Cupcake day for the RSPCA!

Have you got a bit of baker's creativity up your sleeve? August 18 2008 will be Cupcake day for the RSPCA! Cupcake cooks across Australia will test their creativity and cunningness to sell cupcakes within their schools, workplaces and social groups with 100% of proceeds going towards the RSPCA. So, get your aprons on and visit http://www.rspcacupcakeday.com.au/index.php to find out details.

read it and weep

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/where-have-all-the-real-men-gone-20080530-2jvs.html?page=1

I'll give you a couple days to read this and then post my comments.


Rachel

A message for Australian women and girls everywhere...

It's taken 107 years, and whether you believe Australia should become a republic, or you're reluctant to cut ties to Mother England, there can be no denying that yesterday was a great day in Australian politics with the appointment of the first ever female Governor General.
Ms Quentin Bryce, the current Queensland Governor, former lawyer, human rights advocate, academic, federal sex discrimination commissioner, mother of five and grandmother of five, described her appointment as 'a great day for Australian women'.

Congratulations Prime Minister Rudd on your decision.

Ms Bryce said, 'What this day says to Australian women and Australian girls is that you can do anything, you can be anything.'

And you can...

abstinence article

Hi all,

Following is a link to a great article on an abstinence club at Harvard. I'm posting this not only because of the subject but because I think it is an example of excellent journalism. Randall, the journalist, makes his own subtle argument throughout the article by the order in which he chooses to relate parts of the story. This way you get both sides of the story. The girl's agument and the journalist's, but the journalist doesn't disrespect her or hit you over the head with his beliefs. She brings up important and relevant points, but the journalist shows how they are undermined by her own personal issues (and the boy's as well). Anyway, you should ponder it for yourself:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/30/magazine/30Chastity-t.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5087&em&en=13ab4235900007b8&ex=1207108800

a little humour

I was sent this via email, but don't know the original source so I can't credit it here. Just thought I'd share :)

For some reason, it's a little small here. Just click on the image to enlarge.

Cherry Hood

I have always been annoyed at the predominance of the objectification of the female form in art. Even today. Not because it is condescending to women but because it is not socially acceptable for the male form to be treated in the same way. People walk down the street with Kate Moss on their shirt or silhouette nudes. It is hard to fathom how the sexualized outline of a male on the mud flaps of a female’s ute would go down. Then if she wound down the window and called out “Give me a piece of that!” to a young man minding his own business on the side of the road? Who knows how people would react?

The female artist Cherry Hood paints image after image of males. These large portraits are mainly the torso and upper half of young boys. She is based in the southern highlands of New South Wales and works in quite a luxurious yet isolated studio. I was reading an article about Hood’s work today in GW magazine and was really irritated that she didn’t paint more of their bodies. It also got under my skin that these works are so controversial, that people often associate them with evil and negative feelings. For example, some people are reminded of their difficult childhoods, while others think of pedophilia.

Half way through the lengthy article I found what I had suspected all along. Hood was actually interested in the male form but there was a reason she didn’t paint it in its entirety. Society places so many restrictions on freedom in the creative arts. Even a friend of mine said to me that she thinks there should be some sort of line where artists just choose to show the pretty aspects of life because sometimes it can be too confrontational and disturbing or upsetting.

Hood had been struck by the fact that nudes in contemporary art referred only to the female nude. She was ridiculed in art class when she asked for a male model, although the teacher did acquiesce.

“In the early ‘90s, Hood held a student exhibition where she copied paintings of naked, pre-pubescent girls from books and added a penis, transforming them into boys. The police closed the exhibition and ordered her to cover the penises with brown paper…
It was so ridiculous. After all the fuss, I decided I didn’t want to make politics, I wanted to make art, so I’d just paint boys’ faces.”
(Hawley, Janet. Good Weekend March 21-23, 2008, p 44)

Is this a cop out? Does it still further the cause of creating a balance between males and females? Is it just a part of art that the audience is reactionary and the artist has the responsibility to deal with the reaction because she or he created the work?

To work or not to work

'Teenage unemployment is still at an unacceptable high of 18.5 per cent and above 20 per
cent in four out of 10 regions across Australia. In one in three regions over the past year
teenage unemployment has actually increased.'

I pulled this out of Labor's Social Inclusion policy document because it seems to be based on the idea that we should have 100% teenage employment. I wonder about this. Is it appropriate that all people aged 13-19 should be employed? If you are struggling through school, should you be employed or use your time to study and get extra help? If you have other sort of development opportunities, such as volunteering or travel, should you be working instead? If you are caring for your siblings or a parent, should you be working? Should you be allowing yourself to be exploited in the subtle ways most multinational franchises exploit young people, which most adults would never let them get away with?

And I want to even question whether this idea that teenagers should be working is really about some Protestant work-ethic morality, or about pure consumerism, rather than the welfare of young people.

If a young person lives in a family able to economically support her well-being could it be nice and welcome and affirmative that she does not have to go to work. She'll be working most of her life, why not start as late as possible? Is going to work a moral good compared to not going to work when you are a teenager? Or would it be unfair if some wealthier kids were able not to work while others have to?

Or is it that young people who work therefore buy lots of things and enable retail outlets to pay their staff low wages and treat them like shit?

I did work during my last couple of years of high school for a movie theatre. I liked it because I was managed by a nice young man who let us, you know, talk, relax, and sit down when there was nothing to do and I got to see all movies for free and I didn't work that many hours per week, with shifts that were only four or five hours. But I would have hated having to work in a supermarket or McDonalds and probably wasn't old enough to work in an office. I can't remember why I worked: if I wanted more spending money, if my parents wanted me to, if it was just the thing to do. But if I were to have a child (which I won't) I think I would encourage her not to work, to give her as much time in life to experience her freedom.

I'd be interested to hear other people's thoughts on this matter. To work or not to work, that is the teenage question!

gap years and work experience

So, you've taken a year off before uni... to travel or to work and save money so you're not trying to subsist on measly Austudy payments and handouts from mum and dad.

Or you're looking to gain some valuable work experience in your area of study - which isn't a bad idea, as you'll soon find out if your dream job is really for you. That way, it's not too late to change your subjects before you start.

We get asked all the time for advice on how to land a job in magazines and what's involved behind the scenes. I stumbled upon this great article, which provides some important tips on getting that work experience placement/internship, and how to make the most of the opportunity.

Key points include:

• apply early - opportunities are snapped up quickly, or consider applying to lesser known publications as they receive fewer applications or have a much shorter waiting list
• attention to detail - if you want a career in magazines, few things leave a worse first impression than mistakes in your application
• don't be a no-show - if for some reason you can't make your placement, give as much notice as possible and save the mag's staff a huge headache. The media industry is very nepotistic, and you never know when you might deal with these people again
• find out about the dress code
• see every task you're given as an opportunity - even the boring ones
• after the placement stay in contact - if you've proven your worth, you never know when a job opportunity might present itself.

A few things to keep in mind that weren't mentioned in the article:

• online opportunities can be just as valuable as in-office experience - you'll learn valuable technological skills, hours are much more flexible, you don't get stuck with the photocopying, and may actually get to do some writing tasks!
• research is key - find out as much as you can about the publication you want to work for. Don't just read the "about" page on their website - try and find a copy of the mag, as the online content is often very different to the printed version.
  

What is art?

Is defining art a pointless exercise? Does it have more in common with vacuuming than the fact that both seem to be done regularly and everybody does it differently?

Today our guide led us through a small hallway to a dead end. The reason we were brought here was to look upon a vacuum cleaner in a glass container and positioned on a white plinth. It had a little white sign stating the artist’s name and the title of the work among other details. This scenario raised the question: “What is art?”

It is a very old question that has been explored to death, but that does not mean there is any definitive answer. One lady exclaimed, “Why, that’s not art! It’s just a gimmick by the gallery.” Another said, “Art is anything you can get away with.” We were asked to raise our hand if we thought what we were viewing was art. I immediately raised my hand as did two others in a group of 15 or so. Our guide was surprised that so few of us were of this opinion, but maybe this was an act to manipulate the response, I don't know.

Later, as we moved on, I overheard one lady, who was determined the vacuum was not art, saying, “I wasn’t fooled. They weren’t going to trick me.” This struck me as surprising because I didn’t think that anybody had been tricked. Was I supposed to feel as though I had been the brunt of some prank or the lab rat to some experiment? I felt that different views had been put forward and there was no real resolution. If anything, I thought that the gallery staff had supported my decision so I didn’t understand why she thought she was correct. Admittedly, the staff did say it was actually the cleaner’s vacuum. Does this make it any less valid as an artwork?

I think that if a person had the insight and courage to showcase an everyday object in the way artworks are conventionally presented in order to show something, then it is art. Even if the artwork is challenging the notion of what is accepted as art then it is valid. Artists continually push the boundaries of their practice, redefining the parameters of their work for themselves and the greater art world.

Art is all about the artist’s intention. It is about exposing people to ideas and viewpoints that they would not usually come across. Art is a realm in which household appliances can be given the time and space to be considered in other terms. A vacuum cleaner can become an example of clever design or a comment on domesticity and gender roles in the home. Marcel Duchamp did a similar thing over eighty years ago with a urinal. What I find shocking is that people are still shocked by a similar artwork today.

exhibition

I missed the opening night, but managed to head over to Front on the weekend to check out some amazing artworks by ex-lip artist, Paul Summerfield. Paul has contributed some spectacular pieces to lip over the years, and the amount of detail you can see in his work just blows my mind.

If you get a chance to go see his work, I highly recommend it. The exhibition is open until 2 March.

Does an “F” on your report card now stand for “Fat”?

The so-called “obesity crisis” makes headlines frequently, with pleas for parents to better control what their children eat and force them outside in order to get some exercise. Clearly it’s easier said than done, and schools may soon be stepping in with some radical changes proposed by health and childhood professionals, such as including a child's physical fitness and weight on their report cards.

Schools in the US have been doing this for some time: “You can see schools telling parents about the progression of their children with BMI and physical activity. To me that's just as legitimate a report as the progress on mathematics or latin or any other subject they do at school.”

Concerns over how parents will respond to these reports focus on: “…whether individual student BMI information should be sent home to parents … [and] what type of health related communication from the school to the family is most likely to result in positive behavior changes?”

and the not so positive outcomes: “…the letters sent home with report cards have been a shock. Many parents threw them out, outraged to be told how much their children should weigh, or unconvinced that children who look just fine by local standards are too large by official ones. Seventh-graders traded scores during their lunch periods.”

But to me, the more important issue here, and one that is lacking representation in the media, is how these results are going to affect the student, when:

Eating disorders have been diagnosed in children as young as 8 with an average age of onset at 17 years.

1 in 20 Australian women admitted to having suffered from an eating disorder, while 1 in 4 individuals know someone who has an eating disorder.

With this information at hand, how can a BMI report card possibly be a responsible approach to dealing with the issue of obesity?

Thank-you.

Thank you, Mr. Rudd.

Thank you for finally formally recognising that, generations back, we did wrong.
Thank you for using such sympathetic and genuine words in apologising.
Thank you for allowing Australia to feel proud for acknowledging what was not right and beginning the process to change.

Although its just an apology; it means a great deal to many people. It’s the first step.
I sincerely hope that the formalised apology can bring closure and relief to many indigenous Australians who have suffered. Let’s not allow any more people to go through what they have been through. Let’s begin a new Australia.

Mr. Rudd’s Speech:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/rudds-apology-revealed/2008/02/12/1202760286861.html

Feminism or Exploitation?

Dear dedicated and awesome readers of Lip;

Today I have a topic for you that has been in the media for a long time; the slimline differences that there can be between feminism and crossing the line to the exploitation of women. I realise that there hasn’t been much in the media lately to spark the recent fire inside that has gotten me to writing this article today; but I feel as though there shouldn’t have to be. I’m fed up with seeing people demean women for the attributes that we all should be embracing; not trying to change. The models we aspire to look like shouldn’t be the people we see in the celebrity magazines. They shouldn’t be the people who have plastic surgery to ‘enhance their good looks’. There shouldn’t even be people employed to criticise people on their looks; can’t everyone be treated as beautiful as they are in any aspect of their personality?

Coming up in the near future, there is a fantastic opportunity to do this; International Women’s Day is coming up on the 8th March; which is a day dedicated to the celebration of all women. Be a part of this, be proud of who you are, be proud of what you achieve, be proud to be womanly. This doesn’t only mean you’re genetically female; this also encompasses loving your womanly body, embracing the facets of life that we view from the woman’s perspective and celebrating the fact that there will always be women across the globe that you can, without knowing them, have that special, unified womanly bond with.

You are beautiful. I am beautiful. We can share a unified notion that we are magnificently beautiful within ourselves, and that’s what we need to be happy. Make-up, no make-up, designer clothes, non designer clothes, the latest hair cut, colour and style… it doesn’t matter. Why should we allow our beauty be determined by someone else? We are the ones that have to live with our bodies; be happy for who you are. In saying this, I would also like to emphasis this quote: “You don’t have to be anti-man to be pro-woman. I’m for equality and similarly; I believe it is important for all people to be able to love their own bodies and embrace not only their gender specific attributes, but their lives on a whole. Though it is important to be able to help people discover their true beauty and reasons why celebration of life and their bodies will enhance the quality of all things great, we must begin with ourselves. Get out there, girls; enjoy yourselves as young women and always aspire to be the best you can be in the happiest way that you can. There is no such thing as normal; normalcy is still different. Embrace and celebrate the differences and in doing so, you will enjoy your journey in this life and in this body.

Embrace.

SiobhanMarie.

just as long as the clothes look good

“Designers like the skinny guy,” said model Stas Svetlichnyy of Russia at a Duckie Brown show. “It looks good in the clothes and that’s the main thing. That’s just the way it is now.”

"It looks good in the clothes...". Because male models, like their female counterparts, are just life-sized dress-up dolls.

And forget unhealthy body imagery and eating disorders among models, not to mention the rest of the population who feel they must adopt similar eating and obsessive exercise patterns in order to actually fit into these clothes.

As long as the clothes look good.

Read the full article at the New York Times.

there are some angry anti-feminists out there

In less than 24 hours, I have deleted nearly 100 spam comments on the lipmag and lipradio blogs.

The post about boys on air got hit the worst.

I've left some of them there because, seeing the post is about giving guys a voice on feminist issues, it is appropriate to let them have a say in this forum. But they are still spam, clearly copied-and-pasted from discussions on another blog.

If anyone objects to these being left here, let me know and I'll remove them. Or feel free to respond too. All views are valid.

PS. I've turned moderation on for all future comments, as deleting spam comments is a pain in the arse and I've got better things to do. So if you're leaving a legitimate comment and it doesn't show up for a while, that's why.

the New Years' Resolution poll

The results are in...

42% of voters want to be more creative... me too. I want to spend less time on admin and boring jobs and more time on creative pursuits.

33% want to find a new job. If you're bored with your current job, in between jobs, or don't know what you want to do for a living, check out our job feature.

25% want to travel overseas. Sigh. Me too. Now if only I could get a new (higher paying) job I could save up for a trip, but then I probably wouldn't get time off to go anywhere. Oh well, maybe next year.

No one wanted to give up smoking. Hopefully that means you're all non-smokers.

No one voted for volunteering either. Fair enough - it doesn't pay bills or fund your travel aspirations. But it can be rewarding and give you skills and experience towards getting your dream job. Like working in magazines :)

If you're having trouble keeping any of your resolutions, you can read all about how to plot your path for the new year here.

And for more poll fun - we've now got a Valentine's Day poll online on our website. How are you going to spend Valentine's Day?