Krishnan Guru-Murthy

Hi everyone,

This blog post is a little bit current news opiniony, rather than anything else. 

For those of you who don't know, Krishnan Guru-Murthy is a journalist and an interviewer for Channel 4. Some of his most notable interviews (and we'll examine why that might be in a minute) include Quentin Tarantino, Richard Ayoade and recently joined the ranks is Robert Downey Jr. 

But rather than give you a life history of Guru-Murthy, I want to talk about his interviews.

SPOILER ALERT: this might get a bit feministy.

So, let's start with his Quentin Tarantino interview:

Clearly, this was never going to be the easiest of interviews - there are quite a lot of cultural and personal differences apparent in situations such as these. Nevertheless, these kinds of interviews have to be done. Tact needed to be the order of the day.

It started off well. Guru-Murthy asked him about why he made violent films. With a little bit of pushing Tarantino answered that he thought it made "good cinema". A modicum of success achieved.

Guru-Murthy then went on to ask his why he thought people liked watching violent movies, a reasonable thing to ask a director who has carved out huge successes in the movie industry, with block-busters like Django Unchained, Pulp Fiction and Inglourious Basterds. Tarantino took the bait and was happy to answer: he said "Yeah, well, it's a movie. It's a fantasy. It's a fantasy -- it's not real life. It's a fantasy. You go and you watch. You know, you watch a kung-fu movie and one guy takes on 100 people in a restaurant. That's fun!". Things were picking up.

But then it started to turn sour.
Krishnan Guru-Murthy asked: "But why are you so sure that there's no link between enjoying movie violence and enjoying real violence?" again, a reasonable question, phrased tactfully. However, Tarantino was not impressed, and answered: "I don't... I'm going to tell you why I'm so sure? Don't ask me a question like that -- I'm not biting. I refuse your questions."

Now, for me, this is the turning point of the interview. Tarantino made it quite clear that he did not want to answer questions of this nature. He also made the point that he's talked about his opinion on the link between movie violence and real-life violence in previous interviews. He said "I've said everything I have to say". And that is fair enough. Or at least it should be.

But Guru-Murthy pushed and pushed and pushed the issue, right until the end of the interview, at which point Tarantino famously said "I'm shutting your butt down!".

And that's true: he has answered that question many, many times. He has said, categorically, that he does not believe there's a link. How many times can he say it? I mean, I understand Guru-Murthy wanting to push the issue a little, but he went on and on and on about it. Tarantino, quite understandably I think, got quite irate and told him that "it was none of [Guru-Murthy's] damn business" what he thought about violence.

As an aspiring interviewer, I hold the view that if an interviewee very much doesn't want to talk about something, and they make it clear so, then it is our job as interviewers to change the subject.
Obviously, the setting also has an impact on whether you push a question: David Frost clearly shouldn't have dropped the issue of Watergate with Richard Nixon, but this is hardly the same. If a movie director (or actor, or producer, or composer) doesn't want to answer a particular topic of question in an interview in which the main focus is his/her new movie, he/she really shouldn't have to. I understand that Channel 4 is not interested in simply plugging the interviewee's newest movie, but there are "personalised", serious but appropriate themes that you can discuss in an interview of this kind.

Take, as we are in this case, Quentin Tarantino: his newest movie at the time of this interview was Djano Unchained, a film about slavery. I believe in the full interview with Guru-Murthy, Tarantino brings up the subject of slavery but it doesn't last very long. There were plenty of questions for Guru-Murthy to bring up here: do you feel your movies might head in a new, perhaps even historical direction after this exploration of slavery? How important do you think it is that the world remembers slavery? Is there an aim to your movie with regard to slavery? How honest is your representation of the issue in the movie, or have you dramatised any of it for big-screen purposes? Could you perhaps give us a personal definition of the term slavery?...

And the list goes on.

But this wasn't to be the last of Guru-Murthy's disastrous interviews. Now let's take a look at Robert Downey Jr's most recent interview, where, although on different topics, almost exactly the same thing happened.

In this interview, Robert Downey Jr walked out after being asked a series of dull, uninspiring, uncreative and frankly inappropriate questions. I say inappropriate because, just as Downey Jr pointed out, the interview was for film for children, and therefore it was likely that children were going to see the interview.

Once again there so many more questions that could have been asked of Robert Downey Jr that were more appropriate to the theme of the movie. For example: what do you think kids get out of superhero movies? Do you watch Iron Man with your kids or is that a bit weird? Perhaps to take it to a more serious tone, Guru-Murthy could have asked something like: Iron Man is a self-made superhero, how do you think that ties into this so-called "American Dream"? In recent years we've had a shift towards darker fairy stories and fairy tales, aimed at perhaps a more adult market than children. Do you think superhero films will follow suit or do you think they'll always be 'Good vs. Evil, Good triumphs' kind of structure to them?

All of these could have been in lieu of the silly question he asked about becoming a liberal after coming out of prison. Downey Jr made it quite clear, it seems to me, that he had said that at a different stage of his life and had no idea what he had meant when he said it. He graciously stated that opinions change and flow as you grow older.

Additionally, he missed a major question that I really feel he had a kind of duty to ask him. Here's where the feminism comes in, folks.

The question is: how do you manage to balance family life with your acting career and your wife being an extremely successful film-producer? 

This question ties in with Reese Witherspoon's #AskHerMore campaign which attempts to get interviewers to ask women on the red carpet more about their creative endeavours than "who are you wearing?". The above question is particularly significant due to the statement Jennifer Garner gave about how she is always asked how she manages to balance family life at home with acting but her husband, Ben Affleck, is not. So, Guru-Murthy - missed opportunity, big time.

All in all, I have a really big problem with Guru-Murthy's interview style. I don't believe he asks tactful or appropriate questions and I also think that his interview style lacks any creativity. Although I certainly don't want to take on bigger fish than I can fry, perhaps Channel 4 should take a look at an interviewer who's most interviews are his disastrously unsuccessful ones.

        ______________________________________________________________________

If you do want to take a look at what Quentin Tarantino has said on the issue of movie vs. real-life violence, this website has accumulated all of his interviews where he has addressed the issue:
http://www.thewire.com/entertainment/2013/01/quentin-tarantino-violence-quotes/60900/

For the transcript of the Guru-Murthy/Quentin Tarantino interview, see here:
http://www.channel4.com/news/tarantino-uncut-when-quentin-met-krishnan-transcript

Lots of love,


Philly

Page 3 and "Choice" Feminism

Welcome back all,

As promised in my post about book review of Caitlin Moran's 'How To Be a Woman', here are my thoughts on these, so called, 'choice' feminists.

First up, for those who don't know, Choice Feminism is a branch of feminism that believes that whatever we choose to do as women is a feminist choice, and therefore shouldn't be disagreed with because we are making our own choices. Sound good, right?

Therefore, extrapolating from this train of thought, it follows that a woman who engages in sex work, topless modelling, or (and expect a sternly worded blog post on this as well) dances to Blurred Lines is making a feminist choice, and therefore it can't be criticised. Right?

WRONG.

VERY. VERY. WRONG.

So, given that it makes me so angry, I thought I'd address a couple of the reasons why this seemingly logical argument of choice feminism (because it is when you first read it) is actually just very damaging to women-kind. For now, let's focus it solely on the topic of Page 3.

Page 3 is the The Sun Newspaper's daily soft-pornography page. Every morning it features a different topless woman pouting at the reader from the confines of the newspaper. There are several big problems with this in terms of its continuing impact on feminism, and most of the women who engage with it are quick to say they aren't feminists. Or, if they are, it's okay because they are employing this technique of Choice Feminism.

The fundamental problem with Choice Feminism is this: it undermines potential 'background' reasons and influence for making the decision to model for Page 3. It fails to discuss what effect upbringing (parenting, education, class etc) has on the woman's decision.

For instance, if a girl is raised in a background in which Page 3 exists, that girl can grow up believing that this is something to aspire to, despite the fact that Page 3 continues to promote only valuing women based on their looks. Therefore, that girl grows up into a woman, having had a blue-print created about herself and woman-kind which says that feminism is evil and what they're doing is ok. And then they encourage other young impressionable girls to do it.


I've got a message for you: it's just plain wrong.

Choice Feminism also undermines for the rest of us feminists the true fight: to not be admired solely on our physical attributes, but also our intellectual ones. Page 3 is a disgusting blight on our society that perpetuates our underappreciation as women.

Many people, men and women alike, support choice feminism because they say that activities like Page 3 don't do any actual harm. Except, from a social point of view, this isn't actually true: by exposing soft pornography to young children on such a public platform we are showing younger generation that it is socially acceptable for women to be objectified and valued on their beauty and physiology as opposed to intelligence. I believe that true feminist choices can only be achieved once we eliminate platforms that encourage the exploitation of women - then and only then can women's choice to expose themselves for men or women's enjoyment be seen to be truly objective. Indeed, the only positive I can see for Page 3 still existing is that its public criticisms and inevitable downfall will serve as a very powerful political form of empowerment for the future feminist cause.

And anyway, perhaps more fundamentally, why is it acceptable for women to do this and not men? Why is it okay to have our breasts out in full view, but not men their penises?! Nowhere on Page 4 of The Sun do I see a naked man with his private parts out, reducing men to a picture of attractive physical attributes! In many ways, this highlights another problem in the media of double standards (also seen in the number of broadcasters who are women over 50).

Finally, I have seen women recently who engage in this type of work and then come out to sell their story, and say they're not feminists because modern-day feminism is wrong. They don't want anything to do with it.

I just want to address this issue by saying this: that is damaging rubbish.

To tell the nation that you're not a feminist is to continue the cycle of young girls believing that feminism is poisonous and they shouldn't support it. That it's okay to have men drool over your breasts on a daily basis. That it's okay for those guys at the bus stop to wolf whistle at you every morning. To be flattered by it, even. To aspire to be a Page 3 model, and have that as your ultimate career aspiration growing up.

Modern-day feminism is being taken forward by the United Nations and their Goodwill Ambassadors, people like Emma Watson and Angelina Jolie who are doing incredible work (expect a gushing fan-girling post about the UN's #HeforShe and IMPACT 10X10X10 campaigns). Feminism today is a hugely positive force, which aims to achieve TRUE EQUALITY. You can't just not be part of it because it doesn't suit how you feel right now. I say 'right now' because at some point in the future, when you get another job and realise that you're only paid 70% of the salary of your male counter-part, you'll realise that feminism was your friend after all.

Women who say they aren't feminists and can't identify with modern-day feminism needs to take a look at REAL FEMINISM, NOT EXTREME FEMINISTS. They let the side down just as much as Page 3. Feminism is about equality of the sexes, so to say you're not one means that you don't want men and women to have equal rights. Simple as.

And Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, THAT GOES FOR YOU TOO.

Ladies, to conclude, you are solely responsible for letting society judge us on our physical attributes alone and ignoring our intellectual ones. The rest of us are working flat out to try and change this and... well... some of you are letting the side down.

Like my Facebook page for this blog: https://www.facebook.com/howtobeateenager for updates on blog posts!

Lots of love,

Philly

'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' - Stephen Chbosky

Hello my lovely readers,

Today's book review is entitled 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower'. Given the title, it will not come as a total surprise to most of you lovely people that it's a book review of 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower'.

Okay so, here's how I came across it: 

It was £2.99 when I went to buy a film from HMV. I'd heard about it, heard about the film, but never read it so I thought I'd give it a go. (Incidentally, the film I went to buy was What If with Daniel Radcliffe starring. I may do a review sometime in the future...)

Anyway, I picked up the book for £2.99 whilst buying a rom-com with a friend of mine. And predictably, as with so many of my books, it sat on my book shelf at uni for a while, gathering dust while I enjoyed the less intellectual past-time of vodka shots in clubs. Meh, uni life, what you gonna do?

But when I did finally pick it up I read it in about 3 days, to the detriment of a debate script I should have been working on at the time. 

Published in 1999 by American author Stephen Chbosky whilst he was still in college, this coming-of-age novel follows an introspective, overly-emotional but vastly intelligent 15 year old boy, Charlie, through a series of letters that he writes about his life to an unknown recipient. With a wonderful musical soundtrack of mix-tapes, Charlie attempts to navigate the emotional roller-coaster that is high-school life. His vast array of encounters with girls, sex, drugs, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and more, will ultimately lead him to the best friends anyone could wish for. 

Occasionally I felt that Chbosky strayed too much into Catcher in the Rye territory, given the age, situations and feelings that Charlie shares with Holden. Whether or not we needed another book to tell us all that is for you to decide. 

Age group: Anyone can relate to the stories and messages in this book but perhaps teens will find it reassuring and engaging in a way that adults won't...

Final comments: Chbosky crafts a novel that intertwines themes such as secrecy, sexuality, happiness and participation, and the end result is a book that makes you laugh and cry in equal measures, as Charlie, like us all, struggles to find a place he fits in.  

Rating:  3.5 / 5 stars

Once again, here's the link to Amazon to buy the book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Perks-Being-Wallflower-Stephen-Chbosky/dp/1847394078/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430297399&sr=8-1&keywords=perks+of+being+a+wallflower

A link where you can buy the film (not that I've seen it yet): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Perks-Being-Wallflower-DVD/dp/B008OPZYNQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1430297450&sr=8-2&keywords=perks+of+being+a+wallflower

And as always do comment and tell me what you thought of the book, whether you agree/disagree with my post, whatever your standpoint, I'm always interested!

Love as always,

Philly

Voting #3: Housing

Hi all,

Welcome to the last post of the Voting series (that's a music pun for those musicians out there). 

Today I'm looking at the state of housing in the forthcoming election - because it's all very well being educated and getting a job but if we can't buy anywhere to live then it's all a bit pointless. 

In 2013, The Guardian reported that the number of 20-34 year olds living at home was up to 3.2 million in the UK. Now, obviously this will be due to a vast array of personal and economic problems, but one of the reasons is certainly houses prices being as high as they are. 

So, for the final time, here are the Conservative Party's policies on housing: 

 

• Build more homes that people can afford, including 200,000 new Starter Homes exclusively for first-time buyers under 40. 

• Extend the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme to 2020 to help more people onto and up the housing ladder, and introduce a new Help to Buy ISA to support people saving for a deposit. 
• Give more people the chance to own their home by extending the Right to Buy to tenants of Housing Associations and create a Brownfield Fund to unlock homes on brownfield land. 
• Ensure people have more control over planning and protect the Green Belt. 

    ______________________________________________________________________________

Labour:
 

• BUYING:
• Create a £5 billion ‘Future Homes Fund’ and make sure first time buyers "are first in line".
• Build 200,000 homes every year by 2020, a statistic they say is "almost double the current level". This will additionally create up to 230,000 jobs in construction.
• Introduce new ‘use it or lose it’ land powers for local authorities which means no developer can sit on land without using it.

• RENTING:
• Introduce a ceiling on excessive rent rises and make stable three-year tenancies the rule, not the exception.
• Ban rip-off letting fees, saving renters over £600.
• Create a national register of private landlords to drive up standards of rental properties and drive out rogue landlords.

    ______________________________________________________________________________

Lib Deb:

• They aim to build 300,000 homes a year, including in 10 new Garden Cities.
• New Rent to Own homes which means that your monthly payments steadily buy you a stake in your property.
• Introduce a new Help to Rent tenancy deposit loans to help young people get into their first place.
• Cut Council Tax by £100 for 10 years if you insulate your home.
• Ban landlord from letting out homes tenants cannot reasonably afford to heat.
• Create up to five new settlements beteen Oxford and Cambridge.

 

    ______________________________________________________________________________

UKIP:

• Force local authorities to bring back into use empty houses, of which in England alone there are 279,000.
• Charge the owners of empty houses 50% more of the applicable rate of council tax with the exception of home owners who are in the Armed Forces.
• Incentivise brownfield development by giving developers up to £10,000 grants to carry out essential remedation work.
• Prevent foreign nationals from gaining access to social housing until they have lived and paid UK Tax and National Insurance for a minimum of 2 years.
• Re-invest 100% of the profits from the Right To Buy Scheme back into building housing.
• Right to Buy and Help to Buy schemes will only be available to UK Nationals and will not be available to any foreign nationals unless they have served in the armed forces.

    ______________________________________________________________________________

Green:

• Take steps to ensure that development is more evenly distributed across the whole of the cuntry, so reducing pressure on housing, particulary in the South East.
• Introduce new higher Council Tax bands for more expensive homes.
• Higher rates of Council Tax for empty homes.
• Scrap Help to Buy as the Green Party believe it does nothing to help with those in the greatest housing needs, this will, they say, save £600 million.
• Minimise development on Greenfield Sites wherever possible.
• Introduce Right to Rent where local councils will step in to help those in difficulty with their mortgage to rent their homes.
• Diversify the house-building industry to mean that more homes are built by small and medium-sized building companies and by community-led and cooperative initiatives.
• Provide 500,000 social rented homes.
• Raise the social housing budget from £1.5 billion a year to £6 billion a year in the lifetime of the Parliament.
• Provide more rights for homeless people.
• Provide single people and childless couples the same regard as families in the eyes of local authorities.

    ______________________________________________________________________________

Apologies for not addressing SNP and Plaid Cymru in this post I just didn't have the time.

You can find all the links to the full manifestos on my first blog in the series 'Voting #1: Education'. Enjoy reading this one and Happy Voting on Thursday!

If you'd like to re-read (and I encourage you to) my general points on voting, they can also be found in the Education post. 

Once again if I've missed any policies out do just insert a copy, or alternatively, if you'd like to join my mailing list, drop me a line at phyllidam6464@gmail.com.

As for the future of this blog, you can now look forward to general artsy feminist ramblings once more.

Have a good day all. 

Lots of love,

Philly x 

Voting #2: The Workplace

Hi again!

Welcome back to Voting: Part 2, where today I'll be compiling the policies on the Minimum Wage, Living Wage and Zero-Hours Contracts. This affects us because even with a degree these days there's certainly no guarantee of a job. Therefore, when we do go into the workplace, a wage on which we can survive and contracts upon which we can rely are of paramount importance.

The definition as given by the Living Wage Foundation is as follows:

An hourly rate set independently and updated annually, the Living Wage is calculated according to the basic cost of living

There is a significant difference between the Living Wage for employees in London, where it is £9.15 an hour, and in the rest of the UK, where it is £7.85.

However, the above figures are not what most of us are paid in our day to day jobs. Instead, we are paid the Minimum Wage. 

Currently, the Minimum Wage for 18-21 year olds, as I recently found out from my job interview at Primark, is something like £6.35 an hour. I say "something like" because I can't actually find an updated set of data on the Minimum Wage for 18-21. The only one I can find was last updated on the 1st of October 2014, as being £5.13 an hour but I don't think this is correct. (If someone can find the correct one can they post it as a comment please xx).

There is a major problem with the Living Wage and it's this: one simply can't live on it.

For example, if someone living outside of London works in a full-time capacity, 40 hours a week, for every single week of the year at the Living Wage salary, they would make £16,328.

And, for someone living in London. The situation is not that much better. If the same person works in a full-time capacity, 40 hours a week, for every single week of the year at the London Living Wage salary, they would make £19,032.

Now onto Zero-Hours Contracts. A description for this, as given by ACAS, is:

Zero-hours contracts normally mean there is no obligation for employers to offer work, or for workers to accept it.

Most zero hours contracts will give staff 'worker' employment status.

What this mean in terms of working is that, on a day-to-day basis someone on a zero hours contract has absolutely no guarantee of working. And this applies to the entire week! You may not be given any work for a week, but many companies make you agree to an exclusivity deal, meaning you can only hold a job with them. 

This is a difficult situation for anyone to be in, but a significant number of students who work are on zero hours contracts. As a result, it has become a relatively big issue in this election, with Ed Miliband publicly slamming them. 

So in one fell swoop, I'm going to take a look at all of the policies relating to the above issues.

REMEMBER: this is a particularly tricky issue that is tied into a great many areas of the election such as Welfare, Immigration and Health. You must consider carefully whether the policies are realistic economically. It is all very well voting for the highest Minimum/Living Wage, but if it is afforded by a hike in taxes, it's no good for any of us. So no matter how "stingy" the policy may seem, don't dismiss it out of hand.


         ______________________________________________________________________

Right so first up is the Conservatives:

• Minimum Wage: the Conservatives "accept the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission that the National Minimum Wage should rise to £6.70 this autumn" but their ultimate aim is for a Minimum Wage that will be over £8 by the end of the decade. They are also raising tax-free budgets, which is significant because it means that for those of us on Minimum Wage we won't have to pay as much of our earnings back as tax. 
• They will take further steps to "eradicate abuses of workers, such as non-payment of the Minimum Wage".
• Living Wage: they support it and will encourage businesses and other organisations to pay it whenever they can afford it.
• Zero-hours Contracts: they will also take further steps to eradicate exclusivity in zero-hours contracts.

     ________________________________________________________________________

Labour Party: 

• Minimum Wage: they will raise minimum wage to more than £8 an hour by October 2019.
• Living Wage: -  they have nothing to say on the Living Wage.
• Zero-hours Contracts: according to the creepy website where I enter my name and then they put a title that says "A Manifesto for Phyllida and Britain", there are 70,000 people on zero-hours contracts in the Eastern Region of the UK. They will ban "exploitative zero-hours contracts, so that anyone working regular hours for 12 weeks or more will get a regular contract".

     ________________________________________________________________________

Lib Dems:

• Minimum Wage: "ask the Low Pay Commission to look at ways of raising the National Minimum Wage, without damaging employment opportunities". "Review unpaid internships".
• Living Wage: "Establish an independent review to consult on how to set a fair Living Wage across all sectors".
• Zero-hours Contracts: stamp out abuse of zero hours contracts. They will create "a formal right to request a fixed contract and consult on introducing a right to make regular patterns row rom contractual after a period of time".

     ________________________________________________________________________

UKIP:

• Minimum Wage: UKIP will raise the personal allowance to at least £13,000. This is significant because it means that for those of on Minimum Wage, we won't have to pay tax on our earnings altogether. Though it doesn't look as those UKIP will raise minimum wage.  
• Living Wage:
• Zero-hours Contracts: 

     ________________________________________________________________________

Green:

• Minimum Wage: the most generous of all the parties: £10 an hour by 2020.
• Living Wage: The minimum wage will become a "genuine living wage by 2020" at £10 an hour.
• Zero-hours Contracts: "businesses hiring 50 people or more must give workers on zero-hours contracts either a full or part-time secure contract after one year if the workers involved request it.
• Ban on exclusivity clauses in any zero-hours contract.
• "Workers on zero-hours contracts must be given at least twelve hours advance notice of work. Once notice has been given they must be paid for the work regardless of whether or not they are actually needed. Employers will not be permitted to expect a worker to turn up for work, only to be turned away again, where no work is available".
• Not only this, but UKIP will "not allow the NHS or third parties under contract to employ home care workers on zero hour contracts of any kind".

     ________________________________________________________________________

SNP:

• Minimum Wage: vote to increase Minimum Wage to £8.70 by 2020.
• Living Wage: support measure to extend the Living Wage across the UK*.
• Zero-hours Contracts: "support tough action to end exploitative zero hours contracts".

*NB: "Scotland, according to the manifesto, already pay the Living Wage to all of its own employees and to those covered by tis pay policy". They will encourage the UK to do the same.

     ________________________________________________________________________

Plaid Cymru:

• Minimum Wage: Plaid Cymru will "increase the Minimum Wage to be the same as the Living Wage over the next Parliament".
• Living Wage: see Minimum Wage.
• Zero-hours Contracts: "end exploitative zero hours contracts the tie workers to a company while not giving them a guaranteed weekly income."

If you want the links to the full manifestos see my post above, Voting #1, and as ever do comment below if you want to ask/add/correct something.

See you tomorrow for Voting #3: Housing!

Lots of love,

Philly

Voting #1: Education

Hi again,

The 7th of May is the General Election, a momentus occasion for us of all in Britain. It really, really matters, and therefore our vote really does matter - it's your
 chance to tell the government what you want to happen in the coming years. And, as teenagers, our vote just might swing it, so we need to take this seriously.

This is a little bit of a 'seasonal' blog post if you will, as the timescale is quite short before the 7th of May. 

It's also a bit of a regional blog post, which mean that it only really applies to British readers but I'll try and incorporate some general points as well.

Make no mistake, the point of this series of blog posts is not to convince you to vote for any one party. I am aiming to lay out important policies that affect us as teenagers.

Enjoy!
                      ___________________________________________________________

As teenagers, we need to be clued-up on who we're going to vote for, and you have to take it seriously. I often engage arguments with some of my friends who are under the impression that they don't really need to know who to vote for, because they're all the same. This is a DANGEROUS PATTERN OF THINKING and totally untrue.

Today's topic is Life after School: Further/Higher Education and The Workplace

We as teenagers need to make sure that whoever we vote for has an educational plan for us, whether that be at university or in an apprenticeship scheme.

Before we begin however, there are just a couple of general points to consider:

• The first thing to bear in mind when choosing who to vote for is that the Conservatives have held the reigns for the last 5 years, and things have improved significantly in many areas since Labour was in government before them. That's not to say that one shouldn't vote for another party if you feel that they will provide better for you in the next five years, but it is a point worth thinking on.

• Please, please, please DON'T JUST VOTE FOR WHO YOUR FRIENDS VOTE FOR! THINK about it. READ into it. 

• Think critically about policies. Don't just take them as hard facts. Try to consider these questions: can the prospective government logically afford these promises, given their plans for the economy? If you think they can, ask yourself where the money is coming from. Is it coming from an increase in tax, or a cut in government spending?

• This is a tricky one because it's embroiled in regional politics but try not to just vote for who your area votes for. I know that in some areas it's almost forbidden to vote for certain parties, so if you have to, just don't tell anyone who you're voting for! Lie and tell them you're voting for another party if you have to! (Obviously, if everyone in your area does the same then you're going to have a bit of an issue, but at least you'll have thought about who it is you want in power!).

First up, the Conservatives. The Conservatives say that they are going to:

• Deliver 3 million more apprenticeships over the next 5 years

• Introduce a Youth Allowance, which will replace Jobseeker's Allowance for 18-21 year olds. This will be time limited to six months, after which we'll have to take an apprenticeship, traineeship or do daily community work for the benefits.

• Replace class-room based Further Education courses with high-quality apprenticeships that combine training with experience of work and a wage

• Provide many more Degree Apprenticeships

• Publish more earnings and destination data for Further Education courses

• Abolish the cap on higher education student numbers - removing what they call "the arbitrary ceiling on ambition"

• Introduce a National Postgraduate Loan system, for taught masters and PhD courses.

• Encourage universities to offer more two-year courses

• Encourage the development of online education as a tool for students, whether studying independently or in our universities

(It is also worth noting that the Conservatives are also promising to improve rail travel in East Anglia to places like Norwich, which notably has the University of East Anglia, and Ipswich, and this is important to consider for university/apprenticeship placements.)

     _________________________________________________________________________

Moving on to the Labour Party's Manifesto. This is VERY different but bear with it.

They promise to:

•  Introduce what they are calling The Technical Baccalaureate, which is a vocational award for 16-18 year olds.

• Students will continue to study English and Maths to age 18 but will additionally undertake work experience between the ages of 14 and 16.

• In terms of our teaching, teachers will now be able to achieve a new 'Master Teacher' status.

• Work to stop homophobic bullying.

• Cut tuition fees from £9,000 to £6,000 a year.

• Introduce a Compulsory Jobs Guarantee, which will provide a paid starter job for every young person who is unemployed for over a year.

• They are also guaranteeing every young person an apprenticeship who leaves secondary school with the right grades.

• Create new Technical Degrees.

• Support part-time study.

• Also introduce a new Youth Allowance, dependent on recipients being in training.

            __________________________________________________________________

Lib Dems Policies:

BEWARE, that when looking at the Lib Dems' Manifesto, they ask you to sign up to email updates. You don't need to to look at their policies though.

It is worth noting that when you first go onto the Lib Dem Manifesto page, very few policies can be found. It seems as though they have no discernible policies on Further Education, aside from simply "protecting the budget" and trying to justify why they promised to keep tuition fees down but failed.... I said no political bias, but just sayin'. However, this is not quite the case, but I think it is important to note that they don't make any sort of fuss about the policies relating to us.

• They will introduce a Young Person's Discount card for young people aged 16-21 giving a 2/3rds discount BUT the crucial part of this policy is that they end it with, "as resources allow". It's hard not to feel that this is a premature "out", for if they don't deliver.

• They will also allow Government departments, local councils and private businesses to add discount offers to the Discount Card.

• They are going to review access to transport for students and apprentices in rural areas where no schedules services may be available. 

• Develop, what they call. the "NHS student guarantee", which makes it easier for students to get care and support while at university. This is aimed at those with long-term health conditions or caring responsibilities.

• Promote social action and volunteering at school, college and university, and work to raise the status of youth work and youth workers. 

• Improve links between employers and schools, encouraging all schools to participate in mentoring schemes. 

• They will seek to inspire more children and young people to follow technical and scientific careers through partnerships with businesses.

I know I said I wouldn't present any sort of political biases in this blog post but it is important to think about when considering voting for the Lib Dems that NONE of these policies are concrete promises. They have no economic bearing and you need to consider really carefully, given their past record whether they are realistically going to be able to provide anything for us young people. 

        __________________________________________________________________

UKIP's Policies:

• In terms of Secondary Schools, they will introduce a range of different types of schools, including grammar, vocational, technical and specialist schools.

• Re-introduce grammar schools, and what that means for us is testing in a similar style to 11+ at ages 12, 13 and 16.

• Abolish the AS level exam as being a stepping stone to A Level, whilst keeping it as a standalone qualification in its own right. 

• Make First Aid training a statutory part of PSHE in the national curriculum. Peoples can earn a 'Basic Life-Saving Diploma' at the end of secondary school, as well as instruction in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation for all secondary school pupils. 

• They also promise to drop the "arbitrary 50 per cent target for school leavers going to university".

• "UK students taking approved degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM), mainly at universities funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, will not have to repay their tuition fees, on the condition that they work in their discipline and pay tax in the UK for at least five years after they complete their degrees".

• UKIP will also remove all tuition fee loans to EEA students when we leave the EU (under their government we will have left the EU). We will welcome international students at our universities, but they will have to be self-supporting students.

       ________________________________________________________________

Green Party:

The Green Party do in fact have an entirely separate manifesto for us teens, called 'The Youth Manifesto'. I'm not 100% sure how I feel about this. On one hand I find it sort of patronising that they don't think we're capable of finding and understanding these policies in the bigger manifesto. On the other hand, it could have been a useful document, until you notice that one of their policies on Education isn't even in their Youth Manifesto! And then I just found it incredibly annoying. Anyway, their education policies are:

• Greens will abolish student tuition fees in Higher Education, re-introducing living grants to support time at University.

• They would cancel all student debt issued by the Student Loans Company.

• They would restore the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) for 16 and 17 year olds, and prioritise the increase of funding for Further Education.

• They will also create 2000 Young People's Centres, dedicated spaces for young people to meet and access information and specialist support.

• Increase spending on youth services by over £1bn each year, protecting funding for youth councils, youth clubs and non-curricular education and training.

• They will would also entitle every young person under the age of 18 and in full time education to free off-peak bus fares.

• Increase funding to mental health provision and ensure that every young person should have 24 hours a day. 7 days a week access to support services.

• Provide apprenticeships to qualified young people aged 16-19 who do not have one and want one, and extend it to age 25. Can I just point out that this policies is not in the Youth Manifesto, which annoys me no end.

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Scottish National Party Policies:

Now, although only Scottish Nationals can vote for SNP they are an important consideration in this election, given that they will, in all likelihood win around 50 seats in Parliament. As such, it's good to be aware of their policies on Education. It is worth noting that SNP's Manifesto is exceptionally difficult to navigate, but the link is below anyway. So:

• SNP will deliver 30,000 Modern Apprenticeships each year and continue to keep university education free. 

• Back an increase in the minimum wage rate for 18-21 year olds to £6.86 by 2020, with the same rate applied to apprentices. (Having said that, they believe it "should" be applied to apprentices. There's no promise it will be).

• Maintaining 116,000 full time equivalent college places Though I didn't find this is the manifesto, but on this website: http://www.snp.org/progress/education

And that's all I can really find.... 

         __________________________________________________________________

Plaid Cymru:

Plaid Cymru will only win around 4 seats realistically in Parliament in the coming election, but in terms of our Welsh readers they are a significant party. Their manifesto also has a separate section dedicated to Higher Education, Training and Skills. So they get a thumbs up for that. Their policies on education are as follows:

• Provide a subsidy to students resident in wales who wish to study in Wales.

• They will also target subjects vital to the Welsh economy and public goals. The students studying these degrees will pay no tuition fees in Wales, including those taking up key healthcare posts, studying science, engineering and technology. 

• They will work with their universities to investigate increases in capacity and funding with an emphasis on making sure that Welsh universities get a fair share of UK-based research funding.

•  Continue to promote apprenticeships, particularly Higher Level Apprenticeships.

• Introduce a Citizens' Service which focusses on skills on learning, so that young people are ready for the world of work.

• Increase provision of Welsh language courses and tutors in Further Education.

• They are also going to ensure that training for providers of educational, training nd careers services includes an improved understanding of the effect of gender on learning and how this can be tackled.

          _________________________________________________________________

I'd just to put a little disclaimer in and say that if I have made any mistakes, and quite frankly it would be a miracle if I hadn't, please do just write a comment so that everyone knows what the correct version is. I'm more bothered about my readers having accurate information than my talents as a writer. Kindly try and avoid political opinions though where possible.

Stay tuned folks because in the next couple of days I'll be covering Living Wages and Zero-Hour Contracts and Housing Policies, all in good time before Thursday's election.

If you'd like to check all the policies out for yourselves, either in addition to reading my blog, alongside or simply just instead of, the links to each party's manifesto is below:

Conservatives: https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/manifesto2015/ConservativeManifesto2015.pdf

Labour: http://www.labour.org.uk/page/-/BritainCanBeBetter-TheLabourPartyManifesto2015.pdf

Liberal Democrat: http://www.libdems.org.uk/manifesto or for their full manifesto: https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/libdems/pages/8907/attachments/original/1429028133/Liberal_Democrat_General_Election_Manifesto_2015.pdf?1429028133

UK Independence Party (UKIP):  http://issuu.com/ukip/docs/theukipmanifesto2015/1?e=16718137/12380620

Green Party: Manifesto: https://www.greenparty.org.uk/assets/files/manifesto/Green_Party_2015_General_Election_Manifesto_Searchable.pdf

Youth Manifesto: http://younggreens.org.uk/assets/images/younggreen%20images/documents/Youth_manifesto1.pdf

(I just have to mention that when I clicked onto the Green Party's Manifesto, my computer flashed up "Do you want to trust the Green Party?" which I found ridiculously and disproportionately funny.)

SNP (for our Scottish readers if you're out there): http://votesnp.com/docs/manifesto.pdf

Plaid Cymru (for our Welsh readers): https://www.partyof.wales/2015-manifesto/


Cheers,

Philly x

My Performance Anxiety

Dear lovely readers,

Nice to see you all again.

I thought I'd try something a little different for this one. 

Below is an essay I wrote whilst still at university this year on the subject of Performance Anxiety. This is a pretty personal thing for me to share with you all, as I have suffered from crippling stage fright since the age of about 7. As an aspiring opera singer, it has been the bane of my life. Exams, singing, public speaking (on that note, just normal speaking!), you name it, I've been anxious about it. And so when we had to write an essay at uni about any 21st century issue that had affected us, and combined our disciplines (mine being Music and Psychology) I was pretty sceptical about whether this was something I wanted to share with the lecturers at university. But eventually, my seminar leader (also a musician) convinced my to write this essay, and it was met with critical acclaim.

On the off chance that what I've written below helps any of you, my lovely readers, please do comment and let me know. I'd love to hear from you. 

Cheers x

Philly

________________________________________________________________________________

An AutoEthnologic Approach: How effective are current methods for dealing with performance anxiety?

The definition given in Collins’s English dictionary for performance anxiety is “the stage fright that a person feels when they are about to perform (a play, piece of music etc) in front of an audience”^[1] . When reading this, I felt as though this definition was extremely limited in its description: it is an enormous understatement of performance anxiety, and fails to explain that performance anxiety does not simply relate to the performance of music but can affect many other areas of life. I have suffered from anxiety in exams, and in public speaking, but it can affect other disciplines in which performance is a regular occurrence, such as in sport or acting. Since the age of eight I have wanted to be an opera singer, despite my crippling stage fright, and have spent the last seven years trying to overcome it. This essay aims to give an overview of the evolutionary basis for performance anxiety,  and explore three different methods for lessening its impact: Visualisation, Alexander Technique, and Biofeedback. I will also argue that a personal approach to one’s anxiety is the only way to combat it, as it is an inherently personal problem, with personal causes and personal effects.

Anxiety is one of man-kind’s oldest and most effective mechanisms for coping with life threatening situations^[2], and therefore has its roots in evolution. The anxiety we feel in emergency situations is a modern manifestation of  the ‘fight-or-flight’ response to danger, which is instigated by the Central Nervous System (CNS). The CNS is split into two parts - the sympathetic nervous system and its parasympathetic counterpart. The sympathetic nervous system is the part of the body that controls the release of adrenaline to trigger the ‘fight-or-flight’ response, and is tempered by the parasympathetic nervous system, which counteracts some of the effects. “The sympathetic nervous system prepares an animal to respond more vigorously and accurately during an emergency”^[3] but, unfortunately, the side effects of this are that it increases one’s heart and breathing rate, causes one’s palms to sweat^[4]  and also causes trembling from the surplus adrenaline. Given that this evolutionary mechanism was designed in order for us to decide whether the predator in front of us could be successfully killed, or whether we should run away, it is clear to see that this is now a defunct and outdated response to ‘danger’, and side effects of this defence system make comparatively low-stress situations very difficult. 

According to Dr. Lynne Bloxham, a general practitioner with personal experience of performance anxiety, some of the most common causes of performance anxiety are: early psychological trauma; familial, including personality; stressful life events; and faulty learning^[5]. The origin that correlates with me from this list is the idea that anxiety is caused by familiar, or specifically personality, traits. I can recognise that my anxiety is caused by my ongoing worry that the audience will dislike my singing voice and that I will make a fool of myself doing the thing that I so desperately want to do as a career. My anxiety causes me to actively anticipate audience disapproval, and worry that I have not done enough practice for the recital. This leads to a sense of dread and self-doubt prior to the performance, and most of the time, throughout it. At the worst moments of my anxiety, I have experienced uncontrollable shaking, crying, and nausea, but in psychological terms, anxiety instigates a voice in my head that is just repeating insults and criticisms. In terms of the effect that anxiety has on the music itself, it is remarkable how little rhythmic control one possesses when at the hands of performance anxiety. It is important to remember that someone suffering with performance anxiety may indeed not suffer from any of these symptoms but could suffer from an entirely different set of responses, and they could be caused by any set list of origins, not included in the list above.

There are a number of physical and emotional strategies that are advocated by healthcare professionals for dealing with performance anxiety, and I will discuss three in detail: Visualiation, the Alexander Technique, and Biofeedback.

Visualisation is a strategy by which one visualises an upcoming recital, or audition every day for two weeks prior to the performance. In order for it to be most efficiently utilised, one must visualise every element of the performance perfectly and in detail: clothing; the room in which the performance will take place; where and how you will stand; how it feel to walk into the room; how it will feel to walk out of the room; what you will play and crucially that you will perform it perfectly. A major ‘pot-hole’ of this technique is that the majority of the time, performers do not know and cannot predict what conditions they will be playing with and what equipment will be available to them, which clearly makes visualising it impossible.

Another strategy for combating anxiety is practicing the Alexander Technique. The Alexander Technique is a very effective way of dealing with performance anxiety that involves a series of exercises that help identify the root of one’s anxiety and eliminate habits one may have adopted as a result. This, as with many of the strategies for aiding performance anxiety, has been introduced into the musical world from the branch of Sports Psychology^[6]. The Alexander Technique is a way of releasing tension from every part of the body, in order to increase feelings of relaxation which can then be applied to performance. One of the biggest criticisms of Alexander Technique however, is that it is an expensive process, with the “majority of students [coming] for a few months, taking between twenty and forty lessons during that period”^[7]. However, several of the exercises can be done in the home.

Biofeedback, or applied psychophysiological feedback^[8], is a method by which involuntary physiological processes, such as increased heart rate, blood flow and adrenaline secretion, when anxious, can learned to be controlled. It is describes as a “therapeutic tool to facilitate learning self-regulation of autonomic functions for improving health”^[9], according to Psychiatric Times, and is commonly used to treat General Anxiety Disorder. As with the Alexander Technique, this is not a free process for helping to treat anxiety. It is also, unlike the Alexander Technique, not a fully-recognised form of therapy - but rather is a branch of homeopathy, and as a result there is limited evidence that it makes any difference to anxiety levels.

I have suffered from performance anxiety for seven years, and have tried countless methods to try and combat it, but it is only in the last few weeks or so that I have created a method that consistently and without fail reduces my anxiety prior to a musical performance. This process has involved a regime of occasionally ruthless self evaluation after performances combined with a self-devised, audible ‘pep-talk’ of all of my musical achievements, in the remaining few minutes prior to the performance. I have found, that although one should try as many different strategies for combating anxiety as they can, whilst evaluating exactly what effect each one has on their performance, there can be no generalised solution but analysing the fundamental causes of one’s own anxiety, and combining, or indeed creating from scratch one’s own programme of stress-relieving exercises in relation to these causes. It is also worth noting that ultimately the only way to combat one’s performance anxiety to such an extent as to make it an asset, as opposed to a liability^[10], is to push oneself to do as many performances as possible, because music is as much about the performance you give, as it is about getting the notes right.

In conclusion, in the last seven years, I had not really advanced from simply acknowledging that I had stage fright to such an extent that it needed to be dealt with. However, having approached this essay from an auto-ethnographical perspective, which reconciles a concept from both psychology (anxiety) and of music (performance) I have managed to successfully pinpoint exactly what it is that causes my anxiety, and appeal to my sense of egocentricity in order to combat it. Indeed, I found that the actual process of writing became part of the solution itself - the methodology of autoethnography forces the writer to analyse exactly what it is about themselves that has caused the issue they are writing about, and in my case, this has allowed me to come to terms with the precise root of my performance anxiety. I believe that approaching anxiety from a personal perspective is the most effective method of dealing with anxiety, because its roots are different for every performer, and as helpful as advocated strategies are, they are a generalised solution to an inherently personal problem.

Bibliography:

•   Collins English Dictionary, ‘Performance Anxiety’ (n.d) [Online] (http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/performance-anxiety). [Accessed 3 December 2014].

•  Marks, Isaac M., Randolph, Nesse, M.,  ‘Fear and Fitness’, in An Evolutionary Analysis of Anxiety Disorders (17 September 1994) [Online] (http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nesse/Articles/Marks-Nesse-FearAndFitness-EtholSoc-1994.PDF). [Accessed 8 December 2014].

•   Smith, Edward E., and Kosslyn, Stephen M., Cognitive Psychology: Mind and Brain, (Essex: Pearson Education Limited, 2014), 31-32

•   Bloxham, Lynne, (2014) “Performance Anxiety”, [Lecture to BMus, BA Music], [Newcastle University]. 20 November.

•   The Complete Guide to the Alexander Technique, ‘What Happens During an Alexander Technique Lesson or Class’ (n.d.) [Online] (http://www.alexandertechnique.com/lesson.htm). [Accessed 7 December 2014].

•   Brauer, Alan, ‘Biofeedback and Anxiety’, Psychiatric Tines (1 February 1999) [Online] (http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/articles/biofeedback-and-anxiety). [Accessed 7 December 2014].

•   Kageyama, Noa, ‘How to Make Performance Anxiety an Asset Instead of a Liability’, The Bulletproof Musician (n.d.) [Online] (http://www.bulletproofmusician.com/how-to-make-performance-anxiety-an-asset-instead-of-a-liability/). [Accessed 6 December 2014].

•   WedMD, ‘Stage Fright (Performance Anxiety)’ (4 May 2013) [Online] (http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/stage-fright-performance-anxiety). [Accessed 6 December 2014].

•   Goddard, Philip, ‘The Alexander Technique: A brief guide to the basics’, Self Realization & Clear Mindedness (n.d.) [Online] (http://www.clarity-of-being.org/alextech.htm#mozTocId916068). [Accessed 2 December 2014].

•   British Association for Performing Arts Medicine, ‘What BAPAM can do for you’ (n.d.) [Online] (http://www.bapam.org.uk/perf_intro.html). [Accessed 2 December 2014].

•   Morland, Polly, ‘Terror behind a rising curtain: Why do talented performers get stage fright?’, The Independent (26 April 2013) [Online] (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/terror-behind-a-rising-curtain-why-do-talented-performers-get-stage-fright-8587709.html). [Accessed 1 December 2014].

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^[1] Collins English Dictionary, ‘Performance Anxiety’ (n.d) [Online] (http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/performance-anxiety). [Accessed 3 December 2014].

^[2] Marks, Isaac M., Randolph, Nesse, M.,  ‘Fear and Fitness’, in An Evolutionary Analysis of Anxiety Disorders (17 September 1994) [Online] (http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nesse/Articles/Marks-Nesse-FearAndFitness-EtholSoc-1994.PDF). [Accessed 8 December 2014].

^[3] Smith, Edward E., and Kosslyn, Stephen M., Cognitive Psychology: Mind and Brain, (Essex: Pearson Education Limited, 2014), 31-32

^[4] Ibid.

^[5] Bloxham, Lynne, (2014) “Performance Anxiety”, [Lecture to BMus, BA Music], [Newcastle University]. 20 November.

^[6] Bloxham, Lynne, (2014) “Performance Anxiety”, [Lecture to BMus, BA Music], [Newcastle University]. 20 November.

^[7] The Complete Guide to the Alexander Technique, ‘What Happens During an Alexander Technique Lesson or Class’ (n.d.) [Online] (http://www.alexandertechnique.com/lesson.htm). [Accessed 7 December 2014].

^[8]Brauer, Alan, ‘Biofeedback and Anxiety’, Psychiatric Tines (1 February 1999) [Online] (http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/articles/biofeedback-and-anxiety). [Accessed 7 December 2014].

^[9] Ibid.

^[10] Kageyama, Noa, ‘How to Make Performance Anxiety an Asset Instead of a Liability’, The Bulletproof Musician (n.d.) [Online] (http://www.bulletproofmusician.com/how-to-make-performance-anxiety-an-asset-instead-of-a-liability/). [Accessed 6 December 2014].