This came from Facebook, from Wolf and Badger's album comparing the royal wedding with Cinderella. It is quite incredibly uncanny, especially the ugly sisters! They couldn't have done better if they'd tried!
On the subject of nonsense, I wonder if the sisters will be joining in the 'slut walk'. I won't. Looking like a hooker is on my list of things I don't do:
- swim in shark-infested waters
- leave my handbag open to the wind in a public place
- go out on the pull
- shout racist slogans for a laff in an area of high immigration
- give my boobs an airing in a hot bar
- cycle with my eyes closed and one arm tied behind my back
- walk down a dark alley at 3am whistling Yippadeedoodar
- play chicken on a zebra crossing.
I can't quite get my head around why women want to have the right to look/behave like a slut. I'm missing the point, I think. It just seems obvious to me that if you wear next to nothing, go into town, get drunk, pass out on a public bench only waking up to vomit, you might be putting yourself in a smidgen of danger.
In these days of elfansafety, if a employer asked a woman to behave like that she'd be up in arms at the idea of putting herself at risk. Left to her own devices though, she'll take all the risks and more to prove a point. Very brave, I'm sure, but ultimately futile. If she is robbed, mugged or worse because everything is open and available, having proved her point will be scant comfort when she's cut and bruised and having to stop her credit cards.
Whatever happened to common sense, and why can't people connect the concept of elfansafety with their own health and safety, and take responsibility for their actions? For every action is a reaction, and it might not be one you either expect or want, but we all have to constrain our behaviour, and used to learn about boundaries early on from our parents.
Interestingly, Islam and the West take two diametrically opposed views of male temptation. In (some) Islam, men are so untrustworthy and liable to jump on anything in a skirt that women have to dress to protect them from themselves. In the West, men are supposed to be so trustworthy and able to control themselves that women can wear porn star erotica and still be safe.
In the middle is a moderate view that you should expect to be judged on how you look, and if you like like a slut, you will be leched over as such, and if you look like a prude, you'll be invisible regarded as one.
There is a minor point of course, that looking like a slut as a feminist statement suits men rather more than it does women. I read a fascinating article a few years ago which spoke about how the liberation of women's clothing was not necessarily a good thing for women, but was great for the titillation of men.
Burning bras may make a message, but for those needing support it's very uncomfortable and leads to saggy tits. The swinging set of boobs however, is a great source of eye candy for men.
Likewise with the trend towards hooker fashion. Skimpy clothes on killer heels, especially in British weather, makes you a potential victim of frost bite, broken ankles and deformed feet. Far from being empowering, it can be an uncomfortable look, and toes suffer horrendously (ask Posh Spice about her bunions), yet it gives men a great view of skin, overt sexuality and all the sexy bits.
Why do women put themselves through such discomfort, expose themselves to accusations of sending mixed messages, and end up looking cheap and tacky (and often behave the same)?
At some point there'll be a swing back when women realise that it's more comfortable and a lot safer to dress/behave as a woman, not a slut. It won't stop hard core rapists but it should un-mix the message.