CoE or PC?

I was getting a little annoyed this week reading the story of the homosexual couple who took Peter and Hazel-Marie Bull, the owners of a guest house, to court because they wouldn’t allow them a double room in their guest house due to their religious beliefs.

I am an atheist and have my feet firmly planted in believing that religion is ridiculous and is, quite frankly, people living their lives by instructions from someone who could, essentially, be anyone.

However, as much as I would love to convince the world that obeying religion isn’t a reason for conflict or, in my opinion, a realistic way to live an adult life, religion will always be there and be something strictly followed by the masses.

Surprisingly, it isn’t the religious aspect of this that has upset me. These people have their beliefs and they have a guest house which is also their home. If it is their property and business, especially it being in an environment where couples are regularly intimate with another, how can they not express their views and beliefs and operate their business in a manner that suits those beliefs?

How have we fallen into such hypocrisy in allowing our nation’s desperation to be seen as ‘politically correct’ that the beliefs of individuals and their rights to opinion and their own thoughts is now less important?

I always felt that part of being British was never having to seek authorisation to speak your mind. We always had the freedom to be honest about our feelings or beliefs and that, sadly, seems to be fleeting from us.

Attraction

I am constantly told by male friends and, even more so, by men that come in the pub regularly who they believe to be "hot, sexy, gorgeous and stunning" yet find myself differing in opinion with them constantly.

The men I'm referring to are generally between 19 and 22 years old and seem so easily impressed by inch-thick make-up and eyelashes extended so far that they could also pass as a visor.

What is it that has happened that has made the artificial image so acceptable and approved by men? Is it celebrity? Is it Insecurity? Or is it just the strife to look good over-cooking itself into the situation where women feel they have to cover themselves in gloss and glitter just to secure the advances of the standard man?

Equality

Ok, before anyone jumps to any conclusions, I do believe in chivalry and general gentlemanly conduct, however, increasingly, mainly in the workplace, I'm seeing that equal rights and the things many women fought for are becoming a term of convenience and not the equal world they desired.

We now live in a world of equal pay, equal political and social standings, equal opportunities and levels of respect that the Suffragette movement would be delighted to see.

However, some women take a lot of liberties when it comes to the equality front. Whilst being paid the same wage to provide the same role, why do we still live in a time where women can refuse to partake in roles that should now be unisex tasks.

Fair enough, if they struggle to lift certain items and they ask for help, no problem. I'm not getting at women and saying that all of them won't make an effort, but certain women I've worked with have been quick to refuse to attempt certain things, which I find highly frustrating.

Whether it's lifting a box, a table, a signpost or a decorative plant, they are all avoided by certain women and can casually decline the role just on the basis of being a woman. Surely, in this day and age, this is not the world ideallised by Emmeline Pankhurst and her fellow campaigners.

I don't mean to sound harsh or petty, but surely in the world we live in, everyone needs to be as capable as the next person for the equal rights movement to truly have any worth?