As part of the Abbott government’s plan to slash around $1 billion of red tape, small Australian businesses can soon expect more relaxed reporting requirements concerning gender equalities in their workplaces. In a new system being considered by Employment Minister Eric Abetz, the plan proposes that only companies with over 1000 staff members would need…
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I was riding through the park with my girlfriend on a recent warm summer evening. As we cycled down the path we approached a group of men. Upon passing the group, an object was thrown at my head. A water-filled balloon exploded on my face, followed by another, which hit my chest. We halted and…
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Carousel: the Little Battle is a devised piece of physical theatre currently showing at South Melbourne’s Gasworks as part of the Midsumma Festival. The sixty minute piece follows the antics of two female-bodies circus performers who move through scenes that touch on almost all the big feelings that humans experience: love, jealousy, anxiety and…
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When it comes to love, Walt Disney’s films carved a legacy that has become universal; one that often preaches the merits of “true love’s kiss”. But is Walt’s message of kindness and love doing more harm than good? Does it impose gender stereotypes on children, leaving the most vulnerable to soak up this gendered ideology?…
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Amidst the award season chaos, there have been a few standout moments that remind us just how normal all of those glamorous celebrities in designer gowns are. The Screen Actors Guild Awards for 2014 have given us a few of those moments, which include Jennifer Lawrence claiming that her dress is giving her what she…
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You may not have known that, until this week, in Italy, children of married couples were required by law to take their father’s surname. Required. By. Law. None of this ‘aww it’d be a nice nod to tradition for the kids to have his name’/ ‘his name sounds all sexy and Germanic and we’d obvs…
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By Spring 2014, all toys sold at Marks & Spencer will be completely gender neutral. The response comes after a series of complaints from customers claiming that the store markets items in accordance to stereotypes. The rebranding was made public when Marks & Spencer responded to a tweet from labour MP Stella Creasy. The company…
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This ad for Pantene is awesome. The hair care company’s Philippines branch has directly tackled the entrenched double standards still in play when it comes to successful men in direct comparison to successful women in the workplace, through the clever use of contorting and changing words which describe the person in question. For example, the man…
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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…
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She made her swingin’ silver screen debut in 1966 in Batman: The Movie as one of Gotham’s four supercriminals; turned heads in 1992 at the hand of junior Merchant of Menace, Tim Burton, and was reincarnated as a selfish softie in The Dark Knight Rises last year. But whether in spandex, vinyl or leather, one…
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Following Norway’s footsteps from 2003, Germany is now set to introduce a quota for numbers of women in boardrooms. The country’s major political forces, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and the social democrats, have made a compromise over the frauenquote, or women’s quota. As of 2016, companies registered on the German stock exchange will be required…
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Good things come to those who wait. For intersex Australians, the months and months it has taken the Federal Senate to compile a report into the involuntary or coerced sterilisation of intersex people has come to fruition. The senate was compelled to investigate the issue following a report into the forced sterilisation of girls and…
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As of December 12 this year, 12,600 domestic and international Qantas flight attendants will be expected to don a new uniform. However, despite being endorsed by Miranda Kerr, the uniform has received a host of criticism and rejection from Qantas staff. Kerr may have fulfilled her modeling duties, looking prim and polished as she modeled…
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Marvel, the US comic book giant behind Spiderman, The Hulk and Captain America, are bringing back 1960s heroine, Ms Marvel. But rather than the tall, blonde air force officer, her new persona will be a 16-year-old Muslim girl from New Jersey. Ms Marvel’s new alter ego, Kamala Khan, is a high school student living with…
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