I recently posted this article on facebook with the following comment: I just want to laugh and laugh but then I remember how sad beauty pageants make me. Nothing like a woman being judged on her face and body that screams Empowered Woman. In retrospect, I would have phrased that better, like so: Nothing screams Empowered Woman like being judged on your face and body.  Anyway, I wanted to

One of the things I always say when talking about abuse is, if you see something, say something. Why? Because it makes a statement. A fancy way of saying that is the Personal is Political. This phrase, which you've probably heard before, is a feminist mantra, our battle cry; personal problems are political problems. It was famously used by Carol Hanisch in her essay of the same title, (read

I had the privilege of listening to Rev. de Chickera speak at a forum organised by the SL Young Journalists' Association, and this speech needs to be shared for a wider listen.   Also give a listen to Mr. Sumanthiran (impressive as always) and Mr. Pubudu Jagoda, whose Sinhala oration is so very beautiful. A more comprehensive coverage of the event can be found here and here.

What I've been reading, in no particular order.. * A bit of State sponsored satire for you: Strongly Recommended: Nobel Peace Prize for Lankan Army and more, but they probably don't like this one: Hail the miracle of Mattala * This is disconcerting: A 'like' on Facebook tells the world all it needs to know about you While the potential is exciting, all those clicks on videos, tweets

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Tinie Tempah? I've been a huge fan ever since Pass Out and I was crazy excited when I heard he was coming down for the Electric Peacock Festival. And he did not disappoint. He played an amazing one hour set; I have literally not felt such energy from a crowd since I saw Matchbox Twenty four years ago. He was the perfect combination of singer and

Apologies to my employers, but I have done no work today. Simply put, I've been enthralled, click upon click, with this argument raging in the feministosphere on rape. It all started with Alyssa Royse's Nice Guys Commit Rape Too which I read and partially agreed with.. until I read Why the 'nice guys commit rape too' conversation is not helpful and the less subtly titled What in the Holy Hell

Working on OBR the last couple of weeks has been all kinds of wonderful. So many great emails and messages from people who support the cause. Of course the best show of support was everyone who turned up on the 14th, but even verbal support shows that there is space here in Sri Lanka to use the momentum of OBR and make things happen over the next year. Below is my attempt to document all the

Shit got pretty cray last night. As the light started to fade many of us were on our balcony watching the prison in the distance, listening to sporadic gunshots and watching the army personnel beginning to amass below. An ambulance drove by, police closed the road off from the main junction and as darkness fell, the street lights were turned off, plunging us into

A Final Embrace. Photograph by Taslima Akhter As I write this the final search for those buried in the rubble of Rana Plaza comes to a close; a shocking 1127 lives lost, due to negligence, lack of ethics, and as always, that bottom line.  Even now, as the Bangladeshi government scrambles to introduce new labour laws, we must remember that a thousand people had to die for us and by

* Melo, this time around, was an eclectic experience; one which I hope they will repeat again and again. There were songs in Hindi, Arabic, Malayali and Sinhala..  There were songs so sexual it made my uterus shrivel.. I jest (not really), but much love to Dave for bringing this Pete Murray song into my world (4:30).. Gehan did a stellar version of Mexico.. (see what I did

* We've all heard about the horrific massacre that took place in Newtown, CT on the 14th of December, and the knife attack in China which wounded 22 children. While we are left to question who would do this to children? there have been quite a few interesting articles written on the event. This article, titled I am Adam Lanza's Mother, gives insight into the daily challenge of living with a

Annasi and Kadalagotu Poetry P'lau is happening again this Saturday at Hansa café, 2-6pm. I attended the last one held in June, and was pleasantly surprised at the turnout and calibre of poetry presented. The location is not ideal for a crowd larger than maybe 15, and the setup is such that late comers feel very very awkward, walking into the midst of a poetry circle, but there are enough

A Day is only as good as the 364 days before it, working towards it. The last year has been personally amazing for me, talking to, living with and getting to know some amazing women who have challenged me, encouraged me, supported me and brought me along on this terrible, inspiring, heart breaking, empowering journey of challenging the very institutions and structures that hold us women back.

Too many links, too little time, but here's a few I bookmarked over the last few days months. I might need to make more time for blogging. * Firstly, if you are not already following the Divineguma debate, and the impeachment of the Chief Justice, you should be. Start reading, here are some links 1, 2, 3, 4. * Read this. Creepshots and revenge porn: how paparazzi culture affects women I

let it go – the smashed word broken open vow or the oath cracked length wise – let it go it was sworn to go let them go – the truthful liars and the false fair friends and the boths and neithers – you must let them go they were born to go let all go – the big small middling tall bigger really the biggest and all things – let all go dear so comes love  e.e. cummings

If you're anything like me, and you're probably not, September brings with it memories of a comfy red duvet, a large-footed Russian, and pumpkin spice lattes on the way to class. One of the highlights of our final year in college was the Starbucks that opened on campus, and I spent a pretty penny on their seasonal drinks, chugging that shiz down like it was an arrack and co glass of ice water on

The Melomanic Sessions are back! Over the break we had some pretty sad news: the Warehouse Project, with all its warehousey goodness is no longer able to host the Sessions. *tears* But the team has been hard at work location scouting and has found a new venue. Tomorrow (Saturday, 18th May), Melo will be held at the Dutch Burgher Union. More details. ps. be generous with your donations.

Shear Madness is a really cool initiative by Grassrooted Trust, aimed at raising awareness and funds for marginalised women and girls in the Anuradhapura district to improve their skills and business opportunities. You can volunteer to have your hair shaved off or sponsor someone who's braver than you! The campaign will launch at 5pm at Barefoot on Monday, 10th December. For more details,