How do you define femininity and masculinity?

We are all familiar with the words femininity and masculinity but each of us has a different definition for them. Is a man allowed to cry? Should women wear lipstick and seductive dresses? And who does the dishes at home? We went on the streets of Groningen to ask people how they define gender roles.

Same Sex Marriage – After Ireland… Germany?

After the historic vote in Ireland to allow same sex marriage The Hook is investigating marriage equality debates in different countries. In a three-part series we will look at the issue in Germany, Australia and Italy, where the Irish vote has sparked wider public debate.

The end of horrible stock photography

Regardless of whether you are a journalist, blogger, developer, or designer, most of us run into the same problem at some point: We have no budget to buy a digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) or to hire a professional photographer to add illustrations to our work. But to draw attention to a newly set up web presence, high quality photography is essential.

How to make full use of Twitter and LinkedIn

As a group of young journalists we give each other feedback and talk about ideas constantly. This is as important as exchanging useful tools that could become necessities for our future working life. In the Tips & Tricks section The Hook wants to present you convenient hacks that can help any journalist, writer, or blogger.

You know someone who knows someone but you can’t find their email address in your pile of notes and your address book is nowhere to be found? Maybe it’s time to put your address book aside and to start structuring your contacts digitally. Today I’ll introduce you to two tools that can help you.

Modern Day Slavery: Human Trafficking in Dutch Neighborhoods

More than 110 human trafficking offenders were taken into custody by the Dutch police in the last six months, reported the NL Times. Justice Secretary Fred Teeven wrote a letter to the Dutch House of Representatives in November, saying that the fight against human trafficking is therefore “effective.”

But what exactly is human trafficking? The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime defines the issue as “a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.”

Fighting for Tomorrow

One evening in December 2013 Oryna Stetsenko, 19, was in her student apartment in Kiev, Ukraine, studying, but from time to time her attention was focused on the video stream that was flickering on her computer.

At 12 a.m. the figures on the screen called for activism: “Kiev should rise right now.” The reason why the protesters demanded this is because they were in danger at the Maidan square because Berkut police forces had assaulted them. After seeing those pictures, Oryna and her friends decided to go to Maidan and join the protests.

By 2 a.m. the square was overcrowded and people were fighting against former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych’s attempt to resolve the ongoing protests on Maidan.