27th August 2013
Well, it has to be said (at least by another disappointed female in the room) that Miley Cyrus put on one hell of a show (in a bad way) at the recent VMAs. In fact I’m hopelessly preying for the fact she doesn’t search her name on twitter at least for a couple of weeks or she might have a mental breakdown from the amount of shit people are saying about her. Now before I really get into this I’m just going to share a video of the performance that was later joined by Robin Thicke (parody video of Blurred Lines described as a ‘a creepy wannabe Timberlake).
I’ll give you a minute to decide for yourselves.
I know, I know, Hannah Montana has truly left the building.
You should all know that once I have a topic I’d like to discuss on this particular section of my blog, I tend to give it a day or two until I genuinely feel like I can discuss it on here, just so I know what I think and feel about a particular situation.
I don’t feel it’s particularly necessary to say ‘she doesn’t have a right to do that’. She does. That’s what her song We Can’t Stop is literally all about. But is it really fair on all of those young, impressionable girls to switch onto that channel and think ‘well if Miley Cyrus can wear a teddy bear one piece over latex skin coloured underwear and start ‘twerking’ in the crotch of a married man, that’s what I should aspire to be’. At the same time, I’m not going to contradict my previous statements on pop culture, truthfully, it’s not up to Miley Cyrus to parent people’s children. It wasn’t great for Rihanna to get back with the man who beat her to shit, but that’s her own decision. I’m not going to discuss the sexuality of the performance, although I have to say it’s not okay to grind on the crotch of a married man, especially when you’re engaged…
No, what I’m here to discuss is just the pure humiliation that girl has put her through. I genuinely feel incredibly sorry for her. She obviously feels and believes that the route to success at this age is through your vagina, and bar all the sexuality of that, why not make the performance something you’d want to see at the VMA’s? Not at a strip club. Miley you were meant to sing that song with Thicko, not karaoke with a side order of lap dancing.
Now people got nasty on twitter. Comparing her slightly odd-shaped arse to that of a raw chicken. Sharing the hilarious, albeit slightly hypocritical reaction of Rihanna herself, the awkward faces of One Direction, and a hilarious, disgusted and quite frankly brilliant reaction from the Smith family. However. She’s only asked for it. I hope she hasn’t read it. She really did embarrass herself. I’d be mortified if that was me. Remember this is my opinion. If you’re going to portray yourself like that to the world, the world will only react accordingly. I’m not saying she doesn’t have a right to express herself, of course she does. But other people hold that right too. Admittedly, I know I say she shouldn’t be responsible for what kids see, and what they look up to, she’s just a person, but I know I wouldn’t want my 10 year old daughter watching that, although knowing me, I’d want to raise my children to believe that what other people do is just that, and it shouldn’t have any affect or influence on them, naturally some things will, but their time of being ‘sexy’ (well, not that that performance was) will come when they’re older and that isn’t what sexy looks like. I’ll give it to her though, Miley had either the confidence (either in liquid, powder or bud form) to do that in front of the world, but that doesn’t make it good.
There’s no way I’m going to say ‘Miley should have done this, or express herself like that’. I’m not Miley. I don’t know her. I follow her on twitter (@MileyCyrus) and that’s about it. I don’t know what she’s going through, I don’t know what she’s thinking or feeling. None of us do but her and those close to her and around her. But surely she has the responsibility for her reputation? Surely she looked back at that performance and thought ‘uh oh’? No, okay. Well the rest of the world did. She’s entitled to do what she wants, but she’s got herself in the position of the eyes of the world and the minds of the world will react upon that. ‘It’s my mouth I can say what I want to’, yes Miley, that’s true, but that’s a given right to everyone else too, it’s not just you that can say whatever they want, or do whatever they want. Get off your high horse, put on some clothes, and start representing yourself as a young woman, not a slutty teenager. By all means, twerk in clubs, at house parties etc., but how about exploring your sexuality in the privacy of your own home? With your fiance? Not in front of the world where you will only really come off as an ‘attention seeking slut’ and let’s face up to the fact that people will say these things when they see it. Is that really the name you want to give yourself?
22nd August 2013
Well it seems to be everywhere right now, in the media, on the internet, even being discussed and debated in politics. That one thing everyone’s tried and only 50% of the world (men) will admit to. Porn. Okay, the one thing that really gets me about this debate is that it’s probably the most obvious double standard. We don’t see it because it’s so subtle and it’s not worried about because men take pride in how much they work out, how much money they earn, how good they look etc. and that is actually how a lot of women sexually objectify men, ‘if I go out with him, he’ll spend money on me’ no one admits it, but deep down somewhere in the less moral subconscious, ladies, you know it. Every single girl I have on Facebook has raved about Channing Tatum, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, etc. over a million times, and has most likely seen that film Magic Mike. But noooo that’s okay, watching men strip is fine because it boosts their ego to see a load of women screaming and giggling and downright wanting to pounce on them. So why is it different for women? Why the f*ck are women shining a negative light on women doing the same thing that a man can do? Because apparently women can sexually objectify men by having half naked photos of them on their phones, bathroom mirrors, bedroom walls, diaries etc. but when it’s vice versa, and a guy has photos of half naked girls on his phone, he’s suddenly a pervert. I will be honest with you, I’d consider myself a feminist (and I’ll get to that in a second) but I’m gonna have to stick up for the men on this one.
I can totally understand the lad’s mags being banished because quite frankly everything’s on the internet and who really wants that awkward eye contact with the cashier when buying one of those magazines? I can totally agree with the fact it’s far too easy to access for children and that isn’t okay. More than that, I can totally comprehend that some porn is not just unrealistic but can show violence towards women and that’s not what a young 15 year old lad ‘wanting to know how to do it’ should be shown. No. So let’s compromise. Take the mags off the shelves, not just protecting the eyes of innocent children, but also the humiliation of that 30 year old virgin. I’m not naive okay, I might only be 19, but trust me, that should be a sign that I know there are many perverts out there.
So let’s break it down and show you where I land on the compromise, from my point of view. I believe, in that whole big beautiful spectrum of feminism that a woman should be allowed to do what a man does without judgement or criticism of gender only of how good/bad it is done. Capiche? Okay. Well where I stand on the situation is that maybe these women aren’t stripping off in front of a camera because they have a gun held to their head and that’s what they have to do. It’s a free country! We have the ability to do what we want, and as females we appreciate that. I have to say I would find it horrible if I was made to feel guilty for finding the opposite sex attractive, for f*ck sake I’m straight! No one would ever tell a woman that she couldn’t find a man attractive if she did. How preposterous!? But men are made to feel SO GUILTY for finding the female body attractive. It’s unbelievable I mean ‘the sexual objection of women in porn’ WHAT ABOUT THE MEN? There are men in these films too! Why aren’t they being scrutinized for showing off how good they are in the sack?
My compromise is that men and women should be able to do what they want together, consensual, and as of the right age, either in the privacy of their own bedroom or with money change in hand, in front of a camera so they can take the bacon back home. So how about instead of making women the submissive (50 shades of Grey was a shit read anyway like bad lighting turned into bad writing) anyway how about making porn a little more female friendly? I’m not a porn-viewer, in fact an ex-boyfriend tried to make me watch it with him so we could be more ‘turned on’ and all I did was giggle… I’m not an excellent girlfriend I must admit. I’m not aware of the ‘types’ of porn you can get. But from what I’ve seen, these girls just don’t seem to be worried about what they’re doing. They seem to love it, and enjoy sex like we all should and that’s not a crime! Also what I think should change is the reality factor. it’s fun to add fantasy, and that’s what sparks desire so let’s not change that sense, but how about how the girl looks. I heard once that a few women in LA I think got themselves ‘designer vaginas’ because their’s didn’t look like the vaginas you see on porn stars. Why not some normal looking girls. Maybe then these men would have an educated idea of what women who don’t have boob jobs, lipo, cheek implants, bleached blond hair and bleached arse holes look like.
My argument is that all these self-described ‘feminists’ are so two faced! They’re saying we should be able to enjoy sex/do anything the way a man does regardless of whether we have a penis or a vagina and no one should deny us of that, yet when it comes down to it, where women are enjoying sex, yes a little more publicly than others, like a man, in fact, like a HUMAN should, it’s wrong. These women in porn are exploiting their bodies, yes but it’s a little unfair for you to deny her of that since the man in that porno is doing that too? Men love getting naked for women, because it fills them with pride to know that they’re doing well enough in the gym for now. They thrive of a woman’s desire or admiration because men run on this thing that they take incredibly seriously called PRIDE. I’m not saying women need nothing else in the world, that’s for the simple leisure of a man. But maybe women should have a little more pride, confidence and security in their own bodies and that’s why I think there should be more realistic women in porn.
I think sex, porn, whatever you do with your hand or your partner is up to you, and if people want to (let’s use a more positive word than ‘exploit’) express how they do it, what they look like when they’re doing it and who they’re doing it with, why deny any man or woman of that? Sex has such a ridiculous stigma around it. We all do it, it’s a part of human nature. It’s good to educate children properly which again backs up my argument of having more aesthetically realistic porn for the slightly older young generation (long way of saying teenagers) with internet access, and proper, outspoken, unlimited conversation about it. I was fully happy with the education I got growing up about sex and relationships and the only unrealistic thing I was ever shown was the way people looked in pornography. As long as sex is safe, consensual and sober it should be no less than okay.
11th August 2013
What is the obsession with fame in this day & age? Is this seriously how our generation want to remember their youth?
I don’t think anyone can go through their life without contradicting themselves at some stage: but that usually comes from change of heart, change of mind or simply growing up and your education evolving. So I’m not ashamed to say that I do find a guilty pleasure in hearing about celebrity scandal, or at least I used to. Now I simply couldn’t give less of a shit what these ‘celebrities’ are up to.
In fact, I hate the entire culture & what it’s actually done to my generation. I’m in no way saying that no one can be in the eyes of the media, that’s what it’s for. But why can’t the media focus on something a little more educational, admirable, maybe even worthwhile than what people like Rihanna and Miley Cyrus wear to the supermarket? Magazines like Heat and tabloids like The Sun make an absolute FORTUNE out of selling you information that will not in any way, shape, or form change your life.
Why isn’t ‘celebrity’ status put with the scientists trying to cure cancer; the women who still stand for feminism; musicians who actually have this thing (it’s been missing from the industry since the millennium) called TALENT; why not fashion designers not the ‘style icons’ that wear the clothes?
I’m sorry, I study fashion at university and I can from the bottom of my heart tell you, I couldn’t tell you for the life of me, let alone give a shit about what fashion label Katy Perry wears most. I don’t really give a fuck about trends, maybe on a subconscious level I pay attention to them, but never in a million years would I wear something simply because ‘it’s cool right now’, the fact is Topshop won’t sell me things that aren’t cool but I can bloody well decide for myself what I think will look good on ME. I don’t need Vogue, Elle or style.com to tell me, thank you very much. Never mind that, never in a million years would I fork out money from my student loan to spend on clothes similar to what an actress from Gossip Girl has been ‘caught’ wearing lately, because quite simply, I don’t have a clothes budget anywhere near what their earrings cost, let alone their “bang on trend winter coat from Chanel.”
Quite simply, I don’t see why the hell it bothers or influences ANYONE in this day and age of freedom of speech and liberation of opinion, all this fame-induced, trend obsessive media. I honestly can’t tell you why people are doing this thing called ‘fan girling’ and yeah, okay, I admire the look some musicians/actors/celebrities, and I admire some of their talents, but for fuck sake I cannot STAND the whole obsession with it all!
The fact is I don’t see a problem in a little interest in the people we watch on tv/youtube/cinema screens and what they’re up to/wearing, it can be quite fun to see what they do in real life. But isn’t that what following people on twitter is for? But how can people actually spend more time on looking up on their favorite celebrities all the FUCKING TIME? Why are they obsessed with people who don’t reciprocate their love? Call me crazy, it’s a little bit mental. These celebrities are actually people (let’s start calling them that) and they probably don’t want you to know what they’re up to all the time, and if they did, wouldn’t they tweet it? So why are you causing this huge obsession around people, to cause some deluded money-maker to think ‘ooh if we get people to follow them around with cameras to document their every move, all those fans will buy my tabloid and I’ll make loads of money!’ But these celebrities sorry, people probably DON’T LIKE BEING FOLLOWED AROUND BY A GROUP OF SLEEZY MEN WITH CAMERAS TRYING TO MAKE MONEY OUT OF STALKING THEM!
Also, how can some people actually gain celebrity status from such mediocre, bullshit, and quite frankly pointless scenarios. It’s great entertainment to watch shows like Made In Chelsea and laugh at their snobby and unfairly rich lives, but I would never EVER think of any of those people on that show as ‘famous’. Yes, people know who they are, they’re public figures, but they’re not God’s gift to earth, in fact the only reason you know who they are is by seeing them on a scripted show of their lives of going out for a drink in Mayfair, dates in South Kensington and on whim holidays to Cannes. They haven’t done anything worthwhile with their lives, because they don’t have to and quite simply they’re making enough money from you watching their scripted TV lives which they spend on the drinks you watch them buy. Yet at London Fashion Week just this February gone, every time I checked Facebook it was some poor deluded girl from my university representing our course approaching some MIC member and asking for a photo with them as if you actually need to boost their well-fueled (by Channel 4′s viewing rates and their 141.2k twitter followers) egos. I went to the Rihanna for River Island showcase with a friend of mine who got us tickets through her contacts at work, and as much fun as it was to be in the same room as her for 30 seconds, she left quite promptly after, it was great fun talking to Vince Kidd from the Voice, and yes the Made In Chelsea cast were there too. But I have to say I had more fun knocking back the free drinks and dancing with my friends and other bloggers (lucky enough to be there)… Although I didn’t enjoy those drinks the next morning (ouch).
I was reading The Times weekend magazine just an hour ago, and after reading another great article from one of my favorite journalists, Caitlin Moran, I stumbled upon an Ann Widdecombe article. I’m not a biggest fan of her at all, although watching her on Strictly that time was bloody HILARIOUS and quite admirable for someone… like her (lets just say), she did make a very true point (which actually fueled this blog post)…. “This age of instant celebrity is dangerous, with so much of it focused on looks & possessions and materialism. What has been sidelined is real achievement.”
I follow a lot of celebrities on twitter, but only select few. I don’t follow simply because they’re famous. I never buy tabloids. I don’t look at half of these people as inspirational or worthy-to-my-attention beings, but it’s a bit of a laugh sometimes, right? We’re all guilty of a little envy towards their glamour and beauty of these people’s lives. I understand completely that the majority of the fashion industry wouldn’t do as well without the celebrity endorsement. But what I’m trying to get at is the pure obsession people have over celebrities, and the strong desire of this generation to be ‘famous when I’m older’. I’d like to be well known and make a great impact on the world with what I do in my future, a lot of us do, I want to make a good living for myself and earn enough to have a luxurious lifestyle. Some of us are a little more modest with our ambitions which is also perfectly fine, very common and admirable in this day and age to be frank. But I wouldn’t in a million years want a billion twitter followers, I don’t want the paps on my back all the time, doing a daily car chase with the cabby I pick up. I don’t want people following my life religiously to even plan their outfits for the day to be like mine. No, I’d hate for people to be obsessed with me, I’d get nervous and awkward and I would have NO IDEA what to do with an ego boost like that but probably write about it, and that’s when I want people to stop following this blog…
Please don’t be obsessed with me, I’d hate to have a ‘fan base’. I’d hate to have ‘celebrity status’. I want a modest life in the sense that I make an anonymous impact on the world. I want to be behind the scenes, behind the keyboard or the sewing machine and design table. No one taking my holiday snaps for me and no one deciding that my new dress looks better on the other rich famous girl who wore it. That’s not the life for me. You’ll never see me on Big Brother because it doesn’t look like ‘fun’. You’ll never EVER catch me tweeting my location (weird enough I have over 1000 people ‘following’ me anyway). I’m happy to say as a part of this generation, I don’t want to be famous when I grow up. Thank you very much.
Peace & love. xo
