Selected Publications

it’s more than the patriarchy - the guardian

The biggest threat to feminism? It’s not just the patriarchy. Of course, we have to combat a power structure based on male supremacy. But more insidious is ‘choice feminism’ – applying the language of liberation to dating or makeup…

The mysterious case of the feminist non-revolution - Huffington Post

Patriarchy is a raw and brutal deal for everyone, that is true, but it is women and children and marginalised men who pay the biggest price. We feminists never started this so-called battle of the sexes, but we are going to end it and we are certainly going to win.

Guardian Saturday Review. March, 2024

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/mar/13/whos-afraid-of-gender-by-judith-butler-review-the-gender-theorist-goes-mainstream

othermotherhood - we are family magazine

Finn Mackay is a feminist activist who doesn’t fit into society’s assumed gender codes. Her partner carried and gave birth to their son, now almost 2 years old. In her guest blog Finn explores her experience of motherhood as a lesbian parent

for men who don’t mean anything by it - huff post the blog

While he has a laugh and moves on, those women might wander on seemingly unperturbed, but they might surreptitiously be looking for their keys to hold in their fist, or pretending to take a phone call or crossing to the other side of the road. He may not even notice; such is the level of unexamined privilege that what's quickly forgotten banter to him might last a whole journey home for the woman.

let toys be toys

In partnership with Let Toys Be Toys, my blog on raising children free from gender stereotyping was transformed into a lively colour poster of top tips! You can now download, display and consult your very own guide to raising children without gender stereotypes, all in an A3 poster! The 20 tips introduced on the poster are a summary of a much longer article and they will hopefully be useful, practical, informative and probably provocative, for parents and educators alike. The tips are only a beginning, and they are intended to start reflection and discussion: everyone could probably add their own to the list.

teachwire - unstereotyping for boys

There’s no biological reason boys should like cars, but there is a biological reason for boys to cry, it’s called human expression and development, says Dr Finn Mackay...

huffington post - the feminism of naomi wolf, or why women are not their vaginas

Unlike Wolf, I cannot put my faith in an Enlightenment neuro-sexism that sets out to 'prove' that women's brains are pink and men's brains are blue. This is a pseudo-science that creates what it claims to report and diverts attention away from the real truth we should be putting under the microscope.

trouble and strife. the truth about cats and dogs

It’s been a full-on year here at T&S: we’ve covered obesity, domestic violence, feminism in universities, female serial killers, science, language and more. But there’s one debate we’ve hesitated to tackle: are dogs the new feminist cats?

Media commentary on this issue has been dominated by the liberal argument that companion-animal preferences are a matter of individual choice. For radical feminists, though, the personal is always political. So, as we head towards a new year, we have invited two radical feminists with sharply differing views to explain where they stand on one of the most important–and most divisive–questions facing our movement today. Planet Cath explains why she believes a dog is woman’s best friend, while Finn Mackay makes the case for staying true to our foremothers’ feline traditions. Their feminism will be about pets, or it will be bullshit.

Open democracy. time for feminists to get in; not lean in

The practice of patriarchy as a form of social governance has brought us to the brink of a planet crisis. The current model is bankrupt. In the run up to the UK general election in 2015, Finn Mackay urges feminists to engage in all forms of political participation.