Reaching in, reaching out
This sort of thing is very hard to write. It might surprise you that I’m not naturally an open person, not in a public context, and that often pushing publish Continue Reading →
Author Archives: writehanded
That memory thing
I’ve always had a fantastic memory. Now, I can’t remember what I had for breakfast most days. And it’s really, really scary.
A sea change – or just more weasel words?
Way back when I was fighting Paula Bennett, the then Social Development Minister, in the media, Labour made a lot of noise about trying to effect a cultural change at Continue Reading →
WINZ: criminal til proven otherwise
I’ve been the lucky recipient of not one, not two, but four letters from WINZ this week, each one requiring different things of me. I want people to understand how Continue Reading →
Meet the Rebel Girls
I’m one half of the Rebel Girl Reads challenge, and the first meetup is this week, so we thought we’d give a bit of a back story and a more Continue Reading →
Top Ten Romance Tropes That Need to Die Already
The romance genre exists on a few ridiculous tropes, that actually normalise and perpetuate harmful behaviours. Fifty Shades is only the start of the story.
The nature of gendered abuse
Amid accusations that our Prime Minister deliberately mislead the country by getting pregnant and will now be an unfit leader due to “baby brain” and motherhood, I’m reflecting on how Continue Reading →
Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard’s Manifesto compares classic Roman literature and culture with contemporary sexism, highlighting all the ways in which we still need to make progress.
Fight like a girl
I got given Clementine Ford’s Fight Like a Girl for my birthday, which was excellent because I’ve been wanting to read it for ages and it fits in the Rebel Continue Reading →
Climbing mountains
Being ill like I am makes even simple tasks feel like climbing a mountain. With toddlers hanging off my arms and legs. And torrential rain turning the track to mud. Continue Reading →