Revealing the invisible position of power and privilege in feminist practice, this accessible and provocative analysis elucidates the whiteness of Australian feminism. A pioneering work, it will overturn complacent notions of a mutual sisterhood and the common good.
Acclaimed cultural critic bell hooks offers an open-hearted and welcoming vision of gender, sexuality, and society in this inspiring and accessible volume. In engaging and provocative style, bell hooks introduces a popular theory of feminism rooted in common sense and the wisdom of experience. Hers is a vision of a beloved community that appeals to all those committed to equality, mutual respect, and justice. hooks applies her critical analysis to the most contentious and challenging issues facing feminists today, including reproductive rights, violence, race, class, and work.
With her customary insight and unsparing honesty, hooks calls for a feminism free from barriers but rich with rigorous debate. In language both eye-opening and optimistic, hooks encourages us to demand alternatives to patriarchal, racist, and homophobic culture, and to imagine a different future.
Pink is my favourite colour. I used to say my favourite colour was black to be cool, but it is pink – all shades of pink. If I have an accessory, it is probably pink. I read Vogue, and I'm not doing it ironically, though it might seem that way. I once live-tweeted the September issue.
In these funny and insightful essays, Roxane Gay takes us through the journey of her evolution as a woman (Sweet Valley High) of colour (The Help) while also taking listeners on a ride through culture of the last few years (Girls, Django in Chains) and commenting on the state of feminism today (abortion, Chris Brown).
The portrait that emerges is not only one of an incredibly insightful woman continually growing to understand herself and our society but also one of our culture.
NPR Great Read of 2016 Author and Guardian US columnist Jessica Valenti has been leading the national conversation on gender and politics for over a decade. Now, in a darkly funny and bracing memoir, Valenti explores the toll that sexism takes from the every day to the existential. Sex Object explores the painful, funny, embarrassing, and sometimes illegal moments that shaped Valenti's adolescence and young adulthood in New York City, revealing a much shakier inner life than the confident persona she has cultivated as one of the most recognizable feminists of her generation. In the tradition of writers like Joan Didion and Mary Karr, this literary memoir is sure to shock those already familiar with Valenti's work and enthrall those who are just finding it.
"Jessica Valenti is a breath of fresh air. She offers the kind of raw honesty that can feel like a punch in the gut, but leaves you with the warmth of a deep embrace." — Ms. Magazine
"One of the most visible and successful feminists of her generation." — Washington Post "A gutsy young third wave feminist." — The New York Times
Opens minds, breaks down myths and vaporises prejudice - I loved it!' Rebecca Root, star of Boy Meets Girl'funny, thoughtful and honest ...I read most of it on the train and had to stifle laughs every few pages' Stylist'It's a boy!' or 'It's a girl!' are the first words almost all of us hear when we enter the world. Before our names, before we have likes and dislikes - before we, or anyone else, has any idea who we are. And two years ago, as Juno Dawson went to tell her mother she was (and actually, always had been) a woman, she started to realise just how wrong we've been getting it.
Gender isn't just screwing over trans people, it's messing with everyone. From little girls who think they can't be doctors to teenagers who come to expect street harassment. From exclusionist feminists to 'alt-right' young men. From men who can't cry to the women who think they shouldn't. As her body gets in line with her mind, Juno tells not only her own story, but the story of everyone who is shaped by society's expectations of gender and what we can do about it.
With profound implications for our most foundational assumptions about gender, Gender Mosaic explains why there is no such thing as a male or female brain. For generations, we've been taught that women and men differ in profound and important ways. Women are more sensitive and emotional, whereas men are more aggressive and sexual, because this or that region in the brains of women is smaller or larger than in men, or because they have more or less of this or that hormone. This story seems to provide us with a neat biological explanation for much of what we encounter in day-to-day life. But is it true? According to neuroscientist Daphna Joel, it's not. And in Gender Mosaic, she sets forth a bold and compelling argument that debunks the notion of female and male brains. Drawing on the latest scientific evidence, including the groundbreaking results of her own studies, Dr. Joel explains that every human brain is a unique mixture -- or mosaic -- of "male" and "female" features, and that these mosaics don't map neatly into two categories. With urgent practical implications for the way we understand ourselves and the world around us, Gender Mosaic is a fascinating look at the science of gender, sex and the brain, and at how freeing ourselves from the gender binary can help us all reach our full human potential.
While most people say they believe in equal rights, the word feminism—America's new F-word—makes people uncomfortable. Explore the history of US feminism through pioneers such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Betty Friedan, Shirley Chisholm, and Gloria Steinem. Meet modern leaders such as Rebecca Walker and Julie Zeilinger, who are striving to empower women at work, in government, at home—and in cultural and personal arenas. Learn from interviews with movement leaders, scholars, pop stars, and average women, what it means to be a feminist—or to reject it altogether. After reading this book, readers will be able to respond to "Am I a feminist?" with a confident, informed voice.
Cultural critic and bestselling author Roxane Gay has edited a collection of essays that explore what it means to live in a world where women are frequently belittled and harassed due to their gender, and offers a call to arms insisting that "not that bad" must no longer be good enough.
Feminism is a global movement, developing with each cut and thrust of history to form a parallel 'herstory.' But what are the most important feminist ideas? What do terms like 'patriarchy, ' 'rape culture', and 'intersectionality' mean? How have these terms emerged from historical conditions facing women around the world-from a lack of basic rights to harassment and intimidation online? How has activism shaped those ideas and who have been the key activists? From Emily Pankhurst to Beyonce, from how the personal is political to changing views of sisterhood, and from the suffragettes to hashtag feminism, 30-Second Feminism offers readers the fastest way to enter the world of sexual politics fully briefed, with an overview of the main ideas in Feminism today-and an explanation of how they came into being.
I'm Aboriginal. I'm just not the Aboriginal person a lot of people want or expect me to be. What does it mean to be Aboriginal? Why is Australia so obsessed with notions of identity? Anita Heiss, successful author and passionate campaigner for Aboriginal literacy, was born a member of the Wiradjuri nation of central New South Wales, but was raised in the suburbs of Sydney and educated at the local Catholic school. She is Aboriginal - however, this does not mean she likes to go barefoot and, please, don't ask her to camp in the desert. After years of stereotyping Aboriginal Australians as either settlement dwellers or rioters in Redfern, the Australian media have discovered a new crime to charge them with: being too 'fair-skinned' to be an Australian Aboriginal. Such accusations led to Anita's involvement in one of the most important and sensational Australian legal decisions of the 21st-century when she joined others in charging a newspaper columnist with breaching the Racial Discrimination Act. He was found guilty, and the repercussions continue.
In this deeply personal memoir, told in her distinctive, wry style, Anita Heiss gives a first-hand account of her experiences as a woman with an Aboriginal mother and Austrian father, and explains the development of her activist consciousness. Read her story and ask: what does it take for someone to be black enough for you?
'It is absolutely brilliant, I think every woman should read it' PANDORA SYKES, THE HIGH LOW 'My wish is that every white woman who calls herself a feminist will read this book in a state of hushed and humble respect ... Essential reading' ELIZABETH GILBERT
I'm a feminist. Mostly. I'm an asshole. Mostly. All too often the focus of mainstream feminism is not on basic survival for the many, but on increasing privilege for the few. Meeting basic needs is a feminist issue. Food insecurity, the living wage and access to education are feminist issues. The fight against racism, ableism and transmisogyny are all feminist issues. White feminists often fail to see how race, class, sexual orientation and disability intersect with gender. How can feminists stand in solidarity as a movement when there is a distinct likelihood that some women are oppressing others? Insightful, incendiary and ultimately hopeful, Hood Feminism is both an irrefutable indictment of a movement in flux and also clear-eyed assessment of how to save it.
A history of Australian feminism from the 1890s to the present day, examining the rise of feminism in the domains of work, home, body and public space. The book highlights and discusses the contributions of a number of important Australian feminists over this period, including migrant and Indigenous women and women with a disability. Women profiled include Catherine Helen Spence, Faith Bandler, Jessie Street, Zelda D'Aprano, Edith Cowan, Miles Franklin, Vida Goldstein, Pat O'Shane, Stella Young and others.
When was the last time you heard a Muslim woman speak for herself without a filter? It's Not About the Burqa started life when Mariam Khan read about the conversation in which David Cameron linked the radicalization of Muslim men to the 'traditional submissiveness' of Muslim women. Mariam felt pretty sure she didn't know a single Muslim woman who would describe herself that way. Why was she hearing about Muslim women from people who were demonstrably neither Muslim nor female? Taking one of the most politicized and misused words associated with Muslim women and Islamophobia, It's Not About the Burqa has something to say: twenty Muslim women speaking up for themselves. Here are essays about the hijab and wavering faith, about love and divorce, about queer identity, about sex, about the twin threats of a disapproving community and a racist country, and about how Islam and feminism go hand in hand.
Funny, warm, sometimes sad, and often angry, each of these essays is a passionate declaration, and each essay is calling time on the oppression, the lazy stereotyping, the misogyny and the Islamophobia. It's Not About the Burqa doesn't claim to speak for a faith or a group of people, because it's time the world realized that Muslim women are not a monolith. It's time the world listened to them.
I identified early on that my role in relationships was the sidekick, the platonic female cast member in an all-male production, or the friend who was relied on selectively when other options were unavailable. I was the comic relief or the stand-in, never the lead. I knew this, I felt it, I wrote it down, but I didn't dare say it aloud because that would prove that I cared and caring wasn't cool. From the small town in regional Australia where she was told that girls can't play the drums to New York City and back again, Brodie has spent her life searching screens, books, music and magazines for bodies like hers, girls who loved each other, and women who didn't follow the silent instructions to shrink or hide that they've received since literal birth. This is the story of life as a young woman through the lenses of feminism and pop culture.
Brodie's story will make you re-evaluate the power of pop culture in our lives - and maybe you will laugh and cry along the way.
"The intersectional feminist anthology we all need to read" (Bustle), edited by a remarkable and inspiring twenty-year-old activist who the BBC named one of 100 "inspirational and influential women" of 2016.
Why is it difficult for so many women to fully identify with the word "feminist"? How do our personal histories and identities affect our relationship to feminism? Why is intersectionality so important? Can a feminist movement that doesn't take other identities like race, religion, or socioeconomic class into account even be considered feminism? How can we make feminism more inclusive? In Can We All Be Feminists?, seventeen established and emerging writers from diverse backgrounds wrestle with these questions, exploring what feminism means to them in the context of their other identities-from a hijab-wearing Muslim to a disability rights activist to a body-positive performance artist to a transgender journalist. Edited by the brilliant, galvanizing, and dazzlingly precocious nineteen-year-old feminist activist and writer June Eric-Udorie, this impassioned, thought-provoking collection showcases the marginalized women whose voices are so often drowned out and offers a vision for a new, comprehensive feminism that is truly for all.
Including essays by: Soofiya Andry, Gabrielle Bellot, Caitlin Cruz, Nicole Dennis-Benn, Brit Bennett, Evette Dionne, Aisha Gani, Afua Hirsch, Juliet Jacques, Wei Ming Kam, Mariya Karimjee, Eishar Kaur, Emer O'Toole, Frances Ryan, Zoe Samudzi, Charlotte Shane, and Selina Thompson.
'A friend recently told me that the things I write are powerful for her because they have the effect of making her feel angry instead of just empty. I want to do this for all women and young girls - to take the emptiness and numbness they feel about being a girl in this world and turn it into rage and power. I want to teach all of them how to fight like a girl.' (Clementine Ford)
Online sensation, fearless feminist heroine and scourge of trolls and misogynists everywhere, Clementine Ford is a beacon of hope and inspiration to thousands of women and girls. Her incendiary debut, Fight Like a Girl, is an essential manifesto for feminists new, old and soon to be, and exposes just how unequal the world continues to be for women. Crucially, it is a call to arms for all women to rediscover the fury that has been suppressed by a society that still considers feminism a threat.Fight Like a Girl will make you laugh, cry and scream. But above all it will make you demand and fight for a world in which women have real equality and not merely the illusion of it.
Taking us from the slave era, when white women fought in court to keep their slaves, through the centuries of colonialism, when they offered a soft face for brutal tactics, to the modern workplace, White Tears/Brown Scars tells a charged story of white women’s active participation in campaigns of oppression. It offers a long overdue validation of the experiences of women of color.
Discussing subjects as varied as The Hunger Games, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the viral "BBQ Becky" video, and 19th century lynchings of Mexicans in the American Southwest, Ruby Hamad undertakes a new investigation of gender and race. She shows how the division between innocent white women and racialised, sexualized women of color was created, and why this division is crucial to confront.
Along the way are revelatory responses to questions such as: Why are white men not troubled by sexual assault of women? With rigor and precision, Hamad builds a powerful argument about the legacy of white superiority we are socialised in, a reality we must apprehend in order to fight.
In 1981, Rebecca Solnit rented a studio apartment in San Francisco that would be her home for the next twenty-five years. There, she began to come to terms with the epidemic of violence against women around her, the street harassment that unsettled her, and the authority figures that routinely disbelieved her. That violence weighed on her as she faced the task of having a voice in a society that preferred women to shut up or go away. 0 Set in the era of punk, of growing gay pride, of counter culture and West Coast activism, during the latter years of second wave feminism, Recollections of My Non-Existence is the foundational story of an emerging artist struggling against patriarchal violence and scorn. Recalling the experience of living with fear, which Solnit contends is the normal state of women, she considers how oppression impacts on creativity and recounts the struggle to find a voice and have it be heard.
Place and the growing culture of activism liberated her, as did the magical world of literature and books. And over time, the clamour of voices against violence to women coalesced in the current feminist upheaval, a movement in which Solnit was a widely audible participant. Here is an electric account of the pauses and gains of feminism in the past forty years; and an extraordinary portrait of an artist, by a seminal American writer.
English is scattered with perfectly innocuous words that have devolved into insults hurled at women. The word ‘bitch’ originally meant male or female genitalia. ‘Hussy’ was simply a housewife, and a ‘slut’ was an untidy man or woman.
Amanda Montell, feminist linguist and features editor at online magazine Byrdie, explains why words matter and why it’s imperative that women embrace their unique relationship with language. Drawing on fascinating research, and moving effortlessly between history and pop culture, Montell deconstructs language – from insults and cursing to grammar and pronunciation – to reveal the ways it has been used for centuries to gaslight women and keep them from gaining equality. Montell’s irresistible intelligence and humour shines through as she makes linguistics not only approachable but downright enthralling.Far from being crushed by mansplainers and misogynists, women have a superior capacity to adapt to linguistic change, and tend to be at the forefront of linguistic trends. Wordslut gets to the heart of our language, sheds light into the biases that shadow women in our culture and shows how to embrace language to verbally smash the patriarchy.
A funny, joyful, frank and inspiring book about embracing both feminism and our imperfections, from the creator of the hit comedy podcast, Deborah Frances-White. From inclusion to the secret autonomy in rom coms, from effective activism to what poker can tell us about power structures, Deborah explores what it means to be a twenty-first-century feminist, and encourages us to make the world better for everyone.
The book also includes exclusive interviews with performers, activists and thinkers - Jessamyn Stanley, Zoe Coombs Marr, Susan Wokoma, Bisha K. Ali, Reubs Walsh, Becca Bunce, Amika George, Mo Mansfied and Leyla Hussein - plus a piece from Hannah Gadsby.
Australian women are suffering from a crisis of confidence about work. Accustomed to being overlooked and undervalued, even when women do get to the top, they explain their success away as 'luck'. But it's not. Not Just Lucky exposes the structural and cultural disadvantages that rob women of their confidence often without them even realising it. Drawing on case studies, detailed research and her own experience in politics and media, Jamila Rizvi is the warm, witty and wise friend you've been waiting for. She'll give you everything you need to start fighting for your own success and for a more inclusive, equal workplace for all. (She'll also bring the red wine.)
This unashamedly feminist career manifesto is for women who worry they'll look greedy if they ask for more money. It's for women who dream big but dread the tough conversations. It's for women who get nervous, stressed and worried, and seem to overthink just about everything.
From the shock of Donald Trump's election and the victories of the far right, to online harassment and the transgender rights movement, these darkly humorous articles provoke challenging conversations about the definitive social issues of today. Penny is lyrical and passionate in her desire to contest injustice; she writes at the raw edge of the zeitgeist at a time when it has never been more vital to confront social norms. These revelatory, revolutionary essays will give readers hope and tools for change from one of today's boldest commentators.
A collection of writing from extraordinary women, from Hollywood actresses to teenage activists, each telling the story of their personal relationship with feminism, this book explores what it means to be a woman from every point of view. Often funny, sometimes surprising, and always inspiring, this book aims to bridge the gap between the feminist hashtag and the scholarly text by giving women the space to explain how they actually feel about feminism.
"Twenty-five years ago, Australia was in the grip of another debate about sex and power. The Master of Ormond College at the University of Melbourne had been acquitted of indecent assault after complaints by two female students. Helen Garner's bestselling book about the case, The First Stone, polarised readers over whether the students had been right to take their allegations to the law. Was the feminist movement poisoning gender relations? In Generation F, the young award-winning journalist Virginia Trioli offered a vigorous, incisive and compelling argument for the ongoing need for feminism, while exploring her own bewilderment and anger. She described the real state of sexual harassment, violence, the workplace and the law in Australia: how most women just copped it, but those who felt able to confront it needed all the support they could get.
Now, as women around the world speak up about how sexual harassment has destroyed their work, families and lives, Trioli revisits that cultural moment in a new foreword, and in a new afterword considers the situation women face today. Dismayingly, her original text is just as relevant, and her call to action just as powerful."
It’s time to fight back! With this intersectional handbook, you’ll discover practical, everyday tips and tools to help you resist sexism, smash the patriarchy, and create a better world for yourself and future generations.
From reproductive rights and the wage gap to #MeToo and #TimesUp—gender inequality permeates nearly every aspect of our culture. From birth and on through adulthood, the message that our sexist society sends to women and girls is clear: you’re not enough. You’re not valued enough to get paid the same salary as a man with the same job title. You’re not worthy enough or perfect enough to be taken seriously or respected. You’re not responsible enough to make decisions about your body or reproductive rights.
These negative messages are internalized on a deep psychological level. In fact, the effects of sexism are directly represented in the high rates of anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and eating disorders among women and girls—and these effects are even more severe for queer women, disabled women, and women of color. Isn’t it time you said ENOUGH?
This revolutionary feminist self-help guide offers real tools you can use.
In October 2017, the hashtag MeToo went viral. Since then we've watched controversy erupt around Geoffrey Rush, Germaine Greer and Junot Diaz. We've talked about tracking the movement back via Helen Garner, Rosie Batty and Hannah Gadsby. We've discussed #NotAllMen, toxic masculinity and trolls. We've seen the #MeToo movement evolve and start to accuse itself - has it gone too far? Is it enough? What does it mean in this country? And still, women are not safe from daily, casual sexual harassment and violence.
In this collection thirty-five contributors share their own #MeToo stories, analysis and commentary to survey the movement in an Australian context. This collection resists victimhood. It resists silence. It insists on change.
Women over fifty-five are of the generation that changed everything. We didn't expect to. Or intend to. We weren't brought up much differently from the women who came before us, and we rarely identified as feminists, although almost all of us do now. Accidental Feminists is our story. It explores how the world we lived in—with the pill and a regular pay cheque—transformed us and how, almost in spite of ourselves, we revolutionised the world. It is a celebration of grit, adaptability, energy and persistence. It is also a plea for future generations to keep agitating for a better, fairer world.
Growing up in the '70s, neither Allison Vale nor Victoria Ralfs reckoned they needed feminism. But years of settling for the smallest chops at the dinner table, getting battered in British Bulldog, and negotiating the flasher down the lane, left them feeling uneasy: had feminism been the missing link? In How to Raise a Feminist, they join forces as mothers, educators, story-tellers and women, to tell the riotous story of how they came to put feminism at the core of their parenting.
Presenting the essential writings of black lesbian poet and feminist writer Audre Lorde, SISTER OUTSIDER celebrates an influential voice in twentieth-century literature. In this charged collection of fifteen essays and speeches, Lorde takes on sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia, and class, and propounds social difference as a vehicle for action and change. Her prose is incisive, unflinching, and lyrical, reflecting struggle but ultimately offering messages of hope. This commemorative edition includes a new foreword by Lorde scholar and poet Cheryl Clarke, who celebrates the ways in which Lorde's philosophies resonate more than twenty years after they were first published. These landmark writings are, in Lorde's own words, a call to "never close our eyes to the terror, to the chaos which is Black which is creative which is female which is dark which is rejected which is messy. . . ."
It's been almost a quarter of a century since Audre Lorde's essays and speeches in Sister Outsider made an indelible mark on 20th-century literature. But the words of the black lesbian feminist poet seem as lyrical and unforgettable, and, sadly, as relevant today as when she first tackled everything from racism and homophobia to ageism and class dichotomies. A must-have book that every lesbian should read." Curve Editor's Pick
How does evolutionary psychology play into the differences between men and women? How do we navigate relationships now? When does a lumpen footed move become a form of harassment? What happens to our nocturnal desires when the sun goes down?
In February 2018, the Good Weekend cover story by David Leser - 'Women, Men and the Whole Damn Thing' - had an unprecedented response from readers all around the world. The public response to the article was extraordinary here and overseas and included hundreds of personal messages from readers and publishers urging David to expand his story.
For the last 20 years, Melinda Gates has been on a mission.Her goal, as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has been to find solutions for people with the most urgent needs, wherever they live. Throughout this journey, one thing has become increasingly clear to her: if you want to lift a society up, invest in women.Candid and inspiring, in The Moment of Lift, Gates traces her awakening to the link between women’s empowerment and the health of societies. She shows some of the tremendous opportunities that exist right now to 'turbo-charge' change. And she provides simple and effective ways each one of us can make a difference.Convinced that all women should be free to decide whether and when to have children, Gates took her first step onto the global stage to make a stand for family planning. That step launched her into further efforts: to ensure women everywhere have access to every kind of job; to encourage men around the globe to share equally in the burdens of household work; to advocate for paid family leave for everyone; to eliminate gender bias in all its forms.
Throughout, Gates introduces us to her heroes in the movement towards equality, offers startling data, shares moving conversations she’s had with women from all over the world – and shows how we can all get involved.A personal statement of passionate conviction, this book tells of Gates’s journey from a partner working behind the scenes to one of the world’s foremost advocates for women, driven by the belief that no one should be excluded, all lives have equal value, and gender equality is the lever that lifts everything.
Visionaries, pioneers, activists and artists - women who made a difference to Australia. An updated and condensed edition of Susanna de Vries' Great Australian Women, this is a celebration of women who broke the mould, crashed through the ceilings, and shaped the nation in the fields of medicine, law, the arts and politics.From Lillie Goodisson, pioneer of family planning, to Eileen Joyce, world-famous pianist, Enid Lyons, our first female cabinet minister, Stella Miles Franklin, who endowed our most celebrated literary prize, and Catherine Hamlin, who has given hope to thousands of women through her fistula hospitals in Africa, these are women who have made a difference. They are the women who helped to forge the Australia we know today.
Rebecca Traister's New York Times bestselling exploration of the transformative power of female anger and its ability to transcend into a political movement is "a hopeful, maddening compendium of righteous feminine anger, and the good it can do when wielded efficiently—and collectively" (Vanity Fair). Long before Pantsuit Nation, before the Women's March, and before the #MeToo movement, women's anger was not only politically catalytic—but politically problematic. The story of female fury and its cultural significance demonstrates its crucial role in women's slow rise to political power in America, as well as the ways that anger is received when it comes from women as opposed to when it comes from men.
"Urgent, enlightened...realistic and compelling...Traister eloquently highlights the challenge of blaming not just forces and systems, but individuals" (The Washington Post). In Good and Mad, Traister tracks the history of female anger as political fuel—from suffragettes marching on the White House to office workers vacating their buildings after Clarence Thomas was confirmed to the Supreme Court. Traister explores women's anger at both men and other women; anger between ideological allies and foes; the varied ways anger is received based on who's expressing it; and the way women's collective fury has become transformative political fuel. She deconstructs society's (and the media's) condemnation of female emotion (especially rage) and the impact of their resulting repercussions. Highlighting a double standard perpetuated against women by all sexes, and its disastrous, stultifying effect, Good and Mad is "perfectly timed and inspiring" (People, Book of the Week).
Devorah Blachor, an ardent feminist, never expected to be the parent of a little girl who was totally obsessed with the color pink, princesses, and all things girly. She wasn't sure how to reconcile the difference between her parental expectations and the reality of her Disney-worshiping three-year-old daughter. Offering insight, advice, and plenty of humor and personal anecdotes, this mother shares her story of how she surrendered control and opened up—to her Princess Toddler, to pink, and to life. She addresses important issues such as how to raise a daughter in a society that pressures girls and women to conform to an unrealistic beauty ideal, and how to let her daughter feel free to be her authentic self.
Sport is integral to Australian life and identity, and we're rightly proud of our sporting achievements. But less glorious is the fact that, when it comes to the games we play, half of the population doesn't get a look-in. According to the latest statistics, 81 per cent of sports media covers male-only sport, while just 8.7 per cent focuses on women. That's right, horses got more attention than female athletes! Pick any sport and it's easy to find examples of stark gender inequality and double standards so glaring that they're almost laughable. But an extraordinary transformation is taking place, and nobody is better placed to call it than veteran sports journalist Angela Pippos. In Breaking the Mould, Pippos charts a powerful awakening across Australian life; from suburban footy fields to stadium cage fights, female athletes are changing the status quo through fierce determination and undeniable performances.
Through candid and often hilarious personal tales from a life spent in and around sport, Pippos calls out the systems that have kept women on the sidelines, and challenges us to keep working towards a level playing field where any young woman can become her sporting best.
Not a single country anywhere in the world has achieved gender equality. In more than a few countries, progress for women has stalled or is reversing. Voters in the United States chose a misogynist over a female candidate for President. Yet in many of these countries, the majority of politicians and business leaders profess to believe in gender equality-as well they might. One report predicts a boost to global GDP of GBP8.3 trillion by 2025 simply by making faster progress towards narrowing the gender gap. Researchers point to many other potential benefits too, not least in improved relations between the sexes and a healthier, more peaceful planet. If gender equality promises benefits not just to women, but to everyone, why aren't we embracing it? And how can we speed the pace of change? Fewer than nine percent of world leaders are female, but the few women who have broken through include towering figures such as Angela Merkel. Could 50-foot women save the day? These questions have gripped journalist and author Catherine Mayer since she accidentally founded the Women's Equality Party in March 2015 and watched it grow in months from an idea to a vibrant political force with more than 70 branches across the UK.
In Attack of the fifty foot women, her insightful, revelatory, often hilarious, and hugely inspiring book, she tackles those questions and many more. And she goes further. Campaigning for the Women's Equality Party ahead of elections in May 2016, she noticed that many people found it hard, in the absence of any real-life examples, to envisage a gender-equal world. So she takes us there, to the place she calls Equalia. What is it like? For some fascinating answers and brilliant thought experiments-and a blueprint for reaching Equalia-read Attack of the fifty foot women.
Jessa Crispin, cultural critic and founder of Bookslut, offers a brilliant rejection of contemporary feminism--and demands something better. Somewhere along the way, Jessa Crispin argues, the feminist movement sacrificed meaning for acceptance, and left us with a banal, polite, ineffectual pose that barely challenges the status quo. In this bracing, fiercely intelligent manifesto, she demands more. Why I Am Not A Feminist is a radical, fearless call for revolution. It accuses the feminist movement of obliviousness, irrelevance, and cowardice--and demands nothing less than the total dismantling of a system of oppression.
An accessible, timely and practical handbook for women on speaking out safely and confidently from no.1 non-fiction bestseller Tara Moss. Worldwide, less than one out of every four people we hear from or about in the media is female, and men outnumber women in parliament by more than three to one. If half of humanity's experiences, perspectives and possible solutions to world problems are under-represented, or entirely unheard, all of us lose out. Tara Moss has spent 20 years in the public sphere and has had to face down nerves, critics and backlash to emerge as a leader in speaking out. In this handbook she offers advice on preparation, speaking out and negotiating public spaces. With a special focus on public speaking, writing, social media and online safety, she offers tips on how to research, form arguments, find support and handle criticism. This is a guide for women young and old that not only helps them find their voice, but argues passionately for why it matters.
"Fifty years after the sexual revolution, we are told that we live in a time of unprecedented sexual freedom. But beneath the veneer of glossy hedonism, millennial journalist Rachel Hills argues that we are in the grip of a new brand of sexual control. Cosmopolitan meets Foucault in this full-scale investigation of the role that sex plays in today's culture. Coming of age in the early 2000s, Rachel Hills felt like a romantic and sexual misfit. Raised on a diet of women's magazines, teen soap operas, and media panics over "hooking up" and "raunch culture, " she believed that everyone her age was dining at an all-you-can-eat sexual buffet. Everyone, that is, but her. When a chance encounter with a new friend challenges her preconceptions, Hills sets out to discover the truth about her generation's sexual cultures, speaking with more than 200 people to produce a landmark account of contemporary sexual life. What she finds is the sex myth--the grand significance we invest in sexuality that once meant we were dirty if we did have sex, and now means we are defective if we don't do it enough.
An ambitious mix of sociology, popular culture, and powerful personal stories, The Sex Myth uncovers the invisible norms and unspoken assumptions that shape what we think about sex--and accordingly, how we feel about our own sex lives"
"Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957) was a renowned crime novelist who achieved fame and fortune during a period that historian Mo Moulton calls 'the day after the revolution.' In a time when just as many doors were closed to women as open, Sayers found professional success with her Lord Peter Wimsey novels. Yet she never could have done it without the cohort of remarkable women she met at university -- all of whom would go on to challenge societal norms and fight for equality of opportunity in their own way. In 1912, Dorothy L. Sayers and five friends founded a writing group at Somerville College, Oxford; they called themselves the 'Mutual Admiration Society.' Smart, bold, serious, and funny, these women were also sheltered and chaperoned, barred from receiving degrees despite taking classes and passing exams. But within a few short years, World War I rapidly expanded the rights and opportunities available to women, including the right to vote (1918) and access to the professions (1919). In October 1920, members of the MAS returned to Oxford to receive full degrees. Mutual Admiration Society follows these six women as they navigate the complexities of adulthood, work, intimacy, and sex in Interwar England. Bringing these women to vivid life, Moulton reveals how Dorothy L. Sayers was intimately intertwined with the members of the MAS -- and how, together, they fought their way into modernity"
Mother, wife, partner, daughter, sister, niece, grandmother: every woman is a VICTRESS in her own unique and special way. This book is an ode to some of Australia's most cherished female athletes who, not just through achievements in their chosen sport, but through their unwavering conviction and commitment to women's sport, blazed a trail for their sisterhood. From legends like Dawn Fraser and Cathy Freeman, to the new breed of powerful sportswomen like Ellyse Perry, Tayla Harris and Ash Barty, each athlete is honoured and celebrated, thanks to Hobart Hurricanes Women's Big Bash League cricketer Corinne Hall's unique artistic talents. Inspired by these incredible women, Corinne takes readers on a journey into the lives of each athlete through both her stunning drawings and her authentic tales. From personal interactions with the athletes, to recalling where she was when watching some of the iconic events that made them household names, Corinne provides a fresh but relatable perspective on how each has left an indelible mark on the exponential growth of sport for women. Kindness is key for Corinne, who has ensured funds from the book will be directed back into grassroots women's cricket, along with helping charitable organisation, The Kindness Factory, spread its positive message. In keeping with the kindness theme, athletes have provided their own stories of kindness, unearthing the special role simple acts have played in their lives.
'When a football ground was electrified on that unforgettable February evening, feelings did not need words. They had a sound unlike anything anyone had ever heard- an almighty, heartfelt roar.' The inaugural season of the AFL Women's league was a game changer for Australian sport and for Australia culturally. When women joined the nation's biggest and most popular sporting code as players, it gave them licence to become legitimate football heroes. It was personal, political, proud and powerful. With unique insights from award-winning journalist Samantha Lane, including previously untold details behind AFLW's birth, ROAR tells the remarkable tales of a group of trailblazers. These are intimate stories from a band of pioneers who now have a league of their own. From Daisy Pearce, AFLW's original poster-player, to Craig Starcevich, the Collingwood premiership footballer who found football happiness where he least expected it. There's Sarah Perkins' story of personal and physical transformation; the AFL's first openly gay couple Penny Cula-Reid and Mia-Rae Clifford; history-making coach Bec Goddard, Kirby Bentley, Tayla Harris, Amanda Farrugia, Darcy Vescio and Katie Brennan. ROAR is a groundbreaking book to inspire, illuminate and celebrate the leading lights of AFLW.
As a result of their broad experience on the world stage in politics, economics and global not-for-profits, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Julia Gillard have some strong ideas about the impact of gender on the treatment of leaders. Women and Leadership takes a consistent and comprehensive approach to teasing out what is different for women who lead. Almost every year new findings are published about the way people see women leaders compared with their male counterparts. The authors have taken that academic work and tested it in the real world. The same set of interview questions were put to each leader in frank face-to-face interviews. Their responses were then used to examine each woman's journey in leadership and whether their lived experiences were in line with or different from what the research would predict.
Women and Leadership presents a lively and readable analysis of the influence of gender on women's access to positions of leadership, the perceptions of them as leaders, the trajectory of their leadership and the circumstances in which it comes to an end. By presenting the lessons that can be learned from women leaders, Julia and Ngozi provide a road map of essential knowledge to inspire us all, and an action agenda for change that allows women to take control and combat gender bias.Featuring Jacinda Ardern, Hillary Clinton, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Theresa May, Michelle Bachelet, Joyce Banda, Erna Solberg, Christine Lagarde and more.
In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America - the first African-American to serve in that role - she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare.In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her - from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world's most famous address.
With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it - in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations - and whose story inspires us to do the same.
Prepare to be inspired. Power in Numbers: The Rebel Women of Mathematics is a full-color volume that takes aim at the forgotten influence of women on the development of mathematics over the last two millennia. You'll see each eminent mathematician come to life on each page, women like the astronomer-philosopher Hypatia, theoretical physicist Emmy Noether, and rocket scientist Annie Easley. Power in Numbers: The Rebel Women of Mathematics is an affirmation of female genius and a celebration of the boundless applications of mathematics. See their stories!
In Australia violence against women is a silent epidemic. By the age of 15 almost 20% of women have experienced sexual violence and more than one in three have experienced physical violence. One woman dies every week due to domestic violence in Australia. Violence against women is the leading contributor to death, disability and illness in women aged 15 to 44. Violence against women has been grabbing headlines all year: girls have been mutilated; girlfriends have been shot in bathrooms and thrown from balconies; wives have been burned; and mothers and kids have been left homeless by closing refuges. In this collection, some of Australia's best women writers stare straight into the face of the monster and plot its defeat. Violence against women is a serious issue, but Fury is not a dry, academic tome. From personal perspectives to political perspectives to indigenous perspectives, this is a book of engaging, impassioned and intelligent narratives, perfect for a general readership.
Anne Summers writes about the early days of the women's refuge movement. Van Badham puts the ball back in men's court and asks what they can do. Mandy Sayer gives a moving account of her childhood, spent fleeing from a violent stepfather. Natasha Stott Despoja writes about family violence from a political perspective. Meena Kandasamy discusses violence against women in India. Clem Bastow urges us to stop tweeting and do something about misogyny. Other contributors include Susan Chenery, Louise Taylor, Margo Kingston, Fahma Mohamed, Max Sharam, Wendy Bacon, Susan Ardill and Helen Razer.
Happiness has become big business. Books, psychologists, consultants, and even governments promote scientific findings into it. The problem is that almost all of this science is performed by and for straight white men. And some of the most vocal of these experts suggest that women can become happier by adopting traditional gender values and eschewing feminism. Sceptical of this hypothesis, Ariel Gore immersed herself in the optimism industrial complex, combing the research, reading the history, interviewing the thinkers, and exploring her own and her friends' personal experiences and desires. The result is a nuanced, thoughtful, and inspiring account of what happiness means to women.
Ten Women Who Changed Science tells the moving stories of the physicists, biologists, chemists, astronomers and doctors who helped to shape our world with their extraordinary breakthroughs and inventions, and outlines their remarkable achievements. These scientists overcame significant obstacles, often simply because they were women their science and their lives were driven by personal tragedies and shaped by seismic world events. What drove these remarkable women to cure previously incurable diseases, disprove existing theories or discover new sources of energy? Some were rewarded with the Nobel Prize for their pioneering achievements - Madame Curie, twice - others were not and, even if they had, many are not household names. Despite living during periods when the contribution of women was disregarded, if not ignored, these resilient women persevered with their research, whether creating life-saving drugs or expanding our knowledge of the cosmos. By daring to ask 'How?' and 'Why?' and persevering against the odds, each of these women, in a variety of ways, has made the world a better place.
'Inferior is more than just a book. It's a battle cry – and right now, it's having a galvanising effect on its core fanbase' Observer Are women more nurturing than men? Are men more promiscuous than women? Are males the naturally dominant sex? And can science give us an impartial answer to these questions? Taking us on an eye-opening journey through science, Inferior challenges our preconceptions about men and women, investigating the ferocious gender wars that burn in biology, psychology and anthropology. Angela Saini revisits the landmark experiments that have informed our understanding, lays bare the problem of bias in research, and speaks to the scientists finally exploring the truth about the female sex. The result is an enlightening and deeply empowering account of women's minds, bodies and evolutionary history. Interrogating what these revelations mean for us as individuals and as a society, Inferior unveils a fresh view of science in which women are included, rather than excluded.
Ada, Countess of Lovelace (1815-1852), daughter of romantic poet Lord Byron and his highly educated wife, Anne Isabella, is sometimes called the world's first computer programmer and has become an icon for women in technology. But how did a young woman in the nineteenth century, without access to formal school or university education, acquire the knowledge and expertise to become a pioneer of computer science? Although an unusual pursuit for women at the time, Ada Lovelace studied science and mathematics from a young age. This book uses previously unpublished archival material to explore her precocious childhood, from her ideas for a steam-powered flying horse to penetrating questions about the science of rainbows. Active in Victorian London's social and scientific elite alongside Mary Somerville, Michael Faraday and Charles Dickens, Ada Lovelace became fascinated by the computing machines devised by Charles Babbage. The table of mathematical formulae sometimes called the `first programme' occurs in her paper about his most ambitious invention, his unbuilt `Analytical Engine'. Ada Lovelace died at just thirty-six, but her paper still strikes a chord to this day, with clear explanations of the principles of computing, and broader ideas on computer music and artificial intelligence now realised in modern digital computers. Featuring images of the `first programme' and Lovelace's correspondence, alongside mathematical models, and contemporary illustrations, this book shows how Ada Lovelace, with astonishing prescience, explored key mathematical questions to understand the principles behind modern computing.
"Meet the women who aren't asking for permission from Silicon Valley to chase their dreams. They are going for it--building cutting-edge tech start-ups, investing in each other's ventures, crushing male hacker stereotypes, and rallying the next generation of women in tech. With a nod to tech trailblazers like Sheryl Sandberg and Marissa Mayer, Geek Girl Rising introduces readers to the fearless female founders, technologists and innovators fighting at a grassroots level for an ownership stake in the revolution that's changing the way we live, work and connect. Readers will meet Debbie Sterling, inventor of GoldieBlox, the first engineering toy for girls, which topples the notion that only boys can build; peek inside YouTube sensation Michelle Phan's ipsy studios, where she is grooming the next generation of digital video stars while leading her own mega e-commerce beauty business; and tour the headquarters of The Muse, the hottest career site for millennials, and meet its intrepid CEO, Kathryn Minshew, who stared down sexism while raising millions of dollars to fund the company she co-founded. These women are the rebels proving that a female point of view matters in the age of technology; as a woman, you can rock big returns if you have a big idea and the passion to build it."
Welcome to the Gender Data Gap. Our world is largely built for and by men, in a system that can ignore half the population. This book will tell you how and why this matters In her new book, Invisible Women, award-winning campaigner and writer Caroline Criado Perez shows us how, in a world largely built for and by men, we are systematically ignoring half the population. She exposes the gender data gap - a gap in our knowledge that is at the root of perpetual, systemic discrimination against women, and that has created a pervasive but invisible bias with a profound effect on women's lives. Caroline brings together for the first time an impressive range of case studies, stories and new research from across the world that illustrate the hidden ways in which women are excluded from the very building blocks of the world we live in, and the impact this has on their health and wellbeing. From government policy and medical research, to technology, workplaces, urban planning and the media - Invisible Women exposes the biased data that excludes women. In making the case for change, this powerful and provocative book will make you see the world anew.
Most of us would rather be caught naked than have our finances open to view. Why are we so reluctant to engage properly and effectively with something so fundamental? Melissa Browne challenges us to change our thinking and our bank balances for the better. With clear, easy to follow advice, she tells you how to set up savvy savings accounts, make the right investments and discover why budgeting is a dirty word. Learn to financially adult and become not just financially unf*cked, but financially well.
Money isn't just about money. It's about security. It's about choices -- to live our lives the way we want. It's about everything money enables you to do and just as importantly what it allows you not to do. Money is complex. Women know that they need to be smart about money, but are often stopped short -- they don't know where to go, how to start, or who to trust. They feel that most material on money is skin-deep -- it's either about budgeting or investing in the share market. They want expert guidance about money that explains the detail and the big picture, which is the genesis of the Joy of Money. The Joy of Money starts with the personal foundations of money -- what matters most to us, our values, goals and priorities. It then covers the practical elements at the intersection of money and life -- creating a system for managing money, career, family, relationships, investment, superannuation, insurance, wills and estate planning and retirement planning. This comprehensive money guide is designed to bring money to life -- to put the joy back into money. You can read it cover to cover or dip in and out of the more pertinent chapters. We can't guarantee you instant financial freedom -- we can give you financial knowledge and step-by-step guides to set you well on your way.
"A comprehensive, practical guide to help women who are just starting out in their careers, or who have been faced with managing finances after being in a relationship so that they can make the most of what they earn, and plan a long-term strategy for a secure, independent financial future. This book challenges the stereotype that women aren?t good with money and offers advice on managing finances, investment, savings, budgets and mortgages, with case studies, exercises, worksheets and quizzes tailored specifically for women."
An award-winning Vox.com correspondent links societal enforcement of traditional masculinity to current crime rates, outlining actionable steps based on today's rapidly evolving world to promote understanding and healthier responses in men who have been raised with toxic belief systems.