Chapters (64)
- Cover
- About the Author
- Dedication
- Chapter One
- Chapter Two
- Chapter Three
- Chapter Four
- Chapter Five
- Chapter Six
- Chapter Seven
- Chapter Eight
- Chapter Nine
- Chapter Ten
- Chapter Eleven
- Chapter Twelve
- Chapter Thirteen
- Chapter Fourteen
- Chapter Fifteen
- Chapter Sixteen
- Chapter Seventeen
- Chapter Eighteen
- Chapter Nineteen
- Chapter Twenty
- Chapter Twenty-One
- Chapter Twenty-Two
- Chapter Twenty-Three
- Chapter Twenty-Four
- Chapter Twenty-Five
- Chapter Twenty-Six
- Chapter Twenty-Seven
- Chapter Twenty-Eight
- Chapter Twenty-Nine
- Chapter Thirty
- Chapter Thirty-One
- Chapter Thirty-Two
- Chapter Thirty-Three
- Chapter Thirty-Four
- Chapter Thirty-Five
- Chapter Thirty-Six
- Chapter Thirty-Seven
- Chapter Thirty-Eight
- Chapter Thirty-Nine
- Chapter Forty
- Chapter Forty-One
- Chapter Forty-Two
- Chapter Forty-Three
- Chapter Forty-Four
- Chapter Forty-Five
- Chapter Forty-Six
- Chapter Forty-Seven
- Chapter Forty-Eight
- Chapter Forty-Nine
- Chapter Fifty
- Chapter Fifty-One
- Chapter Fifty-Two
- Chapter Fifty-Three
- Chapter Fifty-Four
- Chapter Fifty-Five
- Chapter Fifty-Six
- Chapter Fifty-Seven
- Chapter Fifty-Eight
- Chapter Fifty-Nine
- Epilogue
- 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.