The coronavirus crisis has led to the most significant economic recession since The Great Depression. Worldwide unemployment is likely to climb to a level unseen in almost a hundred years. The less wealthy, young people and women are all likely to be disproportionately affected by the economic impacts. How bad are we really talking though?
Read MoreSome of you might shiver when hearing this word: feminist. You might think it’s not for you – you being a woman or a man. You might think that we don’t need it anymore; women have rights now. Or, if you’re a man, you might simply think you have nothing to do with it - you can’t be feminist by definition, and we don’t want you here anyway. Right?
Read MoreThere’s this problem in being blissfully unaware, as I imagine so many white people are. It raises the issue that after a while, it’s not enough to sit around saying ‘I’m not actively racist, and against racist people, therefore I don’t need to get involved’. This legitimises systemic racism and also panders to the idea that racism is the victims’ issue to resolve which, sadly, is kind of the status quo. It’s embedded in us; even in chess - white goes first.
Read MoreCisgendered ‘gender roles’, and indeed the performance of gender altogether, has formed the basis of the family unit for years. At its most basic, men are expected to be powerful, leading figures, while women must be subservient and completely charming.
Read MoreAs single mother to a little boy, I must confess that I have an addiction and I hope that it is one I will never be cured of. The awe and anticipation that travelling the world brings, plus all the lessons along the way, is a passion that I cannot escape and one that I am determined to pass onto my son.
Read MoreLike flares drifting through a dark sky, these little moments of goofiness light up the monotony of lockdown. It might be a daydreamy waltz around the kitchen while waiting for the kettle to boil, or tuneless yodelling floating from the bathroom while the shower runs.
Read MoreCummings-gate feels like the typical case of disparity between those living in a high-rise block versus those with privilege which can freely travel to a spare house in the countryside.
Read MoreForget about gender gap, is there such thing as a “health gap”? It seems like the healthier you are the more likely you are to be given fair opportunities and to move up the career ladder. Suddenly, having a masters degree from a top university doesn’t matter as long as you have a health condition, your intelligence and capabilities don’t outweigh your disability.
Read MoreI’ve always thought of myself as a spontaneous person. One day when I was 17 I logged onto my UCAS account and rejected all my university offers (much to my mother’s despair) in favour of going to theatre school to study sound and lighting design.
Read MoreI love this saying. Instead of using phrases such as ‘inner demons’, I like to use ‘inner saboteur’ (IS). I first heard this whilst watching RuPaul’s Drag Race, as Ru often uses it to console queens when he spots they’re self-sabotaging and wants them to identify the root cause of why that may be. Our IS can represent lots of things - our doubts, our control, our lack of trust, our inner critique, our expectations, our limiting labels of ourselves and of course, our insecurities.
Read MoreMeriel Talbot, a civil servant working in the ministry of Agriculture, had a solution, she formed the Women’s Land Army on behalf of the government. This was a group of young women dedicated to producing food in this country, and despite only being formed 2 and a half years after it started, over 23,000 women had signed up by the end of WW1.
Read MoreFor much of my life I’ve suffered from anxiety. Eczema. Pins and needles. Overwhelming emotions. It’s come out in various forms. However in the last six months I’ve experienced a continuous wave of hypochondriasis.
Read MoreIt seems that NHS is planning a longterm future for its own application. Will we be ready for the ‘new normal’? Lots are the worries coming from academics and privacy experts. An app of this kind is a powerful tool that could give authorities additional surveillance powers. Something difficult to renounce. In an open letter to Google, 300 academics from around the globe expressed their worries about the jeopardisation of our privacy due to “mission creep”. This will result with “systems which would allow unprecedented surveillance of society at large” the letter said. Reflecting upon this point, Snowden described it as the creation of “the architecture of oppression”.
Read MoreHave you ever been in a situation where you find yourself singing the Sesame Street classic: one of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn’t belong, can you tell which thing is not like the others?
Read MoreTo this day, I’m still not quite sure how I survived all my housemates at university. Before going to university, I never thought I would struggle so much to understand and be understood by other people but living in a house with a bunch of psychopaths really changes your perspective. And trust me, I don’t use that word lightly.
Read MoreWe are programmed to think that if we are not constantly ready to drop everything for our employers, that we will be seen as lazy. It’s not the case. Just as your employers would not expect you to be taking personal calls or replying to emails from friends whilst being paid to do your job, they need to remember (or be subtly reminded) that you should not be doing your job when you are not being paid. It’s that simple.
Read MoreBlackness is the poetry of vulnerable masculinity and love in 2Pac’s poetry. It’s the blues, hip hop, R&B, garage, grime and sound system culture that we composed with the stories of our experiences. Its the classic 2-step we all know so well. Blackness is ‘our universe of experiences’.
Read MoreCovid19 has caused disruption for everyone around the world, and has created an incredibly challenging time for humankind as a whole. The deadly virus and its affects have cost us greatly, and caused much chaos. But out of chaos, comes great change.
Read MorePlants will gift each other whimsical books such as How Not To Kill Your Human. The verdant fields of England will extend before them… Growth can be supplemented with fertilisers, the most popular being Red Stripe which increases libido and thus guarantees increased pollination.
Read MoreIf we are honest with ourselves, particularly in these uncertain times, we all would say that we want more peace of mind, compassion, calmness, happiness, gratitude, intuition, relaxation, balance, courage, healing energy or to just be present with ourselves... Sounds good doesn’t it? And that’s exactly what meditation can offer.
Read More
