WOMEN`S EDITION

THARUNKA
UNSW STUDENT PUBLICATION
ISSUE SEVEN
VOLUME 57
WOMEN’S EDITION
Editorial
What is the measure of a feminist?
Many of us have alluded to this topic in our writing for this edition.
Do you have to be female?
Are you a better feminist if you have attended fifty rallies or
protests than someone who has attended one?
Does amount of bodily hair give you some greater authority in feminist discussions?
Feminists come in all different shapes and sizes. I have been inspired and continue to
be inspired by every feminist I meet, even those I disagree with. We all have different
experiences, and therefore very different notions of what feminism is and what aspects
of feminism are most important. This causes divisions within the movement.
Having to prove your experience, or justify ‘how feminist’ you are is a ridiculous concept.
Having criteria is even more so. Elena Jeffries uses my favourite term for this, tragedy
porn, feeding off the disadvantage of others by craving the details of such disadvantage.
Feminists need to stop condemning other feminists, and broader society needs to stop
trying to put feminists into neat little boxes, this is the antithesis of feminism!
Women aren’t neat little boxes.
Women aren’t necessarily feminists.
Consider your assumptions, some of my favourite men are feminists,
some of my favourite feminists don’t attend every protest, and some of my
favourite feminists have cottoned on to the invention of the razor.
Not so neat, we are the ‘difficult’ women and men, as
proudly noted by the wonderful Eva Cox.
Contents
Regulars
Comments & Letters
Short List
Reviews
Lizzette the Agony Aunt
OB Reports
Readings
NOWSA
Law Firm Sidelines Women
Feminism in the Bush
When Choices & Realities
Don’t Match Up
Where are all the Young
Feminists?
In Defence of Slutwalk
The House of Merivale
Words
Playing Mother
04
06
26
29
30
08
11
12
13
14
16
18
23
27
Fiction
Three Poems
My Skin
Golden Gate Bridge
10
19
22
Images
Freak Show
24
Editorial Team
Kylar Loussikian, Cameron McPhedran, Elizabeth Stern
Guest Editor
Kimberley Lowe
Designer
Cara Mia Maritz
Contributors
Kimberley Lowe, Jasmin Kelaita, Tim Kaliyanda,
Sarah Frazier, Chally, Cameron McPhedran,
Bethan Donnelly, Hexy, Jacqueline Palaje,
Amber Karanikolas, Anisha Guatam,
Tayylor Leon, Emilie Auton, Elizabeth Stern
Contact
[email protected]
PO Box 173, Kingsford, NSW, 2032
Office Level 1 Blockhouse, Lower Campus.
Office Hours: Tuesday 3 - 5 pm.
Tharunka acknowledges the traditional custodians of
the land on which the University now stands.
Tharunka is published periodically by Arc @ UNSW.
The views expressed herein are not necessarily the
views of Arc, the Representative Council or the
Tharunka editing team.
i Comments & Letters j
Where is the Women’s Room?
Why isn’t there a Men’s Space on campus?
The Women’s Room is located on the 1st
floor of the Blockhouse.
The entire campus is a Men’s Space
except for this one small room. Removing
the Women’s Room or adding a Men’s
Space directly attacks the right of women
to autonomously organise away from the
influence and overpowering voices of men.
Women’s Rooms are often the only place
where discussions and organising around
issues that directly and mostly affect
women. Calls for Men’s Spaces have
always, in my experience, been raised in
a direct opposition to the Women’s Space.
What is the Women’s Room?
The Women’s Room is a safe space
for women on campus to meet and
organise campaigns autonomously, to get
information related to gendered issues
and to generally relax and take a break
from the busy and noisy world around us.
We have facilities such as a microwave,
refrigerator, bed, computer, and hot water
for your favourite flavoured tea.
Why is there a Women’s Room on campus?
Despite many gains, women in 2011 still
face oppression and discrimination that
are gender based. Until very recently only
93% of military jobs were open to women
and many other organisations within
Australia are exempt from federal anti-sex
discrimination legislation. Women still
earn less than men in their fields and in
gendered work, overwhelmingly represent
victims of violence and sexual abuse, and
make up miserable numbers in parliament,
on boards, and in managerial roles.
The existence of a Women’s Room
is a recognition that these structural
oppressions still exist. It provides a space
for women to autonomously organise
in an environment that exists outside of
patriarchal constraints. Women can work
independently of men and allow their
voices to be heard on gendered issues.
04 | Tharunka
Why isn’t there a Men’s Officer?
While men possess a gender, there are
not structures in place that cause them to
be oppressed by that gender. We do not
see a need for a Men’s Officer for men to
autonomously organise around any issue
that may affect them. Men can use any
space on campus, any men can organise,
and there is no need for a Men’s Officer
that will detract from the importance of
having a Women’s Officer.
“If the masses of men in our society have
not unlearned their sexism, have not
abdicated male privilege, then it should
be obvious that a men’s movement led
only by men with only males participating
runes the risk of mirroring in a different
form much that is already oppressive in
patriarchal culture.”
i Short List j
Randwick Council announced a prefeasibility study to consider patronage of
a light rail route that would follow Anzac
Parade from Flinders Street before turning
down High Street, in a move the Sydney
Morning Herald reports will influence a
state goivernment study that may lead to
light rail in the eastern suburbs. Transport
Minister Gladys Berejiklian had previously
announced the Department of Transport
was working on a light rail proposal,
including an extension through to Dulwich
Hill.
Eight universities began piloting a project
which will see standardised peer reviewing
of teaching and disciplines. The Australian
reported that ANU, Charles Darwin,
Griffith, La Trobe, Macquarie, QUT,
Melbourne and UWS took on the project,
which involves ‘blind’ peer reviews of
student assessments and curriculum, as
well as assessment tasks and marking
criteria. The Group of Eight universities
are trialing a similar scheme.
The Australian also reported Melbourne
University vice-chancellor Glyn Davis
has warned that Australia’s egalitarian
culture was holding back universities by
limiting their ability to seek work fame
and glory. Davis compared the culture
at Australian tertiary institutions to those
of Korea, China and France, where there
is an anxiety on producing world-class
universities of note. However, RMIT’s
vice-chancellor, Margaret Gardener, told
the same universities forum that Australia’s
small scale meant a world-class university
system would be more meaningful than a
world-class university.
report showed that one in seven adults
have subsequently obtained vocational
qualifications after completing a university
degree.
The LH Martin Institute reported pressure
to perform well in research audits
and international rankings has meant
Australian universities have continued
to divert funding from other programs
into research areas. The report found
research was often subsidised by fees
and other income derived from teaching,
but was spent instead on research.
Further, domestic students and university
research are being heavily subsidised
by international students. The report
attributed this discrepancy to the need to
score well in international rankings for the
overseas student market.
The 2011 James Dyson design award has
been awarded to FBE graduate Chris Fox
for a self-inflating life jacket. Fox said he
realised that he’d be vulnerable if knocked
unconscious if kite-boarding kilometres
off shore in windy conditions.
A new study showed the number of
Australians holding at least one postschool qualification has increased from
fifty four percent in 2001 to sixty two
percent in 2009. The report also showed
higher proportions of the population had
multiple qualifications, and eleven percent
of vocational certificate holders continued
into higher education. However, the
05 | Tharunka
12
Calendar
FASS’s annual Postgraduate Evening will
this year focusing on Masters by Research
or PhD applicants. “Challenge Your
Mind, Advance Your Career” will include
an opportunity to discuss research interests
with the faculty staff, amongst other
things. “Challenge Your Mind, Advance
Your Career” will take place September
19 at AGSM Building G27. For more
information contact FASS at 9385 8511.
The India Research Network and the
Australia India Council present Associate
Professor Charu Gupta of Delhi University
in a talk entitled “(De) Stabilising
Patriarchies: Gender and Hindu Reforms
in Colonial India”. The talk will include
discussion of reforms revolving around
the veil, obscenity, education and widow
remarriage in colonial north India.” “(De)
Stabilising Patriarchies: Gender and Hindu
Reforms in Colonial India” will take place
August 9, Morven Brown 112, from
12pm.
Evelyn Conlon will read from her works
on how we miss places in the Global Irish
Studies lecture “The Meaning of Missing”.
Conlon, a writer-in-residence at University
College Dublin, will also discuss where
fiction adds to history, and will look at
why she wrote ‘A Glassful of Letters’. She
will be introduced by Dr Pamela O’Neill.
“The Meaning of Missing” will take place
August 19, Robert Webster 327, from
6pm.
The Paul Bourke Lecture, hosted by the
Academy of the Social Sciences Australia
this year presents the topic “Workforce
worries: the changing worlds of HIV
medicine and general practicioner’s who
provide it”. Dr Christy Newman of the
National Centre in HIV Social Research,
will present the talk on August 19, Scientia
Tyree Room, from 6pm. To RSVP and for
further information, contact the Academy
of the Social Sciences Australia at 6249
1788.
The “Emergency Shelters” exhibition
will feature pre-made shelters by leading
Australian architecture firms, and hopes
to bring awareness to the public about the
role of the design and construction industry
in the aftermath of natural disasters. The
exhibition is free, but donations can be
made toward reconstruction in Japan.
“Emergency Shelters” will be held
September 1 to 3 at Customs House,
Circular Quay. For more information
contact Jun Sakaguchi on 9385 5280.
06 | Tharunka
FBE presents the next Utzon Lecture
entitled “Going Green: Risks and
Opportunities”, to be presented by Martin
Loosemore. This lecture will include
detials on ‘how consulting and contracting
firms in the construction and engineering
industry, both large and small, can
innovate to translate sustainability into
improved business performance. It
seeks to untangle the rhetoric from the
reality of the sustainability debate by
exploring both its opportunities and risks.
Drawing perspectives from the social
and behavioural sciences, psychology,
economics, politics and philosophy, the
presentation argues that the key to a more
sustainable built environment industry is
a more balanced debate and a open and
collaborative industry which draws from
a more liberal knowledge-base and seeks
new integrated business configurations
through supply and demand chains.’
“Going Green: Risks and Opportunities”
will be held August 10, at Keith Burrows
Theatre from 7pm. Refreshments will
be available at Red Centre West Wing
Gallery from 6.15pm.
Chalk Horse presents the work of COFA
gradates David Capra, John Douglas, Kate
Michell and Christian Thompson in a
group exhibition entitled “Nothing is True,
Everything is Permitted”. The exhibition
‘presents a space where causality and
actuality are abandoned in favor of
limitless possibilities of action, and will be
showing until August 13 at Chalk Horse,
8 Lacey Street Surry Hills, Tuesday to
Saturday 11am - 6pm. Tharunka will
purchase drinks for the reader who is best
at decoding this most ambiguous artist
statement into words of meaning.
The Paper Mill presents Alia Parker,
Laura Pike and Anne-Louise Dadak in an
exhibition entitled “Known/Unknown” as
part of Sydney Design 2011. Works from
these COFA graduates can be seen until
August 13 at The Paper Mill, Ash Street
near Angel Place, Tuesday to Friday 11am
- 6pm, Saturday 11am - 5pm.
Sam Smith builds on his video piece
“Cameraman” by ‘bringing the objects
out from the screen and into the gallery
space’. “Cameraman” is on display until
August 20 at Grantpirrie, 86 George Street
Redfern, Tuesday to Friday 10am - 6pm,
Saturday 11am - 5pm.
Kudos Gallery presents a group exhibition,
featuring the works of David Capra,
Katherine Corcoran, Ashleigh Garwood,
Adam Gibson, Talitha Klevjer and others.
“Art Through the Ages: The Bog From
Whence We Came” responds to the idea of
art as the everyday, and runs from August
17 to 20 at Kudos Gallery, 6 Napier Street
Paddington, Wednesday to Friday 11am 6pm, Saturday 11am - 4pm.
“Do The Worm”, a new group show at
Kudos Gallery, ‘aims to give audience
members a new appreciation of worms
and through worms, their own bodies.
Artist/pedagogues will create works and
experiences for the audience’, and runs
from August 24 to 27, Wednesday to
Friday 11am - 6pm, Saturday 11am - 4pm.
The National Institute for Experimental
Arts presents the Experimental Arts
Double Conference, showcasing and
discussing innovative artrs projects in
Australia, ‘including works that have
successfully ‘changed the world’ as well
as speculative initiatives that radically
change the way we think. It will survey
the results and potential of Experimental
Arts, inviting leaders in the field to discuss
how we can extend and support a platform
for path-breaking experimentation.’ The
conference will be held in Scientia from
August 17 to 20. Cost and registration
information can be found on the NIEA
website,
12
Staying Green with Ivana Stab
I must sincerely apologise for my absence
in the previous issue of Tharunka. A
special, heartfelt apology to my number
one fan Gabriella, who has inspired the
theme of this issue’s column – repetition.
Before I started smoking weed, I expected
the experience would lead to a creative
orgasm. Like my favourite artists, I would
be inspired to the limits of my talents,
waking up the morning after to a pile of
loose papers scribbled with barely legible
text that would catapult me to literary
stardom. This was of course when I was
a young idealist, years before a politics
major killed my ideals and my ambition
for anything other than money and power.
Weed has now become the great
neutraliser. In an attempt to salvage my
metaphorical soul from the lure of power
suits and incurable cynicism, I’ve taken a
break from my studies to enjoy the stoner
life. What can I say, I’m dedicated to this
column. In any other frame of mind, my
current lifestyle choices may have made
me think twice. But as it stands, the
daily routine of late-afternoon wake-ups,
breakfast cones, pre-work joints, postwork cones and bedtime pipes works just
fine. Pineapple Express three nights in a
row is still as funny, the same pizza from
the same pizza place that delivers all night
tastes just right, the same column every
fortnight is still a good little filler.
Kind regards,
Karl Lagerfeld
07 | Tharunka
NOWSA
By Kimberley Lowe
T
he Network of Women Students
Australia was established in 1987,
founded on ideals of creating a grassroots,
autonomous network concerned with issues
that impact women and women students.
NOWSA provides a platform for women’s
organising across universities and in the
wider community through resource, skill
and knowledge sharing both in conference
and through web branches of the network.
The network continues to shift, grow and
change, but constantly places feminist
agenda at the forefront. Women of all
ages, sexuality, ability and experience
have the opportunity to be involved.
The UNSW SRC Women’s
Department bid for the opportunity to host
the Network of Women Students Australia
Conference for 2011. We were successful
in this endeavour and have been hard at
work planning, booking key speakers and
workshops, and organising some fun-filled
evening events. All of our hard work came
to fruition in the week of July 11th – 16th.
The week kicked off rather
lazily as many tired women had travelled
from Perth and Albury from Education
Conference, Queer Collaborations and
Students of Sustainability Conferences.
Despite a late start on the opening morning
the conference Aunty Ali Golding’s
welcome to country ceremony was
received warmly, and watching her and
Eva Cox play off each other as the opening
speakers was an honour and a privilege.
Eva spoke of how feminists need to
take a leaf out of the book of aboriginal
communities in their collective approach
to organisation and decision-making. She
said the failings of her generation were
two-fold: first the lack of organising across
different experiences and second the focus
on making incremental changes rather than
focusing on changing the cultural mindset
of Australians on women’s equality. The
first day continued successfully with Gabe
Kavanagh discussing how to engage more
young women in the feminist movement
08 | Tharunka
and Penny O’Donnell and Rosarela
Meza shocked all participants with the
rates of gender-based murders in South
America. The workshops were also highly
successful, with rave reviews about
‘Writing Feminism’ hosted by Chally
(http://zeroatthebone.wordpress.com/).
With spirits high we set off to the
Whitehouse, now known to every other
university woman from across Australia as
the hipster-bar, and our only achievement
in student life according to the National
Union of Students. A jovial night of
pizzas, punchbowls and falafel balls were
had by all, particularly by our fearless
UNSW SRC leader, Osman Faruqi.
The second day continued the
stream of engaging speakers, with Natalie
Lang from the Australian Services Union,
Kate Minter of UnionsNSW and Tish
Sparkle and Zahra Stardust of Scarlet
Alliance. Every woman in attendance
became more informed about work
choices and the role of unions in pushing
the feminist agenda, as well as a highly
awaited Scarlet Alliance presentation
which focused on women in sex work
and the sex industry, and looking at
female sexuality in positive ways. The
Equality Rights Alliance Youth Advisory
workshop, entitled ‘Technology, Social
Media and Feminism’, hosted the flavour
of the day.
Half way into the week and half
way into the fun of a student conference.
A heavy day focusing on rape, assault,
prejudice, and women whose strength
have overcome these barriers and
advocated for positive attitudes towards
our gender. Nina Funnell of NSW Rape
Crisis and UNSW PhD student, Tashina
Orchiston and Isobelle Barrett-Meyering
of Australian Domestic and Family
Violence Clearinghouse, and Annaleise
Constable of ACON. This eclectic group
of experiences was awe-inspiring. Nina
has definitely gained a fan club, with her
workshop on ‘Positive Consent’ an absolute
hit with university women Australia-wide.
A small group of women relaxed after a
very thought-provoking day with a movie
night featuring Made In Dagenham, a
representation of the first female strikes in
the 60s at the Ford factory in England.
Tired women graciously got
themselves out of bed bright and early to
get to the second-last day of a mentally
exhausting week. Thursday brought to
the table discussions about identities and
bodies. A number of student activists
spoke to experiences of disability and
sexuality. The Women’s Abortion Action
Campaign spoke about reproductive
rights, particularly in a post-Cairns case
environment. The standardization of laws
pertaining to a woman’s right to choose
across all states is an aim of this campaign
group. We ended our conference with a
night on the town, including delicious food
from Chinatown, and even tastier drinks
in Newtown. Perhaps the drinks weren’t
the best idea for organizers having to host
the day on Friday for the grueling process
of resolutions and bidding. However, we
got through the day with the Network of
Women Students Australia agreeing to
take more proactive measures to be trans*
inclusive, to be more environmentally
sustainable, to be more sensitive to caucus
groups, to be more inclusive of indigenous
Australians, and to take a harsh stance
against the aggressive calls for men’s
spaces and officers on campus. These will
be supported by Women’s Department
campaigns and policy in the coming year.
To bid farewell to our new friends
from far and wide we hosted a vegan BBQ
and celebrated an end to a fabulous week
again at our favourite hipster bar, the
Whitehouse with punchbowls, cocktails
and naughty scrabble.
To get involved with the Network
of Women Students Australia you can
visit: www.nowsa.com.au or http://www.
facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_10922
2231611&ref=ts
09 | Tharunka
Three Poems
By Jasmin Kelaita
Sickly Swallows
The Play
In Creative
congenial and grey
perspectival at best,
thick as butter;
glued on my face,
my skin reels.
seated,
envelope on the ground,
tinsel all through the air.
From here after we go.
in creative
it is assumed
of course.
your heart sits like a glace
cherry on my cake!
I eat it all I find I find I
find I find I find.
and
and that is all I have.
10 | Tharunka
wont you go?
I go and all is well
are you well?
yes, I am very well
and the rest
at rest.
all the best
thank you, thank you
and to create
is to create and all falls on the floor
pick it up, pile it on and
so therefore my friend,
conjure up,
vomit it all up
and write your dwindling notes all day
oh no! too rough? don't be gruff,
in creative its apparent the time is to play.
Law Firm Sidelines Women
By Tim Kaliyanda
L
ast year a study by a leading Sydney
newspaper confirmed a revealing truth;
Australia’s prestigious law firms remain
the stamping ground of old, rich, white
men. The study of the nation’s biggest,
most powerful law firms found that the
proportion of equity partnerships held by
women is less than 20%. Yes, that’s right,
less than one in five partners in law firms
are women, and the numbers are getting
smaller. These abominable statistics
are more representative of an archaic
society where women remain relegated
to the status of secondary citizens, than a
purportedly advanced, liberal country like
Australia.
At UNSW, a casual stroll through
our Law Building makes two things
abundantly clear; the Law Faculty gets
way too much funding and 2. women
make up a hell of a lot more than twenty
percent of law students. So why are there
so few women leading law firms despite
scores of young female graduates entering
the workforce each year?
Michael Bradley, managing partner
of a city-based law firm, surmises there are
“still a lot of unreconstructed chauvinists
out there”. You think? Like any industry
dominated by males there’s no question
of the widespread prevalence of sexist
attitudes and personal insecurity, but that
certainly can’t be the only reason why the
stats are so poor. Bradley thinks it could
also be convenience. “It’s just much more
convenient to promote people who don’t
have other things to deal with, people
who don’t have kids or don’t have other
interests... who don’t have to go home at
5pm.”
The ‘career versus family’ dilemma
is borne of traditional attitudes struggling
with the changing role of women in work
and society. It’s high time concrete steps
were taken to ensure that a work-life
balance doesn’t remain the unattainable
goal it currently is for many women,
but becomes a basic legal condition
of employment. Even Prime Minister
Gillard has acknowledged that she faced
a trade off between pursuing her legal
and political career and having a family.
Hopefully she abandons the empty rhetoric
of ‘progressive change’ and takes decisive
action on the issue while she can (the latest
poll will probably have her poll numbers
in the negative by the time this hits the
printers!).
Recently, the Commissioner for
Sex Discrimination, Elizabeth Broderick,
boldly suggested that some of the dinosaurs
currently running law firms ought to be
forcibly dragged into the modern age
through quotas, affirmative action and
structural reform to redress the serious
gender imbalances that exist. Either way,
the focus really must be on correcting the
flaws of a profession that is so hopelessly
trapped in the past. In order to create a
level playing field so anyone can rise to
the top of his or her field, regardless of
gender, we need a family friendly working
environment. That is the sort of working
environment today’s decision makers,
industry leaders and governments should
strive to create - an environment worthy of
the best and brightest law students UNSW
has to offer.
Tharunka’s Social Media Cocktail Party
11 | Tharunka
Feminism in the Bush
By Sarah Frazier
I
f you had asked me when I was in year
twelve if I was a feminist I probably
would have replied with scorn and swear
words. I would have assumed you were
accusing me of being some radical hippie
who wears hemp and writes letters to
newspapers. Unfortunately I was stuck in
a rural community near Tamworth, where
feminism is worse than that other f-word.
That’s not to say feminism isn’t
present in our community. Of course it is,
just behind closed doors and in a select few
pockets of the community. It’s uncommon
for people to openly identify themselves
as feminists or speak openly about issues
relating to feminism. The most outspoken,
independent and progressive woman I
know is probably my mother. When I
asked if she was a feminist, she told me
that she hadn’t really thought about it.
This is the common thread within our
community; the women who are closely
aligned with feminist culture often don’t
realise it and therefore don’t associate
with it. Unfortunately, these women are
a minority within our community; the
majority follows the status quo that is the
tradition of the country.
When I think of a big group of
women in the bush getting together and
talking about issues, I think of the CWA
(Country Women’s Association). Those
of you who know the CWA will cringe;
those of you who don’t might have seen
a representation of it on a commercial for
ham recently. What began as a worthy
organisation to fight for facilities for
regional areas has now disintegrated into
baking competitions and idle gossip.
Feminism is alive and well amongst
12 | Tharunka
these ladies, whose idea of independence
is choosing what their husbands eat for
dinner.
Then there are the charming
representations of country life portrayed
on our TV screens. There’s that great
show that encourages the empowerment
of women, “The Farmer Wants a Wife.”
Women from the city are bussed in to fight
for a farmer’s affection through a series
of grueling tasks. But don’t worry, it’s all
equal – last year they included a female
farmer!
Country music isn’t just Slim Dusty
and songs about beer. There are countless
songs about a woman’s role within the
home, but one has certainly stuck with
me. “Knocked up, shame shame, I’m
going to ruin my family’s name.” What is
this saying to young women?
One of the most tangible
examples of the culture in regional areas
is Facebook, especially with our youth.
We’ve all got those friends who feel the
need to join every group that remotely
describes them because it’s so shocking
that as a species we occasionally behave
the same way. Lucky enough for me,
the vast majority of my friends who do
this come from the country. This made it
rather easy to find some similarities in the
pages that they were joining. Most of the
females were joining pages that described
helplessness when relating to males. A
few worthy examples include “Loving you
is my favourite mistake,” “Find a guy who
calls you beautiful instead of hot” and “I
text you because I miss you, when I don’t
I’m waiting for you to miss me.” These are
bad enough, but the ones the males liked
were worse. They included “I dumped
my last girlfriend because she made a bad
sandwich,” “Not letting a lesbian have a
banana because she made her choice” and
“Swapping your girlfriend’s tampon with
a party popper while she sleeps.” We’ve
all joined the odd group because it was
ironic, but that’s not the case here. Day
after day, people are joining these groups,
and it’s always my country friends.
Finally, there are the personal
experiences that I’ve had in the country.
It’s not just the sexist jokes I’ve heard,
but the behaviour I’ve witnessed or been
subjected to. All to often I’ve seen victim
blaming occur. In hindsight I’m shocked
by it all, but at the time it seemed normal.
There is just a general sense of disrespect
towards women by the majority of the
youth in our community.
After this depressing spiel about the
state of the country, where does this leave
us? What can we do about it? Now that
Oprah’s finished her run on our screens,
maybe the women of the country will band
together with that extra hour they have
after making lunch. Or maybe they’ll just
start the washing up sooner.
In the country we have two common
sayings; “don’t fix what ain’t broke” and “I
can’t make a difference.” These attitudes
are working against our feminists in the
country, but we must challenge them. We
can make a difference. I challenge sexist
jokes, I’m not silent on victim blaming,
I speak about women’s issues. There are
changes we can make in our everyday
lives that can make a difference.
When Choices & Realities
Don’t Match Up
By Chally
A
s a feminist activist, I have a governing
principle I try to keep in mind: while
women have a common cause, our life
circumstances are disparate. Feminism,
then, can’t be a one size fits all enterprise.
It has to take into account the principle
of intersectionality, as popularised by US
sociologist Patricia Hill Collins. That is,
the oppression faced by a queer white sex
worker is going to be quite different to that
a disabled woman of colour experiences.
People are different, and different
responses to oppression are necessary.
This is why the framing of choice,
and just about any part of feminist
dialogue, around binaries doesn’t work
for women like me. My favourite example
of this is the great surname conundrum.
If one is a woman marrying a man, as
many a feminist will tell you, it’s feminist
to keep one’s birth surname. Supposedly,
there’s a feminist choice, and there’s a
non-feminist choice, and it’s that cut and
dried. Simplistic and shallow thinking like
that makes me grind my teeth.
The thing is, surnames weren’t
a feature in my culture until white
people decided to force us into their
economic structures and social norms.
(Not to mention that, well, I don’t really
understand how maintaining a patrilineal
surname is any more feminist than taking
a husband’s, but that’s by the by.) I’ve
changed my surname to one of my own
choosing – not because I got married!
– but it didn’t feel like a particularly
powerful action. That’s because I was
still participating in an enforced cultural
practice. I’d rather not have a surname
at all: what does the naming binary
opposition have to offer me? And what of
the women who change their surnames to
their husbands’ in order to escape abusive
families? What about queer women who
can’t legally get married?
Women are not ticky boxes. And
when the only “correct” ticky box
available caters to the women with the
most normative lives, we’ve got to wonder
precisely what a social justice movement is
doing pushing out the people at the bottom
of the pile. In instances like this, feminism
is only catering to the most privileged
of women, and implicitly framing only
some of us as real women worthy of
the movement’s time. It’s irritating and
upsetting when we’re talking about names,
but it’s life-threatening in other situations.
I’m thinking particularly of the
popular reduction of reproductive justice
to abortion rights. Abortion rights are
vitally important, but that’s not the whole
story. I think about how my non-white and
disabled sisters have been forced to have
abortions and sterilised because they have
been thought to be bad mother material or
to have bad genes. Reproductive justice,
we should remember, is about the right
to reproduce, too. When we reduce the
dialogue to just one matter, we erase
terrible histories.
Specific women are constituted in
specific ways. Squashing that diversity
doesn’t feel like social justice. It
closely replicates the tendency towards
normativity that feminists are supposed
to be challenging. All up, whether we’re
talking names or bodily autonomy,
binaristic choice structures aren’t the way
to approach feminism. We have whole
lives, and we are whole people.
13 | Tharunka
Where are all the Young Feminists?
By Kimberley Lowe
O
ver 40 years since Germaine Greer
published The Female Eunuch and
the second-wave rolled across the globe,
the image of feminism has descended
from a relevant, mainstream social justice
movement to a nostalgic memory or an
unclear cultural reference point. What’s
more is that the perceptions of feminists
leave much to be desired and are surely a
contributor as to why more young women
do not readily identify themselves with
this label.
Gloria Steinem, a prominent
American feminist, commented that
feminism “is a revolution, not a public
relations movement,” but with such a bad
reputation as a movement, particularly
in the minds of young people, it feels as
though feminists everywhere should be
employing the help of a good PR team.
So, as a young feminist, I did some social
media market research on the topic, and
the findings were unfortunately predictable
- that feminists everywhere are irrelevant,
lonely, lesbian, hairy, bra-burning, manhating spinsters from the 60s. The media
has done little to quell this opinion.
Elle McPherson, when asked by
Guardian reporters what she thought of
the word ‘feminist’ explained, “It’s one
of those coined phrases that has a lot of
innuendo and not much meaning these
days.” She furthered this by providing
her opinion on equal rights for men and
women stating, “I believe men and women
are different and they have different needs,
therefore the concept of equal rights
doesn’t really sit with me in many ways.”
As an icon for young women this does
not inspire them to fight for equal pay,
equal marriage rights, to not allow victim
blaming, and a whole canon of social
14 | Tharunka
justice issues that feminists of yesteryear
have fought for, and feminists today still
agitate for.
Miss Universe 2009, Stefania
Fernandez in the question and answer
portion of ‘quality’ television viewing
proposed that women have overcome all
barriers to equality and have “reached
the level men are at.” A young woman,
hailing from South America, where
femicides (murders based on gender) are
committed in the thousands annually,
coupled with rape and torture, where
women move away from their homes and
their children to work in lawless areas
for less than minimum wage, and where
women are treated as second class citizens
in a patriarchal society.
It is these opinions of visible females
such as Elle and Stefania that send out a
clear message to feminists of the past and
women of the present, thanks for all the
marches, the hours spent on witty placards
and the bra-burning demonstrations, but
feminism is all a bit archaic and irrelevant
these days – the battle is won. This
argument creates the constant struggle
within feminist groups to engage the
wider population, both women and men,
in getting gender back on the agenda, and
getting more young people to stand up
against attacks that are gender based.
For many women the workplace
is where the question of equality is most
clearly manifested. Women make up just
over 50% of the Australian population and
yet we fall behind abysmally in leadership
and decision-making positions, evident in
that fewer than 2% of ASX 200 companies
have a female CEO and only 1 in 12 board
directors are women.
But let’s be serious, how many times
has a woman traded in skirts for trousers,
politeness for aggressive cutthroat
behaviour, in a ‘walk like a man, talk like
a man’ mentality for success. The trade
off of gendered behaviour to get into high
positions is hardly a win for our sex.
We are fed myths as children, that
any person can do anything that they
set their mind to. As children we do not
consider prejudices and privileges that
exist within a patriarchal structure. For
young people to actually buy the product
of feminism we must recognise there
is a structural disadvantage that creates
inequality, and that women are still the
lesser – the lesser paid, lesser represented,
and the lesser role in global political and
economic forces. All of these discrepancies
in equality and yet young feminists are
few and far between.
The evidence is in the income,
under the last Coalition governments
WorkChoices the pay gap increased for
the first time in 25 years. Women have
been sitting on an 18% discrepancy with
their male counterparts since then, which
is what the ACTU and ASU are fighting
to minimize. Currently NSW is the only
state that is not putting money on the table
to make changes to improve this situation.
All of this may stir you in minimal
ways, or perhaps you might sympathise
and think that the gendered pay gap is not
relevant to a university student, and you
would be mistaken. Women in the full
time workforce earned on average 82.5%
of the wage men in similar positions did
last year. Women, making up over 50% of
alumni, will on average earn $2000 a year
less than their male counterparts once they
trade up the essays for employment. This
is gendered workplace discrimination, a
feminist issue, and an issue for all female
students who intend to put their degree to
good use in the future.
Internationally Australia is lagging
behind as indicated by the Global Gender
Gap Index between 2006 and 2010. This
report measures the gender parity in terms
of economic participation and opportunity,
educational attainment and political
empowerment. In 2006 Australia ranked
15th, in 2009 we slipped dramatically to
20th place behind Lesotho, Latvia and
Trinidad and Tobago, and in the latest
report we have seen another drop, ranking
23rd, adding Mozambique to the list of
countries that have more female political
figures, more women in decision-making
roles, women earning fairer wages for the
work they do, and more women gaining
equitable educational opportunities. The
report shows a growth in the gender gap
over time. This hardly reinforces the
argument of ‘the battle is won’ that has
been used to shoot down the relevance of
current feminism for years.
New research is showing it does not
get better as we get older either. When
women reach retirement age they are not
as financially secure as men due to lower
levels of superannuation. Elena Rosenmann
is currently researching the phenomenon
of higher rates of homelessness in elderly
women, directly linked to this financial
insecurity.
Student apathy is something that all
young activists are complaining about,
however complacency is a factor in why
feminism today does not see the successes
of our foresisters. The recent SlutWalks,
despite many issues raised by feminists,
are a prime example of how to shake such
apathy. More young people, included
young males, marched the streets of
Australia to say no to victim blaming.
Everyone involved was a feminist, at least
for a few hours.
It will take many more young women
and men to stand up to these injustices
and unleash the feminist within to help
overcome the barriers of a patriarchal
society. These are not women’s issues;
they are social and cultural attitudes that
must be tackled by the entire human race.
So proudly wear those feminist slogan
tee’s, don’t be silent when someone
normalises traditionally derogatory terms
for women, keep an eye out for how to get
involved and ensure that you will get equal
pay for equal work, that your case will be
taken seriously by a police officer if you
happen to be one of the 1 in 10 university
women that will be sexually assaulted as
a student, and that your gender will not
determine whether you or your classmate
gets the job at the end of your degree.
15 | Tharunka
In Defence of Slutwalk
By Cameron McPhedran
“I demand the independence of women,
The right to support herself,
To live for herself,
To love whoever she pleases and as many
as she pleases,
I demand freedom for both sexes,
Freedom in action, freedom in love and
freedom in motherhood,”
E
mma Goldman, Lithuanian-American
anarchist, formative feminist and
political dissident.
Slutwalk is a global feminist
movement which reached Sydney one
wet and windy day this Queen’s Birthday
long weekend. Like the weather that day,
its reception among many eminent social
commentators has been cold. In Britain,
Gail Dines and Wendy Murphy have
argued that Slutwalk has made “life harder
for girls who are trying to navigate their
way through…adolescence.” Given their
belief that the construction of women’s
sexuality in terms of a madonna/whore
dichotomy is beyond redress, Slutwalk
purportedly means these girls will be under
greater pressure to actualise the whore
archetype. In Australia, Guy Rundle has
argued that Slutwalk has detracted from
the validity and longevity of the Reclaim
the Night movement, which was part of
second wave feminism in the 1970s and
1980s. Finally, others have critiqued
how Slutwalk has been largely driven by
dominant discourses of feminism which
have not adequately incorporated the
experiences of women of colour, thus
further entrenching social difference.
In spite of these purported
shortcomings,
Slutwalk
remains
indisputably an important political and
social movement. Firstly, Slutwalk
has served to highlight the institutional
shortcomings in the treatment of sexual
assault offences. The law acts in symbiosis
with social values, and can reinforce or
resist dominant social beliefs. Therefore
the problematic manner in which sexual
16 | Tharunka
assault is dealt with at many stages of
the criminal process, such as reporting,
investigation
and
trial,
effectively
undermines those social campaigns which
aim to end the condoning of sexual
assault offences. Slutwalk started after
a Toronto police officer stated “women
should avoid dressing like sluts in order
not to be victimised,” thus normalising
the perception that women have to selfregulate their behaviour and dress choices
rather than placing the onus on men to
respect their sexual autonomy. Indeed,
a study by the White Ribbon Foundation
found that one in seven teenage boys
thought it was okay to hold a girl down
and have sex with if she has flirted or ‘led
you on.’ Such problematic constructions of
sexual behaviour flow through to the low
proportion of sexual offences reporting in
most Western criminal justice systems and
low conviction rates of, as little as 7%
in Britain. By bringing these issues into
the mainstream media, Slutwalk promotes
both law reform and social dialogue in this
area.
More broadly, Slutwalk also acts to
question the manner in which ubiquitous
legal paradigms operate. The rule of law
attempts to ensure the equal treatment of
all individuals before the law while the
‘reasonable person’ standard aims for
objectivity in interpreting and applying
legal doctrine. However, the treatment
of women in the processing of sexual
assault suggests that such standards
are actually prejudiced by a patriarchal
norm. Women are also frequently
disadvantaged by the application of the
criminal defence of provocation. In the
case of Heather Osland, the defendant
Osland was convicted of murdering her
husband after over thirteen years of rape
and abuse while her son was acquitted of
all charges despite having allegedly struck
the mortal blow. Similarly, it is clear that
the law operates in a heterosexist manner.
In NSW and Queensland, the homosexual
“Words become tools of oppression and we need to draw a line
before violence and oppression- that is what we need to stop.”
- Lee Rhiannon at Slutwalk Sydney, Monday June 13, 2011.
advance defence remains an applicable
criminal defence despite the fact that
when “defendants who kill in response to
homosexual advances are not convicted
of murder, courts and juries reinforce
the notion that homosexuality is culpable
behaviour and that gay men do not deserve
the respect and protection of the criminal
justice system.”
The interconnections of injustice
based upon normative gender conceptions
revealed here as well as other factors which
impact upon social and legal outcomes
such as class and ethnicity also show the
social relevance of Slutwalk. While the
Reclaim the Night movements advocated
for by Rundle remain evident today in
Australia in places such as the Illawarra,
they only allow female participants and
have traditionally prescribed certain types
of clothing for the marches (typically drab
and formless). Hence those women who
choose to enact their sexual autonomy
differently to these prescriptions as well
as male allies have their political voice
vitiated. The latter is also pertinent when
considering that just as women are victims
of sexual violence, so too are those who
identify as male, transsexual and intersex.
In terms of internal power dynamics,
accusations regarding the silencing of
social groups such as women of colour in
Slutwalk need to be taken seriously and
redressed through an internal discourse
regarding racial privilege. However,
as oppression is both multifaceted and
interconnected, including a greater
diversity of voices in a dialogue about
how to overcome it will ultimately be
highly efficacious. Slutwalk Sydney was
a successful event in that it empowered
and provided leadership to many groups
whose voices are generally drowned out in
our Anglocentric, patriarchal, heterosexist
society. Along with all of the speakers at
the rally outside Surry Hills Police Station
being female identifying, Scarlet Alliance
played a strong role in organising the
event. This body represents Australian sex
workers, not only a group greatly affected
by sexual violence, but one which is all
too frequently politically silenced.
Lastly, the unifying theme in all
these critiques of Slutwalk is paradoxically
the most important reason why it should
be supported. Social norms regarding
gender roles and performativity remain
strongly entrenched dynamics well into the
21st century. As noted, they affect how
people choose to enact their sexuality,
how cultural and legal domains respond
to violations of their autonomy and how
oppression can be compounded where
intersectionalities of disadvantage exist.
For these reasons, Slutwalk must be seen
as an incipient stage in the revitalisation
of feminism, a necessary if not imperfect
call for greater discourse and action.
Because the responses to this call have
been clear, ringing truly in marches in
places as far flung as New Delhi, Mexico
City, Nicaragua, as well as on the streets
of Sydney.
17 | Tharunka
The House of Merivale
By Bethan Donnelly
I
f you happen to have walked down to Pitt
street mall of late, the throng of people
queuing outside a certain international
chain store will no doubt have distracted
you. It reminds me of another shop called
House of Merivale that opened on the
same street over forty years ago, which
would also draw enormous crowds.
This boutique, however, painted a very
different picture of retail Sydney.
When House of Merivale first
opened on Sydney’s Castlereagh Street in
1959 it was a serendipitous moment; it was
perfectly poised to succeed by being in the
right place at the right time. That was the
year the first of the baby boomers would
become teenagers, the generation which
would rock (literally) the boat of Fifties
complacency and capsize society into
a torrent of change. In the minds of the
empowered young, there was definitely
a challenging, if not exactly a changing,
of the guard. It was into the zeitgeist of
generational divide that House of Merivale
stepped.
The creation of a niche youth
category also represented the newest,
largest growing and most spendthrift
consumer market. House of Merivale was
one of the first institutions in Sydney,
and Australia, to recognise the lucrative
potential of the baby boom generation. It
was the epicentre of “youthquake” fashion
(the first place to sell the miniskirt in
Australia!) and became firmly established
on the radars of the young and trendy.
House of Merivale styled itself as
the first “swinging” boutique in Australia,
representing a connection to the fun and
frivolity of Carnaby Street and Kings
Road in the heyday of Swinging London.
It was established as an alternative to
the mainstream for people who, in the
words of the Rolling Stones, “can’t
get no satisfaction” from the staid and
conservative Australian culture.
Inspired by the British watershed
boutiques Bazaar of Mary Quant and the
miniskirt fame, and Barbara Hulanicki’s
phenomenal Biba, the boutique emerged
as the way to market youth fashion.
More than offering new young fashions,
18 | Tharunka
John Merivale, clothes designer and
owner of young fashion shops, in the
Pitt Street John & Merivale shop.
the boutique presented them in a new
way. In contrast to the neat and polished
department stores, boutique style was
fashionably disheveled and junky.
As the boutique concept spread,
they became increasingly ostentatious
and fantastical, and boutique shopping
became a social leisure activity in itself.
Boutiques like House of Merivale were
places where emotions could be indulged.
The experience of boutique shopping was
entirely conducive to the wider cultural
desire in the Sixties to be “turned on”
in all aspects of social activity, whether
through sexual liberation, experimental
drugs, or political zeal.
House of Merivale created an
elaborate, exuberant dream world which
mirrored the values and aspirations of
its young clientele; decadence, excess,
whimsical abandon, and an affectation of
bohemianism. Painted black and furnished
with dark mahogany timber, the boutique
created a seductive atmosphere reminiscent
of a bordello. It was decked out with richly
coloured drapes, feather boas, peacock
feathers and disco mirror balls. All of
this transported the young shopper into a
“cool” and “kinky” dimension that bore a
warped resemblance to Aladdin’s Cave or
a Turkish souk.
House of Merivale’s theatrical
interior design appealed to the senses. The
boutique was dimly lit by Tiffany lamps
creating a dreamy ambiance; piques of
fragrant perfume or cologne hung in the
air; and LOUD rock’n’roll music was
constantly played in-house, creating a
party atmosphere. This, in particular,
marked House of Merivale as something
“far out”. It was the sound of youth, a stark
contrast to the polite pianissimo music of
traditional department stores aimed at the
middle-aged and middle-class. House of
Merivale was the first Australian retailer
to shake up the shopping experience in
these ways.
House of Merivale moved to
Pitt Street in 1970. At the height of its
success, the company had three outlets
on Pitt Street, two in Melbourne and
one in Canberra. Partners Merivale and
John Hemmes, originally established
the boutique as an emporium of young
and upcoming Australian designers, like
the infamous Prue Acton, Norma Tullo,
Trent Nathan and Carla Zampatti. In
1966, Merivale began designing her own
eponymous line of clothing. Over time it
expanded to include flamboyant menswear
under the name Mr. John, bridal wear
specially sold in their White department,
and tailor made leather garments.
From the Nineties onwards the
focus of the company became hospitality
and entertainment. Today Merivale holds
the single largest hospitality portfolio
in Australia and is reported to be worth
over $500 million. It includes a sleuth of
award-winning restaurants, the mega ivy
complex, Good Vibrations music festival,
among many ventures. The success of the
Hemmes family business is undoubtedly
based on the foresight and fortune of
House of Merivale in the Sixties and
Seventies. It is remembered today as an
icon of Australian youth fashion and a
pioneer in Australian boutique retail.
My Skin
Churros
By Hexy
By Jacqueline Palaje
This is the spoken word piece Hexy
presented at POC the Mic: a person
of colour performance night organised
as a satellite event to Camp Betty.
My skin
Makes people say “You
can't be Aboriginal!”
Makes people ask “How much?”
Makes people think “What's
the white chick doing speaking
at POC the Mic?”
But it doesn't make me any less Koori.
My skin
Speaks of colonisation
Stolen Generations
And attempts to breed out the black.
My skin
Gives me a back seat pass to
All the racist bullshit white folks say
When they don't think there's
any blackfellas in the room.
My skin
Doesn't make me “look white”.
I look like Aboriginal
people sometimes look.
And if you believe otherwise,
it's your perceptions of
Aboriginality that are broken.
My skin
Makes white people feel
quite comfortable
Until I open my uppity
blackfella mouth
And then they think sticking up for
my people is me trying to start a fight.
My skin
Does not disqualify me from
identifying as “black”
It is not up to white people
to decide what language we
can label ourselves with.
My skin
Comes with a certain certainty.
Because I know
My country knows
And my brothers and sisters know
Where I come from, and who I am.
So.
My skin
When combined with my words
Should make you question
your assumptions.
Ingredients
250 ml Milk
100g Unsalted Butter
1 Tablespoon Castor
Sugar or Icing Sugar
125 g Flour
3 Egg Yolks
2 Vanilla beans (split and deseeded)
Oil for frying (Vegetable
oil recommended)
Method
1. In a pot, bring to boil the milk,
sugar, butter and vanilla beans.
2. Strain onto the flour and mix
to dough-like consistency.
3. Add egg yolks to the dough.
4. Pour dough into a piping
bag with a star nozzle.
5. Pipe into vegetable
oil at 180 degrees.
6. Fry until golden brown.
7. Set aside on paper towel
to dry off excess oil.
8. Dust with castor
sugar or icing sugar.
Top Tips
When frying, make sure the churros are
completely immersed in oil. If you fry
one side and then the other they will be
very greasy.
Another alternative to dusting with
castor sugar or icing sugar is cinnamon.
Personally, I prefer icing sugar.
19 | Tharunka
20 | Tharunka
From the Tharunka Archives: Women’s Edition 1984
From the Tharunka Archives: Women’s Edition 1993
21 | Tharunka
Golden Gate Bridge
By Amber Karanikolas
you told me your favourite place
you had ever been to was that
big bridge in san francisco.
i forget what it is called
but i know what it looks like.
i have seen it in pictures.
i imagined you walking near it.
it is 5:03 am. exactly.
requiem mass, wind. just you.
no one else.
no they are still asleep, somnus’s
children in beds coffee
houses laundromats
bars mistress’s beds old
abandoned churches.
you, who are wordwander, troubadour,
hallucinogenic apogee walking in the
flickering on off on off
neon all morning
light of the whole world, purging
yourself in fire of the mind’s eye.
in a past life you studied sanskrit,
stoic, amorphous roots and rocks
beneath the water, sweet sad song
like triste, triste and now
you walk to stop me
from repeating myself repeating myself
repeatinthis is what I will always think
when I hear your name and when
i do hear it, you impart
on every limb filament
of my existence, your
ascension untounched
unchanged as when I was
not your woman,
not your charlatan.
22 | Tharunka
Words
By Anisha Guatam
I
can only write what I know and what
I know is that I can write. I’m a writer
both here at University, negotiating the
discursive depths of my thesis; and at
home, in the belly of the night, birthing
a story always-already beyond my
understanding.
I’m a feminist and a writer.
Feminism and writing, for me, are
irredeemably intertwined. Although I
started writing many years ago – even as
a child I wrote almost compulsively in
journals and diaries – it is only through
feminism that I’ve been able to make
a connection between my writings and
my sense of self-in-the-world. That is
not to reify determinism or ideology. It
is neither true that feminism is the only
vehicle available for self-actualisation; nor
that feminism was always going to be the
only option I would take. Rather, in the
space/place that is me – within this “I”
– feminism and creative expression took
root and grew with each other, against
each other.
My first introduction to feminist
writing on writing was through the works
of French feminists Hélène Cixous and
Luce Irigaray, who taught me that to be
marginal is to have a unique perspective,
and to have a unique perspective is to have
a responsibility to share it. Both feminists,
albeit via different sets of theories, make
the link between women’s subjective
marginality and their textual articulations
of anomie and displacement. Instead of
seeking to amend this situation, however,
they argue that women’s existence
beyond culture allows us to break through
patriarchal discourse and to make it “fly.”
I learnt from these poet-warriors to accept
my exemption from the rules of men, to
revel joyfully in my ability to write both
myself and the world as it is: diverse,
dissonant and delightful.
Others feminists – feminists of
colour, like Gloria Anzaldúa - have taught
me what it is to write my occupation
of overlapping subject positions and
my negotiation, however badly, of the
complex interplay of gendered and cultural
identities. They have taught me to write
of my “colonization” by capitalist, racist,
patriarchal discourses, and to understand
that I cannot exist separate from my
political, historical and cultural context.
And they have taught me to recognize
and write my privilege. As a woman, as a
woman of colour, I may be marginalized.
However, I am also a comfortably middle
class woman living in a country that
routinely locks up “illegal” human beings.
I’m a heterosexual woman living in an
appalling homophobic world.
So, what does this mean, this
perpetual displacement, this inhabiting
of the shifting borderland zones? It
means that the very act of embracing the
autobiographical “I” – that moment when
I begin to write - is always already an act
fraught with the difficulties of articulating
a self experienced neither as a fixed,
metaphysical presence nor as a series of
endlessly multiplying possibilities, but as
both at the same time. Both inside and
outside at the same time, I am called
at various times to adopt a stubborn
individualism, a strategic fixity, in the face
of racist discourses that seek to dissolve
my subjectivity into an amorphous
collectivity. At the same time, I have the
privilege of experiencing my exclusion
from dominant ideology as a playful
displacement, ‘marginal by imposition, by
choice, by necessity’ (Trinh T. Minh-Ha,
When the Moon Waxes Red).
Writing, whether or not you intend
it to be so, is always political. Words
are not “just” words, but entities that
are at once empty and excessive – empty
because they are never semantically
fixed, and excessive because they always
contain unacknowledged, unrecognized
possibilities of signification.
This is what feminism has taught
me. This is my feminist reality.
23 | Tharunka
y Freak Show z
By Tayylor Leon
B
eing a lesbian, I often feel like
I’m part of a freak show. It
seems that within society, there is
this general perception many have
that lesbians are either repulsive or
a sexual novelty. I particularly find
the latter to be most apparent within
the media. There is a great portion
of men in this world who thoroughly
and eagerly believe lesbians are
dying to have a man join in on
their sexual activities. This idea is
played upon so much in movies and
television, and every time I’m faced
with it I’m disturbed and irritated,
feeling like our identity is forcibly
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stolen from us. I’m not here to
gratify you, gents. I like chicks – and
the last thing I want is you watching
me or making remarks to your mates
about “getting in on that”. As for the
“repulsive” perception, the majority
of gay people have to face this. When
straight people kiss, no one cares.
When gay people kiss, however,
all eyes are turned. Sure, there’s
growing acceptance in this world for
gay people, but realistically we’re
still the immoral freaks of this planet.
To many, our only motives in life
are to fuck and to do it right in front
of everyone. I have to also wonder
though if gay culture contributes to
these perceptions. When the gay
community is overtly sexual in public
(e.g. the Gay & Lesbian Mardi
Gras), are we helping our cause for
equality? Or could it be possible that
we’re helping to distance ourselves
from the straight community,
effectively alienating a great mass
of people who perhaps don’t like sex
shoved in their faces? Even I find
these sexual displays uncomfortable.
We’re not creatures in a freak show
– we’re human beings – and I think
it’s important straight and gay people
remember this.
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d Reviews c
Made In Dagenham
Reviewed by Kimberley Lowe
Nigel Cole’s Made in Dagenham is an
enthralling and inspiring film, despite
the female representations echoing those
quaint girl-power birthday cards with the
60s woman and slogans about smashing
patriarchy, often given to individuals like
myself. This movie, based on historical
events, begins in 1968 with a group of
chatty women sewing upholstery for
Ford Motors, in a British factory. We
are introduced to the band of Dagenham
women, the cheeky and discontent
beauty, the adorable but hopeless aspiring
model, the older workaholic Connie, and
their shy union representative Albert.
Amidst this strange tight-knit crew we
meet a gentle woman named Rita, a wife
and mother of two. This quiet woman
becomes the center of a national union
movement. In an attempt not to ruin the
plot, in the words of Rita, “it’s about
equality, equal pay for equal work”.
The film tries to be cute and rather
polite about women’s demands, but once
you get beyond the very ‘Hollywood’
plot and some of the humour markers
that actually work against the message
of the film, the historical roots and the
foundations of sisterhood are stirring.
When asked by reporters how the
women will cope if they don’t receive
the support of government for equal pay
Rita responds with “How will we cope?
We’re women. Don’t ask such stupid
questions.” This summarises the strength
and resilence of women in the long fight
for social justice that is at the core of
this, if not overly, light-hearted attempt
to engage wider audiences in the feminist
agenda.
The Stoning of
Soraya M.
Reviewed by Kimberley Lowe
The film title of The Stoning of Soraya
M. speaks for itself when it comes to
the subject matter of this movie. Based
on a story recounted to French-Iranian
journalist Sahebjam rather daringly by
Soraya’s grief-stricken aunt Zahra, The
Stoning of Soraya M. takes place as a
series of flashbacks to events taking
place just days before the journalist’s
car breaks down at the edge of a small
Iranian village in 1986.
At times the film breaks down into
stereotypical concepts and really focuses
on the relationship between a husband and
wife in Iran, rather than the overarching
political and economic implications from
such relationship types. Despite this it is
well acted and clearly each performer is
passionate about the message of the film.
It should be no surprise that the film is a
lot to take on board and requires a severe
investment of intellectual and emotional
self. The audience bears witness to how
religious and cultural beliefs lead to the
mistaken murder of a young mother
and are drawn into the reality of small
communities and the behaviours of few,
including bystanders.
Overall The Stoning of Soraya
M. is a brilliant film with enlightening
themes for a westernised audience.
Com Truise
Reviewed by Kylar Loussikian
Com Truise, more often called Seth
Haley by his mother amongst others,
is a designer slash musician. His fulllength debut, Galactic Melt has been
described by some as a Com Truise lite,
a toned down and less exciting version of
Haley’s prodigious online productions.
Certainly it sounds like a contemporary
reinterpretation of Kraftwork, some
tracks (‘VHS Sex’) more than others,
and the press release informs us with
apparently no tongue in cheek that the
album is “mathy, forlorn, funky and
mighty in technical ambition.” This may
be the case, or the case may be the man
has come into a synthesizer on his way
to his favourite bicycle shop or piccolo
latte dealer.
Cinematic and sexy, the label tells
us. Pah! ‘Cathode Girls’ sounds like
Jarre, my mother’s favourite, so no,
not entirely sexy, while the other tracks
are a musical cinescape of a convulsing
adolescent foaming at the mouth, and
then being immediately crushed under
a jet plane. Still, jingoism of media
releases aside (which at one point tells
us that ‘Truise becomes one with his
newfound cosmos, like Pinocchio
becoming a real boy), Galactic Melt is
not disappointing if you weren’t waiting
for much, but whilst much was made of
Haley’s EP and other works, this album
is probably not the work of any major
new artist in the genre of electronic shit.
Made In Dagenham, directed by
Nigel Cole, and starring Sally
Hawkins, Bob Hoskins and Andrea
Riseborough, is out on DVD now.
The Stoning of Soraya M., directed
by Cyrus Nowrasteh, and starring
Shohreh Aghdashloo, James Caviezel
and Moshan Marno, is out on DVD
now.
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Galactic Melt, an album by Com
Truise, is out now through Fuse
Music.
Playing Mother:
Uncovering a New Insight
By Emilie Auton
L
ast month, I was asked to ‘mother’
two children (aged two and four) for
nearly a month while their parents traveled
around Europe. The experience would
afford me an overseas trip later this year.
The prospect of looking after two young
children did not make me nervous (in fact
it made my friends and family more so).
My years of nannying and swim teaching
had provided me with many child-related
experiences, and I was confident that
I would cope. The mothering was for
an affluent family who live in one of
Sydney’s habour view suburbs. I resided
at their house alone and took complete
responsibility for the two children, a dog
and the household.
Although I was not their mother, I
felt very much like it at times. I felt utter
happiness when the youngest, Lucy*,
came running towards me and jumped
into my arms after daycare, sheer joy at
the simple act of blowing bubbles and
watching the two little girls chasing them
on a sunny afternoon, and laughed with
them as we danced around the living room
in the evenings. At the same time however,
I felt the overwhelming responsibility
constantly, the relentless deprivation of
sleep, and the feeling of alienation from
the outside world. The intensity of these
emotions was not something I was used to
experiencing on a daily basis.
One of the experiences I remember
well began one night in the first week
of my stay. The four year old, Olivia*,
appeared in my room at 11pm screaming,
I was unable to contact anyone for a period
of time and was panicked and unsure of
what to do. At that moment, I did not feel
like the innate nurturer women are said
to be, and I did not instinctually know
how to care for this helpless and totally
dependant human being (who’s only
manner of communication was a variety
of ear-piercing screams at random periods
of the night). It was some time before
it was apparent that Olivia had an ear
infection. The ordeal ended around 8am
the following morning when it was time
to get up and I received a rather apt call
from my mother exclaiming ‘welcome to
motherhood.’
Over the next week or two it became
clear, through the social environment,
that a ‘good’ mother is always available
for her children, to teach and emotionally
and physically care for them. A ‘good’
mother puts her children’s needs before
her own and has total responsibility for
them. The rewards of mothering outweigh
the low status and lack of financial reward
associated with the position. Yet this total
devotion resulted in a loss of freedom,
individuality, and professional identity.
The lack of freedom was perhaps the most
devastating; I was unable to go anywhere
without the children and my sole purpose
was to care for these children. The
practicalities of constantly looking after
a child made me incredibly aware of the
boundaries that had been placed around
my everyday life.
My life now entailed activities that
catered to Olivia and Lucy’s needs, the
car radio was even off-limits as the rear
seat TV played The Little Mermaid. To
be perfectly honest, I found the day-today childrearing activities incredibly dull
and robotic, and I longed for something
27 | Tharunka
more stimulating. It is perhaps a social
taboo to say that child rearing is boring
and there appears to be an unwritten rule
about expressing this. Yet my status as
‘temporary mother’ afforded me some
disclosure. When in conversation with one
mother she commented, ‘motherhood is
mostly unrewarding’ and ‘I really value
the days the kids aren’t here, I have things
to do that I can’t get done with them here’.
Another told me of the value of a routine,
but added ‘the thing about motherhood is
that it gets boring once you’re in a routine,
thank god mothers have the internet now,
it’s a way for them to feel like they are
still connected to the world’. Knowledge
surrounding the negative aspects of
motherhood is often unavailable to women
of childbearing age. Acknowledgement of
the realities of motherhood is essential in
order to reconcile the image of motherhood
with the reality. Exposing the idealised
myths will hopefully allow women to
better prepare for the realities of early
parenthood.
Although some people acknowledged
the difficulties I faced during my
‘mothering’ experience, others told me that
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motherhood would be different when I had
my own; that the love for my own child
would override any negative feelings I had.
Yet there is a difference between loving
a child and actually enjoying parenting
them. This is a distinction which is often
not elucidated. The experience led me to
believe that I would not be satisfied being a
fulltime stay at home mother. Prior to this
experience I understood that motherhood
was difficult, yet understanding what
motherhood entails and the reality of the
experience are not quite the same. It gave
me an opportunity to understand the joys,
but also the repetitive and dull nature
of motherhood. Recognising that I was
not the only ‘mother’ who felt this way,
made me realise that I would not be a
‘bad’ mother if I chose not to spend every
moment with my child.
The experience helped me to
appreciate many things about mothering
and the role it will play in my life. It
has alerted me to the career/childbearing
conflicts that I will encounter and
highlighted
the
effective
coping
strategies available. For example, after
childrearing alone, I recognize that it
may be desirable to have a willing partner
who participates in equal domestic and
childrearing chores (although this is not
always possible). The experience has also
allowed me to face motherhood with a
certain degree of confidence after having
had a good ‘training’ session, or as my
partner phrased it ‘it’s great because we
now know that you can look after two
kids singlehandedly!’. Following this
experience I will be confident to challenge
the dominant discourse of motherhood
and produce a re-examination of what is
considered ‘normal’.
While not deterring me from
motherhood in the future, this ‘trial
run’ has afforded me the opportunity
to experience the practical realities of
everyday motherhood- in particular the
often unmentioned mundane elements,
constraints and burdens.
*Names has been changed
Lizzette the Agony Aunt
By Liz Stern
and making sure their ‘roots’ aren’t
showing. While I can understand the
importance of good gardening (or ‘pubic
topiary’ as it seems to be called these
days, although what that entails I haven’t
a clue), I feel mournful that the dream of
female equality has been so abandoned in
the modern age. Where have all the young
women pioneers gone?
Dear Lizzette,
I don’t know if my new relationship is
all it was cracked up to be. I mean, you
marry and incredibly famous guy with lots
of money, and even if he’s balding, things
are meant to go pretty swimmingly from
there, right? But all I’ve heard people talk
about lately is my sister’s ass, and how
I ‘recycle’ my outfits. It’s gone beyond
a bloody joke. When does it start being
about me again?
Princess69, B. Palais.
Dear Kate,
Perhaps you need to be more edgy?
I’d certainly get tired of forever being
associated with my deceased motherin-law, if it were me. And everybody is
getting rather sick of these ‘crisp clean
lines’ you insist on wearing. Would a royal
blue strapless skank-dress really be so
bad? Why not take a leaf out of Beatrice’s
book, and wear the head-wear equivalent
of a toilet seat with antlers every now and
then? Now that’s memorable.
Or else, you could chuck a Fergie
– divorce the Prince, put on heaps of
weight, lose it again, put it on again,
write a tell-all memoir, and never again
be invited to a hoity-toity wedding. That
might draw attention from Pippa’s butt for
a few seconds.
Dear Louisa May Alcott,
Dear Agony Auntie,
How do I decide on a unique baby name for
my child? It needs to be one that captures
their free spirit, that sounds glamorous and
individual, and yet also simultaneously
boosts my public profile.
Dear Every Single Expecting Celebrity in
Hollywood,
Dear Agony Auntie,
You’ve gotta look at the trends. As much
as you want to do something special for
your child, you can’t just go for any Tom,
Dick or Harlequin that comes to mind.
If you really want to be remembered,
you’ve got to get as creative as Moon Unit
Zappa’s parents. Do you think they cared
if they fucked up their child’s life from
their drug-induced haze of naming? No!
My picks for the season are Bluetit
(according to Practical-Parenting.com,
bird names are gonna be BIG), Fudge
Packer (no-body is going to mess with that
kid; look at that surname!), and Reginald.
What’s the best way to get chocolate stains
out of the chest area of one’s shirts?
Dear Miss Lizzette,
Dear Nigella,
Why bother? Just keep seductively
dripping. Alternatively, wipe off the stains
quickly with £100 pound notes, then soak
slowly with Möet Chandon. And use
plenty of delicious, fatty butter – mmm…
It seems the world I dreamed of has
disappeared irrevocably from public
consciousness. Where once young ladies
sought to better themselves through their
accomplishments and their studies, or at
the very least through a good marriage,
now they seem more fixated upon who
called them a ‘bitch’ last Saturday night,
Sad times have indeed fallen upon the
‘fairer sex’, as we were once termed.
Once, women dreamt of having it all.
Now they’ve got it, what do they do with
it? And do they really want it?
Certainly Louisa, there are many modern
day fighters for women’s rights, and
women who succeed in all fields all around
the world. But they also spend their time
cooking, cleaning, being fabulously well
dressed, being fantastic mothers, being
sex goddesses, writing books about the
aforementioned, and generally doing so
many things that they have heart attacks
before they’re 30, or nervous breakdowns,
or both.
To lighten the mood (as women are
also supposed to be natural peacemakers –
wtf?), here is a joke:
Two nuns are out driving late one night
in Transylvania. Everything seems very
dark and eerie, and impending doom is in
the air. Suddenly, a vampire leaps from
nowhere, and lands on the car bonnet,
panting for blood. The nuns screech to a
halt. ‘What do we do?’ cries the first nun.
‘Show him your cross, show him your
cross! It’s the only thing they fear!’ says
the other nun. So the first nun jumps out
of the car, turns and faces the vampire,
and says, ‘You naughty, stupid, foreign
bugger! You scared us half to death!
Who do you think you are, leaping out of
nowhere in the middle of the night? Why,
I’ve got a good mind to…’
This is one of my mum’s favorite
jokes. See the pun? I fear mum may have
had her nervous breakdown already…
29 | Tharunka
SRC President:
Osman Faruqi
[email protected]
One of the most rewarding parts of being
President of the Student Representative
Council has been the exposure to different
social movements, progressive ideas,
campaigns and the debates within them.
Those of you who have been regular readers
of my reports for the past eighteen months
(yes, I’m sure there’s plenty of you...)
will know that I’ve been lucky enough to
attend last year’s “F Conference” as well
as the Melbourne Feminist Conference a
few months ago. F Conference was the first
feminist conference to be held in Sydney
in a decade and I’m quite proud that the
UNSW SRC provided funding to help it
get off the ground. It was one of my first
experiences with the feminist movement
and while initially I was a bit apprehensive
about attending it ended up kick starting
my interest in gender issues and the
debates within the movement. I’ve been
lucky enough to work with three different
Women’s Officers at UNSW – Lucy
Geddes, Jessica Mobbs and Kim Lowe.
They are among the hardest working, most
passionate and most dedicated student
advocates that I know. I owe a lot of my
own personal growth to each of them as
well as my growing interest in feminism,
which has just seen me enrol in my first
gender studies course this session.
I hope you enjoy reading this
year’s Women’s Tharunka and I think its
fantastic evidence, along with the whole
Women’s Department and the entire
Student Representative Council, of the
benefits of a strong student organisation
on campus.
International Collective:
Mike Han Lin & Samantha Shuang Guo
[email protected]
After two weeks of intense planning, the
International Week 2011 is now ready for
its final countdown. The following is the
summary of our events in Week 4:
Int’l Students Liaison Group Meeting: Held
in a Q&A format, provides an opportunity
for international students to directly
interact with the chiefs of university,
including Pro-Vice Chancellor Professor
Joan Cooper. Tuesday August 9, from 12
- 2pm at the Club Bar, Roundhouse.
Travel
Concession
Campaign
+ Free BBQ: In response to National
Union of Students’ (NUS) campaign of
‘Concession Tickets for All Students’,
which also benefits international students
30 | Tharunka
if succeeded, petitions will be collected
during this event. Wednesday August 10,
from 12 - 2pm on the Library Lawn.
IELTS Workshop: IETLS is a
‘must-sit’ test for all international students
intending to further their study or apply
for immigration. A postgraduate student,
who has nine years of IELTS teaching
experience, will be invited to give a free
coaching lesson.. Wednesday August
10, from 5 - 6pm at Training Room 1,
Blockhouse.
Migration Seminar: One of the
major concerns of international students
of all time – migration policy changes,
will be interpreted in depth by experts
from our old friend Acacia Ltd. Thursday
August 11, from 5 - 7pm at Club Bar,
Roundhouse.
Martial Arts Workshop: Intriguing
and spectacular, the arts of Wing Chun,
Judo, Taekwondo, Karate and Kickboxing
are a vivid illustration of their respective
cultures. UNSW sports clubs will be
invited to demonstrate their understandings
of the “Arts”. Friday August 12, from 12 4pm at Main Room, Roundhouse.
In addition, we have reached the
consensus that the traditional grand finale
– International Night Market will be
postponed to Week 9, which therefore will
not be included in the International Week.
Queer Collective:
Tim, Ray & Squish
[email protected]
Hey all Queer and Queer friendly folk!
We’ve had a very eventful winter
break and have plenty more activities and
events coming up in the lead up to…..
drum roll please…..QUEER PRIDE
WEEK! Being held in Week 8 of semester
2.
Over the July break, we had a bunch
of 7 us head over to Perth for the annual
Queer Collaborations conference. It was
a very successful event, and everybody
who attended had a wonderful time and
made many new network connections.
Next year’s QC conference will be a held
a little closer to home in Adelaide, so we
anticipate an even higher attendance :)
The Queer Space has also been
undergoing some plastic surgery over the
break, and FM Assist is almost ready to
give it back to us – once they’re done,
we will have another small room for all
of our junk, which will leave space for us
to create one big room filled with lounges
and beanbags – the perfect place for any
queer collective group meeting / party or
event. We can’t wait to see what it will
look like when it’s finished!
Stay tuned for our next issue, we
will then fill you in on all the exciting
events coming up for Queer Pride Week
in Week 8.
Raymond, Tim & Squish.
Education Collective:
Tim Kaliyanda
[email protected]
Hi there! Hopefully, your Semester’s off
to a great start! This week, spend some of
the time you would have otherwise wasted
lazing around on having a look at the new
UNSW Advantage program.
The program is designed to help
you make the most of your time at UNSW
by letting you know about internships,
volunteering and student ambassadorships
on campus, and it gives you official
recognition for your work on your
Australian Higher Education Graduation
Statement (AHEGS) certificate when you
graduate.
You can try something different, be
inspired and build your confidence. The
program allows you to improve skills
by involving you in stuff you wouldn’t
usually come across if you merely came to
uni for class and that it.
So make the most of your time at
UNSW, log onto www.advantage.unsw.
edu.au and check out what’s happening on
campus. Or you could just join Arc! You
won’t regret it!
Ethnic Affairs Department:
Sandra Kaltoum
[email protected]
Hi There,
This semester the Ethnic Affairs Collective
is pledging support for International
Student Concession Cards and Fairer
Fares. In conjunction with the International
Collective we will be lobbying government
to get fairer fares for all students who use
public transport.
A Free BBQ will be held on the
Library Lawn on Wednesday the 10th
of August at 12-2pm. A petition will be
available for signing to show support for
a more equal transport concession scheme.
Transport costs are a significant
issue for most students. Currently travel
concession cards are only valid within
restrictive conditions and can exclude
students who study part time, work
casually, travel interstate, or who are on
international student visas. This petition
will aim to combat these restrictions on
fairness and create a more central system
for concession cards that promotes better
welfare outcomes for all students.
If you are interested in being
involved in the campaign or would like
more information please email me on
[email protected].
Welfare Department
Sarah Frazier
[email protected]
Hi everyone, I hope you’re all settled into
semester 2 by now. I made a mistake in
my last report - the free breakfasts are
actually Mondays at 9am in front of the
library.
I’m looking forward to working with
our International Officers Sam and Mike
in the coming weeks on the Fair Fares
campaign. We’re fighting for student
fares on public transport for international
students who are currently missing out.
This is a big issue for international students
who are already paying uni fees, living
away from home and trying to support
themselves. I’m hoping international
students and domestic students alike
will join us and sign the petition at our
upcoming barbecue.
I’m also looking for input from
college students on what they’d like to see
in my upcoming survey. Feel free to email
me with any ideas or concerns.
Environment Collective:
Ben Gregory
[email protected]
The Enviro Collective has been quite busy
recently, with our campaign for recycling
at UNSW coming to a head towards the
end of last semester. Thanks to all the
students who voiced their opinion on
the absence of recycling at UNSW. The
Recycling@UNSW forum came about
largely due to your feedback. Recycling is
now firmly on the agenda and is expected
to commence towards the end of this
semester. Unfortunately the Waste Tender
Committee managed to skirt detailing
the expected outcomes of negotiations
with waste management companies. Such
negotiations have subsequently been
underway during the mid-year break.
After the hectic conclusion to last
semester, the Students of Sustainability
Conference (SoS) was a much appreciated
time for chilling out and having lots of
thought-provoking conversation. SoS is
an annual five day camping conference,
hosted in a different state every year. This
year it was held in Albury and had about
300 attendees. It involved workshops and
forums on a range of sustainability topics;
and of course, plenty of opportunities for
getting to know new friends. It was a great
experience, as those who attended will
testify.
The Sustainable Movie Nights
last semester were quite a success, with
between 5 and 20 people turning out to
watch films such as: End of the Line,
Capitalism a Love Story, Garbage
Warrior, GasLand, Addicted to Plastic and
HOME. We will be continuing with the
Sustainable Movie Nights this semester,
with a selection of documentaries on:
Climate change, capitalism, nature, and
more. Our first screening will likely be on
Wednesday of week 3, but keep an eye on
the Facebook page for more info.
For more Enviro goss, sign up to
our Facebook group: UNSW Environment
Collective.
CONTRIBUTE
[email protected]
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