Am I Normal Yet? is out on 1st August 2015! Pre-order your copy now online or at your local independent bookshop.
You’d be forgiven for thinking the internet is just a massive steaming turd of patriarchy, where any girl on it with an opinion is told she’s ugly and deserves to get sexually assaulted …
… While that is true to some degree – the interweb is also hosting all sorts of incredible grassroots feminism movements. From the campaign to get women on our banknotes, to the EveryDay Sexism project, there’s a whole lot of very good feminism happening online. Here are my favourite websites to surf when The Man (literally) is getting me down.
1) The Vagenda
The two girls who started this blog – Holly Baxter and Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett – literally have no fear. And they’re so much the more hysterically funny for it. The Vagenda started out by taking the piss out of the ridiculous expectations shoved upon us from women’s mags, and has grown from there. They are not afraid to call SEXIST BULLSH*T the moment something…umm…sexist and bullsh*tty…crops up. Their most recent wins were encouraging girls to deface those gruesome Are You Beach Body Ready? adverts, and making the #DistractinglySexy hashtag trend in response to a sexist comment about women in Science.
The fact that I ever-so-occasionally write for them is, does, of course, have nothing to do with why I love it so.
Best article: Why being a Cosmo-girl seems just really bloody knackering
2) Hollaback
Ever been cat-called or sexually-harassed while out walking and come away from it feeling:
A) Angry?
b) scared?
c) Confused?
d) Ashamed of what you were wearing?
e) Angry at yourself for not saying anything?
f) Alone…?
g) All of the above?
Then Hollaback is the online hug you’ve been looking for!
Women can mark where they were harassed on a map and then share their story of what happened to them. Other women can then click a button to let you know they ‘have your back’. You instantly feel less isolated, and the website is also an incredible piece of ongoing research into how out-of-control street harassment is.
3) Reductress
Literally the best piece of women’s mag satire I’ve ever come across. And the most detailed. And the most hilarious. At first glance you think it’s just another girly lifestyle website…then you realise they’re completely playing you in the darkest, most brilliant way possible. I have to regularly sit on my hands to stop myself re-tweeting every single article they publish.
Best article: I am not a feminist but I do think all men should die
4) YouTube
WHAT?! I hear you warble. Have you not SEEN the comments section of every single YouTube video ever? It’s like rape comments BRED with death-threats to make SUPER-TERRIFYING-WE-ALL-HATE-WOMEN threats – a bit like that scene in Lord of The Rings when Saruman breeds super-orcs.
But, among the terrifying misogyny, there are some totally kick-ass vloggers, using their channels and reach to make some totally kick-ass points about feminism. And totally owning it.
Best vids: Do I Look Like A Slut? by Hannah Witton
If Tampon Adverts Were Honest by Emma Blackery
CONSENT by Jack and Dean
Unfortunately, my beloved book industry, is just as sexist as all the other places out there. Books written by women are still seen as ‘fluffy’ or ‘frivolous’ compared to male-authored works. Most texts in the English Literature curriculum are written by men. And, even books ABOUT women don’t’ fare much better. The Pulitzer Prize, the top literature award ever, hasn’t had a winning book that’s about a woman since 2000. For Book’s Sake exists to counter-balance this – to help get women’s book taken more seriously. I’m so grateful it exists!
Best article: Race In The Hunger Games – why Katniss was a Woman of Colour
Are Happily-ever-afters in YA Novels Bad for Teenagers’ Love Lives?
Today we’re TBT’ing to an article Holly wrote for The Huffington Post on Happily-ever-afters in YA novels. We love it and think you will too.
Click on the link above and happy reading!
Congratulations to @eleanorford on Twitter – the very lucky
winner of the signed copy of THE MANIFESTO ON HOW TO BE INTERESTING. Happy reading!
There will be lots more opportunities to win copies of Holly’s books – so stay tuned and be sure to follow Holly on Twitter (@Holly_BourneYA).
Read the first chapter of THE MANIFESTO ON HOW TO BE INTERESTING at www.usborne.com/readmanifesto.
All Evie wants is to be normal. And now she’s almost off her meds, going to parties and making friends, she’s ready for the next step: dating. But relationships are messy. They can make any girl feel like they’re going mad. And if Evie can’t even tell her new mates Amber and Lottie the truth about herself, how will she cope when she falls in love?
Ahead of tonight’s #UKYAchat about feminism and gender
equality in YA, Holly has written about her top 5 feminist YA Books for Queen of Contemporary blog. Here’s a juicy taster of what to expect:
‘Am I Normal Yet? is the first book in a
trilogy about a group of girls who set up their own feminist campaign
group called ‘The Spinster Club’. I think YA gets a bad rep when it
comes to feminism. So many people keep bleating out the dreaded words
‘Bella’ and ‘Swan’ – like Twilight isn’t a) TEN years old, and b) Not
the only YA book out there. In fact, YA have LOADS of incredibly
feminist books…’
Head over to Queen of Contemporary to see the books Holly has included in her top 5!
And don’t forget to log into Twitter at 8pm, search for #UKYAchat and join in the conversation with authors, bloggers, librarians and readers about feminism and gender roles in YA.
Hello Day 18 of #100DaysofNormal! On this gorgeous June day, we’re throwing back to a brill Q&A Holly did with PaperTrailYA blog earlier this month. Here’s a teeny-tiny taster:
‘Hi, Holly! Thank you
so much for taking the time out of your schedule to chat with us today.
How does it feel to be bringing out your third novel Am I Normal Yet?
I’m
so excited and yet SO terrified at the same time. This book is like my
Horcrux, and I really hope everyone loves it as dearly as I do. What’s
so exciting is it’s the first in a trilogy. I’m loving getting to stay
with the same bunch of characters for three books, after writing two
standalones.’
Read the interview in full at http://bit.ly/1QFmPWB.
Congratulations to @emmarrobinson on Twitter – she’s the very lucky winner of the signed copy of SOULMATES. We hope you enjoy it Emma!
Read the first chapter of SOULMATES at www.usborne.com/soulmates.
There will be lots more opportunities to win copies of Holly’s books – so stay tuned and be sure to follow Holly on Twitter (@Holly_BourneYA).
Wahoo! It’s Day 15 of #100DaysofNormal and to celebrate we have this rather fab Twitter competition. Head to Holly’s Twitter page for a chance to win a signed copy of her first novel, Soulmates! We have one to giveaway to one very lucky winner!
Good luck!
