20 November 2007

Blondes turn men into idiots

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 20 November 2007

15 November 2007

Thin or healthy - which is it going to be?

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 15 November 2007

13 November 2007

All women are unacceptable, but some women are more unacceptable than others

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 13 November 2007

10 November 2007

Get yourself a bonza car insurance deal

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 10 November 2007

7 November 2007

Fatties more likely to get cancer

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 7 November 2007

6 November 2007

Pay gap hits graduates

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 6 November 2007

30 October 2007

Classical music to get the Barbie treatment

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 30 October 2007

25 October 2007

Geri Halliwell is not a feminist but…

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 25 October 2007

24 October 2007

Abortion used as a form of contraception? Don't make me laugh

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…. Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 24 October 2007

23 October 2007

Democrats are ugly

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 23 October 2007

The abortion debate hits the cinema

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 23 October 2007

18 October 2007

No women composers? Pah!

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,… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 18 October 2007

15 October 2007

Math is hard!

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 15 October 2007

12 October 2007

Lily Allen - role model?

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 12 October 2007

11 October 2007

Battle of the blogs

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 11 October 2007

9 October 2007

Don't believe the hype

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 9 October 2007

8 October 2007

What's it to be - your bottom or your face?

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 8 October 2007

Nicaraguan women dying for the pro-life cause

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 8 October 2007

4 October 2007

New Dove film

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…. Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 4 October 2007

28 September 2007

Sex slavery not just confined to big cities

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 28 September 2007

24 September 2007

Do you have the "perfect breasts"?

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 24 September 2007

I did not ask for it

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 24 September 2007

20 September 2007

Man waxes his legs in the name of investigative journalism

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 20 September 2007

New tampon may cut risk of toxic shock

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 20 September 2007

Is prostitution a valid career choice?

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 20 September 2007

14 September 2007

Be sexually attractive or respected - pick one

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 14 September 2007

13 September 2007

Get your tits out for the lads!

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 13 September 2007

11 September 2007

FHM publish topless photos without subjects' consent

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 11 September 2007

Sports bras let women down

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 11 September 2007

Think twice before you apply cosmetics to your ladyparts

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 11 September 2007

5 September 2007

Glad to be grey?

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…. Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 5 September 2007

2 September 2007

Spanx sell "slimming" underwear to the seriously underweight

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 2 September 2007

29 August 2007

Mind the gap!

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 29 August 2007

28 August 2007

Witch burnings in Papua New Guinea

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:… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 28 August 2007

26 August 2007

News Flash - Kate Moss has lost weight!

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 26 August 2007

22 August 2007

Organise your own Ladyfest

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 22 August 2007

21 August 2007

Barbie through the ages

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 21 August 2007

40 reasons not to have children

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,… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 21 August 2007

17 August 2007

Eating disorders may have a genetic basis

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 17 August 2007

The Daily Mail profiles women who fail to "dress their age"

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 17 August 2007

16 August 2007

JLo's cellulite shocker insults women

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… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 16 August 2007