All bodies are not the same

Again music is showing it can have a positive social message. The song Victoria’s Secret by Jax is putting the spotlight on the lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret which has a huge marketing influence, mostly in the USA, with famous models walking down its catwalk dressed in elaborate lingerie, often with A-List musicians providing the musical backdrop.

The lyrics from Jax’s song do contain one swear word used as an adjective to emphasise how much pressure young people are under to look a certain way. Other than that though, the lyrics give a strong social message..

God, I wish somebody would’ve told me
When I was younger that all bodies aren’t the same
Photoshop, itty bitty models on magazine covers
Told me I was overweight

I stopped eating, what a bummer
Can’t have carbs in a hot girl summer
If I could go back and tell myself
When I was younger, I’d say, psst

The chorus explains how the person behind all this lingerie and influence on young people to look a certain way is a man from Ohio (a state in USA). The Ohio-born Leslie “Les” Wexner is no longer in charge of the company (CEO), standing down in 2020. He was the billionaire founder of L Brands Inc., the one-time parent company of The Limited, Bath & Body Works, Abercrombie & Fitch and Victoria’s Secret. He didn’t found the latter, buying the lingerie brand in 1982 for just $1 million, and then turning it in just a decade into a hugely successful company.

A really memorable ‘public service’ video lasting 6 minutes by the brand Dove was the You’re More Beautiful Than you Think which explores the gap between how others perceive us and how we perceive ourselves. I think a reminder that all our bodies are different and we’re often overly harsh on our self-perceptions is a worthy one to keep in mind.

When the artist is asking the person to describe themselves in the Dove video

Have you ever heard of Lipoedema?

Lipoedema is an abnormal build-up of fat in your legs and sometimes arms. It is also spelt Lipedema in the USA. I must admit I’d never heard of it until today. It was whilst reading about Love Island’s Shaughna Phillips in a BBC article that I discovered that this condition which is thought to affect over one in 10 women in the UK, can often mean girls and women are unfairly targeted as being lazy or unfit. The short video she’s done for the BBC is really interesting to learn more about this condition.

Remember that this is an abnormal build-up of fat cells that can’t be broken down by diet or exercise. Shaughna explained that when she lost four stone in weight (25.4 kg) through a healthy diet and exercise the weight loss was mostly visible on her top half and her legs just looked the same. She eventually chose to have liposuction on her legs, something which she had to pay to do privately as it is not available for free on the NHS.

If you want to find out more about Lipoedema then perhaps check out Lipoedema UK which was founded in 2012 by women with Lipoedema, and the Lymphoedema Service at St George’s Hospital in London. Their website is very informative.

Why is the word Chav rude and derogatory?

The word Chav is British slang and according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary means:

a young person… stereotypically known for engaging in aggressively loutish behaviour especially when in groups and for wearing flashy jewellery and athletic casual clothing (such as tracksuits and baseball caps)

As you can see it isn’t a word that is supposed to be used in a positive complementary way and you can usually find it being used as a nasty attack on the working class. It is unclear exactly where the word comes from. There is a Romany word chavi – meaning child – which was recorded in the 19th Century whereas others argue it’s from “Chatham average”, a negative reference to the inhabitants of the Kent town. The word become popular around 2004 and years later people said it could stand for: council housed and violent. You can see this in Plan B’s song Ill Manors (contains swear words) with the lyrics: ‘oi look there’s a chav, that means council housed and violent’.  Most studies show it originally comes from the Romany word however it has become weighed down with a lot of negative ideas since then.

In 2011 a peer (from the House of Lords) called Baroness Hussein-Ece tweeted: “Help. Trapped in a queue in chav-land! Woman behind me explaining latest Eastenders plot to mate, while eating largest bun I’ve ever seen.” It caused a furore as people were shocked by her  insult of people from a different social class.

Well apparently the word Chav is appearing more often again on social media and so on BBC Wales Hayley Pearce has been exploring why the ‘chav’ stereotype is making a comeback.

BrainPOP free online resources for Covid-19 Lockdown

BrainPOP have designed some new resources for the current lockdown about Flattening the Curve and How Soap Works. Each resource has a brief video, quiz and further reading which is suitable for 11-14 year olds.

This might be an American site but there is still plenty to interest a student from anywhere else in the world, and for the current lockdown they are allowing free access to resources for schools and families. For PSHCE there is a section called Health and SEL, and you can find RS information in the Social Studies section under Culture. Brilliant!

 

Sam Fender a singer with a political edge

The Newcastle musician Sam Fender’s told GQ magazine that “pretty much every prime minister since I can remember has made me mad. The negative effects of greedy politicians have haunted the north-east for years, it’s very apparent. I’m not an expert on politics, but there’s a bunch of bad people at the top who care about lining their own pockets before creating a society that looks after the vulnerable.” Keeping this in mind you should listen carefully to the lyrics of some of Sam Fender’s songs, especially when his debut album is out this August.

The music video for Play God (released 2017) shows a dystopian world (an imagined  society where there is great suffering or injustice) that isn’t too dissimilar to our own.  The director of the video Vincent Haycock explains: “‘Play God’ is a satirical interpretation of power. The story is set in a dystopian world of exaggerated tropes – masculinity, domination, sexual objectification, racial profiling, and others. Each scene plays with these dangerous fictions – overt ideas of power and fear. In the end, we break the fourth wall, and the character is observed as nothing more than a player of a game.” Haycock wanted to blur the line between fiction and reality so that it showed that in our everyday lives we all play god.

Here are some of the song’s lyrics:

Man is screaming through a megaphone
“Get your hands off the Middle East”
Every word would herd the cynical
Every word would cut your teeth

And he will play God
And he will play God

It’s all the same down in the capital
All the suits and cladded feet
Sewer rats will shower the underground
In a race to make ends meet

And he will play God
And he will play God

In the more recent Hypersonic Missiles (named after a piece of hi-tech Russian military hardware) you’ll find an “an unorthodox love song” where love and hope is found amidst the collapsing world order. There is  a “glimmer of hope” running through the song.
Sam Fender explains: “This song started out when I saw the term ‘Hypersonic Missiles’ in a newspaper. It’s a newly developed Russian missile that travels at something like nine times the speed of sound, which is essentially unstoppable. America currently has no defence against such a weapon, they would be helpless in the wake of an attack, as you have roughly six minutes from the time it is launched to the time it strikes. In many ways, ‘Hypersonic Missiles’ is an unorthodox love song. It’s main focus is on the world around the narrator, who is a complete tin foil hatter. They are convinced the world is on its last legs; they know that it is rife with injustice but feel completely helpless and lacking the necessary intelligence to change it while remaining hopelessly addicted to the fruits of consumerism. Amongst all the chaos is love and celebration, there is this glimmer of hope that runs through the song, a little notion that no matter what happens, these two people are gonna have a ****ing good time regardless of the tyrants that run their world, and regardless of the imminent doom from these ‘Hypersonic Missiles’.”

Below are some lyrics from Hypersonic Missiles:

The golden arches illuminate the business park
I eat myself to death, feed the corporate machine
I watch the movies, recite every line and scene
God bless America and all of its allies
I’m not the first to live with wool over my eyes

I am so blissfully unaware of everything
Kids in Gaza are bombed, and I’m just out of it
The tensions of the world are rising higher
We’re probably due another war with all this ire
I’m not smart enough to change a thing
I’ve no answers, only questions, don’t you ask a thing

Oh, silver tongue suits and cartoons, they rule my world
Singing, it’s a high time for hypersonic missiles
And when the bombs drop, darling
Can you say that you’ve lived your life?

When I first heard this song it made me think of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) which were talked about so much five years ago and nowadays most teenagers wouldn’t have a clue about.

Weapons of Mass Destruction – a nuclear, biological, or chemical weapon able to cause widespread devastation and loss of life.

It is something students learn about for the GCSE War and Conflict unit in RS both for Christianity and Islam.

British band Bastille give a pop sermon with new song Doom Days

A sermon is a talk on a religious or moral subject, especially one given during a church service and based on a passage from the Bible. You might have heard the word sermon before when studying the Sermon on the Mount from the Bible. In Jesus’ sermon in Matthew 5-7 there are lots of catchy quotes such as:

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matthew 5:9 – useful when discussing Christian attitudes to war and conflict)

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:10 – useful when discussing Christian reactions to persecution)

If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. (Matthew 5:39 – useful when explaining that Christians like to forgive, be reconciled and not fight back)

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:6 – useful when explaining how and why Christians pray)

This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…” (Matthew 6:10 – useful as the chapter continues with a version of the Lord’s Prayer)

Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Matthew 7:1-2 – useful to explain that humans shouldn’t pass judgement on others, that is the role of God in the afterlife)

But let’s get back to Bastille’s new song Doom Days. There are a couple of swear words in this song, used as adjectives, and the topics sung about are for teenagers or older. The band’s frontman Dan Smith explained: “We wanted [the song] to be really direct and talk about trying to find escapism from our modern anxieties – phone addiction, porn addiction, fake news addiction, climate change denial (to name a few)… turns out there was a **** load to talk about so I wrote about 50 verses for it and then we somehow managed to cut it down to this. Hope you like it,” he added. “Ultimately it’s about switching off for the night.” 

When you look at the lyrics you can see why it was described by one journalist as being a pop sermon:

When I watch the world burn
All I think about is you
When I watch the world burn
All I think about is you

There must be something in the Kool-Aid
Cruising through the doom days
God knows what is real and what is fake
Last couple years have been a mad trip
But how’d y’all look so perfect?
You must have some portraits in the attic

We’ll stay offline so no one gets hurt
Hiding from the real world
Just don’t read the comments ever, ever
We ****ed this house up like the planet
We were running riot
Crazy that some people still deny it

Think I’m addicted to my phone
My scrolling horror show
I’m live-streaming the final days of Rome
One tab along, it’s pornographic
Everybody’s at it
No surprise we’re so easily bored

Let’s pick the truth that we believe in
Like a bad religion
Tell me all your original sins
So many questionable choices

We love the sound that our voice makes

Man, this echo chamber’s getting loud…

Original Sin – In traditional Christian teaching, original sin is the result of Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God when they ate a forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.

Echo chamber – We talked about in class recently when students’ homework was to read or watch some news stories and identify moral or natural evil. It describes an environment in which a person encounters only beliefs or opinions that coincide with their own, so that their existing views are reinforced and alternative ideas are not considered. There is often a risk of creating an echo chamber when you only read news online as you only click on news stories which you want or enjoy reading, and ignore the ones which might challenge your thinking.

 

“I fell in love with optimism” Dave

Have you ever been listening to a song on the radio whilst driving somewhere and even when you get to your destination you don’t get out of the car but just sit there, spellbound by a new song, one you’ve not heard before, but you’re desperate to hear all of it. Even if you’re in a rush you don’t turn off the radio, and just sit there, enjoying a new sound. And you know, once you’ve got a second, you’re going to buy/ download the song and find out more about the singer/ band. Well here he is, Dave.

The amazing song Black (there are some swear words in the lyrics) has a video with Stormzy and Raheem Sterling and lyrics which push you to reflect on race and identity:

“Black is distant, it’s representin’ countries that never even existed while your grandmother was livin’
Black is my Ghanaian brother readin’ into scriptures
Doin’ research on his lineage, findin’ out that he’s Egyptian”

The London rapper Dave had his breakthrough released EP ‘Game Over’ in 2017 and achieved chart success with the Fredo collaboration ‘Funky Friday’ that reached the number one spot in the UK singles chart in October 2018. Topping that, Dave’s song ‘Question Time’ was named best contemporary song at the 2018 Ivor Novello Awards.
Now his debut album Pyschodrama is out on 8th March. An interview with the Guardian about his debut album gives you an insight into his childhood and a glimpse into his obvious interest in politics with reference to human rights, the NHS and Brexit.

Toxic Masculinity and the Gillette Ad

Not everyone likes the new Gillette advert. Some men have even said they’ll boycott the brand. Families who for generations have bought Gillette razors have said “no more”.

Why?

Check out the advert called The Best Men Can Be and decide what you think of it.

The BBC reports on how Gillette have tried to change their world famous tagline “the best a man can get” into the “the best a man can be” with their ad called Believe. Some people praise the company for its message whereas others are seriously unhappy about it. Some people think the company is unfairly attacking who men are.

The Independent reports on exactly what toxic masculinity is, and how some people who don’t like the ad think that it is criticising the behaviour of all men and exploiting customers by just jumping on the MeToo bandwagon. Below is a still from the ad where boys are fighting, and at first a father figure comments that “boys will be boys”.

Toxic masculinity can be described as harmful behaviour and attitudes commonly associated with some men. You might know about it when you’ve heard expressions like, “boys shouldn’t cry” or if boys are really loud, boisterous and making others uncomfortable, “boys will be boys”. In recent years there has been a lot of information about how parents and society shouldn’t be bring up boys in a way which creates a masculine macho stereotype – toxic masculinity.

Saving Cash, Looking After Mental Health and Avoiding Hangovers

These might be the reasons why less under 25’s in Britain are drinking alcohol.

Sarah, who stopped drinking for Go Sober October, said “I find it easier to feel a bit happier, two of my other friends are doing it for mental health reasons as well and it’s really about learning how to have fun without getting drunk.” Georgie also stops drinking alcohol for at least part of the year, “A few years ago I decided going sober during the summer, just because I enjoyed my nights out more. I saved a lot of money as well so now it’s something I do every year and just look forward to the winter with nice warming cocktails instead.”

The advice for how much adults should drink states that men and women should consume no more than 14 units a week. That’s no more than six pints of beer or seven glasses of wine in a week.

The health risks associated with excessive drinking  or sustained drinking of alcohol are a real worry:

 

Designs of the Year show Uncertainty

The Design Museum in London has just announced its 87 candidates for the Design of the Year Award, reports the Guardian.  The Design Museum holds this exhibition each year and is an excellent way to learn about developments in transport, architecture, fashion and graphics. This year Aric Chan who curated the exhibition says, “Designers are always very good at responding to the world around them and, if anything, the world around us is probably defined by uncertainty … things that seemed clear in our minds are no longer so. That might include what is human or natural and what is artificial, or the blurring of gender.”

The Beazley Designs of the Year exhibition runs from 12th September until 6th January. Some of this year’s highlights might be the boot made from mushrooms to be worn on Mars – created using human sweat; the costumes designed for the film Black Panther; or an activity centre and museum in southern Denmark made entirely from Lego. You will learn about environmental, social and political issues at this exhibition which fits nicely with the critical thinking needed in PSHCE.

The Design Museum in London is located near Holland Park. The exhibition referred to on this page costs £9.50 as a student, £6.50 for a child and £12 as an adult. However there is also a decent amount to see at the museum which is completely free.

Leading Lady Parts

A few weeks ago the BBC broadcast a comedy short , called Leading Lady Parts. It only lasts 10 minutes so is worth a watch, and is simply a satirical look at the audition process for the role of Leading Lady.  It was written and directed by Jessica Swale, and boasts an award-winning cast of  Gemma Arterton, Gemma Chan, Emilia Clarke, Lena Headey, Tom Hiddleston, Felicity Jones, Katie Leung, Stacy Martin, Wunmi Mosaku, Florence Pugh, Catherine Tate and Anthony Welsh.

The British Film Institute studied over 10,000 UK movies from 1911-2017 to produce a study of gender disparity in film:

The Paradox of Tolerance

Tolerance is a self-contradictory principle. You’ve probably realised this from your everyday life and musings on world events. Basically as a principle tolerance means we  must be tolerant of everything. People can’t just pick and choose what they are going to tolerate and what they aren’t. So this all means that tolerance requires us to tolerate even intolerance. Ouch! Not so easy!

In other words, the principle of tolerance requires us to grant intolerant people the right to be intolerant. But this all a bit twisted as tolerance is supposed to be the opposite of  intolerance, and it just means that it is supporting the very thing it is supposed to be against. This might even lead you to think it makes more sense to be intolerant. The intolerant person’s simple motto is: “I like the things I like and I hate the things I hate, and I will hate the people who like the things I hate, and I will make that hate known to them in no uncertain terms.” Hold on though, this certainly isn’t going to create a friendly, open, free, democratic society as there will be no tolerance.

Let’s look to Karl Popper to make some sense out of all this:

Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them. — In this formulation, I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be unwise. But we should claim the right to suppress them if necessary even by force; for it may easily turn out that they are not prepared to meet us on the level of rational argument, but begin by denouncing all argument; they may forbid their followers to listen to rational argument, because it is deceptive, and teach them to answer arguments by the use of their fists or pistols. We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant. From Karl Popper’s The Open Society and Its Enemies

Karl Popper preferred a tolerant society where people are allowed freedom of speech. He said that only when intolerant ideas could not be rationally argued and society risked falling into an intolerant system should those intolerant ideas be suppressed.  To repeat things a bit, he said, “I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be unwise.” Popper’s ideas are debated today when people try to make sense of world events where ideas of tolerance and intolerance are clashing on a seemingly daily basis. A bit further back in 2011, Demos and the Open Society Institute debated diversity and solidarity. Their discussions touched upon the paradox of tolerance.