Issue - University of Sydney Union

Transcription

Issue 05, 2014 / FREE
MALE CHEERLEADERS / polyamory / domestic violence / men's rights movement / GAY RUGBY
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Issue 05
CONTENTS
CONTENTS
3
Editors
Eden Caceda
Katie Davern
Sophie Gallagher
Rob North
Sean O’Grady
Erin Rooney
F E ATUR E S
REPORTERS
PLAYING THE MAN
I LOVE YOU BUT I THINK WE SHOULD LOVE OTHER PEOPLE
OUR SILENT EMERGENCY 19
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE MEN? 27
TACKLING HOMOPHOBIA 32
10
13
Alisha Aitken-Radburn
Hannah Edensor
Flora Grant
Georgia Hitch
Tang Li
Shannen Potter
Vanessa Song
Barbara Taylor
Mary Ward
Contributors
Bernadette Anvia, Conor Bateman,
Natasha Gillezeau, Rebecca Karpin,
Alistair Kitchen, Vanessa Mukhebi
Jordan Mullins, Virat Nehru
Claire Paterson, Julia Robertson
Emily Shen, Katie Stow, Blythe Worthy
Lisa Xia, Shona Yang
Publications ManagerS
Louisa Stylian
Mary Lentros
R E GULARS
What’s On 04
Editorial & Board 06
Letters 07
Opinion 09
Interview 16
Taste 22
Go 23
Move 24
Learn 25
The Time I Tried 31
Campus Fashion 35
Vox & Classic Countdown 36
Cow & Horns 37
Arts 39
Reviews 40
Experience 41
Club Confidential 42
Shutter Up 44
Comics 45
Ask Isabella 46
Design manager
Robyn Matthews
Design
Simon Macias
Peta Harris
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY
The USU acknowledges the Cadigal
People of the Eora Nation as the
traditional owners of the land we meet
on today. The USU recognises that the
land belonging to these peoples was
never ceded, given up, bought, or sold.
We pay our respects to the Aboriginal
Elders both past and present and extend
this acknowledgement to any other
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
people here with us.
CONTACT
editors@bullmag.com.au
facebook.com/bullmag
@usubullmag
usu.edu.au/bullmag
The views expressed in this publication
are not necessarily the views of the USU.
The information contained within this
edition of Bull was correct at the time
of printing.
Write for us!
/bullmag
/USUbullmag
Whether you’re a budding
student journalist or have
a random idea that could be
a great story, email us and
you could get published here.
editors@bullmag.com.au
4
bull usu.edu.au
WHAT'S ON
WHAT'S ON
For the FULL CALENDAR OF EVENTS – head to USU.EDU. AU AND CLICK THE CALENDAR.
Clubs & Socs – remember to submit your events on the website!
MON
TUE
28
WED
29
30
FRI
31
01
08
wk 1 (JULY/AUGUST)
Re-O Day
Eastern Avenue, 10–4pm
Re-O Day PARTY
Hermann’s Bar, 5pm
FUNCH
WEDNESDAY MARKETS
Eastern Avenue, 9Am
05
06
07
PRIDE FESTIVAL
PRIDE FESTIVAL
FUNCH
PRIDE FESTIVAL
wk 2 (AUGUST)
04
PRESENTS
11
12
13
Revues Season Launch
Manning Bar, 6PM
WEDNESDAY MARKETS
Eastern Avenue, 9Am
FUNCH
SEMESTER 2 PARTY
–DODGY SWEATER
MANNING BAR
14
15
wk 3 (AUGUST)
100+ CLUBS & SOCIETIES
100+ CLUBS & SOCIETIES
ENTERTAINMENT
AND MORE!
ENTERTAINMENT AND
MORE!
18
WEDNESDAY,
30 JULY
WEDNESDAY,
30
JULY
19
20
21
22
10AM – Week
4PM
Humanitarian
EASTERN
EASTERN
AVE Week10AM – 4PM
Humanitarian
Humanitarian
Week AVE
wk 4 (AUGUST)
REVUES SEASON
SEYMOUR CENTRE
FUNCH
26
Principal Partner
REVUES SEASON
SEYMOUR CENTRE
PRESENTS
usu.edu.au/reoday
25
REVUES SEASON
SEYMOUR CENTRE
For more information:
For more information:
info@usu.edu.au
wk 5 (AUGUST)
THU
info@usu.edu.au
/USUAccess
usu.edu.au/reoday
27
Major Sponsor
/USUAccess
28
29
REVUES SEASON
REVUES SEASON
SEYMOUR CENTRE
SEYMOUR CENTRE
FUNCH
Principal PartnerOfficial Energy Major Sponsor
Official Mobile
Official
Mobile
Eastern
Avenue, 12–2pm
Partner
Partner
Drink
PRESENTS
/Manningbarsydney
@Manningbar
REVUES SEASON
SEYMOUR CENTRE
Official Energy
Drink
#manningbar
Issue 05
what's on
5
every week
monday – friday
MONDAY
$4 tap cider and
$4 spirit HAPPY HOUR
THURSDAY
4-6pm, Manning Bar
THEATRESPORTS®
$3.50 HAPPY HOUR
1-2pm, Manning BarBar
4-6pm, Hermann’s Bar
POOL COMPETITION
SOLO SESSIONS
4-6pm, International
Student Lounge
5-6pm, Manning Bar
$7 steak night
6-8pm, Manning Bar
TUESDAY
$4 tap cider and
WEDNESDAY
4-6pm, Manning Bar
FUNCH
Eastern Avenue, 12-2pm
FOOD CHALLENGE
1-2pm, Manning Bar
series screenings
AUSTRALIAN
DISCUSSION GROUP
Get Up! Stand Up!
3-4pm, Level 4
Wentworth Building
TRIVIA
12-4pm, Manning Bar
$3.50 HAPPY HOUR
Beat The System – Local
Bands and DJs
5pm, Hermann’s Bar
Debating Regionals
$3 dog night
6-8pm, Manning Bar
5-6pm, Manning Bar
5.15pm, Alternating
Venues
$4 tap cider and
$4 tap cider and
$3.50 HAPPY HOUR
$3.50 HAPPY HOUR
4-6pm, Manning Bar
and Hermann’s Bar
50 C WINGS
2 for 1 schnitty
free topping friday
4-6pm, Manning Bar
6-8pm, Manning Bar
4-6pm, Manning Bar
6-8pm, Manning Bar
FRIDAY
DJs
$3.50 HAPPY HOUR
Manning Bar
MUST SEE
Dodgy Sweater Party
Wednesday 13 August, 2014
7pm, Manning Bar // 18+
ACCESS: Free
General: $5
Bust out that dusty box of ol’ sweaters your Nan
gave you and celebrate the start of Semester 2 in
your dodgiest sweater. Wear it with pride as you get
down in your greatest cringe-worthy knit to the finest
mix of tunes. There are prizes up for grabs for the
best and worst sweater.
Get hunting for your best knitted wonder now!
/Manningbarsydney
@Manningbar
COMING UP
1
AUG
13
AUG
BAND CAMP
SEMI FINAL #1
6
AUG
8
AUG
12
AUG
RAW Awards
BODYJAR
REVUES 2014
season launch
DODGY SWEATER PARTY
16
AUG
Sleepmakeswaves
BAND COMP
SEMI FINAL #2
20
AUG
28
AUG
THEATRESPORTS
SHOWCASE
#manningbar
6
bull usu.edu.au
EDITORIAL
FROM THE EDITORS
EDEN, KATIE, SOPHIE, ROB, SEAN, ERIN
The BULL team is back again (‘check it to
wreck it let’s begin’) for another semester,
bringing you a mix of enlightening exegeses
and entertaining articles from the talented
student reporters and contributors
across campus.
Throughout this issue the herd have
probed important issues pertaining to sex,
gender and relationships in Australia. While
Georgia Hitch abhors and gores violence
against women Pamplona style, Barbara
Taylor brings the horns to the troubling
agenda of the men’s rights movement.
Meanwhile Flora Grant and Alistair Kitchen
look into gender issues in sport – reporting
on Netball Australia’s push to stay three feet
away from normative representations of both
femininity and masculinity, and tackling the
world’s foremost gay rugby championship
(which just so happens to be in our fair city)
respectively.
Whether or not you agree with her
progressive views on loving relationships,
Natasha Gillezeau deftly manoeuvre the
challenges faced by those approaching
physical and romantic engagements with
multiple partners.
Breaking down perceptions and gender
stereotypes further, our cover represents
an individual that’s been fragmented and
distorted, with a hint of a darker side.
And with another semester over and a
new one just beginning, we say farewell to
some of the more familiar characters and
a-hoy-hoy to the fresh faces on campus.
If you missed the news, editor Melanie
Kembrey ascended to the pro-leagues as she
received gainful employment as a journalist.
But after a difficult selection process our
fantastically talented reporter and serial
comic contributor Erin Rooney has been
added to the fold in her stead. She would
like us to remind you how amazing her
hometown Canberra is.
Lastly, in an issue where we explore
identity politics and oppression, it is
worth noting that this is the first edition
of BULL to include an acknowledgement
of country. That we did not even notice its
absence speaks volumes about the failure
of Australians to meaningfully consider
our nation’s history. We and many of our
reporters write and edit from a position of
privilege, at times we need to be reminded
of this.
honoured to be serving the Board, membership
and the Union in our respective capacities, and
we’ve been working extremely productively
and positively together. Over the past few
weeks we created and facilitated a fantastic
Board induction, alongside the rest of the
Executive, and I have every confidence that
we will continue to work well moving forward.
Q&A: TARA WANIGANAYAKA
USU President
voted for me, the removal of their votes
from the ballot would have still left me
elected with a student majority, and that
is a very humbling fact which I will not
take for granted. There is no doubt the
membership has varying views on what the
role of the senate-appointed directors should
be – this Board and Executive, alongside
members and the senate-appointed directors,
will be conducting a review evaluating their
role and existence within the Union, and
in the interim we will continue to work
productively with them.
B: In Liv Ronan's speech to be elected to
the finance committee, she used words to the
effect of needing to diffuse rising tensions
between you and Robby Magyar. Do you
think this relationship will be hard to
sustain going forward?
TW: It is really unfortunate when promises of
B: Did you pursue the votes of senate appointed
directors, or did they come to you? Can you
justify your actions in accepting their votes?
TW: At no point during the executive election
process did I seek or accept the vote of the
senate-appointed directors. Additionally,
given the vote was held by secret ballot,
in no way can the exact division of votes be
identified. That stated, even if it is assumed
that the senate-appointed directors both
TW: Though naturally during an election
for a position such as President of the
Union competition tends to arise, there
is no tension between Robby and myself.
We are both incredibly privileged and
BULL x
BULL wants to hear from you
Email editors@bullmag.com.au
B: Behind the scenes promises of support for future
executive elections frequently determine who
directors vote for. Why should students believe the
best candidate for the role is selected?
such a kind are made in executive elections,
and it is undoubtedly an issue this Board will
hope to deal with moving forward. Students
definitely should never have to feel that
they cannot trust the best candidate is the
role. However, it is important to note board
directors do not take their votes lightly, and I
believe that this year a true estimation of the
values and abilities of candidates was made
when the Board placed their vote.
Issue 05 7
LETTERS & PICK OF THE MONTH
LETTERS
PLEASED TO GREET YOU
BUSINESS PROPOSAL
Dear Tom Joyner,
Greetings,
Moving to Sydney was by far the strangest
experience for me socially. As a girl, you
get the infamous ‘kiss on the cheek’ (from
friends, people you’ve just met), and
this scares me far more than a fumble-y
handshake.
Being from a smaller town, I’m used to
having my space, and reaching for someone’s
hand does a nice job of maintaining that
while still providing some contact. When
you get to know people well enough, you
can start moving in for the hug.
But here, greeting people just
causes all kinds of confusion: the look
of astonishment when I offer my hand
provides much entertainment when they
lean in for the kiss; the awkwardness of the
‘cheek brush’ when I go for the hug and
they pucker up. It seems Sydney just ain’t
big enough for someone who can’t read
social signs.
Long story short, I’d give you a small,
polite wave back any day.
Permit me to inquire about your financial
status. I write to offer you the opportunity
to help me and receive a large sum of my
fortune in return.
I am Prince Fayed W. Bolkiah, the
eldest son of Prince Jeffrey Bolkiah, former
finance minister of Brunei, the tiny oil-rich
sultanate on the Gulf Island of Borneo.
Following the Asian financial crisis,
the sultan has accused my father of the
mismanagement of US $14.8 billion. I was
then placed under house arrest, but I have
a Palm Vx handheld computer from which
I am sending you this email.
Before my in-castration, I went ahead
to dispatch the sum of US $500 million in
cash under special arrangement into the
custody of different private banks and trust
companies for safekeeping abroad.
I seek your good assistance to invest
these funds into a profitable investment in
your country to facilitate future survival
for my family abroad.
After due deliberation with my aids
we've decided to offer a certain
percentage to you as compensation for
your co-operation and kind sincerity to
carry out this assignment. Your financial
compensation will be 15% of the total cash.
That is 15% of US $500,000,000.00.
~ Socially Awkward, Bachelor of
Engineering II
Eds: We wish you all the best here in Sydney.
We’ve no doubt you’ll soon learn the ways of
the Big Smoke and become one of us. A little
kiss never hurt anyone!
Thanks.
~ Prince Fayed.W. Bolkiah.
Eds: Thank you for your kind offer Prince
Fayed, and for placing so much trust in us
humble editors of this student magazine.
However, we must respectfully decline and
wish you all the best with your ‘in-castration’.
BULL wants to hear from you
Tell us about the stories you shared with your friends or those you placed on
the bottom of your budgie cage. Or just write and let us know you’re lonely.
Email editors@bullmag.com.au
BEARDS
Winter is upon us. The days have grown
shorter, the nights cooler. Never has it
been a better time for our bristly friends
to come back into fashion, warming the
chins (and hearts) of many.
Just look at the music scene,
where artists such as Chet Faker, Ry
X and Angus Stone wear their beards
proud. Beard tribute band The Beards
continue to inspire beard-growers
around Australia after their release
of The Beard Album in May this year,
featuring hits such as ‘Damn That’s A
Nice Beard’ and ‘I Have A Beard And It
Looks Really Good’.
But it isn’t just today’s wordsmiths
that spread the good word about these
fuzzy facial accessories. As William
Shakespeare once proclaimed through
Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing,
“He that hath a beard is more than
a youth, and he that hath no beard
is less than a man.” His words still
resonate today as the beard has come to
symbolise all that is manly and wise. I
mean it’s a well-known fact that Albus
Dumbledore kept most of his wise
words in his beard.
Therefore we advise that all able
lose the razors and maintain a proud
beard this semester. The rest of us can
only dream…
WEEKLY
E
BADG
W
DRA
Issue 05
OPINION
OPINION
Four things you
don’t ask an
African woman
studying in
Sydney
study abroad. I personally find difficulty in
resisting the urge in claiming to be a scion of
a fictitious kingdom. Most likely, her parents
are ordinary folk and her enrolment is based
on mere merit.
By Vanessa Mukhebi
2. Can you twerk?
African women are unapologetic about
their rhythmic prowess but it’s problematic
to associate skin colour with twerking. By
making this assumption, you are writing a
narrative on her body that may not in fact
exist, and that perpetuates the stereotype of
black women as hypersexual. Whether she
twerks or not, don’t treat her like a circus act.
Lupita Nyong’o is a departure from the
connotations that her deeply hued skin and
nationality often pertain to, and chances are
you will meet many like her at university. In
the event that you do become acquainted
with an African woman in a tute or at
Manning Bar, here are a few questions to
steer clear of:
1. Are you a ‘princess’?
An enduring perception about Africans is
that they are an invariably poor and deprived
people. Being royalty or having a corrupt
politician as a father is presumed to be the
only logical explanation of her ability to
3. Do you know Kevin from Botswana?
The custom amongst Africans to refer
to one another as ‘ma sista’ or ‘brotha’ is
misleading, but I assure you we don’t all
know each other. It’s merely a term of
endearment and an acknowledgement of
seeing ‘one of our own’. Feel free to assume
that every renowned African is related to all
#FREETHENIPPLE
on Instagram
Emily Shen
If you ever bothered to take a quick look at
Instagram’s terms of use (or, that not-solittle thing you clicked through and agreed
to when you first made your account),
bullet point number 2 states, “You may not
post… nude [or] partially nude… photos or
other content”. In a different scenario, this
might seem like a fair call. In the world of
Instagram however, especially with its close
ties to the fashion industry, this appears
to be an unjustified policy that is currently
policed too heavily.
Particularly since the CFDA (Council of
Fashion Designers of America) just launched
an award entitled ‘Fashion Instagrammer of
the Year’ in May, fashion and Instagram have
naturally solidified an intense love affair. Yet
many within the industry have fallen afoul of
“You may
not post… nude
[or] partially nude…
photos or other
content”
Instagram’s nudity policy. American Vogue’s
iconic Grace Coddington felt the sting, as
a self-portrait she posted supporting her
Paddle 8 “No Clothes Auction” resulted
in the deactivation of her newly formed
account due to her supposed transgression
of the no-nudity policy. Though if you
look at the sketch, it’s nothing but a small
of us though. Yes, Obama is my uncle and
Mandela, my grandfather’s cousin. Don’t
question it, it just is.
4. Why is your skin colour different?
The dominating idea that there is an
authentic ‘African look’ is a fallacy. Some
find it difficult reconciling the fact that
Africans come in a variety of skin tones,
facial features and body types. Individuals
with Indian, Asian or European ancestry,
may not be indigenous to the continent,
but still identify as African. With nearly
2,000 ethnic groups, Africa has the largest
number of diverse ethnic groups of any
continent. Understand this before you
make assumptions.
The African woman’s look is just as multidimensional as her individual history. So
before you approach her with one of these
questions, remember she has a name. Learn
it. It’s not ‘Africa’.
drawing and the violation occurring as
two lines with dots.
While I have little desire to post
anything even reaching the realms of a
casual nip-slip online, it seems bizarre that
Instagram has been so heavy-handed with
efforts in regulating nudity, particularly
when there seems to be little issue taken
with images of male shirtless selfies at the
gym. Rather, it has been female topless
nudity that has been targeted. Models such
as Anja Rubik and blogs such as ‘Into the
Gloss’ have been flagged for their nudity
within an industry that prizes the human
body and revolves around interacting with
a stripped aesthetic. Let alone the masked
sexism that Instagram is perpetuating by
policing the female body.
Indeed, it seems that with the growing
popularity of social media as a platform not
just for the general public but now also for
industry use, the terms need to be re-defined.
In the wise words of leaders Badgirlriri
and Scout Willis, current champions for
the pro-female campaign on Instagram,
#FREETHENIPPLE.
9
10 bull usu.edu.au
FEATURE
Flora Grant explores a new movement in sports marketing – one that involves neither beer nor boobs.
When the third quarter siren rings at Sydney Olympic Park,
the cheers from the crowds of mums and daughters gathered to
watch the nation’s best and brightest netball stars are as loud as
they have sounded at any point during the game. But this time
they don’t accompany a goal: instead five 18-year-old boys have
just taken the court to perform dance moves inspired by the
sport itself, posing for the cameras as they strut their stuff and
playfully shoot hoops.
These are the Telstra Netboys – the recently introduced
all-male breakdancing squad entertaining audiences at the ANZ
Championship, Australia and New Zealand’s premier netball
league. Skinny, clean-shaven, and never without a beaming
smile, these squeaky clean and mum-friendly cheerleaders
are a far cry from their hypersexual female counterparts who
you might see at the rugby league, or the traditional macho
cheerleaders you might see throwing and catching the smaller
cheerleaders at sporting events in the United States.
“The aim was to create a group of talented boys and
bring them in as a support for the netball ladies,” said Ame
Delves, the Netboys choreographer, in a Netball Australia
Issue 05 11
FEATURE
promotional video. “I am not sure if it’s ever been done
before. They’ve kind of become the cheerleaders of the
netball community.”
Though they received ridicule from outside the netball
world – “How did this get through the marketing budget
approval process?” asked one commentator – the Netboys
have gained huge support from the players and fans who
delight in the simple novelty of boys dancing at a girls’ sport.
Surrounded by the punters, long-time netball fan and
aspiring professional player Georgia May is sitting in the stands
enjoying the performance. “Initially I saw them as a bit of a
laugh, a novelty,” she says. “But their consistency and loyalty to
the sport has been quite refreshing. It’s nice to see such attention
paid to netball as a professional sport, especially from guys.”
The unconventional marketing strategy is just one
effort being made to bring new fans and new money into the
professional sport, which has faced a number of setbacks in
recent years. Though netball is the biggest women’s sport
in Australia, with over 1.2 million players and high rates of
participation at junior levels, a lack of corporate sponsorship
has prevented players from being fully professional. Last year
Network Ten decided to end its four-year association with
the ANZ Championship deeming it too ‘insignificant’ for
mainstream media, and ‘not a premium sport’.
“There’s no doubt that netball in Australia suffers from
having to compete against the ‘big boys’ and big budgets of
AFL and NRL,” explains Karen Phelan, Head of Marketing &
Communications at Netball Australia.
She says that Netball Australia has instead sought to create
an entirely separate brand identity and, as with the Netboys,
does its best to avoid the traditional, tired representations of
gender in sport. Reviewing the history of the marketing of
Australian women in sport predictably reveals a focus on the
body of the athlete, rather than the sporting abilities of the
players. Swimwear calendars, commercials, men’s magazines,
and even the official competitive clothing attire have used sex
appeal to market women’s sport.
But Netball Australia, Phelan says, is different. “The brand
is 'girl next door’,” she explains, “the professional athlete who is
dedicated, fit, strong and feminine.”
In his research, Australian National University sports
marketing lecturer Andrew Hughes seems to agree with Phelan’s
methods. Despite its ongoing popularity as a marketing tool
in men’s sport, sex appeal has a very limited success rate, and
even then only with a very specific target market, usually young
males aged between 18-34. In avoiding both marketing sport as
a rough battle and sexualising the players, Netball Australia has
developed a much broader audience. The sport has since found
sponsors traditionally alienated from the combative attitude
and bad press associated with other sports. There are women’s
magazines, supermarkets, jewellers and even a pasta company as
Netball Australia sponsors.
The trans-Tasman championship is also now broadcast
live on Fox Sports, and Dr. Russell suggests that this television
coverage necessitates marketing to the broader audience Netball
Australia is seeking to attract.
“Whenever we
think of giving
female sportspeople
value, we take the
representation of
male players as
the benchmark.”
“If you’re planning to have netball running on the TV weekly,
there is a legitimate requirement for it to pay for itself but also it
is an avenue for Fox Sports to get a broader audience,” she says.
“So they’ll be using whatever they can to promote the qualities
of the game, and appeal to not just the women and girls that play
it on an everyday basis, but to a wider population to try and get
more viewers from people outside of netball – not just men, but
women who play other sports too.”
As part of this broadcast, netball has adopted many of
the tropes we see in men’s sport broadcast. As players come
out onto the court, a video of each one shot from a low angle,
arms folded across their chest, unsmiling, appears on screen.
Dr Russell says that our understanding of what makes
a sportsperson is based on what we see in men’s sport. “If you
look at any kind of sport, they all do that posed way of saying
‘I am a member of this team’,” she says. “Whenever we think
of giving female sportspeople value, we take the representation
of male players as the benchmark. Not having the netballers
sexualised in any sense gives it the same value and credence
as the male athletes. But then, why is that the version we have
to mirror? It’s all to do with our ideas of what makes an athlete.”
The answer is a difficult one. Negotiating the blurred line
between breaking gender assumptions and professionalising the
sport is fraught with missteps and fouls. But with the NetBoys
and the promotion of the players, perhaps Netball Australia is
heading in the right direction.
Image courtesy of Netball Australia on ANZ Championship/Pinterest
HONG KONG
Your Choice of Exchange in Asia
Student Exchange Programmes and Scholarships available
Don’t miss your chance of a lifetime! Check with your home university’s exchange office today.
Also visit http://studyinhongkong.edu.hk
Issue 05 13
FEATURE
NATASHA GILLEZEAU EXPLORES AN
ALTERNATIVE TO MONOGAMY.
14 bull usu.edu.au
FEATURE
A solid indication of the invisibility of a sexual
preference is when Microsoft Word underlines the
term in red, as if to say ‘Um… that’s… not a thing.’
This happens every time I type ‘polyamory’.
Polyamory is consensual non-monogamy.
Not to be confused with ‘polygamy’ – legal marriage
between more than two people. Polyamory is the idea
that you can fall in love and be sexually involved with
multiple people, emphasising openness, consent and
ongoing discussion.
I have been in a monogamous relationship with
my boyfriend – who I love – since November 2013.
But I have never felt less free.
My opinion is that falling in love is a great
experience and it should happen as often as possible.
This sits awkwardly alongside the prevailing attitude
that falling in love should be experienced two to five
times, consecutively not concurrently, culminating in
a marriage.
***
Brigitte, 23, has been in a polyamorous relationship
with her boyfriend Chris for four and a half years.
They constantly negotiate the openness of their
relationship, and have both periods of hooking up
with whomever, and periods resembling monogamy.
“You guys live together. How does it work?”
I asked.
“At first, I’d say I’m going out tonight, so maybe
stay at your parents’ house. And he would. Or I’d
stay at a friend’s house,” says Brigitte.
“How would you two deal with the other person
having sex?”
“We’ll talk about what happened. Then I feel
less anxious. The fear of the unknown is the worst,
but when I find out it’s like ‘that’s exactly what
I thought, it’s better having heard it from you’.”
“Do you ever worry about Chris caring about
other people?”
“No. I think everyone fears being forgotten,
or like, oh my god, they’re going to stop loving me.
Even I have that. But I just have to think about it
rationally. If we did fall in love with other people, it’s
just life.”
She shrugs.
There have been awkward moments, like when
they’ve been at a party with a girl they’ve both
hooked up with. But their relationship would not
have lasted without the freedom of polyamory.
Philluhp, 21, laughs as he tells me he was born
into a ‘biblical patriarchy’. Raised in Idaho, he was
homeschooled by evangelical Christian parents who
objected to evolution being taught in public schools.
No longer Christian, Philluhp identifies as queer,
polyamorous and asexual.
He discovered polyamory after reading online
articles written by people in polyamorous relationships.
“When I heard the word polyamory, I one
hundred per cent conflated it with polygamy”,
he says. “So, when I was reading this I was like, so,
these aren’t fundamentalist Mormons? And they
are actually doing this just because they want to?
And everybody is okay with it? And their kid is
totally emotionally stable? Like? What!”
“I spent the next three weeks just reading the
blogs of people who identified as polyamorous,
and then later realising that hey, this is a cool thing
that makes sense for me too.”
“Do you have a partner at the moment? Are you
in any relationships?” I ask.
He smiles shyly. He isn’t in a relationship
currently, but he likes the idea of ‘relationship
anarchy,’ where people just appreciate wherever
they’re at with one another and their “varying
degrees of emotional and romantic bonds.” He is
still working on his communication skills so he can
have the types of relationships he would like.
“I’m not very good at dictating goals and
defining barriers and such. I’m actively working on
improving all those things,” he laughs, “so I can
have the type of relationships that I want to have
without causing problems.”
The issues of communication that Philluhp
faces don’t surprise me. Being raised by
conservative Christian parents, Philluhp wasn’t
encouraged to critically analyse their mode of living.
Regardless of where you’re from, understanding
what you want and communicating that to others
seems crucial in achieving the types of relationships
and sex you want to have.
Social norms like monogamy and heterosexuality
operate silently. They have been pre-determined for us.
They don’t need to be said, because they are assumed.
***
I ask Brigitte what she thinks about cheating.
She frowns.
“I think that it’s really bad. If anything is nonconsensual, in any way, it’s not good, because you’re
Issue 05 15
FEATURE
“I have been in a
monogamous relationship
with my boyfriend – who
I love – since November 2013.
But I have never felt less free.”
breaching the trust of your partner and you’re
breaching their boundaries. There are people who
aren’t poly, and they’ll never be, and they don’t
want to be, and they don’t have to be.”
I’m surprised. I expected her to be more
sympathetic, but her answer makes sense.
But people cheat, and it may come from a
genuine desire to open up the relationship. I sense
this is the case for Josh, 26, who broke up with
his girlfriend of one and a half years around four
months ago. During their relationship, he slept with
different women without her knowledge or consent.
His perfect scenario would be having a
stable girlfriend where both parties retain their
sexual freedom.
“If you were going to have a polyamorous
relationship, what would be some of the terms?”
I ask.
He talks slowly, in spurts, as though he’s saying
it aloud for the first time.
“So like, it would be where we” he says gesturing
towards me, “obviously we have to be good. And I
would know enough in myself that you’d always be
my first, like, primary girl. And vice versa.” Beyond
that, he thinks being open about having sex with
other people without going into too much detail is
important. “There’s no point having any bullshit,”
he says.
“Do you think that’s possible?” I ask.
“I think it’s difficult. Obviously it doesn’t work
with a very insecure girl. Or someone who doesn’t
share those views. And that’s not so easy to find.
But it can happen.”
***
It can happen. And it does. After breaking
up with her last monogamous boyfriend in 2011,
Clo, 20, knew she was looking for something like
polyamory, but didn’t know the term.
“I was using all different words for it, like ‘casual
relationship’, which is kind of bullshit. Just because
a relationship is non-monogamous doesn’t mean
that it’s casual.” Clo began seeing a guy who told
her he identified as polyamorous, and after her
initial trepidation, felt a sense of relief. They dated
for almost a year.
Clo is thoughtful and quiet when she speaks,
but clear.
She tells me polyamory allows relationships to
form organically, and according to their own rules.
“Have you ever met someone at a party that you
thought was really cool?” she asks me. “And you’re
like, we should catch up, we should hang out. And
you bump into each other, and you’re like ‘let’s
go get a coffee!’ And it sort of hangs together, but
always retains a certain novelty. I’ve been seeing
someone for like, a year like that. Except instead of
having coffee, we hook-up.”
I think how there’s no way I could pull that off
for a year without the relationship steering towards
a ‘what are we doing here?’ moment.
“It’s just such an unusual thing. But it couldn’t
happen within the bounds of monogamy, because
there is so much expectation on what sexual
relationships mean, and how they happen. All of
these different growths would be completely stifled.”
For Clo, polyamory is no longer something
she really thinks about, it’s just something she does.
I ask her why men, my boyfriend included,
say they have less of a problem with a girl sleeping
with another girl than another guy. She responds
immediately.
“It’s sexist. It’s because a woman poses less of
a threat to them. Because you know, women hooking
up, its not serious right? Katy Perry did it, she liked
it, it’s just a silly thing. A man hooking up with your
female partner is impeding on your territory. That’s
a threat to you. Whereas a woman doesn’t have the
strength or the agency to do that.”
Clo says polyamory has major implications
for enfranchising women, because it forces them
to actually think about what they want, and then
communicate that to other people.
***
Learning about polyamory has clarified my
muddy, private thoughts. ‘Yes!’ I think, ‘I know
exactly what it feels like to love more than one
person simultaneously!’
I’ve felt the pain of ‘choosing’, of ‘ranking’
people. I find the tacit assumption that we limit
our sexual freedom once we get into a relationship
bizarre. But until now I accepted it as automatic.
At times monogamy works brilliantly, and makes
a lot of sense. Some people genuinely fall in love or
want to sleep with one person at a time. It’s clearer
how to navigate monogamous relationships because
we know the rules. But perhaps it should be an
active choice, not a default setting.
16 bull usu.edu.au
INTERVIEW
Interview
MATTHEW VANDEPUTTE
It’s easy to miss the beauty of a city
landscape when it flashes past your train
window or blurs into bustling crowds and
blinding lights. But Belgian timelapse
photographer Matthew Vandeputte has
developed a trained eye, and doesn’t miss the
finer details of a scene. Not for one second.
“I like to capture it the way I have it in
my mind. You show things to people using
the techniques that I use, and you show them
a different perspective of a scene that they
may already know,” he says.
Of course, creating powerful imagery
isn’t your typical point-and-shoot situation
– it takes planning. Vandeputte describes his
first challenge when going out on a shoot
as working out how far he’ll be walking and
what gear to take as a result due to the sheer
weight. He then takes a number of photos,
moving the camera on a tripod or over
distances in between shots to create video
from high-resolution photos, which form
the frames. This technique allows for a high
amount of control when it comes to editing,
bringing out details in the image that might
otherwise be lost.
“For example, a sunset, most people think
it’s all pretty static and it goes slow, but if you
speed it up by doing timelapse photography,
you show how dynamic it is and how the
clouds move and how the light changes.”
Vandeputte speaks carefully about this postproduction stage, particularly highlighting
the importance of the soundtrack to his
work. He holds a great respect for the artists
and the dangers of copyright when it comes
to sharing videos online, choosing licensable
music, and connecting with artists such as
Slovenian producer Gramatik to come to
an agreement on how he can use their work.
“The music’s such a big part of the whole
edit because it gives you the rhythm and the
base”, he says.
Choosing a great shooting location is
also significant. For him, there’s nowhere in
Sydney like his favourite spot to shoot, near
Milson’s Point. Over a tiny walkway and
bridge, he finds some rocks to sit on that
give a perfect view of the city, Opera House,
and the Bridge.
“Depending on the season, the sun sets in
the middle of the Bridge, on the water, and
that gives you some great shots for timelapse,”
he says. “You’ll notice that there’s a lot of
tourists there as well, and it’s always good fun
to chat to like-minded people about gear and
just travel stories and all that.”
His voice suddenly lights up when he
speaks about travelling. Vandeputte already
has quite an impressive portfolio from
his adventures, shooting aftermovies with
Epic Cinema for festivals like Belgium’s
Tomorrowland and providing sequences for
A Party 424 Metres Under the Sea, a David
Guetta documentary made by Dutch
company Final Kid in Israel last year.
But it wasn’t just the opportunity to
pursue his hobby as a career that brought
Vandeputte to stay in Sydney. After taking
a road trip with one of his friends here,
he met his current girlfriend Amelia.
“I stayed here for a month in total and
I just loved it so much. I met Amelia on that
trip, I went back home, we kept talking, and
that evolved into me quitting my job after
a couple of months and booking flights and
coming over here, without really knowing if
it would work out or not.”
Needless to say, things seem to be working
out pretty well for him. With coverage from
The Daily Telegraph and BuzzFeed, as well as
a growing presence on Instagram, Vandeputte
is beginning to receive significant attention
for his work from the public in Australia.
And as much as he is talented, he puts it
down to sheer persistence.
“It’s not difficult to master, it just costs
a lot of time and energy, the sunrise and
sunsets. But the key thing is just to go out and
shoot as much as you can, and look at what
you’re doing, and go out and keep shooting.”
ERIN ROONEY
You can follow Matthew on Instagram at
@matjoez and YouTube at /MatthewVandeputte.
Issue 05 17
INTERVIEW
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Issue 05 19
FEATURE
Our
Silent
Emergency
GEORGIA HITCH WANTS TO KEEP DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE IN THE PUBLIC CONSCIOUSNESS.
On the thoroughfare that is Crown Street
in Sydney’s leafy Surry Hills is a small gallery.
Tucked away off the main drag, it’s the kind of
place you could miss on your way past, oblivious
to the beauty hanging on its walls – at the moment,
blue and white pieces depicting landscapes in
Barcelona and Portugal. Leveler in hand, gallery
manager Kay Schubach glides over to one painting.
“I’m sorry but if I don’t get this straight it’ll drive
me mad!” she says as she prepares the works for
the upcoming exhibition opening. Kay has done
a variety of work; from managing business affairs
for the likes of Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise,
to jobs in the media industry and controlling her own
companies. Her elegance is overwhelming and she
exudes the friendly kind of confidence of a woman
who has found her place in the world. Looking at
her you would never know she was raped, abused
and almost killed by her former partner.
20 bull usu.edu.au
FEATURE
Some consider Kay lucky that she walked away
with her life, and when you look at the statistics,
you can almost see their point. Although
figures vary due to the entrenched culture of
underreporting domestic abuse, it’s true that a
Victorian study found domestic violence to be
the biggest killer of women under the age of 45.
It’s also known that more than one woman dies
each week at the hands of their current or former
intimate partner.
But what does this say about our culture,
that we consider being raped, psychologically
eroded and physically abused the better end of
the stick? The even more pressing question that
faces us is how do we rid ourselves of these evils?
How can we save the women who weren’t as
‘lucky’ as Kay?
One idea beginning to gain traction is the
importance of early intervention. The State
Government of Victoria’s Education Department
has been leading the charge, with the creation
of the ‘Respectful Relationships Education’
(RRE) program in 2009. Directed at preventing
violence against women, the course is taught
in high schools and is targeted towards
teenagers who are venturing into their first
intimate partnerships. It focuses on teaching
the importance of equality and respect in a
relationship – something that can be tricky at
the easiest of times – to classes of teenagers.
Other organisations, such as Domestic
Violence NSW (DVNSW), are praising this
move and calling for it to be taken one step
further, or younger as the case may be, to
preschools. This idea is not without resistance.
After all, how do you teach three and four-yearolds about such complex interactions?
Kay has a solution: “Kids need to be taught,
not about violence but about what constitutes a
healthy relationship – that mum and dad should
discuss issues, that mum is equally powerful
in the house, that the kids have rights and that
everyone is treated respectfully – that’s normal
and anything other than that is abnormal.”
For Kay, as with many other women,
the issue lay in control.
Simon, her former partner, was a leader in his
industry. He was sexy, charismatic and had
grown up believing that it was his right to exert
control over others, in all aspects of his life.
“They think that you’re just something that
can be controlled and you have a look at some
of these [domestic] murders, it’s about when the
man doesn’t have control anymore because the
woman’s pregnant, or she’s trying to leave or has
left. That’s when they really snap because they’ve
He was sexy,
charismatic and had
grown up believing
that it was his right
to exert control
over others, in all
aspects of his life.
lost control.” The words leave Kay’s mouth and
sting with rawness, a result of her experience in
this exact situation more than a decade ago.
The epicentre of Kay’s experience was the
psychological control Simon held over her.
“My self-esteem had been eroded so quickly
by Simon. I was a shell of a woman within a
month and I’d actually lost my job, lost a lot of
my friends; I was pregnant so I was feeling awful
as well. I couldn’t get my hair done, I had cold
sores and scabs from him hitting me and I was
embarrassed to go out.”
This sense of control stems from a much
more dangerous idea of men’s entitlement and
ownership of women, a concept that
has its roots in our colonial history and
is still seen today in our legal system as the
‘provocation defence’. As Kate Fitz-Gibbon,
Lecturer in Criminology at Deakin University
describes, the defence comes from the 18th
Century English opinion that “woman is the
property of man”. The provocation defence
evolved to protect men who killed their wives
from the death penalty after discovering they
were unfaithful.
In Australia, the provocation defence is still
a valid defence because it is one of the many laws
Australia’s legal system inherited from England.
“It certainly doesn’t fit in with the legal system
now or in community expectations of the law’s
response to domestic violence.”
What is even more shocking is that this
law is not only redundant, but as Fitz-Gibbon
points out, it still permeates and influences the
decisions of our legal system. “As much as we
like to think that we’ve moved past the notions
of women as property, we do still see those
discourses coming through the courts.”
The inescapable reality of Kay’s situation
is that it mirrors the circumstances of thousands
of women around the country, and the number
of women experiencing domestic violence
is rising. Recent figures have shown a 2.5
per cent increase over the past 24 months in
reported incidents of domestic violence within
NSW alone. In March of 2014, NSW Police
Commissioner Andrew Scipione was reported
in the Sydney Morning Herald as saying that
domestic violence is one of the “biggest issues
modern society has to face”. So yes, education
and a generational change in attitudes should be
the aspiration for all members of the Australian
community, but at the moment it is just that:
an aspiration. Judging by the current level
of Government support for ending domestic
violence, we shouldn’t hold our breath.
“It’s not a sexy thing; governments don’t
want to fund it,” says Moo Baulch, a project
manager at DVNSW.
Baulch has dedicated herself to raising
Issue 05 21
FEATURE
awareness and fostering support for women in
abusive relationships. You only need to spend
ten minutes in her company to be infected with
her passion. Although she feels strongly that
education is a necessity, she concedes that it may
be many years before we see any real change.
In the interim, Baulch believes there are other
solutions much closer to home.
“There’s this space there that we haven’t
really looked at developing in Australia, around
what we can do as bystanders because it really
touches our sensibilities as adults and we sort of
go ‘Oh I’m not really sure how I feel about that’
and it challenges us.”
Academics like Shannon Spriggs of the
University of Queensland are facing this
challenge head on, creating the program
‘Mentors in Violence Prevention’ to educate
people on how their actions can make a crucial
difference to an abusive situation. Early results
from Spriggs’ 2012 Australian study are
convincing, with 93 per cent of participants
leaving the program comfortable and ready
to step in and act during difficult situations.
When asked if any of her friends ever
intervened during her relationship with Simon,
the one-word answer came not with anger, but
with sadness. “No.”
“They just didn’t know how. Actually, a lot
of my friends didn’t want anything to do with me
because they thought I was just with this asshole
of a guy. To them, and it’s often the case with
other women too, they didn’t think they could
do anything about it because it was my choice.”
Baulch from DVNSW acknowledges that
overcoming the bystander effect takes both
knowledge and persistence from those involved.
With the benefit of hindsight, Kay understands
how valuable even the smallest gestures of
support can be.
“When you’re in a frightening situation in
the home it’s like you’re in a bee box and
someone’s switched off the safety switch.
Sometimes all you need is for the phone to
ring and someone to say, ‘Are you ok?’ To hear
them say, ‘Well that’s not right’. Once you start
Looking at her you would
never know she was raped,
abused and almost killed by
her former partner.
to hear that and get some reinforcement it just
helps. It diffuses the situation.”
It is easy to forget, sitting across from
someone who is so composed and articulate,
that the origin of these words is personal, private,
all-consuming terror. It is simultaneously
inspiring and chilling. Kay’s survival was not
the result of early-childhood education, nor did
an empowered bystander step in to ask if she
was ok. A magazine saved Kay.
Flicking through the glossy pages of a
woman’s magazine, Kay stumbled upon an
advertisement for White Ribbon Day – an
annual event led by men of all walks of life
to raise awareness and put an end to violence
against women. Staring at the photos of the
campaign’s high profile ambassadors on the
page and reading their words of comfort was
all Kay needed.
“That was when the penny dropped that
a) this was happening to me and b) that there
was solidarity and I didn’t need to be ashamed
or bewildered by what was going on anymore,
because there were these wonderful women and
men whom I admired who were speaking out
about it.”
What that ad gave Kay was the ability to
recognise that her situation was not her fault or
something she could fix. It was not just a clash of
personalities or them getting used to one another.
It was abuse.
Standing on the outside it can be easy
to criticise or fail to understand why it takes
some women months or years to come to this
realisation. While unintended, the effects of
these attitudes, and the stigma they create,
can be equally as damaging as the abuse itself.
It shames victims into believing that they are
weak, that they will be shunned from their
communities and that being a victim in an
abusive relationship doesn’t happen to people
like them. Overwhelmed by the threat of
embarrassment and humiliation, or unaware of
the nature of their circumstances, they stay silent.
In addition to educating society in a broader
context, the most important thing we can do is
empower women; arm them with the tools and
knowledge to be able to recognise abuse and feel
confident and safe enough to leave.
A first step is putting an end to the notion
that domestic violence is only physical. Baulch
from DVNSW believes in the bid to change
perceptions around what constitutes abuse.
It’s essential that other forms such as financial
control, psychological erosion or cyber abuse be
recognised as equally damaging.
This is where public campaigns like White
Ribbon come in. Reaching a large section of the
population, the more information we can get
out to victims, the more people like Kay that
read ads and recognise their situation, the more
women we save.
There has been a groundswell recently in the
fight against domestic violence, with an increased
visibility of the issue in the media. Cases like the
Simon Gittany trial and the brutal murders of
Jill Meagher and Rachelle Yeo are but a few in
a long list that have forced a dialogue about the
prevalence of violence against women.
“The more high profile people talk about it,
the more we talk about it in the media absolutely
every day, the easier it is for people to recognise
what’s going on and to speak out and seek help,”
says Kay imploringly.
The undeniable truth is that domestic
violence isn’t leaving anytime soon. Using a
multi-lateral education approach, however, we
can start to help women currently experiencing
domestic violence. The opportunity we have right
now is to draw it out of the private sphere in which
it thrives, feeding off its silent victims, and keep
it at the forefront of the public’s mind.
22 bull usu.edu.au
TASTE
TASTE
ALL YOU CAN EAT
Death by Dinner
Hannah Edensor
Sydneysiders could be described as somewhat
greedy when it comes to consumption. Our
shops have gotten bigger, our festivals take
over the city, and we’re constantly craving
the latest trends. It makes sense then that
all you can eat restaurants have been
multiplying lately. Sydney has an insatiable
appetite, and the standard à la carte menus
simply don’t satisfy us like they used to.
But just what is it about these
gastronomic feats of endurance that have
us salivating? We did the rounds of some
of Sydney’s favourite eyes-bigger-than-yourbelly style restaurants to find out.
Churrasco: First stop, Churrasco
Brazilian style BBQ. The open-flame cooked
menu sends your tastebuds into a frenzy,
as each morsel delivers a bit of Rio to the
table. The staff are easy-going and affable
as they bring barbecued meats and an array
of vegetables, salads and antipastos to your
table. At $44 per person, the price seems a
bit steep, until we see what’s on offer. Alcatra
sirloin served with a Parmesan sauce, pork
belly served with sea salt and fresh lime,
lamb rump marinated in Chimmi Churri
served on a skewer – you get the picture.
There’s a whole lotta meat here, and nobody
is complaining. And it keeps coming until
you either explode or lapse into a food coma.
Expect meat sweats.
Pizza Autentico: For all the seconddinner eaters, Pizza Autentico in Surry Hills
is the place you want to be. With the leader
board proudly proclaiming 32 slices of pizza
as the record, we certainly had our work cut
out for us. The restaurant consists of a large
dining room, with guests seated around a
single oversized table that occupies much
of the room. We order a carafe of house red
wine for $24, but it’s the food that makes a
student’s heart swell – $20, 90 minutes, all
you can eat. The polite, British waiters bring
us a small platter of bread, dip and olives to
start us off, before circulating the room with
wooden boards of pizza and bowls of pasta.
We try everything of course, but the winners
in my eyes are the creamy eggplant and
ricotta pasta (of which I have two helpings)
and the di marcello pomodoro pizza –
a delightful pizza base slathered with
Napoli sauce and topped with buffalo cheese,
cherry tomatoes, shaved Parmesan and basil.
If heaven had a flavour, this would be it.
Shinara Grill: Heading into the city,
we find ourselves seated around a sunken
barbeque table, with trolleys stacked with
assorted meats hovering like seagulls. We’re
in the much-loved Shinara Grill, where
everything’s coming up Korean. Students
flock here for an all-you-can-eat-for-$26
deal. Choose your meats, snip them with the
scissors provided, and cook till your heart’s
content. While you wait, snack on treats like
meat patties and spicy fried chicken from
the hot cart making the rounds. The place
is noisy and full of hungry students, but
the service is fantastic, and table buzzers
make tracking down forgotten drink orders
a breeze. We highly recommend slathering
pork belly and fermented tofu with chilli
sauce, but the ribs are a favourite as well.
Who knew cooking your own dinner could
be so satisfying?
All You Can Eat Attire
Leave the skinny jeans at home and instead
dress for function over fashion:
–Leggings or gym pants are definitely
appropriate…
–Choose a shirt in a dark colour – white
will stain
–Bring a large scarf to help cover up your
belly post-feast
–Handbags and manbags will also help
disguise over-eating
Issue 05 23
GO
GO
ESTONIA
VILJANDI FOLK FESTIVAL
CLAIRE PATERSON
Shopping centres are the kinds of places
where there is very little to indicate you’re
on the other side of the world. Bolstered by
the air of familiarity, my friend Steph and
I approached the counter of an Estonian
Ticketek-equivalent with the inflated selfconfidence only a native English speaker
can have.
An austere Estonian woman looked us
up and down from behind the counter and
merely tapped the badge pinned to her chest.
An Estonian and Russian flag. No English.
Steph and I looked at each other, ashamed
that we were about to be reduced to a mime
routine. After a prolonged silence followed
by a dodgy iPhone app translation, we had
our tickets to the Viljandi Folk Festival
(pronounced Vil-yahn-di), an annual fourday event held across the last weekend of July.
The small town of Viljandi is a
reasonable two-hour bus trip south of
Estonia’s capital Tallinn. The brain-child of
students studying the folk music program
at the Viljandi Culture School, the first
festival was held in 1994. Twenty years on,
the Viljandi Folk Festival is now one of the
largest music events in the Baltic/Nordic
region, with approximately 20,000 festivalgoers descending upon Viljandi each year.
Despite the crowds, it would be a
mistake to come to Viljandi for a Future
Music-esque rave. Festivities don’t kick
off till lunchtime and things officially
quieten down by midnight. It’s an allages event, with excitable toddlers living
it up alongside dreadlocked students and
enthused grandparents.
If the idea of folk music sounds awfully
quaint, don’t let that put you off. A lot of
the local acts fused Estonian folk with pop
or rock influences – overall it was all damn
good to dance to. We only encountered one
native English speaking act – The Water
Tower Bucket Boys, a bluegrass group
hailing from Oregon in the U.S. After an
extremely well-received set of twangy,
electric blues, they pulled out a straight but
passionate cover of ‘Wonderwall’ for their
final encore. To my surprise, the locals loved it!
As the frontman of Estonian/Ukrainian
folk-rock group Svjata Vatra leapt about
the audience clutching his daughter while
simultaneously choreographing group dance
formations, it became clear that the locals
are incredibly keen to showcase their culture.
Contrary to the “fuck OFF toorists” tags you
can find scribbled around backpacker hubs
in Australia (seriously), it was refreshing
to be part of a festival that had something
to prove.
It was outside the festival however, that
our stay in Viljandi cemented itself in my
memory. Scrambling to find accommodation,
we got a place a little out of the town centre
at the last minute. Ultimately this worked in
our favour because our stay at the Tamme
Guest House was definitely a highlight of our
time at Viljandi. We slept in a tiny cabin that
fit two single beds and our bags. Our little
abode had no electricity, yet a decent WiFi
signal (go figure). A home-made breakfast
was laid out each morning for us by our
host Sirje, and her husband even offered
us a share in the salmon he would cook over
a fire in the garden.
Sirje gave us lifts into town, recruited her
daughter to drive us to the nearby lake for a
swim, and then lent us bikes so we could go
ourselves. We spent our mornings lounging
in Sirje’s sun-drenched backyard, making
use of our personal hammock, or else
wallowing in the near deserted lake before
heading into the festival each afternoon.
Although at times a little odd and a bit off
the beaten track, our time at Viljandi was
well worth the step into the unknown.
Fun Facts
1. Estonia is statistically the least religious
country in the world. There is however
a smattering of funky looking Russian
Orthodox churches, if that floats your boat.
2. Estonian is unlike almost every other
European language. Part of the Finno-Ugric
language family, its closest relatives are
Finnish and Hungarian. Good luck with the
linguistic mind-fuck if you carry on into Latvia
or Lithuania.
3. You can buy bottles of vodka for
approximately eight euros at the
supermarket. From personal experience,
this seemed to be the preferred beverage
of leather-clad blokes who enjoyed
swilling cherry vodka in car parks. Perhaps
something for those looking for a cultural
experience with more ‘grit’.
4. Ladies, prepare to feel ugly.
A disproportionate number of supermodels
seem to come from Eastern Europe and man,
was Estonia rife with tall, leggy, blue-eyed
blondes. The men on the other hand, judging
by my cursory anthropological observations,
were a bit lacklustre by comparison.*
*No offence intended: My friend and I were
told by said guys drinking cherry vodka that
we were indeed “…Beautiful, but not as
beautiful as Estonian women!” Burn.
24 bull usu.edu.au
MOVE
section heading
MOVE
Creativity and Mental Illness
Fixing the Artist’s Syndrome
Lisa Xia
Creativity and mental illness are often
said to be two sides of the same coin.
The sensitive, tortured artist has long
been a central figure in our culture,
anchored in our minds by the likes of
Sylvia Plath and Vincent van Gogh, and
more recently, scientific research has
established an intriguing and perhaps
darkly ironic relationship between the two
phenomena.
While research published in the Journal
of Psychiatric Research in 2012 found that
creative occupations were ‘specifically
associated with [an] increased likelihood of
schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, unipolar
depression, anxiety disorders … and suicide’,
there have also been claims that creative
expression is actually central to the healing
process of those suffering from mental
illness. Creative outlets ranging from music
to visual arts, movement-based creative
expression and writing have been suggested
as effective means to reduce the severity
of psychological pain and the management
of depression.
Amongst the tortured creative types
self-medicating through artistic creation, the
eccentric and often unpredictable director
Lars von Trier stands out. Unofficially
known as ‘The Depression Trilogy’, his
films Antichrist (2009), Melancholia (2011)
and Nymphomaniac Volumes I and II (2013)
all involve female protagonists dealing with
depression in a variety of ways, and function
as surrogates for von Trier himself. Watching
the films in the order they were released
is said to arc the depression cycle that the
troubled director endured, tracing through
psychotic fits, sad lethargy, and ends in a
numb frankness.
In an interview with The A.V. Club,
von Trier credited the filmmaking process
for helping with his depression. “Just the
fact that you’re working is good for you,”
he said. “When you’re depressed, having
some success with something is positive,
but I wouldn’t say making this film was a
miracle cure [laughs].”
Mary*, a Resource Economics student
at the University of Sydney, suffered from
depression on and off in her first year
of high school until the end of last year.
She turned to various creative outlets
to overcome what she describes as an
overwhelming ‘colourlessness’ in life.
“I was drawn to role playing games,”
she says. “They could allow me to customise
myself and re-visualise and recreate my
identity the way I wanted it to be.”
Mary also found music to be a positive
influence in her life.
“There was a lot of conflict in my
environment. People expected me to be
this or that. No one really cared about who
I really was. Music could accept me for
who I was.”
However Eric*, an actor and student at
Screenwise who suffered from depression,
disagrees. Eric says his depression stemmed
from a breakup with a ‘demonic jezebel’ who
treated him like he was invisible towards the
end of their relationship. While the condition
Charities Combating Mental Illness
1 Beyond Blue – Aims to develop a
culture where those suffering from
mental health issues feel comfortable
seeking help
www.beyondblue.org.au
2 Black Dog Institute – Not-for-profit
focusing on the diagnosis, treatment,
and research into the prevention of
depression and bipolar disorder
www.blackdoginstitute.org.au
3Lifeline – Provides 24 hour support for
those experiencing a personal crisis
www.lifeline.org.au
can often be difficult to describe to those
who do not suffer from it, Eric uses a
fictional analogy for his personal experience
of depression – the Dementors of Harry Potter.
“The Dementor will feed on you
long enough to reduce you to something
like itself: soulless and evil,” he says,
paraphrasing the Prisoner of Azkaban.
“You’ll be left with nothing but the worst
experiences of your life.”
Initially turning to acting as a means
of release, he soon found it to be a poor
Patronus for the dark cloud in his life.
“It’s helpful, but it can also be a form
of escapism,” he says. “It doesn’t deal with
the problem.”
Perhaps creative expression is a broken
crutch – or perhaps it offers catharsis. But
whatever the case, the relationship between
depression and creativity is an oddly
cyclical one.
*Names have been changed
Issue 05
07 25
section heading
LEARN
LEARN
SEXUAL HEALTH
Two in one foods:
UTIs, STIs and What To Do
Blythe Worthy
We young adults are perhaps the most
sexual demographic, anecdotally more open
to experimentation and exploration than
our mothers and fathers. Unfortunately
misconceptions about sexually transmitted
infections seem as commonplace as they
were for our grandparents, sheltered and
without access to the sex info treasure trove
that is the Internet. Consider this sexual
infection education.
UTIs occur when foreign material containing
bacteria, for example lube, semen, or other
material, irritate the urinary tract. The oftcited cure for UTIs, cranberry juice, can
indeed reduce discomfort in less severe
cases which typically disappear within a few
days, and can act as a preventative. However
scientific study suggests that for severe bouts
you’re better off heading to the doctor – if
untreated, UTIs can lead to more serious
problems like kidney infections.
What to do: If you’re experiencing
dagger-like pain during urination, get
yourself immediately to your doc and urinate
in a cup for them. They’ll usually give you
antibiotics, which can clear UTIs up in a
few days. You should drink plenty of water
to dilute your pee, which can also reduce the
discomfort. It is also recommended to pee
before and immediately after sex, and once
again within an hour to prevent getting them.
Thrush is a yeast infection caused by an
imbalance in the delicate bacteria that live
on our sex organs, and it’s most definitely
contagious. It feels itchy and sore and causes
you to secrete a white discharge.
What to do: Though it’s relatively
harmless you should grab yourself some overthe-counter medication or show your junk
to a doctor. Thrush shares symptoms with
other more intense STIs, so if you’re a firsttime thrusher then seeing your GP is a must.
Chlamydia is a sneaky STI that is often
symptomless, especially in women, so unless
you regularly get tested (which you should
once a year), you won’t know you’ve got it.
What to do: If you do experience
bleeding from your genitals or pain during
urination, unusual discharge or anything out
of the ordinary, just be sensible and go get
tested. Luckily, chlamydia is curable with
a dose of antibiotics so there’s no need to
panic if you get onto it quickly.
Herpes is a treatable but unfortunately
incurable STI, and, like chlamydia, is on the
rise in Australia. While herpes can transfer
even with protection, it’s best practice to slip
slop slap on a rubber. Herpes is transferred
through bodily fluids and causes discomfort,
like a rash, and has strains that can be
transmitted by saliva. This means if someone
has herpes and performs oral sex on you,
you could contract it.
What to do: Antiviral medications
– such as Acyclovir, Famciclovir and
Valaciclovir can rid your body of the
symptoms of herpes but unfortunately
there’s no cure. The rash goes away after a
few days and the symptoms can be eased
with baths, paracetamol and ice packs but
1. THE RAMEN BURGER: Though it might seem
like crispy ramen makes for an exquisite
bun, it’s the best combination with a
savoury beef burger.
2. Guacamole Hummus: Actually simplest
idea ever. Guac + Hummus = heaven.
3. Cronuts: It’s the new thing that has
already taken off, but if you haven’t tried
a croissant cross donut, you haven’t lived.
4. Mac ‘n’ Cheese Pancakes: Courtesy of
lower Manhattan, apparently this hybrid
makes a normal pancake seem like
nothing but eggs, milk and flour.
5. Pop Tart Ice Cream Sandwich: Probably
the most delicious thing in the world, this
blend of pop tart and ice cream is so
straightforward yet so delectable.
not much else unfortunately. Recurrences
are usually infrequent and not that painful.
HPV Genital warts are one of the most
common STIs, caused by the human
papillomavirus (HPV). The types of HPV
that cause visible genital warts do not
progress to cervical cancer.
What to do: Condoms reduce the risk of
HPV transmission and an effective vaccine
is available. Treatments include creams
and gels to remove visible warts, as well as
removing larger warts in semi-invasive ways
(liquid nitrogen), which remove the visible
wart, but not the virus.
Lastly, if you’re experiencing any of the
symptoms above, do not have sex. There’s
nothing worse than someone who indulges in
their fear of embarrassment at the expense
of another’s health.
26 bull usu.edu.au
section heading
Issue 05 27
FEATURE
BUT
WHAT ABOUT
THE MEN?
BARBARA TAYLOR CONSIDERS THE RISKS
OF THE MEN’S RIGHTS MOVEMENT.
On May 23, 2014, a 22-year-old male named Elliot Rodger
drove his BMW to a sorority house in Isla Vista, California
and opened fire on the girls inside. After driving away, running
over people on the way, he was caught in conflict with the
police and crashed. Authorities discovered he was already
dead by self-inflicted gunshot. Later at his apartment, police
found three dead bodies and a 140-page manifesto. The total
count, excluding Rodger, was six dead and 13 injured.
28 bull usu.edu.au
FEATURE
Image courtesy of nbcnews.com
When tragedies like this occur, people are quick to both question
and provide explanations for the perpetrators. However, in the
case of Rodger, there was no room for speculation. The reason
for his killing spree, as articulated over and over again in his
manifesto, was simply a hatred of women.
“Women are like a plague,” his manifesto reads. “They don’t
deserve to have any rights. Their wickedness must be contained
in order to prevent future generations from falling to degeneracy.
Women are vicious, evil, barbaric animals, and they need to be
treated as such.”
Though it may sound like a walking tautology, the Men’s
Rights Movement (MRM) exists, and recently found a new
awakening. The movement often describes itself as “counterfeminist” and historically has been concerned with women’s
rights. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the MRM even
considered suffragettes a hate group. Wherever women’s rights
are concerned, there is always a man ready to ask, “What about
men?” and indeed, we ask: what about men?
“The short answer is that men are human beings who
deserve the same human rights as everyone else,” say Tom Voltz
and Adrian Johnson, the founders of Men’s Rights Sydney.
“The longer answer is the myth that men, as a group, don’t face
systematic discrimination/sexism, are privileged, or go through
life like playing a video game on easy mode has unfortunately
become part of the mainstream cultural narrative.”
Video game analogies aside, portions of what Men’s Rights
Activists (MRAs) preach are legitimate. One of the most
poignant concerns of the MRM is the treatment and stigma of
male victims of violence and sexual assault. “Male victims are
disbelieved, told they should feel lucky, laughed at, had their
sexuality questioned, and are denigrated whenever they come
forward,” Voltz and Johnson say.
Men’s Rights Sydney also state on their website’s FAQ
(currently under construction) that they do not believe that men
are oppressed, per say, but that neither are women.
“It’s a bit of a stretch to say that women are not oppressed,
and that men are not oppressed as if both were homogenous
groups,” says University of Sydney gender scholar Dr. Jennifer
Germon. “The statement assumes we all exist under the same,
presumably equitable conditions. Gender violence is an outcome
of particular power dynamics that operate between people at one
level and institutional levels as well.”
Prevailing above any statistics regarding child custody or
alimony payments is the sincere belief that women’s oppression
is a well-constructed myth, and that the women’s rights
movement (particularly over the last 40 years) has victimised men.
A popular Men’s Rights website, A Voice For Men (AVFM),
preaches what they call “humanist counter-theory” in the “age
of misandry”. Indeed, a formative post of AVFM by founder
Paul Elam, who once decided to name October “Bash a Violent
Bitch Month”, is entitled “The Myth of Women’s Oppression”.
AVFM supports “nonviolent antagonism” of “feminist
governance”, but is filled with such anti-feminist vitriol and
provocative rhetoric that the sentiment may be null and void.
There is a conflict of interest between the public MRM
and the ‘men’s rights’ niche, existing in subreddit forums and
chatrooms. Rodger was affiliated with the latter, and was active
in a subset called PUAHate (which stands for Pick Up Artist
Hate). PUAs and PUAHaters share a common interest in their
entitlement to women’s time and bodies. PUAs, however, are
considered “alpha males”, while PUAHaters feel their wooing
efforts are clinically rejected or that as “beta males” they should
not even try.
“Given the suicide rates, health statistics around certain
disease categories and mental health issues such as depression
among men, you could make the argument that the demands of
masculinity are indeed dangerous to men,” Dr. Germon says.
Jezebel reporter Erin Gloria Ryan spent a day on Rodger’s
old chatroom to observe how PUAHaters behave and interact
with one another. By 9:16am she says, “Members of the forum
start giddily reflecting on Rodger’s fame and begin encouraging
each other to write manifestos.”
By 9:24am, they’re all saying every man feels how Rodger felt.
Issue 05 29
FEATURE
“The reason for his
killing spree, as
articulated over
and over again in his
manifesto, was simply
a hatred of women.”
“Ninety-nine per cent of men relate if they are honest,” one
commenter said. “Men relate to hating women.”
After spending upwards of seven hours observing the forum,
Ryan came to the conclusion that, “Elliot Rodger and company
aren’t the mentally ill outliers that the media depicts them as.
They are much more common than we want them to be.”
The rage and violence that these men and boys feel does
not appear to develop from a consciously perceived injustice, as
the MRM would have you believe. It is the product of insecurity
that turns into incensed fury which, when it searches for a target,
finds women. “Of course it wasn’t just women who were targeted
at Isla Vista so misogyny, while obviously present, doesn’t fully
explain what happened,” Dr. Germon adds. “That guy was
railing against hegemonic masculinity as well.”
Rodger was an ‘incel’ (which is a men’s rights term for
‘involuntary celibate’) who felt that he was owed sex by women,
and the fact that no women had slept with him was not only an
insult, but a crime. Quoting his manifesto: “Those girls deserved
to be dumped in boiling water for the crime of not giving me the
attention and adoration I so rightfully deserve!”
All over the world, women and girls face this expectation.
Back in April 2014, a boy in Connecticut, USA killed a girl who
refused to go to prom with him. He pushed her down the stairs,
choked her, and stabbed her in the neck.
There is not one female-identifying individual I know who
can honestly say a man has never harassed them, and even
those who do not recognise this as harassment do not deny it
happening. “That’s just men,” they might say, and while it might
not be all men, all women have experience with male entitlement
and everyday sexism.
In response to the defence that “not all men” are paid
more than women/control the government/are rapists/abusers/
etc., women (and men) took to their Twitter feeds. The
#YesAllWomen tag on Twitter got a serious workout after the Isla
Vista shootings. People of all genders shared their experiences
and some men expressed sympathy and understanding. Not all
men, but some.
There is a link between the MRM, male entitlement, and
ultimately, violence. Fortunately this violence does not always
present itself as drastically and tragically as it did during the Isla
Vista shootings, but there is a pattern that cannot be ignored.
By denying the existence of white male privilege and constantly
asking, “But what about men?” the MRM attempts to derail
a dialogue that has been dominated by them for centuries,
while simultaneously grouping ‘men’ together in a vague lump,
without regard for factors such as race and class.
While it is not necessarily the goal of the MRM to empower
people like Rodger, the fact is that it did. The MRM, and the
surrounding ‘manosphere’ supported Rodger and his warped
perception of women and of himself.
Whether or not he identified as an MRA is irrelevant. He used
terminology that is unique to the MRM, and was well versed in
similar misogynistic rhetoric. A wealthy man plunging head first
into a victim complex about how women treated him, or didn’t
treat him; about other men and the culturally enforced concepts
of masculinity Rodger tried to emulate, is what caused him to
desire ‘retribution’.
Author Margaret Atwood once made a concise and terrifying
observation. In Writing the Male Character, back in 1982,
she recalled a conversation with a male friend wherein she
asked why it is men feel threatened by women. She said to him,
“I mean … men are bigger, most of the time, they can run faster,
strangle better, and they have on the average a lot more money
and power.”
Her friend replied, “They’re afraid women will laugh at
them … Undercut their world view.” Arguably, such is the
collective anxiety of the MRM.
The MRM, historically and in essence, has less to do
with human rights than it does with a greater anxiety and
insecurity about other genders and shifts in male-dominated
heteronormative power structures.
Rodger felt threatened because for all his money, for all
that he was the “supreme gentleman”, people did not throw
themselves at his feet. He was afraid of being rejected; afraid
of being laughed at by the girls he never slept with and the
boys who slept with those girls.
When Margaret Atwood asked the question, “Why are
women threatened by men?” to female students, they replied
with the simple truth, “They’re afraid of being killed.”
H o o di e $ 6 4.9 5 – AC C ESS $ 5 5.2 1
WA R M U P TO TH E SYDN EY STORE
W I TH TH E NE W WINTE R RANGE
GROUND F LO O R , H O LM E BUI LD I N G
A ND US U. E D U. AU/S H O P
A LS O AVA I LA BLE AT UN I M A RT
Issue 05 31
THE TIME I TRIED...
THE TIME I TRIED...
Going to Bed at 10pm
Mary Ward thought her life would
change by sleeping earlier.
It’s rare that a week goes by without a
women’s health magazine or an A Current
Affair story telling us to sleep more.
Just go to bed at 10pm, they say. You’ll
be awake and fully rested by 7am, they say.
Your skin will glow, the bags under your eyes
will disappear, and you will achieve a state of
relaxation, organisation and self-actualisation
that can only be facilitated by an eight-hour
rest that doesn’t involve sleeping in until
noon, they say.
For a long time, I believed them. I thought
adjusting my life so that I was in bed at 10pm
would be an excellent idea. So excellent an
idea that I pitched putting myself to bed at
10pm for a week as a health and wellbeing
story for another publication.
But, then I tried to do it… and I failed.
So I tried again… and I failed. Despite this,
I thought I’d give it another crack…
Nope.
I couldn’t do it. After three months of
attempts, I have concluded that this is a feat
only possible for children under the age of
12 and people called Gwyneth Paltrow.
I lost the story in the other publication.
But, thankfully, the good people at BULL
don’t care for success stories.
So, here is a brief list of reasons why
I was unable to go to sleep at 10pm:
FOOD
It is surprising how frequently I looked up
at the clock to see the big one-o when I
hadn’t eaten dinner yet, or was eating dinner.
I don’t care what A Current Affair says,
dinner is non-negotiable.
IN TRANSIT
If 10pm arrived and I was driving a car,
I sensibly resisted the temptation to nod
off right then and there. You can thank me
later fellow responsible motorists.
It is possible to sleep on a bus. Sure.
But, it is frowned upon, and unless you plan
on spending the night in a depot, it’s unlikely
to result in the uninterrupted, luxurious
sleep required to complete this assignment.
WORKING
On the subject of completing assignments,
this was another late-night task that
prevented my ascent into body clock nirvana.
Sometimes my computer would tell me
it was 10pm and I would (rationally and
respectfully, of course) yell back:
“I KNOW, YOU PIECE OF POORLY
MANUFACTURED $^?#!. BUT YOU’VE
CRASHED THRICE AS I ATTEMPT TO
ADD AN EXTRA 450 WORDS TO THIS
ESSAY, SO MAYBE YOU DON’T GET A
SAY IN THIS.”
On a less angry note, I do shift work which
often sees me being paid to be awake
(among other things) past 2200.
STUFF TO DO
10pm is the perfect time to iron, or dust,
or shower, or perform any of life’s little
domestic duties that you had procrastinated
during the time beforehand.
It is also a great time to realise you’ve
lost your phone charger when you just
know it must be somewhere in your house,
or to discover a freaking huge spider
dangling above your bed that must be
removed immediately.
Also, it’s hard to sleep in a bed if you
haven’t had time to put any sort of bedding
on it. Just sayin’.
MAYBE NOT ESSENTIAL BUT AT THE TIME
VERY COMPELLING STUFF TO DO
When 10pm rolls around and some kind soul
has put the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
2005 on YouTube, one does not go to sleep.
When 10pm rolls around and the fight
scene in Bridget Jones’ Diary is, like, only two
ad breaks away, one does not go to sleep.
When 10pm rolls around and one has two
1024 tiles that are totally going to make 2048
if one just gives oneself another five minutes.
One does not simply go to sleep at 10pm
when these situations arise.
32 bull usu.edu.au
FEATURE
TACKLING
HOMOPHOBIA
Alistair Kitchen explores the rugby team
that is challenging narratives of masculinity.
Not long after the FIFA World Cup draws to a close, an
equally important but lesser-known World Cup will kick off in
Sydney. On 29 August, Sydney’s gay and inclusive rugby team,
the Sydney Convicts, will host the World Cup of gay rugby:
the Bingham Cup.
In some ways, the Bingham Cup is bigger than the FIFA
World Cup. For one, Bingham hosts more teams, with over 30
travelling to Sydney from around the world and around 850
players taking the field. But more importantly, the vast majority
of those players will be gay. Over in Brazil, not a single openly
gay player competed.
It’s for this reason that teams like the Convicts exist.
Founded in 2004, the Convicts are Australia’s first, and the world’s
most successful, gay rugby union club. They’ve been lauded
for undoing stereotypes of masculinity and sexuality, and for
championing sport as an answer to homophobia in Australia.
The club will field three teams in this year’s Bingham Cup,
with the first grade team hoping to win the Cup for a fourth
time. They play weekly in the NSW Suburban Rugby Union
competition, and most recently shattered old myths about gay
sport by being the first gay rugby team to play at a professional
sporting event, downing Macquarie University at Allianz
Stadium in a curtain raiser for the NSW Waratahs.
“There was no grand plan to be where we are today,” says
Andrew ‘Fuzz’ Purchas, Convicts founder and Bingham Cup
2014 President, about the early days of the team. “There was
no long term vision – the intent was to get together a bunch
of gay guys to have a red hot go at winning the Bingham Cup.”
That competitive attitude is still at the heart of the Convicts’
ethos who, by playing good rugby, have demanded respect
from the broader rugby community. “I think that part of
the success of the Convicts has been that we have been
predominately about rugby – we are a rugby club first,” says
Purchas. Having founded the Convicts after playing with San
Francisco’s gay and inclusive rugby team, Purchas believes that
a love of rugby is the reason the Convicts were able to transition
so smoothly into a subdivision of the Woolahra Colleagues
Rugby Union Football Club. “As soon as the club saw that we
were serious about rugby, the whole thing became a non-issue.”
It’s also an attitude the club will need if they hope to succeed
this year, as Head Coach Charlie Winn believes this Bingham Cup
is set to see the highest standard of play yet. With the competition
taking on an intense three-day format, the challenge is made even
greater. “It’s probably the most physically demanding rugby
competition that you will come across. Most comps, you’ll play
a game and then have a minimum of four days off. At Bingham,
you’re playing six games in three days if you get to the final.
So it does become a war of attrition, and player management
plays a big part,” Winn says.
It’s off the field, however, where the Convicts have recently
been most prominent. Normally happy to let the rugby do
the talking, the club has recently taken active steps to end
homophobia and discrimination in sport. As part of the lead-up
to the Bingham Cup, Purchas and the Bingham Committee
Issue 05 33
FEATURE
announced that they had brought together the Australian Rugby
Union, National Rugby League, Australian Football League,
Football Federation of Australia and Cricket Australia to sign
a landmark agreement. In doing so, they each committed to
enacting an anti-homophobia policy in their codes in order to
make sport a welcoming place for gender and sexually diverse
people. In Purchas’ view, the Bingham Cup “was too good an
opportunity to let go in terms of using it as a catalyst to highlight
some of the issues around sport and homophobia.” Like the
team itself, the policy came not from a grand vision but from
a single idea. “We spoke to the ARU. Bill Pulver had just become
CEO and was very keen on the idea, and I think he was amazed
that there wasn’t already an anti-homophobia policy. Most of
the codes have got anti-vilification legislation, and I explained
to him that that’s a pretty low bar, if you only want to ensure
that you don’t vilify people, rather than creating a welcoming
environment. He was certainly very supportive of that.”
By April, the commitment had been announced and the
policy signed. Not a month later, the NRL gave a two-week
ban to West Tigers player Mitchell Moses for calling an
opponent a “fucking gay cunt”. But not everyone is happy
with the tougher stance on homophobia. Miranda Devine,
columnist for The Daily Telegraph, wrote a piece titled ‘NRL
bosses are totally gay’, arguing that the NRL were “paying
obeisance to homo-fascism.” Her view is unlikely to convince
any of the Convicts who see statements like hers and Mitchell
Moses’ as further justification for a gay rugby team. Until all
LGBTIQ people can feel safe playing sport, teams like the
Convicts will continue to offer a space for them to do so.
Indeed Sam Elliot, one of the Convicts’ few straight
members, holds a similar view. He knows better than most the
type of impact the Convicts can have. “Going into this, I would
say I was a homophobe. Without a doubt. I’m not proud to
say that – I’m devastated looking back on it, but in my defence
I would say it was entirely from a lack of experience. I truly
believe that we are afraid of things we don’t know and the things
we don’t understand, as well. And I would say that becoming
a part of this club has just changed me so much as a person and
really, really opened my eyes to a whole other way of looking at life.”
His perspective reveals a lot about the type of impact
that the Convicts have every time they take the field, and
emphasises the way the team challenges traditional notions of
masculinity and sexuality just by playing rugby. What’s more,
his views suggest that the very existence of the team helps to
dispel homophobia in the community. “It’s as simple as people
coming to know and understand the team, and they change their
opinions immediately. I reckon you could take any player from
a Subbies (Suburban Rugby Union) team and give them four
weeks in the team and they would completely, completely change
their mind.”
For Elliot, this phenomenon is tightly connected with the
game of rugby itself: “The best thing about rugby for me is that
it doesn’t matter what I’m thinking before I run onto the field;
during the game, everything fades. All that matters is the guys
standing around you and the guys on the opposite team, and
they barely even matter at all because you’re just out there to
have fun and play sport and it doesn’t matter who you’re playing
with, because you’re not thinking about those sorts of things.
You’re not thinking of politics and sexuality – you’re thinking
about sport.”
VOLUNTEER MATCHMAKING
1PM, WEDNESDAY 20TH AUGUST 2014
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VOLUNTEE
R
S
S
U
ER
SU
VOLUNTE
VOLUNTEE
SU
R
U
U
S
INTERNATIONAL STUDENT LOUNGE, LEVEL 4 WENTWORTH BUILDING
THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY
U
SU
VOLUNTE
ER
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If you are passionate about making a change
and would like to volunteer for a not-for-profit
organisation, come along and meet with
representatives from some of
Australia’s most established organisations
EMAIL: humanitarianweek@usu.edu.au to register your interest
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Issue 05 35
CAMPUS FASHION
CAMPUS FASHION
Stuvac
Brianna Charteris // Bachelor of Pharmacy II
PANTS: Sussan
BOOTS: Ugg Boots Australian Made
GLASSES: Specsavers
SCARF: Rubi – Cotton On
JUMPER: Bonds
What inspired this look today? Casual, very casual
(‘just woke up’ look – literally).
Who’s your style icon or girl crush? I’m sure J-Law
would sleep in these same clothes.
Most hated fashion trend for either guys or girls?
When people clash colours. I hate when people
wear lots of different colours in one outfit.
Neutral black is always the safest option!
Adrian Fajardo // Bachelor of Science (Master
in Nursing) II
Kirsty Gan // LAW/INTERNATIONAL AND GLOBAL
STUDIES II
T-Shirt: Uniqlo
Pants: Uniqlo
Jacket: Target
JEANS: Marcs
Scarf: Nabbed from my mum (I think it’s Jigsaw)
Sandals: Wanted Shoes
Bag: Country Road
What inspired this look today? I just wore
something comfortable and clean.
Who’s your style icon or man crush? No one.
Guys wearing skinny jeans. Girls can pull that
look off, but guys shouldn’t wear such tight pants!
Describe your ultimate USYD look? Chinos,
runners and a t-shirt is always the best look –
anyone can pull that off.
Describe your ultimate USYD look. I tend to wear
comfortable clothes – Ugg boots can transform
an outfit from uncomfortable to snug.
What inspired this look today? Classic neutrals
spiced up with my ‘happy’ scarf!
Who’s your style icon or girl crush? That’s tough –
probably a cross between Emma Watson, Jenna
Coleman and Emma Stone.
Honestly guys, stop with the thongs and
footy shorts. Please. It hurts my eyes.
Describe your ultimate USYD look. I tend to
wear regular clothes at uni like striped t-shirts,
leggings and sandals.
Taking a page out of Bridget Jones’ Diary:
the perfect backside-bestie for any and every event.
Beyoncé’s got a pair, Kristen Stewart has
flashed hers and the Kardashians barely leave
their Malibu mansions without them on. They
are adored by everyone and have been lovingly
hugging the butts and sucking in the stomachs
of millions since the start of the millennium. Yes,
ladies and gentlemen, we are talking about the
one and only Spanx. We recommend two pairs –
But recent reports from the Huffington Post have
claimed that the miracle undies could be “literally
crushing your organs”. Magic pants have been
medically associated with restricted breathing,
heartburn and even bringing on uncontrollable
poops – not an ideal side effect when you’ve pulled
out all the stops for a fancy-schmancy event. Luckily,
these dodgy bonuses will only happen when the
Bridget Jones-esque knickers are on, so if you are
feeling woozy the instant cure is cutting yourself
out of those bad boys!
So there is no need to exile your Spanx to the
rubbish bin quite yet, but maybe stick to the
recommended dose of one evening of streamlined
curves to save yourself any, erm, sticky situations
on the dance floor.
Emily Shen, Rebecca Karpin and Katie Stow
36 bull usu.edu.au
CLASSIC COUNTDOWN & VOX POPS
CLASSIC
COUNTDOWN
The Best GOOD NICOLAS CAGE
FILMS
VOX pops
The man brought American history, rage faces
and bees into fashion, and has a reputation for
starring in perhaps more movies than he should.
Conor Bateman finds some treasures in the pile.
5
THE WEATHER MAN (2005)
Gore Verbinski’s dark comedy follows
a Chicago weatherman poorly coming
to terms with the disintegration of his
marriage, his daughter hitting puberty and
the prospect of a job on national television.
It’s very funny and fairly under-seen. Cage
does some great work, particularly in voiceover
– the ‘tartar sauce’ scene will stay with you.
4
FACE/OFF (1997)
The one where John Travolta plays
Nicolas Cage and Nicolas Cage plays
John Travolta. This means twice the
Cage, because Travolta turns in his best work
since Pulp Fiction. Also John Woo knows his
way around big action sequences.
MELISSA HOWE // MASTERS OF
FINE ARTS I
Listening to: A lot of
classical music with no
words while I’m writing
Reading: The Enchanted by
Rene Denfeld
Watching: An SFF film –
The Two Faces Of January
BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL
NEW ORLEANS (2009)
Werner Herzog’s very loose adaptation
of Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant sees
Cage play a corrupt and completely deranged
officer of the law. Herzog lets Cage run wild
with his insanity and it is electrifying to watch.
1
Listening to: London
Grammar
Reading: Liar’s Poker by
Michael Lewis
Watching: Suits season four
WILD AT HEART (1990)
David Lynch’s Palme d’Or winner
is a delirious oddity that follows a
pseudo-Elvis Presley figure who hits
the road with his girlfriend after he gets
out of jail, waxes lyrical about his snakeskin
jacket, actually sings Elvis’ ‘Love Me’ and
runs into Willem Dafoe at his most disturbing.
Admittedly not for everyone but still, Nicolas
Cage essentially is Elvis. That alone is worth
the price of admission.
3
2
BILLY KOVANIS // COMMERCE
(LIBERAL STUDIES) III
ADAPTATION (2002)
I’m a sucker for clever meta-fiction.
In this Spike Jonze-directed film, Cage
plays screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and
twin brother Donald Kaufman (who does not
exist off-screen but was still nominated for
an Oscar for screenwriting). Like Face/Off,
Cage plays duelling personas but it’s the sheer
neuroses of Charlie and his ability to shed
much of his usual acting style that renders
this his most intriguing film.
HANNAH JAQUES // BIOMEDICAL
ENGINEERING I
Listening to: The Hamish
& Andy podcast
Reading: Khaled Hosseini’s
And the Mountains Echoed
Watching: Teen Wolf
Issue 05 37
COW & HORNS
HAVE A COW
TANG LI HAS UNFOLLOWED ALL #FASHION
BLOGGERS ON INSTAGRAM AND
RECOMMENDS YOU DO THE SAME.
Ah, fashion bloggers. You won’t be able to
log on to any social media platform without
encountering this special, narcissistic
breed. Unfortunately for all of us, they
seem to be taking over the cyber world one
#outfitoftheday at a time.
Let’s talk about #thesituation.
Not only do they post repetitive, banal
outfits and travel photos with the same
damned expression, they just won't stop
staging their perfect lives through social
media, particularly Instagram. ‘Flatlays’ are
the incredibly innovative way of showcasing
your latest #trianglbikini, #michaelkorswatch,
#zarastrappyheels and #ladureemacarons by
arranging all the products against a pastel
backdrop and taking an aerial shot.
#Youjelly? Look, we might be jealous
of your macarons for a fraction of a second
while our stomachs rumble, but the harsh
reality is that everyone is sick and tired
of the narcissistic, yuppie-esque persona
that you Instagrammable fashion bloggers
have created for yourselves. When I log into
Instagram, I don’t want to feel like I am
following a herd of sheep competing to sport
the most luxurious ‘ready-to-wear’ outfits
(which not one person can wear in public
without looking ridiculous). Bring back the
individualism and creative flair!
Let’s not forget about the omnipresent
#foodstagram. Now, we’re all culprits of
this one – making our friends wait while
we attempt to snap the textbook food
shot. With fashion bloggers however, it has
become a travesty. It’s gotten to the point
where some fashion bloggers insist on
standing on communal café or restaurant
chairs in order to achieve the perfect image.
There’s a certain protocol to be followed for
one to be accepted by the wider Instagram
community (you know, aspiring twelvie
photographers and the like): one must
rearrange all the table décor, salt and pepper
shakers, cutlery, food and then flash some
#armbling – obviously so everyone can see
how chic you are.
Honestly, just take the bloody photo and
be done with it. No need to stand on fucking
chairs mate. Leave that shit to Annie Leibovitz.
BERNADETTE ANVIA GOES MAD FOR
MACARONS.
SHONA YANG DREAMS OF CHOCOLATECOATED CHURROS.
In the pantheon of delectable desserts, one
amazing option stands tall above all others: the
macaron, best pronounced with a faux French
inflection (mac-AH-ron). Not even the churro
can compete.
Originating in France, macarons burst
onto the Australian foodie scene in 2010, after
Masterchef Australia had contestants recreate
Adriano Zumbo’s macaron tower. Since then,
Australia’s love affair with this decadent dessert
has continued to grow.
Macarons are everything you could ever
want in a dessert. Their bright colours make
them highly aesthetically pleasing and a great
centrepiece for practically any occasion. They’re
not overly sweet or rich, allowing for copious
consumption at any given time of the day (forget
that deep-fried churros stuff).
Plus, they come in pretty much every flavour
you could imagine including (but not limited
to) salted caramel, mandarin, chocolate, vanilla,
rosewater and even foie gras! This makes them
much more versatile than a churro stick that can
only be dipped in boring ol’ chocolate.
Most importantly, macarons are like the Little
Black Dress of the dessert world – they can easily
be dressed up or dressed down. For a casual sweet,
they can accompany a quick cup of coffee on the go,
or they can be the pièce de résistance at that fancy
dinner party you’ve been planning for weeks. Ahh
macarons, the perfect dessert!
Although a little underrated and Instragrammed
a lot less often than pink macarons, churros with
milk chocolate dip are a match made in heaven!
The perfect dessert is hard to come by, but one
waft of the cinnamon coating is enough to seduce
your taste buds and leave a lingering memory of
its doughy goodness.
Come to think of it, churros are quite modest.
While pretentious desserts, such as orange
blossom Ladurée macarons (and other equally
obscure flavours), dominate the spotlight, churros
never flaunt their lightly bronzed layers or their
killer curves.
When cooked perfectly, churros are crunchy
on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside.
They’ll even last longer than the stingy bites you
get for a $4 Ladurée macaron. The varieties of
churros are endless and enough to make even
Adriano Zumbo blush. Churros with peanut butter
and hundreds and thousands sprinkled on top for
your inner child, churros with froyo on the side
for a bad breakup and chocolate-glazed churros
for a girls night out. My personal favourite: freshly
baked churros with milk chocolate drizzled on top
with a side of fresh strawberries.
The next time you’re in need of a feel-good
dessert, jump on the crispy churro wagon – you’ll
never look at another macaron again.
LOCKING
HORNS
CHURROS VS. MACARONS
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SEMESTER 2 CARDS
usu.edu.au/sayhello
/USUAccess
MKT295
@USUAccess
@USUAccess
/USUonline
/USUAccess
Issue 05 39
ARTS
ARTS
Mumblecore
Naturalism in performance
Eden Caceda
Very few newly released films break
the mould of existing movie genres, and
rarely do new film movements have
momentum to warrant the creation of a
new subgenre. Mumblecore is a relatively
new and unknown subgenre that has critics
and historians arguing if the movement is
likely to continue or dwindle. A subgenre
of independent film, mumblecore has been
watched by audiences longer than we think
and has featured actors that filmgoers have
come to love. Moving towards the digital
and more cost effective way of filmmaking,
mumblecore appears to be a successful go-to
genre for films to appeal to when screening
the everyday stories of middle-class white
people in their 20s.
Characterised by low budget production
values and commonly featuring amateur
actors, this new subgenre focuses on
naturalism in performance and dialogue,
usually involving improvisation. These
films also depart from standard narrative
structures and favour character development
over action. Woody Allen’s Manhattan –
despite being a high budget film, which
is rare for mumblecore films – is the
first known example of this subgenre.
However, unlike other mumblecore films,
the protagonist changes their worldview at
the conclusion of the film. Jim Jarmusch’s
Stranger Than Paradise and Richard
Linklater’s popular Before Sunrise were
two other films that use many of the
techniques that have since influenced
mumblecore filmmaking.
In a film world inundated with drama
and high comedy, mumblecore delivered
a breath of fresh air when Andrew Bujalski’s
debut hit Funny Ha Ha hit cinemas in 2002.
Audiences were finally able to relate to
passive aggressive conversations between
friends and witness the awkwardness of
everyday situations come alive on screen.
Following a slew of other films, mumblecore
has increasingly occupied cinema screens
with 2007’s Hannah Takes The Stairs,
featuring future mumblecore signature
actors Greta Gerwig, Andrew Bujalski and
Mark Duplass, the 2009 hit Breaking
Upwards, a romantic comedy that avoided
the classic Hollywood film methods, and the
now popular Tiny Furniture from 2010 which
was written, directed and starred Lena Dunham.
Tiny Furniture in particular is a film that
embodies many of the stereotypical aspects
of mumblecore films. Dunham, who is now
the star and creator of trendy television
series Girls, cast her own mother Laurie
Simmons and her sister Grace Dunham
as the mother and sister of the protagonist.
This focus on her life and the search for
personal happiness is also echoed in Girls, a
series focusing on a bunch of affluent young
white people who try to balance their artistic
wishes with their career and personal lives.
Mumblecore has slowly moved into the
limelight of film and been accepted into
more mainstream cinema. 2011’s Your
Sister’s Sister, starred Emily Blunt, an actress
involved in high budget comedies and
dramas, which highlighted the movement’s
rise in popularity in Hollywood and with
audiences. Safety Not Guaranteed, released
in 2012, was mumblecore foraying into the
world of modestly budgeted, comedy science
fiction films. 2013 also included high budget
mumblecore films including Frances Ha and
Drinking Buddies, which have been adored
by fans internationally. These higher budget
films, however, have attracted negative
feedback from critics claiming that they lack
demographic specificity and credibility.
Mumblecore’s lo-fi American films have
made small waves in the film world yet have
been criticised for being simply a revolution
only in the sense of something going round
and round with little discernible progress.
This hasn’t been helped with directors
doubting if this movement existed at all,
with Bujalski commenting “[Mumblecore]
doesn’t mean anything to me”. However
what directors and film critics are not
recognising is that mumblecore can and
will exist as long as amateur filmmakers
exist too. Not every filmmaker has a million
dollar budget, a star and an anthology of
production assistants, but many do have
a camera, friends and stories they will tell
regardless of the subgenre existing or not.
40 bull usu.edu.au
REVIEWS
REVIEWS
WATCH: GAME OF THRONES – S4
DAVID BENIOFF & D.B. WEISS
LISTEN: LIGHGHT
KISHI BASHI
LISTEN: ULTRAVIOLENCE
LANA DEL REY
PLAY: SHOVEL KNIGHT
YACHT CLUB GAMES
There’s a reason Game of Thrones
is the most pirated show in
Australia. This season has lived up
to expectations and been rife with
betrayal, deception (looking at you,
Baelish), and death, with some
deaths more…crushing than others.
Coming into this season cold
is not recommended. As a complex
patchwork narrative, every season
finale gives less closure to each story
arc, and is really just one more way to
toy with the audience’s emotions.
The last two episodes were
particularly chaotic. They ensured
that the remaining Stark children
were flung into separate corners
of the Game of Thrones universe,
probably (definitely) unlikely to see
each other soon.
Following in the tradition of
last season’s odd couple, this season
Arya was paired with The Hound.
Although this pairing does not
deliver any of the comic relief that
Brienne and Jaime could provide, it
has certainly set our young heroine
on an important moral path for the
next season.
But I for one am most looking
forward to Stannis Baratheon’s
plot. He demonstrated in the finale
that he was capable of a much less
mind-numbingly dull storyline than
he’d led audiences to believe.
Japanese-American artist Kishi
Bashi is back with his new 13-track
LP and musical masterpiece
Lighght (pronounced ‘light’), and
it is so much more than a couple
of fun words to say. Pushing,
twisting, meshing and surpassing
conventional styles, Kishi Bashi’s
new record will keep you on your
toes at the turn of every song.
With tracks typically ranging
in length between 48 seconds and
seven minutes, the sound of Lighght
also jumps across genres and
decades. From funk-infused electro
tunes like ‘The Ballad of Mr. Steak’
and ‘Hahaha Pt 1’, to the grandiose
nature of ‘Carry On Phenomenon’
that carries distinct influences from
the 80s new wave and progressive
rock scene (think A Flock of
Seagulls and Supertramp), Kishi
Bashi covers the lot, imprinting them
all with his distinctive string sounds.
Logically this musical diversity
would undermine the consistency of
the album, making it more dissected
and compartmentalised. Instead,
Kishi Bashi seamlessly transitions
each song into the next, making it
sound as though you’re listening to
one overarching narrative with 13
different plot twists.
Lighght is one of increasingly
fewer albums that can, and should
be listened to from start to finish.
Lana Del Rey’s new album saw the
fatalistic pop singer take a dramatic
genre-change into psychedelic
dream pop. Del Rey’s Ultraviolence
moves the singer’s original basis
of catchy melodies into a more
poignant and perfectly dreamy
homage to her past.
Her third album shows
promise through the stand-out
tracks ‘West Coast’ and ‘Money,
Power, Glory’, but falls short
and ultimately divides fans into
those who appreciate her artistic
interpretations and those who were
unaware of the complete drugged
up mind-fuck they were in for.
With syncopated percussive
sets, clean guitar riffs and excessive
synth use, the general atmosphere
created is one of a delayed drug
high. Drawing on her evolution
as an artist, the tracks involve
often-intense real-life influence. In
particular, ‘Fucked My Way to The
Top’ is set as a revenge track against
an individual who criticised her
early work only to eventually adopt
it in full form.
Ultraviolence inspires die-hard
listeners to fawn over Del Rey’s
work, but alienates those who
otherwise enjoyed her previous
style. Lana Del Rey has once
again produced a misunderstood
masterpiece, and such an
experimental genre-jump is sure
to have repercussions on how her
music is received by fans.
Shovel Knight is one of those rare
retro-styled video games that manages
to emulate the much-loved titles
of yesteryear without getting too
caught up in its own sense of nostalgia.
This crowd-funded indie
release sees our gallant tool-wielding
hero on a quest to defeat the evil
Enchantress and perhaps rescue
his missing erstwhile companion
Shield Knight in the process.
Though the simplistic plotline pales
in comparison to those of recent
indie storytelling masterpieces,
this 2D side-scroller adds just the
right amount of polish, charm, and
shovel-related puns (“I can dig
it”) to keep things feeling unique
and fun. It brilliantly captures the
look and sound of the 8-bit and
16-bit eras (think pre-Nintendo 64)
matched with a comical take on the
feel of the Dark Souls series.
The game can be frustratingly
difficult at times, but does well
to welcome modern gamers with
ample checkpoints placed throughout
levels. Unfortunately it still runs a
little on the short side - I clocked in
about five hours before finishing.
This is a fantastic adventure for
gamers of all ages - even if you’re
not familiar with the games of old,
there’s plenty to love in Shovel Knight.
JORDAN MULLINS
GEORGIA HITCH
VANESSA SONG
ROB NORTH
Issue 05 41
REVIEWS
EXPERIENCE
Flip the Script Backyard Gig
It’s 6pm on a Saturday night and I’m huddled around a fire
in a stranger’s suburban backyard, drinking wine from a red
cup and shivering (suggestion: probably don’t wear sandals to
an outdoor event in the middle of winter). Caspar, one half
of the hip-hop duo Flip the Script who I came here to see,
strides past with purpose and a beer in his hand, and because
I’m two drinks in I think it’s totally appropriate to ask a man
who is about to perform if he has any socks I can borrow.
He says he’ll find me some, and when he returns with a pair
of thick grey socks I decide it’s better not to question where
they came from. I gratefully put them on under my Windsor
Smiths #fashion.
The best thing about backyard gigs is that they provide
an environment in which a girl can feel comfortable wearing
socks and sandals. But more importantly, guerrilla gigging
can be a useful avenue for up-and-coming bands to refine
their skills in live performance before they have major
interactions with bar and club scenes. These gigs also allow
audiences to experience music in a relaxed, communityminded environment; none of the bands I’ve seen in big
venues recently have provided chips and dip or socks on
demand before the show starts.
I mulled this over as we gathered on the patio next to
the pool, and Joe and Caspar picked up their microphones.
It was strange seeing them change from my friends into the
singular entity that is Flip the Script, but I was soon absorbed
by the music. While Caspar’s saxophone solo mid-set was
a definite highlight, I was impressed with the performance
overall. Flip the Script’s songs are not only catchy, but capture
a kind of sarcastic pathos which Australian hip hop does
surprisingly well. When I suggested this to my boyfriend,
saying that Seth Sentry’s ‘Waitress’ was called to mind, he
called me pretentious but probably privately agreed.
After the performance was finished, the gig turned into
a pretty regular party and I guiltily left my borrowed socks in
the bathroom before I went home. I would highly recommend
a backyard gig to anyone interested in supporting grassroots
live music and new artists, especially if they like to do so in
someone else’s socks.
Shannen Potter
Photo by James Nelson
2014 FIFA World Cup: @TheWorldGame did you see that
ludicrous display last month? #bandwagoner
Edge of Tomorrow: This is what happens when Tom
Cruise's sci-fi hard on meets Groundhog Day (1/2).
Edge of Tomorrow: it feels so good, but culminates in an
altogether messy ending (2/2).
The Walking Dead: S5 looms, but this dead show has been
shuffling along aimlessly since S2
The Fault In Our Stars: there's no fault in these stars, just
endless enjoyment and tears
Milky Chance–Sadnecessary: folky rhythms + soothing
vocals + pulsing beats = the crossover success of 2014
Game of Thrones MCA Exhibit: all men (responsible for not
ticketing this event) must die #queue #rage
42 bull usu.edu.au
CLUB CONFIDENTIAL
CLUB CONFIDENTIAL
ow
ch o
ther
kn
Sydney Harbour // 6 June 2014
ea
p
Education and Social Work
Society Cruise
nd and S
na
Be
en
We
don ’t ev
The Education and Social Work Society has a
reputation.
A reputation for incredible events.
2012 brought us a 1920s Gatsby-esque night,
because a little party never killed nobody, and last
year they topped it with a massive cruise themed
‘Cartoon and Comic Book Characters’. Word got
around and they had to live up to the hype.
The 2014 EDSOC Cruise ‘Talk Nerdy to Me:
High School Stereotypes’ did not disappoint. With
370 Education and Social Work students boarding
the three-level boat, this year’s cruise marked the
biggest the society has ever held. Partygoers were
greeted by tables of pre-poured beer and punch
(teacher efficiency!) plus a huge buffet of food.
We’re not talking some party pies and sausage
rolls here! The EDSOC executive went all out
with super-yummy pasta bake, delicious salads
and copious bread rolls – the way to my heart.
As the night progressed and the unlimited
bar tab was being taken advantage of, students
made plenty of new friends inside their faculty
and out. Attendees mingled with everyone from
cheerleaders to mathletes (and even with that guy
who came dressed as a lad… not bad).
Selfies were taken on the top deck with the
beautiful background of the Harbour Bridge
and Opera House lit up bright for Vivid Festival.
Excellent timing. Drinks flowed, dancing ensued
and the DJ kept the music going all night.
EDSOC President Matthew Woolaston told
BULL that the success of the cruise was testament
to the hard work of the executive and the
dedication of their members. Dedicated they were
– these Education and Social Work students knew
how to party. Even as the cruise began to wind
down and the boat’s bar was drunk dry, newly
made friends coordinated where to kick on.
It was an unmissable night from one of our
best faculty societies within the Union. SASS
better lift their game.
Did we mention it was during VIVID?
Best $40 I’ve ever spent. Don’t miss the next one.
I’ve only had one
I swear
Is this the real life
Vivid!!
Doing some investigative
journalism
Alisha Aitken-Radburn
Living up to
the theme
Feathers
and crowns
make uniforms better
Best.Exec.Ever.
Issue 05 43
CLUB CONFIDENTIAL
END OF SEMESTER BLUES
EASTERN AVENUE // 29 JUNE – 27 JULY 2014
I feel you bro!
No one at Taste?
And to think that libraries
couldn’t be any more
depressing…
Hell is other people
Roaming around university campus post-exam
period, I feel like I’m in a low budget, unscripted
slasher film. There is an eerie sense of emptiness
all around. Students, having rediscovered their
hatred for university courtesy of exams, are more
than happy to keep a safe distance.
My only validation came from the quadrangle
bell chimes that unwittingly provided the
escalating tension for that clichéd death scene
of the character that always goes down to the
basement to ‘check’ what’s happening. Little
solace then, when in this case, the basement guy
was me. I’d never realised it, but a university
campus without people is shit scary.
There’s no sign of life, but traces remain.
Especially in the Carslaw 24/7 learning hub, the
one stop shop to perfect your cramming fury
the night before your exam on campus. You are
accosted by the whiff of sweat, tears and vapid
overachievement that still lingers in the air when
you enter. If you’re lucky, you can also detect lost
whispers of ‘I only need five marks to pass this
unit in the final exam but that’s still too many’.
After getting startled for the tenth time by the
sound of rustling leaves – wondering if my badly
written character in this slasher setting was finally
being killed off, I stumbled into the Law Library.
Its familiar quietness was comforting. This wasn’t
like the stillness outside, normally filled with the
hustle and bustle of countless students. It was
like rediscovering the long-lost teddy bear that I
had loved as a child, but found to be ‘childish’ as
I grew up, and thoroughly came to adore again.
Because no matter how much the world might
change, there is always something that can help
you keep it the way you like.
VIRAT NEHRU
The Deserted Avenue
44 bull usu.edu.au
SHUTTER UP
SHUTTER UP
SOGGY RAINBOW
BEER TENT
PHOTOGRAPHER: Julia Robertson
CANON EOS 6D
Aperture: f/4
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Focal Length: 24mm
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Issue 05 45
FUN
COMICS
SEND YOURS TO US AT EDITORS @ bullmag.com.AU
by BARBARA TAYLOR
by ERIN ROONEY
46 bull usu.edu.au
ASK ISABELLA
ASK ISABELLA
Niece of Aunty Irene
Lover of Daddy Mack
Mother of three and to all those
who need advice
I am woman, hear me roar
Dear Isabella,
Dear Colin,
I’ve recently taken up weaving as a hobby.
I buy cheap wool during Spotlight sales and
weave before I go to bed and whenever I’m
feeling a bit stressed. I recently mentioned my
new hobby to one of my friends and I think
they see me differently now... Should I be
concerned?
Over the break the love of my life
unceremoniously dumped me – and all because
I said I'd rather watch Sex and the City than
Game of Thrones! Do you think it's worth
trying to salvage the relationship, or is it better
to let it go?
~ Suzie
~ The Rabbit
Suzie, stop being so daft! Of course your
friends will see you differently now that
you’ve taken up a craft. You were probably
just a premature hatchling, but there’s
nothing to be embarrassed about. Unless
of course you weave bird shapes and hang
them as decorative pieces on walls – that,
my petal, would just be plain offensive!
Dear The Rabbit,
~ Bella xxx
Dear Isabella,
I’m having trouble with viruses on my
computer. My boyfriend used to help me with
stuff like this except now that he’s gone back to
Romania with his wife, I’m a bit lost. Can you
recommend an IT specialist?
Kind regards,
Normally I'd be reppin’ my boy Stannis
‘Swag Level 90’ the Mannis, but the
Madame likes me to have an open mind.
We have private viewing sessions of Sex
and the City every day (apparently I’m
more Aidan than Big) and no one should
stand in the way of Carrie fever, not even
the Khaleesi. Besides, winter is almost over,
so let that dud keep up his fantasy while
you find yourself a stud. It just so happens
that I'm recently single too. Keep in touch.
~ Colin #CallMeCarrie #CallMeMaybe
~ Nat
I myself am quite the Tinder expert but as
for more fundamental technological issues,
our young intern Colin seems to be quite
apt at making our office run smoothly,
when he isn’t couched up in that little
corner of his writing only geese knows
what! Twenty-year-old boys these days! As
for the lost boyfriend, no point reheating
old soup my dear Nat. Spread your wings
and flutter on!
~ Bella xxx
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Issue - University of Sydney Union

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