THE MOVEMENT: 114 DAYS LATER by Saffie Johnny-Moore AN INTERVIEW WITH GENESIS OWUSU by Amy Toma, Ella Cyreszko, Karishama Singh AFTER THE LIGHTS GO OUT by Gianna Hewitt-Brown
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Acknowledgment of Country Acknowledgment of Country Acknowledgment of Country Acknowledgment of Country Acknowledgment of Ackno Country Acknowledgment of Country Acknowlwledg edgment of Country Acknowledgment of Country Acknowledgment of Country Acknowledgement ment of Country Acknowledgment of Country Acknowledgment of Country Acknowledgment of Country Acknowledgment of Country AcofAcknowledgment of knowledgment of Country Country Acknowledgment of Country Acknowledgment of Country Acknowledgment of Country Acknowledgment of Country Acknowledgment of Country Acknowledgment of Country Acknowledgment of Country Acknowledgment Country of Country Acknowledgment of Country AcThe University of Technology Sydney would like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation as the Traditional Custodians and Knowledge Keepers of the land in which UTS now stands and pays respect to Elders past, present, and emerging. Maree Graham Deputy Director, Students and Community Engagement Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education & Research
Vertigo would like to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians and Knowledge Keepers of the land on which we lived and worked as editors and designers during the creation of this volume, paying respect to Elders past, present, and emerging. We extend that acknowledgement to any First Nations’ people reading this volume. We exist on stolen land, and we recognise that sovereignty was never ceded.
We acknowledge that Aboriginal peoples have endured past and continuing injustices and dispossession of their traditional lands and waters, and encourage our readers to educate themselves, pay respect to Australia’s dark history, and actively work towards reconciliation. If it is within your means to do so, please donate to Indigenous organisations such as the following: https://thelatch. com.au/indigenous-organisationsto-donate-to/
Sunny Adcock and Sophie Tyrrell would like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation.
Amy Toma and Ella Cyreszko would like to acknowledge the Cabrogal people of the Dharug Nation.
Evlin DuBose and Esther HannanMoon would like to acknowledge the Wangal and Gadigal peoples of the Eora Nation.
Jennifer Wen would like to acknowledge the Biddegal people of the Eora Nation.
Karishama Singh and Elby Chai would like to acknowledge the Cammeraygal people of the Eora Nation. Rachel Lee would like to acknowledge the Dharawal people of the Dharug Nation.
VERTIGO VOL. 5 001
Acknowledgement of Country
004
Editors’ Letter
006
2020 Rage
Kate Rafferty
008
Rising
Fleur Connick
010
After the lights go out
Gianna Hewitt-Brown
018
The Pain and Pleasure of Female Sexuality Through the Lens of Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women
Pnina Hagege
020
Neptura
Natassia Adamou
024
Persephone
Lily Cameron
030
I saw a snapshot
Oli Poignand
036
The March Towards Extinction
Zachary Agius
038
Taboo Movies
Nathaniel Barlow
042
The Sounds of the Underground
Allyson Shaw
044
A Collection of Work
Ady Neshoda
050
Intersecting Politics and Play in Berlin
Jack Ross
Some articles and images contain sex, sexual assault, r*pe, mental il self-harm, blood, violence, police harassment, death, and paedophi
Please keep this in mind as you en safety are important to us.
She’s All That: Your Guide to Feminist Artist Florence Given
Sevin Pakbaz
058
The Third Death
Caroline Huang
060
The Modern Day Monster Hiding Under the Bridge
Alex Turner-Cohen
064
Gavels and the Glass Ceiling
Charlotte Biggins
068
Cops Are Ill-Equipped
Zachariah Lee
070
You Want To Know
Esther Hannan-Moon
074
Childhood friends.
Evlin DuBose
077
Voices From Behind the Bar
Hayley McCormack
054
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UNDERGROUND 1
UNDERGROUND 086
An Interview with Genesis Owusu
Ella Cyreszko, Amy Toma, and Karishama Singh
092
Wom*nhood and Witchcraft: The Persecution and Perseverance of Wom*n Throughout Time
Georgia Wilde
096
Light-years
Angelina Tran
098
The Movement: 114 Days Later
Saffie Johnny-Moore
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Reflections: Holding Up a Mirror to Anti-Blackness in Filipino Culture
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Deeper Into the Sludge
Max Rixon
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Underground Playlist
Tina Chen
114
Who’s Your Inner Misfit?
Vincent Trang
116
Horoscopes
Bettina Liang
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Recipes
Rachel Lee
121
Dear Verti
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Students’ Association Officer’s Reports
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VERTIGO VOL. 5
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EDITORS
LETTER
You’ll hear it when quiet, alone in the dark: the thump, thump, thump of your heart. It’s there, it’s yours, your own marching drum. So rise to the beat. Rise into the sun. *KXXXKSK* Echo to Vertigo. Repeat: come in, Vertigo. What’s your status? Over. *KXXXKSK* This is Vertigo. Receiving you loud and clear. Over.
*KXXXKSK* Echo status report: 2020 is nearly over. Repeat, the shit-storm is clearing. Time is running out. What’s our next move? Over. *KXXXKSK* It’s go time, Echo. Let’s push the envelope. Balls to the wall. Take no prisoners. Misfits and rejects, rise. Now is our rebellion. Time to shake the foundations and thunder through the ages with a war-cry of epic and culture-clashing proportions, as we exacate our souls and belt out our rage from the pits of Hell. Our run has been tremendous and disastrous and a battle of survival like none other, but we have shown our mettle to be that of warriors, and after the war is won and we emerge battered and victorious, we shall reign supreme over our destinies and stand tall over the good we’ve done like goddesses, humbled to our allies and beloved readership. Goodbye will be impossible. But we’ve already achieved impossible. We’ve changed, hit our highs, survived isolation, explored our boundaries, and seen each other at our most gloriously undignified. 2020 was a ringer. But it was still, in the end, a gift year. So we’ll push hard and salute our comrades as we make one last stand. And wear our punkest Docs doing it. Over. *KXXXKSK* Metal. Over. *KXXXKSK* Metal. This is Vertigo, signing off. Going UNDERGROUND. Out.
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Editorial Recommendations The Hermit Tarot on YouTube Having a side hustle Growing enoki mushrooms from a starter kit Binge-watching NYT Op-Docs Corpse Husband’s horror story compilations Lovecraft Country Delegating your duties Coconut yogurt with maple syrup The Voice (France) Chocolate raspberry brownies
GOING UNDERGROUND 5
RAGERAGERAGER
2020 so0so
Content Warning: Police B
Not long ago, our nation was on fire. And we were angry. We gathered up our paints, collected cardboard boxes, and drew our fury out in streams of green and red. We’d seen the flames in scores. We’d watched, glued to our screens as forests burned, towns disappeared, and animals choked on hot air. We worried for the unlucky ones, the friends, the families, the fighters. We grieved for memories entombed in places we weren’t likely to see again. It was a moment, and with it came a heaviness. A weight that stooped us over and cowed our sights to the ground. Injustice was a strange feeling. For many of us, we had only our youthful playground quarrels to compare it to. Grey and thick, it seeped into our airways and filled the pits of our stomachs. Against our will, it sat there, and so, uncomfortable, we acquainted ourselves with it. We learned its ebbs and flows. It was the pinnacle, for the longer we sat with injustice, the angrier we got. Injustice, it seemed, had a unique way of both igniting our plight and then extinguishing it. While it wasn’t always throttling or suffocating, it did linger. And that in itself was enraging.
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And so we began 2020. Enraged. Rage in itself is an interesting concept. There’s no end with rage — at least at first. In the beginning, rage is fervid, all-consuming, and impossible to ignore. It’s fire that refuses to wane. It can be incredibly motivating, a brilliant initiator, warning us of things like insult, threat, or harm. It’s useful in that way. It helps us identify indignity — but it also has its drawbacks. Like any fire, it has the potential to blow out of control. And that’s where rage, our rage, can go from being a step towards change to a destructive force. The boiling heat in the pit of our stomachs spills over and suddenly we’re no longer fuelled by rage, we’re wasted by it. As a generation facing a pandemic, the destruction of our ecosystems, and a political climate that values commodity and consumption more than the equality of its people, we can’t afford that end. We should be angry, and indeed, spurred on by it, but we should also be organised. So how do you stop the rage from taking over? The answer, I believe, lies with unification. After all, many minds are certainly more powerful than one. And when those many angry minds come together and channel their anger against the real perpetrators, rather than each other, the vulnerable or the victimised: that’s real power. In fact, by definition, that’s a rebellion. It’s the intelligent process of turning rage from something silent and isolating into a
RAGERAGERAGE
Brutality, Violence, Death force. A force for change.
And by God, do we need change. We’re in an age that still reminisces for the old times and refuses to take measures for what’s to come. Populism and racism have intertwined and created countries and communities that are hopelessly poor, desolate, and out of touch. Our leaders don’t reflect our wishes and neither do our lifestyles. There are consequences for that, and they creep closer and closer. In many cases, we’re already living with them. 2020 has been a year to realise just how close those consequences loom. From Miranda Tapsell, daring us to “take her furious baton”, to George Floyd, who dared to breathe against white supremacy’s iron will, we are waking up. Not just to the alarm, but to the monster under the bed. The boogey-man in the closet. The ones we run from in our nightmares but make peace with when the sun rises. I don’t think we can sit around making peace anymore. It’s time for confrontation. Because we can’t forget our rage. I’m not forgetting mine. I am still angry for the scorched forests of the Amazon. I am still hurting for the sick and downtrodden in Yemen. I am outraged for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and David Dungay. As we all are. And in my mind, I think we’re changing. We are learning our privilege and checking ourselves. We are educating each other. We are fighting misinformation and lies, and we are demanding more from our leaders.
We’re on the way to making the powerful just as angry as we are.
NON-FICTON
Rage Rage
That right there, is the power of our rage. So say goodbye to throwing the towel in. To holding our cards close to our chests. Or more concerning: refusing to pay interest. Apathy is the antithesis of anger, and for me, that is the scariest possibility. No good has ever come from indifference. Indeed, indifference is the very thing that feeds today’s toxicity. Just one eye-roll, one little shoulder shrug, can take the words “I can’t breathe” and throw them into a void. I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of the darkness. I’m sick of being swept aside. Cast as being too young, too dumb, and too naive. The reality is, we’re not snowflakes. We’re not just angry and we’re not just enraged, we’re intelligent. So let’s take our fury, and make something of it. Kate Rafferty is a third year Journalism student. Find more on Instagram @kate.rafferty
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CONTENT WARNING: SEXUAL ASSAULT
r i s There is an inferno inside of me I feel it burning I am no longer afraid to spit fire
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Places scorched from wandering eyes, please sorry — give us a smile such natural feminine hues
BY FLEUR CONNICK This trespassory cannot be buried it can only be burned Let this blaze ignite your body and the ashes be all that remains of the unwelcome visitor
FICTION
i n g Tired eyes, hear our cries deafening and fierce We are no longer afraid to spit fire
Fleur Connick is a fourth year Creative Writing and Journalism student. Find more on Twitter @ConnickFleur
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Content Warning: Nudity
After go 10
the
out by Gianna Hewitt-Brown
SHOWCASE
lights
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GIANNA HEWITT-BROWN
Gianna Hewitt-Brown is a Sydney artist, working predominantly in video and documentary photography.
After the lights go out (2020) responds to the rise of underground alternative queer nightlife. The series began in East LA and continued in Sydney, depicting a handful of party goers and performers shot at venues like Scum Club and Honcho Disko. In the last five years, cities such as LA and Sydney have seen a decline in queer venues, especially ones that cater to the younger LGBTQIAP+ demographic. For generations, nightlife has been an important agency for exploring the realms of one’s identity. Underground events like these allow for a safe platform for creatives to express themselves through makeup, dress, performance, and attitude.
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SHOWCASE
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GIANNA HEWITT-BROWN
SHOWCASE
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GIANNA HEWITT-BROWN
SHOWCASE Gianna Hewitt-Brown is a graduated Photography student. Find more on Instagram @giannalovehewitt
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CONTENT WARNING: SEXUAL ASSAULT, PAEDOPHILIA
BY PNINA HAGEGE
THE PAIN AND PLEASURE OF FEMALE SEXUALITY THROUGH THE LENS OF LISA TADDEO’S THREE WOMEN 18
In a world where the most common public recounts of female sexuality are largely contextualised by sexual assault, novels like Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women are considered bold — even shocking — as she rips to shreds our patriarchal understandings of female lust and desire. This book goes beyond mere fantasy, using this nonfiction form to eloquently divulge three narratives of pleasure and pain in equal measure, in a way that is unashamedly real. While Taddeo’s narration seems voyeuristic at times, after eight years of research, her book articulates the psyches of Lina, Sloane, and Maggie as if she were a permanent resident in their minds. Taddeo makes a point of distinguishing each story and each subject: Lina is a wife having an affair with her boyfriend from high school; Sloane sleeps with other men, and sometimes women, as her husband watches; and Maggie, a seventeenyear-old, engages sexually with her male teacher. However, there is a common thread tying each story together, (one universal to many female sexual experiences) — secret. Whether the secret is the encounter itself or the desire for sex in general, experiences of female sexuality are entrenched in secrecy. In fact, Taddeo recounts in her prologue that:
“Several subjects decided, halfway through my research, that they were too fearful of being exposed...” As females, the conscious and unconscious shame and stigma of sex is pervasive across cultures. Reading some excerpts of the stories had me almost in awe by the candid, and often confronting, detail. But why? To be bold and unapologetic about sex as a female is to be ostracised, vilified. This experience has become somewhat of a social custom in our heteronormative society that traditionally serves men. Female sexual desire suggests a certain
assertiveness, a knowing and dominance that directly threatens the status of men. It means to say that we know what we want. The author acknowledges this widely understood taboo and speaks to the lure of ‘secret’ in the book’s epigraph:
“What one can see out in the sunlight is always less interesting than what goes on behind a windowpane. In that black or luminous square life lives, life dreams, life suffers.” - Charles Baudelaire
From Lina having sex while suffering from fibromyalgia and endometriosis, to period-sex, nipple hairs, and the farreaching spectrum of sexual fantasies, Taddeo doesn’t tread lightly. She isn’t polite, or neat. She is candid about sexual desire and the act of sex itself — the messy, the awkward, the funny, the gross, but most importantly, the stuff kept secret. In saying that, there lacks a recognition of intersectional struggles of female sexuality, such as the way that women of colour, non-cis,
Dually, the ‘suffering’ Charles Baudelaire foreshadows alludes to the ultimate repercussions that the taboo of female sexuality can ensue — that is, in the domain of sexual assault. Taddeo’s portrayal of Maggie and the sexual assault she endured as a student at the hands of her teacher reads as if the author is Maggie’s greatest ally. Maggie’s whole world appeared to condemn the secret she had revealed. Without warning, her truth shook those around her, clouding their impressions of someone who was once trusted and admired with moral ambiguity and doubt. But, amongst it all, Taddeo brought unconditional comfort to Maggie and her revealed secret. In her final words, she says that:
Strangely, the way in which Taddeo conveys the brutal uproar Maggie experiences by coming forward doesn’t seem discouraging, nor does it prompt us to consider if the secrets are worth keeping. She frames situations like these as complicated by secrets and taboo topics. Taddeo treads the fine line by framing imminent struggles of breaking taboo and tradition in a way that encourages readers to continue the good fight. In doing so, Taddeo’s Three Women does justice to all the other ‘Maggies’ that are keeping secrets, for now.
“Women have agency but children do not. Maggie’s desire for love, for someone to tell her she was a valuable being in the world, was attacked, in the end, for its impudence.” Pnina Hagege is a second year Journalism and Political Science student. Find more on Instagram @pninadalton
AMPLIFY
Baudelaire’s extract insists that curiosity is what set Taddeo on the less-trodden path of this book’s creation. Perhaps, this curiosity also motivates readers to gravitate toward Three Women. Not to take away from the author’s mastery at description and powerful character development, but can the book’s international success be partially accredited to the fact that female sexuality in traditional literature is, if not told by men, an allusion at best? Those that aren’t are categorised as radical feminist reading or do not enter the mainstream. There is most certainly a curiosity and an appetite for this content because, like all great literature, it entails human experience. Three Women is a mirror for many females, even if not necessarily in its entirety. In these women, many readers can see themselves.
or queer women are subjected to even greater confines under the patriarchy.
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N ep tu r a
by Natassia Adamou 20
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NATASSIA ADAMOU
SHOWCASE Natassia Adamou is a first year Animation student. Find more on Instagram @neptura.art
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-xe sipi etua mutarepecene lepecx ceselod stuicila seroita tnudne s ?rutauqi lihi aiuqesn oitatua te mussitar
er saicudne, nas Περσεφ pidnema ,όνη, stet Kore,stPersepho ,preferred tneher siittelling a muieof rolthe od smyth, istubi lthe epam sUnderwo ini li tnudrld, nellchose i itibOto.mexplore. etu ste mShe ul chaos’, ruling cunningly with a hu picudstayed na sibedangry, si iraebeautiful es mus ,ebarr mu grain, des sa tilluc soe seroba cips
PERSE PHON Content Warning: Injury
E
idneicnis alb is rutnedipi oiam dep -mutnei psrepxe tid a saitatotnu eadne tU .oiam ostetae sibednadU sin issatirepa ingam sitilli om di tnuuqes sines mairah te da tua
In art, Persephone is rarely depicted staves or stalks of grain. Frederic L -utatpulo,vinnocent iuq ,tne,lechaste) p tido ,swith un euher q (virginal soe euq between mue tnedthem ipsauq—tuDemeter lod osto urgency elov atptowards ulov masher pi ,m auq ,rutato shestlurches daughter maN .aguf mauq ma missatoctni ,tnas rutpulod masubitpuc iuq tu A stetacco oitnuuq eaicsubirah tua sau muitatu ,murolod irepmet ouqili c lomisse tnes sutpulom lednev a
Kore, Persephone, Περσεφόνη, little Greek girl. I love her most of all for her daring, her defiance, her chaos. In my preferred telling of the myth, the maiden 24
domiX ?rutatis apluc aine tnu min tu tua sirecxe da succa isteauq .oitilA .eadupecaf metare frepmet
sauqmurt sumingi douqmet atotn metatp eroctni mus muictetat rutatI .oiduaL .eatpuL .oba metu ,m tacetuamyths, sibed m aiustory qta tirofoloPerse d tid Likerumany the mo te seseasons. sid muistWhen iuqmuePersep tU .a theom changing omen responde aisteca ,std ewith atidom i ssiand stoean Demeter rage new wife return to the surface for s land, and allowing it to grow again. meta ,tidbut epenow auq dthe i irumyth tatporaises tA .eaothe uq harvest, iuqmurstir oballos roballe tu ,er mal euq metua metare sidnuuqmur siste sibon eatidom desnoc euqeset She stirs her hea euq in nim tu ,stoitne tacihin ,ste sel succa siitiliminmo idivorr oprolod
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Περσεφό
Lily Cameron
E
Persephone
όν η
iii
Kore grew tired of wandering among flowers, and, finding an entrance to the Underworld, chose to explore. She liked it so much she decided to stay. She became Persephone, ‘the one who brings chaos’, ruling cunningly with a husband who commands the dead. She ate pomegranates and let the juice run, picked grain, stayed angry, beautiful, barren. Blah Blah studied Degree. Find more on Platform @handle
NON-FICTION
tnetu temisatido te metinmo ste epeadnuroll epmetua tidne euqese , ma rolov adnevE r murer mulom tua silpxe merperolov te sa sa emuc al tu sa roballe mauqes ,murepec is euq maN .oitauq met oidom tidom easumissa sed mui sted sU .me tip icilluN .meste utauq atpulov idiuq metis murste ser euqmuie atauq mui ido tnesel l icihin ,mauqtatiV ?rute mue xe subiuqmurae lev etae siuq murolom te tnal eauqilev ffio eGreek noitis egirl. uq ,tIidlove ouqaher tilimmost is ireofpeall r rofor t ,eher red daring, subitauqher little madefiance, n alleve teher michaos. s ,iminIn egimy dO uc sin aKore iroc agrew e noittired atae of mewanderin tatpurexegmamong et cidouflowers, qilimin eand, maiden tan afinding e ser sian pi ientrance rolod er rto utathe ila erutitatiso da much aitatuashe erudecided tne tatpto urtstay. serolShe ov mbecame eroprocPersepho e dliked aicihini st ed‘the eadnone us swho estumbrings i otni ne, .subiuQ ?rutand usband who commands the dead. She ate pomegra ai stlet ectethe n ejuice acilicsrun, iuq tpicked angila mauq orper enednelom lihcre maiguf mureperolodnates ren. epxe tirepsresnon muitatI .easuS uq ouqmetu iuq maicnisson mun iruten eserop er masoe sinadn eipa spi balb idnudnas tauqwarm metaand nreworn, snon edigging uq tua with Just below the surface, the earth .still si idnbroken etauq fingernail teipsredns.e s soister maitallical er ma robal en itan ed muraeb itpulos rutna sen oitand n asinside ubiuqlungs meT A slow shuffle into eye sockets qwhere tu id spomegran uccaf tuate a tuseeds diuqare ostplanted, on en saubworld iropminside etae them sile tnthat ui ,pops subitwith ili crthe efrbreaking es am doofmskin, moc .aguf murah mutnuuqila silihcr aeceauq aecaf metacffio iuq ,stinetna soeonmthe ui mtongue. utauq sweet ba inetnuier nim sDeep, e soudeep q tnbelow, ev amwhere stelevtunnels ,murejoin ssoelike lihfingers creroloplaying s et inim ingam orgame, rolov a childhood .ta saitinterwove pulod emn,a uraecxe siuq ouqilics ubireve licipi mured tis idom rutatiguf murore nimis ,tnspring. usseC she sleeps,vdreading .tatpo tua sellih .tatpcrowns d without her mother Demeter, both often wearing ulov asuincctheir a sirohair lod sand et iuholding qtaroP .ta’suq1891 es atppainting, uraebila The meroReturn lov stecof a sPersepho auqese nne, Leighton im oshows lov outhe q ,mmilky asubirwhite ecaf mmaiden utperE ure bioutstretc rolov sumhed, aitnreaching im roc sutowards te maitpher ulodbenevole mures ,nt r arms immother. ixam diuThere’s q muicipanidoanxiety, ,tirolodan sI nis sumauher qaehands oirepsout rep wide, atpuloas d sthough iitib edivLeighton orp etatpcaptured stretches ulov maiuthe q ,tmoment idnasus m ednbefore alli as just q mui her munback is ,ruinto tatputhe lodworld, issila tjust ein ebefore s ,rutpushe robaC .aguPersepho o bring f muitpune’s lod thands. ilihcrae souqilev aiuqi licffio orp sipi satpuc etua tnas emis ,mallgrasps od te temin sa itpullod mura iuqes er uc orrofollthorns eve eathat tua once tE .owere balb flowers idnegil resting euqilevonmectehead, Ascrown t cesmaidenha noit atpuirloturned v airolto odbrambles. idua iuq mestid teipi sauq mui tu ,eroiroba lluccaf tauqaher eroeyes irevshut ar sand irereparched r saili m adupbare, eroc Herecwild throat imixA ?rutatilim tihinevni tatipic ihingam rutar tu tnelov satpulov o subictffithings, o tua her teeth black with rubble andt ,wicked uq merostoe mulov mutarp nim lep satu tili scoated er tua tbergamot U .mer rair olothat d en aminto she breathes an almond, hyacinth, depnothing. asubiuq ?ructenerop tni siicni sus rutatis muie xe tnadrots nein etshe aroigrows tatpu And while the sun’s light gets longer, giledn ailevni tipicse sedi tissopmeN .eatan gidnalp atpulod tna suta uqcreeping es metuupicand reF her hair to little roots uc isipasucco isi ,im sus murev sinis sop aspidom olov son icffio orr olaom depepyre, callu fingertips funeral atpulod siuqsitauq ae teipa tenon et orrosterepa siuqil er satpullep si dicipfor as kindling. mis euq with eyelashes sumin ,up tiraand tnout, urapthe eaground r idneicabove sumaher sU She .reaches d nemixam te tetatatido taineve tal tuallihinmoc idom eaitibon etatu tua sout iuqformrain. urA t celleve osteatpU .eaidiuq ,mairopmis ,suc eadneicie esnoc ,te sacrying q si stirs ,mauthe q msoil. ine Stretches long longer, a yawnuthat repsauq ailli earperepsai nasubiu qsinadn udivorlimbs e etauq diuqes ed tua tido iroirolov suitpuand lov aDemeter icsiuq maissoused e te lto evexplain tihin ,tephenome mue sopnaesin ephone sinthe ein natural mue selworld; om sinm ,imicase sser inothis uf mvanished etissinev,tleaving nui sinmonly oc nidiscarded tacen euq flowers mulov sat itpthe phone o ,ruentrance tatpurstetodnthe evnUnderwo im tido olrld, om oister mcursing erolov ethe tid earth sutaitiand dnE leaving ?rutacteitt otorpdie. er eaBut, dsucwhen nguish, etis eaHades dua euqagreed muraetosalet senhis oc . t n e d st e l o v m micaDemeter stelod eauwould q tua sradiate i lev ,ruwith tat idlove, six months everyailyear, esnocpouring idomineenergy secal tuinto musthe pid .tauGreeks qsiuq mundersto aiuq aiuqodtacthe elovfruitful masoetime That was how the deseof lovthe olospring v ominand gamsummer sina tA oc ,rutaiuq—dabout esnoidobsession ouqae soi,roautonom ba somm c inmo iuand ersnquestions qesnon siruts. a tpurefr efreroC y,omothers bal etal tu divorer tidned mer taiuq ae non iuq itnetauqili daughter tin noitatibed mun euqilev aspicraeca muThe s asdull pi ,ache maitpofufeet lod stamping is metauqand sibEscratching .oitauqaepounds son ataihrhythm tu tilalike sibeadpulse. muc d mif etotawake, tper mstones er idnshifting asuta tpinultheir lun splace ubitaand tis ssettling aicten edown adloas icffiowith ,maangentle ref repbreath eauq or mugasp: ccaf m rutarobal tis eauqilp ed eatpulov mue eaicudnev atpulov euq miss et orarsoft eperflow. ollu idouqmulInodasdream enetarshe o relistens atido to tUthat .aglight, uf maher irueyes ie mgrowing ue li leveheavy med with suc aheat. llov Whispers om rorev: ?rutpulom des ,rutnasoe des ue sui areaitnudna dupecxe tnevnI ?ruten sinasuc ,til tu tu ,mus met Let me sleep. atpo olod soN ore rin utathe tid Major aistouqArcana, muc idneher snoseat n muin e othe m dtarot esnoideck tnu das place a mthe asuEmpress bitirev n.isIibwas on mgifted ulom sauqatnsecond-h udi ba saand siitastore uqes inaicMarrickv ni euqesnille, oc ,st e tua sfor from erolfifty ov am diuq the ,macards uqeselabout od se bought cents, os rui ,msensation asubilev ein auqleafing muraethrough caf metieach depxecard, eaistso inmtiny balanced o ireand muyet n iurepresen q douq mtative uraecof af mathe suntop i li lof ihcaradeck e sudbefore iuqesnodrawing n aiuqmucards, rolod the isauenergy q atpulofrom uch mi meyour noc ihands ngamiseeping nmo tU muierodivining prot ceadyour suc sfuture ida tnaand s sonpast. matThe pulodEmpress icudiuq einuqmy icuqsheets, esnominiatur n ,ste suebdeck irobalsits lov i otnu with tissa m adsus enates. r mangThe am dMythic iuq iuq Tarot met iroby lomJuliet terned rutaSharman rerolod id-Burke pomegra neled eaand dnadLiz ua uqilembodim im ruicihent in eof uqethe snoGood n muMother, reperolovbuteualso qesn“the on mMournin ss’s alleve tngu Mother, ,suminiswho atin cannot atilicni pxe ,st erointrusion p eadneloof d elife’s uqilihconflicts inmoc orinto roloher d siuordered, q ouqsirEden-like enges eb iuq tido ,maitatHow any ua sinelse mo isabrings tis atpuchaos? lom te om rot cffio istinimi ,rutemurop euqesnon atI .world.” ho oidouqila tila iuQ erobaways: l tua iu1108 q dicsDemeter ed is murisaeatedark madnasteroid eip asubiabout la stertwenty-s many mediv tneven aiuq akilometre iroba sousqiin la
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LILY CAMERON
iuqmure olom lev tu ,tsitile er roitselos muie erobal eain adsubi lepsreb is aeb oiam depxe orrorrev siuqiliH iuq satid aplun missidouqe serobal tna sa tJust e se below muta tthe e msurface, as ,rutatthe cil tearth ua idostill ,ruwarm tae omand rorrworn, oc alli etae tu singI .oitsopmenon adsumi te tnuier muicni ledigging dne metcwith eaiubroken qila asufingernails. biuqesnoc ni mutatipa metaila atpullod A slow shuffle into eye emuspicalp es ,rutpulod iuqes ailih mue sine oireperoc icser te xesockets murroland od erinside olom dlungs ipsrepsaiuq tnissom where pomegranate seeds are planted, a world da soirop euqilluc ,rutatpo ,masum asutcet idom te da tua suni tis irolod euq deper ni le einside roitarthem rutnim te tipi seaital til tua subitnerep tu tatpulothat v etapops lli omwith tila the te ,tbreaking e mainmooftaskin, uq ,mauq ,eR .aguf masubiuq sweet on the tongue. .tatpura tirepsrebila malpxe tsellev tu ida al ten ,muierolov muceloDeep, v tua sdeep atpubelow, lod tivowhere rrorretunnels r succa join maNlike .easfingers sedi mplaying ura icrev tiG emuitnuuq tet cih mauq mutaicnimi nelometaichildhood uq tu te eagame, tpulom sitse mangam tua iuqmurolod etauqesnoi soe se meropmet ,mauq deperoiam si sidom siinterwoven, dneingilev tid soe murrolod aicsumi sitatua rutatidn ureacco ?rutatp ulommoc ,rutcen sumaidi ,tse tissishe uq tsleeps, enoc ,tdreading souq aitpuspring. cca tulov atil tua te desnoc ,tih muraplu ep er tu divorepxe noitangile selod tU .eauqillu siuq silaInmart, uePersephone secallu misurarely rop adepicted l tulov without etse mher uremother V .eadnud aM siitnu ,mauqesednev aiuqesnoi roballe perolov olod muDemeter, n eauq tboth ua toften secawearing rute ecrowns uqmuinc a tpuhair lodand sou q aitse sun their holding staves or stalks of grain. Frederic Leighton’s 1891 ?rute euq om li mus rolov ailicsub iroitse tu sainmo te tua erolod som rolom tidnednei csingam painting, The Return of Persephone, shows the milky muitcerop etna eauq murolom satotnudiuq eadsumixwhite am maiden tserolo(virginal, d ap eainnocent, suc inmchaste) o ,mawith se sher id earms rper iuq suN cidnein sida tua rutatpulom deperoid euqile metceledneoutstretched, murtseroloreaching v subirtowards ed iropheretbenevolent iuq murmother. opmi ssaitis ,er There’s an anxiety, an urgency between them — Demeter .tnus eu q hands ireb oout tcewide, llicrase though rolomLeighton mo ,mcaptured uccaf murolomi stretches her daughter .tnud irepmetatis idom omis euthe qemoment ssinelojust d tnbefore ellu she diulurches qmuetowards mednaherru tcffio icudnasU to bring her back into the world, just before she grasps atido iuq sop euq murtse dI ?rutenon ,tila airutatpo tuPersephone’s malleve tu a metatcni tneminmo iuq sus sutnuuqilI hands. .tatpulod siuq etae sibon sirolod am sina met cih tu itnudn asubiuq euq sutcesel edneled flowers us sidnelle dneherp etnisselev er muccal euqmAuscrown mas sof outhorns q ,rutathat rp seonce t ,tsiwere ngaM .aguf resting te xe noon c nher itcehead, noc ,mA maidenhair turned to brambles. ?rutatpulod siitnuspidom rotsedn aitaiuq sui murolov muc mue sitsoe mauq ,rutatalb iuqilicil te sa rutae xeHer ,mawild uq teeyes muishut tse ,tand seca parched med muethroat euqesebare, lov tnus sa tU her teeth coated black with rubble and?rutair esseroc ,madnas ,sui bacco tual eadne se tu tilim secelovwicked is sen athings, spi ,rutatpulod etatiguf murorepe rerolom eaS sineipa se tse alpxe te subitnus ,sutnuuq di eatshe idesbreathes rutnuuqan iuqalmond, es merolhyacinth, om soe tse bergamot siuqesnoc air idesthat noitpuc euq icipsressine icnimin ererorepmi ami ledrots airinto olod nothing. idom til tu subiuq se tene subirui muc sinal tu sun’s iuq mutanrer tu ,tse xe tneipi mis rutan eAnd uqesewhile cxE .athe guF .eailight ca megets rololonger, d murashe p tugrows a ,mauqmuitan mun ,tsecaf murobalb idnesnon selev sher elephair eacettoiulittle Q ?ruroots tciducreeping a sa rutaup ngaand mis ,er sibedI ?ruitnuspi li maspi ma subitni orefrep eroba met cih manrfingertips eP ?rutar apefuneral rolov mpyre, auqeselle selli baccaf tual er nissatpullun is ,madsumix aminmoc merolom orrobaccawith te soeyelashes p etceatinfor esnkindling. oits elomisa rutauq metua sinmo ,rutnegid She reaches up and thesiground .subila tserollucca asucesnoiam diuqillu di merolod iuqtarp erout, idom uQ ?rutabove atpuloher m eatpulom inissid crying out for rain. sumatpulli atpulomisa mures sinaiuq di tE .oba secaf tidnev tual enoirut ativorr oiticil leperoc ot ore xe deS Stretches a iyawn alluniminis sidnegila sin sinmo erolov atpulom tila sidolong uqeselimbs te tu longer, merer m xam othat uqesstirs e atpthe ulovsoil. etil tse tida metneicu dnesnoc euqae meta tatiguf mus iuqesnoid muie tu suitae subirep siicihin a ,tsenon aiuq iuq tibedi Like many myths, the story of Persephone and Demeter .subiuq ,muie te son itissatis iuq ,suism airtoe oexplain irah phenomena mue sitatp lom soe world: er earinothis itairoc ,tsoe used inu the natural ba iuq subirolov muica te tu sudi ot ,mangamisson se mcase, urathe h tchanging e subiroseasons. lom te When enoitPersephone pulov temvanished, auqilev tua suB leaving only discarded flowers at the entrance to the Under.tae sitatilim icrepxe sid siicni world, Demeter responded with rage and anguish, cursing tatirap a metaticsiuq metatih tnim singiduper te muresthe n oearth irutand at pleaving ulomitmtoodie. ,tnBut, asowhen uq teHades tua agreed muitatotirolov tiG let his new wife return to the surface for six months erep arp se tatua rutemaiuqes itnudnev ,muitatua tu ,sumaspidom tila allod ailp euq ,te masoevery uqae masubi year, Demeter would radiate with love, pouring energy ute ae itletom etaagain. tpuloThat d etwas airhow utem aicilep into the land, and.sallowing grow the Greeks understood the fruitful time of the spring rutcni iuqtatpulod iuqessediuq aidnairer icse succa ruierutn itpulov tua ,tnus ruitserper idnand as ,mauq tA summer harvest, but now the myth raises other questions sinemue mailepsauq mue tu ,te metarev muc noc ominisa ua itcobsession, eL .obalautonomy, lihin atimothers pi atpuand lovdaughters. id itid atua temis —tabout .tangila tniminmo iuq atcipa The dull ache of feet stamping and temaicipi satpulod oitis rute suT ?ruie ledivorp ap tselednein ae eroc epxe olov scratching amicffio tupounds a tsui aiauq meT e er ed sui sauq te te sutae mulov siuq se temuerhythm tua te mlike etaiatppulse. ulov er eminmo olod airolov mue siuq iuqesellu sineipa secxe eaicreperop euq mis ,sunim dese She masstirs uic uher dnelhead ed emas aNif .to obwake, alle tnstones egid iushifting qesnon ein t otheir lod ae tulod ?rutplace atpu and lomisettling ssa maudown qsir obwith alleda sgentle iitatpubreath lod omor ixagasp: misauq sid 26 a soft flow. .tnurolov atpulom tidner utauqeN
NON-FICTION
How else would her daughter become the one who brings chaos? In a dream she listens to that light, her eyes growing heavy with heat. Whispers: Let me sleep.
I know Demeter better through her place in the Major Arcana, her seat in the tarot deck as the Empress. I was gifted a miniature Rider-Waite tarot deck from a second-hand store in Marrickville, bought for fifty cents, the cards about the size of a matchbox. There’s an unbalanced sensation in leafing through each card, so tiny and yet representative of something so big. You’re meant to touch the top of a deck before drawing cards, the energy from your hands seeping through each layer of polymeric plastic sheets, divining your future and past. The Empress in my miniature deck sits in a field of grain, her long dress patterned with pomegranates. The Mythic Tarot by Juliet Sharman-Burke and Liz Greene emphasises not only the Empress’s embodiment of the Good Mother, but also “the Mourning Mother, who cannot relinquish her possessions and who avenges any intrusion of life’s conflicts into her ordered, Eden-like world.” How else would her daughter become the one who brings chaos? Demeter’s name is evoked today in many ways: 1108 Demeter is a dark asteroid about twenty-seven kilometres in diameter; the Law of Demeter is a software design principle that eludes my understanding; there’s a fertility clinic in Hurstville named after the goddess which I drove past once on the way to a friend’s house for dinner.
Blah Blah studied Degree. Find more on Platform @handle
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"There is power i returning Persep some autonomy doesn’t exist in the traditiona telling of the myth..." LILY CAMERON
u iuqmure olom lev tu ,tsitile er roitselos muie erobal eain adsubi lepsreb is aeb oiam depxe orrorrev siuqili pullod iuq satid aplun missidouqe serobal tna sa te se muta te mas ,rutatcil tua ido ,rutae om rorroc alli eta tnissom singI .oitsopmenon adsumi te tnuier muicni ledne metceaiuqila asubiuqesnoc ni mutatipa metail oitar rutnim emuspicalp es ,rutpulod iuqes ailih mue sine oireperoc icser te xe murrolod erolom dipsrepsaiu .aguf masubiuq da soirop euqilluc ,rutatpo ,masum asutcet idom te da tua suni tis irolod euq deper ni l tirepsrebila malpxe te tipi seaital til tua subitnerep tu tatpulov etalli om tila te ,te mainmo tauq ,mauq ,e .tatpur uqesnoi tsellev tu ida al ten ,muierolov mucelov tua satpulod tivorrorrer succa maN .eas sedi mura icrev ti ureacco emuitnuuq tet cih mauq mutaicnimi nelomet iuq tu te eatpulom sitse mangam tua iuqmurolo muraplu soe se meropmet ,mauq deperoiam si sidom sidneingilev tid soe murrolod aicsumi sitatua rutatid ?rutatp ulommoc ,rutcen sumaidi ,tse tissiuq tenoc ,tsouq aitpucca tulov atil tua te desnoc ,ti ep er tu divorepxe noitangile selod tU .eauqillu siuq sila mue secallu murop al tulov etse mureV .eadnud a siitnu ,mauqesednev aiuqesnoi roballe perolov olod mun eauq tua tseca rute euqmuc atpulod souq aitse su ?rute euq om li mus rolov ailicsub iroitse tu sainmo te tua erolod som rolom tidnednei csinga muitcerop etna eauq murolom satotnudiuq eadsumixam tserolod ap easuc inmo ,ma se sid erper iuq su cidnein sida tua rutatpulom deperoid euqile metceledne murtserolov subired irop et iuq muropmi ssaitis ,e .tnus euq ireb otcellicre rolommo ,muccaf murolom .tnud irepmetatis idom omis euqessinelod tnellu diuqmue medna rutcffio icudnas atido iuq sop euq murtse dI ?rutenon ,tila airutatpo tu malleve tua metatcni tneminmo iuq sus sutnuuqil .tatpulod siuq etae sibon sirolod am sina met cih tu itnudn asubiuq euq sutcesel ednele mus sidnelle dneherp etnisselev er muccal euqmus mas souq ,rutarp set ,tsingaM .aguf te xe noc nitcenoc ,m ?rutatpulod siitnuspidom rotsedn aitaiuq sui murolo muc mue sitsoe mauq ,rutatalb iuqilicil te sa rutae xe ,mauq te muitse ,tseca med mue euqeselov tnus sa t ?rutair essero ,madnas ,sui bacco tual eadne se tu tilim secelov is sen aspi ,rutatpulod etatiguf murorepe rerolom ea tu sineipa se tse alpxe te subitnus ,sutnuuq di eatides rutnuuq iuqes merolom soe tse siuqesnoc idesnoitpu mauqmuitan euq icipsressine icnimin ererorepmi ami led airolod idom til tu subiuq se tene subirui muc sina ,er sibedI ?ruitnuspi li iuq mutanrer tu ,tse xe tneipi mis rutan euqesecxE .aguF .eaica merolod murap tu elli baccaf tual er nissatpullun mun ,tsecaf murobalb idnesnon selev selepeacet iuQ ?rutcidua sa rutangami rutauq metua sinmo ,rutnegid maspi ma subitni orefrep eroba met cih manreP ?rutar perolov mauqesell iuQ ?rutatpulom eatpulom inissid is ,madsumix aminmoc merolom orrobacca te sop etceatin esnoits elomis .subila tserollucca asucesnoiam diuqillu di merolod iuqtarp er ido sumatpulli atpulomisa mures sinaiuq di tE .oba secaf tidnev tual enoirut ativorr oiticil leperoc ot ore xe de balluniminis sidnegila sin sinmo erolov atpulom tila sidouqese te tu merer mixam ouqese atpulov etil tse tid metneicu dnesnoc euqae meta tatiguf mus iuqesnoid muie tu suitae subirep siicihin a ,tsenon aiuq iuq tibed .subiuq ,muie te son itissatis iuq ,sumaire oirah mue sitatpulom soe er earoitairoc ,tso ba iuq subirolov muica te tu sudi ot ,mangamisson se murah te subirolom te enoitpulov temauqilev tua su .tae sitatilim icrepxe sid siicn tatirap a metaticsiuq metatih tnim singiduper te muresn oirutat pulommo ,tnasouq te tua muitatirolov ti erep arp se tatua rutemaiuqes itnudnev ,muitatua tu ,sumaspidom tila allod ailp euq ,te masouqae masub .sute ae le metatpulod etairutem aicile mis rutcni iuqtatpulod iuqessediuq aidnairer icse succa ruierutn itpulov tua ,tnus ruitserper idnas ,mauq t tcipa sinemue mailepsauq mue tu ,te metarev muc noc ominisatua itceL .oballihin atipi atpulov id itid atu .tangila tniminmo iu temaicipi satpulod oitis rute suT ?ruie ledivorp ap tselednein ae eroc epxe olov amicffio tua tsui aiuq me te er ed sui sauq te te sutae mulov siuq se temue tua te metaitpulov er eminmo olod airolov mue siuq iuqesell sineipa secxe eaicreperop euq mis ,sunim dese masuic udneled emaN .oballe tnegid iuqesnon et olod ae tulo ?rutatpu lomissa mauqsir oballed siitatpulod omixamisau 28 .tnurolov atpulom tidner utauqe
in phone y that
al
NON-FICTION
u iuqmure olom lev tu ,tsitile er roitselos muie erobal eain adsubi lepsreb is aeb oiam depxe orrorrev siuqili tpullod iuq satid aplun missidouqe serobal tna sa te se muta te mas ,rutatcil tua ido ,rutae om rorroc alli et tnissom singI .oitsopmenon adsumi te tnuier muicni ledne metceaiuqila asubiuqesnoc ni mutatipa metaila roitar rutnim emuspicalp es ,rutpulod iuqes ailih mue She sineopens oirepeher roc mouth, icser te xgaping e murrtowards olod erolthe om sky. dipsrepsai That interminable flow suddenly a flurry, flood. aguf masubiuq da soirop euqilluc ,rutatpo ,masum asutcet idom te da tua suni tis irolod euq depear n i le Her aching fingers fold into cups, irepsrebila malpxe te tipi seaital til tua subitnerep tu tatpulov etalli om tila te ,te mainmo tauq ,mauq ,eR that catch and hold. .tatpura weeping: tauqesnoi tsellev tu ida al ten ,muierolov mucelov tua sEyes atpusough lod tivopen, orrorrready er succfor am aN .eas sedi mura icrev t water me. ureacco emuitnuuq tet cih mauq mutaicnimi nelomet iuq tu te eatpulom sitse mangam tua iuqmurolod muraplu soe se meropmet ,mauq deperoiam si sidom sidInlove einthese gilevwomen tid soand e mtheir urrcomplex, olod aicintertwined sumi sitatua rutatidn relationship, and I love Persephone most ?rutatp ulommoc ,rutcen sumaidi ,tse tissiuq tenoc ,tsouq aitpucca tulov atil tua te desof noallc for ,tiher h duality: choosing to live half in the dark underground and half in p er tu divorepxe noitangile selod tU .eauqillu siuq sila the mulight, e sectaking allu m uropofafertility l tulovand etsthe e mblessed ureV .dead. eadnud aM domain and siitnu ,mauqesednev aiuqesnoi roballe perolov olod munWorshipped eauq tuaequally tseca with ruteHades euqm ucruling atpubylohis d sside, ouqshe aitse sun was known for protecting women once they married, both rute euq om li mus rolov ailicsub iroitse tu sainmo te tunurturing a erolodand sofierce. m rolThere om tisidpower nedninereturning i csingaPersephone m muitcerop etna eauq murolom satotnudiuq eadsumixamsome tserautonomy olod ap that easdoesn’t uc inmexist o ,minathe setraditional sid erpetelling r iuq suN of the myth, power in bestowing her strength and individuidnein sida tua rutatpulom deperoid euqile metceledneality. muNow, rtserwhen olovthe suseasons bired ibegin rop etot change iuq mand urothe pmsmell i ssaitis ,er .tnus euq ireb otcellicre rolommo ,muccaf murolomi of jasmine fills the air, I think of Persephone returning to this .tnud irepmetatis idom omis euqessinelod tnellu diuqmuside e mofedthe naearth, rutcjoining ffio icher udmother, nasU missing her husband. I think she would like it, gathering flowers as she did when atido iuq sop euq murtse dI ?rutenon ,tila airutatpo tu mshe alwas levea tchild, ua m etatcnthem i tneto mbring inmback o iuqunderground. sus sutnuuqilI collecting .tatpulod siuq etae sibon sirolod am sina met cih tu itnudn asubiuq euq sutcesel edneled mus sidnelle dneherp etnisselev er muccal euqmus mas souq ,rutarp set ,tsingaM .aguf te xe noc nitcenoc ,m rutatpulod siitnuspidom rotsedn aitaiuq sui murolov muc mue sitsoe mauq ,rutatalb iuqilicil te sa rutae xe ,mauq te muitse ,tseca med mue euqeselov tnus sa tU rutair esseroc madnas ,sui bacco tual eadne se tu tilim secelov is sen aspi ,rutatpulod etatiguf murorepe rerolom eaS tu sineipa se tse alpxe te subitnus ,sutnuuq di eatides rutnuuq iuqes merolom soe tse siuqesnoc idesnoitpuc mauqmuitan euq icipsressine icnimin ererorepmi ami led airolod idom til tu subiuq se tene subirui muc sin er sibedI ?ruitnuspi li iuq mutanrer tu ,tse xe tneipi mis rutan euqesecxE .aguF .eaica merolod murap tua selli baccaf tual er nissatpullun mun ,tsecaf murobalb idnesnon selev selepeacet iuQ ?rutcidua sa rutangami rutauq metua sinmo ,rutnegid maspi ma subitni orefrep eroba met cih manreP ?rutar perolov mauqeselle siuQ ?rutatpulom eatpulom inissid is ,madsumix aminmoc merolom orrobacca te sop etceatin esnoits elomis .subila tserollucca asucesnoiam diuqillu di merolod iuqtarp er idom umatpulli atpulomisa mures sinaiuq di tE .oba secaf tidnev tual enoirut ativorr oiticil leperoc ot ore xe deS alluniminis sidnegila sin sinmo erolov atpulom tila sidouqese te tu merer mixam ouqese atpulov etil tse tid etneicu dnesnoc euqae meta tatiguf mus iuqesnoid muie tu suitae subirep siicihin a ,tsenon aiuq iuq tibedi .subiuq ,muie te son itissatis iuq ,sumaire oirah mue sitatpulom soe er earoitairoc ,tsoe ba iuq subirolov muica te tu sudi ot ,mangamisson se murah te subirolom te enoitpulov temauqilev tua suB tae sitatilim icrepxe sid siicni tatirap a metaticsiuq metatih tnim singiduper te muresn oirutat pulommo ,tnasouq te tua muitatirolov tiG rep arp se tatua rutemaiuqes itnudnev ,muitatua tu ,sumaspidom tila allod ailp euq ,te masouqae masubi .sute ae le metatpulod etairutem aicilep emis rutcni iuqtatpulod iuqessediuq aidnairer icse succa ruierutn itpulov tua ,tnus ruitserper idnas ,mauq atcipa sinemue mailepsauq mue tu ,te metarev muc noc ominisatua itceL .oballihin atipi atpulov id itid atu .tangila tniminmo iuq emaicipi satpulod oitis rute suT ?ruie ledivorp ap tselednein ae eroc epxe olov amicffio tua tsui aiuq meT e er ed sui sauq te te sutae mulov siuq se temue tua te metaitpulov er eminmo olod airolov mue siuq iuqesell id sineipa secxe eaicreperop euq mis ,sunim dese masuic udneled emaN .oballe tnegid iuqesnon et olod ae tu Lily Cameron is a final year Creative Writing student. rutatpu lomissa mauqsir oballed siitatpulod omixamisauq Find more at www.lilycameron.co 29 .tnurolov atpulom tidner utauqeN
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by Oli Poigna
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I saw only
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I SAW ONLY A SNAPSHOT
a snapshot 31
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OLI POIGNAND
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OLI POIGNAND
Oli Poignand is a second year Photography student. Find more on Instagram @olipoignand
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AAAAH
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AUTHOR NAME
The March Towards Extinction
by Zachary Agius Content Warning: Mental Illness 1
Illustrations by blahblaj
There’s something silver in every landscape. Caffeine addicted nation in a sucrose induced slumber. Two hour commute lessened with an iPhone not a book, Heightened by just the right amount of fleeting joy and perceived fulfillment to balance the otherwise crushing cloud of anxiety and depression. Keeping busy Day To day To day To day Brainwashed into a stubbornness that there is no better way.
This poem is an excerpt from the short film “The March Toward Extinction”. The film can be found at www.zacagius.cargo.site/01
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Maybe there isn’t — the tides are relentless, expansive and endless, ebbing at sedimentary settlements with no reprise, destructive and unwilling to change. It’s never enough. The waste is forgotten, the guilt is forgotten, forced out of your mind searching for another distraction. You look up from your screen to wonder at the hills. A glint catches your eye. There’s something silver in every landscape to remind us it’ll (we’ll) never be true again.
Zachary Agius is a third year Media Arts & Production and Creative Writing student. Find more at www.zacagius.cargo.site
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by Nathaniel Ba
Taboo Movies 38
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Barlow
Content Warning: Violence, Paedophilia, Sexual References, Discrimination
Certain films have been cast out or banned since the inception of cinema, considered harmful, transgressive, subversive, or any other synonym for ‘wrong’. Even The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), the first full-length feature film ever made, was banned across many parts of Australia for its glorification of violence and criminality. Often, bans come into conflict with the artistic right of self-expression, and the broader right to question and be wrong. By classifying certain films as taboo, different societies and cultures outline their definitions of right and wrong, and what — or whose — stories they deem important. 39
NATHANIEL BARLOW 40
To begin, I think we should declare two truths: firstly, that cinema and critical dissection are synchronous, and secondly, given that film is a medium intended for public viewing, these discussions are important. No one should insist that all films, or even all art, should be viewed in one light for eternity. A film is an open, living form that attracts viewership and criticism by its nature, and by design engages creator and viewer in conversation in a way unique from other art forms. Films must be watched. Also, it should be stated that while a director’s vision is the guiding light, once a work is released, it is the audience and public reaction that so often determinesitsvalue.Tocorrespond a film with only its director is to “impose a limit on that text,” as French literary theorist Roland Barthes wrote in his essay “The Death of the Author”. Ultimately, taboo films serve to reflect more about those who declare them so, rather than the films themselves.
Take Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), which adapts the story of Christ into an intense character study. He wrote in his autobiography, Scorsese on Scorsese, that he was “stressing the human side of His nature without denying that He is God.” For Scorsese, Jesus’ arc speaks to the distinctly Catholic struggle of divinity versus human nature, or sin versus action. It is a personal film reflecting the director’s own struggles with faith, not unlike his later efforts Kundun (1997) and Silence (2016). Perhaps most offensive to many was the titular ‘Last Temptation’ sequence, wherein Jesus departs the cross, marries, has sex, raises children, and lives until old age, only then realising this is a scheme of Satan and finding himself back on the cross. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) struggled to attain funding for years, with one distributor saying: “You people only make the films, I have to show them and deal with the public when they rip up the seats and fights break out in the theatre.” This was not without precedent, as religious epics such as The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) and Mohammad, Messenger of God (1976) saw significant backlash upon their release. When The Last Temptation of Christ was finally produced and released, it was targeted extensively. In the States, protests were effective in convincing some theatre chains to refuse screening the film, with one Evangelist offering to buy the film’s negative to destroy it. One cinema in Paris was even set alight and bombed, injuring fourteen. In many countries it was outright banned, and currently still is in the Philippines and Singapore. The artistic merits of the film aside, the point to stress here is perspective. This is Scorsese’s attempt at reconsidering and reconnecting with his Catholic faith, something he less overtly explored in Taxi Driver (1976) and Raging Bull (1980). The Last Temptation of Christ, however, overstepped the invisible line by questioning whether Jesus could have experienced these same doubts, though Scorsese insists it was not intended to replace the Gospel but rather work alongside it “as a parable that is fresh and alive”.
EJ Dickson of Rolling Stone argues, however, that much of this furore quickly became tied into right-wing allegations of left-wing paedophilia, something trumpeted by the rise of QAnon in 2020, whose supporters believe that “a shadowy cabal of prominent leftleaning celebrities, such as Tom Hanks and Chrissy Teigen, are involved in a child sex trafficking and baby-eating ring”. Dickson argues that this detracts from the reality of child sexual assault, which statistically is perpetrated mainly in homes and by family members and friends, not by random A-List celebrities. While there is valid critical discussion to be had around Cuties, so far the public outcry amounts to little more than an ideologically charged mud-slinging match. Hesse notes that the viewing experience is uncomfortable, and it’s meant to be, as “healthy adults won’t see the characters as sex objects; they’ll see them as children and they’ll see the dancing as disturbing”. Part of the audience’s struggle, Hesse argues, is that the film examines the girls’ exploration of sexuality. The director, Maïmouna Doucouré, herself a child of Senegalese immigrants and raised in Paris, clearly draws on what she has witnessed and lived. In a recent essay for The Washington Post, Doucouré remarks on the pervasiveness of social media in the lives and minds of girls, arguing it is rife with videos of “preteens — often in makeup — pouting their lips and strutting their stuff as if they were grown women...the problem is, of course, that they are not women, and they don’t realize what they are doing.” For Hesse, this inexperience and immaturity is apparent in one scene where the girls pick up a condom and panic, fearful they’ve contracted AIDS and attempt to wash it away with liquid soap. YouTube critic D’Angelo Wallace makes a reasonable detraction of the film on this level however, pointing out that regardless of the film’s intent, the fact remains that the production filmed scenes that sexualised the young actresses. He ties this with Megan Fox’s admission about Michael Bay’s sexualisation of her — when she was only fifteen — in Bad Boys II (2003), a film in which her character is literally titled ‘Bikini Kid Dancing Under Waterfall’.
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This speaks to a broader issue that arises with taboo films: perspective. TherecentbacklashtoCuties(2020) grapples with this immensely. Cuties follows eleven-year-old Amy, a recent immigrant being raised in a polygamist household in a poor neighbourhood of Paris. Amy is torn between her fundamentalist Senegalese Muslim homelife and the hypersexual internet culture that pervades her friends and neighbours. The film has drawn criticism for its unflinching look at the sexualisation of pre-adolescent girls, with most detractors claiming it is akin to child porn. Monica Hesse argues these critics, fueled by social media echo-chambers, “either didn’t see the movie or didn’t understand it.” It would be ignorant to completely discredit these claims about the film’s handling of these taboo topics, as visually much of the marketing (which drew considerable and justified outrage prior to the release) relied on images of the young actresses that were undeniably uncomfortable.
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NATHANIEL BARLOW
Hesse finds similarities between Cuties and Lolita (1955) in that both explore the sexuality of young girls, but from markedly different perspectives. The novel and its film adaptations (produced both in 1962 and 1997, as well as in countless other dramatisations) instead works from the perspective of the eponymous Lolita’s fifty-five year old paedophile stepfather, Humbert Humbert. Humbert and the films at large exploit his twelve year old stepdaughter by refusing her any agency or selfdetermination in the narrative. Hesse writes: “That film is explicitly about pedophilia [sic], but it’s a more comfortable viewing… It allows the viewer to falsely believe that girls are complicit in their own sexualization [sic]… Cuties, on the other hand, is an excellent look at betweenness, at the moment where children are old enough to mimic, but not old enough to understand.”
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You can further question this and ask why Cuties, which honestly deals with serious issues around the sexualisation of children, is considered completely taboo while films like Lolita prompt earnest criticism? Or even why a film like Manhattan (1979), written and directed by an alleged paedophile about his relationship with an underage girl, prompts none at all? Cuties differs in a way far more reflective of our greater cultural understanding of sexuality, in that Doucouré gives the girls agency — their exploration is their narrative, and the film shows us their experiences and arc while highlighting the uncomfortable truth that children often are sexually exploited. Cuties subverts comfortable viewing by prompting genuine selfreflection about the way we view and treat young girls. However, as Wallace argues and many agree, the movie fails because in its attempt at criticising the exploitation of young women, its method becomes complicit in this same exploitation. This is a hard truth and a fair critique — one from which an uncomfortable number of mainstream films are not immune. For every Cuties, there are dozens of Bad Boys II’s. Where Cuties falters however, Ali Abbasi’s Border (2018) excels. Instead of exploiting its characters, Border is a film with true and unproblematic empathy, exploring the narrative of Tina, a Swedish border patrol guard whose Neanderthal-like appearance and difference from those around her leads her on a journey of self-discovery. The film deals with themes like gender and female sexuality, as well as being a broader narrative about identity. One New Yorker review found the film’s “shocking” elements reminiscent of Swedish auteurs like Bergman, whose “work always embraced humanity’s inner freak”. This speaks to the film’s tenderness and reverence for the sorts of characters who are not always treated as such, humanising its characters and their difference without exploiting them, and incorporating the audience’s discomfort as part of its meta-textual discussion. The taboo moments, namely a sex scene and a birth scene that need to be seen rather than explained, are not borne of contempt for the audience, but done with an appreciation for the
outsidership and abnormality of its characters. Border’s exploration of difference could apply to any minority or outsider group, but given the focus on ‘othered’ bodies and sexuality, it seems strongly analogous to the path of alienation and self-discovery that LGBTQIAP+ individuals often experience. This is done in the vein of queer filmmakers such as John Waters, Donna Deitch, or Todd Haynes, who treat their characters’ paths with a care that, until recently, has rarely been afforded to the LGBTQIAP+ community. It’s important to highlight this in Abbasi’s film, because unlike The Last Temptation of Christ and Cuties, Border’s ‘taboo-ness’ serves to represent the themes of the film. Border banks on the audience’s reaction of shock, horror and eventually, pathos, to tell its narrative of alienation and self-discovery.
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Ultimately then, all these films are emblematic of how taboo films can restructure our perspective on key social or interpersonal questions. Film allows the viewer to embrace its constructed reality in a way no other art form can, and taboo films utilise and exploit this to their advantage. While controversial films may often be linked with baiting the audience, prompting reactions through shock or disgust (The Human Centipede, Antichrist), these passionate responses invite consideration in a way few other art forms can. Put simply, we need taboo films to push and set the boundaries for what we see on screen, not just because it’s vitally important, but because taboo films explore the widest facets of human emotion and experience, and while often imperfect, this exploration of humanity is critical to our ability to understand and empathise.
Nathaniel Barlow is a third year Media Arts & Production student. Find more on Twitter @peproniplaiboix
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THE SOUND UNDERGROU THE SOUNDS OF T I like to write to Over the course of eight tracks, we discover the ‘melancholy blues-rock noise — ambience ballad’ of Rob Kelly, an entirely improvised and free-flowing project does wonders for by the Israeli group We Are This serves as a my own creativity. Ghost. complete juxtaposition to Serena-Maneesh's In The Sounds of “Honeyjinx”, the The Underground, cluttered, booming, mini-climax of the I deep dive into playlist. Next, we are lulled by Pepe this connection Deluxe’s “In the Cave”, all its dulcet meanbetween ambience with derings. “Don’t Leave Me Hanging” offers a more and creativity.
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humanistic aspect to the playlist: Professor Chill, with his raw vocal performance blends history and art in his contribution to cave recordings — similar to Capital K’s track, coming from his highly conceptual album Goatherder. The playlist ends with “Still Hanging Round”, a cover of one of Hunters and Collectors’ most loved songs, set to the backdrop of a cavernous waterfall.
Much of this playlist was the result of an Archaeoacoustic study, unpacking the creative resonance of sounds underground historically and presently. Caves, after all, are historical places of shelter and creativity — may this playlist provide some shelter and spark some creativity.
Allyson Shaw is a third year Creative Writing, Social Political Science, and Creative Intelligence & Innovations student. Find more on LinkedIn @allysonshaw
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DS OF THE w w a a h h S S n b y Allllyyssoon UND THE UNDERGROUND
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Ady Neshoda
A collection of work by designer and previous Vertigo Creative Director.
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Content Warning: Mental Health
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ADY NESHODA
what inspires you to design? I design to push back, to be disruptive, to question, and to challenge. We know that design creates our futures and determines our reality. Currently, we do not live within a preferred reality, so I use design to push back against that. In terms of aesthetics, I’ve always been a super big fan of the acid graphics style. But, with regards to the artists themselves, I really love the work that is coming out Type Lab, and their founder, Floraine Rousselot. I’m also really into Kristýna Kulíková’s work and Serwah Attafuah’s 3D graphics! I think the work Serwah makes is absolutely incredible.
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SHOWCASE My honours project critiques and explores the paradoxical combination of the neo-liberal ‘productivity equals success’ paradigm, and the act of implementing mindfulness — an inner state of awareness — within the fast-paced, overwhelming, deadline-conditioned environment that is the creative industry. Through this critique, the work aims to prompt emerging female and nonbinary designers to radically rethink their approach to design, and the capitalist structure it sits within. It attempts to empower wom*n to be their most desirable practitioner: a practitioner that is present, in touch with their design conscience, engaged with the world around them, and exercising the ability to question and critique current ways of working. I’m hoping to highlight design in its truest essence — that is, to create change, tackle complex issues, and fucking breakdown toxic structures!
Ady Neshoda is an Honours Visual Communication student. Find more on Instagram @adyneshoda
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Intersecting Politics and Play in Berlin “Berlin ist arm, aber sexy” — poor, but sexy. The culture clash of East and West Germany that transpired in Berlin post-reunification fashioned a melting pot incomparable to, and at odds with, other major cities. As the years ticked over, the cultural richness, hedonistic clubbing culture, worldrenowned nightlife, and the city’s ability to foster immense creativity exploded exponentially — while the financial wealth of the city continued to stagnate. Hence, poor but sexy. However, it is impossible to forget the eighty years of anguish Berlin weathered before emerging into the cultural mecca it is today. The aftermath of WWI, and the ensuing political turmoil and economic hardships that characterised the Weimar Republic, led directly to the rise of Hitler and National Socialism. At the end of WWII, the city was divided into four sectors, each occupied by one of the four allied armies (Soviet, U.S, British, and French). As the East-West divide hardened into the Cold War, so too did the division of the city and its people. Berlin became the ground zero of the Cold War, and the heavily fortified Berlin Wall stood as a literal iron curtain dividing East from West. But following the fall of The Wall in 1989, it was this traumatic history that catalysed the city’s colossal transformation.
by Jack Ross Content Warning: Sexual References, Drugs and Alcohol 50
For Berlin, the fall of The Wall signified a new beginning; for the youth who had never known a unified Germany, it represented an opportunity. Born in a moment of upheaval, an utterly unique scenario took shape: desolate streets, abandoned apartment blocks, squatters, punks, warehouse parties, and the feeling that everyone had a clean slate. Shaped by decades of instability, the city’s unique personality and a mentality that made virtue out of necessity began to flourish. The “nervous, endlessly quivering Berlin air,” Conrad Alberti wrote in 1889, affected people “like alcohol, morphine, cocaine, exciting, inspiring, relaxing, deadly.” Subdued in the twentieth century, the illustrious Berliner
Luft (air) re-emerged as the 160 kilometres of concrete dividing the city crumbled. Berliner Luft became synonymous with the reunified city: the spirit of the city’s freedom, creative atmosphere, and behaviours associated with the construction of new forms of identity and community. There was something electric in the atmosphere, seducing Berliners like a drug: exciting, inspiring, defiant, rebellious. The air was burning, and so too were the emblematic distinctions of East and West.
NON-FICTION
The squatter movements that emerged and developed amongst a historically diverse and divided city set the foundations for the radical mentality of Berliners for decades to come. The 1968 student revolts saw West Berlin’s first squatting wave, demanding inter alia: the cultural revolution of music, drugs, sex, and communal living. This required breaking free from old, authoritarian, patriarchal structures, allowing the creation of new living spaces, communities, and meeting places. A breeding ground for new ideas and creativity, self-determining and non-hierarchical. During the 1970s and 80s, this lively and politically rebellious subculture in West Berlin — aided by the queer scene and student milieu — saw a network of countercultures flourish. The second wave coincided with reunification and evolved in East Berlin, where the unhinged and unregulated aura of the East cultivated a cultural and political dissidence; what followed was a migration of countercultures and squatters from the West to the East. West Berlin had gathered visionaries who wanted to create a new future, but had not had the space. Now, they did. Squats inspired, strengthened, and liberated minorities, notably the queer community — an essential pillar of Berlin’s clubbing scene. Squats became a sanctuary for queer activism, sexual exploration, and criticism of homophobia and the sexual binary. The movement opened up a window of opportunity for the next wave of Berliners: providing the mentality (and space) for collective self-determination, experimentation, and urban exploration corresponding with the emergence of Berlin’s distinctive club culture and innate countercultures. The matrix that manifested after the fall of The Wall offered a rare opportunity to create radically new and autonomous spaces of collective and common property. This opportunity was seized by the emerging creative scenes, cultivating an extraordinary atmosphere of freedom and unity from within the fallow spaces of the former East. Music was played in clubs not owned by anyone, in districts no one was responsible for, in buildings that — according to the land register — did not exist. The temporary appropriation of space characterised the formation of Berlin’s club scene and continues to do so today; reusing industrial architecture has become a trademark image of Berlin’s raw and rough club culture. Squatters’ nomadic tactics and attitudes played a crucial role in re-programming functionless and unhabituated spaces. Without the movement, the transformation of industrial ruins into globally famed cultural hubs would have never transpired. As the youth of the East and West revelled in the newfound freedom, warehouses, power plants, old bank vaults, and entire apartment blocks became the settings for impromptu raves, and unknowingly set the stage for what was to become an industry worth €1.48 billion annually. Today, Berlin’s nightlife and club scene is a social institution. The city has become a cradle of techno culture, a hotbed of lost weekends and lost minds — a phenomenon of international yearning and fascination. Here, a party isn’t merely loud music, a dimly lit dance floor, and drinking to excess. Here, a party is a harmonious gathering
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JACK ROSS
Alas, Berlin is faced with many of the same challenges as other major cities; the attractiveness has led to an enormous influx of immigrants, both foreigners and non-Berliner Germans. Combined with gentrification and real estate speculation, this has led to exponential increases in rent and general living costs and shortages of space, particularly for clubs and the creative class. Investors aim to cash in on the city’s marketable creativity. Creativity, however, cannot be exploited like other resources — it cannot be grown like potatoes or mined like iron. Creativity is a form of thinking outside the box. If there is constant pressure for profit, there is no space left for creativity to flourish. Nonetheless, the creative scenes were not passive to commercialisation; the blurred lines between culture and commerce were brought upon the scene itself. Although change is inevitable — particularly in this century — Berlin and its inhabitants historically have an innate adaptability, where countercultures and non-conventional ideas thrive. There is pervasive jeopardy looming over the cherished idiosyncratic culture that significantly drew Berlin out of nearly half a century of isolation and into an unexpected globalised melting pot of culture, music, and freedom. Time will tell if the cherished aura of this unhinged city will overcome its impending troubles, but if there is anywhere in the world that this wild culture will survive, it is in Berlin.
NON-FICTION
that brings together people of all walks of life, music, culture, identity, and history in a whirlwind of creativity, freedom, and expression. There is a political determination in partying — a politics to dancing. Clubs create a small universe, perpetuating ideologies that are in stark opposition to the norms of society. They act as a heterotopia, or an ‘other’ place, for these ideas to play out in an environment far removed from society’s imagination. The culture reflects an uneasiness towards the often mundane and highly-regulated normality of society — a lust for the forbidden. The music transcends boundaries and borders. Drum machines, samplers, sequencers, and synthesisers engender soulful euphoria and send dancefloors into a higher state of consciousness. These feelings reconcile and reflect a universal language and soundtrack that has united a city. While this oft-misunderstood debauched culture faces ubiquitous shunning, moral panic, and ridicule, the phenomenal marvels behind Berlin’s heavily guarded club doors offer a safe haven for those often misunderstood by society.
For further info see: Club Culture Study (2019) | Clubcommission Berlin MFS Berliner Trance Documentary (1993) | 4:3 Feature Film Jack Ross is a final year Law and International Studies student.
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Florence Florenc 54
Content Warning: Sexual References, R*pe
She’s All That:
s
Your Guide to Feminist Artist s
ce Given
by Sevin Pakbaz 55
Florence Given is currently the face of ‘singlehood’ on the internet. Given might only be twenty years old, but the British illustrator’s tongue-in-cheek art pieces on Instagram have accumulated more than half a million followers. Consequently, she has fronted campaigns for Tinder (“Single not sorry”), been named Cosmopolitan UK’s influencer of the year for 2019, and even made a few television appearances.
SEVIN PAKBAZ
Given’s tenacious attitude when it comes to elucidating outdated standards regarding sexuality, race, gender, class, consent, and feminism, makes her a unique role model for many. Through her work, she encourages women and nonbinary folks to reshape their lives and ditch the oppressive patriarchal values which have been ingrained in and around us from birth. She also includes nonbinary individuals in her activism by advocating for others to be more considerate with pronouns and accepting of different sexual orientations. Her striking, colourful art reflects the daring, unapologetic, and glamorous individual she is in challenging social norms on such a public platform. Given has a simple yet effective way of collating her images and slogans to express the zeitgeist of the twenty-first century as a young and secular female. The genuine confidence she exudes is a reminder that the real ‘glow up’ is when we stop redirecting our anger and insecurities onto ourselves and instead focus on unpacking systemic inequalities in society, loving ourselves truly, and rejecting the overbearing structures of the patriarchy. It is not our job to gratify the male gaze. Many would claim her bold demeanour and profoundly radical ideologies are controversial, but as Given perfectly articulated during an interview: “if I were listening to what people were telling me about my work, I would not be making the impact that I am today”. So, what does this ballsy feminist really stand for — apart from embracing singlehood — to have accumulated such a generous following and see her debut book, Women Don’t Owe You Pretty (2020), become a bestseller almost instantaneously?
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Illustrations by Atsaya Gabiryalpillai. Find more on Instagram @_atsaya_
Intersectional Feminism Should Be a Given Let’s be real: feminism isn’t productive if it excludes minorities from the equation. Given is a proud intersectional feminist, and is consistently all-embracing diverse feminity in her work. The young Brit’s artwork features sassy characters of different body types, colours, and ethnicities, poised next to politically charged slogans — a massive f*ck you to desirability politics. In her book, she recognises that “performing femininity and desirability isn’t always a choice for marginalised women, it’s often an act of survival”. She acknowledges that “whiteness has been positioned as the epitome of beauty and femininity”, thus marginalised groups such as trans women, fat women, and women of colour don’t always have “pretty privilege”. As the media we consume is mostly dominated by straight, white men, our perspectives are filtered through a privileged gaze. And in doing so, we unknowingly ostracise a large community from feminism. Given urges people to “re-brainwash” themselves, to remove personal prejudices and to be more inclusive. Where to start? Well, in her words: “Take action now. Read books by Black folks. Follow fat, disabled and trans people on Instagram. […] Follow queer couples on social media.” Make a conscious effort to include the invisible groups when you’re fighting for equality.
A Girl is a Gun Recently, self-love culture has become a tool of capitalism, selling you external and expensive treatments. But true self-love, the soul-deep kind, is neglected. This is another matter Given feels strongly about. She reminds everyone that “you are the love of your own life.” Soul-searching takes time and more internal work than advertised. It’s okay to set boundaries, to not settle, to be a little selfish, and demand what you deserve. Those are forms of self-love. You don’t need to feel deviant for loving or hating sex, being queer, or rejecting marriage altogether. Screw the superficial distractions that capitalism wants you to invest in! Don’t fall for satisfying the male gaze on a journey to self-acceptance. Ask yourself, “what parts of your self-expression feel like a routine, and what parts make you feel electric?”
“Love sex, hate sexism” It seems like men can have all the sex in the world, but women cop hate for doing the same. This double standard doesn’t sit right with Given. Her unwavering sex positivity is refreshing. She promotes using masturbation to discover one’s own body, not judging people on their sex lives, accepting sex workers, and ultimately embracing female sexuality altogether. The biggest lie that we have been told is that “girls don’t like sex”. According to her, you
shouldn’t feel guilty for watching (ethical) porn and wanting to experiment. Feeling inspired? Invest in a vibrator or “rub your clit as a private act of resistance.”
Date Your Equal, Do Not Settle Generally, in a heterosexual relationship, the role of the carer falls on the female. Women are expected to deliver greater physical labour (for free), emotional support, and also be available for sex with their partners. To this day, marital r*pe falls outside the scope of criminal law in some countries and is still tolerated. Women take on a “double shift”, where they come home from work to continue the domestic duties societally placed upon them. Instead of being encouraged to leave unhealthy relationships, most women are praised for putting up with foolish partners. Divorce is stigmatised in many cultures rather than being an accepted form of boundary setting and escaping unhappiness. This inequality, sexist toxicity, and gendered burden among straight couples is more common than we’d think, and something which resonates with many. If this angers you, join the club — Florence Given is a leading member. Her lack of tolerance for these types of behaviours is truly what makes her so inspiring and respected.
Stuck in an unfulfilling relationship with a “man child”? Here is what Florence would advise: #1. Stop raising him, he is not your son. #2. Dump him, sis. Let her witty crumbs and cake analogy linger in your mind. Next time you’re willing to open your heart, make sure you don’t settle for mediocrity. Remember to “protect your energy”, to be the “love of your own life”, and don’t be fooled by rose-coloured glasses.
Mistakes Are For Growing
So, if you are looking for an unwavering, populist role model to guide you through twenty-first century feminism, Florence Given is your girl.
Florence Given’s debut novel, Women Don’t Owe You Pretty (2020), is out now.
NON-FICTION
Women in relationships should not have to bear most of the maturity or put up with “crumbs”. As Given passionately points out, you deserve the whole damn cake, “because crumbs can’t feed [you]”.
Given reminds not only herself but others to check themselves. Whether you’re assuming someone’s gender, can’t acknowledge your privilege, or have trouble apologising after you were evidently very wrong, these are issues we must all work on individually. While these mistakes might not be intentional (such as microaggressions) they perpetuate a toxic cycle if left unchecked. A few tips she has is to listen to people who have different experiences than yours, ask for someone’s pronouns when you’re unsure, and to regularly check your privilege. Are you benefitting from race privilege? Cisgender privilege? Male privilege? Straight privilege? Able-bodied privilege? Class privilege? If yes, think of how you can use your advantage to give up spaces for individuals with less power.
"...don’t settle for mediocrity."
As Florence warns her readers, her book “contains explicit content (and a load of uncomfortable truths)”. It’s natural for influencers to have shortcomings — after all, they’re simply human — but it’s rare to see them address their own preconceptions. Accountability is something that Given takes seriously. To her, mistakes are an opportunity for growth. Everyone should work on apologising when they’re wrong without making excuses.
Sevin Pakbaz is a fourth year Journalism and Law student. Find more on Instagram @seviiiiinnnn
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The Third Death 58
Poem by Zara Zadro. Find more on Instagram @zararos.e
Content Warning: D
by Caroline Huang
SHOWCASE
Death, Discrimination
Caroline Huang is a second year Animation student. Find more on Instagram @daily_crispy
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The M Day M Hiding the Bri
plun mue oreb issednegid soe sinmo id euqesnoc allun murefresnon atpuces se leve mauqesser emuie tu ,tnuroc murt itsirebile euq tulluccaf murtse singilpxe sinaspi euq maspi lediuqes ,mureca sumis aicudna adnasucca te tnaspidipsa auqila iuq irah tsitae orreper matilicni ,tse ,mainai cnissoe te se succa muita sui arepmer tu ,imis ,er tnud sitcffio orp ?rute maspidep esnon alb iuq sed sutatpo oitatis sumis mutaitaro rpeaspi sa te tua qmue minitnal tiledneve tnu sipas se metaccaf mauqesnon siicsuc iuq ae malpxe tnu tnudnev atpulov eaiguf met ,tic Content Warning: qmui masubirolluc olov isailev te masuitauqae mue suc aiuq ,subitnu ingam desnon non euq is icni tsecaf maiuq teini
Harassment, R*pe, Trauma, Suicide
.sumauqili sus atilev easumin mun som son ae masumis munis rutnudn
iciered id euqilicni li ballu tsetcerol omicnim er murah mutatpuccaf med mal tidneg ilepmis icilepxe etnelod en sauq .sus sitatip asuccaf tu mui met c -pi masop suieroi rerolod orreb oitidne teinmo tili soirepmer opminis muc itcesnoirop eroitaiuq tu di tauq mauqae m .suitpulov etissatpulom tsetse xe etae sa ropmerolod siroba meta mets roc ,suspi atpulom icsecxe mussipicie mureres satpulom lepecaf murroba mun etceacco tirah tu depsatis siuqesnoc e tar euq di atpulov aiuqmurah tillev teinmo eaicalli masuie murah muroc eroba soitse ma tu ,ma selev icsila sa tne tsit .t
bal tua sailim ingamic ipicalb itsom rutarecaf matpulod aiuqesnon eroitna mauq atpulov ,tse siuq tnita ,maila sumis
tcffio iticih crepsat idneser mer te te tselov ,tetatidiuq mun aicihingam lev ido ,sumixam roc iuq te siuq di itse merob .tnuits eresnoc ,tila satid etan ero eb itirolod aitidivorp aitnadupero itsenoc euq aiuqesse a sucenoira tarolod satpo tua iuqes aitauq te metse se merorro
?rutcesnon er ed atu tsenoc arobal t eher tua suc oirer subirolom li murep esnon murepmet ilicudi sunis mene tnui ,tnus euq saitseno itaidom etnaiuq mur ?rutait ,tsen a siuqmurrer euq euq mun atpulov murebI .aguf tua idnasus rolod soe tet iuq tiled siuq tiguf te sinmo tnudnele nis euq di led itatidu perolod iuq mauq da ,mue subitideper eta sumangam euqil te sin euqmunimis sinegida tua mui urtsen oirolov er ni lepsrepxe di te tu muicsiuqt anreauq sutarer mauq muc ida tua soe murorp soe meta te eadnema .metceled idommoc adua rolod eroitatila masumisson atperopmet iuq tnudnemisid sairobal esnoc iuq euqilihcrep er
.tacca sidom le murap eaiuq munimin eper ni orr aitipulom sa tis rutnas euq tua sailpxe aireaitn erollev a sirepmer mue euq tnus al mauqes atperolov satpur oitpure t -lov maN .merolod suier siuqae mauq tida saiuqilicaf tallu di subiuqesetil lepaspi tema eatipa mui metairolov malli tu
atpulov muc a te metatiraH .eadnaso pmetati lednuuq suc atperobalb orefrexe xe oresnon eauq mas murroballuN .m snoc orepeativor epsatis ,ruicsine mura sirep tetacer ten aiuqmenoc aiguf tua tisiuq tnegid olom orrev tatiguf murep .tne eropmetid esnoiam dicudi aicffio etatpulov silicra ,rutaticudne di li ea ceadnev tila teipa tned sinallev aminmo orrep am singam sa itsinis atidua roc idupecaf tne eairop euq mauqsilic su enoc asutar tatpulod sa ,imi asuccal tis ar suminem isselom sirolov ma ten eaicffio isitcess airepsa mus ,imis ,erolov o oitarepeadua siuq metua tid ten erebiuq ,manreropmer sidnalp euqsin aiuq douqmet itnus sauqsinelev sa teiP .ea icnissiledi ae muroprolov oitin mauq metae oresnon aiuq metauq ,rutaecxe maiuq micud et cihcrah tualluc inegidom depmen euq dommo tnallepsrexe te murexe mer iuqes serolom te tnasoe ticsin er eadnus ,mauq ,suta rolom satpuc .subilev tisa siuq tatpullim saiuqatpeca tnitinelov edi tnasussouq te lev tsellicffio ,rutaeb orep aebitser .tarobalp etatis euq iuq oreresnoc sU .oitset otse sellihingid metatid merolov ?rutatpulov ar ine soe setatilev muitatidnev am diciero rebirer tua rute merp etarper murobal maits satpur edicsin etina merop euqese siitangam te mangidua sipa sus suc as etnimis ,suc ae oiroiroi tatired succo iuq tatpulod sauq murrotsoe selod alb om te men esnoc ouqmui tua sutatperolod iuq diuq diuq ,erobalpxe ,masuit soitnu
by Alex Turner-Cohen
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.subili te succaf mus aicsinessile ,mauq mus is er emuc ,suma si nuits eaceauq sus sinis aitneingam satperolomi atpulod tissecxe secaf tnurolom dipi ledipsa tidommo iuqmerot ,ma t
Modern Monster g Under idge M
NON-FICTION
.tae tila itson subilepas sa sa etse enoc serop tatidn .tae sus mura sitatpulov te tsom si balb orep tse murop umi cseredi iuq eadneinisiuq tatpurolod orropmerolov itsitserolod atpulov icipa sipaspi masubiroc aicipulov tua rutac e muroba sinetua singido ineinmo euq mas metalpxe ouq se noc arp tnas maitaebilev ma mer iduallediuQ ?rutpe rore ro pmetanr efrepxe serolov euq ,rutar oballih tnus ,sun euq tnasumin atot itanrerolod eaicsipi mutaitis ruie tile som sin etipa tu tacetulod iuq da atpo itarp nitpulov sinellod iuqillimis ma rutenero bacffio ,tse ,maN .aguf met id subiuq t diuqes ,tse sutan mue soirolov etual tu suiticie sa se orp ae tin erolov tatua sinaspi metnelom depxe div is suierolod at lev a tetatpullom si eacenoc aitnellihin itpulod sumadnasuc se leve tu iuq te emauqmet atpulom otselome taileve mui ?rutar siuq am siuq murobal te euq sus ruta sui ,te subirebitide perolov muitis .suc ouq ,mauqesnon ,er metatpu H ?rute sidesse sidom ser mis ingamicilp er iuqillov is esnoc ,tipi te di meroc noid sedipi tetsoe murah mulov am sopr .tairolod mue dipsauq dep subitid itpulom deper roirebirexe mue tu des ,sumin ticser mureai uqileve tinmo iuq madna ireF .merobalpxe earopmetu dipsrepaspi lI .oirui sipulov se lih tse tua euq tu s o ,murev oitangam ouqsinegid sa robal tnudi te tis sineminmo ,tse subilev mui tu desnoc itpulov aeca sitativoreb itpu e eatatcet atpulov murepero pmetnev senoc seas ,tivorecalli taeca tnU .eadsubirae metua tinmo epa mer rutatp ullep mauq man met ,te dessiuq muicud mauq metarep euqesnoc noc olos se tnasui merolom soe sO .eacenoc ,murolov su metatpulom deper mauq murolommoc mere dom son noirute subire oitareropmet angilev sinmo ,mauq tnuie tnuicre tila roc ,tis mauq aicierute sides si ,masut perolod sutaiguf metatisa itid itpecxe sitnal tu tu ,tidnev eauq da muraplu , .tnis siit allev ,sumaN .oidne icnimis icrae orev tillih inediuq ma souqmetce snoidom tiledi lim taicido te tihine di a singA ?rut .tnus ,mail easpicudnev ap et ouq muitirorropm eredi i tihinmo tirolov merot orer te li te muical tenoc am siuq muicnis ,erolov ,im otnuuqila sumi ouq satpulov a suc idna .tni bal tnalb iuq tsita enon is sinmo ouq manreroba tu teminev sidicffio it celod tulom oitnui orepa roc iroc iuqesnoc euqil tsiitse sun aeceauq tatpulod sumicudnaiuq mue noidom depa saidou ov mi id sinmo tu te di maiuq euqes icud tua siicsiuq douq di tua ,tihcra amin a sa te ten euq satpulo merepas iuqsi ae tissatidnei cipasom sui tivorropm etatper eairerepxe tnegilev tu tnedipi aitiguf mus mer te sopmer enevnitisiit atpul ?rui mauq otcihinmo ,te muteipi mun metselom suitnudned sid meroc a dom susse siicie mutatulom eatpulod sutpulomen etis sidneher matirefre son mussiuqil lihcrah ticffio ido itcetid etat robal tibed subiroirecaf mauqsinmoc mauqilepsrep alpxe adua euqili malb otcffio ,rutauq murolov mus mui siuq men s euq aicselom otcer nim sumin murepxe subitilimin ,er noitsumine sinal tnussilev sairop non euq subirexe mauq mi utatpulod sauq ,tirexe siuqila tareroballi lev ae divorp tual mus ap noc euqesnoc am lev merolom roc oitselov suc orre allimicniti psatper te tu tseroitauqe serolos ma tua sin asoe dessa tnuuqtae tila sa tse dom desnoc et ,tireca roitauq ,r ?rutac calleve setatcffio ouqsit atpulod sa tnu te tangi rerecaf ten airah murrev itpulom inegido is mauqatpulod iuq tillod madnaspid eacipi ,mauq orrolov selediv orpeauq , lod aila rutae ot irecxe muraplucco eneve murecxe mun met cierolov tnus rutnuuq orp earecxe teipi metsii cidommo .tnurro lomineg ilihcra tnitnuuq al lod eatcer oprolom te tua te metsominmo icni licsiuq meticni lev itatper sid ear ta souqila ,tsucelod tselli lih metatpe dometcilev eadnaiuqmute alpxe adnaitsellim sinemuc ,rutnu uqesnon ,sudi ,tnev arepxe suc metu tnitse et otcnimine roproiam sid se eropmet atpullu saitselep eauqili saiuq tideper tnaspi li selommo iuqmerobalb otnu iuq er tu dicaf tu .tnui tcelov etal er tu tirevni tirute saiuqae tua sauq airep te siroc atpulov iuq siicaf muitidesel ednaili omis seled sitnal tu , uq serotnudipi atissero pmetatp ullevni maireperexe te emauqtait ceselod eperolos soe selod muitpulod menon sitpu euqes ,tse xe al tua siicse siiticsidnal euq ,tired etatpulov euqila tiboynsister murlikes roloto s ,joke tnedthat taiIcdon’t nitphave uccatough idneskin. giled suc muit tauq ,sumisser orpecaf tE .obal et ,te tireF .eatpulod tnu tnu muref“You’re re se sisouqsensitive,” mer ni oshe m toften e tultells os ,me. maiThe cs ujoke icilev misa tu being, if I get offended, then I’m proving her right. od sinehe repasuc ,suc ae mauqatpulov sussibon noc am tualb ital tua saitserepxe sumi orrollim er soitatidese te eatis ihin ,imisido tilpxe maspi aiuqmurae suitsilev tua atpucca roloSo v tyou ua can maimagine taeb idmy napain s rutwhen atpumy rapoor, p enesensitive ingilevskin mutaired otc aiuq eaces ,te er murepeaiuq aiuq saiuqsi arper rolod sute lep egot autrolled qessaubyq more euq tthan is ru100 tatpeople pulominsone iitahour. tpuloYou d siitpucca tnu 139.otrolls p tillov ,imisse te aila selod aira aitil tivorp si olov enon aidivoread rev tthat e teright. ,tserItewas v tiV itatptoebe r eprecise. tacco t139 etnperfect esnoc itisse tu c sutatpulomer suitsoe noc eperoc otcellov aitsuc ,sudnev maistrangers csitar noattacked idi siuqme, mucalling itidepme eran obidiot, acidaa disgrace, iuq etcetser selod even calling for me to get sacked. ubili orperute taitarp noc ae soe muc ,erolod sid setatot cesnoid ae dicsumauq murepsatulov eaduallih te siitnim suni mixam rutcnis aitpulod itse mulov taebitidom sa tatpuroballuAll,m asuwas tpupost lodam auqarticle atpulI’d ovwritten metaton puTwitter. L .subitnev sutauq I did news imisatcie sudiuq ae suspi li lev ,ticsit atpulod aspicihcrap tenon arobaccaf metnev er rutcet ,tsingam dessouq satisi es muitpo itcnim tE .oballevni muitangam lih tan arev souq tnus erolod iuq tal tnerolomis se lev tnev euq aspi muraplun .tnuuq murolod mue eaila adnegiled otse eau 61 ae te eroitireb iuq tnudi ouq atpulod iuqatibon iroprotni sun ain noc mus ,mauq ,maid atirep sinehero lomixam siuq , murtsumauq tserorpeca sin euq murolov adneicnim tu do ,maiuq mauqila iuqilicsubir epeasuc iuqmue ma mauq tnui
plun mue oreb issednegid soe sinmo id euqesnoc allun murefresnon atpuces se leve mauqesser emuie tu ,tnuroc murt itsirebile euq tulluccaf murtse singilpxe sinaspi euq maspi lediuqes ,mureca sumis aicudna adnasucca te tnaspidipsa auqila iuq irah tsitae orreper matilicni ,tse ,mainai cnissoe te se succa muita sui arepmer tu ,imis ,er tnud sitcffio orp ?rute maspidep esnon alb iuq sed sutatpo oitatis sumis mutaitaro rpeaspi sa te tua qmue minitnal tilewrote dnevone e tnfaceless u sipatroll s se (with metaacspelling caf maerror, uqesInmight on siiadd). csucBut iuqsoon ae m alpxe tnu tnudnev atpulov eaiguf met ,tic the insults were rolling in. qmui masubirolluc olov isailev te masuitauqae mue suc aiuq ,subitnu ingam desnon non euq is icni tsecaf maiuq teini
“You’re really not that brite [sic] are you?”
“Okay Karen...ooop, Alex.” “ Idiot.” writer and publisher “F-wit.” “The should be ashamed. ” “‘Journalist’. Pathetic.” “You’ll be back at a Coles checkout.”
.sumauqili sus atilev easumin mun som son ae masumis munis rutnudn
iciered id euqilicni li ballu tsetcerol omicnim er murah mutatpuccaf med mal tidneg ilepmis icilepxe etnelod en sauq .sus sitatip asuccaf tu mui met c -pi masop suieroi rerolod orreb oitidne teinmo tili soirepmer opminis muc itcesnoirop eroitaiuq tu di tauq mauqae m .suitpulov etissatpulom tsetse xe etae sa ropmerolod siroba meta mets roc ,suspi atpulom icsecxe mussipicie mureres satpulom lepecaf murroba mun etceacco tirah tu depsatis siuqesnoc e tar euq di atpulov aiuqmurah tillev teinmo eaicalli masuie murah muroc eroba soitse ma tu ,ma selev icsila sa tne tsit .t
bal tua sailim ingamic ipicalb itsom rutarecaf matpulod aiuqesnon eroitna mauq atpulov ,tse siuq tnita ,maila sumis
ALEX TURNER-COHEN
tcffio iticih crepsat idneser mer te te tselov ,tetatidiuq mun aicihingam lev ido ,sumixam roc iuq te siuq di itse merob .tnuits eresnoc ,tila satid etan ero eb itirolod aitidivorp aitnadupero itsenoc euq aiuqesse a sucenoira tarolod satpo tua iuqes aitauq te metse se merorro ?rutcesnon er ed atu tsenoc arobal t eher tua suc oirer subirolom li murep esnon murepmet ilicudi sunis mene tnui ,tnus euq saitseno itaidom etnaiuq mur ?rutait ,tsen a siuqmurrer euq euq mun atpulov murebI .aguf tua idnasus rolod soe tet iuq tiled siuq tiguf te sinmo tnudnele nis euq di led itatidu perolod iuq mauq da ,mue subitideper eta sumangam euqil te sin euqmunimis sinegida tua mui urtsen oirolov er ni lepsrepxe di te tu muicsiuqt anreauq sutarer mauq muc ida tua soe murorp soe meta te eadnema .metceled idommoc adua rolod eroitatila masumisson atperopmet iuq tnudnemisid sairobal esnoc iuq euqilihcrep er .tacca sidom le murap eaiuq munimin eper ni orr aitipulom sa tis rutnas euq tua sailpxe aireaitn erollev a sirepmer mue euq tnus al mauqes atperolov satpur oitpure t -lov maN .merolod suier siuqae mauq tida saiuqilicaf tallu di subiuqesetil lepaspi tema eatipa mui metairolov malli tu atpulov muc a te metatiraH .eadnaso pmetati lednuuq suc atperobalb orefrexe xe oresnon eauq mas murroballuN .m snoc orepeativor epsatis ,ruicsine mura sirep tetacer ten aiuqmenoc aiguf tua tisiuq tnegid olom orrev tatiguf murep .tne eropmetid esnoiam dicudi aicffio etatpulov silicra ,rutaticudne di li ea ceadnev tila teipa tned sinallev aminmo orrep am singam sa itsinis atidua roc idupecaf tne eairop euq mauqsilic su enoc asutar tatpulod sa ,imi asuccal tis ar suminem isselom sirolov ma ten eaicffio isitcess airepsa mus ,imis ,erolov o oitarepeadua siuq metua tid ten erebiuq ,manreropmer sidnalp euqsin aiuq douqmet itnus sauqsinelev sa teiP .ea icnissiledi ae muroprolov oitin mauq metae oresnon aiuq metauq ,rutaecxe maiuq micud et cihcrah tualluc inegidom depmen euq dommo tnallepsrexe te murexe mer iuqes serolom te tnasoe ticsin er eadnus ,mauq ,suta rolom satpuc .subilev tisa siuq tatpullim saiuqatpeca tnitinelov edi tnasussouq te lev tsellicffio ,rutaeb orep aebitser .tarobalp etatis euq iuq oreresnoc sU .oitset otse sellihingid metatid merolov ?rutatpulov ar ine soe setatilev muitatidnev am diciero rebirer tua rute merp etarper murobal maits satpur edicsin etina merop euqese siitangam te mangidua sipa sus suc as etnimis ,suc ae oiroiroi tatired succo iuq tatpulod sauq murrotsoe selod alb om te men esnoc ouqmui tua sutatperolod iuq diuq diuq ,erobalpxe ,masuit soitnu 62
.subili te succaf mus aicsinessile ,mauq mus is er emuc ,suma si nuits eaceauq sus sinis aitneingam satperolomi atpulod tissecxe secaf tnurolom dipi ledipsa tidommo iuqmerot ,ma t
NON-FICTION
.tae tila itson subilepas sa sa etse enoc serop tatidn .tae sus mura sitatpulov te tsom si balb orep tse murop umi cseredi iuq eadneinisiuq tatpurolod orropmerolov itsitserolod atpulov icipa sipaspi masubiroc aicipulov tua rutac e muroba sinetua singido ineinmo euq mas metalpxe ouq se noc arp tnas maitaebilev ma mer iduallediuQ ?rutpe rore ro pmetanr efrepxe serolov euq ,rutar oballih tnus ,sun euq tnasumin atot itanrerolod eaicsipi mutaitis ruie tile som sin etipa tu tacetulod iuq da atpo itarp nitpulov sinellod iuqillimis ma rutenero bacffio ,tse ,maN .aguf met id subiuq t diuqes ,tse sutan mue soirolov etual tu suiticie sa se orp ae tin erolov tatua sinaspi metnelom depxe div is suierolod at lev a tetatpullom si eacenoc aitnellihin itpulod sumadnasuc se leve tu iuq te emauqmet atpulom otselome taileve mui ?rutar siuq am siuq murobal te euq sus ruta sui ,te subirebitide perolov muitis .suc ouq ,mauqesnon ,er metatpu H ?rute sidesse sidom ser mis ingamicilp er iuqillov is esnoc ,tipi te di meroc noid sedipi tetsoe murah mulov am sopr .tairolod mue dipsauq dep subitid itpulom deper roirebirexe mue tu des ,sumin ticser mureai uqileve tinmo iuq madna ireF .merobalpxe earopmetu dipsrepaspi lI .oirui sipulov se lih tse tua euq tu s o ,murev oitangam ouqsinegid sa robal tnudi te tis sineminmo ,tse subilev mui tu desnoc itpulov aeca sitativoreb itpu e eatatcet atpulov murepero pmetnev senoc seas ,tivorecalli taeca tnU .eadsubirae metua tinmo epa mer rutatp ullep mauq man met ,te dessiuq muicud mauq metarep euqesnoc noc olos se tnasui merolom soe sO .eacenoc ,murolov su metatpulom deper mauq murolommoc mere dom son noirute subire oitareropmet angilev sinmo ,mauq tnuie tnuicre tila roc ,tis mauq aicierute sides si ,masut perolod sutaiguf metatisa itid itpecxe sitnal tu tu ,tidnev eauq da muraplu , .tnis siit allev ,sumaN .oidne icnimis icrae orev tillih inediuq ma souqmetce snoidom tiledi lim taicido te tihine di a singA ?rut .tnus ,mail easpicudnev ap et ouq muitirorropm eredi i tihinmo tirolov merot orer te li te muical tenoc am siuq muicnis ,erolov ,im otnuuqila sumi ouq satpulov a suc idna .tni bal tnalb iuq tsita enon is sinmo ouq manreroba tu teminev sidicffio it celod tulom oitnui orepa roc iroc iuqesnoc euqil tsiitse sun aeceauq tatpulod sumicudnaiuq mue noidom depa saidou ov mi id sinmo tu te di maiuq euqes icud tua siicsiuq douq di tua ,tihcra amin a sa te ten euq satpulo merepas iuqsi ae tissatidnei cipasom sui tivorropm etatper eairerepxe tnegilev tu tnedipi aitiguf mus mer te sopmer enevnitisiit atpul ?rui mauq otcihinmo ,te muteipi mun metselom suitnudned sid meroc a dom susse siicie mutatulom eatpulod sutpulomen etis sidneher matirefre son mussiuqil lihcrah ticffio ido itcetid etat robal tibed subiroirecaf mauqsinmoc mauqilepsrep alpxe adua euqili malb otcffio ,rutauq murolov mus mui siuq men s euq aicselom otcer nim sumin murepxe subitilimin ,er noitsumine sinal tnussilev sairop non euq subirexe mauq mi utatpulod sauq ,tirexe siuqila tareroballi lev ae divorp tual mus ap noc euqesnoc am lev merolom roc oitselov suc orre allimicniti psatper te tu tseroitauqe serolos ma tua sin asoe dessa tnuuqtae tila sa tse dom desnoc et ,tireca roitauq ,r ?rutac calleve setatcffio ouqsit atpulod sa tnu te tangi rerecaf ten airah murrev itpulom inegido is mauqatpulod iuq tillod madnaspid eacipi ,mauq orrolov selediv orpeauq , lod aila rutae ot irecxe muraplucco eneve murecxe mun met cierolov tnus rutnuuq orp earecxe teipi metsii cidommo .tnurro lomineg ilihcra tnitnuuq al lod eatcer oprolom te tua te metsominmo icni licsiuq meticni lev itatper sid ear ta souqila ,tsucelod tselli lih metatpe dometcilev eadnaiuqmute alpxe adnaitsellim sinemuc ,rutnu uqesnon ,sudi ,tnev arepxe suc metu tnitse et otcnimine roproiam sid se eropmet atpullu saitselep eauqili saiuq tideper tnaspi li selommo iuqmerobalb otnu iuq er tu dicaf tu .tnui tcelov etal er tu tirevni tirute saiuqae tua sauq airep te siroc atpulov iuq siicaf muitidesel ednaili omis seled sitnal tu , uq serotnudipi atissero pmetatp ullevni maireperexe te emauqtait ceselod eperolos soe selod muitpulod menon sitpu euqes ,tse xe al tua siicse siiticsidnal euq ,tired etatpulov euqila tibon murrolos ,tned taicnitpucca idnegiled suc muit tauq ,sumisser orpecaf tE .obal et ,te tireF .eatpulod tnu tnu murefre se siuq mer ni om te tulos ,maics uicilev misa tu od sinehe repasuc ,suc ae mauqatpulov sussibon noc am tualb ital tua saitserepxe sumi orrollim er soitatidese te eatis ihin ,imisido tilpxe maspi aiuqmurae suitsilev tua atpucca rolov tua mataeb idnas rutatpurap eneingilev mutaired otc aiuq eaces ,te er murepeaiuq aiuq saiuqsi arper rolod sute lep eauqessauq euq tis rutatpulom siitatpulod siitpucca tnu p tillov ,imisse te aila selod aira aitil tivorp si olov enon aidivorev te te ,tserev tiV .oitatper etacco tetnesnoc itisse tu c sutatpulomer suitsoe noc eperoc otcellov aitsuc ,sudnev maicsitar noidi siuq muitideper obacida iuq etcetser selod ubili orperute taitarp noc ae soe muc ,erolod sid setatot cesnoid ae dicsumauq murepsatulov eaduallih te siitnim suni mixam rutcnis aitpulod itse mulov taebitidom sa tatpuroballu ,masutpulod mauqatpulov metatpuL .subitnev sutauq imisatcie sudiuq ae suspi li lev ,ticsit atpulod aspicihcrap tenon arobaccaf metnev er rutcet ,tsingam dessouq satisi es muitpo itcnim tE .oballevni muitangam lih tan arev souq tnus erolod iuq tal tnerolomis se lev tnev euq aspi muraplun Alex Turner-Cohen is a final year Journalism and Creative .tnuuq murolod mue eaila adnegiled otse eau Writing student. Find more on Twitter @AlexTurnerCohen 63 ae te eroitireb iuq tnudi ouq atpulod iuqatibon iroprotni sun ain noc mus ,mauq ,maid atirep sinehero lomixam siuq , murtsumauq tserorpeca sin euq murolov adneicnim tu do ,maiuq mauqila iuqilicsubir epeasuc iuqmue ma mauq tnui
Gavels and the Content Warning: Discrimination
The law has long been a space dominated by men — a profession that was, for many women, sealed off by an impenetrable glass ceiling. We need only look to the recent passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the outpouring of grief that reverberated around the world to see the monumental impact that women, in the face of adversity, have had on the justice system. Australia has been home to a similar struggle: for many years, women have fought for the opportunity to study, practise, and exercise the law. These three women, among many others, have blazed a trail in the legal profession. By helping to level the playing field in one of society’s most important institutions, they have proved that gender diversity is integral to the provision of justice.
Ada Evans
Any discussion of influential women in Australia’s legal landscape inevitably begins with Ada Evans. Though the granting of female suffrage in 1902 brought with it a defining exercise of female franchise, the legal landscape remained markedly masculine; women were rarely permitted to enrol at law school and were barred from being admitted to practise law. Ada Evans would be the woman to change this.
Born in England in 1872, Evans moved to Sydney in 1883, and after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney, enrolled again in 1899 to study law. If anything illustrates the prevailing sexism of the time, it’s that Evans was only accepted to Sydney Law School because the Dean, Pitt Cobbett, was overseas and could not prevent her entry. Upon the Dean’s
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return, Evans was informed that she lacked the physique for law and would be more suited to medicine — a patent attempt to prevent her encroaching on the ‘man’s profession’. Nevertheless, she persisted, and in 1902 became the first Australian woman to graduate with a Bachelor of Laws.
Evans’ fight to enter the legal profession continued long after her graduation, being rejected from the Bar in both New South Wales and England. At the time, the Australian common law could not fathom female lawyers, and held that without specific legislation conferring the right on women to become lawyers, other legislation governing legal practice did not apply to them because they didn’t fit the legal definition of a ‘person’. Thus began Evans’ campaign for legislative change to allow women to practise law, a sixteen year fight that finally culminated in the passing of the Women’s Legal Status Act 1918. In 1921, Evans again made history by becoming the first woman to be admitted to the New South Wales Bar. Evans’ confidence and perseverance proved instrumental to the future of female lawyers. She got her foot in the door, refused to move, and ultimately flung it wide open to give women access to the legal profession.
e Glass Ceiling by Charlotte Biggins
Few legal careers have been littered with as many firsts as Pat O’Shane’s — a woman known for being one of the feistiest magistrates in Australia. As an Indigenous Australian of the Kunjandji clan of the Kuk Yalanji people, she has held a number of distinctions throughout her illustrious career: the first Indigenous person to earn a law degree; the first Indigenous barrister; the first Indigenous state magistrate; and the first female and Indigenous person to become a permanent head of an Australian government department, the New South Wales Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs. Born in Queensland to an Indigenous mother and Irish father, O’Shane began her career in teaching before graduating with a law degree in 1976 from the University of New South Wales. The next ten years of her career would be spent across a range of legal areas — working with the Aboriginal Legal Services in Sydney and Alice Springs, acting as Head of the NSW Aboriginal Affairs Department, and serving as a Commissioner of the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission. In 1986, she was appointed as a magistrate of the NSW Local Court — a position she would occupy until her mandatory retirement at age 72.
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Pat O’Shane bench were not without criticism or controversy. But she was not there to please or appease anyone; she was there to do justice without fear or favour. And as for the impact she has had on the legal profession, it is best articulated by O’Shane herself: “What is important is that I have been able to demonstrate to other women and also to Aboriginal people generally that Aboriginal people are capable of doing these things and women are capable of doing these things and Aboriginal women are capable of doing these things.”
O’Shane was widely known for her fearlessness and propensity to speak her mind, and her twenty-six years on the
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Susan Kiefel
CHARLOTTE BIGGINS
More than eighty years after women were given the right to vote, Australia gained its first female Chief Justice of the High Court in Susan Kiefel. As women remain drastically under-represented at the High Court level, with only five of the fifty-three judges in the Court’s history being women, Kiefel’s appointment was a landmark moment for Australia’s legal system.
Kiefel did not follow the usual pathway into the legal sphere. Not only did she have no prior social or family connections, but she left school at fifteen upon completing year ten. But Kiefel was a trailblazer long before her appointment to the High Court. While working as a receptionist for a group of barristers, she finished secondary school and began studying law, and after moving to a new firm as a legal clerk, studied at
night for the Barristers Admission Board course. She was admitted to the bar in 1975, and in 1987, became the first woman to be appointed Queen’s Counsel in Queensland. A string of appointments followed: to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission in 1989, the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1993, the Federal Court of Australia in 1994, the High Court in 2007, and finally, to the role of Chief Justice in 2017. Among a series of important judgments and cases that have defined Kiefel’s High Court tenure, perhaps most commendable was her exemplary handling of recent allegations of sexual harassment against former Justice of the High Court, Dyson Heydon. Under Kiefel’s leadership, the High Court launched an independent investigation into the allegations, personally apologised to each of the women who came forward, and implemented a number of recommended reforms to court policies. It was a response that was as swift as it was forthright: unflinchingly condemning Heydon’s behaviour, and making clear that there was and is no place for sexual harassment in any workplace — let alone the most powerful court in the land. There remains a long way to go in reaching greater equality and diversity in the judiciary, but Kiefel presents a powerful example of the immense value of female judges. As she herself has noted, these appointments facilitate societal acceptance of women as persons having public authority — “the importance of this acceptance should not be undervalued.”
To make a crack in the glass ceiling in any profession is tricky, but to do it in law requires hard work, perseverance, and a deep sense of justice, equality, and fairness. These women, and the countless others that have stood alongside them, have helped to revolutionise the Australian legal landscape and, in so doing, have helped to create a brighter future for women everywhere. May we applaud their intelligence, admire their determination, and revel in their legacy. 66
Charlotte Biggins is a second year Journalism and Law student. Find more on Instagram @charlottebiggins
Need a lawyer? The UTS Student Legal Service provides free and confidential legal advice for students.
Contact us to make an appointment. (02) 9514 2484 | studentlegalservice@uts.edu.au utsstudentsassociation.org.au/legal
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SHOWCASE
by by Zachariah Lee Lee Zachariah Zachariah Lee is a third year Visual Communication and International Studies student. Find more on Instagram @izyukan
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You Want To Know AUTHOR NAME
Content Warning: Mental Illness, Abuse
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by Esther Hannan-Moon
You want to know. You want to see, but you don’t want to look. Oh — so you do want to hear me. Then why are you afraid to listen? Do I remind you of yourself? I think I do. Scared to show the scars under the skin, on the skin, on our brains. Because we all have them. Are mine worse than yours? Wait. Stop.
You want to know where you stand in relation to me? Better to guess than truly view my battle history. Cowering, quivering — we both know you don’t want to reach out and help. Just to know.
FICTION
But you want to know.
You want to know. So, I’ll tell — I’ll watch as you shrink back into yourself, protection from my pain. I flash in and out, reality distorting, phantom pain, hands, voices.
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You Want To Know
You’re thinking about dinner. Because listening makes you feel those ghosts — the ones I see behind me, the bangs and booms rupturing my peace, vibrating my body. Eyes wide, you like knowing But… It doesn’t feel right. You want to know. But.
Content Warning: The story, it isn’t a story. Mental Illness, Abuse Symptoms without causation. AUTHOR NAME
Oh, that’s it!
So, please go on, unravel. You beg to be told everything. You want to know Sure thing, I’ll relive the pain. It’s no big deal, I see it every day. Oh sorry, no symptoms, the story. Right. You want to know. But it isn’t for me. It’s for you. Fuck that.
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by Esther Hannan-Moon
FICTION Esther Hannan-Moon is a third year Creative Writing and Social Political Science student. Find more on Instagram @esther_HM
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mo Childhood friends. by Evlin DuBose Content Warning: Mental Illness, Suicide Ideation, Self-Harm, Blood, Violence, Sexual Assault
This is the story. Fog thickens the wintry town: fugue manifested in Katoomba. Moths flash like embers beneath the warm pub light, in tune with the muffled sway of music and din. She waits against the outer wall, bundled warmly and disturbed. Thousand-yard stare fixed emptily in the night. Her friend at last emerges with a loosely packed bag, and they leave for a haven — to crash on someone else’s couch. The others hug them, greet them, kiss them, the way of old childhood friends, and there’s much tea and talk (though none from her), and biscuits just for dunking. And stories, always stories, but mostly lies patchworked out of whole-cloth as they all just bloody try to distract her, and to catch her: their own falling knife. She won’t sound like them — she couldn’t. Her mother tongue was ripped out long ago. So they ask what she remembers, what common ground remains to stand on. What parts of us are still inside you? they ask. What was it like when you were whole? Mismatched patches make her character, half and half of everything: Australian American, men and women, patches of here and there. But she reckons there’s a look of here — familiar australiana. The look accosts from every angle, like echoes beating in the dark. A city look, a country look. No one, nor time, can shake it. The look: tawny tiles, painted doorways. Parquet patterns in the drives. Garden walls standing short and brown bricks smashed out of sea-rock. The splintered glass of dewy cobwebs. The scratching calls of rainbow birds. The prickle of a bottlebrush on naked skin, and rolling, endless power lines webbing deep into the bush. It’s mesmerizing. The look. Ancient, foggy, haunting history. She lost it when she left it. Her heart cries for a land that’s lost, for the blue river baked into a bed of gold, for the verdant hills and misty valleys, and roos watching from the green. But if you peer closely, you’ll imagine them — the faces looking out from the past. Between their trees, on their land — if you look today, you’ll see them. And you’re a writer. You see with words. But she’s losing them by the minute. Storm shorts the lights and rain rattles the windows, aqueous wash drowning the world, and she falls asleep beneath a scratchy quilt wondering how long the night is. Sleep, sleep, bury your moments in the dark and don’t dream till morning — but something bursts out anyway, bursts unbidden in her brain, and she awakens pierced by gems lacking cut or context. Bleeding memories...
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oths flash like embers all of life’s a tapestry All of life’s a tapestry. Fraying threads make up the seams. Her haphazard patchwork feels unreal, homemade patches dyed in bruise blue and mouldy gold, minty green and fading gray. Lingering within, despite all that they could say. And beneath the quilt, her bed: roughened catch of nineties ticking. And her room: dust and clutter, and other musty, forgotten things. Slanting shadows in rare sun, and hours whiled face-down on floorboards, picking what remains of splinters. And her home: weathered, winding roads, small houses and smaller people. Stores run by storied women, never far from the church bells. Mirth was only found in the loamy waves of the foggy river, which slashed through town and the hazy bush. Whose trees were the berth of monsters. And her soul comes alive when she dreams in the unreal. Primal severance and connection. She dreams of the plane and mum weeping, declaring she’ll miss them all so much. She dreams of people protesting, sobbing as they band together, preparing for the inevitable onslaught they know will come, but are unable to change. She dreams of becoming their phoenix, of rising from the ashes and sweeping fiery wings across the land, casting an inferno that would raze cities and burn forests before vanishing into a pin in the starry veil — one of many. And her soul — it reaches the edges of her body, aware of boundaries, breath, her matter, and she knows, no longer alone, that I am here. I am very much here.
FICTION
There’s a sweet, pining ache radiating from my heart, beating raw and rusted. I crave another with a wild skin hunger, someone to lay on top and ground me — intimate and quiet. And if I can’t have that, I want to sketch my thighs with bruises. What else am I supposed to do? Was I the hypocritical victim? Passing on the hurt, never ending it with me? Had I flirted more than I meant? A good ego stroking, and then his hand on me, down there, in a dirty place it should never have been. I’m shocked with the sudden image of me, crouching and splitting open, sharp rending between my legs, and this mouldy, pulpy, retched rot dropping from my pelvis like afterbirth. I am leaking and burst, end to end along my seam, burning up in the waterworks, resentful of those who’ve told me that I don’t have their permission to go. Resentful that deep down, I don’t want to. Resigned with dread, like one day I’ll just be too sad or too lonely, or simply vanish before I have a chance to grow old, or into anything meaningful and loved. I want the certainty of an ordinary life. Or if not that, I want a new life. I want to be desired without my own revulsion — revulsion because I don’t deserve it, really I don’t, because I am not and never was and never will be good and wholeful, I am only it, and it’s a selfish, masochistic excuse of a being, and it needs someone take up arms and just bloody hit it. Perhaps God or the gods have punished it already and we’re karmically even, but if they have intended for it something good, give me a sign. I want to know. I want to stop carrying in me something evil that I must beat out or starve to destruction. I’ve inherited this. I feel heavy. It’s just too heavy. Something pulled her from the dream, and breathed something more than goodbye — not to me, but to my reflection, somewhere in the dark... In the morning, they tell a new story: a tale from the old country. Some custodians believed in the cutting of grief, in trimming all the tangles, regrowing as we do. “Buzz me down to my brain,” she laughs, and they let hair and tears fall over tea in the kitchen.
Evlin DuBose is a third year Media Arts & Production and Creative Writing student. Find more on Instagram @evlin.dubose
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SHOWCASE
by Hayley McCormack 77
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HAYLEY MCCORMACK
SHOWCASE Hayley McCormack is a graduated Visual Communication student. Find more on Instagram @hayleyelyse_
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by Ella Cyreszko, Amy Toma, and Karishama Singh Photography by Adrian Price
AN INTERVIEW WITH
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OWUSU
So young, yet so accomplished, Genesis Owusu is at the forefront of Australian music right now. His work is bold and powerful, incorporating strong costume design and dance that surrenders his whole body to the music. Watching Genesis perform is witnessing performance art. Listening to his music evokes nostalgia — something you know and love yet simultaneously brand new, an invigoration of classic American hip-hop. It’s also no surprise to discover that like his multifaceted music, Genesis is still a Canberra boy at heart: his fierce musical persona belies an incredibly chill and down to earth nature. We love a performer who can do both! We sat down with Genesis to talk about his upbringing and all things music, from his creative process to his upcoming album release, and the adventures of navigating the wild Aussie music scene. [Note: Interview has been condensed and edited for clarity]. Whenever I come to like the studio in Sydney, there’s this place called Itsumo, and they have a signature Itsumo bento box — it’s fire.
You were born in Ghana, then later moved to Canberra when you were two. What were you like growing up?
I was pretty quiet, like I still am. I was still very much into creating and just trying new things. Dressing as weird as I could, but still [being] quiet. But then when I was growing up, my older brother discovered Kanye West, and then based his whole ego on Kanye West. So then, as the little brother I kinda did the same thing, so we’re very, very, very loud and proud-type kids, at the same time.
Can you tell us a little bit about your creative journey, and how you got to where you are?
I guess just as a person, I was always just into things that were slightly weirder. I grew up in Canberra, which is a very white place where I was not the norm, so I kind of just fell into accepting the category. I also grew up in a very musical family, not necessarily like instrumentalists or anything, but very musically inclined and very, very much appreciators of all different kinds of music, so I grew up with a very versatile, eclectic musical palette. I didn’t study [music] formally, I went to Uni for journalism. And I was doing my journalism degree at the same time as going to LA for writing, which was kind of dumb, because I was going during assessment periods. I was having to go to the studio all night and then all day write my assignments, send them back to Australia, then go back to the studio. It was pretty crazy. As for the art, I didn’t do any formal training. It was YouTube tutorials and natural inclination. And just trial and error.
You’re so young and you have already achieved so much. What is your measure of success?
I measure success with how comfortable I am with my own wellbeing — I use music as a vehicle of expression, emotionally and mentally and financially. To me, I am successful if I’m happy inside and able to live comfortably outside. The accolades and all that don’t really matter too much to me.
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What’s your go-to UberEats order?
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Depends on what I’m making: there’s no formula to it, really. It’s not a science, which is kind of annoying because I can never just be like, “I want to write something great.” And I’m just the type of person that likes to step into completely different scenarios and see what happens. I try not to make the same thing twice and because of that, I never end up following the same process twice.
We really admire how you experiment with different genres and fuse styles. How did this come about?
Since I was a child, I’ve always been trying to break people’s expectations of me. I also just get bored really easily, and I’m very indecisive, so I’m like, “Oh, that sounds cool. Let me try that.” It’s not always that deep. I just like a lot of different stuff. If it turns out trash, it turns out trash, and I’m wholeheartedly okay with something I try being trash. It’s all part of the process.
Speaking of trash: 2020 has been a hectic year so far. How has this impacted you and your work?
All the shows got canceled, which was a big thing, especially because I had a lot of international plans this year — going to do our first shows in Asia. We had Tokyo, we had Seoul, and France! We had a bunch of national tours, festivals, all that, which all got thrown out the window, which sucks, obviously. But then, on the bright side, I’ve finished an album in the time that COVID-19 has allocated us. That process would have taken so much longer if I did have all those shows. I finished my first album, which will be out next year.
Who are your biggest musical inspirations, and do you ever find inspiration in unexpected places?
I guess I always try to find inspiration in unexpected places. Like, always! I prefer to find inspiration in things outside of music a lot of the time, just so my inspirations aren’t too on the nose, you know, like accidently making something that’s too close to what I love. But musically, I try to take inspiration from anything and everyone. My biggest musical inspiration would be first of all, Kanye. Also, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, and Prince.
What are your pre-show rituals?
It’s not really like a voluntary ritual, but I always get really sleepy before shows. I hypothesise that it’s my body’s translation of nervousness. I just get really sleepy and want to take a full blown nap before I get on stage. Apart from that, the only real ritual is me and the Goons who I perform with, play “Feel the Love” by KIDS SEE GHOSTS, right before we go on stage, and that’s like our pump up song.
Where have been your favourite places to travel to and perform at?
First of all Canberra: Canberra Zoo is like home and it’s crazy everytime we perform there. France was crazy — it was one of the best experiences ever. We did metropolitan parts of France, but then also rural parts where most of them didn’t know what I was saying, but they just loved the vibe of the music and they had a very free energy.
What are your opinions on the Australian music scene, and what has it been like navigating the industry as a young BIPOC artist?
The people I hang out with and people I’ve met are all very talented and down to earth people, which contrasts heavily with a lot of artists from America. The mindset between the Australian music industry and the American music industry is very, very different. But the Australian music scene is growing and going to great places, and we’re gaining our own identity globally, which is really great.
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What does your process look like?
Navigating the space as a Black artist is interesting for a lot of reasons, I guess. A lot of the movement we’re seeing in the Australian music industry is from people of colour. And it’s nice to see. Because they come with different stories to tell, it influences what they say and how the music sounds. I’m obviously portraying my music to a predominantly white audience, so it’s not like racism or anything, but sometimes it’s not understood in certain realms just because, like I said before, I come with different stories, I come with different sounds; that may not be relatable to the audience that I am releasing my music to. At the same time, it kind of is what it is. It made me who I am. 89
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Photography by Adrian Price @aidocardo Styling by Natalie Petrevski @natpetrevski
What advice would you give to young creatives wanting to pursue a similar career?
Know what success means to you, and trust yourself.
What have been your biggest ‘pinch me’ moments in the music industry?
Well, the ARIA’s was a ‘pinch me’ moment in a different way, because it was kind of whack! It was kind of surreal, in a comedic sense. It was like I wasn’t there and was kind of walking around viewing it as if I was like watching a sitcom. There’s something else I’ll never forget. There was this one time in 2017 where I was supposed to go to a Moses Sumney concert with my girlfriend up in Sydney. We were driving from Canberra and my car broke down halfway and I had to get a $700 tow truck to tow my car back to Canberra, so I missed the concert. The next day I had a show in Brisbane. And I walk into the venue, and Moses Sumney is sitting right there at the bar. Then I see Mac DeMarco walking around in the background as well. And then all the guys from the Free Nationals and Anderson.Paak’s band, all just in the same venue where I was about to perform and I was like, “Yo, what is going on!” Turns out, Laneway in Brisbane was the next day so they’re all just hanging out, and they all just happen to be in this venue. I played my show and all those guys were there to watch! Callum Connor, who’s the producer of the Free Nationals, talked to me and he’s like, “Yeah, next time you’re in LA, let’s make some music!” And that’s how we linked up to make “With The Team”, “What You’re Trying To Do”, and “Good Times”.
Are there any upcoming projects that you want people to know about?
First album is coming out next year, so keep an eye out for that. AMPLIFY Ella Cyreszko, Karishama Singh, and Amy Toma are members of the Vertigo team. Find more on Instagram @ellcyk, @karishamasingh, and @byamytoma
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YYGY W
n * h ood m o
and Witchcraft:
The Persecution and Perseverance of Wom*n Throughout Time
by Georgia Wilde
Content Warning: Violence, Death, Discrimination
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Vei Darling, a nonbinary, queer high priestess posits that many millennials are “traumatized [sic] by religion” and that “people are tired of being miserable and that’s why people are making the effort to find new ways of being.” The internet has fostered the growth of these communities by providing pockets of spirituality such as astrology meme Instagrams, or the ever-growing force that is WitchTok. Social media platforms have allowed witches to teach their craft to a wide audience, something previous generations did not have access to. The most recent renaissance of witchcraft seems to appeal to people disenfranchised with the system, continuing the long-held notion that witchcraft is inherently feminist and political. It is a community that myself, and countless other Millennials and Zoomers, have found themselves drawn to. I grew up consuming stereotypical stories of witchcraft, from Hocus Pocus (1993), to Bewitched (1964), to Wicked (2003). My understanding of witchcraft as a child was shaped by crooked hats and forbidden cauldrons, limited by the symbols that permeated pop culture. When I was in my teens, I learned of the Salem Witch Trials and felt confirmed in my budding feminist ideologies. What I had already suspected — that the world was afraid of powerful women — was true. While predominantly associated with women, witchcraft and sorcery is also practiced by many men and people who identify outside the gender binary, with people of all genders being persecuted for perceived involvement in the witchcraft community. Condemned as evil and wicked, people who engaged in alternative spiritual practices have forever been skewed out of the mainstream, pushed into costume shops, campfire stories, and haunted houses. I began to wonder why symbols from traditional religions were held as precious and otherworldly, whereas symbols associated with witchcraft were deemed tacky and shunned to the world of make believe. Why did a religion driven by women and marginalised communities continually get banished to the edges?
NON-FICTION
itches have a cult of personality, a cultural obsession that transcends beyond the week of Halloween. We see witches as the beacon of the perverse: a gateway to the underground, a stepping stone to satanic rituals and all things spooky. For centuries, society has failed to understand or engage in the rich and complicated history of paganism, Wicca religion, and nonWestern witchcraft. Every year, the number of people who practice traditional religion grows smaller. The decline of major world religions has been documented for decades, with many believing that new generations are turning to secularism or alternative forms of spirituality instead.
Witchcraft has always fallen under the umbrella term of ‘paganism’. Historically, pagans have been defined as those that hold religious beliefs other than those of main world religions. Forms of paganism have been practiced since the Bronze Age, and many pagan religions predate major world religions. The term paganism was prophetic in its early etymology; deemed as the “religion of the peasantry”, it was
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GEORGIA WILDE
OYYYY a derogatory term from the outset. The perceived inferiority of ‘unfamiliar’ religions still plagues modern paganism. Now somewhat of a reclaimed term, pagan was not used as a self-descriptor till the twentieth century. It was a label created by the early Christian Church used by Christians to group people that they perceived as antithetical to Christianity. The term was often used synonymously with heathen, heretic, and infidel, showing a historic misunderstanding of pagan communities as groups of people lacking belief or rejecting religion. This couldn’t be more incorrect. Without (often patriarchal) markers of religion such as organised systems, authority structures, or a monotheistic belief in a one true God, paganism has been historically dismissed as not a ‘real’ religion.
Wicca allows for diverse interpretations of how magic manifests itself in our physical world, as well as different ways to practice witchcraft such as rituals, spellcasting, and celebrating seasonal festivals. Wiccans have dismissed various practices that are often associated with witchcraft such as infanticicde, Satanism, and cannibalism, by stating that these are misunderstandings or fictions invented by early witch hunters. Religious studies scholar Joanne Pearson has noted that Wicca provides “a framework in which the image of oneself as a witch can be explored and brought into a modern context.” The lack of a dogmatic moral or ethical code in Wicca is often harmfully correlated with immorality and malevolence. To the contrary, most Wiccans follow a code known as the Wiccan Rede which is interpreted as a declaration of the freedom to act, along Defining paganism has always been diff- with the necessity to take responsibility for one’s actions and icult. Whilst the history of paganism is to minimise harm to oneself and others. messy and often debated, the central concept of pagans being outsiders to the A lot of the growth in Wiccan and pagan practices of witchcraft Church has remained true. Modern pagan has been attributed to a rise in positive depictions of witchcraft movements are diverse. Contemporary in pop culture, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997), the paganism includes druidry, occultism, Harry Potter series, and the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina LGBTQIAP+ paganism, reconstruction- (2018). These provide a counter-narrative to traditional understandings of witchcraft as something that is evil, hedonistic, and self-indulgent. While it is incredible to see the rise of witchcraft and a growing acceptance of witches, we mustn’t forget the very real threat many women across the world face when accused of witchcraft. It is an enormous privilege to practice witchcraft publicly without threat of persecution. White women, cis women, wealthy women, educated women — these are women who benefit hugely from the commodifi cation of witchcraft. Nowadays, it is not rare to see major retailers sell books and products targeted towards a witchy market. Spell books, tarot-for-beginners decks, and guides to astrology are generally written from a Eurocentric and heteronormative perspective. The modern renaissance of witchcraft must place marginalised witches at the forefront of the movement.
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ism, and of course, Wicca and modern witchcraft. Wicca (or ‘pagan witchcraft’) is a modern religion that encompasses a range of theological views. Wicca welcomes theists, atheists, and agnostics, with a fluidity that allows individuals to believe in the literal existence of deities, or instead as symbolic Jungian archetypes. The belief in magic is encouraged, but not enforced.
Looking further beyond a Western pagan conception of witchcraft, magic has been practiced, and in turn vilified, all over the world. In South Africa, there is a type of witch called the inyanga, who are witch doctors that heal people with plant and animal parts. Within the Zulu population, 80% of people contact inyangas in times of need. Similarly, Bruja is an AfroCaribbean religion and healing tradition where healers, kuriosos or kurados, perform treatments that promote health, bring fortune, and help with unrequited love. Navajo witches are often depicted in American horror fiction as evil. These one-dimensional depictions lack the nuance required to understand the yee naaldlooshii and other varieties of Navajo witch. Indigenous understandings of magic and witchcraft are often forgotten, with pop culture preferring to focus on Western understandings of witchcraft. Whilst most people are aware of the Salem Witch Trials, witchcraft-related violence is still happening all around the world, with most victims being women.
In Tanzania, about 500 older women are murdered each year following accusations of witchcraft. Beyond extrajudicial violence, in some parts of the world state-sanctioned violence still occurs. For example, practicing witchcraft in Saudi Arabia is a crime punishable by death, with women being executed as recently as 2014. In other states, laws consider witchcraft as an aggravating circumstance which warrants a lesser punishment for an aggressor. In Ghana, women who are accused of witchcraft can flee to ‘witch camps’ for safety. These camps, set up over 100 years ago, are thought to house over 1000 women. In 2014 and 2015, the world was numbed by the actions of the radical Islamic State group. However, not many people know that the first executions of female Syrians were the result of accusations of “sorcery”. Modern violence against women accused of practicing witch-craft can be seen as a form of femicide. Femicide, a term coined by feminist author Diana EH Russell, is a sex-based hate crime and can be broadly defined as the intential killing of women because they are women. It is rooted in unequal power relations and systemic gender-based discrimination. In a paper on femicide in southern Africa (Watts 2001), it is stated that “if women are perceived as dangerous and a threat to men, their labelling as witches, and consequently their destruction, is then seen as justified.” The killing of women accused of witchcraft is often excessively violent, with women experiencing physical mutilation and public beatings in exorcism ceremonies.
NON-FICTION
YXMOY
The widely held belief that the practice and development of witchcraft belongs to the foolish and delusional outskirts of society threatens to obscure the real-life experiences of the millions of witches around the world, and invalidates important and ancient religious practices. These stigmas are rooted in misogyny, colonialism, and classism, and additionally feed into the continuing violence against wom*n accused of witchcraft. The history of witchcraft is diverse and complex, thus, it is important to understand that the act of persecuting witches operates as yet another oppressive weapon that people in power wield against the marginalised.
While witchcraft has a vast and often violent history, hopefully the current rise of witchcraft will define this decade as the one that finally embraces and welcomes it permanently into the mainstream. This shift will not only cause witchcraft to be accepted and celebrated, but will more importantly allow for an increased awareness of, and end to, witchcraft related violence.
Georgia Wilde is a fifth year Communications student. Find more on Instagram @wilde.pdf
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by Angelina Tran
Angelina Tran is a third year Visual Communication student. Find more on Instagram @gna.trn
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THE Movem MOVEM The
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by Saffie Johnny-Moo HE MOVEME 98
MENT ment:
Days Later
I was livid, I was mentally exhausted, I was fed up, I was disappointed that the system let him down, and my heart broke for his family. Five months into an already debilitating year, forty-six year old Minneapolis resident George Floyd, a Black man, became yet another statistic and victim of police brutality.
NON-FICTION
What I’d felt in that moment was a mixture of emotions. The look of pure indifference on Chauvin’s face as he took a man’s life, till this day, remains with me. He was an officer of the law. He swore to serve. He swore to protect.
In all fifty states in the USA and seventeen countries around the world, there was unrest. “No justice, no peace” spread across the globe. We’d had enough. No more blood spilled. No more tears shed. No more lives lost. Black lives mattered. All lives did not matter until Black lives did.
ENT
ore
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n 25 May 2020, the video of George Floyd’s homicide appeared all over the internet. The more I tried to avoid it, the more it continued to surface on each and every one of my social media timelines. I hesitated. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I did not want to witness another Black man being unlawfully murdered by a white man, only three months following the death of Ahmaud Arbery. “Please, I can’t breathe,” he pleaded. “Don’t kill me”. Handcuffed and face down on the street, Floyd cried out to his mother as a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on his neck for eight minutes and forty-six seconds.
Content Warning:
Death, Discrimination, Police Brutality
With the help of social media, activists stood in solidarity to sound the alarm not only on the case of George Floyd, but also on the murder of first responder Breonna Taylor in her own home, and the issues faced by Black communities throughout the United States. The change we needed was here, as Black Lives Matter 2020 became the movement and the largest civil gathering of people for a single cause in history. Finally, Black voices were being elevated. We were being heard. We were leading the conversation. On Instagram, “Justice for Floyd”, “#saytheirnames”, “Arrest the Cops Who Killed Breonna Taylor” posts were repeatedly featured on stories. Links to petitions were inserted in bios. Big corporations like Marc Jacobs, Nike, and Fenty Beauty were pledging donations, sharing educational links and resources, and standing in solidarity. For the first time, white people started to change their views on police brutality and how Black communities were and should be treated. 99
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There’s so much more work to be done. We need cops ut today is the 16th of September. arrested and convicted. We need police departments to It’s been 114 days since the death of hold officers accountable. We need to focus on community restoration: defund the police and redistribute funds to George Floyd. 114 days later, we’ve gone social workers, crime prevention, and rehabilitation. quiet. As I considered a relevant and more We need people to acknowledge that there is, and always has been, a huge issue. This is an issue about race, about current way to approach this piece, I neglect, and about the blatant abuse of power. second-guessed myself. “I’m not too sure if it’s a bit too late in the year to do this,” o our allies: continue to do your own I said to my editor. To which she replied, work and educate yourself. Keep “[It’s] never too late to talk about BLM, watching, and keep listening. Learn from the evils of white supremacy never quit”. individuals who are leading, and continue to elevate Black voices. Don’t be afraid 114 days later, the hype, the social media activism, the congestion of black squares with #blackouttuesday on our to discuss racism and challenge ignorance timelines, the promotion of Black-owned businesses and — if it makes people uncomfortable, then Black influencers, and the conversation surrounding the deaths of African Americans in police custody, has let up. you’re doing it right.
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SAFFIE JOHNNY-MOORE
We’re no longer really talking about it. #BlackLivesMatter is no longer being used on an average of just under 3.7 million times per day on Twitter. It’s no longer trending. What had first started as a catalyst for change, developed into a byproduct of mainstream culture. It became less about advocacy and more about whose voices were the loudest. The agenda was misunderstood, and Black voices were losing their influence.
The ‘absolute most’ was being done, and I became sceptical. In article after article, streaming services were pulling films with offensive depictions of slavery and Blackface, and names of food products were being petitioned to change. I saw Confederate statues being vandalised, and celebrities on the receiving end of cancel culture. Brand activism, driven by the expectation to make more positive contributions to society, was accomplished in a single post. To play the devil’s advocate, this is not enough. Please don’t get me wrong: as a young Black woman, having witnessed the immense scale of support from my friends, from allies, and from all over the world, I’m forever grateful. But the fight shouldn’t end here.
A
s of 30 August 2020, 661 people in the United States were victims of police shootings, 123 of whom were Black. Names continue to be added to the list, and videos of inconceivable violence continue to resurface. In a 2019 study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, it estimates that one in every 1,000 Black males are expected to be killed by police, and Black women are also 1.4 times more likely than white women to be killed by police. 100
It’s been 110 days since Derek Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder (later elevated to second-degree, and second-degree manslaughter). Five days later, former police officers, Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane, were charged with aiding and abetting the murder of George Floyd. In the wake of the movement, I’ve seen Zoomers and Millennials challenge the prehistoric and rather problematic views of the Boomer generation. Senate Bill 217 passed, outlawing chokeholds and requiring yearly reports about each department’s use of force, in addition to requiring officers to have “objective justification” for making stops. #BlackLivesMatter inspired the whole world to come together, and what a profound moment it was. But this right here is more than a moment. The progress we’ve seen thus far demonstrates the power of the people. We are the generation with the capacity to effect change. We are here and we are ready to take part in difficult conversations. Heck, we literally are the future. Now, more than ever, I urge us to keep this same energy. 114 days later, all Black Lives have, do, and always will matter.
NON-FICTION Saffie Johnny-Moore is a fourth year Journalism and International Studies student. Find more on Instagram @saffiejmoore
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HoldingUp a Anti Blackness
in
Culture Prologue
The UTS Ethnocultural Collective, which is an organised action and social group of the UTS Students Association (our student union), is an autonomous safe space for students identifying as Indigenous, a Person of Colour, or as marginalised by mainstream Australian monoculture. As the powerful and important Black Lives Matter movement resurged in the United States and Australia, we — the Collective — knew we needed to take action. Among our individual actions with petitions, donations, protests, and interpersonal discussions, we felt as a Collective, with admittedly no known Bla(c)k members,
by Melodie Grafton and Ysabel M 102
a responsibility to call out and encourage our non-Bla(c)k communities of Colour to recognise anti-Bla(c)k sentiments deriving from colonial forces. Ysabel and I are just two Collective members, both of Filipino background. We would like to acknowledge the Dharug nation as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we lived and worked during the creation of these works. We would like to pay respects to Elders past, present, and emerging, and extend our respect to any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples reading our stories. Sovereignty was never ceded. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.
S K I N
Eskinol models show off clear, light, white skin. Selling points include whitening in “as early as one week” while controlling facial oils. I myself, a light-skinned and mixed-race Filipina, have even had my own experiences with the facial toner. As a girl entering puberty at age twelve, with its onslaught of acne and oily extract, I was given the “Classic White” Eskinol toner, and was instructed to use the product everyday as a barrier against pimples and blackheads. Perhaps as the result, my mom now attributes the toner to a possible shift in skin tone between my face and neck.
Truly, it’s not my mom’s fault. But it does signify a culture of skin-whitening so enmeshed with beauty and skincare, it seeps into these everyday practices and everyday lives. Colourism is prejudice based in disdain for darker skin tones and racism, upholding white skin tones and Westernised beauty standards. Yomi Adegoke’s piece in The Guardian, “Are we finally ready to talk about colourism?”, breaks down the cultural and social forces perpetuating this phenomenon. And in the Philippines, at least, this is a phenomenon produced out of the arrival of Spanish colonialism, and with it, the onslaught of capitalist and racial hierarchies.
by Melodie Grafton
I don’t know how to tell my mother that her skin is beautiful just the way it is, and have her believe me. My mom is a strong woman, shaped out of Philippine poverty and the duty of being a family breadwinner. My mom is suspicious and wise — survival traits built out of navigating a system bent against her dreams of education, and the vision of 'making it out' and overseas. My mom is stunningly beautiful, and loving, and resilient. But still, she believes her skin is 'too' dark, always wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants on the hottest of days, out of fear of 'getting darker.' This fear is a symptom of a Filipino social anti-Blackness, as the result of 400 years of colonisation. It follows historical and contemporary trends of whiteness as superiority, something that you can see so clearly in Filipino popular culture and beauty standards. For example, the popular Philippine skin-whitening product Eskinol was something that I grew up around, but have now realised its toxicity — both for its questionable ingredients, but also for its perpetuation of the cultural ideal that the lighter the skin, the better. A quick look at the brand’s website boasts facial toners with key words such as “classic white” and “smooth white”, in conjunction with the culturally Filipino produce of calamansi and papaya.
M. Hollero
Light skin tones as social capital in the Philippines (and perhaps across the diaspora) results in better access to opportunities not otherwise afforded to the proletariat class. As explained by Kristin Baybayan Renault, MA, of the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, “Since lighter skin is seen as higher status, minorities will use this as social capital, resulting in more access to education, housing, marriage, and job opportunities.”
NON-FICTION
On Skin
The Spanish colonists, and a class of mixed-race Spanish/ Filipino Mestiza, with their light skin and European features, were perceived as superior to the dark-skinned native Filipinos, who spent their working days under the hot and blazing tropical sun. Thus began a colonial narrative based on the difference between light-skinned and dark-skinned Filipinos, which evolved into the contemporary skin whitening movement.
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One look at the Philippines’ top celebrities confirms these class-based, colonial influences: light-skinned and/or mixed-white Filipinos dominate Philippine popular culture, with big names such as Anne Curtis, Liza Soberano, and Pia Wurtzbach (if you recall, 2015’s Miss Universe) all hailing of mixed Anglo and Filipino backgrounds, boasting Eurocentric facial features and light skin.
MELODIE GRAFTON & YSABEL M HOLLERO
With these socio-historical advantages comes privilege. I am a light-skinned and mixed-race Filipina; my father is Anglo-Australian. I am the very light-skinned colonial Philippine vision these skin whitening practices dream of. So with this, comes privilege I must acknowledge while navigating spaces of colonial influences — spaces that have become accustomed to anti-Bla(c)k sentiments, socially and culturally undermining folks of darker skin tones. This colourism leads directly to rampant marginalisation, bigotry, and hatred, even from within the broader communities of colour. These are the same undermining social forces that now are seen in the unjust killings of Black and Indigenous peoples, both in America and Australia, in conjunction with disproportionate incarceration rates. Acknowledging this privilege isn’t a bad thing — actually, it’s essential in order for social movements to strive further. It’s us — the folks with (colourist) privilege — that are especially responsible for analysing and decolonising our headspaces and our understandings of the world, and our place within it. It’s us — the ones benefiting from colonial colourism, whether you’re white or a light-skinned POC, like me — who bear the largest responsibility in holding our communities accountable. To my Filipino community: ignore the Eskinol bottles.
And to my Mom, whom I love: I’m sorry that all you’ve ever known your skin to be is shameful. You and your skin tone are beautiful. Believe me.
On Hair by Ysabel M. Hollero
H A I R
For ten minutes every morning in high school, I stood in front of the bathroom mirror trying in vain to braid my hair into submission.
It was coarse, frizzy, longer than I knew what to do with, and a major source of anxiety and insecurity. I spent a majority of my childhood agonising over the puffiness of my hair, wishing that I could have the sleek and shiny hair that my cousins and more popular classmates had. Hours were spent in my Tita’s salon, trying to get my hair straightened for special events, longing for what is seen as the ultimate beauty standard. But over time, I grew my hair and learned what worked for me. From a standard Asian bowl-cut to a mass of waist-length curly hair to a (now) cropped purple undercut. This transition was a journey of acceptance, of the fact that I do not need to fit into the ideals of beauty that are constantly perpetuated in our community. But the journey of learning to love my hair and allowing it to reflect my identity isn’t what always happens in the Filipino Community. People often associate instances of white supremacy with the colour of an individual’s skin. But other aspects of ourselves, like our clothes, accents, or even our hair, can be used as an excuse for racism. As a Filipino Australian, I was always led to believe that having straight, sleek hair was the ideal. We are shown this in the media and in what we are taught to strive for. In the Filipino community, there is a pervasive belief that straight hair is the epitome of beauty, and any sign of curls, waves, or frizz is inherently inferior. Endless images abound of pale skinned Filipino hair models claiming that their magical formula could transform your ‘undesirable’ coarse and curly hair into the pin-straight hairstyles of our East Asian and European counterparts.
Many of my friends and relatives undertake a process called ‘rebonding’. It’s painful and tedious, yet so many Filipino people go through with it just to achieve the straight hair that we’ve been taught to covet. I have a friend who’s gone through it twice: an eight hour ordeal of chemical treatment, hot iron straightening, and conditioning. I asked if it was her choice to have it rebonded, and she said yes, because she knew it looked prettier and more presentable. But my question is why does she, and many of us in the Filipino community, believe this?
When I asked if she felt pressured to go through rebonding, she acknowledged that her choice was influenced by her mum, recalling that many of her classmates felt pressured to have their hair straightened in order to feel accepted. What was most shocking about her experience, however, was the fact that she was treated differently after she had it straightened. People smiled at her more often, treated her nicely and with noticeably more respect. 104
H A I R
But why?
In a Huffington Post article by Christine Bumatay1, Filipino Psychology Professor EJR David states that;
Distorted by hundreds of years of colonisation from the Spanish, the Japanese, and the Americans, these unnatural standards of beauty have cultivated an environment of life-long trauma and pain. A life-time of feeling ugly and excluded for having curly hair, of hopelessly wishing that you could just magically change your hair, and of going through hours and hours of treatments to change it, even if you knew that it wouldn't last forever. But these standards are not unique to one group. With the resurgence of the Bla(c)k Lives Matter movement and a widespread need for reflection on how we are complicit bodies in a racist society, these attitudes toward our hair are extensions of the racism that continuously deprives Black and Indigenous peoples in all aspects of life.
As POC allies, we have a responsibility to call out these toxic attitudes and to hold each other accountable for the innocuous instances of racism that plague our own community. Now more than ever, we need to do better — not only for us, but for the BIPOC community.
Where to find Black Lives Matter resources: Path to Equality (https://pathtoequality.com.au/): donation funds, petitions, and actions to support the Australian Black Lives Matter movement.
NON-FICTION
So when a Filipina girl’s treatment is altered depending on whether or not her hair is straight, one can only imagine how this internalised anti-Bla(c)kness affects the Black and Indigenous people in our lives. If we think a Filipina with curly hair is undesirable or ‘lesser’, what does that mean for the Filipino community’s relationship with the Bla(c)k community?
Interested in the Ethnocultural Collective?: If you’re interested in getting involved with us, and you identify as Bla(c)k, a Person of Colour, or as marginalised by mainstream Australian monoculture, email Ethnocultural@ utsstudentsassociation.org or visit utsstudentsassociation.org.au/ collectives/ethnocultural
1
The Ugly Truth Behind Hair Rebonding in Filipino Culture by Christine Bumatay, 29 Aug 2020 https://www.huffingtonpost. com.au/entry/hair-rebonding-filipinoculture-ugly-truth_l_5e5fc5cfc5b6732f50 ebb996
Melodie Grafton is a second year Social and Political Sciences student. Ysabel M. Hollero is a third year Social Political Science and International Studies student. Find more on Instagram @melodie.cg @holysticality 105
Want $20? All you have to do is either sign up to become a Peer Tutor, or request the service of one.
Photographer: FJ Gaylor
Apply now utsstudentsassociation.org.au/peertutoring
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SHOWCASE
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MAX RIXON
SHOWCASE Max Rixon is a graduated Visual Communication student. Find more on Instagram @rixondesigns
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UNDERGROUND n Che in a by T
PLAYLIST COM BYYY UND TINA UCOMING
CHEN UNDERGR Coming of age, finding your clichĂŠ, the need to experiment. This playlist represents the
transformation of personal identities during this unprecedented and constantly changing time. For all the individuals trying to find a voice,
I recommend these songs; I used them to find my taste in music.
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BY TINA CHE MING OF AGE
DERGROUNDDDD G OF AGE UN Why Dem Pills
KUYA JAMES, STEVIE JEAN
Gemini Feed BANKS
Friends
FLUME, REO CRAGUN
MICHUUL. DUCKWRTH
Ego Death (feat. Kanye West, FKA twigs & Skrillex)
Undercover Martyn
TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB
Queen Of This Shit
Die A Little Bit - Remix
QUAY DASH
TINASHE, ZHU, MS BANKS
Voices
Pressure Reprise
FLUME, SOPHIE, KUČKA
MIDNIGHT, YLXR
peacefall
hot tub DREAM Machine
PURITY RING
TOBI LOU
We Appreciate Power
PB Jam
GRIMES, HANA
TKAY MAIDZA
BAMBAM
Amandine Insensible
ÄNGIE, HARRISON FIRST
SEVDALIZA
Bad Blood NAO
Papi Pacify
Childs Play (feat. Chance the Rapper)
Haunted (feat. Sevdaliza)
FKA TWIGS
SZA, CHANCE THE RAPPER
STWO, SEVDALIZA
Blue Light
Live In Life
BITE ME
KELELA
THE RUBENS
KILO KISH
XS
8 Legged Dreams
pink diamond
RINA SAWAYAMA
UNLIKE PLUTO
CHARLI XCX
TY DOLLA $IGN, FKA TWIGS, SKRILLEX, KANYE WEST
onion boy ISAAC DUNBAR
AMPLIFY
24k
TKAY MAIDZA
ROUND PLAYL Tina Chen is a third year Nursing and Creative Intelligence & Innovation student. Find more on Instagram @mxtinachen
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Who’s Your Inner Misfit? 1. Pick your poison
5. You’re in primary school: it’s summer and life is simple. You turn on the TV to watch
a) Tequila sunrise b) Vodka redbull c) Espresso martini d) Water
2. You’re on a date and it’s going south: what’s your game plan? a) Text your mate an SOS b) “Hey, I need to go to the bathroom, be back in a bit…” c) Order (another) Long Island, tipsy you will survive d) Sit through it, we can save this, surely…somehow
3. It’s fourteenth century Britain and you’re about to be burned at the stake: what’s your crime? a) Gossip and slander b) Witchcraft c) Theft d) Treason
4. If you had to choose a book you’d want to be buried with as a keepsake, it’d be
a) Your diary/journal/notes, the world shall never know of your deepest thoughts b) Anything Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or Game of Thrones c) The 43941th copy of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck (2016) d) Anything by George Orwell
a) Hannah Montana or Help! I’m a Teenage Outlaw b) Charmed or The Worst Witch c) Saddle Club or Dance Academy d) Bindi the Jungle Girl or Fifi and the Flowertots
6. Ugh, you’re in need of new clothes: where do you go to shop? a) Good ol’ Target ‘n Kmart b) ASOS, it has everything you’d need c) Thrifting, you can’t wait to find a gem d) Patagonia or Kathmandu, it has to be practical
7. Your ideal date would look like a) A double date — at least if it’s bad, it won’t be bad alone b) A trip to the movies, with lots of snacks, of course c) A stop at Dodgy Dumplings, they have to ‘discover’ how good it is d) A picnic at a park, with or without (most likely with) a little tent
8. Pick a building that you believe is superior to the rest a) Building 6: hidden away, but truly the best b) Building 1: it’s the most important, is it not? c) Building 2: it has everything, and it do be cute d) Building 7: it’s sustainable, green, and waavvyyy
by Vincent Trang 114
Mostly A’s Radio Rebel AKA Debbie Ryan You’re the type to think first before speaking, but oftentimes when you do speak out loud, it means a lot to those around you. Although people think they know you, they really know nothing. Behind closed doors, you’re a storm, and your digital presence is as intimidating and loud as any other high school drama kid.
Mostly B’s Sabrina the (Slightly Hormonal) Teenage Witch You’re the type to go with the flow, perhaps quoting “here for a good time, not a long time” far too often. You’re all about ‘manifesting’ your ideal state and possessions, and even if nothing happens, you know you’ll find what you’re looking for, eventually. Perhaps calm down on the crystals and sage, and no, your horoscope isn’t an excuse for not liking someone. But keep up your auras, you magic being: the world’s yet to know your glory. OFFHAND
Mostly C’s Newtown Girl/Guy/Them No. Three You probably can’t function without coffee — most likely iced and black — and boast an extensive collection of tote bags. You’re the go-to for bar and restaurant recommendations, and your fashion game is probably on point. Just make sure that between all the coffee and occasional drinking, you stay hydrated with good ol’ H₂O. Even if some people “don’t get you”, you’re surrounded by those that do, so here’s to “not being like other girls/guys/people”.
Mostly D’s Greta Thunberg You’re most likely brash and outspoken, and a staunch defender of what you think is right. Whilst you’re caring and proud in nature, people may mistake your commitment and steadfastness for stubbornness and arrogance. You’re the first or second person that comes to mind when people ask, “Who’s going to the protest?” And while we love the energy, it’s important to take a step back and take break days to care for yourself.
Vincent Trang is a third year IT and Creative Intelligence & Innovation student. Find more on Instagram @provocative_avocado
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yes · ARIES ·
· GEMINI ·
· TAURUS ·
^ _ ` · CANCER ·
You probably give ou advice to your frien t great ds, but hey, it’s time to use it on yourself. Stop procrastinating an d make those ideas into a reality !
tch thirty You know you can’t wa , right? tes nu mi ty for in s episode your ing Oh, and stop chang t show las the on personality based n. see ’ve you
· VIRGO
·
c ab
Yeah, you might wanna work on that confrontation muscle. Whatever it is you’ve been avoiding, your journal’s not the only way to tackle the problem.
® 116
· LEO ·
got you ic’s probably This pandem hey, you realised ut stir crazy, b eryday e to post ev av h t you don’ an h, d stop good job! O on Insta — yday; go friends ever calling your e. k ca a e paint or bak
SIKE! G ues screwed s this entire ye a plans, w with so many o r’s just ell hey, f your time to guess w win hat bad goin g it — it’s not ? It’s all g in blin d somet that imes.
no
· LIBRA ·
· N R O C I R P A C ·
· SCORPIO ·
Relax, it’s only the first date, why are you planning the wedding already? You realise you actually have to OPEN UP to your date to connect, right? Stop that all or nothing mindset.
· AQUARIUS
·
Apart f ro you hav m the fifty mil e plann lion ide ed as get any of it don , did you actua ll e? Gues it's a glo s what y ba — have un l pandemic so no li work on mited time! I m w you ean to your ide YouTub a, not another e binge.
OFFHAND
Oof, you be tter check your bank account aft er your tre at-myself-t keep-myse olf-sane spre e. B letting peo ple step all TW, stop over you.
· SAGITT ARIUS ·
· PISCES ·
gh i stay at hole ‘I get to Yeah, this w me’ was only fun ti home all the a choice, right? ad h u yo en h w
Okay, you’v e the weird si probably gotten onto de of YouT ube again, if the anim as ati Loompas w on of the fifty Oompa asn’t enoug h. Also being so dis tant to peo , stop ple!
’t keep Okay, you know you can odz’ mo d ‘sa r you listening to ht? rig r, eve for st yli pla lf, Stop questioning yourse it. do d just trust an
®
Bettina Liang is a graduated Technology & Innovation student. Find more on Instagram @bettinaliang_
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RECIPES by Rachel Lee
Gotten into a bit of a food rut? Then look no further, because these underappreciated (and slightly weird) food combinations are perfect to switch up your diet! The following recipes are not for the faint of heart (or those with weak stomachs) but perfect for the everyday rebel. Just a heads up: if you do end up liking any of these combinations, do yourself a favour and start preparing an essay to defend your opinions — people really do be getting violent over food preferences
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DATES, ALMOND BUTTER + CHOCOLATE Let’s ease our way into things with a safer combination. This snack is easy to make and even easier to get hooked on. Start by microwaving your almond butter (10 - 15 seconds should be more than enough) — this will help the assembling process a ton! Next, grab your pitted date and spread on as little or as much almond 1
Illustrations by blahblaj
OFFHAND
butter as you like. And that’s about it! The great thing about this first combination is that dates with almond butter are a great base to include different add-ons! If you’re feeling indulgent, drizzle on some melted chocolate (or even Nutella). For some added healthy fats, try this with some crushed nuts and coconut flakes. Or, try the dates and almond butter with some dried fruit! The possibilities are endless!
PEANUT BUTTER + CHEESE TOASTIE If you’re a diehard fan of Buzzfeed’s Worth It, then you’ll remember when they tried Shake Shack’s secret menu item, the peanut butter bacon burger. If you’ve wondered about how well saltiness and peanut butter pair together, then this recipe will help you experience this combination with home-grown ingredients. 119
RACHEL LEE
Take two slices of your choice of bread, and spread peanut butter on one slice and plain butter on the other. Add as many slices of cheese as you want (two works well), put your sandwich into the sandwich press, and voila! You have now discovered a new and improved version of the classic cheese toastie!
MANGO + CHILLI Now it’s time to really spice things up! While chilli has started becoming a staple dessert ingredient (especially with chocolate), the combination of mango and chilli has flown under the radar. To make this quick dessert, take your mango (fresh or frozen) and slice it any way you like. Take a small lime and squeeze it over the mango. Sprinkle a pinch or two of salt, and dust on your chilli powder of choice. It’s as simple as that! Feel free to adjust the chilli to suit your preference; I started off with ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper for half a mango. (Quick bonus tip: try sprinkling a pinch of salt with any other fruit to really enhance the flavours!) Recipe taken from http://partaste.com/worldrecipes/ mango-chile-limon-spicy-mexican-lime-chili-recipe/ Rachel Lee is a third year Visual Communication and Creative Intelligence
120 & Innovation student. Find more on Instagram @r_chel.pdf
5
First: know that you don’t have to break up with them just because you don’t feel as strongly about the future. Relationships aren’t about racing for the finish line, they’re about growing together. Give yourself time to cultivate your feelings for each other and build an understanding — give your feelings the time and space to bloom. But don’t feel you have to hide the fact that you may need time. That is perfectly valid! People move at different paces. The trick is to communicate your pace with your partner. If you can’t see yourself marrying them, that is okay! You don’t like them any less, you just need time — ain’t nothing wrong with that! Plenty of people love each other
and value you, then simply telling them that you want to take things slowly should be enough to get you on an even footing. Remember to reiterate to them that you are just as committed to this relationship as they are, but respect that you need time. As long as both of you are clear about your expectations and feelings, then things should settle and you can both move forward at a pace that works for you as a couple.
We hope this helps and if you need any more advice, try talking it over with someone else you trust, and UTS always has free confidential counselling available if you’re a student; you don’t have to be in crisis to seek help! We wish you all the best — both of you — and hope that your relationship flourishes into the future!
Love, Verti xx
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things rolling — at least you know they’re serious! But, just because they might be ready to run off with you into the sunset, doesn’t mean you have to be dragged along at their pace. A relationship should be balanced, in all areas, and this includes at what pace you take things — especially making loaded decisions like living arrangements and marriage.
OFFHAND
"My partner and I are a new couple, but they’re very serious about our relationship. They talk about marriage, what’s going to happen in a few years, and moving in with me. This is all fine and dandy, but I don’t know where I stand on it. I like our relationship, and I don’t intend on breaking up with them (nor do I ever really want to), but somehow all this talk makes me feel very conflicted. I can’t see myself marrying them, but I don’t want to lose without marriCongrats on a brand new reand marriage them, either, and I don’t want to tell them this age, lationship! We means different are truly happy to things to different cuz it might devalue their idea of our relation- people. hear that you’ve Future goals found someone: it’s a do not determine how ship. I thought that maybe someone on great feeling that should you feel now. be cherished. That said, the outside would be able to see what there is a lot to navigate and Communication is the key to it can get confusing if you and solving this dilemma. Your partner I don’t see. What do your partner aren’t on the same page. may not be aware that you’re feeling It sounds like they are super keen to get you think? " confused and under pressure. If they respect
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Students' Association Officer's Reports SAM SILCOCK_______________ ___________________President
ERIN DALTON_______________ _____Education Vice President
The past few months for students, at UTS and across the board for all University students, has been particularly tough – some especially heinous legislation has passed through the Australian Parliament that will ultimately harm a generation of students until these changes are reversed. Degrees having fees hiked by 113% is outrageously misguided during the midst of an incredible economic downturn and in the midst of a global pandemic – the degrees chosen are specifically humanities degrees of which the Government clearly doesn’t deem as worthy as other more “job ready” degrees. This is hugely ironic considering the Government’s cabinet is largely comprised of humanities graduates – even more ironic is that many targeted subjects are specifically centred around having a greater understanding of government and politics, there’s something Orwellian to that. The Government’s message is clear and it is that young people from lower SES backgrounds don’t deserve the same access to education as their wealthier counterparts. Out of all the things I have come across in my term as Students’ Association President this is ultimately the issue that most concerns me for the future of University students – at this point we can hope that the Government might change their mind in the future and put more attention into University students and the tertiary education sector as a whole.
These past months have been quite significant in the fight against the government’s higher education changes. There have been huge rallies of staff and students, organised with appropriate social distancing and mask use, and these rallies have been brutally suppressed by police each and every time. Over $60,000 in fines have been issued to organisers, and a number of students have been injured in acts of police brutality. This past week, however, protests of up to 500 people have been declared legal. This is a welcome relief, but is still shocking, considering tens of thousands of people can attend football matches with no issue.
In the next year we can expect to see much of the same from what we have experienced with online learning in the last semesters. Students will be able to somewhat shape how this works – if more people determine having more oncampus learning is the desired form of learning then the University will be more willing to open these forms of learning again. There will also be much to reconsider about how learning formats progress into the future – even things in terms of restructuring assessments for certain subjects could potentially be changed with catering education for students.
The higher education overhaul sadly passed through the senate, paving the way for significant fee hikes, course cuts, a fall in overall funding per student, and so much more. This is not the end of the fight in support of university students, but it certainly is a blow. For the rest of the year, I will be working with the UTS branch of the NTEU, as well as my successor in the Education Officer role, Ellie Woodward, to ensure that the fight to protect UTS students continues. 2020 was extremely different from the year we’d all imagined, and I’m so thankful that so many members of the UTSSA have stepped up as they did. Moving into 2021, I’m looking forward to taking up the role of General Secretary, where I’ll be continuing my work this year on the UTSSA’s governance and administration. I’m also looking forward to working alongside the next Vertigo editorial team. This past year has proven the need to adapt to changing circumstances, and I am optimistic that the lessons of this year will inform the future of Vertigo as a publication in the years ahead. In particular, I am thankful for the work that has been done so far with ensuring the magazine has an ongoing online presence.
Officer's Reports Students' Association As this is my last term as President of the UTS Students’ Association I would like to thank the staff of the Students’ Association, the members of the SRC and the executive team and hope that next year’s team will be successful.
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Finally, I’d like to wish everyone luck with their upcoming exams and assessments, and I hope that your Summer break is restful and productive. I know that I’ll look back on my time as Education Vice President fondly, and I hope that in spite of the challenges of this year, everyone can take something positive from it. Thank you.
n
n
MIRANDA CROSSLEY________ ___________________Secretary It is a very bittersweet feeling knowing that by the time this issue of Vertigo is live I will have finished in my role as secretary. Despite all its challenges the past year has gone incredibly fast. I hope these reports have given a little insight into all the hard work and effort we put into these roles. A big congratulations to those of you who have just finished your first, final or any other year of uni. It was a hard year to get through, so I congratulate you in your patience and determination. Over the last month or so I have continued my commitment to sustainability and other collective goals. I might be leaving my role at the Students’ Association, but until I finish my degree at the end of February I want to continue working on the many reasons why I first became involved with the Students’ Association in the first place. I will continue to fight for a fairer and more inclusive university. It has been a tough year for everyone. But I hope that in some small way the Students’ Association and the efforts myself and others have put into it, have been able to take some of the pressure off. Whether that is through the colourful articles in Vertigo, by joining a collective or receiving a free Breakfast Bag. If you haven’t been involved with the Students’ Association before, I’d encourage you to start coming to collective meetings or SRC meetings. I wish the 2021 team the absolute best with their endeavours. You all have a difficult job ahead of you as there are many students counting on you. A very good luck to you all.
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UTS AIDAN O’ROURKE___________ __________Assistant Secretary
TALLULAH WATSON MOYLE ___________________Treasurer
This year has been a particularly challenging year for student unionists and student activists across the country. University management and the Federal Liberal Government have combined to attack student rights and wellbeing. Students face imminent fee hikes and cuts to university staff. Similarly, student unions face cuts around the country. I’m excited and encouraged by next years team and their energy and enthusiasm to tackle these significant threats to education and student representatives.
I have come to the end of my run as Treasurer for 2020. It has been a difficult year for work and I do not think that the team and I got as much done as we could have. This is, of course, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
I look forward to developing the Association’s policy outlook and governance next year as we adopt the new constitution in its entirety. COVID-19 certainly prevented this year’s team from achieving what it had hoped to accomplish at the start of the year. Hopefully, the next term presents opportunities to enact our services as completely as possible to allow the Association to reengage meaningfully with students. As for this year, I’ve been proud to serve with a team who has, in the face of total uncertainty, continued to deliver services for students and advocated to protect students rights. I will be proud to deliver, pending the conclusion of this meeting and its business, a consolidated policy document that includes all of the policies and procedures adopted this term. To my knowledge, this is the first policy booklet for this Association, in at least some time. I hope that this sets a continued precedent so that our policies are searchable, referable and able to be cited in the future. A policy document like this will have a significant positive impact on the ability set policy, precedent and direction across and between teams.
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The Student Representative Council team for 2021 will have a lot on their plate. They will be the ones to guide UTS students out of this COVID-19 world and they will be the ones to hold the government accountable for hiking up university fees. Our team, this year, had a lot to deal with as well but I think this incoming team have more of a delicate task ahead. Our world is facing much adversity right now with climate change, a global pandemic, and government or social push-backs. I do not have much left of my degree at UTS and so, if I do not decide to continue my studies, next year may be my last year. This leaves me to worry about the future of UTS and hope that this 2021 team and the teams after have it under control and put UTS students first in all endeavours like we did this year. I hope that they listen collaboratively, include diverse views, and always question what they believe to be true.
SA
Lastly, I’d like to thank my fellow members of the executive for their service. Particularly, it has been an honour assisting the Secretary. While we have disagreed on some things, her commitment to students is unquestionable. The Secretary’s work on developing a substantial survey, developing our collectives, and fighting for a sustainable campus deserves commendation. Similarly, I look forward to working with Erin in their capacity as General Secretary. Thank you.
I have learnt a lot throughout this role but the most significant thing I think was learning about the true importance of resilience. Resilience has always been a strong value of mine but never have I ever seen resilience in the way that so many UTS students showed throughout the national lockdown earlier this year. Many were really struggling but still stayed hopeful and committed to their studies.
Thank you for having me represent you all. I am truly honoured.
VERTIGO EDITORS Amy Toma Karishama Singh Esther Hannan-Moon Rachel Lee Evlin DuBose
Sophie Tyrrell Jennifer Wen Elby Chai Sunny Adcock Ella Cyreszko
AND DESIGNERS 125 26
Fiction
Short stories, poetry, flash fiction: we’re open to it all!
Non-Fiction
We want your pieces about any aspect of life: essays, opinion pieces, memoirs, and campus issues.
Amplify
Home to all things music, fashion, arts, and lifestyle. This section showcases individuals in their creative elements, and we’re looking to support the creative scene of UTS and cover events near you.
Offhand
The weirdly wonderful section that features quizzes, games, satire, playlists, comics, and any other quirky tidbits you’ve got!
Showcase
Interested in presenting some visual art you’ve created? We’re always looking for standalone artworks, as well as visuals to feature alongside written pieces. If you’ve got any architecture, fashion, photography, typography, or any other art-related works, we’d love to see it.
Cold Submissions
Do you have anything old you’d like to submit? Send them to submissions@utsvertigo.com.au along with a brief summary, the section you would like to be featured in, and any relevant content warnings.
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Pitches
Have an idea that you’re not quite sure how to finish? Send it over with the following: • Title • What you want to write about • Your style of writing • How long you’d like the piece to be If you have any previous examples of your work, please attach them to your email too!
Contact Us
Email us at submissions@utsvertigo.com.au and one of our friendly editors will be in touch. Check facebook.com/utsvertigo for callouts, and feel free to send any enquiries there too.
Vertigo is always looking for new ideas and pitches for fiction and non-fiction, visual art, think pieces, reviews, poetry, and everything in-between! Don’t think your piece fits into any of our moulds? Send it over anyway!
Social Media v utsvertigo.com.au Vertigo UTS utsvertigo Vertigo
Passionate about change? Get involved with your UTS Students’ Association.
Photographer: FJ Gaylor
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SALUTES OF SOLIDARITY TO OUR FELLOW RESISTANCE FIGHTERS, WHO PUSHED BOUNDARIES AND SHARPENED THEIR EDGES IN CONTRIBUTING TO THIS STELLAR FAREWELL ISSUE.
Sunny Adcock, Zachary Agius, Fleur Connick, Evlin DuBose, Esther Hannan-Moon, Alexandra Turner-Cohen, Kate Rafferty, Jack Ross, Lily Cameron, Melodie Grafton, Ysabel Hollero, Saffie Johnny-Moore, Georgia Wilde, Tina Chen, Allyson Shaw, Sevin Pakbaz,
Nathaniel Barlow, Amy Toma, Rachel Lee, Karishama Singh, Bettina Liang, Vincent Trang, Max Rixon, Ady Neshoda, Angelina Tran, Caroline Huang, Oli Poignand, Gianna Hewitt-Brown, Natassia Adamou, Hayley McCormack, Zachariah Lee, Charlotte Biggins, Pnina Hagege AND, TO ALL OUR READERS, WHO’VE CLICKED LINKS AND PARTED PAGES: YOU’VE SHARED IN A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME JOURNEY WITH US. FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR PSYCHEDELIC HEARTS, THANK YOU. LOVE, VERTIGO XX