Blog posts by Abby O'Reilly: 2008
Marge or Homer?
By Abby O'Reilly | 30 December 2008, 11:41
I have just been surfing the web and came across this beauty summarising the differences between male and female biology. What an image, eh? Good ole Matt Groening….
More hassle for male teachers?
By Abby O'Reilly | 30 December 2008, 00:45
The Independent published an article yesterday claiming that male teachers are more likely to be subjected to aggressive student behaviour than their female colleagues. This generalisation is based on the findings of a report released by the University of Warwick,…
Read 'More hassle for male teachers?'
Facebook: where no breast goes uncovered
By Abby O'Reilly | 29 December 2008, 23:47
I’m not entirely averse to taking the odd topless shot of myself (sometimes to sate my boredom, if for no other reason - they’re just boobs, after all), but I would never upload photos of myself, breasts out (flashing nipples…
Read 'Facebook: where no breast goes uncovered'
Oh, Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy…
By Abby O'Reilly | 28 December 2008, 16:56
Jeremy Clarkson courts controversy. It’s no secret. He’s forged a lucrative career for himself out of his capacity to offend. He claims to be a satirist, but he’s not. He’s just not clever enough, and so his infantile attempts to…
Read 'Oh, Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy...'
Birth: everyone’s got an opinion
By Abby O'Reilly | 8 November 2008, 21:26
It is the most private and intimate moment in every mother’s life, and yet birth is something that everyone is more than happy to jaw about judgementally. Should we have baby at home or at hospital? Pain relief? No pain…
Read 'Birth: everyone's got an opinion'
Underwear: Tools of objectification or foundations for confidence?
By Abby O'Reilly | 13 September 2008, 19:03
My wardrobe isn’t particularly diverse, and it would be difficult to define my dress-sense. I like bright colours, prints, but am not averse to the odd bit of tweed and corduroy. I wear jeans, trousers, a-line dresses, wrap dresses, and…
Read 'Underwear: Tools of objectification or foundations for confidence?'
What would you do?
By Abby O'Reilly | 13 September 2008, 10:36
What would you do if you saw someone being brutally beaten on the side of the road as you walked past? Would you stop, intervene, call the police, ask the bloodied victim if they are OK? As a lone woman,…
Women in London Online Questionnaire
By Abby O'Reilly | 6 September 2008, 19:14
I’ve posted about this before, but wondered if there were any women out there who would also be willing to fill in a questionnaire, which can now be completed online HERE. The only stipulation is that respondents have to live…
Read 'Women in London Online Questionnaire'
Naughty little pills
By Abby O'Reilly | 20 August 2008, 12:15
According to collaborative research carried out by the University of Liverpool and the University of Newcastle, the contraceptive pill can have a detrimental affect on a woman’s choice of a prospective partner. Scientists asked a sample of women to smell…
Open the gate, and let the “uglies” come flooding in…
By Abby O'Reilly | 19 August 2008, 18:35
If you’re ugly, you’re obviously desperate. And if you’re a woman it’s likely you could be categorised as ugly at any moment, regardless of what you’re critic looks like himself, or if he even knows you, because you are public…
Read 'Open the gate, and let the "uglies" come flooding in...'
Men who want to get you pregnant
By Abby O'Reilly | 19 August 2008, 18:23
If a woman doesn’t hatch a sprog by the time she reaches 35 her ovaries begin to vibrate. What, didn’t you know? They start purring like a pair of pagers belonging to doctors working on call on the very same…
Read 'Men who want to get you pregnant'
Women in London: Questionnaire
By Abby O'Reilly | 11 August 2008, 21:27
I originally posted on this subject a few weeks ago, and firstly I would like to once again thank all the women who responded and completed the questionnaire for me. I am very very grateful! I met with the team…
Read 'Women in London: Questionnaire'
Virtual Loving
By Abby O'Reilly | 11 August 2008, 18:36
No, I’m neither talking about filthy cyber sex sessions, nor the development of an unnatural attachment to a joystick, but rather a new software package that promises you an Instant Internet Boyfriend on your Computer! Yes, who’d have thought it,…
Totally unbelievable!
By Abby O'Reilly | 2 August 2008, 22:42
Calum Best, son of footballer George Best and alleged serial shagger, has completed a TV series for MTV called Totally Calum Best in which he has pledged to abstain from sex for fifty days. The show first aired on 27th…
Slating the singles. Again…
By Abby O'Reilly | 2 August 2008, 21:09
Firstly, I realise the irony in this statement, but whenever a female journalist/columnist has a deadline to meet it seems lack of originality and laziness forces them to take recourse to the same old tired topics that have been chewed…
Read 'Slating the singles. Again...'
Happy National Orgasm Day! How should we celebrate?
By Abby O'Reilly | 31 July 2008, 15:23
There’ll be those of you who think the allocation of just one official day a year to celebrate the almighty O is not enough, and I’m inclined to agree. However, the delineation of 24-hours to commemorate the exquisite delight of…
Read 'Happy National Orgasm Day! How should we celebrate?'
Fat Friends
By Abby O'Reilly | 29 July 2008, 15:22
I’ve had a piece on The Guardian’s Cif published today about scientific claims that having a fat friend is likley to promote weight gain. I’ve not had an opportunity to look at the comments yet, but thought I’d flag it…
Women in London: questionnaire
By Abby O'Reilly | 27 July 2008, 11:01
I am involved in a project about women’s sex lives in London, and we are currently asking women if they could complete quite a candid questionnaire about their intimate schenanigans. It consists of twenty short questions and you can maintain…
Read 'Women in London: questionnaire'
Fat and content in Never-Never Land?
By Abby O'Reilly | 26 July 2008, 01:36
When I was a chubby little girl my chubby little hands liked to do nothing more than flick through the pages of my favourite book, The Hefty Fairy by Nicholas Allan. The title is pretty self-explanatory and as I have…
Read 'Fat and content in Never-Never Land?'
Whose taboo?
By Abby O'Reilly | 21 July 2008, 08:46
Casual sex, as I understand it, is the act of indulging in coitus with someone you have no intention of having an exclusive, committed relationship with. It is a term used to define the mutual use of one person by…
Handbag babies for the geriatric
By Abby O'Reilly | 20 July 2008, 18:20
[Editor: please see here for more information on this post] When the late, great Hunter S Thompson said that “reality is more twisted than fiction” he could not have been more accurate. Imagine a world in which dandruff flakes could…
Read 'Handbag babies for the geriatric'
“So, fuck that or what?”
By Abby O'Reilly | 20 July 2008, 16:28
Last week I was walking home, across the railway bridge and down the little one-way street that leads me back to chez Abby. It’s a very quiet street, but during the daytime it is safe. On this day three men…
Read '"So, fuck that or what?"'
To make-up or not to make-up?
By Abby O'Reilly | 16 July 2008, 23:50
The recent media attention paid to Gwyneth Paltrow for attending a red carpet event au naturel centralises the social pressures placed on women to adhere to the rules of self-perfection. The story was shat across the pages of the vast…
Read 'To make-up or not to make-up?'
Ask a feminist
By Abby O'Reilly | 26 June 2008, 18:57
Here’s the latest in our ‘Ask a feminist’ series. If you would like to submit a question for us to get our teeth in to please don’t hesitate to do so here. The responses are made at the personal discretion…
Do you love a bad boy?
By Abby O'Reilly | 20 June 2008, 19:06
All you heterosexual ladies out there, what do you think about this? You’re in a pub. Two men are sat at the bar. One is reading a newspaper, smiles gratefully (without making eye contact) at the barmaid who passes him…
Child-only salon booming, but what’s the real cost?
By Abby O'Reilly | 15 June 2008, 19:05
When I was a little girl I used to sit at the table staring eyes-wide at my mother carefully apply lipstick, eye shadow and blusher. I loved to watch the mixing of the colours, the anticipation of a hand-slip as…
Read 'Child-only salon booming, but what's the real cost?'
Stop shopping, you airhead! What will “the men” say?
By Abby O'Reilly | 15 June 2008, 14:04
Sorry, stop right there. Oi! I said STOP! Do you like shopping? Do you ever think about something you’ve seen, liked and want to buy? Do you ever, even if occasionally, look at clothes online, or browse catalogues even though…
Read 'Stop shopping, you airhead! What will "the men" say?'
Ageing not allowed, says Heat
By Abby O'Reilly | 14 June 2008, 23:34
Heat magazine can be downright irritating, but for some reason I still read it (if only to grissle about it afterwards). I do, of course, take the majority of the articles with a pinch of proverbial salt, otherwise I’d be…
Read 'Ageing not allowed, says Heat'
Reality more terrifying than fiction
By Abby O'Reilly | 14 June 2008, 23:16
A 47-year-old woman was last night rescued by police from the tiny dungeon that has been her home for the last 18 years. Police raided a family home at Santa Maria Capua Vetere, a small town just outside of Naples…
Read 'Reality more terrifying than fiction'
Too fat to work
By Abby O'Reilly | 9 June 2008, 14:32
Fat is synonymous with lazy. While we all want to live in an egalitarian world where body shape, size and appearance does not matter, unfortunately if you’re considered nothing more than a pie-face who’s been beaten by the ugly stick…
Furry bits
By Abby O'Reilly | 7 June 2008, 20:06
Why does hair growth continue to be integral to body image and self-perfection? This is a recurring theme in feminist circles, and is an issue I began thinking about again this week when the Daily Mail published close-ups of Geri…
Loose Women, lost perspective…
By Abby O'Reilly | 7 June 2008, 13:17
ITV’s daytime crap-cake of a talk-show, Loose Women, was yesterday subject to the acerbic criticism of Bridget Orr over at the Guardian. Dawn Kofie, F Word contributor, wrote an excellent analysis here of the show last year, and so with…
Read 'Loose Women, lost perspective...'
Another dig at single women
By Abby O'Reilly | 6 June 2008, 17:01
The single woman is still a source of confusion for many people who have to try and dissect the life choices that would encourage one to actively remain without a partner. If you’re a single woman, no doubt you will…
Read 'Another dig at single women'
Another pint, please! Err…maybe not?
By Abby O'Reilly | 5 June 2008, 20:30
Before reading this you may want to look at the excellent post by Helen here. Now and again I like to unwind with a good drink. If I’m feeling sophisticated I’ll opt for a white wine, and if I’m feeling…
Read 'Another pint, please! Err...maybe not?'
How old is too old?
By Abby O'Reilly | 5 June 2008, 19:34
When a woman announces she’s pregnant she instantly becomes public property. Soon as the sperm touches down, cracks open the egg and starts doing something about which I can offer little technical language, then a woman is expected to don…
Whose business is it anyway?
By Abby O'Reilly | 2 June 2008, 16:08
Poor Fern Britton! Today, sat at home undergoing the laborious process of applying for job after job in the hope that someone may see fit to employ me, I had to witness Fern Britton opening the This Morning programme with…
Read 'Whose business is it anyway?'
The breast or not the breast?
By Abby O'Reilly | 6 March 2008, 15:27
Nourishing one’s own child should be hailed as the most natural thing in the world, and yet breast-feeding is still considered something of a taboo for new and expectant mothers. While it is the woman who is affected physically and…
Read 'The breast or not the breast?'
Propose another day?
By Abby O'Reilly | 29 February 2008, 15:03
For those of you who daily keep abreast of the date (unlike me!) you will have noticed that today is February 29th. Yes, it comes but once every four years, the magical extra day added to the calendar’s shortest month,…
A vasectomy at the touch of a button
By Abby O'Reilly | 14 February 2008, 16:49
I’ve had a piece published on The Guardian’s Cif page today discussing contraception, and how it can medicalise the male and female body, and make sex a clinical process. I wrote the article having read a report that scientists at…
Read 'A vasectomy at the touch of a button'
Stretch marks: the true story
By Abby O'Reilly | 10 February 2008, 15:08
A friend of mine was recently upset about her “ugly” stretch marks. Apparently puberty had “slashed” a number of silvery-white lines across her thighs and hips, which meant that not only was she ruined forever but also that she’d have…
Read 'Stretch marks: the true story'
Journalistic integrity, anyone?
By Abby O'Reilly | 9 February 2008, 00:04
As someone pursuing a career as a journalist I’ve been the recipient of some pretty hefty criticism. “Do you know,” remarked one man, “that journalism is the least respected profession along with politics? When I worked in the pharmaceutical industry…
Read 'Journalistic integrity, anyone?'
Feminist Fightback picket of the Christian Medical Fellowship
By Abby O'Reilly | 17 January 2008, 19:02
I was forwarded this information today… The Christian Medical Fellowship (CMF) is lobbying the Government hard over the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill currently being discussed in Parliament, in favour of reducing the time limit on abortions. The CMF was…
Read 'Feminist Fightback picket of the Christian Medical Fellowship'
Feminism is not man-hating!
By Abby O'Reilly | 14 January 2008, 20:37
Feminism gets a bad press. As I, and most feminists I have met, understand it’s an ideology that promotes the achievement of gender equality. It is not about ‘man-hating,’ nor is is about elevating women as the superior sex. However,…
Read 'Feminism is not man-hating!'
The Booby Wall
By Abby O'Reilly | 13 January 2008, 21:13
Canadian-based chartiy Rethink Breast Cancer has initiated a new campaign to encourage women to pay attention to their chests - the Booby Wall! Women are encouraged to take photographs of their breasts either using Booby Booths, based in Canada,…
Sexual Harassment on CiF
By Abby O'Reilly | 11 January 2008, 12:08
A lot of you will probably be familiar with a post I wrote a while back about being followed on the tube. A lot of you kindly shared your experiences with me, and it became clear that street harassment is…
Read 'Sexual Harassment on CiF'
My Fake Baby
By Abby O'Reilly | 4 January 2008, 17:40
My Fake Baby was the title of a documentary aired on Channel 4 this week, which explored the growing popularity of replica babies or “reborns.” These are dolls designed to look like living babies. They can wriggle. They can…
Rejection lines given by women
By Abby O'Reilly | 3 January 2008, 15:10
There’s a post over at dyoks by Joel Badinas listing the top ten rejections given by women. So, here they are in descending order: 10. I think of you as a brother. (You remind me of that inbred banjo-playing…
Read 'Rejection lines given by women'
don't look don't touch
By Abby O'Reilly | 1 January 2008, 20:08
I wrote a post a few weeks ago about my experience on the London underground, when I was followed and stared at by a man. Firstly, I would like to thank all the women who so kindly shared their experiences…
Inside the mind
By Abby O'Reilly | 1 January 2008, 13:14
The image below was posted over at denchaoot, and claims to illustrate the intricate differences between male and female thought processes: What bothers me most here is not that John and Jane are both dressed for a funeral, nor the…
Feeds