Afternoon:
10°c
I was not expecting this but the King's College heat of the Miss University London beauty pageant on Tuesday night has made me feel glad to be alive. Not because it's always nice to see more chignons worn in public. Although it is. And it's definitely not because I feel empowered by seeing young women queuing up to be evaluated, like Stepford Wives. I don't. I feel a bit queasy.
No, the reason I'm so excited is because - wait for it - people actually came, dozens of them, to the Crystal Club in Marylebone expressly to protest. They were incensed enough to write slogans on their own bed sheets. They had invented chants like "Beauty is not skin deep" and "Our bodies are not for sale". This is extraordinary. Someone cared enough to turn up and say: "This is wrong." This is important. It means that feminism is not dead.
The protesters were young, hip men and women. (You can tell I am too old to be one of their number as I still use the word "hip".) A lot of them were cute too: a few were wearing miniskirts and one girl had on a fantastic pair of red suede knee-high boots. They were not weirdo killjoys. They were ordinary students who felt depressed about the fact that 30 years after feminism, beauty contests are still taking place where young women are lined up and judged as sex objects.
From what I can tell from looking at the protesters' clothes (not a dungaree or hairy armpit in sight), they, like me, have nothing against glamour, beauty or fun - the opposite. I'm sure they would agree that if the King's College wannabe beauty queens had been wearing the same outfits to a Christmas ball, they would have looked fabulous. Instead, standing comparing one another in the traditional pageant line-up, the girls looked grotesque.And that's even before they queued up to have their waist and bust measurements taken. Which is supposed to be - what? - ironic? Context is everything. And beauty pageants are meat markets.
What's encouraging, though, is that some students understand this. They're quicker off the mark than I was. When I was at university in the early Nineties I believed what I was told: that sexism didn't exist any more and women have just as many opportunities as men. It took me years to understand that feminism did not make as much of a difference as everyone pretends. I didn't finally "get" it until I had children and realised that my husband would just be going to work as normal. Suddenly I understood why I had so rarely been in a workplace with a woman over the age of 40 (let alone 50).
Sexism has never died out but still the Miss University London beauty pageant set out to show that the women's movement was a waste of time.
Instead it proved the opposite. Feminism is alive and well. And we still need it now more than ever. Start ripping up your sheets and take to the streets. Don't forget to wear amazing boots.
I'm Strictly a saint of a mother
Finally it came. The phone call I had been waiting for all my life. Or for the past three months anyway. Would I like a front row seat at Saturday's Strictly Come Dancing live show at Television Centre? I screamed, burst into tears and hung up immediately so that I could book a hair appointment. Then my husband reminded me about the visit to Santa's Grotto. It was booked six months ago and the times clashed. So which was it to be? My children or Vincent's cha-cha? Surely there was no contest: it must be Strictly every time. The family adopted martyred expressions in readiness for the inevitable. In the end, however, I just couldn't do it. The elves won. What am I turning into? A good mother?
Derek gets my celebrity vote
Theatre fans faced a tough choice this week. With David Tennant starring in Hamlet at the Novello Theatre on Tuesday and Derek Jacobi opening in Twelfth Night at Wyndham's Theatre last night, one arts buff told me: Don't tell anyone but I just can't face Shakespeare two nights running. I agreed and plumped for Jacobi.
It was the right choice: Tennant was replaced by understudy Edward Bennett at the last minute because of a back injury. Despite Bennett's rave reviews, you couldn't help but feel that the whole appeal of Hamlet was based on the celeb casting. With Twelfth Night, not only do you get the thespian moral high ground (no tawdry rubber-necking or fighting off disappointed Dr Who fans) but it's also the most festive theatrical offering in town. Wassail!
Reader views (8)
Yes, and Viv was going to ogle Vincent just for his cha-cha? Why not lighten up people and live and let live? Obviously, irony isn't big in Milan, Pazza, though if I remember rightly, it's a world capital for boob gazing!
- Paul, London, 12/12/2008 10:34
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Oh Michael Mcginn, yours is an original wit! Ray from London, your comments so insightful into the feminist psyche.
Or not. Thank you for writing about this Viv, and I hope you continue to support young feminists. We've got a lot to say and standing up against objectification is just the start of it.
- Eleanargh, London, 11/12/2008 22:38
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Thought the babes looked cute,the protestors should get back with their tree hugging buddies orbetter still .........the kitchen.
- Michael Mcginn, London, 11/12/2008 19:07
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I agree with Paul. What is the difference between a person showcasing their talent to sing or dance with another's talent to look good? I remember when Kylie Minogue announced she was too old to wear revealing outfits anymore and her next singles bombed. As soon as she started showing her legs again, she had hits. It's called life.
Viv - suggest you get one!
- Stephen Rothbart, Prague, Czech Republic, 11/12/2008 18:52
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It looks to me like the good looking babes were on the stage strutting their stuff and the not so good looking babes were doing the protesting. I reckon that good old fashioned jealousy was the motivation behind the protests.
- Ray, London, 11/12/2008 16:49
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Oh Paul, London...you have just unknowingly given more weight to Viv's arguement. Is the UK full of moronic, boob gazing men? I'm with you Viv, thank goodness someone is carrying on the cause..
- Pazza, Milan, 11/12/2008 16:13
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Why is it that Feminists always get censored, allowing the general pornification of society to have a voice? Giving the businesses who basically buy and sell women, ie like slavery, a voice, is like giving fascists 'freedom of expression.' Otherwise multibillion dollar organisations such as P***Boy, having several hardcore porn channels would not slap on a bunny logo and sell to children in masses, what is a basically a female- degrading company. The pageant is just a microcosm of the wider world, that allows women to be commodified, well done to the protesters!!
- Suswati, london, 11/12/2008 15:32
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And what about freedom of expression, Viv? Why should people who want to join a beauty pageant not do so? No one forces you to go and watch, and there are plenty more weighty issues to ponder, such as whether to get yout hair done and go to watch Strictly Come Dancing!
- Paul, London, 11/12/2008 12:57
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