A slightly more macabre wassailing tradition takes place in Wales, the Mari Lwyd. Mari, who’s head is made from the skull of a horse, with baubles for eyes and flowing ribbons for mane, is operated by a long pole hidden under the white sheet that acts as her body. Snapping her jaw at passers-by, she leads a procession around the town going from house to house. The terrifying nature of the Mari Lwyd is only exaggerated by the fact that she is sometimes so tall that she can knock upon the second-floor windows (Firestone, 1978).

51% of industry workers are burnt out from the holidays, so is it a holly-jolly Christmas after all? Overworked, understaffed, and high expectations. What’s going to give?

When I became disabled, one of the things that I struggled the most with was just how much my life changed, practically overnight. 

It wasn't just that I was adapting to no longer being a healthy, able-bodied person, but I was also suddenly transitioning from being able to do so much, so easily, to having a mountain of access needs that had to be fulfilled in order for me to do anything. 

You’ve been with your partner for a long time, but your sex life has been dwindling. Weeks turn into months of no sex and you’re starting to wonder what you’ve done wrong. I’m here to tell you that you’re not alone.

Country is back in. From fashion trends (flannel, denim, cowboy boots, fringes, and leather) to music and art, country is truly having a revival. But what some people may not know is the history of cowboys and that Queer Western is also enjoying the limelight.

When you don’t have children of your own, the entire premise of this article being written by someone who knows nothing of the experiences being written about could potentially be a touch scathing, maybe even absurd. Of course they are! I write this to the little girl inside of me, who had so many questions for her mother growing up.

As a nervous and superstitious child, I was convinced that the English countryside was stalked by escaped wild cats and phantasmic black dogs. Whether this notion could be tied to some deep-rooted connection with my ancestors that channelled my psychic awareness or the fact that I was exposed to the 2002 film ‘Dog Soldiers’ too early as a child one Christmas Eve, I couldn’t tell you.

The fan in a woman’s body has been seen as “crazy” ever since the times of Elvis Presley or The Beatles – and yet we still forget that exactly these people are one hell of a force.

But from colonial influence and globalisation, Type 2 Diabetes is now a huge issue and is the overall biggest killer of Mexicans. You are more likely to be killed by diabetes in Mexico than Narcos. People in Chiapas alone, drink an average of 2.5 litres of coca cola in a day.” 

According to this article from the BBC , “Data from Statista shows that the baby and child skincare market is expected to experience an annual growth rate of about 7.71% until in 2028, it reaches $380m (£299m) in market volume worldwide…This isn’t just about young kids trying their mums’ creams, but an industry expanding to reach a broader age spread of consumers.”

A large part of getting ready for school involved taming my unruly curls in order to ‘look presentable’. My grandma would oil my hair with coconut hair oil, her fingers expertly weaving their way through the knots in my hair to reach the scalp. After this, came the painful process of running a comb through my hair to get rid of the knots. I remember squealing in pain as the comb worked hard to straighten my stubborn curls.

Those first few weeks, even months, are so special. You and your partner are just in your own little bubble with this gorgeous little baby that you have spent months waiting for. Nothing can compete with those first moments; watching their hair grow, those first sparks of a personality. But what most aren't prepared for, like myself, is when ‘the bubble’ pops.

After a full year of experiencing wedding merriment at full capacity, I started feeling the financial pinch (to say the least). Between us, my partner and I attended seven weddings in 2023, and he acted as best man or groomsman in a number of them. We worked it out: all these weddings cost the two of us nearly £5,000.

Picture this: you’re finally pregnant and expecting your first child after years of people extolling the virtues of having children. Suddenly, the narrative is flipped, it’s no longer the best thing to ever happen to you. Unfortunately, you are now doomed to live a joyless life of servitude to said child. It almost feels as though you have been duped, scammed into some sort of parenthood pyramid scheme from which there is no escape.

Figures suggest that in the UK, 76% of 15-24 year olds that are active online are using the video-sharing app. Across the pond, it's thought that 25% of US users are under 19 years old. Evidently a huge market for retailers to target. 

The plan to head towards Redcliffe to protect those at the Mercure hotel threw things into further chaos, splitting groups up leading to worse violence. Coined the Battle of Bristol Bridge, police had the far-right groups cornered on one side of the bridge and the counter-protesters on the other; while all police efforts were focused on keeping the two groups apart on Bristol Bridge some key members of the anti-racism protesters found their way ahead to Mercure. 

Margot Robbie’s Schroedinger-esque sexiness – at once sexy and unsexy, depending on which film you press “play” to – encapsulates something more important. A multi-millionaire, talented actress/producer/director like Margot, or a billionaire singer-songwriter like Taylor Swift, can take a break from work without worrying about making ends meet, and can build a protective network around themselves where they are safe. 

The current system for diagnosing breast cancer is the mammography screening program, which invites women for an X-ray scan of their breasts once every 3 years after they turn 50, until the age of 71. At first glance, this seems entirely logical. The system has been in place since 1988, it must be effective. But why are so many women dying of breast cancer? Why are their tumours not being found earlier?

His stubbled cheek brushed lightly against mine as he moved his lips so close to my ear that they sent a shiver down my spine. With his deep, gravely voice, he whispered these endlessly romantic words: you’re pretty fuckable for a fat chick. 

We all too often forget that we are all souls having a human experience. Death is a common denominator; we all come to experience it and at many times the world over, we have all been united by it. Opening up conversation about death, loss, and how we experience grief could be an awakening for us; an incredible revolution. 

Too old to work, too old to attract a mate, too old to bear children. Without realising it, I was getting ready to die. I was finished.

Except I wasn’t.

More than this though, I felt unheard and confused because nobody was really listening to me. I felt like I was pushed from department to department, with no communication between anyone. I was dealing with being a new Mum, the pandemic, and my illness, but it was up to me to be persistent, to listen to my body. I dread to think what would have happened if I had not acted like I did.

Does she want to go travelling and to see the world? Does she want to leave Bristol and move to London with her best friend? Does she want to tend a garden and start making homemade pesto? Or does she want to be licking a shot from a strangers belly button in Ibiza? Does she want to be a high-flying corporate GirlBoss or does she want to live in the forest and wear floaty skirts? Does she want safety? Or excitement? I saw the world in a set of binaries. One or another.

Commenting on other people's bodies, or rather, refraining from doing so, is a topic increasingly circulating not only on image-heavy platforms like Instagram, but also in the collective consciousness. The more people I meet, the more I realise that attitudes are changing, or at least, some thought is being invested into what is and is not acceptable or appropriate to say to someone about how they look.

We live in a society where love is overly romanticised. Love is most often seen (incorrectly) as everlasting relationships, ‘till death do us part’. There are thousands of books and movies – like Pride and Prejudice – that sell us the dream of ‘happily ever after’, but does happily ever after even exist? Is it just a marketing gimmick? After all, love sells and sells well.

It is these types of questions that could help feminists grapple with over a decades’ old debate: How do we delineate between what is pornographic content filled with sexual menace and what accounts only as sexual fantasy?

We’ve reached the magic seventh instalment of ‘Sacred England’, our series that seeks out mythology in English places – but what even is mythology, anyway?

Ah Naked Attraction – we love it, we hate it… my Nan once confessed she watches it when my Grandad goes to bed.