Blog Page 1360

Ebola treatment begins trials in Liberia

Jack Doyle
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Ebola treatment begins trials in Liberia

A team led by Oxford researchers has begun a trial of the latest potential treatment for the on-going Ebola epidemic.

The team is investigating a drug called brincidofovir, which has already been used to treat Ebola patients around the world. Ebola, which has claimed over 8,300 lives, still has no definitive cure.

Brincidofovir is an experimental oral treatment developed by private American
healthcare company Chimerix. Run by volunteers from Doctors Without Borders and the University of Oxford and funded by the Wellcome Trust, the cooperative trial will test the effectiveness of the drug.

Up to 140 adult Ebola patients in Liberia’s capital Monrovia, one of the cities hardest hit by the West African outbreak, are undergoing two weeks of brincidofovir treatment. To determine the drug’s impact, researchers will
compare the fatality rate of these patients with previous death rates in the hospital.

Professor Peter Horby of Oxford’s Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, the trial’s chief investigator, said, “The Ebola epidemic is causing an unprecedented health and socioeconomic crisis in West Africa. There are many things that need to be done.’’

“Amongst them is a proper evaluation of experimental treatments that have been developed for Ebola virus disease. The only time we can fully evaluate these potential therapies is during an Ebola epidemic.”

Typically, clinical trials of treatments for deadly viruses like Ebola take over a year to organise. However, the scale and urgency of the epidemic means that this Oxford-led trial has come together in less than four months.

Since the epidemic’s outbreak in late 2013, Oxford has been a leading figure in Ebola research. Over the past few months, Oxford has hosted several trials of mass-produced preventive vaccines that may be used to protect healthcare workers in affected countries.

Oxford’s efforts to develop a treatment, which include an upcoming study of another drug in Sierra Leone, are part of a wider global rush to develop therapies, vaccines, and even a cure for Ebola.

Professor Trudie Lang, another member of the Oxford research team, emphasised the value of thorough, well-funded scientific trials like the one run by the University of Oxford and Médecins Sans Frontières. “It is important to do a trial because you cannot learn about a drug from treating individuals,” she told Cherwell.

“We are setting out to evaluate several potential therapies within the rigour and formal protocol of a clinical trial, with the aim of identifying an effective and safe treatment that is oing to be available for African communities
at scale.”

The first Ebola patient received the study drug on January 2nd 2015. If this ongoing trial is successful, Lang explained, there will be a second, larger trial in one of the three countries most affected by the epidemic – Guinea, Liberia, or Sierra Leone. If that too had positive results, brincidofovir would be released on a wide scale.

City Council Slashed by Central Government

Suzie Marshall
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City Council Slashed by Central Government

The Government Revenue Support Grant to the Oxford City Council is expected to fall from its current value of £4.43 million to nothing by
2019.

Deputy Leader of the Oxford City Council, Executive Board Member for Finance and Labour councillor, Ed Turner, informed Cherwell, “We
estimate that over the period of the coalition government we’ll have lost around 47 per cent of our government grant, and it is clear from
the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement that there is even worse to come. This is clearly dreadful news for all who are concerned about public services.”

Turner explained, “There is an aim to reduce the national deficit (an aim which the coalition has been failing to meet at anything like the pace it anticipated by 2018/19), and the vital services provided by councils do not appear to
be much of a priority.”

The Head of Finance at Oxford City Council, Nigel Kennedy, added, “The bulk of this target will be achieved through cuts in local government spending.” The Local Government Association (LGA) has estimated that the spending
cuts in local government funding may be as high as 40 per cent. For this next year, the Government Revenue Support Grant is expected to account for 19.2
per cent of the Oxford City Council’s net budget requirement, compared to 26.4 per cent in the previous year.

Different sources of funding will therefore constitute a greater proportion of the council budget in the coming years. As Turner told Cherwell, “Council tax becomes a bigger proportion of our overall budget.”

He added, “However, we are not allowed to raise this by more than two per cent (without a referendum, the legal requirement which is constructed in such a way that it isn’t really practical).

“So we need to work even harder to generate other sources of income, including trading with public and private sector bodies, and work more efficiently, doing things like reducing the amount of office space we occupy, and looking at the way in which we work. We are not considering outsourcing large areas of council activity, as some councils are doing.

“In recent years, we have had to take many tough decisions – such as charging for services like garden waste collection which used to be
free – and there is no doubt that there will be some more.

“I would expect cuts to the Council to have a very bad impact. Next year we will see the implementation of cuts to homeless hostels in central Oxford, and I am gravely concerned about those receiving social care.”

The vinyl revival: just a fad or here to stay?

Sara Semic
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The vinyl revival: just a fad or here to stay?
For the record, vinyl sales never fully disappeared, despite the efforts of the shiny, streamlined compact disc to smash them. But, with music industry giants such as Spotify and iTunes rendering the CD obsolete, we are now seeing the analogue countertrend. The record is becoming an antidote to our soulless streaming culture – not just for the die-hard audiophiles and nostalgic collectors, but for a younger generation too.
 
Last year – for the first time since 1995 – over 1.3m LPs were sold in the UK, with Pink Floyd, Arctic Monkeys, and Jack White driving this surge. A similar trend can be seen across the Atlantic, where 9.2 million vinyls were sold – the highest since Nielsen began tracking the data. Vinyl sales were in fact the silver lining of a cloudy and miserable picture of overall album sales, which fell again last year. 
 
Carl Smithson, manager of Cowley’s analog-championing independent record shop, Truck Store, has also borne witness to this trend in the store, where there’s been a marked upsurge in vinyl sales over the last two years. “For me, the most interesting aspect is the sheer diversity of people getting into, or back into, vinyl,” Carl says. “There’s the traditional audiophiles and collectors of course, but there’s also been a big surge in younge buyers making a conscious effort to buy something tangible they can really treasure, often buying an album they’ve owned on CD or streamed, but which they want in a format with more longevity and romance.”
 
“The other great thing with vinyl,” Carl enthuses, “particularly in this world of playlists and iPod shuffles, is that people are truly re-connecting with the concept of an album as a complete work. People are making a point to listen to these albums in their entirety and are choosing the format which adds most value to that experience.”
 
For all the inadvertent effects that online music services have had on vinyl sales, there have also been some smart moves made by the music industry, accounting for the timing of this resurgence. Including a download code with vinyl records has allowed object fetishists and collectors to listen to music without depreciating the value of the vinyl, while events such as Record Store Day have brought about huge media attention. These trends are also being
reflected in the changing nature of record stores. “The High Fidelity style snobbery is simply not viable anymore and it’s being replaced with a much more welcoming shopping environment,” Carl tells me. Despite this seemingly
increased access to the vinyl format, the entire industry is still only a drop in the ocean of overall music sales (two per cent). One of the perpetual problems faced by the industry is insufficient infrastructure in manufacturing the large wax discs. The resurgent wave of vinyl popularity is putting even more pressure on the already tiny number of record pressing plants and driving prices up further, making a vision of vinyl as more than a niche product a distant reality. Until now, that is.
 
Not only has America’s largest record pressing plant, United Record Pressing, promised to open a second plant, eventually tripling its capacity, but the DVC (Desktop Vinyl Cutter) – a project started by Australian engineer Paul Butler Tayar and tech team Machina.Pro – is now under development after a crowdfunding campaign. Tayar hopes to democratize the vinyl industry with his “turn-key” stereo cutting system, which lets you plug in your audio
and cut straight to vinyl – the final frontier to absolute music self-sufficiency.
 
Carl, too, is optimistic about another fruitful year for record sales. And these latest developments in vinyl manufacturing could just be the cherry on top.
 

The Second Coming of D’Angelo

Sara Semic
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The Second Coming of D’Angelo
Although a month has passed since the release of D’Angelo’s new album, Black Messiah, the buzz around his unforeseen comeback isn’t dying down yet. The hype over his ‘second coming’ is warranted by his fifteen year-long vanishing act, which was shrouded in speculation and intrigue. His last album, the R&B slash neo-soul masterpiece Voodoo, has been bled dry for nearly a decade and a half whilst the long in the making follow-up became another studio myth for despondent fans.
 
But those patiently waiting for 14 calendar runs have been rewarded big time with this offering, which feels almost more like one, monumental piece of music than a sequence of songs; a river meandering from one after-hours jam session to the next, masking the effort and labour behind it. In ‘Sugah Daddy’, the standout track, D’Angelo reminds us in his silky smooth voice that you “can’t snatch the meat out of the lioness’ mouth/Sometimes you gotta just ease it out.”
 
Having been once hailed as the next Martin Gaye and dubbed ‘the R&B Jesus’ by Robert Christgau in 2000, the singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer found himself crippled by the overwhelming pressure of stardom, causing him to retreat from the spotlight completely, much to the dismay of fans pining for his chiselled torso as flaunted in the video for ‘Untitled’.
 
During his hiatus, D’Angelo had two stints in rehab, grappling with drink and drug addiction, some run-ins with the law and a near fatal car accident in 2005. In the meantime, America had its first black president, and a Jay-Z and Kanye West discography.
 
There are moments of nostalgia, a large dose felt poignantly in the lines, “I just wanna go back, baby/Back to the way it was,” as well as in the album’s analogue warmth, which sets it apart from the ultra-synthesized R&B vocals we’ve become so used to hearing. But with its political message, underlined most explicitly in ‘The Charade’s’ “All we wanted was a chance to talk, ‘stead we only got outlined in chalk,” and the timing of its release, following the Ferguson protests and the ‘I Can’t Breathe’ movements, it is right on cue.
 
D’Angelo doesn’t shy away from the reality of his intervening years, singing, “So if you’re wondering about the shape I’m in/I hope it ain’t my abdomen that you’re referring to,” in ‘Back to the Future (Part I)’. But his effortless virtuosity and soaring, inimitable vocals, are enough to quell any slight trepidations, and sate a fifteen year long appetite. 
 

Review: Ghost Culture – Ghost Culture

Mark Barclay
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Review: Ghost Culture – Ghost Culture
★★★★☆
Four Stars
 
Mysterious London producer, Ghost Culture, has debuted with a spectral eponymous album. Contorted and disfigured basslines drone into grinding disarray, as whispered vocals drift over the sonic chaos. He describes himself as emerging from the London fog, but after a late night listen it’s fair to say it’s more the other way round. 
 
Track after track draws us into the mists of Ghost Culture’s gloomy and seductive netherworld. The man on the shadowy cover is 24 year old producer James Greenwood. Initially his credentials were scant, confined to the dark recesses of bedroom synthesizers and optimistic SoundCloud uploads. But after making a name for himself at the Phantasy Label, he was offered his big break by boss Errol Alkan. The result is captivating. 
 
The opening track ‘Mouth’ weaves undulating strands of laidback beats into a curt finish before segueing perfectly into the stand out track ‘Giudecca’. It’s an addictive and catchy tune that mixes dark gloopy beats with an accessible dance floor feel. The album gets mellower mid-way with ‘Glaciers’. It feels like a ponderous recycling of the promising start and as such, is the only low point. It finishes, however, with the delightfully loopy ‘The Fog’, a suitably murky and mysterious end to a murky and mysterious album. Overall, a strong effort that promises much for the future.
 

Picks of the Week HT15 Week 1

Cherwell Culture
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Picks of the Week HT15 Week 1

Too Much, Too Young, Friday-Saturday, 7.30pm, Burton Tailor Studio

A one-man show by actor-cum-comedian Jack Bennett, arguing that life-changing decisions should not be left up to teenagers. Promising a mix of humour and seriousness, Bennett aims to amuse by asking big questions.

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Deep Cover, Friday, 10pm-3am, The Cellar

The legendary hip hop night at Cellar returns, this time co-curated by P Money, and taking on, as one might expect, a distinctly grimy flavour. This also serves as the Oxford stop of the ‘Originators Tour’ for P Money, Big Narstie, Darq E Freaker and others. £8 entry with a flyer.

Skeletor ft. Ignite The Sky, Saturday, 6.30pm, O2 Academy

If you need a heavy metal fix for the beginning of term, this is the night for you. Featuring headliners Ignite the Sky,and four other supporting acts, prepare to get your mosh on.

Set Fire To The Stars Q&A, Tuesday, 6pm, Phoenix Picture House

A screening of the film that follows Dylan Thomas’ hellraising tour of American universities in the 1950s, starring Elijah Wood and newcomer Celyn Jiones. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with producer AJ Riach.

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Alvin Roy Reeds Unlimited, Tuesday, 8.30-11pm, The Bullingdon

If heavy metal isn’t your thing, then this relaxed night of jazz at the Bullingdon might be much more up your street. It’s free entry all night, so turn up and enjoy syncopated beats from the winner of the British Jazz Band Contest (in 1960).

William Blake Special Printing Demonstration, Friday-Friday, 10am-12pm & 2pm-4pm, Ashmolean Museum

As part of the Ashmolean’s extended exhibition on William Blake, guest curator Professor Michael Phillips will use a Nineteenth Century printing press to demonstrate how Blake himself would have performed the printing process.

Mark Watson: Flaws, Thursday, 7.30pm, Oxford Playhouse

Multi-award winning comedian Mark Watson returns to the Playhouse for his latest tour, Flaws. His darkest and most personal show yet, it also shows a return to the verbal and physical dynamism of his younger days.

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Quids In, Friday, 10pm-3am, Lava Ignite

An alternative to Wahoo on Friday, this night at Park End promises “top tunes, incredible drinks deals and an unforgettable party atmosphere”. Free entry before 11. If that doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, you probably just have discerning taste in how you spend your leisure time.

 

Milestones: The Beer Widget

Ollie Johnson
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Milestones: The Beer Widget

Genius and innovation go hand in hand. Any brain brilliant enough to be considered genius will inevitably produce something to improve the world around them, and these inventions are what drive human achievement. Just take a moment to think where we’d be as a civilisation without the wheel, the plough, the printing press, the refrigerator or the ballpoint pen. 

Consequently, the modern man is no longer plagued by the tribulations of the past. The telephone means we no longer have to wait an agonisingly long time for a handwritten letter from a loved one. The jet engine means we can travel thousands of miles in the time which our ancestors would have taken to travel tens. Yet, we are constantly affronted by fresh problems in our lives. 

Take the greatest issue facing our species in the current era: the quest to relax. In a world that is rapidly running out of food, water, inhabitable space, fossil fuels and bees, the importance of kicking back, opening a can of beer and just chilling has never been greater. It is at this juncture that we meet the greatest unsung inventors of the twentieth century: Alan Forage and William Byrne. 

They had the common person’s concerns at heart. Canned beer was the pivotal step in allowing the public to relax in the comfort of their own homes. But it was also widely known that lesser carbonated beers had never successfully survived the canning process. Guinness, the company for whom our dynamic duo worked, set up Project ACORN (Advanced Cans Of Rich Nectar) to valiantly resolve this issue. 

Their solution was the widget, the most beautiful ball of hollow plastic the world has ever known. This elegantly simple creation was filled with nitrogen during the canning process, and placed in the beer so that it would re-release the gas once the can’s tab was pulled. This created the ideal level of gas bubbles and liquid. What that means in layman’s terms is a cracking foam head on every can of Guinness, Tetley’s and John Smith’s you could ever imbibe. 

The widget not only makes sure the foam is as substantial as one pulled in a pub, but the additional nitrogen also ensures the foam is creamier and better tasting. Consequently, it was a win-win for Guinness on every front; it meant their stout tasted good whether on the go or at a bar, and it meant they had a new product to mass market. By 1989, in a quest for innovation that began in 1968, Forage and Byrne’s genius had pushed human achievement to its greatest pinnacle yet. 

So the next time the year 1989 springs to mind, remember it wasn’t significant just for the collapse of the Berlin Wall. And the next time you kick away an empty Guinness can into the gutter and hear a mysterious rattling noise as it rolls, remember what that noise means. That noise is the siren song of the widget, the answer to humankind’s most profound problem (surrounding the issue of effectively canning lesser-carbonated hops-based drinks). For now, we can revel in all our beers having sufficient foaming heads. And really, who couldn’t do with a bit more head?

"Washing the dust of daily life off our souls"

Fergus Morgan
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"Washing the dust of daily life off our souls"

“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls,” according to Picasso. Assuming one of the most influential artists of all time knew something about the trade that kept his kids in shoes, we should accept that good art involves the individual, facilitates clarity of understanding, and, in general, gives people a bloody good, thought-provoking time. Art should cleanse, art should inspire, and art should invigorate.

How is this best achieved? To that, there is no single answer. Picasso and his avant-garde contemporaries may have argued that provoking the viewer into re-evaluating their preconceptions was key. One imagines that politically motivated artists like Banksy or Ai Weiwei would attempt to engage with the viewer on an ethical, rational level. But in the global, commercially-driven spheres of popular music and film, I would suggest that emotional involvement is paramount.

The latest Taylor Swift song or Hollywood blockbuster seeks to find success with as large an audience as possible, and to do that, it utilises recognisable (if not always relatable) emotions in an evidently manipulative way. In short, it attempts to involve the viewer or listener by making them feel.

And this, for the most part, is a tremendously effective approach. Its artistic merit placed to one side, I think you would be hardpressed to find anyone who wasn’t just the tiniest bit affected by Frozen, or by Katy Perry’s Fireworks. Yeah, Katy, I will make them go oh-oh-oh as I shoot across the sky-sky-sky.

But what happens when complex, real-life stories are approached through these, for want of a better word, populist mediums? Are awkward, un-fairytale-like themes butchered into cute, kitsch banalities? Are difficult issues ignored in favour of happier conclusions? Is high-level academic theory reduced to the most layman of layman’s terms? Is fact entirely reduced to disrespectful fiction?

The stories of Alan Turing and Stephen Hawking are particularly relevant examples because two films depicting their lives, The Imitation Game and The Theory Of Everything respectively, have been released in the past few months, both to widespread critical acclaim.

No-one could argue that the stories of their lives are straightforward. Alan Turing suffered childhood tragedy when his best friend died of tuberculosis, he endured the traumas of both world wars and played a major role in ending the second by cracking the Enigma code, only subsequently to be prosecuted for homosexuality and to commit suicide in June 1954.

Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with motor neurone disease whilst studying for his doctorate in Cambridge. His continued devotion to pushing the
boundaries of cosmology is undoubtedly inspiring, but his personal life, particularly his strained relationship with his first wife Jane, is far from formulaic.

How are their stories and achievements treated in their respective biopics? The Imitation Game, which starred Bendict Cumberbatch as Turing, was damningly labelled “multiplex-friendly” by Christian Caryl and “soft-focus cinematic capital” by Catherine Shoard. It is difficult to disagree.

Although undoubtedly an emotionally engaging and artistically sound film, it deserves the heavy criticism it received, both for its exceedingly tentative attitude towards Turing’s homosexuality, which is rarely more than hinted at throughout, and for the frustratingly brief description of the science that led Turing and his team to break the Nazis’ “unbreakable” code.

As a result, The Imitation Game is little more than the cinematic equivalent of a chart-topping Katy Perry song: predictably moving but ultimately unrecognisable to the point of disrespect. Its is a shallow success, one built on hackneyed themes, limited pretensions to scientific complexity, and above all, cheap sentimentality.

The Theory Of Everything addresses the difficult issues at its heart with considerably more courage, with Eddie Redmayne’s powerfully physical portrayal of Hawking providing a major contribution. We are left under no illusions as to the viscerally debilitating nature of his condition, nor are we fobbed off with a cosy, wide-eyed love story; the strain the Hawkings’ marriage is placed under is foregrounded, and the thought-provoking implications are never side-stepped. Even his scientific theories, which are so far evolved from my own intellectual capacity as to be virtually nonsense, are, if not detailed fully, at least sketched in. And as a result, it is infinitely more powerful.

Art should wash the dust of daily life off our souls, as Picasso said, and in the world of film, it is emotional engagement that truly registers as a good soul-cleansing sesh. Both The Imitation Game and The Theory Of Everything involve the audience, but only the latter does so in a commendable fashion.

Neither Turing nor Hawking are paradigmatic Prince Charmings, and they should in no way be treated as such. They are both exceptionally intelligent individuals who have achieved remarkable scientific leaps and who have had to face the stigmatisations society has placed in front of them. Their stories, and those like them, should be treated with the respect and complexity they deserve.

Debate: should there be exclusionary zones for abortion clinics?

Mary Reader
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Debate: should there be exclusionary zones for abortion clinics?

YES

Mary Reader

The ‘Back Off’ campaign to create ‘exclusionary zones’ outside abortion clinics has generated a great deal of support in recent months, including a petition with over 100,000 signatures. The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) has found a substantial increase in the number of anti-abortion protestors actively blocking, harassing or intimidating women entering clinics. BPAS have therefore called for legislation to make ‘buffer zones’ of at least 10 metres. The campaign has attracted support from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Rape Crisis England and Wales, the Royal College of Midwives, and Violence Against Women. In addition, Yvette Cooper and Ed Miliband have recently considered legislation on this topic.

Abortion has always been, and always will be, a highly sensitive issue. It is really important in such emotive debates to consider how the status quo could affect the most vulnerable. Imagine you are a rape victim. You have made the difficult but completely understandable and legitimate decision to have an abortion, albeit not without regret and huge conflict of emotion. But, having made that decision, you arrive at the clinic to be confronted on the steps with posters and leaflets illustrating dismembered foetuses, banners screaming ‘Protect the Embryo’ and even recording equipment testifying your entrance into the clinic.

The sad truth is that these protests are not just nuisances for patients; they have a very real effect upon women’s state of mind before having an abortion. Anti-abortion groups trade on this power. Such groups claim that they are “educating” women about the reality of abortion. But the images they use are not representative of the vast majority of cases; they are created as propagandist pieces of emotional manipulation. The leader of Abort67, Ruth Rawlins, says that they are helping women make “an informed choice”. But emotional blackmail does not help people make rational choices.

BBC Newsbeat spoke to a 21 year old anonymous woman who had an abortion at a Marie Stopes clinic and found the protestors “really upsetting”. She said, “It’s not like you haven’t thought it through and you’re just doing it on a whim. Nobody has an abortion on a whim. So it just reinforces a bunch of emotions that you don’t need and probably can’t handle much at that point in time.”

One BPAS patient claimed, “If it was my first appointment I probably wouldn’t have come in. I had to phone a family member crying as I didn’t want to walk past.”

So long as abortion is legal in the UK, there should be free and accessible provision where there is need, without the threat of social condemnation or intimidation. Of course, ‘exclusionary zones’ will not completely solve the problem. But it will provide a ‘safe space’ around clinics so that patients will feel as protected, safe and relaxed as possible.

Opponents argue that this is an infringement of free speech and the right to protest. It is nothing of the kind. There is nothing free about actively intimidating others, especially some of the most vulnerable people in society while they are receiving a legal operation.

The ‘free speech’ card is recurrently used to legitimize exclusionary and intimidating actions. It is rarely used to protect the rights of those in society who are most likely to be silenced.

Of course, free speech should be exercised at times in the debate around abortion. The steps leading to the abortion clinic provide neither the correct time nor the place.

 

NO

Kayleigh Tompkins


Equal rights for women has, unfortunately, always been a radical concept to some. In the 1910s, the idea of female franchise was a radical one and in their campaign for the vote women chained themselves to railings, went on hunger strikes, even detonated bombs. While methods of demonstration have changed, women have continually challenged existing social structures and attitudes in a manner that certainly did not pander to traditional ideas of female behaviour. These forms of protest are ‘radical’ and they are visible.

In the 1960s and 70s, women began to live in ways that challenged the traditional idea of nuclear families. Feminists such as Lynne Segal sought empowerment through collective living. Other radical feminists rejected any kind of relationship with men, instead advocating lesbianism, asexuality or celibacy. Here, again, accepted social norms were dismantled by groups of women seeking emancipation in ways that were novel and shocking to some parts of society.

Today, inspiring men and women are continuing to challenge sexism, standing up against cat-calling, unfair media representations and rape culture. People continue to take a stand, refusing to be cowed by negative responses. Fear is a tool of oppression and by refusing to mitigate their actions they refuse to be oppressed.

It is when we place the issue of legal exclusionary zones in this larger historical narrative that it becomes more contentious. The idea that women making brave and difficult choices about their bodies needs to be hidden away, as though it were something shameful, is a disquieting one. When women experience ‘slut-shaming’ for exercising their sexual agency, it is a powerful and sad reminder that there will always be those who will attempt to shame women for exercising their rights. By closeting a woman’s right to choose, this action itself becomes one of ‘shaming’. The creation of exclusionary zones suggests that abortion is not a normal action condoned and accepted by society. This is surely the wrong message to be sending to women making brave and difficult decisions.

Hiding away has never beaten the bullies. History shows that acting visibly, and not shying away, in the name of feminism, has lead to great feminist achievements. Despite the inevitable angry reaction from some segments of society this causes, it has never, and should never, deter women from challenging oppressive structures in the search for equality. By continuing to practice openly the culture that feminists believe in, whether mainstream patriarchal society agrees or not, a fairer and freer culture can become normalised.

I realise this point of view is selfish. No woman should feel she has a duty to stand up to anyone, especially those that harass or intimidate others. She should not feel indebted to a grandiose narrative of resistance in a situation as emotional and potentially vulnerable as abortion.

Ultimately, we do need safe spaces for women to make their choices. However, we must face up to those who challenge us. Exclusionary zones may hinder us by hiding away what we want to proudly assert, by making it abnormal. By openly challenging norms that prevent progress, we can stand tall. For those who can and who want to challenge these norms, we must stare our oppressors in the face, assert our rights proudly, not hidden away behind legal curtains.

Can #Fitspiration make us healthier?

S.R. Taylor
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Can #Fitspiration make us healthier?

As we’ve settled into January, it’s become clear why it’s dubbed ‘diet month’. Newspapers and magazines are full of the ‘New Year, New You, New Body’ clichés. The solution to an improved, ‘more healthy’ you is a lifestyle change that involves losing weight. Looking at the poster girls for ‘healthiness’, ‘health’ looks like a defined pair of biceps, a chiselled set of abs, and a keyhole thigh-gap flanked by solid quads. In other words: an absence of body fat. Is that really ‘healthy’? ‘Health’ should not just be about physical wellbeing.

Discussions of mental health, particularly with regards to body image, and eating disorders are extremely important. There’s an awful lot we don’t know about eating disorders. Evidence suggests that 1.6m people in the UK suffer from them and that 89 per cent of those people are female (National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence). Fashion magazines have long been criticised for an unhealthy emphasis on one’s appearance, and in 2012 a coroner even blamed the fashion industry for the suicide of a schoolgirl who had been suffering from bulimia. Conversely, health and lifestyle magazines have rarely been condemned for promoting negative mental wellbeing because this would be utterly paradoxical. But just because they champion that simple five-letter word in their titles, does that mean they are actually endorsing it? 

The virtual world of social media is also revealing. If you type #thinspo into Instagram’s search engine, it’ll yield no results. If, however, you type in #fitspo, you’ll find over 15 million. ‘Thinspiration’ is the online glorification of thinness and eating disorders. ‘Fitspiration’ is apparently the ‘healthy’ version. But the fact that the demise of the former and the rise of the latter was simultaneous suggests that we are dealing with a Lernaean Hydra which is not something that can be easily censored. Fitspo perpetuates the same trends as thinspo because of its excessively meritocratic mentality. Supposedly, if you can work hard enough, then you’re entitled to feel good. If you can’t, you deserve to feel like a failure. In comparison to thinspo, it’s argued that fitspo encourages a healthier body image because it doesn’t focus on low BMIs. But by placing excessive emphasis on having low body fat and eating ‘clean’ foods, fitspo can encourage similar unhealthy thoughts and behaviours as thinspo.

A disorder has recently been identified by the chair of the British Dietetics Association, Ursula Philpot known as ‘orthorexia’ – the unhealthy obsession with eating only ‘clean’ foods. Essentially, the disorder does not necessarily cause the sufferer to be physically malnourished because they don’t obsess about controlling food quantity but rather food quality.  Researchers have shown that social problems and mental rigidity are more obvious dilemmas. If orthorexia were a recognised disorder like anorexia, fitspo would probably be censored like thinspo. But it isn’t, because ‘healthiness’ is terminologically imbued with positivity. It seems though that ‘healthiness’ has taken on a far too narrow definition because it has been constructed against an equally narrow conception of ‘unhealthiness’. We cannot deny that obesity is a problem in the UK; 23.1 per cent of the population is obese. However, cultural anxiety over this issue has fostered  perception of health into dichotomous categories of ‘fat’/’thin’, ’guilty pleasures’/‘clean foods’ and ‘unhealthy’/’healthy’.

We now have a discourse of health which has lost one of its oldest adages, the ‘healthy balance’. Essentially, the ‘healthy’ ideal presented in the media is aesthetically attractive by today’s beauty standards, and wrongly conflates ‘healthy’ with ‘thin’. This aesthetic is created and primarily driven by the beauty and fashion industries so that ‘healthy’ is synonymous with ‘skinny’. If, however, health was perceived more broadly as a spectrum rather than black and white categories, which incorporated mental as well as physical wellbeing, we might be able to shift the construction of the healthy ideal into a more achievable place. There should not be a definitive depiction of health. Humans come in all different shapes and sizes and we need to celebrate diversity and broaden our perception of health.

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