BID
ZINE
BEHAVIOUR . IDENTITY . DESIRE
BEAUTY AND A POLITICAL OPINION ELLY BADCOCK ON WHY A BEAUTY QUEEN WITH VIEWS ON ANYTHING OTHER THAN WORLD PEACE IS SURPRISING. Miss America has come and gone in the usual flurry of swimsuits, straighteners and suspected substance abuse, much as it does every other year. There was minimal debate about the rights and wrongs of the beauty pageant ethos, and millions tuned in to the final. So far, so familiar. But nestled amongst the pandering to patriarchy this year was a well-articulated, challenging and constructive political contribution; from none other than Kaitlin Monte, Miss New York. One of the five finalists, Monte delved into one of the most infectious political movements of the last year; the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement. She did this whilst other candidates placed their stilletoed feet firmly in the middle of the road, fielding questions about reality TV shows and insisting that public figures should refrain from having outspoken political opinions. Their comments bordered on the inane - indeed, Miss California made the piercingly insightful remark that ‘it’s our responsibility to make sure we take responsibility for our own actions’. When her turn came, Monte challenged the Occupy movement to propose practical solutions in the year to come; but also congratulated them for bringing a ‘discourse into the political campaigns going on now’ and stated that it has ‘changed how things are going to go’. This is a world away from blithe comments that ‘Miss America should represent everyone, and politicians should represent America’. As OWS themselves commented, that the question was even asked demonstrates the level of public saturation the movement has achieved in mainstream America. That public figures relatively unconnected to traditional activist circles join in the debate on primetime TV, even more so. Picking up on an infectious sense of injustice and channelling it in a direction far more positive than the rightwards drift of other political movements, Occupy has been on the tip of everyone’s tongue. In this context, then, talking about OWS should hardly seem out of the ordinary; it’s been headline news across America for months. Coming from the perfectly glossed lips of a beauty queen, however, it does. This highlights issues above and beyond the Occupy movement; it shines a light on our perception of women in politics, and the insidious nature of the beauty pageant. What I found most uncomfortable about the five-minute question round was my own reaction. I was incredibly surprised at Monte’s clarity. As a long-time feminist, it was not a feeling I enjoyed; the way women act, dress and present themselves is the subject of enough scrutiny without women’s rights campaigners pouring fuel on the fire. It should be worrying when a slim, made-up, high-heeled woman giving a coherent and insightful political comment in public seems noteworthy– but this is the reality of beauty pageants. Pageants like Miss America are so grotesque because they not only judge women on their looks, but effectively enrol them in training to be the perfect housewife. They don’t just have to look the part; the talent rounds and expectations of charity work reinforce the notion that women have to do it all. They have to sing, dance, bake, teach, love, care and earn; all whilst looking a million dollars. But the last thing you want at the dinner party your well-heeled wife has spent all day preparing is for her to come out with a well-informed political opinion; that’s for the boys to discuss when they withdraw to the drawing room with a brandy. A simpering platitude would be acceptable, but having another intellectual equal in your home is a real drag. It’s this, the slavish desire to recreate a perverse vision of the 1950s where women wait at the door with an apron and spend their days tending to orphans (because of course they don’t work), which is the real story. It says something incredibly dark about modern society that the controversy has unfolded in the way it has. Sadly, it seems we have a long way to go before a woman expressing a fully-formed opinion becomes a predictable part of our lives. By Elly Badcock
Biphobia: What do lesbians really think?
WHEN YOU GO TO A PRIDE march or a university lgbt drinks evening it is easy to assume that the lgbt community is relatively united. And why shouldn’t it be? Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people have all faced similar battles to assert their rights as individuals. In our predominantly straight society our love and lust is seen as ‘different’, ‘interesting’ or sometimes even ‘threatening’; and we have all had to ‘come out’ to our friends and family. This bond seems to be most obvious at annual pride marches but in everyday life there is much more prejudice and discrimination than I imagined. Within the lgbt community there are numerous prejudices – lipstick lesbians aren’t real lesbians, all gay man are promiscuous etc. – but the one I’m focusing on this week is more widespread than you would think. Biphobia. If you walk into a room full of lesbians and start asking them what they really think about bisexual women you will get a variety of answers. Now I don’t have a room of lesbians to quiz every month but this week I’ve asked a bunch of my lesbian friends and acquaintances to write down their experiences of biphobia, dating bisexual women and their attitudes to bisexual women in general. Read on for their opinions.
LH: MY ONLY REAL EXPERIENCE OF BIPHOBIA is hearing people talk about bisexuals being greedy and wanting a bit of everything. I don’t think that assumptions like that are fair. Bisexuals are just people who are genuinely attracted to both sexes. That’s just the way some people feel - even if I can’t understand that personally. But I wouldn’t really want to date a bisexual woman, or at least I would be more wary about getting into a relationship with a bisexual girl than a lesbian. I’d be worried that I wouldn’t satisfy her because she might end up craving other things and get bored. I think that my attitude would probably change if I met and started dating a bi girl though, it’s just that I have only ever dated strictly lesbian women. I anticipate dating a bisexual would be difficult for me because I have jealousy issues and if there was another sex involved I’d find it even more difficult to cope with. HG: I HAVE NO PARTICULARLY STRONG feelings towards bisexuals either way. When it comes to meeting girls I need to be attracted to them and like their personality but their specific sexuality doesn’t really bother me (as long as they fancy women too!) I’ve never dated a bisexual woman but that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t in the future. I don’t understand why some lesbians feel so strongly about the topic and won’t consider dating a bi girl. I was once asked if I thought dating a bisexual woman rather than a lesbian would be different. To be honest I doubt it would be but part of me does think that playing ‘hot or not’ would be a bit less fun if men were possible targets.
JS: I THINK THAT BIPHOBIA COMES FROM a lesbian insecurity. In my experience, the women I know who would question dating a bisexual also have a problem with lesbians sleeping with men. For some reason these women feel than men are a threat and that a woman will leave them for a man at the drop of a hat. I personally couldn’t care less if a woman was bisexual or not. In the past I have dated both bisexual and lesbian women and have found very few differences between the two. In fact, the one occasion I was cheated on was in a lesbian relationship. And she had the affair with a man.
By Lotte Murphy-Johnson
THE RULES OF: I FIND IT DIFFICULT NOT TO ADORE SHOPPING; don’t get me wrong I have those days
when I spend hours traipsing through shops, finding beautiful clothes that don’t fit or suit me. I get all hot and sweaty and fed up with clothes shopping to the point where I decide to go get some fatty fast food and convince myself we are never doing this again! But I do think there is an art to it, some ground rules are needed; if you will. Everyone works differently; I for example prefer to shop for clothes on my own (no not because I am sad and lonely and have no friends) mainly because I feel style is a very personal thing. For instance; if you find a jacket that you think is gorgeous to the moon and back, try it on and show your ‘shopping pals’ you are going to get one of two reactions. Either it’s the worst jacket they have ever seen but they give quirky remarks on ‘how funny you are picking that out’ or ‘you’re always so funny’ in which case - heartbroken. You can’t buy that jacket now, I am not saying give in to peer pressure it’s just going to prevent you from that awkward moment when you next see your ‘shopping pals’ and you’re wearing that ‘gorgeous’ jacket. Or reaction two; they like it so much; they might just get one themselves. Now I don’t know where you stand on having the same clothes as your buddies, but style is such a personal thing; perhaps you would style that jacket completely differently to said shopping friend but having things that you picked out alone and then successfully style later leaves me with that ‘I did it all by myself ’ glow. Another big deal when it comes to clothes shopping is where you shop; I hear ladies rambling on all the time about how they are always shopping in the same place and it gets boring. I mean everyone has their favourite places to shop (holler h&m) just like everyone has their favourite foods (PIZZA), but that doesn’t mean you just shop there, or just eat that food (although I do consume a lot of pizza). It is all about variety when it comes to shopping, if you always shop in the same shops then you are going to end up going to the same sections in that shop and you miss out on so much stuff. Remember there aren’t just those shops that crop up in each town either, most towns are cluttered with
Clothes Shopping
boutiques, charity shops and even boot sales...it’s all about shopping around. After all who cares if you own 100 black cardigans; if they are from 100 different shops nobody can accuse you of being boring...surely. Now, I am a student so budgeting may be a new concept to me but it is definitely one I am trying to take seriously. If it is the case that you are on a tight budget then perhaps spending £60 on those Topshop wedges really is not the way forward. It is in this case that knowing what you are shopping for is a better way of going around it. You need a new outfit to impress some of your friends when you go out – you don’t have to tell them you’re on a budget; start with your favourite shops and pick out the majority of the outfit, sift through old jewellery that you know you have boxes of laying around. I don’t even know if I should go there but heck ask your mum, or your aunts, cousins maybe even your close friends: I know I have accessories that my Nan’s pals get as gifts but don’t think they are ‘quite right’ for them. There are plenty of high street fashion stores that have some stylish pieces for next to nothing! Maybe you are not one for following the crowd, hit the charity shops; don’t get me wrong before I started looking in them I had the nightmares of wondering which old man this satchel belonged to and what if there is a secret stain that I have missed out. Honestly as long as you check the clothes you are thinking of buying before you purchase them and obviously wash them before you wear them, you got nothing to worry about. This may be a silly rule but it has honestly stopped me from spending hundreds of pounds. If you find an item of clothing you think you like (this applies to shoes also) you’re looking at it but you are not sure, you flick through the rails and you see the size above yours and the size below but not your size... that means no sale. Of course you could either buy the size below, and tell yourself you will shred a few pounds (I have definitely done that throughout the January sales) or the size above because you know you are not going to. Either way though you are ending up with an item of clothing that you ‘kind of ’ like but doesn’t fit...just doesn’t sound worth it. By Sophie Cohen
Three to See in 2012 The indie rock band from Brighton are back! Steven Ansell and Laura-Mary Carter have a new album and are embarking upon a UK tour. In Time To Voices is released on March 26th but you can hear their new single Cold on the bands website now. It certainly doesn’t disappoint if you’re a fan of their previous albums Box Of Secrets and Fire Like This. They are hitting the UK in Aril and May and tickets are 10 or 12 pounds. http://www. bloodredshoes.co.uk/live/. Last.fm
Irish band The Cranberries formed back in 1989 and since then they have had a series of massive hits including Ridiculous Thoughts, Promises, Linger , Dreams and Zombie. They are also set to release a new album next month entitled Roses and are hitting the HMV Hammersmith Apollo on Monday June the 18th. Tickets start at £35 http://www.hmvtickets.com/ events/5351?REFID=hmv_tickets_system_search Billboard.com
Yes, real life Alice Pieszecki aka openly lesbian actress/musician Leisha Hailey and her bandmate/girlfriend Camilla Grey are coming to the UK in April 2012. They are set to play just two gigs, one in London and one in Brighton, so if you want to see them you had better get your tickets sharpish! (Also, if you ever wondered about the origins of the band’s name it is an ode to PJ Harvey’s 2004 album entitled Uh Huh Her.) Tickets start at £15.75 buy online here: http://www.livenation.co.uk/ Dedica.la
By Holly Richardson
B.I.D ZINE Issue 6
With Thanks To: Holly Richardson Lotte Murphy-Johnson Elly Badcock Sophie Cohen