Prejudice and discrimination

I live in a part of England that is predominantly white. Having lived in areas that have mixed racial groups living as neighbours, i find this quite strange although sadly, somewhat normal nowadays.

There has been a steady influx of Eastern Europeans coming into the area to live and work for a few years , which seems , as does anything that is new and different, to unsettle the local population. For someone like myself who has been fortunate enough to live in many different places, countries and cultures, i find this fear and prejudice of 'foreigners' quite unnecessary and to be honest , wrong!

A person should be take on face value rather than their religion, beliefs or colour of their skin. All these attributes are only a small part of what determines the kind of person you are.

Prejudice and desrimination doesnt begin and end with race, colour or nationality. Todays society are just as prejudice towards disabled people, single mothers, teenagers ..or hoodies as they are commonly labelled as nowadays, people who have mental health issues, even dog breeds can be discriminated against.

If people spent as much time learning about different things and sections of society as they do making false judgement with no real facts to base their conclusions on, i do believe we would live in a more harmonious society. After all it is ignorance than causes many fears and prejudices and ignorance can only be cured by education.

Going back to the race related prejudice , the most common 'excuse' for racial hatred are issues like '..they come over here and take our jobs'
My parents live in a very rural area, that is predominantly agricultural land. The workers on their farms , the majority are Eatern Europeans, who work 12-14 hour days , work in appauling conditions, get paid minimum wage for back breaking labour and whats more is dont pull a sicky ever few weeks! You tell me how many of our younger generations would be prepared to work like that for that length of time ....well i can tell you ...not many! The people who come to this country to work , end up doing low paid, menial jobs that British people wont do or arent prepared to do...so how is that stealing our jobs?
I do not deny that there are a few people who do make it into this country that will abuse our system ...but how many british people do that ? The ironic thing is that the majority of people i hear moaning about foreigners are people who themselves dont work , or are on benefits and have no intention of working because they get paid too well to do otherwise.

Never throw stones in glass houses !

Women in society

Sitting reading the papers and reading articles on the net , i have come to the conclusion that society seems to have lost its way. Our priorities are all wrong and seem to be heading in the wrong direction at an alarming speed.

Take for example women. I too am a woman and in no way am i a born again feminist, I am a realist. By that i mean that i know there are some things men are better at than women and vice versa.

I find it sad that women feel they have to live up to the expectations of society to be deemed attractive. Surely beauty is on the inside? I have watched my step daughter grow up from being a baby, she is now 14 years old and cannot even get out of bed without her hair perfect and make up on! Why does she do that? Because society leads them to believe that if your hair is not straight , youre not the perfect size 0 and all your flaws (which may i add are what make you unique) are not hidden away under an ever increasing amount of make up then your'e not pretty. Your'e a social outcast. The pressure put upon women by the glossy magazines and the tv adverts, holly wood stars etc is incredible and so terribly wrong.

I do feel however that a major part in the above from a woman's perspective is no doubt to have more self confidence but surely self confidence should come from within ,your ability and undertakings rather than your outer shell?

Surely does it not make you a better and more appealing human being to put others before yourself, to encourage and support your fellow peers and to be the best you can possibly be , rather than a wannabe pin up? Which in turn is quite ironic seeing as women are all for equal rights , yet we still put ourselves on show for the benefit of our male counterparts? I know because i have been there and done that, so it isn't as if i am just some random person commenting on something she doesnt know or understand.

To my horror there was a book aimed at young girls about becoming a WAG ! Girls seem to aspire to become one of these new breed of stars? They think that fame and money surpass everything else in life. Aslong as they have have Gucci handbags and Prada shoes, and a footballer hanging off their arm , then where is the need to learn how to read and write and aspire to be something of substance , or to achieve things and make something of themselves?

I think people need to start looking inwards at themselves and asking what is truly important in life. People should try to aim higher and better themselves, there is only yourself stopping you from achieving whatever you want to achieve. It just takes hard work and dedication to achieve your dreams.