It was a photograph. Flipping through Christopher Lloyd’s The Story of the World in 100 Species (2016), I came across a classic mad scientist image: glass specimen jars, books, a microscope, test tubes and at the centre the scientist, sleeves rolled up above the elbows, wielding a pipette and engrossed in the all-important experiment of…
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Advertising is an industry that is all too easy to dismiss as anti-woman. For decades now, the industry has grown while presenting women as objects to be consumed, all the while limiting opportunities for women who seek careers in the field. The television series Mad Men reinforced the unfortunate status of women in advertising, from…
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As I travelled the vast and beautiful land of Europe, many unique destinations left an impression on me: the Venetian canals, the castles in Tuscany, the cosy log cabin between the snow-capped mountains of Norway. But none of these placescompared to the eye-opening experience that was Dachau, and the truly saddening impression it left on…
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‘We shoot with bows and hurl javelins and ride horses, but the works of women we never learnt…’ This quote comes from Herodotus’ histories, and is purportedly the Amazon’s reply to a man’s request that these wild women live among them as wives and mothers – after, that is, the Scythian men had “tamed” these…
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Today is International Women’s Day, an occasion to peer back through history and say, ‘Gosh, we’ve come a long way!’ I guess it’s a day to say thanks, fellas, for letting us vote, wear trousers and earn a decent wage. You’re so good to us (sorry, I couldn’t resist). But it’s also worth considering what…
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In Falling Snow is an intergenerational story of love, family, and the struggle between dreams and reality. Alternating between WWI and the late 1970s, the novel traces the lives of two women as they balance work in the medical profession with societal obligations. Iris has travelled from Australia to war-ravaged France to bring her underage…
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In Year 12, my English teacher set Bernhard Schlink’s The Reader as one of our texts. The Reader is set after World War II and a major part of the novel is a trial of an SS officer who is being tried for war crimes. Schlink is a crafty writer. He neither wanted to condemn…
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The Harbour is an emotive historical epic which sees an unconventional Western couple surviving the brutality of Japan’s World War II invasion of Hong Kong. Stevie is a Brooklyn writer who takes pleasure in disarming people with provocative statements. She throws off gender norms impressed by traditional society, and is sensual, determined and proud. She…
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Abdication is an imagined experience of the tumultuous thirties. Through the eyes of an overweight spinster Evangeline Nettlefold and young chauffeuse May Thomas, the novel is written from an outsider’s perspective assessing the social climate in England. May grew up an independent and beautiful daughter of Scottish immigrants living in Barbados. The beginning of the…
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If you thought the ‘Rampant Rabbit’ was a modern gal’s pal, then think again! The vibrator has been around since the turn of the century! The electric vibrator was introduced in 1902 and thus began the broad marketing of vibrators to the masses. Considering how strict cultural codes were for women in the Victorian period,…
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Every year we celebrate the introduction of the New Year without understanding precisely why. Cities all around the world spend millions of dollars on extravagant firework displays and thousands of New Years parties are organized amongst friends. Movies are themed around New Years – the night hailed by all as the biggest night of the…
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London calling. A British film about a king, dominated the box office over the Christmas holidays last year. This time it seems like that crown will be bestowed upon Britain’s first female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, a woman that truly lived up to her nickname, “The Iron Lady”. Meryl Streep stars in this biopic about…
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Regency era England is often regarded as a world of fluttery Jane Austen-types, high tea and button-down sexuality. However, the fascinating and largely unknown figure of Anne Lister, and her extensively juicy diaries, pry open a very different account of the times. Watching the recent BBC telemovie based on Lister’s life, The Secret Diaries of…
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Courtney Dawson reviews the action blockbuster, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and the historical court-room drama, The Conspirator.
