Culture
Britney is finally free, but why does society wait for a hashtag before addressing misogyny?
Article by Lucy Miles
However, subjecting her to thirteen years under a conservatorship designed for the elderly suggests the dismissive way in which women are treated, even in modern society. The media peddled ruthless misogynistic rumours, and the male-dominated medical and legal systems responded with draconian restrictions and Victorian attitudes to women.
Queer Tango: how dance is being used in Argentina to break barriers, tackle isolation and fight for a better world
Article by Kaya Purchase
Edgardo teaches Queer Tango, a form of the popular dance that disregards traditional hetero-normative roles. It instead opens up the floor to dynamic possibilities where all genders are granted the freedom to lead or follow as and when they desire. The fluidity that this affords clears space not only for fun and diverse experimentation but also for new opportunities for vulnerability and connection.
Community and Conservation – Botswana and Trophy Hunting
Article by Akeefah lal Mahomed
Hunting reflects a long discourse with power. It is tied to notions of identity and citizenships, building a history from subsistence hunting to symbols of resistance against colonising powers. The question of how citizens are/are not permitted to use resources have long been influenced by western priorities.
Misdiagnosed, Misunderstood & Misjudged: Understanding Body Dysmorphic Disorder
Article by Jasmine Laws
Given that 70% of cases show the onset of BDD occurs before the age of 18, there is noticeable blame to point towards social media. Social media is a toxic master-mind that influences people daily through appearance-related judgement: how many likes on a post, how many followers, how many comments a person has become obsessive pre-occupations with one’s image online.
Bristol’s Strip Club Closures Hurt more Women than They Help
Article by Abbie Warner
So, despite noble intentions, the criminalisation of strip clubs does not protect women. Instead, it puts those women who rely on sex work to support themselves and their loved ones at much greater risk of sexual violence. It is difficult to imagine that criminalising sexual entertainment venues, which forces sexual violence underground, would have any positive impact on advancing the equality of women in the way all feminists desire.
Unravelling Bitcoin and the Crypto Puzzle
Article by Ethan Gray
Accompanying the headlines of Bitcoin's surging price are stories highlighting the network's substantial energy use. The network was consuming 137 TWh of electricity at the end of March 2021. That is up 3,526% since early 2017. For perspective, that amount of electricity can power the country of Ukraine. Bitcoin's algorithm prevents it from scaling efficiently, a rather important factor for a global system. Bitcoin catalyzed a revolution in decentralized networks, but should it be adopted in the coming decades?
Does Alexa Reflect or Reject Patriarchal Values?
Article by Emily Daly
While many of us first heard a feminised AI voice in Spike Jonze’s award-winning film, Her, in which a lonely male character falls in love with a disembodied female machine, today this voice has seeped into different facets of our lives such as voice assistants, sat-navs, at supermarket checkouts and public service announcements. However, it has been widely recognised that feminised AI voices are mainly employed in assistive roles, which raises questions around gender: do female AI reinforce gender roles and affect our attitudes towards women in actuality?
“Misogyny? I haven’t heard that name in years”
Article by Maddy Black
The Monica Lewinsky scandal, the Madonna Whore complex as a lens through which to view female entertainers, the notoriously messy and invasive paparazzi culture at its apotheosis - all of these cultural factors created a perfect storm that swept Spears off her feet and left her unable to find a stronghold since. Why was the condemnation of Spears so uncontested? And who spearheaded and articulated the misogynist sentiments underlying it?
What Did Attenborough Get Wrong?
Article by Abbie Warner
Attenborough speaks of decreasing the birth rate in developing countries in order to put less strain on the planet’s resources in the future. Disguised behind the more palatable vail of economic development and emancipating women, the sentiment of such claims once again blames the actions of the white west on black and brown women in the global south.
Are Influencers the True Icons of Capitalism?
Article by Lucy Miles
The influencer is the middle-man here; overwhelmingly a young, white woman with a perfectly toned, spray-tanned body, sparkling white teeth and lip injections, representing the unrealistic and photoshopped standards that are forced upon so many women (- but she’s not a celebrity, she’s just a normal person, so we should all look like her if we use the products she does, right?). Such a supply chain speaks to the very essence of capitalism: global corporations with little social conscience paying unattainable personas on social media to sell normal people things they don’t need.
Why Did the Lights Go Out in Texas?
Article by Ethan Gray
At the turn of the century, Texas deregulated its electrical grid and privatized the market. Deregulation comes with benefits in most industries, typically around cost, as competitive markets fight to lower prices in the interest of acquiring more consumers. This holds true in Texas, where energy bills have been far lower than the national average. However, is deregulating an industry that consumers rely on as a fundamental utility in their lives a prudent decision?
‘Disaster Capitalists’ are Profiting from the Pandemic
Article by Jess Pannese
Giant corporations have time and time again viewed times of mass suffering as a ‘business opportunity’, worlds away from the reality that so many of us are faced with, and the pandemic is no exception from this. The same lockdown that is punishing and punitive for so many is of benefit to billionaires, forcing the question of whether there is any incentive for the situation to change for them.
"Oops, they did it again": Negligence, Institutionalisation & the US Public Health Crisis
Article by Verónica Sousa
The scourge of racial capitalism via institutionalization, quantification, and health disparities has long been a part of New York and the US’s history of public health. Those who have been abused historically in the name of public health, such as the working class, women, people of color, disabled people, queer people, and mentally ill people, are still abused and neglected by public health systems and institutions.
The Napier Barracks have become a Symbol of Segregation
Feature by Kaya Purchase
The fact of a hunger strike is in itself proof that the issues inside Napier are intolerable. People do not put themselves through a hunger strike until they are pushed to the brink. The fact that hunger strikes are happening means that the sincerity of the claims against Napier do not need to be debated, they simply need to be addressed.
The UK's Pandemic Response has been Hamstrung by Political Cronyism
Article by Ben Dzialdowski
The high-stakes nature of COVID-19 policy, with its amplified health and financial implications, has exposed the rampant cronyism that runs throughout Johnson’s government. With a string of errors from PPE to free school meals coinciding with huge government contracts going to friends and donors, cronyism will be seen as one of the defining characteristics of Britain’s COVID-19 government response.
TikTok is Accelerating the Falsification of the Music Industry
Article by Maddy Black
These transparent and even desperate appeals to the younger generation against the backdrop of his immense California mansion beg the question: how much do these celebrities need Tiktok? They’re regarded as trendsetters, the obsessions of tabloid magazines that desperately try and decode their elusive lifestyles. In the Tiktok sphere, they are not setting trends - they’re following them.
The Publishing Industry is where Social Media Meets Capitalism
Article by Lucy Miles
In essence, it is commonplace for female influencers to be picked up by the publishing industry, which will then standardise their artwork and ethos to fit into a mould that is known to drive in profits. The publishers collate the artwork and feminist online content from the individual influencer, and package it into a purchasable survival-guide to being a modern woman; in essence, the publishing industry is where social media meets capitalism.
What Does GameStop vs. WallStreet Tell Us About Societal Change?
Article by Ethan Gray
It took regulators decades to enshrine laws that grappled with how industrialization changed their societies. Child labor rights, union rights, trust-busting, and rural electrification all helped account for the economic and societal shifts that resulted from new technologies. The pace of change is faster today, and it is happening at an exponential scale that has a global reach thanks to the internet.
Gentrification & Covid-19 are Threatening Brick Lane’s Bangladeshi Community
Article by Shabnam Ali
As members of this community are sadly passing away in the thousands, the Truman Brewery’s attempt at socially cleansing the area near the City of London, displays a lacking ethical duty of care for other individuals who are already socially disadvantaged, to profit and cater to middle-class communities.