Thursday 15 November 2012

Am I a Juxtaposition?

This is probably going to be the most pointless blog post in existence, but here we go. 

So I found a comment on a blog post that I posted about the importance of charity (which I deleted rather than responding and getting into an argument) in which an anonymous commenter (classy) made snide remarks about how I go on about charitable giving and such like whilst endorsing the fashion industry and spending money on clothes and such. Firstly, yes, I do this. Secondly, it's not like these two things do not go hand in hand; people hold auctions of clothing and the like, for charity, where rich people spend ridiculous amounts of money for a good cause. This may not be the best example, as many may have other motives, but it makes my point. I do not spend extortionate amounts of money on clothing, shoes, jewellery and make-up. In fact, the most money I have spent on clothing in the past year was last month because I got money for my birthday to spend as I wished. Being a student, I cannot afford THAT many clothes, but I will occasionally treat myself to a purchase that I really, really want, half of the time returning it though paranoia, but the other half keeping it and getting enough wear out of it to make it worth it. There's nothing wrong with this.

At the same time, I endorse and partake in charitable giving. I spend money in charity shops on books (I ADORE the Oxfam Bookshops), or give money to causes like Children in Need, Red Nose Day, Kidney Research and Cancer Research (among others). I would give blood if I was allowed to! (I had Malaria and cannot give blood for 3 years). Again, being a student I cannot afford to donate as much as I would like, but if I were rich, of course I would. Many rich people will spend vast amounts of money on clothing, homes, private Islands/Jets and holidays, they will also be willing to commit some of their money to charity, a lot more than anyone else could even dream of, because they can afford to and believe in the cause. Just because they live a luxury lifestyle does not mean that giving to charity is contradictory, the both go hand in hand. They would not live a deliberately frugal lifestyle in order to give all their earnings to charity, unless they really believed and wanted to, just like I do not want to spend every spare penny I earn on charitable giving and buying clothes in charity shops (I would if I found things I liked or fit, by the way, but I do not, because there is never anything that is my style or I would wear, rendering the transaction pointless.)

I am not in any way trying to make out like I am a saint or anything like that. Nobody is perfect and very few people are wholeheartedly committed to charity alone. Yes, I care a great deal about my appearance, fashion and someday hope to work IN fashion. But I also care about charity, I saved up £2000 to go to Africa and do volunteer work there, for goodness' sake! And obviously, I am thus acknowledging this awkward comment and possibly adding credence to their argument, but I just felt it needed to be said, as I will be blogging a lot more about fashion related things as I am currently trying to gain work experience in fashion. 

So yes, a pointless blog post for the sake of a blog post, which will probably be deleted soon.