1/. Horrific!
@lindsaylohan interviewed by David Letterman in 2013.
2/. INTERVIEWER: Everyone’s talking about it

BRITTNEY] shy smile] What?

INTERVIEWER: Your breasts

#BrittneySpears getting asked about getting breast implants, aged 16, on German TV.
3/. In 1975, Michael Parkinson introduced Helen Mirren as the “sex queen” of @TheRSC

He asked if her “equipment” or “physical attributes” had prevented her from becoming a serious actor, & whether the size of her breasts “detract from the performance”.
4/. “We should say Miss Fookes is the most gorgeous redhead"

In 1970, Janet Fookes MP, had to put up with thiis

Today, no interviewer would talk to an MP or Congresswoman like this

But whilst behaviours may have shifted, prejudices live stubbornly on.
5/. INTERVIEWER: Were you able to wear undergarments?

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: What kind of interview is this?

INTERVIEWER: Is that inappropriate?

SJ: To ask someone what type of underwear they’re wearing? What do you reckon?”

This interview was last year!
This clip of Dutch interviewer, Ivo Niehe, & 17-year-old #BritneySpears features in a new @nytimes #FreeBritney documentary

“Framing Britney Spears” is a damning portrait of how the media (& society at large) treat female celebrities (& women in general).
google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.news…
6/. This short thread, spanning five decades of misogyny, shouldn’t come as a surprise

It’s been the mood music accompanying all our lives

Some think things have got better, but with misogyny & abuse being ‘democratised’ by social media, I would disagree
7/. The point of this thread wasn't to encourage a pile on against Letterman, Parky or that weird Dutch guy

It was to highlight the fact that sexism has been part of our culture for a very long time

Growing up in a culture, you assume that the behaviours of adults are "normal".
8/. To those asking "why weren't you outraged at the time?"

Maybe we were

Or maybe we were too young to understand misogyny & structural inequality back then

Or maybe culture taught us this was the way things were

The Benny Hill Show had 21 million viewers in 1970’s Britain.

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More from @StefSimanowitz

13 Feb
1/. Do you remember what you did last #Valentines?

Prof Ferguson was warning that 400,000 Briton’s could die

Minutes from NERVTAG’s 21 Feb meeting, reveal govt scientific advisors estimated that, without action, deaths could top 1.3 million

Yet no action was taken for a month!
2/. Meanwhile, @BorisJohnson & his pregnant girlfriend, @carriesymonds, went to stay in Chevening country house...for 12 days!

The govt claim this was a ‘working holiday’ but @C4Dispatches reported that “aides were told to cut down documents or the PM just wouldn't read them”.
3/. During these 12 days in the country, the PM - who admitted he doesn’t read the scientific papers - missed two COBRA meetings

He used the time to finalise his divorce & plan the announcement he was expecting a baby

When he came back to London, he was winging it as usual👇
Read 5 tweets
12 Feb
At 8pm, the deadline expires for Spanish rapper, @PabloHasel, to turn himself into the police & begin a 2+ year prison term...for his song lyrics & tweets

Pablo Hasél tweeted this morning: “Tendrán que venir a secuestrarme!” (“They'll have to kidnap me!”)
amnesty.org/en/latest/news…
No one should be criminalized for tweeting/singing something that may be distasteful or shocking

#PabloHásel's conviction for "glorifying terrorism" & “insulting the crown" sparked protests & spurred @amnistiaespana to launch a campaign with @c_tangana.
Pablo Hasel will be the first musician in #Spain to be jailed for his lyrics but other rappers like @valtonyc & other artists, journalists & activists have also been targeted under the same law.

Rappers of the world speak out
@SnoopDogg?
@50cent?
@Diddy?
Read 4 tweets
10 Feb
1/. “As he walked out of prison it was also us who were set free.”

31 years ago, Nelson #Mandela was released after 27 years behind bars.

As Breyten Breytenbach wrote at the time: "Perhaps there is now a little more sense to our dark passage on Earth.” aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/…
2/. “Through his integrity, courage & strength Mandela showed by example what a single individual can achieve, & in so doing he instilled the belief that injustice, whether large or small, can be defeated.”

This is #Mandela’s legacy

Honour it thru action
newsweek.com/remembering-ma…
3/. #Mandela walked out of jail 31 years ago

It took another 4yrs before #SouthAfrica would go to the polls & vote to end 350yrs of racial domination

But the birth pangs of the Rainbow Nation were tense & blood-soaked

At times civil war was a real fear
Read 13 tweets
8 Feb
“Look into my eyes, Prime Minister, & tell me why - a year after #COVID19 hit the UK - the govt have failed to produce clear, powerful public guidance”...like this, from March 2020👇

A lot of people are still wearing their masks incorrectly because there’s been no guidance!
For the first 4 months, UK & US govts insisted we didn’t need face masks, despite the evidence to the contrary

Then - on the same day in both countries - masks became mandatory

And yet there’ s been no basic public info about how even to wear a mask.
Experts knew #COVID19 transmission was airborne - via droplet or aerosol - so why did the UK & US govts reject masks?

TIP: For anyone struggling to stop your glasses misting up or keeping the mask from slipping a simple plaster or band aid does wonders. (Pic via @DanHeifermanMD)
Read 5 tweets
7 Feb
“If you see me - shivering and dumbed with loss - stand by me, because grief needs a witness”

We can weep at a wildlife film, but shut out grief that is closer to home

On 5 March - a year after the first Briton died of #COVID19 - we will take a moment to mourn
#CovidMemorialDay
Shakespeare writes: “Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak whispers o-er wrought heart & bids it break”

Most countries have had a national moment to mourn the dead

Spain had a 10-day period of remembrance

#CovidMemorialDay was Biden’s 1st act
amnesty.org/en/latest/news…
Grief is the collateral damage of love

The deeper the love, the more painful the grief

On March 5 2021, the BBC reported that a 70-year-old woman in Reading had become the first Briton to die of #COVID

On March 5 2021, we will mark #CovidMemorialDay UK.
covidmemorialday.org.uk
Read 4 tweets
4 Feb
1/. A month ago, asked why - after 10 months - there aren’t checks at airports, @BorisJohnson faltered:

“We will be bringing in measures to ensure that we test people coming into this country & prevent the virus being re-admitted.”

We are still waiting.
2/. Asked about the lack of airport checks on 9 March, @OliverDowden got things wrong telling @rachelburden "anyone of concern is tracked" & @KayBurley that cabin crew had "had enhanced training" to spot #COVID19

On 14/7/20, @piersmorgan asked him again!
3/. The advice was very clear in February/early March that flights from #COVID19 hotspots, like northern Italy, would speed the arrival & spread of #coronavirus in the UK

Not only was this advice ignored, but was the Minister of Transport gaslighting us?
Read 10 tweets

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