Recently a good friend of mine told me a story about how as a fresh-faced young student she had been asked by a new acquaintance whether she masturbated. She was the last in a group of other young women who had all shaken their heads and ‘Eughhed’ because it was ‘gross’ and she duly went…
Category: body image
The Women Outside the Box
I have always been the kind of woman that does the kind of things that women are not supposed to do. Bored to death by the stifling domesticity of Brownies (they had badges which basically involved making a cup of tea for fuck’s sake), I refused to join the Guides and opted for the Air…
Growing old while female
Aside from being a little bit wiser and having to admit that I have an informed opinion about washing machines, I don’t really feel much different to the 25 year old version of myself that I once was. I often think I have a bizarre mental condition where I look in the mirror and fail…
“She’s let herself go a bit hasn’t she?”
I have a confession to make: I am a feminist and I am on a diet. Not the kind of diet with sins or points or one where you have to pay someone to humiliate you in front of a room full of people every week, but the kind where you just decide to cut…
Feminism, empowerment and sexiness.
The hotly debated notion of ’empowerment’ is often conflated with whether something is ‘feminist’ or not. I have had numerous arguments with other women who believe that because they feel ’empowered’ by X (insert activity that would traditionally be seen by feminists as a product of patriarchy), then it is good and therefore feminist. This…
Woman As Subject 