The first three months of 2021 have been pleasantly busy after several months of pandemic-induced freelance drought last year. I’ve been commissioned by a couple of new publications (which I’ll be able to share in the next couple of months), as well as the old favourites, and I’ve started work on various new copywriting projects for charities and small businesses in the health and wellbeing sector.
In January, as usual, I marked Cervical Cancer Prevention Week by working with two of my favourite gynae cancer charities, Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust and the Eve Appeal.
For Grazia I spoke to Sally about her experience of undergoing cervical cancer treatment during lockdown, including the isolation of shielding and going for chemo alone, and how she still worries about follow-up appointments being disrupted.
For The i, I looked at research by the Eve Appeal, which found that a worrying number of women don’t fully understand what cervical screening checks for. To highlight this, I spoke to nurse Nicola, who ignored symptoms of womb cancer because she’d recently had a normal smear test result.
I also wrote for Refinery29 about why we still know so little about the clitoris – from a medical and sociocultural perspective – and why women’s pleasure more generally is still not really considered important.
More recently, I got the lowdown (from Alice Pelton at The Lowdown) on the Ballerine IUB – a spherical, next generation copper coil that’s creating a lot of buzz in the world of LARCs (long-acting reversible contraception).
Throughout March my focus on Hysterical Women has been split between mothers and perinatal health, with my #NotNeurotic series in partnership with BetterYou, and Endometriosis Awareness Month.
I also wrote for The i about the treatment of women with endometriosis and myalgic encephalomyeleitis (ME), the underfunding of research into these conditions, and why chronic illness is a feminist issue.
Finally, for Refinery29, I’ve been doing some myth busting and answering some FAQs about the UK’s Covid-19 vaccination programme, in partnership with the NHS.
You can catch up on all these recent pieces here:
- ‘Going Through Cancer Is Already Stressful And Isolating. Having To Deal With Delays On Top Of That Is Unimaginable’ – Grazia
- ‘I’m a nurse but I didn’t worry about my womb cancer symptoms because I’d had a smear test’ – The i
- How Can We Know So Little About Clitorises? – Refinery29
- There’s A New Coil In Town, So What’s The Deal? – Refinery29
- Women are still branded ‘hysterical’ because of chronic illnesses which are under-researched – The i
- Your COVID-19 Vaccine Questions, Answered By Scientist, Dr Anna Blakney – Refinery29
- This Is Who Will Receive The COVID-19 Vaccine Next – Refinery29
- Answering The Biggest Questions About The Vaccine & Underlying Conditions – Refinery29