Objectification: no ifs, no butts

The power of the media to shape people’s perceptions of sexuality and gender dynamics are becoming ever more influential. Can we legitimately claim that all forms of sexual representation have an adverse affect on these perceptions?

The ‘Motion against the Objectification of Women Students’ proposing to ban “lads mags” and nude sports calendars on campus in an attempt to overcome objectification is a flawed strategy. The censoring of a select band of magazines on campus does nothing to overcome a wider social concern. This poses the question, is the motion to ban the “lads mag” from the shelves of Union stores likely to overlook some vital points?

Firstly, why stop at “lads mags”? The power of sexual representation in advertising found in Cosmo, Vogue, GQ and any other glossy magazine found on our shelves objectifies the human body to the same extent as material in a “lads mag”. Objectification of the human body is not confined to the pages of “lads mags” and to ban all magazines would be consistent yet nonsensical when a more edifying tactic could be utilised. Read more

No stupid surveys, thanks very much

If you are a third year student and oppose the local and national cuts being made to the higher education sector, there’s something simple and really effective you can do to help the movement – don’t fill out the National Student Survey (NSS). The motion for the boycott was passed at this year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) and then ratified by Union Council, and is one of the most heavily discussed topics amongst students and staff at Sussex right now. Here’s a few basic questions answered about why Stop the Cuts believes that this is an effective and radically new element in the fight for higher education.
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What next for Stop the Cuts? An open letter to the Stop the Cuts Campaign, from the Stop the Cuts Campaign

Fellow students, staff, and interested parties,

We know the cuts are bad, we know they are only the beginning (a few more million next year, and after the election – who can predict?). We know that they need to be stopped. We know that there is something wrong with the way this university is managed. We know that management are pursuing a project inimical to our education, that their vision of the university is very different from our vision of the university.

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Want an honest Press? Boycott newspapers!

I hate newspapers. Unless I can have my say in them. So aside from The Badger, the only one I have any grain of respect for is the Financial Times, not because I’m in it (yet), or because I’m a dirty capitalist (I’m not), but because it consistently provides well sourced articles with minimum emotive drama – granted, its subject matter helps. Contrast this with the rest of the British press, which is ready to make a quick buck on practically any subject. It’s like the worst kind of person – someone who lives their life for gossip and inconsiderate rumouring, making mountains out of molehills, failing to give the entire picture if it means boosting sales.

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NUS no-platform policy is hypocritical

A few hours before the deadline for this comment piece, I was going to write a piece slating the NUS’s no-platform for the BNP policy. I started writing it, but then realised that this hot potato was too complex to give justice to here, so I’m going to write a piece slating the NUS instead.

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Gay is the new black: Why it is wrong to think BME and LGBT identities are mutually exclusive

 

 

This week is Diversity Week across campus and to mark it we are having our main event for Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender History Month, “Invisible To Invincible”. This Thursday we will be looking at minority groups within the LGBT community, in particular focusing on Black and Minority Ethnic, and faith groups.

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Racking up the truth on Mephedrone

For those of you familiar with the programme “Brass Eye”, the current media portrayal of Mephedrone can seem absurdly similar to the fictitious drug ‘Cake’.  If you are misfortunate enough to remain unaware of this great series, it was one which very successfully satirised the media’s depiction of various social ills including drug use, and made fun of the sensationalism and moral panic we have become accustomed to in today’s newspapers and documentaries.  How much of what we read can we truly believe? Read more

The evolution of the Gay Soc at Sussex

I came to Sussex as an undergraduate in 1977 at a time when Gay Liberation in Britain was only a few years old. As an 18 year old I was closeted about my sexuality – life for a gay teenager in the 1970s was not always easy. Bullying at school of boys or girls who didn’t conform to sexual / sexuality ‘norms’ was rife and homophobia in the ‘70’s was the rule rather than the exception. Coming to Sussex was a breath of fresh air, with the liberal political and social traditions of the University creating a far more relaxed attitude to sexuality than existed elsewhere in society.
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Is Brighton better off with Nancy? Why Labour could be the best option for Brighton’s voters

For years, I resisted the urge to join the Labour Party. Why? It’s not that I wasn’t interested in politics and campaigning. In my pushchair, I was wheeled between demonstrations against Yugoslavian war atrocities and Legalise Cannabis events. As a member of CND and Amnesty, I’ve protested against the Iraq war, weapons manufacturers and NATO. I have the bruises – from hastily-erected police barriers and hastily-brandished batons – to prove it.

However, for a long time, I thought that party politics was a vehicle for furthering the interests of the self-seeking and the ideologically void. This is simplistic and unproductive.

Progressive movements are at their best when they work together; no campaign operates in isolation. It is no coincidence that the people I meet in Tower Hamlets fighting against further education cuts are often the same ones campaigning in Brighton against nuclear weapons. I joined the Labour Party to bring together my interests in building a better society. Read more

The truly courageous vote is the non-vote

There is a General Election coming up this year, probably in May, and it is worth considering your options early, lest you get rushed into a hasty decision. I do not want to side-step the issue of Student Cuts, which rightfully dominates student and national headlines at the moment, but for an issue such as this I feel it is worth the break.

Apathy is generally assumed to be a failing of democratic politics to engage people in the ideological struggles of the moment. It is the response of the uninformed, the response of those who do not wish to be involved in something which is beyond their everyday lives. It is basically the negative and problematic response of the lazy to things which would otherwise concern them. ‘Life must go on without them!’ ‘They are fools for their lack of concern!’ ‘Let them eat cake!’ Blah blah blah. Read more