Lesson from Monster.com on Application of Gender Stereotypes

By Holly Combe | 18 December 2007, 20:49

Monster are a web-based careers service where users can upload their CVs for employers to view, browse jobs and access general careers advice. Unfortunately, it seems they also offer a lesson in how to apply gender stereotypes in the workplace….

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Cheating: Who's to Blame?

By Holly Combe | 12 December 2007, 18:20

If you ever visit the Yahoo homepage to look at the news, you will be aware that it regularly has links to dating advice articles associated with match.com. These generally tend to buy into the most banal “Venus and Mars”…

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A Rant and a Tribute in Scarlet

By Holly Combe | 18 November 2007, 21:05

I don’t know about you but I tend to get a bit tired and woozy after I’ve had a really good orgasm. In my experience, the difference between the sexes when it comes to getting it on with each…

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Failed Femmes: Pity and Scorn in the Daily Mail Part 2

By Holly Combe | 6 November 2007, 23:59

As well as trumpeting the plight of the Unwell Lady, the Daily Mail has also been busy scorning the Brazen Hussies. This piece treats us to lots of photos of drunken women, alongside the usual hand-wringing about their antics….

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Failed Femmes: Pity and Scorn in the Daily Mail Part 1

By Holly Combe | 6 November 2007, 23:59

I realise I’m probably rising to the bait here but, as ever, it seems the Daily Mail is on a crusade to keep the ladies under control and help the nation to internalise the importance of good old-fashioned femininity. A…

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Doing it the Traditional Way

By Holly Combe | 24 October 2007, 19:08

How to Have Sex After Marriage is screened on Channel 5 on Wednesday nights and I am very much hoping that tonight’s show turns out to be more progressive than last week’s. The featured couple in trouble were Sarmila and…

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Inquisitive Children and Accomplished Women

By Holly Combe | 3 October 2007, 19:30

In the midst of the continuing debate surrounding the Dove ads, the latest entry on Bitch PhD is worth checking out. It’s an account of a mother and son talking about the pressure on women to be “pretty,” according to…

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Surprise! Men Give Thumbs Up to Lesbianism (Apparently)

By Holly Combe | 26 September 2007, 20:30

According to the results of a Love@Lycos survey of 125,000 single people, more than 60% of men wouldn’t mind if it was revealed their partner had once had a relationship with someone of the same sex. Aside from the question’s…

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Ladyfest Bristol is Here!

By Holly Combe | 29 August 2007, 16:40

Ladyfest Bristol had a great launch at The Cube on Monday night. I must confess this has been my first time attending a Ladyfest, as I tend to get rather embarrassed when I am reminded that a celebration of…

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Ubisoft Game Excludes Boys (and Nauseates Feminists)

By Holly Combe | 14 August 2007, 20:56

Girl in the Machine has an excellent post about Ubisoft’s forthcoming release of a series of games “for girls ages 6 to 14 years old” in October 2007. We’re told they will have Imagine™ Fashion Designer, Imagine™ Animal Doctor, Imagine…

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Another "Light Hearted" Celebration of Gender Stereotypes

By Holly Combe | 10 July 2007, 22:09

Researchers at the University of Arizona have indicated that women do not talk more than men. As one of the researchers states, the notion that women are the chatty ones has become “part of the cultural mainstream” so I’d…

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Getting Engaged? Read These!

By Holly Combe | 12 June 2007, 18:25

Anyone who’s feeling inspired to ponder the conventional rituals of marriage after reading Eleanor Turner’s recent F-word article should check out Meghan O’Rourke and Amanda Marcotte’s pieces on engagement rings (in Slate and Pandagon respectively). Actually, I must confess that,…

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How to Have a Baby Girl

By Holly Combe | 26 May 2007, 23:55

A recent interview on LK Today with a mother claiming to have successfully conceived a girl through the Shettles Method has given a depressing reminder of just how entrenched gender stereotypes still are. According to this woman, conceiving a…

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Different Sized Women Can be Friends? Unthinkable!

By Holly Combe | 26 May 2007, 21:00

Yes, it seems the Mirror found the sight of Beth Ditto and Kate Moss leaving a club in Los Angeles together shocking enough to be worthy of the scathing headline “Kate’s Big Mates.” According to the Mirror, hanging out with…

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Midwife Crisis: Awareness Event in Leeds on 22 May

By Holly Combe | 18 May 2007, 21:10

The Independent Midwives Association (IMA) has reported that the Government is intending to pass legislation to make professional indemnity insurance (PII) a prerequisite for registration. However, there is actually no PII available to independent midwives. This ultimately means they will…

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More on Full Fat and Fertility

By Holly Combe | 1 March 2007, 22:31

Abby recently posted here about the Times article on a discovery that low-fat milk and yoghurt might precipitate female infertility. While I very much agree with Abby that encouragement for women to enjoy indulgent foods for a change is obviously…

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Girls and Boys or "Guys"?

By Holly Combe | 1 March 2007, 20:03

There’s an interesting article from Heather Gehlert on Alternet about the generic use of the word “guys” in relation to groups with both genders in. She considers her Dad’s critical approach to this common language use and discovers, when looking…

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Abortion Rights Protest on 3 March

By Holly Combe | 5 February 2007, 16:09

On 21 October, more than 220 people attended the Feminist Fightback conference at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London to discuss issues including socialist feminism, LGBT liberation, women workers’ struggles, low pay, sexual freedom, prostitution, women in…

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CBB Pantomime Continues

By Holly Combe | 4 February 2007, 19:00

The media coverage of Celebrity Big Brother 2007 is still dominating the newstands. Personally, I’m still recovering from the disbelief at Gordon Brown glibly telling us, during the Shilpa vs Jade eviction, that “a vote for Shilpa is a…

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