I know a mother of a teenage girl who had been through the trauma of discovering her daughter is pregnant and taking her for an abortion. When I asked her how her daughter was doing in her relationship, the mother became a little tearful, saying she felt she had done all she could. She was … Continue reading Is your relationship healthy? A checklist for girls and women
Teaching Consent in the Classroom
Published in TES on 13 January 2017 In 2015, a police report found that 5,500 sexual assaults, including 600 rapes, had occurred in UK schools in the past three years. This statistic was only the tip of the iceberg. The recent Women and Equalities Committee’s Inquiry into sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools revealed … Continue reading Teaching Consent in the Classroom
Why ‘Gender-neutral’ is vital to Sex Education
‘Gender-neutral’ simply means stereotype-free – and starting with clothes labels is a step in the right direction to expressing full humanity, academic potential and healthy relationships
Being A Man Starts with Challenging Sex Stereotypes Age 3
"Will people laugh at me if I colour a princess?" asked my five year old son, when we were talking our regular talk about his friendship woes at school. "Jayden said to me ‘You’ve got a purple hoody,'" my eldest, age seven, confided, a bit downcast. Jayden will have said this in a mocking way. I … Continue reading Being A Man Starts with Challenging Sex Stereotypes Age 3
XXX Schoolgirls Wanted
What did I learn from listening to survivors of prostitution? That school age girls are most in demand – and it’s not only for sex but 'despoilment' ‘I’ve answered phones in enough brothels to know the most common question is always, ‘What age is the youngest girl you have?’ writes Rachel Moran, a survivor of … Continue reading XXX Schoolgirls Wanted
Bringing Up Boys: 5 tips off the top of my head
Bringing Up Boys is the subject of a debate at Cheltenham Festival this Thursday 9 June and the brilliant campaigning organisation Let Toys Be Toys are on the panel. They asked their Twitter followers what is important about raising boys so, as a mother of two primary age boys and a campaigner on Challenging Gender … Continue reading Bringing Up Boys: 5 tips off the top of my head
Sexist culture grooms sexist boys
MPs are launching an inquiry into sexual harassment and violence in schools. This article describes the lad culture that is making girls’ right to safe education a sexist joke. A head in Milton Keynes sent 29 girls home from school for wearing short skirts which she believes fail to protect them from boys’ sexual harassment. Of course … Continue reading Sexist culture grooms sexist boys
Strategies for Building Children’s Resilience To Gender-Stereotypes and Sexualisation
Rachel Bell gives a talk for parents on Challenging Gender Stereotypes as part of the POWThanet festival at Turner Contemporary
Building Children’s Resilience To Sexualisation and Gender Stereotypes
I’ll be sharing some really practical strategies on this at the all new festival for International Women's Day, POWThanet, this Saturday 12th March. Mums, dads, carers, aunties, uncles, grandparents, educators of girls and of boys all welcome – I'll be at Turner Contemporary, Margate, in Foyle Room 3 at 4pm. I'm also really up for hearing parents' and carers' own … Continue reading Building Children’s Resilience To Sexualisation and Gender Stereotypes
A last word on lad mags: The real reason they closed
I was one of the first people to write about the disgustingness of lad mags, along with a brave blogger called Charliegirl, so, ten years later, I thought it fitting that I be one of the last. FHM and Zoo have closed, joining Loaded, Nuts, Maxim and Front in the ‘end of the lad mags era.’ … Continue reading A last word on lad mags: The real reason they closed
Betty Bandit 