Eastern Hollows is one of those bands that you’re just waiting for to make it big. Their brand of shoegaze, indie and rock is totally refreshing and undeniably good music. Their kind of DIY, community-oriented attitude reflects a love for Brooklyn that can best be summed up as awesome. The band’s warmth shows through in…
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If you’ve got the workings of the ultimate cliché chick lit novel stashed in your bottom draw, then you’re too late. Gemma Crisp already wrote the most typical chick lit novel ever with her offering, Be Careful What You Wish For. Nina works in the giddy world of women’s glossies. Supported by her boyfriend Jeremy,…
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Do you think tampons and pads are luxury items? Well, in Australia, women pay a 10% Goods and Services Tax (GST) on these items because they are defined as a luxury. Shall I use that in a sentence? ‘Gee whiz, it feels mighty luxurious when I am sitting in a public place and I’m not…
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When I was twelve, the thing I wanted more than anything else in the world—more than a hair straightener and even more than the latest So Fresh CD—was pierced ears. I thought there was nothing more grown-up and sophisticated than pierced ears. I would pester my parents relentlessly for permission. Every morning at breakfast I…
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On Valentine’s Day last year my beloved (if occasionally a little slow-on-the-uptake) partner arranged to catch up with a friend of his for some casual after work drinks. When he informed me late in the afternoon that he’d made plans for the evening—plans that didn’t involve me, I was, to put it mildly, somewhat perturbed….
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On Valentine’s Day, February 14, people either find themselves in the glittering category of ‘With Valentine’ or its embittered counterpart, ‘Without Valentine’. Those in the latter group may feel exceptionally left out. Sad, lonely, and generically flat because they’re watching a 24-hour celebration they aren’t invited to due to their lack of a plus-one. Naturally…
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I spent a fair chunk of my twenties studying and working overseas. It was the best of times and it was the worst of times (as they say). It was the best of times because I felt that glorious sense of ‘this is life!’ ALL. THE. TIME. I had days when it felt as if…
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I don’t need to remind anyone that Valentine’s Day is around the corner. Thanks to social media, card companies and just society in general, we are all reminded well in advance that Feb 14th marks the day for grand romantic gestures to and from our lovers. In Japan, women give their Valentine chocolates and the…
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It is rare for a discussion on feminism these days to consist of only female voices. More and more men are taking up the cause of gender equality and discussing women’s issues. However there still seems to be a bit of controversy whenever a man claims to be a feminist. When I tell people I…
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“One in three women on the planet will be raped or beaten in her lifetime. One billion women violated, is an atrocity. One billion women dancing, is a revolution” As a project dedicated to ending violence against women for good, One Billion Rising is a global strike calling for men and women alike to ‘refuse…
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Fifty years ago, Betty Friedan explained to the world ‘the problem with no name’ in The Feminine Mystique. The problem was a general ennui and a lack of direction many women felt. These women were smart – often college educated – and capable of performing any job a man could do. Yet, they felt stuck…
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‘Me Tarzan. You Jane.’ Men are assertive. Women are nurturers. Women scrapbook and men play videogames. Men want no-strings sex while women seek intimacy and love. We have defined the difference between the sexes for centuries by grouping behaviour into masculine or feminine categories, believing that’s just the way it is. We’re made that way….
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First published in 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is the sort of book I like to read at nighttime, under a blanket, with only a torch to light up the words on the page. The novella devolves upon the story of Dr Jekyll, a middle class…
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Earlier in the week, a man was introducing the Shadow Foreign Minister Julie Bishop at a press conference. Upon being introduced, Ms Bishop went up to the stairs, preparing to head to the podium and begin her address. However, this was not before the young man who introduced her tried to go in for a…
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