Looking back now, it was steeped in a strange loneliness because although my phone was buzzing with messages of love and care – I was alone. But MS is not unique, in fact around 1 in 500 have MS and there are approximately 7000 new
diagnosis each year in the UK .
Climate Crisis and The Cost of Living
Earth, for quite some time now has given us the warning signs that it is under threat. As a result, more and more people globally are experiencing the effects of the climate crisis as second nature. However the climate crisis in the UK is a less tangible issue as we are yet to experience complete devastation of food insecurity or natural hazards that occur within countries located in more unstable climate zones. Therefore, it is useful for us to explore our current cost of living crisis and then its intersections with climate justice.
Reproductive Justice: It’s time to stop the Handmaid’s Tale analogy
By comparing our current political situation to fiction, white feminism ignores that many Black individuals have already been living in a dystopia. But what can be done?
Beauty and Power – how far can the body positivity movement take us?
By empowering women to choose their own ideals of beauty, women, especially those in less privileged bodies, are free to exist in any way they please. To take it a step further, one might even reject the need to feel beautiful at all.
Accessing the Environment with Transport Justice
Multiple issues can contribute to a lack of outdoor access. We should explore this through various lenses whilst highlighting possible solutions, as well as the organisations and individuals who are demonstrating ways that we can get outside more. This month, the spotlight will be on transport justice and the cost of living crisis.
Netflix’s ‘Persuasion’: When Film becomes ‘Content’
How could Netflix reduce a passage as beautiful as “Now they were as strangers; nay, worse than strangers, for they could never become acquainted. It was a perpetual estrangement” to “Now we’re strangers. No, worse than strangers. We’re exes.”?
An Investigation into Autism and Sexuality
Dating etiquette is largely unwritten, and for someone with autism, unwritten rules can be confusing and overwhelming… Romantic relationships are hard enough to navigate when one is fluent in the language of love. Imagine how hard they are when one’s not a native speaker.
A Pride of Lionesses: the Queer Culture of Women’s Football
“She’s out.” My friend whispered, as we watched the Lionesses run onto the pitch. “So’s she. She used to date one of her teammates.” This commentary preceded the Lionesses’ stunning 4-0 semi-final victory over Sweden, which we watched at my local sports pub. My friends and I had been invited to join the table of two women, who we had met at the previous England game. We’d bonded with the couple over not just our love of the Lionesses (after all, half of our group had been loudly cheering for Spain) but through a tacit acknowledgement of our shared queer identities…
Meet the CB team: Deepali Chhabra
Meet the Clitbait Team: an interview with Deepali Chhabra, Fundraising and Events Officer…
Meet the CB team: Aditi Ranganathan
Meet the Clitbait Team: an interview with Aditi Ranganathan, Arts and Culture writer…
Meet the CB team: Helena Moore
Meet the Clitbait Team: an interview with Helena More, Sex and Relationships Writer
Meet the CB team: Ailsa Beck
Meet the Clitbait Team: an interview with Ailsa Beck, Environment Editor…
Meet the CB team: Sylvie Dulson
Meet the Clitbait Team: an interview with Sylvie Dulson, Society & Community Writer
Meet the CB team: Marnie Russell
Meet the Clitbait Team: an interview with Marnie Russell, Poetry Editor
The Clitbait guide to turning discourse into action
A frequent critique of our generation is that we’re all talk and no action. All about aesthetics, never about tangible change. We are told that we are lazy; we participate in politics that isn’t considered meaningful – we participate solely in ‘slacktivism’.
“Do you enjoy what you do?”: George Michael, Beyoncé, and the Right to Rest
“The right to rest”, or resting as somehow radical, political, or subversive, are thoughts that I’ve been mulling over since January of this year. In my mind, January is a particularly fraught moment when it comes to rest, leisure, and relaxation. Conventional wisdom dictates that the new year is the time for setting goals and dreaming of future productivity — I’ll exercise more, I’ll finally write that article — but, in reality, lots of us are still hungover and languishing in the post-Christmas lull…
COMING HOME
Despite the murky comments sections, snide remarks, relentless sexism, and dated denial, the Lionesses have done it. They have brought football home.
Women’s Fashion in the Work Place and How it dictates sexist stereotypes
When I asked my friends the question ‘what should someone wear to work’ the resounding response – after the initial grunt of confusion – was simply their ‘uniform’. But if I dared to press them more, asking specifically what a woman should wear to work, their faces couldn’t disguise the conversation’s trajectory towards the controversial.
On a Date with Neurodiversity
“The more I read, learn and experience from the other side of my diagnosis, the more I realise that a lot of the complex emotions I feel around dating are very understandable.”
GOOD NEWS: A Win for Wild Places
Welcome to the first Good News instalment. Each month we will bring you some happier and
lighter news in relation to climate change and wild places. We are often shrouded with bleak
stories about the climate crisis, and in turn, this can create a negative space in our heads.
By also including some good news in your lives, we can instead choose to reclaim a sense
of hope and belonging…
Soil isn’t Brown, it’s Green.
When you think of ecosystems, what comes to mind? Rainforests, coral reefs, thick woods full of life. What about the stuff beneath your feet? For too long we have dismissed what lies below as mere dirt and dead matter-this unknown and untapped universe is on the brink of extinction.
Harnessing the Green-Eyed Monsters
It’s clear that politics and emotions are inseparable across the political spectrum. How could they not be? After all, when we vote, we’re voting based on which candidates and policies best bolster our hopes, assuage our fears, and share our anger. After each election, we see the same images time and again: overtired candidates and campaigners, crowded in some church-hall-turned-polling-station, moved to both elation and tears. It’s just the colour of the rosettes that changes between the photos…
Queer Dating Stories
It’s Pride month! In addition to the over-commercialisation of Pride by brands and companies, it’s also a time of reflection for the queer community on our experiences and what being queer means to each of us.
‘Darling, I have no dream job, I do not dream of labour’
James Baldwin, discussing the mythology of the American Dream, spoke the words ‘I have no dream job, I do not dream of labour’. Decades later, these words are a popular TikTok soundbite comically backing memes and skits poking fun at work for our generation. Though comic, this satire is evidence of a larger sentiment surrounding work and labour for Gen Z, particularly the disillusionment many feel with the precarious prospects available to us…
I’m in Love With Manic Pixie Dream Girls and I’m Not Sorry: falling back in love with film’s most misused trope
It’s incredibly difficult to actually enjoy something nowadays. There is always a level of criticism or scrutiny that can be applied to the culture we partake in. You can roll your eyes at anything if you try hard enough, and for the most part, it feels quite harmless.