I blew my high school years in pursuit of one girl. It seems comical now, that my 13-year-old self met the girl of my dreams and spent the next five or so years pining after her. That, along with general shyness and being the only out lesbian at my high school and college meant I…
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You may have noticed that Julia Gillard is of the female persuasion. Perhaps you’ve also seen that her government has received a fair chunk of disgruntlement from the Australian people lately. Leaving the ‘faceless men’ and leadership worries aside, is there actually sexism hiding within the walloping that Ms. Gillard has received? How do we…
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Love is one of those things. Overrated, underrated, underwritten, overwritten, sublime, misunderstood. The list could go on and on. Love is such an individual experience that it’s hard to accurately depict it in books and films, yet that certainly doesn’t stop filmmakers and authors from trying. Lauren Kate’s Fallen in Love is a book of four love stories,…
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Name: Farris Nehme Age: 21 Occupation: Building Design student How would you describe yourself and your life? I was born into a fairly traditional Lebanese family, I prayed every night and shared the same cultural ideals as the rest of my family. I guess you could say I simply was the product of my environment….
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Deviating slightly from the male wish fulfilment trope of other reality dating shows like Farmer Wants Someone to Do the Dishes, Channel Seven’s new smash hit (not really) is all about girl power (but not really). But sort of! This one’s about the matriarchy, with domineering Mums who manipulate their awkward offsprings’ sex lives. It’s…
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How do you decide? Mostly, it comes down to a habit, a pattern or on the basis of advice from our mothers, sisters, our geographic location or a myriad of other things. There really isn’t any one right choice or combination but there are clear advantages and disadvantages. Since we all use them (apart from…
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Harking from the dark ages where Abba and Ingrid Bergman roamed free, Anglophone culture has cultivated a healthy obsession for Swedes. To be clear, these Swedes are not the underwhelming root vegetable popular with octogenarians the world over, but the people of the small, cold and sparsely populated nation sitting atop Western Europe. Our world…
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I have always been what is derisively referred to as a “bleeding heart”. I’m not a sucker for a sob story, but people being treated poorly is one of my trigger points. I may have spoken before about a project I’ve become involved with — a friend of mine is doing a study and a…
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Magda Szubanski ‘Comes Out’ as gay This week, popular Australian comedienne and entertainer, Magda Szubanski, came out on Network Ten’s The Project. While being open about her sexual orientation to her friends, colleagues, and family, Szubanski was reluctant to publicly identify herself as gay. She commented: ‘There’s a difference between living your life openly and…
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After much hype, and with a unique voice and a successful first album in Not for Love or Money, Melbourne songster, Dallas Frasca, has just released a new song from her upcoming album, Sound Painter. It’s been two years since her band’s last album, and it was a matter of settling down after the release…
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The race to become the Republican Presidential nominee is heating up in America with only four candidates left to battle it out in the remaining primaries. But who exactly are the contenders? Not much is known about these men in Australia and being a politics nerd myself, I think it is only right that I…
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I sure as hell never envisaged myself reading a book with Porn in the title when I was fifteen, but here I am five years on having thoroughly enjoyed just that. Pornland: How porn has hijacked our sexuality by Gail Dines is an exploration of the effects porn has had and continues to make on…
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Yep, it’s the week of Valentine’s Day, so I decided to get all celebratory and write two columns this week. But I still think it’s a pretty stupid occasion, even if I entirely support your decision to spend it as you will, and anecdotal experience tells me that this is a rather common sentiment. So…
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Every year in February, there is one cultural event that Americans look forward to with about three quarters as much as gusto as they do the Super Bowl. This Sunday night event is the annual Grammy awards, the pinnacle of American pop music – the night where musicians from every single genre come together to…
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