We need to talk about ‘Almond Mums’
How the fascination with our mothers’ diets has permeated social media and changed the way we think about food. There are few social trends as pervasive as the ‘almond mum’. She’s slim, she’s usually wearing yoga leggings, she shops at Whole Foods. And according to the thousands of videos featuring...
Current in Wellness
The sauna is replacing the club
Gen-Z are turning to communal saunas in place of nights out. But what’s the appeal of these steamy hang-outs? Take a look at London’s social scene, and you’ll quickly realise that the nightclub is under threat. Well, the nightclub’s reign as an epicenter of youthful connection and sweaty camaraderie, anyway. It...
Is patriarchy to blame for steadily rising male suicide rates?
Men continue to experience disproportionately higher rates of suicide, homelessness, and addiction. When will we finally admit that patriarchy is just as damaging to men as it is to women? Every International Women’s Day (8th March), Twitter is harangued by angry men asking, “and when is International Men’s...
How to manage seasonal affective disorders
The term seasonal depression is on the rise in social media, but what is seasonal depression? What can we do to manage our winter blues and summer sadness? Seasonal affective disorder or SAD is a type of mental health challenge similar to depression. The chief difference is it...
Why we should be redirecting our gaze towards male bodies
There’s a distinct lack of body positivity discourse for male, masc, and non-binary bodies. We need to challenge the attitude that views a specific type of body as more beautiful than another and start to praise all kinds of peaches. Scrolling on social media, I come across a before and...
Opinion – a woman’s business is not to be beautiful
From the 1874 Ugly Girl Papers to the overt normalisation – and promotion – of harmful practices such as preventative botox, are we looking at the end of variety and youth in faces which have all been touched by the same needle? ‘The first requisite in a woman toward pleasing...
Modern medicine continues to neglect women’s health
Women are disproportionately suffering from a lack of medical attention, facing difficulties seeking treatment for painful symptoms and having their needs misunderstood. In a supposedly developed world, we are consistently letting women down by failing to close the gender health gap. From Queen Elizabeth I’s white face makeup – which she used to cover smallpox scarring – to well-known modern-day lipstick brands including Mac, L’Oreal, and Maybelline,...
Opinion – we aren’t worried enough about our attention spans
Though people are discussing it openly online and trends have emerged to address it, our ability to concentrate is deteriorating by the day. Why does nobody seem that concerned? Two things I’ve noticed recently – both while commuting to work. For one, that all I ever seem to see these days is people looking down, staring blankly at the screen in their hands. I’m by no means exempt from this, I...
Why young people are turning their backs on busyness
These days, without the promise of a home, a salary, and a future on a healthy planet, it makes sense that Gen Zers are quitting the rat race. Exhausted, overwhelmed, and on the brink of total collapse, the concept of ‘soft living’ has never seemed more appealing. Ever since the end of pandemic, there’s been a brewing backlash against hustle culture. Triggered by Molly-Mae’s controversial ‘we...
Opinion – why giving weight loss jabs to unemployed Brits is problematic
The government’s proposal endorses the stereotype that larger people without jobs are ‘just lazy’ and implies that a body that ‘works’ is measured by how much labour can be extracted from it. These days, it’s almost too easy to compare ourselves as we binge episode after episode of fatphobic media like The Biggest Loser, or My 600-lb life, or Supersize vs Superskinny, watching as people told they’re unhealthily large...
