Western media has a tendency to tell “a single story” of Africa, and particularly so of African women, which creates a stereotypical perception of Africa and opens the door for unhelpful white saviourism. Last year, Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah recently released an anthology called The Sex Lives of African Women, which explores the sexual lives of …
As everyone admires this year’s Met Gala ensembles, it’s important to think about the lens through which we see clothing and fashion. The Met Gala is undoubtedly one of the fashion highlights of the year: celebrities and other notable people dress up in the most amazing — most of the time, simply bizarre — outfits …
Non-straight hair is beautiful, normal, and above all human. While we have made strides in becoming a more inclusive society, Western Eurocentric beauty ideals are still ingrained in our society, creating a society that is hostile towards non-European physical features. The standardisation of straight hair is due to straight hair being the common hair type …
Whilst some people see hair purely as a superficial concept, it has long been a point of contention, as it has strong connections to religious and cultural traditions for minority communities. Some people may have been surprised to read news reports of students at Pimlico Academy in London protesting against their school’s new uniform policy, …
In the beginning of April 2021, the French Senate passed a measure that severely limited Muslim women’s freedoms to visibly practice their religion. The most controversial of the measures prevents anyone under the age of 18 to wear a veil in public. In addition, mothers who wear a hijab will not be allowed to accompany …
The new terms we use to define what it means to be a successful woman risk becoming new discriminatory stereotypes or unrealistic standards, particularly for ethnic minority or working-class women. Women are reclaiming the narrative and defining for themselves what it means to be a woman in the 21st century, whether single or married, childless …
