Academic, feminist, focus on women's use of the media for political purposes. The missing link between the suffragettes and Mumsnet. All views my own, etc.
Aberdeen
Joined June 2011
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There is some excellent work here by @WRNScotland. Many thanks to them and to @ladymcbeth2 for writing about their research.
Call for action as stats reveal close to 100 sex crimes at Scotland's swimming pools and leisu… sundaypost.com/fp/changing-a… via @Sunday_Post
Prof. Sarah Pedersen retweeted
“In general, Europeans think of Americans’ enthusiasm for paid surrogacy the way we regard their fondness for guns and capital punishment: inexplicable.”
theatlantic.com/magazine/202…
She was inspirational
Dolly Parton died today. She was 80.
Tennessee raised her in a one-room cabin in Sevier County, fourth of twelve kids.
Her daddy couldn't read or write. So in 1995 she started mailing free books to children under five. Every month.
Over 300 million books since. Three and a half million a month right now, across five countries. The kids called her the Book Lady, and I think she liked that better than most of the titles she earned.
When the wildfires tore through Sevier County in 2016, the Dollywood Foundation stood up the My People Fund inside of 48 hours. A thousand dollars a month to every family that lost a home. Renters and owners both. Comfortable and broke both.
No means testing. No paperwork maze. About 900 families, $8.9 million out the door, and a final check that came in at five grand instead of one because the donations kept rolling in.
Back in '91 she looked at a 35% dropout rate in her county and told every seventh and eighth grader to pick a buddy. Both of you graduate, both of you get $500 from me. Dropout rate fell to 6%.
She understood something most social programs never figure out - people don't get pulled out alone. They get pulled out in pairs.
A million dollars to Vanderbilt in April 2020 that funded the early-stage work behind the Moderna vaccine. Another million for pediatric infectious disease. Another million out of her own bank account for Helene, with Dollywood matching it. This past February, East Tennessee Children's Hospital took her name.
And she paid for all of it the way I've always believed it ought to be paid for. She built businesses that made real money, then aimed that money straight at her people. The Dollywood Foundation ran on Dollywood profits.
She stayed a hillbilly on purpose. Big hair, big laugh, dressed like a jukebox, and she let every man in Nashville underestimate her right up until she owned the whole operation.
Dangerous women do good deeds too.
Rest easy, Dolly. Tennessee's got a hole in it tonight.
My research on teens' risk-taking and how it might be encouraged by social media was published in 2013.
One of my findings was that much advice (from charities, govt, schools etc) for parents and teens themselves was framed around girls. 1/
If you search 'keeping your teens safe online' today you will find lots of images like this.
Little has changed.
Insane story. Great reporting from local journalists @Sygazette
Bernera groups face financial ruin from legal costs trib.al/aqWfWHi
'True, he possessed a windmill, and a second windmill besides, while the popular prejudice runs in favour of none at all'
Mr Maugham as a Dickensian character. V. amusing.
In which a humble man endures the great burden of leisure:
voidifremoved.co.uk/p/the-il…
Rape is not a spectrum. And should be demonised.
Rape is a grave, systematic, and widespread human rights violations in international, regional and national law, that could also amount to torture.
While victims of rape can be of any sex or age, rape continues to be committed on an wide scale against women and girls, and is therefore also a specific form of sex and gender based violence against them.
There is no doubt that allegations of rape should be investigated swiftly and impartially to determine if rape has occurred; and that victims should be provided with access to effective, trauma-informed and victim centered reporting, assistance and justice mechanisms.
However, that most certainly does NOT turn rape into a spectrum nor should it ever be spoken of in those terms.
ّInsinuations that acts of rape could fall on a spectrum, risk undermining the important progress we have made around the globe in criminalizing rape, which - as my mandate has argued- should cover rape against all persons, including marital rape and all acts of penetration of a sexual nature, with the lack of consent at its center. (which should include a rigorous analysis of the context in which consent may have been given or withheld).
My predecessor dedicated a whole stand-alone report to examining the issue of rape, which I share here again for those interested:
ohchr.org/en/documents/thema…
Good to see some thoughtful analysis by @drianpace published in The Critic.
The discipline of sociology has been under fire during the Arday affair. In this article I explain how Arday’s work falls woefully short of established standards of sociology. Tagging @redrumlisa @OxSoc @ashleytrubin @ProfAliceS
thecritic.co.uk/impoverished…
Yes this. I don’t care what your politics are, to beat a 78 year-old woman to death with a hammer is horrific.
Seriously. The irony here is immense.
Live by the sword etc.
The shocking and deeply misogynistic comments made by @aberdeenuni employee Heather Herbert following the brutal murder of Ann Widdecombe are utterly reprehensible. Publicly hoping that a woman who dedicated her life to public service suffered ‘an extremely painful death’ is not only vile and hurtful, it is dangerous.
This post has a worrying violent tone that risks normalising hatred and could encourage further violence against women in public life. Ann Widdecombe was not the first politician to lose her life in such tragic circumstances and careless, hateful comments like these only fuel more division, toxicity, and harm in our society.
Aberdeen University must take strong and decisive action against this employee to uphold basic standards of decency, respect and institutional values. Anything less would signal tolerance for this kind of extremism within their ranks.
Prospective students and their parents should seriously reconsider applying to or attending Aberdeen University until it demonstrates it will maintain proper standards.
Alumni: please pause all donations in the meantime; your money should not support an institution that harbours or excuses this behaviour.
I call on local political representatives to act: MSPs @LiamKerrMSP, @DLumsden_MP and Reform UK Scotland leader @Malcolm_Offord, plus Scottish Conservative leader @RussellFindlay1 please raise this issue urgently in Parliament on behalf of Ann Widdecombe’s family and all the women she stood up for. This cannot be ignored.
Words have consequences. Hateful rhetoric like this must have them too.
pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/new…
If you want to know what trying to get something GC published in an academic journal is like, read this.
Kudos to the editor of Scottish Affairs for offering a place for the article discussed by @mbmpolicy and my own work despite pressure from above.
NEW: Our latest blog looks at the failure of civic Scotland to challenge SPS policy of housing men in women's prisons, now ruled to be unlawful. We discuss our own experiences of publishing an academic article in this area and the backlash to this. murrayblackburnmackenzie.org…
The Amnesty International report on GC women analyses 4 media outlets and finds bias.
Importantly, it does not analyse the BBC.
It might also be argued that @thetimes has an excellent Scottish section, which has a duty to cover important Scottish stories.
Prof. Sarah Pedersen retweeted
You could literally land a plane by yourself after your instructor jumps to his death mid flight and they’d still use a picture of a man
I have met both of these women and discussed my research into domestic violence with both. Both have demonstrated not just a deep concern for women facing domestic abuse but have acted to raise these concerns in the public sphere.
📕 With a shared passion for books and a deep commitment to children reading for pleasure, The Queen and author J.K. Rowling have met at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.
Her Majesty and Ms Rowling discussed the importance of ensuring that young people have access to books and the vital part reading plays in opening doors for future generations.
