Gilead-are we there yet?
I can’t help feeling we are living in the dystopian kingdom of Gilead.
popular culture
Breast is best
Like most things in life these days feeding a baby has become very complicated and no doubt really expensive. I took a look at some of these infant formula websites and found that babies are not just being fed infant formula for the first few months of life but they can also have a follow on formula when they are 6-12 months old. Even toddlers who are 1-3 years are being […]
‘Bande de Filles’- Girlhood
If you think your life is difficult, or that your future lacks promise, well check out Girlhood, a film by Celine Sciamma, released in France as Bande de filles, or Girl Gang. Many reviewers have written that this film was about female empowerment but I fail to see how they have come to this conclusion. Instead, I think that Girlhood is a stark reminder of the struggle which continues for the needs and […]
Our dangerous culture
In A coach, his killing and our dangerous culture, long-time anti-violence campaigner, Phil Cleary writes that unlike mainstream Australia, he didn’t respond with disbelief when he heard the news that Adelaide coach Phil Walsh had been killed, allegedly by his own son, for since the murder of his sister at the hands of an ex-boyfriend nearly 28 years ago, Cleary has long ceased being shocked by “domestic murders”. He reminds us […]
Why stop at poppies!
It was common at the start of the 20th century to speak of ‘ Australian Ideals’. What are our values and ideals today? Perhaps those who so generously supported the 5000 Poppy campaign could use their goodwill to help Australia progress rather than feed its militaristic tendencies. And rather than answer the call to knit or crochet a poppy perhaps these resources could be spent on the many social problems […]
So much more than good cooks!
This week, The Australian published an obituary for beloved and best-selling Australian author, Colleen McCullough. Her obituary opened with: COLLEEN McCullough, Australia’s best-selling author, was a charmer. Plain of feature, and certainly overweight, she was, nevertheless, a woman of wit and warmth. In one interview, she said: “I’ve never been into clothes or figure and the interesting thing is I never had any trouble attracting men.” Readers responded angrily to McCullough’s […]
What price marriage?
My sister and her partner are going to marry. Both had long previous marriages which they were happy to leave. They had brought up their children and once they were gone found the marriages over, pointless, empty and left. My best friend left me and married again. Thanks Loretta for telling me that you married your best friend – formally my best friend. I would never have imagined him remarrying […]
In search of cerebral content
What happened to the opinion page? Remember The Age when it was a broadsheet and there were three or more opinion pieces in the middle pages that bordered the letters to the editor. These were lengthy pieces of analysis on topics relating to current public debate. Usually 800-1000 words of worthy content engaging the reader and leading to enjoyable swapping of ideas and information among family and friends later in the day. Of course […]
Write what you need to write!
P.D. James on writing: “Write what you need to write, not what is currently popular or what you think will sell.”
Surrogacy-male violence against poor women
On ABC TV’s ‘Foreign Correspondent’ program July 8, reporter Jane Cowan took a critical look at commercial surrogacy. The Last Resort was filmed in Cancun, Mexico where poor women, often from rural villages come to the popular tourist city hoping to become surrogate mothers. In Mexico successful surrogates are paid up to $13,000 for the delivery of a child to desperate infertile western couples. The business of surrogacy takes place at Planet Hospital, […]
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