Race Relations: Why all the fuss? I'm only Irish!

Most of our lives are centred on finding that one other person – our significant other – to share our experiences with. John Safran, ABC television and radio presenter, in all his awkward wonderment, has decided to explore the topic of relationships in depth. His series, Race Relations, which has been airing on the ABC for the past six weeks, is regarded as one of the biggest social experiments of our time. This article was originally going to be a discussion on Safran and his methods of investigation on the small screen. After a short period of writers’ block, and a lengthy cognitive process on the issue, it occurred to me that each time, I was thinking about the same things: Are we really predisposed to be attracted to a certain ‘type’ of person, and when confronted by someone of a different culture, do we treat them differently to other people? It was then, that I decided to do a small social experiment of my own.

My home town is quite a small place. It is, however, big enough for you to go out to the local bar and still not know a lot of the people. Last night, it was a spur of the moment decision for me to go and have some drinks with friends. Whilst having a few pre-town drinks at my best friend’s place, we got discussing her travels in the UK. Her travelling buddy was there, and they proceeded to tell me several entertaining stories, about their drunken rampages. I am not quite sure how we arrived at the subject, but very soon we were talking about people’s accents in Europe, and which ones we prefer. It seems that all three of us have a soft spot for a European accent. Not such a surprise to me, but I wanted to test my theory out a little more.

After much practicing on my friend’s family, I decided that an Irish accent would suffice for the evening. I also stipulated to my friend, that if I sounded like a dick, under no circumstances was she allowed to let me continue. We developed an elaborate story to support my ‘accent’, and proceeded to our local, where my Irish self was met with much hype and enthusiasm. I have been going to this same bar, in this same town, for over three years. Never, and I really mean never before, have I received as much attention from the people in that place as I did last night – both men and women. It was absolutely phenomenal. My girls were circling the room introducing me as ‘Emily O’Heara, our Irish friend’. The people we saw, who I did know, were quickly filled in on what was going on, and played along nicely with our little game. It was quite intriguing to note the ample attention gained from the fellows, when suddenly mentioned I was Irish. Being realistic, I am not really the most attractive girl, and being bigger seems to be less of a draw card for men, but having an Irish accent seemed to make them flock to me. They simply did not care what I looked like. It was the single most absurd experience of my life. I must have been somewhat convincing, as I literally had people following me around! At the end of the night, even though some people asked me if I was Scottish, or if I was from Cardiff (WTF?), it was easily safe for me to conclude that a different accent most certainly draws attention from people. I am still not sure whether this draw card of having an accent is just a natural curiosity of different cultures, or if it is because it is a novelty. One thing I did get a lot of was people telling me how sexy my accent was. Once again, this is not so much a surprise for me. My response to them was that it was not such a special thing where I came from, as everyone had one. I suppose, looking at it from an Irish perspective, this is quite true.

After the paramount success of my little experiment, I began to wonder if an Aussie accent would have the same drawcard overseas. To test this theory, I enlisted the help of a great friend, who is currently in France teaching. This friend was born in England and raised in Australia. Although she loves her Australian culture, she has remained true to her English heritage, and has always wanted to return. Having such experience and knowledge in several different ethnicity bases, she is able to offer an interesting insight into the world of cross cultures. I did not only want to find out if she was a novelty, but also her reasons for going overseas, and if the prospect of a potential relationship with a foreign man was on her mind when she made her decision to go. Her reaction to being a ‘foreign novelty’ was not as I predicted. “No, but my Irish friend is! To be fair, I was extremely naive thinking that everyone would see I was Australian and fall at my feet to be my friend, and all the boys would love me because of my accent...French people don’t really know anything about Australia/Australians, and that doesn’t make me a novelty, that makes me strange. On the other hand, French people LOVE Ireland. I think on a whole I am a novelty in Europe, just not so much in France!”

I got thinking, what was her main motivation for leaving Australia? Was it just for the experience, or was it something else? “Honestly my main reason was to get out of Tasmania...I’ve always been attracted to France – I don’t know why. I guess also because I’ve always wanted to go back to England, and France is certainly closer than Australia to England”. Does this, then, mean that my friend has a certain disposition to Europe due to her upbringing? Or does her love for France and England stem from something else? For example: I have a deep fascination with Ireland – I always have. I do not really know why. I am not descended from the Irish, nor do I know anyone who is Irish. I just know that somewhere along the line I have developed a love for the place – a love I one day intend to explore. Whenever I think of venturing overseas, the prospect of potential relationships often come to mind. I asked my friend if, when leaving for France, relationships were at the top of her agenda. “I wouldn’t say [relationships were at the] forefront, but of course, I had definitely thought about it. I guess when leaving Australia I was certainly thinking about it, but I would have to say I think about it even more now because, as a country, France is huge on relationships.” This statement made me think of how Australians viewed relationships. It seems we no longer place the same value on relationships as we used to. Even girls go out on the town to get a ‘quickie’. Taking into consideration my friend’s previous answers, I wanted to know, when it comes time for her to settle down, if she would prefer to be with an Aussie, a Frog, or a Pom. “In my mind, I think I have always known I want to live and start a family in England, and although that may not necessarily be with an Englishman, I think we can both safely assume that it will be. To be fair, European men in general do things to me, but at the end of the day I think I would pick an Englishman over any of them. Certainly I can say that I have never thought of myself settling down with an Aussie man.”

What then, is this absurd attraction to European men? Do they differ from Australian men in the way they perceive relationships? This was all starting to become rather intriguing for me. “On a whole I MUCH prefer Frenchmen. Not even because they are new and exciting; but because they are so God damn polite! And well dressed. And well spoken. I think there is a completely different mindset between Australia and France. For example: In Australia – and this is just going by my experience – guys aren’t open with their feelings and it’s all just casual and ‘go with the flow’. In France, the guys are always dressed like models, and I’m not even exaggerating. When they like you, you’ll know about it. Ok, this is just so you can understand: I had a one night stand with a pretty French boy, and it was quite obvious that’s all it was. Regardless, a week later I got a message from him saying he hoped I was having a good day and enjoying my time in France. Maybe it’s just me, but I can never see that happening in Aus.”

So is our attraction to European men in the way they wear their heart on their sleeves, the way they are not afraid to show us how they feel, or the way they dress like supermodels? Or maybe it is just because they offer us what the majority of Australian men do not? It will remain a mystery as to the origins of our fascination with European men (and Europeans in general), but it would appear that we are just as alluring to them if the situation were to be reversed. Who knows? I will tell you now, though; as soon as I am able, I am booking myself a one way ticket to Ireland. I may not stay there, but my heart tells me I must go and at least give it a chance. Will a relationship be at the forefront of my mind? Well, that would all just depend, wouldn’t it?
E.

Next blog: Stay tuned - It's a surprise!

New Blog

Howdy!
I have been struggling to write the John Safran article for the past month, but it is now underway thanks to the help of an overseas friend ;-)! I also have a few other stories in the works, so I think I make the next article a surprise for you!

Article should be up in the next day or so.
Cheers,
E.

Asylum Seekers: Dying to be Australian

At this current moment, I am sitting in my two roomed unit at the back of my mother’s house, consuming a glass of wine, surfing the net, and writing. It is safe to say that I have it pretty easy. Never have I had to worry about the constant threat of war. Never have I had to think about the impact of terror on my home. I just go about my daily business, knowing of these things going on in the world around me, but not really giving them a second thought. They have never affected me directly, so why should I?

Everyday, thousands of people world wide, are faced with these threats right on their doorstep. So desperate are they to leave their home countries, they will sell their homes, cars, and all their belongings to board a ship with several hundred other people, bound for a country they know very little about. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the subject of this article is the topic that has had the nation’s chins’ wagging for the past fortnight: asylum seekers. In the past few weeks, you have no doubt heard and seen the on going debates regarding the boat load of people which were intercepted just off the Indonesian coast. It has become one of the most disputed and discussed news stories in current affairs.

The controversy is centred on one question: Should we allow the asylum seekers entry into Australia, or not? Most people debate that we have let many other refugees into the country before, why not this time? What most people fail to realise, is that there is a fundamental difference between refugees and asylum seekers. Refugees have permission to seek protection in developed western countries, such as Australia. They have been approved by the UN to enter such countries and live there until either granted permanent residency, or sent home. Asylum seekers have not been granted with the same privileges as refugees. This means they are arriving illegally into western countries to escape the peril of their homelands. The Sri Lankan peoples anchored off the Indonesian coast are illegal immigrants. They do not have permission from either Australia, or the UN, to enter the country.

Although, undoubtedly, I can sympathise that these people are desperate to flee their war-torn country, I shall play devil’s advocate. The question here, is not about whether or not these people should be allowed the enter Australia, the question is; where do we draw the line? Theoretically: We let them in. Then what? What happens when the next boat load of internally displaced people land on our shores, seeking sanctuary? We will have to let them in. We can not let one boat load in, and keep five other boat loads out. But we already let in an unusually high number of immigrants, with statistics showing that almost one in four of Australia’s 21 million people, were born overseas. Even from last year, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of asylum seekers pleading the Australian government for protection. According to the ABC show Hungary Beast, there have been 1767 asylum seekers intercepted in our waters, this year alone. This figure is an increase of 1606 from the same time last year. Members of the government are all pointing fingers, but our fearless leader, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, is said to be the cause of the dramatic rise. Apparently, Mr. Rudd has reformed many of Australia's laws regarding boarder protection.

Boarder protection is not the matter of importance when discussing asylum seekers: we need to look at the bigger picture here. If the Australian government wants to decrease the number of refugees and asylum seekers flocking to Australia, then they need to consider the reasons these people are leaving their home lands in the first place. Currently in the world, there are an estimated 11.8 million refugees. This number does not include the asylum seekers, or, internally displaced people. The total figure as calculated by the UNCHR (United Nations Commission on Human Rights), is said to be more than 31.7 million people globally. This amount of people is staggering. These people are so desperate to leave their war-torn countries; they will risk the lives of themselves and their families, to do so.

Personally, I’m on the fence here. On the one hand, I want to let these poor, defenceless people in. If they go back to Sri Lanka, they will surely be killed. But they are also dying off our coast – staging a hunger strike in hopes that the government will allow them to enter Australian waters. On the other hand, we can not send the wrong message to other asylum seekers. Australian refugee camps are already back-logged to the extent that internally displaced people have to wait up to 17 years to become an assimilated member of Australian society. Palming these people off to Indonesia is also wrong. Australia needs to deal with this, but how, I do not know. In the end, it is a no win situation. All I can say is that Australia has both the resources, and the space to accommodate these people. Although, some members of the public would argue that rather than boosting the population by accommodating asylum seekers, Prime Minister Rudd should use government funding to decrease the instance of poverty and homelessness amongst those who are already Australian citizens. I feel a little sorry for K. Rudd – no matter his decision, it is likely to backfire on him. It is certainly a difficult decision to make.

Regardless of his decision, we need to be aware of the reasons these people are leaving. I do not pretend to know much about politics, but Australia will gladly run to the aid of America to fight a useless, and hopeless war. Why then, can we not extend our hand to a stricken country in need? Instead of sacrificing our men and women in vain, should they not be sent to fight for a cause worth fighting for? - The freedom of a struggling nation.
E.

For more information visit:
http://hungrybeast.abc.net.au/stories/8-bit-immigration
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home
http://www.immi.gov.au/refugee/seeking_protection.htm
To see more thoughts and comments go to:
http://hungrybeast.abc.net.au/stories/boat-people-%E2%80%93-your-thoughts

Next blog: John Safran’s ‘Race Relations’

Teen Pregnancy: Do our children really know what they are doing?

Driving to the airport to collect my grandparents, gave me ample opportunity to think about life. The life under intense scrutiny was, of course, my own, but it got me thinking about all the ladies out there whose lives and situations reflect my own. I have had a terribly bad run of luck when it comes to relationships, and I seem to be under the impression that I will be dying alone, Bridget Jones style. I began thinking and wondering about how many other women feel the same as I do about their love lives. I mean, it’s not like I’m menopausal – I’m only 21! But am I thinking this way because society is pressuring me to? What about my expectations of myself?

My mother was married at the age of 19, popped me out seven years later at the age of 26. If I am to live to the same framework as my mother, then technically, I am already considerably behind. The thing is: I have no desire to have children right now. Some people have that ambition to be married and have children early in life, but I want to make sure that I have met the right man, and that I am financially secure enough to support these little tackers growing up. I also want to be selfish – live life a little before I am subjected to the self-imposed prison of child rearing. But this is deemed perfectly acceptable. It is no longer an expectation of women to be married and have a dozen children before their thirtieth birthday. It is just not the done thing.

There is no doubt that societies’ expectation of women has changed over the years. Even since I finished high school, there has been a vast reinvention in attitudes across the board. Now, it is considered perfectly acceptable to see a young teenage girl with a newborn baby, wandering the streets. It seems to be the latest trend among pubescent females in the western society: girls having children as though they are the ‘must-have’ accessory of the season. This does not amuse me in the slightest. I wonder; do these girls really know what they are getting themselves in to? I understand that accidents happen, but a sixteen year old wanting to have a baby just for the sake of it, is unthinkable. At least, it certainly was, even as recently as five years ago.

I may not be significantly older than a lot of these girls I am referring to, but it seems I was raised in a different time. I barely thought about sex at sixteen, and most of these girls have had two or three years of sexual experience to boast of. None of them appear to understand the consequences of engaging in sexual intercourse. Yes, you get a pretty little baby for a year or two, but then it grows up. That is the reality of it.Not to say I am degrading teenage mothers; it surely can not be easy. You are still trying to discover who you are, let alone influence another soul to grow into a mature being. I just can not see how someone, who is still a child themself, could raise another child. Saying that, I know of several women – now in their thirties – who were teen mothers. They are outstanding examples of parents; although, sadly, this is not what the majority of teen pregnancy cases are like.

Seeing the diverse change in society, in less than a decade, brings me to pose the question: Are students receiving adequate sexual education, and is it being presented to them early enough? For me, the answer to this question is, no. Students need to be schooled earlier in Sex Ed to ensure they understand the consequences of their actions. Children as young as twelve have sold their virginity on eBay for a tidy profit, without understanding the impact it can have on them. High schools are now places teeming with sexual tension and sexual revolt. Gone are the days of innocence.

A friend of mine just completed her final year of teaching, where she undertook her internship at one of the local high schools. She informed me, that in her first week, she had to hold intervention meetings with the whole year eight group, and school them on the dangers of STI’s. This came about as a result of one year eight boy, allegedly accepting oral sex from the entire female population of the year group. What people need to keep in mind is that prevention is better than cure. Through subjecting pre-pubescent students to age appropriate Sex Ed, it has been estimated by the Victorian government, that there will be a decrease in the instance of teenage pregnancy. According to the ‘better health’ website, parents also need to play a part in educating their children on sexual matters. “It is important to understand the stages of sexual development your child is likely to go through at different ages and what you can do to help them adjust to the changes they will experience”.

In an interview with Melbourne’s The Age newspaper on May 29, 2006, Dolly magazine editor, Bronwyn McCahon stated that the majority of high school students are very disillusioned with the sexual education that is offered to them. “They say it's superficial and it doesn't deal with the physical and emotional ramifications of sex,” she says. Perhaps if Sex Ed in schools was more informative, there would not be so much ‘experimentation’ in the earlier years of puberty. Although I do hope, one day, to have children of my own, I am in no hurry what-so-ever to put an end to my selfish ways. Even though single is not always ideal, I will take it over being a teen mother any day.

For more information on Sex Ed in schools visit:

http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/

For more information on teen pregnancy visit:

http://www.pregnancy.com.au/teenage_pregnancy.htm

http://www.womhealth.org.au/studentfactsheets/teenagepregnancy.htm

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/healthwellbeing/childyouth/catalogue/adolescent/teenpregnancy-ind1.htm

Next time: My view on the asylum seekers.

Cosmo Competition.

So I was rifling through my Cosmo magazine today, and found a competition for an internship with the magazine. I immediately remembered the article I was planning to write on fashion, and decided that now was as good a time as any. Below is the article I sent away to the lovely ladies at Cosmo, in the hope they will consider me for the internship position. Wish me luck, and read my article. Tell me what you think =)
E.

Women are truly mental creatures.

Fashion.
It is a hot topic for all women. It plays a significant part in a women’s life, as it is how she presents herself to the rest of world. Regardless of the woman in question, we all tend to follow impossible fashion trends.

Men, it seems, can walk the streets for two days in the same pair of jeans, carrying little more than their wallet and mobile phone. If they are really metropolitan, they may have an iPod. Women, in all our glorious wonder, can not leave the house without our new-born baby sized purses, lip gloss, lipsticks, lip balms, mobile phones, mascara, moisturiser, foundation, highlighter, blush, 6 different makeup brushes, eye shadow and eyeliner, iPods, water bottles, tampons, pads and a spare pair of underwear. All of this is encased in our handbags, oftentimes the size of a suitcase. Balance this on your arm whilst wearing 6 inch heels, a skin tight dress that barely enables you to breathe, juggling car keys and four take-away coffees. Not. Fun.

Why do we do this to ourselves? I love my shoe collection, but I have seldom worn a pair more than once. After a night out in them, I can barely stand to put my blistered, calloused feet back into the beautiful patent leather. I love wearing them, but for what purpose? And why must we carry a cosmetics counter around in our bags at all times? It’s not like men care what they wear, or what they look like. Their outfit choices are defined by which t-shirt is the cleanest on the day.
Who do we wear all these things for, really? We try to tell each other we like to look and feel good about ourselves for our own benefit, but we all know this is a lie. Each time we stand in the ladies room, re-applying our rouge shade of lipstick and blackest-black mascara, it is not for our own self-concept. Every lady does this because she likes the attention she gets from men – the attention that comes from wearing this eye-popping shade of red and lash-enhancing paint. Our lives are centred on finding that one significant other, the man who completes us. This is the absolute opposite of what every magazine, beauty campaign and self-help book tells us. Again, I ask: Why do we do it?
Who knows? Perhaps it is just human nature – an animal instinct that goes back farther than the history of time. All I can tell you is that I hate looking perfect all the time. I am only human, after all. If I want to wear my trackies to the supermarket, then I bloody-well will! At the end of the day, who really gives a blue razoo? If you are not comfortable being yourself then you have a serious problem. I also sincerely doubt you'll meet your one true love at the supermarket, but if you do, he'll give you a second glance regardless of what you are wearing.

Bordom is not very welcoming.

I'm so bored at this very moment in time. I have been browsing the 'soon to be released' films at the cinemas. There are quite a few coming out that look really good. But this is not the point of this blog.

The point of this blog is to just highlight how very few people tend to be available when you want to do something, e.g. go and see a movie. It seems that when you are run off of your feet to the point where you barely have time for a toilet stop, there are people hanging from you, wanting to spend some quality time together with you. When you are bored out of your fucking mind there is no one around to do anything with. Perhaps this is just the Tasmanian aspect of it all? But, unfortunately, I have to deal with it, as it is my reality.

There are four assignments staring me in the face here, making me feel guilty for wanting to have a life. Well they can just wait! I've had enough of staring at them this week. They can go to hell. I don't even want to do them anyway. Man, I whinge a lot in this blog. Whatever.

I hate Tasmania.

The End.
E.

My Life, at a Cross-Road.

Today I confronted the daunting task of completing assignments. I have four assignments due in the next two weeks and I just do not want to do any of them.

I am studying to be a teacher, and for the past three years I have sat on my arse and contemplated if this is the right job for me or not. I seriously don't think it is. I never really have. Everyone else is convinced that I am going to be "the best" teacher, but I am now thinking that maybe I am just doing this for everyone else? I have no idea what I want with my life and I am sick and tired of sitting around waiting for it to start. To quote Robbie Williams: I'm contemplating thinking about thinking... Or if I want to put it into 'teacher talk' I could say I'm contemplating metacognition. But that's just being a smart arse. Anyway, I'm contemplating thinking about deferring next year. Maybe moving to Melbourne, which I have wanted to do for ages. Just getting up and going. But then, I think, "well I've only got a year left, why not stick with it?"

The truth is, I am utterly fucking miserable. Completely and utterly. But I find teacher aspects coming out in me all the time. For example: A much loved comedian of mine posted on his Twitter account this morning that he was going to build a BBQ like a real man, but there would be much more delighted 'squeeling' involved when he was done. It is spelt 'squealing'. Not 'squeeling'.

The question is posed: To correct, or not to correct? Will I continue to let my favourite blonde-haired-wonderboy use incorrect spelling? Or will I politely correct him, so that thousands of people around the country/world do not continue to stare at this booboo, wondering the same thing as myself. I decide to let it go this time, as I did not want to come across as either a freak or a spelling Nazi. However, I the point of that story is that it is an incredibly teacherish thing to do.

So here I am, sitting on my arse again, wondering what to do with my life. While my partner for my Languages assignment, just messages me to tell me she has done all the work. I now feel terrible. I think she's picked up on how unmotivated I am. I think everyone has. I don't think I want to sit through another mundane year at my piss poor university, waiting for my life to start.

I think I'm done whingeing for now. I might go back to procrastinating on facebook or something.
E.

Pilot

Good Evening, Bloggers.
Before you start reading this, I must warn you that I am not particularly clever or funny. Nor am I smart or incredibly interesting. I do, however, enjoy observing other human beings. I'm an observer of life, really. Kind of like, Carl Barron, but with hair.

All I really wanted to do tonight, was to introduce myself to you. Hopefully you'll enjoy reading my observations on life as much as I enjoy making them and writing about them. Pre-warning: I am a huge movie and music buff, so expect many references to these.

Signing out - for tonight, at least. E.