Opinion

I have no issue with selfies – those up close and personal, carefully crafted self-portraits that no Instagram account should be without. If there’s nobody around to take your picture, and you want to savour the moment or are feeling your look, why not snap away? And if you’re with a bunch of mates and want all of you to be in the photo, where’s the harm in bunching in tight, camera in the air and adding it to your portfolio? They're a confidence boost, a feelgood. A much easier...

Last night my boyfriend and I were on a train coming back from a few drinks with a friend. At one stop, a group of younger people got on. They were in their twenties, I guess. They had been to some sort of concert and were wearing various items of band merchandise. I suppose 10 years ago we’d have said they were “emo” – nobody says that any more, do they? There were four of them. One looked like an artist’s impression of Guido Fawkes, there were two more devastatingly...

Language is a wonderful thing: constantly evolving and introducing us to new words and ways of expressing ourselves. Every year, usually on an exceptionally slow news day, the nation's press prints any new additions to the Oxford English Dictionary, which usually derive from textspeak or TV programmes and quite often have only been uttered by a very select few, perhaps within earshot of an open window at the OED. It's a harmless PR exercise, really, and nobody is suggesting these new words will be anywhere near the dictionary in even...

We all have that oversharing friend, don't we? The one who posts millions of selfies or is always checking in on Facebook, drowning under the weight of their own humblebrags or passive-aggressive attention-seeking. And only the very kindest of us wouldn't have a quick sneer with other mutual friends – maybe fire off a bitchy text or a moany DM. "They're at it again!" And that's OK, that's human nature. Unless you're very careless or downright malicious, nobody finds out and nobody gets hurt. One opportunistic person wanted to take this...

We say so much on social media – over 500 million tweets are sent in one day alone – but what's more interesting is what we don't say. There are some things we'd probably love to post on social media but, unless we're feeling extra bitchy, never would. Nor would we admit we'd even think of such a thing. But I'm on to you. And if you can't recognise that at least 5 of these cross your mind as you scan your social media faves, you're in denial. Aren't we all? 1. “We’ve...

Nature, nurture, lifestyle choice, whatever. The world seems obsessed with finding out what makes the gays gay. Every time it crops up, as it has today in the Guardian, I find myself puzzling over the fascination with unravelling this big secret. It's just something that happens; why can't we be satisfied with that? But, no, curious minds continue to peer through the dirty net curtains and into gay society for some kind of solution. And when the code is deciphered, then what? When all the research has been done, genes examined...

I learned quite early on there was a wrong way and a right way for a man to sit. As with most harsh lessons, it came from a bully. The dickhead of the week currently enjoying the school bus’s dazzling spotlight pointed out to everyone how I was sitting. “You sit like a girl. Poof. Is it because you’ve got a small dick?” I looked down at my knees and immediately felt even more prim and proper than usual. My default sitting position was with my legs crossed at the...

Did you come out on National Coming Out Day? And how was it for you? What people never seem to tell you about coming out is that it’s not restricted to one day – it’s a never-ending event. See those closet doors? They’re revolving. Day after day, you will find yourself – directly and indirectly – coming out to a host of people, even total strangers. The coming out never stops. Think you have everybody covered? Relatives, friends, key people at work – check. However, you're not out of the woods...