Verse Magazine Edition 40 - The Sex Edition

To Make Love to a Peach Taboo: The V-Word(s) Manly

Review: Kajillionaire Gender Rolls Glam Rock vs. Gender Norms

Edition 40 Free

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Verse Magazine acknowledges the Kaurna, Boandik and Barngarla First Nations People as the tradition custodians of the unceded lands that are now home to the University of South Australia’s campuses in Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Whyalla. Verse Magazine respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past, present and emerging. Verse Magazine also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and nwaters across Australia.

It was and always will be Aboriginal land.

Contents Cover Image Nina Canala

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Editor’s Letter

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Verse Spotify Presents...

Songs for the Girls, Guys, Gays & Theys

In[ter]view The Broadcast Metamorphosis with Ayla Liebenberg

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To Make Love to a Peach

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Doors

40 Manly

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The Sex Edition Photoshoot

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Gender Rolls

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Imag[in]e with Izzi Selfe

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Drag Comic

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Within This Woman

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Humans of UniSA

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Taboo: The V-Word(s)

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Untitled by Henry Walters

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Eyes of the Innocent Chapter Three: Waves

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Recipe A Sexy Mocha

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Glam Rock vs. Gender Norms

The Great UniSA 30th Anniversary Countdown

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Looks of UniSA

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Navigating Queer Dating

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In the Bathroom at 3am

The Signs As Pioneers of Gender Equality

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Dog Country

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USASA Club: UniSA Women’s Collective

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President’s Letter

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Review Kajillionaire

Edition 40 | 2021

Verse Spotify Presents...

Songs for the Girls, Guys, Gays & Theys This edition we’re discussing more than just Sex, taking all its definitions and offering space for conversation about gender, identity and expression. Have a listen to these perfectly curated songs as you flick through the following pages.

Follow us @versemag on Spotify or scan our QR code to listen.

Collage + Artwork Nikki Sztolc Playlist Stephanie Montatore

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Playlist

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Artwork Lauren Fox

Ever since joining the Verse team in December, I could not get the conceptualisation of this shoot out of my head. I knew that for the Sex Edition I wanted to pull apart gender norms and make a statement – and I think that Nikki, Jake and I did exactly that with this photoshoot.

Inspired by Harry Styles’ 2020 Vogue cover, we pictured Jake in a dress (an act that really shouldn’t be so radical in today’s age) and I wore a suit. I have always found it puzzling that women acting or dressing like men is welcomed in society, and she will often be taken more seriously because of it. Yet, men must strictly stay within the confides of his gender norms or risk ridicule. This is a deeply misogynistic world view that we need to deconstruct.

Models Jake Yang and Stephanie Montatore

In this shoot, these strict lines of gender were blurred completely, leaving Jake and I to be the individual, vibrant and multi-faceted beings we are.

Photography Nikki Sztolc and Stephanie Montatore

Edition 40 | 2021

Imag[in]e Izzi Selfe

Photo (Right) Izzi Selfe Interview Miriam Sims

Izzi Selfe is a third year Contemporary Art student exploring notions of abjection, performance and queer identities through their rich studio practice. Izzi uses a magnitude of camp materials with their favourite spot to source being Costume Land. I was lucky enough to have a chat with them in order to gain a thorough insight into the red and defiant world their practice flourishes within, that being the seventh floor of the Dorrit Black building.

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Edition 40 | 2021

So great to be here in your studio this morning Izzi; we are surrounded by all kinds of captivating objects! Could you tell me a little bit about your studio practice and how these objects came into your life?

Well, on the most part, it surrounds themes of gender identity, gender performativity, the trans body, all in conjunction with the abject and abjection, and how those things kind of fit together as one overarching view of the world. [Also] how these ideas are constructed within society.

What do you think about everyday notions of gender and everyday objects, how do you bring these things into your practice?

There’s lots of gendered objects in the world and everything everywhere is gendered. It’s one of the most powerful structures in which we hold social systems and regulations of all sorts. And, you know, that’s something we all have to live within and navigate, but it also conditions a lot of our existence. Gendered objects and gender in society affects lots of people who don’t conform so easily, or it restricts expression through reinforcement of the gender binary or having... the other word I’m thinking of now… it forces people to… RESIST, yes resistance.

Resistance seems to be a common theme in your work.

In the material you use, there’s a lot of tension and performative actions with literal physical resistance but then also there’s this overarching idea of queer resistance. I think of the idiom of respecting existence or expecting resistance; what are your thoughts on this?

Yeah, no, I definitely agree with you and I think about existence a lot. I kind of retracted from saying that for a bit there because I felt like it was reducing my work’s bigger meaning, or it didn’t encompass the whole idea of embodiment I am wishing to convey in my work. However, I have come back to it recently, the whole idea of just existing, living, and how we exist within ourselves, and [...] within the world and how important, but also, how simulated that can be and how different it is for everybody. I think resistance is a big part of my work, it’s a necessity [that] just lives underneath all my ideas – that idea of resistance.

Top Left Untitled (cock cage) Lower Left Untitled (tampon soup) Right Untitled (dear gay diary)

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Imag[in]e

I guess that goes into theories around gender performativity that Judith Butler has. How do you feel about translating theoretical ideas or ideas that we discuss at our school into a real tangible video on performance that a larger audience can understand?

That is something I am questioning a lot lately. It is something that I think needs to be questioned a little bit more. I think I draw from my own experience, mostly, I draw from my own relationship to objects and material things and in performance and video I try to emulate how I feel about certain things through those notions of theory.

I find your work fairly accessible. For example, you have an excellent Instagram account and operate on the internet as a performance artist, and the theory runs underneath as if it is so paramount to your personal experience. Where can we find your work, to see how your ideas evolve?

You can find bits and bobs on my Instagram, which is titled @untitledizzi. Oddly enough, that’s a bit funny. I just post all sorts of random bits and bobs on there. Sometimes it’s three pictures of myself in a row, just because I feel like it, and other times it’s colours, materials, shadows, objects, my friends. But there’s no sort of continuity within it, just kind of the existence. It’s a document of existence and art, [an] experiment that keeps on going. It all just encompasses my life and myself as a whole. There’s not really any detachment from anything I do. It all happens together in an ecosystem. ▪︎

Do you think that you would naturally perform this much if you were not an artist? Do you think that we are all performance artists?

I believe, to an extent, everyone is a performance artist. I think that everyone performs, one way or another. There’s always an element of performance.

Gender performativity, for example, is that whole idea that we have to repeat something over and over again and ingrain it into our everyday life in order to present, or to create a sense of identity.

GENDERED OBJECTS AND GENDER IN SOCIETY AFFECTS LOTS OF PEOPLE WHO DON’T CONFORM SO EASILY. 15

Edition 40 | 2021

Within This Woman Words Stephanie Montatore Artwork Alpha Woman by Ishika Mahajan

‘Cautious & soft Will control me no longer’, I tell myself behind blushed cheeks.

You frown & My face falls.

I pull my stockings tightly Over years of shame in the very body That has fiercely cradled A fragile child’s spirit.

I am learning to stretch, Puff my chest until I look As loud as I feel.

Do not be fooled by a Perfected pout & staged smile, Within this woman lies a strength Much greater than the bitter hearted Can handle.

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Edition 40 | 2021

Taboo: The V-Word(s) Words Ris Solomon Artwork Nikki Sztolc

When I was sixteen, I decided I was going to lose my virginity.

I had done other stuff before, but I had never had real sex.

Since my eight-grade health class, I had been taught that penetration was what really counted. All this other stuff had been fun, but I wanted the real deal. I wanted to lose my virginity –officially. Months of meticulous planning led up to the big moment; I started birth control, had a loving boyfriend, and found an afternoon where we would be home alone. That was the day I learned about a new, notso-exciting V-word. Vaginismus.

Vaginismus is defined as involuntary spasm/contraction/ reflex of the muscles surrounding the entrance to the vagina, making penetration impossible and/or painful, which causes personal and/or relationship distress. (Sexual Health Australia).

I was beyond crushed. A shameful trip to the SHINE clinic had me diagnosed and set up with a time-consuming treatment plan. Anyone who watched Sex Education on Netflix may recall a glimpse into the exercises and equipment commonly used to treat vaginismus. What Sex Education failed to portray was the frustration, the pain and the emotional turmoil that I experienced during my treatment process. It was like being on my period during ninth-grade swimming carnival all over again, praying for that tampon to just get up there already so I could swim my race.

At high school sleepovers with my friends, I always made up excuses when we talked about our sex lives. I would tell them ‘oh, we’re just never home alone’ or ‘we’re waiting because we want it to be special.’ When I turned 17, the truth slipped out. The news spread from person-to-person until every friend I had knew about my broken vagina. At first, I was optimistic, explaining my treatment plan to those close to me and excitedly discussing the future with my boyfriend. Although the treatment process was painstakingly slow, I began to make steady progress.

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Taboo

I kept my head up high despite the emotional lashings I received from those around me. I would smile through the pain of people discussing my body behind my back (and sometimes, right in front of my face). I would laugh my way through the constant, subtle put-downs from my closest of friends. Things grew harder as more time passed and I made less progress. Slowly, I became excluded from the giggly sleepover-sex-talks I loved as a teenager. The loneliness grew deep.

when I walked in, but I left the office that day with a new sense of clarity. Suddenly, I was no longer numb to my experience. I cried and I laughed, and I cried some more.

Forget the exercises and the equipment. This was the first real step in my treatment. Acceptance.

I never found any stories about vaginismus with a happy ending–to be honest. I have never found more than a couple of stories to begin with. I cannot spin you a great tale of how I overcame my condition and lived happily ever after yet, but I have given you the start of one. After wasting years on anger, I now know how to appreciate what my experience taught (and continues to teach) me.

I thought about publishing this article anonymously, but I think it would defeat the purpose. I am no longer ashamed of my body, and I want you to know that you don’t have to be either.

It wasn’t just me who felt the sting. I can still recall nights I witnessed my virgin boyfriend being laughed at and teased while our friends assumed I was out of earshot. The shame quickly became too much. My partner had never once pushed me or complained. Despite his supportive nature, asking for help felt unbearable. I decided to shoulder the burden on my own.

Soon, I completely halted my treatment plan. The once beautiful, intimate moments of everything else with my boyfriend became less beautiful… less intimate. More painful. Less frequent. We began to avoid the topic of sex.

The feeling of being broken was so painful that my own mind stopped acknowledging it. For months at a time it was like I just forgot. I fell out of contact with those helping me at the SHINE clinic. My self-esteem crumbled. I began to hyper-feminise and hyper-sexualise. I was trying to compensate for my perceived failure. I had failed myself.

I had failed my womanhood. I had failed my boyfriend. I knew it was true the day I heard him announce his “bodycount” was zero. Three years into our relationship. At age 18, we separated. While he swore the breakup had nothing to do with my vaginismus, I still wonder sometimes if things would have been different without it.

As a bisexual, I often wonder if people would look at me the same way if I had been dating a woman instead. I know they wouldn’t still call me a virgin. That V-word my teenage-self held in such high regard lost its prestige. Virginity became nothing more than another heteronormative category I just cannot fit into. I find it hard to believe the intimate moments I have loved and enjoyed with a partner could be disregarded as less important than simple penetration. Realisations like these led me to remove the word “virginity” from my vocabulary altogether.

During my sex education, vaginismus was never mentioned. Thanks to a heavy stigma, the percentage of people who share the condition is unknown. If you have struggled or continue to struggle today with vaginismus or similar conditions, my inbox is open. If you need a friend to support you, or just an ear to listen once, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I am certain vaginismus is only one of many conditions swept under the rug. I encourage you to be shameless in the ownership of your body. Offer support compassionately and ask for it bravely. We can get rid of the stigma, one voice at a time. ▪︎

I was seeing a therapist at the time, and eventually I built up the courage to talk about my diagnosis. It was like opening a valve. Suddenly, I was conscious of my situation. No more shoving it down. No more avoiding it. I talked about my guilt and pain and utter exhaustion.

I talked about my failure to recover and the fear of disconnection. I doubted talking about it would help

You can contact Ris Solomon at solris02@gmail.com

STEP L A E R T S HE FIR . ACCEPTANCE. T S A W S THI MENT T A E R T Y IN M 19

Edition 40 | 2021

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Absurdist Histories

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Edition 40 | 2021

Great UniSA 30th Anniversary Countdown The

Volume Three (20 – 16) 30 years. 30 Degrees. 30 students. 30 accomplishments.

It’s countdown time...

We are hitting our midway point with our massive 30th Anniversary countdown for the University of South Australia’s 30th birthday. To reiterate our year long plan, we are exploring 30 degrees with 30 students, listening to the accomplishments of some our uni’s coolest, smartest and quirkiest students. For our Sex Edition, we have a few treats for you all this time around. We have caught up with creative students, law students and midwifery students amongst others to grow this Verse pantheon that little bit more!

Happy Birthday UniSA and we will see you for Volume Four soon!

Photo Chloe Short + Julia Thomas

Artwork Nina Canala

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Nina Canala - Bachelor of Creative Industries: Digital Media & Social Media For three years I have felt stuck, like my friends were moving so fast, progressing in their careers while I was stuck on a loop of unfinished projects and degree changes. I spent these years trying to mould myself into something with a distinct title: filmmaker, illustrator, photographer, graphic designer or (the worst one…) content creator. When I think about my greatest achievements while studying at UniSA, I think that the most important one, and one that goes most unrecognised, is my ongoing and strenuous route to realizing that I don’t have to choose just one career pathway. The future is messy and exciting. I now understand that I am capable of experimenting with countless mediums and switching up my style whenever I want, and that maybe all of those degree changes were not such a waste of time. Plus, I got the chance to meet the coolest, most talented people ever along the way. Constant creating, competing, collaborating (and crying) with other artists has been the foundation of the most dynamic and valuable relationships I have ever had. And for me, these are the most promising parts about being an artist.

[For further features of Nina’s work in Edition 40, check out Looks of UniSA on pages 56-57 and our front cover!]

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30th Anniversary

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Photo Shivangi Singh

Shivangi Singh – Masters in Health Services Management My biggest accomplishment whilst studying at UniSA has to be an amalgamation of things. Looking back, probably the time when I surprised myself by winning a Student Representative Position on the USASA board. A close second was helping to build and grow the Health Management Society from the ground up with my colleagues and getting recognised for all the work by winning New Club in 2019 as well as Best Club Event in 2020 at the USASA Awards night! I was rewarded by being elected the President of the club in 2021. I also work as treasurer of the Women’s Collective and helped to get that club off the ground. The amount of confidence I got while spearheading different committees at university like Disability, Equity & Access at USASA, as well as sit on Clinical Health School’s Safety and Well-Being committee is unreal. I am so glad for the opportunities that I have received, and I could not have done it without the support of my peers and mentors!

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Michelle Chan – Master of Psychology (Clinical) I am so proud to have had the opportunity to be at UniSA throughout every level of my study! I have been at UniSA Magill for my Bachelor’s, Honours, and now Master’s degree. I’ve been involved with different clubs and laboratories, volunteered, and even worked in different positions. I’m grateful to have cultivated relationships with staff and it’s been so great to grow up with the campus over the years.

[For further features of Shivangi’s work in Edition 40, check out our USASA Clubs feature on the UniSA Women’s Collective on pages 60-61] Photo Don Gable

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Hannah Greenwell – Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Business (Human Resource Management) In terms of big accomplishments, there are a couple of things that stand out. I think finishing one of the most notoriously difficult assignments in the law school was one of my proudest moments; I (for some reason) chose to argue the topic of “judicial power” in front of the mock court while my class happened to be taught by a real former Supreme Court judge. Actually, to be honest, my personal proudest moment was probably finishing that entire subject because the exam was equally as difficult. And I decided that semester would be the best time for me to overload on my subjects (why?). safe to say many celebrations were had on results day, which happened to be in Europe on the law study tour with plenty of others who were equally as pleased. I also won a constitutional law Kahoot on judicial power, and, honestly, I think about it all the time.

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Shania Gamble – Bachelor of Midwifery Throughout my degree, I have had the privilege of supporting women through their pregnancies. During this time, I have been able to form relationships strong enough to become a part of a woman’s pregnancy story. Not only this, but I have had the privilege of attending their births, no matter what hour of the day or night, to help birth the child I have watched and measured grow for 9 months. My biggest accomplishment would be having the opportunity to help a mother in the most vulnerable stage in her life – to overcome the most painful stage in her life – to birth the most important soul who will exist in her lifetime forever. The midwifery degree is not just about studying, it is about helping and supporting women in their journey to become mothers.

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Navigating Queer Dating Words University of South Australia Rainbow Club Artwork Alex Lam

For many, being queer is self-love as an act of rebellion, eschewing traditional social norms of straightness, gender roles, marriage and monogamy. Our relationships and desires for one another have, for large parts of history, been deemed abnormal in some way, ranging from odd and unusual to illegal and immoral. We have had marriage equality in Australia since 2017, but to wider society our relationships remain, at best, hypersexualised, and, at worst, a mistake that must be undone. The truth is that relationships come in all shapes and sizes, and everyone experiences relationships differently, queer or not.

through the narrow dimensions that women should only be able to achieve orgasm through vaginal penetration, that men have uncontrollable sex drives 24/7, and that queer sex is inherently kinky. It sends the message that anything else is wrong and inferior. But these are unrealistic standards that most couples do not need to aspire to for happiness. Despite the impression that seemingly perfect relationships just somehow happen because they are meant-to-be, the reality is that, just like getting HDs, relationships require effort to succeed.

Queer people not only see these “perfect” relationships (the ones where the other half of a person is just around the corner, or the romcom cliché of finding the perfect person when one is not actively seeking) we internalise it. These relationships don’t mirror or uphold a shining example of reality, let alone a queer one. When this is all that we see in our world, it makes it difficult for us to know what a relationship should truly be, and how to make relationships work in a way that is right for us.

Some of us are tragic romantics who are monogamous.

Some of us just want to have a good time with no emotional commitment. Some of us are somewhere in between. And some of us have no idea what we’re doing.

None of these are inherently right or wrong, and everyone is free to choose whatever path to take. What is not okay is shaming each other for who we are. People who desire long-term monogamous relationships are not boring conservative normies. Likewise, those among us who enjoy hookups through Tinder and Grindr are not immoral walking STIs. Some people’s idea of fun is taking a monthlong mini holiday as a couple, while for others fun is being fingered by some gorgeous rando in a nightclub loo.

There is no shame in having a good time.

This is particularly relevant to queer culture. Historically, queerness has gone against societal norms of heteronormativity. A prominent attitude is that we ought to embrace our socially rebellious existence and do the opposite of straight people to prove our queerness.

For some, a defining aspect of queer culture is rejecting monogamy and long-term relationships in favour of hookups, polyamory and kink. But times have changed, and the cultural differences between hetero and queer relationships are slowly merging. It is no longer as taboo for straight people to have sex outside of marriage, be single, or use sex toys.

The media likes to show an idealised image of what relationships should be like, and pushes the idea that this ideal is what everyone should aspire to attain. “Real” relationships are depicted as being effortless, conflict-free, and permanently in the honeymoon phase of love, and heterosexual. Likewise, sexual satisfaction is portrayed

RELATIONSHIPS ARE VALID REGARDLESS OF THE QUANTITY OF TIME IT LASTS; WHAT MATTERS IS THE QUALITY OF THAT RELATIONSHIP. 24

University of South Australia Rainbow Club

Queer or not, we need to respect that everyone has different needs and expectations when pursuing relationships and sex. Relationships aren’t easy, but it is important to realise that everyone has different wants, needs, and priorities. Appreciating a partner, treating each other well, striving to meet halfway and find middleground, and not being afraid to have difficult conversations, are basic building blocks for successful relationships.

Just because someone has agreed to something before, does not mean they will agree to it again. This does not mean being afraid to try new things, but instead to discuss it before doing it.

Commitment is not something to fear and it’s not a dirty word. But some of us just aren’t into it, and that’s fine. It’s important to make this clear to any potential partners and not lead people on if they are looking for something else.

Also, not everyone who wants or is in a relationship will make it a number 1 priority in their life. For a busy person with a lot going on, a relationship becomes a want rather than a need. It’s not impossible to have a hectic life and have a great relationship though, just accept that it won’t be easy and be prepared to face challenges along the way.

Any queer person can attest to the fact that there is an added difficulty for us in forging relationships due to a comparatively limited dating pool, even for the bi and pansexuals among us.

As anyone will know, people don’t just get into a relationship with a person – their family comes attached as a gift. Getting along with a partner’s family is great and can really help things, but if this doesn’t happen it can be a dealbreaker for some. This aspect of dating is particularly difficult for those still living at home with parents, especially if they’re not supportive of queerness.

Our families not supporting us being with the person we care for might put us in a difficult situation of needing to make a choice between one or the other.

Not all relationships work out, and that’s okay. For some, incompatibility becomes obvious after a few mediocre dates. For others, it may not become apparent until major events like moving in or having kids together. But it can be devastating to spend months and years investing energy into making things work with someone only to have it fall apart. It’s important to recognise that relationships are valid regardless of the quantity of time it lasts; what matters is the quality of that relationship. It’s good to engage in a bit of self-reflection after a relationship. Focus on being happy, feeling safe, and learning something about ourselves in each relationship, romantic, sexual or otherwise.

Not up for meeting parents? There is a solution for that.

Thanks to modern tech, some of us will form long distance relationships, and this is easier than ever before. As a society, we need to better acknowledge the validity of online relationships. Although we are separated by oceans, this does not undermine or invalidate the level of care, love, and understanding we have for each other. This is not some imaginary internet friend we have, this is a real person with needs and wants that we care for.

Go forth, love and be loved, or have a great root if that’s what you’re into. You do you.

Want to find out more about the University of South Australia Rainbow Club?

Head to USASA.sa.edu.au/Clubs/Rainbow

One of the challenges in a relationship is open communication. Unfortunately, mind reading is not a thing, so checking with a date or partner to find out what they expect from a relationship is a solid plan. Consent is always vital, and goes beyond sex. Never assume that someone agrees to do something in the bedroom. Consent is about using affirming verbal and non-verbal body language. Keep checking in before, during, and after.

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Edition 40 | 2021

In the Bathroom at 3am Words A.G. Travers Artwork Nikki Sztolc

Standing in the bathroom at 3am tipsy on caviar and white wine

Puking in the bathroom at 3am tongue coated in bile and slime

I reach out to slide my arms around you and you pull me tight against your chest

I reach out for the toilet bowl chest heaving and beginning to congest

I feel you press your soft mouth onto mine your teeth graze before our tongues clash

I fall back against the tile and porcelain discarded like somebody’s trash

You slip your arms around my waist and lift me onto the fireclay sink

I find my feet alone in the dark mascara lining my cheeks like ink

I tug at your sweater, your shirt, and your belt and you unzip the back of my dress

I peel off my T and drop it on the floor and wonder how I got into this mess

You slide your hands up my bare thighs and open them so you can inch nearer

I remember the first time you said you loved me standing in front of this mirror

There is a moan and then a sigh and I see your knuckles flash white

I can’t look at myself anymore I can’t stand the weight of this plight

I feel you press deeper and harder and pry I know I don’t want this to end

But as I leave the bathroom, I hear you: “Lover, let’s just be friends.”

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Artwork An Truong

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Artwork Kaitlyn Davidson

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Poetry

Dog Country Words Jacob Horrocks Illustration Nikki Sztolc

It is an ugly way to share a street As the perpetual sun he ordered Leaves the golden light roasting on her seat— To move would make her life seem disordered.

They should make their ministry of such men Who bargain their sweetness for a greatness And abandon their boys when they are men, Then blame their absence on there being lateness.

For she loved to crash cars where it would show And part her hair down the middle with blood, Which exiled her cheeks from the whole rainbow— She is left with tans and soft-whites that bud Along the cottage lane where she will stay In a car crash fixed to a lighted post, Installed right by the end to their driveway— Its colour reflects how she burnt his toast.

John had mashed her face for striking his back, Keeping their routine to destroy her day, And would leave some sweetness in their racetrack By dying, slowly, somewhere on his way.

Elizabeth Martha Brown was married Twice but it never would stick, and therefore She was hanged last for being so unmarried, Her John being axed forty-five days before— And to undermine her hooded domain, Martha sees an engine powered machine That bounces along a nice country lane That if she could, she would crash on routine.

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Edition 40 | 2021

Review:

Kajillionaire (2020)

Words Jacob Horrocks

In 1721, a Scottish woman named Maggie Dickson was hung for the crime of concealing a pregnancy. Declared to be dead, her body was placed in a wooden coffin, and was carted to the churchyard. On the way to her burial, she woke up and the law determined that she had fulfilled her sentence.

She would live another 40 years as Half-hangit Maggie...

Kajillionaire was released in 2020, as the third film directed by acclaimed filmmaker, Miranda July. It stars Evan Rachel Wood, Richard Jenkins, Debra Winger and Gina Rodriguez as a family of grifters, living it tough in Los Angeles. They skim what they need, they worry about “The Big One”, and they adhere their lives to a self-evident code: the modern way of things is not working.

Last year, in Australia, the national gender pay gap sat at 13.4% amidst a “gender apathy” and seems unlikely to close for another 26 years. This is a real imbalance, and these are historical crimes. We are amid a post-scarcity, post-gender world, but still, we fear that we will not have enough, or will have less than our neighbour. Kajillionaire does not unburden these imbalances in the world, but it does place itself in their orbit, separated from the boulevards of other arthouse, LAbased capers like Drive or Ingrid Goes West. Instead, it is a potent discovery of the pressures of being a father in a female family, of being a mother immune to human touch, and of being a daughter longing to know them both. It is forthcoming with a modern strain of existentialism, where its characters must form their own individual meanings. Death seems to be inescapable, but a deserving ending. It is simple, but significant, and a film I have thought about for close to a year now.

As with July’s other works, Kajillionaire is very twee, quirky, and delightfully sincere. Her perceptiveness and creative concerns here are original, and honest. The setting of Los Angeles experiences small earthquakes that roll across the landscape, tremors that rock storefronts and airports and gas stations. Yet to pay attention through cinematographer Sebastian Winterø’s lens to the extras and background characters, you would not know they were occurring, suggesting they are far more internalised. The film’s score

by Emile Mosseri fluctuates between vulnerable and

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Review

empowering—it has bubble-gum notes set in between sensational arrangements, and every synthesised chord is matched with a human voice. Production design from Sam Lisenco is delectable (the family’s office space nest leaks a pink, bubbly substance that almost demeans the ideal of urban living). Although, to strip the film of these elements and its heavy indictment of capitalism and to really absorb its layers, it is a piece about a young woman learning about her own nature through a nurturing relationship. It is stylish, spellbinding, and tender, with a hidden queer subtext.

desperation for honest, meaningful connection, in which she is not someone’s child, but her own person. She learns to breast crawl, but it is towards a new mother, Melanie, who will provide for her. I cry every time during these scenes that begin to give Old Dolio her catharsis and autonomy.

The character of Melanie is where the film’s themes come to meet. Melanie is a well-groomed and confident woman, loved by her families, and at first, she spikes a verve of jealousy in Old Dolio. But across the film, this transitions into an awakening of all the special, reassuring and especially sexual sensations Old Dolio has been missing—Melanie validates her as a friend, and possibly, as a lover. Where July leaves the story, after a year of national isolation, of passive relationships and virtualised social events, the film must tug at the absences we have felt. To see two emotionally budded women dance and make pancakes and share a room, after Evan Rachel Wood’s own off-screen experiences of domestic abuse, sexual assault and grooming have reached the public, is wholly powerful. At a time where gender roles and gender identities, identity politics, consent, gender coding and queer coding are being reclaimed to the individual, Old Dolio is a special character. She lets us know that the value of a life comes from empathy, and the beautiful person we nurture within ourselves. Since we are not defined by a gender, by a sexuality or by family, but by who we are when we are loved.

Mind you, this is a heist movie, and a vastly entertaining one. The trio rob post offices, hustle an airline for luggage insurance, shake down a kindly masseuse. During one extended scene, after the Kajillionaire family have enlisted a fourth member, Melanie (Rodriguez), they break into an old man’s house, only to find him close to death, hidden away, in need of that familiar glow his house would have had before his family grew up and left him alone. The man is untroubled by their intentions, he simply wishes they perform for him the old noises as he dies: washing dishes, asking about school, watching the game. The scene rings with assurance, the frame lilting with a soft glow, but also a deep sadness, not only for its absence from Old Dolio’s (Wood’s character) upbringing, but for how clearly performative it seems when juxtaposed with most households today.

In an early scene in the film, Old Dolio attends a parenting class. It is during these sessions that she learns of the breast crawl, in which a baby, when placed on their mother’s stomach, will learn to crawl to the breast, and we learn of the origins of Old Dolio’s name. Old Dolio then seems punished from birth, like the repressed offspring of David Bowie’s Thomas Jerome Newton and Scarlett Johansson’s The Female, and Wood defies all expectations of feminine behaviour—her hair grows past her shoulders and parts down the middle, she slouches, her clothes sag, she spends most of the film in a bleak tracksuit, her fingernails are untended, her voice is deeply toned, and she resists eye contact. This way she almost feels responsible for the film’s tone. She learns early on from her mother (Winger) that when a man gives you wood, anything made of wood, he is saying “you give him wood”. All of which colour her

‘Old Dolio might be my ode to all the women that I’ve been in love with’, says July. America’s problems are not Australia’s, but in their margins are the same, shared history of victims. Kajillionaire does then what all successful art does, it generates empathy in those margins. ▪︎

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Edition 40 | 2021

In[ter]view The Broadcast Metamorphosis

Ayla Liebenberg with

Artwork Ayla Liebenberg Interviewer Nahum Gale

The airwaves are home to an evolving spectrum of storytelling through diverse voices that are slowly, but surely, demanding our attention. Amidst this, identity is soaking into the media landscape, arising inclusivity for the voices of those acquainted justly to the terms of gender and sexuality. One of those voices is co-host of UniCast’s Zestful show, Ayla Liebenberg, a student studying a Bachelor of Journalism and Professional Writing with a Bachelor of Arts for Creative Writing and Literature. Ayla is a South African born writer, presenter and feminist, identifying as a gender fluid bisexual. From tales of their teenage years in Port Lincoln to their young adulthood in Adelaide, Ayla sat down with Verse to discuss their early life, struggles with gender and sexuality, representation, the media landscape and, of course, the big question: is journalism really dead? And how does this preconceived notion find its place within a patriarchal system?

The young journalist was happy to jump in head first and lend their voice to queer communities in media. The metamorphosis kicks in as Ayla chronicles the identity of journalism and its history of evolution against their more personal and insightful evolution of self.

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Would you be comfortable explaining the pronouns of the gender you identify as?

That’s actually really recent for me. By really recent, I mean in the summer holidays that have just happened. I had what I termed as a mild gender crisis.

So, I have actually, for a lot of my life, really been quite comfortable in identifying as a girl and it was a huge part of how I identified. But then all of a sudden – I don’t know why it crept up on me so quickly – but, the weight of the she/her pronouns felt really heavy and not comfortable. I think lots of people have a very distinct idea of what they/ them looks like, this very androgynous, more masculine than feminine vibe and I don’t always fit that kind of vibe.

It’s a very recent thing [that] I have been able to be like, ‘I am a gender fluid individual, non-binary.’ I would really like to steer clear of the she/her pronouns, but they/them is a new and very comfortable thing for me. I think its also because of the opportunities I have had to be around people who are trans and gender nonconforming and, so, looking at them and being like, ‘wow, yeah, there’s actually a lot more expression that I could find within myself that I haven’t really been letting out.’

When did you become aware of your gender and sexuality? Was there a specific moment or realisation?

I so vividly remember being on my bedroom floor at 15-years-old with one of my close friends at the time and he was the only one of my friends who wasn’t religious. A lot of the people I was around were religious. And I don’t think I chose him because he was so close to me. I think I chose him because I knew that he at least wouldn’t be religiously prejudice against me. So, I remember having to sit him down and, I don’t know if most people get this, but having that moment before something big happens you get these head spins and things almost feel like you are hovering outside your body. It was that kind of experience where I felt so scared and so horrible and uncomfortable and... it was a moment of relief obviously. I mean it was a lot putting it out there for the first time, because you obviously cannot take that back. Once it’s out there, it’s out there. You are putting a lot of trust in that person, especially being a 15-year-old.

A lot of the time it feels like you are not having a lot of support, because the institutions you are a part of and the place you are living doesn’t support you, regardless of your family. Like the social circles I was a part of would not have viewed me as a human being, but now, as an adult, someone who lives relatively independently in a college situation [with] people at university who I am really close with and have similar experiences with, when I came out, I didn’t feel that dread. I actually just messaged a friend and was like, ‘I am having a mild gender crisis, I think I might start using they/she pronouns.’ Then I did and [my friends] were really supportive of that and then basically I would tell people around me, ‘I’m using these now.’

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In[ter]view

IWILLABSOLUTELY NOT ADHERE TO THE STANDARDS THAT MAKE YOU THINK THAT I AM A WORTHY HUMAN BEING.

A big element of gender and sexuality is identity and I think, importantly, identity is more than just one’s profession. So outside of journalism and writing, how would you express your identity through things like clothing and music tastes?

When I first moved to Adelaide, I was obviously a very forceful individual, ready to absolutely take no shit, very openly feminist [and] active in the conversations that I think were and are important. In no way has that changed, but what I can see from myself and how I was presenting myself was towards the male gaze. I dressed very straight.

Adhering to the male gaze, I looked like a very traditional “girl”. And I guess, at the time, I wasn’t feeling too uncomfortable. I was coming out of an eating disorder at that point so obviously there was a lot of things going on with that.

When I shaved my head, in October of 2019, all of a sudden, I wasn’t “desirable anymore”. So, there was a big thing when I was dressing to cater to the male gaze, to make myself feel like a worthy person and for other people to like me. I realised how much that was true when I shaved my head and, all of a sudden, I wasn’t this desirable object of sex to men anymore. Like all very suddenly, the partner I had at the time was very put off by it. People would come up to me and be like, ‘you looked way better with hair.’ People were just like, ‘you don’t look the same, you don’t look as good.’ I was actually treated worse. So as soon as I wasn’t a sexually desired person, I was just not worth the time of day.

In that process, I think that is what sparked this evolution of my gender identity. I realised that in absolutely no way do I want my value as a person to be weighted against how much you want to fuck me. I became very angry. I was like, ‘I can’t believe all the way up until this point people were just being nice to me because they wanted to have sex with me.’ They might not have actually thought we may ever do it, but in the back of their minds it was their attraction to me that made me worthy of being kind to.

And so, with having a shaved head, I experimented a lot with more masculine clothing. It was all basically a big old fuck you; I will absolutely not adhere to the standards that make you think that I am a worthy human being. I am worthy regardless and I will absolutely not listen to you anymore. And so, dressing more masculine, really leaning into that whole “not trying to dress in a way that is not necessary, on trend or what makes people comfortable” and really sort of pushing the buttons of people and making them feel a little uncomfortable.

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What drew you to the profession of journalism? Was it the influence of early exposure to patriarchal media platforms?

It actually has very little do with my sexuality and gender.

Its more to do with my family back home.

Growing up in South Africa, apartheid ended in 1992 and I was born in 1999. Nelson Mandela was the President at the time I was born and, after that, everyone was so acutely aware of the political discourse that it would have been nearly impossible for me to grow up without being acutely aware of the leaders who were in power. So obviously, I learnt from a very young age from my mother, who was anti-apartheid and was a part of the underground movement who was opposing the apartheid.

So, it’s just this huge generational thing I was taught.

I was raised in this hippie household with all these weed smoking hippies who were like, ‘FUCK THE MAN’. So, I was like, ‘yeah fuck The Man.’ I thought a way to do that would be to go into journalism and critique governments and corporations and the big bosses of the world and be like, ‘you are not doing the right thing and that’s not ok’ and calling that out. And I love politics. I love social activism. I love looking at the history of South Africa. I think everyone criminally underrates South Africa and tosses it off as this country that is riddled with poverty and crime, because it is. Whereas, if you really looked at the colonisation impact, you would see the country had so much going for it until the white people came and fucked it up.

So, that is why I wanted to go into journalism.

Have you ever felt represented in media efficiently and correctly and, if so, whereabouts?

My mother has mentioned to me a Stan show called The Bisexual that she thought I should watch. It helps her understand. I mean, my family isn’t homophobic but, what is interesting, when I came out it was actually really complicated. Even though for them the gays are ok, when they realised their child was queer, they had some trouble with it.

I came out a year later to my mother after I did to my friend and I only did because there was an incident that was essentially an outing and I really couldn’t keep it under wraps any longer. I think it really shocked her because, up until that point, I think I was only outwardly interested in boys because, yeah, I do like guys. But at the time I really liked girls. But now I realise I just like people.

So essentially what happened was I came out at 15, like I said, and I came out to my nonreligion friend. I did however have a group of friends who were really religious, or were actively practising it with their families.

Anyway, I really wanted to come out to them because I wanted to date girls and I really just could not keep this hidden much longer. I wasn’t prepared to tell my parents yet. For whatever reason I felt my friends were the first step for me... I don’t know why. I went to a church service with them, because that was the thing you did. There was this guest speaker. She came to our school and I heard her speak and thought she was really good. She wasn’t your real typical preacher; she was a woman first off and she spoke of all these hectic things that had happened in her life. She was a very imperfect person and she talked about

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In[ter]view

that... but I was sort of set on asking her what to do. I went up to her after the service and said, ‘listen, my friends are religious and I am gay and I don’t know how to tell them and want your advice as a religious person who is obviously an imperfect person and has all these flaws and has done all these things.’ I just thought at the time, for whatever reason, she could give me some sort of guidance. Instead, she said that I was a demon and that I was terrible and awful and would go to hell and that my friends would never love me and if I told them they wouldn’t speak to me because I was disgusting and terrible... which is a lot for a 16-year-old to hear. She was just terrible and not helpful at all and quite horrific and traumatic because I was just like, at that time, ‘I’m going to lose all my friends and I will never be the same to them and they will never forgive me’, as if I was doing anything wrong.

I went home after that, in tears, and my mum had friends over. I went down to my room crying. She saw me and, as mums do, she came and checked on me. I was trying to tell her it was nothing, making up excuses, but eventually she was like, ‘obviously something is wrong’... so, I had to tell her.

Unfortunately, I had very little power over that coming out, which was really shitty. Its important to come out on your own terms because mum wasn’t ready to hear that and I wasn’t ready to tell her. And that was the first time I had spoken to her about it, and then I can’t remember a single conversation about it after that. She sort of ignored it. Then I dated three men after that from 16 to 20, so I don’t think she ever had to come to terms with it. We never spoke about it, so eventually it just got so heavy. The longer we left it, she never asked, we never spoke about it, and then she brought up very randomly one day, when I was home for holidays, the show, The Bisexual. And I think that was her way of trying to connect to me.

I haven’t come out to her as gender fluid. I have decided not to. I have decided I am it. I put my pronouns in my bio and I will correct her when I see her. I have decided not to do that again because it’s so emotionally exhausting. Instead of coming out, I am happening. It is what it is.

Do you have any mentors or idols you look up to?

Definitely my mother and my godmother – huge people for me in my life. My godmother worked for the UN; she would go to the Middle East and help relocate women who have been displaced because of America basically going in and fucking up the Middle East. I sort of distinctly remember when I was 12-years-old waxing my legs (which I felt was an age-appropriate thing to do apparently) making fun of my little sister for not being old enough to wax her legs. I said that in front of my godmother who then gave me an hour-long lecture on why body hair is not terrible and gross and why I shouldn’t be shaming anyone for not removing their hair. I distinctly remember her yelling at me for that. So that was the sort of thing I grew up with. Whenever I see her, she always gives me these things to read and these people to talk to and all these things to think about. She challenges me quite a lot.

I have actually tried to write something about my godmother because what has been tough in the past couple of years is that she is obviously of an era of feminism that was very distinct for the 70s and the 80s and the 90s. Now we’re moving into the 2020s and feminism has changed quite a lot. It’s very hard to have conversations with her now, where I speak about feminism. She obviously knows about it in theory but we practice feminism really differently. She’s a part of the grassroots OG bra burners, that were like, ‘fuck the government, fuck The Man – lets burn down the patriarchy’, but also in the sense that feminism at that time was mostly for women. Now intersectional feminism is for everyone because everyone is affected by the patriarchy. Very, very rightly so she has a very big grudge against men working with displaced women in war torn countries. She has seen men in power do awful and terrible things to the world and people. So, it’s been really hard, not surpassing her in anyway, but like going off in a different direction of feminism and not really being able to connect with that anymore when that was such a foundation for our connection initially.

I REALISED THAT IN ABSOLUTELY NO WAY DO I WANT MY VALUE AS A PERSON TO BE WEIGHTED AGAINST HOW MUCH YOU WANT TO FUCK ME. 37

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What are you currently working on in your chosen field of journalism? What goals have you smashed so far?

I am concentrating on radio quite a bit right now. Initially when I came into journalism, I thought I wanted to do print, and after doing a year of print work (which was fun) we did radio in second year and I fell in love. I thought it was the best thing ever. I really wanted to learn how to structure a show, get friends on board, run a show by myself, run a show with people. I have done all of that being able to work with UniCast.

I am now working at The Wire which is at Radio Adelaide; it’s been the most fun I’ve had. I get to go in every week and write a story all by myself and I get to do my thing, talk to really interesting people and write about stuff that I care about, and go home at the end of the day and show my friends what I did. So, radio is definitely where I want to go in the future. I am really open to moving into print, television or podcasting but right now [radio] is calling to me quite heavily. I don’t know what it is about it, apart from the fact I articulate myself better when I speak than when I write. I like the certainty about it. There is so much more depth to the voice rather than the written word. There is a lot of power in the written word, but I feel like the dimensions of speech in radio can convey a lot that you lose in print. I really love radio and I hope that’s where I end up.

Just for people who say journalism is dead, how would you go about breaking that stigma and explaining what journalism is now?

I think that whole idea feeds into the big idea where the government doesn’t appreciate arts and media like they should.

Its sort of like when people say that arts aren’t important or the humanities aren’t important when they watch Netflix which, you know, obviously an artist creates for, writes for and produces. And people are like, ‘oh I don’t watch the news, the news is stupid’, but then they will go on Instagram and scroll through literally hours’ worth of news. It’s just that thing of nothing being stagnant, everything grows and develops and there’s always a continuous mutation of ideas.

Journalism is not dead, it’s just evolving. And it might have died at some point, but it’s like death and rebirth. For a really long-time, journalism was this one thing where you had a male dominated force telling you what was happening in the way the government wanted you to know it and now that’s not the case when you get people speaking out about their own experiences and their own voice. [They talk] about how journalism is dying and how Rupert Murdoch is seen as this evil man when he’s not “that evil” ... and it’s just like, no journalism is not dying, you are dying, you are gone, you are dead and we are coming. We are growing and [journalism] is not for you anymore. And I think that rhetoric has just been repeated by younger people, because their parents are telling them journalism died. These old men are scared the foundations they have created are crumbling beneath them because now we have a force like social media, radio, YouTube and podcasting to tell stories; the stories they never wanted to tell. They are just saying “journalism is dying’, when it’s not, it’s absolutely not. It’s rebirthing itself. ▪︎

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Poetry

To Make Love to a Peach Words James Finlay Artwork Lucy Keatch

If there were ever a food That enjoyed being eaten My bet would be on the peach Not segments in a can Brightly packaged Swimming in artificial syrup And preservatives To be slurped down in a moment At your convenience No I mean An honest to God Peach One you picked out yourself Ideally picked yourself From a tree in a friend’s backyard Placing your hand delicately on her body A moment before She falls willingly into your embrace Saying “Yes, my love, I will.”

Before you start You must consider that At every moment With a peach You are eating the entire thing No segments like oranges or mandarins No neat pieces you can pull away Like apples of bananas No popping the whole thing in your mouth Like a grape or a strawberry No, with a peach Every bit of flesh must be torn And every piece must be given care At all times Whether held in the hand Or mouth

You may dive right in If you’re determined To make a passionate mess But if you would rather savour Every moment the peach can give you You must first break it apart To do so you must find the seam Caressing the soft pliable flesh with your fingertips To find the sweet spot Where it will yield And then gently, Never be too rough Lest you destroy her, Sink your fingers in And open Let her break open as she will There may not be two neat halves Like an apricot who is so eager to please And be swallowed in two small halves You must get to know her as she breaks And learn where she is still firm And where she is bruised And you must work with these things Rather than ripping through all flesh equally But do not think That she has no power You may be the devourer But the peach will run down your chin Down your arms And make you look foolish As you struggle to contain her And there is no neat little ending Her little morsels cling To the deep little hollows of the pit On which you may suck Or pull out with your teeth

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That is Unless the peach has gotten the better of you And the pit may be too much sweet pleasure And you may wonder If it was as sweet for her as it was for you And her taste will remain on your fingers For the rest of the day Saying “Yes, My love, It surely was.”

For that is the lasting joy That is all yours to savour When you make love to a peach.

Edition 40 | 2021

Manly

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Manly

As a boy, I remember having the pressure of becoming a stoic man, portrayed and encouraged in every element of my horizon.

It engulfed me. By finding research upon this feeling and the effects of, such as the alarming rate of suicide within men, I felt compelled to explore it further. Multiple studies spanning four decades have researched this pressure, one paper Unpacking the Man Box is a study that has defined its walls. I wanted to reinforce a new narrative to what a man’s strength can consist of: a delicate, nurturing weaving of emotional complexity.

These ceramic casts have been created from slip cast moulds.

A process of taking a copy of a live arm and by transferring it into plaster can be cast multiple times from liquid clay into a tangible replica. Creating the original copy is, in itself, an intimate bonding experience where I engaged my male-presenting friends and relatives with questions upon their own experience within “the man-box”. Then with the addition of subverting the use of rope, using knots taught by my father and knitting which was self-taught, I disrupted the utility of the object. By making it ornamental, I negate a pressure upon masculine self-sufficiency and rigid gender roles.

Along with the UniSA’s Contemporary Art Graduate Exhibition at the end of the year, my work, in a debut solo exhibition, Man-akin, will be presented in August for SALA (South Australian Living Arts Festival). The exhibition will be an amalgamation of these pieces presented at the end of last year with the addition of an ambitious sculpture consisting of 30 ceramic casts and over 200 meters of rope. Details will be released with the SALA Program later this year.

Artwork + Photos Samuel Matthewman Words Samuel Matthewman

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Edition 40 | 2021

Gender Rolls Words Victoria Knight

Illustrations Nikki Sztolc

My feminine reinvention didn’t come in high school and, spoiler alert, it’s never come. While it could just be that I am, independently of my body size, gender nonconforming, there has been no moment of gender questioning in my life that has been devoid of some relation to my being fat.

To hark back to high school once more, I remember I used to wear a t-shirt under my school polo, and I used to tell myself it was just to smooth out my stomach. But the shirt also minimised the size of my chest and blurred the shift from my waist to my hips. It stopped me being so conscious of my body. My fat, feminine body. I remember wearing that shirt in any weather, because the stifling discomfort was not worse than the discomfort of there only being one layer of fabric between my body and the world. A world that was cruel about my size; about my gender; about me.

I read this tweet after quite a while of thinking about my gender. I had known I was queer for a long time by this point. But, beneath my identity as a bisexual cis woman, there was this underlying feeling of…

Fast forward a few years and I hit university. I have grown my hair out again, but it’s less about a conscious pivot towards femininity and more that I have not had time to get to JustCuts. But when I do get there, I want it to be short. Cropped, pixie, short back and sides. Just something short. In early undergrad, fuelled with all the drive of a young queer who has just discovered cultural studies, I cut my hair off. And in doing it, I also cut off all of the reasons why I shouldn’t have short hair; for over the years, I had heard a lot of them.

Well, that was just it. I couldn’t tell you what it was.

I had never felt fully disconnected from my gender. I have only ever made one conscious push towards femininity in my life, and it came when high school beckoned. I remember feeling pressure to reinvent myself. Long hair, skirts, and using my full first name is where I would start.

The name thing lasted for less than half of Orientation Day. My teacher announced me by my full first name, Victoria – a name which I have no objections to having (it’s on this article, after all) but one which feels too long, too elaborate and too formal to be spoken. After a handful of times being referred to as such, I asked my teacher quietly if she could call me Tori. I still prefer Tori.

The haircut made me start thinking about how I had been held back from doing what I wanted with my own body for so long. That underlying feeling I had been thinking about regarding gender started to bubble again. I started thinking about how I felt in relation to womanhood, femininity and identity, and everything was touched by opinions about my fat body.

The skirt experiment was similarly short. After a few hours, the lack of stretch in the polyester became too much around my squishy stomach and burgeoning hips. I unclasped the skirt and let out a visceral sigh of relief on the stairs, but felt the sting of the lines embedded into my flesh and the itchy-hot chafing of my thighs long after.

These opinions were not always negative (though anti-fat bias and negativity did feature heavily), but compliments about my body often resided in hyper-femininity; I was thick, curvy, busty. I was sick of the laziness of being complimented only for hyper-gendered aspects of my life I could not control, but equally feeling de-gendered stirred up uncomfortable memories. For a while, I experimented with using both “she/her” and “they/ them” pronouns in an online context. Supportive friends immediately varied my pronoun usage, and I realised just as immediately that “they/them” pronouns were not

The hair lasted the longest, perhaps only because of its novelty and its relative lack of interference in my day… but even that didn’t last. I can’t remember the exact points at which I cut my hair, but my Year 12 photo features a haircut not dissimilar to the pageboy cut young Tori donned from the ages of around four to eleven.

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going to work for me. It took me back to bullies snickering as they sent a friend up to me in the playground to loudly and mockingly ask if I was a boy or a girl. It took me back to the shame that tried to swallow me as I firmly responded that I was a girl, turning to leave with a clumsy sway in my step as I sucked my gut in. Because girls were graceful. Girls were skinny.

My gender feelings are mild. I am not uncomfortable being referred to as a woman. Sometimes when others refer to me as a woman, though, I feel a little… disconnected. It can take me a second to realise that it isn’t an attack on me, it isn’t a bait-and-switch where someone is going to start laughing and ask if, no, seriously, am I a man or a woman? But it’s slight. It doesn’t impact me every day. At the time of writing this, I still consider myself a cis woman. Albeit a gender nonconforming one. Saying that is easier than trying to explain the intricacies of my life growing up as a fat girl. Though I suppose now, I could just send them this article.

Being fat and queer has me existing in a strange liminal space. I am neither here nor there, I am designated genderless or gender-ful depending on what others require of me.

I want to iterate, though, before I go on, that it is beautiful being fat and queer. I would not choose anything else.

Being fat and queer is beautiful, enriching and wonderful.

But things that are beautiful, enriching and wonderful are not always easy.

I am a woman, and I am fat, and those things interact in strange, unpredictable and unusual ways. And while I believe some of these gender feelings certainly relate to being seen primarily as a fat person before I am seen as anything else, I am not just a fat woman. I am also queer. I am a PhD student. I am a friend, a singer, a public speaker and a funky little lesbian gnome barbarian in a Dungeons & Dragons game.

After experimenting with pronouns to little success, I felt disheartened. I felt uncomfortable with neutral pronouns.

Did it mean my gender experimentation was over? That I had trespassed in a space I did not belong in?

My fatness is a part of me, and my gender is a part of me that has been affected by my fatness. I cannot tell you whether that effect has been good or bad, probably because it has been neither. It has just been. And it will continue to be, to evolve and to flourish in this world that I make my way through. I hope to continue surrounding myself with people who make this strange gender journey a little easier for me. And I hope they, and I, can make that strange gender journey a little easier for all the wonderful fat kids to come after us who don’t quite know where they belong. Final spoiler alert: none of us know where we belong. We have to make that place ourselves. And you will, even if that place takes up more space than the world tells you that you deserve.

(Another spoiler alert: no.)

My gender troubles laid low for a while after that, until I read this article’s opening tweet. Kivan Bay is an amazing fat liberationist, and this tweet absolutely floored me. Fat as its own gender? I thought about it for days. I still think about it. And finding it again for this article, I am thinking about it right now. I have thought about it, cried about it, looked at it over and over and just sat with that tweet, because it made me realise that my feelings were not strange. I was not alone in these fat gender feelings. I felt like I had found a place to be.

To simplify the tweet, I have taken it to mean this: fat people are designated as being “other” in society.

Society defines gender not only by what people do, but what they are not allowed to do. Fat people are seen as being outside of these rigid gender norms, so they are “abjected” (think exiled or rejected) as not fitting within gender at all. It is as if they do not exist.

There is a place for you; take up all the space you need.▪︎

I AM NEITHER HERE NOR THERE, I AM DESIGNATED GENDERLESS OR GENDER-FUL DEPENDING ON WHAT OTHERS REQUIRE OF ME. 43

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Artwork Olivia Mannella

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45 Artwork Lucy Edwards

Edition 40 | 2021

Humans of UniSA Presented by On The Record

Everyone has a story...

For the Sex Edition of Verse, On the Record are diversifying their search for compelling human beings that fill our campuses. The student-run publication has allied with Verse for the year of 2021, bringing to print the voices of architecture to business students. In their third deep dive into the university’s cohort, OTR’s reporters have covered all topics regarding this edition’s theme from gender to sexuality to dating in the modern day. Join OTR as they investigate what inspires them in regards to the topical one word theme of sex.

Want more? Scan the QR code to visit OTR’s website!

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Humans of UniSA

Interview by Clem Stanley

Evan Johnson

Photo Evan Johnson

Bachelor of Public Health Sciences

What degree do you study?

I am currently in a Bachelor of Public Health Sciences, but I am planning to hopefully (fingers crossed) transfer into Occupational Therapy (OT).

I want to go into OT [...] to go into the area of sexual health, and work with mainly disabled people and their relationships, as I understand the importance and difficulties with that as a disabled person myself.

What do you think are the biggest issues facing LGBTQIA+ communities today?

Ooft, yeah that is a big one. I guess it is just general social perceptions in a lot of ways. A lot of people still view being queer as a bad thing, but this is also shown in worse ways in society. There is still a lot of violence. I have personally experienced, when I have had male partners, people yelling at me in the streets and throwing plastic cups and stuff like that. So, there’s still violence… but I think overall, as a society, we are progressing past a lot of that if you compared it to like the 80’s when it was a lot more violent. But I think we still have a way to go.

What have the highlights of your study been so far?

It has been really interesting learning about [the medical system] from the other side. Because I have some chronic illness issues, I have been through the medical system a lot, so seeing it from the other side has been really good.

What changes do you hope to see within the LGBTQIA+/ ally space in the next 20 years?

Having less toxic discourse. There seems to be a lot of internal fighting, I don’t really know how to explain it but there is just a lot of people disagreeing with each other. Whereas I feel like we should be focusing more so against the people who don’t like us, rather than within our own groups. Just overall more acceptance from wider society would be really great.

How do you like to express yourself?

I guess I would say I present masculine, but I do some more feminine things. I have been growing out my hair, I paint my nails, sometimes wear jewellery. The way I describe myself is “gender queer man”.

I guess I am comfortable definitely being perceived as a man but feel my gender identity and expression is queer.

Tell me about the UniSA Rainbow Club, what is your role within this?

We represent queer students at UniSA. We do a lot of advocacy for students, so, for example, if they are having issues with teachers. We also do social events both online and in-person. My role is as an Executive Assistant. I joined quite recently actually, and I have been helping out with the advocacy and the planning of things. So, there has been a lot going on behind the scenes that people haven’t seen yet.

How are you currently working towards those changes?

Through the UniSA Rainbow Club we have been working on a lot of student advocacy, especially with the Ally Network as well as getting a queer space at Mawson Lakes set up.

I WOULD SAY I PRESENT MASCULINE, BUT I DO SOME MORE FEMININE THINGS. 47

Edition 40 | 2021

Interview by Chelsea Shepherd

Carolyn Booth

Photo Carolyn Booth

Bachelor of Psychology (Honours)

What are you studying and are you enjoying it?

I am studying psychology. As someone who is queer and has chronic illnesses, I enjoy some content and theories more than others! I am drawn to constructionist research, especially work that is clearly aware of socio-political factors.

Just my luck!

Looking back to my teen and young adult years, so many things make sense now. There were times I would be kissing guys and fooling around (as much as I could without fully breaking the rules) and I would feel no sexual desire at all. I thought it was because I was a sinner and God was punishing me. I realise now that it all depended on the person. Some experiences were genuinely pleasurable, and they were always with guys I had a connection with.

Do you have children and how has having children affected your studies?

I have two junior primary aged boys. Honestly, both parenting and studying with ADHD is a real struggle, both physically and mentally. I am doing my degree slowly, and I am lucky to have an amazing partner. I started studying in my thirties, so I see no need to rush at this point!

Do you believe more attention needs to be placed on gender, sexuality and representation in schools and universities?

I think it’s important to recognise that these educational systems are hierarchical and mostly patriarchal. Therefore, many decisions are being made through a narrow lens. Things could always be better and will change slowly too with so many power imbalances in play.

That said, the people on the ground are doing fantastic work. There has been a lot of research done around sexuality, even specifically at UniSA, and many staff identify as queer. Likewise, I know so many students who are loudly and proudly advocating for education and inclusivity, whether queer or ally. That takes courage.

You identify as demisexual. In your own words, how would you describe being demisexual?

I love sensuality and sex, but I cannot enjoy it unless I have an emotional connection to the person. I have a somewhat open marriage, but it’s rare for everything to align nicely. Even if I find someone aesthetically pleasing, I could not just jump into bed with them.

How did you come to realise that you were demisexual?

It’s a little complicated! My husband and I belonged to a fear-based religion from birth.

Being queer or having sex before marriage was a big no-no. When I left around three years ago, I was finally free to explore my sexuality and my identity.

As well as demi, I also identify as bisexual.

My husband and I then discussed opening our marriage a bit, including sex with other people. I am satisfied with my husband, but, as we married very young, I never got to experience being with anyone else. The idea of having new experiences and then coming home to my husband was intriguing, but the people offering it were not. I found them extremely aesthetically attractive and they seemed like nice people, but something was missing. Then I got to know this one cute guy a bit better and it hit me all at once – I really wanted to have sex with him. I still do. Unfortunately, I got emotionally and sexually invested in someone who isn’t available.

Do you believe society is becoming more open and accepting of different sexualities and gender identifications?

Yes and no. We have a long way to go in Australia, but it’s also important to recognise how things look different globally. There are still many places where it is incredibly dangerous to be openly queer or different in a variety of ways.

That said, being in my thirties, I have seen an encouraging shift toward that openness in the past ten years in our country. The generations under me are incredible and they do inspire us “older” people to examine the lies we were taught. I would like to see ableism get some more attention as there are still ridiculous stereotypes and lacking education when it comes to disability and sexuality.

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Humans of UniSA

Interview by Simone Pickstock

Alycia Millar

Photo Alycia Millar

Bachelor of Law (Honours) & Bachelor of Journalism and Professional Writing There’s a lot of chat suggesting modern dating is lazy and chivalry is dead. What’s your experience with it?

I mostly agree with that. Some people are definitely better than others. It really depends on your relationship with the person. I think how you meet someone plays a huge role, especially if the first time is through an app. People tend to be more direct online; they will just ask you to come over.

If you organically bump into someone though, like at the shops or a café, they will likely display better manners and take it slower. There are things you would never say faceto-face that you wouldn’t even blink at on Tinder.

I agree. I think it’s become too contrived. It’s sad because so many of us are afraid to be ourselves and we end up putting on an act of who we think people want us to be.

I also think it’s hard because of what happens after the cheeky likes and banter. It’s usually always “Netflix and chill”. Is “Netflix and chill” the new booty call?

Definitely!

Do you think that mentality makes it difficult to assert standards with someone you like and to ask for a “real” date?

I think the “old” Alycia found it very difficult because she didn’t want to risk losing someone. The “new” Alycia would be upfront and not waste her time.

How do you meet single people nowadays? I have heard apps are dead and it’s all about “sliding into someone’s DM’s”.

There’s a lot of swiping up on Instagram Stories. It’s funny because the picture doesn’t even have to be of you, it can be totally random. You might upload a pic of a nice view, then someone who likes you can react to it and start a chat from there. Instagram is almost a dating app in itself.

I love that “new” Alycia is empowered. I am curious though… did the “old” Alycia ever agree to a date she was not entirely comfortable with because of her fears?

Absolutely. You can say you would never put yourself in that situation but until you are faced with that reality you just don’t know. For women especially, I think that’s why it’s important to be able to recognise red flags. If we can do that, we are more likely to attract people who will treat us with respect.

Is there a formula to flirting on Instagram?

Yeah, for sure, but it does depend how keen you want to seem. I have friends who have liked an old picture of a guy rather than something recent to get noticed. That’s pretty rare though. If we are talking from a heterosexual perspective, I don’t think guys do it as much anymore because girls might find it odd. If a girl does it though, the guy knows he can start a DM and it’s less of a risk. Commenting straight up takes confidence. That’s risqué.

Why are girls willing to compromise their self-worth for people they barely know?

Oh, that’s tough. Maybe we feel like we have no options, or at least very few. Statistically, there are more women than men in Adelaide. There’s a man drought. I don’t know. Maybe we lower our standards too because we don’t want to be lonely. I don’t think it helps that as women we are taught to be accommodating to everyone, even if they behave badly. Hopefully that is becoming less of a thing now. It’s such a toxic mindset. I want men to know they cannot take us for granted. We are strong and we deserve respect.

Oh dear, all my fears confirmed. There is a formula.

I don’t like that though. I wish it wasn’t some strategic thing where you are constantly playing games with someone.

I would prefer to meet in-person, that way I can gage if they are genuine or not.

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Artwork Connor Brennan

Artemis would you care for us tonight?

Let tides wash away our sinful doings Sins thrust upon us from the day we’re born For we did not choose our lives nor our loves Two heretics in this moonlit temple Two priestesses lost here without a home Eternal worship, our bodies our shrines To stay with her until the end of all Sweet Persephone, allow us time here For I know not how I would fare alone She is my rock, grounding when I fear death Safe in the covers, resting on her chest Sheltered in her arms, wind carries her breath “Someone I tell you will remember us”.

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Words + Artwork Henry Walters

Food Porn

A Sexy Mocha

Edition 40 | 2021

Words + Photos Nikki Sztolc

When thinking about what qualifies as a suitable recipe for our Sex Edition theme, the first thing that comes to mind is iced coffee. My friends and I have a running joke about how satisfying an iced coffee pour is, so much so I started posting almost daily coffee content to my Instagram story. Anyway, my point is: why can’t it be sexy too? When the coffee hits the cold milk it creates that bodacious marble effect (yes I googled “what are some sexy words” to find that). I absolutely froth over a good pour. Pun entirely intended.

Method:

You Will Need:

1. Get your 1 or 2 shots of coffee ready. The effect of this recipe works best if you use a clear glass.

2. Grab your milk straight from the fridge and cold froth it. Make sure it’s as fluffy as you can get it, and if you’re already using dairy milk, you can add a bit of cream for smoothness!

3. Pour the chocolate syrup into the bottom of your glass, then add the frothed milk.

Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup (bonus points for being dairy free) 1 or 2 Espresso Shots Your Milk of Choice (I use Oat!)

4. Pour the coffee into your cup slowly and watch it seep into the layer of milk beneath it.

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USASA Leadership & Club Grants Launch your ideas.

Have an exciting idea for your campus or club that needs a kick-start?

USASA Leadership & Club Grants Program provides funding directly to students looking to enhance their leadership capacity or professional development, and to USASA clubs looking to enhance Students and non-USASA club affiliated groups can apply for: •

Leadership Grant ($1,000) – For students to take part in personal development programs and initiatives.

•

Activity Grant ($2,500) – For non-USASA affiliated student groups to run large social and fundraising events or activities.

USASA Clubs can apply for: •

Activity (max. $2,500) – For clubs and societies to run social and fundraising events or activities

•

Equipment (max. $2,500) – For clubs to make equipment purchases

•

Marketing (max. $2,500) – For clubs to make purchases of promotional equipment and marketing materials

To apply for a grant, students must follow the correct process: 1. Read the Leadership or Club Grant guidelines 2. Meet with the relevant USASA staff member to discuss your grant application - Request for a meeting here 3. Apply for your grant

Find out how to apply at USASA.sa.edu.au/Grants

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Edition 40 | 2021

Glam Rockvs Gender Norms Illustrations Olivia Mannella Words Nahum Gale

Picture this.

Great Britain. Early 1970s. The music scene. The Summer of Love, that brought with it the notorious British Invasion of bands, has long since greyed and turned the once vibrant and colourful land of English rock monochrome. In the wake of this psychedelic hippie rock, music was missing a crucial ingredient that gave it it’s oomph. That ingredient being identity.

Enter glam rock (or “glitter rock” in the United States), a fresh subgenre of rock which saw the diverse and the obscure bubble to the surface. Beyond combining art rock, cabaret, 1950s rock and roll, bubble-gum rock and even science fiction, glam became best known for its revaluation of music identity by playing with gender roles and subverting gender norms. Taking the once overly masculine male rock star persona and donning him with loud costumes, make-up, hairstyles, platform shoes and, of course, glitter, glam promised to push the boundaries of rock long after the British Invasion’s departure.

Glam redefined musical identity and, to celebrate that fact, we have decided to recall a few of these ultra-theatrical rock icons to understand their success, their style and, most importantly, their identities in an ever-evolving music scene that champions the flamboyant.

Perhaps where it all started, Marc Bolan and his band, T-Rex, surfaced come the concluding chapters of the 1960s British music scene and, seemingly, changed rock entirely by the turn of the decade. The dandy sounding vocals of Bolan and the band’s inherent oozing of coolness led them to pioneer status in the newly labelled genre that was glam rock. Their 1970 hit, Ride a White Swan was enough to land them a place in the zeitgeist, but it was not until their next single, Hot Love (which, by the way, was written in 10 minutes) that they truly shaped the genre. Soon came Get It On and, well, the rest is history...

Bursting from their plainer 1960s personas, Slade’s 1971 chart topper, Cuz I Luv You, erected the band as glam icons with their silky style and truly memorable hairstyles.

It was the rock star characteristics that Slade emulated that pushed them close to the top; their riffs, their energy and, of course, their horrendous and complete disregard for the English language with cooky titled hits like Cum on Feel the Noise. Between the latter single and their holiday hit, Merry Xmas Everybody, Slade knew how to craft a unique identity in a genre that was already dripping with unique identities all around... I just doubt their English teachers would have been that proud.

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Glam Rock vs. Gender Norms

Speaking of glam rock bands tied specifically to Christmas, Wizzard arises most notably in reference to their single, I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday.

And it just so happens to be the band’s Father Christmas lookalike lead, Roy Wood, who truly cemented the band in the glam rock history books. Previously a member of Electric Light Orchestra, Wood brought over his experience to Wizzard, injecting orchestral soul and sweet vocals to a fantastical band. Though most notably, Wizzard is where the make-up side of glam really began to take form with Wood becoming one of the most visual male performers of the decade.

You would know them from Ballroom Blitz, but The Sweet was more than just a single song. A band known for continuously producing hit after hit, until their eventual release of the notorious Fox on the Run, The Sweet was just one of those bands who came to define the 70s, specifically in terms of style. The Sweet heightened the fashion game in glam and did it all whilst being a major hit machine.

Although his most popular work rides the lines of pop more than rock, Elton John’s early days in music were in clear flirtation with glam. First appearing on the scene mid-glam era, Elton’s music, like Crocodile Rock, ticked all the boxes of a glam artist, including his appeal to a 50s rock and roll sound, his sci-fi persona of Rocket Man and, of course, his outrageous fashion looks, what with the feathers, the heart-glasses and the glitter. It was no doubt Elton commanded his stage and audience. He made for a true glam rock star. He was kind of perfect. Whether Elton continued his glam persona, who knows maybe the performer could have been the king of the genre... but we seemingly already have a glam king...

He may have not started it, but he certainly defined it. The legendary David Bowie blasted glam rock to the mainstream within the embodiment of his youthful space boy persona, Major Tom, to his cosmic creature character that was Ziggy Stardust. A performative poet of science fiction who blended art rock sensibilities through his Andy Warhol inspirations, Bowie had it all.

Contorting gender with his androgynous appeal, the avant-garde identity of Bowie would go onto carve the face of glam. With songs such as Starman, Queen Bitch and Suffragette City transcending classic and rather fulfilling anthem criteria, it was Bowie’s popularity that kept the genre alive and later made it transatlantic, influencing American artists like Iggy Pop and Lou Reed.

Bowie effortlessly represented what glam will always be remembered as: the genre that prioritised identity. Glam teaches us to embrace our glittery and flamboyant sides, reject gender norms and reevaluate the basic structures of identity to understand who we truly are as people – as individuals.

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Edition 40 | 2021

The Female Gaze The Male Gaze: not only do we exist to perform for it, but we all see through its lens. It is central to everything we know; we are all born into a space that was made for the heterosexual, cisgender, white man and are unconsciously taught, through social behavioural codes, that we exist to appease it.

There has been a significant amount of discourse on the Female Gaze in recent years. To me, the female gaze does not exist as a parallel to the Male Gaze. Instead, it acknowledges the full and complex life of individuals wherein our existence is not a performative act. I think that when we start to examine the intrinsic beauty of people as they exist alongside us, we learn to appreciate our own beauty in the same way, leading us to a fuller, more appreciative lifestyle that isn’t governed by others desires.

You could argue that this set of photos still acknowledges the Male Gaze, even if defying it, but it is so much more than that to me. I met Liv and Jake while studying in my first year of Contemporary Arts. I appreciated their fashion respectively but was drawn to them because they always came to class with confidence in what they wore. In my eyes, these are two individuals that define true beauty through the Female Gaze. Their actions, their temperament and the way that they hold themselves, even when they think that no one is watching, is compelling.

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OK

A

L

O

Looks of UniSA

S OF U

For me, it is much easier to see others through the Female Gaze than it is to see myself in that way. So, I took an outfit that makes me feel pretty, and one that makes me feel bold, and gave them to two people I already adore for so much more than their appearance, in the hopes that I can begin to see myself through the Female Gaze too. We are all multifaceted and flawed, so wear whatever the f*ck you want and just be a nice person. ▪︎

S I N

Photography + Illustrations + Words Nina Canala Models Jake Yang + Olivia Mannella

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Edition 40 | 2021

The Signs as Pioneers for Gender Equality Illustrations Nikki Sztolc Words Stephanie Montatore

For as long as human beings have existed, we have been a vibrant, diverse and driven bunch in a world that hasn’t always been tolerant of our equality. For this edition’s horoscope segment, we wanted to introduce you to some of the names that have fought for female and queer rights throughout history.

These individuals, whether alive today or not, have paved the way for our future and continue to pass the torch to others in this evergoing fight for equality.

Aries 21 Mar - 19 Apr Emma Watson

Taurus 20 Apr - 20 May Tristan Taormino

Gemini 21 May - 20 June Margaret Fuller

British activist, humanitarian and actress, Emma Watson, showed she has achieved far more than a successful career on the screen when she was appointed UN Women Goodwill Ambassador in July of 2014. She has been one of the most influential faces in pop culture fighting for gender equality.

American feminist author, speaker, sex educator, media maker and consultant, Tristan Taormino is passionate about advocating for well-rounded and quality sex education. Tristan is committed to freeing the world of sexual shame and representing marginalised communities.

Margaret Fuller paved the way for working women today. She was the first American female war correspondent as well as a journalist, editor and critic in the 1800s. Margaret was a woman’s rights advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movement.

Cancer 21 June - 22 Jul Malala Yousafzai

Leo

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist for female education, and became the youngest Nobel Prize laureate of all time in 2014. Whilst just a young girl, she defied the Taliban in Pakistan, fighting for girls to be allowed to receive an education.

Transgender pioneer Renee Richards is an American ophthalmologist and former tennis player. Renee famously undertook sex reassignment surgery, and fought to compete as a woman in the 1976 US Open.

23 Jul - 22 Aug Renee Richards

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Horoscopes

Virgo

Trans-rights activist and self-identified drag queen, Marsha P. Johnson was one of the prominent figures in the Stonewall uprising of 1969. At this time, being gay was classified as a mental illness in the U.S., and the bravery of individuals such as Marsha shaped the future of the LGBTQIA+ community.

23 Aug - 22 Sept Marsha P. Johnson

Libra 23 Sept - 22 Oct Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Scorpio 23 Oct - 21 Nov Marlène Schiappa

Sagittarius 22 Nov - 21 Dec Taylor Swift

French writer and politician, Marlène Schiappa became the French gender equality minister in 2017. Since then, Marlène has been leading government action against discrimination, sexual violence and street harassment against women, representing all French women in their fight for gender equality.

American singer, Taylor Swift, came forward with her political stance in 2019. She famously sent a letter to her Tennessee senator urging for the Equality Act to be passed, protecting LGBTQIA+ people and women against violence and discrimination. Since then, the singer has been vocal about female and queer rights in songs such as You Need to Calm Down, The Man and Mad Woman.

Capricorn 22 Dec - 19 Jan Ranjana Kumari

Aquarius 20 Jan - 18 Feb Harry Styles

Pisces 19 Feb - 20 Mar Elliot Page

Otherwise known as AOC, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is perhaps the most influential face in U.S. politics today, having served as Representative for New York’s 14th congressional district since 2019. Well loved

by Gen Z, AOC fights everyday for female rights in politics, making women feel seen and represented globally.

Director of Centre for Social Research as well as Chairperson of Women Power Connect, Dr. Ranjana Kumari has dedicated her life to empowering women across the South Asia region.

She aims to guarantee the fundamental rights of women and girls, increasing the understanding of social issues from a gender perspective.

British singer and actor, Harry Styles, was famously pictured as the first man to be featured on Vogue Magazine in a dress in their December 2020 issue. Harry has become a face for gender neutral fashion in today’s popular culture, redefining what it means to be a “man” today and deconstructing harmful toxic masculinity cultures.

Canadian actor, Elliot Page, is a central face for transgender rights and representation today. Featured as the female protagonist in the film Juno, Elliot has since come into himself as the man he always knew he was, vocalising his journey on social media. He expressed in an interview with Time Magazine his excitement to finally act in his true body.

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Edition 40 | 2021

USASA Club: UniSA Women’s Collective Interviewee Shubhangi Chauhan (President) and Shivangi Singh (Treasurer) Interview Nahum Gale

What is the Women’s Collective and what is your purpose?

The Women’s Collective is a community of women studying at UniSA. This club was crafted as a safe space with the key objectives of fostering equality, equity across all women issues, providing a safe environment for its members to share their experiences and cultivating a culture of inclusion and a nurturing women’s environment.

We have had a few bumps along the way, but that is only to expected when you have a new group of people with such strong views and values working together who haven’t found their groove yet. But they are absolutely amazing girls and we are so lucky to have them and a supportive system behind us in the form of USASA Clubs and everyone else who’s cheering us on from the side.

We have not quite had the same challenges the University of Adelaide Women’s Collective has been facing. There’s been a lot of back and forth with their union, and they have actually had to fight for a place to be considered a club because they were told their initiative is just not important enough or exclusive enough and there were many groups on campus that were kind of vouching for the same thing.

So they have had to find their way in the world, but those girls have absolutely smashed it out of the park.

Being a fairly new club, how has the Women’s Collective experienced their first semester at university?

We have had a great run. We were fortunate enough to get in on the Mawson Lakes Campus Fair and got to interact with so many lovely people from the university, which kind of set the pace for us. It was absolutely heartwarming to see people respond positively to our initiative and they were so ready to be involved.

OUR AIM IS TO FOSTER A COMMUNITY-FEELING SO THAT WE CAN HAVE A SUPPORT SYSTEM...

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Photo Matisse Chambers Artwork Denali Wright

USASA Club

What events do you promote with your club?

We’re still in the planning stages of things. We’re aiming to have our first picnic with another club, so it can be an informal event for people to be able to meet everyone without the pressure of a formal setting. But, in the future, we are looking to establish Saturday morning brunch club. Our aim is to foster a community-feeling so that we can have a support system in the group and then we can probably go on to organising nights out on the town and stuff that everyone else would want to do.

Was there a purpose behind building the club initially?

Was there something to trigger this group coming together now or has it been something you have been working on for a while?

I think it started off as one of those things that kind of stemmed from another thing where people would try and do something and then they would realise, ‘oh there is no support system in place’. So, Lex, who’s our co-founder, was working with the university on a project called Respectful and Safe Spaces for Women. From there it kind of stemmed and they were like, ‘why don’t we have a club that does the support bit of it?’. So, we kind of brainstormed and came up with the Women’s Collective and the absence of a support system was basically how it all started.

It is absolutely difficult to have these conversations, and if it becomes a bureaucratic process of [women] reporting stuff and the support is absent from the whole system there is women that are unlikely to come forward with their problems. That is one of the major things that we recognised.

The onset of a pandemic also brought with itself many challenges to already vulnerable groups of women. I have heard harrowing tales of domestic abuse and new international students undergoing sexual grooming, sexual harassment and exploitation at work [...] it is just the tip of the iceberg. Many girls have come to us and told us tales of how they were pushed into sex work to pay off their lodgings and fees at university during the pandemic.

We also want to advocate for women’s illnesses to be taken more seriously, like drawing attention to problems such as endometriosis and how it is a debilitating disease, but the university absolutely makes no adjustments for endo patients. So, starting up these conversations is kind of where we are at and also the absence of a safe unstimulated place for women to come and talk about these feelings are also what we are looking at now.

that make these decisions such as the sexual harassment, sexual abuse committees so that their opinions can be formed by lived experiences and narratives, rather than what people in a room think is happening. Sometimes the reality does kind of shock people, but ignorance in this case is not the best course of action. We need to go out there and really tell people about what it is people are facing. That is what we are going to start with and we will build from.

Feminism can sometimes, sadly, be thrown around as a bit of a negative word, but what would you define real feminism to be?

Feminism is an intersectional thing. We kind of imbibe everyone in it. Also, with what you said [how] feminism is almost taken as a negative term sometimes, feminism can be accepted in all of its pluralities, like we can still support men and still be there for them whilst also vouching for ourselves. It does not have to be a competition where in people are going, ‘but I like equality better’. We will get to equality when we get to that equal position. An imbalance of power is still out there, [so] for you to get to an equal space first is what matters. That is what feminism is to me. It is intersectional. It is amazing. And it is for everyone.

What is your biggest goal in creating the club? What do you want to get out of this the most?

The cases of domestic violence, harassment and mental breakdowns are increasing. So, it can happen that a woman who is stranger sitting right besides you, she might be feeling demotivated or downhearted and we are not aware of that. She may be needing someone, but with this club we hope to create a confident environment in which each woman can share whatever they want, support each other, empower each other, gather together and start up initiatives for the advancement of women in safety, health and wellbeing. ▪︎

What can people do to tackle these issues women face on campus?

We need to start having open, honest conversations with the university and the people responsible for these things.

We will start there and we will by actively fighting and vouching for female student representation on committees

Like what you’re reading? Find out more about UniSA Women’s Collective at USASA.sa.edu.au/Clubs/Women

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Edition 40 | 2021

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President’s Letter Well, almost, if not half a year down. I’m sure at the time of this magazines release most of you will have either finished your exams or be tidying off your last pieces of assessment. I wish you all the best with your performance this semester. If you need any support, USASA has the Financial Counselling service available for you, or if you didn’t do quite as well as you’d hoped this semester and need some help understanding your options, you can access the USASA Academic Advocacy service.

However, when you put that into perspective with the national averages it paints a stark picture. If we use the national averages as a benchmark, there would be 5718 incidences of sexual harassment, and 435 incidences of sexual assault at UniSA alone using enrolment numbers from 2019. Universities have additional risk factors due to the age demographic and environment which make them particularly susceptible in facilitating sexual violence.

So why don’t the numbers at the university stack up?

Now, sex.

It’s my view that we have a systemic culture of not reporting at the university, and when people do disclose or report, that not enough is done about it, and that the system is not supportive enough of survivors.

Sex can be a fun time, when everyone involved is happy, enthusiastic, and the most important part, consenting. But I had a lot of trouble writing this letter. Sex often feels a bit taboo, and it can be a confronting thing to write about.

Universities have a systemic issue when it comes to handling reports and disclosures, and the tend to seek to protect themselves and their reputation more than protecting the people within them from harm.

I’ll be upfront with you dear reader. This letter was well overdue for the editors because I just couldn’t bring myself to write something positive and upbeat.

So I didn’t.

More needs to be done by universities, but it can seem like an overwhelming task. But you can do things in your day to day to make a difference. Join and support groups like the Women’s Collective and the Rainbow Club, and look at the great work being done by organisations such as End Rape On Campus. If you see inappropriate behaviour, speak out. It starts with each of us trying to do the right thing.

I was watching the 7 News/Advertiser report on sexual assault and harassment reporting numbers at universities across the state. Here at UniSA, there were 40 incidences reported between August 2018 and May 2020. Now, some of the number boffins here at the University might jump up and down with glee at that number. Its so low!

They might echo.

If this has brought anything up for you, you’re not alone, and you are believed.

Emergency Counselling Hotline: 1800 RESPECT Yarrow Place – 8226 8787

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Express your creativity and have your artwork exhibited as a year-long outdoor mural on City West Campus.

Open to all UniSA Students.

Submit your artwork by Friday 16 July for your chance to win

one of two $500 Gift Pay vouchers.

USASA. sa.edu.au/ ArtOnCampus

Check out some of the 2020 exhibiting artist below.

Contributors AG Travers Alex Lam Alycia Millar An Truong Angus Walters Ayla Liebenberg Carolyn Booth Chelsea Shepherd Clem Stanley Connor Brennan Evan Johnson Hannah Greenwell Ishika Mahajan Izzi Selfe Jacob Horrocks Jake Yang James Finlay Kaitlyn Davison Lauren Fox Lucy Edwards Lucy Keatch Michelle Chan Miriam Sims Nahum Gale Nikki Sztolc Nina Canala Noah Beckmann Olivia Mannella On the Record Ris Solomon Rylee Cooper Samuel Matthewman Shania Gamble Shivangi Singh Shubhangi Chauhan Simone Pickstock Stephanie Montatore UniSA Women’s Collective University of South Australia Rainbow Club Victoria Knight

@agtravers @alexolotl_love @alyciaamillar @_truong_ngoc_an_ @musical_0wl @aylanotalaya @carolynanne_b @chelseashepherd_ @clemstanley2 @visualsbyconnor @nuclear_droid @han.greenwell @ishikamahajan2001 @untitledizzi @jakey_yang @kaitlyn.dvsn @laurenfoxwrites @lucyedwards.creative @lucykeatch @tenacit.y @nahumsphotos @arkadiavisuals @outgrown @noahbeckmann @livroseart @ontherecordunisa @cooper.rylee @sam.matthewman.artist @shhan.ia @lucid.acid @shubchau @dimsim___ @stephanie_montatore_ @unisawoco @unisarainbowclub @vrknight4

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