See you next time
Thanks for joining us this week for an interesting discussion – we’ll be back next week with more opportunities for you to tell us what you’d like us to talk about in this space. In the meantime, feel free to email us on sarah.marsh@theguardian.com or matthew.holmes@theguardian.com – we’ll look forward to hearing from you.
Have a great weekend!
Here’s a great quiz from our colleague James Walsh, looking at the first 50 days of Donald Trump’s presidency.
Let us know how you get on.
Just how abnormal is the Trump presidency?
We are now 50 days, 547 tweets and one resignation into the Trump presidency and words like tumultuous, rollercoaster and chaotic feel redundant.
But are we overreacting? Are the seemingly dramatic turns of events of the past six weeks as out of the ordinary as they appear?
The New York Times’ analysis and data website The Upshot decided this question was worth investigation last week. It asked 15 panelists who have either served in government or studied it how they would rate 20 events that have occurred since the 45th US president took office.
So just how abnormal is the Trump presidency? More than half of the events (including the immigration ban and the use of falsehoods) were rated abnormal and important.
What do you think of the way the media reacts to Trump? Share views below the line.
Updated
Can sex education be improved?
As Stuart Heritage pointed out last week, everyone has a story about crap sex education. We’ve all witnessed our fair share of condom-sheathed courgettes and slipshod PowerPoints about gonorrhoea. But that might all be about to change, with an announcement that sex education is to be made compulsory in all secondary schools. It’s hoped that the overhaul will protect children from the influence of online porn and various forms of cyber-abuse, while helping to normalise classroom discussion about healthy adult relationships.
But secular campaigners are worried about how “compulsory” these classes will really be. Faith schools will still be allowed to teach “in accordance with the tenets of their faith”, meaning parents still have the right to withdraw their children from the lessons. We’d like to know where readers stand on religion and sex education: are you in favour of these potential opt-outs or not?
Just a couple more conversation points to come from us – do feel free to continue the conversation in the comments when we’re gone...
Video of the week
This was actually from last week, but it’s so powerful we thought it was worth looking at again should you have missed it.
Between the 50s and 70s, mixed-race Irish children were brought up in institutions run by the Catholic church, where they were routinely abused. As well as the mental and physical abuse they received, records of their family history were destroyed, denying them any chance of discovering who their parents were.
Updated
Here are a few comments we liked on Carmen Fishwick’s piece on office dress codes ... you can click the links to get involved, or share your thoughts below.
I was told to dress for the job I want, not the job I have.
Turns out, Batman outfits aren't a comfortable thing to wear to a disciplinary meeting.
Can't help thinking that if blokes were forced to wear heels for work this argument would have lasted 10 seconds.
So guys - off you go. You can get the messed up hamstrings, bunions and corns... It'll be a hell of a lot worse than man flu.
My feet - thanks to my mother getting fed up with me kicking the toes out of my shoes playing football as a kid - are in good nick. The freedom you have wearing footwear that you can run and climb in is something guys take for granted.
If you think heels are so vital to do a job - you can bloody wear them.
I'll stick to DMs. And if folk don't like it they can do one.
Disruptive pattern camouflage jackets and a 1000 stare discourage most conversations about dress codes and usually guarantee an empty seat next to you on the train.
Do you worry about what to wear at work?
How many of us, before leaving for work, have paused to ask: “Is this too much to wear for work?” I know I have.
Earlier this week, MPs - wearing their never-changing look of suits, knee length skirts and 3 inch courts (see here) - debated the case of Nicola Thorp, a temporary PA who was sent home from her job at PwC because she refused to wear heels.
Being forced to wear clothes which damage our health and infringe on equality rights – heels, make-up, hair style and skirts – is utterly appalling and must be stamped out. But so many of us are not dressing how we want to, despite what we wear not making an inch of difference to how well we can do our jobs.
Clothing is the most immediate external measure of who we are and can inform others, rightly or wrongly, of our emotions, influences, spending habits, and personality. An ironed t-shirt can give the impression of someone who lives an ordered life, while wearing the latest trends can translate as someone with an indifference to the ethical implications of fast fashion.
But of course it can get much darker than that, especially for women. If we show too much skin, are we somehow not treating the office seriously enough? According to professor Karen Pine, author of Mind What You Wear, if women dress provocatively – short skirts and tight-fitting clothes – they are judged as being less good at their jobs.
It gets scarier still, when we think about the implications for hiring and career-ambitions. Unconscious bias – the instinctive blind spot created by a person’s own experience – is a convincing explanation for why similar people fill similar roles and the same types of people are given opportunities in the workplace. A survey of 2,000 people found that those who dress like their boss are more likely to be appointed and get promoted quicker.
Most of us spend a huge amount of time at work, and dressing in ways that don’t feel right to us is such a shame. And we may find ourselves in roles that don’t actually match the person we are.
How do you dress at work? Do you wear whatever you want? Or do you find yourself restricting your own choices because you want to fit in, or get ahead?
Updated
We’ll move things on again above the line here shortly – do let us know if there’s anything you’d like to discuss.
Looking back at International Women's Day
Earlier this week, I received a press release from a company in the lead-up to International Women’s Day, which stated that 72% of all those surveyed thought gender inequality still exists.
We didn’t end up running anything on the poll, but what was newsworthy to me was not that nearly three-quarters of people think inequality still exists, but that nearly 30% of people surveyed think it doesn’t. Perhaps, the 18% surveyed who said they believed women were “inferior to men” had something to do with those numbers.
The exhausting reality of sexism was apparent in this piece by Sarah Sicard for Task & Purpose, a US military and veterans news site, about her experience as a female military reporter: ‘How Sexism Made Me a Better Military Reporter’.
Sicard shared some of the abuse she’s received as a female (and a civilian) writing in a very male space, but said the daily abuse she receives made her a better reporter.
Every story I published was painstakingly researched and expertly sourced, and I would pore over the details with violent scrutiny because I couldn’t afford to make a mistake or misspell a word — not ever. The readers were looking for any sign of weakness, and I simply refused to give anyone the satisfaction...
Now, readers’ disdain for me is a joke among the staff, one that I can laugh at too. Once I accepted this as the nature of the game, I stopped worrying about the readers and started writing stories that matter to me and the people like me: military family members, civilians who love the military, and people who actually influence national security policy.
Perhaps Sicard’s response is the most productive one if she wants to keep both her job and her sanity, and it’s to her credit that she’s sticking it out in what is clearly a difficult job. But her conclusions were dispiriting. That a life lived under the tyranny of sexism, a good job despite the constant glare of gender inequality, is what women have to settle for. Surely we can offer more, surely we’re obliged to.
You still want to talk about moles ... Here’s some advice:
No one seems to be aware that you don't have to kill moles, you can actually catch them with nothing more than a spade. Pick a molehill, identify all tunnels leading to it and collapse them with your heel and wait patiently with a spade. You will be aware when the mole is present when you see the ground move as it re–establishes the integrity of a tunnel. When it pushes more earth out, in one swift move you dig the spade deeply into the ground across the tunnel and close to the molehill and lift the whole thing out and over. If you've done it correctly the mole will come out with the turf. You then have to be very quick and grab it by the tail and place it in a deep bucket. You are then in the position of being able to 'relocate' the mole to a place of your choice.
How did you mark International Women's Day?
This week the world marked International Women’s Day by marching, striking and sharing inspirational messages. Readers from countries such as Buenos Aires, India and Ukraine got in touch to tell us how they are continuing the fight for equality.
Kripa Joshi, an illustrator from Nepal celebrated the day with five generations of women in her family. She is also the creator of the character Miss Moti who emerged from Kripa’s struggle with weight and whose name means a big woman in Nepali. To mark International Women’s Day she highlighted some Miss Moti-vational messages.
Did you take part? Let us know in the comments.
Photos of the week from the picture desk
We received thousands of photographs this week for International Women’s Day as women all over the world marched and celebrated – we rounded the best up into a gallery.
We also received a number of pictures from readers around the world – you can see a collection at GuardianWitness.
The economy and jokes don’t normally go hand in hand, but Philip Hammond caused Theresa May to laugh uncontrollably during Wednesday’s budget. The meme of it went viral – and a gif of the moment for a while led the Guardian website.
This week the Iraqi army made progress into Mosul but forcing civilians to flee at an ever increasing rate. Photographer Goran Tomasevic captures the raw pain of living inside Mosul.
We also saw this week that it’s best to sit inside on the Manly ferry in Sydney …
Many of you taking the response to that piece on moles 100% seriously, we note.
Would you kill a mole in your garden?
Hold him hostage. Maybe you'll be able to bag Ratty, Toad and Badger as well.
Would I "kill a mole in my garden"?
Good lord no! No filthy moles nor other creatures for that matter in my garden.
It is a nice sterile space laid entirely to concrete complemented nicely by nice steal patio furniture and a few nice decorative plastic shrubs which have been sprayed to keep the vermin off.
We have nice tight electric fencing reaching from 4 metres high down to a recessed guttering 10cms below grade, UV lamps to zap the bugs and twice a week I have the whole wretched lot hosed down and disinfected.
Yes indeed. Thankfully, there's nothing "a live" in Hortum-Roared.
Frankly... All this talk of moles is making me itch
Would you kill a mole in your garden?
After I published my piece about a feud among British molecatchers over mole welfare, my mother asked my opinion. “I think they need to be controlled, do you?” she wrote.
Although I had spent months researching this contentious topic, I didn’t have a simple answer for her. I live in dry, hot southern California, where many people have replaced their beloved lawns with drought-tolerant plants, and I think there’s a broader lesson there that applies to backyard mole control. Rather than designing our yards to some preconceived ideal, we should be taking into account the neighbouring wildlife and environment.
If you live in an area with lots of moles, you might be better off giving up the idea of an expansive lawn. You’ll have less aggravation and a clearer conscience if you fill more of your yard with native trees, shrubs, and flowers, where the moles’ labours will be less visible. (Mole control, however, may be unavoidable on playing fields or dairy farms but, as I note in the article, the damage caused by moles has generally been overblown.)
What do you think? Would you kill a mole in your garden? Why or why not?
We’ll move the conversation above the line here on a bit shortly, but you can of course continue to discuss freedom of movement (or indeed pretty much anything else you wish) in the comments below. We’d also like suggestions on what it is you’d like us to focus on up here, so do let us know.
Some strong views below the line on freedom of movement – perhaps as expected?
Why not? Theresa May has ignored and frankly betrayed most of the population of this country (yes, only a minority actually voted for Brexit - not counting all those who were not given a say). The EU, of which they are in fact citizens, should now protect them. If May wants to turn the UK into an offshore bargain basement tax haven under semi-authoritarian rule, we shouldn't be dragged down with her.
One reader has been looking elsewhere on the site at this piece about online trolls, and relates it to our question on freedom of movement.
Re: the online trolling article, can I just say I'm still reeling at the cognitive dissonance of the man who was against all immigration complaining about the bureaucratic hurdles and expense of bringing his Thai mail order bride to the UK
I think we can confidently put him down as a Brexiter
There’s an accompanying film, which seems worth a watch. We’d be interested to know your thoughts should you give it a go.
Here are a couple of readers’ views on the freedom of movement story so far ... you can click the links to expand the conversation and respond.
Brilliant news, but if it was up to me, those who voted for Brexit would not be allowed to retain any rights!! In essence, when they voted to 'leave' they voted to have them taken away, so why should they have the option now?
And yes, I am bitter. All of this Brexit business is sheer madness!
The problem for UK nationals like myself is not freedom to move about in Europe but to continue living in Germany or which ever state where people happen to reside. There are other questions like pensions for people who have paid into different schemes. At present such entitlements are dealt with by cross-crediting. If these agreements are stopped by the right-wing government in England there is not a lot UK expatriates can do about it.
British nationals residing outside the UK were not given a chance to vote to remain in the EU. Now I wonder why that is.
Is it possible for Britons to keep freedom of movement?
The Guardian’s Brussels correspondent comments on news the European parliament’s chief Brexit representative wants British citizens to be able to choose to keep freedom of movement.
British citizens should be allowed to apply for associate EU citizenship after Brexit, according to the European parliament’s Brexit representative, Guy Verhofstadt. While the idea may be appealing for dejected remain voters, it faces huge hurdles to become reality. The EU’s 27 member states, who are in charge of Brexit talks, will not want to give benefits, such as free movement, to British citizens that are denied to their own nationals. The proposals would also require changing EU treaties, a fraught political task that will require the unanimous consent of EU governments and at least 35 national and regional parliaments.
What do our readers think about this? Share your views.
Welcome to our social
Let’s get started with our weekly social. We have a lot of good stuff lined up for you, so look forward to chatting. If there’s anything you really want to talk about either let us know in the comments or email us: sarah.marsh@theguardian.com/ matthew.holmes@theguardian.com
Updated
I work in IT, so jeans and a t-shirt, chosen by that time-honoured tradition of "the one that's on top of the pile".
Thankfully I'm good enough at my job that no one cares how I dress.
Also helps that I'm middle-aged, white, and male, so pretty much immune to all the "judge others" crap that some have to put up with.