Activism

Is Feminism for Men?

Controversy was everywhere when Emma Watson launched her He for She campaign, and that controversy has never really gone away. Essentially, the debate boiled down to this: Should feminism be marketed towards men? After all, hasn’t every freedom women have ever had to fight for been blocked by male misogynists? …

The Pecking Order of Progress

Across science and the arts, the first people to achieve something new-first to discover new countries, first flight, first on the moon-are overwhelmingly male. Not only that, but they are overwhelmingly white, straight, cisgender and of a relatively high social and economic standing. In the hierarchy of human achievement, there’s no question …

Our Mental Health Campaigns Are Failing

Trigger Warning: This piece contains descriptions of eating disorders, and discussion of mental health and mental illness. — I was the perfect poster child for eating disorders. For a start, I’m a white, middle-class woman, and eating disorders are a luxury only privileged girls like me can afford, according to …

Tired of Hearing the Angry Feminist? Try Being One

Feminists aren’t grown, they’re made. We don’t just vacate the birth canal with the collective works of Simone de Beauvoir in hand; we have to become aware of the discrimination around us through a combination of literature, pop culture and social media. In short, we have to have some kind …

What Toxic Masculinity Is, and What it Isn’t

Trigger Warning: Mentions of toxic masculinity including suicide, homophobia, assault, misogyny and murder. And Piers Morgan. — You may be familiar with the gender binary. It looks a little like this. Feminine Masculine Child rearing Breadwinner Cooking Sports Sexually cautious Sex mad Romantic comedy lover Horror lover Make-up Work out …

Online Activism isn’t Lazy, it’s Accessible

Activism and key moments of change have been constants throughout history—and so too have leading activists. Whether you think of Martin Luther King Jr. or Malala Yousafzai, all activists have one thing in common: a drive to make changes in the world. But over the course of history activism has …

Say NOPE to Victim Blaming

Trigger Warning: This post contains mention of rape, sexual assault, and victim blaming — A couple of weeks ago, I saw a tweet that greatly divided the Twittersphere. Grace Victory posted about two girls sharing their account of being sexually harassed at a music festival, British Summer Time, where they found …

Pride and Prejudice and Cishet Intruders

This summer I went to Pride in London for the first time, and, as their ill thought out poster campaign promised, I met more than a few glittery cisgender heterosexuals looking for an excuse to party. When I am entering a queer space that is born out of the marginalisation …

We Are Constantly Learning: How to Make Mistakes in Activism

Activism has more or less surrounded my personality, my being, for my entire adult life. Perhaps it was solidified when I undertook my first piece of volunteer work, or when I went on my first march. Maybe it goes all the way back to my first Blue Peter Bring and …

Trigger Warnings: What They Are, and What They’re Not

Trigger warnings have been widely scoffed at by everyone from Steven Fry and Theresa May, to that bloke online that gets all bent out of shape when you want to warn your audience that you’re about to talk about a sensitive topic. Nowadays, ‘triggered’ is often used negatively to dismiss someone’s anger or …
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