Humanity Hallows Issue 4 Out Now!
Pick up your copy on campus or read online
By Joanna Shaw
I was sixteen when I bought this book. I was about to take the train home from holiday, and I needed something to read on the four hour train journey home. In those four hours, I learnt so much about the issues surrounding being a woman.
How to be a Woman is Caitlin Moran’s part autobiography, part guidebook to life. Her popular Times column has been produced into a collection of essays, Moranthology, and her recent call to arms Moranifesto urges readers to preserve public libraries, learn to listen to young people, and, finally, give up ridiculously high shoes. I had previously never heard of her, and had barely acknowledged feminism. Now, I regard this as one of the top books I would recommend to someone. Moran covers a multitude of topics, such as why you should, or shouldn’t, have children, the controversy of why all women feel like they should wear high heels, and harsher subjects, such as abuse and abortion. All of these stories are told in a brutally honest, no-holding-back manner.
Moran is unshakeable when it comes to writing about tough subjects, but she also mixes the serious with the silly. The parts reflecting her childhood, growing up with six other siblings and having to share her birthday baguette with them, are very funny and witty. Moran successfully produces her tongue-in cheek-humour into a legitimate, structured argument. One of the more popular sections of the book is her reflection on hanging out with Lady GaGa in a sex club (the story is entirely true!) and GaGa’s full discussion on her sexuality.
Overall, Caitlin Moran is a role model for women (and men.) How to be a Woman is a comedic masterpiece, that also serves as a truly honest reflection that, in her own words, will make some people pretty bloody angry when they are shown the true trials of being a woman.
Following the passing of iconic Stone Roses and Primal Scream Bassist Gary ‘Mani’ Mountfield, there have been growing calls for him to be immortalised in a way that reflects both his cultural impact and the deep affection shared between the musician and his home city. GRIT Studios has answered the calls from fans, announcing plans…
Featured image: Evie Peattie Often overshadowed in popular narratives by the heritage houses of Paris or Milan, London’s fashion ecosystem has long traded on creative freedom. As London Fashion Week prepares for its 42nd year, running from the 19 to 23 February, the British capital is poised to reaffirm its reputation not simply as a…
Featured image: Sebastian Garraway Beats vibrate through a polished floor. Bodies move with a swinging grace, surrendering to the rhythm without hesitation. An instinctual sliding jig sways wide-legged jeans cut just above the ankle. Sweat drips from sharp scissor-cut hairstyles onto porous Fred Perry polos. You’ve guessed it: Northern Soul. The late 1960s phenomenon is…
Featured image: Evangeline Causton Local lad Harry Styles will take to the stage at Manchester’s Co-op Live for the city’s first-ever Brit Awards, before returning for his one-night-only show on March 6 to celebrate the arrival of his fourth album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. When cryptic billboards bearing the words “WE BELONG TOGETHER” appeared across Manchester city…
Leave a reply