Latest Stories from Flo
Gen Z don’t know how to feel about perfume in public
Is spraying in shared spaces a cardinal sin? I love perfume. Personal fragrance, scent, whatever you want to call it; giving myself a spritz of luxurious notes is what keeps my heart beating. No more so than during winter when, let’s face it, there’s little else to brighten up a drab day. To be honest, I thought everyone was with me on this one. I know personal preference varies greatly when...
Reaction to Claudia Sheinbaum’s assault highlights normalisation of gender violence
If they can grope the president, what hope do the rest of us have? The groping of Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum by a drunken man has sparked outrage among women, many of whom saw their own fears and experiences reflected in her plight. But a tepid and partisan domestic reaction to the sexual assault reveals how normalised gender violence has become in the country and around the world. ‘If the president suffered...
Would stop and search have prevented the rail attacks?
The tragic incident has ignited debates around the effectiveness of stop and search tactics. A stabbing on board a LNER rail service between Peterborough and Huntingdon left 11 people in hospital last week, with several in a critical condition. It’s since thrown UK transport officials into heated debates around security, with many calling for firmer stop and search protocol on board national rail. After a man was charged with 10...
Should celebrities speak out on politics?
Jennifer Lawrence says speaking out against Trump would ‘add fuel to a fire’ ripping America apart. As political binaries continue to sharpen, should those in the public eye take sides? The question of whether famous people should be politically outspoken is a complex one. I’ve argued with friends and family about it to no end. But my own stance has also shifted plenty of times over the years. If you’d asked...
Opinion – women are done with heteronormative ideas of love
As Lily Allen’s scathing account of marital infidelity resonates so broadly, it’s clear women are detaching from outdated ideals that their value can only ever truly be found within men. Maybe it’s because I’m a single woman in her late twenties – but something feels different lately. A change in energy, if you will. That shift has crystallised in two cultural moments that landed almost simultaneously: Lily Allen’s new album West End...
US Aid cuts are undermining Senegal’s fight against HIV
Lack of access to vital medication, as well as dwindling contraception supplies, are threatening to undo years of progress within Senegal’s medical industry. Senegal is discovering the hard way that with abrupt cuts in US funding, medical advances that took years to build can unravel faster than they were assembled. The latest withdrawals of USAID and related programmes are not only hobbling contraception supply chains, they’re also throttling HIV prevention,...
Opinion – Trump’s East Wing demolition symbolic of US politics
The President’s plans for an ostentatious White House ballroom may seem relatively inoffensive given his track record of aggressive leadership. But they reflect a country divided and a political system on the brink. Whether or not you’re clued into US politics, you’ve probably heard mutterings of Trump’s ballroom in the past few weeks. The President has undertaken an ‘aggressive’ construction project involving the destruction of the White House East...
Eight countries added to a UK warning list over methanol poisoning
Tourists are being urged to travel with caution after eight popular tourist destinations were listed as potential hot spots for lethal methanol poisoning. The UK foreign office has added eight countries – all tourist hot spots – to its warning list over methanol poisoning. Ecuador, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Russia and Uganda are included in updated travel guidance that is urging travellers to heed extreme caution following incidents...
A petition for women-only tube carriages has 12,000 signatures
The petition, started by a student, follows TfL’s ‘Act Like a Friend’ anti-harassment campaign. Almost 12,000 people have signed a petition calling for women-only carriages across the London Underground network. It comes shortly after TfL’s anti-harassment efforts and reflects a growing sense of unease on board public transport services. UCL student Camille Brown set up the petition after she had ‘had enough of women being unsafe’ on the tube. It...
‘Trad-sons’ are now a thing
Stay-at-home sons are the latest iteration of the ‘trad-wife’ trend. We have Nara Smith to thank for the advent of the modern ‘trad-wife’. Whether Smith defines herself within these borders is another thing, but the influencer’s dulcet tones and endless couture collection ensured her cooking skills became the blueprint for housewives everywhere. Controversial though it may be, the ‘trad-wife’ aesthetic (trend, cultural phenomenon, whatever you want to call it) has...
