It’s been two months now since Scotland moved into Phase 3 of lockdown restrictions, and pubs, shops and workplaces are beginning to reopen. I recently started a new job, and received a long policy email about how to fight COVID-19 in the workplace as part of my starter pack. Unfortunately, not every woman has been given this privilege: experts have found that women in the workplace have been set back ‘decades’ by the effects of lockdown…
71 years ago, Simone de Beauvoir concluded her foundational work The Second Sex by discussing the then status of ‘The Independent Woman’. Her existential feminist thought was crucial for the wave of feminism that followed and today her understandings of independence remain pertinent and needed…
THE SECOND MONTHLY COLUMN OF ‘LEARNING WITH LUCY!’: The maternal mortality rate for Black women in the UK is five times higher than that of their white counterparts. The Five X More campaign is fighting to change that…
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…
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…
The notion that the best place for a woman is the home is, for the most part, seen as an outdated one in the 21st century. In 2020, the home is the best place for everyone! However, this extended period of being at home has set me thinking about what home represents for women, and the fact that women can often have a complicated relationship with the notion of home…
I know what the best form of self-care is. Unionising. The pandemic is widening the cracks in our society every day, and the divide between rich and poor has never been starker. But lo, light out of the darkness: Amazon workers in Chicago have won paid time off by forming the organisation Amazonians United and presenting a petition to upper management…
We must urge the government to ensure abortion is sufficiently accessible during the Covid-19 pandemic… READ MORE TO FIND OUT HOW…
Quite understandably, the vast majority of all health news coverage in 2020 (and, more recently, all news coverage in general) has been focused on Covid-19. But if you’d like to read some happier-than-a- world-pandemic news, I’ve compiled a short rundown of some UK health-related news stories from so far this year that have been overshadowed by the elephant (with a viral infection) in the room…
Has anyone noticed a weird trend in Guardian articles? Not across the board, no, but specifically the ones about feminism. The Guardian is known as an institution of liberal media, one of a few remaining left-leaning papers that isn’t behind a paywall. So it’s deeply troubling to see that they’ve published multiple pieces calling for the rolling back of rights for trans people…
Read about why our wonderful Political Editor, Caitlin Flavell has complicated feelings about Elizabeth Warren… “Following Super Tuesday in the US, the day in which the majority of states vote on which candidate they want to run for President, one issue is being thrown around here and there…”
Our Environmental Editor Meg introduces us to some pioneering LGBTQ+ activists, both past and present…
In the US, the presidential primaries have kicked off for real, with the first round of votes being held in Iowa. The Iowa Caucus is regarded by most as a good indicator of how the rest of the contest is going to play out. You know what’s really bugging me? Nobody is talking about the Republican primaries, at all. What’s going on with them? Trump might have pulled out of the race altogether, but nobody would know because everyone is talking about the Democratic primaries all the time…
Ever felt unappreciated at work? Ever felt unsafe at work, or on your way there? Ever felt uncomfortable when a colleague or service user made a sexist/racist/homophobic comment? Ever wondered how come women, especially women of colour, always seem to end up in the most insecure positions…
Home Secretary Priti Patel has revealed a whole raft of counter-terrorism measures following the attacks on London Bridge last year, including a new Counter-Terrorism Bill. Now, I could go into intense detail about how often government measures to decrease crime are misguided, but one point in particular caught my eye…
The following essay is the second part of a discussion on Transphobia by Hazel Sanderson…
We’re going to look at some prominent transphobic myths and statements, why these statements are false or misleading and why a minority of people believe them anyway. By doing so we will examine how people get to be transphobic in this way and how to prevent these movements from growing and gaining support…
Concerned about the climate crisis? Want a government who takes it as seriously as you? Find out who you’re voting for on Thursday pledges to protect our planet in this short summary by our Environmental Editor @megcmcg …
Yeah, so…we’re having a general election. For the third time. In four years. If anyone needs me, I’ll be out in the garden burning my framed copy of the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act 2011 and weeping for what could have been…
On the 25th of November, the world observed the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. This was both a day that called for reflection and the commemoration of the victims and survivors of such violence, but also served as a call to action. The ocean of posts regarding this day that popped up on my social media, as well as the myriad of news articles touching on this topic made me think about survival and politics. Or, more specifically, I asked myself how survivors such as myself can be understood from a political standpoint…
Just over two years ago I was chatting to a man sat reading at the base of the Playfair steps. It was November and freezing cold. I asked him what the best thing he was ever given whilst being a rough sleeper was and he told me ‘a hot water bottle’. I always find it difficult knowing the right etiquette of what to give rough sleepers or anyone who is asking for help on the street…
CW: Harassment, coming-out experiences.
The air is warm and musty, children are screaming from an over-indulgence in sugar, moms turn up with over-the-top baked goods for the PTA, and little Debbie is just about to cause an outbreak of measles. The reason? Debbie’s parents are some of many Americans who have decided that they are anti-vaxxers…
MSPs have organised an event in order to launch a “Declaration on Women’s Sex-Based Rights,” an unashamedly transphobic document. This declaration has been created by an international lobbyist group known as the Women’s Human Rights Campaign which believes that the rising tide of rights afforded to trans people is a threat to those of cis women…
Just over a year after Carrie Gracie announced she would be resigning as China Editor for the BBC due to the disparities in pay between her and her male equivalents, for which the BBC was forced to apologise, Samira Ahmed has brought a court case against the broadcaster complaining about the disparities in pay between her and her male equivalents…
A lot of stuff went down these last couple of weeks, and every other week, in Westminster, and particularly a lot of stuff regarding our exit from the EU. You want specifics? I got them right here…