Rachel Ellen: opinion

Showing posts with label opinion. Show all posts

Thursday, 23 November 2017

opinion 22:11

Would you watch an abusers film?

These past few months have seen many victims of sexual abuse/assault speak out against their abusers. The main focus of this has been throughout Hollywood.

On one side, this is such a positive push towards work places free of sexual abuse for women and men. And people feel as though they are finally going to be taken seriously when speaking out against their abusers.

On the other side, we're actually seeing the size of the problem, that we somehow already knew and were oblivious to at the same time.

With the amount of Hollywood stars being accused, I wonder what happens with the films/programmes they star in/direct etc?

Of course, I don't want to support abusers, I don't want to give them the money or views.

But, I begin to wonder, if we were to boycott all programmes starring abusers, how many other people suffer? By that, I don't mean the high earners at the top, I mean the smaller earners and workers. How many people will continue to suffer in other ways because of the actions of abusers?

I know this is a strange thing to think about, and this isn't meant to take away from the real issue of the abuse.

It needs to be understood that sexual abuse/assault is not just a mindless act, and it doesn't just have one consequence.

Will you continue to watch the programmes/films that accused abusers are a part of? Gossip Girl? House of Cards? Any film directed by Harvey Weinstein?

Thanks for reading,

Rachel xx

Thursday, 19 October 2017

opinion 17:15

Keep talking, keep sharing, keep learning

by Rachel

I've been thinking about how we, as a generation, are so involved with the world. And I love it.

'Millennials' get a lot of stick, "gen z" too. Basically just young people.

But this year, there was a huge youth turn out in the general election. Young people are interested in politics, and what is going on in the country and the world.

We use this crazy thing called the internet and we find like minded people and talk about what we are passionate about. And we find opposite kinds of people and broaden our knowledge and opinions.

We also care what is happening in other countries.

And yes, young people get things wrong sometimes, but we're learning and we want to learn.

We want to talk about things, and open discussions, and change the world we live in.

I saw a tweet earlier today talking about the LA shooting and how we shouldn't stop talking about it because gun control still needs addressing. We don't let important things disappear because they're not easy to talk about.

And I am seeing constant #metoo updates, though each one upsets me that another girl/woman had to go through something like that, I also love that we are talking about issues. Maybe one day, because of this it won't be covered up. Maybe one day, sexual assault and abuse won't be hidden in fear. Women (and men) might actually be able to get a job, work, and have no other complications.

We are the generation that can't be told that we don't understand. We have access to the same things as adults, we can easily look into history at the click of a button. We can't be pushed out of the discussion and we have to be thought about. Labour focusing so much of their campaigns towards the youth proved that we have a massive impact.

So, millennials, keep talking, keep sharing, keep learning. We're going to make a difference.

Thanks for reading,

Rachel xx

Monday, 9 October 2017

opinion 20:05

Why I love reading

by Rachel

Since finishing my degree, I've not done a whole lot. But one thing I have tried to do more is read and I just wanted to blog about why I love it so much.

While at uni, doing my undergraduate degree I never really read any books because I always had reading to do for my lectures. The thought: "If you have time to read for fun, you should be reading your uni stuff" and, a large majority of the time I ended up reading neither, isn't that just how life goes?

Then during my post grad degree, I didn't have a whole lot of time to read, and because I studied magazine journalism I felt I should put a lot more time into reading magazines (somehow managed to watch through every episode of How I Met Your Mother)

But anyway, the point of this post wasn't to talk about my procrastination of everything.

I really love reading. I love the time you get to switch off from the world, I love how for those few hours you are somewhere else.

I love when you speak to someone about the same book, and there's differences of opinion in messages, in appearances, because words allow you to bring your own thought.

My ultimate favourite thing though, is when you remember any book you've read, you don't remember being sat looking at words on a page. You remember scenes, you remember images, characters, locations, bright and vibrant as though you actually experienced them.

Credit to the authors for creating those scenes. But also, credit to our imagination, you imagined something that well, that you forgot what was really happening. It sounds way more hardcore than just "reading"

Reading is really special, and a hobby you can enjoy all by yourself. When I put it on my CV, it's because I really do love to read.

Let me know any recommendations of books I should read.

Thanks for reading,

Rachel xx

Thursday, 27 April 2017

opinion 16:23

Help people...

by Rachel

In the lead up to the snap elections in June I wanted to write a quick post about helping people.

When the election was announced I saw people slip very quickly into the attitude of "omg how dare you not vote, educate yourself" but let's break this down.

Firstly, politics is important, to every single person in the country. BUT, not every political element is crucial to every person, and some of it (a lot of it) is just down right boring.

But honestly, you really should vote, I'll help you out at the end of this post, bear with me.

But my problem is when people are urging others to vote, whilst ridiculing them for not knowing enough. And if you don't already know much about politics and how the country works it's hard to find neutral, useful information.

So really what I'm saying is, if you're someone who knows a little bit of something about how the country works, help people. Encourage questions, offer answers or opinions. If you can't, try and advise on where people can find the information.

There's no such thing as a stupid question.

Especially on social media, and please be aware of the age of people on social media.

I just think it would be really great in this general election if we had a high turn out of voters who are confident in what they've voted for.

I'm not going to tell you what to vote for, but I am going to try and help. Try this quiz, it will take you about 10/15 minutes. It will ask you some questions and how important they are to you. At the end it will give you percentages that show how much you agree with certain political parties. and will break it down even more if you have a click around.

We all love a quiz and it means you don't have to trawl the web in the same way for the answers you want

http://uk.isidewith.com/political-quiz?from=NevfZB3me - follow this link to do the quiz and share it with anyone in doubt.

Remember to help people and encourage questions, no matter how simple!

Thanks for reading,

Rachel xx

Tuesday, 18 April 2017

opinion 12:15

Should there be a maximum voting age?

by Rachel

Last year brought two shock election results. Many young people are blaming the over 65s for the way the results have turned out, does this mean they are too old to vote? Read on to find out.

On the 23^rd June 2016, I voted for the first time at 22 years of age. I was excited, brimming with hope that my vote would make a difference to my future.

On the 24^th June, I woke up to a result that I, the polls, and many politicians didn’t expect. In case you have been living under a rock, that result was for Britain to leave the European Union.

When the polls started feeding through the internet, I was shocked and slightly frustrated to see how different age groups had voted.

In two big elections, last year (Brexit and the US Presidential Election) the over 65s have voted vastly different to the younger generation. In Brexit 75% of 18-24s voted remain, but only 39% of those 65+.

In the US election, only 37% of 18-29s voted for Trump, whereas 53% of the 65+ category voted for him. This has created a lot of doubt in the system.

With people living longer and the baby boomers now between the ages of 52 and 70, the older generation is a growing population. The over 65s are the generation that has the highest turnout of voters and many young people are feeling as though their vote has a lower impact.

Following Brexit, there was a wave of media reports and Tweets complaining about the older generation. Headlines in the press included: “EU Referendum Results: Young ‘Screwed By Older Generations” from the Huffington Post and “How old people have screwed over the younger generations’…” from the Independent.

Some tweets from the public are shown below.

Maximum voting age

The older generation were deemed to be “to blame” for, what is assumed to be the “wrong” decision. This is under the assumption that the younger generation overall voted for the “right” choice.

Do people really feel as though these democratic rights should be stripped away once you hit a certain age? Harry Taylor 23, a History and Politics graduate said: “To stop and deny people voting based on age, something beyond their control would be an affront to democracy.

“They (the older generation) will vote in far more restrictive ways and arguably less progressive ways compared to a younger generation, and I think that’s led to a lot of cause for older people to be stopped.”

In an exclusive survey of 94 people ran by myself, 16.3% said they thought there should be a maximum voting age, the suggestions of that age ranged from 60-80.

One person said that the maximum voting age should be 65: “because it isn't their future.” However, the average life expectancy in the UK is 81, this would mean some people living for 16 or more years without the ability to vote, so how many years do you have to have left to be deemed to have a future?

Taylor said: “Yes in an ideal world they (the 18-24s) might go and live the entirety of the rest of that parliament where those decisions will be taken, therefore they’ll see the benefit or the downsides whereas somebody who’s 80/70 might not. However that’s based on an ideal world”

If the maximum voting age was 65, should we then also have a maximum candidate age. Hillary Clinton is 69 and Donald Trump is 70, they therefore would not be able to vote. Would younger candidates and younger voters represent the country better, or show lack of experience and knowledge?

Judging by the survey results, the consensus is that there shouldn’t be a maximum age on voting, and after all, isn’t this the result we all expected. “I don’t agree with the older persons voting tendencies, but I think it’s a basic human right to be able to vote,” said one respondent.

The argument that being unable to vote is against our human rights is a common thread that keeps coming up. Producer Stephen Robert Morse shared his view on Twitter.

If this was to happen, who would decide who is “old”, and should therefore, would everyone need do a competence test. We may then only have those with higher education voting, and this does not represent the whole of the British public. To have rules on who is “capable” of voting, would affect our democratic stance.

This maybe is the view of many people, many who complained about the way the generation voted, but would not take away their right to vote. But if it is a basic human right to vote, shouldn’t 16 and 17 year olds be allowed to vote?

Minimum Age

In the poll, people were also asked what they think the minimum voting age should be. 45.7% said that the voting age should remain at 18, whilst 40.4% felt the age should be lowered to 16. Out of those that voted that the age should reduce to 16, 11.6% of those felt there should be a maximum voting age.

If this age group had voted we could have had an entirely different set of results. But with the 18-24 group only having a 36% turnout for Brexit, compared to an 83% turnout of 65+. Would a 16-17-year-old vote make a difference? Surely just a higher turnout could change the results as there was just under 1.3 million difference in the votes.

But are under 18s classed as adults? From 2015, children must stay in full time education until they are 18, many of their decisions need parental consent, for example, marriage and joining the army.

One person surveyed said: “If lowered to 16 I think you would get a lot of immature people voting wrongly and for the wrong reasons” but many people surveyed do not agree and think that 16 year olds are mature enough to vote for our country.

How can people campaign for a younger voting age whilst also excluding such a large proportion of the population?

Age discrimination

With the result of Brexit and the presidential election, many people feel we have taken a step back and have opened our society up to much more discrimination and racism.

So why are these same people asking for a cut in who can vote.

Some people have said that voters are sulking that the decision hasn’t gone the way they expected and they are looking for someone to blame.

Young people are overwhelmingly looking for someone to blame for the way this election turned out. They feel as though they have been failed by their government and by their own family members.

But wouldn’t we rather live in a democratic society where there is no maximum age to vote, albeit terrible decisions that may be made.

To have an upper age limit on voting is a short-sighted opinion. This would massively cut down the numbers of people voting and would not represent the entire population. It would be disregarding decades of life experience and knowledge.

It is clear from our survey results that the majority of people, in any age group, don’t wish for a maximum voting age. But the divide in voting between the age groups is clear.

Young people looking for someone to blame for elections results should perhaps look towards those who don’t vote. With 64% of 18-24s not turning out to vote in Brexit and 11.7% in our survey (7.4% of those were under 25), the results could have been entirely different with a higher turnout.

Monday, 17 April 2017

opinion 18:56

Instagram Themes...

by Rachel

Today I wanted to have a little talk about Instagram themes. For those that don't know, many people stick to a certain theme on their Instagram page, whether that be all black and white, all featuring the colour red, all having a white background etc. It's quite common among bloggers.

Personally, my Instagram is whatever makes me happy, an event, a pretty picture I've taken, some food, an occasional picture of me, usually when I like my makeup... It's a photo sharing app so I just share regardless of colour, shape, anything else.

Very honestly, I rarely follow accounts that have themes. I don't usually look at peoples own pages, I just look on my feed, so the theme doesn't really have any impact on me.

I don't want to see really same-y pictures all the time, I've come across some pages that re-post, or have a slightly re-arranged shot, I just find it a little boring #sorrynotsorry

I adore Instagram - though I do agree with EVERYONE, put it in chronological order Insta, come on! I love seeing people be creative with photography, I love to see what pictures people choose when you might only pick one. I love that people post selfies, woohoo to self confidence!

I'm just looking forward to themes being a thing of the past.

What do you think of Instagram themes? Do you have one?

Thanks for reading,

Rachel xx

Ps. if you want to follow my random selection of posts with no theme at all, it's @racheleiwood

Monday, 7 November 2016

opinion 22:44

The Red Poppy

by Rachel

Wearing a poppy at the beginning of November is something that has always been important to me, but over the recent years there has been a lot of controversy about it. Controversy that has confused me.

There have been increasing numbers of scaremongers amongst us, telling us who is offended by the poppy and why. But with my understanding of the poppy, the only reason you would be offended would be if you had the wrong end of the stick.

In the simplest of terms remembrance day and poppies are a symbol of respect and remembrance of the fallen. But I have always been taught that it is more importantly remembrance of the loss and devastation caused by war.

I do not believe that it is for patriotism, I do not believe that it is for pride, I think it is the opposite. I think it is to remind each generation what once was, in the not so distant past. And what could be if we're not aware of our past. Now don't get me wrong, I know there have been wars since the world wars, and that is devastating. It is heartbreaking that the people making these decisions are the same people that wear poppies every year without thought.

There are rumblings currently of white poppies to represent peace, but to me the red poppy should represent our future peace. The red poppy was the first flower (or one of the first) to grow on the battle grounds, the fields of blood red flowers to remind us of the past, to hope we can stop it from happening in the future. I understand the sentiment of the white poppy, and I know it goes back way before my lifetime, but to me the red poppy gives the true impact of the consequences of war.

So this poppy day, as with any other, I will wear my red poppy as a sign of my political stance against war and all its devastation. I will use my two minutes of silence as thought, not only to the fallen, but of hope that no more will fall. I will not narrow my thoughts to only this country. I hope you will all do the same and not stain the meaning of the red poppy.

"Lest We Forget"

Thanks for reading,

Rachel xx

Image taken from : here

Monday, 4 July 2016

opinion 17:00

When Drake Showed Up...

by Rachel

Last week I was lucky enough to get hold of a few tickets for the Manchester Rihanna gig at Emirates Old Trafford. I only got the tickets on the day so it was arranged that day, it's probably the most spontaneous thing I've ever done on a Wednesday.

I won't claim to be a massive Rihanna fan, I've liked a lot of her songs but haven't really followed her career, I definitely hadn't listened to her new album before the gig! The doors for the event opened at 4 (we didn't arrive until about 8) There was a support act called DJ Mustard (??) on first and we entered as the second support, Big Sean, was playing.

Rihanna didn't come on stage until about 9:15, which I'm sure for the people who had queued all day that would have been exhausting to wait so long! I'll be totally honest here, for £75 a ticket (which I didn't pay, mine were free) the performance should have been much better, much longer and I feel the song choices could have been a bit better!

Most of her most popular songs she only played a short snippet from, I get that she has a LOT of songs and maybe that's the way to get as many as possible in but it was difficult to get fully involved! She obviously played a lot from her newest album, as expected but I was hoping for a bit more variation.

Now if the title didn't give it away, and you somehow haven't come across this news over the last week, Drake showed up at the gig! Although it was rumoured he might do, we didn't think he actually would. He sang Work with Rihanna which was amazing, and then sang his own song One Dance, which is so incredible to hear in that kind of atmosphere!

The response to him arriving on stage was incredible, I couldn't even hear him speak for the crowd noise. The gig could be heard all across Manchester, people I work with said it was so much louder around the time they saw the "OMG Drake is here" Facebook status'.

Rihanna finished the show with a song called Love on the Brain, which if you haven't heard, and I hadn't before the show, you should definitely go and listen to it, it's a really incredible song and she did a great job singing it live. She had a reputation as a bad singer in her younger years but she has definitely improved.

I was very surprised that there was no encore at the end of the gig, I've never seen an artist not do an encore before, maybe her and Drake needed to be somewhere. I was begging for them both to come back on and sing Too Good and Take Care but I can only be so lucky in one day!

So for last minute plans, free tickets I had a really great night. But I think tickets are getting way too expensive, the fact that Rihanna didn't sell out this show and tickets were given away for free at my work (work work work work work) place shows you that maybe they were way too much!

Beyonce is playing this week at the same venue, as it is open air I'm debating going somewhere nearer to the stadium to hear Queen B sing! I don't think I'll be so lucky to get more free tickets!

Did you attend the gig? Are you going to see Beyonce?

Thanks for reading,

Rachel xx