May 2013
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“The result is a false dichotomy: either you are “poor” and poised on the edge of...”
– I’m talking “privileged poverty” at Daily Life today.
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Seeking UK girls (aged 10-16) and parents for...
I’m working on a UK newspaper piece on the sexualisation of children debate, and looking to speak to girls aged 10-16 and their parents. If you or anyone you know can help, please get in touch (my email is rachel.hills@gmail.com) or pass this post on to them.
I’d like to know your views on issues such as:
For Girls
Do you feel pressured to be hot or sexy? Pretty, cool or fashionable? Are “hot,”...
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What's normal when it comes to sex? →
You are. Probably. No seriously, you almost certainly are.
My latest at Daily Life.
April 2013
11 posts
houseofbeasties asked: Rachel, on Nancy Jo Sales' website there is an article about Gwyneth that was written in the mid 90s. It features quotes from Gwyneth's high school classmates. Please do read it!
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The Gwyneth in my head
Over the past few days, I’ve developed a minor obsession with Gwyneth Paltrow. I know, I know – the only kind of “obsession” it is acceptable to have with Gwyneth Paltrow is an obsession founded on loathing. And yet, here I am.
I blame her month-long PR assault, which started with her cook book, was followed by a string of premieres for the new Iron Man flick, and culminated last week with her...
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happinessisawarmhoop asked: Hi Rachel! I just started following your blog and I love your take on life. If there was one thing that you think we should do as women what would it be?
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jumbledmemories asked: Hi Rachel, I wanted to get your opinions on crossdressing and guys who want to act feminine.
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iriidescence asked: Hey, I wanted to ask you a question since I know you're living in London now. I'm moving back to London in 35 days (knock on wood - as long as I get my visa in time!) and hope to join feminist societies/groups in London over the summer so my summertime before I begin my MA studies at King's in the fall is productive and not just all about being lazy and forgetting how to think! I...
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London Feminist Discussion Group: Dove 'Real...
Just a quick note to let you know that the next London Feminist Discussion Group, hosted by Sarah Graham and I, will be held on Tuesday May 7 at 7pm, at LEON on Old Compton Street in Soho. We’ll be talking about the Dove ‘Real Beauty’ Sketches Campaign. All women (and interested men) welcome. We are a trans-inclusive group. Just RSVP to londonfeministdiscussion@gmail.com (or join our...
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retronova asked: Hey Rachel, any books that have influenced your thinking and philosophy? I'd love to do some summer reading.
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nightwing45 asked: Hey Rachel, facing eating disorders myself. And having regained some of the weight I lost. I was wondering what your darkest moment was that helped you get to being a better you? I myself had the encouragement of my father to get healthy, when he died. I feel off the wagon some. So right now I am trying to get back to what was making me feel good. And I thought maybe something you share can...
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Pics or It Didn't Happen
L-R: Conventional Selfie; “Ugly” Selfie; Totes Fug Selfie.
“Why aren’t you on Instagram, Hachel Rills?” a friend asked me over dinner on Saturday night.
“I’m on enough social media platforms as it is,” I replied. “And I don’t want to have to always be photo-ready. Besides, I’m not a very good photographer.”* But you don’t have to take photographs of yourself, my friend retorted. You...
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“[W]e see a lot of depictions that suggest once you are BFFs, you are always...”
– Lena Dunham
March 2013
27 posts
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Ugly Is the New Pretty: How Unattractive Selfies... →
I’ve got a story at NYMag.com’s The Cut today, on the significance of “ugly selfies.”
I’ve got more to say on this topic, but I’ll leave it until after Easter weekend. For now, the link!
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Submitted
I’ve spent the last couple of weeks tearing my hair out over my manuscript as I prepared to send it to my editor this week, picking apart the holes and despairing over how I would ever fill them.
But last night, as I moved all the chapters out of their separate files and into one big one, I experienced a moment of awe. I did it! I wrote a book! Sure, it’s not perfect and there are about a...
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"Gaining weight and pulling my head out of the...
Trigger alert: Eating disorders.
Chloe has a brave post at Feministing today, in which she admits that despite the fact that she was an Eating Concerns Advisor at her university, and despite the fact that she is a professional feminist… she has been starving herself.
The main focus of Chloe’s piece is the contradiction between her feminist beliefs and her bad-feminist behaviours, but...
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“I never felt comfortable with myself, because I was never part of the majority....”
– Steven Spielberg
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Happy 30th birthday, Taylor Hanson.
And for your present, here’s an essay I wrote back in 2005, with minor edits.
He’s got a smile and it seems to me Reminds me of childhood memories When everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky And now and then when I see his face It takes me away to that special place And if I stare too long I’d probably break down and cry… What can I say about Taylor Hanson? Light...
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meeting in the aisle: More on why volunteering in... →
“The comings and goings of different cohorts of voluntourists results in the children experiencing constant instability and inconsistency in their emotional care. They are also left with empty promises, as many volunteers promise to return, but the majority do not keep in contact and are soon…
What Lyrian said. See also.
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I heart my agent.
Her: "You should have a slide saying 'The Sex Myth is bullshit.'"
Me: "Well, I'm already using the word 'bullshit' in my talk, so that could work."
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Things I am looking forward to after I finish my...
- Having weekends again. - Meeting new people and exploring new neighbourhoods of London. - Reading other people’s books. - Getting started on new projects. - My hair no longer (literally) turning grey from stress. - Actually, you know, HAVING WRITTEN A BOOK.
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My Life On My Back: On Girls and "awkward sex."
Like Hannah Horvath, I’m two weeks from book deadline, so I’ll keep this brief. In fact, I’ll just rip it straight from an email I just sent to a friend, with a couple of additions here and there.
I have been somewhat annoyed by the sex in Season 2 Girls. I feel like the first season was most realistic in its banality (some of the the stuff that happened was offbeat, but the sex was never the...
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At home in the Musings household...
Mr Musings picks up a magazine from the pile on our kitchen table, and reads aloud one of the headlines.
Mr Musings: That looks like something you’d be interested in. Me: Yep. That’s why I bought it. Mr Musings: How many articles about sex do they have? Me: Usually about fourteen. I’ve counted. Mr Musings: I think this article reinforces The Sex Myth. … Do you want me to...
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“Hi, we reach 13 million readers but we can’t afford to pay you freelance types...”
– The Atlantic
Meanwhile, Marco Arment’s The Magazine has just 25,000 subscribers who pay $1.99 a month, allowing him to pay writers $800 per article.
(via chartier) The second this-makes-the-Atlantic-look-really-bad thing to happen this year.
(via shortformblog)
Is it telling that my first...
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"Schtick."
I always love reading Rachel Rabbit White’s love letters to her friends. It’s for the same reason I gobble up Natalie Joos’s Tales of Endearment, which I read not for the fashion, but for the intimate portraits she paints through her photography and writing.
It’s something I’d love to do myself. I’m always telling one of my most fascinating friends that she had better hurry up and get famous so...
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"Anne Hathaway is an actor. This is not a synonym... →
- Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic.
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“The culturewide attack on the Hathaway … the rawest example yet of our...”
– Kevin Fallon @ The Daily Beast
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February 2013
21 posts
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Street style and the rise of the "attention...
Regular readers of this blog will know that I go back and forth when it comes to this whole fashion thing.
Some days I see it as an amazing tool for creativity and transformation, that wielded with the correct eye and skill, affords the capacity to “become” a different person each day or the week. Other days, I believe it encourages us to invest too much into appearances, peddling...
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Howling Clementine: Callout for women working in... →
Clem Ford is looking for women in the media to answer some questions about sexism. Can you help? Email her at clementine.ford@gmail.com.
clementineford:
Are you a woman working in the media, either behind the scenes or as a presenter? I’m delivering the Pamela Denoon Lecture next week in Canberra on the topic of Misogyny, Power and the Media. I’m looking for some anecdotal (and anonymous)...
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London Feminist Discussion Group: Mantel,...
Just a quick note to let you know that the next London Feminist Discussion Group, hosted by Sarah Graham and I, will be held on Monday March 4, at the Earl of Essex in Islington. We’ll be talking about Hilary Mantel’s essay on Kate Middleton and Royal Bodies.
Our ethos is as follows: “We want this group to be a space where we can be messy, to dig into the issues that leave us...
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I'm giving a TED talk!
I’ll be speaking at TEDxLoughborough on March 16, about some of the ideas in my forthcoming book The Sex Myth. If you’re in the area, it would be great to see you there. If not, I’ll share the video here once it goes up on YouTube.
“Understanding the Sex Myth”
Turn on the TV or head to the Daily Mail online, and you could be forgiven for thinking we live in an age...
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“I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The, like, fact that - that people - had sex....”
– The Maris Review
Angela Chase Forever
(via emilygould) 