We all bleed red

Anthropomorphism: the attribution of human characteristics or behaviour to a god, animal, or object.

I know very few people who don’t vouch for the well-being of animals and the way they should be treated when it comes to their aid in our daily routines.

But why are there so many boundaries that we can’t decipher when it comes to how we, as humans, treat them collectively.

For some, animals are simply a part of the chain of life. We need them to survive and they need us to survive, but because we are at the top of the food chain, the ultimate predator, we get to choose how we treat them. This comes under the theory of Speciesism’ which is the idea that being human is a good enough reason for human animals to have greater moral rights than non-human animals. …a prejudice or bias in favour of the interests of members of one’s own species and against those of members of other species.

Wrong.

This is where equality comes into play. There are still so many issues when it comes to equality between men and women, between straight people and the LGBQT society, between races and religions, between humans and animals.

We all bleed red.

I personally think the concept of equality is simple, however it is one of the worlds leading issues. But again, for those who don’t treat others with any sense of differentiation, why do animals get treated less than humanely?

The answer? People are afraid of beings that they don’t understand, displaying any form of characteristic that is the similar to us but no way to communicate through their actions.

Is it even an equality issue because they are a different species altogether? Or should our consideration of what makes a being a being, be justified by animals being treated with the same respect that we demand on a daily basis?

Animals, any and all kinds, experience the same emotions and have the same thoughts and lifestyle patterns as us. They feel happiness, sadness, fear, and excitement. They display many characteristics that we do as humans to sustain and maintain their lives, their breeding, interacting and the raising of their offspring. They understand when danger is present just as we do and they display the same fight or flight responses.

Human attributes found in animals maintain that we should be able to level out and take pride in the way we treat animals for our benefit. I understand that the world will never change and I‘m not preaching vegetarianism or veganism, I am preaching for their livelihood and wellbeing and that their injustices be respected as much as our injustices demand to be.

In the case of Tilikum, the Orca from Blackfish, the documentary created a portal to the way that any animal can be mistreated even in places where the animals are suppose to be idolised, not manufactured for meat or fur. It happens in different scenarios all over the world, main offenders being touring circuses.

There is a huge debate about, even if the animal is being treated right in captivity, is it humane to keep exotic animals if they are not free and in the wild the way they are suppose to be? A debate that has just any many pros as it does cons for both arguments.

In my gap year I travelled to Borneo, Malaysia and spent a few weeks volunteering at Matang Wildlife Sanctuary where I learnt a magnitude of issues surrounding the rescue and rehabilitation of Orangutans and Sun Bears. I found some of the enclosures small and quite like jail cells, which I felt defeated the purpose of what I was there for. But the animals kept in those over the night were the animals that could not be released back into the wild. Because they were taken as babies, they have not learnt the skills necessary to survive in the wild, and they have become so accustomed to human interaction that even if they could be taught, it would be redundant. The aim then is to make their life in captivity as comfortable and as natural as possible despite being locked away. For those that are not so far gone, they are released into semi-wild conditions to ensure they are capable and will be able to fend for themselves before they are released back into the wild.

As far as I can preach being a carnivore, I still desire a world where the conditions of animals are regulated far more often and catered for with more concern.

POVERTY PORN

Last night I set an alarm on my iphone 6s for 7:30am this morning. I snoozed it. I snoozed it until 8am, when I decided to get up, make a cup of tea, and start getting ready for the lecture for this subject. I looked at my hair and thought it needed a wash, but decided against it because I play waterpolo on Wednesday nights and it would make the whole process of showering that morning redundant. So I tied my hair back to hide how gross I thought it looked. That’s when I decided I would go for a grungy look for uni today, so it matched my grungy hair. I went through my wardrobe and couldn’t find a single thing that I thought was appropriate for today, or something that I hadn’t worn in the last 2 weeks.

I decided to do my makeup and thought maybe I would find inspiration in a different outfit if I was half ready. I then went to the kitchen again and made some porridge and then continued to look in my full wardrobe, seeing nothing to wear.

I eventually put on a blouse I had recently bought but already worn 10 times and a pair of white jeans and sneakers. My whole outfit would cost approximately $300 and I felt like trash.

A friend and I got to the lecture late because we couldn’t find a third person to carpool with us and we thought the buses would be too packed so we walked the 15 minutes from his house to uni. We had made the decision earlier to spend the day in the library after our lecture doing our blog posts, which is what has gotten me to this moment.

Poverty Porn.

I read the readings required of me to successfully complete these blogs and felt myself become increasingly insecure about my actions and thoughts of this morning. I am an incredibly privileged human being. I have a parent who supports me financially, I have Centrelink supporting me financially, I have 2 very regular jobs that support me financially, I am receiving a world class education, I have a house, a bed, internet, electricity, food and fresh water, I have a freshly renovated kitchen and bathroom in the house that I rent with two of my best friends, I have a car, I live in a very fortunate, beautiful city on the beach. I have nothing in the world to complain about and this morning I was looking into a full wardrobe of clothes and shoes, and I couldn’t find anything to wear and I felt hard done by. It’s easy to forget how fortunate you are, when you don’t regularly get reminded of how unfortunate others are.

I struggle with the concept of poverty porn as they advertise shows like “Struggle Street” to make us aware that those of us who are more privileged that we should be grateful, but is that what’s really happening?

Poverty Porn is defined as “any type of media, be it written, photographed or filmed, which exploits the poor’s condition in order to generate the necessary sympathy for selling newspapers or increasing charitable donations or support for a given cause”-Matt Collin (July 1, 2009).

Some would argue that journalists and charities abuse the people they use to get what they want, and maybe they do subject them to being filmed or photographed to get a certain thing, but if they are getting something that might improve the quality of their life, can it really be labelled as abuse or subjectivism? I certainly think it depends on the situation and who is involved. In the case of “Struggle Street” I believe that the portrayal of their life is not so much for a good cause as it is to educate. “Struggle Street focuses on some poor white Australians who have experienced, or are experiencing, alcohol and drug dependency and the social blight that is all but an inevitable result of dependency.” – (GERARD HENDERSON, The Weekend Australian). No one achieves anything except 20 minutes of fame by appearing in these documentaries if the facts aren’t right, and as education goes, what’s the point in knowing about their struggles if their struggles are actively utilised differently for perception. The ridicule should remain here on these shows rather than the ridicule of journalists who portray developing countries in their right state for charitable reasons.

 

Bibliography:

1. Matt Collin (July 1, 2009). “What is ‘poverty porn’ and why does it matter for development?”. Aid Thoughts. Retrieved 2014-01-19.
2. The Weekend Australian. 2015. SBS’s Struggle Street a condescending picture of poverty. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/gerard-henderson/sbss-struggle-street-a-condescending-picture-of-poverty/news-story/d71629c4eadb10acfe41a7d46e941722. [Accessed 26 March 2017].

Selfie – City

Hi. Hello. How ya goin’?? Yes, you. Let’s take a moment to chat about something that seems to constantly pop up in our newsfeeds on Facebook, Instagram, or even directly to us via snap chat on our phones?

It’s now even a topic in the more global media aspects of the world; certain aspects of this matter have become the most viral of sorts. Know what I’m talking about yet?

Sure you do. You’ve probably done it. I’ve certainly done it.

It’s the selfie.

I am an on and off offender of uploading selfies to Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. But why is that something I should be ashamed of?

The answer is, it isn’t.

There is a pattern of negative stigma that is given off by people who don’t understand or choose to ignore the positive aspects of why people do things they don’t understand. I may not be a selfie-a-day kinda gal, but I sure do appreciate when someone uploads a selfie of themselves to social media. It illustrates their confidence, their beauty and their self-love and appreciation. These are all characteristics that the world is definitely lacking in at the moment and we should be encouraging younger people to show off their assets (g-rated of course) on their media platforms if it means they are a happier version of themselves.

Of course I understand the concerns surrounding bullying on social media sites, and uploading things that aren’t necessarily appropriate for certain age groups on certain sites, but we all learn some how and awareness and education on social media sites should be something that is done in the early stages of high school to eradicate these negative stigmas.

Selfies have become a worldwide frenzy and have empowered hundreds of people to spread self-awareness on many different matters from all around the world. I have personally shared selfies to promote the awareness of mental health issues and have only received incredible amounts of encouragement and support for doing so which has really empowered me and the issue I was hoping to raise awareness for.

Selfies have been used to compare the issues we experience being in a first world country compared to those who live in third world countries by making emphasis on the way of life and the things we have in life that we think are necessities compared to the bare minimum that third world countries live with to get them by.

I personally think that the ridicule we receive as being a part of our highly technological and social media based generation is degrading to our sense of being. We get told that we are missing out on the best things in life because we spend too much time on our phones, that we are lacking in communication skills because we text instead of call. Maybe we are simply learning the skills necessary for our futures, the futures that we are going to run.The futures that are going to be sold by self-portraits, and the way we promote ourselves on our social media sites.

The judgement of selfies does not come from our generation, our judgement has been taught and encouraged upon us by our parental generation because they fail to understand that our childhoods were obviously different to theirs, simply because we were fortunate enough to be at the hands of the most current technologies.

It’s being told these things that causes the strain and pressure of our already messed up attempt at juggling our studies, our career/job, exercise and health and our social life. Our generation is just that. OUR GENERATION.

We have been raised in the most influential time ever and we are embracing it, whether our parents and grandparents see it that way or not.

I shouldn’t be made to feel guilty for spending an hour or two a day scrolling through social media when it was made to be enjoyed and embraced by our generation and nor should you. It’s the way of our future, and I think that selfies should be encouraged if it means we are building a more sound, confident, beautiful and emboldening generation of young men and young ladies.

Embrace, and be bold.