We all grow up around stereotypes, whether it’s the toys we are given to play with or the morals we are taught to follow, we are surrounded by them. But many of us are lucky enough to grow up in an environment where we are told that we don’t have to abide by these stereotypes. I remember being 9 and suddenly hating the colour pink. My friends and I had been hit with a sudden desire to rebel in our own little way. I told myself that pink was too “girly” and distanced myself from everything stereotypically feminine.
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In a recent interview with Channel 4 News, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, accomplished Nigerian novelist and activist, explained why she believes the experiences of transgender people should not be equated with the experiences of cisgender people. However she does this in quite a harmful way.
In the interview, when considering the question of ‘are trans women, women?’, Adichie states that “trans women are trans women”. It is implied that trans women are not actual, real women, but are just “trans women”. It is as if she’s playing along with the idea that transgender people are valid, but ultimately she others them as being separate from “women”.
This is a harmful idea that continues to perpetrate transphobia today. All too often in the media, transgender people are depicted as trying to deceive and trick cisgender people, usually into sleeping with them. In an episode of Family Guy, Quagmire’s father comes out as “a woman trapped in a man’s body”, and undergoes gender affirmation surgery, now going by Ida Davis. Brian, who has been out of town, comes back and he and Ida engage in sexual intercourse. However, once Brian finds out that Ida is a transgender woman, he vomits onscreen for 29 uninterrupted seconds.
Read MoreConor Ammett
I was sceptical at first about Shadowboxing. I read a bit of the blurb, and thought, ‘oh, 1960s Australia, that can’t be too interesting.’ I wouldn’t have picked the book for myself, as I love fantasy, romance and adventure. I was wrong though. Shadowboxing is so interesting, in the way that it’s cleverly written and the narrative is explored. In the novel you follow the life of a boy called Michael as he moves from Clunes in rural Victoria to Fitzroy, Melbourne. You don’t get to see his whole life, only certain stories, moments. This leaves you to think about whether his whole life is like these stories, or whether these are just the extraordinary tales he wishes to share with the reader. One of my favourite stories is about the moon landing, and how schools based an entire day of learning on the Apollo 11 journey. There’s this quote that I keep thinking about, even weeks after I’ve finished reading the book: Michael yells, ‘F*ck the moon!’ to his assistant school principal, and the imagery is absolutely vivid.
Overall, I would definitely recommend Shadowboxing to any teenager, especially if you don’t think it’s the type of thing you would read, because I can guarantee you will be pleasantly surprised.
Read MoreThe ‘Golden Age’ of comics existed from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. It was a flourishing time for comics and graphic art that, while important, undeniably had a lot of problems. Racist caricatures existed when juxtaposing comics featuring strong cowgirl protagonists in ‘Women Outlaws’ and ones featuring Mantoka, a Native American who battled the ‘white man’s treachery’. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that such a diverse comic culture could evolve into the industry we have today, with all its problems with underrepresentation, misrepresentation and bad representation. So how did this massive transformation happen? The Comic Code Authority.
In 1948 a psychiatrist called Fredric Wertham started advocating that comics were evil and corrupt children (such an original thought process). He also apparently - and I’m quoting from the website here - said ‘Adolf Hitler… was “a beginner compared to the comic book industry”.’ Doesn’t he sound like such a nice, non-wacko guy? He also declared things like Batman and Robin were gay (this Robin was most probably in his early teen years), Superman advocated fascism and anarchy, and don’t even talk about Wonder Woman’s status as an unmarried woman. He argued his point by taking comic panels completely out of context, which I’m sure many people know, never leads to good things.
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By Madeleine Sorić
On the 25th of September 2015 in the United States, a film called Stonewall was released. It’s based on the true events of the Stonewall riots that occurred in 1969 at the Stonewall Inn. They were in protest of the police raids happening in many LGBT+ safe zones. The Stonewall Inn, owned by the mafia, was one of these safe places and, on June 28th 1969, it too was raided. Marsha P. Johnson, a black bisexual sex worker and drag queen with a fluid gender identity, is known for having thrown the first brick in the riots. Her close friend, Sylvia Rivera (a half Puerto Rican / Venezuelan, bisexual, drag queen with a fluid gender identity), co-founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR). These two women are key icons in LGBT+ history, and yet, a white man plays Marsha’s role in the film while Sylvia isn’t even paid tribute. This character is a gay cis white man, and the public was outraged about the white-washing and transphobia in this action. However, a smaller group of the angered public was even more disgusted about the fact that nobody mentioned the bi erasure.
Read MoreAnother brilliant and dynamic film by Wes Anderson; the Grand Budapest Hotel is expertly cast, acted, filmed, edited and directed by the team that cooperated to work on it. No matter which area of filmmaking you turn to, the Grand Budapest has won awards. For example, the casting directors for this gorgeous moving picture (Douglas Aibel and Jina Jay), won an EDA award in 2015 for their work on Grand Budapest. Both have woven many elegant ensembles together before, in films such as Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson), The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson), Infinitely Polar Bear (Maya Forbes) and War Horse (Steven Spielberg). The movie won a total of four Academy Awards, including Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling. This particular award was no doubt won because of the tireless efforts of Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier, who spent five hours transforming Tilda Swinton into an eighty year old rich, decrepit woman.
Read MoreEveryday the language used in regards to sexual orientation changes; society changes the meanings of words and new words are created. In the ever-expanding world of sexual identity, understanding the meanings of the words used to describe sexual orientation can be extremely useful, especially when you’re new to the topic.
Read MoreBy Rebi Houlihan
I am going to come right out and say it. I love comic books. I am a massive comic book nerd and can talk about them for ages. But there are far too many times when I open a comic that I’ve been really excited about, but have to close it as soon as I see the first female in that issue.
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