When producer Melissa Berton and director Rayka Zehtabchi accepted an Oscar for their documentary, Period. End of Sentence earlier this month, one sentence in Zehtabchi’s speech captured the awe and elation of the evening. Steven Allison reviews their award-winning film and analyses how it can help India’s evolving attitude towards women.
READ MOREThe thing we might have missed in Marie Kondo’s Netflix series
While we all binged Marie Kondo’s Netflix series, Tidying Up, Fernanda Mathias had her mind on the other things the programme was showing us: that domestic sexism is still rife in 21st century America.
READ MORENavigating the tricky terrain of romance as a trans person
Think dating is tough? Try dating as a #trans person. Steven Allison speaks to two people about their experiences in the world of love and explores just how different those encounters can be.
READ MOREFive tips to help you feel good about your body
In today’s social media obsessed world, it’s often hard to feel OK about our own, imperfect bodies. Fernanda Mathias shares five tips to help you feel confident and comfortable in your own skin
READ MOREWonder Woman – The sensitive superhuman
Strength and sensitivity are ingredients that have rarely been mixed in the super hero cocktail. Famed action figures have been hailed for their enduring efforts to defeat evil yet few have taken the initiative to question this ceaseless charade. Director Patty Jenkins has brought to life a refreshing female icon in the new Wonder Woman feature film.
READ MOREMeet the cast – 21st century dating
What is dating? “Never been through that, never experienced that, don’t know what that is. Just know, millions have.” Honestly, I wouldn’t lie to you – truly. Okay I lied, dating is tough and you’d think for a species that have been around for more than 200 million years, coupled with the fact that we have
READ MOREIntersectionality: Black folk and the trans community
As proud as I am to be black during times in which the global black community stands together in the wicked face of struggle, it’s disappointing when black people refuse to acknowledge the evil that goes on in our own communities – especially when it affects those of LGBTQI experience. We’re only three months into
READ MOREMillennials: The lost generation
Millennial: noun “a person reaching young adulthood in the early 21st century.” Otherwise defined as anybody who talks about gender fluidity, complains about the price of housing or refers to when a time when a Freddo only used to cost 10p. Described as lazy, conceited 20-somethings who aren’t willing to work as hard as their
READ MOREThe only brit at the party: An outsider’s view of American frat parties
American College is famous for its Greek Life. In the movies, the iconic Fraternity is often the only thing that is really explored; think Bad Neighbours, American Pie: Beta House, and Goat. We are presented with a fast-paced, raunchy, and often dangerous setting, in which young men play out the final few years of their
READ MOREPositivity in rejection
Compatibility with our prospective partner is an element we often forget from time to time due to our desire not to feel alone. When we forget about compatibility the relationships we form usually have less to do with enjoying another’s company and simply just wanting to have that romantic presence in your life. Admittedly, I’ve
READ MOREConsequential freedom
Here I am sitting in a pub in Shepherds Bush, purposefully isolating myself in my own thoughts intoxicated by an overpriced pint of Peroni and smelling, what probably is like a chimney, from smoking what is already my second box of sovereigns for the day. Reflection is the result of my scarcity of friends here
READ MOREThe lure of the past
Do we ever fall out of love? is a question that has been posed by countless books and films, usually while musing on the wider themes of existence and what it means to be in love. These themes lead many to think back to relationships of days gone by, simpler times and lost loves. For
READ MOREI killed my boyfriend’s ex-boyfriend
Ok, so I’m jealous. Not just jealous in a cute and fuzzy kind of way but jealous in a mental, deranged and psychopathic kind of way. It’s actually frightening and rather disturbing as to how jealous I can get. I am damaged and the thing is; no matter how hard I try, I still feel
READ MOREHappy father’s day mummy
Father’s day is coming up and I am excited about it. I love the celebration surrounding this day, the gifts, the cards and generally the day itself. This year however I just want to pay tribute to a different group of dad’s because in their own right they are fathers too. This year I think
READ MOREVagina of mass destruction
Why is the female body still seen as a public forum open to discussion? Judged, ridiculed, harassed or simply portrayed as a nuclear weapon that will destroy and wipe out all mankind. People still have something to say when it comes to the vagina, breast, bum or nipples, but why? What is the social fascination
READ MOREBane of the battyman
In the multicultural outskirts of London set among the red double decker buses spewing with boisterous teenagers and towering council flats is where you will find the Secondary School I attended. Like a factory conveyor belt it has unintentionally produced its fair share of gays, lesbians and transsexuals (and that’s just the ones I know
READ MOREDepression in the digital age
We may live in the 21st Century, but unfortunately there is still a stigma attached to depression. It’s an illness that can completely envelope someone’s life, yet is rarely talked about and often misunderstood. It’s worrying that a condition the Royal College of Psychiatrists claims to affect 1 in 5 people is swept under the
READ MORESchool ties and toilet cubicles
It was a warm sunny afternoon in the local park, decked out in my school uniform and Nike bag in hand I waited idly outside a public restroom when really I should have been participating in my P.E lesson kicking balls with all the other boys. But what brought a juvenile boy outside a smelly
READ MOREThe great straight propaganda
Get a job, marry a Woman, get a house, have children and live happy ever after. As an easily influenced and impressionable teenager this was the kind of ‘great straight propaganda’ that was narrowly shoved down my throat. Taught to be straight and processed out on a conveyor belt into the big wide world. Programmed
READ MOREDesperately seeking height
Liverpool Street station, the usual sight of bleary eyed office workers slurping on their caffeine fix as the oblivious looking tourists hold up a frustrated queue of impatient people behind them as they figure out how to use an Oyster card. Surrounded by all this hustle and bustle I had agreed to go on a
READ MORETable for one please
Eating alone in public makes some people feel uncomfortable, especially in a restaurant. They are the sad and the unaccompanied. The lonely ones who dare eat amongst the coupled and acquainted as they peer snidely from behind their menus. They are the ones who can’t get a date and must face these social outings like outcasts.
READ MOREThe society that killed love
We are desperately seeking validation and love in a society that forces us to be apart. In a world that validates your worth with a ‘like’ or a quick swipe to the right, has the idea of romance been lost in the oversubscribed cities and sea of nameless faces. It’s 8:35am and my sleep-encrusted eyes
READ MORETake me out – the diary of a first-time cruiser
The well-known and much loved Paddy McGuiness regularly presents the show Take Me Out on ITV. For those who haven’t heard of it, it’s a dating programme where a single man tries to win over as many of the women on the panel, and choose one lucky lady to go to the Isle of Fernando’s
READ MOREwww dot couples
In Chinese mythology, Yue Lao, the old man under the moon would nocturnally tie destined couples together with a silk red cord, “the red thread of destiny”. Nowadays it’s less of a thread than a web or net, the world wide web or Internet to be precise. The role of determinism in romance is being
READ MORECold blood and warm kisses
We kissed for what felt like an eternity, time without end to infinity as the strands of his thickened beard brushed tenderly across my bare naked skin, each inch of hair etched on his scraggy black beard tickled my neck as the warmth of his lips traced the outline of my trembling spine, I knew
READ MOREI really really really wanna zigazig ahhhhhhh!
“I love the summer it brings out all the fittys.” I have literally been on this date with a 30-year-old administration assistant aka Spice Boy (A name I have amusingly dubbed him due to his obsession with the Spice Girls) for less than an hour when he makes an observant remark that sucks every ounce
READ MOREChyna – a true hall of famer
The familiar irritating noise of my alarm clock wakes me up from my deep slumber on cue. I lay in bed for a few moments relishing in the warmth of my bed sheets, which I know in a few minutes I will have to leave. I start my day as the morning light hits my
READ MOREMy American horror story
Picture the scene, underneath the lurching trees decorated with flicking colourful lights as festive music plays in the distance. The sound of laughter irradiating from adoring children lingers on that tinted chilly evening as they would scream excitedly from atop the Ferris Wheel overlooking a beautifully lit London basking in the magic and wonderment that
READ MOREPrince: A love letter
When people think of Prince, many words might spring to mind; ambiguous, talented, maestro, entity. However for me, there is no way to label him – he just is. There are probably going to be a whole hoard of tributes that are going to give facts, album sales and all the accolades he received over
READ MOREPoison to my vagina
Female genital mutilation is the procedure that intentionally alters or causes injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. FGM can either include the partial or total removal of the female external genitalia. In its extreme practice, the vaginal opening is sewn up leaving only a small hole for the release of urine and
READ MORETransForm – a story of truth
We have Sexologist Harry Benjamin to thank for the word ‘Transsexualism’ which was actually an umbrella term for those who are one gender – yet identify with the opposite; that includes everyone from cross-dressers to drag queens. Let’s not beat about the bush – being transgender has nothing to do with dressing as a woman
READ MORERemembering the fallen – the curse of the child star
I used to be a little envious of child stars when I was younger. Yes I admit it, during maths class and science lessons I would often dream of the bright lights of fame and fortune. I would look at the Lil Bow Wow’s, Haley Joel Osment’s & Raven-Symoné’s of the world and think ‘I
READ MORETales of the modern woman
Once again I begin at the source. Where all good things come from & where most of my ideas spark, that’s right … Facebook. No its not a joke, I’m being serious. Once again my boredom led me back to my news feed in search of entertainment and funny memes to kill some time before
READ MOREFive simple ways to feel alive again
Oh hai 2016! What’s going on? It’s me, Melchi – you might not know me but you will this year. This is the perfect mind-set to get you into 2016. It’s a new year! Get out of bed, get into something comfortable and go outside. The world is big and it’s full of exciting things
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