Meet the Clitbait Team: an interview with Lucy Wilson, columnist…
Meet the CB team: Kirsty Thomson
Meet the Clitbait Team: an interview with Kirsty Thomson, Social Media and Outreach…
Clitbait’s Recreate Art Series – Fanny Eaton by Joanna Boyce
For those of you who don’t know, every month we have decided to recreate a piece of art that goes along the lines of the theme of the month. Since this month’s theme is beauty, we decided to honour the Pre-Raphaelite model, Fanny Eaton. Eaton was a black Pre-Raphaelite muse, and as a result beat many beauty standards of her time. She was a symbol of diversity in beauty which is something we strongly stand for here at Clitbait…
Ancient World, Intersectional Approach: Re-defining Classics for all Identities
What do you think of when someone says that they study Classics? Hollywood representations of the ancient world? Privileged school kids studying Latin and Greek? White men inventing democracy, the foundations of European philosophy, and all the other alleged pillars of “Western” society?
Meet the CB team: Sangavi Sugumar
Meet the Clitbait Team: an interview with Sangavi Sugumar, Copy Editor
Meet the CB team: Auriol Reddaway
Meet the Clitbait Team: an interview with Auriol Reddaway, General Editor
The Beauty Industry and Sustainability
When you think of the beauty industry, things like cosmetics, skincare and beauty treatments, what images come to mind? Do you feel good when you think about the beauty industry? If the answer is no, you’re not alone…
Meet the CB team: Manvir Dobb
Meet the Clitbait Team: an interview with Manvir Doob, Copy Editor
‘Stealthing’ is a Problem – and a Crime
Hello! Welcome to the first of my monthly ‘Learning with Lucy’ columns, I’m very pleased to see you. To ease into the swing of the columns, I was going to use the first month to discuss a topic I was already passionate and knowledgeable about. Then I started researching the sexual offence known as ‘stealthing’, and thought to really get into the spirit of the column, I’d start by sharing some things I’ve been learning myself this month. So – fair warning – this won’t be a particularly upbeat piece, but I hope it’ll be informative and worth a read regardless…
My Nose and Me: Sniffing Out Toxic Eurocentric Beauty Standards
I remember when I first really noticed my nose. I was in my early teens, and along with my thick Indian hair appearing on just about every part of my body, I noticed one other major change. My nose was getting bigger…
Growing Pains
“Oh, you’ve got a little cluster of greys back here!” my hairdresser exclaims. “Really?” I reply, attempting to sound nonchalant as I mentally make a note of exactly where she’s snipping. As soon as I get home, instead of my usual routine of debating whether getting my fringe cut back in was a mistake, I rapidly locate my hand mirror and a pair of tweezers, and plonk myself in front of the bathroom mirror…
A hairy tale of wild meets well-styled
I’m not usually one who looks forward to going to the hairdressers. Don’t get me wrong, the head rub you get as your hair is being washed sends me weak at the knees. And on more than one occasion, I have walked out firmly believing that I could give Lana Del Rey, circa. Video Games, a run for her money…
Beauty and the Virtual Beast
Social media and the fascination with image is more prevalent than ever in today’s society, because of how much access we have to it and how much information is online for us to consume. We have access to the camera phone, proven to be “a revolution in visual culture that has turned us into a population of image addicts. We now take more photographs every minute than we made in the entire 19th Century and spend the average of six hours a day gazing into screens” – Age of the Image (2020), BBC4…
If They’re Selling You Something, It’s Not Feminism
It’s starting to become a familiar refrain when I watch television in the evening: first the music, sounding enough like that one Beyoncé song to suggest power, followed by various shots of women with truly flawless skin staring unashamedly down the camera, or doing something cool like skateboarding. A voiceover with buzzwords…
Race and beauty: Fanny Eaton, the Pre-Raphaelites, and revising art history
Many people associate the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB) with beautiful snow-skinned redheads. However, as with all first bases of academic research, if you go to the Wikipedia page for the PRB, the word “redhead” nor any other mention of hair colour comes up. Wary of Wikipedia, one starts to think to themselves, is Wikipedia hiding something from me or have I been disillusioned by popular art history? Is Wikipedia being woke or stupid, or am I?…
Reflecting on Becoming More Myself
There was a time when my room was devoid of mirrors, where the sight of myself disgusted me. Where acknowledging my appearance in such a way was abhorrent to me. I dreamed of transition, of change, that I might escape the form that had been dealt me and become something more than I was. That, given enough time, I would finally be beautiful…
#GirlsGirlsGirls X Clitbait
So! It all started when I decided to tune into a Zoom with Women in Ctrl. An organisation created by Nadia Khan, who is one of the many magnificent women working within the music business. This webinar was hosted by founder Nadia and the guest speaker was Roisino, who is an extremely talented creative director. Both great, strong influential females within the creative industry. I was gifted with words of wisdom and advice about working as a creative within the creative field. Here, I was set the challenge of self-shooting myself with the concept #GirlsGirlsGirls in mind…
Five Reasons Why Priti Patel is a Fascist and Ignorant Bully.
Home Secretary Priti Patel’s name pops up in the news circuit regularly; whether she’s gaslighting a minority group, bullying the opposition, screaming the ‘benefits’ of Brexit or devising racist and classist immigration plans. As a chest-thumping fascist using her modest upbringing and brown skin to masquerade as one-of-the-people- Patel is the Tories’ wet dream…
PRIDE 2020: A BRIEF HISTORY AND HOW TO CELEBRATE FROM HOME
Lauren Hurrell explores LGBTQ+ History, celebrating pride from home and the connections between the Black Lives Matter movement and the LGBTQ+ movement, especially given the role that black transgender women have played in its history…
A Curriculum that Reflects Reality: Decolonising the Education System in the UK
In observing the present moment, we cannot deny the relentless ways in which the past reverberates through the present. History lingers in each act of brutality, in the social relationships which lead to these actions. It lingers in statues and institutions and the messages they profess…
The Racist History of the Environmental Movement
White environmentalists, we have work to do. here has been a resounding silence from so many in the climate movement over the last few weeks. I’ve seen people I used to respect who are vocal about the destruction our society inflicts on the environment suddenly become silent when BIPOC, but particularly Black people, are murdered without consequence. To better understand this lack of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, we need to go back to the environmental movement’s origin. Newsflash: it’s steeped in racism…
I read a (new) feminist book and I have thoughts
I recently read Gender Rebels: 50 Influential Cross-Dressers, Impersonators, Name-Changers, and Game-Changers (hereafter Gender Rebels) by Anneka Harry (published 1 June 2020) and I have some thoughts about it. I’d like to start this review with a star rating, but I actually think this book defies rating for me. On balance I think I would have to give it 2.5/5 stars, but that feels both unhelpful and unrepresentative of my actual thoughts. It suggests I thought it was a completely mediocre read when actually I have feelings at both extremes…
Anger is Necessary, But we Must Think Before we Click ‘Share’
The murder of George Floyd has sparked a new level of engagement with the Black Lives Matter movement. Social media has become instrumental in documenting the injustices, and once again people around the world are shocked and horrified at yet another tragic loss of an African American life. Yet since the USA was founded on genocide and slavery, it is hardly surprising that such racism exists. It is as inevitable as the sunrise and will remain for as long as we fail to address the root causes…
Abolish the Police
Our Political Editor, Caitlin Flavell puts together a compelling and informative case as to why the police should be abolished: “The world has watched in horror over the last few days as the police in America have responded to protests – protests demanding that the police be held accountable for their actions – with an outpouring of violence and hatred…”
Unpacking Racism – Clitbait’s List of Educational Resources
We are sharing a small handful of the many incredible works by black people speaking on such topics as black history, white supremacy, police brutality, black feminism and intersectionality. We wanted these to be easily accessible when people visit our site…