Bits and Bobs

Hello internet,

I don't have any ideas for a big post today, but I present to you some of the things I have been thinking about this week:

1) Victimisation of Old People

I find that I'm quite hardened to the news these days. However, one thing that is guaranteed to upset and anger me is the victimisation of old people, and I'm not sure why it gets to me more than other atrocities. Perhaps it's because old people are not innocent; they've lived and they've seen the whole breadth of human experience, they've gone through the hard slog of life, and now they are vulnerable and frail. There's something really horrendous about how someone can so easily destroy the dignity that an elderly person has spent their whole lives earning.

I remember watching footage on BBC News of an elderly cancer patient opening his door to a group of youths who then murdered him... it just breaks my heart, because old people have no choice but to trust other people and it's so sickening how people abuse that trust.

The most recent article in the news describes how a 94-year-old woman in Surrey was conned out of more than £176,000 by rogue traders.

Heartbreaking stuff.

2) Lesbian Health

It's not just old people who get a hard time in our society. Minority groups are engaged in a constant struggle against prejudice, and gay women are no exception. In our "tolerant" modern society, gay people are less likely to be ostracised or attacked for their sexuality, but there is still a worrying discrepancy in the physical and mental health of straight women and lesbians. I came across a report at Stonewall entitled Prescription for Change, published in 2008, which investigated statistics about lesbian health. Some of the more alarming statistics showed that:

• One in five lesbian women had deliberately harmed themselves in the last year, compared to 0.4% of the general population. That's really messed-up.
• One in five lesbians said they had an eating disorder, compared to one in twenty of the general population.
• Lesbians are five times more likely to have taken drugs.

There were also worrying findings about the way that gay women are treated by health professionals.

If our society gave out the right messages to young women, perhaps gay women (and queer people in general) wouldn't be any more unhealthy than straight people! Tsssk.

3) The Victoria and Albert Museum

Yesterday I had the pleasure of an afternoon at the V&A in South Kensington. Visiting the London museums is an accessible way to get cultured, because entry to the museums is free. Because I'm a reasonably arty sort of person, the V&A is my favourite London museum.

It is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, holding over 4.5 million objects from a 5000 year period. It's not merely an art gallery: it's bursting with photography, architecture, fashion, jewellery, sculpture, furniture and weaponry.

The building itself is marvellous, with a beautiful interior and exterior. Yesterday I enjoyed sitting in the John Madejski garden, which is enclosed by imposing and ornate walls and contains a large modern fountain; the perfect location for relaxing with an ice-cream .

The collections are definitely worth seeing. Being the retro-fashion-obsessive that I am, I made a beeline for the fashion collection, hoping to catch a glimpse of a 1950s dress or a Victorian corset. I was not disappointed, and I marvelled at some of the dresses, particularly the ones worn by pre-20th century women. The V&A is currently hosting an exhibition of Grace Kelly's dresses, and while I unfortunately could not get tickets to see this display, I did enjoy viewing this dress outside of the exhibit.

I took great pleasure, too, in the Theatre and Performance collection. There was enough dramatic memorabilia in there to keep me more than happy, from an original manuscript of The School for Scandal (my A-Level text!) to the first folio of Shakespeare's work. The highlight of the collection was Adam Ant's costume from Prince Charming, which delighted me because I am in love with his distinctive twist on the New Romantic style.

And of course, like any good tourist attraction, the museum has a great giftshop.

There are all sorts of curiosities in the V&A. I could write about it all day!

J xxx