Did you hear the one about the dancer/performance-artist/comedian who did a funny one-woman show about rape?
Though the majority of rape jokes told at comedy clubs are neither funny nor empowering, I’ve always thought that rape humor, in and of itself, is not inherently and automatically off limits. In comedy, as in all forms of art, the issue isn’t the content, but rather the perspective and framing.
Over the course of an hour, Truscott, a choreographer, circus acrobat, dancer, writer, and comedian, skewers rape culture, taking on Bill Cosby, Todd Akin, Daniel Tosh and more, while wearing a wig on her head, high heels on her feet, and a jean jacket/ rolled up dress/bra(s) above her waist and for almost the entire piece, absolutely nothing over the area between her waist and ankles.
Truscott describes her humor as twisted and dark, in an interview with Australia’s SBS2 The Feed (see the video below), but is careful to distinguish between humor which challenges rape culture and humor which perpetuates it:
It’s a show that certainly satirizes rape culture and the notion of making jokes about the topic of rape…. Comedy provides a really razor’s edge sharp way to talk about tricky things. So, whereas I don’t think the act of rape is funny, I think the way that people talk about it and think about it is open to satire. I think as a comic you could partake in areas of material that are potentially offensive and tricky. But I think you have to be really rigorous about the joke and really give it some good thought. I personally wouldn’t make a joke that makes the victim of rape the punchline or making rape easier to pull off is the punchline.
“Asking For It” is coming to Australia and New Zealand and will be back in New York City on May 30th at Joe’s Pub.
Transcript of the video is below.
If I had to describe my sense of humor I think I would say it can be pretty twisted and dark and I guess edgy. It was a bit of a dicey project to try to pull off. I guess I would describe my show as an hour-long standup show with a few extra hijinks that come from the performance art world. It’s a show that certainly satirizes rape culture and the notion of making jokes about the topic of rape. I’m pretty solidly outraged by violence against women, particularly sexual violence. It’s still dealt with in a really cavalier way. And in the States some people were trying to legislate and define rape. It’s just outrageous and unacceptable in 2014. Comedy provides a really razor’s edge sharp way to talk about tricky things. So, whereas I don’t think the act of rape is funny, I think the way that people talk about it and think about it is open to satire. I think as a comic you could partake in areas of material that are potentially offensive and tricky. But I think you have to be really rigorous about the joke and really give it some good thought. While I think Daniel Tosh’s comeback was really weak, in a way I’m glad he did it because I think it sparked a really interesting conversation about rape. about gender and about comedy. I personally wouldn’t make a joke that makes the victim of rape the punchline or making rape easier to pull off is the punchline. The audiences have been really diverse. I’ve gotten several interesting reactions after my show. I had a young woman, who’s also a comic, come up to me after the show and say, “I’m so glad I saw this show, I was sexually assaulted when I was 17 and I’ve never sorted out how to deal with it and seeing your show and laughing with you about this stuff is the first time I’ve felt like I’ve opened the door to think my way through this in a way that’s gonna make sense to me.” My hope for my show is that it’s funny and that it continues to evolve and draw mixed audiences and gives them something to think about and laugh about and maybe when they leave it stays with them a little bit longer than the average joke.
The weather here in Sydney has been crazy. We've had record amounts of rain, a freak weekend hail storm that had the inner west building snowmen, and winds that got downright scary up here on Heartbreak Hill. Luckily save a broken window and a few umbrellas, we had no damage, but thousands of people did. The amazing volunteers at the SES deserve so much credit and appreciation for all of their hard work helping those affected. I wish I could give them all a hug and some pudding.
Chocolate self saucing pudding, one of the ultimate comfort foods. It's the perfect thing to make you feel toasty and warm on autumn nights. It's a little bit magical too - how the boiling liquid that goes on top somehow becomes the rich sauce under a layer of cake-like pudding.
Whenever I make it now, I can't help but think of my Nan and all the times I helped her make it when I was a kid. It was a favourite then, but now I like it even more. Nan didn't use whisky in hers! You already know how much I like chocolate and passionfruit together. If you're not yet convinced of this magical flavour combination, believe me it works, and it is definitely something you've got to try out for yourself.
I've used the flavour combination before in brownies, birthday cake and s'mores - and now I've made a wonderful no-churn ice cream to go with these warm and saucy puddings. With winter seemingly starting early this year, you've got a good few months to try out this delicious recipe. I hope you do!
Chocolate Whisky Pudding with Passionfruit Ice Cream Serves 4
Passionfruit Ice Cream
2 cups (500ml) pouring cream
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pulp of 4 passionfruits
Chocolate Whisky Pudding
70g butter
200g brown sugar
1 egg
150g self raising flour
40g cocoa
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup whisky
70g dark choc, chopped
To make the ice cream, whip the cream to soft peaks. In another bowl, stir together the condensed milk, vanilla and passionfruit pulp. Fold the whipped cream gently into the condensed milk mixture. Pour into a loaf tin or glass container. Freeze overnight.
To make the chocolate whisky puddings, preheat oven to 170°C (340°F). Beat butter and 125g sugar until pale and creamy (3-4 minutes), add egg and beat to combine. Sift over flour, baking powder and 30gm cocoa and mix to combine. Stir in milk, vanilla and whisky, then chocolate. Divide among 2 lightly buttered ovenproof bowls (or 4 smaller ramekins) and set aside.
Combine remaining sugar and remaining cocoa in a heatproof bowl, add 180ml boiling water, stir to combine. Pour over pudding batter, dividing equally, then bake until puddings are risen and a skewer withdraws clean (15-20 minutes). Dust with cocoa and serve hot with passionfruit ice-cream.
A night out in Sydney's CBD starts with a quick meal at Work In Progress, an Asian eatery from Merivale and Papi Chulo head chef Patrick Friesen. Originally meant to be a temporary venture for March only, its won ton soups, crunchy agedashi tofu and range of Korean fried chicken have proved so popular it is staying open indefinitely. Dessert is a 10 minute walk down George Street where ice cream parlour and Instagram hit Aqua S churns out soft serve ice cream surrounded by a halo of fairy floss, with toasted marshmallows, caramel popcorn or popping candy atop fortnightly changing flavours.
Before I visited Japan last year I was never a big fan of tuna, preferring salmon instead. And then I tried otoro, the incredibly fatty belly of tuna and I was hooked! Word on the street (ie the wonderful world of Instagram) brought me to Toriciya, a tiny Japanese restaurant in Cammeray known for their yakitori but also said to have the glorious otoro.
The O-toro Sushi and Sashimi ($13 each) is amazing and melt in the mouth rich. It’s buttery, fatty and pretty damn awesome that a piece of fish can taste this good! It’s exxy but once you’ve tried it you will have dreams about it. We ordered 2 more rounds because hey, life’s too short for regrets :P
The Charcoal grilled extra large clam ($12/2 pieces) is freaking massive! I was worried the clam would be chewy but it is beautifully tender.
The Kingfish and jalapeno carpaccio ($18) sets our tastebuds alight, the yuzu soy dressing has the perfect sweet/salty balance for the delicate slices of kingfish and the zing from the jalapeno has us fighting over the last piece.
We rub our hands with glee when the plate of Tasmanian Long Spine Sea Urchin ($28) arrives. Some of the pieces of sea urchin are a little smooshy in appearance but still fresh and tasty nonetheless. Grab a sheet of dried seaweed, add a piece of sea urchin and a dab of wasabi, roll the whole shebang up and BOOM! FLAVOUR EXPLOSION! Sea urchin is a bit of an acquired taste, it’s super briny and can be weirdly creamy at first so if it’s your first time trying it there’s also sea urchin sushi ($8/piece).
The Grilled Armorhead Head ($10) might be a little confronting in presentation especially with that eye staring right at you but dig around the bones and you’ll be rewarded with flesh that’s fatty and smokey and oh so tasty.
Our last dish is the Homemade Crab Cream Croquettes ($15/2 pieces), the mashed potato innards are fluffy but they are extremely filling and we may have had to admit defeat barely halfway through because I knew dessert was a must!
I absolutely love anything Genmaicha- green tea combined with roasted brown rice and the Roasted Green Tea Ice Cream ($4) just has this depth in flavour that lingers on the palate and has you reaching for more! It’s slightly nutty, sweet with a teensy edge of bitterness.
The food and service at Toriciya was seriously amazing, the restaurant is quite small so make sure you have a booking because we saw quite a few people being turned away. Public transport in the area is a bit meh but there’s heaps of street parking and they’ve also opened a sister restaurant En Toriciya in Crows Nest which I’m keen to visit!
In the classic book, Purity and Danger (1966), Mary Douglas points to the social construction of dirt. She writes:
There is no such thing as absolute dirt: it exists in the eye of the beholder.
If dirt and dirtiness is socially constructed, what do things we identify as dirt, filth, rubbish, and refuse have in common?
Douglas suggests that dirt is really a matter of disorganization. Literally, that a thing becomes dirt or garbage when it is out-of-place. “Dirt,” she writes, “offends against order.”
Eliminating it is not a negative movement, but a positive effort to organise the environment.
I chose the images above to try and illustrate this idea. Hair in the drain, like dirt on our hands, is out-of-place. It doesn’t belong there. In both cases, our reaction is disgust. Hair on the head, in contrast, is beautiful and becoming, while dirt outside is life-giving soil and part of the beauty of nature.
Images royalty free from Getty. Originally posted in 2009.
Lots of people mad about how secret it is. Also about how much drugs are gonna cost under it.
Marginalized women and their interests are not given a seat at the TPP deciding table. Image credit
If passed, the Trans Pacific Partnership will be one of the most far-reaching “free trade” agreements in history — and a huge boost to global corporate power.
Up until this point, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has been one of the most famous free trade agreements. This pact between Canada, the United States, and Mexico created “free trade zones” in which corporations are free to do business in an open market, unhindered by tariffs and subsidies that protect certain industries, countries, or public interests. It also facilitated the process through which corporations could offshore jobs, essentially looking for communities that would accept the cheapest wages for their work with few labor protections.
NAFTA and other neoliberal policies like it allow for the free movement of goods and capital, but create economic incentives for governments and corporations to militarize and police the Border. In every case, they prioritize corporate profits over people and environmental and social protections.
Women working in maquiladoras deal with terrible working conditions and low pay. Image credit.
This often means women, particularly low-income women of color, get caught up in the neoliberal machine, exploited through all kinds of physical and structural violence to work in abhorrent conditions. In addition to causing American job losses, NAFTA lead to what we now know as maquiladoras: factories in Mexico that employ mostly young women under terrible working conditions and for miserable wages.
And the the Trans Pacific Partnership, otherwise known as the TPP (easy to confuse with — and just as shitty as — toilet paper) will only expand these kind of policies. It’s been called “NAFTA on steroids.”
Here are a few things you should know about this latest attack on justice:
1. It’s big.
This is an agreement between the U.S. and 11 other countries in the Pacific Rim: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The TPP will create rules that govern more than 40 percent of the world’s economy.
2. It’s bad.
While its proponents are calling it a “free trade” deal, it’s more accurately a deregulation agreement that would protect corporations at our expense. Amy Goodman of Democracy Now describes the deal like this: “The TPP, if passed, would implement trade rules that make it illegal for governments to create and enforce regulations on everything from environmental standards, to wage and labor laws, to the duration of copyrights. A law prohibiting the sale of goods made in sweatshops in Vietnam could be ruled illegal, for example, as a barrier to trade.” The TPP would see people as “barriers to trade.”
3. It was written by corporations that hope you’re not paying attention.
The deal is being written by industry groups and corporations without public input, and the negotiations have been shrouded in secrecy. As economist Dean Baker told Bill Moyers, “This really is a deal that’s being negotiated by corporations for corporations, and any benefit it provides to the bulk of the population of this country will be purely incidental.”
4. It’s coming.
Obama has been aggressively seeking “fast-track authority” for the TPP, despite Democratic opposition. If granted, this would allow the president to negotiate the trade deal and then present it to Congress for a vote, no amendments allowed.
5. It’s up to us to stop it.
If our president won’t wake up and smell the corporate greed, we need to kick our politicians into caring about middle and lower income folks again. Check out Public Citizen’s extensive research on the TPP and share this video on the “Dirtiest Trade Deal You Never Heard Of.” Right now TPP supporters are counting on the fact that no one quite knows what this deal is, and we need to change that. If enough people get loud and angry about this, we can still stop it.
At Vox, Phil Edwards dug up and revived an article from the American Journal of Sociology published in 1976. It tracks facial hair trends — or what the author whimsically calls “frequencies in whisker forms” — from 1842 to 1972. He notes, in particular, the overwhelming dominance of the clean face at the time of publication.
This is your image of the week:
The original author uses the data to make an argument about the existence of fashion trends. He’s interested, too, in why fashions change and, in like any good sociologist, recommends further research. He does speculate, though, about one possible driver of change: old people. He writes:
…as long as any considerable number of people who have stuck to a superseded form of personal appearance are still living, the young may tend to avoid such a mode as old hat. These distasteful associations seem to be safely overcome only after the passage of a century or more.
His theory holds. If his data is correct, beards disappeared right around 1915. It’s been a hundred years and beards are back!
The next time you find yourself in conversation with someone who simply can not wrap their mind around why street harassment is a problem, and your words are failing to convince them that yelling at women on the street is disrespectful and makes those women feel unsafe, show them this Buzz60 video and ask, “Ok, but do you really want to be this guy?”
Where to begin? First, let’s note that this man starts out apparently believing the interview is about best practices for catcalling, and he shares some of his, which include clicking noises and whistling. The interviewer then asks, “How would you call a dog?” to which the man responds by whistling and adding, “Same way.”
This does not cause a moment of reflection. He sees absolutely no problem here. He laughs it off.
Then, he puts his techniques into action. He actually starts catcalling women while being filmed. And says, “Even when it’s far away, it’s even better, because they’re not that scared, you gotta have a little distance.”
He can recognize that women are scared, and instead of NOT DOING THE THING THAT’S SCARING THEM, he simply does it from farther away.
Next, he says, “I do a lot of ‘sweethearts’ — does that work?” He’s asking. He’s asking the interviewer if it works. On the most practical level, he has no idea if what he’s doing even works toward his stated goal, yet he persists.
Then the light bulb moment — he realizes that this is not an interview about how best to catcall women but rather about how much women dislike catcalling, to which he replies, “Get the fuck outta here, I don’t believe…” He’s just been told that women don’t like it and he’s in such a state of disbelief and anger that he couldn’t even finish his sentences.
“We’re just acknowledging that you did a good thing today, getting up out of bed,” he offers as his justification. Yes. Congratulations on getting out of bed. Here’s a whistle, sweetheart.
Then he yells at a woman walking past, who doesn’t respond, and he determines that she must have had headphones in and couldn’t hear him.
So again, if explainingwhy women should not be subjected to comments from strangers on the street about their appearance is proving difficult, just turn on this video and say: “This. This is who you are when you catcall. This guy. Do. Not. Be. This. Guy.”
Transcript:
Host: ‘No catcalling’ signs like this one are popping up all over New York City. They were put there by an apparel company. Let’s see what New Yorkers have to say about it. So what are your thoughts on catcalling?
Woman: It’s disgusting
Man: Yeah, it’s pretty shitty. You shouldn’t do that to somebody.
Host: And how did that make you feel?
Woman: Very uncomfortable.
Other woman: Horrible. Horrible. It makes me feel horrible.
Host: That was the original idea for the video, until I met this guy, who…man…doesn’t get it.
Catcaller: Sometimes, you know, you gotta call a girl. You know. [clicking sounds] [whistle]
Host: How would you call a dog?
Catcaller: Same way.
Host: So how do you think catcalling makes the person feel?
Catcaller: It feels good. Watch. See if we see a nice girl…I can’t even find a nice girl that I’m attracted to.
Host: Dating.
Catcaller: Yeah, dating. [clicks and waves at passing woman.]
Host: Oh my god.
Catcaller: Even when it’s far away, it’s even better, because they’re not that scared, you gotta have a little distance. I do a lot of ‘sweethearts’ — does that work?
Host: I don’t know, you tell me. I’ve never done that. Literally, not once has that even occurred to me to do.
Catcaller: Wait a sec…Are you reporting is that girls don’t like this?
Host: They don’t like catcalling.
Catcaller: Get the fuck outta here, I don’t believe…come on. We’re just acknowledging that you did a good thing today, getting up out of bed. Oh, sweetheart! [clicks and whistles at passing woman] Yo! See, she don’t even know. She’s probably got headphones on.
There are three things that I think of when I think of Scotland: haggis, whisky and Harry Potter (the latter more to do with the city of Edinburgh). And on one day, I explored and tasted all three learning about the interesting history of whisky, how haggis has modernised and how Harry Potter came to be! Come take a look at one of the most sumptuous locations I have ever dined at: Prestonfield House!
Who said Sydney doesn't do street food? The jianbing is a streetside snack you'll find all over Beijing and Taipei, a thin pancake or crepe cooked to order and eaten hot and fresh off the griddle. They come with all kinds of fillings, but a cracked egg is mandatory, the egg yolk and egg white swirled across the top so you get an omelette and pancake all-in-one.
Mr Bing, a self-declared Asian
sweet potato ice cream sounds like something i could get into
Fun fact: I’ve never eaten devon, let alone baloney. Growing up I was never given the weird Asian lunches, the mothership ran the school canteen and one of the perks was that I got free lunches of meat pies, sausage rolls and lasagnes but never sandwiches with weird coloured meats because my mum wanted my theoretical money’s worth.
So while I knew it was one of the dishes that ACME was famous for, I wasn’t too interested on eating the Baloney sandwich ($8) but our waitress could not stop talking about how awesome it was and so I caved. And thank god I did because I fricken loved everything about it! From the silky sheets of mortadella draped in the freakishly soft as a cloud potato bun to the smidgen of tangy house made tomato sauce.
And then head chef Mitch Orr aka Instakrill sent out a bonus sandwich which I’d seen on IG of the sandwich for staffies (Hey McParadise!) and it was even more amazing because now there was the added happiness of DEEP FRIED MORTADELLA AND FONTINA CHEESE! This baby would be pretty high up on my list of death row last meals, my god it was tasty stuff.
I apologise for the super blurry photo of the Burrata, fig, pistachio ($20) because I was just so keen to devour this that I barely paid attention to anything else because WOO! IT’S BURRATA! The cheese that begs to be stabbed! Seriously though, stab it and watch the river of creamy mozzarella curds envelope everything in proximity with creamy cheesy goodness and then dig out a slice of jammy fig and be prepared to be in raptures.
The Carpaccio parmigiana ($20) is pretty ace with thin slices of Rangers Valley topside beef, curls of eggplant, a swirl of parmesan cream cheese sauce and a scattering of panko crumbs fried in anchovy oil. Grab a bit of everything and get punched in the mouth with a kaleidoscope of flavours that will have you reaching for another serving before you’ve even finished chewing.
The Cold spaghetti, lobster broth, lettuce ($22) arrives tsukemen style with the cold spaghetti served separate to the hot dipping soup. Give the broth a good stir because there’s a glorious knob of konbu butter hiding within and we all know butter makes everything awesome! Dunk in some strands of spaghetti and slurp it all up- it’s lip smacking delicious.
We had no idea what to expect with the Maltagliati, washed kimchi, guanciale ($16) but ordered it because we were interested in having kimchi in a pasta. There’s a light dusting of dehydrated cavolo nero and while it could’ve done with a bit more kimchi, I was more interested in sneakily stealing all the guanciale aka gloriously crispy porky bits that just melts in the mouth :P
I’d heard enough about ACME to know that I had to order the Macaroni, pigs head, egg yolk ($18) and it did not disappoint. We stabbed a little too gleefully at the egg yolk and mixed everything together so that each and every delicate macaroni tube was coated in luxuriously rich yolk. Nubbins of gelatinous pigs head kicked this dish into the stratosphere of richness and a bunch of chilli slices sets the tastebuds a-tingle.
Then it’s dessert time and the Malteser ice cream, candied bacon ($10) is a must order, I mean cmon, CANDIED BACON!!! Amazing doesn’t even begin to describe this! The ice cream is creamy and studded with malteser bits and the whole shebang is covered in candied bacon crumbs. Holy crap I love bacon!
We’d ordered the Blood plum sorbet, sichuan meringue ($10) but instead received Coconut rice cream, white chocolate ($10). We were running a bit late with vacating our table for the next seating so didn’t complain but since I’m not the biggest fan of coconut cream in desserts I tried a spoonful and swiftly returned to my bacon. Definitely one for the coconut lovers- it’s pretty intense!
The Sweet potato ice cream, cinnamon donut($10) were a hit with me, the ice cream was ridiculously light and still incredibly creamy with buried treasure of cubes of sweet potato. The donuts were perfect- golden and crisp on the outside and fluffy and soft on the inside, when I return I will not share this :P
So yeah, ACME blew my mind. I want to turn back time and re-eat everything! Service was top notch even when they got slammed later in the night and the music was awesome too I want their playlist! Oh and dear future self: they take bookings! Hooray!
Trans fitness vlogger and activist Aydian Dowling is currently leading in a landslide in Men’s Health’s “Ultimate Guy Search.” If he wins the contest — to find a guy who is “fit and fearless, a doer who gives back and leads by example” — he’d become the magazine’s first trans cover model.
Dowling, who runs a trans clothing company and a bodybuilding YouTube channel geared toward trans people, told the Daily Beast, “It would be so life affirming to just know that the man that I set out to be is somebody that people think is a good man. To break those stereotypes, but still be a man. Feel pride in masculinity, but not putting down femininity. That would be so important to me.”
Whether you’re casting a vote for Dowling because it’d be awesome to have a trans guy on the cover of a mainstream men’s magazine or simply because of those ridiculous iliac crests, you may do so here.
Darband in Auburn is a casual and simply outfitted Persian restaurant on Rawson Street in Auburn. The menu is filled with reasonably priced dishes from as low as $3 to the princely sum of $22 for a selection of juicy kebabs. The star here is undoubtedly the rice and there are two stand outs: a dill flecked rice with broad beans and a jewel-like celebration rice with saffron and barberries.
Tim Ho Wan, the famous Hong Kong dim sum restaurant has hit Sydney and if the queues are anything to go by, Sydney siders are already familiar with the Michelin starred chain and what it has to offer. Chatswood is the first branch in Australia to open and seats 100 people, all clamouring for a chance to try Chef Mak's signature barbecued pork bun or freshly made dim sum. But guess what? There's a way to avoid that queue and sink your teeth into a barbecued pork bun without waiting...
Mascot's Tartine serves up French style open sandwiches out of a charming and eclectically designed cafe on Gardener's Road. Former fine dining chef Anthony Telford and his partner Amy Kirchoff have designed a welcoming space with nothing on the menu above $10. Tartine toppings include Chicken, mayonnaise, fennel pollen, fat rocket on sourdough; shredded beef, crispy onions, gruyere, chives or pulled pork, parsley, chives with each batch of coleslaw freshly made.
Having a criminal record negatively affects the likelihood of being considered for a job. Devah Pager conducted a matched-pair experiment in which she had male testers apply for the same entry-level jobs advertised in Milwaukee newspapers. She gave the assistants fake credentials that make them equivalent in terms of education, job experience, and so on. Half were Black and half White.
One tester from each pair was instructed to indicate that they had a past non-violent drug possession offense. Pager then collected data on how many of the applicants were called back for an interview after submitting their fake applications.
The results indicate that getting a job with a criminal record is difficult. Having even a non-violent drug offense had a significant impact on rates of callbacks:
What was surprising was that race actually turned out to be more significant than a criminal background. Notice that employers were more likely to call Whites with a criminal record (17% were offered an interview) than Blacks without a criminal record (14%). And while having a criminal background hurt all applicants’ chances of getting an interview, African Americans with a non-violent offense faced particularly dismal employment prospects. Imagine if the fake criminal offense had been for a property or violent crime?
In addition, according to Pager, employers seemed to expect that Black applicants might have a criminal record:
When people think of Black men they think of a criminal. It affects the way Black men are treated in the labor market. In fact, Black testers in our study were likely to be asked up front if they have a criminal record, while whites were rarely asked…
African American men face a double barrier: higher rates of incarceration and racial discrimination.
Originally posted in 2009.
Gwen Sharp is an associate professor of sociology at Nevada State College. You can follow her on Twitter at @gwensharpnv.
NQN and I cannot be friends as Thai custard is the best!
Thai Pothong is somewhat of a rarity in Sydney's dining scene having being open for 20 years. Open in 1995 on busy King Street where there is no shortage of Thai restaurants, it serves classic Thai cuisine as well as having a gluten free and vegan menu. Popular dishes include betel leaf prawns, golden egg pastry tartlets, prawns choo chee, a range of cocktails and a large list of Thai sweets.
Packet scones from the CWA? Also sadly Webz and I missed the corgis, they were last Friday :(
I absolutely love the Royal Sydney Easter Show! It’s a nostalgia thing with childhood memories of fairy floss, the bright lights of the rides and the massive amounts of junk food consumed. The main reason that I go is that my most favourite food in the world can be found- deep fried cheese on a stick! Yes it’s bad for you but c’mon you’re at a carnival, how can you resist the call of fried foods on a stick?
Mmm cheesy :D At $5 a pop they’re not cheap but then again, it’s pretty much a given that everything here is pricey. Oh and you might as well get a lemonade ($5) too because walking around seeing stuff is mighty thirsty work!
Or you can get a soft drink in a ridiculous boot ($12).
The usual suspects are back, like the corn stall where you can get juicy corn on cob slathered in butter and doused in salt & pepper plus the guarantee that you will get corn kernels stuck in your teeth no matter how carefully you gnaw away.
I didn’t eat here but I always love staring at how pretty in pink their stall is!
The music at Twisted Fries drove me batshit bananas while standing in the line! It’s the same let’s twist again song over and over and over and wow if I had to work there or in the general vicinity I would seriously invest in ear plugs. But hey their fries are pretty amazing, golden and crispy and just begging to be drowned in your sauce of choice.
I had deliberately planned on going to the Easter Show on Saturday which was the day that everyone had to vote and we had also arrived just on 9am which meant- NO FRICKEN QUEUES! Seriously it was the best day ever! We got seats everywhere, there were barely any crowds which meant no rage issues! Past years I’ve barely seen the wood chopping because it’s always been too packed!
Then we headed over to check out the cattle and were amused to see them being groomed with a vacuum cleaner, passed the alpacas and onto the pigs and their piglets.
The Farmyard Nursery (entry via Food Farm) was awesome and freaking massive! It was a little unnerving how all these animals were just roaming around looking for pats and a feed- you can buy cups of pet food for $1. There were baby lambs, goats, ducks, chicks, puppies and bunnies!
Nawww so fluffeh!
What species is this? You breed raptors?? Lol my bad that’s a Jurassic Park reference :P
Checked out the Sydney Royal Horse Competition at the Spotless Stadium.
The Dinosaur Ice World in the Davidson Plaza was pretty fun esp for Noods who’s a bit of a dinosaur lover hehe there was a bit of queue to get in but the line moves fast and there’s an area where the kids can have a go at chipping away at a ‘fossil’.
Life-sized Woolly Mammoth!
Break time! We were near the Sydney Royal Beer and Wine Garden and were going to do the beer tasting except we’d tried all the beers so settled for getting a glass or two from Matilda Bay.
The smell of meats drew us over to Bodean’Z’ BBQ Grill…
Behold! A giant turkey leg ($12)! Reminded me of Six Flags in LA! They also had pork hocks and those things were massive!
Headed over to the Woolworths Fresh Food Dome and got a half dozen oysters which were plump juicy specimens.
After buying a whole lotta jerky and biltong we ogled the meticulously placed fruit and veg displays at the District Exhibits.
Seriously, these displays must takes ages to make!
And then onto the Country Women’s Association Tearoom where all the money raised by the volunteers at the CWA throughout the Show goes into rural and regional parts of Australia.
The CWA scones ($5) are always so light and perfect! And then I find out later that they actually use packet mix and I felt my belief in the system shattering… Although to be fair to pump out that many scones to feed everyone is pretty insane. Edit: yes the volunteers use packet mix but apparently the CWA send their recipe to a supplier who pre-mixes the dry materials, which they bring in packets to the Show.
Not sure if this is a recent thing but fyi all the cake, jam and biscuit displays have moved to the Arts and Crafts Pavilion. How amazing is the detail on this one!?
Then off to the Showbag Hall where there seem to be an endless amount of Frozen, Home and Adventure Time bags available. I scored the Pacman bag because it came with an awesome towel woohoo!
Over on the games and rides side I was so fricken amused and impressed that someone has finally put a freaking ESCALATOR for the giant slide! No more trudging up the stairs like plebs!
Aaaand that’s it for another year! I will see you again my beloved cheese on a stick! The Sydney Royal Easter Show is held 26 March – 8 April 2015 at the Sydney Showground in Sydney Olympic Park. Get there early (gates open at 9am) to avoid the queues!
ChocolateSuze received complimentary entry tickets to the Sydney Royal Easter Show but paid for all food, rides and games.
I saw her at All About Women and surprised at how small she was.
Sociologists are interested in the workings of power. How is inequality produced and sustained? What discursive and institutional forces uphold it? How are obvious injustices made invisible or legitimized? Why is it so hard to change hearts, minds, and societies?
How does all this work?
Earlier this month, a sliver of insight was posted. It’s a clip of a speech by Anita Sarkeesian in which she reveals what it’s like for one person to be the target of sustained, online harassment.
In 2009, Sarkeesian launched Feminist Frequency, a series of web logs in which she made feminist arguments about representation of women in pop culture. In 2012, she launched a kickstarter to fund an ambitious plan to analyze the representation of women in video games. This drew the attention of gamers who opposed her project on principle and thus began an onslaught of abuse: daily insults and threats of rape and murder, photoshop harassment, bomb threats, and a video game in which her face can be beaten bloody, just to mention a few examples. Last fall she canceled a speech at Utah State University because someone threatened to commit “the deadliest school shooting in American history” if she went on. It’s been brutal and it’s never stopped.
So, is this power at work? Has she been silenced? And has her larger project – awareness of sexism and misogyny in video games – been harmed?
I’m not sure.
As an individual, Sarkeesian has continued to speak out about the issue, but how she does so and with what frequency has been aggressively curtailed by the harassment. In the four-and-a-half minute clip, with the theme “What I Couldn’t Say,” she talks about how the harassment has changed how she engages with the public. I offer some tidbits below, but here’s the full clip:
She explains:
I rarely feel comfortable speaking spontaneously in public spaces, I’m intentional and careful about the media interviews I do, I decline most invitations to be on podcasts or web shows, I carefully consider the wording of every tweet to make sure it is clear and can’t be misconstrued. Over the last several years, I’ve become hypervigilant. My life, my words, and my actions are placed under a magnifying glass. Every day I see my words scrutinized, twisted, and distorted by thousands of men hell bent on destroying and silencing me.
How she gets her message across has been affected as well:
[I cant’ say] anything funny… I almost never make jokes anymore on YouTube… I don’t do it because viewers often interpret humor and sarcasm as ignorance… You would not believe how often jokes are taken as proof that I don’t know what I’m talking about… even when those jokes rely on a deep knowledge of the source material.
And she feels that, above all, she’s not allowed to talk about the harm that her harassers are doing:
I don’t’ get to publicly express sadness, or rage, or exhaustion, or anxiety, or depression… I don’t get to express feelings of fear or how tiring it is to be constantly vigilant of my physical and digital surroundings… In our society, women are not allowed to express feelings without being characterized as hysterical, erratic bitchy, highly emotional, or overly sensitive. Our experiences of insecurity, doubt, anger, or sadness are all policed and often used against us.
A youtube search for the video reveals a slew of anti-Sarkeesian responses were published within days.
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Sarkeesian’s revelations put an inspiring human face on the sacrifice individuals make to fight-the-good-fight, but also reveal that, in some ways, her harassers are winning.
That said, their grotesque display of misogyny has raised Sarkeesian’s profile and drawn attention to and legitimized her project and her message. That original kickstarter? The original call was for $6,000. Her supporters donated almost $159,000. The feminist backlash to the misogynist backlash was swift and monied.
Ever since, the abuse she’s suffered as an individual has made the issue of both sexism in video games and online harassment more visible. Her pain may have been good for the visibility of the movement. I wonder, though, what message it sends to other women and men who want to pursue similar social justice initiatives. It is a cautionary tale that may dampen others’ willingness to fight.
The battle is real. The gamers who oppose Sarkeesian and what she stands for have succeeded in quieting, if not silencing her and have probably discouraged others from entering the fray. But Sarkeesian’s cause and the problem of gamer misogyny is more visible than ever. The fight goes on.
The newest attraction at Canberra's National Zoo is Jamala Wildlife Lodge, a unique and exhilarating accommodation experience where overnight guests get to stay in luxurious jungle bungalows with a difference. For just on the other side of the (thick) glass may be a tiger, lions, cheetahs or brown bears. It is a sought after experience for birthday groups and families with a waiting list of several weeks
If you’ve always been unsure about what to order at an Indonesian restaurant, Indo Rasa is the perfect place to start figuring it out. The pictorial menu – that’s 61 shots spread over 11 pages – makes order-by-pointing a much more accurate exercise.
In the uni student/cheap eats haven that is Kingsford, Indo Rasa is one of the fancier-looking restaurants on the strip. And by that we mean
I don't even understand the question?!? I guess I'm brainwashed
According to a survey of 1,387 students in Sociology 101 classes at a large west coast university, 25.8% of college students “somewhat” or “strongly agree” that romantic love brainwashes women. Another 20% could be convinced. Interestingly, the numbers were similar for men and women, though women were a bit more likely to agree.
What violates Instagram’s community guidelines? Periods, apparently. Instagram has an ugly history of policing bodies. Over the last year the social media site has come under fire for banning images of women’s pubic hair — even though, according to Mic,Instagram has tolerated men’s pubic hair.
This week, Instagram told visual and spoken word artist Rupi Kaur that her self-portrait violated the app’s community guidelines. Her crime? The photo, which you can see below, shows Kaur with a small period leak.
The photo is gorgeous — but apparently periods, like women’s pubic hair, offends Instagram’s misogynist sense of propriety. In taking down Kaur’s photos, Instagram promotes a long tradition of shaming people who menstruate, most but not all of whom are women, as though their bodies are naturally dirty. Kaur wrote on her Tumblr:
thank you @instagram for providing me with the exact response my work was created to critique. you deleted a photo of a woman who is fully covered and menstruating stating that it goes against community guidelines when your guidelines outline that it is nothing but acceptable. the girl is fully clothed. the photo is mine. it is not attacking a certain group. nor is it spam. and because it does not break those guidelines i will repost it again. i will not apologize for not feeding the ego and pride of misogynist society that will have my body in an underwear but not be okay with a small leak. when your pages are filled with countless photos/accounts where women (so many who are underage) are objectified…
After Kaur spoke out, Instagram restored her photo, but its claim of an “accidental removal” rings hollow. Instagram doesn’t need to correct one mistake; it needs to shift how it understands bodies.
You can find more of Kaur’s photos from this series at www.rupikaur.com.
Samad Kohigoltapeh, 32, construction engineer, with his twins. (Photo credit: Johan Bavman / Moment / INSTITUTE)
There is a mythical place where new parents get 480 days of paid leave for every child they have. And though it might feel like it to those of us here in the US, countingourselveslucky if we get a single paid day off at all, this place is not, in fact, a fantastical utopia in a parallel universe. It is simply a country called Sweden that decided to enact a policy to make it so.
Under Sweden’s policy, 60 of these 480 days must be used by dads (in straight couples) or else they’re lost, and some lawmakers are pushing to make the split even more equal. Perhaps even more than the generous maternity leave, this incentive for dads to take time with their kids seems to be a boon to women and the goal of gender equality (and to the economy too.) Women’s incomes and levels of self-reported happiness have increased, divorce rates are down, and, as the New York Times reported a few years ago, “a new definition of masculinity is emerging.”
Still, though most Swedish fathers take some of their leave, a minority use all their 60 days, and only 12 percent share the total leave time 50-50 with their partner. While home with his own son, Swedish photographer Johan Bävman was surprised to realize that “we are actually not so equal as we think we are in Sweden, despite how Swedes often pat themselves on the shoulder and are so proud of their gender equal system and so on.” He created the photo series Swedish Dads to highlight men who decided to stay home longer than the average, “to hear why they wanted to be home with their children and what they hoped to learn from it.”
Check it out — if you can deal with the envy better than I can.
A few days ago, Germany’s highest court finally struck down a state law that had banned women from wearing headscarves in classrooms. But the decision, a victory after more than a decade of legal and public debate, is sadly an isolated sign of optimism within an increasingly bleak picture of Western countries marginalizing Muslim women for the way they dress.
Earlier this month, France’s women’s minister expressed support for a university-wide headscarf ban, arguing: “I’m not sure the headscarf is part of higher education.” (The fact that she is the country’s secretary for women’s rights is particularly awkward.) Her comments came as former president Nicolas Sarkozy proposed banning female students from wearing headscarves at all French universities. In Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper pushed to criminalize the face-covering this month, asking the House: “Why would Canadians, contrary to our own values, embrace a practice…[that] frankly, is rooted in a culture that is anti-women?” A poll released over the weekend suggests that 70 percent of Canadians support his sentiments.
Germany’s ruling striking down such bans proves what manyof usalreadyknow: that criminalizing the way women dress is unconstitutional and violates the rights of women to freedom of expression and religion. But recent studies highlight even more violent effects of this marginalization. A report published last month by Nils Muižnieks, the Council of Europe commissioner for human rights, reveals that 80 percent of the “rising” anti-Muslim acts which occur in France are carried out against women. Eighty percent.
If that’s not enough to make you sick, Newsweeknotes:
[T]he term ‘acts’ covers a huge range of hostile actions…which include: Spitting, general abuse, pulling and tearing at the niqab and the hijab, plus dog feces being thrown at women, as well as bottles from passing cars and people shouting things like ‘Muslim whore’ ‘Muslim bitch’ or ‘Muzzie’.
While Islamophobic attacks in France have increased dramatically since the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January, violence against Muslim women is not new nor particular to France. Data shared by The Guardian last year also suggested that Muslim women in the UK face more hate crimes than their male counterparts: four out of five victims attacked in the street were women wearing an Islamic covering. Both reports demonstrate that Muslim women are targeted for their visibility. As Fiyaz Mughal of the think tank Faith Matters explains to Newsweek, “Visible women are the ones that are targeted at a street level. This means that women who wear the hijab are the ones that are sometimes targeted for abuse and those who wear the niqab suffer more anti-Muslim hate incidents and more aggressive assaults.” Both reports also show that perpetrators are overwhelmingly young, white men.
I would be curious to see if anyone has compiled data on the gender imbalance of anti-Muslim hate crimes in the United States, but I’m guessing that trends here would be no different. In a piece here last month, I pointed to the Chapel Hill shootings as an example of gender-based violence against Muslim women (and criticized white feminists for ignoring such violence when perpetrated by white men). Newsweek quotes Texas A&M Professor Sahar Aziz similarly condemning the deafening silence about these increased attacks from French feminists who had celebrated the 2011 ban on full face veils.
While a ban on Muslim head coverings is nowhere near the same thing as anti-Muslim attacks, both are rooted in a similar hostility. Clearly, we need to have a meaningful discussion around Islamophobia and gender-based violence. Perhaps a place to start might be recognizing the role played by the policing of Muslim women’s wardrobes.
This is a map of the countries Europe colonized, controlled, or influenced between 1500 and 1960. The purple is Europe. The orange countries are ones never under European rule. Almost the entire rest of the map — all the green, blue, and yellow — were dominated by Europe to some extent. “Influenced” is pretty much a euphemism and often not all that different than outright domination.
There are only four countries that escaped European colonialism completely. Japan and Korea successfully staved off European domination, in part due to their strength and diplomacy, their isolationist policies, and perhaps their distance. Thailand was spared when the British and French Empires decided to let it remained independent as a buffer between British-controlled Burma and French Indochina…
Then there is Liberia, which European powers spared because the United States backed the Liberian state, which was established in the early 1800s by freed American slaves who had decided to move to Africa.
Did you hear the one about the dancer/performance-artist/comedian who did a funny one-woman show about rape? 
Trans fitness vlogger and activist Aydian Dowling is currently leading in a landslide in Men’s Health’s “Ultimate Guy Search.” If he wins the contest — to find a guy who is “fit and fearless, a doer who gives back and leads by example” — he’d become the magazine’s first trans cover model.
By Tom Gauld.
