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‘Menimism’: an Emerging Male Movement?

July 5th, 2010 by Sarah

When ‘Menimism’ the new male movement was brought to my attention, I was fascinated. I thought it must include an intelligent reaction against the portrayal of men in the media: think Becks showing his pecks (and pecker) in those (glorious) Armani Underwear ads for budgie smugglers. That must rub some members up the wrong way.

The name’s catchy, if a little unoriginal, and why shouldn’t guys have their say? I’m pretty non-PC but even I found, for example, the new Dove ads for men’s care failed to represent ‘real men’ even though that’s what their ad campaign seemed to promise.

The Dove guy looks more like a Gillette G.I. than your average Joe Public, despite the fact that Paul Connell, Dove Men+Care brand manager says: “Dove is proud of its pioneering approach to women and with this new campaign we now have a fresh approach to men as well. We’re taking a light hearted approach and acknowledging the life events that help men become comfortable with who they are, without a cheesy grooming stereotype in sight.”

According to German website iHeartBerlin, Menimism’s a movement which encourages blokes to shout out about their vulnerable side demanding a ‘rethink of masculinity’ and start talking to each other.

So, ‘real men’ are fed up with being undermined in the media. They do want to share; with other men. I didn’t think they had any inclination to do that. How wrong I was.

Women talk at length about female health issues encouraging each other to see the doc, or try out some new remedy for PMT, why shouldn’t men take more responsibility over their health to tackle things like male cancers. I am a great advocate of openness – surely it isn’t just women who benefit from what is perceived as a feminine trait? Knowledge is power and we all have the power to impart knowledge, which could extend our life expectancy. A problem shared…

One Menimalist who seems to have got the right idea is Ben Wild, founder of the University of Manchester’s MENS society. He feels there’s a need for such a  society because: “Because issues such as prostate and testicular cancer, male on male violence and rape, domestic abuse against men, stigma against men in ‘unmasculine’ jobs, custody and parental leave inequalities, and general stereotyping of what it is to ‘be a man’ are not being addressed”.  At last! Spread the word – http://themoderncaveman.wordpress.com/

Unlike some anti-male feminists who alienate the less than fairer sex, on paper Menimists appear to be the perfect partners. They’re in touch with their feelings, discuss their heart-ache, they talk and listen and they support women. So why isn’t Menimism being heralded as the (second) best movement ever to have been created?

You’ve only got to check out the dedicated Facebook page to see that any hope the movement serving as the making of modern man is little more than a vapid dream, rather a pager for all Neanderthals. The clue is in the title ‘Menimism: It’s all about tits and beer’. It serves only to remind men of their inner ‘blokey’ bloke and seems to have few followers.

I have to hope that I’ve missed the joke and am reacting like some po-faced prig who has completely lost my sense of humour.

Occasionally men will appear in the media railing against the way they are being portrayed but it just doesn’t seem to be a priority to them. There are interesting articles across the world but not enough to make them front page news.

My partner reads Men’s Health religiously and never comments on the six-pack selection of cover men but does comment on the health articles within. Despite his devotion to MH and the fact he’s an avid reader of the broad sheets he has never heard of Menimism but seems to embody less-vulgar perception of it. So maybe others, like him, just quietly get on with their Menimist bent without having to shout about it.  I think we should thank our lucky stars for this special breed and reject the ‘blokey blokes’ whose vulgar link on a social media site sets them back to the days of the dinosaur.

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Is a Tattoo For me a Taboo For You?

July 1st, 2010 by Marion

Living in London (as opposed to other places, especially my home-country of France), I have lots of friends who have tattoos. I consider myself as a tattooed person as I have 2 rather big “pieces”. Opinions can be quite polar about tattoos – somehow though “tattoo-virgins”, like my mum, do understand, more or less, what actually happens when you go through the process of marking the skin with indelible ink.

Cultural aspect

Tattoos have always had a place in humanity. I will deliberately pass on the “forced” tattoos that some have had to suffer in the more shocking parts of history. Tattoos have always been around most civilizations as rites of passage. I believe it’s still the case today, as even with a slightly changed technique (my tattooist was explaining to me how his electric tattoo machine works in the same way as the first machines built around the end of the 19th century), and a different social dimension, tattoo is still a way to own your existence through a visual & permanent mark on your body.

The community

Tattoos mean a lot. For some older generations tattoos may refer to some bad things, like prison, prostitution and all that kind of stuff. To be honest, luckily, it doesn’t mean anything like that anymore. However, the tattoos you may have do show a lot about yourself. For instance, if you think about it as a form of art, tattoos have lots of different styles and schools. To name a few: tribal, Japanese, cyber & biomechanics (tattoos making the body look like half organic half machine), portraits, old school (proper 50’s pin ups and anchors), new school etc… 
A tattoo shows which sub-culture or neo-tribe you belong to.

Personal engagement

Getting tattooed, the act of spending several intense hours (or minutes) under the needle is a very pertinent moment in ones life. I remember earlier this year, during the UX London workshop, a fellow attendee engaged in a conversation with me about my tattoo. He concluded very wisely that a tattoo is like a milestone in life. When you’re getting tattooed you are not considering it as something – a mark – that will stay forever, but as a symbol of a step in your life. My first tattoo, a tiny star, symbolized the wish that I will do anything to go wherever I want to go. My second tattoo, on my back, marked an engagement to myself to be whoever I want to be. Finally, my third and last tattoo to date, shows the world (yes, it’s on my arm) that I am who I am.

Some people don’t like showing their tattoos, but then what’s the point? Unless you regret getting it, or maybe you only show them to the world when you want to show a different side to your personality. Having a tattoo does categorize you as a certain type of individual, but nowadays, what’s more important than being who you are, within a community, but also within yourself.

You may think that I am a fool but I’ve never thought about how my tattoos will look when I am old, it doesn’t really bother me. I will still treasure them as I will have had an amazing life behind me, and a good reason to tell stories to my grandchildren.

What’s your opinion on tattoos? Do you have one (or more)?

Picture: Yoanna (c) Julien Lesur

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Is Microsoft HealthVault the solution to keep healthy, well-thy and wise?

June 28th, 2010 by Sarah

I’ve always thought it would be really useful to have some sort of store where I could consolidate all of my health paraphernalia and monitor my weight, tracking steps etc, in a bid to maintain good health all year, rather than use the run-up to Wimbledon as a reminder to flex my forearms. Sadly I didn’t patent the idea because Microsoft has beaten me to it with a new platform called the ‘Microsoft®HealthVault™’. Set up in partnership with Nuffield Health, HealthVault is not just about getting fit and looking good, but more about taking responsibility for your wellness (for free).

So who, apart from me, is likely to make the most of this new repository?

Well, the Edelman Health Engagement Barometer study shows that a growing number of the UK population take an active interest in their wellbeing – from walking the dog, to looking after their diet, blood pressure and so on; they’re interested in checking their vital signs and overall health and they’re not all sports fanatics but ordinary people. It’s a relatively low 13% but it’s a start.

The way I see it HealthVault will enable me to make a conscientious effort to time manage my health programme: Get back from the doc/gym/receive blood results etc and immediately load any relevant information onto the PC. Instead of faffing around in my hectic home-filing system looking for requested information, I know it will be in one place : HealthVault.

And in this digital age we can pick up any number of health-related gizmos in the local chemist: precision monitors, thermometers and scales, many of which you will soon be able to plug in; you can utilise a myriad of health-related applications from your mobile phone or computer; all that and health-related articles. I need to sit down!

For me, the safety and privacy of my personal data is paramount. The Microsoft HealthVault platform has this covered and we are assured that standards are based on Microsoft’s secure cloud infrastructure. Basically, the contract we enter into with Microsoft is that they will do whatever we ask them to do with our data with records being safely held within the UK; I like the ethos behind HealthVault, which empowers me to hold, edit and control my own data from a range of different sources outside of government-held medical data.

In my opinion we still find it all too easy to take a back seat with health issues and leave it up to the professionals, but they’re so stretched. In the long-term it could give the NHS the chance to do its job and work on getting people better while we work on our own illness prevention, which can’t be a bad thing.

I feel like I’ve had a bit of an epiphany, like when I was trying out the serums (and still loving them!), and I’m not the only one to think it’s a good idea.

Only last year the now Prime Minister David Cameron revealed plans to ‘move the UK’s health records into the cloud’  through Google or Microsoft, rather than Labour’s suggested central computer.

HealthVault is not to be confused with the NHS HealthSpace, which is based on the provision of a Summary Care Record. Here the medical data is owned and controlled by the NHS.

Google Health is a possible contender but, although similar, this application doesn’t seem to offer the same wealth of healthcare experience, in Britain.

You can set up individual plans like step-tracking plans, slimming/diet plans at individual fitness websites; even Kellogg’s Special K offers a selection of plans which can be tailored to suit your needs but there isn’t a competitor for all-encompassing health management.

I am trying to gain weight after being sapped to the marrow by my two small boys – I will use this tool to help me manage this. Tracking our wellbeing on a regular basis is a way to see clearly how our lifestyles are affecting our lives.

As a mother and partner of a man with very high cholesterol this is a great tool. We need to keep a firm hand on our wellbeing. If my health provider is willing to give me my health records, why would I opt not to have a copy in my own personal file?

And I welcome the services available from medical practitioners to personal trainers. I also welcome simplistic ways of understanding acronyms like BMI (Body Mass Index) – what it means and what it means to me.

What about you? Do you think you would use the HealthVault? Are you already using “the cloud” you keep an eye on your health?

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New Project – Brands Online. Get involved!

June 23rd, 2010 by Marion

Hello Mindbubblers!

We’re looking for some of you to take part in an exciting new video project!

The project is all about brands online and how you interact and engage with them. We want to know all about the brands you like on Facebook, the brands you follow on Twitter, and the brand websites you visit of your own accord…

So if you collect points the Boots website, follow ASOS on Twitter or like Starbucks on Facebook, this is for you!

If you are interested in this project we are looking for a 1-3 minute video, all about why you interact with brands online. The video needs to be submitted to us by midnight on the 4th July – either by CD via post or emailed. You will be paid 30 pounds for submitting a video.

If you are interested in taking part in this project please email contact@mindbubble.co.uk with the following information:

Your Name
Your Email Address
Your Age
Which brands you interact with online
And also a no more than 100 word answer to the following question:
Why do you interact with brands online?

Please email your answer and the information to contact@mindbubble.co.uk before midnight on Thursday (24th June).

If you are selected you will receive a full project brief before the end of this week which will help you complete your short video!

Thanks and we look forward to seeing your answers.

Marion

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Women in Norway get on board in business thanks to the government, but it is fair?

June 17th, 2010 by Sarah

How would you feel if you’d been given a chance to get ahead in your career because the government thought it would be a good idea to address a gender imbalance and give the girls more opportunities in a predominantly male environment?

That’s sort of what happened in Norway, a couple of years ago, when a law was passed making it compulsory for Norwegian companies to appoint 40% of women to their management boards.

Alarmingly, as reported at the time in The Times Online, out of 611 companies, 470 did not have one female board member and women occupied just over 6% of all the board positions.

The law may be one way of getting to the top but is the Norwegian government sending out the right message by enforcing such a sea change? Could the gender divide widen as a result of this mandatory ruling?  Is enforcement from the powers that be the only way to break into the boys’ club of business?

One former Conservative minister dead against similar proposals once suggested by pre-Prime Minister David Cameron,  is Ann Widdecombe. She said she would be would be “grossly insulted” by such a move.

In an ideal world a woman would be merited with a place on the board for the simple fact that she’s earned her place through hard graft. One criticism of the law is that the calibre of women now appointed to the boardroom just isn’t high enough.

In the short-term at least, this seems to be true as a study from the University of Michigan suggests that the six-fold increase in women as directors has not brought with it any real rise in the number of women as chief executives.

While I would love to be told I had been given a job because the boundaries have just been broadened, I would always have a nagging voice in my ear that I wasn’t in the original line-up, which is exactly the point made by Anna Dugdale mentor  and board director of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust who says “You would never know if you were there on your own merit or owing to some legal requirement”.

Ideally the calibre of candidates will be equal, whatever the gender, but if that is the case then these women are entitled to an equal chance of getting into the locker room. It isn’t just about experience – is it possible that more women would fight harder for these places if they thought their efforts would be rewarded?

Which is a point made by Danish Economist Benja Stig-Fagerland. She’s in the enviable position of receiving the “female citizen of the year” accolade for her work on the Norwegian Female Future project. The project set out to invite companies to go ‘pearl diving’  for women in their ranks whose talents have not been fully recognised, to nurture and utilise them.

As Stig says: to “focus on talent regardless of gender”. She adds: “Power is not something handed out, it is something you have to take”, so maybe the oh-so-nineties’ Girl Power is back on the agenda.

It’s also suggested there’s could be a bit of a clique old girls’ club leaving the young ladies behind, but what about us older mothers? Where do we fit in? I’ve just been chatting to a friend about returning to work after having children and whether or not our career-paths are conditioned by motherhood? When we hear the word ‘board’ it has more to do with monotony than management.

We laughed at how our fight has taken flight; she is an artist who admits her graphics work has lost its graphic edge since becoming a mother. I thought nothing of working a 10-hour day followed by a 3-hour stint in traffic, pre-kids. How do women maintain their careers’ longevity when so many compromises loom on the horizon when motherhood rears its challenging head? What pearl-like talents do we need to nurture and dive for?

We can’t all be Nicola Horlick but there’s no harm using her for inspiration and believing that a future for board women is not a futile ambition. It will be interesting to see if our new government follows in Norway’s footsteps…

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World Cup: Haters & Lovers – What’s Your Type?

June 16th, 2010 by Lucy

We’ve already had a week of football and it is getting a mixed opinion from the women in the office and my female friends. Personally I am a big fan of any sport, it’s a great excuse to go for a drink and take an extended lunch break!

Are you the type of person that couldn’t give two hoots about a group of men chasing a bouncing ball or are you decked out with your vuvuzela and have learnt the national anthem of your sweep stake team?

Here are a few observations of the effect the World Cup has had on women around me:

Firstly there is my mother ‘A Naïve Disapprover’: she is mostly unaware of it happening and thinks the smattering of England flags everywhere is tacky!

My sister, who was born to be a hostess, thinks it’s a great reason to throw a party. I categorise her world cup opinion as ‘Any excuse for a Party’. Undoubtedly she will be outside with the girls drinking Pimm’s whilst the men watch the football but there will be the occasional girly squeal if England ever scores.

Women of Mindbubble HQ are doing a good job at keeping up with the boys when it comes to the sports. We have a few genuine supporters and everyone else has been caught up in the buzz and possibility of winning the sweepstake, so I’d call the office women ‘Sideline Supporters’.

My friends on the other hand couldn’t be less bothered they think people should ‘Shove your Vuvuzela up your…’. They find the whole thing an inconvenience as it has meant they have had to rearrange birthday parties and their local pub has been vomited on by St George.

As a big world cup supported I’m a genuine ‘Fan’, I love the facts, watching the best games and following the tournament progress. I’m a discreet England supporter as I know I will probably be disappointed if I get behind them too much so I’m more of a fan of the event than my team.

What is your opinion of the World Cup? Do you recognise yourself in these cases? Any other world cup story?

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Could Meditating like The Beatles beat depression?

June 14th, 2010 by Sarah

If it’s good enough for Paul McCartney it’s good enough for me, so I’m taking time out to consider trying Transcendental Meditation.

According to a couple of American studies, it comes with some pretty impressive health benefits, which include being a treatment for depression in older people.It’s also said to be a genuine stress-buster for anxious types like Yours Truly.

Years ago I had a colleague who regularly spouted the phrase “relax, focus, breathe” (RFB) whenever he saw my freneticism mount as a deadline approached. It would make me sit back and smile just long enough to take stock of the fact I was seriously losing it and I often found myself chanting his request until I actually did relax, focus and breathe.

Had I taken the idea a step further and gone off for a TM break using “RFB” as my mantra I could have been on track to fend off any forthcoming bouts of depression, which could in turn reduce the risk of a heart attack, in the future…

Forty years ago Transcendental Meditation was about as hip-pie as it gets when it was given major celebrity endorsement by the Beatles, who had the good fortune (and it would have cost a small fortune) to study the technique under the Indian guru who was keeping the technique alive, the flamboyant Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

The recent studies were led by a researcher at the Maharishi University of Management in America, founded by the now deceased guru himself, so one would assume there was some bias in favour of the technique, but independent academics are coming out in support of the health claims made regarding this meditative technique.

The studies found that of 100 patients at risk of heart disease, who practised the technique, up to 48% experienced a reduction in depression.

You’ve only got to look at the age of the celebrity followers of TM to conclude that meditating in this way must also have some age-defying properties, as fans include such luvvies with longevity as the Rolling Stones and actresses Shirley MacLaine and Mia Farrow.

American film director David Lynch also credits the technique with anger-erasing benefits. He is so impressed with its effects that he launched a campaign in the States, with Sixties singing star Donovan, for the technique to be taught in schools.

So what’s it all about?

Transcendental Meditation allows deep rest for the body while maintaining a fully alert mind, by simply closing your eyes and chanting a mantra (which has been chosen for the person meditating specifically by an instructor) for at least twenty minutes each day. That explanation sounds like TM for dummies-dummed-down but you get the idea.

It doesn’t appear to be something you try out without taking instruction, and courses can be costly, but there are 80 official teaching centres in Britain.

According to the official UK website, over 5 million people worldwide and over 200,000 in the UK have practised Transcendental Meditation since it was founded by the Yogi in the 1950s.

If I could just clear a 20-minute window each day to try it out… on paper it is the answer. I can’t imagine, at this juncture in my life, finding the ability to clear my mind long enough to let negative thoughts drift off in favour of a simple mantra but the idea of arriving at a state of “restful alertness” is something my body and mind absolutely crave. It could also help my partner who is on his own health-maximising journey, as studies, compiled since the ‘70s, suggest TM can help lower cholesterol.

I’ve got to think about my old age and the fact that if I don’t sort out my stress levels, and anxiety traps I will stay ensnared by them forever. I am, therefore, adding Transcendental Meditation to my To Do list and will let you know how I get on.