Blog posts by Samara Ginsberg: 2007
Blondes turn men into idiots
By Samara Ginsberg | 20 November 2007, 09:53
We couldn’t really fail to comment on this bit of research. Apparently, after men have been shown photographs of blonde women, they perform poorly on general knowledge tests. Apparently this is due to deeply-held cultural stereotypes of blondes as intellectually…
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Thin or healthy - which is it going to be?
By Samara Ginsberg | 15 November 2007, 13:24
The Guardian today has a worrying report on the latest figures that suggest that 80% of women and girls are failing to take enough exercise. A study by the Womens’ Sport and Fitness Foundation has found that social pressures portraying…
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All women are unacceptable, but some women are more unacceptable than others
By Samara Ginsberg | 13 November 2007, 18:47
Further to Jess and Laura’s posts, I felt that I had to leap onto the What Not To Wear bandwagon. Makeover shows such as What Not To Wear give women who don’t necessarily feel good about their appearance tips on…
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Get yourself a bonza car insurance deal
By Samara Ginsberg | 10 November 2007, 10:18
Head over to The Independent today for an interesting analysis of how insurance and pension companies use gender-based statistics to calculate premiums and to tailor their products to individual customers. Most of this article is pretty sober and makes a…
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Fatties more likely to get cancer
By Samara Ginsberg | 7 November 2007, 13:22
The Guardian today has a report on a new study that suggests that around 6,000 out of 120,000 new cases of cancer a year in women are linked to weight gain, which is a particular danger to post-menopausal women. In…
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Pay gap hits graduates
By Samara Ginsberg | 6 November 2007, 09:20
Just a few days after Laura’s merry-go-round antics comes an infuriating report in The Guardian. A survey from the Higher Education Statistic Agency reveals that the pay gap between men and women reveals itself as soon as students graduate, with…
Classical music to get the Barbie treatment
By Samara Ginsberg | 30 October 2007, 09:20
A colleague of mine was a little confused yesterday when a press release entitled “Classical Music Gets Barbie-fied!” popped into his inbox. It was from Mattel, who are unveiling plans for a UK tour of Barbie at the Symphony, a…
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Geri Halliwell is not a feminist but…
By Samara Ginsberg | 25 October 2007, 12:56
Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell is interviewed in The Guardian today. She speaks out about her recent work for the UN and her travels to Zambia in order to draw attention to the plight of pregnant women with limited access…
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Abortion used as a form of contraception? Don't make me laugh
By Samara Ginsberg | 24 October 2007, 09:14
As we near the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Abortion Act, Lord Steel, the Liberal Democrat peer responsible for it, has criticised what he sees as a culture in which women turn to abortion as a form of contraception. Really….
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Democrats are ugly
By Samara Ginsberg | 23 October 2007, 13:59
You know, it takes a lot to render me speechless, but I think the above might just have managed it. This image is apparently doing the rounds on facebook at the moment. I don’t think I need to point…
The abortion debate hits the cinema
By Samara Ginsberg | 23 October 2007, 13:30
British film-maker Tony Kaye has produced a film entitled Lake of Fire, exploring the American abortion debate, and is the subject of an interview in The Guardian. Kaye comes from an interesting standpoint to discuss the issue as he is…
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No women composers? Pah!
By Samara Ginsberg | 18 October 2007, 20:16
Hot on the heels of Jess’ furious post criticising the latest tidal wave of misogyny from the Daily Mail, I have something of my own to contribute. As a music graduate, a former professional musician and a current music journalist,…
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Math is hard!
By Samara Ginsberg | 15 October 2007, 22:22
I pity anybody who missed Beautiful Young Minds last night. This documentary by Morgan Matthews following several phenomenally gifted young mathematicians as they battled it out for the chance to represent Great Britain in the International Mathematical Olympiad was…
Lily Allen - role model?
By Samara Ginsberg | 12 October 2007, 09:14
Whilst doing my customary skim-read of the Times website this morning, I saw a standfirst that really annoyed me: We caught up with Lily Allen at Chanel’s Paris salon. Here she talks about Lagerfeld, her weight and being a role…
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Battle of the blogs
By Samara Ginsberg | 11 October 2007, 13:07
Feministing.com has been nominated for several Bloggers Choice Awards, including Best Political Blog and Best Blog of All Time. But as Jessica Valenti explains, not everybody is happy about this: Apparently this has pissed off a ton of anti-feminists (who…
Don't believe the hype
By Samara Ginsberg | 9 October 2007, 13:10
Deborah Cameron has written a book entitled The Myth of Mars and Venus, published last week by Oxford University Press. As she explains in an interview in The Times today, men and women are all from Earth, but perhaps John…
What's it to be - your bottom or your face?
By Samara Ginsberg | 8 October 2007, 13:48
Today’s Times has an article by Lisa Armstrong inspired by Catherine Deneuve’s famous quote that “A 30-year-old woman must choose between her bottom and her face.” It’s funny that - all of the 30-year-old women I know have both bottoms…
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Nicaraguan women dying for the pro-life cause
By Samara Ginsberg | 8 October 2007, 13:44
The Guardian today has a report on the devastating impact of Nicaragua’s new abortion laws. For those not in the know, last November Nicaragua joined Chile and El Salvador as the only countries in the world to have a blanket…
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New Dove film
By Samara Ginsberg | 4 October 2007, 18:20
Dove have produced a new short film in conjunction with the Campaign for Real Beauty: This is a great film and promotes a really important issue - that the cosmetics industry negatively affects young girls as well as grown women….
Sex slavery not just confined to big cities
By Samara Ginsberg | 28 September 2007, 09:20
The Times today has a report suggesting that sex slavery is expanding into leafy areas such as Cambridgeshire and Gloucestershire. The victims’ stories are all-too-familiar: Young woman is lured to Britain with the promise of legitimate work, but on arrival…
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Do you have the "perfect breasts"?
By Samara Ginsberg | 24 September 2007, 13:44
The Daily Mail never fails to provide choice blogging material, and today is no exception as they present a piece on a cosmetic surgeon who has discovered the formula for the “perfect breasts”. Patrick Mallucci spent many hours poring…
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I did not ask for it
By Samara Ginsberg | 24 September 2007, 09:20
I had an absolutely horrible experience the other night. I was walking home late at night in a pencil skirt and high heels (this is relevant, I promise) when a man lurking in the shadows leered, “Sexy, seeeeexxxxy” at me…
Man waxes his legs in the name of investigative journalism
By Samara Ginsberg | 20 September 2007, 13:46
The Daily Mail has conducted what they appear to think is a groundbreaking experiment in forcing one of its hapless junior reporters to live like a woman for a week. This might be quite interesting had they dressed him in…
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New tampon may cut risk of toxic shock
By Samara Ginsberg | 20 September 2007, 13:08
A new study shows that a new tampon coating may lower the risk of toxic shock syndrome. The key to its success: a fiber finish called glycerol monolaurate, or GML, that reduces the production of the toxin that causes menstrual…
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Is prostitution a valid career choice?
By Samara Ginsberg | 20 September 2007, 09:31
Today’s Guardian has published responses and opinions from lots of distinguished media types about the forthcoming TV adaptation of Belle de Jour and about prostitution in general. I was going to provide a few choice quotes, but it’s all so…
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Be sexually attractive or respected - pick one
By Samara Ginsberg | 14 September 2007, 09:37
Rosie Boycott, co-founder of Spare Rib magazine has joined the lads mag debate in The Daily Mail. Every month, magazines such as FHM, and now Zoo and Nuts, serve up page after page of breasts, bottoms and sexual titillation. No…
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Get your tits out for the lads!
By Samara Ginsberg | 13 September 2007, 13:38
Decca Aitkenhead has an opinion piece in The Guardian today about female complicity in lads’ mag culture. The Nuts website, for example, features a page called Assess My Breasts, inviting men to study photos of naked breasts and rank…
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FHM publish topless photos without subjects' consent
By Samara Ginsberg | 11 September 2007, 13:46
FHM have surpassed themselves by printing a topless photograph of a 14-year-old girl. The Press Complaints Commission said the photograph, included in a gallery of mobile phone snapshots, was a “serious intrusion” into the girl’s privacy and had a “significant…
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Sports bras let women down
By Samara Ginsberg | 11 September 2007, 09:42
Finally, somebody seems to have noticed that having breasts can really get in the way of women participating in sport, as The Times reports. An estimated 60 per cent of women suffer breast pain during exercise — even during gentle…
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Think twice before you apply cosmetics to your ladyparts
By Samara Ginsberg | 11 September 2007, 09:42
The Guardian today has a report on the growing concern about carcinogens in cosmetics and beauty products. Although none of these links have been proven, and the cosmetics industry is doing some serious damage limitation (“absolute nonsense,” says Dr Christopher…
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Glad to be grey?
By Samara Ginsberg | 5 September 2007, 10:03
The Times today has an interview with Anne Kreamer about her decision to stop dyeing her hair at the age of 50. Kreamer used to spend a jaw-dropping $300 at least once every three weeks on having her hair dyed….
Spanx sell "slimming" underwear to the seriously underweight
By Samara Ginsberg | 2 September 2007, 20:16
Spanx make “shaping”, “slimming” and “smoothing” underwear - horribly uncomfortable-looking 21st century nylon corset contraptions that make Bridget Jones’ infamous big pants look positively skimpy. Make of that what you will. What makes me angry about this is that according…
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Mind the gap!
By Samara Ginsberg | 29 August 2007, 13:50
The Guardian presents some sobering statistics on the pay gap between men and women, finding that it is as wide in the boardroom as lower down. The only two women heading any of Britain’s top 100 companies saw their…
Witch burnings in Papua New Guinea
By Samara Ginsberg | 28 August 2007, 12:13
The Independent reports on the ignorance of HIV in Papua New Guinea, which has led to victims being buried alive for fear of them passing on the virus. In the absence of accurate information, HIV is being attributed to witchcraft:…
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News Flash - Kate Moss has lost weight!
By Samara Ginsberg | 26 August 2007, 13:16
From that bastion of journalistic integrity the Daily Mail comes a shock report about the latest developments in Kate Moss’ figure. Kate’s “friends” have informed the Mail that she “has lost half a stone over the past three weeks and…
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Organise your own Ladyfest
By Samara Ginsberg | 22 August 2007, 09:46
In today’s Guardian, Leonie Cooper explains how to organise your own Ladyfest. The Ladyfest is a relatively recent phenomenon, the first happening in Washington in 2000. The idea is simple: it’s a not-for-profit feminist festival celebrating all things female and…
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Barbie through the ages
By Samara Ginsberg | 21 August 2007, 09:35
One of my favourite things to look at on YouTube is old skool advertisements. They provide such a fascinating insight into which products were available, to whom they were marketed, how things were promoted in different decades and what techniques…
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40 reasons not to have children
By Samara Ginsberg | 21 August 2007, 08:58
French writer Corinne Maier has scandalised the parents of France by writing a book entitled No Kid: 40 Reasons Not to Have Children and has been the subject of an interesting interview in The Times. On the face of it,…
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Eating disorders may have a genetic basis
By Samara Ginsberg | 17 August 2007, 13:58
Professor Janet Treasure reports in The Times about her research into eating disorders, courting the possibility that these severe psychiatric conditions may be caused at least in part by the physiological functioning of the brain. Professor Treasure likens eating…
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The Daily Mail profiles women who fail to "dress their age"
By Samara Ginsberg | 17 August 2007, 09:18
Today’s issue of the Daily Mail features a profile of five middle-aged women who dress like teenagers. To be honest, I’m a bit bemused as to what is so newsworthy of this. Women daring to dress in a manner not…
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JLo's cellulite shocker insults women
By Samara Ginsberg | 16 August 2007, 21:17
Today’s issue of The Metro, a free tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail Media Group, distributed every weekday on the London Underground, advises us that women can now breathe a sigh of relief because JLo has cellulite. The version…
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