Same Difference?

I heart social media. 

Instagram is my side-boyfriend... I L-O-V-E it, and with 569 (and counting) posts under my belt, there's no signs of me dumping it just yet. 

Here's some food I Instagrammed earlier.

After reading a recent Guardian blog I do however have some food- for- thought for you. Not necessarily my opinion, just a little slice of devil's advocate. 

Kate Winslet has recently expressed in an interview that "social media is harming our children", an argument that has circled since the beginning of time (media time that is). She states that young women look to social media to "gain image- validation from strangers" and with that comes worrying consequences such as eating disorders. In fact, all social media is apparently banned in the Winslet household and it doesn't look promising for a Kate Winslet official Instagram account anytime soon. 

The Holiday, Titanic and The Reader are some of my fav films... just saying. 

Now the interesting part of this interview (here comes my devil's advocate pie-in-da-face), is that Kate Winslet would not put her name behind any campaigns surrounding this issue. She did not want any negative back-lash from her comments, and was concerned that she would "look like a celebrity who think they have all the answers". 

So my question to you: is there an air of same-difference?

Winslet does not want her daughter using social media sites to gain 'public' approval via people 'liking' her posts, placing importance on the opinion of others and not her own. 

But by avoiding putting her name behind something she obviously believes in, Winslet is placing importance on what the public would think of her, and would prefer to maintain her favourable status in the public eye. In Instagram terms, she is still receiving 'mental-likes' by others and therefore would not risk jeopardising this by backing her true opinion. 

Can you see what I'm getting at here? 

Instagram 'likes'= positive validation from others 

Kate Winslet keeping away from campaigns = positive validation from others.

Obviously I completely agree that young adolescents can let the media influence themselves to a worrying degree, and yes this does unfortunately cause terrible outcomes such as eating disorders and Body Dysmorphic Disorder.  

But how far can we really get away from this world of acceptance from others? 

Can we genuinely always practise what we preach?

Or can we fall into the same trap without realising?

The Struggle is Real

Current situation update: sitting in my spare room, bra-less, knicker-less and let's be honest, I am yet to wash (it's 3pm).

Me? Naked? Never. 

This ladies and gentlemen, is the life of a 22 year old Bristol University graduate, 1 year on from striding out those grand oak doors with a 2:1 in Anthropology*, and (what I thought) was my ticket to success.  I recently received a letter through from Student Loans company, proudly telling me that my 3 year effort to become an educated and employable member of society cost me a mere £22 000.

Guess what? I'm unemployed. Not only am I unemployed, but the prospect of becoming employed within the next month is looking rather bleak. Slightly like the prospect of Louis Walsh being asked to return to the X Factor.. not likely. (Soz Louis).

Now, don't get me wrong, I have worked in the past. Having been employed from the ripe old age of 14, I ain't no working-virgin, a la some spoon-fed Bristol students I can think of. In fact, I have been temporarily employed since leaving education, working as an administrator within a small student lettings company. Lovely job, but not by any means a career.

And this is the problem. I would like a career. I have a burning desire to work with people, businesses and creative movements all at once. And this, my friends, isn't all that possible. EVERY application WITHOUT FAIL asks you to write an essay as to why you have a focused passion for that particular sector or role. Why you live, breathe, eat and sleep renaissance art, or war-time naval ships. And lets face it.. I don't. Yes I enjoy the arts, yes I love heritage and culture, and yes I am creative, but i'm sorry to say I don't have a focused passion for your job role. I am however, willing to learn. And with learning comes passion.

Sooooo many Instagram likes. 

The frustrating thing is companies or recruitment agencies don't get this. Or if they do, they wholeheartedly ignore it for someone who is a maniac about old boats (which is fair enough). But that leaves someone like me, who has work experience in PR, charity volunteering and an intense eagerness to develop and succeed under my belt, left sitting in their spare room, half naked with £30 in their bank account.



There wasn't really a point to this post. It's more of a monologue from a frustrated, down-trodden and almost penniless graduate, who desperately needs a job!





*and Archaeology but we don't talk about that.

Retro Metro

SO.
I'm challenging myself. And by challenging myself, I mean slightly setting myself up for a big tub of awkward failure. BUT YOLOSWAG, I'm gonna do it anyway.
I'm going to blog about current affairs. (NB. I am doing one blog on current affairs, but lets not be picky now).

As the winter months have welcomed freezing cold mornings teamed with a splattering of rain and icy wind, I have been rather naughty and taken a bus to work every morning - all 20 minutes walk of it. Sinful, I know. As part of my bus routine, I have been grabbing a copy of the Bristol Metro newspaper, a light read to wake me up in the morning before a full day of madness in the office.
Now, don't get me wrong, I do LOVE the metro. "Rush - Hour Crush" is my guilty-pleasure, and the "good dead feed" restores my faith in Humanity that little bit more. I couldn't help but notice however, that two days in a row, a double page spread in the centre of the newspaper was some how biased in its writing. I'm only going to focus on one to get my point across.
The first days' spread on pages 4 and 5, was filled with SIX short news articles surrounding stories linked with Islam:
1) The Green Party leader allegedly claimed to make it "OK to join IS"
2) A Ukip "Bigot" was "only joking" when making racist comments within a pub (defending said bigot)
3) "ISLAMISTS" offer a hostage swap (with regards to the IS Japanese hostages)
4) The "Jihadist" Boko Haram group attacks a nigerian city
5) A "Jihadist" wife has written a guide on how to live as a war widow
6) And finally, "Muslim" rebels kill 30 paramilitaries
Can we just take a moment to appreciate one small factor : the term "Jihadist" means an "internal spritual struggle" a. k .a  a person who is  PERSONALLY struggling to full-fill a muslim way of life. NOT pushing islam onto others in an aggressive manner.
This word, however, is now affiliated with acts of terrorism and violence. Instead of its intrinsic meaning, a personal struggle to better oneself and help build a "good muslim society", the media of today has twisted a peaceful definition into something associated with hatred and death. An insult to the Islamic community, in my opinion.
The second point to make is that Natalie Bennett, leader of the Green party (go green girl power woo!), DID NOT claim that they would make it OK to join IS. In fact, she actually said  

Natalie Bennett enjoys all things Green, Ponds especially

“...it should not be a crime simply to belong to an organisation or have sympathy with its aims, though it should be a crime to aid and abet criminal acts or deliberately fund such acts”. 

Pretty anti-terrorism if you ask me. And i'm terribly sorry, but whoever actually believed that she would say that is an idiot. Do your research, and don't trust everything the media says. Remember, at the end of the day, no media outlets are independent and thus unbiased (even though ironically "The Independent" is called "The Independent"). They are all owned ultimately by the same people, who have the same hidden- agenda; one that co-insides with our current government and the unfortunate repercussions on the ethnic community that that has. 


Has anyone noticed, that in the last few years Islamaphobia has dramatically increased in daily media? No? Just me?

I think (hope) you're getting my jist. Titles such as "ISLAMISTS OFFER HOSTAGE SWAP" and "MUSLIM REBELS" are dangerous. It is not the actions of Islamists, it is the actions of a group of extreme radical terrorists who claim to be fighting in the name of Islam; slightly more extreme than 'rebels'. By no means are they following the teachings of Islam; if they were, they would be not doing such terrible acts. It is a point to say, that Islam teaches a life of peace and humanity - not terror,beheadings and world-domination. Has anyone stopped to think that the next hostage in the firing line is a Jordanian Muslim? If IS were so keen on protecting and spreading the Sharia law, why on earth are they targeting the very people that practice it peacefully? It is unfair and unwise to categorise IS militants under the same umbrella as practicing Muslims. 

And it is from media outlets such as The Daily Mail (although, I do have to admit I love a good celeb-culture story from time to time) and The Metro, that Islamaphobia is hotly spreading; more-so into the younger generation that will carry this opinion through the decades. 

Only last week was a comment made along the lines of, "...well it's all the fault of Muslims". Nope. No, it's not. But it is the fault of biased news outlets, not educating the general public into the difference between extremist militant groups, and the religions that they associate themselves with. 

So, fine people of Britain, THINK about what you are reading. Don't believe everything you see, and don't judge a whole religious community based on naive news articles in silly old newspapers with retro points of views.

Do however, go watch gogglebox because it's well good.