The Sex Edition by Student Guild

G E TA M UNG ST IT

T H E

E D I T I O N

ISSUE 03, VOLUME 05 MAY 2019 EDITORIAL TEAM Bec Marshallsay - Editor in Chief Caitlin Burnett - Content Editor Bren Domingo - Communication Coordinator (Visual) Mary Jo Dowsett - Content Editor Courtney Kruk - Content Editor PUBLISHER Jordan Jansen TALENTED CONTRIBUTORS Cover artwork Cory Lo Editorial Caitlin Burnett - Justine Cann Bren Domingo - Mary Jo Dowsett Caitlin Erasmus - Ashleigh Hartley Jordan Jansen - Courtney Kruk - Bec Marshallsay - Luke Maurice - Dan Pagotto Creative Rebee Alcala - Nicholas Holzknecht Regan Leong - Darci McElroy Katrina Padernos - Monika Shin Mic Smith - Yee Shan Tse DESIGN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

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8 Contents

Editorial note

Message from the President

Geta Writers’ Award

Geta giveaways

Polyamory: The good, the bad and the (bumping) uglies

Culture and consent

Overpopulation: Everyone’s responsibility

The unsealed section

Mood food

The era of queer female artists

Personal violence: Support on campus

The age of ghosting

Sex and relationships on film

Snapped on campus

Vox pop

What’s on

Feature artist

Online 48 Entertainment 50

Being creative

Get the hell outta here

62 44 1

EDITORIAL NOTE

SEX! It’s the reason we are all here, and the reason you guys have picked up our third issue for 2019, the Sex Edition! This is an exciting issue for the Getamungstit team and we hope to bring you a few fresh perspectives as we explore this vast and wondrous topic. Of course, sex extends far beyond what goes on under the sheets. It can be part of broader conversations concerning gender, attitudes towards sexuality, how we express and enjoy ourselves, our reproductive capacity, the everyday functions of our bodies…just to name a few! So, we do hope you find something stimulating in the issue ahead. For the Sex Edition, we want to chat about topics a bit outside the box. We have an article on polyamorous dating, an insight into open relationships. We’re looking at reproduction rights and population control. What food gets you in the mood? There’s an exploration of consent and the culture that feeds into sexual assault. Ghosting is also on the agenda, a growing phenomenon in modern sex and dating. Oh, and we’ve saved the best for last with a little portion of the magazine dedicated to everyone’s favourite old school sex education: the sealed section (or unsealed section in this case). Expect to find facts, tips for your sexual health and the nitty gritty you need to know before someone goes down below.

We also welcome two new members to our Editorial Team, Mary Jo and Caitlin. Mary Jo is studying journalism and has a passion for sharing news and music, while Caitlin is a creative writing and literature student with storytelling expertise. Expect to see some fresh content in the upcoming print and online editions from these two wordsmiths! And while we do love our editorial team, we want to hear from YOU! Getamungstit is always looking to expand our content and we invite students from all faculties and studying fields to get involved and contribute. Join our contributor group on Facebook or get in touch via our email if you are interested in finding out more info. We hope you find something arousing in the Sex Edition but don’t get too flustered. End of trimester exams are only a few weeks away and now is the time to knuckle down and stay focused before the break!

Editorial note

LK TA S! U TO

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Hey everyone, Welcome back to another edition of Getamungstit! I have some excellent news - we’ve officially made it to Week 10. Do you know what that means? Stress Less Week is just around the corner (Week 12). Our team have planned a wide range of FREE activities and crafts for you all from 20 – 24 May, so make sure you take a break from that last-minute assignment writing and exam cramming and join in on the fun. For a full list of the events we have planned during the week, be sure to check out our Facebook page, GUGC Student Guild, or have a look on our website. By this point, many of you would have taken advantage of some of the activities, events, and support services the Guild offers. This includes things such as our O-Week festivities, the annual Guild Ball, Uni Nights, and creative workshops that have been held throughout the trimester.

There are a few more events left this trimester that you can tag along to, such as our free yoga session on 21 May, and free movie night on 22 May. If this is the first you’re hearing about all of this, then fear not! We have a ton of exciting things planned for you guys next trimester as well! On that note, I want to wish everyone the best of luck for their end of trimester exams. For many of you, this is going to be a first, so the best advice I can give is actually the simplest, yet easily forgotten. Don’t forget to take short breaks during long study (and Netflix procrastination) sessions, load up on snacks and candy from the Uni Store, and try to study with a group of like-minded friends to help you stay motivated! Good luck, and we’ll catch you all next trimester!

Jordan Jansen Student Guild President

Getamungstit is a student driven publication and the opinions expressed in belong the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of Griffith University Gold Coast Student Guild. Getamungstit strives to be inclusive, informative and entertaining for a broad readership. If you feel that a perspective is missing from the magazine, why not write for us? Tell us what you want to see in your student magazine. Connect with us and stay up to date! facebook.com/Getamungstit facebook.com/groups/getamungstit.contributors/ getamungstit@griffith.ed.au gugcstudentguild.com.au/getamungstit

CREATIVE CONCEPTS | GRAPHIC DESIGN PHOTOGRAPHY | ILLUSTRATION IMAGE RETOUCHING | PRINT & WEB SOCIAL MEDIA | BRANDING Liveworm Gold Coast is staffed with a collection of skilled multidisciplinary design students, guided by a highly experienced team of industry professionals. The studio is also a creative incubator for student industry concepts, supporting the local business and cultural community. The studio opened its doors in 2008 after being converted from a grungy fine art and sculpture workshop into a creative studio and incubator space — under the wing of the 130 year old Queensland College of Art.

Liveworm Gold Coast designers are the future experts of their field. They know what’s current, enjoy predicting future trends and utilising classic design strategies. In the midst of a new studio image and direction— Liveworm Gold Coast is working towards a stronger position within the evolving creative Gold Coast culture. The team of students and staff embrace the changes that are occurring locally and globally and enjoy creating design outcomes that reflect this unique approach.

Understand that sexuality is as wide as the sea. Derek Jarman

GETAMUNGSTIT WRITERS’ AWARD

The best sex takes place in the mind first. Jenna Jameson

Do you have something to say about sex? Do you think we missed a great article opportunity on this theme? This is your chance to have your ideas published. You are invited to submit articles or creative writing on the current edition theme for your chance to win and be published. Submissions must be the writer’s original work and must not have been published elsewhere.

There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart’s desire. The other is to gain it. George Bernard Shaw

Theme: Sex, relationships, gender, sexual health. Closes: 11.59 pm 26 May, 2019 Prize: Publication in the subsequent issue of Getamungstit magazine + $50 Campus Cash.

Win! $50 Campus Cash + your article published in a future edition

Intimacy is the capacity to be rather weird with someone - and finding that that’s ok with them. Alain de Botton

Conditions Entries are open to current Griffith University Gold Coast students - student number must be provided with entry. Entries must be under 1000 words and must be submitted by email with the heading ‘Geta Writers’ Award’ to getamungstit@griffith.edu.au by the closing date. Entrants grant Getamungstit non-exclusive rights to publish the work in Getamungstit (in print and/or online).The winning entry/entries will be selected by the Geta editorial team and/or appointees based on quality of writing and fit with the magazine. If there are insufficient entries or the team cannot determine a winner, the editorial team may decide not to award a prize. All decisions are final, no correspondence will be entered into.

The human body is the best work of art. Jess C. Scott

GETA GIVEAWAYS Because who doesn’t love free stuff? Each edition we’ll have loads of goodies up for grabs for our wonderful Geta readers. All you need to do is email us at getamungstit@griffith.edu.au with your name, email, mobile, the prize you’d like to win and ‘Give me Geta goodies’ as your subject line.

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Geta giveaways

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polyamory THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE (BUMPING) UGLIES Luke Maurice Listen, you hippy creep, it’s all well and good to think it’s free love on the free love free way, and it’s all groovy and transcendental, but the vast majority of society is currently monogamous, and so you are going to struggle as time progresses to find someone who is happy with you attempting to dick other women. You can’t commit because you are fickle. The purpose of life is responsibility, without it you are just another Peter Pan who will end up alone on Fantasy Island. Above is a snapshot of the daily interactions I have with friends regarding my choices in love and relationships. As this Whatsapp message aptly demonstrates, I cop some serious heat. You may be confused and wondering what exactly it is I am always so vehemently defending, which leads me to my next point. This is a short exposé on polyamory; consensual nonmonogamy. This is such a frowned upon concept in modern Western civilisation that Microsoft Word gives it the dreaded squiggly red line treatment, despite it being part of the Merriam-Webster dictionary. How’s that for discrimination?

The key to understanding polyamory and unlocking Pandora’s proverbial chastity belt is right there in the definition. It is c o n s e n s u a l. Consensual in nature. And for someone to consent, they need all the information. What polyamory is NOT, is having sex with all sorts of people, saying ‘the others are just drunken hook ups, and you’re my real boo girl, I’m just not ready to commit right now cause like, I’m still heartbroken from my high school gf dumping me but I really like you so we should keep banging’. So maybe instead of saying what it’s not, I should say what it is. Polyamory is when two people understand the singular importance of moments. It is when you have chosen to spend this moment with them, and they have chosen to spend it with you. It is two (or three, or four…) secure people who are free to do whatever they may please, but at this moment in time, are choosing to be with each other. The singular nature of the experience stems from the fact that it is not contingent upon a different moment in time, be it when you agreed to ‘go out’ years ago, or your plan to get married

Polyamory: The good, the bad and the (bumping) uglies

down the track. This is where monogamy can lose its spark, in my opinion. When you are in a relationship, there are restrictions and limitations. That means when you are holding each other’s hands (or genitals), you are doing it within the limitations of the established paradigm. You have already eliminated every option that falls outside of your predetermined agreement, so you don’t know if they are holding said appendage

Polyamory is when two people understand the singular importance of moments.

because that’s what they want to do most in the world, or most in the current options available within your agreed upon circumstances. I personally believe that choosing to be with someone even though you theoretically could be anywhere else, doing anything else, shows more love than being there because you made a social contract X number of months or years ago, or because you have a dog or mortgage together. Of course, when you have any option available to you, sometimes you choose not to be with that person and you decide to go water-skiing with Jennifer instead. While your capacity for love might be infinite, your time is not, which can sometimes create awkward situations. ‘What does Jennifer have that I don’t?’ Well, water-skis for one, but I digress. Polyamory isn’t all sunshine and fellatio as anyone in the free-love movement will tell you. You have to accept that sometimes you aren’t going to be the numero uno choice all the time for everything. And it can be a shot to the ego. It took me some time but I’ve mostly forgone the assumption that I can completely fulfil someone in every aspect. It just doesn’t often happen

in reality. And that’s ok! Give people time and space to miss you. It’s normal to have your hands in each other’s butt pockets and order one milkshake with two straws during the honeymoon phase, but things inevitably cool off. That doesn’t mean anything. It just means she wants her own milkshake. You don’t need to be together all the time to be able to love and support each other emotionally. People actually lose interest in relationships when their partner shows too many signs of being a stage 5 jellyfish clinger. And despite the colourful language this isn’t douchebag bro-speak, it’s recognising a lack of independence and emotional security in your significant other. Both girls and guys can exhibit this behaviour; behaviour which is a turn off unless you also have those same traits. These are the people on your Facebook newsfeed who post crazy over the top love affirmations to their partner of three months, then you see the same thing with a new person a few months later. Ideally you need to love yourself before you can have the same with someone else. But actually, sometimes people enter into relationships because they don’t 9

have it for themselves and need it from an external source, hence their proclivity for posting on social media and interrupting your mindless meme scrolling when they think they’ve found it. (How rude). Look around and you’ll see that many relationships are born out of insecurity. People settle with an imperfect match because they think they can’t do any better or they stay with their partner because they’re scared of being alone, even if the situation is toxic. As I said, to be in any relationship you need to be comfortable with yourself, but it’s easier to hide it if you’re not, underneath a veil of codependence in monogamy. When you’re poly however, communication is paramount, so those feelings well up to the surface and are addressed instead of being pressed down. She says she wants to spend a weekend with another guy instead of me. I need to observe how it makes me feel and if it affects my sense of self-worth. If so, is that her fault or something I need to work on within myself? It makes me deal with my shit instead of turning it around on her. If we were in a monogamous relationship and she says she wants to see another guy

(a platonic straight friend, but she’d never tell me even if she secretly is into him), how would most guys react? Now every relationship is different, but it is evident how problems can manifest. Same for role reversal if you’re a girl. If your partner wants to hang out with a girl friend (Jennifer and her water-skis), it’s easy to foresee the potential conflicts. There can be jealousy and accusations, or even worse, they might not suggest it at all because they know it will start a fight, so they forget it and go to Ikea with you instead. The thing is, they don’t forget it, and this is how resentment can build, little by little. When you force or guilt trip someone into spending time with you, that’s not cute lovey dovey couple stuff, that’s emotional blackmail underpinned by insecurity. Obviously if you need support or are going through a tough time or something that’s different, shit happens and you need a shoulder. But the question is whether the girl I’m seeing should feel bad because she wants to see this other guy. If she does want to see him, does that mean I should call it quits? Does it mean she doesn’t love me? What is love?

(Baby don’t hurt me). If the act of “cheating” is this big sinful taboo, then even just having the desire to do it should be seen as just as much of a transgression. The problem is, everyone seems to have some kind of desire. I’ve never physically cheated in a monogamous relationship, but have had deep conversations with people I connected to and feelings of romantic love have blossomed from that. I’ve felt a desire to be physically intimate with these people, without detracting from how I feel about my current partner. I never was, but that’s beside the point. Most people feel this way at some point or another and we should accept that this is a part of the human condition and not be made to feel guilty or shameful about it.

against the house. People get lucky, and I’ve seen couples who appear perfect for each other and seem to fulfil each other in every way, but it is far from the norm. Think honestly to yourself. Do I love my partner, or do I just love being with someone? How would I feel about them having feelings for someone else? How would I feel about me having feelings for someone else? You might be surprised by the answers to these questions. Relationships are more a grey area than society lets on, so to anyone who wants to give polyamorous, open relationships a try, be safe, be respectful, and enjoy your ride of free love on the free love freeway.

We ain’t penguins. Human history has dictated that we don’t mate for life. Look at marriage statistics. Elsewhere (I’m not going to write them out for you). But spoiler alert: they bad. People grow and change at different rates in different directions. To assume that you and one other person are going to grow and change the same way for the rest of forever is like betting

Polyamory: The good, the bad and the (bumping) uglies

For more information, visit griffith.edu.au/safe-campuses

Safe Campuses Promoting safe, respectful campuses where sexual violence is not tolerated.

Support and reporting options are available for survivors of sexual assault, sexual harassment and other forms of personal violence. 11

CULTURE AND CONSENT Courtney Kruk

The NRL pre-season has a fairly typical discourse in the weeks leading up to kickoff. Promising young players step into the spotlight, gossip about which teams are in form is rife, and round one tickets are snapped up by eager fans. And this year…sex scandals and rape allegations involving several players and clubs. If your attention has been drawn anywhere near the NRL in the last few months, you’ve probably heard of the latest spate of ‘sex scandals’ to hit the code. Penrith Panthers’ player Tyrone May was charged in March after allegedly filming and disseminating videos of sexual acts with two women, without their consent, and other tapes involving further players were said to be in circulation. The sex tape scandals were not the only incidents involving NRL players this pre-season. In late December, a 19-year-old woman levelled serious allegations of sexual assault against St George Illawarra Dragons and New South Wales State of Origin player, Jack de Belin, and his friend Callan Sinclair. De Belin, who at the time of writing has been stood down from club duties awaiting trial in April, plead not guilty to a charge of aggravated sexual assault in company, as did Sinclair. These kinds of sexual assault

allegations and reports of sexual violence are mirrored by thousands of other Australian women who have endured similar incidents, a vast majority of which go unreported. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, one in five women have experienced sexual violence and one in two women have experienced sexual harassment during their lifetime. While de Belin and Sinclair’s guilt or innocence is yet to be determined, the details of that 2018 December night highlight other issues, including what is acceptable sexual behaviour and how consent is understood and practised in our society. The ABS defines sexual assault as an act of a sexual nature carried out against a person’s will through the use of physical force, intimidation or coercion. Sexual assault is a term that can include rape, attempted rape and aggravated sexual assault, and determining consent is often the deciding element in sexual assault cases that appear in court. In Australia, consent laws vary from state to state which can make a uniform discussion on the application of the law difficult. These laws have been the subject of serious debate across several jurisdictions in recent years, particularly following Saxon Mullins’ story on Four Corners in May last year. Mullins waived her anonymity

Culture and consent

and retold her court and sexual assault experience, prompting the New South Wales Attorney-General Mark Speakman to refer the current consent laws in sexual assault trials to the state’s Law Reform Commission. This is because, as the program detailed, throughout the initial trial and subsequent appeals, in order for a rape conviction to take place and stand, the law required proof beyond reasonable doubt that Mullins had not consented to the sexual encounter that had taken place with the accused, Luke Lazarus. What denied her justice in the end was a ruling by Judge Robyn Tupman following the appeal, that while she conceded Ms Mullins did not consent to the sex, Lazarus thought she had.

One key way to make sexual violence against women, and also against men, less likely is through Respectful Relationships Education or consent education.

The court ruled it was up to Mullins to adequately indicate she didn’t want to have sex in a way that Lazarus would understand. Even though the evidence in court heard that she told Lazarus she wanted to go back to her friends, and that she had said stop, this wasn’t found to be sufficient. Because apparently, Lazarus didn’t take that to mean ‘I don’t want to have sex with you’. This case and Saxon Mullins’ appearance on Four Corners turned on what exactly constitutes consent and whether we, as a society, should be raising our expectations of consent to something that is unequivocal, enthusiastic and clearly communicated. It is also why NSW referred their consent laws for reform. The state wants to look at joining Tasmania on a definition of consent that reflects an ‘affirmative’ or ‘communicative’ yes, meaning an agreeance to a sexual act is explicitly verbalised and communicated by all involved. Basically, a ‘yes means yes’ rather than ‘no means no’ model of consent. You don’t have consent if the person doesn’t say or communicate consent.

While a change to the laws surrounding consent could signify a huge step in the right direction for sexual assault victims that come forward, it needs to carry another equally important conversation, one that draws on the behaviours and attitudes that are spread and rooted in our society and culture. Do we actually understand consent? And what do stories like Saxon Mullins’ and the NRL sex scandals show us about the culture surrounding sex and sexual violence, and how we as a society actually understand positive, consensual sexual experiences? Leading researcher in violence prevention against women and Associate Professor in Sociology at Queensland’s University of Technology, Dr Michael Flood, suggests cases such as Saxon Mullins’ and the issues surrounding consent and sexual violence are a result of cultural problems and entrenched social norms. So how do we go about challenging an issue that is entrenched in societal norms? There is a growing consensus across various disciplines and sectors, including the Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual

Assault, that in order to counteract the current rates of sexual assault, more preventative measures are needed. Dr Flood says this means working to stop initial perpetration and initial victimisation, while also seeking to address the wider norms and attitudes that feed into these problems. One key way to make sexual violence against women, and also against men, less likely is through Respectful Relationships Education or consent education And contexts where that has been important are schools and universities. Now, in some states around Australia in particular, and to some extent around the country, healthy relationships or Respectful Relationships Education has been introduced into secondary school systems. That’s one way to shift the social norms and attitudes which feed into sexual violence and sexual coercion’. ‘The everyday ways that people learn to do consent or take consent for granted are pretty poor and feed into sexual violence. There’s a privileging of male sexual pleasure over female sexual pleasure, there’s an idea that ‘boys will be boys’ and

have an uncontrollable male sex drive. There are strong cultural constraints on women’s refusal of sex and women are socialised not to be rude, and not to be assertive’. ‘There’s a vicious sexual double standard and that double standard means that it’s hard for women to enthusiastically say yes and that means then that men sometimes interpret women’s ‘no’ as a kind of trying to protect their reputation rather than as a genuine refusal or disinterest in sex’. Here we can see other wider cultural and societal norms feeding negatively into the issue. Think slut shaming or outdated ideas of women who enjoy sex or like to have a lot of sex. Then there are the traditional masculine notions, of men as the ‘initiators’ of sex or having to coerce their sexual partners, of pushing through resistance. As Heather Hensman Kettrey writes for The Conversation, ‘cultural portrayals of heterosexual sexuality

often depict young men as having stronger sexual desire than young women. Men are expected to make sexual advances toward women – and women are expected to simply respond to those advances. Young women’s sexual desire and pleasure are viewed as secondary to young men’s desires’. Sexuality nurse educator and owner of ‘Talking the Talk Sex and Health Education’ Vanessa Hamilton points out there is an extreme lack of information about female sexuality, particularly in schools. ‘One of the points of difference of my service is that I do teach that female focused information. I am spending a lot of my time trying to equalise that information about human sexuality between females and males, and the different messages given in our society about sexuality’. Hamilton also believes more needs to be done to teach and start conversations about consent and Culture and consent

appropriate sexuality education from a young age. ‘In Denmark, for example, they have comprehensive sexuality education from an early age. Adolescents then have better outcomes later on when they have intimate experiences, and that’s a result of having an education from an early age where its normalised and its age appropriate’. Think for a moment about your own sexuality education. Maybe your parents sat you down for ‘the talk’. Maybe a book was shoved under your pillow. You probably had some sort of sexed at school. But, did any of these contexts comprehensively address the notion of consent, or how to respect and listen to your partner during sex? Early education settings could provide a vital foundation for providing information that would be beneficial for both young girls and boys so they could comprehensively understand and navigate positive sexual experiences.

Dr Flood agrees that education settings have a critical role to play in the solution, but he also wants to see the focus shifted onto boys and men. ‘Rape prevention efforts have historically focused very much on the victims and potential victims, and that feeds into victim blaming. I think what would be at least as productive is to focus on boys and men, and to start critically kind of challenging some of the really problematic and patriarchal messages about male sexuality that are part of our culture’. For Dr Flood, that means teaching boys and men why consent matters, why it is important and how to actually do consent. ‘At the moment, there’s simple messages to boys and men about taking no for an answer, but many boys and men, I think, don’t have much of a sense of the importance of consent or the harms of sexual violence. There’s ethical work to be done here in terms of

teaching a kind of sense of ethical responsibility to take consent seriously’. Respecting the desires of a sexual partner and considering the importance of consent shouldn’t be a hard thing to navigate, but statistics and reports of sexual violence tell us it still is. The take home for students is to reconsider how they interact not just with the concept of consent, but any damaging ideologies that feed into a culture of tolerance for sexual violence or harassment. Speak out and speak up and engage in the conversations needed to make change. Support and believe people who have the courage to open up about their own experiences. And the next time you engage in a sexual activity, ask questions. Does this feel good? Is this ok? Wait for your partner to respond, actively respect what is communicated,

whether verbal or non-verbal. Take pride in making your sexual partner feel good, respected and safe, and equally consider their desires in interactions. Make consent matter to you, and to those around you, so that bit by bit, we can make a societal change.

If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or see page 29 for more support options. In an emergency, call 000.

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OVERPOPULATION: EVERYONE’S PROBLEM Dan Pagotto Here we stand, currently on the brink of the sixth great mass extinction and an unprecedented climate crisis, yet, as I scroll through social media, everything appears to be fine. I see images of raucous parties, friends standing in front of ‘sold’ signs and, most confronting of all, cute, fresh faced newborns. Humans have overpopulated the Earth. The population issue is one of the most repressed issues within the mainstream socio-political climate regarding our current environmental crisis. I must start by stating that I am not planning on having children, and this article is not going to tell you not to have children, either. But it will attempt to justify why I, and many others I know both personally and anecdotally are choosing not to procreate. I’ll start by identifying how the four basic laws of ecology describe human overpopulation, and then discuss one of the many non-coercive, cost effective solutions to how we can curb our population growth. Firstly, let’s explore the situation we are currently facing. ‘Limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society’, according to the most recent report by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on

Climate Change). Well, shit. Just as distressing, a 2017 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describes the current human-driven ‘biological annihilation’ contributing to the planet’s sixth mass extinction as ‘an erosion of biodiversity and of the ecosystem services essential to continued human civilisation’. Why is overpopulation bad for our planet? The laws of ecology explain why exponential human population growth is bad for the environment and climate. These laws underpin almost everything we do and rely on to survive here on Earth as a species. It may be easy to dismiss, as modern humans we may seem like we are separate from the natural world, but the truth is that we are at the very least a part of this ecosystem that supports us, and at the very most absolutely destroying it. Healthy ecosystems rely on these four laws: (1) the law of diversity, (2) the law of interdependence, (3) the law of ecological niches, (4) and, arguably the most important one, the law of finite resources. The law of diversity means that the strength and integrity of an ecosystem relies upon the diversity of species within the system. Simply put, the greater the diversity, the stronger the

Overpopulation: Everyone’s problem

system. The second law says that all species within an ecosystem are dependent upon all other species in the ecosystem functioning as they should. The third law states that all species within an ecosystem have a particular role to play. The fourth and final law states that there is a clear limit, or carrying capacity, to growth within the system. When a certain species exceeds its carrying capacity, it starts to steal that capacity from other species, leading to a decline in biodiversity and ecosystem resilience. Which brings us to the situation we, as humans, are currently in. To put this into a digestible perspective, as a direct consequence of unrestricted human population growth, between the years 2000 and 2065 we will lose more species of plants and animals than the planet has lost in the last 65 million years. In short, fuelling population growth by having children will increase the amount of biodiversity lost and therefore continue to decrease our ability to cope with more frequent natural disasters. That’s bad news for an already struggling global ecosystem. So, what can we do about it? It’s not all doom and gloom. There are global solutions available to

help curb our growing population. One of the most cost-effective solutions for governments to consider worldwide is increased funding for family planning initiatives and giving women the autonomy to reproductive choice and education. Within the last decade, researchers at the London School of Economics and Oregon State University have reported in separate studies that family planning is a far more cost-effective climate change intervention than almost any green technology. Family planning services are comprehensive educational, medical or social programs which enable individuals to determine freely the number and spacing of their children and to select the means by which this is achieved. Iran in 1989 is a prime example of how effective this can be. Over 40 years ago, the Iranian government recognised that high population growth was detrimentally affecting the economy and the environment. To address this issue, they delivered a wide spread policy focused on raising awareness of family planning services in the media, offering free modern contraception and required couples to take a course on contraception before marriage. The Iranian government encouraged people to limit themselves to two children per

couple and from 1987 to 1994 Iran saw its population growth cut in half. The importance of making modern contraception freely available to a population cannot be understated. There are approximately 215 million sexually active women who do not want another child in the next two years, or ever; yet are not using modern contraception due to lack of access, according to a Demographic Health Survey. Alongside the family planning strategy in Iran, they also put resources into women’s education. After 30 years, the female literacy rate went from 25% to 70% and from this investment, a new generation of educated women arose who have been statistically linked to having fewer children. Unfortunately, there is no easy fix for this dire situation we find ourselves in. A lack of political leadership directly influenced by corporate interests has set our society back 50 years and although a broad overhaul of almost every aspect of our modern society is needed to curb emissions, this can only be an effective strategy if we simultaneously reduce our numbers. If you’re interested and looking for more information please visit overpopulation-project. com .

IF YOU’RE INTERESTED AND LOOKING FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OVERPOPULATION-PROJECT.COM

THE UN SEALED SECTION

LOVE YOURSELF International Masturbation Month is celebrated in May. Health benefits of masturbation may include improved sleep, stress relief, the release of endorphins, stronger pelvic floor muscles, and a better sex life, according to a range of studies. 72% of men and 42% of women had masturbated within the previous 12 months at the last Australian Study of Health and Relationships. Want to know more? Check out Jane Langton’s TEDx Talk ‘A motion for masturbation – the naked truth’. Masturbation is healthy and normal. If, when and how often varies from person to person.

THINGS YOU WON’T SEE IN A PORNO There are many different positions (excuse the pun) on porn. For those who do partake, Geta polled our networks to find out the most common real life sex experiences that are not usually shown on screen. •

Discussing contraception

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Getting your hair caught under your partner’s arm

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Embarrassing body sounds

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Laughing

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Stopping to put your phone on silent

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Wrapping up a used condom without making a mess

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Tucking your undies under the pillow for later

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Leg cramp

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Wait a second… I need to pee first

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Bumping heads

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Shuffling around the bed to avoid the noisy spring

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Analysing how likely it was that your roommate just heard that

The unsealed section

One in will e five wom en least xperien ce at one U tract infec TI (urinar tion) y lifetim in her e.

Your lips have 100 times more nerve endings than your fingertips.

tion erec to A I An M e linked ty. b can or anxie s s e str

STI MYTHS Geta chatted to the Gold Coast campus Health and Medical Services to find out which myths and misconceptions are jeopardising our sexual health. Sexually transmissible infections are also known as STIs, or formerly, STDs.

Myth: I’m ok because you can’t catch an STI from oral or anal sex. Fact: A lot of people think that if you’re not having vaginal sex, you’re not really at risk. However, if you’re exposed to any kind of body fluid, you can transmit STIs. The skin inside the mouth and rectum are not as tough as the skin on the outside of our body. So it’s much easier for infections to be transmitted. We know that the transmission rate of these infections is just as high for oral and anal sex as it is for vaginal sex.

Myth: Only people who sleep around get STIs. Fact: No. STIs are equal opportunity. If you’re having sex and you’re not using condoms consistently and correctly, you are at risk for these infections. There is no way to tell who is or who is not infected. The only way you really can know is by having a sexual health check with a doctor.

Myth: You can’t get an STI if you only have sex once. Fact: If you have sex once with a partner who’s got chlamydia, gonorrhoea, or syphilis, you have around a 30% chance of picking up that infection. That’s a very high infection rate. The consequences are so significant that it’s important that everyone understands that once is definitely enough to transmit STIs.

13HEALTH is a confidential phone service that provides health advice to Queenslanders (13 43 25 84).

The P test h ap smear a a Cer s changed vical to Scr Test. These eening tes not ch eck fo ts do r STIs . GETTING AN STI TEST

STI tests are easier than you think. Once you are sexually active with another person STI tests should be done every 6-12 months, if you show symptoms or when you have a new partner. STIs do not always show symptoms so it is important to keep on top of regular tests. Here’s what you can expect when you get tested. •

•

about your sex life. This will include questions about your sexual orientation, your sexual partners and sexual activities. In short they will want to know what you are doing, who you are doing it with and the types of things you might want to do in the future. •

Tests are confidential and you can ask questions.

The test will be done by a healthcare professional (a doctor or a nurse).

The health professional will chat to you

•

There will be a physical examination that

At the Griffith University Health

may include visually inspecting your

and Medical Service you can have a

genitals and mouth.

second health professional present as an advocate to explain things and

•

and females.

to speak up for you if you are feeling •

uncomfortable.

A urine sample may be taken for males

A vaginal swab may be taken for females, or a penile swab for males. If needed, a swab may also be taken from the anus or

PrEP stands for pre-exposure prophylaxis. It is a daily pill that can help prevent HIV infection. Find out more at endinghiv.org.au

mouth. •

The unsealed section

Your healthcare professional will talk to you about your results as well as how to practice safe sex for the type of sexual activity you are engaging (or want to engage) in.

You can get pregnant from precum. Pulling out is not an effective method to prevent pregnancy because preejaculate can contain sperm.

STOP THE RISE OF STIS The Queensland Government is currently campaigning to stop the rise of STIs and has shared some important facts from their Sexual Health Youth Attitudes and Behaviour Survey. •

Young people (15-29 years) have the highest rates of STIs and STIs are on the rise in Queensland.

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60% of young adults think the pill can stop STIs. This is not true.

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Only 34% of young people have ever had an STI test.

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40% of young people have talked about sexual health with a health professional.

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Around 5 in 10 used a condom the last time they had vaginal sex, 4 in 10 used the last time they had anal sex and less than 1 in 10 used the last time they had oral sex.

Must follow Insta accounts for all things sex and sexual health

rd The wo sium gymna tes from origina means nd Greek a cise to exer naked.

@playsafensw

@bitsandbods

@endinghiv

@headspace_aus

@hannahwitton

@yeah_au

@pink_bits

@theadvocatemag

Contact Griffith University Health and Medical Services on the Gold Coast on (07) 552 8734. 23

Food to get you in the mood ...I’ll have what she’s having Caitlin Burnett For most people, food and sex are two of the greatest pleasures life can offer. So, it’s no wonder some foods are considered aphrodisiacs; put simply, food that gets you in the mood. On your next date night, why not start with food and end with a bang?

Oysters and chocolate and wine, oh my! These three go without saying. But how effective are they really? While chocolate and wine can get your blood pumping and lower your inhibitions, there is little evidence to suggest that they increase sex drive or improve sexual satisfaction. Oysters might get rats going but it is still unclear whether humans are equally affected. But there’s certainly no harm in experimenting. Throw on a lab coat and get busy!

An apple a day… keeps your sex drive at bay? Listen up ladies, this one’s for you. A recent study in Gynaecology and Obstetrics found that apples can help promote lubrication and increase sexual satisfaction. However, they are also known to make some people gassy. Proceed with caution.

For the love of ginseng! You say ginseng, I say…what? Well, in case you are as clueless as myself, ginseng is an Asian root that might just help you, ah – root. Feeling a little low in libido? It might be time to head to your local Asian grocer.

Food to get you in the mood

Foods to avoid Just as there are foods which can increase your sex drive, there are also foods that are absolute mood killers. Add these to your list of things to avoid!

Pop a mint, buddy! If you are thinking of whipping up a special meal for your bed buddy, consider avoiding onions and garlic. You’ll be warding off more than just vampires with a mouth that reeks of garlic. For all those coffee lovers out there, load up on the mints. And smokers – it’s time to quit.

Don’t blame it on the dog… We’ve all been there and we don’t want to go back. You’re rolling around in the sheets when suddenly…you feel one slip out. A traitorous, deadly, gas bomb. It’s hard to blame the dog when he’s already been kicked out. To help minimise future incidents, skip the beans and cabbage. If you’re heading for a night out on the town, swap those sugary, bubbly drinks for a still wine or liquor on the rocks!

THE ERA OF THE QUEER FEMALE ARTIST Ashleigh Hartley The modern-day female pop star has come a long way from the cookie-cutter picture we were fed just a short (too short) decade ago. Gone are the days of the petite blonde singing about their latest teenage boy crushes, attempting to live up to a corporate image churned out by men in suits. What little queer representation we had just years ago stemmed from the notion of “fauxmosexuality“. This was a trend which featured heterosexual cisgender women capitalising on queer behavior to boost attention, money, and fans. The most notable example of fauxmosexuality includes Katy Perry’s song ‘I Kissed a Girl’ and Britney and Madonna’s 2003 VMA kiss. These days however, we are blessed with a celebration of other. Whether pansexual, bisexual, lesbian, or queer, the number of famous women singing about same-sex love on the radio has skyrocketed in the past decade. 2018 marked one of the gayest years in the music industry, and these are some of the queer women who helped make that happen.

Hayley Kiyoko Hayley Kiyoko, know n as Lesbian Jesus to her fans, is a singer, songwriter and actor who relea sed her debut album Expectations in 20 18. The album is fill ed with women lov women anthems an ing d bops that encoura ged acceptance bo for oneself and oth th ers. Kiyoko came int o the music scene at a young age and wasn’t always so su re of herself when expressing her sexu ality. This sparked her first queer anthe ‘Girls Like Girls’. Ca m ptured best by the lyrics ‘girls like girls boys do, nothing ne like w’ the song and its film clip speak to the struggle of navigati ng one’s sexuality and embracing lov This song marked e. the start of Kiyoko’s career centered up expression of sexu on ality. These days Kiyoko unashamedly prono unces who she is an confident in her se d is xuality. Her hits ‘Cu rious’ and ‘What I Ne ft. Kehlani’ from he ed r album Expectatio ns are the best example of this. Kiyoko has made a point in the se songs to normali same-sex relationsh se ips and strives to co ntinue displaying positive representat ion in her music.

A time of uncertain tea

Halsey her debut album Halsey dropped til , but it wasn’t un Badlands in 2014 ser’ lo ‘C ng in the so she was featured n ow r he at th s er smok with The Chain is ic us m ok off. Her career really to listeners resonates with at th g hin et som . Since ics lyr meaningful because of her s used ha y lse Ha e fam her increase in le who represent peop her platform to s. She lve se em th t en es struggle to repr sexual of t or in her supp has been vocal omen’s W 18 20 r he d an assault victims, em was nt viral. The po March poem we essed dr ad d an l rfu undeniably powe pe and perience with ra her personal ex assault. sed many hits Halsey has relea l anthem. lationships with an iconic bisexua re vocalising her ve’ stands to be lo ng at so d e ‘Ba th d on an g men a of collaboratin both men and wo ity. She sung un rejected the ide y m m lse co Ha + lf, BT rse e LG scure Undeniably he s not a part of th n refused to ob an artist that wa e Halsey fashio tru n’t in es ‘Strangers’ with ich do e wh ‘Sh ui, Lauren Jaureg rts with the lyrics ‘Strangers’ with ble steps pronouns and sta ira m us ad uo y big an m am using one of the her identity by e’. This has been mmunity. mouth anymor of the LGBT+ co n tio ta en es kiss me on the pr re r tte be te ea n to cr Halsey has take

Janelle Monáe was nominated for two Just this year, Janelle Monáe icated to the black ded she ch whi rds, awa Grammy ions included Album inat nom se queer community. The r and her song ‘Pynk’ for of the Year for Dirty Compute no doubt why Monáe re’s The . Music Video of the Year rds. Dirty Computer was nominated for these awa Monáe wanted to tell y stor finally centred upon the o for ‘Pynk’ reinforces vide ic mus the and elf about hers stunning imagery with d fille that message. It is also . As well as a sers trou na vagi ic icon e thos such as acted in films has áe Mon ic, decadent career in mus an Academy Award such as Moonlight, which won res. Figu en for Best Picture, and Hidd re in the media Since becoming a popular figu for her wn kno l wel Monáe has become a woman who rocks a suit is She ion. fash s nou rogy and Yet, despite from breaking gender norms. and tie and doesn’t shy away Janelle that year last l unti n’t was it the rumours and speculation, sexual. sexuality and came out as pan Monáe opened up about her was always a she , year last l unti out ially Even though she was not offic mended for community and should be com spokesperson for the queer n. dow en brok has she s norm the barriers she crossed and 27

PERSONAL VIOLENCE: SUPPORT ON CAMPUS Bec Marshallsay

Griffith University offers a range of counselling and wellbeing services to students including specialised counselling, information and support for students for domestic violence, sexual assault, rape, sexual harassment, childhood sexual abuse and other forms of personal violence or intimidation.

any type of personal violence. Her position also works towards raising awareness about personal violence through different resources, activities and groups, and to educating people on how to respond to someone else who has disclosed or may be experiencing personal violence.

It is important for students who are, or who know of someone, experiencing personal violence to know about the support service that are available to them on campus. To this end, Getamungstit sat down for a chat with Lauren Howlett, Counsellor Violence Response and Prevention to find out more.

‘I offer priority appointments. People can call (07) 5552 9600, they don’t have to disclose what they’ve been through but they are flagged as priority and a counselling appointment is prioritised’ explains Lauren.

All of the counsellors at Griffith University are skilled in dealing with trauma and personal violence disclosures however Lauren’s role is specifically dedicated to providing counselling support and information to survivors of

It is important for students who are, or who know of someone, experiencing personal violence to know about the support service that are available to them on campus.

‘That might just be for support or some information. It might be for a friend or it might be ‘I need some counselling because of what I have been through’. It might be also referring to other servies, depending on their circumstances’. ‘I also offer more of an informal chat such as ‘I’ve got this… or someone said “this”to me, what should I do?’ Sometimes that might be an academic calling me up or it might be a student about a friend’. Lauren says that personal violence issues can cover a range of experiences and that students’ disclosures will be handled with compassion and respect. Students do not need to talk about anything that they don’t want to and counselling isn’t about recounting incidents or details of violence unless the student wants to do this and will find it helpful to do so. Personal violence: Support on campus

‘I see a range of different issues at different times. Sometimes they’re more historical – so I work with historical and recent abuse. It might be about childhood sexual abuse or childhood neglect issues. What I am seeing more of is issues of intimate partner abuse more than anything else. This is domestic violence or intimate partner abuse of an ongoing nature that is at home, behind closed doors’. Although this is a complicated and varied field of work, Getamungstit asked Lauren what the fundamental key messages are that she would like to communicate to students. ‘For survivors, you are not alone. This is absolutely key. You are not alone and support is available. And it’s okay to feel however you are feeling right now’. ‘In terms of supporting a friend or receiving a disclosure – listen. Listen and be supportive. Don’t ask any “why?” questions which can be really victim blaming such as “why were you wearing that?” or “why did you go somewhere with that person?” They can be judgemental and victim blaming. Listen and be supportive’. All too often, disclosure is met with skepticism or outright disbelief, which can shut down any further discussion or disclosure and really impact the survivor’s healing’.

If you or someone you know has experienced personal violence, support is available.

Immediate danger or threat

Police 000 if on campus, Security is also available through the Campus Support Team 1800 800 707

The Counsellor Violence Response and Prevention provides counselling, information and support to students. Support is free and confidential and is available in person, phone, or via video call

Counselling Violence Response and Prevention

To book a priority appointment: Call 5552 9600 (Monday to Friday 8.30 am to 4.30 pm) Email counsellor@griffith.edu.au Please note that you cannot book these appointments via the online booking system.

Griffith Crisis Support Service

After hours support

1300 785 442

5pm-9am weekdays 24 hrs weekends/public holidays

0488 884 146 (Text only)

1800RESPECT

1800 737 732

24/7 National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service

DV Connect QLD support line

Sexual assault line 1800 010 120 Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s line 1800 811 811 Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s line 1800 600 636

To learn more about your options at Griffith (including how to report an incident) visit www.griffith.edu.au/safe-campuses 29

The age of ghosting Caitlin Erasmus

With online dating becoming the preferred method of scoring dates and meeting new people, it is becoming easier to break up with someone without really breaking up with them. We can ghost them, breadcrumb them, zombie them or even cookie-jar them. Ghosting in particular is very damaging and hurtful. Ghosting happens when one person inexplicably shuts off communication with someone else, unexpectedly at some point in the relationship, leaving the other person clueless as to what actually happened. In today’s dating culture, one in every second person has been a victim of ghosting or have done it to others according to Dr Jennice Vilhauer, writing for Psychology Today. This begs the question, why are so many people doing it these days? Dr Vilhauer posed this question to a range of people with many explaining that it was an ‘easy way out’ when you are unable to emotionally express what it was you wanted from the relationship. One person told Dr Vilhauer, ‘I kind of think that it’s part of what makes the online dating scene so appealing. Since you don’t have friends in common or weren’t introduced through some other channel, it’s not the end of the world if you just drop off the face of the Earth’.

However, rejection isn’t an easy pill to swallow, and for some, it does become the end of the world because it leaves you with many unanswered questions. It leaves you feeling disrespected, deeply betrayed and pretty much feeling like you’ve been punched in the gut. Another person explained ‘The lack of closure is maddening. You move on, but not before your self-esteem takes a hit’. You are left with no sense of closure and no chance of resolution, leaving you unsure what to do next. Or how to avoid this happening to you again. You wonder what it was you did. Did you text too often? Did you say something to offend them? They didn’t even have the decency to properly break up with you. You are left feeling disrespected and used. You are not sure how to react; do you worry that something bad happened to them? Do you get upset, or do you simply assume that they are busy? In today’s generation, ghosting is developing into a social norm; a comfortable resolution for people who would go to the ends of the Earth to avoid confrontation. However, in doing so they don’t stop to consider the effects of this social rejection on the victim. The pain of social rejection stimulates the same pathway in the brain as physical pain according to Vilhauer

The age of ghosting

– and we can even take painkillers to dull the pain…or sit on the couch with a tub of ice-cream. Either does the trick. However, it is really the effects on our mental health which are the most detrimental. Ghosting can really have a severe impact on mental health; challenging your self-esteem, degrading your self-confidence and no doubt making you extremely wary in the future when entering the dating arena, and even more cautious when treading into relationship territory. Vilhauer explains that some of the fallout for people who have been ghosted includes questioning your own validity or beating yourself up because you weren’t able to see it coming or predict the fate of the relationship. You are left with psychological scars as you are unable to emotionally process what

happened because you have no answers and no closure. You are powerless in the situation as ghosting cuts off the connection to others which is so ingrained within our genes. It can also upset our responses to social cues which guide us in our reactions to different social situations, according to Vilhauer. The following insecurity can cause one to subconsciously push people away, holding them at arm’s length and avoiding getting too close or connected with the person. As if dating apps and the soar of technology communication haven’t made us disconnected enough! Our unconscious defence mechanisms against hurt will only leave us lonely, unhappy with ourselves and unable to trust in the loyalty of others. Looking at the prevalence of ghosting; having impacted 50% of people within today’s society, it is likely that we will all come across one of these unpleasant situations in our lifetime. Although it is difficult, we must rise above it by drawing our own conclusion to the relationship and laying the subject to rest, rather than wasting our energy pondering it. No doubt this person moved on the second they decided to ghost, while the victim dwells upon it, letting the mind drive them crazy. Writing for Refinery29 Kimberley Truong suggests that that we can find

closure by reframing our thoughts towards the situation. It is the ‘ghoster’ who needs to work on their own shortcomings; it’s their fear of intimacy, relationships and inability to properly communicate creating the issue, ideally traits that you do not want in a partner. This approach is supported by the work of Vilhauer who encourages us to realise that by the ghoster leaving our life, we have actually nothing to mourn over; this person wasn’t on our wavelength. In short, we are not in control of the situation so there is nothing we can do. The sooner we surrender the illusion that we are in control and stop pursuing a lost cause, we have the mental capacity for the things that truly matter. When we allow ourselves to open our hearts and minds to new people and experiences with no expectations, without drawing back in fear of getting burnt, then we will attract the right person to us. If we cultivate that love for ourselves and stop dwelling on the ‘what ifs’ we left behind us, then whatever happens happens. We haven’t lost anything. In fact, the person has done you a massive favour, because they were probably an asshole anyway.

SEX AND RELATIONSHIPS ON FILM Sex on film without relationships is…. well, it’s porn. And if that’s what floats your boat, we trust that you can compile your own top 10 without any help from us. Instead, Geta has compiled a must-watch list of films that tackle sex and relationships in a range of different ways from frank, funny, or intense to subtle, awkward and sincere.

Bec Marshallsay

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) After being unceremoniously dumped by his actress girlfriend Sarah (Kristen Bell), Peter (Jason Segal) takes a trip to Hawaii to try and get over her. In a comedy of errors, Peter finds himself rooming next to his ex and her famous new love interest, pop star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). From its unforgettable opening (with a rare glimpse of full frontal male nudity on film) to a competitive moan-off, the connection between personal and sexual confidence is at the heart of this crass but fun comedy.

Duck Butter (2018)

The Reader (2008)

Secretary (2002)

In relationships intimacy grows over time but in Duck Butter Naima (Alia Shawkat of Arrested Development fame) and Sergio (Laia Costa) decide to try and speed up their connection by spending 24 hours together having sex every hour on the hour. Duck Butter is an experimental film that has range of hits and misses but is certainly worth the watch for lovers of independent films. Interestingly, the story originally revolved around a male/female couple but once the writers met Costa (originally cast in a supporting role), they rewrote the film.

Based on Bernhard Schlink’s novel of the same name, The Reader charts the unexpected relationship between a young law student, Michael (David Kross/Ralph Fiennes) and Hanna (Kate Winslet). Set in Germany and starting in the 1950s, a teenage Michael has a formative sexual affair with the significantly older Hanna. He is taken aback years later when through his studies, he finds her on trial for her conduct as an SS prison guard during WWII. Complex and contemplative, The Reader, is an exploration of shame, connection and the long lasting impact of intimate encounters.

Secretary is an indie film that explores the generally taboo topic of sadomasochism. Lee (Maggie Gyllenhaal) starts a new job as a secretary and begins an unconventional relationship with her obsessive and particular employer, Mr. Grey (James Spader). Not there simply to titillate, the film cares for its characters and makes the audience as comfortable as possible with potentially uncomfortable dynamics. Central to the story, is the way that the characters’ needs and nature are related to their sexual desires, and the challenges they face reconciling these with normative expectations of relationships.

Sex and relationships on film

Carol (2015)

Casablanca (1942)

The Big Sick (2017)

Set in the 1950s, Carol is the story of two women trying to find a meaningful relationship in a world with very rigid expectations. Cate Blanchett, stars as the eponymous Carol, a woman trying to hold onto her daughter through a hostile divorce. Through a chance encounter she meets aspiring photographer, Therese (Rooney Mara), who is in a lacklustre relationship. Received with critical acclaim, Carol is a tense but beautiful film in every respect from the performances to the cinematography.

Casablanca is the classic to end all classics with some of the most quotable lines of all time. It is the ultimate story of love, devotion and sacrifice wrapped up in old school Hollywood glamour. During World War II, grizzled nightclub owner Sam (Humphrey Bogart) has set up his own escape from the war at Rick’s Café Américain in Casablanca. He is rattled when his former lover, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) walks through the door with her husband…’Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine’.

Kumail Nanjiani stars in this romantic comedy about building relationships, cultural expectations, and family. When his recently ‘ex’ girlfriend, Emily, becomes ill and is placed into coma, Kumail feels compelled to be by her side. With their relationship on hiatus and Emily’s parents unhappy about his determination to be a fixture at the hospital, Kumail is forced to consider what is most important to him. Making this story all the more compelling is the fact that Nanjiani wrote it with his real life wife, Emily Gordon, to share the story of their courtship.

Team America: World Police (2004)

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

God’s Own Country (2017)

If you thought that having to watch a sex scene while your parents were in the room was the most uncomfortable cinematic experience possible, then you have not seen Team America and the infamous puppet sex scene. A team of puppet commandos try to stop terrorists, Kim Jong-Il and an army of Hollywood liberals in order to save the world and protect the American ‘F*#k yeah’ dream. Tasteless, crude and shockingly funny, Team America is one of the many absurd offerings from South Park duo, Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

A story of gender roles and evolving with the times, Anchorman gave us a lot of memorable moments, quotable lines and arguably one of the best sex scenes of all time. The romantic interlude starts with a jazz flute serenade and finishes in Pleasure Town, complete with animated unicorns and the most glorious rainbow ever (do me on it). Starring Christina Applegate and Will Ferrell as the embattled co-workers turned lovers, Anchorman’s newsroom shenanigans will leave you satisfied every time.

In a remote part of Yorkshire, Johnny (Josh O’Connor) has a lonely existence, working on his family’s sheep farm. Johnny’s love and sex life consists of random hook-ups while binge drinking. With his father becoming increasingly ill and the pressure on Johnny mounting, the farm hires Romanian worker, Gheorghe (Alec Secăreanu) to assist during the lambing season. With Gheorghe, Johnny finds it increasingly difficult to bury his emotions in farm work and drinking. God’s Own Country is a quiet portrait of sex, intimacy and vulnerability.

C l se tarna Ul p a u -Day - i a

2 March @ The Spit, Main Beach

Snapped on campus

club sign-on -Day -

6 March @ the Library Lawn

crame m a-workshop-

19 March @ t he Function Centre (G07)

Snapped on campus

rnatio inte men nal â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wo -Day -

8 March @ Sky Lounge (G11_4.28)

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VOX POP

Best date ideas?

Fiery, steamy and salacious... we wanted to ask you a few personal and intriguing questions, and the answer we got will blow you away.

Annabelle, Occuptional Therapy My boyfriend is not very romantic.

Bren Domingo

Tiffany, Design Take them to an art gallery. If they like art you don’t like, it goes against the grain.

Luke, Design A cliché… Burleigh picnic.

Vox pop

Most romantic gesture youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve experienced from someone?

Is a cheater always a cheater?

Jack, Pharmacy My partner washing my hair just like in Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Iniya, Masters in Medical Research No, because everyone deserves a second chance.

Jasmine, Occuptional Therapy A guy once picked me up and we spent the day exploring waterfalls.

Deniz, Masters in Medical Research YES! Once a cheater, always a cheater!

Kelly, Pharmacy Having my favourite person love me for so many years.

Piper, Psychology with Honours Most of the time I think so, but it also depends on the relationship. 41

What's on? Market Day 1 May

GUGC Sport Ultimate Frisbee Cup 2 May

O (refer to legend)

9 MAY CLAY CRAFTING WORKSHOP

6 May

Nationals Swimming 10 May

Market Day 15 May

Movie Night

MAY

22 May

National Reconciliation Week 27–31 May

Study Days 27–31 May

What’s on?

14 MAY MARKET DAY

24 MAY TOGA PARTY

JUNE 8-22 JUNE VOLUNTEERING IN TANZANIA

National Reconiliation Week 1–3 June

Exams 1–8 June

New Zealand Snow Trip 20–27 June

Student Vacation 10–30 June

Legend: O - Public Holiday gugcstudentguild.com.au/events 43

FEATURE ARTIST REBECCA CUNNINGHAM This interview explores the concept of sexualising art and life drawing. We took a trip to HOTA to interview the lovely Rebecca Cunningham to find out about her opinions on this timeless style of art.

Tell us a bit of your background. What art do you most identify with?

so that in itself brings change with each new body of work I create.

I consider myself to have a multi-faceted art practice, so I don’t quite fit into any one box. I paint with oil, acrylic and ink, I draw, I do live performance painting and I make sculptures. I focus on different practices according to what’s going on in my life.

What’s the story behind ‘Life Drawing Sessions’ and how did it become part of your art?

How has your practice change over time? It’s always changed, and always will change. As an artist you can’t sit around doing the same thing forever, you need progress, you need to be challenged and you need to be learning. I guess the most significant change would be the confidence I have in myself to do what it is I put my mind to. As I mentioned before I work with many different mediums from two dimensional to three dimensional,

Life Drawing Sessions was established to create a life drawing night at the southern end of the Gold Coast. I’d just moved back to Currumbin after living and studying Art in Melbourne and noticed there was no drawing night in my local area. The owners of the Dust Temple and I agreed it should be done and the rest is history! It naturally progressed to involve live music as a lot of my artwork involves working with musicians in situations where I am creating live. After a while I could see that this combination really worked for people, all these people got to experience drawing and creating to live music, something that would not usually happen alone in their studio.

What do you consider as a sexual taboo in the art world?

Feature artist

Life Drawing, Dust Temple | HOTA Bren Domingo & Justine Cann

I’m not sure if anything in this day and age is black and white when it comes to categorising something as taboo? People are always exploring through their art and so they should it’s their art, and sex and sexuality is not exempt from that. It’s the 21st century, it’s common knowledge that people aren’t sleeping in separate beds before and after marriage anymore. Those days are done. Everything is perspective so what is taboo for some may not even be worth batting an eyelid at for others. What I’m getting at is that I wouldn’t categorise my personal perspective or what might come across as confronting to me as ‘taboo’. We live in a very strange fucked up world, you’ve got to keep an open mind.

This edition is about sex, do you think that ‘Life Drawing’ creates an arousal for the artist or is it still considered as a taboo? There are definitely people out there who find the idea of drawing a nude person as taboo. Or maybe not even taboo but it just outright makes them

uncomfortable. And this is where I want to iron something out, Life Drawing is in no way a sexual activity, just because someone is naked in the room does not mean we are sexualising them and that to me is so important for people to understand. In fact, I am all for making people feel comfortable in their skin without feeling that to be nude means you have to be involved in some form of sexual activity. That’s what a world of sexual marketing and being raised on pornographic images of intimacy will do to you. It will mess up your conception of what nudity means, what intimacy should look like, what a naked body “should” look like. Well I wish to collect all of those fictional ideals and free your mind from the brain washing you’ve endured. You have to remember we are all naked under our clothes. In this day and age where advertising has got girls and guys feeling that they are unattractive and unlovable if they are not a slim, fit, size 8 it is so important to be making

people see how this is just not true. When you come to a Life Drawing Session, and you are drawing the life model (who is nude) you are purely appreciating the human form, studying the human body, their curves every little nuance that makes them, is respected and turned into a piece of art. You ask any life model at the end of a session how good it makes them feel to see their naked selves represented on paper in 50 different ways. It’s such a beautiful reminder just how differently everyone looks at the world and at each other.

RAPID QUESTIONS

What do you think is role of an artist to the society?

If they can maintain eye contact.

I think the role of the artist in society is to keep pushing the boundaries, to explore the questions and answers that the general public doesn’t even think to seek. We entertain, we inspire and we generally make the world a more colourful and interesting place to be in.

Feature artist

What’s your favourite colour? All of them.

What animal represents your soul? A yellow tail black cockatoo.

Showers or baths? Baths.

What’s the first thing you notice when you meet someone? What do you look for in a relationship? Honesty.

Best date idea? Anything that has to do with nature.

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Online THE ANGEL OF VINE Podcast The Angel of Vine is a fictional true crime podcast featuring the voices of some wellestablished stars such as Joe Manganiello, Constance Zimmer, Alfred Molina and Alan Tudyk. Touted as Serial meets L.A. Confidential or The Black Dahlia, the fictional podcast follows current day journalist Hank Briggs (Manganiello) as he digs through the past to try and find our more about a 1950s cold case. With the help of old interview recordings from a private eye around at the time, Briggs tries to solve the murder of a young woman who was found publicly displayed in the famous Los Angeles precinct of Hollywood and Vine. angelofvine.com

POSTSNAP: THE POSTCARD APP App If it isn’t enough to make your friends jealous of your travels via Instagram, you can now rub it in their faces the old-fashioned way. Postsnap allows you to create and send postcards from your phone, that will be printed and delivered to your loved ones within days. It takes the hassle out of finding a post office while you are on the road and allows you to use pictures from your actual trip (rather than a stock image of the country’s top tourist traps). Most postcards will cost $3.99 - well worth it to keep your parents and grandparents happy and up to date with your adventure. itunes.apple.com/au/app/postsnap-the-postcard-app

SEX EDUCATION Netflix show Start streaming Sex Education immediately. Growing up with sex therapist parents, high-school student, Otis (Asa Butterfield) has an encyclopaedic knowledge of all things related to sex and relationships. After an awkward encounter where Otis manages to talk a classmate through a raging Viagra induced erection, Otis is reluctantly convinced to put his knowledge to good use by offering sex advice and therapy in return for money. Sex Education features an absolutely stellar cast including Gillian Anderson as Otis’ mother, and Ncuti Gatwa, as Eric, his enthusiastic best friend with an irrepressibly joyful spirit. It’s a hard pitch to sell something that leans on jokes about wet dreams, awkward blow jobs, and parental embarrassment as a piece of sophisticated and witty comedy, but Sex Education somehow manages to pull all those elements together. Emerging at a time when consent culture is a hot topic, Sex Education is wildly enjoyable as it showcases the fun, awkwardness, and need for communication as a normal and necessary parts of healthy sex life. netflix.com/au/title/80197526 Online

BUDGET BYTE$ Website Shake things up in the kitchen with a near-infinite supply of delicious recipes designed for people with small budgets. Two-minute noodles and frozen meals are not the way to keep your tummy or your wallet happy. Budget Byte$ is an easy to use site broken into handy categories such as meat, pasta, quick, meal prep, slow cooker or vegetarian to get you inspired. The recipes are straight forward without being boring. Each recipe comes with an estimated cost per recipe as well as per serving. The only caveat here is that the costings are based on the quantity of each ingredient used, for example ¼ cup of soy sauce is estimated to set you back $0.24. If you have an established swag of condiments in your pantry and you utilise Budget Byte$ ingredient index to help you use up fresh leftovers, the site can definitely help you save money as you cook. budgetbytes.com

GROUPON App Who doesn’t love a bargain? And who can resist the false economy of spending money on something you didn’t intend to buy simply because it is heavily discounted? Groupon curates a range of discount deals for restaurants, products, accommodation, services and travel. The Groupon app makes it easy to keep an eye on services and products that you may already be interested in such as local meal deals, beauty treatments or fitness classes. On the Gold Coast, Groupon is also a great way to experience tourist life because it typically has a range of fun activities such as min-golf, Broadwater cruises, adrenaline activities, cinema experiences and more at heavily discounted prices. The app allows you to keep track of your purchases and, for many service providers, keep your voucher on your phone. groupon.com.au

Entertainment

Fighting with My Family (2019) Running time: 109 minutes Genre: Comedy, biopic Director: Stephen Merchant Not many people get a biopic film made about them when they are still alive let alone when they are just 26 years old, but British wrestler, Saraya-Jade Bevis is the exception. Fighting with My Family is the story of Bevis – professional name, Paige – as she pursues her dream of becoming a WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) champion. Norwich born Paige, was born to wrestle. Her parents ‘Sweet Saraya’ and ‘Ricky Knight’ are both professional wrestlers and promoters, who raised Paige and her two older brothers with the dream of turning them into superstars of the WWE. The family’s enthusiasm for wrestling was captured in the 2012 documentary The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family. The doco eventually made its way into the hands of writer and director, Stephen Merchant (Extras) who worked with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s production company to turn the story into a feature film.

The film does not offer a lot of surprises but it is warm, full of heart and is a loving peek into the world of wrestling. Florence Pugh delivers a solid performance as Paige through a narrative that would more aptly be called a dramatisation than a true story account of her attempts to make it through a gruelling selection process and onto the main roster with the WWE. While Paige fades somewhat throughout the middle of the film, it is the stellar performances of the ensemble cast playing Paige’s family that make this a uniquely enjoyable film. Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) plays the family patriarch with enough nuance to ensure the audience is laughing with, rather than at, the rougharound-the-edges wrestlingsuperfan. Lena Headey leaves all traces of Cersei Lannister behind to play a much more relatable mother, who balances ambition with unwavering love and pride for her children. Apart from the sport of wrestling itself, the show stealer is Paige’s brother, Zodiac Zak (Dunkirk’s Jack Lowden) who shares his sister’s dream of becoming a smackdown superstar. When the siblings are given the chance to audition for a pathway program into the WWE, the whole family is forced to confront the

Entertainment

price of pursuing your dreams as well as the delicate balance of evolving as a person, while remaining true to yourself. Merchant has put together an underdog story that has enough humour to ensure the smile never really leaves your face but is deep enough to leave you aching for the characters when things get tough. Well placed cameos from The Rock and plenty of wince-inducing wrestling action make it easy to get excited about the soap opera worthy ‘fixed but not fake’ world inside the arena. Verdict: Not just for wrestling fans, Fighting with My Family takes home the belt.

GIRL Maren Morris Mary Jo Dowsett

Maren Morris may be relatively new to your radio, but the American country singer released her debut album, All That It Takes, over a decade ago. Since then, Morris has evolved her sound and stepped onto the music scene with far more confidence than ever before, having just released her second major studio album, GIRL. Not steering too far from her embedded country roots, GIRL is an album that pulls on the heart strings whilst still delivering upbeat and feel-good anthems. The title track, ‘GIRL’, is the first song off the album and really sets the tone, with Morris incorporating heavy guitar riffs and powerful basslines to go with the uplifting and empowering lyrics throughout. If you are looking for a new soundtrack to accompany your road trips, ‘GIRL’ will most definitely do the trick.

Tombland C.J. Sansom

Following the death of Henry VIII, England was thrown into a period of political turmoil as Protestant and Catholic factions vied for power and the peasantry began to rebel against oppressive landowners. Set during this tumultuous period, Tombland is an historical who-dunnit that combines murder, mystery and intriguing politics. Tombland is the seventh of C.J. Sansom’s Shardlake series, featuring Matthew Shardlake, a London lawyer with a strong sense of social justice and a habit of getting drawn into the dangerous world of royal politics. Having made many enemies while Henry VIII was alive, Shardlake is now engaged by the Princess Elizabeth to discretely investigate the gruesome and public murder of a Boleyn relative. Sent to Norwich to find out more about the scandalous killing, Shardlake and his companions find themselves caught up in a peasant revolt when a vast rebel camp is set up outside the city walls.

GIRL showcases Maren’s vocals perfectly with an appropriate balance of slow and fast-paced songs. ‘Common’ featuring Brandi Carlile is one of the most delicate tracks on the album, as Morris’ and Carlile’s vocals fall effortlessly together, complimenting each other as they go. Despite Morris fearlessly entering the world of pop, ‘All My Favourite People’ featuring Brothers Osbourne oozes nothing but country and will definitely take you back to her earlier albums. Morris ventures deep into a world of pop whilst keeping a firm grip on her country roots, something which she executes seamlessly. If crossover genres are your new genre of choice, then GIRL is the one for you.

The series is a must-read for lovers of historical fiction whose interest in Tudor politics runs deeper than the flimsy bodice-rippers of writers such as Philippa Gregory. Sansom’s novels are well researched, rich in detail and told from a perspective outside of the immediate royal circle (swooning princesses and courtly love are replaced with a serious middle-aged lawyer with passion for administrative justice). Like the earlier novels in the series Tombland is built around a central mystery, that Shardlake needs to unravel, whilst showcasing real and significant political movements from the Tudor era. Sansom creates characters who are flawed and is brave enough to create a protagonist who, despite his noble ideals, is not always completely likable. At 801 pages, a significant jump on its predecessors, Tombland is too long by a couple of hundred pages but for the most part the reader is able to enjoy their time spent in this detailed and richly drawn world.

Being creative FOR AS LONG AS YOU LOVE ME Nicholas Holzknecht You awake in a room surrounded by ageless, smiling strangers, confusion sets in as you look around the room. Posing the question “Who are these people in the pictures?”. Sitting up in bed you start to analyse the room instead. It is a moderately sized bedroom with a wooden nightstand either side of a double bed. Matching dressing tables sit at the foot of the bed. You also see a large wardrobe separating the dressers, it does not match them at all, it is painted white but so old and worn that the paint is cracked and faded. The wardrobe’s left door has a huge crack in it and the handle has been broken off. You attempt get up out of bed but your body feels fatigued so you stumble a bit and grab a hold of the window ledge in front of you. Having stabilised yourself by the window you draw the curtains and daylight splashes your face, it stings your eyes a bit but feels good on your skin. As you open your recovered eyes you see the window has bars. You gaze outside through the barred window to see a perfectly green lawn with flourishing oak trees and large paved paths leading to the building. Judging by height you believe you are on the third floor. “Where am I?” you ask yourself. A reflection hits your peripheral vision, you turn to the dresser pausing to look into a mirror hanging on the wall above it. “Who are you?” you enquire as the face in the mirror is not your own but an old and worn face with glazed over eyes as if it had little life left in it. You turn to one of the pictures on the dresser, you recognise the old face in it, it’s the same as the one in the mirror but with more vitality. In the picture the old face has a grin that reaches from ear to ear and they are embracing someone in their arms but you can’t see their face in this picture. You look around at the other pictures trying to spot the face that eludes you but in every picture the person’s face is hidden. There are two things you notice about all these pictures though, in everyone one of them the old face is beaming with joy and full of life. The other thing you notice is the identical gold rings they both have, still looking at the pictures you reach down to your hand to gently grasp the ring on your finger. It is slightly

loose on this withered hand, you slowly twist it round and remove it, upon closer inspection you notice the inscription on the inside that reads “I will love you”. Instinctively you place the ring back where it belongs, on the old withered finger it came from. Suddenly you hear a knock at the door and turn to see the door slowly opening. “Good morning dear, how are you feeling today?” a woman’s voice says as she walks backwards through the door pulling a cart. Her attire is much like a nurses or orderlies and her hair is in a ponytail. You raise your hand and give her a thumbs up, the woman chuckles and with a smile on her face she says “That’s good to hear”. She appears to be in her mid-thirties and in good shape. The cart is loaded with food trays and water jugs, “On today’s menu we have a ham and cheese sandwich with a side of raspberry jello cup.” she says with a witty tone as she places a tray on a table by the door. As she replaces the water jug on your bedside table she clumsily knocks over a picture. “Oh dear, I am so sorry, I hope I didn’t break it” she exclaims. You walk over to her and put out your hand as she picks it up, she places the picture in your hand and apologizes again “I am so sorry”. You dismiss it as if not to worry and walk back to the window for some light so you can make out what image lies beneath the cracked glass. “Was it important?” the woman asks, you can make out a white flowing dress surrounded by bright red and pink flowers with the floor covered in their petals. You gaze back at the woman and shoot her a smile that says “it’s ok”, “Alright dear, I have to finish my run in time so I need to go now but I can come check on you, later ok?” the woman says as she darts out the door. You can’t make out any other details behind all the cracked glass. Your stomach groans so you place the picture on the dresser by the window and walk across the room to the table near the door. As you walk across the room you see a comfortable reading chair on the far side of the room in the corner, it has a

Being creative

small table with a lamp on it and next to the lamp is a small book with a white cover. You take the sandwich out from the plastic tray and then take respite from the confusion by sitting in the reading chair. As you sit and eat your sandwich you think, “Is this a dream or some kind of paranormal event?”. You look down at the white book on the reading table and notice it has a red and a pink flower entwined on its cover. You pick up the book and open it to the first page where there is an inscription written, “In case you forget”. Suddenly you are hit in the face by a bright light, the sun is reflecting off the mirror again but for a moment you also see a reflection coming from the other dresser. It’s coming from a vertical crystal ring holder, you can make out a single golden ring resting upon it. You stand up suddenly dropping the book on the floor and desperately jolt toward the dresser grabbing the crystal holder and you fall over ramming into the dresser. You see the ring slip off and roll along the floor bumping into the book you had dropped. “The inscription. I need to know” your mind yells to you, as you hopelessly attempt to crawl over to it. As you get closer you see the book has a picture hanging out of it, you recognise the pictures lower half as the same as the framed picture that was cracked. You take the ring into your right hand and with your left you slowly pull out the picture from beneath the pages, you see that this picture has two people in it, one of which is you. You clamp down on the ring in your hand as everything fades to black. You awake again but this time in your own bed you have a feeling of bliss and you can’t help but smile. Your holding hands in bed with the other person in the picture from your dream and you notice there are no rings on your fingers. You look down at your bedside clock and see the time is eight in the morning, the jewelry store will be open in an hour, “I need to get going” you think to yourself. But you didn’t see the inscription on the ring, you gaze down at your partner and it hits you “For as long as you love me”.

Katrina Paderon

Katrina Padernon Bachelor of Creative and Interactive Media (Digital Arts and Design)

Son of Spring, Adonis - character concept illustration personifying the season of Spring. Part of a small series that explores what each of the four seasons might look like as fictional characters. Drawn with Android on IbisPaint X.

Being creative

Monika Shin 55

Monika Shin Being creative Being Article creative Title

Monika Shin

Regan Leong

I am a swimmer and I wanted to design fins that I can use according to my structure. These fins are designed to be a power fin that is capable of maximising efficiency through the water as well as improve performance when kicking.

Renee Alcala

Flame light: With the prevalence of bush fires in Australia I thought it was important to highlight the brave people who deal with fires and the outcomes of uncontrolled fires every day. Being creative

Darci McElroy

Club Briefs Bren Domingo It’s more than just naked men, drag queens and dangling penises! Club Briefs bring to you one of the funniest and jaw dropping performances every time the lights turns on at the stage. With viewers of ages 18 and up, they have crowd tearing up with laughter and begging for more clothes to be removed. What makes this show different? What makes this show so popular? It’s really, the little truth behind the funny acts and more than that. Raised in Ipswich, at the start of the performance, Shivannah, the drag alter ego of Artistic Director ‘Fez Fa’anana did what was supposed to be just a normal ‘Acknowledgment of Country’. She started by asking everyone to place their feet firmly on the floor and with words, ‘By putting your feet on the ground, you acknowledge the earth and how lucky we are to be in this country called Australia’. Not only that she is truthful about the company and the struggles because of the stereotypes and rejection they’ve faced, using that to add and dramatic flair to the performance is truly something unique. The show is an articulate performance breaking four walls. The question is though, is the Gold Coast ready for more outrageous clever performance like this, or are we still stuck in the past with theatre performances?

Being creative

Mic Smith

Do you want to see your work in print? Getamungstit is seeking high quality submissions of short fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry and other genres for our creative section. Check out the Contributor Guidelines at gugcstudentguild.com.au/getamungstit for further information.

GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE Riding solo Courtney Kruk Being in love is great and all, but not everyone has a current significant other. Maybe you’re more academically than romantically inclined right now, or need a breather from the dating game. With this in mind, for the Sex Edition of Get the hell outta here we’re suggesting you stop swiping right and focus on just doing you. Depending on the kind of person you are, the idea of going on a date either fills you with excitement or terror. Are we going to split the bill or am I going to pay? What if they’re someone who yells at the waiter from across the restaurant while making over the top hand gestures? An easy way to eliminate fear inducing dating variables is to simply take yourself on a date. This can be as simple as going out for breakfast or lunch alone,

finding a nice café down the road to pull up a chair. Shout yourself the most decadent item on the menu or go to Sushi Train without having to worry about whether that California roll is one or two realistic bites. Head to the cinema and catch a movie no one else wants to see (students get $10 tickets at HOTA FYI). Enjoy the fact that the only hands rustling in your popcorn box are your own, and if it’s a sad movie, no one will witness you publically weep. Consider yourself a bit of an exhibition or museum enthusiast but never had an eager accomplice? That’s fine, because these are the perfect places to peruse partner-less. The Gallery of Modern Art in South Bank, Brisbane is a must, with a new exhibition every few months. The three levels of GOMA are filled with interactive experiences, cinema rooms and

Get the hell outta here

walk through exhibits, plus plenty of quiet places to just sit and stare. It’s also conveniently located next door to the Queensland Museum and Science Centre. You may have fond memories of this place from school excursions or maybe you’ve never been. Either way, spending a day engrossed in science and natural history is something you can appreciate a little differently in your latter years. The added bonus: South Bank in general. A beautiful place to spend the day exploring and you can easily cross The Goodwill Bridge and find the riverside City Botanic Gardens for a solo stroll afterwards. A golden rule to student life is to hone in on the ability to be satisfied on a diet of tuna and rice. Or Mi Goreng if you fancy frugality with a little more flavour. But let’s not just blame budgets here, maybe you’re just an all-round average cook.

Ever considered a cooking class? Icon the Cookery School at The Kitchens in Robina Town Centre hold different workshops every month, ranging from international cuisine to healthy lifestyle foods. Salt Meats Cheese in Surfers Paradise also offer a hands-on pasta making class that covers all the basics. Imagine how impressed the future love of your life will be when you can whip up fresh Spaghetti Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino from scratch. Some of us are already great at unwinding, knowing when to practice a bit of self-care, buy a cheap facemask and sit in a bath for a few hours. But there is of course a step-up to this selftreatment, and that is paying a professional. Go all out and have a solo spa day or book in for a massage. Groupon is a good place to start to find an affordable option, with prices ranging from $30-100 depending on what you’re after. Q Academy Remedial & Massage therapies located in Robina Town Centre have a Student Clinic offering massages for as little as $35 for an hour, or $60 for

a two-hour treatment. If you’re after something a bit different, Greenhouse The Bathhouse in Tallebudgera Valley offers a different take on the traditional spa day with its ‘modern rejuvenation space’. You can choose from a variety of packages starting from $40 that include use of their hydrotherapy spas, saunas and magnesium plunge pool, plus options to add on a massage and lunch. Or for the ultimate switch-off, you could try float therapy. Float therapy, or float tanks, believe deep relaxation can be achieved simply by floating in a concentrated salt solution in a dark and silent pod. It sounds confronting but sensory deprivation might take your mind of exams for at least an hour or two, so it’s worth a shot. Napoleon Dynamite once said ‘girls only want boyfriends who have great skills’. But he also thought that meant having nun chuck and bow hunting skills, which I’m sure most of us are ok to find someone without.

The point is, we can always upskill and learn a new craft. It just takes a bit of effort. Luckily, our Student Guild are always close by to help, offering monthly workshops to master something new. If you loved the macramé and terrarium building classes, then make sure you go along to the Clay Crafting workshop on the 9 May. They are also running a 4-week women’s or mixed self-defence course starting on the 16 July if your throat chops could use better aim. You could join a team and learn a new sport. There will be another Club SignOn Day at the Uni on the 17 July if you want to get involved with one of Griffith’s teams. The Guild have also partnered with Get Wet Surf School if you want make your pipe dreams a reality, offering 2-hour surfing lessons for just $40.

ISSUE 4 VOLUME 5

The Avocado Edition

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