Normal birth destruction; first female infantryman; far right agitators; Body Myth discount code; Holly McNish; meadowstink
nosebag #88
Good morning all! And welcome to the nosebag, my Sunday round up of everything I’ve been reading, writing and thinking about in the past week. In this week’s edition, you’ll find some thoughts on the current maternity crisis in which everyone seems keen to point the finger of blame at the faulty female body but not so much at the determined group of individuals who have spent the last decade campaigning very effectively against ‘normal birth’. Well, we don’t have normal birth any more it seems, so…slow hand clap to them.
Added to this we’ve got a video that, well, if you ever need to explain the madness of trans to your friends, this is the one. It’s a BBC report from 2016 about the ‘first female infantryman’. You won’t believe your eyeballs.
Added to this there’s poetry, a discount code for 40% off my new book, plus all kinds of other news / thoughts / ideas - perfect to nose through over your Sunday morning coffee. Enjoy!
Oh and if you’re reading in email, it’s very likely to be cut short - to get round this, be sure to click on the title to read the whole nosebag in your browser.
Life for me at the moment is mainly about being a pot plant parent to two girls who are doing A Levels and GCSEs simultaneously; enjoying the last moments of my son’s pre-puberty version of himself; and navigating the dramatic landscape of my own fifth decade. The latter involves showing up each day for the various people in my life as well as suddenly having more time to show up for myself. As my children become adults, I return to the person I used to be. It feels a bit like going back to visit a beloved old home and realising it still belongs to you. Removing the dust sheets and assessing the damage. Opening curtains and noticing that whilst much has changed, much has stayed the same. It still has good bones.
The focus of my working life is now writing, writing, writing. This week I have:
