The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge from corporations that believe the recent Affordable Care Act (ACA) shouldn’t provide access to free birth control including the pill and IUDs. Hobby Lobby, a craft store chain, and Conestoga Wood, a cabinet manufacturer, are the two companies that are challenging the Act based upon…
Read more
A New South Wales primary school has come under fire after it banned girls from wearing shorts as part of the school uniform, only allowing them to wear dresses. Parents of students at Bathurst Primary School were unhappy when the school updated its uniform policy, removing the option of navy shorts and a white polo…
Read more
56 women killed in Pakistan for giving birth to girls A report from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan suggests that 56 women have been killed this year in Pakistan for giving birth to girls instead of boys. According to statistics from the human rights body, ‘From January 2012 to September 2013, there were also…
Read more
**Trigger Warning: Discussion of sexual and emotional abuse** Between the ages of 13 to about 16, I used to watch Law and Order SVU religiously every Thursday night. Recently, on holiday in Italy, I indulged in watching SVU while eating smallgoods and drinking wine with my best friend. I saw an episode in which a…
Read more
I recently watched an advertisement for girls’ toys, and while there is an abundance of pink, there is not a Barbie doll or My Little Pony in sight. The ad is for GoldieBlox, a range of toys specifically designed to engage girls and encourage them to build things, think creatively and be innovative. The company…
Read more
Last Thursday I visited the highly anticipated Melbourne Now exhibition, which, as the Director of the NGV’s Tony Ellwood elicits in the forward to the catalogue, sets “out to explore how Melbourne’s visual artists and creative practitioner’s contribute to the dynamic cultural diversity of this city.” Spanning expansive territory across the Ian Potter Centre and…
Read more
In this six-part series, Kiah Meadows takes a look at the relationship between famous directors and their muses throughout Hollywood’s history. We all remember Judy Garland for her role as Dorothy Gale, little girl lost turned witch-killing teen in MGM’s 1939 classic, The Wizard of Oz. But how many of us are aware of the…
Read more
When I was doing my HSC, I had a major art crush on Frida Kahlo. I loved her artwork and the story of her life so dearly that I dressed up as her for a class presentation on her creative process. Yes, yes, I was sporting a moustache and mono brow drawn on with kohl….
Read more
Victorian Police have apologised for the use of a crime scene photograph of Jill Meagher semi-naked in a shallow grave. The photograph was used at a Bendigo fundraiser for prostate cancer with 400 attendees last Friday. Detective Senior Sergeant Ron Iddles was using the image as part of a talk on homicide investigations. Victoria Police’s…
Read more
A new study claims that women are ‘hardwired’ to regret casual sex and one-night-stands. Men, on the other hand, are ‘hardwired’ to regret not having sex. Apparently this has nothing to do with society – it’s nature over nurture. The research, published in The Archives of Sexual Behaviour, gives several statistics of people’s attitudes towards…
Read more
According to the second national report card on mental health suicide prevention, a growing number of people with mental illnesses are facing unemployment, homelessness and discrimination. The number of people receiving treatment and going on to live empowered lives is declining. Far too many people with a mental illness are ending up in prisons and…
Read more
The New Day Box project began just a few short weeks ago, ‘almost by accident’, says project founder, Cyan Ta’eed. The project asks us to make a box and fill it with cosmetics, skincare and treats that will be sent to women living in crisis accommodation this Christmas. ‘It is a way to show…
Read more
The much anticipated second instalment of The Hunger Games series, Catching Fire has set the Australian box office well and truly alight, raking in over $12.4 million at the weekend. Catching Fire’s intensity has not waned one bit as many other ill-fated sequels have. The acting, themes and relationships have gone one step further in…
Read more
While the second wave feminist movement made considerable achievements for women in the second half of the 20th century, a tension arose in the late 1970s, which caused feminism to split into two: radical and liberal feminism. In the late 1970s and 1980s particularly, radical and liberal feminist groups took part in a number of…
Read more
