LH Confidential: Whatever happened to Girl Power?

Jun 19 2009 by Lorraine Howard, Irvine Herald

TAKE a group of lager swilling ladettes and turn them into ladies over five weeks and hopefully set them up with a posh English toff.

While Ladette to Lady makes for great television, the idea that crossing your legs the right way and shoving on a pretty frock and a string of pearls makes you a better person doesn’t wash with me.

I must make it clear that I don’t have a problem with people trying to improve themselves, but what really winds me up is that the teachers who are grooming these girls are even more revolting than the ladettes. I am beginning to think that it’s all a cleverly scripted comedy and the teachers are well paid actresses and one of them even wears, horror of horrors, low cut tops. The ethos must be that because she’s wearing a designer revealing garment it’s acceptable.

Now, I’m not saying these girls are angels, they swear like troopers and most of them do turn into wild women when they hit the drink.

Think of the girls spilling out of nightclubs at 3am on the weekends and you’ll get the idea – but if women want to dress like men, scrape back their hair and not look like a beauty queen is that their choice? Is it really that terrible if a woman has a pint at the pub instead of a glass of wine?

Wasn’t the whole point of Girl Power in the 90s that women could be the same as men and not be judged? And while we are at it, could you imagine a show in which male beer-swilling football fans are turned into gentlemen? It would never happen because for some reason it is acceptable for guys to get drunk and be loud but frowned upon if a woman does it.

But the only thing I have learned from the show is the way to a man’s heart – give him a sausage roll.

I thought that could be true as most of us like this pastry delight. I was at a funeral in Taylor’s in Kilwinning and tasted the best sausage roll of my life and I’m sure it would melt any man’s heart. Perhaps he thinks the indigestion is really butterflies and that’s how they work their magic.