Modern Beauty Standards in Period Dramas

24th September 2021

ince the start of the pandemic, my family have begun refusing to watch period TV with me. They say they are sick of my complaints about historical inaccuracies in set design and mannerisms, but mostly, my constant criticisms of women’s costumes. For several years now, fashion history has been something of a pet interest of mine, I don’t think I flatter myself too greatly when I say I know a fair bit about it by now. That said, sometimes I feel that all I’ve gained from hours and hours of independent research is an inability to enjoy anything historical without judging and, consequently, being put off by shoddy costumes.

Modern Beauty Standards in Period Dramas

Gene Editing and the War Against the Pine Beetle

24th September 2021

Driving up Highway 40 in Alberta, Canada, a couple summers ago, my eyes were glued to the expanse of harsh, red dead-standing forest climbing the mountains. This would turn out to be one of the most significant forest disturbance episodes recorded in North America. hese dying red pine trees were due to the ongoing outbreak of the Mountain Pine Beetle (dendroctonus ponderosae, or MPB).

Gene Editing and the War Against the Pine Beetle

Arthurian Legend in Pre-Raphaelite Art

24th September 2021

The tales of King Arthur and his knights have been a favourite for many over thousands of years and have been reworked and re-interpreted by multiple different groups and cultures. Thought to have originated as Celtic, Welsh, and Irish legends, Arthur appears as either a great warrior defending Britain from both human and supernatural enemies, or as a magical figure of folklore. Though the tale was well-known, the story’s international popularity largely came from Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the King of Britain), Thomas Malory’s Morte d’Arthur and most importantly Lord Alfred Tennyson’s poems.

Arthurian Legend in Pre-Raphaelite Art

Sexism in ‘Of Mice and Men’

17th September 2021

In the 1930s, many key things were happening; women had just won the right to vote, and the Great Depression had just hit, for example. Despite the achievements of women and the opportunities they had created, it didn’t largely change the way they were viewed. In Of Mice and Men, the language the characters use to describe women is very oppressive. Women are only seen as possessions, seductresses, or caretakers of men. They often talk about how they go to the whorehouse for pleasure and a break from reality.

Sexism in ‘Of Mice and Men’