Category Archives: Life and style

Purrfect match: cats and their human doubles

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We all know someone who looks like their dog, but what about our feline friends? Photographer Gerrard Gethings set out to match moggies with their lookalikes – with uncanny results. By Kathryn Bromwich

If you’ve spent much time on the internet over the past decade, chances are you’ve seen some cats on there. Cats chasing their own tails. Cats attempting ill-judged jumps from one piece of furniture to another. Or, in the case of Gerrard Gethings, a cat who looked exactly like the actor David Schwimmer. “There’s something about the shape of Schwimmer’s face that’s quite interesting,” says the London-based photographer, “and the cat had exactly the same face. That pushed me over the edge, into thinking there was something in it.”

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Nimco Ali calls for frank discussion on violence against women in UK

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Campaigner gives first major interview after being appointed as government adviser on issue

The UK needs a frank conversation about the fear of male violence that women live with every day, according to the government’s new adviser on violence against women and girls.

In her first major interview since her role was announced on Friday, the feminist campaigner Nimco Ali – who has been a key figure in the global fight to end female genital mutilation (FGM) – said she wanted to work across political, ethnic and gender lines.

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How to clean your bed: ‘If you didn’t wash it for a year it would be a kilo heavier from dead skin’

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How often should you wash your sheets, pillows, doona and mattress? And when is it time to throw them out? Experts explain how to keep your bed clean

Do you treat your sheets like a cast iron skillet? Mainly wiped down, occasionally rinsed, never with detergent?

Men be treating their bedsheets like a damn cast iron pan

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Italian women take legal action over foetus graves marked with mothers’ names

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More than 100 women launch action as activists say practice is serious violation of human rights and privacy

A group of more than 100 Italian women have asked prosecutors to investigate who is behind the burial for nearly a decade of foetuses in graves marked with the names of their mothers in a cemetery in Rome.

The practice only came to light last week after one of the women, whose curiosity was sparked after reading about the so-called “fields of angels” in local newspapers, discovered a plot with a wooden cross bearing her name and the date on which the foetus was buried at Prima Porta cemetery. She subsequently posted about her experience on Facebook.

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‘I’ve put on a stone and my kids smell of oregano’: Guardian readers on their weirdest pandemic meals

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Being at home so much this year has led to some of us getting a bit more, well, experimental in our cooking. Here are 10 of the oddest offerings shared by readers

This year, as we spent months locked down at home and eating out became less routine, our habits changed in weird and wonderful ways. Away from the prying eyes of colleagues or other diners, we were free to experiment with surprising combinations. And with shortages in the spring of our usual buys, an increased desire for comfort food and just plain boredom, some of these strange – but satisfying – meals have stuck.

Here, Guardian readers tell us about the oddest dishes they have made during the pandemic.

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The e-scooter: road menace or saviour of the commute?

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They may be a common sight, but privately owned motorised scooters are still illegal on Britain’s roads and pavements. But with rental scheme trials taking place across the country, could they be answer to getting to work in the pandemic?

Standing upright, you glide, ghostlike, along the street. You have no emissions. You are alone, outside, unlikely to catch anything or pass anything on. You are no burden to the public transport system, nor do you contribute much to congestion. You take up little space.

Now you join a busier road, one with buses. Perhaps you feel small, vulnerable. But when the traffic bunches up and stops, you can pass. Ha! This is the future of urban travel, isn’t it? Make that the present: it is here, you are here, going somewhere else quickly, with a smile. You are also breaking the law.

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Netflix indicted by Texas grand jury over ‘lewd visual material’ in Cuties

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French film about pre-teen girls who form a dance group is called ‘prurient’ in Tyler County prosecution. Netflix defends story as social commentary against sexualisation

Netflix has defended the controversial film Cuties after it emerged the streaming giant is facing a criminal charge in Texas over the movie’s allegedly “lewd” depiction of children.

Cuties follows an 11-year-old Senegalese girl living in Paris who rebels against her conservative family’s traditions when she becomes fascinated with a “free-spirited dance crew”.

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Women’s health organisation president resigns following bullying and racism investigation

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Françoise Girard and two others cleared of racial discrimination but report finds culture of fear and intimidation at IWHC

The president of a women’s health charity has resigned following an investigation into allegations of racism and bullying within the organisation.

The findings of the independent investigation cleared Françoise Girard and two other senior managers at the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC) of unlawful racial discrimination or retaliation against employees.

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‘You’re left to rot if you speak up’: the abuse faced by female roadies

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For years, women who work on music tours have been patronised, denigrated and abused. But as the industry takes stock during the pandemic, change is hopefully coming

Sandwich-maker. Foot-rubber. Mother. Eye candy. Enabler. Subordinate. Weakling. Women and non-binary (NB) touring crew members have heard it all while working as managers, sound techs, drivers, engineers and other roles – and resistance is mounting as live gigs fitfully begin to return.

In 2018, sound engineer Chez Stock published a widely shared blog post detailing her experiences on tour with an unnamed major band, including allegations that the crew were offered bonuses if they could bring girls backstage for the band members and, on one occasion, being invited over the radio comms to take turns having sex with a drunk woman who had been brought into a dressing room.

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Fashion designer Kenzo Takada dies after catching Covid-19 aged 81

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Takada was the first Japanese designer to make a mark on the Paris fashion scene

The Japanese fashion designer Kenzo Takada has died in Paris after contracting Covid-19, a spokesperson has announced. He was 81.

Takada, known best by his first name, was the first designer from Japan to break into the city’s exclusive fashion milieu in the 1970s.

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Blue sky thinking: is it time to stop work taking over our lives?

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Anthropologist James Suzman says now is the perfect time to rein in our unsustainable work habits. But is it possible?

Three encounters loom large in the anthropologist James Suzman’s memory of his brief but informative stint in the corporate world. The first was early on, when he told a colleague that he didn’t need to spend the half-million pounds allocated for a task because he could do it for free. His colleague was horrified. “If you don’t spend your budget,” he said, “they won’t think we’re doing anything!”

Soon afterwards, Suzman was chatting with a board director about what they’d do if they won the lottery. Suzman thought of the director’s massive townhouse and annual bonus. He was surprised when the man told him that, even with a colossal windfall, he’d continue working.

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X-ray checked avocados: ‘It benefits us all if people will stop squeezing them’

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In an Australian first, a farm in Western Australia is using infrared technology to scan for unbruised avocados

Whether it’s a gentle pinch of the tip, or a full-handed feel of the base, touching an avocado before you buy it is a commonplace grocery store habit. But Suzie Delroy, a second-generation farmer based just outside of Pemberton in southern Western Australia, dreams of the day avocado shopping becomes contactless. “We always do the best we can to control the avocado, but by far the biggest bruising occurs when people go and squeeze them.”

Her assessment is backed up by a 2015 report from Australian Horticultural Innovation that involved, among other experiments, using an e-glove sensor to see how hard shoppers were squeezing the fruit. The report found “bruise severity at the retail store display, and from the consumers’ home, was significantly higher than at all preceding sampling points”. Avocados Australia also states that the average avocado is touched by four would-be shoppers before it’s bought.

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Sober October: 17 ways to unwind after a stressful day – without hitting the booze

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Thousands of people will attempt to give up alcohol next month and for many it will be the hour after work that ruins their plans. Here’s how to relax without reaching for alcohol

With Sober October just around the corner, thousands of us will again be attempting to give up booze for a month. But what are the best ways to wind down at the end of the day when alcohol is off the menu? Here are 17 ideas to get you started.

1 Find a new ritual to switch off. “It is important to mark the change in the day – where work ends and your life starts – especially if you are working at home,” says Laura Willoughby, the co-founder of the mindful drinking community Club Soda. “But that does not have to mean an alcoholic drink. Often it has become the time where we do most of our incidental drinking – we open the fridge at the end of the day without really realising.”

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Forget notions of coronavirus as a great equaliser – women are yet again the hardest hit | Helen Pankhurst

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Just like every emergency, Covid-19 is racist, ageist, classist and sexist. The world response to the pandemic must reflect this

In the early days of coronavirus, there was a view that a global pandemic would act as a great equaliser. “A virus doesn’t discriminate,” they said. “We’re all in this together.” It didn’t take long for such a credulous perspective to vanish.

Just like every emergency, every disaster, Covid-19 absolutely does discriminate. It’s ageist, it’s racist, it’s classist and it’s worst of all for those with pre-existing health conditions or disabilities.

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Most countries failing women and girls with Covid response, UN finds

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Global gender tracker assesses how governments address violence, strengthen women’s economic security and support unpaid caring

Most countries are failing to adequately protect women and girls during the fallout from Covid-19, according to a new UN database that tracks government responses to the pandemic.

The global gender tracker has looked at how 206 countries and territories address violence against women and girls, support unpaid care workers and strengthen women’s economic security.

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The wurst is over: why Germany now loves to go vegetarian

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More than 40% of Germans are cutting down on meat, and vegan burgers are a shopping mall staple

Inside a shopping mall in south Berlin, two colleagues are chomping on hamburgers and fries, cheese sauce running down their fingers as they try to beat the lunchtime clock.

Feelings of guilt are in short supply this Friday afternoon: the burger joint where the two women have grabbed a bite is called Vincent Vegan, and the patty inside the brioche bun is made of wheat, barley and soya.

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El Salvador woman freed after six years in jail following stillbirth

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Cindy Erazo was accused of aggravated homicide after an obstetric emergency

A woman sentenced to 30 years in jail after a stillbirth that was judged to be her fault has been released from jail in El Salvador.

Cindy Erazo, 29, from San Salvador, was granted conditional freedom on Wednesday after six years in jail.

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Female voices ‘drowned out’ in reporting on Covid-19, report finds

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Analysis of stories across six countries including UK found fewer than a fifth of experts quoted on the pandemic were women

Women’s voices have been “worryingly marginalised” in reporting of the coronavirus, partly due to the war-like framing of the pandemic, according to a report analysing stories across six countries.

Each woman’s voice in news coverage of the crisis is “drowned out” by at least three men, it said.

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‘I no longer participate’: Dutch celebrities rebel over Covid constraints

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Rapper Famke Louise joined by Bizzy and others refusing to follow government advice

They are young, famous and refusing to abide by the coronavirus restrictions. A group of Dutch celebrities have triggered both a sizeable backlash and a national debate after breaking cover on social media with the hashtag #ikdoenietmeermee, (I no longer participate).

The central figure is the rapper and model Famke Louise, 21, who told her 1 million Instagram followers she was no longer willing to go along with the growing number of restrictions designed to slow the spread of the virus. “Only together can we regain control of the government,” she said. “I no longer participate. Free the people.”

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Kissing cowboys: the queer rodeo stars bucking a macho American tradition

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Photographer Luke Gilford couldn’t believe his eyes when he first stumbled across a gay rodeo. He set out to capture the joyous, tender, authentic world he saw there

Luke Gilford was at a Pride event in northern California in 2016 when he was drawn to a stand by the sound of Dolly Parton singing 9 to 5. What he found there would change his life. Members of the local chapter of the Golden State Gay Rodeo Association were promoting what they do, and how they live. Gilford looked on in astonishment. “I grew up around this world,” he says. “I had no idea this existed. I really didn’t think it was real.”

A sought-after film-maker and photographer, to whom Barbara Kruger is a mentor and Pamela Anderson and Jane Fonda muses, Gilford cuts a striking figure. A New York Times profile that same year recounted how you could often catch a glimpse of him downtown, in a hand-me-down cowboy hat, football-style shoulder pads over his bare torso.

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