Straight Through Processing (STP) is used in almost all industries in the world and is used just as much as the internet. When a person pays for anything using a Credit or Debit card, they are using STP.
Read MoreSeason 14 of RuPaul’s Drag Race has been rightly celebrated for its trans representation. In addition to the series’ laudable trans representation, this latest season has also featured two neurodivergent queens, as Jasmine Kennedie and Orion Story have both revealed (since filming the show) that they have been diagnosed with ADD and ADHD respectively.
Read MoreObjects are designed to break under consumerism, otherwise no one would bother buying new. And when the waste generated by decades of constant buying, breaking, and binning gets too much, we get another spin. We are not doing enough to fix it. We are not good enough at recycling, or at eating vegan, or at sacrificing the convenience we have been told to desire to solve the overwhelming problems of climate change, of poverty, of war.
Read MoreIt is the day of my tahoor, or purification; it is the day that I am to be cut. I am feeling joyous but slightly nervous (and a different feeling I couldn’t quite categorise) about the occasion: the communal ritual which will, in my eyes, make me a woman!
Read MoreIt was only when we started to ease out lockdown that I noticed me declining meetups. It wasn't fuelling me with overwhelming excitement, but rather, fear that there may be food involved. My friends would go out and there would be the spontaneous post of food, and I would think to myself, I bet they are enjoying that ice cream, or that meal that isn't under a certain calorie number.
Read MoreBDSM is frequently captured as a manifestation of misogyny, and its practice is presented as wholly derivative of patriarchal culture. On social media platforms such as TikTok, or more specifically ‘Kink Tok,’ you might find assertations made by women in comment sections, such as: “call me vanilla, but I don’t find violence sexy,” or “why does nobody like vanilla sex anymore?”
Read MoreBefore, I was not a divided person. I took pride in my decisiveness, and my ability to dissect, understand and articulate my own feelings. That was until chronic illness split me down the middle, like a kitchen knife through an overripe avocado.
Read MoreFeminist algorithms on TikTok have sweepingly moved away from meaningful discussions or helpful political praxis anyway, regardless of such internal infiltrations. #Feminist videos now filter through harmful and outdated strands of feminism, which ultimately disguises privilege or which neatly rebrands and repackages misogyny, whilst claiming to be ‘empowering’ women.
Read MoreIt has become a concerning trend that “my anecdote beats your expertise.”
Read MoreDo you remember when we went on a witch-hunt? I spoke of folklore being a huge sub-section of English myth – at least when comparing our tales with different, perhaps more prevalent, mythologies.
Read MoreA weird thing started happening to me a few years ago, I started to become invisible. It wasn’t everywhere or all of the time - in the private sphere of my life I was still very much solid, visible and three dimensional, but I started to notice it happening occasionally on the public stage, like some sort of glitch. Groups of teens and twenty-somethings would start looking through me as I walked along the street towards them. Or I’d stand waving a tenner at the front of a busy bar for what felt like hours whilst the staff served everyone to either side of me.
Read MoreHoneymoon’s first began in 19th century Britain. Newlyweds would travel to visit various relatives who had been unable to attend the wedding, which sounds dreadful and certainly not as relaxing as lying on the beach in the Maldives.
Read MoreThe veil originates from brides wearing them in ancient Rome to protect them from evil spirits. And the garter? Traditionally tossed as “proof” that the couple have consummated their marriage...and worse, the groom has to stick his head up the bride’s dress to remove it with his teeth in front of everyone. I mean, I consider myself pretty sexually liberated, but I am not sure that I want my family and, specifically, my husband’s family to see that.
Read MoreTo all these companies, who claim to be diverse and inclusive, is it just a publicity stunt so that they can maintain their image in front of shareholders and stand out from their competitors? Diversity and inclusion are merely words that carry no weight unless they are put into practice.
Read MoreLeaving aside the vested interests of those who stand to materially benefit from the status quo, let’s assume most people do not want to bring about climate destruction. Fairly uncontroversial. Why is it, then, that we struggle to collectively reckon with its significance?
Read MoreAre people having children without realising what it will mean for their life? Did you feel unprepared for the impact parenting had on your life?
Read MoreThe UK Government’s response to Ukrainians fleeing their country is a conscientious commitment to an ideology piously hostile towards refugees and asylum-seekers. Initially resistant to opening any adequate routes to asylum, the government has resolutely maintained their stance on requiring visas for those escaping Putin’s aggression. Every other country in Europe has waived them.
Read MoreIs plastic surgery a symptom of a patriarchal society or should we let women do whatever they want with their bodies?
Read MoreBeing Wiccan isn’t about the fancy altars or acquiring vast amounts of knowledge. I know that it requires me to just exist in the world, and harm none. All I have to do is be present, and find joy in the world – and if that’s in the middle of a supermarket, then so be it.
Read MoreAt the end of February 2022, government ministers announced a controversial set of plans to make over the requirements for student loans in the UK, to address the so-called ‘crisis’ of student loan debt in the country.
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