I was watching the film Gangs of New York and could not help but notice the comparisons with today’s politics. So I decided to do some research. The film’s violent antagonist, “Bill the Butcher,” was inspired by a real historical figure, William Poole, who led a nativist gang in mid-19th-century New York City. In the 1800s, Poole became notorious for his anti-immigrant crusade against Irish Catholic newcomers.

Feminism seeks liberation for everyone. When men join the movement as partners rather than opponents, equality becomes possible. The Misunderstanding Feminism has never opposed men. It confronts power structures that restrict both sexes. How Patriarchy Hurts Men Boys are told to hide emotion and equate control with strength. These lessons breed isolation and rising male suicide rates. A Shared Freedom…

It takes eight years on average for a woman in Britain to receive a diagnosis of endometriosis. The delay exposes deep inequality in healthcare. A Silent Epidemic Endometriosis affects one in ten women, yet most endure years of disbelief before being diagnosed. Historical Context Women’s pain has long been dismissed or pathologised. This legacy still shapes clinical decision-making. Modern Consequences…

Introduction: A Tragic Reminder On a busy Friday evening in November, 34-year-old Katie Fox was fatally stabbed at a Birmingham city centre bus stop. The attack appeared completely unprovoked – a young woman simply waiting to get home, brutally assaulted in public. Katie's family later described her as "so beautiful and kind... a shining light in our lives", mourning the…

Are women truly less confident, or are workplaces still designed for men? The data tell a different story The Popular Story We are told women fail to rise because they lack confidence. This claim diverts attention from structural bias. What the Research Shows A 2023 University of Melbourne study found that men often overestimate their ability, while women’s self-assessments are realistic.

Women still carry the emotional weight of family life, organising, remembering, and soothing others, even in supposedly equal partnerships. Here is why that matters. We have come a long way from the days when housework was openly described as a woman’s duty, yet the emotional load, the remembering, the anticipating, and the comforting, has quietly followed us into the twenty-first century.

"Women's safety" has become one of the most emotionally charged slogans in modern British politics. It evokes fear, empathy and outrage, and rightly so, given the persistent epidemic of male violence and online abuse facing women and girls across the UK. Yet for some politicians, this phrase has become a convenient marketing tool, a moral shield used to gain votes rather than deliver real change.

“The shift from gathering to ownership was not progress. It was the beginning of hierarchy.” — Gerda Lerner, The Creation of Patriarchy (1986) Humanity’s relationship with land changed everything. When the first seeds were sown and herds were domesticated, something far deeper than agriculture took root: the idea of possession. The earth became property. Women, once revered as the life-givers of the community, became part of what was owned.

Minoan Snake Goddess figurines, c. 1600 BCE, Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete. “There was a time when divinity had a woman’s face.” - Marija Gimbutas. For millennia, before the rise of kings, priests, and empires, cultures existed where power did not flow from domination but from balance. Across early Europe and the Aegean, from Anatolia to Crete, evidence suggests that women once stood at the spiritual and social centre of human life.

Introduction Marilyn Monroe has been written about more than almost any woman of the twentieth century. She has been framed as victim, genius, puppet, addict, manipulator, icon, saviour and symptom. For more than sixty years, biographers and psychiatrists alike have returned to her medical records and her demeanour to classify what was supposedly wrong with her mind. The dominant view throughout her lifetime was that she suffered from a mood disorder.

Modern Halloween, with its costumes, sweets, and seasonal festivities, may appear as a light-hearted annual event. However, beneath the commercial surface lies a complex history interwoven with ancient Celtic belief systems, Christian reinterpretations, and cultural transformations over centuries. Understanding the true roots of Halloween requires a return to Samhain, the ancient festival that marked the threshold between life and death, summer and winter.

Introduction While many women in the twenty-first century embrace singleness as a form of autonomy or lifestyle choice, others arrive at it as a protective strategy. Experiences of childhood abuse, domestic violence, coercion, or intergenerational trauma often shape decisions to avoid intimate partnerships. Historically, marriage itself exposed women to potential harm, as coverture legally subordinated wives to husbands, making economic and legal escape from abuse difficult.

Introduction The twenty-first century has brought both unprecedented freedoms and persistent ambivalence for single women. Legally and structurally, women can now access education, professions, banking, and property without male mediation. They can also remain in employment during marriage or pregnancy, freedoms secured only in the later decades of the twentieth century. At the same time, cultural discourses surrounding singleness continue to fluctuate between empowerment and stigma.

Introduction The twentieth century brought profound transformations in the lives of single women. Demographic upheavals, particularly following the two World Wars, produced large populations of unmarried women who could not marry due to the loss of men in combat. These so-called “surplus women” challenged established gender norms by remaining visible in employment, education, and civic life. Later in the century, the expansion of the welfare state, reproductive rights, and feminist activism reshaped the meanings of singlehood.

Introduction The nineteenth century represents a decisive stage in the history of single women. At the start of the century, the legal doctrine of coverture remained firmly in place, rendering married women economically dependent on their husbands. By contrast, single women retained the status of feme sole, which gave them rights to own property, enter contracts, and retain earnings. Yet cultural narratives increasingly stigmatised single women as “spinsters” or “old maids,” and economic opportunities were constrained by class and gendered norms.

Introduction The eighteenth century marked a turning point in the history of single women. Demographic change, urban growth, and the spread of market economies ensured that unmarried women were increasingly visible in towns and cities. They worked as shopkeepers, lodging-house managers, creditors, and petty traders, sustaining everyday economic life. Yet this visibility was accompanied by deepening cultural stigma. Whereas bachelors could be celebrated as independent and sociable, unmarried women were often represented as “old maids” whose singleness implied failure or eccentricity.

Introduction The early modern period (c. 1500–1700) brought significant changes to the status of single women. Demographic trends, the growth of markets, and the expansion of credit economies created new opportunities, while shifting cultural narratives increasingly cast unmarried women as problematic. This period also witnessed the emergence of capitalism in Europe, where women, particularly singlewomen and widows, played a role as small investors and creditors.

Introduction The medieval period (c. 1100–1500) provides the earliest substantial records of single women’s participation in economic life. Unlike married women, who were legally subsumed under the doctrine of coverture, unmarried women, whether never married or widowed, retained the status of feme sole, which granted them legal independence. They could hold property, sue and be sued, and enter contracts in their own name.

Introduction Aims of the Study This book examines the history of single women from the medieval period to the present, exploring how they have been defined, represented, and positioned within social, legal, and economic structures. The study argues that single women have historically embodied a paradox: while they often retained more legal autonomy than married women, they were simultaneously subjected to cultural stigma, economic marginalisation, and moral scrutiny.

Pregnant Asian woman taking Vitamins and supplements and drinking water during pregnancy at home. Supplements During Pregnancy Public debate has reignited following political announcements connecting prenatal paracetamol to autism and promoting leucovorin as a treatment. The scientific literature is mixed and methodologically complex. Below I unpack a major 2025 systematic review, outline how its conclusions stand up to PRISMA reporting standards, and then scrutinise the individual studies most commonly referenced in the media.

When we speak about violence against women and children, there is often a myth whispered in the background: that danger is confined to youth. Once women pass a certain age, surely they are less at risk? Yet the data tells a very different, sobering story. There is no age at which women are free from violence, whether sexual assault or homicide.

Introduction Mabon is widely used in contemporary Pagan communities as the name for the Autumn Equinox festival. The term suggests deep “Celtic” antiquity. The historical record, however, tells a more complex story. This essay critically examines the origins of “Mabon,” distinguishes medieval Welsh myth from modern festival practice, and evaluates what the equinox means in Britain today. It draws on peer-reviewed scholarship in history, folklore, religious studies, and archaeoastronomy.

One of the most common beauty concerns women talk about as we get older is the loss of definition in the jawline. Jowls; those little pockets of sagging skin either side of the chin, can appear as early as our late 30s, and they rarely leave without a fight. The beauty industry is full of promises: LED masks that “lift,” creams that “tighten,” gadgets that “tone.” But what really works?

How an 18th-century grifter’s playbook explains today’s politics The Wildman of Boningale In the early 1700s, Britain was plagued by crime, corruption, and the absence of a professional police force. Out of this chaos rose Jonathan Wild, a Wolverhampton-born opportunist who styled himself “Thief-Taker General of Great Britain and Ireland.” He became both celebrated and feared: a man who “fought crime” while secretly running one of London’s largest criminal networks (Howson, 1985; Beattie, 2001).

Dedicated to my Nan, born on 1 September, who came to Britain from Ireland as a midwife and faced both prejudice and resilience. Tap turners: Responsibility in action Some people live their lives down to the very last penny. They budget carefully, switch off lights, turn off the tap when brushing their teeth, and account for every expense. Psychologists recognise this as conscientiousness, a trait characterised by discipline, responsibility and future-orientation (Roberts et al., 2014).