Articles about Work and Play
From the daily grind to our spare time, feminism is frequently relevant.
Do women dream of electric sheep? Delia Derbyshire and the women of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Delia Derbyshire has enjoyed a resurgence of recognition in the past decade and has taken her well-deserved place as one of the founders of modern electronic music. But she was hardly the only woman to work at the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop. Michelle Drury takes us on a journey through the history of the Workshop and pays tribute to the women who passed through the Maida Vale studios
Michelle Drury // 28 October 2012
Categories: Culture and Media, Features, Herstory, Music, Stereotypes, Television, Work and Play, radio
Taking advantage of mum?
Rebecca is a student who has moved back with her mum - just what David Cameron has urged young people to do, rather than relying on housing benefit. But, she asks, is this the best plan for either of them?
Rebecca // 4 September 2012
Categories: Class, Education, Family, Politics and Current Affairs, Work and Play
Feminism: still excluding working class women?
Working class women talk to Pavan Amara about feeling excluded and patronised by a classist feminist movement where middle class voices are still dominating the debate
Pavan Amara // 7 March 2012
Categories: Activism, Culture and Media, Education, Family, Feminism, Language, Work and Play
Women and the UK music press
Music is a universal language. But don't tell the UK music press, which is marketing itself to a definitively male readership. Cazz Blase takes a look at the marketing materials put out by the big music magazines
Cazz Blase // 12 February 2012
Categories: Culture and Media, Work and Play
No access to the women's room
Going clothes shopping as a disabled woman is a nightmare, says D H Kelly
D H Kelly // 30 January 2012
Categories: Body and Health, Fashion and Image, Sex and Relationships, Stereotypes, Work and Play
She gives me fever
Porn is not for everyone: but it can be for feminists, Mia Engberg tells Sophie Mayer, as her programme of shorts screens in London
Sophie Mayer // 13 January 2012
Categories: Body and Health, Culture and Media, Features, Interviews, Sex and Relationships, Work and Play
A man's world? Darryn De La Soul on being a sound engineer
Ruth Rosselson interviews Darryn De La Soul, whose achievements include mixing the sound at the 50th anniversary of the Jodrell Bank observatory, work with Faster than Sound and teaching the live sound diploma for Alchemea
Ruth Rosselson // 9 November 2011
Categories: Features, Interviews, Work and Play
The politics of office dress
Melanie Davis usually wears grey trousers suits to work. Switching to a smart, clingy dress prompted a disconcerting change in her colleagues
Melanie Davis // 11 October 2011
Categories: Fashion and Image, Work and Play
Young women: unemployed and on the shelf?
As the economy fails to bounce back, young women are struggling to enter the workplace. Joanne Fradley calls for women in the workplace to reach out and help
Joanne Fradley // 28 September 2011
Categories: Work and Play
Women's football: a kick in the teeth?
The Women's World Cup is well underway, but the game is languishing for lack of support, argues Joanne Fradley
Joanne Fradley // 6 July 2011
Categories: Culture and Media, Work and Play
That's not my name
Changing name is a hassle. But what is rarely acknowledged is just how much the current systems place a burden on cis women and trans people that is not shared by cis men. Jane Fae reports
Jane Fae // 10 April 2011
Categories: Politics and Current Affairs, Work and Play
Why feminists should join the fightback against higher education cuts and fees
Critical skills taught on university humanities courses challenge the world view of students and make them a breeding ground for resistance to the status quo, argues Nola Kay
Nola Kay // 1 April 2011
Categories: Activism, Education, Work and Play
Equal pay and the fight for equality in the workplace
Why don't more women pursue their legal right to equal pay? Michelle Gordon explains
Michelle Gordon // 9 March 2011
Categories: Work and Play
A room of her own
Bidisha runs writers' retreats. She reports that the women who attend struggle to carve out the time and psychological space for their work
Bidisha // 25 February 2011
Categories: Work and Play
Breaking the silence around miscarriage
Miscarriage is bad enough, without worrying about losing your job, says Emelyn Thomas
Emelyn Thomas // 16 February 2011
Categories: Body and Health, Work and Play
A woman engineer
Hayley Martin talks about the sexism she encountered on her path to become an engineer
Hayley Martin // 11 July 2010
Categories: Work and Play
Back to burlesque
Has the shine come off burlesque as it mainstreamed? Chloë Emmott revisits her views
Chloe Emmott // 22 May 2010
Categories: Body and Health, Culture and Media, Fashion and Image, Work and Play
In conversation with Senzeni Marasela
Last year Senzeni Marasela created an art installation called Jonga: the Museum of Women, Dolls & Memories, in a shop-front in Huntly, Scotland. Here Marasela talks to Claudia Zeiske about Barbie and the ways that beauty standards and pressures impose differently on women of colour and white women
Various Authors // 17 March 2010
Categories: Culture and Media, Fashion and Image, Interviews, Racism, Work and Play
Bring the herstory of riot grrrl back into the present
What has happened to the legacy of riot grrrl? asks Heather McIntosh
Heather McIntosh // 3 February 2010
Categories: Activism, Culture and Media, Feminism, Herstory, Work and Play
The professional masquerade
Women working in corporate finance are expected to adhere to sexist and objectifying dress codes, says Amica Lane
Amica Lane // 24 January 2010
Categories: Work and Play
In our satin tights, fighting for our rights! But are women really natural campaigners?
Stereotypes about women drawn to campaigning because they are natural nurturers do more harm than good, argues Mhairi Guild
Mhairi Guild // 14 January 2010
Categories: Activism, Feminism, Politics and Current Affairs, Stereotypes, Work and Play
Piggy banks and budget cuts
Cuts have become politically popular again, but the new thrift is targeted at the most not least vulnerable, says Clare Gould
Clare Gould // 16 December 2009
Categories: Family, Politics and Current Affairs, Sex and Relationships, Work and Play
Girls in the lead
Girlguides can offer girls a respite from pressure of gendered expectations. Clare Burgess offers her perspective as a late-joiner
Clare Burgess // 7 December 2009
Categories: Culture and Media, Family, Work and Play
Bright Star and women in film
Producer Jan Chapman spoke to Jess McCabe by phone from Sydney about women in the film industry - and her latest movie Bright Star
Jess McCabe // 16 November 2009
Categories: Culture and Media, Work and Play
The woman engineer: are we really that incompetent?
What is really holding back women in engineering, and stopping girls from aspiring to careers in applied sciences? Wisrutta Atthakor investigates
Wisrutta Atthakor // 20 July 2009
Categories: Education, Stereotypes, Work and Play
Some body to love
Forget which body-shape is 'fashionable' - women are more than just their bodies, argues Lara Williams
Lara Williams // 7 June 2009
Categories: Body and Health, Culture and Media, Fashion and Image, Feminism, Work and Play
IT's a man's world?
What drove 37,000 women in the UK to abandon careers in IT between 2001 and 2007? Sue Schofield investigates
Sue Schofield // 20 January 2009
Categories: Work and Play
Challenging sex object culture: definitely needed, definitely lively and definitely a key issue for 2009!
A recent feature in The Times labelled protests against the Miss University London beauty pagaents "old fashioned". But, argues Sandrine Levêque, if anything campaigns against the objectification of women and girls are more relevant today than ever
Sandrine Levêque // 4 January 2009
Categories: Body and Health, Culture and Media, Feminism, Racism, Sex and Relationships, Stereotypes, Violence, Work and Play
Time to end parental leave discrimination
Jennifer Gray argues that parental leave laws must become more flexible
Jennifer Gray // 8 December 2008
Categories: Family, Stereotypes, Work and Play
Why feminists shouldn't have to keep mum
A feminist challenge to sexism within the current cult of motherhood is needed, argues Victoria Dutchman-Smith
Victoria Dutchman-Smith // 4 December 2008
Categories: Body and Health, Family, Feminism, Work and Play
Beyond boob jobs – how might the credit crunch affect women?
Carolyn Roberts digs beyond headlines about the impact of the credit crunch on makeup sales and cosmetic surgery, to consider how the financial crisis may affect women in the UK
Carolyn Roberts // 4 November 2008
Categories: Politics and Current Affairs, Work and Play
Women in physics
Frances Downey reports back on an international conference aimed at driving up the number of female physicists
Frances Downey // 2 November 2008
Categories: Work and Play
Whose feminism is it?
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
Annika Spalding // 22 September 2008
Categories: Activism, Family, Feminism, Racism, Work and Play
Sisters! Some of us are mothers, too!
Mothers' issues are feminist issues, argues Ruth Moss
Ruth Moss // 19 August 2008
Categories: Family, Feminism, Stereotypes, Work and Play
What Not To Wear say to your co-worker
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
Kelly Draper // 12 August 2008
Categories: Body and Health, Culture and Media, Fashion and Image, Work and Play
Mama's mop and Bachelor's soup
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?
Kristine Bergstrom // 9 June 2008
Categories: Culture and Media, Work and Play
A slice-by-slice attack on women's right to choose
The campaign to ban women from terminating pregnancies after 20 weeks is only the beginning, says Kit Roskelly
Kit Roskelly // 11 May 2008
Categories: Body and Health, Sex and Relationships, Work and Play
Do It Yourself? How about Do It Ourselves
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
Rhona-Mairead Sweeting // 6 April 2008
Categories: Work and Play
How to get an activist movement to keep women in prostitution
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
Ekis // 16 March 2008
Categories: Body and Health, Feminism, Language, Politics and Current Affairs, Sex and Relationships, Violence, Work and Play
How not to write your policy on transgender rights
A Home Office policy that should help protect transgender civil servants from discrimination? Great news. But, asks Emma Wood, why does it insist that women and men have different brains?
Emma Wood // 5 December 2007
Categories: Body and Health, Culture and Media, Language, Work and Play
Built for women
The Women's Design Service is celebrating 20 years of feminist activism from the planners' office to the building site. Eeva Berglund reports
Eeva Berglund // 9 November 2007
Categories: Family, Feminism, Politics and Current Affairs, Work and Play
The woman behind Persephone Books
Nicola Beauman makes a living from re-printing the forgotten works of female writers. She talks to Cazz Blase about chick lit, the 'surplus' women of the inter-war years and the book trade
Cazz Blase // 31 October 2007
Categories: Culture and Media, Interviews, Work and Play
The media has failed women's football
Football is supposedly a national obsession. But, from the media's coverage of the women's World Cup, it seems we are only interested when the players are men. Carrie Dunn reports
Carrie Dunn // 5 October 2007
Categories: Body and Health, Culture and Media, Stereotypes, Work and Play
'Who... me? I'm just a housewife'
Feminism is not just for women with high-flying careers, and feminists must do more to engage women who feel alienated from the movement, argues Samantha Jay
Samantha Jay // 30 September 2007
Categories: Activism, Family, Feminism, Sex and Relationships, Stereotypes, Work and Play
Maid of the manor
Despite all our advances, men still dominate public life. But if they are so smart, asks Amity Reed, why can't they fathom how to do the housework?
Amity Reed // 30 August 2007
Categories: Men, Sex and Relationships, Work and Play
Female commentator kicks off barrage of sexism
A woman commentating on the beautiful game? Whoever heard of such a thing. Katherine confronts the sexist response to Jacqui Oatley's first stint on Match of the Day
Katherine // 2 June 2007
Categories: Culture and Media, Work and Play
A Bride by Any Other Name
When Eleanor Turner announced that she would not be changing her name after walking down the aisle, and instead her new husband would take on her surname, reactions ranged from shock to annoyance. She considers why breaking with tradition provokes such strong feelings
Eleanor Turner // 2 May 2007
Categories: Family, Language, Sex and Relationships, Work and Play
The farmer wants a wife, the wife wants a wife
Women don't want to be lumbered with the housework, but men aren't willing to pick up the bucket and mop. Right? JC Sutcliffe asks why women perpetuate the myth that men are incapable of doing domestic chores
JC Sutcliffe // 29 March 2007
Categories: Men, Sex and Relationships, Work and Play
Stepford Wives in Training?
Are female undergraduates aware of feminism, and what do they think of it? Whilst studying at Cambridge, Shaira Kadir was surprised and frustrated at the attitude of her fellow students. Here she shares some of her experiences.
Shaira Kadir // 10 April 2005
Categories: Work and Play
Just a Stripper
Can sex work ever be truly radical when money is involved? Exploring how feminists and feminist sex workers are often forced into opposing camps, Natasha Forrest argues that a simplistic 'for or against' divide does not reflect the true complexity of the issue.
Natasha Forrest // 11 August 2004
Categories: Sex and Relationships, Work and Play
Sports Illustrated
When Maria Sharapova won the women's final at Wimbledon this summer, her success was covered extensively by the press. However, the majority of the coverage focussed excessively on her appearance, as Ealasaid Gilfillan explains.
Ealasaid Gilfillan // 10 August 2004
Categories: Culture and Media, Work and Play
Hollywood Women
Lorraine Smith ponders the role of women in film-making. What will it take for women to be accepted behind the camera - and how long will it be before a womans win the Academy Award for Best Director?
Lorraine Smith // 19 March 2004
Categories: Culture and Media, Work and Play
Stand Up For Equality
Women can be as witty, confident and funny as men. So why there are so few women in stand up comedy, asks Kadie Armstrong?
Kadie Armstrong // 19 December 2003
Categories: Culture and Media, Work and Play
Driven to Distraction
Men assume that women know nothing about cars, but increasingly these days they couldn't be more wrong. Lorraine Smith insists she, and many other women, know a lot more about cars than the colour.
Lorraine Smith // 19 August 2003
Categories: Work and Play
The Experiences of Young Women in Science
Rachael Hawkins examines the experiences in women in science.
Rachael Hawkins // 16 November 2002
Categories: Work and Play
Show Girls: The State of
Marion Beach investigates why the best feminist theatre groups have rejected the 'f' word.
Marion Beach // 16 February 2002
Categories: Culture and Media, Work and Play
