Uplift Magazine

Stylist goes Feminist!

By: Yasmin Eshref, 01.08.2010 | Comments (2)

I don’t know about you but for me, being on the London Underground in rush hour, in the midst of summer, is my idea of hell. A combination of the raging heat, musty smell and dirty carriages does not always leave me a happy passenger. Hurrah then for Stylist, the only free publication that’s sure to perk up my commute into work every day.

Stylist is a free publication with a difference, focusing not on typical tube fodder (see: property sales, sports, or endless gardening products…) but instead offering fabulous fashion straight from the catwalk, health and beauty advice, and in this month’s issue, a sassy feminist feature!

The War on Women focuses on many of the problems facing females worldwide today, including: sex slavery, genital mutilation, rape, unequal pay, media sexualisation and gendercide.

As well as including sensitively handled articles by Kate Graham, the feature also includes a list of ways the reader can proactively involve themselves in fighting the battle for equality.

It was refreshing and uplifting (which obviously, we ladies here approve of!) to see Kate Graham’s pro-women feature in such a widely circulating publication, so much so that I would like to share it with those who may not have had a chance to read it yet. The article, and indeed the whole magazine, can be viewed online for free on the Stylist website here, to skip forward to The War on Women please go to pages 40-41. You may also be interested in The Stylist Facebook page, and/or their official Twitter account.

Register for the Feminism In London conference

By: Sarah Barnes, 11.07.2010 | Comments (0)

I’ve just heard the good news (from The F Word blog) that the Feminism In London one-day conference is now open for registration! The programme is full of interesting speakers and plenty of workshops to choose from (including ‘Young, old feminists: Getting to know each other’, ‘Confronting privilege, contributing to change, for men only’ and ‘A space to recover for women of colour only’)

It’s great news to hear that this event is completely child friendly, with a creche (run by the London Pro-Feminist Men’s Network) and relevant workshops for 12-18 year olds. It’s also good to know that trans women are welcome at the women-only workshops and trans men are welcome at the men-only workshop.

You will need to get your skates on to ensure you get a place on the workshop of your choice, so register here asap! You can find out more about the event at the FIL website, and keep up to date until the event via the FIL twitterfeed.

Ladyfest Ten Festival Dates Confirmed

By: Sarah Barnes, 23.06.2010 | Comments (0)

Exciting news today as Ladyfest Ten confirm the dates for the festival! Get out your diaries now and mark down the 12th, 13th and 14th of November 2010, because something tells me this is going to be a fantastic event…

Ladyfest Ten will be celebrating 10 whole years of Ladyfests – the global, grassroots festival that celebrates and promotes female creativity. The three day event will be taking place around various North London venues, including The Relentless Garage.

Confirmed acts and ticketing details will not be broadcast until next month, but the organisers are promising an exciting and diverse programme of female-fronted music, arts, film, literature, comedy, craft, workshops and even sport! If you want to keep up to date with all the details as they unfold, then make sure you follow the Ladyfesters on their Facebook andTwitter pages.

Oh, and if you want to get involved, don’t worry – it’s not too late! The next Ladyfest Ten meeting will be at 7.30pm on Wednesday 30th June 2010 at the Southbank Centre. See the website for more details.

‘Reclaiming The F Word’ Book Released

By: Sarah Barnes, 04.06.2010 | Comments (0)

Just a quick post to say HURRAY! for the release of new book Reclaiming The F Word. I went along to the release party last night and had an absolutely fantastic time celebrating the book and celebrating the (very vibrant and very much alive!) UK feminist movement with plenty of other feminists who were in attendance, filling up the rather swanky surroundings of The University Women’s Club.

Co-written by Kristen Aune (who co-founded the London Third Wave group) and Catherine Redfern (founder of the brilliant feminist site The F-Word), Reclaiming The F Word ‘reveals the seven vital issues at stake for today’s feminists, unveils the beginnings of a fresh and diverse wave of feminism, and calls a new generation back to action.’

The release of this book follows on from Natasha Walter’s Living Dolls and Kat Banyard’s The Equality Illusion, released earlier this year – showing that 2010 is a great year for British feminist publications!

I’ve already begun reading the book (I just couldn’t wait to get started!) and I have already found it inspiring (the first chapter on Liberated Bodies has already sparked plenty of ideas for blog posts!), illuminating and positive. Something I have really enjoyed so far is how the book doesn’t ever wallow in all the depressing effects the Patriarchy has on society (which would be pretty damn easy to do). Instead, Reclaiming  The F Word is structured around the raising of feminist concerns, explains them clearly, and then goes on to tell the reader what feminists are already doing to counter these things. It even has a handy little  ’Take Action’ box-out at the end of each chapter so that readers can get involved in activism, if they feel so inclined.

I also love how it is the voices of today’s self-defined feminists that create the back-bone of the book. For Reclaiming The F Word nearly 1,300 British feminists were surveyed, and it is their voices – so vital and so current – that are invoked to back up the points that are made within its pages.  Add to that a sprinkling of quotes from zines, blogs and even pop-songs and this book becomes more of an inclusive portrayal of a whole movement, rather than a stale and sterile observation made from the outside looking in. It’s very much saying to readers; ‘Come on in, the water’s lovely!’

Co-author, Catherine Redfern, has given a really insightful interview about the book to grassrootsfeminism.net which you must read here… and here’s the place to head to straight after to snap up your copy!

This is what a feminist tweets like…

By: Sarah Barnes, 21.04.2010 | Comments (0)

It’s just over a week since I met some fabulous feminists at a ‘Feminist Tweet Up’, a meet up for feminist minded tweeters, in a pub near London Bridge. And how many tweets have I written since then? Not nearly enough! I’m guiltily feeling I’m not quite living up to the title of a ‘Feminist Tweeter’ right now, but there’s only so much tweeting time in the day when you don’t have a Blackberry at your fingertips!

Still, although my tweets are sometimes more sparse than I’d like, I absolutely love the medium of Twitter. Whilst it’s a weird  joy to master Atting and Arr Teeing, the Twitter aspect I appreciate most is having access to a whole host of feminist voices, all constantly updated in a live feed.

It was even better, then, to put faces to the avatars and take our feminist conversations beyond a 140 character word limit. There are hopes for another tweet-up very soon but, until then, you can follow all the feminists I had the pleasure of meeting here!

(Illustration by Sarah Barnes)