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Chapters (64)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. Dedication
  4. Chapter One
  5. Chapter Two
  6. Chapter Three
  7. Chapter Four
  8. Chapter Five
  9. Chapter Six
  10. Chapter Seven
  11. Chapter Eight
  12. Chapter Nine
  13. Chapter Ten
  14. Chapter Eleven
  15. Chapter Twelve
  16. Chapter Thirteen
  17. Chapter Fourteen
  18. Chapter Fifteen
  19. Chapter Sixteen
  20. Chapter Seventeen
  21. Chapter Eighteen
  22. Chapter Nineteen
  23. Chapter Twenty
  24. Chapter Twenty-One
  25. Chapter Twenty-Two
  26. Chapter Twenty-Three
  27. Chapter Twenty-Four
  28. Chapter Twenty-Five
  29. Chapter Twenty-Six
  30. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  31. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  32. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  33. Chapter Thirty
  34. Chapter Thirty-One
  35. Chapter Thirty-Two
  36. Chapter Thirty-Three
  37. Chapter Thirty-Four
  38. Chapter Thirty-Five
  39. Chapter Thirty-Six
  40. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  41. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  42. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  43. Chapter Forty
  44. Chapter Forty-One
  45. Chapter Forty-Two
  46. Chapter Forty-Three
  47. Chapter Forty-Four
  48. Chapter Forty-Five
  49. Chapter Forty-Six
  50. Chapter Forty-Seven
  51. Chapter Forty-Eight
  52. Chapter Forty-Nine
  53. Chapter Fifty
  54. Chapter Fifty-One
  55. Chapter Fifty-Two
  56. Chapter Fifty-Three
  57. Chapter Fifty-Four
  58. Chapter Fifty-Five
  59. Chapter Fifty-Six
  60. Chapter Fifty-Seven
  61. Chapter Fifty-Eight
  62. Chapter Fifty-Nine
  63. Epilogue
  64. Acknowledgements

The runner returns, and we’re led onto the set. Chuck Bloomer and a guest presenter, Amanda someone, are on the comfy sofa, and Dora and I are left to scale some perilously high chairs. Oh, God. We’re starting. Help. I can see the autocue, which is quite comforting. Can I please have an autocue?

‘Women’s website The Know is promoting itself as a ground breaking offering for young women—but is it breaking the right sort of ground?’ begins Chuck.

‘When writer Imogen Mounce wrote an explicit essay about her sexual experiences, the piece went viral, and was shared by celebrities from Emily Ratajkowski to Adele,’ adds Amanda. Wow! Adele? I didn’t know that!

‘However, Imogen has attracted praise and criticism in equal measure, and many people feel that the piece is little more than pornography, encouraging women to take sexual risks, and worse. Well, we’re joined today by Imogen, and the columnist and broadcaster Dora Bainbridge. Imogen, why did you write this piece?’

Because Harri made me? Because of the abysmal failure of Louise’s piece about Miss Piggy as a feminist icon? ‘Um, well, the thing is I…didn’t want to encourage anything, as such, The Know is about women’s honest…’

Dora cuts me off. ‘I think it’s disgusting. As the mother of daughters, young women who are about to start making their way in the world, I am horrified and appalled by The Know, and by Imogen’s piece. It’s cheap pornography masquerading as feminism, and when I think of my sisters at Greenham Common,’ What? I’ve definitely read something Dora has written in which she dismissed the peace protests as ‘attention seeking’—‘it’s desperately sad to see this generation of so-called feminists squandering their energy on sexual braggadocio!’

Chuck addresses Dora. ‘So you think that this generation has lost their way? Or that feminism has gone too far?’

What? How do I come back from that?

‘Yes, I do, Chuck. I think women are losing sight of what’s important, and this obsession with identity and performance is a real threat to the home, and to the family.’ Is that…did she just quote Phyllis Schlafly, verbatim? I might cry. I can picture Harri, watching from her monitor in the office, shaking her head. Everyone crowding around, horrified. Harri will be so disappointed in me. And that’s the thought that makes me sit up. I’ve got nothing to lose, now.