Blog posts from April 2012
Lusting for Lust
by Guest Blogger // 30 April 2012, 19:21
Chrissy D responds to Erica Lust winning "Movie of the Year" at the Feminist Porn Awards in Toronto this month
Jean Gabin: Working Class Hero to Godfather season at BFI Southbank plus COMPETITION
by Ania Ostrowska // 30 April 2012, 13:24
Throughout May BFI Southbank celebrates a career of French actor Jean Gabin (1904-1976), one of the iconic stars of French cinema, spanning over four decades. If we keep in mind that investigations into constructions of masculinity are yet another...
Weekly round-up and open thread
by Shiha Kaur // 30 April 2012, 13:12
Welcome to this week's round-up and open thread. The following are links that we have found that might interest you. If you have found anything that you think other readers will enjoy please add links in the comments section...
'The face I couldn't face'
by Guest Blogger // 29 April 2012, 22:00
Natalie James is performing at the hip hop dance theatre festival Breakin' Convention at Sadlers Wells on Saturday. Here she explains her piece My daughter and I are currently staying in a refuge for women fleeing domestic violence. As a...
New Review: Iron Butterflies
by Charlene Moore // 29 April 2012, 18:33
Carrie Spencer reviews Birute Regine's guide to modern leadership by becoming an Iron Butterfly, which, Regine says, will help women "transform themselves and the world" Have you ever wondered what deep, dark, closely guarded secrets lie above the notorious glass...
Breaking up is hard to do
by Guest Blogger // 29 April 2012, 14:10
There are many ways to leave a marriage, but there are only two ways to leave your own wedding: as the bride, or as the bitch who did a runner.
Not so Lush
by Laura // 27 April 2012, 13:11
There's lots of debate currently going on through our Twitter feed around Lush's publicity stunt to highlight the cruelty of testing cosmetics on animals. It's a performance piece in which the female actress artist plays the role of the animal...
Putting mothers in their place
by Guest Blogger // 26 April 2012, 21:53
Guest blogger Elizabeth Howard explains why the cultural expectation that women should be predominantly responsible for childcare is so damaging.
New review: Circumstance
by Ania Ostrowska // 24 April 2012, 22:40
"From an early age, I have been a translator of culture: East for West, and West for East," writes Maryam Keshavarz, director, producer and writer of Circumstance. She writes of how she grew up with Iranians burning American flags...
Pop Girls: J-Pop and K-Pop
by Cazz Blase // 24 April 2012, 18:30
Way back on New Years Eve, I was innocently sitting in my kitchen listening to the World Service when my interest was aroused by a short report on the K-Pop trend in Japan. The report contrasted the women in...
Rage Against Racism
by Laura // 24 April 2012, 14:02
Black Feminists are organising a demonstration outside the Swedish Embassy next Tuesday, 1 May, in response to the Minister of Culture's engagement with the racist "FGM cake" artwork that caused outrage last week: We are protesting to stop the...
Jessie J, Cynthia Nixon and female bisexuality
by Guest Blogger // 24 April 2012, 12:00
Guest blogger Louise McCudden considers why being bisexual is presumed to be more socially acceptable for women than being gay.
A Shakespearean sausage-fest
by Victoria Brewster // 24 April 2012, 08:30
Guest blogger Vicky asks where the women are in Sky Arts' Shakespeare series, looking at the significant roles that women have performed in the past.
Lads' mags and the (clothed) women involved
by Holly Combe // 23 April 2012, 23:58
Holly considers how women are expected to respond to sexist culture and discusses a recent Guardian article featuring four women who have been involved in lads' mags
Why I didn't report my rape (trigger warning)
by Guest Blogger // 23 April 2012, 13:21
An anonymous reader felt unable to report being raped. She explains why.
Weekly Round-Up and Open Thread, 16 - 23 April 2012
by Abby O'Reilly // 23 April 2012, 11:48
Hello Lovely F-Word Readers, Here's this week's round-up of interesting news articles and happenings from around the blogosphere that we've not had time to write about in detail. As always, if there's anything we've missed feel free to share...
AWID Forum: on feminist movements
by zohra moosa // 22 April 2012, 15:35
Last day at the Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID)'s 12th Forum today, which Josephine and I are both attending (previous posts here and here). I started the morning by attending a session on 'Building feminist movements for...
Ched Evans conviction: the vitriol after the verdict
by Guest Blogger // 22 April 2012, 13:24
A guest post by Julian Norman about the misogynist reactions to the conviction of Ched Evans, a football player, for rape.
New review - A place of rage: two black feminist documentaries
by Ania Ostrowska // 21 April 2012, 21:36
From the 1990s onwards, feminist sociologists have been using the term 'intersectionality' to suggest that multiple socio-biological categories (like race, gender, class, ability, sexuality etc.) work together to create a web of oppression in which we are entangled. Lola Okolosie...
The Legend of Korra
by Jess McCabe // 21 April 2012, 19:26
Following on from Katniss Everdeen and the Hunger Games, here's another female action hero to get excited about: That's Korra. The next Avatar. And her show, The Legend of Korra, just started in the US. More info over at Wired....
Why do you think it is appropriate to grope me?
by Joanne Matthews // 21 April 2012, 18:05
In my first post I talked about what it's like to go to a typical, commercial club such as Proud in London on a Saturday night, and their role in promoting an impossibly glossy standard for women. Women and...
AWID Forum: where are the propositions?
by zohra moosa // 21 April 2012, 16:04
As Josephine posted earlier today, we are both at the Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID)'s forum. The forum happens every 2-3 years and this year has about 2300 participants - the youngest is about 8 and the...
AWID 12th forum: The balance between religiousness and women's rights
by Josephine Tsui // 21 April 2012, 13:36
I'm attending the Association of Women's Rights in Development conference in Turkey. I'm blogging my thoughts here at the F-word. I had wanted to write about each day's reflection, but many of these topics run every day and my...
April's playlist: From a spring to a salute!
by Cazz Blase // 20 April 2012, 18:30
I had originally planned to do something nice and pastorial for this months playlist (For the sharemyplaylists link please click here)as I was feeling all springlike, but the weather changed and somehow Saint Etienne and Stacy Kent no longer...
AWID 12th forum 2012
by Josephine Tsui // 20 April 2012, 12:05
I'm currently at the Association of Women's Rights in Development's (AWID) 12th international forum on women's rights and development. AWID is one of the few international feminist organisations other than the YWCA, and the International Girl Guides Association. The...
Where does the metal for the Olympic medals come from?
by Jess McCabe // 19 April 2012, 22:16
Today the international mining firm Rio Tinto held its AGM down the road from Parliament. You might have read about the activist protests that disrupted the shareholder meeting. Earlier this week, I met with some of the women who have...
Women's friendships - simmering resistance
by Guest Blogger // 19 April 2012, 10:42
Nicola Stott considers the significance of women's friendships.
"Asking for it": Delhi police blame rape on the victims
by Guest Blogger // 19 April 2012, 09:58
Nanki Chawla discusses the comments made by leading police officials blaming rape on the victims in Delhi.
The impossible trend: look like Barbie
by Guest Blogger // 18 April 2012, 19:11
Elin Weiss & Hennie Weiss consider the trend for some younger women to make themselves look like Barbie dolls.
New Review: Ancient and modern design: The Cornshed Sisters Tell Tales
by Cazz Blase // 18 April 2012, 10:30
The Cornshed Sisters entered my consciousness about a month ago now when I heard Mark Riley play debut single 'Dance at my wedding' on his early evening show on 6 music. It was a nice folky pop song, I...
The commercialisation of pregnancy
by Guest Blogger // 17 April 2012, 15:56
Yasmin discusses the pressure on pregnant women to buy into capitalist models of beauty, well-being and childcare.
New review double act: The Hunger Games
by Ania Ostrowska // 17 April 2012, 15:48
"Panem, mockingjay, Katniss and Peeta - if these words are unfamiliar to you now, they soon won't be," predicts Jessica Blunden in her review of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy. She might be right: the series has already...
Calling feminists in the North East!
by Laura // 17 April 2012, 10:40
Laura has the details on how you can help organise a feminist event in Newcastle this autumn.
Weekly Round-Up and Open Thread, 16th April 2012
by Catherine Redfern // 16 April 2012, 20:59
A collection of the items we couldn't include during the last week.
The homemaker or the sex doll; take your pick
by Guest Blogger // 15 April 2012, 17:30
Rhianna Goozee considers the underrepresention of different roles for women in mainstream media and the general lack of choice young girls have today when it comes to potential role models
Update: New Boy Friend video and UK tour dates
by Cazz Blase // 14 April 2012, 23:51
Following on from my recent ish review of Boy Friend's debut album, Egyptian Wrinkle comes the excellent news that the band will be touring the UK in May. It will be interesting to see how their sound translates on...
Skin Deep? On Ashley Judd's essay
by Guest Blogger // 14 April 2012, 11:32
The image is a photograph of the Hollywood sign seen in mirror-image reverse from Griffith Park, Los Angeles. It was taken by Jon Sullivan and is in the public domain. Guest blogger PC Wong lives in Singapore. As you've probably...
Sexist advertising of Olympic proportions
by Victoria Brewster // 13 April 2012, 17:26
Vicky writes about the advertising for the Olympics. She asks where the women are, and considers what needs to be done for women's sport to be taken seriously.
London election campaign finally gets real with hustings on women's safety
by Guest Blogger // 13 April 2012, 13:25
Sarah Green, from the End Violence Against Women Coalition, reports back from the London mayoral hustings on violence against women.
New review: Viv Albertine, Gina Birch and Helen McCookerybook live in Hyde
by Holly Combe // 12 April 2012, 23:48
Punk pioneers Viv Albertine (The Slits), Gina Birch (The Raincoats) and Helen McCookerybook (The Chefs) each form an important part of feminist musical history. They reunited for a gig at The Verge in Hyde on 24 March and I've...
Call for research participants
by Guest Blogger // 12 April 2012, 16:35
My name is Ava Kanyeredzi and I am a doctoral candidate at the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit, London Metropolitan University under the supervision of Professor Liz Kelly. My PhD research examines how African and Caribbean heritage women...
Susie Wolff joins F1 team Williams as developmental driver
by Carrie Dunn // 12 April 2012, 11:28
Congratulations to Susie Wolff, just appointed as a developmental driver for F1 team Williams. She's been karting since she was a child, and since 2006 (under her maiden name of Susie Stoddart) has been competing in DTM, the German...
"Pull up your skirt to prove you're a real woman"
by Guest Blogger // 12 April 2012, 09:41
This is a guest post by Elin Weiss & Hennie Weiss about the transphobic treatment experienced by Jenna Talackova following her participation in the recent Miss Universe Canada competition.
"I don't remember raping her"
by Guest Blogger // 12 April 2012, 08:38
TRIGGER WARNING: This guest post by Elin Weiss & Hennie Weiss discusses sexual violence against women.
Finnish government welcomes babies to the world!
by Laura // 11 April 2012, 17:07
I just had to link to this post by PhD in Parenting on the baby boxes handed out to new parents in Finland. Apparently you can choose between the box full of useful baby things (which itself turns into...
Pop stars prancing about in pants
by Guest Blogger // 11 April 2012, 12:21
A guest post from Kate Bellamy arguing that the pressure on women in pop to wear less tends to increase when there's a cause to be considered
New Review: Sherlock's Victorian Values
by Mathilda Gregory // 11 April 2012, 12:18
With his Star Trek villainy keeping Benedict Cumberbatch occupied for the foreseeable future, Sherlock fans might have quite a wait ahead of them before the gangly super-sleuth returns for a third series. Meanwhile, here's Helen-Rose Owen to take stock...
Pretending to be poor
by Philippa Willitts // 11 April 2012, 09:30
Philippa writes about the problems with charity's campaign to get people to pretend to be poor for 5 days to experience what it is like to live in poverty.
Honk your horn if you love Ashley Judd's message
by Josephine Tsui // 10 April 2012, 23:21
If you've been asleep or your only feminist readings are through the F-word, you may have notice some feminista loving to Ashley Judd through her article basically scraping her critics across coals at The Daily Beast. Her critics have...
What Pirates! taught me about women
by Laura // 10 April 2012, 09:16
Laura is unimpressed with Aardman's latest offering.
Weekly Round-Up and Open Thread, 9th April 2012
by Philippa Willitts // 9 April 2012, 09:21
Philippa sums up the stories we could not cover during the last week, but which merit an airing.
No girls allowed
by Laura // 8 April 2012, 20:32
Laura wonders why, in 2012, one of the most prestigious golf courses in the world still excludes women from membership.
New book review: The Reinvention of Love
by Iman Qureshi // 8 April 2012, 18:07
Sian Norris finds herself approving of the subversion of traditional sexual roles in the portrayal of Charles Saint-Beuve - "a man like no other" - in Helen Humphrey's novel The Reinvention of Love When I picked up Helen Humphreys'...
New Music Review: Emeli Sandé's Our Version Of Events
by Cazz Blase // 8 April 2012, 13:00
Emeli Sandé's debut single 'Heaven' was a big urban dance tune last summer, and the path to debut album 'Our version of events' has been a long one. A mildly disappointed Holly Combe ponders the largely middle of the...
A celebration of beauty - yours and mine
by Victoria Brewster // 8 April 2012, 09:34
Guest blogger Vicky talks about standards and expectations of beauty and body size, and how the Daily Mail positioned Samantha Brick in a way that could only provoke hostility.
FRINGE! film festival comes to London 12-15 April 2012
by Guest Blogger // 7 April 2012, 14:35
This is a guest post by Selina Robertson, who along with Sarah Wood runs Club Des Femmes, a queer-feminist pop-up film festival. She is a freelance programmer and writer and has recently left her beloved Berlin for the perils...
My experiences of commercial clubbing and hyper-femininity
by Joanne Matthews // 7 April 2012, 11:37
I've come to find that the culture of mainstream clubbing (by mainstream I refer to clubs that plays mainly chart music and RnB with a bit of club classics, serving the purpose of heavy drinking and one night stands,...
Music paste up: A stripped back saturday special, featuring Cold Specks, The Cornshed Sisters, Clean Bandit and She Makes War
by Cazz Blase // 7 April 2012, 10:45
Hello and welcome to Saturdays music paste up. There is something of a theme today in that I'm focusing on artists in stripped back mode, that is, those occasions when artists who usually make loud and/or more complex music...
We need to talk about women filmmakers: or, two cheers for the BFI's Made in Britain season
by Guest Blogger // 5 April 2012, 11:52
This is a guest post by Sophie Mayer. She is the author of The Cinema of Sally Potter: A Politics of Love, and a regular contributor to The F-Word and Sight & Sound. She doesn't think The Hunger Games is...
Slice by slice
by Jess McCabe // 5 April 2012, 10:32
The benefits system is being overhauled - we've covered some of the impacts of this already. But one aspect that has gone almost unreported so far is the impact of the changes on how domestic violence refuges are funded. I...
Music paste up: MIA and terrifying things to do with cars, Clean Bandit provide some local sauce, and the dance film season is upon us
by Cazz Blase // 5 April 2012, 00:00
Readers of the sporadically occuring music paste ups may recall that back in February MIA announced the release of her new single 'Bad Girls', and its accompanying video. Inspired in part by some videos Maya had been watching of...
What Samantha Brick should have written
by Guest Blogger // 4 April 2012, 17:39
Guest blogger Louise McCudden argues that feminists need to address the issue of female sexual jealousy.
Film trigger warnings
by Victoria Brewster // 3 April 2012, 19:42
A guest post by Vicky Brewster about the system of warnings of sexual violence in film classifications. This post may be triggering to some readers.
Equality in the family and Sharia law bodies
by Jolene Tan // 3 April 2012, 12:00
Image shows the logo of the Supreme Court. Shared by d-notice under a Creative Commons license. Pupil barrister Charlotte Rachael Proudman writes in the Independent about her experiences representing Muslim women at Sharia councils and Muslim Arbitration Tribunals across...
European Union lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans survey launched
by Helen G // 2 April 2012, 15:16
The first ever EU-wide online LGBT Survey is launched. ILGA-Europe encourages all individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans to take part.
European Parliament adopts 2012 accession reports
by Helen G // 2 April 2012, 13:13
On Thursday 29 March the European Parliament adopted its annual enlargement progress reports for Turkey, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo. All resolutions require more progress in the field of LGBT rights.
Weekly round-up and open thread
by Laura // 2 April 2012, 10:36
Time for our weekly round-up of links and an open thread - feel free to add links to stuff we missed!
Welcome to April's guest bloggers
by Philippa Willitts // 1 April 2012, 10:34
We welcome our two April guest bloggers, Vicky Brewster and Joanne Matthews.
Founder of The F-Word, Catherine Redfern, has co-authored a new book with Kristin Aune. Find out more at the 
