FAULT THE PERCEPTION ISSUE

THE PERCEPTION ISSUE

CREDITS PRODUCTION & STUDIO MANAGER Alanna Walsh EDITOR Lucy Wall VISUAL PROOFER Eloise Sandmann, Alanna Walsh & Lucinda Campese COVER DESIGNER Cassie Freewater & Eloise Sandmann CONTENTS PAGE DESIGNER Ellen Mitchell & Phoebe Hicks ADDITIONAL CONTENT Kathleen Kerr, Chloe Wicks, Kate Collison, Alanna Walsh, Lucy Wall WRITERS Cassie Freewater, Alanna Walsh, Kate Collison, Eloise Sandmann, Lucy Wall, Lucinda Campese, Ellen Mitchell, Kathleen Kerr, Chloe Wicks & Phoebe Hicks ADVERTISERS Eloise Sandmann, Lucy Wall, Chloe Wicks, Phoebe Hicks, Cassie Freewater, Alanna Walsh, Lucinda Campese, Ellen Mitchell, Kathleen Kerr

PERCEPTION Perception refers to how something is regarded, understood or interpreted.

The Perception Issue positively obscures the negative connotations society associates with social, physical, lifestyle and emotional ‘difference’. This issue addresses seeing these stigmatised imperfections in an alternative light. Empowering you, as our reader to change your subconcious judgements brought upon you by your senses.

CONTENTS

34 26

THE(BIG) (BIG)LITTLE LITTLE THINGS THE THING S

44

WA W MALF MA L

88

16 16

GENERATION WIRED

GET TO KNOW

12 10

BLINDED BLINDE D

22 22 474 DAYS

22

THE THEGG

56 56

THE DIY PERCEPTION

40 40

ARDROBE ARDROBE FUNCTION UNCTIO N

29 29

GREAT DIVIDE REAT DIVIDE

45 45

INKED UP

52 52

MIND OVER MATTER?

MIDE O VER MA TTER ?

62 62

GIRLS ON GIRLS ON FILM FIL M

Get a Sense of Our Writers Smell is the sense that is most strongly linked to memory, so we had the gals here at Fault tell us a little something about their favourite scents.

Alanna Walsh

Chloe Wicks

Lucy Wall

Kathleen Kerr

Due to my relentless obsession with perfume, I have to say Chloé by Chloé. Its like my sibling, the relationship doesn’t end. I mean I’m currently on my fifth bottle, that’s like $500 of sparkling air. But to answer your question, it reminds me of Greece, the first place I wore it & coincidentally my favourite place in the world. Everytime I put it on, my memory retreats back to untainted happiness.

I have to say I really love those first scents of warmer weather. Usually around August and September or basically whenever Mother Nature decides to pull the winter carpet from beneath us. The air is a mixture of fresh blooms and sunshine. It feels different and you know the beautiful weathers of spring and summer are not far off.

To me, Christmas has always had a smell. Not Christmas day where everything is cooking and there’s family everywhere and various new perfumes to try (which still smells amazing anyway!) but that time of year. It’s this perfect combination of warm nights where the grass smells even stronger and these flowers through our garden are weaving in and out of the air.

My childhood home has this huge driveway, which halfway through winter each year has huge expanses of white dotted with green either side. The light, sweet smell of freesias has been one of my favourites since I was a little girl. The crispness of winter air combined with their fragrance is just heaven to me.

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I love the smell of food in the oven! It reminds me of Christmas! Where you eat a whole years worth of food in one day. Lasagne, turkey, glazed ham, roast pork, baked potatoes and roast chicken, anything you name it!

While you’re patiently waiting for it to cook, you enjoy the smell of it before you shove it down your stomach.

It’s the greatest moment ever.

Lucinda Campese

One of my favourite smells is wattle. When spring starts, it’s literally everywhere. It reminds me of my childhood and makes me feel so happy and light. I confess to stealing many of my neighbours wattle flowers to inhale put next to my bed.

Phoebe Hicks

Ellen Mitchell

My favourite smell would have to be petrichor. The smell the earth gets just before its starts to rain and when it finally soaks into the ground. Everything seems fresh and a new, with another cycle of perspiration starting. Nothing else can make me instantly calm and relaxed as rain, with its smell taking me back to that state everytime.

Whenever I buy a new magazine or a book I just have to smell the pages, they smell so good. I only do it once though, it’s not like I smell every page as I turn it, that would be weird.

Cassie Freewater

For me, freshly washed sheets are the most satisfying smell, the distinctive feel of beautiful, clean washed sheets combined with the smell of clean linen makes the moment of freshly washed sheets complete.

Kate Collison

Nothing compares to when you walk into your house and all you can smell is freshly baked cookies. It brings me such warmth and happiness and reminds me of my mums delicious cooking.

Eloise Sandmann

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Chloé EAU DE PARFUM

scratch and sniff here

Blinded Your perceptions are subconsciously controlling your reality

BY CASSIE FREEWATER

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P

incidentally, this activated knowledge affects our social judgment. This research suggests that people are not only unaware of the information that is activated during the normal course of perception, but also of the way in which such information guides their judgments and impressions of the world around them.

erception not only creates our experience of the world around us, but it allows us to act within our environment. The way in which we perceive our environment is what makes us different from other animals and different from each other. This raises questions about the way our perceptions can control how we behave and interact with the people around us.

Do we always know the reasons for our actions? Or is our behaviour sometimes unintentionally influenced by what we have recently perceived?

Have you ever noticed your behaviour change when around different people or social groups? For example, you might be a female who normally spends time with your girlfriends, but when hanging out with a group of guys you find yourself starting to adopt their language. Or another example is when the gestures of your partner start rubbing off onto you. Well you're not alone. Much contemporary work on human mimicry suggests that the perception of certain actions can also lead to the performance of those actions.

Behaviours are often presumed to result solely from conscious, intentional thought, although recent research in social psychology has placed this assumption under scrutiny. Research has shown that our perceptions of the world are inevitably shaped by factors outside of our awareness, which can guide our complex behaviours that we may not always be aware of. Social psychologists have amassed a large body of findings suggesting that while people are seeing and listening to the world around them, social knowledge corresponding to the stimuli is automatically activated in memory during the natural course of perception, without people's awareness or intention. This research has also shown that automatically activated information then shapes and guides people's impressions, judgments, feelings and intentions without people being aware that such influence is occurring.

In one study, psychologists primed participants with the trait intelligence or stupidity, and then asked them to complete an unrelated knowledge test. The hypothesis was that priming participants with intelligence or stupidity would lead to the increased accessibility of related knowledge, including behavioural responses associated with the corresponding concept.

Using a variety of priming methodologies, researchers established that when a person perceives a member of a social group, such as an elderly person, related information about that group is instantly activated; including attitudes exemplars and social stereotypes, for example; elderly people are slow and forgetful.

Any categorisation carries with it a unique set of social stereotypes and attitudes which are likely to be used in the interpretation of other people's behaviour, and

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This activated knowledge would then affect their performance on the test, relative to non-primed participants. As expected, those primed with intelligence significantly outperformed non-primed participants while those primed with stupidity significantly underperformed non-primed participants. None of the participants reported any awareness of a connection between the priming episode and the test. These interesting results suggest that behavioural representations can be automatically activated in memory during perception, and once activated, can guide actual behaviour.

Our subconscious perceptions can affect our behaviour in serious ways. Ways that can guide our behaviour to reach a certain goal we may not even be aware of.

Research suggests that incidental social perception also activates goal knowledge that can automatically influence actual goal pursuit - behaviour that is directed towards an objective, persists over time, and resumes after an interruption. The things we see in our environment, in our homes and on the media, all affects our perception of the way our life should be, and in turn subconsciously activates goals we may subconsciously desire. And it's a scary thought.

In contrast to the assumption that we always consciously decide how to behave, we might routinely be unaware of some or even many of the determinants of our behaviour.

So perhaps, we ought to be more cautious with what it is we are exposing ourselves and our families to in our everyday lives.

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‘‘what we feed our minds shapes our perceptions And our perceptions shape our reality’’

Generation Wired T H E S OC I A L ME DI A FA Ç A DE O F P E R F E C T I ON b y a l a n n a wa l s h

S

plit personalities are something we ambiguously associate with the clinically insane, right?

But, let me put this to you: In complex terms this refers to Dissociative Identity Disorder. While what I’m about to say may seem extreme, I think it’s a justified comparison.

Do you have that one friend (or rather this pal might fall more appropriately into the category of a ‘Facebook friend’, like mine). You wouldn’t necessarily classify he or she as even mildly intellectual, but put the words, “What’s on your mind?”, in front of this individual & suddenly he or she is a lifestyle philosopher with a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology?

Maybe individual isn’t quite the name for this person; maybe ‘twofacedividual’ would be more fitting.

I believe Generation Wired (or better known as: Generation Y) unquestionably coddle in the characteristics of this disorder on a daily to weekly basis. Now don’t think I’m looking down on you social savvy’s. I am one of you.

Harsh? Maybe, but in this online trend of conditioning unrealistic selves, Generation Wired isn’t only delving into a world of deceit. But, also making fabrication a regiment of perfection.

Good old Social Media, yes my friend, the core to our existence: the centre of interaction, imperial knowledge & expression. This is the place where Generation Wired plays with secondary façades.

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“It’s

like a temporary

antidote to our glitches

”

To be perfect means to have all the required or desirable qualities or characteristics. But who defines what is required?

Who decides what is the most desirable? The only answer I can succumb to is society and technology. We create this vision of perfection that’s capacity is unobtainable. Therefore social media and technology have become an avenue for attempting to become the impossible. Its like a cheat to fulfilling what psychologist Carl Roger’s (1959) would call selfactualisation: the state of reaching one’s ‘ideal self ’.

turmoil doesn’t depict the perfect life criteria, thus, we are unquestionably expected to wear our conformed mindset on social media in order to defeat the barriers to social acceptance. It’s like a temporary antidote to our glitches, which in turn can contribute to our problems, as social suppression falls into the category of denial.

My greatest advice is to not be fooled by the social climbers, because their digital identity is probably, legitimately, the core to their existence. You know those fashion-travel bloggers, six-foot skinny bitches, with the wardrobe of a fashion designer and the lifestyle of a rock star? Yeah them. I was sitting in a café one day & one of them walks in. ‘Glamtastic’ as per usual, I’m sort of captivated and excited by her presence, a little tempted to say hi, but sporadically containing myself with the distraction of my good old ‘Instagram’ feed.

From my perspective I’d put honesty and integrity in the category of perfection. So, I’m left to question, are we creating a generation of hypocrites? Have I also managed to fall into this category? I’ll be the first to admit my desire, to make my life seem glamourous. Because who wants to come across as the stereotyped, ‘attention seeker’? Inner

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In excitement I check her page and literally an hour earlier she’s posted a picture in NYC caption reading: “En route to a shoot via Times Square #noplaceidratherbe”. Call me crazy, but surely it takes more than an hour to fly from the US to Australia, unless these six-foot socialites are also part superhero. I felt pretty smitten, knowing she was living in the past and I was part of her not so ‘bragtastic’ reality. It’s moments like this where I know my social media desires to appear trendy are of the lower extreme, and I am once again assured of my normality.

I can tell you why. Because we have become an entitled Generation, we no longer even know the physical and mental degree of what hard work actually requires. These people that seem to have it all don’t promote the hard work it took to get there. Or to top that, mummy and daddy probably paid for it; the relationship is actually a thousand kilometres from perfect and his job probably freaking sucks. All of the above are why it seems so unobtainable.

Statistically, we spend 86 hours a month on social media dreaming of a different life, dreaming we had her body or his car or his abs or her boyfriend or his job. Why is what we have not enough, why don’t we get off the computer and have the confidence to make our dreams a reality?

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Essentially, it’s our responsibility as individuals to restore a more feasible ideal of perfection. Through a manner of replacing the unrealistic persona’s displayed by these growingly, typical, extremist social savvy’s.

I’m not going to dictate your lifestyle choices and frankly, I know I simply can’t, because who the hell am I anyway? But do one thing for yourselves: don’t spend 11% of your month on social media (seriously that’s sad), do the things others do that make you tingle with jealousy, chase your dreams and teach yourself the value of hard work. Because when you do, your one-step closer to perfection, or as Roger’s (1961) argued, you’re a fragment closer to being a “Fully Functioning Person”. Pretty heartbreaking to think us adults fall into a category of dysfunctional isn’t it?

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OF MONSTERS AND MEN

MY HEAD IS AN ANIMAL

NEW ALBUM OUT 13/11/2014 INCLUDES THE TRACKS LITTLE TALKS, MOUNTAIN SOUND AND DIRTY PAWS

www.republicrecords.com

www.ofmonstersandmen.com

474 474 Days

BY EMILY-KATE COLLISON

T

Do we put on a bit of lippie before posting on Instagram?

Do we take the time to perfect ourselves in the slight chance we might run into someone down the street? We are obsessed with trying to ‘fix’ ourselves in the opinion of others. We think society will judge us if we don’t have this standard. In the wise words of John Mason, “We were all born an original. Don’t die a copy”.

here are certain practical realisms in today that most of us accept. If I want to brush my teeth, I’ll use a toothbrush and toothpaste, not soap. If I want to go outside on a hot summer’s day, I’ll put on sunscreen, not baby oil. If I want to go for a run, I’ll put on sneakers not flippers. These are all possible, but not practical. If your going to an event, you try to look our best, not just the ‘rolling out of bed’ look. You hold your breath to fit into your best clothes, you actually put effort and hours into styling your hair and put on makeup. This is a practical reality that some women practice on an almost day-to-day basis. I’m all for looking my best, but for every day, it’s not practical, it’s like trying to go for a run in flippers.

Statistics show that women who wear makeup are viewed by others as ‘more professional’, ‘holders of more prestigious jobs’ and are ‘more competent’. We use makeup as a way to heighten our features. But we have abused the application of makeup. Layers of foundation, contouring to reconstruct the visual frame of our face structure and clever eye makeup quickly transforms our eye shapes, over drawn and coloured lips and bold brows change your face immediately. When we go home at the end of the day, kick back, have a shower and the makeup comes off, will we even recognize ourselves?

Sure the dress and everything makes you look beautiful, but are we doing this everyday? This is a battle that faces each of us at one point or another, who are we trying to impress? What are we trying to achieve? You might not be putting a beautiful gown on everyday but how much time do you take on getting ready to go to the grocery store?

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We were all born original.

Don’t die a copy - John Mason

Professional makeup artist Zoe Campbell quotes. “With being a makeup artist, I myself would wear full on makeup every day, changing my look and style each day, I loved this experimentation. But over time I missed my freckles, my beauty mark and my not so even eyebrows, every day they would be covered up by me ‘correcting’ my face by makeup. Those were the things that made me, me, and it wasn’t a correct portrayal of myself. I was fearful of not wearing makeup, not even my sister would recognize me, from the years of always having a full face of makeup. I always made the excuse to myself ‘it’s my job’. “

“It’s cliché but that’s why it works” (Mario M, 2014), we need to find the beauty in things we are conscious of, we need to be comfortable in ourselves. How are we ever going to do this hiding behind the mask of our covered faces? Is what we find a fault really a ‘fault’? Why not walk around wearing a mask instead? It would be way cheaper, and we would get the 474 days of our lives back. Maybe the next time you leave the house you wear a little less make-up, the real you will be revealed, showing visual features that define us recognizably. I’m not saying makeup is a bad thing, but we use it as an excuse, a way of hiding, a mask, and it’s a very impractical realism. Doing this everyday to ourselves is only setting us up for a greater loss, we trick ourselves, and when we get home and take a shower, and we don’t look like Barbie after all the time we put into getting ready gets washed off in one big swoop. Instead we shouldn’t try to hide our freckles, naturally rosy cheeks or uneven eyebrows, these are the things that make us, us.

We need to love what we have, and to find the beauty in the way we are, or we will be trying to run in flippers.

Not only is this upkeep time consuming, it’s costly! The average women will spend around $15,000 worth of items to make themselves ‘more beautiful’ to please society, by purchasing makeup. With this constant care and upkeep, this is the way we end up spending time? Is it really that important? What if we wake up late and have no time to get ready? Are you fearful of having left the house with no time to get ready? Statistically the average time a woman spends in the mirror getting ready is 474 days of her life!

That’s way over a year, a whole year of our lives. Not to mention the 15 grand we would never get back!

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What you imagine, we make happen madasahattereventstyling.com.au

Great| Divide A BIASED SOCIETY SUBCONSCIOUSLY FIXATED IN THE PAST

BY ELOISE SANDMANN

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“ We say we are different, that we are all equal. We are truely lying to ourselves ”

I

t seems almost like a repetitious cycle my friends, that over centuries we have lacked the ability to wrench open our closed eyes to envision the bigger picture. Are any of you subconscious that society today has become a routine circle? That we still precede the vindictive perceptions created by our ancestors. Perceptions that show how they discriminated one against another based upon characteristics of their race.

Well we think we don’t. We say we are different, that we are all equal, but we are truly lying to ourselves. Behind this metaphorical blanket we have created we are just as guilty as any other in history.

We are probably all to young to remember the experiment conducted by psychologist couple Kenneth and Mamie Clark in 1937. So, to fully understand their experiment lets jump back a bit in time (sadly not to far back though) to a bias society that discriminated against an individual’s skin colour. What a controversy they created validating how the perceptions against African Americans had resulted in an affect on the younger generations perception of themselves.

The Clark couple interviewed 6-9 year old black children to select either a black or white doll depending on what questions they were asked. Well, as you can expect, the results were nothing more than predictable from those days.

Sadly the majority conveyed preference to the white doll opposed to the black.

We now realise how the persuasion of societies “natural” norms, morals and discriminative judgments about their racial characteristics during the 40-50’s had affected the perceptions of the younger African Americans.

So have we really fixed what we obviously couldn’t as a society half a century ago or simply not at all? A group of psychologists can decide that for us. Employed by CNN over several months they undertook Clark’s controversial experiment in modern day society. Creating a new twist they decided to refresh the experiment by using an illustrative piece instead of the dolls to gather their statistics. The depiction of the baby figures ranged from white to yellow to black on the page.

Although unlike Clarke’s experiment they choose a wide diversity of racial groups of kids ranging from 4-5/9-10 over the state of America. An inspiring yet shocking outcome veiled how far we have come as a society and how far we have yet to go.

The results specifically pinpointed to the white race group highlighting their “white bias” against the figures.

The psychologists noticed how both age groups selected their own race to the positive attributes they see within themselves and the negative to the black.

“So have we really fixed what we obviously

couldn’t as a society half a century ago or simply not at all

”

The 4-5 year old age group of children displayed the statistics ranging from 66-77% towards the black figures with the negative questions such as which is the bad, ugly, dumb or mean child. The white 9-10 age group displayed a 59% statistic to the negative questions alike the 4-5 year old age group but shows an arousing decrease in the bias compared to the younger age group.

child that is involved with a multi-cultural up bringing is more likely to be more accepting to differing races than those who are involved with a culture of the same race. Shocking yes and unfortunately these statistics have proved this theory valid with Clark and the CNN psychologists.

Lets be the generation that provides hope to diminish these guilty associations of ourselves, by embracing how our cultural characteristics makes this world such a magnificent place. If we lived in a world without differences wouldn’t that be extravagantly boring?

Although there is hope we can hold onto for the future! It is the few unique individuals in the 9-10 age group that provide equilibrium from the past norms, morals and judgements during the 40’s-50’s. The norms, morals and judgements that one race had ‘more’ desirable qualities than another. These individuals stand out from the rest providing their intake of how they see the black and white society as equals rather than divided races.

Boring by the means that you would look exactly the same day in and day out as your family, friends and by passers in the street that would be morbidly terrifying. So, on a serious note, let’s leave with this thought; is it such a burden to degrade our cultural characteristics instead of embracing them? The fact is that it is the very thing that separates us uniquely as individuals.

The question shouldn’t we all be asking now is how the hell are we still stuck like a stick in mud? We don’t realise but just like our ancestors subconsciously that it is our exposure and experiences we have at a young age that create and build perceptions against race. So, lets just say for example, that a

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The (big) l i t t l e t h i n gs th at we all forget to notice in life

by LUCY WALL

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W

on my comfortable couch with my family or friends that I can surround myself with. I’m definitely not recommending we hide away and forget the terrible tragedies occurring to others, they need to be shared so we can help those that need it. What these stories have given me though is something a little different to the held back tears I usually have: a new kind of perception. And that’s what I want to encourage everyone to embrace.

e live in a world where we are bombarded with information and images from many angles. These all vary in relevance, honesty and tone of voice, and are only a click of a button away from us. Due to this fact, we so often forget what’s happening in our lives and miss the things we really should be giving our attention to.

While we can all agree there are some less than impressive things out there, such as an entire website dedicated to the dumbest things ever posted on the internet (yes it’s as bad as you think) one thing we can’t argue with (as much) is the news. We have morning news, afternoon news, evening news and late night news. We have weekend papers, daily papers, papers that aren’t even on paper that are on screens, and an endless supply of sites that let us the know the latest happenings of here, there and everywhere.

While we watch and hear about awful things happening to far too many good people, and even those that aren’t necessarily all good, be grateful that it’s not happening to you. Take a moment to look at those precious people that are sitting there with you watching this horrible reality. They are still there, and so are you, and there is nothing more wonderful..

Of course I don’t expect any of us to walk around skipping and smiling all the time. Tragedy invades everyone’s life at some point or another and of course we wont be happy about that, but maybe save those darker feelings for moments that need it most.

Now, don’t let my next words condemn me to the title of an uninterested younger generation, but I am not an avid reader of the news, in whatever form it comes in. I am however very emotional when it comes to sad stories, and these two things are definitely related.

Now being a student I can nod avidly in agreement when I say that we all complain of the work we have to get done, the walk to class, the boring topic that has to be covered, but take a moment to realize just how freaking lucky we are to be able to do that. I understand that we all have our less than fabulous days, there are some crappy people out there that

The World, as wonderful as it is, has its dark moments, and these moments fill our minds as we watch images and words flash across our screens, making it very difficult for people like me to sit and watch this on my television whilst sitting

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“While we should realise there are people out there having a far worse day than us, we can’ t let that deter us from loving what we have and feeling what we feel

”

seem to gather together on certain days and pop their ugly faces out just for you, but hey, I am blessed enough to know that there will be many more types of days, good and bad and everything in between.

Who’s that one person in your life that you always have a good time with? Whether that means crazy nights out or quiet nights in. It could be your best friends, your family, your pet, whoever! Go and give them a good old squeeze and let them know how awesome they are.

While we should realize that there are people out there having a far worse day than us, we can’t let that deter us from loving what we have and feeling what we feel. In the wise words of Stephen Chbosky “I think that if I ever have kids, and they are upset, I won’t tell them there are people starving in China or anything like that because it wouldn’t change the fact that they were upset. And even if somebody else has it much worse, that doesn’t really change the fact that you have what you have”. We should be celebrating those little things in life that too often go unnoticed.

Relish in the fact that we have so many things to be grateful for, and for the ability to be able to scream and shout and cry when we need to. We have this freedom to smile at the good and frown at the bad, and at the end of the day realize that it’s a good life if we want it to be.

Think of the last thing that made you laugh or smile. Mine was a book only 10 minutes before I started writing this. So yes, I should definitely be celebrating the fact that I can not only read, but also I can put everything else aside for a minute and think, ‘I’m going to do exactly what I feel like doing, screw everything else’.

What’s something you have planned that you’re excited for?

Think about that next time you’re feeling blue, know that you won’t be like that for long and smile.

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www.socialexpectation.com

BENCH MARK

BENCH MARK

meet the bench mark

meet the bench mark

W a r dr o b e M a lf u n ct i o n IS DRESSING TO IMPRESS THE KEY TO SUCCESS?

BY LUCINDA CAMPESE

T

We struggle to be ourselves because we live in a world where we choose conform to what is socially accepted. The influence of clothing has become somewhat important that it paints first impressions.

They say our sense of fashion depicts our personality- giving us an insight into who we are, and our sense of taste as a person. But does it really reflect this if we are faced by the social standards that society places as normal.

We purposely select different types of clothing to wear in different social contexts. For example, clothing style has become highly important to job candidates going for an interview who seek employment and wish to present themselves in a professional manner. If you were a male you’d wear your sleekest black suit and tie, or say you’re a female you’d wear your closed-toe high-heel pumps, and a black

he continuing judgement faced in today’s society doesn’t end when it comes to fashion. Keeping up with the latest fashion trend is becoming a must because we are greatly lead by the thought and fear that we are looked down upon if our style is rather casual compared to the upper class high fashion, mainly experienced in today’s work force.

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"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make yuo into something you're not, is the greatest accomplishment"

Ralph Waldo Emerson

skirt with a blazer to dress perhaps “smartly” creating a false perception of ourselves to be won over. Today, it is seen that potential job candidates wearing what is deemed appropriate interview clothing are more likely to be selected for the position compared to a candidate wearing something dubbed as inappropriate meeting clothing. But why should our appearances alter how someone perceives us? We should feel comfortable within ourselves, whether we are down the street or in a high business-working environment. Embracing our own unique style is something that needs to be brought forward.

When it comes to our everyday sense of style, our ethnic or racial background can also influence us. In some countries, an individual is to remain their culture’s sense of identity. Even remaining this cultural clothing tradition in today’s society are often still faced by judgement and discrimination.

Islamic women are believed to wear Burqas to interpret their holy text to mean that their faces must be covered. However they still struggle to find a sense of identity in today’s society as they are fighting to become accepted because equality and difference is becoming a huge issue in today’s world. With a multicultural country, we should begin to embrace different religions without one having to struggle with their self-identity.

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Choice in clothing can communicate responsibility, status, power, and the ability to be successful. This is again mainly experienced at work. Different occupations require different uniforms to identify differing roles of power or status to an individual. Lawyers dress more formally, such as wearing suits, indicating a higher level of employment along with education allowing an individual to have a higher status.

This is a similar case when comparing teachers to students who are required to wear a uniform. Where as teachers dress more formally and rated as more competent, highlighting the higher status they have over the students in the working environment. When instructors dress more casually, wearing jeans and a t-shirt, there rated high on sociability, and having an interesting presentation.

Designer brand clothing also creates the “dressing to impress” phrase. Whether we are ‘trying to keep up with the Kardashians.’ or whether we can’t is dependent on our socioeconomic status. Can we afford to have the latest Versace heels? Or those Givenchy leather pants? Usually aren’t the questions one asks before buying. We put our wants before our needs and usually become poor trying to be rich.

We create false perceptions of our appearance through clothing because it increases ones perceived status among peers just as clothing itself can be used to stereotype and discriminate. Statistics show that owning store brand pants led to more negative perceptions of an individual than owning designer brand pants.

So why should we dress to impress? We shouldn’t. As Ralph Waldo Emerson says “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you into something you’re not, is the greatest accomplishment.” Start being yourself, embracing who you are as a person, and let that show in your unique fashion styles. We are all individuals with different senses of taste and style and we should not be lead by another person whether they have higher status because we are creating false perceptions of ourselves through our appearance.

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90 percent of

GreyHounds born in

NSW over

the last

10 years are

gone.

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ELLEN MITC H EL L EX PLO R E S T H E CUR R E NT CONCE P T I ONS S UR ROUNDI NG TAT TOOS & T H E I R P OSS I BI L I T I E S Article / Photography by Ellen Mitchell

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s my generation makes its way into the beginnings of our adult years, it is an ever-happening occurrence that many of us have inked up, deciding to show one’s individuality and freedom with a tattoo. Used as a way of

self-expression and uniqueness, inking our skin has become a large part to today’s fashion and culture, with societies perception of the impression ever changing.

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Once perceived as a trade mark for ambiguity and insurgence of one’s place within their life, being either the workplace, religion or within their families, the ever rising need for the tattoo gun is becoming more and more popular, particularly seen in young adults or the odd mid-life crisis participant. With the trend steadily increasing, according to the Tattoo Studios Market Report of October 2013 from ibisworld.com.au, the Australian revenue within the tattoo industry for 2013 was $93 million, with an annual growth from 2009 – 2014 of 4.7%

As many of us are not realistic about the permanent choice of a tattoo, according to The McCrindle Blog, 34% of Australians with tattoos say they regret the tattoo they got, with every one in 7 of those individuals commencing or looking into tattoo removal. Although an impulsive tattoo with a friend may be spontaneously fun and exciting, think about the long-term consequences that may impact you, whether it be job related or something to do with your now current partner.

“ The Australian revenue within the tattoo industry for 2013 was $93 million. “ The ability to showcase a piece of art on your body is a beneficial reason to get a tattoo, with endless possibilities of what you can get. Choosing to commemorate a significant moment within your life, or someone who has been a large part of it, is commonly seen as the reason behind most tattoos. Having a unique piece of artwork that is yours alone and permanent upon your body is why many decide a tattoo is a limitless way to show distinctiveness and rarity. Though many believe that a tattoo must have a significant meaning behind it, many decide upon a piece because they like the aesthetics of the artwork, no meaning needed besides the way it looks.

“Having a unique piece of artwork that is yours alone and permanent upon your body is why many decidea tattoo is a limitless way to show distinctiveness and rarity.”

As young adults, we have the strong inclination to do what makes us happy now, and leaving tomorrow’s thoughts for our future selves. While writing the article The Existential Anguish of the Tattoo for the New York Times, Dan Brooks makes a very valid and ever present point, “You are not the same person you were when you got that dolphin. Yet here you are in the same body, dealing with the memories the other guy left behind.”

Although people our age embrace the notion of creating art upon our bodies, the previous generations are less inclined to support the decision. Seen as an act of rebellion and misbehavior, our grandmothers and fathers would faint at the idea that we have made a decision so permanent within the spontaneous years of our early adulthood. What can be seen as a form of artwork from within a social situation can be taken very differently within the work place, church or family setting.

The perception of the concept of tattoos has changed so drastically within the last 20 years, with less and less people believing it to be a major waste of money and a mark on your skin as a concept of permanent youth to be carried into your later stages of life. The indignity of having a tattoo you obtained when you were young and juvenile may or may not set in after the permanence of the artwork or its underlying meaning begins to set in.

As the tattoo is seen as a bad trait or sense of rebellion, having one in a formal, business setting is still being taken as a breach in many companies across Australia. Seen as a major form of discrimination, many have chosen to fight the reforms in which their employees put them. Increasing numbers of companies are beginning to accept the idea that the social distinction has changed, and that tattoos are no longer taboo or undesirable.

Ultimately, a tattoo is to impress the most significant person who appreciates it, the individual its upon. Many may see a tattoo as a fault or slip in judgment, but to the possessor, it is an extension of their personality and eccentricity. If you’re thinking of inking up, be aware of the gambles involved, and have fun with the process of it. The body you’re currently in has to last you a lifetime, so treat it with respect and enjoy its possibilities to the fullest.

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Mind Over Matter?

B Y K AT H L E E N K E R R

“They are people first and disabled second”

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of disorder s include anxiety, mood, psychotic , per sonality, eating, developmental, sexual and sleep disorder s, as well as var ious addictions. These encompass some of the more common mental illnesses such as anxiety, depression and autism.

ental health is a part of our everyday lives that, although our knowledge is gradually expanding, is still not holistically understood.

Because ever yone’s exper ience is of cour se different, and coping mechanisms var y greatly from per son to per son, many people find it hard to gr asp what mental illness really is.

Some of the more severe disorder s which result in psychosis can have interesting and even bizar re results on those affected. Oliver Sacks published his book “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” in the 1980s in which he obser ved the unique exper iences these individuals had and their altered perception of reality. In one instance he descr ibed the minds of two severely autistic boys as genius. This is such a different view than most people would be willing to have . In a society that associates such an incredible shame with the disabled or the “clinically insane”, people are extremely quick to judge , without taking into account they are people fir st and disabled second.

One in five Austr alians will exper ience mental illness at some point in their lives, and ever yone will be touched by it even simply through a fr iend or loved one being affected. So why is it still such a taboo subject? If it is occur r ing so often why are we still whisper ing about the gir l in high school who is so “messed up” she cuts her self? Or teasing the boy with autism because he was bor n with it?

It’s because the people who do this don’t under stand what they are dealing with and they often can’t be bothered to lear n.

3 million Austr alians are living with anxiety or depression according to Beyond Blue , and yet so few actually stop to consider what this could mean to these people . For some it means that they are

There are numerous types of mental disorder s, and each of these affect ever y per son differently and with var ying sever ity. Just a few of the categor ies

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comfor t. Don’t push them to talk about things if they don’t want to, but let them know that you are there to listen and suppor t them if they need you. If you notice someone has “special needs”, talk to them like you would anyone else , not in a condescending tone or out of pity. Most of the time people just want to be treated like regular people , and little things can make a big difference .

physically unable to get out of bed or to care for themselves or their family. For other s it is less severe , but means that they are severely affected in their ever yday lives, often to a point that they no longer see a point in leaving the house or going to wor k. This intense feeling of hopelessness and incompetence is something that follows them ever y minute of ever y day, and what do some say to that?

“Snap out of it”, “this is just another excuse to be lazy”, “it’s all in your head”, or my favour ite , “there are star ving children in Afr ica, and they’re not claiming to be depressed”. I’m not saying that there aren’t other people who are less pr ivileged, or that it’s not a legitimate issue , but are you ser iously implying that because someone is in a wor se situation means that they are not entitled to feel sad? Or that people need your approval to have a mental illness? There are people who are a lot more pr ivileged than you, but that doesn’t mean that you no longer have the r ight to be happy simply because you aren’t a millionaire on their wedding day.

Having a mental disorder is not a weakness. It is not shameful. It does not mean that people should be treated like any less of a human being, whether it be something that limits them intellectually or emotionally. They are not broken. It is a biological par t of the br ain, a ser ies of chemical reactions which they may be more prone to due to genetics, or because of what they have exper ienced in life .

It’s a par t of being human. We’re all full of flaws and imperfections, but that doesn’t make us any different from one another.

So the next time you see someone being labelled as retarded, lazy or attention seeking because of their illness, stop and have a little per spective . They are people before their disabilities. Not a disabled per son, a per son with a disability.

Sor r y to seem over ly aggressive , but it just seems so r idiculous to me that there are some who simply aren’t able to comprehend the idea that something as common as anxiety or depression is completely fictitious and used to tr y to gain attention. These are issues that need to be addressed, not shunned and rejected.

To bastardise some words of wisdom from J.K. Rowling’s Dumbledore , “Of cour se it is happening inside your head, but why on ear th should that mean that it’s not real?”

Simple things can help those you know. If you think someone might be suffer ing from anxiety or depression, just checking in on them to see how they’re doing ever y now and again can be a huge

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“They are not broken”

the diy perception

BY CHLOE WICKS

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However there are countless motivating and inspiring websites, books and blogs with vast ideas, instructions and advice to get you started. Challenging ones self whilst expanding your skill set and learning something new is wonderful for the mind, body and soul. Not to mention the added benefits of self-satisfaction, worth, personal growth and the gaining of confidence that comes from tackling something you wouldn’t usually do.

ith everything in this consumer driven world expected to look flawless, it’s refreshing to look at something that’s considered old or unwanted and giving it a new life by embracing its faults and turning it into something beautiful.

DIY. Do It Yourself. Make. Made. Faultless. Made faultlessly.

Made by you. Homegrown. Homespun. Homemade.

Handcrafted. Create. Build. Construct. Produce. Form. Design.

Relationships can be built and improved on through taking part in projects together. The health aspect of DIY is so immense! With many people involved in jobs these days that don’t conclude with something tangible they built with their hands, the after hours DIY is a healthy outlet to partake in.

There is nothing better than standing back and looking at a few hours of hard work at something you created with your own hands. Don’t get me wrong, I love the thrill of finding and making the purchase of the perfect gift for someone special or something for the home but when there’s a bit of time and effort put into something you made with your head, heart and hands you truly feel better for it.

Of course costs associated with DIY vary as it does depend on how set up you are with basic tools and equipment. The great thing about DIY is having the option of sourcing found or recycled materials, which can keep costs down over the purchasing of new materials.

There are numerous benefits attributed to DIY projects, however it is unfortunate that more often than not the perception and thoughts around DIY is consistently put in the too hard basket. Time constraints, lack of confidence and laziness are just a few roadblocks that people encounter.

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make

This brings me to my next point of the environmental benefits of DIY. There are countless piles of potential materials in many backyards, sheds and garages just waiting to be found by the enthusiastic individual willing to give these resources a new lease on life.

MATERIALS LIST Rope 4x 1.6metres in length Plywood or recycled timber x4 pieces 297 x 297mm Sanding block and paper (various coarseness) Drill with 12mm drill bit Round wooden or metal ring Beeswax Ruler Pencil Level

So next time your looking at making a purchase of a new piece of furniture or something similar, take a glance around your garage and try and look beyond the faults of that old piece of timber and have a go at giving it a new life, by making a recycled statement and turning it into something beautiful rather than that ever mounting landfill.

HOW TO

Trust me, this DIY project is even simpler than getting in your car and navigating your way through hoards of traffic to the furniture store! Display your indoor plants, photo frames, books, candles or just about anything with this eye-catching vertical shelf for a space saving alternative as well as giving ‘flat pack’ furniture a much needed rest in this consumerdriven culture world.

1.

If your using store bought wood you can ask for it to be cut to the desired size or cut it yourself with a jigsaw. Drill a 12mm hole 150mm in from each corner of the pieces of wood for the rope to be threaded through eventually.

2. Give all the pieces of wood a sand until they are smooth and nicely finished (this is dependent on the type of wood you are using as recycled wood may need a heavier sand)

This project can be made using completely recycled materials or new from your local hardware store. I will be using some spare plywood I have and white rope for a fresh look.

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voila!

3.

Next its time to paint, stain or beeswax the wood, I am using a light beeswax to give the wood some subtle colour and also protect it. You could even stencil or pattern a design into the wood.

4. Once your desired finish has dried its time to start threading

the rope through. Thread each length of rope through the corner hole in a piece of wood and tie a knot underneath.

Do this on all four corners and this will form the base piece or lowest rung of your vertical shelf.

5. Tie a knot 30cm up one of the lengths of the rope. Repeat this for each length and thread the rope through another piece of wood. This will form the 2nd rung; keep repeating until you have used all pieces of wood.You will be left with some excess rope that you can tie in a knot around the round ring.

6. Some final adjustments using the level then its time to hang your new eye-catching vertical shelf on a ceiling hook and style with your favourite things!

girls on film the problem with film & television, and the women helping fix it by

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hen I was a child, I really wanted to be a princess. And by ‘really wanted to’ I mean I was absolutely dying to. I used to draw pictures of a princess locked in a tower, in the midst of being rescued by a really handsome knight on a child’s drawing version of a noble steed.

I thought about this fantasy all the time. I watched movies, I wrote stories. I used my brother’s toy medieval castle to act it out, with my Polly Pocket doll playing the princess (she was the only thing that would fit in the tower, excluding her legs).

Of course, there was nothing wrong with this; the princess stage is a pretty common amongst little girls. But maybe I would have imagined the story in another way if I had been subjected to a different lot of stories.

When I was a kid, there were little to no TV shows or movies that featured a female as the central/ish character.

My main boys were The Wiggles and Bananas in Pyjamas, and with the introduction of a little brother, the television was unquestionably ruled by dude characters. I still haven’t accepted that I was wrong in thinking that Piglet was a girl (seriously, he’s a girl).

Our favourite shows featured mostly male characters, and a recurring female typecast, who is a) the smart sidekick, b) super ditzy or c) a total pain in the main character’s back.

Though some did fall into other or multiple categories, the majority of the girls I saw on television as a young’en sure don’t impress me as an adult.

But fortunately, there is a flaw in the system. Through the years, certain characters have been created that have have changed the way we think about the way the female is depicted on television and in film. There are so many characters I wanted to talk about in this article, but I listed like thirty-something women, so I thought I’d narrow it down to three, beginning with the greatest girl to ever live onscreen: Lisa Simpson.

“I’m a damsel.

I’m in distress.

I can handle this.

Have a nice day.”

For my whole life, I’ve lived with Lisa. I was there when she dressed in heels and makeup to fit in with the “normal” girls, when she camped up in Springfield’s oldest tree to stop it from being cut down, and – best of all – when she was just being an eight year old: that playing with dolls, squealing over ponies and cute boys, and watching cartoons with her brother. For a kid like me, and for many others as well, seeing a girl like that – and on a TV show like that – was invaluable.

She is extremely sensitive due to her longing for a family and love, but is also very skilled in Kung-Fu and loves violence.

This duality in Leela’s personality actually showed me that it’s okay to be really tough on the outside and as squishy as a marshmallow on the in, and that it’s definitely okay to show that weakness squishiness to others.

My brother and I had very fussy taste. We only owned a few tapes that regularly made the rounds to the VCR player. One of these was Hercules, a legendary movie (literally – ha ha) in my household, that featured Megara, the witty, cynical and independent beauty that defied the Disney stereotype: “I’m a damsel. I’m in distress. I can handle this. Have a nice day.”

When I was in primary school, I was desperate keen to find more female role models. Fortunately, Futurama was relaunched and I began a great love affair with the brilliant Turanga Leela.

Leela is surely one of the coolest chicks to ever grace our television screens: a purple-haired, one-eyed, butt-kicking babe captain who doesn’t take shit from anyone. “You call that a wound? That’s a boo-boo tops.”

Meg very, (very) unwillingly falls for Hercules, but contrary to most princess-like characters, she doesn’t lose her personality in the process. She sacrifices freedom, and her life, for Hercules, who wouldn’t have survived or succeeded without her. That’s pretty cool.

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“the majority of the girls I saw on television as a kid sure don’t impress me as an adult” Girls nowadays have so many new cartoons that are feature lead female characters. Peppa Pig is my favourite. (Her entire family snort and fall on their backs with laughter every episode. No competition).

Some shows’ casts are entirely made of girls. That’s amazing.

But it shouldn’t be. It should be normal and regular and standard. You know I’m right.

If you haven’t been living in a hole, you’d be aware of the Disney Revolution that is happening as we speak. It involves the last four princesses (Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida and Anna) actually have interests and goals that aren’t finding a hubby.

Tiana worked her butt off for a restaurant, Merida refused to marry a random and bonded so hard with her mum over it, Anna trekked mountains to mend her relationship with her emotional sister, and Rapunzel, well, Rapunzel just really wanted to see those freakin’ lanterns.

The winds are ‘a changing my friends, and it makes me super excited for the future. I know that a person’s whole personality and attitudes aren’t based on what they saw on TV as a kid, but it sure does have one hell of an influence.

So, my fellow graphic designers, I speak directly to you: if you end up working in some splendid animation studio having some sort of influence, PLEASE do not allow a piece-ofcrap script – a ’la Snow White – to pass through your hands without changing it to have Snow cough a little bit, wake up, punch through the glass coffin, steal a horse and ride off into her own god damn sunset.

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blue calm density Treat yourself to the much anticipated self titled album from Austrian duo

‘blue calm density’ Released in stores nationally 16/11/2014

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