Feminist love will save men too

by Jendella Benson  “I hate how women think that they are doing me a favour by having sex with me,” he began. “What about me? My intimacy is just as valuable!” Aside from the bitter edge in his tone, I understood what he meant. I wanted to laugh and tell him that this was one… Read More

The unbearable whiteness of history

by Jendella Benson  Deciding that it is never too early to take the task of cultural reproduction seriously (see David Osa Amadasun’s article, “‘Black people don’t go to galleries’ – The reproduction of taste and cultural values”), I took my fourteen month old son to the National Portrait Gallery one brisk November afternoon. The exhibition… Read More

In conversation with writer and activist Sharon Dodua Otoo

by Jendella Benson “Parenting is the single most important thing I do.” This statement is the third sentence in the biography of Berlin-based activist and award-winning writer Sharon Dodua Otoo and it leapt out at me. Somewhere deep down I feel similarly, but it would never occur to me to say this out loud, let… Read More

Will you ruin your child’s life?

by Jendella Benson  “Well, as a mother…” If I’m honest I’ve been tempted to draw blood upon hearing this obnoxious qualifier more than once. While parenthood does afford you another perspective on many things, the sanctimonious emphasis on being a mother can be kind of unbearable. When Andrea Leadsom found herself opposing Theresa May in… Read More

Preparing Your Children For The Apocalypse

by Jendella Benson In the immortal words of rapper Aubrey “Drake” Graham, “Man, what a time to be alive! You and yours, versus me and mine!” When the annals of history are compiled, what will 2016 be known as? The year of Brexit and Trump? The year Prince and Bowie passed on? Or perhaps we’ll… Read More

The Importance of Conversations and Community

by Jendella Benson I didn’t realise I had postnatal depression until I wrote about it. And even then I didn’t accept it fully until other mothers read what I had written and told me, “I had postnatal depression too!” I’d been diagnosed with depression and anxiety before, and had spoken about it and my experience… Read More

For women who have been aggressively sold the idea that they are not enough

by Jendella Benson  Why did Brad and Angelina break up? Does anyone know or are we still grasping in the dark to make sense of this travesty? But why did we think they would never break up? Celebrities divorce all the time, so what makes this instance so disappointing? A sentiment I saw repeated and… Read More

‘Baby Brain’ and Other Myths

by Jendella Benson  I hate the term ‘baby brain’. It feels like an inside joke amongst mothers that uttered by any other person feels patronising. It suggests a certain type of ditzyness due to your brain turning to mush, like being around an infant all day every day somehow mentally incapacitates you. But ‘baby brain’… Read More