The Bluestocking, Vol VIII:

Velkommen! (I'm writing from Denmark.)

Summer is over, isn't it? Wednesday marked the Great Entightening, which is my infallible guide to the changing of the seasons.

Reduced service this week. The hedgehog later makes up for it, IMO.

Helen


Being right about Iraq made the British left insufferable

I was right, and my being right helped no one, ameliorated no violence, saved no lives. Or rather, it helped one person, meaning me – helped by giving my world a gleaming sense of right and wrong that made an otherwise morally awkward universe much easier to navigate.

A rare on-brand plug for an NS piece, because I recognised myself in this and because it upset the insufferable people. By the excellent @sarahditum.

When women stalk women online

These cults of personality developed through social media have led many women to experience occasional, aggressive, and unwanted attention from other women. (Which may be no surprise, given that studies have shown simply consuming information about the lives of others decreases one's own sense of worth and increases a sense of envy.) Increasingly, I hear friends mention having stalkers, and they're rarely referring to men.

A surprisingly common experience, apparently (after I posted this on Facebook, I had a couple of women I know say it had happened to them). This is a distinct form of harassment, distinct from the drive-by or co-ordinated abuse more common on Twitter - it's "punching up" in a way. The women targeted tend to be "privileged", because it's about jealousy and aspiration. For that reason, and because it's women-on-women, I think it's harder to talk about. It doesn't fit into our pre-conceived notions of what stalking looks like.

It's always Johnlock time.

Quick links: Bruce Gilden's spectacularly unflattering portraits. How waiters in posh restaurants make patrons feel special. The most priceless correction I've seen in ages (at the bottom). Uber is turning into a privatised public transport system. Seat 61 has always been my favourite place to waste time: plan a long train journey online. Slack and the rise of the private internet. I went to see Benny C's Hamlet. Although this piece doesn't really get into it, surely there's a simple reason that no app icons are pink? Because then it would be seen as AN APP FOR GIRLS. UGH. (Strangely no one worries about blue app icons sending off the signal they are for boys, but then's that the app version of "objectivity is male subjectivity".)

Boggle: at this authentic Windows 95 screensaver. Not everything was better in the 90s. Although that one where you were inside a disco maze was pretty good. And Flying Windows, until it made you feel sick.

See you next week. I'm on helenlewisbook@gmail.com