kiss goodbye to ms
In 2008, just shy of her 22nd birthday, Jackie Richards experienced some dizziness, fatigue and blurred vision, which she took as evidence of ‘partying too hard’, but after the facial paralysis hit (and gradually worsened throughout the day) she took herself off to the doctor. The diagnosis? Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a neurological disease caused by [...]
be me: a fundraising afternoon
The High Tea is back and in a big way; it’s our trendy new thing to do and it’s not hard to understand why. Tea-sipping ladies wearing their Sunday best while indulging in sweet treats and juicy gossip? What’s not to love! Here’s your chance to enjoy that luxury and do something worthwhile at the [...]
crumbling ecologies: craft, community, fragility
Craft and community are intertwined concepts, but both are under threat. Our affection for all things handmade has not been enough to preserve the fringes of arts education during tough economic times. Artist Jasmine Targett noticed this, and from it sprang a sprawling, delicate project that brought countless crafters together. What emerged was her series [...]
The Moral Status of the Sex Industry
In the 1970s, Robin Morgan said that ‘pornography is the theory, rape is the practice’. She was an integral part of the Women Against Pornography association, which had set-up an office in New York City, setting up tours to show interested people, even high school students, the places around the city which exploited the bodies [...]
ivanhoe girls’ grammar bans lesbians from ball
Earlier this month, Australia was alerted to an incident involving two girls who wanted to go to their school’s ball together. The school subsequently banned the couple from going to the ball. One of the girls was told either to go with a boy or go alone. The school allegedly gave a number of reasons [...]
Growing up faster than ever before
We see the words ‘kids are having to grow up faster than ever before’ all the time in magazines, books and on TV. They especially refer to girls in saying this. Apparently, it’s the case that children are forced out of their precious childhood years too early. They should be free to enjoy themselves more [...]
The case for a men’s officer?
Recently, my university residential hall has established a men’s officer. Reading through blogs and opinion news sites, I feel conflicted about what role an officer supporting men has to play in this setting. For a very long time we’ve had a women’s officer whose role was never really clear in the first place. Once a [...]
Sexual Education and its Shortfallings
Whenever I talk to someone from the US education system, or hear about it on TV, I feel lucky to have gone through the Australian system. While we were taught about STDs and how to say ‘no’ to sex, we also learned about many different types of contraception, and the stupidity of the rhythm method [...]
gap years and work experience
So, you’ve taken a year off before uni… to travel or to work and save money so you’re not trying to subsist on measly Austudy payments and handouts from mum and dad. Or you’re looking to gain some valuable work experience in your area of study – which isn’t a bad idea, as you’ll soon [...]
What is art?
Is defining art a pointless exercise? Does it have more in common with vacuuming than the fact that both seem to be done regularly and everybody does it differently? Today our guide led us through a small hallway to a dead end. The reason we were brought here was to look upon a vacuum cleaner [...]
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