Imprints on our skin, fresh in our blood: Straighten your hair, they slurred, as they staggered past. Straighten for you means whiten, Europeanise. Force my tight, nappy curls between the hot iron clasps of your European beauty standards; making myself acceptable for your viewing. Her hair’s grey but she’s black, they laughed. Your white privilege reaches beyond the scope of... Continue Reading →
Girl, 20, raped in the early hours of Sunday morning. ‘What was she wearing? Was she showing too much skin. Why was she walking alone at that time? She was probably drunk. She should have got a taxi home.’ Victim blaming. I frequently hear saddening reactions like the above in response to accounts of sexual... Continue Reading →
‘Go home. You’re not welcome here. Go home.’ Show me home, this place which you shriek and shout of, this place you shower in my face as you shove past me in the street. Show me where my home is, draw me home, paint me home, where I used to safely play sticks and stones,... Continue Reading →
The margins between being a ‘man’ and being a ‘woman’ are blurred. Culturally, we’ve been force-fed the idea that women are supposed to be sensitive. We’re meant to show our pain, show our feelings, we’re meant to cry. Men are not. They’re supposed to be strong which is why phrases like ‘be a man’ and... Continue Reading →
