Rose George

Women beware women: young feminists are betraying their older sisters

For centuries, elderly women have been scorned as crones, hags and scolds – but it’s not only men who are belittling them now, says Victoria Smith

The Scold’s bridle, once used by men to gag their nagging wives. But older women are now getting it from all sides. [Alamy]
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  • Hags: The Demonisation of Middle-aged Women

    Victoria Smith

    Fleet, pp. 368, £16

Where are all the father-in-law jokes? You won’t find them, because fathers-in-law are not fair game in the way middle-aged women are. There is no male ‘Karen’. Men are not mocked as wizards, but we are witches. Victoria Smith has subtitled her timely book ‘The Demonisation of Middle-aged Women’, and if you are one of them you will know that is no exaggeration.

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Michael Simmons

When it comes to education, Scotland is an example of what not to do

Michael Simmons
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Scots have, in the past, bragged about having the best education system in the world. Scottish sixth-formers study a broader range of subjects and aren’t forced to specialise too early. And look at our history: the literature, the Enlightenment, our universities, all due to world-class schools. But however true this may once have been, it’s

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