On Doing Your Bit

Now that we have the formalities out of the way- we've introduced ourselves in an introductory post, and Vida has shared with you her first eloquent and beautifully written train of thought (just a warning: my posts will never be as much of a joy to read), I figure it's time for me to sit down and actually, you know, write something. I mean bloody hell, Daisy (Queen of Procrastination), we've had this blog for at least a month now.

The first post, from me to you, is not, in fact, my own tale. Because I am lazy and have a shit ton of art coursework to finish (yay). It is instead something rather funny that my Mum told me when she got home from work yesterday; but if you're a sassy chick with a fine sense of humour (which I am sure all of our 0 followers are/have) then you should be able to appreciate it nevertheless.

Mum works at LSE. For those of you who don't know, 'LSE' is shorthand for the London School of Economics and Political Science. It is situated in Aldwych and is able to pride itself for being one of the top Universities in the country- probably the world. In some way or another, the school gets a whole bunch of magazines which they then give out to staff and students for free. Fine. Of course this is a great thing. Free stuff. When is free stuff ever not a great thing?

According to my Mum, free stuff stops being a great thing when it starts to consist of free copies of FHM, the front covers of which are more often than not used to display photographs of near enough naked women (!!!!!!!!!!! Right on, Mama Keefe!!!!!!!!!!))))))))

'I was shocked, more than anything,' explained Mama Keefe to me, 'that this school, which has always been able to say it provides equal opportunities regardless of gender, could have such a blasé attitude towards the encouragement of demeaning and inappropriate images of women being easily available for public viewing. And for free!' (YES MUM. YOU GO GIRL.)

Then Mum proceeded to tell me the best bit. Apparently she was with one of her work mates when she saw these boxes full of disgrace, ready to be given out. 'I felt like a rebellious fifteen-year-old' she said in between the snorts in her laughter. She said that her and her mate decided that just to make a point, they would carry the boxes to the bins and be rid of them forever. The thought of my Mum carrying some ten boxes full of magazines down endless flights of stairs to the nearest bins- cigarette in hand, undoubtedly, made me laugh the exact same, piggy laugh (apparently snorts are hereditary). I literally welled up with pride that even in her middle-aged state (sorry, Mum), Mama Keefe can still stand up for what she believes in.

I've got absolutely no idea how much trouble Mum got into for binning a load of the school's property, but I think there's a message in here for everyone. You don't need to be radical to be a feminist, but you do need to do your bit, because it all adds up to bring about change. I at least know that LSE shall no longer be supporting FHM, for sure.

Daisy

Are you a feminist? I should jolly well hope so.

Heya Combabes (just go with it),

I was trying to explain to someone (whom we shall refer to, in the interests of confidentiality,  as... Ivan) what exactly a feminist is... A pressing question, you may agree, and surprisingly hard to answer objectively.

After all there are lots of different ideas around feminism, a variety of different things that we stand for, a selection of different sorts, if you will, of 'Feminists'. BUT there must be some shared values, some shared aims, something that we all intrinsically share a belief in and i suppose it is our fight for equality. I suppose, at the face of it, a feminist is someone who believes that people should be equal no matter their gender. That's what people should ask themselves when deciding whether they ought to be labelled a feminist (http://areyouafeminist.com).

Ivan: Yeah ok cool. But what else? What else makes you a feminist?

There are so many different ideas that are debated, explored and considered within feminist circles that it is impossible to create a comprehensive list of requirements for a feminist that is any longer than 'you believe in gender equality' and that makes Feminism tricky to define. But why does it need to be defined further than that, really? That's what i told Ivan anyway.

But if one does not provide any other characteristics of a feminist, then inevitably the question arises...

Ivan: Ok... Then why doesn't everyone who thinks women should be equal, call themselves feminists?

And here i start to get a little confused. Because... well... why don't they?

Feminists have been made into angry, man-hating, promiscuous and fanatic women who repeatedly wake up on the wrong side of the bed and proceed to scream down people who dare to question them as they work their Godzilla-like way through the world. Now i will admit that i have certainly had my moments, but i don't think that the femonster is really a very accurate depiction of the modern feminist, nor a particularly appealing one. Aggression is not a prerequisite for feminism and it never has been. Determination, defensiveness, strength of will, defiance and passion, maybe. But never down right aggression. It is this stigma and unattractiveness that is defining feminism and it is this poor and ignorant definition that is driving people away and making feminism into a so called 'dirty word'...

So here's a little poem about feminism that i have written for you...
(generous tokens of your gratitude will be accepted gladly)

Feminism isn’t a dirty word.

But I’m afraid that it’s becoming more than that…

It’s becoming a dirty concept in our cupcake crusted world

Because It’s only women on the front of the cath kidston catalogue,

And it’s mostly only women at the school fete selling candy floss in the rain,

And they say it’s only women organizing coffee for the PTA,

And only mums that organize that asda price Christmas that we are all meant long for.

And it just happens to be mum who is left without a chair-

Afterall it’s only mums that go to Iceland.

And they reduced Kate Middleton to a pair of tits and a baby bump because that’s all anyone’s interested in… that’s what makes good reading.

It's a boy!

 Oh. Joy. 

It’s all you and your wedding and your kitchen sink

Your man will build the kitchen as long as you don’t think

Because thinking is a man’s job. Obvs.

And it’s all B&Q and planning for the future with your husband’s ISA just in case you go and get pregnant- gosh. How bloody inconsiderate of you.

But don’t get an abortion. This might be your only chance.

And you’ve got to shave your way to the top nowadays

With your inner goddess released maybe you can achieve your dream of popstardom- right, venus?

But if I’m honest I never aspired to be Beyonce or Mylie Cyrus.

The thing is that whether Gok tells you you’re an apple, a pear or a piece of glassware

You are still a human being.

And it doesn’t matter if you don’t dress to your shape.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t date

Because there is totez such a thing as true love and fate- (They told me that in Closer. Apparently we like to read that shit.)

Forget the princess stories that they force fed you at school

Forget the myths about women growing parsley better and that you aren’t good enough because you’re not thin and tall.

Forget about the wolf whistles and the gentlemens’ gestures

Forget about needing to wear makeup and bowing down to society’s pressure.

Forget about the people who tell you that time is ticking, that you need to settle down.

Because time is ticking for everyone and everything and it won’t stop ticking if you get round.

Forget about the bastards who tell you to calm down when you say something valid

Forget about that bikini body that you need: no carbs, no sugar, no fun, just salad.

Your voice is not pointless just because it didn’t break.

We need to get that femen juice flowing through our veins…

We’re not after world domination

Just a basic level of appreciation for the fact that women have…. Brains.

Oh. My. Days.

Because feminism isn’t a dirty word, ok?

ok? good. Glad we cleared that one up. 

signing off, 

Vida

mwah.