When on occasion I am called upon the defend women only awards, such as The Orange Prize, I shall cite the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2011 Awards and now the Bafta's Rising Star 2012 shortlist.

Both are open to men and women and both have recently had men only shortlists. The Bafta Rising Star long list comprised of the following actors;

Adam Deacon (Kidulthood and Adulthood), Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids), Eddie Redmayne (My Week With Marilyn), Tom Hiddleston (War Horse) and Chris Hemsworth (Thor).

It seems xenophobes were right all along and the French and the British are not just different in nationality but we’re different species too. It’s a wonder there are any Anglo-French walking this earth and don’t even speak to me about Francophiles.

Yesterday the French government issued a statement they would pay for women with PIP breast implants to have them removed. A spokesman for the government Valerie Pecresse said: “It is a matter of urgency that all women who have had these PIP implants are identified and the implants removed.”

Over here in Britain the government has said any woman concerned about her breast implants should speak to the surgeon who originally operated on her, lalala. (I paraphrase)

School girls in Bet Shemesh ranging from the age of 6 to 12 from an Orthodox Jewish community are being harassed on their way to school by grown men from an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, Haredim. The men call the little girls sluts and whores and throw faeces as their mothers walk them to the school gates.  

I heard a report about this on the eve of Yom Kippur on the Today programme (I realise I seem to shoehorn some kind of shout out to the BBC in every piece I do) which you can listen to here but was unable to find any more coverage until today (proving my google skills aren’t up to much, the BBC [oh, HAI BBC] posted a report on the 10th). Harriet Sherwood in the today’s Guardian has also broached the subject. 

I am not a sporty person. I avoided PE all through school but I was oddly drawn to boxing. Inspired (though not enough to actually try it and risk my nose, “now I’ll never be a teen model!”) by coverage of the sport in the, now sadly defunct, J-17 magazine. J-17 spearheaded a campaign in the 90s for girls to box competitively as boys were allowed to. In 1996 the ban on women’s boxing was lifted by the ABAE (Amateur Boxing Association of England). Now it’s 2011 and we’ve moved on. To skirts. Bugger the 2012 Olympics.

AIBA, (International Boxing Association) has requested the skirts be trialled to allow spectators to distinguish female boxers from men. During last week’s European Championships in Rotterdam two countries took up the new uniform, Romania and Poland. The Poland boxing coach Leszek Piotrowski welcomed the change, “By wearing skirts, in my opinion, it gives a good impression, a womanly impression.”  The Poland team redesigned the skirts to make them more elegant.

In the UK and Ireland the skirts have received a different reception.  Ireland’s 3 time world champion Katie Taylor commented, "I won't be wearing a mini-skirt. I don't even wear mini-skirts on a night out, so I definitely won't be wearing mini-skirts in the ring." British lightweight champion Natasha Jonas also dismissed the skirts, “nothing practical is going to come from wearing a skirt. The only people who would want to see women in skirts are men.”

Of course to wear skirts in any sport is absurd. Everyone would see your lucky pants. 

Kate

I think almost every woman has the same story. One day, they came home from school to be greeted by their mother. “There’s something on your bed for you.” And there it is. You don’t have to look inside the BHS/M&S plastic bag to guess that what’s burning a hole through it is a 28 AAA white bra.

Growing up is a cringe-worthy business. Anything that can be done to make the transition from girl to woman any easier is welcome. After the PR disaster that was the BHS Little Miss pre-teen padded bras (BHS, I just don’t think the Daily Mail is ever going to let that go) Tesco has designed a new preteen bra, Fleur First.