Deborah Coughlin wants to change the future by learning from the past
- Text by Tom Fenwick
- Photography by Tom Oxley
![Deborah Coughlin wants to change the future by learning from the past](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/Huck-DeborahCoughlin-Photoby-TomOxley-WebC1_2023-03-27-081917_wcvv.jpg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
#44 – Deborah Coughlin
Forthright, opinionated and very funny, Deborah has been respectively an artist, musician, writer, editor of The Feminist Times and bandleader of alt-choir Gaggle; a lynchpin in the UK’s renaissance in feminism. But there was a long period of time when she didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life; she just knew that she didn’t want to be told what she couldn’t do.
If there’s one through-line connecting everything she’s worked towards, it’s been the desire to create something that celebrates women. A gap, which Deborah firmly believes can be bridged by looking to the past for answers.
“And what a wonderful theme to work with because there’s a huge void to be filled. I think sometimes we tend to take one step forward and two steps back, because we don’t pay attention to women’s history, so it ends up getting erased or forgotten. I mean, just imagine gravity had been discovered but no one had told the next generation. Well that’s what happens with the women’s movement – gravity keeps getting discovered and then forgotten about because we don’t listen to the women who came before us. We need to remember we’re standing on the shoulders of giants.”
This is just a short excerpt from Huck’s Fiftieth Special, a collection of fifty personal stories from fifty inspiring lives.
Grab a copy now to read all fifty stories in full. Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss another issue.
Latest on Huck
![“I refuse to accept child poverty is a normal part of our society”: Apsana Begum MP on voting to scrap the cap](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/332218299_653673959895869_4114766209936780526_n_2024-07-26-125639_apuo.jpg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
“I refuse to accept child poverty is a normal part of our society”: Apsana Begum MP on voting to scrap the cap
After seeking to “enhance” the King’s Speech by voting for the scrapping of the controversial two child benefit cap, the MP for Poplar and Limehouse was shocked and heartbroken to lose the Labour whip, she writes.
Written by: Apsana Begum
![Is skateboarding really a subculture anymore?](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/Huck81_Socials_HeroImage_SkateboardingIsNotASubculture_240618_V2-1.jpg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
Is skateboarding really a subculture anymore?
With skate’s inclusion in the Olympics, Kyle Beachy asks what it means for the culture around the sport, and whether it’s possible to institutionalise an artform.
Written by: Kyle Beachy
![Autism cannot be cured — stop trying](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/shutterstock_2322534063.jpg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
Autism cannot be cured — stop trying
A questionable study into the ‘reversal’ of autism does nothing but reinforce damaging stereotypes and harm, argues autistic author Jodie Hare.
Written by: Jodie Hare
![Bristol Photo Festival returns for second edition](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/Hashem-Shakeri-from-the-series-_Staring-into-the-Abyss_.-%C2%A9-Hashem-Shakeri.jpg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
Bristol Photo Festival returns for second edition
After the success of it’s inaugural run, the festival returns this autumn with exhibitions, education and community programmes exploring a world in constant motion through still image.
Written by: Ben Smoke
![Documenting the life of a New York gang leader paralysed by gun violence](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/web-Eyanna-has-always-been-Maliks-primary-caregiver.jpg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
Documenting the life of a New York gang leader paralysed by gun violence
New photobook ‘Say Less’ is a complex yet humanising look into a life wrecked by gun violence and organised crime.
Written by: Isaac Muk
![The woman who defined 80s Hip Hop photography](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/7_ULTRAMAGNETIC-MCS_NYC-1990.jpg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
The woman who defined 80s Hip Hop photography
A new exhibition brings together Janette Beckman’s visionary and boundary pushing images of an era of cultural change and moral panic.
Written by: Miss Rosen