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Can you draw the clitoris?

Can You Draw the Clitoris?

Katie White

 

What started as a light-hearted question to friends quickly became a major concern. Not
a single person I asked could get anywhere close to drawing the clitoris. Most people
couldn’t even say the word without laughing. The ones who did manage to say it
subconsciously lowered their voice to a whisper. The clitoris is a gift that evolution felt
important enough to not deny us, so what has gone wrong?

I’m not shaming anyone here; I was exactly the same and it’s no accident that we are
iclliterate. The clitoris is the only organ in the human body (male or female) that exists
purely for pleasure. By taking importance away from female pleasure, society could
flatten the role of women exclusively to rearing and raising children and make them
secondary to men.

Today the clitoris is ignored. In the past it was actively feared. A large, visible clitoris
was a sign of being a witch and was enough to merit death. People genuinely believed
that it was where the devil sucked your soul out from. Bikes were (and still are)
designed to be more upright for women from fear of provoking an orgasm; another sign
that most people don’t know the first thing about them.

Words are a signal of importance. Most people (women included) can’t say the word
clitoris without giggling; we are taught to be embarrassed of the one part of our body
that is designed for pleasure. Meanwhile we are given a buffet of words for the penis,
which has more synonyms than any other word in the English language – 174
synonyms to be precise. There are none for clitoris and the ones that exist for vagina
include the rudest word in the English language. So many are immature – pussy, mini
moo, poonani. Others are misogynistic – bang hole, cock pocket, snake den, sausage
mitten. The rest are just outright unattractive – beef curtains, fur burger, bearded clam.

This problem is far more than words and a drawing. Feminism is rooted in the belief that
men and women are equal. How do we ever expect to have gender equality if we know
nothing about this uniquely female organ? Being iclliterate is just one example of how
society has normalised misogyny, setting a dangerous context for micro-aggressions
and far worse in terms of sexual harassment. We can’t write the clit back into the script
without knowing what it looks like, or having the language to discuss it. Yes, the vast
majority of it is inside our bodies, but most people can draw the lungs.

None of us learn about it at school. Education on the female reproductive system has
ignored the clitoris. The most cliterate among us can identify it as a floating magic bean
within a sideways eye. Being cliterate is relevant for everyone – whether you have a
clitoris, engage with one or consider yourself an ally to anyone who identifies as a
woman.

Understanding the anatomy of this organ scientifically proves the importance of
foreplay. All female orgasms are caused by the clitoris – whether it’s the external ‘bean’
or the internal bulbs. But the internal part is only activated once the external part is too.
On top of this, saying the word clitoris has actually been proven to lead to better sex.
The problem here is lack of awareness, which should theoretically make it an easy one
to solve. The cliteracy crusade’s mission is to make the world cliterate. Educating the
globe is no easy task and we need as much help as we can get.

The first, and easiest thing you can do is start conversations. Ask your friends,
colleagues, grandma and supermarket checkout assistant if they can draw the clitoris. If
you’d like, use the simple diagram in this article to help you. If you don’t feel comfortable
bringing the question up, wear one of our tote bags to prompt the conversation. Each
one comes with the drawing and diagram inside. Give these to your friends and
encourage them to do the same.

Our next aim is to get the conversation going on a much wider level. We want to talk at
schools, events and workshops. This is going to take time and we are just at the start of
our exciting journey. Please stay with us, take a look at cliteracycrusade.com for more
information/to see our tote bags and give @cliteracycrusade a follow on Instagram.
Wouldn’t it be brilliant to see a spray-painted clit on the pavement in ten years’ time?

 

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A Response to the South College Formal

A Response to South College Formal

Izzy Gibson

 

I had no idea who Rod Liddle was prior to last nights events, but perhaps I would have been given the chance to educate myself on his views beforehand if Tim Luckhurst had informed us of a guest speaker being present, as he has done on several other occasions. Those who had found out he was speaking had already planned a walk out at the beginning of his speech to save themselves from his harmful views. Upon their exit, our once very calmly spoken Principal began to scream at them, proclaiming them as “pathetic”. This is not the type of aggression you expect to be an audience of at what was meant to be a jolly Christmas formal. Myself and my peers then sat through what was a very painful, and uncomfortable speech. I don’t quite know what Liddle was trying to get across to us last night, but his speech consisted of a strong anti-left narrative, with sprinkles of sexism, homophobia, classism and transphobia: [TW – “those with an xy chromosome…are scientifically a man”, with a mention of “dangling penis[es]”. His speech was entirely inappropriate. Afterwards, the Principal thanked the speaker and addressed the remaining students with gratitude for staying. I will make it clear, myself and my friends did not stay out of respect of Liddle or interest in his comments, but for most of us, out of fear of the Principal and perhaps another outburst. Several students I spoke to last night were in distress due to Liddle’s comments, with many becoming emotional. Our students well-being should not be put on the line for our Principal who I once thought to be welcoming and progressive, to invite a “good friend” from his previous years, who has a very public controversial past. Luckhurst’s bias towards Liddle was at the detriment of our students welfare. As someone who was a pioneer for South College, and has worked closely with Tim, this has shocked and appalled me. I can securely say, that I am no longer proud of South College as an institution. Instead, I am proud of my peers and the college’s student body for standing up for what they believe in and not putting up with bigotry.

Testimony 4:

I am disgusted and also saddened by the manner in which our principal and his wife conducted themselves at the Christmas formal. The last formal of the academic term in which children were present, in which international students were experiencing their first British Christmas at a time where everyone wanted joy and some college patriotism. This was not the case. To even let Rod Liddle stand and speak with the prior knowledge that this would upset many students, yet this was considered “acceptable” under the codified law of free speech, was (1) not amusing, (2) hypocritical in its very nature. The fact our principal has defended this man in countless articles. Defending his opinions on child pornography and various transphobic ideologies is very telling of situations in which the freedom of speech has been prioritised over other codified human rights laws. Freedom of speech in itself includes the right to listen or not listen to the said speaker, the European Convention on Human Rights protects the rights of assembly and in this case disassembly. The principal has acted in a highly unprofessional highly political manner whilst preaching the right to speech has impeded upon many of his students rights. Southies have been left mentally scarred and some traumatised. This is unacceptable and must be acted upon now.

Testimony 5:

At the South College Christmas formal last night, an event at which we were expecting to experience a heart-warming Christmas dinner, our college President Timothy Luckhurst invited Rod Liddle (an openly racist, homophobic, and transphobic journalist) to give a lecture to the room on his political ideology. Before the formal, some people had seen an article from Rod about child pornography and as he began to speak decided to walk out of the room. In response to this, Tim shouted ‘Pathetic!’ at them, because of their decision not to hear from an individual they knew was about to offend them. The speech opened with a joke about prostitution, was followed by inappropriate comments about ethnic minorities, transphobia in which Liddle tried to argue that science proves trans people not to exist, a claim that is fundamentally wrong, and a comment made about single parents not being capable of raising their children. At this point, more and more people including myself began to leave the room, as the speech was so offensive and uncomfortable, even driving some students to tears. Following the speech, the JCR president of South got up and combatted some of the claims made by Rod, clarifying that these are not views of the JCR and arguing that the Christmas formal was not the correct environment for them to be expressed at, which has since been re-enforced in an email sent to college residents today. Many people had returned to the hall to support the JCR president, and then we all left again. On the way out of the room, Rod and Tim were confronted by students who were appalled by the speech and questioning why the speech had been allowed to be given. In response to this, the college President argued that ‘freedom of speech’ must prevail, however, he did not account for the fact that most of the speech was hate speech, incredibly offensive, and that people had not paid for a Christmas formal to then be lectured on political ideology of the right wing. The President’s wife was labelling student ‘assholes’ and repeated the sentiment that trans people don’t exist. Since then the college has been quite shaken and the elitist and discriminatory reputation that Durham has as a University has been re-enforced.

Statement 1:

“Rod Liddle can speak until his face turns blue, and he will because he is who he is and does what he does, but to inflict that on a group of students who did not willingly sign up for it, were not given a forum to argue back or discuss and were clearly expected to just sit there and put up with it given the ‘pathetic’ comments is ironically deeply anti-free speech and anti-free choice”

Statement 2:

“There is an appropriate and inappropriate way to present an idea. This probably sounds dramatic but say they were going to give a speech on war, they wouldn’t bring in tanks and immerse the students in a war situation, so why should they be able to present ‘tolerance’ like that?”

Conclusions and Suggestions for future action

Following the speech given by Rod Liddle at South College’s Christmas Formal, entailing transphobic remarks, we would like to hold a meeting in which all participants (from university staff, to students), may express their sentiments regarding the treatment of events prior to, during, and following the Formal (03/12/2021). Our aim is to be able to discuss this sensitive issue in a structured setting, allowing all points of view to be recognised and to suggest how we may collectively learn and move forward from this event. Each participant’s opinions may vary, but we want to highlight that our ultimate goal is shared: to interrogate the events of December 3rd and suggest a positive way to move forward from them and prevent further outrage.

The best means to address an issue of such emotion and proportion is through discourse. Through creating a structured environment in which we can all express our sentiments as a college and university community, we can make valuable progress in understanding each other and exploring possible options for future action under a united desire to remedy Friday’s events.

Events similar to the South College Christmas Formal have unfortunately become all too familiar within the Durham University community. We now have a chance to create a sustained and central discourse surrounding the University’s attitudes towards minority groups. Whether Tim Luckhurst and his counterparts will accept the opportunity to respond constructively to Friday’s incident is yet to become apparent. If Luckhurst does not acknowledge the gravity of this situation, I fear that the double standards he has imposed on the South College community will further perpetuate. In the case that the events detailed do not instigate positive discourse in the University community, one must ask themself how dire the suppression of minority groups’ may get before they are finally given the formal platform to execute their own freedom of expression?

 

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New Year’s resolutions – futile or fundamental for self-improvement?

New Year's Resolutions: Futile or Fundamental for Self-Improvement?

Holly Downes

 

It has become that time again – the time of looking back on the rather mentally and physically challenging year of 2021. The year plagued with countless coronavirus variants, cancelled events and infinite disruptions to our daily routines. 2021 was birthed in a bitter lockdown and is dying around more restrictions.

Yet, I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Many people have found themselves this year. Have achieved things they never thought they could’ve. Have surprised themselves. However, no one is perfect – everyone has a bad habit, a personality flaw, something that causes others to internally grimace at. So as tradition follows, we grab our pen and paper, or in this digital world, our notes app, and write a long list of self-improvement goals for the twelve months of opportunity 2022 has to offer.

After indulging in too many mince pies, the whole box of Lindor’s, and enough cheese to feed a small village, the Christmas festivities are sadly temporary. We realize that this utopia cannot prolong into the new year, so we make a resolution to give up chocolate for the month. To go on a brisk walk every morning. To stop procrastinating when we have mountains of reading. The ending of Christmas celebrations comes with a dread of the new year that forces us to confront the reality of life – one which does not allow us to watch Christmas movies all day.

So, we prepare to deep clean our routines. We craft a narrative for 2022 – to stop over-consuming and buying the whole of Zara’s new-in section, to stop spending 20 hours on the PS5, to stop using Tesco Clubcard price as an excuse to buy cake. We become the admirable characters in our own stories as we create the perfect fictional tale for the new year. A year where we become the person everyone idealises – that person who wakes up before sunrise to mediate, prioritises healthy eating and never fails to miss an essay deadline.

Yet, as we all know, fiction never becomes a reality. Whilst the first week of January may be comprised of efforts to blur the boundaries between fiction and reality, trying to become the idealized version of yourself, the January blues soon roll around. You try and do that twenty-minute workout every day, resist the urge to eat the entire tube of Pringles and not grab your phone every ten seconds, but all these little resolutions slowly dissolve away. You begin to become your 2021 self – the ‘old you’ you tried to lock away in the past.

And this yearly cycle is inevitable. Making unrealistic resolutions that never make it past the second week of January, agreeing to improve yourself and remove past habits to only fall back headfirst into them. Being driven to become the perfect person only ends in disappointment when this goal is unattainable. It has become easier to break than create resolutions – no one is there to scold us for neglecting them, they are our own creations, so we are automatically granted the permission to let them slip away.

Self-improvement will always be fundamental in society. To ‘better ourselves’, to become the person everyone wants to be. We are programmed to think we are not enough, that there is always something to improve upon – to change. Whilst self-improvement is key to maturing, to realising your faults and becoming the best version of yourself, it gets dangerous when unrealistic ideals flood your mindset. To be more positive, active, and happier than last year – ideals that when temporarily broken, create inevitable feelings of failure and disappointment.

Yet, these feelings can be easily avoided by simply changing your mindset when sitting down to write your New Year’s resolutions. Do not enter 2022 with the intention of transforming into a whole new person – a new year does not equate to a new person, but an individual who is eager to learn and change for the better. An individual who perseveres and has willpower to reach their realistic personal goals.
With this mindset, New Year’s resolutions are not futile, but are an important opportunity to reflect on the past year’s faults and victories – to make use of the clean slate 2022 so generously provides.



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Social Media: A Friend or Foe in the Increasing Digitalisation of Politics?

Social Media: Friend or Foe in the Increasing Digitalisation of Politics?

Callum Loveless

 

The advent of social media has had a consequential effect upon our generation, essentially creating a subordinate world where you can communicate to multiple people, in multiple places. It loosens the restriction of one-to-one telephone calls and dialect, to allow communication to become plural, which people can then ‘comment’ on afterwards. In a way, it allows the individual to begin the narrative, or ‘hold the floor’, in light of the linguistic term, where they otherwise wouldn’t be able to due to social anxieties or structural oppressions. It equalises the playing field to distribute who has a ‘voice’ in society. Therefore, its role in forming or solidifying an identity, or more narrowly a political identity, is paramount in the age of the internet. However, whether this comes to benefit, or detriment society is a question laid bare to answer.

Social media and the transcendence of information and ideas it harbours, across populations in different geographical locations, is what largely accounted for the ‘Arab Spring’ or ‘Arab Uprisings’ of 2011. Social media allowed individuals, particularly the younger generation who made up the majority of the population at that time, to share their simmering discontent with the corruption and poorly managed governments in many Arab countries, who fostered neo-liberal economics only to keep the majority of capital at the top and create stark inequalities within society. This discontent turned to concrete actions of protest which, through social media, influenced others to follow suit and effectively had a ‘ripple-effect’ across the Arab world. A collective dismay among how many Arab states were oppressing their people was expressed and subsequently shaped the politics in these countries. Therefore, the collective ‘Pan-Islamic’ identity was formed through social media, which brought people together to achieve the similar mission to root out oppression.

On the other end of the spectrum, yet nonetheless significant in forming an identity, Twitter has seen the creation of a sub-culture of tweets which feature nonce formations to reflect the Scottish accent, known as ‘Scottish Twitter’. This type of ‘netspeak’ is humorous in its outset due to its non-standard and unusual formation – ‘Mad how yie get 6 points and a £200fine for being on yer phone yet there’s folk oot there way eyelashes on there motor n getting away wae it’ (@McneilAlexander, 3 March 2017), but nonetheless connect a set of people who commonly find that the written standard-English doesn’t reflect how they actually speak. Social media is thus a source of individualistic expression, which can form its own informal online idiolect, to cement an identity often forgotten in the standardisation of language.

This informality has allowed politicians to utilise social media to appear reasonable and approachable to their electorate, not least by President Trump in the 2016 election and during his presidency. President Trump used the platform of Twitter to conduct diplomacy and politics; he did this to appeal to grass-root voters, albeit strategically or unconsciously, which makes the political narrative more accessible and engages more people in politics. Therefore, the use of computer mediated language on social media platforms encourages the removal of social barriers and creates an equanimity of understanding across generations and social classes, rather than making something like politics exclusively understandable to the elite minority.

However, with the expanse of analytical tools, social media firms like Facebook and Twitter have been able to track what you engage with most, what you find most interesting and what you ‘like’ as opposed to skip pass. It then curates your feed, so that you’re only shown what you enjoy and find interesting. As social media is increasingly being used as a platform for politics, this mode of curation effectively extinguishes debate and polarises communities into distinctive political identities. The spread of ‘fake news’ amongst this, has led to many people believing falsehoods by people they tend to enjoy ‘following’ or ‘liking’, which has had a detrimental effect on democracy and the principle of objective facts. So, whilst social media has been beneficial by making politics more accessible to the wider electorate, it has equally polarised communities into opposing groups which is starting to deconstruct the basis for facts and debate.

Whether this is a wider, more pressing systematic issue that overrules the multitude of benefits that come with social media, including the fact that ideas can transcend hierarchies and social barriers, is arguable. However, what is certain is that social media firms are becoming more powerful and their presence more influential, so this debate won’t be dying down soon.

 

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Casual Instagram is an even greater performance

Casual Instagram is an Even Greater Performance

Elizabeth Nowak

 

A comment left underneath a video inspired TikTok user @cozyaliki to argue that those seemingly candid photos, posted on your favourite influencers’ pages, are an even better performance than the posed celebrity portrait. He explains the difference between a casual and a posed Instagram using the analogy of reality TV versus the typical television programme: both are staged, scripted programmes, yet reality TV aims to convince its viewers they are watching real life. Contrastingly, any other TV show is consumed by the viewer with a ‘suspension of disbelief’, a term coined by Samuel Coleridge that describes a transaction between audience and entertainer, where the audience chooses to believe an implausible story in return for being entertained. Like reality TV, a casual Instagram feed undergoes ‘scripting’ as its images are often strategically shot and are the perfect image selected from many. Intended to be consumed as a narrative of one’s life, these performances are often the very opposite of casual. The relevance in this topic is found in its participants – it is not only celebrity personalities and influencers who ask their viewers to believe in a scripted reality, the average Instagram student user does too.

The casual Instagram trend has undoubtedly taken off amongst the Durham student body, a trend that has seen a move away from solely sharing the highlights of their lives to a more casual approach, increasing exposure of their day-to-day life. A key component of the casual Instagram is the ‘photodump’, a utilisation of Instagram’s carousel post feature, posting up to 10 ‘candid’ photographs per post. The photodump can initially be seen as a means of liberation, an alleviation of posting pressure, affording the Instagram user freedom from the scrutiny and filtering of photographs to be selected for posting. Rather, the term ‘dump’ goes beyond this, with its connotations of a complete lack of thought in the pictures shared. This is not the case in practice. So very often the ‘dumps’ we see are slideshows of carefully curated images, selected for their aesthetic quality. Concern with the ordering of carousel posts can be seen in online tutorials providing instructions on how to adjust the order of images after posting. This demand for retroactive editing is evidence of the intentionality that goes into posts, intentionality that is passed off as effortlessness.

The average student is far more likely to use Instagram for personal sharing, that is if they choose to post anything. After all, Durham is better known for its other stereotypes than being the home of influencers. However, irrespective of one’s posting habits, every Instagram user consumes the content of other users and is thus susceptible to the old comparison game. Comparison to our peers is hardwired into us, a part of human nature. The late psychologist Louis Festinger, of the University of Iowa, developed the ‘Social Comparison Theory’, revealing that we compare ourselves to those around us to self-evaluate. In short, the impressions you take in of those around you are the basis of comparison which hold power to shape the way you think about yourself. And so, the casual Instagram trend not only leads us to believe in a false reality of our friends’ lives but also negatively affects the way we see ourselves.

A picture may say more than a thousand words, but it cannot tell them all. Photographs of aesthetic quality are not harmful but can become so when they are used to fuel comparison in the belief that they can accurately tell an account of any person’s life. Just as reality TV is scripted, so is the casual Instagram feed. Awareness of the even greater performance a casual Instagram post demands can help keep that habit of comparison in check. Enjoy it as entertainment rather than reality.

WAYZGOOSE (n.)

Pronunciation: ‘ˈweɪzɡuːs

An annual festivity held in summer by the members of a printing establishment.
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