Saturday, April 20Royal Holloway's offical student publication, est. 1986

Author: Helen Nicholls

Convenience Store Woman Review: The Perils of Sexpectation
Culture & Literature, Literature

Convenience Store Woman Review: The Perils of Sexpectation

Asexuality – what is it? Simply put, someone who is asexual experiences little to no sexual attraction. In Sayaka Murata’s book, she captures the minds of her readers through the unapologetic and quirky character of Keiko, a convenience store worker in Japan. Keiko, thirty-six and unmarried, is asexual. Few novels approach asexuality from such a unique perspective, and they are rarely this successful in doing so. When Keiko got her first job at a local store at age eighteen, her family were happy to see her find a job; now, nearly two decades later, her family – as well as her friends and co-workers – all have something to say about the ‘dead-end job’ she has not moved on from. But for Keiko, change just isn't on the menu in any aspect of her life, including romantically. She has ne...
Fuck Amazon, shop Small this Xmas!
Lifestyle, News

Fuck Amazon, shop Small this Xmas!

With a net worth of 198.8 billion dollars, do you really need to be handing Jeff Bezos your money this Christmas?  Every year there is a festive panic as thousands rush to big corporations like Amazon, Asda and Primark to purchase last-minute hot water bottles, strings of fairy lights and fluffy socks. Of course, you would; it’s quick, it’s cheap. I see the appeal. However, now more than ever is the time to carefully consider our role as consumers.  Only eight years ago, 1,129 Bangladeshi factory workers were killed when the building they were working in collapsed. Many of these garment workers were supplying global brands such as Walmart, Joe Fresh and Children’s place. As well as violating human rights, recent EU reports show that the textile industry makes up ...