21 September 2008

Reasons Why I Avoid Free Newspapers

All examples from The Metro, Friday September 19th. Reason 1: Their misguided sense of priorities. Take this headline on page 9: Barman was deceived Oh no! Poor man. Why? (reads rest of headline:) Barman was deceived into sex with girl,… Read more...

Posted by Catherine Redfern at 21 September 2008 | Comments (15)

Teaching Feminist History - Some Good News

A little while ago there was an interesting discussion on this blog about the best way of teaching feminist history to children. So I was excited and impressed to read about one such successful example, organised by Durham Record Office,… Read more...

Posted by Catherine Redfern at 21 September 2008 | Comments (2)

26 July 2008

Daily irritations this week

The following are the latest entries in the “little things that bug me on a daily basis on the London Underground” files: Item 1, the adverts for V Water. They all show a figure in profile drinking the water with… Read more...

Posted by Catherine Redfern at 26 July 2008 | Comments (6)

29 May 2008

Not for Sale

[Edited to link to a better version on the European Women’s Lobby site. Thanks Anji - Catherine] At Ladyfest London I watched a very powerful and moving anti-prostitution documentary called “Not For Sale”, by Marie Vermeiren. The film is available… Read more...

Posted by Catherine Redfern at 29 May 2008 | Comments (4)

15 May 2008

If you hate Sex and the City…

…and you think it’s all about consumerism and shopping… then the lyrics of the film’s theme song “Labels or Love” by Fergie won’t do much to change your mind. May I present the full hideousness for your delectation: (lyrics copied… Read more...

Posted by Catherine Redfern at 15 May 2008 | Comments (11)

14 May 2008

Live Blogging: The One Show’s take on SATC

Grrr! BBC’s The One Show has just “celebrated” the new Sex and the City film by having a gob-smacking montage of sexist comments about women and men. First they interviewed seemingly all the sexists on the streets of London, who… Read more...

Posted by Catherine Redfern at 14 May 2008 | Comments (5)

11 May 2008

Black / Women of Colour Bisexual Group

At Ladyfest London’s Race and Activism workshop, I met Jacqueline Applebee, a writer who is looking to set up a group for black / women of colour bisexual women and their friends/allies. If you’re interested, email her at contact@writing-in-shadows.co.uk…. Read more...

Posted by Catherine Redfern at 11 May 2008 | Comments (1)

12 April 2008

Gladiators is coming back…!

Gladiators is coming back to Sky One. You see images of the gladiators here. “Compare the descriptions of the women, with those of the men!” said Andrew, who emailed this to me. Yes, let’s! Men SPARTAN - Roderick Bradley, 24,… Read more...

Posted by Catherine Redfern at 12 April 2008 | Comments (13)

NHS Services - Aimed at Women?

I had this leaflet through my door - it’s a colour leaflet setting out the local health services in my Borough. The front cover shows some people walking down the street - presumably the type of people the leaflet… Read more...

Posted by Catherine Redfern at 12 April 2008 | Comments (7)

Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo

If you missed it on Radio 4’s Today programme on April 10th, you should listen to this very moving and upsetting interview with Zawadi Mongane, a woman from the Democratic Republic of Congo who suffered appalling violence by the Interahamwe… Read more...

Posted by Catherine Redfern at 12 April 2008 | Comments (1)

2 April 2008

Doctor Who and Catherine Tate

So Doctor Who starts again on Saturday, yippee! And the Doctor’s new companion will be Catherine Tate. Now, like many other people when I first heard the news Tate would be in this series I have to admit I really… Read more...

Posted by Catherine Redfern at 2 April 2008 | Comments (20)

23 March 2008

Hair-larious

The scene: me in a pub, with three male friends, T, S and A. S: How’s J? T: Fine. She texted me the other day, said she was just about to get a haircut for £50. S & A:… Read more...

Posted by Catherine Redfern at 23 March 2008 | Comments (23)

9 February 2008

Feminist Must Reads

In 2002 we asked readers of The F-Word to send us their lists of feminist “Must Reads”. The most recommended book? Germaine Greer’s The Whole Woman. I’ve now added a page on The F Word Shop which highlights these… Read more...

Posted by Catherine Redfern at 9 February 2008

3 February 2008

Tampax’s Advice on Boys

Whilst doing some reasearch I stumbled across Tampax’s “educational” site for teenage girls, www.beinggirl.co.uk. The site is filled with relentlessly upbeat articles on dating, boys, makeup and periods. One of their advice sections is entitled: Everybody’s crazy about boys… Read more...

Posted by Catherine Redfern at 3 February 2008

2 February 2008

A Big Thank You to F Word Readers

Hello all you lovely people. This is a quick message to say thank you to those of you who have been buying your Amazon purchases through the F Word Shop. Since we launched in December, you’ve ordered about 120… Read more...

Posted by Catherine Redfern at 2 February 2008

Trail Magazine - Have a Gold Star!

I love Trail Magazine. For a mag all about hiking and clambering up big mountains in the cold and snow (well at this time of the year anyway), it’d be easy for it to slip back into a Wainwright-y… Read more...

Posted by Catherine Redfern at 2 February 2008

19 January 2008

Ipswich Murders: "No Great Loss" says Littlejohn

I didn’t think it was possible that the Daily Mail’s Richard Littlejohn could become more hateful than he already is, but apparently he can. Writing about the five murdered women who worked as prostitutes, he says: It might not be… Read more...

Posted by Catherine Redfern at 19 January 2008