Thrift, Trope and Trolls

Being thrifty at first was a bit of a chore. Emotionally it was an admittance of money being tight, physically it was quite time consuming and meant dropping tv programmes or getting up earlier. Of course the budgeting and not buying things wasn't much fun either but gradually a shift took place. The bread making became therapeutic and the nipping out into the garden for produce brings me a sense of joy and has given me some time back.

Freshly baked Spelt bread

The vegetable/fruit patch of the garden

Has it saved any money? I think so. Well apart from basil I have all the herbs I need. My basil growing keeps gong pear shaped. Plenty of rocket means points make prizes and if those strawberries come to fruition then petit garcon will be very happy.
Emotionally being thrifty has changed my view of materialism and also made me more compassionate. When you reconnect with nature (and the Romans - I make spelt bread) you value soil, rain, sunshine and creatures. I love the bees and the worms and I wish the ladybirds would hurry up and come to eat the pesky grubs.

gratuitous shot of petit garon (still in his pjs)

Which leads me on to trope. Trope and hegemony were two favourite words I learnt during my masters degree. Hegemony is quite complex in that it is attributed to power whether political, historical or cultural. I was discussing it in the cultural sense of a dominant presence or ideology.
Hence, and I quote from my dissertation (make a cup of tea/coffee now or find a pillow this is a long unforgiving post).

“This hegemony of the red dress as a motif in Hollywood is an external item attempting to interrogate an internal dialogue or representation of women. It becomes a useful indicator of their ‘authentic’ self or their social standing. It is the fashion theory books which provide further insight into the symbolic nature of the red dress on screen."

Of course without hegemony there isn't really a trope. Because in the context of my dissertation the trope was the red dress.

"It is the visual spectacle of the red dress upon the screen, a dress which is a complete garment with a bodice and skirt, fitted upon the body, which alerts the audience to a shift in plot. Stephen Gundle and Clino T. Castelli in their examination of the colour red attest that ‘the association of red with vanity and excess means that it can depending on period and context, take on positive and negative meanings at different times.’ (Gundle, and Castelli, 2006:122) So, no surprises that, when you create costumes in red they have particular potency and that the red dress has associated meaning making it a visual trope for the female character."

a bit of visual splendour and relief!

What an earth does thrift, nature and the red dress have to do with blogging? What is the point of this post!

Trolls and confusion is the answer. A certain blogger namely Sister Wolf suffered a dreadful loss, the death of her son Max. Sister Wolf is infamous for her wonderful writing. She challenges the hegemony of collective acceptance and particularly social matters.

In the UK today we celebrated a report, the longest report ever, into Bloody Sunday that took place in Derry in 1972. 13 males were killed mainly teenagers and Eamonn McCann an Irish journalist campaigned long and hard to get to the truth and to get justice. All those killed were declared innocent. Would this have happened without constant challenges against the political system and the hegemony of power, probably not.

I've said it before and I'll say it again blogging started as being outside the mainstream. Some blogs have become part of the system. This is clear with many fashion blogs. Blogs which are defined by the press as the best or in their top 100. The invites to shows, magazine features and of course advertising. There is nothing wrong with this at all. But a hierarchy has been created. So the cycle of discourse shifts and those in the mainstream become representative of a hegemony and therefore develop as representing specific things. They can then be examined in respect of antithesis, irony, metaphor or hyperbole to name some literary uses of trope. however with language meaning develops and trope tends to mean a common or over used device. Which is why I examined the red dress moment in Hollywood films.

Back to Sister Wolf, she employs many techniques to examine and challenge - and certain individuals become symbolic and are used as tropes to discuss wider issues. It seems that this is a difficult concept for many to comprehend. When it comes to styling I look for visual expression to create a story or props/locations that will place clothes within a context. However this is limited by the client or defined by the 'house style'. Strictures are in place even in fashion but fashion is 100 times more creative than many jobs as is journalism. There is a culture which creates and encourages thought. Thought, that must keep challenging and shifting views.

I accept for many in their work, Mr MDS is no exception, the rigours of 'professionalism' create more conformity. Some families have more structures and differing ideas of behaviour than others. We all carry views created and defined by others.

In my garden and making my bread I find time to reflect, to remember the fun I've had and to be thankful for living and being alive. When I was doing my 'A' levels my late aunt bagged me work experience with Isabella Blow. My aunt was very glamorous and worked in the Foreign Office and had all sorts of arty friends. Isabella was working at The Sunday Times. It probably wasn't the best work experience in respect of structure. My aunt must have known what to expect because she gave me a wad of money for the week. Isabella had a way of saying 'Would you darling, be a love' which was either followed by a hand wave in a direction so I had to make a guess at to exactly what; or coffee/cigarettes/food was mentioned. Off I duly trotted. She never once offered me money. But she did ply me with advice even though I never asked for any and attempted to ply me with gin, which I did eventually grow fond of.

One of my favourite comments was after a bit of a row she had in my earshot. I must have looked like a scared rabbit because she said "If you don't have enemies you can never have friends." She was chaotic and she was quite bonkers but she was one of the many people who have enriched my life by providing a different perspective.

Sister Wolf takes risks in that she challenges, creates debate but it seems some people confuse this with being obsessive or have no understanding of discourse - using people or things as examples to discuss wider issues. I had to defend her this week because she wrote a typical post in the midst of her grief and some people attacked her. They did not unpick the commentary.

Eamonn McCann is a campaigning journalist, he work with facts - he wanted an outcome, justice for the 13 dead. Due to his focus and against the odds 38 years later he got it

Sister Wolf is a commentator/a columnist, she is provoking and opinionated. Like Julie Birchhill or Marmite you either love it or hate it. Normally disagreement or attacking remarks bounce off her or she gives a response, but currently she is a mother who has lost a son. This is why I defended her against trolls. in the same way I choose thrift over debt I choose to be a friend and if that makes for enemies then mines a G&T hey ho.