Don't Get Me Started

We live in a femocracy, where a man’s role is merely to fertilize and wash the dishes. And with the advent of sperm banks, IVF, human cloning and same sex marriages, will there come a time when men aren’t needed at all? In just 25 years, men’s role at home and work has dramatically changed. From teenage single mums on sink estates to high-flying female executives, women have become the more dominant members of society, being much more in control of their lives than they used to be. Traditional masculine virtues of stoicism, courage and rationality are now seen as vices, and male icons of our time have gone completely nancy – eg David Beckham in pink nail varnish. No wonder twenty first century man is confused – in a welfare state, what is the point of him? If this sex change society is not addressed, soon men will be entirely redundant, leaving women triumphant!

We live in an age of conspicuous compassion – public displays of compassion – where we send flowers to recently deceased celebrities, weep in public over the deaths of murdered children, light candles and sign books of condolence. From People’s Princesses to C list celebrities, Britons are feeding their egos by indulging in recreational grief for people they have never met. We think we are projecting ourselves as humane and sympathetic souls – but isn’t it really about making ourselves feel better? How much is the media to blame for the ‘Dianafication’ of ordinary people, the growing trends of wearing charity ribbons, strapping a red nose to your car and holding minute silences? This programme explores the culture of ostentatious grieving and, as mourning sickness reaches epidemic proportions, asks why are we elevating emoting over emotion?

Britain has lost its individuality and edge. This homogenization has affected not only the look of our towns but has seeped through every element of life. Youth culture – what’s happened to the punks and mods? The teenage tribes who strove to stand out from the crowd? Today’s identikit teenagers are obsessed with magazines’ ‘Get The Look’ pages – the aim is to look the same as everyone else. Pop music has become one big boy-bland blur. Magazines and TV are a haze of carbon copy celebrities. Who is to blame for this?

Once religion was universally respected as part of the core of our way of life. Today only 8% of Britons attend church. Cristina Odone investigates why the church’s role in society is weakening, and asks what are the consequences of the absence of moral leadership and cohesion the Church once brought to society? Many people claim they find religion increasingly irrelevant in their 21st century lives. Traditional teachings on divorce, homosexuality and women priests are regarded by millions as alienating. In an earlier God-centred world there was a strong sense of mankind being humble in the knowledge that they were not of supreme importance. In a man-centred universe, everything revolves around me, myself and I. The world has become too secular, too demystified. Is this why we’re increasingly turning to alternative medicines and lifestyles? Are we searching to put the spirituality back?

In the last five years, America and Americans have replaced our historic contempt for the Germans and the French and become British Enemy No.1. Hating Americans has become the acceptable face of racism. And just look at the hypocrisy. We sit in Starbucks in our Levis, discussing the Incredibles and the Da Vinci Code, planning our holiday to Florida and - slagging off the Americans at the same time! We are like a teenage child - the more we rail against our parents the more we draw attention to our dependence on them. Yes, it makes mistakes but America is still the most powerful force for good in the world today. The consequences of continued anti-Americanism could be more dangerous…The trend of hating America is growing, but Dan Snow shows us that it’s laughably easy to destroy.

The nation that spawned the intrepid Raleigh and Drake has now become so wrapped in cotton wool that conkers are considered offensive weapons. Fear of litigation caused headmaster Shaun Halfpenny to buy 6 pairs of safety goggles for children wishing to play conkers in the playground. This risk avoidance culture means that health and safety and political correctness is now taken to absurd extremes. pancake racing is a dangerous sport, homemade cakes are outlawed in hospitals, and bonfire night is banned. There has been a massive increase in ambulance-chasing firms who encourage people to be less forgiving of accidents and more eager to attribute blame. ‘Has the nurse made you worse?’ posters proliferate in hospitals. Why does society no longer accept the concept of a genuine accident? And do we really want absolute safety? Surely that’s inseparable from alienation? ALL contact with other people carries more risk than sitting on your own staring at the wall.