Tuesday 23 September 2014

The world is changing, and we're all invited.

When Emma Watson began her speech at the launch of the United Nation's gender equality campaign in New York yesterday, she made a point of addressing every person in the room.

"Your excellences, UN Secretary General, President of the General Assembly, Executive Director of UN Women, and distinguished guests, today we are launching a campaign called HeForShe."

Her intention, much like the campaign itself, aimed to promote unity and inclusion within the audience she was speaking to, a sense that each and every person in that room was invited to listen, regardless of their race, their religion, their ethnicity and of course, their gender.

HeForShe is indeed a campaign which aims to make an immense impact on the movement towards abolishing gender inequality. What makes it unique is that both men and women are being encouraged to play a part in instigating change.

What makes Emma's Watson's speech especially unique is the recognition of an ironic gender imbalance in the fight towards total gender equality, as well as the negative connotations brought about to this movement by the word "feminism".

www.unmultimedia.org

In modern society, we are graced by the presence of female ambassadors like Caitlin Moran, Suzanne Moore, even Beyoncé, who triumph feminist ideologies and encourage women to express their sexuality and female empowerment in an often male-dominated world.

Caitlin Moran's 2011 best seller How to be a Woman indeed addresses the issues of the modern woman, guiding readers both old and young through an age in which women can find themselves oppressed by society, the media and their peers.

But how is a man supposed to understand and support the concept of feminism when every piece of literature written about it seems to be aimed at women?

"How can we affect change in the world if only half of it is invited?" Emma Watson says.

While the word "feminism" is not in any way defined by "male-bashing" or female superiority, associations with it have become too tainted to encourage any real support for the ideas it is striving to achieve. The etymology of the word itself connotes "a state of being feminine". The "fem" part of the expression is enough to assume that it is for women only, even if this isn't the case.

Does the problem of capturing the attention of the masses therefore lie with the word itself, rather than the meaning behind it?

It is this new approach that can guarantee this movement's success. Everyone needs to be involved if any impact is to occur. It is, after all, not just women who face monumental tribulations in their day to day lives. Watson makes a point of highlighting the shocking global volume of male suicide rates, and that men can too be victimised.

It will be difficult to shift the tainted reputation of the word "feminism", but this campaign does indeed have the potential to formulate a new and successful space for total gender equality. Let's not waste time trying to convince people what feminism actually means. Let's instead work on what it is intending to achieve.



Thursday 18 September 2014

Zipworld - the nearest thing to flying.

The beginning of September saw myself and six friends do one of the coolest things I think I will probably ever do.

It was my best friend Alice's idea to sign up to Zip World, home to the longest zip wire in Europe and located in the beautiful Penrhyn Quarry in North Wales. We stayed in a lovely little cottage for four fantastic days in Bethesda village, only a short distance from the seaside town of Bangor.

With Busted's back catalogue and the Frozen soundtrack as musical accompaniments, our adventure began on a sunny Thursday afternoon. Minor departure delays came as a result of my incompetence and failure to remember important items like my phone, purse, house keys etc. Suffice to say I wasn't exactly the most popular member of the group at the beginning of our journey.

Friday morning saw us experience an undesirable combination of nerves and tiredness from the previous night's antics. It was upon our arrival to the Zip World site that butterfly sensations began flapping at maximum velocity. (Probably the single most ridiculous sentence I've ever written). The zip line was really bloody high.




We were weighed, instructed to dress up in our safety gear - goggles, helmets and all - and headed up to the first of our zip line rides. The 'Little Zipper' stood at around 72 ft and intended to give us a mere taster of the full experience (yes, really). Rather than sitting upwards as you would with a regular playground zip wire, the harness was hooked up so we were laying flat, offering an almost authentic sense of 'flying'.




The anticipation for the 500 ft 'Big Zipper' was painfully long after the incredible adrenaline rush of the smaller one. After being strapped up we were left dangling at the top for what seemed like an eternity as the instructor waited for the previous person to reach the other side of the line.

A countdown finally commenced and we quickly found ourselves shooting down the wire at around 80 mph, cutting through the air above the picturesque view of the quarry beneath. The scenery was utterly, and almost literally, breathtaking. It truly gave you a buzz like no other.





I'd be lying if I said it wasn't absolutely terrifying, but it was without a doubt one of the best experiences I have ever had. I recommend it to anyone who believes they too can face their fear and take on the challenge - I know I would do it all again in a heartbeat.


Have a look for yourself here at www.zipworld.co.uk