Sexual Politics

The Shorter Boris Johnson

Displaying his usual deftness, cuddly old Boris takes on the question of religious dress in schools in today’s Telegraph. You could summarise the first part of his contribution thusly: “That Shabina Begum: even dressed like a pillar box you’d do her, wouldn’t you?” And, as usual, he has a point.

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Thank Heaven For Little Boys

From 70s pop stars to Lib Dem MPs to celebrity feminists, the modern public figure seems to be vulnerable to private temptation by the figure of the young man. Everyone knew Germaine Greer’s battiness had set in properly when she wrote that book about beautiful boys, though the female circumcision thing had already given the […]

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Manufacturing Consent

At least two of the broadsheets have had agony columns that invite readers to respond with answers to other readers’ problems. A few years back one (I think it was the Guardian) printed a letter from a woman despairing of her live-in boyfriend ever “growing up” and marrying her. The majority of the female contributors […]

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MTA Wanted—Emphasis On T and A

Media composer Richard subscribes to various lists that offers work for people in his business. As with much of the media world, those offering gigs are fully aware of the desperation of celebrity wannabes to get any kind of experience—so they pay accordingly: peanuts or less. To use the jargon, they take the piss. Such […]

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Men United In Sentimental Bollocks

Yesterday in the Guardian Nicky Campbell joined the minority of press commentators who have mentioned recently deceased footballer George Best’s tendency to slap women around. He did so with a telling quote from one of Best’s exes: “I adored George, and do you know what? In almost two and half years together he only hit […]

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Sorry, We Don’t Do Business With Negroes

Soon it’ll be time to renew my car insurance. When I investigated, I was disappointed to discover that I don’t qualify for cover from Whitey’s Wheels, the new company that only insures Anglo-Saxon drivers. For some time now, actuaries have recognized that white people make fewer and smaller claims on their car insurance than black […]

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The Man In The Unfurnished Flat

I’ve put all my bedroom furniture together now, and my bedtime reading over the past few days has been Philip K. Dick’s The Man In The High Castle. [Typically, Penguin publishes the book inside two different tarted-up covers, but with the same nasty old typesetting inside.] As “what if the Axis won the War?” novels […]

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Danickian Superwoman

Jackie Danicki has been on a roll lately. Her last two posts about women and life—“Truman Capote and the rewards of the mundane and unexpected” and “The real meaning of ‘equality’, and why most feminists are anything but ‘pro-choice’“—have been gems. A lot of female newspaper columnists follow the “Polly Filler” template of complaining for […]

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I Want To Work For World Peace

Further to my comment about the relative earnings of Whites and ethnic minorities in this country, I should admit that, not only were four out of the forty entrants in this year’s Miss England Muslims, but, of them, the winner herself was born in Tashkent of Afghan parents who fled Afghanistan in 1980. The favourite […]

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Bunny Update

It’s Friday, so I’m not looking to revive that old argument about the stationery, but I thought you lot might be amused by my two Playboy-related observations of the week. Firstly I was in an ASDA supermarket the other day and decided to survey their “Back To School” range. Hoping not to be denounced as […]

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Bunny How Things Change

There’s a lost-innocence-of-our-children panic piece in the G2 section of yesterday’s Guardian. Rachel Bell asks “what’s going on?” that Playboy-branded stationery and other accessories are number one with little schoolgirls in Britain. The right sort of people are quoted telling us what to think, alongside someone from commerce telling us that the people he represents […]

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Homophonia

I occasionally use a cheap-and-cheerful piece of computer music software called “FLStudio“. Its publishers changed the package’s name from “FruityLoops” a few years ago. Today was the first time I read the explanation for the name change given on the Website of Image-Line Software, the German company that produces FLStudio. The company offers three reasons: […]

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Mullets And Meaningful Stares

These remixed romance novel covers are painfully funny. Admittedly the raw material was probably hilarious already—just not on purpose. [I don’t read Instapundit any more, so I refuse to be embarrassed that he picked this up a week ago.]

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Almost Like A Whale

Imagine, for a moment, a new men’s fashion: “the ab-shirt”. It is the summer of 2006 and David Beckham is photographed with his second wife, holidaying on a private island. He is sauntering along the beach wearing flip-flops, shorts and… a T-shirt with a rectangular window cut away from the midriff to reveal his toned […]

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40% Gay; 100% Normal

PooterGeek is in the top ten hits on Tiscali search for “circumcised gay models“* so I feel it’s my duty to bring you stories like this one. Question: where do gay people go when they become boring? Answer: Wilton Manors, Florida. “Gay marriage is not a lightning-rod issue here,” said Gary Resnick, one of three […]

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Step Backwards

In the latest Spectator Rachel Johnson reflects on the remake of The Stepford Wives and the progress of women’s liberation since the original film was released. Even members of The Spectator‘s natural constituency on the Right have been mourning its decline lately, and, sure enough, the rest of the magazine contains a lot of rubbish. […]

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Double-Platinum Double Standard

I was listening to Avril Lavigne singing live on Radio 1 yesterday evening. Her voice is powerful and true. Her albums are slickly produced. She has an almost-distinctive sound, that you could describe as “Alanis Morissette‘s Mini-Me“. Vital for a pop star, some of her melodies are memorable and inventive. Where Lavigne’s music falls down […]

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Self Demotion

Last time I was interviewing candidates for a job I had my “girl compensator” turned up quite high. In The Telegraph today Anne Robinson explains what I mean. [Free registration required, value of shares can go down as well as up, please pay attention to the pre-flight safety demonstration, your home is at risk if […]

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