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vrijdag 27 mei 2011

"Toronto couple defend move to keep baby's sex secret"

BBC News Article, 27th May 2011

So I was reading the news as I do, when I saw the title of this particular article. The first thing I would say is that what must be made clear, is that there are differences in the nature and definition of the terms "sex" and "gender".

After writing a load of stuff here, I stumbled upon the WHO (World Health Organisation) website which had a very simple explanation (rather than me farting around with and pulling apart dictionary definitions):

What do we mean by "sex" and "gender"?

Sometimes it is hard to understand exactly what is meant by the term "gender", and how it differs from the closely related term "sex". 

"Sex" refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women.

"Gender" refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women.

To put it another way:

"Male" and "female" are sex categories, while "masculine" and "feminine" are gender categories.

Aspects of sex will not vary substantially between different human societies, while aspects of gender may vary greatly.

Some examples of sex characteristics :
  • Women menstruate while men do not
  • Men have testicles while women do not
  • Women have developed breasts that are usually capable of lactating, while men have not
  • Men generally have more massive bones than women
Some examples of gender characteristics :
  • In the United States (and most other countries), women earn significantly less money than men for similar work
  • In Viet Nam, many more men than women smoke, as female smoking has not traditionally been considered appropriate
  • In Saudi Arabia men are allowed to drive cars while women are not
  • In most of the world, women do more housework than men 

So here we see that there is a difference in the two, and we can add further to that by saying both are intertwined, with the added variable of sexuality, which as a category of identity itself carries several possibilities and each with it's own nuances. Put simply, and in my opinion, sexuality should be viewed as a scale of human sexuality (i.e. homosexual, heterosexual, and everything in between), which each and every one of us at different points on this scale, our positions changing and fluctuating throughout our lives; some erratically and unpredictably, some never.

There are whole schools of thought on gender identity, sex and sexuality and I have no hope of even scratching the surface in a blog post! But I definitely thought this article was telling of our society. We have such a long way to go in educating ourselves about our own bodies and minds, especially the latter. We cannot even say any longer that we have only male and female sexes, as there are people with certain biological characteristics which are different to those usually seen in male and female genetic make-ups; genetically male with some female hormone processes and vice versa, for example? Could this be defined as another sex? Of course here, I use the "definitions" of identities and sexes to demonstrate the existence of the many and extra-ordinary possibilities of humans. [The apparent need to create definitions, labels, categories, etc., I think comes from an age old human desire to understand new concepts, be they abstract or material. Unfortunately, I believe that this doesn't always work for the modern world, and actually has hindered our understanding of new things. Even in physics, where old rules and equations have been called into question as "exceptions" were unexplained. (added 28/05/2011)]

Psychological research over the years has so far said that by the age of 3-4 years of age, gender identity has been formed and is difficult to change after that. If the child in the above article is not encouraged to take any identity, that is fine, however we have to be able to admit that this could be dangerous for the child as the world today still doesn't accept widely enough the ideas I mentioned above. Is the child going to suffer socially as a result? Psychologically? "Everyone else knows what they are, but I don't."  It may well be harder than normal for the child to become comfortable with whatever sex/gender/sexuality they may gravitate towards, simply due to the society in which we live and the restrictions on labels of identity we seem compelled to take on. I know I feel more comfortable being able to define my sexuality with a label, yet I like going on to explain (if people ask and want to know) the nuances of my sexuality. If you feel like your sexuality  is something private that you don't have to explain to anyone, you are right. But I like doing it, and I do it hope that I can educate some people about it. Anyway, back the Canadian kid...

The truth is, I don't believe anyone can be 100% sure what will happen and how the child will develop and grow. One question I might raise is whether it is ethical to be carrying out this experiment on another human being, at the same time possibly jeopardising their future happiness? Or is it an "experiment" at all? Just the right of the parents to raise their child as they wish? 

On second thoughts, I would probably say the latter is most true. However, I would hope that the parents take extra care of their child, give it even extra love, attention, education, and above all, protection. Just because they may raise one enlightened child, doesn't mean the idea will spread, and doesn't mean people will be nice. Still, here's hoping the world changes, and congrats to the parents on their new healthy happy baby, Storm. I should have just done a blog post about how I want that for my middle name.

Lot's of love

Dave Storm Cooper


[see comments to see why BBC News is crap, proving my point for the need of education over the difference in definition of sex, gender, and sexuality.]



donderdag 26 mei 2011

Red Tape Time

So after the hype of Eurovision and Pride in Brussels (which was fab by the way - I, along with my mates, even made the news), another glorious aspect of Belgium has come along to slap me in the face and kick me in the bollocks. However, this is not just something that is designed to annoy foreigners, for it is the joyous occasion that the majority of Belgians or those living in Belgium will come to experience - that fat arse brown envelope that sits like a black hole in your postbox ready to suck away the last bit of joy in your life.

In case no-one got what I meant (which is probably most non-Belgians), I got my tax-return forms in the post today.

It literally made me want to up sticks and bugger off back to the UK. There's this big-arse booklet to "help" you through the forms (there aren't inverted commas in the world big enough, I'm afraid, to express the sarcasm I'm trying to convey in the word "help"), and then another booklet to give you the CODES you need to fill into your form for different sections.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO A "TICK THE BOX" FORM???????

I haven't started it yet, and I'm not sure I ever will. Suicide seems more appealing, and more likely.  For the moment, I'm going to wait until Nathalie comes back from her holiday (yes I am jealous, even though she's in Tunisia, at a beach resort somewhere no doubt sipping cocktails, with the faint echos of small arms fire in the background) so she can help me through it. Yes, it's all in Dutch too.

AND, I'm not sure if I'm missing some pay slips from last year as I moved to Brussels in December and I forgot to contact my old landlord to ask him to save my post. I hope he has, otherwise I simply do not want to know how many forms I need to fill in extra, nor how many stamps I will need from however many companies/people/entities/abstract Belgian concepts that have to be summoned one way or another.

Please Belgium, adopt PAYE (Pay As You Earn). It works so well(ish) in the UK and there is so much less paperwork and stress.

If I ever make it to the other side, I will let you know.

woensdag 11 mei 2011

Boom bang a blog...

Totally stole that title from some random other blog. Whatever Trevor.

Entonces, en el espíritu del Festival de Eurovisión, pensé que debía escribir este blog en todos los idiomas diferentes que puedo escribir. Anoche vi la primera semifinal, y estaba muy impresionado en general.

No obstant això, estava una mica trist perquè Malta i Croàcia no van guanyar un lloc en l'etapa final. Com a comiat, aquí estan les seves actuacions:


 Ok, so maybe Malta was like a super-gay Josh Dubovie, with a song that was of about as good a quality. Moving on...

J'ai été heureux de voir que la Serbie a obtenu une place dans la compétition finale. Je crois que les gars de l'Islande semblent agréable aussi, et j'aime la chanson. Cependant, je n'aime pas les chansons de la Géorgie ou de l'Albanie. J'aime qu'il y a des certains pays qui tentent de changer leur image avec chaque année qui passe, mais tout simplement le rock n'est pas très 'eurovision', à mon avis.

In de volgende halve final, zal ik graag naar de andere landen kijken die nog niet uitgevoerd hebben, hoewel kan ik nu al zeggen dat ik niet van de liedjes uit Frankrijk, Italië, Wit-Rusland en Spanje houden zal. Maaaaaaar, deze wel...




Schließlich erwähne ich das Lied aus dem Vereinigten Königreich und ich hoffe, dass es die Gewinner des Wettbewerbs wird. (Entschuldigung, ich bin scraping the barrel for Sprache, now)


COME ON UK!!!

dinsdag 10 mei 2011

Bugger.

It's not like we didn't know this was coming. We know the Tories too well now, and those who voted for them (that otherwise wouldn't have) were fools to think they had changed.

"Richest students to pay for extra places at Britain's best universities"

An article from the Guardian today describes government "proposals [which] could allow UK students to enrol in university of their choice as long as they pay vastly higher fees up front."

Now, I see where this is going. There will be the usual left versus right thing about "the privileged few being able to buy their place" versus "opening up the higher education system to allow more places to be created without taxpayer money" blah. There are arguments for and against and I can see both, which kills me as the reddish-coloured membership card of a certain UK political party is screaming at me to not even entertain the other side.

But that wouldn't be very enlightened of me now, would it?

For you see fortunately, I was one of many young people of my particular generation who were lucky enough to be able to take advantage of the magnificent increases in investment in education and go to university - my modest background not making the slightest difference in my ability (be it financial or academic) to continue my studies in Higher Education. Granted I had to work part-time throughout, but this kept me in the "real world" so to speak, rather than being wrapped up in the "uni-bubble".

Despite the reforms that had already taken place by the time I enrolled at the University of Sheffield (great place, great uni), I still felt OK about taking on the responsibility of paying back my student loans after my studies and, felt OK also about going to university and not being surrounded by snobs and rich people who I might not be able to relate to.

Some criticise the introduction of tuition fees and the subsequent top-up fees and they are quite right to. I don't like them myself, and I disagree with them in principle. However, there was a university funding problem at the time which needed to be solved (Jesus, I sound like he-who-should-not-be-named..... Cameron). Unfortunately I'm not sure it is so simple to compare England's situation with Scotland's. It should rather be contrasted, as their tax revenues and funding agreements are somewhat different. I'm 22, I have no clue what would be the best solution, but I bet that there was more than enough talking done about it, but not enough different people with different opinions and ideas.

On university funding, I don't think New Labour came up with the goods, as they didn't have a radical policy like those that had characterised their early days in office, but rather the easy way out that simply ruffled the Left's feathers because it appeased/pleased the Right (and probably the pushy Chancellors/Vice-Chancellors of the Russell Group of universities).  Long story short, I believe the funding of education should be a collective effort of society, as it benefits everyone. I also know that this view is somewhat outdated, and most certainly unpalatable to the vast majority of our society today, especially with the current economic climate.

I think that because of Tony Blair's decision to ignore the pledge in their 2005 manifesto that there would be no top-up fees, this left the door wide open for the Tories to walk right in and break down the last few bricks in the wall, that otherwise would have prevented the Higher Education system becoming a market, allowing the richest to buy their way into universities who are desperate for funding. Unfortunately, I very much doubt that this article will be the last to enrage me and many others, but I certainly don't doubt that the Conservative-led government will do everything it possibly can before their time runs out. When it does run out, is up to the Liberal Democrats (I hope).

Come on, Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems, go out with a bang! Bring down the Tory government while you still can, and stop them from doing any more permanent damage to our country.

maandag 9 mei 2011

Leuven/Louvain/Löwen

So literally, just after I posted the last entry, I had a fit of spontaneity and decided to jump on a bus somewhere. I decided Leuven wasn't too far (around 31 kilometres) and that I could take the slow bus and have a nice trip through the countryside.

I packed a little picnic for myself, my book (Tony Blair's A Journey, which I will probably review whenever I finish it) and set off. I think I just needed a day away from the city, a change of scenery, somewhere I could think and just relax. On the way there there were these beautiful fields and the weather was lovely, and I even thought about just jumping off the bus and chilling out there for the afternoon. However, I knew I wanted to see Leuven, and I also kind of wanted a cold beer.

Leuven is really nice, really chilled out and such a student city. You totally get that vibe as soon as you get off the bus/train - students are everywhere (which I guess means it's a ghost town between semesters) and the shopping looks really good. Lots of pretty old buildings, like the Stadhuis and the Oude Markt.

I had a few pintjes in the "Leuvens Studentcafe" on the right. I wanted to feel like a student. Lame.

The pretty Stadhuis. Lots of flag poles attached, but not as many flags as the Stadhuis in Antwerpen.
So after walking around and looking at the nice buildings, and strolling along the river that runs through the city (the Dijle), I decided to chill out on the Oude Markt for a bit and enjoy a few pintjes in the sun that was just starting to come out.  I chose a student bar, as the student vibe of the city really got to me, and being the lame ex-student, wanted to feel just a little bit like a student again. Cheap lager and a book on a Monday afternoon (i.e. drinking and not working) certainly reminded me of the many sunny afternoons living the student dream.

After a couple and a good read, I set my book down to have a think and a listen to some tunes (I had also decided this morning to not skip any songs on my iPod, and to listen to anything that it told me to. I have to say, it was really good!). Recently the idea popped into my head about going back to university. Not because I miss being a student so much that I can't live a life without study, but because I stumbled upon a Master's Degree programme at the VUB (Vrije Universiteit Brussel). I was meant to go to an open day yesterday but had to work instead, so I'm hoping to catch the next one. It would certainly be cheap to do here, and I could continue working as well to support myself (not that I haven't ever not done some work during my studies) during the 1 or 2 years, depending on how fast I want to complete it.

However, this is just something to think about. Who knows what I'll want to do in a year's time. My main focus for now is saving up money to do some travelling. Then I can decide if I want to do a Master's Degree after that. I'm just glad that I have Belgium as a viable option for study. I've made a life here, and I definitely don't want to give it up now that I'm happy. It's not like there is much for me in the UK besides studying/doing my PGCE (which I would like to do in the future), so I might as well stay here. I do miss home though, so I think some visits will be in order this year. If not, at least a bloody holiday is needed! I need to sort out Ibiza with Debs and the gang from home at the beginning of next month, as I'm worried about getting the time off work! Fingers crossed :)

Verschrikkelijk...

... is what it is. (Despicable)

So I didn't make a single bloody post in April. Well I was busy. I had Rich, Elaine and Andy come to visit, which was fab (they brought Marmite, Dusch Das, chocolate bunnies, Attitude mag, Heat mag, and lots of other sexy things!) We had a FAB weekend together, although it is definately safe to say that the following week I spent in recovery. Various visits to Belgica, Chez Maman, the Box (oh dear) and just generally trash bag parties, made it into one of the most fabulous and ridiculous BGWs (Big Gay Weekend) ever.

The weekend after, Basia had a few mates from her days in France come to visit. Laura from Manchester (fabulous girl), Princess from London (such a cool lass!), Kathy from the Luftwaffe (thanks to Basia for letting me make Luftwaffe jokes in front of her BEFORE telling me she was German), Kate from Leeds (much West Yorkshire bonding was had), Lola (who didn't have feathers in her hair, but a tiara at one stage) and last but not least Lindsey from Canada - crazy biatch!

But from now I am back to work and working long and hard (lol). My aim is to start saving from June, sending money back to England and paying off my overdraft (the dreaded student overdraft that everyone seems to want to forget about!). On the upside I got a reply from the Student Loans Company and I don't have to repay my loan yet as I'm not earning enough money yet. But, I have to keep a record of my earnings for the coming year and tell them at the end of march next year so they can reassess (I just had to look up that word, my spelling and general English language is terrible at the moment) my situation. I figure if I pay off my overdraft and save up some good money for travelling sometime next year, I can use whatever money I save, and then I still have my overdraft as a back up. Hopefully they won't take it off me once I pay it off!

Work is going well. I'm working some good hours at the moment so will be earning some good money this month, which is annoying as it doesn't seem to go very far. Once I've paid my rent and some towards debts, I don't have much left over to save, but I guess that's just life! I'm happy though, which is the most important thing.

The radio show thing went well! The more I listen to it the more I realise my Dutch was horrific. I was nervous and it definately showed, but I still enjoyed myself and was cool to hear my voice and my mix on the radio. Gina's mix was banging as ever, and I was really glad I could help in whatever small way I could in her mission to bring banging tunes to the world! She has her own recording studios in Wombwell, and her own website http://www.missbdj.com/ where you can find info on her studios and everything that she's doing!

For the recording of the show itself, check out my soundcloud page http://soundcloud.com/maitre_d

I was meant to have a long weekend off work, but they called me in to do an 8.5 hour shift yesterday. It was Mother's Day here so there were a lot of people who didn't want to work. I on the other hand, had already done the whole Mother's Day thing in the UK in April, so I was free to work. Double pay with bonus, I think so.

However, there it was actually quite busy for a Sunday, and there was a particular flight to Warsaw with LOT that I was doing, a full flight, with 2 check-in agents. The last guy I had to check in wasn't best pleased that he had to wait in line and was the last in the queue. Complaining that the self check-in machines wouldn't work, I explained that only a handful of airlines at Brussels Airport use those machines, and LOT isn't one of them. He said that was ridiculous, and asked if I was Polish, or whether I worked for LOT. I said no to both, and he got even more angry that, God forbid, an airline might use a ground handling agent. Unheard of. Wait...

The funniest bit was when he started on some rambling about communism, and relating that to the existance of queues before and after the fall of the iron curtain, drawing comparisons between Poland and Belgium. My jaw was well and truly dropped after this, as well as those of others around me (it was either that or burst into fits of laughter). Just another day at the airport, I guess. Bring on the next one!