Everyday Sexism & Me - Sharing my stories

For those of you that haven't yet heard, Everyday Sexism is a brilliant new movement started up by Laura Bates, which has taken the internet by storm and even made Facebook change their rules. Fed up of seeing all the sexual verbal and physical abuse that women put up with - and having endured it herself - she set up an online space where women could share their experiences with the world, and also a Twitter account. Also, whilst it started as (and is still mostly) a place for women to share their stories, it also shouts out against sexism towards men. It's the kind of feminist movement I'm happy to stand beside.

EverydaySexism video (I highly recommend you watch this if you haven't already)
YouTube link here.

Now, I made a video a few weeks ago about the subject of street harassment. I was responding to some of the extremely sexist and ignorant comments on another video about verbal and minor-physical street harassment I'd watched. There were hundreds of comments along the lines of "take a damn compliment", "this is not harassment", "guys deal with this too, you're not allowed to complain", "they're just talking, they're not going to physically hurt you", etc, etc. This annoyed me and I made a rebuttal, which you can watch below if you wish.

In this video I mentioned a couple of things that have happened to me: being groped aged 13 by a boy in the street and being told "well you shouldn't have worn that skirt", and being leered at by couple of men earlier this year for eating a wrap (oh the sexiness of it... -_- ). These are only two examples of harassment I've faced in my lifetime thanks to being female, and I thought I'd share some other cases of harassment, and general sexist comments/acts, in random order in solidarity with the EverydaySexism campaign.

• Having several grown men leer/wink/shout at me in one day because I wore a top that showed off a little of my midriff (& to clarify, it was a top intended for children & so I thought it was fine to wear). I saw where their eyes were darting to & never wore that top again. I was 12.
• Constant shock from boys when they find out I can actually play football and can kick the ball directly to them (I was on my school teams in primary and secondary school, one mixed). Also playing games with boys & often having them either never pass the ball to me because they think I'll immediately lose it, or pass it to me ridiculously gently as if I can't stop the ball with my feet (it usually stops before it reaches me & I have to run for it).
• Playing football with a mixed group and aggressively being ordered to "pass the ball, wench!". I didn't pass him the ball...
• A boy in a Computer Science tutorial, suggesting that me and the other girl in our group only got high marks because our tutor was a woman and therefore she was giving us special treatment. Fortunately, everyone quickly put him in his place, saying everyone else got similar marks and pointing out that his marks probably weren't the best because he would only start his weekly projects the hour before they were due for submission.
• Had two boys (older & bigger than me) follow me shouting, "Oi, mate! oi! Bruv!" at me aged about 16 because I had a short pixie-style haircut. I was in my all-girls school uniform with mandatory skirt. Definitely not a 'mistake' on their part... Girls just can't have short hair apparently.
• Being told I only mention I'm a gamer because I want attention from men, not because it's been a genuine interest of mine since childhood that I enjoy talking about with other people.
• Having people assume I was a lesbian because I went to an all-girls secondary school, and have them shout this at me down the street. This happened to most girls at our school and friends from other all-girls schools have shared similar stories with me. Especially annoying that "lesbian" was always said as an insult.
• Google thinking I'm a man because of the websites I've visited (gaming, news & comedy are what I look up most, alongside cat & dog videos...). Kind of amusing but a bit sad at the same time...
  
• A male employee in Game in 2010 going "Oh! So you're a REAL gamer?!" in genuine shock, when I answered his question of "so what games have you played recently?" when paying at the till.
• Being beeped at whilst walking along with my other female friend because we were wearing shorts in the summer. Not even short-shorts. We were about 15.
• A random guy (i.e. not an employee) coming up to me in the Game shop in Hamley's basement this year, and telling me how the two games I had in my hand were "amazing" and I should buy them. I don't mind advice from fellow gamers, but this guy was speaking to me as if I had no idea what the games were (one of the games was the original Bioshock. BIOSHOCK.). It also greatly annoyed my boyfriend who was nearby at the time & doesn't appreciate people talking to me like I'm a simpleton. I also caught the guy when he first saw me in the game section and he looked like he'd just seen a unicorn, so part of it may have been a crappy reason to just come up & talk to me. Whatever it was, it was bizarre, patronising and made me stay very close to my 6ft1 boyfriend afterwards (safety in vertical numbers...).
• Being told aged 20 by my then-boyfriend that he didn't want me to do stand up comedy because "You would just embarrass yourself." "Why?" "Because women just aren't funny".
• Other classics from the same guy: "All women comedians do is make period jokes." "Men are just naturally funnier" - yeah? tell that to the many crappy male comedians whose sets I've sat through and the others that just constantly make dick jokes. I'm still waiting for their "natural talent" to blossom... 
• When I make people laugh, I sometimes get the line "you're funny for a girl". 
• Wearing a low-ish cut v-necked t-shirt on a hot summer's day and having a group of older men make creepy faces/noises and boob-grabbing gestures at me. I was about 16 and walking along with my mum.
• Scandinavian girl in a degree course I was in, in a discussion about women in the workplace, angrily wondered why most of the British students' mothers had stayed at home to raise their kids instead of being "real" women and carrying on working, with their children in the company creche. Lecturer had to kindly explain to her that the childcare options for parents in Britain are not as good (or as cost free) as those at her rich mother's company, or in her country in general, so she shouldn't be accusing us of having less-capable work-shy mothers as many are forced to stay at home. He also said that she shouldn't look down on women who decide to be stay-at-home mothers, because feminism is also about women having the choice to be at work or stay home with their kid(s). He was an awesome lecturer.
• Being on a school trip with our year, and having a man open his coat up & masturbate in front of us as we were walking along. There were 90 of us, all aged 12/13.
• Creepy-arse comments from people on my YouTube videos, saying what sexual things they would like to do to me. Never gonna happen.
• Shared a good article about the creepy-as-hell "It's ok, just let it happen, it'll be over soon" line said at the Xbox One E3 event. Got this response:

• I'm guessing "pun intended" means he was referencing anal rape (and doing so as a 'joke') because the article talks about rape. I don't understand how "calm thine tits" is a pun, that's just saying, "calm down woman" in an even ruder way. I don't understand how either one is a pun actually - puns are funny play-on-words jokes with double meanings, not rape references and sexist phrases. I also don't understand what putting #videogames is supposed to mean - that rape jokes are just a part of video game culture? Because I've played various forms of video games since I was about 4, played online MMOs (mainly Runescape) as a teen, and I honestly have only seen rape jokes and references being used widely in gaming in last 5 years or so, mostly by the more immature members of the community. Like this idiot.
• Was waiting on a street corner, outside the shop I'd just come out of, trying to cross the road. Car pulls up in front of me and the guy winks and me, 'kisses' at me and pats the passenger seat. I give him a disgusted look & step back, making him drive off (scared I'd tell the people in the shop, I bet). I was about 10.
• Was out with members of my university dance society on a society night out. The majority of our group were women & when we accidentally walked into a room in a club that was closed for a private party for the uni mens' rugby teams, they started singing a song about tits, vaginas, sex, etc, laughing heartily. Such gentlemen.
• Constantly being told "I wish there were more girls like you". You know what? There are LOTS of girls like me, stop assuming all girls are rubbish with a few exceptions. Same to girls that do the same thing with guys. Not everyone in one gender is exactly the same with a few exceptions.
• On the bus to work, drunk guy gets on the bus (he stank of alcohol) and decides to sit directly behind me, despite it being pretty empty. No big deal to me, until I hear him making kissy noises right behind me into my ear. Urgh.
• At about 6 years old, had a boy in the year above constantly come up to me & lift up my skirt in the playground because he thought this was hilarious. 
• Usually being the first person the shop assistant comes up to in any video game store to see if I 'need any help' (this has gradually reduced though, which is really good).
• Being sent an explicit email from someone, because they liked me but didn't know how to tell me, so they got their 30+ year old friend to write a disgusting email to me (saying explicit things about parts of my body, including words like "scabby c*nt") out of frustration. I was 16. They never got a date with me. I did forgive him but we became very distant friends after that.
• Every time I go into a club I end up with at least 1 of the following happening to me: guy trying to grind his crotch into my bum, guy pretend-humping me from behind, being groped, stroked, grabbed, leered at, etc. I just want to dance around to S Club 7 with my friends and have fun without feeling like we have to constantly defend ourselves, and each other, from perverts. Fuck. Off.
• Was approached by two guys in a club who said their friend liked me and pointed over to him. Without looking at him (to not give off the impression that I was checking him out before making a 'decision'), I said straight away to his friends "I'm sorry to disappoint him, but I have a boyfriend" (I did). I then looked across at the guy to smile and be empathetic (I've liked people only to find out they were taken & it's not fun). At that moment I saw him say to a friend, "pfft, yeah, whatever...she's just saying that". No. I honestly have a boyfriend. Not every woman in a club is available - also not every available girl is out looking for a guy. Many are just there for the music.
• Working as a bar-person at Ascot Races, aged 19, three men (looking in their 40s/50s) said they would refuse to pay me unless I gave them each a kiss on the cheek. I blew them a half-hearted kiss instead because I just wanted them to go away & that was ok for them, but they were obviously disappointed. Still kicking myself that I didn't go get my manager or at least threaten them with it - I was too scared of being accused of not enjoying "light-hearted banter".
• Adverts like THIS online, often being shown next to my videos on YouTube. Degrading to women (boobs & 'no women'...) and insulting to many male gamers who don't just choose games with their penis.
  
• Being told by people, when I complain about really bad cases of sexism, that I should 'not make a big deal' out of 'non-issues' or that there are 'more important things to worry about in the world', or 'other people go through much worse than that' or 'stop being such a feminazi'. 
• I cannot eat a long cylindrical ice lolly without getting a 'look' from at least one male. It's annoying because Calippos are bloody delicious.
• Guy I shared my first kiss with at 14 in an under-18s disco. We had only just met and I'd let him kiss me so soon after meeting because I thought that he was really nice as he'd said the nicest things any guy had said to me & had already asked for my number, sorted out a date & been a complete gentleman (I was a little naive). Later on in the evening I found out that he thought a kiss meant he could touch me wherever he wanted to, as he tried to put his hand down my top and up my skirt on the inside of my thigh (several times, despite me moving his hands away every single time). Stupidly, I still met up with him for a date afterwards because I thought that maybe it was a one-off and he wasn't like that all the time. He was. I also found out I wasn't the only girl he'd kissed or got the number of, but apparently he called me first because I was the best as I was 'the fittest'. He didn't get a second date.
• Walking past a barbers, hearing"DAYUM!", and thinking it was funny until a guy walked out and followed me, making cat-calling kissy noises to try & get my attention as I walked away. I flipped him the bird over my shoulder & he wasn't best pleased... Too bad mate, I'm not a bloody cat.
• Being on a coach going to and from PE lessons (the playing fields we sometimes used were a short drive away) and passing a car wash / garage where at least one guy would mime wanking/kissing/having sex towards us. This happened every week we drove past, from year 9 (about 13/14 yrs old).

That was just a selection of things off the top of my head.

Now, whilst I have written this list, I am not looking for pity or sympathy. What I ask for is empathy, not just for me but for women all over the world that deal with this stuff every single day. Many deal with much worse; I'm pretty lucky tbh, even compared with some of my own friends in the UK. Maybe you shouldn't dismiss every woman as a "feminazi" if they stand up against something they constantly have to deal with. Just be understanding.

And to the minority of my viewers that have voiced concerns that I am 'obsessed' with women's issues and are worried that my YouTube Channel will turn into a 'feminist' channel - I have said this before, but I am female. I will sometimes bring these issues up in videos because (as you can see from the list above) I have to deal with them, A LOT. Covering those topics doesn't mean I won't go back and talk about other things, three videos on a subject does not mean I'm "obsessed". I'm a woman, and that means that sometimes I might talk about this stuff in videos, because it directly affects me, many people I love and a huge chunk of the world's population (as well as men!). It's ridiculous and sometimes I need to confront it, in a ranty &/or humourous way.

And I also just want to say that I have also had lots of positive experiences with male strangers in public throughout my life - being courteous, smiling politely, paying me compliments in totally non-creepy ways (it IS possible, people), helping me get my suitcase down from the shelf on the train because they can see I'm a shortarse, being protected in moshpits at gigs (and a guy practically saving my friend from being trampled when she fell in one), etc. So yeah, I've got no problem with men, just the creepy sexist ones.

Anyway, if you still think I'm a scary 'feminazi' because of this blog post, check out EverydaySexism. Please take some time to read through some of the thousands of stories posted on their website, or follow them on Twitter, and please learn to empathise with people. 

Thanks x

"Those who choose not to empathise, enable real monsters - for, without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it through our own apathy." - J.K. Rowling

How not to do satire

Sorry, but no...just...no.

If you're interested:

My original response.

My post-satire-reveal response.

Homework for Alex Day: go watch Brass Eye.

The Uninvited Guest

There was an incident with a large spider in my room last night. This is the post I wrote afterwards to my friends on Facebook so that I didn't feel so alone...:

"There is a spider in my room. After a massive battle (me seeing it crawl under my desk, then me squeaking & poking my bin underneath with a coat hanger until it ran back out) I caught it under a mug & slipped some paper underneath, but now I'm too scared to move it (it's effing massive). I don't want to wake anyone up to get rid of it, so I've labelled it in case someone comes in in the morning & picks up the random mug in the middle of the floor & unknowingly releases the demonic creature within."

Follow-up comment:

"After a horrible dream about it escaping (not fun), my mum came in & got it this morning & my room is now spider-free! She also agreed that it was massive & said I was very brave for even going near it. She obviously didn't hear all the panicked breathing and the 'ohhhhh nonononononononononononoooo... Please no... Don't hide under there you little ****!'"

Sooo....yeah.... That was me going mental on Facebook to calm myself down... 

I honestly have no idea where I got the strength to go near the thing. It must've been pure adrenaline - I knew I couldn't sleep with it wandering around free in my room so I just woke up; I knew I just had to trap it until the morning or I'd get no sleep (read: I had to trap it because I was scared that I'd wake up with a spider on my face in the middle of the night). I didn't want to wake up anyone else to do it, so it had to be me. I poked the bin it was hiding by, it ran back out and directly towards me *shudders*, at which point I shoved my NMBCM mug over it (Jack Skellington saves the day!). I think a big part of it was that my carpet is so dark and the lights had been off so, when I turned them on to find the spider, it wasn't too bright; this all meant that I mostly just saw a rough shape, rather than something I'm terrified of. If my carpet had been beige or my room a little bit brighter, I might've found it impossible to go near it.

Also, the spider is fine & was released in to the garden this morning - I don't like killing them, I just need them far away from me...

TotalBiscuit vs used games (and why I politely disagree with him)

So, I saw a video by TotalBiscuit/TotalHalibut about his opinions on used games. Wanna know something? A lot of what he said made sense. I found myself going, "Yes, that's very true" and not getting as angry as a lot of his followers on Twitter (his responses to them were why I went and watched the video).

Now, I recommend you watch the video. It IS long (30 minutes-ish), but he says a lot in it and makes some very good points about how gaming's income stream is different to other forms of media. This is true and people need to realise this. He also used to work in Game, therefore knows that they have an agressive sell-used policy. I can vouch for this myself - I've often gone up to the till with a new copy of the game, only to be asked, "would you like a used copy instead?" Most of the time the used copy is only £2-£5 cheaper, and I'd rather pay that extra, knowing that my money was getting to the developers. However, I have bought used if the game is drastically cheaper & I can't afford to buy new, or if I am unable to find a new copy. 

However, there ends the bits I agree with. The problem is he keeps comparing the console games model to the PC games model, saying "us PC players are going all digital" and "we have eliminated used games and we still get awesome deals on Steam". Yes, both of those are true, but the PC games sales model is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT to the console games one. 

Yes, Steam has amazing sales (and are amazing because they also have Mac-compatible games at the same price!!), but Steam is NOT the ONLY digital platform where you can buy games. Steam is in constant competition with developers who sell direct from their websites (Minecraft, anyone?), free-to-play online games (I put a lot of hours into Runescape as a teen...), even casual gaming sites can offer some competition. PC games are also in indirect competition with everything else you can do on a PC - developers have to make sure games are cheap enough AND fun enough to stop people from closing that game & opening up YouTube. There are also far lower barriers to entry in the PC games market; you don't have to get special licensing from a huge corporation for your game to be sold to play on a PC, you don't have to meet certain criteria, you just have to make it available. Because of this, there is HUGE choice for PC gamers out there; they merely have to search in Google to find a decent game they can play, often for free.

Where can I buy digital content for my Xbox 360? Xbox live. Anywhere else? No. It's the same with the Playstation 3 and PSN. Yes, they sometimes have sales, but NEVER on new-release games like the offers you can find on Steam and hardly ever at the lower prices. Why? because each of those selling platforms are the ONLY PLACE to get digital content for those consoles (apart from some DLC packages sold in stores).

Microsoft and Sony have a monopoly when it comes to digital gaming on their platforms. Why ANYONE would see this as a good thing for consumers, I don't know. If you do, please go pick up a basic business studies book & have a read.

Right now there IS competition in the form of retail & used games - it's not perfect, but it's something. Then again, it is sometimes ignored - the other day I saw Black Ops 2 was £59.99 on PSN. How much was it in the few stores I could find it in, new? £44.99. TB did say retailers apparently pressured publishers to not have cheaper digital copies of games, but I very much doubt they have the power to say games had to be over £15 more... That's just greed, either from Sony or the publisher (or both).

The real problem is that brand new games are expensive on console. TB said that, relative to inflation, they're cheaper than before; the thing is inflation hasn't affected games that much because they are not an essential item. Food, energy and housing has gone up in price mainly because we NEED those things and we can't just stop buying them; gaming is a luxury, therefore people can easily cut it out if the prices go too high for them. This means that whilst a loaf of bread has doubled in price in my lifetime, entertainment items like games have only gone up a little (don't want to scare off all the customers, do they?). Even so, I don't often buy at launch. Most of my game collection is bought new, but months after at a much lower price - this is because I joined the current-gen console gang a few years after everyone else & now find myself constantly going back and catching-up with old games, but also because I could not (and currently cannot) afford to buy all my games at release-date value. We have a system where more cautious people who wait a few months and read everyone's reviews are the ones who are rewarded, getting a lower price & knowing more about what they are paying for (and publishers complain that not enough people buy on release-date...). Publishers have all these pre-order deals, throwing in "bonuses", which are often just codes for disk-locked content, purely aesthetic in-game features or a pretty box. You know what would increase pre-orders? £10 off the release price for pre-ordered games. If that's too much, make it £5 (see, I'm being nice). Gamers take a chance on a before it launches, they get a good deal on it.

There is also this thing, not seen in PC gaming nowadays, that ALL console games are around £40 at release. There is this 'default' price, but some games have hundreds of hours worth of high-quality content, whilst others may have 5-10. Some games are of amazing quality, and others are crap, yet they all have a similar price tag on release day (£35-45 in the UK). This doesn't happen on the PC games market - developers can work out the optimal price point for their game and have optimum sales. They don't have to go "ok...so sony/microsoft wants us to make a game worth £40. We have to develop a game in that price range". They can make the game they want. Microsoft and Sony have become better at pricing with Arcade, smaller PSN games and older titles (digital & physical), but for the big releases, they don't seem to realise that not all games are worth the same amount on release. This is one reason why I don't trust them to have the monopoly on their systems & why many people hesitate to buy at launch.

Anyway, wrapping this up (I did babble on for a bit there...), you can't just point to the PC digital games market and go, "Look, that works, stop complaining about used games being taken away". It's a different environment and until the console digital games market turns into an equally diverse space, you can't just go "all retailers are bad, booooo used games, bring on digital". I also don't think used games are as huge an issue as publishers make them out to be. Yes there are massive "pre-owned" displays in shops, but look through them and you'll find only a handful of good games. You wanna find out what boring games to avoid? You wanna find out what games have been made obsolete because publishers bring out a slightly-updated one every year? Look in pre-owned. Sooo many sports games... Used games are a great way to see how good a game is - only one copy of Uncharted 3 in there? Guess it was pretty good. Let's go see if we can buy it new. Loads of Tiger Woods games? Guess it gets pretty repetitive...best avoid that one. LOADS of copies of Aliens: Colonial Marines? Guess all the crap reviews it got were spot on... Trade-ins of crappy games feed new sales (I know because both my boyfriend & I have traded in to get brand new items) & let the consumer know what other gamers thought. Maybe that's another reason why publishers don't like used games..? Hmm?

We need a middle ground, rather than going for just one or the other. Right now, used games help give console gamers a little bit of leverage in the market. I don't mind paying a little to unlock  a used game & make sure money goes STRAIGHT to the developer, but I don't like the idea of paying £10 that the developers never see & instead goes straight into EA's pocket.

It is a broken system, but a monopoly would be far, far worse.

Here's another video that also shares my point of view & is very eloquent and well-argued. Go watch it if you have time!

Other names Microsoft could've given to the Xbox One

I have a LOT to say about the Xbox One, but for now I'm just going to focus on the name.

I understand what they are trying to achieve with the name, to show that it is "all your entertainment needs in one box", and gamers' first choice for next-gen gaming, but it's just not the first Xbox.

So, here are some alternatives I came up with:

• Xbox Focus
• Xbox Central
• Xbox Singularity
• Xbox Single
• Xbox all the Single Ladies...?
• Xbox...
• Xbox... 

Ok... I guess Xbox One is a lot more consumer friendly than the ones I came up with... The ex-maths student in me just has an issue with the video game industry naming series of things with the wrong numbers (I love you, Rockstar, but I'm lookin' at you!)...

Sony hates leap years...?

I was playing with my shiny new PS3 the other day (yes, thanks to my boyfriend, I'm now one of those people with both an Xbox 360 and a PS3 - feel free to judge me) and I spotted this promotional ad for Playstation Plus:

Now, I wasn't sure what to think when I first saw this. I actually did a double take. Did Sony actually think their user base was so thick that they didn't know how many days there were in a year? Because, at first glance, it kinda looks like that.

At my second glance I didn't think this could be the case, so I concluded that Sony must have a grudge against leap years. No sneakily buying PS Plus on the 28th February in a leap year so you get an extra free day! No no no.

I can understand why that's the case, it's only fair really, but this ad just made me laugh when I saw it. I imagined some meeting with a load of executives wondering if people will try and scam an extra day of gaming out of them. To be honest, it's a little pedantic when PS Plus works out at only around a penny a day anyway...

It's the bottom line that just makes it for me. They could've put "one year's membership is 365 days"; instead it looks like they're trying to teach gamers stuff we learnt when we were kids. 

To be honest, "Buy 365 days, get 90 extra free" sounds fine too...

^ This is what happens when you study marketing and advertising. Every little thing not put across as well as it could be bugs the hell out of you.

I tried...

I tried to make a video today. I tried.

I was all set to go this morning after a failed attempt yesterday; I had filmed a video, but I hated it so much that I deleted it straight off the camera rather than bother to upload it into iMovie. However, I deleted it knowing that today I would have a better shot at it as I would be in a much better mindset. I was right; I woke up with my creative muscles tingling, ready to make the best video EVER.

Then came the drilling.

Oh the drilling... The incessant drilling... Even when it did stop & my hopes would rise, it would begin again only a few minutes later. I couldn't even write anything with that noise boring into my head like the drill into the brickwork. It was so loud that I thought it was from next door; it wasn't. The work was being done three doors down. I don't even...

Anyway, to escape the noise (and be remotely useful) I went out and helped my mum do the shopping. We even went for cream tea! #ballin'

I came back, feeling happy, to a quiet house. Finally! I pulled up my notes, got my camera set up and was ready to go when...dogs. Barking dogs. Right outside. It just wasn't happening. I gave up.

So this is just me saying that I was planning on putting up a video today & be all productive, but the world just wouldn't let me.

Honestly. I tried.

I'm allowed to complain about Thatcher

Ok. So I wanted to write something about this woman before, but I thought I'd let things play out and remark upon the whole thing, mainly comments from people I have seen and heard. So now, a week after her funeral, I know what I'd like to say.

You see, there are some things that have been said over & over again by so many people, and I would just like to address a few of them.

1. "People who weren't born or were still being potty trained when she left power can't say anything about her"

So does that mean anyone born after 1945 isn't allowed to think Hitler was an arsehole or say the holocaust was horrifying? Does that mean that anyone born after 1968 isn't allowed to say that Martin Luther King Jr. played a huge part in the civil rights movement? I could go on... 

To be honest, if that argument was any good, it would mean history wouldn't be taught in schools - I mean, what's the point? We can't say anything about it, because we weren't born yet...

I'm sorry, but just because we weren't old enough to remember when she was in power, doesn't mean we can't learn about what she did from books, parents, teachers, etc. Also, we grew up affected by her policies, as shown by this brilliant blog post here (go read it, or else).

2. "Someone has died, show some respect"

Don't use her death as an opportunity to shut people up - most people who are complaining now have complained about her for YEARS. Also I feel that people have a right to voice their anger that £10m was spent on her funeral at a time when everyone is facing cuts.

When Hitler died, did everyone who hated him suddenly have to be nice about him? No.

Respect is earned by what someone did in their life, not automatically dished out at death.

3. "You should respect her for what she achieved, becoming the first female Prime Minister"

Oh I can respect her for that. Doesn't mean I have to like her though.

That being said, I don't respect David Cameron one bit, so why should I respect the person he gets most of his ideas from?

4. "She put Britain back on the map"

Really? I wasn't aware we fell off it... Oh you mean politically? Oh ok. Well I guess the way she did it was the only way and I'm sure the millions who ended up unemployed or dead from her actions really appreciate that.

5. "Now is not the time to complain"

This is similar to point 2, but is all about timing. We shouldn't be complaining about her past because she's only just died.

Yes, it's sad that a family has lost a loved one, and we should let them grieve. But the world must remember that people grieved years ago as people died thanks to her policies - those people are allowed to be angry.

Whilst I wasn't out burning effigies on the day of her funeral, I could understand why others were; they didn't want the world to have a rose-tinted view of someone who was far from perfect and caused a great deal of suffering. And again, people have every right to be angry that so much was spent on such a hated woman when so many important things are facing cuts (like the A&E I rely on).

I personally ignored the funeral. Why? Because, honestly I don't care about her death. Why? Because she didn't seem to care about people (at least not the poor ones).

Also, whilst some are dancing on her grave, we must remember that Thatcherism is still very, very much alive today.

Justin - Don't reduce Anne Frank to a 'Belieber'...

So... Justin put this in the guestbook at the Anne Frank House:

"Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber."

As someone who has been to the Anne Frank House and also signed the guestbook, I wanted to say a few things on the matter.

I also just want to say, I understand people who are saying his comments make her relatable to his young fans today - yes, maybe, but surely he could've just said about her age? Isn't that enough? Why does he have to directly link her with them? I've tried to think of other ways he could say it, relating her to his fans, but they still would sound so self-centred if they were coming from him.

And to the people saying "well people are talking about Anne Frank now, maybe his fans will read about her."

1. Anne Frank is more admired than Justin Bieber
2. Anne Frank is studied in schools across the world
3. Anne Frank has had countless documentaries made about her
4. Anne Frank's writing may go over the heads of some Bieber fans (mainly the ones that scream death threats at anyone who goes near their beloved Justin).

I know for a fact that if I have kids, I will teach them about Anne Frank, her family & the struggles of everyone who suffered during the Holocaust.

I will not be teaching them about Justin Bieber.

Dear Daily Mail (WARNING - I'm being all political..!)

Ok. So I hate this paper, but due to the outrageous and crap articles it publishes, it often ends up on my Facebook news feed. This one I just couldn't ignore and am writing an open letter to the editor.

Here goes....

Dear Mr Dacre,

Can I just ask what was going through your mind when you approved this article?

"Michael Philpott is a perfect parable for our age: His story shows the pervasiveness of evil born out of welfare dependency" by A. N. Wilson.

I am aware of the Daily Mail's viewpoint on the welfare system (and it's idea of 'journalism'), but this story is most certainly not a "perfect parable for our age" - it is the sad story of a seriously messed-up couple who killed six children whilst trying to frame someone for attempted murder. A. N. Wilson is using those deaths to push a political agenda by painting all those on welfare with the same brush as those parents. Words fail me.

To steal a brilliant quote from another letter to you, posted on the thread in which I first saw this article:

"At the time of the Shipman murders, did you suggest that he was representative of the dangers of General Practice? Of course not."

So why do you say the Philpotts are the "prefect parable"? Kids I grew up with grew up on the benefits system (and in the few council flats Thatcher didn't manage to sell-off) and now they're all hard-working members of the public, paying taxes. Yeah, you read that correctly - working and PAYING TAXES. Something some of the more wealthy members of our society don't seem to do very well...

But anyway, you say that his dependency on the welfare system made him do this? Well what did the judge think about that?

"Jurors were also told that Philpott may have hoped to obtain a bigger council house, but Mrs Justice Thirlwall said welfare dependency had not caused him to kill." BBC News

Well I think that answers my question. Then again, what does a judge with years of experience of dealing with criminals have compared with a sensationalist journalist with an agenda? Hmm...

In my humble opinion, this was a man who liked sex and being in control. He lived with 2 women and controlled them, their bodies and all their finances. He had kids with both. In fact, this was over a custody battle with his mistress who moved out, taking her kids with her. And before you all go "it was because of the money!", no. It wasn't over the benefit money she was taking from him - he didn't like that she had stood up to him and told him where to stick it, taking his kids and her body with her. He lost control over her and access to his kids and didn't like it. It damaged his pride.

He was angry at what she had done so wanted to do something about it. They wanted to get those kids back and get back at her at the same time. They wanted to frame her and blame her for the fire so they could get their kids back, but they screwed it up and ended up killing 6 of their kids in the process. Now they've been found guilty and will likely be locked away for a long time to prevent them from doing anything else stupid and harming more innocent people.

This guy wasn't evil, he was selfish, stupid and controlling. He was willing to put his kids' lives at risk to frame someone for arson & attempted murder because that person said no to him. He didn't think for one second that he might not be able to rescue the kids inside and neither did his wife or the guy that helped them.

To blame this mess of a man on the welfare system is bloody stupid. There are plenty of controlling men & women higher up in the world who hate it when anyone says no to them. There are plenty of murders over affairs and people leaving one another in all walks of life - it's not just restricted to those on benefits.

This pilot supposedly murdered his ex-wife because she wouldn't give him any of her money thanks to a prenup - should all people married to pilots be worried? Oh, but wait, that must have been a one-off - only those living off of benefits are greedy to the point of killing, aren't they?

Seriously, stop using the tragic deaths of six kids to push forward your own agenda with some thin link and a thin veil of "yes it was a good idea, but look what happens when you just give them money..."

You know why we give them money? So they don't die. So they don't go hungry. So they don't freeze to death in the freakishly cold weather we've been having recently. Yes there are cases where people are just trying to get cash, but benefit fraud accounts for only 0.7% of the money spent on welfare. Most people genuinely need the help. A house with central heating is better than dealing with famine, yes - but what's the point if you can't afford to turn it on? In fact, your own site said that the death toll from the recent cold weather could reach 2500, mostly the elderly on pensions, which makes up the biggest chunk of benefits spending, but we don't see you having a go at the elderly do you? No, because even your readers would turn on you then.

The benefits system is not perfect (especially now thanks to all the cuts), and not everyone on benefits is an upstanding citizen, but neither are all middle class or rich people; there are people who do bad and stupid things no matter what class they are in or how much money they have. Stop vilifying everyone on benefits when most people are just using them to get by and make sure they have a roof over their heads.

Stick to what you're best at: putting up lots of paparazzi-snapped pictures of scantily clad females with creepy captions (even the young ones), and endless pointless celebrity stories.

Regards,

Ellen Rose

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(ok.... the last bit was a bit snappy, but, come on, it's the Daily Mail...)


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Edit: Was thinking this over a lot and I just wanted to add an extra important piece of information: you know all the poor people who aren't the most reputable members of society? The anti-social? The drug dealers? The threatening? You know who has to deal with them more than any other part of society? Other poor people - the poor who are just trying to get by and are stuck in a situation. Everyone likes to have a go at those on welfare when they're the ones who are most likely to live next to the extreme cases that end up on Jeremy Kyle.