“Work Hard, Play Hard” is commonly used to reflect a healthy work-life balance. But, what happens when work takes over your life? The glorification of overworking has become a normal part of society, with common thinking being that if you work harder you will be more successful. This is echoed by the most ‘successful’ people such as Elon Musk claiming that they work over 120 hours a week.
Read More‘How do you feel about the pandemic and lockdown?’ Horrendous. Awful. Frustrated. Emotional. Angry. Fed up. Bored. Drained. Upset. Scared. Disappointed. Worried. Lost. Stuck. Sad. Annoyed. Anxious.
Read MoreWhen my Mum innocently pointed out I had little rosebuds, I shrunk into myself as best I could. I was around 13. I spent most of the next few years going about in baggy T shirts and bending myself inwards to try to hide my developing body, I was ashamed and embarrassed.
Read MoreThrough my parents’ divorce, I realised my mother was one of the strongest women I know. Fast forward some months after they had announced their legal separation and my mother and I were driving to the gym. She had been trying desperately to engage me in bonding activities and the gym was another to add to the list. As we pulled into the car park, she grasped my hand in between hers and, with tears forming in her eyes, whispered “please don’t hate me”. I paused, unsure how to respond and she continued “I’ve fallen in love…with a woman”.
Read MoreWhile the virus is still very much an ongoing crisis, and it will likely take years to understand the success of different countries’ responses truly, this correlation between female leaders and effective virus responses is hard to ignore.
Read MoreFor years, as a trans person, I have fought against the concept that my very existence is perceived as a political statement. My existence is up for debate. People are asked to vote on my existence. And passively witnessing my gender being treated as an abstract concept is probably what triggered that change. I wanted to embrace the political side of my identity, my gender and take control of that narrative. Understand on all levels what it meant to be a man.
Read More“Covid will act as an accelerator of change. Many people will realise that online courses and remote learning trump's travel, expenses, fees and poor quality of education they’re getting at uni. Uni is for many the worlds’ most expensive dating service, party planner and way to move out of your parents' house” Random Man on LinkedIn.”
Read MoreMany brands, especially on the high-end and luxury side of fashion, have refused to go the e-commerce way and are now battling excess stock they don’t know what to do with. Exclusivity comes with a price, but is our planet worth the spend?
Read MoreWe must continue to use politics to ensure change, as much as we must encourage discussion. Anger at polarising opinions is normal, but we need to become better at discussing things. If the news and current affairs fills you with rage, you definitely are not alone. But instead of ignoring it, turn your anger into knowledge. Without sounding like a massive cliche, young people really are the future of politics and we really have a lot of things to sort out. So, we best start somewhere.
Read MoreIt’s only through accepting and engaging with all the outright rage, anger, grief, sadness, disappointments or resentments that surface in our lives that it becomes truly possible to experience the depths of joy too.
Read MoreThe simple fact of the matter is, that there are implicit biases in the medical industry based on race and gender that directly affect the care that patients receive, this is not a statement; it is a fact. This has a devastating impact on patients, their loved ones and their communities.
Read MoreFor me, I have had my own close call. At nineteen, I entered the worst mental health crisis I have ever experienced. I was paranoid, hallucinating and very suicidal. I reached out for help from mental health services only to be told that “we don’t treat people with your diagnosis”, “we treat people with mental illnesses, not personality disorders”.
Read MoreTime is such an ever-changing concept, and generations before us and generations to come after us will experience such a vast change in societal wants and desires. I recently visited my grandma and grandad respectively on both sides of my family, and tried to delve into their experiences and views of the world, in particular with response to this awful global pandemic that is unfolding before us. It is very easy to assume that our older relatives are so ‘old-fashioned’ to the changing world around them and that their views are subjected to the times they are so used to.
Read MorePeriods are something unique to those of us who bear uteruses and ovaries, and the (mostly white) men who developed western medicine tried their hardest to brush over the fact that their wives and daughters, and half their patients, bled from the vagina every month or so, and that might be something that should be addressed.
Read MoreIf you could visit anywhere in the world of fantasy – where would you go? Would you go down the rabbit hole to Wonderland or fly to Neverland? What about a visit to Mordor or a secret visit to Hogwarts? Perhaps you would visit Winnie the Pooh for a picnic in the Hundred Acre Woods? Just imagine the chance of visiting the Cave of Wonders and finding a genie in a lamp! The possibilities are endless although impossible to visit, your imagination can only take you so far after all – or so I thought.
Read MoreThe 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.
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