In the latest edition of our #joaniegalboss series, we interview the superb Scarlett Curtis, author of new book 'Feminists Don't Wear Pink (and other lies). Scarlett is a women's rights activist, self-proclaimed Mamma Mia 2 thinker-upper, Sunday Times Style contributing editor and all round great gal!

In this post we discuss Scarlett's latest book 'Feminists Don't Wear Pink (and other lies)'. The book features 52 inspiring women and their individual views of what the 'f' word (feminist) means to them. We ask Scarlett how this book of essays came about, her career and what an average day for a writer and activist is really like...

Your new book, 'Feminists Don't Wear Pink (and other lies)' is coming out in october, can you tell us a little about it?

FDWP is a collection of essays by a group of incredibly inspiring women and girls talking about what feminism means to them! The idea was to make a really lovely collection of personal experiences with this huge and often very complicated movement for women’s rights and try to make it a bit more accessible to young women!

Feminists Don't Wear Pink (and other lies)

What inspired you to create a book of essays?

I’ve been approached about a lot of book projects in the past but I’ve always felt like I wasn’t ready to write anything FULLY myself! There are a lot of books out there by young, posh, white women and I didn’t want to put my name on anything before I was ready! I love that this book is not just ONE VOICE but many many very diverse voices that all have something to say.

Not only have you curated a book, you’re also a columnist for The Sunday Times and actively campaign for #FreePeriods on Instagram (@pinkprotest) – you’re so busy, what is a typical day like for you?

I’m not actually that busy! I hate how much we glamorise being busy! I do a lot of emails and try to wake up early and do yoga before work to ease my anxiety a bit!

What has been your career highlight to date?

The #FreePeriods protest was one of the highlights of my life so far! We had no idea anyone was going to show up and when we saw 2000 young people standing outside Downing Street fighting for their rights, it was an incredible moment.

All the royalties from your book are going to the UN’s organisation, @girlupcampaign - can you tell us how you got involved in supporting this movement?

I worked for two years doing social media for an organisation that works with the UN on the Global Goals campaign! Goal 5 is Gender Equality and GirlUp are the most incredible example of an organisation fighting to make gender equality a reality across the world. They are doing such incredible work and I’m more excited about working with them on this book than any of the other contributors!

Feminists Don't Wear Pink

Compiling your book of essays written by inspiring women must have been an interesting experience, what was that process like? was there a stand out moment?

Getting GirlUp on board and being able to find out a bit more about how they work was definitely the highlight!

With such a busy work life, what do you do to wind down?

I watch a lot of TV! And I obsessively listen to audiobooks and podcasts. Yoga also really helps and I don’t like going out in the evening that much because I’m pretty lame and mostly like hanging out with my family!

 

We hope you enjoyed our interview with Scarlett! Feminists Don't Wear Pink (and other lies) is due for launch on the 4th of October this year - now available for pre-order!