Aqila - Headington School

AQ I L A
HEADINGTON HOTSPOT PRESENTS...
BABIES NOT
BARBIES
The terrifying world of child
beauty pageants.
GIRLS WILL...BE GIRLS
But do boys have to play soldier?
BEING A DISNEY PRINCESS
Every girl’s dream...and their mother’s.
Foreword:
As Helen Keller once said, ‘alone we can
do so little; together we can do so much’.
This magazine is a testament to this, as every single line of text, every drawing and
every photograph was painstakingly crafted by our team of students. We could not have
produced anything remotely as wonderful and fantastic as Aqila without the awe-inspiring
combination of skill, talent and knowledge among the members of our group. We motivated
each other, put our heads together to conquer the obstacles and in the end, we succeeded together.
We stand as living proof of the main message presented in Aqila: that girls,
women, have the power to do anything when united for one cause and liberated from the
restraints of discriminatory stereotypes. To many, this magazine acted as a tool for
self-reflection, a chance to contemplate our own actions and roles in society. Our
deep soul searching led to one answer: gender inequality is still highly prominent
in our society ... and we can do something about it. Thus, Aqila Magazine was born.
The name of our magazine, Aqila, is a girl’s name derived from the Arabic word for
‘wisdom’. The title reflects the message of our magazine: women have the wisdom and
strength to fight for our half of the world. The diversity of our team meant that we had
the unique opportunity to explore and investigate women’s rights across the globe, as
students of different ages and nationalities wrote about their own homes and communities.
Fundraising events organised by members of our group helped to raise over £300 in donations for
WomanKind, a charity that supports women in Third World Countries by providing
education, shelter and counselling. Although we were all lucky enough to grow up in
developed and modern environments that allowed for opporunities and freedom for women, we cannot forget our sisters who are less fortunate.
Therefore, this magazine is ultimately a tribute to their fight and an acknowledgement of the part we all must play in order to make a difference.
Christy Flora Au
Editor-in-Chief
1 THE GENDER STEREOTYPE
5 GIRLS WILL...BE GIRLS
11 NETBALL...FOR MEN?
15 AN ANCESTRAL JOURNEY
19 TO BE GRATEFUL
23 UNITED AS ONE
26 OUR HALF OF THE WORLD
28 THE GIRLS OF OUR HOME
31 BOLLYWOOD
37 BABIES NOT BARBIES
41 MA AND DAUGHTER TALK
45 BEING A DISNEY PRINCESS
1
The Gender Stereotype
Caitlin Burns
I was brought up differently. Most parents tended
to focus on making sure their little girls all liked
dresses and the colour pink, spoiling them with
makeup and Barbie dolls to fulfill all their fantasies. I knew quite a few of these girls and every
so often I was invited to play with their dolls, to
host an imaginary tea party, and to dance for the
fairy queen when she came to visit. Switching
ballet for football, makeup for toy cars, and skirts
for trousers, I forged my own path, in spite of the
feminine stereotype that society had set up for me.
My single-minded approach towards the world
prompted a combined effort from my family to
open my eyes to the other side of the spectrum:
my father tried to push me into glittery frocks
and my mother encouraged more female-orientated activities. They feared that bullying would
result from my preferences, the cruelty of children channelled towards the ‘different one’.
2
‘Kids will be kids’ … a metaphorical phrase used to excuse
inexcusable children and reveal the actual opinions and
influences of the parental unit.
Our society preaches the
politically correct mantra of
young people forging their own
paths; yet, there are seemingly
immutable barriers that stand
between these children and
what they love. The glitter
thrown in our eyes still cannot conceal the fact that the
social pressures to conform are
glaringly obvious. Politicians
may point out that there are
male ballet dancers and female
engineers; yes, but that does
not do justice to the opposition
they had to overcome, just because of their gender. The pride
in the dancer’s steps is not just
confidence in his own ability,
but a combination of his training and the constant struggle he
faces to get where he is today.
Society sets up social norms
that parents force their
children to adhere to. I was
taught to always be myself, that it
wasn’t
wrong
for
me
3
to like something that the toy
shop had labelled as ‘boys
only’. However, some children
are faced with harsh words
from their parents - ‘don’t play
with that George - it’s for girls.’
They grow up with the voices
bouncing around their skulls,
forcing them to walk to the
other end of the store and pick
up something they don’t want,
fake smiles not reaching their
eyes when they play with their
presents, trying to force themselves to like it because that’s
what ‘all little girls play with.’
The problem of gender
stereotyping escalates even
further when the education
system is taken into question.
Schools providing single-sex
education constantly exclude
subjects not deemed the gender
norm, outrightly assuming that
nobody would want to study
subjects that deviate from their
assigned ‘path’. For example,
boys’ schools may place less
emphasis on the arts or textiles,
while subjects like Physics take
prevalence. Some subjects,
such as the STEM curriculum for girls and technology,
are slowly catching on as
the stigma of computing
or chemistry being a ‘boys
only’ subject is fading away.
However, STEM subjects are
still, statistically, male dominated, which often deters girls
from taking that career path.
Who wants to be the odd one
out? The idea that a certain
gender is better for a specific
job stems from a traditionalist
view that prevents the new generation from fully stretching
theirs wings. It is not our place
to limit the potential of others,
only to encourage and support.
The idealistic rose-tinted glasses must come off: equality is
still a far away dream, albeit
slightly closer than before.
Let’s practice what we preach
and stop the gender stereotype.
4
GIRLS WILL.
...BE GIRLS
Tamsin Rodgers
It begins with the word ‘ladylike’.
We are taught to stand up
straight, to smile daintily, to
be charming and composed
and unfailingly polite. Scuffed
shoes and scraped knees are
for little boys rough-housing
on the playground, while we
are confined to pigs’ tails and
skipping ropes and knee socks.
We have all, at some point in
our lives, been pigeon-holed;
fit into neat little boxes that feel
more like prison cells, the roles
of our gender dictated to us
rather than defined by us. If
not by our parents then by
our schools, and if not by our
schools then by the media;
we are spoon fed toxic gender norms from the outset.
Our own gender identities are
taken from us and sold back
to us in the form of stunted
stereotypes. Little boys play
soldiers whilst little girls play
mother to a doll, and everything
is colour coded; we live in a
world of pink and blue, as if no
one has ever heard of purple.
In response to this there have
7
been many campaigns such
as that of ‘Let Toys Be
Toys’. This was was set up
in 2012 and works towards
dismantling the gender divide
obvious in the marketing of
toys to children in the hope of
freeing young children from
the pressure that they feel to
conform to the ‘traditional’ (or,
in other words, outdated and
sexist) gender roles that their
own toys impose upon them.
Growing up, I was taught that
femininity was synonymous
to passiveness, to coming second place and being all blunt
edges. I had to be sweeter,
quieter, was assumed to be
weaker, somehow less sharp
than my male playmates. Boys
would be boys, and I would be
ladylike,
and
all
was as it should be.
The issue with this, though, is
that, not all little boys want to
play soldier. The phrase ‘boys
will be boys’ is used to excuse
the inexcusable: the unruly
behaviour, the untempered
anger, and later, unapologetic objectification of women.
This phrase is used to generalise and stereotype, perpetuating
the warped idea of masculinity that if boys are not tyrants
in toddlers’ shoes, if they are
not brimming with barely
contained rage, then they
do not qualify as boys.
They do not qualify as men.
They are weak, they are
‘girlish’, they are somehow less.
So boys will be boys and girls
will be ridiculed. Boys will be
boys and girls will be objectified.
And maybe I’m not a whirlwind
of white knuckled rage, but
I’m no wilting flower, either.
thing they’re not. I hope for a
world where boys will be boys,
girls will be girls and we will
all be whoever we want to be,
and it is our job to be proactive
and work towards such a future.
Now, I can say that I am
finally learning that my
femininity isn’t defined by what
society thinks I should be, or
the adverts I see on TV; it’s not
defined by the clothes I wear or
my hobbies or the career I’m
aiming for. I define myself, and
my femininity doesn’t have to
define me if I don’t want it to.
The ideal world is a unisex
utopia, with little girls free
to play soldier and little boys
free to wear pink, with no one
ever expecting them to be any-
8
9
10
11
Netball...for men?
Rachael Palmer
When someone asks you to name an
English cricket or football player, do you only
conjure up the names of the men that play?
Does Wayne Rooney or Freddy Flintoff roll off
your tongue? I’ll take a guess that at least one
Manchester United icon you had in mind was a man.
Same goes for a different sport ... netball.
Can you name any great players? In my
opinion, it would have to be Pam Cookey, but
that question isn’t a fair one as netball is only
played by women. So, is the game of netball
considered sexist as men aren’t featured
in the game?
What about rowing? Name two top rowers from
the Olympics. Most people are able to name a
male and female rower immediately. Cultural
upbringing played a part for them as athletes and
maybe us too - the consequence of media exposure
of our very own representatives in the Olympics.
Now consider how your family lifestyle defines
your cultural upbringing where women are concerned in sport. Were you only exposed to the sports
12
that your parents considered were appropriate for
your gender? Maybe ballet
for girls or something more
‘laddish’ with dad? I’m pleased
to say that my parents were
open to any participation in
sport. ‘Have a go and see
what you like,’ they said. This
included tag rugby and cricket.
Across the world we are
culturally different. This has
the impact of individual points
of view. Different cultures
have different childhoods, and
added to that are the variations
in our ‘parental beliefs’ and
‘parental behaviours’. For
instance, my mother, although
relaxed about activities and
aspirations she exposed me
to, joked with us when we
were small that football was
poisonous! Somewhere deep
in the back of my mind her
influence has tarnished my
outlook on Rugby... is a
woman really anatomically
built for the real game of rugby? Or am I relying on my biology lessons knowing there
are very physical differences
between males and females?
13
The cause and effect of how
one perceives a woman is
often documented in those
self-help books, ‘Women are
from Venus and Men are from
Mars’, listing our differences. Or is it just plain common
sense of nature and nurture?
Taking a look into history,
adults and children had a role
to play and their sex defined
those roles. My great-greatgrandmother was expected to
look after her five children.
It was always the daughters
who did the housework type
of chores never the sons. Each
were given defined roles and
expectations of their future
employment based on their
gender. Her sons went to
war and her daughters were
aiming at being in service
as scullery maids. The girls
weren’t expected to fight. My
great-grandmother started off
her teenage years alongside a
housekeeper. She was expected
to be able to cook and carry
out all of the household chores.
Losing her husband during
World War II, she set her sights
slightly higher than her own for
her daughter - my grandmother.
She attended grammar school
and trained in accountancy.
Thankfully in most situations our upbringing evolves
through time. When I was
eleven I was concentrating on
going into my next school. At
sixteen, I was able to discuss
with my parents my choice of
sixth form and future career...
avoiding being a scullery
maid. Till this day, there
are still certain cultures
that believe men are more
useful and ntelligent than
women. We only have to look
at the statistics for female
foetal abortions, the denial
of education for girls, female
trafficking and forced teenage
marriages to see this still exists.
drive to work as a human
rights lawyer whilst my
husband drops off the children at
school. Gender stereotypes are
becoming arbitrary and it is
time that the world realised this
as well.
In the 1980s, the sex discrimination act was formed and the
choices were therefore opened
for women with the law to
support them. Our upbringing is
shaped by what went before us
and I will look forward to being
able to drive a car in the future;
first in the UK and then maybe
one day in Saudi Arabia as I
14
15
An Ancestral Journey
Sasha Liwicki
Many people are unaware of Southeast Asian
history in the Western world, although much
of it was under colonial rule 200 years ago.
It is perceived as so far removed, so exotic, as
to be almost irrelevant to our current affairs.
Consequently, people from Southeast Asia
remain unacknowledged and in the periphery.
However,
due
to
ever
increasing
globalisation
and
the
concept
of
decreasing space, there is a growing need to
understand this society and its customs.
My grandma was born in Malaya, now known
as Malaysia (and Singapore) in 1933 into a
middle class, well-off family. However, she was an
immediate disappointment because she was a girl.
In fact, she was the second youngest of four sisters and two brothers, and the boys were the “precious” children in this traditional Chinese family.
During the early years of her life she was dressed
as a boy, her hair cut short and she felt that wearing
baggy masculine clothes was a mark of her failure.
She very rarely talks about her childhood and I get
16
the
impression
that
it
wasn’t completely joyful.
My grandma lived in a time
of change, not only for
women’s rights, but also for the
political leaders and governments of her homeland. She
was born under British rule,
but Malaya had been a British
colony since 1826. By 1922,
Singapore, at its southern tip,
had been transformed from
a sleepy backwater into the
main British naval base and
trading port in East Asia.
As a young child , she was heavily
influenced by Chinese and
Malay superstitions garnered
from her parents and nanny.
She carried this strong sense
of the supernatural with her
into adulthood. Until the age
of 15 she was educated in
Malay and English. Unlike
Chinese women before her,
however, she attended school
but it was a very basic level of
education and greatly reflected
the style of education of the
Victorian era. She was very
shy as a young girl and would
often find herself in the corner
wearing a dunce hat. To make
17
matters worse she idolised her
elder sister, who was a lot more
vivacious and cunning, which
led to her taking the rap for many
joint misdemeanours. Caning
was a common punishment.
It was then, and still is now,
perfectly normal for parents
to choose favourites. Her
elder sister was a favourite of
her mother’s, but ultimately
the boys always came first.
During that period a girl’s
education
focused
on
knowledge
rather
than
mental wellbeing. Outside
her school life, she and her
sisters were taught how to run a
household and how to cook in
the proper Malay style. Hours
would be spent preparing food:
tailing beansprouts, and folding
“ghost money” for festivals.
Their kitchen was still protected
by kitchen gods and they were
Taoists. She then spent some
years in England continuing a
secondary education seen as the
best in the world, but she never
went to university as it was not
a necessity for a girl, which just
goes to show how far humanity
and gender equality have come.
Perhaps the most dramatic
period in my grandma’s
life was in 1941, when the
Japanese invaded Malaya
during World War One. The
Japanese wished to purify the
country of anyone who was
deemed to be anti-Japanese
as a result, 25 000 to 50 000
people were killed. Many more
were tortured, and food was
scarce. My grandmother was
living in Kuala Lumpur at the
time of the invasion and tried
to travel down to Singapore
before it fell, in a desperate
attempt to keep safe. It was a
torturous journey and she and
her family were turned back
without any hope or security.
In the years that followed
the end of the war and the
1957 British handover, the
young Chinese Lee Kuan Yew
was a politician growing in
popularity, but the Malaydominated government was
opposed to him and the
force of the large Chinese
minority.
Therefore
an
independent, mainly Chinese
Singapore was forced out of
Malaya in 1965. During this
time my grandmother met
my grandad, and she says she
married him because he was
a doctor and would look after her well. His family was
well respected. It was a pragmatic love match on her side
- quite a novelty as arranged
marriages
were
still
common. Her two eldest
sisters both had arranged
marriages as it was important to
maintain one’s social standing
by appropriate intermarriages.
Under the hand of Lee Kuan
Yew, Singapore flourished as
a cosmopolitan city with great
diversity. Till this day, it is
still considered on of the most
developed
and
forwardthinking countries in the
world. In the present day,
you can see Singapore’s past
resonating in the architecture,
people and language, especially
illuminating the journey women
in Malay-Singaporean culture
have had to undertake to reach
the position they are in now.
18
To
19
Be
Grateful
Sabrina Siu
When I look back on the
rather privileged childhood
I had, I realise that when
considering this question we
must take into account the
marked difference between
society’s
expectations
of
children in the past and nowadays.
If I had been born a few decades
earlier, higher education would
not have been mandatory and
I would have been expected to
work from around the age of 12,
to help support my family and
essentially, to ‘earn my keep’.
I was fortunate enough to be
born around the turn of the 21st
century, at a time of
considerable societal and
cultural change, and so I
am not automatically faced
with
such
expectations.
There
are
so
many
20
different
cultures
around
the world, meaning that
different people have always had
various opinions on young girls
and women, and their role in
society; in some traditions
women have been perceived
as weak, docile members of
society that exist only to obey
their male counterparts. This
view dates back to, and even
precedes, the classical period,
when a woman’s sole contribution to society was to marry and
produce a male heir to inherit
her husband’s estate. Not only
did this influence and dominate
a large part of European and
indeed, Asian, culture, for
much of recorded history, this
orthodox view of women still
exists
in
some
parts
of
society
today.
My parents are Chinese, and
I have been brought up in a
culture that to this day,
continues to value male
offspring much more than
female ones. China’s one-child
policy, which was put into effect
during the late 1970s, has been the
main culprit of the Chinese population’s skewed demographic.
21
China has always been a
distinctly patriarchal society,
and the enforcement of this
policy led to the increase of
sex-selective abortion or, in
some cases, infanticide. The
desire to conceive a son to
carry on the family name
is deeply rooted in our
tradition, and this, along with
China’s attempt at population
control, is how it came to be
embedded in the Chinese
psyche to favour male infants
and frown upon female births.
This means that from the very
moment of birth, women in
my culture are faced with a
major challenge: to prove
that we should be valued and
respected just as much as men
are. Women have always been
perceived as housewives and
mothers: throughout Chinese
history, men have always been
the workers upon whose income
the entire family depended in
order to survive. While that
may have been true up to the
mid-1900s, it is no longer the
case. Today, there are many
women in our culture who have
shown that they are perfectly
capable of handling motherhood and full-time employment.
This change in view can, I
believe, be attributed largely
to rapidly growing industries
and the spreading of European
culture. The Second World War
spanned six years and required
a huge amount of ammunition and supplies, resulting in
crippled economies. By 1945,
industries were failing to keep
up with the rapid demand for
arms and, with most of the
men fighting on the front,
German women were made to
register for work, contradicting
previous Nazi teachings that a
woman’s place was in the
house with her children. As a
result, when it was shown that
women were equally, if not
more, capable than men,
there came the gradual
integration of women into
other professions during the
latter half of the 20th century.
Germany, I would have had as
many genetically pure child
as I could; if I had been born
in 1970s China, I might have
been cast out of my family for
not being the son they wanted.
But, I was born at the turn of
the century, at a time of social
change, at a time when, for
the first time in history, men
and women are being seen
by most as equals, and for
that, I am eternally grateful.
The crux of the matter, then,
is this: if I had been born in
ancient Greece, I would have
spent my days weaving at the
loom; if I had been born in Nazi
22
** The calabash (urn) and the coral beads are traditional Nigerian
symbols for marriage.
23
United
as
One
Lotta chukwu Ilukwe
‘Sit straight, chin up, remember to smile,
but do not speak unless spoken to...’ said
Anwulika’s autocratic father, Mazi Okoye.
Anwulika
is
a
young,
dark-skinned
beauty from the Imo State of Nigeria. Born into an
influential family, she receives only the best from
her parents during her childhood. She goes to
the best schools, has holidays all over the world
and is even given private piano lessons. Not
many in Nigeria grow up with such opportunities.
Anwulika is very bright, dreaming of becoming an
architect and one day building the 8th Wonder of
the World. But then something happens - reality.
‘... be very polite and make sure you kneel
to greet Chief Okonji. I want today to go
perfectly so that we can marry you off.’
The dreams of this industrious woman were
shattered when her father barged into her room with
‘good news’. He proudly announced that the Igwe
(Nigerian word for Chief), who was already
married to three women, had taken an interest in her
and would consider taking her as his fourth wife.
24
Anwulika protested to this,
knowing it meant that she
wouldn’t be allowed past
secondary school. All five of
her older sisters had quietly
accepted their fate and were
now married with children. But
she was different – smarter,
more talented, more motivated
than them. Why should she have
to resign herself to the domestic life of kitchen and children
just because her father said so?
The picture painted here
has been all too common in
many African countries in the
past. Parents were raising the
‘perfect’ girl purely so that she
would one day be ‘chosen’ to
be a wife; so that she could
cook meals for her husband
and make him happy. Raising a
child and managing a home are
undeniably admirable things,
but she would never amount
to anything more. Anwulika’s
intelligence, her potential,
her thirst for knowledge will
never amount to anything.As she
resigns
herself
to
the
mundane
life
of
the
housewife she never wanted
to be, she says a silent prayer
for her own daughter – that her
25
child will be everything she
couldn’t be. And she will be.
The Nigerian girl in the 21st
century is far different from
that ‘perfect’ woman of old.
‘What’s it like to be an African girl?’, people often ask
me. I cannot answer that question, because I’m not just an
African. I am Nigerian. I am an
Igbo girl, and while our cultures
are different, they are centered
around the same value system.
In the course of my life, I have
been asked a lot of questions
about Africa with regards to
poverty, health, politics and
the like. There is a lot of negativity associated with where I
come from. However, being
a girl in Nigeria definitely has
its perks. While we are now
educated like the girls in any
western culture, we have kept or
traditions intact. The value of
family, respect and community
will forever bond us together.
There are over two hundred
different languages spoken in
Nigeria, two hundred tribes, two
hundred ways of worship, and,
still, we see ourselves as one.
Our Half of
the World
Crystal Yip
Traditionally, women were
forced into the ‘weaker’
roles of society and therefore
stereotyped as such. For
example, females were not
allowed to fight for their
country because they were of
the weaker sex. However, their
‘weakness’ was also what made
them inferior to men. The two
concepts of ‘weak women’
and ‘less important women’
were interwoven, used to
oppress and reduce the value
of females hundreds of years.
The same is true of
China: a country that has been
through 67 dynasties and 446
emperors - all of which were
men. However, 446 emperors
did not mean 446 empresses. Emperors were allowed
to have hundreds of wives if
they wished, and it would be a
woman’s dream to be one of
those hundreds. They would
have expensive clothes to wear,
glamorous jewelry to choose
from, delicious food to eat
and
a substantial supply
of money. They could have
anything they wanted, and
they only had to share one
thing - the emperor himself.
If each concubine was allowed
a fair share of the emperor,
each wife would probably
end up with a single eyelash
each. This became a problem.
Some wives were greedier than
others, wanting more than
the miniscule shavings of
affection they were allotted.They
wanted the emperor’s heart, and
so, competition began. Wives
would use their tricks to gain
the much coveted position as
the emperor’s ‘favourite’; they
would cook for him, they would
dance for him, they would
sing for him, but the one way
guaranteed
to
win
the
competition would be to
produce a male heir for the
emperor. As such, these
wives became heir producing
machines, with the birth of
sons rejoiced and the birth of
daughters mourned. Daughters
26
could not raise the status of
their mother in the emperor’s
eyes, and so the princesses were
reduced to bargaining chips;
they were sold off as wives
to foreign princes to bridge
alliances.
While
young
princes grew up to compete
over the emperor’s ‘dragon seat’
and continue the cycle of wife
marrying and heir producing. Girls were tools - and that
was that.
Today,
men
no
longer
have the freedom to have
multiple wives and women are
allowed to join the armed forces.
Seemingly, gender equality has
finally
been
achieved.
However, the introduction of
the One Child Policy (1980)
has prevented over 400 million
births. In 2013, the Chinese
27
government announced that
over the last four decades, the
nation had aborted 336 million
children, the majority of which
were girls due to the lingering
cultural preference for boys.
The 21st century has seen
the progression of anti
discrimination against women. We, as the new generation
of girls coming of age, are
fortunate to have the chance of
becoming independent, free
thinking individuals, rather
than victims of patriarchal
authority. However, us girls still
have a large battle to fight, and
the
soldiers,
doctors,
lawyers
and
supporters
of Feminism must stand
together and strengthen our
claim to our half of the world.
The Girls of
our
Home
Hannah Anson
According to the 2015 Global
Gender Gap report, Britain
ranks 18th out of 145 countries
in terms of gender equality.
Female life expectancy out
weigh males’, and in 2008
we were ranked 16th in terms
of the Gender Empowerment Measure. It is very
interesting to note that
according to this report,
the male to female ratio for
literacy
rate
and
enrolment in both primary and
secondary education is equal.
Why, then, are the statistics
for economic opportunity and
political empowerment so
shocking? The equality ranking (with 0.00 being complete
inequality and 1.00 being
perfect equality) for both
women in parliament and
the proportion of women as
senior officials and managers
was 0.27. These are the same
statistics
recorded
in
Guinea ... the only difference
being that that country ranked
131st in gender equality. What
is going wrong in the space
between women leaving an
equal education system and
entering a world of employment riddled with entrenched
misogyny and discrimination?
When
addressing
the
question of what it’s like to be
a girl in my culture, I run the
risk of being perceived as a
‘white privileged feminist’.
This is a position I view as both
close-minded and unacceptable. My interpretation and
perspective
of
feminism
is one that addresses the
inequalities faced by both
genders; the higher levels
of discrimination faced by
black women than white; the
atrocities of child marriage
and FGM that are faced by so
many girls across the planet. I
recognise that I’m extremely
fortunate to be living in the
18th most equal country in the
world. Whilst one acknowledges this, we run the risk of
allowing fortune to fester into
28
complacency. No country
in the world has achieved
gender equality, and Britain is
far from close. As a woman, I
have encountered many acts of
sexual harassment, in the form
of uninvited groping at gigs or
the hurling of derogatory insults
whilst walking down the road.
This is unacceptable and
degrading, and I want to know
how this ‘casual’ misogyny
has found such a prominent
place in our culture. Maybe it
is to do with the rise of ‘Lad
Culture’ which encourages the
sexualisation or even raping
of women? This phenomenon
is particularly prevalent at
universities,
with
an
estimated 1 in 3 female
students having experienced
sexual assault on campus.
Whilst this rise in the social
acceptance of the objectification
of women has clearly impacted
our society, we should perhaps
look at the deep-rooted causes
of this. The professional world
of Britain does not provide a
good role model for citizens to
base their perception of women
on. Over 50,000 women find
themselves fired as a result of
29
becoming pregnant, and female
finance workers in London
earn 36% less than men ... for
doing exactly the same thing.
These instances of deeprooted sexism range from the
prevalence
of
sexual
assault in the army, which is so
pronounced that it has led to the
production of explicit posters
explaining the concept of
consent, to the torrents of
online abuse hurled at
prominent female figures for
voicing their opinions. Labour
MP Stella Creasy evidences
this, and was subjected to
both rape and murder threats
for the outrageous crime of
campaigning to have Jane
Austen
appear
on
the
ten
pound
note.
I am not saying that I am
ungrateful to live in the 18th
most equal country in the
world, but what I am saying
is that this is not an excuse
to become indolent. A deeprooted prejudice still holds a
grip over British society, and
until we make a conscious effort
to address this everyday sexism,
we cannot progress as a nation.
30
BOLLYWOOD
Shakira Morar
31
32
Bollywood is a wonderful world of colour, entertainment and storytelling. But there are some elements that have hindered the progress of women
and their perception of beauty, as seen by Vidya Balan’s case and the promotion of bleaching creams.
Body shaming is a problem that is associated with
Western culture but it is evidently present in Bollywood. Balan (actress) used to be large: she received criticism for this despite feeling comfortable with her shape and appearance when younger.
Growing up led her to become aware of her body
which is a feeling many can relate to. The fact that
people were commenting on her shape and not her
skills as an actress, demonstrates the embedded
criticism of females in the entertainment industry.
She was so upset by the comments that she took
weight loss pills, as advised by a nutritionist who
manipulated her. After losing weight, the nutritionist received the credit. Balan was congratulated for having responded to the criticism she had
received but she knew this wasn’t right – she experienced the physical and emotional consequences.
Balan realised she was always tired and eventually put the weight back on that she had lost;
she went to see a doctor. Imagine the feeling of being told she was healthy. Her previously damaged health was a result of the
33
manipulation she underwent
by those around her. She refused to thank those people
who congratulated her on losing weight as this did her no
favours, demonstrating to
girls that no one is entitled to
shame you for your body type.
Balan emerged with her weight
regained for her upcoming
film and won four awards.
By embracing her appearance, she showed that her success as an actress was not defined by her shape but by her
hard work and healthy self.
Although Bollywood actresses have been victimised, they
have also played a role in the
perception of beauty which has
affected girls’ self-perception.
Actresses are presented as pale
which is perceived as beautiful. Although this is not in their
control, it has led to the rise of
bleaching creams. On the products, girls are presented with
role models that appear paler
than themselves, instead of
those who promote ethnic pride.
They are told what is more attractive by an industry looking
to exploit their distorted perception of beauty. This is damaging and comes back to the idea
that girls are more conscious of
their appearance when older.
Indian culture is a diverse spectrum of traditions, ideals and
perceptions that have evolved
over time. However, there
would be more progress globally, if some were made outdated.
34
35
Let
us
rather
be
than
beautiful
who
for
we
who
are
we
are,
manipulated
into being. The puppet show must come
to an end and the lifeless dolls must be
allowed their own time to shine. No amount
of
bleaching
cream,
dieting
or
intense
exercise regimes can change who I am
- and I am beautiful for it.
36
37
Babies
not
Barbies
Rebecca Ricketts
The child beauty pageant industry is not new,
and has been around since the 1920s. What is
new is the transformation of a simple contest
to find an attractive child, into a professional
business that brings in around $20 billion a
year, and is turning young girls into miniature
beauty queens with garish, plastered on
make-up,
big
hair
and
sequined
costumes
that
are
more
reminiscent of Bratz than traditional princess
outfits.
Balancing grooming and performing with the
right amount of pazaz must be an onerous task
for a four-year-old who is still tackling her
ABCs and 123s. David Carey makes the point
that “Dressing children up in adult makeup and
clothes robs them of childhood. Dress up is part of
child’s play: it should not be forced on children.’’
Despite criticism that the pageants merely
exist to allow ambitious, narcissistic parents to
live through their children, the pageant industry
thrives. In 2009 it was estimated that 250,000
children competed in 5,000 pageants in America,
and that some spent up to $3,000 on their dresses.
38
By
prioritising pageant
costumes, fees and grooming over expenses such as
rent, some competing families
unsurprisingly go into debt ;
some have confessed to
spending up to $30,000
on
the
competitions.
Apart from the financial costs
associated with pageants,
there are also concerns that
emphasising the importance
of beauty and appearance
may be detrimental to the
long-term
mental
health
and
well-being
of
such
young
children.
Irish psychologist, David
Carey observes: “I am not
aware of any research about the
impact of these pageants on the
children.
However,
as
a psychologist with an
interest in child development,
I think that over-emphasis on
beauty and feminisation is
counter-productive to the
development of a girl’s
ability to integrate into
society as a whole person rather than an object of beauty.”
In 2009, a poll of 3,000 teen
girls showed that more than
39
a quarter would spend their
money on their looks rather
than their studies, while one
in five had considered plastic
surgery. An Ofsted study of
almost
150,000
children
aged 10 to 15 found that 32%
worried about their bodies,
while a recent BBC survey
highlighted the fact that “half
of girls aged 8 to 12 want
to look like the women they
see in the media, and six out
of 10 thought they’d be happier if they were thinner”.
There are some who argue that
child beauty pageants can boost
self-confidence, promote grace
and good manners and that it’s
often the child who wishes
to attend. But whilst entering
pageants can prove to be a
positive thing for sensibly
minded, ambitious young girls
with firm adult guidance, there
are some who question whether
children can ever truly be said
to form their own decisions.
Frank Furedi, professor of
sociology at the University of
Kent and author of several books
including Paranoid Parenting,
says that modern parents are
encouraged to make a heightened emotional investment in
their children and to view
them
as
extensions
of
themselves. “Parents tend
to adopt a narcissistic view
so when a child shows the
slightest interest in anything they seize on it. If little
Johnny picks up a violin, he’s
going to be a composer. If little Mary is a gymnast, she’s
going to win Olympic Gold.
With
the
powerful
impulse
towards
celebrity culture, the parental
impulse becomes unrestrained.
No
child
is
entirely
autonomous. If a child says
‘This is what I want to do,’
it’s generally not far from
what the parent wants. It’s
relational
decision-making
rather than a strong-willed
child making decisions on
their own. These pageants are
not for kids to entertain other
children. What one sees here are
adult fantasies played out on a
different stage. It’s for adults. It’s
a couple of steps up from Crufts.”
Is it any wonder the children on
“Toddlers & Tiaras” have temper tantrums all the time? One
mother on the show was criticized for asking her daughter to
smoke fake cigarettes on stage;
if you had to do that at such a
young age, wouldn’t you get
annoyed? To keep contestants bubbly, some parents give
their girls “pageant crack”
(a mix of energy drinks and
sweeteners) prior to performing.
Why continue this when there is
ample evidence to show that it
is detrimental to a child’s health
and can mentally harm them
for life? The most common
mental health problems for
girls are eating disorders, low
self-esteem and depression
- things that may be heightened by such contests. Let’s
put a stop to this. Ban child
beauty pageants and stop
this craze from spreading.
Beauty is not an achievement;
it is an accidental attribute.
Making little girls compete
in these pageants creates a
perception that perfection is
a valid ambition. What a sad
life lesson; that being pretty
is the most important thing.
Let children be children.
Put the parents on the catwalk and see how they feel
about it at the end of the day.
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41
42
43
44
45
Being a Disney Princess
Christy Au
I don’t know about you, but I was always a Disney
fan. I spent hours of my childhood in front of a book,
a screen or a mirror, dreaming of being a princess
and waiting for the day my prince would come.
As children, these dreams were encouraged
by our parents, who acted in full confidence of
the belief that it will foster imagination, and
that we will grow out of these silly fairy tales.
Yet do we? Aren’t these fairy tales just replaced
with ‘grown up’ versions of the same thing?
I dressed up in their costumes for the first
eight years of my life; Cinderella, Aurora and
even Snow White. Later, these costumes made
way for others, but the dream stayed more or
less unchanged; I didn’t really want to be an
actual princess anymore (I’ve realised by this
point how hard royal life is), but I wanted to
be as precious, loved and respected as one. So
what did a ‘princess’ have that I didn’t have?
With full encouragement from my parents
(who believed that girls and women must be
46
‘refined’),
I
learnt
the
basic skills that they required
of me: singing, dancing, a
musical instrument and musical
appreciation,
art
and
even etiquette lessons. In
hindsight,
I
was
still
looking upon those princesses
and those celebrities that I deem
‘princess-like’ as my idols.
In my mother’s perspective,
she was grooming me into
what Jane Austen would call an
‘accomplished
woman’.
Luckily, I enjoyed these
activities; I cannot imagine the
mental torture they would be if
I wasn’t inclined towards these
pursuits in the first place. Yet,
while I can learn and read and
become proficient, there was
one thing that I couldn’t get, no
matter the sacrifice: a perfect,
‘princess-like’ appearance.
My mother once relayed an
event that happened when I
was a baby. Walking into the
doctor’s office for her regular checkup after the birth,
she asked the gynaecologist
one question: ‘How can I help
my daughter maintain a good
47
figure?’
In
that
one
session, my mom was
taught how to limit my milk
formula, the exercises I must do
(swimming was the key to
growth, which meant that I had to
do it for eleven years) and other
miscellaneous
comments
that came into play during my childhood. It wasn’t
until that moment (at the age
of eleven when I heard this
anecdote) that I realised how
much care my mother put
into my physical appearance.
I am not saying it was a bad
thing at all, but to realise that
my figure and my face meant
that much in society forced
me to start thinking about the
more aesthetic side of what it
means to be me. While depth of
character is certainly an
absolutely crucial aspect of a
person, strangers are first drawn
in by physical appearance and
even, as my mother says, by
your aura. These superficial
skills are needed and must
be trained, but the process of
being forced to perform and the
subtle reminders of my physical
attributes are torture for a more
introverted person like me.
The general idea was that I
would become desensitised
to these surroundings and
adopt these rules and skills
as my own. Like the Disney
princess I wanted to be as a
child, I learnt how to smile,
laugh and flatter to my
advantage. To motivate and
drive and push for my gain. My
mother’s full social schedule
meant that I had a large platform
to practise in front of, and things
like corsets for figure lines,
heels and makeup tutorials had
their place in my childhood.
Looking at who I am now,
and piecing together the
different lessons that were
taught to my younger self
only led me to one conclusion: this … this was what my
mother’s ‘Disney princess’
looked like.Yet after all this, after
the point when my mother was
satisfied with her ‘creation’,
it was my turn to be
displeased. The Barbie dolls
that I played with, which
later
turned
into
the
Barbie dolls I see in
magazines and on television,
fueled a desire to be like them.
Although I logically knew,
and still know, that it is not
possible, it never stopped me
from hoping and feeling self
conscious about it. My selfesteem and confidence was
never able to fully take
off, making me an empty
facade of drive and selfassuredness that I do not feel.
So what am I now? I am a girl
with a determined smile and
a hard spark in the curl of my
lips that indicate otherwise.
My voice is talented; it orates
the power of my pen, and my
face, though not perfect, can
stand out in a crowd. My hands
are strong; they lyricise my
words and dance - across the
keyboard or clasped round a
microphone as I serenade an
audience. My brain is sharp; it
can trade barbed words across
a debating floor, philosophise
or even create, arguments and
artworks
from
the
endless
fount
of
me.
48
But my mind? My mind is that of a
toddler on their first day of school,
or that of a tired, old man; weary of
judgement and exhausted with the whirlwind
that is societal life but still hoping for, and
reminiscing about being the epitome of
perfection. The ultimate beauty.
49
That is what being a Disney princess means
- subjecting yourself to a set of standards
created by society. Feminism, therefore, is
only the means by which we humanise our
princesses, and show the world that
Cinderella, before her transformation was
just as beautiful as before.
50
SOMETIMES.
THE BOUNDARIES ARE
THAT OF SOCIETAL
EXPECTATION.
BUT IN THE END.
IT IS ONLY YOU WHO
CAN FREE YOURSELF.
51
52
Fundraising for WomanKind
Imogen Barrett
We chose to support the Womankind charity through
our magazine because it linked so closely with both
the ethos of Aqila (exploring the roles of women in
different cultures) and our own grateful sense of being
girls within a school that so rightly enables us to thrive.
The charity aims to end violence against women and
enable women to take control of their own livelihood.
Many charities provide physical aid, such as medicine
and provisions, but we were touched by the emotional
nature of the aid work that the charity does: educating and
supporting women through words of advice and comfort.
To raise money, we began by selling copies of last
year’s edition of our magazine, which both helped raise
awareness for our magazine and the charity. We did
this in various installments and raised enough money
to know we were going to make a difference to women’s lives ... a very gratifying feeling. Then, we did a
charity bake sale and in the end, managed to raise over
£300. In no country in the world do women enjoy the
same rights or opportunities as men, and we feel proud
that we can unite as one to fight against this injustice.
53
NOW.
WE NEED YOU TO PASS ON THIS
MESSAGE...
Like it. Tweet it.
Shout about it.
Whatever you do.
Make sure you do something
to pass on our message
of GENDER EQUALITY.
It is only when we unite that
things happen.
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