Latest news with #femalePerspective
Fox News
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Bill Maher slams 'The View' co-hosts, says they're not 'the best advertisement for women'
HBO host Bill Maher had some harsh words for the co-hosts of "The View" on Monday. While interviewing actress and talk show host Drew Barrymore on his "Club Random" podcast, Maher admitted he doesn't think that the five women who host the ABC show are the best spokespeople for the female perspective. "And I like everyone, but I don't know if they're really at this moment the best advertisement for women," he told the actress. The topic came up when "The Drew Barrymore Show" host told Maher to visit New York City and be a guest on her show, which prompted Maher to talk about his friendship with several of the women on "The View." He acknowledged his fondness for them as his friends but admitted their show is "a lot." "I'm friendly with some of the ladies on 'The View' and I love them but, like, that show's a lot." Barrymore brought up that 'View' co-host Joy Behar appeared on her show recently and Maher remarked, "I love Joy." He went on to say that though he likes everybody on the ABC talk show, he's not such a fan of their talking points on the program. "They say some things that are just like, not helpful, say to elections." Maher appeared as a guest on "The View" in May 2024, where he clashed with co-host Sunny Hostin about Israel's conduct in its war with Hamas. Hostin argued that Israel was murdering innocent Palestinian civilians and children in the conflict, and Maher pushed back. He stated that he was concerned about innocent lives being lost but insisted that Israel has the right to fight its war with Hamas and that if Hamas was concerned about innocent lives, they'd stop their attacks. "That's what happens in a war. Here's a way to stop that, stop attacking Israel," he said. The HBO host also called out "The View" co-host Whoopi Goldberg in recent weeks, after she claimed in July that Black people are oppressed in America the same way that women are oppressed in Iran. "That is something that, again, is infuriating about the far left, I would say. Call them whatever they wanted. Not the woke, the stupid woke, like Whoopi Goldberg, love her, but when she said a couple weeks ago that being Black was the same as being a woman in Iran, it's like, yeah, in 1920, but not today," Maher said during an episode of his podcast with his guest, progressive commentator Brian Tyler Cohen.
The Guardian
04-08-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Woman's memoirs give fascinating insight into life in 17th-century northern England
She was a 17th-century Yorkshirewoman whose memoirs combined commentaries on major political events with local and personal details of her life. Now an academic who has studied the writings of Alice Thornton has said they provide a 'northern female perspective' in contrast to the London-based diarist Samuel Pepys. Thornton's memoirs contain accounts of financial catastrophe, rumours of sexual impropriety, childbirth, attempted rapes and repeated interventions by God to deliver her from an early death. Thornton lived to be 80, a remarkable age at the time. Two of four autobiographical volumes were discovered by Cordelia Beattie, a history professor at the University of Edinburgh. One was handed by a descendant of Thornton to Beattie's father in a pub in Ludlow, Shropshire, and the second was unearthed in the library of Durham Cathedral. They have been reunited online with two other volumes that were acquired by the British Library from a private collection in 2009. A digital edition was produced earlier this year. Beattie, who has spent the past four years studying the manuscripts, said the volumes were 'four versions of Thornton's life as her circumstances changed and she looked back over the years trying to make sense of what happened'. Thornton was 'particularly keen to restate her identity as a chaste wife and to lay the blame for the family's downturn in fortune on various male family members, including her late husband', she said. 'Her writings show that, alongside domestic and familial responsibilities, early modern women were fully engaged with the political events of their day.' Thornton was born in Yorkshire in 1626. The family moved to Ireland seven years later, where her father became lord deputy shortly before he died. Amid the turmoil of the Irish Rebellion, the family returned to northern England, where they were caught up in the civil war. As royalists, their estates were confiscated, and parliamentarian and Scottish soldiers were billeted on their land. Thornton agreed to marry a parliamentarian to secure her family's financial future. She gave birth to nine babies, later describing both the dangers of childbirth and the deaths of six of her infant children. Her husband, William, died in 1668 without a will and leaving her heavily in debt. Her financial woes are detailed in her books, but they show her to be financially shrewd and capable of negotiating complex legal matters. 'She was quite switched on and adept at managing finances,' said Beattie. In Book One, Thornton defends herself against rumours that she was conducting a clandestine affair with the local curate, Thomas Comber, who was not only nearly 20 years her junior but was also engaged to her 14-year-old daughter. 'She really struggles with this because she thinks of herself as a godly woman, a chaste wife. I think she does have a good relationship with Comber, but the fact that people think she might be cheating on her husband really worried her,' said Beattie. Comber is later appointed dean of Durham Cathedral. 'He does well for himself. But people wonder why she married off her daughter at the age of 14, and the rumour is that it's about Alice trying to get Comber for herself.' Thornton also writes about two attempted rapes. One of her attackers was a captain in the Scottish army 'who did swear to ravish me … but I was saved'. The second was a man whose overtures she rejected. He 'laid wait to have catched me … to have forced me to marry or destroy me'. A one-woman play, The Remarkable Deliverances of Alice Thornton, based on her writings, prompted one audience member to describe her life as a '17th-century EastEnders'. Beattie said: 'This shows that the themes explored in these manuscripts are still relevant, important and engrossing.'
The Guardian
28-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
‘We need to reclaim these words': Inside England's first romance-only bookshop catering to record levels of popularity
Whether you want a brooding billionaire, a queer awakening, a dragon rider (yes, really) or an old-fashioned enemies-to-lovers tale, there's a romance novel for everybody at Saucy Books. England's first romance-only bookshop opened last week in Notting Hill, west London, instantly becoming a go-to destination for readers and turning into a meeting spot for like-minded folk to share their love stories. And although detractors have dismissed the genre as 'smut' or 'fairy porn', fans say there is nothing to blush about – these are just brilliantly written stories. What is not in doubt is their popularity: there were record sales for the 'romance and sagas' genre last year, according to data gathered from more than 7,000 UK booksellers, up to £69m in 2024. The surge in sales pushed UK fiction revenue above £1bn for the first time. 'The popularity of the store speaks for itself,' says Sarah Maxwell, the founder of Saucy Books. 'We even had to ticket our first week and give time slots to customers.' But she believes sexism is keeping the genre from the mainstream. 'There's so much snobbery and bias,' Maxwell says. 'People think it's less than or low quality, which is not true at all. These are all very high quality authors and high quality stories. 'I think there's an inherent misogyny around it. A lot of the time, the sorts of things that women like across arts and culture tends to get discounted. These books are about the female perspective and female gaze when most media is through the male gaze. 'That's why I have a smut hut, because I feel like we need to reclaim some of these words.' The smut hut, a space dedicated to erotic titles, sits in the corner, adorned with ornaments such as whipped suncream, chapstick and a placard reading 'Traders Dicks'. It's seems less like a bookstore and more a community centre. During the Guardian's visit on Thursday afternoon, dozens of women filter through the shop, browsing titles and starting conversations about their favourite authors. Most of them have learned about the store through TikTok. One customer is browsing the shelves with her mother. She says she can get through a novel in under three hours, and last year she read 300 books. Deck chairs and a tiki parasol adorn the store's perimeter, while inside brightly painted shelves hold up titles such as Swept Away, The Unhoneymooners and The Friendship Fling. 'I was really surprised that a shop like this didn't already exist,' says Maxwell, a creative strategist and former tech executive from LA. 'When I went to find books of OG romance writers, I couldn't find any of them in-store. It made me quite angry. You have these amazing authors, who carry the publishing industry – 20% of fiction sales is romance books – and they're getting no shelf space whatsoever. I felt like I needed to do something.' Many contemporary romance books are marketed under tropes such as 'enemies to lovers', 'forbidden love' and 'second chance romance'. The 'romantasy' genre (a blend of romance and fantasy) is a constant fixture on bestseller lists, largely due to the dedicated following it has gained on TikTok. Series such as Rebecca Yarros's Fourth Wing and Sarah J Maas's A Court of Thorns and Roses (known by fans as Acotar) feature female protagonists entering high-stakes relationships in magical worlds. Jessica Roberts, a shop assistant at Saucy Books, has noticed that the current craze is for a trip to the wild west. 'Cowboy romances are very popular right now. Two girls came in their cowboy boots to purchase them yesterday,' she says. Among those visiting the store on Thursday are Rebecca Pollard and Haley Page from New York. 'I got [Haley] all the Acotar books, I think they're the best way to start. They're like a gateway drug into becoming a psycho,' Pollard laughs. 'I feel like a cult leader. I have a library at my house, and when my friends call me I'm like, 'what do you need? I've got it'. People are like, 'I'm so happy it's books for you and not drugs, because you're such a pusher'.' Page says: 'I'm a very hard sell, but she tells me something and I will listen. I'm so excited to read these, I'm taking them to Mykonos tonight. I'm going to be at the beach with my new book boyfriend, and I'll be calling Rebecca every second like 'oh my god'.' Pollard says she's been waiting desperately for the sixth book in the Acotar series. 'I would do anything to become invisible and just go and check Sarah J Maas's laptop.' And she thumbs her nose at the mainstream responses to the genre. 'I get really defensive when people use derogatory terms. Don't call it fairy porn until you've read it, because you have to wait 380 pages for a kiss in the second book of Acotar. Why is it smut, because it's centred around female pleasure? No one's saying that about Game of Thrones.' Atmosphere – Taylor Jenkins Reid The Love of My Afterlife – Kirsty Greenwood What If I Never Got Over You – Paige Toon A Court of Thorns and Roses series – Sarah J Maas Great Big Beautiful Life – Emily Henry
The Guardian
28-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
‘We need to reclaim these words': Inside England's first romance-only bookshop catering to record levels of popularity
Whether you want a brooding billionaire, a queer awakening, a dragon rider (yes, really) or an old-fashioned enemies-to-lovers tale, there's a romance novel for everybody at Saucy Books. England's first romance-only bookshop opened last week in Notting Hill, west London, instantly becoming a go-to destination for readers and turning into a meeting spot for like-minded folk to share their love stories. And although detractors have dismissed the genre as 'smut' or 'fairy porn', fans say there is nothing to blush about – these are just brilliantly written stories. What is not in doubt is their popularity: there were record sales for the 'romance and sagas' genre last year, according to data gathered from more than 7,000 UK booksellers, up to £69m in 2024. The surge in sales pushed UK fiction revenue above £1bn for the first time. 'The popularity of the store speaks for itself,' says Sarah Maxwell, the founder of Saucy Books. 'We even had to ticket our first week and give time slots to customers.' But she believes sexism is keeping the genre from the mainstream. 'There's so much snobbery and bias,' Maxwell says. 'People think it's less than or low quality, which is not true at all. These are all very high quality authors and high quality stories. 'I think there's an inherent misogyny around it. A lot of the time, the sorts of things that women like across arts and culture tends to get discounted. These books are about the female perspective and female gaze when most media is through the male gaze. 'That's why I have a smut hut, because I feel like we need to reclaim some of these words.' The smut hut, a space dedicated to erotic titles, sits in the corner, adorned with ornaments such as whipped suncream, chapstick and a placard reading 'Traders Dicks'. It's seems less like a bookstore and more a community centre. During the Guardian's visit on Thursday afternoon, dozens of women filter through the shop, browsing titles and starting conversations about their favourite authors. Most of them have learned about the store through TikTok. One customer is browsing the shelves with her mother. She says she can get through a novel in under three hours, and last year she read 300 books. Deck chairs and a tiki parasol adorn the store's perimeter, while inside brightly painted shelves hold up titles such as Swept Away, The Unhoneymooners and The Friendship Fling. 'I was really surprised that a shop like this didn't already exist,' says Maxwell, a creative strategist and former tech executive from LA. 'When I went to find books of OG romance writers, I couldn't find any of them in-store. It made me quite angry. You have these amazing authors, who carry the publishing industry – 20% of fiction sales is romance books – and they're getting no shelf space whatsoever. I felt like I needed to do something.' Many contemporary romance books are marketed under tropes such as 'enemies to lovers', 'forbidden love' and 'second chance romance'. The 'romantasy' genre (a blend of romance and fantasy) is a constant fixture on bestseller lists, largely due to the dedicated following it has gained on TikTok. Series such as Rebecca Yarros's Fourth Wing and Sarah J Maas's A Court of Thorns and Roses (known by fans as Acotar) feature female protagonists entering high-stakes relationships in magical worlds. Jessica Roberts, a shop assistant at Saucy Books, has noticed that the current craze is for a trip to the wild west. 'Cowboy romances are very popular right now. Two girls came in their cowboy boots to purchase them yesterday,' she says. Among those visiting the store on Thursday are Rebecca Pollard and Haley Page from New York. 'I got [Haley] all the Acotar books, I think they're the best way to start. They're like a gateway drug into becoming a psycho,' Pollard laughs. 'I feel like a cult leader. I have a library at my house, and when my friends call me I'm like, 'what do you need? I've got it'. People are like, 'I'm so happy it's books for you and not drugs, because you're such a pusher'.' Page says: 'I'm a very hard sell, but she tells me something and I will listen. I'm so excited to read these, I'm taking them to Mykonos tonight. I'm going to be at the beach with my new book boyfriend, and I'll be calling Rebecca every second like 'oh my god'.' Pollard says she's been waiting desperately for the sixth book in the Acotar series. 'I would do anything to become invisible and just go and check Sarah J Maas's laptop.' And she thumbs her nose at the mainstream responses to the genre. 'I get really defensive when people use derogatory terms. Don't call it fairy porn until you've read it, because you have to wait 380 pages for a kiss in the second book of Acotar. Why is it smut, because it's centred around female pleasure? No one's saying that about Game of Thrones.' Atmosphere – Taylor Jenkins Reid The Love of My Afterlife – Kirsty Greenwood What If I Never Got Over You – Paige Toon A Court of Thorns and Roses series – Sarah J Maas Great Big Beautiful Life – Emily Henry
