It has been a few weeks since Veet aired their latest campaign; a series of adverts all showing different shaming scenarios a woman apparently finds herself in one day post-shaving, all carrying the tagline ‘Don’t Risk Dudeness.’ I am a fairly confident woman, and I am perfectly capable of taking a joke and laughing at…
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A little over a week ago I read an article about violence against women and the danger of falling prey to the ‘monster myth’ – the myth that the strange man lurking in a dark alley represents the greatest danger to women, when in fact most acts of violence against women are committed by a man who…
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Just as Dr Frankenstein aimed to create the perfect man, my friends led me to dating app Tinder to have fun and/or find a decent one. And thus, we were all confronted with monsters. There is much to say about Tinder: it’s quick, it’s anonymous, it can be fun, but it also has a bit…
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I want to start this article with a Serious Trigger Warning. If trigger warnings are something you watch out for, then this article is likely not for you. Otherwise, I would encourage you to follow this link. But be warned it will leave you feeling deeply uncomfortable. That’s how I felt afterwards.When you’ve finished with that…
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A questioner on last Monday’s Q&A on the ABC raised an interesting and important topic for debate amongst the Q&A panellists. Her question, put simply, was: ‘Do feminist women have a place within Australia’s politically conservative domain?’ The idea of feminism and conservatism merging together to create a friendly ideological meeting seems convoluted and…
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The short-lived meme, ‘Is this feminist?’ was perfect for two reasons: 1) it proved the feminists can have a sense of humour about themselves, despite what a vocal minority might think and 2) like Community’s Britta Perry, it managed to parody of third-wave, feminism without relying on lazy and misogynist stereotypes. That is, the academic,…
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Iconic female rock star and frontwoman of the Divinyls, Chrissy Amphlett, passed away last year due to breast cancer, and the tributes flowed for a woman who pioneered female frontwomen of rock bands, a crass and confronting live performance style, her strength and dignity in the face of not one but two horrible diseases of…
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Super Smash Brothers 4 has elected to add a Zero Suit clad Samus Aran to its line-up. Her new design includes a pair of jet pack high heels. This raised a few questions for me: if the developers felt that Samus needed jet boots to make her stronger, why take her out of her Power…
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There are a few distinctive events in life that have become inextricably linked in my imagination with their depictions in film and television. Fantasies of summer holidays, first dates, road trips or international travel always play out as picturesque montages with uplifting scores and glorious sunsets. Naturally, said daydreams gloss over (i.e. exclude completely) the…
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Warning: There will be spoilers. On 7 April, Game of Thrones returned to Australian screens with the eagerly awaited season four – and it was undeniably stunning. Chock full of drama, humour, grief, death, and the dangerously beautiful CGI dragons, the first episode provided everything that GOT fans were promised – and more. Sure,…
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Well, well, well, it looks like Snickers has some competition. It seems that another “empowering” advertisement, this time from the cosmetics brand Dove, has missed its mark and voyaged way off centre with its new video: Dove Patches. The new marketing campaign sees five physically and emotionally insecure women wear the ‘revolutionary’ RB-X Beauty Patch,…
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Singer Jessica Ellen Cornish, better known by her stage name as Jessie J says she is no longer bisexual and instead is exclusively interested in men. Speaking to The Mirror‘s 3am earlier in the week, Jessie J says: ‘I feel that if I continue my career not speaking on it, I almost feel more of…
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‘In 1982 I reported on fighting between Polisario Front guerrillas and Moroccan troops in the Western Sahara, and in 1988 had an adrenaline-drenched experience when caught in a South African artillery attack, during Angola’s battle of Cuito Cuanavale.’ This is Jill Jolliffe, writing in Finding Santana, her book about travelling to meet an…
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The latest Snickers ad has sparked widespread public debate. Although it seems feminists widely agree that the underlying message of the ad is sexist, many have turned focus toward intentions. Did Snickers intend to empower women? Or did they intend to feed into the degradation of women? Or was it simply a clumsy attempt to…
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