homeZola2026-04-26T00:00:00+00:00https://jamologies.net/atom.xmlday 1: bobby's news2026-04-26T00:00:00+00:002026-04-26T00:00:00+00:00
jamie
https://jamologies.net/blog/gloucs-day1/<p>Hello everyone! I've now visited the first shop on my list. I don't have a specific structure in mind for how these posts will be written, so it may change as I go along, but I hope you enjoy nonetheless.</p>
<p>On day one of my odyssey I visited Bobby's News, a corner shop with a beacon-like sign right at the top of Gloucester Road. It's on the smaller end, at least for the other corner shops on that section of the road. I went in late at night to get, amongst other things, a lighter. Sticking to my rules, I did buy some food, namely some chocolate & sweets. There's nothing special to report about my snacks unfortunately.</p>
<p>Bobby's was refurbished fairly recently, not too long after I moved into the area last year. It now looks a lot like the other "new generation" corner shops, with pristine modern shelving, and a way-too-bright sign. The Google street view entry, from June 2025, has the old iteration, with its run-down blue charm. The name is very endearing. I wonder who Bobby is.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for Bobby, his choice in stock isn't anything that interesting. It's a corner shop. It sells corner shop things. There's no specific national niche it sticks to. Don't mistake a lack of intrigue for dislike, however. Bobby is reliable. If I want some crisps, or a sweet treat, I can trust Bobby. Fortunately for Bobby too, all of the staff I've been served by have been lovely. Really cheerful, which I imagine can be a hard act to keep up late at night.</p>
<p>I love corner shops, and their shopkeepers. A shopkeeper was one of the first members of public to gender me correctly, when I was much earlier in my transition. As I said, they're reliable. I'm moving soon, and my closest corner shop will be a Tesco Express. I shouldn't be calling that a corner shop, not really. I can't trust a Tesco Express in the same way I can trust Bobby. Fortunately for this series, however, Bobby's is just the start in a long line of corner shops all the way down Gloucester Road. My next two visits are to corner shops. They're about as populous as hair salons, a category I'm looking forward to much less.</p>
<p>A <a rel="external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20231018013030/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/oct/17/like-a-cat-with-nine-lives-how-the-british-corner-shop-has-survived-and-thrived">Guardian article</a> once compared corner shops to a cat with nine lives. As I've said, reliable. The bastion of convenience. Whilst the high street suffers from online shopping, the corner shop remains stalwart. It's in my family history too, with my paternal grandparents running one for a period. I don't think I'll ever forget my childhood corner shop, on West Bromwich Street in Walsall, opposite the Guru Nanak Gurdwara. Checking Google maps, it's still open (at least, in July 2024)! They had a pick'n'mix there, and I'd spend the grand total of one pound to get a little plastic bag full of an assortment of sweets. I wonder when the last time I went was. I wonder when the last time I go to Bobby's will be. I wonder if I'll know it to be the last time. I wonder if I'll say goodbye.</p>
<p><img src="/images/bobbys_news.jpg" alt="Bobby's News late at night. The green sign is glaringly bright." /></p>
day 0: the gloucester road blog series2026-04-15T00:00:00+00:002026-04-15T00:00:00+00:00
jamie
https://jamologies.net/blog/gloucs-day0/<p>Everyone who makes a personal blog succumbs to the problem of either having no ideas, or no time to actually post. I myself have had a previous iteration of this website fall into the neglected pit of blogs, and I'm determined for that to not happen again (don't look at when my last post was). Fortunately, I've been blessed with an idea for a Blog Series, that will keep me full of ideas, removing the biggest hurdle I have to posting.</p>
<p>This series, as you'll see, is very reliant on me being physically in Bristol, and ironically enough I am miles away right now. A writing retreat in Oxford with one of my good friends has given me magical writing powers, meaning I've finished my academic work much quicker than expected. I have no excuse to write this blog. So today, I'm going to set out what this flashy new series will entail!</p>
<p>I'm going to go to every single shop on Gloucester Road. Yes, all of them.</p>
<p>For those alien to Bristol, we have a rather long road called Gloucester Road. I'm serious when I call it long. I've never walked up (or down!) the entirety of it myself, though I suspect it would take a while. Anyways, most of Gloucester Road contains shops. All sorts. There's lots of really lovely independent places, but also some chains and the like. I've been to a lot of them, and now I'm going to go to all of them!</p>
<p>Before I embark on this, there's a few rules to set out. Firstly, I will only count until the bottom of Gloucester Road. I used to think that Gloucester Road extended until the bearpit, but that's not true. If this series is successful, I'll likely extend through Cheltenham Road and down to the bearpit, but I'll leave that off the table for now. Secondly, if I can enter an establishment and talk to someone about a substantial topic related to their business without the appointment, I must go. Annoyingly, this includes places like the various lettings agents. My current strategy is to just ask them to show me a random house, and I'll nod approvingly at it for a few minutes. I don't have to buy anything from places like this (otherwise this series would bankrupt me). Thirdly, if the establishment sells food, I must buy some. I'm not introducing rules about how much I must buy, just that I must buy some food. I'm not going reinvent the COVID-era 'substantial meal' rules. Fourthly, each establishment is equivalent to one blog post. I told you this will be a long series. I can go to two (or more) places during the same day, or within the same trip, but they must have separate blog posts. Apologies in advance for any boring posts. Finally, I've got to go to the shops in order. I'll start at the top (which means our first three are all corner shops).</p>
<p>Now that's all laid out, keep your eyes open for my first visit!</p>
my reply to northampton's reply2026-01-30T00:00:00+00:002026-01-30T00:00:00+00:00
jamie
https://jamologies.net/blog/gdc-my-reply/<p>If you need to be brought up to speed, read <a rel="external" href="https://jamologies.net/blog/gdc-complaint/">my complaint</a> to the Northampton GIC, and <a rel="external" href="https://jamologies.net/blog/gdc-response/">their response</a>!</p>
<p>I finally got round to writing a response to Northampton's nothing-burger they sent me. Here it is:</p>
<p>Dear Northampton Gender Clinic,</p>
<p>Thank you for your response, though ultimately I am dissatisfied with the clinic's approach to the matter.</p>
<p>In your response, you stated that "complex medical jargon can be a significant barrier" to the informed consent process, and as such you "use simple, clear language when explaining these aspects of hormone therapy".
This is something I strongly agree with, and is exactly why the 'lump' terminology can be so harmful. Lump(y) has strong connotations with cancer, especially in the breast. The main NHS website has a page on '<a rel="external" href="https://www.nhs.uk/symptoms/breast-lump/">breast lumps</a>' that demonstrate this association.
I fail to see how the language used on your website is clear. Clear language would avoid such negatively charged terminology, as this can muddle communication efforts.</p>
<p>Your response continually affirms the need for simple, accessible, relevant language. But the language used on the website is anything but. Whilst I appreciate that clinics have discretion in the way that they communicate to service users, the terminology currently in use sticks out, and can cause real harm.
I once again urge the clinic to change the language on the website. Trans women's breasts do not become 'lumpy'. They become tender, and grow, the same as cisgender women. Changing this harmful language is imperative.</p>
<p>Best,
Jamie Jewkes</p>
how i got lazy with citations2026-01-29T00:00:00+00:002026-01-29T00:00:00+00:00
jamie
https://jamologies.net/blog/zettlr-zotero/<blockquote class="note">
<p class="alert-title">
<i class="icon"></i>Note</p>
<p>This guide is being written with the intended audience of academics / students who aren't necessarily that 'good' with technology.
There is a lot more that both Zettlr and Zotero can offer you, but I'm focusing on showing how I use it, which hopefully should be pretty accessible to people.</p>
</blockquote>
<h1 id="introduction-why-and-what">Introduction: Why? And, What?</h1>
<h2 id="zotero">Zotero</h2>
<p>Zotero is a citation manager. It's not the only citation manager around, but it's the best. There are many things that attracted me to Zotero, as opposed to other options (notably Mendeley and EndNote).
Whilst knowing this isn't necessary for my little tutorial, I think providing justification is still useful!
I'll start with why <em>not</em> EndNote or Mendeley first.</p>
<p>Firstly, EndNote costs money, which I like to spend as little of as possible. It's a one-time license, which is better than subscriptions, but it still attracts a hefty price for a full license.
Importantly, however, EndNote is owned by Clarivate, who also own the Israeli company Ex Libris, target of many boycotts within higher education. You can read more about Ex Libris <a rel="external" href="https://librarianswithpalestine.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/ExLibris1Color.pdf">here</a>, but know that they are pervasive within academic technology.
ProQuest also falls under this bucket. Closer to home, the mandatory attendance app that my university uses was made by Ex Libris, and unsurprisingly has been subject to <a rel="external" href="https://thetab.com/2024/11/18/international-student-must-end-pro-palestine-check-in-app-boycott-or-risk-cancelled-visa">boycott</a>.</p>
<p>Mendeley has a free plan, but has a subscription for 'premium' features, which includes extra storage and AI bloat. More importantly, Mendeley are owned by academic evil overlords, Elsevier. I'm not at all the best placed to fully discuss why Elsevier are so terrible, so I encourage you to do your own research. Their controversies are numerous.</p>
<p>Zotero, however, is a breath of fresh air. It is free (as in libre) software, and helpfully also free (as in gratis) to use. The only paid feature is extra storage. I've been using Zotero for years, and I've never come close to needing extra storage - as long as you don't save PDFs in the software, the free plan will get you very far.
It is owned by Digital Scholar, a non-profit that (at least to my knowledge) have no shady Israeli or anti-intellectual history. Admittedly, most of the positive reason for choosing Zotero is due to it being free (libre). I'd say the Why Zotero? webpage gives a pretty useful insight into why Zotero's free nature is far superior. Even if you don't care about software politics, Zotero is just <em>good</em> software.
It does what you need it to do, it's easy to pick up the basic features, but it has a lot of advanced functionality if you need.</p>
<h2 id="zettlr">Zettlr</h2>
<p>Zettlr is writing software. Specifically, it's a visual markdown editor. Like Zotero, it's both free (libre) and free (gratis). What delight! Zotero is quite well-known - it's been around since 2009, and most researchers I know have at least heard of it. Zettlr, not so much. However, Zettlr is also <em>really</em> good.
I'll admit here that I don't use Zettlr for all my writing or note-taking. I'm writing this piece on Logseq right now. The way Zettlr works is perfect for how I write essays, but doesn't suit my more casual note-taking work, though this is more personal preferences.
I'll also admit I've never tried Obsidian, so I can't compare it to that. I had a bash at Notion, and was immediately put off. Not my vibe.
Zettlr packs a lot of punch. It's a bit more difficult to pick up than Zotero, but well worth the effort, <em>especially</em> when tying the two together. I currently run PASS (Peer Assisted Study Sessions) for first-year philosophy students at my university, and I ran a session on Zotero x Zettlr.
Some of them were in disbelief that Zettlr can do all your citing for you. The computer can do things! What wonder!</p>
<h1 id="setting-up-zotero">Setting Up Zotero</h1>
<p>I'm not going to go into platform-specifics for these next few sections. Though I will say, I've tried this on (Asahi) Linux, Windows, and MacOS before, all with little issue.</p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, the first step is to download Zotero. There's nothing special you need to do during set-up. I'd <strong>strongly</strong> recommend that you also download the Zotero 'connector' for whatever browser you use.
The connector is a browser extension that allows you to save an article, book, webpage, etc. into Zotero with just one click. It'll import all the meta-data for you! The computer can do things!</p>
<p><img src="/images/zotero_connector.png" alt="Zotero connector on Firefox adding Transgender Marxism to my library." /></p>
<p>Once you have Zotero up-and-running, I'd encourage you to play around a little bit. You can make folders to save your items into. I keep it simple, with a folder for each essay I write.
Once you're comfortable with clicking around the basics of Zotero, you'll need to download a plugin called BetterBibTex. This is how we're going to get Zotero to work alongside Zettlr.
BetterBibTex is a really powerful plugin, and one I barely know anything about. I've <em>only</em> ever used it for bridging together Zotero and Zettlr.</p>
<p>Once you have BBT installed, right click on 'My Library', then click on 'Export Library'. You want to make sure that the format is selected as 'Better CSL JSON'. I'd also recommend ticking 'Keep updated'.
This will, well, keep the export updated automatically. Finally, you'll be asked to pick where this file goes into. I keep it in my cloud folder, where I keep the PDFs I read from.</p>
<p>That's it for the Zotero set-up! Easy-peasy (I hope!)</p>
<h1 id="setting-up-zettlr">Setting Up Zettlr</h1>
<p>Once again, start by installing Zettlr.
As mentioned, Zettlr is a markdown editor. If you've used other markdown editors before (e.g., Logseq, Obsidian), then you can open whatever files and folders you've used before in Zettlr.
Again, I have no experience with Obsidian, but be warned that Logseq formats its files strangely, so things will not be as expected if opened in Zettlr.</p>
<p>Of course, you can also start from scratch. Zettlr defaults to a Tutorial workspace when you first open it, and whilst it's a little overwhelming, I think it's a really accessible introduction, especially for those not used to markdown editors.
The most important thing to know about Zettlr's way of working is that it is built around a thing called a <strong>workspace</strong>.
This is just a fancy name for the folder that contains all the markdown files you'll work with. Within a workspace you'll have subfolders, and then the markdown files themselves. Keeps things nice and organised!</p>
<p>If you're starting from scratch, you'll need to create your 'workspace' somewhere on your computer. This is just creating a folder, wherever you want (again, I put this on my cloud folder). Then you can open it in Zettlr.</p>
<p><img src="/images/zettlr_workspace.png" alt="Zettlr file menu with Open Workspace highlighted." /></p>
<p>Again, play around a little bit with it! The best part of Zettlr, for me, is the right-hand sidebar. It shows you the table of contents, any references you've cited, and any related files (I don't use this).</p>
<p>Once you're familiar with Zettlr, it's time to make it kiss Zotero <3</p>
<p>Go into 'File' and then 'Preferences'. Within 'Preferences' you'll want to go to 'Citations'. Here you'll get choice on how your citations get formatted. Importantly though, there is a bar below asking you to select a file for your citation database.
Select the file you made when you exported your Zotero library.
And that's it! For set-up, at least. Zettlr will read this file, and will automatically watch for any updates to it, so you don't need to continually upload anything. The updates are pushed quickly, so you can cite something you've only <em>just</em> added to your Zotero.</p>
<p>Now it's set up, you can start citing. To do this, type [@ . Some suggestions will come up (as seen below).</p>
<p><img src="/images/zettlr_citation.png" alt="Zettlr citation dialogue with one citation highlighted and given extra detail." /></p>
<p>These are all the 'citation keys', which are generated by BBT. In Zotero, you can see what all the citation keys are for each item. I've never needed to look for that though, the citation keys are generated by taking the (first) author, some words from the title, and the year.
Hopefully you know those bits of information from what you're citing. If you don't, I fear your problem is much larger than citation management. Once you close the square bracket, the citation will get generated, and added into the references sidebar! It's about as automatic as you can get for in-line citing, and I love it!</p>
<p>Once you're finished with your writing, you can automatically generate your bibliography too. Whilst Zotero lets you generate a bibliography from your folders in just a few clicks, Zettlr lets you do this with even less effort.
Zettlr has Pandoc (a file converter) automatically included within. This makes life super-easy. To export your writing (including your citations and bibliography), click on 'File', and then 'Export'.</p>
<p>You can export it as a Word (.docx) file. And that's all you need to do! The export will come with properly rendered inline citations, and a properly rendered bibliography. It's beautiful to see how well the computer can do things.</p>
<h1 id="4-conclusion">4. Conclusion</h1>
<p>This is by <strong>no</strong> means a comprehensive discussion of how you can use Zotero or Zettlr. Both pieces of software have so much more amazing functionality.
I started writing this as a way to show people how the computer can do amazing things. I think some people forget this sometimes, myself included.</p>
<p>So-called 'AI' definitely hasn't helped. I see a lot of people become accustomed to believing that a computer automating a process must mean it's some form of 'AI'. I'm not going to get into that discussion now.
But please remember that the computer can do things, and these things do not need you to be a programming whizz, or anything of the sort!</p>
a reply from the northampton gender clinic2026-01-19T00:00:00+00:002026-01-19T00:00:00+00:00
jamie
https://jamologies.net/blog/gdc-response/<p><strong>UPDATE:</strong> I sent a second response! You can see it <a rel="external" href="https://jamologies.net/blog/gdc-my-reply/">here</a></p>
<p>Toward the end of 2025, I wrote a complaint to the Northampton GDC, which you can see <a rel="external" href="https://jamologies.net/blog/gdc-complaint/">here</a>. Yesterday, they replied to me. Unsurprisingly, it's a complete nothing-burger. I'll be sending a further response, so keep eyes out for that.</p>
<p>The text from the response is as follows:</p>
<p>Thank you for your email to Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust, in respect to Northamptonshire Gender Identity Clinic, and particularly the GIC website. We appreciate and value your feedback and understand that certain terms can feel uncomfortable or unclear.</p>
<p>For Northamptonshire Gender Identity Service, it is fundamentally important to be open and transparent in respect to the side effects of hormone therapy. This is a core component of the informed consent process, which respects our service user’s autonomy and ensure our service users can make a fully informed decisions about this life changing medical interventions.</p>
<p>Furthermore, we must ensure our service users fully understand the implications of hormone therapy. Complex medical jargon can be a significant barrier; therefore, we use simple, clear language when explaining these aspects of hormone therapy and side effects of this therapy. In our communication, we try not to assume our service users understanding of medical terms. When discussing anatomy, medical procedures, medication, and side effects. For us, it is important to be specific and use language that is relevant and descriptive. GICs have different approaches to this communication and phrasing of terms. Northamptonshire GIC uses plain language to ensure the information is accessible.</p>
<p>In terms of hormone therapy and the side effects, the term lumpy breasts. Northamptonshire GIC aims to use terms that are both medically accurate and understandable as a way to describe potential side effects from hormone therapy. Many medical professionals use the terms ‘breast tenderness’, ‘breast engorgement’, or ‘breast lumpiness’ to describe common side effects. This term may also accurately describe the service user symptoms so that the GIC team can determine if the changes are typical or if they require further investigation. Northamptonshire GIC recognise the importance of simple language in empowering our service users to be active participants in their healthcare decisions. This ensures our service users preferences and goals for treatment are understood. We further understand that not all people are at the same level of English proficiency, therefore, using plain language ensures the information is accessible to a wider range of people, regardless of their educational attainment.</p>
<p>Please feel reassured that Northamptonshire GIC, we continually review our language and terminology to ensure it remains sensitive and accessible. May we further reassure that Northamptonshire GIC is involved in a large-scale quality improvement programme and a review of the website is part of this programme. We will review this term as part of ongoing quality improvement programme to ensure our language remains sensitive and appropriate.</p>
<p>Kind regards</p>
<p>Stephen Pope
Head of Service
Northamptonshire Gender Identity Clinic</p>
a complaint to the northampton gender clinic2025-12-27T00:00:00+00:002025-12-27T00:00:00+00:00
jamie
https://jamologies.net/blog/gdc-complaint/<p>UPDATE: They replied! See <a rel="external" href="https://jamologies.net/blog/gdc-response/">here</a></p>
<p>The below text is a copy of my complaint to the Northampton Gender Clinic, over their website stating that oestrogen causes 'breasts to become lumpy and increase in size slightly'. If they respond, I'll give an update in a new post.</p>
<p>Dear Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust,</p>
<p>I am writing this email as means of a formal complaint regarding some of the information on your Gender Dysphoria Clinic website. My complaint is in specific reference to the information section on changes due to hormonal replacement therapy. Under the "effects of taking oestrogen", the website states that one effect is "breasts becoming lumpy and increasing in size slightly". This is what shall form the basis of my complaint, for reasons that I outline below.</p>
<p>The website currently states that effects of taking estrogen include "breasts becoming lumpy and increasing in size slightly". This is a misrepresentation of feminising HRT, and poor medical communication.</p>
<p>I firstly wish to highlight how the GDC's phrasing of breast growth is not in line with other NHS organisations. Whilst I appreciate that GDCs have discretion over their communication to patients, the phrasing that NHFT GDC has chosen is inappropriate. For example, if we look at the Transcend service in Merseyside, their <a rel="external" href="https://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/feminising-hormone-guide">feminising hormone guide</a> simply states "breast growth", a phrase corroborated by the <a rel="external" href="https://www.cntw.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Information-about-treatment-with-estradiol-v1.2.pdf">Northern Region Gender Dysphoria Service</a> consent information sheet, and online information from the <a rel="external" href="https://ncth.nhs.uk/oestrogen-and-blockers">Nottingham Centre for Transgender Health</a>. On the <a rel="external" href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/gender-dysphoria/treatment/">national NHS website's</a> treatment section for gender dysphoria, it describes "breast development".</p>
<p>Breast growth is a well-documented, and highly-expected part of feminising hormonal therapy. It is a major part of why transfeminine individuals seek out such therapy, and as such it is important to accurately report how oestrogen promotes breast growth. Whilst it is true that the extent to which breasts grow on oestrogen is variable, with some people describing their growth as "slight", it is misinformation to describe this process as "breasts becoming lumpy". The usage of "lumpy" has connotations to tumours, implying that breast growth on oestrogen is to be seen as unnatural, or an undesirable side-effect. Furthermore, it implies that breasts that are developed as a result of HRT are somehow different to breasts developed during initial puberty. This is not true, and echoes harmful misconceptions many people have about transfeminine breasts being 'unnatural'.</p>
<p>Furthermore, I believe this phrasing results in being a deterrent. If we tell someone wanting to medically transition that oestrogen will merely result in their breasts becoming "lumpy", and increasing in size "slightly", this may incorrectly put that individual off from pursuing HRT, due to misinformed beliefs regarding its efficacy. This is particularly poor practice given the wider political situation that transition healthcare is embroiled within.</p>
<p>As explained above, I believe your phrasing to be extremely harmful, both toward trans individuals considering HRT, and cis individuals wanting to learn about HRT. Due to this, I formally request that this phrase be removed from the website as a matter of urgency, being replaced with a phrase that is more in line with other NHS patient-facing communication, such as breast growth.</p>
<p>Yours sincerely,</p>
<p>Jamie Jewkes</p>
seitan & grains2025-12-19T00:00:00+00:002025-12-19T00:00:00+00:00
jamie
https://jamologies.net/blog/seitan-grains/<p>this is my default lunchtime mealprep - it's super easy to do and very delicious!! full of fibre too, so even better!!</p>
<p><strong>ingredients:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>x1 pack tofoo branded seitan</li>
<li>x1 pack spanish style grains (merchant gourmet or lidl branded)</li>
<li>x1 bag of spinach</li>
<li>x3 salad tomatoes</li>
<li>a swig of diet cherry coke</li>
<li>msg</li>
<li>paprika</li>
<li>chipotle chilli powder</li>
<li>ground coriander</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>method:</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>rip apart the seitan into rough chunks & fry in some oil till brown. make sure to move it around a lot - it's quite sticky!</li>
<li>chop up the salad tomatoes & place into the pan to get mushy.</li>
<li>pour in your cherry coke & let this evaporate.</li>
<li>add in the spanish style grains, the msg, paprika, chipotle chilli powder, & ground coriander & mix together.</li>
<li>add in the spinach & let it wilt. you might need to add in a splash of water to help this. make sure everything is mixed thoroughly.</li>
<li>serve!</li>
</ol>
the bbc & political neutrality2025-12-18T00:00:00+00:002025-12-18T00:00:00+00:00
jamie
https://jamologies.net/blog/bbc-neutrality/<blockquote class="note">
<p class="alert-title">
<i class="icon"></i>Note</p>
<p>Due to essays & other commitments, this blog post has been very delayed. I started writing this a day or two after the BBC article came out, so this pre-dates the most recent BBC "neutrality" scandal. This isn't meant to be a comprehensive analysis of the BBC's transphobia, I just wanted to highlight a specific example local to me! Thanks!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>On the 7th November 2025, the BBC published an article titled "Councillors clash with residents over trans rights". To the untrained eye, this may seem like nothing more than a short piece of local democracy reporting, but if we look just a little closer, we can see how the BBC weaponises ideas of 'neutrality' in favour of transphobic ideals.</p>
<p>I've spoken on this issue to many well-meaning cis peers in the past, who have been shocked that a 'neutral' institution like the BBC releases articles that are nothing of the sort. However, to many trans people this behaviour from the BBC is wholly unsurprising, and this article is in no way the worst offence from the organisation. <a rel="external" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-57853385">This behaviour isn't new either.</a> Nor is it exclusive to the BBC. It may be more explicit from the likes of the Daily Mail, but this harmful rhetoric has been part of BBC reporting for years, and arguably is in some ways more harmful coming from respected institutions like the BBC, where people can believe (more so than the Daily Mail) that their reporting is to be trusted.</p>
<p>There are a few specific bits to pick apart with this article, that hopefully highlight how seemingly 'unbiased' and 'neutral' reporting can be anything but, and how apparently innocuous details harbour something far more insidious. Whilst I'm doing the legwork here, I'm hoping that for any cis individuals reading, this gives an idea of the things to look out for when reading stories on trans people in the mainstream media.</p>
<p>Let's start with the title, describing how councillors clashed with "residents". By naming individuals as mere residents, we misplace their positionality. I had a look into the records of the council meetings, and many of these "residents" had submitted multiple questions and statements that incited transphobia, with a few of them also having attended multiple meetings. This is not to say that the people in question <em>aren't</em> residents, but by calling them as such, the BBC feigns their innocence. It's the same logic as people who 'just have concerns' about trans people. Two of these "residents" are Wendy Stephenson and Phoebe Beedell, both of whom have been unwavering in their engagement with the council. Additionally, they are both members of "Women of Wessex"; a transphobic grassroots organisation. Phoebe Beedell is also a Senior Research Associate affiliated with the University of Bristol. She works under the School for Policy Studies; the same school that hosted notorious transphobe, <a rel="external" href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/sps/events/2025/prof-alice-sullivan-seminar.html">Alice Sullivan, back in October</a>. Hardly neutral residents.</p>
<p>The obfuscating language continues, with the article stating that the meeting "became confrontational when women's rights campaigners attended". Many trans allies have been critical of the framing of 'women's rights campaigners'. Not only does this obfuscate their transphobia, but it gives undue legitimacy toward their status as advocates for <em>genuine</em> women's issues. Many a TERF has been criticised for ignoring women's issues in favour of their transphobic tirades.</p>
<p>If we dig just a little deeper, the piece comes from the Local Democracy Reporting Service, and as such, has also been published on Bristol Live, and B24/7, under the titles "Bristol Green councillors wield pro-trans placards as war of words with women's rights activists reignites" and "Green councillors accused of being 'intimidating and offensive' by holding up pro-trans placards" respectively. Aside from the titles, the two local prints of the article are identical. Interestingly, the BBC version has made some major edits. The majority of these consist in cutting quotes from the council meeting itself, which mainly impact on the general readability of the article as a whole. Additionally, when talking about the Supreme Court ruling, the local version specifies that the "word 'woman' in the Equality Act refers only to biological sex at birth", where the BBC version states that it refers "to biological sex." This follows the BBC's change to their style when writing about trans women, where they will now only refer to a trans woman as a "biological male that identifies as a woman", clearly following the TERF handbook. Again, this is not new behaviour from the BBC. Their air of neutrality does nothing but manufacture consent for transphobia.</p>
<p>As a final point of interest, during the November council meeting, there were 42 total public statements, and 33 public questions received. Of these, 3 and 6 were related to trans issues respectively. Most statements and questions concerned the controversy surrounding the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood scheme.</p>
aubergine & halloumi bake2025-08-11T00:00:00+00:002025-08-11T00:00:00+00:00
jamie
https://jamologies.net/blog/aubergine-bake/<p>first things first: i am not going to become a food blogger. however, i am horrifically burdened with mental paralysis, and putting up some of my favourite meals is the easiest way to force myself to post on here.</p>
<p>i also have no other system for writing down my recipes, so this will mean i stop forgetting important ingredients when i'm shopping or cooking.</p>
<p>finally, i also started a daggerheart campaign recently. my gm is using the beast feast campaign framing, which for non-daggerheart-enjoyers, is essentially high fantasy dungeon meshi. we have a little physical recipe book, which also inspired me to do this!</p>
<blockquote class="warning">
<p class="alert-title">
<i class="icon"></i>Warning</p>
<p>in true homecook philosophy, i measure with my heart & soul. any measurements i provide are <em>rough</em> estimates</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>ingredients:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>x1 aubergine</li>
<li>x1 block of halloumi</li>
<li>paprika</li>
<li>cumin</li>
<li>ground coriander</li>
<li>harissa</li>
<li>olive oil</li>
<li>x1 can chopped tomatoes</li>
<li>almonds</li>
<li>couscous</li>
<li>x1 vegetable stock cube</li>
<li>sultanas</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>making the bake:</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>into a small-ish deep oven baking dish, pour in your can of chopped tomatoes. tip in a handful of almonds, and stir to distribute.</li>
<li>sprinkle the paprika, cumin, and coriander on top of the tomatoes. i typically use only a little bit of each, as most of the flavour comes from the olive oil & the harissa.</li>
<li>to the side, slice an aubergine. i keep them as whole circles, about a centimetre thick.</li>
<li>get a frying pan, and a <em>lot</em> of olive oil. heat up the oil until it's around as thick as water.</li>
<li>carefully place the aubergine in the pan to fry. make sure it's on a high heat. the aubergine slices will initially suck up the oil, so feel free to liberally add more. as the slices cook and brown, oil will return to the pan, so keep an eye on this.</li>
<li>once the aubergine slices are browned, move them to the baking dish, placing them flat on top of the tomatoes. i normally cook mine so they're really soft and mushy, but you can brown them a bit less to keep them chewy.</li>
<li>chop up the halloumi into slices and place them atop the fried aubergine.</li>
<li>pour some harissa on top of the bake, trying to get it as even as you can. i measure this with both my heart and my spice tolerance.</li>
<li>bake in an 180c oven for around 15min.</li>
</ol>
<blockquote class="note">
<p class="alert-title">
<i class="icon"></i>Note</p>
<p>you can also fry & brown the halloumi, but i normally don't (mainly to save time!)</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>making the couscous:</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>boil a kettle.</li>
<li>put your stock cube in a large bowl.</li>
<li>pour the boiling water over the stock cube, allowing it to dissolve.</li>
<li>pour in your couscous. the water should fully cover the couscous.</li>
<li>put in a handful of sultanas, and stir to make sure they're roughly distributed.</li>
</ol>
<p>enjoy!!!! if anyone does actually cook this, please let me know :D</p>
i love to talk to new people <32025-06-30T00:00:00+00:002025-06-30T00:00:00+00:00
jamie
https://jamologies.net/contact/<p>generally, the best way to get in touch with me is via my normal email: jamison.h42 [at] gmail [dot] com.</p>
<p>please be patient! if i don't reply after 2 weeks, please ping me again!</p>
<p>i might reply from my uni / nhs emails, if i think we're better suited to talking there.</p>
<p>i'm also chronically on <a rel="external" href="https://bsky.app/profile/jamologies.net">bluesky</a>, so that's probably a good way to get my attention, though please be aware that i do not have dms on there.</p>
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stuff i've done2025-06-30T00:00:00+00:002025-06-30T00:00:00+00:00
jamie
https://jamologies.net/portfolio/<p>this is just a collection of things i have done, from projects to articles, to anything else i think is worth sharing!</p>
<hr />
<details>
<summary> opinion pieces & articles </summary>
<p><strong><a rel="external" href="https://www.healthinnowest.net/2025/07/why-improving-trans-healthcare-doesnt-end-at-transition/">why improving trans healthcare doesn't end at transition</a></strong>
<br>
<small> july 2025, health innovation west of england </small>
<br>
<strong><a rel="external" href="https://www.bigissue.com/opinion/government-guidance-trans-children-schools-mermaids/">trans kids just want to live and be happy</a></strong>
<br>
<small> feb 2024, the big issue </small>
<br>
<strong><a rel="external" href="https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/trans-rishi-sunak-school-guidance-unlawful-b2378112.html">i came out as trans at an all girl's school</a></strong>
<br>
<small> july 2023, the independent </small>
<br>
<strong><a rel="external" href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/pride-as-a-protest-joy-politics-lgbtq_uk_64918a51e4b027d92f95c2cc?origin=related-recirc">pride as a protest</a></strong>
<br>
<small> june 2023, huffpost </small>
<br>
<strong><a rel="external" href="https://www.redpepper.org.uk/society/lgbtqplus/trans-rights-gender-recognition-reform-ban-scotland-uk/">the long road to gender recognition reform</a></strong>
<br>
<small> march 2022, red pepper </small></p>
</details>
<br>
<details>
<summary> academic articles </summary>
<p><strong><a rel="external" href="https://bilt.online/student-research-journal-issue-4/">death of the clinic</a></strong>
<br>
<small> august 2023, bristol student research journal </small>
<br>
<strong><a rel="external" href="https://bilt.online/student-research-journal-issue-3/">phenomenology & transmasculinity</a></strong>
<br>
<small> august 2022, bristol student research journal </small>
<br></p>
</details>
<br>
<details>
<summary> conference talks </summary>
<p><strong><a rel="external" href="https://feministgenderequality.network/conference-2025-trans-liberation-now/">epistemic injustice in trans healthcare</a></strong>
<br>
<small> june 2025, fgen trans liberation now </small>
<br>
<strong><a rel="external" href="https://beyond-reflections.org.uk/events/trans-research-conference">epistemic injustice in trans healthcare (again!)</a></strong>
<br>
<small> may 2025, beyond reflections trans+ research conference </small>
<br>
<strong><a rel="external" href="https://judaistyka.en.uni.wroc.pl/2025/05/26/undergraduate-and-graduate-student-conference-in-jewish-studies/">ritual transformation amongst transgender jews</a></strong>
<br>
<small> may 2025, uniwersytet wrocławski jewish studies conference </small></p>
</details>
useful / interesting links2025-06-30T00:00:00+00:002025-06-30T00:00:00+00:00
jamie
https://jamologies.net/resources/<blockquote class="note">
<p class="alert-title">
<i class="icon"></i>Note</p>
<p>this is where i'm sharing things i've found that i think are cool or useful!
they're not properly organised in any way, so i'd encourage you to just click around & explore!</p>
</blockquote>
<hr />
<details>
<summary> websites i enjoy! </summary>
<br>
this is a little collection of websites made by my friends / people i think are cool!
<br>
<br>
<table><thead><tr><th style="text-align: left">link</th><th style="text-align: left">description</th></tr></thead><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: left"><a rel="external" href="https://thelonelyfirbolg.github.io./about">the lonely firbolg</a></td><td style="text-align: left">my wonderful friend phoebe writes about ttrpgs sometimes!</td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: left"><a rel="external" href="https://biel.bearblog.dev">gabriel's room</a></td><td style="text-align: left">a mutual on bsky, he writes good things on christian atheism and benson boone!</td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: left"><a rel="external" href="https://ingwine.neocities.org">ingwine's webstead</a></td><td style="text-align: left">cool linguist i stumbled across on neocities!</td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: left"><a rel="external" href="https://dimden.dev">dimden's hotel</a></td><td style="text-align: left">dimden embodies a lot of what i love about the handcrafted web!</td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: left"><a rel="external" href="https://melonking.net">melonking</a></td><td style="text-align: left">another person who encompasses so much of what makes the interwebs awesome</td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: left"><a rel="external" href="https://jeith.com">jeith!</a></td><td style="text-align: left">very pretty design that inspired my own <a rel="external" href="https://splung.neocities.org">silly website</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</details>
<br>
<details>
<summary> other resources </summary>
<br>
<table><thead><tr><th style="text-align: left">link</th><th style="text-align: left">description</th></tr></thead><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: left"><a rel="external" href="https://logseq.com">logseq</a></td><td style="text-align: left">this is the system i use for personal knowledge management! it's the cooler cousin of notion</td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: left"><a rel="external" href="https://dandeliondiy.com">dandelion diy</a></td><td style="text-align: left">harm reduction organisation for those on diy hrt in bristol</td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: left"><a rel="external" href="https://cobalt.tools">cobalt downloader</a></td><td style="text-align: left">a youtube -> mp3 type downloader that doesn't have ads or trackers!</td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: left"><a rel="external" href="https://gnusenpai.net/colemakclub">colemak practice</a></td><td style="text-align: left">if you're awesome enough to want to try colemak this is good practice</td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: left"><a rel="external" href="https://lgbtqreligiousarchives.org/toolkit">lgbt religious archive network toolkit</a></td><td style="text-align: left">very useful resource on archiving! useful for archival work outside of queer religiosity too</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</details>
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