by Olivia | Dec 12, 2017 | Featured, General
Such is the dilemma of any woman at the top of their profession or leading an empire. Whereas male leaders are encouraged to be ruthless, and patted on the back for their leadership qualities, a female in the same position will be deemed callous and unscrupulous if she makes any harsh moves at all in the favour of her Dynasty.
Theresa May is a prime example. She has acquired the role of Prime Minister of the UK almost by default, and endeavoured to take the helm of the UK with very little support from her back benchers or indeed the Public who were constantly berating her way before she stepped into the Arena. Love her or hate her she has managed to make inroads into pulling off one of the toughest deals of the 21st Century, Brexit, and even though she mishandled the general election, she put her hands up and admitted that she had taken the wrong advice and generally screwed up.
To hear men describe her has been quite entertaining, in that because she has just had her 60th birthday and doesn’t pay great attention to her appearance (apart from her kitten heels), she has been described by one corporate gentleman as ‘poor old Theresa May’ with an emphasis on the Old. Another gentleman aired concern about her Diabetes, which he felt could put her at risk with such a stressful leadership role, and another saying how lack lustre she appeared.
The latter seems reminiscent of the 71 year old President Trump who told the World he felt Hilary Clinton was lacking in ‘energy’ because of her age, and yet praised the agile 64 year old French First Lady for being ‘in good shape’.
credit: James Francis / Shutterstock.com
It has been the same throughout history with legends like Cleopatra – recognised first for her beauty, but then for her wit and intelligence. She has also been labelled as unscrupulous in her treatment of Mark Anthony who was her lover and the famous liaison with Julius Caesar. If the boot were on the other foot, it is doubtful that there would have been a mention of a wrong doing.
“For she was a woman of surpassing beauty, and at that time, when she was in the prime of her youth, she was most striking; she also possessed a most charming voice and knowledge of how to make herself agreeable to everyone. Being brilliant to look upon and to listen to, with the power to subjugate everyone, even a love-sated man already past his prime, she thought that it would be in keeping with her role to meet Caesar, and she reposed in her beauty all her claims to the throne.”
These accounts influenced later cultural depictions of Cleopatra, which typically present her using her charms to influence the most powerful men in the Western world.
Cleopatra was also renowned for her intellect. Plutarch writes that she could speak at least nine languages and rarely had need of an interpreter.
So where does that leave us ladies, who are forever being challenged on our ambition or attire (remember the fracas about the high heels at work!). My advice is to ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’. After all, we are aware of the issues and prejudices of certain members of the opposite sex , and hopefully the attitudes of our male counterparts can be easily brushed off once we are resolutely on the way to crashing through that glass ceiling.
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by Olivia | Dec 4, 2017 | Featured, GloWellness
Several years ago I was invited to my Boss’s Wedding in Spain. It was going to be a sumptuous occasion, with a lot of ‘posh’ frocks and name dropping as he was very well connected.
I had spent weeks planning my outfit and arrived in full regalia for the weekend, arriving the day before as planned.
As I checked into the Hotel that had been booked for the Wedding Party I noticed a lady standing next to me also waiting to check in. Her hair was long and unkempt and hung randomly around her face, she hadn’t a scrap of makeup and her clothes were clean but out of fashion. My judgemental self concluded that she could not possibly be attending the Wedding, as all of the attendees would be beautifully turned out, but how wrong could I be! She was best friends with the Bride.
Emma was also the most wonderful individual I had ever met, and after an evening and a full day with her at the event, she was also hopefully a close friend of mine too. Emma told me that she had two autistic sons, and that she cared for them most of the time. She also had a lovely daughter called Sophie, her third child, who had no autism. Emma had prepared to have another autistic child with her third pregnancy, but this had turned out not to be the case.
As the weekend progressed Emma described her day to day activities, and described the severity of the spectrum of Autism that had been diagnosed for her first son which was severe. It was the first time in five years been able to leave home for more than a couple of hours, and the first time in ages she had been able to have a glass of wine. I reprimanded myself for criticising her appearance, which was actually beautiful, but the last thing on her mind.
If I say that every waking hour was dedicated to all of her children, it would not be an exaggeration, and in spite of this, Emma sung the praises of each of her children equally.
Since that time, Emma has received support from local campaigns and her eldest son is cared for in a special school locally and her second is doing really well in a main stream classroom with other kids.
I have now met so many people with children suffering from Autism and have re-educated myself in that Autism is not a disease and there is no ‘cure’. More and more Research is now taking place with the Autistic Society who explain that Autism is actually a lifelong condition. But, there is a range of strategies and approaches – methods of enabling learning and development – which people may find to be helpful.
It is also true that one in a hundred people are diagnosed with different degrees of Autism and that previously kids were labeled as naughty or inattentive before being diagnosed, or when Autism was not identified. It is just that people suffering with Autism view the world and people in a different way.
Thankfully this was brilliantly addressed in the West End play The Curiousa Incident of the Dog, where the main character, a young autistic boy encounters prejudice and frustration from his family and neighbours through not being able to read people’s facial expressions, jokes or sarcasm, which is usually the case with Autism.
Early diagnosis is beneficial for both families and teachers, as children can then be integrated into a classroom or social situation as with Emma’s offspring, with the knowledge of their struggles. In many cases, parents have coped really well with the support that is provided nowadays and have found their children benefit too by the strategies that are now known to work.
How you can help?
You can help autistic people and their families by visiting the Autistic Society and help them with:
• spreading understanding about autism – sign up to support the “Too Much Information” campaign.
• donating so they can continue to give millions of people information and advice about support.
• volunteering in one of their schools, care services or offices.
• fundraising.
http://www.autism.org.uk/
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by Olivia | Jun 7, 2017 | Featured, General
However hard we try, a certain amount of regression is inevitable. Governments change as does the swing from left to right, the trend for freedom and then grabbing it back with the paranoia that it has all gone too far. We are seeing that too clearly with our present World leaders, and the urgent ‘protest’ votes of the under-valued just to get some recognition.
But where will it all end? Centuries ago leaders really were allowed to get away with murder. With public hangings, communal floggings and unfair courts, with the accusers being scape goats for the bigger offenders. So not a lot has actually changed in Western society, although it is now presented in more sophisticated terms, and without the public actually witnessing death penalties, although they still exist in certain countries.
So how far have we actually come? Why are the latest protestors so desperate to display their anger at the World, even to the point that they are willing to blow themselves up in the process. We know that we have some horrific new groups of religious extremists, and the scary part is they are recruiting and gaining power under our very noses, and in our own back yards.
In the UK alone, we have seen over the past century or so two World Wars with Germany, a home grown one in Northern Ireland, a fracas in the Falklands, and now the random attacks on innocent people from the latest rebel recruits.
We have discussed time and again the pros and cons of social media, but here is one reason why Twitter and Facebook have contributed to the unity of such lethal groups of terrorists – adding fodder to their atrocious endgame.
One thing all hostilities have in common is war hungry World leaders, fuelling the ‘divide and rule’ and wanting to gain attention for themselves or as a distraction for their own inadequacies as Heads of State. I have been told to stay away from any political allegiance, so am not stating mine, but just making general observations and stating the obvious. But whatever side you are on, we can name Kings and Presidents as well as Prime Ministers and Governments on both sides, who have stirred the aggression of the people for their own futile benefit.
What ever happened to World Peace, or is that just confined to beauty pageants or aging hippies a la Woodstock? One thing for sure, we can’t wait for the World to swing the other way and join together in ‘peace and harmony’, and for those of you who are old enough to remember the theme, I personally cannot wait for that ethos to return.
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