lip magazine: for girls who think feel create speak out live

Log into your Facebook or MySpace account, search briefly and you will find the socially accepted genre for display pictures. Drinking in the streets, passing out, kissing a stranger; these used to be the source of acute embarrassment for one the morning after and now are posted for the whole world to see.

And what makes this worse is that the main offenders are young women. These girls are posting pictures of themselves in a drunken mess, holding a bottle of wine in one hand and pouring vodka with the other. In fact, girls are posting pictures that are much more problematic. These are the photos of themselves in lingerie, kissing their boyfriends, friends and strangers. These are the photos that boys consider an invitation to sex; the posing, the nudity and the sexual gestures. Many are going beyond an expression of individuality.

Today, many girls are peer pressured into exploiting their bodies and changing the way they look to suit their friends. Some of which become exposed to eating disorders, sexual misconduct, binge drinking, drug-use, violence and depression. The list goes on. And who would have thought that our social networking sites have become a domain for this behaviour and the consequences that follow.  

A friend of mine created her first online account at the start of year 10. She became a victim to social peer pressure. Many of her friends had posted pictures of themselves partially naked. It seemed to be the cool thing to do. She wasn’t a size 6, nor was she ever insecure about herself, until now. Her pictures became promiscuous as the months went on. But she still believed she was too big compared to her friends, while others began to criticise her skeleton-like figure. Yes, she became a victim to anorexia and was hospitalised at the end of the year.

Not long ago, a girl from another school had posted indecent exposed pictures of herself online. Some of her peers then printed and posted these pictures around the school, humiliating her. She felt she was psychologically scarred for life and never returned to the school.

These are only two examples of the reality this problem presents.

These girls need to screw their heads back on, think about the consequences of their actions and think about the person they have or will become, or better yet, the person they have the ability to influence.

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Britons love Enid Blyton most of all, according to a new survey. Britain’s Costa Book Awards has released a list of Britain’s top 50 best loved authors.

Enid Blyton is at the very top of the list, thanks to her classic children’s stories featuring adventures, fairies, woodland animals and midnight feasts.

The next couple of places were also snagged by children’s authors, with Roald Dahl coming second and J.K. Rowling taking out third.

Other authors on the list include Jane Austen, Marian Keyes, Charles Dickens, Beatrix Potter and J.R.R Tolkien.

Now, I know that I at least have read something by all of these authors, and I bet a lot of lip readers will also be familiar with at least some of their books. What sort of a childhood is complete without The Tales of Peter Rabbit, how many people didn’t get swept up in the Harry Potter phenomenon and where would we be without Mr Darcy?

But thinking of our own literature, who would take out the top spot in an Australian list of best loved authors? What books have a place in our hearts?

I’m going to suggest Ethel Turner as a good candidate… I still cry when I read Seven Little Australians. I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts on this, though. Who is your  best loved Australian author?

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With all the media hysteria over the movie premiere of Sex and the City, I couldn’t resist having my say, an attempt to spark some debate on our website perhaps. I’ve been reading all kinds of interesting material, and while I can admit to having watched Sex and the City on a number of occasions—I’ve wanted to ask Carrie what she sees in Mr Big, slap Samantha, tell Charlotte to loosen up and ask Miranda if she really believes in a happily ever after—but I can’t say I’m a devout follower of the program. While the feminist in me can’t see myself lining up to see the film at the movies, it’s neither here nor there on my list of things to do, the writer in me is interested in how they’ve tackled the movie given where they left off in the series.

I do romanticise the notion of being able to sit in bed with my laptop, as Carrie Bradshaw the columnist does, asking herself the crucial question that forms the basis of each episode. I think the fact that she makes a living (a living which allows her to live an above modest lifestyle beyond what many of us can afford) writing a column for a metropolitan newspaper, suggests that there is a fantastical element to the plot.

One of the many interesting things I read was a blog called ‘Can a feminist really love Sex and the City?’ It talks about this program bringing something new to mainstream television when it first began. It was a show about women, for women. Each of the central characters was an independent woman with a successful career; however, what a letdown for all feminists out there to find that for a show about women, it was hollow in its obsession with men.

There are a number of feminist women that have relationships, feminist women who want relationships, so is there a real problem with this? I think the answer to that is it depends how it’s portrayed. Sex and the City didn’t do a very good job of breaking out of the stereotype. One of the problems extends from a questions asked by Professor Imelda Whelehan, author of the feminist Bestseller From Sex and the Single Girl to Sex and the City, ‘How can we respect her [Carrie]?’ The rationale I suspect lies in Mr Big (the name alone says it all), who is best described as arrogant and egocentric, who can’t see a good thing when it’s before him, and Carrie’s inability to see what a terrible cliché she’s fallen for.

The show has been labeled by some as shallow, because while deeper issues were touched on, they were dressed up by sex. But let’s face it, almost everything in our society today is dressed up by sex. At best it’s guaranteed viewing and at worst, lazy marketing. But is this just another form of objectifying women, and in the case of the new movie, perhaps even men too? Or is it indeed, as others have branded it, liberating? And depending on what side of the fence of feminism you sit on, your answer to that will vary.

Had the notion of sex (and relationships) not been the sole focus, had these women been struggling with deeper issues, for equal pay among their male colleagues for example, and had such issues been given equal importance, I can’t help but wonder whether the show would’ve been as successful? More respected without a doubt, but would it have been so well received? A sad reflection on us all is that I think the answer is no. We only have to look at people like Paris Hilton to know that it’s money, not respect that drives these industries.

Author of Princesses and Pornstars, Emily Maguire says ‘Sex and the City can’t be taken seriously’. Do viewers actually take this seriously? I see Sex and the City for what it is. Fiction. Narrative. Fantasy. And perhaps, from one’s feminist perspective, not the best one.

There are others who’ve suggested the script is clever, because viewers can see elements of themselves in the characters. A good script writer knows that you have to give viewers characters that they can relate to. But this story also had to fit into a genre and its plot had to correspond. The series ended with the notion of ‘happily ever after’, with all four paired off and in love. This was regarded as ‘controversial’. But, from a writer’s point of view, given the central theme, could it have ended any other way without loyal viewers feeling ripped off? Without breaking the conventions of plot?

There’s always going to be the argument that it’s not real life. Here’s the no brainer: I don’t think it’s meant to be. But my question is: are we betraying the things feminism has worked hard for by indulging in such stereotypical fantasy?

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Sticky is a very cool (and probably the only of its kind!) zine store based in Melbourne, and one of the few places that stocks lip.

Even if you’re not in Melbourne you can help support Sticky, and score lots of zines in the process by becoming a Sticky member. There are a number of membership packages ranging between $5-425:

get cool emails on zines for 12 months.

you get: monthly sparodic emails from Sticky Institute; A one-off pack of $25 worth of zines

you get: monthly sparodic emails from Sticky Institute; 2 x $250 zine packs (one pack received on signing up, the second pack received after 6 months)

Support Sticky and sign up here.

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I read Seth’s blog almost every day, and today he makes an interesting point about why businesses produce what they do and why they want us to buy their products. He uses film in his example, but I think this is also extremely relevant to magazines.

The first reason is “me-centric” and explains that (commercial/mainstream) magazines publish because they need a space in which to sell advertising. They fill their pages with celebrities and say “buy me because [insert celebrity name here] is on the cover”.

The second is “you-centric”. Independent and alternative magazines focus on the needs and desires of the reader. They fill their pages with useful and interesting viewpoints, experiences and talent, and say “buy me because there is a lot of cool stuff in here we want to share with you”.

This is why lip is going to stay ad-free - we want to bring you the best content we can, and not have this dictated or censored by advertisers. We have explored including advertising in order to keep lip in print, and to have it available to as many people as possible, but making money is not why we publish lip and we have decided that printing ads is not an option.

We will have more news about the next issue of lip soon: we’re making some exciting changes, but rest assured, we’re not going away.

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It is around 13,000 refugees that flee to Australia on a yearly basis. That’s around 13,000 displaced persons who may not be able to speak English and are unfamiliar with the customs and lifestyle of Australian culture and for many, dealing with the trauma of what the title ‘Refugee’ encompasses. As Australians, some may say it is our duty to assist our newly arrived friends to settle into Australian culture. To think that in a new country, there are so many laws and procedures to be able to drive a car; there are so many options when shopping for food; and there is an abundance of opportunities you never thought possible, however, you have no idea that you are good enough to seek them, is a completely overwhelming experience for a newcomer in Australia. If you have ever wondered what being a refugee might feel like, you may be interested in finding out more about what you can do, to help the successful settlement of our newly arrived entrants. Check out the links below for more information!

http://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/resources/index.html

http://www.refugeesaustralia.org/

http://www.rails.org.au/

http://www.accesservicesinc.org.au/default.htm

http://www.immi.gov.au/

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It’s taken 107 years, and whether you believe Australia should become a republic, or you’re reluctant to cut ties to Mother England, there can be no denying that yesterday was a great day in Australian politics with the appointment of the first ever female Governor General.
Ms Quentin Bryce, the current Queensland Governor, former lawyer, human rights advocate, academic, federal sex discrimination commissioner, mother of five and grandmother of five, described her appointment as ‘a great day for Australian women’.

Congratulations Prime Minister Rudd on your decision.

Ms Bryce said, ‘What this day says to Australian women and Australian girls is that you can do anything, you can be anything.’

And you can…

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Following is a link to a great article on an abstinence club at Harvard. I’m posting this not only because of the subject but because I think it is an example of excellent journalism. Randall, the journalist, makes his own subtle argument throughout the article by the order in which he chooses to relate parts of the story. This way you get both sides of the story. The girl’s argument and the journalist’s, but the journalist doesn’t disrespect her or hit you over the head with his beliefs. She brings up important and relevant points, but the journalist shows how they are undermined by her own personal issues (and the boy’s as well). Anyway, you should ponder it for yourself:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/30/magazine/
30Chastity-t.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5087&em&en=
13ab4235900007b8&ex=1207108800

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I was sent this via email, but don’t know the original source so I can’t credit it here. Just thought I’d share

For some reason, it’s a little small here. Just click on the image to enlarge.

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