All of us have that button. That thing that makes us see red, the thing we hate, which if we were in charge we’d ban immediately. In the past, people in power have been deeply offended by the notion that anyone who wasn’t white and male could have the vote. That gay couples could marry. […]
Sarah Britten
During the day Sarah Britten is a communication strategist; by night she writes books and blog entries. And sometimes paints. With lipstick. It helps to have insomnia.
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Dear Dan: about Red October
Dear Dan You know what? I get it. I really do. The anger, the fear, the frustration. Murder and torture, the traces of unimaginable anguish left in photographs that have left me gasping for breath with the sheer horror of them. I will not post links to them. That is suffering that is real and […]
Posted inGeneral, Health, Lifestyle
Six observations about penises
“My friend told me about a man with a large penis,” said one of the other students. “She said his technique was terrible. He just rammed and rammed. It was actually painful.” Her eyes widened. So did mine. These were the sort of conversations that make an impact on a rather sheltered 22-year-old from the […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
A birthday card for the Arch
Dear Archbishop Emeritus, Happy birthday! May October 7, the day of your 82nd birthday, be filled with joy. You are very special to many of us, and we are blessed to celebrate 82 years of your presence among us. This is a very short story of why you are special to me, and why I […]
Posted inGender violence, General
The South African man I admire most
This is the man I admire most in South Africa right now. I know his name, but I won’t tell it to you. All you need to know is that he is a 50-something white Afrikaner from the West Rand, an engineer who drives a nice car and has a good job. He is straight […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence
Can we talk ourselves out of sexism?
An ATM Bomber is a girl who spends all her boyfriend’s money. A Please Call Me is a schoolgirl. A Khanyi Mbau is a gold digger. So are Abomaskebengu. Skeres, slahloms and s’chipane are loose women. A yellowbone is a light-skinned woman. Pakistan is a woman with a big bum. A sidechick is a mistress […]
Posted inGeneral
Braaing on Heritage Day
Is it OK to call Heritage Day Braai Day? I’m a feral academic who works in advertising, which means that debates like this are especially interesting to me. I wrote my thesis on the role of advertising in post-apartheid South African identity, and nothing crystallises the arguments over exactly what we stand for quite like […]
Posted inGeneral
Safe, warm and dry
“Our love was like our house. There were cracks in the walls and chips in the paint, but it kept us safe, warm and dry.” His eyes were hollow. His wife, the love of his life, died two weeks ago after a stroke. I was there to give him the painting inspired by one of […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Is #whitegenocide funny if corrective rape isn’t?
Brace yourself. Some of you are not going to like this piece. Possibly quite a few of you. That’s the only predictable thing when it comes to jokes: somebody, somewhere is going to be offended. For years I’ve studied comedy from various angles: academically, from the trenches in the ad industry and as an occasional […]
Posted inLifestyle
These are the things I miss about being 8 years old
These are some of the things I miss about being 8 years old. I miss the Rothman’s Durban July supplement with all the pictures of the horses. I miss waiting for photos to come out, and the way my mother peeled back the cellophane in the albums to stick them down. I miss Sunday lunch […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle
An open letter to Money
Dear Money, We need to talk. I’ve been meaning to write this letter to you for a while, but I got side-tracked and spent a whole lot of time doing other stuff, and then I was busy starting a new agency and so it didn’t happen. But it turns out that open letters are the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Why I am not sad about Nelson Mandela
I am not sad about Nelson Mandela. I am surprised by this, because I expected to be, and for a long time I was. But now I am not, and I have been trying to work out why. Oh, I am sad about a lot of things. I am sad that he is old and […]