Growing Strong Handbook 2013

GROWI NG ST RONG Student s’ Representative Council, Universit y of Sydney

This publication acknowledges the traditional owners of this land, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. We stand here today as the beneficiaries of a racist and unreconciled dispossession. We recognise both our privilege and our obligation to remember the mistakes of the past, act on the problems of today and build a future free from discrimination.

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XXX EDUCATION 4 F**MINISM WITH KATY PERRY 7 GRAB 8 HER HEAVY HEART 9 SISTER, YOU NEED TO START DOING IT FOR YOURSELF

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CURVY EVE 1 1

LUNCH FOR THE LOST 12 INTERNET FEMINISM 14 DEHUMANISING THE MOTHER 15 EXEGESIS - AN EXCERPT 16

NEUROSEXISM 18 FEMINIST SOURCES AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

MY FEMINIST HERO (THE BEAUTY QUEEN)

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NO-BELLE PRIZE 24 FEMINIST GLOSSARY 26 HERPES- NOT A SEXUAL DEATH SENTENCE

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WHERE TO FIND HELP WHEN YOU NEED IT

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THE EDITORS; AMBER GRIMMBLE, EMILY RAYERS, EVE RADUNZ, HANNAH SMITH, MADDIE DE MONTFORT, MARIANA PODESTA-DIVERIO, ROSE WALLACE MCEWEN, SAM JONSCHER AND SHELLEY SMITH WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT THIS PUBLICATION WAS MADE WITH LOVE AND RAGE FOR EVERY WOMAN COMING ONTO CAMPUSES ACROSS NEW

Im Feminism

SOUTH WALES IN 2013.

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How the most delicate phase of womanhood – puberty – is currently dealt with, and how the evolution of technology is changing this

Georgia Carr

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For most of us, sex education is an unbearably awkward few hours in year 7 PE class where teachers put on a video from the 80s and we are expected to learn everything we need to know about our physical, mental and social development for the next 2-10 years while the teacher checks their email and plays Angry Birds in the back corner. Luckily, there is a wealth of information available which can be accessed privately and anonymously online, but the development of media and technology could prove to be as much of a curse as blessing. I’d like to take a look at the various sources of information we look to in the delicate pubescent age and discuss what we can stand to learn from each of them.

and therefore I have a particular insight into how effective these sources of information are. The most useful thing about magazines is that the readership is simultaneously personal and appeals to many.

Readers are encouraged to write their questions into Dolly Doctor and receive a personal response on any trouble ranging from relationship advice, how to detect an STI or dealing with bullying.

Despite the fact that people write in personally, the overwhelming concern which continues to reappear is ‘am I normal?’. Teenage girls across Australia seem ravenously curious to know if they are a ‘normal’ height and weight, someone of ‘normal’ sexual orientation or In certain whether or not it’s ‘normal’ to have Scandinavian never been kissed at sixteen. While countries ... there’s obviously a limited extent to Instead of trying which the magazine can respond with to impart the value word restrictions and a lack of contact with the person asking the question, it of abstinence exceeds many other forms of media and the terror of in that it allows readers to access STIs, they focus information even when they haven’t on the importance requested it – something vital when so many girls are asking themselves the of developing same questions.

First are the out-dated videos we get shown in PE class – often cartoons to make those anatomical images less confronting and generally accompanied with a patronising narrator. As unbearable as these videos are for most, they are the first source of information for those with parents who refuse to educate their children on the birds and the bees themselves. As hard as it may be to believe, it is actually possible to make an educational and even enlightening sex ed video – in certain Scandinavian countries, the video shown to all students around emotionally the age of twelve takes quite a different Finally, no modern-day article about significant approach. Instead of trying to impart the media would be incomplete without relationships value of abstinence and the terror of STIs, discussing the omnipotent internet. As this video focusses on the importance of many Arts students frantically rushing developing emotionally significant relationships before to finish an essay on time will attest to, the internet having sex and emphasises the acceptance of same sex is an astonishing source of information. Luckily for relationships. Videos therefore are generally hopeless and those of us born in the last twenty-five or so years, out-dated, but can be made in a way that isn’t cringe- puberty was much eased by the wealth of information worthy. which could be accessed privately and anonymously, saving us from trawling through the sealed section Second there are magazines like Dolly and Girlfriend of magazines under the covers, awkwardly asking which are targeted to teen audiences and therefore should questions of our teachers or parents or simply probably provide some useful/vital information to their leaving these questions unasked. Unfortunately, for ever-curious readers. I should preface this discussion by every website which provides accurate and useful saying that my mum has written for Dolly magazine since information, there will be another which creates or the year I was born as a health professional who answers reiterates a myth about puberty and adolescence, questions sent into the magazine, aka Dolly Doctor, and if you didn’t know any better, it would be hard to

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pill is too much of a hassle because you have to remember to do it every day, something which is easily fixed with a contraceptive It seems then that the government has a responsibility to provide implant such as Implanon which is just as reliable and much accurate and accessible information which has been produced in the cheaper, but of which half as many people have heard - it’s likely last five or ten years. Ultimately, greater national access to improved you’re a case in point. There is also still a great stigma attached resources will have positive and measurable effects, such as reducing to masturbation, particularly for women, which sex ed should the incidence of sexually transmitted infections and lowering the seek to address. While I’m grateful that I received most of my rates of teenage pregnancy, as has already be information from a personal source, a national evidenced in northern European countries (of The government focus guarantees dispersal and truthfulness of course the Scandinavians have already got their should take a harm information that nothing else can. shit together on this matter). And while teenage minimisation It may or may not surprise you that I did absolutely pregnancy and STIs may not be at the top of the approach – like 2013 Australian political agenda, gay rights is, or no research or fact-checking to write this article – I’m as educated as I am about sex largely because at least should be, and greater sex education will teaching girls how equally mean a reduced stigma to homosexual to get access to the of my mum, but also because of personal research relationships. and, believe it or not, from reading magazines like morning after pill Dolly. Obviously not every girl needs to know Rather than only focussing on teaching the or dispelling some how many hours you can go without taking a bare minimum (sex makes babies, therefore (a) of the myths about pill for it to be safe, or what the Swedish national abstinence or (b) condom), the government should sex education scheme is, but being well educated contraception. take a harm minimisation approach – like teaching about anything – including knowing what to do in girls how to get access to the morning after pill or the worst case scenario – helps us to make better decisions, and dispelling some of the myths about contraception. It’d be far more surely something as universal and as unpredictable as puberty is useful to know the range of options available and the pros and cons something about which everyone deserves to be well-informed. of each. For example, many teenage girls complain that taking the tell these two kinds of sites apart unless perhaps it ends in ‘.gov.au’.

Hot legs Stella Ktenas Karver

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By Samantha Jonscher

Katy Perry is hardly a solution to any of feminism’s ailments, but she may be a symptom.

Interestingly, Perry’s rejection of feminism (akin to ‘eww get it off me’) joins a growing list of similar statements as powerful, independent women across the board are deciding that feminism just isn’t for them: Carla Bruni and Marrissa Mayer recently, but also Taylor Swift, Dita Von Teese, Geri Halliwell, Cat Marnell and Suzanne Venker.

Consider them losses to the cause or not, but one must ask: why is ‘feminism’ a dirty word in 2012?

Leave the pages of E News Weekly and Star Magazine and the problem becomes even more pronounced. Only about 12% of surveyed women consider themselves feminists, despite the high probability that they believe in the central tenets of feminismyou know, ‘autonomy’ and ‘equality’. In the modern English speaking world, these are expectations, not pipe-dreams for Santa.

Perry, superficially at least, is very much a feminist: she’s a powerful woman making her dreams real, seeking to support other women who want the same thing. The same goes for Bruni, Mayer, Von Teese, Marnell and most of the 88% of women surveyed. So why, unprompted, did Perry ‘come out’? Why did they all? What is it about feminism that they find unattractive in name alone?

The first and most obvious issue is that feminism is a complicated movement.

Perry, queen of spandex body suits and podium against the dulcet tones of her own candy-coated underwear, was presented with number one hit “Firework” while a room of the Billboard Woman of the Year award for successful women clapped and cheered for 2012. The award is a relativly new one, only her and flash bulbs erupted upon her. five years old, and its previous recipients Her speech was simple enough and predictable. include pop idols Ciara, “I am so honored by Beyonce, Fergie and Taylor Feminism appears this award” she began, Swift. Condescension aside, to be quite a hostile following with a perfunctory the award is largely seen movement, it looks acknowledgment that she as a symbolic and cursory was “…surrounded by so radical and looks nod to reversing gender many of the other inspiring like an exclusive attitudes in the pop industry women”. Next came the by celebrating women that club. It appears to be charming, joke. Then a bit own their music and their extreme, judgmental of personal interest about image; the awards evening and exclusionary. fighting for herself and her purports to celebrate the vision “while other people most successful female music had other ideas” regarding who she should executives and artists. It aims to honour be as a female pop star. Then, to round it out women that are in control of their destinies beautifully she deftly ticked the awards night in a largely pimped out industry. Given the speech box with an all out denouncing of intent of the award then, it’s not a 20-inch feminism. Cue awkward record scratch. waste pinch to say that it is the cursory glamour child of third wave feminism.

Now infamous, this speech of course includ ed the since frenzied sound bite “I am not a Back in December Perry was ceremonially feminist, but I do believe in the strength of awarded with her plaque. She stepped up the women”.

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It’s tainted with the radicalism of the 1960’s, Germaine Greer, hairy legs and burning lingerie. To the modern woman, these do not represent attractive options. Further, it lives on most prominently in academia, housing an infinite amount of niche interpretations making it difficult to readily define. Cursory readings of the literature will lead to inner turmoil. According to scholar Catherine Mackinnon, if you engage in raunch culture or sexual promiscuity, you are a victim of misogyny, but ask another scholar, say Ellen Willis, and she would say that promiscuity is a form of power all on its own. Feminism as movement has never been explicitly defined and its tendency to fluidity is unattractive and confusing. It’s popularized persona is unfortunately bought and sold by the wider world as believing that to shave, to look nice, to want babies, to want marriage, to have sex, to listen to pop music, to make sex jokes, to flirt and to just like men are all anti-feminist offences.

For both of these reasons and with a little bit of help from within, Feminism appears to be quite a hostile movement, it looks radical and looks like an exclusive club. It appears to be extreme, judgmental and exclusionary.

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And to make matters worse, ‘Feminism’, as a fluid, poorly defined and loosely linked community doesn’t always do the best job of proving onlookers wrong.

When Perry made her statement, the Internet exploded with feminist commentators armed only with anger and a litany of synonyms for ignorant bimbo. Their reaction is a sympathetic one, but a radical one. None of them thought to question why she said what she said, none considered that she might have a reason for what she said; it was assumed that as a pop star she was incapable of having an independent thought. Just because Perry has a bra that doubles as a whipped cream cannon does not mean that she is necessarily an enemy to the cause. She is clearly a bright womansay what you want but being a pop princess that has her life in her control is not easy nor simply a matter of dumb luck- and she is successful, she has a dream and it realizing it. This is not an unworthy message.

Watching this unfold, the 88% of women that see feminism as passé would probably have felt justified in their decision- who really wants to associate with a movement that looks down on women who supposedly let down the cause in a perverted, reverse Henry Miller witch hunt? It is easy to understand why the general public feels the way that it does.

The other women on that list ‘defectors’ were pointed at with firm index fingers of belittlement oppose to considered empathy.

Civil war does not seem warranted when these women are not actually diminishing the plight of women, as say Sarah Palin is or pro- life activists are. Being identifiable as a feminist should be low on the list of things that are important. As long as a woman stands for other women and their freedom then they should be left alone.

Feminism as a movement has a long history of being both provocative and effective. But it is clearly still not a movement of the past, it still has room to strive and room to grow.

In 2013 Australian women still earn less money than men, they are still represented less in parliament, they still have to fight for their right to choose; women are still the victims of domestic abuse and women are still slut shamed. There is plenty to fight for and plenty to rally against- we don’t need to pick fights where no punches were pulled.

Feminism cannot afford to become irrelevant to 88% of the population. Feminism cannot afford to be a dirty word in 2013.

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By Louise Carey-White

Your hands are enormous grope slop possess the bread drips obscene yellow your hands lift it to your mouth some of it slips teeth tear it I can hear it moving clicking sucking slapping between your tongue and your palate chew you have guts that swell into your lap your legs made tiny under the spread of it your beer-barrel torso your sausage bun fingeres on your hands your hands are enormous bite chew click suck drip the gut in your lap getting bigger drip gunge you clear your throat take swipe grab paw at the pile of chips on brown paper

your hands are enormous your gut is enormous it smothers your dick between your tiny birdie spread-apart slut-legs emphysema-spit the mucus in your head I can hear it from the membranes move through your breathing to your mouth chew hair the hair of your snout your brow your sweat through your shirt like oil on brown paper you are using to wipe your paws your paws your hands are enormous GROWING STRONG

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When Love is more than I can bear…

I am the escapee, running and running with no destined end.

Call me and I fly over hills, over horizons- I cannot face up to you If only I was strong enough, Tough enough like wax hardened by the coldness of coloured glass against winter winds that summon you to express your sins in evening mass.

If only I was brave to hope my faith in life is true I cannot shudder I can only hope that somehow my misery will become yours That perhaps somewhere in the distance I left crumbs from the token of love you gave me I wish I was different undeformed and perfect in your eyes Made of all the things that you devise However, my heart has hardened and I cannot change, Yet I still hope that I am worthy of understanding, For even in running do I make a statement: I run and thus escape my self and any reflection Of emotion which win over my hearts election Between fear and love do I choose no middle ground And become the donkey vote which makes me a victim and pioneer of both.

Search for me without guarantee That I will not fall at your feet so desperately Inevitably will I have to see that the world does not turn so infinitely…

There are silent pauses between the moon and the sun Between the clouds and the rain Some kinds of anticipation which carry the patience I need To stand for one minute more and let life be.

By Elizabeth Mora

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By Shannen Potter As women,

engaging in self care is an act of resistance. Yes, reader, that time you took a bath after a difficult day was activism. That time you went for a long walk lest your essay drive you to distraction was activism. That time you simply took a deep breath and relaxed for a moment was activism. And that time (let’s be honest, the many times) I went shopping instead of studying were, or at least will be justified as, activism.

lives in indentured servitude. In the 21st century, relatively few women subscribe stringently to such a philosophy. And I’m sure some men would like to have women in their lives with whom they can hold a conversation occasionally. In between sex acts. (Men, I’m totally joking. I bet lots of you are real nice.)

Despite this, the image of polite passivity prevails, and doing anything ‘selfish’ is in complete conflict with it. Therefore, many women find it difficult to Basically, self care means taking time out to care engage in self care; we can be easily tempted to put the needs of our friends, family, cofor and promote your mental, Society posits that workers, and classmates before our emotional, physical and spiritual anything a woman own health and success. Even as wellbeing. Self care is doing a feminist who wants to dismantle something just for you, just does for herself is stereotypes like this, it can be difficult because, and it’s an essential fundamentally selfish, to put my own needs first. There’s part of my feminism. We all need a safe space to relax and that any woman who a pressure to be a ‘good’ feminist, very similar to the pressure to be a unwind, especially when getting dares to put herself ‘good’ woman, and perhaps equally out of bed in the morning means facing a deluge of sexism, racism, first is an evil bitch. damaging. We have to call out, educate, communicate and fight transmisogyny, heterosexism, ableism – the list goes on. Added to that the constant oppression in every waking moment, and we feel that stream of readings, quizzes and assignments that our we fail if we don’t. It doesn’t leave much time for degrees require, and it becomes doubly important to sitting down with a cup of tea. take a time out.

Self care is activism because it goes against So it’s pretty simple then? We care for and love the messages we constantly receive, and often ourselves, allowing us to recharge and become the internalise. Women standing up and asserting that they have needs and desires, and that they will fulfil super feminists and students we always them without apology is not something you imagined we could be. Tearing apart the patriarchy with our bare hands! self care is see every day. It’s an act of resistance against a system that frequently denies us our basic Finishing essays well before the due date! an act of humanity, let alone allows the luxury of Leaping tall buildings in a single bound!

Unfortunately, sometimes self care just resistance ‘selfishness.’ isn’t that easy.

The pressures of university make it even more vital Society posits the idea that anything a woman does for herself is fundamentally selfish, and that any woman who dares to put herself first is an evil, selfish bitch.

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for women students to engage in self care. Along with the academic workload, many people face social and financial challenges. Whether it be something as substantial as accessing university health and tutoring services or as simple as packing a treat in your lunch, make self care a priority in your activism this semester. You deserve it.

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Size 14.

My world this world is a size too big.

Size 14.

I hasten to exaggerate that my hips are wider than yours, Curvier than yours and a point of anxiety that makes my list of flaws longer than yours.

Size 14.

It was only today that T.V informed me that “Curvy” is the NEW “in.”

Yet how can steadfast traditions be broken by the stillness of words, By the lazy love handles that develop on her hips as she sits and relays news that not even she believes.

Size 14.

My World this world is a size too big.

By ra Elizabeth Mo

Size 14.

I am not saying that I don’t love myself by far I do. When I feel down about my exterior I only look to my inferiors Nigella, Beyoncé and Kardinsian- just goes to show imperfection can be dashing!

I am only concerned because this world demands me to be- if it were for me I would not want to be.

But such is the audacious nature of this world to demand we eat and consume thoughts and ideas that can be better served!

Size 14.

In looking to you, all I get are false negations of my dire fat reality- you say that with a quick diet my round about can be left out and about- but I know better so do you do - that these things are but fads undue untrue!

There are but a mini-version of your bible- Jenny Craig- If I can do it so you can you, I WANT to lose weight how about you!

Size 14.

This world is a size too big for my alternate visions of what I should be!

Distinctions and refinements in thoughts have availed me nothing.

For in searching to be pretty you look to be stupid and not bored, Disinterested and rather than interesting, Mysterious rather than a mystery.

So that your extreme diets are left to be the depth and surface of your being, the figurine of what makes you a beautiful being!

Size 14.

Do I remain the rubenesque acquaintance of intelligence or become the bimbo that prefers sexual negligence??

In trying to reach a compromise, This world perplexes and divides me, biting into the conscious Defiance against superficial beauty.

As I place a friand in my mouth and write these words now clouded with fluffy flavoured crumbs, A considerable looking waiter winks at me and stares into my chocolate coloured eyes...

Oh..Soooo convincingly: He is not abated by the fat that rims my thighs but rather debating the fleshy tunnels they happily align: In my bouts of doubt did I forget to foresee that my weight is but one- among many- of my feminine tyrannies.

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By Phoebe Moloney Every Monday, at a park somewhere in the Inner West, a group of women gather to share a feast of finger food. Over a tablecloth spread out on the grass, Turkish bread is torn, hummus is double-dipped and oranges are quartered by hands hardened from long months of exposure.

Teenagers and the middle-aged, former career women and erstwhile domestic goddesses chat about their pasts – sharing experiences as diverse as the foods that pass between them. These women are the Inner West’s long-term homeless and every Monday theyband together to eat a communal meal at their makeshift kitchen table.

The ritual began four years ago when social worker, Georgina Abrahams, stumbled upon five elderly ladie chatting in a park. Able to identify these women as what she calls the “hardcore homeless” – or those who have lived for years with nothing more than the possessions in their trolley – Georgina was curious to hear the women’s experiences living without shelter in the Inner West. Used to being overlooked by the park’s visitors, theywere surprised to see Georgina approach. She told them of her work with women’s groups in Mulloway Prison and her lifelong dedication to women’s services. She asked if they would share some ground and, if they felt comfortable, their stories.

After three hours talking Georgina left but sensed they had enjoyed listening to one another’s experiences. “I asked if I could join them next week. ‘Alright,’ they said, ‘but next time can you please bring us some lunch?’” Georgina recalls.

Four years on, what started as an unlikely conversation between five homeless women and a social worker has grown into a weekly meal shared amongst thirty. Every Monday, Georgina heads to PAG E 12

her local shops to stock up on nutritious goodies that can easily be eaten without knives, forks or plates. At Christmas time she provides the women, many of whom have children, with hampers of chocolates, tuna and fruit in baskets donated to her by local op-shops. And in 2010 she was able to fundraise enough money to buy twenty swags for the women to sleep on. Despite her own efforts, however, Georgina is most proud of the support the women have been able to give to each other. “They network with each other, support each other.

dangerous rural communities or prison charges, but most are women and children who have escaped abusive homes. This year, the group has welcomed a big influx of women who live in cars with their children, fleeing from violent husbands. For Georgina, it’s difficult to watch the children’s behaviour progressively disintegrate. “That is no way for a child to live. Their mothers are on the run and they are scared,” she says.

For women such as these the invisibility of street life is their only hope. Sydney’s women’s refuges are notoriously overstretched and as Paul Abadie, house services manager of an Inner West community centre explains, “Many boarding houses exclude women out of concern for their safety among the male residents.” So, without relatives and friends unknown to their abusive partners, outside is often safer than in.

For now Georgina’s group serves as an example of possible companionship on the streets and an important support system.

Ranging in age from 17 to over 60 and diverse in sexuality, religion, heritage and socioeconomic background, the Monday luncheon guests are an eclectic collection of women who would probably never have crossed paths if they hadn’t been united by the shared trauma of homelessness.

Together, they are nowhere near as isolated as they were before. I just gave them a place to meet; now they are friends for the rest of the week,” she says. Losing a sense of safety, place and personal connection are some of the most distressing aspects of homelessness. Building relationships that offer protection and safety is difficult for homeless women, such as those in Georgina’s group. These women have escaped places they perceived as being more dangerous than life on the street.

Some have fled from mental institutions,

Despite the anonymity they must maintain for their own safety, Georgina is adamant that the story of these women be told, not merely to raise awareness of an often overlooked part of the local community but as an inspiring example of the struggles and triumphs experienced by many women.

“That we are seen and that we are heard is more important than food and water.

Everybody has a need to be acknowledged, to matter, to be heard… survivors´ stories deserve to be valued.”

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One woman's story

When Georgina met Elaine, she and her two children were on the run. Elaine’s husband had managed to catch up with her twice since she’d fled the violence of their home – both times she was hospitalised.

As a result of her difficult situation, Elaine was suffering from enormous anxiety and her children, who no longer attended school for fear of being found, lived permanently in a car. But two months ago, during a Monday luncheon, she recalled one person from her past whom her husband didn’t know that may have been willing to help her. It was an immigrant from Vietnam, who Elaine had voluntarily taught English to while she had been home alone on weekdays. Elaine and her pupil became close friends and most importantly, Elaine’s husband never met her. After the lunch, with Georgina’s support, Elaine was at her old friend’s door and the beginning of a new life. With shelter and a bed for her children, Elaine now has part-time work and her kids are happily re-enrolled at school. She asked that her story be passed on, to provide hope for other families suffering domestic violence.

How you can help

•If you see a fellow Inner Westie without a home, Georgina recommends you, “buy them a sandwich, sit with them and have a chat.”

•Be aware of acquaintances that are at risk of homelessness, and approach them with support.

•Georgina funds the Monday luncheons herself, but with growing numbers she is always looking for donations.

Students at the University of Sydney recently hosted a Bake Sale on behalf of the group, which covered the cost of lunches for a month.

If you would like to organise a charity event or donate, please email Georgina at: georgina@creativewomyn.net.

Detour House (www.detourhouse.com.au) and Twenty10 (www.twenty10.org.au) are two local organisations that provide services to women, youth and queer-identifying people in need.

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PAG E 13

By Tabitha Prado-Richardson Watching the powerpoint slides in a room of around five hundred other people, I spun out. my young teen, *squee* feelings on Ninemsn I had no idea what was going on. I had never Spaces and Livejournal, I maintained several really thought about a racial identity before. I blogspots with dusty pictures of tea and knew about racism, I knew that I experienced fashion and ramblings about music and more it. I knew that I was not white. But I hadn’t feelings. Then I moved to Tumblr in late connected the dots. The phrase ‘Critical 2009 and, with a few high school-induced Race Theory’ swirled around my mind. I felt like a great chasm had opened up in me. breaks, have remained since.

I remember reading, in my first sociology Tumblr was, at the beginning, pretty 35mm textbook, an excerpt about ‘Postmodern photos of roses, girls Ethnicity’ specifically with sidefringes, and Being a woman of referring to Australian/ the occasional fauxLatin American girls, colour is now like profound typographic and having a panic spiral picture.

It slowly wearing a really cool because apparently my introduced me to identity was postmodern. things I truly love (Aya and beautiful coat that Ambiguity can’t always Takano, Warsan Shire a lot of people hate for work for an eighteen year and Margiela), and old anxiety prone girl fresh no real reason except out of the HSC. reminded me of things I loved long ago (Sailor their own prejudice and I needed somewhere to Moon, Left-Eye and breathe. I didn’t have any Aaliyah). Then it shifted ignorance woman of colour friends. So from a would-be online a blog was started. I called magazine to a space where I could cultivate it ‘grrrlstudies’, I liked to myself, my history, and my future. It became learn, and I liked being a space where I expressed myself without fear a grrrl.

So there it was.

I of others. It felt really awesome, after going started following other girls through social phobia and other mental health issues, to be able to talk without fear. of colour. I found authors like Audre Lorde, bell Blogging became a solace. hooks, Patricia Hill Collins I started university in 2011 and began my and Gloria Anzuldúa. sociology major. I was already well versed Slowly, I learnt about in mainstream feminism, the kind of postcolonialism. I learnt oppositional, liberal feminism, that thinks about orientalism and the that the pay gap is all that needs to be fixed. colonial gaze, I learnt about I knew what the patriarchy was, I knew microaggressions, I learnt who Simone de Beauvoir was. I planned to about exoticism, I learnt about colourism, I do gender studies from the beginning. I felt learnt about the politics of being mixed race. optimistic about university and new ways of It was kind of like finally getting the right thinking and being a young feminist. Until prescription for my eyes; I could see things the Race, Ethnicity and Nationality week of so clearly. I was so mad at the world, on the introductory sociology course. behalf of myself and my ancestors. But the

I am a blogger. I have blogged about various topics for about seven years. I blogged about

anger felt liberating. I could articulate myself and who I am. It was the best thing that had ever happened to me. I started a zine series, a collection of other mixed-race girls’ experiences. I continued blogging, changing my name to ‘sister-bell’, and I created a safe space for myself. I grew into my identity as a woman of colour.

Being a woman of colour is now like wearing a really cool and beautiful coat that a lot of people hate for no real reason except their own prejudice and ignorance (not a real reason). But you know it’s really cool. And you’re gonna make everyone love it one day.

It’s like having a deeply spiritual connection with Beyoncé. It’s like adopting Kanye West as a surrogate father cos he says the truth. It’s learning a new language, a way to communicate that has its foundation in empowerment and freedom.

It gives you a voice. No matter how shy you are on the outside. Even if you can’t say what you need to say sometimes. The internet always gave me a place to go home and look at pictures of other girls of colour, other girls fighting their own battles of racism, and feel at peace that I wasn’t alone. I think everyone should have a blog. I think everyone should dedicate a little bit of time to being introspective, to thinking about who they are, what their identity is, what it means to them. I was forced to consider who I was, because I didn’t fit into the boxes that mainstream, white supremacist, Western society gave me. But I’m really glad I did. So that is why the internet is awesome. I used it to discover the TRUTH about my LIFE. So cool?? Yes.

It gives you a voice.

No matter how shy you are on the outside. Even if you can’t say what you need to say sometimes.

PAG E 14

GROWING STRONG

By Eve Radunz

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ouTube ads are the worst. That is a widely recognised fact. Having to watch up to 30 seconds of advertising baloney before viewing a Grimes video makes me ill. What’s worse however, is when that advertising baloney is sexist. There are so many examples of this; but the one I want to talk about is the IGA’s Vinnies Christmas Appeal ad. If you watched even three YouTube videos over the Christmas period I guarantee you would have had to sit though it at least once. It’s the one that shows a white Australian family (with the addition of what I assume is the neighbourhood’s token Asian family) sit down to a Christmas lunch, suffer through Christmas speeches (which I wasn’t even aware was a thing), and play cricket. You’ll recognise it by the nauseating narrator who rhymes everything and makes you want to go postal.

simple: she is the leader of the household, for she can boss him about when it comes to anything within her domain (the house); but when it comes to sex, he is in control. For, even though she is seen slipping him a pill in his soup later on, it is ultimately HIS body that controls when sex happens. The voice over completes the ad by saying that studies found only women developed dependency on Stifficade (ergh I know, that’s the actual product name), and “they weren’t even the ones taking it!” making the woman completely at the beck and call of This so her husband.

perfectly conveys how a mother is portrayed in advertising these days; she is angry and stressed, she is beyond consent, and she is perfectly okay with that thankyouverymuch.

My main issue with this ad is the character of the mother. She appears three times in the video; the first time she’s snapping at her husband, the second she’s being cheekily (I use this word without a scrap of sincerity) pinched on the bum by her husband, and the third time she’s laughing. This so perfectly conveys how a mother is portrayed in advertising these days; she is angry and stressed, she is beyond consent, and she is perfectly okay with that thankyouverymuch.

The worst thing about this model is the fact that she is happy about this arrangement. She is happy to trade her ability to exercise consent as long as she is in charge of what brand of cling wrap they buy. This is the really toxic part, the bit that teaches women that once you’re older and you’ve had children you’re only worth is keeping the house on its tracks. Sure young women are faced with a myriad of insulting advertising stereotypes too, but what I find absolutely saddening is that once a woman has procreated and exhausted her worldly worth she only has one option.

And that option is pretty shitty.

Mums in other ads are the same. They may rule the household (what a great privilege it is to be able to choose what dishwashing liquid the family uses, gosh leave that task to silly old dad and we’ll end up with acid burns on our hands) in a strict and erratic manner but really they answer to the husband; the husband who despite acting like a complete fool, really drives her wild in the bedroom. One such example is that of a Viagra commercial: the woman sits on the couch eating crisps, unhappy and unattractive, the husband walks in and bumbles about for a while before mentioning he bought some Viagra, the woman’s eyes travel down to what must be an erect penis with the virility of a thousand bulging roman emperors before turning into a complete babe and ravishing him. The messages that this ad conveys are

IGA’s advert in support of Vinnie’s Christmas appeal

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I got my period the same day that my mum bought me a copy of a book on goddesses and I read that once in ancient times, the men would gaze upon the women with wonder, as their cunts bled in the caves, in perfect cycle with the moon. And one day she would spontaneously bear a child, this new perverted screaming life would just come spilling out of there, and the men, they had no explanation for it. It was honorific, and it was terrifying. I imagine these women walking the caverns and the hills of ancient times, and leaving congealing red footprints in their wake as the tide of their ovum and their linings warmed the inside of their thighs and was cast down, as subject to the moon as the ocean.

And I imagine the men, I imagine the men shaking, and entreating her with food and offerings, if only she didn’t smite them, consume them, tear their throats with a brutal quiver of a sharp cervix.

Fix your pad so it don’t slip.

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And don’t forget to put them in the bathroom bin, girl.

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I imagined them fearing God/dess, who was presently spilling forth from my cunt.

Whatcha bleedin’ on the lounge for, girl?

You know we got no money to clean it.

Now we gotta turn the cushion over.

Oh, fuck, you bled on this side too?

Look at it, it’s all brown and dry.

I could pick it off, you lick it off.

How long ago’d you do this one?

Now your father can’t be sittin’ on the couch.

You know how he feel about this.

Does he shit on your bed, girl?

Does he piss in your pillow?

So why you bleedin’ on the lounge for?

Where’s your father gonna sit when he gets home from work?

If you’ve stamped it with your clotted cunt?

Use a fuckin’ tampon, girl.

PAG E 16

And take it out every day.

Your father, he don’t like the smell of it, girl.

Whatcha doin’ bleedin’ from the cunt, girl?

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And not catchin’ it in cotton wool.

W A period always was a period to a squat, fat girl.

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It was roughly a week long, a stamped cosmos-black-holeswirling-void on the calendar above the breakfast bench, which my father and I would watch approach every morning, he with much abhorrence and dread, I, with absent fear and a promise to buy Buscupan.

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The worst hit when I was twelve.

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//I remember with clarity my mother demanding//I close my legs,//as my father turned his head, and cleared his throat. When it flowed forth with vehemence and the undulating-hot-clot smell filled the house and our blankets. I retreated to the Cave (I imagine the Virgin Mary washing herself for days when she bled between her sacred sons). Caves, sacred arenas of gasping desperate cramps, mine had a Chad Michael Murray poster, others had rugs and a tepid tent breeze.

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The Cave was spectral, astral, I had easily a good two metre-radius jerking from the core of my flower’s stigma within which not one member of my family would tread, my own transferable cave. This was the evolution of period place, a reserved corner in my parent’s small house, to period space, an active negotiation of singularity in my three days of active cramping, farting and puking, and a knowledge that I had carved for myself, in the same way a river carves a valley, a space whose purpose it was that I sit for days, watch Home and Away and contemplate my hygiene, contemplate embodiment and wonder why those girls didn’t bleed in the surf, little red trails for the camera to track in glamour shots.

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Meditate on how uncomfortable I made my father, when he would screw up his nose at my mother, who would tell me to take the bathroom bin and put it in the neighbour’s

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Dial-a-Dump.

I marked my territory, bled on some shit, and sometimes, I’d part my legs a little wider, neglect to change my pad, fart with gusto, to test how far the radius would stretch, how permeative the smell boundaries of my little cave were.

Whatcha bleedin’ in the bath for, girl?

Don’t kid me, I can see it.

See, there, a clot near the drain ‘ole.

And your cunt kissed the rim while you was shavin’.

Look at it, I can see the whole thing.

All splayed out like a wound.

No, hey, whatcha wipin’ it with a towel for?

You know them towels are yellow, girl?

And what’s your father gonna think when he sees ‘em?

That you cut yourself shavin’ your moot?

What’s your father gonna think when he knows you got one?

That you’s some skank around town?

I can see a tampon wrapper on the ground, girl.

And you better grab it quick smart.

Put it in the bathroom bin, girl.

And spray the air with lavender when you’s done.

artwork by dorit goldman-moas

What happens when your brother smells your cunt rags, girl?

You’ll be scarrin’ him for life.

Whatcha doin’ not showerin’ when you’s bleedin’, girl?

And not usin’ a separate bar of soap?

Alison Whittaker, UTS us y d WO M ENS co l l ec t i v e 2 013

PAG E 17

By Boo Patrick

Brains are elastic…

And we are only just beginning to understand to what extent. Just as, with blindness, the visual cortex is automatically used to processes tactile sensations, people can train their brains to become more adept at certain activities. Such is evidenced in the work of Barbara Arrowsmith-Young, who, after hearing about a study that contrasted the brain development of rats in stimulationrich cages, with those in sterile environments, figured that if rats could grow their brains, so could she. Born with a severely asymmetric brain, which allowed her to remember entire news shows, but not to tell the time – she repetitively performed the tasks she found the hardest. This method proved so successful that she opened a school, and has seen many children achieve similar results – all through her claim to a better brain.

“Seeing that the average brainweight of women is about five ounces less than that of men, on merely anatomical grounds we should be prepared to expect a “The delicacy of the marked inferiority of intellectual brain fibers in women power in the former the inferiority prevents complex displays itself most conspicuously thought.” in a comparative absence of originality, and this more Nicholas Malebranche, especially in the higher levels of 17th century …and we don’t understand intellectual work.”

George Romanes, 19th century

[On why there is a lack of women in high-end science-related positions] ”In the special case of science and engineering, there are issues of intrinsic aptitude, reinforced by what are in fact lesser factors involving socialization and continuing discrimination” Lawrence Summers, Harvard President, 21st century

Neuroscience has been used often in history to give bullshit a sense of credibility. This article in no way intends to disavow the many researchers who treat their material with discernment, and, dare I say it, delicacy; I hope only to make evident the raging fictions abounding in popular science and to stress the significance of human agency when confronting gender issues.

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everything about them…

The idea that the abilities of one’s brain are both fixed, and determined by biological sex, saturates western media, as do the assertions that males are naturally better at maths and science, and females more adept communicators.

Through the course of my research, it has become increasingly obvious that this is oversimplification at its finest, and that, when performing complex activities, many different parts of the brain are in dialogue with each other.Rather than attempting to explain gendered gaps, ‘neuroscience’, as it appears in popular culture has become a buzzword in itself, and a way of selling sexism, without appearing sexist. Rather than reading, “Women are better drivers than men” (an incorrect statement, in case you were wondering) one can state that “Women have less developed spatial awareness stemming from their underdeveloped left hemispheres”. Sounds legitimate, right?

…but some people pretend that they do, and it sucks.

Many studies have been used to retrospectively explain why things are the way they are, namely, why the achievements of women have been dwarfed by men. In order to do so, ‘scientists’ throughout history have attempted to track down the source of woman’s inferiority, and, with the emergence of neuroscience in the seventeenth century; the brain was increasingly used as the site of weakness.

In the nineteenth century, many women were institutionalized for suffering from “hysteria”. Used GROWING STRONG

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Period. to encompass any illness experienced by women, biologists asserted that it was caused by a woman’s ‘wandering womb’, as the womb would move around inside the body, searching for a sexual outlet. Though the theory sounds ridiculous now, its core principle – that women are controlled by their hormones, and cannot be angry without being irrational/PMS’ing – remains commonplace. In this sense, neuroscience has been used only to justify social attitudes, without telling us anything.

Attitude…

If our brains are as ‘plastic’, or susceptible to change as has been indicated, it is perhaps more fruitful to explore how thought is influenced by social conditioning, rather than merely projecting social hierarchies upon data.

In 2008, Science magazine published an article called ‘Culture, Gender, and Math’, which argued that internationally, as female emancipation rises, the gender gap in mathematics is removed, explaining the disparity as being due to sexist social attitudes, rather than biology.

In another study conducted by Angela Moe, participants were told to complete a mental rotation test, for which men typically account for 75% of the top scores. The test is often used to explain men’s dominance in math/science fields. They were split into three groups; the first group was told that men had a genetic advantage in taking the test, the second group was the control, and the third was told that women were more adept at the task. In both the first and second groups, the men came out ahead, while in the third, men and women performed equally. When scrutinized, the results of these studies show the significance of cultural factors in determining people’s abilities.

They illustrate an idea that should be considered obvious – that without self-belief, and a supporting network, it is much more difficult to achieve success. Stereotypical generalities, that men make bad communicators and women bad inventors, can therefore behave as self-fulfilling prophecies and suppress ability, as they force people to identify with a position of weakness. us y d WO M ENS co l l ec t i v e 2 013

…and Intervention Curious as to why women are still so underrepresented in science/engineering fields in Australia, I interviewed several female engineers, employed at a major international biotech company. Each person believed that talking to female high school students, and ‘demystifying’ engineering and what such jobs entail, is the most effective way of enhancing women’s involvement in the field, as getting people started is the critical step. One engineer commented that many of her intelligent female friends were flabbergasted at the prospect of being an engineer, as they had the impression that it must be beyond their capabilities. Having been profiled so long as the domain of eccentric, white male geniuses, it is understandable that some girls, living in a culture still marked as patriarchal, could feel inadequate, and intimidated by science. Groups such as RoboGals have sought to remove from science its sense of mystique, as they show female students how to program robots, showing them an accessible engineering, and presenting them with more diverse role models.

One scientist noted that the advertising used to entice school-leavers into engineering programs often relied upon traditionally male visual codes, as they focused on the large and fast machines that engineers build – a model that potentially alienated female viewers. She suggested that, by representing other facets of an engineer’s role – such as their potential to benefit third world communities – a wider selection of people could be attracted.

Rather than hiding behind the sexist generalities of popular science and culture, major technology-based institutions – through starting female leadership programs, and encouraging paternal, as well as maternal leave – are taking responsibility for gender imbalances, and attempting to rectify them.

The best, and also the worst thing, about neuroplasticity?

Things can change, but it’s up to us.

PAG E 19

A Room of One’s Own Virginia Woolf/A Vindication of the Rights of Women Mary Wollstonecraf/Black Feminist Thought Patricia Hills Collins/ Damned Whores and God’s Police Anne Summers/Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture Ariel Levy /Feminism is for Everyone Bell Hooks/Feminism is Queer Mimi Marinucci/ Princesses and Pornstars Emily McGuire/The Beauty Myth Naomi Wolf/The Guy’s Guide to Feminism Michael Kaufman/ The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood/The Purity Myth Jessica Valenti/The Second Sex Simone de Beauvoir/ Wisdom Ways Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza/Women Race and Class Angela Davis/ Womenstuff Kaz Cooke PAGE 2 0

Feminist Frequency/ Feminist Majority Foundation/ Sex +

GROWING STRONG

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But I’m a cheerleader/The Colour Purple/Itty Bitty Titty Committee/Loving Annabel/Tomboy/Boy’s Don’t Cry/Fried Green Tomatoes/ Miss Representation/Hanna/Sixteen Wishes/The Hunger Games/The Help/Teeth/Legally Blonde/ The Joy Luck Club

Ana Mendieta/ Annie Liebowitz/ Augusta Savage/ Faith Wilding/ Frida Khalo/ Georgia O’Keefe/ Suzanne Lacy/ Tracey Emin

Amanda Palmer/ Aretha Franklin/ Beth Ditto/ Beyonce/Bikini Kill/Blondie/ Cat Power/Cyndi Lauper/Eirwen Skye/Florence Welch/Joan Jett/ Joni Mitchell/Lady Gaga/Le Tigre/Patti Smith/Peaches/ Santigold/Solange/ The Raincoats/ Tracey Moffatt

anotherfeminist.tumblr.com/Bitch.com/ crunkfeministcollective.com/feministing. com/Feminspire.com/fyeahwomenartists. com/isthisfeminist.tublr.com/jezebel. com/nuestrahermana.tumblr.com/ thecurrentconscience.com/tigerbeatdown. com/trill-wave-feminism.tumblr.com/ whoneedsfeminism.tumblr.com us y d WO M ENS CO L L EC T I V E 2 013

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artwork by Mariana Podesta-Diverio

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GROWING STRONG

own hair and make-up, and chose her own outfits. Her experiences seem a far cry from the industry we know today.

True to the Feminist maxim “The Personal is Political”, Hannah Smith looks at the beauty industry from a personal level.

The beauty industry has always inspired rage within the feminist movement. In 1968, New York Radical Women staged a protest at the Atlanta Miss World beauty pageant. In her influential 1963 book, The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan called the beauty industry the tool through which women are oppressed.

Many Feminist Women of Colour argue that beauty is still defined by white, middle-class standards. More recently, a group of feminists disrupted Victoria’s Secret marketing to highlight it’s harmful messages about consent. Socialist Feminists continue to argue that the beauty industry relies on under-paid, usually female labour. While most feminists disagree on which part, the overall insidiousness and homogeneity of the beauty industry is one of the very few things that most feminists agree on.

Being a feminist, and agreeing strongly with almost all of the sentiments and actions taken against the beauty industry, I have been thinking alot recently about my 80 year old Grandmother. At 20 years old, she was two-time Knaresborough beauty queen, and went on to win the 1951 Miss Leeds competition, then competed in the England-wide beauty pageant. She soon became a model and appeared in magazines and calendars. Although I haven’t seen them, my mum told me she did a number of nude photo shoots, which also featured in magazines. Her career ended soon after this because she was not tall enough to take it further.

What confuses me further is that my grandmother did not follow the path her parents and society expected of her as a woman of the 1950s. She divorced her first husband, and adopted a daughter on her own. She is a fierce supporter of reproductive rights and is well read (teaching me about the Second World War and the Holocaust at the tender age of 11). us y d src WO M EN ’S co l l ec t i v e 2 013

I find it difficult to reconcile the fact that my grandmother was a beauty queen with the fact that she is one of my feminist heroes. I decided to ask her about it, just in case there were some differences between the industry that she was part of then, and the one I know now. This was a terribly difficult task because my family is renowned for viewing anyone interested in their history with suspicion, and because my grandmother is descending into Alzheimer’s.

I asked her about the influence of her experience on how she thought about her body. Again, she told me she didn’t really know. Looking at the pictures of her though, it seems that the industry wasn’t as harmful in promoting negative body image.

Although any sentiments about ideal weight or body type are harmful, an industry which doesn’t turn its nose up at cellulite and a bra-size larger than a b-cup seems at least somewhat better than the one we know today.

What is a hallmark of both the beauty industry my grandmother lived amongst and the one I revile from afar is the distinct lack of intersectionality. Almost every woman is white, thin, able-bodied and cis-gendered. It might be me wanting to excuse my grandmother, but I believe it’s the responsibility of designers and casting agents – and not the models- to ensure the industry adequately represents the market it is targeting.

The thing I find most sad about my grandmother’s experience is that the only opportunity available to her to excel at something, and to travel, was within an industry that didn’t require her to speak, that didn’t allow her to make friends, and that graded her appearance against a hierarchy of arbitrary, alienating ideals. Of course this isn’t the case today, women have a choice of many fields in which to excel.

However, the beauty industry still exists and is more profitable than ever.

First, I wanted to know why she entered beauty pageants in the first place. Was it to go undercover and send secret messages of self-love and body positivity, guerrilla-girls style? No. Was it because your family was poor and the prize money would help get food on the table? Sometimes. Was it a way to make friends? No, definitely not (I never made friends there). Well, then what was it?

I don’t know, it was just something to do.

The frankness and banality of this answer was incredibly discouraging. No good story starts with “I just wanted something to do”.

I kept on, nonetheless. I asked her what was good about pageants and modelling.

She said the travel and making beautiful clothes for herself. She told me she did her

What I take most strongly from this interesting intersection of my personal and the political is that there is no rule book for how to be a good feminist. My grandmother was a part of an industry that has alienated women and reinforced extreme ideals, but she has also actively encouraged her 3 daughters and seven granddaughters to do what we want, to wear what we want, to date who we want, to have sex with who we want and to think freely. I don’t want to be a part of a movement which rejects women like that.

This is an important lesson for me. Maybe you’re not ready to take that step to call out some one on their sexist language, or wear your “this is what a feminist looks like” badge, and that’s okay. Maybe you will get there and maybe you won’t. But it’s important to know each and every woman has a place in the feminist movement if they want it.

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Despite the sexism which is still endemic in the area of scientific research, many women have made incredible and paradigm-shifting progress. Emily Rayers celebrates some of women’s greatest contributions and questions the gender disparity of Nobel prizes.

ROSALIND FRANKLIN Rosalind Franklin worked tirelessly, but not silently, in a discriminatory laboratory environment (the male scientists of the school had a comfortable ‘clubby’ lunch room while women of all ranks were exiled into student halls or offcampus) and made huge progress in discovering the crystalline structure of DNA. Her unpublished research was shared by a colleague without her knowledge or permission., prompting Watson and Crick to further her work into a comprehensive 3D structure, publish a paper with no mention or acknowledgement of Franklin’s contribution, and win a Nobel prize with her work. When the enormity of Franklin’s contribution became publicly known, she had already passed away and as such cannot be recognized with a Nobel prize.

that disproved an accepted theory (the theory of parity conservation). Two of her colleagues, both men, had theorized that parity conservation may not hold true in some situations, but it was not evidenced until the contribution of Chien-Shung.

The men shared a Nobel prize for the research, but the work of Chien-Shung was not awarded.

MARIA TELKES The first ever thermo-electric (solar-powered) generator, first residential solar heating system, patented solar oven, revolutionary solar-powered water distillation system for lifeboats, and first thermoelectric refrigerator were all designed by Maria Telkes. The solar-powered house designed in 1948 is still in use today, and Telkes was a major consultant in the start-up of several solar power companies in the US. Telkes has been awarded by the Society of Women Engineers and a solar-power organisation, but none of the largest scientific organisations have formally acknowledged her work.

ELLEN HENRIETTA SWALLOW/ RICHARDS

Ellen Swallow not only battled against the widespread sexism in academia but also against poverty; doing unskilled work for many years in order to save for university. She was the first ever MARIE CURIE woman accepted to the Massachusetts Institute The first ever woman professor at the University of Technology and went on to perform research, of Paris, and first to be awarded a Nobel prize, later working as an unpaid assistant in the MIT Marie Curie received comparatively significant Women’s Laboratory and developing sanitation recognition for her work in physics and methods that changed the face of public health chemistry – although she did have to discover and made Massachusetts the first in the world to two new elements, invent a new international instigate water quality standards. Ellen achieved standard measurement of radiation emission and everything necessary to be awarded a doctorate initiate research into radiotherapy for cancer tu but MIT refused to grant the distinction to a mours to get noticed. Marie also suffered from woman until several years later, so her work sexist media attention when she was blasted by remains unrecognised formally by the university. tabloid newspapers for conducting an affair with a In her later years, Ellen Swallow created programs physicist and returned from a trip to find an angry for female students, donated her money and her mob surrounding her home, forcing her to seek time to women students at MIT, and created refuge with family. Predictably, the man’s integrity the American Association of University Women was not questioned despite his being married (although the university was dismissive of her ideas (Marie’s husband had died 4 years previously – not until she married the chairman of the mining that any other situation would cause her personal engineering department). In 1883 the Women’s choices to be in any way relevant to her scientific Laboratory was closed and women were finally profile). granted entry and awarded degrees as regular students.

CHIEN-SHUNG WU Not only did Chein-Shung Wu contribute significant work to the Manhattan project (developing nuclear power) but she revolutionized particle physics by designing an experiment PAGE 24

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FRANCOISE BARRE-SINOUSSI Along with her former mentor Luc Montagnier, Francoise discovered the viral basis (HIV) of the well-known syndrome AIDS. She later acted GROWING STRONG

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as a consultant for several AIDS organisations, intitiated collaborations with developing countries to create effective multidisciplinary networks, and publicly protested to Pope Benedict XVIs statements on the efficacy of condoms in the AIDS crisis in Africa. While Francoise shared a Nobel prize, her co-worker who achieved comparable outcomes has been officially acknowledged by more than three times as many prizes as Francoise.

BERTHA JEFFREYS Bertha worked with the University of Cambridge for over 70 years developing the foundations of quantum theory(!) and publishing the enormously influential ‘Methods of Mathematical Physics’ which is still a recommended textbook for many undergraduate degrees today. She went on to become Director of Studies in Mathematics and Vice-Mistress of the university and was known for being supportive of her women students.

The no-belle stats: Over the 109 years of the Nobel’s history, only 16 women have been acknowledged in the science categories (2 in Physics, 4 in Chemistry, and 10 in Medicine).

While the disparity has improved in recent years, women are still hugely under-represented – forming about 20% of working scientists, they are awarded only 2% of Nobel prizes.

In the last decade, the participation and contribution of women to science has steadily increased – but the rate at which their work is officially recognised has declined.

FIONA STANLEY After working in a paediatric clinic in Perth, Fiona was struck with the way that malnourished Indigenous children were treated with ‘expensive miracles…then dumped back into the environments that had caused their problems’.

She vowed to change attitudes to health in Australia and shift focus to preventative health; the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth instigated by the government can be attributed largely to her influence, and her research into cerebral palsy has been of great importance. Although widely recognised in Australia, Fiona has never received any international honours.

The Nobel Prize in Physics 1963 – Maria Goeppert-Mayer 1903 – Marie Sklodowska – Curie The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009 – Ada E. Yonath 1964 – Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin 1935 – Irène Joliot-Curie 1911 – Marie Sklodowska – Curie The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009 – Elizabeth H. Blackburn 2009 – Carol W. Greider 2008 – Françoise Barré-Sinoussi 2004 – Linda B. Buck 1995 – Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard 1988 – Gertrude B. Elion 1986 – Rita Levi-Montalcini 1983 – Barbara McClintock 1977 – Rosalyn Yalow 1947 – Gerty Cori

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Homonormativity: the assimilation of heteronormative ideals and constructs into homosexual culture and individual identity.

Intersectionality: a critical theory (and school of feminism) which holds that one form of discrimination or oppression (such as sexism) cannot be separated from other forms (such as ableism, racism, homophobia, transphobia etc.). Or to put it another way, elements of our identity may intersect and increase the extent of discrimination leveled against us.

Autonomy: the right for women to organise around issues that affect them, without input from men. The need for autonomy stems from historical traditions in which women were denied an input into decisions that affected their lives. The Women’s Collective is an autonomous organisation and the Women’s room is an autonomous space.

Liberal: a political philosophy or worldview founded on ideas of liberty and equality.

Cisgender: individuals who have a match between the

Misandry: the hatred or dislike of

gender they were assigned at birth, their bodies, and their personal identity.

Female-bodied: XX chromosomed (XXX, and X

Misogyny: the hatred or dislike of women. Commonly practiced by Tony Abbott. men.

Patriarchy: a system in which men possess social and political control.

also possible, even XY with Androgen Insensitivity) person who is biologically considered female.

Sex: the biological make-up of a person’s reproductive anatomy.

Female-socialized: raised in the female gender

Sexism: prejudice or discrimination against women.

performance, and therefore performing “feminine” characteristics.

Feminism: the advocacy of women’s social, political and economic equality.

Gender binary: the popular narrative in which there are only two distinct genders: masculine and feminine.

This narrative is seen as inadequate as it does not acknowledge a range of gender identities that are neither distinctly masculine nor feminine and it holds a very narrow definition of masculinity and femininity. Many feminists work to break down this binary, which often relies on stereotypes about what it means to be a man or a woman. Also known as a culture of heteronormativity.

Gender identity: a socially and culturally determined combination of behaviors, appearances and feelings about oneself that indicate membership of a particular gender group. It is popularly understood that there are two gender identities; man and woman, however, many argue there are a range of gender identities and that gender is a spectrum.

Gendered language: a use of words that subconsciously reinforces gender stereotypes, it may also include defining masculinity in contradistinction to femininity (and vice versa).

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Lived experience: simply your personal experiences. It is an important term to know because you may get into discussions with people who say something about what it’s like to be a woman (or any other group), but your lived experience may contradict that.

It relies on alleged differences between men and women.

Trans*: a broad umbrella term referring to people whose gender identity and/or presentation transgress traditional gender norms.

Transsexual: a person who lives as the ‘opposite’ gender of their sex. The process of changing one’s gender can involve any or all of the following: changing use of pronouns, changing names, changing clothing, taking hormones, and/or undergoing sex reassignment surgery.

Womanism: theoretical perspective focused on the experiences and knowledge bases of Black women [which] recognizes and interrogates the social realities of slavery, segregation, sexism, and economic exploitation this group has experienced during its history in the United States. Furthermore, womanism examines these realities and Black women’s responses without viewing them as a variation on or derivation of Black male or White female behaviour and social circumstances

Womyn: the alternate spelling of

the word ‘women’ used by some feminists. This is used as a rejection of words that identify ‘man’ as the norm.

GROWING STRONG

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What sort of feminist are you?

h and e 19t , it foh t g n i ld priy dur e wor ctivit ghout th qualities, e). a t s i t e n throu to vo d) in femi ave: h century mandate the right e early W There are many branches of feminism with slightly differt s ( 1 th e iet lly went e (officia ’s suffrag began in f issues: t ent attitudes and aims. Your personal feminist ideas may y l r t o en ea e rs jur n de ning wom ity that fi ide rang rights, de o or may not fit neatly into one branch, and many feminists d e cus gai ive ctiv oaw choose not to identify with a particular branch. ly on eminist a debate t eproduct ualities. i r a r f m ave: dened the rkplace, legal ineq se exact W d n o 2 al w roa who Radical Feminism: focuses on the theory of patriare a offici y, the udy, s, it b 1960 lity, famil lities, and ity and st feminism nning archy.

Radical feminism aims to challenge and overthrow i f v a a g i o hy s be t, it sexu to inequ inist act p a a r d patriarchy by opposing standard gender roles and calls for a e g rk en m rio fac ve: fe the histo often ma o the pres on a radical reordering of society.

W t s n re 3rd ries i ate, but a ontinuing nd focuse a d n bou deb 0s and c change a retation Intersectional feminism: a school of feminism ct of p 9 subje early 19 rsity and list inter which holds that one form of discrimination or ope e a . in th races div -structur sexuality pression (such as sexism) cannot be separated t b d s n o m a e re p nder from other forms of discrimination or a mo of ge oppression (such as ableism, racism, homophobia, transphobia etc.).

Liberal feminism: the belief that a woman exercising her right to choose is in itself feminist activism. Liberal feminists work hard to emphasize the equality of men and women through political and legal reform.

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e It definitely looks like genital herpes’ my doctor said as she examined my vagina.

I immediately burst into tears as I lay eagle-spread, humiliated and disgusted with myself.

‘I will never be able to have sex again’ Throughout my primary and high school education, I was led to believe that getting herpes was a death sentence for your sex life, that your bits would be resemble that of an undercooked pizza for all of eternity. So naturally when I found an itchy slightly red mark on my labia, I literally thought that an ant had crawled into my pants and bit me. It certainly wasn’t the stuff of horror stories.

Despite the incredibly underwhelming small red mark on my vagina, as a bona fide germaphobe, having herpes was (in my mind) literally the most disgusting thing that had ever happened to me. My self-confidence plummeted; I didn’t have sex for months, started avoiding parties and social events where I might be put in the situation of a sexual encounter.

Did you know that 1 in every 4 women has herpes? Herpes Simplex Virus (otherwise known as HSV) is the single most common infection that humans get.

If you suspect that something isn’t quite right down there - the best thing to do is book an appointment with your regular GP, as it’s really important that the diagnosis is confirmed and managed. Herpes is not curable, but it is manageable - a point which I feel is overlooked, and as a result, herpes is a virus which is wildly over stigmatised. You can opt to take anti-viral tablets daily, which stops you from having an attack, or simply take tablets when you get an attack - it is also possible to just have the initial attack and never have it again. If you chose to take the anti-viral tablets only when you have an attack, try to keep the area dry and clean by bathing the area in salty water when there are sores should heal within about 6-7 days.

The biggest thing for me has been the process of accepting having an STI and not defining myself, or limiting myself sexually as a result of contracting herpes.

I take tablets, which stop infections for the rest of my life, and I carry around condoms in my wallet, which is what most responsible people do. With time and hindsight, was contracting herpes really a death sentence for my sexual life? After the initial shock discovery, I started treating my body and myself with more respect, becoming acutely aware of when I did, and didn’t want to sleep with someone and whether I felt like it was simply out of obligation. For the first time, I had the confidence to say ‘no’ to sex that I felt pressured into, and to stop when I felt that I didn’t want to have sex anymore, regardless of my partner’s desires.

So in short, herpes sucks- but it’s not a death sentence to your sex life, in fact it can even weirdly deepen your sexual life.

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Mental health Headspace www.headspace.org.au | Camperdown Ph. 9114 4100 Beyond Blue www.beyondblue.org.au | Ph. 1300 22 36 36 Sydney Uni Counselling Service Ph. 9718 1955 Sexual health Sydney Sexual Health Centre Ph. 9382 7440 NSW Health www.health.nsw.gov.au/sexualhealth | Ph. 1800 451 624 Leichhardt Women’s Community Health Centre | 9569 5098 Marie Stopes International (Abortion info) | 1800 003 707 Sexual assault NSW Rape Crisis Centre www.nswrapecrisis.com.au | Ph. 9819 6565, 9181 4349, 1800 424 017 RPAH Sexual Assault Services Ph: 9515 9040, 9515 6111 after hours Access via ground flour, KGV building RPAH, Missenden Rd Sexuality and gender diversity Twenty10 www.twenty10.org.au | Ph. 8594 9555 Gay & Lesbian counselling www.glcsnsw.org.au | Ph. 1800 184 527 The Gender Centre www.gendercentre.org.au | Ph. 9569 2366 Lesbian and Gay Anti-violence project avp.acon.org.au | Ph. 9206 2066 Domestic/relationship violence NSW Women’s Refuge Resource Centre www.wrrc.org.au | Ph.1800 656463 Domestic violence legal advice line Ph. 8745 6999, 1800 810 784 Other Childcare Access Hotline Ph. 1800 670 305 Scarlet Alliance (sex workers) info@scarletalliance.org.au Women’s Legal Services www.womenslegalnsw.asn.au Wirringa Baiya Aboriginal Women’s Legal Centre | 1800 639 784 Indigenous Women’s Legal Program | 1800 639 784

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GROWING STRONG LAUNCH PARTY FRIDAY 1ST MARCH, 6PM DIFFERENT DRUMMER, GLEBE (THIS IS AN AUTONOMOUS EVENT)

Student s’ Representative Council, Universit y of Sydney