This weekend I strolled out of my house onto Blackheath to enjoy the much-anticipated annual fireworks show that light up South East London as part of the 5th November Guy Fawkes Night celebrations.
For those that don't know, the celebration dates back to a rather less cheery occasion in 1605 when a group of English Catholics, including most famously Guy Fawkes, failed to assassinate the Protestant King James I. Their method? Gunpowder.
Although Guy Fawkes was as involved in the Gunpowder Plot as the rest of the conspirators, it was Fawkes who was found guarding the explosives on the night and so started the tradition of making a Guy - a model of Fawkes - and burning it on a bonfire.
Over the centuries, the celebration has continued with various different alternatives to the Guy, with people burning figures from the media that have been particularly prominent. This year everyone is talking about that book...
Fifty Shades of Grey has received mixed reviews. On the one side it has sold more copies than Harry Potter (a travesty!) and received rave reviews from women all over the world, being translated into over forty different languages. On the other hand, however, the book has been slated as terribly written and, more importantly, degrading to its main readership - women.
Clare Phillipson, director of abuse charity Wearside Women In Need, has called for copies of the novel that features sado-masochistic sex scenes to be gathered together and burnt today on 5th November. "Our concern," Phillipson has said "is not the graphic depiction of sex - this is an abusive relationship presented as a love story. It normalises abuse, degrades women and encourages sexual violence."
As it happens, the novels are to no longer be burned but will be recycled into toilet paper so critics can show what they really think about them...
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| So I was Googling for 50 Shades Loo Roll - WHO THE HELL PUTS LOO ROLL IN A BOWL AND PUTS IN ON DISPLAY? OWN UP NOW. |
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