Fatima’s next job could be in cyber

[EugeniaGrace]

My left wing friends are up in arms - how dare the evil tories dash her dreams.

But, but, but, I am torn.

Isn’t this what we have been asking for? The ability to dream of stem careers for women and not say the only dreams open to women should be in the underpaying arts and prancing around in a tutu. Argh!

(There need to be be money to retain though. Rethink. Reskill. Reboot. Seems to be missing the learning grant or what have you for DomCum’s digital wonder world).

Or alternatively, more effort could be made by government to consider how the arts and performers survive the pandemic, including working with the many of them who are urgently trying to talk to the government about what might be possible, so the arts in this country isn't completely devastated in ways it won't recover from. Because for many of the theatres and companies and festivals with long histories (including the mental health ones and the disability arts ones and the children's specialist ones, and the ones that are the major circuit for most small companies and acts not just the fun and wellies ones) if they go down, they won't be back. I've worked for a number of them, it's really not a case of there being much to come back to if the arts are dismissed as just not that important in the scheme of things.

I hate the "but she doesn't know it yet". Seems quite sinister.

Yes, that is what contributes to the insensitivity of it, I think. It's a really poor campaign and it does come across with the overtone that she isn't going to have a choice and should be pleased to have the IT opportunity, even if they genuinely didn't mean that.

Meanwhile the shadow mental health minister has completely missed the point and turned it into some sort of race/ class battle.

The shadow mental health minister, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, tweeted: “Fatima, you be you. Don’t let anyone else tell you that you aren’t good enough because you don’t conform to their preconceived social norms.”

As for prancing around in a tutu -it's such a clueless comment saying anything more gives it far more credit than it deserves.

I’ve figured out what is niggling me though.
Both the ad and the criticism of the ad take as a basic assumption that you can’t be both.

I agree. From experience.

I also agree with posters who have pointed out the economic reality of this situation.

We deal quite a bit with reality here on FWR and this is it, everyone.

By all means let artists advocate and campaign for better funding during COVID, but I don’t see this as an own goal, nor especially insensitive to women, nor anti-female.

Balhammom

Entirely see why those who have trained in their current field don't like it

Ballet isn't a "field" FFS - it's a lifetime commitment - and usually from a very young age.

Imagine the situation reversed - do you really think you personally could just pop along to an evening class and be ready for a world-class performance of a famous ballet after a few sessions?

How about music? Do you think you'd be ready for a Wembley Stadium gig after a few online courses?

Governments can do more than throw money at things to support them. They can - and should - use the tremendous resources at their disposal to create new opportunities that help the arts thrive during these challenging times.

Yes, but how many ballet dancers does a society need? What if loads of people want to devote their life and career to ballet, but the country is brought to it's knees because it doesn't have enough cybersecurity experts or surgeons or whatever?

I agree it's bad timing and the government shouldn't be saying "sucks to be you, artists, guess you'd better retrain" right now. But if the ad was from 2019, that wasn't the original intent.

The ad is pretty bad but I think the point is fair. I spent years studying to be a professional musician and finally admitted I wasn't dedicated or talented enough to support myself at it. By chance I stumbled into another field in which I've had a fulfilling career (arts fields can be pretty all-absorbing while you're in them, I knew very little about how to break into other professions). Sometimes it's the right choice because there's just not an endless market for one particular set of skills. Deciding to switch fields is a perfectly valid choice at an individual level.

If the country is crying out for workers in field X, it's perfectly fair to run a recruitment campaign encouraging people to consider it.

Unfortunately it's spectacularly bad timing under the circumstances. And of course recruiting everyone for cyberwhatever jobs shouldn't be a substitute for actually supporting the arts.

“Cyber” has never meant cybersecurity. It means cybersex. This ad sounds like she is going to be working on OnlyFans.

This. Cyber = cybersex, and cyber job = cam girl.
Amazingly crass (and ignorant, since I assume this was unintentonal!)

Also, seriously... As an actual IT professional, I find all this "people just need to retrain into coding" rather naive and somewhat insulting. Most people (male and female) are rather shit at "coding", even with training. Very few have the required ability to make a living from it (just like most people could not be a professional footballer, or a professional artist, etc.)
It's not aspirational. It's misleading. Would be better (in term of communication, raising awareness, etc.) to positively highlight the kind of qualities someone needs to excel in the field, instead of randomly reallocating people to new occupations just because there's a shortage.

Well, that's a good point. Many people won't have the aptitude for cybersecurity, anymore that they'd have the aptitude for ballet (not Fatima, people in general).

...

People need to retrain. Many people need to retrain. There are several jobs that won't keep body and soul together over the next few years.

I can't get angry about that, just sad.

Entire industries come and go, and people need to retrain.

I think professional drivers- taxi, Uber, lorry- are likely to go in a few years.

We lost most mining related jobs.

Other fields are cut to the bone, with people covering what was the work of several people.

No field is immune.

Musicians, actors, writers, artists- a back up or day job is the norm.

There were other versions of the ad like this one which is unfortunate considering the current state of the travel industry

Yes I thought that too, Nandos!

I have spent years at art school - many are called in the arts but few are chosen... so a photo of a woman in a manky apron, covered in paint, and with glue in her hair and hands covered in plasters wouldn’t offend me.

I know a few actors, musicians, photographers and an opera singer who have always struggled to make a living and a few (most) of them have moved away to a day job.

Storm in a tea cup

It was a campaign to encourage people to work in Cyber from 2017. This is not a recent campaign.. this is not covid related and has nothing to do with this government

As an actual IT professional, I find all this "people just need to retrain into coding" rather naive and somewhat insulting. Most people (male and female) are rather shit at "coding", even with training.

This. I actually did "learn to code", and I was pretty shit at it; I worked really hard for mediocre results, which was soul crushing. I eventually transferred to UI testing, which pays less well but I happen to be good at it and it doesn't leave me drained at the end of the day. I have huge respect for people who can code well, and I think it's pretty insulting to say you can always just code if the ballet career doesn't work out.

It's an interesting perspective op.

But it's really offended those who are dancers and in the arts.

Also, and no one has picked up on this, if she were a real dancer and if they'd though about it, she'd be wearing these shoes:

www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/apr/01/pointe-shoes-black-ballet-ballerinas-dancers

[quote NeurotrashWarrior]It's an interesting perspective op.

But it's really offended those who are dancers and in the arts.

Also, and no one has picked up on this, if she were a real dancer and if they'd though about it, she'd be wearing these shoes:

www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/apr/01/pointe-shoes-black-ballet-ballerinas-dancers[/quote]
Sadly not in 2017 when the ad first came out - skin tone ballet shoes are a very new innovation

For years daubing them in foundation to get the right tone was necessary

And once, just once, in DD's (very short) dance career has the costume person asked what colour her 'nudes' (skin-toned undies) should be.....

Which should be weight against the number of people who did not thing she should have a career in ballet as she is mixed

Plus her feet are not right if she is ballet trained

Plus her feet are not right if she is ballet trained
Original picture is here
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54505841
The girl IS a dancer

I was wondering if it was a model retaining as a ballet dancer 😉

Thanks for pointing out it's from 2017.

Imo even more short sighted given the summer's events re BLM protests.

Image almost certainly chosen by a white person.

Anyway, I wonder what the dancer thinks of the campaign?

And once, just once, in DD's (very short) dance career has the costume person asked what colour her 'nudes' (skin-toned undies) should be.....

I'm Sorry to hear that.