This is essentially a Fleabag fan blog now; deal with it. I think I’ve always been angry. Certainly since adolescence; I threw almighty strops as a teen and my mum used to say, “God, you’re so angry – what’s wrong with you?” Looking back, I see it clearly: I was a shitty teenager, that’s all,… Continue reading The feelings gap
Category: feminism
Latest good stuff, April 2019
Daisy Jones & The Six, Taylor Jenkins Reid Oh, this was a riot. Sheer joy that took me less than 48 hours to devour. It’s essentially a fictionalised version of how Fleetwood Mac made Rumours – 1970s’ California, a wildly successful rock band, all the drink, drugs and drama you’d expect, and at the heart… Continue reading Latest good stuff, April 2019
But then it’s magnificent…
Sometimes, I want a fairy godmother. Not a magical one who’s going to turn the 29 bus into a horse-drawn carriage and my jeans and H&M t-shirt into a swishy frock – a real one. Part Jilly Cooper, part Polly from Peaky Blinders. Someone who’s lived a few different lives, inhabited a few different roles,… Continue reading But then it’s magnificent…
Tumblr-ing down
A few weeks ago, Labour MP Jess Phillips commented that one of the ways sex education could be improved is by discussing female pleasure. “We should be telling girls about orgasms during sex education,” she said in an interview with Grazia. “I’m not suggesting we teach children how to masturbate, I’m suggesting we talk to them… Continue reading Tumblr-ing down
Latest good stuff, November 2018
It took me two months to read At Home In The World – partly because I’ve had rather a lot on, and partly because, well, it doesn’t so much get under your skin as work its way into your blood vessels and scratch at you from the inside. Joyce Maynard was trained to write like… Continue reading Latest good stuff, November 2018
Choose your camp?
A few days ago, I became one of those awful people who starts a conversation with a stranger on public transport. Ordinarily, I’d say there’s a circle in Hell reserved for these shameless types, but sometimes you overhear a morsel that’s so gosh-darn up your street that you’ve chimed in before you’ve realised what’s happening.… Continue reading Choose your camp?
So much left to do
Sometimes I like to play a little game with myself called, “What would a world designed by women look like?” (I know; I’m great fun at parties.) The first things that jump to mind are always fairly minor inconveniences, like high shelves and heavy doors. Shop space designed by women would surely bring the higher… Continue reading So much left to do
Leave no woman behind
I know I’ve been something of a one-issue pony over the last week or so, but funnily enough, as a woman, a referendum in a country just across the water on whether women should be forced to continue with pregnancies they don’t want feels quite personal. I don’t buy the often-trotted-out line that “feminism will… Continue reading Leave no woman behind
The houseguest
If you invite someone into your home, you do so because you want them there. If they turn violent, start to smash your belongings and pose a danger to you, you’re entitled to make them leave, or call for help. If someone breaks into your home – kicks the door down, batters their way in,… Continue reading The houseguest
Trust women: repeal the 8th
Women are experts at hiding things. Trust me on this. We hide pain and blood on a monthly basis. We hide our fear when we’re out after dark. We hide our feelings when we think that guy we’re into is being a jerk but we can’t quite be sure, maybe he’s just a bit like… Continue reading Trust women: repeal the 8th