People are tweeting in protest against Theresa May's likely decision to involve the UK in US military action against Syria.
On Saturday, a suspected chemical weapons attack in the previously rebel-held city of Douma killed more than 40 people, the BBC reported. Donald Trump seems ready to attack, tweeting on Wednesday that missiles "will be coming", although it's unclear when. On Thursday morning Trump said cryptically it "could be very soon or not so soon at all".
The prime minister today summoned the cabinet to discuss whether or not the UK will join the US in its military response, and it is believed she may be willing to go ahead without the backing of MPs, who are away from Westminster until next week, reported the BBC.
Many people on Twitter are outraged at the thought of UK involvement in the attack, with the hashtag #NotInMyNameTheresaMay trending countrywide on Thursday morning.
In a poll by Twitter user Rachael Swindon, posted just before 9pm on Wednesday, more than 86% of the nearly 22,000 people who had voted by Thursday morning said they were against air strikes.
So Theresa May admits she's not sure who's behind the awful chemical attack, but she's going to bomb Syria anyway, without the backing of Parliament. This is about to be the start of a very tragic chapter in our history. Complete and utter madness. #NotInMyNameTheresaMay
Here is a sample of some of the tweets employing the hashtag to protest so far...
No mandate from public or Parliament, no UN resolution, no genuine investigation of facts, no serious plan for what comes next for people in Syria; the UK govt has no authority to follow Trump into a possible confrontation with Russia #NotInMyNameTheresaMaypic.twitter.com/Q1Popu8KQa
If as is expected, the US re-enters the Syrian conflict...and Theresa May disgracefully and arrogantly follows them without democratic process... it will cost her. Rational population see through irresponsible recklessness and faux steeliness #NotInMyNameTheresaMay
@theresa_may how dare you? How absolutely dare you. You are a weak PM with a very weak majority and blood already on your hands. You will get a fight, but not with Syria. You'll get a fight back from within. #NotInMyNameTheresaMay
When the most enthusiastic people wanting to Bomb Syria are Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and Dan Hodges, that should be a sign that this is a seriously bad idea with no longer term plan. #NotInMyNameTheresaMay
They say it’s necessary to cut my school’s funding but the money appears out of thin air when they want to go to war in the Middle East. #NotInMyNameTheresaMay
Many tweets drew parallels between potential action in Syria now and the Iraq war, with some suggesting UK involvement in the country could trigger mass protests akin to those against Iraq in 2003.
British people: “Remember #Iraq. Do NOT bomb #Syria”.
I was at the Iraq protests in London 15 years ago. I will do whatever it takes this time to oppose any British involvement in another preposterous, foreign intervention. #NotInMyNameTheresaMay
As we know by now, there's a lot of dubious health advice on the internet – on every topic, including sleep. We know about the importance of getting a decent night's kip, but there's an abundance of quacks and sleep 'gurus' who love to espouse bogus information.
New research confirms many of us are buying into it, putting trust in a string of myths about sleep, according to a survey from bed brand Sealy of over 1,000 people. According to the study, almost half (45%) of us are compromising a good night's sleep as a result.
Most of us should probably be getting more sleep, with 32% of British people admitting they sleep poorly, so this is serious business. These are the most commonly believed sleep myths that should be put to bed once and for all.
Yawning means you're tired
Wait, what? Some smart alec always tells us to get a better night's sleep when we yawn in public and, indeed, most people (60%) believe yawning means we're tired. Scientists don't know exactly why we do it, but many believe it's the body's way of cooling down our brain, enabling it to work at its best. Mind blown.
You need less sleep as you get older
More than half (53%) of people believe that the older you get, the fewer hours' sleep you need. Older relatives and neighbours may make a habit of picking up their paper at 7am every day, or staying up 'til the early hours listening to Radio 2, but actually, our sleep patterns don't generally change much as we age. While we may struggle to get to sleep as we get older, scientists still recommend we get seven to eight hours over the age of 65.
You can "catch up" on sleep
Most people (52%) also mistakenly think you can make up for a lack of sleep one night by sleeping for longer later on. While some studies have shown repaying your sleep debt on weekends after losing out on sleep during the week can be beneficial, others suggest that weekend lie-ins could increase your risk of heart disease. So it's probably best not to make a habit of it.
Other common sleep misconceptions, according to the research, are that more sleep is better for you (56%) (in fact, research suggests it could increase your risk of dying early); that exercising just before bed helps you sleep better (50%) (when in reality it could affect some people's sleep quality); and that drinking alcohol before bed sends you off into a deeper sleep (28%) (when actually it makes your night's sleep worse overall).
Here's the list in full...
The most widely believed (but incorrect) pieces of sleep wisdom are:
Yawning is a sign of tiredness (60%) We need eight hours of sleep every night (59%) More sleep is better for you (56%) The older you get, the fewer hours' sleep you need (53%) You can always catch up on sleep (52%) Exercising just before bed helps you sleep better (50%) Going to bed early always helps you sleep better (42%) You train yourself to get by with just four hours of sleep (39%) Watching TV or using an electronic device helps you drift off (35%) Eating cheese before bed will guarantee nightmares (28%) Drinking alcohol before bedtime ensures you sleep deeply (28%)
Whether you have a handful of close friends or a full-blown Taylor Swift-esque squad, your friendships are important. It isn't just about having someone to brunch with (though that's important, too). Research has shown that your friends, provided they're good friends, can be great for your health.
But, if you've graduated college, moved to a new city, or have generally gone through a lot of recent life changes, it's normal to find that your friend group has started dwindling. Vera Eck, MFT, an Imago relationship therapist in Los Angeles, says that post-grad life can be a perfect storm of chaos that leaves friendships at the wayside.
"Making friends past college is difficult because you are no longer with your cohort," she says. "College is an instant social scene with people your age, sharing your common interests. Once you graduate from college, that whole network is gone, unless you make an effort to keep it going."
And, even if you didn't go to college, chances are, you're going through a lot of life changes that make it harder to meet new people. Being able to do things on your own can be really rewarding, but there's no shame in wishing you had more friends, too.
"Humans are tribal and we need to make the effort to either find or create our own village," Eck says.
If you feel like you're missing out on having the kind of squad everyone else seems to have, you're not the only one. Making friends as an adult can seem like a demoralising uphill battle, but it doesn't have to be. Read on for some common reasons your friendships have changed and ways to deal with those changes.
And, we don't mean your internet social networks. Once you're no longer forced to be in a room of people who are generally your age, it's harder to socialise.
"One way to counteract those difficulties is to find various fun and interesting ways to 'put yourself out there,'" Eck says.
Either way, these new and exciting relationships can change the dynamic of any friendship, whether you're the one feeling like a third wheel or you're accidentally sidelining someone. To make sure that your bond with your friends still runs deep, make sure you're still getting one-on-one time with each other.
Your friendships might be impacted by adulting.
"In France there is an expression: 'Metro, boulot, dodo.'" Eck says. "It literally means that all we have time for is getting to work (Metro), working (boulot) and then sleeping (dodo)."
In other words, as great and necessary as routines can be, they can put us on autopilot, wired only to go from home to the office and back. There's a lot of pros to that — you get time to decompress from the day and prioritise self-care, but getting into a routine means you're a lot less likely to see anyone but your co-workers and neighbours.
"Try not to fall into that trap," Eck says. "Making time for friends is a necessary investment of your time and efforts."
You don't have to completely forego your alone time, but it wouldn't hurt to invite a new acquaintance to dinner now and then.
You'll need to check in with the friends you already have.
Part of why it's so hard to maintain a squad in your 20s, is that you get so caught up in getting your life together that you fall out of touch with people. And, while it's important to make new friends, it's also important to hang onto your bond with the friends you already have.
"You have to make the effort to keep in touch," Eck says. "You no longer live or study with these friends, so you won't get to see them in your day-to-day life. So, this requires phone calls, going out for happy hour, or inviting them over."
And sometimes, that means saying yes to things even when it's easier to just stay home.
"It's so easy to politely decline because you are tired, don't want to go back out, or want to continue your Netflix binge at home," Eck says. "But, the more you say no, the less likely your friends are to invite you out again. So stretch out of your comfort zone and get back out there — you won't regret it."
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Timothée Chalamet, gangly poppet with the good hair, is no one-note wonder. Let’s get that out of the way from the get-go. He caught our eye as a neurotic high schooler with a dramatic flair in Miss Stevens. He climbed Armie Hammer like a tree in Call Me By Your Name. He used those soulful eyes to snag Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird. He learned to spin one of those giant signs in Spinners, a short film us truly devoted Sweet Tea fans have watched on YouTube (check it out). The point is that Timmy’s got range.
His movies, however, seem to follow a bit of a pattern. This was immediately evident when the trailer for his latest, Hot Summer Nights, dropped on Thursday. The plot isn’t the usual Sweet Tea fare. He’s playing an outsider who gets caught up in dealing drugs, so, you know, not exactly what happens to him in Interstellar. Despite this, there are some moments in the trailer that stood out to us devotees of the Chalamet oeuvre. His character does fall in love in the movie, and for Timmy, falling in love always seems to come with twirling while holding hands and making out in the grass. He also smokes, something he does in Call Me By Your Name and Lady Bird as well.
These are just a few signs you’re watching a Timothée Chalamet movie, besides those brown curls you just want to run your fingers through. Please, check them off on your imaginary bingo card as you go down the list.
The aforementioned holding hands and twirling with your summer love.
Call Me By Your NameSony Pictures Classics/Giphy.Hot Summer NightsA24/Giphy.
Smoking (a reminder that this is bad for you. These are all period pieces, though. They didn’t know better back then.)
Hot Summer NightsA24/Giphy.Call Me By Your NameSony Pictures Classics/Giphy.Lady BirdA24/Giphy.
Crying in the car (in Hot Summer Nights he does this while driving. This is not recommended.)
Hot Summer NightsA24/Giphy.Call Me By Your NameSony Pictures Classics/Giphy.
Frantically making out against a wall.
Hot Summer NightsA24/Giphy.Lady BirdA24/Giphy.Call Me By Your NameSony Pictures Classics/Giphy.
Making the most of balconies.
Miss StevensGilbert Films/Giphy.Call Me By Your NameSony Pictures Classics/Giphy.
The world turning to hot lava when you get drunk or high.
Call Me By Your NameSony Pictures Classics/Giphy.Hot Summer NightsA24/Giphy.
Relaxing in the meadow with your love.
Hot Summer NightsA24/Giphy.Call Me By Your NameSony Pictures Classics/Giphy.
Have you done any of these things? You might just be in a Timothée Chalamet coming-of-age movie. Or, you might just be Timothée Chalamet. In which case, hello! Big fan. Also, how tall are you?
Success stories can seem just as fantastical as the fairy tales you (may have) loved growing up: Bold career woman finds herself in the right place at the right time, and poof, herfairy godmothermentor snaps her fingers, transforming our hero into an overnight success who brings home a 7-figure salary, jet-sets the world spreading her you-can-have-it-all gospel, all while looking awesome and Instagramming the whole thing. Umm...really? Why do we so rarely hear the other side of the story — the false starts, the waves of doubt, the failures, and the fuck-ups? Those late-night worries and, occasionally, breakthroughs that are so relatable to the rest of us?
IntroducingSelf-Made, Refinery29's newest column spotlighting the real stories that fueled success — the wins, the fails, and the curveballs —proving there's no one path to getting what you want.
Photographed Sabrina Santiago, Design by Abbie Winters.
Polly Rodriguez, 31, is the CEO and co-founder of Unbound, a New York City-based sexual well-being company, and she's on a mission to empower women to take control of their sexual health. Last year, Polly helped found Women In Sex Tech with Lidia Bonilla, a group that supports the growing number of female entrepreneurs who are revolutionising this once taboo industry.
Refinery29 talked with Polly about her struggle to raise funding, how cancer helped radically changed her career goals, and what she's doing most nights at midnight.
What inspired you to launch your own business? "I graduated into the recession, and so when I got my first job working as a consultant for Deloitte, I was just so happy to have a really well-paying job. But I didn't really like the work. It was hard to imagine quitting because I was financially stable, and I was really good at my job.
"I thought about going to business school, and I signed up to take the GMAT. I did really well on the practice tests, but on the day of the actual exam, I was like, “I can’t do this.” I called the moderator over and asked her if I was allowed to leave? She was like, if you leave, you get a 0 on this test, and it will be tied to your account forever. I was like, I just don’t care. I walked out. That’s when I realised I didn’t want to go to business school. And I didn’t want to stay in consulting.
"But I had to figure out what to do. I didn’t even know where to start. I think it can be so hard to know what you want to do with your life when you don’t know all the options available to you. I started reaching out to a lot of people in my personal and professional networks and talking to so many different people in so many different industries. I eventually decided I wanted to go work in the startup world. But I had a really tough time jumping into that very tight network. Ultimately, I ended up taking a customer service role at a dating startup. My salary was less than half of what I was making at Deloitte. But I loved the job and I loved being in a fast-paced environment and I loved making decisions that had real consequences. I was there for two years, and promoted to an executive-level role. Eventually decided I wanted to start my own company. I met Sarah Jayne, my Unbound cofounder, through Dreamers & Doers, a feminist women-in-tech group, and we launched in December 2014."
Why did you decide to launch an online sex toy company? "Every woman I’ve ever talked to has a terrible story of the first time they tried to buy a vibrator. But, on a more personal level, I realised how underserved female sexuality is both in the marketplace but also from a societal perspective, when I went through cancer at the age of 21. I had to go through radiation treatment which then catapulted me into menopause. None of my doctors warned me; they just said, 'Oh, you'll never have children.' So I ended up on the Internet, literally googling: 'radiation treatment never have children.' That was how I found out that I was going through menopause.
"A friend who is a nurse recommended I buy a vibrator because the cancer treatment was having such a big impact on my body and, by extension, my sex drive. I was really embarrassed to talk about it, and the whole shopping experience stuck with me. I was living in the midwest — it’s not like there was a Babeland on every corner. But even if I could have shopped there, I think I would still have been uncomfortable. It was weird to me that no one was selling these products to women in a way that made the customer feel good. And that always stuck with me."
Can you talk a little bit about the struggles you faced as you raised capital for Unbound? "Raising capital was by far the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I consider myself a fairly resilient person, but it was really tough dealing with the constant rejection. Here you are putting your dreams on the table, and person after person — we're talking hundreds of people — telling you that your idea is bad and that it will never work. And then couple that with the industry that we're in, so there are people who judge you or won't take meetings with you just because they think what you're doing is unethical or trashy. It's hard not to take that personally. Because I don’t consider myself a trashy, unethical person.
"It was especially heartbreaking when I would go out to pitch some of the female angel investor groups. They were often the ones that were the most prudish. It surprised me. I thought the women would understand why buying sex toys was a terrible shopping experience. But more often than not, it was the female investors who made me feel less than. They wouldn’t even take a meeting with me. And a lot of the female groups just said, “Categorically, we would never invest in a company that’s in the sexual health and wellness space, so respectfully, we don't want to waste your time, we don't want to waste our time, we just would never invest in a company like you.
"It took a long time to raise the money. Much longer than I ever thought it would, especially after being at the dating startup where we got funded so quickly. I was just so confused. I didn’t understand why it was so hard when the business model made sense, the market made sense, and we were growing like crazy, Eventually we got a lead investor and ended up closing our funding round way oversubscribed which was great. We raised $2.7 million."
What qualities do you think you possess that make you a good candidate for self-making your destiny? "I was diagnosed with cancer when I was 20, and I was given a 30% chance of survival and an 80% chance that the cancer would come back. And 10 years later, I’m still here. I’m really fortunate to have been given the gift of perspective, and I’m fortunate to know what it’s like to be sitting in a hospital listing off all the things you would do differently if you beat cancer and make it out alive. You make this promise to yourself that you'll go after all the things that you want, and you won't be too scared of failure. When you're sitting there, and the doctors are telling you they “wanna be honest, it’s not looking good,” you realise how short it all is and that you really do have to go after what you want. I think that’s definitely the most transformational experience I’ve had in my life."
We know about the problems with the boys' club. What are some of the pitfalls of the girls' club? "I personally don’t understand the backlash of women’s groups. Women have only been able to vote for 100 years. I do think women get built up and then torn down a lot. Just look at Hillary Clinton. It’s because we're still an anomaly, and there’s this expectation that you’re gonna be like Superwoman. That’s why we need to have more women in leadership, so we're not an anomaly. When you’re a rarity, the expectations get that much higher. Like Barack Obama basically had to be perfect because he was the first African American president.
"I think women need a place that’s just for them. There have been all-male clubs forever. I went to The Wing the day after the election and just cried all day. There were so many other women there doing the exact same things, and it was really nice to know that I wasn’t alone."
Photographed Sabrina Santiago, Design by Abbie Winters.
Would you recommend young women go into sex tech? "I think it’s a great industry to be in. It’s changing rapidly, and there’s a huge opportunity to be a part of an industry that has the potential to change women’s lives. I would say that getting into this industry requires an exceptional level of resilience, and you have to really not care what people think about you. It can be exhausting at times, but I think that that's probably true with most leadership positions. If anyone is interested, the Women and Sex Tech group puts on events all the time. And we love anybody to be a part of it."
Did you worry about not having a traditional tech background when you founded Unbound? "My first foray into tech was at the dating startup I worked at before Unbound. I had done a little consulting in the tech space. But I'm definitely not an engineer by any means.
"I think women get really self-conscious about not having a tech background when launching a business, but if you look at the most successful female entrepreneurs, the majority of them don’t have a tech background.
"Yes, we need more women in STEM, and we should encourage more women to be in STEM. But you know one of the biggest reasons startups fail is because engineers will build beautiful technology, but then they'll have no idea how to sell it or tell a story or how to get people to care about it. I think women tend to sell ourselves short because we aren't engineers. But if you’re a wonderful sales person, if you kick ass at sales, that is just as important as being able to code. And more and more there are a lot of out-of-the-box tech solutions that you can use that aren’t wildly expensive, so you can get started at a low cost."
What are you doing at midnight every night? "I always journal right before I go to bed, or I try to. I’ve kept a diary since I was 7, and I have four massively thick journals that are just filled from cover to back. I have trouble falling asleep sometimes and trouble shutting my brain off, and journaling allows me to unplug and put those thoughts somewhere.
"Sometimes, I’ll go back and read some of the journal entries from when I was really sick or going through a hard time, and it’s a nice reminder that the sun’s gonna rise tomorrow, you’re gonna wake up, and you’re gonna get right back at it. Life marches on."
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Beginning this summer, texting your flatmate to let her know you're headed home in an Uber will be much easier. So will calling 999 if you get in an accident. Both of these updates fall under a broad banner of new safety features Uber announced today.
This is the company's second major announcement this week: Yesterday, Uber unveiled an expansion of its bikeshare program, a new way to rent cars, and a partnership to pay for public transit from the app. Together, these updates signify the largest changes Uber has made since new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi took the reins in August 2017.
The offerings launching this summer include a Safety Centre, where you'll be able to find answers to questions about how drivers are screened; a way to directly contact 911 in case of an accident or anytime you feel unsafe during a ride; and a way to designate up to five "Trusted Contacts" who you can quickly and easily share your location with when taking a ride. The updates will roll out to drivers, too.
Additionally, Uber announced some changes to its driver screening processes, including plans to do additional criminal and motor vehicle checks and stay up to date on new offences.
Finally, users in Denver may see an "emergency button", a tool Uber is piloting there. One tap of that button lets a rider or driver immediately send their location and trip details to a 911 dispatcher. While the process is not as streamlined for those without the pilot, you'll still see your exact location in the app when calling 911, making it easy to tell a dispatcher where you are. This is significant, since it's often challenging for 911 operators to get accurate information about where someone is calling from — especially in a moving vehicle — due to issues with cell tower triangulation.
In addition to proving useful when accidents occur, Khosrowshahi also expressed hope that the ease of calling 911 will serve as a form of prevention. "If it's a sexual predator, they're going to look for a dark corner," he said at an event announcing the updates today. "Our message to the world is that Uber has the lights on."
"If it's a sexual predator, they're going to look for a dark corner. Our message to the world is that Uber has the lights on."
Khrosrowshahi was speaking to the app. However, his words could also be interpreted as a strong statement about Uber's new direction under his guard. In the past, Uber has come under fire in lawsuits claiming the company failed to protect female riders and drivers. The new safety features could help encourage more women, who have expressed hesitation about driving at night because of safety concerns, to drive during those peak hours. This could go a long way in helping female Uber drivers close the existing gender pay gap.
For the brothers of California Polytechnic State University's chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha, a fraternity that (supposedly) "prides itself on professionalism," bonding with one another and being involved "with campus and leadership throughout the community" apparently consists of dressing up mockingly like African Americans and painting on blackface.
Photos of the frat's "multicultural" event over the weekend surfaced on Sunday, showing the young men dressed as gang members and flashing contrived gang signs. One member was also sporting blackface. "She want a gangster not a pretty boy" was the caption of one of the photos posted to Instagram.
After the photos began going viral, the chapter was placed on interim suspension, the New York Times reported. In a statement to Refinery29, Taylor Grayson, associate director of communications for the chapter, said Lambda Chi Alpha "prides itself on brotherhood and diversity" and that they "do not condone any behavior that strays from our Core Values (Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Service & Stewardship, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage). We certainly do not tolerate hate or racism of any kind."
With the racist caucasity of the members of Cal Poly’s Lambda Chi Alpha, to the insensitivity from the president of Cal Poly, responsibility needs to be taken for these actions! Plz RT to get this National attn so incidents like this don’t go ignored!#BLACKFACEISRACISTpic.twitter.com/cmmV4O3e5p
According to the Lambda Chi Alpha board of directors, not only is the chapter suspended until at least April, 29, 2019, but all of the chapter's officers have resigned their roles and two members have resigned their memberships. The remaining brothers will have to "attend educational sessions regarding diversity and inclusion, bystander intervention, cross cultural training, and sign a behavior contract."
Although this all sounds like the fraternity and the university are taking swift steps to address the racist incident, this is not a totally unheard of occurrence for fraternity's at Cal Poly, where just 1% of the student population is Black. In 2013, another fraternity held an unoriginally named "Colonial Bros and Nava-Hos " party, complete with skimpy Native American themed costumes. The university investigated, but found the fraternity didn't violate any rules.
Cal Poly's Black Student Union released a statement following the recent controversy, saying the university is simply not doing enough to get at the root cause of why these incidents keep happening. "As a Predominantly White Institution with an overwhelming representation of those in the top 10% of the income bracket, Cal Poly has shown time and time again that it does not hold itself, its Greek Organizations, or its students accountable for their actions," the statement reads. "With the lack of support for survivors of sexual assault, the continually low numbers of students, faculty, and staff of color, and the continual excusing of the behavior of Greek organizations, the Cal Poly Black Student Union and its allies incite the university to take a hard stance against these acts that go against the Diversity and Inclusivity statements the University is meant to hold itself and its constituents to."
In a statement to Refinery29, the university's dean of students, Kathleen McMahon, said, "Racism and hate are unwelcome here, in any form. Cal Poly is focused on enhancing the diversity of our campus and providing an environment that is welcoming to all who would study, work or visit here.”
As Refinery29 has previously reported, college and university officials oftentimes release strongly worded statements following racist incidents on their campuses, but are hesitant to do more beyond that as to not infringe on the culture of "free speech" that higher education extols.
Refinery29 has reached out to Cal Poly's Black Student Union and will update this story when we hear back.
It's April. Which in accordance with British law means you have to start doing all things summery now. Buy some sandals, go drinking in a beer garden, take a weekend trip to the seaside, wear an entirely inappropriate outfit for the inclement weather which is, no doubt, just around the corner.
About this time, our appetite usually changes a little. Gone are stews and roasts and in their place we switch to lighter, fruitier and more tropical dishes. Which is why coconut is such an excellent ingredient to reacquaint yourself with at this time of the year.
However, I've got nothing up my sleeve, coconut recipe-wise. Slathering it all over my body to give me lovely skin, yes. Using it in food for anything other than toning it down when I've gone OTT with the chilli, no.
Luckily, Madeleine Shaw, food blogger and nutritional therapist has reached out to give us a hand, providing us with three coconut-based recipes to practise and perfect before summer actually arrives.
Click through to see the recipes.
Madeleine has created a new coconut face mask for Origins UK. Glow-Co-Nuts is available now.
Coconut and Lime Polenta Cake
Ingredients
For the cake 200g coconut sugar 200g coconut oil 150g polenta 150g ground almonds 1 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda 3 eggs Zest of 1 lime 2 tbsp lime juice 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the drizzle 3 tbsp honey Juice of 2 limes
To serve 1 big handful coconut flakes 1 dollop of coconut yoghurt per person 1 lime slice per person
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 190°C / 170°C fan / 375°F / gas mark 5.
2. Cream the sugar and coconut oil in your food processor, then add the polenta, ground almonds, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Mix again. Break in the eggs one at a time, mixing between each addition. Finally, add the lime zest, lime juice and vanilla extract.
3. Grease a 22cm cake tin and pour in the mixture. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the cake is golden on top and starting to shrink away from the sides. Try the knife test: if it pulls out clean, your cake is ready.
4. In a small saucepan warm the drizzle ingredients together. Pour over the cake when it’s fresh out of the oven.
5. Top with coconut flakes, coconut yoghurt and slices of lime.
Prawn and Peanut Coconut Laksa Serves 4
Ingredients
1 tbsp coconut oil 6 shallots, finely diced 6 garlic cloves, crushed 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced 1 tbsp ground coriander 2 tbsp freshly grated ginger 1 pinch sea salt 1 squash, peeled, deseeded and cubed 1l vegetable or chicken stock 400ml can coconut milk 1 tbsp peanut butter 30g peanuts, toasted 500g prawns 200g mangetout, sliced into matchsticks 200g beansprouts Juice of 2 limes 1 tbsp tamari, to taste
Instructions
1. Heat the coconut oil in a pan on a medium heat. Throw in the shallots and sauté for a minute, then add the garlic, chilli, coriander and ginger with a generous pinch of sea salt. Cook for 5 minutes until the onions have softened.
2. Throw in the squash cubes and sauté, stirring well, for a few minutes. Then pour in the stock, coconut milk and peanut butter and bring to the boil. Pop the lid on and cook at a low simmer for 30 minutes, until the squash is lovely and soft.
3. Heat a dry pan on the hob and toast your peanuts, stirring frequently for a few minutes so they don’t burn. You know they’re done when your peanuts turn golden brown and smell amazing.
4. Throw in the prawns, mangetout and beansprouts and cook for a further 3 minutes. Stir in the lime juice and tamari. Serve in bowls sprinkled with peanuts.
Lime, Pineapple and Coconut Smoothie Bowl Serves 2
Ingredients
For the smoothie bowl 150g frozen pineapple 1/2 frozen banana 150ml coconut milk 1 tsp vanilla extract
For your toppings 1 pinch fresh mint leaves 1 pinch coconut flakes 1 tsp almond butter
Instructions
Could this recipe be any easier? Simply blend the smoothie bowl ingredients together, pour into a bowl and add your toppings. Enjoy cold.
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A few months ago, there was a tweet floating around. It kept popping up and, though the wording was slightly different every time, the sentiment stayed the same. Clearly, its subject had struck a chord. "Ever noticed that the person making excuses for not texting back is the one who never puts their phone down when you’re around them?” it said.
We all have that friend. That person who has a million and one excuses for leaving you on read (or unread, if they’re crafty) with no reply. “My phone ran out of battery” is a favourite defence. “I've been on the phone to my sister!” is another.
And do you know what? Nine times out of 10, we don't care. We're all terrible at texting back. Being available on every social media channel all the time is exhausting. Most smartphone batteries are crap. And yes, we’re all busy. Work is hard; maintaining a social life even harder.
Some people take it too far, though. And what bugs most everyone about their friend like this is that when you actually hang out, they never put their phone down.
Smartphones are addictive. We know this. Several people instrumental in inventingsocial media have told us this. Social media apps tease us with notifications, likes and follows that get our dopamine flowing and the feelgoods going. People we’ve never met taking an interest in our life is flattering; having a tangible, digital record of our popularity is seductive. But while our friend is building their online profile, we’re right here. Literally. Sitting next to them. Looking awkwardly out the window while they scroll through pictures from fashion week, from beauty influencers, of memes about dogs they’ll never meet.
The main problem is that if this is the kind of relationship someone has with their phone – glued to their hand – then they must have seen the photo we sent them last week asking whether this lipstick suited us. Same with the one we sent them last night, asking if they wanted to go for dinner. The hard truth of the matter is that we weren’t as important as whatever was happening on their phone.
And that hurts. Of course it does. It makes us feel like we are boring. It makes us feel like we are worthless. It makes us feel like we're holding onto our shared relationship by a thread.
When they do eventually text us, we don’t open their messages. Instead, we decide pettily to give them a taste of their own medicine, to let them sweat and see how it feels to be kept waiting. We know full well that, unlike us, they are not dwelling on our non-replies, feeling smaller and more insignificant with every passing minute. We also know that when we eventually break and send them curt, cold texts in return, we will come across like them: time-poor and struggling to keep up with messages. "We are both in the same boat" they will think, not getting our attempt to subtly imply annoyance rather than (wo)manning up and telling them how we really feel.
Because we don't want to call them out on it. We really don't. If it's this hard to get a response from them now, what will it be like if we start a fight with them? What will it be like if we sound needy?
So here's what we tell ourselves: People have always been rubbish at replying. It's just that now we know when we're being screened. Caller ID gave us the choice to pick up the landline or not and the screenee lived happily in denial about the fact that the screener had something better to do than chat to them at that moment.
Because there's no chance, especially with our phone-addicted friends, that they've missed our messages. And so we must accept that they're not ready to talk at the same times we are. Not replying immediately doesn't mean "I hate you", it means "I'm not ready to talk to anyone right now."
And we sort of believe it. Well, we would. If only they replied just a little bit more.
It's not very cool to love the '60s, is it? Thanks to that guy at every house party who earnestly explains the genius of The Beatles at 4am, those who wear flower crowns and crochet at Glastonbury wishing it were Woodstock, and the naff peace sign-emblazoned outfits sold at fancy dress shops, the decade hasn't aged particularly well in our collective consciousness. But I'm here, in spite of all these caricatures, to tell you that the 1960s was in fact the best decade for fashion.
Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images
Let's address the hippies first. Admittedly, their style wasn't my favourite (with the exception of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin), but we actually owe a lot to the free-loving, mind-expanding subculture. Tie-dye (see Burberry's SS18 rainbow-dyed puffer), bell bottoms (tell me you're not wearing kick-flare denim or cords right now) and a penchant for organic fabrics (hello, sustainable fashion) are all elements of our current fashion landscape, and can be directly traced to the gender-shirking, sexually liberated hippies. Their rejection of consumerism also led to a more individualistic approach to style, which we still revere today. It pains me that this group are the poster kids for the '60s when so much else was born out of that decade.
Which brings me to 'youthquake', the term coined by Vogue 's Diana Vreeland to signal the moment the post-war notion of the teenager really came alive, when kids began establishing their own cultures and identities. We wouldn't have punk, grunge, or today's 'Supremacists ' if it weren't for the teens of the '60s who shunned the staid couture houses in favour of style born out of the Kings Road and Carnaby Street boutiques. Previously, that age group dressed as mini versions of their parents, which is perhaps the least cool thing you can think of when you're a teen. The '60s saw the youth kick back against tradition and confinement, changing the course of youth and fashion culture forever.
Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images
Of course, the most famous faces of this movement were gamine model Twiggy, doe-eyed Jean Shrimpton (my take-to-the-hairdressers fringe icon), and the otherworldly Penelope Tree; their lithe limbs ideal for showcasing Mary Quant and André Courrèges' liberating and iconic mini skirt. These women also represent the first successful use of It Girls as advertising tools; without them we wouldn't have the Jenners and Hadids of today – just another way the decade has shaped our fashion landscape. Key pieces from the time? Psychedelic prints, shift dresses, colour-pop hosiery (Balenciaga SS17, anyone?) and bright faux fur (hiya Shrimps, Charlotte Simone, and Jakke); my inner peacock is salivating.
Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images
Just before the Swinging Sixties came the mods. In the '50s, 'modernists' were a group of slick kids who listened to modern jazz but by the '60s the movement was more focused around European style (think French and Italian suiting and polo shirts), Lambrettas, and soul, ska and R&B. My favourite thing about the mods is that their sartorial outlook was, in the words of The Who's manager Peter Meaden, "clean living under difficult circumstances". This meant looking as sharp and sophisticated as you could within your means. Thanks to the mods, tailored suits, embellished scooters and clean haircuts were no longer just for the wealthy. They were considered effeminate by their rivals, the 'rockers', because of their preening and attention to detail, but I'm a sucker for a man who puts care (and flare) into his style. By the mid '60s, the mod style had gone from working class subculture to mass market, and Carnaby Street became more of a tourist attraction than genuine hang-out.
But the '60s had so much more going for them than these youth-oriented, subcultural phenomena. They saw the birth of the two-piece bikini, women in trousers and shirts, Cher in her bohemian days. Jackie O and Audrey Hepburn presented a refined and sophisticated look, all pillbox hats, pastel hues and skirt suits, while the Nouvelle Vague film scene had Anna Karina and Jean-Luc Godard repping French style at its finest. The Cold War's space race had a huge impact on aesthetics, with André Courrèges' SS64 look introducing futuristic fabrics and space-age shapes to the catwalk. Vinyl go-go boots, sky-high hair and silver shift dresses were the order of the day, as seen in sci-fi film Barbarella, starring the incredible Jane Fonda.
Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images
Then there was the rock'n'roll glamour of the girlfriends of musicians in the late '60s. Rumour has it that Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman came up with the term 'groupies' to denote the beautiful women who flanked the stars on tour. It's obviously a shitty way to describe these women – who were most likely as into the music as they were the musicians – but regardless, they're some of my favourite style icons from the decade. Take the devastatingly gorgeous German-Italian actress Anita Pallenberg, who dated both Brian Jones and Keith Richards (and, apparently, had a fling with Mick Jagger during their time on the set of Performance in 1968). All shaggy fur coats and mini skirts paired with thigh-high boots and feather boas, she was effortlessly cool and inspires women like Kate Moss and Alexa Chung to this day. Singer-songwriter Marianne Faithfull, who dated Jagger during the '60s, oozed the undone sexiness of the time, donning suits, face-concealing sunglasses and feathers with aplomb.
The 1960s can't be defined by one look, group or aesthetic – and that's what makes it so exciting to look back on. Once you see past the peace signs and endless photographs of Twiggy, you'll find much more in what I believe to be the 20th century's most exciting decade.
Bouncy. Smooth. Glowy. The triumvirate of happy skin – skin that reflects light, that makeup glides onto, that looks as fresh in the evening as it did in the morning – cannot exist without one simple thing: hydration. Without vital moisture, your skin looks dry, dull and dehydrated, not to mention being more sensitive and reactive. Wherever you are on the spectrum, from super oily to ultra dehydrated, the need for hydration is universal.
For example, if you’re the type to carry blotting sheets and always choose mattifying foundations, don’t be fooled into thinking that you’re all set on the moisture front. Sebum, the oil your skin likes to pump out as if it’s going out of style, won’t provide you with any lasting hydration, despite how slick your face may feel. Conversely, if your skin is perennially parched, you might think you need the richest cream going. It’ll provide some instant relief, but in the long term, it won’t necessarily alleviate the problem, as your skin needs something to help it hold onto hydration all day, not just sit on top of it.
Charlie wears camisole from Topshop, jewellery from Tada & Toy and bracelet from Monica Vinader.
Plus, as we move into the warmer months, the fluctuating temperatures can play havoc with even the most well-behaved of complexions. Sunny spells, mixed with drizzly days and blasting air conditioning mean your skin has a lot to adapt to – and that’s without all the late nights spring and summer bring. The solution? A clever, lightweight formula that delivers an all-day healthy-looking glow, and supports your skin’s internal hydrating functions. Meet Clinique’s Moisture Surge 72-Hour Auto-Replenishing Hydrator. Combining an imperceptibly light texture with a hit of long-lasting hydration, this new gel-cream works to replenish your skin’s internal moisture sources for all-day glow and leaves your skin feeling plumped and dewy for hours and hours (the hint is in the name). Want to know more? Read on…
First of all, the texture is heavenly. If you find thick creams leave too much of a residue, while light lotions don’t really hit the spot, consider this the Goldilocks of hydrators. Airy in texture but immediately cooling and cocooning, Moisture Surge 72-Hour uses a special water-holding matrix to form a mesh even thinner than the breadth of a hair over your skin. This locks in hydration while letting your skin breathe, meaning it’ll feel touchably soft but never sticky.
Pippa wears slip dress from De La Vali and jewellery from Tada & Toy.
Then there are the super ingredients: hyaluronic acid, activated aloe water and caffeine. Hyaluronic acid is found naturally in the skin, and binds up to 1,000 times its own weight in water, making it a must-have for moisturised skin. In fact, it gives a moisture boost of 152%, while other water-binding ingredients lock into the skin to keep it looking dewy and fresh.
Activated aloe water and caffeine work in tandem to help your skin reinforce its own natural hydrating sources. They draw water up from the lower layers of the skin, push it to the top and keep your skin auto-rehydrating all day long. Your skin won’t feel tight or dry at any point – instead, it’ll just keeping sipping on this supply. If you feel your makeup goes dry and patchy by 4pm, prepping your skin with this in the morning will help you keep that just-moisturised feeling all day, as your skin will have a rich store of hydration. Likewise, if you feel your complexion is dull and lifeless, a slick of Moisture Surge 72-Hour will turbocharge your skin with vitality, making it better reflect light and look healthy.
Charlene wears camisole from Topshop and jewellery from Tada & Toy.
There are four ways to make the hydrator work for you, and they’re not all limited to your face…
1. The 5-Minute Moisturising Mask
Turn your bathroom (or the hotel bathroom, the plane, or even the gym changing rooms) into a spa with this clever trick. Apply a generous layer all over your face, and leave to absorb for a few minutes. Either tissue off the excess or massage it in to boost circulation and get your skin perky and glowing.
2. The Cuticle Saver
Nothing says ‘I have my life together’ like neat hands. Don’t be caught out by raggedy nails – at the first sign of dry cuticles, apply a small amount of Moisture Surge 72-Hour to your nail bed and massage in for a conditioning boost. Who needs a mani-pedi?
3. The Frizz Fighter
Humidity taking its toll on your locks? Never fear, Moisture Surge 72-Hour is here. A coin-sized amount, rubbed between the palms of your hands, is all you need. Gently glide over split ends and puffy lengths, avoiding the roots, for a sleeker style.
4. Glow On The Go
No time to do a full face before you hit the pub? No problem. Grab your Chubby Stick Sculpting Highlight and scribble some onto the back of your hand, then take a small dollop of Moisture Surge 72-Hour and mix together until fully saturated. Then smooth onto your face wherever you want a hit of radiance. Try the tops of cheekbones, temples and your Cupid’s bow for a lit-from-within look.
Impressed? Us too. This cult moisturiser will be taking pride of place on our bathroom shelf for the foreseeable future.
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It’s never been easier to keep up with what’s going on in the world. The news is everywhere – in our Facebook feeds, on the morning commute, during that lazy half hour before you switch off the TV and go to bed. But the tide of global affairs is often more upsetting than uplifting and it can be tempting to bury our heads in the sand. As the saying goes: a picture is worth a thousand words, so to offer a different perspective we've rounded up seven of the most memorable images of the last seven days' events, captured by the best photojournalists on the planet.
Syrian youths practise parkour in Aleppo, northern Syria, on 7th April 2018. In the absence of special facilities and equipment for the sport, such as padding to protect against falls, athletes often risk serious injury. And parkour in east Aleppo comes with an additional challenge: remnants of war.
Photo: GEORGE OURFALIAN/AFP/Getty Images
Christian Orthodox worshippers hold up candles lit from the Holy Fire as they gather in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City on 7th April 2018 during the Orthodox Easter. The ceremony, celebrated in the same way for 11 centuries, is marked by the appearance of 'sacred fire' in the two cavities on either side of the Holy Sepulchre.
Photo: GALI TIBBON/AFP/Getty Images
A 120-year-old Rohingya woman, Azime Khatun, who fled from oppression in Myanmar into Bangladesh, receives medical treatment at Sahra hospital, built by the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) at Balukhali camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh on 8th April 2018.
Photo: Arif Hudaverdi Yaman/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
This picture, taken on 6th April 2018, shows an Indian Hindu devotee performing rituals as she participates in a religious festival, Velvel, dedicated to Hindu goddess Muththumari Amman, in Bandel, around 75km north of Kolkata. Devotees inflict pain on themselves by undergoing different ritualistic events for the wellbeing of their family with the belief that the goddess will save them from all evils and problems for the next year. This is observed during the last month of the Hindu calendar.
Photo: DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP/Getty Images
A picture released by Télam (the Argentine national news agency) showing rescue workers and locals helping a stranded whale in Mar del Plata, Argentina, on 9th April 2018. The whale died despite rescue efforts.
Photo: DIEGO IZQUIERDO/AFP/Getty Images
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives to testify before a joint hearing of the US Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, 10th April 2018 in Washington, DC.
Photo: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images
Hannah Martin of England competes during the rhythmic gymnastics on day seven of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games at Coomera Indoor Sports Centre on 11th April 2018 on the Gold Coast, Australia.
Photo: Scott Barbour/Getty Images
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Plus-size blogger Anna O’Brien has recently spoken out against being told to "cover up" her body at a prearranged photoshoot in a Las Vegas hotel. Booked in with the PR team, O’Brien organised a swimwear shoot in the Sin City hotel on 10th April. She explicitly confirmed she would be shooting swimsuits for her fashion and lifestyle blog, Glitter and Lazers.
The hotel reportedly replied that she “was welcome to shoot anywhere in the hotel except the casino floor, provided [she] had no large equipment.” The gold lobby where O’Brien went to pose in her Curvy Beach bikini was free to use, approved by the hotel and an excellent spot for look book shots.
Almost immediately after hitting the marble floor and beginning to pose, O’Brien and her photographer were approached by security and told to put on clothing, as she “wasn’t allowed to wear a swimsuit.” Defeated, she returned to her room, Yahoo Style reports, but decided to try again an hour later. The same scene played out – O’Brien says she was told she needed to put on clothes over her one-piece or leave.
This time, O’Brien tried to argue: She explained her agreement with the hotel’s PR and showed security personnel their email correspondence. Again, she was forced to leave. While this could have been a misunderstanding between hotel staff, O’Brien took to Instagram on Wednesday to discuss the larger social implication of this refusal.
“I find it ironic that I’ve taken photos in swimsuits all over the world and the one place I was told to cover up was Las Vegas,” the social media star captioned her photo. “Sure, thin girls in thοngs and pasties are A-OK but a plus girl in a full coverage suit, trying to take an epic editorial shot - now that’s just too much. Jokes on them though, I’d already gotten the perfect photo. They can’t erase this happened. I’m learning as I push myself to do more editorial type concepts, the push back is greater. But that’s why I push. It’s more than just a girl in the city of sin in a bikini, It’s a statement. We will be seen. We’re not hiding anymore. And we’re going to wear whatever we want, wherever we want. Not just in Vegas. EVERYWHERE. Change is coming; the question is are you going to stand in the way or help us push through?”
By being told to cover up while others wore the same amount of clothing, O’Brien was not only left out of pocket for the cost of her trip – which she made specifically to shoot in the hotel – but also belittled for being in swimwear in a city that is said to celebrate women’s bodies. Whether a showgirl, a stripper or simply a #girlboss on holiday, you can be as naked as you want on the Las Vegas strip – as long as you’re a thin woman. And as O’Brien put it, this is emblematic of a society-wide problem.
Nonetheless, Anna O’Brien has used this setback as a way to inspire. This bikini shot is not just a plus-size style post, but an act of defiance. By existing openly, happily, in as few or as many clothes as she likes – and building a career out of it – O’Brien is fighting for fat acceptance. By openly discussing her “push backs” she’s helping those who can’t speak out about their struggle.
“For spring, I want something super fresh but still flirty, with that va va voom, you know?” Estée Lauder’s Global Beauty Director Violette is chatting through her first collection for the beauty giant, Poppy Sauvage, which launched this week and is just about the most flattering collection we’ve tried yet. Violette – who, it’s worth noting, is also a makeup artist, beauty consultant and influencer with a 205k-strong Instagram following – is the perfect model for her own range, her tousled waves and Parisian style all the advertisement her products need.
Thankfully, though, Poppy Sauvage actually lives up to the hype. Made up of seven products, Violette was looking to create something fresh and wearable for spring. “I used to take the train from Paris to Provence and witness the sun rise over all the fields in bloom, particularly the poppy fields,” she explains. “When I did my research about the poppies, I found out they're different from every other poppy in the world. They're true red, whereas others are slightly orange. This makeup collection is all about my 'printemps souvenir', or my spring memory. When the light hits the poppies just right, the fields turn gold, pink and copper, like they’re suddenly on fire with colour. It’s so vibrant, it gives me so much energy. Combining all of these shades in one collection is my way to recharge for a new season after the frost of winter melts away.”
First up is the Pure Color Envy Sculpting Blush Duo in Soleil Doré and Camélia. A velvety blush duo in nude and pink, it brings a soft touch of colour to your skin, and the shades can be used individually or blended together. “My favourite blush is ombre, so I designed this to start with the nude and then go to pink on the apples of the cheek,” Violette explains. “For women with rosacea, I'd avoid the pink as it will bring out the redness in your own skin.” There’s the Soft Glow For Lips & Cheeks in La Rosée, which means ‘the dew’ in French. “This is my favourite in the range; it's a little pot of transparent balm that you apply to the cheekbones, brow bones, Cupid's bow – for girls that wear a lot of foundation it puts the texture back into the skin.” A do-it-all pot that works beautifully over colour-pop shadow or just to bring some glow to winter-ravaged skin, we’re making this a permanent fixture in our handbags.
Directly inspired by the sunlight hitting those poppy fields, the eyeshadow offering, Pure Color Envy Sculpting EyeShadow 5-Color Palette in Les Nudes de Soleil, allows you to sculpt and shape your eyes as desired, thanks to the lighter golden hues and deeper earthy shades. This palette works both wet and dry; we’re applying with our fingers for a more lived-in, nonchalant feel. The colours also work nicely with the Deluxe Eye Crayon in Terre d’Or, which makes it easy to recreate that subtle, smoky eye French girls have down pat. “I always do makeup on the go, so I created an eye stick that you can use in the lift, in the car, with no light and no mirror – it's mistake-proof." How would Violette apply it? “Run it over your eyelid, then blend with your finger, and you'll get this very French, messy smoky eye.”
Finally, there are three lip shades, which are the highlights of the range. Pure Color Envy Paint-On Liquid LipColor in Poppy Sauvage is a rich, matte liquid shade and may just be the perfect red. Violette says it was important to her to get this shade just right. “What I love about this red is that when you go into natural light it turns super fluorescent as it mirrors a flower and absorbs the light. It stays matte and there's no transfer, so you can kiss all night, too!” Our picks of the Poppy Sauvage collection, though, are Pure Color Envy Sculpting Lipstick in Poésie and Vin Noir. Poésie is a nudey, dusky pink that will convert even those most committed to a red lip, thanks to its universally flattering tone. It works just as nicely as a cheek blush, too. As for Vin Noir: finally, a lipstick you can wear while drinking red wine. It looks very dark in the tube but, thanks to a flash of raspberry, is more playful than it appears; best of all, it conceals that dreaded red wine mouth. “I blend the edge of my lips in Vin Noir, as it’s the best way to wear a dark colour,” Violette explains. The formula of both these wonder products is super creamy and therefore comfortable on the lip; simply blot with tissue to remove excess moisture and it stays put through breakfast and coffee.
We were bound to fall for Violette’s first Estée Lauder collection, but this universally wearable limited edition offering genuinely delivers, and has us dreaming of summer sunsets – preferably in Provence.
A far-right European feminist group accused of racialising sexual violence will arrive in London to deliver a controversial talk this weekend.
The group, named #120db and based in Germany, takes its name from the sound volume of a personal pocket alarm. They claim to highlight the problem of "imported violence", by which they mean sexual violence committed by migrants. #120db is a pan-European and staunchly anti-immigration group that opposes Europe's "wrong immigration policy", which it says puts women and girls at risk.
The UK-based Anti-Fascist Network, made up of independent and grassroots anti-fascist groups, is retaliating by staging a counter-talk at the same location from 10am on the same day. Its 'Anti Fascist Feminism' event will address "the kinds of violence women face... and what we can do about it."
Part of the uproar against #120db stems from the fact that one of the group's founders, Annika Franziska, who will be giving Sunday's talk, is a member of Generation Identity, a European-wide 'identitarian' movement that Hope Not Hate says advocates 'ethnopluralism', namely, segregation along racial lines. Online magazine for WoC gal-dem describes Generation Identity as an "abhorrent racist movement".
Franziska will also be talking at a 'European Reunion conference' hosted by Generation Identity in London on Saturday 14th April, which aims to "help people learn more about the Identitarian movement ", a white nationalist movement that began in France and calls for an end to multiculturalism.
Hope Not Hate said the conference was "evidence of the importance the [Generation Identity] leadership in Europe are placing on the fledgling UK branch as their gateway to the Anglosphere," and told Refinery29 that GI members are also likely to be in attendance at Franziska's talk on Sunday.
Franziska and co say their movement is "the true #MeToo" and they have been described as "attempting to ride the coattails" of the feminist hashtag. In a promotional video for #120db on its website, titled "#120dB The Truth Behind European Immigration", a number of women who say they represent victims of sexual violence state that they "are not secure" as they go about their daily lives, due to Europe's open borders and immigration policy.
"Because of your immigration policies, we are facing soon a majority of young men that come from archaic societies with no women's rights," says one woman in the video.
The women continue: "It can't go on like this. Pepper spray and pocket alarms already are the basic equipment of European women. Going jogging has become the most dangerous sport for us. We are not putting up with this. We get organised. We defend ourselves. We strike back."
The group claims they are not racist, saying: "You will find many statistics, which show you how there is a clear connection between increasing migration and increasing reports of sexual assault.” Many migrants, they claim, are influenced by "the misogynistic cultural-conditioning that [they] inherit from majority-Muslim countries where in many cases women are treated like second-class citizens."
However, the Anti-Fascist Network argues that #120db "peddle fake news and capitalise on abuse for their own political purposes", calling the group's tactics "fascism 101".
Annika Franziska of Generation Identity & 120dB will be at Speaker’s Corner on Sun 120dB say they "highlight migrant violence against women" = peddle fake news & capitalise on abuse for their own political purposes. It's fascism 101 Join us to oppose themhttps://t.co/Z3NjBDVQIEpic.twitter.com/sdZqVJ8x8e
— Anti-Fascist Network (@AntiFascistNetw) April 12, 2018
"They ask their governments to shut down borders, deport migrants (and the usual junk) claiming that migrants and refugees are responsible for a 'sexual violence epidemic in our streets' (sound familiar?). They say they care about women and don’t understand why other feminist movements don’t. In other words, White Supremacist nonsense pretending to be feminism."
The network is calling on its supporters to bring banners, snacks and glitter to its anti-fascist feminist event: "Let's make this into a party!"
When you picture a woman who's an alcoholic, you might visualise someone who's down on their luck, who reeks of alcohol, and who can't handle themselves after having one drink too many, à la Emily Blunt's character in The Girl On The Train.
But the reality is often different. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, for women in America, "at-risk" or "heavy" drinking involves more than three alcoholic drinks on any day, or more than seven drinks per week — which, to some of us, may not seem like that much. If you've exceeded that number throughout your life, you're not the only one. A study from last year found that Americans, particularly women, are consuming more and more alcohol throughout the years.
Yet we have vastly different expectations for men and women when it comes to alcoholism. In her book, The Recovering: Intoxication and Its Aftermath, writer Leslie Jamison delves into the stories we tell about addiction, using her own experience as well as the stories of artists throughout history who've struggled with alcoholism.
Here, Jamison talks to Refinery29 about how we perceive addiction as it relates to men and women of different racial and class backgrounds — and the effects those impressions have on how we help people recover.
How do you think gender plays a role in how we perceive people with addictions?
"There’s a really well-worn groove in the cultural imagination for the 'male genius drunk' who was a little bit of a rogue, and maybe dysfunctional or destructive, but there was something charming about this dysfunction, and that self-destruction was related to his genius and the art he made.
"Female drunks are more likely to be seen as melodramatic, histrionic, self-indulgent, and all sorts of perceptions seem to be attached to women that I think has to do with the different expectations around caregiving that we bring to women. If you’re expected to be a caregiver, it’s easier to see getting drunk or using substances as a failure of that caregiving task."
What do you think a stereotypical alcoholic in America looks like to people?
"I think people probably have a few different models in mind. On one extreme, there’s a Skid Row, down-and-out, completely at the end of his rope, wino stereotype. But I also think people have the model of the alcoholic housewife who’s sneaking drinks from a bottle tucked in the back of the pantry. There’s also the alcoholic businessman who gets flushed on planes and hotel bars.
"But I think there’s more space in the cultural imagination than there used to be for the high-functioning alcoholic who might not necessarily seem to be completely falling apart from the outside, but for whom alcoholism is a corrosive force nonetheless."
Certain kinds of drinking seem more acceptable when you’re in college or in your mid-20s.
Do you think those stereotypes differ based on race and class?
"I certainly think that’s one manifestation of systemic racism in America, that minority communities are disproportionately associated with addictions. And addiction tends to get narrated in terms of vice, crime, and betrayal of the social contract when we’re talking about people of colour versus white people, who, I don’t want to completely generalise, but are more likely to be afforded the privilege of having their addiction seen in terms of suffering, illness, psychic complexity, interior anguish."
Would you say that drinking a lot is more socially acceptable among college-age women or women in their 20s? Why or why not?
"I certainly think that certain kinds of drinking seem more acceptable when you’re in college or in your mid-20s, and then maybe that same amount of drinking would seem more out of place among a group of 35-year-olds, or around young children.
"People just age out of certain drinking patterns, and over the years, just looking at my own life and other people’s lives, I was really struck by the same amount of drinking, measuring it by volume, it might play out two different ways in two different lives.
"Someone can be a heavy drinker who just likes to get drunk, but it hasn’t yet created that feeling of total need or dependency. You might have those friends who are heavy drinkers, but it’s very easy for them to go for a night without drinking and they wouldn’t know the difference — it’s just that when they do drink, they like to get drunk. But it’s different than someone who, every time they go for a day without drinking, it’s a really big deal psychologically, and it feels like deprivation every time they’re not allowed to get that relief of a drink at the end of the day. That’s certainly what it felt like for me, and I was aware that with the amount I drank, maybe someone else could drink that amount and they wouldn’t become attached to the same negative emotional consequences and feelings of obsession."
A lot has been made of the fact that you accomplished so much while going through alcoholism. What do you think it means to be a high-functioning alcoholic?
"There’s a lot of impulse to be like, Well, it’s not a real addiction if it doesn’t take your job away, or it doesn’t take your kid away. But there’s a shared experience of deep obsession and deep dependence and that can take different paths, and it’s sort of like for people maybe who haven’t struggled with [addiction], the external signifiers can seem really important.
"For me, the impulse to achieve and the impulse to get drunk are completely linked together. They happen to coexist. The same parts of me that wanted to get every single gold star or that wanted to prove I was good enough to myself, my family, my partner, institutions, that ceaseless desire to be good enough, came in part from a fear that I wasn’t good enough, and that fear in turn had the power to produce so much anxiety. And those anxieties produced the desire to get drunk, and I spent so much of my life trying to have everything together and being in control that it also produces a deep desire to surrender control and let things fall apart a little. When you’ve been holding onto the reins so tightly, sometimes at the end of the day, you want to let go, and drinking allows you to do that."
Do you think being a high-functioning alcoholic affects how you get help?
"I think being high-functioning, having a certain amount of privilege, has everything to do with what perception gets attached to you. But one of the things I really like about Alcoholics Anonymous and 12-step recovery is that it’s pretty democratically accessible, so you can have lost a lot and show up, you can have lost a little and show up, you can be wealthy and show up, you can be not wealthy and show up. The fact that it’s a free programme and there is a tremendous diversity in the programme — age diversity, racial diversity, class diversity, vocational diversity — means that I think many people feel included, rather than it serving a specific subset of society. And that’s not to say it works for everyone or appeals to everyone, but it’s one of the few spaces I’ve seen organic non-hierarchical recovery."
What would you want to change about the way we view women and alcoholism?
"I guess I would love for women who are struggling with addiction, whether it’s alcohol or some other substance, to be viewed with compassion, no matter their race or class, no matter what their substance of choice is, and hopefully to remove that element of judgment that can come in, either because of the constructions of women as self-pitying or prone to drama, or the construction that women are supposed to be caregivers, so there’s a moral failure implicit in any woman who’s surrendering to the self-indulgence of getting drunk. [I want] to lift that ethical accusation out of the perception of female alcoholics."
I'm a diehard Swiftie but even I understand that some things should be left well-enough alone. That includes Earth Wind And Fire's "September," a certified classic that cannot be improved upon, least of all by slowing it down.
To be fair, Swift is known for her covers. She did a whole slew of them during her 1989 world tour, and it seems like Reputation will be no exception. Today, along with Spotify, the pop star released stripped-down, acoustic versions of both "Delicate," her own song, and "September." The thing is, a stripped-down, acoustic version of "September" takes away pretty much everything that's great about it, and the people of Twitter certainly noticed.
"If you were curious to hear what unseasoned boiled chicken breast sounded like in song, take a listen to Taylor Swift cover Earth, Wind & Fire," tweeted writer Michael Arceneaux.
If you were curious to hear what unseasoned boiled chicken breast sounded like in song, take a listen to Taylor Swift cover Earth, Wind & Fire. https://t.co/5x1Ecwc1cw
"Taylor Swift covering Earth Wind and Fire is the exact kind of evil the Devil tries to bring to pass on Friday the 13th," wrote Shondaland editor Kendra James. "I suggest tossing some salt over your shoulder keeping it moving."
Taylor Swift covering Earth Wind and Fire is the exact kind of evil the Devil tries to bring to pass on Friday the 13th. I suggest tossing some salt over your shoulder keeping it moving.
— Kendra James, the "Literary Racist" (@KendraJames_) April 13, 2018
"Honestly, everyone is entitled to their tastes/opinions but the Taylor Swift backlash flock mentality has more than gotten old," wrote singer Dean Boudreau. "So what if she recorded a cover and you think it's boring. How many boring cover songs exist in the world? Did you write thinkpieces about all of them?"
Honestly, everyone is entitled to their tastes/opinions but the Taylor Swift backlash flock mentality has more than gotten old. So what if she recorded a cover and you think it's boring. How many boring cover songs exist in the world? Did you write thinkpieces about all of them?
"angry about taylor swift’s september cover? fear not for i have a stunningly elegant and creative solution!" another fan tweeted. "step 1: don’t listen to it step 2: continue to not listen to it step 3: repeat"
angry about taylor swift’s september cover? fear not for i have a stunningly elegant and creative solution!
step 1: don’t listen to it
step 2: continue to not listen to it
step 3: repeat
— leading sessioner prosecutor (@kohesivekloss) April 13, 2018
Considering this is going down the same week Cardi B's Invasion Of Privacybroke Swift's streaming record, it's not a good day for the singer. Where do you fall on "September"-gate? Are you as mad as I am that it's happening in April? Do you care at all?
Maddie (Inbar Lavi), the central figure of Bravo's Imposters, is ruthless — although you’d never guess it, looking at her. That precise disconnect between appearance and reality is how Maddie has kept her career as a professional con woman (and professional heartbreaker) going for so long. In season 1 of Imposters, which is currently on Virgin Media On Demand, we’re introduced to the template of Maddie’s con. Each time, Maddie assumes a new appearance and identity, calculatedly makes a moneyed man or woman fall in love for her, then marries them after a courtship period your mother would almost certainly deem “too short.” Once Maddie has access to her new partner’s funds, she cleans out their bank account, and disappears.
Maddie’s con (literally) catches up to her when three of her former spouses — Ezra Bloom (Rob Heaps), Richard Evans (Parker Young), and Jules (Marianne Rendon) — track her down in Seattle, where she’s moved onto her next target. Their journey to Seattle isn't simple. Since neither Ezra nor Richard nor Jules have any money, they, too, have to turn to simple cons to fund their cross-country trip. Over the course of the journey, Ezra, Richard, and Jules unlock a nimbleness on par with Maddie’s.
Clearly, Imposters, the second season of which premiered on April 5, is a show that celebrates the con artistry of very, very attractive criminals. But it’s also strangely empowering. Call me the hipster grifter, but there is an undeniable thrill in watching people pull off elaborate, complicated hoaxes. Let me rephrase: There’s an undeniable thrill in watching a woman pull off these hoaxes, and using her intelligence and skill to get what she wants.
Maybe that thrill is why I’ve been talking about Imposters to everyone, including strangers in the grocery line. For one, the show is breezy, fun, and goes down like a glass of lemonade during a June twilight. Aside from being a delight, Imposters is low-key empowering. A modern, self-aware femme fatale, Maddie uses the expectations of femininity to lure people in — and she's unapologetic about it. What are trappings to the rest of us are tools for Maddie.
That said, even though Imposters features a strong woman lead outsmarting loads of susceptible men, I question whether it's actually a feminist show. The show espouses the notion that if a woman looks and acts a certain way, she'll be irresistible, and that manipulating people using societally enforced expectations of femininity is ultimately permissible. So far, Maddie has evaded punishment, and her exes have, more or less, forgiven her for callously using them.
My opinion might be different if Maddie were pulling off these epic, man-trapping cons because she really, really wanted to, but that isn't the case. In the first season, we learn that Maddie works for a dangerous man who employs a network of con artists. She's entirely trapped into assuming this femme fatale personality, until she breaks free at the season's end. Once she's liberated, Maddie must confront the repercussions a lifetime of con-artistry has had on her ability to form actual human connections. Short story: She can't anymore.
What I relish in Imposters isn’t the manner in which Maddie cons people, which is borderline questionable. It’s that Maddie, and soon her ex-spouses, so wholeheartedly believe in their abilities. In Imposters, I watch people experience the feelings I occasionally have — "Am I good enough? Is someone going to uncover me?" – and then deal with those feelings in an exaggerated, impossible, yet totally satisfying way. Essentially, Maddie and her gang of ex-spouses sidestep imposter syndrome by becoming full-fledged imposters. How convenient!
The characters in Imposters — especially Maddie — are dangerously good at manipulation and convincing people of various lies. I stress that they are liars, cheaters, and terrible role models. But, in a way, they've become a chorus of well-intentioned devils on my shoulder, inspiring me to believe in my abilities as much as they believe in theirs. If I can convince others, maybe I can convince myself, and vanquish imposter syndrome forever.
Welcome toMoney Diaries, where we're tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money.
As everyone knows, we're in the middle of a housing crisis. Millennials are finding it harder than ever to get their feet on the property ladder. Many are struggling to save for a deposit, an increasing number are turning to their parents for help while the rest of us are losing huge amounts of money in exorbitant rent each month.
We decided to profile several different women who went about purchasing their house in different ways. This week, we're with a woman who, at 23, was able to buy her first flat, with help from her parents and money she was able to save living at home. She acknowledges how lucky she was to have this help and realises that, without it, she wouldn't have been able to buy.
Age: 23 when I bought the flat Job: IT product manager Salary: £41,000 House price: £185,500
Location: Kent, just outside London. About 10 minutes from my parents’ house and halfway between the motorway and the nearest station. I currently drive to work so I need to be near the motorway, but I knew I’d be living here a while so being near a station was important for getting into London at the weekend. In the end I paid less for a place outside of walking distance from the station but on a good bus route.
House type: It’s a purpose-built one-bedroom, one-bathroom flat. It was new about two years before I bought it off the first owner. There are a lot of new builds in my area and they’re all being done to a really high specification but that meant they were considerably more expensive.
Mortgage type: I took a standard mortgage with five years' fixed interest. I considered using Help to Buy, but I didn’t want to stretch myself with the monthly payments for a more expensive place. I wanted fixed payments for longer, though now my bank is offering much lower interest mortgages I’ll be looking at my options after two years to see whether lower payments would offset any early remortgaging fees.
Did you buy this house by yourself or with a partner/friend? I bought it myself.
Why did you decide to buy the house? I wanted to get onto the ladder as soon as I could, and family circumstances meant I had access to a good deposit. I’ll be honest though, I only looked at this flat and one other... and this one was perfect, so I made an offer and had it accepted in two days! I knew I wanted something I could afford to live in alone and without much work to be done, which there aren’t many of around here, so I jumped on it.
Deposit
How much was your deposit and where did it come from? I was extremely lucky that my parents gave me £50,000 as a deposit. They’d saved all their married lives for it so my sibling and I could each get on the property ladder; I wouldn’t have been in a position to buy at this age without help from my parents. I’m really grateful to them because I know they missed out on a lot to be able to help us out so generously.
How long had you been saving for and how did you manage to save? I saved around £10,000 of my own in just under two years while I was living with family for minimal rent. I used this to pay for conveyancing, stamp duty, the mortgage fee and some furnishings.
Total: £50,000
Mortgage
Mortgage advisor fee: n/a
Mortgage booking fee: n/a
Mortgage arrangement fee: £999. I opted to pay for this upfront so it wasn’t added to my mortgage. I had planned to add it to the amount I borrowed but after doing some research about how much the interest adds up I was paranoid about it. It seemed like a good idea to pay it straightaway but it was £999 out of my own savings that I hadn’t planned to spend.
Mortgage valuation fee: n/a – included with the mortgage
Total: £999
Buying Fees
Stamp duty: £1,210
Surveyor’s fee: We didn't have one as the property was only two years old when I bought it, I just had the standard bank valuation carried out. It’s still covered under the 10-year new homes guarantee.
Legal fees: £2,500. I was so excited to have my offer accepted and it asked me for my solicitor's details, so I used the recommended company from the estate agent. I realised afterwards I could have saved a lot of money if I’d looked around a little beforehand.
Electronic transfer fee: £50. It was these sort of fees I didn’t pay much attention to. In the grand scheme of things it wasn’t a huge amount of money, but I wish I’d been more mindful when I started budgeting. It also came as a shock when I realised my bank wouldn’t authorise transactions over £10,000 in one day when I was transferring my deposit. I’d never contemplated that amount of money coming in and out of my account, so I hadn’t checked how much it would cost to move around.
Estate agent's fee: £0 as I was a first-time buyer.
Total: £3,760
Post-buying Costs
Moving costs: £50 for petrol. I didn’t have any of my own furniture, so I just moved all my clothes and books in my car. I had all my new furniture delivered to the new flat.
Work done on the house before moving in: £100. My mum and I spent about three days cleaning the entire flat so I didn’t have to pay anyone professionally. It just cost me a pizza and a bottle of wine in return! The only professional cleaning I had done was my oven, which the seller had left in a disgusting state, so I paid £60 to have it deep cleaned. It was the most grown-up I’ve ever felt, even after buying a property! I also painted the bedroom and living room as it was very neutral before so I wanted to put my own stamp on it.
Work done on the house after moving in: £60. I’d bought a beautiful glittery bathroom cabinet that weighed about 15kg… to go on plasterboard. I had to pay someone to put it up just to have peace of mind it wasn’t going to fall down. The rest of the flat was in fairly good condition so there wasn’t any work to be done.
Items bought for the house after moving in: £7,500. Even though I’d saved plenty of money theoretically, I went way over when furnishing my flat. I’d budgeted really strictly for all the big pieces of furniture and bought things secondhand where I could, but I didn’t realise how quickly things for the kitchen and soft furnishings would add up. Do you know how much curtains and light fittings cost?! I started putting a few things on my credit card. I’d always paid it off in full before, so I figured I’d do the same going forwards. But £200 became £2,000 really quickly and I’m still paying it off now – I always exceed my minimum payments but the mortgage will always be the priority now. Sometimes I wish I’d controlled myself a bit more, but I love everything I bought for my flat so I can’t say I regret it.
Mail redirection: £0 – I was living with family before, so I didn’t worry too much about whether all my mail was changed over immediately.
Total: £7,710
Ongoing Costs
Insurance: £90 a year (£7.50 per month) paid upfront for contents insurance – as it’s a leasehold property, the property management company has buildings insurance so I only needed contents insurance. Another thing on my credit card though. I also had to pay £100 to my car insurer as my new address was more expensive to insure, plus a £25 admin fee, and I added critical illness cover to my mortgage for £21 a month so that if I can’t work for a period of time, my mortgage will be paid.
Council tax: £105 a month (includes a 25% discount because I live alone).
Bills: Around £170 including satellite TV. I had real problems setting the bills up when I moved in and the water company didn’t realise there was even a flat at my address (the woman I bought it from never paid a water bill!), so when I finally got it sorted I had to pay off what I’d used since I moved in, so my bills are slightly higher for now. My internet is also supplied by a company which has a contract for the development I live in, so I couldn’t shop around for a cheaper broadband deal or package it with my TV.
Monthly mortgage payment: £611
Leaseholders cost: It depends on the annual management company budget but around £90 a month, plus £60 twice a year ground rent.
Total: £1,014.50 a month (+£125 one-off for car insurance)
The Breakdown:
Deposit: £50,000 Mortgage: £999 Buying Fees: £3,760 Post-buying Costs: £7,710 Ongoing Costs: £1,014.50 a month (+£125 one-off for car insurance)
Total: £63,608.50 – so, almost £65,000.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
Welcome to It's Lit – a series of discussions about books. Join us every month to find out who's reading what.
Author Sharlene Teo has “very specific” reading habits. “If I’ve just read a novel I’ll move on to a short story collection – I’m trying to read more nonfiction and biographies because I think being a wider reader makes you better at writing, I’m trying to branch out more,” she explains. The first-time novelist has been writing since she was a teenager, penning poetry and short stories while she was still at school in Singapore. “I don’t think I could write a short story to save my life now,” she laughs, “I can only focus on one thing at a time. But I always wanted to be a writer, I always tried to write.”
Her debut, Ponti, is a lush, atmospheric tapestry set in Singapore that weaves the tale of three women whose lives intersect across several decades. A multilayered book about friendship, memory and transformation, Ponti won the inaugural Deborah Rogers Writers' Award in 2016 and was described as “remarkable” by Ian McEwan, who presented Teo with the prize.
Ahead of the book’s release, we met with Teo in her west London flat to find out what inspired Ponti, why she’s not interested in reading about her own experience and the novel way she chooses what to read next.
What are you reading right now?
I’ve become a kind of omnivorous reader. I used to be a one-book-only kind of person but I currently have three books on the go. One of them is a collection of short stories by Nabokov, called Nabokov’s Dozen; one is a nonfiction book by Jenny Diski called What I Don’t Know About Animals, which I love; and the third is a Singaporean historical novel called State of Emergency.
When and where do you read?
The Tube, the bus – I read when I’m travelling, I read on the bed, on my sofa, I read everywhere.
Do you have a Kindle?
I do have one. I was technologically curious to have one but I find I have very limited engagement with the Kindle.
Where do you buy your books? Do you have a favourite bookshop?
In Singapore there’s a big bookshop called Kinokuniya, which I would spend ages just browsing in as a teenager; it was very formative when I was growing up. In London I have a big soft spot for Foyles, there’s something very magical about it. I like something like AbeBooks too because everything you buy has this other life – it comes from a public library in America or something – and also they take a while to arrive so sometimes you forget you ordered it and it’s a nice surprise to come home to.
What were your favourite books growing up?
It was all about Margaret Atwood and Márquez – I remember reading One Hundred Years of Solitude during my exam period when I was in secondary school. I was part of this creative arts school in Singapore and I attended a summer school for writing where we were introduced to a lot of Singaporean authors. Most of them were poets and I really, really loved this particular poet called Cyril Wong when I was a teenager. He’s a really beautiful lyrical poet; I grew up reading his collections and I loved them.
What’s the curriculum like in Singapore for literature?
It’s pretty Westernised; we need to decolonise it but it’s got a lot better in terms of local fiction and there are a lot of Singapore writers that are coming up now, which is great.
Any Singaporean writers you’d recommend?
Jeremy Tiang and Tan Mei Ching – she’s a short story writer, she’s great.
Is there a book you always come back to?
Yeah, I’ve read Love in the Time of Cholera a couple of times and I always go back to No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July. I love that book. I refer to them a lot.
Do you have a favourite author?
I have several but I keep going back to Carson McCullers and Shirley Jackson, I absolutely love her. She’s most famous for The Haunting of Hill House but I recommend starting with We Have Always Lived in the Castle, which I actually mention in Ponti. I just read her biography ( A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin) and it was exceptional; that was my introduction to biographies and I’m looking out for more like that.
What book makes you cry?
The saddest book I’ve ever read is Last Words from Montmartre by Qiu Miaojin. It cuts out my heart and eats it for lunch. I love that book.
How do you choose what to read next?
I’m trying to read in a particular pattern at the moment; I’m alternating between living and dead authors because I’ve come to the realisation that as a debut author you can get into an internet wormhole where you’re just reading other debuts and it’s quite overwhelming. I used to really appreciate the relatable in fiction and obviously there’s been a big discussion about that recently with the viral popularity of "Cat Person", which I think is really interesting but at the same time I’m looking for books that will take me out of my experience. I’m not interested in reading about young women that are trying to write a book [laughs]. I’m looking for things that are more transcendental and teach me about a different sort of consciousness. I’m still very contemporary with my tastes though, and I always have been, I can’t really avoid that. I naturally incline towards women writers; it’s not a conscious decision but I’d say about 80% of my shelves are female writers. I’m also trying to read a lot more in translation and not just Western-centric books.
Do you have a method for organising your bookshelves?
I have a ‘best of’ bookshelf – I’ve read most of what’s on there and I love it all. Everything that I’ve kept I enjoy and I’ve found some value in. I do give away books though – I do culls.
What do you use as a bookmark?
I love this magnetic bookmark but I use all kinds of things; postcards, letters, tickets, and these whale bookmarks I got in Singapore.
Was there a particular book that made you want to be a writer?
Besides Cyril Wong, there’s another poet called Richard Siken who has this amazing collection called Crush.
Were there any books that influenced the writing of Ponti?
I think it was more influenced by film than books actually. Definitely Dario Argento’s Giallo (2009) and the horror movies of the '70s. Also, aesthetically I was influenced by Wong Kar-wai’s movies.
Are there any plans to translate it?
Yes, it’s been translated into seven languages, which is really cool.
Which three books would you recommend to a stranger?
Light Years by James Salter because that’s just one of the most beautifully written, honest, true books. The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers, which is one of my favourite books ever, and I think for the third one, in terms of what I’ve found really exciting and moving, Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout, which is just really beautiful. It’s a remarkable book.
I do an end of year list of what I’ve read during the year and over the last two years there’s been two titles which I’ve found really good: The Border of Paradise by Esmé Weijun Wang – a batshit, proper gothic, modern book – and Flesh and Bone and Water by Luiza Sauma, which is really sensual and evocative but also intelligent. It’s really interesting for me, as someone who reads and writes for a living, which books stick with you and what resonates – it’s so easy to forget.
Sharlene’s Reading List
Nabokov’s Dozen by Vladimir Nabokov What I Don’t Know About Animals by Jenny Diski State of Emergency by Jeremy Tiang One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez Tilting Our Plates to Catch the Light by Cyril Wong Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin Last Words from Montmartre by Qiu Miaojin "Cat Person" by Kristen Roupenian Crush by Richard Siken Light Years by James Salter The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout The Border of Paradise by Esmé Weijun Wang Flesh and Bone and Water by Luiza Sauma
Ponti by Sharlene Teo is published by Picador and available in hardback and ebook now.
