Oct

“I’d Rather be a Rebel than a Slave”

Yikes – Where to begin? Well ladies – women in the limelight (especially you Meryl Streep) should be careful just what you’re posting online nowadays! “I’d rather be a rebel than a slave” is kind of the same as saying, I’m proud of my “weakness” because I’m glad I don’t have yours.

The quote was said supposedly by Emilie Pankhurst (a famous suffragette) during an impassioned speech at a London rally in 1913 – but I think historical context plays an important role here. Pankhurst meant she didn’t want to be bound by the rules of inequality (where men have more rights than women) but in today’s, arguably, “fairer” world – readers are drawn to understand the word “slave” to denote an imprisoned black male/female, whom stereotypically works for a wealthy white family. (We’ve all seen 12 Years a Slave, right?)

However – although the grammar is off key – there are multiple issues with this promotion shoot for the women’s new film “Suffragette”:

All four women (left to right), Carey Mulligan, Meryl Streep, Romola Garai, and Anne-Marie Duff are white and therefore there is no fairly-equal racial context to the T-shirts
Henceforth, the shirts are likening sexism to racism – making them one of the same thing, almost equals or inextricably linked
The women aren’t part of a 1913 Women’s Rights rally but rather are taking place in a highly produced fashion shoot promoting their new movie
In turn, they are taking away the importance of equality (both gender and race focused) and are using the shirts to promote a film for corporation purposes

We don’t have an inspiring set of women here – what we have is four wealthy white women perpetuating the idea that racism and sexism are one of the same thing, promoting a film with references to slavery. This isn’t OK and as many twitter users are pointing out – “Meryl should have known better!”

The film has already been slammed for not highlighting the fact that Black women were not given rights too in the UK and US and this T-shirt promotion isn’t helping the film’s wicked backlash from critics. Of course, the efforts of the movement on the whole should be celebrated. And yes, the quote was said 100 years ago, in a very different time and context. But that doesn’t negate the fact that to put it on a t-shirt today is to reinforce its underlying message which one Twitter user, Miz Jenkins, so eloquently spelled out:

Aug

Is Lagerfeld misinformed about the modern woman?

After sneakily forcing my mother to buy me the new, and quite overly-priced, Porter (Fall edition) magazine, I stumbled across the fiftieth piece covering Lagerfeld and his celebratory 50 years as the creative director of Fendi. The octogenarian is quoted to have a “timeless modern appeal” but I worry that too many years designing has caused him to be misinformed about the qualities of a modern woman?

Now, firstly, I want to clarify that I am in no way suggesting I know more about fashion or women’s appeal than Karl himself, having been the creative director of Fendi and Chanel, plus his own household name – except, a quote by the man himself actually startled and paused my open-minded outlook and made me instantly jump to write this blog piece.

(Page 103) of Porter magazine:

“Don’t be a victim. You can be sweet and nice, but don’t be weak. Otherwise you become a stupid victim. I prefer toughness to girlieness. The Fendi woman is strong and modern, she is no romantic.” – Karl Lagerfeld

I would like to suggest that I believe the fashion God himself, is incorrect. What resonates most strongly in the quotation, for me, is how he too simply dismisses the very idea that a strong and modern woman could ever be romantic. I guess the very same question Carrie Bradshaw asks in one of her Sex columns, “Has feminism killed romance?” in the 1994 series has come back around 21 years later with strong modern connotations.

Being a feminist myself, and even recently turning down a high-salary job in Dubai due to the country’s lack of women’s rights, I would beg to differ with both Lagerfeld and Bradshaw, and suggest that feminism would never kill romance, because feminism hasn’t changed femininity.

When a woman becomes a mother, she instantly goes from being her own person to her own person plus the child – she adapts and develops into a two-sided coin – needing to be herself, plus the brain of another human. In theory, the mother becomes alpha. Whenever a woman is offered a high-paying job or senior position, she is then in charge of the many numerous men and women below her – again, in practicality, she is alpha. The same goes for women in leadership positions worldwide – from care-workers to fashion designers – no matter what her career or lifestyle, she is alpha of her own destiny. Do those women, celebrating their own personal successes, not deserve romance? Instead they must be strong and modern, but “never ever be romantic”?

That makes it seem like a woman must choose by ultimatum, like the Genie asks you from Aladdin, except you get only one wish out of two choices;

So – what’s it gonna be Al, huh? Love or Money?

Why can’t it be both?

Because modernity says so.

If that’s the case, I’m not so sure I want to be a modern woman. See – I’m a sucker for love stories, hearing about first dates, chivalry, love songs, poetry, opera, musicals, ballet – the whole traditional ‘love’ scene, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t look for love myself. In fact, I think that’s what makes me a modern woman – unlike in the olden days (as I’ve come to know through films), women are proactively taking that leap of faith and searching for love themselves. Whether it be through dating sites, or making wedding proposals, or being the breadwinner of the family – they aren’t waiting anymore for a guy to approach them whilst they are sat alone at a bar, nor are they expecting the man to do so. Surely the “strength” and “toughness” of a woman in love nowadays is the same very essence that makes her “modern” in the first place.

I can only imagine the amount of broken hearts my readers have experienced, or the shabby first dates, or the nerve-racking “taking him home to your family only for them not to like him” – but, believe me when I say that doesn’t make you a “stupid victim” – it merely makes you a woman. And what Lagerfeld is doing is stripping a woman of all her feminine-like qualities and reducing her to a level unfathomable to any person who actually wants love in their life, and to be loved.

Of all the things to fall ‘victim’ to in today’s increasingly feeble world, being a ‘victim’ of love doesn’t make you any less of a modern woman, in fact it makes you more. Because, every single day you wake up feeling like it’s the end of the world, you’re fifty times stronger than any other woman who has never taken that romantic leap in the first place.

I am girly, but I am strong and modern, and what’s more – I’m proud to say I am a romantic. Does that not make me a Fendi woman, Karl? Then so be it.

My Not So Fair Lady xox

Mar

Behind every strong man is a powerful woman

Yesterday marked International Women’s Day, and with all the good vibes regarding women’s independence, I decided to put together a short blog highlighting how far women still have to go.

Being a woman means that you stand up for equality, so don’t start branding strong women as ‘feminists’ as it’s just basic human rights.

I recently saw this piece of viral media which sparked a few discussions up and down my newsfeed and in the news also:

This advert by the Salvation Army highlights the importance of noticing and treating women’s domestic abuse. Many of you will have seen the ‘dress’ experiment which determined your mood by the way you saw the colours in the dress, ‘white and gold’ or ‘blue and black’. However, cleverly and powerfully, the image was replicated with the tagline, “Why is it so hard to see black and blue?”, followed by, “The only illusion is if you think it was her choice. One in six women are victims of abuse. Stop abuse against women.”

Despite celebrating the long forgotten victories of the Suffragettes yesterday, many also forgot how far women still have to go to fight for their right to equality. On average two women a week are killed by a violent partner or ex-partner in the UK alone and three million women and girls across the UK experience rape, domestic violence, stalking, or other violence each year. In 2011 alone, the Forced Marriage Unit advised over 1,450 people related to a possible forced marriage, 78% of whom were women and girls. And, most disgustingly, an estimated 66,000 women in England and Wales in 2001 had been subject to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and at least 24,000 girls were at risk of FGM in 2007. This is not acceptable, and together, we need to put a stop to it.

I was in London this week, further celebrating my rights to be a woman by paying for drinks, meals and various gifts, in doing so I was independently spending money that I have… wait for it… independently earned. Whilst walking down Oxford Street, I bumped into the annual women’s one million walk, advocates of the women fighting for true equality:

I found this very fitting with the advert placed at the top, and was very supportive with their chanting for women’s equality. However, in reality, this protest shouldn’t even need to happen (if everything was fair…)

Neither would these products have to be developed:

1. AR Wear (Anti-Rape pants)

Innovative beyond compare, but can you believe in the 21st century, these even need to be made? Well, given that 36% of people believe that a woman should be held wholly or partly responsible for being sexually assaulted or raped if she was drunk and 26% believe this if she was in public wearing sexy or revealing clothes – perhaps these pants really are relevant!?! And can you believe this:

1 in 5 people think it would be acceptable in certain circumstances for a man to hit or slap his female partner in response to her being dressed in sexy or revealing clothing in public.

Only 77% of young men agree that having sex with someone who has said no is rape

What kind of world do we live in?

2. Nail Varnish that detects date rape drugs (Undercover Colours)

Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for those more malicious individuals to practice slipping drugs into someone’s drink in order to either hurt the person (for fun, I must presume) or to sexually assault them while they can’t consent. Now women can test their drinks before taking a potentially drugged sip just by dipping their neatly manicured finger in it. However most notably, critics of the new nail varnish range named ‘Undercover Colours’ say that not only is this nail varnish putting the burden on women but it is detracting from the real issue of sexual violence and assault.

However, it must also be recognised how far women have come in terms of fashion, and the company I am currently writing for ‘Garment Quarter’ are real advocates of supporting female designers with supplying their SS15 ranges. With designers like Vivienne Westwood, Victoria Beckham, Versace, Anya Hindmarch and Mary Katrantzou – the women are taking enormous steps in the fashion world, let’s just hope it never gets to point where we get high – end designer date – rape pants, and Louboutin switches his couture nail varnishes for date rape detector colours!

Ladies and gentlemen, the battle is far from over. We need to fight harder and longer for equal rights for women, otherwise I fear for the future of our female children.

You can start by signing Grazia’s petition to close the pay gap between men and women: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/put-equal-pay-transparency-into-practice?bucket=grazia

Let’s change the rules of the game – Behind every powerful woman is a man wishing he could be that god damn fabulous!!

MNSFL XOX

MY NOT SO FAIR LADY

Tag Archives: womens rights

“I’d Rather be a Rebel than a Slave”

Is Lagerfeld misinformed about the modern woman?

Behind every strong man is a powerful woman