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No Filter

It’s okay to cut out toxic family members

  • Mar 16, 2021

Culture

Is The Bachelor actually a feminist show?

  • Mar 29, 2021

Girl Power

Hiatus

  • May 31, 2021

Think

7 simple tips for being an ally in 2021

  • May 12, 2021

Think

The voting age should be lowered to 16

Every election cycle, we hear the same tired lamentation from politicians, media pundits and various aunts and uncles: “young people don’t show up...

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Culture

VÏKÆ's debut EP has been a lifetime in the making...

Two years in writing, a lifetime in the making.

Ukraine-born and Auckland-raised, Veronika Bell — known onstage as VÏKÆ — has distilled...

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No Filter

Stop giving outrage parties free publicity

A few weeks ago, I wrote about coming across a political hoarding that read: NO GENDER IDEOLOGY. I wrote at the time : “It took me a while to even...

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Think

Just ten things to say in response to a bigot

We’ve all been there. Your lungs quit working for half a second, your eyebrows shoot up your forehead. When you live in a greenie, social justice-...

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Culture

Book Review: ‘Women and Leadership: Real Lives, Real Lessons’ by Julia Gillard and Ngozi Okonjo-...

In chapter 11 of Julia Gillard and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s extraordinary book ‘Women and Leadership: Real Lives, Real Lessons’ , the authors share...

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Girl Power

Pop music isn’t bad just because girls like it

As a long-time fan of Taylor Swift, seeing her new album “folklore” receive such amazing reviews has been equal parts gratifying and frustrating...

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No Filter

The harmful myth of the model minority

Group of women / Anna Shvets / Pexels

On principle, I haven’t watched the bodycam footage of George Floyd’s murder.

Though after reading...

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Think

Managing money in a pandemic: personal finance in the time of CoVID-19

As the CoVID-19 unfolded across the world, media headlines featured some pretty bleak verbs with regards to world economies ( plunge , free-fall...

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Culture

Drag is not “inappropriate” for children

It’s funny how things go: when a Timaru woman launched a petition in an attempt to stop a drag duo from reading to children at the public library...

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No Filter

Yeah, we did need a reminder to be kind

When Jacinda Ardern told us to be kind following the new community transmission of Covid-19, she was accused of being “patronising”. In my opinion...

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Girl Power

Local sex survey reveals much to be desired

If you’re a person who engages in sexual activities, or you know a person who does, or you’re a member of the Facebook group Girl Related After...

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Think

The misogyny in our response to “mental breakdowns”

Screenshot: Kanye West, "kanye west / charlamagne interview" / YouTube

In 2007, when Britney Spears suffered a “mental breakdown,” tabloids...

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Culture

E^ST on new music and new chapters

In her first studio album, Mel Bester, known onstage as E^ST, has laid a piece of herself bare.

Recorded with producer Jim Eliot (who has...

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No Filter

What’s between Us and Better: Racism in Aotearoa’s healthcare system

I’m finally on annual leave after a rather intense six weeks of my first general surgical rotation as a junior doctor. “How are you going to spend...

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Girl Power

Women's lives don't just end at 25...

As a nineties kid, I’m watching thirty barrel around the corner with increasing fear. I’d never really been all that afraid of aging. I hung out...

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Think

Should we be supporting cancel culture?

Phone in hand / Pixabay

The rise of cancel culture: quarantine orders around the world definitely had something to do with it.

With people...

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Culture

Lianne La Havas has found ownership of her expression

Screenshot: Lianne La Havas / Can't Fight (Official Music Video / YouTube

British singer-songwriter Lianne La Havas has just released her third...

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No Filter

There's a sickness in celebrity culture...

In some ways, it’s hard to think of the members of the Kardashian/Jenner family as real people. They loom so large in the public consciousness,...

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Girl Power

On Sweat with Pride and celebrating trailblazing queer women in our herstory

My knowledge about history in general is problematically limited. But whatever small and simplistically explained fragments of history were...

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Think

Britney Spears’ freedom matters

Britney Spears - Work B**ch (Official Music Video) / YouTube

In 2008, Rolling Stone ran a cover story called The Tragedy of Britney Spears. It...

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Culture

All Who Live on Islands captures the changing faces of Aotearoa

On one hand I’m not a sentimental person.

I object out loud to cliches and unrealistic tropes in every rom-com I watch (which makes me a...

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No Filter

When did we trade in basic empathy for conspiracy theories?

Naya Rivera at the 2010 San Diego Comic Con on Glee / Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons

When it was announced that former Glee star Naya Rivera...

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Girl Power

What Santana meant to me

Naya Rivera and Heather Morris at the Paley Festival 2011 panel on Glee / Francis Orante / Wikimedia Commons

“Abuelita – I love girls, the way I’m...

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Think

How to pace your activism

Woman with megaphone / Andrea Piacquadio / Pexels

For about a month, my social media feed was awash with #BlackoutTuesday panels, heartfelt...

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Culture

Book Review: ‘We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast’ by Jonathan Safran Foer

When it comes to climate change, I’ve been feeling a bit deflated about my efforts to make a difference for a while. Every thing that I could buy...

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No Filter

Jacinda’s strength is undeniable

NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern visits the Muslim community the day after the Christchurch mosque shootings / Kirk Hargreaves / Wikimedia Commons...
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Girl Power

The ultimate guide to the influencer lifestyle

According to Caroline Calloway, Instagram captions are art . At least, her Instagram captions are art. She puts a lot of time into documenting her...

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Think

We don't let women disagree with one another...

One of the great myths of the palatable modern feminism that we’ve all become accustomed to is this: women should never criticise other women,...

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Culture

A love letter to Avatar: The Last Airbender

If I hear the word ‘Avatar’ I don’t think of blue people in a jungle.

I think of my siblings and I crammed into a two square-meter study...

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No Filter

Plastic Free July 2020: kickstarting our green post-COVID recovery

These last few months, we have seen nations enact a collective response in the face of a global threat, showing us similar action is possible in...

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Girl Power

Why can't the music industry have its #MeToo moment? ...

Screenshot: Justin Bieber / What Do You Mean? (Official Music Video) / Youtube

In 2018, inspired by the #MeToo movement and an onslaught of...

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Think

Can we stop shaming women for their femininity?

Megan Fox @ Jennifer's Body screening / Michael Vlasaty / Wikimedia Commons

I’ve been a part of various feminist Facebook groups for a while now...

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Culture

Know Your Place is an essential read for feminist New Zealanders

Golriz Ghahraman and Marama Davidson at the Auckland vigil for Christchurch / Todd Henry / Provided

Know Your Place , Golriz Ghahraman’s memoir,...

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No Filter

Not everyone has a dream job

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

How many times were you asked that as a child? How many times, as an adult, have you asked a...

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Girl Power

Friendships with men are not "just less drama"...

Women lying on car / Pixabay.com

“In university, you find your tribe.”

Among other less welcome, more invasive pieces of advice that...

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Think

Beware the fake male feminist

You know him. One of him. If you’re involved in feminist conversations, you will have encountered a version of him.

He thinks women should...

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Culture

Book review: ‘If I Had Your Face’ by Frances Cha

In 2012, I was accepted for admission to Seoul National University’s College of Humanities. I never ended up going that spring, choosing instead...

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No Filter

Why Tik Tok scares me

I’m 23 years old, and for at least a month this year, I was an avid user of Tik Tok. Don’t judge me, okay? We all got bored in lockdown.

...

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Girl Power

My lesbianism is not threatened by trans people

I’ve always been late to the play. Last year, deciding the time had finally come, I decided to read the Harry Potter series. It wasn’t that I’d...

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Think

The women's clothing size system is broken...

Rack of clothes / Pixabay

There’s always a line for the fitting room on the days I shop, though I have been thrifting a lot more lately. Most...

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Culture

Why you should [re]watch Beyoncé’s Homecoming

HOMECOMING: A Film By Beyoncé / Netflix

With the Black Lives Matter movement gaining steam (and achieving results) across the globe, Black media...

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No Filter

The Black Lives Matter movement needs us to be better allies

Though posting on social media and showing up for protests are important ways to show solidarity, it’s important we’re mindful to not engage in...

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Girl Power

White celebrities can’t stop posting cop propaganda

In 2020, celebrity culture seems to be crumbling before our very eyes. What with the tone deaf videos of millionaires singing “Imagine” from their...

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Think

Why Aotearoa should stand with #BlackLivesMatter

Protestor / SouthSide Photography NZ

I know NZ likes to think that we are different.

Our government is competent, as the last two months...

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Culture

The Green Home: where can you get environmentally mindful lingerie?

Undergarments have always been about more than just fabric for your private parts. Reflecting the spirit of the times, lingerie has evolved over...

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No Filter

New Zealand police do not need guns

No cops, anywhere, should have guns. That much is simple. But it would take major upheaval to remove weapons from the militarized police forces...

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Girl Power

Why pop star reinventions are so empowering

Pop stars are constantly evolving. It’s almost like they’re human or something. I find it fascinating to watch pop stars teasing their latest...

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Think

The monster in our closets: how COVID19 placed a spotlight on the failings of the fashion industry

As Aotearoa went into alert level three, and then four, a lot of medical professionals considered buying our own scrubs to wear at work. I was...

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No Filter

Privilege and demonisation

When you were young, did anyone ever tell you that they loved you? That’s a question court cultural report writer Associate Professor Khylee...

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Culture

Why can't white women take criticism? ...

Lana Del Rey performing during her show at 2017 KROQ Weenie Roast festival in Carson, California, United States / Harmony Gerber / Wikimedia Commons...
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No Filter

Sex work is being transformed, our attitudes are not

Woman in white shirt / cottonbro / Pexels.com

The porn industry of the 1970s, headquartered in the San Fernando Valley in California, was a...

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Girl Power

Why should you be in the office five days a week?

Over the past eight weeks, I bet an awful lot of work has been completed by people wearing pyjamas. Good work. Work that would otherwise have...

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No Filter

The government retraining scheme needs to cater for all

I’m scared of hammers. It’s embarrassingly ridiculous, but it’s true. Over the past year or so, I’ve surprised myself by completing a few DIY...

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Think

There’s just no winning for sexual assault survivors

Growing up, I understood the world in a black and white context. Things were right and wrong. Police officers were the goodest, most law-abiding...

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Culture

Book review: Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo

It was a moment almost sacriligious – when many booklovers quietly and guiltily mused that perhaps Margaret Atwood didn’t deserve to win the...

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No Filter

Simon Bridges' deadly hair dye own goal...

Image: Simon Bridges / The National Party

“There’s no hair dye, just saying…”

Six little words that said so much. When Newshub asked...

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No Filter

Let go of your fear of being called a racist

I’m white. My family is white. A lot of my friends are white. A lot of my parents’ friends are white. As a result, I’ve spent a lot of time...

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Girl Power

Talking new music, B-sides and cyber-performance with Theia

At the other end of a Skype call, Em-Haley Walker — better known as homegrown superstar Theia — greets me with double Dutch braids and a small...

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Think

I’ll miss some parts of the lockdown

Let me just address this from the jump: I certainly don’t want to move back into lockdown. For one thing, I’m not sure if New Zealanders could do...

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Culture

Why Survivor is still going strong

Survivor Season 35 Promo / CBS / YouTube

What if I told you that Survivor is the only thing getting me through these “unprecedented times”? Yes,...

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No Filter

I miss the library

I’m lucky to live near a fantastic West Auckland library. It’s one of the newer ones, with the high ceilings and glass walls. It’s not Devonport...

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