Category Archives: Uncategorised

 

Indian women have had enough of the cotton wool, bubble wrapped lifestyle that people, especially male politicians are wrapping them in. Now more than ever, they are speaking out against the injustices that are happening in their country and providing a platform for change.

This comes after an Indian woman was harassed by two men when she was driving home after midnight. Chasing her in their vehicle and trying to corner her, she eventually escaped but not after being completely shaken and terrified.

Ramveer Bhatti, the area vice president of a local political party said that the incident would not have taken place if she had not been out so late. The outpouring of tweets that came after this statement was widespread, with the hashtag #aintnocinderella trending on Twitter. Women were using the hashtag to fight back against the idea of being damsels in distress, with one Twitter user fittingly posting, “we women believe in breaking glass ceilings not fitting into glass slippers.”

The politician in question demonstrated a blatant case of victim blaming, instead of identifying and prosecuting the attackers he brings it back to the antiquated and traditionalist view of women not being allowed out after dark. Simply being out after midnight does not give anyone the invitation for inappropriate behaviour. This regressive attitude does nothing for the victims, it only incites more anger and more motivation to fight for justice. The question is, why should women be punished for something that is out of our control and why should we live our lives in constant fear when these men are still roaming the streets looking for their next victim.

Sexual violence is a horribly frequent occurrence in India, with 31,446 cases of crimes against women reported just in the capital city of Delhi. This doesn’t even take into consideration the amount of cases that go unreported.

Mahatma Gandhi himself said that, “the day a woman can walk freely on the roads at night, is the day we can say that India has achieved independence.” To enforce such stricter laws and rules to help achieve peace will be tough, but surely with more widespread social media trends such as #aintnocinderella hopefully more politicians will stand up and take notice. By speaking out and letting their voices be heard throughout their country and across the world, these women will continue to smash barriers.

Published on August 28, 2017 on SheBrisbane

 

Former editor in chief of British Vogue, 59 year old Alexandra Shulman shocked Instagram recently with her bikini selfie. Showing the world an untouched version of herself, she has gained thousands of likes and positive comments on the post, ranging from what an inspiring women she is to people thanking her for keeping it real.

Coming from a background that’s notorious for its high fashion spreads and heavily curated content, Alexandra has succeeded in contributing to body positivity, an area that’s not so well developed in the fashion industry. Providing much needed honesty and transparency on a platform that is infamous for its filtered and often unrealistic images.

Instagram has become a terrible place for people to compare and contrast their lives against others. Producing all kinds of jealous emotions including FOMO, which translates to the fear of missing out on something great that’s happening and that you’re not a part of. The constant array of vacation photos, expensive designer gear and café delicacies also promotes the idea of an aspirational lifestyle rather than an inspirational life, providing people with what can often be seen as highly unattainable or false achievements that should not dictate how successful life should be.

While Instagram has banned hashtags such as #thinspo and #thinspiration, it doesn’t stop the flow of photos that pop up of retouched skinny models or fitness stars flaunting their quick tips to get a thin body in an unrealistic amount of days. Some fitness stars and models do take the more genuine approach, dishing out advice that’s beneficial. But unfortunately it comes to the point where some users find it hard to differentiate between the two, finding quick and easy diets to be the answer instead of a more long term healthier approach.

According to a study completed by the Royal Society for Public Health, around 70% of 18-24 year olds would consider having a cosmetic surgical procedure. Out of the five most prominent social media channels YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram, Instagram was rated as the most negative. In regards to contributing to poor body image and anxiety, Instagram also scored the
highest.

If more influencers like Alexandra Shulman began taking raw and candid photos of themselves, then more women will feel encouraged to embrace their own unique bodies. As the saying goes, to have a bikini body all you really need is a body, regardless of how you think you look.

Published on August 24, 2017 on SheBrisbane

 

First Brangelina and now another Hollywood golden couple have called it quits. Chris Pratt and Anna Faris announced their split just last week after eight years of marriage, causing an absolute internet frenzy. Their goofy and seemingly nice personalities have won everyone over and their image as a powerhouse couple has made them a force in Hollywood for the last few years. Their breakup came as completely unexpected, blindsiding people and causing what seemed to be immense second-hand grief.

Judging by romantic Instagram posts a couple of months ago from the Hollywood couple, no one could have predicted that they would ever have decided to call it quits. It just goes to show that fame and celebrity is just a facade, and that behind that movie screen are the real issues that no one can begin to foresee.

Celebrity relationships are a hot commodity in the press, with rumours and scandals extending the life of what celebrities hope to be a closing chapter. Instead of being able to move on with their lives they are constantly hounded and pressured for more information.

It doesn’t help that ordinary people are also putting surmountable pressure on these relationships to work. Conjuring up terms such as power or golden couple or #relationshipgoals adds to the unrealistic view. More people are needing that hope and reassurance that these relationships falsely provide with people becoming heavily invested, whether as a way to compensate for their own lacklustre relationships or as a projection of their own hopes and desires. Expecting too much and pinning their wishes on something that looks good on the outside but as with Chris’s and Anna’s relationship, may be crumbling on the inside.

Along with the pressures of marriage, celebrities also have an endless array of other worries to contend with. New found fame, cheating allegations from persistent tabloids, addictions and long distance struggles are just some of the issues these celebrities have to face beyond everyday married life. So you can never assume that just because these celebrities have the backings of fame and fortune that their relationships will come to be a happily ever after as well.

Published on August 14, 2017 on SheBrisbane

 

‘Back to Nature’ is the theme for this years Royal Queensland Show’s (Ekka) fashion parades. Taking place between August 11 and 20, the parades are celebrating locally sourced fabrics and ethically produced clothing. They are showcasing the connection between farming and fashion, with a focus on Queensland-grown wool and cotton, along with leather, bamboo and silk.

Two prominent names in Australian fashion and contributors to the festival, designers Gail Sorronda and Julie Tengdahl are fierce advocates for sustainable fashion. They spoke to SheBrisbane about their passion for ethically produced clothing and supporting local Queensland businesses.

Julie Tengdahl has established her name amongst the few truly Australian-made luxury labels. Her founding philosophy for her brand is that a garments beauty lies in high quality fabrics.

Her commitment to sustainable fashion is seen in the way that everything is designed and manufactured in Queensland. “We also have a quick response manufacturing process so Tengdahl only produces what our clients need, so there no waste,” Julie said.

“To be honest I love working with all natural fibres, each have their own texture and sensitivity. They also have their challenges in producing the perfect design that will bring out the fibres natural beauty.”

Out of the five fabrics that are showcased in the event, Julie’s favourite was silk, “for its drape like qualities. The wearer truly feels special when putting on a silk garment.”

For people to become more aware of their clothing choices and to purchase more sustainable garments, Julie said that, “knowledge and education is the key, being mindful of our fashion purchases, their imprint on our environment and where the fabric and production originated. I also think looking after our environment is an evolution of our society, given the right choices the community really can make a difference.”

“It’s not always about how many items you can have in your wardrobe. Less is always more. We really have to look at what we need.”

To make sure you’re making the move to a more conscious closet, Julie said, “it’s important to look at the fabric content and where the garment is produced. Treat yourself to the pleasure of wearing a garment made with natural fibres and love.”

Gail Sorronda is another Brisbane based designer with a boutique currently in James Street, Fortitude Valley. Her dark and edgy designs have made waves in the fashion industry, with high profile designers such as Dolce and Gabbana and Karl Lagerfeld recognising her as one to watch.

In the importance of using natural fibres, Gail said, that “besides for sustainability reasons, natural fibres are great for the Queensland climate as the fabrics breathe and are more comfortable on the skin.”

“We support local businesses where we can. Our James Street boutique stocks local artisans including Paula Dunlop and our supplies are all sourced locally. Most of our sampling is done here in Brisbane and some of our production includes screen printing too.”

To convince more people to buy ethically produced clothing Gail said that the key is to, “encourage purchasing pieces that will continue through the seasons that tells an authentic story rather than trend based fast fashion that ends up in landfill.”

“Just like everything has a cycle, there will be a nostalgic return to niche fashion in rebellion to the mass produced.”

Published on August 17, 2017 on SheBrisbane

 

The issue of diversity has become a constant discussion point in The Bachelor and other types of reality shows, with cookie cutter, blonde stereotypes representing what’s expected to be a sample of our population. The show cherry picks their own ideal Australian women for the Bachelor to court, taking on a whole new meaning of the phrase digging through trash to find treasure. Not only are the participants white-washed but a majority of them are blondes with similar facial features. It’s come to the point where if there was a line up at a police station it would be hard to distinguish one girl from the next.

Producers take advantage of the fact that we live in an impressible age where social media dictates our lives, where everything that is broadcasted, tweeted and instagramed has an effect on our own perspective. While it is a purely superficial reality show, every TV show still has an impact on our society. Reality shows like Jersey Shore have created a subculture of heavily tanned individuals, glorifying behaviours such as binge drinking and fighting. Women have enough issues as it is without the pressures of slimming down and achieving a desirable look just to attract their own modern day bachelor like Matty J.

Women are not only competing for their chance at love with The Bachelor but also for their fifteen minutes of fame, after all isn’t that what a majority of them are in the competition for. Or do they really believe that true love is on the other side of a heavily constructed reality show?

The show also takes a dig at the intellectual capacity of these contestants reducing them down to shallow, image obsessed girls whose idea of conflict resolutions are catfights. While progress has been seen with the introduction of a bi-sexual contestant, more barriers can be broken down by introducing gay bachelors and bachelorettes or even upping the age to what’s considered as the true age of an actual real life bachelor, mid 40’s.

We hope people can take these shows very lightly and to just treat them as fodder for the office gossip the next day. Let’s hope that people who are watching The Bachelor realise that there is more than one nationality, that being young and beautiful does not mean everything and that a test based on whether your ideal date is going to the beach does not determine compatibility. There will come a time when the public will become sick of the same ideals being shown over and over again and hopefully this will start a discussion around change.

Published on August 7, 2017 on SheBrisbane

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl combines light-hearted humour and unique animated effects with a captivating cast that explores the complexities of life and death.

Relative newcomer Thomas Mann stars as Greg Gaines, an awkward, self-depreciating floater as he deems himself. Always floating around the edges of each social group, determined to get through his senior year at high school unnoticed with only his long-time friend and fellow film maker Earl Jackson (Ronald Cyler II) as his constant companion. But Greg soon learns that his classmate Rachel Kushner (Olivia Cooke) has been diagnosed with leukaemia and is forced by his parents to befriend her. After some hesitation and caution they slowly become friends.

Often compared to The Fault in Our Stars, Me and Earl and The Dying Girl takes the less romantic road and instead uses humour to create the meaningful relationships that are portrayed on screen. The relationship between Greg and Earl was one of the highlights in the film, with Earl’s bluntness combining well with Greg’s eccentricities.

I found that the use of animation was a quirky way to diffuse the tension and sadness in the film and allowed the audience to briefly see inside Greg’s overactive mind. The film also included intricate stop motion animation and live-action short films to represent Greg and Earl’s classic film parodies.

Me and Earl and The Dying Girl first started off as a book by Jesse Andrews which was published in 2012. Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, the film won the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. The awards are no surprise, with constant humour mixed in with tender scenes, the film deserves all the praise it can get!

Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars
Running Time: 105 minutes

Published on August 25, 2015 on West End Magazine

 

Trainwreck is a refreshing and entertaining romantic comedy, (emphasis on the comedy) about a modern day New Yorker who after being stuck in her promiscuous ways, finds herself having something that is completely strange and new to her, a real relationship.

As a young girl, it was drilled into Amy’s (Amy Schumer) head by her father (Colin Quinn) that monogamy isn’t realistic, a belief that she has kept to this day as a pseudo-adult leading a promiscuous dating life while working at a men’s magazine in New York City. Though when she gets assigned to interview a charming sports doctor (Bill Hader) she gradually gets the wakeup call that’s been long awaited.

The script was originally written by Amy Schumer herself with Judd Apatow serving as director. Who as a legend in the film-making industry is known for directing such awkward yet honest experiences of what life can be like in the modern day world. His hits include The 40-Year-Old-Virgin and Knocked Up and I have no doubt that he will be adding Trainwreck to his list of successes.

Amy Schumer played the character of Amy as well as one can when she based the character after herself, with her unpredictable behaviour and blunt humour you couldn’t help but laugh at her cheeky one liners. The movie also included other prominent actors and sports stars including Lebron James, John Cena, Tilda Swinton and an appearance from Daniel Radcliffe.

As it is a romantic comedy, it is somewhat predictable, but it sets itself apart from other clichéd rom-coms with its comedic value that had the audience laughing for most of the film. Though don’t be mistaken it’s not all laughs, as there were some tender moments scattered throughout the film that tugged at the heartstrings and rounded out the movie to one that comes close to being the perfect package.

Director: Judd Apatow

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Running time: 122 minutes

Words by Emily Facoory

Published on June 1, 2015 on West End Magazine

A few months ago the Nundah Community Enterprises Co-operative (NCEC), Espresso Train Cafe and Catering, won the Australian Small Social Enterprise of the Year Award.

It’s true – Nundah is well and truly out of the 4101 area. However, this is the kind of community story that we West Enders love, so if you are up and exploring Brisbane’s north side, make sure you pop in and grab a coffee at this wonderful cafe.

After establishing in 1998, Espresso Train has provided meaningful employment for people with intellectual disabilities and mental health issues. The Australian Social Enterprise of the Year Award is designed to recognise social enterprises at different stages of their business cycle. To be considered they must be employing less than 20 full-time team members and have excellent vision and strategic direction among other qualifications.

The NCEC operates two branches, its Espresso Train Café and Catering Organisation and its Parks and Maintenance section. Employing around 20 people, they create on-going part-time employment.

“There is potential for people with particular skills to fit into business, rather than having a role which you ask people to fit into,” says President Morrie O’Connor.

“A lot of businesses exclude people with disabilities from general society. If you were creative you could actually look at how you design the work around the person.”

Steve Goodale is one of the main supervisors at the Expresso Train cafe, along with being a qualified chef, he teaches the employees how to cook, how to run the café and other life skills to build up their self-esteem.

“I’ve been working here for the past three years, before that I was a health food chef, so we try to integrate that into here and make sure that the constituents are eating healthy and living a fun lifestyle.

The best thing about working here is that everybody likes to be here, we’re like a big family, we have fun and don’t take ourselves too seriously,” he said.

Prior to joining the co-op the employees usually experience long-term unemployment or very short term jobs that have only lasted two or three weeks.

Coordinator for NCEC, Richard Warner said, “we are probably close to an optimum size for doing this type of thing, we could grow a little bit but our interest is in supporting other groups to create their own community businesses which involve and include marginalised people.”

After winning the Social Enterprise of the Year Award Richard said that there has been a little bit more interest in the cafe.

“We’ve had a few more visitors down to the café and we’ve had other communities and groups of people interested in finding out about what we do, so they can do it themselves,” he said.

Published on October 8, 2015 on West End Magazine

 

The Brisbane French Festival was held at South Bank’s Cultural Forecourt this past weekend and consisted of an array of different stalls selling everything from French cuisine to French books, homewares, art and tours.

The festival started off on Friday night with the Paris Underground Cabaret where magic and illusions were performed along with burlesque and circus routines. The Air France Fashion show was held on both days showcasing French fashion designer Jérôme L’Huillier and fellow designer and muse Mette Pedersen’s eponymous fashion label.

There was an endless supply of French delicacies on display with never-ending queues where crowds sampled such treats as French éclairs, crepes, macarons and French pies.

The festival was also full of free entertainment throughout the weekend with magic shows, parkour and fencing demonstrations, street performers as well as dance and musical performances from the Brisbane Academy of Dance and The Hoo Ha Swing Ensemble among others.

Masterclasses where also on offer, allowing participants the opportunity to learn the proper setting of a table, a chance to taste and learn about the wines of Bordeaux and Loire Valley and the trick to matching French dessert wines with French cheeses. Also included was the Wine Pavilion which offered an impressive array of French wines from a variety of regions.

Kids were kept well entertained with a range of activities including pakour and fencing demonstrations, paper plane making, face painting and an educative tent where French stories where read and songs where sung.

The Wheel of Brisbane was also lit up for the occasion with the ferris wheel illuminating the evenings with the colours of the French Flag. The festival was a huge success with crowds loving being immersed in French culture.

Published on July 13, 2015 on West End Magazine