On a More Serious Note....

Right now i am sat in my conservatory, surrounded by stacks of books on corporate strategy, buying techniques, competitive advantage and brand management. I should be working on my specialism report that is due on friday but instead I am distracted by social networks and The Times online (by the way how ridiculously annoying is it that you now have to pay to view it online!!!) and I have been reading my Grazia magazines when I should be reading 'academic texts' blah blah. So I decided to get me in the writing mood I shall write a mildly pointless post about things that are bothering me in the world right now, hopefully I will catch some kind of writing bug and carry on with my report.

Grazia had an article on the racial discrimination that was spurred by the recent racial debates going on in the news following a rise in race-hate crimes. The murder of Stephen Lawrence led to a massive uprising on Twitter, including Diane Abbott, who wrote on Twitter "white people love to play divide and rule" however, on a less 'academic' note i think it must be taken into consideration that ms Abbott was probably just trying to put her point across within a word limit. we all have had that moment when we go over and have to cut what we are saying, its not like she could have said 'now not all white people are like this but some white people ... " thats a whole 12 words taken up. I sometimes find myself saying "all men are ..." or "people on benefits..." etc etc it doesn't mean i genuinely feel that ALL of a particular group of people are a set way, its just easier than pointing out that this isnt EXACTLY what you mean. 

[Diane Abbott]

And speaking as a 'white' person i feel she has a point, even if she didn't get it across in the most PC way. There are massive gaps in the way different people live and are treated, there is still a 17% pay gap between men and women living in the UK, I find myself being watched by security if i am with a non-white british friend, even the smallest things such as being let into a club before a man simply because i have breasts.

 The fact is, there is always going to be discrimination in the world, social media is maybe one of the worst for discrimination. When was the last time you saw a black male model, or recognised a plus size model, why is there such a commotion brought up when a public figure 'comes out' (more to the point why do society not like even the word gay) and Hallie Berry was the first black woman to win an Oscar, that was less than 20 years ago! I even have a friend who was actually physically hurt because someone thought she was Polish - she isn't.

 The world can make leaps and bounds through technology, bring people closer together through social networking, learn more than any other generation before us. But it is human nature to want to hate something, someone or a collective group of people. And it is very hard to let it go, be it a rude person slandering your name with one word, or the fact you know people treat you differently because of who you are, as long as you know you will always be able to hold your head high and say "this is who i am, and you can *insert crude comment here* " because caring that they hate you is the first step to letting them win. All we can do is hope that our children will not have to grow up in a world filled with hate, and take steps towards this by letting our hate go.

I'm sorry if you were expecting one of my more exciting posts, but i do think this is an issue we all need to be aware of, fashion isn't just a shallow, standardised form of self-indulgence, its a way of living that is like no other.

H. x