16 reasons why we still need Feminism.

Women owe feminism a LOT. More than a lot.

Even if a certain Tumblr says we don’t. I would estimate that the vast majority of people that think we don’t need feminism have no clue what feminism actually means, or advocates, or campaigns for.

Much of the freedom and equality we enjoy today comes from a movement that stemmed less than two hundred years ago, when a growing number of women grew tired of being seen as lesser beings than their male counterparts. Yes, we have it good nowadays. We have rights, we have birth control, we can stay out as late as we want, but we wouldn’t have any of these freedoms without feminism. So I lay forth many reasons why feminism is still important to this day.

1. Because feminism is NOT about hating men. It does not advocate the oppression of males. That would just be stupid, considering the fact that the point of feminism is to bring women out of oppression and onto the same level as men.

2. Because finding ways of blaming a rape victim (what was she wearing? was she drunk? was she flirting?) is a despicable practice. Why should we be asking these questions of rape victims when victims of other crimes aren’t? I don’t suppose for a second a victim of burglary or murder would be treated in the same way depending on the clothing they were wearing at the time. And that’s not to say that men aren’t victims of rape, or that women don’t ever rape. It’s just that the vast majority of rape victims happen to be female, and the vast majority of the perpetrators, the ones that appear in court for their crimes, are male.

3. Because women are still slut-shamed, whilst men are mostly not. I have never heard of a guy being called “easy” because he had sex on a first date.

4. Because we are still told what we can and can’t do with our bodies. We are told we should breastfeed and then we are kicked out of restaurants/swimming pools/shopping centres when we do so because we should be modest and discreet.

5. Because we are told how our bodies should look, what we should wear, how much body hair to have, how much make up to wear and if we fall outside of the safe zone we are told we are unfeminine. We are not allowed to have wrinkles or stretch marks or saggy tits without it being seen as a “flaw”.

6. Because the normal “route” a woman is still expected to take in life is that of wife and mother. People still can’t seem to understand when a girl says marriage isn’t what she wants in life, or that she doesn’t want to have children. Those same life goals aren’t expected of men.

7. Because it’s still big news when companies like Disney hire a female to direct an animated blockbuster.

8. Because in Hollywood, women are asked how they juggle their work and home life and men are not.

9. Because western governments are still predominantly composed of middle/upper class white males, which only makes sense in those countries where the population consists only of middle/upper class white males. Yes, governments are a lot more proportionally representative than they used to be, but there is still a long way to go.

10. Because sexist and derogatory remarks about women are passed off as “banter” and if a woman or girl speaks up and defends herself she is seen as “uptight” or “hormonal” or told to “calm down”.

11. Because men need feminism, too. Men don’t need to be shamed or told they are feminine for having emotions. Boys don’t need to feel like they have to be “macho” or “tough guy” to be accepted. Boys should be allowed to play with dolls and play kitchens because one day they might need to feed themselves and they might even end up fathering children.

12. Because when men do end up becoming fathers and they do something fatherly, like taking their children out or going on play dates or becoming a stay-at-home dad, they are hailed as some kind of saint for doing what mothers are expected to do every day without much exaltation. And it shouldn’t be like that. I love seeing men make an effort with their children. Nothing makes me glow more brightly with happiness than seeing my partner doting on our daughters, but this shouldn’t be an anomaly. We’ve come a long way from Mary Poppins-style parenting roles (Mr Banks’ children could probably have done with more doting from their father) but there’s still a long way to go.

13. Because female genital mutilation, female virginity tests and sex-selective abortions still happen in many countries. We may have a certain level of freedom and equality in the western world but in too many developing countries women don’t stand a chance.

14. Because women are taxed on sanitary products. According to tax law, they are deemed as an unnecessary, luxury product. I wonder how unnecessary and luxurious they’d seem if we all stopped using them and bled all over the place, or if every woman took a week off work around her period because she couldn’t face going in.

15. Because in the UK, on average, women earn 80.9p for every £1 a man makes for the same work. So basically, the 19.1p we are being swizzed on is a tax on having a vagina (in addition to tampon tax, which is essentially punishing us for having a uterus). The issue is being challenged in some places in America (where on average women earn 76c for every dollar a man makes), with pop up shops springing up where women are charged 76% of the ticket price, while men are charged full price. This might seem unfair on men, but it’s no more unfair than the gender pay gap, which will take 70 years to close if it continues to close at the current rate.

16. Because human trafficking is still rife across the globe, and it is mainly women and young girls that are trafficked, and sex trafficking is the predominant sector into which these people are coerced.

Feminism is not about ditching men and becoming lesbians. It incorporates “fem” in it’s title because at the time of its birth, females truly were oppressed and they had to fight real damn hard*  for the luxury of freedom that we have today, but it remains a movement that fights for the equality of both sexes and  it still hasn’t reached all of its goals.

When we live in a world where feminism is no longer necessary, when we don’t have to fight for our own bodies and pay equality and the freedom to have or not have children, then it will have done its job. But until that day I truly believe we all need feminism.

*if you want to know just how much women have had to fight for, read this even longer list  – it’s a timeline of feminism in the UK and is a huge eye-opener.

Why my daughters will never be “princesses”

Two words: Gender. Stereotyping.

What’s the deal? Seriously, why?

Why, in this world of endless opportunities and infinite experiences available at your fingertips, would you box your daughter in by calling her your Princess? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not normally one to judge and if someone else wants to do it then that’s fine – your kid, your rules. But in my house, with my children and with the epic future they have in front of them, Princess just doesn’t do it for us.

When someone calls their daughter a Princess, they are buying into a world of pink and glitter and Disneyfied shit-for-brains, where beauty is a more desirable attribute than kindness or compassion or humanity. A world where companies rely on parents separating the personalities of their sons and daughters so rigorously that to buy a pink glue stick for a boy would be utter sacrilege. A world where boys can only be branded as “tough guys” and the only past time a girl should enjoy is looking in the mirror applying lip gloss.

Totally Vom-worthy slogans

I have seen and heard such an inordinate amount of gender bullshit in the past few months. For instance, this beautifully sarcastic list of unnecessarily gendered products that gave me fist-curling, exasperated rage giggles. And then there’s a story a friend told me about a woman she’d overheard shouting at her daughter in a supermarket because she picked up a Mike the Knight magazine. Because apparently reading a “boy’s magazine” will magically turn her into a boy. Or perhaps she’ll morph into a raving, uncontrollable lesbian who would embarrass her mother and cause worldwide alarm at the unnaturalness of it all. I mean, what the …
And if that isn’t enough, you’ve got to battle through the swathes of gendered baby clothes, because babies give so many fucks about what they’re wearing, then there’s pink and blue pull-up nappies, potties, dummies, hair grips for babies that don’t .. even .. have … hair! When will these ridiculous companies and conglomerates realise that children are living, functioning, multi-faceted, amazing bundles of molecules that have so much potential for so many wondrous feats, and yet they are separated into these boxes and told from the age of zilch that unless they remain in these boxes they are not valid humans. That is not humanity. That is greed.

Because that’s what it is. Money. Companies can make one gender-neutral product that would work for both sexes (take a stick of glue, for example) or they can make one of each colour, market the shit out of it, give it some fancy packaging and lo and behold, mum of two buys a pink one for the girl and a blue one for the boy. It’s mind-bogglingly dumb in an anthropological sense, but a bloody genius idea for boosting profits and CEO bonuses. Clap clap. Bravo. Well done.

And the even more amazing thing is that parents buy into all of this. They call their daughters Princess and their sons Tough Guy and expect them to live up to this. There is nothing wrong with a child feeling comfortable with their gender, in fact it is a wonderful thing, but to push it so far, to shovel spoonfuls of gender bullshit down their little necks at such a young age when they are fresh and sponge-like, soaking in the world around them and forming their own thoughts, feelings and perceptions of the world, the only thing that this pink and blue Berlin Wall is doing is damaging our offspring and fencing them in.

You could say I’m a hypocrite, considering the amount of pink that is splatted around my house in the areas the children frequent the most, but rest assured, most of these have been gifts. I’m not going to get shitty about that kind of thing because it’s a loving, thoughtful thing for friends and family to bestow gifts upon my daughters, but the idea I object to is that everything must be pink. Who needs pink science equipment? Girls, of course! Because obviously the female brain cannot possibly function scientifically unless there is at least one pink object in view.

My six year old hasn’t been overly bombarded with pink and glitter, but now that she’s in school she has inevitably picked up from other, more “girly” girls, the idea that she is only a “proper” girl if she likes pink and barbies and plays the princess in their games of make-believe. A member of my family seemed shocked when I told her that I was buying some Lego for my daughter for Christmas, labelling it as a “boy’s” toy, a notion I found pretty ridiculous considering the amount of fun and enjoyment I got from playing with Lego when I was younger. Talking of Lego, what’s with the girly lego now? Why can’t girls be allowed to play with construction toys without being slapped in the face with pink all the time? Oh yes, sorry I forgot. Girls only function when they receive pinkness intravenously.

Seriously, what message are we sending to those children and young adults who feel they don’t fit into the socially acceptable male or female framework, where girls are expected to be dainty, softly spoken and with the life goal of settling down and starting a family? That’s not a terrible path to choose, but it’s not the only one. Girls are more than just a pretty face, more than just a uterus, more than just objects to be viewed, appreciated and admired. Boys aren’t just macho, muscular bread-winners who aren’t allowed access to their emotions without being labelled gay or pussy. What ballsed-up world are we living in when parents are so doggedly determined that their children fit into a pink or blue box that gender conversion therapies even exist? Why is it an issue if your child was born into the wrong body? Why is it an issue if your child is gay? If your child’s gender identity or sexuality is a problem, not only are you a terrible parent, you are a terrible human being. If you can’t look at your own child, this amazing creation that exists on this earth entirely because of you and you can’t see past this malleable, fluid thing that is gender (or sexuality) and love the human being behind it then you are denying them the loving, understanding and emotionally connected parent that they so deserve.

Boxes shouldn’t even exist. We as human beings are made up of so much more than gender that to hem ourselves and our children in is just that: hemming ourselves in. And that really, really sucks.

February

I realise it’s March now, but I haven’t written anything since the beginning of Feb, so I thought I’d provide an update for those who are interested.

February saw me handing in the picture book module (which included the animatics and GIF) and I was actually pretty sad to let it go. I’ve had so much fun with it and have loved the experience and the learning curve of figuring out how to make a picture book from start to finish. It has been a huge amount of hard work but I’m hoping it pays off when I find out my results.

My desk before tidying it.

 

 

 

 

And after …

 

Here’s my GIF. It’s a rainbow moustache and each frame was hand-painted in Gouache. It was a labour of love and I love it.

We’ve also done a bookbinding workshop which was amazing, and I’m so pleased with the outcome. We learnt how to make a simple exercise book with very basic stitching on the spine. We then went on to make a hardback book with stitched sections and endpapers. And lastly we made a book using coptic binding. It looks utterly beautiful and I’m really happy with how mine turned out.

Coptic binding, so lovely to look at and so easy to do.

Hardback book with end papers and hand stitched sections.

All four books together.

 

Now that we’re into March I have another impending deadline which is scaring me a bit more than the last one. I’m currently writing a 2500 word essay on the connections between feminism and Disney and it’s quite possibly the most interesting thing I’ve ever researched. No joke. There’s so much more to it than I ever would have imagined.

As part of my research I read We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and it is phenomenal. I didn’t expect to be quite so blown away by it – her anecdotes are moving and maddening, and her elegant, eloquent writing is just wonderful. It’s made me want to read her other novels (Purple Hibiscus, Half of a Yellow Sun, and Americanah) and find out why she’s won so many awards.

I also managed to finish Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut, recommended by my fave Andrew Smith. I won’t include it in my Books I Love series as I didn’t love it as much as I have others, but I did very much enjoy the wackiness and I can totally see how Mr Smith is inspired by him. I felt the whole thing was quite indulgent, as it would be if you were writing a novel for yourself for your fiftieth birthday. Vonnegut placed himself within the novel, not just as another character, but as the creator, the fiction-writer who is creating this very piece of work and breaking the most important rule in novel-writing (acknowledging that this is a work of fiction or making reference to yourself as a writer.) I loved this idea, particularly when he slotted himself into a scene at the climax of the book and had one of his main characters interact with himself as the novelist. I also loved the many instances where he writes things like “I made this character do this, because I can.” It was a completely unexpected technique, but one that I welcomed. I wish I could have read it in longer sittings than my 10 minute bus journey every morning, but with my deadline it just wasn’t possible. Regardless, it was a very fun read and I would like to read more of his novels, if only just to see how he writes when he’s not being self-indulgent.

Anywho, better stop there as it’s getting late and my eyes are heavy.

Peace out! x

Reflection. Or narcissism?

Narcissism isn’t a very welcome trait, but I need to utilise it right now to make sense of things. I’ve felt for a long time now that I’m doing a shit job in a lot of areas.

Housework is a major one, and it really is the bane of my life. If I could get a fairy to do it all for me – doesn’t even have to be a fairy, an ogre in an apron would do – I would get one in a heartbeat. It serves no purpose other than to eat into my very limited “me” time, which I would normally use to finish uni work or try and flex my creative muscles and maybe throw some doodles out.

Motherhood is another …
Being a mum is such an honour for me, and it’s something I’m passionate about and which brings me unrivalled happiness. But with all the stresses of uni and work and all the other crap that flies through the fan of life, I find myself becoming resentful and unloving … and unloveable. I think it’s this area of my life that I occasionally struggle with the most upsetting to think about. The fact that my choices and my struggles with uni and life in general have an impact on my children makes me feel like I’m being terribly selfish. The fact that I get to spend more time with my uni friends than I do with my children makes me feel like I’m the worst mother in the world, and for a large part of the day my youngest is being looked after by a lady who is essentially a surrogate mother. (A wonderful woman, nonethless.)

Uni is great. I love saying that. Going to university has given me back all my vitality and I feel like I actually have a direction now. And saying that makes me feel like an even worse mum. Having something that I enjoy so much whilst I spend so long away from my kids is so so tough, and makes me feel insanely guilty, but when I think of the scope this opportunity is giving me, the keys to all the doors I’m getting out of it, I’m almost certain it’s worth it.

Work is ok, but I feel like it would be better if I could cut my hours. Being given the go-ahead to cut my hours when I applied for uni was a big factor in my decision to accept my place, then to be told that cutting my hours would be bad for the business (because apparently employees mental health is of lesser importance than their ability to remember which books we’re trying to push this week) and that I could either keep the hours I had or quit, well that was a bit of a kick in the head. I do love my job, I love the people and the feeling of being surrounded by books, being able to talk about books to my heart’s content, but when I’m spending a full week at uni and then both days working, sometimes I feel like it’s too much. And then I feel like the only thing I can do is quit. But why should I feel like I have to? Why should I be backed into a corner where my only options are mental instability through exhaustion and overwork, or quitting? Why is that ok? It sucks. It’s a really shitty, sucky situation and it’s made me feel very angry and resentful.
Guess the plus side is that the anger can be channelled into creativity in some way or another.

Need to keep reminding myself not everything is crap. Nothing is crap really, just my outlook on it.

I shouldn’t really be complaining, though. I made these decisions – I own all these consequences and I have to suck it up. I wanted to do a degree to give myself direction and to stop myself from sitting on my ass all day long, neglecting the housework. And I’m so glad I did. I’ve met some amazing, incredible, talented people on my course and I’ve learnt so much from it already.

Some light in my life comes from my uni friends who are constantly telling me I’m amazing for juggling all the stuff I am. It might sound egotistical but I need that. I need those affirmations and that support. It’s pretty much what keeps me going. That, and always having snuggles from my girls waiting for me when I pick them up.
That is what I have to look forward to at the end of each and every day and it is the best feeling in the world.

 

Animatics and everything else.

One thing I’ve learnt from my current module (Creating and Understanding Sequence) is that my brain works much better in picture-book format than it does in animation. The first part of the project involved making a picture book from a chosen text, which I enjoyed immensely, and the second part took it a little further into the realm of animation.

One of the finals from my picture book. Written by Ben Clanton, who owns the copyright.

Another final from my picture book.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea  of animation, but when it comes to actually creating it, well it just makes my brain very tired and I found myself spending a ridiculous amount of time procrastinating. I did get it finished eventually, but I’m feeling kind of bleh about the final outcome (although I’m patting myself on the back for actually remembering how to use Adobe Premier the day after the workshop.)

^ This is my animatic.

I don’t think I’m cut out for animation, despite the fact that the storyboarding was kind of fun and allowed me to be fairly loose with my drawing, but I guess that’s all part of what going to uni is about – finding out what I’m good at and realising that I’m not going to be amazing at everything I try. Maybe that’s the hard bit for me, because I always want to get things perfect, and very rarely like to practice because my practice pieces don’t look perfect.

Another thing I’m thankful for is the wonderful input we’ve been getting from Emma Carlisle and Rose Forshall – both are brilliant tutors with a wealth of knowledge of the children’s book industry. We’ve also had the chance to work with Gary Day-Ellison, which I found really helpful but a lot of my peers didn’t. He can be quite blunt, I’ll give him that, but his advice to me was really helpful and considering the fact he’s very successful in the world of publishing I feel he’s a handy contact to have.

Next week we’re starting work on an animated GIF, which is the final part of this project and I have no idea what to expect. It’ll be based on the chosen text, so will probably feel similar to the picture book and animatic, and then we’ll have assessments and that’ll be the end of it. I’m going to be sad to finish the picture book stuff but excited to start on something else, whatever that may be.

Anyway, bit of a pointless blog post, but aren’t they all?

Peace out.

 

 

 

An interview with Andrew Smith

If you don’t ask, you don’t get.

So I asked Andrew Smith (thank goodness for Twitter) if he would do an interview for me and he only went and said yes!!

Here we go:

Certain parts of the male anatomy (namely testicles) have a recurring theme in your novels. In your experience, do they take up a lot of space in the mind of a teenage boy? 

There are all kinds of reasons why balls occupy so much space in a teenage boy’s mind. First, they are uncomfortable and get tangled up and pinned in awkward positions quite a lot. Also, they release a constant supply of a powerful hallucinatory chemical that makes guys insane. Nobody tells you that stuff in biology class, but it’s true.

Homosexuality is explored in both Grasshopper Jungle and Winger. Can you tell me what inspired you to write about this topic?

There are gay people everywhere in my life–in my family, in my community, people I work with, friends, and students I teach. Why wouldn’t I have gay people in my stories? The only time a gay character should be avoided is when he or she is being used as a SYMBOL of gayness–when the sexual identity of the person becomes the main element of that character’s relationship to the arc of the narrative. That’s a shitty and dehumanizing thing to do to any group in society.

Grasshopper Jungle is a pretty zany, imaginative book. Where did you find inspiration for it? 

This one I honestly don’t know. I just started writing and it came out. I knew I wanted to write about the end of the world and adolescence, though, because I’ve always been fascinated with how adulthood and settling into one’s role (whether that role is defined internally or imposed on you by society) is really similar to the end of the world.

How was your experience of high school? And do you think your experiences had an impact on the topics you now choose to write about?I was a total outsider/loner/never-fitting-in type dude in high school. I wrote a lot then, too. I think that my teen experiences surface in just about everything I write, particularly in WINGER, since, like Ryan Dean, I was much younger than my classmates. That sucked.

Can you describe your writing space?

My writing space is an office on the second floor of my house. It is an absolute mess, full of boxes and books. My desk is so cluttered I can’t do anything on it except use my keyboard.

Do you listen to music while you’re writing? If so, what do you like to listen to? 

I love music, but I never listen to anything while I’m writing. I need absolute silence.

What would your advice be for budding authors like myself?

Stay away from the internet. Don’t watch too much TV. If you know more about the characters in Doctor Who or The Walking Dead than you know about the characters in your community, then give up now. You’re not going to be a writer.

I took part in a fiction writing short course in which we were encouraged to write in a notebook every day. Do you carry a notebook with you? What do you write in it?

I have one small notebook. I write one sentence in it every day. That’s it. Just one sentence. Some of those sentences have become bigger things.

Are your characters inspired by people you know? Or people you notice on the street? Or are they completely made up from scratch?

All of my characters are people that I’ve encountered in the real world, to some degree or another.

I LOVED Joey Cosentino as a character. Have you ever met a Joey in real life?Yes. Joey was a real kid that was a friend of mine around the time when I was in college, about 20 years old or so. That’s all I’m going to say about him.

Who is your favourite author and why? Favourite book?

My favorite author is Kurt Vonnegut because he was a literary badass who obviously wrote exactly what he wanted to write–none of his work was contrived or a mash-up of publishing trends. I can’t stand seeing books like that. My favorite (sorry, I’m American–feel free to add that extra vowel) book is Breakfast of Champions.

What is the best thing about being a published author?

Tough question. There are lots of things about being published that give me stomach aches. I truly enjoy meeting other authors, editors, agents, and the people involved in publishing. I love the travel. I get to see so many parts of the world that I would never have gone to without the doors that being a published author has opened for me.

Cuss words feature quite a lot in your books (Grasshopper Jungle in particular.) Have you had many complaints about this?

I get hate mail for every book I’ve ever written. One particularly nasty letter came from a mother who “discovered” one of my books in her 15-year-old son’s school backpack. What a lousy mom. I looked her house up on Google Earth, just so I could see what kind of place such a hateful, mean woman would live in. Kids cuss when they talk to each other. No big deal. It’s part of the wonder of human communication. These people who get bent out of shape because I use a word like “fuck” in my novels probably never stop to consider how very damaging words like “fat” or “ugly” or “stupid” can be to other people, but I bet those words come out of their mouths, because at least they can brag to themselves how they never say “fuck.” Fuck that.

You must hear almost constant praise about your books. Have you experienced any negativity towards them and how do you deal with it?I don’t take negative comments well. I’ve never had a negative review or comment from a legitimate review source, though–only from internet crackpots who are brave behind their keyboards. I never read reviews on places like Goodreads, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble because there are too many idiots who post on those sites, and I don’t have time for that.

Which was your favourite book to write? 

I truly enjoyed writing Grasshopper Jungle, Stand-Off (which is the sequel to Winger), and, especially The Alex Crow (coming in March from Dutton/Penguin). Those books were fun to write.

I can safely say I feel thoroughly privileged to have done this. Huge thanks to Andrew Smith, both for the fantastic books and for doing this for me.

Visit his website: http://www.authorandrewsmith.com/Author_Andrew_Smith/Home.html

Laula “Freshman” Hole.

It’s official … as of September I will be studying Illustration at Plymouth Uni. 

I am so, so unbelievably happy about this, my heart is singing. I had confirmation via UCAS today, after a bit of a hiccup with my application. Originally my application was declined and withdrawn automatically as the Uni hadn’t made a decision about my application by the deadline date. So after a bit of digging around and phoning the admissions people (a supremely helpful bunch, I might add) I found out that it’s because I hadn’t replied to an email asking to send in my portfolio (an email that I never received!) so I quickly put together a dropbox folder of all my show-off pieces and sent it to the course leader. After a bit more ringing around a week or so later the admissions team emailed to say they’d like to offer me a place but I had to go through clearing (check me out! No interview or anything …) so I sorted out my clearing choice but had to wait another week until UCAS was back up and running (something to do with Scottish results or something) before everything was made official. 

Which leads us to today, when I finally got proper UCAS approval. 

So now I have just less than seven weeks to sort money, childcare and my head out and actually try to get into a learning frame of mind. To tell the truth I’m actually bricking it. I’m nearly twenty-five, I feel like an old fogey compared to eighteen year olds and I’ve got two children. I feel like I’ll never fit in but I’m sure I’ll find a friend. I can be painfully shy in new situations and I stare at people a lot, which may not help my situation. To overcome this, I’ve joined the Illustration BA facebook group to try and get to know some of my fellow freshmen before I start. 

I’m also a bit worried about being bottom of the class. In school I was always “the arty one” and people would ask me to draw them, but now I’ll be hanging out with a load of other artists and I can only imagine how inferior I’m going to feel. Some of the students have posted their work on the facebook page and I’m already feeling a little intimidated. I guess I’ll just have to keep practising … I know I can draw but I lack ideas and I can only see that as a bad thing. 

Nevertheless, I am so totally overwhelmed and buzzing – the future feels exciting and scary in equal measures and I’m going to put every last ounce of effort and strength into Uni that I have. Having my girlies has given me a kick up the bum to get myself into a career where I can actually provide for them. It’s given me life experience and a drive and determination like nothing else can. I may not have gone to Uni straight after school but I’m glad I gave myself the time and the space to reflect on what I want and what I need from life and I feel pretty certain this is what I’m meant to be doing. 

Wish me luck! 

Shaun Tan

I’m going to try and describe my love for Shaun Tan. I anticipate this will be pretty hard. 

 

When I look at his artwork, particularly on his blog, my stomach ties itself in knots. It’s a very peculiar feeling, and one that happens very rarely. It’s almost like a dulled version of the overwhelming love I felt when I met both of my daughters for the first time. I get this little lump in my throat, kind of feel like I want to cry because they are so utterly beautiful. I know, I know. It seems a bit of an extreme reaction to what is essentially just pencils on paper. But the shivers these images give me might be similar to how one might feel hearing their all-time favourite band playing their all-time favourite song. There just aren’t strong enough words to describe that feeling. 

I first came across his work while shelving stock in the children’s section at work (good old Waterstones) It was a gorgeous picture book called The Lost Thing and I took it over to the counter and just stared at it for a long time (don’t worry, I wasn’t ignoring customers – it was a particularly quiet day). I think I bought it more for me than my daughter. Of course I read it to her, but having just turned one she didn’t really show much enthusiasm for anything except In The Night Garden. Another of his books that I fell in love with was Eric. It’s so sweet and beautifully drawn. My colleague and I both adored his work so we put together a Shaun Tan display to show off just how awesome he is and if memory serves me well, we sold a fair few of his books. 

I just can’t get over his skill; the precision and sophistication of his hand-eye coordination is mind-boggling. His use of limited palettes with colours that wouldn’t necessarily go together in anyone else’s head is incredible. He pulls off these quirky colour schemes and I find myself irritatingly envious of his talent. But skill isn’t everything. What I’m really jealous of is his crazy, beautiful, surreal imagination and his ability to create exquisite, stunning work that is both confusing and lovely at the same time. There are many wonderful illustrators out there but not many that give me chills.

I find this piece particularly lovely. His ability to portray wet stuff is awesome – it’s something I really struggle with but he makes it look so simple and effortless. The symbolism in his work makes me happy – every image oozes meaning and the tiny details keep my eye and mind engaged for inordinate amounts of time. I could literally spend all day looking at a single image and still not fully understand all the many meanings it portrays. I would gladly paper my walls in his pictures and spend all day staring at them. 

Browsing his work on Pinterest earlier I came across a wonderful article by Tan giving advice to new illustrators, which I found very helpful (having just found out I’ve been accepted into Plymouth Uni to study Illustration). I just hope I can build myself up to something near this level, but I know it will take a heck of a lot of hard work and a lot of practice to get my standards anywhere close. 

 

All artwork featured on this blog post is copyright (C) Shaun Tan. http://www.shauntan.net/

Books I didn’t love but will write about anyway.

Life is too short to waste on books that aren’t floating my boat. I have a finite number of days left to live and selfishly I don’t want to spend any of them reading something that gives my synapses a sadface.

Lets say I have fifty years worth of reading ahead of me. It takes me roughly two weeks to read a book (I know, I’m slow, but I like to savour the words), maybe less than a week if it’s something extra special. That gives me twenty-six opportunities a year to colour in my grey matter with something explosive or charming. Altogether, twenty-six books a year for fifty years gives me a limit of roughly 1300 books, which may not sound like a lot but when you consider the vast multitude of books that have already been published that I haven’t sunk my teeth into, and then think about how many more books will have been published by the time I exit the building, there are just too many variables to compute. It is the job of the publisher, the marketing teams and the booksellers to make sure I find these gems that will shape my world and challenge my perceptions. 

I want each of these books to amaze me, build me up and break me back down. I want these books to enlighten me and enrich my life.

Maybe I’m just not in the right frame of mind to finish these particular books at this point in my life. I really hope that’s the case, because each of the books have been picked up for a good reason. I won’t name the books I didn’t enjoy because I wouldn’t want to influence anyone. As a bookseller it is not my place to un-recommend a book or show it in a negative light. That’s not to say they’re not good books that will excite and delight other readers – they are bestsellers because they have done exactly that, but for me, not so much. 

Thinking about it, maybe I’m guilty of book-lust. I love the feeling of the initial attraction, the hook that sinks itself into you, but I don’t have the stamina or the commitment to keep going, and perhaps that’s a massive flaw. I’d love to be able to make myself keep going, but when I’ve got finite days, months, years in which to cram the best, most intriguing, thought-provoking, spine-tingling books, then like a relationship that’s hanging on by a thread or a dead-end job, it’s just better to quit while you’re still alive.

I’m aware this is a bit of a non-bloggy-blog-post but it’s something that’s bothered me for a long time and I don’t know if I’m alone in this. Maybe I shouldn’t dwell on it so much. Maybe that in itself is a waste of life. 

“I fully support breastfeeding, but …” An Open Letter.

I’m going to take a sidestep away from books to write about something very important to me: breastfeeding. I’ve breastfed both of my daughters – my first self-weaned at 22 months, and my second still going strong at nearly 15 months. It is something I feel pretty passionately about, so please excuse me if I get ranty.

I am writing this because I am so sick of reading articles in the Daily Fail Mail (and other trashy outlets) about breastfeeding mothers being asked to leave whatever restaurant/shop/swimming pool they are nursing in. I am equally sick of the ignorant, snide comments left on said articles by apes giving their two cents. I am sick of hearing “I fully support breastfeeding, but …”. Let me start by saying this: if you say “I fully support breastfeeding, but …” you do not fully support breastfeeding. The presence of the “but” pretty much negates your first point. “But” is often followed by (but by no means limited to) one of the following:

• the mother should use a cover…
• it should be done in the bathroom/private room/feeding room …
• it shouldn’t be done in a shop/restauruant/bus
• the mother should be discreet and not draw attention to herself.
• the mother should pump her milk and put it in a bottle for when she’s out in public.
• not when the baby is over x age.
• it shouldn’t be done in front of other children (breasts not for children? Go figure …)

I am also sick of people likening breastfeeding in public to defecating/urinating/sex in public. It is none of these. Breastfeeding is not a sex act (and if you think it is then you obviously have a screw loose); breastmilk is not a waste product. It is a food product, delivered via breast (shock, horror) directly into the mouth of a small human who has no way to feed itself.

If you’ve never breastfed, or done so in public, then you have absolutely no idea how nerve-wracking it is to pull what is normally a concealed part of your anatomy out in front of people who have never seen that part of your anatomy and attempt to attach a wriggly, crying baby to it. It is no mean feat. It involves some forethought about how you are positioned, how to position your baby, and if you’re in the early days and still learning how to do it it doesn’t always go according to plan. Add into the mix a blanket or muslin cloth or specially made breastfeeding cover and you’ve officially run out of hands. Most babies hate being covered anyway (would you like to eat with a blanket on your head? Thought not ..) On some occasions when the infant is a little older and fascinated with the world around them they may detach from the boob to look around, and its usually when the milk is freely flowing and yes, it does sometimes shoot across the room. It happens, it’s not a crime, the mother/baby partnership are not trying to annoy anyone, they’re just doing what is natural and normal to them. It just so happens that the milk-delivery-vehicle is experiencing a surge in oxytocin that makes the milk shoot out.

But it’s not just milk spraying that causes offence, apparently. It’s the sight of a small triangle (or sometimes a big triangle, depending on the size of breast in question) of flesh above the baby’s head that is so insulting. Seriously people, it’s not that big a deal. It doesn’t require a cover, it just requires you minding your own business and utilising that incredible eye function that allows you to move them in a different direction. Hell! you could even turn your neck if you fancy it. Whichever you choose to do, just remember you don’t have to look at it. It’s not hurting you, it’s not going to kill you to just move on and pretend you didn’t see. In fact, it’s beneficial to the whole fluffing human race (in many, many ways) to see women breastfeeding.

1. Breastfeeding is beneficial to the environment.

Breastfeeding requires no secondary equipment, simply a breast and a baby. Each and every breastfeeding partnership saves oil, fuel, electricity in huge volumes. Oil is not used to manufacture bottles, fuel is not required to transport huge quantities of powdered artificial milk, electricity is not needed to boil kettles and power bottle warmers. It is a totally eco-friendly operation.

2.  Increased breastfeeding rates can save the NHS a heck of a lot of money.

£40 million as a rough estimate. It is widely accepted that the risks of many preventable illnesses and diseases to a non-breastfed infant are much higher than that of breastfed ones. The hospitalisation of babies with cases of necrotizing enterocolitis, otitis media, and many other illnesses are so high because of our mediocre breastfeeding rates. And not just babies. The risks of not breastfeeding can affect babies much later in life, too. Mothers who don’t breastfeed also have an increased likelihood of suffering illnesses such as osteoporosis, breast and ovarian cancers amongst others. The fact that UK breastfeeding rates are so crap are causing a big strain on NHS resources and it is so easily remedied.  See the Unicef Report for yourself.

3.  Breasts are not for sale.

The fact that we, as a society, are happier to see women posing almost nude in shop windows than sat down in Costa happily nursing her infant with virtually nothing on show says a lot about how horrendously crass we are. That we don’t mind a boob as long as it’s for advertising purposes and not to nurture the next generation really says it all. How about we stop thinking we own all the breasts just because we get to see them airbrushed in the windows of Ann Summers and La Senza and we teach our daughters that their bodies were not created for the sole purpose of pleasing the opposite sex? And while we’re at it, we can teach our sons that the world does not revolve around boobs, and even if it does, they do not belong to them, they belong to the owner of the boobs and are occasionally leased to babies. A bit of respect for our own bodies (and the bodies of others) would go a heck of a long way.

Those are the bigger issues. What I’m really trying to put across is: breastfeeding is not offensive. In any way, shape or form. At least it shouldn’t be. Leaving a breastfeeding mother in peace to get on with fulfilling her child’s needs is not a lot to ask. Even if, heaven forbid, you were offended by a gay couple sat holding hands or kissing on a bench, you wouldn’t go over and ask them to stop or move. If you saw a girl with her bum cheeks hanging out the bottom of her micro-shorts or her boobs spilling out of her top you wouldn’t tell her to put it away. So why do people think it’s okay to berate a woman for using her breasts for their designated purpose? If you just so happened to be disgusted by an obese person walking down the street you wouldn’t see it as your duty to tell that person they disgust you, would you? I personally don’t like to see pregnant women smoking in public, but I would never walk up to her and tell her she’s being selfish. It’s none of my business.

Believe it or not, the breastfeeding mother does not have to put your comfort before her own or her baby’s. She does not owe you anything. Believe it or not, you don’t need to vocalise every opinion or criticism that pops into your head. Some things can be, and are almost certainly better, kept inside your head. The breastfeeding mother does not even have to cover her baby or her breast up, nor should she feel like she does. The more we see mothers nursing in public, the less it will shock us. People used to find the idea of eating in public highly offensive, these days you can’t walk through any city centre without seeing someone chowing down on a burger or tucking into a pasty (or any other baked good). Times change, and we need to accept that, especially when it’s something as normal, natural, wonderful as breastfeeding.

Not only is it hurtful and insulting to be asked to move or stop breastfeeding, it is illegal. http://www.maternityaction.org.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Breastfeeding-in-public-places-2014.pdf

So maybe next time you see a mother breastfeeding and you’re disgusted by it, just walk on.
Better still, give her a smile and say “well done”, goodness knows it would do her self-esteem some good.

And if you’re reading this as a mother who nurses in public – please keep doing it and don’t let others ignorance get you down. You never know, your nursing in public might give confidence and inspire other mothers to do the same.

 

NB: My writing about breastfeeding does not in any way mean that i hate bottle-feeding or that it is terrible. I fully respect every mother’s decision to feed their baby however they choose, I don’t need to know reasons why you did or didn’t breastfeed, I just accept it. In this blog post I am writing solely about breastfeeding.

Links to articles:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bunmi-laditan/how-to-breastfeed-appropriately_b_5530806.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2579986/Mother-told-stop-breastfeeding-baby-daughter-museum-creche-ordered-TOILET-instead.html

http://www.nottinghampost.com/Breastfeeding-mother-told-leave-sports-shop/story-21004058-detail/story.html

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breastfeeding-mum-ordered-out-baby-2048569

http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/10828234.Breastfeeding_Lee_mum_asked_to__cover_up_or_leave__in_Blackheath_cafe/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiS8q_fifa0&feature=kp <— please watch this video – it’s amazing 😀