grace_lacey

Natalia Kills - Problem

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 22:56:22 +0000

Natalia Kills - Problem

Iggy Azalea - Work

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 22:49:39 +0000

Iggy Azalea - Work

James Franco in drag for Candy magazine. (Quote from Ian...

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 11:02:48 +0000

James Franco in drag for Candy magazine. (Quote from Ian McEwan’s ‘Cement Garden’.)

Spending my Saturday night at a pop up chicken ‘restaurant’ has...

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 20:05:07 +0000

Spending my Saturday night at a pop up chicken ‘restaurant’ has opened my eyes ever wider to the foolishness of London scenesters.

Five years ago Kentish Town was a total dive but now London’s trendy folk flock from all around (blaming the downfall of Camden). As a result Lucky Chip has opened a pop up restaurant, Lucky Fried Chicken, on the first floor of The Grafton; for a limited time only you can get overpriced fried chicken in a fancy venue. Hurrah.

KFC equivalence aside, the staff were very friendly and, of course, very trendy. The location was typically chic with candles aplenty and empty bottles along the windowsills. Between three of us we paid £30 for nine pieces of fried chicken and a side each. I love fried chicken so unsurprisingly it was good but only marginally better than my local chicken shop and that’s the clincher! Fried chicken is fried chicken my friends!

Yet what a hypocrite I am for travelling all the way from Walthamstow to Kentish Town with my flatmate despite having TWO KFCs within a five minute walk of our place.

Perhaps I’m a foolish scenester. Or, even worse, perhaps I’m living with one.

vintage bouquet

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 17:14:31 +0000

vintage bouquet

MONOCHROME

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 16:07:00 +0000

Boohoo

H&M

H&M

Zara

Topshop

Topshop

MONOCHROME

Me and my new home.

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 15:46:17 +0000

Me and my new home.

Burberry Prorsum #wishlist

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 11:44:42 +0000

Burberry Prorsum #wishlist

Photo

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 20:36:56 +0000

Women and rape in India and the UK

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 20:35:27 +0000

In 2010 there were 22,172 rapes reported in India at a rate of 1.8 per 100,000 people. In England and Wales the rate was 28.8, so what are we on our high horses about?

In India 26% of cases taken to court ended in a conviction, two per cent more than the statistic in the UK in 1985, which has since dropped to as little as five per cent and so I have to ask again, WHAT THE HELL ARE WE ON OUR HIGH HORSES ABOUT?

24-year-old protestor Kritika Sharma told reporters than in India they worship goddesses “but when it comes to females we don’t respect them.” Amen sister! Christianity, in which our social morality and judicial system is rooted, has consistently overlooked the roles and value of women so as to create a gender biased and sexually threatening culture.

When the British press erupted in horror to the rapes in India that have recently made the headlines worldwide I was overwhelmed at the hypocrisy. It is estimated that up to 100,000 women are raped in Britain every year, alongside the number of sexual assaults and sexual harassment women deal with day in and day out.

It may be true that a woman in the UK can be raped and still be considered worthy of marriage, unlike India, but that doesn’t mean she necessarily feels it. She would not lose her job, or her home, or her family (one would assume) but that doesn’t make her experience any less traumatic or destructive to her well being If every rape across the globe was reported the numbers in India would monumentally surpass those here, but shame on every individual who instantly compared the two countries and, as a result, minimalised and undermined the rapes of women across the UK. Comparing the struggles of women from country to country is of no help at all. One in three women is beaten or raped in her lifetime and that is a statistic that matters because sexism, rape and gender violence is not a local battle but a worldwide war. Every female I meet who does not believe this to be the case lets us all down.

Syron - Here

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 23:46:22 +0000

Syron - Here

Sorry for the silence!

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 10:18:27 +0000

I’ve recently moved to my first ever non-student home in Walthamstow (aka #awesomestow on Twitter). I’ll be wired up and back to blogging before the end of the week.
x x x

It was and it was not...

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 22:56:00 +0000

Identity and the Power of Storytelling:

An Evening with Wajahat Ali, Riz Ahmed and friends

The Leaf Network and The Radical Middle Way presented an evening on ‘Identity and the Power of Storytelling’ last week at the Rich Mix in London. Islam is rich with storytelling, from its history to its scripture there are tales aplenty and last night both Muslim and non-Muslim people came together to discuss, debate and appreciate this, as well as to tell their own stories.

You think you know me but you don’t…

Omar Hafeez Bore eased the audience into the event with comedic stories from his time in Birmingham. His storytelling had the power to teach the audience a lesson through their laughter, a message of the ownership of identity through confidence. He was, without a doubt, one of the strongest speakers of the night.

What followed was somewhat disappointing. First, a story from a representative of the National Zakat Foundation and his experience of rescuing a homeless man recently released from prison after a “minor domestic incident.” My belief that no domestic violence incident can be “minor” certainly tarnished this story for me, and probably many others in the room.

Next, a young speaker from the audience who told a tale of a man who robbed him, causing him to lose all faith in humanity in an instant, only to find out the man simply needed whatever change he had to get some food so “don’t lose hope folks!” As you can infer this tale was fairly confused and hypocritical, are we to have faith in humanity or not?

The night was brought back into play by poet Wajid Hussain who regaled us with his experience of being picked out of his group of all white companions while travelling to America. This led to his brilliant poem Beard Issues: a poem in which none of his beard issues were related to the racism and stereotypes faced by Muslims. I shall give away no more.

Next came the only female took to the stage and the crowd rejoiced having been told there would be none. Alia Bano could not let the night go by without a female speaker and so despite her story being a tad messy, her voice was greatly appreciated.

To finish the first half Hassan Rasool presented the audience with a traditional story, told through movement and song. In traditional dress and a powerfully characterised voice Rasool delivered such a beautiful performance one could have been content watching only him for the rest of the night.

Part Two: What is the state of the Muslim story?

In trying to represent everyone, you will represent no one…

Part two opened with a question to the special guests, writer Wajahat Ali and actor/MC Riz Ahmed: “What is the state of the Muslim story?” Ahmed noted that the first response must be to unpack “Muslim,” for each Muslims’ story is individual to them. He then added that there is that which is mostly known to the non-Muslim world, of which there are three characters: the stereotype with the example of Apoo from the Simpsons and the listless ‘baddies’ in films; the subversion like that seen in the film Four Lions; and then there is just the guy or girl that you pass on the street.

Ali notes that Hollywood loves a story more the more horrific it is and thus, in “the post 9/11 reality” Muslims across the world “became footnotes and our story was told to us.”

“Will the mainstream like your [ethnic] story?”

Wajahat Ali refers again to the view of Muslims by many non-Muslims, especially within Hollywood. He notes the code within TV and film of “the mainstream” for white people and “ethnic” for non-white people. He describes the struggle for a non-sensationalised Muslim story against the question: “Will the mainstream like your [ethnic] story?”

While we sat and discussed the perpetuation of stereotypes and yet further inaccurate portrayals of Islam in the TV series Homeland, elsewhere the producers and actors were patting themselves on the back while accepting awards at the Golden Globes.

Ali stated that Muslims in the world over can look to the LGBT community for inspiration. An unsurprising example considering that in many places around the world the LGBT community have gone from prison cells and mental institutions to marriage and celebrity status within 50 years.

There is a poverty of female representation on screen…

Questions and comments turned to the audience as a man makes his way round with a microphone. A woman condemns the lack of representation of women in ‘Muslim stories,’ and shares her own story of feeling judged and looked down upon due to wearing hijab. If the ummah is to represent Islam they must also give women bigger roles than the wife or the daughter of the always male protagonist.

From here it went a little downhill, with one speaker rambling on with a conspiracy theory until he is stopped and another shouting over Ali’s discussion of success to ask “what if is at the blood of others?” A little out of the blue considering Wajahat Ali is a successful writer (not killer).

Think of art as a catalyst for social change…

Search #stagingtheummah on Twitter for a live feed of the night’s events and questions.

If my account has you intrigued then follow @richmixlondon @theleafnetwork @radicaltweets and listen out for information on the next event.

Django Unchained: A review

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 17:36:15 +0000

Django Unchained follows on from Inglorious Basterds; again Quentin Tarantino twist and play with history. Tarantino does away with the serious drama that accompanies such sensitive issues when on screen but, having watched Django Unchained, I am not so sure it is his place to make light of the horrors of history, especially those unrelated to his own ancestry.

Django Unchained follows the tale of a black slave (Jamie Foxx) freed through the murder of his masters by bounty hunter Dr King Schultz (Christoph Waltz). After having spent a little time together they come to a deal: Django will help Dr Schultz with his work as a bounty hunter through the winter and then the doctor shall help Django to find and free his wife.

As both a slave and a Freeman the character of Django was hard to believe: From speaking up as a slave without being instructed by his slave master, to almost instructing the death of one a slave when a freeman, it all seemed somewhat lacking in truth. As a freeman Django’s character himself must play a role, it’s true, but the innate fear and downtrodden character a slave would embody was not present. Furthermore, by acting alongside the stylised characters of Dr Schultz and Francophile Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) the attempt at a naturalistic acting method for Foxx resulted in him being out-acted.

From the offset I felt uncomfortable watching Django Unchained, but could not put my finger on why. Unlike many others, actors included, the use of the n-word did not upset me as it is contextually relevant, it did however frustrate me due to the blatant hypocrisy of using an offensive yet contextual word in a film that is not contextually accurate.

Similarly the sudden and shocking instances of violence and disrespect that interrupt the light hearted representation of slavery were not enough to compensate for brushing over such a sensitive topic. Similarly the over representation of well-off slaves such as bar tenders and house slaves like that of the character played by Samuel L. Jackson minimalised the true horrors of slavery. What it boils down to, in my opinion, is whether or not it was Quentin Tarantino’s place to offer this representation.

I believe it was not.

In discussing this with several people I have made the same argument: as a feminist I would not be happy were a man to make such a film about feminist issues in history or in the present. Some may say this is hypocritical and in itself sexist or racist but the fact is that most men do not understand the innate and everyday injustices experienced by women, just as I believe almost all white people do not understand the innate, everyday and sensitive injustices of racism throughout history and why would they? Black history is a mere snippet of the white-dominated educational system, with much of it being taught through a fictional film and not through fact.

I suppose this is the reason I could not place exactly what made me feel uncomfortable about the film, because I do not know its insensitivity and implications in their entirety.

I am a big fan of Tarantino. I saw the directorial talent and I did somewhat enjoy the film. There was however, alongside feeling uncomfortable, a feeling of guilt. As a white person I bear the history of my ancestors on my shoulders and thus I have a lot to feel guilty about. Tarantino, I think, doesn’t feel so guilty.

#newshoes

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 22:11:00 +0000

#newshoes

Winter Coats with a Leather Trend

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 17:33:00 +0000

Topshop £80

Miss Selfridge £85

Miss Selfridge £89

Zara £129

ASOS £95 (Over £50 cheaper than Zara's equivalent)

ASOS £110

Winter Coats with a Leather Trend

Rhossili Bay “A vast expanse of nothingness.” -Dylan...

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 21:26:03 +0000

Rhossili Bay

“A vast expanse of nothingness.” -Dylan Thomas

Wedding [Guest] Dresses. (p.s. did you spot me?)

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 22:26:00 +0000

H&M

Warehouse

Topshop

Miss Selfridge

Missguided.co.uk

Miss Selfridge (Out of Stock)

Wedding [Guest] Dresses.

(p.s. did you spot me?)

No to Female Bishops

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 21:09:34 +0000

Something struck me in a recent conversation about religion. A work collegue recently told me of how she was raised within an orthodox religion. She was a devout believer until one day she thought, “It sounds like a man said that,” and there it was, my catchphrase for Christianity.

Around 2,000 years ago, in the Second Temple Period, the Christian God made a few decisions that the General Synod today out rightly contradicted, as they have always done.

God sent an angel to Mary to tell her she will mother the Son of God. In a time when a woman’s word was worthless in a court of law these actions contradicted the social and gender norms and spoke loudly of women’s worth within Christianity.

Mary was theotokos, the god-bearer. Woman gave birth to the Son of God and women gave birth to every man who voted against female Bishops today. We women must carry these men who later in life hold such little respect or value for us.

Another example of equality set by God comes at the end of the gospel story: When resurrected, Jesus shows himself first to women and then to men. The respect and reverence given to women by the Son of God and God him/herself in no way altered gender bias within society and thus was built a male-dominated religion that has held strong for millennia.

It was not man but mankind that was made in the image of God, for this is the translation of the Hebrew ‘Adam’. This understanding, however, would not allow for man’s manipulation of religion for their own gratification that has been done throughout time and has been done today.

To refuse female priests the chance to progress as their male counterparts can is oppression. To denounce the equality and the worth of women and girls everywhere is suppression. Today the Synod publicly announced how little they value female existence.

Religion aside...

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 21:11:52 +0000

…tomorrow could be a historical day for women. Let’s pray, let’s wish, let’s hope. Whichever you choose, let’s not overlook any step forward for women.