PCOS Awareness Month 2017 – The positive side

I always moan about the dark side of having an illness that makes you have the hormones of a pubescent, teenage boy and the food cravings and mood swings of a hormonal pregnant woman, all while you’re struggling to have a baby. The thing is some days I realize that there is a silver lining to everything.

Children are in crisis. I may never have my own children but there are thousands of children on this earth in need of a loving and stable home, something which I could provide a child, the child I desperately want. A lot of children are waiting for homes because their parents didn’t want them but at least with you, they’ll always be wanted. 

No periods.  PCOS can lead to heavy periods and painful ones but sometimes you miss periods completely. I usually only have one every three months. I get that missed periods can cause problems but you have to admit there’s something that makes you feel smug when someone is complaining about their period pains and you aren’t having that issue.

Some kids make you thank god your ovaries don’t work. You can’t lie, you’ve all met that one child who is so troublesome and aggravating to their parents that you sit there and think “thank god no eggs are coming out of my ovaries any time soon.” 

The other ‘cysters’.  The ‘cysters’ is the name used to refer to other women suffering from the illness. The ‘cysterhood’ is used to refer to the unified, support network that you can meet online or have through your family since the illness is hereditary. These women will be some of the best friends you’ll ever have, they’re all going through what you are and show an understanding to your struggle that even the doctors don’t get.

PRESS RELEASE: Disney Magic coming to Brum

A Disney themed event, Bippity Boppity Boop is set to take place Birmingham on the 2nd December 2017.

The event will be a fun day out for the whole family as children will get to meet their favourite Disney characters, take part in arts and crafts, win some prizes in a raffle and get their faces painted. There will also be live music and food inside.

Bippity Boppity Boop will be held at The Archers Project in Birmingham from 10 am – 4 pm. Entry is only £1 – great for those sticking to a budget in the run up to Christmas.

Local Disney cosplayers and musical talent are still being scouted for the event. If interested please contact Paige Bowater via email: paigebowater1@outlook.com

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For more information about the event contact the organisers via 07918842542 or 01217720852 or join the facebook event page to stay updated.

Children who have touched the hearts of millions

It seems like the in the world today more and more children are getting ill… illnesses that you wouldn’t usually expect children to have but these are the children that are changing the way we all see the world. They are making us see the truth, that illness and even death isn’t always fair. So here are a few of the children that have touched the hearts of millions…

Bradley Lowery (17th May 2011 – 7th July 2017)

Everyone has heard the story of brave Bradley’s battle against neuro blastoma from his diagnosis when he was just 18 months old. He fought for a long time and at one point it was thought that the little one had won his fight but he relapsed and lost his battle in early July.  The youngsters friendship with former Sunderland player, Jermain Defoe tugged at the heart strings of many as the whole world seemed to watch them grow a bond that seemed unbreakable.

Charlie Gard (Born: 4th August 2016)

Charlie Gard was born in August 2016 and seemed perfectly healthy but soon after his health began to deteriorate and it was found that the tot has a disease called mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, as both of his parents Connie and Chris were unknowingly carrying the faulty gene. The parents were told by the staff of Great Olmond Street hospital that their child would not be well enough to travel to the US for treatment. The parents took court action and the legal battle has been publicised for months but this week they called off the court case because of their child’s health. The family now want Charlie to die peacfully at home but the doctors are refusing that too.

The court cases has resulted in the doctors at the hospital recieving death threats.

Eileidh Rose Paterson (14th March 2017 – 1st July 2017)

Eileidh Rose Paterson was born on 14 March 2012, weighing 6lb 1oz. Her life changed in May 2014 when she was just 2 years old as she started to experience difficulty breathing. Her mother, Gail, also noticed that Eileidh’s tummy was bloated. Their GP prescribed medication for trapped wind and told them to return the next day if Eileidh was no better.  The family GP immediately arranged for Eileidh to be seen at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital. After many tests throughout the night, Gail was taken into a small room and told the devastating news that a tumour had been found in Eileidh’s abdomen and that an MRI scan was needed. Unfortunately the scan results showed that she had Stage 4 High Risk neuroblastoma. In her final days the family arranged for Eileidh to have her dream wedding with her best friend.

Albie Joe Ramshaw (Born: November 2015)

Albie-Joe Ramshaw was diagnosed with leukaemia aged just six-weeks-old in December 2015.  He was taken to a walk-in centre by loving mum India for problems with his chest when the problem was first uncovered. The plucky youngster was given steroids and feeding tubes during the course of his chemotherapy. In September last year, Albie’s blood tests showed that he was winning his battle as his blood count tests were rising but over the in the last few months the he has become ill again after relapsing. By the start of this year, his hair was growing back after undergoing chemotherapy treatment but recently Albie, of Houghton, has taken a turn for the worse which has left him in need of a bone marrow transplant. Now fundraisers are being held for the youngster in an attempt to raise £5000 to cover hospital costs for the family.

 

University workplacement: My first front page story

My article on Albie-Joe Ramshaw is featured on the front page of today’s Echo! 💙
Check it online here: 
http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/health/how-you-can-help-albie-s-fight-with-just-one-donation-1-8658910

It’s #NotACompliment to Birmingham Students

Jennens Court residence have been made uncomfortable by men lingering outside the halls to ‘catcall’ young women.

Charis Pardoe said that there is often a black car spotted need the Jennens Court Halls of Residence for Birmingham City University in which a group of men will sit and “shout at girls all the time.”

Catcalling has been an issue that’s spread UK wide through the #NotACompliment campaign that has aimed to get misogynistic acts such as street harassment to be taken more seriously under the category ‘hate crime.’

It has gained success in areas several areas nationwide but is still being dismissed by West Midlands Police.

West Midlands Police stated that ‘catcalling’ among other forms of street harassment ‘is not a crime as it isn’t aggressive. Being attacked because of your race, religion, because you’re gay or have an alternative gender identity is a hate crime.’

Despite it’s apparent “non-aggressive” nature, Birmingham Students have said that it makes them feel unsafe.

“I believe that street harassment should be considered a hate crime because of how offended it makes me feel,” says Vicky Bentley (18), Birmingham City University Student, “Harassment like this could lead to sexual assault.”

. A recent poll done by End Violence Against Women states that 85% of women in the UK have faced unwanted sexual attention between the ages of 18 to 24, 45% of these cases also experienced unwanted sexual contact and the majority of these women had their first ‘catcalling’ experience between the ages of 11 and 17.

As the evidence suggests street harassment has fast become a common problem but the #NotACompliment campaign is still aiming to get the issue taken seriously so that young women are able to walk the streets and feel safe.

 

Top 3 Short Films That Will Hit You Hard!

These short films have gone viral over the past few years and have captured the attention of many people around the world. One of the main reasons that  they have had such a hype surrounding them is because they tackle issues that are hard hitting to the public.

3 – Break Free (Ruby Rose, 2014)

Break Free went viral across social media in 2015 due to the heavy publicity that Ruby Rose received from entering the cast of  Orange Is The New Black. The film was directed by Ruby Rose herself and uploaded to YouTube on 14th July 2014. The short film focuses primarily on gender roles and the idea of gender fluidity. The film raises awareness of what life can be like when you are different than social norms (e.g. bigender and transgender). In the film we see Ruby Rose transform herself from a woman into a man through clothing and behavioral stereotypes. No wonder people claimed that she made the question their sexuality. – The film has now reached over 15 million views on YouTube.

2 – ReMoved (Nathanial Matanick, 2014)

ReMoved was released on YouTube on the 11th March 2014 and although it only has just over 4 million views the issues expressed in the narrative are certainly hard hitting and tear inducing. ReMoved follows the life of a young girl and her brother as they are taken from a violent and unstable home to live life between foster homes until they find a foster parent who won’t give up on them or abuse them. The narrative follows on in part 2 where we see that the young girl as a grown woman who has broken the cycle of abuse to become a child care practitioner. The second part has just under 900,000 views which is a shame as it tackles the stories of victims of child abuse and expresses true to life thoughts and feelings of a victim of this kind of abuse.

“Sometimes someone hurts you so bad; it stops hurting at all. Until something makes you feel again. Then it all comes back. Every word. Every hurt. Every moment.” – Zoe

1 – Love Is All You Need (Kim Rocco Shields, 2012)

Love Is All You Need went viral because it exposed hard-hitting experiences of homophobic abuse only reversed to show what it would be like if heterophobia was in place of it. It effectively changes the ideologies of people who have homophobic values as they get to see that the bullying they inflict can cause suicide. The film was uploaded to YouTube on 16th August 2012 and has just over 3.5 million views. Controversy was brought around this film in 2015 as a teacher in the US reportedly lost her job for showing this film to her students as a method of tackling homophobia.

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Short films conventionally tackle issues (e.g. abuse etc.) that larger, Hollywood films would usually avoid for purposes of attracting a universal audience. These short films have certainly used this convention to impact the audience emotionally and are effective in raising awareness of the social taboos their stories cover.

5 Reasons Why I Don’t Understand People

1. So many people complain about people acting all big and tough on social media rather than expressing their opinions to someone’s face… Yet we live in a generation who idolises celebrities that have Twitter beef here there and everywhere.

2. You’ve seriously failed as a parent if you put makeup on your little girl before you take her places, why would you want to make your daughter think she’s not pretty the way she is? 

3. I don’t understand people who think breastfeeding is disgusting. It’s a natural thing. I didn’t spend years developing breasts to please men. Nature helped me develop them to allow me to bring health to my future children. I didn’t go through the back and chest pains to be diminished as disgusting when I have children. It’s not right that people who breast feed have to be made to feel humiliated by a misogynistic society who see breasts as a sexualised feature. When I have children I won’t care about society I will breast feed to bring health to my babies and if society doesn’t like it society shouldn’t look.

4. The things shop keepers ask. They ask me if I’m “alright there” rather than asking for the next customer and it’s polite but you know that if you actually told them about how you were they’d think you were crazy for giving them your life story and we’ve all seen Kieran Luckman’s video about them haven’t we? “Do I want a bag?!”

5.So you’re in a relationship and your partner likes another persons photo (more often than not its girls posting about their boyfriends doing this but it can work for any couple) and you choose to write some status ranting on about how it’s “not right” to like someone else’s photo when in a relationship, I see this as a bit controlling. Most people’s self esteem comes from likes of photos these days and if they like their friends photo it doesn’t mean there’s something going on it just means they want to make a friend feel good about themselves. Can we just have less of this controlling attitude because I can’t understand why it’s even an issue?

Media Regulation

The values that are deemed acceptable by society are constantly changing.  IPSO (press regulation) and the BBFC (film/video game regulator) have been shown to change to accommodate this as IPSO was formerly the PCC and the ‘C’ in BBFC now stands for classification rather than censorship. Although, regulatory bodies such as these are in charge of keeping the public in place by placing guidelines but some areas of media are more heavily regulated than others.

The BBFC was originally in charge of allowing films to be released in cinema but the release of video tapes caused outrage over ‘video nasties’ which is a list of films that were controversial at the time. The Video Recordings Act 1984 was brought in to protect children and allow parents to make well informed decisions when they need to self regulate. The controversial film, Reservoir Dogs was submitted to the BBFC for classification in 1992 but was delayed for VHS release until 1994.

BBFC also regulates video games and the effectiveness of the regulation of this media platform is largely debatable. This is mainly down to parents who don’t self regulate and buy young children games such as Saints Row and Grand Theft Auto. Although, there is no solid evidence that violent imagery has an effect on the behaviour of children (despite the Bobo Doll experiment which is debated to be unreliable due to the initial purpose of the doll) The Byron Review hasn’t ruled them out as a factor. The review launched the Child Internet Safety Strategy which is enforced by the UK Council for Child Internet Safety as their research found that 99% of 8-17 year olds are online. They made decision to increase public awareness and simplify classifications. Although there is a lack of evidence to support that children are passive to the effects of video games McDougall and O’Brien published a study of video games in 2008 where they used Second Life and Grand Theft Auto to discuss the social and psychological effects of gaming. The media plays a large part in labelling video games as the blame though, a primary example could be The Columbine Massacre as Marilyn Manson was blamed alongside video games do the events. This implies that the boys were desensitised to violence and that they chose to use the game’s messages of glorified violence to kill (Uses and Gratifications theory). It was only upon research into the boys that it was discovered that there was underlying psychological factors.

There has been a lot of scandals recently as the Press have been breaking laws of privacy. IPSO which was formerly known as the PCC can only give guidelines rather than enforce any laws, the press industry self regulate to coordinate with the guidelines but sometimes journalist across boundaries by door stepping or through cheque book journalism. The phone hacking scandal has been the most recent scandal based on privacy but representations are a more common issue. Apologies had been issued by the national newspapers after tabloid representations of the McCann case received 4340 complaints to the PCC in 2007 and 458 of those complaints were based on an article printed in the Mirror about the investigation. Les Hinton (former chair of the PCC) described the industry by saying, “At their lowest British newspapers can be brutally unfair, inexcusably intrusive and make terrible mistakes. At their best they are incomparable. No form of regulation will make them perfect.”

In comparison to the film industry regulation by the BBFC, IPSO’s regulation is weak as there are no age restrictions on newspapers with inappropriate content. The Leveson Inquiry not only dealt with the phone hacking scandal. They also worked on the issue about children being able to buy newspaper containing a Page 3 girl when nudity is banned on TV before the watershed. It is argued that newspapers should abide by TV watershed standards but it would require rock solid legislation to do so.

The power of companies in the press and film industries can have an impact on the strength of regulation. Rupee Murdoch owns 20th Century Fox which means that similar powers can’t have a chance to get their point across as they simply don’t have the money to take on a large conglomerate without risk.

Overall, films, video games and press regulation has been weakened over the years. Film and video games are more heavily regulated as they have law enforcement to back them in comparison to the weak PCC as they are only able to give guidelines rather than endorse any laws.