So, I took A level English Language and for part of my coursework I had to write a persuasive article and I really liked this piece I wrote so I thought I'd share it. This is a feminist piece on the BIC pen for girls which I think we can all agree is pathetic as I, very sarcastically, present in this piece (p.s I got a B for this...go me)
BIC Issue
I’ve wanted
to write an article for a while but I couldn’t because I was unable to get my
hands on the ‘right’ pen. But now, finally, BIC have released a pen…for
girls! After 188 years of us women using
boy pens (gross, I know) we finally have a pink, girly, sparkly pen made to fit
into the petite and delicate hands of girls. It’s about time really. I was worn
down and weary of having to use masculine pens - thankfully, the new pens have
good grip which helps due to my lack of physical strength. Not to mention, the
packaging has flowers on so obviously I was drawn to them like a housewife to
her hoover. Finally, a pen that matches my floral apron, how long does a girl
have to wait? Now all I need is some pretty pink paper, a heart stamp and I’m
all set!
💖💋💄
If only we
could close the gender pay gap sooner so I could afford two pens because clearly
we are happy to pay a higher price to show the world our femininity.
But this
pen is a women’s sword. This gives us a tiny amount of power over men. With
this mighty pen, men can only produce squiggles. They simply can’t write with
it. But what happens when men are in desperate need of a pen but only a pen for
girls is available? What would men do? Would their handwriting go all loopy?
Would their dots over their i’s turn into little hearts? Scary thoughts.
To think I
used to have to do a lipstick stained kiss as my signature before these
revolutionary pens came into use.
You females
reading may be desperate to know how you get your dainty little hands on these?
Simple, ask a male companion to go earn the money to do so for you. Now, I must
go back to writing my shopping list.
All jokes
aside, Malala Yousafzai a young, Pakistani activist fought for education for
women and went through hell in order to succeed - her next campaign may well be
to provide a pink pen for every female? After all, how can women ever right
anything of importance with a blue pen. I really hope she doesn’t hear about
this as she may wonder what she was fighting for.
To
uncover why its taken all this time to create a pen suitable for half the
worlds population I turned to BIC’s mission statement for the company - “To
connect people in business and industry with one another for the betterment of
all.” What are they trying to better? If multi-national company BIC want to make “betterment” for all then I
can point them in the right direction. There’s a charity for School for Justice
in India. The School for Justice is a remarkable school that trains girls who
have survived sex trafficking and have been forced into prostitution to become
lawyers. Which, in turn means that the girls can aim to use their law degree to
prosecute the traffickers, helping bring them to justice and prevent a new
generation
of girls falling victim. So I say BIC, if you’re reading this, instead of
making a useless pen for girls, make ‘betterment’ for those poor girls.
Don’t get
me wrong, we’ve made a lot of progress towards equality: equal pay act, freedom
to vote but we obviously still have a bit to go. The United Nations views
gender equality as a human right yet discrimination towards females across the
globe still happens every day. Only last week did I finish up my run around the
village upset as I had two idiots who felt the need to comment on my body as they
were driving past in their crappy Vauxhall Corsa.
To name one
of many ‘sexist pigs’, Donald Trump (surely no shock to anyone) known for his
many highly offensive and sexist phrases. A few of his popular phrases include “A
person who’s flat chested is very hard to be a 10/10, Okay?”, “if Hillary
Clinton can’t satisfy her husband what makes her think she can satisfy
America?”. And to mention just a few of
the names he’s called women: dog, slob, fat, pig and disgusting animal. We have
a huge way to go, if the leader of the ‘greatest free country in the world’
still writes this down. It’s one step forward and five steps back.
In the news
recently, retail giant John Lewis whipped up a storm by announcing they weren’t
segregating the boys and girl’s clothing department anymore. A whopping 85% of
people were offended by this. What’s their problem? This shows how slowly
things are changing and how segregation between boys and girls is so deep
rooted in our society. A lot of people feel threatened by the idea that girls
can do everything that boys can do.
Seriously
though, how patronising to market a pen to women that’s more expensive because
it’s pink. I can’t quite imagine Theresa May or Hillary Clinton demanding that
their PA finds them a girl’s pen to sign off public policies…
P.s I
haven’t yet got a female keyboard so I hope you all can understand this.
