Palatinate • 23rd August 2021

Our toxic relationship with Love Island

Every summer without fail, I allow myself to be sucked into the strange, heteronormative heatwave that is Love Island. Much like any of my bad habits, I know it’s not healthy. While my reading lists pile up, and deadlines evaporate in the background, I sit and watch tanned, flawless people engage in relationships I don’t believe will survive the year.

I watch Love Island almost like a nature documentary, and to be honest, I think most of us do. But attempting to analyse the behaviours and motiv

Bloom Magazine • 6th June 2021

The problem with Girl Boss feminism

First coined by the founder of Nasty Gal, Sophia Amoruso, the term ‘girl boss’ is used to describe self-made women, often successful businesswomen. And while focussing on spreading messages of female empowerment is a step in the right direction, many of us are beginning to see through the glittery pink façade of the ‘girl boss’.

The damaging effect of hustle culture on social media washes over the variety of struggles women face in our society – more importantly, it disregards any intersectiona

Aila • 16th May 2021

Unlearning the myth of ‘the best years of our lives’ —

In September last year, I moved away from home to a new city, ready to begin a fresh chapter, one which I hoped would be the start of the very best years of my life. Having heard wild stories of student life, I was ready for my adventurous, colourful freshers’ lifestyle to begin. But it seems that a once-in-a-generation pandemic had other ideas.

From relationships that fizzled out, to awkward zoom seminars, to nights out and events that were unceremoniously cancelled, being a student this year

Palatinate • 27th April 2021

Editor’s picks: creative writing

A note from the Books editors: This year, we’re starting a series of editors’ choices of books they enjoy. Twice a month, members of the editorial board will recommend some of their favourite reads. Spanning novels, short stories, poetry, and non-fiction, we hope this series inspires you to pick up something new.

When I reflect on the books which have had a defining influence on me, I am always drawn to the ones which uniquely and honestly examine women’s experiences. As a Literature student, I

ft. Lighthouse • 26th April 2021

Lolita as Modern Mythology —

“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins” – from the first, voluptuous sentence of Vladimir Nabokov’s infamous novel, the reader is drawn into the distorted world of a predatory, unreliable narrator and his paedophilic advances towards his stepdaughter. Since Lolita’s publication in 1955, however, the 12-year-old Dolores, kidnapped, raped and exploited by her stepfather, has been transformed into a sensual cultural icon.

Lolita loses all agency – her name, her childhood, her voice, all stole

Palatinate • 26th April 2021

The new NICE guidelines: the pain is not ‘all in our heads’

In new guidelines published by NICE on 7th April, those suffering with chronic primary pain (pain for which there is no diagnosed cause) will now be offered treatments ranging from exercise, psychological therapy, and acupuncture. The guidance is clear — do not give painkillers, local anesthetics, or anti-inflammatory drugs.

This has rightly caused outrage, with The British Pain Society raising concerns around doctors now withdrawing access to painkillers, and leaving many in severe, unmanaged

Bloom Magazine • 19th April 2021

Why Do We Need The Art of Protest? —

The newly proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is harmful for so many reasons. Along with criminalising the travelling community, who are already grossly mistreated by the government and police, it also could be used to expand stop and search powers, and slaps a ten-year sentence on damage to memorials.

This is also a bill which curbs our right to protest, our right to advocate for our equality and make our voices heard, loud and clear. The bill will allow police chiefs the abilit

Candid Orange • 17th April 2021

Is it time to rethink your "hot girl summer"?

Focusing on inner beauty is what it means to have the “hot girl summer” of your dreams!

With the UK lockdown ending shortly, there has been a newfound flurry of adverts selling products promising to have you looking perfect in time for a summer of lazing around in the sun and visiting our much-missed Spoons’ pub gardens. The pressure to show off our ‘lockdown glow up’ is mounting – the focus on looking gorgeous, fresh, and tanned is causing stress for many of us. But whilst companies are seizin

Bloom Magazine • 12th April 2021

My Nostalgic Lockdown

As we are often being told, this past year has truly been one of unprecedented events. Between unexpected lockdowns to distressing news coverage to job losses, much of our everyday stability has been snatched away from us. So, it’s little wonder that the past became a favourite source of solace for a lot of us. We longed for an escape, a look back on more innocent times when our biggest worries were what sleepover invites we’d received, and remembering our PE kit for school. Many of us turned to

bimbo mag • 6th April 2021

Being The Literary Sideshow

I don’t want to read any more books written by men. No, seriously. The endless recitals of the white male experience are exhausting. My mind is full to the brim of ways in which men describe women. We are watched, analysed, scrutinised, even in the realm of literature, where we should be liberated, free to portray our lived experiences as we see fit.

Recently, my literature degree has been leaving me feeling burnt out, frustrated and demotivated. The variety of works which we study isn’t terrib