The French senate passed an article of the bill to legalise same-sex marriage on Tuesday night, redefining the union as between “two individuals of different sex or of the same sex”. The article is a key element of the bill that also legalises adoption by same-sex partners. After lengthy debate, the article was passed with…
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The whimsical image of a writer brings to mind thoughts of troubled souls shut away in dark rooms, with a piece of paper and a pencil, or a typewriter, pouring their creations onto the page in deep isolation. When the writing isn’t going, that doesn’t matter, the writer can take a walk, or indulge in…
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So, it was officially announced by Prime Minister Gillard at the National Press Club on 30 January 2013 that Australia will be going to the polls on 14 September 2013. The reactions to this by both the media and members of the public were mixed – why did she announce the date so early? (227…
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Monday night’s episode of Q&A featured a panel comprised entirely of women. Brooke Magnanti, Germaine Greer, Mia Freedman, Deborah Cheetham and Janet Albrechtsen answered questions put to them by Toni Jones and the audience. I was really looking forward to the show—I expected rigorous debate (and, in particular, for Germaine Greer to intellectually body-slam the…
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Last night I was informed that Margaret Thatcher, the ‘Iron Lady,’ had died of a stroke, aged 87. I rushed to the Internet, the fountain of all knowledge, to make sure it wasn’t just a hoax – and found that Google was inundated with articles about the remarkable woman who was Prime Minister of the…
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There is a scene in the headline act of the Fremantle Street Arts Festival, a show by French company Bilbobasso, where the leading lady dances for the leading man, trying to convince him to come back to her. She dances with what look like the bones of two enormous metal fans, a series of lit…
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‘Dreams are like stars. They’re there during the day, but you just can’t see them’. That’s the Carl Sagan quote that Gareth Liddiard of The Drones paraphrases to explain the music on the band’s sixth studio album, I Sea Seaweed. If I’d been hoping to get a solid answer about the album’s concept, I would…
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A full-page ad placed in The Times of India by an Indian multi-millionaire seeking a new wife has caused some reaction in the media, ranging from guffawing to head-scratching. Reported by The Age, the ad, placed by Dinshah Vimadalal – a 69 year old retired widower living in Mexico – outlines his many attributes and…
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We are all afraid of something. Spiders, confined spaces, heights, ducks – you name it. But underneath it all exists implicit fears that we don’t feel the need to address because we know we can survive without dealing with them. Despite not knowing why or how they came to be, they are inherent inside…
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As I write this, I am struggling to breathe through my nose. My sinuses do weird things when I stand up too quickly and my throat is giving my voice a particular quality which would be more appropriate on the end of a 1800 phone call. As you may have guessed, I have the flu….
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McEwan is among my favourite writers. I first came across him through his novel Atonement (2001), which I found profoundly touching. I then watched the very good film adaptation of this novel directed by Joe Wright and fell even more in love with the story. However, what I didn’t know about McEwan was that his…
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Historical movies can be some of the best storytelling on offer. Recent films such as The King’s Speech and Lincoln have shown the amazing results that can come from the dramatisation of real events. However, sometimes a movie which promises fresh insight into important historical figures can simply provide an uninteresting journey down memory lane. Unfortunately,…
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I’m no relationship guru, but for the love of Thor will someone advocate ownership of feelings and spare us all the turmoil of the ‘does he like me?’ conversation. This isn’t an exclusively female issue but since most of my conversations on this have been with women, I’m going to address it from that perspective….
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Many women use tattoos to indicate ownership of their bodies. Tattoos became a symbol of rebellion for women in the 1970s, amidst the fight for abortion and contraceptive rights. While tattoos apparently had a brief popularity amongst Victorian women, they have predominantly been a male arena since their introduction in Western culture into the 1700s….
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