#13 81 Volume 81 Issue #13 Issue Volume The Feminist Issue
Aunty Dana's Op Shop – 16 A Ballad to Ending Nostalgia – 18 The Elusive History of Intersex – 20 Queer Speak & Straight-Talking – 26
EDITOR'S LETTER 3 NEWS News 4 Politics 9 Opinion 10 *News* 12 Informative Distractions 13 LETTERS & NOTICES 15 FEATURES Aunty Dana’s Op Shop 16 A Ballad to Ending Nostalgia 18 The Elusive History of Intersex 20 Queer Speak and Straight-Talking 26 CENTREFOLD 24 COLUMNS Presidential Address 30 VUWSA 30 NT: Te Ara Tauira 31 Access Denied 31 Queer in Football 32 Buklod VUW 32 Talking to my Dad about Sex 33 Mauri Ora 34 Postgrad Informer 34 From the Archives 35 POEM 36 REVIEWS Podcast 37 Books 38 Film 39 Television 40 Music 41 Art 42 Food 43 ENTERTAINMENT Triggerfin 44 Horoscope 45 Distractions 46
Editor's Letter The Queer Issue
of events — such as our presentations and parties that create safe and accessible spaces, to both celebrate and learn. This week is the time for our diverse community to shine (actually it’s always the time but y’know), so get stuck in and join us for everything we’ve got going on. Our events this year include a Queer History Presentation, Board Games Night, a Political Panel, Quiz Night, a Tea Party, Karaoke, a Biological Sex Presentation, and an Ivy Party.
Kia ora queers (and others I guess) and welcome to UniQ’s Pride Week 2018! Each year during Pride Week, UniQ swoops over Salient and we sprinkle our magic gay dust over all the content, creating Queerlient. We’re stoked for you to read this year’s issue! It’s full of contributions from the UniQ executive and the wider queer community at VUW, and we hope that what’s in here will give you some things to think about and look into if you’re keen to learn more.
To us, Pride is about finding love for who we are despite adversity, it’s finding community through the similarities and differences of our queer experience. We’ve each met and learned from so many incredible people during our time with UniQ over the past few years and made lifelong friends (including each other lol). So honestly, get involved in the queer community at Victoria, we can’t recommend it enough.
UniQ is the representative group for LGBTQIA+ students at VUW, and we aim to create safe social spaces for queer students. There is a significant lack of institutional support for queer students (noticeably less than that available at other universities around Aotearoa), we’re doing what we can to improve this.
Yours sincerely and queerly,
Pride is about celebrating difference, and highlighting struggle, oppression, and wonderful things that come with it, so this Pride Week we’re striving to have plenty
Ace Visser and Erin Page, Co-Presidents of UniQ 2018 3
The News MONDAY 23 JULY 2018
NZUSA Begs For Money LOUSIE LIN “Asking alumni for donations is a stop-gap measure at best.” NZUSA Finance Manager, Caitlin Barlow-Groome, has also confirmed that NZUSA is “looking into” liquidating their assets, which includes their central Wellington office. In February, Alistair Shaw, the Executive Director of NZUSA, resigned. He had accrued “significant” leave entitlements that needed to be paid out. In May, NZUSA asked its member student associations to pay half of next year’s fees in advance, citing their “precarious” financial situation. VUWSA voted to pay their $22,750, with the criteria that “certain expectations” be met by NZUSA. The wording of the motion did not include what these expectations are, and since VUWSA discussed these expectations in committee, they can’t be reported here. NZUSA is currently undergoing an internally-conducted review. They’re getting oversight from the National Board (which includes presidents from various student associations, who are members of NZUSA), and getting input and advice from local associations and various stakeholders. Marlon said that “the last few months should not define an organisation that has existed for almost 90 years to serve students. We are going through a difficult period however, during these tough times we must remember the important work that has been achieved to make a difference to students’ lives”. Gee said that he has continued to advance the student agenda, while “managing this difficult situation”. “We will continue to work hard to ensure we are fighting for students right ‘til the very end.”
In its latest bid to keep its struggling finances afloat, New Zealand Union of Students’ Association is asking alumni for donations. NZUSA President Jonathan Gee said that the organization is facing a “financial and political cross-road”. He said that “without this support there is a risk that students around New Zealand could be silenced in the national political debate”. NZUSA does advocacy and lobbying for the national student body. Victories for the NZUSA this year include the lift to the student loan cap, fees free first year (which NZUSA have been campaigning for some time), and a $50 increase in student allowance. It’s unconfirmed as to whether any alumni have donated. NZUSA boasts of many high profile alumni, such as Labour MPs Hon Grant Robertson, Hon Andrew Little, and Wellington Councillor Fleur Fitzsimons. Rick Zwaan, 2015 VUWSA president, said that he hadn’t been asked for any donations. He said “we need a strong national student voice”, and he supports any moves to strengthen that voice. Fitzsimons said she hasn’t come across a request for donations, but she would consider such a request “favourably”. “NZUSA has such a proud tradition of achieving results for students,” she said. 2003 NZUSA co-president Rosalind Connelly said that she hasn’t been asked for donations, either. She said she wouldn’t necessarily donate. “I do love NZUSA, and I think it’s a critical advocacy vehicle for students,” she said. But she believes that they need to move towards a sustainable financial model.
Over Half of Us Want to Drop Out
Feelings of isolation were highlighted as the critical factor contributing to students’ mental health issues. “[I have] no community that I can rely on and feel a part of, [which is] the greatest cause of my anxiety and depression,” said one respondent. NZUSA President Jonathan Gee said “the culture of tertiary education has become a highly individualised experience, and seen as a means to an end rather than an end in itself”. VUWSA President Marlon Drake supports the NZUSA’s research on mental health issues but questions whether practical steps will be taken. “It’s widely agreed that we need to change the way we think about mental health, and it’s great that there is strategic work happening, but the fact is we have students who need access to these services now,” said Marlon. NZUSA called on the Government to act on its commitment to institute free counselling for under-25s. In response to the call, Marlon said, “I’m not convinced that $10.5 million over three years to pilot free counselling for under 25s is a sufficient response to the immediate need for resources, especially when we already have services on campus that could utilize public funding in the meantime”.
NISHA NOVELL A staggering 56% of respondents considered dropping out of university, according to a recent study released by the New Zealand Union of Students’ Association (NZUSA). The most common reasons for wanting to drop out were living with mental health issues, loneliness, feeling overwhelmed, a fear of failure, and academic pressure. The Kei Te Pai? Report surveyed 1,762 students about their lived experiences in regard to mental health. It’s the first report of its kind. The survey asked questions about students’ education, living situation, relationship status, and their level of psychological distress. In particular, the survey asked about personal experience with mental health services at tertiary institutions and their mental health history. 4
NEWS
MONDAY 23 JULY 2018
Student Associations Still Trust NZUSA After Penis Portrait Allegations LOUISE LIN If you haven’t already heard, New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations had a $1.4 million contract with ACC to run a sexual violence prevention programme. The three year contract was suspended in January. ACC said the contract was suspended because of “allegations of sexual harassment and poor employment practices”. A senior staff member had allegedly sent a dick pic to three members on the team. The three team members resigned, and the 13 field reporters were made redundant. NZUSA President Jonathan Gee did not mention sexual harassment in the redundancy notices. On the whole, student association members haven’t publicly condemned NZUSA for its actions. Barlow-Groome, who is also the Otago University Students’ Association president, said she didn’t “necessarily” know about the dick pic before it was brought to light. She said that OUSA “trusts that NZUSA did a good job and followed the correct procedure”. Marlon Drake, VUWSA president, said that he could not respond specifically to any allegations, since he and the National Executive are prevented by law from commenting on employment matters.
He goes on to say that “the allegations that Salient refers to are absolutely unacceptable”. When asked if he’s still happy he’s part of NZUSA, Marlon said, “VUWSA is still a member of NZUSA and that explains itself”. James Ranstead, president of Lincoln University Students’ Association, said that he thought NZUSA “dealt with it right”. He said he believes NZUSA was “upfront enough”. When asked if he thought that Jono should have told the field reporters why they were being made redundant, he said he “can’t comment” because he “wasn’t there at the time”. Anna Cusack, president of Auckland University Students’ Association, believes that NZUSA has taken appropriate steps, and if they hadn’t, “I would have been uncomfortable as a woman staying in the organization”. When asked if she believes NZUSA has been sufficiently transparent, she said “it’s quite complicated… there are issues of legality”. Benjamin Schmidt, president of Massey University Students’ Association, said MUSA “stands behind NZUSA 100%” and that I should refer all other questions to Marlon Drake. The Association of Students at UCOL have been asked for comment.
Victoria Health Care Ain't A Casual Affair ANGUS SHAW health system is pretty flawed in itself. Not to disregard those who aren't registered... I’ve had to wait weeks and weeks for appointments due to the volume of students and lack of doctors. If the changes mean the system overall for those enrolled gets better, I’m in support I guess.” Many other Student Health Services around the country take casual patients, including Massey, Canterbury, and Waikato. Pam Thorburn, Director of Student Academic Services, said, “as a health service we want to provide the best care to our students… It is harder for our doctors and nurses when they are not able to access medical histories/notes for those students who have not registered with the practice. This is further complicated with students who present with complex medical issues”. Thorburn said Student Health wanted to prioritise regular enrolled patients. “We are striving to create an equitable, fair and accessible service for those patients who have chosen Student Health as their regular GP practice.” Unenrolled students will still however have access to counselling services offered by Student Health, and would still be eligible for HPV and flu vaccinations. Thorburn reassures us that casual patients with a medical emergency will always be seen, and casual patients will still be able to see a doctor during exam periods for aegrotat assessment.
Casual visits to student health have been scrapped. As of Monday, 16 July, students who are not enrolled with Victoria University’s health service will no longer be able to see a doctor. The University explained that the cuts to casual patient visits were due to an ongoing campaign to encourage students to enroll. They stressed that enrolling, which gives doctors and nurses access to patient’s medical records, was paramount to their service. Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association have received assurances from Student Health that the changes will have minimal negative impact, and the “changes will be communicated in a clear way to students”. However, the change has not been advertised on the Student Health website, and students have not received any communication of the changes through email. Exactly how the change is being communicated to students remains unclear. Marlon Drake, VUWSA president, said that their priority is accessible and quality healthcare for students. “If this change ends up leading to worse health outcomes for students, then we do not support it.” VUWSA have said they would like to hear from students affected by the change. Leah Rodgers, a student, said that she like many students was not aware of the changes but supports them if it means an increase in the overall quality service. “I think that the student 5
NEWS
MONDAY 23 JULY 2018
Massey Trans Students Call for Better KATE ASCHOFF & TAYLOR GALMICHE “the suggestion of incorrect instructions being given or any complaint or issue being raised in relation to the allegation”. They said that the allegation would not relate to current staff. Mauri Ora doctor Cathy Stephenson believes that the problem is wider than Massey University. “From my point of view, the gender diverse community has been badly neglected in terms of the health sector for a long, long time,” she said. Stephenson and Counsellor Anny da Silva Freitas of Victoria University have been part of a team developing a six-month pilot health project aimed at giving trans and gender-diverse students better and easier access to gender affirming hormone therapy. The project would give trans students HRT on-site at Student Health, instead of having to go to the hospital, which is current practice. The project launched in early 2018 and involved consultation with UniQ, other students advocates, InsideOUT (a queer youth focused NGO), and oversight from other health professionals from VUW and throughout Aotearoa. Six students have received HRT through this project. “There are still huge barriers to accessing quality, timely support and especially when it comes to medical and surgical transition. We hope that this small project, designed in partnership with community representatives, can go some way towards removing some of those barriers,” said Stephenson. A formal evaluation of the project is underway. They hope the pilot will enable other areas of New Zealand, such as Massey University, to set up clinics along the lines of this patient-centred, primary care based model. Stephenson and the group who supported the project are hopeful to receive funding through the DHB to continue the service through Mauri Ora at VUW, but are yet to recieve any official confirmation. Erin Page, UniQ co-president and a student who is current receiving HRT outside of VUW, is excited about the project. He said it would be “fantastic that students who are seeking HRT won’t have to go through the public system, which can take months and cause a huge amount of stress”.
Trans and gender-diverse students at Massey University are disappointed with the university’s lack of resources and training. A current Massey student, who now goes through Wellington Hospital for hormone replacement therapy (HRT), had to wait five months before starting hormones. While he felt that Massey’s original GP “really listened” to him, he has had some “not so okay” experiences with other doctors at the school. The student currently sees a counsellor through Massey Student Health. He feels like the counsellor, as well as health services at Massey, are still treating him “like an alien”. “All-in-all the Massey health and counselling staff need some better training in regards to transgender and nonbinary health care,” the student said. A Massey representative said that the University has ongoing training for staff “in line with the Rainbow Commitment”. Students wishing to seek HRT at Massey currently have to go off-site to receive prescriptions. He said it would have been easier if they had access to treatment on site. He’s had to skip uni because the hospital doesn’t take student schedules into consideration. He believes that the experience would have been “a lot less stressful” if Massey offered HRT. Another student, who wishes to remain anonymous, had a bad experience with Massey Student Health four years ago. “When coming to [Massey Student Health] about wanting to start HRT, I felt like I had more information about it than they did.” After waiting six months for a prescription from Wellington Hospital, the student went to a Massey nurse for instruction on how to inject the testosterone. The nurse punctured a needle into a citrus fruit for an illustration, then showed the student two injection sites on the upper thigh — one site being entirely incorrect. The student continued to inject in the same spot for three and a half years, causing a buildup of testosterone and perpetual bruising. “It got to the point where my injections either hurt too much or I’d get too anxious to do them,” said the student. A Massey spokesperson said that they are not aware of
Wellington Buses Fail to Drive it Home
master’s student. “I may as well walk because of the amount of time it takes to get to [Te Aro] campus. The bus stops so often because three buses were consolidated into one.” Peter Thornbury noted that the No. 21 service from Courtenay Place runs every 10 minutes during the day to Kelburn Parade. Snapper is now the only cashless payment mechanism for buses (though you still need to purchase paper tickets for trains). For students, the major change is a 25% discount on all services, part of VUWSA’s advocacy to the council. Metlink has contacted those registered as full-time students via email; it takes a few minutes to apply the discount online with your card. There’s also a 25% off peak discount and 50% discount for school students and people with disabilities. Wellington has the highest per capita use of public transport in the country, according to Metlink. Use is expected to rise by 10% in the next six years. Metlink is also embracing climate friendly transport. New buses are all low emission, including 10 double decker electric buses; MetLink is aiming to eventually have a fully electric fleet. By 2019 all buses will be equipped with bike racks that will be able to fit two bikes each.
SHANTI MATHIAS Wellington has revised its public transport system as part of a $1.3 billion investment in public transport infrastructure. However, not all students are happy with the new routes. Specifically, changes to the the No. 18e, previously known as No. 18, the “Campus Connection,” has garnered disapproval from students. Previously, a passenger could expect the bus throughout the school day. As of 15 July, the bus no longer offers its services between 9:30 am and 3:30 pm. The route runs from Karori to Miramar through Victoria and Massey’s campuses. “Students aren’t at some office pulling a 9-5. Our hours are all over the place,” said Anna Hamilton, an architecture 6
NEWS
MONDAY 23 JULY 2018
Sexuality in Pre-Colonial Aotearoa More Liberal Than You Thought LAURA SUTHERLAND depicting same-sex sexual acts. Dr Elizabeth Kerekere’s extensive studies of takatāpui further support ideas of sexual exploration and freedom before colonisation. “There is no doubt that fluid sexual intimacy and gender expression was common among Māori in pre-colonial and post-contact times and has continued ever since. It was accepted without punishment and in spite of repressive English measures,” wrote Kerikeri in her 2017 thesis on the subject. Conservative colonial views of sexuality forced many takatāpui to hide their identities, and this forced invisibility likely fuelled the idea that sexual fluidity did not exist in the pre-colonial Māori world. Thus, it would be more apt to say that Europeans introduced homophobia, than homosexuality. Te Awekotuku and Kerekere’s studies highlight the historical and continuing existence of takatāpui, as well as the diversity and acceptance that flourished in Te Ao Māori prior to colonisation — a history that has been white-washed for far too long.
Evidence uncovered by Māori scholars and activists is shedding new light on early Māori views of sexuality. The dominant narrative throughout history has been that diverse genders and sexualities did not exist in pre-colonial Māori society, and were introduced by European settlers. However, a closer look at Māori art, waiata, and language suggests a different story. In a recent episode of the podcast Bang!, Emeritus Professor Ngahuia Te Awekotuku found that Māori have a history of diverse sexualities and gender identities. The fact that the term takatāpui (currently in use as an umbrella term for diverse genders and sexualities among Māori) predates European contact is key evidence of this. “I believe there was a really robust and vigorous and intense exploration of sexualities, and an acceptance of them,” said Te Awekotuku. Evidence can also be found in waiata describing same-sex intimacy and desire, and carved papahou (treasure boxes)
Students Say "Krish-Na" JOANNA LI let’s be real, some guilty cheat food) was being taken away. Annelies Berends commented “Revive is the most affordable place to buy food on campus and provides great comfort food for students”. Rumours that the café had been closed down in an attempt to promote healthy eating added fuel to the fire. Students complained that they should be able to make their own health decisions, and signatories, Lola Valentine and Lara Syder, argued that even though it wasn’t the healthiest option, it had “a great atmosphere” and “a happy buzzing culture”. Several students who signed the petition, such as Ali Shaib, also pointed out that Ilott was one of the few eateries that “provide[d] a proper Halal option at campus”. Its closure therefore limits students with dietary requirements, forcing them to source their meals from elsewhere – something that is taxing due to the Kelburn campus location. The university answered some students’ queries over the closure on Twitter. A tweet on 18 June stated that Ilott had been “operating for years on a month-by-month lease contract”. The statement continued that the lease was “terminated by mutual agreement”, and that the replacement store would be announced soon. “If you’ve had Krishna once, you’ve had it a million times. At least there are – were – variations at Revive,” said Ruby Ash, Salient designer. Allegedly, one of the infamous twins of Cafe Ilott was noticed working for Uber Eats. He was seen picking up order at Five Boroughs in a purple car last Wednesday night.
The management of Krishnafood has submitted an application to replace Ilott Café (also known as Revive Café), which officially closed down on 5 July 2018. They are waiting to hear back from the University, and expect to get a response in the next few weeks. Not all students are keen. Scotty T, a second year Bachelor of Criminology, Biology, and Pacific Studies, said. “I prefer Revive to Krishnafood because I feel like Krishna only caters to vegans. What if I feel like a burger? Are they gonna give me a meat burger?” Grace, a student, said she’s “really disappointed” that Illot was closing. “Krishna - who wants to eat that crap?” Ilott has been a consistent student favourite due to its low prices and high salt content. A “Save Revive” Facebook page was set up urging students to email the Vice-Chancellor Grant Guilford, and to share their favourite memories of Ilott. The petition on change.org attempting to save the café gained almost 2000 signatures. Despite several attempts by the student body to prevent its closure, Ilott has now been shut down for over two weeks. The closure was met with outrage from the student body. There were many complaints that Ilott’s closure denied students who were strapped for cash access to a hot lunch. One signatory of the change.org petition commented “[those] on a strict budget will suffer from [the closure].” Others were more angry at the bombshell of news, feeling like they didn’t get a say in the matter. Still, many were frustrated that their only option for a cheap, hearty lunch (and 7
NEWS
MONDAY 23 JULY 2018
Unisex Toilets Still in the Pipeline SALIENT STAFF away from someone who needs it more than me. I know a lot of other trans and gender diverse students who feel the same.” Billy Brokenshire noticed that there are all-gender toilets at Kelburn, “but only a few”. “Why don't they just make them all gender-neutral? Also are there even any gender-neutral bathrooms at Pip? Smh.” The report offers recommendations on being inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersex, takatāpui, and other sexual and gender minorities at Victory University of Wellington. Suggestions included an increase in the number of all-gender bathrooms on campus, to provide students with all-gender bathroom location maps for every campus at Victoria, and to establish university-wide technology support for non-binary gender markers. Dr Allison Kirkman, head of the School of Social and Cultural Studies, said that “Victoria University first instituted genderneutral bathrooms in 2010, and has since strove to provide gender-neutral bathrooms in new facilities”. There is no readily available lists of the locations of all-gender toilets at Vic. Lists of all-gender toilets can be found on the official websites of the University of Auckland, Massey University, the University of Waikato, and the University of Otago.
Victoria has 95 “Accessible/Unisex” toilets across all campuses. However, the vast majority of these toilets double as disability toilets, and some students feel uncomfortable claiming these spaces. The LBGTQI Project Report conducted in 2017 related to the experiences of the Rainbow community at Victoria University. Focus groups concluded that Rainbow communities experience a disproportionate number of challenges in the tertiary environment, such as verbal & physical harassment, disconnection, isolation, and health issues. In the report, a number of students also described feeling isolated within University accommodation, indicating that development is needed to increase LGBTQIA+ access to facilities and accommodation. Marlon Drake, VUWSA president, said there is a “significant lack” of all-gender bathrooms at Vic. “The only ones available are the disability toilets which are inappropriate to occupy and not specifically designated as gender-neutral.” An anonymous ex-student of Victoria University who identifies as queer and nonbinary, said “I feel completely uncomfortable in the female bathrooms and would never step foot in the male bathrooms.” “The university has…suggested using the disabled bathrooms, but whenever I do I feel like I'm taking that space
Severance & Dissatisfaction at Vic Books
M
OLIVIA PHILIP
igrant worker Paul Nelson, former Marketing Manager at Vic Books, may be forced to leave New Zealand after his severance from the Vic Books. Nelson had been an employee of Vic Books since January 2017, and the marketing manager since January 2018. He received a letter from management one Friday. He received a final notification of termination six days later. The final notification also indicated "the duties of the position were to be diluted amongst the remaining staff." Nelson said that these remaining staff have “already been put under tremendous pressure to drive sales and productivity without sufficient support.” Vic Books Manager, Juliet Blyth, stated that the redundancy was a result of structural changes at the business, explaining that declines in textbook sales had resulted in a need to make “savings and reductions whenever possible”. Despite being “student owned” through VUWSA, there is no student management and employees have outlined dissatisfaction with the current management of Vic Books.
Another former employee, and a current owner of another café, noted that at Vic Books, “the pressure is put on the manager to make money, not to run a sustainable café.” According to Nelson, Vic Books’ Board of Directors has had increasing involvement with the business over the past year, with a goal of putting the business back into financial stability and generating greater return on investment. He believes the increased involvement by the board of directors has instigated a series of damaging and unpopular changes - such as the change of milk and coffee suppliers. Nelson has said he hasn’t felt heard, with his opinions being met with “hostile deafness” by the management and the board. Another former employee, who has recently left the cafe, said “I think management at Vic Books is unsatisfactory on a lot of levels currently…there’s a severe lack of support and professionalism, and it is starting to drive lot of people away.” Blythe said “If staff have specific concerns I really do encourage them to speak with me directly, my door is always open.” 8
Politics MONDAY 23 JULY 2018
Political Round Up Pike River Mine Re-entry Concept Plan Presented to Families The re-entry to the Pike River Mine has been given a tangible plan, which has been presented to the victim’s families. On 14 July, Minister responsible for Pike River re-entry Andrew Little confirmed that the plan for re-entering the mine has been completed. The “concept plan”, devised by the Pike River Recovery Agency and Minister Little has been given to the families for their approval. He said that the plan gave numerous options for re-entry to the mine and was confident that the plan would receive the approval from the families. If approval is confirmed, re-entry is expected to commence at the end of this year, with the recovery process continuing until March 2019. Little stated that the running of The Pike River Recovery Agency and the re-entry of the mine is set to exceed the allocated budget by $12 million. This agency devised the plans for sign off by Little, but he had not told Cabinet that some options of re-entry would cost more than others. "We won't know exactly what the figures are until more detailed work has been done. I've briefed both Cabinet and the relevant Parliamentary Select Committee to expect it will cost more than we originally anticipated,” he said. Calls for Clearer Information About Biodegradable and Non-biodegradable Household Materials New research undertaken by the Ministry for the Environment has shown there needs to be more information available to the public regarding compostable plastics. The information, which was published as an online guide by The Parliamentary Commission for the Environment, highlights the common problems that families face when choosing environmentally friendly plastics. Currently, there is no regulations that force companies to disclose the materials that contain their products. The Ministry is currently looking into a certification or labelling regime for these products. Minister for the Environment Eugenie Sage stated that the process of “greenwashing” (false claims of environmental benefits) is an unfortunate consequence for New Zealanders wanting to make a difference to the
environment. “We need to design waste out of our economic system and create and buy products designed to have a long life, which can be easily disassembled so they can reused, recycled or composted,” Eugenie Sage said. The Commission has also called for a review into the infrastructure that deals with waste, with a possible reorganisation of the plants that treat waste and recycling to maximise a product’s sustainability. The Provincial Growth Fund Explained There is a significant amount of controversy surrounding the way that the “Provincial Growth Fund” is being spent. The $3 billion dollars is set aside by central government to increase productivity in provincial New Zealand. The New Zealand First Party negotiated this initiative when forming a coalition government after the 2017 elections. When it was launched on the 23rd of February, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones stated that the focus of this fund would be to create more employment opportunity for provincial citizens. But the nature of the expenditure of this fund has come under scrutiny. On the 12 July it was revealed that Mr Jones had invested money into a private trust and that the government was set to make a significant profit from the investment. Opposition parties have demanded an explanation by the Minister, stating this investment goes against all principles of the fund. "It's murky, it's been lacking in transparency and the basic principles of good governance," said National MP Paul Goldsmith. - Thomas Campbell
The Party Line "Given the Masterpiece Cakeshop case in the US and similar controversy recently in Auckland, should business be permitted use religious beliefs to refuse goods and services to queer people?" GREENS AT VIC The discussion has been focused around specialist business that sell a specific luxury good. However, this ignores the implications of a greater law that would allow all business to discriminate. In the case of the Auckland cake shop, the couple that were refused service had 9
many other options. The larger problem is how this would play out in other types of business in smaller towns where there is no other option. New Zealand’s economy is small, and lacks competition and supply of many goods and services. In small town contexts, many services only have a single provider. A small town with a single medical centre, they would have the right to refuse service to queer patients. Or an early childhood education centre could refuse to admit children with queer parents. The Human Rights Act exists to prevent this kind of discrimination, and the Auckland Warkworth Bakery violated it by refusing to serve a couple due to their sexual orientation. The Greens believe rainbow communities are entitled to equal rights, both in law, and in practice. - Mark Metcalfe & Marnie Hubmann ACT ON CAMPUS While ACT on Campus supports equals rights under the law, we believe government regulation can only go so far to stop discrimination. Social stigma is a much more effective force in punishing bigots for their choices to not serve certain individuals. Consumers are intelligent enough to decide for themselves who to support financially. VICLABOUR It’s within Labour’s values to be the most inclusive and supportive of human rights. There is a larger story here then just the Freedom of speech vs Human rights debate. It’s that when you favor religious freedom and the right to discriminate against queer persons – you’re damaging an entire community. Saying no to the cake is to participate in a system of dehumanization, exclusion and oppression which has affected the LGBTQ community for too long. It’s 2018 – no one should be told that we are refusing you of service because you’re you. This is not an anti-Christian stance. This is a pro-human rights stance. In the words of our friend Aaron "Jesus would bake the cake". Why? Because even a casual glance at this man’s life shows you that he was committed to the belief that all life was created equal.
Opinion MONDAY 23 JULY 2018
The Importance of Transparency for Queer Identities and Politics in Aotearoa KATE ASCHOFF
W
e’re sitting in a circle. All us queers on the floor, laughing, him quietly on the couch. “But hold up-” says Megan between chugging her drink, “we all voted Green right?!” The room erupts with laughs and screams in response, a big “yes” from everyone who’s oppressed for their gender and sexuality. But he shuffles uncomfortably. “Oh no, really?” – Megan responding to his silence. Which meant something I didn’t pick up on at first, something I thought must have been a joke. The quiet friend of a friend at this birthday party, was a National voter. Everyone shuffles uncomfortably but I try to look him in the eye and ask “Well, why?” He waves his arm, takes a sip of his drink and says he doesn’t want to talk about it. Everyone goes back to their own drinks and playing Uno. But I couldn’t get this encounter from early July out of my head, so here we are. I was shocked. To my knowledge, The Dude Sitting on The Couch, isn’t queer, but surely he’s someone who’s put thought into his own political processes, rather than having the answers handed to him, right? Everyone else at the party is queer, so if he’s an ally, he’s gotta be someone who thinks beyond his own experiences. A false assumption on my part, unfortunately. Inevitably, most people will vote for a party that supports their own current and existing needs. Take wealth and money for example. If you have it, you vote for the party that will keep it in your own pocket. If you have none, you vote for more money to be put into your own — and other’s — pockets. That’s just how it works, for now. Until people are ready to assess their own privileges and what others lack because of systematic and social oppression, which reinforces their own privileges, we can’t get governments and social systems that are good for us all. As queers often live in our own echo-chambers, we can be easily fooled by the goodwill and political alliance of others around us. When I’m in a queer space, I don’t need to question
it. The kind of queers I roll with live very similar experiences to me, and I know that we have very similar visions of what a thriving future for our community and country would look like. But we shouldn’t get too comfortable in these echo-chambers. We should be breaking out of them, and speaking freely about our lived experiences and how personal and national politics influence them, and continue offering questions and answers to the confusion that faces the queer community, our identities, and our national politics. I am, very transparently, a Green voter (until there’s a more anarchist/feminist party that aligns with my ideologies) — and I think now that we have a center left government system it’s important that we don’t get lazy in our politics. Just because we have SuperMum, Jacinda Ardern leading the country with her sidekick stay-at-home dad, Clarke Grayford looking after bubs, doesn’t mean we’ve peaked in political or social equality. The Labour party made a lot of statements about progressing Rainbow rights in Aotearoa pre their election but are yet to show concrete evidence of this from their time so far in government. We need to continue to wear our rainbow badges in public, tell people our pronouns, talk with mum and dad about bills going through Parliament, engage with people who don’t know what a gender neutral pronoun is or about HRT or what all the letters in LGBTQIA+ stand for or why it’s important to have them all there. It’s not a time to relax or assume. We still need our visibility and that means being transparent about our identity and national politics. It’s not enough for our allies to just support us when it suits them, and we need to let them know this. It’s not easy, I personally find it really scary and often isolating. But if we want to promote actual conscious, revolutionary, and systematic change before the next election, “We’re here, we’re queer – and our politics matter too” needs to be the forefront of each step we take.
10
Opinion MONDAY 23 JULY 2018
What is the Criteria for a Moko Kauae? NĀ ADAIR HOUIA-ASHWELL
Your decision may be influenced by the blessing of your whānau or kuia, or it may be a decision you make as a Māori woman. At the end of the day it is your fundamental right as a Māori woman to have one if you so choose.
What is the criteria for a moko kauae? I stupidly asked. This is a question I asked myself and fellow peers in my MAOR302 class after seeing on the news that a Pākehā woman, Sally Anderson, wore her moko loud and proud. This article isn’t about the merits of Anderson’s choice. I knew it was instinctively wrong; it was cultural appropriation at its best. But upon further inspection, I realised that I actually didn’t know the tikanga behind moko kauae. Is it only kuia (elderly women) that can receive them? Do you have to have some requisite knowledge in tikanga and te reo Māori first? Do you have to have a blessing from your own kuia, whānau, hapū, or even iwi first? What do you need to do to have the privilege of receiving a moko kauae?
The colonial belief systems had influenced me into believing that I must be a kuia, have an expert knowledge of tikanga and te reo Māori, have permission or have done some great mahi for my people in order to earn the privilege of wearing one. However, it is not a privilege to be earned, it is a right for myself and wāhine Māori as wāhine Māori. Tina Ngata articulated this point beautifully: “There are statements that infer, or outright declare, that Wāhine Māori should be examining their own behaviour or pathways before they take on moko kauwae. Statements that outline what is acceptable for a Wāhine mau moko to do, or what she MUST do now that she has taken up this birthright. Statements about how much Wāhine must achieve in other people's’ eyes, or how she must contribute to her community before she takes up her birthright.”
For those that don’t know, a moko kauae is a traditional Māori chin tattoo that is worn by Māori women. Growing up, I had only ever seen it on kuia. It was only a few years ago that I saw it on someone my own age (early 20s). Since then, I've seen it become more common among younger Māori women. Recently there was a story of 16-year-old Muriwai Hei who had chosen to receive one after careful consideration alongside her whānau. Initially, I thought this was odd. I had grown up believing that only the well-versed and elderly in tikanga and te reo Māori could receive one. That was the kind of “checklist” I thought you had to tick off before your own kuia granted you permission. Hei maybe well-versed in tikanga and te reo Māori but she is certainly not old. However, the “answer” or only “checklist” I found lies in what the moko kauae represents.
“There really is no way to make these kinds of statements without first making a judgement about Wāhine in general and that is… that in your natural state of Wāhine – you are not enough. That as a member of a line of Wāhine who descend down from Hina – you are not enough. That as a survivor of multiple generations of attempted genocide, as a survivor of this very specific battleground of settler colonial racism and patriarchy – you are not enough. That as a vessel for the continuation of our existence as Māori – you are not enough.”
The moko kauae is a physical manifestation of our whakapapa (genealogy) and as such is an affirmation of our whānau, hapū, and iwi, and acknowledgement of our tūpuna that came before us. Therefore, the only “requisite” is whakapapa. I suppose that answers Anderson’s question. As Leonie Pihema wrote: “In whatever process Māori women are engaged in, it is our right to wear moko kauae and it always has been … it is our fundamental right to wear the symbols of our ancestors”.
“And to that I say: E Hine, You ARE enough.” As wāhine Māori we are enough. I am enough. We are more than enough and that is all you “need” to have a moko kauae. Yourself. 11
News
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*
WHO KNOWS WHAT'S REAL ANY MORE?
Victoria University on a Sacking Rampage LIAM POWELL A consultation document released by Victoria University of Wellington reveals that the University intends to suspend all academic endeavours within the next two months, as it has come to the realisation that its education-based business model can be made more profitable by removing teaching staff and students from the equation. It is understood that recent attempts to close the School of Art History, Classics and Religious Studies provided inspiration for this bold move. “We saw that closing down the school would save us so much money, so we thought, hey, why not close them all down?” a senior University financial administrator told Salient, under condition of anonymity. “It turns out it’s really expensive to pay for all these nerds to buy sandals and write boring journal articles, so we thought we’d better just fire them all and keep the change.” With no one left to teach courses, Victoria is also closing its doors to students. This will benefit the University as it will save money on “unnecessary” expenditures, such as electricity and running water on campus. Although some view these changes as somewhat radical, not everything is set to change. The University will continue to advertise itself to international students and will raise fees for the 2019 academic year.
The University was asked how it planned to continue making money in the absence of any academia. However, the reply said that such plans “are commercially sensitive and not publicly available”. Salient asked this question in person to Vice-Chancellor Grant Guildford, who seemed happy to reply but also appeared less than certain. “I don’t know, maybe Bitcoin? Low effort property investment?” he mused, before jumping into a swimming pool of money, à la Scrooge McDuck. “We’ll just have to wait and see, I guess. Are Beanie Babies still worth something?” Victoria’s proposed streamlining is part of a growing trend of New Zealand universities prioritising profit over their statutory obligations to be the critic and conscience of society. The University of Auckland, having dismantled its art and architecture libraries, now seeks to transform itself into an investment bank. AUT now owns a string of sweatshops in Bangladesh, and Otago University is seeking new streams of revenue from organised crime. But according to Vice-Chancellor Guildford, there’s nothing to worry about. “It’s just business as usual.”
It's Vital Activism, Brent
A
SHANTI MATHIAS
new group called KABET United has been started by Karen Smith, who says that she “is sick of [her] name being used as a punchline”. KABET stands for Karen, Anna, Brent, Evan, and Tiffany, though Smith is also open to people with other names. “I’m not homophobic or racist,” said Evan Smythe, another member of the group. “I don’t want my name associated with that.” The group’s mission is to join forces to combat inappropriate and extraneous uses of their names. “There are better joke formats,” Smith explained. “You don’t need my name to be funny. Try to think before you speak.” KABET United currently only has a Wellington chapter, but they dream of more. “There are lots of people using in the name of KABETs in vain in the US,” said Tiffany Smithe, KABET’s secretary. “Once we’ve started to make inroads here,
hopefully we can expand and tackle the root of the problem.” The problem largely seems to be hurt feelings. “I can’t believe that people make assumptions about whole groups of people merely based on superficial facts,” said Anna Schmith. “It’s almost like discrimination.” KABET hopes to advocate themselves into obsolescence, knowing that their efforts to quell this joke format will not spur it on. “That’s the way it is, Shanti,” said Smith.
Updates on Kylie Jenner's Baby On Forbes calling Kylie Jenner a "self-made" millionaire – “kylie jenner a billionaire? big deal last night i got drunk and swam head first into the wall of my pool” - @dearjhonletter Salient still gives no shits about Kylie Jenner's baby. 12
Week in Tweets BUS FRENZY
MYSTERIOUS MUSKY MILLIONS On our new favourite show, Wellington Paranormal - “so far my main thought on #wellingtonparanormal is that I recognise everywhere they're filming *too well* and I'm going 'you called this show Wellington Paranormal but this is CLEARLY Lower Hutt'” - @sixthlight On the announcement of the Pop-Up Globe’s problematic allmale #MeToo season - “I support the Pop Up Globe's all male cast play after learning that the cast is actually all male cats and the play they're doing is the musical Cats performed by cats (male ones) #Cats #MaleCats” - @JeromeChandra On the successful Thai cave rescue - “when they make a movie about that thai cave rescue i hope they have elon musk milling around uselessly with his baby submarine in the background of a few scenes” - @shaun_jen On Trump’s… everything - “one of the weirdest things abt the maga hats is how ppl wear them to events that ppl don’t generally wear hats to. like “hey guys I know one typically doesn’t wear a red baseball hat to a wedding but there are a lot of ppl here I’ve never met and I want them to know I’m a dick”” - @KrangTNelson
“It’s new bus day! Fingers crossed all my public transport hopes and dreams aren’t crushed immediately under the wheels of harsh reality!” - @MaryFrancis110 “Good morning @metlinkwgtn is it true that if you are the first person on the top deck of the bus and you sit right at the front you are known as Captain of the Bus and are entitled to wear a fancy hat?” - @JeromeChandra “It's pretty clear why all the new Metlink buses have bike racks. It's because all the buses don't actually go near where people live or work now. You bike to the nearest incomplete bus stop and wait.” - @stevebiddle “Wellington bus changes got commuters acting like Sims when you delete their furniture while they’re using it.” - @kiwese “GUYS. DOUBLE DECKER BUSSES. IM SO FUCKING GIDDY. I LOVE BEING UP HIGH AAAAAAA PLEASE LET THE BUS I TAKETO WORK BE A DOUBLE. I WILL HAPPY CRY” - @ Cierafire
On the world’s first Rainbow Cable Car - “Cable Car Tunnel with pride colours still doing more for LGBTQIA+ students than VUW tbh” - @@johaganbrebner
Quiz
World Facts
1. Which hit Netflix show, released in February 2018 with the first episode “You Can’t Fix Ugly” has just confirmed production for its third season?
1. Arctic foxes can survive frigid temperatures and will only begin to shiver when it is -70˚ Celsius.
3. The leader of which country’s government refused to meet with President Donald Trump during his visit to their country, instead marching in a Pride Parade? a) England b) Scotland c) Wales
2. In Iceland, people are listed in the phone book alphabetically by their first name. 3. Germany is the biggest importer of blood, and Switzerland is the biggest exporter. 4. Wyoming only has 2 escalators in the entire state. 5. High School Musical was originally a Grease sequel.
4. Which “One Direction” singer made headlines, following comments at a concert that “we’re all a little bit gay, aren’t we?”
6. Mississippi only officially banned slavery in 2013.
5. A baker from Warkworth has been in the news after refusing to do what for a same-sex couple from Brisbane?
World Facts by Courtney Powell, Week in Tweets by Emma Maguire & Quiz by Alister Hughes
8. Researchers found that humans originally caught the common cold from camels. 9. In most non-English speaking countries, Dora The Explorer teaches children English instead of Spanish. 10. In 1991 the air in Mexico City was so polluted you could contract hepatitis and salmonella just by breathing it.
Quiz Answers 1. Queer Eye, 2. Scarlett Johansson, 3. b) Scotland 4. Harry Styles, 5. Bake a cake
2. Which actress has confirmed that they will no longer be playing a role as a transgender man after public backlash following casting?
7. The gaming industry makes more money than the film and music industries combined.
14
Letters
Send your letters to editor@salient.org.nz
Dear Salient
Dear Editor,
The wire shelf in the back room of subway, where I can hide from the camera, suddenly becomes a more comfortable place to sit with an issue of your fabulous magazine in hand. Although the oppressive humidity and smell of wet food is actively splicing into my dna, your weekly apathy to Kylie Jenner's baby really makes it all disappear. Cheers for making my minimum wage job less hellish.
I was attacked by the safe at my work today. This is the place where we put things to keep them safe (obvious in the name, I know), and as I reached in to count $2 coins it scraped two red lines down the back of my hand. Wounded by the thing we use to guard what we consider valuable. Injured by what was meant to act as a protective measure against thieves.
P.S: I'm pretty sure pork riblet has horse meat in it, so maybe stay away xx
Is this a metaphor for the world we now live in, or am I just pissed at the new, aching scratch on my hand?
Yours,
I do not know.
A Human-Sandwich Hybrid
Notices Careers events coming up this week
Amnesty at Vic bake sale
EY – Info session and CV check 24th July, 1-2pm, RHLT2 Commercial Comms Council – Graduate Programme 24th July, 5-7pm, HULT119 Ministry of Social Development – IT Graduate Programme 26th July, 12.50-1.50pm, MCLT102 Careers in Focus – Maths & Stats 26th July, 5.30 – 7.30pm, AM102
Come by the Hub on Monday 30th to show your support for refugees and get a FREE HOT DRINK when you sign our pledge in support of communityled refugee resettlement! We'll be selling delicious goodies to fundraise for Amnesty International's work promoting the rights of refugees worldwide, and we'd love to chat to you about what we can do to bring more people to safety in NZ! Visit iwelcome.org.nz for more info.
Sign up on www.victoria.ac.nz/careerhub Hurry places are filling fast!
Send your notices to editor@salient.org.nz $25,000 CLNZ Writers’ Award 2018 – call for entries New Zealand non-fiction writers, including those who write for an education audience, are invited to apply for a grant of $25,000 from Copyright Licensing New Zealand (CLNZ). The CLNZ Writers’ Award is offered to writers of any genre of non-fiction, including education works. The award enables the successful applicant to devote time to their writing project. We encourage non-fiction writers to consider applying for this award. Applications for the full range of non-fiction genre are welcome. Applications must be completed online by 4pm Friday 27 July 2018. To apply, or to find out more, visit www. copyright.co.nz/awards
"
s ' a n a D y t n u A Op Shop
Aunty Dana’s is an op shop the sits in 128 the Radical Social Centre. The shop raises money and provides a community for takatāpui, trans, and intersex people. Salient News Editor sat down with Kerry Donovan Brown, the manager, and Lola Elle Bellamy-Hill, a devoted volunteer.
T: Could you tell me how this op-shop differs from others in Wellington? K: A really beautiful thing for me is that we deliberately keep prices really low. Even if a really beautiful garment comes in that other op-shops might put on TradeMe or really put the price up. We will deliberately keep our prices really, really low because we want these beautiful things to be available for whoever comes in. Another thing that sets the shop apart I guess is that we don’t display the clothes as existing within the gender binary. You might notice that on this middle rack there are items that you would see in other shops categorised as male or female. They are just categorised by short sleeve or long sleeve or whether they are open at the front or the back. Growing up, I felt really ashamed sometimes if I drifted into the wrong section of Farmers or something. I think part of the warmth of the store and this space is that wherever you go, you’re accommodated.
Taylor: First of all I’m just curious about the organisation as a whole. How did this op-shop take off? Kerry: 128 the Radical Social Centre has been occupying this building for maybe 15 years. The history of this place could be written in a book, which would be wonderful if anyone was able to compile those stories. In terms of Aunty Dana’s, the shop is a collective of Gender Minorities of Aotearoa. It’s the vision of Ahi Wi-Hongi, the national coordinator for gender minorities: an op-shop that would raise money for takatapui, trans, and intersex people.
Lola: Definitely, the only thing that you missed out for me is that there is a strong familial sense in this establishment. I remember my first shift here; there was 16
Aunty Dana's Op Shop a couple, an Indian woman and a bunch of other people, and the entire rest of the afternoon was just us trying on clothes. I was like "Yo that shit looks super bomb on you”. It’s a very strong sense of family even though you don’t know these people. It thinks that's really fun and very distinctive. That’s very different from the American vintage shops on Cuba or even like the op-shops in Newtown. I think that's a very different experience that we offer.
ask, “Can I try these on?” and I’m like “honey, of course, it is!” One particular person said to me, “Thank you so much, I haven't ever been able to do this before”. That was a really tender moment for me. That expressing themselves in this way trying on these beautiful garments hadn’t been done in the light of day before. When you’re here and you witness someone cross through a threshold...
T: Have there been any challenges for the op-shop? L: It’s like watching a supernova explode behind someone's eyes. It’s astronomical and very spiritual in a sense.
K: Because we were specifically inviting takatapui, trans, and intersex people, we are dealing with a community of people that often are traumatised and often are generationally traumatised. What I mean is we didn’t want to do a conventional system for rostering, and we wanted the roster to be kind of flexible. Lola is amazing, she comes in consistently every, but other people have genuine difficulties, whether that is a neurological difference, whether that is trauma or anxiety. And those are the most important people to get in [to the shop].
K: I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but Lola is let’s say ten years younger than me, L: More like 30 but go off… K: Its just so staggering for me to see rangatahi who — their bravery and their spunk, they’re doing a lot of the heavy lifting. With their vividness, getting out into the world and being themselves is really staggering for me, someone who was really ashamed and afraid to express myself at 21. That’s something I am constantly moved by.
T: The touch of tea is so lovely, sort of like a motif in this building.
T: What is the best item you’ve found in the store?
K: That's part of the culture in 128, it's not unique to Aunty Dana’s. Part of the kaupapa of 128 is to be accommodating as possible to everyone, especially those who are marginalised.
K: The Patron Saint, and namesake, Aunty Dana, is Dana de Milo (Aunty Dana) this incredible trans women who passed away a few months ago. She was a There's a really nice amount of social opportunities for revolutionary; she really fought for the causes of love and LGBTQIA+ youth, but there aren't very many social joy. She left pretty much all of her worldly belongings to spaces outside of bar scenes, for older people. For a lot the shop… there are a few items of Dana’s that I was of youth groups, the cut off is between 26-30. So having able to inherit. Including this (Kerry touches their hand to space to host a regular social event for people advanced the scintillating jewel around their neck). in age has been so lovely. L: I’m a low-key brand hoe. So when I saw those T: Could you tell me about a positive experience or Lonely pants on the rack, I was like, “bitch that’s like $200 savings. I’m taking that. They’re thick, dark green memory you’ve had in this op-shop? corduroy with a patch on the waistline that says 'it’s all K: When you start considering gender identity, this in his kiss,' and your girl is a romantic hoe, so she was whole beautiful world opens up. And cross-dressing is like 'it’s gotta be'". a way of expressing that. People who might identify as trans or even as nonbinary but they enjoy dressing up in K: I hate snobbery when it comes to fashion. I think the clothes that don’t conventionally belong to their body. best part of fashion is doing what you like and what There have been a couple of occasions where I've been makes you feel good. here, and we’ve had visitors quietly looking around, and will collect a bunch of clothes and sort of sheepishly L: Confirmed. No Supreme fuck-boys in here. 17
A BALLAD TO ENDING NOSTALGIA BY ARTURO LÓPEZ
“Our life is a story,” I remember being told, while engaging in the extensive oral tradition of my hometown, “a series of stories”. It is no coincidence that the word historia applies to both documented history and fairytales, as they both involve a level of curating events and experiences to create a coherent narrative. Of the many narratives that have dominated my life, whether it be sex, race, gender, or trauma, it seems a large overarching theme is they can all be traced back to the mountains of South Mexico, the place where I spent my childhood, and where I packed my bags with no choice but to leave. Even at the time, I was mature enough to understand my life would change in unimaginable ways, and eventually the foreign would become normal as time passed through no will of my own. One thing I did not expect, however, would be that from that moment on, my hometown would become a figment of my imagination, constructed and reconstructed by my memories and experiences. Every time I came to tell a new story about it, and every time I attempted to recollect its essence, it would become different from reality, even if only slightly; this place in my head was static and fictive while the real place continued to exist without me, with countless of other stories at its feet that I could never fathom alone. This is something my immigrant friends could relate to. Some of them romanticised their point of origin until it was unrecognisable, while others mourned their perceived lack of belonging, considering themselves outsiders in any place of the world. Still others, with wounds still fresh from leaving when they experienced the harshness of the outside world, mirror colonial attitudes towards their home countries. I also did not know until after I left that in almost every place in the world, no society would accept me for who and how I love, just as I did not wholly understand that four hundred years ago my ancestors did not divide themselves into man and woman, but into their own ways of understanding the world (is it too heavy-handed if I point out four hundred years means eternity in Nahuatl?). Today we still have many of the same identities, yes, but they are no longer mine to claim, and even if they were, violence has made us silence them, and I would have to live in the shadows. Now I find myself awkwardly existing between two material realities, unable to pick between my indigenous identity and the one forced upon me. I was also not warned that my peers would reject me and violently discriminate against me. There was no way I could expect the years of self hatred that grew out of this new country; unable to look at mirrors in shame,
while also being horrified of what I was destined to be. I forced my foreign accent out of my tongue and drained out all the femininity I could from speech and mannerisms because otherwise I would be mocked to the ground, just as I lightened my skin in photos, avoided the sun, and hid my face with my hands and a hoodie to avoid being perceived as who I was. But one day my life in my hometown will start again and every story I have ever told of it, and everything I have learned about it, will materialise before me into reality. I will come to love manual labour when I dig out the old roots in my ancestral home’s garden, and plant gardenias and carnations like I always wanted. I will live with four generations of my family and their way of life will become mine again. I will eat the fruits from the trees my parents and my grandparents planted many years ago. I will dance in the park with others where live music is played daily for us to indulge in; I know I will cry into my shoes but eventually they will dry. My rusted speech will be as colourful as it was in my youth, and if anyone finds the standard Mexican accent that I adopted after leaving, I will lie and say I was only educated in another city, not caring if they believe me. When I visit the shrines of my ancestors, I will weep, as it is long overdue; at first quietly like I have learned to do, but then the I will wail unashamed from all the pain I’ve gathered. I know everyone is sick of sad writings by the diaspora but this is more than that; this is a eulogy to my grandmother’s traditional singing as she sat over my bed waiting for me to sleep, this is a poem about the blood of my ancestors that spilled over the earth when the Spanish displaced my heritage, this is an epitaph to the surgery I finally received on my face after years of feeling too ugly for the coloniser’s standard. This is a xochicuicatl, a lyric piece decorated in flowers and feathers, dedicated to a place I do not know if I can call home because of the way my identities conflict with how I’d like to be treated. It will be too late, but one day my hometown will cease to be magical, and will be a fully fledged entity with problems of its own. I will know who I am and who we were, I will relearn the indigenous language that I forgot, failed to learn. It will no longer be a place of resentment or hope, as I will run out of things to regret and my checklist will be full. Even if my hometown breaks my heart, I won’t care, for I will have buried my dreams and myself in its cemetery. And one day, I will leave again, this time with a new story in my head. One where my grandchildren will know of a world that loves them better than I did, and where home is wherever I build it. 19
The Elusive History of Intersex As many as 2% of the population may be considered intersex. You have lectures with intersex people, you’ve sat next to intersex people on the bus, hell, you probably have three or four people who could identify as intersex among your facebook friends. But if it’s that common to be intersex, why aren’t we aware of them? CALLUM MACRAE
Female
Male
Sex Chromosomes
XX
XY
Gonads
Ovaries
Testicles
Gametes
Eggs
Sperm
Genitals
“Typical” vagina, vulva, uterus
“Typical” penis, scrotum (with descended testes)
Secondary sexual characteristics
Broad hips, breasts and/or mammary glands, etc
Broad shoulders, Adam’s apple, increased facial and body hair, etc
Firstly, let’s find out what intersex means. In our binary sex model, a male or a female has these characteristics, shown in the table above.
The term intersex has taken nearly a century to gain traction within the medical community. However, accounts of intersexuality exist all throughout history, from the mythic to the mundane. Ancient Greece had the god Hermaphroditus, from whom we gained the word hermaphrodite, depicted as a figure with broad hips, breasts, and a penis. Worship of Hermaphroditus possibly originates from an even more ancient worship of Ardhanārīśwara, a composite of the Hindu deities Śiva and Pārvatī, with a body comprising of both male and female halves.
While the definitions for what is and isn’t classed as intersex are controversial, the general idea is if someone can’t tick all the boxes in one column, or ticks boxes from both columns, they are intersex. Intersexuality can be the result of differences in sex chromosomes (for example XXY or XO) exposure to hormones during development, or due to mutations in genes associated with sex hormones (for example Androgen Insensitivity, or Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia). 21
The Illusive History of Intersex The word “hermaphrodite” used to describe intersex people goes back at least as far as Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis Historia, published in 79 AD. “There come into the world children of both sexes in one, whom we call Hermaphrodites”. Pliny also wrote that an older term existed: “androgyni”, from which we derive the word “androgynous”. Around this time Buddhist texts describing “napumsaka-pandaka”, or those not male or female were written; as well as the Indian medical journal Caraka-Samhitā’s description of both “dviretas” (people with ambiguous genitalia) and “vatikasandha” (likely to mean XY individuals with undescended testicles or streak gonads).
pseudohermaphrodites had only testicular tissue. These classifications were regardless of what a person’s body looked like, and was based entirely on the gonads. Klebs believed in absolutes when it came to biology, and so he defined sex in such terms, declaring that if someone has ovaries they must be some form of female, even if they were in fact born without a uterus, and had genitals similar to a penis. This also meant the majority of people that could be classed as hermaphroditic by Saint-Hilaire were now classified as abnormal males or females by Klebs. As more was discovered about sex determination throughout the late 19th and early 20th century, the new findings were defined in such a way to reinforce this idea that there exists two sexes, and that uncommon physiology should still be adapted to fit within this binary framework.
The term “intersex” was coined in 1917. Prior to that, intersex people were referred to as “hermaphrodites”, which is now considered an offensive term. In England until the mid-1800s, intersex people were considered a separate sex, and the law applied to them depending on the “kind of sexe doth which prevaile”.
Around this time, the European colonists were arriving throughout Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the Pacific. A broad range of cultural perspectives on sex and gender, as well as medicine as a whole, were replaced by the dominant Western approach to medicine. Western medicine, particularly in this era, while moving away from religious teachings, was still very heavily influenced by the Christian cultural values inherent to much of Europe. Systems like Navajo’s five gender and three sex model, or India’s Hijra, were replaced by the binary ideologies of Christian missionaries and Western colonists.
If we’ve known about intersex people for so long, and they are so common in society, why is it that the existence of these people comes as a surprise to so many today? The answer lies in science and medicine during the 19th and 20th century. It was only after French zoologist and developmental biologist Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire’s 1837 work Histoire Générale et Particulière des Anomalies de l’Organisation Chez l’Homme et les Animaux, a foundational treatise on birth defects, that intersex conditions really received any kind of thorough medical description in the west. Saint-Hilaire described sex as consisting of three physiological components: the first being gonads, (either ovaries or testicles); the second being the internal accessory glands, (uterus or prostate and seminal vesicles); and the third being the external genitalia, (a penis and scrotum, or vulva and clitorus). This essentially allowed for several distinct categories of sex, of which two are the most common. Sounds like a fantastic and inclusive description right? It is, until you realise that “hermaphroditism” was one of his six major teratological classes. The word teratology coined by Saint-Hilaire himself, literally means “the study of monsters”. Framing intersex people as aberrations was entirely unnecessary, as many conditions allowed people to live relatively normal lives. While Saint-Hilaire’s intentions were to demonstrate that people who were born “monsters” were not supernatural, but natural, in origin, the name did little to reduce the stigma against people who were born with deformities or uncommon body types.
In the early 20th century, Hugh Hampton Young, and his team at John Hopkins Hospital were pioneering surgery techniques for the genitals and urinary tracts. Initially these kinds of surgeries were only performed on adults wishing to improve genital function, but soon the techniques were being performed on children with urogenital conditions. One case in particular made “normalization” surgeries more common. David Reimer, who had a surgically formed vagina created after a botched circumcision, was “successfully” raised as female. New Zealand born sexologist John Money, who oversaw the conversion of David Reimer and referred to him as John/Joan in his reports, used the case to argue his theory of gender neutrality, that gender is largely the result of how one is raised. If a person is given certain genitals, and raised in accordance with that genital configuration, they will develop a healthy gender identity. This idea persisted for decades, leading to thousands of unnecessary procedures. Doctors were telling parents that their children needed surgery, and that the children should not be told that they received the surgery, instead being raised as the “gender” assigned by the surgeon. This gender was usually “female” because surgically it was easier to form a vagina, than attempt to create a penis, or as the popular quip among urogenital surgeons at the time goes, “It’s easier to dig a hole, than build a pole”.
About forty years later, Edwin Klebs reduced the number of intersex categories to three: True hermaphrodites were those with both ovarian and testicular tissue, female pseudohermaphrodites had only ovarian tissue, and male 22
The Illusive History of Intersex Oftentimes, normalisation surgery has detrimental effects on the recipients, including gender dysphoria, body image issues, and a decreased sensitivity in the genitals, leading to sexual dysfunction. The sensitivity of the genitals was not of major concern to many surgeons at the time, with patients sometimes receiving complete clitorectomies, essentially a “female circumcision”. The reasoning, as put by a Lancet medical journal article in 1984 is as follows: “We recommended a change to the female sex, because the penis was so tiny that a normal sexual life in the male role seemed most unlikely, whereas ‘fertile’ life in the female sex was clearly possible”. The sexual role of women, and thereby intersex people assigned female, was a receptive one, rather than an active, pleasurable one. The case of David Reimer was eventually revealed to not have been the success that John Money wrote about in his reports. Despite being raised as female, David reverted back to a male identity, received a number of re-reassignment procedures, and lived his entire adult life as male. The damage was already done though, and thousands of surgeries had been performed based on the glowing success story that was the John/Joan case. Money’s ideas about surgery and gender identity had changed substantially since his reports.
Today paediatric normalisation surgery is discouraged, unless the formation of the genitals is likely to cause pain, discomfort or disease; and intersex advocacy is gaining traction. However there’s still a long way to go. In practice, a lot of these surgeries still take place. Intersexuality is still a bit of a medical secret – something hidden from general society, by doctors and parents, leading to shame among intersex people for not looking like the rest of the world. Science is a cultural endeavour, as much as we would like to think it isn’t. What we study is based on what our existing beliefs about the world are. Science exists as a way to observe the truth, but how we interpret it, and our definitions based on those observations are entirely human constructions. If our scientific and medical definitions are subjective, then we need to consider how they affect the world. We can incorporate intersexuality into our definitions of sex, and in doing so benefit everybody. It’s not an abandonment of biological “truth”, because intersex people’s existence is biological truth.
WHAT IS YOUR PASSION? Is it languages, cultures and literature, the creative arts, cultural anthropology, history in practice or international relations and political science? Find out where your passion can take you at Victoria’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Postgraduate Information Evening.
When:
5pm, Wednesday 25 July
Where:
Maclaurin Lecture Theatre 103 (expo to be held in the Te Toki a Rata foyer)
RSVP:
Email fhss-enquiries@vuw.ac.nz with ‘Postgraduate’ in the subject line by Monday 23 July
victoria.ac.nz/fhss-postgrad-evening
Queer Speak & Straight-Talking GATES HENDERSON
CW: sex, genitals, talk of misgendering Andrew: So when did you become a vegan? Ben: When I met my wife. You? Andrew: Oh, when I met my partner. He’s vegan, too. Even though neither of them said so explicitly, both Andrew and Ben have revealed their sexualities to each other. Language allows us to paint a gendered and sexualised picture of our lives without obviously doing so. Language both constructs and reflects the social world we live in. For a long time, a lot of feminist and queer activism has centred around showing how the way we talk embodies the use of power against women and queer minorities. The most obvious examples are slurs used against queer people. While slurs are concerning for queer people, it’s not the only issue. There are other linguistic practices beyond just directly insulting people that affect our lives. I want to give you a whirlwind, mini-tour of some linguistic and conversational practices that both reflect and perpetuate the norms of heterosexuality and cissexuality. 27
Queer Speak & Straight-Talking The heteronormative presumption
the conversation stayed on topic and the woman didn’t have to explicitly come out. Now the ball is in the other person’s court with regards to whether they want sexuality to become a topic of discussion.
For the uninitiated, heteronormativity refers to the fact that society presumes heterosexuality is the default. Heterosexuality is treated as normal and anything else is… well, not. For example, if we don’t call it “gay marriage”, or “gay sex”, generally people would assume that the marriage and sex is straight. But that’s just word play. Gay sex IS gay sex, it's just descriptive to say so, right? Maybe. How could we see this heterosexist presumption in action? A way might be to just record people naturally talking about lesbians in their everyday lives. Conversation analytic researchers recorded the phones calls of lesbians with customer service providers, where the service providers only knew (or guessed from the voice) that the person on the phone was a woman. They found out that there was an indirect assumption made that the woman was straight. When these women identified their partners as "partner" or "spouse", the service provider would use a masculine reference term (either a pronoun or words like husband) in reference to them.
Even though there are ways to get around it, the heterosexist presumption often forces queer people into conversational situations where they have to decide whether to disrupt what is happening to “come out” or not. The interesting thing is that straight people come out without disrupting social interaction all the time. I can hear all your brains whirring. “Straight people don’t come out. What are they coming out of?” Straight people most definitely do come out. There are so many ways that straight people use their language and behaviour to make sure it's known that they are, in fact, straight people. But thanks to that heteronormative presumption they can do it without stirring up conversational trouble. For example, whenever someone who is recognised as a man refers to their wife, they are making clear that they are straight. In fact, in many places in the world today if you mention that you are married at all you will be assumed to be heterosexual due to marriage being restricted to straight couples legally, or uncommon among gay couples. What this shows is that in the world of romance, straight people have the privilege of invisibility where gay people have to work to for the same normality, even in the tiniest details of conversation.
You may think that these instances are mundane and insignificant. Why don’t we just ignore it and move on? Why didn’t we correct them at the time? Often the answer to these questions is that people who have been misidentified as straight just don’t want to make their personal lives the topic of discussion when trying to organise a dental appointment or car insurance. LGBTQIA+ people are often chastised for “pushing their sexuality down others’ throats” when they are seen to be making some normal thing about them and their homosexuality. This means queer people are constantly negotiating whether to stand up for themselves and become the topic of discussion, or just deal with being misrepresented in our social interactions. Our conversation analysts have studied this negotiation as it plays out in conversation, in order to see the practical ways it's managed. They saw the women do three things: do nothing and remain misidentified, openly correct the error, or correct the error in a subtler way. When they would openly correct the error, whatever they were doing before (organising insurance, for example) stopped happening and the talk turned to the relationship of the woman caller. This means correcting the heterosexist presumption is highly disruptive to what's just naturally going on, and it opens the way for someone to claim that the topic was changed unnecessarily to sexuality. But, sometimes the women would let the initial error go uncorrected only to specifically gender her partner the next time they referred to them. Maybe they might refer to their incorrectly gender spouse by name or just drop that the service is for her wife. Doing things that way avoided the disruption to the current activity;
Heterosexuality is talked onto our bodies Another place where heteronormativity comes out is in the way people talk about bodies. We use language to define human bodies, and within the category of human bodies we define male and female bodies. But it's not like the universe planned out discrete body types of human: male and female. We humans came up with those words to describe a distinction in body types based on what we (more accurately, someone a bajillion years ago) thought was most relevant: sexual reproduction. For example, what actually is an opposite sex? No one really thinks that males and females are opposites, right? Like, penises and vaginas aren't opposite in anyway, they're just... different things that bodies have, that do different stuff. The idea that the sexes are “opposite” invokes a certain reciprocity, or complementariness. Rather than body types (or more accurately, genital configurations) just being bodies in their own right, calling them opposite implies they go together a certain way. This complementary opposition is demonstrated in how we talk specifically 28
Queer Speak & Straight-Talking about genitals and the words we use for sexual activity. A study of dictionary definitions (both standard and medical) of different genital terms revealed that on average definitions tended to highlight the function of genitals as sexual with penises for penetration and vaginas acting “as a receptacle for the penis in coitus” (from the Collins Dictionary of Medicine, 1992), while tending to minimise other functions (like birthing in the case of vaginas). These definitions obviously and explicitly implicate bodies as sexually optimised for heterosexuality, and deny their function in homosexual sex.
is the primary determiner of gender (male or female) with cultural gender roles acting as "coats" hung over it, giving males and females specific, culturallydetermined shapes. Transgender language inverts the coat-rack model by saying that self-recognised gender is primary and the body is where one can express their gender. One linguistic practice employed by transgender men is to refer to their genitals with masculine terminology (for example, they may describe their clitoris as a dick). The reasoning is, "men have dicks. I'm a man. So, I have a dick". This puts their masculine identity in precedence over their body. Another strategy used is to refer to genitals with gendered affixes, for example a trans man might have a boycunt, and a trans woman might have a girldick. This effectively represents "cunts" and "dicks" as ungendered, and it's the gender of the individual person that makes their genitals belong to a man or woman. Both of these naming strategies challenge the cissexual assumption of the direct link between bodies and gender.
The Cissexual Presumption Heterosexuality is not the only thing talked onto our bodies. There is also what we may call the cissexual presumption. Cissexual refers to those people who identify with the typical ascription of gender to the body, i.e., a man born with a penis, or a woman born with a vagina, is cis. The cissexual presumption, like the heterosexual presumption, is the unspoken normality of this gender/body linkage. When people talk about men's bodies/women's bodies, or men's health/women's health, they leave unsaid what exactly a man's body or women's health entails and people rely on normative assumptions to understand what is meant. Consider when Cosmopolitan gives advice on "how to please your man". The advice is often given under the assumption that the “man” has a standard penis.
Does it really matter if a person is a husband or wife when organising car insurance? Well, yes, because insurance companies will often have different policy regarding male and female drivers (rightly or wrongly). Does it matter whether men and women are really opposite sexes? Well yes, because if you describe a man to then think women are opposite, then you're excluding women from a whole bunch of traits, behaviours, and experiences you just described men as having.
Misgendering, or identifying someone as a gender they are not, highlights the cissexual presumption. When we determine what gender someone is, people really only have their visual perception of the body and its presentation to make the judgement. Lots of trans people experience misgendering due to assumptions about their body and what it means for their identity. Trans women may be gendered as men possibly due to facial stubble or broader shoulders, or trans men as women possibly because of their height or voice. Referring to someone with these features as he or she respectively demonstrates the cissexual presumption being made, that those features are linked to their identity as men and women.
Words are how we make, and make sense of, the world. Changing those words can often have the power to change the world, for ourselves and many others.
Methods of disruption Much like with lesbians' correction of the heterosexist presumption, trans people (and in fact many cis people who get misgendered, too) have to make decisions about how they talk about their bodies in order to manage the perception of their gender. The cissexual presumption depends on the “coat rack” model of gender, which says that one’s physical body 29
Columns
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS
VUWSA
MARLON DRAKE
GEO ROBRIGADO
I have an interesting problem that pops up quite a bit in my job — I’m not fully comfortable speaking on issues that don’t reflect my experience. A big focus of mine is trying to get people who want change into the room themselves, but this is not always possible. When it comes to issues affecting the LGBTQIA+ community, I probably struggle the most. But it’s my job to advocate, and I’m going to share with you how I try to stay on the right track.
Disclaimer: This is the very first time I am discussing my sexuality in public so please bear with me. One of my brother’s favourite shows to watch on Netflix is Queer Eye. One night as I got home quite late, I caught him watching the Season 2 finale, the one where the Fab 5’s “client” is Ted Terry, the 34year old Mayor of Clarkston, Georgia. What jumped out at me from this episode was when Mayor Ted said, “[we] just need to let five gay guys into our lives and see what happens.” While he was referring to his “makeover,” I knew very well what Mayor Ted was talking about.
First, don’t be a dick. As well as being generally good life advice, it’s especially relevant here. If someone tells you their pronouns, just use them! You don’t have to “get it”, you don’t have to make someone explain themself. It’s far easier to just respect someone’s request. I get this one wrong all the time too, but the world isn’t going to end if you refer to someone as “they”, “he”, or “she” because they ask.
When I was a teenager, I struggled with my own sexuality. I knew I was attracted to both boys and girls but I struggled accepting the fact that I am bisexual, not only because it made me so confused but also because I feared the rejection from a family and a society that is deeply Catholic and conservative. I carried that apprehension with me to university, until I met an openly gay guy who eventually became my very best friend.
Second, try learn something. It’s okay to not understand someone’s perspective, but if your lack of understanding is causing problems, you should try learn a little bit more. This doesn’t mean using somebody as a learning resource (unless they are happy with that). A Google search might do as well.
At first I just wanted to treat this person as merely my classmate. But as I got to know him more, our relationship blossomed from being classmates to being friends until we became more like brothers with different mothers. And as our bond became stronger, I slowly started to realise that I am slowly being liberated from the fears I had connected with my own sexuality. Now, while I don’t publicly talk about my sexuality, I am no longer apprehensive to discuss it. My gay best friend worked his magic to create a stronger, more confident Geo.
Finally, if you get something wrong, just take it on the chin. If you drop the F or T bomb, and someone calls you out on it, a sincere “Yeah fair enough, sorry team” is fine. You don’t have to spend half an hour justifying yourself because mate, and you know who you are, everybody just wants you to shut up and move on. I hope this advice is helpful. It’s really not hard stuff, and I think you’ll find that if you apply these tips everything starts to make a bit more sense. It’s not about politics or ideology, it’s about respecting people.
That’s why when I heard Mayor Ted say those words in the episode, I smiled. Because I didn’t just know what he meant by “see what happens”. I actually saw what happened – a colourful life and a very different Geo.
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Columns
NT: TE ARA TAUIRA
ACCESS DENIED
ARIEL MCLEAN-ROBINSON
LILLI STREET
Takatāpui and “found whānau”
On Being Disabled And Queer
It can be hard when you’re told your whole life that Māori aren’t or can’t be gay, whether it comes directly from relatives, or simply through lack of representation of people like you in both your Māoriness and your LGBTQIA+-ness. Finding out about takatāpui can be some kind of revelation: a word, made specifically to describe the intersection of being Māori and queer. A way to celebrate how your identities intertwine, in the face of people who want you to think they clash.
Disability — as I have defined in Salient earlier this year — is a diverse and complex phenomenon, reflecting an interaction between an individual and their environment. In Western society, ableism and accessibility issues arise in many situations. One might think that within the queer community that might change, as I (in my own experience) have found the community to be welcoming and accepting of diversity. Despite this, queer disabled people often still face discrimination and accessibility issues within their interactions with other queer people.
Most literature on takatāpui are encouraging of whānau involvement; being out to whānau, speaking from a takatāpui perspective on iwi matters. But this is not always an option. It can feel like the only perspectives are that queer Māori either do not exist, or that Māori are somehow more homophobic than Pākehā, and the idea that because of the cultural focus on whānau and iwi, they have to accept you no matter what. These two extremes forget that most of us fall in the middle. Māori are not more homophobic than Pākehā, but we are not necessarily less either, and sometimes we have specific nuances that make dealing with homophobia different to Pākehā rainbow folx. Queerness is falsely seen as a colonial construct; hypermasculinity (the natural enemy of the gay) has become entrenched into Māori manhood; and Christianity (along with the ills that go with it) have been entrenched into Māoritanga. This means that “found whānau” is one of the biggest resources for takatāpui there is, and it is a sorely underutilized one. If found family is a huge part of queer culture, and whānau is a huge part of Māori culture, then it doesn’t makes sense for us not to make our own version. I say we should.
Many people consider disabled people to be “other”, and often discard their personhood over their impairments and how society disables them. Unfortunately, this can extend into the queer community. Take Wellington’s most well-known gay bar, Ivy. Despite being a friendly environment, it is only accessible by stairs, leaving people with mobility aids unable to frequent the bar. It’s also very small and becomes uncomfortably crowded and loud on busy nights. That said, Ivy is just one example of an inaccessible space. Another part of being queer and disabled is navigating relationships. Romantic and sexual relationships with disabled people are seen as unwanted, due to the social stigma of disability. However, disabled people exist on the spectrums of sexuality and gender. No matter how a disabled person identifies, their needs and wants are still valid. With all that said, many disabled people have found acceptance and accessibility within the queer community. Being queer and disabled can be tough, but there are people in the community who welcome everyone with open arms.
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QUEER IN FOOTBALL
BUKLOD VUW
MIIA VAN BEUSEKOM
GEO ROBRIGADO AND DENNIS SABAC-GO
Football has been a huge part of my life as long as I can remember. I remember playing in the front yard and local park with my siblings, watching tapes of World Cup games my Opa had recorded, and many, many years of playing for various clubs in the Hutt region. I’d always struggled to connect with my teammates, and it wasn’t until after I came out that I began to realise why. Through the entire time I’ve been playing, masculinity and heterosexuality have been the taken for granted by coaches and teammates alike, and it has never been unusual to hear people question in misogynistic and generally less than polite terms, others’ masculinity, or throw homophobic slurs at opposition and teammates alike. Even now, as a coach of a young team, I hear similar things from young players and other coaches, which I find incredibly discouraging. This has made footballing spheres a less than comfortable space for me, as a queer transgender woman, to participate in without hiding my own identity, and consequently, it has become harder and harder for me to enjoy the time I spend playing football. Having never come out to any of my teammates, and hiding my identity from parents and children, it is hard to say how any would react to me coming out. No doubt some would be supportive, but it is just as certain that some will not be, and that some may even become hostile. Recently I’ve discussed with friends the idea of a queer football team, and while I would much prefer to play football with people I can get along well with, it is hard to view the possibility of putting together such a team and being able to play in a safe and non-controversial way with much optimism, especially in light of the way transgender athletes are being villainized in the media. There is hope for improvement though, and one must hope that it comes soon enough to take advantage of.
Sa loob ng Bahaghari (Inside the Rainbow) According to legends of the Igorot people, a very powerful tribe living in the northern mountains of the Philippines, the bahaghari (rainbow) is a road from the sky that the god Lumawig built for his wife and child so that they could visit a man on Earth without difficulty. Because the road was built out of love, it became beautiful and colourful. In most Philippine mythologies, the rainbow is associated with love. That is why it is saddening that the members of the Rainbow Community in the Philippines are not accorded with the same love as the rainbows of folk legends. While most Filipinos tolerate the presence of the LGBTQIA+ community in the country, they are usually alienated from mainstream society, and relegated to “second-class citizens”. The Philippines is the largest Christian nation in Asia, and one of the largest Catholic countries in the world. Fundamentalist Christians in the country view queerness as a sin, and usually would be the first to throw stones at the Rainbow Community. Because of this, many queer Filipinos, particularly the young ones, find themselves struggling on a daily basis. Coming out, or even accepting one’s own queerness is always a gamble, because being rejected from families and society is a real possibility. Aside from the Catholic Church, the Filipino Rainbow Community has also faced difficulties in dealing with the government and policymakers. President Rodrigo Duterte has been flip-flopping in his stance on marriage equality. Boxer Manny Pacquiao, a junior member of the Senate, called gay people “worse than animals”. And even the very first transgender legislator, Geraldine Roman, dropped her support of marriage equality in the name of political survival. For most queer Filipinos, being inside the rainbow is a struggle, especially as the sources of oppression are institutionalised. But the solidarity within the rainbow is very strong and members find solace in each other. Despite these struggles, it is still beautiful sa loob ng bahaghari. 32
Talking With My Dad About Sex Hi I’m Lena. My Dad is a sex therapist and I’m studying to be a sex educator – we’re here to talk relationships and sex, so send your queries and worries our way (sex@salient.org.nz).
One thing I would keep in mind when psyching yourself up to talk to a friend in this situation is that though this conversation may seem daunting, you are also saying to them that they are lovely and you enjoy being around them. It’s true that some people won’t take you needing to set boundaries well, but those who are understanding and respectful of your needs are the people you want to keep in your life anyway.
Question: "I’m a 19 year old girl who identifies as lesbian and I’m struggling with how affectionate some of my female friends can be with me. I can get flirty or even romantic vibes from them and find myself developing feelings, this a bit of an issue since they are straight. How could I mention these situations to my friends and still keep them as friends?”
Dad says: This is a tricky situation for anyone, and there are all sorts of ways to deal with it. We all have friends at different levels of intimacy. So for your “inner circle” I think you want to always try and be as open as possible. Sharing is what makes them your close friends. So being real with them is important.
Lena says: Ooo yep, you are certainly not alone in this struggle! Speaking to queer friends, and having been in somewhat similar situations with male friends as a hetero female, the majority of us chose the “keep the feelings to myself” option and that is totally valid — especially if you don’t feel comfortable mentioning the impact of their behaviour on you. However I did find that this choice led to prolonged suffering. So if you are able to be honest with your friends, I would encourage you to take the time to talk it through with them.
Something like this, maybe: "Hey this is kinda awkward but y’know when you put your arm around me like that/make a joke like that/…. It’s a bit much for someone who’s attracted to women. I love that you don’t make a thing about me being queer, but is it okay if I tell you when things like that happen? I don’t want anything to complicate our friendship." I think with people who are less close you can just say “Hey, that’s a bit too touchy for me” or “That makes me feel uncomfortable” – without having to explain why. We are all entitled to set our personal boundaries where we want. You can also sometimes create more distance over time in a friendship without talking about it just by being more distant and reserved yourself.
Sadly our society is still deeply heteronormative, which means it may actually be more important or necessary for you to articulate your feelings to your female friends. I say this because this notion of being straight as the default means the boundaries your hetero friends have with you are likely to be less clear than the boundaries that they set with their male friends. Basically, it’s really bloody hard to avoid feelings if your friends are giving you very similar signals to the signals they give people they are romantically interested in. So if you can, speaking to your friends is going to clarify your confusion, and perhaps even encourage your friends to examine how deeply their behaviour may operate on the assumption that everyone around them is straight.
The other approach is to remember that feelings are just feelings. If for some reason you don’t feel it’s safe or appropriate to name the impact of their behaviour on you, then don’t. It’s okay to have feelings of attraction to people who aren’t available or suitable and just not act on them. Not always easy but just one of the facts of life. 33
Columns
MAURI ORA
POSTGRAD INFORMER
CATHY STEPHENSON
TAYLOR COONEY
An estimated 1.2% of youth identify with a gender that is different from the sex assigned to them at birth. A further 2.5% are unsure of their gender identity. That equates to around 3,800 people aged 10-24 in Wellington. Being gender diverse is not an “illness”, an orientation, or a choice, but this community has disproportionately higher rates of mental and physical illness than average — in all likelihood resulting from facing marginalisation by society, and limited access to good quality health services and supports. The team at Mauri Ora are aware of how disadvantaged this community has been in terms of equitable health care access, and has been working hard to lead the way in how health teams can do this better. Over the last 3 years we have: • Formed a working group with representatives from Vic’s sex and gender diverse community, as well as interested healthcare providers – this group meets regularly and has informed many changes at MO, including our gender neutral toilet signs, rainbow bunting in the waiting-room, changes to our registration forms, and training of all our staff. • Employed an outreach-nurse, Tara, whose portfolio includes the care and support of the rainbow community at Vic. • Enabled students wishing to officially change their name or gender to access funding from student financial services to assist with these costs. • Started a pilot clinic based at Mauri Ora, enabling gender diverse patients wishing to “medically transition” to be cared for here, rather than in hospital. This process encompasses affirmative support visits and working towards informed consent. The early signs are that this clinic is working really well, and after formal evaluation later in the year, we are really hopeful we will get ongoing funding so that this can be a regular feature at Mauri Ora. Note at present, the clinic cannot accept new referrals, but we are more than happy to meet with you and talk through your options at any stage. • For more information, contact Tara on 022 035 8131 or tara.lewis@vuw.ac.nz
Kia Ora Postgrads, As a PhD student in my final year of research, I’ve found myself taking a moment to think about what I’d do differently if I were to embark on this journey again, and specifically how I have become far more proficient at knowing when to quit. Now I definitely don’t mean quit and give up, rather “this isn’t working and I need to try something else” kind of quit. It can be difficult as students to know when to speak up and determine that something isn’t working. Your supervisor may have all the brilliant ideas that seem straightforward, but at the end of the day you’re the one on the shop floor, so what do you do when it doesn’t work? It’s important to understand that “quitting” and moving onto a different idea/version/trial in research isn’t a bad thing. Often you’ll uncover something that works differently and answers the question anyway, allowing you to come full circle. When your “full circle” turns out to be more like a squiggly limp line, focus in on your research question to ask yourself “how is this helping me answer my thesis question?” Sometimes getting a fresh perspective and talking to your colleagues will lead you to a different way to proceed. Research at any stage can be long, hard, and frustrating. It’s full of amazing achievements and wonderful highs of discovery and enlightenment, but usually those aren’t the parts that keep you up at night. If I could go back and give myself a two minute talk prior to embarking on PhD life, ensuring I was working on the skills to determine when I needed to change tack would be a key point. When you pour your heart and soul into an idea, it can be hard to step back and acknowledge that “that one” didn’t work. I urge you to let those go, remind yourself of your key question, and take a fresh look. I can almost guarantee you’ll find a new solution. 34
Columns
FROM THE ARCHIVES MAX NICHOL Pachali Brewster wrote the UniQ Queer column for Salient in 2007. I asked her some questions about her column, and changes in the discourse around Queer identities that have occurred in the last decade.
In terms of Queer representation and acceptance in the media generally, what kind of progress has been made in the last decade? And how far do we have to go?
How did you come to be the writer of the Queer column in 2007?
I can't speak too much about the media, since I consume much less of it than I used to (although I do wish that trans characters were more normalised and less acted by cis-men who get lauded for their “daring” performances. I also wish there were more bisexual and polyamorous characters casually strewn about in entertainment media. That would be a hoot). But in daily life, I must say: A shit-tonne of progress. Since 2007 we have seen conversations shift from gay and lesbian acceptance to the acceptance of trans and gender-diversity, as well as other unconventional sexualities e.g. asexuality, non-monogamy, and BDSM practitioners thanks to 50 Shades (ironic laughter). My most recent foray into the queer scene was meeting a bunch of young, new drag performers who wanted to start a movement away from one cis-sex parodying the other cis-sex, and towards a more nebulous genderfuckery performative statement. Revolutionary! These are conversations I didn't imagine we'd be having in the future, and it's been amazing watching humanity continue to evolve as a whole. (Or maybe it's just because we live in an educated, progressive, Wellingtonian bubble, the privilege of living in which should not escape one's notice.)
I became the President of UniQ for a bit in 2006, and the following year became the Co-Communications Advisor. One of the tasks for which was writing the Queer column, which I commandeered full responsibility for as I was super keen to write for Salient. What were the Queer issues that you felt were particularly important to cover at that moment in time? What broader Queer discussions were you contributing to? I didn't go in with a particular theme in mind, but in hindsight the content by the guest writers and I boiled down to: the visibility of Queer sexualities, and the diversity therein; gender, and how fluid it is; and the importance of self-acceptance (always relevant). How visible was the Queer community on the VUW campus at the time? Do you recall if there was much content covering Queer issues in Salient besides your column?
There was a time where we felt like it was a very Us and Them mentality, there was a prevailing feeling of: “Love is normal, no matter who it's between! Stop persecuting us and let us lead a hassle-free life!” And now I can honestly say, with profound relief, that my life as an out, pansexual woman in two nonmonogamous relationships with a trans woman and a kinky, queer man is so much easier than it would have been even 10 years ago. And for that I am truly grateful, to all the people who paved the way for us in the past, and to all the people continuing to pave the way into the future.
Super visible. We held large social meetings every fortnight and organised Queer movie nights, dance parties, a mentoring partnership with the VUW counselling service, and events at the university for Pride week. We also promoted safe sex, with ample support from the New Zealand AIDS Foundation. I don't recall if there was any other Queer content in Salient besides my column, probably not, but I did also pull together the Queer Edition that year, which I was particularly proud of.
35
Nō hea koe? Where are you from? To where do you belong? Where was the flax of your ancestry woven, strong? When you put it that way Like, I've gotta think about it Bro... 'Cause I mean; he pākehā ahau And I don't think I know
- Lachlan Ewing
submit poems to poetry@salient.org.nz
PODCAST PODCASTS ARE FOR THE GAYS REVIEW: APOLLON
Podcasts are for the gays. Though media representation is getting better and more queer creators are gaining mainstream appeal the situation is still far from ideal. In the midst of a media landscape where we are underrepresented and our stories not told, podcasting is a beacon of hope. It’s a medium where stories can be told with true creative freedom, and has the potential to be representative to queer audiences.
Steel is humanised in ways queerness in most media is not, even today, because they did not have to fight for it. Audio drama creators decided they needed queer characters, queer futures, and then they made it happen. Though an increasing number of podcasts are being adapted for visual media, the balance of queer shows to non-queer shows that gets made into TV does not reflect the actual ratios in podcasts in general. The environment that fosters queer creators and content is not crossing over easily into other genres. Another problem halting the spread of queer podcasting is that most of it is audio drama, not the factual conversation or interviews that most people think of when they think of podcasts. This lack of attention to audio drama could be what’s keeping it queer, but if this phenomena is so self-contained, what’s to stop it from fading away once the nature of podcasting, or even its popularity, changes.
Welcome to Night Vale began one of the first interest booms in podcasting, and carved a niche for queer audio drama. Its casual integration of queerness within the narrative and its genuine empathy for the stories being told immediately resonated with audiences. However, audio drama was queer friendly before Night Vale. Podcasting is set up differently from every other form of media: all you need to get a podcast out is audio equipment and motivation. There are few expectations and restrictions on what kinds of content are produced. All you need to be noticed is an audience. The line between creator and listener is more direct than in any other media, and it allows for a clearer sense of what audiences really want — no focus groups or demographics needed. Audio drama podcasts tell stories in the traditional radio drama genres of horror and noir, but finds a new home in science fiction. This is where queer podcasting shines. Audio drama generates more varied and creative visions of the future than TV and film because of the diversity at the its heart. The Penumbra Podcast combines horror, noir, and science fiction in the Juno Steel serial, where a trans and bisexual protagonist solves mysteries on Mars, where there is only one straight person. The predominantly queer team of creators has direct contact with their fanbase, so even identities they do not inhabit are able to be treated with care. The cast is as queer because the creators understand the significance of representation, and are not making media for trends or profits. The representation of queerness in Juno
37
BOOKS ANALYSING THE QUEER CONTENT IN CHILDREN’S PUBERTY BOOKS REVIEW: LAURA SOMERSET
Growing up in the days before high-speed internet, my sexuality education was gained through the copy of What’s Happening to Me? that was slid underneath my bedroom door on my 11th birthday. These puberty books shaped the way that whole generations came to understand sexuality and identity during our most formative adolescent years, when we were just figuring out who we were.
Or a teacher or a family friend. Or you might have a crush on another girl.” These crazy kids, swooning after implausible love interests like pop stars and other girls! 100% Me: The How, Why, and When of Growing Up by Elinor Greenwood & Alexander Cox
Flash forward 10 years and it feels like the roles have flipped. Thanks to a revolution in the way we interpret sex, gender, and sexuality, young people are sliding updated ideas back under the proverbial bedroom doors of baby boomers everywhere.
Once again I found myself flipping through to the “Crushes” chapter, feeling utterly thankful that my time as a tween was far behind me. This book was more promising: a quarter of its romance section was dedicated to sexuality. It briefly outlined what it means to be heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual, and reassured the reader that they’re not the antichrist if they don’t like kissing boys. It wasn’t groundbreaking stuff – it was cool that they brought up bisexuality, but a lot of other identities were still missing from the discussion.
So have the puberty books been following? I embarked on a mission to find the most woke kids’ book about coming-of-age. Unfortunately, when I arrived at the library, the books I was searching for were nowhere to be seen. With a heavy heart I approached the information desk and asked for help in finding a copy of Puberty and Your Body. All in the name of research.
Bunk 9’s Guide to Growing Up By Adah Nuchi
The Girl Files by Jacqui Bailey
Listen, I’m a 19 year old socialist with a scathing opinion on mostly everything, but I was INTO this book. Finally, a mention of gender diversity! The author talked about the challenges that kids face when they reach puberty and realise that they don’t identify with the sex they were assigned at birth. Some of the kids in this book had same-sex parents, and the dating section celebrated diverse sexuality and gender orientations. The author used gender neutral pronouns in the appropriate places, and organically integrated queer concepts throughout the chapters. My kids will receive a copy of this book upon their birth.
Let’s get the most obvious critique out the way, which is the cis-normative title of this book and the way its cover was decorated with pink butterflies and flowers. I guess a lot of pre-teens love that shit, but it was a pretty cringe-worthy caricature of the female mind. When I flipped to the “It must be Luurve” section (vom), I was dismayed to find that male pronouns were used every time the author referred to someone’s potential crush. At one point the author did acknowledge that girls can have crushes on other girls, but the context was questionable: “It doesn’t matter who you have a crush on – it could be… a pop star or someone on telly. 38
FILMS QUEER IN FILM THE NORMAL HEART REVIEW: STEF HARRIS
ALEX STRANGELOVE
If anyone is wanting to subject themselves to an intense amount of emotional anguish this week, then I’d suggest watching Ryan Murphy’s film, The Normal Heart. Set in 1980’s New York, the film follows the founding of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, as volunteers try to spread awareness of the AIDs crisis. Based on Larry Kramer’s 1985 semi-autobiographical play, the characters are forced to deal with the fatalities from the virus, as well as the majority’s stigmatisation and discrimination towards the LGBTQIA+ community. Mark Ruffalo delivers a powerful performance as openly gay activist, Ned Weeks (based on Larry Kramer himself), as he relentlessly fights for the government’s assistance in acknowledging the presence of the virus, and in finding funding for prevention and treatment. The film is informative in displaying the historical impact of HIV, and brutally honest in portraying not only the effects on the patients themselves, but the friends and family around them. Scenes showing the lack of support from the public and lack of action from the government are infuriating to watch, as the volunteers are subjected to the heartbreaking realisation that the majority’s prejudice towards the gay community is prevalent enough to turn a blind eye to the epidemic. Despite its bleak content, the film has its moments of tenderness, acting as a reminder of the importance of being able to love each other during times of hardship. The conviction of the volunteers does not falter because they have hope for a future where they and their loved ones will be able to love each other in an open and safe environment.
Alex Strangelove is a tale about a teenager who is confused about his sexuality, and aptly the narrative of the tale itself is also a bit confusing. This story is told rather messily, with some jumping narratives involving Alex and not fully focusing on the “gay” side of what is a “gay” story.
REVIEW: STEPHEN HUGHES
The movie centres around Alex Truelove, and he has a girlfriend. He’s been with her for almost about 8 months and they still haven’t had sex. Obviously the story centres around this tension — why is Alex seemingly afraid of having sex with his girlfriend? Well, the plot twist — he is attracted to someone else, a guy. Spoilers ahead: In the cusp of discovering himself, Alex sees himself as bisexual, he does everything he can do to "be on the straight side" and inevitably fails because he cannot actually get an erection for a woman. It is notable that in this transition of understanding, there seems to be problematic narrative discourse around how bisexuality is presented. It suggests that bisexuality is a form of confusion or just a stepping stone to “truly” being gay. While the criticism of the film is very valid and not to be ignored, I believe in its own dysfunctions it allows people to feel okay with being dysfunctional, to be flawed. Maybe in doing so the film seems to “come out” more as a public service announcement in the end, telling the audience it is okay to be yourself, and find your own way.
39
TELEVISION NANETTE REVIEW: JAMES HURLE
Hannah Gadsby’s Netflix special Nanette is something special.
punchlines of a gay comedian, but an uncompromising tale of the real and debilitating damage done to a person who is different. Gadsby then proceeds to tell the “ending” to her setups and punchlines, first revealing that the man who thought she was a man returned calling her a "lady faggot", before proceeding to beat her. Her reason for not going to the police: "I thought that was all I was worth.”
The introduction to Gadsby’s set tells the story of a gay woman trying to survive in rural Tasmania, a state where (until 1997) being homosexual was illegal. Gadsby gives her first impressions of identifying as a lesbian with deadpan delivery. She tells a story of when she was 17 and confronted by a man, confusing her for a man hitting on his girlfriend. She admits the latter part was true but expresses bewilderment at the man's lack of irony when he remarks, “oh sorry, I thought you were one of those faggots trying it on with her”.
From Picasso and Van Gogh to Weinstein and co, Nanette dissects a festering nexus of societal water cooler talk. That is to say, it brings conversational threads about the abuse of storied power through history, the dangerousness of being different, and the misunderstanding of mental illness in one prevailing voice.
“Where do the quiet gays go?” Gadsby quips, as she retells her first experience of Australian Mardi Gras. Even on the subject of the Pride flag, Gadsby has an unorthodox opinion; “I don’t even like the flag. Controversial. There I've said it. The Pride flag—I love what it means... but the flag itself? A bit busy. It's just six very shouty, assertive colors stacked on top of each other. No rest for the eye.” While hilarious, these remarks and others like; "I don't think I'm very good at gay", belie the struggle of someone who not only identifies as queer in an openly homophobic area but also, the struggle of someone who doesn't fit into the community her birthplace tries to relegate her to. Gadsby remarks that she’s received pressure from others to come out as transgender (which she doesn’t identify as), and it’s with her response to this discussion that Nanette evolves into something beyond a conventional stand-up special.
Hannah Gadsby has used her role as a great stand up to ferociously skewer so many of her audience (this author included) with polished barbs of a lived experience that is told in such a powerful way, that to try and squirm away from her insight just makes it that more poignant. The last third of Gadsby's show is relentless and is simply Must. Watch. Television. It’s almost difficult to overstate how good Nanette actually is. Just go and watch it. Seriously. Stop wasting her time.
“I identify as tired,” states Gadsby, “I do think I need to quit comedy though.” What follows in the back half of Nanette is a masterclass in storytelling. Gadsby turns her previous jokes on their head by informing the audience that she will no longer make a career out of self-deprecation and a deliberate devaluing of her identity. To do so, she claims, "is not humility but humiliation". Instead, Nanette offers not the setup and 40
MUSIC CORDUROY – “THE USUAL” SINGLE REVIEW REVIEW: JOSH ELLERY
Corduroy are a locally based independent neo-soul group with links to Victoria University, having formed through the halls of residence last year. Their sound hints at something bigger than a humble jam-band between mates, however, and their new debut single “The Usual” is a testament to that.
in the mix (as evident in the introduction/conclusion, and the bridge). Will Cole and Riley Barrett provide sturdy support on the guitar and bass respectively, and lovers of this new-school New Zealand sound will enjoy much of the twangy chorus-driven tone produced from this section of the band.
“The Usual” showcases a sound that positions Corduroy within the realm of established popular Kiwi bands of the last few years – think Six60 or Drax Project, but with an indie-pop edge. Alongside the stellar chops displayed in the band, much of the appeal of Corduroy emanates from the sharp lyricism and singing displayed by vocalist Rosie Spearing, who shows a lot of potential as the voice of this group. On “The Usual”, Spearing’s voice carries a deep, soulful tone reminiscent of Lianne La Havas or Jorja Smith, set against a backdrop of bright, sound-of-the-moment neo-soul grooves and twangy guitars. It’s pretty cool.
I think sometimes music reviewers in New Zealand can be a little guilty of overlooking certain facets of popular music in favour of experimentalism or obscure/ angular music. I’m not saying there’s not a place for that sort of music. All I’m saying is that there’s a huge place in the market for a band like Corduroy, who perfectly encapsulate the lives of twenty-somethings, and the sound of New Zealand’s popular music sphere in 2018. There’s a reason popular music has that name, and it wouldn’t be wise to bet against Corduroy achieving a large degree of popularity in the near future. Jump on the bandwagon.
Lyrically, “The Usual” is a pretty direct sort of a song, which deals with some sort of break up where the vocalist is in the unenviable position of instigating the split. Spearing carries these lyrics with charisma and grit, and there are a handful of moments (particularly in the verses) where little moments of phrasing pop out and excite the listener. Spearing’s a great singer, and going forward it’ll be cool to hear what she can pry out of her already-solid lyricism from a phrasing point of view. Once you hear a great moment in a piece of music, and it’s followed with something that’s just as good, it leaves you wishing for more. Lots of potential in this though, and “The Usual” points to promising earworms and captivating performances to come. As for the band, they’re rock solid as well. Drummer Dean Gibson sits in the pocket, and seems to have a knack for knowing when to sit into the mix and when to showcase his chops. Simon Kenrick’s keys follow a similar trend – sitting into the mix to add to the overall texture of the piece, but providing more than a decent impact when they become more pronounced 41
ART WORDS CUT LOOSE REVIEW: JANE WALLACE
Accidentally, between this week and last, this section has become a two-part discussion of No Common Ground. In Ella Sutherland’s current exhibition at Enjoy Public Art Gallery, Margins & Satellites, she explores what she calls “a queering of mechanical reproduction”. Sutherland has created a series of silkscreened images that borrow from the typography and design elements of early lesbian publications, produced during the 1970s and 80s. Arranged between them are recognisable sets of eyes, politicians punctuating a timeline of policy that has marginalised the queer body and its visibility.
In looking back to the archive, Sutherland makes an aesthetic out of what was once necessity. In early lesbian publications specifically, a number of which Deborah Rundle (another speaker at No Common Ground) was an organising member of, typeface and illustrations were often hand or type written, to allow ease of reproduction and dissemination. The layout, similarly, was restricted by a lack of technology or software, of which we are fluent in now. The resulting aesthetic of these newsletters, as they were often known as, was ephemeral, fugitive, and resourceful. However, Rundle noted that there this was not a deliberate style, but borne out of necessity. It reminds me of Zadie Smith’s “doing more than is necessary with less than you need,” in her essay Feel Free, in reference to the idea of camp. As she noted, the lessthan-you-need part is a crucial characteristic; underresourced-ness leading to innovation. So, even as there was perhaps no intentional aesthete to early lesbian publications, such as Rundle’s Witches, Bitches and Dykes, their hand made nature has come to be an object of nostalgia for contemporary queer publications and imagery. The ephemeral publication, that which has been hastily put together, is for marginalised groups that fail to be recognised by the Xeroxed mainstream. Within Margins & Satellites, this is also manifested in real-time, though the workspace in the middle of the gallery, where visitors can assemble their own collections of queer images and texts from a selection provided to take away with them, another transient document with many variations that will go home and enter a personal archive. Words cut loose are words that continue to hurtle forwards.
In hearing Sutherland talk about her work, she articulates a sort of nostalgia for the queer literature and publications of the past. Margins & Satellites retraces the archive to understand what this might mean. The archive is an important space that Sutherland navigates, for two reasons specifically in Aotearoa: the Lesbian and Gay archives (LAGANZ) were formed by the LGBTTIFQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, takatāpui, intersex, fa'afafine, or queer) community as a recognition that their contribution to our society is valuable and rich, and secondly, there are still obvious gaps in the archives, sections which have eluded documentation. The self-made archive is difficult because it always relies on personal foresight as to what will tell the most critical narratives in the future. At No Common Ground, Sutherland noted that typography histories often focus on the clarity of words. In contrast, Sutherland is looking at words that have been cut loose, words no longer in service, but independently transmitting ideas through their form and arrangement. A meaning does not always have to be legible — sometimes an intentional obfuscation of meaning can convey more complex concepts. The way media is forced into subservience means it is contained within expected mainstream bias. Through confusing the legibility of graphic design, bias can be overwritten, a game of textual subterfuge. 42
FOOD VEGAN CHOC CHIP COOKIES REVIEW: SAMANTHA KENNETT-NY
The laziest cookie recipe I have ever come up with, and a protest to the insane price of a block of butter these days; one mixing bowl and one spoon also means way less dishes. I use Whittaker's Dark Ghana, and this recipe makes 10 decently sized cookies. If you want smaller and more daintier ones, or just to be able to eat more of them, roll them into tablespoon sized balls before baking. You can add extras such as macadamias or coconut for extra deliciousness.
Method Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Ingredients 90g vegan margarine 1/3 cup brown sugar 1/3 cup white sugar 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp vanilla essence 1 cup plain flour 2 rows Dark Ghana Chocolate, chopped Optional: coconut flakes, chopped peanuts, or macadamias, etc.
Roll tablespoon sized amounts into balls and arrange on the baking tray (they will spread so give them some space). Flatten them down with your palm and bake for 14 minutes, until golden on the edges and they move when nudged slightly.
Beat the vegan margarine and sugars until light and fluffy. Mix in the baking powder, baking soda, and vanilla, followed by the flour. The dough should be soft but not sticky — add a bit more flour if needed. Mix in the chocolate (and any other extras you want).
Cool and store in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or just eat them as soon as they are cool enough. Makes 10
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Film
Horoscope with Star Queen Olivia Queen Olivia St Redfern is a Victoria University, and UniQ alumni. Before becoming a sci-fi celeb orbiting on Space Station 1, she graduated in 2002 with a BSc in comp-sci and used her tech skills to carve out a niche on social media, particularly Twitter where she has in excess of 21K followers. Queen Olivia identifies as non-binary and prefers she/her pronouns. Follow her @queenoliviastr (PS: shout out to Associate Professor Alex Potanin!)
Aries (March 21 - Apr 19) Pluto in on the cusp of Telstar 402. In matters of romance the object of your desire is in retrograde, appearing to retreat, when in fact, they are following their standard orbit. Either this, or too much cider is making you spin-out. Beware the soiling fee. Lucky numbers: 1812, 1066. Lucky colour: Karitane yellow.
Libra (Sep 23 - Oct 22) The 5th moon of Uranus has entered the exit trajectory of Voyager 2. Now is the time to stick to the same floor of the library to study on every day. Otherwise you might miss your future polyamorous secondary making eyes at you across the periodicals stack. Lucky numbers: π, e. Lucky colour: hot pink.
Taurus (Apr 20 - May 20) Venus is in midheaven. You already know you’re a stubborn as a bull, so it matters very little what Star Queen Olivia writes here; your mind is already made up. Just be careful crossing on The Terrace, stubbornness is no match for 10 tonnes of Metlink bus. Lucky number: 21. Lucky colours: green and yellow.
Scorpio (Oct 23 - Nov 21) Jupiter is eclipsing The Monolith. Book a visit to student health and get a complete STI screen. Trust me on this. An old friend will make an unexpected visit. Lucky numbers: 044635308. Lucky colour: green.
Gemini (May 21 - June 20) Gemini rhymes with SSRI. If you are taking medication now is time to be especially careful not to miss a dose. Geminis tend to be full of excitement and energy, but the other astrological signs prefer Gemini heavily medicated. It’s nothing personal. Lucky numbers: 37.5, 50, 75, 150. Lucky colour: white.
Sagittarius (Nov 22 - Dec 21) The moon is in the seventh house, and Jupiter aligns with Mars. Peace will guide the planets, and you need to take it down a couple of notches on Snapchat. A cat will cross your path, you should give it a sardine. Issues of sexuality will become clearer to you. Be careful with those candles or you are never getting that bond back. Lucky numbers, 9, -9. Lucky colour: black.
Cancer (June 21 - July 22) Telstar 12 Vantage is in your third house. You will be very moody this week, but try and not let it show in your tuts. Those tutors are grading your assignments and you don’t want to piss them off. Offering sexual favours in exchange for good marks is also discouraged until Telstar 12 Vantage transits to ascendance. Lucky numbers: 2, 3. Lucky colour: silver.
Capricorn (Dec 22 - Jan 19) Voyager 1 is out of alignment with Voyager 2. You are in danger of disappearing up your own academic arse. Make some time to have fun with friends, or failing that, make some time to order cheap pizza and binge watch comedy on Netflix. Remember, if you don’t suspend your thesis at least once, you’re doing it wrong. Lucky number: 0800 838383, lucky colour: beige.
Leo (July 23 - Aug 22) Uranus is in conjunction with the International Space Station, creating a time of stability. As a Leo you love to be loved, but be careful not to post that special Grindr pic to your Insta story by accident, or you’ll find yourself getting more attention than you bargained for. Lucky numbers: 2, 69. Lucky colour: puce.
Aquarius (Jan 20 - Feb 18) Mars Rover is beneath Phobos. This might be the week that the mothership contacts you. Avoid shopping at Area 51, the government is watching. A documented side effect of cannabis is paranoia, but that doesn’t mean they still aren’t out to get you. Lucky number: 51. Lucky colour: grey.
Virgo (Aug 23 - Sep 22) Mars in on the cusp of your second house. You are in danger of a typo on your tumblr attracting a hoard of mens’ rights activists mansplaining spelling and grammar. This would be a good week to listen to the back catalog of KD Lang. Lucky number: 0, -1. Lucky colour: indigo.
Pisces (Feb 19 - March 20) Neptune is ascendant. You will learn that “fish” in the context of RuPaul’s Drag Race is a misogynistic slur, that Star Queen Olivia thought died in the 1990s. Your flatmate is using your shampoo. This is a good week for you to transcend gender binaries. Op-shops are a good place to start. Lucky number: 7. Lucky colour: ultra violet.
Distractions BOGGLE
P
CROSSWORD
E I
S W
Note: words must be at least three letters long, and cannot be proper nouns, abbreviations or contractions. Eh: 20 Wow: 23 Wtf: 25
SUDOKU
FUN
ACROSS 2 Biggie rapped: “it was all a ______” (5) 6 Probably have one due next month. (5) 8 Think YouTube, then Rhett. Who’s the other guy? (4) 10 Guitarist: The Offspring (7) 13 They love & birthed you. Give ‘em a call. (7) 14 Think 8A & Living Loan Costs (5) 16 Academic term; just started. (9) 19 Sorry for the buggers who have to buy new __________ this 16A. (5) 20 8.64e+7 milliseconds makes one of this. (3) 21 One equates to six bowls. (4) 22 A police ticket (8)
DOWN 1 Commonly referred to as Smoko. (5) 2 “Sees get _______” (7) 3 Think Hops & 22A. (3) 4 Season to party in the US, when proceeded with 1D. (6) 5 Just another yummy name: 10A. (5) 7 Title: Hubert J. Farnsworth. (9) 9 Talks; speeches at campus, at length (8) 11 “I concur”; slang originating (more or less) from hip-hop culture.. (4) 12 Think 21A. Your bank will chase you up on this. (5) 15 Quit early (4,3) 17 Remember when you did this with DVDs? (4) 18 You’ll never just have one of these near the end of the year... (4)
Last Week's Answers Across: 8 Fair, 9/14 April Fools, 10 Echo, 11 T-shirt, 12 Backhand, 13 Offshore, 15 Dingle, 17 Cottage, 19 Igneous, 22 Psycho, 24 Ruthless, 26 Shortest, 28 Eureka, 30 Nena, 31 Rural, 32 Emit. Down: 1 Bass, 2 Train set, 3 Tattoo, 4 Problem, 5 Black Dog, 6 Red Hen, 7 Thin, 16 Louis, 18 Geometry, 20 Enlarged, 21 Aratere, 23 Curran, 25 Treble, 27 Heel, 29 Kris.
LITERAL MURDER
The People to Blame Guest Editors Johnny O’Hagan Brebner Editor Louise Lin Designer/Illustrator Ruby Ash
News Writers Nisha Novell, Kate Aschoff, Shanti Mathias, Laura Sutherland, Joanna Li, Olivia Philip, Thomas Campbell, Liam Powell, Adair Houia-Ashwell Centrefold Juno Birch @junobirch junobirch@hotmail.com
News Editor Taylor Galmiche
Contributors Ace Visser, Erin Page, Mark Metcalfe, Marnie Hubmann, Courtney Powell, Emma Maguire, Alister Hughes, Marlon Drake, Geo Robrigado, Ariel McLean-Robinson, Lilli Street, Miia Van Beusekom, Dennis Sabac-Go, Elena Beets, Cathy Stephenson, Taylor Cooney, Max Nichol, Lachlan Ewing, Apollon, Stef Harris, Stephen Hughes, James Hurle, Samantha Kennett-Ny, Star Queen Olivia, Joanna Li, Corey Fuimaono,
Sub Editor Sally Harper Distributor Danica Soich Chief News Reporter Angus Shaw Feature Writers Arturo López Callum MacRae Gates Henderson
FM Station Managers Kii Small & Jazz Kane
Section Editors Laura Somerset (Books) Emma Maguire (Film) Navneeth Nair (TV) Jane Wallace (Art) Tom Hall (Food) Hannah Patterson (Podcast) Priyanka Roy (Theatre) Josh Ellery (Music)
TV Producers Elise Lanigan & Lauren Spring Social Media fb.com/salientmagazine T: @salientmagazine I: @salientgram S: salientmag
Contact editor@salient.org.nz designer@salient.org.nz www.salient.org.nz Level 2, Student Union Building, Victoria University PO Box 600, Wellington Printed By Inkwise Advertising Josephine Dawson advertising@vuwsa.org.nz 04 463 6982 About Us Salient is employed by, but editorially independent from, the Victoria University Students’ Association (VUWSA). Salient is a proud member of the Aotearoa Student Press Association. Complaints People with a complaint against the magazine should complain in writing to the editor at editor@salient.org.nz and then, if not satisfied with the response, to VUWSA. Contributor of the Week Tom Hall Read Salient online at salient.org.nz
LARRIKINS
Horoscope by Star Queen Olivia, Boggle by Joanna Li, Crossword by Corey Fuimaono, Larrikins by Anton Huggard
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