Vulnerability & connection: breaking through social boundaries

Helen Lederer reflects on the evolution of women in comedy through her personal journey as a female comedian in the 1980s to her creation of the Comedy Women in Print Book Prize. Drawing parallels between comedic performance and literature, she traces how female wit has always existed but often lacked visibility and recognition compared to male counterparts – from the Brontës using male pseudonyms to contemporary women finally breaking through in television and publishing.

Relationship counsellor Lucy Cavendish examines cross-class romantic relationships, from their literary depictions in Jilly Cooper novels to their real-world dynamics in her therapy practice. While acknowledging the forbidden attraction between social classes, Cavendish reveals that these "high-low" partnerships often succeed because partners don't make assumptions about shared values – allowing for greater curiosity and authentic connection..

Psychoanalyst Anouchka Grose identifies an emerging trend where heterosexuality has become a transgressive curiosity within LGBTQ communities. As queer identities gain broader acceptance, she observes how traditional straight relationships now appear amusingly antiquated to some – even kinky in their rigid conventions – leading certain queer individuals to experiment with heterosexuality as a novel form of boundary-crossing.