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…
Pho the love of food
Emily Waldon Harris cooked me lunch the other day. It wasn’t me personally. Though, for proximity we could have been in Waldon Harris’s front-room. I could see her in the…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
Authorship down: Lars von Trier and the abuse of ‘art’
Auteur-provocateur, filmmaker-troublemaker, artist-misogynist… if you’ve heard of Lars von Trier, you’ve probably got an opinion on the Danish director. Up to now, discourse on von Trier has existed in a…
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…
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…
Loving pop culture is nothing to be ashamed of
I cannot say that my love of pop culture exists free of embarrassment. I often feel ashamed about my daily visits to TMZand Perez Hilton.I often feel ashamed about my…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
The Tories are trying, but they need to do better
Worryingly, this is the second time this year that I’ve agreed with a Tory policy. Although it may be throwing my political identity into chaos, the recent government-sponsored report into…
The gender pay gap should be the stuff of history lessons
As a working woman in the 1960’s, my grandmother was paid significantly less than her male counterparts. But it wasn’t a problem for her as she would be expected to…
A love letter to the girl who chokeheld me
I don’t know if anyone who reads my column has noticed, but I’m a pretty big fan of feminism. After a couple of glasses of wine, I will talk about…
Philsoc and a discriminatory discussion: The Inside Story
Wow. On Saturday, I wrote an article, published on The Broad, highlighting the discriminatory nature of the University of Edinburgh Philosophy Society’s event, ‘Philosophy discussion on Feminism (for Women and non-binary folk)’….
Discrimination on campus: Men barred from Philosophy Society event
UPDATE: The University of Edinburgh’s Philosophy Society have now distanced themselves from the event. It is still going ahead, however, it will no longer be hosted by the Philosophy Society…
Let’s slim down media criticism of the female body
Do I hear a groan? The sun is sort-of out and bikini season is suddenly a reality. Unfortunately, we girls can no longer swaddle our insecurities in knitwear while dunking…
If marriage is a construct, I don’t want to be a construction worker
Marriage is steadily on the decline. While many articles have lamented the breakdown of this ancient establishment, there are a lot of practical factors behind the fall in marriages in…
Don’t forget about men like Roy Moore
The whirlwind of the patriarchy moves at such a dizzying pace these days that its hard to find time to be upset about something before some new famous man you…