlett Johansson film “Lucy” despite the fact that in the trailer, its protagonist is depicted as shooting an unknown Taiwanese man dead in the street for not being able to speak English, in Taiwan.

Certain facets of modern mainstream feminism have been decried as “choice feminism”, namely the practice of claiming that any choice that a woman makes is innately feminist just because she makes it, and that this individual freedom should be the focus of the movement. However, I feel that shaving body hair and not shaving it cannot be equally feminist decisions, because one follows the expectations 17

of patriarchal society and the other is refusing to participate in them, and the ‘defence’ of those who do that they are doing it for themselves because they freely choose to ignores the role of socialisation in determining social choices. This is not to say that women should be prevented from doing so, but as feminism is a social movement trying to liberate women as a whole, it is absurd to deny such influences in exchange for claims of individual ‘empowerment’. This is especially so when one considers the effect on women as a whole: the more women unquestioningly follow those customs, the more it is seen as necessary by society, and so the more those who differ are seen as extreme in their non-compliance.

The focus on the individual in the modern media and its emphasis on the achievements of individual women also contribute to this focus, since those are the women who have fewer restrictions to opportunities.

Often this leads to tokenisation, which attempts to convince us that there is no need for modern feminism, but more importantly, this is presented as a great step forward for the whole group. Unfortunately, an individual woman’s position does not necessarily translate to greater rights for others, which is as true today as it has been throughout history.

For example, Victoria was against the enfranchisement of women, and the accession of Elizabeth I did not improve the social and political position of women. This also obscures the fact that successful women may in fact do terrible things like committing mass murder, excusing war crimes, or excusing those who do. Coco

Chanel was a Nazi; Catherine II ‘the Great’ praised her general Suvorov for his massacre at Praga; the first woman of the US senate, Rebecca Latimer Felton, spoke in favour of lynching “a thousand times a week if necessary” to “protect” white women from “the ravening human beasts.”

It is of course understandable – even necessary – that feminism as a movement should concentrate primarily on oppression based on

gender. However, the way in which this intersects with other oppressions also needs to be taken into account, in order to liberate and improve the lives and opportunities of all women, especially since those who suffer from such intersections are the ones most disadvantaged. In the words of Audre Lorde, herself a black lesbian, “I cannot afford

the luxury of fighting one form of oppression only”. If you do have that luxury, you have the responsibility of helping those of us who do not.

Otherwise, your feminism, by focusing only on improving the lives of some women, is essentially meaningless and contributes to the exacerbation of other oppressions.

-Nika Bienko

Women in Science

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t is common knowledge that in past years it was very difficult for women to enter a career in science, and sometimes even those who were able to enter did not receive credit for their research. But in recent years progress is being made and hopefully will continue to do so.

This summer I was lucky enough to spend two weeks working in the Stem Cells and Developmental Genetics lab at the National Institute of Medical Research (MRC): it was an incredible experience and has given me a fair amount of insight into the industry. Although there was only one woman in my lab who was a full time employee and one female student, it did not feel as though they were treated any differently from any of the men in the lab. She was recognised as a valuable part of the team working in research and it did not feel as though gender had any impact on her job, which made me feel hopeful for my

own future in a scientific career. their work until recent years, I was happy when I saw their Although in the lab I worked names and photographs among in there were few women, it felt their personal research projects. as though there was a pretty equal spread of gender overall My experience has led me in the institute and there was to believe that things are no sense of discrimination definitely improving for women or prejudice. I hope that this wishing to enter this kind of will be mirrored in the future, career, at least on a national and that female talent will be level. Feminism is important recognised and encouraged to overcome the prejudices so that woman can have as and stereotypes that suppress much of an impact on scientific and I believe that it should be advancements as men do. If the encouraged for everyone’s sake.

- Camille Flavell world was to decide that only men could work in science, the n the summer I carried out world would be cutting out 50% work experience at UCL of the world’s intelligent minds. in one of the Structural & On the wall near the cafeteria the Molecular Labs for two weeks. institute had put up information Before going I was concerned and pictures of certain as to how many other women important scientists and their would be there, so when I arrived work, and I was surprised at I was pleasantly surprised the number of women that had to see an equal number of been chosen for these. At least females and males in the half of the scientists mentioned group. However, this is not an were female! As many women accurate reflection of attitudes in science were not credited for towards female scientists both

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nationally and internationally.

Despite women making up 46% of all PhD students in the EU only 17% of grade A jobs in science, such as a professor, are held by women in the UK. In 2012 the Royal Society, which offers esteemed scientific fellowships, awarded 44 fellowships, only 2 of which went to women. This demonstrates how even in this current age of equal education, opportunities to pursue a career in science are unequal for women. Dame Carol Robinson is a Research Professor at Oxford and was previously a Professor at Cambridge, specialising in mass spectrometry, which she has done since the age of 16. She has faced numerous challenges because of her gender. Taking an 8 year break after a postdoctoral fellowship when raising her family, she re-entered the science world in a junior postion at Oxford. Despite the challenges she became

the first female Professor of Chemistry at Oxford in 1999 and Cambridge’s first in the Chemistry Department in 2001.

After having received a grant for £30,000 a journalist rang her up, not to congratulate her, but to ask her whether she was going to spend the money on shoes!

This lack of respect is what many female scientists may face and it can discourage younger women from furthering their career.

Fields Medal mathematics award. These inspirational women demonstrate what can be achieved, but opportunities for all genders must be equal.

- Ciara Leonard Booker The following website links provide information on how equal opportunities in STEM careers can be assured. If you are interested in a career in a STEM subject then make sure to remain informed about your rights in the workplace:

However, there are organisations w w w. w i s e c a m p a i g n . o r g . u k / pushing for equal opportunities for female scientists. WISE w w w . d a p h n e j a c k s o n . o r g / is a company that helps organisations to inspire women and girls to pursue STEM subjects as pathways to exciting and fulfilling careers. They aim to raise the number of female employees from 13% to 30% by 2020. Some of their projects provide scholarships, graduate opportunities and discovery workshops for students all to encourage women into the field of science and to reduce discrimination.

However, in 2012 the conservative government retracted all funding for WISE, which is now supported by the UKRC. The number of women in science has increased over the past years but they are still remarkably low compared to other countries of a similar economic state, such as the US. For example, Professor Lesley Yellowlees is soon to become the Royal Society of Chemistry’s first female president and Iranian Maryam Mirzakhani is the first woman in history to be awarded the most highly prized 19

Slut Shaming

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e hear terms such as ‘slut’, ‘slag’ and ‘hoe’ being thrown around on a daily basis, but do we ever stop to realise what it really means? The word ‘slut’ has connotations of a dirty girl with little to no self-respect. The double standard is that if a man has sex with a lot of women, he is usually seen as a ‘lad’, or a ‘stud’. A man is almost expected to have a lot of sex, whereas a woman is expected to keep her chastity and innocence for as long as it can be preserved.

degrade those who choose not to wear clothes that cover all of their body. This sexist attitude is reflected in views towards rape and sexual assault and there is a strong belief that if a woman happens to be wearing more revealing clothing, her chances of being sexually assaulted or even raped are drastically increased.

However, women and girls of all ages, classes, culture, race, ability, sexuality, and religion experience sexual assault.

Reports show that there is great diversity in the way rape It is also apparent that society victims dress, because rapists draws a parallel between choice choose their victims based on of clothing and sexual activity, vulnerability, not appearance. and the word ‘slut’ is also used to

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The use of degrading vocabulary such as the word slut shames women for being sexually active, and because of this, women can be shamed into silence when sexually assaulted.

Around 15% of the women and girls who experience sexual violence never report it to the police, yet 1 in 5 women aged 16 – 59 have experienced sexual violence. It is hard to ignore the link between common sexist vernacular and the dismissal of sexual assault that so many women experience when incidents are reported. But rape is never a woman’s fault. It is not an act of sex, but an act of violence.

- Emily Tewkesbury-Johnson

- Greta Gillham Wright

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Everybody Wants to Rule the World

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emale ambition has long been a cause for suspicion and scorn.

Ambitious women are described as cold, vicious and selfish, while ambitious men are hard-working, driven and respectable. It could be argued that the reason we admire ambition in men and yet find it a selfish trait in women is because we are still encouraged through the media to believe in the ideal of a woman as a maternal figure, and a man as a breadwinner. Because of this we grow up expecting women to be self-sacrificing martyrs and any woman who acts out of this stereotypical expectation is resented for her selfishness. This pattern of reinforced prejudice is reflected in the way female ambition is presented in the media.

cunning, while Blaine’s follow the mainstream path and reflect his “classy” nature. This dichotomy of treatment can be seen in their relationships with their peers.

Rachel’s decision to run for ‘senior class president’ is seen as a direct infringement upon male classmate Kurt’s campaign and almost as an intentional attempt to upset him. However, few people have qualms with Blaine supporting Sam’s campaign opposite Brittany.

These events not only serve to discredit female ambition but also encourage the idea that Metzler, a kind-hearted young man it is an insensitive practice. the audience easily falls for. Paul is the antithesis of Tracy: docile, easy-going and selfless, as if he and Tracy had taken on characteristics “We have to ask expected of the other’s gender.

An example of the double standards by which society operates can be seen in the musical-comedy television show ‘Glee’, in particular through the ways in which the characters Rachel Berry and Blaine Anderson are presented. It could be argued that these characters are two sides of the same coin, reflections of each other pigmented through the looking-glass of their gender. Their similarities are clear: they are both young, hard-working dreamers bullied for their lack of tact and refusal to conform, chasing the spotlight by any means necessary - coupled with a habit of bursting into song at inappropriate times. However while their actions are driven by common goals, the implications behind their actions differ. When the two pursue a goal Rachel’s methods will often be duplicitous with implications of

It is not only the ways in which the characters are depicted that lead us to love or loathe them, but also how we have been socially conditioned to react to people. We have to ask ourselves why we find characters like Rachel Berry and Tracy Flick discomfiting when characters like Blaine Anderson are adored by millions; why we admire qualities like ruthlessness and drive in male characters, yet we condemn them in female characters; and why it is that as a society we do not trust an ambitious woman. It is through consistently asking ourselves these questions that we are able to unlearn years of internalised misogyny and not only unlock our own potential, but also that of those around us.

- Paige Williams

ourselves why it is that as a society we do not trust an ambitious woman.”

This trope of the “school election” harkens back to one of the original inspirations for Rachel’s characterisation, the 1999 film ‘Election’, starring Reese Witherspoon as Tracy Flick, an enormously ambitious girl who determinedly also runs for senior class president.

Tracy is a caricature of female ambition: ludicrous in her selfassuredness and cold-blooded in the pursuit of her goal, Tracy is presented as incredibly manipulative and somewhat unhinged, as if her ambition is the consequence of an irrational mind. Conversely, her main opponent for the role is Paul 22

Anna Doyle Wheeler

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hen people begin to think about the origins of modern feminist thought, it is almost impossible not to be immediately drawn to the great towering figure of Mary Wollstonecraft.

Her philosophy, expounded in her 1792 A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, is incredibly interesting and progressive, and she continues to be (and rightly so) a feminist idol. Unfortunately, some people think that it stops there. Unfortunately, our historical ‘consciousness’ of other early feminist writers and philosophers is often decidedly deficient. Unfortunately, it is perhaps unlikely that you have heard of Anna Doyle Wheeler, despite the fact that her co-authored (and pithily titled) Appeal of One Half the Human Race, Women, Against the Pretensions of the Other Half, Men, To Retain Them in Political and Thence in Civil and Domestic Slavery.

This was arguably the first cogently argued essay which appealed unequivocally for votes for women.

She was a headstrong young woman, and went against her family’s wishes in marrying Frances Massey Wheeler when she was only fifteen.

Unfortunately her marriage was not a happy one, and she took refuge from her abusive, alcoholic husband in reading the French philosophies and Wollstonecraft’s treatises.

When the marriage became completely intolerable, Wheeler managed to arrange a daring and desperate escape, and moved with her sister, brother and two daughters to the Isle of Guernsey to stay with her uncle Sir John Doyle. After becoming well-known and popular within Guernsey ‘high society’, she began her life of travelling, and lived in London, Dublin, Caen and Paris.

During this time, she became more and more involved in the philosophical aspects of her feminist and socialist cause, and became known as the ‘Goddess of Reason’.

Through her friendship with the great Utilitarian Jeremy Bentham, she met William Wheeler was born around 1780 to Thompson, and in 1825 coan Anglo-Irish Anglican family authored a ground breaking in County Tipperary, Ireland. essay on the necessity of 23

sexual equality within a social system. This was actually written in reply to James Mill’s essay on government in the Encyclopaedia Britannica who, in just one sentence, dismissed women’s rights as unnecessary as their interests were ‘covered’ by their husbands or fathers. For its time and even today, it was an extremely radical critique of patriarchy and capitalism, and powerfully de-constructed 19th century marriage contracts as ‘slave-codes’, arguing that ‘men under similar circumstances would esteem themselves slaves’.

Wheeler was also a proficient public speaker, with her most famous address on the ‘Rights of Women’ being given at Finsbury Square lecture theatre in 1829. In this lecture, she set out to destroy the main arguments given by men to justify their claim for superiority over women, and argued that women’s ‘weakness’ was a ‘civilised disease’ (perhaps what we would describe as a cultural construct) and not part of female biology at all. She concluded that education was the only way to achieve sexual equality and, with a superb mixture of feminism and socialism, argued persuasively for the establishment and sustenance

of democratic education in woman, but it is her association order to create a fairer society. and collaboration with other radicals of her day, combined So, you may ask, what is the with her zealous promotion of relevance of Wheeler to modern the development of a feminist feminism? One of the greatest consciousness, which put her and benefits of a feminist approach to her companions in a particularly historiography is that we often re- interesting historical context of discover inspirational and unique philosophical and ideological figures who have helped to forge confrontation of the status quo. new frontiers in every area of And it is through this wider human achievement, and are can appreciation of context that we be amazed at the progressiveness discover how truly entrenched and capacity of people who this misogynistic status quo was struggled against adversity – like for 19th century women. Indeed, Wheeler. But, for me at least, it is a sad fact to note the fate it is not the individual but the of Wheeler’s daughter, Rosina. collective which is the greatest When, in 1836, she confronted source of interest. Wheeler her husband, Edward Bulwerwas indeed an ‘inspirational’ Lytton, with allegations of

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hilst it is important to commemorate pioneering female activists and thinkers such as Anna Doyle Wheeler and Mary Wollstonecraft, as well as suffragettes such as Emmeline Pankhurst who fought for our right to vote, it is equally as vital to celebrate authoritative female politicians and activists of the 20th and 21st century. It is hardly surprising in today’s patriarchal society that most teenage girls can name five female pop singers, but few can name five female politicians. Therefore, we’ve given five ground-breaking female activists and politicians the representation they deserve.

Mo Mowlam was arguably one of the most popular and charismatic ‘new labour’ politicians, serving as the first female Secretary of State for Northern Ireland under Tony Blair’s government in 1997. This was the era of ‘The Troubles’, a political conflict that saw the permanent division of the country in the late

twentieth century. Mowlam was instrumental in securing both the Irish Republican Army ceasefire and the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, which helped to temporarily maintain political calm within Ireland.

Political diplomacy during the period of ‘The Troubles’ proved a risky and complex task, and one that Mowlam executed with courage and precision, whilst battling a brain tumour.

Benazir Bhutto was the first and only female Prime minister of Pakistan from 1988-90 and 19936. Preceding her chairwomanship, she became the first woman to head a Pakistani major political party and her election to the government was historic in the Islamic state’s history. Notable for her charismatic authority, she emphasized the importance of capitalist industrial and economic growth of Pakistan, as well as its national security.

In 1996 she was levelled with charges of corruption, leading 24

infidelity, he separated her from her children, allowing her to see them only one time a month, with another person in the room. She was denounced as insane incarcerated in a mental asylum by her former husband for denouncing him at the his parliamentary campaign. As Carol Kolmerten has noted, ‘the life of Wheeler’s own daughter illustrated beyond anything else the importance of Anna Wheeler and William Thompson’s message’.

- Ella Sbaraini

to the dismissal of her government and eventual exile. In 2007, she was granted amnesty and the charges were withdrawn, yet tragically she was assassinated the same year, just before the scheduled 2008 election in which she was a leading opposition candidate. Bhutto’s status of political power was and still is remarkable given the oppressive climate of the Middle East, and because of this her murky but essentially democratic legacy remains highly commendable.

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani education and women’s rights activist who challenged the restrictions placed on women’s education by the Taliban. Following her growing prominence in the west, she was subject to an attempted assassination in 2012, aged just fifteen. The assassination attempt caused a global outcry for progressive education legislation in third world countries, and was directly responsible for Pakistan’s first Right to Education Bill in 2013. Yousafzai has continued to be a global political presence, participating in campaigns for global education and to end Female

Genital Mutilation and Child, in Burma. The party won a Early and Forced Marriage. substantial political victory in the 1990 Burmese election, but the State Indira Gandhi was the first and Peace and Development Council, the only female Prime minister of military regime of Burma, refused India, from 1966-77 and 1980- to recognise the result. The regime 4, and a prominent figure in the declared the NLD illegal, detaining Indian National Congress party. Suu Kyi under house arrest from 1989 She is widely recognised by the -2010, making her one of history’s Indian population as the greatest most prominent political prisoners.

Indian Prime minister and was In 2013, Suu Kyi announced that also the second longest serving she wants to run for president in politician in office. She became the 2015 elections, a hugely positive known for being politically step towards a fully democratic ruthless, exemplified by her Burma. As Suu Kyi states herself, support and involvement in the “fear is a habit; I am not afraid.”

Pakistani War of Independence, which led to the creation of Interestingly, of this list of inspiring Bangladesh.

However, her activists, only one woman is a desire for a centralisation of ‘western’ politician. It is ironic power and subsequent political that although the west views itself opponents ultimately led to her as significantly more forward assassination in 1984. Following thinking and democratic than the her funeral, millions of Sikhs countries of the Middle East, Asia were displaced, leading to carnal and Africa, it’s attitude towards anti - Sikh riots. A journalist women in powerful positions noted of the events, “When a of government is perhaps more big tree falls, the earth shakes.” sceptical. After all, there has been no female president of America such Aung San Suu Kyi is a Burmese as Indira Ghandi or Benazir Bhutto, a Nobel Prize laureate, opposition and out of the 54 Prime ministers politician and chairperson of the of Britain, one has been female.

National League for Democracy - Greta Gillham Wright

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- Lauren Henry

Sexism in the Gaming Industry

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retty much everyone has played video games at some point in their life, and as years go by the gaming industry gets bigger and bigger.

However this industry, which brings hours of entertainment to so many people, has a big problem- sexism. Sexism which is present in the industry itself, its games, the advertising of those games, and a fair amount of people who play them. One big example of a game which ticks all those boxes is Grand Theft Auto 5. GTA V’s main advert of a smiling blonde woman wearing a tiny bikini, who doesn’t appear once in the game itself, serves no other purpose than being an object of male desire. This isn’t the only example of the industry using sexist adverts to sell games- even in the 1970s, adverts contained hyper sexualised women as an object to help sell a video game.

Like games such as Skyrim, GTA V is a game that boasts choice, where its players are given an infinite amount of possibilities, from what car you drive to who you choose to kill. Unfortunately, you can’t choose not to be a sexist idiot in terms of how the three male lead characters act towards women. If the player chooses so they can act in an abusive manner towards female non-playable characters (NPCs) who exist to pose as background decoration or sex objects. In GTA V, you can visit strip clubs and find

NPCs with crude, sexualised dialogue, little or no clothing, and no personality or identity.

The game also gives you the option to pay for a lap dance or sex, which give player power ups, or health regenerationthe same effect can be found by buying a drink from a vending machine. Similar situations are often found in many other video games- Max Pain 3, Far cry 3, both of which have WOC prostitutes who use only minimal broken English, and serve no other purpose than being ‘exotic’ women made to be consumed by the white western man. Another example would be Saint’s Row 3’s side game ‘the snatch’: the player must steal prostituted women and deliver them to another pimp in return for a cut of the business. Lovely.

If the player chooses, a large number of games give the option of violently abusing eroticised women for fun, options including assault, mutilation, murder, and everything inbetween. Some games even reward this behaviour for cash, such as GTA. Another horrific example would be in Red Dead Redemption. The game allows the player to beat up, lasso, hog tie and carry away prostituted women. In order to earn the ‘Dastardly’ award trophy, a hogtied woman must be placed on the railroad tracks to get run over by an oncoming train, 27

showing in the game that women are seen as nothing more than disposable objects. Despite the fact that some claim you don’t have to choose to act in a sexist and violent manner in these games, the fact that the choice is there in so many of them is a big problem.

It’s not just the treatment of female NPC’s which is a problem.

There is a very clear lack of female representation in terms of main or playable characters, and even female characters which are playable tend to be the hyper sexualised ‘ultimate warrior’ wearing little clothing or posing as the damsel in distress.

Studies have consistently shown that at least since the 1990s, the percentage of female characters in video games has remained steady at around 15%, despite the percentage of female gamers being 48%. Although there has been some progress in recent years with games, the sexism is still undoubtedly prevalent. At this year’s E3 event the topic was highlighted when Assassin’s Creed announced “it would not feature any playable female characters because it would have “doubled the work”. Encouragingly, this sparked the twitter hashtag #womenaretoohardtoanimate and negative feedback towards Ubisoft and other gaming companies.

But it doesn’t stop there- sexism is not only evident in video games but also in the industry, towards its attitude towards female games

reviewers, game designers or animators. A study into sexism in the games industry from 2013-14 found 60% of women in the business have experienced sexism at some point during their career. And if that wasn’t bad enough, 1 in 3 women admitted to experiencing discrimination from a co-worker and 36.1% of women know or suspect a pay discrepancy due to their gender.

A huge amount of female gamers

also experience sexism in the form of verbal or written abuse from other gamers.

One case is that of Jenny Haniver, who runs the website www. notinthekitchenanymore .com Here she documents her experiences as a female gamer; uploading audio of the hostile, sexist and weird reactions of men who meet women in the game.

Jenny Haniver is definitely not alone with her experiences as a gamer, as online harassment is an all too common problem for female gamers, despite women making up 48% of gamers. Sadly, the industry does not reflect these figures in its attitude and continues to be a culture of misogyny and sexism.

- Hollie Bramwell

What is a “real” woman?

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Once they do your hair, make-up and direct how your body looks, there’s not much left of who YOU really are.”

This is what was said by one of the women who took part in a recent experiment which involved “photo shopping everyday women in to front cover models” after seeing her “after” photos. The process involved redoing the women’s hair, make-up and general appearance and then, obviously, retouching the images. The results, as you can imagine, were very similar to the average magazine cover you might see: glowing, smoothed out, slimmed down “perfection”. The response was very interesting. Some argued it was good because it showed just how unrealistic a lot of images of women are, proving that pretty much anyone could be a cover model with the right lighting, hair, make-up and editing. However it also caused a lot of people to question WHY is the same generic standard of beauty seen as the ideal and whether by choosing not to conform to it, you are seen more of a “real woman”?

I’m sure you’ve all seen one of the

several Dove campaigns, which at the time received an incredible amount of praise for featuring a variety of women coming from different ethnic backgrounds and possessing different body shapes. The main reason for this was that thanks to the success of the “waif ” supermodels from the 90s, the beauty industry was predominantly white and thin. Looking at top runway models and statistics proves this ideal still exists, and only a handful of top models aren’t Caucasian.

Before making it big Jourdan Dunn famously tweeted after being cancelled by Dior that she has been cancelled from shows several times on account of being “coloured”.

There are even less examples of larger or even curvier women being portrayed as equally as much. When a then much larger Sophie Dahl appeared on the runways in the 90’s it caused both praise and disgust in the fashion industry. So women around 28

the world felt inspired due to the way in which the Dove advert successfully portrayed a range of women that were more representative of society than what the beauty industry typically depicted. They were more realistic than the slim and seemingly “flawless” models, and were described by many as “real women”.

But if you think about it, an “ideal” standard of beauty is not an uncommon or relatively new thing.

Even if they differed throughout the decades, it’s pretty much what each period of history seemed to have.

We are used to seeing both men and women in admiration of other women who were seen as desirable simply due to their status of royalty, fame or beauty, all of whom throughout history presenting a new standard of beauty for woman. For example, in the 16th century, Elizabeth I’s pale skin was envied and attempted to recreate by many due to her royalty and therefore worth. Historically, there has never been a great deal of variety in terms of what was seen as beautiful, which might explain why today there is such a contrast in what is seen as stereotypically

beautiful and what is not. Just look at classic Hollywood movie stars.

It’s not like they all look the same but there was a lot of similarity regarding their features and general presentation. There was definitely an ideal that women aspired to. We can look at a couple of explanations for this and why this ideal is associated with women being more “feminine” and therefore supposedly more attractive to more people.

The word beautiful itself descends from the Koine Greek word, “hōraios”, coming from the word “hora”, meaning hour. In Ancient Greek context, the term was used to express a belief that, beauty was associated with being of “one’s hour”. Even since periods of Greek history, true beauty appears to be only associated with youth. This suggests a limit on the amount of time a woman’s’ beauty can be determined for, already foreshadowing the obsession with youth that occurs so frequently in popular culture.

Youthful beauty is also associated with symmetrical beauty, another common trait found all over models in advertisements, film stars and icons. It’s hardly surprising that these two go hand in hand as; as with age features often become more asymmetrical. A 2013 competition for “Britain’s Most Beautiful Face” asked applicants who had never gone under plastic surgery to send in pictures of themselves with no makeup. The winner possessed many traits of idealised beauty, such as large eyes, full lips and high cheekbones.

However scientists claimed it may have been the psychological interpretation of beauty which gave her the advantage as these traits were also ones which have been linked with higher fertility. Perhaps this is what has drawn us to this idealised vision of beauty. These certain “preferred” attributes pre-historically

made you more attractive to future mates, so can people be blamed for being more attracted to these features?

Although this is a very strange concept now, previously it was a reality because generally society perceived woman’s only role to be that of being a wife and mother so therefore if she looked like she could produce good children, chances are she’d be desired. Of course, in today’s terms that whole notion is completely ridiculous because we are not all destined to be mothers and wives and even if we were, how large our eyes are or how full our lips are should really not be the determining factors for a marriage or family to be based on. Beauty like all things, is a personal preference. Whilst previously it was more related to status, wealth or fertility, there is now no common ground as to what makes something beautiful.

So why is it that a lot of what is seen, be it in advertisements for cosmetics, hair products, films, music videos and fashion labels, seems to be sold so often with an narrow idealised standard of beauty in mind?

What is seen as beauty is so different to so many people but I feel like what’s presented in the media is sometimes out there to make us feel ashamed of our personal perception of beauty. I’m not saying the media

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should encourage us to get tattoos on our eyelids and piercings on god knows where (but quite frankly if that’s your thing why not?), but it should promote being “beautiful” for you and what you like in a way that is healthy to you and others around you. Of course this is not going to start tomorrow but surely the only way to do it is by creating more diversity amongst what’s shown in the media. If everyone looked the same, what would be considered beautiful?

A “real” woman is not necessarily more “real” just because she doesn’t wear make-up or because she’s “plussized”. We don’t know everything about the media and its effect on selfperception, but what we do know are the facts. Cosmetic surgery, eating disorders and depression are all on the increase, particularly amongst young girls. The media is not the sole creator of this but there are a lot of links between the two and surely, if you’ve found no reason so far as to why the media needs to rethink how women are shown, the potential of more confident, happy and healthy generations in the future to come should be good enough. That is why, to me, a “real” woman is simply one who is proud to be living in the body she has. Of course we are going to have hang ups because we all see beauty and interpret flaws differently, but that’s life. If you think about it, your body is the only thing you really own and have a right to in life, so why should you let other people decide and influence how it should look?

- Jasmin Brown

Eleanor of Aquitaine

I

magine becoming the richest, most powerful woman in the whole world, aged 13. Think about it for a second. What would it bring you? Authority? Influence?

Freedom?

How would your life be changed? Because that’s exactly what happened to Eleanor of Aquitaine, daughter of Duke William X of Aquitaine, in 1137 AD. In those days, different areas of France (provinces) were ruled by nobles, who paid homage (said they would do as they were told) to the King. When the nobles died the province would be inherited by their closest male heir – Jane Austen fans will no doubt hear alarm bells ringing at this point!

But Aquitaine was special. Not only was it a huge area of France, and immensely wealthy and cultured, significantly it was the only province in the Christian world whose laws allowed women to inherit in their own right. The women in Aquitaine were allowed more liberties than almost anywhere else, and were not segregated from male company, especially not at court.

Our contemporary view is that a society with greater equality is more ethical; however, people at the time viewed Aquitaine as morally bankrupt with a licentious court.

Unfortunately, any expectations of freedom and hopes of political power that Eleanor had through her inheritance were short-lived.

She became a politically ideal wife, a potential pawn to be used at the hands of whoever could successfully marry her first. King Louis VII of France succeeded in this. In her lifetime Eleanor was crowned

queen not once, but twice – first Queen of France, then Queen of England, through her marriage to King Henry II in 1152.

But her desirability as a wife did not guarantee her political authority in her own lands during her marriages, which must have been hugely frustrating to a passionate and ambitious young woman. Her frustration and active desire to rule led to massive controversy.

Having been restricted by, and ill-suited to, Louis, she decided to annul their marriage, saying that they were too closely related. It was true, they were distant cousins (yes, you read that right, she married her cousin) but it was literally unheard of for a woman to annul her marriage, as usually women were so dependent on their husband’s wealth and control.

Her own inheritance meant she had the power to do this.

Eleanor married her second husband, Henry II only two months later, which sent shock waves around Europe. Twenty years later Eleanor was the cause of outrage once again.

Eleanor was furious that Henry did not formally recognise her, or her son and chosen heir of Aquitaine, Richard – later known as ‘the Lionheart’, as rulers of Aquitaine. As a result, she and her sons, wait for it ... became involved in a rebellion against Henry! Everybody was absolutely scandalised. She had defied the expectations of her duty towards Henry as a queen, and as a wife.

Henry accused her of poisoning 30

the minds of his children and of committing a crime against the natural order (basically, that men are superior to women). He then put her under house arrest for 15 years, and completely cut off from her children as they matured into adulthood.

This was the ultimate expression of medieval patriarchal oppression.

If Eleanor had not gone on to live until the ripe old age of 82, her story would have ended there. But as it did not, Eleanor went on to find that her ultimate power was to come: her freedom lay in her widowhood, and her authority in her maternity.

She enjoyed more respect in her son Richard I’s reign than during the whole of her two marriages put together – she was even made regent (acting monarch) when Richard went to war. Many powerful people in the English government sought her advice and her beloved Aquitaine was solely under her rule. It is fair to say that she came into her own in the last years of her life. She waited a lifetime to achieve what she set out to do at 13, but to greater success than any other woman in medieval history.

- Lydia McCutcheon

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