women – The Orbital

Thomas Cramer: Sexually Harassing Girls on the Royal Holloway Campus

14Nov

By Elena-Teodora ChiujdeaNo Comments

News

Thomas Cramer: Sexually Harassing Girls on the Royal Holloway Campus

Thomas Cramer. The horrific actions of the 29-year-old have taken Royal Holloway by storm. In a cowardice act of harassment, on the 27th May 2021, he was seen driving around the university campus taking photos of young girls. A total of seven pictures surfaced later that day on his Instagram and Cramer was swiftly reported to campus security. I wish his behaviour was considered abnormal but being harassed and sexually objectified is sadly just something women are forced to live with in their day-to-day life. Imagine walking around campus to your lectures and later being told, by a friend or even a stranger, that a photo you were unaware was being taken in the first place was posted to Instagram. Scroll down to the captions and you’ll find @thomasjosephcramer attached vile d...

Mistreated, Misunderstood: The Illness Affecting Millions of Women, Many of Whom Don’t Even Know It Yet.

14Nov

By Beth McCowenNo Comments

Lifestyle, News

Mistreated, Misunderstood: The Illness Affecting Millions of Women, Many of Whom Don’t Even Know It Yet.

Endometriosis is a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places. It can cause severe pain, bleeding, scar tissue, nausea, infertility and more. 1 in 9 people born with a uterus (I like to call us womb wielders!) live with it, and there’s currently no definitive cure. Despite how common it is, the cause of the disease is not yet clear. The diagnostic process is long and complex, with the average person waiting 6 to 8 years from the onset of symptoms to find out that it’s endo. It can impact every aspect of people’s lives, and that’s why it’s so important that we raise awareness and push for change. Endometriosis is frequently referred to as a ‘women’s disease’. Whilst it primarily affects those with female reproductive organs, it is im...

How an Investment Gap is Perpetuating Gender Inequality

13Nov

By Accalia SmithNo Comments

News, Opinion

How an Investment Gap is Perpetuating Gender Inequality

When most people think of investing, they think of Leonardo DiCaprio in Wolf of Wall Street or of pompous men in suits with briefcases; this thinking needs to change. Our society is built on what we value and how much we value it, and investment is one of the most influential ways we show our value of businesses and the way that many grow their wealth. But more men than women invest. According to HSBC only 2.4 million of their 11 million investing customers are women and just 23% of female adults in the UK hold an investment product, compared with 35% of men (Shares magazine). In a similar figure from Bph Wealth just 1 in 5 women in the UK hold an investment product compared with 1 in 3 men. Financial independence is key in gaining more freedom in the western world, something that is ofte...

28Mar

By Rachel HainsNo Comments

Opinion

Let’s Talk: Endometriosis

As anybody who has the joy of experiencing periods each month can tell you, it definitely is not a walk in the park. True, periods are just like people, as varied and as individual as whoever you speak to. One person may not experience such difficulty as another. Still, very few people are aware of the fact that extremely painful periods are not common and can be a sign of something else: Endometriosis. As Endometriosis awareness month begins, it is well worth re-highlighting its severity. Just like sexual health, it is not something we should be embarrassed to talk about. If you are ending up bedridden or sick as a result of periods you deserve to be made aware of the fact you may need medical help and are entitled to receive it from someone who will take you seriously. People. Trust y...

24Feb

By Francesca TyerNo Comments

Features

Women or womxn?

At the beginning of October, the BBC published an article titled ‘Should women be spelt womxn?’ This piece discussed the recent backlash directed towards the spelling of 'women' with either an x or y. The comeback was particularly prevalent on Twitter, following the use of the altered word by a London museum and library. Following this news piece, I decided to ask other students for their opinions on the matter. The quotations used below are comments from students whose names have been excluded. “Changing the spelling is completely unnecessary. This is a completely redundant move solely destined as some power play on the part of the feminist movement. It will in no way affect or help women around the world suffering from actual issues such as sexual assault.” The idea has been p...

13Dec

By Shloka RamachandranNo Comments

Creative Writing

Lunar Cycles

i. i was born in the capital of the country and grew used to gazes ii. madras found me shoving my hands in the pockets of my too-short shorts or so the aunties and teachers and friends’ mothers thought got pulled aside one sunny afternoon (but then most afternoons were sunny) when i was sitting by the library (the safest spot on the campus) my physics teacher asked my why i wasn’t wearing shorts under my uniformed regulation skirt and wasn’t i sending the boys the wrong idea, somehow? madras found me laughing in the face of my modern-day medusa asking her whether she thought boys staring up my skirt might already have completely the wrong idea through no encouragement of my own through no intention of mine medusa and i called an uneasy truce after that but i could feel her s...

Why are the women of Brazil so divided on Bolsonaro?

23Nov

By Jasmine CoxNo Comments

Opinion

Why are the women of Brazil so divided on Bolsonaro?

Jair Bolsonaro, nicknamed ‘Trump of the Tropics’, was newly elected as President of Brazil on the 28 October, with 55.1% of voters in support of the far-right politician, eclipsing his rival Fernando Haddad. Bolsonaro, a man of high military profile, has pitched himself as the iron fisted hero who will bring down the soaring crime rates across Brazil. Supporters voted for Bolsonaro on the basis of his pro-gun and nationalist ideals, his defense being the right to self-defense and protection of the much-treasured ‘family’ home. However, when taking a closer look at his aggressive agenda, Bolsonaro is creating more of a heightened sense of tension than ever, especially seen through how he is exploiting women’s fears of crime. Bolsonaro’s popularity amongst women started to grow after the ...

5Nov

By Holly FeenyNo Comments

Opinion

Hugh Hefner: Feminist or Chauvinist?

Since his recent death, Hugh Hefner has been labeled a feminist. Throughout his career, he often talked about wanting to rid society of prudish attitudes towards sex, and how this benefitted women. Through his work, he claimed to be striving for sexual liberation, and through Playboy, advocated for increased birth control accessibility and the legalisation of abortions in the US. Therefore, many have described him as a feminist ally, suggesting that he did extremely beneficial work for women’s rights. However, whilst sex positivity and feminism are both great, Hugh Hefner did nothing to benefit either of them. His work building a pornographic empire was, in fact, intrinsically damaging, as the industry is renowned for its exploitation of women for male gain. Through Playboy, many hav...

In Conversation with the President of Women of Colour Collective

27Oct

By James DouglasNo Comments

Sports & Socs

In Conversation with the President of Women of Colour Collective

Hi Hanan, Could you tell me a bit more about your society and what it stands for? We were founded in 2015 and what we wanted to do was to address intersectionality more on campus. We really have focus not just on women, but particularly women of colour. So we’re doing a lot campaigns for Black History Month and big events like ‘Why is My Curriculum so White’. We’ll be sort of arguing the case against exactly that. We also look at the other marginalised groups and campaigns that focus on Muslim women and female genital mutilation – things that don’t necessarily get that much coverage. Is your society inclusive of people that aren’t women of colour? Yeah, it’s definitely inclusive of everyone. We’re here for men, women, white people, people of other ethnicities; everyone. Okay s...

Medea: a monster, a mother, or a murderer?

13Jun

By Victoria BastableNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV, Literature, Theatre & Performance

Medea: a monster, a mother, or a murderer?

‘A bride of hate to me and death / Tigress, not woman’ (Euripides, Medea) Medea: a monster, a mother, or a murderer? Victoria Bastable reviews her week with By Jove Theatre company and how their ‘Season of Violent Women’ has made her question the dehumanisation of violent women in culture from Ancient Greece to the 21st century. I Googled ‘violent women in art’ and the results were dominated by articles titled ‘Violence Against Women in Art’. To me, this demonstrates how in art we often attempt to distance women from being portrayed as the perpetrators of violence, perhaps because of cultural expectations of the ‘ideal woman’ as either the nurturing mother or passive victim. But what about the violent women who do appear in art and literature? By Jove Theatre Company have been a...