Lovely Girls

Another fabulous guest poster, just in time for election day! Aoife B of Sweet Oblivion asks why an election has become a beauty contest – for female candidates only.
“I don’t think I’ll vote,” he announced loudly. “But if I do, I’ll vote for her, ‘cos she’s the best looking.” Sitting on a bus in [...]

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Celebrity Saints

God, is there anything worse than a preachy celebrity putting the world to rights? Well, yeah, actually, and I’m pretty sure 13 year old Chadian kids being permanently disabled by being shot in the legs is one of them. But I wouldn’t know about one particular Chadian child if George Clooney hadn’t met him recently. [...]

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George Bush = unwanted hair

How much do I like this ad for Veet? A LOT.  Ah Veet, you may make bikini line regrowth scratchier than old vinyl, but your political heart is in the right place.

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Get Up, Stand Up

Angry about the government’s decision to abandon (for the time being, at least) the cervical cancer vaccination programme? Me too. Luckily, the ladies of the Feminist Open Forum are organising a demonstration against it tomorrow. If you want to take part, meet at the Spire in O’Connell Street at two tomorrow, Saturday the 15th of [...]

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Feminists I’m Calling You, Please Report to the Front Desk

The first Feminist Open Forum takes place in Wynn’s Hotel on Abbey Street tomorrow (Thursday the 30th) at 7.30, with speakers including Ivana Bacik. And if you need a reminder why such things are still necessary, read Fiona’s excellent piece in Saturday’s Times. A few years ago some of my friends and I wanted to [...]

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R.I.P. Eileen Flynn

R.I.P. Eileen Flynn. Thankfully we’ve come a long way from the kind of misogynistic religious stranglehold that thought it was ok to deprive a woman with a young family of her income because she wasn’t married. Sadly, this only happened in 1982, not 1962. Good ol’ Ireland and its sexist, backward moralism….

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When it comes to women and power, there’s some good news, and some bad news…

If we were in any doubt that the prospect of a female leader fills some people with fear and loathing, the coverage of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin’s political careers should be enough to confirm our worst fears (although I’ve got to say that another one of my worst fears is a fundie, anti-environmentalist gun-nut [...]

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Yet Another Reason to Love Jon Stewart

The awesome Jon Stewart and the Daily Show reminds us that while conservatives are now up in arms over the sexist attacks on Sarah Palin, they were singing a very different tune just a few months ago. Watch how Bill O’Reilly’s attitude to teen pregnancy has miraculously changed, while other conservative pundits and policy advisors [...]

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Is Sarah Palin a granny?

John “I can’t remember how many houses I have” McCain is a canny man. Not content with stealing Obama’s thunder by announcing his vice-Presidential running mate less than 24 hours after the Democrat convention, he reveals that – gasp! – it’s a woman. Sarah Palin – an easy-on-the-eye “hockey mom” (albeit one who earned the [...]

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