Trigger Warnings: murder, transphobia, transmisogyny, transmisogynistic slurs, cannibalism, sex-worker-phobia, sex-worker-phobic slurs This week, major news outlets discovered that Mayang Prasetyo, a transgender woman of colour, was murdered and in the process of being cooked and eaten by her husband, Marcus Volke. Media outlets have been quick to report that Ms Prasetyo was a “transgendered…
Read more
Emma Watson becoming a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador conjured a cheer of “Hooray Hermione!” in my mind. While she has well and truly established herself as a talented actor in roles since the Harry Potter franchise came to an end, she will always be Hermione to me, and I believe Hermione would be cheering Emma…
Read more
Here at Lip, we have following closely the ventures of crowdfunding platform Pozible, as they launched their local Edits in Sydney and Brisbane (so far!). This week I cyber-met Sandy Clark, the founder and CEO of new charity Dignity Zambia, who is currently crowdfunding her first book, My Love Affair With Zambia. Here, Sandy discusses her inspiration for the charity and the book,…
Read more
My name is Brianna and I am a former employee of the Australian Public Service. This may sound like a dirty little secret or admitting that I am in some kind of 12-step recovery program for an addiction, but if you are anything like me three years ago, you may not really know what it…
Read more
I actually don’t know how to approach this topic seriously without turning to you with my resting bitch face and saying something like, ‘Treat her like you would any other woman or human being.’ I should probably add that if you just be yourself, your inherent goodness/badness will come through to whoever has agreed to…
Read more
‘Why should Australian citizens and businesses be taxed, and working women discriminated against, just so that the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff can receive a massive benefit when she gets pregnant?’ This accusatory rhetorical posed by Clive Palmer in a parliamentary debate on Monday has been the talk of the town this week. As…
Read more
In the 1978 issue of Ms magazine Gloria Steinem wrote her famous article ‘If Men Could Menstruate’ in which she stated that ‘menstruation [for men] would become an enviable, worthy, masculine event: Men would brag about how long and how much. Young boys would talk about it as the envied beginning of manhood. Gifts, religious ceremonies, family…
Read more
Last Sunday writer and feminist Clementine Ford gave an impeccably intelligent lecture on affirmative consent at the Australian National University. Clementine spoke of shifting the focus in debates about consent from ‘no’ to ‘yes’. Affirmative consent is positive, enthusiastic and on going. But it’s not just about seeking a ‘yes’ rather than a…
Read more
Join Lip’s Sarah Iuliano for her new fortnightly column on all things, sex, sexuality, sexual health, and more! From texting to sexting, the advent of digital media has allowed relationships to blossom and wilt. It has also brought the couples’ survey into the 21st Century. I speak not of the ‘Are you and your…
Read more
For the first time in a decade, Monica Lewinsky, is speaking out. Not about her affair with then president Bill Clinton exactly (of which she says only that it was an abuse of power and also consensual) but the aftermath. The essay in the June 2014 issue of Vanity Fair is for many people…
Read more
Beyoncé. Singer, mother and self-proclaimed feminist. Let’s face it, we adore her. But like every woman in the entertainment business who names themselves a feminist, there are times when the pointy bra and raunchy lyrics don’t quite live up to the ideology. But do we blame the industry for this, or the individual? The vast…
Read more
Shailene Woodley has recently joined the list of intelligent and opinionated women who don’t want to touch the term feminist. When Time asked the Divergent star this week if she considered herself a feminist, Woodley responded: ‘No because I love men, and I think the idea of “raise women to power, take the men away…
Read more
When I was in Kathmandu, Nepal in January 2014, I went to a shop called Local Women’s Handicrafts, and I met Nasreen Shekh. A friend of mine, Beth Collins, had been told about Nasreen’s shop by another Australian. On the program, the two of us had seen a lot of gender discrimination and women…
Read more
Laverne Cox came prominently into the public eye as Sophia Burset on Orange is the New Black, prisoner, hair stylist, and transsexual, and pretty soon a fan favourite. Cox herself is transgender and a vocal and active advocate for LGBTIQ rights. Just last month, GLAAD awarded her the Stephen F. Kolzak Award, one of their…
Read more
