Thoughts
I'm going to stop being afraid of writing. Neil Gaiman, Rainer Maria Rilke and Gustav Holst are the specific heavyweight inspirations for this burst of courage. But explaining the initial reticence which has silenced me for more than a few months is a complicated one and comes down
Thoughts
Here's the full text of an opinion piece I've drafted for the Friends of Nidderdale AONB newsletter - where it did end up, albeit in edited down form. I thought I might as well archive it here. It was a bit of a spontaneous rant inspired
Thoughts
As an undergraduate in history of art at Cambridge, I remember struggling with the ‘feminist theory’ class. I found it hard to stomach what was being taught, which (it seemed) was concretely the rejection of all art which treated the female body as desirable. ‘Feminist’ art as it was presented
Thoughts
Although it's poor style to start with an 'incidentally'... It was odd when I googled the above phrase to discover (having sung it as part of the Messiah but somehow omitted to properly pay attention) that the sheep are not those who blindly follow, but those
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One of my favourite Paul Simon songs is "Some folks' lives" and I was reminded of it today meeting some other Harrogate Gingerbread mums and sharing stories. Here are the lyrics; have a listen: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbagtXi4HBs?rel=0] It's
Thoughts
It's been a while - in fact, a month to the day - since I used this blog properly, and I can feel it. My posts on Facebook are getting somewhat erratic (and lengthy, as I feel the urge to dissert on various topics); emails and messages to
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I have always had trouble with the assumption on the part of some feminists that every interaction which is critical of a woman is sexist. It strikes me as similar to the kind of mentality that thinks that any criticism of Israel's political policy is automatically anti-Semitic. I&
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Something which often preoccupies me is how an atheist (like me) can fully engage with and experience art which is inspired by religious faith. That's not to say I don't think it's possible, as in fact I think rather the opposite. But defining how
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I lived away from the UK for ten years, and had a slow internet connection so couldn't stream radio. So coming back here last summer, I had no idea what the different UK radio stations were or what you could listen to on them. I love listening to
Thoughts
When I used to live in France, I worked freelance for a while as an academic researcher, writer and editor for a number of private research companies. In theory, these companies provided model essays or primary research to students or lecturers, but in practice, I strongly suspect much of the
Thoughts
The Achilles Effect explores gender bias in the entertainment aimed at primary school boys, focusing on the dominant themes in children’s TV shows, toy advertising, movies, and books: gender stereotypes of both sexes, male dominance, negative portrayals of fathers, breaking of the mother/son bond, and the devaluing of
Thoughts
I found an interesting story when I was looking up Hans Christian Andersen in response to a post about scary French children's stories on Facebook). It's The Story of a Mother. Here is the summary on wikipedia, which is pared down but still moving, and here