A sad indictment that the young seek tradwife life | Letters

I very much enjoyed Lucy Knight’s article (My month in the tradwife world: ‘I can’t pretend I’m not enjoying myself at all’, 15 April). As a boomer with children and grandchildren, I have no trouble appreciating the very poor hand the young people of today have been dealt and the reason that gingham, herb gardens and sourdough are a comforting fantasy. However, I think it is high time to draw readers’ attention to Sue Kaufman’s very funny and terrifyingly relevant Diary of a Mad Housewife to warn of the dangers of the tradwife ideal. I would also like to put on record, since my generation is constantly reviled, that when we marched to Aldermaston, campaigned against the death penalty and the incarceration of homosexuals, demanded equal rights (abortion, mortgage without a male backer, etc) and pay for women, tried to persuade the world about ecological issues and the need for recycling (I vividly remember having a rubbish bin tipped over my head by an angry eco-sceptic), demonstrated again, this time against the Vietnam war and later the Iraq war, and are now being arrested for objecting to genocide, we were not trying to create a world in which the young needed to take refuge in tradwife fantasies, from a dismal present and hopeless future. It is regrettable that we failed, but we tried

‘A white man’s fantasy’: if we want to rebuild social cohesion, we need to acknowledge where it all started to unravel

Things fall apart, as Chinua Achebe warned us. And “things” – the climate, the social contract, the rules-based international order – seem to be falling apart at a rate of knots. They fell apart spectacularly and horribly at Bondi last December, when allegedly Islamist gunmen opened fire on civilians, including children. Fifteen people were killed. Many more were injured

Are you a woman who makes life easier for everyone else? Beware – you could endanger your health | Emma Beddington

Women, a warning from Instagram: “You really need to be a bitch or you’re going to develop an autoimmune disease. It’s that simple.” Versions of this scientifically dubious statement have caught the imagination of a corner of the internet, getting algorithmically nudged my way multiple times (a TikTok to this effect has 40,000 likes; a Threads post 26,000). Sometimes, it’s set to music; sometimes, it’s the basis for earnest discussion of cortisol and inflammation. Sometimes, it’s evangelical

‘Labels protect us’: Olivia Nervo wants reproductive coercion to be a standalone offence – she is not alone

When the Grammy award winning songwriter, Olivia Nervo, agreed to start a family with her partner she believed she was in “a monogamous, committed relationship leading to a future”, and had never heard of reproductive coercion.Her world came crashing down when she was six months pregnant and she found out that her partner was in a relationship with another woman who was also pregnant, and with whom he already had a child.It was a discovery that led her to learn about reproductive coercion, a form of controlling behaviour in which someone interferes with an individual’s ability to make decisions about their own body. The Labour MP, Natalie Fleet, led a debate in parliament on the issue last month in which she said it was “so important – in the public interest, even – that the story of Olivia Nervo is heard”.The court declined to make any finding as to whether there had been reproductive coercion in Nervo’s case, with Fleet describing the doctrine as something the legal system in England and Wales “still struggles to recognise”

Three meningitis B cases confirmed in Dorset as young people offered vaccines

Three cases of meningitis B have been confirmed in the south-west of England, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), and young people in the area have been offered vaccinations against the disease.The cases, which have all been confirmed to have occurred between the 20 March and 15 April in Dorset, have been treated. Those affected are said to be recovering well, according to the UKHSA.Two of the cases were in students at Budmouth academy in Dorset who are contacts of each other, while the other young person attends Wey Valley academy.However, no link has been made between these cases, which may suggest this particular strain of MenB bacteria is transmitting more widely among young people in the area

Centrepoint to cut ties with Sharon Osbourne after she backs Tommy Robinson rally

The homelessness charity Centrepoint has said it will cut ties with its celebrity ambassador Sharon Osbourne after she expressed support for a far-right rally being organised by Tommy Robinson.The charity, of which the Prince of Wales is patron, has been moved to distance itself from comments made by Osbourne. The TV personality indicated this week that she would be attending an event organised in London by Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.On an Instagram post about the “unite the kingdom” rally, Osbourne’s official account left a comment saying: “See you at the march.”In response, Centrepoint, which had recently engaged Osbourne as an ambassador for a campaign, said: “This sort of event does not align with our values