Stories about: gender
Theatre is often renowned for pushing boundaries and challenging societal norms. There is even a common term for it – “breaking the fourth wall” – or in other words, when actors invade your space and actively acknowledge you as an audience member. This intriguing aesthetic of theatre makes it not only a unique art form, …
Transgender stories may be complex to tell, but they are crucial in filling the space around ‘male’ and ‘female’. Here’s a concept that needs a word. I am walking my dog on the beach. It’s cold and windy. Winter is here and the beach is sparsely populated, the way Melbourne beaches are during winter. A …
On Friday 7 November last year after a long legal battle, three Malaysian trans women secured a historic victory as a Federal Appeals court ruled that a state Islamic law criminalising trans-women is unconstitutional. Malaysia has a two-track legal system with separate Islamic laws on civil matters only decided by the conservative religious ministry which …
The words ‘good girl’ shoot through me like ice water, I feel cold, my muscles start to contract inward, and my face contorts into an angry snarl. My hands try to form into fists but I grab his ankles instead, something solid I can hold onto, something to stop me from pulverizing my lover with …
Fleur Kilpatrick talks to people in parks, in mountains, in bedrooms – and out the back of museums – and records them speaking about gender, sex and beauty. Archer will be sharing some of her interviews online. Fleur: Describe where we are. Her: We’re in your bedroom, on your bed in your apartment. The curtains are closed. …
Sport: it’s Australian, mate…although in some cases if you are a trans or gender diverse Australian, you may not be given a ‘fair go’. It is therefore a great step forward to see the release of Transgender People and Sport: Complying with the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights …
Fleur Kilpatrick talks to people in parks, in mountains, in bedrooms – and out the back of museums – and records them speaking about gender, sex and beauty. Over the next few weeks, Archer will be sharing her interviews online. *Warning: this article contains explicit language. Fleur: Describe where we are. Him: We are in a park. …
Feminist pornography attempts to combat the depictions of gratuitous scenes of violence, aggression and dominance in mainstream pornography, by focusing on sex-positivity.
You’re in a nightclub, late at night. A dark, loud nightclub. Not so dark, though, that you can’t spot the very handsome man dancing across the floor. You make eye contact. Once, twice, a little bit longer each time. Soon you’re dancing together. Things heat up. You’re having a really, really good time, but you …
When it comes to inequity, especially in the LGBTI community, there is still a lot that needs to be said. Too many unjust ‘—isms’ and ‘—phobias’ hold sway over our society, and it is right to get angry because of that: to break it down, to pick these bits of bigotry apart so they hold …
“You’re a fucking disgrace!” shouted a drunken youth, hanging out of a low-slung, headlights blazing, Falcon GT as I walked out of the Directors Hotel in Adelaide after my first ‘Transgender Friday’ meeting. I waved and smiled, but I don’t think it helped my position on his disgracefulness ladder. Until then I hadn’t appreciated how …
It’s disappointing, not being able to have multiple orgasms anymore. Not that I’d swap them for the deep sense of happiness I now feel inhabiting a male body, but losing that ability was not something I’d anticipated as a result of transitioning my physical body from female to male. Ditto waking up one day and …
“IT REALLY SURPRISES me that I’m attracted to you,” my last girlfriend told me. “I’m usually attracted to much butcher women.” The edges of my bow-tie curled up and my asymmetrical quiff flopped down over my face. I felt like a billboard for a queer subcategory. And apparently the billboard was in need of some …
Queer rights have made a big leap forward in Australia. In a short space of time, a number of legal advances have been introduced including recognition of relationships, alterations to identity documents, and a broader tolerance towards some sexual practices. Despite this, queer youth are still among some of the most likely Australians to suffer …
The Big Bang Theory tells us that after the start of the universe, there was an amorphous cloud of atoms and particles. The catalyst for the coalescing of the gases and dust were very small differences in that early cosmic soup. If it wasn’t for these differences and mutations, the universe would never have formed. I …
“Bet she’s a lesbian.” It’s not particularly hushed, this comment made in the year 12 common room. Yet it’s not uncommon. Growing up in country Victoria, with short hair and no particular interest in giving blowjobs to the boys I’d known since age eight, I wasn’t the height of popularity in my class. No-one questioned …
Yesterday, the Courier-Mail put the gruesome murder of Indonesian transwoman Mayang Prasetyo, killed by her partner Marcus Volker, on its front page. The article is breathtaking in its prurience and voyeurism. Even though Prasetyo was murdered and dismembered, The Courier-Mail deemed it appropriate to include a succession of photos of a seductively-posed Prasetyo in a …
LIKE THOSE IT marches for, SlutWalk is a diverse movement. You don’t have to fit any particular mould to join — not least because ‘slut’ is used against women so loosely the word has lost much of its meaning (though not all of its bite). It’s up to the individual whether they want to reclaim …
Airing on the ABC last month, Carlotta takes us on the journey of Carol Lee, an Australian icon who went from Balmain boy to Les Girls luminary and cultural phenomenon. But despite a rich and compelling story and an excellent cast, the production manages to miss the point of both Les Girls and Carlotta entirely. At its …
OU WOULDN’T BE ALONE in feeling frustrated, isolated, devalued and depressed if you were suddenly labelled “asexual” at your next birthday. Millions of older Australians feel the same way when they’re suddenly assumed to be asexual at their 65th birthday. But research shows that older people are sexual and that sexual expression is important for …
Guest blogger Teddy Cook was invited by Archer to blog on the media’s use of language. THE TRANS* EXPERIENCE is as diverse as the population it represents. Remember this: we aren’t all ‘trapped in the wrong body’, we aren’t all desperate for diagnosis and surgery and hormones. We aren’t all connected to your ideal of …
For someone who is set apart from the majority by an obvious point of difference, the incessant questioning from the public can become exhausting. Example: I’m a woman in a relationship with a woman. I’m also gluten-intolerant. Each of these traits sets me apart from the majority and I often have to remind myself, during …