Saturday 29 June 2013

When I grow up.....

I'd like to be
  • a. A bear
  • b. A truck driver
  • c. Head of state
Sadly only one of those is possible here in England. I'll give you a clue, short of a lot of dressing-up or surgery I can't achieve a and because we have an unelected head of state and I'm not related to them I can never achieve c. I've long been a staunch supporter of Republic and the amazing work they do to raise the profile, reason and arguments behind the need for a truly democratic system. But, what has tipped my annoyance in recent days is the news that the Queen is to be given a 'pay-rise' that beats inflation and is probably considerably above that which any public sector worker can expect to receive. According to the Daily Mail The Queen is to receive a 5% pay-rise that will take the burden to the tax-payer up to £33.3 million. Yes £33.3 million a year. The cost to each citizen is 53p, this might not sound like a lot but it is the principle. With the article highlighting a phone bill of £200,000 and a food bill of £1.2 million I am astounded. I cannot believe that there are people who genuinely believe that the public should continue to foot the bill for what seems to be a privileged lifestyle that we will never enjoy. Whilst around us there are cuts to benefits and public sector services. For example; it is thought that there is a shortage of about 5,000 midwives according to the Huffington Post, could this money not be better spent here? Improving the lives of many ordinary citizens at a vulnerable time in their lives.

When it was revealed in the Daily Mail that Kate is expected to give birth in a private suite that could cost up to £10,000 it brings it home. To quote Disraeli in his novel Sybil, source: Sybil (novel) in Wikiquotes retrieved 29/06/13 from: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sybil_%28novel%29,
Two nations; between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each other's habits, thoughts, and feelings, as if they were dwellers in different zones, or inhabitants of different planets; who are formed by a different breeding, are fed by a different food, are ordered by different manners, and are not governed by the same laws: the rich and the poor.
We are not the same, I am under no illusion. Republic ask 'shouldn't every child be #bornEqual a fair question but when we see 'ordinary' women facing midwife shortages and maternity closures whilst Kate enjoys a £10,000 birth it is difficult to see how every child is born equal. In the 21st century is it not time to call time on this outdated system and create true equality?

So, when I grow up I have decided I want option d, to be equal. Properly equal, I don't want to be ruled by someone who hasn't even been born yet. Stop and imagine if this was a job application, would you accept it? This is why I will continue to support #Republic and #bornEqual (the Born Equal campaign).

Tuesday 4 June 2013

Where only the beautiful dare tread.....

I actually thought this was a joke at first. According to a piece on the Mail Online, and on their own website, the people who brought you 'beautiful dating' are now offering a service for employers and employees on the basis of looks! The Mail explores it from the angle of which countries are getting the most rejections. The UK apparently rates highly in terms of number of rejections.

So, I decided to check out the site. It is a microsite off of the main Beautiful People site that focuses on recruitment for members of Beautiful People. This presumably means you must be a member of the Beautiful People site before you can be considered for the listings/access to recruiters.

Now before anyone labels me a miserable unattractive spinster-esque figure who is only complaining because;
  • they are not attractive enough to be on the site
  • they have been rejected by the site
Let me assure you that I have never, and nor would I ever, apply/submit my details to something as shallow as this. And, I simply don't care whether anyone finds me attractive or not. I am sure I am some people's cup of tea/beverage of choice just as I am sure there are others that would not find me physically attractive. Now that we have got that out of the way, we can get to the serious issues!
1. This is not the way to encourage business, nor is it the way to get the best candidates. The tagline for the recruitment site is 'An attractive face is always a great first impression for any business', source: Beautiful People.com Recuitment. Now I don't know what readers think but I think that is rubbish! The best first impression for me is and has always been related to manners and professionalism. I don't judge people on their looks, nor do I think someone might be better at their job because of the way they look.
2. How patronising a message, if you consider what is being said. The best way to succeed in business and do well in life is to look good. What kind of message is that for young people, particularly at a time of high unemployment? It amounts to little more than suggesting education, experience and competence mean nothing when competing with a 'looker'.
3. Whatever happened to beauty is in the eye of the beholder? This has the potential to open up complaints of discrimination on many different levels. I appreciate the note on the Beautiful People dating site, that can be found at the bottom of the page in section titled How beautifulpeople.com works that states they are not defining the notion of beauty. They are merely representing what society thinks is beautiful through the voting system. However, only those who are members can vote, and presumably those who are members think they are beautiful (or why else would they be there?!) and have a definition of beauty that probably looks similar to them. Therefore could it be reasoned that people who do not conform to this identikit version of accepted beauty are less likely to be accepted by the current members? It is interesting when you consider it like that rather than seeing it as a democratic vote-in.
4. Professionalism? I also think that I would not want to do business with a company if I knew this was how they recruited their staff. I really hope this site is a spoof or a short lived venture.
5. Body image: this is such a negative and shallow focus. The idea of the body beautiful and that there is one definition of body beautiful is such a bizarre notion. Sadly it is one that seems to be accepted by many. Take our clothes for example; always modelled on tall, thin and often angular women. Anyone who dares be slightly larger is termed a plus-sized model and seen perhaps as niche rather than the norm.
6. The sad trend: this idea of body beautiful as being all important in the workplace is disgusting. There was a piece several years ago that suggested that employers did not want to employ overweight people because they would be lazy. This was covered by the Mail online and was discussing the result of a poll of 200 bosses. This is a disgraceful attitude to take and shows once again that sadly people in society seem to place important on looks over competence.

It is about time we started to challenge that and fight back. Body image is not a tool or means to judge people, there are no excepted rules about beauty and physical image should not be the most important aspect about someone.