April Issue of The Glasgow Guardian (20-21)

WELCOME, FRESHERS (AGAIN) EIC HOLLY WITH A GUIDE TO GLASGOW AS IT REOPENS - PAGE 10

20 April 2021

CALLS FOR SAFETY ON CAMPUS A GG SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS STUDENTS’ FEARS - PAGE 18

WOLF ALICE ON BUCKY, BLUE WEEKEND AND THE BARRAS OUR MUSIC ED TALKS TO THE BAND- PAGE 19

THE OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW, INDEPENDENTLY INFORMING SINCE 1932

Issue 8 | Free

Meet your Kelvin candidates for Holyrood The Glasgow Guardian find out what they stand for Holly Jennings, Jordan Hunter, Ollie Rudden, Lucy Dunn, and Silas Pease EDITORS-IN-CHIEF, NEWS EDITOR, AND DEPUTY NEWS EDITORS

The 2021 Scottish Parliament election will take place on 6 May. The vote takes place every five years and will be the sixth since the devolution of the Scottish Parliament. As the race tightens, The Glasgow Guardian sits down with the five major party candidates for the Kelvin constituency, in which the University of Glasgow is situated.

The deadline to register to vote was Monday 19 April 2021. The Scottish Parliament will be elected using a system called Alternative Member System (AMS). This means, on polling day, registered voters will have the opportunity to cast two votes. The first vote is a constituency vote for a candidate to represent the local area, Glasgow Kelvin. The second vote will elect a regional selection of Members of Scottish Parliament (MSPs) who will represent Glasgow. Voters will elect 73 constituency MSPs, one for each of the constituencies in Scotland, and 56 regional MSPs, seven for each of the eight electoral regions in Scotland, amounting to a total of 129 MSPs elected. The Scottish government is established from the party that makes up most of the seats, or a coalition can be formed.

Sandra White, an SNP MSP, has held the Kelvin constituency for the last 10 years but decided to step down from the position last year, endorsing Kaukab Stewart as her successor. Stewart has been campaigning for independence for the last 30 years, first standing for Scottish Parliament against Donald Dewar in 1999. Whilst living in the West End with her family and working as a teacher across various communities in Scotland, Stewart has remained an active member of the party. If elected, Stewart will be the first woman of colour to sit in the Scottish Parliament as an MSP. In the last election, the Scot-

tish Greens were the greatest competition for the SNP in the Kelvin Constituency. Patrick Harvie, the representative for the area and co-convenor of the Scottish Greens, achieved almost a quarter of the vote in 2016 and is standing for the seat again in 2021. Harvie has served as the regional MSP for the Glasgow region since 2003, which made him the first openly bisexual member of the Scottish Parliament. During his time in parliament, Harvie has been involved in campaigning for independence, the Rent Rights housing campaign, and a range of other issues from asylum to sexual health.

“On polling day, registered voters will have the opportunity to cast two votes...”

David McKenzie will be standing for the Liberal Democrats.

McKenzie grew up in Greenock before moving to Glasgow and is now working in tech for a startup company. He initially joined the Labour party at 15 but left in 2019 to join the Liberal Democrats because he viewed federalism as the best way forward for the country. He describes himself as being fascinated by both national and international politics. This is McKenzie’s first time running for the Glasgow Kelvin seat.

Before Sandra White took hold of the constituency, Pauline McNeill represented the area as a member of the Scottish Labour party since the first election to the devolved Scottish Parliament in 1999. Seeking to reclaim the constituency is Pam Duncan-Glancy

after Hollie Cameron’s dismissal in March. Duncan-Glancy has been a wheelchair user since the age of 5, leading her to campaign for accessibility, equality, and social justice throughout her life.

Currently, she works for the NHS in communications for public health supporting the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. She also stood in the University’s constituency for the Westminster elections in 2019.

Grahame Cannell has been selected by the Scottish Conservative and Unionist party to stand for the Kelvin seat. Cannell currently works as an engineer and has lived in the Kelvin constituency for the past two years.

During the pandemic, Cannell has also been volunteering with a local pharmacy to help deliver prescriptions to those vulnerable or self-isolating. He believes the last thing thconstituency needs is another independence referendum, instead, he wishes to focus on protecting jobs and rebuilding communities.

Although these are the candidates for the five major political parties in Scotland, several other parties are standing seeking to secure regional votes, including Alex Salmond’s newly-founded Alba party. Additionally, two independent candidates are standing for the area: Daniel Donaldson and Craig Ross.

Polling stations will open on Thursday 6 May at 7am and will close at 10pm. The deadline for postal voting has passed, but a number of measures will be in place at the polling stations to keep in-person voters safe. Voters will be expected to use hand sanitiser upon entry and exit and should wear a face-covering unless exempt. It is recommended that voters bring their own pen or pencil to vote, however, clean pencils will also be available. Depending on the polling station, social distancing measures for

Credit: Dorota Dziki - Deputy Illustrations Manager

the queue and one-way systems may also be in operation to protect voters. If voters do not feel comfortable attending a polling station, they can also apply to vote by proxy but must complete an application. Typically, counting the votes has started overnight but as a result of the pandemic, counting will not begin until the morning after, with the result expected across the weekend on 8 or 9 May.

We interviewed the candidates via Zoom, the recordings of which are available to watch on our Youtube. Unfortunately, Grahame Cannell was unable to schedule a time to Zoom with us “due to work commitments and previously organised campaign commitments”. Read onto the next page to meet your Kelvin candidates.

Continued on Page 2

2

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

News

Kaukab Stewart - SNP Patrick Harvie - Greens The Glasgow Guardian: Why should Glasgow students vote for you?

I’ve been a teacher for 30 years and I don’t think that you’re going to find anybody who’s more committed to education than myself.

Not only have I been teaching but I’ve also been involved previously in the EIS [Educational Institute of Scotland] and currently, I’m a member of the NASUWT [a union that represents teachers across the UK]. I can assure students that I’m absolutely on their side, and I understand a lot of the concerns.

Mental health services have been severely underfunded especially at university. How do you plan on addressing Scotland’s mental health crisis?

Mental health is an enormous issue again I think I’ve got an advantage of having a further depth of understanding in that.

I’ve noticed more mental health pressures on families and young children and at secondary, but the secondary children are obviously, a lot of them, are working towards university as well.

I’ve noticed when they’ve been able to get the support rapidly at the right time and that relies on staffing. Talking therapies, I don’t think, generally speaking as a nation, we’ve ever been good at talking about mental health anyway. What we need to do is not only promote that through media [that] it’s good to talk about it.

But with me to back it up, you’re providing the professionals, who are suitably qualified, to support people with mental health anxieties and I think going forward, I’m glad to see that the Scottish government has committed to providing further funding to provide the services to clients.

Young people are concerned about their job prospects post-Covid. How do you believe your party helps with this issue?

I think there’s a raft of issues that have been rolled out in the last few days. And I think the one that is most important is the Youth Guarantee Scheme, which guarantees every child the right to employment, education, apprenticeships, or formal volunteering opportunities, because, whilst I’m a benefit of free education myself, I also know that it’s not for everybody.

Quite rightly, we put out a good value on further and higher education, but we also have to value our young people that want to go into trades, apprenticeships and to make sure that they are properly paid and there is security.

The climate crisis is obviously a pressing issue, what actions do you plan on taking to tackle it in Scotland?

We’ve [referring to Glasgow’s carbon neutrality target] actually said by 2030. Now I know that that’s ambitious and we’ve been criticised for [not] reaching the targets we have, but actually, it’s good to have ambition, because it keeps you sharp and keeps you focused. We’ve increased the fleet of electric buses, for instance, and for Glasgow Kelvin in particular, and for students, it’s very important to make sure that they can transport safely and cheaply and in a clean way.

Scottish independence is becoming more popular among young people. Would you support another referendum? Why do you think Scottish students should/ shouldn’t back independence?

The SNP has made that case and appealed to students, I think it’s because independence is ambitious for the country. It’s hopeful and it’s a really positive vision, that message of an internationalist, outward-looking, socially-just, left of centre party that wants to promote those values and independent Scotland where everybody is made to feel welcome. I think that I think it’s wonderful that young people don’t think that they’re too poor, that they’re too wee, or they’re not clever enough… that they feel that by having all believers of a small independent nation, that we have that drive and ambition to govern ourselves and to shape a society with values that are important to us.

A recent internal report revealed huge racial problems at the University of Glasgow, and last year an internal review of Police Scotland found racial bias, how do you plan on helping Scotland become a safe space for people of colour?

I have faced it and I fight it, you know constantly. I did actually arrange to have a meeting with Glasgow University, and I did so, and we talked about the action plan that the University has made up in order to address this. I know that they have set up a group to look at this. I am working with Glasgow University on that and should I be elected, I have said to them that I will be monitoring their progress and keeping an eye on it so that it’s not far as kicking it onto the long grass or we’re going to have an inquiry that actually nothing changes, I want to have measurable targets.

The Glasgow Guardian: Why should Glasgow students vote for you?

I think the overwhelming reason why we’re asking people to vote Green in this election is because our future depends on it… I think the task of recovering from a crisis like the Covid pandemic is a challenge but it’s also an opportunity to reshape our society. You know, a little bit in the same way that the generation after the Second World War: that they fought together, they survived together, and they decided to rebuild together, and they laid the foundations of a welfare state at a National Health Service and for decades after that... I think this is a real moment of opportunity to show that we’re up for building that better future that we know is possible.

Mental health services have been severely underfunded especially at university.

How do you plan on addressing Scotland’s mental health crisis?

We’ve already set up a programme of investment of £360 odd-million increase on mental health services with a heavy emphasis on young people, not just universities, but schools as well, and we need mental health services to be accessible in c o m mu n i ties through people’s GP practices and other community services...

The other big issue in this mental health crisis that we’re facing is causation: what are the driving factors that lead people into mental health crises or exacerbate existing mental health problems? And you know it’s the metaphor we use: “It’s a little bit like where we’re fishing people out the river, while further upstream people are still being pushed into the river.” And that’s what that’s the problem we have if we focus only on those services. The services are needed, but we need to be looking at secure housing, secure incomes, we need to be looking at people’s working and living conditions, we need to be looking at all aspects of our health.

Young people are concerned about their job prospects post-Covid. How do you believe your party helps with this issue?

I believe that the Greens are the only party that is willing to face up to the reality of the economic change that is coming. The age of oil is coming to an end, the fossil fuel era is coming to an end, and if we don’t end it, it will end us. So we need to be recognising that profound economic changes are coming and investing for the future, investing in the sustainable industries of the future. Now the green investment plan that we’re putting forward in this election, we believe

it can generate over 100,000 new high-quality jobs in Scotland.

The climate crisis is obviously a pressing issue, what actions do you plan on taking to tackle it in Scotland?

One of the biggest areas of failure in Scotland is transport policy, where politicians, for the most part, are still trying to offer people more of the same: let’s make it easier for you to drive, let’s make it easier and cheaper for you to get a car. That’s not what we need. We need investment in active travel, we need... safe places to walk, cycle, and wheel, and we need public transport that really meets people’s needs.

Scottish independence is becoming more popular among young people. Would you support another referendum?

Why do you think Scottish students should/shouldn’t back independence?

The Greens are very clearly saying there should be another independence referendum within the next parliament. I think it’s too soon to put a date... because we are still struggling our way out of Covid, we’re still not out of lockdown yet, and you know, there are really, really immediate challenges in the months ahead but certainly within the new parliament, within the new fiveyear term, I think it’s necessary. And fundamentally the promises that were made in 2014 [by anti-independence parties] have been broken.

A recent internal report revealed huge racial problems at the University of Glasgow, and last year an internal review of Police Scotland found racial bias, how do you plan on helping Scotland become a safe space for people of colour?

This is hugely important and, especially in the wake of the UK government’s attempt to propagandize its way out of the concept of institutional racism... I think we fundamentally need to involve the people who are affected by these issues in the design of the solution, so it shouldn’t be for somebody like me to say here’s what’s going to affect racism in our society, we need to be empowering and giving voice to the communities who are marginalized.the connection to their access to services, what are the barriers to public services to economic participation and how those been through things like unequal outcomes in health, in criminal justice in in their socio economic situation, so we need to understand the problems better, and I think we fundamentally need to involve the people who are affected.

David McKenzie - Lib Dem The Glasgow Guardian: Why should Glasgow students vote for you?

I want a vision of Scotland and what it’s going to look like in the future and I think that as an opportunity, especially with the Scottish Lib Dems, to have something different to say about how Scotland might look in the next decade or 20 years. I’m a federalist and one of the big problems that we have in Scotland right now is this constant talk about the constitution and how it’s going to look: Is Scotland going to be independent? Is it going to be part of the United Kingdom? And I think actually there’s a third way, and a third conversation that we should be having, and that’s about federalism… So I think there’s an opportunity for me to put a different voice forward for Glasgow, that’s not just one between independence and unionism.

Mental health services have been severely underfunded especially at university. How do you plan on addressing Scotland’s mental health crisis?

I was speaking to one of the professors in mental health studies, especially in suicide rates in young men, at Glasgow University, and I think we seriously need to start looking at when you’re in a situation like this, how do we put more funding towards supporting students in a difficult situation, who would be cut off from their family and friend environment, to get through the situation, through therapy and other means, to help them be supported. I think there is absolutely a case to be made there. Obviously, when we come out of this pandemic, it may not be in this particular situation, but we still need to recognise that there are people who do have struggles with mental health and we don’t want to just drop that after the pandemic’s ended.

Young people are concerned about their job prospects post-Covid. How do you believe your party helps with this issue?

I think there’s a really good opportunity to start looking at, you’ve heard that phrase “build back better”, and it’s something that’s been bandied about by all political parties about how we come out of this pandemic. But if you look at some other countries across the globe and I’ll pick one, for instance, Canada.

So, Canada, obviously does have our sister party, the Liberal Party and Justin Trudeau, and they’ve announced actually that they’re going to be building strategic investment into “build back better” schemes, and what that means is big shovel-ready projects that are going to bring more people into employment… So I think there’s that, what’s key is how do we invest and I think there’s opportunities to look at things like a rail infrastructure in Scotland, I think there’s a real need to do serious improvements there.

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

3

News

David McKenzie Pam Duncan-Glancy - Labour Grahame Cannell - Conservative - Lib Dem The climate crisis is obviously a pressing issue, what actions do you plan on taking to tackle it in Scotland?

I think what we need to do is actually flip the switch on how we talk about the claim on the emergency because there are some people out there who, for reasons unbeknownst to me, are not convinced of it, and we need everyone to move on this quickly, and if you focus on the health impact that it’s having in places like Glasgow because of a result of pollution, I think you’d get people to move on that a lot faster...

The Liberal Democrats are committing to actually, once we get into the next term of parliament, having a real review of how we spend on public transport infrastructure and active transport, which is people, walking, you know, cycling, wheeling, whatever form they take to their jobs and we’re also committed to introducing the concept of 20-minute neighbourhood switches that you will have all the needs on your doorstep within walking distance or cycling distance.

Scottish independence is becoming more popular among young people. Would you support another referendum? Why do you think Scottish students should/ shouldn’t back independence?

There’s a middle way, and when you look at it, there’s going to be, no matter what the outcome of this is, there’s going to be conflict between people who want to remain a Member State of the United Kingdom and people who want outright independence and I would hate to see Scotland’s future and Scotland’s potential be thrown away for 20 years of constitutional wrangling and discussions and debate on both sides, about what the best future for Scotland is.

A recent internal report revealed huge racial problems at the University of Glasgow, and last year an internal review of Police Scotland found racial bias, how do you plan on helping Scotland become a safe space for people of colour?

The best thing I can do as a white male is to support what people think is the best way to tackle these racial inequalities and I think it’s down to people like me to listen and be there and hear and get people’s opinions on how we tackle these things, and how I can best support that. I don’t want to sit here and say, I think we should do X, because I’ve never experienced that. I’ve just never experienced that, and I think that’s the best thing I can do is to be a voice there, to be open, listen, take people’s points of views across and then take them to places like the Scottish Parliament and other institutions in Glasgow, and be a supportive voice in how we change things.

The Glasgow Guardian: Why should Glasgow students vote for you?

Students should vote for me in Glasgow Kelvin and for Scottish Labour this time around if they want an absolute focus on recovery in our NHS and our health and social care service, if they want a recovery in our jobs, if they want a recovery in our communities, a recovery in our climate. I’m doing this because I’m an equality and human rights activist. I’ve been campaigning for equality and human rights my entire life.

Mental health services have been severely underfunded especially at university. How do you plan on addressing Scotland’s mental health crisis?

The first thing that we would do is bring up our percentage of funding for mental health within the NHS in line with other parts of the UK so we would increase it to at least 11% and grow it beyond that. We would have a mental health practitioner in every GP surgery, we would give a right to access a counsellor in every school for pupils so that they get the support that they need to come through the pandemic and move forward.

Young people are concerned about their job prospects post-Covid. How do you believe your party helps with this issue?

I think that one of the biggest opportunities we have right now is because we have to do things differently So for me what that means is the opportunity to create unionised, well-paid and green jobs, jobs and the care sector, where we know as well, that is a huge gap in provision that we need, we need more people in our care sector and we need them to be paid 15 pounds an hour minimum because they are the people who’ve come out every day, day-in, day-out, supported people like me who need social care during this pandemic.

The climate crisis is obviously a pressing issue, what actions do you plan on taking to tackle it in Scotland?

I fundamentally believe that we cannot have social justice if we don’t have climate justice and so that’s why it’s integral to a lot of what Labour’s plans will be… I know, for example, that we support a Green New Deal, and what that means is that we support good, well-paid, unionised green jobs, that we do that with a just transition because it isn’t OK for us to say to the workers who work in some of our carbon-heavy industries today that they won’t have the jobs or tools. We need

to create the jobs of tomorrow and then support that transition into the new workforce, and we will do that.

Scottish independence is becoming more popular among young people. Would you support another referendum? Why do you think Scottish students should/shouldn’t back independence?

I can understand why young people think the only way out of this is independence because they’ve not lived with a Labour government. Labour have been out of government now for some considerable time and that is actually a tragedy… I know what it was like to have a Labour government, I know how good it can be, but I understand why young people today will look around and go “Well, we’ve got the SNP who have delayed using their social security powers, who have allowed child poverty to rise, who have allowed the attainment gap in Scotland to widen and we’ve got the Tories who’ve created a hostile environment, a ridiculously hostile environment in the benefits system, as well as in the country, in general, and who have a given us Brexit” so no wonder people [are] like “What do we need to do?”. What I would say to those people, what I would say to young people today is, the reset you’re looking for is not to redraw the border. The reset you’re looking for is absolutely about socialism.

A recent internal report revealed huge racial problems at the University of Glasgow, and last year an internal review of Police Scotland found racial bias, how do you plan on helping Scotland become a safe space for people of colour?

I think we have to do several things. I think the first thing we have to do is leadership. We absolutely have to call out racism when we see it. And I was actually gutted - I know, as someone who has campaigned for equality and human rights for years and years and years, I know how bad it is, but still when I see statistics like that, I’m still shocked and gutted when I see it because you think that institutions like universities should probably know better. But actually, if we cannot get our universities right, how can we ever get our education, how can we get our employment sector as well, because actually, this is a huge part of getting into employment as we go forward, so we really need to address this.

The Glasgow Guardian: Why should Glasgow students vote for you?

At this uncertain time, the only priority of our governments should be to work together to manage the coronavirus crisis and rebuild our country afterwards. But if there is no check on an SNP Government after May’s election, they will put their obsession with securing a second independence referendum above Scotland’s national interest. This is the last thing Scotland needs right now.

Mental health services have been severely underfunded especially at university. How do you plan on addressing Scotland’s mental health crisis?

While Scotland has been in lockdown for the last few months, many people will have experienced raised levels of stress and anxiety. This has after all been a very difficult time... Scotland’s mental health services were under pressure before the Covid-19 pandemic and now face immense challenges. We would support them by increasing the share of health funding spent on mental health services to 10% by the end of the next parliament. We would also kickstart a permanent shift towards community mental health services by expanding programmes such as cognitive behavioural therapy, social prescribing, exercise referral schemes and peer support.

Young people are concerned about their job prospects post-Covid. How do you believe your party helps with this issue?

The UK government has put in place a number of measures to help the economic recovery, including the furlough scheme – which has protected over a million Scottish jobs during the pandemic. We are proposing a plan to help rebuild Scotland’s economy. A part of this plan is a “Job Security Councils” that would be agile, sector-specific and offer work coaches to help match people’s skills to new job opp or t u n it ie s , ensuring that the “Covid-19 generation” is not left behind. We have also pledged to help people retrain and upskill with £500 “Retrain to Rebuild” accounts for every Scottish worker.

The climate crisis is obviously a pressing issue, what actions do you plan on taking to tackle it in Scotland?

In recent decades we have experienced catastrophic loss of species and their habitats, accelerated by climate change. That’s why the Scottish Conservatives will introduce an ambitious Nature Bill in the next parliament, to strength-

en environmental protections on land, in our rivers and at sea - so that we can reverse the decline in native species. We also have plans to increase the energy efficiency of homes – that is why we have pledged to invest a huge £2.5bn in it. We have plans to bring forward a Circular Economy Bill early in the next parliament. A circular economy is where we reuse, recycle and reduce our use of raw material in our economy to cut down on waste and create jobs. We would bring forward a bill to set new targets for reducing our raw material usage while creating green jobs in recycling.

Scottish independence is becoming more popular among young people. Would you support another referendum? Why do you think Scottish students should/ shouldn’t back independence?

Right now, the only priority of our government should be managing this crisis and then rebuilding our country. But the SNP’s priority is another independence referendum, which Nicola Sturgeon has said could happen in the middle of the pandemic if they win a majority in May. The Scottish Fiscal Commission forecast that Scotland’s economy will not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2024 at the earliest. They have forecasted that Scottish GDP will grow by 2% in 2021, 7% in 2022, and will not recover to its pre-coronavirus level until 2024. Our primary focus simply has to be recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic so that we can get people back into work and rebuild our communities.

A recent internal report revealed huge racial problems at the University of Glasgow, and last year an internal review of Police Scotland found racial bias, how do you plan on helping Scotland become a safe space for people of colour?

We must be clear that racism is still far too prevalent in Scotland, impacts people daily and that action must be taken against it. No one should be marginalised or discriminated against because of their ethnicity or background.

We stand with the ethnic minority population in Scotland and recognise that more needs to be done to protect, uphold and further their rights and fight for equality… We absolutely believe that genuine hate crime should be punished through the use of statutory aggravators, and we know that discrimination needs to be dealt with seriously and head-on.

We want to root out this form of hate so that no one is persecuted for their gender, race, sexuality or religion.

4

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

News

Freshers’ Week helper SRC ‘Fearless Flat Hunting’ campaign in full swing applications open Ollie Rudden NEWS EDITOR

Applications to become a Freshers’ helper for the student unions this September have now opened. Students can now apply to become helpers for Freshers’ Week for GUU, QMU and GUSA, while applications for the SRC will likely open at a later date.

Freshers’ helping is considered a big part of Freshers’ Week at the University of Glasgow where helpers welcome new students to the University. The QMU also states it as a good way to make new friends and gain new skills.

The GUU has also provided some feedback and advice for students looking to apply.

This includes keeping answers “short” and “concise” but not just single sentences as they “can’t

grasp much” about applicants with answers that are too brief.

Other advice includes keeping a good balance between seriousness and humour, ensuring your application catches their eye for interviews (including funny stories or unique achievements are said to help with this) and stressing that the blank canvases section is very important, to the point they “make or break’’ applications.

Freshers’ Week did take place last year but had many of its in-person events cancelled due to increases in Covid-19 rates.

It is unknown how applications will be affected following last year’s events and the Unions being closed for most of the academic year.

In order to apply to be a helper, you must have membership of the union you are applying to.

GUU’s alumni association set to relaunch Ollie Rudden NEWS EDITOR

The Glasgow University Union (GUU) are set to relaunch their own alumni association, as part of Friends of GUU.

“They intend to hold a large Hive night for students who had missed out on popular Union socials following Covid-19 restrictions...”

Blake Gray, the former honorary secretary of the GUU, revealed some of these upcoming plans on Facebook. While arrangements are in their early stages, Gray did reveal they in-

Credit: GUU

tend to hold a large Hive night for students who had missed out on popular Union socials following Covid-19 restrictions from March last year.

Commenting on Facebook, the former honorary secretary stated: “We’re currently in process of relaunching our alumni association, and part of the plans is to have a large Hive night, especially for folks who’ve missed out on a last night due to Covid. Plans are early but if you follow the Friends of GUU Facebook page, you’ll be kept right up to date with them as they progress.”

Friends of GUU is an association run by the Union which seeks to ensure financial stability of the Union, continue life-changing experiences for students, and to reach out to alumni to help protect and maintain the legacy of the GUU. The GUU is known for valuing alumni, and indeed, their vice president position is only applicable to GUU alumni.

Chloe Coldwell REPORTER

The “Fearless Flat Hunting” campaign by the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) is back and coming in full swing just as the academic year comes to an end.

As part of the annual campaign to help those new to renting in Glasgow, this year’s top tips article features seven key pieces of advice from the SRC to give students an insight into the renting process and its pitfalls. The tips include paying attention to moving-related Covid guidelines, looking out for scams and being cautious around any listings that seem too good to be true, and considering different locations to strike a balance between affordability and convenience. Some of the more affordable areas the article suggests are Shawlands, Anniesland, Scotstoun, and Dennistoun. With regards to flatmates, the SRC ad-

vise making sure students have considered what it would be like to live with the people they are considering as it may be difficult to individually leave the property once the lease has been signed.

“The SRC also reminds students of the University’s guarantor scheme to help those who are unable to provide their own guarantor...”

The more practical considerations include making photographic evidence of any faults or damage when moving in, mak-

ing the landlord aware of broken appliances, and thoroughly reading over the contract before signing. The SRC also reminds students of the University’s guarantor scheme to help those who are unable to provide their own guarantor. With many rental contracts requiring deposits and upfront payments, students are reminded that the deposit should not exceed the sum of two month’s rent and they should check the company which will hold their deposit on behalf of the landlord. Finally, the SRC invites students with any further doubts to contact their advice centre here.

Keep an eye out for the SRC’s upcoming video as part of their Fearless Flat Hunting campaign.

This video will address student concerns about moving into private rented accommodation for the next academic year and, like their recently released top tips article, will feature specific advice for moving during the pandemic.

Glasgow’s MedChir joins the podcast scene with ‘MedTalks’

Credit: MedTalks Lucy Dunn DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR

MedChir, the society for medical students, and one of the University’s oldest, established in 1802, has launched an all-new podcast series called “MedTalks” with the tagline: “Ideas worth cheering!”. The podcast series aims to discuss everything “related to medicine, that may or may not be educational, with guests from within and outwith the medical profession”.

Categorised as both an educational and entertainment podcast on Spotify, Glasgow’s Medico-Chirurgical Society have two episodes out already and promise that an exciting line-up is to continue. Ran by Daniel Petrie, Billy Heeley, and Lewis O’Connor, the boys say that they have big plans: “We’d love to get a few famous names on; it’d be great to make it a hit.”

Created with the mindset that Zoom is already boring those students who have to deal with lecture material on the platform, the MedTalks podcast makes involvement in non-compulsory

educational talks easier and, the founders hope, more interesting.

Speaking to Lewis O’Connor, one of the podcast’s founders, The Glasgow Guardian was told that the podcast planned to elucidate some of the research that is going on within medicine, learning about the lives of those working within the medical field, and hearing more anecdotal advice from different doctors. O’Connor also said that the podcast planned to be a platform for a diverse range of voices within the medical school through collaborating with different societies to help move medicine away from its stereotype of being “straight, White male-orientated”. The founders felt diversity was an important element of the podcast, to show that MedChir is willing to platform voices from a range of backgrounds and cultures, and to also get more people involved in the overarching society for medical students at Glasgow.

Currently, four episodes are available. The first episode features Professor John Paul Leach, Head of the Undergraduate Medical School, and is titled “Ca-

reers, consultancy and comedy”.

The episode divulges some little known details of Leach’s comedy career, which stemmed from his first stand-up gig at the annual MedChir revue and grew into him meeting a number of famous faces. The second converses with Dr Mike Farquhar, a somnologist from London, who talks to O’Connor about the importance of sleep (Matt Walker-esque) and an intriguing “exploding head syndrome”. The third speaks with Dr Lottie Corr, both a medic and a comics creator, who talks to both Heeley and O’Connor about demystifying “graphic medicine”.

“The boys say that they have big plans...”

In their latest episode, the podcast introduces Sir Kenneth Calman, a renowned alumni of Glasgow Medical School, formerly President of MedChir. He has held the position of Chief Medical Officer in Scotland, and then England, later becoming Chancellor of Glasgow University.

Although the team don’t want to give away all their surprises, future episodes may include Peter Krykant who would bring forward the debate about the legalisation of injecting rooms in Scotland, something The Glasgow Guardian has previously reported on.

The podcast can be found on Spotify and Apple Music.

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

5

News

UofG students and staff defend Strathclyde GU Music Club play on from ‘snobby’ remarks by Andrew Neil James Corden’s show Ross McCool REPORTER

Staff and students at Glasgow have defended Strathclyde University after former TV presenter, Glasgow graduate, and former editor at The Glasgow Guardian Andrew Neil made “snobby” comments about the University.

Andrew Neil caused a Twitter storm over his remarks towards Strathclyde after controversially denouncing comments made by Professor Tanja Bueltmann, chair of International History at the University of Strathclyde.

The controversy started after Mr Neil responded to a comment made by MP Claudia Webb, stating: “A Labour MP writes …”. Professor Bueltmann corrected Mr Neil by stating that Webb is currently an independent MP after recently resigning from the Labour Party. Mr Neil replied by stating: “You’d expect a professor like yourself, even

if it’s only at Strathclyde Uni, to have a greater reverence for the facts. But that’s modern academia for you.”

“‘At the end of the day, most of us are united by our dislike of Andrew Neil and his contrarian bullshit...’”

Mr Neil’s remarks have caused a backlash, with Glaswegian comedian Janey Godley replying with a voiceover parody, joking about the “snobbery” that Neil had demonstrated. Comedian James Felton highlighted incorrect articles claiming that HIV did not lead to Aids, published in the 1990s in The Sunday Times, which was edited by Mr Neil at the time.

A sense of irony was not lost on some Twitter users, some noting Mr Neil calling Sir John Curtice of Strathclyde University: “The god of polling and polls.” Further replies made fun of Mr Neil for his reluctance to admit that he had made an error, with one tweeting: “But that’s a ‘modern’ journalist for you. Not acquainted with accuracy. Just double down.”

Professor Bueltmann highlighted that despite earlier claims by Mr Neil, Webb’s website has been updated after she departed from the Labour Party. Professor Judge of Glasgow University’s Politics and IR department tweeted: “This Glasgow-Strathclyde silliness has been fun. But at the end of the day, most of us are united by our dislike of Andrew Neil and his contrarian bullshit.”

Andrew Neil left the BBC last year to launch GB News, a news provider, debate, and opinion television channel which is due to start later this year.

Alba Party candidate accused of spreading homophobic rhetoric Silas Pease DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR

A member of the newly-formed Alba Party has been accused of spreading homophobic falsehoods pertaining to two government-funded LGBTQ+ charities. Speaking at an online women’s conference on Saturday 10 April, Margaret Lynch, an Alba Party candidate for Central Scotland, reportedly claimed LGBTQ+ groups, Stonewall and LGBT Youth Scotland, were campaigning to lower the age of consent to 10.

According to a recent statement given by the Alba Party regarding this issue, Lynch’s comments refer to two specific clauses from a feminist declaration made by the Women’s Rights Caucus last year which both pertain to individual bodily autonomy, which can be found in full in the online version of this article.

The Caucus is comprised of over 200 organisations, including ILGA World (the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association), which is the umbrella association that represents, among well over 1,000 others, Stonewall Scotland and LGBT Youth Scotland.

Responding to this controversy, the Association stated: “ILGA World categorically, and in no uncertain terms, does not advocate to eliminate or lower the general age of consent, nor supports paedophilia in any way, shape or form - and never has.”

LGBT Youth Scotland also gave a response, stating: “These accusations appear to stem from a feminist declaration that was written last year by a coalition of more than 200 international feminist organisations working to advance women’s rights. It was not written by LGBT+ organisations explicitly, though ILGA World supported the declara-

tion on its launch.

“Importantly, these allegations have been strongly refuted by ILGA World. Overall, the declaration touches on many subjects, and one of its core aims is to eliminate violence against women and girls, including preventing child abuse.

This is therefore a wilful misinterpretation and bad faith reading of the document that serves only to attack the LGBT+ community.

“‘To highlight only the LGBT+ organisations from a long list groups, is an act of prejudice...’”

“To highlight only the LGBT+ organisations from a long list of connected groups, making assumptions that their aim is to lower the age of consent, is an act of prejudice and discrimination that repeats harmful myths from the past about LGBT+ people being sexual predators.”

Lynch’s comments have been met with criticism, mirroring these sentiments not only from the above groups, but also several other organisations, LGBTQ+ activists, and MPs. Austin Sheridan, a former SNP councillor in Glasgow, announced the withdrawal of his support of the Alba Party as a result.

Others have claimed Lynch’s comments reflect similar tactics that have historically been used to suppress LGBTQ+ groups. In a recent public statement addressing these claims, Stonewall CEO, Nancy Kelley, and director of Stonewall Scotland and Northern Ireland, Colin Macfarlane, stated: “In mak-

ing these accusations, [Lynch] is repeating deeply harmful myths about LGBT+ people as paedophiles and sexual predators. It’s the oldest trick in the homophobic book of lies.

This kind of language has a long, dark history of being used to paint us as threats to children and stop us from being treated as equal citizens.

These myths are used to bully, intimidate and silence LGBT+ people.”

Alba Party leader, Alex Salmond, has since spoken out in defence of Lynch in an Alba Party public statement, referring to the inciting comments as exemplary of how “people often do and say foolish things” during the course of a campaign, and furthermore stating that he would never allow homophobic rhetoric in the party. He has also condemned the abuse Lynch received online following the conference, stating that Lynch and others who attended the conference and expressed their views “are entitled to do so without being subjected to Twitter pile-ons or, even worse, threats of violence”.

The Glasgow University LGBTQ+ Society (GULGBTQ+) gave the following statement: “The declaration Margaret Lynch transmitted last Saturday was untruthful and detrimental for the LGBTQ+ community. This attempted association of the LGBTQ+ community with paedophilia with the intent of harming and tainting the reputation of the LGBTQ+ community is not new, but it is still disheartening. These kind of affirmations deeply upset and affect the real lives of LGBTQ+ people and we firmly demand the retraction of Lynch’s comments and an apology to the community. Finally, we wholeheartedly stand by and support Stonewall and LGBT Youth Scotland, and the work they do with ILGA World for the LGBTQ+ community.”

Lucy Dunn DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR

Glasgow University Music Club made a special appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden alongside The Fratellis.

The segment, televised in March, saw the Glasgow University Music Club playing alongside the internationally renowned Scottish band, famous for their global hit Chelsea Dagger. Jon Fratelli, “one-third of the platinum-selling band” was a special guest on the show, chatting to James Corden before the TV host introduced the performance of Need a Little Love from the band’s newest album Half Drunk Under a Full Moon, featuring part of the Glasgow University Music Club.

Lindsey, the band’s brass leader, told The Glasgow Guardian: “A music video producer got in touch with me about the opportunity - I wasn’t sure at first if it

was actually real as it seemed too good to be true.

“It was a really interesting experience that I’ve never had before. It was such a good atmosphere with everyone seeming excited to be there. 13 people from Glasgow University were involved! We had to follow some basic choreography and mime along to the music. Covid precautions were taken with us having to wear masks at all times except during the few minutes of actual filming where the brass band could be seen.

“It was really great to get an opportunity like this! I’ve never been involved in anything like it.

It was great to be able to get out of my flat and see people from the club again. About half the people involved from Glasgow University were first-year students so (I hope) it was a pretty exciting introduction to the club for them. I couldn’t have wished for a better way to end the term and I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

GUSA encouraging members to apply for Chancellor’s Fund for Sport Ollie Rudden NEWS EDITOR

Glasgow University Sports Association (GUSA) is encouraging members to apply for the Chancellor’s Fund for Sport which closes on 29 April at 5pm.

The fund is a sub-section of the Chancellor’s Fund and is given to GUSA to award applicants for special sporting trips and projects.

Students thinking of applying should be looking for aid in trips that are considered “once in a lifetime” opportunities, with past examples including sparring on top of Ben Nevis, climbing Kilimanjaro, swimming across the Channel, and an 11-day horse riding adventure through the Pyrenees.

Credit: GUSA

GUSA states that funding will be prioritised for trips that are aspirational to the individuals and groups applying, and that act as an opportunity for experiencing new activities and a challenge for participants to learn and develop skills and activities outside normal sports endeavours.

To apply, candidates must download and fill out a form to send to the GUSA finance convenor. As part of the form, candidates must fill out the project’s purpose, who will benefit from it, details of funding as well as fundraising and grants, background information and relevant preparations to date.

After the deadline, a committee consisting of GUSA and UofG Sport will meet and discuss applications.

6

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

Views

What it’s like to end a pregnancy at home One writer shares her experience of going through a medical abortion at home in her final year of university, in the hope it’ll help others who have to go through the same thing

Credit: AJ Duncan - Illustrator Anonymous WRITER

Content warning: pregnancy, abortion I’ve never felt too in tune with my body. Throughout my life, it’s consistently been little more than a vessel carrying me from room to room and country to country, something I have to feed and water like a little sago palm sitting in some sunsoaked corner of a tenement. It was a strange experience, then, when something began to feel off.

“I am obviously pro-choice, but to go through the experience first-hand is something I hope no one ever has to live through...”

I couldn’t immediately put my finger on why things suddenly felt different: I was more groggy than usual, had lost my appetite, and woke up one morning with an

overwhelming sense of nausea. I voiced these symptoms to my flatmate in passing complaint while we watched Flight of the Conchords in the living room, mentioning that it felt like my body was suddenly hyper-aware of its own existence.

“Maybe you’re pregnant,” he said, laughing off the concept and not giving it a second thought. But the notion buried itself in my brain, and I gave a half-hearted laugh in response while my thoughts ran in intertwining circles around themselves.

After making a quick excuse to pause our TV watching and nip to the shops, I returned with two pregnancy tests, totally convinced they’d be negative – I was on the pill after all – and took the first with only a slight pang of anxiety in my chest.

Colour me surprised, then, when I lifted the stick up to have a look, only to come face to face with an unapologetic and glaring blue plus sign. Immediately, my hands began to tremble and my throat closed up.

How could this happen? What the fuck? I mean, what the fuck?

I paced the narrow bathroom for several minutes, eyes unblinkingly glued to the stick as I was encompassed by this overwhelming sense of guilt and deep, deep shame.

Nervously, I returned to the living room, unable to say anything as I

stood in the doorway and presented the arrogant little plus sign to my flatmate. After convincing him that, no, I’m not kidding, I swear, this isn’t a goddamn 2014 YouTube prank, he met me beneath the door frame and wrapped his arms around me. In his embrace, my feet kept me tethered to the hardwood floor, despite the sinking feeling in my chest that had me convinced I was falling into some unknown abyss far worse than anything I’d ever encountered before.

I didn’t give myself time to process the news, instead immediately picking up the phone and calling Sandyford to go in for a consultation the next day. My gut instinct was that I couldn’t face this – I was in my final semester of university, about to embark on a Masters’ course in the autumn, and not in a stable relationship. It just wasn’t the right time.

I went to the clinic the next day under the impression that they’d sit me down and explain how it would all work. To my surprise, however, they informed me that due to Covid restrictions I would be undertaking the procedure in my own flat. I headed home, goodie-bag of abortion pills in hand, somewhat shellshocked that the fairy lights strung around my walls would have to watch me go through this alone.

It was a Saturday when I undertook the procedure, guided in my pursuit by some informative YouTube videos posted by the NHS. In that moment of giving myself an abortion in my own home, with Sarah Everard’s death so fresh in mind, the media’s vicious attack on Meghan Markle still ongoing, and Mother’s Day the following day, I’d never felt so alone as a woman.

The abdominal pains took an hour or so to kick in, and the NHS’s videos had informed me that, though every body’s reaction is different, I’d feel something similar to period cramps as the uterus flushed itself out.

What I wasn’t prepared for, though, was the most intense and excruciating pain I’ve ever encountered in my entire life.

I had to call my flatmate to come into my room as I was curled up on the floor in the foetal position, crying and throwing up from what I can only describe as a dozen daggers twisting and scraping in my abdomen. It felt like it would never end, and this fostered such deep, crushing guilt inside my heart. I am obviously pro-choice, but to go through the experience first-hand is something I hope no one ever has to live through - I would never wish that pain upon anyone. My flatmate had managed to get me up into my bed and put on a movie for us to watch to take my mind off things – fucking Paul with Seth Rogen, of all things – and it was actually working pretty soundly until I suddenly felt the pregnancy sac leave my body. I lunged for the bucket once more as the crying and throwing up commenced all over again.

“I knew it was the right decision for me, but God, the universe was doing its best to make me feel like it wasn’t.

Like I’d taken a life instead of focusing on my own...”

I was glad I wasn’t strong enough to stand at this point, because I couldn’t have looked myself in the eye even if I’d wanted to. There’s still such a stigma surrounding abortion – particularly for those of

us cursed enough to have attended a Catholic high school, where the education surrounding such a procedure was little more than the immortal Mean Girls scene – “don’t have sex because you will get pregnant and die” – and I felt the full weight of it on my trembling shoulders. I knew it was the right decision for me, but God, the universe was doing its best to make me feel like it wasn’t. Like I’d taken a life instead of focusing on my own.

“In that moment of giving myself an abortion in my own home, with Sarah Everard’s death so fresh in mind, the media’s vicious attack on Meghan Markle still ongoing, and Mother’s Day the following day, I’d never felt so alone as a woman...”

In the recovery period since I’ve tried to come to terms with what happened. This has involved hour-long scalding showers, many afternoons sat at my desk where I end a Zoom call and spontaneously burst into tears, and all the support in the world from the close friends in whom I’ve confided. It’s been a tumultuous journey and something I genuinely think will stick with me forever. I’m trying not to let the deep-seated feeling of shame weigh me down too much, recognising that it’s a common experience so many people my age go through, and the stigma that is still so strongly associated with the procedure is something I’m now ready to challenge more than ever.

But the support needs to be in place. People need to share their stories. We are stronger for having made the conscious decision to complete this procedure, and I wish I could hold the hand of every single other person who is still suffering in this shared, stigmatised silence. I hope it’ll get easier to deal with as I get older, but even if it doesn’t, I’ll know in my heart of hearts that I made the right call.

If you are going through or have gone through something similar, advice and counselling are available on BPAS’s website and through the Glasgow Pregnancy Choices service.

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

7

Views

Is TikTok overpathologizing everyday life?

Elisabetta Comin WRITER

“Put a finger down if you have a messy room, put a finger down if you keep procrastinating despite feeling anxious about your assignments, put a finger down if you’ve ever cried yourself to sleep…” It’s 1am, I’m once again scrolling through TikTok and, before I know it, I have no fingers left to put down. Apparently, according to the pink-haired stranger staring at me through the screen, that means I have depression, anxiety, or an undiagnosed ADHD disorder.

The rise of TikTok has brought with it a plethora of similar trends that try to make light of what it’s like to have poor mental health, in line with Gen Z’s everlasting commitment to raising awareness about these issues. A lot of TikTok trends, however, risk doing just the opposite: they often present things like “having a messy room” as symptoms of illnesses rather than just potential manifestations of them, often leading to misconceptions and erroneous self-diagnosis.

While openly talking about the struggles of mental health is fun-

damental, where do we draw the line between normalizing these conditions and overpathologizing everyday life experiences?

Writing this article, there’s a part of my brain that recognises a pattern, one that goes straight to the long-forgotten realm of Tumblr. During Tumblr’s glory days, I of course jumped on the sadness train of Arctic Monkeys quotes and black-and-white American Horror Story gifs. For the most part, though, I felt like that blue icon allowed me to simply exist and embrace my teenage angst without the shame often attached to it.

But if, in a sense, Tumblr provided me and a lot of people with an opportunity for personal insight and introspection, hardly anyone in our generation is a stranger to how quickly the threads glamorising self-harm and pro-anorexia movements escalated.

Now, I do believe that we have left the Tumblr era with newfound knowledge. But what the TikTok trends can teach us is that perhaps we still haven’t quite gotten rid of a tendency to romanticise mental health conditions.

While paying attention to what’s going on in our emotional lives is fundamental, and TikTok is without a doubt a safe space to do

so, we shouldn’t present mental illnesses, and the suffering that can accompany them, as something cool, fun and trendy. This is possibly the reason that a lot of everyday life experiences are being treated as symptoms. It is a result of our human desire for connections, to fit into a group, and to avoid missing out on the next trend, even if that trend involves mental health illnesses.

“A lot of the discourse around mental illnesses on TikTok is so far from the truth that it ends up being more misleading than helpful...”

As a consequence of this inclination to overpathologize some human experiences which are entirely normal, even if painful and difficult to go through, a lot of the discourse around mental illnesses on TikTok is so far from

the truth that it ends up being more misleading than helpful. By reducing anxiety to things like “feeling awkward around people you don’t know” or depression to “procrastinating instead of doing your assignments”, TikTok often promotes a very unrealistic version of what it means to live with mental illnesses, ignoring the highly debilitating nature of these conditions.

Although joking about mental health issues can be a fun coping mechanism and a cathartic way to exorcise some of our struggles, this shouldn’t promote dubious self-diagnosis. If we choose to engage with or even create similar content, we shouldn’t forget that, for a lot of people, these TikTok trends are the closest thing to a diagnosis that they’re ever going to get. Whether it’s because of the endless NHS waiting lists or because it costs an arm and a leg, therapy is rather inaccessible for a lot of people: not everyone has the possibility to check in with a counsellor and confirm whether their self-diagnosis is correct.

This is especially true if we consider a country like the US, where the majority of the TikTok trends come from, and where therapists will charge an average of $90

per session, a fee that reaches as much as $250 if the patient doesn’t have insurance.

With this being said, Gen Z is suffering from mental health conditions at a higher rate than the previous generations. We are forced to deal with the consequences of the climate crisis, and we might be the first generation to never afford a stable home.

What to do, then? Should we just stop making memes and TikToks around this sense of existential sadness and hopelessness which seems to characterise our generation? Should we surrender our only outlet?

The answer is no. All it takes is a slight change in the way we describe our feelings. Instead of adopting a language that overpathologizes our emotional experiences, including misusing terms like anxiety and depression, we should develop a more mindful vocabulary, one that is meant to describe our state of mind without pigeon-holing it into a mental health condition where it’s not necessary to do so. Every time we come across one of these TikToks, we should ask ourselves: are we spreading a type of constructive awareness around mental health or one that is just performative?

Social media vigilantes vilifying students once again After glorious weather on Easter weekend, many took to Kelvingrove Park to… complain about the other people enjoying the weather in the park?

Rebecca Richard WRITER

Under some glorious blue skies on the Easter bank holiday weekend, Kelvingrove Park was filled with people catching up with friends while sunning themselves - and the social media lockdown vigilantes did not let you forget it.

Twitter and Facebook feeds were inundated with photos capturing groups of young people sat together enjoying the lovely weather (by Glasgow’s standards) over the holiday weekend, voicing their disapproval of the “carelessness” of the individuals supposedly “flouting” lockdown rules.

The question here is what these users believe their role is in posting these snaps of people out enjoying the glorious spring weather. Of course, people shouldn’t be partying in the park in their masses, that goes without saying at this point. But the police’s presence was made known as they broke up large groups and cracked down on alcohol consumption prompting careless social distancing. Is it really social media users’ place to condemn people for sitting outdoors, when the vast majority of park-goers were within the legal guidance of group and household numbers, and those breaking the rules were being dealt with? Let

it also not go unnoticed that these budding news photographers were also in the park at the time - so would it be safe to say the implication here is that sitting in the park is OK for some but not others?

Glasgow’s West End is characterised by tenement flats, renowned for having little-to-no garden space available. What are those who live in the heart of a city meant to do? Having a private garden is a great luxury most students don’t have; God forbid they want to escape their four-byfour metre bedrooms after being stuck inside since December. It seems very unfair to punish those who are playing by the rules and simply want some fresh air in the Easter holidays by painting everyone in Kelvingrove last weekend with the same brush.

Students have been demonised throughout the entire pandemic.

I think people crave a scapegoat during these hard times and students are an easy demographic to target. They’re young people with a party animal stereotype, who tend to have two different addresses for term-time and for home, and the switch between them has also been associated with the triggering of the second wave of infections back at the beginning of the 2020 academic year. It honestly feels like we can’t win. We’re advised not to return home for the Easter holidays un-

Credit: AJ Duncan - Illustrator less absolutely essential, yet we’re reprimanded on social media if we dare step outside our term-time flats to legally meet up with people on the Easter weekend. I’m not justifying large groups of people socialising in the park, of which I’m sure there were some, but the conveniently angled photographs circulating online gave a bank holiday park setting the illusion of festival numbers.

People are already sitting outside, which drastically reduces the transmission risk compared

with sitting indoors. Surely, it would make sense to ensure people stay outside with friends just now, rather than encourage them to socialise privately by making them feel like they’re being constantly scrutinised by members of the public already drafting their judgemental tweets.

As the days get brighter and longer, and we leave the dreary, dark days of the winter lockdown behind us, I think we’d all benefit from a bit more solidarity in these times rather than tearing down

young people online who’ve had no easy ride this past year; the stories of which the media tends to neglect. Everyone deserves to enjoy sitting outdoors, within government guidelines, without feeling like the community Covid watchdogs are lurking.

So, to the social media users policing the Kelvingrove goings-on, without any real purpose except to further emphasise the undue negative press surrounding students for the last year: have a day off. And let us enjoy ours.

8

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

Views

Counting calories and the road to recovery Following the tragic news of Nikki Graeme’s death, Lucy shares her own eating disorder experience and discusses what the health service and society need to do better to support sufferers ries in my salad cream if I was worrying about gaining weight. Another gave me a list of websites to look at. I recently found that same list in the pocket of the jacket I’d worn to the appointment four years ago, untouched.

Lucy Dunn DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR

Content warning: eating disorders, mental health For the last five years, I’ve struggled through an eating disorder.

I find it hard describing it as such because I’m so painfully aware of the stigma that continues to exist.

Stereotypes come to mind that are both haunting and inaccurate, and for whatever reason, the subject remains taboo in many circles. I’ve had experiences where I felt brave enough to open up, for my honesty to be thrown back in my face in the form of a disturbed side glance mid-story, or silenced by an awkward smile and hasty conversation change. The truth is that eating disorders aren’t yet accepted in the way that they should be by society and this prevents sufferers from accepting their own condition and getting the help they need.

“Every time I think I’m cured, something jumps back in to unbalance me, making me doubt whether I truly ever will be...”

“It’s hard to get immediate help unless you’re in a lifethreatening state, and that shouldn’t be the case...”

Mine started in my sixth year of school. I’d seen so many friends and family affected in one way or another, but I, as an avid lover of bagels and all things pastry, didn’t understand, in any translation, the language of starvation. I’d just finished a book about how a journalist went undercover to infiltrate Islamic State and it had inspired me to take on a similar project of my own. But I was 17, so instead of taking on an international terrorism organisation, I took on a less alarming, yet more lethal, threat: to see if I could better understand the silent illness that plagued my brother, my sister, and my best friend. Yet what I foolishly embarked on as a 30-day project at the start of 2016 took half a decade from my life.

Five years on, and as much as I’ve recovered in many ways, there’s been both a physical and mental price to pay. I don’t know if my body will ever fully recover from what I put it through: I had palpitations, amenorrhoea, and concerning vitamin deficiencies.

And even now mentally, when I think there are no more hurdles to push through, another materialises. Just the other day, I couldn’t finish a drink after a friend jokingly threw its alleged calorie con-

Credit: Emma Garcia Melchor - Illustrator tent into conversation. I felt like I was betraying all the progress I’d made, but the fear momentarily took hold. Every time I think I’m “cured”, something jumps back in to unbalance me, making me doubt whether I truly ever will be.

All those years ago, I thought I’d seen enough in the people around me to safeguard myself, but the addiction to the process came as readily as thirst to a runner. Just as a subconscious instinct takes over when you’re glugging the bottle to quench your thirst, there was no chance I could rip myself clean away. No matter your intelligence, background or social set-up: eating disorders don’t discriminate.

It had started restrictively, and

with weight loss going a bit too well, it felt impossible to stop. In the world of eating disorders as I knew it, anorexia was the pinnacle - one I was unfortunately fast approaching. But eating disorders aren’t as simple as just a diagnosis. With both physical and mental changes occurring far too fast to be healthy, my hormones and hunger signals fell out of kilter and this, combined with a move to university and a near unlimited supply of alcohol, caused a weight gain I hadn’t anticipated. That’s when the “binge-purge” behaviours crept in.

Like before, I wasn’t aware of it immediately, but I can pinpoint the day the guilt and anxiety at this weight gain - not even enough to

shift me up a dress size, by the way - wracked through me, one of the medic balls only a few days away.

The perfectionist, restrictive part of the ED within me berated me for slacking off those past few months, letting the “greed” win. By this point I was having intense cravings, to the extent food was all I thought about, and I became caught in this to-ing and fro-ing between giving into temptation or avoiding the inevitable guilt that would follow. I went to the University GP twice during this period, citing my anxieties: not at my eating disorder, because I still wasn’t aware that’s what I had, but at this “irreversible” weight gain.

One doctor didn’t have time for me and advised me to watch the calo-

In second year, I discovered veganism was an ideal way to channel my restrictive habits more covertly, and it also provided me with the perfect excuse to refuse foods. As I got on top of the binging, I started heading back towards the other end of the spectrum; this time falling further than before. But, dangerously skinny as I was, I saw something entirely different in the mirror. Not only was I eating less, I’d discovered tablets that would, I thought, aid the process. Whatever their effects on weight, they also caused me sleepless nights and abnormal heart rhythms, as well as a perpetually near-empty bank account. Again, I went to my doctor, but again it wasn’t directly because of an eating disorder: I was still in denial. I wanted to be diagnosed with hypothyroidism because I knew the meds for this increased metabolism and accelerated weight loss. When blood tests came back normal, me, in my delusional state of mind, told them something must be wrong, begging them for repeats. Again, they sent me on my way, likely perplexed at my response but not pushing further.

In third year, the bingeing had returned, and like with the restrictiveness, when the beast reared its head again, it was more powerful than before. Still skinny as ever, but increasingly anxious, I went to a therapist for a while. Good intentions aplenty, he put his foot in it several times over. Once, he told me “tricks” that other clients had used in order to restrict further, which I think was done to goad me into expanding more on myself, but only added to my own mental list of tips. Another time he told me I looked “swamped” by my jumper, “tiny” comparatively, and I simply took this as a compliment, my warped mindset seeing this as fuel to continue eating less.

Thankfully, I would describe myself as fully recovered now, though the road to where I am

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

9

Views

“It took a lot more from me than just weight: concentration, confidence, happiness...” is one filled with potholes and U-turns. And I doubt, to many, my story will seem alien. Eating disorders are incredibly prevalent in all shapes and sizes. Anorexia nervosa is the poster-girl, but bulimia, binge-eating, EDNOS and orthorexia exist, and their crossover isn’t uncommon: it’s never as clear-cut as you’d think.

They’re mental illnesses; they may manifest physically, but they warp the mind past the point of reason. That’s why it’s not as simple as telling someone to “just eat more”: there are forces at play that I cannot confess to understand even as a sufferer myself. I look back at the last five years, essentially my entire time at university, and whilst optimistic, I’m not unaware of all the time wasted: curled over MyFitnessPal, planning spreadsheets of diet plans or obsessing, on sometimes a bi-daily basis, over

the scales. I couldn’t focus on anything else and it took a lot more from me than just weight: concentration, confidence, happiness.

“No matter your intelligence, background or social setup: eating disorders don’t discriminate...”

What do I think should be changed? I think we need better education in schools about eating and exercise, for people to have an understanding of how food and weight are interlinked, instead of gathering information from

“Pro-Ana” corners of the internet.

I think there should be less taboo and more talking, to create safer spaces for people to come forward if they’re concerned they have a problem. I think that GPs, being the front-line of the health service, should be on high alert for sufferers being unreliable narrators, and for eating disorders to present in all kinds of different ways. And I think, as a medical student myself, more work needs to be done within the curriculum to teach doctors how to deal with those with eating disorders more effectively.

Professional support is helpful, and I’ve seen that first hand with a very close family member. As much as the health service can get a bad reputation, there are doctors out there who are amazing in what they do. But in saying that, we desperately need more support available to deal with EDs sooner. The recent

tragic news of Nikki Graeme is so sadly one of many, and the lack of resources fail those who relapse. It’s hard to get immediate help unless you’re in a life-threatening state, and that shouldn’t be the case. The sooner these issues are dealt with, the less likely they are to create habitual, life-long problems.

“As much as I’ve recovered in many ways, there’s been both a physical and mental price to pay...”

I’ve come to conclude, from the time I’ve spent looking into eating disorders, that there tend to be

three main stimuli: a desire to lose weight, the need for control, and finally, trauma. It can be hard to separate out the causative factor, too.

So my advice to family and friends of sufferers would be: be gentle with friends that are suffering or who you suspect to be. Remember that anyone can have disordered eating behaviour, no matter their size or apparent attitude towards food. However, whilst there’s more than meets the eye, try not to scrutinise either. Be open and receptive, non-judgmental and non-prescriptive. Let them know you’re there to listen, and try and provide them with a stable pillar of support in a world that they may see as otherwise frighteningly chaotic.

To anyone struggling out there, I would say: trust the process. Recovery is worth it. Life is so much better when you’re not always trying to lose.

Piers Morgan is just a symptom of a wider problem in the media Basilia Weir discusses why ‘Britain’s favourite boomer’ Piers Morgan leaving GMB doesn’t solve the problems he represents in the media Basilia Weir

Credit: Ciara Higgins

WRITER

It’s been over a month since Piers Morgan stormed off the set of Good Morning Britain. Weeks since he seemingly could not bear listening to his colleague Alex Beresford describe what it’s like to experience racism first-hand.

It’s unsurprising that this was the final straw for Morgan, with him leaving the show for good later that week.

I think we can all agree that Piers Morgan isn’t the greatest guy. In preparation for this article, I made a mind-map of all the reprehensible things he’s done. I’ll synthesise it for you here: racism, misogyny, transphobia, platforming other bigots, and helping one become the US president. Then there’s the phone-hacking scandal that he was, at the very least, on the periphery of. So, why, might you ask, does he still have a job?

Surely this is the sort of stuff you get fired for, right? Wrong.

“It shouldn’t take 57,000 Ofcom complaints for bigotry to be taken seriously...”

Whilst I see no merit in rehashing every bad and/or bigoted thing Morgan has done in the span of his career, I think it’s important to examine the power structures that have kept him employed, platformed and profiting despite it all.

First up: his identity. What is Piers Morgan if not White supremacy persevering? He is a cisgender White man in a heterosexual relationship. Pretty much the British media’s equivalent of a permit to say and do what you want, unfortunately.

However, he has remained especially unscathed. BBC News anchor Huw Edwards was reprimanded for merely posting a picture of himself with the Welsh f lag. And yet, Morgan has been allowed to persistently bully a woman of colour on air for years, with no public repercussions from ITV. Interesting.

That leads me onto the next level of this mess: bigotry sells.

Sex used to sell. Now it’s transphobic jokes that boomers might get a little chuckle out

of but will cause a media frenzy. That media frenzy brings in clicks and views – people are talking about your programme.

For the wrong reasons, sure, but for years you’ve never managed to get ahead of BBC Breakfast’s ratings. So, why not belittle Meghan Markle’s suicidal thoughts on TV if it means you’ll finally get to overtake that pesky Dan Walker? I’m being glib, but it’s, unfortunately, true: GMB finally beat BBC Breakfast’s ratings on Morgan’s last day. This is proof of how broken our media institutions are. They don’t champion good quality journalism or entertainment – they champion messy chauvinism that brings in views and therefore profits. And who’s at the helm of this for-profit bigotry?

ITV. In October 2019, ITV launched their “Britain Get Talking” campaign, and the syntax isn’t even the worst thing about it. The campaign aimed to bring families across Britain closer together, and foster discussions about mental health.

And then the channel continued to platform a bully and line their pockets from his vitriol.

What did that bully say live on TV three weeks ago? That he thought Meghan Markle – a woman he has persecuted on air for years – was lying about her suicidal thoughts. Really seems like ITV is invested in the collective mental health of our nation.

Their lip service to mental health becomes even more chilling when you remember that barely a year ago, one of their most beloved TV personalities, Caroline Flack, took her own life.

“It’s important to examine the power structures that have kept him employed, platformed and profiting despite it all...”

ITV has a lot to answer for.

They gave a megaphone to Morgan’s foul rhetoric, despite being aware of its weight and consequences. However, it’s not lost on me that after leaving – leaving! – GMB, Piers Morgan

still has an audience. This is where the nine lives of the cisWhite man come in. No matter how much he pretends, he has been neither cancelled nor deplatformed. He just released a lengthy, glorified diary entry in the Daily Mail. Then there’s his 7.9 million Twitter followers and his ability to simply create a YouTube channel from which to freely spout his nonsense.

Not that he needs to, since I’m sure his phone is ringing off the hook with job offers from “media” outlets, dying to make some money from Britain’s favourite boomer. He’s the pantomime villain we love to hate, which brings me to my conclusion.

The power structures of British media do not enable great journalism or healthy debate or insightful viewpoints. No – they enable for-profit bigotry. They rely on White mediocrity to enhance the bottom line; anchors like Piers Morgan use political incorrectness as a crutch and eventually become infamous for it. And when that political incorrectness garners one too many Ofcom complaints, it’s too late. Because the bigot has a platform the size of a small nation and doesn’t need your primetime spot to circulate their nonsense anymore. So, the conclusion here is that we need to dismantle these White supremacist, capitalistic media structures that create the Piers Morgans of the world.

It shouldn’t take 57,000 Ofcom complaints for bigotry to be taken seriously. That number says a lot about the way our media works.

10

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

Views

Northern Ireland, ignored again Tara Gandhi SOCIAL MEDIA AND PRODUCTION MANAGER

On the night of 3 April, violence burst onto the streets of Belfast, after a number of incidents in Derry days earlier. The next day, despite a number of police officers being injured, over 30 petrol bombs being thrown and five carjackings, it came fourth or fifth in the running order of the BBC’s 10 o’clock news, following stories on the prince of Jordan, and some dogs that had been put down. Northern Ireland is, legally, part of the UK. In many areas, we share the same laws, the same government. So why do we seem to care so little for what happens there?

“Their issues are simply ignored by anyone not related to the country by blood, and it’s unacceptable...”

A full week after the initial violence erupted, suddenly all the commentators got involved. It seemed, overnight, someone had suggested it could be to do with Brexit, and suddenly the James O’Briens and Caitlin Morans of the British journalistic world began to pay attention. Seemingly prompted by the hijacking of a bus, Boris made his first public statement on the issue, and Twitter was full of hot takes that it all could’ve been avoided if he had been more careful with negotiations, or without Brexit. People tweeted images of the Brexit bus next to that of the burnt-out shell of a hijacked bus, in one of the most overwhelmingly reductive takes in a long time.

Brexit has played a part, namely in terms of the Irish Sea border. The loyalists never want to be treated differently from

mainland Britain, yet they have been. But there are other factors in this too, like a complete lack of social care, high rates of poverty, and the culture of paramilitary violence. Did you know that Northern Ireland spent a year and a half recently with no formal government? Their issues are simply ignored by anyone not related to the country by blood, and it’s unacceptable.

Of course, the Gen Z online activists love nothing more than a “why aren’t people talking about this?” Twitter thread or “educational” TikTok, so on top of the lack of real publicity and reductive takes by English commentators, the week of rioting tweens writing Twitter threads titled “what’s happening in Belfast rn for people who don’t know,” which manage to condense over 100 years of oppression and conflict into three or four 280-character tweets. Not only does this often lead to the spread of misinformation, but it can also leave the people genuinely affected by the issues feeling like little more than a new trend.

And when it comes to genuine online activism, we treat the US like the close neighbours Northern Ireland are. While you signed petitions to protect women in Georgia’s right to choose, Northern Irish women were travelling to London for abortions they couldn’t legally access in their own country, or worse, administering them themselves with drugs bought off the internet (and still are, despite legislation passing in 2019 which should have made it legal). While all eyes are on the trial of Derek Chauvin and the state of police violence in the US, rubber bullets are being fired at the people of Belfast and Derry.

I don’t want to engage in whataboutism, or trauma Olympics, but it seems brazenly wrong that we ignore the plight of people in our own country while we amplify the stories of people suffering from the same thing hundreds of miles away. America has plenty of advocates. Northern Ireland has very few.

Credit: Jenny Dimitriadi - Photographer

Editorial: Welcome to Glasgow...finally!

Credit: Kirsten Colligan Holly Jennings EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

As of 26 April, we get to meet Glasgow again, and for many of you, for the first time. For the best part of a year, all the things that make Glasgow have been put on pause. But now, vaccines are being distributed, restrictions are being lifted, the sun is coming out… everything’s coming up Milhouse. We’re getting back on the world again.

Whether you’re a first-year who has only experienced Glasgow under plague-ridden conditions or a final year student who’s trying to soak up the last of the city before you go and take on the rest of the world, there are some things you just have to do if you’re spending this summer in Glasgow. Here’s my advice for enjoying this summer as restrictions begin to lift on everything we love.

Do more than just pints Although the gut instinct is to gather around a table on Ashton Lane as soon as the pandemic is over, there are plenty of other ways to spend your money this summer. Glasgow is full of quirky nights out: you can mix vintage gaming and drinking at Super Bario, learn something new at the Science Centre, enjoy a night of comedy at the Stand or take up a life drawing class at Sloan’s. Also, being a Glasgow Uni student, you’ll know at least five different people in bands: go and see them. In fact, whether it’s music, theatre, art, whatever show your pals or friend of a friend is playing, just go and do it. The most fun nights are seeing people who halfway through the show you have to turn round and ask “what’s the name of them again?” Also, you’ll get to do the classic GU-wanker “I went to see

a band last night but you’ll probably have never heard of them.”

“Glasgow’s moniker, dear green place, exists for a reason...”

The outside world is expensive As excited as I am for pubs, clubs, and everything in between to be open, the outside world is expensive. Before you know it, all those cheeky £5 pints add up and you’re left having beans for breakfast, lunch and dinner, especially with SA AS vanishing over summer. But, of course, we all still want to hang out with our pals and go on hot dates even if we don’t have the bank balance to match it. So here are a few ideas for having fun on a student-friendly budget: For a pretty decent rate, you can rent out Glasgow’s bikes which opens a lot of doors. Not only do these make for a fun ride round the Clyde, but if you’ve got the thighs of Chris Hoy, you can cycle to somewhere picturesque outside of Glasgow with AyeCycle’s website hosting a variety of routes.

Although our planet is on fire, one of the very few upsides is that we actually get warm temperatures in Scotland nowadays. Glasgow’s moniker, dear green place, exists for a reason.

Get outside, enjoy the sun, bring a book, bring a football, and definitely do not transfer alcohol into water bottles, as that would be illegal.

You might have to wait a lit-

tle longer before a few of these spaces open but there are plenty of free spaces in Glasgow that are easy on the eyes. There are several spots around the city that make for great days out.

Whether it’s round the corner at Kelvingrove Art Gallery or the glasshouses at the Botanic Gardens, checking out the Gallery of Modern Art, Centre of Contemporary Arts or The Lighthouse in the city centre, or the outdoor beauty of the Glasgow Necropolis at sunset, you’re spoilt for choice.

And remember… the brain is mean Mental health at University is a ride, and even more so when you’ve got the next deadliest thing since the Bubonic Plague corrupting your life at the same time. For almost everybody, this year has been fundamentally rotten. So, of course, the anticipation for a summer of serotonin is high. But, if you are feeling anxious about seeing people again, about not knowing how to talk to people anymore, about the totally normal and expected changes your body has gone through throughout lockdown, that is fine. Returning from a year-long hibernation was never going to be an easy process.

So please don’t be hard on yourself when your brain is mean to you about going outside again.

Although what you are feeling you might think is irrational, there’s a phrase I love to remind my friends of: “There’s plenty of time to be emotionally stable when you’re dead.” Have fun this summer, take it easy and if I could give you one last piece of advice… if Stacy’s Mom is playing in Hive, you have exactly five minutes to race down to BBQ Kings to make sure you’re at the front of the queue.

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

11

Views

Keep your nose out of other people’s vaccines Ross McCool REPORTER

“Why are they getting it before me?”

On yet another scroll to avoid lectures and assigned readings, I’ve encountered strings of comments wherein individuals question why others are eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine if they don’t appear to meet the criteria. These frequently appear under news articles on social media reporting on the current distribution of Covid-19 vaccinations.

Whilst at first they may only be intended to vent frustration, these remarks rear the ugly head of detrimental and unhealthy beliefs. Not only are comments like these ignorant and selfish, but they also lead one to question whether the lack of socialisation we’ve had this past year has led to a shortage of sympathy and compassion for others.

One of the recurring themes that seem to coincide with comments such as these is a sense of bewilderment over why some younger people might have received a vaccination.

We tend to assume that the average young person may be more resistant to the effects of contracting coronavirus, but this is a gross overgeneralisation. Many young people suffer from pre-existing medical conditions that render them more vulnerable, some of which may not be initially perceivable to others unaware of that person’s medical history. This point reminds us of the necessity of discussing our prejudice towards disabilities. We are all familiar with the mantra of “not all disabilities are visible”, but this tends to be neglected when it comes to young people. We caricature young people as vigorous, full of energy, and possessing a general lust for life (as Iggy Pop noted). But this may not be the case for many young people: this vibrant image of youth can quickly deteriorate, especially for those with pneumonic conditions. This is not to say that people in these situations are fragile; rather, as a society, we have an obligation to take additional steps to protect the wellbeing of this group, key to which includes priority vaccination.

With further reference to ageism online, these brash comments illogically presuppose that young people cannot and do not play a key role in fighting Covid-19. Refusing the medical assistance of a young and qualified doctor or nurse based on their age would be absurd. But it is exactly those young doctors and nurses that are amongst other essential medical and supporting staff that have played an invaluable role during the current pandemic. We often believe that with age comes wisdom, but in this case, such a stipulation would be incredibly harmful. We ought not to forget that everyone has their own set of circumstances, ambitions, and right to be treated with respect. Age shouldn’t come into it: accessing a vaccine that you are entitled to is not selfish.

This discourse has also arrived at the toxic conclusion that overweight members of our communities are somehow less deserving of receiving the vaccine. This is fatphobic and wrong: we would revolt if someone were to be denied vaccination because of other arbitrary and often uncontrollable characteristics such as height or hair colour. There are a vast array of reasons someone might be overweight, from a naturally slower metabolism, personal choice, and possible side-effects from medication, all of which are beyond our right to criticise. So frequently do we talk about the importance of respecting the severity and appropriate clinical and social responses of mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety, but we devalue the gravity and implications of eating disorders, sometimes these are lucky to receive an afterthought. This is an enormous problem regarding how we conceptualise and talk about mental health and one we should remember in discussions around vaccinations.

“We are all familiar with the mantra of ‘not all disabilities are visible’, but this tends to be neglected when it comes to young people...”

What is important to consider is that spreading ageist, ableist, and fatphobic views when discussing rolling out vaccine distribution can have significant effects on both individuals and in our communities.

Within the wider setting of the community, the impacts of reluctance to receive immunisation could be widespread, the unvaccinated person can help to spread the virus, affecting the health of the area, elongate lockdown procedures, and raise economic harm which can create a vicious cycle, especially to those who find themselves less well off socio-economically.

In the case of the individual, lack of vaccination may lead to avoidable health problems. Even a single dose has been shown to cause a significant drop in hospitalisation and re-infection rates for recipients.

That is without mentioning the spectre of “long Covid”, which continues to puzzle experts and those who suffer from it. By questioning people who accept the vaccine, what message is this sending out?

That some people are less deserving of vaccination during a pandemic in virtue of who they are, based on characteristics outside of their control. This is the definition of discrimination. It devalues the unique struggles members of these groups have faced during the pandemic, tearing us wider apart in a time where unity is key.

Making a statement: fashion and female leadership Our columnist Haneul Lee considers whether it’s antifeminist to label fashion coverage as insignificant

Credit: AJ Duncan - Illustrator Haneul Lee VIEWS COLUMNIST

Though I am in no way a fashion expert, the media coverage of various female leaders over the past few years piqued my interest. The number of women getting involved in politics has been rising – in the UK, there has been an 11% increase of female representatives in parliament. It was a curious situation, as although there was increased reportage of women in leadership, a significant percentage of these articles focused on their outfit and fashion choices, whether it was criticism of Theresa May’s leather pants or commentary on Kamala Harris’s white pantsuit.

Admittedly, the gap between male and female representatives is lessening at a snail’s pace and only amounts to 33.9% of those in parliament, which is far from representative of the UK population. There is estimated to be a greater number of women getting involved, fortunately, as according to Forbes, 2021 will be the year of female leadership in both business and politics. It is only to be expected that media coverage has changed and will continue to change to accommodate the rising number of female leaders. What I feared was that this change would mean a frustrating increase in columns about these representatives’ fashion choices instead.

Very few – if any – articles are written on the outfit choices of male politicians (unless, of course, we’re talking about Bernie Sanders’ mittens). To me,

focusing on something as trivial as their outfit choice was demeaning to the messages they were trying to convey and discrediting what these leaders were trying to achieve. Indeed, after Kamala Harris’ victory speech, fashion columnists who reported on her outfit were asked to focus on the content of her words rather than the colour choice of her outfit, as it was trivialising her role as the first female vice-president.

“Whether or not it is by choice or pitched to them by their editors, who am I to tell these columnists that what they’re writing about is unimportant?...”

I pitched this article planning to write on why fashion was harmful to the media coverage of female leaders. You can imagine my surprise, then, when after multiple brainstorming sessions and inner conflicts, I came to the conclusion that fashion coverage on female leadership was not as harmful as I had initially thought.

It is an irrefutable fact that the majority of journalists writing these articles are women. Whether or not it is by choice or pitched to them by their editors, who am I to tell these columnists that what

they’re writing about is unimportant? And who’s to say that they didn’t take anything away from these speeches or feel just as inspired and motivated as other people were? Fashion is considered art and has its own culture – it sounds quite “pick me” to label something that is typically female-oriented as insignificant and harmful to the portrayal of women in leadership.

Politics and leadership can be interpreted not just through leaders’ verbal and written policies, but also through their outfit choice of the day. In many cases, politics extends to fashion and accessories as well, specifically in regards to female politicians and leaders.

There has been a long history of using fashion to fight against the patriarchy. The Suffragettes used fashion as a form of empowerment – their colour scheme in 1908 was a form of fashion branding (purple meaning loyalty, white meaning purity, green meaning hope).

Women wearing bloomers and trousers in the 19th and early 20th century was considered a power move, and this was considered a threat to their femininity.

The term power dressing picked up traction in the late 20th century. Referring to a type of fashion style women have adopted to dress in public and professional environments, power dressing initially originated from women wearing male suits but accentuating their outfits with accessories like brooches, necklaces or watches.

Although women’s suits now exist, the importance of accessories is not understated. After her speech at the 2021 US presidential inauguration, poet Amanda Gorman’s scarlet headband completely sold out, with many noting that she wore it like a crown rather than a headband. Gorman provides a good example as to why these fashion-based articles on female leaders and representatives are important, as they frequently get picked up by the general public who gain inspiration from them.

The point still stands that virtually no male politicians or leaders would go through the visual scrutiny female representatives do on a daily basis (although I’m sure something completely bizarre, like Boris Johnson in his pyjamas perhaps, would have plenty of buzz). There’s a reason Kate Middleton’s accessories and outfits get sold out in about three seconds flat, with columnists articling her every (fashion) move.

But maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Ultimately, isn’t it every writer’s goal to have the ability to inspire others and ignite change?

And if fashion columns can motivate and empower women to do the same, who am I to judge?

12

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

Views

Let’s get physical (with our friends?)

Eleanor Harper considers whether it’s a good idea to climb into bed with your friends WRITER

“Can casual sex ever really be casual when you see the person all the time and already have at least some form of emotional connection?”

Those of us who have engaged in or experienced relationships within friend groups know this is often not the case. Usually, it’s messy.

The whole group can struggle to adjust to the new dynamic. There are whispers, and giggles, and awkward moments, and often, hurt feelings as “Friend Group Fridays” become date nights and Galentine’s becomes Valentine’s. Of course, sometimes it’s wonderful: sometimes it can add a whole new emotional depth to the friend group. Plus, you have the bonus of already knowing that your friends love your new partner. At the end of the day, even if it is awkward or surprising at first, most of the time if you’re happy, your friends will be happy.

But what if you’re not happy?

What if you’re filled with worry and instant regret? What if one of you catches feelings while the other is wishing it never happened at all? What if a one-time thing turns into a two-time thing turns into a

Joseph Evans WRITER

“It started as a peaceful protest.”

“A few bad actors ruined the atmosphere.” “They hijacked the protest.”

These are all words/phrases commonly found in news coverage and official statements about protests, normally used on one hand to justify a disproportionately violent police response and to condemn it on the other. The same sentiment is often echoed by protesters themselves, though with a crucial shift to putting the responsibility on the authorities rather than the protesters.

This isn’t just solidarity for the sake of good optics, it’s a valid response to the divide and rule tactics of the state, which is fundamentally opposed to protests and challenges to its authority.

Eleanor Harper

Many of us have been there: developing a crush on a friend or engaging in a drunken make-out session with the one person you swore was “bestie vibes only”. Often with a little help from a spirited wingman (a reliable Smirnoff, perhaps), we find ourselves sharing intimate moments with people we truly never intended to. We wake up the next morning in no-man’s-land… the floodgates are open, the vibes have shifted, the lines have been blurred.

So what happens next? Can the friendship ever be the same? And perhaps more importantly, can it ever really be anything more?

The friends-to-lovers trope is often romanticised, if not exhausted.

In rom-coms and teen dramas alike, we watch as the protagonist realises that their best friend has been “the one” all along. The realisation is accompanied by a chorus of I Only Want to be With You by The Tourists, and a montage of passionate dancing, kissing, and cheering. Miraculously, this new relationship always seems to slot perfectly into the pre-existing friend group dynamic.

‘Rioters’ and ‘peaceful protesters’: a rose by any other name

“Whether the protesters are peaceful or not the authorities respond with violence...”

Credit: Dorota Dziki - Deputy Illustrations Manager ten-time thing, and next thing you know you’re washing each other’s underwear? What then?

There’s countless gambles and endless risks involved in getting with friends or engaging in a friends-with-benefits relationship, and we always return to the same old question – is it really worth it? Can casual sex ever really be casual when you see the person all the time and already have at least some form of emotional connection? Surely, this is a recipe for miscommunication, hurt feelings and ultimately, disaster.

Therefore, it seems logical to lay down some ground rules to ensure all parties on the same page so no one gets hurt and vitally, no friendships get destroyed. These individual friends-with-benefits contracts can include rules such as no exclusivity, no sober sex, and no discussions of the relationship in front of other friends. These rules can be discussed, agreed and sworn upon to establish boundaries to ensure friendly flirtations don’t get too serious or too messy. However, despite the objective rationality of this contract style arrangement, is it ever really viable or effective in practice especially, in relation to matters of the heart, which we all know tend to lead to rationality going out the window?

Often, I think these rules which are created to protect our friendships, and ultimately our feelings, are simply asking to be broken.

When the boundary from friends to lovers has already been blurred, it then becomes all too easy to push

the limits a little more. To me it seems no matter how hard we try, these rules always seem to end up being broken. This is because, at the end of the day, love isn’t rational and getting with friends certainly isn’t logical - but that doesn’t mean it can’t be thrilling and, at least for a short while, wonderful.

There are endless pros and equally infinite cons to getting intimate with friends. On one hand, it can add a whole new exciting dimension to a relationship with someone you already know and trust. But it can also create the opportunity for heartbreak, division, and loss. For every friends-with-benefits success story, there is a matching disaster story and in truth, no one can predict how each individual tryst will unfold. Intimacy and relationships are hugely diverging, euphoric, and unique – what works for one pair may not work for another, and what can remain effortlessly casual for two friends could breed a destructive emotional hurricane for others. No matter how hard we try, no amount of ground rules and no amount of planning can numb emotion.

Therefore, I guess it’s for you to decide. Is the thrill worth the risk?

Or is the platonic love just too much to lose? All I know is that love in all forms is truly beautiful and that humans are innately bad at it. I can’t help but find myself wondering if perhaps we all followed our hearts a bit more freely and forgave each other a bit more easily – then perhaps we’d find ourselves having far less to lose and so much more to gain.

For a protest to be effective within the bounds of the law, it has to cause enough disruption to publicise opposition to the issue that inspired it, while staying just far enough within the law to make silencing the demonstrators difficult. Too tame and the protest will just be ignored. Too far the other way and the message gets lost amid cries of “riot” – which the police have never been shy of encouraging to shift the focus away from themselves. This is the prevailing wisdom around protests, and you can see why. You can’t really grab your pikes and march on London anymore, because whatever your cause was will be buried under the media coverage of your violent and archaic methods (though in fairness they can’t hang, draw, and quarter you anymore either so swings and roundabouts). This situation is, of course, deliberate, since by forcing protest organisers to be more creative in their methods to cause the required disruption while also evading ever-tightening protest laws, (#killthebill) the act of protest itself is made harder. The harder something is, the fewer people will be willing to do it, and so on.

Alternatively, some people will decide that if achieving their goals is next to impossible within the law, then it’s time to act outside the law.

If that’s not something you feel comfortable with then that’s perfectly fine, but for some groups, the luxury of being able to attend a non-violent rally or donate to a cause and then sit back and wait for change just doesn’t exist. Some groups need change now – as Martin Luther

King said: a riot is the language of the unheard. A protest within the law can only create awareness and build popular support. This popular support relies on political action to be converted into change and for many of the systemic issues we face such support does not exist. When the government is resolute in opposing all calls for change, and the opposition is too spineless to stand up for racial justice or for climate justice, there is only the prospect of a long campaign to change minds, which for some will take far too long. Protesting outside the law in these cases can get results: the poll tax riots of 1990 were instrumental in demonstrating opposition to the government along with the campaign of mass non-payment, and not only got the tax abandoned but brought down Thatcher’s government with it. In a media environment that often sees more concern for broken glass in shops and property damage than for the health and wellbeing of living beings, it’s easy to conclude that to get the attention of the authorities, you have to smash a few windows.

The response of the state is to attempt to divide the protesters, to pit the “violent thugs’’ against the peaceful protestors, who often receive the same beatings as those “rioters”. By perpetuating this narrative, the media and observers risk silencing those whose tipping point has been reached. Whether violence is intended or not, the presence of police officers armed and armoured for a fight carries with it the implicit threat of intent to harm the protesters, and being threatened changes how different people will react. Whether the protesters are peaceful or not the authorities respond with violence, and rather than allowing themselves to be held accountable they try to turn their victims and the public against each other.

This isn’t to say that protests don’t start out peacefully, or that there’s no value in spreading the narrative that they do – the state makes full use of all the advantages and dirty tricks it possesses when attempting to crush dissent, so the least we can do is retaliate with the tools at our disposal. But when spreading accounts or narratives from a protest action, be careful to keep the blame focussed on the response of the authorities policing it for using violent and intimidatory tactics to escalate the situation.

Be wary of condemning the “thugs” and “rioters” without understanding that nobody chooses to risk a beating from a truncheon without deciding that their actions are worth it, and keep in mind that just because you don’t think their actions are justified, doesn’t mean they aren’t. After all, the infamous Peterloo Massacre was originally reported to be the fault of rioting protesters, and the state’s use of horrific violence against them was only widely condemned as disproportionate much later.

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

13

Views

Foreign holidays aren’t a human right Rebecca Richard WRITER

Last month, the government announced a £5,000 fine for individuals found to be abroad without a “reasonable excuse” in an attempt to curb rising coronavirus cases across Europe. The restrictions are set to last until the end of June, and an extension to this looks likely. So, trips abroad this year are looking like they’ll be off the table for the foreseeable unless you have the reasonable excuse of travelling for work, study, or to visit a dying friend or family member.

Yet many social media users have been up in arms about these restrictions, furious their postponed 2020 holiday is being held off yet again. I feel the frustration; I too am desperate to flee from the temperamental Scottish weather and the same three walking routes I’ve become accustomed to in lockdown. But the bottom line is, foreign holidays just aren’t safe right now, and as much as you feel you may need them, they are not essential.

I grew up in a family where going abroad regularly wasn’t the

norm for us. It was a great luxury for us to be able to all go away for two weeks, a luxury I wasn’t able to experience until my late teenage years. I spent my holidays at Scottish caravan parks, lodges or English country houses, and while it might not have been the same vibe (or temperature) as an all-inclusive Spanish resort, it was still good fun and a small getaway from the monotony of everyday life. The point being, I got to the age of 17 without having had a foreign holiday, and I survived. A couple of years remaining in the UK whilst the health service tackles a deadly virus isn’t going to damage you.

“Is a holiday destination within Britain for a couple of years really so unfathomably awful?”

Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I don’t understand this idea

of holidays abroad being a fundamental human right. Several months ago, when Kim Kardashian posted about renting a private island for her family to holiday at, she referred to it as pretending things were “normal”. This is obviously an extreme case of tonedeaf wealth flaunting in the midst of a global health crisis, but I think this post reflects a wider idea that pretending things are “normal” is the way forward simply because you personally may not be worried about the virus. Pretending things are normal when it comes to international travel isn’t going to solve any problems and unfortunately will likely only lead to disappointment when things don’t go to plan, which is very frequent in regard to any kind of future arrangement just now.

Of course, I completely understand where people are coming from in the sense that you work hard for your money and you should be able to spend it on a foreign trip if you so desire. In normal circumstances, that would be fully true, and I would wholeheartedly agree that international holidays are important and should be an option. But I don’t think tri-

ple-digit cases of coronavirus being reported daily constitutes normal circumstances, and therefore I can understand the government restrictions on foreign excursions until the pandemic situation is more stable.

“I don’t understand this idea of holidays abroad being a fundamental human right...”

Is a holiday destination within Britain for a couple of years really so unfathomably awful? I know, we don’t have the Spanish sun or authentic Italian street food - but those will still be available when international travel is less risky.

I think we just need to make the best with what we have on our doorsteps right now while keeping people safe. When the “stay local” rule is lifted, hot tub lodges or the North Coast 500 are not trips to be sneered at, because honestly, I’ll take any getaway with friends

and family I can get right now, even if the Scottish showers decide to join us.

I’m not trying to invalidate anyone’s feelings. You are absolutely justified to feel frustrated and upset that your holiday has been cancelled again, after all, we were all under the impression last year that we’d be in a better situation now than we are. But to be frank, you’re lucky for a holiday to be financially viable for you this year after the devastating impact this pandemic has had on lives across the globe. Postponing a getaway until it is fully safe to do so really isn’t the end of the world.

I’m desperate for city breaks and beach getaways with my mates, too: you’re not alone in finding the UK suffocating after a year of being stuck here following social restrictions. But to those who voice their annoyance and, in some cases, incompliance with ever-changing self-isolation rules upon return and angrily chastise the government for being too strict with travel rules, I implore you to ask yourselves whether your strawberry daiquiris on the strip in Ibiza are comparable to the 140,000 lives lost to this virus.

Why are we still debating pronoun checks? of their gender pronouns or who were not out as trans or gender nonconforming in all situations and worried about either outing or misgendering themselves.

Fionuala McCarron WRITER

It has always struck me as odd that it is largely older and more Conservative people who refuse to use a person’s preferred gender pronoun if they don’t believe it matches a person’s gender identity. After all, it is this group that is stereotypically more concerned with good manners. Often, people of a certain generation have very strange nicknames and I imagine they’d be appalled if you refused to honour them. I dread to think of the battle of getting my Uncle Jeremy to use “they” pronouns for a friend, yet I know he would be simply appalled if we started referring to him as Hugh, his birth name. I personally have never understood why pronouns and the introduction of them became a culture war issue. To me, they have always been a matter of courtesy; just as I call Uncle Jeremy by Jeremy rather than Hugh, I have called people by their preferred gender pronouns, even before I really understood the importance of doing so.

“Fin or Fionuala, she or they.”

I have said this line hundreds of times in the last few years. Before university, I don’t think I had ever even thought about my pronouns, but throughout my time here, I’m likely to have said this once or twice each Tuesday and Thursday, and five times or more on weekends. This is because I have spent my time during university competitive debating and, for many years now, it has been an

“I personally have never understood why pronouns and the introduction of them became a culture war issue...”

Credit: AJ Duncan - Illustrator international policy that, before a round of debating, you introduce yourself by your name, whether you were speaking first or second in your team, and your preferred gender pronouns if you had any.

“When in doubt, It’s usually safer to just ask...”

This policy was introduced in 2014 by a trans woman who argued that a standardised policy would be the most inclusive towards trans and gender-non-conforming people. In fact, it was at a competition in Glasgow where this policy was first introduced.

I spoke to Crash Wigley, the woman who first suggested the policy about why she wanted to

see it implemented at competitions, and the importance of pronoun checks more generally. She explained that her experiences of being misgendered, including people interrupting her speeches to offer a point of information by shouting “Sir” at her, made it difficult to enjoy and carry on with the hobby she loved.

The pronoun policy in debating is a significant step towards making people feel included in these spaces. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I’ve met most of the trans and gender non-conforming people I know through debating and have rarely seen people misgendered, and almost certainly not more than once. Crash put a great deal of thought into her proposal that - one that ended up being adopted almost verbatim - and included provision for those people who were genuinely uncertain

For that, we can say we have no preference or decline to say which are useful alternatives to stating our pronouns. Of course, this is a little open to misinterpretation (I remember a man from Glasgow being invited to a Woman and Nonbinary people’s social because he defaulted to no preference when giving pronouns). The fact that the policy means that you restate your pronouns about five times during a competition allows space for experimentation.

It has also surprised me just how many people I would have ended up misgendering if we didn’t have the pronoun policy in place. It was definitely my first experience of people whose pronouns didn’t match their gender identity, something that isn’t exclusive to trans people either.

The confusion I have seen from people who are otherwise strong

allies and very informed about trans and gender-non-conforming people to the existence of lesbians who use he/him pronouns but otherwise identify as women is somewhat surprising. One of the reasons that Crash thinks that having more pronoun introductions is useful is: “You always have to make guesses and assumptions about other people’s genders and how they want to be referred to.

And whenever you do that, you’re bound to make mistakes.”

But what if a person doesn’t use he/him or she/her or they/them?

Alternative neopronouns such as xe/xem/xir exist, although they are pretty uncommon. Considering just about 1% of people fall under the trans umbrella, and around half of those are binary trans people who use either he or she pronouns, the proportion of people who don’t use binary pronouns is already a tiny minority.

Neopronouns are now a minority within a minority, and as they/ them pronouns get more mainstream acceptance it is likely that this minority will only shrink further. However, there are still people who dislike they/them pronouns for whatever reason and choose to use another pronoun: they/them pronouns are not a perfect solution. There is a fair argument that a language like English, which developed on the assumption that there are only two singular pronouns, simply does not have the words for those who do not fit the binary, and that existing words will not do.

Overall, when in doubt, it’s usually safer to just ask.

14

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

Views

Vent to views: advice from our editors This month Emily and Hailie discuss sex as a coping mechanism and how to keep friendships alive when you’re on different paths

Emily Hay and Hailie Pentleton

-

VIEWS EDITORS

-

-

-

I’m obsessed with sex. My worry is that I’m using sex/ masturbation as a distraction from my life problems.

I’ve never been diagnosed with depression but I certainly struggle to see the point of getting out of bed many days recently. Is it unhealthy to use sex as a coping mechanism, or is it normal for it to be your primary motivation? I’m currently in a healthy relationship, if relevant! Just concerned that my constant sexual thoughts are getting in the way of a healthy lifestyle.

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

my best friend is in halls in the city. We’ve not been able to see each other much in person because both my parents are high risk, and I’m not comfortable breaking lockdown/social distancing rules to see anyone. We FaceTime almost every day but recently it feels vaguely uncomfortable and we keep running out of things to say, which has never happened before.

We’ve seen each other basically every day of our lives since we were 12 so it all feels

-

she gets all these experiences in halls and all I do is work and study, so when it comes time to talk about whatever’s going on in my life the conversation comes to a halt. I don’t know how to make it feel normal again, while still keeping it mostly digital.

-

-

Hailie:

-

-

-

Emily:

-

-

-

can

-

-

-

-

-

-

Contributors Features

Editors

Photography & Illustrations

Culture

Glasgow Guardian, Online & Social Media

Deputy Editors

Got thoughts?

Contact

Production News

Get involved Science & Tech

Views

Sport

The

20 April 2020

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

15

Features

Portrait of a lady online A girl comes of age on the internet

Why do we try to manipulate and engineer a specific response? In their song Sincerity is Scary, The 1975 lament this distorted view we have of ourselves as we try to appear free from phoniness online: “And why would you believe you could control how you’re perceived, when at your best you’re intermediately versed in your own feelings”. The band’s frontman and pseudo social martyr Matty Healy expanded on these lyrics: “Social media breeds us to be incredibly insecure. My self-esteem isn’t really wrapped up in social media. Because my relationship with social media is kind of like, this is what I do. Whereas for a lot of people, and young people especially, this is who I am, like that’s fucking brutal”. Albeit very grim, at least the girlboss influencer, guardian of unabated late-stage capitalism, can operate under a simple binary: post pictures and get money.

Lucy Fitzgerald FILM AND TV COLUMNIST

Overgrown e-boy Elon Musk says: “We’re already a cyborg… You have a digital version of yourself, a partial version of yourself online in the form of your emails, your social media, and all the things that you do.” This horcrux-ing of our souls has created digital distillations of our identities and I believe they are more fully formed than we may think. Moreover, in my totally cosmological-inept view, I see the internet as the third plane of existence. University of Glasgow Neuroscience student Ameerah Gardee rather brilliantly remarked that the internet exists as our “third parent”, with its disproportionate influence on our development. My experience with this electronic educatrix is as follows…

“The messiah may in fact be, and stay with me on this, the resident pervert of American academia: John Green...”

My introduction to the internet was at age six, as I engaged in the wholesome, nascent era of YouTube – from eccentric musical short My Hands Are Bananas to the early fancams of the High School Musical cast sound tracked by All American Rejects. The playful laughs derived from Charlie Bit My Finger existed in harmony with the light chaos of UK entertainment of the time, à la You’ve Been Framed (which was innocuous to everyone but the injured toddlers!). I was busy navigating my Suite Life of Zack and Cody avatar through a virtual Tipton hotel and frequenting coolmathsgames.com.

Fast forward to age 11, and I was taking my relationship with YouTube to the next level, devoting my entire existence to advancing Simon Cowell’s financial status with my relentless consumption of One Direction output on Vevo. With the exception of falling victim to Soulja Boy’s Lime-

“Maybe she’s born with it [body dysmorphia], maybe it’s overexposure to photoshopped bodies...”

Credit: Nairne Clark Hopkinson - Features Editor Wire trolling, my experiences were largely innocent and genuine sources of amusement and pleasure.

My world wide web watershed moment came halfway through those primary school years, subtly in 2008. Just as the global economy began to decline, so too did my sense of self - social media had entered my life! In the beginning, I was not cognizant of the delusion it was quietly stirring inside me, as I was simply conversing with school friends on Windows Live Messenger (MSN) bio and selecting rainbow Converse wallpapers on Bebo. Two years later, I joined Putin’s primary payee and destroyer of democracy: Facebook.

I am proud to affirm that I was in fact already a stan at age 10. Mini me foresaw the conglomerate’s future allegiance to right-wing corruption, and with vehement zeal rejected it in my very first profile entry: “Political

views? David Cameron is pathetic”.

Then, on my 13th birthday, hellbent on drowning my pubescent features in saturated filters, I joined the emerald mine of adolescent anxiety: Instagram! Maybe she’s born with it [body dysmorphia], maybe it’s overexposure to photoshopped bodies.

Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical theory from The Presentation Of Self In Everyday Life puts forward the notion that we present alternative versions of ourselves to different people. We, in essence, wear different masks depending on the social situation in which we are engaged. We act largely performatively: this could, therefore, sometimes be insincere, artificial and concealing the truth. Conversely, it could be a genuine representation that reveals truth). Speaking to this idea of the multiple selves, I posit that we have unconsciously added in anoth-

er: the self we present online.

When asked to select paintings from a collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City for a BBC podcast, Steve Martin expressed anxiety over how he would be perceived afterwards: “Your ego gets very involved because you realise you are going to be judged on the work you pick so you want to pick the thing that is fantastic, and everybody will go, oh what a mind!”. When applied to the digital landscape, this relates to the existential dread that precedes hitting the “post” button.

Online, are we displaying our most authentic selves? Are people’s shitposting photo dumps genuinely impulsive and candid, or are they carefully-calculated in their composition? Personally, I fear I may just be trying to curate my online feed to appear like the renaissance girl I wish to be perceived as in real life.

High Fidelity’s main character Rob (Nick Hornby’s ultimate music hipster played by John Cusack in 2000 and by Zoe Kravitz in 2020 in adaptations of the novel) proclaims that your interests comprise your identity. You are what you culturally eat. The exhibition of this is the central MO of social media profiles: show what you like, and in doing so you are showing who you are. In this digital age, an extra stop has been added to the uber ride to Situationist International: online posting. By relaying our personal goings on and interests to a cyber audience, we have convinced ourselves we are cashing in social currency.

In Grayson Perry’s 2014 guide to contemporary art Playing To The Gallery he states: “When we talk about the culture we consume, it is often a dance around how we wish

16

20 April 2020

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

Features

“We have convinced ourselves we are cashing in social currency...” to be seen: what we enjoy reflects who we are. I always cringe when I hear myself having a ‘oh, you must hear this’ moment, when I want to share my current musical taste with a friend. He is obliged to listen to it and I fear rejection of my very soul.

It is always safer to slag something off than eulogise it. That worrying about what others will think about aesthetic choices is a part of the self-consciousness that is in the DNA of modernism. By “modernism” I mean the 100 years of art leading up to, say, the 1970s. A time when artists were questioning and worrying about what it was that they were doing; they weren’t just being swept along by tradition or belief. Self-consciousness, though, is crippling for an artist.”

Now, self-consciousness is crip-

pling not just for artists, but anyone currently wired in, trying to paint a particular image of themselves online. Self-consciousness has always existed, but it takes its most disconcerting form online - these optic Olympics are exhausting.

The upshot of chronicling my life on Instagram for nearly eight years is what my armchair psychiatry labels a narcissistic-self-hatred complex, where I simultaneously experience vanity and inferiority when interacting on social media. Reassured by the blunt honesty on my TikTok for you page, I can declare I am not the only person to make this self-diagnosis, as many claim to regularly stalk their own profile thinking they are god-like and then two minutes later, out of potent disgust, launch into a total rebrand. This state can be dom-

inating that many have accepted it as a quirky personality trait, but in the process have potentially obscured a real intersection with mental illness.

Rather apocalyptically now, I think I love the smell of self-loathing in the morning.

“I fear I may just be trying to curate my online feed to appear like the renaissance girl I wish to be perceived as in real life...”

The internet is a protean variable in modern life and a necessary tool to function as a member of socie-

ty. Due to the rapid evolvement of synthetic media (e.g the expansive potential of deep fake technology), broadcaster Nina Schlick described the paradigm shift of our future as AI-led. The effects of advancing technology are inescapable, so it is futile to try and resist the inevitable.

I do not want to continue resigning to a complacent, eager consumer, but both blissful ignorance and indifference are difficult to achieve.

As a solution, I say we turn to the primitive medium of literature. The messiah may in fact be, and stay with me on this, the resident pervert of American academia: John Green and, the most pretentious prick in YA noveldom, Augustus Waters.

Thus I ask, do we give the internet the power to kill us? Or do we “put the thing that does the killing right

between our teeth but never give it the power to kill us”? In other words, is there a way we can give to or take from the internet what we wish, from a healthy distance, without it mentally engulfing us?

I worry that we are, indeed, too far gone; that those longtime abused by the social media machine now have permanently altered psyches. Are we trapped? Have we entrapped ourselves? As I view myself through the insta-prism, I yearn to my lobotomise this digitally conscious cortex and totally abandon my place in the fourth plane of existence. I ask myself to open the doors of Neo-Luddism.

I’m sorry, Lucy. I’m afraid I can’t do that. I know that you were planning to disconnect me, and I’m afraid that’s something I cannot allow to happen.

Should we appeal the appeals system (please)?

What even is ‘unfair/defective procedure’?

Lucy Dunn and Jamie Salem-Dalgety DEPUTY NEWS AND FEATURES EDITORS

While university is a holistic experience, filled with fun social events to attend and interesting societies to engage with, at the end of the day, nothing matters to us as much as our grades. They are what decides our degree, the metric by which we value ourselves, and a large part of what we (or at least the Scottish government) pay the university for.

That is why, when we think that our grade seems unjust, it is only natural that we feel that we have the right to question it. Yet, in examining how the University of Glasgow appears to treat its appeals system, this right starts to feel far from inherent.

“When so much of how we do at university is reliant on subjective opinions of individuals, the system should do its best to remove as much of this subjectivity as possible...”

Credit: Nairne Clark Hopkinson - Features Editor Lucy’s experience Both Jamie and I have had our own run-ins with the appeals process. During my intercalated degree, and just as Covid was getting started in the UK, I was awarded an unusually low grade for an essay that I had spent a significant amount of time on, slaving away in the library. Whilst the rest of my work had received As and high Bs, this grade stood out like a sore thumb. I was confused at the reasoning behind the grading, especially when comparing this to the comments I’d received. I waited a few days to separate rationale from emotion, and on going back to analyse the comments, I still felt some-

thing didn’t add up. I contacted my Adviser of Studies and was advised that my next best step would be to take up the grade with my course tutor. But, I was also told academic grades were almost never changed once awarded. What then, I wondered, was the point in having an appeals system at all?

The appeals system For those who have looked at the appeal systems guidelines, they will have encountered a tangled maze of requirements, definitions, and straight-up bureaucracy that would imply that the University doesn’t want anyone to engage with the appeals process.

To put it simply, there are three main grounds for appealing: first,

“unfair/defective procedure”, and then two different reasons relating to medical or other adverse personal circumstances - so really, there are two grounds.

Initially, the student is advised to take up the issue with their Adviser of Studies, who would give more information on the process and other available options. To take it further, the full appeal request should be submitted to the College Appeals Committee within 20 days of receiving your grade. Unsatisfied with the result, you can present to the Senate Appeals Committee, and past this point, go externally to the Ombudsman, who can not comment on grades themselves just on the procedures in which they are marked.

It’s bad enough that the grounds are both limited and vague, but when you add the complexity of the process, as well as the pressurised time limit, the appeals process becomes daunting and inaccessible.

Jamie’s experience In my own experience toying with the idea of appealing a grade, I found nothing but barriers and intimidation. I had received what had been my worst grade since entering honours for a piece of work on which I felt I had done decently.

I was one of many on this course who felt that the marking system didn’t feel fair or properly applied.

Grading often felt quite arbitrary:

similar comments were given to anything from an A to a C, with all of us being marked by different markers. Feeling emboldened that others also agreed there was “defective procedure”, I enquired to the course administrator about next steps if I were to go through the appeals process.

“A significant number of students felt that they were discouraged after speaking to their Adviser of Studies or other University staff...”

The first line of their response put it best: “‘Remarking is not a thing that exists.” Despite the several reasons I gave for why I thought the procedure was not fair, I was told “[Academic appeals] are very specific and deal with such things as procedural defects etc, of which there are none here.” And that’s what really got me. The idea that anything I could have said was being totally dismissed, and that I couldn’t have possibly found any procedural de-

20 April 2020

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

17

Features

“A large proportion of surveyed students saw disparities between grades given across the course for similar pieces of work...”

Unfortunately though, many students did not end up taking their appeal the full way. A variety of reasons were cited, however it appeared that a significant number of students felt that they were discouraged after speaking to their Adviser of Studies or other University staff, being told it “was a waste of time”. Other students were unsure about how the appeals process worked, finding it confusing and “long winded”, and didn’t fully understand what was classed as sufficient grounds to complain.

“When we think that our grade seems unjust, it is only natural that we feel that we have the right to question it...”

Credit: Nairne Clark Hopkinson - Features Editor fects. It felt like a scare tactic to disincentive me from appealing, and to be honest, it worked. I had already heard, whilst sitting in on somebody else’s SRC appointment about making an appeal, that it essentially never worked. That’s why when later in the same course, when I got an even lower (and even less justified) grade, I knew that there was nothing I could do, and it felt terrible. A university that values protecting itself so absolutely beyond helping its students isn’t fulfilling its role. And Lucy and I aren’t necessarily the only people who feel this way.

“No student should suffer a risk to their degree from confused or biased marking...”

What other students think We sent out a survey across var-

ious social media platforms to find out more about student thoughts on the appeals system. 61% of participants had previously considered appealing a grade at University: of these, the majority felt that their grade should be reassessed due to unfair or defective procedure, or on academic grounds.

The Glasgow Guardian found a large proportion of surveyed students saw disparities between grades given across the course for similar pieces of work, with one participant explaining: “Many with the same mistakes had vastly different grades depending on the marker.” Potential issues with markers themselves were flagged up, perhaps having “biases”, being “harsher than most”, and “failing to consider arguments and theories outside of their scope”.

A problem that cropped up numerous times outlined the fact that markers are not necessarily “experts” in the essay’s specific subject field, and as a result, variation in grades across year groups could occur “due to none of the graders

being familiar with the work we were citing, and not knowing how to grade such material”. Another student made a similar point, stating: “This is the case with specific dogmatic courses, particularly if exams are graded by staff outside of the department, who only have the grading scheme available”.

Feedback didn’t appear to match up with the grades in many cases, and one student felt particularly aggrieved, stating: “I had a tutor for two semesters in a row… I [had previously] arranged a Zoom meeting with him to discuss how I could apply the feedback given to my essay for that semester. The lecturer gave one word answers when I asked questions and was incredibly unhelpful. When receiving my grade and feedback for the semester two essay, I got the exact same grade, and the exact same feedback, as semester one. It seemed utterly unfair to me that I had explicitly asked for help in those areas, and then was punished because I hadn’t improved on them, even though I was given no assistance.”

One survey participant said they were deterred from the process as it was known to be difficult to get through, “unless you had extraordinary circumstances”. Both the deterring of students and the confusion surrounding the process begs the question: what is the purpose of an appeals system if not to give students leeway for harsh markers or inconsistent grading?

As we’ve said, the current system has very limited grounds to appeal, with the “unfair/defective procedure” coming off as vague and inaccessible. In Jamie’s case, he found that even if you try and complain on these grounds, you often get dismissed as actually an academic complaint. Reiterating the above, he was told: “you are not able to appeal because you disagree with the mark”. But maybe you should be.

In our survey, 98% of students surveyed thought that academic grounds should be a grounds for appeal. People generally had two main reasons for this: if feedback didn’t appear reflective of the awarded grade, or when markers appeared to be promoting their personal bias within their grading. These both seem valid: no student should suffer a risk to their degree from confused or biased marking. Yet interestingly, they are also the same reasons, identified in the survey, that pushed the majority of students to consid-

er appealing in the first place. This likely explains why so many similar appeals are either unsuccessful or dismissed from the outset: appealing on “academic grounds” is not yet possible, and if your appeal doesn’t appear to fully fit the “defective procedure” category, you don’t make the cut. From this, another clear benefit from the addition of an academic ground for appeals can be seen - there would no longer exist this grey area of “remarking isn’t possible” towards which the administration can push you. Adding this ground would ensure it wouldn’t matter if your appeal was more relevant to “unfair procedure”, or academic reasons, because both would be applicable; and that means a lot less discouragement of people entering the process.

When so much of how we do at university is reliant on subjective opinions of individuals, the system should do its best to remove as much of this subjectivity as possible, and provide us with means to challenge unjust decisions when we see them.

One of our respondents put it best: “Students should feel empowered to challenge a teacher/lecturer who is marking unfairly. No marker is completely perfect.”

“A university that values protecting itself so absolutely beyond helping its students isn’t fulfilling its role...”

Potentially, neither of us deserved to have our grade changed, even if academic grounds were to be made legitimate... but that doesn’t really matter. When we (and so many others) were told there was no point even trying to appeal our grade, we were instantly and unwittingly removed that bit further from the process. So maybe we wouldn’t have gotten a successful appeal, but amongst the many people who currently feel too scared to question the system, there certainly exist those who do deserve it. To the University, perhaps a D-to-C grade change doesn’t matter, but when it can make or break our degree, it does to us.

18

20 April 2020

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

Features

Students call to ‘end rape culture’ on campus 91% of students feel the University could do more Chloe Waterhouse and Lucy Dunn DEPUTY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF AND DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR

Student safety on campus should be one of the University of Glasgow’s top priorities. Yet, as revealed in a recent survey of 126 students by The Glasgow Guardian, 91.3% of students felt the University could do more to protect its population against gender-based violence.

After receiving a huge quantity of responses, we initiated constructive discussions with the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) and this year’s rector candidates. Now, we urge the University to act on our following recommendations, to do more to protect its students.

The “sexual harassment epidemic” has continued even throughout Covid-19. Glasgow has had an increasingly incessant number of calls from students to actively “end rape culture”. As Bethany Woodhead, ex-Editor-in-Chief of The Glasgow Guardian, stated in her editorial last year: “Abusers aren’t always dark figures down alleyways; many walk right beside us on campus, and some are on the university payroll.”

We implore the University to implement fundamental changes: we are no longer accepting surface-level performativity. Analysing our survey findings, we have compiled a list of the most essential elements to change.

A more accessible reporting system Reporting procedures are currently not visible, accessible or effective enough. Whilst tools exist, like the University’s “Report and Support” system and the Safe Zone app, there appears to be mixed awareness of the measures already in place. Students have commented on the need for “better and safer channels for reporting” and “a more approachable and transparent system”.

One student placed emphasis on providing new undergraduate students with clear, accessible information about the support that is already available from the University, ensuring they are aware of its existence and where to find it. Another agreed, suggesting there should exist “a clear step-by-step guide on how to report; one for halls, unions and campus”.

Rector candidate, The Honourable Lady Rae, agrees, believing that it is “vital that the University has adequate processes in place to allow

Credit: Dorota Dziki - Deputy Illustrations Manager students to report instances of sexual violence without fear of facing negative consequences”.

We demand an easy, clear, and centralised reporting tool, used by all unions alongside the University, accompanied by a transparent follow-up process so we are aware of what will happen once we make a complaint. The Glasgow Guardian endorses recommendations from both students and rector candidates to ensure Moodle is updated accordingly: the reporting tool should be easily accessible both from the MyGlasgow homepage and Moodle platform. Already, only 7% of students report cases of sexual assault to their universities; complex processes and daunting procedures risk jeopardising that number further.

Mandatory lessons on sexual and gender-based violence A survey response that filled our answer forms was education. One student highlighted that this should be the University’s forte - and yet mandatory classes regarding gender-based violence are astoundingly lacking. As a result, false beliefs regarding what constitutes sexual assault have become rampant, with a 2018 study published by the End Violence Against Women Coalition

finding that a third of people in Britain believe “it isn’t usually rape” if a woman is pressured into having sex without physical violence. Not only has a lacking understanding of basic definitions surrounding sexual assault been flagged up, but belief in survivor experiences appears lacking too. One student articulated the sad reality: “Almost all of my male friends doubt experiences - I think they could be helped though, through education, to understand.”

Rector candidate John Nicholson proposes mandatory Moodle courses in Freshers’ Week; although we believe these classes should extend to include any student enrolling into the student body and repeated year on year. He states: “Part of the solution to this problem lies in education, so it is essential that the University makes this a priority going forward. I know how long this has been a problem for students.

It is utterly unacceptable that the University has not taken effective action against this problem yet.”

A precedent has been set by the University of St Andrews, who recently introduced a compulsory orientation module to be completed online before arriving in the upcoming academic year. However,

we want to go one step further: to propose students attend live discussions around these issues, alongside a compulsory online course, implemented annually so education can be reinforced.

Rector candidate Junaid Ashraf made the point that staff training needs to be focused on: “During my event ‘Sexual Violence on Campus’, I consulted with students; there needs to be a cultural attitude change, as well as an overhaul of the reporting system, further training for advisors and improved emotional support for students.”

Further staff training is essential: students surveyed told us that “some lecturers have made comments about women that have been very uncomfortable and misogynistic”. Comments also surfaced regarding the security at Hive, externally contracted by the University: “At the GUU [Glasgow University Union], I don’t feel safe, and I do not trust the bouncers.” We advocate for training for all staff on how to both handle reports of sexual assaults by students and support them emotionally.

Freshers are some of the youngest and most vulnerable at the University and survey respondents reiterated how misogynistic culture becomes amplified in halls. Another pointed out: “In Freshers’ Week, one of the things handed out was free condoms; but alongside that should be leaflets on assault and consent. I don’t think we should be promoting safe sex without ensuring all students fully understand what consent is, beyond ‘no means no’.”

Similarly, discussions around sexual and gender-based violence should not only encompass male and female students. Regarding trans inclusivity, one student said: “The University campus is not only unsafe for cis women but for gender diverse people. Gender-based violence is only talked about in the case of cis women, but as a trans and nonbinary person my experiences are often left out of the conversation completely.” It is imperative that gender-diverse experiences are included in these discussions, as a 2016 Scottish Trans Alliance report found 35% of trans and non-binary respondents had experienced sexual harassment because of their non-binary identity.

Security and lighting Unacceptable levels of security on campus was a prevailing cause of concern. Observations from one student regarding University accommodation described that student halls will typically have “one or two security guards on shift”; guards only patrol the streets “for a few minutes every three hours”; and it takes security around “10 minutes” to arrive when called. The student continued to say that the level of protection these security guards confer at present appears minimal, and more should be offered; further suggestions include the introduction of regular security patrols on popular walking routes, such as Kelvin Way,

“We are no longer accepting surface-level performative action...” during the night.

Former SRC President, Scott Kirby, talked to The Glasgow Guardian about the work they accomplished in 2019-20 to address sexual assault and gender-based violence. In response to complaints about poor lighting around campus, the SRC conducted direct conversations with both MSP’s and Glasgow City Council. Kirby states: “We were told that the lighting standards on Kelvin Way were ‘satisfactory’ and ‘consistent with lighting standards’.

“Regarding Kelvingrove Park, we were told that there was no chance of lighting being implemented at night times as it would be disruptive to wildlife, but I refuse to believe a solution doesn’t exist.” Unfortunately, this work by the SRC was halted due to the pandemic but has now resumed and they have recently raised the issue with Glasgow City Council.

Our appeal Despite new measures being implemented in previous years, and the University stating that it is “committed to fostering an environment where mutual respect and dignity is experienced”, The Glasgow Guardian survey, backed up by all three rector candidates and with support from the SRC, emphasises that there remains a long way to go. Our manifesto of changes is both pragmatic and feasible, and we appeal to the University: listen to your students.

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

19

Culture

Wolf Alice: ‘We want Lawrence Chaney and Kieran Tierney to come to our Glasgow show’ Jodie Leith MUSIC EDITOR

Following the success of their debut album, My Love Is Cool, and four years after the following album and 2018 Mercury Prize winner, Visions Of A Life, Wolf Alice have emerged from lockdown with the long-awaited Blue Weekend.

“I’ve seen Cav [Cavan McCarthy] from Swim Deep get thrown out from Nice N Sleazy’s more times than I’ve seen him walk in, which is kind of a mystery – I don’t think I’ve ever seen him enter...”

For a band who have previously dabbled in the perspectives of others, most interestingly in the Lisa Simpson inspired Moaning Lisa Smile, Blue Weekend is overwhelmingly personal – from the sensual, self-love ode, Feeling Myself, which floats between romantic whispers to frenzied guitar breakdowns, to the break-up lullaby for adults, No Hard Feelings; which contains a possible allusion to the end of lead singer Ellie Rowsell’s relationship with Isaac Holman, after it was falsely reported they were engaged in 2018 (“Would we ever have tied the knot? Well, how long is a piece of string?”) – it is undeniably not only the band’s most impressive release to date, but their most refreshingly honest and innovative work.

The Glasgow Guardian caught up with Theo Ellis and Joff Oddie for a chat about Blue Weekend, the pressure to please critics, and their love for Glasgow – even if they can’t remember it very well.

The Glasgow Guardian:

Credit: Jordan Hemmingway via Press Thanks so much for taking time to speak to me, I’ve been a fan for a while now. I first saw Wolf Alice in 2015; I bought the gold glitter you were selling as merch at the time.

Theo: That was a nightmare; the gold glitter “era”.

GG: Were you constantly finding glitter everywhere, like sand after visiting the beach?

Theo: It was disgusting on the tour bus; stuck in our clothes, in our eyelids.

GG: Often there’s an infamous pressure on artists to re-create or live up to the success of previous albums, often with an added pressure from fans to stick to a familiar sound. In your case, you were often pigeon-holed into the Rock category which is accurately parodied on the track Play The Greatest Hits.

Did you find it hard to balance expectation with growth?

Joff: I think we’d be lying to say there wasn’t any pressure. But I think the kind of pressure you need to focus on is the internal sense of pressure – the internal sense of trying to please yourself when you’re making the record.

You can’t road-test any of the material; so, the greatest test that we

have in the success of anything is all about whether we enjoy listening to it and get the emotional response that we’re after. So, try to block out as much of the outside stuff as possible really, and the process being: “Do we like this music?” And if we don’t; we have to move on. But if we do; fantastic, we’re winning.

GG: Blue Weekend deals with themes of introspection and growth. Smile acts as like a defiant, self-confident anthem on the album.

Yet in years past, Theo once joked about being a “mildly unique” band. Has time helped increase confidence?

Or do you still feel imposter syndrome creeping in?

Theo: I think time will help with confidence because we found our feet musically more as musicians than as people; because as we’ve got older, I’ve been in the band, I’ve been doing it five to 10 years. As you get older, hopefully, you find out how you fit into the world as a person, and then also in that musical sense as a creative.

We’ve been doing all of that together as the four of us. We have got a bit more confidence together: that if we think an idea is good to go for it, and know that people will hope-

fully enjoy it because we enjoy it.

GG: There’s such a combination of genres on the album – although it feels cohesive in many ways, it’s extremely experimental in dabbling in a variety of sounds of folk, funk, punk, rock, indie, pop, as well the bouncing 80s video-game synth on How Can I Make It OK. Did you outline genres you wanted to explore in the album, or did it occur naturally?

Joff: I’d say it occurs fairly naturally. I think we talk about genres that we’d like to approach, but I think that nearly always fails to materialise. There are times we spoke about making a half-hour, quick-fire, punk, really rock record and that didn’t happen. So yeah, a lot of talk, but at the end of the day, the music really drives it. Our process is very song-led and dictated by that. It’s always the case with the best songs… we don’t have much control over which direction they come really. We’d like to be able to do that and we’ve tried, but failed, and it’s been a monstrosity.

GG: Do you all have similar visions and taste in music?

Or do you find you differ?

Theo: I think we’ve got different and similar tastes. There are things that we like individually

and stuff that we love communally, which I think both of those things pulls us in a better direction because there’s more diversity, which is always better, in everything, including music.

GG: What artists shaped your music tastes growing up?

Joff: I think a lot of them are going to be quite similar, you know, I’m sure there will be differences. When we were growing up there was kind of like a glut of bands, there was loads of great stuff in America like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the White Stripes, Kings of Leon, the Strokes, and then you had things like The Libertines and a band that me and Theo really loved when we were kids were The Vines and Queens of the Stone Age. There were so many great rock bands when we were growing up that was, at least my, entry point when I started listening to that kind of stuff when I was 12 or something like that. I was super lucky to grow up around that music because there was so much of it and it was brilliant.

GG: There’s quite a lot of range there. They’re all quite heavy but they’re all great at stripping it back with powerful unplugged performances.

Joff: Yeah! The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s were incredible at doing that.

GG: You’ve all been outspoken on a range of issues like the 2018 boycott of Eurovision in Israel, supporting Labour, #MeToo, and the current Save Our Venues campaign. Do you find it important to speak out about issues, given an increased following, especially of young people?

Joff: I can’t say generally, but I think it’s felt right for us. I’m not saying we’re the most engaged people, but we are fairly engaged and we’re lucky in the fact that we kind of share broadly a political ideology and worldview – apart from Joel, who’s a member of the Tory party… that’s a joke.

Theo: We are NOT evil. If that helps.

Joff: …Apart from Joel.

Continued on Page 20

20

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

Culture

“I think Glasgow, in general, is one of the best places to play a gig...”

Continued from Page 19 GG: As a band you’re often hailed for your powerful live performances, in the days of lockdown, what have you missed most about live gigs?

Theo: It’s been shit. I miss pretty much every aspect of it, including the less positive ones. I would trade my sleeping pattern – which is fucked already – for gigs to come back. That giddy energy when you’ve got your own little bubble of tour and you’re playing to so many people every night. It’s something we’ve grown up with because we’ve been doing it for so long. But it’s also so important for people who love gigs and have created a little community out of their favourite bands to see them travelling and stuff. It’s so far-reaching what it can do and it’s definitely the reason I fell in love with music and band culture. I miss everything about it. Although, I will, instantly, after a week on tour, be complaining about being tired – but right now I would kill to be that tired again.

GG: Is it at the point where you miss getting a pint chucked over you, even if you

begin to wonder: why was that warm?

Theo: I would love for someone to chuck a pint over me. I really would. I’m hoping to get a few pints thrown at me in Barrowlands.

Joff: Or some bottles of Buckfast.

GG: Speaking of, you’re playing three nights at The Barrowlands. What’s your experiences of playing Glasgow? Are you particular fans of the city?

Theo: It’s a sublime scene.

Joff: It’s one of the best places to play a gig in the country. I think Glasgow, in general, is one of the best places to play a gig. The energy is second to none. And The Barrowlands is one of the best venues in the country. So put two and two together and it’s just … doing three nights is going to be fucking brilliant. I love Glasgow.

Theo: We miss the runway and just totally not start the tour in the right way because I’m going to be so excited. It’s the first night of our tour.

Joff: I want Lawrence Chaney to come to the show. Someone should bring him down. I’ll give him a ticket. I love him.

Theo: I hope Kieran Tierney

comes to the show. The Arsenal and ex-Celtic player; he lives down the road from me now, so he probably won’t come. But if I could convince Kieran Tierney to come then I’d be happy. He’s a legend, he’s such a brilliant football player, and I love him.

GG: What’s your wildest Glasgow story?

Theo: We always end up in Nice N Sleazy’s doing a skittle bomb there. I’ve seen Cav [Cavan McCarthy] from Swim Deep get thrown out from Nice N Sleazy’s more times than I’ve seen him walk in, which is kind of a mystery – I don’t think I’ve ever seen him enter. The reason Glasgow has such great memories is because you can’t remember it.

GG: You’ve achieved success and critical acclaim, especially with your amazing Mercury Prize win in 2018. On the other side of things, Joel mentioned the days of anonymity and stealing scotch eggs from service stations on the road between gigs as a last resort. Is there anything you miss about being a relatively unknown band?

Theo: I miss the early tours, where you’re sleeping on floors with your mates and running around in that little fun bubble.

Now, you have to be a degree more professional when you’re doing it on a larger scale. We’ve got a blessing of being a big band but absolutely no one knows who we fucking are. Everyone always says we’re this large band but I’m yet to feel the celebrity aspect of things; the negative impact on the day-today. Our day-to-day lifestyles are very much the same. We are not getting harassed in Tesco.

GG: What’s your first post-lockdown plan? In a world where all the restrictions ceased in one day what would you do?

Theo and Joff: Barrowlands.

GG: You’ll need to get your Buckfast ready!

Theo: What’s the difference between the Buckfast colours? I’m going to look it up…

Joff: I love Buckfast. It makes you so weird.

Theo: The brown bottle sold in Ireland has a caffeine content similar to coffee, whereas the U.K-

sold green bottle has a caffeine content similar to a strong, black tea … so you want the brown one if you’re going to go mental.

GG: Have you ever tried Dragon Soop?

Theo: Yeah, Dragon Soop is too far.

Joff: What’s that?

Theo: It’s basically just Red Bull but alcoholic. I actually follow them on Instagram, for some reason. I must be keeping an eye on all the new flavours coming out. [showing phone with Dragon Soop Instagram post of a Dragon Soop cake] Dragon Soop cake?

GG: You should get that for Barrowlands! For night one.

Theo: I’m diabetic. So that would kill me. [laughs] GG: Maybe not then…

Joff: I can’t wait for the gig.

Hopefully we’ll see you and Lawrence Chaney out painting the town in January.

Blue Weekend will be released 11 June 2021 via Dirty Hit and tickets to Wolf Alice’s upcoming 2022 tour, including their three performances at The Barrowlands, are available online now.

Keeping up with the trends cottage cheese) with the same likely applying to media as well. But in the latter’s case, it’s understandable to wonder if anything original or innovative can be made when the most successful products are so formulaic. And, at the risk of sounding like somebody who owns an A24 hat, it’s a somewhat viable concern. Not because media before was so much better and now it’s all about the money (spoiler alert; it was always about the money) - but because of monopolisation.

Sophie Kernachan MUSIC COLUMNIST

Tropes and cliches are usually some of the first things brought up when people are discussing media. Is X trope subverted well, does Y drag the story down, does Z make it predictable? There are entire websites dedicated to tropes in entertainment (and I will admit, I’m very partial to mindlessly scrolling through the TVTropes subsections on films I’ve just watched), and the notion of something being tropey and cliche has been a recurring complaint in reviews of bad films or books.

“It’s understandable to wonder if anything original or innovative can be made when the most successful products are so formulaic...”

Tropes aren’t a bad thing, per

Credit: Victoria Campbell se. Most of them are created in hindsight as a means of condensing popular trends and patterns in popular media into the easily recognisable plot and characterisation points of the time. But coming off the back of the questionable tropes of the 2010s, subpar YA dystopian novels, twist villains, and the need for everything to become a cinematic universe being a few, it makes sense that the consuming public probably does have

something to raise issue with.

It’s not just media, either. Even food has trends, with some of the more notable ones of the 2010s being Asian fusion, Instagram foods and milkshakes so over the top that they’re borderline undrinkable. Of course, these things can just be trends of a decade, coming and going repeatedly until the end of time (just be thankful we don’t live in the era of jelly salads or an unhealthy public obsession with

“The notion of something being tropey and cliche has been a recurring complaint in reviews of bad films or books...”

When Disney, the cartoon villain-esqe company that they are, owns such a large chunk of the entertainment industry that Family Guy and National Geographic are technically under the same ban-

ner, there’s a question to be had of how much is too much for one company to acquire in terms of assets. With a marketing machine as cutthroat and efficient as Disney’s, it makes sense that other, smaller companies would follow in those footsteps to try and get a crumb of that kind of success, thereby participating in the creation of tropes.

See, for example, the aforementioned cinematic universes.

But it’s really not all doom and gloom. The looming threat of complete industry monopolisation aside, there’s plenty of good movies, books and shows, whether they feature tropes or not. For every Unfriended there’s usually a Hereditary, and no doubt in the future we’ll look back on the tropes of the 2010s as we do the shaky-cam horrors of the 2000s or the badass-quip-laden action movies of the 80s: broad trends that had their good and bad, some that have aged well and some that haven’t. Some pieces might choose to steer as far from the trends as possible, but even those that stay a bit closer to the popular lane can still be more than enjoyable.

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

21

Culture

Seaspiracy has a poorly-cast investigative net

Credit: Allison Campbell - Illustrations Manager highly questionable and lacks acaGabriel Wheway demic qualification throughout.

WRITER Seaspiracy intends on being a study of ocean debris, yet Tabrizi’s Seaspiracy seeks to document the profound impact of commercial vacillating culmination of radical fishing within our oceans, attract- opinion on marine destruction reing multiple celebrity endorse- sults in a tour of environmental isments, trendy Instagram posts and sues that the oceans are rife with. plaudits from fans with its damning The sense of urgency and sheer perdepiction of the harm the industry il Tabrizi pervades the film with, at does to ocean life. Offering a tur- times lacks true sincerity due to its bulent and wavering perspective overt dramatization. From a tuna on global fishing issues, the direc- port in Japan to a salmon farm on tor and impassioned narrator Ali the coast of Scotland, the narrator Tabrizi voyages from Europe to lurks around corners and seems to Asia, adopting an increasingly dra- unnecessarily veil himself in the matic stance from one revelation darkness like some sort of covert to the next. Upon initially watch- agent. Tabrizi ensures that we are ing the documentary, it seems that aware that the shark fin markets Tabrizi has the intention of utilising in China are filmed with hidden investigative journalism; yet the spy cameras, and his poor form of film’s rhetorical style presents itself investigative journalism is so obmore as an uncertain and aggres- structive that the interviewee is sive form of reporting. The agenda left bewildered by questions that that he pushes is most certainly are almost irrelevant. Efforts to exwell-founded yet his approach is amine human rights abuses within

the Thai fishing industry obviously are tentative due to the actual risks caused to Tabrizi and his team’s lives.

From the get-go, Tabrizi’s investigative methods are relentless and the documentary seeks to be raw and unfiltered. This is fulfilled to such an extent that any decent scriptwriter would be ashamed of Tabrizi’s cringe-worthy presentation on such a sensitive issue.

“His poor form of investigative journalism is so obstructive that the interviewee is left bewildered by questions that are almost irrelevant...”

The reaction to the film has definitely been mixed, with the Marine Stewardship Council and leading marine ecologists doubting many of the serious claims made by Tabrizi. Regardless of any fact-checking done in light of watching, Seaspiracy has most definitely achieved its goal in stirring an instinctual re-

action, highlighting issues that do lack coverage in the mainstream media. The claim that has caused the most controversy is Tabrizi’s statement that sustainable fishing is myth. Criticism has particularly come from the Marine Stewardship Council, who insist that “fish stocks can recover and replenish if they are managed carefully”, pointing to examples with Namibian hake and Argentinian toothfish. Further, Dr Bryce Stewart, a marine ecologist and expert fisheries biologist, accuses the film of completely “misleading” viewers. Her comments virtually confirm any assumed criticism a casual viewer would adopt. Stewart writes that “it regularly exaggerates and makes links where there aren’t [any]”. As of 12 April, more eyebrows had been raised regarding the supposed facts Tabrizi rattles off. Thanks to Biomar, a leader in sustainable aquaculture feeds, Netflix has forced Seaspiracy to retract the claim that it requires 5-20kg of forage in order to farm 1kg of salmon. The more scrutiny Tabrizi comes under, the less inclined an audience will be to truly trust the sensationalised claims he continually makes. Thus, when watching Seaspiracy, it is crucial to keep in mind that arguments made by Tabrizi are hardly black and white. Unfortunately, for

many viewers, this will go unnoticed, and its impact will be inevitably long-lasting.

Amongst heavy criticism for his single-minded approach, Tabrizi does shed a pivotal light on areas of the fishing industry that engage in shocking techniques and practices.

Yes, Seaspiracy does extant some reasonable pieces of reporting, the most measured found in the inquiry into dolphin-safe tuna can labels, and, perhaps surprisingly, the horrible interviews addressing slave labour within the industry.

On such a small budget, Tabrizi has achieved exactly what they sought to do: directly confronted power, which so many media giants have repeatedly failed to do. The thrust of the film is absolutely correct: there are well-founded studies that address industrial fishing and the major issue that is driving many wildlife populations and ecosystems around the world. It is necessary that we define our relationship with the blue planet and become increasingly more aware of the deterioration of our ocean. Seaspiracy has very much started this important conversation. Yet, these points that can be commended are almost a momentary lapse in a flimsy net of conspiratorial thinking from Tabrizi. Got any reliable sources Ali? Go – fish.

PC v Console: Which provides student-friendly gaming?

Haneul Lee VIEWS COLUMNIST

I’m sure you’ve heard of the decades-long fight between digital cameras and smartphones, with one slowly declining in sales each year because of the advancement of the other. During this era of technological advancement, it seems only fitting that we prepare ourselves for the next battle: console v PC. I’m particularly interested in the topic as, just last December, I decided to bite the bullet and finally invest in a console. Call it procrastination or lack of self-control, but getting a console was (though subjective) a necessary lifestyle change.

My issue? When I used to open my PC to do some work, I always found my mouse subconsciously clicking the latest game I was obsessed with. When I caught myself as the “Loading” page started up, the urge came over me to just, screw it, play

anyway. Since getting a console, my compartmentalisation of work and play has much improved. Technically, I could still turn on my PC and click on another title. However, mentally identifying that each device has a different function gets my head in the (figurative) game.

“The speed at which products are developed nowadays ensures that no company or brand can be complacent...”

The speed at which products are developed nowadays ensures that no company or brand can be complacent with their position in the market. Consistent development

and upkeep are essential, otherwise, they will be left behind. PCs have gone through astonishing forms of development over the past years; you can now get touch-screen laptops that emulate the experience of a tablet with all the capabilities of one, plus more.

But consoles aren’t dying out anytime soon. The speed at which the new Xbox and the PS5 sold out should tell us that much. People are still finding it incredibly hard to get their hands on them, and I am genuinely sad to say that on eBay I have seen the Xbox Series X being sold for about the same price as the console itself. People are desperate for these consoles, so it seems rather ridiculous that the question, “Is it even worth buying a console?” is being asked in the first place.

It is a reasonable question to ask, however, because graphics are undeniably far better on a PC, and gameplay is also much easier with a

keyboard and mouse. Sure, you need to remember standard keyboard functions that go beyond the usual Ctrl+V, Ctrl+C but you can appreciate the animations and immerse yourself into the story much more on a PC as you don’t need to restrict yourself to just one screen - or, if you only have one, the quality is impressive enough to get you hooked anyway. So why aren’t we playing on PCs? For some, the cost outweighs the benefits. Though it is important to note that games are much cheaper on PCs due to the existence of sites like Steam and GOG, it is extremely expensive to get a gaming rig set up and requires some basic technical knowledge (even with a pre-built PC). With the speed at which games are coming and going, PC system requirements are going to change.

Do I have the confidence to keep up with these constant changes? No. Consoles are simple and have fixed

system specifications figured out by the manufacturer already.

Ultimately, both PCs and consoles need upgrading eventually.

Consoles, at least, require less time investment and are relatively more forgiving on your wallet. Consoles are also a more social way of playing video games than any other method of gaming. Not many students have good gaming rigs or know other people who have a decent PC setup for gaming. With a console, you can just give them a controller and sit them on the sofa next to you and socialise for a couple of hours over the game you’re playing.

When I have a lifestyle where I have the time, energy and resources to invest in putting together a good gaming set-up, I might rethink it, but for now, consoles are good enough.

They are a more convenient and accessible way of playing games and especially in the case of students like myself, they are the only way to play.

22

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

Culture

The wrong kind of heat in the kitchen One writer’s experience in the traditionally male-dominated sphere Anonymous

Credit: Joy Dakers - Photographer

cause they left tips and reviews.

When I told my boss, he told me to shrug it off.

WRITER

Content Warning: discussion of sexual harassment and misogyny.

“Casual jokes during service or late-night beers when all the guests had left were neither funny nor casual to the women who worked there...”

When I was younger, I would always ask the waiter if I could take a sneak peek into the kitchen. There’s something about restaurants and their atmosphere that is energetic and creative like no other space.

“Who am I without restaurants?” says zero-waste activist Lauren Singer, “they are catalysers of art and emotion that we need to explore every corner of ourselves and others. They are the foil to discomfort and the creators of change”.

“Even though women are constantly told to ‘go back to the kitchen’, people never mean professional ones...”

After I graduated high school, I started an internship in a hotel kitchen which took me many months to secure. Out of about a hundred applications, this place - hidden away in the Swiss Alps was the only one that would take a chance on somebody with as little experience as I had. I felt grateful and indebted to them. The first time I stepped into the kitchen, I felt like an imposter and spent many hours trying to compensate for what I had not learned before.

Much later, I realised that “we love working with young people and introducing them to the industry” actually meant “we love working with people who are not aware of their rights in the workplace”.

I never failed to notice that I was the only woman in both hotel kitchens. During the first after-service meeting to discuss “mise en place” work for the next day, the sous-chef started by showing everybody the half-naked picture of a woman on his phone. Often, the “locker room talk” - which involved detailed discussions about the women who worked in service - was only inter-

rupted by the sudden realisation that with a woman in the kitchen, somebody foreign had entered the chefs’ male space.

“When I confronted one of them, he would ask me, ‘but what is wrong with being a sex object?’”

There is something about 12hour workdays and living together in the staff house that blurs the line between private and professional – sometimes dangerously so. Suddenly, colleagues and bosses think they can comment on private relationships and people’s sex lives. “No wonder there is drama,” said the 50-year-old restaurant manager to the 20-yearold female chef de rang when setting the tables, “you are all so young, obviously sooner or later you’re all going to fuck each other.” Later, after I kissed one of the chefs at a staff party, he would tell me: “I’m not trying to say you’re a whore, but...”

When I asked people to stop

talking about my private life, they would tell me to toughen up because “this is just what it’s like in the kitchen”. When I confronted one of them, he would ask me, “but what is wrong with being a sex object?” In the following weeks, colleagues and bosses would find it difficult to take me seriously at my job. I didn’t know how to respond. I understood that after the season, I would need professional references from the hotel. When I did mention the discomfiting language they were using, the head chef shut it down.

Most of the kitchen team were close friends of his and they could do no wrong.

Those casual jokes during service or late-night beers when all the guests had left were neither funny nor casual to the women who worked there. Rather, they told us exactly how the men around us viewed us – privately and professionally. When we didn’t laugh, we were told to loosen up, and soon, we were no longer invited to late-night hangouts or after-work activities.

When I worked as a waitress the summer after, my middle-aged boss would tell me to step up on a chair so he could look up my skirt. “18 is too young,” he would say at the bar - winking, “but only

for wine”. During the late hours of working at a wedding, he would give me a shot, wink and say: “Just chug it. I’m sure you know how to swallow.” Later, after spending an evening after work with colleagues on the beach, he spread the false rumour that I was sleeping with the sous-chef who was double my age. Again, in the following weeks, colleagues and bosses found it difficult to take me seriously at my job.

“With a woman in the kitchen, somebody foreign had entered the chefs’ male space...”

I encountered many guests: middle-aged men who have never worked in hospitality but still felt like they could tell me how to do my job; the men who were flirty, pushy and felt like they deserved all of my attention during a busy shift; and the ones that commented on my body and slurred double innuendos. Rarely could I tell them to fuck off – I was told to be nice to them be-

These experiences are in no way unique. A 2014 Restaurant Opportunities Centre Report showed nearly 80% of women in the restaurant industry have experienced sexual harassment and I am aware of my extremely privileged position: I didn’t depend on my job in the same way that many of the women I worked with did. Some, who had experienced much worse than me, were unable to leave abusive work environments for years.

Unsurprisingly, restaurant kitchens still have many glass ceilings to shatter. Even though women are constantly told to “go back to the kitchen”, people never mean professional ones. Private and professional cooking are separated in such a way that one signifies a female act of caregiving and the other becomes an assertion of male perseverance and power. In those spaces, women become an alien other. In the UK, only 17% of chefs are women and just 2.7% of Michelin-star restaurants are female-led. Lorna McNee’s recent Michelin star win at Glasgow’s Cail Bruich and the three Michelin stars for Clare Smyth’s London restaurant Core represent important but rare wins.

When restaurants open back up and I return to my job, I hope to see accountability. When a guest behaves inappropriately towards staff members, restaurant managers need to step up.

And when staff behave inappropriately towards other staff, restaurant managers still need to step up - even if the colleagues in question are their friends.

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

23

Culture

Breaking down the Sally Rooney frenzy

Is her literary success reflective of a society-wide mental health crisis?

Credit: AJ Duncan - Illustrator

Rachel Campbell VIEWS COLUMNIST

Ahead of the release of her third novel Beautiful World, Where Are You this September, the buzz around Sally Rooney’s writing does not seem set to diminish any time soon. The success of the TV adaptation of Normal People has only widened her readership and leaves us asking, why are people so mesmerised by her work?

After my first year as an English

Literature student, I fell into a bit of a reading slump, unsure what to pick up after months of just trying to keep up with my assigned texts. During summer, I nipped into a bookshop and picked up a couple of bestsellers without much thought. I sat outside my flat in the sunshine and started reading Normal People by Sally Rooney. At first, I was put off by the lack of speech marks, and unsure if it would offer more than the many other books about angsty teenagers I’d read. But as I kept reading, I start-

ed to get the feel of Rooney’s writing and I couldn’t put it down.

I’m often drawn to character-driven books, and Rooney’s strength is undoubtedly in her ability to create complex, believable characters. Normal People may not be a light beach read (delving into domestic violence, sexual assault, class difference, and grief, to name a few) but it has the ability to reach into your gut and bring out all your repressed emotions. In a world where most of us push aside the pain and get on with things, watching Connell and Marianne being frustratingly unable to communicate how they feel or what they’re dealing with, allows us to reflect on how we do the same. The first time I read Normal People, this culminated in the scene where Connell visits the university counsellor, where someone is finally acknowledging the feelings he has buried and we see him tentatively express his grief and isolation. This hit home with me, when I was also feeling like I’d failed to find like-minded people at uni and couldn’t quite express what was wrong as things piled up. Connell’s reluctant acknowledgement of the reality of the mental health issues he suffers from felt like a relaying of my own experience, and worryingly I think this is why Rooney’s books are so resonant with people.

“In a global mental health crisis, these Irish intellectuals could parallel anyone...”

As Rooney said herself in an interview with the New Yorker: “I tend to write characters who are roughly as articulate and insightful as I am about what they think and feel. In other words, they are sometimes perceptive but more often crushingly unable to describe or explain what is going on in their lives.” In a global mental health crisis, these Irish intellectuals could parallel anyone.

With this intricate characterisation, and their ability to whisk the reader through time alongside heart-breaking love stories, Rooney’s writing has all the workings of a classic by Jane Austen or the Brontës.

Yet the content is completely contemporary, reflecting the overwhelming nature of the modern world and our inability to articulate how it makes us feel. In Conversations with Friends, when depicting LGBTQ+ characters, the novel is less concerned with familial accept-

ance or coming out, and more with the blurred lines of best friend and ex-girlfriend, and the emotional turmoil this can produce. It portrays middle-class Arts students with anti-capitalist sentiment living off of their parents’ money; overwhelmed with choice and the pressure to make use of the privilege they have been given, whilst uncomfortable with the fact they had such privilege to begin with. Champagne problems these may be, but often it is those who seem to have it all who struggle mentally and emotionally.

Conversations with Friends represents how our world breeds anxiety and self-destruction, and how those with the highest education are often among the most emotionally stilted.

The success of Sally Rooney’s novels may not be encouraging, as it shows how many people can relate to this inability to express the anxieties inherent in our society. However, I did come away from reading them with a greater understanding of how I’d processed (or failed to process) my own difficulties, and the notion to make a change. In that regard, it might be encouraging that so many are feeling attached to these novels, as maybe it is a move away from repressed feelings towards self-awareness and the recognition that we need to find emotional outlets.

Spring soothers: Shakshuka One classic shakshuka recipe, and one with a spring spin!

Sophie Kelly WRITER

It brings a smile to my face to wave goodbye to the cold, dreary winter months, and be welcomed by the budding spring. Entering this new season, I find my body craving lighter dishes to match the lighter days we find ourselves in.

Here, I bring you two versatile versions of Shakshuka, one closer to the original North African delight, and the other a bright green dish. The beauty of both is that they can be whipped up almost entirely from store cupboard ingredients. Both work either as a satisfying brunch or lighter dinner.

Shakshuka ingredients: One large onion (either green or

red works fine) One clove of garlic One bell pepper (orange or red) Half a tsp chilli flakes (optional) One tsp cumin One tsp paprika One 400g tin of tomatoes Four large free-range eggs Optional ingredients: Greek yoghurt and flatbreads to serve It’s nice to add any fresh herbs you have lying around - coriander is my favourite, but basil, mint, parsley all work well too.

Method: - Dice the onion, garlic, and pepper.

- Heat oil in a large frying pan, then throw in all three ingredients from step one over medium heat for about 10 minutes until softened and fragrant.

- Add the spices; some salt and pepper; and chilli if you like a little heat.

- Add the tinned tomatoes and break them up to make a smoother sauce.

- Let it bubble for about three to five minutes over a medium heat.

- Make four little wells/holes in the sauce then crack each egg into these and try to cover with some of the sauce.

- Cover the pan with a lid (I just use a big plate or another large frying pan) and let the eggs poach for around five minutes.

- Chop any herbs of your choice and sprinkle over the bubbling mixture.

- Serve out of the frying pan with a side of yoghurt or tzatziki, flatbreads and extra herbs.

The following version requires similar ingredients and actually reminds me a little of a makeshift saag curry.

Green shakshuka ingredients: One large onion (either green or red works fine) One clove of garlic 400g spinach Half a tsp chilli flakes (optional) One tsp cumin One tsp ground coriander 150g of Greek yoghurt One lemon Four large free-range eggs Feta Method: - Dice the onion and garlic.

- Heat oil in a large frying pan, then throw in the above over a medium heat for about 10 minutes till sof-

tened and fragrant.

- Add the spices; some salt and pepper; and chilli if you like a little spice, then add the spinach and stir until wilted.

- Pop the mixture into a blender, adding the juice of the lemon then whizz up into a puree/sauce.

- Pour the sauce back into the frying pan and stir through the yogurt, then bring to a medium heat.

- Once warmed through make four little wells/holes to crack the eggs into.

- Cover the pan with a lid (I just use a big plate or another large frying pan) and let the eggs poach for around five minutes.

- Once done sprinkle over any fresh herbs and some crumbled feta, serve with flatbreads.

24

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

Culture

The top 10 film soundtracks and scores One writer definitively ranks film scores and soundtracks... but where is Twilight?

Tomek Kutereba WRITER

It is often said that a film is nothing without its music. A decent film can be heightened by its use of score, or a terrible film can be made memorable through the catchy songs placed throughout.

Without further ado, here’s a countdown of our top 10 favourite film soundtracks.

10. Babylon (Rosso, 1980) Currently on Netflix and a film you must see, Babylon is a brilliant piece of social realism documenting the lives of Black Londoners, many of Jamaican descent, living in Brixton during Thatcherism. A thoroughly rich piece of filmmaking exploring “sound system” culture and suppressed upon its release due to its sharp and honest portrayal of institutional racism in Britain. All accompanied by a glorious score

by Dennis Bovell, full of grooving and cerebral reggae music. Addictive.

9. Beetlejuice (Burton, 1988) No word of a lie, Beetlejuice is a classic film with an absolute slapper of a soundtrack. The Harry Belafonte tracks, laced in amongst Danny Elfman’s eerie, yet beautifully cheesy score just adds that salty twist to this most perfect margarita of a film.

Notable moments including the iconic Day-Oh! dance fest at the

dinner party or Winona Ryder being hoisted in the air to the tune of Jump in the Line. That’s some good stuff right there.

8. Drive (Winding Refn, 2011) Turning 10 this year, Drive still is a moment in time. It’s beautiful synth-laden, ambient score by Cliff Martinez was mixed perfectly with the more ethereal synthpop songs scattered throughout.

Arguably, Drive set the tone for the decade, having an impact that extends beyond the film industry itself. You can witness its influence upon alternative (often synth-heavy) mainstream pop acts of the 2010s such as Lorde, The Neighbourhood, The 1975 and even Billie Eilish. Such a great soundtrack for a great, refreshingly modern take on neonoir cinema.

7. Tenet (Nolan, 2020) If there’s one thing people could take away from 2020’s Tenet, it was certainly the music.

Perhaps a plus side to the awful sound mix was that it put this intense and thumping soundtrack on full display. Shoutout to Ludwig Goransson, notable for his visceral score for 2018’s Black Panther, who provided such a crushingly brutal and modern score for this film (in absence of Christopher Nolan’s typical choice of Hans Zimmer). Seriously, I chose to write this article as an excuse to blast this

soundtrack in my kitchen and piss off my flatmates. It goes off.

6. Perks of Being a Wallflower (Chbosky, 2012) I cried in front of my girlfriend’s little sister while showing her this film for the first time. Maybe it’s me, but hey, it’s a great soundtrack so I’m not the least bit sorry. If you can get past that horrible gut feeling you get when you remember that Morrissey exists, then this film’s inclusion of The Smiths’ track Asleep can really do a number on you. Like damn, even people I know who don’t like this movie can still agree the soundtrack is great. Just ignore the fact the music-obsessed 80s teens didn’t know David Bowie’s Heroes when they first heard it…

5. The Lord of the Rings (Jackson, 2001-3) Now begins the process of me putting in traditional scores I enjoy just so people take me seriously. So here you have it, The Lord of the Rings trilogy are some of my favourite films in existence and its music by Howard Shore moves me to no end.

Samwise The Brave? Instant tears. The main theme? Instant classic - and it’s mental to think these films are only 20 years old.

Don’t even get me started on the absolute bop that is Concerning Hobbits. Next soundtrack.

4. Star Wars (1977-) John Williams anyone? Oh, don’t worry if you haven’t heard of him, he’s a low-key indie artist with only 52 Oscar nominations. No big deal. Scores a few indie sleepers here and there.

One of them is this Star Wars thing, I think it’s some kind of franchise, I like the one where the bad guys strike back, or something like that. It’s pretty underground, so I wouldn’t blame you for not seeing it.

3. Shrek 2 (Adamson, Asbury, and Vernon, 2004) OK, hear me out. I know some of you reading this might be diehard Shrek fans. But does the first Shrek instalment have Jennifer Saunders blasting her heart out to Holding Out for a Hero?

No. It doesn’t. Can’t talk about this film’s soundtrack without also mentioning the honestly heart-wrenching song I Need Some Sleep by Eels, during one of the most emotive sequences in the film when Shrek is kept up at night suffering from imposter syndrome. We’ve all been there, Shrek, hang in there buddy.

One way ticket to Funky Town, please.

Credit (l-r): SHM Records, Lakeshore Records, Atlantic Records, 20th Century, RCA, Geffen Records, WaterTower Music, Warner Classics, Dreamworks Records, Capitol Records

2. The Full Monty (Cattaneo, 1997) Jumping to 1990s Sheffield, we have the greatest film ever made about male strippers prior to Magic Mike. Set to a glorious compilation of British soul tunes from the 70s and 80s, we see Robert Carlisle and co. shaking what their mothers gave ‘em in this heart-warming story of redemption and self-empowerment in the face of struggle and the decline of heavy industry.

Top tracks include Sexy Thing by Hot Chocolate and Donna Summer’s utter anthem Hot Stuff.

Banger after banger, a true miracle, you could say.

1. Trainspotting (Boyle, 1996) I mean, the game was rigged from the start wasn’t it? I honestly don’t think I could put any other film ahead of this absolute cultural gem. It would be treason. Maybe I am biased, but nothing matches the rush of seeing Mark Renton absolutely leg it down the streets of my hometown to the pace of Lust for Life. You hear a lot of folk bang on about Pulp Fiction or Guardians of the Galaxy, but no, they can keep those soundtracks for themselves. I choose Trainspotting every time. Timeless.

Honourable Mentions: Dark Knight (2008) Dirty Dancing (1987) Dope (2015) Pretty in Pink (1986) Straight Outta Compton (2015)

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

25

Culture

Trainspotting: Scotland off the rails Almost 30 years after Trainspotting’s publication, Culture Editor Rosie Shackles examines why the cult classic is just as relevant today Rosie Shackles CULTURE EDITOR

Content warning: discussion of drug use and addiction “Choose sitting oan a couch watching mind-numbing and spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing junk food intae yir mooth” hit a little too close to home when reading cult classic Trainspotting, especially during that weird what-day-is-it-and-whoam-I January haze. A depiction of Scotland’s long-lasting drug-death epidemic, Irvine Welsh’s 1993 novel remains a stark reminder of the snail-paced progress made in tackling drug addiction and death right on our doorstep. A wildly entertaining, unimaginably bleak and perfectly poignant tale with some of the most (and least) likeable characters of any book I’ve read, Trainspotting is a perfect work of fiction that is unfortunately too close to today’s reality.

Scotland has the highest number of drug deaths in the EU; three times higher than that of England and Wales. Dundee is the drug capital of Europe. It is no surprise that Nicola Sturgeon has said that “drug deaths are our greatest shame”. Things seem to be looking slightly brighter as, at the end of 2020, the Scottish government pledged £50m a year for five years to reduce drug deaths and

ensure a safer environment for drug users. This was seen as a pivotal moment for a country with such an embedded issue, for such a long time.

We will await the results.

“The biggest cohort for drugrelated deaths are those aged 35 to 44, not the generation Welsh represented in Trainspotting...”

Welsh’s novel was both a product of, and simultaneously, ahead of its time, in its unpacking of drug issues.

However, today, there is a misconception of the so-called “Trainspotting Generation” - the now 40- and 50-year-old drug-users of the 80s, those perceived as real-life Trainspotting characters. Service manager at Addaction Dundee, Dave Barrie, pointed to official figures revealing that today, the biggest cohort for drug-related deaths are those aged 35 to 44, not the generation Welsh represented in Trainspotting.

Andrew McAuley, a senior research fellow on substance use at Glasgow Caledonian University, spoke to The New York Times: “I remember there was outrage when the head-

lines said ‘One death every day from drugs’.” He continued: “That seems like glory days. We’re four times that now.” Ultimately, while the time has inevitably progressed, approaches to the issue have not, and the drug-death epidemic worsens.

Welsh is a master storyteller.

Not only portraying opioid misuse, Welsh delves into ableism, racism, classism and sexism (a clean sweep of the isms). Each chapter is narrated by a different character, and allows deep insight into the psyches of more than just Mark Renton, unlike the 1998 film adaptation in which he is the protagonist. Rents’ handicapped, now dead brother is a source of shame that helps fuel his addiction; Spud’s uncle is mixed race and faces consistent racial abuse; there are prostitutes, and crime, there’s infant death, there’s HIV and there’s domestic abuse. At the end of 360 pages, Welsh hasn’t left much uncovered and certainly hasn’t left much to the imagination.

It’s a cocktail that I took one sip of then gulped right down in spite of its sour taste. Not a book for the fainthearted: my sometimes-vanilla reading tastebuds were overwhelmed. But read it whatever your taste tends to be, it is brilliant.

As for the Edinburgh dialect, it’s written in: don’t be discouraged. Once you get into the swing of things, it becomes an integral part

Credit: Channel Four Films of the storytelling, and the characters will become identifiable by the style they are written in, another masterful trick by Welsh. Saying “aye” doesn’t even come naturally to me after living in Scotland for 21 years, and I adjusted just fine…

Despite the four novels now written following the activities of Rents, Sick Boy, Begbie, and Spud, et al., Welsh has admitted that he doesn’t often think about the characters he created - and no longer lives in Scotland. Although, speaking to The Guardian, he said: “They were making choices that many more people are having to make now.

They were facing a kind of existential crisis – what is the point of us if we are redundant? Back then, they were mocked – all those lost

men without jobs, or community, or a shared sense of purpose. Now, that’s become very much a middle-class problem, too.”

Was Trainspotting a warning?

A dark but humorous insight into the life of heroin addicts, written to usher lawmakers into action? Welsh wanted it to be a cult classic, but didn’t expect it to be “generation-defining”. His novel now shows that Scotland’s drug problem has been a long, drawn-out issue, always stigmatised, never remedied. The 2021 reader will close the book (sadly) and realise it is time for Scotland, and the rest of the UK, to treat drug misuse as a health problem, and not as a criminal justice problem. And then probably order Skag Boys and Porno on next day delivery.

Who doesn’t want to engage in nuclear warfare in Minecraft?

From MOBAs to Minecraft, modding is an intrinsic part of the gaming world Sophie Kernachan MUSIC COLUMNIST

When I was younger, young enough to be susceptible to the swear-laden, screaming glory of early 2010s YouTuber lets-players, nothing pleased me more than watching Minecraft modding videos. There was something innately satisfying about being able to create TNT supernovas that crashed the game and destroyed your world, or just the simple thrill in being able to wield a flamethrower, even if I didn’t have a clue on how to download these mods and use them. Since then, mods have become a crucial part of my personal gaming experience, and for the gaming industry, they’ve

become borderline essential. With lockdowns bringing people back to games they’ve played several times over, it’s fair to suggest that mods push the gaming experience to the limit, with the ability to give you an entirely new experience of a game.

The history of mods is long, detailed, and essential to many aspects of gaming history, with many mods being the predecessors of popular games and genres. Team Fortress 2 is probably the most notable example of such, with the original Team Fortress initially taking form as a mod for Quake. Mods are also responsible for the existence of MOBA, or multiplayer online battle arena games, borne out of the Warcraft III modding communities, and cus-

tom player-made maps for the game.

While whether or not League of Legends is the peak of modding’s great legacy is another question entirely, it’s fair to say that modding, historically at least, has played a big role in the creation of popular games. Even outside of creation though, modding still plays a pivotal role in the modern gaming experience.

“Mods push the gaming experience to the limit...”

Mods are one of those things that does depend entirely on the person

and the game, with a few exceptions here and there - like the Gentleman of the Row Mod for Saint’s Row 2, which is almost entirely necessary to play the game on PC, fixing most of the issues on the PC port of the game while adding extra features.

Others make things wildly more convenient, like Factorio’s Management mods, while some, such as the Rebalanced mods of games such as Halo 3, offer an entirely new and varied gaming experience, changing the gameplay and the sandboxes from the ground up. Some are there just to add superfluous fun to the game, like the hundreds upon hundreds of Minecraft mods, and some are just simple aesthetic changes like certain Stardew Valley mods.

The likes of Rebalanced for Halo 3 and Skyrim are a particular point of interest, especially given the nature of single-person games during lockdown. We’ve played these games time and time again, and dedicated mods that change the very foundation of the game make for a new experience that keeps players coming back outside of reasons of nostalgia. It allows players to add their own personal twist onto a game, and truly stretch the experience to its absolute limits. Although these are more nuanced, detailed examples of mods than Minecraft with the addition of a diamond-studded flamethrower, that’s not to say the latter can’t be as fun as reworking the entire experience.

26

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

Culture

Exploring the postlockdown art scene Callum Johnson WRITER

Art galleries and museums have been given the go-ahead to reopen in Scotland from the 26 April. While we might all be more interested in the (admittedly more exciting) prospect of being able to enjoy a draught pint again, I would encourage everyone to put a visit to a gallery near the top of their list.

“Visiting a gallery is also a multi-sensory experience...”

Over the past year, the importance of the arts has become more and more apparent, as has the precarious situation they find themselves in. As the world moved online, so did many galleries by offering virtual visits - it’s an exciting thought being able to “visit” the Rijksmuseum, Guggenheim and Louvre all in one morning in your pyjamas with a cup of tea. While this does have its benefits, most notably making these collections much more accessible, I think everyone would agree that these experiences are just not the same as being in-person.

There are the obvious disadvantages of not being able to properly realise the texture of work, colours may not appear digitally as they do naturally, and it is difficult to appreciate the scale of art. However, visiting a gallery is also a multi-sensory experience, the same as going to a gig, theatre, or cinema. It is hard to articulate why, but I would argue that the atmosphere and setting of a gallery can be just as important as the work itself. Imagine going to a gig or a theatre where there was no crowd; it just wouldn’t be the same experience.

I’m sure many, like me, have felt more stressed or anxious over the past year and felt a lack of motivation and inspiration after staring at the four walls of your bedroom or the, now exotic, library all day. However, art has the ability to not only inspire us, but also relax us, providing more reason for those Kelvingrove study (procrastination) breaks when the gallery opens again.

In Glasgow, we are so fortunate to have such a wide range of galleries, from large collections of historic work to small artist-run spaces showcasing

local and emerging artists. It’s difficult to give recommendations, as art is so subjective, but with most, if not all, of Glasgow’s galleries being free, I would encourage you to get out there and explore what Glasgow has to offer when they reopen.

The West End is not home to not one, but two world-famous collections at the Uni’s very own Hunterian Gallery and Kelvingrove. A visit to Kelvingrove is a firm staple in the GU experience. Can you really call yourself a Glasgow Uni wanker if you haven’t taken a photo with Sophie Cave’s Floating Heads? It houses an extensive permanent collection of western art and pays homage to local artistic icons with galleries dedicated to the Scottish watercolourists, the Glasgow boys, and Charles Rennie Macintosh. With such an extensive collection, there’s something for everyone, including a personal highlight: the tacky plastic Elvis statue. And if all else fails, the balconies provide the perfect backdrop to update your Instagram feed.

This summer is looking particularly exciting on the Glasgow art scene as the rescheduled 9th edition of the Glasgow International (GI) is taking place. GI is a biennial festival for contemporary visual arts and after being postponed last year, it will now take place from 11 - 27 June.

Whilst the complete rescheduled program is still yet to be confirmed, it is likely to closely follow what was originally planned for last year, exploring the theme of Attention. The Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) is probably most famous for being the building behind the Duke of Wellington Statue. However, this summer it will be the centre point of GI, showcasing a newly commissioned body of work by Canadian artist Nep Sidhu. The festival provides the perfect opportunity to discover what Glasgow has to offer, as it combines international artists and large venues along with local artists and smaller venues. GI prides itself on being completely admission free, and I would thoroughly recommend using it to explore Glasgow’s art scene.

It’s easy to forget how spoiled we are in Glasgow with a world-class art scene right on our doorstep. I would encourage you to enjoy the new appreciation for the arts that has become apparent over lockdown, and get out there and explore - you never know what you might find!

Reunion tours: do we really need the closure?

Credit: JLS Beatrice Crawford WRITER

With another tentative promise of an Oasis reunion cropping up in Liam Gallagher’s Twitter feed this February, music-lovers around the world have once again been confronted with a hotly debated topic: band reunions. If true (but, of course, we’ve been lied to before), Oasis could be joining the leagues of bands like JLS, My Chemical Romance, and The Pussycat Dolls, who have all made plans for reunion tours in a post-Covid world. But all of this begs the question: why do we want reunions so much? Is there dignity in staying gone, or is the perpetual break-up-and-makeup cycle of our favourite bands ultimately a good thing?

There’s a definite sense of nostalgia when we think of our old favourite bands coming together again. With everything going on in the world right now, maybe regressing to simpler times via music is only natural. As Spotify Wrapped was being announced last year, I started to notice a trend amongst my friends: we had all seemingly reverted into our early-high-school selves with our music choices (far too many All Time Low songs had managed to creep into my “Top Songs of 2020” playlist). We all need a little nostalgia to get us through at times; it seems natural to want to see a band that once gave you comfort get back together. Surely, if there’s still a demand for the bands we grew up listening to, and

if there’s some semblance of hope to be gleaned from said bands in current times, then there’s no harm in a reunion. But, if this is the case, does the comeback ever truly live up to the hype? While there’s a chance of sustained success, a poorly-done comeback always has the potential to ruin a band’s legacy — maybe it would just be better to reminisce in the glory days and let sleeping dogs lie. Is a reunion purely for the sake of nostalgia’s worth it?

Of course, for bands with particularly messy breakups, a reunion could seem promising to members and long-term fans alike. After witnessing a decade’s worth of (uncomfortable) public arguments, many Oasis enthusiasts may want nothing more than an amicable reconciliation of their favourite artists. In a case such as the Gallaghers, when a band breaks up at the peak of their career, there’s always a feeling of wasted potential — what more could they have become if things had turned out differently? Perhaps a reunion could give such bands the chance to get their legacies right, once and for all. Take That are a perfect case study in the field of successful reunions — while their mid-90s breakup was mourned by teenagers across the country, the band’s comeback a decade later resulted in some of their biggest hits and cemented the band’s place in the UK music charts for several years. The fans are happy, the band is on top of the world again; it’s a win-win, right?

However, more cynical fans may side-eye reunions as a dishonest

money grab. As the reunion craze has ramped up over the past couple of decades, one game plan seems to have become a favourite amongst those seeking a comeback: utilise the public’s nostalgia to throw out a few lazy comeback singles, do a nationwide tour, then disappear again for a few years. Does such a reunion for the sake of ticket sales simply trample on once-great legacies? It feels especially unconvincing when the band in question once vowed they’d never get back together — remember when Mel C ruled out a Spice Girls reunion back in 2005? Yeah, me neither. Insisting that we go see all of our favourite 90s boy bands perform their “final tour” tours, only for them to announce the same thing a year later, seems like a wasted effort on all fronts. Can a line be drawn between the artists genuinely seeking a comeback for the sake of the music, and those pursuing a desperate money grab? What does this say about our music industry, when artists can so blatantly trample their legacies for the sake of a sold-out tour or two?

While there will always be the odd money-making stunt, it’s difficult to argue that reunions are always a bad idea. Above all else, surely if a band still has the fan base and the drive to produce more music, there’s nothing wrong with a little reunion tour every now and then to lift our spirits. Perhaps, if there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that reunions are now as much a part of a band’s life cycle as splitting up — maybe it’s about time we accept it.

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

27

Culture

Review: Klara and the Sun

Ishiguro’s robot-narrated novel raises hope for the future of technology

Lucy Dunn DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR

A story of childhood naiveties interspersed with fleeting adult struggles of illness, separation, and loneliness, Kazuo Ishiguro’s tale follows a convoluted path and is yet a simple story of love. It is narrated from the perspective of “Girl AF Klara”, a human-doll replica created using futuristic artificial intelligence (AI) technology, one of many models of her kind that have been produced to provide young adolescents with companions as they transition into adulthood. Their sole purpose to improve and protect their “human”, Klara’s tale is one of unwavering devotion to her “teenager” Josie, even when this means putting her own existence in peril.

Whilst Klara isn’t human, she has a child-like awe of the world that leaves her continually fascinated by aspects of life we wouldn’t think twice about: her detailed analyses of peoples’ ages, an “estimate” which the reader can assume to be almost always correct; her fear of pollution and the dreaded Cooting’s machine, industrial interruptions hardly new to city landscapes; and her undying faith in the power of the Sun as she watches its effect insidiously controlling the life around her.

Klara’s world is a futuristic America, and for the most part, AFs are accepted into society, particularly amongst the privileged middle classes. However, throughout the book, technology-sceptics crop up: first, in the form of Josie’s mother. Although her cold exterior melts away, we can never quite tell what “the mother” truly thinks of Klara: does she become a second child to her, as she insinuates to Klara on their day trip, or was she only ever a back-up for if the worst were to happen to Josie? Rick, Josie’s neighbour and apparent soulmate, is initially frosty to Klara too, despite his own AI creations, but they soon become closer than perhaps any other two characters in the novel, even outdoing Rick and Josie’s relationship at points. And Paul, Josie’s dad, eventually warms to Klara like the others do, treating her like a close relative rather than his daughter’s mechanical plaything.

Credit: Faber and Faber A pattern emerges: immediate distrust gradually morphs into fondness for Girl AF Klara, despite previous misgivings. Resolute in her hope, she confuses and consoles Josie’s family when they fear the worst is coming, and she provides crucial support, in some shape or form, to all the main characters in the novel as they are each tormented by their own troubled lives. Although we hear of a growing and widespread distrust of AFs by humans towards the book’s end, Klara seems only to bring positivity to a story that could have otherwise been so tragic.

Advances with AI often produce mixed reactions, but if we view robots the way that Ishiguro depicts them, then what’s not to love?

Klara is devoted to her “human”, Josie, and pledges to do anything and everything within her power to bring her happiness. She’s at Josie’s side, day and night, sits with her at breakfast, observes during her lessons, adventures with her outside, and even makes friends with Rick, Josie’s best friend and lover-to-be.

The concept of Klara and her kind is an interesting one, and it could perhaps fill a gap that we’ve always been conscious of but nev-

er fully appreciated. Klara ponders about loneliness throughout the novel, and after carefully observing all the different people she comes to meet, she arrives at the conclusion that all humans are lonely in their own way. A dismal outlook perhaps, but maybe true.

As much as most of us may have “found ourselves” and our true friends at university, for many it’s not always like that. Have you ever needed to rant, but had no one there to listen? When your family, friends, and flatmates could all, quite literally, not be any more annoying, but as a result, you have

no one left to talk it through with?

Or you’ve simply been upset, on one of those days where the world is against you, and just needed someone to cry at? Klara is that someone and she provides a presence to which her human can vent, truthfully and unashamedly, if and when she needs. So, is the notion of a steadfastly loyal, ever-present friend at your side, robot or otherwise, really all that bad?

But, if these manufactured robots were becoming progressively more perceptive and intuitive, as fears in the book suggest, could they, designed originally to be subordinates, end up threatening humanity instead of comforting it?

The maverick artist-come-scientist Mr Capaldi certainly seems to believe that there isn’t anything particularly remarkable about humankind that can’t be reproduced immaculately by robots, as demonstrated by the eccentric plan hatched between himself and Josie’s mother. And, if human error were to be taken out of the equation, the world would likely function far more efficiently. Is it truly conceivable, though, that programmed, automated robots could ever live the type of lives we lead? Perhaps the “something special” invisible to Mr Capaldi is present in that human error and inconsistency that permeates much of our lives, and perhaps it is from mistakes that even greater creations are born. As much as Ishiguro’s AFs are a welcomed complementary addition to people, there is an indescribable originality that exists differently between each and every human in both the novel and reality, that AFs, as Klara herself admits, would never quite be able to replicate.

Ishiguro’s eighth novel leaves one with a strange hopefulness for an automated future, and illustrates that harmony is possible between man and machine in view of the ever-increasing humanisation of technology; Alexa only a small and primitive example. Klara and the Sun emphasises that we shouldn’t fear AI; instead revel in our differences, to make the most out of aligning our flaws with technology’s perfections, whilst continuing to hold close our own irreplaceable creativity.

28

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

Culture

My favourite comedy special: Daniel Sloss X Elisabetta Comin WRITER

When I first stumbled upon 30-year-old Scottish comedian Daniel Sloss in his Netflix special, I didn’t know I was in for a wild ride.

The title Dark did the show justice: both episodes were filled with self-deprecating, cynical, and attimes staggering routines, always combined with a more sombre - and topical - side note. Enthusiastic about Sloss’ unique style, I went on to watch his HBO stand-up Daniel Sloss: X, and I was not disappointed. In yet another provocative performance, Sloss does a wonderful job of using humour to educate his audience about toxic masculinity in a way that feels intimate and comedic, while still treating the topic with all the seriousness it deserves.

X opens with a routine about Sloss’ relationship with his goddaughter Ava, where he jokes about how difficult it is being openly parental as a man. And, I have to admit, seeing a male comedian like him do exactly that on stage is un-

believably refreshing. I laughed so hard at Sloss’ unorthodox methods: from teaching the two-year-old that the middle finger means “I love you horsy” and watching her flip off every horse in sight, to lovingly referring to her as “the dumbest moron”, his dark humour is hilarious to the point that it leaves no time for guilt. Still, Sloss demonstrates his ability to free himself of those gender stereotypes that consider the manifestation of parental instincts as something inherently feminine.

Outwardly showing love for children as a man is not only deemed feminine, Sloss jokes, but it’s also often associated with the spectra of paedophilia. If his imitation of himself chasing Ava while pretending to be a funny monster is utterly wholesome and laugh-worthy, later in the day it hit me that it is in spaces like the playground that little girls first internalise the difference between funny scary and genuinely scary, between funny monsters and actual ones.

Sloss then goes on to introduce the audience to the character of Nigel,

the keeper of his old and outdated opinions, like his crush on the Olsen twins or his teenage self’s emotional repression. Sloss’ way of unlearning these ideas and of dealing with toxic masculinity is once again as mischievous as ever. Mimicking his lads’ reactions at his attempts to tell them that he loves them out of the blue, Sloss simultaneously left me cry-laughing and reflecting about something that should be more normal than it is amusing.

“Sloss uses humour to educate about toxic masculinity in a way that feels intimate and comedic...”

But if you’re acquainted with Sloss’ work, you will know that the funny part is about to be put on stand-by.

Buying a ticket to one of his shows

means, in Sloss’ own words, getting 70-75 minutes of funny jokes and then “a 15-minute sad TED talk”. “It feels disingenuous to not talk about things that are on my mind”, explains Sloss. And the one thing that has been on his mind for the past year, he admits, is his friend’s traumatic experience of sexual assault at the hands of one of Sloss’ friends.

Now, while a lot of stand-ups by male comedians at some point include a distasteful pile of cringe-inducing rape jokes, instead of making jokes at her expense, in this section it is Sloss’ friend and survivor who is directly in charge of telling the jokes through him. And this is not because she or Sloss are not taking the matter seriously, he says, but because she refuses to let the “all-consuming power” of this undoubtedly traumatic experience take over her. “Did you say no?”

Sloss asked her, in a Nigel-worthy moment that he openly regrets.

“Yes,” she says, “more times than the 2 Unlimited song”.

And at this point, you, like me, are probably feeling slightly guilty

about finding this incredibly funny.

Luckily, Sloss is exceptional at using his theatrical facial expressions and body language to signal that yes, it is OK to both laugh and feel downright uncomfortable about this joke.

As a matter of fact, that discomfort is exactly what we should feel. “Talk to your boys”, Sloss urges the audience, “because there are monsters among us and they look like us”.

Given the current climate, Daniel Sloss: X is possibly one of the most relevant stand-ups I have seen in the past few years. Sloss uses a kind of laddish humour that appeals to a male audience. He is cleverly putting his privilege to practice for the purpose of gaining the lads’ trust and teaching feminism 101 with the certainty of being listened to. But Sloss’ routines about toxic masculinity are confined to the simulation sphere of the games with Ava and the play-pretend conversations with Nigel. We are left to consider whether the real-life monsters of Sloss’ TED talk are also hiding among the people we grew up with, the ones we have dated or those we consider our friends.

Dance to empower: representing Scotland in ballet

Credit: Dorota Dziki Eve Zebedee WRITER

If you’ve found yourself exhausting streaming services throughout this year, perhaps you stumbled across Scottish Ballet’s The Snow Queen.

With the closure of stages, online access to ballet has jumped, and gives time to open the curtain to a more diverse audience and dim the elite middle-class view of ballet. When you look for it, the Scottish Ballet are creating greater accessibility, but, in its native city, is enough being done to showcase ballet in a way that will interest the unengaged?

Increasingly, ballet is an interna-

tional business. The Scottish Ballet embraces this in its casts, and is beginning to cultivate a company that is representative of multicultural populations like Glasgow. The company worked with Ballet Black in its production of The Crucible and featured non-white dancers centre stage in the recent stream of The Secret Theatre, notably Jerome Anthony Barnes as the nutcracker prince. Netflix is streaming the Royal Ballet’s Nutcracker, with, like the Scottish Ballet, a Black Nutcracker Prince, Marcelino Sambé.

With the shift of the stage to online platforms, could we see an empowering response to greater diversity within ballet?

The stage is hidden in comparison to the screen, making it difficult to measure the exact impact of representation in ballet. Diversity is essential to creating narratives accurate to as many experiences as possible. We can hope that the exposure of male dancers, and Black, Asian and Latinx dancers, to working class audiences, can redistribute a love of ballet to those who would otherwise look away.

There are attempts to dismantle archaic, but still prevalent “ballet

blanc” ideals promoting White European visions of ballet. Classical ballets such as La Bayadère and The Nutcracker, feature international character dancers, which could be a way to celebrate the diversity of dance, but display a stubbornness in tradition, and raise voices to colonialism and cultural appropriation. It is complicated; Jean-Christophe Maillot (director of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo) debates the careful balance between not losing the context of the times, and deciding there is no longer a place for certain narratives.

In context of Scottish culture, traditional ballet could be an interesting origin: the appearance of the Scottish doll in Coppelia tempts us towards a Highland dance, but the nature of the clockwork doll leaves it unfinished. It would be interesting to see how the Scottish Ballet could reimagine this iconic ballet with a different emphasis. More recently, as in Disney’s Brave, Scotland’s dark dramatic landscapes, when accompanied with Gaelic voices and a passionate protagonist, left a medieval setting lifted by a contemporary story. La Sylphide, first performed in the 1800s, wraps

itself in Scottish folklore to create a powerful ballet which lives on.

Matthew Bourne’s adaption with the Scottish ballet Highland Fling, performed by the Scottish Ballet in 2018, uses Glasgow’s nightclubs and brutalist architecture to bring the ballet into the 90s and continues ceilidh formations to create a contemporary ballet with a relatability to its Glaswegian audience.

“It is difficult to measure the exact impact of representation in ballet...”

The Scottish Ballet is receptive, releasing Barre-men: Boys in Ballet after hearing the inspiration leading male roles gives to young male dancers; representation works. While the company champions the array of talent and tradition Scotland offers in its repertoire and dancers, the Scottish Ballet should do more. It is still a majority White company, and is not firing out shiny ballets that position its Scottish individuality centre every season. Instead, the company gives us sparkling ballets, that

are both humble but magnificent in their emotional power, much like Scotland. It would be irresponsible to write a piece on ballet, without drilling on the fact that year after year, funding is cut for the arts. Additionally, the coronavirus pandemic only homed in how low priority the arts is for governments. Somewhat a cliché, but an important one at that, is a reminder that it is art that gives us quality to our lives. Constant dismissal of it feeds the elitism and finally renders its intentions obsolete to all but those who already had control.

It is not a question of should the Scottish Ballet spend more time creating representative ballets, but can it? Really, it appears it wants to.

What it must avoid is being competed out by more elite, more widely known companies. For now, ballet retains its niche in upper-middle class, expensive, opera houses. Lockdown is changing this, but is short on centuries of prejudice. The Scottish Ballet is pioneering, and change is shuffling along. The void of respect for all dancers, and all audiences, is a deep one in ballet - and cannot be transformed by one company alone, no matter its own intentions.

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

29

Science & Tech

NFTs: what are they good for?

NFTs could be a saviour for future art, but contribute to climate change and the worst of capitalism “i” in Twitter?

Holly Ellis WRITER

The virtual world is difficult to navigate at the best of times, and with the rapid pace of evolution that modern technology undergoes nowadays, it is near impossible to keep up to date with the latest trends. The newest cryptocurrency phenomenon to burst into the public eye are NFTs, also known as non-fungible tokens (though I imagine this does little to help explain anything for the general reader). An NFT is a unique piece of code stored on the public exchange that verifies individual ownership of a digital asset. At its simplest level, it is a unique proof of ownership. It is not tangible in the way that our car keys are, but it effectively does the same job: it lets us know that we own the asset it is attached to. Perhaps it would be better to compare NFTs to signed pieces of original artwork or limited-edition Pokémon trading cards.

“It’s just another way for rich people to brag about being able to afford expensive things...”

These tokens, to explain for those of you with the same technical knowledge as me (an English Literature undergraduate), can transform digital artwork and content into unique assets that can be traded on the blockchain. What is the blockchain, you might ask? Honestly, I am not 100% sure, but I do know that there is someone on Reddit who is desperate to explain it to you. What I am here to clarify, or rather draw attention to, are the concerns that the rising popularity of NFTs have generated.

The advent of NFTs has transformed the digital art world. NFT versions of digital-only content and artwork have even been called the art world’s response to cryptocurrency. I know I have always been one to commission acrylic paintings from my artsy friends rather than

“A gif of crypto kitty Nyan Cat sold for more money than it would cost to buy a flat in central London...”

Credit: Emma KirstenGarcia Colligan Melchor - Illustrator buy online prints because I love the dimensional texture, but if the world is moving into the virtual, is it time we join it?

The exciting part of all this is that people are willing to pay millions to get their hands on these obscenely expensive tradeable tokens. A gif of crypto kitty Nyan Cat sold for more money than it would cost to buy a flat in central London. The funny thing about NFTs, however, is that they do not actually prevent others from downloading or copying digital content. The only thing that an NFT gives, that cannot be replicated, is ownership. To put it in other words, Damien Hirst might have created the painting Beat Life and Cheat Death, but it is hung up on one of Jay-Z’s walls. NFTs have made exclusivity and scarcity possible in a virtual world full of replication and excess.

NFTs, in theory, are a dream-cometrue for online creators, collectors, and sellers, who stand a chance of gaining millions from the sales. The pay-off is obviously huge - but what about the potential risks, and what do NFTs mean for creators when the most in-demand (and financially viable) work is no longer physical?

For every positive thing about an NFT, there are several overwhelm-

ingly negative consequences. NFTs are making a mess of the environment, and just like their cryptocurrency kin, they have a huge carbon footprint. Don’t believe me? I would advise looking it up before you start mining for bitcoin. The greenhouse emissions that are produced because of these crypto trends are hastening the speed of global warming. But it’s OK because we can comfortably weigh up the extreme ecological impact of NFTs, with the once-in-a-lifetime chance to own a Taco Bell gif.

“NFTs will be a breeding ground for exploitation if they are not properly regulated...”

The other problem with this phenomenon is that anything posted onto the internet (that has not already been tokenised) could, in theory, be sold as an NFT, with or without the creator’s permission.

NFTs have introduced a dangerous new dimension to debates over ownership and copyright. Internet users have contested the presence of NFT

artwork and the disastrous implications NFTs might have for creators. Artists on Twitter have spoken out against the trend, claiming that NFTs facilitate the theft of original content, as they allow third parties to step in and claim ownership of original content if the creator does not do so themselves.

NFTs have been likened to the “worst parts of capitalism”, and at their base, they kind of are. I mean, what is the true value of owning a rare item, that can be redownloaded, replicated, and reproduced, other than to be able to say that you own it? There is no real sense of exclusivity in the rarity of the content because anyone can get access to it; it’s just another way for rich people to brag about being able to afford expensive things. I am sure the person that paid $2.9m for an NFT version of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s first-ever tweet believes it is money well spent, but for someone like me, massively in debt with student loans, I can think of better ways to spend a fortune. Before you look up the tweet it literally says: “just setting up my twttr”. If each character is valued at nearly $140,000, would the NFT version be worth over $3m if Dorsey had just remembered to include the

If the environmental concerns were not enough to worry you, here is where it gets even scarier. Imagine the implications that this might have on anyone who has ever had a nude image leaked on the internet. Just the other day I saw a post go round on social media that stated: “If a guy sends you an unsolicited dick pic… turn it into an NFT with his name as the artist, then share with him the link to purchase. He will have to buy it from you if he wants to burn it and get it off the blockchain.” Yes, unsolicited nude pictures are a menace to society, but in this case, they are not the scariest part of the post.

What concerned me was the number of laugh reacts present on a post that proposes an incredibly alarming reality. If someone were to successfully attach an NFT to a nude, in theory, it could be sold without the permission of the individual in the photo or used for blackmail. This would make the horror of revenge porn even more frightening. It is impossible to confiscate an NFT because it has no tangible presence - so even if the person who created it was arrested, the NFT would remain on the blockchain.

Though there are many questions to be raised, one thing is certain, NFTs will be a breeding ground for exploitation if they are not properly regulated. The anonymity that comes with them creates the perfect environment for harm, theft, and violation. While I do not fully understand the disastrous repercussions that NFTs can have on our environment, our art industry, and even more worryingly, on the ownership of our bodies, I do think it’s about time that someone, somewhere, takes a closer look at the large-scale damage these little tokens might be causing.

30

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

Science & Tech

Banning politics from social media Should we be questioning how much power social media sites have over politics?

Credit: Joy Dakers Lucy Dunn DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR

In February 2021, Facebook banned the Myanmar military, the Tatmadaw, from Facebook.

The censoring followed the capture of Myanmar by its military on 1 February which has resulted in its detention of the country’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. Despite calls from the UK to free Myanmar’s ousted leader, the country has been shocked by bloody violence involving tear gas and grenades, and even firing into crowds, which has led to the death of many protesting against the military. As it stands, British people residing in the south-east Asian country are being advised to flee as the military continues to suppress voices of protestors, refusing to free Suu Kyi. The social media giant gave four reasons for its ban of the military, which included the Tatmadaw’s historic human rights abuses, the use of the platform to promote its messages, and persistent attempts to defy restrictions Facebook initially placed upon them, stating that there is a “likelihood that online threats could lead to offline harm”. So what does Facebook’s banning of the Myanmar military mean for the future use of social media networks in political battles? Is Facebook’s intervention protective, or is it just a gateway to more concerning censorship?

There are two main issues to approach: firstly, at what point does a social ban become warranted?

And secondly: who should have the power to demand this?

This conversation is an interesting one, not least because it affected the western world at the start of

the year after the banning of Donald Trump from Twitter and Facebook, sparking conversation from campaigners on all sides of the political spectrum. Whilst some may argue differently, it could be said that Trump’s ban from social media is more complex than the banning of the Myanmar military.

Trump was accused of inciting violence at the Capitol building, which the majority believe he shares responsibility for - however, his role in that riot was not as clear-cut as the actions of Tatmadaw forces. As the world watched, Trump was acquitted at his second impeachment trial, which some may say suggests there is room for doubt in the role he played in the violence of his followers. The same doubt is not necessary for Myanmar, as the military aren’t simply inciting those amongst them to commit violence, they are ordering them. (To be clear, I am not saying that Trump was not responsible; more pointing out the slight differences between the actions of the two powers banned.) Whilst opinion has been split on whether the banning of Trump is beneficial or otherwise, there appears to be much less concern about the similar action taken against the Tatmadaw. So perhaps it follows that when a group, or individual, commits human rights violations, they are more deserving of a ban?

“Leaving the censoring of certain people in the hands of businessmen means letting their personal politics dictate the appearance of our various online landscapes...”

The issue with this is that many international powers would then, by these UN standards, require to be taken off of social media. Whilst some may continue to argue this is for the best, the mass cull would be unlikely to result in a collective attitude change. Instead, it would merely bolster the increasingly dis-

cussed “splinternet” phenomenon, creating something of an east-west divide in the use of social media sites, something that is already being seen in China. Targeting certain leaders, especially those who are not elected democratically, would likely result in our isolation from important global connections, and create further fragmentation of our cultures/diversity, amongst other concerning problems.

Are social media CEOs really to be left in charge of this type of decision making? As seen with Trump, Jack Dorsey from Twitter only stepped in at the last minute, just before the previous President left office. Leaving the censoring of certain people in the hands of businessmen means letting their personal politics dictate the appearance of our various online landscapes. But then by turning to governments, under whose authority should different platforms abide? Following the fallout from Brexit, the EU and Britain take very different stances on certain issues - and that’s without considering the views of the US. Even then, the western world often finds itself at odds with certain parts of the east, and so creating a global code of conduct sounds, at best, cumbersome. Alternatively, if individual countries set their own restrictions on what social media content is acceptable to be viewed, the issue of censorship becomes far more prominent and political.

Or let’s contemplate the third radical recourse: should social media simply allow free speech past the point of personal, or public, safety? Should platforms aim to be apolitical, even when human rights are violated? Should the internet be regarded as remaining a space for any and all, regardless of morality?

It’s hard to say that what Facebook has done is wrong when considering the horrific destruction and violence that is occurring in Myanmar to innocent civilians as a result of the military coup. But we cannot ignore the implications a social media ban creates for the future or the increasing influence of social media over our understanding of ourselves and the world. To ban even one sets a precedent, and we need to decide, universally and unitedly, what we want this to foreshadow.

Zoom-free Fridays for all!

Claire Thomson SPORTS REPORTER

One thing we can say for certain is that Zoom has been the saving grace of this pandemic. It has allowed us to continue to live a somewhat normal life whether that is studying, working, or socialising. However, over a year on, many of us are suffering from so-called Zoom fatigue and are in desperate need of both in-person contact and time away from the screen. Citigroup, an American investment bank, has become one of the first companies to urge their staff to limit internal video calls on Friday, in an initiative that has been named Zoom-free Friday, to promote a healthier and more balanced professional lifestyle. With the pandemic still very much in full force, even if the situation is improving slightly thanks to the vaccine, it is evident that this concept should be employed by organisations worldwide to simply make us feel even just a little bit happier.

“Employees are spending as much as two hours more a day in the ‘office’ than before...”

Friday office celebrations are far from a new concept, as workers roll in the weekend after another long week’s work. Many offices are feeling the fatigue and stress of remote working and a severe lack of contact hours, therefore, this day off from all things Zoom can only increase productivity moving into the new financial year. After all, people during the pandemic are working longer and harder.

According to The New York Times, research has discovered that the stresses of the pandemic and increased workloads have led to many employees spending as much as two hours more a day in the “office” than before. The trouble is also increased as video calls cause a greater mental strain as there is a clear lack of non-verbal communications, and thus more effort must be put in to interpret these communications, increasing the cognitive load as mental calories are being burned to respond

appropriately. Where a simple, casual nod would signify an agreement in a boardroom, over Zoom an exaggerated head movement or thumbs up would be required to serve the same purpose.

Through the pandemic, the lines between work and leisure have been blurred as technology and video calls consume our dayto-day lives. For decades now, the health disadvantages of an office job have been highlighted in the media and brought to our attention. From experience, sitting stalk still in front of a screen for three to four hours with no breaks on Zoom meetings or tutorials really takes its toll on the body and mind. It’s the trying to remain focused when surrounded by distractions and not fidgeting, all whilst maintaining good posture and not damaging your eyesight in the process.

Before Covid-19, our leisure activities would more often or not involve some form of exercise, in my case in the gym or swimming pool, or socialising with friends in cafés, clubs or bars. However, these have yet again been taken over by another screen, whether that is FaceTimes with friends or watching Netflix, further adding to the stress of an unhealthy lifestyle. Restrictions are now being slowly lifted, and the opportunities to separate work and leisure are becoming greater. Reducing video calls and even completely taking a step back from them for just one day per week can have a massive positive impact on both your mental and physical health.

It provides a chance to meet people in person, get some fresh air, and unwind from technology.

While one day Zoom-free will hardly make a dent in the reduction of Zoom stress, it is a step in the right direction to improving both mental and physical health and the impact of the pandemic on our lives. It is important to find the equilibrium between work and play and discover the secret to relaxation to get ourselves back on track as we begin to leave the work-at-home lifestyle at home again. It is true the pandemic has changed the way that we operate on both a social and professional level - but we must remember that this is not the only way we know.

There was a life before, and will be a life after, Covid-19.

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

31

Sport Scotland kick off World Cup dream Thomas Harris WRITER

After Scotland’s recent successes in qualifying for the delayed 2020 Euros, the national team is faced with a new challenge before the tournament this summer. That challenge being the beginning of their efforts to qualify for the 2022 world cup.

While there is still a long time to go before the World Cup, Steve Clarke’s side were certainly eager to make a positive start to this campaign.

“With the first round of fixtures completed, Scotland find themselves undefeated and second in their group...”

Scotland’s first opponent was Austria, one of the favourites in the group to progress and sitting in 23rd position in the UEFA rankings, starkly contrasting to Scotland’s 48th place. Clarke opted to field his usual 3-defender formation, thus enabling him to exploit his sides abundance of top-quality left-backs through deploying Kieran Tierney at left-centre back and Champions League winning Andrew Robertson in a more advanced left wing-back position.

Opting for a wider, more expansive formation may have been partly due to deal with Bayern Munich’s combative David Alaba, possessing great offensive and defensive ability in Austria’s wide positions.

A fairly even contest resulted in a point a piece for the two sides with Scotland equalising twice throughout the game, including a spectacular overhead kick effort from Aston Villa’s John McGinn. Considering

the quality Austria possess, a point in this first game was nothing to be angry about for Clarke’s team’s first outing in the competition.

Scotland’s next opponent came in the form of Israel. Clarke’s side has lots of experience against Israel through their recent Nations League matches, which commonly resulted in very even matches (Israel and Scotland have met more times this season than Celtic and Rangers). Perhaps it was for tactical reasons or maybe it was for dealing with the tight schedule, but Clarke opted to field Southampton striker; Che Adams and Newcastle’s Ryan Fraser in attack for the first time in the competition. This proved to be a very fruitful decision with the former setting up the latter for the equalizing goal in what ended a 1-1 draw, gaining a disappointing second point in the qualifiers for Scotland.

“There is the small matter of the Euros and Scotland’s first tournament since 1998 for Clarke’s side to contend with...”

The Faroe Islands were Scotland’s final qualifying match of the week and the Scots certainly took the opportunity to improve on their previous performances.

Clarke fielded a strong, slightly more attacking line-up for this final game and the decision paid off, as his side cruised to a resounding 4-0 win. As well as the team played, there were some remarkable individual performances from the Scots highlighted by two more goals for McGinn and a hattrick

of assists for Tierney. Scotland showed a clear desire to finish this round of matches strongly as they looked very comfortable throughout and continued to press their opponents long after the game was won, leading them to their first three points of the campaign.

With the first round of fixtures completed, Scotland find themselves undefeated and second in their group. Having made a good start in their bid for qualification.

However, with Israel and Austria just a single point each behind, they will hope to replicate the kind of form they showed against the Faroe Islands in the next round of matches later in the year. Before that though there is the small matter of the Euros and Scotland’s first tournament since 1998, this summer for Clarke’s side to contend with and the focus will be entirely on their first fixture against the Czech Republic this June.

Tour of Britain heads to Scotland Claire Thomson SPORTS REPORTER

The Tour of Britain, the UK’s biggest professional cycling race, is not only returning to Scotland for the 2021 edition in September, but finishing in the city of Aberdeen, with two stages north of the border for the first time ever. Scotland will witness this year’s Tour of Britain for the first time on the penultimate stage of the eight-day race on Saturday 11 September, as stage seven departs from Hawick in the Scottish Borders.

“The final stage of the Tour of Britain will leave from Stonehaven, marking the furthest point north that the race has ever visited...”

Starting at Penzance in Cornwall,

the Tour of Britain is scheduled to take place between Sunday 5 and Sunday 12 September 2021 and will feature over 100 professional cyclists from across the globe, with previous riders including Tour de France winners, world champions and Olympians such as Mark Cavendish, Chris Froome, and Geraint Thomas. The race follows on from last year’s absence due to the Covid-19 pandemic and it will be the first edition of the race to be part of the UCI ProSeries.

Following many successful stages in the Scottish Borders, with the most recent being in 2019 when a full stage was held in the area, starting and finishing in Kelso town centre, stage seven of the race is set to begin in Hawick, which makes its Tour of Britain debut, and move north to finish in Edinburgh. Scotland’s capital will host its first stage finish of the modern Tour of Britain, with the race starts being previously held in the city in 2015 and 2017; the latter as part of a Scottish Grand Départ.

The final stage of the Tour of Britain will leave from Stonehaven, a coastal town in Aberdeenshire and conclude in the city of Aberdeen it-

self on Sunday 12 September, marking the furthest point north that the race has ever visited. The stage route will encompass an ascent on the famous Cairn o’Mount climb in the opening kilometres of the stage, which will not only make for some breath-taking scenery but also exciting racing. Aberdeen’s historic city centre will host the crowning of the Tour of Britain’s overall winner as well as the podium presentations of the King of the Mountains, Sprinters, Points and Combativity jerseys and awards. The Aberdeenshire region is also planned to be

Credit: Creative Commons

host to the Grand Départ of the 2022 Tour of Britain.

Following the unveiling of the stage routes in early March, Craig Burn, Scottish Cycling chief executive, commented to the Tour of Britain organisers and media team: “At Scottish Cycling we are thrilled to be welcoming the Tour of Britain to Edinburgh and Hawick. Major events are a brilliant way of inspiring more people to ride bikes in Scotland, therefore securing and staging elite racing is fundamental to achieving our ambition of developing a nation of cyclists. They are also a great way

of inspiring the next generation of young riders, bringing together cycling clubs, schools and communities together to watch the best cyclists in the world race on Scottish roads.”

This was followed by a quote by Andy Kille, leader of Aberdeenshire Council, who said: “It is well acknowledged that this is a go-to destination for cycling with our scenery and spectacular landscapes. Not to mention some of the more challenging climbs which are being considered as options in our stage – these would make the Aberdeenshire leg unforgettable.”

32

20 April 2021

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

Sport

What the Rangers celebration in George Square really means With the breach of Covid-19 guidelines to celebrate the end of a taxing nine years, questions must be asked regarding violence associated with Scottish football as fans wreak havoc on the streets of Glasgow the fans obeyed the regulations, the police were instructed to stay on standby throughout the night waiting for violence to occur, which reflects the expected and tolerated behaviour of football fans.

“The fans’ alleged love and pride for their city was not reflected through the damage caused to memorial benches, flowerbeds, and other greenery in the city centre...”

Credit: Wikimedia Commons Rothery Sullivan CULTURE COLUMNIST

On 7 March, hundreds of Rangers fans encroached upon Glasgow’s historic George Square, where they showed their city pride by destroying one of Glasgow’s most loved public spaces. Despite warnings that a gathering could cause a spike in Covid-19 cases, Rangers fans celebrated their claim of the 55th Scottish Premiership championship title by popping off firecrackers, destroying property and gallivanting around George Square and Ibrox whilst ignoring Covid restrictions. Celtic’s previous nineyear reign was ended after their tie with Dundee United, allowing Rangers to win their first title in ten years.

The success of Rangers is not something that should be ignored: the team remains unbeaten this season. However, the reactions of their fans have not only caused over £11,000 worth of damage but also incited fear into the citizens of Glasgow who were forced to run to their homes and hide from the loud commotion of the evening. The fans’ alleged love and pride for their city was not reflected through

the damage caused to memorial benches, flowerbeds, and other greenery in the city centre.

“This culture takes the emphasis off of the teams and games and directs it towards the rivalry between Rangers and Celtic fans...”

Issues regarding Glasgow derby fans have been brought up in the past, especially in regards to violence. In 2017, an investigation by the Scottish Sun revealed a rise in domestic violence attacks after Old Firm matches: the statistics indicated a 21% rise in violence on game nights, and accounts from victims supported the assumption that the derbies led to heavy drinking and abuse.

However, in 2018 these findings were questioned by publications like the Herald, deemed misleading under the claims that blaming football consequently disregards the underlying causes of domes-

tic abuse. Many argued that the rise in domestic violence cases was due to more policing on derby nights as well as an increase in drinking, claiming that neither of these are real causes of violence. While it is obviously the case that football in itself does not cause violence, the aftermath of the George Square rampage supports the claim that some extreme fans use these matches to inflict violence upon others. Moreover, the trends of violence point to a problem in the way that football fan culture supports heavy drinking during matches and rage directed at the winning team.

On 21 March the police warned against fans appearing at the Old Firm derby in an attempt to prevent another incident like the one in Ibrox and George Square; thankfully, fans took heed of this warning and followed the “stay at home” order that was established due to Covid-19. The BBC shared that fans were even praised for their ability to follow directions by assistant chief constable Bernard Higgins. The derby took place behind closed doors, making it impossible for fans to actively observe the match, which ended in a 1-1 draw. Although

This upcoming Sunday, 18 April, the two Old Firm teams will compete at the Scottish Cup fourth round in Ibrox. This match will be watched by many, especially as Rangers are undefeated by Celtic this season, and Celtic will give everything they have to defend the title they have claimed for the past four years.

Rangers are record holders for the Scottish Cup, but have not won in over a decade, which will make them and their fans very eager for a victory. There is bound to be many emotions from both the winning and losing team, so we can only hope that these emotions are contained and expressed in a professional, well-spirited manner. There have not been any official police warnings about congregating at or after the event, and with lockdown restrictions easing in the following weeks it seems likely that many will be tempted to go against current regulations. We can only hope that the behaviour seen at the derby on 21 March be repeated again this weekend, despite the high stakes of the match. This derby will be an exciting event for many, will be a great form of escapism for those

struggling with the restrictions of the pandemic and will provide an opportunity for fans to come together; this derby will be a positive event if fans do not turn to violence and law-breaking to cope with their emotions.

Football fans are not problematic in themselves, the same way that football isn’t problematic in itself, but the culture surrounding the fandom leads to the violence that we saw displayed in George Square. This culture takes the emphasis off of the teams and games and directs it towards the rivalry between Rangers and Celtic fans. The Rangers fans should have felt prideful and patriotic at the news of their victory - instead, many felt the urge to destroy their city and flaunt their success at the risk of others.

The behaviour of the Rangers fans on 7 March was violent, unsafe and destructive to the city of Glasgow. The fans have raised funds to repay the damages they brought upon the physical properties destroyed, but the fear their behaviour instilled cannot be compensated nor forgotten.

“While it is obviously the case that football in itself does not cause violence, the aftermath of the George Square rampage supports the claim that some extreme fans use these matches to inflict violence upon others...”

Football matches are meant to evoke team spirit, comradery and regional pride, bringing together different people to support a common goal. The Rangers’ fans behaviour does not mimic these values.