Hello People of the Internet,
I know this is hard to believe but there is actual sunshine in Britain today. I went outside earlier, crazy I know, and didn't turn into an icicle after 10 seconds. Anyway this got me thinking about how everyone, especially the Brits, doesn't appreciate some of the great things that are British. So I thought I'd make a list.
1. The weather. Hear me out on this one. We spend a lot of time complaining about the weather. It's too cold/wet/grey. But when we go on holiday or have a prolonged spell of "hot" weather (that is anything above about 20 degrees) we complain about how hot it is. For example last summer when we went away Britain experienced a heat wave where it was warmer the 20 degrees daily and everyone we met was fed up of the hot weather after a couple of weeks. Not to mention the gardeners whose plants were all dying due to the drought. Appreciate the weather we tend to have mild winters and warm summers not very cold winters and very hot summers.
2. National pride. This is particularly prominent in sporting events like the Ashes and the rugby. This advert from the BBC for last years six nations just shows how united the Brits are in their dislike of the English rugby team. The ashes is one of the biggest sporting events and it does unite most of the UK because unlike other sports England have actually one the Ashes. So people may be more united in dislike of Australia but they're united all the same. People would be united in other sports like football if we were actually any good at football.
3. Ad breaks on TV. I haven't been fortunate enough to actually watch American television with the ad breaks left in and I am not upset about that in the least. However it is possible to see when there was an ad break on the American programmes and assuming ours are matched up to some of them you're going to spend more time watching adverts than the actual programme. The show runs for an hour but actually only lasts about 40minutes and although we have to sit through the same amount of ads so that the programme lasts an hour it doesn't have an ad break every five minutes. We even have channels with no adverts on them.
4. The Queen. OK so people love the Queen and people also hate her but the Queen agreed to be part of a short James Bond film used in the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony. Not only that but she improvised some small changes to make it 100 times better. Then there are times when she does things like this, which if it isn't awesome I don't know what is.
So there are a few unappreciated British things there are plenty more.
Rhona x
Tuesday, 27 January 2015
Tuesday, 20 January 2015
Feminism
Hello People of the internet,
I have several ideas for posts at the moment but none of them really established into concrete ideas that weren't a re write of someone elses article. So I might just waffle for a bit and see where I end up, feel free to leave when you get bored.
So in the past year or so I have noticed the increase in feminism in conversations, in the media and other sources. Maybe it's just my age making me more aware of the issue but also there are videos like this raising the issue. In my opinion the most important part of the speech is when she raises the point of men being subject to inequality. Many people have said they aren't feminists because they're man haters and that's just not cool with me.
Feminism is not about man hating it's about equality for BOTH sexes not just women. As Emma pointed out the main cause of death for men in Britain is suicide. That is a shocking fact, that so many men feel they cannot talk about their feelings because it would make them appear "weak" or a "pussy". I hate the fact that so many people refuse to say they are feminists because they believe they are man haters. Feminism is about equality and every man should feel it is OK to speak about his feelings without being judged. To feel he can seek the support he needs rather than bottling it up and hoping it will go away. Too often people are busy shouting about female inequality that they forget that men face it as well. Male inequality is not often represented in the media and we need to start making as much noise about it as we do with female inequality.
I am incredibly lucky to be in the position I am in, I can go to school and get an education and a job. But so many girls can't. Look at Malala Yousafzai the seventeen year old girl who was shot in the head for wanting to get an education. All over the world girls are forced to marry men far older than them. In studies it has been found that employers, both male and female, would pick a man over a woman for higher ranked jobs. Men are being paid far higher sums of money than women for the same job. That's not OK. I hope that one day I will be in a job where I am paid the same, no more no less, than my male colleagues which at the moment is not happening. These are just a few of the issues that women around the world are facing and they need to change.
In the future I hope for equality for men and women. So that men feel comfortable with their feelings and women are no longer continuously told to "calm down" or "stop worrying." That women can be allowed to take control without being bossy or seen as strong. That men aren't called weak if they're having a hard time. So my children can grow up without feeling the need to fill gender stereotypes, so they can decide for themselves who they are. Stand up proudly and say "I am a feminist! I believe in equality for both sexes."
If your still here thank you for reading my rubbish I'm just as surprised as you are about where this went, it all started with a picture of Taylor Swift and now here I am talking about forced marriages. I'm not sure I've really said everything I wanted to so there may be a part 2 in the future.
Ta-ra person of the internet.
Rhona x
I have several ideas for posts at the moment but none of them really established into concrete ideas that weren't a re write of someone elses article. So I might just waffle for a bit and see where I end up, feel free to leave when you get bored.
So in the past year or so I have noticed the increase in feminism in conversations, in the media and other sources. Maybe it's just my age making me more aware of the issue but also there are videos like this raising the issue. In my opinion the most important part of the speech is when she raises the point of men being subject to inequality. Many people have said they aren't feminists because they're man haters and that's just not cool with me.
Feminism is not about man hating it's about equality for BOTH sexes not just women. As Emma pointed out the main cause of death for men in Britain is suicide. That is a shocking fact, that so many men feel they cannot talk about their feelings because it would make them appear "weak" or a "pussy". I hate the fact that so many people refuse to say they are feminists because they believe they are man haters. Feminism is about equality and every man should feel it is OK to speak about his feelings without being judged. To feel he can seek the support he needs rather than bottling it up and hoping it will go away. Too often people are busy shouting about female inequality that they forget that men face it as well. Male inequality is not often represented in the media and we need to start making as much noise about it as we do with female inequality.
I am incredibly lucky to be in the position I am in, I can go to school and get an education and a job. But so many girls can't. Look at Malala Yousafzai the seventeen year old girl who was shot in the head for wanting to get an education. All over the world girls are forced to marry men far older than them. In studies it has been found that employers, both male and female, would pick a man over a woman for higher ranked jobs. Men are being paid far higher sums of money than women for the same job. That's not OK. I hope that one day I will be in a job where I am paid the same, no more no less, than my male colleagues which at the moment is not happening. These are just a few of the issues that women around the world are facing and they need to change.
In the future I hope for equality for men and women. So that men feel comfortable with their feelings and women are no longer continuously told to "calm down" or "stop worrying." That women can be allowed to take control without being bossy or seen as strong. That men aren't called weak if they're having a hard time. So my children can grow up without feeling the need to fill gender stereotypes, so they can decide for themselves who they are. Stand up proudly and say "I am a feminist! I believe in equality for both sexes."
If your still here thank you for reading my rubbish I'm just as surprised as you are about where this went, it all started with a picture of Taylor Swift and now here I am talking about forced marriages. I'm not sure I've really said everything I wanted to so there may be a part 2 in the future.
Ta-ra person of the internet.
Rhona x
Saturday, 3 January 2015
New Year!
Hello People of the internet,
I hope your Christmas and New Year were smashing and filled with good food and drink. It seems ages since I was in my little corner of the internet, in fact it was. I've just had a look and I haven't been here since October, I'm horrified. I thought it was November. Sorry everybody but it's a new year and I can vow to do better. Which I do intend to, fairly sure I've said that before.
So this year instead of making resolutions I decided to make a list of goals and dreams. Basically because then when I don't do everything on the list I can say it's a dream. Some of course won't become a reality like being happy, it's not possible to be happy especially with everything happening this year (A-levels, uni ect). As Carl Jung said " The word happiness would lose it's meaning were it not balanced by sadness." I have tried to keep them realistic as possible with things like maintain my fitness. Once the hockey season ends at Easter I tend to carry on eating huge amounts and doing little to no exercise. Which has not affected me negatively except starting the hockey season again in September is hell. This year I would like to be able to hit the ground running rather than at a slow jog. Having said that we've had a break over Christmas and I have done very little exercise, I have two weeks to change that. I'm not looking forward to that.
Another goal and dream is to explore more. I really wanted to say travel but I know this summer, unless it's with my family, I won't be able to afford to go anywhere exotic. So by putting explore I can jump in the car, which I can now legally drive by myself having passed earlier last month, and toddle off to somewhere near ish by. So I won't be jetting off to Thailand or Australia in the summer I might make it to Cornwall though.
Several are really generic including: work hard, read, write, take more photos, play more music.
They are all hobbies that I tend to neglect in certain times when getting my violin out or finding inspiration for photos seems like effort. Yet I admire the work of people who have put years into their work and wish I could be like that. I'm a very lazy person and I hate that so maybe I should have changed it to something like put some effort.
My favourite by far is to have more solo dance parties! Basically I put my music on really loud and dance like a maniac. It is amazing. To make it even better my family can't hear each other from the other side of the room so they don't complain that it's too loud.
Another thing I'm trying to do this year, inspired by a friend of mine who did this last year and an article on a similar idea, is to make what I'm calling a happiness jar where I hope to write down all the good memories and happy things that have happened and then go back and read them this time net year. So far I've managed one note which is pretty good going considering it's the 3rd.
The real challenge with these will be sticking to them or acheiving as many as possible.
What are your resolutions/goals/dreams for 2015?
Rhona x
I hope your Christmas and New Year were smashing and filled with good food and drink. It seems ages since I was in my little corner of the internet, in fact it was. I've just had a look and I haven't been here since October, I'm horrified. I thought it was November. Sorry everybody but it's a new year and I can vow to do better. Which I do intend to, fairly sure I've said that before.
So this year instead of making resolutions I decided to make a list of goals and dreams. Basically because then when I don't do everything on the list I can say it's a dream. Some of course won't become a reality like being happy, it's not possible to be happy especially with everything happening this year (A-levels, uni ect). As Carl Jung said " The word happiness would lose it's meaning were it not balanced by sadness." I have tried to keep them realistic as possible with things like maintain my fitness. Once the hockey season ends at Easter I tend to carry on eating huge amounts and doing little to no exercise. Which has not affected me negatively except starting the hockey season again in September is hell. This year I would like to be able to hit the ground running rather than at a slow jog. Having said that we've had a break over Christmas and I have done very little exercise, I have two weeks to change that. I'm not looking forward to that.
Another goal and dream is to explore more. I really wanted to say travel but I know this summer, unless it's with my family, I won't be able to afford to go anywhere exotic. So by putting explore I can jump in the car, which I can now legally drive by myself having passed earlier last month, and toddle off to somewhere near ish by. So I won't be jetting off to Thailand or Australia in the summer I might make it to Cornwall though.
Several are really generic including: work hard, read, write, take more photos, play more music.
They are all hobbies that I tend to neglect in certain times when getting my violin out or finding inspiration for photos seems like effort. Yet I admire the work of people who have put years into their work and wish I could be like that. I'm a very lazy person and I hate that so maybe I should have changed it to something like put some effort.
My favourite by far is to have more solo dance parties! Basically I put my music on really loud and dance like a maniac. It is amazing. To make it even better my family can't hear each other from the other side of the room so they don't complain that it's too loud.
Another thing I'm trying to do this year, inspired by a friend of mine who did this last year and an article on a similar idea, is to make what I'm calling a happiness jar where I hope to write down all the good memories and happy things that have happened and then go back and read them this time net year. So far I've managed one note which is pretty good going considering it's the 3rd.
The real challenge with these will be sticking to them or acheiving as many as possible.
What are your resolutions/goals/dreams for 2015?
Rhona x
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