With Slut! Taylor Swift joins a long history of women fighting slut-shaming in their writing: One track stands out on the rereleased edition of Taylor Swift’s iconic album, 1989. In Slut!, Swift addresses her encounters with slut-shaming – behaviour that shames women who are judged to be promiscuous. “But if I’m all dressed up,” the …
Nigeria’s women vice-chancellors: I know what it’s like to be one, and why there are so few: The secretary-general of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors in Nigeria recently disclosed that only 38 women have been vice-chancellors of universities in Nigeria since 1960, out of more than 720 in total. The Conversation Africa asked Ekanem Braide, the …
Women in Ai – Are we making Progress?: This was the question on everybody’s mind at the AI Expo Africa 2023. The panel of experts included Bridget Chipungu from Center for AI Research, Hina Patel from Accenture, Celina Lee from Zindi, and Nicoli Koorbanally from Mlab. The discussion started with Bridget Chipungu giving an overview …
Nobel peace prize: Narges Mohammadi wins on behalf of thousands of Iranian women struggling for human rights: Prominent Iranian women’s rights advocate Narges Mohammadi has won the 2023 Nobel peace prize for her long fight against the oppression of women in Iran. Mohammadi is serving multiple prison sentences in Evin prison in Tehran on charges …
The history of the Yellow Book – the 19th century journal that celebrated women writers: Decadent Young Woman After the Dance by Ramón Casas (1899). Musee de Montserrat In the middle of the final decade of the 19th century, Britain was the most powerful and richest nation on earth, with the largest empire ever known. …
Women take fewer risks because they think about losing more than men, research suggests: Roman Tarasevych/Shutterstock One difference between men and women has been well documented by economists, psychologists and biologists – that women are tend to be more cautious and take fewer risks. Evidence has also been gathered about how this difference affects women’s …
Discrimination is the biggest career obstacle for women of colour in the NHS – new research: Photoroyalty/Shutterstock In March 2023, NHS midwife Olukemi Akinmeji won an employment tribunal case against the hospital in Kent where, as an employee, she had faced race discrimination and victimisation. That same month, Michelle Cox, a healthcare manager and senior …
Coffy: how Blaxploitation star Pam Grier helped lead the way for strong resilient women in film: When Pam Grier’s breakthrough movie Coffy was released in 1973, American International Pictures was clearly confident that her eponymous character was a supercharged heroine who would excite filmgoers. “She’s the ‘GODMOTHER’ of them all!”, exclaimed the poster, linking the …
Face pareidolia: how pregnant women could help us understand why we see faces in inanimate objects: Zuzha/Shutterstock Sometimes we see faces that aren’t really there. You may be looking at the front of a car or a burnt piece of toast when you notice a face-like pattern. This is called face pareidolia and is a …
South African men are much more likely to die from TB than women — here’s why: Around the world, men are more likely to get TB and to die from it than women. We recently conducted research to establish the various factors that explain higher rates of TB among men in South Africa. South Africa …
Why so many women in Spain are choosing to donate their eggs – The Conversation Weekly podcast: Spanish women are having fewer and fewer children, and yet the country has become the egg donation capital of Europe. In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, we find out about the experiences of women who decide …
Online abuse could drive women out of political life – the time to act is now: Shutterstock/vchal It is becoming increasingly evident that life in modern politics is presenting women with a stark choice – endure almost constant online threats and abuse or get out of public life. Jacinda Ardern, the former prime minister of …
How rape myths and unconscious biases prejudice the judicial system against women — and rape survivors in particular: Harry Base|Shutterstock It is well documented that women who are sexually assaulted, or raped, rarely report the crime to the police. The US charity, the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, has shown that one in six …
Nine women share what it’s like to have a miscarriage: Most miscarriages happen in the first 12 weeks, known as early pregnancy. pexels/alex green Miscarriage is a common woman’s health experience, but one that affects people differently. Ten years of studying miscarriage has taught me that no two women will have the same experience, and …
Like many women, I didn’t know I was autistic until adulthood – how late diagnosis can hurt mental health and self image: Dagerotip/Shutterstock For many women, adult diagnoses of autism are “a light in the darkness”, an epiphany of self-understanding. My “lightbulb moment” came in my late 20s. “They thought you were autistic,” my mum …
Women used to be more likely to vote Conservative than men but that all changed in 2017 – we wanted to find out why: Shutterstock/AJP In many nations in the immediate post-war period, women were more often supporters of rightwing parties than men. This “traditional” gender gap was supposedly underpinned by women’s greater religiosity and …
Chronic pelvic pain affects up to 26% of women – our latest research brings us closer to better treating it: A lack of understanding about chronic pelvic pain has left women with limited treatment options. Studio Romantic/ Shutterstock Chronic pelvic pain affects between 5% and 26% of women worldwide. It can be associated with conditions …
Russell Brand: how the comedy industry uses humour to abuse and silence women: Over the last ten years I have been researching the barriers to women’s participation in the UK comedy circuit. During that time, it became clear to me that the live comedy industry has a particular susceptibility to fostering spaces of abuse. Recent …