We all know that toy advertisements use a lot of gender stereotypes in their commercials. Girls get Barbies, clothes, makeup and rainbows. Boys get guns, war, action and loud noises. This is nothing new. But this website is new. A new site lets you “mash up” boys’ and girls’ toy commercials so that you can ...
Female Olympic beach volleyball players no longer have to wear the skimpy bikinis that the sport has become known for. During the 2012 London Olympics the players can choose, for the first time, to wear shorts or long-sleeved shirts. This wardrobe change may have something to do with Saudi Arabian women finally being allowed to ...
Much talk of girls and girlhood on International Women’s Day 2012 inspired me to re-read the most inspirational book of my own girlhood, Roald Dahl’s Matilda. Matilda is not unusual for a Roald Dahl character — a small person who turns the tables on the big people — but she is unusual amongst girls in ...
Patti Smith is an artist whose rejection of traditional femininity, combined with her iconic status, has had a tangible effect on women of the arts, as well as my generation. Patti Smith’s Camera Solo, a collection of the musician’s polaroid photographs published to coincide with a US exhibition of the same collection, are about the ...
I always request books for Christmas. I always have. I’m not sure if that made me an easy child to buy for. Novels are certainly cheaper than a new Nintendo (which is what we called an Xbox back in my day), but how to select one for a grumpy nine-year-old? Or, for that matter, a ...
Robin Hood, David Bowie and Mick Jagger are three men who really knew how to wear tights and, although a questionable trend at first, it became kind of hot (remember Bowie’s bulging member in Labyrinth?). But if you have to stop and ponder whether you want to see men in tights outside the world of ballet, how ...
There was nothing soft or kind about Hitler. If I could use one term to describe him it would probably be “cold-blooded killer,” but you have to wonder: would Hitler have been more in touch with his “feminine side” if he downed a bit of estrogen? Throughout the war, the Allies looked at various ways ...
Mrs Lobster and I were in a bit of a fix the other night. We were driving back from an afternoon in Brighton, when a few warning lights lit up on the car dashboard and some of the meters started going nuts. Mrs L looked in the car manual that was still in its dedicated ...
There’s nothing wrong with girls who play sports or boys who dance. In fact, the two aren’t really that different from each other. They both involve balance, physical conditioning, partnering or team work, discipline, perseverance, and a competitive streak in personality. Most of the time girls who play sport are not treated too badly. We ...
In Afghanistan it is so important that families have at least one boy that they often will disguise a daughter as a son. Reasons for this include better access to education, allowing the “boy” outside the home to work or take more part in community life, and giving some kudos to the family for having ...
So, we’re having this baby. It’s due in a few weeks and we’re trying to get organized with all...
I recently heard about what is claimed to be the rising phenomenon of Japanese men remaining virgins for longer...
Ladders. Patriarchal conspiracy. I’ll explain… This week I climbed a ladder. I was trying to reach a loft space,...
Dear Madame X, My boyfriend needs to look at porn while we have sex. It bothers me because I...
Mrs. Dalloway is yet another feminist classic that I had to grow into. Wrapped up in Woolf’s instantly recognizable...
Last week saw a Big Thing come to our soggy little island. Well, it was a Big Thing for...
Last weekend I was entertaining a guest, you know, the sort I was planning to have lots and lots...
All little girls want to be princesses… right?! It’s bad enough that toy aisles are separated out by what...
