To add a healthy dollop of guilt to our days, women are now being told we’re responsible for other women’s body image issues, maybe even their eating disorders. This week, researchers at the University of Notre Dame’s Body Image and Eating Disorder Lab revealed just how distasteful women are who dare to share their insecurities…
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After winning TAC’s (Transport Accident Commision’s) ‘Make a film, make a difference’ competition in 2011, doors, windows and shutters have flung open for Tess Fisher. The Melbourne student (soon to be known to film enthusiasts as ‘The Nastiest Sheep’) was thrust into glorious chaos when she and a friend were selected to produce the short…
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‘Ajax Spray n’ Wipe made everything alright.’ ‘I wash all my curtains in Stergene. I’m very fussy about the way they’re cleaned.’ One quote comes from an advertisement in a 1956 Woman and Home magazine. The other is from a 2010 television ad. In both, women give testimonials about cleaning products. We’re used to seeing…
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In 2000 my class went on a school camp to Ballarat and we were given a list detailing the clothes to bring, the lollies to leave at home, and what other items were either required, allowed or forbidden. The list was long and strangely specific when it came to clothing, but somewhere in between Driza-Bone…
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We’re continuing our series on the Dale Young Mothers’ Program (YMP) from Wyong, NSW. Funded by the Youth Connections program and the Wyong Better Futures Local Solutions Local Advisory Group, the Dale Young Mothers’ Program gives young parents the chance to complete their year 12 certificate and form pathways to further education/work by creating a…
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To say that the Amish community is isolated from civilisation is like saying that the Hulk has anger management issues. The Amish don’t have the modern communications and resources that somehow seem necessary to us Westerners (but remain superfluous in our daily functioning) and that’s a realisation that seems to drive us crazy. Sadly it…
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The first movie in the Alien franchise; of the same name, was released in 1979, and set the bar for sci-fi and horror in the years to come with its original plot, strong characters and atmospheric filming. I can only assume you have a broad understanding of the plot of the film; seven employees of a big…
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Only a few weeks ago myself and a elderly couple devoured a heart-wrenching French film, The Hedgehog, inspired by the best-selling novel The Elegance of A Hedgehog - an insightful yet saddening story about the contrast between a child’s and a older woman’s perspectives on life. The first shot introduces us to Paloma Josse (Garance Le Guillermic),…
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A missing girl; an out of town detective; a small town creaking under the weight of massive, terrible secrets. There’s much common ground shared by Twin Peaks and Top of the Lake. Both shows are indisputably great; the popular jury is still out to some degree on the newly-minted Top of the Lake, but Twin…
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Casablanca is one movie that even film buffs can agree is a classic. There aren’t many films like this – in any group of people, someone will always want to be the one with the ‘original’ opinion, i.e. the person that hates that thing you really like. (Because with Casablanca you can’t say you liked…
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“Why Can’t A Woman Behave More Like A Man?” “Oh, Henry Higgins, just you wait.” My Fair Lady (1964) is musical film version of a musical theatre adaptation of an earlier film adaptation of a play called Pygmalion. Exhausted yet? It stars Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Dolittle, a poor flower girl whose alarming low-class accent…
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The news that the budget was once again delaying increase to foreign aid spending was sad for Australia’s reputation as a burgeoning leader on the world stage. That is why I was especially uplifted to see ACMI, cinema 1, bursting at the seams by those eager to learn about human rights issues through the Human…
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‘Wow, this user got the equality of retweeting almost down to an art,’ says Twee-Q, a website that analyses your retweets on Twitter based on the gender of the original tweeter. Boy, am I relieved! It definitely ranked high on my list of concerns. In fact, it comes in third, just after the price of…
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Big, bold and beautiful accurately describe the intense film quality of The Great Gatsby. Complete with mind-blowing situations, beautiful cinematography and intense dialogue, The Great Gatsby is a marvel on-screen, but falls short when it comes to real life connections. Based on the book by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby follows the story of…
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