Don’t ban rape porn- ban rape apologism!

Our government wants porn filters. Some feminists want to ban porn, especially “rape porn”. But what’s the point of getting rid of pornography if we don’t get rid of the real issue: rape culture? Rape apologism and victim blaming is rife in the media. Mainstream horror novels like Stephen King’s Carrie suggest that rape victims

Mainstream feminist campaigns don’t help the most marginalised women

The feminist campaigns that get media attention are the ones which need that attention least. Yes, banknotes and creating a database of women experts are good ideas. But these projects’ impacts on women’s lives are minimal. The most vulnerable or stigmatised women (migrants, abuse victims, women of colour, queer women, disabled women and sex workers)

Libel laws and free speech

Just as I was busy with with the sex work debate posts, our hard working newshounds managed to sniff themselves out another sex scandal. Now, I’m opposed to media intrusion of private lives. I’m baffled by the idea of “sex scandals” or the concept that sex can be news. And I’m against the news media

Media turns gang rape into a joke – because victim was a man

A few days ago a news story popped up in my Twitter feed. It was the shocking report of how a 19 year old was lured into a car by four much older women on the pretense of giving him a ride home. Instead, the gang drove him to a secluded spot where all four

Anonymous: can a non hierarchical structure work for hacktivists?

Disclaimer: This article expresses opinions about a hacktivist group that I have no inside knowledge of; these opnions should not be taken as facts about Anonymous. This is only a representation of my thoughts about Anonymous from a non-anarchist non-hacker outsider’s perspective. This post may contain incomplete or unintentionally untrue informaton. The hacktivist group Anonymous

Paedomania vs Slut-shaming: There can be only one!

Paedomania is the moral panic over paedophiles. Moral panics were first indentified by Cohen (1971). They are a disproportionate societal reaction to a threat, usually to do with sex. Previous moral panics have included the 17th century witch-hunts, American reactions to 9/11 and the satanic ritual sexual abuse panic of the late ’80s and early

Stigmatising the unemployed

As I’ve written in earlier posts, the Tories stigmatised lone mothers in the 1990s, blaming them for the economy and portraying them as irresponsible, undeserving benefit cheats. Right now, they’re doing the exact same thing to people who are claiming state benefits – despite the fact that 93% of Housing Benefit claimants are in working

Stigma against single mums: How it all began

How did lone motherhood and young motherhood come to be demonised? Well, I got curious about two years ago and headed to my university library to find out. After months of research, I knew more than I wanted to know. I decided to summarise everything into a blog post, and here is my expose on

Freedom – but only if it’s hushed up: Swingers’ orgy cancelled by Edinburgh hotel

According to the Daily Record, the Carlton Hotel on Northbridge, central Edinburgh, cancelled a swingers’ orgy when management realised it wasn’t just a masked ball. Now, I am doubtful if indeed it was an orgy and not any other type of social event, but whether or not it was true or not is irrelevant. The fact is,

The right to privacy and freedom of the press: where is the line?

I have been planning this post for a while, and the aftermath of Gawker’s outing of a Reddit user for posting photos of clothed underaged girls seems as good a time as any to make this. Lately, teens have been having their identities plastered all over the news for making offensive jokes. Firstly, reporters, merely