Excluding Muslim women who wear headscarves from the public sphere does nothing for gender equality or peaceful integration Throughout Europe, over the past decade, there has been a loud – and at times openly xenophobic – debate about whether a Muslim woman should be allowed to wear a headscarf while on duty in a government job. Various types of bans have been enacted in several countries, including France, Germany, and Turkey. Some feminists seek these bans in the name of helping Muslim women, whom they often see as uniformly oppressed. Anti-immigration politicians seek these policies because they see people who...

The body responsible for safeguarding equality in the UK will tell the government that the economic climate is too fragile to impose equal pay reviews on business. With women’s pay on average 17% less than men’s and the gap increasing, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, formed 18 months ago, will say that the reviews should be excluded from the forthcoming equalities bill when it publishes its recommendations. Summarising the strategy, the (former) chief executive of the EHRC, Nicola Brewer, said an entirely new equal pay act was needed, and called for “radical reform in the future.” This would be a...

I suppose I became a feminist when I witnessed domestic violence at close proximity. Within Asian families, I’m sad to say, violence against women can be rife. How that statistically compares with white families I don’t know, but I’m pretty confident in saying there are deep-rooted cultural traditions that value men more than women and let them get away with minor and major sexism against women. I’m going to play the race card here for a bit, because I think it’s worth doing. Asian men are terribly bad at feminism. I say this not because I derive some sadistic pleasure...

The University Challenge sensation Gail Trimble is not the first intelligent woman to face prejudice and slander Some men define themselves by which part of the female anatomy they prefer: breasts, legs, arse, etc. Personally, I’m more a brains and face kind of guy. I’ve always been attracted to intelligent women with beautiful facial features, and my wife ticks those boxes for me. Gail Trimble, the grand boffin of University Challenge who seemed to have a Google implant in her brain, has ventured into relatively uncharted territory for brainy women: she has become a media sensation. Not only have her...