Columns & Opinion

Taking your dog for a walk is an everyday task that should be enjoyable, or at least straightforward. But for women, there is a mental checklists they complete before heading out into our streets and parks, especially during winter evenings. Kelly Robinson, who runs Basic Bxtch dog treats, tells us why she's running regular women's-only dog walks in Blackpool. Lead. Yep. Poo bags. Yep. Treats. Yep. Checking the time so that you’re not out too late. Changing your normal route to make sure that you’ll be in a well-lit, ‘safe’ area. Making sure that you’ve told people at home where…

As International Men's Day approaches, Tim Christian draws a path towards overcoming harmful cultural and societal expectations of masculinity. Let's talk International Men's Day. Firstly, yes, there is one – it’s on November 19th – and secondly I do believe it's an important one to recognise because men are overdue love and attention too. There has rightly been a lot of discussion recently about issues facing women, ranging from treatment in the workplace like the gender pay gap, to incidents of violence and abuse, as covered globally and also locally through efforts like Reclaim Blackpool. It goes without saying that…

Reclaim Blackpool and the SLAG Collective have been raising their collective voice against a culture of silence around sexual harassment and violence. This Friday we ask you to join us to Scream Like A Girl – a Halloween fundraiser at Bootleg Social. If you’re stuck for ideas on what to dress up as, don’t dismiss the witch – she's a centuries-old favourite for a reason. The enchantress and the hag. These representations of witches are two sides of the same coin – metaphors for the two things society, both then and now, fears most in women – sexual liberation and…

Not being able to express our anger is causing women to act strangely in supermarkets, says Martha Pailing, who’s channelled her rage into a one woman show I gently punch the packet of cheese. I have been walking around the supermarket, circling the cheese aisle several times now. I have seen my ex-partner’s favourite cheese on a shelf, Comté, and it’s pissed me off so I have been thinking about punching it for several minutes. I know it’s irrational and the cheese has never personally caused me any harm, but I cannot seem to rid myself of the thought. Eventually,…

Becky Doran-Brown is hosting a new series of Burlesque workshops to promote body positivity at the Old Electric. Here she shares the personal battles that led her to the art form and invites other women to join her in celebrating the skin we’re in Feather boas, sequins and tassels are all the tropes of burlesque. But full of the glamour and the mystique, burlesque is its own art form that typically celebrates the sexual power of women and women's bodies. We consume so many images every single day through social media and we take for granted how structured and contrived…

Reclaim Blackpool – the campaign mapping sexual harassment in the town – joined forces with Rebellion Festival this month. Women from the campaign tell us why Blackpool is a natural home for punk, and why punk is a natural home for feminism. Main photo: Reclaim activists Georgia and Holly by Elizabeth Gomm Rebellion Festival is Blackpool at its best. Punks descend on a town that is in many ways a natural home for them – a place that is loud and unapologetic, with a creative and community spirit born out of decent and dissatisfaction. These are the conditions that have…

I have 24 minutes to write this column before I need to place a last minute bid on the brown suede fringe jacket I’ve been watching on eBay. I’ll pause Aurora, on repeat on Spotify, so I can focus. If you’ve watched Daisy Jones & The Six on Amazon Prime then you know where I’m coming from. If you haven’t – drop everything and get back to me in 10 hours. Inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the series follows the tumultuous relationships of a fictional rock band in the 1970s and is based on the book by Taylor Jenkins Reid*. If…