The 10 Worst Album Cover Artworks of 2014

5:13 AM in 10, 2013, 2014, 50, album, albums, artworks, beatles, coolest, cover, did, ever, expansion, Get Ex, of, pack, the, things, top, worst

(according to me)

10. Diplo - Random White Dude Be Everywhere

Even if this album’s title is humorously interesting, and even if this release is essentially a compilation of really satisfying tracks, and even if this artwork is pretty funny when you think about it ... the dude used a screenshot of his Twitter profile as his record cover. That’s pretty dumb, c’mon. What’s more, he edited his account details to read over 7 billion followers, which is everyone in the world, and that’s impossible. Not only because a large percentage of the population doesnt have access to the internet, but because I personally will NEVER follow you, Diplo. You hear me? I WILL NEVER FOLLOW YOU.

09. Prince - Art Official Age

Ah, wait I get it! It’s like, Prince’s third eye, right? In order to indicate he has some kind of a spiritual insight on his forehead, correct? But then if this man has indeed recently developed a mystical perception of sorts, then why was this album’s reception so lacklustre and average? Is he perhaps slipping in his old age? Why would he choose an artist as amateur as Maya Washington to take on such a high prolific a job? Was sex involved? Ugh, whatever, he’s Prince, he can do what he wants.

08. Motorpsycho - Behind the Sun

Norways Kim Hiorthøy has made a lot of artwork in his time, many for this very psychedelic rock band, as well as some for a couple of other respectable rock bands too, maintaining a generally decent standard throughout (see both of Fire! Orchestra’s releases for excellent examples of what this guy can do). Kim also paints, makes films, takes photos, writes, and composes his own electronic music, proving the boy has talent beyond most of us pathetic humans with 9-5 desk jobs (not bitter). So what exactly happened this round? Well, I have a theory, which goes like this: he made it using a free iPhone app whilst smoking weed.

07. Bohren & der Club of Gore - Piano Nights

I have no idea who created this "artwork" or even who that dude on the cover is, but it freaks me out, man. If it came with the newspaper headline of “here is Bohren, notorious child molester and serial killer, enjoying his second favourite hobby, playing the piano”, I would be like "oh, that makes sense" and Id turn the page. What’s worse is that the image represents the music flawlessly: a dark jazz album which is as horroresque as it is sad, trying to be sexual but only managing to be creepy in that dull, achingly slow, uneventful kind of way. Except to say, that its a really good record at the end of the night.

06. Suzanne Vega - Tales From the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles

Jeri Heiden (part of the Smog Design team) is the artist who we must point fingers and laugh at right now, hahaha, do it! But then, look at her credentials: promo artwork for Madonna, P!nk, Beck, Garbage, Selena Gomez, Cher, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Jarvis Cocker, and Regina Spektor, to name seriously very few. I thought long and hard as to why such a prestigious expert would risk her reputation with the photoshop nightmare you see above, and I concluded that it must be because someone told her the album’s title before the task, and she immediately gave up. Hey, at least they are both as pretentious as each other, puke.

05. Joey Essex - Essex Anthems

I don’t even know how to descibe my issues when it comes to pretty much everything about this album. First of all, it is a three CD compilation, curated by Joey Essex, who rose to fame from the tacky reality-ish TV soap The Only Way Is Essex (imagine: Jersey Shore, in Britain). Ok, so thats hard enough to swallow but maybe I could stomach it, if it werent for the fact that this douche got a record deal with Warner just to release it, which is why my keyboard is currently covered in vomit as I type with my fingers knuckle deep in my own sick. Granted, he doesn’t sing on the thing (which is a big plus), but even when considering that point or ignoring how predictable the chosen club bangerz were, this cover is inexcusable. Said to be “signifying quality and prestige” all I hear is “chavvy chav chav” and I don’t need to watch the show (I haven’t) to want to punch Joey in the face.

04. How to Dress Well - "What Is This Heart?"

So I guess there is some merit to this artwork, as the designated Oval-X art duo went above and beyond the call of duty when they put together this package, especially the way it comes apart in a holographic manner, a feat I encourage you to drool over by clicking here. They continued to explain that they wanted to achieve what Phil Collins did with Face Value, an image which looks “directly into your soul”, despite the fact that How To Dress Well’s Tom Krell isn’t looking into the camera whatsoever. But regardless of clever historical inspiration and fancy 3D effects, nothing can save this artwork from appearing as though the singer is taking a shit, and having a difficult time with the process too.

03. Kasabian - 48:13

The music is good, the band are assholes, the title is stupid, and the artwork is even worse—so take this all as a warning, kids: here is what drugs will do to you. Kasabian themselves revealed to Graham Norton that they “weren’t trying to clever” (success!) and that they “came up with the title before we finished the record” which meant they had to spend many months editing songs just to ensure they hit that perfect time—self admittedly “the most ridiculous idea ever”. Of course, it wouldn’t be complete without the song times (but not the song names) leading down into this magical number, slapped upon one painful pink background because “pink is the ultimate way of saying I dont care what you think—theres a very punk element to it.” Well, at least that’s true.

02. Leonard Cohen - Popular Problems

Long time collaborator Michael Petit designed this cover for yet another one of old man Cohen’s latter day gems, and in the artist’s defence, his general standard of past work has been fairly digestible. But this one is ... an MSPaint job, I think? I’m not even sure what that shit is supposed to be at the bottom left, an inkblot test? Hmmm, maybe. I kinda see a saxophone player? Or perhaps a tortoise creature clinging onto the chest of a man with a tiny head, and they are eating each other’s faces? I don’t know, is this a popular problem?

01. The Shrine - Bless Off

Is this hard rock band so unknown because they are proudly underground? Or because they are shit? Either way, their popularity status renders any details difficult to come by, except to say that this ... thing ... was created by their friend Kris Kirk, who apparently told the band “you know what The Shrine needs? A wolf screaming on acid!” They agreed, and here we are, one of the worst artworks (and albums) I’ve come across in a long while. But maybe you like it, and if so, you should buy these socks. Rock n Roll!


Other Terribles
Imelda May - Tribal
The Gaslight Anthem - Get Hurt
King Buzzo - This Machine Kills Artists
The Black Keys - Turn Blue
Manchester Orchestra - Cope
I Am The Avalanche - Wolverines
Howler - World of Joy
East India Youth - Total Strife Forever


The 10 Best Album Cover Artworks of 2014
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The Top 50 Albums of 2013 Expansion Pack

6:41 PM in 2013, 50, albums, expansion, Get Ex, of, pack, the, top

THIS WHOLE ARTICLE RELATES TO MY TOP 50 ALBUMS BLOG
PROBABLY READ THAT FIRST I RECKON

Chapter 1:
My Super Secret Process Of Album Listening

As fascinating as this won’t be, I’ve been doing this whole “50 Albums Of The Year” thang for, like, a million years now (read: four), and I feel like I have got pretty good at it, if I do say so myself. My process of listening to and reviewing music has developed into such a streamlined ordeal, that it is a joy rather than a chore to experience (which wasn’t always the case before, believe you me you me). Which is why I feel like I am in a good position to share with you how I (in 2013) reached some sort of an apex of chewing, swallowing and spitting out as much music as any one person could possibly survive on, granting each release the attention it needed and reaching the end with a nice neat little package of the 50 best, all suited up, reviewed and ready to force feed to you like the pathetic baby bird you are. This, my friends, is my super secret process of listening to albums, in seven easy steps.

(1) I started right away, putting my ear to the musical ground the moment January hit 12:00AM. Finding music to listen to has never been a problem, and I would always discover something by paying extra attention to Metacritic, Rate Your Music, Pitchfork’s best new music (shock!), and of course, my friends’ suggestions. There were other spices in the mix too (following the twitter accounts of NME or the Guardian Music or Stereogum, for example) but what’s important is that my list of Must Listens grew faster than I could pick away from, and as discouraging as that concept is, it was imperative to shoving my mind full of tunes. And shoving, I did! My goal was to hear between 12-16 new releases a week, which isn’t too difficult when you break it down to a day-by-day-play basis.

(2) Now here is a real shiny slice of advice for you: whilst listening to each and every single one of these albums, I took notes. This was important because it meant that after each said experience, I had a little disjointed review detailing my journey. Such a process was invaluable to the eventual top 50, because when it came time to write their more detailed reviews, most of it was already there. But even above that, by taking notes on every album helps you remember what you thought, as it can be quite hard to recall how an exact song goes, but much easier to recall what you wrote down about it. Finally, to keep the important ones tickling my mind, I saved every 2013 song I loved into a Spotify playlist which I would also listen to on a daily basis, keeping my memory fresh. Oh, you want to hear that playlist? Here you go (sort by Date Added to mainly surface this year).

(3) As everyone knows, one simply cannot judge an album by one listen. That’s why I played by the “third time lucky/three strikes you out” rule, ensuring each album got three chances to convince me, all the while taking notes on each listen. Now, some may argue that this is not enough listens either, but I don’t care what people say, because I was on a mission that didn’t include them. Furthermore, while I’ll admit certain albums were thrown aside after LESS than three listens, others were listened to MORE than three times, because I could tell I was nearly there but not quite there yet. Add that up with the countless individual songs saved into the aforementioned playlist, as well as the albums which made the finals who received even more listens, and I figure I had a pretty decent grasp on the whole thing.

(4) Great, so after a few weeks I already had quite a large amount of entries. I would organise these albums by month, and then within each month, order them from best to worst. Furthermore, I would colour code them: Grey = Never Listen Again (I don’t care for it); Light Purple = Reserved (wouldn’t be too upset if it made the final list); and Dark Purple = Definite (it passed the audition and would inevitably make the final list).

(5) After a few months of utilising this method, it became obvious that the reserves meant nothing as there were more than enough Definites to meet the top 50 quota. But then, after another few months, it became obvious that I had far too many Definites too and would have to let some of them go. This is when I introduced the Red colour code = Imperative. That’s the albums we see in the main article. Now, I can’t express this enough, do not start the year with Imperatives in mind. I would only label an album Imperative a few months AFTER I had listened to it three times, because while some albums were incredible whilst I was in the middle of them, I found that after a while, I couldn’t even remember what they sounded like. You need a cooling off period to really know what an album is made of. Which is why some technically superior albums didn’t get selected for my list. It was the ones which truly impacted my mind which made the final cut, for better or worse.

(6) And then round about July, I started to panic. I had far too many albums coming in at such a rate that by the time the end of 2013 approached, I would not have enough time to listen to all of them three times. I solved this by changing my daily approach, where for every two new albums I listened to, I would make sure I listened to a further three albums for their third time. Which basically meant: for every two shoved into the system, three would get shoved out. So each day that passed, there was one less album I had to worry about, and by adding that up over the course of six months, you can see how I effortlessly rounded everything up nicely, each release still receiving the attention they deserved.

(7) That said, my list of “Must Listen To” albums still grew faster than I could keep up with, and so around October I set up a clever spreadsheet to keep track of these releases. Within said spreadsheet, I set up the formula “=SUM(A2*20+B2)/2”. A2 was any given album’s Rate Your Music score (a rating set by general users like you and me) out of 5, times by 20 to give it a percentage. This number would be added to B2, which was the same album’s Metacritic score (a rating set by professional critics) and then halving the sum of the two, once again giving us an overall percentage based on the combination of general public and qualified expert opinions. Ordering this spreadsheet in descending order provided me with all the information I needed as to which releases I had to listen to, and which ones were decidedly less important.

By using this system I managed to get through 458 albums by the end of it all, which beat last year’s 234 by a substantial amount; obliterated 2010’s pathetic 159, but still fell short of my crazy 2011 year when I listened to 580 (which was ridiculous in hindsight, and I would never even attempt something like that again for my own sanity). Regardless, 2013 proved itself to be yet another incredible year of music, and I am ecstatic over how everything all turned out.

However (and as I already mentioned in the introduction of my final product), I am allowing access to the quick “first impression” reviews I wrote for every single album I listened to this year, over here. So if you are gutted that your favourite didn’t make the cut, you can look there to find out why, and also accept my apology here: sorry.

I hope this helps you listen to more music next year, and here is some more stuff you can read in the mean time:

Chapter 2:
Here, Have 50 More

Putting together a list like this is never without its agony, and as if murdering my own little children, I had to mercilessly hack down many worthwhile albums which narrowly missed the ladder for one reason or another. However, I will honour those fallen soldiers here, as putting together the following list was as painstaking to organise as the A-team, and took almost as long. This is very serious:


51. Gorguts - Colored Sands (I actually wrote a review for this one)
52. Touché Amoré - Is Survived By (I actually wrote a review for this one)
53. FIDLAR - FIDLAR
54. Woodkid - The Golden Age
55. The Haxan Cloak - Excavation
56. Savages - Silence Yourself
57. Juno Reactor - The Golden Sun of the Great East
58. Dawn Angeliqué Richard - Goldenheart
59. Jenny Hval - Innocence is Kinky
60. Iceage - You’re Nothing
61. Autre Ne Veut - Anxiety
62. Goldfrapp - Tales of Us
63. Melt-Banana - Fetch
64. Lorde - Pure Heroine
65. Celeste - Animale(s)
66. Danny Brown - Old
67. Autechre - Exai
68. R.A. the Rugged Man - Legends Never Die
69. Janelle Monáe - The Electric Lady
70. Oathbreaker - Eros|Anteros
71. Letherette - Letherette
72. The Field - Cupid’s Head
73. Chvrches - The Bones of What You Believe
74. The Dillinger Escape Plan - One of Us Is the Killer
75. Applescal - Dreaming In Key
76. Drake - Nothing Was the Same
77. Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork
78. These New Puritans - Field of Reeds
79. Stara Rzeka - Cie? chmury nad ukrytym polem
80. Elton John - The Diving Board
81. Eluvium - Nightmare Ending
82. Dean Blunt - The Redeemer
83. Boards of Canada - Tomorrows Harvest
84. Vàli - Skogslandskap
85. Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP 2
86. Gary Numan - Splinter (Songs From a Broken Mind)
87. Daniel Romano - Come Cry With Me
88. Jagwar Ma - Howlin
89. Chelsea Wolfe - Pain Is Beauty
90. Foxygen - We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic
91. Haim - Days Are Gone
92. Sleigh Bells - Bitter Rivals
93. Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile
94. Ashley Monroe - Like A Rose
95. Body/Head - Coming Apart
96. Death Grips - Government Plates
97. Blue Sky Black Death - Glaciers
98. Speedy Ortiz - Major Arcana
99. The Wonder Years - The Greatest Generation
100. H.A.M Squad - Instant Classic
(I just couldnt do it!)
101. Suuns - Images du futur
102. Anna Calvi - One Breath

Chapter 3:
Hall of Fame

Now that we have now finished the fourth year of the decade so far (as well as the fourth one of these articles Ive written), a few of the more superior artists have begun to rear their pretty heads, and I want to praise them lot here.
How it works is that I scoured my last articles to see which names appeared more than once. These entires included those from 2010; 2011; The 25 Albums That Narrowly Missed The 2011 list (Part 5 of this article); 2012; the near 2012 misses from the bottom of that same article; 2013; and the 2013 extra 50 above this section.
The order was calculated by adding said albums positions together (e.g: 19 + 23 = 42) then dividing it by the amount of years it featured (e.g 42/2 = 21) to give it a score. The lower the number, the better the artist. Simples!


James Blake (2011’s James Blake #01; 2013’s Overgrown #09)
The Caretaker (2011’s An Empty Bliss Beyond This World #04; 2012’s Patience (after Sebald) #15)
Deftones (2010’s Diamond Eyes #10; 2012’s Koi No Yokan #16)
Kanye West (2010’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy #25; 2011’s Watch The Throne (with Jay-Z) #19; 2013’s Yeezus #01)
Frank Ocean (2011’s Nostalgia, Ultra #27; 2012’s Channel Orange #03)
The National (2010’s High Violet #06; 2013’s Trouble Will Find Me #25)
St Vincent (2011’s Strange Mercy #10; 2012’s Love This Giant (with David Byrne) #27)
Crystal Castles (2010’s (II) #19; 2012’s (III) #23)
Arcade Fire (2010’s The Suburbs #09; 2013’s Reflektor #33)
The Black Keys (2010’s Brothers #23; 2011’s El Camino #21)
Die Antwoord (2010’s $O$ #04; 2012’s Ten$ion #40)
Nick Cave (2010’s Grinderman (as part of Grinderman) #22; 2013’sPush the Sky Away (as part of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds) #28)
M.I.A (2010’s // / Y / #29; 2013’s Matangi #23)
Tame Impala (2010’s InnerSpeaker #43; 2012’s Lonerism #13)
Vampire Weekend (2010’s Contra #41; 2013’s Modern Vampires of the City #21)
The Roots (2010’s How I Got Over #32; 2011’s undun #36)
Janelle Monae (2010’s The ArchAndroid #01; 2013’s The Electric Lady #69)
El-P (2012’s Cancer For Cure #53; 2013’s Run the Jewels (as part of Run the Jewels) #18 )
Killing Joke (2010’s Absolute Dissent #28; 2012’s MMXII #47)
Anais Mitchell (2010’s Hadestown #05, 2011’s Young Man In America #76)
Jack White (2010’s Sea of Cowards (as part of Dead Weather) #46; 2012’s Blunderbuss #36)
Sleigh Bells (2010’s Treats #03; 2012’s Reign Of Terror #45; 2013’s Bitter Rivals #92)
Killer Mike (2012’s R.A.P. Music #74; 2013’s Run the Jewels (as part of Run the Jewels) #18)
Nicolas Jaar (2011’s Space Is Only Noise #50; 2013’s Psychic (as part of Darkside) #43)
Death Grips (2012’s The Money Store #06; 2013’s Government Plates #96)
Matana Roberts (2011’s COIN COIN Chapter One: Gens de couleur libres #13; 2013’s Coin Coin Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile #92)
Sigur Rós (2012’s Valtari #86; 2013’s Kveikur #30)
Chelsea Wolfe (2011’s Apokalypsis #32; 2013’s Pain Is Beauty #89)
Anna Calvi (2011’s Anna Calvi #28; 2013’s One Breath #103)
Eminem (2010’s Recovery #47; 2013’s The Marshall Mathers LP 2 #85)
Suuns (2011’s Zeroes QC #59; 2013’s Images du futur #101 )

Chapter 4:
Unlistened to Albums on My Radar

I am only one guy, but even if I was a hundred guys, I still could never listen to every album released in the year. Its impossible, try it! However, I took note of every single album which was suggested to me by one source or another, which inevitably meant there was this tragic list of left-behinds left behind. Maybe one of these albums were actually the Album Of The Year, who knows? I dont know. I cant even think like that, man, Im nearly dead as it is.

Amorphis - Circle
Armory - Empyrean Realms
Avatarium - Avatarium
Avenged Sevenfold - Hail to the King
Avril Lavigne - Avril Lavigne
Ayreon - The Theory of Everything
Bastille - Bad Blood
Birdy - Fire Within
Boy George - This Is What I Do
Britney Spears - Britney Jean
Chase & Status - Brand New Machine
Childish Gambino - Because the Internet
Crystal Antlers - Nothing Is Real
Crystal Stilts - Nature Noir
Cut Copy - Free Your Mind
Da Mafia 6ix - 6ix Commandments
Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip - Repent Replenish Repeat
Deap Vally - Sistrionix
Dennis Johnson - November (R. Andrew Lee)
Dizzee Rascal - The Fifth
DOTT - Swoon
Earthless - From the Ages
Eliza Doolittle - In Your Hands
Factory Floor - Factory Floor
Fat White Family - Champagne Holocaust
Fates Warning - Darkness in a Different Light
Fen - Dustwalker
Frankie Rose - Herein Wild
Glasser - Interiors
Hammock - Oblivion Hymns
Hopsin - Knock Madness
James Blunt - Moon Landing
John Mayer - Paradise Valley
Jonwayne - Rap Album One
Katatonia - Dethroned & Uncrowned
Katy Perry - PRISM
Las Kellies - Total Exposure
Less Than Jake - See The Light
M+A - These Days
Moby - Innocents
Morcheeba - Head Up High
Motorhead - Aftershock
Mount Eerie - Pre-Human Ideas
Night Beds - Country Sleep
NYPC - NYPC
Oliver Wilde - A Brief Introduction to Unnatural Light Years
Peter Brötzmann - Long Story Short
Pity Sex - Feast of Love
Portugal. The Man - Evil Friends
Progenie Terrestre Pura - U.M.A.
Qwel & Maker - Beautiful Raw
R Kelly - Black Panties
Scar the Martyr - Scar the Martyr
Sebastien Grainger - Yours To Discover
Shearwater - Fellow Travelers
Special Request - Soul Music
The Besnard Lakes - Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO
The Child of Lov - The Child of Lov
The Internet - Feel Good
The Men - New Moon
This Routine Is Hell - Howl
Tindersticks - Across Six Leap Years
Travis - Where You Stand
Ulcerate - Vermis
Violent Soho - Hungry Ghost
William Tyler - Impossible Truth
Wooden Shjips - Back to Land

Beyoncé - Beyoncé
Contemporary R&B
December 13

And then my greatest fear happened: two days after my cut-off date, one of the most original R&B records Ive ever heard leaped out of the shadows from one of the most unlikely candidates I could have ever predicted. It was like, first Justin Timberlake, now this?? Beyoncé actually released a better album than Jay-Z this year??? I dont even know you anymore, music! Because here is an album unconcerned with hits, much more concerned with creativity, coated in unexpected tricks and unorthodox melodies, little samples from Beyoncés musical career cleverly tying the dynamic unit together, boldly moving into regions so much darker than shed ever dared to venture before. And more than anything, it owns every other female artist out this year, reinforcing her strength as a woman made from pure determination—from the unconventional business model (no promotion, no hype, exclusively released on itunes), to the imagination (each song has its own short film ffs), to the sexual freedom (which, truthfully, can get a bit cringy at times), and yet never losing her human element, surrendering frequent glimpses into the personal insecurities which come with married life and parenthood. Honestly, if this was released a month earlier, it could have been the Album Of The Year, and that is heartbreaking.

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The Rise And Fall Of Modern Day Feminism

7:44 AM in 2013, 50, albums, and, day, expansion, fall, feminism, Get Ex, modern, of, pack, rise, the, top

I was raised with two sisters, one younger and one older than me. My whole life I have been fascinated with them as human beings, for they are arguably the most headstrong and ambitious people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. Nothing ever seemed like it could stand in their way, and without complaining about circumstance or doubting their own abilities, I have watched as they separately set out goals and pursued them until they have both achieved success in almost all areas of life—or at least more than I have, anyway. And while I am sure they would have a lot to say about the content in this article themselves, from my outside perspective, I never once heard any accusations of life treating them in any unfair manner or witnessed them wallowing in the pool of self-pity. These two girls are among my top female icons.

I tell you this, because they were perhaps the catalyst for my current attitude towards women as a whole. Growing up (and even as I type this), I always considered females to be the stronger of the genders. Boys appeared to have less control, too quick to act in a macho way, pretending to be something they’re not, finding solutions in insults and fists. Girls, on the other hand, were the more nurturing, compassionate version of the human being, much more willing to listen and faster to admit weakness, which is in reality a sign of strength. I honestly was convinced for a long time that there was a secret within society, one where girls controlled the world and knew it, achieving said ownership by allowing the boys to think the boys were in control, whilst quietly instructing us what to do (and by looking at a lot of relationships, this is often the case).

However, this idea came crashing down very recently, directly connected to the uprising of modern-day-first-world-third-wave feminism. You may have noticed it yourself during the last few years, where this mass influx of interest over said movement, slowly dominated our social feeds and sprouted all over our news sources, and while most of my friends managed to escape it, this shit really messed with my insides. You mean to tell me that girls are not part of some organisation which completely controls the planet? You are saying that they, in actual fact, consider themselves victims of our society? I was disappointed, but even more so, was overwhelmed by guilt. As a male, I was shocked at what they were saying about me and my gender, the wrong things we were doing and saying and thinking, and especially the suggestion that none of these girls felt safe because of us. This would not do. I needed to help.

It consumed me. It swallowed me up and boiled me in its womb. I became obsessed. I studied everything I could on the history of the subject, I read a new article every single day (and still do), I joined forums and I followed relevant twitter accounts, making a load of feminist friends (male and female) along the way. I estimate that I know more about the subject than at least 70% of the community, and Im open to be challenged. And, how exciting, it appeared I had joined the army at just the right time. New reports were pouring in every minute, my facebook was flooded, people were making some noise! It was madness! We were shouting! We were spreading awareness! We were making a difference.

But then one day, I made a mistake. I asked questions.

Id done well at grasping the fundamental basics of feminism: the equality of all people. I knew the topics we were fighting against: the pay gap, the sexualised body image, the lack of sexual freedom, the catcalling, the security of women, etc. However, there were some details I was unsure of, factors which seemed either irrelevant, overly-sensitive, or at times, a little excessively man-hating. And so I started querying things, to the likes of:

Do you ever feel feminism is trying to make boys and girls the same rather than celebrating our differences?
Isn’t catcalling a bit of a first world problem in comparison to what’s going on in other countries, gender wise?
I get what we’re trying to do here, but are we proposing problems or solutions? And while we’re on the topic, what are the solutions?
Are we also giving enough time to the gender role problems men face too, like rights over children or statutory rape charges when both parties were equally drunk and consensual?
Is the word FEMinism really all inclusive? Shouldn’t we consider changing it?

And then BAM, just like that, the crew I had devoted so many hours of my energy supporting, turned to face me with claws and teeth and spit and growls. I was told to check my privilege. I was labeled a sexist just for asking. I was condescendingly informed I was a white male, and so I would never understand. In fact, I am willing to bet money that some of you reading this right now, judge me on the same basis. How dare a boy write about feminism when he cannot comprehend what it’s like to be a victim? Just because he takes an interest in equality and wants girls to feel free from harm, does not give him a right to ask questions, correct? He is not a girl, and therefore will never know what it means. Be honest with yourself, is that what you were thinking? Don’t worry if it was, I’m used to it. But you have to at least recognise why, at this point, I started to wonder if feminism was a healthy movement after all. Once the curtain dropped and I had been attacked for asking things, I notice a new side to the story, which only provoked me to ask further questions and make louder jokes. Naturally that didnt help the situation whatsoever.

Its a difficult thing to explain without digging a hole, so I must firstly say #NotAllFeminists, and thank the various people who have taken the time to approach my concerns with intelligence and a solution-based mentality. Those are the girls (and boys) who give feminism a good name and helped the growth of my interest, and I appreciate them wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, such examples were few and far between. More often than not, I saw the word being driven by anger, by insecurity, by a bombardment of keywords, and a disregard to any opposing opinions. It was no wonder I had been feeling so negative lately! I had surrounded myself with hate! This was not a journey of positive change! This was a journey of barking and stress! And so regrettably, while still actively playing my part in the equality of genders by defending womens rights and going out of my way to make the girls in my own life feel safe and comfortable, I had to reluctantly turn my back on the word “feminism”.

And heres the thing. I am not alone.

As with anything in our world, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. The feminist culture has grown so massive and in-your-face, that the inevitable counterculture rose up in protest. And even though I find it mostly comedic, the Women Against Feminism facebook group was a real eye opener to me. It not only showed that feminists weren’t talking on behalf of females (they are talking on behalf of feminists, fyi), but also further revealed the ugly side of the movement. We have women fighting for the equality of women, but if other women didn’t agree with their methods, then they were the enemy along with everyone else—and of course, the enemy was always stupid. I dont know, something about that mentality didn’t sit right with me, perhaps because I figured equality was about freedom of opinions?

But now we had an active “pro-feminism/anti-feminism” debate going on, and as a result, it only exploded further. So much so, that in a recent poll conducted by Time Magazine, the word “feminism” was rated as one of the most annoying terms of 2014, up there with “bae”, “said no one ever” and “om nom nom nom” (note: they did retract this entry later, but the damage was done). Whichever side of the feminism fence you are on, this is a severe blow to the development, one which indicates a general public apathy towards the perpetual vomit of the topic forced upon us on a daily basis. People are getting sick of it, and that’s the most dangerous threat any idea can face.

It continues: not so long ago Amanda Palmer (a feminist icon to many) posted this link to her facebook, which explicitedly warns feminists against overdoing it. It’s worth the read in full, but here is an excerpt:

“...if feminism becomes like the boy who cried wolf—if girls, and women, cry sexism too readily and often—America will stop listening. The minute feminism becomes hypercritical and humorless, it becomes too easy for the mainstream to dismiss our more valid complaints.”

And these type of articles are not the anomaly, they are becoming the norm, especially in regards to how males are often ignored on the subject of equality. Men are no longer afraid to express concerns over the words exclusivity. Videos have surfaced attempting to highlight the double standards of gender domestic abuse and catcalling. Statistics are only now coming out that one in every nine rape victims are men. And while online harassment has recently grown into a hot topic for the feminist world, studies have shown that this too is not necessarily a girl issue.

Just quickly while were talking cyberbullying, we cannot ignore that at times, it is the feminists themselves who are carrying out the attack. Just a few days ago, Dr Matt Taylor was involved in the incredible feat of landing a probe on a comet—which should have been the greatest day of his life. Instead, it turned out to be the worst, as he went viral as a mysogonist for his misjudged choice of shirt, one displaying provocative images of anime characters, and the femternet tore him a new one, calling him every variation of a sexist under the stars until he cried. Perhaps his choice of attire may have been a little on the bad taste side (if nothing else, even in a fashion sense type of way), but it once again exposed the over-sensitivety and brutality of this community. Its just a fucking shirt, yet it shall stick to his reputation for the rest of his life.

All these things are damaging womens liberation too, as it starts to become a parody of itself and reflects badly on those who remember what the real fight was meant to be. How about the conspiracy that drug companies are using feminism against you? Or that adverts are exploiting little kids by paying them to swear about feminism just to sell shirts? These are only some of the examples about how the once beautiful intention of bringing genders closer together, has slowly turned into a war between who thinks what about feminism as a concept itself, rather than what its trying to accomplish. In fact, on any given day, just check Google news, and you are sure to find an almost even amount of reports supporting or questioning feminism (usually about feminism rather than what feminism is about), and none of them will make you feel any better.

But what about the celebrity support? The world cheered for Emma Watsons UN speech, and that was a huge win for the pro-feminist arena, right? Right! But lets not forget a big part of that was her careful inclusion of the social injustices towards men too, something so rare for a public figure to acknowledge that almost every headline focused on it. But even when considering this, there are countless celebrities who have distanced themselves from the word, including: Selma Hayek, Katy Perry, Lana Del Rey, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson, Bjork, Madonna, Susan Sarandon, and Demi Moore, to name a few. Does this make feminism look alive and well to you? Hell, even those who do believe in the movement are fighting. Its a mess.

To conclude, the problem here is that a lot of people get confused and consider “anti-feminism” to be synonymous with “anti-women and equal rights,” but this is not the case. It is against the culture, the moral superiority, the repetitiveness, and the rivalry, which is not a bad thing to be against. But even with that being said, I still see no need to be anti-feminist myself. I will forever pay attention to what is being spoken about, support what I believe in, skim over what I don’t, admire the past successes, and respect anyone who has this level of passion for anything. But based on how the community all too often neglects my gender and has embarked on a quest to find prejudice within any corner of conversation (at times, making it up if its not there), I can no longer associate that label with myself. Then again, maybe this all serves me right. Maybe I deserve the animosity. I am a male after all.

But finally, the real tragedy here is how close to change we nearly were. For almost a whole year, feminists had the mic, and the entire world was listening. The complication arose when no two feminists could seem to agree on what the priority was, and instead we, the listeners, were hit with a list of a hundred points, some of which contradicted each other and others of which were even rejected by their own comrades—which is just so typical female (lol, joke! That was a joke! Please dont judge this article by that line!). If we had only decided to tackle one issue at a time (say perhaps, the pay gap or catcalling), and focused all that energy and vocal power on destroying a specific factor of discrimination piece by piece, we probably would have solved at least two or three major issues by now instead of alienating and confusing the masses until they were bored with the conversation. And Im worried that at this advanced stage, it may be too late. We may have already blown it.

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Seven Techniques To Beat Anxiety

9:16 AM in anxiety, avoid, bachelor, beat, completing, degrees, failure, Get Ex, online, seven, techniques, tips, to, top

By Tom Binns

Anxiety is now a very common problem. There are many causes and reasons, and it can be a serious problem that affects the standard of our lives. People of all ages and nationalities can suffer with it. If you feel like you are one of these people then you only have two options. You can either let the anxiety take over your life leading to nonstop stress and worry or you can take steps to overcome it and get control back. There are seven useful tips that can help you to beat the problem -

1. At all times try to control your mind and thoughts. It may be easy to let negativity rise but it is also easy to think about the positive aspects of your situation and life.

2. Try to stop yourself from having quick emotional reactions to situations. Learn to stay calm, composed, and practice self-discipline.

3. Do not to go to bed unless you are actually tired and will go to sleep. It is often the case that when we are lying in our beds our minds wander and then there is no outside stimulation to bring us back.

4. When you wake up, say to yourself that it is going to be a great day. Simply by having a positive frame of mind, good things can happen to you.

5. Keep yourself busy throughout the day. Usually we become anxious when we are idle. Start and end the day with activities that you enjoy doing. Also, even carrying out household chores can keep your mind off worrying. Usually when we are watching TV or browsing the net our minds do not wander so much.

6. It is always beneficial to talk through your problems with a friend or family member. They will be able to see the situation from a different perspective and can give you support and comfort.

7. If there is an activity that you have always wanted to do, but never been able, then create a plan that works towards it. - 30535

About the Author:

For more information about Creativity Coaching contact Tom Binns at The Creativity Practice.

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Completing Online Bachelor Degrees Top Tips To Avoid Failure

3:44 AM in about, avoid, bachelor, completing, degrees, essential, failure, Get Ex, lives, online, past, the, tips, to, top, truth, your

By John B Maxted

By completing an online psychology degree you have a huge number of options for the type of careers you can undertake. Psychology has been popular among students for the last fifty years or so. This is partly because psychology offers insights into everyday interactions and personal life. It is also due to the fact that there are great advanced degrees available and there are so many different career options you can take. With the ever improving power of the internet and an expansion in online education, there are now even more selections and outlets than there ever has been before.

It is somewhat common knowledge what psychology is, but can you actually describe it? Psychology is essentially the study of human behavior from a cerebral point of view. When a person says or does something, why exactly did they say or do it? What is it that molds that behavior in them? Why does this person with this particular past have a different response than this other person with different experiences and patterns?

Studying psychology allows someone learn things about their own behaviors, along with the opportunity to acquire insight into their relationships. It can really improve your life from just those areas alone, and it can provide a terrific career.

One prospective career opportunity for those gaining an online psychology degree is that of the corporate psychologist, or the organizational behaviorist. Organizational behavior is the field of study that focuses on how a company could enhance output, success, dependability and happiness through the environment, benefits and community that they provide. The wisdom you obtain through an online education in psychology will leave you well prepared to handle this type of job.

An alternative career choice for people holding online psychology degrees is to become a therapist. This is a very common choice for numerous people, and it normally requires you to get an advanced psychology degree such as a masters or a PhD.

Careers in criminal psychology, law enforcement and the social services are also prevalent and common. Another career option is research and continued study. These are only a few of the many different career paths available to those with a psychology qualification.

Earning any one of the available online psychology degrees is going to give you a fantastic start in following any of these career paths. The following link is to a great article I suggest you read about further advantages of online bachelors degree programs. It is certainly worth a read.

A great feature of some online courses is ability to speed up your education with an accelerated bachelors degree program. With this, you can get your degree in less than two years, giving you the opportunity to keep your current job for security while you buzz through your education in order to improve your life.

It is also common to get an associates degree in psychology to help improve your current career and climb the ladder. The level of psychology degree you decide to pursue depends to a great extent on what career or careers you may have in mind. But in general, an online bachelors of psychology degree is the most popular level of degree.

At the moment, an online education in psychology is easier to get than ever before. With so many different options in both your career and life, an online psychology degree can aid you in a number of different ways. It an help you improve your personal life and achieve a better career all at the same time. - 30535

About the Author:

John Maxted is a specialist in online psychology programs and can direct you to the best Accelerated Online Psychology Degree Programs from the top Online Schools. Go ahead, take a step forward and check out your options right now.

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