CON-SENSUAL VOL. 67
Issue #9
LEAD STORY: PAGE 6 Students Voice Concerns Over Smoke - Free ANU - Anna Kaufmann PAGE 12 Thinking With Your Dick? Think again - Maddalena Easterbrook
PAGE 13 Con-Sensual Pullout PAGE 20 The Ancient Art of Sex - Paroksh Prasad PAGE 26 Why is There Never a Rugby Jersey Fans Like? - Nick Benecke
WORONI SEMESTER 2 - WEEK 3, 2015 - WORONI.COM.AU - FACEBOOK, TWITTER & THE APP STORES
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WORONI No.9 Vol.67
CONTENTS No. 9 3.
Red Cross Legal Chief Visits the ANU - Miguel Galsim
9.
Eid Festival Brings Togther the Different Cultures of ANU - Anna Kaufmann
10.
Students Voice Concerns on Smoke-Free ANU - Anna Kaufmann
11.
12. 7.
Palestine and the ICC: Lecture at the ANU - Natasha Lennard and Miguel Galsim New Parsa President Promises Change - Anna Kaufmann
8.
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Call for More Schools to Teach Hindi - Ria Pflaum The Family Life of ANU Art Students - Miguel Galsim
18.
Huxtable vs. Cosby - Gabriele Naktinyte Income Doesn’t Make You Happy - Mark Fabian
Party Like It’s 1999 - Ria Pflaum 6.
17.
Reclaim What? - Simon Hammond
Canberra Rally Against Racism - Ria Pflaum 4.
ANU Adds GPAs to Transcripts - Miguel Galsim
19.
Consensivity - Anonymous Chlamydia: The Silent Infection - Jenny Xue
20.
Thinking With Your Dick? Think again - Maddalena Easterbrook 13.
17.
21.
Sex in the Time of Intoxication - Linda Ma Towards a New Norm of Sexuality: Positive Consent, and Why It Benefits You (YES, YOU!) - Clyde Strife The One Woman Project: Vincent Chiang Interviews Ruth Horsfall, ACT Director of OWP - Vincent Chiang
22.
Sex and Consent Week Information Page - ANUSA
24.
26.
Culture of Purity vs Consent - Anonymous A Fiend’s Transition to the Real World - Simon R-J Let’s Play Ball! - Neeraja Shankar
Feature: Con-Sensual Pull Out - Nic Bills
23.
The Splendour of Handel’s Messiah - Louise Keast
The Story of Sex and Religion: Jane the Good Virgin - Pranukaa Shivakkumar Trainwreck - Frank Shanahan Getting Down with Done -Jess Kemister Of Mice and Men - An Interview with Director Iain Sinclair - Jessica Masters Why is There Never a Rugby Jersey Fans Like? - Zach Mackey EPL Preview - Remy Szabo
27.
.
28.
Blatter’s Limited Positive Legacy - Ryan Graham Vexatious Law Student Sues Tinder for Ruining Sex Life - Ivana Smojver The Seven Unwonders of the World: Guiyu - Zeno of Elea Air: Essential for Life - Andrew Cavenagh
A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY
BOARD OF EDITORS
S TA F F
SUB-EDITORIAL TEAM
Woroni is published on the land of the Ngunnawal people.
Editor-in-Chief - Jacob Ingram Deputy Editor-in-Chief Giordi Borzuola
Administrative Assistant Simone Proctor
Features - Vincent Chiang Satire & World - Ivana Somjver Arts & Reviews - Louise Keast Arts & Reviews - Jessica Masters Life & Style - Paroksh Prasad Sports - Zach Mackey International - Virginia Harding Radio - Kate Lawrence Radio - Caitlin Magee Radio - Finn Pedersen Radio - Sam Skinner Design - Joanne Leong IT - Manab Chetia Photography - Nic Bills Videography - Julia Faragher News Correspondent - Anna Kaufmann News Correspondent - Miguel Galsim News Correspondent - Ria Pflaum
‘Woroni’ translates to ‘mouthpiece’ in the Ngunnawal language. Advertising inquiries and submissions can made at: advertising@woroni.com. au Phone: (02) 6125 9574 Shop 15, Lena Karmel Building 26 Barry Drive, Acton 2601
Proofreader - Siobhonn Shannon
Managing Editor - Mitchell Scott
Book keeper - Brendan Ofner
Creative Director - Rashna Farrukh News Editor - Waheed Jayhoon
Woroni is printed by Capital Fine
Contributions Editor Benedicte O’Leary Rutherford Multimedia Editor Maddalena Easterbrook Radio Editor - Isaac Dugdale
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Week 3, Semester 2, 2015.
CAMPUS NEWS RED CROSS LEGAL CHIEF VISITS THE ANU CAMPUS NEWS On Tuesday 21st July at the China in the World Auditorium, students, academics and professionals attended a discussion with Dr Knut Dörmann, Chief Legal Officer of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and head of its legal division. The talk was chaired and introduced by ANU Associate Professors Rob McLaughlin and David Letts respectively, with the support of the ANU College of Law, the ICRC, and the Australian Red Cross. The talk centred on the application of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in the context of the ICRC’s work and explored the challenges surrounding IHL violations by a wide range of actors as well as ICRC responses to these difficulties. Listing his greatest challenges, Dörmann identified the struggle to ensure global respect for IHL and its development, and claimed
MIGUEL GALSIM that currently the “major and most fundamental rules [in international law] are being flaunted” by various actors around the world. Furthermore, he also cited the complexity of dealing with non-state actors in armed conflict, as well as the rules surrounding detention in international armed conflict.
war crimes situations: the “preferred mode of action… is confidential dialogue with state authorities” and refusing to provide testimony to the ICC in order to ensure humanitarian access to all sides of a conflict situation. At the conclusion of the talk, drinks were served in the foyer. Dörmann told Woroni that he was “absolutely” affected by the crimes he has had to work on.
The audience was then given the chance to ask Dörmann questions. Dörmann spoke of the difficulties in promoting the rule of law during the Iraq invasion and 2014 assault on Gaza and then moved to ethical considerations within the ICRC’s legal work.
“You can’t just take it as business as usual. When you see the suffering of individuals… it’s something that clearly touches you. You can’t just look at this through the analytical legal perspective, there’s always a personal history behind the suffering,” he said.
Afterwards he related the complexities in defining armed conflict, particularly between the boundaries of the domestic and international, according to the criteria of organisational capacities and the level of violence. He also clarified the ICRC’s position on
work harder, from where we can have influence as lawyers.” When asked about the importance of informing the public about IHL, Dörmann said that it was needed because “we see a lot of violence in the world”. He concluded that: “ultimately it’s a collective responsibility to work for respect of norms and by engaging with all levels of society. Obviously you’d want to reach out first to decision-makers[W1] , but the societal consensus and recognition of the work is important.”
“Personally I’ve seen a couple of things as well when I was visiting migrants or engaging with local communities in the midst of conflict. This is something that is very touching and it makes you
CANBERRA RALLY AGAINST RACISM CAMPUS NEWS On Sunday July 19th, the Canberra Anti-Racism Network (CARN) organised a counter-rally to Reclaim Australia’s march, a group whose online social media states their intention as ‘standing together to stop halal tax, sharia law and islamisation. ‘ One of CARN’s organisers, Vishnupriya De, stated that the aim of the counter-rally was to “send a clear message that the racist, sexist and homophobic ideas championed by the Reclaim Australia bigots were not welcome in Canberra.” This was reinforced on the day, with Reclaim Australia supporters immensely
RIA PFLAUM outnumbered, with about 40 hardcore protesters, as opposed to CARN’s 150, echoing recent rallies in other major cities.
Parliament escort.
House,
with
police
Many of the marchers on both sides had brought signs and banners, with Roxley Foley, a member of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, holding up a sign that read ‘Not Yours To Reclaim’, calling to attention the racial issues underlying the political protests.
There was also a high social media response to the event, with the Facebook page gaining a huge following. De noted, “The fantastic social media response certainly demonstrates that there are huge numbers of Canberrans who will not stay silent in the face of such disgusting racism.”
ANU student, Amanda Georgia, who attended the counter-rally, said that it was an important issue to stand up for, “because as Australians, we are all racially, culturally and ethnically diverse… All of us deserve a voice”,
Starting on the west side of the National Library, the protests marched their way towards
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adding that “How does one classify themselves as a ‘real Australian’ based on the colour of their skin?” De expressed that “Canberrans who are against racism should keep their eyes out for future demonstrations in support of refugee rights and against the forced closures of Aboriginal communities. These events may be organised by the Refugee Action Committee and the Tent Embassy, members of whom have worked with the Canberra Anti-Racism Network.”
WORONI No.9 Vol.67
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E I D F E S T I VA L
BRINGS TOGETHER THE DIFFERENT CULTURES
O F
CAMPUS NEWS Eid Al-Fitr, the festival that brings together different Muslim cultures around the world, also brought together the different Muslim societies of the ANU on Sunday, as they turned Union Court into a gathering place of celebration. Eid Al-Fitr is the largest celebration of the Muslim calendar, marking the end of the fasting and holy month of Ramadan. It is a celebration that is foremost about sharing, and it was a passion to share the Muslim culture with the rest of the ANU community that brought this event to life. Interestingly, rather than being organised by one ANU society,
T H E
A N U
ANNA KAUFMANN
the organisation committee of the event was made up of a small group of students from a variety of cultural backgrounds, who then brought together different societies of the university to participate in the event.
Chowdhury explained how Eid is entangled within many different cultures all around the world, and each country celebrates it differently, “each adding in a unique touch of their own culture,” she said.
The lead organiser, Intifar Chowdhury, launched the project knowing she wouldn’t be going home for Eid this winter. She said that she wanted all her friends to celebrate Eid with her, as “Eid brings happiness and ANU deserves to be a part of this joyous gathering. Taking this fact in mind, my friends and I decided to let ANU experience the most important festival for Muslims.”
This is what the event aimed to achieve, and on the day a wide range of ANU societies came together, including the Malaysian, Pakistani, Singapore and Indonesian Students’ Associations, and the OZ1001 Students’ Integration Program of UniLodge.
free henna and the opportunity to have your name written in Arabic Calligraphy. Chowdhury said the event was important not just for Muslim students of the ANU, but also for other students to have the opportunity to learn and partake in the biggest festivity in Muslim culture.
The white marquee in Union Court oozed the aromas of different cuisines, and inside stalls boasted traditional sweets,
PART Y LIKE IT’S 1999 CAMPUS NEWS Despite a not-so-positive weather outlook at the beginning of the week, ANUSA’s 90’s themed Bush Week ended with a bang rather than a drizzle with their traditional Friday Night Party, Party Like It’s 1999, with students flocking to the myriad of marquees set up in Union Court despite the rain. With an increase of available tickets boosted from 300 to 500, the event sold out before doors opened, something the Bush Week Directors labeled a ‘great success’. “We had a stellar week - it was a
RIA PFLAUM
in it, which is possibly the worst culinary idea since John’s white chocolate veloute in Masterchef.”
huge success... and finishing with a 500 person party right in the heart of Union Court was perfect,” the Bush Week Director Team said.
The music was one of the highlights of the night, with the last DJ definitely pumping up the crowd. Friday Night Party Director, Tom Lonsdale, said that one of the high points of the night was definitely Ruben Engel, or Dead DJ Joke: “Everyone loved him - Lion King remix and the Riders on the Storm v Sandstorm remix was out of this decade!
With the solid backing of enthusiastic volunteers, the event had a student run bar, with all proceeds going back to students. However, the food on offer, including the traditional sausage sizzle and steaks, as well as vegetarian options, was an issue for some students. ANU student Anna Macdonald expressed that the “tomato sauce was selfservice from a bowl with a spoon
By the end of the night, all the
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revelers had lived out their childhood nostalgia, dressed in double denim and plastic chokers, with the party being a success despite the rain. The Bush Week team said that they had “only heard good things from attendees, which is what we’re about”, with this message being backed up by ANU student Jeremy: “I partied like it was 1999 for hours, then I realized I was 22, so I went home.”
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Week 3, Semester 2, 2015.
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WORONI No.9 Vol.67
Illustration by Joanne Leong
STUDENTS VOICE CONCERNS ON
SMOKE-FREE ANU CAMPUS NEWS
ANNA KAUFMANN
On Monday 20th July 2015, the ANU became one of an increasing number of Australian universities to ban all forms of smoking in and around its campuses. With the exception of special designated outdoor smoking areas (DOSAs) around licensed venues and residential colleges, students and staff are no longer able to smoke at the ANU. This policy covers not only the primary ANU campus, but the Mt. Stromlo Observatory and a coastal campus near Batemans Bay as well.
student, told Woroni that he disagreed completely with the smoking ban.
In announcing the decision to make the ANU a smoke-free campus on World No Tobacco Day earlier in April, ViceChancellor Ian Young said that “it sends a strong message to staff and students about being healthy”.
Another student, Jack Foulds, was also not convinced by ANU’s stated motive of health being behind the smoking ban. Foulds said that health concerns as the motive “doesn’t stack up”, as ANU hasn’t raised anything at all about the alcohol and fast food available on campus.
However, a significant number of ANU students are unhappy with the ban, indicating that they feel the decision has less to do with being healthy, and more to do with good public relations. There have also been protests regarding statements that the smoking ban has “overwhelming support from the University community” , when consultation was limited only to whether affected members of campus would prefer the installation of DOSAs, with no option to voice disapproval against a complete smoking ban. Ramon Bouckaert, a third year Economics
“It is just a PR stunt to make the university look ‘socially responsible’ and in step with other Group of 8 universities,” he said. Bouckaert also raised the point that if the ANU’s ban on smoking was motivated by health concerns, then it is not logical that the drinking culture on campus was not also focused on.
to police such behaviour like smoking, one student even going as far as to call it socialist. William Taylor, a fifth year Arts and Commerce student and nonsmoker, said he was “disappointed” by the decision. He voiced displeasure at the notion that the ANU believed that nurturing Australia’s thought leaders includes the assumption that they are either incapable of recognising that smoking is harmful, or lack the discipline to not smoke around others.
presenting the first large-scale Australian results on smoking and mortality. Results presented included the findings that smokers were estimated to die an average of 10 years earlier than non-smokers and that up to two-thirds of deaths in current smokers can be attributed to smoking. These timely-presented findings clearly show merit to encouraging smokers to quit, but it is unclear whether the ANU’s implementation of such an aggressive smoking policy was as valid.
“If tomorrow’s leaders really need to be babysat to that extent, then what future are we heading for?” Taylor asked.
The support being offered by the University for students to quit smoking has also come under some concern. ANU has arranged fully-subsidised QUIT courses for staff and PhD students who wish to stop smoking, whereas undergraduate students to contact their student association (ANUSA) to see how they can access such programs. ANUSA President, Ben Gill, said both ANUSA and PARSA are organising free QUIT seminars for students presented by the ACT Cancer Council, but that these programs will only go ahead if there is sufficient interest from students.
However, an online poll on the ANU’s Facebook social network “Stalkerspace” indicated that approximately 300 students of 449 surveyed were in support of the smoking ban.
Issues of priorities were also raised by students questioning how the ban will be enforced, and whether the enforcement of the ban will take resources away from other areas, such as security on campus. John Casey, a fourth year arts student, said he was “not very comfortable with the idea of ANU Security being made to enforce another ANU PR move while women still feel unsafe walking around campus.”
Rachael Featherstone, a third year science student, said that she did support the movement. Featherstone said that she was sick of having to smell the secondhand smoke of people smoking too close to libraries and cafes on campus, but that she wasn’t against smoking, just smokers “that are oblivious to others”. Interestingly, on 27th July, a public lecture was hosted by the ANU College of Medicine, Biology and Environment
The general feeling amongst students against the ban is that it is not ANU’s job
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More information about the QUIT seminars can be found at http://www. anusa.com.au/quit/.
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Week 3, Semester 2, 2015.
PALESTINE AND THE ICC: LECTURE AT THE ANU CAMPUS NEWS Professor Lawrence Davidson, a public intellectual from West Chester University in Pennsylvania, spoke at the ANU on the evening of Thursday 23rd July on the Palestinian Authority’s attempts to charge Israeli leaders for war crimes in the International Criminal Court (ICC). In attendance were students, academics and members of the public including the Head of the General Delegation of Palestine. The event was hosted by the Centre for Arabic and Islamic Studies (CAIS). Davidson emphasised the importance of the ICC, as the rule of law it represents “is important for every man, woman, and child on the planet”. The global adoption of its human rights covenants is a sign of social progress. Yet, he stated that “the problem then becomes enforcement”, and noted that successful prosecutions have generally involved figures from weak states with no great power
NEW
NATASHA LENNARD AND MIGUEL GALSIM and that IDF war crimes committed during the offensive were indefensible given Israel’s history of “collective punishment” of the Palestinians.
allies, as opposed to more powerful states like Israel. Applying this to the 2014 offensive on Gaza, Davidson blamed the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) for its “reckless, disproportionate use of deadly force in densely populated urban areas”, constituting a “feral attack on the infrastructure of the Gaza Strip”, in addition to the large number of human casualties. He also recognised the human rights violations of Hamas against Israelis, but said that “there’s really no comparison between the criminal acts of these two opposing forces”.
He predicted that “indictments will probably be returned within the next three years” but recognised the possibility that “the law might not win in the end”. Nevertheless, Davidson asserted that the ICC’s handling of the issue would be a crossroads for international law and a litmus test for the ICC’s reputation. The lecture was followed by an intense Q&A session with the audience, wherein Davidson spoke on topics ranging from the distinction between Judaism and Zionism, to the criticism of the current Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas.
As for the actual ICC process, Davidson predicted that Israel would not cooperate, and use the mainstream media to disseminate its position, such as the accusation of Hamas’ use of human shields. He said that Hamas’ proximity to civilians is inevitable given Gaza’s high density,
Lawrence told Woroni afterwards that he speaks publicly because: “people are so ignorant about things that
PARSA
happen beyond 30 square miles... and as a teacher of 27 years, it’s habitual. Finally, I think it’s fun.” “I thought there was a really good audience; I think all the questions were good. It was worth coming here and it’s my first time in Australia and I hope to come back some time and do it again,” he said. Dr. Minerva Nasser-Eddine, a lecturer from the CAIS who invited Lawrence, said that the event would indeed benefit the wider ANU community. “What Professor Davidson had to contribute was highlighting the double-standards in the application of international law... [The talk] was about making sure that those who break international law are punished according to the crimes they commit, regardless of their political affiliations.”
PRESIDENT
PROMISES CHANGE CAMPUS NEWS Incumbent PARSA president Chris Wilson has begun on work improving the associations’ presence and representative nature. PARSA, which is granted close to $1 million per year by student contributions to represent post-graduate students at the ANU, held their annual elections earlier this May. To ensure fairer representation, the Postgraduate Representative Council has introduced a Women’s Officer, welcoming Alyssa Shaw to the role. Wilson declared this to be, “a long overdue development and one that simply made sense.” Regarding improved gender representation, 15 of the current 29 representatives
ANNA KAUFMANN increasing accountability, and hoping to better engage with the broad Postgraduate community, including alumni. “Shut Up! and Write” is a current program which provides a social writing experience and is a successful prototype for academic support programs - a field Wilson hopes to improve.
are female; an increase from only 10 during the last term. Wilson identified the diversity of postgraduate students’ age groups, cultures, and study plans to be one of the biggest challenges PARSA faces, given that PARSA aims to cater to all postgraduate students’ needs through advocacy, welfare support, social bonding, and educational events. PARSA will continue to “provide services and events that cater for… different groups, even if they are not large in number,” Wilson said.
Wilson has had ongoing involvement in student advocacy and welfare, including through roles with the ANU Medical Students’ Society and the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations. He is in his second year of study to become a Doctor of Medicine and Surgery. After serving as PARSA treasurer during the 2014-
PARSA is establishing out-of-hours office operation in order to be more accessible, continuing the work of previous president Ben Niles in
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2015 term, Wilson was elected as president during PARSA’s May 2015 elections. For more information on those comprising the Postgraduate Representative Council visit; http:// parsa.anu.edu.au/parsa-council/
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WORONI No.9 Vol.67
CALL
FOR
MORE
SCHOOLS
TO TEACH HINDI CAMPUS NEWS The Australian National University’s South Asia Research Centre (ASARC) has recently called for more Australian schools to teach Hindi, a first language for more than 425 million people around the world. Professor Raghbendra Jha, Head of the Arndt-Corden Department of Economics, of which ASARC is a part, states that now is a great time to start introducing Hindi in more schools, improving Australia’s position as an Asian literate nation. “Australia’s relations with India have just started picking up… The
T HE
RIA PFLAUM Australian feel has been that you can get away with just English up until this point.”
Despite this, take up of the language in school curriculums has been minimal. Prof. Jha expressed that though disadvantages of not recognizing Hindi as an important language to study would not be obvious immediately, to connect and appeal to the wider population outside of government and corporate bodies, it was a must.
While this is true to an extent, Prof. Jha says, if you “want to connect with the people, you have to have a knowledge of Hindi.” The 2012 Asian Century White Paper, commissioned by Julia Gillard to explore how Australia can become a more Asia-literate and Asia-capable country, identified Hindi as one of the top four priority Asian languages, along with Chinese (Mandarin), Indonesian, and Japanese.
“Although much of government and corporate work is done in English, many people outside of those jobs, including NGO’s, have a deeper understanding of Hindi than they do of English.”
FAMI LY
“Many traditional businessmen, who represent a huge percentage in India, also conduct their business in Hindi.” Hindi already has a presence in Australia, with Census data showing that more than 100,000 people speak the language in their homes. Prof. Jha says that now is the perfect time to bring Hindi into the spotlight as a priority Asian language, particularly in younger children, through immersion and language engagement classes.
LIFE
OF
A N U A RT STU D ENT S
CAMPUS NEWS Six visual art students from the ANU have had their works exhibited in a collaborative project entitled Family. Life. created by Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications. ANU students Kristen Firth, Ari Hunt, Sarah Hunter, Mikhaila Jurkiewicz, Micaiah Koh, and Monica Styles had their works chosen for exhibition within the project. Contributing art students from around the world were asked to submit works in various mediums under the concept of “family”. The project aims to capture the family dynamic, its spatial and identity challenges, and the web of relationships that constitute the family structure. When asked about the inspiration behind the collaboration, director Andrea Wise said that “the inspiration for Family. Life. was Edward Steichen’s landmark photography exhibition entitled The Family of Man”. Steichen’s work, which was first shown in 1955, similarly exposed the human experience, and has been viewed by more than 9 million people. Her mentor, Professor Mike Davis at
MIGUEL GALSIM Syracuse, suggested recapturing this exhibition with the works of current photography students. Ari Hunt’s video “Ken Hunt” is an animation illustrating a story about their* grandfather related to them by their father. The film builds an intimate picture of Hunt’s grandfather through its cartoonish yet striking visuals and conversational narration, with Hunt hoping to “[preserve] people’s’ stories both in historical and personal contexts” as per the advice of their main inspiration, Sophia Turkiewicz. The film was produced for a video class at the ANU School of Art, whose equipment and lecturers “definitely helped [Hunt] make this film”. Hunt said: “It’s not for everyone, though. I know some people who dropped out because they felt it wasn’t focused enough on what they wanted to do, but I enjoyed the opportunity... After first year the program becomes a lot more selfdirected.” Micaiah Koh’s series of photographs “Untitled” consists of portraits of strangers who passed his
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photographic setup in one of the ANU’s student lodges. Wanting to view life from an “uncommon perspective”, Koh chose to have the backs of his subjects facing the camera to remove assumptions of “ethnicity, belief, and race.” Influenced by his upbringing in a large family, Koh intended for his work to represent diversity and to emphasise the need for empathy with persons of differing backgrounds, and encouraged photographers to recognise this.
elucidating life’s fragility and the intensity of Hunter’s motherdaughter relationship.
“I believe that taking the next step in having a genuine desire to learn more about the backgrounds of other people plays a fundamental role in reducing blatant and unhelpful stereotyping of those around us,” he said.
Impressed by the exhibition’s artists, Wise was moved by the breadth and depth of the works presented in the project. A book of the works is in the process of being published and will be shipped to the participating schools.
Sarah Hunter’s photographic essay “I AM WOMAN”, chronicles her mother’s intensely personal struggle with metaplastic breast cancer and the emotions it evoked from her mother and Hunter herself. Consisting of 11 black-and-white portraits of her mother during various stages of her treatment, it testified to the “timeless record of documentary portraiture” while
*Ari has requested use of “their” pronouns in this article.
Wise commented on Hunter’s work, saying: “I see [Hunter’s] photographs and I think about my own mother, and how, as her daughter, it would be so difficult to see my mother going through something like that. That’s what I think strong photography does - it makes you want to hug those you love a little tighter.”
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Week 3, Semester 2, 2015.
ANU ADDS GPAS TO TRANSCRIPTS CAMPUS NEWS On Tuesday 21st July Student Administration at the ANU announced grade point averages (GPAs) will now be published on undergraduate and postgraduate academic transcripts. A GPA is an internationally recognised grading method that provides a numerical summary of a student’s academic career. In being a simple numerical figure, GPAs are often used by employers and other tertiary institutions to assess and compare the academic records of applicants. Also, the GPA allows a more complicated academic record along the lines of the ANU’s traditional grading scale to be compressed into a single number. However, ANU’s adoption of the GPA does not make it uniform with other institutions across Australia. The universities that use the GPA are split between those using a 4.0 GPA scale (with 4 being the highest attainable grade) and those
MIGUEL GALSIM using a 7.0 scale. Furthermore other universities, particularly the Universities of Sydney, NSW, and Melbourne among others, use a weighted average mark (WAM) instead of the GPA.
than others, and this complexity would ultimately be hidden from potential employers. According to their staff, this then makes employment outside Australia difficult for international students.
The WAM also gives a summary of a student’s entire academic career, but does not commute a student’s exact mark to a rounded point value, as the GPA does. For example, the WAM will take a mark of 72 into consideration, whereas a GPA will average any mark between 70 and 79 to a GP value of 6.
ANUSA “[felt] generally positive” about the addition of GPAs and that “providing more information about academic performance in a different way is positive.” They also noted that the details of the transcript has not been completely replaced by the GPA, and will be “as equally accessible as the GPA.”
Staff at the Kuwaiti Cultural Office in Canberra complained that such diversity was deterring Kuwaiti and other international students from enrolling in ANU programs. Allegedly, the usage of the GPA not only obscures their students’ actual marks, but does not illustrate the particularities of ANU’s grading bands. For instance, some courses may award HDs more frequently
In regards to concerns about GPA scaling methods, ANUSA recognised the criticism as “just”, but that ultimately the GPA only tells a part of the student’s story.
student’s GPA only reflects their marks, not the other achievements and challenges that they might have overcome,” they said. When asked if students had been consulted about the change, ANUSA said that “to [their] knowledge, there was no specific consultation process held outside of the University committees on which ANUSA executives sit.” PARSA, the ANU Postgraduate and Research Student Association, could not be reached for comment regarding this change.
“ANUSA sees students as possessing a range of abilities flowing from a range of experiences, be they in work experience, internships, or extra-curricular activities. A
RECLAIM WHAT? COMMENT
On Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th July, an Anti Islamic group called “Reclaim Australia” organised rallies across the country. These were held in Melbourne, Newcastle, Rockhampton, and Sydney. The rallies were a culmination of anti-Islamic sentiment on social media, wherein hateful language is often used to rally against Halal certification. The Facebook groups speak to some alarming attitudes, with one commenter writing “boot them all back to Mecca”. In the rally, there were several men sporting Swastika tattoos, an emblem of a section of the Australian community who do not support multiculturalism nor the right to religious freedom. I attended a counter rally
SIMON HAMMOND enthused and more concerned about my comrades. A known member of the Reclaim Australia Group was spotted in our number and a man with a megaphone shouted out his location and a group flocked to him and began to assault him. After this, I walked to a different section of the rally where a line was formed and if a person who looked to be of Reclaim Australia elk tried to get past, they would be stopped physically. I witnessed an elderly man of maybe 70 be kicked and punched, by some who looked no older than 25. The elderly man did not do anything other than try to get past and join the Reclaim Australia crowd and I saw him limp off after this encounter. This occurred at least ten times and after witnessing a group of seven men attack a
in Melbourne, to show my support for the Islamic community living within Australia. At first, the large crowd that had amassed reassured me. I presumed we were united in our stand against those who tried to suppress multiculturalism. However, it slowly became evident that some members of the rally had less-than-pure intentions. Several men wore Guy Fawkes masks, and one man wore a jacket that had inscribed upon it the slogan “Kill Rich People”. Despite this, I marched with the group and chanted “You’ll Always Lose In Melbourne”. After marching into the street adjacent to the Victorian Parliament and coming into contact with the Victorian Police I then became less 9
lone figure for trying to enter the Reclaim group, I left the rally altogether. I support and love our Islamic community and feel so strongly about this I attended a rally to show my support for them. However, I also believe in the right to freedom of speech. This allows for bad ideas to be discussed and argued at events like this, hopefully with reason and empathy winning the day. However, when the opposing side is assaulted and attacked by groups of people I think the message stops being about promoting multiculturalism and fighting racism and becomes about the few who can’t resist picking a fight for the sake of their testosterone.
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WORONI No.9 Vol.67
HUXTABLE VS. COSBY COMMENT It is normal to take solace in the words of characters we admire. These are people we relate to and turn to for comfort, understanding and truths about the world. Yet sometimes we fall in love with a human character portrayal without knowing the person behind the mask of wholesome humanity: a person who is ultimately a stranger to us all. The biting reality of the allegations of sexual assault and rape against comedian Bill Cosby has shocked the world. Over two dozen women have come out accusing Cosby of sexual misconduct and Cosby himself has admitted to using drugs such as Quaaludes for the purpose of
GABRIELE NAKTINYTE forced sexual encounters.
not pretend to be blind in an attempt to make ourselves feel more comfortable.
As more facts continue to come to light however, people’s responses vary and it seems hard to believe the facts. This is because a man we know so well and grew up with, Dr Huxtable, the leading patriarch of The Cosby Show, was a man we trusted and loved. Cosby has undeniably made invaluable contributions to the entertainment world, with his natural comedic talent, his unique heart-warming style and homey popularity. We shouldn’t have to feel guilty for liking a talented performer but we must separate the man from the art. We can appreciate Dr Huxtable, but it is time to recognise the criminal acts of Bill Cosby and
In accordance with the statute of limitations in several American states, it is unlikely that Cosby’s accusers will have the chance to take him to court. Therefore, as ABC News legal analyst, Daniel Abrams put it, the main recourse of justice available to these women is the court of public opinion. We can’t let our want for the image of an untainted and moral fatherly character cloud our view of reality. This doesn’t mean we’re not allowed to laugh and enjoy Cosby Show re-runs and smile at Dr Huxtable’s curious jokes and funny scatting delivery, which is truly
entertaining. We simply must admit to ourselves that we don’t know Bill Cosby, and that this multitude of courageous women, who have come forward and told their traumatic experiences with a world-famous and socially powerful man, deserve to be listened to. It’s okay to like the comedy but it’s not okay to ignore the facts, because every character portrayal involves a very real and fallible human being.
INCO ME DOE S N’T M A KE YOU HAP P Y COMMENT In recent decades age-old wisdom has been bolstered by strong empirical evidence that money doesn’t make you happy. The income elasticity of happiness (or subjective well-being or life satisfaction or just about any word that you might want to use), diminishes rapidly as you become wealthier. Once you enter the middle class (~$60,000 household income in Australia), the kind of additional money you need to make a dent in your subjective happiness is enormous. There are three main reasons for this. The first is adaptation—we get used to money. At first, brunching every day seems oh so extravagant, but it wears off for most people, as do Dior dresses and private jet rides. In a seminal study, Brickman et al (1978) found that 2 years after the incident, both lottery winners and recent paraplegics reported the same average happiness as controls (i.e. people who didn’t win or break
MARK FABIAN their spine), despite spikes and dips immediately after the wins and accidents.
amounts of time spent at work. That isn’t pleasurable, and it leaves little time for spending your money, socialising or sex.
The second is relative income effects. We don’t typically compare ourselves to a slum dweller in Chennai and feel grateful, but instead to our peers, who are typically as wealthy as us. Because we aren’t “better” than them, we feel a bit miffed. Of course they feel the same way, which perpetuates a cycle of one-upmanship. This is part of the origin of the “keeping up with the Joneses” phenomenon.
So we know that money doesn’t make you happy. But to really nail down the coffin, we also discovered, thanks mostly to the work of Tim Kasser, that materialists are less happy on average than the average citizen. It might be more accurate to say that successful materialists are happy but the likelihood of being a successful materialist is low. Either way, being all about the Benjamins is not a wise orientation.
The third reason is the opportunity cost of income, most importantly the absence of leisure. Most people think income grants leisure, but that’s wrong, only wealth grants leisure, and even then only if you use up your wealth. Most sources of large income streams (hedge fund managing, corporate lawyering, pop stardom etc.), require massive
So desiring un bon salaire is dumb. University students in Australia almost all enter the middle class, if not the upper-middle class, which begins around the $100,000 p.a. mark (less than a decade of work in the public service). You don’t need to prioritise income to get a good income in Australia. We are the
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lucky country. So what should my colleagues want from their jobs? The answer will be different for everyone. There is no objective standard of what makes a good job, nor is there a job that everyone will enjoy. What’s critical is that people choose a job based on deep reflection on their identity. For a job to be good it needs to align with your preferences, habits and values. One place to start is to consider what entry level tasks you don’t mind so much - if you hate the “bitch work” you aren’t going to be around long enough to make it to the glamour positions. This approach will make things more likely to align with your habits. For values, you might consider finding a job that is meaningful. Chances are that will involve a pay cut, but we’ve already discussed why that doesn’t matter.
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Week 3, Semester 2, 2015.
CONSENSITIVITY INTERNATIONAL It can be difficult for one to adjust to an entirely new culture and environment, particularly if it is the first time they are leaving behind friends, family and their home for the first time. During these adjustments, you would encounter new ways of living, new experiences, and different cultural approaches as a whole. I am an international student from a city in East Asia, and since I had never in my life moved out of my neighbourhood, I was more scared than excited when I finally moved to Australia for university. Now that I have been living here for over a year, I can
ANONYMOUS look back and say with confidence that my time abroad has enabled me to learn, meet great people, and have experiences I would not have dreamed of having back at home.
TRIGGER WARNING: SEXUAL ASSAULT
else’s problem, and that it was my fault for not stopping it from happening. I had never been exposed to this type of problem before, and being an international student with no family in Canberra I started to become paranoid, which took a toll on my studies and relationships.
However I also encountered something I had never anticipated happening to me. My home city is famous for having remarkably safe levels of crime despite its size‌so I was shocked when a stranger assaulted me on campus. My first instinct was to dilute what had happened in my mind, and to tell myself that it was nothing, that I should bury it inside because it is no one
feelings? I am writing this article to urge other victims to try to let someone know about what you are going through. Even if you feel it is more natural to let it pass on like nothing happened, it will keep hurting you like it did to me before I reached out to others.
I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by friends who noticed my change in behaviour and by members of my hall who helped me get through the problem. But even now, I wonder what would have happened if he targeted someone else, someone quieter or better at hiding their
HELP LINES & CONTACTS
HELP LINE
www.health.act.gov.au/sexualhealth
1800 Respect (1800 737 732)
CANBERRA RAPE CRISIS CENTRE
NEW SOUTH WALES
Crisis Line: (02) 6247 2525 Phone: (02) 62478071 Fax: (02) 6247 2536 Email: crcc@rapecrisis.org.au www.crcc.org.au
NSW RAPE CRISIS CENTRE (02) 9819 6565 1800 424 017 (outside Sydney) ACT CANBERRA SEXUAL HEALTH CENTRE (02) 6244 2184
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SERVICE ASSISTING MALE SURIVORS OF ASSAULT (SAMSSA) (02) 6287 3935
WORONI No.9 Vol.67
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CHLAMYDIA: THE SILENT INFECTION COMMENT Only 60% of high school students know that chlamydia affects everyone: males, females and those who don’t fit into the gender binary. The glaring inadequacy of high school sex education and health is probably a reason why 81% of reported chlamydia cases are in the 15-24 year old age group and 1 in 20 Australians have chlamydia. Like Conchita Wurst, the incidence of chlamydia rose like a phoenix by 10% from 2013 to 2014 in NSW…and that’s just humans! Koalas have a serious problem, i.e. extinction due to a similar strain of chlamydia that leaves infertile about 50% of the female koalas it infects among a population of just 80,000 in the wild. While koala sex is reportedly quite loud, chlamydia is the “silent infection” because most people don’t realise that they have it and it is largely asymptomatic. In fact, the word chlamydia comes from the word Greek word for cloak, chlamys. So chlamydia is like Harry Potter wearing an invisibility cloak; just because it looks like there’s nothing there, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t. So what exactly is chlamydia? Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the chlamydia trachomatis bacterium that anyone who is sexually active can contract. It
JENNY XUE can be transmitted through all forms of sex; oral, vaginal and anal and doesn’t necessarily need the sharing of bodily fluids (ejaculate, etc.). Unlike chickenpox, a person previously treated for chlamydia can still get infected again.
You have a duty to yourself and your partner(s), especially because of some of the consequences later in life.
As I mentioned earlier, chlamydia doesn’t have any symptoms in most people but there are a few definite red flags that involve urine, genital discharge and bleeding. In both males and females, unusual discharge from the penis or the vagina may occur in addition to discomfort when urinating akin to a burning feeling. Chlamydia may also cause rectal pain, discharge or bleeding. Males may experience swollen and sore testes whilst females may experience bleeding or spotting between periods or after sex in addition to lower abdominal pain. If you have any of these symptoms, it may not be chlamydia but you should still go see the doctor.
In both females and males, chlamydia can cause serious and sometimes permanent damage to reproductive systems by creating long-term infection. While a person’s worth should not be tied to having children, I believe that having that choice to do so is important. In females, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) can develop and cause chronic pelvic pain and fertility issues such as ectopic pregnancies and difficulty conceiving. Chlamydia is also an issue to people seeking IVF later in life. Once pregnant, issues can still occur because a female can pass chlamydia to a baby, potentially causing early delivery as well as lung or eye infections. In men, can lead to longer-term testicular infection and fertility problems, but actual sterility is rare. Reactive arthritis may also occur but is more common in males than in females.
The greatest and most obvious risk factor for contracting chlamydia and other STIs is having unprotected sex. So people, please use protection, like condoms (male and/ or female ones) and dental dams. Take responsibility for your own health and insist on using protection because most people unknowingly have chlamydia, kind of like Harry not knowing he was a harbouring a piece of Voldemort’s soul.
Given the health problems that can occur and the sneaky nature of this cloaked bacterium, regular testing is of the utmost importance. An annual chlamydia checkup is highly recommended but changes in circumstances such as new sexual partners would increase the amount of testing. The test itself is very simple. It can be done through a swab, vaginal, cervical, anal or penile, or a urine test. You can visit the
Canberra Sexual Health Centre located in Building 5 at the Canberra Hospital for free testing. They do daily walk-ins 9am2pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and Wednesdays from 1.30pm to 3.30pm. You can also book an appointment by calling 6244 2184. If you do have chlamydia, it is very easily treated with antibiotics. However, it’s important to avoid sex until the full course of treatment has been completed and for at least a week following. It’s recommended to get re-tested three months after treatment. Finally, it is your responsibility to inform all sexual partners from at least the past six months if you do have chlamydia so that they themselves can get tested and treated if needed. While this didn’t have as many dick jokes and double entendres as I expected, I hope that you all gained something from reading this: keep safe, get tested and have fun! Because unlike the koalas, our species has an over-population issue.
T H I N K I N G W I T H YO U R D I C K ?
THINK AGAIN FEATURE When I was in year seven, two of my male classmates approached me during woodwork class and begged me to kiss one of their friends. They were on a mission to prove that their friend was not ‘frigid’ and were dragging him around the classroom to show just how willing he was for some action. Unfortunately for them, thirteen-year-old me was more interested in making a clock than kissing a boy, so their friend had to continue to bear the perception that he was scared of girls. The year I spent at a co-ed high school showed me what to expect from the opposite sex. I had boys surround me and lift up my skirt; boys stare at me from across the room for the entirety of Maths, boys pressuring their friends to ask me out. I wasn’t special. This was commonplace. Verging on harassment but mostly the immature struggle of boys trying
MADDALENA EASTERBROOK to express their feelings. Even at the all-girls school I moved to, my girlfriends and I were warned that boys only wanted one thing.
or ‘fully heterosexual’. Not only does that put pressure on boys to constantly perform in the bedroom, it also puts pressure on girls to say yes or risk losing their boyfriends.
And I found that to be true. Maybe not in the Taylor Swift ‘Fifteen’ sense, where Abigail’s boyfriend leaves as soon as she gives up her v-card. But in the sense that the boys I dated were always the ones to initiate and I was always the one to say ‘no’ or ‘later’ or ‘not right now, my parents are in the next room’. Similar experiences told by friends, and articles about divorce on Mamamia.com, cemented the idea that boys want sex all the time, and it was up to the girl to either give it or take it away.
I found this stereotype harmful when I began a new relationship with a boy who did not match what I had experienced before. I was the one who wanted to have sex before he did, the one who initiated all the time and had to deal with rejection. He was the one who was tired or had work in the morning or wasn’t in the mood. Mamamia.com had not prepared me for this. Insecurity gripped me and I was left wondering if something was wrong with me. Was I a nymphomaniac or not attractive enough or bad in bed? Encountering a man with a smaller libido than myself was very confusing. But it forced me to realise
This stereotype is damaging and a consequence of rape culture. It instils that boys must be up for sex all the time or they are not ‘true men’
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that it was perfectly normal for a man not to want sex. Common sense to some, but it took me a while to reach that conclusion. I admire him for having the confidence to say no. He didn’t want sex and he said so, and I think he is more of a man for doing so. Despite the existential crisis it led me to have, I would rather have sex with someone who really wanted it. Not with someone who was doing it to prove himself or felt pressured into it. While the perception remains that boys only think with their dicks, I am here to say that it is perfectly ok for boys to say no. Girls, it isn’t you or your body or how you are in bed. He is simply not in the mood. And let me tell you, a little reverse psychology can work wonders…
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CON S E N S UA L
T R I G G E R W A R N I N G S E U A V I O E N C
X L L E
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Week 3, Semester 2, 2015.
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11 IN IN 66 WOMEN WOMEN ARE ARE SURVIVORS SURVIVORS OF OF SEXUAL SEXUAL ASSAULT ASSAULT NEW SOUTH WALES
ACT
NSW RAPE CRISIS CENTRE
CANBERRA SEXUAL HEALTH CENTRE
(02) 9819 6565 1800 424 017 (outside Sydney)
(02) 6244 2184 www.health.act.gov.au/ sexualhealth
CANBERRA RAPE CRISIS CENTRE Crisis Line: (02) 6247 2525 Phone: (02) 62478071 Fax: (02) 6247 2536 Email: crcc@rapecrisis.org.au www.crcc.org.au
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SERVICE ASSISTING MALE SURIVORS OF ASSAULT (SAMSSA) (02) 6287 3935 HELP LINE 1800 Respect (1800 737 732)
MORE THAN 50% OF SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS IN THE ACT ARE MALE
WORONI No.9 Vol.67
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Sex Workers Outreach Project
www.anusa.com.au/scw
www.facebook.com/ anusascw
@sexyconsentanu
anusa.scw@gmail.com
Good Sex Touching Base
Getting (a)Head
Faith and Sex
I Want to Verb Your Noun: Consent
HAVE A BANGIN’ TIME!
Sexy, Kinky & Absolutely TerriPied
+ Kama Sutra photo comp #anukamasutra
Degendering Sex
Canberra Rape Crisis Centre: Consent
+ Ask a Sexpert
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Tranz Australia WORKSHOPS
MONDAY: FILM SCREENING
TUESDAY: LOVE SONG DEDICATION KARAOKE
ALL WEEK: ACADEMIC BREAKFASTS
WEDNESDAY: PANEL DISCUSSION
An Illicit Fair FRIDAY: MILE HIGH CLUB PARTY
THURSDAY: AN ILLICIT FAIR
• BONK • COITUS • COUPLING • BUNGA BUNGA • BANG • FUCK • ENCOUNTER • INTERCOURSE • MÉNAGE Á TROIS • ROMP • QUICKIE • SHAG • FORNICATION • ROOT • LOVEMAKING • POUND • 16
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Week 3, Semester 2, 2015.
Illustration by Henry Dwyer
SEX
IN
THE
TIME
OF
INTOXICATION FEATURE
LINDA MA
Does being drunk negate consent? According to the laws of the Australian Capital Territory, the answer is yes. In many states and territories, the law holds that those who are extremely intoxicated cannot give consent. But in the ACT, if someone has consumed any alcohol at all or taken any drug, they are legally unable to give consent.
other parties’ judgement is compromised or under the influence? The answer is to reframe and rethink consent and sexual approaches, to err, enthusiastically, on the side of consent and caution, and to fundamentally conceptualise consent as being an ongoing and positive process of reaffirmation, building trust and communication.
Of course, in the way we actually live our lives, it seems impracticable to never drink alcohol before having sex. Alcohol is ever-present in our social lives: it is an indispensable social lubricant, the egalitarian leveller which ensures that all of us who drink share the opportunity of making a fool of ourselves on a Thursday night. As much as this drug may be socially undesirable, it is so much ingrained into Australian society and tradition that not even Canberra’s most idealist legislators can get rid of it.
In sexual situations where alcohol is present, we need to be especially careful that people are genuinely consenting. Enthusiastic consent, treated with extra caution due to the presence of intoxication, is defined by the notion that “yes means yes”, rather than “no means no”. Genuine trust and communication is incredibly sexy, since the encounter will likely be far more intimate and profound.
Not being a lawyer, I am not able to comment from a legal perspective, but from a moral one: how can one behave ethically and morally when they are in situations where one or both of the parties in a sexual encounter are intoxicated? How can you ensure you maintain respect and consent when you or the
a feminist thinker, says, “we seek confirmation of willingness” out of a visceral need for mutual agreement and consensus. “In media res, agreement is clear”, she says. But when one or both parties are drunk, verbal signs assume a new, crucial importance. Verbal confirmation requires a more coherent, distinct decision-making thought process. It raises a certain momentary discomfort, which provides a moment for both/ all parties to become more aware of their surroundings and the situation. It provides a context for all to evaluate whether the giving of consent was both actively intended and clearly interpreted. Putting aside the thorny question of how the law might be interpreted, we need to be sure that at all times, going beyond the dictates of the law, that we behave in ways that uphold the dignity and agency of those we interact with. The best way to do that is through ensuring that enthusiastic, affirmative consent is given in an ongoing fashion throughout a sexual encounter. “Consent isn’t a question. It’s a state,” argues Jaclyn Friedman, a key advocate for affirmative
What does ongoing communication look like in this situation? Consent is firstly, a continuous and proactive search for nonverbal signs that indicate enthusiasm. In other aspects of life, we tend to err on the side of caution. If someone seems unsure about going on a coffee date, you realise that neither you nor they are going to have a great time if you attempt to go through with it. As Melanie Boyd,
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consent. Enthusiastic consent is not just a legal requirement, but an ideal standard that we should all strive towards.use to change the world.” Whether it’s helping an eighteen year old provide education to women in Syria or inventing something as necessary as the selfiestick, young graduates are encouraged to pursue their passion. As the leaders of tomorrow embrace the change that is before you and create opportunities to make your dreams a reality. It is your responsibility to live up to your potential just as it was this writer’s responsibility to include as many cliché expressions as possible. However, never fear, if the real world isn’t for you, simply go back to university to complete a postgraduate qualification. You’ll need that extra time and learning to compete in the job market next time round. For now just enjoy your graduation ceremony, throw your hat up into the air and put out of mind the exorbitant fees you paid for this golden moment.
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WORONI No.9 Vol.67
T OWA R D S
A
NEW
NORM
POS I T I VE
OF
S E X UA L I T Y:
CO N S E N T,
A N D W H Y I T B E N E F I T S YO U ( Y E S , YO U ! ) FEATURES There are lots of reasons to adopt positive consent as a standard across the board. The most obvious and important one is that getting an active, positive “yes” from somebody else indicates that they are engaged in what is happening, as opposed to begrudgingly accepting it. Positive consent negates issues concerning coercion, and helps us to foster a sexual culture with more fun and less assault. There’s another reason that I want us to consider today, however. Let’s start with a simple but important premise though: there are (to generalise) two extremes of why you would want sex. You might want it because you are interested in a casual hookup, and therefore value sex for its own sake, as a simple, viscerally satisfying experience. Or you might want sex as a form of intimacy, akin to a beautiful, romantic dinner, where you experience the true merging of two souls, etc. Both of these conceptions of sex exist, and are perfectly valid. That’s all well and good, but there are issues concerning how you get to the
CLYDE STRIFE sex to begin with. Perniciously, many of the common ways of attaining sex are still awkwardly intertwined with rituals associated with romantic courtship. Take clubbing for instance: let’s face it, many people go out of their way to go clubbing because they want to find someone to hook up with. And yet, clubbing is also seen as a way to meet people. It’s probably a cultural descendant of traditional dances, where people would meet one another and assess each other’s viability as a long-term partner.
Enter the solution: positive consent. Let’s go back to the start of this article again though, for a second. Given how great positive consent sounds as a way of combatting rape culture, why is there even opposition? One common critique is the silly-sounding but nevertheless important issue of awkwardness. It is often just really awkward to directly proposition someone and ask: “would you like to sleep with me?” (or so I am told). But this awkwardness might actually be the key to why we need positive consent, to address this broader issue concerning sexual norms that I’ve described above.
This results in two problems. The first is that it conflates the process of finding a partner and just getting a casual fuck, and often leaves one in a state of confusion afterwards, or of people having to awkwardly clarify what the whole experience meant to themselves and to others. The other problem is that it just becomes really annoying. Why the hell do we have to go through this long and protracted process of going out on Thursday, drinking, dancing, reading body language, when sometimes all we want is really just one thing?
If “would you like to have sex” becomes ingrained as a regular thing to say in a conversation, a few things might happen. The first is that we de-conflate all sex and all romance. It would still be very plausible that sex could be meaningful in particular contexts (for instance, after a romantic dinner), but it is now also possible to just enjoy the act for its own sake, in a casual way, much as we enjoy food, without being particularly concerned. Secondly, it
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would make it much easier to solicit sex to begin with, because instead of having to deal with the whole ritual leading up to casual sex (whatever it may be), we can just use an ordinary phrase that everybody is used to, to get there. Hooray. Obviously, this article is somewhat reductive, but hopefully it perhaps raises an interesting point concerning why positive consent might have utility beyond combating rape culture. A world in which we can freely discuss sex, in a fashion that is laid-back and casual, is one that is probably more fun for all.
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Week 3, Semester 2, 2015.
T H E O N E WO M A N P RO J E C T V I NC E N T CH I A NG I N T E RV I E W S
RUTH HORSFALL, ACT
DIRECTOR
FEATURE Tell me a bit about your organisation. What are the goals of One Woman Project? The One Woman Project (OWP) is a youth-led not-for-profit organisation that was founded in Brisbane by Madeline Price in 2013. Ultimately, we want to educate as many people as possible about the enduring gender inequality that exists both globally and here in Australia. We’re all about dispelling the idea that equality has been “achieved” and shining a light on the areas where inequality is still overwhelmingly present. What do you think is the most important thing for young women in Australia today to know? For young women in Australia, I think that understanding the nuances of gender issues and to a greater extent, feminism is vital in furthering their knowledge and ability to affect change. By making their gender advocacy and beliefs intersectional, and ensuring they encompass issues related to race, sexuality, class, and disability (among others) they get the greatest chance of understanding how gender inequality hurts people. This allows us to raise awareness about issues that are most in need of exposure. Additionally, from my own lived experiences, it’s important for young women to know that they are important, they are powerful and they matter – this is despite the fact they will face silencing everyday of their lives. It can be exhausting to discuss gender inequality but the more we talk about it, the easier it becomes. What is your perspective on male allies to the feminist cause? Does it hearten you that men sign up for your seminar series? It is actually within our scope this semester to ensure that we market ourselves outside of gender-focussed groups, such as women’s and queer groups within
OF
OWP
VINCENT CHIANG we glorify men for being strong, sexually aggressive, powerful and domineering, we will find it increasingly difficult to change our current dynamic, which allows a culture of sexual violence to flourish.
universities. Although we love having people come along who are experienced and passionate, to a degree it means we are preaching to the choir and we really need to be equally (if not more) reaching out to people who might not know much about gender inequality at all. This often inevitably includes men, and we always think it’s fantastic that they want to come along and further their learning about the issues faced by women, and other minorities who experience discrimination.
We must end the culture of victim blaming and focusing on the action’s of victims. Nearly 2 women die a week in Australia, and even though a majority of them died at the hands of men we still can’t talk about men as being violence perpetrators without dissent. It is much easier to derail a conversation by saying “not all men are rapists!” than it is to face the fact that when a woman is assaulted, or raped 9 times out of 10 her attacker is a man she knows, whether that be a friend, partner or family member.
Unfortunately regarding male allies and feminism, I tend to be wary of men who claim to be feminists as such a proclamation is nearly always accompanied by a tendency to speak over, or for, women. Men often ignore the fact that their lived experiences exclude them from being able to understand first hand the results of gender inequality and they don’t like being told this in no uncertain terms. The best way for men to support feminism is to call out other men for perpetuating sexism and misogyny, and to educate themselves as much as possible. Sitting in on an OWP seminar, and asking questions, can be a fantastic way to do this.
What are your thoughts on positive consent as a new norm in sexual interactions? I love the idea of positive consent and can’t really believe it’s taken us this long to frame consent in this way. In my opinion, consent should mean the presence of a yes, not the absence of a no. I want to reinforce the idea that consent is ongoing, and can be withdrawn at any time as well as addressing how male entitlement to women’s bodies feeds into the sexual violence epidemic. I think we should be starting to talk to children about consent as early as primary school – consent is not just about sex, it’s about how you make people feel through things like personal space, use of their belongings, as well as the things you say to and about them.
Onto the theme of this edition – obviously, sex and consent are issues that affect women strongly within our society, often in ways that are awful. We live in a world where there are still problems concerning a culture of sexual assault. What do you think the way forward is? The YWCA Canberra is one of the only organisations (to my knowledge) that is advocating for better education as our most powerful means for addressing sexual and domestic violence. I wholeheartedly support this idea and believe that intervention later in life to help men address a tendency for sexual violence is largely futile, and ignores our culturally entrenched ideas about masculinity, gender roles and what it means to ‘be a man’ in Australia. As long as
In the feminist movement, the question of sex-positive versus sexnegative feminism is one that is hotly contested. Given your experience with One Woman Project, do you think there are particular insights into this debate that are important to young people today? Particularly since identifying as a feminist, I always aligned myself
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closely with the idea of sex positivity. To me, it really addressed a lot of my own insecurities about sex and sexuality growing up, and allowed me to learn more about what made sex a rewarding and positive experience. It gave me the strength to talk about sex with people, which opened up my world and made sex much safer and enjoyable for me. However, I am increasingly interested in the idea of being sexcritical, which as you might already know sits somewhere between positive and negative. It exists in a space that encompasses a lot of facets of sex positivity while also providing more space for discussion on issues which have been silenced or ignored in the past, such as asexuality. To me, being sex critical is important for young people as it gives them space to be educated on sex and sexuality, and allow them to feel like they can experiment safely and enjoyably. On the other hand, it also tells them that it is okay to not enjoy sex, or to not be very interested in it at all. It allows for fluidity and acknowledges our desire for sex will change throughout our lives, and perhaps our sexuality will too. Any last words or comments? Just that I would encourage anyone who is even a little interested in learning more about the OWP, or anything I’ve said in this interview to come along to our first seminar on Tuesday 11 August at 6.30pm at the Club 12/25 Youth Centre on Cooyong Street in Civic. We pride ourselves on creating a safe space for participants, meaning we welcome young people from all walks of life who are interested in having powerful and interesting conversation about gender inequality.
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WORONI No.9 Vol.67
C U LT U R E O F
PURITY FEATURE I am from a religious family. Until very recently, I considered myself religious. My upbringing was very safe, and warm, and loving. But it was also imbued with set expectations for human behaviour based on “truth” that were not open to real challenge. I was brought up in what I would describe now as a “purity culture” with specific ideas on how love and sex and marriage should be conducted. When I was younger I thought the guidelines to relationships were foolproof and inevitable, and that was how my life was going to be. Premarital abstention and lifelong monogamy was just something that everyone around me did. It seemed like a perfect formula, and I saw how it worked in my family. Of course, I discovered that life just isn’t like that, but first I should give you a better picture of where I come from: my mother’s sisters are all married to ministers. My uncle became a minister and got married. My grandparents have been together for over fifty years. My cousin got married at nineteen and her
VS
CONSENT
ANONYMOUS sister was twenty when she tied the knot.
rules surrounding sexuality, but nothing about sexuality itself. Different sexualities were never mentioned because it was simply assumed that they did not exist, or that they were not morally ok. I also remember how much time was spent talking defensively about how good sex was, and how to keep it safe and good. It was so good, that it was too important to talk about, except in religious metaphors.
So I come from a family of early marriages and strong ideas about marriage. I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with that, but you can see how I existed very much inside a bubble. As a teenager, I remember having many discussions about the term “dating”. According to some Christians I knew, “courting” was the more appropriate way to go about things. Dating was too sensuous and not serious enough. Courting had specific rules not attached to dating, always with the intent of marriage. In retrospect, I find some of these rules were quite extreme. No physical contact beyond what was considered chaste was allowed. In year ten, our sex ed consisted of a catholic guy who told us that his wife to be didn’t let him hold her hand until the year before they got married. I heard again and again how having sex outside of marriage was damaging.
An image that stands out in my memory is duct tape. We get stuck on people; if you’re not careful you’re going to rip it off and that’s going to hurt. And if you attach it to someone else and then rip it off, your piece of tape is going to be terribly mangled and not as sticky as before. And that makes you a broken person. I’ve since thought that that image is a flawed analogy for intimacy. We need intimacy in all of our relationships, sexual or otherwise. There’s always going to be a risk that our connections with each other are going to rip apart and hurt, and even get screwed up. But that’s the risk we take in living; the way we conduct our relationships says
What was also strange was that everybody around me in the church wanted to talk about the
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nothing about our self-worth. But also, now that I’m older and more reflective, nothing about so called sexual purity makes any sense to me. Although “purity” means abstention from a part of human experience that is scary and often messy, I can no longer view intimacy as wrong. Intimacy is simply how we live. What is more wrong is a breach of trust which comes from not discussing consent. It’s creating a culture in which women need permission from men. It’s creating a culture in which other sexualities aren’t acknowledged, and sexual abuse is ignored. I don’t mean to personally attack Christians who believe that abstinence before marriage is the right thing to do. What I’m trying to say is that I’ve realised that the church’s way is not perfect or fool-safe. There is no “safe” way of having any kind of relationship, and that’s ok. I’ve moved beyond the discourses I used to exist in. I’m still unlearning a lot of internalised stuff about sex and gender. I’ve moved from a culture of purity, to a culture of consent.
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Week 3, Semester 2, 2015.
A FIEND’S TRANSITION T O T H E R E A L WO R L D LIFE & STYLE Sex. It’s the perfect juxtaposition. Enjoyable and painful, priceless yet sold, glorified but taboo. No person is safe from the corruption of sexual desire. Marriages, money, careers can all be sidelined when chasing three seconds of ecstasy. Valuable time is spent in this pursuit and for what? Sex is marketed and socially upheld to the point where it is often mistaken as being life’s “ultimate goal”. So why is it that after six months of surrounding myself with sexual partners, I felt completely alone and unfulfilled? In 2014, I lived at a university residence in Wollongong with almost 150 other students. Having tussled with anxiety, near suicidal depression and some classic Daddy issues in recent years, I viewed my relocation as a chance to start over and move on. Like many first years I was hopeful of a bright future and eager to see what difference I could make in the world. However the reality of financial stress and loneliness soon overcame me and I spent the better part of my first six months drunk on both alcohol and lust. I had over twenty sexual partners many of whose names I struggle to remember. I found myself often choosing to have sex rather than study or look after my health. I used sex as a coping mechanism
SIMON R-J enjoyed the challenges of study and was only beginning to discover the opposite gender – but not yet on a sexual level. At the end of each semester I was proud of my grades as they reflected my hard work and enabled me to look positively toward my future. My future being my goal: moving away to study at university, living my own life and becoming my own person.
for the issues in my life which I was not yet ready to face. Being the object of another person’s desire brought me an egotistical form of self-satisfaction with which I used to verify my avoidance of issues and manipulative use of my partners. This along with the pleasure of nourishing my own cravings led me to explore new Barney Stinson-esque ways of seeking sexual company. I often lied about my age and grades or took advantage of the loneliness of other students in order to gain companionship for one night. Reassurance for my actions was further derived from the social status I gained from my peers not only for sleeping with people, but for the inventive ways sex was achieved; as if it was a trophy to be won.
To an extent I had now achieved this goal. I had moved out and was studying at university. However, I did not feel as though I was living my own life or becoming my own person but rather living the illustrious “single life” and being a person who others would want to have sex with. I’m not saying that being myself means other people won’t want to have sex with me, but rather that I would change the way I acted and presented myself if I thought it would lead to sex.
By the end of semester my hookup tally was higher than most of my grades; an award in which all that was won was loneliness. I was proud to be living independently. However, I was embarrassed that I had little to tell my family and friends about; sex being a distasteful topic to discuss with your mother. I compared my position to that of my high school years, particularly my days as the Dux. During that time, I
new friends were more interested in who I was rather than the people I could sleep with. This didn’t mean I became celibate, or that I no longer enjoyed sex - I just spent less time pursuing it. When I did have sex, it was with people whose personalities I was attracted to rather than just their body. This was more enjoyable and fulfilling. So there it is: sex. A completely natural phenomenon which we have manipulated into being a tabooed act. But it doesn’t need to be. Yes, it’s amazing when you’re in the moment but there is more to life than that instant gratification. It may sound cliché to say so, but if my experience has taught me one thing, it is that sex is not just a little fun on the side; it’s an art of expression and appreciation, not corruption.
These realisations led me to make a conscious choice not to chase sex. I began choosing a good night’s sleep and a long day of study over a hard night and a hangover. My grades only improved marginally however I found myself to be self-assured rather than egoistic. This in turn made me happier and I found
THE ANCIENT ART OF SEX LIFE & STYLE Sex. Even typing this word out makes me feel odd. But why? If there is one thing quintessential to our humanity, is it not our ability to reproduce? Then why have we tabooed it so? Undeniably, sex has been the cause of countless mishaps over time, but in its purest form, the act is one of life’s arts: the art of love. Although people have to think twice before mentioning the subject, the artistic nature of sex makes it an incredibly lucrative matter to write about. Book shops boast their own corner for all sorts of books relating to sex: informative books, guide books, erotica, and so on. But when we consider sexual literature, there is one enigmatic text which always makes an appearance – the Kama Sutra. The Kama Sutra (literally, the Science of Sexual Vitality) was compiled in the second century AD by a Vedic scholar, Vātsyāyana. What this book is not is a “sex manual”. It goes well
PAROKSH PRASAD beyond the physiology behind having the best orgasm and into the realms of sociology and deep spirituality, a concept so often forgotten when discoursing about intercourse. Further, it teaches its reader about the whole notion of social love: who is an appropriate lover, how to approach the lover, what to do with the lover, and pretty much everything else needed for a man to seek pleasure with a woman. In summation, it’s not the one-stop shop for all things sex, but for all things love. Of the seven cantos into which the Sutra is divided, only the second deals explicitly with the actual exercises and positions leading to orgasm. The remaining six relate to behaviour and attitudes about sexuality and love. I think Vātsyāyana is making a notable point here. Carnality is only one small aspect of the entire institution that is social love.
Having established that the text is not solely a sex-guide, we can look to some of the other gems it edifies. A theme that runs throughout the composition is the significance placed on the courting stages of a relationship. Writing in a pre-Facebook “seen” icon time, the art of courtship was probably easier in Vātsyāyana‘s day. But that doesn’t mean that his lessons are not time-pervasive. “Where the lovers are yet somewhat unacquainted, let them embrace in darkness,” he suggests. “Mr Wolf,” I respond. “Don’t mess around with a leper,” he suggests. “Wear protection,” I respond. “Drink milk with sugar and liquorice to increase vigour,” he suggests. “Double tequila shot,” I respond. But the Sutra also delves into a space far beyond material and bodily
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pleasure. In Vedic literature, a living soul is given four ultimate goals in its lifetime: to fulfil its duty (dharma); to attempt to understand its purpose (artha); to seek pleasure (kama); and to finally attain salvation from the cycle of rebirth (moksha). The Kama Sutra elucidates the third of these goals. The union of two lovers can be a divine experience; where the yin and the yang come together to become a whole. More so than merely a pleasurable pastime, enacted properly, sex can be so much more. So there you have it – as much as the Kama Sutra is a guide to sex, it presents the subject as a natural and spiritual phenomenon worth revering and respecting. Perhaps this is the lesson we should take from it.
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WORONI No.9 Vol.67
LET’S LIFE & STYLE With the ball season fast approaching, I feel like it is a great time to discuss what is required on the fashion front for a successful season! For those who are new to the ANU, I hear you ask what a ball is and how it works. For the most part, ANU balls are formal events organized by societies or committees at the university, which involve elegantly dressed ladies and suave men at a fancy venue with exotic food and a lot of free alcohol. Balls are just about the only events that allow us to flaunt our most formal attire without feeling overdressed (ahem, all you well-dressed citizens who make me feel like a pauper in my trackies at a 9am lecture…) Now I know we ladies generally don’t tend to buy evening gowns very often as we hardly ever use them, so when this time of year comes around, we are stumped for ideas and actually quite nervous whether we are doing it right. This leads me to my first tip: don’t
PL AY
BALL!
NEERAJA SHANKAR are probably aiming for a sophisticated look and should accessorise accordingly.
spend ridiculous amounts of money on something you will wear once or twice. Online stores have heaps of evening gowns and dresses that look quite elegant for very affordable prices. A word of warning: remember to order it in time so that it arrives a couple of days before the ball to give some time for last minute adjustments.
If you’re wearing a dress with a high neck, a good rule to follow would be to stick to slightly bigger earrings, no necklace, a watch on one hand and if you want then a small bracelet on the other, or no watch at all and a big bracelet on one hand. If you’re wearing a dress with a deeper neck, then go with a simple set of a matching pendant and earrings.
A trap that many of us ladies fall into is that we prefer buying a completely new outfit rather than a get-up we’ve worn once, of which there is photo evidence on Facebook. Remember though, we are uni students living on tight budgets! Believe me when I say so, no one cares if they have seen it once, so there is no harm in reusing the dress… My tip: try playing with other aspects of the outfit such as hairstyle or accessories – the entire vibe of the dress could change dramatically!
Another aspect where people sometimes go OTT with is makeup. You don’t need to put on a thick layer of makeup. I am sure all you ladies know that a natural finish is the objective. The minute people can tell you have worn a lot of foundation, classy turns to tacky. But having said that, balls are a great opportunity to wear eye shadow, brighter shades of lipstick, and other products you wouldn’t use on a daily basis. However, either opt for heavy eye shadow or brighter lipstick. Doing both will result in “loud”, not “elegant”.
As far as themes go, organisers usually dictate the code as something formal or fancy – THAT DOES NOT MEAN FLASHY OR GAUDY! Don’t overdo it. Considering you are going for a ball, you
look together is your hair. Try to step away from your go-to formal hairstyle and change it up a bit! Straighten your hair out if you have curly locks, or curl you naturally straight hair. Pin it up and put it in an intricate up-do. The world is your oyster! Remember you are spending a lot of money and time on the event so why not put a little bit more effort in and make yourself feel good. Ultimately, be confident! Being over or underdressed is only observable if you let yourself feel that way. Carry yourself with your head held high and you will auto matically look on fleek. My final tip: have lots of fun! Studying can get tough, especially if you are approaching those later weeks. So just forget about your worries for one night and dance like nobody’s watching! PS: Having said that, trust me when I say, you see a different side of people at these events; you are very likely to be caught staring!
The final aspect which ties the whole
THE SPLENDOUR OF HANDEL’S MESSIAH ARTS & REVIEWS I am aware that Woroni’s readership were probably among the 30,000 people who flocked to Byron Bay for Splendour in the Grass this past weekend, however I want to share my thoughts on another truly wonderful event that occurred on Sunday 26th July, at St Paul’s Anglican Church in Manuka. Canberra-based chamber choir Coro and a stellar chamber ensemble of musicians including members of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra performed Handel’s Messiah. There is no definitive version of the Messiah, however this performance aimed to emulate Handel’s original vision for the piece, which was conceived in 1742. As the composer died more than 250 years ago, you may be wondering why performances of the Messiah are still relevant or important? The Messiah is an oratorio, like an opera but the text is completely biblical and the performances are not dramatically staged. In the 18th century, oratorios were intended to educate their audiences on the gospel, however Coro’s performance confirmed
LOUISE KEAST that Handel’s Messiah has transcended religion. It is the music, not necessarily the message, which is sublime. You may be surprised, but you’ve probably heard parts of the Messiah before. The Hallelujah Chorus has been appropriated to advertise and sell white goods and Dulux paint on our televisions, however it actually originates from Handel’s Messiah.
moments of thunderous grandeur, such as the Hallelujah Chorus, the balance was underwhelming. Other moments of the Messiah featured vocal soloists and achieved a perfect balance between voice and orchestra.
This was the first time I had heard this infamous chorus in context: the voices in the chorus proclaim “Hallelujah, HALLELUJAH”, the strings are busily playing and then the heraldic trumpet sounds! The directive gestures given by conductor Joseph Nolan were truly animated and full of feeling.
As an ANU music student, it was aweinspiring to see several of ANU’s lecturers performing. Bass soloist Peter Tregear (Head of the ANU School of Music), tenor soloist Paul McMahon (Head of Voice) and harpsichord continuo Calvin Bowman (senior lecturer, composer and organist) truly undoubtedly displayed that they are worth their salt - ridiculously skilled musicians in their respective roles and they truly ba-roqued out.
Perhaps more a criticism of the venue (which, with its stained glass windows and ornately decorated beamed ceilings was beautifully grand) than the performers, however the choir was situated behind a huge arch and it seemed like the audience lost a lot of sound to the void behind. In
Despite the freezing Canberran weather, the event attracted a deservedly sold-out audience. I once read that at the debut performance of the Messiah in 1742 in Dublin, the crowd was so large that women were asked to leave their hooped skirts at home, and men were asked not
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to wear swords so as to allow as many people to be squeezed in as possible. Well at Coro’s performance, swords were swapped for scarfs and gloves, and as I shared a woolen blanket with the stranger beside me I honestly forgot how much I wanted to be at Splendour in the Grass and truly enjoyed the splendour of fantastic classical music. ArtSound FM recorded this event, so if you’re classically inclined you haven’t missed out on the chance to hear this incredible performance!
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Week 3, Semester 2, 2015.
THE STORY OF SEX AND RELIGION:
JANE THE GOOD VIRGIN PRAMILAA SHIVAKKUMAR
ARTS & REVIEWS While traversing through the Youtubes watching trailers during the winter holidays I came across the curiously named Jane the Virgin. The show is based on the Venezuelan telenovela (basically a soapie but like 10 times more dramatic) Juana la Virgen and in typical telenovela style, the show begins mind-bogglingly with the revelation that the protagonist Jane Villanueva, 23 (Gina Rodriguez, who won a Golden Globe for her performance) has been artificially inseminated with the sperm of Rafael Solano (played by the dreamy Justin Baldoni), a man she kissed five years ago (on the mouth!) and she is now pregnant… despite also still being, for all intents and purposes, a VIRGIN. A modern day Virgin Mary, if you will. However, as much as I love the show (and I do love the show, it is tonnes of fun) the obsession with Jane’s virginity just feels out-of-date, and not vintage like Levis but off like bad milk.
Now, the show is a glorious feminist enterprise and I am totally nitpicking here so bear with me. Most people would cringe if they heard a woman talking about being deflowered but that is exactly how Jane the Virgin begins - with Jane listening to her devoutly Catholic grandmother as she demonstrates what it means to lose her virginity by having her crush flowers and then try to restore them to their former glory (yikes!); a lesson that Jane is later shown teaching to her fifth grade classmates. Thus, despite all its flash and character charisma the show sometimes does give me the creepy crawlies, because I feel like I’m being subliminally indoctrinated into church dogma. All of a sudden I find myself thinking about my virginity… and no one should be doing that (unless they want to be the star of a hit telenovela).
show’s writers nimbly balance the significance of religion in everyday life while also ensuring that it is only represented as the beliefs of certain individual characters on the show. In the end though, they aren’t always successful because inevitably, Jane’s goodness becomes tied in with her virginity. Jane is (annoyingly) the sweetest and loveliest character and is constantly held up as an angel, whereas her mother Xiomara, who is sexually promiscuous, is presented to audiences as a mess, incapable of ever doing things right. The binary representation is there (despite what other critics think) and it’s flush with meaning. The show’s creator Jennie Snyder Urman stated in an interview from the AV club: “I think there’s so much amazing TV now that’s a lot of antiheroes. I felt like Jane would be a character that would be very interesting but also a good person.” In this day and age sex is considered no big deal (and rightly so) and so I think
Despite the protagonist’s virginity being the premise of the show, the
and hope that Jane loses it pretty soon. Then we can carry on enjoying the maddening twists and turns the plot takes and not have to worry about feeling like we got tricked into going to Sunday School.
TRAINWRECK FRANK SHANAHAN
ARTS & REVIEWS Director: Judd Apatow
she’s profiling for the magazine. As much as she wants to deny it, she starts to like Aaron and to her shock, he likes her too. Soon Amy starts to realise she’ll have to change her ways if she wants to stay with him.
Going into Trainwreck I was ready to laugh. One of my favourite directors, Judd Apatow (The 40 Year Old Virgin and Bridesmaids), has teamed up with one of my favourite comedians, and 2015’s “It Girl”, Amy Schumer! So I was expecting some side splitting, thigh slapping, maybe even a little wee-coming-out laughter. Unfortunately Trainwreck quite get there.
The problem I had with Trainwreck was that it couldn’t decide what it is. The film starts off as a refreshing comedy with a cool and sassy female lead, instead of the usual ditz looking for Mr Right. But about half-way in, the movie becomes just like any other rom-com. Which leaves you asking yourself: is this a Katherine Heigl movie now? Am I supposed to watch this hugging a pillow with a towel on my head? I like that Schumer put a twist on the traditional, but Schumer’s comedy is good enough to have put a full spanner in the works!
doesn’t
As a child Amy (Amy Schumer), had it drilled into her by her father that monogamy isn’t realistic. Now the thirty-something magazine writer lives a life of hard-drinking, hardpartying and promiscuity. Amy seemingly loves her carefree life, but really she’s in a rut - until she meets Aaron (Bill Hader), a sports doctor
Don’t get me wrong, there are
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hilarious moments in Trainwreck and it’s enjoyable. Get a bag of popcorn the size of your head and have a LOL. Just don’t expect the same comedy gold we’re used to seeing from Schumer.
3/5
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WORONI No.9 Vol.67
GETTING DOWN
WITH DONE JESS KEMISTER
ARTS & REVIEWS A few close friends and I were gallery hopping in Sydney on a beautifully spring-lit afternoon and decided to take a quick detour into Ken Done’s Gallery in The Rocks. As students of Art history and Curatorship at the ANU, we love nothing more than to immerse ourselves in the rich and unique artistic heritage of Australia. Ken Done and his wonderfully colourful, and bold abstract style are what distinguishes him as an iconic Australian artist. Situated in one of Sydney’s heritage listed buildings, Ken Done’s Gallery is as much of a visual treat on the outside as it is on the inside. The historic brickwork and innately colonial façade of the structure was rather warm and welcoming. Upon entering the building, its beautiful rustic interior gives a contrasting prominence to the daring nature and vibrancy of his works that give character to each room. In the first room of the gallery, I found
myself drawn to many of his coral reef impressions. One that I was particularly intrigued by was Coral Reef 1 (2003). This purple and blue abstract piece has an alluring, soothing and almost hypnotic charm to it. This work had me entranced, so much so that I almost didn’t recognise the figure standing behind my friends and I. The figure behind inquired “What do you think of this piece?”
every shade under the sun. To my right was an immaculately realistic and detailed sketch of a conch shell. That artwork in particular awakened me to the diversity of his oeuvre. Many may consider his works beautiful in their simplicity of colour and painterly style. Here was a work so intricate, so delicate and meticulous in nature, and so different from the familiarity of his more bright and cheerful works. Before we left, I asked him what he thought was the biggest issue with art today and his response has remained with me since.
Our little detour into Done’s gallery had turned into an unexpected run in with the legend, the artist, the man himself, Ken Done. Bewildered by his presence, my friends and I attempted to keep calm and collected. After talking art, he proceeded to invite us into his studio space. To say we fan-girled out at this point would be the understatement of the year.
A wise man who obviously possesses a great talent for painting, Ken Done also likes to “dabble” in hyper-realistic drawing and chooses to create works that are more playful and erratic in character than serious. He feels that having fun with painting is not only the greatest way to express his inner child, but the greatest way to evoke a sense of joy, happiness, and in my case hypnosis, among his audiences. I think that this is far more important than any kind of shock value prevalent in art today.
“It is hard for artists these days, as your generation isn’t shocked by anything. Your generation has seen and heard many things. From beheadings to school shootings… nothing can really shock your generation anymore. Artists now have to think of alternative ways to reach their audiences to achieve that shock value.”
His studio walls were covered in canvases; some of them blank awaiting their dollops of colour and others already splashed with
OF MICE AND MEN -
AN INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR IAIN SINCLAIR ARTS & REVIEWS The upcoming Sport for Jove production Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, directed by Iain Sinclair, has particular relevance for Australia’s contemporary situation. “[The play] is very relevant when you look at our treatment of migrant workers because that’s what Lennie (Andrew Henry) and George (Anthony Gooley) are: migrant workers. It highlights how our reservoir of compassion is draining, even now.” “There are a million Cliffnotes and Sparknotes about Steinbeck but I think the main reason why it drew me in is that it’s a wonderful portrait about what economic austerity does to our soul and spirit, and what loneliness triggers in us as we become poorer and start to only look out for ourselves. [Of Mice and Men] is about two men who for no reason look after each other, and everyone else [at the ranch where they work] is amazed by this friendship.” Iain Sinclair is a Canberra success story. After studying at ANU from 1988-90, he studied acting at NIDA for two years before coming back to finish his Honours
JESSICA MASTERS at the ANU. He then went to the UK to do a Masters in Directing and came back to Canberra to start a small acting company called Elbow Theatre, which ran for 6 years until government arts funding ran out. Sinclair comments on his regret for the end of Elbow Theatre: “I just couldn’t keep actors in Canberra so we all had to move to the big centres, which was a shame because we all wanted to see a boutique acting company in the nation’s capital.”
of which have been with the Sydney Theatre Company where he was Assistant Theatre Director for several years, working with Gale Edwards, Jean-Pierre Mignon, Cate Blanchett and Max StaffordClark, among others. Sinclair is modest about his achievements. “I’m a classic sort of journeyman director,” he jokes. “You do everything you can to make the dots add up, and sometimes it all adds up and sometimes you get a 3 month holiday.”
“This is my first production with Sport for Jove,” says Sinclair. “I’ve been a strong supporter of them for a long time and loved their work but it’s Damien Ryan’s enterprise. I started working with the two boys first, Lennie and George, before anyone any other cast members turned up and this was to create a sense of richness in their interaction. I then slowly added cast members [to the rehearsals] depending on how long they had been at the ranch.” I mention that he seems like an efficient director and he laughs. “Efficiency comes with age!”
I ask what relevance Steinbeck’s play has for modern Australian audiences and Sinclair is enthusiastic with his response. “Of Mice and Men is an invitation for compassion and that’s what makes it land so particularly with audiences. What I’m really struck by is the emotional engagement that the audiences are taking from it. The past 10 years in theatre has been ideas and aesthetics heavy, and that’s been important to catch up with the Europeans... [but] there is a hunger in Australian audiences to engage emotionally again. That’s why television is doing so well at the moment. Masterchef is a good example - it’s like an opera with
Sinclair has 43 shows under his belt, many
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food.” “We’ve been in the shallows for too long and a nicely constructed piece of theatre [like Of Mice and Men] addresses that hunger. People walk out resolved to do better about people who are doing it tough and that’s a good thing in Australian culture at the moment because we’re being encouraged more towards austerity or to “turn mean” as Steinbeck calls it. The main idea of the play is not to turn away from our economically oppressed but to show compassion for them.” Of Mice and Men runs at the Canberra Theatre Playhouse 6-8 August.
2015 Lions Oratory Competition CAN YOU TALK YOUR WAY TO SOME GREAT PRIZES? Undergraduate Students Represent your ANU college in the 2015 Lions Oratory Competition and be in the running for a share in more than $4000.
It’s really quite easy to enter, jump on your soap box, put pen to paper and write 150 words or less outlining the speech you would deliver at this year’s Lions Oratory Competition. Your oration plan must address one or more of the great human values of truth, righteousness, peace, love and non-violence. Your plan and a completed entry form must be submitted by 5pm, Wednesday 26 August 2015. One speaker from each ANU college will be selected to deliver an eight minute oration at the final on Wednesday, 14 October 2015.
more information and official entry forms: anu.edu.au/lionsoratory Enquiries e: events@anu.edu.au t: 02 6125 4144
WORONI No.9 Vol.67
W WHY IS THERE NEVER
A RUGBY JERSEY FANS LIKE?
ZACH MACKEY
SPORTS I love my rugby. I love buying rugby jerseys to the point that family and friends have labelled some of my casual sartorial choice “rugby chic”. But it seems in recent years, that many a rugby side cannot wear a jersey which is far from criticism. And as the jerseys which will be adorned by teams at this year’s World Cup are now being released, what better time to ask, “why is there never a rugby jersey fans like?”. When the Wallabies’ jersey was released earlier this year, I saw my newsfeed adorned with comments akin to petty student politics. There was mud and filth thrown around as everyone from the ARU to Asics to the poor journalist who broke the story was embroiled in the public dislike for the jersey. Personally,
I don’t mind the design. Sure it pales in comparison to the proud gold with green sleeves worn when we won the 1999 edition, but in my eyes that is the ultimate Wallabies’ jersey. I know people will disagree, but hey, that’s just me. The Wallabies’ players, to their credit came out in defence of the new jersey, ultimately saying that they didn’t mind what they wore on the pitch, as the honour to represent your country was enough. For mere mortals such as myself though who only need to pay $160 to don the gold, people will voice their displeasure.
the official supplier for national teams. And of course they want to see a return on this investment. Each nation has a set number of supporters, and no one is going to purchase the same jersey twice. This is why we are treated new jerseys every 1 or 2 years. In saying this, there is something to be said for continuity. Argentina in my eyes has one of the nicest team kits, and the nuanced changes to the traditional blue and white hoops continue to hit the mark. Their away kit as well, a dark blue fading into Puma pelt, an homage to the team’s nickname, is beautiful.
Nick McArdle, host of FoxSports rugby program Rugby HQ, hit the nail on the head in my opinion. He reminded viewers that jersey manufacturers such as Asics pay huge sums of money to be
I think that a lot of the displeasure stems from the price of the jersey which, even when trying to see a return on an investment by a manufacturer, is obscene. Considering a majority of the purchases
are for children, to ask a family to dish out hundreds of dollars on merchandise is unfair. This market needs to be considered, and I reckon when manufacturers acknowledge this, there will be a lot less hate. If people have such a problem with this year’s jersey, they should just wait until next year. I’m sure they’ll have something to say about that one. But mark my words – if the Wallabies do well in England in September (cross my fingers, toes and every other body part, touch wood, say a prayer and grasp my rabbit’s foot) the jerseys will be selling like hotcakes.
EPL PREVIEW SPORTS It seems like only yesterday that my beloved Chelsea lifted the Premier League trophy at Stamford Bridge, the club’s 5th first division title. Season 2015/16 kicks off on the Saturday 8th August, following one of the shortest off-seasons in recent memory and is shaping up to be one of the most intriguing and competitive iterations. All of us who follow the competition will no doubt be most concerned with the fortunes of our own teams, but here are a few interesting subplots to follow throughout the campaign. Will Arsenal finally make the leap into title contention? The Gunners have flirted with a championship for a number of years but have failed to lift the league title since the famed “Invincibles” of 2004/05. The recent acquisition of Petr Cech, one of the
REMY SZABO world’s elite goalkeepers, from London rivals Chelsea, has had many an Arsenal supporter thinking it may finally be their year. For my mind they still require a top class central midfielder and striker to make the leap, but as we have seen in the past, Petr Cech can be the difference between collecting a runners-up medal and a winner’s medal.
right winger, with Jesus Navas currently occupying a deeper role on that side of midfield. So, can Stirling crack City’s first XI? And if so, will he replace Navas on the right or Dzeko/Jovetic up front? Taking into account Stirling’s inability to finish chances and Navas’ one dimensional style of play, I’m backing that he becomes the Manager’s preferred right midfielder.
What impact can Reheem Stirling have at Manchester City? The dynamic winger has made himself public enemy number one on Merseyside following his £49 million move to City in early July. But doubts remain as to whether or not Stirling will even be first choice at the Etihad considering the wealth of attacking talent on display. Pellegrini employs a 4-4-2 formation that lacks Stirling’s favoured position as a
How will the arrival of Dimitri Payet influence West Ham’s style of play? Following a 0-0 draw between the Hammers and Chelsea two years ago, Jose Mourinho criticised Sam Allerdyce’s side for playing “19th Century football”. Quite ironically it must be said, considering Mourinho is the manager of the club that popularized the phrase “parking the bus”. The criticism was not without merit though and many West Ham
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supporters are growing tired of Big Sam’s cagey and defensive style. It may have ensured their survival in the top flight over recent seasons; however it’s hardly a recipe for climbing up the table. Little rays of sunshine once again penetrate the cloud cover over East London with the arrival of French playmaker Dimitri Payet from Olympique Marseille. The midfielder recorded 17 assists in 36 Ligue 1 appearances last term and completed more through balls than any top flight player not named Lionel Messi. It’s possible that Payet’s creative abilities will be stymied by Allerdyce’s footballing philosophy, nevertheless those who blow bubbles will be hoping Payet can unlock West Ham’s attacking potential.
W
Week 3, Semester 2, 2015.
BLATTER’S
LIMITED POSITIVE LEGACY RYAN GRAHAM
SPORTS Between 1961 and 1974, an English man named Stanley Rous was the President of FIFA. Rous was the sixth person to have the honour of serving in the role – perhaps unsurprisingly the sixth European and indeed the third Englishman. Rous was the man who brought the insular Great Britain back into the focus of the world. Despite inventing the sport in the 1800’s and their dominance well into the 1920’s, England refused to compete in a World Cup until 1950 due to a strained relationship with FIFA, which was patched up by Rous himself. A seemingly strong CV for FIFA presidential candidacy. There have been only two FIFA presidents since Rous, and both have had to struggle with the difficulties created under Rous’ 15 year stewardship of football’s governing body. An organization that was already deeply Eurocentric when Rous took over the reins, his well-documented support for apartheid Rhodesia and South Africa severely strained the relationship with Asian and African football confederations. From Rous followed the much-maligned presidencies of Brazilian João Havelange,
and the notorious incumbent Sepp Blatter. The canon in western media is that Havelange and Blatter’s presidencies are mired in corruption and ineptitude. To an extent this is very true – Blatter’s role in allowing rampant corruption to infiltrate the sport is damaging. Calls for his resignation on these grounds have been persistent in the media over the past decade, coming to a head earlier this year.
opportunity to host a world cup through his policy of continental rotation, Blatter won many admirers. He built upon the legacy of his predecessor Havelange, who drew the ire of European football associations during his presidency for the decision to expand the World cup from 24 to 32 competing states, thus reducing the percentage of European Teams competing. This ire is the root of the vitriol levelled at Blatter
In response, Blatter finally announced his impending resignation in June, arguing that “profound reform” was needed in the organization he holds “very dear”. But too much of the criticism levelled in the British, American and indeed Australian press about Blatter’s presidency blatantly ignores the difficult situation FIFA has been in since Rous’ presidency finished. Havelange and Blatter focussed a large part of their presidencies rewriting the wrongs of the euro-centric control of the game under Rous.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the way developing states have been scapegoated for FIFA’s problems. For instance, at FIFA’s congress, all member states are given equal standing. This prompts significant criticism from those who don’t believe that Guinea-Bissau should have the same level of influence as, say, Germany. So believes English FA head Greg Dyke, who stated earlier this year that Western administrators have a “different set of values” compared to those from Africa, where politicians prefer to “look after their families”.
To non-western media, Blatter is in fact considered to be one of the few men of great power to genuinely give opportunities to the developing world. By giving Africa the
ignorant. It smells distinctly of the sort of neo-colonialist rhetoric that once defined the approach Rous took to African football administrators during his time at the helm. This is a large part of why member state associations are so sceptical every time the West calls foul over Blatter or the FIFA executive. Moving forward, member states on all sides need to recognize this clear disconnect which divides world football in two. Highly reflective of world politics generally, the belief that the global south will be corrupt with power is dangerous, particularly when the West’s own house is barely in order. For Western Europe to attempt to dictate terms would be disastrous for the organization, but so too is the status-quo of unchecked power and lack of transparency across the board. For all of Blatter’s numerous failings, the gradual hacking away at Euro-centrism ought to be respected, and any reform process must keep this principle of globalizing the game at its core.
This is not only a deeply stigmatic profile of the continent, but also exasperatingly
VEXATIOUS LAW STUDENT SUES
TINDER FOR RUINING SEX LIFE HUMOUR & SATIRE Just two months prior to Tinder’s fast approaching third birthday, ANU law student, Ophelia Rass, has taken the creators of the dating application to Court in a class action suit alleging that Tinder has caused her to lose interest in ordinary sexual encounters, effectively rendering the 20 year old sexless. Amongst allegations that the creators have breached their duty of care re: shortening attention spans worldwide and proliferating the sexualisation of the youth, Rass is also challenging the legitimacy of the dating application on constitutional grounds based upon freedom of speech under subsection (d) body language. The young law student alleged that her addiction began as a harmless fascination with hot boys which prompted her to post exceedingly risqué pictures of herself to the point where the all-consuming and unconstrained revelry of bare flesh fried her motor neurons and ultimately led her to fail her administration law course
IVANA SMOJVER (twice). Her friends and family expressed their deep concern for Rass’ well-being as she spiralled deeper into the clutches of promiscuity and an incurable obsession with dick pics.
practiced in the area of cyber terrorism law for over two decades, commented on her condition in a candid interview outside ACT Law Courts. “Ophelia is a bright girl,” he said with a wry smile, “she never intended to get sucked into this cesspit of debauchery. These villains need to be stopped in their tracks before it’s too late. It’s my duty as a lawyer put these people in their place – behind bars!” Although Rass currently remains unavailable for questioning, some of her friends and family have spoken up about the true nature of her addicktion.
Leading Canberra sexpert, Lydia Burnfield, made a submission in Court on Friday detailing the far-reaching effects of the dating application on the youth. “We have all become a nation of goldfish,” she said in the witness box, “My own attention span has drastically diminished, I have experienced a steep decline in my sexual satisfaction and a large percent of my clients feel that the age of meaningful relationships is truly over. Ophelia isn’t the only one who has had her life destroyed by this creation from hell.” It is clear the case will turn on whether the allegations were grounded upon sound evidence and not the vexatious claims spurred by Rass’ speculated rejection and insecurity.
Former best friend, Lycra, said that the fascination had only become a problem after Rass was dumped by her boyfriend of two years. She explained that despite being in a relationship for so long, Rass was completely oblivious to the social nuances of online dating such as producing a slutty/10 #duckface #thoselips #nofilter profile picture. It was at this point of the interview Lycra shook her head and began
Rass’ lawyer, Mr Drew Peacock, who has
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to tear up. After Tomic’s appalling behaviour in Miami, the tennis player spoke out about his own experience with the League, the elitist version of Tinder, and its connection to the trashing of his hotel room. “I didn’t know how bad it was until it was too late. All I could think about was Dawn and how I had to have her. I read our conversations over and over again. It sounds crazy, but modern day relationships have changed so much.” It has since been rumoured he will attend the same rehabilitation program as Sheen. Ms Rass has bravely obliged to stand as the face of the (Anti)Social Media campaign in an attempt to shed light on the deleterious implications of online dating. The Woroni team will follow up shortly on this story.
ORONI COMPLAINTS? CALL DIRECTLY AND REGISTER YOUR COMPLAINT HERE: (02) 6125 2444
THE
SEVEN UNWONDERS OF THE WORLD:
GUIYU Illustration by Joanne Leong
HUMOUR & SATIRE In this regular segment, Woroni takes you on a tour of the greatest man-made disaster zones ever to grace the surface of the Earth. This anti-guidebook will introduce you to the most spectacularly ruined landmarks the world over, from the dying Aral Sea in Kazakhstan to the smouldering ruins of the old nuclear proving grounds of the French Pacific. Whether their sheer disastrousness makes you want to laugh or cry, these spectacular monuments to the supreme power of human folly are worth a visit. Smart phones! Almost everyone has one, and absolutely everyone has something negative to write about them. They are condemned by hipster-types as inauthentic and alienating; accused by neo-Luddites of, attention-wise, turning us into goldfish; blamed by various stuffy conservatives for the Decline of Western Civilisation, and the selfie; and loathed by your grandmother, on principle[1]. Well, not being one to buck the trend, I present to you yet another reason to rue to rise of the omnipresent iPhone, and that reason, funnily enough, is located in China. I wouldn’t jump the gun here though, the reason I have in mind is not the rather grim factories in which those iPhones are made; although plenty depressing
ZENO OF ELEA and-the-third-world-would-become-a-gianttoxic-dump reasons. However, as is the case with so many of these kinds of repressive anti-Unwonder agreements, most of the signatories are sensible enough to turn a blind eye to them, and this results in the rampant[2] smuggling of e-waste into Guiyu. This smuggling takes place because within your old smartphone or laptop, there are very tiny fractions of valuable things. And no, by this I do not mean your “artsy” polaroid-filtered Instagram shots of cute animals taken from skew-whiff angles. I mean copper and gold.
from within, the factories make for rather lacklustre Unwonders when viewed from without; they are just ordinarily ugly concrete industrial buildings, with perhaps the addition of a bit of anti-suicide netting here and there. No, for a truly breathtaking smarttech Unwonder, one has to look elsewhere; namely, to the village of Guiyu, in Guangdong Province. Guiyu, located about four hours from Hong Kong, has been for the majority of its history a small, rural rice-farming community. Recently, however, it has become a nexus for the recycling of computer waste. “Recycling?!” I hear you cry, “Recycling?” And yes, you do have a point, however inarticulately expressed – recycling is the kind of fuzzy-hearted environmentallyconscious thing that tends to make for really poor-quality Unwonders. However, it is a very special kind of recycling that takes place at Guiyu. For starters, it’s illegal recycling, for the most part, and thus highly corrupt and deeply entwined with Chinese organised crime. It is, at present, illegal for industrialised nations to dump their waste in less developed nations, for obvious, ifit-weren’t-that’s-what-everyone-would-do-
Of course, it is not terribly easy to extract the minute quantities of valuable metals hidden inside shitty old broken TVs, especially when you are an indigent Chinese peasant with no access to any industrial equipment. Thus, the population of Guiyu have developed several innovative, synergetic techniques for recycling e-waste going forward. These include grilling old motherboards on backyard barbeques to melt off the plastic shell, and using a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids to dissolve the gold trapped in the remaining chips. This combination of acids, by the way, was known as aqua regia by the 14th century alchemists who last used it. Which, to my mind, is a
great way to incorporate traditional medieval building practices into the construction of a thoroughly modern Unwonder. And a fine Unwonder it is too. Guiyu is literally covered with mounds of broken electronic equipment, the ink from hundreds of millions of printer cartridges has stained the groundwater black, the air is smoggy with the carcinogenic dioxins released by the sempiternal plastic fires, the drinking water for the local population has to be brought in from elsewhere, as the local streams consist mostly of the hyper-acidic by-products of aqua regia, the resident children have blood that consists mostly of lead, and there are a lot fewer of them than in previous generations, as rates of miscarriage have now increased six-fold. Beautiful. A monument to the redemptive power of technology. Remember to bring your own supply of water and/or air when visiting, and don’t forget to take lots of poverty-porn pictures with your smartphone of choice. [1] All of this writing, of course, does not change the fact that you have one iota, of course. [2] “Rampant” is here defined as roughly 100 truckloads per day.
AIR: ESSENTIAL FOR LIFE HUMOUR & SATIRE A recent ANU/CSIRO joint initiative made the discovery that air was indeed essential to life. The study comes in wake of government cuts, which have forced the science department to rediscover discoveries made centuries ago. Working without a lab, the scientist made the discovery when they got one of their number to stop breathing for an extended period of time, whilst another scientist kept breathing as a control. After the scientist failed to respond, the test
ANDREW CAVENAGH was repeated with same results, creating scientific proof.
to come from the ANU, following the discovery of fire and the wheel last year. It is widely believed that following the appointment of VC Brian Schmidt, the university has redirected funds towards science, and away from areas such as law, where students are now learning to settle disputes through methods such as jousting and trial by battle .
The scientists were baffled by the discovery with one heard stating, “We previously thought breathing was only useful for ingesting tobacco smoke and blowing bubbles under water. This leads us to wonder many new things about the body, such as the nature of the red stuff that come out of it when one gets cut”.
The VC is reportedly proud of the discovery, and believes that given the circumstances, these discoveries rank
This is but the latest scientific discovery
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alongside his own Nobel Prize, as well as other major ANU discoveries in medicine that have been credited with saving thousands of lives. It is hoped that the scientists involved in the discovery will survive the common threat of being burnt at the stake for being a witch. Due to the current speed of the Australian Internet, it is also unlikely that this discovery will be able to be shared with the rest of the world in the near future.