Taboo on the Bus

Taboo on the Bus

By WhatzaralovesSociety & Culture
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Taboo on the Bus episodes

  • WTF is an ‘Almond-Daughter’ - TikTok is commodifying identities and aesthetics [Mini version]

    Sit down with Zara at the front of the bus to discuss the thriving internet subculture of the ‘almond-daughter’. It is exactly what you think it is: a repackaged ED sold and made aesthetic to the girls in yet another girl, core, IT, box. Let’s talk about the harm that slotting ourselves in to these boxes can cause, and why I think the almond-daughter subculture/trend is pureposely kept online despite its harm. 


    4 min
  • Is fashion week accessible? - with Tori West of Bricks Magazine

    I’m on the London Tube this week for a special episode of: Taboo on the Tube instead of my bed/ the bus. Joined by Tori West, founder of Bricks Magazine, we discuss the inaccessibility of fashion weeks and the lack of accommodations made for disabled/neurodivergent individuals. Tori has worked her way from standing room to front row seats at fashion week, and sits down to give us a first-hand account of her experience. Join us to talk about the way clout is so often put before accommodation and lift the lid on fashion week. 

    Thank you Tori West and the darling Prada for joining me for this episode. I will be back on the bus/bed next week as per usual! 

    Socials: @whatzaraloves

    #FashionWeek #lfw #taboo #fashionweek2025 #toriwest

    19 min
  • Is fashion week accessible - with Tori West [mini version]

    [Full episode is posted]


    I’m on the London Tube this week for a special episode of: Taboo on the Tube instead of my bed/ the bus. Joined by Tori West, founder of Bricks Magazine, we discuss the inaccessability of fashion weeks and the lack of accomodations made for disabled/neurodivergent individuals. Tori has worked her way from standing room to front row seats at fashion week, and sits down to give us a first-hand account of her experience. Join us to talk about the way clout is so often put before accomodation, and lift the lid on fashion week. 


    Thank you Tori West and the darling Prada for joining me for this episode. I will be back on the bus/bed next week as per usual! 


    Socials: @whatzaraloves

    5 min
  • Social Media dysmorphia - the truth of fillers, botox, and the beauty standard

    Has the accessability and normalisation of aesthetic procedures and fillers warped our ability to accept our natural features? I realised that I am simply tolerating some of my insecurities with the idea that I will eventually get procedures and fillers to ‘fix’ it, and is this becoming common culture within society? Has the accessibility of fillers and exposure to such content begun to normalise changing ourselves instead of accepting?


    Sit down with me in the long-form version of Taboo on the Bus to discuss:

    how accessible and normalised aesthetic procedures have become
    the every-changing, consistently unattainable beauty-standard 
    how marketers and advertisers influence and sell us insecurities
    How social media makes us desire aesthetic procedures
    The racial cherry-picking within western beauty standards
    Social media dysmorphia 


    Again, I will clarify that I do not disasgree with aesthetic procedures/fillers. I personally would like them, but what I don’t agree with is how normalised, accessible, and promoted they are.


    All of my love,

    Zara


    @whatzaraloves // Taboo on the Bus

    24 min
  • Dating apps are killing the gay bar - mini version

    Globally, gay bars are in decline, we are losing our queer spaces, visibility, venues, and community, and it has largely been pinned on our dating app usage. Yes, Grindr, yes Hinge, yes Tinder, yes HER. The facilitation of meet-ups, dates, hook-ups, romantic partners, and even friendships are so accessible online now that we are seeing less and less people ooccupying queer bars and spaces. As a result, we are losing our gay bars, so let’s dive in to the implications of that. (side note, this is my dissertation area, hence the enthusiasm, passion, and intense research haha) all of my love


    tiktok - whatzaraloves

    insta - whatzaraloves

    YouTube - whatzaraloves

    5 min
  • Dating apps are killing the gay bars - the privatisation of queerness

    Globally, gay bars are in decline, we are losing our queer spaces, visibility, venues, and community, and it has largely been pinned on our dating app usage. Yes, Grindr, yes Hinge, yes Tinder, yes HER. The facilitation of meet-ups, dates, hook-ups, romantic partners, and even friendships are so accessible online now that we are seeing less and less people ooccupying queer bars and spaces. As a result, we are losing our gay bars, so let’s dive in to the implications of that. (side note, this is my dissertation area, hence the enthusiasm, passion, and intense research haha) all of my love


    tiktok - whatzaraloves

    insta - whatzaraloves

    YouTube - whatzaraloves

    29 min
  • Should we all go back to flip phones? - the downfall of social media

    The first episode of Taboo Off the Bus, the deep-dive longform version of Taboo ON the Bus. Today let’s talk about the downfall of social media and realising it IS the damn phone. I dug out my old nokia flip phone today and speculate whether I could go back to the flip phone, why it is so hard to delete social media, and if the girls who have deleted TikTok and ran to Substack are doing it right? 


    Thank you for all of the love on Taboo on the Bus, I hope you enjoy the longer version from bed!! xoxo

    24 min
  • Why we won't delete social media - digital vs real life FOMO

    The first Taboo on the Bus of the year talking my prediction of manyyy people deleting social media this year, the reason many of us won’t, and the rise of Substack as we all turn against short form content and doomscrolling. Taboo OFF the Bus, the long-form version of Taboo on the Bus coming tonight xoxo


    socials - @whatzaraloves


    Thank you for all of the love on Taboo on the Bus, I hope you enjoy the longer version too!! xoxo

    4 min

About Taboo on the Bus

From the publisher's feed

Sit down with Zara McIntosh to chat taboo topics from the front seat of the bus. Taking an unfiltered stance on pop-culture, society, culture, and queer issues, she candidly shares her opinion as passengers around her go about their every-day life, overhearing snippets of these unspoken taboos.