‘Everyone Has A Family Abortion Story, Whether They Know It Or Not’

On January 22, 1973, the US Supreme Court affirmed in a 7-2 decision the legality of women’s right to have an abortion under the 14th Amendment.

Today, about one in four pregnancy-capable people in the US have had an abortion, and the risk of complications from an in-clinic procedure is extremely low. But before it was guaranteed as a constitutional right, seeking an abortion was a harrowing, potentially life-threatening endeavour.

While some women saved up the cash and sometimes travelled hundreds of miles to find qualified medical providers willing to risk their livelihood by operating on patients, others settled for providers lacking the qualifications and skills to perform induced abortions. And even more desperate people attempted their own abortions.

The outcome of these back-alley procedures or at-home coat-hanger abortions was often devastating, leading to maternal death or lifelong injury. (Complications from unsafe abortions include infection, incomplete abortions, haemorrhaging, uterine perforation and damage to the genital tract or internal organs, according to the World Health Organisation.)

Because these stories were so traumatic – and because the stigma surrounding abortion was even greater in those pre-Roe v. Wade years – many women remained silent about their experiences.

Now, as the US Supreme Court seems poised to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision, it’s worth revisiting their stories to understand what abortion was like in the decades before it was legalised.

HuffPost US recently spoke to eight people who shared experiences of relatives – great-grandmas, grandmas, mothers and aunts – who sought abortions in pre-Roe v. Wade America. Many were already mothers, struggling to conceptualise raising one more child in poverty or, in some cases, with an abusive spouse.

In one story that differs from the rest, a reader shares how her great-grandma, the wife of a well-to-do dentist, was able to obtain a safe abortion in a doctor’s office with little fuss; the story illustrates how white, middle-class and upper-class women have always had an easier time accessing safer abortion options. (As many have noted, women of colour will be disproportionately affected if Roe v. Wade is overturned.)

Below, read all eight stories, which have been edited lightly for clarity, style and length.

“My maternal grandparents married in 1934. By the time my mother was born, it was clear my grandpa was a monster. Violent and cruel, he beat my grandma with a metal lunchbox. When mom was just a few months old, he threw her against a wall. My grandmother fled.

She discovered she was pregnant again. To induce an abortion, she drank a bottle of Lysol. You can Google ‘Lysol abortion’ and see ads from that time that suggested a woman could use Lysol to ‘correct your mistake.’ The ads are quite chilling, their meaning vague and without instructions.

It took my grandma 29 hours to die in her parent’s home; they were helpless to end the agony. Living in a logging village in winter, there was no hospital or way to travel to the city.

My mother always felt responsible for her mother’s so-called ‘suicide,’ as children do. Doing genealogy research, I uncovered the full story when my mother was in her late 60s, but her life was already written and the truth brought no comfort. I sometimes think I should never have done the research. There are four generations impacted by this one attempted abortion. We can never really know how lives would be different if she had lived. But I do know my mother’s life was forged by that event, she was an orphan, hidden from her father, never knowing why she’d been abandoned.” – Chuck M., 62, from Washington state

“My mother was a 16-year-old in 1970 when she became pregnant as a result of sexual assault. She was living with my grandparents in Southern California, and abortion was not legal at that time. My grandparents were not in a position to get over the border into Mexico to have the procedure done, and they didn’t have access to a safe place to have the procedure done, either. Rather than risking my mother in a back-alley abortion, my grandmother assisted my mother in inducing a miscarriage. My grandmother had my mother sit in steaming hot baths for hours. My mother ingested medications that were considered dangerous to a fetus. They did everything short of physically harming my mother, though my mother did tell me that she was so desperate to end the pregnancy that she considered throwing herself off a high platform or down the stairs.

They managed to successfully induce a miscarriage, and my mother was taken to the local hospital to deal with the effects of the miscarriage and for a dilation and curettage. That worked, but her young body and mental health were not OK. Though my grandmother’s and mother’s intentions were to do something safer than a back-alley abortion, my mother was still at risk of potential harm from the various medications she took. And the foetus would also have been at risk for birth defects and other issues if the medications had not succeeded in a successful miscarriage. It was still dangerous.

My mother told me once that Roe was the single most important law that passed in her lifetime. That she was relieved that other women and people with a uterus would not have to suffer the same circumstances she did. If she were alive today, she would be absolutely shattered.” – Sara from New York

“My aunt Judith was just 17 in 1964 when she became pregnant after being raped on a study date at a so-called friend’s house. She was horrified to find out she was pregnant; she was on her way to college in the fall, and a baby wasn’t in her plans yet. Her doctor suggested a girls home out of town where she could stay until the baby was born and then give it up for adoption; it was her only choice since abortion was illegal.

Judith had tried all the old wives’ tales, jumping backward a dozen times at dusk and even drinking a tea that made her deathly ill just to lose the pregnancy naturally, but nothing worked. A friend of hers, Arbie, who was two years older, had been in Judith’s shoes and had taken care of her ‘dilemma’ herself.

In that summer of 1964, Judith chose to use a metal coat hanger, thinking it would be over quickly and no one would ever know. Her end result was far more than she had ever anticipated, with excessive bleeding and infection that led to a partial hysterectomy and the inability to ever carry a child. She spent nearly a month in the hospital. Her mother found out and never looked at her the same, although she did keep [Judith’s abortion attempt] from Judith’s father, knowing he would have kicked her out and pulled her college tuition. The family was hush-hush about everything, given the era everything took place.

Judith went on to graduate college top of her class to become the first female doctor of psychology in the family. From the outside looking in, her life was perfect: the house, her own office, nice car, all the material things one could ever hope to have, but she had developed a serious drinking problem and her life behind closed doors was, as she once said, ‘exactly what you’d think hell on earth would be.’

I was born in ’72, her only niece at the time, and she doted over me constantly every chance she had. I never suspected anything was ever wrong, although I did always wonder why Auntie Judy had such sad eyes; it wasn’t until puberty hit for me that she warned me of the dangers of having ‘that time’ and told me her story. She explained there were no real options in ’64 but said that because of Roe v. Wade in ’73, I would have more options than she had ever had.

Her desire to be able to carry a child, to be the mother she had always dreamed of, haunted her every waking hour and her dreams, and she was never able to get away from it. In 1984, just a week shy of her 37th birthday, my Auntie Judy hung herself in her attic; the pain and anguish had finally won the battle. Her note was a short novel, telling her story. I was only 12 and was told I wasn’t old enough to read it or understand it, but I didn’t listen. I sneaked and read it, and now I can remember every word, and her pain, longing and anger still haunt me to this very day.” – AJ, 50, from Louisiana

Jared Milrad/Canva

“Like most kids raised by a single mother, I’ve always thought of my mom, Jan, as courageous, resilient and strong. Growing up, she commuted nearly two hours each day ― every day ― to work a low-paying job as a secretary so that my brother and I could have a better future. Despite all that she went through, my mom never gave up and ensured that my brother and I could get the best education and have more opportunities than she did.

But it wasn’t until I was in my 20s that I realised how truly incredible my mom is. One day, my mom shared that she was around my age when she had two abortions. This was 1968-69, when abortion was still illegal in the U.S. and my mom was 26 or 27 years old.

My mom told me that she had her first abortion during this time while dating a much older man. The pregnancy was very unexpected, and because my mom was struggling to make ends meet and didn’t have much support at all, she made the wrenching decision to abort the pregnancy. Because abortion was illegal in the States, the man found a doctor for her in Puerto Rico and agreed to pay for the procedure, so my mom went with my grandma to have it done. They traveled to San Juan and then traveled a bit outside of the city. My mom expected the procedure to be done with anaesthesia, but – horrifyingly – it wasn’t.

‘The abortion was done by a butcher and my mother heard me screaming,’ my mom recalled. ‘I didn’t know that they weren’t going to give me anaesthesia. It lasted for only 20 or 30 minutes, but it seemed like a lifetime. When we got back to the hotel in San Juan, I was in such pain. Then, when I was back in New York City in A&P Grocery a few days later, I noticed that I was bleeding ― haemorrhaging.’

My grandma immediately called a gynaecologist and arranged to have my mom treated in the ER at Lenox Hill Hospital, where they didn’t tell the doctors that the bleeding was caused by an abortion out of fear because the procedure was still illegal. My mom was lucky to survive.” – Jared Milrad, 38

“Today, the majority of women who seek a legal abortion are already mothers. Let me share a pre-Roe horror story about my Italian, Catholic grandmother Mary, whom I never had the blessing to know.

Apparently, on her deathbed in 1943, Mary asked her sister-in-law Florence, who was childless, to take care of her only daughter, but the shameful secret had to be kept. My mom was forbidden to ask questions about her mother or her death. She learned the truth when she was in her 50s from me after years of research.

I was in my 20s when I first began to put together the pieces of a story that just didn’t make sense: a 34-year-old mother of three young children who is hemorrhaging but refuses to go to the hospital. Even the death certificate corroborates the secret. Cause of death: carcinoma of the cervix. But cervical cancer does not generally cause women to bleed to death.

Then, one day in the mid-’70s, we were talking about the Roe decision, and Florence, the woman I knew as my grandmother, let it slip that she had to lend $250 (an enormity in 1943) to one of her brothers because someone needed an abortion. I was stunned; I finally connected the dots. In a typically large Italian Catholic family, Florence had many sisters but only two brothers. One of them, it turns out, was my biological grandfather.

Grandma Mary already had three children she loved: two boys and the middle child, my mom Nancy. With an unemployed husband, a fourth child would plunge the family into poverty.

So the decision was not made lightly, but something went horribly wrong. Mary was just 34 years old and was more afraid of the law (and the judgment of the Catholic church) than she was of dying and leaving her children motherless.” – Lori Bores from New York

“Great-Grandma Selma Rosenthal (born 1878) was a career woman. Graduating from college in 1901, she was homely and smart, two things that did not make her particularly attractive to suitors of the era. Knowing this, she focused on having a successful career. She was by all accounts very funny, with a wonderful voice and an active circle of friends. She had no expectation that marriage or family were in the cards for her, and she had made peace with that idea.

That all changed when she met Sidney Rauh, a dentist from Cincinnati from a well-off family. It was the 1910s, and she was well into her 30s. Sidney was equally unattractive and clever, and a confirmed bachelor. He had no interest in marrying a girl for her looks but wanted to find someone he could love for her mind. When they met, it was love at first sight, and given their advanced ages, they decided to marry as soon as possible.

Selma quickly became pregnant, only to miscarry the first Christmas they spent together as a married couple. Two daughters quickly followed in 1916 and 1919, but Selma was terribly sick with her second pregnancy and she barely survived childbirth. Her doctor told her, in no uncertain terms, that if she was to get pregnant again and attempt to see it to term, she would die. She promised she would be careful.

A few years later, when she realised she was pregnant, she went to her doctor. The doctor advised her that she had to have an abortion. Sometime later, the doctor performed an abortion in his office, no fuss, no muss. But Selma was a well-off wife of a successful dentist with status in the community. It never occurred to her that what she was doing was illegal or in any way wrong. It was a decision between her, her doctor, and Sidney, and she did what was best for her family and health.

Selma died in 1948 at the age of 62 of a heart attack, having spent time not just with her daughters, but also with her granddaughters, who were five and three at the time of her death.

Great-Grandma was a suffragette and strived for women’s rights. Women’s rights and bodily autonomy were key issues in my family, but I suspect the story would not have been noteworthy had it not been for the fact that abortion became the issue it was later on. My mother and grandmother shared with me how hard things like birth control had been to get in their era, and my mother shared with me the fact that she got a (legal) abortion for family planning reasons. For us, it was just part of normal conversation.” – Kate, 50, from New York

Stephanie Voltolin/Canva

“I was born in the 1960s and grew up in a very conservative Catholic family. Nonetheless, my traditional housewife mother was ardently pro-choice. She even took one of my friends to get an abortion in the 1980s because my friend couldn’t tell her family she was pregnant.

Shortly after my paternal grandmother died, when I was a college freshman, my mother frankly told me during a conversation about choice, ‘Your grandmother had a back-alley abortion and almost bled to death.’

My grandmother found herself – in the early 1940s before birth control or abortion were legal – pregnant and divorced from her second husband, who turned out to be horribly abusive. She decided to leave before he began abusing her three children from her first marriage. Like most women of her day, she had no college education or career to support herself and her children. And, like most women who get abortions, she could barely support the children she had. She ended up having to go live with her parents, who were Italian immigrants.

Faced with being twice divorced and pregnant, my grandmother sought an abortion. Because they were illegal, she had to trust a back-alley ‘doctor,’ who punctured her uterus in the process. She left the procedure, collapsed in the street from the blood loss, and had to be taken to the hospital. An emergency hysterectomy saved her life.

She was an amazing mother and grandmother, and although she died almost 40 years ago, I still become emotional when I think about what a loss I would have suffered had she died from that botched abortion.

The rest of the family never knew. I am telling her story now in the same way that we disclosed our sexual trauma during the Me Too movement to educate others. Legal and safe abortion is critical to women’s reproductive rights as American citizens, and we cannot allow them to expire.” – Stephanie Voltolin

“My great-grandmother died from a botched, illegal abortion in the mid-1930s in Chicago, leaving my grandmother (2 years old) and her sister (4 years old) without a mother. When my great-grandfather remarried, his new wife already had kids of her own and didn’t want to take care of two more. My grandmother and her sister were thrown out of the house and bounced around to different aunts and uncles.

For much of my grandmother’s life, she was told that her mother died of a pregnancy complication due to an ectopic pregnancy. Later, when my grandma was a teenager, her aunt told her the truth: that her mother had died from a botched, illegal abortion.

My grandmother shared her story with me in 2012 when I was 25. We were having an early lunch. I remember she asked me if I wanted a glass of wine, which was odd for her in the middle of the day. We were talking about something else entirely and she said, ‘my mother died of a botched, illegal abortion,’ almost out of the blue, and her story just unfurled from there.

I honestly didn’t think too much about what my grandmother shared. I didn’t think her story was shocking or novel, maybe because abortion had been legal in all 50 states for my whole life. I assumed everyone else in our family knew, so I didn’t think to say anything.

A couple years later, I was catching up with my parents and one of them said, ‘Did you know Great-Grandma Sally died from a botched illegal abortion?’ That’s when I realised my grandma was nervous when she shared her mother’s cause of death with me. She was holding on to this family history and likely carrying with her the shame and stigma or the ‘don’t talk about it’ attitude of her family. It was an ‘aha’ moment for me – a real understanding that likely everyone has a family abortion story, whether they know it or not.

Now our family has a deep understanding that when abortion is legal, abortion is safe. And we know in the decades before Roe v. Wade was decided, people like my great-grandmother were desperate to receive the care they needed.” – Amy Handler, 35, from Oregon

Share Button

What Doctors Want You To Know About Abortion Right Now

Since 1973, Roe v. Wade has protected the right of all Americans to access safe and legal abortions. But a leaked document published by Politico on Monday shows that the federal protections conferred by Roe may be struck down by the US Supreme Court this summer.

If Roe falls, the legality of abortion will be determined by each state. And though a handful of states are passing legislation that will protect the right to get an abortion, many others — 26 to be exact — are expected to quickly ban or restrict abortions.

If this happens, millions of people in the US will no longer be able to access safe abortion care within their communities. They’ll have to wait longer and travel farther to access help. The impact on people’s mental and physical health – along with their finances, families and livelihoods – will be astronomical.

Despite the misinformation that swirls around the internet (and beyond), abortions are extremely safe procedures. They’re also incredible common – about one in four women will have an abortion by the time they are 45 – and, in many cases, they are life-saving.

“It is a common procedure, it is very safe, and I can’t emphasise that enough. This draft ruling is egregious, it is a basically a war against women,” Dr. Melissa Simon, a Northwestern Medicine OB/GYN, tells HuffPost.

Here’s what people get wrong about abortion

One of the most common misconceptions about abortions is that the procedure is dangerous or detrimental to one’s health.

A report from 2018 examined the safety of various methods of abortion – medication, aspiration, dilation and evacuation, and induction – and concluded that abortions are safe and effective and that complications from all types of abortions are rare.

It’s the barriers and restrictions that legislators sign to prevent patients from easily and swiftly accessing abortion that jeopardise their health. It’s well known that delaying abortion care increases the risk of complications.

Some US states require doctors to tell their patients that there’s a link between breast cancer and abortion – despite the fact that many high-quality studies have put this question to rest, according to Dr. Jennifer Kerns, an associate professor in the department of obstetrics, gynaecology and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco.

Others fear that abortions cause infertility, but research hasn’t found a link between abortions and the ability to conceive in the future. There’s also no evidence that abortions increase the risk of complications (ie. preterm birth or low birth weight delivery) in the event of a future pregnancy.

Another long-running mistruth is that abortions increase the risk of developing mental health issues. “There is a huge body of work demonstrating that abortion in and of itself does not cause mental health problems,” Kerns says, noting that people often feel relief after getting an abortion.

What we do know is that unwanted pregnancies can cause significant maternal depression and parenting stress. And those mental health issues don’t clear up with time; they are often long-lasting, afflicting the women who carried the unwanted pregnancies to term well into their 30s, 40s and 50s.

“Even in the setting of using contraception and safe-sex practices, having the option of an abortion is critical to the life and both physical and mental health of the woman.”

– Melissa Simon

Many people falsely believe pregnancy is easy to avoid, but it’s not that straightforward. Kerns sees many people, from all walks of life and phases of reproductive health, seeking an abortion. Contraception – though invaluable – is not foolproof. Birth control is not 100% effective; it can fail and lead to a pregnancy.

“Even in the setting of using contraception and safe-sex practices, having the option of an abortion is critical to the life and both physical and mental health of the woman,” Simon says.

Many anti-abortion bills have been labelled “heartbeat bills because they ban abortions at the first sign of foetal cardiac activity. This nomenclature is wildly misleading – while primordial electrical activity can be detected around six weeks of pregnancy, this does not mean a foetus has a functioning heart. The heart, valves and vessels do not form until 16-18 weeks of pregnancy.

“Just having cardiac activity does not mean the foetus, if born at that moment, would be able to survive,” Simon says.

Restricting abortion impacts people’s health and livelihoods

Evidence shows that being denied an abortion has a devastating impact on one’s physical health, mental health and overall well-being.

The Turnaway Study, conducted by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, found that women who carry an unwanted pregnancy to term have a four times greater chance of being below the US federal poverty level.

They’re also more likely to experience serious health complications, such as eclampsia and death, and to develop mental health issues, including anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation. They’re more likely to stick with an abusive partner; their life goals tend to take a back seat, and their families’ livelihoods suffer. Many go on to experience chronic pain.

“The health and welfare of the citizens of this country suffer – we see increased illness, we see increased poverty and we see increased death,” Kerns says.

“The health and welfare of the citizens of this country suffer — we see increased illness, we see increased poverty and we see increased death.”

– Jennifer Kerns

Restricting the right to an abortion does not mean the need for an abortion disappears. A recent study predicted that banning abortion will lead to a 21% increase in pregnancy-related deaths; that jumps to 33% among Black women.

Maternal mortality rates are at an all-time high. The US already has the highest maternal death rate among developed nations — and that crisis would only get worse without access to safe abortion.

“There are some women who get pregnant who could die if they continue with the pregnancy, and, therefore, an abortion is a life-saving procedure in those circumstances,” says Simon, adding that those circumstances are not rare. Abortions, in many cases, can save the life of the mother.

Here’s what the fall of Roe could mean for health care

Kerns said the leaked document demonstrates that the court is no longer a neutral group. “It really lays bare how out of touch their rulings are with people’s lives,” Kerns said.

Much of the language used in abortion restrictions and bans – like “abortionists” – really deeply divides people and shames those who get an abortion or provide an abortion.

Simon says the potential fall of Roe reflects a crisis in women’s health care, specifically when it comes to maternal health. The end of Roe would mark a war against women and people who can get pregnant, who, for the record, comprise over 50% of the US population, she adds.

Simon is exceedingly concerned about what will happen to the growing maternal death rate if Roe falls and safe abortion care becomes harder and harder to access.

“That is what I am very worried about in this country – that we are going to go even more in the wrong direction than we already are with respect to caring for over half of our population: women,” Simon says.

Share Button

Slap Or No Slap, Did Jada Really Need Will Smith To ‘Defend Her Honour’?

Just moments after it happened, Chris Rock knew his altercation with Will Smith at this year’s Oscars was going to make headlines, calling it “the greatest night in the history of television”.

For those yet to watch the clip, Rock made a joke at the expense of Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, when he said he was “looking forward to seeing GI Jane 2”.

Rock was apparently referencing the actress’ shaved head, which is a result of the hair loss condition, alopecia. Seconds later, Smith climbed onto the stage, slapped Rock and said: “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth.”

Some have excused Smith’s actions, saying he was simply “defending his wife’s honour” – but that phrase in itself has left others feeling uncomfortable.

Most of us will agree that there’s other ways to stand up for someone you love without resulting to physical violence. But it also raises the question: do women still need their “honour” defended by a man?

Plenty of people have praised the actor for stepping in to “defend” his wife.

But others have highlighted that Jada Pinkett Smith is a grown woman and perfectly capable of defending herself if she chooses to.

Jada Pinkett Smith arrives on the red carpet before the 2022 Oscars ceremony.

Future Publishing via Getty Images

Jada Pinkett Smith arrives on the red carpet before the 2022 Oscars ceremony.

Later in the evening, Smith won the Best Actor award for his portrayal of Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams, in the biopic King Richard.

In his acceptance speech, he apologised to the Academy and his fellow nominees for his behaviour, adding: “I look like the crazy father, just like what they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.”

But his words only sparked further criticism.

A lot of people agree that both men were in the wrong in this scenario, calling out toxic masculinity on either side.

But one thing is clear: the headlines this morning are all focused on Chris Rock and Will Smith. The woman at the heart of this story, Jada Pinkett Smith, has been erased in all the drama.

Share Button

This Picture Of A Black Foetus Went Viral. We Spoke To The Illustrator

During medical training, in health textbooks, in posters or at the doctor’s office, we often see health conditions or body parts represented with white figures.

Many of these images seem outdated or inaccessible to large parts of the population. Now, one medical student has taken matters into his own hands.

Chidiebere Sunday Ibe, 25, from Ebonyi State, Nigeria, began illustrating Black patients, children and babies. Recently, his drawing of a Black foetus and mother has gone viral on Twitter and TikTok, amassing hundreds of thousand views and likes.

The image has clearly struct a real chord with people, especially those not accustomed to seeing their skin tones reflected in standard medical imagery.

The aspiring neurosurgeon wanted to show people what certain conditions look like for Black people – and also normalise the diversity of our bodies.

For some people, it was the first time they’d seen a Black foetus and many called for more representation like this.

When we spoke to Ibe about his illustrations, he told HuffPost UK: “This image was created like every other image, I never expected it to be viral. The whole purpose was to keep talking about what I’m passionate about – equity in healthcare – and also to show the beauty of Black people.

“I feel great seeing it going viral, I never expected it and it feels good that the message is out and it will challenge current systems.”

Ibe points out that we need to see more images like this, and more people behind the scenes creating them.

“We don’t only need more representation like this, we need more people willing to create representation like this, this would help make such images more accepted,” he says.

Chidiebere Ibe is an aspiring neurosurgeon.

Chidiebere Ibe

Chidiebere Ibe is an aspiring neurosurgeon.

For Black people working in healthcare, seeing Ibe’s images has meant a lot – it’s not often they see their race reflected in the industry. Rebekah Agboola, a 27-year old nurse from London, says the picture made her do a double-take.

“The image was shocking,” she tells HuffPost UK. “I’ve never seen a Black baby in an image like this before – it makes you take a second look. It shouldn’t be shocking as it’s a simple medical illustration. However, having started my journey into this world as a sixth form student looking at medical images, I didn’t commonly see illustrations of Black and brown people unless it was something to do with skin conditions and even then it was rare.”

Agboola says such illustrations go beyond representation to having a positive impact on people’s health and wellbeing.

“I think that it is important to make sure that there is more representation because it will greatly improve the treatment of our patients,” she says.

In August 2020, as part of Black Ballad’s weeklong takeover of HuffPost UK, Black women spoke out about the discrimination, microaggressions and substandard care they received during pregnancy, shining fresh light on the findings of a major motherhood survey, also conducted by Black Ballad.

“Routinely, Black and other minority patients do not receive the same care due to initial symptom presentation and if it is made clearer that our symptoms can sometimes look different and that clinicians need to give their examinations more thought we can help reduce this issue,” Agboola says.

“This picture shocked me but I was so glad to see it and want to see more.”

Rebekah, a nurse, has never seen an image like this before

Rebekah Agboola

Rebekah, a nurse, has never seen an image like this before

Since the release of Ibe’s pics, the Royal College of Midwives (RCM0, has also said it will be amping up efforts to diversify.

Jane Bekoe, the RCM lead on its Race Matters programme, told us: “Positive representation of race is important in all aspects of our lives and society, because the world should reflect accurately all the people living in it. This applies just as much to portrayals of Black and minority ethnic people within healthcare, so illustrations such as this are a positive and necessary step forward towards real equality for us all.”

The RCM is working to ensure changes happens, Bekoe added, following its first celebration of Black History and Culture Month this year. In January 2022, it will hold a webinar on decolonising the midwifery curriculum, which will be led by the RCM’s student midwife forum.

Here’s hoping things do actually change.

Share Button

Half Of Women Experience Body Dysmorphia. Here Are The Signs

How do you feel about your body? There’s a chance you might have some issues with it, particular if you’re a woman (thanks to society’s ever-changing and unrealistic expectations of body standards).

And new research by charitable health enterprise Better gyms has found that nearly half of women experience body dysmorphia – a condition where you spend a lot of time worrying about your appearance.

Body dysmorphia disorder (BDD) is also characterised by a desire to change perceived “flaws”, when these are often unnoticeable to others.

In a survey of 2,000 respondents, Better revealed that 49% of women admit to thinking often about being lean enough, exercising despite illness or injury, feeling anxiety at missing a workout, giving up work or social obligations to maintain a workout schedule or diet, or maintaining an extreme exercise programme.

More than a third (34%) of women have received or know someone who has received online abuse directed at how their body looks. Meanwhile, 8% of women admit to commenting negatively on someone else’s physical appearance – compared to a fifth of men (21%). And 35% say low body confidence has impacted their social life and love life, while 7% say it has impacted their career progression.

10’000 Hours via Getty Images

Better also surveyed men and found similarly worrying results. It found that 54% of men have displayed a sign of body dysmorphia, with a quarter admitting they rarely or never feel body confident.

Age also played a part, with 18–24-year-olds being the age group with the highest percentage (81%) having experienced at least one sign of body dysmorphia.

The study also found that 31% say low body confidence has affected their social life, with 30% saying it has troubled their love life, and 27% saying it has impacted their mental health.

So what are the signs to watch out for?

According to the NHS, symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) include:

  • Worrying a lot about a specific area of your body (particularly your face)
  • Spending a lot of time comparing your looks with other people’s
  • Looking at yourself in mirrors a lot or avoiding mirrors altogether
  • Going to a lot of effort to conceal flaws – for example, by spending a long time combing your hair, applying make-up or choosing clothes
  • Picking at your skin to make it “smooth”.

BDD can start at a young age and persist through adulthood. Better’s research found that it can start as early as five years old.

You should see a GP if you think you might have BDD. They’ll probably ask a number of questions about your symptoms and how they affect your life. They may also ask if you’ve had any thoughts about harming yourself. You may be treated by the GP, or they may refer you to a mental health specialist for further assessment and treatment.

The most common treatment for BDD is Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which will help you identify your triggers and learn some techniques to manage your thoughts and emotions. Some people are also offered antidepressants.

Getting help for BDD is important, because symptoms are unlikely to go away without treatment. It’s a common mental health condition – and nothing to be embarrassed about.

Help and support:

  • Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393.
  • Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI – this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill).
  • CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer a helpline open 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, on 0800 58 58 58, and a webchat service.
  • The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email help@themix.org.uk
  • Rethink Mental Illness offers practical help through its advice line which can be reached on 0808 801 0525 (Monday to Friday 10am-4pm). More info can be found on rethink.org.
Share Button

‘Pity I’m Not The One Who Gives Out Handshakes’: Prue Leith Is All Of Us

Warning: this article contains spoilers for the GBBO 2021 semi-final.

It was a heart-wrenching moment when Jürgen Krauss, possibly the best-loved contestant in Great British Bake Off history, presented his semi-final signature bake to the judges.

Paul Hollywood declared “I like it, but I don’t love it” and declined to give Jürgen one of his famed “Hollywood handshakes”, when the other three contestants each received one.

Jürgen looked towards Prue for redemption and thankfully, she loved the bake. But alas, it seems her opinion wasn’t enough.

“It’s a pity I’m not the one who gives out handshakes,” lamented Prue – while women watching the TV screamed in unison: “Why not!?”

Paul’s handshakes started as a bit of fun, where, back in the Mary Berry days of season three, he whipped out his palm to congratulate contestant Ryan Chong for some stellar sweet dough.

But the shakes have since morphed into something so much more – a symbol of success that’s almost as coveted as the “star baker” title.

In what was a close-knit episode – with the contestants almost impossible to separate – many on social media have speculated that Paul’s lack of handshake was the final nail in the coffin for Jürgen, who was voted off ahead of the final.

Women have also questiond why Paul’s handshake holds so much power – and suggested it’s just another example of a man’s opinion being held in higher esteem than a woman’s.

Of course, we mustn’t forget that this is a light-hearted baking show, and the contestants clearly do adore being recognised for their hard work with Hollywood’s extended hand.

Still, the unequal power dynamic between Paul and Prue is increasingly hard to ignore – and reminds us of every time an experienced woman has been overlooked in the workplace in favour of a confident man.

We’d like to petition for Prue to have her own handshake – the ‘Prue Pat’, as some on social media have called it. Or, as others have suggested, she could bestow her signature necklace on successful bakers like a medal, instead.

Now, that’s a prize we’d truly appreciate.

Share Button

5 Myths Debunked About How The Covid Vaccine Affects Pregnancy And Fertility

There is no pattern from any reports so far which suggest any of the vaccines used in the UK, or reactions to them, increase the risk of miscarriage or stillbirth, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said.

It said the numbers of reports of miscarriages and stillbirth are “low in relation to the number of pregnant women who have received Covid-19 vaccines to date and how commonly these events occur in the UK outside of the pandemic”.

Myth 2: The jab will affect your fertility

There is no evidence to indicate the Covid-19 vaccine will affect fertility or the ability to have children, according to the UK’s medical regulator.

The rigorous evaluation completed to date did not show a link between changes to menstrual periods and related symptoms and Covid-19 vaccines.

The number of reports of menstrual disorders and vaginal bleeding is low in relation to both the number of people who have received vaccines to date and how common menstrual disorders are generally.

The menstrual changes reported are mostly transient in nature. There is no evidence to suggest that Covid-19 vaccines will affect fertility and the ability to have children.

Myth 3: The vaccine will affect birth outcomes

There is no evidence that having the coronavirus vaccine when pregnant is altering birth outcomes, a UK study concluded.

The research – which was the first from the UK focusing on safety outcomes for pregnant women – found similar birth outcomes for those who have had a Covid-19 vaccine and those who have not. Similar studies have been conducted abroad.

There were no statistically significant differences in the data, with no increase in stillbirths or premature births, no abnormalities with development and no evidence of babies being smaller or bigger, the research team at St George’s, University of London said.

Thousands of pregnant women in England have been vaccinated against coronavirus, with no safety concerns reported.

Myth 4: The vaccine is riskier than Covid

Some parents-to-be are worried about what the vaccine will mean for their unborn child. However, several studies have shown that the vaccine is safe for pregnant mums and their babies, especially as the vaccine does not include a live strain of the virus.

In fact, if mums choose not to get vaccinated but catch Covid, this is more likely to affect the baby.

Pregnant women who do get symptomatic Covid-19, particularly in the third trimester, are two to three times more likely to give birth to their baby prematurely, according to data from the UK Obstetric Surveillance System. Premature birth remains the leading cause of death, illness and disability in babies.

Myth 5: There are too many ‘mixed messages’ about the vaccine

Over half of pregnant women (58%) have declined the Covid-19 vaccination, according to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the Royal College of Midwives (RCM). The groups blame “mixed messages” about the vaccine and pregnancy earlier in the pandemic.

However, both the NHS and CDC (US Centres for Disease Control), plus the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), all recommend vaccinations for pregnant people.

Earlier in the pandemic, when the vaccine was newer and research only emerging, healthcare officials did warn against vaccinations for expectant mums. However, we now know far more about the virus and the vaccines, and earlier on in the year, healthcare officials said it was safe for this cohort to get the jab and actively encouraged them to do so.

So, there are plenty of reasons to go for the jab. If you have any other concerns about the jab while pregnant or trying for a baby, chat to your doctor or midwife.

Share Button

‘Shocking’ Inequality Is Still Behind Many Stillbirths And Premature Births

A quarter of stillbirths and a fifth of premature births across England are due to socio-economic inequalities, research suggests.

A review in the Lancet of more than a million births found that South Asian and Black women living in the most deprived areas experience the largest inequalities when it comes to what happens to their pregnancy.

Experts behind the review suggested that some factors, such as high body mass index (BMI) and whether a mother smokes, could be contributing to the risk, but also pointed to racism and economic issues.

Calculations for the study suggest that half of stillbirths and three quarters of births where the baby is smaller than expected in South Asian women living in the most deprived fifth of neighbourhoods would be potentially avoidable if these women had the same risks as white women living in the most affluent fifth.

Similarly, about two thirds of stillbirths and nearly half of births involving small babies in Black women from the most deprived neighbourhoods were potentially avoidable if they had the same risks as white women in richer areas.

SDI Productions via Getty Images

The NHS has set a target of halving stillbirth and neonatal death rates, and reducing levels of premature birth, by 25% by 2025.

An estimated 60,000 babies are born prematurely in the UK every year (before 37 weeks).

In 2019, around one in 255 births resulted in a stillbirth in England and Wales, alongside around one in 302 in Scotland.

In 2020, there were 2,429 stillbirths (167 fewer than 2019) in England and Wales, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

In the new study, a team from the National Maternity and Perinatal Audit analysed birth records between April 1, 2015 and March 31, 2017, in NHS hospitals in England.

They worked out the impact of socio-economic factors, adjusting for whether women smoked, their BMI and other pregnancy risk factors.

Socio-economic status was measured for each local area and combined information on income, employment, education, housing, crime and the living environment.

In total, almost 1.2 million women with a birth of a single child were included in the study, of whom 77% were white, 12% South Asian, 5% Black, 2% mixed race/ethnicity, and 4% other race/ethnicity.

Overall, 4,505 women experienced a stillbirth (after 24 weeks), the study found, while of 1,151,476 liveborn babies, 69,175 were premature and 22,679 were births involving foetal growth restriction (smaller babies).

Risk of stillbirth was 0.3% in the least socio-economically deprived group and 0.5% in the most deprived group; risk of a premature birth was 4.9% in the least deprived group and 7.2% in the most deprived group; while risk of foetal growth restriction was 1.2% in the least deprived group and 2.2% in the most deprived group.

The experts found that 24% of stillbirths, 19% of live premature births and 31% of live births of smaller babies were attributed to socio-economic inequality and would not have occurred if all women had the same risks as those in the least deprived group.

But when experts adjusted for ethnicity, mothers smoking and BMI, these statistics were cut (to 12%, 12%, and 16%, respectively), which the authors suggested means these factors may explain a considerable part of the socio-economic inequalities in pregnancy outcomes.

Pregnancy complications were found to disproportionately affect Black and minority ethnic women – with 12% of all stillbirths, 1% of premature births and 17% of births with growth restriction attributed to ethnic inequality.

In this group, adjusting for deprivation, smoking, and BMI had little impact on these associations – suggesting factors related to discrimination based on ethnicity and culture may contribute to poor outcomes.

Co-lead author Dr Jennifer Jardine, from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: “The stark reality is that across England, women’s socioeconomic and ethnic background are still strongly related to their likelihood of experiencing serious adverse outcomes for their baby.

“I think that people will be shocked to see that these inequalities are still responsible for a substantial proportion of adverse pregnancy outcomes in England.

“Over the past few decades, efforts to close the gap in birth outcomes focusing primarily on improving maternity care and targeting individual behaviours have not been successful.

“Birth outcomes don’t only represent a woman’s health during pregnancy but also reflect her health and wellbeing across her entire life.

“While we must continue to encourage healthy behaviours during pregnancy, we also need public health professionals and politicians to strengthen efforts to address the lifelong, cumulative impact of racism and social and economic inequalities on the health of women, families, and communities.”

Co-lead author Professor Jan van der Meulen from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine added: “There are many possible reasons for these disparities.

“Women from deprived neighbourhoods and Black and minority ethnic groups may be at a disadvantage because of their environment, for example, because of pollution, poor housing, social isolation, limited access to maternity and health care, insecure employment, poor working conditions, and stressful life events.

“National targets to make pregnancy safer will only be achieved if there is a concerted effort by midwives, obstetricians, public health professionals and politicians to tackle the broader socioeconomic and ethnic inequalities.”

Share Button

Sabina Nessa: What Must Change To End Violence Against Women

via Associated Press

British police investigating the killing of a 28-year-old woman in London say they are probing whether she was attacked by a stranger.

Sabina Nessa was walking through a park to meet a friend at a bar, on a journey that should’ve taken five minutes, when she was killed a week ago.

On Thursday, the Metropolitan Police said a 38-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of the murder of the 28-year-old teacher.

A vigil is being held for her on Friday night at Peglar Square in Kidbrooke Village, southeast London, close to where her body was found. 

Sadly, Sabina’s death is not out-of-the-ordinary. Around 200 women were killed last year in Great Britain, according to official figures.

But what’s being done to make sure women are protected?

Violence against women and girls (known as VAWG) in the UK is a “shadow pandemic”, according to sexual harassment lawyer Deeba Syed. She is calling for drastic change to attitudes, policies and policing so women can feel safe.

via Associated Press

People gather in Clapham Common, in memory of Sarah Everard.

A sense of ‘urgency’

Syed believes violence against women and girls is “much more common” than people think.

“So many women have died in similar circumstances, there’ve been the high profile cases of Sarah Everard, Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry, and now this. But there have been so many cases in between that many people haven’t heard of.

“There’s not enough urgency in the way it’s being tackled and there’s not enough understanding of the ways that this impacts women. It impacts on all women, but particularly women of colour who are at a higher risk of violence.”

Syed questions whether measures such as more plain-clothed police officers and more street lighting – which have been proposed by the authorities – are really going to tackle the immediate issues women face.

“How many more women have to die before it’s seen as the urgent matter that
it is?”

Connecting strategies on violence and domestic abuse

“This is the shadow pandemic that’s just ignored,” says Syed.

Her thoughts are shared by Farah Nazeer from Women’s Aid, a charity fighting to end domestic abuse in the UK. 

“We know that women’s experiences of violence and abuse are interconnected,” says Nazeer.

“Strategically the government needs to respond to this. We are concerned that disconnecting the VAWG strategy from domestic abuse by creating a separate strategy is a backward step.”

The treatment of Sabina’s death has not been on the same level as others, and time and time again we see how victims from Black and minority communities do not receive the same level of attention and support. It is simply not good enough, and it has to change.Farah Nazeer, chief executive of Women’s Aid

And she especially wants to see better mental health support for women who have experienced violence with “specific ring-fenced funding for services run ‘by and for’ Black and minority women.”

Improving police understanding of the dangers faced by women

Some of the work Women’s Aid carries out includes working with police forces to deliver training around the response to survivors of domestic abuse.

But Nazeer says the reality of police forces understanding the dangers women face is still “inadequate”.

Syed wants to see every case taken “more seriously” when it comes to women going missing and similar incidents.

“After the Sarah Everard outcry, what we saw was the police telling women ‘don’t go outside’. We’re still in this place where we are telling women to moderate their behaviour to keep themselves safe when women should be able to walk down the street without having to fear for their lives.”

They’re not the only group calling for the police to do more.

A police watchdog, the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services, recently said that violence against women should be treated as seriously as terrorism, and there are still areas where the police are failing women.

via Associated Press

A police officer stands by floral tributes at Cator Park in Kidbrooke, near to the area where the body of Sabina Nessa was found.

The government must step up, and not wait for a social media outcry

In July, the government revealed plans to tackle violence against women and girls.

Following Sabina’s death, a spokesperson for the prime minister said the strategy would “drive long-term change” but many are sceptical.

“It’s taken grassroots activists and people on social media to demand that her [Sabina’s] story gets more attention,” says Syed. 

She thinks the government’s strategy doesn’t go “far enough”.

“VAWG services have been underfunded for years, it hasn’t been seen as important, and it’s not been seen as a priority.”

Stella Creasy, Labour MP for Walthamstow, believes women are “being let down” because of the lack of reporting and potential crimes not being investigated.

“We have to take on the culture within the police and politics that doesn’t recognise the warning signs in perpetrators behaviour and so leaves women in harms way.” 

Syed has used her own social platforms to raise awareness about stories like Sabina’s. Even though she feels a social media outcry shouldn’t be the only reason for the government to pay attention, she’s glad to see people online trying to help.

She said: “We saw in the Sarah Everard case how crucial social media was to raising awareness and creating a response.

“This is a long standing problem that needs an urgent kind of solution that shouldn’t just be based on social media outcry.”

Help and support:

If you, or someone you know, is in immediate danger, call 999 and ask for the police. If you are not in immediate danger, you can contact:

  • The Freephone 24 hour National Domestic Violence Helpline, run by Refuge: 0808 2000 247
  • In Scotland, contact Scotland’s 24 hour Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline: 0800 027 1234
  • In Northern Ireland, contact the 24 hour Domestic & Sexual Violence Helpline: 0808 802 1414
  • In Wales, contact the 24 hour Life Fear Free Helpline on 0808 80 10 800.
  • National LGBT+ Domestic Abuse Helpline: 0800 999 5428
  • Men’s Advice Line: 0808 801 0327
  • Respect helpline (for anyone worried about their own behaviour): 0808 802 0321
Share Button

As Beyoncé Turns 40, We Look Back At Her Political Evolution

When she performed in front of the word ‘feminist’, some said she didn’t do enough. When she wore an outfit inspired by the Black Panthers, others said she did too much.

In her decades-spanning career, Beyoncé has been accused of being both too political and not political enough. As the icon turns 40, I’ve started to wonder why – and whether we’ve been too harsh on Queen B, who was just 16 when Destiny’s Child released their first single.

For Black women like myself, growing up and seeing Beyoncé elevate and making cultural strides gave me the push that I needed. From the age of five to my current age of 26, I’ve watched Beyoncé grow from a teenager to a mother-of-three, all while creating a legacy.

She has, some would say, become more involved in politics in that time. Others have argued that Beyoncé has always been political – you just didn’t see it. Either way, the way she presents her politics has certainly evolved, but it’s not been without its hiccups.

Professor Lucy Robinson, whose research spans the history of sexuality and identity politics, isn’t sure that matters. “We hold celebrities like Beyoncé accountable in impossible ways, as if they might not have changing ideas about the world around them,” she tells HuffPost UK.

To look at at Bey’s evolution properly, we need to start from the beginning, going back to the days of Destiny’s Child. “Girl power” was alive and kicking, with fellow girl bands including The Spice Girls and TLC bringing third-wave feminism to a new, ’90s generation.

The bands were still writing about love and men, but we started to see more women in music reclaiming their time and money – and Destiny’s Child were no different. In 1999′s Bills, Bills, Bills, we see the group talking about a man who becomes dependent on his girlfriend to pay for his expenses – until she has enough and demands he pays his own way. In Hey Ladies, also released in ’99, the song focuses on why women choose to stay with men who do them wrong. The singers state that if a man messes up, he has to go. The narratives are almost empowering, but still focus heavily on heteronormative coupledom.

Beyonce with the original Destiny's Child band members. 

Beyonce with the original Destiny’s Child band members. 

But with their third album, titled Survivor, Beyoncé and the band members find new autonomy. The album starts with Independent Women and features anthems like Survivor, highlighting female strength, and Bootylicious, which celebrates the way the woman see themselves and their bodies.

As Beyoncé transitions into her solo career, her first songs – Crazy in Love and Baby Boy – focus on men again. Did her political empowerment take a backward turn? Professor Robinson doesn’t think that’s necessarily the case.

“It’s really interesting that we expect an individual to have a straight line of political development as if anybody does that, let alone a Black female artist,” she says. “We expect them to have this coherent development of political analysis, as if we can get inside their brain.”

By 2008, though, Beyoncé is telling the world what she’d do if she was born with male privilege (If I Were A Boy) and celebrating all the Single Ladies. Fast forward to her 2011 album ‘4’ – two years after she sang at Barack Obama’s inauguration – and she has millions of women chanting: “Who run the world? Girls.”

Beyonce performing at President Barack Obama's inauguration. 

Beyonce performing at President Barack Obama’s inauguration. 

It was Bey’s most obvious move into feminism, but writer Zeba Blay argues the song – along with Beyoncé’s light skin and blonde hair – still has mass appeal, because it’s “palatable…to white audiences”.

“When she sings ‘Who run the world ― girls!’ the girls she speaks of are an amorphous, ever-changing group, racially-ambiguous, of no specific social class,” she says.

Being a Black woman in the public eye is inherently political, and by adding your own opinions to the mix, you face even more scrutiny. Beyoncé’s ability to appeal to multiple groups while getting political is no mean feat.

“To have found ways to slip through the gaps and to own her own narrative, I think it’s kind of historically pretty unprecedented, to be able to do both of those things,” says Professor Robinson. “And then on top of that you have the impossibility to then be the right role model for all groups, it’s an impossible position.”

When Beyoncé eventually did make her personal stances clear, white mainstream media had a lot to say about it. Her 2014 VMA performance – when she stood proudly in front of the word ‘feminist’, singing tracks from her self-titled visual album – was divisive. Some said it was game-changing, others questioned her validity as a feminist.

In a piece for the Telegraph, Emma Watson said: “I felt her message felt very conflicted, in the sense that on one hand, she is putting herself in a category of a feminist, but then the camera, it felt very male, such a male voyeuristic experience of her.” Black woman like myself felt frustrated with the critique, as it seemed like white feminists were gatekeeping Black women from the feminist movement. During her ‘Mrs Cater’ tour, she received backlash again, as fans questioned why she used her married name.

But it was when she performed with Bruno Mars at the Super Bowl in 2016 – the year of Donald Trump’s election – that Beyoncé’s feminism became intersectional, focussing on race and politics. Some viewers found it uncomfortable to watch, because her outfit was inspired by the Black Panthers (as if that’s a bad thing).

Beyonce performing during the Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show in 2016.  

Beyonce performing during the Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show in 2016.  

Professor Robinson believes this upset people’s feelings, as she let white audiences know she wasn’t holding back any more. “There’s a big difference between being at a political inauguration and being associated with presidential politics,” she says. “Those things are accommodated within that comfort of white audiences enjoying Black music. But when you bring that to a football pitch, those lines are drawn, which makes people uncomfortable.”

Seeing her political transition at first did make me question why she wasn’t vocal about these issues in the past. I wasn’t sure if she was being performative or if it was authentic. But then I started to think about my own journey. I don’t think the same way I did when I was 18, and I’m sure my opinions will change when I’m older too. Nevertheless, I thought adding Chimamanda’s speech to Flawless was a huge power move. The speech resonated with me and made me think about my ideas of what it looks like to be a Black feminist. And it seems like I’m not the only one.

Abigail, a 27-year-old trainee lawyer from London, thinks Beyoncé has always been quite political, but believes we started to see a shift when she had her first daughter, Blue Ivy, in 2012. A bigger pivotal turn in her political awareness came during the Lemonade era, she argues.

“The visual album as a whole touched on the Black female experience in America and globally,” says Abigail, who chose not to share her surname.

“However, this is just looking at her career as a musician. She has always looked to address social and economic imbalances and this is evidenced in her building homes for Hurricane Katrina victims, supporting the families of those killed by police brutality, encouraging voter registration by having registrations booths at her concerts, creating the Formation and Homecoming scholarships for black students.”

As Beyoncé has evolved, so have her fans – and the long nature of Bey’s career means she has a special place in the hearts of many. “To me, as a Black woman, Beyoncé feels like a favourite aunt,” adds Abigail.

“She’s a reflection of the Black female experience. Her approach to the media and how she interacts with them is not just her maintaining the mystique of being a celebrity, but it’s her protecting her peace whilst still having a presence, something that so many Black women need in the workplace and in society in general.”

It’s been a hell of a ride – and it seems the Beyoncé conundrum is only set to continue. Her most recent album, Black is King, was applauded as a “love letter to Africa” by some, while others called it “incomplete”.

No one is above critique and rightly so – we should question celebrities and celebrity culture, but we should also allow them some grace. Beyoncé’s presence in mainstream media has allowed us to have conversations around Black feminism and intersectionality that we might not have had before.

As Robinson says: “I think the fans and the conversations around an artist, are actually where the real politics happens.

“Black feminism has had to do a brilliant job of explaining to white women that their experiences aren’t universal. These conversations have highlighted that some feminist issues don’t represent the experiences of Black women.”

Share Button