Having sex with the lights off? It"s the thin edge of the Donald Trump wedge | Bridie Jabour

Last week I had a package delivered to my desk containing a lightbulb suggesting I may prefer to have sex with it on because it is dimmer than the average bulb.

It was not a piece of fanmail, but a PR push that began with “research” about how many women felt self conscious about their body during sex.

“We hope this helps you start seeing yourself in a new light – to love how you look and love how you feel,” it said.

The product it was promoting? Weight loss. Specifically, Weight Watchers.

First the weight loss industry came for our enjoyment of the beach intoning “bikini body” from the last day of winter onwards, and now they are coming for the bedroom.

I was inclined to tweet a photo and forget about it. But a week later I am still getting furious responses from women, a visceral reaction which shows this is still something women want to talk about … despite it being something they are sick of talking about.

Bridie Jabour (@bkjabour)

How many people thought this was an okay idea before it arrived on my desk as a piece of PR pic.twitter.com/7tH37yyqsS

October 14, 2016

This wasn’t just one of the numerous petty insults we are used to every day but something that was thought out for months, strategised, okayed by multiple people.

What is there to be said about weight loss campaigns that hasn’t already been said? Reams have already been written. We know insecurities are exploited for financial gain.

We know there is a relentless and unrealistic pressure put on women to look a certain way from when they were girls.

We know that more often than not, the product being sold just doesn’t work. Women either do not lose weight, or a much smaller number lose the weight and then discover all of their problems are not solved by being thin.

And yet, it is 2016 and I am still receiving a lightbulb in the mail suggesting I might prefer to have sex with the lights off for fear that my partner might, shockingly, see my body.

It’s almost embarrassing to have to write such an obvious point – overweight people enjoy sex, it is not just the domain of the thin. But this campaign isn’t just saying overweight people may not be inclined to show their bodies, it’s also saying any woman could, and perhaps should, be self-conscious taking her clothes off.

No matter your size you are susceptible to this campaign, whether you think you should lose 10kg, 30kg, or 2.5kg there is something in here for everyone. It’s not just about being overweight, it’s about every woman who has ever wished something about their body was different. Which is pretty much all women.

It’s so boring.

This is the thin edge of the Donald Trump wedge, the insidious everyday misogynistic messaging we are telegraphed about how we should look, how it matters. It is the other end of the sexism spectrum to Trump who trumpets it, says bluntly: “She is a fat piglet.”

If there is any silver lining, it is that more and more women are not putting up with this any more. Trump is actually losing votes over his comments and treatment of women. Weight Watchers was forced to respond to the backlash – it hasn’t pulled the campaign but Weight Watchers’ senior marketing manager, Rebecca Melville, conceded it could cause offence.

“We launched in stages and that has fuelled the conversation without context,” she told Mumbrella.

What context do we need? We already know the context: the company commissions the research that says we have a problem with our bodies during sex and, surprise, that company has the product to solve our problem.

It feels like we are stuck in this infinite loop, doomed to keep trying to tell the world our bodies are fine, we are fine.

We are tired. Tired of the commentary on how desirable we are, tired of being warned about summer bodies, tired of being told hair removal and makeup is a statement no matter what our decision on it. We’re tired of all that because there are so many more interesting things we could be talking and thinking about. We have better things to do.

Having sex with the lights off? It"s the thin edge of the Donald Trump wedge | Bridie Jabour

Electric vehicles could go first at traffic lights under UK clean air zone plans

Drivers of electric vehicles could be allowed to use bus lanes in five UK cities and even go first at traffic lights, to tackle illegal levels of air pollution, the government has suggested.

Launching its consultation on clean air zones to be introduced in Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham, Derby and Southampton, the environment department said air pollution killed 50,000 people each year at an annual cost to society of £27.5bn.

Electric vehicles, which emit no pollution directly, are seen as a key way for local authorities to bring down levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in the five cities, which are in breach of EU limits.

Local authorities should consider incentives to encourage people to switch to electric vehicles, said the draft clean air zone framework, published on Thursday.

These could include cheaper parking and “allowing access to bus lanes, exemptions from other restrictions such as one way systems, and priority at traffic lights for Ulevs [ultra low-emission vehicles].” But local authorities will be encouraged to consult with residents on such ideas first, an environment department spokeswoman said.

The government said it wants each city to have a mandatory charge by 2020 for dirty buses, coaches, taxis and lorries, but not private cars. Birmingham and Leeds will tackle older vans too.

Next week the environment secretary, Andrea Leadsom, faces a legal challenge from environmental law group ClientEarth in the high court over the government’s NO2 clean-up plans.

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, this week called the capital’s toxic air a “health emergency” as he launched proposals for a bigger and earlier clean air zone than the one planned by his predecessor, Boris Johnson. Unlike the other schemes, London’s does cover cars.

The details and workings of the zones in the five other cities, chosen by the government last December because of their NO2 levels, will be published next year.

Environment minister Thérèse Coffey said: “We need to tackle air pollution and creating clean air zones will improve the quality of life for people who live and work in our towns and cities, both now and in the future.”

The Department for Transport also announced £35m on Thursday for more electric car charging points for taxi ranks and workplaces, and a scheme to encourage uptake of electric scooters.

“While any government action on pollution is welcome, it’s no coincidence that it comes just five days before ClientEarth returns to court because of the government’s inaction on this public health crisis,” said Alan Andrews, a lawyer at the firm.

“Requiring just five cities in the UK to introduce clean air zones doesn’t solve a national problem which causes thousands of premature deaths. Other local authorities won’t introduce voluntary clean air zones unless they are made to, or paid to.”

The environment department said other local authorities could introduce clean air zones if they wished.

But Friends of the Earth said the government should financially support the zones in other towns and cities blighted by illegal levels of NO2.

Jenny Bates, a campaigner at the green group, said: “Everyone, no matter where they live, should have the right to breathe clean air. Local authorities should be supported – including financially – to introduce clean air zones across the country.”

Table – NO2 exceedances at UK cities

Electric vehicles could go first at traffic lights under UK clean air zone plans

Flashing Christmas lights are a danger | Letters

Glastonbury, like nearly every town and village in the UK, is about to suffer an annual outbreak of flashing. It will start in the high street and spread all over town – maybe even to your garden or front room.

Around three in every 100 people with epilepsy have photosensitive epilepsy. Various types of seizure can be triggered by flashing or flickering light: tonic-clonic, absence, myoclonic and focal seizures – all disabling and some dangerous.

Christmas-tree lights that are sold to the public do not have to comply with health and safety regulations. They can flash at any rate, so they can and do cause people to have seizures.

My 21-year-old child, for one, can no longer go out of the house from November until January because of the danger of suffering seizures as a result of flashing Christmas lights in shops and front gardens. Those seizures may continue for days following just one exposure. Just imagine being locked in your house for three months every year and unable to shop or socialise. Many people assume that epilepsy is now controllable, but 20% of epilepsy patients have intractable seizures – seizures that do not respond to treatment.

So this year, when you switch on your Christmas lights on – please realise that if you set them to flash you are actually ruining Christmas for some. Set them to continuous burn and not flash. Then we can all have a merry Christmas.
Richard Newman
Glastonbury, Somerset

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Flashing Christmas lights are a danger | Letters