Ladders. Patriarchal conspiracy. I’ll explain… This week I climbed a ladder. I was trying to reach a loft space, where ideally I could leave my Big Suitcase which at the moment is stuffed with fabulous knitwear. Seems like a simple operation, until I tried to, you know, put one foot in front of the other ...
It’s that time of year, when spring blossoms counteract the car pollution, beer gardens are filled with humans on the run from their sweltering offices and everyone briefly falls in love with someone they’d normally ignore. It’s also time for summer pursuits, like cycling. I’m in the market for a two-wheeler, having recently moved from ...
Does a perfect mother exist? According to French feminist Elisabeth Badinter, this creature is a myth. Earlier this month, her book The Conflict: How Modern Motherhood Undermines the Status of Women was translated into English. Already a best seller in France, the book boldly proclaims that the myth of the modern perfect mother has become ...
Sandwiches. Gender conspiracy. War on women. Let me explain. It was a sunny afternoon here in southern Germany. I’d escaped from the office to the organic bakery across the street, and found an outdoor table where I could read my book and drink the peppermint tea I’ve taken to drinking instead of coffee, to avoid ...
This week I had a meltdown. In its wake, the remains of a Very Nice and Thoughtful Man who (I once spent a weekend with) (and) happened to be in the wrong email conversation at the wrong time, was being a bit flippant about the thing that was upsetting me. Let me give you some ...
Women’s rights campaigners have demanded that UK newspapers be put under scrutiny. They claim that mainstream newspapers such as The Sun objectify women. This is just one of the papers which features a topless “Page 3″ model. While living in the UK I found it shocking to find half-naked women in a mainstream newspaper which ...
If I had to describe the “type” of man I like, it would have to be feminist. Most of my good friends subscribe to some kind of feminism and as a self-identified straight woman, there is nothing better than a feminist man. Since high school, I found myself crushing on boys who were articulate and ...
So the papers have a fair bit in them this week about Australia’s decision to make all combat roles in its military available to women. Obviously this means they’ll be able to do any of the things men do, including getting shot at and blown up right in the middle of things. And so there’s ...
After the success of the fictional series “Big Love,” the world was dying to know about real-life polygamists. Happy to oblige, TLC brought us “Sister Wives,” which features Kody Brown, his four wives and 16 children. Originally form Utah, where polygamy was outlawed, they moved to Nevada once they were investigated for their lifestyle. But ...
It’s one thing to agree with the exchange of sex for money and quite another to propose it should be legal for women to be sex slaves. Salwa al Mutairi, a female Kuwaiti politician, has said that men should use women as sex slaves. But there’s more. She adds that prisoners from war-torn countries would ...
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...
