Tracy Beaker aside, the rhetoric surrounding adoption must change
There are so many things wrong with the way adoption is commonly viewed, and this is becoming even more damaging, with abortion laws across the world meaning that more and…
What do milkshakes really bring to the yard?
I do not remotely hesitate in saying that Tommy Robinson deserves far worse consequences than a milkshake being thrown in his face. Would I thoroughly enjoy doing it myself? Absolutely….
We cannot ignore America’s war on the female body
Every single time abortion laws are tightened, women suffer. The lives of unborn bundles of cells are being put above the lives of living, breathing, human women, so we need…
Revenge porn and consensual sex work are very different
For the umpteenth time, there is a colossal difference between sex work and revenge porn. With the surging popularity of OnlyFans accounts, I have arrived at the point where I…
Same work, same wage doesn’t just apply to gender
As always, 1 April saw an increase in the national minimum wages, across the age brackets. Contrary to previous employers, my current workplace pays everyone the over 25 wage, and…
Marriage does not equal the overriding right to sex
‘I cannot think of any more obviously fundamental human right than the right of a man to have sex with his wife … ‘I think he is entitled to have…
UK food wastage cannot go on like this
In 2016, France devised a legislation that forced supermarkets to donate unsold food that would ordinarily go in the bin as ‘wastage’, to foodbanks. This scheme has seen huge success…
Describing someone as ‘coloured’ is a lot more than ‘clumsy’
Amber Rudd, when talking about the abuses women in politics face, described Diane Abbott as ‘coloured’. Moments later, she tweeted ‘Mortified at my clumsy language’, as though her rapid apology…
And the Oscar for making us feel unbridled emotion goes to…
I won’t pretend that last week’s Oscars didn’t leave anything to be desired, that we don’t still have a way to go regarding who and what deserves accolade, and…
Laughing at Shamima Begum is inexcusable
When I think about the complex layers of Shamima Begum’s case, it sickens me that it, and she, is becoming the butt of a national joke. Yes, she was part…
Where is the problem with children and screen time?
There is little evidence to back the theory that excessive screen-time could slow brain development, and prevent sufficient sleep in children, and I am becoming increasingly aware of the reasons…
When it comes to porn, what shouldn’t turn us on?
As of this week, the laws surrounding the production of porn in England and Wales have changed. Where previously it was illegal to own or distribute “obscene” pornography, now it…
Whose responsibility is it to stop domestic abuse?
On Monday, the UK published a new draft Domestic Abuse Bill, defining economic and emotional abuse alongside physical, and further enforcing Clare’s Law. Clare’s Law follows Clare Wood’s 2009 murder,…
Consent is more complicated than saying ‘no’
The BBC have been circulating a video this week, entitled ‘Is this sexual harassment?’ and the content of this that I found shocking and disturbing was not the depiction of…
Christmas isn’t always the most wonderful time of the year
For many people, Christmas holds the worst of the year: the busiest period of work in the service industry, the time when financial strain is brought to the forefront, childcare…
Parliamentary confidence must extend to the people’s vote
We must respect the vote of the people on Brexit, there will be no second referendum, so why did the Tories get the chance for a second vote on their…
Turkish women are not asking to be abused
Last week, an Economist article held the tagline “Some 54% of Turkish women think it is acceptable for a man to use violence if he suspects his wife is cheating…
Rapists should not be able to apply for parental rights
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the neglect of Rotherham council (and the police), towards the women who survived historic abuse there. This week, Sammy Woodhouse, one of many…
People need to stop scaremongering about the pill
The year is 1961: the contraceptive pill has just been made legal and, as such, is now regulated and available for married women exclusively. Now, in 2018, the oral contraceptive…
Collisions of law and religion cause nothing but harm
Last week, Asia Bibi was acquitted, by the Supreme Court, and escaped the death penalty in Pakistan. Bibi, a Pakistani Christian, still denies accusations of anti-Islamic blasphemy, for which she…
In Rotherham, child abuse survivors need more support
After years of emotional, legal, and community upheaval, seven men have been found guilty of sexually exploiting teenage girls in Rotherham. This is not enough. Due to significant police neglect,…
Where are you, Mr Hunt? Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe needs you
Since April 2016, I’ve completed my A-Levels, moved to Scotland, finished two years of university, and lived in three different flats. Since April 2016, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been detained in…
Growing up is scarier for women
This week, NY Times published an article about what it means to be a girl turning 18 around the world. I couldn’t help but think about how far I’ve come…
We need to talk about contraception
When you ask a lot of young girls about their contraception (as I often do, as the mum of the group), they talk to you about trust. I imagine this…
Bake Off is representing disability perfectly
Briony Williams, one of the many front-runners for this year’s Great British Bake Off, has been making me think. She has a disability that one of my oldest friends shares,…
Rape and sexual assault sentences are too short
Why is someone dubbed a ‘sexually violent predator’ only being sentenced to 3-10 years in prison? (Bill Cosby). Why did someone showing ‘no remorse for his crimes at all’ get…
Drake shouldn’t be texting Millie Bobby Brown
I doubt that I am alone in my thinking that a 14-year-old and a 31-year-old having a text relationship is a bit odd, even more so when a) the texts…
Private schools should be abolished
In a nation where education is compulsory from the age of four until we’ve completed GCSEs, then apprenticeships or A Levels at 18, how have things become so unequal? School…
Wombs are important, whether occupied or not
A few months ago, I underwent laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis, along with three other women. One of these women, who was in her 40s, expressed that she definitely did not…
Women, the world over, need free sanitary products
I’m kind of obsessed with period poverty. It baffles me that, especially in a country that boasts the NHS, such a basic medical, sanitary right has to be gone without…
Why do you care about my sexuality?
Sexuality is something so exceptionally personal, it makes no sense for people to either assume yours, or question it; unless you want to have sex with that person, why are…
By Western standards, fake tan is the new black
In the age of Donald Trump, I can’t help but think about fake tan. Why is it that a man so clearly racist, wants a skin colour unnatural to his…
The Edinburgh Fringe takes from the poor and gives to the rich
When you think of art, literature, comedy, what do you immediately relate it to? Entertainment? Pleasure? What about class? With the Edinburgh Festival in full swing, I went to see…
Stop saying you’ve got mental health problems if you don’t
Sometimes it’s difficult to pinpoint the source of a feeling: am I having a bad week? Is it the hormones in my contraception? Am I suffering from a mental health…
Addiction is an illness, not a choice
The response to Demi Lovato’s apparent addiction relapse has been dramatically polarised.On one side, people are eager to support those with addiction just as they would like to be open…
Zero hour contracts are not a ‘flexible choice’
This week, Business Minister Claire Perry made some pretty naive comments about zero hours contracts, having quite obviously never been in a position in which she would need to undertake…
Terry Crews’ fight against toxic masculinity is invaluable
Something that I find particularly difficult to process is the sad fact that one of the only realms in which we have a kind of ‘herstory’, is sexual violence. The…
What type of girl am I?
At the ripe age of 20, I’ve wasted a lot of time wondering what “type” of girl I am. After endless quizzes about which Sex and The City woman I…
Ocean’s 8 and the danger of the all female remake
After watching Ocean’s 8, a film featuring a relatively diverse group of female leads, a film in which almost every scene passes the Bechdel Test, I felt excited. Excited about…
In death, XXXTentacion is being remembered as talented, not abusive
This week rapper XXXTentacion’s death has caused a stir.People who are respected by millions are belittling the man’s abusive behaviours and crimes in favour of his musical talent. I’m not…
Why I have a problem with ‘daddy issues’
As someone who has seen hide nor hair of their father in seven years, I take real issue with the concept of ‘daddy issues’. I joke about it, as we…
No Mimi Bouchard, negative energy isn’t what makes people poor
Scrolling down twitter this week, I came across a screenshot of a Made In Chelsea star proclaiming “YES!” to a quote which stated that poor people are only “creators of…
The eye opening limbo of ethnic ambiguity
Being pale and mixed-race, you see interesting manifestations of racism. This was foregrounded to me this week when a comment was left on my article about the Warwick rape threats,…
I can’t stop myself from criminalising Woody Allen
Woody Allen. A man who has been talked about endlessly in the wake of the MeToo campaign, in light of his marriage to his step-daughter, and the ‘false’ accusations of…
Friendship is vital for your mental health, regardless of gender
Intimate female relationships are absolutely central to the lives of countless women, and yet there has never been a point where we have felt the need to assert our own…
Warwick rape threats: middle class white boys need to learn the word ‘no’
This week, Warwick University temporarily suspended 11 students for some of the most abhorrent rape threats I’ve ever been unlucky enough to read. These threats were madein a Facebook group…
It’s time to talk ‘vaginas’. Period.
For women, so many sexual encounters are ruined by that not-so-little voice from down below, asking, begging, pleading: will it work? will it hurt? And if it doesn’t work, and…
