Scarlett Kate Freud Curtis (born 21 June 1995) is an English activist and writer.

Biography

Curtis was born on 21 June 1995 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. She is the daughter of screenwriter

Richard Curtis Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis (born 8 November 1956) is a British screenwriter, producer and director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known for romantic comedy-drama films, including ''Four Weddings and a Funeral' ...

and broadcaster

Emma Freud Emma Vallencey Freud (born 25 January 1962) is an English broadcaster and cultural commentator. Early life Freud was born in London on 25 January 1962 and is the daughter of politician and broadcaster Sir Clement Freud (1924–2009) and June ...

. In 2003, she made a brief cameo in her father's film ''

Love Actually ''Love Actually'' is a 2003 Christmas film, Christmas romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The film features an ensemble cast, composed predominantly of British actors, many of whom had worked with Curtis in previous pro ...

'', playing Lobster Number 2 in the school nativity concert. She began her career as a blogger and has written for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''

Elle magazine ''Elle'' (stylized in all caps) is a worldwide magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, and society and lifestyle. The title ''Elle'' means ''She'' in French. ''Elle'' is considered "one of the world's largest ...

'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' and ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

''. Curtis was the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' Style 'Gen-Z' columnist from 2016 to 2018.

Activism

In 2017, Curtis founded feminist activist collective The Pink Protest. The Pink Protest and Amika George organised the #FreePeriods campaign to fight period poverty. They have also campaigned with anti-

female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM) (also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision) is the cutting or removal of some or all of the vulva for non-medical reasons. Prevalence of female ge ...

activist Nimco Ali and The Five Foundation to successfully include female genital mutilation in the Children Act (1989). Appearing on ''Good Morning Britain'' in 2018 together with fiction author Adele Parks, Curtis suggested that Disney films and fairy tales should be rewritten, saying that they represent an "unrealistic expectation" of life and that ''Aladdin'' was racist. Parks disagreed with Curtis on the show, saying that she "wouldn’t want our history rewritten."

Publications

In 2018, Curtis curated the Penguin anthology ''Feminists Don't Wear Pink & Other Lies'', a collection of essays by 52 women on what feminism means to them, featuring essays by

Keira Knightley Keira Christina Knightley ( ; born 26 March 1985) is an English actress. Known for her work in independent films and Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters, particularly Historical drama, period dramas, she has received List of awards and no ...

Alaa Murabit Alaa Murabit M.D. (; born October 1989) is a Libyan-Canadian physician, policy maker, and strategist focused on health, inclusive security, and sustainable development. She created the Voice of Libyan Women at age 21 and played a key role in ad ...

Saoirse Ronan Saoirse Una Ronan ( ; born 12 April 1994) is an American-born Irish actress. Primarily known for her work in period dramas, she has received various accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, with nominations for four Academy Awards and sev ...

and others. All royalties from the book went to the

United Nations Foundation The United Nations Foundation is a charitable organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., that supports the United Nations and its activities. It was established in 1998 with a $1billion gift to the United Nations by philanthropist Ted Turn ...

charity Girl Up. ''Feminists Don't Wear Pink & other lies'' became a ''Sunday Times'' bestseller for two consecutive weeks after publication. The book also won the 2018 National Book Award for Young Adult Book of the Year and was nominated for a 2019

British Book Award The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by ''The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the Na ...

. The book hit national headlines when

Topshop TOPSHOP (originally Top Shop) is a British online fast-fashion retailer, which specialises in women's clothing, shoes and accessories. It is majority owned by Danish company, Bestseller. In 2024, ASOS sold 75% of Topshop and Topman to Bests ...

proprietor Sir

Philip Green Sir Philip Nigel Ross Green (born 15 March 1952) is a British businessman who was the chairman of the retail company Arcadia Group. He owned the high street clothing retailers Topshop, Topman, and Miss Selfridge from 2002 to 2020. In May 2 ...

dismantled a promotional display in the branch at

Oxford Circus Oxford Circus is a road junction connecting Oxford Street and Regent Street in the West End of London. It is also the entrance to Oxford Circus tube station. The junction opened in 1819 as part of the Regent Street development under John Nash ( ...

, London. Curtis launched the hashtag #PinkNotGreen following the event. She is also the host of the ''Feminists Don't Wear Pink'' podcast. In October 2021, it was reported that an anthology television show based on the book and titled ''Girls Can't Shoot (& Other Lies)'' will be produced by Mark Gordon Pictures and executive produced by Curtis and Saoirse Ronan. The announced cast includes

Beanie Feldstein Elizabeth Greer "Beanie" Feldstein (born June 24, 1993) is an American actress. She first gained recognition for her starring roles in the comedy film '' Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising'' (2016), the comedy-drama film '' Lady Bird'' (2017), and the ...

Michaela Jaé Rodriguez Michaela Antonia Jaé Rodriguez (born January 7, 1991), formerly known as Mj Rodriguez, is an American actress and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Rodriguez attended several performing arts schools in her youth before being cast in a theate ...

Kat Dennings Katherine Victoria Litwack (born June 13, 1986), known professionally as Kat Dennings, is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Max Black in the CBS sitcom ''2 Broke Girls'' (2011–2017) and as Darcy Lewis in the Marvel ...

Jameela Jamil Jameela Alia Jamil (born 25 February 1986) is an English actress, activist and presenter. She began her career on Channel 4, where she hosted a pop culture series in the ''T4 (Channel 4), T4'' strand from 2009 until 2012. She then became the ra ...

and

Lolly Adefope Ololade "Lolly" Adefope (born ) is an English stand-up comedian and actress, specialising in character comedy. She is known for playing the role of Fran in the Hulu comedy series ''Shrill (TV series), Shrill'', and as Kitty, the ghost of a Geor ...

. In 2019, Curtis curated the Penguin anthology ''It's Not OK to Feel Blue & Other Lies'', a collection of essays by 74 people on what mental health means to them. In November 2019, Curtis was presented with the second annual Changemaker Award for young activists by

Equality Now Equality Now is a non-governmental organization founded in 1992 to advocate for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women and girls. Equality Now works through public policy channels to create a just world for women and girls. Th ...

Recognition

She was recognised as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Scarlett 1995 births Living people 21st-century English women writers British women podcasters English columnists English feminist writers English people of Australian descent English people of New Zealand descent English podcasters Freud family Writers from London