BridgetOrr

If anything, I never realised how much I took my opposable digits for granted. I would bristle at the thought of spending my life thumbing up or down her decisions but now barely stretch to wag in disapproval. I skulk around the dusty floor, where I patrol for pests gliding across. As she mixes in the cauldron, her face mesmerised by the smoke and colour changes, I circle around her legs chirping. Still too preoccupied, I start to jag into her legs in order to elicit a response. We know each other but can now barely understand: that’s the...

“Why do you do this every year?” “When your aunties and uncles were younger, we weren’t able to afford the steak pies sold at New Year. Your Grandpa knew this butcher who reduced the price of turkeys after Christmas and we just decided to have that instead…” I don’t know why I do this now. You’re all too hungover to get up and help me clean the table and floor surfaces beforehand, making excused about having to clear up before your own parties and not getting any sleep. Don’t be like that, I’m not just blaming you. I want...

It’s unfortunate that girlishness often equates to rubbishness. For all the campaigns against gender-segregating space weapons and Lego sets from styling dolls and mock-up kitchen playsets in order to create the equal-opportunities playroom of our hopes and dreams, you still get the idea that even they wouldn’t touch the girly toys. To me, socializing girls into pink princessiness is not just the problem – it’s also socializing everyone else to denigrate said pink princessiness. This unfortunate tendency is most evident in children’s television. As Transformers proved, any dumb eighties cartoon produced to sell action figures can just about coast...

What’s the hardest thing about being a journalist? Is it coming up with interesting ideas that could be developed into newsworthy pitches? Finding the motivation to crack on with difficult assignments while juggling day jobs and distractions elsewhere? Being able to cope with evenings of networking and nights alone at the laptop trying to finish a piece? For a journalist with Asperger’s Syndrome, you would be likely to answer “all of the above”. Asperger’s Syndrome is a hidden learning disability on the Autistic Spectrum. As a young woman with the condition, I have to work hard at improving my...

?Celia Pacquola emerges onto the stage in a ramshackle fashion. Her feet poke out from behind a black screen that she appears to be trying to hide behind and her opening remarks are hesitant and unsure. This shoddiness characterises a set that attempts to lead us through Pacquola’s emotions following a painful multiple betrayal by an ex-boyfriend. Throwing pictures up on to the screen to symbolise her emotions and clicking her fingers whenever she wants us to experience what she was going through, Pacquola irritates more than she engages. Digressions outside of the theme are equally uneven, descending into...

?Dollymix contributor Bridget Orr is here to deconstruct portrayals of women in the media, and what lies beneath both new-fangled and traditional female stereotypes. This week, she wonders about the ‘girl overachiever’… Calling someone an ‘overachiever’ is a bit of a backhanded compliment. Instead of appreciating someone’s academic or sporting success at face value, calling someone an overachiever seems to mock their achievements slightly. The impression of the overachiever is someone who spent lunchtimes in the chess club instead of hanging around the local shops indulging in Pot Noodles and sweets, and rubbed their intelligence in their classmates’ noses...