Name: Jamie Freestone Age: 27 Occupation: English teacher, radio announcer and science communicator How would you describe yourself and your life? I grew up in the brave city of Wollongong and now live in Canberra. I am a perpetual student and I am blessed/cursed by being interested in virtually everything and everyone — except politics….
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The Woman in the Mirror: How to stop confusing what you look like with who you are by Cynthia M Bulik is essential reading for any woman or young girl who isn’t satisfied with her appearance. If you feel the need to check out your reflection throughout the day, if you feel intimidated by other…
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Name: Tara Mitchell Age: 23 Occupation: Activist How would you describe yourself and your life? I never imagined I’d be a Feminist. Being a transsexual, I was brought up with male privilege for the first 20 years of my life, and this left me quite blind to the reality of women’s lives and the toll…
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Most women I know hate buying bathers, and for good reason – most of the time it is a traumatic experience of feeling flesh pushed and prodded in the wrong direction, squeezing into bikinis that are labeled your size yet resemble a handkerchief amongst your flesh, or being lost in a sea of unflattering designs…
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I sure as hell never envisaged myself reading a book with Porn in the title when I was fifteen, but here I am five years on having thoroughly enjoyed just that. Pornland: How porn has hijacked our sexuality by Gail Dines is an exploration of the effects porn has had and continues to make on…
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Name: Nayree Mardirian Age: 20 Occupation: Student and Sales Assistant 1. How would you describe yourself and your life? I am currently a student just trying to make my way in the world. I am always busy and eager to engage in new experiences. I love music, film and have a passion for foreign affairs…
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The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler is a book I honestly believe every man, woman and young adult should read – excuse the cliché. It is unlike anything I have ever read before and was so gripping that I read it in one very emotional sitting. The book was first written in 1966 after Ensler…
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Name: Cath Bateman & Josie Swords Age: Combined age of 50(ish) Occupation: Co-founders of feminaust.org How would you describe yourself and your life? Our lives are quite similar in that we are both very busy (Cath thrives on chaos), live in the same street, are generally the ‘feminists’ at every party/event/social encounter and proudly disagree…
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In ‘Female Chauvinist Pigs’ author Ariel Levy questions what it means to be sexy today. Her search takes her all over America into strip clubs, women’s living rooms and onto a Florida beach where girls are encouraged to strip off their clothes for the cameras of hit TV show ‘Girls Gone Wild’. She finds a…
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Name: Stephen Benko-Nehme Age: 31 Occupation: Library / AV Technician How would you describe yourself and your life? I’m a Western Caucasian male nearing middle age, living in middle-class suburbia. Why are these specific details important? Because my relatively easy existence alluded to by my demographic puts me in a unique position – I…
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The main thing I learnt by reading this book is that the sexism that existed pre-1950s is definitely sneaking back into society. While today it is mostly swept under the rug and hidden away, there remain aspects that are right out in the open just begging us, as women, to make a move to change…
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Cold Wind by C.J.Box is the kind of novel that grips you within the first few pages and refuses to let you go. Set in Wyoming, the novel is built around a mystery. Earl Alden, a millionaire property developer is murdered, his wife Missy arrested by the sheriff and the town divided by the conflict….
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The book that made me realise that I was a feminist was “The Beauty Myth” by Naomi Wolf. It is essentially about the ways in which images of beauty are used against both men and women to make us feel more vulnerable. The book has chapters focusing on different aspects of life, work, religion, culture,…
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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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