Blog posts by Jess McCabe: 2008
Feature and review comments - November edition
By Jess McCabe | 31 December 2008, 11:59
This regular, monthly round up of comments on our features and reviews comes not a moment too soon - blame the holiday season, please! Comments received during November are presented here for your reading pleasure. Readers responded en masse to…
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Last round-up of the year?
By Jess McCabe | 29 December 2008, 22:30
The Washington Post reports on female genital mutilation among Iraq’s Kurdish population. This one is brutal, be warned - particularly the photos. Via Jezebel Shark-fu has a must-read post, over at Shakesville: The first time I was gay bashed I…
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January at the ICA
By Jess McCabe | 27 December 2008, 21:46
London’s Institute of Contemporary Art is showing a some shorts organised by Club des Femmes, a “positive female space for the re-examination of ideas through art”. Yep, I’m not sure what that means either, or “a much-needed open platform for…
Merry Yule…
By Jess McCabe | 25 December 2008, 13:29
…and/or Christmas, and/or Hanukkah, and/or whatever other winter Saturnalia you might be celebrating today…. Photo by tobym, shared under a Creative Commons license…
What’s it like for Irish women who have to travel to England to get abortions?
By Jess McCabe | 24 December 2008, 13:03
Something like this:…
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Another round-up
By Jess McCabe | 23 December 2008, 18:51
The number of reported rapes in the US has soared by 25% in only two years, while reported domestic violence has sky-rocketed by 42%, according to a report by Human Rights Watch. Full details at Feminist Peace Network. Four men…
Female lawyers told to wear high heels, skirts
By Jess McCabe | 23 December 2008, 16:25
The ‘magic circle’ law firm Freshfields has advised its female lawyers to play up their femininity, wearing high heels and skirt suits, reports the Daily Mail. But they can’t embrace it too much. Necklaces, they have been warned, should be…
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Gender theory will destroy ‘man’ - Pope
By Jess McCabe | 23 December 2008, 11:08
I think that the Pope’s choice of the term “man” in his horrific speech arguing that gender theory (and, implicitly, blurring gender or gender roles in any way, being lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans) is comparible to destroying the rainforests,…
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Unbelievably wrong…
By Jess McCabe | 22 December 2008, 12:03
12-year-old Dymond Milburn was sent outside by her mum to turn the electricity back on, after the circuit breaker flipped, Houston Press reports on what happened next: As Dymond headed toward the breaker, a blue van drove up and three…
Oh, journalism…
By Jess McCabe | 21 December 2008, 11:42
So, I was quoted in this story about feminism in The Times. I spoke to the journalist for over half an hour, and made it clear that I support the protests against the series of beauty pagaents taking place at…
Another round-up!
By Jess McCabe | 19 December 2008, 14:02
The Manchester branch of Women Asylum Seekers Together is setting up a solidarity group. The ‘Yes Means Yes’ anthology has been published - it was co-edited by Jessica Valenti from Feministing, and includes an array of brilliant writers from the…
Foster carers needed for LGBT youth
By Jess McCabe | 17 December 2008, 17:25
The Albert Kennedy Trust is in need of women foster carers, according to a profile by Julie Bindel in today’s Guardian: When she was 16 and, in her own words, “a real mess”, Alex was given a placement at the…
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Boris backtracks on rape crisis funding
By Jess McCabe | 17 December 2008, 16:58
The one bright-spot in Boris Johnson’s election as London Mayor was that he promised to fund four new rape crisis centres. He’s already cancelled the Capital Woman conference for International Women’s Day. He cut funding for Soho Pride. Purged his…
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Round up
By Jess McCabe | 16 December 2008, 15:55
Bitch Ph.D uncovered a shower-radio which boasts among its features… a hidden camera. (Via Melissa at Shakeville) A 12-year-old girl was paralysed after being vaccinated against HPV, reports The Telegraph - was it co-incidence or was it a direct result?…
Micro loans end up with women in debtors’ prison
By Jess McCabe | 16 December 2008, 14:57
Microcredit is often framed as a feminist, pro-poor facet of the finance industry. This is because it provides tiny loans to people who are otherwise ignored by the banking sector, without access to bank accounts and overdrafts, to help support…
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The pay gap is insulting
By Jess McCabe | 15 December 2008, 20:00
I can imagine some people will not like this, but I think it gets the point across really well about a basic inequality which is so ingrained, I think a lot of people don’t realise how messed up it…
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Suffragettes ‘most hardcore girl gang’
By Jess McCabe | 15 December 2008, 12:25
I love suffragette stories as much as the next feminist, but this story by Julie Burchill in The Sun is… baffling. The story is full of breathless lines like this: Those prim and proper Edwardian ladies looked so weak and…
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New feature: ‘Hasn’t anybody ever told you a handful is enough?’
By Jess McCabe | 15 December 2008, 00:05
Boys groped her, men shouted at her on the street, and girls and women reacted with hostility. Samara Ginsberg reports on growing up with large breasts I was saddened to read Hannah Whittaker’s article about her eating disorder a while…
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New review - Out of Place: Interrogating Silences in Queerness / Raciality
By Jess McCabe | 15 December 2008, 00:02
debi withers reviews a collection on the intersection of race and queer politics, which slips between first-person narratives, manifestos and academic tracts Out of Place: Interrogating Silences in Queerness / Raciality is the latest book from Raw Nerve, the independent…
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Yellow Rage
By Jess McCabe | 14 December 2008, 22:01
This video of spoken word poets Michelle Myers and Catzie Vilayphonh (Yellow Rage) has been doing the rounds of various feminist blogs all week, but on the offchance you’ve not seen it: Via Womanist Musings…
Joan Jett
By Jess McCabe | 14 December 2008, 00:24
Kristen Stewart has been cast to play Joan Jett in a film about the Runaways. AfterEllen has posted an analysis of the casting decision, and Kelsey at Bitch Magazine is less than impressed. It’s a good excuse to post these…
Target Women: Jewellery edition
By Jess McCabe | 14 December 2008, 00:19
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Reclaim the Night Birmingham postponed…
By Jess McCabe | 14 December 2008, 00:16
Birmingham Feminists have postponed their planned Reclaim the Night march: Just a quick post to say that Birmingham Feminists have made the executive decision to postpone our first Reclaim The Night march as we are under prepared at present. We…
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Round-up: the UN, Jade Goody, Sleater-Kinney, iron collars, WoW and Repo Chick
By Jess McCabe | 12 December 2008, 13:47
Next week the UN will vote on a declaration decriminalising homosexuality. Jade Goody’s at it again: The reality TV star is talking on her latest show Jade on Living TV, which follows the star as she battles cervical cancer and…
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How can washing machines connect up to sexism in tech?
By Jess McCabe | 12 December 2008, 09:32
To find out, follow these simple steps. Step One: Watch this advert for a Seimens washing machine (but not if you’re at work!) Link: Step Two: Read this post about it, on TechCrunch, by high-profile tech blogger Michael Arrington. Via…
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Press release from Miss-Ogynists
By Jess McCabe | 11 December 2008, 23:04
You’re probably aware of the protests against beauty-pageants held at universities across London, and if not your can check out the Miss-Ogynist University of London Facebook group for the full story. Today we received a press release from the company…
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Bonfire Madigan to play UK shows
By Jess McCabe | 11 December 2008, 10:58
Bonfire Madigan has announced a series of UK shows: BONFIRE MADIGAN SHIVE is a visionary cellist, composer, vocalist, performing artist, community activist, and international touring musician from the United States. Shive has collaborated onstage and in studio with artists as…
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Bratz
By Jess McCabe | 10 December 2008, 10:47
The controversial line of dolls Bratz has been ordered off the shelves by a US judge, over a copyright infringement issue. Elle, phd posted a very good analysis of the whole Bratz issue: My point is, that Bratz did not…
It’s Christmas, time to reinforce those gender roles!
By Jess McCabe | 10 December 2008, 10:42
Via Miriam at Feministing…
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Virginie Despentes to speak on femininity
By Jess McCabe | 10 December 2008, 10:34
The director Virginie Despentes is speaking at the ICA in London next year, about her new book which argues, from her experience working in porn and prostitution, that “feminism is needed to rip away the trappings of femininity in a…
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New feature: Time to end parental leave discrimination
By Jess McCabe | 8 December 2008, 23:30
Jennifer Gray argues that parental leave laws must become more flexible In Victorian times, the ‘separate spheres’ idea was popular: men were naturally good at working and leading, women were naturally good at domestic tasks, and everyone would be happy…
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New review - Cunning Stunts: women’s theatre in the 1970s and ’80s
By Jess McCabe | 8 December 2008, 23:21
The Unfinished Histories CD provides a tantalising window into the history of women’s theatre troupes, says Red Chidgey They had fiesty names like Cunning Stunts, Beryl and the Perils, Monstrous Regiment and Gay Sweatshop; their goal was to use theatre…
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Rounding up & out
By Jess McCabe | 8 December 2008, 16:03
Jezebel confronts the statistic that 40% of women cannot orgasm - and only 12% care about it: The fact that many women are still so uncomfortable talking about sex and/or the idea of masturbation undoubtedly contributes to their lack of…
Where are women now? asks Observer Review
By Jess McCabe | 7 December 2008, 21:13
A good portion of today’s Observer Review was dedicated to the status of women in our society 80 years since women won the right to vote. I’m quoted (very briefly!) in Rachel Cooke’s overview. She has some interesting things to…
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Feministing’s Friday Fuck Yeah - feminist bloggers edition
By Jess McCabe | 6 December 2008, 17:46
Feminist bloggers, this one’s for you. Samhita suggests calling out to your favourite feminist bloggers in comments on her thread. I realise there’s a lot of stuff to be said said about whether feminist blogging is ultimately worth it,…
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Target Women: Vampires
By Jess McCabe | 5 December 2008, 23:18
Feminist youth work in the North West
By Jess McCabe | 5 December 2008, 12:13
This sounds like a great project: From a base in Manchester, and with a focus across the North West, a collective of academics, youth work practitioners and young people have come together to ‘do something’ about young women and girls’…
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New feature: Now That’s What I Call Misogyny!
By Jess McCabe | 5 December 2008, 10:38
Molly Lavender is exasperated at gender segregation in music - and the way pop songs valorise abusive relationships Gird your loins, ladies! The X Factor has returned! And with it the unquestioned assumption that women up and down the country…
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New feature: Why feminists shouldn’t have to keep mum
By Jess McCabe | 4 December 2008, 19:50
A feminist challenge to sexism within the current cult of motherhood is needed, argues Victoria Dutchman-Smith Before I became a mother myself, among my favourite works of feminist literature were The Women’s Room and The Feminine Mystique. These remain favourites…
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New feature: Choice and disability
By Jess McCabe | 4 December 2008, 19:47
Are feminist pro-choice politics on selective abortions sidelining the concern of disabled people? Victoria Al-Sharqi argues the case Recently I stumbled across Clare Laxton’s thought-provoking article, Abortion and disability - whose voices are heard? As a disabled woman, I have…
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From here to there
By Jess McCabe | 4 December 2008, 17:31
US feminist bloggers and activists are organising a conference next year in DC, called Fem2.0. I like their list of conference goals: To harness the power of women on the Internet to promote women’s issues. To create a forum -…
Stripping the Illusion Awards!
By Jess McCabe | 4 December 2008, 09:01
Object held a protest outside the lap-dancing club For Your Eyes Only, which was hosting the Lap Dancing Association Awards Ceremony. The protest was in the form of their own, Stripping the Illusion Awards:…
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Silent auction sent to tempt!
By Jess McCabe | 3 December 2008, 16:58
I can’t pretend it’d be anything but an excessive present to myself to bid in a WOMANKIND auction to win a limited-edition short story written collaboratively by three of the UK’s most talented writers. But let’s just say the words…
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The Sun and its slideshow of “ugly” sex workers
By Jess McCabe | 1 December 2008, 19:24
The Sun has posted a gallery of photos of women arrested by the Tennessee police - to demonstrate how unattractive they perceive them to be. The headline given to this story is “All American beauties hooked”, and the Sun proceeds…
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Take Back the Tech?
By Jess McCabe | 1 December 2008, 16:30
As Sokari blogged last week, we’re right in the middle of the 16 days of activism on violence against women. But how can we use technology to further that activism? Take Back the Tech is an interesting campaign, and has…
Comments for October
By Jess McCabe | 1 December 2008, 00:18
Just a quick note to say I’ve finally put up the comments on features and reviews received during October. You can find them here! Anaya’s piece about magazines for young girls got an overwhelming (and positive) response. Rachael Halemor’s article…
Feminism, Disability & Activism Zine: call for submissions
By Jess McCabe | 29 November 2008, 22:31
The Feminist Activist Forum is calling for submissions for a zine on feminism, disability and activism: Disability has been treated as an unglamorous side-issue within feminist activism. We are looking for writing and artwork that addresses attitudes to disability within…
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Not a slow blogging round-up
By Jess McCabe | 27 November 2008, 15:45
A New York Times article has drawn fresh attention to the ‘slow blogging’ movement. Like slow food, slow blogging is meant to encourage thoughtful blogging and “not having what you write be the first thing that comes out of your…
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The Newells
By Jess McCabe | 27 November 2008, 11:49
The UK should copy the Australians, and set up an annual ‘awards’ ceremony to highlight sexism in the public eye, argues Cath Elliot over at Comment is Free today. The Ernies take place at the New South Wales parliament building,…
The Cyber-Quilting Experiment
By Jess McCabe | 27 November 2008, 10:29
Cyber-quilters are the thread, the middle person for areas that are marginalized or simply unsure about how to use technology - Adele Nieves BitchBuzz has a great interview with Adele Nieves, which explains what The Cyber-Quilting Experiment is, its origins,…
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Anti-choicers in a school near you
By Jess McCabe | 26 November 2008, 11:50
Anti-choice groups such as the ‘Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child’ are being invited to give presentations at secondary schools: Rawnie Chapman-Kitchin, 15, was aghast when her teacher compared abortion to Nazism, saying that in time history would…
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Feminist networks profiled in today’s Guardian
By Jess McCabe | 26 November 2008, 08:39
Today’s Guardian profiles the growing number of feminist networks up and down the country: Bristol isn’t the only city with such a popular group - there are new feminist networks forming around the UK, providing a stark riposte to the…
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Feminism = Orion
By Jess McCabe | 25 November 2008, 15:30
Sudy has a great description of feminism as the constellation Orion: Feminism, as a collective movement, needs to sustain a habit of frequent communication between the movements. Borrowing from astronomy, the Orion is a sisterhood of stars that make up…
UK women barely visible in Web 2.0?
By Jess McCabe | 25 November 2008, 10:16
A list of the 20 “most visibile” people in the UK’s digital landscape contains only one woman, at number 11. NowPublic compiled the list based on what they say is a “metric-driven” formula, looking at “whose voices are most heard…
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Google thinks clitorises are unmentionable
By Jess McCabe | 24 November 2008, 16:51
The word “clitoris” is on a Google list of words ‘banned’ from its safe search option, according to Susie Bright. Google’s filtered search option is, largely, a good thing in my view - for one thing, it means I can…
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Policing masculinity - board games and bikes
By Jess McCabe | 24 November 2008, 11:04
The board game Risk has been given a ‘manly’ makeover by Hasbro. The packaging is now covered in slogans such as “are you man enough?”, big pointy arrows and instructions to “man up!” Winning players are encouraged to demand all…
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Our report on Reclaim the Night 2008
By Jess McCabe | 23 November 2008, 22:14
More than 2,000 women marched to take back the streets of central London last night, in protest against male violence against women, for the fifth national Reclaim the Night event since it’s revival in 2003. Despite the bitter chill (it…
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A pre-RTN round-up
By Jess McCabe | 22 November 2008, 12:32
Heading out to Reclaim the Night in a few hours, but in the meantime here’s a mini-round-up: Talking of RTN, the LGBT domestic violence helpline Broken Rainbow has endorsed this march and other events taking place around the country. Over…
‘Virginity’ is an outdated concept
By Jess McCabe | 18 November 2008, 03:56
We prize the idea of ‘virginity’ in our culture, whether valorising it in the form of ‘purity’ balls, or pillorying ‘virgins’. But it’s an extremely problematic concept, bolstering up a highly heteronormative hierarchy of what is and isn’t defined as…
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Rachel Maddow on bloggers
By Jess McCabe | 16 November 2008, 08:30
Via Feministing…
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Way to make organ donation kind of creepy
By Jess McCabe | 14 November 2008, 03:25
Sociological Images draws attention to this ad meant to promote organ donation, which originally ran in a Belgian men’s magazine. As lisa says: There are some interesting implications here about why we engage in altruism and who is deserving…
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‘What are you thinking about gender right now?’
By Jess McCabe | 12 November 2008, 03:34
As I’m in San Francisco at the moment, so I got a chance to meet up with charming Sarah Dopp. Sarah has about a million exciting projects on the go, but one of those is the photoblog Genderfork.com. It’s one…
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New Zealand had an election too!
By Jess McCabe | 10 November 2008, 02:01
Labour has been ousted in the New Zealand election, reports the Guardian: New Zealanders have voted for their first conservative government in almost a decade, ending the tenure of one of the world’s longest-serving elected female leaders. Conceding defeat, Prime…
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Maya Angelou
By Jess McCabe | 7 November 2008, 20:04
Maya Angelou’s reflection on Obama winning the presidency - wow. Starts about 3 minutes in….
‘Tramp stamps’ again
By Jess McCabe | 7 November 2008, 12:20
Ug. Reviving the ‘tramp stamp’ phrase again, the Daily Mail has published a ridiculous rant by Liz Jones about how women shouldn’t get tattoos. She lays on the classist and sexist bullshit very thick. A taster: They are a mark…
More US election aftermath…
By Jess McCabe | 6 November 2008, 12:23
Brownfemipower: I don’t think that I’ve truly understood until yesterday exactly how terribly the black community has been hurt. How devastated the black community was by the violence inflicted on them. How deep the ache of murder, lynching, rape, benign…
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And yet
By Jess McCabe | 5 November 2008, 11:09
As exciting - as much of a blessed relief - as it is to see Barack Obama elected president, and Congress swing to the left - as elating as it is to see the amazing reaction to this in the…
African women blog…
By Jess McCabe | 5 November 2008, 00:13
Afrigator has compiled a list of the top (as in, most read) “female African blogs”. Sokari has already posted her assessment of this ranking over at Pambazuka: Unfortunately the term “African women bloggers” is somewhat misleading as many of the…
Another round-up
By Jess McCabe | 4 November 2008, 23:32
Campaigners in Scotland are concerned that changes to the rape law could backfire, making it more difficult to convict rapists. Sudy composes a letter to her daughter on the significance of this election. Via Majikthise, Rachel Maddow points out that…
Preston refuge side-steps anti-immigrant government rules
By Jess McCabe | 4 November 2008, 17:49
It’s far from a complete solution, but it is progress: Preston Women’s Refuge has become the first in the country to open their doors to women with insecure immigration status. Because of the ‘no recourse to public funds’ rule, women…
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New review: The York Lesbian Arts Festival 2008
By Jess McCabe | 4 November 2008, 10:46
Literature-loving women flocked to York last month for the UK’s only lesbian arts festival. Milly Shaw reports back Since its first incarnation in 2000 as a book reading event, the York Lesbian Arts Festival (YLAF) has grown to incorporate workshops,…
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New feature: ‘The useless organ’
By Jess McCabe | 3 November 2008, 17:02
Maggie Lee tells of the devestating effect her hysterectomy had on her sexuality and more This year in the UK there will be approximately 40,000 hysterectomies performed on the NHS. For private operations, the figure is not so well-known and…
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Laura to guest edit The F-Word Blog while I go on holiday!
By Jess McCabe | 3 November 2008, 14:51
Just a quick service announcement, folks: Laura is going to be guest editing this blog for two weeks starting on Saturday. This is because I’ll be in San Francisco from the 8th to the 21st of November (back in time…
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New feature: Women in physics
By Jess McCabe | 3 November 2008, 10:38
Frances Downey reports back on an international conference aimed at driving up the number of female physicists Walking into the third International Conference for Women in Physics was always going to be an experience like no other. Usually, when attending…
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New review: The Virgin Daughters
By Jess McCabe | 3 November 2008, 00:21
Black-tie dances during which six-year-old girls promise their fathers to abstain from sex until marriage? A documentary about ‘purity’ balls in the United States horrifies Dawn Kofie I tried to be open-minded about The Virgin Daughters, Jane Treay’s deeply unsettling…
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Another weekend round-up
By Jess McCabe | 1 November 2008, 20:51
Mercy Wanjiku has had her ‘removal’ date postponed after a last minute intervention - see womensgrid for more. You may remember Northern Irish MP Iris Robinson, who made some vile homophobic comments earlier this year. Her husband and Northern Ireland’s…
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September comments on features and reviews
By Jess McCabe | 31 October 2008, 10:31
The comment round-up for September is up….
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Domestic violence photo and script competition for Turkish, Kurdish and Turkish Cypriot women in the UK
By Jess McCabe | 30 October 2008, 12:46
The Turkish Women’s Speaking Group - IMECE - has launched a photo competition, in order to draw attention to the issue of domestic violence. From the Facebook group: IMECE Turkish Speaking Women’s Group presents… Script and Photography Competition On…
BUST magazine Craftacular comes to London!
By Jess McCabe | 30 October 2008, 10:28
The US feminist magazine BUST holds annual “craftaculars” on the other side of the pond - and this year they’re holding one in London for the first time. Check out the FAQ for more info on the 6 December event,…
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The Femilist
By Jess McCabe | 30 October 2008, 10:17
Feminist voices in the media are often… sparse. And when journalists do seek comment from feminists, it’s often the same few voices. Occasional F-Word guest blogger Charlotte Cooper is working on a project which hopes to provide access to a…
No prison for young mums?
By Jess McCabe | 29 October 2008, 16:49
The conditions in prison may no longer be Dickensian but young mothers are still going to jail for the same reasons they were in Victorian times: poverty, debt, addiction and mental illness. In yesterday’s Guardian, Juliet Lyon set out the…
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Commenters, oh, commenters
By Jess McCabe | 29 October 2008, 16:34
Cath Elliot has published on her blog a selection of delightful comments she received recently on a Comment is Free post about strip clubs. Setting aside where we individually stand on this particular issue, the comments left speak volumes about…
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Lost a tampon?
By Jess McCabe | 28 October 2008, 22:12
This instructional video on what to do if you lose a tampon is funny. And informative: I was actually under the impression it was impossible to lose a tampon. Oh well, at least I’ll be prepared for any future eventuality!…
Madre one minute video challenge
By Jess McCabe | 28 October 2008, 15:09
Madre is a campaign group that focuses on “demanding rights, resources and results for women worldwide”. While US election fevour continues unabated, Madre is gazing beyond election day to focus on what comes next. Whoever ends up in the White…
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Rosie the Riveter and more
By Jess McCabe | 28 October 2008, 11:22
For those, like me, with a serious weakness for Rosie the Riveter-esque photos, Flickr has become a bit of a goldmine. Loads of Library of Congress photos make their way onto the site: Original caption: ‘Dora Miles and Dorothy Johnson…
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New feature: We’re all in this together
By Jess McCabe | 27 October 2008, 00:00
Irish and British women must unite in the battle for reproductive rights, argue Ariel Silvera and Sinead Ahern, as they sketch out the history of abortion in Ireland and the UK As oppression has gone global, so too has the…
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New feature: Confidential?
By Jess McCabe | 26 October 2008, 23:58
We don’t expect our reason for seeing a nurse or doctor to be broadcast to the waiting room. But that’s exactly what happened to Rachael Halemor, when she wanted to get hold of emergency contraception I live in Nottingham, and…
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Photos from Department of Health protest
By Jess McCabe | 26 October 2008, 20:17
As we’ve mentioned already, the government blocked attempts to debate liberalising amendments to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. One of those amendments could have extended abortion rights to Northern Ireland, and Northern Irish feminists, supported by feminists from other…
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Glasgow Feminist Network - readings and discussion against gendered violence
By Jess McCabe | 25 October 2008, 13:05
In the run-up to the 16 Days Of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign (for more info see http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/16days/about.html) Glasgow Feminist Network would like to invite you to a reading and discussion on Saturday the 8th of November from 6-8pm…
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Mayuma Oda and more (arts-themed Friday mini-round up)
By Jess McCabe | 24 October 2008, 14:18
Mayuma Oda’s work is fascinating - I came across her via AfterEllen’s post about the documentary Who Does She Think She Is? Sounds like a great film. But the image of Oda’s work Mamala the Surfrider struck me immediately -…
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Jezebel interviews Sarah Haskins
By Jess McCabe | 24 October 2008, 12:18
Jezebel scored an interview with Sarah Haskins of Target Women fame! DODAI: Do you ever get recognized, and what do people say to you, if so? SARAH HASKINS: My favorite exchange was this - Drunk Guy With Glitter In Beard…
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‘Planet of the guys’
By Jess McCabe | 23 October 2008, 17:59
“So long as we live among men, let us cherish humanity” Andre Gide “It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support this.” Bertrand Russell “The world…
Photos from bittersweet Abortion Rights protest
By Jess McCabe | 23 October 2008, 14:36
Tuesday evening’s protest calling for MPs to pass amendments liberalising the abortion laws and extending them to Northern Ireland carried on, despite the government manipulating the debate so they didn’t even have a chance. From the BBC: Labour MP Diane…
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New feature: From the front lines
By Jess McCabe | 23 October 2008, 11:58
One in four women experience domestic violence during their lifetime. Ella Alexander spent a day at a women’s refuge learning about the human toll of a crime so common it is no longer considered newsworthy Sitting in her office in…
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Fun times with London AnarchaFeminist Kolektiv
By Jess McCabe | 23 October 2008, 11:12
The London AnarchaFeminist Kolektiv is holding a creative day on Saturday, with art, screen printing, web design, badge making and more. It’s all at the fabulous Lambeth Young Women’s Project, in Brixton, and the day is women and trans only:…
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Latest Carnival of Feminists up now!
By Jess McCabe | 23 October 2008, 11:10
The 67th Carnival of Feminists is up at Jump Off the Bridge….
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Feminists, Sarah Palin, Rachel Maddow
By Jess McCabe | 22 October 2008, 23:13
Via Feministing…
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Fundraiser for Edinburgh Reclaim the Night!
By Jess McCabe | 21 October 2008, 22:31
Reclaim the Night Edinburgh is holding a fundraiser on 30 September, with music (Fool for a Pretty Face, Victoria Bennett), feminist comedian Liz Ely, mini-massages and a clothing swap. Starting 7.30pm at the Forest Cafe (3 Bristo Place), entry is…
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Tuesday roundup
By Jess McCabe | 21 October 2008, 14:32
“This is not an invitatation to rape me” is the slogan of a new campaign run by Rape Crisis Scotland. If you’re south of the border, you can see the whole campaign online. It deals head-on with the myths that…
Last chance - Abortion Rights protest tonight
By Jess McCabe | 21 October 2008, 10:15
Just a quick reminder: if you’re in London, get yourself to Westminster from 5.30pm today, to protest in favour of women’s right to choose and control our own bodies. The protest has been organised by Abortion Rights, and they have…
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Yarl’s Wood staff steal legal guide from asylum seeker
By Jess McCabe | 20 October 2008, 19:37
“What does it mean when the authorities can change the rules and deny me help to make my case to the Home Office? Are they aiming to deliberately sabotage our legal cases?” Mercy Wanjiku* ran a clinic in Kenya, to…
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White, heterosexual man is the medicine’s ‘universal model’
By Jess McCabe | 20 October 2008, 15:35
Anecdotal evidence abounds that doctors and researchers work from the assumption that the standard body is white, male and heterosexual. But a researcher in the US has conducted a study of the images appearing in text books used in some…
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Maternity leave, flexible working for parents put on hold by Mandelson
By Jess McCabe | 20 October 2008, 12:19
Peter Mandelson has put on hold plans to extend the right to ask for flexible working hours to all parents with children under 16, and may ditch an extention of paid maternity leave from 39 to 52 weeks, reports the…
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Prossy Kakooza granted asylum
By Jess McCabe | 20 October 2008, 11:01
Prossy Kakooza has been granted asylum, according to the website set up by a Manchester LGBT church to campaign on her behalf. She writes: Dear friends: I get to stay!! Am still in shock, and am so sure it’s going…
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Your Stories - Rhannu Profiad
By Jess McCabe | 20 October 2008, 10:36
Welsh women who have experienced domestic violence are being invited to contribute their stories to a blog, Your Stories - Rhannu Profiad. Set up by Nerys Evans, a Plaid Cymru member of the Welsh Assembly, the “aim is to show…
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Target Women does Disney
By Jess McCabe | 19 October 2008, 10:53
Latest from Sarah Haskins:…
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Friday afternoon round-up
By Jess McCabe | 17 October 2008, 15:31
Victim blaming carries on as usual: Anthony Francis has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison for raping a woman seven years ago. He was caught on DNA evidence. During the trial, reports the Daily Mail, the…
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‘Love your (drawn) body day’
By Jess McCabe | 16 October 2008, 18:18
Rachel at Inside Out has compiled an excellent list of “Five Characters Who Break the Paradigm of Feminine Beauty in Comics”. Because of my hate-hate-love relationships with the graphic novel ouvre, I’ve only heard of a few of these, and…
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Northern Irish women sold out on abortion
By Jess McCabe | 16 October 2008, 10:48
Amendments to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill which could have legalised abortion in Northern Ireland have been shelved, reports the Telegraph. MPs who put forward the amendments: …have changed their minds after being privately warned by ministers that with…
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A Place of Rage screening, chat with director Pratibha Parmar
By Jess McCabe | 16 October 2008, 10:37
Haringey Independent Cinema is screening a documentary about African American women’s role in the civil rights movement, two weeks from today, followed by a discussion with the director, Pratibha Parmar. From HIC’s description: This exuberant celebration of African American women…
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New feature: Incitement to rape
By Jess McCabe | 16 October 2008, 00:11
Denying women’s sexuality won’t prevent rape, argues Victoria Dutchman-Smith “If a girl goes to a man’s room and takes her clothes off and engages in sexual activity, should she be charged with inciting the crime of rape if she then…
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Harry Enfield
By Jess McCabe | 14 October 2008, 20:08
The Harry and Paul show is under fire, after it ran a sketch which revolved around encouraging a man to “mount” a Filipina maid. Really, I’m not going to attempt to describe the sketch, but you can see it here:…
Israeli paper refuses to print photos of PM-in-waiting
By Jess McCabe | 14 October 2008, 16:35
An Orthodox Jewish newspaper in Israel has refused to print photos of Tzipi Livni, set to become the country’s second female prime minister, because she is a woman, reports Reuters*. Citing concerns for feminine modesty, the ultra-Orthodox refuse to publish…
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Pregnant women to be targeted under draconian plans to deny medical care to asylum seekers?
By Jess McCabe | 14 October 2008, 11:34
The government have relented, abandoning plans to “crack down” on asylum seekers being able to use GPs, the Guardian reports. Plans were afoot to bar the door to GP surgeries to asylum seekers who’s claims have been rejected, but are…
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Feminism in London photos…
By Jess McCabe | 13 October 2008, 17:52
No doubt we’ll have a proper write-up soon, but the photos I took at the Feminism in London conference on Saturday are up on Flickr: Here’s a shot I took of the volunteers who organised the whole event, and got…
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Monday mini-round-up…
By Jess McCabe | 13 October 2008, 16:33
This weekend saw National Coming Out Day celebrated in the US and the UK. There’s so many posts on this floating around, it’d be impossible to link everything - but Sinclair’s at Sugarbutch Chronicles is a must read: Like Jesse…
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New feature: HPV vaccination - the debate isn’t over yet
By Jess McCabe | 13 October 2008, 14:27
St Monica’s in Manchester does not want girls vaccinated against HPV on school grounds. Kit Roskelly argues that all schools have a responsibility to protect their pupils’ health All girls aged 12 and 13 will be provided with vaccinations against…
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Latest Carnival of Feminists up now!
By Jess McCabe | 13 October 2008, 11:44
The 66th Carnival of Feminists is up over at Apu’s World….
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Jess says: Find Me
By Jess McCabe | 12 October 2008, 22:26
A treasure hunt is going on today, to raise awareness of extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis (or XDR-TB). 43 items are being squirreled away in a series of locations, and the clues are spread out across participating blogs. Are you nearby?! XDR-TB…
First public statue of a black woman in England
By Jess McCabe | 10 October 2008, 15:58
This week the first ever public monument in England representing a black woman was erected in Lambeth, as part of Black History Month. (I briefly mentioned this sculpture last month, as part of a post on the lack of statues…
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Polish women may be forced to register with government if they become pregnant
By Jess McCabe | 9 October 2008, 16:43
The Polish government wants to introduce a database of pregnant women, in an attempt to stop illegal abortions, we learn from Feminoteka, by way of the Feminist Peace Network. Effectively, Feminoteka points out, this would put pregnant women under state…
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Get involved: disABILITY in feminist, queer & DIY communities
By Jess McCabe | 9 October 2008, 13:59
This project, organised by members of the Feminist Activist Forum, sounds interesting: We are writing to invite people to become part of an organising committee who are planning on creating a series of resources & discussions around disABILITY issues in…
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Hallowe’en fun in aid of RTN
By Jess McCabe | 8 October 2008, 15:51
This sounds really fun: Spend this Hallowe’en drifting through the bat-black night on London’s dark canals. Shiver as ghost stories, songs and poems merge with the sounds of the unknown… Performances Beauchamp Lodge Electric Barge Thursday 30th and Friday…
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“She’s a powerful woman; he’s a powerful man. It’s basically the female equivalent of the Clinton cover”
By Jess McCabe | 8 October 2008, 10:51
Via Jezebel: The photographer, Cliff Watts, composed the cover featuring Halle Berry because she has been named Esquire Magazine’s “Sexiest Woman Alive”. It’s a homage to the older cover, featuring Bill Clinton, on the left. But are the images equivalent,…
Target Women: ‘Number Two’
By Jess McCabe | 8 October 2008, 10:44
Sarah Haskins, hilarious as always:…
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Only 85% of high court judges men
By Jess McCabe | 7 October 2008, 10:43
The number of female High Court judges is set to rise to “record levels”, reports the Independent. While this is good news, don’t get too excited - 85% of them are still men. Baroness Prashar, JAC [Judicial Appointments Commission] chairman…
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The homophobic rants of the LSE chaplin
By Jess McCabe | 6 October 2008, 16:02
Rev Dr Peter Mullen, chaplain to the London Stock Exchange, posted vile homophobic rants and “satirical” poems on his blog, reports The Daily Telegraph. One of Mullen’s posts stated that gay people should be tattooed, a comment which calls up…
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Podcast addresses race & gender in the US election
By Jess McCabe | 6 October 2008, 14:02
Addicted to Race tackled some interesting issues in the latest episode on “Race, Gender and the Election”. Carmen is joined by Jenn from Reappropriate, and they talk through claims that Sarah Palin is a feminist, when so many of her…
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Combahee Survival
By Jess McCabe | 6 October 2008, 11:08
A project is underway which invokes the spirit of the Combahee River Collective, which was a key US, black, lesbian feminist group active from the mid-1970s to 1980s. Combahee Survival includes resources for study groups, a zine and more: In…
This is a shampoo ad?
By Jess McCabe | 6 October 2008, 10:08
There’s no explanatory text on the ad itself, but according to the commenters at AdsoftheWorld, it may have run with the caption: “Ensure that your hair will be the second thing he will look at”. See also the “blond”…
New feature: So, you really think we’re stupid, do you?
By Jess McCabe | 4 October 2008, 17:47
10-year-old Ananya is frustrated by magazines aimed at girls There are quite a few magazines available in the shops aimed at girls of around the ages of seven to 12. These magazines suggest that girls only be interested in certain…
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Petition on prostitution legislation
By Jess McCabe | 3 October 2008, 16:16
Just a quick note - the Feminist Coalition Against Prostition are petitioning the Prime Minister “to criminalise the purchase of sexual services so as to curb demand for prostitution and reduce sex trafficking; to decriminalise the sale of sex, and…
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Victorine Meurent
By Jess McCabe | 3 October 2008, 16:01
Victorine Meurent has, for the most part, been known to the world only as Edouard Manet’s model in a number of controversial paintings. Over at the Guardian today, V R Main provides a different perspective: It was more than a…
Feminism in London 08 approaches…
By Jess McCabe | 3 October 2008, 14:05
Only a few short days until the first Feminism in London event takes place! The organisers sent us this message: FEMINISM IN LONDON 08 An exciting event will take place on Saturday, 11th October, 2008. It is called Feminism In…
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On spinsters
By Jess McCabe | 2 October 2008, 16:09
Spinsters - not a word you hear so often anymore. I’ve always understood it as a term of abuse for women who don’t marry men, a cultural archetype meant to keep women in their place - the flip side of…
Climate change, suffragettes, direct action
By Jess McCabe | 30 September 2008, 15:56
Climate change is a big problem. Direct action aimed at encouraging the government, and society in general, to do more to cut our greenhouse gas emissions is crucial. So, a big thumbs up on that score to the Climate Rush:…
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Glasgow’s Black History Month
By Jess McCabe | 30 September 2008, 14:00
The Glasgow Anti Racist Alliance has put out its programme for Black History Month, which is in October. Some of the notable bits: An Evening With Jackie Kay and Suzanne Bonnar - Glasgow Women’s Library are hosting this one. The…
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Bringing home the bacon
By Jess McCabe | 29 September 2008, 18:55
Shadow education secretary David Willetts is worried. He’s worried about the make-up of people attending university, specifically. Or, to get even more specific, he is worried that too many women are going to university, and there won’t be enough university…
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GM boss - electric car will help score “no makeup” women
By Jess McCabe | 29 September 2008, 14:52
[EDIT: OK, that was the wrong video! Sorry folks - something’s wrong with the site, and it embedded the wrong clip, but if you go here you can watch it] Bob Lutz, chair of General Motors, is a climate change…
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Take Back The Night - Toronto
By Jess McCabe | 29 September 2008, 12:38
Shameless Mag has posted a report and photos of Toronto’s Take Back The Night march. Pike tells it like this: Just being a part of a group of women come together in the spirit of resistance and survival - hell,…
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Latest Carnival of Feminists out now…
By Jess McCabe | 28 September 2008, 23:16
Head on over to Green Garbo, for the 65th Carnival of Feminists. As well as the usual link-love, this one includes a call to participate in this survey on women’s experience of catcalling….
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World Bank, OECD call for $13 billion a year to tackle gender inequality and expansion of Millenium Development Goal beyond education
By Jess McCabe | 26 September 2008, 17:26
The World Bank and OECD have added up the figures and found it will cost $13 billion a year to meet the gender equality and women’s empowerment part of the Millenium Development Goals. Gender equality is the Millenium Development Goal…
Name and shame
By Jess McCabe | 26 September 2008, 09:08
A woman in the tech industry has set up a group to name and shame conference organisers that fill the stage of their events almost exclusively with men. Dori Smith explains: Given that I’ve been ranting about this issue for…
Banning prostitutes from hotels doesn’t seem such a great idea…
By Jess McCabe | 25 September 2008, 16:55
Leftwing MEPs are calling on the European Parliament to bypass hotels that enable prostitution, reports EUObserver. Unfortunately, the story is a bit unspecific on what this means - if it means boycotting hotels that help businessmen find prostitutes to buy,…
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“Fucking hell, why can’t women in this hospital give birth naturally?”
By Jess McCabe | 25 September 2008, 15:04
Samantha Shepherd was being informed by a doctor that she needed the emergency procedure because her pregnancy had become problematic and her then-unborn son Luke’s life was in danger. However, the conversation was interrupted by Nigel Baglin, a surgery assistant,…
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Happy Bisexual Pride Day (um, for yesterday) and more…
By Jess McCabe | 24 September 2008, 16:02
Better late than never I guess, but yesterday was Bisexual Pride Day! Feministing and Queers United have more. Meanwhile: PETA wrote to icecream makers Ben & Jerry, asking them to use (human) breast milk, because the dairy industry is cruel….
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Greenham book launch tonight in London
By Jess McCabe | 24 September 2008, 15:37
(Note: the image of this badge, below, comes from this amazing photo stream on Flickr. Really recommend checking it out, I had such a hard time choosing an image to use on this post!) Londoners looking for a way to…
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The ‘High End Girlfriend Index’ and ‘High End Stripper Index’
By Jess McCabe | 23 September 2008, 16:40
Here’s a very literal example of the way women are viewed as commodities: A US lawyer has been tracking the “High End Girlfriend Index”, and the “High End Stripper Index” according to the Daily News. “You have a Wall Street…
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New feature: Whose feminism is it?
By Jess McCabe | 23 September 2008, 13:41
Is feminism reaching women of colour? How about women who didn’t go to university, teenage mums, or women who do not have access to the internet? Annika Spalding calls for change I consider myself a feminist. I have values and…
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New feature: It’s only a bloody tampon
By Jess McCabe | 23 September 2008, 10:12
Is a tampon soaked in stage blood too shocking for theatre-goers? Gemma Bolwell and Harriet Chandler report Foulisfair Theatre is a three-woman company. We devise original pieces that explore issues from a female perspective. Our current show Daughters is an…
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“Are you gender typical?” asks the Independent
By Jess McCabe | 22 September 2008, 22:34
So The Independent decided to run a quiz, called “are you gender typical?” The questions are ludicrous, and although the quiz gets a thumbs up for generally acknowledging that not only women express behaviours traditionally labelled as feminine and not…
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Shocker: sexist system pays off for (male) sexists
By Jess McCabe | 22 September 2008, 22:00
US researchers have discovered that men who think the woman’s place is in the kitchen and the man’s place is behind a desk at work make more money, reports the BBC. On the other hand, women who hold less sexist…
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An account of living as a translesbian in Africa
By Jess McCabe | 22 September 2008, 16:43
What is it like to live as a lesbian trans woman in Africa*? How does transphobia intersect with the legacy of colonialism? Black Looks has a guest blogger who is untangling her perspective on some of these issues. From her…
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Award most female thing about Emmys?
By Jess McCabe | 22 September 2008, 14:03
The Emmys are roughly the TV equivalent of the Oscars. Over at AfterEllen, Sarah Warn has an excellent takedown of how sexist and racist the awards are. First up, who was nominated for what: There were no women nominated in…
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Eight out of 10 Central American women migrants raped while travelling
By Jess McCabe | 22 September 2008, 10:56
According to this story in Prensa Libre, eight out of 10 Central American women migrants are raped en route to North America. Según el último informe del Foro de Migraciones, elaborado este año, ocho de cada 10 centroamericanas que ingresan…
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No arbitrator should encourage a victim of domestic violence to stay with the perpetrator
By Jess McCabe | 21 September 2008, 22:22
OK, first a disclaimer: I’m no legal expert, but my instinct is that this story in the Times, about sharia arbitrators, absolutely stinks of an attempt to whip up anti-Muslim feeling. A hefty pinch of salt is needed. What concerns…
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Sarah Haskins on cleaning
By Jess McCabe | 21 September 2008, 21:17
Via Feministing…
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Feminist singing group to serenade* London
By Jess McCabe | 21 September 2008, 19:22
This is one for the more tuneful Londoners: a feminist singing group is launching this Tuesday, and will meet for the next 11 weeks. The group is “feminist themed, though not women only, with a combination of thrilling jazz, gospel,…
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Bitch raises $40k in three days…!
By Jess McCabe | 19 September 2008, 15:36
This is fantastic news: Bitch Magazine has raised enough money to publish its next issue in just three days, so it looks like it’s not going under after all! Holly posted the magazine’s alert on the 16th, which was a…
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August comments… lots of them!
By Jess McCabe | 18 September 2008, 00:34
As regular readers will be aware, we have ‘live’ (sort-of) commenting on blog posts here at The F-Word, but our features and reviews collect up comments to be published every month. Comments received during August are now available, and it’s…
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‘Honour your (radical) ancestors’ and more…
By Jess McCabe | 17 September 2008, 16:42
Where would we be today without the radical activists who went before us? Teh Portly Dyke writes as eloquently as usual on this topic. Here’s a brief, tiny excerpt, but I recommend reading the whole post: There was a time…
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RIP Katy Watson, of Shocking Pink
By Jess McCabe | 17 September 2008, 10:27
Katy Watson has died of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, aged 42. According to a brief message posted by her father on her website, Katie “died peacefully in St Christopher’s Hospice, south London, with her parents Helen and David, her sister Anna, and…
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New radical feminist group launches; runs stall and workshop at Anarchist Bookfair 2008
By Jess McCabe | 16 September 2008, 10:45
A new radical feminist group has recently launched - Autonomous Radical Feminists has a blog, but it’s still not got much info up there yet. But if you’re in the capital on Saturday 18 October, then you can go meet…
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Two carnivals…
By Jess McCabe | 15 September 2008, 14:07
The latest Carnival of Feminists is up now at This is What A Feminist Blogs Like - haven’t had time to give this one a read, I’m afraid. And also the latest Carnival Against Sexual Violence is up at abyss2hope….
Some responses to Sarah Palin, in video
By Jess McCabe | 14 September 2008, 23:26
Saturday Night Live: Tina Fey Sarah PalinUploaded by weazel_luv Feministing’s “Is Sarah Palin a Feminist? Friday Feminist Fuck NO!” Target Women: Sarah Palin The Daily Show:…
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Well, if you will have women MPs…
By Jess McCabe | 14 September 2008, 14:17
The Telegraph has decided to build a whole story around the fact that some of the Labour MPs calling for a leadership election happened to be women. Here’s the photo they used to illustrate the story: And here’s the lede:…
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New review: The Perfect Vagina
By Jess McCabe | 13 September 2008, 22:18
Cutting away at your labia sounds extreme, but more and more women are going under the surgeon’s knife. Amy Clare reports on a Channel 4 documentary which attempted to shine a light on why this is happening Television is not…
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New feature: Across the porn divide
By Jess McCabe | 13 September 2008, 22:16
It’s time to end the battle of words, argues Debi Crow A stand-off between feminists who are against pornography, and those who are not, has become a well worn narrative for the feminist movement. There seems to be some imaginary…
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Protest bravery award for man convicted of sexual assault - and more…
By Jess McCabe | 13 September 2008, 19:23
Guy Armand Raes has just been sentenced to eight months in Canadian prison for sexually assaulting a 17 year old girl. Why, then, is he about to be given an award for bravery by the Queen’s representative in Canada, Governor…
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A Feminist Art Project
By Jess McCabe | 13 September 2008, 19:08
An artist-run exhibiting group called wall/space has launched Feminist Art Project - an initiative which will involve putting on an art show next year. FAP also involves a series of discussions about feminist art - the next one is set…
Sweden, prostitution, tax
By Jess McCabe | 12 September 2008, 18:34
Following on from the discussions raised by the Poppy Project’s report on prostitution, and the ongoing debates over whether the UK should adopt the “Swedish model” - in which buying sex is outlawed, but selling sex is not - comes…
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Man convicted in ‘rape gang’ case
By Jess McCabe | 12 September 2008, 17:05
Lubomir Kora could be sentenced to up to 19 years in prison, for his part in raping a series of prostitutes in Bradford, reports the Telegraph & Argus. Arrest warrents have been issued for three other men allegedly part of…
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RIP Nagi Noda
By Jess McCabe | 12 September 2008, 12:18
Artist Nagi Noda died last Sunday, from complications from surgery, I learned from TokyoMango. Nagi Noda was responsible for some amazingly creative and fun work, which you can see on her website, which has both a Japanese and English language…
Victim blaming…
By Jess McCabe | 12 September 2008, 11:24
Although the overwhelming majority of rape victims are female, and rapists male, it doesn’t always go down that way. Over at the Curvature, Cara has an excellent post which deals with one recent case in which a woman hired as…
Sexual Politics of Meat - German edition
By Jess McCabe | 12 September 2008, 11:09
A German butcher has been reprimanded for advertising its products using a naked woman with “Meat Products, Fresh Service” branded across her body, reports Reuters. The German equivilent of the Advertising Standards Association here in the UK had this to…
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‘The PMS Buddy’ - ug
By Jess McCabe | 10 September 2008, 17:34
A while back we briefly linked a service called Mon.thly.Info, which helps keep track of when your period’s due. The PMS Buddy is the horrible, sexist version! The blurb: PMSBuddy.com is a free service created with a single goal in…
Landmines - another gender issue, would you believe
By Jess McCabe | 10 September 2008, 15:27
Landmines are bad for everyone. Really bad. That much, we should hope, is obvious. But how does gender impact on landmine clearance? Traditionally, not at all, but according to this report by the Swiss Campaign to Ban Landmines, it is…
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Raped women charged for rape kits - under Palin’s watch
By Jess McCabe | 9 September 2008, 23:01
It’s got to be unusual for crime victims to be charged a fee by the police to investigate and collect the evidence - surely? But rape is clearly just a different sort of crime. So it’s OK to bill rape…
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Feminist autobiography suggestions?
By Jess McCabe | 9 September 2008, 22:24
Back in July we tossed about recommendations for feminist, or feminist-inflected fiction… but how about the autobiography section? Have you read an interesting personal account of the women’s liberation movement in the UK? The suffragettes? The third wave? To start…
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New review: Femmes of Power - Exploding Queer Femininities
By Jess McCabe | 9 September 2008, 17:47
What does femme mean, and how does it differ from the ‘traditional’ femininity which feminism so often puts under the microscope? Milly Shaw reviews a book of photographs of and interviews with femmes from around the world Stilettos, lipstick, beards:…
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Breasts confound and offend at Borders & Blockbusters
By Jess McCabe | 8 September 2008, 18:30
The word ‘titty’ has been redacted from the title of ‘The Itty Bitty Titty Committee’ in Borders and Blockbusters stateside, Grace Chu informs us over at AfterEllen. Anyone spot this happening in the UK? Grace hilariously describes how the offending…
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New review: Her Naked Skin
By Jess McCabe | 8 September 2008, 15:14
Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s take on the suffrage movement hinges on a clichéd story of forbidden love between seamstress Eve Douglas and Lady Celia Cain. Debi Withers is exasperated I could not help but be stung by sensationalism after seeing Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s…
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Greer calls out lack of statues of women
By Jess McCabe | 8 September 2008, 13:07
Why so few statues of women in the UK? And when women are immortalised in sculture, why are they so small? That’s the question posed by Germaine Greer in the Guardian today. She doesn’t provide an answer (perhaps because it’s…
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Change for Equality - documenting Iran’s women’s movement
By Jess McCabe | 7 September 2008, 23:54
We’ve written about Change for Equality a few times here on The F Word - it’s an activist group of the Iranian women’s movement which is campaigning for an end to laws that discriminate against women. They are responsible for…
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New review: Janes In Love
By Jess McCabe | 7 September 2008, 23:33
Janes In Love is an oddly bloodless story of friendship, boys and ‘art attacks’, says Sarah C L Jane Beckles lives in a fictional small town in the US called Kent Waters, as told in Janes in Love, a graphic…
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New review: Loving outside the line of monogamy - Tristan Taormino’s new guide to open relationships
By Jess McCabe | 5 September 2008, 17:27
Two-person relationships are the default in our culture, but why? Red Chidgey reviews a book which lays open the potential for different kinds of relationships Tristan Taormino has a solid background in promoting radical, provocative feminist sex education. An award-winning…
Hove woman chucked out of Jobcentre for feeding toddler
By Jess McCabe | 4 September 2008, 23:31
24-year-old Samantha Corbridge was looking for work. As she is parent to a young child, she took herself and her two-year-old daughter to the Jobcentre. Reports The Argus: But while she was there Robyn needed feeding and when Miss Corbridge…
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New review: Uglies
By Jess McCabe | 3 September 2008, 23:38
Uglies opens in a world where every teenager undergos extreme surgery on their 16th birthday to mould them into hypnotic and hypnotised ‘Pretties’. Cazz Blase reviews a four-part ‘trilogy’ with plenty to say about body image, cosmetic surgery, citizen journalism,…
Oh Lush… really? Did you have to?
By Jess McCabe | 3 September 2008, 21:20
Given that most companies in the business of selling ‘beauty products’ generally employ some dirty sales tactics to hawk their goods, Lush is generally a good thing in my books - as it relies on lovely texture, smell and colour,…
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Sexist sizism in advertising
By Jess McCabe | 3 September 2008, 18:03
Over at another blog called The F Word , US student Kristin Herout is interviewed about her project to highlight the body standard issues in advertising. Herout took photos of volunteer women on campus, staging alternative versions of adverts…
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Uterus flags, women’s labour, feminist art
By Jess McCabe | 3 September 2008, 15:54
Two artists created some interesting work for the Manifesta 7 art festival, reviewed over at We Make Money Not Art. Libia Castro & Ólafur Ólafsson’s pieces are a response to the “dense history of women-labour in the Rovereto area”, where…
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UN calls on UK to tackle sexism
By Jess McCabe | 2 September 2008, 22:52
The UN has called for the government to do more to tackle sexism, in a damning report on sex discrimination in the UK, reports The Independent. Unfortunately I can’t find the report. However, as the Independent tells it, the report…
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Helen Mirren tells men’s magazine date rape shouldn’t be illegal - why, oh why?!
By Jess McCabe | 1 September 2008, 12:57
Helen Mirren told GQ magazine that date rape should not be illegal, as reported everywhere, but here’s a link to the BBC’s story*. In her interview with former national newspaper editor Piers Morgan in the October edition of GQ, Dame…
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July comments!
By Jess McCabe | 1 September 2008, 10:44
July’s comments are up and ready to read! Loads of praise for Nino’s feature, Self harm, and discussion prompted by Sophie Platt’s feature on why it’s still this big taboo that women masturbate, and the harm that taboo does. Most…
Blogger continues!
By Jess McCabe | 31 August 2008, 23:36
Milly’s guest blogging slot was meant to end with the month of August… But I’m glad to be able to announce that she’s agreed to carry on as a regular blogger. You can read her excellent posts for us so…
RIP Doris Gibson, plus round up
By Jess McCabe | 31 August 2008, 22:02
The woman who founded Caretas, which the BBC describes as “Peru’s leading news magazine”, has died aged 98. Doris Gibson is profiled on the radio show ‘From Our Own Correspondent’: She began with 10,000 soles (£2,066), which her uncle had…
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VPILF
By Jess McCabe | 30 August 2008, 09:57
How many hours since the US Republicans selected Sarah Palin as their candidate for vice president? Well, on cue the sexist reaction has started. Actually, according to the Huffington Post someone registered the domain name www.vpilf.com two months ago. (VPILF,…
Scotland’s prosecutors to be retrained in attempt to address dire rape conviction rate
By Jess McCabe | 29 August 2008, 10:34
Only 27 out of 922 rape cases reported to the Scottish police in 2006-7 ended in conviction, according to the latest data reported in the Scotsman and the Sunday Mail. And if that seems bad, consider that only 65 cases…
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Early Thursday round-up!
By Jess McCabe | 27 August 2008, 23:26
A 14-year-old girl was raped in a Glasgow bus station, reports the BBC. Abyss2hope has some questions about how the case has been framed: What stands out to me in this case versus other rape cases against teenage girls I’ve…
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Del Martin dies aged 87
By Jess McCabe | 27 August 2008, 23:10
LGBT rights activist Del Martin has died, aged 87. Martin and her wife Phyllis Lyon were the first same-sex couple to marry after California’s court ruling around two months ago, cbs5 reported. Martin and Lyon were among the founders of…
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Persepolis screening, plus Q&A
By Jess McCabe | 27 August 2008, 10:04
For London-based readers, another chance to see Persepolis (which Cazz Blase reviewed earlier this month). F Word reader Suzi sent in the details: SAT 13 Sep, 13.15pm, Hackney & Islington Amnesty Group presents Oscar nominated Persepolis (12A). Artist and novelist…
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Women’s boxing for 2012 Olympics
By Jess McCabe | 26 August 2008, 21:26
The Beijing Olympics may be over, but the fight is continuing to get women’s boxing included in the competition in London in 2012, reports Reuters, via Jezebel. The International Boxing Association (AIBA) will press for the introduction of women’s boxing…
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‘Girls are chickens?’
By Jess McCabe | 26 August 2008, 16:26
Vegetarians, feminists, and feminist vegetarians may wish to look away. Is this a real Heinz ad? Only a few months after pulling their ad for mayonnaise showing two men kissing, they decided to just let go and aim full tilt…
The right to choose is not enough - Mexico DF
By Jess McCabe | 26 August 2008, 12:22
Abortion is now legal in Mexico City, but efforts to make sure all women are able to access their right to choose have run into problems, reports the New York Times. It’s really interesting (and fantastic) that right from the…
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‘Pro-feminist’ blogger gets six months, escapes sex offenders registry
By Jess McCabe | 26 August 2008, 12:09
Justice for one female student who was assaulted when she was unconscious? Perhaps. Kyle Payne has been sentenced to six months in prison, for “invasion of privacy”. You’ll remember Payne as the blogger who described himself as a radical feminist,…
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Oh Jeremy…
By Jess McCabe | 25 August 2008, 17:51
Jeremy Paxman, surely one of the most high-profile TV journalists in the country, thinks that “the worst thing you can be in this industry is a middle class white male”, reports the BBC (via Anji). “If any middle class white…
Jessica Hoffman’s challenge on capitalism and feminism
By Jess McCabe | 25 August 2008, 12:49
Jess Hoffman wrote an interesting post at Feministe on “Toward a Liberationist Feminism (Or, I Hope Pro-Capitalist Feminism Is an Oxymoron)”. Hoffman, of Make/Shift magazine and other interesting projects, says: What does feminism, or sexism, mean in a vacuum? And…
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New feature: Million Women Rise - Reflections
By Jess McCabe | 24 August 2008, 21:41
Around 5,000 women gathered from across the UK and marched through central London. Although they received no mainstream media attention, the march and rally have since become the subject of much discussion. Louise Livesey talks to some of the people…
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Next Reclaim the Night Edinburgh set for March 2009
By Jess McCabe | 24 August 2008, 20:55
Readers in Scotland, this is one for your 2009 diary. Another Reclaim the Night Edinburgh is scheduled, probably for March next year, possibly on International Women’s Day. From the message on the RTN Edinburgh blog, it looks like the march…
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Thursday mid-afternoon round-up
By Jess McCabe | 21 August 2008, 13:34
The latest Carnival of Feminists is out now at Mind of Genevieve. This one includes some great posts, including Kate Smurthwaite’s about the origins of her name: I personally like the word “cunt” as I have expounded at length on…
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Is that bell hooks on your shirt?
By Jess McCabe | 21 August 2008, 01:03
KMstitchery’s Etsy store has hoodies, t-shirts, dresses and skirts galore featuring women such as bell hooks, Angela Davis and Emma Goldman. Wearing the image of people who help form your politics literally on your t-shirt has a mixed history to…
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New feature: In the name of the father…
By Jess McCabe | 21 August 2008, 00:18
For many women, getting married still means changing their name. Sarah Louisa Phythian-Adams has an alternate proposal Very recently I was married. It was 10 years in the making, and still I did it with some trepidation - not because…
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‘Where is feminism now?’ zine calling for submissions
By Jess McCabe | 20 August 2008, 14:17
I’m not sure I ‘get’ the title of this conference at the University of Aberdeen: Ending International Feminist Futures? I know it’s an academic event, but still - or perhaps I’m being a bit dense?! However, the conference itself looks…
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New feature: Sisters! Some of us are mothers, too!
By Jess McCabe | 19 August 2008, 22:35
Mothers’ issues are feminist issues, argues Ruth Moss Some mothers feel alienated by what they see as “feminism”. They feel that feminism is right in there fighting their corner, until they decide to give birth and raise a child. They…
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New feature: Why my son wears pink
By Jess McCabe | 19 August 2008, 21:18
At two year’s old, Penni F’s son happily enthuses over both fairies and trucks. But, she worries, what happens when pressure to be a ‘real man’ kicks in? I have a toddler, a two-year-old boy. Like ‘most boys’, he likes…
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Women unpopular among Tories?
By Jess McCabe | 19 August 2008, 17:58
Tory supporters are rebelling against David Cameron’s efforts to promote women, according to Anne Perkins in Comment is Free: The Tory ginger group website, Conservative Home, runs regular popularity polls for the shadow cabinet. This month, Spelman is at the…
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Games vs Girls - I don’t have the words
By Jess McCabe | 18 August 2008, 23:51
Games Radar begins its feature on “Games vs Girls: Which is better?” with the breathtaking revelation that “by far most GR readers are guys”. Probably need to tone down the lashings of sexist bullshit before attracting any female readers, “guys”….
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Women in film event, Bristol
By Jess McCabe | 18 August 2008, 14:09
If you’re in the Bristol area, this event at the Watershed Media Centre, 7pm, 28 August, looks great: Of 2007’s top grossing 250 films, only 6.25% were directed by women. This, and the reports that only 12% of the film…
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Rape & the police & juries & drink
By Jess McCabe | 17 August 2008, 21:40
Lest we get too excited that a rapist ended up behind bars, consider the sobering news of an apparent drop in the number of rapes being reported to the police, and Neanderthal attitudes to women drinking among senior police officers…
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Woman gets voice, woman loses voice
By Jess McCabe | 16 August 2008, 13:26
In a silent movie, obviously, no-one can talk. So what happens if one woman finds her voice? That’s the premise of Silent, a film which has the potential to examine some interesting ideas about attitudes to women who speak out,…
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Justice is sometimes done, after all
By Jess McCabe | 15 August 2008, 16:34
Readers will be familiar with the UK’s shocking 5% conviction rate for rape. Or, to put it another way, considering the high percentages of rapes that go unreported, the average rapist in this country faces only a 1% likelihood of…
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Parenting & biology - the stepfathers edition
By Jess McCabe | 15 August 2008, 12:54
Research out of the US indicates that in so-called “fragile” families, mothers actually rate step-fathers’ parenting abilities as about equal to/better than biological fathers, as reported in The News & Observer. Mothers reported that stepfathers were more engaged, more cooperative…
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Ginger
By Jess McCabe | 14 August 2008, 09:47
Regular commenter Redheadinred sent in this link about the “myths and history of red hair”: Throughout history there have been many strange beliefs and ideas about red hair. In ancient Egypt red haired animals and people were associated with the…
Eleanor Coppola
By Jess McCabe | 13 August 2008, 22:46
The Coppolas are a talented, powerful bunch. Admittedly I’ve not exactly been keeping close track, but in all the fuss about the film-making family, I don’t remember hearing a word about Eleanor Coppola, married to Francis Ford. The Independent ran…
Walk through the night - this weekend
By Jess McCabe | 13 August 2008, 21:14
If you’re in London this weekend, you may want to take part in a sponsored evening walk to raise money for the excellent charity Eaves. Walk the Night London starts at 11pm on Saturday, and finishes at sunrise. From the…
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New feature: What Not To Wear say to your co-worker
By Jess McCabe | 13 August 2008, 21:04
How would you feel if you found out the people around you chat about putting you forward for How to Look Good Naked? Kelly Draper knows all too well “Miss, you know that show with two women?” This is not…
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Workshop on “queer, feminist & trans politics of prison abolition”
By Jess McCabe | 13 August 2008, 17:47
Just a quick note to highlight an interesting-sounding workshop in London this weekend. (Please get in touch if you are organising/hear of events anywhere in the UK that we should be highlighting): THE QUEER, FEMINIST & TRANS POLITICS OF PRISON…
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New review: ‘Freedom always has a price’
By Jess McCabe | 13 August 2008, 06:13
Cazz Blase considers how Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical story of coming-of-age in Iran and Europe transfers to the big screen I first saw the film Persepolis in May at the Cornerhouse in Manchester, in French with English subtitles, and in high…
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Women of Colour and Beauty Carnival
By Jess McCabe | 12 August 2008, 20:52
The Women of Colour and Beauty Carnival is up now, over at yennenga. Some highlights: The difference between “pretty” and “beautiful” at Having Read The Fine Print: You see in my life as WOC , pretty has had fuck all…
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F Word blog review - have your say
By Jess McCabe | 12 August 2008, 15:42
This weekend a few of the bloggers met up to talk about the direction of this blog, and The F-Word as a whole. We want to give readers a chance to feed into this process, too. What are we doing…
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Somehow I’m not hungry anymore
By Jess McCabe | 12 August 2008, 09:44
Cake Wrecks is a blog which records “when professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong”. Some of the examples - well what to say: The bound foot cake (“Yes, it was for a podiatrist.”) Edible brides and headless pregnant torsos Says…
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Citigroup fires vice-president who runs sexist, racist, homophobic blog
By Jess McCabe | 11 August 2008, 20:01
A vice president at Citigroup has been fired, after the bank realised he was blogging as “Large”, of the hideous blog Take A Report, according to Shanghai Daily. The newspaper presents the story as “blogger fired, even though money raised…
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Clothes for white, teenage colonisers!
By Jess McCabe | 6 August 2008, 10:02
Via AdsoftheWorld…
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Gender stereotypes…
By Jess McCabe | 5 August 2008, 23:11
Via Feminist Philosophers - like jj, I’m not completely convinced that this successfully punctures gender stereotypes - as the last few frames suggest is the intention. I think it might rely overmuch on the idea that stereotypes are obviously…
First Women of Colour & Beauty Carnival kicks off…
By Jess McCabe | 4 August 2008, 21:04
Soaring is launching a blog carnival dedicated to women of colour & beauty: Submissions from women and men of color are welcome, focusing on these areas: What does beauty mean to women of color? What is the difference between beauty…
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Sunday round-up
By Jess McCabe | 3 August 2008, 17:58
DeBeers has created a hideously offensive line of necklaces shaped like tribal masks. As What Tami Said points out, given the history and current practices of this company, this is beyond tasteless, it’s fucked up. Is Shirley by Charlotte Bronte…
Times publishes misogynist tract
By Jess McCabe | 3 August 2008, 13:39
Some quotes from Kathleen Parker’s book, extracted for today’s Sunday Times: While women have been cast as victims, martyrs, mystics or saints, men have quietly retreated into their caves, the better to muffle emotions that fluctuate between hilarity (are these…
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Dame Eileen
By Jess McCabe | 3 August 2008, 12:27
Oh how the Press love it when any reasonably high-profile woman rips into feminism and other women in general. The latest culprit is Dame Eileen Atkins, an actor who, incidentally, is performing in The Female of the Species (yes, the…
Daily Mail blatently misrepresents single mums
By Jess McCabe | 2 August 2008, 09:17
“One in five CSA mothers name the wrong father,” screams the headline for this story about the paternity testing by the Child Support Agency. A shocking statistic? But one which is a total lie, contradicted only three paragraphs into…
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Her Naked Skin
By Jess McCabe | 31 July 2008, 11:04
I suspect I’m not alone in being a bit vague on my suffragette history. So I was really impressed with Her Naked Skin, by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, on right now at the National Theatre. The play is set in 1913, and…
Makeup for men…
By Jess McCabe | 30 July 2008, 10:15
A few make-up products are to be sold in highstreet chain Superdrug, aimed specifically at men - prompting fascination in the Guardian offices. Not only have they interviewed a random selection of men on whether they would ever wear mascara…
Late Portal convert
By Jess McCabe | 29 July 2008, 11:02
I am aware that I have been quite negative about various video games here in the past. To be honest, my feelings about gaming are not so much love-hate as hate, hate, love. But, finally, one to belatedly celebrate…
Feminist fiction suggestions?
By Jess McCabe | 28 July 2008, 17:40
So, I’ve been having a bit of a fiction binge. Well, I was sick all last week and staring at a screen for more than 10 minutes at a time was not on the cards. I managed to demolish my…
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Introducing our new guest blogger… Milly Shaw
By Jess McCabe | 28 July 2008, 17:15
I realised I should ask Milly Shaw to blog when I was wanting to link to her excellent website at least once a week. Well, she has kindly agreed, and so will be posting a couple of times a week…
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New York Times thinks women bloggers are a fashion story
By Jess McCabe | 28 July 2008, 08:47
The New York Times ran a story about women bloggers facing a glass ceiling - and placed it in the Fashion & Style section. As Every Dot Connects (from whom I stole the screenshot) points out: Well, hello! Yes,…
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June 2008 comments up now
By Jess McCabe | 26 July 2008, 11:55
All the comments received about features and reviews during June are now available for your reading pleasure. This time, Roske’s article about women attacking each other, and the lack of sisterhood between women garnered the most comments - although as…
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Round up
By Jess McCabe | 25 July 2008, 21:37
John Kerry said “tar baby” on US TV - what the fuck?! Two female lawyers in the US were fired after kissing at a work function - Jezebel has more. Lisa dissects the argument that transgender people reify gender. How…
Suicide - or rape and murder?
By Jess McCabe | 25 July 2008, 20:50
(Post may be triggering) Three years ago, a US soldier, also an African-American woman, was found dead - the US Army ruled it was suicide. Now consider this description of how LaVena Johnson was found: Her body was found in…
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Inside film school
By Jess McCabe | 24 July 2008, 11:30
Why do so few films pass the Bechdel test? BetaCandy at The Hathor Legacy argues that it’s because film school teachs scriptwriters not to. I had to understand that the audience only wanted white, straight, male leads. I was assured…
Tory plan to ‘provide’ more ‘marriageable’ working class men?
By Jess McCabe | 23 July 2008, 22:59
So, a shadow cabinet member went on the Today programme this morning, to explain its policy on apprenticeships for young ‘people’ “Not in Education Employment or Training”. Or, in the words of the Today programme presenter, “part of a far…
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New all-genders London feminist group launched
By Jess McCabe | 23 July 2008, 21:19
The folks behind the London Pro-feminist Mens’ Group are launching a new group, open to all genders. Meetings will take place twice weekly, beginning on 31 July, 6.30pm, London Action Resource Centre. Alternatively, email them to get involved: For us,…
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New York lap-dancing club raided
By Jess McCabe | 21 July 2008, 21:49
A lap-dancing club in New York has been raided and 19 people arrested on a number of charges. This - criminally, in my view - includes some women working at the club, who are up on charges relating to prostitution….
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An apology
By Jess McCabe | 21 July 2008, 17:17
Earlier today, a post went up on the blog, following up on a Daily Mail story, which in itself was re-reporting a Nature story on the future of fertility science - including the prediction that women of 100 will be…
How not to advertise the cancer risk of tanning beds
By Jess McCabe | 21 July 2008, 10:49
Via AdsoftheWorld.com…
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Parents spend more on boys, or boys cost more?
By Jess McCabe | 21 July 2008, 09:14
Survey finds parents spend: £32,000 on raising boys £24,739.03 on raising girls Hmmm, interesting. The Times reports this as simply girls costing less, or boys “asking” for more money during their school years. (This is all based on a study…
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New feature: The future of activism
By Jess McCabe | 18 July 2008, 23:45
Protests seem to be ignored, so what’s a disgruntled feminist to do? Deborah McAlister considers some of the options The government appears to have a policy towards protesters that bares more than a passing resemblance to a small sulking child…
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New feature: Knife crime and masculinity
By Jess McCabe | 18 July 2008, 21:55
Forget single mums and absent fathers - the current spate of knife crime can be traced back to the so-called ‘real man’, argues Jennifer Drew One would need to live on another planet to escape the media’s constant preoccupation with…
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Latest Target Women!
By Jess McCabe | 18 July 2008, 20:38
New review: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
By Jess McCabe | 18 July 2008, 20:31
What happened to the women in The Diving-bell and the Butterfly in its transition from memoir to film, asks Melanie Newman? The film of The Diving-bell and the Butterfly was released in 2007. Based on a memoir by Jean-Dominique Bauby,…
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Rounding down to Friday evening
By Jess McCabe | 18 July 2008, 11:31
Sudy continues her series of posts about her experiences in the Philippines, this time reflecting on the situation of women who leave the country, often a painful seperation with their family, often combined with abuse in the workplace: As I…
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Photos from SBS protest!
By Jess McCabe | 18 July 2008, 11:09
Yesterday and today protestors are gathering outside the High Court in support of Southall Black Sisters, as the case is heard on whether Ealing Council broke the Race Relations Act when it acted to effectively pull funding from SBS…
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Harriet Harmen=praying mantis. Thanks Times.
By Jess McCabe | 17 July 2008, 17:53
(Via feminist bite) Because calling for legislation to counter discrimination in the workplace is EXACTLY THE SAME as biting a man’s head off….
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Notice anything about this list?
By Jess McCabe | 17 July 2008, 12:04
Today The Independent reports that 60 Tory MPs have relatives on their staff rolls, who they pay £40,000 each. Shock! Horror! Right? Well, what the Independent fails to comment on, is that every single one of the examples they cite…
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‘Lauredhel’s toy-catalogue Annex of the Bechdel test’
By Jess McCabe | 15 July 2008, 12:07
1. One or more girls, playing; 2. with no boys around; and 3. with something that is not related to domestic work, mothering, being sexy, or ponies. Just what we need…
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That New Yorker cover, a round up
By Jess McCabe | 15 July 2008, 11:14
So, the New Yorker ran a blindingly offensive cover (see right). It’s meant to be a satire of the racist & sexist bullshit aimed at Barack and Michelle Obama, but as you can see, manages to indulge and replicate that…
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Leftfield attack on rights for working mums?
By Jess McCabe | 14 July 2008, 21:48
The Times plastered the story on its front page. Nicola Brewer said that maternity leave is stopping women getting promotions. Feminist Avatar has written a great analysis of this story, from all angles: First off, let’s get rid of the…
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Women’s boxing on cusp of Olympic inclusion?
By Jess McCabe | 14 July 2008, 21:29
The exclusion of women’s boxing from the Olympics is set to end in 2012, according to Australia’s Herald Sun. “All the advice I’m getting is that it will be included in London,” Ted Tanner, chairman of Boxing Australia, said. He…
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New feature: What a load of wank
By Jess McCabe | 14 July 2008, 21:22
Hordes of girls dream of becoming glamour models, but are too embarrassed to even talk about masturbation. Sophie Platt rages against a taboo which only affects girls and women One rainy day a couple of months ago, I sat down…
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Boris purges women from City Hall?
By Jess McCabe | 13 July 2008, 12:50
The Evening Standard reports that five top women in City Hall have been ousted since Boris Johnson won the election, and the position of women’s advisor scrapped. Challenged on this, Boris’ ‘chief of staff’ Tim Parker implied that women are…
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New feature: Domestic violence and disabled women
By Jess McCabe | 13 July 2008, 12:14
Disabled women are twice as likely to experience domestic violence, and can face a range of additional barriers - from inaccessible shelters onwards, Clare Laxton reports It is a well known fact among women’s networks and feminists that two women…
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Ask a Feminist
By Jess McCabe | 12 July 2008, 12:48
Answers are provided by regular F Word contributors, and represent only their own potentially fallible opinions. In the spirit of pluralism, we will try and work in more than one response if we can. There is no definitive ‘F Word…
Women who will ink you
By Jess McCabe | 11 July 2008, 17:58
There’s an excellent feature in today’s G2 about female tattoo artists. It includes an interview with Kat Von D, of LA Ink fame. But also women tattooing in this country. Such as Saira Hunjan: “All my friends were going off…
Off Our Backs in imminent danger of folding
By Jess McCabe | 11 July 2008, 15:52
[Update: Please read comments below - there are serious criticisms of this journal which I wasn’t aware of when writing this entry.] US feminist journal Off Our Backs is so short of funds it may be forced to cease publication,…
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This week in things we’ve not had time to post properly about
By Jess McCabe | 10 July 2008, 10:59
The 60th Carnival of Feminists is out now! This issue is over at Unmana’s Words and features lots of posts from Indian bloggers - The Life and Times of an Indian Home Maker on joint families is particularly interesting. Jezebel…
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Eucalyptus is a feminist issue
By Jess McCabe | 7 July 2008, 18:50
Perhaps the title of this post seems ridiculous to some of you. But it will make more sense after reading a book by Gilsa Barcellos and Simone Ferreira of the World Rainforest Movement, focusing on the gendered impacts of monoculture…
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Rounding up…
By Jess McCabe | 7 July 2008, 14:44
Rapists face little risk of being convicted in this country - that much we know. But research by Fawcett out today shows that the situation is much worse in some parts of the country than others. But the society said…
Coco Wang
By Jess McCabe | 7 July 2008, 10:28
Probably many readers saw Coco Wang’s series of comicbook strips capturing moments from the recent earthquake in China. (I don’t think we ever linked them on The F-Word, but they were widely talked about in the feminist blogosphere - you…
Feminists in support of Tube cleaners strike
By Jess McCabe | 6 July 2008, 23:26
Reader Alice sent over this photo of the Feminist Fightback demo in support of the striking Tube cleaners, at the headquarters of Transport for London: Also see this excellent write up in the New Statesman: So, why is the tube…
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New feature: Kink 101
By Jess McCabe | 5 July 2008, 19:50
BDSM may set off red flags for feminists, says Kit Roskelly. But so does sitting in judgment on women’s sexual preferences “When we get freedom for all, you’ll do as you’re told!” It’s an old joke, and its origins have…
Councillors think Jewish women never victims of domestic violence; all rich
By Jess McCabe | 4 July 2008, 18:26
In evidence submitted to a recent report by the Home Affairs Select Committee on domestic violence, Imkaan described how at a London Councils grants meeting, councillors said that Jewish women don’t experience domestic violence(!), and if they do, they’re rich…
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LGBTory?
By Jess McCabe | 4 July 2008, 18:10
What to say about the name and logo of the Conservative Party’s group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, but presumably not trans members? Via Pink News - the story is actually about Boris Johnson preparing for his first ever appearance…
Action alert: email Virgin to protest deportations
By Jess McCabe | 4 July 2008, 14:01
Kemi Ayinde was trafficked to the UK seven years ago, where she was forced into prostitution. She faces deportation to Nigeria, with her 18 month old daughter and partner. She is five months pregnant. Bridget O’Koro came to the UK…
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New feature: Self harm
By Jess McCabe | 3 July 2008, 21:44
Self harm isn’t always about cutting, says Nino. Too many girls and women are holding themselves back from fully living Self harm doesn’t just mean cutting open your arms and pouring boiling water on them. It ranges from starving yourself,…
Pixar and gender
By Jess McCabe | 3 July 2008, 17:53
Via Feministe I found this brilliant takedown of Pixar’s gender problem. Vast Public Indifference was inspired to come up with this rating because of Wall-E, but these are my favourite bits of analysis (some of this might only make sense…
15 years of Bust and more
By Jess McCabe | 3 July 2008, 11:05
Bust magazine is celebrating its 15th anniversary - more at After Ellen. Blog drama makes it to the LA Times! Boing Boing has deleted all posts by Violet Blue, only to produce this slightly mysterious non-explanation. Her latest column is…
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Summer of Our Lorde: Radical Study and Intentional Healing
By Jess McCabe | 2 July 2008, 23:10
brokenbeautiful press is putting on a study group centred on Audre Lorde. The readings for the group are available online, so everyone can participate. Via brownfemipower…
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Survey shows politicians not immune from the rape culture
By Jess McCabe | 2 July 2008, 12:18
A small survey of Welsh Assembly members has uncovered some findings which will sadden but not surprise. According to the BBC, all 60 Welsh Assembly Members were sent a survey by Nerys Evans AM, asking questions about their experience with…
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Majority of migrant domestic workers face abuse
By Jess McCabe | 2 July 2008, 11:12
Oxfam and Kalayaan today reveal that abuse of migrant domestic workers is mind-bogglingly widespread. The majority of these workers are women from developing countries, living in conditions close to slavery: Migrant domestic workers have the legal status of workers in…
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Abortion - the fight continues
By Jess McCabe | 1 July 2008, 22:27
We always knew that the defeat of Nadine Dorries’ attempts to shrink women’s access to later term abortions was not the end of the fight. Many activists have been tallying up and shaking their heads at the small shift in…
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Rounding up and over
By Jess McCabe | 1 July 2008, 18:30
In the US, most completed rape kits are never sent on to be tested, meaning that women are put through the trauma of a rape exam essentially for no reason, we learn via Feministe. 400,000 kits are sitting untested across…
Kerosene
By Jess McCabe | 1 July 2008, 15:12
Aulelia from Charcoal Ink kindly sent me a copy of her excellent zine Kerosene. “The aim of this zine was to exhibit diverse voices of the diaspora,” Aulelia says in the editor’s letter. “I hope this slice of printed media…
Snog, Marry, Avoid?
By Jess McCabe | 1 July 2008, 00:05
It’s like the execs at BBC3 sealed themselves in a room and tried to think of the most sexist idea for a makeover show ever. Thanks Flying Saucer for letting us know about Snog Marry Avoid, a “make under” show…
Turkey’s first women’s shelter
By Jess McCabe | 30 June 2008, 15:28
Muslimah Media Watch points us to a really interesting feature on Turkish Daily News, about the first women’s shelter in Turkey. When was it established? The late 17th century. The exact location of the world’s first women’s shelter is unknown,…
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More on medical rape
By Jess McCabe | 30 June 2008, 14:07
Debi formerly of The Burning Times has set up a project to collect women’s stories of medical and obstetric rape. MORAG: When most women go into hospital to give birth to their babies, or to attend for a gynaecological appointment,…
Stephanie Toumi - an indictment of our immigration system
By Jess McCabe | 30 June 2008, 10:24
26-year-old Stephanie Toumi was on the first leg of a forced journey back to Cameroon. Her asylum claim had been rejected, and she’d already passed through the notorious Yarl’s Wood detention centre. Whether or not she ‘deserved’ to stay in…
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Round up
By Jess McCabe | 27 June 2008, 23:40
It looks like Warner Bros has effectively ditched The Women, a comedy with an all-female star-studded cast, Nikki Finke says. It’s not my kind of film, and may well be terrible, but as Finke points out, it seems to be…
Ryanair calls business class service “beds and blow jobs”
By Jess McCabe | 27 June 2008, 17:50
Ryanair is courting publicity again, after announcing at a German press conference that the name for its business class service will be “beds and blow jobs” and the blow jobs will be “free”. According to the London Paper: Michael O’Leary,…
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‘Mainstream’ lefty blogs and feminism
By Jess McCabe | 27 June 2008, 15:19
Earlier this week, me, zohra and Holly trundled down to the Guardian for Blog Nation, arranged by Sunny from Liberal Conspiracy. You can see Sunny’s photos here. The second panel focused on women and feminist bloggers, and our interconnections to…
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May’s comments up now
By Jess McCabe | 26 June 2008, 23:27
Comments on features and reviews for May are up. This time round, there was plenty of discussion about Kit’s piece on abortion, Jennifer’s piece on vulnerability and Anji’s report on the launch of the ‘stripping the illusion’ campaign, among other…
In Albania…
By Jess McCabe | 26 June 2008, 12:48
Freya alerts us to this story about the dying tradition in Albania of women taking an oath of chastity, then living as men. For centuries, in the closed-off society of rural northern Albania, swapping genders was considered a practical solution…
Take Care of my Cat - quick hit review
By Jess McCabe | 25 June 2008, 13:12
Last night I saw an excellent film, Take Care of My Cat, the first feature-length production by Korean director Jae-eun Jeong. It’s a coming-of-age movie set in Inchon, Korea, following the lives of five women who were a closely-knit group…
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Retrosexism - Goodyear Tires
By Jess McCabe | 25 June 2008, 12:52
Via The Bilerico Project, this ad for Goodyear Tires from 1970 (according to YouTube) is actually kind of hilarious in how clearly it spells out the impression that women are in a constant state of panic on getting behind the…
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Ask a feminist - the blog edition!
By Jess McCabe | 24 June 2008, 23:05
Our ‘Ask a Feminist’ feature has become so popular that the volume of questions is getting a bit out of hand, I think it needs to move over to the blog, where it can be updated more frequently. You can…
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What’s up at The Skinny?
By Jess McCabe | 24 June 2008, 16:02
Scotland’s freesheet The Skinny has dropped its LGBT section, and replaced it with a much-smaller, less gay section named “Deviance” - which has been put down to an editorial push to make the listings-based mag more mainstream. As the editor,…
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Heinz ad withdrawn showing two men kissing
By Jess McCabe | 24 June 2008, 14:44
Edit - Oops! It turns out the Heinz withdrew the ad, not leaving the ASA time to ban it. A Heinz ad showing two men kissing has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority, we learn from Milly of Lesbilicious,…
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BBC after young feminists for documentary
By Jess McCabe | 24 June 2008, 13:53
With the usual note of caution about what you’re letting yourself in for if you go on TV: BBC documentary series ‘WOMEN’ looking for young feminists ‘WOMEN’ is a three-part documentary series for BBC4 about feminism and its impact on…
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Michelle doesn’t need a makeover
By Jess McCabe | 23 June 2008, 14:56
Gina McCauley of the fabulous blog What About Our Daughters, has a great post on Comment is Free about the way the US media has leapt on Michelle Obama demanding a makeover. Gina puts it really well: Michelle Obama doesn’t…
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Women trafficked to Afghanistan to meet ‘demand’ from Westerners
By Jess McCabe | 23 June 2008, 14:39
According to AP (via Womensphere), Chinese women are being trafficked into Kabul to meet demand for prostitutes from European and US men working on ‘reconstruction’ and ‘security’ in the city: Paradise is a brothel in an unmarked residential compound in…
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Gender studies in Israeli high schools…
By Jess McCabe | 23 June 2008, 10:19
This is an interesting one - there’s a feature up on Haaretz.com profiling a high school in Israel which has introduced gender studies classes. Girls and boys at Mevo’ot Eron High School are taught seperately in “feminist-oriented” gender studies…
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Cervical cancer in Ghana
By Jess McCabe | 21 June 2008, 19:30
I don’t really have anything to say about this description of both treatment and lack of detection and treatment of cervical and breast cancer in Ghana. But it has to be read: This hospital is one of just two with…
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Photoshopping women to show how they’d look ‘better’ with plastic surgery is creepy
By Jess McCabe | 20 June 2008, 17:40
Dollymix points out a horrible post on the celebrity blog Perez Hilton, which features a photoshopped image of an actor called Rumer Willis, ‘correcting’ her face. Check out the photo on Dollymix. The story just gets worse and worse as…
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Friday Flickr
By Jess McCabe | 20 June 2008, 15:32
It’s Friday afternoon. There’s plenty of horrible things going on as usual. But, well, enough is enough some times. So here’s some inspiring photos from Flickr, all shared under Creative Commons licenses. Mural of Rigoberta Menchú Tum in San Francisco…
Another round-up
By Jess McCabe | 19 June 2008, 23:42
Are feminists “fine with being bigots if it’s just ableism”? Tekanji over at the Official Shrub.com Blog urges feminists particularly to confront the use of discriminatory language, such as “crazy”, “lame”, “lunacy”, etc. Muslimah Media Watch considers the way this…
Another round-up
By Jess McCabe | 17 June 2008, 23:52
The founder of La Leche League has died at 93, we learn from Our Bodies Our Blog. The group, which has not been uncontroversial, promotes breastfeeding. Target Women is brilliant. Via Punk Planning, The Girl Effect: Trevor Hoppe considers the…
Rise festival not anti-racist anymore - thanks Boris
By Jess McCabe | 17 June 2008, 17:46
The Rise festival in London will no longer be advertised as specifically anti-racist, thanks to a diktat from the Mayor’s office, Dave Hill says over at the Guardian today. From its inception in the mid 90s - when it was…
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Get back in the kitchen - Wired commenters to science writer
By Jess McCabe | 17 June 2008, 14:52
[Update - Extra reading assignment] Only a week after me and zohra spoke at the Guardian panel on online misogyny, before we’ve even had time to digest, a friend sent me a link to this post by Anna Kushnir, a…
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The Care Bears are next
By Jess McCabe | 16 June 2008, 23:01
News that a character called Strawberry Shortcake has been given a makeover has been all over the US feminist blogosphere. It’s been picked up by AfterEllen, ThinkGirl.net, Feministing, Broadsheet… But I just kind of ignored it. I don’t really know…
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Refugee Week starts today
By Jess McCabe | 16 June 2008, 15:22
Refugee Week began today, and there is a full programme of events going on up and down the country. Also see this piece in the Guardian, in which Mark Haddon visits the Migrant Resources Centre in London. There’s a sharp…
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Latest carnival of radical feminists up now…
By Jess McCabe | 16 June 2008, 11:00
The 15th Carnival of Radical Feminists is up at Rage Against the Man-chine. Loads of interesting stuff in this edition, including Editorializing the Editors on how holding a grudge can be a feminist act, Womanist Musing on wanting/needing a man,…
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New review: Fragments from the Dark
By Jess McCabe | 15 June 2008, 19:01
Debi Withers reviews a book of writing by and interviews with female refugees and asylum seekers in Wales Fragments from the Dark is an important book for our times. Published by Hafan Books, a refugee charity based Swansea, Wales, Fragments…
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New feature: Why are women so critical of each other?
By Jess McCabe | 15 June 2008, 11:06
All to often, the feminist promise of sisters supporting each other does not reflect reality. Rosjke Hasseldine considers what is holding women back from leaving the war of attrition behind in favour of solidarity Germaine Greer said at the Fem…
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Glasgow community rallies around failed asylum seekers
By Jess McCabe | 14 June 2008, 18:02
This report by the Guardian shows a Glasgow community coming together to block attempts to forcibly remove and deport asylum seekers who have become friends and neighbours. It’s frankly a relief; it’s a welcome break from endless anti-immigrant reporting in…
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‘Genderblind’ doesn’t cut it - the climate change edition
By Jess McCabe | 14 June 2008, 14:22
One of the challenges faced by feminists is getting across the fact that gender affects more than just issues like violence against women, pay equity, media representations. Indeed, feminists are often hard pressed to get people to recognise that even…
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New feature: Men! Feminism needs you! (Not your privilege…)
By Jess McCabe | 14 June 2008, 14:15
Anne Onne dispenses some advice for men commenting on feminist websites and blogs Entering a feminist space - whether that be commenting on a blog or attending a meeting - can pose some unique problems for men. This isn’t about…
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YouTube footage of tonight’s vigil
By Jess McCabe | 13 June 2008, 22:17
Susannaaaa wrote in to tell us about this footage of the vigil in Glasgow this evening: From the Glasgow Feminist Network: Eleni Pachou. Moira Jones. Michelle Reid. Jeannette Cooper. These are the names of four women killed in Glasgow so…
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New feature: Mama’s mop and Bachelor’s soup
By Jess McCabe | 13 June 2008, 16:47
Although women shoulder most of the housework burden, men also vacuum, wash up and do the laundry. Kristine Bergström wonders why TV advertising persists in pretending otherwise? In an article relating to the controversial events surrounding the presidential election in…
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New feature: Cartoon special…
By Jess McCabe | 13 June 2008, 16:44
In a break from our usual text-based programming, a selection of cartoons on the theme of men and women, by Yvonne Howard Glass half full? Click here to read on and comment…
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Teacher asks student to write report about being raped
By Jess McCabe | 13 June 2008, 15:33
A 16-year-old girl in Utah was told to write about her own rape as a homework assignment, by a teacher, we learn from abyss2hope. As reported in the Salt Lake Tribune: A state commission is sending a letter of warning…
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Man sentenced to eight years for second wife stabbing
By Jess McCabe | 13 June 2008, 15:26
An Ohio man has been sentenced to eight years for attempted murder, after stabbing his wife, we learn through The Curvature and abysstohope. That sounds like a low sentence, does it not? Well, consider this. Joseph Groth had already served…
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Site launched to monitor media portrayals of Michelle Obama
By Jess McCabe | 13 June 2008, 11:44
What About Our Daughters has set up a non-partisan site specifically to monitor how the media is portraying Michelle Obama. Check out Michelle Obama Watch here. Recent posts? Fox apologising for labelling Michelle as Barack’s “baby mama” in a broadcast….
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Brown sold out Northern Irish women to win 42 day vote
By Jess McCabe | 12 June 2008, 11:10
Gordon Brown won the vote, clearing the path for police to detain terror suspects for 42 days without charge. But it would never have happened without support from the DUP - according to the Telegraph, he secured this support by…
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Women in the future of journalism…
By Jess McCabe | 11 June 2008, 15:11
Me and zohra took part in a panel last night at the Guardian, looking at the hostile environment for women online. Check out Caitlin Fitzsimmons’ write up at the Guardian’s pda blog. Jessica Valenti of Feministing was also on the…
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The women who ran for US president
By Jess McCabe | 11 June 2008, 14:32
WOC PhD has a great post up, which includes a long list of the women who ran for president pre-Clinton. Hillary is the first woman to garner slightly less than 18 million votes but she is not the first woman…
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Glasgow vigil on Friday
By Jess McCabe | 11 June 2008, 13:00
The Glasgow Feminist Network is holding a vigil this Friday, at 6pm in George Square: The women of Glasgow - the women of the world - should not have to live in fear of men’s violence. We will be…
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Focusing schmocusing
By Jess McCabe | 11 June 2008, 12:01
The Washington Post ran a really infuriating article by Linda Hirshman, arguing against intersectionality. In fact, Hirshman argues, a focus on how sexism intersects with other oppressions, such as racism, homophobia, transphobia, class, poverty, and so on, weakens feminism and…
Addicted to Race is back!
By Jess McCabe | 11 June 2008, 00:46
Just a quick post to note that the brilliant Addicted to Race podcast is back, after a long hiatus. Since the relaunch, the podcast has already dealt with issues of particular relevance to feminists, including race and gender in the…
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Pregnant 17 year-old dies picking grapes in California
By Jess McCabe | 9 June 2008, 17:59
[Edit: See also Brownfemipower’s post] Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez was 17 years old and pregnant when she died, having collapsed from the heat while picking grapes on a farm in California, reports KansasCity.com. San Joaquin County authorities are considering whether…
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High heels for babies
By Jess McCabe | 9 June 2008, 16:58
“Extremely funny, completely soft, fully functional high heel crib shoes for babies 0-6 months,” is how Heelarious describes its products. Is it a joke? I can only hope so. They seem to be selling these little monstrosities for $35 a…
More pink toolkits
By Jess McCabe | 9 June 2008, 14:01
If you’re going to have pink tool kits, this one at least doesn’t actually state that it’s being marketed at women. Of course, it relies on the pink=women encoding we’re all too familiar with, but at least the website doesn’t…
Kanako Otsuji
By Jess McCabe | 9 June 2008, 12:39
Sayoni Speak has a great interview up with Kanako Otsuji, Japan’s first openly lesbian politician. According to Wikipedia, she is one of seven women in the Osaka Assembly, which has 110 members overall. A small excerpt: As I struggled to…
Yikes
By Jess McCabe | 9 June 2008, 12:22
PhotoshopDisasters has turned up a really extreme example, this time by Maxim Mexico. Check out the anatomically impossible waistline: Via Jezebel…
Who should fund MPs’ nannies? And more
By Jess McCabe | 7 June 2008, 20:08
Over at Penny Red, Laurie alerts us to a story about the Tory party apologising for one of their MPs, who paid for a nanny out of her parliamentary allowance. Was the nanny found delinquently dancing on rooftops with rogue…
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New review: Sex and the City the movie - Having your (wedding) cake and eating it
By Jess McCabe | 5 June 2008, 21:35
The Sex and the City movie makes for a disappointing postscript to the more subversive TV series, argues Catherine Redfern This review contains spoilers after the first section. Read at your own risk. While obviously not perfect (frankly, what TV…
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Another Thursday round up
By Jess McCabe | 5 June 2008, 16:15
Hoyden brings us the first ever ‘Down Under Feminists Carnival’ - it looks brilliant. The Guardian has been hosting a bit of back-and-forth about the role recently-passed fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent played in the emancipation of women’s wardrobes. Linda…
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Jack the Ripper, the exhibition…
By Jess McCabe | 5 June 2008, 12:12
Over at the End Violence Against Women blog, Finn Mackay has a review up of the new ‘Jack the Ripper’ exhibition at the Museum in Docklands. Anyway, I’ve been hearing a lot about this exhibition - both complaints about the…
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New review: Rape - an unfinished revolution
By Jess McCabe | 5 June 2008, 10:28
Joanna Bourke’s history of rape turns a steady and necessary gaze on an unsettling subject, concludes Louise Livesey Although at times distinctly uncomfortable reading and definitely one of those books for which the word “great” or “fabulous” is both apposite…
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New review: Haunted?
By Jess McCabe | 5 June 2008, 10:19
El Orfanato is a rare example of the ‘horror’ genre with a strong female lead. Or is it? Lindsey M Sheehan has more This review contains spoilers. Read at your own risk El Orfanato - or ‘The Orphange’ - gained…
Petition: 250 million women in the EU. Not a single one good enough?
By Jess McCabe | 5 June 2008, 09:15
We’ve just been observing Hilary Clinton make a play to become president of the US, and get further than any other woman has before. Setting aside whether she was the right candidate or not, the promise and possibility was dangled…
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New feature: Ask a feminist
By Jess McCabe | 4 June 2008, 23:07
In the third ‘Ask a Feminist’, our contributors answer questions from a woman who is seven months pregnant and needs help explaining why she wants to keep her name to her partner - and why their child won’t necessarily take…
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Where’s the feminist theatre?
By Jess McCabe | 4 June 2008, 21:34
Where’s all the feminist theatre? asks Guardian theatre and performing arts blogger Andy Field, today. Lucinda Coxon’s Happy Now? was widely touted as a play written by a young woman, directed by one of the most exciting young directors in…
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Quick announcements - comments on features and reviews
By Jess McCabe | 4 June 2008, 15:55
You might notice that I’ve turned comments off in my last post, announcing a new feature in the main part of the website. When we decided to give live commenting a go, back in February, we were really clear that…
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UN radio may scrap ‘Women’ programme
By Jess McCabe | 2 June 2008, 17:12
The United Nations’ radio service may axe its ‘Women’ programme, we learn from WIMN’s Voices. Yeah, I had no idea the UN had a radio service either, but they do, and a cursory glance shows they cover some key ground…
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Right wing in panic as former Republican congressman joins firm with standard diversity clause
By Jess McCabe | 31 May 2008, 17:15
A man named Dennis Hastert has joined a major law firm called Dickstein Shapiro. Why is this news? Because Hastert is the former speaker of the house for the Republicans in the House of Representatives, and Dickstein Shapiro has a…
Must read
By Jess McCabe | 31 May 2008, 16:53
Heather Corinna of the excellent Scarleteen has been writing for a while now over at her own blog about her experiences working at a clinic which offers abortions. This latest entry is a must read, as she describes an abusive…
Deodorant firm worries about future men
By Jess McCabe | 30 May 2008, 16:00
Following on from Clare’s post about men revelling in a nostalgic brand of misogyny and homophobia, check out this report on how men will live in a world of “women ever more in the driving seat” - except not literally,…
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PETA strikes again… this time in Birmingham
By Jess McCabe | 30 May 2008, 12:34
A PETA protester has been “threatened with arrest” in Birmingham, reports the local newspaper. Although the Post’s report is all about the arrest, they’ve inadvertantly highlighted yet another gaspingly offensive campaign from the animal rights group, let’s take a look…
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Fundraiser for FAF and Girls Rock UK - 7 June
By Jess McCabe | 29 May 2008, 17:32
Music, poetry and a general good time over at the Lambeth Young Women’s Project, London, on Saturday 7 June, 8-12pm. All genders welcome….
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Rounding up - from mechanics to Twin Peaks
By Jess McCabe | 28 May 2008, 23:24
Why don’t more young women take up “trades”, asks Kate at Salon, noting the example of high-earning women mechanics, plumbers, etc. I love hearing this, both because I hate snobbery and because I believe totally in doing what you’re good…
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Telegraph gives the BNP blogs
By Jess McCabe | 27 May 2008, 23:38
The Telegraph newspaper is hosting a blog by Richard Barnbrook, councillor for the fascist BNP, we learn from Sunny at Liberal Conspiracy. I wish this was a joke. Check out the headline for his second post: “Blame the immigrants”. And…
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South Asian book covers ‘coded female’?
By Jess McCabe | 27 May 2008, 18:01
Is the cover art on some fiction, specifically that written by Desi authors, “coded female”, Ultrabrown asks? It’s not clear how much of this is that South Asian culture is seen as feminine in America, and how much is generic…
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Women in Black - Egypt
By Jess McCabe | 26 May 2008, 14:59
The BBC is running a series on Muslim women called ‘Women in Black’. My Private Casbah has some excerpts that made it onto YouTube, but readers in the UK can watch the latest episode on iPlayer. Set in Egypt, the…
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Sexism sells
By Jess McCabe | 26 May 2008, 14:31
(Via WIMN’s Voices)…
Early Monday morning round up…
By Jess McCabe | 26 May 2008, 00:15
18-year-old Mildred Beaubrun was shot after rebuffing “banter” - Essential Presence has more. Manjula Sood has become lord mayor of Leicester; the first time a south Asian woman has held the post in any UK city, according to Khaleej Times…
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‘Is she on a jihad mission?’
By Jess McCabe | 25 May 2008, 23:47
The above question was asked by a Newsarama reporter interviewing Paul Cornell - a writer for Marvel comic books - about a new British Asian character in the superhero title Captain Britain and MI:13. See a screen-capture of the full…
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Dollhouse trailer!
By Jess McCabe | 24 May 2008, 10:09
Check this out: the first trailer for Joss Whedon’s new show Dollhouse! The plot: Eliza Dushku (who played Faith in Buffy & Angel) plays an “active” by the name of Echo - an agent who has her memory repeatedly wiped…
Your mom had groupies…
By Jess McCabe | 22 May 2008, 21:24
Wondering what this is about? Well, Michelle Schwartz has started a delicious subvertising project, in reaction to a series of ads for Canadian Club Whisky. The whisky campaign is called “Damn Right Your Dad Drank It”, and show a…
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Introducing our new guest blogger… Anne Onne
By Jess McCabe | 22 May 2008, 18:11
Regular readers will no-doubt recognise Anne Onne’s name, from her thoughtful, articulate and prolific participation in our comments section. We’re really thrilled that Anne has agreed to guest blog for The F-Word for the next month. Keep an eye out…
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Thursday round up…
By Jess McCabe | 22 May 2008, 15:54
Parents in New York are protesting sex education classes that refer to masturbation as pleasurable, notes Feministing: “How dare an educator tell the truth about sexuality! Where’s the shaming and misinformation about how sex is dirty, wrong and bad?!” The…
How did your MP vote? Breaking down the numbers
By Jess McCabe | 21 May 2008, 14:40
As Laura pointed out earlier today, we’ve won this latest battle on choice, but this is no time to rest on our laurels. We were on the defensive - and the one amendment which could have shifted the ground in…
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Beyond Masculinity: Essays by Queer Men on Gender and Politics
By Jess McCabe | 21 May 2008, 12:30
Check out this excellent-looking anthology of 20 essays on masculinity. I haven’t had time to give the collection a proper read, but it looks excellent - and you can read it online, download it as a PDF or MP3, or…
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Too right, Harriet
By Jess McCabe | 21 May 2008, 10:12
Government should not be in the business of promoting marriage, or particular types of family, Harriet Harman has very sensibly said in a report by the think-tank Civitas. Of course, the right wing press are busy spinning this as a…
Protesting for women’s right to choose
By Jess McCabe | 20 May 2008, 21:03
Just a quick post to the photos from this evening’s protest to protect women’s access to abortion up to 24 weeks. See them all on Flickr….
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Without fathers
By Jess McCabe | 20 May 2008, 11:53
Really good little set of interviews in today’s Guardian, with lesbian couples and single mums raising kids without fathers. As well as clamping down on women’s right to abortion, amendments before the Commons today could see restrictions placed on the…
Emergency protest to defend 24-week limit TONIGHT
By Jess McCabe | 20 May 2008, 10:14
Just a quick reminder to London-based readers: Get yourself down to Westminster from 5.30pm today, for the emergency protest outside Parliament, as MPs vote on crucial amendments to the Human Embryology and Fertilisation Bill which could curtail women’s right to…
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New feature: Are women and girls vulnerable?
By Jess McCabe | 19 May 2008, 22:58
Violent men do not attack girls or women because they are ‘vulnerable’, argues Jennifer Drew, and it deflects attention from the perpetrators to pretend otherwise There is a buzzword circulating the legal, media and societal systems, and it is being…
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‘Bring on the Bond girls?’
By Jess McCabe | 18 May 2008, 21:33
So, I am not a massive fan of the James Bond franchise. I understand this is not exactly a popular position, even with feminists. But, what can I say - we didn’t watch Bond films in my house growing up,…
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Carol Ann Duffy’s “unconventional lifestyle”, by the Observer
By Jess McCabe | 18 May 2008, 20:04
So, Carol Ann Duffy’s “unconventional lifestyle” impeded her chances of becoming the first female Poet Laureate, according to The Observer. By “unconventional lifestyle”, they mean she is a lesbian. And no, they weren’t quoting anyone, that’s their description. Yes, I…
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Pritt Stick “4 girls”…
By Jess McCabe | 18 May 2008, 12:42
This pink Pritt Stick “4 girls” was spotted in Tesco by a member of our Facebook group. Alexandra says: As a primary school teacher, don’t even get me started on the incorrect use of ‘4’, let alone the gendered…
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Do men need to hear domestic violence message from other men?
By Jess McCabe | 16 May 2008, 10:29
New York has rethought its campaign to end domestic violence, passing the microphone from women to men, according to NYC24. The poster showed a woman wearing a hospital gown and a bruise on her back. The bruise had a statistic…
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Failed by the justice system - turn to YouTube?
By Jess McCabe | 15 May 2008, 22:26
This is worrying, but not surprising. Think Girl calls attention to a video posted on YouTube - and picked up by CNN - of a sobbing 16-year-old Florida girl saying she has been drugged and raped, and the prosecutor’s office…
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Sign petition demanding 24-hour helpline for victims of rape and sexual assault
By Jess McCabe | 15 May 2008, 22:03
A petition has been set up calling for a 24-hour helpline for victims of rape and sexual assault - you can sign it here. If they get 200 signatures, the PM apparently has to respond - perhaps he has a…
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California court lifts same-sex marriage ban
By Jess McCabe | 15 May 2008, 19:41
Great news - California’s supreme court has lifted a ban on same-sex marriage, reports the BBC. The ban was approved by voters in 2000 but challenged by gay rights activists and the city of San Francisco. California’s legislature has twice…
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Harnessing the power of the sun/catastrophic climate change/women’s bodies to advertise bras?
By Jess McCabe | 15 May 2008, 17:51
Bra-maker Triumph International is “demonstrating” the solar-powered bra. By “demonstrating”, of course I mean “shamelessly hopping on the green bandwagon for PR, because bras are worn under clothing and therefore not actually good collectors of sunlight” - as Treehugger and,…
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Jewish women must beware trouser-wearing!
By Jess McCabe | 14 May 2008, 22:55
Fellow Jewish* women reading this will be interested to note that a male rabbi has decided we are not meant to wear trousers - even when we’re all alone in the dark. I am not kidding. I learned of Rabbi…
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Shake Girl
By Jess McCabe | 14 May 2008, 22:41
Fifteen students and two professors at Stanford have produced an excellent graphic novel, which tells the story of a teenage Cambodian girl working at a stall selling shakes, and how she ends up getting doused in acid. The storytelling could…
Doctor blogger exploits stories of birth rape and assault, ridicules victims
By Jess McCabe | 13 May 2008, 21:20
When we published Amity Reed’s feature on birth rape, we knew it would be controversial. Amity wrote about the women who go into hospital to give birth, and leave having been violated. She said: Women are slapped, told to shut…
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Caliente Cab settles
By Jess McCabe | 13 May 2008, 10:45
Do you remember the case of Khadijah Farmer, who was thrown out of the women’s loos in a New York restaurant by a bouncer who thought she was a man - even after producing ID showing she is a woman?…
This poster is meant to stop trafficking
By Jess McCabe | 12 May 2008, 23:58
Via feminocracy, this poster is meant to address the issue of women being trafficked into Austria and Switzerland, in response, at least possibly, to demand created by hosting Euro 08. A laudable aim, of course, but this slightly coy, ‘sexy’-type…
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New feature: The Oxbridge sex workers
By Jess McCabe | 12 May 2008, 17:51
Laurie Penny considers why so many Oxbridge students are going into prostitution and stripping, and the impact the media coverage of their stories has on women in less privileged positions Teacups are tinkling in outrage as an army of Oxbridge-educated…
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Ladyfest London photos; thoughts
By Jess McCabe | 11 May 2008, 23:40
So, Ladyfest London is officially over. For readers who couldn’t make it, you can see the photos I took over on Flickr. Looking back at the weekend, I am left feeling like the workshops I attended, the music I heard,…
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New feature: A slice-by-slice attack on women’s right to choose
By Jess McCabe | 11 May 2008, 22:22
The campaign to ban women from terminating pregnancies after 20 weeks is only the beginning, says Kit Roskelly In a matter of days, the House of Commons will vote on whether to slash the current time limit on abortions from…
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Helen joining as regular blogger
By Jess McCabe | 10 May 2008, 20:41
This is a quick note to say that Helen’s two month guest blog spot is up - but I’m glad to announce she is going to be joining The F-Word as a regular contributor! Read Helen’s posts so far here….
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Friday round up….
By Jess McCabe | 9 May 2008, 17:08
Dollymix blogger Natalie Lue did an interview with the Daily Mail’s ‘Femail’ section, only to be misrepresented, misquoted and stuffed into a piece about women taking revenge on their exes online - despite being assured otherwise. As well as the…
Sexual assault at British Embassy in Iraq
By Jess McCabe | 9 May 2008, 11:06
Iraqi staff working at the British Embassy in Baghdad say that allegations of sexual harassment were brushed under the carpet, reports The Times. I wish I could say this was unbelievable or surprising: The middle-aged cleaner told The Times that…
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New feature: Sexuality and sainthood
By Jess McCabe | 9 May 2008, 10:36
Cranach painted Venus to titillate Luther’s contemporaries and chaste virgins aimed at keeping women in check, argues Itala Atteih As soon as I had heard that a poster of Lucas Cranach the Elder’s ‘Venus’ was initially banned from display in…
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Those Dove ads were retouched after all…
By Jess McCabe | 9 May 2008, 10:23
Do you remember the Dove campaign for ‘Real Beauty’? It divided feminist opinion and caused all manner of controversy. But we now learn the photos were substanatially retouched. (Oh the irony.) In an interview in The New Yorker, Photoshop guru…
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New feature: Hip hop ladies
By Jess McCabe | 7 May 2008, 23:35
Beyond the mainstream of ‘gangster pop’, Nino argues hip hop can be - and is - feminist A so-called ‘feminist’ group from a student union attached to my local university ripped their own eyelashes out recently, to the delight of…
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New review: He’s a stud, she’s a slut?
By Jess McCabe | 7 May 2008, 22:41
Men get angry; women get PMS. Single men are bachelors; single women are spinsters. Jess McCabe wonders how Jessica Valenti limited herself to 49 examples of the double standard When sceptics claim that feminism has done its job and it’s…
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New feature: F.A.T.
By Jess McCabe | 7 May 2008, 21:53
Girls and women need to give themselves a break from the endless preoccupation with fat, argues Katie Muller Why are so many women ashamed and repulsed by the fact they take up space? Oh to be smaller and slighter, to…
Iron Man, Firefly and different layers of feminist analysis of pop culture
By Jess McCabe | 6 May 2008, 15:52
[Update: WOC PhD has posted a much more thorough expose of the problems with Iron Man, which is definitely worth checking out!] I’ve been interested by the different reactions to the film Iron Man this weekend in the feminist blogosphere….
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Obama is a radical feminist (according to men’s rights activists, anyway…)
By Jess McCabe | 6 May 2008, 11:30
The US election process is continuing on its long and merry way, and I have thus far resisted the urge to go into all the endless back and forth over the fortunes of each candidate. However, I couldn’t let pass…
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Italian mayoral candidate wants women to wear satellite trackers in case they’re raped
By Jess McCabe | 5 May 2008, 23:55
As the results of the London mayoral election sink in, Rome is still in the throes of election fever, and one candidate to run the city is proposing to outfit women with satellite tracking devices. In the event they are…
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New feature: Stripping the illusion…
By Jess McCabe | 4 May 2008, 22:52
Lap-dancing clubs are licensed in the same way as coffee shops. Anji Capes reports on the launch of a campaign to change all that Last month I had the pleasure of participating in the launch of Stripping The Illusion, the…
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“Are you a breast or a leg man?” - some thoughts on feminism and vegetarianism
By Jess McCabe | 3 May 2008, 21:17
“Meat Market”, Oil on canvas. Artist: Megan VanGroll It isn’t an unusual story: feminist/woman produces significant work. World tunes in for five minutes. Theory is forgotten, and next generation has to learn it all over again. However, I think…
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Register your disapproval here
By Jess McCabe | 3 May 2008, 00:41
Well, London. What can I say? You elected Boris Johnson. Or, at least, some of you did. I just heard Polly Toynbee on the news saying that Boris will not be a catastrophe, because he won’t get around to doing…
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23rd May - benefit to support Million Women Rise
By Jess McCabe | 1 May 2008, 18:22
Remember Million Women Rise? Well, yes, you probably do as it was less than two months ago. But organising a massive march on the capital takes time, and the women behind the project are already gearing up for next year….
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Women in prison
By Jess McCabe | 1 May 2008, 17:59
I’m just at the beginning of reading 13 Women: Parables from Prison, based on interviews with, as the title suggests, 13 women in the US prison system, which I picked up here. I’m too close to the beginning to offer…
Documentary by Nubian of Blac(k)ademic
By Jess McCabe | 29 April 2008, 19:38
I briefly posted about still black: a portrait of black transmen last week. But I feel compelled to post again, because I somehow missed that the film is directed by Kortney Ryan Ziegler, aka Nubian from the late, great blog…
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Home Office trying to send gay teenager back to Syria with £46
By Jess McCabe | 29 April 2008, 10:12
The system is broken. Via Shakesville, and the the Scotsman comes the story of Jojo Jako Yakob, a 19 year-old Syrian whose application for asylum the Home Office has refused. It has been refused despite the fact that Yakob was…
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Sweden not going to ban sexist ads after all
By Jess McCabe | 28 April 2008, 20:55
The Swedish government has abandoned plans to ban sexist advertising, reports the BBC. “This law would be against freedom of speech, which is protected by the constitution,” said Malin Engstedt, spokesperson for Equality Minister Nyamko Sabuni. “The minister is not…
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Berlusconi shifts Italy to the hard right
By Jess McCabe | 28 April 2008, 14:58
Since coming back into power in Italy, Silvio Berlusconi’s most high-profile move has been to indulge in some sexist comments about Spain’s majority-women government. I’ve seen some speculation about the impact of his election on LGBT rights, as well, but…
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Kyriarchy not patriarchy?
By Jess McCabe | 28 April 2008, 11:47
Is the concept of patriarchy too limited? Sudy at A Womyn’s Ecdysis explains why she talks about “kyriarchy”, not patriarchy. So, what does kyriarchy mean? (Any how do you pronounce it?!) Let me break this down for you. When people…
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FEM 08
By Jess McCabe | 27 April 2008, 19:01
Zohra*, Me, Catherine and Laura all spent our Saturday at the FEM 08 conference in Sheffield, organised by the amazing Kat Banyard - seen here with Germaine Greer! No doubt we will have a proper post up on the…
Friday round-up
By Jess McCabe | 25 April 2008, 13:49
Hoyden alerts us to the ridiculous “Open-Source Boob Project”. What is such a thing, you ask? Well, a couple of men distributed badges to women attending a sci-fi con. If you take the green badge, it signals you’re happy for…
New feminist group launched by and for Black British women: TrUe BLaCk-BeRrY
By Jess McCabe | 24 April 2008, 22:39
I love, love, love getting to post about all the new feminist groups that are springing up around the country. And here is another one to add to the list: TrUe BLaCk-BeRrY, a brand new group set up this month…
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FARK off - misogyny on the internet, again
By Jess McCabe | 24 April 2008, 11:03
Earlier this week at DollyMix, Katie Lee posted a list of the top 10 websites for women. In this post, she mentioned that “sites such as Digg and Fark, tend to be pretty unwelcoming - if not positively hostile -…
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Judge Hall’s shocking record on sentencing cases of sexual violence
By Jess McCabe | 23 April 2008, 17:38
Judge Julian Hall has handed a two year sentence to a man accused of raping a 10 year-old girl. You can read this Daily Mail report for the full story. However, pc bloggs, the anonymous blog of a female police…
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The Trucks
By Jess McCabe | 23 April 2008, 15:00
I’ve added The Trucks’ album to our shop, and feel the need to quickly recommend the all-women electropop band here as well, because, hey, a band with an explicitly feminist message? That’s got to be worth calling attention to. Feminist…
“I wish women were more like Pot Noodles”
By Jess McCabe | 23 April 2008, 00:08
How do you even chose the most offensive and misogynist moment in this ad for instant noodles? (The line “Farewell to guilt trips, nagging and random tantrums”, accompanied by a woman slapping a man, competes with “If she lived…
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Earth Day for feminists
By Jess McCabe | 22 April 2008, 16:21
Today is Earth Day. I feel like I bang on all the time about the interconnectedness of environment and gender oppression (most recently here). And only yesterday, the UN released a report warning that large-scale production of biofuels (substituting petrol…
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13th Carnival of Radical Feminists
By Jess McCabe | 22 April 2008, 16:02
The latest Carnival of Radical Feminists is up at Shut Up, Sit Down. Check out the Feminist Peace Network’s post about a children’s book called My Beautiful Mommy, which tells the tale of a mother who gets plastic surgery to…
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Exact specifications of what magazine industry considers acceptable have changed slightly - shocker!
By Jess McCabe | 22 April 2008, 15:39
In response to criticisms about use of skinny models, fashion mags are now using the power of Photoshop to make women look more “naturally” healthy, according to The Telegraph. Both Shakesville and Feministing have skewered exactly why this is just…
Norway to adopt Swedish-style prostitution law
By Jess McCabe | 22 April 2008, 11:36
The Norwegian government is planning implement its promise to copy Sweden’s approach to prostitution, which involves criminalising men who buy sex, while protecting people in prostitution from prosecution, reports Reuters. “People are not merchandise, and criminalising the purchase of sexual…
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Abolish No Recourse Day of Action
By Jess McCabe | 22 April 2008, 00:06
One of the ways our immigration ‘system’ discriminates against women is the “no recourse to public funds” rule, which prevents any person who has migrated to the UK on the basis of marriage to a citizen from using public services…
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Honda’s “woman turns into bike” ad
By Jess McCabe | 20 April 2008, 23:54
Honda describes itself as a “a company society wants to exist”. It’s a shame no-one passed on the message to whoever commissions their advertising. [Update: Just got an email response from Honda about this, saying that “the commercial itself…
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Forest rights leave women worse off
By Jess McCabe | 20 April 2008, 12:33
Women cannot claim land rights under a law meant to grant deeds to tribal people living in India’s forests, according to Women’s eNews. The point of the legislation is to give tribal peoples formal, legal rights over forest land occupied…
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Womynspace survives attempted eviction
By Jess McCabe | 20 April 2008, 00:32
An attempt to evict the womynspace in Hackney has failed. This is most likely only a temporary respite, and the organisers are looking for help - contact details on their blog, which carries this message: THANKS TO EVERYONE’S SUPPORT…
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Feminist, resistance fighter, anthropologist Germaine Tillion dies age 100
By Jess McCabe | 20 April 2008, 00:27
Germaine Tillion died yesterday. Over her 100 year life, she fought in the French resistance during World War II, she survived the Ravensbrück concentration camp, mediated in the war between France and Algeria and wrote about the oppression of women…
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Wii Strip
By Jess McCabe | 19 April 2008, 21:08
Do you remember the pole-dancing kits that Tesco was forced to remove from its toys section, after it provoked an almighty uproar? Well, the company that made those “temporary at-home stripper poles” is planning to develop a “strip aerobics” game…
March comments up now!
By Jess McCabe | 19 April 2008, 16:54
Although comments on blog posts are now live, we’re still doing a round-up every month of comments on features and reviews. (And you can add to the list older blog posts, written before our current commenting system was put in…
Disabled woman not a “reliable witness”; prosecution refuse to charge alleged rapists
By Jess McCabe | 18 April 2008, 12:26
Men accused of raping a Scottish woman with a learning disability that means she has a mental age of eight will not be prosecuted, because she is not considered a “reliable witness”, reports The Guardian. The Mental Welfare Commission said…
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Round up!
By Jess McCabe | 17 April 2008, 23:31
Women’s studies are not dead after all! The Independent runs a story featuring our very own Louise. As well as tackling the inaccuracies in previous coverage, this is interesting: Around half of York’s intake is made up of overseas students,…
Major prostitution case sees powerful male ‘clients’ escape witness box, while women interrogated
By Jess McCabe | 17 April 2008, 16:34
The “DC Madam” trial, which already felled US politician Eliot Spitzer, has taken a turn for the even-worse, we learn from the Washington Post, by way of Jill at Feministe. It transpires that numerous politicians who were apparently ‘clients’ will…
Berlusconi - Spanish government “too pink”
By Jess McCabe | 17 April 2008, 08:57
Only a few days after being elected prime minister of Italy again, Silvio Berlusconi has said that Spain’s female-majority government is “too pink”. EUObserver reports: When asked by an Italian radio to comment on the composition of the Spanish cabinet…
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16 years of Sh!
By Jess McCabe | 16 April 2008, 20:34
Sh! - the “women’s erotic emporium” - has just celebrated its 16th birthday. Tonight they marked the occasion with a party, and, ever eager for free champagne and the promise of a goody bag, I went along. Today, relatively woman-friendly…
The man who would be mayor
By Jess McCabe | 16 April 2008, 12:09
I have to admit something: I’ve been studiously ignoring Boris Johnson, the Tory candidate for London mayor in the upcoming 1 May elections. But I was given a bit of a rude shock when I glanced at a headline proclaiming…
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Write your own sexual history
By Jess McCabe | 15 April 2008, 21:08
One of the many brilliant resources that I’ve come across through our sex-ed for adults project is the About.com sexuality blog. Today they recommend an exercise about writing out your own sexual story. Not in the sense of a sexual…
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Passover for feminists
By Jess McCabe | 15 April 2008, 16:22
[Update: quench zine is asking for “ways you celebrate passover in a radical, progresive, feminist, queer, environmental, peace-loving, or other change-creating, social justice, or anti-oppression tradition?” Through quench, Miriam’s Cup, an excellent resource on feminist rituals to integrate into your…
Latest Carnival Against Sexual Violence out now
By Jess McCabe | 15 April 2008, 16:07
The 45th Carnival Against Sexual Violence is up at abyss2hope. As usual, the carnival includes lots of brilliant posts. One of the highlights is this post by Raving Black Lunatic, partly about the difficulty he has as a man, to…
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Black women MPs speak out about racism and sexism in Parliament
By Jess McCabe | 14 April 2008, 15:13
Update: The report which this story is based on, and edited by zohra, is now available online. It includes a full interview with Dawn Butler MP, which is well worth reading, as well as other commentary on the intersection of…
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The 21st century ‘witch’ hunt
By Jess McCabe | 14 April 2008, 10:57
A few weeks ago, a 45 year-old woman accused of being a “witch” was rescued by the Indian police. It seems they almost certainly saved her from being murdered, but she had already suffered at the hands of residents of…
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Spain gets majority-female Cabinet
By Jess McCabe | 14 April 2008, 09:00
Spain has a female-majority Cabinet for the first time ever, reports The Guardian. Newly re-elected prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has handed out top jobs in government to women, including the appointment of Carme Chancon as Spain’s first female…
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New review: A modern maiden?
By Jess McCabe | 13 April 2008, 22:21
Louise Livesey reviews another guide to life as a modern woman which blithely ignores everyone who isn’t white, middle class and straight There is always a fundamental problem, I find, when authors deny association with feminism but then rely on…
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Those horrible hyphenators!
By Jess McCabe | 13 April 2008, 12:10
Why is it that people still get so riled up when women marry and, well, pretty much do anything except take their husbands’ name? What Tami Said reminds us that it is not just women who keep their last name…
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How to be a feminist boyfriend? And other questions
By Jess McCabe | 11 April 2008, 17:43
A reader wrote into the blog Feministe with the question “how do I be a feminist boyfriend?” The comments thread is going strong, but Bitch PhD has some particular advice worthy of passing on, including this: Dick Move #2: Being…
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News from Afghanistan
By Jess McCabe | 11 April 2008, 16:38
Here is a screenshot of the latest newsletter from the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, set up in 1977 and still going strong. I wanted to pick out some stories for an update on the situation there. But…
Irish anarca-feminist group plans gathering for May bank holiday
By Jess McCabe | 11 April 2008, 16:03
RAG - the revoluntionary anarcha-feminist group and magazine - is organising a feminist gathering in rural Leitrim, (Via womensphere). You can read about how to register for the 2-5 May event on their temporary blog. More info here: There will…
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More on Hooters
By Jess McCabe | 11 April 2008, 13:56
As Laura has posted about, Hooters is planning to open a branch of its “breastaurant” in Sheffield, then expand across the UK. Today’s Guardian Women includes a feature by Julie Bindel, who visited Hooters in Nottingham and also interviewed some…
The anti-Barbie… sort of…
By Jess McCabe | 10 April 2008, 15:29
Cruel Brittania posts a photo on Flickr (shared under a Creative Commons license), of what she calls a “feminist Barbie”. From the tags, it looks like this doll lives at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New…
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57th Carnival of Feminists out now!
By Jess McCabe | 10 April 2008, 15:16
The latest Carnival of Feminists is up over at pandemian’s place. As usual, there’s lots to get your teeth into - including a couple of links to The F Word. Also check out the International Carnival of Pozitivities at mshairi,…
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All candidate for London mayor support immigration amnesty
By Jess McCabe | 9 April 2008, 13:24
Every single candidate for the London mayoral elections in May - even Tory Boris Johnson - supports an amnesty which would allow illegal immigrants living in the UK for four years or more to follow a “path to citizenship”, reports…
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Map of “state-sponsored homophobia”
By Jess McCabe | 8 April 2008, 14:55
The ILGA has produced a map of state-sponsored homophobia, and a “world survey of laws prohibiting same sex activity between consenting adults”, to mark its 30th anniversary. You can see the map here in English, but it is also available…
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‘Adopt a Clitoris’
By Jess McCabe | 7 April 2008, 22:15
Clitoraid’s ‘adopt a clitoris’ campaign is coming from a good place: the idea is to help pay for women who have been subjected to female genital mutilation to get reconstructive surgery. (Although it’s certainly not the best campaign name in…
Push-ups - exercise of the patriarchy or feminist?
By Jess McCabe | 7 April 2008, 14:43
If this was a film set in the army, rather than a feminist blog, it would inevitable involve a drill sergeant saying “drop and give me 20”. But it’s not, and so I must admit I haven’t previously directed much…
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Party at the womyn’s space
By Jess McCabe | 6 April 2008, 20:50
[UPDATE: I neglected to mention the drag and knicker making(!) workshops going on during the day before the party. Sounds like fun. Here’s the full details: Saturday 12th April: Knicker Making Workshop 12pm - 5pm, Saturday 12th April, at the…
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New feature: Do It Yourself? How about Do It Ourselves
By Jess McCabe | 6 April 2008, 19:25
Is it feminist to be able to fix your own plumbing? Where are all the female tradespeople? Rhona-Mairead Sweeting considers the place of feminism in the construction industry and manual trades All those years of reading books, absorbing the feminist…
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From PETA to sci-fi
By Jess McCabe | 6 April 2008, 13:31
PETA is a prime example of a charity that feels like it’s OK be as sexist as it wants in promoting its cause. But, as this piece in the Guardian by Julie Bindel shows, this tactic is becoming ever more…
New feature: The epidemic of male violence against women
By Jess McCabe | 6 April 2008, 12:29
A spate of convictions has put femicide into the headlines again. But, as Jennifer Drew reports, the media is still blaming women - and ignoring ‘everyday’ incidents of male violence against women It has been a particularly horrible few weeks…
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More fucked-up reactions to Thomas Beatie’s pregnancy
By Jess McCabe | 5 April 2008, 23:39
Thomas Beatie, the pregnant trans man who told his story in the Advocate a few weeks ago, went on Oprah this week with his wife, reigniting the ‘controversy’ (read: bigoted and ignorant media response). Last month I highlighted the problems…
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New feature: Ask a feminist - The F Word problem page
By Jess McCabe | 5 April 2008, 15:38
What can you do if your crush is sexist and homophobic? How can you channel righteous feminist anger into something positive? In our second installment of the new ‘Ask a Feminist’ feature, we field these questions and more Answers will…
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New review: Girl Power?
By Jess McCabe | 5 April 2008, 10:49
The Spice Girls’ come-back tour re-opens some questions about the nature of ‘Girl Power’. Jennifer Thomson looks back fondly - but critically Last week I got to relive a childhood dream. I went to see the Spice Girls in concert….
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New feature: Stopping violence against women at its primary root
By Jess McCabe | 4 April 2008, 21:17
Matthew Provost draws the connections between male violence against women and bullying in the playground Mention the words violence against women and most will immediately think of an example involving adults. If children are mentioned at all, it will be…
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New feature: Abortion and disability - whose voices are heard?
By Jess McCabe | 4 April 2008, 20:23
Are disabled women’s voices silenced in the abortion debate? asks Clare Laxton Like the majority of people in the UK, I am pro-choice when it comes to abortion. I feel that it is a woman’s right to choose whether she…
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New review: Tales of low-paid work
By Jess McCabe | 4 April 2008, 18:02
Monica Dickens worked as a cook, servant, nurse, in an aircraft factory and as a junior reporter. Cazz Blase reviews her unsentimental portraits of working life in the first half of the 20th century Monica Dickens, the great-granddaughter of Charles…
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Rape victim arrested for sex with minor
By Jess McCabe | 4 April 2008, 14:26
So a woman reports being drugged, then repeatedly raped by three teenagers. Those teenagers video the attack, and post it on YouTube. She is initially too scared to report the crime to the police, but eventually does so. No charges…
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Sex contracts!
By Jess McCabe | 4 April 2008, 11:45
An Australian politician has proposed that women should have to sign a contact before having sex with a man, reports news.com.au (via Jezebel). First off, this is a reactionary measure against proposed legislation “which make it an offence to continue…
More women doctors bad news?
By Jess McCabe | 4 April 2008, 10:16
A doctor writing in the British Medical Journal has argued that it is bad news that women outnumber men in medical school - because more women want to work part time, leading to “staffing problems”, reports the BBC. Writing in…
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Judges ignore the rules on rape and more
By Jess McCabe | 3 April 2008, 10:56
Judges routinely work around the law which is meant to prevent women being cross-examined about their sexual history when giving evidence in rape cases, reports the Guardian. Interviews with 17 judges in London and Manchester found that some insisted they…
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New review: Tracey, Tomma and the Turner conspiracy
By Jess McCabe | 3 April 2008, 00:19
Why have so few women won the Turner Prize? Sue Gilbert argues that the award’s youth has not protected it from sexism in the art world The Turner Prize comes around every year, like Christmas or your dental check-up, depending…
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Government scores 2/10 on tackling violence against women
By Jess McCabe | 2 April 2008, 22:55
The UK government scored only two out of 10 in an assessment of how it is addressing violence against women. You can read the whole report - by the End Violence Against Women coalition - here. One of the co-authors…
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New feature: Walking on eggshells
By Jess McCabe | 2 April 2008, 22:49
Approaching men on the street and asking them to undress and be photographed can be frightening - and highlights the struggle for women to find equality. Alex Brew explains “Why do so many female artists put themselves in their work…
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Is The F-Word homophobic?
By Jess McCabe | 2 April 2008, 09:09
Following on from the comments over Samara’s post yesterday, I think it’s timely to re-state some general principles. The question has come up: is The F-Word heteronormative (meaning that we assume a heterosexual viewpoint, and marginalise or ignore the perspective…
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London Assembly candidate - rape ‘no big deal’
By Jess McCabe | 1 April 2008, 12:30
A BNP candidate for the London Assembly elections in May has been outed by the Evening Standard as the author of a far right blog, where he has said both rape and domestic violence are no big deal. As “Sir…
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The Pro-Life candidate…
By Jess McCabe | 31 March 2008, 23:55
An Idaho strawberry farmer has legally changed his name to Pro-Life, in the lead up to standing for election as senator. He previously ran for governor as Marvin Pro-Life Richardson, but his middle name was removed from the ballot because…
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Another trying website ‘for women’?
By Jess McCabe | 31 March 2008, 23:18
Yahoo! has launched into the internet another website purporting to be aimed at all women. As you can tell from the logo, Shine borrows generously in style and content (and some of the editorial is literally cut and paste) from…
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Femail watch - clothes and shoes edition
By Jess McCabe | 31 March 2008, 16:58
Men wearing “women’s” clothes Men are increasingly reaching for “women’s” skinny jeans, the Daily Mail breathlessly reports this week. Aside from the small but important fact that this is hardly a new trend in men’s fashion, consider paragraphs like this:…
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What the nipple piercing incident tells us about attitudes to women’s pain
By Jess McCabe | 31 March 2008, 15:28
When 39-year old Mandi Hamlin set off the metal detectors at Lubbock airport, she probably didn’t imagine she’d end up using pliers to remove her nipple piercings while airport security snickered. The Curvature has more about the incident, pointing out…
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SBS picket called off - cancel your trip to Ealing!
By Jess McCabe | 31 March 2008, 12:29
Southall Black Sisters has cancelled a picket planned for tomorrow, to protest a council decision likely to see it lose out on funding. Rahila Gupta from SBS said in a message sent out to the Facebook group: We are NOT…
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Ladyfest London tickets on sale!
By Jess McCabe | 30 March 2008, 20:42
Thirty five quid for a weekend of music, art, workshops and movies is not bad. Buy your tickets for Ladyfest London (9-11 May) here. The Ladyfesters have also posted up a provisional line-up to whet your appetite here. The programme…
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RSPCA seeking foster homes for pets of victims of domestic violence
By Jess McCabe | 29 March 2008, 22:06
When people are forced to flee their homes because of domestic violence, what happens to their pets? Well, the RSPCA in Wales is recruiting foster ‘parents’ for pets so that women (yes, it is mostly women) are not forced to…
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Charlie’s Angles…
By Jess McCabe | 29 March 2008, 11:33
Jessica Hynes is not pleased that Charlie’s Angels director ‘McG’ has been entrusted with the task of making an American version of the comedy Spaced, which she helped create with Simon Pegg and starred in as Daisy. It turns out…
Sexist game advertising now sponsored by UK government?
By Jess McCabe | 29 March 2008, 11:08
“God didn’t create the perfect woman - the UK’s gaming industry did” This advert is elevated from the ranks of standard sexist advertising on AdsoftheWorld.com, because it was payed for by our taxes, commissioned by our government, and given the…
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Massive carnival of feminists and other reading materials
By Jess McCabe | 28 March 2008, 22:26
The 56th Carnival of Feminists is up now, at Redemption Blues. RB takes an unusual but very effective approach - rather than just providing a list of links, she supplements her choices with dense text including quotes from books (I…
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How the press reported on a pregnant man
By Jess McCabe | 28 March 2008, 18:06
Thomas Beatie’s story has captured the collective imagination of the internet: and no wonder. “How does it feel to be a pregnant man? Incredible. Despite the fact that my belly is growing with a new life inside me, I am…
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Burka blue…
By Jess McCabe | 27 March 2008, 23:42
Three Afghan women who perform anonymously in blue burkas have been signed by a German label, we learn from Shameless. What are they called? The Burka Band of course! Check out their excellent video here: The main songwriter, Nargiz, says…
Feminism Today talk…
By Jess McCabe | 27 March 2008, 22:28
I’ve been helping to organise a talk on the state of feminism today at Housmans Bookshop near King’s Cross. All welcome and even better it’s free! What’s happening with feminism today? Wednesday 30th April, 7pm In the last few months…
New project for ex-Le Tigrites, feminism on back burner?
By Jess McCabe | 27 March 2008, 18:12
JD and Johanna from Le Tigre have formed a new group, called MEN. Lesbilicious points out that they gave an unfortunate interview to Bust magazine, in which they said things like: I mean, the reason we came up with the…
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Feminism is…
By Jess McCabe | 25 March 2008, 21:38
Sleazy description of a charity auction makes green site look… well… sleazy
By Jess McCabe | 25 March 2008, 17:14
Britney Spears is doing the wholly unremarkable: auctioning off some of her clothes to raise money for a good cause. I guess this was a boring story, and the otherwise rather good Daily Green website decided that it needed spicing…
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Miss Bimbo
By Jess McCabe | 25 March 2008, 17:10
It almost seems redundant to blog about Miss Bimbo. For once, a developer has produced a game so offensive that this story is everywhere. Miss Bimbo was the first thing my co-worker told me about when I got into the…
From academic to ‘private passion’? Angela McRobbie on women’s studies
By Jess McCabe | 25 March 2008, 10:19
The story of the supposed death of women’s studies in universities continued last week, with another report of the last undergraduates filing out of London Metropolitan University. Angela McRobbie, a communications professor at Goldsmiths, weighs in today over at Comment…
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On Cornelia Parker
By Jess McCabe | 24 March 2008, 22:30
I have just been editing a feature for our next update, and the name of artist Cornelia Parker cropped up. In particular, she is the artist responsible for the ‘exploded shed’. Well, it turns out that she has two exhibitions…
Looking back on Capital Woman 2008…
By Jess McCabe | 24 March 2008, 18:16
International Women’s Day is clearly the highlight in many a feminist’s calender. There is always an an overwhelming number of options. In London, there were hundreds of smaller events, of course, but two major draws: Million Women Rise, the ~5,000…
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More language fun - gender and Spanish nouns
By Jess McCabe | 24 March 2008, 13:55
The English language is not alone in having deeply ingrained problems with sexism. The Unapologetic Mexican proposes a solution to the gendering of words in Spanish - use @ instead of a (for ‘feminine’ words) and o (for ‘masculine’ words)….
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What does orgasm mean to you?
By Jess McCabe | 23 March 2008, 17:13
Sarah Francis wrote in with a request for responses to the question “What does orgasm mean to you?” Sounds like an interesting project! To respond, email her at s.francis@2005.hull.ac.uk: I’m studying the way female sexuality is represented in art for…
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Tampon case fun from Etsy
By Jess McCabe | 23 March 2008, 13:38
It’s probably not very environmentally friendly to ship your tampon case all the way from Sydney, Australia (unless that’s where you live, hi Aussie readers!) That said, I may not be able to resist these fuzzy felt tampon holders made…
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A Letter To Your Body…
By Jess McCabe | 23 March 2008, 00:13
We’re a bit late on this one, but Blog Her is asking women to write a letter to their own bodies. As you can imagine, the results are interesting. Another blogger at Blog Her followed this up with a specific…
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More discrimination…
By Jess McCabe | 22 March 2008, 23:50
The Advocate is running a first person account by Thomas Beattie, who is a trans man, about the discrimination he is facing now he is pregnant. This whole process, from trying to get pregnant to being pregnant, has been a…
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How masculine are you?
By Jess McCabe | 21 March 2008, 23:40
It’s A Man’s World is a book about men’s ‘adventure’ magazines from the post war period, a mostly unwitting document charting rampant misogyny, rape fantasies, homophobia (and also homoerotic comics, often involving Nazis) and racism. How do you even choose…
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Comments from February up now!
By Jess McCabe | 20 March 2008, 22:28
All the comments we received on features, reviews and blog posts during the month of February are now online….
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Pre-Easter round up
By Jess McCabe | 20 March 2008, 17:59
A university newspaper has been closed down after printing a misogynistic rant that advocated rape, Shameless Magazine tells us. The Oral Otis serves engineering students at the University of Ottawa, and will not be allowed to publish until it comes…
Sex ed for adults - help needed!
By Jess McCabe | 20 March 2008, 13:20
Following on from Laura’s post about the poverty of sex education in the UK, we got thinking about ways to fill in those gaps (and then some) for adults. Me and Laura are looking to compile a listing of resources…
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More on prostitution & consent
By Jess McCabe | 19 March 2008, 14:39
Twisty is back (and perhaps out of hiatus?) with an excellent interjection on the nature of the debate around the legalisation of prostitution, which also touches on wider issues of women’s ability to fully consent to sex with men: These…
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True Tube tackles feminism
By Jess McCabe | 19 March 2008, 11:48
We’re a bit late with this one, but online video debate channel Truetube has posted up an entire issue about feminism in the UK and beyond. I can’t embed the videos, but you can check it all out here. Interesting…
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Sure Saudi women can drive - if you follow these rules!
By Jess McCabe | 18 March 2008, 22:25
Earlier this year we posted the good news that Saudi women were well on their way to securing the right to drive. However, nothing is that simple MEMRI reports that it the Saudi Shura Council has proposed a raft of…
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Extreme Embroidery
By Jess McCabe | 17 March 2008, 16:26
Embroidery is, of course, one of those traditional “female arts”. While it has a historic and rich tradition world over, these masterpieces were uncredited to the artists responsible - women. We make money not art reviews an excellent exhibition, unfortunately…
New feature: Trans 101
By Jess McCabe | 17 March 2008, 10:21
Helen G sets out a glossary of common terms and definitions Why a guide to trans* issues at The F Word? This list of common and useful terms was conceived of in response to comments and discussion over on the…
New feature: How to get an activist movement to keep women in prostitution
By Jess McCabe | 17 March 2008, 00:23
What use are sex worker groups that give out condoms and showers, but can’t help women who want to exit prostitution? Ekis reports from Barcelona on prostitution and the campaign for legalisation Anyone who visits Barcelona will realise that street…
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Another feminist carnival!
By Jess McCabe | 16 March 2008, 19:24
We’ve had the Feminist Carnival, we’ve had the Carnival of Radical Feminists, the Carnival Against Sexual Violence, the Radical Women of Colour Carnival, and now there’s going to be a Feminist Carnival of Sexual Autonomy and Freedom. The first Carnival…
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Brilliant Women
By Jess McCabe | 16 March 2008, 14:22
Yesterday I stumbled into the National Portrait Gallery’s Brilliant Women exhibition about the 18th century women who formed the Bluestocking circle. Natalie Bennett has a more thorough review up on My London Your London, and the museum also has some…
Girls Rock!
By Jess McCabe | 15 March 2008, 22:55
Girls Rock is a documentary about a camp where girls learn the art of rock and roll from the likes of Sleater Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein. Looks brilliant - but it doesn’t seem to have a UK distributor as yet….
Addendum…
By Jess McCabe | 15 March 2008, 21:32
In the comments on Laura’s post about women-only spaces, the issue of the relative invisibility of trans men was brought up, and Figleaf has talked about this today as well. So I thought I would draw readers’ attention to this…
Kotex ad causes uproar
By Jess McCabe | 15 March 2008, 21:19
Personally, I don’t see the problem. I can’t say I love the term “beaver”, but I do wonder if this caused so much offense because of the direct reference to vaginas?…
Frida Kahlo dollshouse
By Jess McCabe | 15 March 2008, 21:09
Well, if you’re going to give your daughter a dollshouse to play with, it may as well be a shrine to artist Frida Kahlo. This is incredible, and Elsa Mora has a very lucky child: I made this miniature dollhouse…
Another feminist blogger hits the bookstands
By Jess McCabe | 15 March 2008, 10:13
I’ve just had the distinct pleasure of adding Amanda Marcotte from Pandagon’s book to The F Word store. From Amazon’s description: For all of you humming “I Will Survive” while watching the political debacles gracing the evening news, when getting…
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Suzuki Swift - ‘the panty dropper’
By Jess McCabe | 15 March 2008, 09:07
Who thought that “panty dropper” was a good idea for a campaign to sell cars? As you can tell from this photo, the answer is Suzuki. In the Dominican Republic, the company marketed one of its cars by putting…
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Friday afternoon round up
By Jess McCabe | 14 March 2008, 16:56
Womenspace posts an update on Southall Black Sisters’ unfortunate funding situation. It is particularly saddening to read that Refuge is apparently making a bid for the £100,000 of funding that SBS would very likely have received otherwise: Given its annual…
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Blogger running for office in California
By Jess McCabe | 14 March 2008, 16:06
Blogger and journalist Jasmyne Cannick is running for office in California. Specifically, to be a delegate for the Democratic party in the 47th district, which I believe is somewhere in Los Angeles. This means: Committee Members play a very important…
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Zelda Fitzgerald and flappers
By Jess McCabe | 14 March 2008, 00:05
I had no idea that F Scott Fitzgerald of Great Gatsby fame was even married, let alone to novelist, painter and ballet dancer Zelda Fitzgerald. The online journal BlueStocking has an excellent article on her this issue (sorry, no direct…
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Where the 1967 Abortion Act doesn’t apply
By Jess McCabe | 13 March 2008, 21:04
Women in Northern Ireland must still cross the water to get an abortion, and even setting out the law in an accessible form is controversial. Siún Carden reports The Abortion Act’s 40th birthday has recently been marked with enormous press…
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First six minutes of Water Lilies
By Jess McCabe | 13 March 2008, 09:08
Check out the first six minutes of coming-of-age/coming out/synchronised-swimming flick Water Lilies, which I reviewed here:…
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The Cho Show
By Jess McCabe | 13 March 2008, 00:11
I have posted about Margaret Cho 15 times since the launch of this blog. Frankly, I’m surprised it’s not more. As far as I am concerned, the woman can do no wrong. So it is with excitement that I pass…
Live Alone and Like It
By Jess McCabe | 12 March 2008, 23:13
Does advice for the single women of 1936 have any bearing today? Cazz Blase reviews Marjorie Hillis’ guide to independent living My attention was originally drawn to Marjorie Hillis’ book Live Alone and Like It by a Radio 4 adaptation…
We should be ashamed
By Jess McCabe | 12 March 2008, 20:15
Shakesville has a good round-up post on the news that Mehdi Kazemi and Pegah Emambakhsh look set to be deported from the UK to Iran because of our government’s shameful asylum policy. 19 year-old Kazemi was actually forced to seek…
55th carnival of feminist out now!
By Jess McCabe | 11 March 2008, 16:33
The latest Carnival of Feminists is up now, over at Penny Red. There’s loads of great stuff in there, including a link to our coverage of the Million Women Rise march. Stand-out posts include this entry at Miss Avarice, on…
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Men…
By Jess McCabe | 11 March 2008, 16:20
Just a quick note to point out that Laurie has posted the transcript of a speech she gave about misandry. I don’t agree with everything she says, but Laurie has some interesting insights and the speech is well worth a…
Crowd turns on female journalist at SXSW
By Jess McCabe | 11 March 2008, 10:56
Journalist Sarah Lacy interviewed Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the massive SXSW conference going on in Austin right now. It turned nasty. As I wasn’t there, I can’t really make any comment about whether or not the session was any…
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‘Why was Cambridge grad put on trial?’
By Jess McCabe | 10 March 2008, 22:43
In the annuals of sexist reporting of trials for rape and sexual assault, this piece by the Daily Mail has got to be one of the worst I’ve read in recent history. Now, the young man in question - 23…
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New feature: ‘I’m no sad victim. I’ve seen and survived the darkest side of life’
By Jess McCabe | 10 March 2008, 22:00
Amina pairs women who have experience sexual violence with volunteers who have been through the same ordeal - and turns their perceived ‘victim’ status on its head. Rachel Bell reports It is well documented that one in three women will…
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And now for some welding
By Jess McCabe | 10 March 2008, 17:13
A group of women has turned an empty space in the London borough of Hackney into a new, women-only (trans-inclusive) social centre. The ‘wominspace’ may not be around for long, as this is taking place in a squatted building, and…
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Line up for FEM ‘08
By Jess McCabe | 10 March 2008, 10:37
Just got the latest news on who is speaking at FEM ‘08 at Sheffield University student union. LATEST SPEAKER LINE-UP: - Germaine Greer - Kira Cochrane, Editor, Guardian Women’s Page - Julie Bindel, jounalist, The Guardian & Eaves - Zohra…
New feature: Labours left unfinished: third wave feminism
By Jess McCabe | 10 March 2008, 09:05
The third wave and riot grrrl may be inspiring, but risk ignoring feminist history and swapping radical action for gigs and zines. In a fiery essay, Red Chidgey poses some difficult questions The Seven Demands of the Women’s Liberation Movement…
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50 most powerful blogs…
By Jess McCabe | 10 March 2008, 08:48
Thanks to the commenter who just let us know The F Word is in The Observer’s list of 50 most powerful blogs! Some of our favourite blogs are in that list too, by the way, including AngryBlackBitch and AfterEllen….
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30 radical women profiled in today’s Observer…
By Jess McCabe | 9 March 2008, 23:21
Today’s Observer Woman profiled 30 radical women. I didn’t manage to pick up a copy, but based on the online version it’s a mixed, but mostly positive bag. It’s definitely not a list of solely radical feminist women (Ann Coulter…
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Our report on Million Women Rise
By Jess McCabe | 9 March 2008, 20:32
So a million women did not literally descend on London for today’s International Women’s Day march. I am terrible at guessing crowd numbers, so I won’t even try. An estimated 4,000-5,000 women turned out to march through the streets…
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Videogames to prepare girls for a life of caretaking
By Jess McCabe | 9 March 2008, 17:09
So, considering the piece I wrote about gender swapping in MMOGs got some interesting comments from readers who game, here’s another story on the subject of sexism in this genre. Via Wonderland, we learn of an MMOG “for girls”. For…
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New feature: not a happy birthday
By Jess McCabe | 7 March 2008, 21:28
Threatened, intimidated, bullied, violated: this is hospital birth as many mothers experience it. Amity Reed reports on the little-recognised crime of birth rape When Lynsey (not her real name) went into hospital to have her baby, she expected to leave…
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What are you doing for International Women’s Day?
By Jess McCabe | 7 March 2008, 15:08
Like you need telling, but tomorrow is International Women’s Day. What began in 1908 with a 15,000 woman strong march through New York City to demand better pay, shorter hours and the vote, now involves thousands of events across the…
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From sex toys in Sweden to board members in Oslo - Nordic roundup
By Jess McCabe | 6 March 2008, 22:09
While the attorney general of Texas has nothing better to do than try and reinstate the state’s sex toy ban, the Swedish government is going to begin selling vibrators: From The Local’s coverage, this fantastic quote: “We are aware that…
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And now for some good news…
By Jess McCabe | 6 March 2008, 21:43
A Canadian magazine called Antigone is collating a feminist version of PostSecret. Except instead of sending in anonymous secrets, Antigone collects “dreams for women”. Here’s a movie of some of the submissions: The magazine asks readers from all over the…
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Introducing our new guest blogger…
By Jess McCabe | 6 March 2008, 17:58
Properly speaking, Helen doesn’t really need an introduction, as she has been guest blogging for us on an ad hoc basis for a little while now. But we’ve now formalised everything, and you can expect regular contributions from her for…
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Gender play in online gaming
By Jess McCabe | 6 March 2008, 14:52
I had a small piece in today’s G2, in the shortcuts section, on women who play male characters in online games. Of course, you could easily write a book on this subject……
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New feminist group for Birmingham
By Jess McCabe | 6 March 2008, 11:46
Birmingham readers: a new group has been set up to serve the city and surrounding area. Birmingham Fems has a Yahoo! Group, a Facebook group and a blog. I particularly enjoy this recent post on the blog (no prizes for…
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Reasons to be angry….
By Jess McCabe | 5 March 2008, 22:17
1. What happened when Jasmyne Cannick criticised comedian Chuck Knipp? Well, Knipp responded by superimposing her head on a photo of a porn star. Jasmyne posted the evidence here. I am a journalist. I am not just a blogger. I…
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Most sexist films of the ’00s
By Jess McCabe | 5 March 2008, 12:08
Radar has narrowed down what it says are the most misogynist films of this century. Frankly, I would have trouble picking just one a year. (Via AfterEllen)…
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Men ‘on heat’ & racist stereotypes
By Jess McCabe | 5 March 2008, 09:57
I love the idea of sex “academy” Amora, and the website looks pretty clued up. But this morning I opened my inbox to see they had sent me a jaw-dropping press release, with the headline: “Global warming puts men ‘on…
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Interesting Google stats
By Jess McCabe | 4 March 2008, 19:58
When I Google stuff, I generally don’t look at the number of results. Which is a shame, it turns out, because as Figleaf discovered, you can find some solid evidence for the importance that we place on attractiveness for women…
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Fox women don’t wear trousers
By Jess McCabe | 4 March 2008, 19:16
I wonder if that’s in their contract? (Via Feministing)…
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Halfords - scare men away from your car cleaning products by making them pink!
By Jess McCabe | 4 March 2008, 12:22
Car parts and accessories store Halfords has put out a hi-larious press release, urging women (OK, “girls”) to buy its pink products. The range is actually called “Car Cosmetix”, because clearly the way to sell bug removers to women is…
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Tomboy is a sexist term, and other language news
By Jess McCabe | 3 March 2008, 19:54
Shameless has beaten me to this one. But I was reading a supplement to the New York Times the other day, and came across an interesting letter objecting to the use of the term “tomboy” as sexist (in an article…
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Vote for the most offensive PETA campaign at Feministing
By Jess McCabe | 3 March 2008, 18:37
Feministing is running a poll to pick the PETA campaign most hated by feminists. You can vote here. This follows their latest idiotic stunt in London, pilloried by Laura only a few days ago. Meanwhile, the PETA2 blog is asking…
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From “iron my shirt” to “make me a sandwich”
By Jess McCabe | 3 March 2008, 18:27
Nearly 40,000 people have joined a Facebook group urging Hillary Clinton to quit the presidential race and “make me a sandwich”, we learn from Feministing. Yep, just because it’s a while since we last wrote about it. there has been…
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Carnival season!
By Jess McCabe | 3 March 2008, 17:14
The 54th Carnival of Feminists is up at In a Strange Land. One of my favourite posts from this edition concerns calling a vulva a vulva, over at blue milk: After pretty much using ‘vagina’ my whole life I’m…
Stupid questions…
By Jess McCabe | 3 March 2008, 16:46
I am taking for granted that our smart and wonderful readers don’t need this advice, but just in case (and because it’s funny): (Hat tip to Helen, via Bilerico. See Calpernia.com for more.)…
Um, what?
By Jess McCabe | 3 March 2008, 15:55
[Edited for correct spelling]] When I saw the headline of this opinion piece in the Independent, I thought: ‘Oh, lord, I am too jet-lagged to tackle this one.’ Luckily, Jean Edelstein’s piece “Equal gender rights shouldn’t be defined as a…
Photos of the picket to support SBS
By Jess McCabe | 28 February 2008, 16:00
Photos of the protest against an Ealing Council decision that puts Southall Black Sisters’ funding in jeopardy are up now at Pickled Politics. Sunny says around 100 people, mostly women, attended the protest, and he also has a post up…
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Guide to Islam puts women’s rights front and centre
By Jess McCabe | 28 February 2008, 15:38
Turkish scholars are putting together a modern guide to Islam, which will “make it much more difficult to justify extreme, misogynistic and violent interpretations of Islam”, the Times reports. Although there are few details, this looks like another interesting project….
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Feminism causes the death of the English language
By Jess McCabe | 26 February 2008, 20:06
One of the unexpected pleasures of reading right-wing tracts is the excuse to indulge in a heady few minutes of utopian fantasy. According to folk like David Gelernter of the American Enterprise Institute, the feminist revolution is a done deal….
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Electronic shop sexism works the other way too
By Jess McCabe | 25 February 2008, 07:57
Surely many female readers will have had the experience dealing with condescending, sexist assistants when shopping for anything vaguely technical (or something which uses electricity and is not, say, an iron or kitchen appliance!) But, as this story on (The…
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From international women’s day to Ms Pac-Man
By Jess McCabe | 22 February 2008, 21:14
International Women’s Day is nearly here. As well as the Million Women March in London, there’s a whole host of events going on up and down the country. Womensphere has set up a new blog, especially to keep track of…
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First you get raped, then you have to pay for the rape kit? What?
By Jess McCabe | 22 February 2008, 21:03
Chalk this one up to weird US politics, or the pay-for-yourself culture of healthcare, but it is truly shocking. If you get raped in some US states, you may end up having to pay all or part of the medical…
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Skydiving grandmas
By Jess McCabe | 22 February 2008, 19:58
Grandma isn’t like she used to be. Or so reported Joanna Moorhead in a Guardian profile of “skydiving” grandmothers a few days ago. No previous generation of grandmothers has contained such a high percentage of women who either worked while…
Bitch interview with Michelle Tea
By Jess McCabe | 22 February 2008, 12:29
Bitch Magazine has posted an old interview with Michelle Tea, author of an improbable number of autobiographies for one her age (28 at the time). This comes from Bitch’s archives, which the magazine is quickly putting up on its brand-spanking-new…
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Picket to support Southall Black Sisters
By Jess McCabe | 20 February 2008, 23:23
Earlier this month, we learned that Southall Black Sisters - which provides a range of services for black and ethnic minority women in Ealing - is under threat. The council no longer wants to fund a service dedicated solely to…
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Submit to Spanish photo contest on gender and feminism
By Jess McCabe | 20 February 2008, 19:23
A Spanish feminist group has set up an online photo contest on the theme of gender and feminism, and is calling for submissions. Feminism 101 has the full details, but the competition is part of a series of three events…
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House wives should be paid £30,000 a year
By Jess McCabe | 20 February 2008, 11:45
Researchers have calculated that unpaid labour by housewives (and, we must presume, househusbands) is worth an average of £29,771.56 a year, reports the Daily Mail. They broke down the costs according to the average wages paid to professionals for tasks…
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25 years of My Little Pony
By Jess McCabe | 19 February 2008, 15:37
Gargantuan toy company Hasbro has launched a PR stunt to mark 25 years of selling My Little Ponies, Jezebel tells us. Setting aside one theory about the My Little Ponies living in a lesbian-feminist seperatist colony, the plastic horses are,…
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Nigerian feminists fight ‘indecent dress’ bill
By Jess McCabe | 19 February 2008, 14:32
A Nigerian senator has proposed a bill which could see women and men jailed for six months if found guilty of “indecent dressing”, reports AllAfrica.com. I can’t actually find anything online which sets out what would count as “indecent dressing”,…
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Daily Mail solicits fuel for racist immigration stories
By Jess McCabe | 19 February 2008, 11:54
A leaked email from a Daily Mail features writer is doing the rounds. It demonstrates the newspaper’s xenophobic agenda perfectly: ——-Original Message——- From: rsreply@dwpub.com [mailto:rsreply@dwpub.com] Sent: 13 February 2008 15:57 To:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Response Source - Diana Appleyard , Daily Mail…
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Green Party calls for abortion law reform
By Jess McCabe | 18 February 2008, 16:23
Women and men have been mobilising to fight efforts to roll back access to abortion in this country - as both Laura and Lynne eloquently described earlier this month. But it’s not all negative. Last week the Green Party held…
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Look away now, for the love of God
By Jess McCabe | 18 February 2008, 15:59
Sigmund Freud thought that fear of castration in early childhood was key to the sexual development of men. Because of the male-based way he viewed the world, he assumed the female equivalent was an impossible desire to have a phallus…
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Trans 10 year-old found hanging
By Jess McCabe | 17 February 2008, 22:30
So, the news reports on this one are wildly contradictory, but here goes. An inquest is going on into the death of 10 year-old Cameron McWilliams. His mother found him hanging, and opinion seems to be split on whether this…
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Water Lilies
By Jess McCabe | 17 February 2008, 12:10
Water Lilies is a French coming-of-age and coming out movie due to be released in the UK in a few weeks. I just saw a screener, and have to recommend that everyone goes to see it. The film is set…
Events and recent comments…
By Jess McCabe | 16 February 2008, 18:37
We’ve been noticing a definite increase in the number of exciting events going on, up and down the country. We do blog about these events when we can, but we also worry that these posts may get a big lost…
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Ladyfest Goldsmiths - this coming Friday!
By Jess McCabe | 16 February 2008, 18:21
Not sure how I missed this one, but my alma mater Goldsmiths College (in New Cross, south London) is putting on a one-day Ladyfest next Friday. Proceeds go to the Poppy Project, which provides support for trafficked women….
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Training illiterate women to install solar panels - can it really be a bad idea?
By Jess McCabe | 16 February 2008, 10:42
I am so split on this one: of course anything that improves women’s lives (not to mention leads to the use of renewable power to provide light and heat to poor villages), has got to be good. But there…
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Round up
By Jess McCabe | 16 February 2008, 09:06
Two Iranian journalists who write for women’s rights websites have been charged with “violating national security”, according to Reporters Without Borders. The organisation also reports that five conservative websites have been shut down. The women charged are Jelveh Javaheri and…
LGBT history month listings
By Jess McCabe | 15 February 2008, 21:00
Check out this massive listing of events being organised across the UK to celebrate LGBT history month….
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A quick update on the shop issue
By Jess McCabe | 15 February 2008, 10:53
We have removed the ‘similar items’ function from our shop. These items were selected by Amazon, not by us. It’s a bit of a shame to get rid of this function, because Amazon often popped up with interesting and relevant…
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Beaten Up Mama?
By Jess McCabe | 14 February 2008, 14:15
Wonderland links to a webcomic that addresses the gender roles in the popular Wii/DS game Cooking Mama: Read the full version here….
Hearts and flowers and… um… whipping
By Jess McCabe | 14 February 2008, 11:23
A collection of Valentine-themed posts: Uplift! Magazine reminds us it’s actually vagina day, as well as Valentine’s Day Twisty at I Blame the Patriarchy is back with a post that skewers Valentine’s Day Shakesville on an ad which shows men…
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A couple of announcements
By Jess McCabe | 13 February 2008, 22:10
To allow comments or not to allow comments? That is the question we have been grappling with on and off since launching the blog in 2005, and we now feel the time has come to give it a try. Regular…
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Give me irate any day
By Jess McCabe | 13 February 2008, 19:43
A female advertising executive in the US has written a column about sexism in the industry, over at Adweek. Essentially, Nina DeSesa is providing some advice for how to get ahead in a male-dominated industry and, while I vigerously disagree…
Latest feminist carnival out now!
By Jess McCabe | 13 February 2008, 16:17
Feminist Carnival number 53 is up now at Uncool….
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Daily Express uses firefighters to stir up racism and sexism
By Jess McCabe | 13 February 2008, 10:26
Explain to me this: how does a national newspaper make the leap from one fire service setting aside a few days to recruit women and ethnic minorities, to “white men banned” from joining? Well, perhaps if you write to the…
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The shop
By Jess McCabe | 12 February 2008, 20:37
Over at Mind the Gap, vibracobra has pointed out that a DVD that - from Amazon’s description - I would characterise as grotesque and vile, has popped up on The F Word bookshop. I would just like to reassure readers…
A vegan strip club?
By Jess McCabe | 12 February 2008, 14:31
This is one to file somewhere between eco-brothels and High School Girl branded meat products: someone has come up with the fantastic idea of launching a vegan strip club in Portland! KPTV reports the story under this ‘hilarious’ headline: Customers…
Bitch magazine relaunches website
By Jess McCabe | 12 February 2008, 10:26
Fans of Bitch magazine will be pleased to know it has updated its website, with a new blog section and lots and lots of lovely content. The old Bitch website was a bit on the sparse side, and the blog…
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Giant Idiots!
By Jess McCabe | 11 February 2008, 23:16
A firm called Cargiant has been running an extremely irritating series of ads on the Tube. Reader Claire wrote in to tell us about them, and encourage everyone to complain to the Advertising Standards Authority. The ads feature gurning…
A look at the Republican’s front runner
By Jess McCabe | 11 February 2008, 21:40
Super Tuesday is over, and it is still not clear whether Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama will be the Democrat fighting for the White House come November. But Senator John McCain has emerged as a clear front-runner for the Republicans….
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More on porn from Laurie…
By Jess McCabe | 11 February 2008, 17:33
Last month, Laurie Penny wrote fairly lightheartedly for us about censorship of porn. She got a fair few negative responses, as well as some from people in agreement with her. Well, now she has expanded on her views a bit,…
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Second set of features and reviews for February
By Jess McCabe | 10 February 2008, 23:08
UK feminists must address worldwide issues All over the planet women are denied the most basic rights. Ruthie Samuel asks: where is the outrage? Crime and patriarchy Jo Legg asks, when will feminists take over the Home Office? Lust, Caution…
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January comments
By Jess McCabe | 10 February 2008, 22:49
Comments received during the month of January are up now! Read them here. Hannah Whittaker’s feature on the impact glamour magazines have had on her life drew lots and lots of supportive comments this time - while Laurie Penny’s viewpoint…
Best t-shirt ever?
By Jess McCabe | 10 February 2008, 22:22
I was looking for an illustration to use on another post, and Flickr pulled up this: Photo by gaelx, shared under a Creative Commons license…
Transcript of podcast available now
By Jess McCabe | 10 February 2008, 21:54
When we launched the podcast, one of the issues I didn’t really consider was whether an audio-only podcast was accessible to all our readers. I know, that was dumb of me. Of course, we want everyone to be able to…
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How to hire a classy hooker, for tech men
By Jess McCabe | 8 February 2008, 23:16
One of the top 100 technology news sites has posted step-by-step instructions for Silicon Valley workers, titled “how do I get a Stanford girl to blow me?” The post at ValleyWag is full of lovely tips on hiring a ‘better’…
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Southall Black Sisters ‘under threat’
By Jess McCabe | 8 February 2008, 15:17
Southall Black Sisters has been helping empower black and ethnic minority women since 1979. The work they do - on issues as wide-ranging as ‘honour’ crimes, domestic violence and depression - is invaluable, but is now under threat because Ealing…
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Strangers in Paradise TV show?
By Jess McCabe | 8 February 2008, 00:27
Given my post earlier this week on sexism in comics, it’s worth taking the opportunity to highlight a book that’s actually worth reading. If you haven’t read Strangers in Paradise, now is as good a time as any. SiP is…
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High School Girl Meat Pies!
By Jess McCabe | 8 February 2008, 00:12
Generally I see my vegetarianism as quite separate from my feminist politics. Not today. Sexual Politics of Meat eat your heart out: Meat product manufacturer Ito Ham has taken the Japanese schoolgirl obsession to the next level by applying…
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90 years after women won the right to vote…
By Jess McCabe | 7 February 2008, 16:19
It was 90 years yesterday since the first women gained the right to vote in the UK. The Guardian has a gallery of suffragette photos which is really interesting. But what is perhaps more revealing is this wallchart by the…
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Are comics less sexist than they were in 1983?
By Jess McCabe | 6 February 2008, 15:48
Back in 1983, comics genius Alan Moore wrote a series of three features on sexism in the industry. A livejournal community set up to share scans of comics, scans_daily, has dug up the series and reposted it for us to…
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London pro-choice protest tonight
By Jess McCabe | 6 February 2008, 12:14
A quick reminder to London readers: Abortion Rights is calling for people to come out in force this evening, for a protest against efforts to restrict access to abortion. This is a protest against Ann Widdecome’s ‘Not on your life…’…
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Call for English language teachers
By Jess McCabe | 6 February 2008, 00:45
Volunteering to teach English at Kalayaan Learning English is crucial for Migrant Domestic Workers (MDWs) in order that they can gain some independence from their employers, improve their job prospects, learn about their rights and have some time for personal…
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Putting the system on trial
By Jess McCabe | 5 February 2008, 16:17
Women Against Rape are holding a public trial, to draw attention to the failure of the criminal justice system when it comes to rape. From the organisation’s press release: BUT MOST RAPISTS STILL GET AWAY WITH IT! What is the…
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Make a film on your mobile phone
By Jess McCabe | 4 February 2008, 17:05
The Birds Eye Film Festival is running a really interesting group project, collating short films made by “women everywhere” on their mobile phones. I love the DIY/anyone can be a film-maker element of this project: As you’ll see we’ve an…
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Study links high heels with better sex. But…
By Jess McCabe | 4 February 2008, 13:27
An Italian urologist and high-heel enthusiast has caused a stir, by claiming that the shoes improve women’s sex lives, by putting the pelvic floor muscles in the optimum position. Dr Maria Cerruto, who the BBC describes as a “self-professed lover…
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Subtext issue 5
By Jess McCabe | 4 February 2008, 00:19
The latest issue of Subtext magazine is out now! Get it here….
First batch of February features - sluts, corsets, ‘real men’ and Spare Rib
By Jess McCabe | 2 February 2008, 19:33
Why men should care about gender stereotypes Alex Gibson considers the harm done by stereotypes of men as beer-swilling, emotionally-stunted brutes Of corset matters Corsets were bad news for Victorian women, argues Laurie Penny, and modern incarnations are little better…
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Strictly for fans of Buffy and Veronica Mars
By Jess McCabe | 31 January 2008, 19:50
This one will probably fly right over the head of anyone who is not a fan of two feminist-pleasing American TV series: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Veronica Mars. Some clever person has cut this together, playing off the fact…
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Am I the only one who didn't know they make moisturiser from sharks?
By Jess McCabe | 30 January 2008, 15:55
My vegetarian heckles have been raised. According to the Guardian firms such as L’Oreal and Unilever have only just recently stopped using shark oil in their moisturisers and cosmetics. And by shark oil, I mean oil made from the livers…
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Iranian feminist magazine gets license revoked
By Jess McCabe | 29 January 2008, 10:46
Zanan - a feminist monthly magazine - has had its license revoked by the Iranian press supervision board, “on the grounds that it endangered spiritual, mental and intellectual health of its readers”. A “well-informed source” told the Iranian Students News…
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Super-sexist ad by Dutch optician…
By Jess McCabe | 28 January 2008, 14:56
This series of ads for Dutch optician Oogmerk starts out kinda funny, and quickly progresses to teeth-grittingly sexist. Under the slogan “get the respect you deserve”, we start off here: Then we get this one: Still kinda funny? What about…
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More on those pink toy irons…
By Jess McCabe | 28 January 2008, 13:45
Remember the pink toy irons that Marks & Sparks is hawking to girls? Well, I was moved to write a letter of complaint as well as just blog about it, and got this reply: Thank you very much for your…
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Manchester Reclaim the Night
By Jess McCabe | 27 January 2008, 19:00
Northern readers might be interested to hear there will be a Reclaim the Night march in Manchester on 1 March. Charliegrrl has more info….
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Gross
By Jess McCabe | 26 January 2008, 09:51
A feature headlined “why companies need female managers” might, you imagine, presage an interesting dissection of the effects of discriminating against half the population on the workforce. But, no, the BBC instead treats us to an breathlessly uncritical profile of…
Police call for register of domestic abusers - and other stories
By Jess McCabe | 25 January 2008, 16:05
The Association of Chief Police Officers has called for domestic abusers to be put on a register, along the lines of the sex offenders’ register, reports the BBC. I say that sounds like an extremely good idea. Even better, the…
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Walking into kitchen cabinets
By Jess McCabe | 24 January 2008, 23:50
(Via Dollymix)…
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Carnival(s) time!
By Jess McCabe | 24 January 2008, 18:06
The 52nd Carnival of Feminists is up at Figure: Demystifying the Feminist Mystique. Meanwhile, the latest Carnival of Radical Feminists has gone up over at femtique. Happy reading!…
More random acts of feminism…
By Jess McCabe | 24 January 2008, 00:16
Remember the Random Acts of Feminism article in last week’s Guardian? Well, Wendy Roby who wrote the piece has sent in some extras that they couldn’t fit in, but are nonetheless wonderful: LADS’ MAGS The berks what produce these things…
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Sexist shorthand?
By Jess McCabe | 23 January 2008, 23:26
[Inspired by the concept of using Spare Rib to teach shorthand - here!] Shorthand is a skill which has only really ever been of use to journalists, secretaries and the stenographers you see in court and Parliament. And, let’s face…
I guess this means I'm going to have to start reading the Huffington Post
By Jess McCabe | 23 January 2008, 23:04
Margaret Cho has started blogging for the celeby-lefty Huffington Post. So far she’s posted about her reasons for postponing an appearance on Ellen’s chat show. And messy menses….
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Saudi women to get behind the wheel
By Jess McCabe | 22 January 2008, 23:38
A brief blast of good news: the Saudi government has relented in the face of protests, and will remove the ban on women driving. According to the Telegraph, the decree will be issued later this year. However, the paper reports…
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The flip-side of all those tax-breaks for married couples
By Jess McCabe | 21 January 2008, 16:06
Regular readers will realise I am no fan of the Tories’ plan to give tax credits to married (straight) couples, as a sort of superglue to fix the breakdown of society into the proverbial shattered vase of single parents and…
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An 'eco-brothel'? Give me a break
By Jess McCabe | 21 January 2008, 15:29
Being an environmental journalist by profession, I’ve seen my fair share of greenwashing. In its purest form, this practice involves taking an inherantly resource-intensive or polluting product and adding a tiny environmental element, then selling the whole kaboodle as ‘green’….
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Million Women Rise - march on 8 March
By Jess McCabe | 21 January 2008, 12:56
Get out your diaries, Londoners. It’s time to block off the afternoon of 8 March, or as it’s better known, International Women’s Day, for the Million Women Rise march to protest male violence against women. The march starts at 12pm,…
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The day today: from female genital mutilation to segregated buses
By Jess McCabe | 21 January 2008, 10:39
As a journalist, I understand the desire to tell stories, be fair and get access. But I felt sick to my stomach when I happened on this story in the New York Times - accompanied by a totally inappropriate slideshow…
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Selling toy irons to girls
By Jess McCabe | 20 January 2008, 19:50
I happened to be in M&S today and spotted this pink toy iron on sale: And, yes, that is a toy kettle and toy toaster you see next to it. Here’s the blurb from the website: You little angel will…
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'Equality' commission leaves women in the lurch
By Jess McCabe | 18 January 2008, 13:58
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has unbelievably withdrawn support from female council workers taking their employers to court over years of pay discrimination, according to The Times. The commission is backing the line taken by the unions, that fair…
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Perfect storm of a movie?
By Jess McCabe | 18 January 2008, 12:25
Last night I had a very interesting chat with film-maker Rupert Howe about the lessons we can draw from the fact that women can be found vlogging and making online video in roughly equal numbers to men, but still find…
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Feminist Coalition Against Prostitution launches February
By Jess McCabe | 17 January 2008, 11:46
A new coalition to put forward a feminist perspective against prostitution is to launch on Monday 11 February. The launch is a public event, with the invite extended to “all those who believe in real women’s-rights rather than men’s right…
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Harvey Nicks and the annoying shoe ad
By Jess McCabe | 16 January 2008, 13:43
An ad for Harvey Nichols’ shoe department has been doing the rounds. I had to share: Yep, that’s right - as your shoes get more precarious to your ankles, your ability to bag that hot man increases. Copyranter has a…
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Femail watch
By Jess McCabe | 15 January 2008, 22:04
I was inspired to do another round-up post on the excesses of the Daily Mail’s ‘Femail’ section by this story by a self-confessed ‘female chauvinist pig’. While Angela Epstein sheepishly recognises that what she calls “my latent male chauvinism” is…
More answers on upping the rape conviction rate
By Jess McCabe | 15 January 2008, 14:42
In today’s Guardian, a detective, a victim, a campaigner and at QC all answer the question ‘why is the conviction rate for rape so appallingly low’? And their responses prove brutally honest reading indeed. For example, assistant commissioner at Scotland…
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The F Word Podcast - episode three! Download it here!
By Jess McCabe | 14 January 2008, 22:08
Click here to download episode three! You can also subscribe to The F Word podcast feed on iTunes here. Pornography is one of those topics that can lead to heated arguments between feminists. And by heated arguments, I mean pistols…
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Get your toes removed here!
By Jess McCabe | 14 January 2008, 16:05
When I wrote about Mikhaela Reid’s comic satirising the trend towards body-hating feats of surgery, I assumed that her depiction of a toe-bypass was an exaggeration to make a point. After all, it was listed next to the ‘belly-dectomy’ (the…
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French president may marry "man-eater" former model
By Jess McCabe | 14 January 2008, 12:10
Because the British press don’t care at all about French politics, it was only when listening to the usually-excellent From Our Own Correspondent podcast that I heard that a) the French president Nicolas Sarkozy is divorced (I know, I’m so…
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We don't need 'feminine-ism' thankyou - we've already got feminism!
By Jess McCabe | 13 January 2008, 11:38
Feminism has apparently been replaced by ‘feminine-ism’ (in the US). So says this column by Harriet Rubin in today’s San Francisco Chronicle. Why does she say this? Because, if Hillary Clinton is selected as the Democratic candidate; if, come 4…
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VW paid for union leaders' brothel visits
By Jess McCabe | 11 January 2008, 18:03
Today we learn that Volkswagen ran a slush fund to pay for prostitutes “and mistresses” for union leaders, courtesy of The Times. Why are prostitutes and ‘mistresses’ lumped together, I wonder? Perhaps that should be no surprise in a company…
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Women are property that can be stolen - US court
By Jess McCabe | 11 January 2008, 11:44
A Mississippi man has won £750,000 in damages for the “theft” of his wife, in a truly unbelievable verdict, reports The Guardian. Yes, you read that right. Sandra Valentine divorced her husband Johnny and re-married a man she’d been having…
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‘Iron my shirt’ as political commentary
By Jess McCabe | 10 January 2008, 01:12
You probably noticed, but Hillary Clinton won the New Hampshire primary, bringing her back into the race for president. You might also have noticed the hysterical level of sexism that has been directed towards her. Of course, this will all…
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In praise of big pants
By Jess McCabe | 9 January 2008, 13:58
Today’s Times carries a hilarious column about the benefits of big pants. If nothing else, you have to give Caitlin Moran credit for working Time Team into a homage to large knickers: Pencil skirts, skin-tight jeans and leggings – they…
Simone de Beauvoir's centenary - and bottom
By Jess McCabe | 9 January 2008, 11:46
The great French feminist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir was born 100 years ago today. However, reports the Independent, the French press’ coverage of this event has left a lot to be desired. Of course, de Beauvoir has had a tremedous…
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Oh those poor 'post-abortive men'
By Jess McCabe | 8 January 2008, 17:43
The LA Times has published a particularly creepy article about men who feel all upset and stuff about the fact their long-ago girlfriends and fiances had an abortion rather than keep their baby. As Broadsheet’s Catherine Price says: “I think…
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Female ski-jumpers may get to compete in 2010 Olympics
By Jess McCabe | 8 January 2008, 11:48
If you are a sport ignoramus, like me, it may come as a surprise to you that female ski-jumpers are not currently allowed to participate in the Olympics. However, it looks like pressure is building to end this discrimination, as…
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Anti-feminism, from 1971 to today
By Jess McCabe | 7 January 2008, 22:18
Back in 1971, Parley J Cooper was busy penning a pulp novel set in the far off world of 1992 which he imagined would be dominated by evil feminists. io9 explains the plot: It’s the story of cubicle drone Keith…
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Is 'yo' emerging as a new grass-roots, gender-neutral pronoun?
By Jess McCabe | 6 January 2008, 13:35
Have you ever heard anyone use the pronouns ‘ze’ or ‘hir’ in conversation, rather than their gendered alternatives, he, she, her and him? Other than in specific, mostly online communities, the practice seems fairly unusual, albeit a potentially interesting tool…
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Hand-made feminist stuff…
By Jess McCabe | 3 January 2008, 23:08
I’ve been browsing Etsy today - an online marketplace for handmade stuff. I was actually looking for a new wallet, and I came across this one (right), made from the cover of Bitch Magazine. It didn’t fit my (admittedly a…
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Condensed feminist reading
By Jess McCabe | 3 January 2008, 16:22
A senior doctor in Scotland has called for sex education at school to start much earlier, reports the Scotland on Sunday. Cara at The Curvature dissects the hysterical response to the suggestion, and the way it has been interpreted/presented as…
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New Features! New Reviews!
By Jess McCabe | 2 January 2008, 22:54
As usual, I’m posting this in the knowledge that the update is only half finished. But there’s some really good stuff in there already, so I couldn’t resist. A period of transition Helen G considers why some feminists are hostile…
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Pesky women want the pay they're owed
By Jess McCabe | 2 January 2008, 14:22
Being employed in the public sector has some advantages, not least that the government is relatively keen to get its own house in order on the issue of the pay gap and discrimination. So local councils have been carrying out…
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Happy New Year!
By Jess McCabe | 1 January 2008, 13:41
It’s New Year’s day, 2007 has drawn to a close and almost every feminist blog in my RSS reader seems to have compiled ‘best of’ posts to finish off the year. But we didn’t. The reason, though, is a good…
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