Gillian Kent
@cambridgegill.bsky.social
1.1K followers 5.6K following 550 posts
Thanks for dropping by! Interests: social justice, humour, art, archaeology & architecture, climate crisis & ecology; ME/CFS since 1998. UK based, UK and USA raised. (She/her).
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Reposted by Gillian Kent
Here is a useful report on the many different kinds of inequality and poor outcomes experienced by the approx 500,000 Irish Traveler, Roma and Gypsy people in the UK

publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/...
The University of Bedfordshire, in its submission to this inquiry, gave examples of research (dating as far back as 2004) showing that:

The health status of Gypsies and Travellers is much poorer than that of the general population, even when controlling for other factors such as variable socio-economic status and/or ethnicity;19
Life expectancy is 10 to 12 years less than that of the non-Traveller population;20
42 per cent of English Gypsies are affected by a long term condition, as opposed to 18 per cent of the general population;21
One in five Gypsy Traveller mothers will experience the loss of a child, compared to one in a hundred in the non-Traveller community.22
Reposted by Gillian Kent
In 1880, Mortimer Menpes befriended James McNeill Whistler, under his influence he began incorporating motifs and techniques of Japanese art into his work. In 1887, he travelled to Japan to witness its culture first-hand and produced many paintings including 'Flower of the Tea.'
Reposted by Gillian Kent
In Herbert Badham's 'The Night Bus,' (1943) the interior lights highlight the different figures and their gestures, all still, fixed in the moment. A woman reads a magazine, a man smokes, the conductor chats to a passenger.
Reposted by Gillian Kent
My piece in @thespectator1828.bsky.social this week looks back at a lecture I attended this summer where a Cambridge art historian insisted paintings by Stanley Spencer were painted by David Jones. It revealed a weakness that stretches beyond one lecture; how we teach art history is woeful.
Only Sally Wainwright could create a series that's even better than the outstanding Last Tango in Halifax, and even the legendary Happy Valley. Shakespeare's Sister lives!
Did you see Riot women last night? So good, had to watch ep 2 on iplayer. What joy to watch a lot of older women on screen. Scores highly on Bechdale! That cloak of invisibilty that descends on the older women is beautifully drawn by Sally Wainwright. Fabulous www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
Riot Women review – Sally Wainwright’s menopausal punk drama is one of her best
This high-pedigree TV drama about midlife women who form a punk band is up there with Happy Valley and Last Tango in Halifax. It’s rich, plot-packed, and perfectly seasoned with humour
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by Gillian Kent
Did you see Riot women last night? So good, had to watch ep 2 on iplayer. What joy to watch a lot of older women on screen. Scores highly on Bechdale! That cloak of invisibilty that descends on the older women is beautifully drawn by Sally Wainwright. Fabulous www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
Riot Women review – Sally Wainwright’s menopausal punk drama is one of her best
This high-pedigree TV drama about midlife women who form a punk band is up there with Happy Valley and Last Tango in Halifax. It’s rich, plot-packed, and perfectly seasoned with humour
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by Gillian Kent
‘Virginia Woolf admired Jane Austen above all for her ability to grasp the exceptional moment as it arises out of and then subsides back into the “ebb and flow of ordinary existence”. There is more Austen than Joyce in Mrs Dalloway.’

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
David Trotter · Unconditional Looking: Mrs Dalloway’s Demons
Virginia Woolf admired Jane Austen above all for her ability to grasp the exceptional moment – ‘in which all the...
www.lrb.co.uk
Reposted by Gillian Kent
In the #DecodeME study the genes associated with ME/CFS are found to be involved in neuronal development & communication in the brain. The genes highlighted are not uniquely linked to ME/CFS. But the DNA signal around them is often different.
tinyurl.com/heans3zb
Genes pointing to the brain: DecodeME part II - ME/CFS Science
DecodeME is the biggest study ever on myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). In our previousContinue readingGenes pointing to the brain: DecodeME part II
tinyurl.com
Reposted by Gillian Kent
Dr Nigel Speight writes that ME families are still encountering charges of FII (Fabricated and Induced Illness) formerly called Munchhausen Syndrome by Proxy. In the UK he believes the current paediatric guidelines regarding FII need to be changed.
tinyurl.com/44c4zykd
Current problems facing ME families in the UK
The commonest recurring problems ME families are encountering in the UK at present stem from current paediatric guidelines regarding FII. (Fabricated and Induced Illness) This was formerly called M…
tinyurl.com
Reposted by Gillian Kent
IMHO the commonest practical problem is the expense of ME/CFS. It's really fucking expensive, as you cannot work once at moderate level.

DWP's paltry PIP and ESA 'welfare' in the absense of ANY clinical support from the NHS means poverty while trying to stave off a worsening of the disease.
Dr Nigel Speight writes that ME families are still encountering charges of FII (Fabricated and Induced Illness) formerly called Munchhausen Syndrome by Proxy. In the UK he believes the current paediatric guidelines regarding FII need to be changed.
tinyurl.com/44c4zykd
Current problems facing ME families in the UK
The commonest recurring problems ME families are encountering in the UK at present stem from current paediatric guidelines regarding FII. (Fabricated and Induced Illness) This was formerly called M…
tinyurl.com
Reposted by Gillian Kent
And @bethjohnsontv.bsky.social‘s review of the series is excellent, too.
Reposted by Gillian Kent
That doesn't mean that I haven't accidentally misgendered people, even if they were sharing their preferred pronouns. I'm not proud of it, but it happens.
Reposted by Gillian Kent
TOMORROW
If you're interested in history or social studies of mental health and illness, psychology or psychiatry, and are in Manchester on 16 October, please join us for our first Mind, History & Society Seminar, a conversation on the future of the #autism concept.

blogs.manchester.ac.uk/chstm/2025/0...
Mind, History and Society Seminar, 16 October 2025
The Future of the Autism Concept Discussants: Dr Bonnie Evans and Professor Jonathan Green
blogs.manchester.ac.uk
Reposted by Gillian Kent
NEXT WEEK!
On 21 October, co-hosted by the Centre for the Study of Sexuality and Culture, our speaker will be Dr Brandy Schillace, on Hope in the Dark: How a daring team of sexologists built the world’s first trans clinic in the shadow of the Third Reich.

blogs.manchester.ac.uk/chstm/2025/0...
CSSC and CHSTM Joint Seminar, 21 October 2025
Dr Brandy Schillace Hope in the Dark: How a daring team of sexologists built the world's first trans clinic in the shadow of the Third Reich
blogs.manchester.ac.uk
I hope this fascinating book comes out in paperback! Now following @bethjohnsontv.bsky.social many thanks @ctimmermann.bsky.social
The excellent review in The Conversation is not by me; it's by @bethjohnsontv.bsky.social, an expert on Sally Wainwright's work. Check out the book on Wainwright she published with Kristyn Gorton:

bsky.app/profile/manc...
Watched #RiotWomen yet? Once again, Sally Wainwright proves why she’s one of TV’s finest #screenwriters/producers

Find out how Wainwright's reshaping representations of women on screen in a new article by Kristyn Gorton and @bethjohnsontv.bsky.social
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/blog/2025/10...
Reposted by Gillian Kent
The excellent review in The Conversation is not by me; it's by @bethjohnsontv.bsky.social, an expert on Sally Wainwright's work. Check out the book on Wainwright she published with Kristyn Gorton:

bsky.app/profile/manc...
Watched #RiotWomen yet? Once again, Sally Wainwright proves why she’s one of TV’s finest #screenwriters/producers

Find out how Wainwright's reshaping representations of women on screen in a new article by Kristyn Gorton and @bethjohnsontv.bsky.social
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/blog/2025/10...
Graphic promoting a new book reviewing the work of Sally Wainwright
Reposted by Gillian Kent
Watched #RiotWomen yet? Once again, Sally Wainwright proves why she’s one of TV’s finest #screenwriters/producers

Find out how Wainwright's reshaping representations of women on screen in a new article by Kristyn Gorton and @bethjohnsontv.bsky.social
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/blog/2025/10...
Graphic promoting a new book reviewing the work of Sally Wainwright
Thank you so much!
The excellent review in The Conversation is not by me; it's by @bethjohnsontv.bsky.social, an expert on Sally Wainwright's work. Check out the book on Wainwright she published with Kristyn Gorton:

bsky.app/profile/manc...
Watched #RiotWomen yet? Once again, Sally Wainwright proves why she’s one of TV’s finest #screenwriters/producers

Find out how Wainwright's reshaping representations of women on screen in a new article by Kristyn Gorton and @bethjohnsontv.bsky.social
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/blog/2025/10...
The best review I've read of Sally Wainwright's brilliant, beautiful new drama (on BBC if you are in the UK) Thanks to @ctimmermann.bsky.social writing in theconversation.com
Unmissable!
#RiotWomen
#SallyWainwright