Friday, March 29Royal Holloway's offical student publication, est. 1986

Author: Madelaine Gray

Prime Minister in Waiting?
News

Prime Minister in Waiting?

Keir Starmer may be the presumptive PM, but where’s the vision? By Madelaine Gray The polls show it, the pundits are promising it, and everyone with an interest in politics across the country is holding their breath in anticipation (whether joyful or despairing) for the next general election. It is pretty much undeniable that Labour will win at the next nationwide polling day. Trust in politics across the spectrum is crumbling, but the Conservative Party has internal schisms so large it seems unfathomable that they could cross the post to win another majority. After thirteen years in power, and five prime ministers to boot, an inevitable Labour generation (or era, perhaps, depending on the party’s longevity in power) is coming. I’m a member of the Labour Party, and I look forwar...
A Love Letter to Four Weddings and a Funeral 
Culture

A Love Letter to Four Weddings and a Funeral 

A romance film where the romance is incidental. I watched Four Weddings and a Funeral for the first time relatively recently. I was expecting another Notting Hill–and indeed, there are parallels and similarities, in that Richard Curtis directs while Hugh Grant attempts to win the affections of a seemingly-out-of-his-league American, accompanied by a zany, tight-knit group of friends. Four Weddings, however, is a different film entirely, and quickly became one of my favourites. Four Weddings stands apart from the usual romcom genre in my mind for many reasons–not least because the romance that the film ostensibly follows is one of the least interesting aspects. It seems almost cliched now to reject Charles and Carrie’s central love story. After all, in the era of “hot takes”, it’s be...
“I don’t recognise my country”: Orbital Reacts to Roe v Wade
Features, News, Opinion

“I don’t recognise my country”: Orbital Reacts to Roe v Wade

“We are better than this”, my mother says. “I don’t recognise my country.” I can’t help but agree. Because this isn’t what the United States of America should be. This is not what it was founded on. This is not a reflection of its population’s views. This is an act of ostracisation in the pursuit of control. This is not democracy. There have been many times in recent years that I’ve been embarrassed by my country, by my accent and by my passport. Friday’s overturn of the Roe v Wade ruling topped everything else (a high boundary to break after the election of our last president). Equality, that often-distant dream, felt obtainable. We could see it off in the distance, and if we could just get a bit closer, keep moving forward, then maybe we could reach it, touch it, smell it, lick...
Hyperconnectivity Hurts: How 24/7 Culture Harms the Youth
Opinion

Hyperconnectivity Hurts: How 24/7 Culture Harms the Youth

I’m sure it’s happened to us all; a message missed, leading to a glowing, bolded notification, over a day old, glaring out at us through the screen. The guilt, and the embarrassment builds. What to do? Do you reply, as if nothing happened? Do you respond with a hasty apology? Or, do you leave it, the aforementioned guilt and embarrassment growing until the message is buried far down your recents. Maybe one day you’ll open it, leaving it “on read” -  after all, after a week or two (you tell yourself to ease your conscience) who’s checking? Or maybe you’ll “air” it, on and on and on, letting it fossilise far down until you almost (only almost) forget about it. Of course, it’s not always that dramatic. If it’s a good friend, it’s easy to brush it off. In the complex web of young adul...
The Mystery of the Missing Middle Class
News, Opinion

The Mystery of the Missing Middle Class

Erasing middle class identity in modern society. In recent years, the previously referred to ‘middle class’ has been shrinking, shrinking, shrinking. The rising cost of living and salary stagnation have contributed to this, as well as sky-rocketing wages for the upper echelons of the working world. In short, the rich have got richer, and the poor poorer.  This change has happened recently – incredibly recently. It used to be that the descriptor of “middle class” was used as a bit of a put down in certain circles, in response to seemingly frivolous statements made by young people. Now, this has been replaced by the assumption that anyone with any disposable income whatsoever is a member of the 1%. So, how did this happen? There has never been a clear and universally accept...
Student Union Elections: Communication, Collaboration, and Joyful Surprise!
Elections, Features, News

Student Union Elections: Communication, Collaboration, and Joyful Surprise!

On Wednesday the Sixteenth of March, Orbital Magazine attended the SU Election results night to interview some of the lucky elected officers, including NUS Delegates, School Reps, and the 2022/23 Sabbatical Officer team. NUS Delegates – Maia Jarvis, Ananya Krishna Madelaine: Well, congrats to both of you! First off, I’d like to ask what your main priority is going into the NUS conference? Maia: So, I actually submitted a proposal to the NUS National Conference, which is about making education more accessible. So, making sure there’s flexible online learning. I’ll be pushing that agenda and making sure that’s on the national stage for education, because I want to make sure Holloway student concerns are on the national stage. Madelaine: What about you, Ananya? Ananya: I t...
A Litany of Insults
News, Opinion

A Litany of Insults

Why women never seem to win in the world of casual sex. Modern society has undeniably done a lot for the rights of the ‘fairer sex’. The right to vote, first and foremost. The right to own property. The right to open a bank account, to work outside the home, to enter any career we may choose. And of course, the sexual revolution went some way to reducing stigma around premarital sex, decentring the myth of virginal purity. With that came the right to choose – in the form of access to birth control, as well as freedom to terminate unwanted (or unviable) pregnancies. Despite all of this, it is clear to many that in contemporary sexual culture, the odds are still strictly not in our favour. There is a litany of insults directed at women, and the way they choose to navigate the world...