Because sports ruin your hair...

Taken from the piece over at The Guardian:

A council spokeswoman said: "West Dunbartonshire Council has installed nine sets of hair straighteners within the changing facilities at each of the council's three new flagship schools...The falling rate of female participation in sport was a key issue discussed by pupils and improvements to changing and showering facilities, including the installation of hair straighteners, was considered important in reversing this trend. The installation amounts to a total expenditure of less than £1,000 to encourage more girls to participate in PE and support positive self-image."

So to support positive self-image in girls we are providing them with hair and beauty facilities to encourage them to participate in PE...surely this is merely reinforcing the message that it's all about how we look? How about promoting positive self-image through demonstrating that physical appearance isn't the be all and end all?

Channel 4 Super Botox Me

Last night I watched Super Botox Me, a Channel 4 documentary-type on botox. It followed journalist Kate Spicer on a botox quest; asking questions regarding vanity and the increasing cosmetic world we live in. I found it really interesting and disturbing at the same time. By the end Spicer, who from the start seemed quite aligned to feminist ideology, decided she would carry on with botox in the future because of the way it had made her feel. Changing the way she looked, albeit it not drastically, had really impacted the way she felt about herself. Fair enough I think and yes, I agree that often how you look on the outside does impact your feelings on the inside. But what I disagree with is the fact we are made to feel just that. I think it's fucking hard being a woman in contemporary society (no surprise there) and even harder to be a feminist woman in contemporary society. I am told how I should look, how I should dress, what is acceptable, what is deemed beautiful, and I know I shouldn't listen to all that but it's hard. When you've had such ideals drilled into you during your childhood, during your teenage years and during your early adulthood, it is really bloody hard to tune it out; to say you're not going to buy into it. I do worry about how I look, I do care about what people might think, I do buy nice clothes to make me feel good and I don't see this as a major problem for now because I recognise why I feel I need to do these things. I realise the hold society has on women with regards to appearance. And so, for the time being, I'm kind of happy to do as I do but to know inside why I do what I do. And I don't know if I had a point here or whether this was just a flow of consciousness but yeah, there you go. Thoughts?