I’m doing better than I’m feeling

A scrape against skin,
This pattern etched in,
Hidden it may be,
But not from me.

Those six words bracing,
Blinding truth racing,
To my eyes unseen,
Mantra serene.

The Importance of Passing the Torch (Or the Flashlight)

Pitch Perfect 2 beautifully combines it’s feminist origins with a bolder statement, one of passing the flame, the torch, the flashlight onto the new generation. It also highlights the importance of collaboration and acknowledging ones own limitations, without losing sight of empowering the women in the film. In light of this (get it?) I’m going to run through a list of feminist moments in the film to elaborate why I believe this is a feminist movie for the new generation of young women (and the old).

The concept and introduction of the “legacy”.

I could discuss the importance of this nickname bestowed upon Freshman and new Bella recruit Emily within the film for the rest of my life. Pitch Perfect 2 introduces the importance of establishing a movement, a chain, a legacy in which women can thrive. They acknowledge their predecessors in their final performance and the film ends with Emily continuing the Bella tradition. The concept of “passing the torch” or “throwing down the ladder” is something extremely close to my heart, because within feminism we aren’t just talking about empowering ourselves, but also others and especially the next generation. It is so important to understand where we have come from and who has worked hard to get us there and to continue to help and empower each other in whatever we do.
Without this feminism becomes a futile quest in which we seek to compete with our sisters instead of helping them, joining them, and standing in solidarity with them and ensuring that they are offered every single goddamn opportunity and privilege that we have been so lucky to enjoy. What we need is for women and young women to see each other not as competitors for male affection or popularity, but as sources of knowledge, wisdom, and encouragement.
When Emily is introduced into the film it is at a time of disharmony within the Bella’s, particularly Chloe and Beca. Immediately I began to believe that Emily would become Beca’s enemy and a “threat” to her place within the Bella’s since she was portrayed in a similar manner and had her own unique talent to bring to the group. I was so happy that this wasn’t the case and that it wasn’t even hinted at. God bless this movie.

The collaboration of new and old.

This is very similar to the first title in that Pitch Perfect 2 establishes the importance of understanding your own limitations and seeking others (particularly other women) to help you in the achievement of your own goals. This is most prevalent when veteran Beca collaborates with newbie Emily on a single (“Flashlight”) combining Beca’s talent for music production and Emily’s passion for creating original work. When doing this both characters acknowledge how inspiring they find the other person and (this is the important part) instead of envying the other person they join together with them and create something beautiful.
Throughout the film this theme is reinforced with the concept of the “legacy” and the introduction of the Barden Bella Alumnis in the final performance scene and in particular the sub-plot of Snoop Dogg’s Christmas album, which is created by mixing “traditional” songs together using “modern” technology to create something unique.

The importance of harmony.

Again, these are all in a similar vain, but… The concept of harmony is a key motif within this film. We see this mostly through the disharmony within the Bella’s because of their differences, most notably that Beca wants to move on from collegiate acapella and Chloe is struggling with this and is instead deliberately holding herself back because she is afraid of change. Of course within a group of young women this big there will be dischord and disharmony, but it isn’t until they finally honestly and openly acknowledge their different paths in life and how their differences aren’t a bad thing that they finally come together once again.
It is important within feminism and within life not to stay attached to something because you’re used to it, but we need to learn to embrace change in life and in attitudes, otherwise (like Chloe) we will remain stuck behind. Ultimately until we acknowledge that all women and all feminists come from different backgrounds and are heading down different paths with conflicting ideas about how they conduct their lives and their feminism then our movement will become stuck and left behind and most importantly disharmonious. This should be avoided at all costs.

And of course the last performance used the song “Who Run The World (Girls)”. What more can I say?

It’s Official – I’m a Lushie

That’s right, I’m making a blog post about the wonderful stuff that is Lush cosmetics. If you’re already a hardcore Lush consumer it won’t be news to you that this company is English-based, refuses to test on animals, tries to use mostly natural ingredients in their products, and responsibly sources the ingredients (Fair Trade), as well as using 100% recycled containers. If that isn’t already enough to convince you, I’ll go into a bit of detail about my experience of Lush and cover some products that I personally frequently use. Here we go!

How I started my Lush adventure

A friend of mine introduced Lush to me directly, taking me to a store around two years ago and at first I was bewildered. There were colourful lumps stacked on one table and bland, black and white packaging stacked on the other. I found it really confusing attempting to discern one thing from another, read through what each cosmetic did, and how you could even use it. (Solid shampoo bars? What the Lush?) I bought myself a bath bomb and some soap for myself and my friend and speedily left, feeling a bit confused as to why I’d wasted almost £4 on a bath bomb for a single use.

When I next bathed, I dropped the bath bomb in and I knew I hadn’t wasted my money.

The scent was heavenly, and if that hadn’t been enough, it made the bath water vibrant, colourful and left my skin feeling extremely soft. After that for the next two years I randomly visited Lush, trying different products and exploring my way through the shop until I’d tried almost everything they could offer – buying it myself, using a sample or discussing it with a salesperson.

My Favourite Products

Roots Hair Treatment:

It would perhaps be more pertinent to call this one a ‘scalp treatment’ instead, because it works with your scalp to affect your hair! The idea is that this treatment stimulates your hair follicles, causing your hair to have more volume and helping your hair to grow. That’s right grow. As a huge fan of long hair and long-time sufferer of trichotillomania, this was extremely appealing to me and ever since I bought it (about five months ago now) I can really see the impact. Not only that, but the wonderful minty smell is gorgeous and feels cool on my head. Some may view this treatment as expensive, but since it’s only used on the scalp, you actually use very little of it for a maximum effect and after almost half a year I’ve gone through about half the tub! Very good value.

Oatifix Fresh Face Mask:

WARNING as this product contains very fresh ingredients it MUST be kept in the fridge and used (typically) within three weeks of purchase. At £6.50 a pop it is not for those thrifty shoppers and is definitely not for use on a regular basis – just when you really feel like treating yourself. The product itself smells gorgeous, but also cleanses your skin, making it super smooth for a long while afterward. It does have a very strange texture – it’s made from oats after all – and looks rather bizarre on your face, but it is worth it for the outcome!

New Shampoo Bar:

No other shampoo bar compares to this one. Personally I adore the smell – cinnamony and spicy – but it also has done absolute wonders for my hair! I’ve only been using it for just over a month and already I feel the difference – my hair is growing quicker and thicker. However, the only downfall of this product is that it dries your hair out a lot! If you already have dry/curly hair this can be a nightmare, but even straight, oily hair (like mine) can be affected quite a bit by it! To overcome this (since I love New so much) I’ve begun using R&B which I won’t be reviewing since I haven’t been using it for long enough, but it is definitely worth looking at and checking out on the Lush website.

Mask of Magnaminty Face and Body Mask:

The first thing I would tell you about this particular mask is that you can use it on your body, that means that this is the perfect treatment for anyone with body acne or someone who gets the occasional breakout on their back/other body part. This mask not only helps with breakouts and skin imperfections, but exfoliates and generally leaves skin feeling cleaner and fresher after use. The minty smell is gorgeous and makes my face absolutely glow! It’s also one of the cheaper and longer lasting of Lush’s face masks too. Bargain!

Retread Conditioner:

This is possibly the simplest product on this list, but don’t underestimate it’s power! This is another one of those items that – while it’s expensive – lasts a long period of time, because you don’t need to use much of it! This conditioner is perfect for anyone with damaged hair from colouring or heat-styling, and while it isn’t a magic fix, it will help you get your hair back to the condition that you want it to be. I have been using this one for about 4 months now and I love it! It isn’t the best smell in the world, but it isn’t disgusting either and leaves my hair feeling super soft.

There you have it! If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I might just review more Lush products as I use them!

Being Sex-Positive in a Sex-Negative World

Firstly it might be necessary to explain what being sex positive means. Sex-positive is a social movement that I believe began in the 1960’s (think “Free Love” and the invention of birth control in pill form) and continues today within a few sub-cultures, one of those being sex-positive feminists, which would naturally include myself. Being sex-positive is simple and means that you believe sex requires only two things:

• Consent.
• Safety.

Safe and consensual sex can differ from person to person. For example, some BDSM practices may be considered unsafe by others, but are truly completely innocuous and consensual between the parties who practice sex in this manner.

Being sex-positive is a huge part of who I am, which makes it extremely infuriating to live in a sex-negative world. Since wherever you look and whoever you talk to, you’ll see people telling you how to have sex and how not to have sex. You’ll see tv shows that tell men watching lesbian sex is hot or magazines that tell women how to please men.

The fact that women are considered sluts if they are promiscuous, but if men “sleep around” it re-asserts their masculinity. That the concept of virginity is heteronormative and traditionalist, isolating certain groups of people who don’t feel virginity is important or who can’t lose their virginity because of their sexual practices/sexuality. (How do you lose your virginity if you’re a lesbian!?)

Wherever you go sex and its traditional or conventional role in society underpins almost everything we consume, harming not only individuals but those groups who don’t conform to our narrow-minded conception of sex. These groups include asexuals, polyamorous persons, and many members of LGBT+.

So what can you do to change sex-negative attitudes in society?

• Don’t listen to them.
• Have sex the way you want to, with who you want, however much you want.
• Don’t buy into media which portrays sex negatively.
• Don’t judge/shame others for their sexual practices, as long as they are safe and consensual.
• Do be open about your sex-positive views.
• Do educate others about the topic and spread the word!

Remember, Remember the Month of Movember

Some people might wonder why Movember is important to me, and why I would draw a false moustache upon my lip in aid of it. Movember is a wonderful charity, started in a rather weird and hilarious way which you can read about here. The charity supports Prostate and Testicular Cancer research, as well as Men’s Mental Health. Of course cancer is a very worthy cause, but the reason I am 100% behind Movember is because of men’s mental health.

To help illustrate why I’m going to list below recent statistics about men’s mental health in the UK:

• Suicide remains the most common cause of death in men under the age of 35 (Five Years On, Department Of Health, 2005).
• Women are more likely to have been treated for a mental health problem than men (29% compared to 17%).This could be because, when asked, women are more likely to report symptoms of common mental health problems. (Better Or Worse: A Longitudinal Study Of The Mental Health Of Adults In Great Britain, National Statistics, 2003)
• British men are three times as likely as British women to die by suicide (Samaritans Information Resource Pack, 2004).
• From the Movember website.
  

Clearly we can see that self-defining women are more likely to have been treated for mental health issues than self-defining men, but British men are three times as likely to die by suicide than women. There appears to be a paradox here and while some have suggested that it is likely to be because men typically use more violent methods to commit suicide than women, it still doesn’t explain why so many men are committing suicide, but not seeking professional help.

My personal opinion is that this divide is caused by our patriarchal societal norms.  If men are encouraged from birth to be strong, to be providers, not to cry and to repress emotions, how do you imagine they would react when confronted with a potentially debilitating mental health issue? Whereas by contrast women are encouraged to talk about their “feelings” and to be emotionally supportive of one another. I will reiterate that this is only my opinion and a theory, let me know if you have any other opinions regarding this issue!

I will conclude by encouraging you all, men and women, feminists and non-feminists to support this wonderful cause! November is not over yet, you still have time to get your #mo on.

Our Women’s Campaign

This year our Women’s Campaign is working hard to fight for women’s welfare on campus. Over the past few years we’ve been listening to all self-defining women students’ suggestions about what they would like to be improved on campus and what we can provide to make them feel safer. As such we have been avidly promoting the Campus Watch safety services including their 24/7 escort service and their free safety alarms, since a lot of students – freshers or otherwise – were unaware that these services even existed.

Aside from that we’ve already pushed through a Kent Union, Kent Police, and University of Kent approved campaign called ‘We Can Stop It.’ This campaign focuses on raising awareness about sexual assault and rape on campus and seeks to adjust the social attitude towards consent and what precisely constitutes sexual assault. In relation to this we are currently working with Women’s Rugby and Jiu Jitsu to hold a self-defence class on campus for anyone who wishes to participate, since this was an idea that a lot of students pushed forward to me.

Starting in January we’ll be launching a self-made campaign designed and constructed by myself as Women’s Officer to aid the promotion of women in leadership and power, not only within our University, but outside of it too. ‘Make Our Gender A Contender’ will be a poster campaign focused upon questioning how imbalanced the scales are in terms of gender representation and coupled with public speaking workshops and other self-confidence boosting ideas, the Women’s Campaign are focused upon aiding self-defining women to reach higher levels of potential than they otherwise might have thought unreachable.

If you’d like to hear more or find out how you can get involved please contact us:

Facebook: facebook.com/kentwomcam
Email: womens@kent.ac.uk