Girls should be encouraged to live their dreams and not be discouraged from being ambitious, right?
However, young people are now being actively asked to ‘rethink,’ ‘reskill’ and ‘reboot,’ in a series of government-backed adverts which include an image of a girl called ‘Fatima,’ who is seen tying up her ballet shoes.
The advert, credited to CyberFirst, is a programme led by the National Cyber Security Centre and crucially backed by Her Majesty’s Government, that has set out to encourage young people to get into tech given the incredible economic fall out caused by Coronavirus.
However, its presentation of a member of the arts sector and the suggestion she should retain has come under fire at a time when the arts industry is facing its toughest challenges ever with many of those who work in the industry out of work still waiting for financial support. The likes of choreographer Sir Matthew Bourne, have criticised the advert saying, “this has to be a joke, right?” whilst FatBoy Slim claimed the advert was “throwing the arts under the bus.” And naturally Twitter did its work with some inventive memes including one encouraging William Shakespeare to retrain and work in an Amazon warehouse.
As someone who interviews women who have overcome huge obstacles to achieve what seemed like the impossible, to me, the advert is heartbreaking. The government should be heroing these women so people like Fatima feel like their ambitions are valid and their dreams are possible. From Little Mix to Victoria Beckham, time and time again when I ask people what they would tell their younger selves, it’s to “keep going,” and never “give up,” so this misguided advert appears to be a real kick to the arts and its struggling artists at a time when they all needs only help and encouragement.
This also comes after the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak,
indicated in an interview with ITV News that people in the cultural sector who find themselves out of work should retrain saying, “Can things happen in exactly the way they did? No. But everyone is having to find ways to adapt and adjust to the new reality.”
The UK’s culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, has since spoken about the advert and has actively distanced himself from what he calls a “crass,” whilst underlining his pledge to invest £1.57billion into the arts sector in a tweet earlier today.
This image itself has now also been removed from the CyberFirst/UK Government website but it’s a painful indicator of what the government really think about the dreams and ambitions of the young, particularly when they revolve around the arts.
If anyone is reading this and thinking of retraining, giving up on a career in the arts or no longer following their dreams, I say this to you, keep going because the future you will be thankful. Keep going, Fatima!