This House Believes that it’s hard out Here for a B***H

Edinburgh University’s debating union host a public debate on the portrayal of women in popular culture.


After the speculation over Edinburgh banning “Blurred Lines” and EUSA declaring that it has become feminist in the past week, it was only relevant for the University’s Debating Union to take this topic to the stand for a heated debate.

The evening was introduced with Lily Allen’s video, “Hard Out Here” which influenced the society for the topic of the debate.

The night’s heated discussion started with the head of the Feminist Society, Sylvia Battcock as the proposition. She outlined the issues of misogamy and lad culture which have been at the centre of discussion recently within the University.

“”no one criticises the men behind these videos”

The charismatic guest speaker, Viv Regan, managing editor of Spiked Online Magazine, defended the media and music videos, stating that we should “leave pop culture alone – it’s called artistic freedom”. The controversy of the comment became the centre of many discussions and sparked criticism from the floor.

Repression or “artistic freedom”?

Despite disagreement from the audience, Viv Regan managed to influence not only the spectators but the proposition herself, at one point leaving the treasurer of the Feminist Society tongue-tied to a direct question. As a result Sylvia Battcock appeared to be an embodiment of this “victim culture” of feminism although her points were still both valid and convincing. One member of  the audience told The Tab that although she initially agreed more with the proposition, she found the Regan’s points to be “more swaying”.

 

“There is something very conformist about feminism today”

The evening saw a lively floor debate with passionate students arguing against Regan’s controversial feminist views on pop culture. One student even claimed to be “too angry” to give a statement at the end following a long counter argument to the opposition’s comment that feminism today is “cultivating a victim culture”.

Overall the night was engaging with vibrant discussions from both the guest speakers and the audience.

For those interested in joining, Edinburgh Debating Union has weekly workshops on Mondays at 7pm following lively socials at Bristo Bar and Kitchen.