Blog posts from May 2009
Il Corpo Delle Donne
By Jess McCabe | 31 May 2009, 21:30
Il Corpo Delle Donne is a documentary about the representation of women on Italian TV. It focuses on how women become decorative props on TV shows and the reluctance of the Italian media to show older women, unless they’ve had…
M&S chair says women have “more equality than you ever can deal with”
By Guest Blogger | 31 May 2009, 18:15
In this guest post, Charlotte Cooper considers M&S chair Stuart Rose’s views on women (oh, excuse me, “girls”) in the workplace “Apart from the fact that you’ve got more equality than you ever can deal with, the fact of the…
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Hippodrome Yarmouth allows staff to wear ‘100% woman’ badges
By Jess McCabe | 31 May 2009, 17:37
Women working at the Hippodrome in Great Yarmouth have demanded permission to wear badges saying they are “100% woman”, to distinguish themselves from the performers in the ‘Lady Boys of Bangkok’ cabaret. As Monica at TransGriot reports: Hippodrome staffer Ruth…
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Food, Gloriously Gendered Food!
By Kate Smurthwaite | 30 May 2009, 02:37
I was asked earlier today (as were other writers on The F-Word) if I was interested in commenting on gendering of food through advertising. And I thought it was quite an interesting subject. Here are my thoughts: I have a…
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Filed under: depressing
By Jess McCabe | 29 May 2009, 17:51
Although we know homophobic bullying and bullying centring on gender conformity in schools is common, this story about primary school girls is still pretty shocking*. A study by researchers at Cardiff University at a girls school found many year five…
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Really?
By Jess McCabe | 29 May 2009, 11:10
Last night me, zohra and (occasional F-Word guest blogger) Charlotte Cooper went out for a meal near where I work… and walked passed a local restaurant with this ‘interesting’ sign on the street. This kind of thing reminds me…
Twittering Twits
By Kate Smurthwaite | 28 May 2009, 18:41
Difficult to know how much to read into a few (hundred) posts on twitter. First I should briefly explain a concept to unfamiliar readers: Members of Twitter (and there are loads) post up short messages about themselves or general stuff…
‘No Girls Allowed’
By Jess McCabe | 28 May 2009, 15:10
This could be an interesting book to give to girls in your life aged 9-12: No Girls Allowed is a graphic novel telling the story of seven women* - six historic, one mythical - who “dressed as men for love,…
Guest post: Telling the truth
By Guest Blogger | 28 May 2009, 11:43
Jake talks through her family’s reactions to learning she was sexually abused by her father I am an incest survivor; my father sexually abused me during my adolescence. I kept his secrets for as long as I could, swallowing back…
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No Mr Sunderland Then? Oh.
By Holly Combe | 27 May 2009, 23:57
It seems that beauty pageants are back. Until relatively recently, they appeared to me to be consigned to the history books: a quaint and ludicrous reminder of a time when being pretty and coming across as a sweet, nice person…
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The Truth About Antenatal Classes
By Kate Smurthwaite | 27 May 2009, 20:35
A report out from Sweden says that attending classes teaching breathing techniques and relaxation methods has exactly no effect on your likelihood of needing an epidural. And no impact on your likelihood of needing a C-Section. And no impact on…
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More Free Tampons
By Kate Smurthwaite | 27 May 2009, 17:40
Lil-Lets have out-done themselves now. After last week’s “Free Tampons” offer, they are now offering a free box of tampons with some free sample packs to give to your friends. But this offer breaks new ground in also offering a…
Justifying domestic violence
By Jess McCabe | 27 May 2009, 14:44
Consider this story in the Independent, is about a man who pushed his ex-wife down the stairs and stabbed her with hairdressing scissors. So, why did the Independent lede it: A mild-mannered grandfather was today jailed for attacking his wife…
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Another round-up!
By Jess McCabe | 27 May 2009, 11:23
California’s Supreme Court has upheld Prop 8, meaning that the ban on same-sex marriage stands. The only good news is that 18,000 same-sex couples who married before the referendum in November will not be forcibly divorced. Bilerico has a full…
Oven Pride and Sexism in Advertising
By Holly Combe | 26 May 2009, 22:36
Is this advert sexist? This was the theme of a debate I took part in on the Richard Bacon programme last Thursday (scroll through to an hour and 43 minutes into the programme) with Stuart Stirling, the General Manager…
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‘So much more than an apple?’
By Jess McCabe | 26 May 2009, 14:48
Reader Lizzie wrote in with this photo: She says: I saw this in the centre of York last Friday and couldn’t believe my eyes. So pink lady apples are ‘so much more than just an apple’? Admittedly they’ve very nice,…
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End Violence Against Women Consultations
By Louise Livesey | 26 May 2009, 11:18
So it’s almost the deadline for responses to the EVAW national consultation from the Home Office and part way through the London and Welsh Consultations. In case you haven’t already responded to the national consultation here’s some ideas of where…
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New review: Raising boys? Help yourself to some gender stereotypes
By Jess McCabe | 26 May 2009, 10:57
Steve Biddulph’s bestseller on bringing up boys takes us on a trip back to 19th century, says Clare Gould It was as I stood waiting in a queue in the local department store that the book caught my eye. Jiggling…
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New feature: Breaking the circle
By Jess McCabe | 25 May 2009, 23:18
We know that sexual violence is all too common and everyday. Here ‘L’ talks through repeat experiences of being targetted with abuse and sexual assault by boys and men Warning: this article may be triggering for some readers I am…
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EWL Gender Audit Result
By Holly Combe | 24 May 2009, 02:00
As Jess just flagged up, theres only one question in the Vote Match tool that directly relates to gender. If you want to see a more detailed picture of how the manifestos of four of the main European political parties…
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European election…
By Jess McCabe | 23 May 2009, 23:44
Polling day for the European Parliament elections is creeping up; I got my ballot in the post this morning. Vote Match has put together a tool to help see how the local candidates in your area match up against a…
Target Women: laundry
By Jess McCabe | 23 May 2009, 19:21
Guest post: Rape is not entertainment
By Guest Blogger | 23 May 2009, 10:43
Anber Raz, Asia Programme Officer for Equality Now, reports on the organisation’s new campaign against sexually violent computer games produced in Japan and their promotion of sexual violence against women. When the computer game RapeLay first came to our attention…
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Dodgy research again
By Jess McCabe | 22 May 2009, 17:49
Just a quick one, before I rush off to help set up for this talk tonight (which, yes, if you’re wondering what to do with your Friday night in London, will be fantastic). F-Word reader Ellen sent in the link…
Another round-up
By Jess McCabe | 22 May 2009, 16:35
Lebanese activists Feminist Collective have launched a campaign against this election poster, which translates “be beautiful and vote”. Here’s the adbusted version: Nadz at Feminist Collective says: Give me a break! All of you parties are useless. I’m going up…
An open letter to Carol Sarler
By Guest Blogger | 22 May 2009, 14:22
Amy Clare guest posts about a particularly infuriating article in the Daily Mail, about women without children Dear Carol, Thank you so much for writing this well researched, intelligent and thoughtful article on the subject of childless - sorry, barren…
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Quick reminder: Sabrina Chapadjiev talk in London TONIGHT
By Jess McCabe | 22 May 2009, 08:17
Sabrina Chapadjiev, editor of Live Through This, is talking in London TONIGHT at the Feminist Library. Live Through This is a collection of stories, essays and artwork by women artists about creativity and self-destruction, including bell hooks, Inga Muscio, Carolyn…
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European Union Campaign
By Louise Livesey | 21 May 2009, 09:35
Apparently the European Women’s Lobby have been told by “high-level European decision makers” that women obviously don’t care about equal gender representation in Europe. The reason? Apparently they didn’t get “enough” (define that for me!) individual signatures on a…
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The pink oujia board
By Jess McCabe | 20 May 2009, 16:15
To be honest, kids are probably already going down the wrong path buying an oujia board, rather than making one (can you really suspend your ‘contacting the dead’ disbelief with a talking board made by Hasbro?) But this is… ridiculous:…
Gude Cause
By Jess McCabe | 20 May 2009, 14:01
Gude Cause are planning to re-enact a key march for women’s suffrage. The 10 October march in Edinburgh will celebrate 100 years since Women’s Suffrage Movement Procession along Princes Street in 1909: Join us on this special day that will…
Tesco And Me
By Kate Smurthwaite | 20 May 2009, 00:17
Somehow or another I have failed to tick a box somewhere online and I have been added to a mailing list run by Tesco. Today their marketing director Kendra Banks has written me with some recommendations. Her first pick for…
Free Tampons
By Kate Smurthwaite | 19 May 2009, 21:47
It hardly needs saying that I am a big advocate of alternative menstrual hygiene products* - moon cup, sea sponge tampons, washable pads, etc but of course these don’t suit everybody all of the time. So I thought I would…
“Advancing Women” by… Not Employing Us
By Holly Combe | 19 May 2009, 21:40
Bafflingly, that seems to be the position of Sylvia Tidy-Harris, who you may have seen on the programme Kate appeared on and talked about in her post yesterday. I took part in a debate with Tidy-Harris on BBC Radio London…
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Sima Valand Update
By Lynne Miles | 19 May 2009, 18:11
an update on the Sima Valand case from the other week … Sima Valand is desperately fighting to stop the Home Office sending her to India where she is at risk of murder at the hands of her in-laws. She…
Live Through This editor Sabrina Chapadjiev THIS FRIDAY in London 22 May
By Jess McCabe | 19 May 2009, 10:40
London-based readers: I know this is really short notice, but if you can make it, it would be great to see you there! Sabrina Chapadjiev, editor of Live Through This, will be giving her only London talk at The Feminist…
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The Trouble With Kate
By Kate Smurthwaite | 19 May 2009, 00:54
As some readers will have noticed, I was interviewed for a BBC Two documentary about working women called “The Trouble With Working Women” which was shown this evening. You can see the whole thing here on the BBC iPlayer. And…
New Look mannequin
By Jess McCabe | 18 May 2009, 19:06
Daniella sent us in this photo she took of an er… interestingly proportioned mannequin in New Look: Daniella says: While shopping today in New Look (guilty pleasure) I came across this truly unbelievable mannequin in the underwear section. The bust…
NHS Leicester uses shock tactics
By Jess McCabe | 18 May 2009, 14:29
NHS Leicester posted a PSA on teen pregnancy to YouTube, which was banned under the site’s community guidelines. You can still see the video on the NHS’ oh-so-slightly patronising site. It shows a group of teenagers crowded around, shouting, and…
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First women win seats in Kuwait’s parliament
By Jess McCabe | 18 May 2009, 14:07
Congratulations to Rola Dashti, Salwa al-Jassar, Aseel al-Awadi and Massouma al-Mubarak, the first women to be elected to the Kuwaiti parliament since women won the vote in 2005. According to the New York Times: The election of women to…
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Julia Serano on “cis”
By Laura Woodhouse | 18 May 2009, 13:19
Julia Serano, author of Whipping Girl, has written a comprehensive post on the terms cis, cissexual and cisgender, which I thoroughly recommend for anyone who is unaware of or uncomfortable with these terms. I didn’t really understand the term when…
International Day Against Homophobia
By Louise Livesey | 18 May 2009, 10:47
OK so a day late but it’s IDAHO time of year again. This year they are campaigning around an end to transphobia An Appeal to the United Nations, the World Health Organisation and the States of the World Every day,…
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Why (anti)fascism is a feminist issue…
By Louise Livesey | 18 May 2009, 08:49
The European elections are fast approaching (alongside some local elections) and the BNP are hoping to get MEP elected. Why is this a feminist issue? (We have covered some issues of this before here and here) The BNP, apart…
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Boris’s Big Plans
By Kate Smurthwaite | 18 May 2009, 00:36
Well I figured it was about time I went online and filled in the survey on the Mayor of London’s “consultation” on his violence against women strategy. I was just trundling through, ticking boxes and adding comments when I realised…
Images of powerful women v powerful men
By Catherine Redfern | 17 May 2009, 17:07
Last weekend the Observer ran an interview with Caroline Flint MP, and illustrated it with this image: The Guardian website has further images of her modelling some ‘high street fashions’, to showcase ‘credit crunch chic’. I raise this not to…
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Feminism in the Observer
By Jess McCabe | 17 May 2009, 01:06
Update! Amelia from the Observer has promised that the worst misquote will be corrected tomorrow. ——————————- Probably I’ll write something a bit longer tomorrow, about this article in today’s Observer, about the launch of Double X and subsequent controversy, in…
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Bitchy Jones is onto something …
By Lynne Miles | 17 May 2009, 00:13
Bitchy Jones on why straight women talking about their ‘girl crushes’ or women they’d totally ‘go gay for’ sticks in her craw: It is because the highest compliment you can pay a woman is to proclaim that you find her…
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New feature: On kickboxing, women’s aggression and self-defence
By Jess McCabe | 16 May 2009, 21:27
Jessica Burton explains how kickboxing changed how she feels about her own body and her confidence in the face of harassment and potential violence Once a week for more than an hour I release tension, build fitness and luxuriate in…
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Guest post: Bullied Boys
By Guest Blogger | 15 May 2009, 13:55
All bullying is bad. But the Independent has its priorities mixed up, argues Rosalind Kemp The Independent’s Education section yesterday ran an article claiming that clever boys are “most vulnerable” to bullying. It is absolutely shocking, more so in that…
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Issue 7 of Subtext on the shelves
By Jess McCabe | 15 May 2009, 13:50
The latest issue of Subtext magazine is out now - you can buy a copy or subscribe on their website. According to the press release: Subtext Magazine has returned after a year long hiatus with issue seven of the premier…
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Your Thursday round-up!
By Jess McCabe | 14 May 2009, 11:43
Samantha Orobator has been told to deny she was raped while in prison in Laos, or face the death penalty. Cara at Feministe says: But, let’s assume for one moment, for the sake of argument, that she told the truth…
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Rape victims to be asked for views on justice system.
By Laura Woodhouse | 14 May 2009, 10:48
Kudos to The Times for putting this article on the front page today. It reports that in response to Britain being named the European country with the worst conviction rate for rape, the policing standards watchdog, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary,…
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On comments
By Jess McCabe | 13 May 2009, 22:52
Hold onto your hats, I’m going to say something good about the Daily Mail (without disputing its general status as the Daily Male, Daily Fail, etc…) When I was writing this post about Flight Lieutenant Kirsty Moore joining the Red…
First woman pilot joins the Red Arrows
By Jess McCabe | 13 May 2009, 17:08
Kudos to Flight Lieutenant Kirsty Moore, who has become the first woman to join the Red Arrows (an RAF display team), reports the Mail. She had already distinguished herself as one of only ten women fast jet pilots in the…
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Looking For Inspiration?
By Kate Smurthwaite | 13 May 2009, 16:38
Great news - on Monday night the award ceremony was held for the Inspirational Women of the Year Awards. Like any keen-to-be-inspired young woman I rushed straight to the media to soak up the positive vibes. The first thing I…
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Rebecca Adlington, the pressure to be feminine
By Jess McCabe | 13 May 2009, 16:29
19-year-old Rebecca Adlington won two gold medals at the Olympics in Beijing. The Daily Mail ran an interview with her, including 14 photos of her posing, all glammed up, next to the pool. And, rather than talk about her accomplishments,…
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Say what?
By Laura Woodhouse | 13 May 2009, 13:23
Ever wondered what we’d get if “two of Britain’s most outspoken feminists” (Julies Bindel and Burchill) had a conversation in The Guardian’s G2? Let’s see… Gender stereotyping? [Burchill] I like men and get on much better with them one to…
Double X
By Jess McCabe | 13 May 2009, 10:09
Slate has launched a new ‘women’s’ magazine, Double X. Feministe has already skewered one of their articles, but what about the site in general? Well, I like this interview with Tilda Swinton (although not so much the headline). But it’s…
Feminism, Still Relevant 217 Years Later
By Kate Smurthwaite | 12 May 2009, 02:22
The Independent has a rather poorly thought-out piece about how hip reading left-wing books is this season…? I guess since the realms of history is the only place you see any real socialism any more. One thing that annoyed me…
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Back on The F-Word
By Kate Smurthwaite | 12 May 2009, 00:24
Hello all. Just to let you know that I am back doing another stint of guest blogging on here. On a bit of a roll at the moment after spotting and writing about this horrid abomination on my own blog…
Is European politics sexist?
By Jess McCabe | 11 May 2009, 17:15
The European Parliament elections are less than a month away. This interview with MEP Lívia Járóka touches on sexism in European politics and the situation faced by Roma people, particularly in Italy and some parts of eastern Europe. Asked if…
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Men avoiding child maintanence payments
By Laura Woodhouse | 11 May 2009, 11:58
The Guardian reports that more than 50,000 men owe at least £30,000 each in maintenance for children they had with former partners. In total, the Child Support Agency, charged with collecting this money, is short by a staggering £3.8 billion:…
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Oh dear, Demos
By Jess McCabe | 11 May 2009, 10:49
Think-tank Demos last week launched their vision for how power should be “radically devolved”. But Jenni Russell at Comment is Free went to the launch, and “no one mentioned women’s existence once”: As I stood listening, I began to feel…
Classic fail from Radio 1’s Newsbeat
By Laura Woodhouse | 9 May 2009, 18:43
“…some MPs even spent money on women’s clothes” head/desk…
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Liverpool to get new rape crisis centre
By Jess McCabe | 9 May 2009, 18:42
A rape crisis centre is opening in Liverpool, the first in more than a decade according to Liverpool Echo. Given that we mostly write about rape crisis centres closing or being cancelled, it’s good to write about services being expanded…
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Transnational feminist talk in London tomorrow
By Jess McCabe | 9 May 2009, 18:27
Sorry for the short notice, but I only just saw this: there’s an interesting panel discussion tomorrow as part of the ChangeUtopia! conference: For transnational feminism! Sunday 10th May 2009 from 11am - 1pm At Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green…
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Guerilla Girls
By Jess McCabe | 9 May 2009, 10:52
(Via Bitch Magazine)…
Sima Valand due to be forcibly removed from the UK today (Fri 8th)
By Lynne Miles | 8 May 2009, 16:53
** Update: Sima Valand survived this attempt at deportation, but is now subject to a second threat (as of May 19th) - please see here** We received this from Nimda at Women in London… time is of the essence so…
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(We missed) International No Diet Day
By Jess McCabe | 8 May 2009, 15:41
We’ve missed International No Diet Day by two days (it’s 6 May), but I thought it was still worth a mention. According to the Bust Magazine blog: The day began in 1992 when Mary Evans Young, a British feminist, decided…
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A new radical childcare collective in London?
By Jess McCabe | 8 May 2009, 14:37
In response to the way that parents can be excluded from activism because of the lack of childcare, a meeting is taking place on Monday in London, as a first step in forming a radical childcare collective. Here are the…
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Round-up!
By Jess McCabe | 7 May 2009, 14:18
20-year-old Samantha Orobator will not be executed, the Laos government has said - she was facing the death penalty after she was arrested for carrying 500g of heroin. However, according to the Guardian the execution may be delayed rather than…
Minutes of leisure in the OECD
By Jess McCabe | 7 May 2009, 12:24
The OECD has done some interesting research, showing that there is a leisure time gender gap. Namely, in most industrialised countries, men have more leisure time than women. Here’s the graph, representing minutes of leisure time a day: I can’t…
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Marriage? Not for me.
By Laura Woodhouse | 6 May 2009, 11:28
Feministing’s Jessica Valenti recently wrote a piece for The Guardian describing the difficulties she’s encountered while trying to craft a feminist wedding for herself and her fiancé. While I can appreciate some of the creative ways in which they aim…
RIP Marilyn French
By Jess McCabe | 4 May 2009, 21:35
Feminist novelist Marilyn French died this weekend, aged 79. The New York Times’obituary says she died of a heart attack: Her first and best-known novel, The Women’s Room, released in 1977, traces a submissive housewife’s journey of self-discovery following her…
Guest post: Home birth and mattresses
By Guest Blogger | 4 May 2009, 20:40
Kate Joester muses on a beautiful depiction of home birth - in a Spanish mattress ad. Check out Kate’s blog Rebel Raising (subtitled “changing the world, one nappy at a time”) The crunchy mama blogosphere has gone nuts for this…
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Carol Ann Duffy
By Jess McCabe | 3 May 2009, 20:57
Of course it’s not news anymore, but this post is just to recognise that Carol Ann Duffy is the new poet laureate. She’s the first woman and (erm, obviously) the first lesbian to hold the role. The Guardian put…
Women in tech: the GoGaRuCo incident
By Jess McCabe | 3 May 2009, 20:05
The issue of misogyny faced by women in tech has gone up the agenda recently, not least because of Ada Lovelace Day. Here’s another bit of evidence to add to the pile: at a conference on the programming language Ruby,…
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Guest post: Civil partnerships and the NUS
By Guest Blogger | 3 May 2009, 11:26
Katie Sutton reports on the NUS LGBT Campaign’s annual conference Last weekend, the NUS LGBT Campaign held its annual conference in Nottingham, to elect officers for the 2009/10 academic year and vote on new policy, which I attended as an…
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Ladyfest Oxford
By Jess McCabe | 2 May 2009, 17:55
Only a few weeks until Ladyfest Oxford - they sent us over the full line-up this morning: LADYFEST: 17th May to 23rd May 2009 Ladyfest is a non-profit festival which presents and supports the creative talents of professional and amateur…
March features up now!
By Jess McCabe | 2 May 2009, 17:42
All the comments fit to print* from March are up now. *And some that aren’t, but have been included for laughs and for educational purposes…
Guest post: Cambridge gets ready to Reclaim the Night
By Guest Blogger | 1 May 2009, 18:05
The women of Cambridge are all set to Reclaim the Night this Sunday, 3 May. The march is for self-defined women, and starts at 8:30pm in the middle of Parkers’ Piece, to be followed by a mixed-gender talk, music and…
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