As Girl Gang Leeds approach their 1st Birthday, Harpy met up with Emily and Kaz to get the low-down on the origins of this quirky collective. In this interview, find out how the gang was born and what they're all about.
Here’s Why a Giant Steel Bra Has Appeared Outside the O2 in London
If you find yourself anywhere near the O2 Arena in the next few months, you may just stumble across a giant stiletto, bra and corset, each cast in steel. The installation, presented by Gazelli Art House and positioned outside the NOW gallery in North Greenwich, is a showcase of artist Kalliopi Lemos’ Tools of Endearment.
London Women's March 2018
A year to the date since the Women’s March of 21st February 2017 (the first day of Donald Trump’s presidency), the Time’s Up Rally was held to commemorate this anniversary. As a Leeds-based magazine, Harpy was unable to attend the London rally, but caught up with our friend Kirsten Peters-Roebuck (@KirstenP_R), who was there in full force.
Her Not Him - A Very Modern Rom-Com
Her Not Him speaks to deep-set issues surrounding fidelity, age, gender, sexuality and, ultimately, acceptance. From ‘Lughnacy Productions’, a recently formed, female-led theatre group, this play epitomises the company’s ‘female and LGBTQ focus’. Her Not Him balances humour with some touching moments of resonating honesty. ...
How to Cope When Everyone is Offended
Are men even allowed to talk to women any more?
The French Anti-#MeToo Manifesto: Aren’t These Women Our Allies?
In the first week of January, an open letter denouncing #MeToo as akin to a ‘good old witch-hunt’ was published in the French daily newspaper Le Monde.[1] The letter was signed by one hundred prominent French women, comprised of writers, academics and performers, including the reputable actress Catherine Deneuve.
Women in Fairy Tales: 'Snow White' and the Insidious Power of Gender Stereotypes
Fairy tales depict the fantastical lives of princes and princesses, witches and ogres, giants and dragons. They have endured because of their magical power to take us away from the mundanity of everyday life and capture our imaginations. But are they really so far removed from reality? Are they not actually reflections of our own societal prejudices, but with a pop-up castle and elaborate costumes added in?
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri: does Sam Rockwell deserve awards for playing a racist?
In this darkly funny drama from Martin McDonagh, Mildred Hayes is a grieving mother who hires provocative billboards to pressure the local police department into solving the case of her murdered daughter. Three Billboards is about grief, but with the backstory of police brutality, it’s clear that this is also a film with a point to make about racism.
Bolivian Cholitas: Never Going Down Without A Fight
The indigenous Aymara women of Bolivia, can easily be spotted walking the streets of La Paz, and neighbouring El Alto, in their traditional, and eye-catching, style of dress. They are the ‘Cholitas’: strong women, now known internationally for their resilience, their fashion, and even their wrestling!
Harpy Interviews: Clare Fisher
Clare Fisher joins Harpy to discuss living in Leeds, inspiring female voices, and her upcoming short story collection How the Light Gets In.
Beauty Myths and 'When I'm Thin' Lists
December 2005 – I sat in front of the mirror outside my bedroom, rapidly jotting down my burning desire to host the launch of my world-changing first novel at my local library, so that ‘Forest Hill (the quiet, Tubeless corner of London that I grew up in) could be remembered for something more than the weird old walrus down the road
Office politics are one of the more soul-destroying aspects of adulthood, aren’t they? One particularly irritating branch of this is food politics. The chat about food at work is truly dire.
TIME'S UP at the Golden Globes
It's been five days since I first saw Oprah’s acceptance speech of the Cecil B. de Mille award at the Golden Globes, and I have watched it in a euphoric daze at least six times. It really is fist-pump worthy, prompting righteous anger, searing pride and indomitable hope (and I admit, even a squeak of 'You Go Girl!')
Not all men? Actually, Yes, all Men.
#notallmen might be one of the most vexatious, thoughtless social media campaigns since the dawn of Twitter. Assuming complete ignorance on society’s part, it is passive-aggressive, snide, and wrongfully accusatory. Much has been written, deliberated and disagreed on about this most divisive of hashtags.
'Snapper Theatre': Footlight Feminists
‘Snapper Theatre’ brand themselves as ‘feminist theatre-makers and storytellers embracing the universal and specific’. Aiming to delve deeper into this provocative and inclusive claim, I caught up with one of the founding collaborators, Lucy Foster, to learn more about ‘Snapper’s theatrical and political aims, and their latest venture: Lobster.
Harpy Hacks: 10 Ways to Banish the January Blues
We're all feeling a bit like this droopy dog right now. Our residual hangovers and food comas are lingering, friends and relatives head home and the return to work hits you like a ton of dicks. Most of us are pretty deflated- all we really want to do is curl up in bed to watch Friends (which is FINALLY on UK Netflix, FYI) but instead we’re expected to put on clothes that aren’t pyjamas and trudge through the drizzle to reality.
It’s been an age since I’ve had a chance to write anything because I decided to go on a kind of tech-detox over Christmas. I hadn’t planned to, but I was scrolling past YET another Christmas tree Instagram photo (can we just establish that these photos are never good?) when I flung down my phone with a sigh of ennui.
Celebrity Big Brother’s Big Sister Act
In their latest gimmick, Channel 5 confirmed that the most recent series of Celebrity Big Brother would begin with a female-only household, in celebration of 100 years of women having the vote. Call me old-fashioned, but it seems rather at odds to mark a milestone in the pursuit of equality by reintroducing segregation!
Festive Sing-Along
Chrimbo-limbo – the gloopy non-time between Christmas and New Year – is upon us. Should I be in work today? Cheese board for lunch again? Is it still acceptable to listen to Christmas music? For those who wish Christmas might still Stay Another Day (get it? Get it?!), read on…
Boxing Day Best Books
Christmas is over and we are faced with the daunting prospect of filling those dead days leading up to New Year's Eve. Seeing as the Harpy team initially came together over a mutual love of books, we thought this seemed the perfect opportunity to share a selection of our favourite reads to eliminate your post-Christmas blues - (because, as we all know, a good book cures all).