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

Biography

Curtis was born in London in 1995, and is the daughter of screenwriter

Richard Curtis Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis (born 8 November 1956) is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, producer and film director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known primarily for romantic comedy films, among them '' ...

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 romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. It features an ensemble cast, composed predominantly of British actors, many of whom had worked with Curtis in previous film and television proje ...

'', 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 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', ''

Elle magazine ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the wo ...

'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' and ''

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

''. Curtis was the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British 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 News UK, whi ...

'' 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 ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...

activist

Nimco Ali Nimko Ali ( so, Nimco Cali), alternatively spelled Nimco (born ), is a British social activist of Somali heritage. She is the co-founder and CEO of The Five Foundation, a global partnership to end female genital mutilation (FGM). Ali unde ...

to successfully include female genital mutilation in the Children's Act. 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 Righton (; née Knightley, born 26 March 1985) is an English actress. Known for her work in both independent films and blockbusters, particularly period dramas, she has received several accolades, including nominations for ...

Alaa Murabit Alaa Murabit M.D ( ar, آلاء المرابط; born 26 October 1989) is a Libyan-Canadian physician, Meritorious Service Cross recipient, one of 17 Global Sustainable Development Goals Advocates appointed by the Secretary-General of the United ...

Saoirse Ronan Saoirse Una Ronan ( , ; born 12 April 1994) is an American-born Irish actress. Primarily known for her work in period dramas since adolescence, she has received various accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations fo ...

and others. All royalties from the book went to the

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

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 National ...

. The book hit national headlines when

Topshop TOPSHOP (originally Top Shop) is a British fashion brand for women's clothing, shoes and accessories. It was part of the Arcadia Group, controlled by Sir Philip Green, but went into administration in late 2020 before being purchased by ASOS (r ...

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 the Arcadia Group. He owned the high street clothing retailers Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge from 2002 to 2020. As of Ma ...

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 TV 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 29, 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, performing arts schools in her youth before being c ...

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 a British actress and presenter. She began her career on Channel 4, where she hosted a pop culture series in the T4 strand from 2009 until 2012. She then became the radio host of ''The Official Cha ...

and

Lolly Adefope Ololade "Lolly" Adefope (born 14 September 1990) is a British stand-up comedian and actress, specialising in character comedy. She is known for playing the role of Fran in the Hulu comedy series '' Shrill'', and as Kitty, the ghost of a Georgian ...

. 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. Through a combination of regional partnerships, community mobilization and legal advocacy the or ...

Recognition

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Scarlett 1995 births Living people Writers from London 21st-century English women writers English podcasters British women podcasters English columnists English feminist writers BBC 100 Women Freud family People of Australian descent People of New Zealand descent