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It's Friday I'm Charged for Being Female · Friday I'm in Bed

0:00
Welcome to Friday. I'm in bed.
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Podcast for midlife women living their best life but in bed by
0:05
10. This week on Friday, I'm in bed.
0:14
We're talking about the pink tax and how it seems to be quietly
0:17
turning into a menopause tax for midlife women.
0:20
We're asking whether these so-called menopause products
0:22
actually help, or if they're just everyday items with a
0:24
higher price tag and a pink label slapped on.
0:27
We're also chatting about GLP ones and the knock on effect
0:30
they're having on fast food chains.
0:32
Sales are down, but instead of panicking, why aren't these
0:35
companies adapting smaller portions, better ingredients, or
0:38
food that actually supports health?
0:40
And finally. We're getting into the term, a
0:42
mug or mugging Gen. Alpha boys and the worrying
0:46
message they're being fed that they need to be A6 foot plus and
0:49
good looking first, with brains as an optional extra.
0:52
So grab your cuppa and let's get into it.
0:56
Hi Gemma, how are you this week? Hi, Kay.
0:59
I'm good. Well, I'm going to say I'm good.
1:01
I'm I'm incredibly tired. I had I had my shingles vaccine
1:06
yesterday. So and yeah, it's just that's
1:09
knocked me out a bit. So if I fall asleep halfway
1:12
through, you just have to wake me up.
1:13
How about you? OK, I'm chasing my tail.
1:16
You had those weeks alike, or you feel like you're achieving
1:20
nothing and you're getting chased for all the things you
1:22
haven't done and you're just trying to keep all the plates in
1:26
the air, but you're actually dropping quest but you're
1:29
pretending you've got it under control is how my week's going.
1:35
Yeah, I know that feel. I feel like that's been like the
1:37
last seven years of my life. Maybe I've got this.
1:41
Everything is fine while the world burns around you.
1:45
There is that. Let's not even talk about the
1:46
world the. World the actual, not the actual
1:49
world, yeah, like, like, yeah, can't even can't, can't even
1:54
face that. We're going to talk about some
1:56
of the lesser horrible things that happening in the world.
1:58
I think maybe some things that might even.
2:00
Might even be fun, who knows? No, having looked at what we're
2:04
talking about, I'm not sure how fun it is.
2:07
I know. You go when you just realise how
2:09
how bleak the world is when you're looking at topics like
2:13
mugging and going. Oh, that'll be light.
2:16
Yeah. And it's it's not.
2:17
Yeah, my daughter's got her mocks this week and my son has
2:21
got multiple gigs of which he wants me to be at every single
2:25
10. And I'm just looking at the guy.
2:28
I'm like, I can't literally, I can't cope.
2:30
But like just I need, I need a holiday.
2:34
It's basically what I'm saying. Oh well, say not long until I go
2:37
on holiday. Might have to have a podcast
2:39
week off at the beginning of March because I'm in Morocco.
2:42
Which is why I have another vaccination tomorrow for rabies.
2:46
I thought it was today. Today's nails, tomorrow's
2:48
rabies. Oh, I don't trust myself not to
2:52
cuddle rabid dogs in Morocco. My husband's going to Morocco at
2:57
the end of this month, actually with a friend, although he
2:59
hasn't had a jab for rabies. But yeah, he's going without me.
3:05
And I'm now regretting that choice.
3:07
I should have gone because he said should we go?
3:09
And I was like, oh, I've got too much on and there's too much
3:11
going on. And now I'm like, I really could
3:15
do with Morocco. Grab me up a tear See I'm going
3:19
on my own husband staying at home to look after the dogs.
3:23
I am going well, not on my own. I'm going with a group with an
3:27
an influencer called Georgie Swallow organized group with
3:30
tree travels. So yeah, so I'm I'm, I'm kind of
3:33
going on my own to ride camels and camp in the desert.
3:36
But rabies isn't 1 of the jabs that they say you have to have
3:39
when you go. It's literally I am paying for
3:41
it off of the NHS on the basis that I will cuddle a rabid dog
3:45
even if it's like got I've got rabies written across its
3:48
forehead because I can't be trusted when there's dogs in the
3:51
room. Basically.
3:53
OK, well, on that note, but no, we've got quite a lot.
4:02
We maybe should get into it. Yeah, let's crack on.
4:12
I want to talk about pink things, pink tacks, menopause
4:17
products, meno washing and all things.
4:20
Let's make loads of money off women.
4:22
So this has come off the back of a video that we saw a few a good
4:28
few weeks ago, but it's been on our like list of things we
4:31
really want to talk about. And it was a doctor, not an
4:34
influencer, a doctor sharing APR package that she had received.
4:39
And she was going through it all 1 by 1 and basically saying you
4:43
don't need this, you don't need this, this is rubbish, you don't
4:45
need this, you don't need this. And the comments, because I'm,
4:49
as we know, obsessed with reading the comments, was full
4:52
of women going, yeah, we don't need that stuff.
4:57
Companies are exploiting us. And I was looking at it and and
5:00
on the one hand, I was like, yeah, you know, companies do
5:04
exploit us. We are, you know, seen as a
5:08
vehicle of, you know, how to extract as much money out of
5:11
women as humanly possible. Cash cow.
5:14
Cash cow. That's the word I'm looking for.
5:17
But actually I took Umbridge. I don't know if that's the right
5:22
word, but I like that word. I took a bit of umbrage at it
5:25
because some of the products that she was just dissing were
5:29
actually quite useful products. And I know that I had used some
5:33
of them and found them useful. And women I work with had used
5:37
them and found them useful. And where I got to was it's
5:42
really easy for a Doctor Who is fully trained in Women's Health
5:47
and has really embraced that and made it her specialist subject
5:50
to dissolve this product. But there are millions of women
5:55
out there who don't have a doctor that knows anything about
5:59
Women's Health and, and, and is not getting access to something
6:03
that would help them. There are so many women that
6:06
can't take HRT, that don't want to take HRT, and actually HRT
6:13
isn't a magic bullet. You don't take HRT and every
6:16
single symptom magically disappears.
6:19
Actually, what's really useful is to take more of a holistic
6:23
approach, a broader approach, and taking something alongside
6:28
HRT could make you feel even better.
6:30
So I was a bit like, we need to kind of be careful about just
6:34
dissing all product that has menopause on it.
6:37
However, we do need to be mindful that we are being
6:41
marketed at more than ever. So I really wanted to chat about
6:45
this as something I'm really passionate about.
6:46
And I've got lots I can add throughout around how things are
6:52
labeled menopause and, and what tests they have to go through.
6:56
But it also leads on to the whole pink tax thing.
6:59
And you know, let's just make a razor pink or shaving gel pink
7:02
and charge an extra grid on it. Yeah.
7:06
So first of all, you saw the video, didn't you?
7:08
What was your initial thought when you saw it?
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Well, again, I think much like yours, See, I have this real, I
7:16
have this real thing with anything, kind of woo woo, right
7:19
where I absolutely love it until somebody else does it.
7:25
And then I'm like, well, that's just wrong.
7:26
There's no science evidence behind that.
7:29
So I have this real like, I feel like I'm accidentally on both
7:31
sides. Like I'll be like, yeah, I
7:33
believe in ghosts. And then if someone else is
7:34
like, I saw a ghost, I'll probably be like, no, you didn't
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go. So I'm very.
7:39
Yeah, my brain. Yeah, I apologize for my brain,
7:42
but that's what it does. So I that's the kind of feeling
7:44
I hadn't it. I was a bit like, yeah, that's
7:46
right. You tell people what the science
7:48
is. But also, you know, I've got
7:49
collagen powder at home. You know, I take all sorts of
7:53
like reishi mushrooms and Kakaio and, you know, I'll, I'll have
7:57
all that, please. Thank you very, very much.
7:59
Because partly because it makes me feel like I'm caring for
8:01
myself, I guess is part of it. And sometimes that's half the
8:06
battle, isn't it? Like even if it's just those
8:09
tiny little things, you know you're not if you don't have
8:12
time to actually sit down and give yourself a lot of time.
8:14
Sometimes it's just giving your permit self permission to feel
8:17
like you're caring about yourself.
8:19
And if that's buying an overpriced collagen powder in a
8:21
pretty packet, then so be it. If you can afford it, so be it.
8:27
So yeah, I think that kind of it covers my faults where I was
8:30
like, yes, science, but also don't dismiss.
8:35
Don't dismiss it just because it's not fully researched.
8:39
I guess what kind of to do you still use kind of those holistic
8:42
products now which ones do you use?
8:45
The one that it was actually that I got a little bit annoyed
8:48
about was the shampoo actually, which obviously people were
8:51
very, you can't have menopause shampoo, but actually you have a
8:54
lot of hair loss in menopause and as you age.
8:57
And so, So actually to answer your question then I'll get back
9:00
onto the shampoo. I don't take any extra right now
9:03
because the HRT is working for me because I have access to HRT.
9:08
I have a doctor that understands HRT and understands menopause
9:11
and more importantly, I understand menopause.
9:14
So I spend a lot of time educating my doctor, but that's
9:17
a whole literally I have to sit and explain why I do this and
9:21
what it's for. And they go, oh, oh, actually,
9:24
yeah, that makes. Sense.
9:25
Well, that's good if you've got a doctor that listens to that,
9:27
because it's when you get the doctors that are like kind of
9:30
bit arrogant and a bit like, I'm the doctor, I'll tell you.
9:33
Actually, yeah, they go on my nerves.
9:35
Yeah, yeah. And I mean, obviously I spend a
9:37
lot of time with women in menopause.
9:39
So yeah, I do know what I'm talking about type of thing, but
9:42
I don't like educate them as such.
9:44
But it is like I will have a conversation with them.
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So I'm lucky. I don't feel right now that I
9:49
need extra supplements or I'm actually I'm on HRT and a lot of
9:53
the more woo woo as you said or natural or homeopathic remedies
9:58
is cannot be taken alongside HRT.
10:01
So if you're not on HRT, you may want to take certain things, but
10:05
if you're on HRT you can't. So right now I'm not taking
10:10
anything holistic. But then, you know, I do take
10:12
vitamin D, that's not holistic, that's a supplement that all
10:15
women, you know, as we age really, really need.
10:18
And everyone just got to add to that one.
10:20
Vitamin D everyone in the UK should be taking between at
10:23
least September and March because there is no way your
10:26
body is enough. So.
10:28
Just got to throw. Put that one in there, because
10:29
that's one. No, absolutely, especially in
10:31
the UK. But now there is a big call for
10:34
doctors to prescribe women over 50 vitamin D because you know,
10:38
our bones is, you know, one of the biggest issues in aging.
10:41
So I take things like that. But back to the shampoo.
10:44
So everyone was like poo pooing the shampoo, poo pooing the
10:47
shampoo. You get that.
10:48
But actually that shampoo has an ethic on it.
10:53
So and a menopause tick. I've done some work.
10:57
Yeah. So I've done some work with a
10:59
company called Gen. and they female led company who were
11:04
frustrated with exactly this. I am in menopause.
11:07
I need help. I'm not getting the help I need
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or I need extra help. What is out there?
11:12
And they were they went out and saw there's 101 products with
11:16
menopause on that which work, which don't work, which have
11:18
been researched. How how do I know?
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And they have created this empty so that customers, women can see
11:28
that it has been checked and verified for the research, for
11:32
the science. You know, they have to pass lots
11:34
of tests to get this empty. They wanted it to be a bit like
11:38
the vegan V that goes on vegan food or the fair trade stamp.
11:42
You know, you that all gluten actually, I don't know if there
11:44
is a gluten free one, but definitely if you're vegan, you
11:47
know, you can look at a product and it will have the V on it.
11:51
I think it is, yeah. And no, you trust, you trust it.
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You don't almost feel that you have to read the ingredients.
11:57
You might still do it, but ultimately you trust it.
12:00
So some of the products she was dissing had the M tick on that I
12:05
know has been through a lot of what's the word tests.
12:09
Is that the right word to check the research is right?
12:13
Because remember, it's really easy to say 99% of women found
12:17
this great and then they only asked 5 people, you know?
12:22
Where was the last 20 years ago? Yeah.
12:26
And they were all 22. Yeah.
12:28
You know, like, so you have to, you have to, you know, they've
12:30
done that bit. I tried the shampoo.
12:32
You're talking about them. It was Metaplex, I think I.
12:37
But yeah, I tried that and I did.
12:39
I did really like it. And I think my mum is using the
12:42
shampoo conditioner or something now.
12:43
So I did really like that. And it is a thing where, you
12:45
know, your hair thins. And I guess one of the
12:49
discussions about that is that, you know, there are already
12:51
other products out there that could help with the issues that
12:57
you're having but aren't specifically marketed to
13:00
menopause. Menopause, menopausal women.
13:03
So maybe it was the. Yeah, I feel like the doctor was
13:06
just dismissing things out of hand, but I feel like she was
13:08
really talking about the fact that they were specifically
13:11
being marketed to menopausal women rather than potentially
13:14
the products themselves because, you know, a shampoo that helps
13:17
with hair loss or something like that.
13:18
But I, I don't think there's a problem with them specifically
13:21
marketing it because it makes it easier for you to find if that's
13:24
a condition that you know, if that's something that you're
13:26
dealing with in men in menopause, it makes it easy for
13:29
you to go menopause shampoo. There we go.
13:31
Which is great for them as marketeers.
13:34
And that MTIC can then make it trustworthy.
13:36
I guess the question is, is, is it the same price or is it more
13:40
expensive than the other product in their range, which is exactly
13:43
the same? Because that's the question,
13:45
isn't it? Can we can we squeeze extra
13:47
money out of the out of desperate menopausal women who
13:51
are losing their hair? And that's the problem, isn't
13:54
it? And that's down to let's squeeze
13:56
money out of women, and now let's squeeze money out of
14:01
menopausal women. I think the idea of the MTIC as
14:05
well is that stuff, stuff products get grouped in store
14:09
and then there's an MTIC flag. So actually, you can just go to
14:12
the area. But like anything, I think the
14:15
advice needs to be checked that there's not another product that
14:20
does exactly the same thing that's not been marketed to
14:23
menopausal women. For example, you know, just like
14:27
I was in Little yesterday and the whole family needs shaving
14:31
cream and I know the whole family needs it because there's
14:33
none left and we all use the same one.
14:35
And of course, I just bought the men's one.
14:38
I didn't even look at the women's one because I know the
14:41
women's one will be more expensive.
14:43
To be fair, maybe I should have, but I think having been a woman
14:46
on this planet for 53 years, I instinctively will buy the men's
14:51
shaving gel because it's going to be cheaper.
14:53
Because of course men have to shave every day for work and we
14:56
have to keep the price low. For them and us, it's all about
14:58
vanity, even though society tells us we have to shave to be
15:02
hygienic. But you know all that bollocks
15:06
you think with all that. Extra money men earn that they'd
15:08
be all right paying a little bit more for their for their
15:10
product. Wouldn't you?
15:12
So I think it's back to that whole pink tax and it's, and
15:15
it's just like it's, you know, it's like paracetamol put in a
15:20
box and it says it's for period pain.
15:22
And when you look at the ingredients, it's I can't
15:25
remember if it's ibuprofen or it's paracetamol or what it is.
15:27
But the point is is you don't need a special still, period.
15:31
Pain because it's painkiller. Yeah, it's a pink painkiller,
15:35
but actually a pain is a pain and you just could take
15:38
paracetamol. Well, that's an interesting one
15:41
as well, though, because this is probably a little bit off of the
15:44
topic of the pink tacks, but there is a lot of, again, this
15:48
is my love of woo woo. There's an amazing book called
15:50
Why Woo Woo Works. And one of the things in that
15:52
it's about the placebo effect, and people quite often use the
15:55
placebo effect to say this doesn't work, but actually what
16:00
its meaning is, it does work. But, you know, there's always a
16:03
psychological component to a lot of these things.
16:05
And some of the research is that people who take branded
16:07
painkillers, even if they know the ingredients are exactly the
16:11
same and you know, they might say to you, I'm not going to
16:14
take nurofen. I just take normal ibuprofen,
16:16
you know, because I know that they're the exact same thing.
16:19
If they take nurofen, they have better effects.
16:22
The pain goes quicker, lasts longer than if they take normal
16:25
ibuprofen just because in their heads it's like worked its way
16:31
in there because there's all kinds of stuff about giving
16:32
people, I can't remember what colors they are now, but like a
16:35
blue pill works better than a red pill for calming, even if
16:38
the topic, even if the contents are exactly the same.
16:41
And people feel calmer if they take a blue colored pill and
16:44
that kind of thing. So that's actually really
16:47
interesting, I think, because you know, if you're told this is
16:49
going to help you with your menopause symptoms, there is a
16:53
very reasonably practical excuse.
16:56
Yeah, it very may well help you more than the exact same product
17:00
which is not branded towards menopause.
17:01
And it is all in your head. But that doesn't mean it's not
17:04
true. That's always one of the things
17:05
I think being in your head doesn't mean it's not a reality.
17:08
Kind of everything's in our head.
17:10
OK, that's starting to get a bit philosophical now, but you know.
17:13
Well, I've had to. I've had to wean myself off
17:15
buying nurofen because it's just ibuprofen.
17:19
Yeah, when I now buy ibuprofen and it, but it's taken me
17:23
decades, you know, years. And I didn't even, you know, I
17:27
called ibuprofen nurofen. I need to, I need to get me a
17:30
nurofen, you know, like the branding, the marketing.
17:34
They've done such a great job on me, but I actually called it a
17:38
neurofen, not just a pill or a ibuprofen.
17:41
So yeah, I get that. Will we ever get to a stage?
17:45
Where do you think of this is probably a stupid question.
17:48
To ask, I like asking. Stupid questions.
17:50
Then you can just laugh when we'll get close stage when we
17:53
won't have the ping tacks on toiletries, See.
17:59
What's the point in asking me that question?
18:00
If I said yes, absolutely, now you'd be like, you'd be like,
18:03
really? Is that what you think?
18:04
Yes, absolutely. I think probably within a week
18:07
that'll be gone. Just because we've talked.
18:09
About it, yeah, that'd be it. No, I yeah, no, I don't think I
18:14
don't I don't think we will. I think, I think that that's
18:19
that's that's kind of thing in the marketing is, is kind of a
18:22
bit deeply ingrained and yeah, things that things that women
18:26
like have eternally been kind of painted as vanity or less
18:31
important than things that men like.
18:33
And I think it goes along with that because if women like it,
18:36
it's a luxury. So even if it's being marketed
18:38
to menopausal women, it that also goes along with the whole
18:41
thing of of menopause, which is changing slowly.
18:44
We do talk about it a bit more, but the whole, the whole thing
18:47
of menopause where people don't talk about it.
18:49
And therefore women are probably just making a bit of a fuss
18:52
about it and should probably just get over it.
18:55
And therefore all of the products that they might need to
18:57
help them through it are should be expensive luxuries.
19:02
But do you from a business perspective, I'm going to take a
19:05
different angle here. If you ran a supplement business
19:11
of any form and you could see that there's more people talking
19:15
about menopause, it's becoming much more acceptable to talk
19:18
about it and more other businesses are producing
19:22
menopause and menopause range. You would be pretty stupid in a
19:27
way surely to sit round your board, table board in the
19:31
boardroom and go, shall we make a menopause range because
19:34
everybody else is and we haven't got one.
19:35
Nah, let's not bother with that. So I think it's almost from a
19:40
business perspective, they're going to jump on it because
19:43
hopefully from a good place they want to help their customers.
19:47
But let's be real, most of the time it will be the bottom line.
19:50
How can we make, you know, how can we make more money?
19:53
I suppose as you said, it's the it's the things that we don't
19:57
need for the added money. Yeah, being.
20:02
Marketed to in the world we live in where everybody who at least
20:06
being marketed to means you're being seen by someone, I guess
20:09
like there's a, there's a, there's a thing about that, you
20:13
know, it means that you're not being shoved away in the
20:14
cupboard and called irrelevant if you're being marketed to.
20:17
It's the, it's the added costs being put on it because it's,
20:23
that's the bit that feels predatory, I think on, on
20:26
people's, people's women's desperation.
20:32
I know although I am going to leave this with I saw menopause
20:36
chocolate in a shop, I'm not going to name the shop and I
20:40
made a video about it. Like scathing back in my more
20:44
ranty days. I feel like I'm less ranty these
20:46
days, believe it or not. And I made, I made a video about
20:49
it and actually I had about how ridiculous it was like, and
20:53
obviously it probably had magnesium in it and so does dark
20:55
chocolate. I actually had women that I knew
20:58
as well as other like women I didn't know messaging me going
21:02
actually, there's nothing wrong with this.
21:04
I'm really happy they're doing this.
21:06
So and I was a bit like, what menopause chocolate really.
21:09
So I suppose it's remembering that everybody's bodies are
21:12
different, everybody's needs are different and also everybody's
21:16
menopause is different. So if they if, if one woman
21:19
feels having her menopause chocolate is going to help her,
21:22
as you said, it might be in her head, it might just make her
21:25
happy, it might help her, who knows?
21:27
We just need to be careful not just to write it off as
21:31
ridiculous rather than accepting that like we are all really
21:34
different and our menopause journey is really.
21:36
Different again, critical thinking.
21:39
We leave one there with, hey, critical thinking.
21:43
Always the answer. Yeah.
21:51
OK, Now I would like to talk about the disruptive force of
21:57
weight loss drugs. And that is a direct headline
22:00
quote from the Independent talking about talking about GOP
22:04
ones and not just GOP ones as they relate to people losing
22:10
weight, but the disruptive power they've had on businesses.
22:15
I mean, I mean, unless you've been living under a rock for the
22:18
last year, you've heard of Ozempic or you've heard of
22:22
Manjaro or you've heard of Wigglevy.
22:24
They are all the GLP one drugs that were originally for
22:29
diabetes and turned out to have an exciting side effect where it
22:33
made people lose a lot of weight and therefore they've now been
22:36
started to be licensed for weight loss.
22:39
Those of you who haven't listened to an earlier episode,
22:43
I am on Manjaro myself. I gained a lot of weight taking
22:46
steroids when I got a cancer diagnosis and it did not fall
22:50
off like I was promised, probably due to the fact that I
22:53
was also in the medical menopause.
22:55
Eventually tried Manjaro, and I have lost in the last year
23:00
almost all the weight that I put on.
23:02
But it's not necessarily just about the weight loss drugs.
23:06
It's having a broader impact on on the world.
23:09
There are studies that show that GOP ones are contributing to the
23:14
fact that people are spending less on groceries and fast food.
23:17
Obviously it's contributing. It's not the only reason.
23:19
There's also the fact that no one has any money and there's a
23:21
massive cost of living crisis. Companies like McDonald's
23:25
finding that their profits are dropping and people are buying
23:29
less ultra processed foods and also on clothes sizings that are
23:34
available, particularly in High Street shops, people are buying
23:37
smaller sizes which means that the larger sizes on the shelves
23:39
are just sitting there. So according to this article, an
23:43
increasing amount of shops are are stocking a smaller range of
23:48
large sizes or larger sizes will be online only, and the ones in
23:52
the shops will be kind of on the smaller end of the scale.
23:55
It doesn't specify what the smaller end of the scale means,
23:58
whether that means, you know, the twelves and fourteens, which
24:01
were always the kind of big bulk of the shopping, or whether it
24:07
means everyone's wearing a size 4.
24:09
I'm definitely not in a size 4, just in case we would like to
24:11
clarify that. But yeah, basically the rise of
24:15
these drugs is having a big impact.
24:17
This I've got, I've got my stats.
24:19
McDonald's could lose up to 28,000,000 customer visits and
24:22
$482 million per year, apparently Redburn, Atlantica
24:27
financial analysis firm said, which is a lot of money for a
24:31
company company to use. Do you think this is a good
24:35
thing or a good thing overall, or a bad thing?
24:40
So let's start with fast food. It's interesting that this is
24:44
also happening alongside all of the articles, podcasts,
24:49
television programs, research about old processed food.
24:52
So actually we it's on the agenda of people's minds with or
24:58
without weight loss medication. I would suggest my first thought
25:02
when I read this was, Oh, well, you'll have to adapt meaning.
25:08
And the reason behind that is as a customer.
25:11
I, I mean, I do go to McDonald's.
25:12
Children, you know, I have children, I have teenagers.
25:14
They love McDonald's. I don't feel there's been
25:17
anything for me as a person. Forget sizes for a second that
25:22
likes healthy food and is vegetarian or pescetarian
25:27
actually, but doesn't want chicken forever.
25:29
There's a salad, but it's a chicken salad.
25:32
There is nothing that I actually end up eating if I'm there a
25:37
fish finger Happy Meal, which is obviously designed for five year
25:42
olds, but it's about the right amount and it's not too much,
25:45
you know, And it's because there is nothing for me.
25:48
So there is part of me on a personal level going ha, you
25:52
might actually have to consider adding more than a fruit bag or
25:58
a carrot stick bag to your menu to cater for people that don't
26:03
want hamburgers. So I think there was part of me
26:05
that started off with that. And then also it led me to think
26:09
about all the other things that I've been seeing of lay around
26:14
because obviously we know people aren't eating out, people aren't
26:17
going to the pub like they used to.
26:19
Obviously that from the cost of living crisis, but also people's
26:23
behaviors are changing. We people don't go to the pub
26:26
every night like they did 20 years ago or whatever.
26:30
But there's all these sort of publicans upset about Dry
26:32
January and how it's affecting the bottom line.
26:36
And they may, you know, and obviously if things keep keep
26:39
going like this, they might have to close.
26:41
I don't want anyone to close. But I also, as a sober woman,
26:44
think maybe. How?
26:46
About you actually sorted out your non alcoholic range because
26:50
then people might come out who don't drink all year round.
26:54
It's like, it's also like the vegan menus, all these
26:57
restaurants, you know, losing people because of vegans.
26:59
And it's like, why don't you just put?
27:01
Vegan on the menu, it's not hard.
27:04
It's really not hard and I think there are companies particularly
27:08
like McDonald's rather than a small independent, but that
27:11
don't adapt to changing behaviors.
27:14
And this year changing or last year, you know, in the last 12
27:18
months, the changing behavior has been the use of weight loss
27:21
drugs, but also people quitting alcohol, people wanting to be
27:25
healthier and not eating UPF, people moving to vegan or plant
27:30
based diets. Like things are changing and a
27:33
business has to adapt and keep now.
27:35
I was just going to say I don't like the woe is me about
27:38
McDonald's because it's like, well, mate, just, you know, add
27:41
a salad. Come on.
27:42
It's not harder, people. Yeah.
27:44
I can, I can tell you, I can tell you now that if you do
27:48
order the chicken salad in McDonald's, they can be quite
27:52
confused sometimes as well. Oh, because nobody orders it.
27:57
Yeah, because no one orders it. So they're a bit like salad.
28:00
I've heard of this. Hang on, but, but alcohol,
28:03
interestingly, alcohol was one of the things that was mentioned
28:05
as well because I have seen research that people get less
28:09
cravings for alcohol on GLP ones as well.
28:11
I mean, my alcohol habits had already changed significantly
28:14
before I went on them, but I definitely drink a lot less than
28:18
I used to. You know, there's always been a
28:20
lot of like it's willpower. You just need to have willpower.
28:23
But it's incredibly difficult to have willpower in a world that
28:26
is constantly trying to persuade you to have massive lunches or,
28:32
you know, to order this huge burger.
28:34
And then you feel like you're wasting food if you don't eat it
28:37
all or, you know, it's constantly there all the time.
28:40
And the world isn't designed for that.
28:43
So I think there's a lot of issues in this.
28:46
So the first one is kind of like that impact on health, which I
28:50
think is really interesting because some places are starting
28:54
to market things as GLP 1 friendly.
28:57
So specifically a smaller portion or a high protein option
29:01
or something like that. They will, they will market them
29:04
as GLP 1 friendly. That's interesting.
29:07
And also the concept that these GOP ones don't do the work for
29:11
you, which I've said before, they could make you eat less.
29:14
But if you just eat less while you're on the drugs and stop
29:16
taking them, you know, this is an opportunity to use that
29:20
lowered drive to make changes, to eat more fruit, eat more
29:24
vegetables, eat higher protein, you know, go out and do some
29:27
exercise if you want to change your health rather than just
29:30
your weight. It is interesting to see
29:33
companies then maybe make that move more into health just
29:36
because they realize that their their marketing isn't overriding
29:39
people's kind of, you know, isn't having that impact on
29:42
people's kind of natural drives anymore, which is very, yeah,
29:46
very interesting that that applies to alcohol as well.
29:49
So then there is that you're moving from health into that
29:52
topic of companies adapting to what consumers actually want,
29:56
rather than just, you know, trying to trying to push
29:59
something on people. And I've said this about pubs a
30:01
lot. My parents were in the licensed
30:04
trade and when they would talk about dry, dry January being an
30:07
issue and stopping people drinking, how pubs would go out
30:09
of business, I was like, offer something else.
30:12
Because I will quite often have an alcohol free beer.
30:15
Now if I want, if I want a beer, then I can have an alcohol free
30:18
beer. I love a really good alcohol
30:20
free cocktail. And I mean, I've got a house
30:23
full of alternatives like 3 Spirit and silver and like all
30:28
these, all these things like this and the CBD drinks that you
30:31
get. There are so many things out
30:33
there. There are so many products that
30:34
you can sell people at a premium price that people that people
30:38
want. So you know, at the end of the
30:40
day is like a business's responsibility to, to adapt to
30:46
that. Businesses have to adapt and are
30:49
people actually making changes to be healthier?
30:52
Are they just using the drugs to eat less and therefore going out
30:56
less to eat? Well, I suppose that one then
30:59
comes just down to portion sizes.
31:01
So from a McDonald's perspective or Burger King or any of the
31:04
fast food chains, they don't Do they have a small version?
31:08
I suppose me eating a Happy Meal is a way of having a small
31:12
version because there is nothing healthy in there.
31:16
I. I think it's really interesting,
31:20
as you said about companies like fast food chains not thinking
31:24
about their consumer. It's all about what they can
31:26
push on on us and make us addicted to and make us want and
31:31
everything. And such a big part of running a
31:34
business is understanding what your customer wants and and
31:37
giving them what they want. That's it's such a big part, but
31:40
I feel are they just too to say cocky?
31:45
I don't know if that's really the right word.
31:46
Just like we're able to change, you need to change, you're the
31:51
problem. It's like it's just really
31:53
selfish and I can't think the word I'm trying to come up with,
31:58
but I think small independence will.
32:01
But then how do you feel about the GLP one size?
32:04
Because we talked about ladies sizes a few, well, however long
32:09
ago, like portion sizes. And actually some people do want
32:13
smaller sizes. It's fine.
32:14
Just don't call them ladies sizes.
32:15
But is calling them GLP 1 friendly sizes?
32:19
You know the right thing either. Does that that offend you?
32:24
But much like the the menopause stuff is just marketing at the
32:27
end of the day, isn't it? It's just thinking there will be
32:29
something here that I can eat. But yeah, I think calling them
32:31
GLP one. So The thing is, you don't know
32:33
what the answer is. I don't.
32:34
I don't want a restaurant that markets food to me as diet
32:37
either. Like, I don't understand why
32:39
they can't just say, you know, smaller portions are available.
32:41
If you don't think you're going to eat it all, don't waste food
32:43
like this is drive has always been towards bigger and bigger
32:48
portions because people feel like they're getting value for
32:51
money. And it's that thing where people
32:53
when you physically can't you just go, I'm full and I don't
32:56
want anymore. And suddenly there's an off
32:58
switch, which is something I never had before.
33:00
I was always like, you know, there's food on my plate.
33:01
I'm going to keep eating. It doesn't matter how, you know,
33:03
sick I feel or how many buttons I need to undo.
33:05
I'm going to finish eating it. Whereas now I'm like, you know,
33:08
I'm full. I don't want this and I just and
33:11
I just stopped eating and that can save companies money in the
33:14
in the long run if they don't have to provide as bigger
33:16
portions. That was something else that
33:18
came up in this article, which was really interesting, that
33:21
airlines apparently are doing really well over this because
33:25
their fuel consumption is better, more efficient, because
33:28
we're less heavy, we're we're lighter, we're carrying lighter
33:31
people apparently could save them like $580 million over the
33:36
next year just in fuel costs. Will they pass that on to us?
33:40
I did, you know, I thought that and I also thought, does that
33:43
mean I can have a heavier suitcase now?
33:45
I think you're fine. I've lost 10 kilos, so I'm
33:49
having 10 kilos more luggage shoes.
33:55
Oh airline. Well, yes, because there's yeah,
33:57
there was lots of big talk about people that were too big and in
34:00
could should they be booking 2 tickets but actually.
34:04
That human beings can be comfortable in, of course.
34:06
Well, exactly. But now they've got the other.
34:09
Well, now it's positive to them, so that's good for them.
34:12
Let's talk about the clothing retailers because you've said
34:14
about, you know, reduction in sizes.
34:17
Well, in fact, we talked about that, didn't we?
34:18
We're talking about Lucy and Yak the last week or whenever it
34:21
was, I read that people are buying more clothes.
34:23
I've seen lots of people on TikTok saying, you know, I've
34:26
lost those way and I need to rebuy my entire wardrobe.
34:30
Do you think that's great or do you think all those people are
34:34
going to jump to fast fashion, which isn't so great?
34:36
And the people I'm watching actually the algorithm is
34:39
showing me obviously is people that are going to charity shops
34:42
now and rebuying their wardrobe because obviously TikTok knows
34:46
what I want to see. But it'd be interesting to know
34:49
like, where are they all going? Are we finally going to see
34:52
uplifts in sales in the likes of Next or Marks or wherever you
34:57
know? I mean the article talked about
34:59
them putting a lot like tighter size ranges out on their shop
35:03
floor. I.
35:05
Am deeply regretting a lot of the clothes that I gave away
35:08
when I had a hissy fit when I put on this when I when I was on
35:11
the steroids and you know, a cancer diagnosis is a difficult
35:14
thing to navigate mentally. And I literally had a hasty fit
35:17
and gave like bags of bags and bags of like 30 years of my
35:21
wardrobe just went to charity, which I am regretting a bit now,
35:26
which does mean that yes, I do have to, I buy a lot of stuff.
35:29
Personally, I'm rebuying a lot of stuff on Vinted and I am
35:34
literally rebuying a lot of stuff.
35:35
I'm finding the clothes that I liked selling the bigger version
35:39
and buying it in a smaller size on Vinted.
35:41
So that is that is one of the things that I am doing.
35:45
I'm also going to say it's a lot easier to wear clothes that are
35:48
too big for you than it is to wear clothes that are too small
35:50
for you. So from a personal perspective,
35:54
I turned fast fashion when I gained the weight because I
35:56
needed something to put on my body and I needed it.
36:02
I needed it fast and I didn't want to spend £200 on it because
36:06
I had no idea what was going on. So I did did buy a lot of fast
36:10
fashion things when I gained weight.
36:12
Now I am not. I am buying fewer, nicer things
36:16
because I feel like I, you know, I deserve it.
36:19
Frankly, I'm buying. I am rebuying things that I
36:24
already knew that I liked from previously.
36:27
So I'm actually finding myself because I can still wear some of
36:30
my bigger clothes. They're not, you know, going to
36:32
literally, unless they're going to literally fall down as I walk
36:35
down the street. I can, I can wear stuff slightly
36:38
baggier. That's a lot easier.
36:39
So it's not like I'm going to be undressed, but when I'm buying
36:42
new things, I'm more likely to buy a bit more carefully.
36:46
I obviously cannot speak for an average consumer, and I know
36:50
that a lot of people, when they lose weight, then rediscover
36:52
that joy in fashion and may then be buying a lot more clothes
36:58
than they may have used to be. That's an excellent sentence.
37:03
That's what I'm seeing, yeah, that's what I'm seeing.
37:07
The people that have come up in my for you page, a very much
37:11
like you can tell the enthusiasm is back or maybe not.
37:16
That might be for the first time towards fashion and whether
37:19
they're buying it pre loved or vinted or in charge shops or
37:22
wherever that there is that feeling.
37:24
So considering the High Street has done so badly, you know,
37:29
maybe these extra sales is, you know, not maybe it's a it's a
37:33
good thing. But yeah, I don't think
37:34
McDonald's is quite so happy. It will be interesting to see
37:39
how this kind, this kind of thing evolves, I think.
37:42
Yes, I'm looking forward to a selfie, Neil.
37:53
I want to talk about Morgan. Or a morgue.
37:57
New abbreviations Don't we just love and it's all aimed at young
38:01
teenagers and they love an abbreviation, funnily enough, so
38:04
it feels fitting. So there's been an article in
38:07
the Independent. I think this is the second
38:09
Independent article we're we're featuring of the day and.
38:13
So yeah, highbrow newspapers. Right, yes.
38:17
And around podcasters, male podcasters, a new breed of male
38:22
podcasters. And so not Andrew Tate, which is
38:24
the the one every the person, everybody cites young guys
38:29
making podcasts aimed at young boys and which we kind of do
38:33
know about. Obviously with the program
38:34
adolescents and things like that.
38:36
It's this is not new news, but particularly talking about the
38:41
alpha male and how you need to be the alpha male of the group
38:45
AMOG. And actually all you should want
38:49
in life basically is to be the alpha male.
38:53
And by alpha male, you need to be the best looking.
38:56
You've got to be 6 foot tall. In fact, what they're saying is
39:00
your looks are more important than your brain.
39:03
Now, what's interesting about this, and obviously we're going
39:05
to talk about this more is the response.
39:09
You know, again, or was reading the comments, so many women
39:12
saying, well, welcome to like our life, how we've been told
39:18
how to look, how to be and that beauty equals value, youth
39:23
equals value our entire life. And now that it's and boys, the
39:27
press are talking about it. And, you know, I read things
39:31
like, oh, woe is me, you know, Oh, dear, the boys when my girls
39:35
have been subjected to this forever.
39:37
And I was subjected to it as a woman, but as a parent of a boy,
39:41
I'm read this and I don't go, dear the boys.
39:46
You know, I've seen it first hand and I've seen the pressures
39:50
that boys are now under that they weren't before to look a
39:56
certain way and that their entire value comes from how they
40:00
look. And I think it's a really scary
40:02
territory. So I thought it'd be good one to
40:04
talk about because yet girls have always been told that their
40:08
value is linked to how they look And.
40:10
And now boys are. And yeah, is let's talk about it
40:15
is, you know, it's obviously an awful thing, but let's.
40:18
Had you heard of mugging, first of all?
40:21
Well, I had. Because my husband mentioned it
40:25
to me. I was like, do you mug?
40:27
And apparently he doesn't mug, which is good because he's he's
40:31
far too old to be mugging. But the thing that I was like,
40:36
what? I've never heard of this the
40:38
thing that I was quite because I don't have children, so I don't
40:42
see any reason why I should know what generate like doing with
40:46
themselves. But one of the things when I
40:48
when I did then read the article, one of the things and
40:50
find out more about it. One of the things that quite
40:52
interested me was how the angle, I guess, was interesting to me.
40:59
So obviously we can say you're well, welcome to welcome to our
41:03
world. Like, you know, you know, our
41:05
whole lives we've been told that our value was was in our
41:10
appearance. And you know, you get the Mean
41:11
Girls thing and everybody's got to kind of fit that that look.
41:15
You need to be tiny and petite and beautiful with long flowing
41:18
hair and all that stuff. But when it started to be
41:24
marketed at men, it becomes almost aggressive and
41:28
competitive, whereas when it's with women, it's a lot softer.
41:32
There was a trend which this kind of to be to Mulga has kind
41:36
of grown out looks maxing with two exes, which I think was
41:39
basically like boys using face masks.
41:42
Like that's that's literally it. Women were like, we've been
41:45
doing that for years. You know, we had a nice
41:47
afternoon on the sofa. It was when women do it, it's
41:49
self-care where men do it looks maxing with two exes.
41:54
And yeah, so though I think there was a very there was a
41:56
difference in angle and also there was it was a lot more
41:59
aggressive. I mean, I've been reading about
42:01
some of the things that these boys will apparently do to be
42:06
the alpha male of group, like breaking bones to make
42:09
themselves taller, like leg lengthening was actually a
42:14
thing, and some of the some of the methods that they refer.
42:17
I mean, I hear that one of these influences hit himself in the
42:19
face with a hammer, but it didn't the article didn't
42:23
actually specify why he hit himself in the face with a
42:25
hammer. I'm not sure how that makes you
42:27
more. No, I can think.
42:29
So I've had my son is about turn 18, but he suddenly about 1314
42:36
became quite obsessed with his jawline.
42:39
His jawline had to be a certain angle.
42:42
And I was like, your jawline is your jawline, mate.
42:45
And I was. And as a parent, I noticed him
42:48
starting to be like my jawline and he'd suck his mouth up so
42:53
his jawline looked cut. And, you know, and then some
42:56
people, it's cheekbones, like this really angular face is
42:59
fashionable in the male young boy world because they're being
43:04
told by these guys on podcasts that that's what women want.
43:07
And I noticed it really, really quickly.
43:08
So I think that's probably what that is, because if you break
43:11
your face you might be able to have it be moulded.
43:14
Into a better job, Yeah, OK, good luck with that.
43:18
But yeah, it just seems, it just seems a lot more aggressive than
43:21
the way that that that stuff is marketed to women.
43:23
But I guess that again, is because in in their view is that
43:28
their looks are making them the alpha male.
43:30
Whereas with women, it's been more like their looks are a
43:36
method of them being controlled and being smaller and taking up
43:40
less space rather than taking up more space.
43:42
So there, there is quite a, although we might say kind of
43:45
welcome to our world. There's a very different vibe
43:49
behind it, I think. It's aggressive in the like
43:52
terminology, as you said, and it's more like power and you
43:56
know, because it's but boy, but the bit that concerns me is that
44:00
the aggression, the aggressive nature, it's being told to our
44:06
boys. And obviously that's the whole
44:07
conversation about social media being banned.
44:10
And we we've talked about that as well, haven't we?
44:12
And we talked about body dysmorphia, but the rise of body
44:15
dysmorphia in boys is huge. And I remember when this
44:18
happened in our house. Well, you know, he was clearly
44:21
seeing things, you know, when they're like 1314, they're in
44:25
the depths of puberty and I'm not being funny and no
44:29
disrespects 13 year old boys, but you're not exactly looking
44:32
your best or smelling your best. And I'm say this with love
44:36
because I've had one. And I think women obviously have
44:43
also been targeted when we're in puberty.
44:44
But we talk about it like there is this kind of backlash you're
44:47
talking about. This is not acceptable.
44:49
But this is happening for the first time to young boys.
44:52
And when they're at their smelliest and, and kind of
44:55
they're evolving into teenagers, but it's still, you know,
44:59
there's a long way to go and they're being told that their
45:02
jaw has to be perfectly cut, cut and they have to be 6 foot.
45:06
I mean, these boys are still like 4 foot 8.
45:08
Some of them like they aren't, they're so far like this message
45:12
isn't going to 25 year olds or 18.
45:16
It's going to 13 year old boys who are slower to grow.
45:20
They are all shorter than the girls.
45:22
They are, you know, skin problems all through puberty,
45:25
you know, just puberty stuff. It's like, wow, that's what
45:30
they're being targeted with. And, and reading this article,
45:33
realizing that my son didn't see this podcast, it wasn't around
45:37
then, but he was influenced. And I think there's lots to talk
45:43
about banning social media that's talking about talk about
45:46
talking about this in schools. But we have also talked about in
45:48
the past the role of a parent. You know, part of the reason I
45:53
want to talk about this today is we have a highly female audience
45:57
and and it's, you know, parents as well.
46:01
And it's like this looking out, but it's this sign, you know,
46:05
this suddenly like obsession with a jaw or their muscles, but
46:09
there's like they're literally like 12.
46:10
Like why are you even thinking about muscles?
46:13
But not in AI Just want a six pack and look like the guys on
46:16
love island. It's not like that.
46:18
It's so specific. I have to have this type of
46:21
muscle. Everything's really specific
46:24
that comes through on this stuff to the point where us as a 53
46:29
year old woman, it's like what? Because it's just seems so
46:32
weird. But yeah, but it's really
46:34
specific things like 6 foot and you know, how about breaking
46:37
your leg to be extended? I mean, that just seems bizarre
46:41
to me. I mean, I feel like.
46:45
OK, so when I was 12:13 we all wanted to read just 17 and my
46:51
mum wouldn't let me read just 17 for quite some time on the basis
46:54
that it was called 17 and I wasn't 17.
46:56
Not just. 17. So, but I feel like that was our
47:01
source for things because we didn't have social media.
47:04
So all of our obsessions were specifically based off something
47:10
which had some oversight when it was produced.
47:13
Just 17, you know, anything that going to press and is being sold
47:17
like that at least has some oversight, you know the.
47:21
Yeah, some oversight. You know they can't if they were
47:26
publishing lies, it's being you know what I mean?
47:29
Right. Like it feels like this was a
47:32
this was at least a moderately official source.
47:35
OK. And there were grown-ups
47:36
involved in producing it. OK.
47:39
Somewhere in that line there was an actual grown up and a group
47:42
of people went. Are you sure when you start
47:45
talking about these kind of like individual influences, it's just
47:48
them. And if they manage to get a a
47:50
voice for whatever reason, because they're tapping in to a
47:53
paranoia that a particular group has and then that voice gets
47:57
amplified and amplified and amplified.
47:59
There's no oversight. There's no grown up down the
48:01
down the line somewhere going, are we?
48:03
Sure, this is what we want to put.
48:05
Out this week, it's just it's just one person and when that
48:08
gets amplified and then more people start joining in who also
48:11
don't have any oversight, that's that's where it's starts kind of
48:15
worrying me because that's where you get these real like extreme
48:19
and yeah, like you say oddly specific things that start
48:23
coming on social media. And I don't an age where you
48:29
don't have that critical analysis where you know you will
48:32
believe what people tell you. And obviously whatever your
48:35
parents tell you is a lie, but the random person you've never
48:38
met on the Internet, well, they're speaking your language,
48:41
obviously. So that's one of the things
48:43
about it that's concerning to me.
48:45
And it's not just concerning because it's happening to boys.
48:51
It's it's concerning because it is, it means it's growing rather
48:58
than reducing. You would really hope that, you
49:00
know, women have been dealing with this for years and that we
49:02
would get out and that now we might start to get over it.
49:04
But actually what's happening is it's getting amplified for
49:07
younger generations and getting worse in a way which that, yeah,
49:12
that is that is a sad thing and a worrying thing.
49:16
Regardless of whether you can't just be like, welcome to our
49:19
world, boys. You have to you have to
49:22
acknowledge that, you know, we didn't want it to happen to
49:24
anyone. So it's not just that we don't
49:26
want it to happen to boys. We don't want it to happen to
49:28
anyone. Let's we just.
49:29
Stop it now. And we need to, you know, I
49:33
think we're all in agreement that to change, to change the
49:38
future of how women and girls are treated, boys and men need
49:43
to change behaviors. Like I think we know that.
49:48
But if we are still feeding this extreme narrative about into 13
49:54
year olds, it's never going to change.
49:57
Because of course the narrative is, is to get a woman, you have
50:01
to look like this. And you've got to get a 10.
50:04
You're going to, you've got to be a 10 to get a 10.
50:06
And all women, you know, like there's all this ideology that's
50:09
behind all of this manosphere stuff.
50:11
But if we don't collectively call it out and try and make a
50:17
change, it never will. It will get worse and worse and
50:21
the patriarchy and the Geno man thing and all of this stuff is
50:25
just not going to change. I remember having a conversation
50:27
with my son. You said they don't listen to
50:29
your parents. Actually, sometimes they do.
50:31
It all depends how. Just keep talking, Talking,
50:34
talking about what I want in a man, what I wanted in a man.
50:40
Yeah. I might have wanted him to look
50:41
nice, you know? Yeah, let's not, you know, lot,
50:43
you know, looks did were on the list, but actually emotional
50:48
maturity, kindness, that kind of thing.
50:54
Humour, for example, is was really, really important.
50:57
Honestly, don't believe the guy. You believe the woman because
51:02
the woman is the one you're trying to attract.
51:03
And we're telling you what we want, and actually we're lying.
51:06
Apparently, pardon, we're lying. Apparently that's not what we
51:10
want. That's not what we want.
51:11
Well, that's the other thing they're fed that we lie about
51:14
everything but everything. Yeah, it's it's such a the bit I
51:17
was annoyed about was the just the welcome to our world.
51:20
And whilst yes, that's kind of true, it's not going to solve
51:23
the issue because if all the boys, all the 13 year old boys
51:27
turn into Andrew Tate, one of his, and you know, and this
51:31
carries on because we're talking about 13 year olds now.
51:35
So the next round of 13 year olds will get targeted like it's
51:38
never going to change. So somehow collectively we need
51:42
to smash the manosphere. But how we do that?
51:50
We've not done that great a job with the patriarchy so.
51:53
I know it's just yeah. And I think parents do need to
51:58
take more responsibility, as do the platforms, as you know, you
52:01
said about regulation like, you know, just 17.
52:03
One would like to think there was a grown up at the table.
52:05
I'm sure there was. And although I'm sure some of
52:08
the content was really questionable, but anyway, you
52:12
know, somebody needs to regulate.
52:16
Yeah, You know, I don't know. Is it just made with podcasts or
52:19
is it not? That Yeah, like, you know, like
52:22
sometimes when you're booking to go on holiday and it says that
52:24
they, they won't take like groups of like single sex
52:27
groups. Do you think that they they
52:31
should be like, there should be like an oversight committee
52:33
before you're allowed to publish anything.
52:35
And it goes, I mean, we would probably end up falling under
52:37
this as well. Are you a single sex group or
52:39
like, are you a grown up? Like, Yeah, like before, before
52:43
we let you speak to the public, we just need to check whether
52:45
you're weird. But back to the whole banning
52:48
social media from 16. We talked about it when
52:50
Australia did it and obviously it's really on the table now to
52:53
happen in the UK. Banning social media will not
52:56
stop that. Anything we've just spoken about
52:58
because it's all happening on YouTube, watching YouTube, but
53:02
it's you can get podcasts on Spotify and Apple Music.
53:05
So it's actually not going to stop boys having access to this
53:11
content that is literally not helping them at all and causing
53:16
things like body dysmorphia. So we talked about how like
53:18
Instagram is a big part of girls feeling really bad about
53:23
themselves. There's the filtering, there's
53:24
the editing, there's the, you know, just the content they see.
53:27
But boys aren't consuming that on Instagram.
53:30
They're consuming on YouTube, which is on the ban list.
53:32
But also you, they'll just move on to Spotify.
53:35
And actually, you can get on YouTube.
53:37
You don't even need to log in to watch anything on YouTube.
53:39
You can just do it via Safari or Chrome or whatever.
53:42
You can just get on telly. You can get it on the telly.
53:45
You can get get via Pinterest. You can get it on.
53:48
Fire Watch on Fire TV. There's so they will still
53:51
access it. So the banning that social media
53:53
to under 16 is not going to solve that one at all.
53:57
Yes, it will help with the TikTok algorithm of stuff that
54:00
they're shown with misogyny in and maybe the intro to these
54:05
people, these men, but they will still access it.
54:08
So that's not going to solve it. So therefore school or
54:11
regulations via the government or parents, you know, as I've
54:17
said before, my children were allowed a phone, but the the
54:20
rule was, was that I could look at it at any time and I did when
54:24
they were 13. I don't know, but you know.
54:27
Yeah, Yeah. I think when it comes when it
54:30
comes to these kind of kind of trends and these things that
54:35
come out, they are such, they do change so fast.
54:38
I think it is difficult for for for people to keep up, but I
54:43
don't think it has to be about keeping up with the trends.
54:46
It's more just about keeping up kind of with your children, I
54:50
guess, like, you know, and like spotting things in their
54:53
behaviour because it's not always even just about the, the
54:57
content they consume. It's about having it like
54:59
moderated. I mean, when I was a kid it was
55:01
EastEnders. Like, you know, my mum and dad
55:03
would sit down and talk to me about things that came up on
55:06
EastEnders, you know, if there were some slightly dodgy themes
55:09
that came up that week. I don't know.
55:11
I'm probably talking Kathy. What was her name when Kathy,
55:17
Kathy got raped by. Yeah.
55:19
And, you know, so my parents would talk to me about that kind
55:22
of thing where if you're allowed that kind of unmonitored access
55:25
as a as a younger child, and it's just that the technology is
55:29
making it difficult, more difficult to monitor.
55:33
So yeah, there's absolutely no answer to this one, is there?
55:37
Like no, but I think if it's going to still be there, which
55:41
right now is, my advice is just keep your eyes open.
55:46
Like I remember maybe at 1314 my son wanted creatine, but there's
55:53
nothing wrong with creatine. But why was he suddenly asking
55:56
for creatine? You know, like, and we were
55:58
like, why? And at the time we hadn't really
56:01
heard of creatine. So we were a bit like, what,
56:03
what, what is that? And I looked it up and I was
56:05
like, why do you, why are you suddenly obsessing about muscle
56:10
at 13 where you weren't before? So what's happened?
56:12
Where is this from? A bit like the jawline, my
56:15
jawline. And can I have one of those
56:16
things to do limps lymphatic drainage because I want my
56:19
jawline to be as cut as possible.
56:21
That's not a normal conversation from a 13 year old boy who was
56:25
gone from literally just sort of grunting, you know, and then
56:30
suddenly he wants what are those things called?
56:32
The thing that with the the jade roller roller, there's a roller
56:38
or there's the one that's like a shaped like a boomerang.
56:40
And they anyway, suddenly he yes, anyway, yeah, but what 13
56:47
year old boy suddenly asked for one of those?
56:50
So it wasn't like, Oh my God, this is the end of the world,
56:52
but it was like there was just something in my brain that was
56:55
like, well, where have you got that from?
56:58
I'm just like, why you should be having the same thought with a
57:01
13 year old girl because you don't need to worry about that.
57:03
You're 13. But it was so kind of out of
57:06
character. He must have seen something
57:09
somewhere. So I think my advice here is, is
57:11
that if you have a son, a 13 year old son is just, you can
57:15
obviously look at the phone and monitor their usage and things
57:18
like that. But it's like what's a bit
57:21
different? What's a bit weird or a little
57:23
bit out of character because they've got it from somewhere
57:25
and where is it? And have them have a
57:27
conversation. You can't change the shape of
57:30
your jaw yet. You're growing, you've got a
57:32
brace in for goodness sake, like your whole jaw is changing.
57:36
Do you know what I mean? It's having those.
57:38
Conversations. But it does need to be
57:40
regulated, Definitely. Yeah.
57:43
Making it a conversation rather than an accusation is definitely
57:47
a key point. Thank you for joining us for
57:50
another roundup of midlife chat, hot takes, and occasional
57:54
moaning. Well, quite a bit of moaning.
57:56
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57:59
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