Taboo on the Bus

Is the WLW hashtag on TikTok really one of the closest things to a queer community for so many of us? Today I sat down to talk about the lack of intersectional physical spaces for queer women, discussing the historical reasons for this and also what is driving us to foster community online instead.  We’ve got dissertation research, we’ve got my own research study, we’ve got YOUR input, this episod...

Is the WLW hashtag on TikTok really one of the closest things to a queer community for so many of us? Today I sat down to talk about the lack of intersectional physical spaces for queer women, discussing the historical reasons for this and also what is driving us to foster community online instead.  We’ve got dissertation research, we’ve got my own research study, we’ve got YOUR input, this mini v...

In a week of PLT rebranding cementing the emphasis on ‘quiet luxury’, let’s discuss how food becomes part of this conversation. Amid our current economic climate, access to food, time, and resources is increasingly becoming harder, and with that, displays of food are becoming increasingly aspirational. Think: fridge restocks, fresh grocery hauls, come-shop-with-me content. We’re seeing this shift...

Is food a status symbol now? On food, class, and quiet luxury  In a week of PLT rebranding cementing the emphasis on ‘quiet luxury’, let’s talk about how food becomes part of this conversation. Amid our current economic climate, access to food, time, and resources is increasingly becoming harder, and with that, displays of food are becoming increasingly aspirational. Think: fridge restocks, fresh...

You all adored the mini bus version of this episode, so let's deepdive the 'full bush in a thong' discourse for 30 mins to truly underpin this changing discourse towards women's body hair. I’ve noticed an increase in the discusion and potential rage bait online amongst men debating whether or not women should have body hair, yet on the flip side, we are seeing mainstream love and normalisation of...

As someone in my comments coined it, we are in a “Buchaissance”, meaning it is high time for women and body hair! The ‘full bush in a thong’ discourse is going to be instrumental in breaking down the equation of women’s body hair to femininity, and I am here for it! Let’s discuss the origins of why women even shave, the harmful stereotypes and ideologies associated with women’s body hair, and an i...

I was RUDELY confronted with an “almond-daughter’ aesthetic image on my Pinterest feed (help) and ran to TikTok to see if this is yet another girl, core, IT, aesthetic, and of course it is a thriving subculture. Let’s fully debunk the commodification of women’s identities online, and how we are pushed into these boxes of self, taking the almond-daughter as a perfect example of how this has gone to...

Sit down with Zara at the front of the bus to discuss the thriving internet subculture of the ‘almond-daughter’. It is exactly what you think it is: a repackaged ED sold and made aesthetic to the girls in yet another girl, core, IT, box. Let’s talk about the harm that slotting ourselves in to these boxes can cause, and why I think the almond-daughter subculture/trend is pureposely kept online desp...

I’m on the London Tube this week for a special episode of: Taboo on the Tube instead of my bed/ the bus. Joined by Tori West, founder of Bricks Magazine, we discuss the inaccessibility of fashion weeks and the lack of accommodations made for disabled/neurodivergent individuals. Tori has worked her way from standing room to front row seats at fashion week, and sits down to give us a first-hand acco...

[Full episode is posted] I’m on the London Tube this week for a special episode of: Taboo on the Tube instead of my bed/ the bus. Joined by Tori West, founder of Bricks Magazine, we discuss the inaccessability of fashion weeks and the lack of accomodations made for disabled/neurodivergent individuals. Tori has worked her way from standing room to front row seats at fashion week, and sits down to g...

Has the accessability and normalisation of aesthetic procedures and fillers warped our ability to accept our natural features? I realised that I am simply tolerating some of my insecurities with the idea that I will eventually get procedures and fillers to ‘fix’ it, and is this becoming common culture within society? Has the accessibility of fillers and exposure to such content begun to normalise...

Globally, gay bars are in decline, we are losing our queer spaces, visibility, venues, and community, and it has largely been pinned on our dating app usage. Yes, Grindr, yes Hinge, yes Tinder, yes HER. The facilitation of meet-ups, dates, hook-ups, romantic partners, and even friendships are so accessible online now that we are seeing less and less people ooccupying queer bars and spaces. As a re...

Globally, gay bars are in decline, we are losing our queer spaces, visibility, venues, and community, and it has largely been pinned on our dating app usage. Yes, Grindr, yes Hinge, yes Tinder, yes HER. The facilitation of meet-ups, dates, hook-ups, romantic partners, and even friendships are so accessible online now that we are seeing less and less people ooccupying queer bars and spaces. As a re...

The first episode of Taboo Off the Bus, the deep-dive longform version of Taboo ON the Bus. Today let’s talk about the downfall of social media and realising it IS the damn phone. I dug out my old nokia flip phone today and speculate whether I could go back to the flip phone, why it is so hard to delete social media, and if the girls who have deleted TikTok and ran to Substack are doing it right? ...

The first Taboo on the Bus of the year talking my prediction of manyyy people deleting social media this year, the reason many of us won’t, and the rise of Substack as we all turn against short form content and doomscrolling. Taboo OFF the Bus, the long-form version of Taboo on the Bus coming tonight xoxo socials - @whatzaraloves Thank you for all of the love on Taboo on the Bus, I hope you enjoy...

I got down the rabbit-hole of Mayfair clubbing and the whole ordeal of 'free' nights out. Is it really free when you are doing 'unpaid aesthetic labor', or is it feminist to maximise this system?

Deep-diving the hatred I've seen of Emma Chamberlain's new haircut and discussing how I think it is allll tied to hating when teenage girls evolve into women. Also drawing some parallels between Miley and Emma, all from the front seat of the bus

It was Brooke Schofield and Alix Earl this week, who will be next…? This was the icing on the cake of influencer scandals, yet another big creator exposed for their racist tweets and vile views. How many infleuncer apologies and comebacks will be watch before we wake up to the performative act of ‘cancel culture’? Let’s talk all about the inevitable infleuncer comeback, who gets to accept their ap...

I sat down on the bus today to talk (rant) all about the cost of the current beauty standard, and I don't just mean money, but the physical and mental cost we put our bodies through to adhere to the ever-changing standards of 'beauty'. The whole 'mouth breathing' epidemic really stirred up this episode. It was either ordering a batch of mouth tape on tiktok shop or making this...

Sit down with Zara on the bus to talk about the shifting landscape of our for-you-pages and home-feeds. It seems as though we are moving away from the overly curated, typical influencer content and towards more educational, insightful, and relatable content. Are we just sick of being sold things or does this relfect a wider societal shift? Let's talk...

I love a label! As someone who grew up knowing that "straight' did not fit, I longed to understand what term did feel right in order to finally gain a sense of belonging. Yet, why is it seen as such a taboo to change the label you first identified as? Let's talk the taboos of changing your label, being unlabelled, and the change from lesbian to bisexual, all from the front seat of the...

Suddenly we are back in the depths of 2016 YouTube diet culture. Foods are being labelled as either 'good' or 'bad', we have men in supermarkets telling us how toxic these every-day items are for our bodies, oat milk is now the devil, except this is TikTok and it is 2024. Diet culture seems to have had a makeover, and is now presented in the form of nutritional advice online. Let&#...

Join me from the front seat of the bus to discuss my take on straight people entering queer clubs and bars. Truthfully, I see no harm in straight friends joining queer partners/friends/family for queer nightlife if they are respectful and there to have fun. Yet, bachelorette/hen parties and mobs of straight men.... not quite the same. Let me know what you think! disclaimer: there are a few occasio...

The pre-teens raiding Sephora to get their hands on £60 Drunk Elephant skincare has started quite a discussion online lately. So, let's talk all about how this form of overconsumption really stems from the desire to fit the current "clean-girl" aesthetic that is popular online, and how this really isn't any different to our overconsumption of Morphe palettes, ABH highlighters, and lip kits back wh...

Why in 2024 are men still pushing the narrative that there is an "acceptable" number of people that a woman should have sex with? Let's sit down to discuss on the bus why there is simply no need to even count the number of people you have had sex with, and how the whole idea of 'body-count' is not a very sex-positive stance to bring in to the new year. Ditch the notes list be...