TW: Depiction of sexual assault, drug abuse, alcoholism The marketing for the show was incredibly misleading. I was vaguely aware of the show last year in peak lockdown and watching the advert you’d think it was some zany, girl-power comedy. Instead when you watch it, you’re consuming something which is much more disturbing, at times messy but overall surprisingly profound. The show follows Hayley, (or her porn alias “Jolene Dollar”) and her opening scene is her filming a simulated masturbation during a car wash. She shares the same name as her actress Hayley Squires (from I, Daniel Blake), I ..read more

Hello, and welcome to the Feminist Book Club Blog! As our first post in the 2021/22 academic year, we want to take the chance to introduce our amazing new team of committee members, share with you our plans for the blog for the upcoming year, and also share some of the fun things we’ve already been up to here at FBC.  Over on our instagram (which, if you haven’t already, you should totally check out) we introduced our new committee in early July. We are super excited to get to work with all the continuing and new members to the committee, and have already been having exciting talks about ..read more

Romance novels have existed since the time of Greek classics, but why are they still diminished as works of folly? The answer is pretty simple: misogyny. Now, you might think this is a pretty wild claim, but let’s break it down. Typically when you think of romance novels, they’re associated with readers who identify as women, and they’re usually thought of as being filled with smut. And yes, often both of these things are true. But this doesn’t mean they’re inherently worse than other literary genres. In fact, romance novels branch out into so many sub genres; historical romance, YA romance, f ..read more

Representation, though it has the promise and potential to be inspiring and life-changing, can also be a prison by which we trap expansive marginalised identities into a box. The representation of marginalised people in literature can be quite a complicated conversation we have, because there are a lot of questions we must consider. Who is qualified to represent who? Are we limiting writers if we say they do not have the capacity to represent certain groups? Are we forcing marginalised writers to stick to representing their own identity, if we say that no one else can? Is it wrong if your book ..read more

A few months ago we had a collaborative creative writing workshop with UEA creative writing society based around the theme of resistance. Below our committee member Louise Collins shares what she wrote in this session- Prompt: Write about what you’re resisting without telling us what it is. I’m an unmovable mountain, I will not yield to your limitations. I’m intelligent, A force to be reckoned with. You, with your condescending stance, And your patronizing gaze. You try to diminish me, To embarrass me. To tell me I’m weak. But I will not stop pushing. I will not stop resisting Because I’m my o ..read more

The Hate U Give is such a powerful, necessary novel. Each person alive will benefit from reading it as it will truly open your eyes. It’s hard to put into words just how powerful and necessary THUG is. I can’t fully express my reaction to this book, but I’m going to try my hardest. THUG is told from the perspective of 16 year old Starr, but she is often wise beyond her years. Unfortunately, this comes from the trauma she has bore witness to, and the harsh world in which she lives. Her world changes overnight when she witnesses the murder of her childhood best friend. Coming home from a party ..read more

With lockdown number 3 comes the promise of more online learning. This is tough and I want to start off by saying it is ok to be sad that the circumstances mean it is still unsafe to return to face-to-face learning on campus. For me, adjusting to online learning was challenging but now I have found what works for me. In this post I want to share with you all some tips for learning online and making the most out of your experience. It is important to note that everyone works differently and what works for me, may not work for you. That is ok! I just hope I can provide you all with at least one ..read more

Triggers: Drug abuse, domestic violence, statutory rape, violence, sexual content, self-harm, suicidal ideation is mentioned Euphoria: A Contradictory Show Glittery tears. Labrinth. Vibrant cinematography. Even if you haven’t watch the show I’m sure you are familiar with it’s aesthetic. I think this aesthetic is paradoxically both a strength and setback for the show, which I’ll get into later. I used to have a love-hate relationship with the show which has settled to mostly love. I think it’s an incredibly well made show but there are some things which still make me both uncertain and uncomfor ..read more

During lockdown I found myself missing things from my usual ‘everyday’ life: going to university, seeing friends and family, working out at the gym and of course… book stores! While I have received several book deliveries over this period (and probably spent more money than I should have) I missed supporting my local independent bookshops. It was only recently that I took my first trip into Norwich city-centre to go book shopping. I have lived in Norwich my whole life and have attended several book crawls with our lovely book club, thus I am excited to present to you my top five favourite book ..read more

Trigger warnings – sexual assault (not depicted), rape culture, violence, abusive relationship, suicide. Gritty, powerful, eccentric and the ultimate revenge story. ‘Foul is Fair’ is a feminist reimagining of the classic Shakespeare tale of Macbeth no one knew they needed.  The book starts with 16-year-old Elle, along with her three best friends, deciding to go to the ultimate prep school party made up of St. Andrews students. Little did they know that Elle would become the main target of a group of boys wanting non-consensual “fun”. To seek revenge, Jade, formerly known as Elle, enrols a ..read more