I read some research today that I found fascinating. A group of European researchers have found that the media can influence how readers interpret the amount of power held by somebody, purely through the angle they use to shoot the photo.

Pictures shot from below are seen to represent powerful people, while those shot from above are seen to represent less powerful people. The media therefore can change how we feel about individuals with just a bit of clever photography. This might all sound a bit obvious, but what you might not think about so much is how this influences our perceptions of gender.

In their experiments, Dr Steffen R. Giessner, Associate Professor at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM), and his colleagues found that there are more photographs of women in advertisements, newspapers and magazines shot from above than from below, while the opposite is true for men.

All these camera angles therefore reinforce our perception that men are powerful and women are not, strengthening our stereotyped ideas that women cannot become leaders.

“Such simple associations of power and angle of shot do not take place in a social vacuum,” said Giessner. “Rather, context related to power (such as within organisations, or portraying the 100 most important people in the world) easily trigger our thinking about power. As a result we may consciously or unconsciously use cues to show the attribution of power in a picture.” He concludes: “While it is the job of researchers to uncover such effects, it is the job of the media to decide when to use and when not to use such subtle cues.”

So there you go.

Have a look for yourself – flick through a magazine or newspaper and notice the camera angles. Are there more women shot from above? Does a simple picture change the assumptions you make about people?

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I should clarify – this is how she describes herself, not me passing judgment.

For a while now I’ve been following, in a completely non pervy way, the sexual exploits of Betty Herbert, whose blog has recently become a book – The 52 Seductions. I was absolutely delighted then when Betty agreed to be a guest on my blog, talking about her writing experiences.

She has also very generously offered to give away a signed copy of her book to one lucky reader, so if you fancy learning a few new moves, just leave a thoughtful comment on this post over the next week, and a winner will be picked at random. Over to Betty…

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I am possibly the world’s most unlikely sex blogger.

Setting aside the fact that, when I started writing The 52 Seductions, I hadn’t had sex for four months, there were other issues that didn’t weigh in my favour. For example, I would cross the road to avoid anything vaguely sexy in books or on TV. And, frankly, I found adults who were ‘into’ sex more than a little bit creepy. View Post

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“I read your blog today in my free period,” said Bee, as I prepared her a wholesome dinner of beans on toast. “It wasn’t that great. I don’t really like it when you try to be serious. No offence. Constructive criticism and all that.”

Indeed. Such tact and diplomacy these teenagers have.

“You just like it though when I write down funny things that you’ve said don’t you?” I replied.

“Well yeah, cos that’s the only bit that’s funny.”

I decide to call her bluff. “Go on then,” I challenge her, “say something funny.”

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When you’re feeling properly down in the dumps, there is nothing more likely to make you want to stab someone in the face than hearing the words ‘cheer up’.

Well meaning as they may be, the kind of people who tell you just to ‘try and be a bit more positive about things’ really just don’t get it.

Or do they? Can the way you think about things change the way you feel?

There’s a lot of research that says that positive thinking can actually have a direct impact on happiness, and that practising being grateful really can make you feel better about your life. A quick google search came up with this interesting article from Oliver Burkeman, about thinking yourself happy, which really explains it all much better than I could, so instead I’m just going to show you a picture: View Post

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What’s in a name? A rose by any other name is alleged to smell just as sweet after all, so does it make a difference?

I’ve hosted a couple of guest posts recently about choosing baby names, but today I want to talk about titles.

The BBC are reporting today of a town in France that has banned the use of the word Mademoiselle, on the back of a nationwide campaign by feminist groups to ban the word everywhere.

I am behind them 100% and all in favour of a similar spring clean of values in this country.

Why on earth in a society that claims to strive for gender equality would you discriminate between men and women in such an obvious way? Why should women have to define themselves by their marital status, by calling themselves Miss or Mrs, while men are allowed to be a Mr regardless of whether they are married or not? View Post

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Yesterday I had the pleasure of being given a crystal massage by Belle. She has always liked collecting crystals, but recently she bought a book about them in the St Margaret’s Hospice shop and now she is all about the chakras.

She had her friend from Number 2 round to help and I must admit to being a little anxious as they made me lie on the floor on the special ‘massage rug’. A lot of her stones are quite scratchy and I wasn’t sure exactly what the massaging would entail.

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You may remember a few weeks ago I hosted a guest post from a rather mysterious writer, on the subject of baby names, specifically the name Jeremy. (Apologies to Boyfriend’s Dad – I didn’t write it, I promise.)
Well it seems to be a bit of a contentious issue, and today I have another post on the subject, this time from the very lovely Emma Button, better known as Mellow Mummy. I think it’s a fab post, although as a Strictly fan I don’t know why Emma hasn’t considered ‘Bruce Button’. A definite winner I think.
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It is that time again when I need to draw up a very important list. The list of potential baby names. In the mellow household naming babies is supposed to be (like pretty much everything else we do) a joint effort, but for some reason it always seems to end up going a bit like this…
Me: “How about Sophie Button?”
Him: “Nope”
Me: “How about Nicola Button”?”
Him: “Nope”
<pause>
Me: “Billy Button?”
Him: <frown>
Me: “Harry Button?”
Him: <glour>
Me: “Hutton Button?”
Him: <no response>
End of conversation. The whole baby naming drama isn’t helped by the fact that we often seem to end up having this conversation while watching TV. This in itself wouldn’t be a problem but for the fact that Mr. B really does like his sports. The result of this is a list of baby names which are ( a) mostly boys names and ( b) slightly ludicrous. A recent football match resulted in a debate over the suitability of “Nani Button” as a boy’s name. My sport of choice is Formula One but I suspect that the name “Jenson Button” has already been worn out and that “Rubens Button” may be a bit too deep for most.
I can’t fail to be entertained by the whole host of hilarious suggestions thrown up while watching late-night American Football. Now call me unreasonable but (as groovy a name as it is), I don’t think “Be‘Shawn Button” would sit in awfully well in our largely white, middle-class, english, non-American-football-playing family?
As I type this we are watching late night repeats of Masterchef : The Professionals on the food channel. Perhaps “Michel Button” would be more appropriate? or Greg? Actually, “Greg Button” could work!
For now I will have to keep on running some slightly more sane ideas past my other half but please don’t hold me responsible if baby number two ends up being named after one (or more) of the celebrities on this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.
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How do you feel about debt?

From a quick survey of my friends, debt seems to have the marmite quality – you either love it, or you hate it.

For some people, the idea of being in debt is terrifying. Holidays, cars and treats are carefully saved up for, and only when there are enough pennies in the pot can you splash out. For others, juggling a fistful of credit cards and loans is a normal part of everyday life, a way to manage unexpected expenses, or simply a way to get what they want, when they want it. View Post

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Are you a quiz fan? I love a good quiz. The problem is that I’m a really bad mix of over-competitive and terrible at general knowledge. It’s very frustrating.

I do like puzzles though that don’t require me to know my capital cities, and so to get you in a festive mood, I thought I’d set a little puzzle for you here. It doesn’t actually have a festive theme, but… it is a quiz, and it is Christmas, so this is officially a Christmas Quiz. Fact.

All you have to do is work out what the letters stand for in these phrases and expressions. What’s the prize? Nothing but the warm glow of success.

Let me know if you get stuck and I might give you a little clue. View Post

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I’m finding it difficult to start writing this morning. I feel like I should have something interesting to say, but then in the cold light of a white page the words look dull.

I thought about writing about Christmas as a time of excess, and my inability to control the number of M&S Christmas Jaffa Cakes I put in my mouth, but that seemed a little self-indulgent. (In terms of both the food and the topic). Who wants to know I’m a greedy piggy with no self-restraint? Nobody. View Post

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It’s nearly Christmas, (did you notice?), and so my doormat and inbox are being bombarded with charity campaigns, trying to guilt me into giving them cash.* See that pile of presents you’ve bought people? That makes you selfish – you should be buying goats instead you know.

I’ve also noticed a lot of corporate charity partnerships around at the moment, where large companies are clearly trying to win the philanthropic vote in a bid to beat the recession. I’m normally a bit cynical about fundraising campaign where big brands make donations to charities, as it feels like the company often do rather better out of it than the charity.

‘Buy a box of our cereal for £2.50 and we’ll give a whole penny to support orphans in a part of the world you’ve never heard of!’ – well intentioned (maybe), but it makes it hard to feel you’re really making a difference doesn’t it? View Post

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I received an email this week from a chap called Simon Wright. It began thus…

“Hi Jo,

Umm… I have no idea whether you deal with messages like this on a regular basis, but I have a blog based around the subject of choosing baby names, and I was wondering if you’d like to take it? I’d like it to have a home somewhere.”

Well no Simon, I can’t say I do deal with messages like this on a regular basis. I read the piece, and it actually wasn’t bad. I asked what the catch was, but apparently there wasn’t one. Curiouser and Curiouser.

So, always keen to save myself a bit of time and effort where possible, I decided to give it a home. You can’t leave anyone out in the cold at Christmas after all can you?

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“There’s no way!” I exclaimed, “Absolutely no way I’d ever call my child Jeremy! I want him to open the batting for England with a crisp cover drive for four. Call him Jeremy and he’ll grow up to be a car salesman or investment banker.”

I wasn’t entirely sure how I’d arrived at discussing children’s names with my future mother-in-law, but there I was. It was happening. It wasn’t awkward, as my fiancée and I have had the ‘name chat’ on a number of occasions, but it was an eye opener. For a lady who named her kids Simon and Laura – two perfectly good names – she was coming up with some right stinkers, while poo pooing what Laura and I had agreed on.

It got me thinking – should couples discuss the names of future children, without even having placed dough in the oven? And, that being the case, should one learn not to discuss too much with the other half’s mum? It’s a ‘yes’ in both instances. View Post

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