Megan Piontkowski, one of Harpy's favourite illustrators, is here for something pretty specific about Jonathan...
No Place for Transphobia in the Gender Recognition Act Consultation
The UK government is looking to reform the Gender Recognition Act, with the aim of making it easier for trans people to change their legal gender. Some feminist groups have responded with protests and fears for women’s rights. Are their arguments valid, or a mere veil over their transphobia?
Freedom4Girls: Ending Period Poverty
Most of us have experienced that unease and paranoia; when a tampon falls out of our bag in public. Worst of all, most of us know how horrifying it is to realise that you have leaked. But, most of us probably don’t know what it’s like to not be able to afford basic menstrual protection.
Ella Woods: Wing Defence
Heading to Edinburgh this year? Check out Harpy’s new favourite comedian Ella Woods and her show Wing Defence: a comedy about sport by someone who hated it.
Find Your People at these 7 Inclusive Spaces in Leeds
It can be intimidating to feel like an outsider in a big city. Whatever your kinks and quirks, Leeds is teeming with open-minded, friendly people… you just need to know where to look. Check out this list of Leeds venues and collectives and you’ll soon find yourself spoilt for choice of things to do and people to see.
7 Immersive Novels for the Reluctant Reader
Do you suffer from book panic? There’s an ever-growing pile by my bed. There are hard-hitting novels, poignant memoirs and essay collections I’ll never get around to, all lovingly recommended by friends or featured on podcasts. The problem is, when I’m craving a book, I want a big dollop of fiction.
Bee Kind: How You Can Help Save Our Pollinators
Bees are dying out. We need to do something to curb it.
I’m sure this isn’t news to all of you – and amidst the other innumerable nightmares taking place across the globe, it can feel like just another sign we’re hurtling towards apocalypse.
Wish: A Voice for Women's Mental Health
Wish are a women’s mental health charity; the only national, user-led charity working with women with mental health needs in prison, hospital and the community. Charity director Joyce Kallevik chats to Harpy about their work.
#BOPO Hacks: 9 Ways to Dodge Bikini Body Bullshit
Summer has arrived with a sweaty sigh. Between the never-ending Love Island coverage and the trauma that is swimwear shopping (just buy it online!), it’s easy for our insecurities to bloom and fester. Everywhere we look there are tips for shrinking, tanning, polishing, and concealing.
Noura Hussein's Death Penalty is Revoked
In an incredible result for women’s rights activists all over the world, Noura Hussein, the Sudanese teenager who was due to be hanged for killing her rapist, has had her death sentence revoked.
How the Light Gets In, and other solstice reads
On the longest day of the year sunlight floods Hyde Park Book Club for the launch of Clare Fisher’s short story collection How the Light Gets In. Joined by Influx Press, Leeds Big Bookend, Naomi Booth and Samuel Fisher, it's a summer solstice book launch to remember.
Refugee Week: Thought-Provoking Theatre
Refugee Week is dedicated to recognising the overlooked. Home, Manchester, set aside 16th-22nd June to provide a platform for theatrical, musical, cinematic and political offerings from refugees and solidarity supporters.
The Impossibility of a Female Artist
The very idea of a woman working acts as an allegory for potential freedom and autonomy: it provides an alternative to being dependent and, to a certain extent, an alternative to marriage. This article will explore how the female artist is portrayed as limited in these two novels, as well as looking at the ways in which this limit still exists given the reaction to Lily Cole’s appointment as creative partner to the Brontë Society.
Review: The Drill @ Home, Mcr
For Breach theatre company, we live in a world where planning for the future is at odds with the constant threat of lacking a future altogether. We live under the looming threat of terror attacks or even “a tornado, probably with a woman’s name, so no one will take it fucking seriously”.
There’s No Such Thing as ‘Female-Fronted’ Music
You’ll never catch me listening to a female-fronted band. Why? Because there’s no such thing. You probably already know that ‘male-fronted’ bands don’t exist—it’s rare to see male artists being defined by their gender, so why have people latched onto the idea that a band can be female-fronted?
Meet Katherine Christie Evans: Velodrome musician and Harpy heroine
Katherine Christie Evans = Velodrome: a queer artist whose work is concerned with social inequality, Feminism, and mental health and queer visibility. Harpy meets Katherine to talk about Velodrome’s debut single and debut event.
Sleepover meets School Disco: what to expect at a Girl Gang event
Lining the route with pink balloons, Girl Gang Manchester transformed the Lowry’s loading bay studio space into an inclusive and welcoming room full of frivolity. If you fancy heading to a Girl Gang event but aren’t sure what to expect, here’s a rundown of all the action from where I was sat last Saturday night.
28th May: Menstrual Hygiene Day!
How many times have you rushed to the toilet in a panic when you’ve suspected that your period has reared its ugly head unannounced? How often have you inwardly cursed yourself for forgetting tampons and resorted to a flaky makeshift toilet tissue pad? Or covertly emailed your colleagues to see if they can help a sister out?
Brighton Rock: Female Stars Shine through a Masculine Mob
In a new adaptation by Bryony Lavery, who’s on a mission “to create iconic roles for women […] because the world is full of fantastic female actors”, Brighton Rock enacts the classic Graham Greene novel and aptly fits Week 53’s ‘coming of age’ theme.
Review: WYP presents The Girl on the Train
Writers Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel return the stage version of The Girl on the Train to the setting of Watford, refreshingly diffusing any sense of glamour and bringing a gritty domesticity to the drama.