I still recall how mad I was in 2013, when Blurred Lines (by Pharrell and Robin Thicke) became one the most-sold singles.
Those of us who were battling with the question of consent in sex couldn’t deny it was a great tune that made you want to get up and dance, but the message? How could two young men in the 21st-century believe that ‘no’ didn’t really mean no? For this duo, the lines around consent were ‘blurred’ and, hating those blurred lines, they sang, ‘I know you want it’.
A beautiful, young model Emily Ratajkowski danced the whole video in a flesh-coloured Thong and sneakers, despite being 21.
Model Emily Ratajkowski (pictured), expressed regret at dancing in a flesh-coloured trainer and thong when she was 21 years old. Jenni Murray explained the cost of stripping off to make some cash
She was a star in the video and was able to speak out about how she felt empowered and determined by her sexuality.
It launched her into the stratosphere but, eight years on, pushing 30 and now married with a baby, she’s expressing deep regrets about her past.
In her new book, My Body, she relates how it wasn’t so empowering to find Robin Thicke allegedly groping her breasts from behind during filming. And no, she hadn’t wanted it. She wrote that she was shocked and embarrassed, but did not say anything.
‘We were working for him, after all,’ she says. So she accepted the power that was given to her by the men who had photographed and employed her.
‘In my early 20s,’ she writes, ‘it had never occurred to me that the women who gained their power from beauty were indebted to the men whose desire granted them that power in the first place.’
Jenni (pictured), says that selling sex is harmful and does not improve the perception of women.
She no longer subscribes to what was dubbed ‘choice feminism’, where she believed that doing what she wanted — getting naked or wearing something sexy — was a feminist act because she’d made that choice. She recognizes the power structures that are at work and must be open to them.
Today, her main focus is on trying to get back photographs of herself. She also struggles with laws regarding the ownership and use of photos. I guess no one wants their son to look them up and think, ‘There’s my mum, she’s just a body.’
I’m not a big fan of the Tower of Babel that is Twitter, but while tweeting my delight at the West End musical Come From Away and recommending others see it, I came across a tweet from fellow animal lover, Liz Jones. Her post showed a film of a hound being put down at the Duke of Beaufort’s Hunt in Badminton, Gloucestershire. After its work life was over, the dog had its head shot and its tail still wagging in a wheel-barrow. Dogs should never be handled in this manner. Only a veterinarian should perform the necessary procedures to end the dog’s life.
Her story reminded me of Katie Price, who, in her days as Jordan also believed her body gave her power and riches but, as she’s got older, has struggled and become a desperately sad character. It’s a lesson girls need to learn and it seems it may be getting through.
Sarah Jayne Dunn has been sacked from a role in Hollyoaks which she’s played on and off since 1996. She had joined the X-rated subscription site, OnlyFans, as a raunchy sideline, making allegedly £7,200 in a week, in addition to the £120,000 salary she received from the popular teen soap.
Tempting I’m sure, but the site, although it declares itself as 18-plus, seems to have shown videos sent in by much younger girls.
If Sarah Jayne’s plan was to take control, she’s made a big mistake. She’s lost a steady, regular salary. Without Hollyoaks, she’s just another girl flaunting her body in black PVC and bunny ears. Where’s the power in that?
Channel 4 is doing it right. There are no blurred lines. Maybe Noel Coward’s mantra is the best way to go, ‘Don’t put your daughter on the stage’. As Emily Ratajkowski found, selling sex can harm you and make women feel bad.
William Wokesworth is gone
John Constable’s The Cornfield (pictured left) was presented to the National Gallery in 1837 by a group including William Wordsworth (pictured right)
I am just checking back to make sure I’ve never rented a house or a flat from someone who’s been involved in slavery. I haven’t! It was a great relief.
The National Gallery has been looking at the National Gallery’s masterpieces in an attempt to discover if any of them have had such tenuous past associations. John Constable’s The Cornfield was presented to the gallery in 1837 by a group including William Wordsworth. He, we’re told, lived with his sister in a cottage she rented from a plantation owner. For goodness sake, isn’t it time we put a stop to this nonsense?
Boris will, therefore £30 make You are a Lady to Me?
I’ve thought in recent years that I might make a rather good member of the House of Lords. I have lots of experience in many fields, I’m a good debater and I’m fit enough to turn up. It’s sad that I don’t have the £3 million that seems to make you a shoo-in. Would a donation of £30 quid do, Prime Minister?
I am proud to call myself Ashamed a Yorkshire girl
For the first time in my life, I’m ashamed to call myself a Yorkshirewoman.
One of England’s oldest sporting clubs has been accused of being institutionally racist by Azeem Rafiq, one of its former players. My father considered the Yorkshire County Cricket Club as his foundation. It was a ‘game played by gentlemen’. This was what British meant.
It was not his dream to be a player for the county. His only option was to play in local matches on Sundays with his wife making tea in the pavilion, and with his daughter creating daisy chains at the boundary.
He was so passionate about the club, that he raced my mother home from Lancashire to see if she had begun her child. This was what made me a failure. Although I was raised in this county, my sexuality excluded me. I wouldn’t be Fred Trueman, Geoffrey Boycott.
I remember my father saying a good few years ago, ‘I don’t know why they don’t take on and promote a few of those Asian lads I’ve seen playing as juniors. Many of these boys are great with ball and bat. And they’re born in Yorkshire.’ Birth in the county was a requirement until 1992.
I fear my dad will be turning in his grave that his beloved Yorkshire cricket club is brought so low by ‘gentlemen’ who don’t deserve the term and should have known better.