My deed is running the website Hot For Writing (www.hotforwriting.com).
Feminism is very important to me. Living in a society where women aren’t always considered in the same way as men, or given the same opportunities, or even offered a mouth piece in some cases, it’s important to me that people (male or female) can openly identify as feminist and promote a more inclusive approach to things.
In 2010 I set up the website Hot For Writing (www.hotforwriting.com), which I initially planned to be a one-year personal project with which I could explore modern-day feminism and develop my journalistic writing. I knew the type of stories I wanted to read, so decided to create my own space in which to collect them and from which I hoped to inspire alternative viewpoints, debate and discussion.
Since launching Hot For Writing, I’ve written over 100 articles, each with a focus on one or more of the core themes of the site – women, feminism, health, education, politics, religion, gender… I’ve built up a core group of readers who have commented, rebuffed, challenged and in some cases completely changed the way I’ve seen things.
Once the pieces on Hot For Writing started attracting comment from ‘the internet’, I knew there was no way I could keep the project running for just one year – now, almost three years later, I’m still writing, and I’ve recently invited other writers to get on board and contribute to the site to keep the debate going.
There are so many stories about women that make the news every day – from positive, uplifting stories, to stories that inspire nothing but horror and sadness – but there are many more stories that don’t make the news at all. All of these stories are worth sharing, and if people talk about them, debate them, get involved… then – in my book – that’s all the better.
