Saturday, May 18Royal Holloway's offical student publication, est. 1986

Tag: Students

Isolation
6Feb By Max FlemingNo Comments
Creative Writing

Isolation

We watch our friends find love. In a field or classroom, Whilst we sit in our chairs  And watch the happiness of others. We watch our parents laugh. At the dinner table, Whilst we stare at our plate Wanting the affection of another. We watch strangers embrace. In the dim lit street, Whilst we hide in our rooms Isolating from the danger of others. We watch our siblings happy. With their normality, Whilst we stare in the mirror Wondering what is wrong with us. Photo by Sasha Freemind on Unsplash
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A New Heart Moved In 
6Feb By Emma HollyNo Comments
Creative Writing

A New Heart Moved In 

What happened to my well-trodden pathway  Of certainty and the pungent cologne Do I not take part, or possess a say? Masculinity is my comfort zone Femininity is cryptic, who knows And, mum, I'm scared shitless at this newness, Because my best friend gives me tornadoes In place of butterflies and I'm clueless. Dad, I thought I knew what was going on Walk me down the aisle to the unknown Won't know who I love 'till I'm too far gone I'm an atheist praying; I'll atone Now I find myself fumbling at the edge of an oblivion only I know. Photo by Marc A. Sporys on Unsplash
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Queer at Royal Holloway: Interviewing our LGBT+ Community
31Jan By Bridget OSullivanNo Comments
Features, Lifestyle

Queer at Royal Holloway: Interviewing our LGBT+ Community

University is often considered a place to ‘find yourself’. Most students have come straight from A-Levels, from the cliquey savagery that defines one as ‘popular’, ‘unpopular’, ‘weird’, ‘edgy’. In my experience of a small-town, back-arse-of-nowhere all-girls’ school, these categories trumped any personal identity. University, on the other hand, is all about individuality. Sometimes it’s almost like a game of ‘who can be the MOST unique, quirky, fucked-up of them all?’ Those kids who ran the social hierarchy in school (you can detect them because they adamantly claim that ‘popularity wasn’t a thing in their school’) have to re-adjust to this new ecosystem, leaving many 18-year-olds to essentially start again. Of course, many have been grappling with their identity long before university, m...
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A Litany of Insults
31Jan By Madelaine GrayNo Comments
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...
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Are Bisexual People Greedy?
31Jan By Max FlemingNo Comments
News, Opinion

Are Bisexual People Greedy?

Max Fleming on why we need to consider love as a spectrum. The Bisexual community is often misunderstood by those in the LGBTQIA+ community and heterosexual folk alike. The spectrum of love that Bisexuals feel isn’t often brought to the attention of others and so hides in plain sight, perpetuating loneliness and isolation. The simple answer to the question ‘Are Bisexuals Greedy?’ is no. We are not greedy; we are not disloyal. We are not recognised for who we are.   The easiest way to describe the feeling of being Bisexual is to liken it to a spectrum. On one side, you have an interest in one sex, and an interest in another sex on the other side. For example, some Bisexual men might lean towards other men. This does not mean that they are ‘gayer’. They simply have a preference ...
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The Taboo of Virginity
31Jan By Elena-Teodora ChiujdeaNo Comments
News, Opinion

The Taboo of Virginity

University through the Eyes of a Virgin Over the years, a stigma has been attached to virginity. Whilst the 1960s praised the idea of innocence and purity, particularly amongst women, we now feed off sexual empowerment and diversity. Yet, we still live with this irrational thought: ‘I must be the only virgin on campus’. Not true. We are the generation that is having less and less sex; 18.9% of 18 to 24-year-olds were sexually inactive in the early 2000s whilst in 2018 it was reported that 30% of students and young adults were not having sex. So, isn’t virginity amongst students more normal than abnormal?  Why are we avoiding sex like the plague when we are such a sexually aware generation? The logical answer might be the Covid-19 pandemic that forced students to live at home l...
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The Journey to Self Love
31Jan By Cecilia Munoz FernandezNo Comments
News, Opinion

The Journey to Self Love

Surely we have all heard the myth about how you can’t love somebody else if you don’t love yourself. As much as self-love is something everyone needs to work on, healthy relationships can actually become a solid foundation for your journey towards self-love.  When in a romantic relationship where there is good communication, genuine friendship and companionship, intimacy, sex and affection can become a source of confidence and reassurance. When it comes to sex or intimacy a majority of people find it hard to be naked in front of their partners, it is very common to feel uncomfortable with nakedness for a variety of reasons (like traumatic experiences, purity culture, beauty standards and body dysmorphia) that usually come in hand in hand. Healing your relationship with your body a...
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ERICA OSAKWE: ‘I CHANGED THE LAW’
7Dec By Bridget OSullivanNo Comments
Features, News, Opinion

ERICA OSAKWE: ‘I CHANGED THE LAW’

Trigger Warning: the following deals with themes of domestic abuse. Domestic abuse is defined across government as any incident of coercive, threatening or controlling behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 and over who are or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of their gender or sexuality.  It wasn’t until Summer 2021 that the Domestic Abuse Act was introduced, creating the first ever statutory definition of domestic abuse in Britain. The bill was rushed through in response to increasing domestic violence reports since the onset of Coronavirus. In other words, it took a pandemic for British politics to formalise its definition of domestic abuse in law. This lack of consolidation only serves to feed the tragic reality that one in ten offences ...
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