16 September 2008

Help Save Bitch Magazine

Via Feminist Philosophers… Bitch magazine are in trouble and need to raise $40,000 by 15 October in order to print the next issue. Their website says: While it’s true that $40,000 is a lot of money, we know the number… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 16 September 2008 | Comments (0)

12 August 2008

Rape Compensation Cut Overturned

A decision by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) to cut the compensation awarded to a woman who was raped after a night out has been overturned. Unbelievably, she had been told in writing that the reason for the reduction… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 12 August 2008 | Comments (13)

29 July 2008

And Now for Something Really Annoying…

No-Follow tags at the ready! If you fancy reading a real howler, check out this prime piece of retrogressive poppycock from the Daily Mail that I discovered through Polly Styrene’s blog today: …Clearly, men and women are increasingly out of… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 29 July 2008 | Comments (7)

26 July 2008

Criticism and Obligation

Regular readers of the F-word will probably be aware that a post about speculated future scientific advances in women’s fertility attracted criticism this week. I’m not about to needlessly parrot what has already been said but, as it happens, I… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 26 July 2008 | Comments (18)

25 July 2008

Crap Word of the Week: Gastrosexual

We’ve seen the so-called metrosexuals and ubersexuals (courtesy of the trend experts) and now we have the food company PurAsia commissioning a report on the apparent “Emergence of the Gastrosexual.” We’re told (click on the PDF on the left… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 25 July 2008 | Comments (6)

16 July 2008

Subvertising on Facebook!

Today, I belatedly discovered an interesting project that my Facebook friend Corinna posted a link to a couple of days ago. Basically, Teresa of Teresacentric.com got so sick of complaining about the endless “self-serve” ads for weight loss products… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 16 July 2008 | Comments (29)

17 June 2008

Eileen Atkins to Star in Play Inspired by Greer

Next month, Dame Eileen Atkins will be starring in a comedy said to be inspired by Germaine Greer being held hostage in her home by a student in 2000. The Female of the Species will preview at the Vaudeville Theatre… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 17 June 2008 | Comments (2)

4 June 2008

Who are the Harajuku Girls?

NB: I changed one of the words in the final paragraph of this article. The details can be found in the comments. Harajuku is an area in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo, Japan. The term Harajuku Girls is commonly… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 4 June 2008 | Comments (24)

28 May 2008

Belated Thanks to Hoyden About Town

You may recall that, just before the New Year, Hoyden About Town were taking nominations for their selection of memorable posts from 07. Well, last week, the results were announced and I was really happy to find that my post… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 28 May 2008 | Comments (0)

22 May 2008

Alert for Feminist Gamers

The online gaming magazine Thirteen 1 has launched a campaign against the bad press received by the gaming industry for its alleged negative influence on young people (scroll through to page 15 in the issue above). Now, despite not being… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 22 May 2008 | Comments (3)

21 May 2008

When the Personal is Sometimes Political: Abortion on Demand

I’ve been thinking about Zohra’s entry on the personal not always being political in the abortion debate but wanted to make sure we won the battle to retain the 24 week limit before I voiced my thoughts about it,… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 21 May 2008 | Comments (15)

9 May 2008

Tourist Guide for Woman-Watchers

A speech writer for Bernard Kouchner (France’s Foreign Minister) has written a book advising on the best places in Paris to look at beautiful women. According to Pierre Louis Colin, people go to Paris to see the city’s magnificent… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 9 May 2008 | Comments (7)

11 April 2008

The Numbers Game

Reporting on Kira Cochrane’s article about Nick Clegg admitting to having slept with ‘no more than 30’ partners, Dodai on Jezebel is asking whether the number of people we’ve slept with actually means anything. Personally, I’ve always refused to count… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 11 April 2008 | Comments (7)

Justice for “Ugly People”

Now here’s an idea that seems fair in theory but would be an administrative nightmare to put into practice: Gonzalo Otalora is arguing that good-looking people should pay more tax. This would make up for the better deal they get… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 11 April 2008 | Comments (7)

10 April 2008

More Silly Research Reporting

Following the bollocks that Samara reported on a couple of days ago, is the Daily Mail’s report on a study apparently claiming that women with big eyes and small jaws are perceived by men as being more into the idea… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 10 April 2008 | Comments (9)

Gok Wan: Not so Nice After all?

I’ve always felt a bit ambivalent about Gok Wan (i.e he’s very charming, I want to like him but often find him patronising etc etc) so the latest news that he may not be as much of a crusader for… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 10 April 2008 | Comments (33)

9 April 2008

Mind the Gap: Criticism and Leadership in Feminism

Warning: this post contains speculative generalisations. Following up on the allegations recently levelled at us, Zenobia at Mind the Gap has offered some wise words about the importance of open and fair criticism. Successful debate obviously requires co-operation on both… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 9 April 2008 | Comments (2)

7 April 2008

Is it Better to be a Woman or a Man?

This was the theme of the debate that Kate Smurthwaite, Vince Graff and I took part in on last Tuesday’s Phil Williams show on BBC Radio 5 Live. (Scroll through to the second hour of the programme.) I was pretty… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 7 April 2008 | Comments (3)

6 April 2008

Hoax e-mails

Ever received one of those pathetic scaremongering e-mails from an apparently well-meaning colleague and told them the story is an old hoax, only to get a touchy “can’t be too careful” response? Ever got forwarded the same one again months… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 6 April 2008 | Comments (6)

21 March 2008

Positive Discrimination Debate

When it comes to the question of positive discrimination, I tend to err towards a similar view to the one that Lib Dem MP Jackie Ballard expressed a few years back: it doesn’t sit well with me but in the… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 21 March 2008 | Comments (2)

Another round-up: Unsurprising News, PMS, Playground Insults and a Porn Debate

There’s a very heartening article in the Telegraph about the recent finding that being a feminist seems to offer some protection against the negative influence of current fashion when it comes to assessing which body types are attractive. Admittedly, it… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 21 March 2008 | Comments (0)

17 March 2008

End Patriarchy: For Geeks Only?

I’m guessing that most of you will be aware of the rather clever End-Patriarchy thing that Jessica Valenti has drawn attention to on Feministing today. I’d also guess that most of you will have got the hook inherent in the… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 17 March 2008 | Comments (15)

13 March 2008

More on Chivalry

Do we need signs telling us to give up our seats on the tube for those who might need them more? Apparently, Ken Livingstone thinks so because he has launched a priority seating scheme that includes pregnant women. While I… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 13 March 2008 | Comments (21)

5 March 2008

Last Night’s Pro-Choice Demo in Cardiff

There were over a hundred of us in attendance at the pro-choice demo outside City Temple last night. Aside from the heavy-handed arrest of a well-known Cardiff anarchist that resulted in a bunch of us picketing the police station… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 5 March 2008 | Comments (4)

4 March 2008

Pro-Choice Demo in Cardiff Tonight!

You may be aware that Ann Widdecombe and Lord David Alton are on an anti-abortion tour of Britain with various pro-life groups, as the bill on Human Fertilisation and Embryology moves through parliament. It is anticipated that this bill will… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 4 March 2008 | Comments (0)

2 March 2008

Regina Lynn on Polyamory and the Internet

There’s a post on Regina Lynn’s Sex Drive on the rise in awareness of polyamory in recent years, due to the availability of information on the internet and selection of online communities out there. Sadly, I’m not sure how… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 2 March 2008 | Comments (11)

16 February 2008

Racist Perceptions of “Femininity”

There’s an interesting post by Tami over at Racialicious (originally from her own blog “What Tami Said”) about her experience of white male colleagues at work treating her as somehow less “feminine” or attractive than her white female colleagues. Here’s… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 16 February 2008 | Comments (0)

Vulvas Get Bad Rap on Yahoo Answers

First, a bit of background: Yahoo Answers is a community where users informally ask and answer questions on a range of topics. It can be a bit hit and miss if you need a reliable source of information but… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 16 February 2008 | Comments (19)

8 February 2008

“Men Should be Obsessed with Success” Says Lad Mag “King”

Here’s what the former Maxim and Men’s Health Editor, Greg Gutfeld has to say about his part in the latter’s promotion of male fitness (in the superficial sense as well as the health-related one): I’m culpable for this horrible phenomenon…… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 8 February 2008

Feminism is Dead? Nice Try Harry!

It’s time to strike an angry pose next to the mythical bra-bonfire, dear readers, because (yet again) the worn-out tableau of stinky old feminism finally crawling away under a rock to die is being presented in the vain hope that… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 8 February 2008

30 January 2008

The Feminist Case for Gossip Mags?

I’m sure we’ve all done it. We groan when we see yet another front-cover revelling in the cellulite, spots and general physical imperfections of the nation’s “favourite” celebrities. We righteously tut when it seems that, yet again, women in… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 30 January 2008

23 January 2008

Last Chance to Listen: Chivalry Debate on R5

It looks like the internet archive for the Richard Bacon show on Radio Five Live only goes back a week so click here now if you want to check out Kate Smurthwaite in last week’s discussion on chivalry. Also speaking… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 23 January 2008

14 January 2008

Now Magazine's BMI Blunder

For an example of how reports about celebrity weight loss can get the whole weight debate completely out of proportion, take a look at Now Magazine’s interview with Natalie Cassidy (AKA “Sonia” from Eastenders): After playing Sonia in EastEnders for… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 14 January 2008