A while back I read an article by a woman purporting to be pansexual, entitled something along the lines of “8 common mistakes people make about pansexuals”. I’m not going to share the original article because, to be honest, I find linking to articles for the express purpose of disagreeing with their authors or the…
Last week, during a conversation about workwear, a friend of mine described her outfit as “lesbian chic”. At the time I didn’t say anything. We were in a group of long-standing good friends, who, like most people I choose to hang out regularly with, have an unconditional love for freedom and equality. To mock an…
I am profoundly sick of the term “feminazi”. It’s deeply offensive and well, sick. Not only does it offend the women to whom it is applied, equating them to possibly the 20th century’s greatest manifestation of evil but, as Laura Bates pointed out in her recent piece, 10 ways you can tell if you’re a…
Fake Geek Guys: A message to men about sexual harassment On the surface, this aims to address men involved in comics and their fandom but the points made apply to everyone, everywhere, in all industries. Essentially the message is that men need to get the fuck on board with tackling sexism and misogyny and stop kidding themselves…
Happy New Year! What better why to start the year than with a checklist? You see I, like all writers, have resolved to write more this year but it has come to my attention that to be a successful or popular blogger you need to be a bit… well, trendy. You need to be in…
BREAKING NEWS: Bridget Jones is fiction!! Yes, folks. I realise this will come as a shock but Bridget Jones, that well-known fictional diary of a 30-something, written by well-known fiction author Helen Fielding is in fact fiction. That is to say it is untrue. Bridget is not real. Sorry. And it’s not just her. Mark…
I am many things. I am a journalist. I am European. I am a woman. I am the oldest of three sisters. I am 5’2”. I am naturally blonde. I am a sex-positive feminist. So what? Well, that’s a good question. I suppose the reason I’m telling you is because I have been thinking a…
Further proof that sexism at The Sun runs SO much deeper than Page 3. From Gorkana: “This Sunday, Fabulous magazine will dedicate half of its pages to men. The back half of Fabulous will be called MF, which stands for Men’s Fabulous, and will include men’s stories, an interview with Freddie Flintoff, pics, reviews and…
Should women wear make up? It was the title of a feature published a few weeks ago. After a few comments on Twitter, I got into a mini-debate with Guardian beauty writer Sali Hughes over whether it was a reasonable question or not. She said it was patronising, I said I thought questioning why you…
Is ‘gal’ the female equivalent of ‘guy’? And is it time to reclaim it from the cutesie, skirt-swirling, rockabilly associations of old? Lily Rothman reckons so – “I Am Gal, Hear Me Roar”
Francesca Da Rimini 