Joan Smith

Known for her human rights activism and writing on subjects such as atheism and feminism, Joan Smith is a columnist, critic and novelist. An Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society and a regular contributor to BBC radio, she has written five detective novels, two of which have been filmed by the BBC. Her latest novel, What Will Survive, was published in June 2007.

Joan Smith: Medusa, bitch, witch, mad cow, DemocRAT... Why does America hate Hillary Clinton so much?

Hillary Clinton is a witch who eats babies. She is a modern-day Medusa who turns men to stone. She is a DemocRAT, with a rodent's body and long tail. She is a mad cow, spreading disease across the country. Hey guys, life's a bitch, so why vote for one? No, I haven't taken leave of my senses: I am simply repeating some of the most vitriolic attacks on a woman who has dared to run for the White House, prompting an outpouring of misogyny on a scale that brings to mind medieval witch-hunts. The amazing thing is not that Clinton is trailing Barack Obama, but the fact that she's doing so well.

Recently by Joan Smith

Joan Smith: J K Rowling and the quest for fair pay

Sunday, 20 April 2008

When J K Rowling appeared in a district court in New York last week, something strange happened. In normal circumstances, Rowling is regarded as a thoroughly decent woman whose novels have provided pleasure to millions and who has, moreover, given a great deal of her wealth to good causes.

Joan Smith: Give thanks and praise for John McCain

Wednesday, 16 April 2008

The man at the bar looked familiar, even before he started telling anyone who would listen how George W Bush had spent millions of dollars to prevent him becoming President of the US. It was more interesting than going to a lecture on the mating habits of Galapagos fauna, which was the only other entertainment available on a cruise ship in the Pacific Ocean, and it didn't take long to work out that our disgruntled fellow-passenger was the Arizona senator, John McCain.

Joan Smith: There are lies, damned lies and diary clashes

Sunday, 13 April 2008

The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, has a diary clash. The French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, hasn't decided what he's doing that day. The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, never intended to be there anyway. With the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics less than four months away, 8 August 2008 is causing as much disarray among world leaders as the unwelcome discovery that a meteorite is hurtling towards us. How are they to react to this totally unexpected event, which has caused protests and threatens to call into question their commitment to human rights? Turn up and look shifty, following revelations that China has broken promises to improve its atrocious human rights record? Announce a boycott and risk the wrath of athletes and (in Brown's case) retaliatory action at the 2012 London games?

Joan Smith: What about those without any children?

Wednesday, 9 April 2008

If there is one piece of New Labour rhetoric which comes close to making me howl with rage, it is the phrase "hard-working families". Who are these people that Gordon Brown loves so much, parading them in his speeches at every opportunity?

Joan Smith: Civil partnerships could work for us all

Sunday, 30 March 2008

Last year a friend of mine went to a civil partnership ceremony for the first time. She liked it so much that she decided to book one for herself and her partner, with whom she's lived for several years. She rang the town hall, chose the date and everything seemed straightforward until the registrar asked for her partner's name. "You mean your partner's a man?" asked the incredulous official, and gently explained that civil partnerships are available only to same-sex couples.

Joan Smith: Medical advice is fine. But moral judgement is not

Thursday, 27 March 2008

For some time now, pregnant women have risked hostile stares if they drink the occasional glass of wine in public. Mothers-to-be are supposed to consider the health of their babies at all times, and the days when a pregnant woman could have a carefree night out with a few women friends and a bottle of wine are long gone; most lay people are aware of government advice to limit alcohol consumption during pregnancy, even if they don't know the guidelines in detail.

Joan Smith: Poisoning the planet is not my idea of sport

Sunday, 23 March 2008

During George Bush's first year in office, I boarded a boat to visit the Galapagos Islands. An American tourist looked familiar, and I soon realised he was Senator John McCain, who had come to look at one of the world's most fragile habitats. Now McCain is the Republican presidential candidate, and last week he popped in to Downing Street to discuss the world's most urgent problems, including climate change, with Gordon Brown.

Joan Smith: Bullies love a weakling – and Heather fits the bill

Thursday, 20 March 2008

For anyone who imagined that apologies to Kate and Gerry McCann in two popular newspapers marked a new era of decency and compassion in the British media, the front page of yesterday's Daily Express was instructive. It reserved the bottom half (and much larger type) for its favourite hate figure, moving seamlessly from grovelling to the McCanns to savaging "fantasist Heather".

Joan Smith: Sex, scandal and prehistoric attitudes

Friday, 14 March 2008

So far, no evidence has emerged to suggest that the disgraced Governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer, was secretly homophobic or indulged in insider trading. Gay websites have been lamenting the fall of an American politician who supported legalising same-sex marriage, leaving it to Spitzer's numerous enemies on Wall Street to gloat over his spectacular demise.

Joan Smith: 'Honour' killings are an outrage we must confront

Thursday, 6 March 2008

It's a startling statistic: in one British city alone, 33 children under the age of 16 are missing from school rolls. Officials in Bradford have not been able to establish what has happened to them, and there are fears that some may have become victims of forced marriage.

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