Feminism and Politics:
feminism
Modern men, women and prawn... A contemplative female's point of view
The potential cons of prawn. Editorial note: The spelling of 'prawn' is - long story short - to do with Google. It is in no way an attempt to be disengenuous or cute. Thanks for your understanding.
Activism
Occupy Movement
Okay. So what is the Occupy Movement? What's it all about? Let's have some facts. And statistics. And some opinion. Let's have a mini mooky history of Occupy.
feminism
Diary of a brand new feminist
As a newly converted feminist, Lolita Brown writes up a short diary entry on her first week. Find out how it's affected her general life. Thanks, Lolly! Trigger warning.
feminism
Anti Body Standard
Skinny isn't necessarily unhealthy, and slogans like "Anti Size Zero" can mislead. Don't be anti size-anything. Be anti body standard. Women shouldn't be expected to be a size 2 OR a size 12. We should just be.
LGBTQ
A brief history of drag kings in the UK
With lots of great photos, yes! Lada Gaga stepping out as Joe Calderone was the tip of the iceberg. We check out Drag Kings in the UK from their historical beginnings to their thriving Now.
feminism
Why feminism is not dead
Why is it that feminism isn’t dead (or outdated, or irrelevant) in today’s society? What is feminism, anyway? And what can we do?
LGBTQ
Women beaten, starved and tortured in Ecuardor's lesbian clinics. You can help.
Right now, hundreds of illegal clinics in Ecuador are capturing and literally torturing young women. Because these women are lesbians. Sign the petition.
feminism
Feminist Flash Fiction 2011 - Enter now!
Enter our feminist fiction writing competition - judged by a panel of noted feminist writers - to win £100, 1 yr BUST Magazine subscriptions & get your blog and writing promoted. Start writing & pass it on! Comp ends 30 Nov 2011
feminism
Beauty standards, B.O., body hair and me
Body hair has been a feminist conversation point for decades. Vix has been a Hairy Mary since she was a teenager, when hygiene products were badly designed to the point of being torture devices. And now, yes, she shaves. Furry? Smooth? Here's an idea: Go with what's right for you. The rest of the world can go hang.
Feminist interviews
Ladyfest 2011 UK - Go Nottingham, go!
Ladyfest Nottingham 2011 will be taking place on November 19th 2011. The organisers chat about the growth of on/offline feminism, how they've made the fest bigger, and what their dream acts would be for Nottingham 2012. Lydia Lunch, get on it!
Activism
Yarn bombing - Why?
Graffiti's come a long way, baby. Yes, it was always about making one's unique stamp on a faceless, authoritarian world. But now it's got all eco-consicous, and street art has taken on a new form in... yarn bombing. Or guerilla knitting. Or just making a grey world really, really cosy.
Indie Politics
Occupy DC - Occupy Everywhere - October 2011
Mookychick journalist gives eyewitness account of Occupy DC and the protesters camped out at McPherson park. She doesn't see it a repeat of Arab Springs.
Feminist Icons
Feminist Fiction Icon - Angela Carter
Oh, Angela Carter! Feminist, magical weaver of darkly sensuous, funny and gripping modern magical fairytales, fairy godmother of Virago press, anorexia sufferer and chainsmoker, you were one of the greatest writers of our time. We salute you.
LGBTQ
Coming out to parents as gay
Coming out to parents as gay - or any aspect of LGBTQ - is a big step, and one that most people think they must take in order to truly be who they are. Here are some tips to keep in mind when deciding how/when/where/if to come out to your parents.
feminism
Feminist Exercise: Try replacing the phrase 'objective beauty' with the word 'canoes'.
A suggestion for the world at large: Objectifying beauty, insisting that 'hotness' be present in everything from advertisements to UN ambassadors, is about as appropriate as doing the same thing with canoes.
feminism
Feminism Tumblr
Feminism Tumblr - A selection of feminist Tumblr blogs all in one place. We're helping to reclaim feminism one Tumblr at a time...
LGBTQ
Asexuality
Calling all Graces and Aces: Do you prefer cake to sex? Here's a mini-mini-guide to asexuality. Just for you. We dip our toes into AVEN (Asexual Visibility and Education Network) and the modern movement...
Activism
Mass Effect 2 Marathon
The Mass Effect 2 Marathon is ON. Get video gaming for charity, save all your Mass Effect squaddies and help save sick children throughout the galaxy! Spread the word...
feminism
Lena Chen - Chicktionary Feminist
Lena Chen is an inspiration. The founder of feminist website Chicktionary talks about coming out, the pros and cons of online feminism, sex working for college tuition fees and a whole lot more.
feminism
Feminism and Abortion - The Silent Treatment
Shhh... Let's talk about feminism and abortion. Why are women who have had abortions not getting grievance counselling? Why is society so quick to blame, and to place that blame on the woman, when it should be geared towards healing abortion victims to encourage them to suffer and self-harm in silence?
feminism
Reclaiming Feminism
Michelle proclaimed herself to be a feminist in high school at the age of 16 and found the label deliciously radical. The opinion of friends and family was more lukewarm. Michelle spent the next few years considering why...
feminism
Sexist Topman Tshirts - Does Topman not like women?
Topman has just brought out a new line of Tshirts that seems to assume its male customers are idiots. Sexist, racist AND potentially pro domestic abuse - oh my!
feminism
Slut Shaming
Feminists unite: Slut shaming is a school / Facebook trend that shallowly judges people (mostly girls) for their looks, popularity, sex drive, dress sense or even just individuality. It's time to make the nasty badness go away. Or at least be poked in the wriggly bits with a sharp stick.
Feminist Icons
La Fee Verte
Feminist icons - La Fee Verte, or the Green Fairy, is the spirit of absinthe and the essence of artistic inspiration. A creative muse and a fictional woman we can only dream to be...
feminism
Women and Ambition - a Feminist Approach
There's nothing shameful about being a woman with ambition. If you have ambition, pretending you don't is a kick in the teeth to the feminists who fought for your rights to get a fair wage and realise your dreams.
Feminist interviews
Slutwalk interview
What is a Slutwalk? Why does every city need one? Did media coverage take the Slutwalk marches seriously? Strip dancer and Slutwalk demonstrator 'Peaches' talks about the message behind Slutwalk and the needs for improvement and change.
Activism
OWL electricity monitor review
If you knew how much energy you were wasting in your house, you could tweak your bad habits (like leaving all the lights on), help stop climate change and save money. We review the OWL electricity monitor, which promises to do just that.
Feminism
Hacked photos stolen and used on adult websites - how safe are yours?
There's a worryingly misogynist trend on the web - Hacked Facebook (and other) photos of women and teenagers are being used unscrupulous adult websites without the models' knowedge or consent. Help us name and shame the websites, and contact the social networks from where the photos are being hacked. Please spread the word.
Feminism
Pretty role models are important - discuss
Let's strip away the veneer of the 'are musicians good role models or bad ones?' discussion. Why should they have to be role models at all? And why are they being sold as such?
Feminism
Mooncup Song!
We're delighted to present the Mooncup Song, an enchanting video featuring 25 different names that women call their nunus. We at Mooky Towers refer to ours, of course, as El Bandito.
Feminism
No Label Needed
Is it such a felony to have Tupac rotating with Babes in Toyland on your iPod? In escaping labels many of us are going hybrid - splicing the music and lifestyles we like to form something new. For one brief second before the media catches up, there's no label...
Feminism
Il Corpo Delle Donne
Zanardo's 25 min YouTube doc 'Il Corpo Delle Donne' is about the objectification of women on Berlusconi-owned Italian TV. Imagine a woman sitting in a cage while the TV host hurls insults at her. Or a woman hung from a meat hook and having her backside branded like cattle. Just imagine.
Feminism
Was Shakespeare Misogynist?
So many 'scandalous' question surround Shakespeare because we're fascinated by his personal life but know so little about him. Was Shakespeare gay? A spy for the Queen? An atheist? Was Shakespeare... misogynist?
Feminism
The portrayal of women in media
Do we need to re-think the portrayal of women in the media? Do we need to re-think Barbie as a female icon rather than a tool of the goshdarn evil patriarchy? Do we just need to think a bit more?
Feminism
Acid burning - a look that lasts
Across the world, acid attacks are being used as a form of personal revenge against women. It's a nasty trend, but trends can and do change...
Feminism
Beauty baddies
At Mookychick we never get tired of reminding you to keep a level head when surrounded by impossibly airbrushed magazine beauty. And one mustn't forget that all the major makeup companies are run by men...
Feminism
Ruby Reject Barbie
Time for some feminism. Can someone explain why a little girl was apparently 'traumatised' on seeing Ruby, a Body Shop doll based on real proportions not Barbie ones? This one complaint made Barbie manufacturer Mattell send the Body Shop a 'cease & desist' order...
Feminism
Being me
Just out of interest, what's more important? To be the prettiest or most popular one? Or to be the funniest, cleverous and most generous person you know? If you're already an Alpha Female it might be a tough call. If you grow up an outsider, you make the very best you can out of what you've got... and that's a lot.
Feminism
Sexed up
Sex sells. Fact. Practically every aspect of the modern media relies on it, from TV to film, music videos and advertising campaigns. Is it a form of female liberalisation? If not, is it really necessary?
Feminism
Plus size abuse
"I hate my thighs." "My arms are so big." "I'm just fat." Have you ever heard girls or women say this about their own bodies? Have you ever said it to yourself? That's the kind of plus-size abuse we're talking about - the kind where the cruellest detractor is you.
Feminism
How to be mooky in Malaysia
KathTeaChin: It's hard to be inked, pierced and proud in a country that combines conservative Asian and Muslim cultures.
Feminism
10 Steps to becoming fierce
Change from who your caterpillar self into an even hotter, more confident butterfly more brains. Yes, fierce. But this isn't a word to be used lightly. Lady Gaga is fierce. Juliette Lewis is fierce. It's a hard nut to crack. Here's how to make the fierce happen.
Feminism
Body hair and body confidence
If you were trying to undermine a woman's body confidence, what would be the best way to do it? How about telling them that something natural about their body - like their body hair - is unattractive?
Feminism
Feminism, women shaving & the Western Harem
Feminism: Feminist = hairy legs is potentially boring. Ah, just gender stereotypes, you say. But let's look beyond the feminist cliche as our intrepid miss M throws her shaving kit in the bin...
Feminism
Teenage pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy: Bad attitude, college dropout, PREGNANT. You see these words and think of teenage mums lining up at the Job Centre for their weekly cigarette money. That was what BinaBean was led to believe, until she fell pregnant at 16
Feminism
Polyamory
Polyamory (from the greek for 'many' and the latin for 'love') believes a person can have more than one intimately loving relationship at the same time. Do you?
Feminism
Lookin' lesbian today?
Lesbian opinion: Ever been told you were too pretty to be a lesbian? Amy Ekins looks at identity pressures within the lesbian community.
Feminism
Tomboy femme...
Tomboy femme: A girl with sometimes boyish personality or tendencies. Not just a manly style thing like tomboy chic. Is it a label we like?
Feminism
Surviving life with an anarchist mother
Anarchism: Your mother may be the best anarchist (and mother) in the world, but sometimes her teachings get amusingly lost in translation...
Feminism
Being Joan Cougar
Feminism: We find a trapdoor into the mind of Joan Cougar and she invites us to peer inside... for free.
Feminism
Online feminism & feminist sites
Online feminism: We modern girls know what we want. We want choice, we want freedom, we want equality. We want feathers and corsets. But do we ever stop to think about how we came by all this freedom? These online feminist sites can help us think...
Feminism
Hunt for the cougar
Feminism: The Cougar is an older woman who prefers to date younger men. We find out more about the cougar and her not so predatory nature...
Feminism
Yes, but what is anti-fashion?
Riot Grrl: What does anti-fashion actually mean - both for alternative fashion and for society as a whole?
Feminism
The darkly dreaming world of child pageantry
Riot Grrl: Beauty pageants have always been a subject of controversy when it comes to women's rights. Beauty pageants are seen as blatant objectification of women as sexual objects, admired for their physical appeal yet downgraded to something less than human. The controversy is increased tenfold when the focus is not on women but on little girls...
Feminism
Annie Sprinkle: Post pr0n Feminist
Riot Grrl: Frank Zappa said: "Annie Sprinkle, America is better for your efforts." Annie Sprinkle is an ex stripper, ex prostitute, feminist pr0n activist artist. She heals us through controversial performances on the theme of sexuality. She's the sort of person that makes you glad to be a person. Annie Sprinkle, we salute you.
Feminism
The choice to live child-free
Grrl: Regulars will know Mookychick is pro (loving) motherhood, but here's a personal account and manifesto of a person who has decided to live as a child-free woman. Pro-choice = HURRAH!
Feminism
To write love on her arms
Grrl: 'To write love on her arms' sounds like a cutter's motto, but TWLOHA are dedicated to making every single person going through the blackest moment in their lives have the strength to pick up a phone, meet a counsellor or find meaning in their lives. We like them. We don't ever want to see a spate of suicides like Bridgend (23 suicides in a quiet little Welsh town in 2008) ever again.
Feminism
Women, The Vote, and 2010
Riot Grrl: Clare Boothe Luce said, "Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, 'She doesn't have what it takes.' They will say, 'Women don't have what it takes.' Why is it so important for women to vote in 2010?
Feminism
College: Boot camp for the real world
Grrl: Robert Ingersoll said that "college is a place where pebbles are polished and diamonds dimmed". Well, hey, little diamond. Treat college as a boot camp for life and you'll only end up shining all the brighter...
Feminism
Losing your protest virginity
Activism: Go alone, or bring a friend? Thalia addresses this and other questions (Keep it legal? Protest panic?) on her first ever protest march...
Feminism
Will you lose your favourite magazine?
Society: Things are, especially if you live in Britain, pretty crappy at the moment. We're in the middle of a global recession and our government is crumbling away in front of our very eyes. Inked, Kerrang and all those lovely shiny magazines can make it all better. But can they last?
Feminism
Virgin voting - But what exactly is going to change?
Politics: With the country ripping its gizzards out with financial scandals and whatnot, our first-time voter looks at the three main UK parties and what they say they believe in. National policy? Foreign policy? Is there any difference between the parties at all?
Feminism
Queer mutiny
Activism: Queer mutiny is about redefining a movement. Are you Queer without knowing it? Now you don't have to be LGBT to be Queer.
Feminism
Yes... But is it feminist?
Riot Grrl: A call to action. Has Mookychick's feminist message become diluted over the years? Is "Siblings are doing it for everyone" a better, though less catchy, ethos than "sisters are doing it for themselves"? This is a jolly important article and we hugely respect the message in it. Please read it with your eyes.
Feminism
"Fish Are Plants and Other Myths" - the fish-eating 'vegetarian'
Vegetarianism: Emma-Jayne is tired of explaining to waiters in restaurants that a fish is an animal. She looks at pescatarians and vegetarians and asks why there is no such thing as a "fish-eating vegetarian".
Feminism
Girl guides, third wave feminism and beyond
La Femme est Forte: You don't need to know what a third-wave feminist is to feel you are one. It all starts in primary school, when that first boy answers an argument on gender position in society by calling you a big pineapple head...
Feminism
Protect and survive
Campaigning: The eighties, god bless them, weren't all lace bows and pop socks. In honour of how close to WW3 in 1983 we really were, Mookychick reprints a scary-scary leaflet from the 1980s called 'Protect and Survive'. If you were a child of the eighties, forget the bogeyman - The Bomb was the bogeyman. Let's admit the Bogeyman exists - then put him back in the closet.
Feminism
Financial assistance for pregnancy and mothers
Society: Becoming a parent can be an expensive business. However, there are a number of grants and benefits for new parents that you might be able to apply for. From child benefit to food vouchers, we look at ways for UK mothers to get financial aid...
Feminism
Female sexuality and the Extreme pr0nography Act
Society: Sexual arousal is a beautiful thing: You go about your day and then something a little bit kinky pops into your head. Hurrah! You may be pro sexual arousal, and anti-pr0nography. Lovely. No problem. But there's a potentially nasty and sour lemon-mouthed little thing called the Extreme pr0nography Act, and Kate Morrison digs a bit deeper...
Feminism
Is super-sizing the problem super-shrinking the people?
Society: Language gives away a lot about the state of society and the people in it. We have words for fat. We have words for super-fat. We label some things, and not others. Should the world turn into a nanny state that labels everything it can get its greedy, mollycoddled hands on? Or do we need to draw a line, and start taking some real responsibility for our actions?
Feminism
Heroine Chic - Grrl icons for 2008/9
Riot Grrl: Tina Fey ridiculing Sarah Palin... Laura Marling bringing us her indi-folk-pop... Hillary Clinton giving it some grr... 2008 was a good year for women. And 2009 looks set to be even better...
Feminism
29 Ways to find yourself
Self development: The wise philosopher Heraclitus once said that sea water is good for fishes and bad for men. Only you can find yourself, really. But - you never know - these 29 (sod 30, the number 30 is so overrated) pointers might help you find joy and happiness. It's your own personal journey, baby. Bon voyage!
Feminism
How to survive being teased for being alternative at school
Self development: If you are an alternative dude/dudette and love it, but the others around you at school aren't, you can rarely change other people's actions - especially if they're teasing you mercilessly - but you can change your own. These pointers may help make your life a little easier.
Feminism
Gay marriage rights - no to Proposition 8
Campaigns: Proposition 8 seeks to overturn California's allowance of gay marriage. Since only 3 US states allow gay marriage in the first place, we can't let the government get away with it.
Feminism
The Battlefront Project - Support 'Anti Size Zero'
Riot Grrl: Anyone who's watched the film 'The Devil Wears Prada' knows that what you see in fashion magazines is supposed to be aspirational. And that's not just the film; women across the world, consciously or not, aspire to the images of the supposedly perfect women they see in magazines, on the catwalk and on television...
Feminism
How to call yourself a feminist without biting your own tongue off
Riot Grrl: "I'm not happy being a feminist. It should all be over by now." - Tracey Emin
"I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat." - Rebecca West
Don't burn your bra, know the facts. It's time to find out more.
Feminism
A sweet 'lil thing called atheism
Carl Sagan said "Atheism is an attitude, a frame of mind that looks at the world objectively, fearlessly, always trying to understand all things as a part of nature." Holly-Rae Smith says she came out as an atheist to a room filled with half the church congregation...
Feminism
Dealing with an abusive relationship
Opinion: It's comparatively easy to tell someone to walk away from an abusive relationship - it's harder to take a stand and actually do it. Although now on the road to recovery - taking the road less travelled - Miss Anonymous had the bad fortune to end up in an abusive relationship with a death-lover that had legal repercussions.
Feminism
Winter depression diary - S.A.D.
Welcome to Tamara's month-to-month depression diary. She's suffered from S.A.D. and her mood changes wildly over the year - from anxiety and insecurity in September through to depression in December and mania in January. She got help from loved ones after trying to kill herself. Read more.
Feminism
Sleeping with the Frienemy
The Kat in the Hat argues that at the risk of perpetrating some girl-on-girl crime, sometimes it's important to keep your friends close and your frienemies closer
Feminism
Ann Coulter - Feminine, Famous, Fascist...
Ann Coulter represents the foxy face of fascism and is getting away with saying incendiary bullshit that her male Republican counterparts would never dare to. She's not bright, she's rude and she's repetitive - so why has she hit the bestseller list 5 times? Prepare to be afraid...
Feminism
Self-development: Creating courage
We create the world through our decisions. Whether it's being 'creative' but faced with a blank page, or fearing to even risk failure with the unknown cutie across the room, Wendy Withers knows that it's courage, not fearless bravery, that draws us on and makes us take charge of ourselves.
Feminism
The evolution of 'girl power' in music
From 'girl power' to 'riot grrl' and back again
The Spice Girls coined 'girl power' and it's a fluffy term for a female perspective that deserves to be popularised but not cheapened. Music is a great platform for feminism. From the blues and Motown legends to Riot Grrls like Bikini Kill and modern Power Girls like Beth Ditto, Hayley Foster gives us a short and sweet history of musical girl power.
Feminism
Riot Grrl
Read our Riot Grrl blog for modern feminist views and empower yourself with feminism, pro choice and more - Mookychick
