The Australian National University's intersectional feminist magazine.
How do we make art out of trauma? Indeed, art seems to thrive on it, but in a world that is oversaturated with depictions of violence, many of us seem to have reached a point where we no longer want to see the things that haunt us at night on the big screen; instead, we opt for fantastical escapism.
On 5 June 2021, a Facebook update from Sally read, “this is … potentially the hardest [post] I’ve ever written – but I have decided to rescind my decision to stand for election to Lismore City Council.” After weeks of being followed in the street, having rocks thrown through her windows, and daily defamatory posts on social media, the emotional toll of being a young female voice in the community became too much. Sally was very vocal about the harassment and abuse toward her throughout the entirety of her campaign, but the extent of it was largely unexpected.
The thing is, if I have sex with a guy and he doesn’t immediately fall in love with me, I’m annoyed. If I have sex with a guy and he does immediately fall in love with me, I’m annoyed. Tell me how I am meant to win here? I realised that this was because I craved the validation of guys telling me: “You’re the only one I can really open up to.” Until I registered the fact that I was only there to make them feel special and solve all their problems.
I want to feel comfortable in the kitchen and have the ability to cook for others, without feeling like I’m submitting to anti-feminist gender stereotypes. Can society reach a stage where this act is classified as neither feminine nor shameful? Can women reclaim cooking without it becoming a troubling throwback to an age of inequality?
For those of us who struggle to slick every strand of hair back into a Grande-esque ponytail, who cannot walk in heels without twisting an ankle or perform the choreography to ‘Single Ladies’ without falling over backwards, the punk movement provides much-needed respite.
Music is universal; it can simultaneously bring people together and tear them apart. Recently in pop music, we have seen a rising emphasis on the importance of feminism, sisterhood, and girl power.
The rampant abuse of power by men in executive positions that #MeToo revealed, opened a new conversation about the intersection of gender and power.
The sad irony is that the self-care movement initially began as a reaction to institutional shortcomings in the treatment of marginalised communities—women of colour and women who identify as LGBTQIA+.
Woolf identifies money and space as the two things that women have been denied, but both are a means to the same end: attention. Undivided attention is required for any great work to be made.
Neve Traynor reflects on Monday’s March4Justice in Canberra.