Bravo, Poppy Smart

I’ve been quite slow keeping up with the news this week, and one thing I did catch up on yesterday was Poppy Smart’s story.  If, like me, you hadn’t already heard about it, Poppy hit the headlines on Monday subsequent to a police report she made against a group of builders continually wolf-whistling at her on the way to work.  Outrage ignited amongst journalists and readers alike, the general reaction to Poppy’s story plummeting somewhere in between “shit happens, get over it”, and “feminism-gone-bonkers”.

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I can say “I’m a feminist” without feeling embarrassed anymore.

Feminism has really blown up in the last 12 months, hasn’t it?  More and more people are truly beginning to understand its message and ideologies – not female superiority, not male inferiority, god no.  Equality!  That’s what it’s all about.

Stop letting your looks shroud your self-worth

I stumbled across an article today on Thought Catalog which really baffled me.  I’ve been through it another seven times since and I’m still scratching my head.

It comes from a writer called Elle C. West, published just over a year ago and entitled: I Want To Reclaim “Ugly,” But Everyone Keeps Telling Me I’m Hot.

Its premise can initially mislead you, as I found upon my first reading.  I actually got quite angry.  This girl’s writing was bitter, spiteful and argued how ‘we’re all ugly really’, and this crazy pipe-dream that everyone is beautiful is just plain and simple bullshit.

No More Page 3 – a feminist victory, or a politically-correct clamp-down?

It is unlike The Sun to do anything quietly, but this morning saw an apparent end to the ‘star attraction’ of the controversial newspaper – a very unremarkable farewell to the infamous and downright demeaning Page 3 feature.

The world is changing, and we’re all invited

When Emma Watson began her speech at the launch of the United Nation’s gender equality campaign in New York yesterday, she made a point of addressing every person in the room.

“Your excellencies, UN Secretary General, President of the General Assembly, Executive Director of UN Women, and distinguished guests, today we are launching a campaign called HeForShe.”

Happy International Women’s Day

Today is International Women’s Day – a day to celebrate and embrace femininity, acknowledge our greatest female role models from the past to the present day, and recognise the challenges and tribulations women have faced throughout history and are still facing in the 21st century.