Single at Christmas

 By Jo Paterson

So it’s Christmas; schools have broken up for the holidays, town centres are crammed full with shoppers and festooned with lights, Christmas songs dominate radio playlists and you can’t watch anything on tv without being reminded of what the season is supposed to be about (ie. food, presents, family, love and celebrating the perfectness of life)... This isn’t a scroogey Christmas blog where I’m about to say how much I hate all these things because actually, I love them. I love Christmas. 

But what gets me is that according to the world, I’m supposed to be coupled up, receiving something expensive from my gorgeous loving boyfriend, spending Saturdays hand in hand with him in town and cold winter nights cuddling up with him on the sofa. What is it about Christmas that fills us with dread at the prospect of being alone? Christmas is all about being together, the media tell us, and I know that that is about family and friends and community. But we’re also pummelled with the idea that our Christmas isn’t perfect without an adoring other half to complete us. 

Sex Sells...But It Doesn't Have To.

By Megan O'Kane 

This year there has been a media frenzy surrounding sexism in the music industry. There was the “Blurred Lines” fiasco - where Robin Thicke’s summer smash hit was branded “sexist,” “misogynistic” and subsequently banned in nightclubs and universities across the country. The song then went on to hold the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for 12 weeks, selling more than 6 million tracks. Then there was Miley-Gate, and we all know what happened there! Miss Cyrus’ latest album “Bangerz” has sold an impressive 270,000 units in its first week.

I dream of self-esteem

By Nicki Fudge

Shall we be honest with ourselves for a second? We have ALL struggled from low self esteem about the way that we look. Some of us hide it behind layers of makeup, extensive wardrobes and multiple hair products. Others take the opposite route, and develop a spiky attitude that screams ‘I REALLY don’t care what you think of my appearance’, whilst hiding their body and their face behind baggy clothes and deliberate lack of effort.

So here are three ways in which I tackled my own total hatred of my physical appearance which, although it hasn't completely gone away (I still get a few days every month where I can’t stand how I look),  has now changed from something that regularly used to dominate my thoughts, to feeling laughably irrelevant to my general life.

Make love not war.

By Hannah O'Donnell

It is difficult to judge equality in a relationship from a singleton’s point view. As a singleton it is all for one and one for me and I don’t have to consult anyone else on my behaviour or my choices. I have found, however, that this isn’t the case in a relationship.

It is not for lack of freedom, but for the sake of compromise you understand.

I’m dressing as a sexy devil for Halloween and the patriarchy has nothing to do with it

By Elly Murrell

George Berry has already done a fantastic response to Flo’sarticle which you should read here. The kind with metaphors I can only dream to conjure up. With the male side of the argument covered I’d like to throw in my two cents.

Why girls shouldn't dress in sexy costumes for Halloween: an exercise in positive discrimination.

By George Berry

So you’ve read Flo’s article about the trend of women dressing revealingly for Halloween, and why doing so is putting back their gender a century, and if you haven’t then stop reading here and follow this link to do so here.

I feel like the word “patriarchy” is used to basically whitewash a subject with a buzzword. It’s true that men expect certain things of women that we probably shouldn’t, such as being in good shape with an obvious care to your hygiene and physical appearance, but isn’t that exactly what you’d expect in a man (or mate of the same gender)? A lot of issues can be put both ways, the status quo not only perpetuates the trend of racy costumes but also puts pressure on men in similar ways.

Happy Halloween

By Florence Celia May

From Flo's World

So I've spoken about fancy dress on here before, but it's Halloween time again, and I just want to get all this angst I have off my chest.