Writing
Gender equality: are schools leading girls down the wrong path?
This essay about girls and schools and feminism was first published by Women’s Agenda.
House Husbands: Less Mad Men more dad men
This review of the television series House Husbands was first published by Daily Review, 24 September 2015.
Ricki and The Flash covers a mother of a problem
Our belief in the mother-child bond is so elemental, so taken-for-granted, it’s hard to imagine a more monstrous female figure, culturally speaking, than the mother who walks away from her children. My review of Ricki and The Flash, first published on Daily Review and Women’s Agenda on 27 August 2015.
In a hippie heartland, trying to sway the intractable anti-vaxxers
Mullumbimby, a hippie heartland since the 1970s, is one of those places where all the contradictions of rural life bump up against each other in the most incongruous of ways.
The worst thing about the PPL backflip is that voters love it
To win the policy debate over paid parental leave (PPL), feminists need to better sell the message that parental leave doesn’t have to be a win-lose scenario: just because someone else gets a better deal, that doesn’t mean I have to lose out. A comment piece first published on Women’s Agenda and Crikey, 27-28 May 2015.
Is Cinderella a good role model for your daughter? Probably not. Are you?
Read my review of Cinderella, first published by Daily Review and Women's Agenda on 10 April 2015
In praise of the divergents of the world
Insurgent, the second movie adaptation of Veronica Roth's young adult trilogy, is an intriguing dramatisation of a world that wants us all to fit into neat categories.
Not a great day for celebrating
How can we celebrate International Women’s Day when so far this year 17 women have been murdered in Australia in domestic violence incidents. First published by The Hoopla, 8 March 2015
A 6-point plan to make kids men's business
This International Women’s Day I have one wish: that we start making caring for children men’s business.
Pollie want a crack-up?
It’s hard to imagine anyone in parliament today getting away with Whitlam’s retort when Sir Winton Turnbull called out in parliament “I am a country member”. Gough interjected, “I remember”.
Have you ever been Triggsed?
Tony Abbott has accused Gillian Triggs, the President of the Human Rights Commission, of losing the confidence of the Australian people. Accusations are flying that his government tried to move her sideways by offering her another senior role. The police have been called in.
The whole sorry episode has raised questions about democracy and the independence of public servants.
14 Women dead this year and counting...
We are just seven weeks into 2015 and already 14 women have been violently murdered in Australia.
Principal Abbott: Good education starts today
The Hoopla has an exclusive: this year’s commencement address from Tony Abbott, principal of Capital Hill High, Canberra.
The Breakfast Club Turns 30
The classic brat pack movie The Breakfast Club is now officially middle-aged: On February 15, it turned 30. Does it stand the test of time? Does Judd Nelson? First published on The Hoopla.
Defying the odds on female genital mutilation
Khadija Gbla, who suffered female genital mutilation as a little girl, has given birth to a baby boy in Adelaide’s Women’s and Children’s Hospital. This story was first published on The Hoopla.
Annastacia Palaszczuk: Smashing glass ceilings
If, as looks almost certain, Labor forms government in Queensland, Annastacia Palaszczuk will become Australia’s first female state opposition leader to take her party to victory. First published in The Hoopla.
Izzard in Oz: Why I love mascara on a man
Seeing all the pictures of the touring Eddie Izzard in the Australian media recently – all black, black lashes and glossy lacquered nails – has reminded me of just how much I can really quite fancy a bit of make-up on a man.rd in Oz: Why I love mascara on a man
The Lindt siege wouldn't have happened if they had been armed?
While the facts about the moments that led to the tragic deaths in Martin Place are still unclear, and while speculation remains about how Monis could be in possession of a gun and whether he had a licence, there seems little doubt that the mood for more guns has shifted in the years since Port Arthur. This story was first published on The Hoopla.