Should women 'put some clothes on'?

“You know, I think we’re beating around the bush here. I’ve been told I’m not supposed to say this - however, women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimised.” That was the idea of a health and safety talk by Michael Sanguinetti; the infamous police officer from Toronto who believes men can’t control their lust if they happen upon a bit of flesh. I was watching Loose Women the other day (daytime TV at it’s best) and to my surprise at least half of the panel agreed with him! Arguments from the Loose Ladies in support of concerned Mr Sanguinetti included “if women are dressing in low cut tops and short skirts they are doing it to get attention from men” and “if a girl is straddling a man at a booth in a club with their tongue halfway down his throat then they are giving the impression that they want a sexual encounter”. Are they right? Should women be responsible for taking precautionary wardrobe choices so as to deter horny men? Should women put away their puppies and cover their pins instead of investing in rape alarms and pepper spray?

Can YOU say the 'N' word?

I went on a night out the other day - standard. Well everything was standard except the theme. Our whole group took over this averaged-sized club in the French Alpes; people were doing shots at the bar, half-pissed guys were busting their moves on the dance floor, girls were screeching along to songs in a way that doesn’t matter when you’re drunk. However, this fairly typical Saturday night scene was actually atypical, as it was conducted in dress of ‘non-pc’. What do I mean by ‘non-pc’? People were dressed as Golliwogs, Princess Diana, Madeline McCanne, Nazis, and some even stretched to go as far as the KKK. One person went as Nick Clegg (very apt considering his recent betrayal to students) and one person was clever enough to go as a Mac computer. Yeah, it was preeeetttty controversial alright, and I can imagine people reading this will be either laughing, outraged or shocked… shocked with a naughty smirk on their face. However offensive, this occasion was fully in jest with people eager to outdo each other in controversy. One girl, on the other hand, started shouting about how much of a disgrace and how disgusting it was that people would dress up as such… non-pc things. One argument was that it was ‘the theme’ and people were only doing what they had been asked. The other understandable argument was that it never should have been ‘the theme’ and even if it was people should not comply anyways. Now I’m not arguing about the rights and wrongs of dressing up as a Golliwog - another post idea I think. The whole situation made me think about racism an’ all that, and other situations where the lines of ‘what is acceptable’ is blurred.