Latest Stories from Annie
Fame doesn’t make people untouchable but neither should whiteness
More celebrities are facing the public consequences for their morally deplorable actions, dispelling the culture of idolatry that presents famous people as a moral guide. However, a culture of racism and misogyny is still allowing culpable white men to evade the consequences of their actions. Earlier this month, hip-hop artist Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was convicted on ‘two counts of transportation for prostitution’ As Combs’ prosecution shows, fame doesn’t always protect...
Isn’t it time for men to decenter women?
Many straight men struggle to form close relationships with one another without relying on a female intermediary. Perhaps it’s time for them to take a leaf out of women’s books and assume responsibility for dismantling the patriarchal systems which are negatively impacting their mental health. Whether you’ve been long acquainted with the idea, or you’re delving into ‘decentring men’ for the first time - maybe you even first came...
Are we getting the ‘decenter men’ movement wrong?
‘Decentering men’ is back with a vengeance, but is it really up to women to be rejecting these patriarchal systems of power disproportionately protected and maintained by those gendered as male? You might have first heard the term back in 2019, when Sherese (Charlie) Taylor coined it in her book entitled Decentering Men. Or perhaps you came across it in the more recent rhetoric online. In digital spaces, the...
Are you ageing rapidly or simply living in the modern world?
Recent studies have found associations between inflammation, environmental circumstances, and lifestyle factors. While this research has reconceptualised the link between inflammation and ageing, it has also revealed how a lack of choice for young working-class people will result in negative health consequences not just now, but in the long term. With the recent heatwave the UK has been facing, you might have spent a weekend stripped off and sweating, moving...
Why both Hotspur Press Building and Manchester’s residents are gutted
Irresponsible and unprosecuted fires in historical buildings are putting people’s lives and wellbeing at risk so that development companies can continue to increase the wages going into their pockets. On Monday the disused Hotspur Press Building in Manchester city centre, left derelict for decades, went up in flames. The fire has left both the historical building, first used as a cotton mill in around 1801, and many of the...
Was Primavera Sound more about commercial gain than political activism?
As part of a festival overtly expressing their support for Palestine and the LGBTQ+ community, did some of Primavera Sound’s acts fall short when it came to using their platforms this year? With the slogan ‘Nobody is Normal’, and a lign-up made up, deliberately, of 40% male, 40% female, and 20% mixed/non-binary artists, as well as all-female headline acts, Primavera Sound Festival’s progressive stance on identity politics and gender representation...
Is it wrong to monetise our pain?
Shakira is back from her musical hiatus, and while her new album is intended as empowering, it forces us to question whether the monetisation of our pain makes our suffering more or less valuable. Colombian singer known mononymously as Shakira is back on the scene and our screens. After a self-professed difficult few years, Shakira is currently undertaking her ‘Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran’ tour. The title, taken from her latest...
Does Gen Z have a resilience problem?
Gen Z might need more resilience, but that doesn’t mean we need more of our parents’ generational trauma to test it. The idea that Gen z has no resilience is prevalent. We’re criticised for job jumping or all together aversion. The anti-depressants so many of us are taking are subject to disparagement or susceptible to symbolic cliches because we don’t just 'get on with it like people used...
The fatalism of the ‘lucky girl syndrome’ trend
The autonomous-less fatalism of the 'lucky girl syndrome' trope joins the long list of individualising and infantilising trends adopted by privileged women who present themselves as too incompetent and irrational to engage critically with intellectualism, politics, or financial responsibility. Whether you’re willing to admit it, or (like me) you’re not, many of us have little things we habitually do to try and avoid bad things happening to us. For instance, you’ll...
Is obsessing over protein-rich diets taking the joy out of eating?
With a utilitarian focus on what food can do for us rather than how it tastes, coupled with a growing aversion to the humble doggy bag, have we forgotten what it means to appreciate the things that contribute to our wellbeing and keep us alive? A stroll through the aisles of most supermarkets these days presents a blaze of similarly shaped fonts, all advertising one key nutrient in our groceries:...
