masturbation: the universal taboo
Airing the orchid, flicking the bean, slapping little Johnny behind the German helmet. Masturbation. We all do it, so why is it so taboo? It’s considered liberating if not expected, to casually discuss your sex life over a plate of fettuccini carbonara and a bottle of red wine. People often gather to boast, bemoan or [...]
amanda palmer, hairy armpits, and twitter
While some celebrities are paid for their tweets, others use their sphere of influence to create an open discussion about the world we live in. Amanda Palmer likes to shock people. Formerly of The Dresden Dolls, now a ukulele lover and solo artist in her own right, she seeks to ridicule cultural confines of beauty [...]
art review: Contemporary Australia: Women
The risk of many large-scale exhibitions is that without a discernible narrative for the artistically naïve general public (including me) to follow, each piece seems unrelated to the others and you find yourself stumbling from abstract photography to giant nylon installations in the same room. The whole experience can be rather dizzying and overwhelming to [...]
Sartorial Musings : Second-Hand Tips
Now, just to clarify; the tips themselves are not second-hand. I am just going to helpfully give you some tips for shopping in second-hand clothing stores. But I can see how the title was a bit misleading. Anyway. I have pretty much been shopping second-hand since I was in the womb (well, I was inside [...]
obsessing over excess baggage
I was the fat kid. The token ‘Fatty Boomba’ at primary school. I relished tucking into a meal more than an excavation of the sandpit. I avoided the monkey bars because lifting my weight was a struggle. I was always the first chosen for trivia, yet the last for a game of kickball. Although aesthetically, [...]
five things women can’t do
1. Know anything about a car, except its colour. This one often comes up at the small gatherings I am more reluctant to attend, in the form of some narrow-minded guy wearing a shirt with an obnoxiously large logo feeling the need to start a conversation about his ideas. During this conversation he will unfailingly [...]
learning to love melbourne
It took me six months to become accustomed to Melbourne. To feel comfortable and not foreign. To not wander the streets weaving in-between people with muttered apologies. To not notice that every living thing in Melbourne moved faster than I did. I got used to the weather, the sudden changes, the bitter cold, the lack [...]
live below the line
I like to think myself a thrifty person. In true accordance with the student stereotype, my dinners usually consist of either vegemite toast or cheap Vietnamese takeaway, and yet my financial standing still has a tendency to stray into the red. So to curb this worrying trend, I have joined the thousands partaking in Living [...]
sartorial musings : fashion braces, a killer trend
Colour! Bow ties! Frilly socks! Fingerless gloves! Yes, fashion can be a lot of fun when we want it to be. But I am not here to discuss frivolous things like fingerless gloves, or those cute scarves that have little pockets at the ends that you can slip your hands into on a chilly morning [...]
urban (in)security: freedom to walk
In Elizabeth Gaskell’s famous novel, North and South, Margaret Hale provokes outrage when she takes to the streets of industrialising Manchester. Her perambulations through the poor areas of the city to deliver food to a struggling family receive the condemnation of her male relatives and acquaintances, each absolute in their opinion of the extreme risk [...]



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