My Love for Stacey Dooley and Feminism

Stacey Dooley has always been my favourite presenter, she is down to earth and always gets completely involved in the topics that she investigates. Alongside fashion, I am also very passionate about feminism and the way that women can be portrayed and objectified. Recently Stacey Dooley has been documenting issues around the world that put women and young girls at risk, purely down to their gender. The second documentary ‘Stacey Dooley investigates - The World’s Worst Place to Be a Woman’ made me think just how lucky  women of Britain are and how our basic rights can be taken for granted. Within the episode, Stacey visits the country of Honduras and some of the despicable acts that happen there are completely unbelievable. This documentary reveals the utter disrespect that the men have for women, they feel no remorse or guilt in abusing and even murdering their wives; many men's response being soley 'They deserved it.' Honduras has the worlds highest murder rate for women, and statistics prove that the numbers are increasing. There has even been a word created for the murder of a woman – femicide, and in the last year alone '1100 women were either murdered or kidnapped'.

A common reason for the murder of a women in Honduras is their beauty. Santa Barbara is known globally for its very beautiful women and the most publicised case of femicide was the death of the ‘countries sweetheart’ Miss Honduras and her sister. Miss Honduras was shot 12 times by the host of the party (her boyfriend). He then went on to shoot her sister who tried to intervene. The brutality of their murders was one of the worst Honduras has ever seen, and the reason for her murder? She was dancing with another man when her boyfriend saw, he used this as his opportunity to kill. Some of the men at the party even helped bury the bodies, when I heard this I felt so angry and disgusted, not one person reported the crime to the police and the other witnesses watched as he shot them both. Watching the interview with the girls' mother made me feel outraged, I wish that her questions could be answered, this is the least he could do after killing both of her daughters for what seems to be no reason at all.

Other cases that were discussed in the documentary were the murder and/or kidnapping of models in general. Models in Honduras are huge targets, this type of job is one of the few ways to escape poverty in this country and some men do not like women having this independence and freedom. They use this as an excuse to take control away from them in an extreme way. Throughout the programme I kept thinking that in our country, women are so lucky as we have a voice and aren’t treated differently just because of our gender. However, then I went on to think about how various brands use women and their beauty to sexualise their campaigns. 

 For example, the Tom Ford campaigns use women as an accessory in order to show the male domination in the shoot. Personally, I think using naked women is demoralising and a disrespectful way to promote clothing and fragrances, it does not increase sales so why do brands do it? The huge clothing chain, American Apparel is best known for its sexualisation of women within its campaigns, customers are always intrigued as to what their new advertisements will be because they always push the boundaries. However, I don't think that showing women's beauty should be displayed to this extent - it is degrading. Unsurprisingly American Apparel recently hit the headlines with their provocative advertisements leading them to bankruptcy, this highlights how women of today's society are no longer standing for this demoralisation.

Quotations referenced from documentary: BBC - The World's Worst Place to Be a Woman

Photo Credit - Pinterest

Burberry - Brand Heroes

Last night was the premier of Burberrys 2015 Christmas Advert, held in the Regent Street flagship store. Yet again, Burberrys christmas ad gained lots of coverage in the press, many famous faces appeared at the event and excited customers that were waiting for the video to launch online. The idea behind the advert was to celebrate 15 years of Billy Elliot, the iconic British film that everyone adores. After the preview of the ad, the actual cast of Billy Elliot performed for the people attending the evening. From a promotional view, Burberry has created a very successful ad and they have managed to keep true to their brand. As you can see from the website, Burberry continuously aim to represent and show off British talent and promote upcoming British singers/bands/models, allowing them to be featured on the website and perform in catwalk shows. 

 In 2014, I was lucky enough to have an internship at Burberrys Head Office. Whilst working on a photoshoot for the website, Christopher Bailey came to the studio for a catch up with the stylists to see how the shoot was going. It was very clear to see that Bailey was very approachable and wanted to interact with all the employees and get their opinions on the company and the ideas that he had. The "British" theme is apparent throughout the departments and all employees want perfection and continue to enforce this idea to correspond with the brand message. From a inside and outside perspective, I would class Burberry as a Brand Hero, every brand should have the same work ethic and enthusiasm to allow the company to grow.

The ad mirrors the opening scene from Billy Elliot with a British cast including faces such as Romeo Beckham, Naomi Campbell, James Corden, James Bay, Julie Walters, Rosie Huntington – Whiteley and Sir Elton John. I love the age range in the ad, it means that Burberry have reached all ages for their target audience and everyone can relate, from Romeo Beckham to Julie Walters. Photographer Mario Testino was also on set shooting the still images for the campaign. Although this advert isn’t as emotional or festive as others may be, the famous names involved will create lots of attention. I found the ad cute, funny and eye catching, this is down to the varied choice of celebrities that are featured.  

From the collections to the art direction and the advertisement, Burberry have got it spot on!

Photo Credit - Google Images