Debate | Issue 3 | 2015

debate ISSUE 03 | MARCH 2015

illustration by Ramina Rai

CONTENTS

CREDITS EDITOR Chloe King chlking@aut.ac.nz SUB-EDITORS Laurien Barks Kelsey-rae Taylor DESIGNER Ramina Rai rrai@aut.ac.nz

3

Editor's Letter

24

Six Films You Can't Miss In 2015

CONTRIBUTORS Fiona Connor, Tess Nichol, Raj Neel Singh, Matthew Cattin, Sarah Bedford, Steven Barks, Mr X

5

Prez Sez

26

Man Up

6

Cool Shit

28

Take Back The Hood

ADVERTISING Harriet Smythe hsmythe@aut.ac.nz

8

Baby, This Is Not A Love Story

30

This Column Isn't About Nothing

Contributions can be sent to

12

Advice from Silicon Valley

PRINTER Debate is lovingly printed by Soar Print

14

Student Nomad

Debate is a member of

18

Post #SydneySiege

21

Golden Corn Fritters recipe

22

How To Love Pop Culture While

debate@aut.ac.nz

the Aotearoa Student Press Association (ASPA) This publication is entitled to the full protection given by the Copyright Act 1994 (“the Act”) to the holders of the copyright, being AUCKLAND STUDENT MOVEMENT AT AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED (“AuSM”). Reproduction, storage or display of any part of this publication by any process, electronic or otherwise (except for the educational purposes specified in the Act) without express permission is a break of the copyright of the publisher and will be prosecuted accordingly. Inquiries seeking permission to reproduce should be addressed to AuSM. DISCLAIMER Material contained in this publication does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of AuSM, its advertisers, contributors, Soar Print or its subsidiaries.

32 35

Our Hidden Gems Bangkok Jungle Tour

Feminist

DIRECTORY

AUSM.ORG.NZ

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Puzzle Page

CITY CAMPUS Level 2, WC Building ph: 921 9805 Mon-Thurs: 9am - 5pm Fri: 9am - 4pm NORTH SHORE CAMPUS (Temporary Location) AE112; Office D ph: 921 9949 10:30am - 1:30pm

SOUTH CAMPUS MB107 ph: 921 9999 ext 6672 Mon-Thurs: 9am - 3:30 GOVERNANCE & LEADERSHIP April Pokino april.pokino@aut.ac.nz

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VOLUNTEERS Romulus Swanney rswanney@aut.ac.nz

STUDENT MEDIA MANAGER Victoria Griffin vgriffin@aut.ac.nz

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ADVOCACY Siobhan Daly siobhan.daly@aut.ac.nz

FA C E B O O K . C O M / A U S M D E B AT E

EVENTS Carl Ewen carl.ewen@aut.ac.nz

illustration by Chloe

EDITOR'S DESK A word from Chloe King If you fuck as a woman, or you don’t fuck as a woman, you are a bit fucked. Either way, you will probably be called names at some stage in your life for being sexual or not being sexual.

Seriously, it kind of sucks. And I am kind of over it. We can be sexualised, but not sexual beings. It all gets a bit confusing after a while, to be honest. So, I gave up trying to be a good girl who ticks all the boxes ages ago, because either way, you get called names. I am writing this the day after International Women’s day (you will be reading this around two weeks after this global day of action), and I am pissed off that so little has changed.

One billion women have survived violence and rape on this planet, and more often than not, we are blamed for it. Told we were too drunk, too slutty, too much, too easy. We asked for it. Whatever the circumstances, someone else’s violence is our problem and nearly always our fault. Where is the logic in that?

We are told to shut-up about it, and called “trouble-makers,” and called “liars” when we raise our voices against the violence so many of us have survived.

I know it isn’t nice to talk about horrible social issues like rape and violence, but it isn’t just happening to women, it is happening to boys and men too. We just don’t want to talk about it – even less so, than violence against women. A lot of people still think men can’t even be raped. Seriously. Men don’t bleed when they get cut. Men know how to “man-up”, a lot of men have been told to do this all their lives; since they were

kids. So they do it. Right? All of this adds up to some seriously negative stereotypes of masculinity – and that shit intersects with violence against women.

There is some really powerful and necessary public discussion around the gender-policing women are expected to adhere to – especially after last year when feminism went ‘Beyoncé mainstream.’ But there is so little public discussion in Aotearoa about the gender-policing men are subject to, from always having to be tough to never showing fear, this sounds like a pretty rough rap to me. Aren’t these issues such as violence against women and the negative stereotypes men are expected to adhere to intersectional?

Emotions are us. They help us to express who we truly are, and they allow us to share pain, joy, intimacy, and tender moments with people we love and care for – these emotions can save our lives. So, isn’t it time we started talking a lot more loudly about how we are raising boys? ‘Cos these negative stereotypes – the ones that tell boys they “throw like girls” (love it when people use the word “girl” as an insult or put-down), or tell them to “man-up” when they are hurting physically or emotionally, are seriously damaging. Don’t you think it is time, as a society, in Aotearoa we start drawing healthier and more positive maps to manhood, for our young boys?

What do you think? Write us a line and tell us your thoughts on this topic? Or flick me an email at chlking@aut.ac.nz.

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PREZ SEZ

When I first began my journey, I didn’t have many friends, so I decided to join a club. This was one of the best decisions I could have made. I met like-minded people and made some life-long mates who have stuck by me through thick and thin. So, I suggest you do the same.

You can meet some pretty tough challenges at university, and sometimes you just need someone who can listen.

If you are having trouble or just want to complain, I take your concerns seriously and would like you to write to me:

PREZ SEZ Hello AuSM people of AUT, I hope you are settling into your studies nicely, and have had a fantastic experience already! With orientation over, this gives you room to explore the university as a whole. This is a good time to get to know everything that university has to offer. Whether it’s the mentoring and peer support programs you can utilise, or the communal study areas, AUT has so much to offer.

VICE-PREZ SEZ Kia ora and Welcome!

If you haven't read Debate yet, my name is Urshula Ansell, and I am very honoured to be your student Vice President for 2015!

It’s a new year filled with new opportunities and I look forward to serving as your Vice President.

Look at that, it's already week four! I already have my first assessment due this week and I am sure there are many more of us that are in the same position. Good luck with all the assessments that are coming your way, and study hard. Make sure you try as hard as you can and give it your all.

O-Week is well done and dusted. I hope you were able to head along to at least one night event, and enjoy as many day events as

april.pokino@aut.ac.nz Any issue, big or small, please let me know because I am extremely passionate about the student voice.

Good luck with your studies and I’ll see you around!

possible! My favourite free feed had to be the roast sandwiches – yummy and filling. Please know that we always have a vegetarian option. The fun doesn't stop there when it comes to free feeds; it happens every week throughout both semesters – Monday out South, Tuesday on the North Shore and Thursday in the city, so “cook me some eggs”. There is a way to miss the lines and never have to wait again. Currently there are two different records set.

One for the females, which is 12 sausage sizzle servings in one free feed (and I know that as I am the one who holds the record) and the males record is 21! So if you are keen to beat this let Kay know: he is the man who runs all the free feeds and he will do the counting!

The second week of O-Week had some great night events. The pub quiz always brings people in – we had 26 teams compete to win, and the hypnotist is always a great laugh to watch. I, myself, have been hypnotised twice by him – I never believed in it, so I had to find out for myself. The massive ending with The Black Seeds, Katchafire and David Dallas was just perfect to end the two weeks of pure AuSMness.

If you see me around campus, at events or free feeds please don’t be shy to say hi or let me know what’s up.

If you are too shy or busy please feel free to contact me on urshula.ansell@aut.ac.nz, or come to my office at WC inside the student lounge: I'll be there waiting.

“Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.”

Dr Seuss 5

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BABY, THIS IS NOT A LOVE STORY

by Chloe King I’m just going to say it. I have sat on the edges of BDSM communities since I was 17 – yeah, I know admitting you like sex publicly as a woman will surely get you some slutshaming, but saying you like anything but vanilla sex will get you burned at the stake.

In a world saturated with hyper-sexualised images of women’s bodies, we, as women, are allowed to be sexual objects but cannot be sexual beings without a backlash, and a lot of name calling.

I wasn’t a virgin like paramour, Anastasia Steele, (of the record-pounding trilogy, Fifty Shades of Grey) was when she engaged in BDSM play under the direct commands of billionaire, Christian Grey. She was taken into his red room of pain, (um, okay) delight – and derogation, and told he was a “dominant”. I lost my virginity to some lead singer of a band when I was 16, which seemed like a good idea at the time – it didn’t last long (the relationship I mean, but to be fair I’m sure the sex didn’t either) and though I didn’t love him, I learned that I did love sex.

I became interested in researching and talking to people in the BDSM community at a young age, because the corner stones of BDSM are enthusiastic consent, respect, and trust (sane, safe, and consensual). Three important things that seem dangerously lacking in our wider sex culture. I was not forced, coerced, or tricked into it by some helicopter-flying, fast-car-driving, multi-billionaire with a narcissistic streak, and a “my mother was a crack addict and a prostitute” sob story, like Anastasia was. Cry me a river. Like some woe-is-me sob story justifies beating the fifty shades of shit out of a young submissive girl. I made a personal decision to engage in this sub-culture from time to time. My body. My choice.

So this brings me, of course, to the recent movie adaption and release of Fifty Shades of Grey which started off as Twilight fan-fiction by author E. L. James, and is now breaking box office records faster than it’s breaking sexual taboos. I went to see it on its release on Valentine’s Day (‘cos nothing says romance like a non-consensual sexual relationship?), and I wish I hadn’t. The film, like its source material, is really that bad, and I am not just talking about the depressingly mainstream squeamishness about male genitalia, and the clunky script. I have trained with Women’s Refuge, and have spent the greater part of my life fighting to end violence against women, so of course, I think the glamorization of rape and abusive relationships in Fifty Shades of Grey is “Fifty shades of fucked up.” I am not the only one who thinks so. Hundreds protested outside the UK premier of the erotic film, holding up placards and banners reading “Fifty Shades is abuse” and “Mr Grey is a rapist” as The Guardian reported last month.

Love does not abuse or silence: ‘Fifty Shades has been packaged to us as a love story – a contemporary and cinematic fairy-tale that sees a rich, troubled, broodingly handsome man whisk away a young, insecure woman with barely any self-worth from her mundane life. All she has to do to be with her prince charming, is give up any premise of individuality. She can have everything – his love, the cars, the fancy holidays - as long as she gives herself up to Mr. Grey. Yeah, I cringed as I typed those words out. Jesus. H. Christ.

From the moment Bella Anastasia falls into Mr. Greys life (she literally trips into his office at the start of the movie, falling flat on her face), he engages in some seriously worrying behaviour. Even on their first date he is demanding she eat food, and asking her invasive questions. Then, of course, there is the scene where he takes a young, submissive Anastasia into his dungeon, where his range of sex toys could probably pay my rent for a year, and says to her: “I am a dominant and I want you to willingly submit to me.”

“What would I get out of this?” Ana, responds.

“Me,” he exclaims. photography by Ryan Le Corbeau

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Oh great. Not even a fucking orgasm then? Yeah, I am so turned on right now. If virginal Anastasia does exactly what Mr. Grey wants she will get “him,” but if she doesn’t, he will cut all contact with her.

I am pretty sure this is a seriously emotionally manipulative/abusive tactic to push Ana into doing exactly what he wants sexually (Read: coercing her). And this is only barely scraping the surface when it comes to the seriously worrying and abusive behaviour Mr. Grey engages in – while wrapping it in the body of the BDSM subculture.

Mr. Grey stalks Ana almost from the day he meets her; turning up to her work uninvited (he even checked into a hotel near her work so he can be close to her), showing up at a bar Anastasia is drinking at, and ordering her to come home with him while she is highly intoxicated. In the book he puts a GPS in her car so he can locate her whenever he likes.

He also breaks into her house when she has asked him to stay away, and arrives unannounced and, once again, uninvited when Anastasia is visiting her mother.

Pro Tip: None of this behaviour has anything to do with a dom/ sub relationship regardless of what the author of these books believes. Stalking. Is. Not. Love.

It is a behaviour that is used by abusive men and women as a weapon to intimidate, and insight fear in the person who it is directed at. Stalking is used as another means of control. Rhonda Cox-Nessen, who is the director of Women’s Refuge Auckland, recently wrote a blog post entitled ‘There are no shades of grey in domestic violence.’ This post stated “Christian Grey is an abuser.

He uses coercive control as a tool to exercise his masculinity and dehumanize Ana’s femininity.” Christian Grey is showcasing, for all to see, his toxic masculinity – negative stereotypes of masculinity intersect with violence against women.

Call me a prude (or don’t because I am pretty sick of the names we, as women, get called no matter how much sex we do, or do not have), but I think coercing our love interest, Anastasia Steele, into signing a BDSM contract when she has only recently met, and

lost her virginity to Mr. Grey, is all shades of wtf? Especially since during her brief time knowing our creepy, controlling protagonist, she has been expected to submit completely from Friday through Sunday. BDSM contracts are common within the sub-culture, and vary greatly from relationship to relationship. But mostly these contracts are a collaborative process between a dom/sub, in which they agree on what the person who identifies as a sub is, and is not willing to do sexually. I spoke to Anne Tigone, who has been part of the BDSM sub-culture in Auckland for over a decade about 50 Shades of Grey, and BDSM contracts. She told me her perspective, “Well, for starters, a BDSM contract is something I wouldn't expect to see brought into play until the relationship was already established. Maybe at a point where the couple was considering a formal M/S (master/save) arrangement Ann told me, If you actually hear about a contract being *enforced*, then it is almost always a case of abuse, where one partner has tried to convince the other that the contract has any basis in legality.”

Ana and Mr. Grey’s relationship (or arrangement) is not about love or BDSM. It is about control. This is about making sure Ana knows she is his possession. “To be the object of desire is to be defined in the passive case,” wrote the author, Angela Carter.

Does any of this sound like a love story to you? Because as someone who has dedicated a massive part of my life to ending violence against women, I want to tell you that the Anastasias of this world, who enter into relationships with men like Mr. Grey, do not end up in massive penthouse apartments or whisked away in helicopters to fancy locations. More likely than not, they end up in Women’s Refuge. Or worse. Dead. It is estimated that 20,000 children and women needed the help of Women’s Refuge in 2013, and as Women’s Refuge reported on their website “Police are called to around 200 domestic violence situations a day – that’s one every seven minutes on average.”

Female sexuality and slut-shaming: Not once in the film do we hear about Anastasia’s own sexual fantasies, desires, or what she even likes sexually – BDSM relationships are about equality and exploring. It is not about coercing someone into acting out another’s sexual fantasies, while completely ignoring what your partner is into (no sexual relationship - vanilla, kink or otherwise - should be!).

Communication between BDSM play-partners and partners, is incredibly important. Whether you are a switch, dom, sub, sadist, primal… whatever, generally there is an extensive conversation between one another before you engage in any sexual act, play session, or BDSM ‘scene’. Consent is sexy. There is barely any conversation between Anastasia and Mr. Grey about what she is comfortable with, and okay doing.

Ana and Mr. Grey’s relationship (or arrangement) is not about love or BDSM. It is about control. This is about making sure Ana knows she is his possession.

In the film adaption of Fifty Shades of Grey, the only sequence where Anastasia has any say in what they do sexually is when they both negotiate the BDSM contract Mr. Grey has given her.

But, we only hear Anastasia speak about what she is unwilling to do sexually, which includes “anal fisting” and “vaginal fisting”.

We never really hear Anastasia verbalise her own sexual desires or fantasies. She becomes a blank sexual slate on which Mr Grey can inscribe his own fantasies, and play-out his own desires.

This feeds into a culture where women are often shamed for expressing themselves sexually – or simply, we are made to feel like we can’t for many reasons, be it cultural, religious or for fear of slut-shaming.

‘Slut-shaming’ is defined by Emily Lindin, an activist who is committed to ending sexual bullying, as "making a woman feel guilty or inferior for her real or perceived sexual behaviour." There are endless examples of slut-shaming in everyday life and pop culture.

Beyonce embraced her sexuality with pride in her 2013 self-titled Feminist album, and within hours of posting her new visual album online, she was slammed by her own fans who called her “vile” and “disgusting” as the NY Times reported, for the provocative tracks. These songs included Drunk In Love and Blow (which is all

about how much Bey loves cunninglingus). Jennifer Lawrence, who had her private nude photos hacked and released on the internet cess-pool known as 4Chan, was met with a backlash from social media, and pundits who name-called and victim blamed her. These are prime examples of how women are often punished for expressing their sexual desire, both in private and in public spaces.

In 50 Shades of Grey, the only sexual fantasies Ana is allowed, are tied directly to Mr. Grey’s, which is unsurprising, really, given the fact she has zero sexual experience to go on because she was a virgin who had never masturbated before meeting him.

If we love men enough, they will love us back (and other bullshit): In the book Fifty Shades of Feminism (yes, such a book exists and it is glorious), Jeanette Winterson wrote “Fifty Shades of Grey did what? We know what it did; the old fashioned staples of Mills and Boon’s Harlequin romance novels were spiced up Twilight Sagastyle. Romance with a bad guy, sex with a werewolf, love with a vampire, an erotic contract with a rich handsome sadist – and lo and behold, bad guy, werewolf, vampire, sadist, all come good (sorry), and are transformed from frog into prince into loving kind husbands.”

I read Beauty and the Beast as a child, and the whole entire Twilight series as a young adult, and I have read Fifty Shades of Grey (it was painful, and not in the good BDSM way)… I know how this tired and dangerous trope goes. If we just work hard enough, if we love broken men enough, if we wait long enough, we can transform that bad-boy nightmare into a fairy-tale for-ever-after romance. As if love is the cure for emotional baggage and past trauma. We, as women, so often believe we can ‘save’ men.

There are two words for all of this: utter bullshit.

The stories we are told matter. Stories help shape our beliefs and the world we live in. Especially the stories that make it into popular culture like Twilight did, and Fifty Shades has. “Stories are how we make sense of the world, which doesn't mean that those stories can't be stupid and simplistic and full of lies,” wrote the Journalist Laurie Penny. It also does not mean those stories aren’t incredibly problematic, as Twilight and Fifty Shades is proof of. Pushing the idea that violence (be it physical or emotional) is love, is dangerous and, in some cases, deadly. In the words of Brooke Axtell, a performance artist, and a survivor of human trafficking and domestic violence: “Authentic love does not devalue another human being. Authentic love does not silence, shame or abuse.”

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ADVICE FROM SILICON VALLEY Five key points for aspiring entrepreneurs

by Amy Pollok For a moderately tech-savvy kiwi, attending Startup Grind which is an entrepreneurial global community project, was like being thrown in the deepest end of the biggest pool in the Valley. The sheer amount of expertise and new knowledge I was exposed to was nothing short of overwhelming.

However. After three days of vigorous note taking and several days of processing, it’s clear that much of what I took in at Start-up Grind has stuck. We were fortunate enough to listen to world class entrepreneurs who have built billion dollar companies from scratch, and the venture capitalists who have risked millions betting on these risky ideas.

Every founder and investor was keen to share advice for those building, or thinking about building businesses. I’ve trawled my notes to find what I think are the five most valuable pieces of information for anyone interested in business, or in starting their own business.

1. From Sam Altman, President of YCombinator, arguably the most successful startup incubator in the world “Be crazy with your projects.”

Sam talked about the difference between projects and companies. As long as something is a project, the sky is the limit. Once you declare something a company, you have to be able to tell people about it. You can’t be crazy. You’re accountable. To your staff, to your investors, to all the people you talk with. You have to be reasonable. But in the early stages, when it’s still on the side, it’s still a project, you can be as daring and as outrageous as you like, because you’re only accountable to yourself.

Use that early time to develop the crazy into something that makes sense, something that works, and when you do decide to make it something bigger, you’ll be able to draw people into your vision more easily.

2. From Adi Tatarko, founder of Houzz, a platform for home remodelling that grew to 400 staff in less than 5 years.

“Create businesses that solve real problems.”

A common theme with successful startups is that they grow out of the needs of their founders. Houzz, a platform for finding building contractors, began when the founders tried to remodel their own home, and found it a nightmare coordinating their vision for the place, contractors for various tasks and communicating with others in similar situations.

Parents at their kids’ schools did too, and so they started a business to solve the problem. That solution has grown to include 2.5 million users and over 600,000 contractors. All because the Tatarkos identified that they were not the only ones struggling with this problem.

4. From Josh Krammes, Vice President of Softlayer, an IBM company specializing in cloud infrastructure.

“Be authentic.”

Josh was insistent on honest business practices. Admitting that he can talk for hours about himself and his product, he shared about his attitude towards people he meets with. “I really want to honour your time. I would talk about myself for half an hour but that would bore the shit out of you.”

He advised on maintaining a high level of integrity. Be honest when you don’t understand. “Here’s where I can help you.

Here’s where I can’t, but this guy might be able to.” Connecting people with other members of your network can help them build relationships, and will position you as an enabler in their minds.

3. From David Sacks, Venture Capitalist, and Melody McClosky, founder of Styleseat.

5. From Jeff Hoffman, President of ColorJar, a strategic branding agency based in Chicago.

“Do your homework.”

“Know your audience.”

David highlighted, “As an investor, you never want to see a powerpoint. You want to see a product.” Presenting an idea is fine, but demonstrating your product or service is always going to have much more of an impact than trying to explain it. It also shows that you understand how the product/service operates in real life.

Jeff is a serial entrepreneur and has spent a lot of time advising clients on what their customers think. A surprisingly large number of companies spend very little time in their customers’ shoes. “The only way to hear what your customers have to say is to go and actually spend time with them. Put on your John Deere hat, go to the cheap diner. Talk to them about their world, their life, their travel.” Chances are, the way your customers do life is very different to the way you do life, and not enough companies understand that.

Melody advised that before funding, do as much research as you possibly can about your industry. “Investors might not know about your industry, and you need to be able to really talk through that competently.”

As far as she’s concerned, you’re often not just selling one idea to an investor. “First you pitch the future, and your vision. Then you pitch the math and the results.” You have to be able to articulate several complex ideas in a short period of time.

So there are my five key takeaways from the world of the startups. Be crazy, solve problems, do your homework, be authentic and know your audience. The essentials for cultivating a strong business mindset and setting you on a successful entrepreneurial path.

13

by Laurien Barks and Steven Barks

I’ve always been a believer in making the most of ‘student life.’ While the stress of deciding a pathway, keeping up with grade pressures, and managing finances (or lack thereof ) always find a way to suck the life out of us, from time to time - I like to believe that we can make our own silver linings, despite it all. Especially if you’re a traveller.

While I can’t speak on behalf of all students, I know that my desire for adventure and to see and taste and experience the world, really doesn’t set me apart from many of my peers. I’m not a rare breed.

I think that more often than not, this passion has a positive effect on our lives as students. A trip (whether it be a Euro-tour or a long weekend at a bach) on the horizon can soothe the soul and decrease stress better than even the nuzzliest of spooning partners. But, as students…we just never seem to find a way to get our fill. To keep ourselves satisfied, to feel like we’ve got enough adventure coursing through our veins, is a mighty feat for a number of reasons. And there are few people out there who manage to achieve the status of ‘student traveller’ to a degree that the rest of us strive for. That being said, I just happen to be related to one of those rarities who personifies the dreams of every student wanderer out there. I had a chat with my cousin Steven, about the lifestyle he’s chosen for himself, and the way he’s gone about getting it. I found his side of the conversation pretty inspiring, so I morphed it into a wondrously motivating essay that may just be the ‘kick in the butt’ that the rest of us need.

“The very first thing to address when it comes to setting yourself up for student travel, is accommodation. And not just when you’re off exploring the world, but when you’re at home as well. It can be a make-or-break factor in terms of finances, so it’s important to get creative from time to time. My living circumstances have varied considerably over the course of my student life. I have lived at home with my parents, I've lived in an apartment with classmates, and I've lived in lots of people's homes as I do house sitting (taking care of homes/pets/plants etc.) when people are away to make some extra money. There was half a summer where I lived and worked on a farm as the family was away. Living with parents has its ups and its downs, but for me it was always my fall back as I was in school.

When all the other options didn't line up, I have been able to at least sleep in a bed there! Though, I realize not every student has that option. In these kinds of cases, I would recommend signing up for your local housesitting website (loads of countries have them), and scouring the listings on the daily. If you’re not picky when it comes to suburbs or pets, there’s plenty of options out there for free living (and sometimes even paid) accommodation. On a side note, if you’re willing to carry this kind of easy-going, creative attitude into your travels, you’ll find yourself in some pretty cool situations. My living accommodations while travelling have included, but are certainly not limited to: a shipping container filled with pineapples, a Bedouin camp, a former Soviet military base, an orphanage, and a couple of African villages.

Now...funding. Everyone loves to have it, but few of us seem to actually attain enough of it. When it comes to travelling, it doesn’t always play as big of a role as many people think, but it’s still a reality that needs to be sorted to some degree.

This is where things became a little bit creative for me. I have never been one to shy away from work if I needed money. I'd much rather just cowboy-up and git 'er done. As a result I have held many jobs, and have been flexible to accept more. Though, one of my philosophies continues to be, money isn't everything, sometimes the experience is worth way more. So, I have taken jobs sometimes that maybe didn't pay much, or even anything, but that really helped flesh out my resume and list of things I had going for me. I have worked in a restaurant, I have worked cleaning up animal droppings at a game-farm, I have done some summer landscaping, I have edited papers, and worked as a travel planner for youth groups. I have also done A LOT of house sitting for pay. As far as unpaid commitments go, my whole uni career I have been involved in volunteering with my church, volunteering with political campaigns, raising money for development projects, and of course, just experiencing and getting to know my own culture. The easiest way for me to get involved with decision makers in my city and country was to simply start getting involved in my local neighbourhood and the activities that were available there. Through my volunteering, my resume has been enriched beyond belief, and a number of paying jobs and honorariums have come about. Even some scholarships that were quite unexpected!

I urge you to look into local things, you'd be surprised how many museums, and parks, and city halls have money they are happy to give to school their volunteers.

All of this creative funding, working, and living is all fine and dandy, but where has it managed to get me in terms of travel? Well, so far I’ve visited upwards of 24 different countries across the globe– Jordan, Rwanda, and South Korea being on the list. I like to think that it’s a pretty good, varied list considering I’ve been in school at the same time!

15

Again, it’s all come down to creativity and flexibility. Travelling doesn't actually have to be expensive. I think many people look at travelling as costs of flying, lodging, food, tourist attractions, etc.

I look at travelling very differently. Realistically, I have had to be creative with going abroad, as it does cost, but I have learned that there are ways that it doesn't have to cost so much. First of all, I'm not actually too picky of where I go, or when, and this has opened a lot of doors. I don't 'need' to see things when they are warm and in tourist season. I don't 'need' to stay in hotels. I don't 'need' to have all the western amenities (although, bring your own toilet paper... that is always needed) when I'm travelling, and truthfully this cuts down on costs a lot. My logic is (and I'll give you my secret now), that uni-life travel should be about networking before, during, and after travelling. I'm not much for the tourist resorts, I'd rather meet and connect with real people who I can keep in contact with for the rest of my life. You know those random conversations you have with people who have a cousin working in Nepal, or a friend of a friend in Brazil? I simply pay attention, follow up, and see if I can tap into those bizarre connections when I go, creating connections of my own!

the UK, South Korea, and Kenya that I have extended for a week or more, and then just used those 'connections of connections' to meet local families and live with them for a little bit and see Seoul from the eyes of a Korean, or London through the eyes of a Brit etc.

A few other tips:

3.

This is a different angle, but look at your travel abroad options with your school. My school didn't offer any, so I actually got to create my own more or less. I found out, that once I took into account the housing, food, tuition, transportation costs etc, it would only actually be another $500-$1000 a semester more for me to do a semester internationally, and so I studied and lived in the Middle East for 5 months. Why not! Yes, alone the semester would have been quite expensive, but in the grand scheme of things in my whole tuition and school career, the little bit of extra cost was well worth it. The long story short, travel isn't free, but if it's your priority and you are flexible, you can make it work and I most certainly have been able to. In partnering it with school and work and volunteering and resume growth, I have come away with huge benefits, for little cost to myself financially, more than I would have had to pay anyways just to do life normal.

1.

Volunteer. People at home are likely willing to sponsor you, you can get local businesses on board and fundraise, and have a wonderful time. Sure you likely won’t have the nicest accommodations, but you'll make friends and see another part of the world and engage in a much more real version of their culture than you would in a tourist resort.

2.

Use stop-overs! Alright, so you find yourself on the way to India with a stop-over in Singapore. On the way home, book yourself an extended stopover of a few days in Singapore to see the sights and taste the flavours and hear the sounds. It probably feels pricey at the time, but look at it this way: a separate trip to Singapore would cost you that much more! I have had stops in

“My living accommodations while travelling have included, but are certainly not limited to: a shipping container filled with pineapples, a Bedouin camp, a former Soviet military base, an orphanage, and a couple African villages.”

Besides a lengthy list of countries, and adventurous collection of photos, living this way really has had an impact on my, personal ‘bigger picture.’ By seeking to 'live like a local' wherever I am, including at home, has made me a completely different, but well-rounded person. It has helped me focus on what is really necessary in life, and what is rather superfluous. I don't need the newest model of phone or car or glasses or can opener. Student years, truthfully, have not been easy. To be honest, I am not the best student academically, and that's fine with me. GPA has its place in our lives, and is important for some routes, but to me, it is most certainly not the most important. I don't shrug it off, and I work hard to keep it where it's at, but I don't lose sleep over the fact that I'm not the top in the class. At the end of the day, my logic is, we all die (sorry for the spoiler alert for those who were not aware).

I will die. Who cares what my grade scores were when I'm there?

I'd rather have touched the lives of people around the world, I'd rather have connected them together, have seen changes happen in causes, places, and people I care about. This would be how the traveling lifestyle has influenced my student years. Time invested into a relationship of any sort, is never wasted. School has been great, and I love learning in classes and studying, but there is so much more to life for me!

"Before I know it, I’m in the middle of Istanbul, singing karaoke at the top of my lungs."

One of the motto's I've adopted is "This is an experience I refuse to be denied." It's not actually as risky as it sounds. I don't put myself willingly in dumb/dangerous situations that is not the idea. Just rather, when I find myself with an opportunity that I would normally shy away from due to my comfort zone or personal bubble, I give it consideration. My first response when offered to sing karaoke would be a no, but then I tell myself it is an experience not to be denied, and before I know it, I’m in the middle of Istanbul, singing karaoke at the top of my lungs. It makes for an awesome story, and there are no regrets in it! This makes for a full and adventurous life that I am happy to have had.

Many times, all I find we have to do, is something simple, and just ask, crazy things happen! Some awesome stories that came of this motto now include: - Leading and Singing songs with 3 thousand Rwandan children at a conference I heard about the morning of when I was there - Writing a letter to a local billionaire, and actually having him respond and invite me over for tea - Got to meet a prince from the U.A.E. - Built a snowman, on the Great wall of China - Got to stand in the middle of Stonehenge, U.K. - Rode a camel on the Atlantic Beaches of Morocco Most of them for free. All, because I simply asked.

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POST #SYDNEYSIEGE

by Fiona Connor "Together we stand, united we fall." Millions of people across Australia and New Zealand watched as the events of the Sydney Siege unfolded before them on their computer and television screens, December 15th of last year. It was on this day, 18 everyday Australian citizens were held against their will, captive, inside the Lindt Chocolate café, and for a moment at least, the world stopped to watch.

So many of us were captivated by the breaking news coverage that interrupted our scheduled programming: two men, running from the cafe, escaping, hands in the air, rushing toward police in armed uniforms. Suddenly, out runs a third. For some, a sigh of relief. For others, a question: What will happen now? As the sun begins to set, two more hostages flee, female. This time, Elly and Jieun, Lindt Cafe workers - they too, are running for their lives, faces flushed with fear. These images would come to represent the dramatic scene throughout newspapers across the world the following day. As the sky turns to night, so many of us, for Australia and New Zealand at least, rest our heads wondering, hoping, praying, the outcome would be peaceful, and the lives of all the hostages would be saved. It was not to be.

For those who watched the drama unfold on Twitter and social media, the facts are already clear. One man. One gun. But how did the hostages feel? What did Monis say to them? Why did he do it? The opening of the documentary Inside the Siege depicts, for our six more vocal hostages, “It was a morning like all others.

It had just gone 0930 when it was noticed by customers outside that they were not able to get into the cafe. One patron, was not able to get out. Within minutes it becomes apparent. No one is coming in and, certainly, no one is going out.

It took twenty minutes for the police to make it to the scene.

At the Channel Seven headquarters, conveniently sitting across the street, police officers assume the worst. An Islamic State attack on Australia. If they had known from the start that Man Monis was not a representation of a radical Islamist group, but merely a citizen feeling hard done by at the hand of the Australian Government, would his demands have then been met? From Marcia Mikhael, one of the hostages, we hear that he was seemingly happy to release hostages in return for demands being met, until all were let go. When Marcia asked Monis about what he would do about himself, he told her he had another plan. We can conclude Man Monis knew he wouldn't be walking out of the Lindt Coffee Shop, however armed with only one shot gun, Inside the Siege gives us new insight into what Monis really wanted, and how no peaceful resolution was reached.

Demands are made by Monis for a phone call with Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, and an IS (Islamic State) flag. Fury and confusion swept amongst the hostages as they were answerless, unable to justify why their Prime Minister had not spoken to the man who was keeping them from loved ones. Time passes.

For some hostages, it’s time to take matters into their own hands, a scene that was to repeat itself in four different scenarios, ultimately effecting 12 of them. Inside the Siege documents how the behavior of the hostages impacted that night, and what inevitably would lead to the death of two innocent Australians.

Into the sixth hour of being held against their will, and for 82 year old John O’Brien at least, had had enough. He’s too young to die. He wants to go home. Upon being escorted to the bathroom, John asks a Lindt Café worker if the green exit button to the front doors works. The worker is unsure as she has only been working there a week. It’s worth the risk. John signals to another man that he is going to do a runner.

He shimmies his way along the ground to the door for an excruciating ten seconds, reaches up, hits the button, and the doors open. He runs.

Another man, Stefan Balafoutis - a barrister, decides to also bolt for the door. Both men make it out, but at what cost?

Seconds after the first two men flash across our television screens having made it out, we are joined by a third man, made apparent by his apron and black clothing, we predict another Lindt Café worker has too escaped the madness. From Marcia inside, we learn that this man saw his opportunity also, only to get stuck between a wall and a petition. Monis had an opportunity to shoot. But he didn’t. He tells the hostages he should have. And next time he will.

Angered by the three hostages, he is now agitated and annoyed.

For every one hostage that gets out, Monis will shoot two. The hostages agree, no more runners.

"Hostage down” is the call heard across Police radios as a sniper confirms the loud bang heard from inside the café was also the marking the moment an innocent life is taken, too soon.

All demands Monis has made remain unmet, and the hostages remain fearful for their lives, upset, stressed, and are becoming hysterical. Elly Chen and Jieun Bae are amongst the hysterical. A terrified Elly moves herself out of sight of Monis where she meets Jieun, also hidden. The girls are next to a door. Seemingly forgetting the new-pact mentality the, now, 15 hostages had adopted, the duo decide they too will leave. The door is bolted shut. After an agonizing time of trying to unlatch the door, just before 5pm, the girls are successful in getting the door to open. They push the door open and quietly, un-noticeably escape. Had they been seen, who knows? But the girls were free, and for them at least, that is all that mattered.

After midnight, for the victims left, the suffering continues. The youngest of the group, sees an opportunity. Jarrod Hoffman alerts those around him he is leaving, and with that, five hostages follow him out to safety. Monis hears the commotion and this time, he fires a shot at those trying to run. It misses. They run out, but are met

with glass doors blocking them from freedom. 18-year-old, Jarrod, sees the exit button, he slams it, the doors open, and he runs out leading the group on what would be the escapees final actions, in their version of a horrific encounter with the terror inflicted upon them. But what did they leave behind?

Inside Tori Johnson or “Manager,” as Monis refers to him, has been singled out. Monis calls him over. He asks Tori to kneel and put his hands behind his back. From all accounts of the next moments, although between Marcia’s Inside the Siege interview, and MS sufferer, Louisa Hope’s, discussions on 60 minutes, information is slightly varied, it is agreed time is taken, and up to nine minutes pass before the second shot of the night is fired. This time, fatal.

“Hostage down” is the call heard across police radios, as a sniper confirms the loud bang heard from inside the café was also the marking moment an innocent life is taken, too soon. Police react. As they raid the café, police are greeted by an angry and confrontational Monis. “Look what you made me do” he yells, standing over Tori’s body. Did he not want to have done that?

Marcia lies next to Katrina Dawson. Katrina puts her hands over her head to shield herself. Tragically, the mother of three was not able to save herself.

It was a situation like no other, for those involved not by choice.

A madman with a loose grip on reality. His reality came to an end leaving three dead - himself included, and 16 hostages scarred, some externally, some to carry the burden in their hearts for the rest of their lives. For each hostage, these moments were undeniably traumatic, each pushed into a situation beyond their control, powerless, and against one armed man with one unknown agenda. Could they have done more to save those who died?

Were they heroic? How anyone would react in such a scenario is stuff nightmares are made of. One thing is for sure: These 16, once strangers, will now share a unique bond with them, a bond which had they had in the beginning, who knows how they could have united together. This unity is now forced upon them, as almost a trademark Monis leaves behind.

19

“Authentic love does not devalue another human being. Authentic love does not silence, shame or abuse.�

- Brooke Axtell

RECIPE

GOLDEN CORN FRITTERS Extract from One-dish Dinners by Penny Oliver I especially love light, golden corn fritters made with fresh corn. My corn fritters are lightly spiced with cumin, bound together with yoghurt and cornmeal, then gently fried until golden and crisp.

Preparation and Cooking Time: 30 minutes Serves 4 • • • • • • • • • • • •

1 spring onion, thinly sliced 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes 2 tablespoons each of finely chopped parsley

and coriander leaves 2 cups fresh corn kernels (or use canned) ¼ cup fine cornmeal 3 tablespoons plain flour sea salt and ground black pepper to taste ½ teaspoon ground cumin ½ cup thick Greek yoghurt 1 large egg 4 tablespoons olive oil crisp shaved bacon, sliced avocado, your favourite tomato chutney, crumbled feta, salad greens and lemon wedges to serve.

In a bowl combine spring onion, chilli, herbs, corn, cornmeal, flour, seasoning and cumin.

Whisk together yoghurt, egg and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.

Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and stir together to form a batter. Let the batter stand for 10 minutes while you cook the bacon and prepare the accompaniments.

To cook the corn fritters, heat remaining oil in a frying-pan over a medium heat. Spoon 1½ tablespoons of batter per corn fritter into the pan, and flatten. Cook for 3–4 minutes or until they bubble and brown. Turn and cook the remaining side for about 2 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Add more oil if required.

Serve with crispy bacon, slices of avocado, tomato chutney, feta, salad greens and lemon wedges on the side.

Reproduced with permission from One-dish Dinners by Penny Oliver. Published by Penguin Group NZ. RRP $40.00.

Copyright text © Penny Oliver, 2015. Copyright photography © Manja Wachsmuth, 2015. Available nationwide

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How to love pop culture while feminist

by Tess Nichol One of the most common (and unoriginal) accusations levelled against feminist women is that we lack a sense of humour; that we are some kind of feminist fun police. We are “too serious,” just a horde of unshaven, ugly, pursed-lipped, fun-sucking killjoys.

Most of the time we recognise this for the derailing bullshit it is. There are moments when I’m watching a show I love, and someone makes a rape joke or some reductive comment about women being stupid, sluts, gold diggers, bitches, or inherently weaker than men. It nearly always stops me for a second (and sometimes for the rest of the afternoon), from enjoying myself.

I worry: “Has being a feminist made me a killjoy?” The answer is, of course a resounding no.

If anything, being feminist (and anti-racist and against transmisogyny - intersectionality is all part of fourth-wave feminism; injustice and inequality is connected) has made me funnier, because it means I don’t get to rely on lazy tropes for a cheap laugh. But knowing that my extensive repertoire of puns wouldn’t be nearly so vast and inventive if I still found “make me a sandwich” jokes funny isn’t much comfort when I’m the only one sitting in a room full of people I love, not laughing at an offensive joke stuck in the middle of a show I usually enjoy.

So how can you love pop culture while feminist?

The Onion’s ‘Woman Takes Short Half-Hour Break From Being Feminist To Enjoy TV Show’ sums up the frustration that leads to this question all too well, “Saying that she just wanted a little time to relax and “not even think about” confining gender stereotypes, local health care industry consultant, Natalie Jenkins, reportedly took a 30-minute break from being a feminist last night to kick back and enjoy a television program. She was able to consistently remind herself that this was “Natalie time” and that the feminist movement ‘could do without [her] for 30 minutes.’”

Lol. But hang on, this is the same Onion that also called Quvenzhané Wallis the c-word when she was just nine years old and up for an Oscar. It was “just a joke,” but cutting a little black girl down during her moment of triumph in a whitewashed industry leaves a pretty shitty taste in the mouth. This is when loving pop culture can feel really tricky.

I love Broad City, the Comedy Central show about two 20-something slacker friends who are as much in love with each other, as they are with getting blazed. That being said, I don’t love that the second season’s first episode saw one character joke about how the other was a sexual predator for the majority of the storyline. I’d like to expect more from a show that is opening up narratives about female friendships and broad-ening (lol, sorry) our conceptions of how much women are allowed to fuck up and fail, to be slackers and stoners, and unsure about what they want from life.

Sure, it wasn’t the worst joke I’ve seen made about rape, but a rape joke is a rape joke, and the huge amount of women who watch Broad City while also being survivors, don’t really deserve to have to deal with rape jokes suddenly popping up in a show that seems like it would avoid them.

In the toxic world of online call-outs, you could be convinced that once a show you love crosses a line, you slash and burn that bridge, stop watching, and never look back.

But this doesn’t leave a lot of pop culture left to love, does it?

And what is life without the comforts of watching The Simpsons reruns, and Community?

Roxane Gay has written a short and wonderful essay on this very human contradiction- it’s called Bad Feminist, and is an excellent read: “We have all manner of music glorifying the degradation of women, and damn it, that music is catchy, so I often find myself singing along as my very being is diminished,” Gay writes.

So far, so familiar.

Rather than suggest we cut out things which are “problematic” (a word so over-used in feminist discourse it runs the risk of becoming meaningless), Gay thinks perhaps we should cut ourselves some slack instead.

“I embrace the label of Bad Feminist because I am human. I am messy. I am not trying to be an example. I am not trying to be perfect. I am not trying to say that I have all the answers,” she says.

“I am just trying – trying to support what I believe in, trying to do some good in this world.”

Feminist beliefs are inherently flawed, she argues, because they are held by people, and no one is perfect.

You are not perfect. And you will not be any less of a feminist because you love parts of a culture that doesn’t always love women.

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15

20

M I IN SS

'T

N

O U

C A

Going Clear

Y

SI X

FI

L

M

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FILMS

The Witch

by Rajneel Singh As another year unfurls before us, there are a lot of things to look forward to and film – even after a hundred years – is still riding high on the horizon of upcoming events deemed important to our sense of identity. Granted there are lots of people who neither care for nor find the course of their lives altered by movies, but still there really isn’t any art form (perhaps not even music) that carves such a significant and distinctly shaped niche in our collective cultural landscape of expectation. It is for this reason that people keep generating lists like “The Top Must-See Movies Of 20-Whatever” and “25 Films You Cannot Miss” and so on and so forth. You like reading them. We like writing them. So here’s mine, but I’ll spare your attention span by keeping my list down to a measly six entries. Ready? Then let’s go:

The Diary of a Teenage Girl

Mad Max

Mad Max: Fury Road

Movies are in trouble – we know this, especially within the film industry, where it is recognized that Hollywood’s blockbuster engines are now largely driven towards selling your own sense of nostalgia and memories of older, better films back to you in poorly disguised forms. It’s impossible to know how bad things are going to get and who can save us from this madness, but many people are hedging their bets on George Miller. Miller’s track record is impressive, ranging from the original Mad Max trilogy all the way to Happy Feet and Babe. Miller’s philosophy on screenwriting and directing is taught in many of the better filmmaking courses all over the world, and let’s just be frank here: the film’s impressive trailer campaign is stunning and sets very high expectations of the kind of thrill-ride we could be in for. Will this just be another regurgitated Hollywood cash-grab (considering it’s a reboot-quel)? Possibly.

But I’m intrigued by everything about this film and I will be first in line to find out if this is another tragic blow for 21st-century storytelling or whether Miller may yet save us from Hollywood altogether.

Turbo Kid

Moving to the flipside of what Mad Max: Fury Road promises, we have this fascinating little film that premiered at Sundance last month. This CanadianNew Zealand co-production produced by 48 Hours Competition and ABC’s of Death founder Ant Timpson is one of many NZ-related films you can look forward to this year (including titles such as Deathgasm, Slow West, Z is for Zachariah and more) and is the latest in a small, but popular, cultfilm genre that celebrates the look and style of low-budget 1980’s movies (as seen previously in Drive, Beyond the Black Rainbow, The FP, Kung Fury etc.). Low-budget, tongue-in-cheek and based on an ABC’s of Death short film, Turbo Kid promises to make all your BMX-riding, Mega-Man-playing, ‘80s-post-apocalypse dreams come true. Check out the trailer if you don’t believe me – it’s an absolute hoot and it knows it.

The Witch

Another Sundance premiere, little is known about this high-tension horror by first-time director Robert Eggers except its 16th-century New England setting, that it apparently evokes Kubrick’s The Shining and that almost every reviewer from Sundance is talking about it in praising tones. With comparisons already being made to the brilliant Aussie horror The Babadook and a great deal of mystery around the plot, we can probably set our expectations fairly high that it will be a horror film we should not miss (though whether it gets a theatrical release in New Zealand will be another story entirely, I suspect).

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief If there is any film the Church of Scientology doesn’t want you to see, it is quite likely to be this one, made by celebrated documentarian Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side). Based on Lawrence Wright’s devastating expose book written with the help of prominent ex-church members, including Oscar-winning writer and director Paul Haggis, Going Clear was set to rock the foundations of Scientology with revelations of abuse, cultlike behaviour and grand schemes of power manipulation over its celebrity members. If the church’s reaction is anything to go by (they took out full-page ads in both the New York Times and Los Angeles Times to denounce the film), this will be a documentary of revulsion and schadenfreude worth our time.

The Diary of a Teenage Girl

One final entry from Sundance, and it’s another crowd-pleaser, reportedly dominated by a breakout performance from lead actress Minnie Goetz. Based on a hard-hitting graphic novel

by Phoebe Gloeckner, the film recounts the story of a teenage girl in the 1970s who has her first sexual encounter with her mother’s boyfriend and plunges headlong into a new and previously unrealised world of hedonism and self-discovery that provides an escape from the anguish and insecurities of teenage life. Topping many Sundance reviewers’ lists and being based on terrific source material, there is no doubt a lot to be enjoyed from what promises to be a bittersweet coming of age comedy about sex and self-realization.

Tomorrowland

If you’re not up to hedging your bets on George Miller’s return to post-apocalyptic Australia, then maybe you might want to try a more upbeat option: Brad Bird. Like Miller, Bird has a pedigree of producing some of the greatest animated films (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Ratatouille) and making a hell of a debut with the popcorn extravaganza that was Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Tough, hard-driving and incredibly creative, Bird’s latest project for Disney is a secretive film called Tomorrowland which may or may not be related to the famous futuristic section of Disneyland. The trailers are very mysterious and give little away, and tight control on the script has let very few plot details escape, but we know that it’s shrouded in secrecy, it’s science fiction, it’s Disney and it’s Brad Bird. It is more than likely we are going to be in for a treat.

25

MAN UP

by Mr X

I would like to start by acknowledging the efforts of activists, dissidents, and anyone else who has worked towards achieving social justice for all – but in the words of the rap artist Common “justice for all just isn’t specific enough.” We need to focus on certain injustices that are barely even on our social radar.

The ones like us possibly doing our young boys an injustice something we in Aotearoa are barely even talking about. What if western culture is raising young boys to believe that the path to manhood is to be dominant and to repress some of the most powerful and life-saving emotions they have: empathy, compassion, vulnerability - all emotions directly connected to the feminine? Boys are taught to devalue the feminine from a young age. Whether they are told they “throw like girls” or “act like girls” they learn early on that being a girl means being weak and “emotional” – less than. Carlos Andres Gomez, a spoken word poet, writes in his book Man-Up: reimagining modern manhood: “Men are not allowed to be afraid. Or we have to quality it by saying we were just “startled for a second,” but never “afraid.”

We play with semantics and history and memory when it comes to fear. Whenever I got scared as a kid, I was told to buck up and be strong and be tough – oftentimes, to “man up”.

Academics and feminists such as playwright and activist Eve Ensler are calling for a curriculum that teaches young men to disrupt sexism within themselves and each other. Such an initiative is a worthy cause because we know most parents

want to instil respect for women in their boys. However, the effort invested in establishing this basic respect for fifty percent of the population is undone once a boy is of a school age, with other boys and men in the schoolyard. Young boys will oxymoronically indulge in hugs and kisses from their mothers, only for the majority to reject those same affection once older.

I suspect, as do many feminists, the shift away from parental affection towards embracing toughness is the path to toxic masculinity.

What if we are doing a disservice and injustice to our young boys?

What if in Aotearoa we are barely even talking about this disservice? This injustice?

The school yard project of socialising young men into the culture of violence serves to erase the early years of decency and replace it with engrained sexism. The stabbing of a student in Auckland last year demonstrates how violence can erupt at

image by: CJ Anderson | flickr.com/photos/digitalcj

young age, but toxic masculinity does not stop there. The young men involved in the rapist gang known as The Roast Busters were once good boys who later came to personify toxic masculinity.

Such transformations are aided through the use of language that belittles feminine qualities. Boys who are seen to embody qualities associated with femininity are instantly challenged to assert masculinity. Jack Katz; professor of Sociology, who discusses in The Seductions of Crime Moral and Sensual Attractions in Doing Evil how language considered feminine became a pejorative to signal there is no escape from the violence that is about to unfold. The use of language is not only used to assert toxic masculinity, it is also used to justify it.

There is no doubt politicians such as John Key, who declared “boys will be boys” in relation to abuses carried out against women, are engaging in wider rape culture and passing off epidemic violence against women as a behaviour boys cannot be expected to control.

Although boys will be boys in the biological sense, these men are committing a crime when it comes to matters of morality and the law. And when it comes down to it, toxic masculinity turns women into something less valuable than mere property, because if people are enraged when personal belongings are stolen, then the lack of condemnation when women are the victims of crime against their person reveals just how little worth females have in society. Nobody with any sense would declare “boys will be boys” if their televisions were stolen. Why do we say it when women are attacked? One need only refer to The Roast Busters saga, where authorities ignored the victims for three years before finally launching an investigation

in 2014. Ignoring victims and a three year delay does nothing to address problem of toxic masculinity. So what does?

When two young women were raped and later hanged from a mango tree in India, men and women took to the streets in their thousands and demanded action. Men appear to be ftaking violence prevention expert Jackson Katz's words to heart, as his TED talk describes violence towards woman as a ‘men’s problem’. His solution to this problem is positive role models for men. A man does not have to become a vigilante, stalking the streets waiting to pounce on an attacker. Simple acts such as telling mates to refrain from sexists jokes disrupt casual sexism. Men, not being content with reminding others that certain jokes are inappropriate and who have normally been absent from confronting the problem of toxic masculinity, appear to be taking a stand by calling for greater change. Men utilised social media after the tragic Isla Vista shooting to demonstrate their objections to the carnage directed against woman, resulting in 35 photographs of men holding signs communicating “why woman do not belong to men”. This is the shift in mind-set we have sought for so long. Men have realised they have been sold a bad deal that does nothing but create pain for themselves and others. I think such developments are a welcome change from the repeated claim “not all men”, but I am bothered deeply that it takes the sacrifice of innocent lives just to effect change because it should not be this way. But if cultural change is born of tragedy, then I hope the change continues to extend beyond the digital world and into the real world, where so many woman travel the streets wondering if they will make it home, safe and sound.

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Take Back the Hood …if you go into the woods today…

Deborah Eve Rea is the writer and producer behind the solo show, Taking Back the Hood, which was part of Auckland’s Fringe Festival last month. Before this, it had three seasons in Wellington, and she has also performed the play in Dunedin and Christchurch. The play is a feminist fable – a modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. Red is all grown up, and she is pissed off. Pissed off at how she has been portrayed throughout history. Annoyed she has become the poster child for ‘stranger danger’ and angry that to this day, nearly all the reimagining’s of her story victim-blame her for the violence she suffered at the hands of the Big Bad Wolf. Chloe King spoke with Deborah about alter egos, feminism, Red Riding Hood (of course), and her solo show.

How did you develop and come up with the idea for your solo show, Take Back the Hood?

Take Back the Hood was my graduation piece for drama school. For our third year project, we were asked to come up with a 20 minute solo, usually you are given six weeks to produce this which is never enough time but for my year they gave us three weeks. So Take Back the Hood was written in a frenzy because, initially, I was working on something different, but at the last minute I changed what I was doing.

I wrote my solo performance in three days. When I wrote Take Back the Hood, there were slut-walk’s happening, and women and men protesting rape culture, and speaking out against sexism. So this really informed the piece.

It is important to note, though, I have tried really hard to make sure my play isn’t just solely about women, because I know victim-blaming, rape and violence happens to boys and men.

How has, Take Back the Hood changed and developed over the last few years?

It has grown from a 20-minute piece to a 45-minute piece. Take Back the Hood pre-dates high profile rape cases such as The Roast Busters, and the botched Tania Billingsly case. It pre-dates Wellington Rape Crisis losing their funding and having to be supported by Hell Pizza. There are so many other things that have happened since I wrote the first script three years ago which have informed the piece today.

What is important is that, I have a 'make ‘em laugh, make ‘em cry' approach to theatre, so it was important that humour lead the piece so people where able to access it. I did not feel like I could speak as myself, this is how Red was born. I thought no one would listen.

'I have a 'make ‘em laugh, make ‘em cry' approach to theatre, so it was important that humour lead the piece so people where able to access it' Do you think fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood promote victim-blaming?

I did not think about Red Riding Hood in the context of victim-blaming until I had a closer look at it in 2012, and went “Hold on what is happening here?” This child is being followed and attacked, and there is a line in the book that says “Red Riding Hood is very sorry for the trouble she caused her grandma, and she promised she would never do anything bad again.” That is a horrible message to be sending to children; that if someone hurts you or abuses you, as the victim, you have to apologise for another person’s violent behaviour.

Those victim-blaming narratives go back decades and generations, so now it is an engrained response to blame the survivor, and not the perpetrator of violence. We have a society that will ask women who speak out “What were you wearing?”and “Were you drunk?” Why aren’t we asking “How do so many people who abuse get away with it?”

What are some of the barriers females face in the performing arts?

Women in performing arts have a difficult time. The characters I am requested to play are usually virgins or sluts or someone’s mum. These are often the three categories we have to pick from. Mostly you are supporting a lead male. At drama school, in particular, I witnessed a lot of victim-blaming of women, not on purpose, but from a point of ignorance and lack of understanding. Students who had survived violence were told they had to get better fast or else they could not continue the year. One example was my friend whose partner had beaten her up, was told if she could not get her head together, she would have to take the year off. They expected her to fast-track the healing process, which usually means people bury the trauma, and it comes out in other negative and insidious ways. So while all of this was going on, unconsciously, I think Take Back the Hood was incubating in my mind.

What is the greatest strength in your performance, or the most powerful message?

The victim is not the one in the wrong! Even saying this sounds funny. Of course the victim is not wrong. But it took me ages to disrupt thought patterns that say otherwise.

What has the character, Red, taught you?

Red has taught me a lot; we are very different. I created this strong ‘bogan’ chick who is always winning. Even if she only had two people in the audience, she would have still won, because two people are listening to the truth in her story. People are hearing Red’s story – the real story not the fairy-tale version. There is no way for Red to lose during my show. So often survivors of abuse lose, whether it be through the court systems, or police shaming them, or people telling survivors it was their fault. Red is a way to take back some power. I can say whatever I like when I am playing Red, I don’t feel like I can do that in my everyday life. Red makes be brave.

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This Column Isn’t About Nothing I expected to eventually be pushed out of the nest… not the only one left sitting in it.

by Laurien Barks I guess in some ways it shouldn’t really come as a surprise. I’m working, studying, and have a somewhat sturdy grasp on my sanity... moving out of home seems to be the logical next step. But the late bloomer in me can’t help itself screaming in terror. It took 14 years for a razor to graze my flesh, 17 for the acne to strike (conveniently right around the time that I realized boys could be cute), and I’m pretty sure my boobs didn’t come in until I was halfway through writing this sentence. I just assumed my ‘moving out of home’ journey would follow suit, and I’d wind up 33, married, and house shopping with my husband because while there’s plenty of room for us and our firstborn in my parents’ two bedroom house, the twins I was pregnant with would probably be pushing it.

Yet here I am, 21 years old, still believing that babies are icky, and pausing mid-article to turn around and tell our designer about the handsome bank teller I met this morning, because people who help me pay speeding fines are the closest things I have to romance.

It’s not exactly going to plan, but I mean, at least I’ll get one of those movie-montage moments when I leave, right? One with a teeny bopper soundtrack to accompany the rush of independence I feel as I drive away in a little car, my belongings on the roof, and a surge of adventure in my heart.

Oh, wait...no that doesn’t happen when your family members are the ones moving out. What kind of montage do you get when your family decides to move to another country, so your only choice is to stay behind, put your strawberry milk with a curly straw down, and grow the hell up? One that doesn’t have a soundtrack because the sound editor was too busy laughing at you to come up with anything.

I know that no matter what the circumstances, moving out is riddled with all kinds of emotions for most people. Whether it be excitement, anxiety, or just a general numbness. Initially I sat there and felt pretty sorry for myself. I mean, I’m an independent gal, but take my family away from me, and I’m a soggy mess. A person who has to call her dad to jump start her car twice a month because she left the lights on, shouldn’t be left to fend for themselves.

But in the end I’ll have to find a way, and the sooner I realize that, the better. I have four months. Four months to make myself okay with paying for wifi, 16 weeks to learn how to fix the funny sound the car occasionally makes, and not nearly long enough to kick the habit of sneaking Oreos into the shopping trolley so I don’t have to pay for them.

It’s a scary, unknown journey...and the general public won’t be spared a moment of it.

S

PUZ ZLE

SUDOKU H O R R O R

CROSSWORD

ACROSS 5: Periods and murder

3: Screaming, pointing and stealing you away

9: Poe’s tale of a hole and a very sharp blade

4: Technically he’s the doctor

11: Fertility monster in space

7: Father of the undead

12: Gory, Kiwi born claim to horror fame

8: Here’s Johnny!

15: ____of the Corn

10: Red and White 1958 Plymouth Fury (of death)

17: Where a young Johnny Depp was eaten in his sleep 18: The first horror to show a bra

6: They’re here

13: Clive Barker’s pleasure obsessed demon 14: Not Edward, not sparkly

DOWN 1: The night He came home in 1978 2: Wes Craven’s self-aware slasher

15: Lovecraftian horror from the bottom of the ocean 16: If only they had a bigger boat 31

'Perhaps the risk assessment region of my brain has developed, or perhaps I just have more to live for now, but holy Moses, standing on the edge of the drop on a recent visit, I felt like a 13-year-old all over again.'

OUR HIDDEN GEMS Coast Cliff Jumping

By Matthew Cattin Little Manly cliffs hold a special place in my heart. Aged 13, it was there that I finally reached puberty. Having leapt from the top tree, I was mid-plummet when I felt a stirring in my loins, a deep growl announce itself in my throat, and a whirlwind of angst cloud my previously black and white mind. I hit the water like a depth charge, and cool relief melted my anxiety. I emerged from the water a man, salt water dripping from my freshly sprouted beard as I scanned the crowd of coasties for girls who might have witnessed my transformative leap to glory.

Embellishment aside, Little Manly cliffs are one hell of a spot for adrenaline seekers, and in the 10 years since my first jump, they have somehow become higher, sketchier and infinitely more terrifying.

Perhaps the risk assessment region of my brain has developed, or perhaps I just have more to live for now, but holy Moses, standing on the edge of the drop on a recent visit, I felt like a 13-year-old all over again.

To visit the cliffs, you’ll first need to get yourself out to the lovely Whangaparaoa peninsula, my home turf, a 40 minute drive north from the CBD. Follow Whangaparaoa Road until you hit Little Manly, then take the first right onto Tiri Road. Take the next two rights, and you should hit the car park. Now, if sitting scared shitless in the car is the extent of your journey to Little Manly, don’t worry – nobody will think lesser of you. Better to know your limits than cling to the cliff’s jump tree crying for half an hour before belly flopping in.

From the car park, hop the fence, and you’ve made it. To your left is the top tree – recommended for experts only. Straight ahead is the top cliff, but this requires a running leap and is probably the most dangerous jump, so again, proceed with caution. Follow the cliff down and you will see the lower tree, lower cliff, and last and definitely least, the bottom cliff for children and frail elderly.

Do whatever you feel comfortable with, and remember; there is courage too in admitting defeat.

If Little Manly seems all a bit much, there is a smaller cliff jump located at Red Beach, known affectionately by locals as ‘The Cove’.

From the surf life saving club, swim around the rocks towards Orewa until you find the rope swing, and you’ll be away laughing.

It’s a lot lower than Little Manly, but can get very slippery so take care of yourselves.

Once you get cliff jumping into your system, you’ll be hard pressed to get it out. The moments of pre-jump anticipation, the swoop of acceleration in your stomach, and the water leaking from your nose for hours afterwards, it’s all part of the adventure. If an adrenalinefuelled break from study is what you’re after, check the tide charts, pile into a car, and hightail it up to the coast for some thrills and spills.

PERSONAL SAFETY PROTECTION AT THE TOUCH OF A BUTTON In a world-first initiative, AUT and 2Life have made available nationwide 24/7 Personal Safety Protection, FREE of charge to currently enrolled AUT students.

To take advantage of this great deal, follow these simple steps below and create a 2Life Account.

1.

2.

3.

4.

Go to aut.2life.co.nz Enter your AUT email address Follow the sign up process Download the 2Life Help mobile app

33

'Quite an eye-opener zipping through tiny pathways between lean-to's, dogs, and busy residents.'

BANGKOK JUNGLE TOUR

By Sarah Bedford Just across the Chao Phraya River, a short hop from busy Bangkok, is an extraordinary place known to the locals as Bang Kra Jao. This amazing wilderness in Bangkok can best be reached by boat, and incredibly, it has been left untouched by developers. Ride through the local communities passing villages, schools, temples, and a delightful floating market.

The Bangkok Jungle tour with Spice Roads was a great way to see an alternative side of Bangkok.

As someone who has previously lived in the city, I'd never heard of the area of green described in this tour just a boat ride away over the Chao Praya River.

The bike tour lasted roughly four hours, kicking off at a central city meeting point (note this area is not close to Khao San road, but full instructions are given). The guide, nicknamed 'Black,' was quick to introduce himself, the ride, and got the bikes and helmets ready for our size and height.

We headed off through a couple of busy Bangkok roads, and through Klong Toei, the slum area.

Quite an eye-opener zipping through tiny pathways between lean-to's, dogs, and busy residents.

We piled into a long-tail boat over the river, bikes and all, to the green area of Bangkok, known as Bangkok's 'lung' due to its shape. It's amazing to see change from the city - no skyscrapers, no crazy traffic!

We pedalled along through lush forest and waterways via a small raised concrete path, taking in the local life, pausing for a few photos, but mainly enjoying the relief that biking gave from the humidity. We stopped off at a temple before rolling up to the local floating market (which is only open on weekends), and there was plenty to buy here from clothing to food, handicrafts and more. The market isn't so much floating, but borders on the 'klongs' (streams).

An hour wandering the market gave way to a short ride to the oldest local temple. It’s a quiet place with beautiful Buddhist depictions, old wood shutters, and drawings. Our final stop was a local park, to feed the enormous carp residing in the lake. There must be hundreds of fish all waiting for food, and for a small fee you can buy a bag of cat biscuits to sprinkle in the water, and behold the feeding frenzy.

All in all a great little bike tour, taking in the calmer parts of Bangkok. I would definitely recommend this, or another Spice Roads bike tour to see the city.

If this sounds like you then contact Statravel today to book your Bangkok Jungle Tour!

Sarah lived in Thailand as a teenager and with parents still kicking around the sois (streets) of Bangkok, visits regularly. She’s also lived in London and has travelled all over Europe and Asia with dreams to knock off the Inca Trail in Peru sometime soon.

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