How does Science impact your shopping?

21st April 2023

It’s not an uncommon experience in supermarkets these days to be browsing the shelves for everyday products, only to be surrounded by terms such as micellar technology; pH adjusted; clinically proven, supports immunity! These terms would be at home in a science lab, but instead they describe shampoos, foundations, yoghurts, and more. They seem to be approaching ever closer to ubiquity in the advertising world, and not without good reason.

How does Science impact your shopping?

The Patriarchy of Consumerism

24th March 2023

This year, for International Women’s Day, the fast fashion giant Pretty Little Thing released an entire ‘shop-by’ category in celebration. There seems to be nothing particularly feminist about the clothes, other than a few girlboss-slogan-type tote bags. PLT are manipulating and commodifying a global day of recognition and activism for women into a marketing ploy to maximise profit. But the deepest irony of this entire campaign is that fast fashion companies are actually responsible for supporting and entrenching patriarchy in their own production lines.

The Patriarchy of Consumerism

Polari and the History of Secret Languages

24th March 2023

You’ve probably heard of Pig Latin before – it’s a secret language (or cant) popularised on school playgrounds and children’s TV. The initial consonant is moved to the end and an extra syllable, usually ei, is added (Pig Latin would therefore be igpay atinlay), making a sentence sound like gibberish. Or maybe you made up a secret language when you were young to talk to your siblings or friends with in front of your parents. Secret languages exist everywhere, driven by the need to communicate without wanting surrounding people to know what you’re saying. This is, of course, even more important when your message could make you a target of hate or violence.

Polari and the History of Secret Languages

The Weight of a Human Soul

18th March 2023

Twenty-one grams was the answer given by the English scientist Duncan MacDougall in a scientific study he published in 1907. The 19th century was filled with classic Gothic novels, so, like many people of his era, MacDougall was fascinated by death and what happens after it. He surmised that if we have a soul then it ought to have a weight, thus the weight of the diseased must decrease when the consciousness has left the body. To prove the theory, MacDougall set out to find people near the point of death – and additionally, people that were incapable of moving so that the beam of the scales could be kept balanced.

The Weight of a Human Soul

Feminist Focus Collated

10th March 2023

This week, the week of International Women’s Day, the Women of Wimbledon team have been sending out mini bulletins each morning – each about an inspiring modern feminist we think people should know about, written by a different member of our feminism society. Here are all five collated.

Feminist Focus Collated