Search

Attitudes to gossip and celebrity marriages are examined in detail, with the argument that the public does not like celebrities to be rich and successful in their marriages as well as their careers.

Journalist Julie Burchill explains why she is so proud to be working class in the light of UK Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's desperate desire to be seen as middle class. The attitudes of the working class are contrasted with those of the middle class.

Radio presenter Kara Noble's decision to sell topless photographs of Prince Edward's fiancee Sophie Rhys-Jones to the Sun newspaper was a betrayal of friendship. Noble's betrayal was made all the more treacherous by reports that she had promised Rhys-Jones just two months ago never to make the pictures public. There was speculation on May 26, 1999, that Noble's troubled relationship with her former Capital Radio colleague Chris Tarrant was behind her decision to sell the photographs, taken 10 years ago when she and Rhys-Jones were working for Capital Radio in Spain.

The National Childbirth Trust is promoting National Breast-feeding Week, which begins on May 16, 1999, by encouraging women to follow the example of Spice Girls Victoria Adams and Mel B and breast-feed their babies. However it is likely to be easier for pop-star millionaires to schedule their lives around breast-feeding than it is for normal young mothers, particularly since the Government is so eager to get them back to work as soon as possible. Women should not be made to feel guilty if they do not breast-feed their babies since breast-feeding does not suit all women.

Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones, whose engagement was announced on Jan. 6, 1999, are the perfect couple for the Britain of the 1990s. They represent a power-pairing, a suburban showbusiness couple of the type likely to feature in Hello! magazine. Rhys-Jones is homely rather than sexy and has neither the chic of the late Princess Diana nor the cheek of Sarah Ferguson. However, she may find it easier to fit into the royal family than either of them.

The inability of large proportion of men to grow up is discussed. Young men no longer have any incentive to grow up, unlike the days when boys were sent to work in factories at 14 and were deprived of sex before marriage. By the time they reach their twenties, modern men have become so used to hearing that girls mature more quickly than boys that they see no reason why they should not behave with their girlfriends as they did with their mothers.

The British media's obsession with the weight of women in the public eye reflects the fear that women are becoming 'out of control.' The more space women take up in public life, the thinner the female public figure is expected to be. However a famous woman who becomes too thin makes the media feel very uncomfortable, as evidenced by the Daily Mail's agonised concern that actress Calista Flockhart may be suffering from an eating disorder. The popularity with men of big women such as Kate Winslet is a reminder that neediness has never been, and never will be, sexy.

Depictions of children as objects of sexual pleasure should not be tolerated since they make society less sensitive to the atrocity of child sexual abuse. More than 300 adult survivors of alleged child sexual abuse have given evidence against 148 people at a tribunal of inquiry yet neither the media nor the public has been listening. Meanwhile the public has been attending exhibitions by such artists as American photographer Sally Mann who takes photographs of her naked prepubescent daughters, or Marcus Harvey, whose portrait of Myra Hindley is made up of children's handprints.

Young women may find older men attractive because the women may be not especially interested in sex.

Diana, Princess of Wales was a major force for republicanism in that she showed up the British royal family as a numb, dumb dinosaur. Diana's republicanism was based on emotion, her rapport and affection for people highlighting the difficulty that Prince Charles has in loving his people. Diana had no formal educational qualifications yet her inquisitiveness, enthusiasm and sense of duty showed up Charles as someone with a third-rate mind and an inability to concentrate on any cause for any length of time. Diana died with more people opposing the royal family than supporting it.

The Worldwatch Bureau recently concluded that the group of people most sinned against throughout the world are women, yet men tend to make excuses for physical violence against women. Paul Gascoigne would undoubtedly be prevented from playing professional football ever again if he so much as suggested that he wanted to attack a black man. However Gascoigne's drunken attack on his wife, which left her with severe bruising and three dislocated fingers, is considered by his club vice chairman to be an entirely private matter in which he has no intention of interfering.

The book world is changing. Publishing used to be an affair of long lunches. Now publishers sit at their desks and writers have to work. Books have to be written and then publicised. Reviewers are critical of popular literature, accusing it of being hyped. Literary works can be advertised without such complaints.