Bimboism: reclaiming old misogyny
Illustrations by Megan Le Brocq Bitch. Slut. Bimbo. All these words have been used in a derogatory fashion to put women down and keep them there for decades. When individual terms…
From The Beatles to Tik Tok – let’s leave teen girls alone
Illustrations by Hannah Robinson Oh to be a teenage girl again – the hormones, the anxiety and to have most of what you love gently mocked by wider society. To feel…
‘Perfect’ skin is the province of the privileged
Body on glass roof – an exploration of women and the arts
Illustrations by Hannah Robinson Look at your fingers. Name as many male artists as you can. Stop. Start again, this time with female artists. Have you filled one hand? Statistics up…
Women own their bodies, until they get in front of a camera
Illustrations by Hannah Robinson Content warning: this article contains references to sexual assault. “Most of what came next was a blur.” These words are all too familiar after the 2017 #MeToo…
First Lady fashion: the accessories that reveal the stakes in this election
Illustrations by Hannah Robinson The countdown to November 3rd is on. In the midst of massive civil unrest and a raging pandemic still claiming more than one thousand lives a day,…
Female genital mutilation: not just a foreign practice
Illustrations by Hannah Robinson Having been told that it was just ‘something that girls do’, Nazia Mirza, aged 8, was taken by her mother to have her genitals cut. Being held…
Mansplaining WAP: the misogynistic response to women’s sexual empowerment
Illustrations by Hannah Robinson From Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion, two indomitable rappers at the top of their game, comes WAP. If you, like me, listened to it on repeat,…
J.K. Rowling – ‘TERF’ or nothing
Illustrations by Hannah Robinson J.K. Rowling is on twitter-trial once again. She stands accused of being a ‘TERF’, a trans-exclusionary radical feminist. The author’s most recent transgression was to retweet an…
Why are female leaders excelling at fighting COVID-19?
Illustrations by Hannah Robinson Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a lot of media attention paid to the link between the gender of leaders and the effectiveness of their…
We need to talk about female masturbation
Illustrations by Hannah Robinson Four years ago, a friend started a conversation about masturbation. I was too ashamed to admit that I had taken pleasuring myself into my own hands until…
COVID-19 poses a threat to abortion rights worldwide
Illustrations by Hannah Robinson Despite the claims that COVID-19 has become less lethal, there is growing evidence that we are only just starting to see the extent of collateral damage that…
Periods in a pandemic -basic menstruating needs are still not being met
Illustrations by Hannah Robinson Throughout history, people who menstruate have been forced to jump through numerous hoops to access suitable and affordable hygiene products. In January 2020, the UK government finally…
COVID-19 coverage highlights the sexist double standard in British journalism
Illustrations by Hannah Robinson On 27 May, the Conservative MP for Shrewsbury Daniel Kawczynski took to Twitter with his opinion of Emily Maitlis’ Newsnight monologue on Dominic Cummings’ infamous trip to…
The management of COVID-19 is a matter of leadership not gender
Illustrations by Hannah Robinson Amongst the chaos of press coverage of COVID-19 – misinformation, a lack of honest facts and fear-mongering – one line of argument stands out. A distinct preoccupation…
Covid-19 brings another pandemic: domestic abuse
Illustrations by Hannah Robinson Following restrictions on movement in order to try and reduce the impact of Covid-19, people across the world are currently stuck at home. Being confined at home…
Innocent until proven guilty, unless you’re the victim
Illustrations by Hannah Robinson Last week Alex Salmond, former First Minister and accused sex predator, was acquitted of 13 charges against him, including sexual assault and attempted rape. This happened during…
Netflix’s Love is Blind reinforces Female Stereotypes
Illustration by Hannah Robinson Masterfully dropping on the eve before Valentine’s Day, Love is Blind has since snowballed in popularity. Perhaps this is unsurprising, it is the televisual equivalent of mashed…
The perils of online dating
Dating is hard, in 2020. We live in a hectic world, always busy with updating our status (online and offline), working also when we are resting, monitoring our online reputation…
Oldest profession or oldest oppression: what is the future of prostitution?
Illustration by Hannah Robinson Oldest profession or oldest oppression: what is the future of prostitution? This week I stumbled across an unusual article; “19-year-old Ukranian Sells Her Virginity For $1.3M to…
The rise of male eating disorders
Illustration by Hannah Robinson Why we need emancipation from rigid codes of beauty and gender. The always-hungry beast: the rise of male eating disorders and why we need emancipation from rigid…
Single Use Men; Re-use or throw away?
Illustration by Hannah Robinson Does traditional masculinity block ethically responsible behaviour?
Universities still have a lot of work to do on sexual harassment on campus
Illustration by Hannah Robinson Five years have passed since Brock Turner sexually assaulted Chanel Miller on Stanford University’s campus in California. This case caught worldwide attention and garnered vast support for…
Embracing Sexual Freedoms from Belarus
Illustration by Hannah Robinson As a woman raised in a world entrenched with patriarchal values, in Belarus, no wonder my self-worth has always been connected to male approval. While traveling the…
Making the ‘Unbelievable’, believable
Illustration by Hannah Robinson Just last month, Netflix added to their catalogue of ‘binge worthy’ crime mini-series with its adaptation of Miller and Armstrong’s 2015 article ‘An Unbelievable Story of…
Cultural appropriation: the only way out of genocide?
Illustration by Hannah Robinson Recently, high fashion house Louis Vuitton released an Instagram campaign in which they featured China’s most popular actress, Dilraba Dilmurat, posing in Shanghai alongside fellow actress…
A female Bond is not the answer
I love James Bond. I love the excitement, the intrigue, the glamour and, of course, the gorgeous Aston Martins. Ever since watching Casino Royal, I have been hooked by the…
Domestic abuse murders reach a five-year high
Boris Johnson’s suggestion that the Government are “fully committed” to targeting domestic abuse would be laughable if it weren’t something the nation has been crying out for for years. It…
Club culture is a backwards step for modern feminism
As I enter into my second year at University, I have already experienced my fair share of nights out. However, I can’t help but feel like far too often the…
Sit down love, we don’t have sexism in Parliament anymore
Jo Swinson could change everything; this is perhaps the most pivotal moment for the Lib Dems since the disastrous apologies of Nick Clegg. Whilst Tories are jumping to the yellow…
FGM has no parallel
Culture is often used as a blanket ban to smother the flames of debate. I recently read Sue Lloyd Roberts’ book about her extraordinary lifetime in journalism. I bracketed the…
Alabama, Georgia, I refuse not to be heard
Many platforms, including the Broad, have published articles in the wake of the abortion laws passed in Alabama and Georgia. When deciding whether to write my own article on the…
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…
Boys will be boys, girls will be girls
This week, I was honoured to be invited to speak on the BackBench Podcast on International Women’s Day. Admittedly, as someone who likes to carefully form arguments before expressing them,…
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,…
Barry: A Work in Progress and in tenderness
Going to the theatre always reminds me of being on a long train journey. There’s a sense of collectiveness about it, coupled with the mystery of being nothing more than…
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…
We must stop commenting on female appearance
As with much of our society, the expectation of the female body is a concept that has been narrated and enforced by male desires. The unobtainable beauty standards placed upon…
Ashes to ashes, dust to the jerks who get promoted before you
This week, Beyoncé inadvertently delivered a pithy encapsulation of patriarchal expectation without even saying anything. Photos of her, managing to look like a regal puff of delicious cotton candy, next…
Who are the double agents of the patriarchy?
As feminist slogans are blazoned on t-shirts and Instagram posts of marches and protests are frequent and common, the increasingly trendy nature of current fourth-wave feminism is an incredible accomplishment,…
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…
Let women express themselves however they want
Since my first year of primary school, I have been bossy, aggressive, ruthless. I have been a cold hard bitch. No—it’s not because I have an attitude, nor is it…
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…
Stop fannying around about pubic hair
In a time of immense social and political upheaval, it always amazes me that people have time to be worried about things like pubic hair. Truth is disintegrating and democracy…
There is no male hormone that grants scientific genius
Sexism in science is no secret. The field has been dominated by men since its creation, and continues in this way today. This is something I have been made aware…
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,…
In love, don’t put your cargo on someone else’s boat
As the temperature plummets and men start putting on their nice, weirdly sexy thick jumpers, I personally start thinking about romance. People always say that spring is the season for…
Frat culture can be damaging and limiting
American college culture is something that can be an elusive beast. Endless quizzes, wild frat parties, and annoying roommates were what I thought I’d have to look forward to, but…
Halloween, ironically, terrifies me
Somehow it seems that another year has passed and once again Halloween has dawned on us. My ears and eyes have already been assaulted by slurred words, screams and stumbling…
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 can’t ignore the dangers of early sex determination
Throughout history, people have attempted to control the sex of their children. Whilst sex selection for medical purposes, like preventing genetic diseases is largely accepted, the non-medical use of sex…
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…
MeToo should take male victims seriously
The reactions to Asia Argento’s alleged sexual assault of her young co-star, Jeremy Bennett have slid into two main factions. Either, people have claimed that it completely discredits the MeToo…