Good Stuff: Links & Likes

I have a semi-regular feature called Good Stuff, which highlights the blog posts and other internet loveliness I've enjoyed. So, for today's Blog Love theme, I thought I'd write about the stuff that's floated my boat recently.

Alice continues to post amazing writing of her own, but I also loved this link she provided recently: Why I Don't Believe In Dressing For My Body Type.

Anyone who's been following Sarah's pregnancy story couldn't help but be overjoyed at the news she'd given birth to Matilda on 21st April. Her birth story is awe-inspiring reading (and damn, that baby is cute).

While Sarah is on maternity leave from blogging, a few of us stepped in with guest posts. I wrote about how to get more real mail, Siobhan shared her story of relocating with no jobs in place, and I loved Elise's post about the benefits of being crafty.

As someone who really struggles to get halfway decent outfit pictures even in the privacy of my own home, these tips from Amber (via Becky) on how to take photographs in public should come in very handy.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you'll have heard about the Protein World 'Beach Body' controversy. The Escapologists Daughter was behind the first protests and wrote about what happened here and here. Of course, because we live in a shitty world, she's been inundated with criticism, insults and trolls ever since. She didn't need to answer them, but she chose to do so in a wonderful post: Stuff I'd Start Movements About. Honestly, I find the younger generation of feminists so inspiring in their willingness to take action when they see inequality.

I loved these beautiful portraits of LGBTQ folk.

Louisa put together a helpful list (with map) of the charity shops in Bath.

Bustle's collection of plus size women in lingerie is inspiring as fuck. Never let it be forgotten that just being confident about and happy with your fat body is a radical act.

Good stuff: Links & likes

First of all, I just want to say thanks to everyone who commented or got in touch about Friday's post. I'm honestly fine, but I think we all have days when the crap stuff gets to us and that was one of those days! I was really interested to hear how many of you agree with me about honesty in blogging - people who are open about life not being all unicorns and flowers are generally so much more interesting to me, and it seems to you guys too. Anyway, I was really humbled by how many of you took time to reach out, so thank you.

The Poke's guide to washing machine symbols (above) had me snorting with laughter. "Too many tennis balls" might become my new catch-all phrase for a fuck-up.

Annika is writing some brilliant stuff recently: this, on body policing, is so great - I wish I'd had her confidence in my early twenties - and her open letter to cat-calling men is equally fantastic.

My friend Alice has been writing a series of raw, honest and powerful posts about being in recovery from an eating disorder.

Tattooed senior citizens prove that your ink will still look awesome when you're old. As I've just had the large piece on my arm extended - and wobbled slightly about whether I was making a mistake, while actually in the chair - this made me pretty happy.

I loved Sophie's nine ideas to brighten someone's day.

Yes, yes, yes to this brilliant piece: I'm queer no matter who I'm dating.

Alex is so right, we wouldn't talk to our worst enemy the way we talk to ourselves: Being less of a bitch to myself. 

International Women's Day & the problem of solidarity

Image source here

It was wonderful to wake up this morning to a timeline of tweets about International Women's Day; I well remember the years when the day passed unremarked upon, except for the rare appearance in The Guardian or Independent. However, amongst the tweets discussing oppression and discrimination around the world and highlighting the work of amazing women, were one or two more abstract comments that troubled me.

"On International Women's Day, we need to help women work together not against each other."

"IWD is for all the women who support other women, not bring them down ."

I have several problems with such statements, not least the inference, common in discussions about feminism, that if only women would work together, if only we'd stop being such bitches to each other, then all our problems would be solved. While solidarity is important, there are far greater barriers to equality - namely the global oppression of, and violence against, women borne out of systemic patriarchy and misogyny - than women failing to be relentlessly positive about everything their 'sisters' do and say. There is something uncomfortably victim-blaming about the notion that if only women would be nicer to each other, gender-based inequality could be solved. It lays the blame for our oppression at our own feet and absolves men both individually and collectively.

I also think the notion of supporting women purely based on their gender is problematic. Am I meant to cheer the political advancement of Theresa May or Nicky Morgan, when their policies are so opposed to my own politics and so damaging to women generally? When May presides over a department that tacitly approves the sexual abuse of women refugees at Yarl's Wood Detention Centre? When Morgan votes for restricting abortion access while working as Equalities Minister? I have more cause for solidarity with Owen Jones, who this week was the victim of vile homophobic and sexual harassment by TERFs (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists) for writing in support of transgender rights in The Guardian. Does placing myself against women who would perpetuate such hatred and harassment and standing in solidarity with a man make me a bad woman, a bad feminist?  Feminism is a movement as well as an individual label. While I will always have solidarity with those who fight - in word and deed - alongside me within that movement, expecting me to support all women based purely on their gender is neither realistic nor fair. It would be akin to expecting Tony Benn to show solidarity with Nigel Farage (the whole being-dead thing not withstanding).

On International Women's Day, I believe the focus needs to be on the fantastic and radical work of groups such as Sisters Uncut; the discussion about girls right to education around the world to which Malala Yousafzai has contributed so much; the pioneering work done by young women in their communities to tackle FGM. These are the women-supporting-women that I am interested in. This is with whom I stand in solidarity.

Made: Slogan embroidery hoop

I love having words - be they lyrics, quotes, slogans, or lines from books - displayed in my home. So when I was trying to think of ideas for a DIY gift swap I'm doing at the moment, it was inevitable that one of the gifts would involve words. In this case, embroidered words.

Sitting by the fire with the hoop in my lap, carefully sewing, was a lovely way to spend a cold afternoon. And although I know we all decided long ago that there's nothing inherently anti-feminist about crafts, it still felt gloriously subversive to be embroidering this slogan. After making two of these - one to send and one to keep - I'm already planning what other alliterative hoops I could make... 'Vegan with a vengeance' next, perhaps?

You will need:
1 embroidery hoop
A piece of fabric just larger than your hoop
A skein of embroidery thread, preferably in a bright or contrasting colour
2 or three buttons
Text to trace
A fabric marker
(And, of course, a needle)

1. Write out your text (I used the font English 157 BT in size 92 on Microsoft Word) and print.
2. Place your fabric over the paper and trace the words using the fabric marker. Depending on the thickness and colour of your fabric, you may need to do this against a window or light box.
3. Unscrew the hoop and place your fabric over the smaller of the two. Top with the larger hoop and tighten the screw.
3. Thread your needle with two strands of thread (or one long strand that you double up) and knot.
4. Using split stitch, stitch along your letters, trying to cover as much of the fabric marker as possible (although this will fade over time, it obviously looks a lot neater if you cover it with your embroidery). The split stitch - where you loop backwards with each new stitch to split the last one before stitching forwards - can be fiddly to begin with but is extremely satisfying once you get into a rhythm.
5. When you've finished your slogan or song lyric, choose a couple of contrasting buttons and sew onto a corner of your hoop.
6. Cut the excess fabric away from the edges of your hoop, then stand back and admire!

Good stuff: Links & likes

Storage pot DIY: image source & © Make Do & Spend

There's been some pretty great stuff around the internet these past couple of weeks. Sometimes, when I'm putting together a links post, I struggle for material. Not so this time.

First up, Buzzfeed's piece imagining Hermione was the main character of the Harry Potter series -  renamed Hermione Granger and the Goddamm Patriarchy - is nothing short of genius. "Not all wizards, right?"

I loved E's post on getting organised, especially her super easy DIY storage pots. How great does her spare room look now?

The Militant Baker's article, about why people hate happy fat people, is just brilliant. I loved her notion of 'body currency' and the ways in which people feel ripped off, cheated, when someone doesn't participate in the expected battles with their body; when they don't strive for a media-created idea of perfection. Anyway, instead of listening to me summing it up, go read it.

Louisa's Tunnock's teacakes coasters look amazing, and simple to make too.

This piece - How Should An Abortion Be? - from Gawker is a much more nuanced and detailed look at some of the issues I raised in my post a couple of weeks ago. Essential reading.

Sarah wrote a superb take-down of the argument that feminists shouldn't care about the #NoMorePage3 campaign because 'there are bigger issues to worry about'.

Elise's series on her favourite blogs is a great source of new reading (and no, I'm not just mentioning it because she name-checked me. Although that was nice).

I know I definitely fall into a blog rut - not so much with regard to writing here (although that happens too!), but in terms of the other blogs I'll comment on or the bloggers I interact with on the regular. This post about blogging acts of kindness was therefore a welcome reminder of the nice things I can do as a blog reader (via Becky).

A MASSIVE thank you to all of you who've posted and tweeted about the Big Blog Clothes Swap. Don't forget that sign-up is open until 9th February, and we're especially in need of size 14+ swappers.

Finally, I've been having a tough time at work lately. I think all educators go through phases of wondering why we bother; feeling like the battle to get kids learning might not be worth the cost it inflicts on us. And then Humans Of New York began a series about a middle school in Brooklyn and every night I get home from school, look at his latest pictures and read the captions, and cry. It's an incredibly powerful series, one that really reminds me just why I do the job. If you haven't been following, scroll back to 20th January and look at the first photo of Vidal speaking about his principal, Ms Lopez. Then work your way forwards, through each incredible story, and the fundraising that's gone on, and I defy you to stay dry-eyed.

Why talking about our abortions is important

"I have yet to meet a woman who was 'pro-abortion,' the same is true for 'pro-mastectomy' or 'pro-hysterectomy.' Unfortunately, these procedures are sometimes what a woman needs."
                                From Every Third Woman In America by Dr. David Grimes

When Nicki Minaj shared the story of her abortion in a Rolling Stone interview recently, I wanted to cheer. Why? It's not like an abortion is a happy time in a woman's life, so why would I be so glad Minaj was discussing hers?

Here's why: it's estimated that in the US and UK, one woman in three will have an abortion at some point in her life. And yet it's a topic almost totally shrouded in secrecy, our personal decisions made shameful by silence.

Abortion happens for all sorts of reasons: the stereotype of the feckless teenager who didn't use contraception is far from the truth. In fact, the 'typical' abortion patient is a woman in her mid-twenties who has experienced contraception failure*. There is also a significant number of women in their 30s and 40s who seek abortions, and in 2013 in England & Wales, 1% of abortions were carried out due to fetal abnormalities**. Although abortion rates are falling in both the US and UK - due largely to improved access to free contraception - that statistic of one in three women has held true for the last twenty years. It is therefore extremely likely that a woman close to you either has already had, or will have, an abortion.

When I was 21 I had two abortions, very close together. The first because we'd been careless with contraception (yep, I was that feckless stereotype I'm afraid, albeit not quite a teenager); the second because the contraceptive pill - taken religiously since the first abortion - failed. For very many reasons I was not capable of becoming a parent at that point in my life. Safe, legal, free abortion provision meant that I was able to move on from a bad relationship, get help with my mental health problems, graduate university and become a happy, fully functioning member of society.

There is currently a cultural dialogue - especially prevalant on 'mommy blogs' - around miscarriage that suggests it's important to talk about it when you experience it, so people can understand how widespread pregnancy loss is. Sarah wrote a brilliant post in which she interrogates that idea and persuasively argues that it's all down to personal choice: you get to decide who you tell and when you tell them, not some internet strangers insisting it's important. And I wholeheartedly agree with this in relation to abortion too. Some women will never feel comfortable discussing their abortions, and that's fine. When we talk about being pro-choice, that must include women having the choice of what they divulge. However, for those of us with big mouths (like me), or who don't mind talking about their abortions (like Minaj), it's important to recognise that by doing so we can help further the pro-choice movement while perhaps making things easier for other women to talk about their own experiences.

I've always talked about my experience with abortion. At first, when they were a recent memory, I worked through my feelings by talking - often relentlessly - about what had happened. Now I try and be more circumspect, mostly because so many women I know are facing fertility problems and/or pregnancy loss. Even so, I will happily refer to my abortions in general conversation: on a recent blogger meet-up, for example, we were chatting about tattoos and I casually referred to the ones I'd had done as a sort of memorial, post-abortion. Only once the words were out did I stop to consider whether it was appropriate (at which I mentally shrugged my shoulders and decided I didn't care).

As anti-choice*** legislation (almost overwhelmingly put forward by male legislators) becomes an ever-more pressing a problem in the USA, Europe and even the UK, it's important that women start to talk about their experience of abortion. Studies have shown that one of the single biggest factors in making a man pro-choice is when they learn that women close to them have in the past accessed abortion services. By silencing ourselves we reinforce the idea that abortion is something shameful and secret, and we lose the chance to demonstrate just how essential having agency over our own bodies is.

* Source: Every Third Woman In America by Dr. David Grimes
** Source: Department of Health Abortion Statistics, England & Wales 2013
*** I use 'anti-choice' because I believe the term 'pro-life' to be a misnomer for a movement that prioritises the survival of a cluster of cells over a grown woman's life (see, for example, the tragic case in Ireland of Savita Halappanava, who died in hospital after doctors - fearful of the country's stringent laws that ban abortion - denied her request for a life-saving termination)

Good stuff: Links & likes

Image source here and © Rachael

One of my goals for 2015 is to make more, so this cross stitch writing tool will be perfect for doing some cute cross stitch quotes (via Rachael).

Weirdly, the same day I posted a piece about PETA on The Hungry Vegan, Fat Gay Vegan also wrote a piece. If you've ever been disappointed that an organisation purportedly interested in social justice perpetuates the oppression of women in their advertising, I'd suggest taking a read.

How amazing is this book clutch how-to, from A Beautiful Mess? Definitely goes to the top of the to-make list.

I loved this piece by author Jenny Colgan on the "little parcels of cheer" that make her happy.

Kirsty has very kindly made a free-to-print version of her recent mini-zine about how to organise a clothes swap: go forth and swap!

I'm a bit late with this, but Sarah came up with an ace list of 31 things to do in January. I find small goals like this so much more achievable than vague resolutions such as, "Get fit."

An inspiring piece from The Guardian about the local men and women working on the frontline of Ebola care in Sierra Leone.

Good stuff: Links & likes

On The Hungry Vegan we've been baking Christmas Pfefferkuchen and Earl Grey Tea Loaf, and reviewing awesome vegan fast food joint, V Revolution in Manchester.

Why the notion of detoxing is a myth. An important read as we approach January and the season of 'detox diets'.

I seem to be featuring Sarah here a lot lately, but So Your Friend Is Spending Christmas Alone? is full of great advice.

A reminder that the Refuge gift list is still active at John Lewis - use list number 609505 and treat someone who'll be spending this festive season in a women's shelter.

Crysta's post - 8pm On Some Idle Tuesday - is just lovely, I do enjoy reading about happy news.

Nova just opened an online store selling her artwork on stickers, cushions and the like.

A great piece on why - in the narratives around adoption - we need to focus more on adoptees, as well as adoptive parents (found via Charlotte).

And finally something to cheer you: the badass women of 2014 you may not have heard about.

Good stuff: Links & likes

Image source

Roxane Gay and Lindy West on the Bill Cosby rape allegations are righteous and brilliant, as always.

Sarah's piece on loss and family is amazing and moving and you need to read it now. Out of all my friends who aren't childfree by choice, I know of only one who hasn't experienced either infertility or miscarriage. It's an issue that will affect the majority of couples at some point, yet it's hardly ever discussed. Kudos to Sarah for putting it out there.

I sort of rolled my eyes a little at all of the talk of 'community' and 'inspiration' in this post (I'm sorry - I'm a misanthropic loner and and Englishwoman, I can't help it), but these ideas for creating and giving thoughtful gifts with friends are excellent.

Andrea once again hitting it out of the park with this superb rant about benefits 'scroungers'. There is something profoundly wrong with a society that thinks its weakest and poorest members need punishing while handing billions upon billions to the rich.

One of my bugbears is when dads in charge of their kids are said to be "babysitting". Nope nope fucking nope: if they're his kids, he's not babysitting, he's performing the most basic of his duties as a parent. And on a similar note, this is a great post on why the washing up is a feminist issue: "If you do exactly half of the housework and you never moan about it or expect unnecessary thanks, then you are good. But not ‘good’ in the sense that ‘you get to sit on a moral high horse and shout at women who are frustrated by the traditionally unequal split of household chores’, just ‘good’ in the sense that ‘you meet the minimum standards of human decency.' " Warning - the post is on Girl On The Net, which contains NSFW content.

The magazines I've been reading lately

It's not always easy to find decent print media if you're after more than the diet tips, high end fashion, and articles about botox that seem to proliferate in mainstream women's mags. I do quite like Oh Comely and Frankie but they can be a tad hipster at times, and I've always found their focus on young, skinny white women in their fashion spreads disappointing.

There are, however, alternatives out there if you look hard enough...

When B, E & I visited Laura in Nottingham last month, we popped into Ideas On Paper, which specialises in esoteric mags and journals from around the world. I picked up a copy of Things & Ink, which I hadn't heard of before. A quarterly magazine aimed specifically at women and covering tattoo culture, I loved the interiors shoot (I'm always up for a nosy at other people's houses) and the stunning images of - what else? - tattoos. An article on the current trend for Disney tattoos was thought-provoking and explicitly addressed it from a feminist perspective. At £6.95, Things & Ink isn't cheap, and obviously has a fairly niche audience, but I'll certainly pick up another issue should I see it in future.

I quite understand why someone who doesn't identify as lesbian, bi or queer might not think to pick up a copy of Diva, but I honestly think they're missing out. Diva provides the only truly radical, left wing, feminist voice in mainstream women's publishing. Recent issues have included articles on the Health At Every Size movement, the history of squatting, why more women are freezing their eggs, and a brilliant piece on privilege. If you're interested in critical feminist perspectives or queer politics, it's a must-read.

Bitch began as a Riot Grrrl fanzine back in 1996 and has grown over the years to encompass an entire non-profit organisation running out of Portland, Oregon. The content skews slightly towards more academic writing - it's accessible, yes, but it'll make you think. I especially loved a recent piece on how food trends are a form of gentrification, often taking foodstuffs that poorer minorities have as a staple, making them trendy and thus pushing prices beyond the means of the original buyers. Their book, music and film reviews are always a great starting point when I'm seeking out new media and their frequent subscriber offers make it affordable to have the quarterly issues sent directly to you.

Bust is of a similar generation to Bitch (it started in New York in 1993) and explicitly apes the look and content of a mainstream women's magazine, but from a feminist perspective. When a friend visited us recently, he flicked through it for a while before exclaiming, "Hey! This is a feminist mag not a trashy one!", which is both the strength and weakness of Bust. If, like me, you love traditional print media and want a decent alternative to Glamour or Cosmo, then Bust is great. However, it can sometimes feel just a tad too glossy - being a subscriber to Bitch at the same time offers me the balance of more in-depth analysis along with the pretty photoshoots, travel articles and celeb interviews. Bust is also particularly strong on craft, cooking and fashion (all with an alternative perspective, such as their regular food contributor being vegan chef Isa Chandra Moskowitz).

My Christmas wish list

What I'd really like for Christmas is the destruction of patriarchy, a Green/SNP coalition at next year's General Election, and an end to our reliance on fossil fuels. But other than that, I'm a simple soul: cool prints, feminist anything, a pretty dress, or a slogan tote bag will always be on my list.

1. I so, so want this ace 'Smash patriarchy' t-shirt from Cafe Press. I'm already planning my SS15 wardrobe, which if I have my way will mostly be this tee teamed with a rotation of midi skirts.

2. I already have the Sugar & Vice 'Feminist' necklace but would love this cute brooch to match. It's a mere £7 from Kate's Little Store on Etsy.

3. I'm crazy in love with this lace dress from H&M. How perfect would it be for Christmas Day dinner?

4. The totes from Alphabet Bags are all amazing, but I'm particularly taken with this Hello Sunshine design. Or perhaps I should continue the feminism theme with the Riots Not Diets tote bag from Miss Harry on Etsy, which would go perfectly with my necklace.

5. One of The Boy's nicknames for me is 'Plan It Janet', so this Ok Here's the Plan notebook would be ideal for my lists. And it's 25% off at Debenhams at the moment (thanks to Hook, Line & Sink Her for alerting me to this news - I do love a bargain).

6. Having for years relied on sagging Primark pyjamas, last winter I treated myself to a pair of Fat Face pj trousers and it was a revelation, I tell thee. The quality and comfort is well worth the price tag (particularly as I spend at least 80% of my free time in pyjamas during the winter months). These reindeer ones would be a lovely to wear on Christmas morning.

7. I've had Steal Like An Artist (a guide to creativity) on my book list for ages, and would love to find it in my stocking.

8. Art for my walls is always a good bet - I love black & white photography or anything featuring text and typography. This print from Red Bubble would be perfect in our bedroom.

What's on your Christmas wish list this year?

What I wore: Riots not diets necklace

A while ago I got a yearning for a necklace featuring the classic Riot Grrrl/Fat positive slogan 'Riots Not Diets'. I knew the awesome Sugar & Vice Designs would be able to help me and, sure enough, after a few emails my beautiful custom necklace was in the post.  It's the most glorious saying and one I like to remind myself of whenever I have a body confidence wobble. No diets for me, I'll concentrate my energies on revolution, thank you very much.

A striped Breton top and skinny jeans are my weekend staples at this time of year, teamed with either ballet pumps or brogues. I like the fact that the necklace - together with my lipstick - adds a pop of colour to an otherwise monochrome outfit.

* Striped top: H&M * Jeans: New Look * Tote Bag: Alphabet Bags *

* Shoes: Clarks * Necklace: Sugar & Vice * Lipstick: MAC Ruby Woo *

Good stuff: Links & likes

Image source here

This piece by Jenny Trout about wearing a bikini is just wonderful; I defy you not to laugh out loud. Just a taster:
"The most common concern was my health. Presumably I, as a fat woman, would not know how to properly operate the complicated piece of equipment known as a bikini. What if I strangled in all the straps and ties? What if I became distracted by the complexity of spandex, a substance heretofore unknown to me, and wandered blindly into traffic? What if I ate it?"

Last Saturday's Guardian had a great article about Laura Dodsworth's project to photograph and interview 100 women about their breasts. The stories are incredibly moving and the photographs are powerful (although, predictably but sadly, the below-the-line commenters did not get it at all). There's also a Kickstarter for the production of a book, if you're interested in supporting her work.

Sarah is reliably brilliant but I especially loved her post on living a blogable life. As always, she beautifully articulated many of my own thoughts: in this case, some of the issues with a money-drive, haul-obsessed blogging world.

Considering I have no immediate plans to get wed, I'm far too obsessed with Rock'n'Roll Bride, and this compilation of 44 budget weddings was brilliant, showing how much you can do even on a tiny budget.

While on the subject of weddings, Amy's thoughts on changing her last name really struck a chord with me. I'm quite militant about this: let's just say you would never find me taking a partner's name.

If anyone wants an early Christmas present idea for me, one of these would do nicely, ta.

Have you come across The Every Body Project yet? So much more interesting and inspiring than ordinary street style blogs; I quite often pin a photo and then go on a charity shopping mission to recreate the look.

What I wore: On yer bike

It was the Leicester Skyride yesterday, which is an event that grew out of the Critical Mass cycling movement (when groups of cyclists take over the roads to promote safer cycling).  For the big August Skyride a lot of the roads around the city are closed to traffic but open to bikes, allowing cyclists freedom to zoom around the streets without danger (well, apart from other cyclists.  I almost got taken out by a small boy on a trike).  I'd never done it before but when the day dawned reasonably bright, we decided to give it a go.  Now, most of the Skyriders were dressed in sensible lycra. But not me. I was feeling bored on Sunday morning and decided to go all-out vintage to match my bike.

This polka dot, 40s-style tea dress is from H&M but found in a charity shop.  With my trusty brogues, a slick of red lippy and a Rosie The Riveter-style headscarf, it made for a comfortable and fun outfit.  However, I quickly discovered that a dress with such a flippy skirt was not the most practical cycling garb.  It's amazing that I managed to make it round the whole route without flashing my pants. 

* Dress: Thrifted * Headscarf: ASOS * Necklace: Sugar & Vice * Brogues: Clarks * 

* Sunglasses: New Look * Lipstick: Maybelline Super Stay 24 Colour in Cherry Pie *

Good stuff

I loved this honest and true piece about what we don't talk about when we don't talk about abortion.  I went through a phase of not really shutting up about mine, which was probably tedious for those around me but at least it was better than contributing to the silence around abortion.

A powerful piece on Rana Plaza and #ClothesToDieFor

I have a secret to tell you: I don't understand Tumblr.  It makes me feel like An Old, but I just don't get it.  However, this Tumblr on how to fat-hack your wardrobe is pretty awesome and full of fashion inspiration.

I really really (really) want one of these dresses. Gorgeous or what?

An interesting and thought-provoking piece (from the FT, of all places) on the new wave of feminism.

After reading a piece in Bust and then this, I totally want to go to Antwerp.

Finally, Lost In A Spotless Mind is my new favourite blog for fashion and body image stuff.

Good stuff

I have to apologise for my recent tattoo obsession, but I just loved this post: How tattooing my fat body helped me fall in love with it (link is also the image source).  It's so much what I was trying, and probably failing, to articulate in last week's post about my new tattoo.

Practical steps men can take to support feminism.  So good and so important, I'm pressing it onto every man I know.

A guide to the best times to post on social media. 

This rediscovered, previously unpublished Kathleen Hanna interview is awesome

A lovely story about a letter from Tolkein (and I have to agree with him that, "All teaching is exhausting and depressing".  At least, by this time in the academic year it is!)

Good to see genuinely radical and practical activism going on in London.

A brilliant piece about how using analogies to make a political point is damaging (sorta links to the discussion I was having on here about how PETA exploit women's bodies to promote veganism).

21 inspirational body positive tattoos.

An excellent analysis of the remarkable Rebekah Brooks verdict earlier this week.

The ghettoisation of female writers

Yesterday I visited Housmans, a wonderful radical bookshop just around the corner from Kings Cross Station in London.  I was looking specifically for Penny Red by Laurie Penny, a collection of her writing about politics and dissent, with a focus on her reportage from the protests of 2010/2011.  I wander in and head straight to the largest section in the store, Political Thought.  If they have the book, I'm pretty sure this is where it'll be, alongside other books on the same subject such as Paul Mason's Why It's Kicking Off Everywhere.  I find a pile of Mason's tome but no sign of the Penny book.  I search the P section carefully, then the surrounding shelves, but no luck.  I really want this book, and I want to buy it from an independent, and preferably radical, store, so I do something I almost never do: I ask at the counter.

The bookseller searches his computer and finds that yes, it's in stock.  I'll find it in the Feminism section. Now, this is a little weird, because although Laurie Penny is a vocal feminist and one section (out of five) in the book is a collection of columns about feminism, the remaining four-fifths of the book are general politics.  But fair enough, Penny has written other, explicitly feminist, books, so maybe they just shelve them together?  However, then it gets weirder.  The guy behind the counter and the woman working with him explain that women writers are usually placed in the Feminism section*.  I'll repeat that.  Women writers are placed in the Feminism section.  Never mind the content of the book: if you're a woman, it's off to the Feminism shelves with you.

Now, I'm a believer in the need for Feminism sections in bookshops when they contain books that are explicitly feminist, but in this case I found it intensely problematic.  By putting all books by women into Feminism - in this specific case, a book that would fit perfectly into the Political Thought category - the store seems to imply that men can have political thoughts but women, we can only have our women's issues.

The ghettoisation of women writers is an issue that has been much debated recently.  Shelving books based on the author's gender rather than the content of the book is, like the packaging of novels by female authors with 'girly' covers regardless of their content (implying that anything written by a woman is for women-only, while men's books are for everyone), is all part of an insidious cultural climate that marginalises women and the female experience, treating us like a minority rather than like half of the population.  Not only that, but categorising books this way isolates the women writers and limits their readership.  Because let's face it, even the progressive and politically engaged men I know don't generally look at the Feminism section in bookshops.

Most worrying to me is the fact that this is happening in a radical bookshop: a shop with a fantastic range of books, a wide selection of genuinely feminist texts, a place that you might perhaps expect a more clued-up approach to categorisation.  I wish I didn't have to criticise Housmans because I think it's a vital and rare resource and one which I value greatly, but how disappointing to find that a store which should be an ally is part of the problem.

* They also, to their credit, said they'd recently discussed whether this was the right thing to do.

Good stuff

A very cool article from Impose Magazine about women in music (also the image source).

I cannot tell you how very badly I want to go to something like this.

I really love The Militant Baker (self-billed Body Advocate, Fat Chick & Feminist), and these photographs of hers are utterly beautiful.

I definitely need to make a DIY book clutch bag.

Five idiotic travel tips you should avoid: all so true.  The number of times I've heard, "Don't you worry about travelling in Africa on your own?", the implication being that don't I worry about being mugged/knifed/raped?

As the daughter of immigrants from South Africa, I very much related to Crysta's post - Benefit Claiming Immigrants - about moving to the UK.

* Thanks to Jenny, Bitch Media, Charlotte for links *

Good stuff

With the weather this month so nice, and not much interesting on at the cinemas, it looks like for the second months running I won't manage a proper Seen... post.  So I'll use this forum to tell you that you absolutely must try to see We Are The Best.  Set in Stockholm in 1982, this story of 13 year-old wannabe punks Bobo, Karla and Hedvig is just wonderful.  Incredibly funny and heart-warming, I don't think I've ever seen anything that quite so perfectly captures girls friendships and what it's like to be in a gang of outsiders.  I just loved it, to the extent that I almost cried when it was over... purely because it had finished.  After a quick Twitter poll, I think I've also established that every girl spends their life wanting to be a Karla, but feels like a Bobo.

I'm a huge fan of Sarra Manning's YA fiction, so I loved this from her blog (is it bad that - at the age of almost 36 - pretty much every one applies to me, especially numbers 11 & 13?), and also her recent article in defence of teenage girls.

Have you seen the Feminist Frank meme yet? So funny.

Although I tend to eye-roll at anything that begins, "Why women do x" (the answer generally being, for the exact same bloody reason men do x), I really liked this article, by novelist Jenn Ashworth, about women and tattoos.  I particularly loved this:
"When a woman makes her own mark on it, she isn't quite as available to receive whatever fantasies you might want to project on to her. If skin is a screen, and a woman writes on it, she is telling the world (or even just herself) that her own standards of attractiveness are more important to her than the standards of anyone else who might cross her path. She is taking ownership."

This, from The Guardian, about how the pro-choice movement has to accept the mundane reality of many women's abortions.

Finally, this from Ladybird Likes is a must for all Instagram fans: a guide to the best places online to print your photos.

Why is being photographed without makeup the bravest thing a woman can do?

Looking a little shinier than usual without makeup.  I'm a great fan of the mirror selfie as I'm more used to seeing my face that way, so I'm less likely to hate the photo

The notion of a no-makeup selfie is an odd one.  Let's face it, the notion of a selfie is an odd one - in the many thousands of photographs taken during my childhood and teenage years, not one of them involved the person behind the camera taking a picture of themselves.  But mobile phones and digital cameras have made the term 'selfie' a standard part of our vernacular, and perhaps none more so than the no-makeup selfie.

I deliberately didn't participate in the recent spate of no make-up photographs being shared across social media: I still texted to donate to Cancer Research, of course, but I was uncomfortable with a few aspects of the trend, not least the idea that it was being done to 'raise awareness of cancer', as if cancer is something people are unaware about.  I questioned why awareness couldn't have been raised in more constructive ways: photos of women checking their breasts for abnormalities, for example (although if that had been the meme, Facebook would have banned it in a heartbeat, because from the amount of breast-feeding photographs they've censored, their attitude it clearly no boobs portrayed in a non-sexual way). 

More pertinently, I didn't like the way in which taking a selfie without makeup on was somehow seen as terribly brave: "look how far we'll go to help battle cancer".  This is not to demean the efforts of all those women who participated with the best intentions, who together managed to raise £8m for Cancer Research in a matter of days.  Rather, it's a criticism of the way in which the meme perpetuated the myth that a makeup free woman is somehow unnatural, and that being photographed - shock horror - without makeup is the bravest thing one can do. 

Although I've written at length about body positivity and acceptance, I have never managed to extend my positive attitude to my face. Put simply, I've never felt attractive or pretty and I've always focused on my flaws; the exact opposite approach I take with the rest of my body.  Because of this, I am almost never without a full face of makeup.  I honestly can't think of a time in the past 20 years when I've left the house bare-faced.  For a long time I suffered from acne, which I felt a need to cover up, and over time wearing makeup became a habit that I have never broken.  From foundation to even out my skin tone, to eyeshadow and liquid eyeliner flicks, I make myself up every morning and I take it all off every night, but I am becoming increasingly keen to examine the politics behind my choices.

There exists within our culture a set of gender norms, ones which have, if anything, become more entrenched in recent years.  Primped and perfect versions of womanhood are sold to us through the mainstream media.  From the surgery-enhanced charms of Kim Kardashian to willowy Hollywood stars, magazines tell us that 'real women' are hairless, poreless, blank and beautiful.  My generation of feminists, while eager to acknowledge that fat is a feminist issue and carrying out some powerful activism around fat acceptance and body positivity, seem less likely to accept that beauty can also a feminist issue.  Perhaps keen to distance ourselves from the 'hairy legs and dungaress' stereotypes, instead an aesthetic influenced by burlesque and pin-up girls - eyeliner, red lipstick, vintage dresses -has become a popular one with many young feminists, me included.

I am glad that feminism has moved beyond the debates of the 70s and 80s, about whether you can be a 'good' feminist and wear makeup or high heels, but I sometimes wonder if we now go too far in the opposite direction and enact gender norms without question.  I've recently read a number of interesting pieces by young feminists arguing - powerfully and persuasively - that their choice to wear makeup or wax their bodies is as valid a choice as the one to allow pubic hair to run free or go barefaced in public.  And, as someone who chooses not to wax but does wear makeup, I'm totally on board with that.  But it's also essential to recognise that whatever choices we make are made within a fiercely patriarchal society, and that wearing what we want is not an inherently feminist act.  I believe that we should perhaps think more critically about how our freedom to choose what to do with our bodies takes place within that society, with all of the limits it inevitably imposes, and to question why the choices we make (seemingly freely) so often seem to be ones that happen to perpetuate traditional gender norms.