Newspapers need more boobs, not less

Over recent years, the No More Page 3 campaign has gone from strength to strength, gaining support from everyone from women’s groups to MPs. They petition the Sun’s editors to remove the “bare boobs” from the newspaper, arguing that the presence of a naked glamour model on page 3 demeans and objectifies women. What’s more, they are winning. Public opinion is shifting and one title, the Irish edition of the Sun, has even relented, putting clothes on its previously naked models.

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.

Why barbie is a feminist

By Megan O'Kane

In May 2013, Europe’s first life-sized Barbie Dreamhouse opened its doors in Berlin. The opening of this pink paradise was overshadowed in the media by a feminist protest, involving a topless woman and a burning cross.

Michael Koschitzki, a member of the Occupy Barbie Dreamhouse protest group argues that "… this so-called Dreamhouse symbolizes the beauty craze and the discrimination of women in modern-day life. It presents a cliché of the female role in society." I very much disagree with this viewpoint. I believe that Barbie and her empire, which has grown steadily over 50 years, are an example of feminism at its best.

Miley vs Sinead: a Dutiful perspective

A row between two major pop egos has got two of our writers talking:

Is the internet good for feminism?

More and more women are engaging with feminism because of the internet; some even believe that we are witnessing the movement’s fourth wave. The online community provides us platforms from which to voice our opinions and safe places to host our discussions. However, it has also brought us LadBible, Twitter trolls and objectification far worse than the content of lad’s mags. The same things helping feminism to flourish are being used to equal effect by those intent on destroying it. So, do the benefits outweigh the negatives? Or is the internet harming the fight for women’s rights? Three of our writers air their views.

Warning: Article contains some explicit content.

The Glasses Ceiling

By Bethan Gormley

There is a distinct lack of famous women in the music industry who openly and actively wear glasses, which is an issue that I have been noticing for a few years now. The music industry is one of the few sectors in which female presence almost equals its male counterpart; the glass-ceiling has been smashed, it would seem. But the glasses-ceiling? Not so smashed.

In defence of Lara Croft

By James Southworth

The debate to which this post refers has come back into gaming circles recently due to the release of the Tomb Raider reboot, in which well-loved archaeologist cum pistol marksman Lara Croft has undergone a few fundamental changes. Gone are the bare legs with gun holders designed to look like suspender tops, the shining perfect skin (even when crawling through Egyptian ruins and muddy swamps) and, probably the most significant change, a reduction in breast size to something less evocative of two swollen basketballs. In steps a young woman wearing cargo pants, a generic vest top and covered in bloody grazes and dirt. It seems like a change for the better, no?

Miley, you can (and should) stop.

By Coralie Clover

I will defend Miley Cyrus' right to wear whatever she likes until the end of my days. The two piece costume she donned on Sunday was essentially no different to the beige set Lady Gaga wore in a great deal of the video to Alejandro (or, in fact, the underwear Gaga ended up in at the VMAs at the end of her performance), and I don't think simply vilifying her for that is useful or constructive; a topic which this blog covered very nicely a few days ago. The entire performance was problematic in so many different ways that simply plucking out her clothes and designating them the root of all evil – but only commenting on that, too, without considering the wider issues – is a bit reductive.

She's just being Miley

Two of our authors talk about our reactions to THAT performance:

If you don't like me, you can just jog on.

Dating is a minefield, right?

I am a child of Cosmopolitan, Glamour and Company, and because of this I have been operating under ridiculous dating rules, trying to present myself as someone entirely different, in the vain hope that my date will think me worthy of seeing again. Here are four of the main things I have been repeatedly guilty of:

#shoutingback

 ‘Feminism’ used to be a bold, italicised, negative word to me. I saw it as connected to narrow minded women who refuse and discourage genuine chivalry. Those who in the process of fighting for women’s rights are treading on the voices and rights of decent men. And I would to this day still hold to that. The end goal is equal rights, but recently I’ve realised that to create a balance there needs to be a push towards working on the female side of that.

The Thigh Gap

The glorification of diet fads such as the Dukan, “No Carbs before Marbs” and Samantha Brick’s latest contribution to the world of journalism, the “polo diet”, has convinced women of all ages and sizes that life just isn’t worth living if the gap between your thighs is less than three inches.  British women these days are 5’6 on average and weigh in around 10st 3lbs, giving them a BMI of 23 and placing them in the upper-half of the ‘healthy’ scale.  Sure, you could lose 6 BMI points and still hover around the healthy mark, but why can’t we be happy in our own skin?