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Laurie Penny

Pop culture, politics and feminism

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Dove's new campaign.
By Laurie Penny - 11 May 9:26

Beauty is about class, money, power and privilege - and it always has been.

Stuart Hall receiving his MBE in 2012. Photograph: Getty Images
By Laurie Penny - 10 May 10:52

It’s not just about Jimmy Savile, or Stuart Hall, or the BBC, or the Socialist Workers’ Party, or two American high-schoolers crying in court, or three young women chained in a basement in Ohio, or one dead girl in a hospital in Delhi. After too long, people are fighting back against rape culture – and there's nothing worse than watching the bigots stand their ground.

New Statesman
By Laurie Penny - 08 May 13:58

After the financial crash of 2008, Iceland refused to bail out its banks and overthrew its government. But five years on, has its flirtation with an alternative to austerity ended?

More magazine. Photo: Getty
By Laurie Penny - 01 May 14:28

Do we need to mourn every lost job without further comment, even in an industry that’s becoming toxic?

The Echus Chasma, one of the largest water source regions on Mars. Photograph: G
By Laurie Penny - 30 April 8:04

Would you sign up for a perilous journey, knowing that you’ve got just one shot at making the human race a bit better, a bit braver?

An effigy of Margaret Thatcher in Trafalgar Square. Photo: Getty
By Laurie Penny - 17 April 9:52

The left have been painted as tasteless, heartless people trying to make political capital out of Thatcher’s death. Only the government is allowed to do that, says Laurie Penny.

A street performer. Photo: Getty
By Laurie Penny - 10 April 11:21

By 70, will I be screeching about immigrants from an enormous throne made of my clippings?

Trent Mays and Ma'lik Richmond in court.
By Laurie Penny - 19 March 14:10

The pictures from Steubenville don’t just show a girl being raped. They show that rape being condoned, encouraged, celebrated. What type of culture could possibly produce such pictures?

New Statesman
By Laurie Penny - 16 March 10:21

It’s not enough for us to sit back and wait for the system of power to become a little more equal.

Margaret Thatcher at the 1985 Conservative Party Conference. Photo: Getty
By Laurie Penny - 06 March 17:03

Right now, the list of things we’re not allowed to say about the rich and powerful is getting longer - and not just for professional writers.

Lord Rennard (r), who denies the allegations against him, with Menzies Campbell
By Laurie Penny - 28 February 8:37

Systematic abuse happens when the system is abusive.

A nice, non-invasive, picture of the Duchess of Cambridge.
By Laurie Penny - 21 February 16:34

Britain only permits two types of outrage today: dog-whistle disgust for the extremely poor and spanielish devotion to the aristocracy.

Pope Laurie I.
By Laurie Penny - 11 February 14:26

Laurie Penny has GCSE Latin and a collection of ridiculous hats, plus years of experience dealing with in-fighting and intrigue (on the British Left). There is literally no reason she couldn't be Pope. Except for the Catholic thing. And the woman thing.

Rihanna during the 2012 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show
By Laurie Penny - 05 February 7:17

We're experiencing a sexual counterrevolution that encompasses a backlash against women’s sexual and reproductive freedom.

Trolls - the cute kind. Flickr/Cali4Beach, used under Creative Commons
By Laurie Penny - 27 January 18:02

It would be nice to think that the rot of rank misogyny was confined to fringe sites populated by lunatics. But it is found all over the web - and it's silencing its victims. Fighting it is not the same as censorship.

New Statesman
By Laurie Penny - 21 January 8:31

How hard a person works is not and never has been proportional to a person’s salary.

Copies of the Leveson report
By Laurie Penny - 17 January 9:30

In the aftermath of the Leveson report, journalism has changed forever - but it's not because of the inquiry.

An anti-rape protest in India. Photo: Getty
By Laurie Penny - 11 January 17:28

When it comes to sexual violence, why should progressive organisations be held to different standards?

A good guy meme image.
By Laurie Penny - 23 December 1:19

How are we supposed to handle common-or-garden sexist dickwaddery when it puts photos on the internet and asks to be loved?

Photograph: Getty Images
By Laurie Penny - 14 December 18:51

A letter to a reader in crisis.

German women protesting in favour of human rights for women
By Laurie Penny - 13 December 7:41

Sex work isn’t stigmatised because it is dangerous. Sex work is dangerous because it is stigmatised.

Kate: the Duchess of Cambridge. Photo: Getty
By Laurie Penny - 04 December 12:36

I don't know the Duke or Duchess of Cambridge, but I do know too many couples who can't afford to have children.

Disabled protestors demonstrate at Parliament in May 2011.
By Laurie Penny - 29 November 8:40

Being sick and tired is no reason not to keep fighting - a growing number of people are refusing to accept this new, cruel reality.

A man holds a poster with a picture of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange
By Laurie Penny - 22 November 7:41

Julian Assange's new book, "Cypherpunks", has failed to understand something fundamental about the internet.

The "kid from the council houses": at 64
By Laurie Penny - 21 November 16:09

For more than 40 years, Terry Pratchett has used science fiction and fantasy to craft subtle satires. But the onset of Alzheimer’s has forced him to confront a stark question – what will happen when he is no longer able to write?

A view of Lower Manhattan from the Staten Island Ferry
By Laurie Penny - 05 November 16:23

It’s no accident that the original Occupy Wall Street organisers were among the first to set up and co-ordinate volunteering efforts.

Laurie during a stop on her book tour
By Laurie Penny - 31 October 15:35

Somewhere along the line women seem to have forgotten how far we’ve got to go.

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