You know, a little while back BBC show Woman's Hour, (32.20 minutes in) which is sadly not airing today, had a feature on wearing red. We weren't aware but apparently it's a notoriously tough colour to wear. According to the British Heart Foundation (which you can donate to here) a third of women "secretly wish they had the confidence to wear red." They worry it draws too much attention to them.

This, dear reader, is silly. Red is a wonderful colour that doesn't even say 'look at me' - here's lesson 1 about wearing colours, colours say nothing. Only the wearer gets to make utterances or statements, if people let their clothes speak for them nothing would get done. Or said.

Anyway, as it's midweek and Wednesday is always a wash out, we thought a How-to was in order. If you are still standing in front of your wardrobe (and probably incredibly late for work) wondering what to wear we are here to help zhoosh up your outfit with red...

Do you use social media? Hey have you seen this?! Men in heels marching for safe streets! In Toronto men have gathered together to oppose violence against women in Walk a Mile in her Shoes  Excellent, excellent, with this gesture some men have shown they really have the measure of being a lady! Sometimes (oh OK, all the time) I feel this is the same mentality that brings to the market pink tasers. Is this dismissive of me? I have written before about the importance of feminist intersectionality and inclusivity. So why do these gestures of support sit so badly with me? 

This week's Geek Girl's Guide on how to live long and prosper involves spread sheets, Microsoft Excel, various charts and maths. This is not just about getting healthy, this is about adding a skill to your CV. 

There are good foods, and there are bad foods, although not in the context we're usually told. So yes, some foods that boost health can also be bad for you. Take red wine, for example. It's good for the heart; it contains tumour-reducing chemicals; it's good for the stomach. However, combining it with driving is inadvisable, and one can become addicted to it. The key is moderation. Alcohol contains 4cal/g and is of little nutritive value for its calorie count; therefore, it counts in the 20% 'because I need comfort food' allowance. [sigh - Squeamish team]

Today we continue with our antidote to traditional slimming articles, instead Squeamish Bikini guest Bridget continues her guide on how to be healthy...

                        A bear, however hard he tries,
                       Grows tubby without exercise.

Okay, that's how to be thin. The secret was just hidden in a poem by A. A. Milne, and needed re-examining. I recently rode a bicycle the length of England, and can attest to the truth of Mr. Milne's statement. I ate what I wanted, when I wanted, and still managed to look less Winnie the Pooh-like by the end. The moral of the story being this: you can gorge yourself on almost anything, provided you exercise vigorously for around five hours per day. For those of you who don't have the time or energy to do that amount of exercise, let's continue with the Geek Girl's guide to being healthy.

Articles and How-to guides concerning dieting and weight loss always seem to be relevant. In spring it’s all about getting that bikini body in time for summer, come Autumn you’ve got to lose that ice lolly weight for the office Christmas party or no one will snog you by the photocopier. Come January we are supposed to start all over again because the survey says we’re all looking a little Christmas pudding-esque. Guest writer Bridget is fed up with this, and using her nutrition knowledge has put together a guide that, over the next few weeks, will focus simply on being healthy - whatever shape you are. This week Bridget explains the importance of sleep. 

Can I start by saying that I hate 'How To Get Thin' articles. They're on the same list as 'Be His Dream Lover' articles, and 'How To Have It All' articles: the list that people should stop publishing.

Instead I would like to venture an attempt to create a guide for a healthy lifestyle, because so much of food advertising, labelling, and teaching are contrary to what science would recommend, and would make the nutrition lecturers at my alma mater shudder. (Bonus reading: Fat Is A Feminist Issue and The Real Me Is Thin.)

Here's a quick word association game. Periods. Popular culture. Quick! What's the first thing that comes to your mind? Carrie? Yeah, me too. How old is that film anyway?

Plenty of women have sought to challenge this. I encountered the wonderful Adventures in Menstruation zine at a gig and loved it. Something in written form concerning menses and 'feminine hygiene' that sounded like the actual conversations I had with friends! No “do you ever...not feel so fresh – down there?” around here. (Not that we don't feel fresh, y'know, down there).

From my experiences I think that if you grew up gendered female and being told about menstruation, it's discussed as something that would then take up a significant portion of your life. Not to mention several conversations. Considering this the subject of periods is usually presented as a fact of life with very few options. If you take the pill continuously, have the injection, the coil or use another form of birth control you needn't even menstruate if you don't want to. 

I have never been one for outdoorsy type events, especially if it entails sleeping in a tent. I remember attempting to spend a night in a tent in an Oxfordshire garden during the summer holidays circa 1992. I think I made it until about midnight before I dragged my cold and creeped out butt back into the warmth of central heated and electric lit shelter and more importantly to the controls of my best friend’s Mega Drive.

Now it’s 2012 and as I awkwardly ‘helped’ put up our plasticy flimsy makeshift home for the weekend of the 24th to the 27th of August, my mate cried out “We’re civilised, the Enlightenment happened, we don’t need to be outside anymore!”

On that first day of Doune the Rabbit Hole – a music festival hidden away in a fort in Carron Valley in Scotland – I agreed but by the end of it I knew how to take on the an outdoors and win! Here are my tips to festival survival and a wee look Doune the Rabbit Hole...

In the art world certain issues are often returned to time and time again. Issues such as funding, publicity and venue space are deservedly tackled by culture secretaries and writers alike. There is one issue however that is so sensitive people tend to avoid discussing it. Yet statistically you have a 1 in 4 chance of being affected by it (not really, I made that up). So why does this issue so rarely come up in conversation, why do we feel the need to side step this, specifically: What do you do when your friends' band is, frankly, rubbish?

My statistic might not be scientific but at a wild guess it is safe to say you, dear reader, have at least one friend in a band that is not going to be heading Glastonbury any time soon and not just due to the festival's former policy of giving the fields a break every five years. Namely this band are rubbish, but what is to be done when your friend demands an on the spot review?

People constantly ask me the same question. They say Squeamish Kate, how can we be more like you? Come summer I am asked this all the more. Last year Squeamish Louise wrote about dressing for summer when you are a heavyset person. This year I am writing about dressing for summer when you are usually a little bit of a wilting flower in the sun and wish to get a little crafty. As others sweat and burn in the beam of Mr Sun I stay cool and unsullied by UV rays. My trick is not staying inside all day until night falls. I always keep a tube of Soltan factor 50 in my bag alongside something else that can be scrunched and screwed up into a ball until the time comes. Ladies and gentlemen I bring you The Beach Cape. 

I have lived in the city. I have lived in the country. I have lived in a Belgian suburb and I can conclude that nobody wants to talk to anybody. Or rather; nobody wants to talk to their neighbours. Street parties can go forth and multiply because in real life I am not convinced anybody wants much to do with street parties beyond pocketing as much free cake as possible and making a swift exit. They certainly don’t want to talk to their neighbours, not with tell-tale cake crumbs around their pockets. So party shops, you can stop printing Union Jack napkins and publishing How-tos for street Diamond Jubilee street parties because we shan’t be taking part. 


Anyway, everybody already spoke to their neighbours in 2002, at the Golden Jubilee when it was easier to convince us a street party would be vintage and fun and twee. This is not because the general public hates the Queen, though frankly 3 Jubilees is greedy, but because they presume to hate their neighbours and there’s no telling how many people have touched that cucumber sandwich.