A Hairy Naked Man...Joy

While perusing the web for target audiences and such; found this article on Advertising. Not helpful to me in the slightest (though it's not hard to figure out how this came up on my google search); but it's fairly interesting in terms of our brand obsessed culture. A topic we have touched upon in Monday lecture/seminars of the past.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2001/jul/09/marketingandpr.g2

Most of the article appears to be waffle but in fact briefs the story of how the ad came about. Though it is conveniently sub-headed for your flicking needs-and there are some interesting points.

Boys Club

I started reading The Guardian for no other reason than because I had to. I've always been a Daily Mail reader, always have, always will be; but there is something delightfully appealing about my thumbed through Guardians; currently scattered left right and centre across my bed in various stages of disrepair.
For starters-although always with a front page focused on current affairs; further reading opens up the world of media, the world of education, sports, arts and G2; a section for global news. The paper is littered with various articles from varying journalists-all giving their opinion. From Cheryl Cole's hair extensions to the Christmas display at Harrods this year. Albeit, these opinions are usually cynical-with articles that usually have me arguing to the journalists stationary picture smiling back at me. Yet in this sense; the paper does it's job. It creates discussions; it doesn't just report on the news-it offers opinions and incites discussion.
The Guardian has another appealing factor in the form of G2. A book which covers stories from around the globe-talking up art exhibits and telling the stories of many an international person. For me personally, I haven't yet read a paper that piqued my interest as much since New Zealand (I still have a spreadsheet from this particular paper at home on my wall).

So to get to the point-The Guardian recently published an article on Universities such as Manchester and Oxford forming "Men Societies". Classes on how to teach men to survive in society today and how to be a man. A quote from the Cherwell University website states "Do you expect men to mysteriously find their way alone?".
This is quite simply, nothing more than an elaborate oxymoron. The stereotypical man; (the type these classes are intending to enforce) is surely independence, strength etc. Qualities not found in a class of young boys talking to each other about their day to day stresses. I feel that the ideal man these boys are wanting to emulate, would scoff at the idea of this boys club going on behind closed doors.
Though I can see the agenda behind it; (men are frequently being told various ways to behave and act by the media), when it comes down to it; if woman can get through teenager land intact, so can someone who calls himself a real man.
But If you're really that worried boys, I'll let you into a little girls secret; write into the agony aunt at Cosmo magazine.
Don't worry, you can remain anonymous.

Romanticism

The Romantic Revolution, and the ideas and beliefs of Rousseau and other Romanticists involved several components-all of which can be found penned in the book Lyrical Ballads.
Although not written by Rousseau; William Wordsworth was incredibly inspired by him and ultimately penned these individual poems. Each one gives good background knowledge on the individual belief systems that ran through the Romantic Revolution.

-First and foremost, Romantics idealised nature, which they believed should be respected and admired on a daily basis. This is represented in "The Mad Mother".
http://www.online-literature.com/wordsworth/2226/
The woman has turned her back on industry and found peace in what Romanticists would believe to be her natural state. In the wild.

-Secondly, there were children: the epitome of innocence, Romanticists believe they were yet to be spoilt by life's ugliness.
Seen in "Anecdote for Fathers". The father admits he could learn so much from his child's simplicity.
http://www.online-literature.com/wordsworth/2217/

-Superstition and the afterlife; ghosts and pagan Gods were all amongst those respected by followers of the Romantic revolution. "We Are Seven"
http://www.online-literature.com/wordsworth/2216/
represents this by the child's adamancy over her siblings still being with her, though they are dead.

-The Poor: they alone respected the countryside and were grateful for what it provided. The poor were believed to be peaceful people, truly happy with their lives until it is disturbed by industry and the rich. The beginning of "The Female Vagrant" represents this.
http://www.online-literature.com/wordsworth/2219/

As much as Romanticists had strong emotions on these topics, on the other end of the spectrum-they rallied against such things as industry and capital punishment, all of which they believed restricted human beings from being free.
This idea is expressed in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "The Convict" which can also be found online.
These are just some of the many poems contained within the book, all of which contain the beliefs of the impending revolution. It's not the greatest read in life lets face it, but it makes Bertrand Russell a tinier bit better to understand right?
Atleast i hope it does. Goodnight

Ignorance Is Your New Best Friend

Upon doing my daily rounds of clothes surfing the internet; I found the gruesome discovery that fur is making a large comeback. Unfortunately, the carcasses hanging off the models were in no way fake-and were proud to not be so.
Sporting Leopard skin coats and Lynx fur collars; Givenchy was even seen to have been using fur to line their new shoes.
This display of ignorance has been sneaking back since the infamous 1980's protests in many a way.
Designers and their insiders claim that since the world is currently focused upon global warming and the supposed effects of climate change-no one has noticed the occasional Chinchilla coat or Mink arm warmer. Now, animal farming is back in a huge way. Although this practice is banned here in England; our main supplier now comes in the usual form. Every animal fur product you will see should undoubtedly bear the stamp "Made in China".
Consumers of the coats, when asked; claim that the fur makes them feel "classy" and "primitive". I personally do not see why reverting back to a state where society has just invented the wheel is a positive state to be in; but it surely backs up the argument that consumers of the clothes display a high level of unintelligence-and more importantly; ignorance.
Designers like Jean-Paul Gaultier, who in 2006 displayed a new line of fur inspired clothing, was later shown a video of how his fur had come to be. The video depicted caged and abused animals, so tired of their existence, every emotion was displayed on their face. It could be argued that they had no existence. Their life would end being skinned alive. Reports say that one animal in particular during the video, was still alive for a few lingering moments after it had been skinned. It's face the picture of pain and puzzlement. It's almost a blessing it doesn't know that the agony it endured is being used to line the sole of someone's shoe.
One insider sent to a fur farm states
"If I close my eyes I can still see them there. Walking away from the farm was one of the hardest things I have ever done."
Gaultier was shocked into renouncing the use of fur in later seasons. Yet this didn't stop Dior sporting animal products a season later.
Most consumers are duped into believing that the fur is a by product of meat. This is in no way true and is just another display of ignorance.
The banning of fur farms in England has not made a difference, except to our moral stance as a society. The wearing of fur as a whole should be illegal; along the same lines as ivory and poaching.
This highly interesting article details the shocking process of a normal fur farm and lists the celebrities who have recently been seen to wear the consequences.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-fur-trade-bloody-fashion-425837.html

If people want to feel like a cave person, by all means hunt the poor animal to death themselves. If they can do this without complaint or feeling, maybe they are the type of person who deserves to wear nothing more than a carcass.

Royal Exhange

The Royal Exchange-founded in 1565 by a man called Sir Thomas Gresham; sounds like a pretty fascinating place to have been back in the day. In a world that was just being discovered, people from around the globe congregated to trade items. Wool was given away in exchange for spices, decorative pyramids, jewellery or clothing.
Natives from many an exotic country would have been fascinating to talk to; yet Joseph Addison acknowledges it all with a mere "bow and a grimace".
In fact the entire text ("The Royal Exchange"), reads like a one big scoff at the rest of the world. Addison acknowledges that this co-operative trade between us and the rest of the globe, is merely like a secondary empire we've managed to build ourselves. He goes on to add that we manage to enjoy the rich tastes and aromas of exotic and unheard of places, without ever leaving our "green fields of Britain".
Addison appears to look smugly upon those who bring produce to us while we remain in our comfort zone. He doesn't seem to be bothered (though he readily admits), that a majority of what we consider to be native to our country in actual fact isn't, and wouldn't survive in our climate if not for special care.
Maybe faced with the sudden size of other countries, and the closeness of other military power; it was better to retreat inside an aura of superiority.
Or maybe being pompous just went with the outfit.