Baudrillard in Prospect

Well, the death of Baudrillard recently barely rated a mention in the English press, such is this country's disdain for 'post-structuralist' French philosophers. However I am a big fan, and Prospect magazine has an article about his legacy which you can read here.

Long live French philosophy I say, the UK marketized system of education is certainly not going to produce such innovative thinkers. I hope that while we are busying ourselves at university trying to make money, the French will continue to feel that ideas such as Baudrillard's have merit!

Nintendo's Cosmetic Paradise teaches the wonders of makeup

Courtesy of Shiny Shiny:

Further reinforcing the notion that DSes are aimed at us girls and kiddywinks, Nintendo are set to release another gender-specific game, Cosmetic Paradise. Only announced on a Japanese site, Famitsu, Kotaku's Brian Ashcraft decoded the characters and worked out the basic gist of the plot, involving a heroine living in a magical land of cosmetics, who must help all the women in the land win the hearts of the men, through the use of makeup.

Another shambolic abortion article

I am boycotting weekend newspapers because they are literally eating into my social life, but this morning this little gem from the Observer was waiting in my inbox. It's your standard 'I became pregnant and am now questioning my pro-choice stance so I'm going to go to the American South and talk to some nutters for a cheap Channel 4 TV show' waste of time. Though she ultimately retains her pro-choice stance there are so many dodgy arguments and rhetorical devices in this piece - it's an utter shambles. Still framing the debate in terms of birth/death (what the hell has her grandma dying got to do with abortion?) rather than women's reproductive rights and bodily integrity. Blah!

Dodgiest parts below:

Throughout my twenties and the better part of my thirties, I did everything that was required for me not to have a child (other than, you know, not having sex). I wasn't always safe - I've necked morning-after pills like vitamin tablets - but I was lucky enough not to end up in a situation where I was pregnant and didn't want to be.

Unhelpful!

And I'm a feminist. I have more than one Andrea Dworkin book and I'm not ashamed of that.

A copy of Andrea Dworkin is not a definitive feminist ID

My questions weren't being answered in the UK, where abortion isn't really talked about. So I decided to go to America, where abortion is a hot, divisive and political topic.

Err, I think a number of recent UK Ten Minute Rule Bills might suggest otherwise .....

I hung out with Roy outside the clinic as he confronted young, mostly black, women coming in for a termination and tried to persuade them to turn back. It wasn't a comfortable morning. 'Shame on you, coming in here with a cross around your neck!' Roy shouted at one poor girl. 'Are you going to nail your baby to the cross?' Despite his appalling hectoring, I quite liked Roy.

Yeah, he sounds like a really nice guy ...

Watch the madness on More4 this Wednesday 10.30pm.

Unfinished story of women and the United Nations

This is a publication of the Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS) Development Dossier series that looks back at more than 85 years of history of women and inter-governmental organisations. Unrecorded by history and untold by the media, this book recalls the success story of women and the League of Nations and describes the unfolding history of women at the United Nations for the advancement and empowerment of women, especially in the 30 years since the First UN World Conference on Women in Mexico City in 1975, and up to the ten-year review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in 2005.

Read this very cool report by clicking here

Fair and Lovely Whitening Cream - CSR failure

I am skeptical about all corporate social responsibility initiatives on the basis that global hyper-capitalism constitutes a moral universe completely at odds with equality. Read this study to find out more!

Doing well by doing good: case study - 'Fair & Lovely' whitening cream
This paper takes a critical look at the "bottom of the pyramid" proposition which argues that companies can make profits while also doing good. In particular, the paper empirically tests this proposition by examining in depth the case of 'Fair & Lovely,' a skin whitening cream marketed by Unilever in many countries in Asia and Africa, and, in particular, India. The paper argues that Fair & Lovely is a profitable and fast growing brand, however the paper demonstrates its negative implications for public welfare.

These problems include:

• whitening creams pose a special risk in developing countries where dermatologists and general medical practitioners are typically not the first to be consulted on the treatment of skin diseases
• women's groups and activities have alleged that advertisements for the cream are racist because they propose that having fairer skin will assist women obtain a husband and a job
• these advertisements drown out the efforts and voices of women's organisations that are working to promote equality and social justice for women in their countries
• Unilever is not living up to its corporate social responsibility (CSR) objectives.

The paper also highlights the difficulty of compliance with social responsibility standards by corporations such as Unilever arguing that voluntary CSR, self-regulation, activism by civil society, and government regulation has been ineffective. Available online via Eldis

Two things which annoy me: Today Show and Timeout

Ah I am sorry for neglecting this blog so much recently. I seem to find it impossible to combine it with paid work. Now that my think-tank internship has finished and I am officially unemployed once again it should remain more up to date!

Two things which have come to my attention this week:

1. The Today Show's god-awful coverage of the female marine captured by Iran - I was spitting blood! There was a hideous interview with a bunch of hack of psychologists saying it was so wrong that this woman had left her child behind. Presumably some of the male soldiers also have children, but we all know there is no room within military discourses to talk about masculinity and the role of fathers! My most hated IR argument also came up - that women shouldn't fight on the front-line because the men get so upset at seeing women hurt/killed. Poor things! Urgh, reminds me why I need to move away from social policy and get back into feminist IR ...

2. An article on 'boylesque' - male burlesque - in Time Out London. Time Out always has articles/listings on burlesque and I'm not really a fan because I don't believe that objectification dressed up as a 'vaudeville artform' is any different then the million of other rubbish portrayals of women. Two things are interesting in this article: the references to restraining those 'hysterical' hen's night women (because sexually-aggressive women are just so not cool); and the idea that equality is objectification of all!

Burlesque and taboo. Two words you don’t often see in the same sentence. Burlesque and freakshow, sure. Burlesque and, well, bonkers? Absolutely. After all, this is the vaudeville artform that includes routines by lovely ladies who use balloons to protect their modesty, only to pop them with a feather poked through holes in their tongues. Or it might involve a blindfolded escape act from tightly bound tape using only double-jointed manoeuvres to undress. If it’s ironic, humorous or cheeky, and involves in some (often small) way the removal of garments, then you’re likely to see it on a London stage. The only constant is that it’s always ‘lovely ladies’. Now men doing burlesque? That’s just weird.

But that’s exactly what Whoopee will be doing this week. Their Tournament of Tease competitions are a great way for aspiring burlesque peeps to get a nipple tassel in the door. For four months, however, the Male Tournament of Tease will be offering blokes a chance to shine.‘I went to a lot of strip tease pubs,’ says organiser and photographer, Julie Cook, ‘and I was amazed at people who could take take their clothes off in public spaces. There’s a liberation attached – not only those who actually took their clothes off, but those who watched. I was impressed by the way that men were so passive and controlled and took it so seriously. When I’ve seen the situation reversed, the women scream and make so much noise, the audience really gets worked up into a frenzy. I didn’t feel comfortable with it. So I imagined a situation where women would be cool about it and enjoy the performance, and it not be some sort of hysterical thing. And I thought that there must be other women around who want that.’

But what will the guys actually do on stage? A Chippendales-styled strip is just a strip; it’s not burlesque unless there’s a humorous element.‘One of the best male burlesque performances I’ve seen was in Las Vegas at the Miss Exotic World conference. There was a male section called Boylesque. Roky Roulette came on came on dressed as a cowboy and rode on to the stage on a child’s horse. He hopped up and down all over the stage and, at the same time, stripped. On one hand, it was funny, but on the other it’s something that’s very hard to do physically, to be able to pogo up and down yet strip in a really sexy way. His performance ended with a big shower of glitter, and that twist at the end was magical.’

Whoopee are providing choreographers for any would-be male burlesque performers, and the Male Tournament of Tease grand final will be in July. Julie Cook will be photographing the tournaments and exhibiting the photographs in November.

So will London’s burlesque scene be ready to give up its last taboo? And will burlesque fans be as cool and collected watching the boys as they are watching the girls? Cook says: ‘Men are much more nervous than women are of performing. They’re afraid of female audiences being over the top. So there’s absolutely no hen weekends allowed in and definitely no screaming!’