Talking points
From the dress that seemed to be everywhere to the most-hyped book of the year, here are just a few of the events that caught the country’s attention.
THE TESTAMENTS BY MARGARET ATWOOD Almost 35 years on, the sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale was finally published in September, and the world was more than ready for it. Fans queued outside bookshops on the eve of publication and London’s National Theatre was lit up green in honour. ‘Our goal was to deliver a campaign that was iconic, befitting our amazing author and this book, the highly anticipated sequel to
The Handmaid’s Tale,’ explained Mari Yamazaki, publicity director at Vintage, Atwood’s publisher. ‘Through collaboration, The Testaments was at the heart of the national conversation in a most troubled autumn. An incredible amount of work has gone into the publishing of the book. Margaret Atwood is a hero to our times, but also to us personally.’
LIZZO’S GLASTONBURY SET Pop superstar Lizzo rocking a shiny purple leotard while playing the flute at Glasto is an unforgettable 2019 moment. You can’t help but love the queen of self-love.
WAGATHA CHRISTIE ‘It’s… Rebekah Vardy’s account’. Those four words and ellipsis were big news this year. Coleen Rooney, convinced one of her Instagram followers was leaking stories about her to The Sun, blocked all but one account to prove it, as she told her Twitter followers in October. Rebekah Vardy, the accused, was quick to respond with her own lengthy tweet denying all charges. Meanwhile, the whole country obsessed over watching the Agatha
Christie-like plot unfold, to the point where the story made ITV News and #Wagathachristie trended for days on end. As of yet, the mystery remains unsolved.
THE WORLD WELCOMES ANOTHER ROYAL BABY After much anticipation, The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, gave birth to her first child in May. She and Prince Harry were delighted to introduce baby Archie to the world, while Meghan was widely praised for moving away from the photocall tradition on the hospital steps.
THE WOMEN’S WORLD CUP For what felt like the first time ever, women’s football was seen as just as exciting as the male game – and the record viewing figures of the 2019 Women’s World Cup proved it.
THE UK STANDS WITH DIANE ABBOTT WHEN SHE’S CAUGHT DRINKING TRAIN TINNIES When MP Diane Abbott was photographed on the Tube drinking a mojito in a tin, she had to issue an apology (alcohol is against Transport For London rules). But the nation stood behind her, with memes captioned ‘Diane is all of us’ quickly becoming an internet hit.
THE ZARA DRESS How could we look back on the year without reminiscing about the polka-dot dress that was everywhere you looked? It became the subject of an Instagram account, @hot4thespot, which garnered
‘THIS SEEMED TO BE THE YEAR THAT WE ALL BEGAN TALKING ABOUT VAGINAS’
more than 26,000 followers. To some, the dress represented fast fashion at its worst, but others saw it positively: how heartening it is that women of all ages and sizes can look great in one item.
LYNN ENRIGHT ON VAGINAS AND PERIODS
After decades, centuries, entire millennia of silence and squeamishness, 2019 seemed to be the year that we all began talking about vaginas, periods, pain and pleasure – loudly, proudly and out in the open. There was an abundance of books published on the topic: my own book, Vagina: A Re-education, was published last March; then came Maisie Hill’s Period Power, Nimko Ali’s What We’re Told Not To Talk About (But We’re Going To Anyway),
Dr Jennifer Gunter’s The Vagina Bible and Emma Barnett’s Period.
I think it’s important to note, though, that this didn’t happen overnight. I write in my book that ‘feminism has always, and must always, involve educating women about their own bodies’, and I really think that’s true. From the earliest times, women were helping other women by teaching them about sex, contraception, menstruation, childbirth – and the second wave of feminism involved plenty of sex education. However, I suppose you could say that the vagina went mainstream in 2019. I was certainly overwhelmed by the response to my book. I received hundreds of messages, via Instagram mostly, from women who wanted to talk about it, to tell stories about pain and missed diagnoses; about assault and rape; about orgasms and sex; about childbirth, miscarriage and abortion. After so much silence, no wonder there’s an urge to just talk.