My Evaluation of Queerbaiting

Harry Styles, Kit Connor and Yungblud are three prime examples of celebs who have been accused of queerbaiting.  Queerbaiting is the implication that you identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community (when in reality you don’t) in order to increase profit and sales.  In trying to understand why these people specifically are being put in … Continue reading My Evaluation of Queerbaiting

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead 

My standout thoughts during and after reading The Underground Railroad were around the treatment of humans (and all organisms). I almost assumed that Cora would get used to her poor-quality of life – that she would perhaps surrender to it – but you can’t turn people into robots or take the human part out of them. No matter how much you abuse someone, they still feel the pain, and they feel it deeply. Even if you expect to be assaulted, your body can’t prepare itself in the same way that you brain can, and even your brain can’t prepare itself fully. This book doesn’t romanticise a thing but it draws you in and reminds you of the cruelty and horror of that time just when you were getting too snuggly with the characters. 

Diversity and Inclusion Book Recommendations

A Pair of Book Reviews It’s Not About the Burqa Edited by Mariam Khan A Book Review My number one takeaway from this book was, ‘I have no right to enforce my opinion, based on speculation, onto a group of people who I don’t identify as’. In a world full of misrepresentation and mis- or … Continue reading Diversity and Inclusion Book Recommendations

How to Uplift Other Communities

Becoming an Active Ally Part 3 of a 3-part blog In becoming an active ally, we can apply what we learn from the Black Lives Matter movement to other communities and confront different unconscious or implicit biases we have, whether that be in relation to disability, LGBTQIA+ or different religions to name a few. Below are some commitments … Continue reading How to Uplift Other Communities

How to Embrace Difference and Diversity

Similarity versus Difference  Part 2 of a 3-part blog  If you are someone who has not experienced prejudice before or who can sometimes struggle to empathise with those who have, try this little exercise:  Consider something about yourself which you deem perfectly normal - maybe your eye colour, hair length, shoe size. Now imagine someone … Continue reading How to Embrace Difference and Diversity

How to Remove Fear from the Equality Equation

Black History Month Learnings and Reflection  Part 1 of a 3-part blog  As Black History Month has come to end and we continue to learn about and celebrate the black community, I would like to share what I have recently been made aware of.   In honesty, I have previously felt a barrier of fear from not knowing if a conversation is going to … Continue reading How to Remove Fear from the Equality Equation