When I was younger, being happy was easy. Now, it's definitely harder but also definitely not impossible. There are so many things that threaten our happiness; people, pressure and uncertainty are to name a few.*
*I have no idea whether I just used that semi-colon properly, or if there is even a hyphen between 'semi' and 'colon'. Gosh, this just sounds dirty now.
Well, as I've just proved, formality is a struggle for me so I'm not going to pretend I'm the sort of person who doesn't have to Google punctuation tips. Here is what I am good at, a list. A list of things that have made me happy recently.
1. Stroking my dog. I'm not a huge animal person but spending time with my dog brings me a weird sense of peace, the only downside being that she stinks 24/7 so I have to wash my hands three or four times after touching her. Ah, blissful human-dog love.
2. Making no effort to get dressed today at all. The furthest I went was to put my hair in a bun but even that felt a little bit excessive.
3. Finding a ready-meal in the fridge left for me by my mum. That sounds so boring but we are not a ready-meal family so this is a pretty huge gesture of unconditional love. In reality, she probably just couldn't be bothered to cook anything but I like the unconditional love thing.
4. A spot on my face finally disappearing. I was starting to worry it was going to be one of those moles that just looks like a huge spot. Luckily, I will not be renaming myself Nanny McPhee anytime soon.*
*Not that that would be awful, because she was one of my childhood idols.
5. Making this weird 'granola dust' stuff. Yes, it coated the roof of my mouth with a hard layer of cement but I felt all health food-y and vegan.
6. Buying some bright pink shoes. Whatever your favourite colour is, wear something that is unashamedly that colour. There will be some psychological reason as to why this is an instant mood boost, but all I know is that it is really fun.*
*I'm also going to unashamedly self promote myself right now. If you want to witness the true beauty of my pink trainers, check out my Instagram: @electriclil
7. Having loads of non-matching cushions in our lounge/sitting room/front room.
8. Rookie! I can't believe I've never mentioned it before but since I was about 13, I've been obsessed with this online magazine.
9. Pinterest. I didn't mean to mention so many external websites but scrolling through pictures of beautiful bedrooms and food is one of my favourite things to do when I'm stressed, or am lacking motivation to do anything.
10. These songs: This is literally a complete cliche but turn the volume up as high as possible, and dance to them.
Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles
Dancing In The Moonlight - Toploader
Electric Feel - MGMT
Stuck In The Middle With You - Stealers Wheels
In conclusion, even if you're not the sort of person who uses semi-colons properly, cooks posh meals yourself without your mum's help, or gets dressed everyday, you deserve to be happy and you deserve to be able to make yourself happy.
Friday 23 October 2015
Saturday 10 October 2015
Hey it's okay...
In Glamour (great cheap monthly fashion-y beauty-y advice-y magazine), they have a column called 'Hey it's okay...' which is essentially a list of things that everyone does but that everyone thinks no-one else does. Kind of. I'm going to do my own version so you'll get the picture.*
*Whenever people say this I generally leave having not got the picture at all. Even perhaps questioning the existence of the picture in the first place, and whether it's actually just another weird confusing stem of the multiverse theory that's beyond our cosmological horizon.
Hey it's okay...
1. If you put two versions of a song in your Spotify playlist. One the Ke$ha cover (the only one you listen to) and one the 'Original Remastered 1746' version (the one you skip), just so you can pacify the music-taste judger in the back of your mind.
2. If you pretty much never wash your jeans because:
a) they're the only pair you've got so you really can't afford to lose them for a day or two.
b) they take absolutely freaking ages to dry.
c) you're worried the button you sewed on with yellow craft wool might fall off.
d) baby wipes do the trick well enough
3. To put sweet chilli sauce* on everything, even mashed potatoes.
*Yes, the bright orange, MSG goo.
4. If you take ibuprofen without having eaten anything so, when you remember an hour later, you frantically eat the half a squashed biscuit that's been in your bag for a month or so and pray you won't die.
5. To pull the tag that attaches the label to your clothes off with your hands, rather than finding some scissors, even though you know your mum would disapprove.
6. If you think most branded clothes are a waste of money* so buy a complete copy from Primark.
*And an example of humans placing worth in worthless things.
7. If you lick your phone to clean it. Yes, you know it's disgustingly unhygienic and just plain wrong but you're about to beat your best time on Solitaire so need to clean it without breaking the rhythmic flow of card shuffling.
8. To not know what the person speaking to you is on about so Google stuff as they say it.
9. To know all the words to every single song in your favourite album, and to sing them to yourself in order when you're walking somewhere without headphones. Even the little improvised 'woah's and 'yeah's.
10. If you can't quite justify buying a 5p bag in Sainsbury's but you're not carefree enough to hold the two jumbo packs of sanitary towels in your hands so you walk home with them under your fleece, looking like you've either shoplifted a small dog or a large bag of flour.
*Whenever people say this I generally leave having not got the picture at all. Even perhaps questioning the existence of the picture in the first place, and whether it's actually just another weird confusing stem of the multiverse theory that's beyond our cosmological horizon.
Hey it's okay...
1. If you put two versions of a song in your Spotify playlist. One the Ke$ha cover (the only one you listen to) and one the 'Original Remastered 1746' version (the one you skip), just so you can pacify the music-taste judger in the back of your mind.
2. If you pretty much never wash your jeans because:
a) they're the only pair you've got so you really can't afford to lose them for a day or two.
b) they take absolutely freaking ages to dry.
c) you're worried the button you sewed on with yellow craft wool might fall off.
d) baby wipes do the trick well enough
3. To put sweet chilli sauce* on everything, even mashed potatoes.
*Yes, the bright orange, MSG goo.
4. If you take ibuprofen without having eaten anything so, when you remember an hour later, you frantically eat the half a squashed biscuit that's been in your bag for a month or so and pray you won't die.
5. To pull the tag that attaches the label to your clothes off with your hands, rather than finding some scissors, even though you know your mum would disapprove.
6. If you think most branded clothes are a waste of money* so buy a complete copy from Primark.
*And an example of humans placing worth in worthless things.
7. If you lick your phone to clean it. Yes, you know it's disgustingly unhygienic and just plain wrong but you're about to beat your best time on Solitaire so need to clean it without breaking the rhythmic flow of card shuffling.
8. To not know what the person speaking to you is on about so Google stuff as they say it.
9. To know all the words to every single song in your favourite album, and to sing them to yourself in order when you're walking somewhere without headphones. Even the little improvised 'woah's and 'yeah's.
10. If you can't quite justify buying a 5p bag in Sainsbury's but you're not carefree enough to hold the two jumbo packs of sanitary towels in your hands so you walk home with them under your fleece, looking like you've either shoplifted a small dog or a large bag of flour.
Thursday 3 September 2015
I want to be a scientist and an artist.
Second BMA blog post!
T.W. This introduction is going to sound weird for a 'future doctors' page but just bear with me.
Recently I've been thinking really hard (literally for 5 minutes this morning in the shower) about whether I actually want to do Medicine.
I've never shined in one thing. I don't have one talent or subject area that everyone knows me for. I love singing and writing songs, but also reading really long articles in scientific journals about new antibiotics with unnecessarily hard-to-pronounce names.*
*Like, seriously, why?
And this has always been a regret of mine. That I didn't concentrate on one thing. That I haven't got one big thing I can put in my twitter bio.
The reason this made me rethink Medicine is because, like with any degree, you are signing your life away to study one thing for a fairly long chunk of your life (in proportion to the amount of life I've lived so far) but the chunk you sign away with Medicine is twice the size of a normal degree's chunk.
Okay, I've utterly confused myself by saying 'chunk' too much.
Basically, Medicine is a long degree.
So, I've been asking myself, is it worth it? To do one thing for the next six years of my life? The conclusion I've come to is not an answer to that question. The conclusion I've come to is simply that the question is void because Medicine isn't one thing.
Medicine is science. Medicine is health and social care. Medicine is philosophy and ethics. Medicine is sociology. Medicine is psychology. Medicine is anything you want it to be. It's a science and and art.
So, I'm not committing myself to six years of one thing. I am committing myself to six years of the most diverse, challenging and ever-changing course I could possibly do.
Perhaps I should go into advertising because I totally just sold that.
T.W. This introduction is going to sound weird for a 'future doctors' page but just bear with me.
Recently I've been thinking really hard (literally for 5 minutes this morning in the shower) about whether I actually want to do Medicine.
I've never shined in one thing. I don't have one talent or subject area that everyone knows me for. I love singing and writing songs, but also reading really long articles in scientific journals about new antibiotics with unnecessarily hard-to-pronounce names.*
*Like, seriously, why?
And this has always been a regret of mine. That I didn't concentrate on one thing. That I haven't got one big thing I can put in my twitter bio.
The reason this made me rethink Medicine is because, like with any degree, you are signing your life away to study one thing for a fairly long chunk of your life (in proportion to the amount of life I've lived so far) but the chunk you sign away with Medicine is twice the size of a normal degree's chunk.
Okay, I've utterly confused myself by saying 'chunk' too much.
Basically, Medicine is a long degree.
So, I've been asking myself, is it worth it? To do one thing for the next six years of my life? The conclusion I've come to is not an answer to that question. The conclusion I've come to is simply that the question is void because Medicine isn't one thing.
Medicine is science. Medicine is health and social care. Medicine is philosophy and ethics. Medicine is sociology. Medicine is psychology. Medicine is anything you want it to be. It's a science and and art.
So, I'm not committing myself to six years of one thing. I am committing myself to six years of the most diverse, challenging and ever-changing course I could possibly do.
Perhaps I should go into advertising because I totally just sold that.
Friday 24 July 2015
But what does the red button actually do?
Okay, I have an experiment for you. I didn't invent it but it's something that I've seen before and found really interesting. Grab a piece of paper and pen (or just memorise the words).
1. What is the first thing you think of when you hear 'mental health'?
2. What is the first thing you think of when you hear 'physical health'?
Now look at what you've written. Or ponder over the words you've memorised and make the people around you think you're being really clever.
It is a recurring theme that the first thing people think of when they hear 'mental health' is usually examples of poor mental health (eg. depression, suicide, crazy) whereas generally the first thing people think of when they hear 'physical health' is ways in which you can maintain it (eg. exercise, fruit, not smoking).
I think this experiment perfectly illustrates the difference in how mental and physical health are perceived. Mental health is thought of instantly as a negative term. Physical health is seen as something we have to look after. I've never seen a post on Pinterest about '5 Minute Exercises You Can Do In The Office To Improve Your Mental Health'. There are never columns in magazines dedicated to all the ways you can get your kids interested in mental well-being.
Yes, I've seen a lot of 'positive thinking' articles and we've all seen those annoying accounts on Instagram dedicated to '100 days of happiness'.*
*Annoying only because they generally give up 15-20 days in, leaving their Instagram account abandoned and definitely not happy.
But those articles never relate positive thinking to mental health. Mental health is what crazy people have. Normal people don't need that.
Well, I'm sure it doesn't come as a surprise that we all have a brain. We all have mentality. We all have mental health. Some of us will be lucky enough to never have to worry about the state of their mental health. But most of us will.
The physical health equivalent is a bit like that friend that everyone has who eats everything (and I mean everything) and does no exercise (and I mean NO exercise) but still manages to have an amazingly slim figure, great skin and will probably live to 200. However, most of us will have to think about what we eat and do regular exercise to maintain a healthy weight and lifespan. This is exactly the same as with mental health.
If we don't exercise our brains, and give it the fuel it needs, it will eventually give up.*
*This is excluding genetic mental health disorders.
So here are my tips for exercising and feeding your brain:
Exercise
1. Learn! Never let yourself get to a point where you're not learning something everyday. This doesn't have to be advanced trigonometry, or German grammar rules, just something! It could be learning something about someone you know, learning to cook something you've never known how to make or even learning what every single button on your TV remote actually does.
2. Those 'brain training' apps you can get for your phone. Yes, most of them are either ridiculously easy or impossibly hard but it keeps your brain busy.
3. Create something. This could be a drawing, a song, a dance, a website, a book or even a blog (because I make it sound so fun). It doesn't have to be typically creative things either. It could be a maths puzzle, an acronym to remember chemical elements or an amazing personal statement (I tried to make that sound as fun as possible).
Food
1. Read. Just reading one article in a magazine will feed new words into your subconscious and give you something to think about.
2. Change. Go to a place you've never been before, listen to an artist you'd never usually listen to, or even change the colour of your duvet cover. Little changes force your brain to adjust and take in more information, but also prepare your brain for having to adapt if something big happens. Honestly, the only reason I managed to settle into Bristol after moving was because I used to change my duvet cover and pillowcases once a week.*
*Sarcasm but the rest of it was sincere.
3. Socialising. This sounds cliche but forming new relationships is an essential part of maintaining your mental health. Countless studies have shown that social interaction can prevent chronic mental (and physical) health disorders.
Learn, change, create.
I'm starting to sound like one of those weird life coach people you always see on American TV programmes, sorry. I'm done now.
Be the change you want to see! Okay, I'm actually done now.
1. What is the first thing you think of when you hear 'mental health'?
2. What is the first thing you think of when you hear 'physical health'?
Now look at what you've written. Or ponder over the words you've memorised and make the people around you think you're being really clever.
It is a recurring theme that the first thing people think of when they hear 'mental health' is usually examples of poor mental health (eg. depression, suicide, crazy) whereas generally the first thing people think of when they hear 'physical health' is ways in which you can maintain it (eg. exercise, fruit, not smoking).
I think this experiment perfectly illustrates the difference in how mental and physical health are perceived. Mental health is thought of instantly as a negative term. Physical health is seen as something we have to look after. I've never seen a post on Pinterest about '5 Minute Exercises You Can Do In The Office To Improve Your Mental Health'. There are never columns in magazines dedicated to all the ways you can get your kids interested in mental well-being.
Yes, I've seen a lot of 'positive thinking' articles and we've all seen those annoying accounts on Instagram dedicated to '100 days of happiness'.*
*Annoying only because they generally give up 15-20 days in, leaving their Instagram account abandoned and definitely not happy.
But those articles never relate positive thinking to mental health. Mental health is what crazy people have. Normal people don't need that.
Well, I'm sure it doesn't come as a surprise that we all have a brain. We all have mentality. We all have mental health. Some of us will be lucky enough to never have to worry about the state of their mental health. But most of us will.
The physical health equivalent is a bit like that friend that everyone has who eats everything (and I mean everything) and does no exercise (and I mean NO exercise) but still manages to have an amazingly slim figure, great skin and will probably live to 200. However, most of us will have to think about what we eat and do regular exercise to maintain a healthy weight and lifespan. This is exactly the same as with mental health.
If we don't exercise our brains, and give it the fuel it needs, it will eventually give up.*
*This is excluding genetic mental health disorders.
So here are my tips for exercising and feeding your brain:
Exercise
1. Learn! Never let yourself get to a point where you're not learning something everyday. This doesn't have to be advanced trigonometry, or German grammar rules, just something! It could be learning something about someone you know, learning to cook something you've never known how to make or even learning what every single button on your TV remote actually does.
2. Those 'brain training' apps you can get for your phone. Yes, most of them are either ridiculously easy or impossibly hard but it keeps your brain busy.
3. Create something. This could be a drawing, a song, a dance, a website, a book or even a blog (because I make it sound so fun). It doesn't have to be typically creative things either. It could be a maths puzzle, an acronym to remember chemical elements or an amazing personal statement (I tried to make that sound as fun as possible).
Food
1. Read. Just reading one article in a magazine will feed new words into your subconscious and give you something to think about.
2. Change. Go to a place you've never been before, listen to an artist you'd never usually listen to, or even change the colour of your duvet cover. Little changes force your brain to adjust and take in more information, but also prepare your brain for having to adapt if something big happens. Honestly, the only reason I managed to settle into Bristol after moving was because I used to change my duvet cover and pillowcases once a week.*
*Sarcasm but the rest of it was sincere.
3. Socialising. This sounds cliche but forming new relationships is an essential part of maintaining your mental health. Countless studies have shown that social interaction can prevent chronic mental (and physical) health disorders.
Learn, change, create.
I'm starting to sound like one of those weird life coach people you always see on American TV programmes, sorry. I'm done now.
Be the change you want to see! Okay, I'm actually done now.
Wednesday 22 July 2015
So you work well in a team? Get in line.
I
actually have something really exciting to announce! I have started
blogging for the BMA communities website, about applying to medical
school!*
*British Medical Association
Here is the link to where my posts will be published and below is the thing I just posted.
phobia
ˈfəʊbɪə/
noun
noun: phobia; plural noun: phobias
an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something.
I am scared of a lot of things. Injections (yes this is extremely unhelpful when wanting to be a doctor, we'll come to that later), applying to medical school (once again unhelpful but seemingly understandable), spiders (this is definitely not a phobia as it is completely rational), sundried tomatoes (a crime against any tomato anywhere) and technology. No, wait, correction. Technology is scared of me.
This may seem like an odd thing to talk about on a 'road to medical school' blog forum but I'm going to turn it into a metaphor.*
*Yes, a metaphor! Brace. Yourself. Also, a side note to anyone who hasn't read anything on my main blog and happens to love drawn out and confusing metaphors, check it out.
I ran
into a few technological (that definitely doesn't sound like a word)
problems when setting up my account for this. Firstly, my email wasn't
being recognised and secondly, I couldn't upload an avatar.*
*Does anyone else find it really hard to separate that word from the memories of watching Avatar for like 4 hours and being completely and utterly confused? No? Just me then.
So, my solution to these problems was to send loads of emails. Ever since I turned 16, I've been really into emailing. I know I should be more enthusiastic about Instagram or Twitter but as a 2
1st century child, email is way more indie and retro. Anyway, it was as I was writing these panicky emails that I realised there was some blogging gold in this dilemma.
The
reason I included the (proper Oxford Dictionaries) definition to phobia
was because I genuinely believe computers, phones and any sort of
internet thing have some sort of irrational vendetta
against me. Every single phone I've ever had (except my Nokia but not
even I can break a Nokia) has eventually given up and died. This
includes turning permanently mute, not letting me find WiFi, and even,
in the worst circumstance, my phone deciding that the bottom of half of
the screen was unnecessary anyway.
Can I
just clarify that I have had phone cases on all my phones. Like proper,
thick, rubber cases that actually give the phone an ability to bounce to
heights of 20cm, maybe more. I take all the precautions. Phone cases,
firewalls, screen protectors, not installing dodgy virus-ridden apps et
cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Whatever I do, these phones are determined
to break.
Now,
we're finally getting to the metaphor. I like to imagine my battles with
technology like the battle to get into medical school.
I call
it a battle because it is. You wear the armour (grades, voluntary work,
work experience), you wield your weapons (grade 8 flute, violin and
piano, magical healing abilities) and you have opponents (every single
other person who is applying to medical school). It is a battle.*
*Sorry for the unexpected metaphor.
No
matter how much protection you wrap around yourself, let it be amazing
A2 grades, 52 weeks of work experience or 17 years of voluntary work; or
how many anti-failing software programmes you install, let them be
compassion, empathy or The Ability To Work In A Team, there will always
be obstacles trying to stop you getting there. They could be people
telling you 'you're not the sort of person I can imagine being a doctor'
or perhaps UCAS forms that make you realise that there is not one
single thing you have done that makes you stand out from anyone else.
I'm sorry, but your avatar won't load.
I don't know much about applying to medical school. I have no idea whether
I'll get in. But whether I do or not, I am determined to learn
something from this experience, even if it is just loads of amazing new
metaphors.
Monday 20 July 2015
Overthinking Tumblr
Recently I've kind of felt like a 'bad feminist'.
I put that in apostrophe-things because I know (like in my heart #cringe) that the only way to succeed at being a 'bad feminist' is if you don't actually believe in gender equality. I also know that there is no panel of judges, or governing body, to approve of your worthiness to label yourself as a feminist. Even so, I can't help constantly saying to myself 'I shouldn't think that' or 'A real feminist wouldn't think that'. I'll elaborate because I feel like you've now got this picture of me liking 'Menimist' posts on Facebook and tweeting about how I believe women were created to pleasure a man.
This is going to sound really trivial but the first time I thought this was on tumblr. I follow loads of great blogs (if I'm honest they're all very very similar but hey they repost nice pictures) and a lot of them repost feminist-y things. I love all these posts and agree with them 100% but a lot of the time I don't repost them to avoid my blog becoming too feminist.
Don't shoot me! Don't shoot me! Don't shoot me!
I know that is awful and I'm kind of considering deleting this.*
*I'm just being so brave.
I justified this to myself by saying (to myself, in my head) that I wanted just one form of social media where 'FIERCE BUT NOT AGGRESSIVE FEMINIST' wasn't the first label that people placed on me.
This is relevant to Facebook, Twitter and essentially every single social media.*
*Yes, I'm pretty sure I'm a member of most of them which is of great embarrassment to myself and my family.
This even happens in real life. OMG yes, I said it. Real Life. For example, someone I'm talking to might mention an article they read about how feminists are actually a Top Secret Global Organisation Working Closely With The Government To Brainwash The Brains Of The Nation's Children (or TSGOWCWTGTBTBOTNC for short). And instead of taking that opportunity to remind them that 'feminist' just refers to a person with a belief (that happens to be equality between sexes, lol) and actually feminists are just normal people who, no, don't believe all men should be locked in a dungeon as their primary function is to provide semen to make more humans, hopefully women, I will just make a sarcastic remark and move on as if it didn't happen.
This is all to minimise the number of people who decide it doesn't matter what my name is, what subjects I study, or even whether I'm actually a nice person or not, and instead just refer to me as 'that annoying feminist girl'.
However, I'm pretty sure if I had to have any label, category or neon pink flashing sign above my head it would say feminist. And I am proud of that. I want one of the first things people to know about me to be that I'm a feminist who is not only willing to take that label and own it, but also willing to educate and be educated about the millions of injustices and inequalities around our world.
So, from now on I am making a promise to myself to repost every feminist post I see on my tumblr dashboard, to 'like' every feminist status I see on Facebook, and to take every chance I can to call out inequality and promote equality.*
*Do you now understand my blog title? I got all that from not posting something on tumblr.
I put that in apostrophe-things because I know (like in my heart #cringe) that the only way to succeed at being a 'bad feminist' is if you don't actually believe in gender equality. I also know that there is no panel of judges, or governing body, to approve of your worthiness to label yourself as a feminist. Even so, I can't help constantly saying to myself 'I shouldn't think that' or 'A real feminist wouldn't think that'. I'll elaborate because I feel like you've now got this picture of me liking 'Menimist' posts on Facebook and tweeting about how I believe women were created to pleasure a man.
This is going to sound really trivial but the first time I thought this was on tumblr. I follow loads of great blogs (if I'm honest they're all very very similar but hey they repost nice pictures) and a lot of them repost feminist-y things. I love all these posts and agree with them 100% but a lot of the time I don't repost them to avoid my blog becoming too feminist.
Don't shoot me! Don't shoot me! Don't shoot me!
I know that is awful and I'm kind of considering deleting this.*
*I'm just being so brave.
I justified this to myself by saying (to myself, in my head) that I wanted just one form of social media where 'FIERCE BUT NOT AGGRESSIVE FEMINIST' wasn't the first label that people placed on me.
This is relevant to Facebook, Twitter and essentially every single social media.*
*Yes, I'm pretty sure I'm a member of most of them which is of great embarrassment to myself and my family.
This even happens in real life. OMG yes, I said it. Real Life. For example, someone I'm talking to might mention an article they read about how feminists are actually a Top Secret Global Organisation Working Closely With The Government To Brainwash The Brains Of The Nation's Children (or TSGOWCWTGTBTBOTNC for short). And instead of taking that opportunity to remind them that 'feminist' just refers to a person with a belief (that happens to be equality between sexes, lol) and actually feminists are just normal people who, no, don't believe all men should be locked in a dungeon as their primary function is to provide semen to make more humans, hopefully women, I will just make a sarcastic remark and move on as if it didn't happen.
This is all to minimise the number of people who decide it doesn't matter what my name is, what subjects I study, or even whether I'm actually a nice person or not, and instead just refer to me as 'that annoying feminist girl'.
However, I'm pretty sure if I had to have any label, category or neon pink flashing sign above my head it would say feminist. And I am proud of that. I want one of the first things people to know about me to be that I'm a feminist who is not only willing to take that label and own it, but also willing to educate and be educated about the millions of injustices and inequalities around our world.
So, from now on I am making a promise to myself to repost every feminist post I see on my tumblr dashboard, to 'like' every feminist status I see on Facebook, and to take every chance I can to call out inequality and promote equality.*
*Do you now understand my blog title? I got all that from not posting something on tumblr.
Wednesday 27 May 2015
I like ----- for the flavour.
Guys, I found a thing!
Yeah, I know, OMG, a real thing.
Basically, you know how I'm always going on about how just because different people experience inequality differently around the world, it doesn't make that inequality any better?*
*No.
Yeah, I know I don't always phrase it like that but that's essentially what I was getting at. Anyway, I found a thing that describes that thing!
It's called....dun dun DUNNNNN.....
Intersectional feminism!!!!
Okay, yeah I know it doesn't sound quite as exciting as I made it out to be, but it is, trust me.*
*Or don't, considering the only stuff most of you know about me is from this blog, which I edit and edit and edit and edit.
This term isn't in the dictionary (yet) so I had to trawl for ages online (3 minutes tops) to find this definition.
intersectionality: the view that women experience oppression in varying configurations and in varying degrees of intensity. cultural patterns of oppression are not only interrelated, but are bound together and influenced by the intersectional systems of society. examples of this include race, gender, class, ability, and ethnicity.
*Click the link 'cause it's a really good article and explains this WAY better than I can.*
I guess the first thing we need to clarify is privilege.*
*Scary sounding parent-word.
If you are male, you have privilege.
If you are white, you have privilege.
If you are cis-gender, you have privilege.
If you are heterosexual, you have privilege.
There are a million more but I think you get it, right?
This doesn't mean that it's better, or that all the people who don't fit into those categories spend their entire lives wishing they were different (hey, I like being female!) but just that you happen to not be in that particular social group of people who have been historically oppressed.
Okay, so I have strayed pretty far from the original topic of this post which was -intersect intersexual intra interact section feminine feminism- intersectional feminism!
I am a woman, which is a historically oppressed group of people. However, I am also white, cis-gender and heterosexual.*
*Not that any of that stuff should matter but I needed to relay it all, to make this clearer.
Because of this, I will never be the victim of racism, transphobia or homophobia. And also because of this, I will never truly understand what it is like to be a victim of racism, transphobia or homophobia.
However, what I can understand is that different people have different issues, and different scary sounding '-isms' they have to deal with. What I can understand is that while I will never be a victim of racism (unless I pull a reverse Michael Jackson), a victim of homophobia or a victim of transphobia, I am allowed, and invited, to fight against those injustices.
Yes, some of the injustices I experience personally may be different to the injustices a Woman Of Colour experiences, but we will both be fighting for feminism.
The best analogy I can think of is that there are loads of flavours, and colours, of feminism (like fizzy drinks) that we all need to embrace. For example, cream soda.*
*THE DRINK OF GODDESSES.
I like cream soda for the flavour. Someone else might like it for the flavour and the fizziness. Someone else might like it not for the flavour or the fizziness, but just for the can. If the main manufacturer of cream soda decided to just stop making it for some reason (this is starting to sound like an Economics lesson), those two other people and I would all be angry. Let's say we decide to start a campaign to get this drink back on sale (with pink glittery placards and all). We would all be fighting the same cause, but from slightly different perspectives, and maybe some with slightly more to fight for.*
*I mean, a girl can get pretty attached to the aesthetic of a can.
I feel like I just demonstrated how not to explain intersectional feminism.
If you guys are now just really confused, you have two options.
a) Read the article I linked above!!!
b) Read this all over again, slowly.
c) Close my blog, listen to a yoga class playlist on Spotify and drink some cream soda.
Yeah, I know, OMG, a real thing.
Basically, you know how I'm always going on about how just because different people experience inequality differently around the world, it doesn't make that inequality any better?*
*No.
Yeah, I know I don't always phrase it like that but that's essentially what I was getting at. Anyway, I found a thing that describes that thing!
It's called....dun dun DUNNNNN.....
Intersectional feminism!!!!
Okay, yeah I know it doesn't sound quite as exciting as I made it out to be, but it is, trust me.*
*Or don't, considering the only stuff most of you know about me is from this blog, which I edit and edit and edit and edit.
This term isn't in the dictionary (yet) so I had to trawl for ages online (3 minutes tops) to find this definition.
intersectionality: the view that women experience oppression in varying configurations and in varying degrees of intensity. cultural patterns of oppression are not only interrelated, but are bound together and influenced by the intersectional systems of society. examples of this include race, gender, class, ability, and ethnicity.
*Click the link 'cause it's a really good article and explains this WAY better than I can.*
I guess the first thing we need to clarify is privilege.*
*Scary sounding parent-word.
If you are male, you have privilege.
If you are white, you have privilege.
If you are cis-gender, you have privilege.
If you are heterosexual, you have privilege.
There are a million more but I think you get it, right?
This doesn't mean that it's better, or that all the people who don't fit into those categories spend their entire lives wishing they were different (hey, I like being female!) but just that you happen to not be in that particular social group of people who have been historically oppressed.
Okay, so I have strayed pretty far from the original topic of this post which was -intersect intersexual intra interact section feminine feminism- intersectional feminism!
I am a woman, which is a historically oppressed group of people. However, I am also white, cis-gender and heterosexual.*
*Not that any of that stuff should matter but I needed to relay it all, to make this clearer.
Because of this, I will never be the victim of racism, transphobia or homophobia. And also because of this, I will never truly understand what it is like to be a victim of racism, transphobia or homophobia.
However, what I can understand is that different people have different issues, and different scary sounding '-isms' they have to deal with. What I can understand is that while I will never be a victim of racism (unless I pull a reverse Michael Jackson), a victim of homophobia or a victim of transphobia, I am allowed, and invited, to fight against those injustices.
Yes, some of the injustices I experience personally may be different to the injustices a Woman Of Colour experiences, but we will both be fighting for feminism.
The best analogy I can think of is that there are loads of flavours, and colours, of feminism (like fizzy drinks) that we all need to embrace. For example, cream soda.*
*THE DRINK OF GODDESSES.
I like cream soda for the flavour. Someone else might like it for the flavour and the fizziness. Someone else might like it not for the flavour or the fizziness, but just for the can. If the main manufacturer of cream soda decided to just stop making it for some reason (this is starting to sound like an Economics lesson), those two other people and I would all be angry. Let's say we decide to start a campaign to get this drink back on sale (with pink glittery placards and all). We would all be fighting the same cause, but from slightly different perspectives, and maybe some with slightly more to fight for.*
*I mean, a girl can get pretty attached to the aesthetic of a can.
I feel like I just demonstrated how not to explain intersectional feminism.
If you guys are now just really confused, you have two options.
a) Read the article I linked above!!!
b) Read this all over again, slowly.
c) Close my blog, listen to a yoga class playlist on Spotify and drink some cream soda.
Friday 8 May 2015
Really uninspirational inspirational speech.
If you don't live in the UK, you probably will have no idea what I'm talking about but if you do live in the UK, you will know that this day will forever be known as the day all hope died.
So, I wrote that intro a couple of hours ago. And now I'm kinda going to contradict it. I'm not going to congratulate the new government, I'm not going to pretend it's all fine but I'm also not going to let it ruin the next five years.*
*I'm also not going to try and write this impartially, funnily enough.
For the entirety of the Labour-Tory fight, the Conservative Party have stood for making the rich richer and the poor poorer. They want to concentrate wealth, and ensure anyone who needs help for whatever reason, doesn't get it. They seem perfectly content with keeping bedroom tax, a tax that unfairly negatively affects people with disabilities, and not considering mansion tax, a tax that would only affect people with houses worth £2m+ (poor them) and would mean more money for the NHS.
Even writing that made me want to just go to bed and sleep for the next five years.
But, on the plus side, because this election result has angered so many young people, hopefully this result will make people realise that to change politics, you actually have to be involved in it.
Voter turnout for 18-24 year olds increased this year, and I can almost guarantee it will increase further at the next General Election. If my Twitter and Facebook are anything to go by (not that it is really, considering I'm a 16 year old female living in Bristol aka. prime Labour/Green supporting suspect), the next bunch of 18-24 year olds voting in the election in 2020 will hopefully swing the vote the other way.*
*Ie. away from the Tories.
If we let this election result define our lives, we are essentially bowing down to the Tories. Instead, why don't we show them just how hard the 'non-voters' can fight when they believe in something.
They didn't care about us this election because we couldn't vote, but next time we can and we will.
So, I wrote that intro a couple of hours ago. And now I'm kinda going to contradict it. I'm not going to congratulate the new government, I'm not going to pretend it's all fine but I'm also not going to let it ruin the next five years.*
*I'm also not going to try and write this impartially, funnily enough.
For the entirety of the Labour-Tory fight, the Conservative Party have stood for making the rich richer and the poor poorer. They want to concentrate wealth, and ensure anyone who needs help for whatever reason, doesn't get it. They seem perfectly content with keeping bedroom tax, a tax that unfairly negatively affects people with disabilities, and not considering mansion tax, a tax that would only affect people with houses worth £2m+ (poor them) and would mean more money for the NHS.
Even writing that made me want to just go to bed and sleep for the next five years.
But, on the plus side, because this election result has angered so many young people, hopefully this result will make people realise that to change politics, you actually have to be involved in it.
Voter turnout for 18-24 year olds increased this year, and I can almost guarantee it will increase further at the next General Election. If my Twitter and Facebook are anything to go by (not that it is really, considering I'm a 16 year old female living in Bristol aka. prime Labour/Green supporting suspect), the next bunch of 18-24 year olds voting in the election in 2020 will hopefully swing the vote the other way.*
*Ie. away from the Tories.
If we let this election result define our lives, we are essentially bowing down to the Tories. Instead, why don't we show them just how hard the 'non-voters' can fight when they believe in something.
They didn't care about us this election because we couldn't vote, but next time we can and we will.
Friday 1 May 2015
Feminism Is Like Sex.
I tried writing this while listening to the BBC Woman's Hour election debate episode but couldn't quite concentrate while UKIP's Diane James talked about her party's 'fair' policies.
Today's one is going to be both political and feminist because I believe those things are completely intertwined and should be seen as being completely intertwined.
My mum asked me whether I'd listened to the Women's Hour episode (see above) and I said I hadn't but would. However, in true Lily fashion, I also went on a bit of a tangent about the separation of women and men's politics. Because I felt like I didn't quite articulate myself well enough (hard to believe, considering how beautifully written this blog is) I'm going to try again, with the aid of Women's Hour, Google, and the backspace button on my computer.
We hear loads of stuff about how women are unrepresented in the House of Commons (currently only 22%, compared to 51% in the UK), and how the current government have a complete disregard to maintaining gender equality (eg. classing sanitary products as 'luxurious' and 'non-essential') and how even Labour got trying to encourage women to vote so wrong (pink vans ring a bell?). What we don't hear much about is how these problems can be resolved. The resolution I'm going to discuss today is positive discrimination.
positive discrimination /noun/: the act of giving advantage to those groups in society that are often treated unfairly because of their race, sex, etc.
The way in which this can be done is by setting a quota for the number of MPS in the House of Commons (or Lords) that are female and male. This means you can guarantee a fair number of women MPs (51%, I guess, would be the ideal amount).
This would almost guarantee 'women's issues' would be debated (eg. sanitary product tax) and the women of the country's views would be much more fairly represented.
The first problem with this is with the method of allocating MPs. Positive discrimination means that women wouldn't be chosen for their skills, or qualifications, but for their gender. Isn't this the very issue we should be trying to fight? I can't help but think of the gender pay gap. The gender pay gap, 19.7% in 2013, is based on the fact that women are paid less on account of their gender. Shouldn't we be concentrating on trying to remove this bias, not instilling the reciprocal of it into our political system?
However, positive discrimination would provide a ground for which representation of women can be fair, which is essential if we ever want gender equality to be achieved. It's stupid that the need for positive discrimination is so high, but it is.
I, personally, have a bit of an issue with the separation of gender-orientated policies. Yes, it may be hard to see how the tax on sanitary products negatively affects men (no judgments here) but things like free childcare hours and maternity/paternity leave are not gender exclusive. This relates to the issue of men's rights activist groups. The things these groups fight against (eg. unequal maternity and paternity leave) are a result of gender inequality. The reason women have longer leave is because, traditionally, women were (and still are) expected to stay at home and be the sole childcarer, while the man goes out and works. Not only is this hetero-normative, but it also reinforces gender roles and stereotypes.
Gender equality benefits both sexes, and all genders.
In conclusion, positive discrimination is not really a good thing in itself (why have we got to this point of needing it?) but would ensure women, and their views, are fairly represented. The fight for gender equality (aka. feminism) is for both sexes, and needs both sexes to succeed. A bit like sexual reproduction.
Today's one is going to be both political and feminist because I believe those things are completely intertwined and should be seen as being completely intertwined.
My mum asked me whether I'd listened to the Women's Hour episode (see above) and I said I hadn't but would. However, in true Lily fashion, I also went on a bit of a tangent about the separation of women and men's politics. Because I felt like I didn't quite articulate myself well enough (hard to believe, considering how beautifully written this blog is) I'm going to try again, with the aid of Women's Hour, Google, and the backspace button on my computer.
We hear loads of stuff about how women are unrepresented in the House of Commons (currently only 22%, compared to 51% in the UK), and how the current government have a complete disregard to maintaining gender equality (eg. classing sanitary products as 'luxurious' and 'non-essential') and how even Labour got trying to encourage women to vote so wrong (pink vans ring a bell?). What we don't hear much about is how these problems can be resolved. The resolution I'm going to discuss today is positive discrimination.
positive discrimination /noun/: the act of giving advantage to those groups in society that are often treated unfairly because of their race, sex, etc.
The way in which this can be done is by setting a quota for the number of MPS in the House of Commons (or Lords) that are female and male. This means you can guarantee a fair number of women MPs (51%, I guess, would be the ideal amount).
This would almost guarantee 'women's issues' would be debated (eg. sanitary product tax) and the women of the country's views would be much more fairly represented.
The first problem with this is with the method of allocating MPs. Positive discrimination means that women wouldn't be chosen for their skills, or qualifications, but for their gender. Isn't this the very issue we should be trying to fight? I can't help but think of the gender pay gap. The gender pay gap, 19.7% in 2013, is based on the fact that women are paid less on account of their gender. Shouldn't we be concentrating on trying to remove this bias, not instilling the reciprocal of it into our political system?
However, positive discrimination would provide a ground for which representation of women can be fair, which is essential if we ever want gender equality to be achieved. It's stupid that the need for positive discrimination is so high, but it is.
I, personally, have a bit of an issue with the separation of gender-orientated policies. Yes, it may be hard to see how the tax on sanitary products negatively affects men (no judgments here) but things like free childcare hours and maternity/paternity leave are not gender exclusive. This relates to the issue of men's rights activist groups. The things these groups fight against (eg. unequal maternity and paternity leave) are a result of gender inequality. The reason women have longer leave is because, traditionally, women were (and still are) expected to stay at home and be the sole childcarer, while the man goes out and works. Not only is this hetero-normative, but it also reinforces gender roles and stereotypes.
Gender equality benefits both sexes, and all genders.
In conclusion, positive discrimination is not really a good thing in itself (why have we got to this point of needing it?) but would ensure women, and their views, are fairly represented. The fight for gender equality (aka. feminism) is for both sexes, and needs both sexes to succeed. A bit like sexual reproduction.
Saturday 25 April 2015
Babe Is Busy
The music has changed!
I'm sure only a tiny fraction of you actually let the music play (instead of instantly hitting pause*) but I really feel like one of the best ways to get to know a person is by what music they like/listen to. The songs I choose to put on this blog are songs that make me happy and if you don't like them, that's fine. I'm glad you don't all like the music because if we were all the same, and liked the same things, conversations would be boring and there would be way fewer emojis.
*The pause button is the little daisy flower thing, just in case you hate the music so much that when you can't find the pause button, you have to mute the entire computer (it happens, I have done it).
I'm so sorry I haven't posted in so long. I will abide by the promise I made last May (when I started this blog) that this will not just become one of millions of slowly decaying blogs, but be a positive influence on the Youth Of Today's minds. Okay, maybe that wasn't the promise, or the outcome, but it is the dream.
This post is going to be a light-hearted one because:
a) I can't be bothered to thesaurus-up long, confusing words and google the definitions of these long, confusing words.
b) I've already ruined the mood by saying 'daisy flower thing' and mentioning emojis.
c) I've just had a long cry about my exams and it's kinda making writing a heartfelt essay on how you have to be able to exert power to discriminate against someone, or how we all have to accept the inevitability of death, and dying, in order to not alienate people in our society who are termincally ill sound as appealing as letting my two year old brother lick my face.
I thought I'd go through the songs on my new playlist and explain why they make me happy. Yes, I've already done this with Scissor Sisters but I love writing lists and I love being happy.
1. In The Long Run - The Staves
I was introduced to The Staves by a friend of a friend (who is now, hopefully, my friend too). I can't quite remember when, or where, but I know that it has definitely improved my life. I love harmonies and I love three part harmonies even more. The Staves write such beautiful songs and this is my favourite because of the Beyonce-esque run* on the word 'long'.
*The thing where singers make one syllable last for a couple of minutes by travelling to many different realms of musical perfection.
2. Magic - Eliza Doolittle (originally by Coldplay)
I didn't really choose this song because of the song, but because of the artist. I have loved Eliza Doolittle since about Year 8 (12 years old) when I first heard her song Pack Up. It was a song about not caring about what people say and leaving behind your 'worries'. It was the song that made me genuinely stop caring what people thought about me, and instead just focus on what I wanted. It was also the song that gave me the incentive to buy knee-length purple converse. So, mixed results.
3. I Try - Macy Gray
I only really heard this song properly about 8 months ago when me and my mum were in the car on the motorway. It was after we'd just been to look around Bristol and I remember me and my mum trying to guess the words to it and failing miserably. It's also super catchy and just a real classic.
4. At The River - Groove Armada
I can't remember when I first heard this song but everytime I do now, I get this really nostalgic feeling I can't quite pinpoint. To me, it sounds like a blend of The Little Mermaid and Sleeping Beauty. Completely random but so right.
5. Care - Hudson Taylor
I had never heard this band play before but I agreed to go to their gig with my friend in Nottingham. It was so good and I loved every single one of their songs, this one in particular. It reminds me of those friends in Year 7 who would be like "Omg 'Generic Female Name' said this about you yeah she really hates you - I'm only telling you because I'm your friend". I don't think that's quite what the song was intended to be about.
6. Lovers' Carvings - Bibio
I had this friend in Nottingham who was essentially a music prodigy (or at least the most music prodigy-y friend I had) and we used to send each other music we were listening to. My stuff was all cheesy and high-pitched and his stuff was either beautiful or electronic and made me feel way too uncool to be his friend. Anyway, this song was one of the many he sent me and now it brings back happy memories of listening to all these weird electronic songs and hating them all unless they had some sort of lyric. Like I said, way too uncool.
7. Put Your Records On - Corinne Bailey Rae
This song is completely self-explanatory and anyone who says they have never felt at least a little twinge of joy when listening to this song is lying. Top. Tune.
Sorry I've been too busy to write on this thing. I will try and write a couple more during exam-time but I warn you, they may reflect my emotions a little too much and put you into an almost trance-like state of stress.
Just joking, I'm totally unstressed. *nervous breakdown laugh*
I'm sure only a tiny fraction of you actually let the music play (instead of instantly hitting pause*) but I really feel like one of the best ways to get to know a person is by what music they like/listen to. The songs I choose to put on this blog are songs that make me happy and if you don't like them, that's fine. I'm glad you don't all like the music because if we were all the same, and liked the same things, conversations would be boring and there would be way fewer emojis.
*The pause button is the little daisy flower thing, just in case you hate the music so much that when you can't find the pause button, you have to mute the entire computer (it happens, I have done it).
I'm so sorry I haven't posted in so long. I will abide by the promise I made last May (when I started this blog) that this will not just become one of millions of slowly decaying blogs, but be a positive influence on the Youth Of Today's minds. Okay, maybe that wasn't the promise, or the outcome, but it is the dream.
This post is going to be a light-hearted one because:
a) I can't be bothered to thesaurus-up long, confusing words and google the definitions of these long, confusing words.
b) I've already ruined the mood by saying 'daisy flower thing' and mentioning emojis.
c) I've just had a long cry about my exams and it's kinda making writing a heartfelt essay on how you have to be able to exert power to discriminate against someone, or how we all have to accept the inevitability of death, and dying, in order to not alienate people in our society who are termincally ill sound as appealing as letting my two year old brother lick my face.
I thought I'd go through the songs on my new playlist and explain why they make me happy. Yes, I've already done this with Scissor Sisters but I love writing lists and I love being happy.
1. In The Long Run - The Staves
I was introduced to The Staves by a friend of a friend (who is now, hopefully, my friend too). I can't quite remember when, or where, but I know that it has definitely improved my life. I love harmonies and I love three part harmonies even more. The Staves write such beautiful songs and this is my favourite because of the Beyonce-esque run* on the word 'long'.
*The thing where singers make one syllable last for a couple of minutes by travelling to many different realms of musical perfection.
2. Magic - Eliza Doolittle (originally by Coldplay)
I didn't really choose this song because of the song, but because of the artist. I have loved Eliza Doolittle since about Year 8 (12 years old) when I first heard her song Pack Up. It was a song about not caring about what people say and leaving behind your 'worries'. It was the song that made me genuinely stop caring what people thought about me, and instead just focus on what I wanted. It was also the song that gave me the incentive to buy knee-length purple converse. So, mixed results.
3. I Try - Macy Gray
I only really heard this song properly about 8 months ago when me and my mum were in the car on the motorway. It was after we'd just been to look around Bristol and I remember me and my mum trying to guess the words to it and failing miserably. It's also super catchy and just a real classic.
4. At The River - Groove Armada
I can't remember when I first heard this song but everytime I do now, I get this really nostalgic feeling I can't quite pinpoint. To me, it sounds like a blend of The Little Mermaid and Sleeping Beauty. Completely random but so right.
5. Care - Hudson Taylor
I had never heard this band play before but I agreed to go to their gig with my friend in Nottingham. It was so good and I loved every single one of their songs, this one in particular. It reminds me of those friends in Year 7 who would be like "Omg 'Generic Female Name' said this about you yeah she really hates you - I'm only telling you because I'm your friend". I don't think that's quite what the song was intended to be about.
6. Lovers' Carvings - Bibio
I had this friend in Nottingham who was essentially a music prodigy (or at least the most music prodigy-y friend I had) and we used to send each other music we were listening to. My stuff was all cheesy and high-pitched and his stuff was either beautiful or electronic and made me feel way too uncool to be his friend. Anyway, this song was one of the many he sent me and now it brings back happy memories of listening to all these weird electronic songs and hating them all unless they had some sort of lyric. Like I said, way too uncool.
7. Put Your Records On - Corinne Bailey Rae
This song is completely self-explanatory and anyone who says they have never felt at least a little twinge of joy when listening to this song is lying. Top. Tune.
Sorry I've been too busy to write on this thing. I will try and write a couple more during exam-time but I warn you, they may reflect my emotions a little too much and put you into an almost trance-like state of stress.
Just joking, I'm totally unstressed. *nervous breakdown laugh*
Friday 6 March 2015
Let Them Wear Jeans.
I'm going to give you a quick run through of what the world would be like without feminism.*
*Yeah, yeah, I know, more of that boring equal rights stuff but hey, it's my blog so deal with it.
Without feminism, women wouldn't be allowed to play sports such as football or rugby.
Without feminism, rape within marriage would still be legal.
Without feminism women wouldn't be able to wear jeans.
Without feminism, women wouldn't even be given the choice as to whether to vote or not.
Without feminism, women wouldn't have any education other than learning to cook and sew.
Granted, there are still people, male and female, who are victims of this sort of injustice. Slavery and trafficking is still a very real threat for millions of people. And we can't forget about them. But, we can take small steps. Every single thing feminism achieves brings the human race a few steps forward in wiping out all forms of injustice, which is why we can't stop.
I've been reading Caitlin Moran's book 'How to Be a Woman' (well technically I read half of it then had to give it back in to the school library) and it got me thinking about when girls deny being feminists.
She said something about how she doesn't even argue with these women who say they're not feminist because by expressing that opinion, they are already contradicting themselves. Without feminism, these girls wouldn't be able to discuss the prospect of gender equality in public anyway.
I can guarantee every single woman who says she isn't a feminist has worn trousers once in her life. I can also guarantee that she has been offered to play football (or any sort of sport really) at least once in her life.
Basically, in a round-about way, I'm saying that most women who think they're not feminists actually are. And, unsurprisingly, most of them do not actually believe men are superior to them.
Please sign this petition standing up for girls who aren't offered an education because why wouldn't you?
https://www.upforschool.org/petitions/stand-upforschool-2?signature_token=f1eb05e1c3222527d9cbe8e46d306bfcfd7e2d72
*Yeah, yeah, I know, more of that boring equal rights stuff but hey, it's my blog so deal with it.
Without feminism, women wouldn't be allowed to play sports such as football or rugby.
Without feminism, rape within marriage would still be legal.
Without feminism women wouldn't be able to wear jeans.
Without feminism, women wouldn't even be given the choice as to whether to vote or not.
Without feminism, women wouldn't have any education other than learning to cook and sew.
Granted, there are still people, male and female, who are victims of this sort of injustice. Slavery and trafficking is still a very real threat for millions of people. And we can't forget about them. But, we can take small steps. Every single thing feminism achieves brings the human race a few steps forward in wiping out all forms of injustice, which is why we can't stop.
I've been reading Caitlin Moran's book 'How to Be a Woman' (well technically I read half of it then had to give it back in to the school library) and it got me thinking about when girls deny being feminists.
She said something about how she doesn't even argue with these women who say they're not feminist because by expressing that opinion, they are already contradicting themselves. Without feminism, these girls wouldn't be able to discuss the prospect of gender equality in public anyway.
I can guarantee every single woman who says she isn't a feminist has worn trousers once in her life. I can also guarantee that she has been offered to play football (or any sort of sport really) at least once in her life.
Basically, in a round-about way, I'm saying that most women who think they're not feminists actually are. And, unsurprisingly, most of them do not actually believe men are superior to them.
Please sign this petition standing up for girls who aren't offered an education because why wouldn't you?
https://www.upforschool.org/petitions/stand-upforschool-2?signature_token=f1eb05e1c3222527d9cbe8e46d306bfcfd7e2d72
How to Win Every Argument.
One thing my Global Perspectives teacher said the other day really stuck with me. She said 'You can't have a fully formed opinion without a thorough understanding of both sides of the argument'.*
*Not verbatim.
This is one thing I've really had to work on these last few months or so. In Politics, we have to be able to debate both sides of an argument, regardless of your personal opinion. This is obviously beneficial because of like mark schemes and all that boring stuff but it also teaches you to be open to other opinions and really understand how someone could believe something different to you.*
*Most of the time it's not that deep. It's usually stuff like 'Should we have more referendums?' - gritty stuff, I know.
We had a debate in Biology last week about stem cell research and I had to argue on the against side. This was really hard for me because I am so passionate about new scientific discoveries and giving people the best possible chance of survival, but am also Christian so believe in preserving life. So, not only was this internal debate going off in my mind, I also had to piece together the couple of kinda lame ideas I'd had in preparation for the debate into a comprehensive argument.*
*I'm prone to headaches.
The outcome of the debate doesn't really matter (namely because it was a Biology lesson not the House of Commons) but what I took away from it was that I am finally starting to be able to clearly see two sides of a debate.
Writing that makes me realise how, to anyone else, this is like nothing. Being able to think is hardly an achievement. It reminds me of when your really fit, sporty friends are like 'Omg I got my PB in 100m backcrawl today' and you're like 'Please would you pass me the crisps'.
No-one cares.
This is just a bit of a heads up to people who strongly believe something. People won't take you seriously in an argument/debate if you don't consider their opinion.*
*This is coming from my experience of many, many hopeless arguments where I forgot that it is possible to not agree with my opinion. (Like, what?)
So be acceptant, open-minded and most importantly, kickass.
*Not verbatim.
This is one thing I've really had to work on these last few months or so. In Politics, we have to be able to debate both sides of an argument, regardless of your personal opinion. This is obviously beneficial because of like mark schemes and all that boring stuff but it also teaches you to be open to other opinions and really understand how someone could believe something different to you.*
*Most of the time it's not that deep. It's usually stuff like 'Should we have more referendums?' - gritty stuff, I know.
We had a debate in Biology last week about stem cell research and I had to argue on the against side. This was really hard for me because I am so passionate about new scientific discoveries and giving people the best possible chance of survival, but am also Christian so believe in preserving life. So, not only was this internal debate going off in my mind, I also had to piece together the couple of kinda lame ideas I'd had in preparation for the debate into a comprehensive argument.*
*I'm prone to headaches.
The outcome of the debate doesn't really matter (namely because it was a Biology lesson not the House of Commons) but what I took away from it was that I am finally starting to be able to clearly see two sides of a debate.
Writing that makes me realise how, to anyone else, this is like nothing. Being able to think is hardly an achievement. It reminds me of when your really fit, sporty friends are like 'Omg I got my PB in 100m backcrawl today' and you're like 'Please would you pass me the crisps'.
No-one cares.
This is just a bit of a heads up to people who strongly believe something. People won't take you seriously in an argument/debate if you don't consider their opinion.*
*This is coming from my experience of many, many hopeless arguments where I forgot that it is possible to not agree with my opinion. (Like, what?)
So be acceptant, open-minded and most importantly, kickass.
Thursday 5 March 2015
How Gone Girl Screwed With My Mind.
Who sees the real you?
Bit of a deep one for you today. I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm writing this in between watching Nashville (like when it's buffering) so it may be slightly bitty. Just so you don't feel left out of the video-watching club, here's a video by Soul Pancake (a Youtube channel).
As you can probably tell, this video is what prompted me to write this post.*
*I can't come up with deep subjects like this all on my own.
Anyway, it really got me thinking about who sees the real me (funnily enough) and I thought I'd just pour out all my thoughts into this blog in an attempt to see it more clearly. Does that make sense? I feel like this post is just going to drag me deeper into the void of self doubt. Ah well, as long as it isn't too long...
The first thing I thought when I watched this video was: What does see mean? It could mean understanding and really knowing a person, or it could be mean, like, literally seeing. I'm guessing the video is focusing on the former because it's deeper and easier to add emotive background music to.
In that sense, I don't think anyone sees 'The Real Me' because I'm not sure who that person is. Before you start to think I'm going to go off on some longggg tangent about finding myself and Jesus and self-acceptance and all that stuff, I'm not. Because I don't think I'm there yet. Or more accurately, I don't think this 'there', this final destination, is even on my map. I think we're all a lot of people. We're who the person you're interacting with needs, we're who a certain decision needs to be made, we're who we need to be to get through the day.*
*Can you tell I've read Gone Girl?
And that's fine. There's nothing wrong with being a different person with different people because everyone does it. Maybe it's not very noticeable in a lot of people, but sometimes it's just little things. For example, someone may react differently to a question depending on who's asking and what the consequence of their answer will be, or someone may laugh at a joke they would never find funny in a different situation.
I am a lot of people. I'm a typical, hard-working student in Biology, I'm an argumentative feminist in Politics, I'm a frustrated failure in Maths, I'm an annoying big sister with my brothers, I'm an ill patient at the doctors and an exhausted teenager in my room.
So no-one sees 'The Real Me' because I'm never all of those things at once and I'm never in a situation where I need to be.
Just writing this, I've come up with an idea. Whenever you feel yourself being one of your 'many selves', think to yourself 'Who/what am I being this person for?'. When the answer is 'Me', then you've found yourself.
Bit of a deep one for you today. I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm writing this in between watching Nashville (like when it's buffering) so it may be slightly bitty. Just so you don't feel left out of the video-watching club, here's a video by Soul Pancake (a Youtube channel).
As you can probably tell, this video is what prompted me to write this post.*
*I can't come up with deep subjects like this all on my own.
Anyway, it really got me thinking about who sees the real me (funnily enough) and I thought I'd just pour out all my thoughts into this blog in an attempt to see it more clearly. Does that make sense? I feel like this post is just going to drag me deeper into the void of self doubt. Ah well, as long as it isn't too long...
The first thing I thought when I watched this video was: What does see mean? It could mean understanding and really knowing a person, or it could be mean, like, literally seeing. I'm guessing the video is focusing on the former because it's deeper and easier to add emotive background music to.
In that sense, I don't think anyone sees 'The Real Me' because I'm not sure who that person is. Before you start to think I'm going to go off on some longggg tangent about finding myself and Jesus and self-acceptance and all that stuff, I'm not. Because I don't think I'm there yet. Or more accurately, I don't think this 'there', this final destination, is even on my map. I think we're all a lot of people. We're who the person you're interacting with needs, we're who a certain decision needs to be made, we're who we need to be to get through the day.*
*Can you tell I've read Gone Girl?
And that's fine. There's nothing wrong with being a different person with different people because everyone does it. Maybe it's not very noticeable in a lot of people, but sometimes it's just little things. For example, someone may react differently to a question depending on who's asking and what the consequence of their answer will be, or someone may laugh at a joke they would never find funny in a different situation.
I am a lot of people. I'm a typical, hard-working student in Biology, I'm an argumentative feminist in Politics, I'm a frustrated failure in Maths, I'm an annoying big sister with my brothers, I'm an ill patient at the doctors and an exhausted teenager in my room.
So no-one sees 'The Real Me' because I'm never all of those things at once and I'm never in a situation where I need to be.
Just writing this, I've come up with an idea. Whenever you feel yourself being one of your 'many selves', think to yourself 'Who/what am I being this person for?'. When the answer is 'Me', then you've found yourself.
Saturday 21 February 2015
Lovey Dovey Ghetto Princess.
I have loved Scissor Sisters since, like, forever. There's just something about their music that makes me want to eat a handful of glitter, jump on a train to Vienna and buy a herd of wild pugs.
All whilst singing at an only-dogs-can-hear pitch and thrusting rhythmically.
After writing that pretty graphic (yet realistic) description of me dancing, I realised I didn't really know what else to write about this. So, I'm going to list my favourite of Scissor Sisters' songs and give a brief insight into why they make me so happy.
5. I Don't Feel Like Dancin'.
This goes without saying, really. I just find it so great that the one song professing not dancing is the single best song at making you want to dance. Also, literally nobody knows the words to the rest of the song except the line 'I don't feel like dancing, no sir, no dancing today'. Personally, I like to sing the first line as 'Wake up in the morning and the mojo's in the place, my heart can take a chance but I don't whither either way'. According to azlyrics.com (reliable source, I know), the actual lyric is 'Wake up in the morning with a head like ‘what ya done?’ This used to be the life but I don’t need another one'. Let down. To be perfectly honest, I don't even think Scissor Sisters know what the actual words are to this song. They just shimmy gracefully through the song, trying to make it rhyme.
4. Skin Tight.
Lesser known, but a classic. Well technically it's not a classic for exactly the reason I just highlighted, but it sounded like I knew what I was talking about. I love this song because the lyrics are like properly beautiful and emotional yet they choose to put them to a rave-worthy bass and make it a groove, rather than a ballad. I don't know about you, but I love a groove. This is the sort of song I can imagine dancing to in the rain.
3. Filthy / Gorgeous.
Can we just take a moment to appreciate the genius of this song. I can pretty much guarantee that every single one of you will have at least one memory of listening to this song. And that memory will either be excruciatingly painful to recall or will make you smile reading this. It's just one of those songs. Personally, I have countless memories of dancing to this at parties, generally with my parents and their friends. Yes, that means that 6 year old me used to innocently sing the words to this song (or at least some version of the words) with adults that knew perfectly well what the lyrics meant but let me belt them out to crowds of strangers anyway.
2. Invisible Light.
I don't know why I love this song so much, but I really do. I can just imagine the chorus being the soundtrack to almost every single good moment in my life. I listen to it when I'm sad or grumpy or bored (or any other mood that requires me to wear extra eyeliner). Just listen to it, and hopefully you'll understand.
1. Fire with Fire.
This is my favourite song of all time, not just of the Scissor Sisters collection. I cry almost every single time I listen to it, or I energetically dance solidly for the entire song. My moods vary a lot. I think it's a combination of the piano riff at the beginning, Jake Shears' shameless vocals, and probably my favourite lyrics ever written. If there was ever a song that came close enough to describing me, it would be this one. Fire with fire. It's practically my motto now. Not that I'm validating 'revenge'; I'm a firm believer in the 'if someone hits you, turn the other cheek' party line. But 'turning the other cheek', to me, doesn't mean forgetting about it. If someone hurts you, or something you care about, you have a right to question it and to stand up for what you believe in. So even if your fire is a huge bonfire, or the tiny flame hiding underneath the coal, you're still fighting.
So, at the end of that rather long 'list', I hope you have something to take away from it. Even if it's just that I had a slightly dysfunctional childhood. At least you now know a little bit about why I am, well, the way that I am.
#bornthisway #cheesyinspirationalmetaphorsforlife
All whilst singing at an only-dogs-can-hear pitch and thrusting rhythmically.
After writing that pretty graphic (yet realistic) description of me dancing, I realised I didn't really know what else to write about this. So, I'm going to list my favourite of Scissor Sisters' songs and give a brief insight into why they make me so happy.
5. I Don't Feel Like Dancin'.
This goes without saying, really. I just find it so great that the one song professing not dancing is the single best song at making you want to dance. Also, literally nobody knows the words to the rest of the song except the line 'I don't feel like dancing, no sir, no dancing today'. Personally, I like to sing the first line as 'Wake up in the morning and the mojo's in the place, my heart can take a chance but I don't whither either way'. According to azlyrics.com (reliable source, I know), the actual lyric is 'Wake up in the morning with a head like ‘what ya done?’ This used to be the life but I don’t need another one'. Let down. To be perfectly honest, I don't even think Scissor Sisters know what the actual words are to this song. They just shimmy gracefully through the song, trying to make it rhyme.
4. Skin Tight.
Lesser known, but a classic. Well technically it's not a classic for exactly the reason I just highlighted, but it sounded like I knew what I was talking about. I love this song because the lyrics are like properly beautiful and emotional yet they choose to put them to a rave-worthy bass and make it a groove, rather than a ballad. I don't know about you, but I love a groove. This is the sort of song I can imagine dancing to in the rain.
3. Filthy / Gorgeous.
Can we just take a moment to appreciate the genius of this song. I can pretty much guarantee that every single one of you will have at least one memory of listening to this song. And that memory will either be excruciatingly painful to recall or will make you smile reading this. It's just one of those songs. Personally, I have countless memories of dancing to this at parties, generally with my parents and their friends. Yes, that means that 6 year old me used to innocently sing the words to this song (or at least some version of the words) with adults that knew perfectly well what the lyrics meant but let me belt them out to crowds of strangers anyway.
2. Invisible Light.
I don't know why I love this song so much, but I really do. I can just imagine the chorus being the soundtrack to almost every single good moment in my life. I listen to it when I'm sad or grumpy or bored (or any other mood that requires me to wear extra eyeliner). Just listen to it, and hopefully you'll understand.
1. Fire with Fire.
This is my favourite song of all time, not just of the Scissor Sisters collection. I cry almost every single time I listen to it, or I energetically dance solidly for the entire song. My moods vary a lot. I think it's a combination of the piano riff at the beginning, Jake Shears' shameless vocals, and probably my favourite lyrics ever written. If there was ever a song that came close enough to describing me, it would be this one. Fire with fire. It's practically my motto now. Not that I'm validating 'revenge'; I'm a firm believer in the 'if someone hits you, turn the other cheek' party line. But 'turning the other cheek', to me, doesn't mean forgetting about it. If someone hurts you, or something you care about, you have a right to question it and to stand up for what you believe in. So even if your fire is a huge bonfire, or the tiny flame hiding underneath the coal, you're still fighting.
So, at the end of that rather long 'list', I hope you have something to take away from it. Even if it's just that I had a slightly dysfunctional childhood. At least you now know a little bit about why I am, well, the way that I am.
#bornthisway #cheesyinspirationalmetaphorsforlife
Friday 13 February 2015
Fueled on Anger and Glitter.
So I'm in an eclectic mood. That's a fancy way of saying I can't think of one thing to write about and I keep having random thought processes so need to write it all down.
Firstly, who's psyched about the Fifty Shades of Grey film? Not me. Honestly, until like a week ago I was avidly watching the trailers (mainly to catch glimpses of Jamie Dornan topless) and didn't really see the harm in a kinda-porn-y film being released (did I mention Jamie Dornan?!). But then I read an article quoting all the dodgy stuff in it and was like 'Ohmygosh ew what is this'.*
*I was probably less American schoolgirl-y but that was the general drift.
Basically, the books (who knew it was a trilogy?) are about a supposed 'love' story between Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele. The inverted comments refer to the fact that Christian literally rapes Anastasia. That's not a love story, that's sexual (and emotional) abuse. Sorry for the crudeness but it makes me so angry that books like this are allowed to exist. I'm not condemning the entire genre of 'erotic fiction' (ew, writing that makes me squirm) because I understand that appeals to some people, but a book promoting rape and abuse is not right. Neither am I judging BDSM practitioners (that's the official term, in case you thought I was being weirdly formal) because a true BDSM relationship is based on consent, which the 'relationship' in Fifty Shades of Grey is not.
Urgh, rant over.*
*Well I'll probably continue to rant about it to anyone that will listen.
Moving on. So, I have this friend who is a walking contradiction. I've literally never met someone so internally (and externally) at conflict. For example, she loves Ariana Grande (don't shoot her please guys) and wears pretty bows in her hair and is like seriously hot, but also has some crazy obsession with seeing a dead person, has no qualms about killing animals (I've only ever witnessed her flushing zebrafish eggs and water fleas down the sink so maybe that isn't a very good example) and thinks mothers can kill their children if they want to. Of course, I'm kinda hypocritical considering I love pink but will destroy anyone who assumes I like pink because I'm a girl, and I want to be a doctor but have a full-on phobia of injections. I think this is why we get on so well. Neither of us are what we appear to be, which is good, because why should we have to live up to what other people expect us to be? I think I may have just turned her (fairly innocent but still heartless) personality into a feminist rant. Typical. Anyway, I just wanted to mention her because I think she's great (but she does suck at biology experiments).
I want to pick a little bit of what I just said and expand upon it, because it's kind of important. Just because I like pink, sparkles and James Blunt, does not mean I'm naive, or think girls can't kickass as much as any other gender out there. Just because I wear makeup, does not mean I think girls should base their self-worth on how attractive other people think they are. Stop stereotyping and generalising 50% of the population. And while we're at it, stop stereotyping any group in society because...well, just because.
So, that's about it. Well it's not really, I'd say that's about 1/3 of the stuff going through my brain right now, but that was the write-down-able third. Here's a little crazy contradiction-y fact for you to end your day with:
Firstly, who's psyched about the Fifty Shades of Grey film? Not me. Honestly, until like a week ago I was avidly watching the trailers (mainly to catch glimpses of Jamie Dornan topless) and didn't really see the harm in a kinda-porn-y film being released (did I mention Jamie Dornan?!). But then I read an article quoting all the dodgy stuff in it and was like 'Ohmygosh ew what is this'.*
*I was probably less American schoolgirl-y but that was the general drift.
Basically, the books (who knew it was a trilogy?) are about a supposed 'love' story between Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele. The inverted comments refer to the fact that Christian literally rapes Anastasia. That's not a love story, that's sexual (and emotional) abuse. Sorry for the crudeness but it makes me so angry that books like this are allowed to exist. I'm not condemning the entire genre of 'erotic fiction' (ew, writing that makes me squirm) because I understand that appeals to some people, but a book promoting rape and abuse is not right. Neither am I judging BDSM practitioners (that's the official term, in case you thought I was being weirdly formal) because a true BDSM relationship is based on consent, which the 'relationship' in Fifty Shades of Grey is not.
Urgh, rant over.*
*Well I'll probably continue to rant about it to anyone that will listen.
Moving on. So, I have this friend who is a walking contradiction. I've literally never met someone so internally (and externally) at conflict. For example, she loves Ariana Grande (don't shoot her please guys) and wears pretty bows in her hair and is like seriously hot, but also has some crazy obsession with seeing a dead person, has no qualms about killing animals (I've only ever witnessed her flushing zebrafish eggs and water fleas down the sink so maybe that isn't a very good example) and thinks mothers can kill their children if they want to. Of course, I'm kinda hypocritical considering I love pink but will destroy anyone who assumes I like pink because I'm a girl, and I want to be a doctor but have a full-on phobia of injections. I think this is why we get on so well. Neither of us are what we appear to be, which is good, because why should we have to live up to what other people expect us to be? I think I may have just turned her (fairly innocent but still heartless) personality into a feminist rant. Typical. Anyway, I just wanted to mention her because I think she's great (but she does suck at biology experiments).
I want to pick a little bit of what I just said and expand upon it, because it's kind of important. Just because I like pink, sparkles and James Blunt, does not mean I'm naive, or think girls can't kickass as much as any other gender out there. Just because I wear makeup, does not mean I think girls should base their self-worth on how attractive other people think they are. Stop stereotyping and generalising 50% of the population. And while we're at it, stop stereotyping any group in society because...well, just because.
So, that's about it. Well it's not really, I'd say that's about 1/3 of the stuff going through my brain right now, but that was the write-down-able third. Here's a little crazy contradiction-y fact for you to end your day with:
Marilyn Monroe had a higher IQ than Albert Einstein.
Sunday 1 February 2015
You've got a cold? Write a will.
Do you think people who don't agree with animal testing should be allowed to take paracetamol?
I have asked so many people this question in the last month and no-one has given me a straight answer. I asked some meat-eaters and they all grunted, shrugged and limbo-ed under the question; I asked a vegan and she grunted, shrugged and promptly stepped around the limbo pole; and then I asked myself, to which I replied by grunting, shrugging to no-one in particular and despairing at the awful metaphors I come up with.
I'd never thought about it until I heard someone give a presentation about animal testing. Not from an animals-are-people-too, burn-the-zoos perspective, but from a scientific perspective.
I'm sure all of you have heard the horrible facts about the living conditions of animals in laboratories. I'm sure most of you have read the news about PETA's regular stunts. I'm even sure some of you have seen Legally Blonde II.
And as much as those facts horrify me, as much as I admire PETA's passion, and as much as I love Legally Blonde, I still think animal testing is necessary sometimes.
Don't shoot me, don't shoot me, don't shoot me.
I say sometimes with honesty. Testing cosmetics on animals is cruel, unnecessary and barbaric. But testing medicines, treatments and new medical equipment is completely justified. Without animal testing, billions of people would have died from malaria, 235 million people would currently be struggling to breath on a day-to-day basis because of asthma, and every single cancer patient that has survived purely because of medical treatment, would be dead.
Granted, a vaccination for malaria may have been created eventually, but countless lives would have been expended during the failed clinical trials. The majority of the 235 million people living with asthma will never be hospitalised because of asthma attacks but many of them will, and they wouldn't survive without the medicines we have today. And perhaps some of those cancer patients could have fought it off eventually, or found a homeopathic cure, but without chemotherapy, radiotherapy and all the other scary sounding therapies, the cancer survival rate would be down by ten fold, maybe more.
That means, in less number-y terms, the 'one child dies of malaria every minute' advert would be a whole lot scarier; I probably wouldn't be alive, and if I was, I would be hospitalised all my life (being treated with what medicines I don't know); and cancer would be an even bigger threat than it already is.
Without animal research, the human population wouldn't have survived the epidemic of the common cold.
I googled about some animal research alternatives and there are some, but they are impractical and very, very time consuming. For example, you can synthesise skin cells in a petri dish and test on them but then you can't know how the treatment affects bodily functions. Kinda pointless, seeing as the reason most drugs never reach the drugstore is not because they don't work, but because they do extra stuff that you don't really want happening.
So, after that fact (and perhaps emotion) overload, let's do a U-turn back to the beginning of this post. I chose paracetamol because I can almost guarantee that all of you have used it at least once, and most of you on a regular basis. But I could have asked:
Do you think people who don't agree with animal testing should be allowed to take paracetamol, receive any hospital treatment, or even give their pets medicine?*
*You never really think about the benefit of animal testing on animals, but animals need painkillers (large animals during child birth), insulin for diabetes and vaccines for diseases too.
Why should people who are so vehemently against something, reap all the benefits from it?
At the end of the day, you can't tell someone they're 'not allowed' to take medicine, or that they can't have an x-ray for their broken leg, but I just want people to really think about the implications of living in an animal-testing free society. We wouldn't have hospitals (what's the point without the treatments?), and if we did have some sort of care centre, we'd all be in it.
But then again, technically humans are parasites on Earth, stripping it of life and resources. And if we all die at some point, why not sooner rather than later?
As you can tell, the internal debates in my head are endless.
I have asked so many people this question in the last month and no-one has given me a straight answer. I asked some meat-eaters and they all grunted, shrugged and limbo-ed under the question; I asked a vegan and she grunted, shrugged and promptly stepped around the limbo pole; and then I asked myself, to which I replied by grunting, shrugging to no-one in particular and despairing at the awful metaphors I come up with.
I'd never thought about it until I heard someone give a presentation about animal testing. Not from an animals-are-people-too, burn-the-zoos perspective, but from a scientific perspective.
I'm sure all of you have heard the horrible facts about the living conditions of animals in laboratories. I'm sure most of you have read the news about PETA's regular stunts. I'm even sure some of you have seen Legally Blonde II.
And as much as those facts horrify me, as much as I admire PETA's passion, and as much as I love Legally Blonde, I still think animal testing is necessary sometimes.
Don't shoot me, don't shoot me, don't shoot me.
I say sometimes with honesty. Testing cosmetics on animals is cruel, unnecessary and barbaric. But testing medicines, treatments and new medical equipment is completely justified. Without animal testing, billions of people would have died from malaria, 235 million people would currently be struggling to breath on a day-to-day basis because of asthma, and every single cancer patient that has survived purely because of medical treatment, would be dead.
Granted, a vaccination for malaria may have been created eventually, but countless lives would have been expended during the failed clinical trials. The majority of the 235 million people living with asthma will never be hospitalised because of asthma attacks but many of them will, and they wouldn't survive without the medicines we have today. And perhaps some of those cancer patients could have fought it off eventually, or found a homeopathic cure, but without chemotherapy, radiotherapy and all the other scary sounding therapies, the cancer survival rate would be down by ten fold, maybe more.
That means, in less number-y terms, the 'one child dies of malaria every minute' advert would be a whole lot scarier; I probably wouldn't be alive, and if I was, I would be hospitalised all my life (being treated with what medicines I don't know); and cancer would be an even bigger threat than it already is.
Without animal research, the human population wouldn't have survived the epidemic of the common cold.
I googled about some animal research alternatives and there are some, but they are impractical and very, very time consuming. For example, you can synthesise skin cells in a petri dish and test on them but then you can't know how the treatment affects bodily functions. Kinda pointless, seeing as the reason most drugs never reach the drugstore is not because they don't work, but because they do extra stuff that you don't really want happening.
So, after that fact (and perhaps emotion) overload, let's do a U-turn back to the beginning of this post. I chose paracetamol because I can almost guarantee that all of you have used it at least once, and most of you on a regular basis. But I could have asked:
Do you think people who don't agree with animal testing should be allowed to take paracetamol, receive any hospital treatment, or even give their pets medicine?*
*You never really think about the benefit of animal testing on animals, but animals need painkillers (large animals during child birth), insulin for diabetes and vaccines for diseases too.
Why should people who are so vehemently against something, reap all the benefits from it?
At the end of the day, you can't tell someone they're 'not allowed' to take medicine, or that they can't have an x-ray for their broken leg, but I just want people to really think about the implications of living in an animal-testing free society. We wouldn't have hospitals (what's the point without the treatments?), and if we did have some sort of care centre, we'd all be in it.
But then again, technically humans are parasites on Earth, stripping it of life and resources. And if we all die at some point, why not sooner rather than later?
As you can tell, the internal debates in my head are endless.
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