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: McQueen had a sinister view of women's bodies

Fashion isn't usually a matter of life and death. People who work in fashion take it incredibly seriously, but you have to be a stylist or a fashion editor to care passionately about the cut of a pair of trousers. So I wouldn't be surprised if many people were baffled last week when they heard fashion industry insiders responding to news of the death of the British designer, Alexander McQueen. Even making allowances for the fact that some of the interviewees knew him personally and were speaking while the shock of his death was still raw, they struggled for a language which would make sense to ordinary human beings; if you weren't acquainted with McQueen's work, you might come away with the idea that he put men in bottom-exposing "bumster" trousers – or that he was a wayward genius.

Recently by Joan Smith

Joan Smith: Amnesty shouldn't support men like Moazzam Begg

Thursday, 11 February 2010

A prisoner of conscience can turn into an apologist for extremism

Joan Smith: Consumer choice is the new corset

Sunday, 7 February 2010

Katie Price has taken control of her life and is hailed as a role model, but she is no Simone de Beauvoir

Joan Smith: Salinger dismissed his children – that war generation did

Sunday, 31 January 2010

When the author J D Salinger died on Wednesday at the age of 91, his obituaries were as one in crediting him with the invention of teenage angst. His only published novel, The Catcher in the Rye, is regarded as the quintessential expression of adolescent alienation, while his refusal to explain himself intrigued critics.

Joan Smith: One woman's sex addict is another woman's sex pest

Sunday, 24 January 2010

Where are these sex clinics? What courses do they offer? Do I have to practise or can I book myself in straightaway, like Tiger Woods? Russell Brand has been to one and he's had a thousand lovers, so they've obviously got a fantastic success rate. Pine Grove in Mississippi, which is currently home to the reclusive golfer, has even got a dog which bounds around and makes new guests feel welcome.

Joan Smith: Nothing liberal about defending burkas

Tuesday, 19 January 2010

These masks are a symbol of ideology, not a fashion statement

Joan Smith: Labour takes on the BNP at its own game

Sunday, 17 January 2010

The Government is finally seeing that poverty, lost jobs and lack of mobility lie behind the appeal of racists

Joan Smith: Ross is out, but it's the BBC that is on the back foot

Sunday, 10 January 2010

The single most important thing that happened last week, obviously, was the shock announcement that Jonathan Ross is leaving the BBC. His not-so-imminent departure – we have until the summer to prepare ourselves – was reported exhaustively, getting top billing on Radio 4's PM programme.