Blunt & Disorderly

religion, politics, ethics and science ... for liberal minds only
28 August 2008
Weighty issues of free choice
We are fat, it’s official. Today’s government report on the areas most affected gives us a map of obesity rates compiled from GP records.
Five places in Wales feature in the top six worst areas, whilst Shetland tops the list. Obesity is also spreading. It appears to be increasing in Cornwall, Devon, Kent, East Sussex, London and the Isle of Wight. In the meantime, the South of the world is starving (I might have a think on the means of production and world economy in another post!).
Are we scoffing too many cakes? Yes, and no. For Tory Cameron, we just eat too much. Tory Health Spokesperson Andrew Lansley said: “Tell people that biology and the environment causes obesity and they are offered the one thing we have to avoid: an excuse.
It’s our choice, isn’t it? What choice? What about the cost of the gym, swimming pool and so on? (we don’t all live near Hampstead pond you know!)
What about the sugar, salt and various additives the food industry puts in our food? Governments are too meek to tell the industry to clean up their acts and force on them simple and accurate labelling. The European Parliament should do more. They should just legislate and tell that horrid Council of Ministers to shut up. Why is it so difficult to have accurate information on the food we buy? How can you choose is you’re kept in the dark?
Incidentally, European governments would do better working together rather than against each other by shamelessly copying products (e.g. Somerset Brie, Danish Parmesan etc.). After all, if we get conned our government does not gain a thing.
The false liberalism of blaming it all on the individual masks the lack of responsibility of the food industry, regulators, and government agencies (same argument applies on recycling and cutting waste). As the credit crunch starts to bite, we might just start eating less, but we might also start eating more of the bad stuff.
As we grow bigger, the smallest among us are also being ignored. Kate Moss has suddenly realised that after all she was (is?) too thin and that the fashion world made her do it.
False liberals justify the lack of regulation on malnutrition on the spurious ground of choice. In an industry where ‘talent’ is mostly related to your weight and competition is fierce, can you turn down the opportunity to work? Who can say no? Monica Bellucci famously said no. She’s never been skinny, simply beautiful. You simply can't do that if you're just starting your career.
The British Fashion Council came up with the idea of a health certificate for models certifying that they are ‘fit to work’. I could see the market for false certificate flourishing. Luckily, the idea got ditched, but, aside from Spain that banned models who suffer from malnutrition, nobody has dared challenge the fashion industry. I would prefer taxing the fashion show organisers heavily. We are, of course, all partly responsible for endorsing the dogma of skinny is perfect while fat is wrong. We buy magazines glorifying famished models and actresses, go to the cinema and dribble or die of envy before our ‘gods’. Well, I don’t which gives me a tiny little leeway for being a self-righteous prat :)
This so called free choice is more and more fictitious if there’s no alternative. Who are those responsible for shaping our vision and standards? Who are those challenging the dogma?
It reminds me of turn of the century (XX) art where women were depicted as mad, dying and impossibly thin. Then painters descended onto cutting women into pieces (Grosz, Picasso …). Women’s bodies have always been used to depict the ideal, what is saintly and what is sinful. Beauty is most definitely not in the eye of the beholder.
Posted by Francesca Montemaggi
truth about enzyte at 12:57 PM
3 comments
Labels: europe, feminism, film/TV, food, health, law, liberalism, media, rights/ethics
13 August 2008
A fish out of water – a visit to the gym
I have a week trial at a gym, so I there I went yesterday, ready to exercise and feel healthy. I took a quick look at it, while waiting for the guy who would show me the machines, and was overtaken by a strong desire to run … run away from the place that is!
At first, it looked intimidating, populated by people who are clearly quite into their bodies and muscles (although I noticed more sensible people later on). It also felt a bit retro. I thought the gym was a thing of the 80s-90s and that people would now do tai chi, pilates etc. Worst of all, it really felt like a ghastly environment. The gym is not very big so you need relatively few people to make the air impossible to breath. I didn’t see any ‘fresh air’ passage, which meant the place was chilled by air conditioning. It felt rather unhygienic, but I thought that I had to make an effort and at least try.
I started off with the bicycle as I thought I would fall off the treadmill. I cycled away for 20mins staring at the TV in front of me, reporting the ‘news’, which they were all about the new fertility technology, AMs’ expenses and something else I can’t remember. Where was Georgia? But I digress.
Back to my cycling, I was incredibly annoyed by the pumping out of loud rubbish music and the air conditioning. I could only feel my ears pierced by nasty cacophonous sounds and the cold nesting bugs. I felt really unhealthy. I wanted a shower and fresh air. I concluded that the gym is no place for hypochondriacs!
There was one machine I quite liked, though, where you sit comfortably while pushing with your feet. I reckon that exercise could be significantly improved by combining it with a book and a cup of tea. :)
Posted by Francesca Montemaggi
at 9:52 AM
4 comments
Labels: health, other, sport
11 August 2008
Blogging for Wales
Can blogging hand support to Wales’ fragile civil society?
To do so blogs ought to inform, challenge and help shape opinions. They need to highlight what they think it’s important and what they deem right or wrong. There’s certainly information out there and there’s also plenty of comment, which is not commentary. Perhaps blogs are a thing of the past and need to ‘grow up’ into specialist analysis, investigative journalism and think-pieces such as short pamphlets. No longer extemporaneous and spontaneous, blogs are going back to journalism, only more specialised.
There are some good political blogs in Wales, but what about everything else? What about arts, literature and science? Aggregators are not terribly helpful, but I haven’t come across much on anything other than what goes on in the Bay.
I have to say that I tend to find this rather parochial. This blog cannot be listed on WelshBlogs because “it could be from anywhere”, I’m told, whilst my Grangetown one is listed.
To geographically limit a blog is a contradiction in terms. I wish this blog could be from anywhere, but it is quite clearly from a UK perspective with a touch of Italy seen from abroad! I don’t think I’ve decided what this blog is for, but if one of the intentions is to challenge views and think critically, how can I restrict comment to what happens in the Senedd or nearby? I don’t view civil society as simply people and organisations lobbying the Assembly (although I do think this is important). I’d like to think that my posts talk of values rather than policy. I don’t think we can base society on ‘evidence-based policies’, no matter how good they are.
Posted by Francesca Montemaggi
at 10:13 PM
1 comments
Labels: other, wales
31 July 2008
(Consensual) Incest, the lost taboo? An internet perspective
I was going to write about incest after this article, then decided not to due to lack of what I would consider good information on the internet, then I thought: 'sod it!'.
The woman of the article on the Times justifies her sexual relationship with her brother on the basis of consent. I have not come across any psychological studies on ‘consensual incest’, where there is no force or abuse. This means I’ll make up my own ‘psychological’ take. I believe that when children (perhaps from birth to puberty) our sexual boundaries are not yet developed. The first sexual sensations happen very early in life, although they are very different from adult sexuality. For Melanie Klein, at least, babies’ sexual sensations would start at four months. No idea what is the latest thought on this as academic journals are generally not free to access. (Some exceptions: Directory of Open Access Journals, Academic Open Internet Journal, HighWire Press).
Going back to my ‘theory’, growing up means developing one’s identity and its foundation is probably sexual identity. We separate from our parents and ‘find’ our body. Like Adam and Eve, we suddenly discover ourselves naked.
Alas, it means we stop running around naked on the beach as we did as children! ;) We develop our own space not to be transgressed although constantly negotiated and re-negotiated. I assume we stop feeling comfortable naked in front of our parents, who generated us, and yet, when grown up, quite at ease with someone from outside the family.
There have been many cases of ‘genetic sexual attraction’ often