Vivat Libertas

Dear reader, whoever you are, I want you to know this: women aren't stupid. If you know me, you might be slightly confused because I'm constantly ranting about how stupid humanity is, so I might as well amend that statement: women are not some special kind of magical, sparkly, feminine stupid that somehow manages to make other genders look cleverer by comparison. We are just as intelligent (or as stupid) as you are. At this point, if you're going to trot out men having bigger brains than women or having higher IQs than women, I have this to say to you: firstly, men are physically bigger than women. This is why their brains are bigger. Relative body size has to be factored in when talking about relative brain size. As to men having higher IQs than women? Laying aside the debate about whether IQ is a decent measure of intelligence (because there is a debate, and because once you get past a couple of standard deviations it does break down quite spectacularly when it comes ...

Here is something which might shock you: I am a woman who is capable of thinking for herself. I'll wait for you to fall off your chair or spill your drink or have a heart attack or something (not that I want you to do any of these things). Go on, go on and be shocked. What? You're not even surprised? Not even startled? Of course women are capable of thinking for themselves, you say, congratulating yourself for supporting the liberation and emancipation of women everywhere. I for one judge people by their deeds and attitudes, not by their words, and what I see is the very same people who claim to think that women can be independent-minded are also the ones who think that because I'm a woman, and quite a young one at that, anything that they don't like about me is because I've been corrupted by books and men (which probably says something about the kyriarchy wanting to keep women stupid, since then they can't rebel, and under control - sexually and otherwise...

Fuck the kyriarchy . That's all I can say. I'm shocked and outraged and I can barely talk. Maybe I shouldn't be this way. Maybe I should have expected something like this. But no matter how rampant it is, no matter how widespread the attitudes are, I get angry. I'm not particularly easy on the eyes and I'm probably slightly overweight. Fine. I do the best I can with what I have and these days I try to keep reasonably fit. Going to the gym (instead of being forced to participate in sports I despise) probably helps. Two stunningly beautiful girls in my year, one of whom models, want plastic surgery for...well...basically everything. A nose job, a boob job, a tummy tuck here and a facelift there. Now, these girls can do whatever they want. Their private lives aren't my business. If they want to spend money on permanently changing their appearance, that's their decision and not mine. What is  my business, however, and what disgusts me, is the attitude whic...

So V. S. Naipaul , the Nobel laureate, has caused quite a stir by claiming that women writers are inferior to men. Of course, some people have been up in arms about it. Some people have just laughed it off . Some people have applauded Naipaul (here's a free sick bucket). Before I start, I am female and a batshit insane liberal, and sexism gets me mad. So no, I'm not your average bigot. Not at all. (In fact, I'd hesitate to describe myself as a bigot.) And, for all this, I'm forced to admit that he has a point. "YOU SEXIST!" you cry. "YOU TRAITOR TO THE FEMALE SEX! HOW DARE YOU!" "Hold your horses," I say, "and let me explain my point." Yes, there are good female writers out there - there's Doris Lessing and Agatha Christie, for example, and I'm a Jo Shapcott fan (I know that that's technically poetry, but still). Hell, I've been tipped off that Vera Britten's very good as well. I've got nothing...