Rosie Scribble

July roundup: the month that was...

It has been a month of planning, packing , visa applications and vaccinations in preparation for my overseas trip. But life has not been completely taken over by my forthcoming travels; there have been other things going on too, including some of the following:

Indulging in the hideously moreish Respect Organics cakes and managing to eat an entire carrot cake on my own, although  not in one sitting.

 

They are available in most supermarkets priced £2.00 or less and we would definitely buy them again, especially the chocolate variety.

Next stop Cameroon

We are packing for two very different trips to two very different locations. IJ is off to the Lake District for a week with extended family, and I am travelling via London Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gaulle, to Cameroon on the west coast of Africa.

Both of us are incredibly excited at what lies ahead; only one of us had needed a crash course in basic French, a yellow fever vaccine and developed a sudden interest in all things Malaria-related.

Never has such attention been paid to the health status of Cheryl Cole in our little household. Never did I think that I would be travelling over 3000 miles to Africa, and I simply cannot wait.

IJ has told me to be careful of all insects, not to talk to strangers and to be nice to people. She has, as always, prepared me well. I have told her to brush her teeth, not to boss her grandparents or niece about and to enjoy herself.

Despite my excitement, I am a little apprehensive, not just about the separation - I know some time apart will do the pair of use the world of good and IJ is in safe hands - but of travelling to a country I know very little about, where the primary language is French, the currency Central African Francs and both the culture and climate nothing I have ever experienced before.

That said, it is the opportunity of a lifetime and I intend to make the most of it, to soak it all up and report it all back.

It cannot be possible, I am certain, to visit a developing country and spend time with some of the poorest people in the world, and not be altered by the experience. So it is with great excitement and a little apprehension, that I make the final preparations for my trip knowing my life is about to change forever.

I don’t know exactly how but I know it will, and I’m ready for it.

To be continued ...

On airbrushed images

Speaking to The Sunday Times this weekend, the minister for equality, Lynne Featherstone, is calling for all retouched photos in fashion magazines to carry a warning that they are not authentic, and is keen that children and young women should be informed about airbrushing so they do not think anyone can have a 12 inch waist.

Her argument that stick thin, perfect models staring out of the pages of fashion magazines result in young girls and women, and a growing number of men, result in feelings of inadequacy and cause lifelong damage to self esteem and physical health is a very valid one, although the increased number of eating disorder sufferers and people with body image issues cannot be blamed solely on magazine editors.

Featherstone argues that the constant bombardment of retouched images poses “a significant risk to the physical and mental health of young people and can even lead to anorexia and bulimia". In terms of eating disorders, such images can certainly be a contributory factor but they are only one of many. Such issues are far more complex than simply the desire to look like the images portrayed in magazines and the root causes run far deeper.

The two friends I lost to anorexia rarely read fashion magazines. They were simply not interested. That said, airbrushing is still something young people should be aware of. Sophia Neophitou, creative director of Harper’s Bazaar argues that it is the job of the fashion industry to create fantasy, and I can understand that. Splashing health warnings on every image would take away from the fantasy, and that’s an argument that makes sense too.

Part of the solution has to be to take the time to educate our children about the media and the role of airbrushing so they are aware that it takes places frequently, that the images they see are not ‘real’, so they do not feel inadequate when they do not match up. That way there would be no need to put health warnings on every single image -- children and young people would already be aware that they are not authentic and portray a look that simply cannot be achieved .

As someone who used images from fashion magazines as ‘thinspiration’ many years ago, it would have been extremely helpful to have known the images were not real and not achievable.  I honestly believed they were.

Photo credit

The Toy Story 3 effect

Communication between myself and IJ is very time-consuming at the moment. We appear to have reached the 'communicating by paper aeroplanes' stage. I wasn't aware this stage existed, but experience has now told me it does.

It involves me asking a very straight-forward question and IJ disappearing upstairs to write her answer on a paper aeroplane, which she then flies down to me. This is a little frustrating at times, especially if I have simply asked her if she would like a drink.

It is also quite sweet, or at least it would be if she wasn't sneaking into my office, taking paper out of the printer and then leaving a trail of it across the floor.

Above she is saying: I need help and fast. I need some shoes and I can't decide which ones I can wear, which she sent when I asked her why she was taking so long to get ready.

All this has come about since watching Toy Story 3: she is now on some sort of 'Buzz Lightyear-themed intergalactic mission', whatever that means, which requires half of her toys being carried  a round with her at all times, and her dressing as a cow girl.

I have no idea what this has to do with paper aeroplanes but apparently a special form of communication is needed when on such missions. Normal talking just does not take place.

That's all absolutely fine of course. It's good to see her using her imagination and playing with some old toys again.

Although I think I need to introduce her to the world of full-stops.

Prize winners, an award and tweeting under the influence

Lovely Julia over at What Will Julia Do Next? has bestowed upon me the lovely A Blog with Substance award which I am gratefully accepting and displaying it here with pride. The brunette laptop-loving lady sitting in the executive chair looks a little bit like me, in fact.  About a decade ago.

Thank you very much for the award, Julia. I am required to sum up my blogging philosophy in five words, so here it is:

Have fun and enjoy it.

And in true blog-award-giving style I am required to pass it on to five other bloggers whose blogs I enjoy, so I'm awarding it to: