Questionnaire

I am a twenty year old female studying for a degree in English. ‘The Being Bad’ module is relevant to the course I am doing as it allows me to analyse things critically by looking at things from various perspectives that I may not have considered previously. The course was not too demanding and it was often very thought provoking and interesting. The topics covered were appropriate and it was interesting to be taught by a different lecturer each week. The format of the classes worked well though as some of the lectures were shorter than others, a short seminar group following the lecture could have been profitable to see how other students felt about the topic covered and see different opinions and stances.
Using an interdisciplinary approach was very useful as it meant that I could apply various methods that I learnt and ideas that I had into my literature criticism over the rest of my more English based modules. I defiantly feel that the module has improved my analytical skills and it has benefited the work I have done over the rest of my course. I intend to take the follow up course ‘It Shouldn’t be Allowed’ next year as part of my second year. I would defiantly recommend ‘Being Bad’ to a friend as I believe that it helps build key skills for other courses even if Philosophy does not appeal to them.
The web logs were a really good idea and meant that I was thinking of new ways to approach issues as I went about my day to day life. The essays too were good assessment methods as I would not have come across a piece of creative writing in any of my other modules. I feel I have learnt a lot from the module such as the origin of tattooing and social attitudes towards various forms of ‘bad’ behaviour such as smoking and masturbation in different societies and periods in history. All of this had made me more aware of moral issues and there perceptions in society.

Response to Karen Owen's Cross Examining Children Blog

Hearing a child relive the crime is a device used by the prosecutor to appeal to the jury on an emotive and sympathetic level. Instead of hearing somebody read the cold facts of evidence, it is much more difficult for a jury to hear this come from a child’s mouth. So, yes it is unfair for a child to be put through the trauma of reliving a crime committed against or in front of them but there are always social workers present whose job it is to protect the child and if this results in longer sentences to criminals who hurt children, it is worth it.

Response to Matthew Mainey's Blog on Prostitution

I agree that this seems a very strange phenomena that girls who charge more, dress a bit nicer and refer to themselves as “call girls” seem to have a better social image than the girls walking the streets with a syringe poking out of their arms… Maybe it’s like the Robin Hood thing, he’s a criminal but he’s quite pleasant…

Babies babies babies babies

Every Child Matters is a government strategy that many will be familiar with. The link I have provided demonstrates that the government will be funding £20.5 million to help teenagers get access to free contraception and raise awareness. This is all very well and good for those who do not want to get pregnant but still remain sexually active. However I feel that the government should do more to stop teenagers WANTING to become pregnant. They should teach about money management and the cost of living in PSHE from an early age so that a naïve girl may think twice before deciding that having a baby is an easy way to get out of doing her GCSEs.

http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/teenagepregnancy/

Being Bad: The Career Move

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/20/fashion/thursdaystyles/20KATE.html
According to this article on the New York Times website, Kate Moss’s negative media attention has benefited her career as a model. The article also makes reference to Pairs Hilton’s sex tape scandal and other celebrities who have risen from the flames of a potentially career ruining disgraces.
Why do the public still adore these celebrities who indulge in illegal and morally wrong activities? I believe it has something to do with the idea that we want our role models to mess up once in a while so that we can feel a little better about our own imperfections.

Positive Discrimination 2

Since composing my blog on the notion of positive discrimination I have come up with the following theory. Discrimination is discrimination whether it is called positive or negative; it promotes inequality within our society. Discrimination against gender, race or age occurs despite various well meaning government ministers’ laws. In my opinion it is worth using bias and prejudice to your advantage. As a young woman I receive prejudice on a weekly basis working in a furniture shop. I will be approached by customers who want to speak to “the man in charge” and when I tell them that I am the only one available their faces fall. I am just as competent as any of the men who I work with but judging me on face value, I do not appear so! I don’t mind this though as I can then use the defenseless female act to my advantage when necessary. My advice, discrimination exists so use it!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0250494/quotes

Response to Robert Steer's post on plastic surgery

The veiw that peoplpe who opt to have plastic surgery are "pathetic" is small minded. Many people who have platic surgery are doing it to attempt to fill a void in their lives but others do it for much more worthwhile reasons. If a woman has breast cancer and has to have a mastectomy, when healthy again she may choose to have an implant - is this pathetic? If somebody suffers horrific burns ans is scarred is it pathetic to have a skin graft?

People undergo cosmetic surgery for different reasons, it is unfair to tar everyone with the same brush.

Voting

I have just received my Official Poll Card through the post. I have never voted before and I am unsure of whom to vote for if I do. Is it a waste of a vote if I don’t or is it a waste of a vote if I do so uninformed and go for the wrong thing? In my opinion my ignorance of what or who to vote for is wasting a vote itself.

If you do wish to vote this website may help:
http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/

Positive Discrimination?

Positive Discrimination?
The government is considering a law that means that employers will be able to discriminate towards a black or female job applicant purely because of the colour of their skin or gender to promote diversity within the workplace.
It is undeniable that there are still racial and gender biases in our society. A law that allows for these biases to take place will only enforce them. Knowing that you got a job based on the colour of your skin would make anyone question their ability!
In my opinion discrimination is discrimination whether or not it is deemed positive or not. This website below outlines the equalities minister’s proposals.

http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2008/03/20/44999/harman-considers-law-change-to-allow-positive-discrimination.html

Bad Comedians

Comedy is funny depending on its intent; if the intent is to offend minority groups then it is ‘bad comedy’. If the intent is to illustrate the small-mindedness of society members who laugh at ‘bad comedy jokes’ it is intelligent comedy.

The term bad comedians I believe refers to those “comedians” like Bernard Manning.

It is a shame that the likes of Al Murray’s satirical pub landlord character has been taken the wrong way by many who take what he says to be how the man behind the character feels on certain issues. He is of course making a statement against those people.

Personally I wouldn't have either of them at my fantasy dinner party.....

Please enjoy these nice clean jokes:

http://justcleanjokes.com/

The Apprentice / Supernanny

Alan Sugar (or BBC bosses) have chosen a selection of who they supposedly believe are bright innovative minds to battle with one another for the highly coveted position of The Apprentice. When I watched it the other night I was sure that my television had broken and that I’d put on Supernanny instead. I was greeted with three thirty-somethings squabbling like 5 year olds trying to impress Sir Alan Sugar. This in itself is bad but for me the most disturbing thing is that these people are supposed to be the best this country can offer us in the way of great minds. Scary.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/apprentice/
High Horse, Telford

Vegetarian Leather?

I have a few friends who are vegetarians who claim that they believe it wrong to kill animals… I have recently noticed that many of these people will happily buy and wear leather shoes, this seem hypocritical. Can anyone out there enlighten me to the difference between eating an animal and wearing it?

This is a picture of a lifesize leather cow with handbag handles. Irony in it’s purest form.

In the mean time here is a link to some vegetarian recipes…

Writing from a leather sofa in Telford

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/vegetarian_and_vegan/

Response to Writing from Desolation Row “Religion”

The word religion has been thrown around in the name of war, destruction and terrorism. However it is fundamentally a good thing. Religion raises and answers many questions to life. It also offers comfort and safety to those who need it. Instead of dwelling on extremists within religious groups, the good people of the world should be in our thoughts when we think of religion.

Response to Kate’s Column on Sun Beds

Like everything else in the world sun beds should be used in moderation. Maybe this is a common theme of most of the problems addressed in the Being Bad module – most things are ok as long as they are not taken to the extreme as this is when problems occur.

Response to Alexandre Denis's blog on bandits

In response to the idea that we may be less understanding of social bandits these days is interesting. It could be that people choose to believe that people praised Robin Hood in his time but it seems to me that in his own day Robin Hood would have been considered a local “hoodie” (excuse the terrible pun).

Socks and Sandals

Despite a previous blog in which I said that if somebody’s appearance offends you, look away, I reserve the right to go back on my word on the subject of wearing socks with sandals. Wearing sandals is a celebration of the summer. When people cannot commit to wearing summer footwear by accessorising with socks, it is offensive to see and cowardly.

Please take the time to see this alarmingly extensive montage of proud “soxers”!

http://www.sandalandsoxer.co.uk/home.htm

This urban dictionary has a few (potentially offensive) definitions of socks and sandals.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=socks+and+sandals

This picture illustrates my personal favourite combination; socks and flip flops. Not only does this look ludicrous, it can’t be comfortable!

Pop Sock Appreciation Society Chairperson, Telford

Comment on Josephine Daly's Blog 'Kids'

I agree that there didn’t seem to be much of a purpose to the film other than to shock. Is it just an immature film maker’s excuse to show violence and sex in the name of cinematics? I believe that it was shocking purely for the intention to be shocking.

Smokers

People love to moan about smokers polluting their air, being anti social and causing a general stink. However it is unfair to penalise these members of our society for a habit that is a personal decision. The smokers who are “polluting the air” are not really in the same league as fuel companies and large factories that daily pollute our air…are they?!

http://news.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news-2/For-smokers--air-pollution-is-a-drag-on-the-heart-5042-1/

Theft

I recently attended “An Audience with Benjamin Zephaniah” at my local theatre in which he told stories from his life and read poetry. A few of the stories that he told were of various exploits in which he broke the law. While he didn’t seem proud of his actions he was quite smug that he was never caught joyriding cars. I couldn’t help but feel for the rich “Rolls Royce drivers” whose cars he was driving around in. Knowing that somebody has taken something of value from right in front of your house must be very unsettling.

https://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1996/ukpga_19960062_en_1

Rolls Royce owner, Telford

Judging a Book by its Cover

We are all guilty of this particular indulgence. The reason for this is that first impressions are usually pretty accurate. However it is when a stereotype does not hold true that people are shocked. Susan Boyle appeared on television competition Britain’s got Talent and was nearly laughed off the stage by her dowdy appearance but when she opened her mouth to sing both the audience and judges were stunned. Since this she has received a staggering number of YouTube hits. So please take time out of your busy day to watch Susan Boyle keep Simon Cowell quiet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OcQ9A-5noM&feature=bz303

Mutton Dressed as Lamb

While working (on the bank holiday – ‘bad’ in itself!!), a couple came into the shop and from the back looked like an attractive couple. Being a girl I thought that the crop top was brave of the woman as she was also wearing a short skirt with bare legs… When they turned around it was brought to my horrified attention that the woman was about 50 – the bleach blonde hair, short skirt and crop top had tricked me into believing she was about 25. I believe that this type of deception is a level of “badness” in the same league as fraud…

Enjoy these deceptive celebrities...

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/celebrity/galleries/view/celebrity/muttondressedaslamb/browse/310082

Infidelity in Madame Bovary

Emma surrenders herself entirely to her lover, Rodolphe in a way that she cannot to her attentive and well meaning husband, Charles. In her book Female Perversions, Dr Louise J. Kaplan describes this transgression of “extreme submissiveness” as a “search for meaning in [Emma’s] own life”. She seems to want to escape the life she has built with Charles and live a more extravagant (and therefore supposedly more fulfilling) life with Rodolphe.

Emma’s vain nature reveals to the reader a longing to be desired by men though not in the manner that Charles offers her as Emma craves the Romantic clichés of love and detests mediocrity. Charles’ adoration for Emma is clear from the beginning of the novel: “the image of Emma kept… appearing before his eyes…” This understated, impassionate level of affection isn’t enough for Emma’s seemingly greedy character and her lover Rodolphe tells her what she longs to hear. Melodramatic declarations of love seem to appeal to Emma.

Adultery in Madame Bovary seems to stem from Emma’s own personal weaknesses for Romance and adoration. It is Emma who craves a more exciting and fulfilling life and none of her adulterous exploits result in this becoming a reality. Flaubert’s novel therefore shows that adultery is an attempt to fill a void that marriage creates.

Body Modification

Some people have written on their blogs that body modification is ok but not in excess. This could be considered as a small minded view. If looking at a picture of somebody with tattoos all over their face turns your stomach, look away and sleep well at night safe in the knowledge that the Plain Jane is more likely to be successful in a job interview than the person with a hole in their nose and a forked tongue.

http://www.youngmoney.com/careers/advice/030127_04

A Drug Problem - Solved!

Whether or not drugs are considered ‘bad’ is dependant on their position in society. If the government are giving the army LSD – it is considered a serious scientific experiment but if it is being used by hippies in the 1960s, its status and perception changes. This is true also of cannabis. If it is a class B drug, it is not considered very dangerous. If it is a class C drug, it is perceived to be less dangerous, less glamorous and subsequently less desirable. Cannabis is sometimes prescribed to people who suffer from arthritis… if it was to be rebranded as a granny’s way of getting high, there would be less people smoking it….

http://www.experiencefestival.com/lsd_-_legal_status

Hungry, sleepy and a bit paranoid, Telford

Bad Children or Just Bad Parenting?

It is often remarked that there is no such thing as a bad child, just a bad parent. The use of the word “bad” however is an interesting one. Does this mean that a bad parent is one that does not fulfil its responsibilities as a parent? If so, what is a bad child? One who doesn’t fulfil his or her responsibilities as a child? In that case then, a child who does quantum physics instead of playing in a playground is a bad child as they do not serve their purpose of what we perceive a child to be.

The point I am attempting to prove (through a rather pathetic analogy) is that the term “bad” is perhaps too vague.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bad

Masturbation - The Vertigo of Bliss?!

When I was about fourteen I left my treasured Biffy Clyro CD around the house (right). My mum called me in to have a “chat” because she didn’t deem it suitable for my eleven year old sister’s eyes. At age eleven she would have had her first encounter with Sex Education and my mother would have been the first to answer any biological questions she may have had. So why was the picture of a cartoon girl masturbating too much for my sister to be allowed to see? Was it because masturbation is a taboo?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6EJKlNYoJw

Mon the Biffy and "Liberate the Illiterate"

Response to Jomarilin's Pygmalion Blog

This is a very interesting and insightful view on a culture that overwhelms our society in such a way that we often find ourselves immersed within it.

Jade Goody these days can just be recognised by one name, like Shakespeare or Hitler! While I am not comparing her to either of these men in personality, is she just as significant in our era as these men were in their respective times?! Jade may not have left any great poetical works or devastated millions of lives but she has brought to the attention of the public the dangers of not being tested for life threatening illnesses.

Lying with Integrity

The lecture on “Lying with Integrity” raised many ethical questions. One such has been in the news recently, following a survey on how little sex and relationships is discussed at home and the responsibilities that parents have to educate their children. For instance, is it bad to tell a four year old that babies are delivered by storks? Two influential philosophers would reach different conclusions. Kant may argue that it is our duty to tell the truth to that child whereas Bentham would weigh up the Principle of Utility when addressing lies. Bentham asserted that we should act under the premise of achieving the greatest good for the greatest number. If lying to a child about where babies come from helps more than it harms, I will follow Bentham’s theory.

Utilitarian, Telford

Motives of Villians

Before starting the Being Bad module I read Burgess’ famous novel ‘A Clockwork Orange’. It raised questions for me about violence, free will and the motives behind violence. These issues were addressed in Thursday’s lecture on bandits. We learned that violence wasn’t a condemnable offense when it under the premise of politics in the case of the notoriously violent Jesse James. I have been puzzling as to why this is the case. Perceptions of criminals change when their apparent motives are taken into account. The main character (not quite ‘hero’) of ‘A Clockwork Orange’, Alex, takes part in what he calls “ultra violence” and has no real motive besides a passion for seeing blood and exercising control over his community. Jesse James however lived a similar way, showing control over his community and using violence to achieve what he wanted but is widely regarded as a hero because he claimed to have a political motive. What makes a villain? Is it their actions or the motives behind them?

http://www.ci.st-joseph.mo.us/history/jessejames.cfm

Your Humble Narrator, Telford

An Alternative View

Whether you agree or disagree with the differing views on infidelity scattered around various blogs, one thing cannot be disputed: it produces the best (and often most self-indulgent) music. From the anger of most of Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill album, Rihanna’s aptly named hit Unfaithful, Damien Rice’s B side Lonelily (which also proves that this level of self-indulgence means that nobody seems to mind when you make up words) to Joan Armatrading’s Weakness in Me, music is at its best when we surrender to a little infidelity. So, morals aside, the aisles of HMV would be quieter places without infidelity.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pjMwzujbHE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_4-zRVFLnY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR6mEu5-egA

Mrs Duplicity, Telford

Response to Kate's Column

Re: Prostitution
I agree with Kate’s sentiments that women can often unknowingly lead men on while on a night out but should accepting a drink mean that she should “succumb to his sexual needs”?! And, what kind of a society do we live in that means that accepting a drink from a stranger increases the risk of sexual assault?

Infidelity, all relative?

As with many of the best conversations, this debate occurred on Friday night after a few glasses of wine but it made me think about Thursday’s lecture from a new perspective. The question posed to me was “does looking at pornography count as cheating?” As the only female of the group I thought it best to keep a back seat on the discussion and listen to the various male perspectives on this subject. The first response was that every man has a collection of porn, ranging from a stack so high it is used as a piece of furniture, a DVD collection in various languages to webpage bookmarks. The general consensus was that, no, it was not cheating as it actually acts a deterrent to prevent the need to go out looking for the real thing. However, if porn is chosen over the girlfriend/wife, it is unacceptable.
http://www.truthaboutdeception.com/quizzes/public/infidelity_statistics.html

Bigamy

I would like to address an issue that has bothered me for some time now, bigamy. Bigamy is a taboo that most of us find difficult to understand. We don’t seem to be able to get our heads around the idea of openly having multiple partners. However, the first ‘Being Bad’ lecture revealed that many of us have indulged in infidelities at some point in our romantic history. So what grants us this supposed moral high ground to judge others lifestyle choices? Is it more acceptable when your multiple partners are a well guarded secret? Or is it just less uncomfortable for society to digest?

Frustrated Mormon, Telford

http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/B/Bigamy.aspx