Scarlett Curtis

Curtis was born in London in 1995, and is the daughter of screenwriter Richard Curtis and broadcaster Emma Freud. In 2003 she made a brief cameo in her father's film Love Actually, playing Lobster Number 2 in the school nativity concert.[1] She began her career as a blogger and has written for The Guardian, Elle magazine, The Times and The Telegraph.[2] Curtis was the Sunday Times Style 'Gen-Z' columnist from 2016 to 2018.[3]

In 2017 Curtis founded feminist activist collective The Pink Protest. The Pink Protest and Amika George organised the #FreePeriods campaign to fight period poverty.[4] They have also campaigned with anti-female genital mutilation activist Nimco Ali to successfully include female genital mutilation in the Children's Act.[5]

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, Alaa Murabit, Saoirse Ronan and others. All royalties from the book went to the United Nations charity Girl Up.[6][7] Feminists Don't Wear Pink & other lies became a Sunday Times bestseller for two consecutive weeks after publication.[8] The book also won the 2018 National Book Award for Young Adult Book of the Year[9] and was nominated for a 2019 British Book Award.[10] The book hit national headlines when Topshop proprietor Sir Philip Green dismantled a promotional display in the branch at Oxford Circus, London.[11][12] Curtis launched the hashtag #PinkNotGreen following the event.[13] She is also the host of the Feminists Don't Wear Pink podcast.[14] That same year, she appeared on Good Morning Britain and was criticized for stating the perceived sexist and racist themes in Disney films and fairy tales.

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.[15] In November 2019, Curtis was presented with the second annual Changemaker Award for young activists by Equality Now.[16]