If Hermes Can Sell A Birkin...

Alex Blimes, editor of 'Esquire' magazine said at the Advertising Week Europe conference on Tuesday that, and I quote,  "The women we feature in the magazine are ornamental. I could lie to you if you want and say we are interested in their brains as well. We are not. They are objectified."

Wonderful.

Mr Bilmes then went on to say how when he moved from GQ to Esquire in 2010, he promised to be more truthful and is doing so. He claims his magazine is more diverse than most women's magazines as they use women of different shapes, sizes and ages. Noting how Cameron Diaz (who is in her 40s) was a recent cover star. Something RARELY seen in Women's mags. 
Oh yes, because, I COMPLETELY FORGOT that Cameron Diaz is your average 40-something! How absent minded of me...

I went ahead and done me a little digging and it turns out that last year, the lovely Ms Diaz was on the cover of In Style, Elle, Bazaar and Cosmopolitan to name a few, and they were editions of the magazines all over the world. So, no, Mr Bilmes, I am afraid you have not done women kind a massive favor in liberation by sticking Cameron Diaz on your front cover. 

He talks about how, women, much like the cars featured in the magazine are there because they look good, and help sell, and about how men (and this is another quote for you all) "at certain times we like to see them [women] sexy". We like to see men sexy too, thank you very much, but if Vogue manages to give us Chanel Haute Couture, and Hermes can sell a Birkin, a handbag with a price range from £6000 to £100,000, without a half naked man in the background, then Esquire sure as hell can bring us a Ferrari without a girl in a bikini on it's bonnet.

I know that sex sells. It's a fact. We want to obtain and acquire the things we don't have in life, these luxury goods; these luxury people. But being open about the fact that you're willing to objectify another human being in order to achieve them isn't the step forward I'd hope equality would be taking in 2013.
When is the media going to wake up and realize that it's action's, it's Page 3's, it's girl-with-iPad-dipping-wet-just-out-of-a-pool, have an effect on the way women are seen. That their action's have consequences. They create smoke, with their provocative images, their lucrative pull and then act surprise when so many women feel unable to come forward after they've endured any form of abuse.

Women's magazines may promote all sorts of unhealthy idea's when it comes to weight and body shape... But I've never seen Beyonce oiled up and bent over a pair of Louboutin's.

We make it ok to see woman as ornaments, and, thank you ever so kindly Mr Bilmes, we get treated like them too.

I want to be a journalist, some days, it's just about the only thing I'm sure of, but I want the industry to have grown up by the time I get there or so help me God, I'll be raising hell from my London office.

- xo

The Death of The Fashion Statement

As one of the fashion conscious  having been following Fashion Week across the globe and trends since I was about 9, I am aware of the fact that what we wear speaks. 
Karl Lagerfeld himself has said
“Fashion is a language that creates itself in clothes to interpret reality.” 

So WHY are there T-shirts for sale on Amazon and Ebay with the slogans 'Keep Calm and Hit Her' and 'Everyone Loves Gang Rape' to name a few?!

What kind of world do we live in where rape and domestic violence are being glorified, to the point where blokes think it's ok to wear it on their chests and, even worse, designers think it's ok to even put it out there in the first place?!

If racist t-shirts are made, they are shot down. Certain establishments do not allow entry to anyone wearing a  t-shirt with a political statement. Football shirts have been banned from almost everywhere other than football stadiums and yet, a t-shirt that tells you to 'Keep Calm and Drug Her' is a-ok... Huh!?

I AM BORED OF THESE SHITTY, RIDICULOUS AND OUT DATED DOUBLE STANDARDS.

What is about women that makes the world think it's ok to poke fun and exploit every possible thing about us!? Why is it we bear the brunt of all this bollocks, just because 100 years ago, we couldn't vote? 

It's sickening. I long to be a part of the fashion industry. As as industry, fashion holds the key to some of the most influential people in the world, and is something that inspire everyone. Fashion is culture, it's art, it's love and labor  and sweat and tears and it's beautiful... But when we reduce it to cheap jokes and vulgarity, we reduce this great thing to little more than chewing gum on the pavement.

I'm done. These t-shirts aren't a freedom of expression; they aren't fighting for a cause. They aren't making a fashion statement but a social statement. They scream 'Go ahead and rape here!' and 'We know rape isn't ok, but let's make it funny anyway'. It isn't funny. It just HIGHLIGHTS the fact that in this country, Rape Victims are treated like the guilty, they are made to feel ashamed and embarrassed and  many spend years struggling with the idea that it was their fault. It's the reason we had to wait until Jimmy Saville was cold in his grave to find out that he is one of the largest pedophiles this country has ever seen. It's the reason so many rapists get off lightly. The reason so many suffers of domestic abuse, both male and female, sit in silence rather than leave. 

We glorify the bully.

We shame the victim.

And I, for one, am sick of it.