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Monday, May 13, 2013

Abercrombie & Fitch exclusionary

Image conscious clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch, is in the headlines yet again with its penchant for courting controversy. Eg. It had to pay £9000 compensation after losing a legal case brought by a student who wore a prosthetic arm, who claimed she was discriminated against for not conforming to the firm’s policy on staff appearance.

This time they have hit the headlines for their policy not to stock larger sizes.

In an interview with Business Insider, Robin Lewis author of The New Rules of Retail, said of Mike Jeffries ( CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch):

“He doesn’t want larger people shopping in his store, he wants thin and beautiful people….“He doesn’t want his core customers to see people who aren’t as hot as them wearing his clothing. People who wear his clothing should feel like they’re one of the ‘cool kids.’”

Lewis comments have their origins in a 2006 article (The man behind Abercrombie & Fitch by Benoit Denizet-Lewis) when CEO Mike Jeffries was quoted as saying:

“In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids.

“Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? …. Absolutely.”

In response Mike Jeffries stated on the company website:

“Diversity and inclusion are key to our organization’s success….We are determined to have a diverse culture, throughout our organization, that benefits from the perspectives of each individual.”

There is an online petition on Change.org with over 3,670 signatures; the objective of which is to pressure the company into changing its ‘no large sizes’ policy.

Wednesday, May 08, 2013

Helping others build their self esteem

Every now and again we get asked a question that we think is worth repeating here.

The question was asked by a 15 year old school girl, who wanted tips on how she could help build the self esteem of her friends and help them feel good about themselves.

We responded as follows:

Self esteem is a person’s sense of self-worth.

It relates to how much you value and accept yourself, how worthwhile you feel and the extent to which you feel loved and accepted by others.

Your self-esteem is strongly influenced by the experiences and relationships you’ve had in your life.

The best thing you can do is to show others how much you value them and how much they contribute to your happiness and to the happiness of others.

It's about letting them know that they are accepted unconditionally. That their worth is not determined by factors such as physical appearance, educational achievement, what they wear or what gadget they have. That they are acceptable and valued just they way they are.

In addition, she could also tell her friends about our 10 Positive Affirmations that are also aimed at helping individuals improve your body image and build self confidence.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Your body

Your body is truly remarkable.

Click on the infographic below to learn 18 amazing facts about your body.


Source

Accept your body …. Respect your body… Love your body

After all, it is the only one you will every have!

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Weight and aviation

This week two stories related to aviation and weight caught my eye,

The first involved the recommendation that air passenger fares should be based on the weight of each individual, coupled with how much space they take up. This is because of the relationship between the weight a plane carries and the amount of fuel (expense) that it incurs; as weight increases so does the cost.

Dr Bhatta, of the Sogn og Fjordane University College in Norway, said: “Charging according to weight and space is a universally accepted principle, not only in transportation, but also in other services.

"As weight and space are far more important in aviation than other modes of transport, airlines should take this into account when pricing their tickets.”

Can you imagine arriving at the airport to catch your flight, several weeks even months after booking it. As you check-in you are told that you have to pay extra, because you have gained weight. Or, a more financially rewarding outcome, you are told that you are entitled to a discount, because your are now half a stone lighter than when you booked.

Personally, I can't see charging for weight working, because it would be difficult bordering on impossible to enforce.

The second story involves the cabin crew who works for Air India. All cabin crew members who are over 40 have been told by the Indian aviation regulator, that they only have days to pass a health test. The test includes measuring their height, weight, waist-to-hip ratio and other health indicators such as blood pressure. Any crew who fails the test will not be able to fly.

The health test is a new requirement for male cabin crew. Females (70 %) have always had weight related tests, but were rarely prohibited from flying.

In response, the union has demanded that employees have their free gym membership reinstated . The free membership program was cancelled after 10 years. They are also asking for more time in which to lose weight and improve their overall health. In the past employees were given six months to accomplish this.

Friday, March 22, 2013

Born to Lose

On this site, you will find many articles and blogs that discuss the importance of the mind.

We often discuss how our thoughts and beliefs determine our emotional state, self-perception, our perception of others, our actions (and their consequences) and even if we are happy or miserable.

In short, we support the premise that, where the mind goes the man/woman/teenager/child follows.

Two days ago, my local radio was discussing a story that brought this belief to the forefront of my mind. They did so rather compellingly, by telling a short story. I’m not 100% sure it is true, but it certainly gets the point across.

While on holiday a tourist comes across a tattoo parlour. He stands at the window and casually appraises the many different tattoo designs that were on display. Suddenly, a design catches his eye. The longer he looks at it, the more depressed he become.

The tattoo had a single, simple statement. It said, ‘Born to lose’.

Surprised and intrigued, the tourist went into the shop and spoke to the owner.

“Surely”, he said indicating the tattoo, “no-one ever actually has that one. It is a joke… right?”

The shop owner shook his head, negating the tourist’s assumption.

“It’s no Joke. People do request that design”, he replied.

“Why would someone place a permanent tattoo that says ‘born to lose’ on their body? I don’t get it.”

“Before it is here”, said the owner pointing to his own arms, “it is here”, he ended as he very deliberately placed is index finger in the centre of his forehead.

Wednesday, March 06, 2013

Growing up too soon

A Netmums Survey of 1032 parents has highlighted the concerns they have about the pressures on their “tweenage” children (aged 7 to 13) to 'grow up too soon.'

The pressures are detailed in the table below:


Click on picture to enlarge image

Parents also identified the different pressures that affect their sons and daughters:-

Daughters to:
    - 'Be thin'
    - Be Popular on Facebook (number of friends)
    - Show an interest in sex and boyfriends before they were ready.

Sons to:
- Be 'macho'
- Believe 'appearance was the most important thing about someone'.

It is clear that seeing their children grow up too fast is extremely difficult for parents to cope with. 20% admitted that they are struggling to accept it, while over 30% were fighting to keep their children 'childlike for longer'.

Monday, March 04, 2013

Peer Pressure

In this months article we will take a close look at peer pressure and how to overcome it.

Peer pressure is a problem more commonly associated with young people in schools, colleges and communities. It involves pressure applied by peers or friends, to do something you think is wrong or something that you feel uncomfortable with. E.g. Taking drugs, smoking, underage sex, watching adult movies, as well as encounters that may put you or others in danger.

A typical situation could be one in which a friend offers you and several others in a group some alcohol, that they have sneaked from a cupboard at home. Others in the group happily take turns to drink some, but you don’t think that you should. What do you do?

Although you may be well aware of the dangers or morals involved and understand that it is wrong, the pressure applied may result in you taking a drink despite your better judgement.

You may be:-
- afraid of what could happen if you didn’t do what was asked.
- trying to ‘fit in’ with your friends/peers.

Read Article

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Baby Smell

There are some smells wherein even the slightest whiff can invoke memories and bring back emotions, both good and bad. One such aroma, the scent of which is packed full of treasured memories and never fails to fill me with pride and joy, is that which hovers around babies. For want of a better expression, let’s call it ‘baby smell’.

In my mind, there are very few smells that can match up to the smell of a young baby, especially after they have been bathed.

If fashion house Dolce & Gabbana has their way, the well-known and adorable ‘baby smell’ will be obliterated and replaced with perfume (£28 for a 50ml bottle).

The perfume’s designer Stefano Gabbana stated: “That familiar smell associated with babies will only be accentuated by this fragrance.” It will also he promises, “pamper every little boy and girl”.

D&G’s new baby perfume, inspired by the “softness of baby skin” and the “freshness of baby breath” will have a citrus, honey and melon scent.

Other baby perfume manufactures include: Bulgari’s Petits et Mamans, Burberry’s Baby Touch and Johnson’s baby cologne.

An off the shelf perfume that causes babies to emanate an artificial, manufactured (not pure, innocent or natural) aroma, will not ‘accentuate’ what is already lovely in its unspoiled state.

Skilled marketers have convinced us that any discernable residue of our body’s natural scent will result in us becoming social pariahs … outcasts; with only the smell of our own awful body odour for company.

This being the case, it is not surprising that the beauty industry has already got everyone, whose age is written using double digits, convinced that natural body scents are obnoxious. Consequently, we must all wash and cover ourselves with all manner of fragranced products; soap, bath oils, deodorant, body lotions & sprays, perfume, aftershave, foot sprays and ......

Monday, December 17, 2012

Sex Texting

A six month investigation into the sexual habits of teenagers (Channel 4 and NSPCC), has reported its findings on what the “average young teenager in an average school faces on a day-to-day basis”.

One thing that stands out in the report is the fact that sex texting, the sending of naked photos (self) to others, has become “normal” practise among many secondary school pupils.

Quotes from teenagers interviewed included:

“I get asked for naked pictures on blackberry messenger at least two or three times a week”.

“You would've seen the girl’s breasts before you have seen her face in person”.

The report also highlighted the reality that modern technology (smart phones and computers) has moved teenage sexual exploration a million miles away from the old system; where a boy (usually) eventually plucked up the courage to approach a girl and together, they developed a face to face relationship, with all the associated awkwardness. This step by step very personal approach has been replaced with a technology driven bravado and (for many) a complete lack of inhibitions.

“The change we have seen is a shift away from an exchange within a relationship", said Professor Andy Phippen (University of Plymouth), "[to deciding] whether or not I want to go out with you depending on what you are willing to do before the relationship starts. There is a new era of flirting”.

A teenager agreed:

"There are less relationship based on feelings it's more about your hot …I’m hot, let’s see what we can do. It’s based around the bodies more than what is inside".

As well as the obvious sexual and relationship fundamentals of sex texting, teenagers also commented on body image aspects of the practice. Two boys made the following statements:

"Grown-ups think that it is the girls that are pressured, because they see the Sun’s page 3 girls and porn, but there is equal pressure to boys and equal demands".

"Boys are put under pressure to get photos of girls to have muscles and to look a certain way”.

The sex texting phenomenon does naturally lead to the question “what can/should we do about it”?

"Society needs to except that it happens and be more resilient about what we are going to do about it”, said Professor Phippen. “Both the adult population and the younger population need to acknowledge it happens and not go into hysteria, just because it's happening in your school. It is happening in all schools. I don't think a knee jerk reaction of banning and confiscation will make any difference whatsoever, I think what young people need is awareness and support".

As parents, we naturally want to protect our children from activities like sex texting that speeds up their journey into adulthood. We cannot control everything teenagers do, particularly when they are out of sight.

The best parents can do, is to foster an honest and open relationship with their teenagers (if possible) and educate them, so that they are equipped to make good informed choices.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Rise in self harming calls to ChildLine

Issues that have been highlighted in the last few days are a real cause for concern.

ChildLine’s annual report has revealed an overall increase in the number of calls they receive annually, which includes a 68% increase (highest increase), in the number of children, predominantly girls, seeking help for self harming. Some were already self harming, while others were seriously thinking about starting.

Children of varying ages were impacted by the issue; 14-year-olds were particularly affected. In response to the calls for help, ChildLine conducted 16,000 self-harm related counselling sessions.

Sue Minto, head of ChildLine, surmised that teenager’s inability to deal with the daily stresses in their lives was behind the increase. The emotional health issues had many causes, such as relationships, violence, alcohol and bullying; however family problems were identified as the principal issue.

Ms Minto also corrected the misconception that self harm was an attention seeking activity, by stating that most self harming was done in secret and was a "coping mechanism".

Along with the increase in self harming, calls about potential suicides also so an annual increase (39%).

"Contacts about self-harm and suicide are growing areas of concern for us. It seems the pressures facing children and young people, particularly girls, are increasing at such a rate that some of them see these drastic measures as the only answer to their problems.

“We know that boys are suffering, but they are less likely to seek help and we urge them to do so”, she said.

Bulling was identified as the problem that received the second highest number of calls.

Sue Minto speculated that the pervasiveness of modern communication e.g. mobile phones (texting) and social networks made it difficult for individuals to escape and switch off.

"It's very unforgiving for young people," she said.
Depression ranked in the top five issues affecting 16 and 17 year olds.
Fortunately, physical and sexual abuse declined overall, however sexual abuse is still of considerable concern for older age groups.

ChildLine statistics:
   1.2 million calls (in total)
   1.85 million visits to it’s website
   50% are age 12 to 15
   30% are age 16 to 18 year olds
   20% are age 11 and under

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Health discussions and proposals

This week the British general public has been at the centre of health related discussions and proposals; all aimed at improving our health and reducing NHS costs.

1. Lifestyle costs

We heard the views of Dr Phillip Lee, the Conservative MP for Bracknell, speaking to the Institute for Economic Affairs. During his talk he suggested that individuals with medical conditions that are diagnosed as being ‘lifestyle’ based, should be made to contribute to the cost of their healthcare. The NHS, Dr Lee argued, was under "increasing burden”. He evidenced this by explaining that the number of diabetic’s is estimated to increase by 700,000 by the end of the decade. 90% of diabetes cases will be Type 2, which is often (not always) aggravated by an unhealthy diet, lack of exercise and being overweight.

"This clearly isn't a sustainable position," Dr Lee stressed.

Commenting on the issue, the Department of Health stated that the NHS was committed to meeting “patient’s needs and expectations in the face of growing demand from the public”. They continued:

"Decisions on treatments should be made by clinicians taking the needs of each individual into account”.

2. Parking charges

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), who sets national standards for healthcare, is calling for initiatives that will have the effect of “encouraging people to walk or cycle”. They believed success “could be achieved, for instance, by introducing restricted parking and higher parking charges”.

They hope that increased exercise will improve the population’s health and fitness levels and reduce ill-health going forward.

However, NICE have added caution by conceding that anyone considering such a scheme would need to ”consider how this would impact on car owners living in areas where the environment is not conducive to walking or cycling, or where there is little real alternative to driving.”

3. The price of alcohol

The government has outlined the start of consultations, on their plans to curb the excesses of Britain’s binge drinkers. It includes the introduction of a 45p minimum unit price for alcohol.

The home secretary, Theresa May, said in a statement that she hoped the price increase would “turn the tide” away from irresponsible drinking. The price increase is also expected to prevent 714 alcohol-related deaths , reduce crime and hospital admissions by 1 and 1.2 million respectively and save the British taxpayer £21 billion each year.

Multi-buy deals are also under scrutiny and could be restricted / banned.

What do you think?

i) We have a wise and proactive government (and government agencies), looking after the welfare of the UK public, maintaining law & order and effectively managing it's budget.

or

ii) There is too much state interference, points 2 and 3 in particular.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Movember, facial hair and appearance

The Movember campaign, raising awareness about and helping the fight against prostate and testicular cancer, is currently being supported my thousands of men across the UK and around the world. To show support as well as raise funds, individuals can play an active part by growing a moustache throughout November.

Siobhain Fletcher (36) is a woman who will show her support by growing a mustache like her male cohorts. She is able to grow a mustache, unlike the average woman, because she has the medical condition, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The disorder has given her high levels of testosterone, which results in the growth of facial hair.

On a normal day Siobhain, would shave before leaving her house. However, she has decided to forgo her normal routine in order to support this month’s Movember campaign.

"If I can go out on the street with a beard or moustache for a month”, she said, “then surely men who are experiencing health problems can go and get themselves tested”.

"My facial hair used to contribute to depression and anxiety”, Siobhain said in a statement that makes it clear that her condition has often resulted in painful experiences. “But”, she continued, “this is for a good cause”.

Siobhain is also hoping that supporting the campaign will also have the added benefit of educating others to look beyond physical appearance.

“I want to highlight that people shouldn't judge you on what you have on your face, it's what is inside that matters… The hairs on your face should not define who you are” she said.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Society’s love affair with youth and beauty

After talking to others about society’s current love affair with youth (or being youthful) and beauty, it is easy to be left with the opinion that the current focus is a modern day phenomenon. One birthed from recent medical, technological and societal developments.

The 1933 song, ‘Keep young and beautiful if you want to be loved’, written by Al Dubin and more recently performed by Annie Lennox, reminds us that while beauty ideals (physical attributes that are considered beautiful) have changed over time, youth and beauty have always held significant value.

Today, youth and beauty are more valuable than ever, so much so that a large portion of our society desires and eagerly seeks them out; while at the same time disdaining all else.

Lyrics of the song ‘Keep young and beautiful if you want to be loved’:

What's cute about a little cutie?
It's her beauty, not brains...
Old father time will never harm you
If your charm still remains.
After you grow old baby
You don't have to be a cold baby...

Keep Young and Beautiful
It's your duty to be beautiful...
Keep young and beautiful
If you want to be loved!

Don't fail to do your stuff
With a little powder and a puff.
Keep young and beautiful
If you want to be loved.

If you're wise, exercise all the fat off
Take it off - off of here, off of there...
When you're seen anywhere with your hat off
Wear a Marcel wave in your hair...

Take care of all those charms
And you'll always be in someone's arms.
Keep young and beautiful
If you want to be loved.

Keep young and beautiful
It's your duty to be beautiful
Keep young and beautiful
If you want to be loved

Boopie doo, ah

Song

Thursday, October 04, 2012

Social obligation

In our next article we ask the question: do celebrities, public and community figures have a social obligation to represent and promote a healthy lifestyle?

Excerpts:

Last week US news anchor Jennifer Livingston received an email that annoyed her so much that she decided to make a very public response.

The email with the subject ‘Community responsibility’ read:

Hi Jennifer,

“Its unusual that I, see your morning show., but I did so for a very short time today. I was surprised indeed to witness that your physical condition hasn’t improved for many years”.

“Surely you don’t consider yourself a suitable example for this community’s young people, girls in particular. Obesity is one of the worse choices a person can make and one of the most dangerous habits to maintain”.

“I’ll leave you this note hoping that you will reconsider your responsibility as a local public personality to present and promote a healthy lifestyle.”

Read Article

Monday, October 01, 2012

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The perfect time to i) raise awareness of the disease, ii) highlight some breast cancer facts and, most importantly, iii) remind women that they need to examine their breasts on a regular basis.

Breast cancer constitutes one third of cancers that are related to women. 1000 women die each month due to the disease and 48,000 breast cancers will be diagnosed during 2012.

Only 2% of women know to look for the following telltale signs:

    • A lump, seen or felt and any hardening or thickening of the breast.
    • A change to skin texture, such as puckering or dimpling.
    • A rash, crusting or sore nipples.
    • A change in the appearance of a nipple’s shape or direction (e.g. turned in).
    • Nipple discharge.

A survey (Avon Breast Promise) of 2,000 UK women has found that just over a third (37%) do not check their breasts, because of the fear of discovering cancer.
Paradoxically, one tenth of the women who did regularly check their breasts did so because they were fearful of getting the disease.

The national breast cancer schemes begin at the age of 50. However, breast cancer can affect women of all ages, so women irrespective of their age, should inspect their breast for the signs detailed above and seek medical advice if they have any concerns.

Self examination and early diagnosis can save lives and help the fight against breast cancer.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Paralympian role models

Generally speaking, the word disabled often conjures up negative stereotypes and feelings of sympathy or worse pity, towards disabled people.

Last night, the London 2012 Paralympics came to a spectacular end.

Let’s hope that the closing of the games is not the end, but the beginning of a change in the public perception of disability. This hope is exemplified in the words of International Paralympic Committee president, Sir Philip Craven.

“The Paralympic Games have truly come home and found their pathway to the future here in London ... These Games have changed us all forever”, he said.

Similar sentiments, that the games will herald a change in attitude towards disability have been expressed across the globe.

E.g. Vangaurd (Nigeria) stated : “Paralympics have given humanity an opportunity to push the limits of human capacity to adapt, as evident in the stunning performances of disabled athletes in various sporting events.”

The Paralympics enabled disabled athletes to really challenge our assumptions of what disabled individuals are and what they can achieve.

Each competing paralympian, without exception, showed “super human” endurance, courage and managed to beat the odds, with and without the benefits of medical advances.

I have heard the paralympians being called “hero’s” on numerous occasions. Whether or not you agree with the term hero, I’m sure that most of you will agree that they serve as excellent role models, to both able and disabled individuals; especially to the young and impressionable.

Hopefully one of the enduring legacies of the Paralympics will be to change the general view of disability and the disabled away from what individuals cannot do, to what they can do.

Monday, September 03, 2012

Anorexia: Force feed ?

In our June article article we discussed a court case in which Justice Peter Jackson ruled in the favour of a local authority application. His decision allowed the authority to force feed and keep a 32 year old female anorexic sufferer known as ‘E’ alive.

Justice Jackson argued against the express wishes of E’s parents with the words. "We only live once, we are born once and we die once and the difference between life and death is the biggest difference we know."

His decision was essentially based on the fact that he believed that E’s ill health (both mental and physical) had brought her capacity to make a life or death decision into question.

At the end of last month a similar case was once again in court. This time the situation and ruling was very different.

The NHS trust (north of England) involved was not seeking permission to force feed a 29 year old anorexic patient (known as L).

Bridget Dolan, representing the trust said. "It has reached a point where the NHS trust who have her physical care are of the view that force feeding is not in her best interests, notwithstanding that it is probable that if not fed she will die."

"The issue is what do the doctors do?” Ms Dolan told the court. “Do they force feed her against her wishes, or do they allow her to be the barometer by which the decision about how much nutrition she takes in is made."

After taking the evidence into consideration, Mrs Justice King ruled it would be in L's best interests for medical staff to provide her with nutrition, hydration and medical treatment, "in circumstances where she complies with that administration".

Medical staff were "not to provide L with nutrition and hydration" if she did not agree to it, and it was not possible to do "without the use of physical force".
Justice King’s order also stated that "all reasonable steps" should be taken to help L, including the use of persuasion involving her parents and others "in whom she might have some trust".

Should L enter the "terminal stage of her illness"; she should be provided with palliative care so that she "suffers the least distress and retains the greatest dignity until such a time as her life comes to an end.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

The Vatican newspaper comments on bald Barbie

Last weekend, the front page of L’Osservatore Romano the Holy See's daily, the official Vatican newspaper, carried an article about Mattel Inc’s Barbie doll.

In addition, internal pages of the paper carried on the Barbie doll theme by outlining the history of Barbie and said that Barbie was a part of the social psyche, i.e. reflected popular social changes.

The article appeared in response to Mattel’s donation of bald Barbie dolls (classified as a "friend" of Barbie) complete with a selection of wigs, hats and scarves to paediatric hospitals and the National Alopecia Areata Foundation in the US. The aim of the exercise is to demonstrate the effects of chemotherapy, other illnesses and conditions to children.

At the April launch of bald Barbie, Mattel said in a statement: "Through a thoughtful approach, we made the decision not to sell these dolls at retail stores, but rather get the dolls directly into the hands of children who can most benefit from the unique play experience."

The decision to issue bald Barbie dolls arose in response to a Facebook campaign, initiated by the mother of a girl undergoing chemotherapy; it attained 150,000 supporters.

The newspaper makes its approval of the initiative clear. Giulia Galeotti, author of the article, congratulated Mattel for evolving Barbie. Barbie has appeared in many guises over the years (doctor, airline pilot & an aerobic dancer) and for its creation of diverse Barbie dolls, including Barbie's friend Becky who uses a wheelchair.

However, all his words were not complimentary. Giulia also highlighted areas where he felt Barbie had had a less positive effect. He said Barbie was, "one of the most criticised and stigmatised [dolls], and rightly so".

Due to her "perfect and unreal" figure, Barbie represented "plastic beauty and vacuous blondeness", adding that "plastic surgery was part of her DNA, before plastic surgery became routine."

In an attempt to advance the evolving Barbie even further, Giulia asked. "Why not sell the bald Barbie?"

"Doubt remains," he stated. "How many of us have ever really found these Barbies on shop shelves? Why is there no trace in the real world of this line-up of politically and educationally correct dolls?"

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Olympic qualifiers deserve respect

As I write this, Olympic organisers, politicians, actors, musicians, comics, volunteers (thousands) and of course the sports men and women medal winners are, justifiably so, giving themselves a pat on the back for a very successful London 2012 Olympic Games.

Between them British sports men and women collected 65 medals: 29 gold, 17 silver and 19 bronze.

The games unexpectedly captured the nation. At times the watching public sat on the edge of their seats, bit their nails in silent support, shouted encouragement at their tv screens, groaned in disappointment and mirrored both joy or despair as team GB members triumphed over their fellow competitors or failed to attain their goal.

“I’m not into sports”, said my 78 year old neighbour a few days into the games. “I have no interest in the Olympics, but it was on the telly so I watched it. Now, I’m all caught up in it. It’s really good and I find myself watching lots of different sports”.

Whether or not our Olympic qualifiers came away with a medal (whatever colour), I think everyone who took part in the games deserve our respect.

Participating sports men and women have studied hard, worked even harder and sacrificed a lot, in pursuit of their sporting dreams. Most of us watched in awe, as years of commitment to hone a hard won ability gained by slowly advancing their physical and mental capabilities, culminated in individuals securing a place at the Olympic Games to represent Great Britain.

The path to competing at the Olympic Games i.e. to be counted amongst the best in the world at their chosen sport, is not and easy one. It requires a strict nutritional, fitness and lifestyle regime, self-discipline, determination, courage, attainment, excellence, perseverance and the ability to bounce back from failure, injury and disappointment.

Olympic qualifiers are the modern day ‘heroes’ that have the values that I would like my children to admire and develop, whether or not their goals are sports related.

We send our congratulations to all the sports men and women qualifiers, who took part in the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Monday, July 30, 2012

The objectification of women

Objectification is the practice of perceiving something that is not an object, as though it was a concrete object/thing. Over the years we’ve read studies and had numerous discussions about Objectification, particularly the objectification and sexual objectification of women.

A US study, published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, has found that when looking at images of men, both men and women looked at the whole image (“global” cognitive processing). However, when looking at images of women, both genders viewed the image as a collection of individual parts (“local” cognitive processing).

In the study: 1. An equal number of men and women were shown a set of images depicting a head
to knee shot of men and women. 2. All the images were fully-clothed and looking straight ahead, into the camera. 3. The process was repeated, but this time they were shown two pictures, the original
and an edited version of the original showing the groin area. 4. Participants were then asked to indicate the image that they had already seen. 5. Irrespective of gender, group members typically selected the head-to-knee image of
the male images and the groin area of the female images.

"It could be related to different motives," said Sarah Gervais (professor of psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln). "Men might be doing it because they’re interested in potential mates, while women may do it more of a comparison with themselves”.

Researchers, who conducted the study, were unable to identify the reasons behind the results. "What we do know is that they’re both doing it”, concluded Sarah Gervais.

The studies findings are interesting. However, it would have been more informative if researchers had factored in and accounted for the role of the media, advertising, culture (social/celebrity) and gender roles. These all have a significant effect on perception, attitudes and behaviour, particularly mindsets and associated behaviour that are formed over time (conditioning).

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Hair Types - Francesco Group

Not long ago, I was talking to a self employed black hairdresser; who had a couple of salons. During our discussion she told me the biggest business problem that she faced was the common belief that she was an Afro Caribbean hair expert and was not competent to work with other hair types. This inaccurate assumption was pigeonholing her business and undermining its growth potential.

This weeks Under Cover Boss (Channel 4), highlighted the opposite side of the same coin i.e. non ethic salons inability to cater for Afro Caribbean hair.

Posing as a new customer, senior manager Jacqui McIntosh went under cover in Francesco salons. She booked an appointment to have her hair done in a Shropshire salon. After being seated and offered a drink, Jacqui was then left waiting for a long time and she increasingly became aware that staff were discussing an issue which clearly involved her.

Eventually, a stylist approaches and tells her that they don’t specialise in Afro Caribbean hair. The stylist also informs her that the Francesco group do have some specialist salons and helpfully gives her a few telephone numbers.

Knowing that every Francesco salon should be able to deal with every hair type and that all salons stock two brands of shampoo and conditioner that could be used; Jacqui persisted and asks why they felt unable to wash and blow dry her hair. In response the stylist repeats that her hair type is specialist, they don’t have the required products and that she had never been trained.

“As a group that’s something we have to look at”, said Jacqui commenting on the incident moments after leaving the salon. “That is not a good client experience”, “There sending me 30 minutes away to get my hair done. Who is going to do that, because I’m not. I can understand if I was looking for a chemical service, but something as simple as a shampoo and blow dry. I just think that’s disgusting”.

Article

Thursday, June 28, 2012

'How unexpected that this rapper would do this'

We have all heard the axiom, 'don’t judge a book by its cover'.

The saying was never truer than in last week’s The Graham Norton show. In this case, a more accurate statement would be, ‘don’t judge a man by his race or profession.’

During the programme, actress Miriam Margoyles (71) said, without malice, to Will-i-am.

"I'm just fascinated by you ….because unfortunately, I don't know many black people, except in show business and that's what's so nice."

On hearing about Will-i-am’s £500,000 donation to the Princes Trust, Miriam,said in genuine admiration.

“Your absolutely right, you’ve done the right thing”. Placing an encouraging hand on Will-i-am’s knee she continued, “and everybody admires you for it… I think that’s fantastic… really. There are a lot of wealthy people who do very little".

Later after hearing that Will-i-am had raised 7 million dollars to create a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) school in the ghetto he grew up in, Mirriam responded.

“You’re fabulous, you really are… This is fantastic … this is fantastic. You're making a difference. He’s making a difference and that’s what we all want to do with our lives”.

Turning to Will-i-am she continued. “I am nearer death than you are believe me and I want to have made a difference. I haven’t got 7 million, but I agree with you education is key to the future and how unexpected that this rapper would do this. I don’t have a very positive attitude towards rappers. I don’t really know any, you’re the first one I’ve actually talked to”

Ignoring the surprised gasps from the studio audience, an unphased Will-i-am responded lightly, “I'm the first rapper and black guy you kicked it with… we need to kick it more”.

“Right-oh”, Miriam replied.

In response, Will-i-am collapsed with laugher and placed his head on her shoulder (picture).

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Life or Death - The Right to Choose

This week, the issue of an individual’s right to choose whether they live or die, was widely discussed when two cases ended up in court and in the headlines.

The first was the decision by Justice Peter Jackson to uphold the states right to keep a 32 year old female anorexic sufferer known as ‘E’ alive.

The second case centred on a stroke victim. Tony Nicklinson (58) tragically had a stroke in 2005, which left him mentally sound, but paralysed from the neck down, unable to speak and only able to communicate through blinking his eyes. His condition is known as 'locked-in syndrome'.

“I believe that everyone has the right to take their own life if that is what they want to do”, commented a counsellor who I know professionally. “I wouldn’t try to talk them out of it”.

Personally, I do not support suicide or assisted death; but I do support medical non intervention if a terminally ill, mentally competent person, decides with their own free will, that they do not want to take life prolonging medication.

This is a very emotive subject, where a person’s beliefs, values and past experiences will determine the side of the fence they are on.

Read Article

Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Low self esteem

In this months article, we discuss low self esteem with a 21 year old university student. She made the statement below as she contemplated the reasons behind her low self esteem.

"Well, I was fine up until a couple of months ago … I think, " she said. " Then my dad said, 'I don’t think you realise how much people like you, do you' ? I think that sort of hit a nerve in me.

'No', I thought. 'I don’t think people do like me'.

That’s something that I have had in me for a while…. I don’t know. I’m a bit harsh on myself I think.

If I do something that I think is even a little bit wrong I tend to beat myself up over it. You know, just really be critical with myself".

Discussion

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Fat by another name

“I am your mother”, I often say to my children in response to them asking a question; a question that I’m not sure that they want an honest answer to.

“You know I will give you an honest answer", I add. "Are you sure you want to hear it”? More often than not they mentally brace themselves and indicate that they do want to hear what I have to say.

Although I believe in giving honest answers, I am also aware that I am fully responsible for the way that my words are delivered and to some extent felt by the receiving party. This is particularly true when I speak to young children/teens.

That said, I don’t think it right or fair to water down the truth to such an extent that the essence of the message is lost.

This week the All Party Parliamentary Group on Body Image has called for the use of “weight-neutral language" rather than labelling people fat, overweight or obese. The reason being, that these words have negative connotations and adversely impact body image and self-esteem.

"It's clear that there's something seriously wrong in society when children as a young as five are worrying about their appearance, based on the messages they are seeing all around them," said Rosi Prescott Central YMCA chief executive.

The problem arises when you try to decide what words to use instead; ‘full figured’ perhaps? Then there is the issue of the new words themselves gaining native overtones over time, resulting in the need for cyclic (politically correct) adaptation.

Personally, I advocate the appropriate and (if required) empathetic use of words that best fit the situation.

The All party group have also recommended that school children should take part in compulsory body image and self-esteem lessons; lessons that we have been delivering for quite some time. Workshop

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Debating BMI

The government’s official stance when it comes to classifying a person’s weight is to use their body mass index (BMI). It is calculated by dividing weight (kilograms) by height squared. BMI rates someone as underweight, normal, overweight, obese or clinically obese.

I have never been a fan of BMI, largely because I’ve always perceived it to be inaccurate. My BMI reading categorises me as overweight. This is because BMI doesn’t take into account the fact that I am very muscular; the result of exercising 3 times a week for over twenty five years. Similarly, my 6ft brother, who is a very muscular as a consequence of his regimented weight training, is rated clinically obese, despite the fact that he has low levels of body fat. This means we are both classified as less healthy than our fatter, but lighter counterparts.

Another problem with BMI, it does not distinguish between fat in different parts of the body. Fat in the abdomen, and surrounding the heart, liver and kidneys, has been identified as being more detrimental to health than fat deposited on the bottom or hips.

Dissatisfaction with BMI is not new. In October 2006 the BBC reported that some health organisations, including the World Health Organization, wanted to introduce a more accurate (perceived) ‘hip-to-waist ratio’ system. At the time the Department of Health spokeswoman responded with the following statement.

"We are aware of criticism ….but this is the agreed system and we will continue to use it."

The BMI debate is once again in the headlines. This month researchers (UK), who studied 300,000 people, concluded that a waist to height measurement was a more accurate predictor (than BMI) of health issues such as high blood pressure, diabetes, strokes and heart attacks.

"Keeping your waist circumference to less than half your height can help increase life expectancy for every person in the world," said Dr Margaret Ashwell (who lead the study).

Whether you use BMI, ‘hip to waist’ or ‘waist to height’, the result will (at best) be applicable to most people. There will always be exceptions to the rule.

Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Finishing the London Marathon when paralysed

I love this story. It’s very inspirational and illustrates how someone can overcome adversity, challenge themselves and, at the same time, raise thousands of pounds for a good cause.

Claire Lomas 32, started the marathon in April with 35000 runners. Since then she has been progressing at a speed of 1½ miles a day. Today, she will be the last person to cross the finishing line; 16 days after the race began.

In response to a question asking for the reason why she decided to take on the marathon challenge, Claire replied. “Before my accident (a riding accident left her paralysed from the chest down) I'd always had a lot of challenges with horses; I'm that type of person.

“You know”, she continued. “It doesn’t change who you are when you have a spinal injury. You still want to push yourself. So for that reason and the reason of raising as much as I can.

“What Claire is doing is incredible”, said TV presenter, Ben Fogle. “Proving that you can get back from a sporting injury and take on the marathon; she has been walking for days and days for spinal research, it's so uplifting”.

Claire will not be a recipient of an official London Marathon medal, because rule changes this year mean that, to qualify, participants must finish on the day.
Before taking up the marathon challenge, Claire had only walked about a mile in her ‘ReWalk’ robotic suit, which she described as a "heavy piece of kit".

To date, Claire has raised approximately £80,000 for Spinal Research.

Congratulations Claire!

Friday, May 04, 2012

Mind matters

A close friend of mine has a son who suffers from manic depression, Tourette's syndrome and other mental health issues. He is 18 years old and has recently lost counselling support, because he was no longer a child, but was not getting help as an adult. My friend said that he had "fallen out of the system", but still needed counselling. She then, knowing that I had studied counselling for 2 years, asked me to counsel him.

I kindly explained to her that I thought her son needed to see a professional mental health care specialist. Happily, she took my advice and went to see her doctor. Now her son is getting the help he desperately needs.

1 in 4 people will experience some kind of mental health problem each year. Mixed anxiety and depression is the most common mental disorder in Britain.

As a society, we tend to focus on the physical body (both healthy and unhealthy). People with mental health issues are often ignored, disadvantaged or worse abused.

As you will see from our home page, we firmly believe that '"the mind matters".

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Comparing then and now

15 years after the release of the blockbuster Titanic, comes the 3D version and the expected comparisons of 'then' and 'now'.

Although there was no Kate Winslet and Leo DiCaprio reunion, the release of the 3D film, still had elements of a reunion. Reunions often give rise to mixed emotions. Alongside the excitement of meeting up with old friends and acquaintances, sits anxiety associated with comparing yourself to others.

Will I be less prosperous? Will I have achieved less professionally, have more failed relationships or have less accomplished children?

Then there is the touchy issue of physical appearance. Will I look older, fatter, less well dressed, have more gray hairs or less hair than my peers? The list is much longer than the few I’ve highlighted.

"We do look very different, we're older", said Kate in a recent ITV Daybreak interview about the new release. "Leo’s 37, I'm 36; we were 21 and 22 when we made that film."

"You know he's fatter now; I’m thinner". Almost as if realising that a comparison which is unflattering to her co-star Leo was inappropriate, she added a little defensively. “It’s true though!”

Commenting on her thoughts about their younger selves, she said. “I put my glasses on and I sat there all excited and then the second my face came on I was like, "Oh my God, make it stop, switch it off, somebody make it stop, turn the sound down, is that what we looked like? Oh my God, look what I looked like and look what Leo looks like!"

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Living to 100

35% of the babies born this year will live to celebrate their 100th birthday in 2112 (Office for National Statistics).

This year, 14,500 people are expected to reach their centenary. By 2035 the figure is expected to have increased to 110,000.

I find the idea of living to my 100th birthday rather exciting, but only if I am healthy, self sufficient and have a good quality of life.

After much discussion and reading numerous online comments on this subject; it’s clear that many people fear an old age in which they are in poor mental or physical health (increasing), lonely or abused. There is a clear preference for quality over quantity.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Hoarding ill-fitting clothes

A wardrobe study by TK Maxx and Cancer Research UK (women) found:-

- 80% hoard ill-fitting clothes, especially jeans.
- 25% keep expensive clothes that no longer fit (they can’t face giving them away).
- 12.5 % knowingly buy clothes that are too small, in the hope that they will lose enough weight to fit into them.
- 10 % keep old clothes for nostalgic reasons, because they represent happy periods in their life.
- 8% keep four different sizes of certain items of clothing (of these 66% are holding on to them in the hope that they will be able to fit into them again).

TK Maxx is now calling for women to pass on their unused outfits to the charity Give Up Clothes for Good.

I have clothes going back 15 plus years. Some fit, some don't. A few are in fashion (again!); others are stuck in 1990's and early 2000's.

In response to TK Maxx and Cancer Research UK’s suggestion, I have decided that our local charity shop will benefit from the good stuff. The rest will either be thrown out or kept for sentimental reasons.

Thursday, March 08, 2012

International Women's Day

Today is International Women's Day. It is a day to acknowledge, reflect and celebrate the achievements of women around the globe. Achievements, that have been won in spite of the many challenges they face.

The first International Women's Day was held in 1900. There is no denying that activists (early and current), have dramatically improved the quality of life of an immeasurable number of women.

Fortunately, campaigners are not complacent and are forging ahead; in a bid to achieve greater success. In many regions of the world, women are still subject to violence and oppression, have no vote, limited access to education, are under represented in government and denied human rights.

As a woman, I am very happy that my daughter will face less issues and obstacles, due to the fact that she is female, than I did. I am sure women rights campaigners have been an essential part of the transformation that has taken place in our society.

I look forward to the day when all girls and women, wherever in the world they reside, will be able to live a safe, happy and fulfilled life.

Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Inspirational Samantha Cameron

Yesterday the Daily Mail published a story with the headline ‘SamCam goes glam!‘

The story was based on the fact that Samantha Cameron had been seen jogging in makeup. It is the antithesis of last week's report that pictured a makeup free Mrs Cameron, with comments that she had 'worked up a sweat' and looked 'a bit bedraggled'. In truth, she looked no better or worse than you or I would look after an energetic run.

Hopefully, Samantha Cameron will not allow herself to be intimidated (intense media scrutiny ) into changing her jogging routine, appearance (makeup/outfit) or effort expended (sweat); so that she can escape negative comments in the press.

I thought she looked fit and healthy (with or without makeup); even inspirational, particular to women in the 40+ age group.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Dignity kindness and compassion

We all want to be treated as valued individuals; worthy of respect simply because we are human. This is even more so the case, when we are vulnerable and dependent on others for our wellbeing.

The NHS is often perceived as the epitome of an organisation whose services are caring, empathetic and open to all whatever background or circumstances come into play.

I was therefore concerned to learn that the Department of Health had asked the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to produce a quality standard and clinical guidance for the NHS.

Point one of the new guide (aimed specifically at adult patients) states that patients should be, "treated with dignity, kindness, compassion, courtesy, respect, understanding and honesty".

All very admirable, but it is somewhat disquieting that guidance, on this very basic level, is needed to address the issue of poor nursing care.

The NICE spokesman has stated that the guide, "is not mandatory, but we do expect NHS clinicians to take it into account."

Speaking personally (and I'm sure I'm not alone), I would sleep far more soundly if NICE had stated, " the guide is mandatory and we expect NHS clinicians to implement it in full."

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Mannequins are getting bigger

Shop Window display company Displaysense has reported a 16% increase in the number of mannequin orders specifying size 12-14 (with DD bust sizes).

Jim Moody (spokesman) said, “Curves are back and set to stay this spring/summer”.

He added, “… the commercial viability of the growing plus-size clothing market is being seized by high street chains and independent retailers alike”.

Recent market research by Mintel identified the fact that one in five Britain’s wear plus size clothing. This explains the 47% rise in the purchase of larger sizes during the past five years. The corresponding market is up from £2.7 billion to £4 billion and it is expected to increase (with the British waistline) by a further 43% by 2016 (£5.7 billion).

Considering the fact that the average British Women is (at least) a size 14; I’m surprised it has taken the mannequins this long to catch up.

Perhaps we should view, the increasing size of mannequins, as an admission by the fashion industry that real women do not and will never (in all probability), look like the thin mannequins that currently dominate shop displays.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Fashion Clones

I’m sure many people in their 70's who, lets face it, are often overlooked by the fashion industry, will be both surprised and pleased to hear Dame Vivienne Westwood’s latest comments.

“I don’t notice anybody unless they look great, and every now and again they do, and they are usually 70”.

Ms Westwood (70) made the observation during London Fashion Week. Elaborating she added that the British public, “have never looked so ugly as they do today regarding their dress.” This unfortunate state she put down to the rise of “disposable fashion” that has resulted in everyone looking the same.

“We are so conformist”, she continued. “Nobody is thinking. We are all sucking up stuff, we have been trained to be consumers and we are all consuming far too much”.

I 'm happy to confess that I have some sympathy with Vivienne Westwood's views.

However, I don’t think the general public is looking like fashion “clones” by choice. It’s simply boils down to the fact that the High Street that I grew up with, one that was filled with small independent fashion outlets, is dead. It has been replaced with big brands (much fewer in number) that offer the same things in high streets and shopping centres all over the country.

It’s no surprise that individuals, fed up of seeing others dressed in exactly the same outfits as them, quickly dispose of their fairly recent (and cheap) purchases, only to repeat the cycle next season.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Leadership and degree of attractiveness

Yesterday BBC Radio 4 presenter John Humphrys interviewed Ed Milliband for the Today programme. When discussing the Labour party's leadership role, John voiced his opinion that "politics has changed".

To explain his viewpoint further, John spoke about the late Robin Cook. 'Everybody accepted that he was a brilliant politician, brilliant mind, brilliant orator; could've been a great leader.' He stated, before continuing. 'I asked if he was going to go for it [labour leadership] and he said no. I asked him why not and he said "because I'm too ugly, they wouldn't have me".

'Is that a comment on me, John?' Ed asked.

Surely, as leader of the Labour party, Ed should have been interviewed on his party's policies i.e. how Labour intends to address the issues that affect everyday voters such as the economy, health and education. Linking his ability to lead his party with his degree of attractiveness is a very superficial way to determine whether or not he can effectively carry out the role.

Unsurprisingly John Humphrys, despite immediately backtracking the implication of his words, has been criticised for his comments.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Value as sex objects

A report published by the NHS Information Centre, has found that:

- 27% of females have sex before the age of consent.

- 1 in 10 young people aged 16 to 24 have
had 10 or more sexual partners.

- 26% of women and 32% of men aged 16 to 24
say they have never had sex.

     - 27% of men and 44% of women aged 16 to 24
     have been tested for the sexually-transmitted
       infection Chlamydia, compared with 6% of men
       and 12% of women in the 45 to 54 age group.

     - In their lifetime across all age groups, men have
     typically had 9.3 female sexual partners, while
       women have had 4.7 male partners (average)

- Almost 1:4 of all women (24%) have only ever
had one sexual partner, compared to 17% of men.

- 13% of women have had 10 or more partners of the
opposite sex, compared with 27% of men.

Shadow health minister Diane Abbott said: "The rising numbers of girls having under-age sex is alarming. It is not a cost-free phenomenon. It poses public health policy challenges and social challenges. The underlying cause must be the 'pornification' of the culture and the increasing sexualisation of pre-adolescent girls. Too many young girls are absorbing from the popular culture around them that they only have value as sex objects”.

My body beautiful have a ‘sexualisation of society’ module within our body image suite of workshops. Contact us for more information.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

With a pinch of salt

We knew about the extensive use of air brushing, particularly in magazines, to create unreal unattainable perfection.

We knew about the use of auto-tune technology in the X-Factor, that alters a contestant's natural voice.

We even knew that clothing retailers like H&M used "virtual" model bodies, with the face of a real model, in order to sell clothing online.

This week, we learned that the Frozen Planet's amazing "natural" scenes, which the BBC presented as taking place in the wild, was actually filmed in a zoo.

It now seems prudent to take all digital imagery and acoustics with a pinch of salt.

Friday, December 02, 2011

Size diversity in fashion

PhD researcher (Judge Business School, Cambridge University) and model agent Ben Barry has released some preliminary findings from his research:

“In my research featuring 300 women in Canada, the US and UK, equally segmented between 14-65 years of age, over 90% of women between 40-65 increased purchase intentions when the advertisement featured models reflecting their age and size. Women over 40 possess more overall spending power than any other age group, and they spend more on women's apparel than younger market segments. Moreover research has demonstrated that ageing does not reduce fashion interest among individuals.”

Campaign group All Walks Beyond the Catwalk, have responded:
“It’s official! Diversity can positively contribute to business. We know that since women of all ages are influenced by what they see on the catwalk and in fashion magazines, our industry could be vital in the promotion of healthy ideals and consumer well being. This news gives creative’s and retailers concrete evidence to act.”

All women, whatever their age, want fashionable clothes that fit comfortably and compliment their body shape. Anything that promotes this gets my vote.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Managing Anger

Studies (Columbia University) have identified the fact that angry children (consistently) were more dissatisfied, at age 30, than their peers who had less angry childhoods.

Below are 5 tips (for adults) to help children/teens control their anger:

1. Teach them how to clam down. This is best achieved by i) diverting the attention of younger children and ii) helping older children to talk/think about what they are feeling.

2. Instead of reacting, children and teens need should be taught that anger is a natural emotion, the response to which can be controlled. This is achieved by deliberately choosing a considered response.

3. Help them to understand what aggression is and its negative consequences.

4. Teach them problems solving skills.

5. Finally, teach them about goal setting and achievement (using real life examples), as this encourages them to behave in a way that will help them achieve their goals.

For more information see our Managing Emotions Workshop

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

i-Unhappy

The role of business is to make money (Milton Friedman). Business survive and grow by persuading consumers like you and me to buy their products and services. This is achieved by selling aspirations (desires/wants).

Realising this, I do have some sympathy for the sentiments recently expressed by Rabbi Jonathan Sack, speaking at an interfaith gathering attended by the Queen. In his talk he compared Steve Jobs to Moses by stating.

“The consumer society was laid down by the late Steve Jobs coming down the mountain with two tablets, iPad one and iPad two, and the result is that we now have a culture of iPod, iPhone, iTunes, i, i, i ".

"Through all the advertising", he continued, "and subtly seductive approaches to it (you’ve got an iPhone, but you haven’t got a fourth generation one); the consumer society is in fact the most efficient mechanism ever devised for the creation and distribution of unhappiness.”

Personally, I don't think Steve Jobs is to blame for our consumer culture. We see aspirational selling every time we open a magazine, watch a TV advert, or click on an internet banner; it goes far beyond the technology industry.

E.g. I can't count the number ads that I see on a daily basis:
i) depicting unnaturally beautiful, blemish/wrinkle free celebrities/models (beauty products)
ii) promising me the perfect slim body of my dreams, utilising a suitably super thin image (diets)

While disagreeing with some of the Rabbi's comments, I wholeheartedly agree with this one. “What does a consumer ethic do"? He asked rhetorically, before responding. "It makes you aware all the time of the things you don’t have instead of thanking God for all the things you do have."

Friday, November 11, 2011

Dressed for success

Dragon Den's entrepreneur Peter Jones made me laugh this week. His perplexed, bewildered expression as he walked around Innocent Smoothies head office was highly amusing.

Peter was interviewing Innocent's co founder Richard Reed for BBC 2's 'Peter Jones - How they made their millions". He was visibly unable to dissociate his perception of what successful business offices, men and women should look like, with the reality that confronted him.

"This does not look like a working environment", he said looking around the Astro Turf carpeted office. "It looks like a London play centre". Richard laughed and responded, "Well, it kind of is".

"You let people wear what they want to wear?" Asked a baffled Peter, as the camera focused on a barefoot employee.

"That's the point", Richard replied. "If you want to wear a suit, you are extremely welcome to wear a suit".

"I feel completely out of place", said Peter looking around uncomfortably.

"We would never judge someone by what they wear," said Richard unequivocally. "You have to wear what you are most comfortable in, so that you can do your best work. I've literally seen someone sitting at his desk in a dressing gown. That was perhaps pushing the limits of what you can wear about the office; he said he was cold".

"I'm seeing guys that are dressed very differently ... with respect", continued Peter a short while later. Next to him stood another of Richard employees, wearing a yellow and white t-shit, green shorts and yellow canvas shoes. "I would never let my staff turn up for work dressed like this," Peter stated before conceding, " but something works".

"People", began Richard, "work harder here than in 99% of businesses. People put in a huge amount of energy and personal commitment and take it very seriously. Just because we wear t-shirts to work, it doesn't mean we're not working really hard".

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

What makes you, you?

A blank confused stare is often the first response to the question, ‘what makes you, you?’

“I think, therefore I am", the philosophical Latin statement by René Descartes points to the fact that you (by simply thinking about the question) exist. So accepting that you exist, what makes you, you?’

Are you a product of your DNA, the views of the family you were born into, a religion that defines you, the relationships that influence you, the experiences that have shaped you, the education system that instructed you, the culture that directs you, the media that informs/manipulates you; or all of the above?

Read Article

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Social groups and online reviews

The conclusion drawn by Wahanda’s nationwide health and beauty poll (1,700 women aged 25 to 54) may surprise many of you.

When purchasing health and beauty products, the poll has revealed that despite our celebrity focused culture, 80% were not significantly influenced by celebrity endorsements, while 70% were more influenced by the opinions of their social groups and online reviews posted by the general public.

It would be interesting to see a similar poll detailing the opinions of 14 to 24 year olds. Based on our experience, particular in the classroom, teens and young women are greatly influenced by our celebrity culture. The health and beauty industry are very aware of this fact, hence the plethora of A … Z list celebrity faces that front the industries marketing campaigns.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

The importance of listening

Listening (effectively) is a very important part of human interaction. Particularly, when trying to help someone. Everyone wants to be listened to and validated.

Effective listening is:-

1. Active. It is not just about hearing what someone has to say. It is much more about getting an understanding of who they are, how they view life.
2. Gaining an understanding of any dreams, fears/concerns that they may have and what they want from you or hope to achieve.
3. Making the person feel validated i.e. that their viewpoint is valid and that they are of value and worth with listening to.
4. Offering compassion and showing that you care about their pain and empathise with them.
5. Listening with an open mind and realising that there are often many sides to a story.
6. Allowing the person to say what they want say, without trying to direct the discussion and focussing on the issues that you think are important.
7. Accepting that your input/opinion may not be required or accepted if offered.

Read Article

Monday, October 10, 2011

Sexually provocative billboard ads

Sexually provocative billboard ads could be banned in the light of growing concerns over the sexualisation of children.

Advertisements featuring X rated sexual imagery will be banned e.g. David Beckham underwear ads.

Billboard ads that pass this initial criteria, will be subject to stricter guidelines if they are to be displayed within 100 yards of a school. E.g. Bikini's will be acceptable, but images of stockings, suspenders, anything depicting parted legs or hands placed on underwear would be banned.

The ASA’s code has been sent to advertisers and agencies and is illustrated with sample images showing what is acceptable. However, the rules are subjective, so the ASA will address complaints on a case-by-case basis.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Naked protest

This week TV actresses/personalities Gillian Taylforth, Beverley Callard, Sherrie Hewsonand and Andrea McLean posed naked for a group photograph; in a bid to highlight the problems of ageism in television. The picture and interviews are published in this week's Best magazine - Body Image issue.

Gillian, 56, insisted that she had found it increasingly harder to get work in television the older she gets.

“In TV, it’s OK for men to be 50 or 60, but for women it’s very difficult. Older actresses can feel put by the wayside,” she told the magazine. "I left The Bill three years ago, and since then TV work has been harder to come by - it probably started in my late 40s,” she added.

Beverley, 54, concurred that the pressure has prevented her from enjoying getting older. “I’ve got less confident as I’ve got older, which is sad. I don’t feel comfortable in my own skin,” she said. "Women my age face a lack of parts because writers don’t write about women in their 50s. You used to confront ageism in your 50s, then it was in your 40s, now anyone over the age of 35 suffers the stigma of being ‘too old’,” she added.

Sherrie stated, "I'm very lucky. Loose Women is the only show that actually celebrates older women."

Andrea McLean, who at 41 is is the youngest member of the group said hat she was 'quite confident' when it came to her body.

Picture Here

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Business attire

A new study of 300 participants (Department of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire) has found that what you wear on the bottom half of your business attire matters. Trouser suits, the current uniform of choice for many business women, is second best to a skirt suit.

Individuals taking part in the study were asked to rate 8 images of women dressed in navy trousers or skirts of the same fabric, according to confidence, success, trustworthiness, salary and flexibility (facial features were obscured). Their timed 3 seconds decision, rated women in skirts more positively than those wearing trouser suits.

The study concluded that skirts create a better first impression than trousers and are more likely to lead to professional and financial success. The reason is that skirts, as opposed to trousers, give women an air of confidence.

This finding is the antithesis of previous research that suggested it was important for women wishing to succeed in the workplace to dress more like men.

Unsurprisingly, the research also warns against wearing low necklines or micro-skirts to work, as provocative clothing is seen as an indication of low professional status.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Cleanliness and feeling good

A survey by SPA Future (market researchers) has confirmed what we all knew, evidenced by the growth of male grooming products. The researchers found that 80% of the 1000 men surveyed used deodorant or body spray, 80% wash their hair with shampoo and 70% use shower gel.

Interestedly, male grooming products were not primarily being used to attract a partner. Instead, the majority felt that cleanliness enabled them to feel good, self confident and added to their overall sense of achievement.

Looking a little closer at the details; younger men spend more on grooming than their father's generation. Among 18 to 34-year-olds the monthly bill was £14.60, compared with £10.50 for those between 55 and 64.

I assume the 20% who don't use deodorants, body spray, shampoo or shower gel are of the opinion that soap will suffice.

Monday, August 29, 2011

With apologies to L.S. Lowry

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This weekend I saw a cartoon in the Telegraph that proved this statement true.

Imagine a Lowry painting, not dissimilar to the one above of Huddersfield in 1965. In the place of thin people, the cartoon titled 'Obesity Britain' depicted obese individuals, many queuing, in order to enter one the surrounding burger, chips, kebab, donut or pizza outlets. Hand written in the corner were the words 'Blower' (cartoonist) followed by 'with apologies to L.S. Lowry'.

Although the cartoon was undoubtedly amusing; it was also poignant and left me with the uncomfortable feeling that many people are facing serious health issues that they need to address.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Vanity sizes

One benefit of the current recession is the number of the sales and the large discounts that are available on the High Street.

On Saturday, I went shopping and didn’t really have time to wait in the long changing room queue. In the past, I could have selected size 14 clothes and purchased them (without trying them on); confident that they would fit. Now size 14 in certain outlets is too big and the number of shops in which this is the case is growing.

This issue is not new. It began several years ago and became known as 'vanity sizing'. It is basically a way of tricking women into buying what they believed to be smaller clothes, while in reality they were purchasing larger clothes.

Why is vanity sizing on the increase? Most women like to buy clothes and they are likely to mention or even boast about the size. Resizing to smaller sizes benefits the fashion houses and outlets. By giving women a false 'feel good' emotional high, fashion businesses are trying to ensure that they happily repeat the purchase experience.

Marks & Spencer's have commented that they are not sweetening the sizes or softening the blow; they have simply tweaked sizes so that they reflect the average body.

There was a time when tightening clothes encouraged me and many others to reduce our calorie intake, thus ensuring that we didn't unknowingly gain too much weight. Those days are sadly over.

Sunday, June 05, 2011

Let Children Be Children

The Bailey Review, into the sexualisation and commercialisation of childhood was made public this week. The review, titled 'Let Children Be Children' , was carried out by Reg Bailey head of a Christian charity. It is fully supported by David Cameron.

The review argues that is should be possible for parents to buy computers, devices or internet services with adult content already blocked, rather than parents having to implement the controls themselves. It also calls for age-ratings on music videos and greater controls on advertising in order to keep sexualised ads away from schools and playgrounds. Slogans and images it argues, “must be age-appropriate and without undesirable associations”.

Going further, Bailey is also demanding that high street stores sign up to the new voluntary code of practice which prevents the sale of clothes with sexually suggestive slogans to pre-teens . The new code, drawn up by the British Retail Consortium (BRC), has the backing of the government and is also expected to have the backing of major retailers.

Sarah Cordey spokesperson for the BRC said "There have been a few isolated incidents of items on sale that has created this myth that there's a lot of provocative clothing out there....No retailer wants to put stuff in their shops that upsets customers and that people don't want to buy - that's not good business. Responsible retailers carefully assess which products are right to have on their shelves and are anxious to keep consumers happy".

As a parent, I can honestly say that the proliferation of age inappropriate sexual imagery, in the market place/media space frequented by children, is making it difficult for me to stop by children being exposed to it. Any improvement would be welcome.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Born female, poor and black

Oprah Winfrey was born female, poor and black in 1954. At that time, she was perceived by society to be the wrong sex, the wrong colour and from the wrong background to achieve anything noteworthy.

Yet, despite the seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Oprah has overcome them all to become "the highest-rated program of its kind in history. She has been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century, the greatest black philanthropist in American history, and was once the world's only black billionaire. Oprah is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world". Details

Oprah announced the end of her 25 year old show, with the words, "this show has been my life and I love it enough to know when to say goodbye.

If Oprah she can excel from such humble beginnings, then there is no reason why you and I can't achieve our dreams too.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

I'm the shortest

As a business women, I have always made sure that my gender was never used to gain favour or as an excuse. Legally and morally, a person's age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or religion have no place in the workplace and are thus irrelevant.

I was thus both surprised and amused when accountant Edward Hunter (last nights 'The Apprentice') attempted to justify his poor performance with the words, "not only am I the youngest, I'm the shortest."

Was Edward inferring that he should be given special treatment, because short people are somehow disadvantaged? If so, he was definitely addressing the wrong man. Successful millionaire Alan Sugar is only 5ft 6".

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

The proliferation of Porn

The proliferation of pornography in our society is undeniable.

Feminist’s views on the prevalence of porno roughly falls into two camps. There are those that believe that it empowers women by putting them in charge of their bodies and sexuality, while the other half believes that it exploits women and reduces them to ‘meat’ in the eyes of men.

Whatever your viewpoint it is clear that the proliferation of free easy access porn will affect society.

Read full article

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Lady Gaga's self esteem

"I just feel like a loser still", stated a tearful Lady Gaga during an interview about her Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Gardens.

"It's crazy because we're at The Garden, but I still sometimes feel like a loser kid in high school.... I have to pick myself up and tell myself' 'I am a super star', every morning to get through the day".

Is this the real lady Gaga, born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, or is it just another public persona?

If the pain is real, then we are once again being made aware of the fact that outward ultra confidence can mask low self esteem.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

X Factor repeats mistake

After Susan Boyle, I thought the X Factor would have learned not to judge auditioning individuals on appearance. Apparently not.

This week 19 year old IT engineer Michael Collins made his TV debut. As soon as he appeared on the Birmingham stage, dressed in tracksuit bottoms and a casual hoodie, it became very apparent that the judges David Hasselhoff, Amanda Holden, and Michael McIntyre had very low expectations.

After introducing himself, Michael turned to plug his guitar into the speaker. As they waited, Amanda turned to Michael McIntyre and commented “He looks like he’s going on a long haul flight. ” In response Michael McIntyre laughed and added, ”on Easy Jet."

Following Michael's moving rendition of Fast Car (Tracy Chapman), all the judges were forced to acknowledge that they had been proved wrong.

“It’s like the Susan Boyle thing", Amanda admitted. "You completely judge people as you see them and it’s always a surprise.”

"We learn from history that we do not learn from history" - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Mind matters

Last month the Department of Health's Mental Health Strategy stated that it would be putting more than £400m into 'talking therapies' rather than drugs (almost 40 million Prozac - prescriptions were issued last year), to treat the million plus people who have mental health problems.

Studies show that undergoing counselling/psychotherapy is often more effective than pills when it comes to fixing the underlying causes of mental illness, because aims to alleviate psychological distress by retraining the mind to think more positively. Read Article

Monday, March 07, 2011

Empathy

Over the past few weeks the word 'empathy' seemed to be jumping out at me from newspapers, magazines and TV. It’s a word that took on huge importance during my counselling course.

Empathy is: The ability to understand and share the feelings of others.

From this definition you can see that empathy involves personal involvement. It requires the recognition of the thoughts, feelings and viewpoint of others. In an empathetic situation, a person will try to put themselves in the others shoes in a bid to understand, support and help them.

Showing empathy also means that you go about your daily life, being aware of how your actions can affect others. You therefore try to maximize the positives and minimise anything negative.

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”
–Atticus Finch - To Kill A Mockingbird.

Is mybodybeautiful and empathic site? We believe we are.

Our objective is to:
i. Bring body image and related subject matters into the spot light.
ii. Openly discuss and debate the issues arising from them, taking note of all viewpoints.
iii. Increase public awareness, in the hope of bringing about positive change.

Friday, March 04, 2011

Women in business

During one of our weekly meeting, a colleague expressed her unhappiness at having to give up full time work to look after her two small children. She graduated with a masters degree, but was now working part time in a role that didn’t allow her to use the skills she was trained in.

“I love my children", she said, "and I know it won’t be like this forever....”

She wasn’t the only one. Several women in the group lamented about i) the loss of a career/job ii) a necessary reduction in their work related status and iii) reduced working hours, as they tried to balance work and family life.

Against this background, we learned today that Lord Sugar believes laws preventing a potential employer enquiring about a female interviewee's childcare arrangements are "counter-productive".

He went on to say that women should be "bold and upfront" and declare their status regarding children... "I for one", Alan Sugar added, "would be very impressed with a person who settled this matter at the outset, telling me how they're going to organise their life in order to do their job; how important the job is to them and what they're going to bring to the party....Such people would jump up in my estimation." To Alan Sugars credit he did also stated that he'd had the "good fortune" to employ a number of women in senior roles. "I have to say that I've found women in business to be very focused, determined and ambitious".

This is a difficult dilemma. I know that it's difficult for employers, particularly those who rely on a few employees performing key roles, when someone goes on extended leave.

It's seems that when it comes to having families, women are in a no win situation. If they tell their prospective bosses that they are planning to have children, they may jeopardise their chance of getting a job. Then, even if they do secure a job, they are more likely than their partners (statistically speaking) to be the one making compromises later on.

Monday, January 17, 2011

A joke too far?

Yesterday Ricky Gervais hosted the Golden Globes award. It is fair to say that his 'jokes', in which he mocked both the organisers and celebrities, did not go down well with the audience.

One of Ricky Gervais's close to the knuckle jokes included a jibe regarding Hollywood's phobia about ageing and it's airbrushing culture.

"I was sure the Golden Globe for special effects team would go to the team that airbrushed that poster (Sex and the City 2). Girls, we know how old you are.... I saw one of you in an episode of Bonanza."

Robert Downey Jr, summed up the ceremony as follows. "Aside from the fact that it's been hugely mean-spirited with mildly sinister undertones, I'd say the show's going pretty good so far, wouldn't you?"

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Age discrimination

Congratulations to 53 year old ex Country File presenter Miriam O'Reilly who has won an age discrimination case against the BBC. Miriam was dropped when the program moved to a prime time slot.

" I deserve to be judged on my ability and not on my appearance.... I don't think having wrinkles is offensive", she told Sky News.

The BBC have "accepted the judgement" and said that they will apologies to her.

In the interest of fairness, we must say that the BBC do have older women presenters e.g. Angela Rippon, Gloria Hunniford and Jennie Bond recently returned to their journalistic roots in the new series of 'Rip Off Britain'.

Friday, January 07, 2011

Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions

2011 is here. This is the time when people traditionally reflect on the past year(s) and implement any changes that they want to make during the new year.

The top 10 resolutions for 2011 and predicted outcomes (Brand Keys survey) are listed below. You know the old adage. "What someone says and what they actually do are two different things."

1.Get yourself organized (89%)
2.Do things that make you happy (85%)
3.Learn something new (74%)
4.Exercise more (63%)
5.Watch your diet (58%)
6.Find a new job (50%)
7.Better manage your finances (45%)
8.Spend more time with your family (43%)
9.Quit smoking (30%)
10.Quit drinking (18%)

New Year resolutions facts:
    -    More than 75% maintain their resolutions past the first week,
    -    64% are still going strong after a month,
    -    Almost 50% are able to maintain them for more then six months.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Happy New Year

Wishing you a happy, healthy and prosperous new year!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Child sexualisation and the watershed

On Saturday night, I sat with my excited 8 year old daughter to watch X Factor (7pm - 9pm). The programme was also being taped. I sat in stunned silence following Christina Aguilera and her dancers appearance on screen. I was horrified that ITV thought it was acceptable to broadcast sleazy soft porn imagery complete with provocative costumes and simulated sex before the watershed.

Luckily, I quickly came to my senses and changed channels, much to my daughters dismay.

"You said I could watch X Factor", she protested.

"You can", "I replied. "In about 5 minutes when that song is finished. I don't want to watch, nor do I want you to watch half dressed people dancing like that. It's disgusting and unnecessary. Christina Aguilera can sing, she does not need to dress like that. True talent can be seen and heard; there is absolutely no need or excuse for dressing and dancing like that!". She gave me a look of pure exasperation, but wisely said nothing.

Both ITV and Ofcom have received over 1,000 complaints about Christina Aguilera's act. Ofcom’s broadcasting code states that ‘children must be protected by appropriate scheduling from material that is unsuitable for them ... Material that is unsuitable for children should not, in general, be shown before 9pm or after 5.30am.’ The code also states that: ‘Any discussion on, or portrayal of, sexual behaviour must be editorially justified if included before the watershed.’ Ofcom are assessing whether to launch a full-scale investigation into whether the raunchy material was ‘editorially justified’.

At the UK premiere of Burlesque last night, Christina Aguilera was asked if she thought her X Factor routine was too raunchy.

"I don’t think there is such a thing as being too raunchy when it comes to the art form of burlesque", she replied.

I've since learned that Rihanna's routine was equally inappropriate for younger viewers. Luckily, my daughter and I were having supper and I missed it.

As for the recording; it was immediately deleted.

Thursday, December 02, 2010

Your Hired

A new study, by Prof. Bradley Ruffle of Israel's Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, has found that being good looking is good for a man's job prospects, but is not so good for a women's.

Researchers discovered that job applicants in Europe and Israel were increasingly asked to attach photos of themselves in the top corner of their CV's.

During the study 5,312 CV's (in pairs) were sent to 2,656 advertised job openings. In each pair, one CV had no photo while the second contained a picture of either an attractive or a plain looking male / female.

The results showed that attractive men got more second interviews compared to the men with either no picture or were plain in appearance.

The opposite was found to be true for attractive women. "Among female candidates, no-picture females have the highest response rate, 22 percent higher than plain females and 30 percent higher than attractive females," Ruffle concluded.

The reason? According to the researchers, most of corporate personnel employees who were sorting through CV's are young, single women. Presumably, they weren’t keen on hiring the competition.

The female jealousy of attractive women in the workplace is a primary reason for the punishment of attractive women, according to the study.

Previous research, however, has found that good-looking female workers received higher raises than their plainer counterparts.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Don't call me fat!

Earlier this week, 'The Wright Stuff' reported the findings of a survey which found that 67% of US women would prefer to be called stupid, rather than fat.

In a similar vain, a couple of days ago I told my 8 year old 'no', when she requested a second slice of apple crumble.

"Why not"? She asked.

"You've had enough for today", I replied firmly. To my consternation, her bottom lip started trembling and eyes filling up with tears.

"Are you saying I'm fat"! She exclaimed.

This morning, I saw this statement posted in a forum that was also discussing the survey, "If that's what they believe, then quite possibly they are stupid".

While this response makes logical sense, like most things, it's not that straight forward. Our society associates very negative connotations to the word 'fat'. These include being unattractive, unsuccessful, lazy and lacking self control. Unfortunately, the programme didn't provide any other information about the survey, so we were unable to determine the respondents age group or other classification factors.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Measuring happiness

From Nov. 25 (ongoing), the Office of National Statistics will attempt to estimate Britons' psychological and environmental well-being. This will be achieved by adding questions to the government's existing household survey. It's hoped that this action will provide a subjective assessment of the British populations level of happiness, alongside more objective data such as whether or not we are achieving our "life goals." The new data will be published at regular intervals and will also be used to inform future government policy.

This sounds very soft and maternal in nature, but it's more substantial than it initially appears. Its in fact an attempt by the government to broaden our understanding of economic progress away from narrow economic measures like GDP and toward quality-of-life indicators such as health care availability and environmental sustainability.

So . . . what will this all mean for UK citizens? The jury is currently out, but this is exactly the kind of questions that policy-makers will need to tackle if they're going to keep both the economy and the population happiness on target, by implementing effective policy.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Ethnicity Interview - Part 2

In this month's article, we document part 2 of an in-depth interview with a black 38 year old married mother of two. She was adopted by a white family when she was 4 years old. In this and last months article, she poignantly tells the story of how she came to terms with her ethnicity and true self.

Extract:-

"Of course I’d been around black people before, but I didn’t understand them e.g. the food was all very alien to me. When I went to black households I felt a bit daft. e.g. I couldn’t understand my friends parents accents and they use to laugh at me and my brother. My friend would talk about food, prominent black people, whether they were associated with music or notable people from history perhaps … I knew nothing about it. I just felt even less black, because I didn’t understand the food, language or culture…I was a complete misfit".

Read Full Article (Part 1) Read Full Article (Part 2)

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Premature sexualisation of children

Amid the doom and gloom concerning the economy, national debt, public sector cuts and growing unemployment, we found a morsel of good news.

Yesterday, David Cameron publicised the coalition governments plans for the next few years. Along side plans for each government department, he announced the launch of an independent review to address the commercialisation and premature sexualisation of children.

This is good news. Speaking as a mother of young children, I hope it will result in a ban on all sexualised commercials and products aimed at children and teens.

Friday, November 05, 2010

Bankruptcy statistics

As a busy working mother, just one of the thousands of women who have to juggle family life and work; I was saddened to read the latest bankruptcy statistics.

Disappointingly, the number of women aged between 35 and 54 who are being declared bankrupt (or another type of insolvency) is rising faster than any other age group. The finger is mainly being pointed at divorce/ break-up and the fact that many have young or school age children.

Having children, who are almost always cared for by their mother, usually means that they need part time or flexibility work, which are limited in number. Many women are left with little option, but to take less skilled and consequently lower paid jobs such as the ‘five Cs’ – clerical, catering, cleaning, caring and cashiering. Unfortunately, the brave few who opt to set up their own business instead, are also becoming victims of insolvency.

Women have always had to fight in order to overcome challenges, and we will also win this battle in the fullness of time.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Autumn & winter collections

"It all about sales", admitted Gok Wan on local radio this morning. He continued, "branding makes up about 50% of that, because people buy into the whole package".

As the days get shorter and colder, I'm sure some of you are thinking about getting a new coat or outfit from one of this year's autumn/winter collections. Speaking personally, I'll be wearing the winter classics that I've collected over the last few years.

While others worry about wearing the latest fashion "must have", I'll keep my money for the years of austerity ahead; if today's huge budget cuts are are anything to go by.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Ethnicity Interview

In this month's article, we document an in-depth interview with a black 38 year old married mother of two. She was adopted by a white family when she was 4 years old. In this and next months article, she poignantly tells the story of how she came to terms with her ethnicity and true self.

Extract:-

"My colour use to bother me sometimes, because people use to comment about it, especially at school. At different times I wished that I was white, because I was different and I didn’t want to be different…. I wanted to fit in.

Its a challenge trying to like yourself for who you are, while not always being accepted for who you are....

As I grew older, it got harder, because you become more aware of what’s going on. As you grow up you meet more black people, but you just don’t feel like you fit in. You look black on the outside, but when they look at you they must know that you’re not really black… You’ve been bought up with a white family and you don’t have a black way of doing things. It’s really sad......" Read Full Article

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

We don't shape the media

This is an interesting body image documentary, that attempts to analyse the statement (philosopher Marshall McLuhan), "We don't shape the media the media shapes us."

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Women drivers

On Monday, while sitting in a hospital waiting room, a nurse came by pushing an elderly patient in a wheelchair. I and pulled my legs in and tucked them under my chair. A man in his early thirties, who was sitting next to me, also moved his legs well out of the wheelchairs reach.

"Don't you trust my driving", the amused nurse commented casually. I smiled, but before I could reply then man injected sarcastically, "no, your a women'.

Yesterday, Kaite Price was fined £1,000 after police accused her of using her mobile phone while driving her big pink horsebox. Her statement to the court that she was "a typical woman driver", brought Mondays exchange to the forefront of my mind.

I am a women driver, with a clean driving licence and full no claims bonus. I know many women would can say the same thing. Statistically speaking (according to Sheilas’ Wheels insurers), women are safer drivers than men and have lower car insurance to prove it.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Ordinary People

While many people pursue celebrity as a means of acquiring self esteem, recognition, success and wealth; this inspiring video depicts someone who is the antithesis of the celebrity culture.

The video elegantly illustrates how an ordinary person, in this instance it's a women called Ellen Ripstein, can excel in their chosen field. Even though they may never become a media celebrity, they are still able to experience significant personal achievement and a deep sense of satisfaction. Last, but by no means least, these ordinary individuals are also able to earn lasting respect from others.

Thursday, September 02, 2010

Enemies of Reason

Yesterday, I watched a portion of 'Enemies of Reason' on More 4. In it Richard Dawkins argued that irrational, superstitious thinking like astrology, New Age mysticism, clairvoyance and alternative medicine should be replaced with logic, observation and evidence; in other words, through reason.

While I am fundamentally opposed to many of Dawkins viewpoints, especially his stance on what he terms the "God Delusion", I do agree that science and common sense must not be ignored.

In the programme Dawkins stated that there was clear "prejudice against science's value", citing the decline in the number of students doing science at university. Physics places are down by 50% and chemistry is down by 33%.

"This", said Dawkins, "causes fundamental problems". The fashion throughout the education system is to "teach students to value private feeling more highly than evidence based reason." There is a lot of truth in this argument; it can equally be applied to the issues surrounding body image and physical appearance.

Humans are unique in a multitude of ways, no two humans (except perhaps identical siblings) are physically the same. We come in countless different colours, shapes and sizes. This being the case, why do the majority of people want to look like the celebrities and models they see in the media? It's time for everyone to recognise the absurdity of this particular desire, because humanly speaking, it truly unattainable.

In the words of Dawkins, "we must value verifiable evidence over private feelings, otherwise we leave ourselves vulnerable to those who would obscure the truth".

Monday, August 23, 2010

Allergic to rain

The next time you look :

- in the mirror and recoil at the fact that yet another wrinkle has appeared overnight or

- down at the readout on your bathroom scales and grimaced or

- at your hair in exasperation, because it is experiencing yet another 'bad hair day',

count yourself lucky!

Things could be a lot worse; like they are for Yvonne Simon dubbed 'the most allergic woman in Britain'

Yvonne is allergic to a multitude of things including deodorant, perfume, paint, fizzy drinks, minerals in bottled spring water, chocolate, onions, car fumes, hydrocortisone cream, nuts, bleach, fish, tea, coffee, oranges, tomatoes, latex, talc, newsprint dye, coins, banknotes, pasta, sunflower oil, dairy products, wheat, bread products, white rice, porridge, white sugar, sweets, cigarette smoke, nickel, gold, silver, food colourings, sulphates, calcium chloride and rainwater.

Read more: thesun.co.uk

We wish Yvonne a speedily recovery and hope everyone will learn to appreciate and celebrate life and health.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

NHS austerity

Visions of Britain 2020, a new health report is urging the government to reduce the amount of free treatments the NHS provides and to penalise unhealthy citizens who do not change their lifestyle.

The report commissioned by Friends Provident and the Future Foundation is raising the alarm, because it argues, the NHS cannot continue along it's current financial path and remain viable in the long term.

The survey of 1,000 consumers anticipates that by the end of the next decade, treatments like IVF, fertility, dental, drug, obesity and dementia treatments will not be offered free of cost.

“We all know that we should follow a healthy low-fat diet. " said Dr Sarah Brewer, one of the reports authors. She continued, "eat at least five (portions of fruit and vegetables) a day etc. But how many actually do anything about it? Unless an unhealthy diet and lifestyle is penalized in some way no-one will change”,

It is clear that we all need to start making healthy choices now. Those of us who don't will find the NHS austerity much harder to handle.

Monday, August 02, 2010

Contraceptive pills for pre-teens

More than 1,000 British girls between the ages of eleven and twelve have been prescribed the contraceptive pill by a family doctor, according to National Health Service statistics. This represents a five-fold increase in the past 5 years.

The age of consent is 16, but GP's have discretion to prescribe contraception to underage girls who they believe are having sex. Most of the girls were prescribed the pill without their parents' knowledge.

This only increases our concerns that children were being sexualised at an increasingly younger age. The issue has also raised disturbing questions about the prevalence of underage sex.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Fake is best?

Yesterday, during the delivery of our body image and self-esteem workshop to a group of year 10 girls, I decided to ask about the Channel 4 programme ‘The ugly face of beauty’ (last Friday's blog).

One of the girls had seen it, so I asked her if she agreed or disagreed with the programme's pupils who'd preferred the appearance of very obvious fake breast to large natural ones.

The reason given in the programme was that fake breasts allowed you to walk down the beach and not be embarrassed by your body. The fake breasts they insisted looked a lot perkier. One of the boys said he found them “more beautiful”.

If fake is better, then the pressure to undergo surgery will only increase. It is therefore not surprising that our largest cosmetic surgery clinic carried out 160 breast augmentation surgeries on teenagers last year.

I digress, back to my classroom conversation. Her reply to my “is fake better” question was disappointing to say the very least. She said that fake breasts were better because they didn’t sag. “Its all about what boys like”, she clarified helpfully.

“Don’t you think”, I asked “that girls should value themselves by who they are rather than what boys think they should be? “
“Yes”, she admitted soberly, “but that’s the way it is”.

I looked at her and the group in front of me and was suddenly filled with motherly compassion. They were great kids, very polite and it was disconcerting to realise that boys had taken on such importance, so early in their lives.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Weight jokes at the Glamour awards

This years Glamour Women of the Year awards took place in London yesterday, attended by Cheryl Cole, Billie Piper, Pixie Lott, Christine Bleakley, Alexandra Burke, Michael McIntyre, Fearne Cotton and Dizzee Rascal and Avatar star Zoe Saldana among others.

Sadly today's media buzz is not about what the celebrities were wearing or after party shenanigans; instead its focuses on an onstage row between Patrick Stewart and James Corden.

As a Patrick Stewart fan, it was disappointing to hear him say in response to what he perceived was Jaime's less than attentive behaviour, "from where I was I could see your belly and that was from right at the back of the room".

James retorted, "Sorry, I'm waiting for the punch line. You could see my belly... I can see you dying right now.'' Undaunted, Patrick referenced a quip James had made earlier about fancying Nick Jonas. He said: "If you fancy one of the Jonas Brothers, cover your belly."

Whatever Patrick may have felt about James's behaviour and attitude, making fat/overweight jokes was insulting, inappropriate and unacceptable in modern society. The audience, clearly unimpressed with Patrick's unbecoming performance, responded by jeering him.

After receiving her award from Patrick, Zoe Saldana jumped to James's defence, saying to a round of applause, 'For whatever it's worth, I like your belly.'

After Sir Patrick had left the stage, James told the audience, 'I feel bad for people who haven't seen my belly', before he lifted he shirt and rubbed his stomach.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Giving in to pressure

Yesterday, I was talking to Janet (not her real name), whose son is friends with my son. After a while our conversation turned to our daughters and makeup. Janet told me that she had given her 8 year old daughter permission to wear makeup. She confessed that she didn’t initially like the idea, but had eventually agreed, because her daughter’s best friends (also 8) was allowed to wear it.

To add to the confusion, the other mother in question had only agreed to her daughter wearing makeup, because someone else close to her daughter was allowed to wear it. Janet told me that she’d "given in to pressure" and still wasn’t completely sure that she had done the right thing.

"How long", I wondered, "is the chain of reluctant capitulating mothers"? It seems that child pester power is alive and well.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Looks good on telly

On the 15th April, Manchester hosted the first election debate between the main party leaders, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg.

The debate was a political first; it was also an aesthetic first giving birth to the requirement that one must "look good on telly" in order to win the popular vote. "It all comes down to what you look like", said Sky News.

With the country in a financial mess, against a background of raising unemployment; surely being photogenic should not have featured on the job description for the post charged with rectifying the situation.

Sadly, I think the celebrity-like attractive, young, charismatic even, dare I say it, airbrushed party leaders are here to stay.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

School reunion stress

Yesterday, the Wright Stuff discussed school reunions and asked if they were only for ‘shallow people’. The pre-reunion perception was that everyone would be talking about themselves and showing hundreds of pictures of their family.

The discussion was based on a survey which found :-

1. 93% of women go to see how everyone else turned out, compared to 43% of men.
2. 90% pretend to be happier than they really are.
3. 80% feel gratified after attending.

Anne Diamond said that she had been invited to several reunions, but was too scared to attend. Why? She would keep wondering, 'am I too fat, am I too thin or am I wearing the right clothes". "The stress", she stated, "would be too much.....I couldn't take it"!

Reminiscing on his reunion, one presenter said that 'hot' girls who had rejected him had appeared at his reunion looking as if they had one 'too many kebabs'. In response, Anne informed us that she'd attended an all girls school, so didn't have to face the situation where boys she had found attractive were now 'old and cruddy'. With a "pot belly", her co-presenter injected.

When did reunions become focussed on the physical? Where did the sense of joy and celebration go?

Monday, April 19, 2010

Vanity Sizing

Most women are aware of their approximate dress size. I say approximate, because in the last few years it has become more and more common for a persons dress size to be be determined by i) their true size ii) the store from which it is purchased and iii) the stores customer base. The phenomenon is known as vanity sizing, a scheme in which stores make clothing bigger so you feel smaller (by having to purchase a smaller size). e.g. A size 10 at Topshop will be different from one at Marks & Spencer, who target a more mature customer.

According to an article in the The Sunday Times, vanity sizing is on the increase. An M&S spokeswoman told the paper: "We are not sweetening the sizes or softening the blow for anyone but in 2007 we introduced a size 6 and a size 30 to our range and we tweaked the sizes on our website so they are based on an average body. We were trying to more accurately reflect what customers' body shapes would be showing them. We did not change the size of the garments."

John Lewis said it followed sizing guidelines from Sizemic but “emerging fashion trends and seasonal influences dictate sizing adjustments”. Gap said the way its sizes work “depend on the fit and style”.

Vanity sizing facts:-
A Marks & Spencer size 16 has risen from 38in at the bust, 31.5in at the waist and 41in at the hips in 2003 to 39.5-33-43 today
An M&S size ten has increased from 33.5-27-36.5 to 34-27-37
A John Lewis size 12 was 35.5-28-38 in 2008 but is now 36-30-38.5
Gap has expanded its size 14 from 37-29-39 two years ago to 37.5-29.5-40
The waist of a pair of men's French Connection slim-fit jeans was found to be six inches bigger than the advertised 30in
The waist of a size 12 skirt can vary from 28in at Next to 29in at Topshop, while a size eight bust is 31.5in at John Lewis but 38in in Gap

I hope the fashion industry will use common sense and introduce a standard way of sizing clothing (fixed measurements). It would make shopping so much quicker (less time in the changing room) and easier.

Standard sizes would also have the added benefit of alerting the purchaser to the fact that their weight/size was increasing. Speaking from experience, weight is something that often creeps on you unnoticed.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Lent

Lent is almost over. I have had several interesting and entertaining discussions about the issue. The religious advocated enhancing their spiritual lives by spending more quality time with God e.g. in prayer. One church leader proposed that his congregation de-clutter their homes and refrain from buying anything other than food, medicine and fuel.

Most secular Lent sacrifices centred around addressing the unhealthy elements of the individuals life. Some 'gave up', or drastically reduced their intake of junk food, alcohol, chocolate etc. Others 'took up' something e.g. extra visits to the gym or going to bed earlier. Someone even vowed to restart their failed new years resolutions.

With the general election campaign in full swing, I found those deciding to give up politics amusing. On a much greater scale, was the suggestion that society should come together and agree to give up plastic. A very green, if some what implausible idea.

One of the worst Lent suggestions came from my 8 year old; she wanted to give up vegetables! My favourite Lent sacrifice was undertaken by a friend who gave up the car. Within a couple of weeks he both looked and felt a lot healthier.

It's clear that people are anxious about their health (spiritual, physical & mental) and view New Year resolutions, Lent, an approaching anniversary ... as a catalyst to starting a new or restarting an unsuccessful regime.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Spencer Tunick

While I am not an advocate of public nudity (far from it); I do like the sentiments Spencer Tunick expressed this month, about his latest living sculpture Base. The sculpture consisted of people of all shapes, sizes, colours and backgrounds(5200 nude participants) coming together in order to encourage diversity and freedom.

“The base of any truly free society is acceptance that everyone is equal", said .Tunick. “Our bodies are equal; our souls are equal". He continued. "The body is a living entity. It represents life, freedom, sensuality and is a mechanism to carry out our thoughts. A body is always beautiful to me.”

Monday, March 15, 2010

Wanting to be darker or lighter.

What does sun beds and skin lightening creams have in common?

They both carry health risks and are used by individuals who are unhappy with their natural skin tone.

The Sunbeds (Regulation) Bill was recently passed to allay the risk of getting cancer from sunbed usage. The bill is targeted at addressing the increased risks that teens face.

Labour MP Julie Morgan, who proposed the legislation, said it would "save lives". Cancer Research UK Head of policy Sarah Woolnough said they were "delighted". Continuing "We urge the Government to prioritise this Bill to ensure legislation that will prevent young people putting their health at risk is in place before the upcoming election."

While the use of tanning beds controversy rages on, it's antithesis is also causing similar concerns here in the UK and in USA, Africa, India, China, Japan .... In this instance the issue is centred on the rise in the use of skin lightening creams. A survey carried out by the British Skin Foundation found that 16% of dermatologists believe lightening creams are ‘completely unsafe’, and 80% felt they are only safe when prescribed by a dermatologist (prescription).

Skin lightening creams can cause:
- permanent skin bleaching,
- thinning of skin,
- development of visible blood vessels,
- uneven colour loss leading to a blotchy appearance,
- redness,
- intense irritation, and
- blue-black discolouration of skin.

The skin tone debate is essentially it is a cultural debate; a debate that could have severe health repercussions. In the West, tanned skin is often associated with health, wealth and looking attractive. While in non white countries, especially ex-colonial, darker skin is associated with the lower classes (outdoor workers) and the uncultured.

Lighter or darker. Does it really matter? Isn't health far more important?

Monday, February 15, 2010

How old are you?

The anti ageing industry driven by the seemingly obsessive desire to preserve youth is pojected to reach £70 billion (world wide) this year. The need to stay young is an unstoppable phenomena that is now sweeping the young, not so young, middle age and older along in its wake.

Aging is a natural and inevitable part of life. It cannot be stopped although lifestyle choices can help you to appear younger than you really are.

So... how old are you. The answer is not as straight forward as you might think. Few people realise that their body cells are constantly regenerating themselves, thus whatever your age, parts of your body are much younger.

Bones: 10 years old (whole skeleton).

Brain: As old as you are.

Blood (red cells): 4 months.

Eyes: As old as you are.

Heart: Renewed every 20 years.

Liver: The 5 moths old.

Lungs: 2-3 weeks.

Hair: 3-6 years (to replace a whole head of hair).

Intestines: Lining 2-3 days. Rest 3-5 days.

Nails: 6-10 months.

Skin: Surface replaced every 2-4 weeks.

Taste Buds: 10 days old.

According to recent research, the average age of your body, your muscles etc (whole organs) is 15 years and a half years old. The discovery that most of our cells are younger than we are means that at a point in the future, it may be possible to significantly delay ageing by protecting or repairing our DNA.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Winter madness

On Saturday night my husband and I went to a friends birthday party. It was held at a restaurant in the city centre.

We both opted to dress for the weather. I wore in a warm suit, donned and a pair sensible shoes and grabbed my faithful winter coat before leaving the house. The short walk from the car park to our meeting place was particularly unpleasant. My coat offered very little protection against the biting winds that made minus two feel a good deal colder.

As we walked past the taxi rank, I noticed two young women both in their early twenties. Neither had a coat and they were both wearing a flimsy short dress. They were clearly freezing; visibly shivering as they huddled together. As a taxi pulled up I noticed that one in particular seemed to be having a great deal of trouble walking. I looked down and was shocked to discover that she was wearing 4 inch red stilettos. As she gingery inched her way towards the taxi's back door, she placed her hands on the side of the vehicle to acquire enough additional stability to enable her to eventually take her seat.

I know that times have changed since my clubbing days, but even so. Is dressing to impress really worth risking pneumonia and broken limbs? The whole episode left me speechless and for the first time I was able to put a meaning to the term 'winter madness'.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

New Year resolutions

According to a Tesco Bank survey. "Resolutions are back in for 2010 as many of us look to make a fresh start". The survey found:-

- More than four in 10 will start the year with at least one resolution
10 per cent up on the same time last year. - Less than one in five of Britons kept up their resolutions beyond January 2009. - Just six per cent kept our resolutions for the entire year. - Getting physically and financially fitter is top of the agenda for 2010. - More than half vow to save more money and budget better at the start of the
new decade as well as do more exercise and lose weight.

The end of December is the time of year when I look back at my Jan 01 new years resolutions to see which ones I've managed to keep and which ones fell by the wayside. Happily, this year I am able to avoid the usual depressing realisation that most of my resolution were broken within the first few months or even weeks.

Last year I made one new years resolution; which was not to make any resolutions at all. In consequence, when reviewing the past year, I do not have to look failure in the face or question the strength of my self control. This morning, I can see take a deep breath knowing that my self esteem is fully intact.

Having said all that, I am going to try something new for 2010. Rather than a list of doomed resolutions or no resolutions at all; this time I am going to adopt a slightly different approach.

In 2010, I am going to focus on what I want, rather than what I don't want. e.g. I don't want to be overweight, but I do want to be healthy and relatively fit. I am not going to give up anything, nor am I going to adopt anything short term. These resolutions will be long term, rolling over from one year to the next.

This time next year, I hope to be healthier, fitter and happier. I also hope to have positively contributed to the lives of my family, friends, colleagues and anyone who comes across my path.

Happy New Year.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Reality check

... Cinderella and the prince lived happily ever after.

We have all grown up with the Cinderella fairy tail. Today Jane McDonald (Loose Women) commented that Cinderella's happy ending was responsible for some of the pain and suffering that she had been through. The problem was that it had given her an unrealistic impression of what relationships were really like. She argued that girls should be given "a reality check". The task could be very easily accomplished by revisiting Cinderella 15 years after her fairy tail had ended.

Jane stated that you would find that Cinderella " had 5 kids, gained 4 stones and that the prince had run off with the milk maid".

While I agree that we should be promoting a realistic not idealistic view of relationships ... and body image, wealth and celebrity aspirations, to name a few other areas that we need to address; I don't think it's necessary to go as far as re-writing Cinderella.

Friday, December 04, 2009

Not without faults

The recent media furore surrounding Tiger Woods accident was the focus of a commentary in yesterday’s Times. The basic premise of the commentary, by Simon Barnes, was neatly summed up by the title “Our sporting gods have been letting us down badly with mortal behaviour”.

He concluded it with the statement “The fault is not in sportsmen for failing to be perfect: it is in us, for our profound and foolish need for them to be so”.

His final words struck a chord with me. It’s not only sportsmen who modern society has raised to giddy heights were perfection is not only desired, but a necessity.

"Sport [for the purposes if this post read celebrity] is our modern mythology, and every myth needs a hero" stated Barnes.

We not only demand super human perfection in a celebrity's behaviour, we also require unrealistic perfection in their physical appearance.

Gaining weight, having a few wrinkles/spots or showing signs of aging; in fact ‘imperfection’ of any sort is treated as if the offender (hero) had committed an unforgiveable crime.

On an almost daily basis we are bombarded by scores of media articles and images of their plummet, from celebrity heaven, to earth. Once here they are forced (often temporarily) to reside with you, me and all the other imperfect mortals.

In a statement on his website Tiger Wood stated “I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect”.

The sooner we accept that celebrities, from all walks of life, are not “without faults”’; the sooner we will be able to accept ourselves and each other just as we are, perceived imperfections and all.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

No more excuses

This week Simon Oliveira (David Beckham's agent) announced that "David has suffered with this [Asthma] since he was a young boy but it has obviously had no effect on his performance. " He continued. "He has never sought to make it public, but if it does inspire any sufferer to think they can achieve great things like many other sportsmen have done then so much the better.”

David isn’t the only sporting asthma suffer who has managed to achieve significant public and personal success. Other names include Paul Scholes, Paula Radcliff, Austin Healey and Karen Pickering.

If David and company can overcome asthma to achieve considerable success; than you and I can also overcome perceived obstacles in our own lives.

No more excuses like I’m:-
too fat
too short
the wrong colour
too old
the wrong sex
not clever enough
of the wrong social class
Etc.

Instead, lets all aim high and follow our dreams.

Friday, November 06, 2009

The baby of overweight parents

The news this week that a newborn baby girl was removed from her family by Dundee City Council, because (alleged some initial reports) her family were overweight, was a cause for much concern.

Digging a little deeper, it appears that there is a lot more to the story than the initial media uproar about 'fat families' inferred. In reality, the council had a 10 year relationship with the family and have stated that the decision to remove the baby was not solely based on the parents weight. The baby has now been returned to her family.

We all know that being overweight is a health hazard. I have overheard and even taken part in numerous debates about whether overweight people should be made to financially contribute towards i) any NHS care that result from being overweight and ii) a second seat on an aeroplane. The recent debate about whether a baby should be taken away from overweight parents is in another league altogether. If true (no evidence to support this), it would have carried huge implication for many who are overweight and society at large.

Photo: Michey Kirilloff

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

White Beauty Myth

Not very long ago my husband and I were having a 'haven't things changed' conversation. On this occasion we were discussing the British diet. "Do you remember when the staple evening meal was bangers and mash", I asked. 'Yes' he replied reminiscing , " and takeaways consisted of fish and chips, with or without mushy peas". "Ah how times have changed" we chorused.

After watching 'Bleach, Nip, Tuck: The White Beauty Myth' last week, I was left with the depressing realisation that while our society is embracing the variety of foods that the different cultures bring to the British melting pot; it is at the same time, trying to turn everyone into one homogenised physical form. The idealised form is essentially the Westernised depiction of beauty; namely white, tall, slim, full breasted (but not too full), with moderate amounts of body hair on males etc. The phenomena of trying to look like another race (white), often via cosmetic surgery, is known as deracialization .

The problem with this ideology is that we are not all the same. As human beings, our genetic makeup ensures that we come in an array of different colours, heights, body shapes, weights and even hairiness. Some physical features are associated with a one ethnic group, while other features are associated with another group.

Asian men are often shorter than white men, yet the film depicted a Malaysian man contemplating radical leg lengthening surgery in the hope of gaining 4-6 inches in height. Why? He said that people 'made fun' of him and made him 'feel insecure'.

A full figured black women with large breasts wanted to be 'like Victoria Beckham'. She underwent a breast reduction, despite fearing death and leaving her children without a mother. She is now preparing for a breast lift and is also planning a tummy tuck.

They were followed by a AA cup Chinese lady who wanted to 'look like white women' and feel 'less of an outsider' by having bigger breasts.

Finally we saw a middle eastern man endure laser surgery to remove his 'unnecessary hair'.

The plastic surgeon explained his understanding of the rationale behind deracialization. "We live in a global society and it is normal that we are influenced by different civilisation and cultural variables...... We are essentially thinking loudly about a common race, one that is better than any existing race and cosmetic surgery is contributing to this goal".

I think it is a tragedy that across the globe people are rejecting the very essence of who they are, both racially and culturally, in order to obtain the unobtainable. And even if it was possible for us all to be Western in appearance; what a tragedy for humanity that would be.

I fully intend to watch part 2 and expect to be left with an equally bitter taste in my mouth.

Comforting sweets

The recession has increased our desire for comfort. This is not very surprising as the continuing credit crunch and rise in unemployment offers little comfort or tangible 'green shoots'.

Consuming comfort foods; such as traditional cuts of meat and sweets has emerged as one way of satisfying the desire. Waitrose has recently highlighted the increase in the purchase of old fashioned sweets, rather then the latest offerings. Their best sellers are:

1. Aniseed balls
2. Shrimps
3. Sherbet pips
4. Lemon bonbons
5. Sweet peanuts
6. Chocolate mice
7. Strawberry bonbons
8. Liquorice torpedoes
9. Toffee bonbons
10. Foam bananas

The Waitrose experience is also shared by Marks and Spencer (fizzy cola bottles, rhubarb & custard and wine gums). Eager not to miss out, House of Fraser and Harvey Nichols are in the process of reviving their lines of old fashioned sweets.

Is this phenomenon evidence of today's nostalgic adults attempting to return to a time when they didn't have to worry about unemployment or falling house prices?