Sally Feldman
Sally Feldman is on the editorial board of New Humanist and a trustee of the Rationalist Association. She is Head of the School of Media, Arts and Design at the University of Westminster, and used to edit Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4.
Articles by Sally Feldman
Granny’s secret sauce
A new film celebrates grandmothers’ cooking. Why do these dishes have such unique power to comfort us?
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Laying claim to Christmas
Let's revel in the rich tradition of mid-winter festivities, celebrated long before they were sanitised by the Christians.
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The radical history of trousers
It has been a long, uncomfortable journey for women to win the freedom to choose what they wear.
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What goes around: the persistent symbolism of the ring
Rings have been a symbol of love – and dominance – for centuries. A new book explores their nuanced meanings and histories.
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What to put on top?
The Christmas tree is a product of many traditions - and long may it stay that way.
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The real consequences of misogyny on-screen
Sexual violence against women has become a staple of mainstream entertainment. It’s a worrying trend.
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The cult of celebrity diets
Today’s celebrity food purists are as sanctimonious as the religious in their devotion to dietary codes.
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Gloria Steinem and the road to liberation
This American feminist inspired a generation of women. What can her life tell us about today’s struggles for equality?
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The enduring appeal of makeup
We have worn makeup for thousands of years despite puritanical condemnation and the scorn of radical feminists. Why?
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Boys, keep out! A feminist history of the handbag
No-nonsense rationalists might sneer at the passion for women’s handbags, but they began as a way of making men obsolete
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Ways to go: meeting death without religion
More than any other rite of passage, death separates the devout from the damned. So what can a secular funeral offer?
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Golden girls
A generation of feminist writers is approaching old age. But the same debates, about beauty, wealth and power, rage on, writes Sally Feldman
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Danger zone
Centuries of fear and loathing mean the vagina remains taboo. Can a new generation of feminist writers rehabilitate this troublesome organ?
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Oh, happy day
Sally Feldman, a humanist wedding celebrant, welcomes a rational breakthrough in the marriage laws
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Flaming swords & gossamer wings
Though belief in religion is on the wane, angels have never been more popular. Why’s that? asks Sally Feldman
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Jam & Jerusalem
Underestimate the Women's Institute at your peril, says Sally Feldman
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Fairest of them all
Each retelling of Snow White holds a mirror up to contemporary attitudes to women. Sally Feldman ventures into the woods to find out more
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Saint for all seasons
The front runners are men, but could a woman born more than half a millennium ago hold the key to the French elections? asks Sally Feldman
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The revolution is coming
Can orgasms change the world? Sally Feldman revisits the politics of the climax
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Brain rot
What is neuroscientist Susan Greenfield on about? asks Sally Feldman
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Trouble at Grayling Hall
Its difficult not to see the New College of the Humanities as misguided and anti-humanist, says Sally Feldman
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Favourite things
Is it a noble instinct or a destructive desire? Sally Feldman delves into the pathology of collecting
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Kitchen sink drama
On International Women's Day Sally Feldman asks is it a coincidence that women are being driven back into the home?
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A many splendour’d thing
Moons and Junes, hearts, diamonds and red, red roses – this Valentine's Day, what could be more humanist than passionate romance? But, warns Sally Feldman, it may also be a dangerous delusion
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What’s the big deal?
From poker to Shithead, Canasta to cribbage, Sally Feldman extols the joys and rewards of card games
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Great pretender
Feminist icon, anti-Catholic fabrication – or just a woman battling in a man’s world? Sally Feldman uncovers the mysteries of Pope Joan
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Abs fab
Men are living longer than ever before. But, asks Sally Feldman, is that any cause for rejoicing?
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Exposed!
Is the desire to know other people’s secrets a natural instinct – or a vulgar vice? Sally Feldman lifts the lid on eavesdropping
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Going to the ladies
From the latrine to the loo, the pissoir to the powder room, Sally Feldman explores the sexual politics of toilets
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Dangerous liaisons
Will the new Policing and Crime Act protect prostitutes – or persecute them? Sally Feldman plunges into the underworld
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Digging for Darwin
In our final tribute to Darwin year, Sally Feldman celebrates the life of Mary Anning, the woman whose work helped to lay the foundations for the theory of evolution
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Keeping it holy
Sunday may be the ultimate symbol of Christian dominance. But, argues Sally Feldman, it could have value for humanists too
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Red alert
Is it a symbol of submission or of authority? Of glamour, lust or danger? Sally Feldman uncovers the myriad shades of lipstick
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Green eyed monster
Is jealousy an intrinsic part of our make-up? asks Sally Feldman. Or a weakness to be vanquished?
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Days of atonement
Visiting Israel just weeks before the current Gaza conflict, Sally Feldman found that rising religious bigotry is one of the biggest barriers to peace
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Highland fling
Sally Feldman finally discovers what lies beneath the kilt
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Speak up
Why do women screech when men shout? Sally Feldman explores the sexual politics of the voice
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Gender traitors
From 19th century anti-suffragists to today’s anti-feminists, Sally Feldman finds a common link between women who turn against themselves
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Heights of madness
As Sex and the City totters on to the big screen, Sally Feldman celebrates the agony and the ecstasy of the stiletto
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A Tsar is born
As a new theatrical tribute to Catherine the Great opens in Russia, Sally Feldman wonders what Putin’s people will make of the Empress of the Enlightenment
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Spoil yourself
Luxury may mean excess, vulgarity and obscene waste. But, argues Sally Feldman, it’s also a basic humanist instinct
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Check republics
The game of chess has its roots in rationalism. And, like the Enlightenment itself, argues Sally Feldman, it’s a force for both liberation and tyranny
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Virtue rewarded
Virgins of the world unite, says Sally Feldman. You have nothing to lose
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Heaven scent?
As the long awaited film version of Patrick Süskind's celebrated novel is released in the UK, Sally Feldman sniffs out the sacred and profane promise of perfume
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You must remember this
As Valentine's Day approaches, Sally Feldman warns that a kiss is never just a kiss...
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Slice of life
For some it's barbaric, for others a religious imperative. But why, asks Sally Feldman, is circumcision still the most frequently performed operation in the world?
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Change, change, change
Will you be a dentured crone, a leotarded granny, mutton dressed as lamb or an overweight harridan? Sally Feldman enters the mid-life maelstrom
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Clouded judgement
Its not just the flickering flames, the calm and cool that humanists are giving up, argues Sally Feldman. It's a precious part of themselves
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Till death us do part?
Weddings may be as popular as ever, but, as Sally Feldman discovers from our own survey, the chimes they are a changing
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Off the Boil
Sally Feldman chokes on her (Joyce Carol) Oates
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Mussolini in knickers
What's so funny about all those Twankeys and Trots strutting onto centre stage up and down the country? Sally Feldman defrocks the pantomime dame
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Car wars
Why do women drivers get such a dreadful press? Sally Feldman steers through the sexual politics of wheel power
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Because you’re worth it
Why do all the major religions have a fetish about women's hair? Sally Feldman celebrates a hidden source of power
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Fiendish summer quiz
Win a host of prizes
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Five thousand years of bitterness
Sally Feldman on the dazzling flaws of a Jewish chronicle
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Wild things
Sally Feldman explores the untamed frontiers of fashion, fetish and fur
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Coming out on top
With nipple counts at an all-time high, inflated sales of silicon implants, and the relentless rise of topless celebrities, Sally Feldman puzzles over the sexual politics of breasts
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Are you being served?
As two new TV series about the early days of the department store hit UK screens, we revisit Sally Feldman's paeon to the all too human(ist) urge to shop
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Onions in your navel
Sally Feldman sticks a few pins in the ancient custom of cursing
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Men in Masks
Sally Feldman isn't enamoured with Allende's swashbuckler
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You shall go to the ball
Misogynist trap, soppy fantasy, or universal truth? Sally Feldman waves a magic wand over Cinderella
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Very Boring Women
Sally Feldman is unsatisfied by Forster's cast of vague characters
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Cause without a rebel
Sally Feldman has issues with Ishiguro
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Bullseyes, Black jacks and Nelson’s Balls
How can something that tastes so good be so bad? Sally Feldman succumbs to the secret seduction of sweets
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Writer’s block
Sally Feldman on a flawed portrait of Henry James
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Points of departure
More and more people are choosing humanist funerals. But what if you're after something a little more exotic? Sally Feldman suggests a new marriage of the secular and the sacred
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Legacy of Cruelty
Sally Feldman on a rich new novel by Jane Gardam
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Losing the Plot
Michael Byerss new novel is a story looking for a plot, says Sally Feldman
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Saints and Slimmers
No carbs is the new Hail Mary. Sally Feldman discovers why diets are dangerous for humanists
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Take it on the chin
Having banned the wearing of Muslim headscarves in schools, the French government is now considering excluding beards if worn for religious reasons. Sally Feldman wonders what other reasons there might be
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Riot of metaphors
Sally Feldman struggles with Jeanette Wintersons symbolic prose
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Why I’m glad my daughter had under-age sex
Amid the clamours for censorship, celibacy and an end to teenagers' rights to confidentiality, Sally Feldman fulminates against the misguided moral crusaders
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Sculpted insights
Sally Feldman on Carol Shield's bid for immortality
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A dark heritage of fiction
by Sally Feldman
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Stripping Assets
As speculation mounts about who will be the new owner of Britain's best-selling conservative broadsheet, the Daily Telegraph, so does disgust at the prospect of a 'pornographer' as proprietor. But how much do his detractors actually know about his business? Sally Feldman delves between the covers
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Hail Mary!
Sally Feldman on making your children worship you
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Take it from me
Sally Feldman shows you how to pick a few brains . . .
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Suits you, Madam
Sally Feldman unbuttons the classic male costume
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Blessed Are the Yogurt Makers
Sally Feldman unwraps the complexity of the Christmas present
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More sex with boys
by Sally Feldman
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Hillbilly Secrets
Sally Feldman relishes an Italian parable
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