Articles by Alyson Macdonald
Alyson Macdonald has been writing for Bright Green since 2011, and became a co-editor in March 2012.
She has been a feminist since the day her P4 teacher explained what the word means, and has been collecting an assortment of other causes ever since. Most recently, she has been involved in campaigns against the privatisation of City of Edinburgh Council Services, and in setting up the Edinburgh Private Tenants Action Group.
She is a first generation graduate (and proud of it), with a day job in higher education. You can stalk her on Twitter as @textuallimits.
Celebrating 44 Years of Legal Abortion
Posted on April 27, 2012 | No Comments
Today it is exactly 44 years since the 1967 Abortion Act came into effect. Since 27th April 1968, women in Scotland, England and Wales have had the right to decide whether to continue a pregnancy, or whether to safely and legally end it. Abortion is not a new invention; there are records of its use [...]
Mean Girls: feminism, the internet, and being “nice”
Posted on April 23, 2012 | 19 Comments
This week I got into an argument in the comments of a blog post about rape allegations on another website. The location of this argument doesn’t matter, and although most of the content doesn’t bear repeating, it provided an almost textbook example of the prehistoric attitudes that women – and in particular, feminist women – [...]
Democracy and Direct Action: An interview with Edinburgh University’s new student president James McAsh
Posted on April 9, 2012 | 4 Comments
In the same week that Peter McColl was installed as Rector of Edinburgh University, Bright Green’s friend and occasional contributor James McAsh was elected as the new president of Edinburgh University Students Association. After the election, I caught up with McAsh – a member of the Green Party, and a self-described anti-capitalist with a history [...]
Can You Trust Your Landlord With Your Personal Details?
Posted on April 5, 2012 | No Comments
If you live in rented housing, then there’s a chance that your personal details are being stored and shared without your knowledge. It has recently emerged that landlords have been setting up websites to share records about their previous tenants, effectively giving them the ability to create a blacklist. An episode of the Radio 4 [...]
1892 And All That
Posted on March 25, 2012 | 2 Comments
This week, the exclusive Kate Kennedy Club at St Andrews University have announced that from next year they will be accepting membership applications from women. Until now, the Club’s membership has comprised of 35 young men, mainly from very privileged backgrounds, who organise an annual procession, and a ball at the start and end of [...]
The Never-Ending Campaign Against Privatisation
Posted on March 7, 2012 | 1 Comment
When I said that an Edinburgh campaign had won the fight against the privatisation of some of our local council’s services, I may have spoken too soon. It turns out that the City of Edinburgh Council have awarded a street cleaning contract to Enterprise, the company which unsuccessfully bid for a contract to run the [...]
A call for a Tenants’ Movement
Posted on February 26, 2012 | 4 Comments
Housing is one of the defining issues of our generation. Not only have sub-prime mortgages triggered a financial crisis that has led to high unemployment and austerity measures, but it’s also becoming more difficult to find a decent and affordable place to live. With social housing in short supply, and many people priced out of [...]
A Vegan Feminist’s Response To The PETA Ad
Posted on February 16, 2012 | 22 Comments
Trigger warning: this post contains references to abusive relationships and sexual violence. What kind of man injures his girlfriend to the point where she can barely walk, then sends her out to do the shopping? According to PETA, a vegan man. If you haven’t seen their latest ad campaign about the effects [...]
David Cameron: Leading Tory Feminist?
Posted on February 14, 2012 | 4 Comments
It seems that blue feminism is now becoming so fashionable that even the men of the Conservative party are trying it out. This week David Cameron – once described by Louise Mensch the as the “most feminist Prime Minister” we’ve ever had – has suggested that companies should be encouraged to have at least 30% [...]
Politicians vs Representative Democracy
Posted on February 1, 2012 | 2 Comments
Democracy noun, a form of government in which the people have a voice in the exercise of power; typically through elected representatives. Origin: Greek demokratia, from demos ‘the people’ + -kratia ‘power, rule’ – Oxford English Dictionary Recently, I found myself sitting in the public gallery during a meeting of the City of Edinburgh Council, [...]
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