Category: gender

Book Review: Rachel Hills, The Sex Myth

May 22, 2016

There aren’t many books out there that are a) about sex and sexuality, and b) ace-friendly. So when I first came across Australian journalist Rachel Hill’s book The Sex Myth: The Gap Between Our Fantasies and Reality last year, I was pretty excited, but also slightly nervous. (The nervousness I blame on all those anthropology textbooks I had to read for university one semester that told me that sex was inherently what makes us human – and, well, most of what is written about sex in general.)

Turns out that I really didn’t have to worry in this case, because The Sex Myth is one of the most ace-friendly books about sexuality and sexual culture (for lack of a better term) I’ve ever read. So I thought I’d share some of my thoughts on the book here – alongside copious quotes to illustrate why I like this book so much.

The Sex Myth is all about the role that sex plays in our lives and our society – and critiquing the way that sex has become so all-encompassing, so fundamental to our identities and self-worth and ideas of success, that is has become more powerful and more elevated than all other things we do … More Book Review: Rachel Hills, The Sex Myth

The Stuff in Between (some thoughts on sex and gender)

April 28, 2015

Something every new feminist, I think, has to contend with at some point is the question of gender, and what it really is. My own understanding of this question has gone through quite a few evolutions over the years I’ve been interested in feminism and its theory and practice. This post is a bit of a reflection on my own changing understanding of sex and gender and the relationship of the two – nothing cohesive, just some of my own musings over the years.

The first revelation came quite easily, at some point in high school, the idea that sex and gender are not actually the same thing. It’s the most basic realisation of gender studies, social science, anthropology and most humanities fields, and since I picked up on it, it’s felt so commonplace and obvious I have to roll my eyes when my intro to anthropology lecturer spends a whole lecture on it, only to continue to get it wrong throughout … More The Stuff in Between (some thoughts on sex and gender)

The 82nd Edition of the Down Under Feminists’ Carnival

March 5, 2015

The DUFC is a collection of writing on broadly-defined feminist issues by Australian and New Zealand bloggers. It encompasses everything from political commentary to topics like race, gender, sexual inequality, queer issues, disability, human rights and social justice, sex and relationships, fat politics, feminist theory and more.

Welcome to the 82nd Edition of the Down Under Feminists’ Carnival!

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this edition! I hope you all enjoy. … More The 82nd Edition of the Down Under Feminists’ Carnival

UQWC’s Reply to ‘Fabulous Feminism’ in Semper Floreat

March 17, 2013

UQWC’s Reply to ‘Fabulous Feminism’ in Semper Floreat. Over at my university’s student magazine, it seems that people think feminism is about swinging those Chanel totes and denigrating women who don’t dress to be attractive to men. In the Women’s Collective, we beg to differ. Check out the wonderful reply the Collective put together!

Feminism, Philanthropy and Gina Rinehart (and other high-profile women)

January 10, 2013

The question brewing into a small cyclone in the feminist sphere at the moment is the question of whether Gina Rinehart is a feminist – prompted by Alecia Simmonds’ piece over at Daily Life. How can Rinehart possibly be a feminist, I hear everyone ask? She’s ‘obscenely’ rich, she’s mean, she hasn’t got a philanthropic … More Feminism, Philanthropy and Gina Rinehart (and other high-profile women)