Born to rule.....

So unless you have managed to avoid all talk, media-fawning and the like you will know that the future King was born. If you did manage to avoid all references up until this point please share your tips! I don't have a TV or buy gossip mags and yet still could not avoid the coverage. I will congratulate the Guardian on its Republican button, that allowed you to hide the rolling coverage and numerous articles that simply had to be written. However, it would have been even better if they had not covered it at all... (a view I appreciate may infuriate many)

My post brings me to the merchandise that has followed this birth, so many retailers so desperate and so quick to get on the bandwagon. That I can understand, it was a huge media event and people clearly want to buy the stuff. But my objections largely focus on the tired, gendered and stereotypical items of clothing that have been produced. I would have to say that the worst example that I found was ASDA's One day I'm going to marry Prince George. I had thought the assorted Born to Rule items had been bad enough across the media but this one really took the crown.

It's pink, with the boy's version naturally in blue, because clearly clothing for girls must be pink. That's the first problem with it, its simply conforming to the usual stereotypes about clothing colours for girls. Then there is the message, the royalist message is bad enough. The endless fawning over a family that we barely truly know. The celebration of inequality is almost endless, this child will rule over the UK irrespective of skill, ability, political persuasion or personality. As Republic point out 'shouldn't every child be born equal?', shouldn't every child have the chance and opportunity to be head of state, if they have the skill or desire? So for all the clothes that celebrate the recipient being 'born in 2013' perhaps the giver should stop and think about what they are celebrating when they pass on this item. The fact that the recipient happened to be born in the same year as our future ruler? The fact that the recipient will never know privilege like our future ruler? The fact that the recipient will never be head of state unlike the future ruler? Perhaps now it seems like an odd message.

Finally, back to the message of the first item of clothing. Do you really want your child to aspire to marry someone they have never met? Even as a jokey message it is pretty poor. What level of aspiration is that for your child? The focus of clothing like this, even if not explicit, is that girls should be thinking about their looks and superficial pursuits. It's just frustrating that in 2013 we still have this level of inequality and we still produce clothing and items that seek to stereotype and pigeon-hole the sexes.

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).

The Jubilee

Today marks the start of the four day weekend celebrations of 60 years on the throne. The reason I am choosing to blog about this event is not just from a feminist point of view, it is also from a frustrated Republican point of view. Walking down our local high street for the last couple of weeks every shop window has been slowly taken over by flag/monarchy related items. Including some unusual choices such as an accountants!

From a frustrated Republican point of view it marks another barrier to true equality in Britain, it also marks the fact that the church will never be separate from power as our head of state is also the head of the church. How then can we work towards a true secular society in which all are free to practice what they believe? Republic put it so much better than I could ever hope to and their site is well worth a read. In particular the information about how schools should be expected to behave during this period. An article in The TES also points out that schools would be violating sections 406 and 407 of the Education act 1996 if they do not present a balanced view about the monarchy.

This is where it gets interesting as you could argue that language such as 'glorious 60 years' as seen in many news articles (and no doubt on tea-towels and heard in conversations across the country) such as this one in the Daily Mail is not presenting a balanced view. Why should they? Much in the same way that I blog from my point of view, they write from theirs. But, what schools and educationalists will need to have thought about is how they use language to present this event. If you delivered material about the 60 glorious years it could be argued that you were presenting only one way to view the reign of the queen. If you read the earlier TES linked article you will note that this is an issue that seems to divide teachers.

Finally, to get to the feminist point of view perhaps. It took until late 2011 to end primogeniture in Great Britain, see here for a piece about this, that is 59 years in which our monarch reigned under a system that discriminated against first-borns within the royal lineage if they were female. A bizarre rule that perhaps harks back to a period in which women could not inherit property or have power over divorce. As a Republican I find myself questioning whether our monarch could have done more to end this sooner.