The charity Living Without Abuse asserts that domestic abuse will affect 1 in 4 women in their lifetime, […]
There aren’t many kinds of monster that are specifically gendered male. Yes, there are plenty of individual monsters that are male; you’ve got Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, King Kong, Godzilla*, the shark from Jaws, and many others, but as for specific species there aren’t that many. Perhaps you could argue that the Werewolf is often symbolic of latent male aggression, as the thematic suggestion often applied is that all men have beast in them. But that metaphor has been widened, especially recently, to include women, with films such as Cursed, Ginger Snaps and An American Werewolf in Paris.
If we’re talking monsters that are specifically gendered female, however, then there’s quite a few. You have Gorgons, Sirens, Banshees, Harpies and many more. The big one, of course, that has endured throughout myth and exploded into popular culture is the Witch.
Last October, I went to see Hannah Ballou’s critically-acclaimed show ‘hoo:ha’ at Camden People’s Theatre. A hilarious exploration of nudity, body image and feminism, Ballou also blurred the lines of performance and reality.
The trivial question that faces all of us in our modern day lives – what shall I […]
The thought of travelling alone as a woman can be daunting, let alone choosing to do it on the other side of the world.
It’s generally accepted that feminism comes in waves, ebbing and flowing in line with progressions in the fight for equality and the resulting backlashes. Early in the 20th century, we had the first wave. In the sixties and seventies, we had the second wave. The third came came during the nineties, and it’s clear to me that a fourth wave is currently upon us. While it’s difficult to define a wave from within it (without the benefit of hindsight), some people are embracing the increase in action and using the momentum to fight for an end to patriarchy. One of these people is a woman named Alexandra Becker.
