Angela Volkov
Bio
Humour, pop psych, poetry, short stories, and pontificating on everything and anything
Stories (26/0)
Male Author Has Female Character Appraise Nude Body in Mirror
A tale of two mirrors It’s ironic that last time I wrote about writing it was to discuss The Mirror Moment — that pivotal moment within a scene where the protagonist engages in a bout of self-reflection, illuminating their backstory and the nature of their forthcoming transformation. And now here I am, writing about another sort of mirror moment. Oh yes, that painful, cringe-worthy scene where a female character, often underage, is prompted by a mirror to describe her nude body in lavish detail exactly as a man would — and a woman wouldn’t.
By Angela Volkov3 years ago in Geeks
The Human Body Has Ways Of Shutting It Down
“If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down” — U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin “Even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that . . . is something that God intended to happen” — U.S. Senator Richard Mourdock “they had no problem having similar to a [forced, unnecessary] trans-vaginal procedure when they engaged in the act that resulted in their pregnancy” — Right-wing talking head Dana Loesch “Pregnancy is not a life-threatening illness” — Senator Ted Cruz
By Angela Volkov3 years ago in Poets
Human 2.0: Embodying the Octopus
I’ve been reading the brilliant Other Minds: The octopus and the evolution of intelligent life by Peter Godfrey-Smith. It got me thinking about the many ways we are similar to our distant cousins the cephalopods, particularly octopuses, in terms of behaviour.
By Angela Volkov3 years ago in Futurism
Banal but Relatable, Why your Instagram Poetry Sucks
I attended a writer’s group the other day and observed an interesting inter-generational divide. A young man scrolled through his Instagram and read some of his poems out loud, prompting some very illuminating feedback.
By Angela Volkov3 years ago in Poets
Low-Effort Ways to be More Likeable
Turn the other cheek I’m not quoting the Gospel of Matthew here, I mean literally turn the other cheek. Due to the nature of hemispheric specialisation in the brain, we are inclined to judge pictures of people turning their head to offer up their left cheek as more emotional (Lindell 2013).
By Angela Volkov3 years ago in Motivation
Peasants Had More Feast Days Than You Have Public Holidays
Bullshit jobs You and I are trapped in a Kafkaesque nightmare, a pantomime of busywork and make-belief with others engaged in the same. If we break character, someone else may be offered our part. It’s a farce staged in offices all over the world; whether in the public or private sector, bullshit jobs and pointless tasks abound.
By Angela Volkov3 years ago in Journal
The Artist, the Sausage Dog, and the Stripper
Not that I’m much of an artist; my passion for life drawing far outpaces my current level of skill. I’m not going to go so far as to pretend I think chiaroscuro is a model of Korean car, but I don’t use an easel, and I don’t hold my pencil the right way (between thumb and index finger). I sit with my sketchbook on my lap, and, consequently, I’m always drawing the models at an unflattering low angle. The one thing I do right, I think, is not to use (or even own) an eraser: one must commit.
By Angela Volkov3 years ago in Geeks
How You Can Achieve a Stable Sense of Self-Worth
Reminiscent of the push for constant positivity, it’s drummed into us that we should strive for an unequivocally positive self-image. We’re told that high self-esteem is the key to economic and social success with such regularity that I’m beginning to think low self-esteem is itself cause for low self-esteem in the more self-effacing among us.
By Angela Volkov3 years ago in Motivation