How BLM protests caused controversy in suburbia — People don’t tend to reveal their true feeling about contentious issues in their everyday dealings. You won’t know how a neighbour really feels about a politician by the way they nod hi to you as you leave your building each morning. Usually, it takes a big event to learn how…

Spoiler: it’s not a cream, serum or make-up. — “Get Instantly Glowing, Younger-Looking Skin WITHOUT Expensive Skincare Products!” Whenever I read something like this I feel simultaneously hopeful, delusional and disappointed with myself for even caring. Or for believing it’s even possible to reverse the ageing process – which is basically ridiculous because the one thing EVERYONE can count…

Advice courtesy of Prince Charles’ party-loving god-daughter. — My WhatsApp profile picture is of a smiling curly-haired toddler — captured in early 1980’s Kodak sepia. My kids aren’t pleased. My six-year-old daughter asks why I use this cute photo of myself, aged probably three, instead of a picture of her and her brother “like all the other mummies…

The criticism of Onjali Q. Raúf raises vital questions about the quashing of informed debate. — British author, Onjali Q. Raúf, received an onslaught of abuse for her tweet praising Ricky Gervais. The award-winning author of The Boy at the Back of the Class was labelled a hate-mongering TERF by fellow children’s authors for approving of the comedian’s comments about what defines a woman. “Sir. You…

The movement for more kindness is conditioning a generation of females into compliance. — My daughter’s favourite tee-shirt is pink and floral and has the words “Always Be Kind” emblazoned across it. This top — more precisely, its sentiment — is starting to piss me off. Always be kind. Kindness doesn’t cost a thing. Kindness rules. Kill them with kindness. …

Find happiness when your body shows the first signs of ageing. — My resistance in accepting I’ve reached middle age is like watching a YouTube cat video. One where the kitty keeps pathetically pawing at a window for food that is unobtainable on the other side of the glass pane. It’s futile. As has been my resistance to accepting the (increasingly frequent)…

Wear these affordable kicks for box-fresh style instead. Ever since Isabel Marant launched the wedge heel sneaker more than a decade ago, the demand for designer training shoes has enabled a lucrative market for luxury brands. Even before the pandemic made stilettos a dirty word, major fashion houses such as Gucci, Prada and Balenciaga began tapping in to…

The social media star’s brother confessed yet walks free. — It is 2014 and budding singers line up to audition for Pakistan’s Pop Idol. An attractive young woman totters past in high heels and brightly coloured western garb, demanding attention from all present. She lacks the required talent — it’s clear she cannot sing – but she is comedic and…

Ending women’s monopoly of pregnancy and birthing. — Trans men who give birth are known as seahorse fathers. The name is derived from the water creature where the male of the species, rather than the female, carry the fertilized eggs. 36-year-old Bennett Kaspar-Williams is a proud seahorse dad. He delivered a baby boy in 2020 after conceiving at…