Have You Heard of the “Spy Princess”?
Have you heard of the “Spy Princess”? No? Well, I guess this is another one of those remarkable stories that time has forgotten. Let me take you back to the moment I first met this extraordinary woman. On a gusty Autumn’s afternoon in Gordon Square Gardens, Central London, I noticed a statue intently staring into the distance, upon a second glance I realised that the contemplative figure looked a little like me. This further sparked my interest, so I decided to go over and ha
When FGM hits close to home
FGM – No it’s not another throw away abbreviation like OMG or ROFL, but a rather more serious acronym for a practice, oftentimes described as sinister. What am I talking about? Female Genital Mutilation. What is it? Female circumcision - the removal of some or all the female’s genitalia followed by the closing or stitching up of the outer lips. This practice was a tool used to keep young women virgins; culturally young girls were more valuable to their families if they were v
Has political correctness gone too far?
Brexit and Trump. Shock results which have defined the past year and will probably define the decade. In a documentary for Channel 4 earlier this year, Trevor Phillips attributed the success of these populist movements to political correctness having gone too far. He argued that our fear of offending minorities has prevented Western states from properly tackling the questions of immigration and terrorism. I think in part he is right. In our effort to respect minority identit
Let's talk about 'age of consent'
After Milo Yiannopolous was uninvited to a conservative conference in Washington for making insensitive comments advocating sex under the age of consent on an online podcast, I felt compelled to try understand his perspective. How could he reason that a person under the age of sixteen could make a decision to partake in any sexual activity and bear the repercussions involved? If you ask me the age should be raised. For readers who have not heard of Milo Yiannopolous, please l
Is Easter a dirty word?
As I pick up an Easter Egg from the shelf at the local supermarket, I wonder how many people would object to me calling it an “Easter” egg and not simply chocolate. This train of thought is not one I often have when buying chocolate, and has been caused by the recent controversy surrounding this year’s Cadbury’s “Egg Hunt” who have not included the word “Easter” in the marketing campaign. But how do these relatively subjective views really affect those who celebrate the holid
The medicine of music...
Music can be one of the most powerful things in the world. It can inspire you, it can make you feel so many different emotions and it can get you through some tough times. For me, music is one of my go to gurus. As weird as that is to say, when you put a certain track on it’s just what you need. For a short period in my life I found that I was starting to stress about everything in life. I had just finished in education but was trying to look for work. I just really didn’t kn
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