Philobiblon

The BBC is reporting that 20 per cent of people surveyed “had fallen in love” in a museum or gallery. Well I spend a lot of time at the British Museum, and can’t see it … although they do say the Victoria & Albert is the best place, should you wish to try out the findings for yourself. I can sort of see that – it is a somewhat domestic, warm place, but the inclusion of the Tower of London as a place to meet a significant other seems rather curious. Do they mean the torture gallery, or the execution ground?

National Portrait Gallery director Sandy Nairne told the Daily Telegraph there was a “long history” of romance in museums. “Galleries were regarded as a place where a woman could go unchaperoned and, therefore, it was a place where certain people who wanted to meet unchaperoned ladies would go,” she said.

The Observer meanwhile has got itself into love trouble over a sex column, which has now been dropped. I can remember (and I’m dating myself here) when newspapers agonised over the inclusion of the word “condom” in their pages. But perhaps “how to initiate anal sex” is going too far – particularly when you think that many people are reading them over breakfast. Although having hunted out the offending column (purely from professional media interest you understand), I’d have to say it is rather better written than most such things are.

Turning rather more serious, a British study has confirmed American findings about the nature of the bullying by teenage girls.

The researchers found these dominant girls manipulate the ambitions of “wannabes” to be accepted into the inner circle and use them to enforce the exclusion of girls they have decided to target.

Unlike boys, these girls turn only rarely to violence, but the authors believe the subtle undermining of confidence can be far more damaging and have lifelong effects on some victims.

Having been to an all-girls school I recognise all these things all too well. Although you don’t want to “blame the victim”, it seems to me that what often needs to be done is to reinforce the ego and mental strength of the victims, since you’re never going to stop the “Queen Bee” types doing this sort of thing.