“Asking famous women how they manage childcare isn't sexist - as long as we ask men, too

“Asking famous women how they manage childcare isn't sexist - as long as we ask men, too - Telegraph.co.uk” plus 1 more

Asking famous women how they manage childcare isn't sexist - as long as we ask men, too - Telegraph.co.uk

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 12:00 AM PDT

The issue is the biggest drag on sexual equality in the West

Is it sexist to ask a working mother how she juggles her responsibilities? The pop singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor – who recently delivered her fifth baby, as well as her eighth album – thinks so. She got a huge round of digital applause this week, when she tweeted: "I love making music. I love promoting a new record. I do not love talking over and over about how I sort my childcare. I am a singer. I am a mum. I will sort the childcare. Ask me something else."

I understand her irritation. Famous men never get asked this question. Neither, for that matter, do unfamous men. But that doesn't mean the question shouldn't be asked.

The issue...

Animal rights activists demand Wool village change its name - The Telegraph

Posted: 22 Nov 2018 12:00 AM PST

That the unassuming Dorset village of Wool derives its name from an ancient word for well, or water spring, appears to have fallen by the wayside.

No matter. Animal rights activists have declared the name an affront to sheep the world over, claiming it promotes hideous animal cruelty.

In what will surely go down as one of the great campaigns of our age, they have demanded that the village is renamed Vegan Wool, forcing the local parish council to debate the issue.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the residents of Wool, along with many others, have lined up to ridicule PETA, the animal rights charity behind the request, many expressing concern about the fate of historic locations such as Ham, Cheddar Gorge and Melton Mowbray.

Elisa Allen, director of PETA, has written to Wool Parish Council to request the change in order to "promote kindness to sheep".

In a bid to soften the blow, she has vowed to give a "cruelty-free" woollen blanket to all 2,000 households in the village if they agree to the suggestion.

Painters in Wool, Dorset Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

Cherry Brooks, a member of Dorset County Council, said: "It is a ridiculous request and it's caused quite a stir in the village.

"A few people are quite offended but most people seem to find it amusing.

"The proposal will now need to be discussed at the next council meeting, which will be interesting."

Mrs Brooks pointed out that PETA had failed to do its homework, noting that the village name was derived from the ancient word "welle" and had nothing to do with the wool industry.

Other villagers took to social media to defend Wool, likening it to an April Fools joke.

Jayne Merchant said: "The name Wool should remain as it is, the idea of renaming the village is utterly ridiculous.

"It's the most idiotic idea I have come across in a long time."

The pretty village of Wool in Dorset Credit: UrbanLandscapes/Alamy Stock Photo

Ms Allen said the request was a "creative and fun way to reach the public with the facts" and said they hoped it would help highlight the abundance of "warm, cruelty-free fabrics such as cotton, bamboo, hemp, and soya-bean fibre".

In her letter to the parish council, she wrote: "I'm writing on behalf of PETA with a suggestion that would put Wool in the spotlight and promote kindness to sheep: renaming the village Vegan Wool.

"Why make this animal-friendly update? Unlike wool that is stolen from sheep, vegan wool is good for animals and the environment.

"Sheep's wool, on the other hand, has been shown to be a product of extreme cruelty."

The letter referenced a recently released PETA Asia eyewitness investigation of the British wool industry., which claimed that shearers punched sheep in the face, stamped and stood on their heads and necks, and beat and jabbed them in the face with electric clippers.

In a joint statement released in response to the PETA investigation, British Wool, the NFU, National Sheep Association, National Association of Agricultural Contractors, and Farmers' Union of Wales said: "Having not had access to the footage taken by Peta we are unable to comment on this specific claim

"However, farmers and contractors in the sheep industry take animal welfare very seriously and any behaviour that is found to fall below that standard is not tolerated."

The River Frome at Wool, Dorset Credit: ian woolcock/Alamy Stock Photo

Wool, perched alongside the River Frome, has a population of 5,310.

On its outskirts is Woolbridge Manor, reimagined by Thomas Hardy as Wellbridge House, the setting of Tess and Angel's ill-fated honeymoon in Tess of the D'Urbervilles.

Alongside it is the Grade II-listed Wool Bridge, which also features in the 1891 novel when a sleepwalking Angel picks up Tess and carries her over the bridge into the churchyard, where he lays her in a coffin.

Earlier this week it emerged a pub in York changed its name from Shoulder of Mutton to Hemworth Inn to attract more vegans to eat there.