In the last week Iranian women have been taking to the streets and dying for the right to have their vote counted. Two weeks ago, 65 percent of eligible British men and women didn’t even bother casting theirs. In less than an hour, four million did, however, find the time to vote in the final of Britain’s Got Talent.
What is it that makes us so pathetically apathetic when it comes to politics ?
Theories abound. People are disillusioned with politicians. The breakdown of family means there is a lack of civic education. There is less trust in established institutions.
But the one theory that strikes me as most likely is the success of materialism as a philosophy, and consequent growth of the “as long as I’ve got a 42 inch Sony flat screen television, an iPhone, Armani in my wardrobe and a Fendi handbag , I don’t give a monkey’s” brigade.
Any cultural media (and advertising doesn’t fall into that category no matter how many Cannes Lions you’ve won) that promotes the idea that having lots of stuff is the road to happiness deserves, in my opinion, nothing but contempt.
That’s one reason I HATE chick lit and it’s bastard younger brother, dick lit.
Wikipedia says.
“Chick lit often features hip, stylish, career-driven female protagonists, usually in their twenties and thirties. The women featured in these novels may be obsessed with appearance or have a passion for shopping.”
Is there anything more more morally redundant than promoting conspicuous consumption as a lifestyle?
Imagine for a second if all the women who read books with characters who fight for Gucci, were reading about characters who fight for women’s rights or for the poor or for abused kids. For a start it would be an infinitely more interesting read and just maybe, some of those readers might think differently about the world, their lives and the societies they live in. They might even want to change things.
And what about the writers of these novels that glorify the art of shopping?
Wouldn’t it be more satisfying to know that your words were making the world a bit of a better place? I know you’re in it for the money, but why not use your talents to benefit your children and grandchildren too.
I wonder what the Iranian women, who read the poetry of Mirzadeh Eshghi before taking to the streets, would think of Sophie Kinsella’s Confessions of a Shopaholic or Marian Keyes’s Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married…
Would it inspire them to storm the nearest Prada store, or battle the police for a Valentino dress?
14 responses so far ↓
Julia Bohanna // June 22, 2009 at 4:47 pm |
Well said ADLAD! I raise two fingers with you to inadequate and shallow writing. Give Chick the Flick (I was going to say Dick but there are eye-popping connotations there that would be best avoided)
Materialism sadly is promoted everywhere and so many fail to see, as you have illuminated here, that there is a bigger, grimmer picture out there.
Here’s to GOOD writing….
Ad Lad // June 23, 2009 at 6:15 am |
Thanks for your thoughts and support Julia. I’ll say give dick the flick for you!
Zoe // June 23, 2009 at 7:01 am |
Totally agree on Chick lit, Ad Lad – mindless pap for the ‘me generation’, but I’d take issue with your conflation re 65% of British people ‘not bothering’ to vote in recent elections.
I was one of those people, and my not voting was a definite act rather than a ‘not bothering’. No doubt it was down to apathy for many people, but I suspect just as many this time chose not to vote because of the ridiculous shenanigans of the politicians over expenses etc. I felt that in voting at all, I would be helping shore up a system which frankly, is indefensible. I have little faith in the political system in this country anyway, though I’ve no doubt there are some excellent constituency MPs, and the idea that MPs themselves are being trusted to reform things fills me with despair.
Buckminister // June 23, 2009 at 8:15 am |
You mean to tell me 4 million Brits left their homes and went to the polls to vote for Britain’s Got Talent? I agree about the apathy, but don’t compare voting by text or online to having to get of one’s arse and go to a polling place to vote. Compare to scones to scones, chap!!
Martin Reed // June 23, 2009 at 11:04 am |
Spot on, in my opinion.
Zoe – while I agree the system is far from perfect and people are understandably disillusioned, I disagree that the answer is to opt out. Democracy doesn’t end at the ballot box. If we let it all hinge on that or turn away entirely, then fail to lobby, write, join pressure groups, and do everything we can to influence our representatives, then is it any wonder they just get on with their own agendas?
Buckminster – comparing scones to scones, eh? Fair point. Although my homemade scones aren’t a patch on the ones from the little cafe on the high street. Well worth getting off one’s arse to go to. And it’s two doors down from the polling station, as it happens.
Rob // June 23, 2009 at 2:43 pm |
All spot on as always AdLad, but am I the only one to spot the Yves Saint Laurent handbag the demonstrator is sporting? Perhaps materialism and idealism are not mutually exclusive.
Zoe // June 23, 2009 at 3:24 pm |
Ah but… did I say I turned away entirely? For starters, I wrote to my MP. I also wrote a blog post. I remember my father saying to me years ago, ‘but who is there to vote for?’ He was disillusioned then, and he’s been dead almost 20 years! I suppose it’s a question of degree, but I can’t remember ever feeling as cynical about politicians and politics in general as I do now.
Valerie O'Riordan // June 23, 2009 at 6:02 pm |
Well said, Ad Lad! The chick-lit phenomenon (and associated lad-lit texts) are popular because they reinforce the mantras of our society – spend and and spend and be happy – fulfil the dreams we set out for you (partly through advertising!) and you’ll be happy – and voila, the heroines are happy in the end – they get the ideal man, the ideal job, and those perfect shoes. There’s no sense of questioning society or the status quo, no sense of angst – it’s a reaffirmation prcess, while (I think) good literature works by forcing us to have a really good critical look at ourselves and the world. It’s not complacent, it presents the world in new and challenging ways – even if that world is just the tiny microcosm of somebody’s mind. It’s uncomfortable and overwhelming and is like a slap in the face. It makes you experience things anew. And though I’m not extremely well-read in the genre, I’ll still assert firmly that chick-lit just doesn’t do these things.
Ad Lad // June 24, 2009 at 6:21 am |
Zoe- I appreciate your pain, but why not vote for another party other than the tainted three? Especially in the EU elections, every vote really does count.
Thanks for stopping by Buckminster. I understand your point, however, I was trying to underline the different levels of engagement. People had four days to vote in the EU election. Less than an hour to vote for BGT, and they had to pay.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Martin. I agree with them all.
Rob, I did spot that. It’s actually a Louis Vuitton, (probably fake like 98% of those you see) and I don’t think they idealism and materialism are mutually exclusive. The problem comes when materialism replaces idealism.
I totally entirely Valerie, and advertising absolutely tries to make us believe in the magic of stuff. Apparently the average American is exposed to 3000 advertising messages a day! WhY then read a novel that is one long advert?
Zoe // June 24, 2009 at 8:17 am |
Why not vote for another party? Because it’s the SYSTEM that is corrupt, and I suspect smaller parties would soon find themselves and their principles disappearing into the prevailing quagmire.
ValW // June 24, 2009 at 11:22 am |
If you are fortunate enough to have a vote, then I say, use it!
Like thousands of tax-paying European nationals, I have no vote at a national level. I have no vote in my country of citizenship (UK) because I have lived outside the country for over 15 years. And I have no vote in my country of residence (Italy) because although I applied for citizenship 2.5 years ago, I am still waiting . . . Couldn’t vote in recent EC elections because of a bureaucratic cock-up.
Just wrote to the European Parliament about this again, but have so far achieved SFA.
This makes me think of all the millions of people all over the world whose situations, re: voting rights, are far, far worse than mine!
Vote for one of smaller parties. Support someone currently struggling against the system. But think youselves lucky, that in some small way, your voices can be heard!
Zoe // June 24, 2009 at 12:16 pm |
Yes, I’ve heard all the arguments, and I appreciate them, but in this instance, I chose not to vote. That amounted to a protest vote. Vote for one of the smaller parties? Support someone currently struggling against the system? Who? I have a conscience. I have no intention of voting for someone purely because I have a vote and should ‘think myself lucky’. If/when I vote for someone, it will be because I support his or her principles, not because they’re the lesser of a number of evils.
ValW // June 24, 2009 at 2:30 pm |
A ‘protest vote’ against the political system. Yes, I can see that now, Zoe. A vaild point of view.
Being disenfranchised does make one inclined to fits of blind and not always rational rage, at times, I find.
A question though: you don’t like the current system (a view I happen to share). But what would you put in its place?
Ad Lad // June 25, 2009 at 8:27 pm |
Thanks for checking out the pad Val. It’s amazing how much more precious a vote becomes when you no longer have it.