Feminists (like Serena Williams) don’t have to be polite
It’s amazing how in a world being battered from all sides by the winds of injustice, the momentary emotional reaction of a famous woman can cause so much controversy. Serena…
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…
Kavanaugh, and men like him, must be stopped
Men go on a date hoping to get laid, women go on a date hoping to not get killed. To some, that sentiment may seem excessive or exaggerated. And maybe…
Serena Williams’ behaved badly, gender equality aside
Unless you live under a rock, which admittedly I often do, you are most likely familiar with the outrage that accompanied Serena Williams’ behaviour during this year’s US Open Final….
Intersectionality ignores the diversity inherent to achieving equality
Are all problems of oppression inherently linked? Does social justice require a degree of solidarity between groups? Those who subscribe to theories of intersectionality would certainly argue so. While we’ve…
Don’t blame Ariana Grande for Mac Miller’s death
On Friday, news broke that Mac Miller had died of a suspected overdose in his California home. As his peers, such as Chance the Rapper and Kehlani, mourned him, fans…
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…
Ask Ariana Grande for permission, not forgiveness
In a rapidly changing social environment, what is and isn’t acceptable can feel hard to keep up with. But, just because certain behaviours have only just become widely recognised as…
You’re still policing female appearance? In this economy?
If you aren’t a woman, and your morning routine consists of brushing your teeth and throwing on a t-shirt that only has one pesto stain on it, the preoccupation with…
Theatre shouldn’t be dominated by men
Theatre is dominated by men. It always has been. Women weren’t even allowed to act until the 18th century, and then they were all branded as prostitutes. Stories of white…
Brock Turner is a poster boy for rape culture
Two years ago, Brock Turner was found thrusting on top of an unconscious woman outside a party at Stanford University. Two male students chased him down and apprehended him. They…
If feminism doesn’t care about men, it isn’t feminism
Men often feel alienated from conversations about feminism and that can only be counterproductive. Misandry (which is misogyny, reversed) is not helpful. I’m not saying it’s not sometimes justified and…
Romance is dead, long live romance
Another day, another man being disappointing. All you have to do is be nice to us and not chase us down the street, which is apparently too much to ask…
Football related violence deserves a red card
Disclaimer: I hate football. I have sat patiently and silently through extensive male-led conversations about football players, matches and stats more times than I can count. Most often, when my…
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…
Drake is a ‘nice guy’ and I’m upset
Up until recently, Aubrey Drake Graham (or for those of you who aren’t real fans, Drake) has been my dream man. I’ve loved him ever since an ex rapped every…
Why did the patriarchy blush? The seaweed
Seaweed may not mean much to you. For most of us it’s just that gross, slimy stuff we try and avoid in the sea, or occasionally enjoy as part of…
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…
Football shouldn’t be an all boys’ club
Living in the UK right now feels a little like living in a parallel universal. It’s sunny all the time and England won a penalty shoot out for the first…
Why is there so much sexual violence in films?
Every five years, the British Board of Film Classification (the BBFC – or the guys who decide what number appears in the bottom corner of your DVD boxes) carry out…
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…
Gayed’s gynaecological attacks cannot go unpunished
Australian news has been plagued in recent weeks by an investigation surrounding the male gynaecologist Dr Emil Shawky Gayed who appears to have butchered many of his female patients’ reproductive…
Wear sunscreen and leave women alone
As I write this, I can feel the sting of my sunburn and let me tell you, I feel alive. We all go a bit mad in the sunshine in…
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…
Are equality and positive discrimination mutually exclusive?
This week, Penguin (the publisher, not everyone’s favourite vertically challenged bird) issued a new directive that stated that the publisher wanted their repertoire to more accurately represent society in terms…
Germaine Greer is out of touch and dangerous
For those of you not familiar, Germaine Greer is a feminist icon; she wrote the seminal feminist text The Female Eunuch and has spent much of life fighting for women’s…
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,…
Women are to be heard, not just seen
Illustration by Francesca Taiganides On 26 May, Ireland overwhelmingly voted to repeal the 8th amendment, allowing women to have abortions up to 12 weeks into pregnancy and up to 24 weeks…
Chivalry isn’t dead, but it should be
The wave of social change that has taken hold over the past six months has sparked major progress in the move towards gender equality. Yet while so many of our…
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…
Mentioning Down Syndrome is a dirty pro-life tactic
As the Irish referendum looms, more and more dirty tactics have emerged from the pro-life camp. With the aim of persuading the country to vote against repealing the 8th amendment,…
Justice for Noura: feminism is not just for white women
When I have conversations about feminism, they go one of three ways. Either it’s me, five glasses of Cava deep, singing happily into the ideological echo chamber that is my…
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…
Weinstein traumatised the world – and his wife
Just one week ago, on 10 May, Vogue released an interview titled ‘Georgina Chapman on Life After Harvey Weinstein’. Much controversy has surrounded its publishing, with many praising its…
Another one? DJ Khaled won’t go down on women
The internet went into melt down last week when footage of a 2015 interview with DJ Khaled resurfaced. I try to pay DJ Khaled as little attention as possible, as…
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…
The Butch, The Bitch and The Mummy: the women in Westminster
Let’s go back to the tripartite I suggested in the first article; the Butch, the Bitch, and the Mummy. If you’re a woman working in politics, expect to see your…
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…
If you’re saying ‘not all men’, it’s probably you
I wanted to start this article by talking about how much I actually really like men. I felt like I needed to preface my argument with saying that I have…
Water is wet, and misogyny is the cause of femicide
As more emerges about last week’s Toronto attack, it seems the driver, as he swerved from side to side down 13 city blocks, was aiming to hit as many women…
We are all stranded in a no-man’s land of expectation
I think I’ve probably spent a solid quarter of my time as me, as a sentient young adult, worrying about men. Worrying if I’ve texted them back too quickly, not…
The Duchess of Cambridge’s pregnancy is not your property
Pictured above: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge after the birth of their first child, Prince George Have you heard? There is a new royal baby. Not a single detail has…
Vaginal mesh: another way the patriarchy damages women
On 19 April, MPs in the House of Commons spent two hours debating whether or not to ban vaginal mesh surgery. Vaginal mesh surgeries, for those of you not avidly…
Don’t use the Bible to embrace the ignorance of the past
Christianity has probably been one of the most successful influences on Western society, from the permanence of the Ten Commandments to a couple of choice blasphemous phrases. However, it cannot…
The commercialisation of feminism
The presence of feminism is inescapable. It’s an alliance demanded of major figures, whether actresses or celebrity cooks; it’s a word featured almost daily in magazines and newspapers; it’s an…
Broadway is doing too much with Doolittle
Eliza Doolittle, the protagonist of My Fair Lady, is arguably one of my favourite characters of all time. My friends will attest that it takes worryingly little encouragement for me…
Financial sector’s ‘gender quota solution’ presents problems
Spending two weeks interning in the financial sector made me fully appreciate the stark disparity between male and female employees. The institution I was working for released their gender inequality…
Well said Ealing Council, let’s hope others follow
Despite being a difficult topic to discuss, it seems abortion has been on everyone’s minds. In light of the Irish referendum, the recent action of Ealing council bears more significance…
Interviewing Ruth Davidson: the women in Westminster
There seems to be an ‘all-eyes on Ruth’ effect in the media. Everyone is listening out for what she will say next, or anticipating which armoured vehicle she’ll jump into…
I’ve learnt the hard way Ireland’s attitude to abortion must change
In 2016, 724 women from Northern Ireland travelled to England or Wales to have an abortion, an illegal operation in their home country. South of the border, a further 3,265…
Government pay gap report ‘effectively comparing chief executives with secretaries’
Britain has one of the largest gender pay gaps in Europe. Women earn a mere 80p for every pound a man makes, and this inequality has increased slightly over the…
The Ulster case is sickening, but don’t look away
The case of the Ulster rugby players already concerned me even before I read the text messages sent the morning after the night before. The messages sent between the men,…
Power plays: the women in Westminster
The ‘visibility issue’ of women in politics is not just how many are sitting in Parliament. It’s also an issue of who they’re allowed to be once they’re there. If…
Why is ‘The Virgin Bride’ still on a pedestal?
‘Just because you lost your virginity doesn’t mean you can go around throwing your cat at everybody!’ Emma Stone’s Olive Penderghast, the self-proclaimed ‘slutty’ version of Hester Prynne, spends the…