ingrid--writes

[ingrid--writes]

The Anomaly of Artistic Expression

A room with black walls, floor and ceiling. Quiet but for the murmuring of gallery-goers looking up and down at the collation of hundreds of images tacked squarely onto the felt surface. My eyes locked first onto a small label, ‘apple’, sans-serif. Un-assuming and barely noticeable, the laminated word is surrounded by images of apples; all different kinds. Granny smith, pink lady, fuji, perhaps even some royal galas. These images melt smoothly into glossy pictures of apple trees, then orchards, then clouds, then valleys, all the way until the wall space is filled with scantily-clad Asian women, a representation of the label ‘artists’ model’.

When I reached the end of the exhibit, the section entitled ‘anomaly’ the notes page on my iPhone indicates that there existed “not that many anomalies”, instead “just weird images of people in costumes.”

I left feeling like I got the point, but that I also didn’t. I’d read the curator’s note, which gave me the impression that Paglen was commenting on the dangers of allowing an algorithm to identify and filter images online; perhaps the algorithm would make a problematic mistake and call a perfectly regular person a ‘racist’, a ‘fucker’, or a ‘schemer’, based on the program.

Samantha-Kay, a teacher walking through the exhibit, got the same impression I did.

“I thought that was really quite genius how he did that,” she says, in reference to Paglen’s use of graphics to illustrate a point. “I think it gives you an insight…whoever is producing it [the algorithm] is using their mind to create a program.”

However, I then realised, there had been a miscommunication of sorts between Paglen and his audience.

Samantha-Kay expresses her concern that Paglen’s “put in just two words: Apple and Anomaly, and then all that came up – which is interesting because you’re thinking how does this AI think?”

However, an anonymous staff member at the Barbican states “I think what people don’t realise is that what Trevor is showing here, is the input, rather than the output.”

The core confusion here lies in the lack of explanation regarding what Image Net, the focal point of Paglen’s exhibit, actually does. It functions primarily as an online dataset; FeiFeiLi, its founder, employed a human labour force to manually class a set of images under categories, each category holding up to four hundred pictures. Upon these classifications created by human labour, an algorithm can be built and used to technologically classify images.

Thus, as the staff member implied, ‘From Apple to Anomaly’ showcases the input of human data into a potential algorithm, as opposed to results from placing a search term into an algorithm, as Samantha-Kay and myself wrongly assumed.

Yet, it took me multiple conversations, the reading of two articles online and a YouTube video to grasp how ImageNet works, and how it can be considered problematic, as Paglen attempts to convey through his artwork.

Katyanna Quach’s piece on The Register UK was deeply informative, gave a clear history of ImageNet’s inception and potential pathways and dove into specific sections and categories which proved problematic, e.g., the presence of images of nude children in the ‘swimming trunks’ section. However, it was wordy and dense, and slightly disengaging for that reason.

In contrast, the piece Welcome to robot university (only robots need apply) published by the MIT Technology Review presents a more brief, but still informative impression of ImageNet. It contains a concise explanation of how ImageNet was created utilising crowdsourced human labour, providing a database to teach neural network algorithms to recognise images. It is highly accessible with diagrams and graphics, and only 576 words.

A combination of a gallery exhibit, interviews and two articles allowed me a basic understanding of ImageNet. However, the exhibit itself left much to the imagination and imparted upon myself, and Samanta-Kay, the misguided notion that ImageNet itself was an algorithm which wrongly labelled.

Similarly, Image Roulette, a past artistic project of Paglen’s in conjunction with Kate Crawford conveyed the message that ImageNet could be problematic, but not an adequate explanation of the story behind it. An interactive app which utilised the ImageNet database to teach its algorithm to label and categorise the faces of people who used it saw a large amount of entertainment and joking around, but also a darker side where users were labelled racist slurs such as ‘Negroid’ and ‘Slant-Eye’.

The interactive nature of Image Roulette enhanced the clarity of its message in comparison to From Apple to Anomaly. It caused a true emotional reaction in participants and demonstrated how the use of such a database created from human labour can hold inherent bias and prove problematic when used on mass by algorithms, even causing over 600,000 images to be removed from ImageNet. However, what remains unclear from utilising Image Roulette itself is how ImageNet works, or in fact, what it actually does.

Art is an experience. It can come in many forms and it engages an audience in ways words can’t seek to, because art is visual and physical and experiential, tapping into different neural pathways and communicating with humans in a unique way. Trevor Paglen’s art succeeds in telling about algorithms in some ways, but falls short in others.

In conveying the emotional impact of the jarring, presumptuous and sometimes highly problematic labels the database places on living people, it succeeds.

In conveying the context behind these problematic labels, it falls short.

This lies in the fact that the viewer walks away from the artwork thinking Paglen is showing how an algorithm wrongly labels people, when in fact, the problem lies in future algorithms learning from ImageNet perpetuating the human bias of its creators.

In examining the differences between telling about algorithms using art and using writing, it becomes evident that art prevails in the field of emotional impact, whereas writing tells a better back-story.

Trevor Paglen’s From Apple to Anomaly tells a misguided story, but has an accurate emotional effect.

Perhaps a combination of resources would function better to paint a holistic and accurate image of the world, and the algorithms that exist within it.

[ingrid--writes]

Artificial Intelligence: The Missing Link in Mental Health Diagnosis?

I took a deep breath, and another, preparing myself for the unknown. There was a lump in my throat and a knot in my stomach; thoughts pacing heavily through my brain and fighting to be let out; pain in my heart wanting to be given a warm hug and a band-aid. A friendly-looking woman strode out of a door at the opposite end of the cheerful waiting room, which was fitted out with multi-coloured chairs and ice lollies and called my name. I followed her into her dimly lit office and was offered tea, or a blanket if I was cold. It was winter. 

“So, what brings you hear today? I read your patient survey, and you seem to have been feeling anxious lately.”

I walked out of the session with a sense of validation and a clearer mind, as well as pamphlets on what anxiety is and some meditation techniques. 

I also walked out of the session a little bit frustrated for two reasons:

1. I felt concerned that my words were inadequate in expressing what was going on in my mind and body. I wanted my counsellor to truly feel and understand what I was feeling.

2. I wanted to know a bit more about why I was feeling what was feeling, and what exactly it was.

In short, I felt like I wanted more answers. 

At the Human Neuroimaging Laboratory in Raonoke, Virginia, Pearl Chiu spearheads a project which hopes to allow for clearer answers in the diagnosis in the treatment of mental health disorders. 

“What we have now just isn’t working,” asserts Chiu. Researchers on this project are highlighting the glaring inconsistencies in the field of mental health, encompassing the lack of a clear and universal scale of diagnosis as well as the common occurrence of misdiagnosis. When living in a world where people with bipolar disorder wait an average of 13.2 years before diagnosis (Bipolar VIC, Royal College) and psychological ailments are diagnosed solely by human communication and observation of a counsellor, the hope at HNL is that machine learning can drive a more accurate and data-driven concrete understanding of mental health. 

The HNL project seeks to create a vastly more universal method of diagnosing mental illnesses; patients participating in the study first go through a clinical survey, go on to play various behavioural games and finally sits a test as the algorithm runs and collects the data, to then spit out a report weeks later detailing the neural pathways and brain functions in comparison to healthy brains. 

“AI, and other advanced statistical techniques, have great potential for clinical application,” says James Cole, a professor in Neuroscience at King’s College London. “The first benefits I see happening will be largely technical, in other words helping sort through the mass of clinical data.” As progressively more data is collected in differing categories of mental health disorder (e.g. bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety), clearer behavioural patterns can be deduced, allowing algorithms to match patients up to these specific patterns in the future. 

Breaking through boundaries not only in the area of diagnosis itself, Chiu and associates intend to aid in reducing the stigma that surrounds mental health issues. According to the Mental Health Foundation, one in four people will experience a mental health problem at one point in their lives. According to Diabetes UK, one in ten people are living with Type 2 diabetes. However, physical maladies are perceived as far more legitimate than mental health disorders, and thus provided with more funding and clear steps of support. Only one tenth of NHS taxpayer money is spent on mental healthcare, and sufferers of mental health disorders are subject to common scorn and their problems undermined. 

“Whether an illness affects your heart, your leg or your brain,” preaches Michelle Obama, “it’s still an illness, and there should be no distinction.” Through utilising data-driven research and logical algorithms to prove that mental health disorders are real, the HNL project aims to prove Obama right and destigmatise mental health.

However, the power and the effectiveness of AI in mental health diagnoses may be limited by its very identity as a machine. 

“Just for anything, whether it’s AI for mental health or algorithms in general, music, movies and things, they miss a crucial part in the middle which is that unknown human magic factor,” remarks Chris, 24, a Film Studies graduate of King’s College London. He suggests that perhaps cool logic and data aren’t enough to aid in mental health issues.

“As someone who has used a mental health service before, I know that it’s a lot more complicated than asking a few questions,” reflects Maddy. A study abroad student from Australia attending London’s King’s College, she sits and reads in the student courtyard. “It’s about other things like body signals, you know, intonation, really small things, that often require a lot more than simply algorithms.” Raising a discussion about ethics, it is to be questioned and discussed whether a health issue as fundamentally human and vulnerable as mental health can truly be gauged accurately by data-crunching and a machine.

Further, the question of bias enters the discourse. If we are trying to eliminate the risk of misdiagnosis and human bias from today’s mental health support system, can we confirm that algorithms are able to do this?

“That’s a really, really, really tough question,” deems Pearl Chiu. She makes reference to issues regarding human bias that inevitably manifest themselves through algorithms, as they are, ultimately, constructed and written by humans. Further, the doctors’ decisions are likely to be impacted by information provided by AI. It seems that an entirely unbiased and flawless process may be impossible to achieve; however, current processes can be moulded and fine-tuned into greater efficacy and accuracy. However, efforts are made to make the entire screening process as blind as possible for participants as well as professionals. Machine learning and clinician interactions can work in conjunction to continue to research and learn.

“In my view, it’ll be some years before we see computers making diagnoses,” says Cole. “Even when we do, these will be done to aid clinicians, rather than replace them.” 

Thus, a vision for the future is laid out. 

In tandem, the expertise of mental health specialists and the cool inimitable logic of AI are envisioned to morph into a new and improved model of mental health disorder diagnosis; a new era in which mental illness is not stigmatised, and patients provided with more concrete support and explanations.

[ingrid--writes]

On the ‘Sick Water’ of False Body Positivity and Ideal Figures

“It got to the point where I was running fourteen kilometres every day. It comes back to an internal driving force. If I ran fifteen kilometres yesterday, why can’t I run sixteen kilometres today.

“Don’t be weak!”

“Keep running!”

---

Her feet bled, she was rapidly losing weight, and yet she continued journeying blindly towards a potential fatality, in fear of disappointing herself.

---------

In her darkest moments, which she recalls with a sad smile, she remembers only a blurry sense of chaos. Weighing in at a meagre twenty-nine kilograms, she was in a precariously life-threatening situation.

“It was like tunnel vision. I knew everything was imploding,” she recounts. “But in order to manage that, I thought, all I should control and focus on was my study, exercise and food.”

She, Sarah Ravindran, a twenty-one-year-old medical student at the prestigious Monash University, is one of many brave survivors of anorexia nervosa. The Garvan Institute of Medical Research reported that one fifth of sufferers eventually die of the disease, when their minds push their bodies to such a level of exhaustion, malnutrition and frailty that their hearts could stop beating at any given point in time.

When I meet Sarah at Second Wife café, she has just finished her morning placement at Box Hill Hospital, and is ready to scrub up, quite literally, to head to Maroondah Hospital to sit in on a surgery - all part and parcel of the life of a third-year medical student. She greets me with a bright smile and immediately launches into lively conversation, asking me about my weekend and thanking me for the opportunity to speak up. This sense of warmth sets the tone for the highly engaging chat to come and allows me a sigh of relief; the twinkle in her eye is enough for me to know that this is a healthy and happy girl with whom I speak.

“Studying has always been a really, really big part of my life,” Sarah tells me. “I put pressure on myself to do really well and that has its pros and its cons.”

For Sarah, a developing obsession with control and structure, along with the demands of university did not work in her favour. She allowed academic stresses to engulf her. “I freaked out, basically,” she divulges. “And the only thing I could control was the food and exercise, and that’s what I did.”

This is not uncommon amongst people in the Eating Disorder (ED) community. I spoke to Bianca Skilbeck, who works as a counsellor associated with the Australian Centre for Eating Disorders. Her expertise dictates that “there are personality traits that go along with an eating disorder, things like being a perfectionist and being a high achiever.” According to specialists like Bianca, eating disorders are extremely common amongst people who are used to placing themselves under pressure and judgement to attain perfection. Pair this with the toxic dieting culture that constantly shrouds young teens, and you have a perfect breeding ground for mental demons to take over vulnerable youths.

“We’ve all got a relationship with food,” she says. “It’s actually rare to find a woman in particular who has a completely comfortable relationship with food.” Bianca herself battled with restrictive eating from the tender age of ten, but luckily found clarity in her teens, managing to seek professional help and overcome the toxic mindset armed with her steely drive to become a counsellor, which she felt she could not do if she herself was anorexic.

What strikes me most about Bianca is how matter-of-fact she is. She discusses the confronting concepts of body dysmorphia and self-starvation in the hustle and bustle of West Footscray café Willow and Wine, as babies wail around us and cars continually zoom by. I take sips of my coffee, and think to myself, this is the kind of normalised discourse we need surrounding ED, for the sake of all those who suffer.

The Garvan Institute of Medical Research reports that eating disorders, in particular anorexia nervosa, are the third most common chronic illness in girls and young women. According to Eating Disorders Victoria, sixty-four percent of people with eating disorders are female, while twenty percent of all females live their lives struggling with an undiagnosed eating disorder. These statistics are confronting to say the least and have everything to do with the unrealistic body expectations that young girls are faced with from birth and during their upbringing, which are perpetuated blithely by social media influencers.

YouTubers are constantly posting videos with titles like “What I Eat In A Day”, “Trying Intermittent Fasting – It Works!”, “How To Get Kendall Jenner’s Body” and “How To Lose Weight in A Week”. Instagram models spend painstaking hours taking photos from the right angle, and even more time editing them on applications such as FaceTune and VSCO Cam to enhance the aesthetic. This includes simple filters, escalating dangerously to the alteration of one’s body shape, with the elimination of some fat here, and the straightening out of a blemish there.

The modern social media world loves skinny, and skinny role models are what the younger generation of girls are fed from the moment they inevitably step into the sphere. This social media sphere is a distorted idea of reality.

Young girls are subliminally fed the message that skinny is better, healthier, more desirable.

Attractive, hot, more acceptable. 

“I don’t know if you’ve heard the metaphor, where if you’ve got a fish living in sick water, and you take the fish out and fix it, but then put it back in the water, it just doesn’t make any sense,” Bianca laments. “I think this is the culture that we live in, where even if we do eating disorder treatment for people, we still put them back out into a water that says thinner is better.” Such pressure on young girls to look a certain way culminates in great mental strain and can be a direct pathway to the destructive mindset that exacerbates eating disorders. Sarah recalls that her issues regarding her own body image began when she started posting images of herself on her fitness page on Instagram.

“Whenever I would post a photo of myself, it wouldn’t do as well in terms of likes,” she details, divulging how she began to feel pressure to look more like the toned, skinny girls of Instagram.

This is why promoting and advocating for genuine body positivity is so important. Instagram campaigns such as #IWeigh, which was kickstarted by Jameela Jamil, an actress and survivor of ED, are spreading a beautiful message - that we are more than what we physically weigh. The campaign encourages women (and men) to think about what they bring to the table as a person rather than a physical being. People weigh their careers, their aspirations, their values, their hobbies.

According to Bianca, it is step by step that these changes are taking place, and she encourages us as members of society to take responsibility for abolishing fat stigma.

“There’s a level of understanding that you can’t discriminate on people based on race and gender and sexuality,” she points out. “It took Australia long enough to get the vote through for gay marriage, changing people one by one, and that’s what we need to do for fat as well.”

So the question is, how can we help?

The answer is uncomplicated in theory, but difficult to achieve in practise:

1. Vastly improve the Australian support systems for ED. 2. Destigmatise the mental health issues that lie at the crux of ED. 3. Promote genuine body positivity.

Why this is difficult to achieve lies in the lack of understanding and empathy surrounding how ED functions. Bianca recalls a past anorexic client who was told by her GP, after a look up and down, that she was ‘fine’ because her weight seemed okay at face value. In stark contrast, her mental health was at great risk. Further, the constant pressure on young women to be perfect makes it extremely frightening to seek help, and to heal.

“Once again, it’s taking the fish out of the water and then throwing it back into the sick water,” Bianca says, fixing her gaze intently towards my eyes. “What we actually need to fix is people’s perception of what it is to have different sized bodies.”

Eating disorders are extremely harsh mental and physical conditions which are often debilitating and life-threatening. Perhaps a glimmer of hope can be given to the future generation of young girls if we purify the sick water in which we live.

“It’s not about being perfect,” Sarah says with a wry smile. “It’s about being happy. It’s about having those negative thoughts, accepting them, and then pushing forwards in life.”

[ingrid--writes]

Coles Stikeez A Symbol Of Our “Crazy Consumer World”

A rare Coles Stikeez toy has sold on eBay for over $20,000 on March 14, instigating public controversy regarding the environmental ethics of the mini plastic fruit and vegetable collectibles.

The golden 'Billy Banana' is part of the campaign "to get kids excited about fruit and veg in a fun and unique way", a Coles spokesperson tweeted.

However, with eight-million tonnes of plastic dumped into oceans yearly, according to the Australian Marine Conservation society, the Stikeez campaign has been labelled by consumers as unsustainable.

“I was actually dumbfounded," Justin Field, a Greens MP in NSW, said. “I thought that we got past this after the furore with the Little Shop promotion,” referencing a past range of plastic collectibles.

Coles has come under fire for perpetuating consumer culture instead of utilising their platform to eliminate waste. Customers have voiced their outrage on Twitter, while environmental activists are utilising their platform to advocate against consumerism.

Anine Cummins of Friends of the Earth labelled the Stikeez campaign as “insanity on top of insanity” in the “crazy consumer world that we’re living in.”

“These supermarket chains have this fundamental misunderstanding of what sustainability is,” Cummins asserted. “There’s a real lack of thought on Coles part; plastics are made of oil, and oil is a limited resource.”

Some reactions to the campaign demonstrate the power of consumer culture and the constant need for ‘more’, with children being sucked in by the desire to trump friends with the size of their collections.

“I like Stikeez just because it’s fun to collect things and compare them to your friends,” Arabella (9) of Middle Park said.

When asked if the collectible toys had piqued her interest in eating vegetables, Arabella responded with a firm “no!”

“It’s actually an insult to every single child,” Kirsty Bishop-Fox of the Sustainable Living Foundation said. “I just don’t understand how an adult can think they can trick a kid into eating vegetables they didn’t eat last week by giving them a piece of plastic.”

In light of outrage over the campaign, Justin Field created an anti-Stikeez petition which has garnered over 12,000 signatures.

“It was about alerting people,” Field explained. “Petitions get widely shared. I wanted people to know,” citing his desire to use his political platform to “help shape public discussion” surrounding single-use plastics.

Ultimately, conscious consumers like Anine Cummins are concerned about their “individual efforts” amounting to little change, if retail giants like Coles continue to “put it all on the consumer to be responsible.”

[ingrid--writes]

Ballet, reborn

Playing Nina Sayers in Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, Natalie Portman rips a strip of skin off her finger, all the way up her arm, to her elbow. Portman shoves her fingers down her throat, inducing a stream of vomit which splashes into the toilet bowl. Portman breaks her bones and works her body to the point of physical and mental exhaustion. Portman lusts her artistic director in desperate reach for balletic glory. Portman dances her dream role. She dances the black swan perfectly; she stabs herself; she collapses in her own glorious death, body still drenched in sweat from exertion. Success, in her eyes.  

Perhaps tending to the extreme, Aronofsky albeit portrays well the mental burden that accompanies the already severe physical strain of practising the noblest skill of balletic movement, of extending the legacy of dancers past and pushing the boundaries of the present. Ballet is many things, above all beautiful, but it is indeed a toxic industry. A toxicity which extends down to its very roots,

ballet broke me.

Its profound impact on me began as I undertook ballet classes at five, kitted out in pink leotard and puffy skirt, much like every other young girl I knew. However, I didn’t throw tantrums until my mother was forced to pull me out of class. I loved it enough to continue. Went through exams, countless concerts, pink leotard, to white, to black. I associate these early days with warmth and joy; it was a safe space to dream and act. I have countless photos in costume, smiling so big you could see all my missing teeth.

I turned back pre-professional school to maintain it as a hobby, but I loved it and I tried my very best, day in day out. Pointe shoes came and went, toenails came and went, and I suddenly found myself in an environment which was alien, disparaging, unfriendly. No longer the school which gave me so much joy as a child, I’d be dripping in sweat, only to be put down. I’d be experiencing sharp pain in my hip, only to be given a disapproving gaze. I’d use up every last drop of my energy and more, only to have eyes slide over my efforts and sing their praises over the favourites. I felt almost like Sayers; nothing would ever be enough, no amount of work, no amount of desperation.

I committed my mental and physical efforts to the art, and to this school; I’d come home close to tears three times a week, only to then start on my schoolwork. I took up ballet with passion, I took it up to work hard, I took it up to learn discipline, to learn to dance and soak up its magic. Ultimately, I took up ballet as a hobby and as a passion, only to be treated like I was doing nothing at all.

It was total commitment my teachers wanted.

Total commitment to an task they claimed to teach us as a weekend hobby. But we were asked to commit,

with obsession,

with disregard for life,

in full,

all or nothing.

I loved ballet. I felt intense joy in the strength of my body and the grace of my movements. I loved ballet, but ballet broke me.

After three years of deliberation,

of tears,

I made the call to cease;

cease the incessant ceasefire of emotional trauma.

It was after fully stopping, that I became grateful for how strong the experience had rendered me. By no means did I accept the way I had been treated, by no means would I ever put another through it. But I was grateful all the same, for my ability to adapt, to work under pressure, to take criticism, to self-criticise, to mentally push myself, to be resilient, to keep my cool. Ballet is not just the swishing of arms and turning on your tippy-toes, ballet is an art form and an elite sport, which requires a mental and physical strength I had taken for granted.

It is pushing yourself further than ever before; it is enabling yourself to understand emotion and its link with movement; it is learning to love yourself through constant self-improvement; it is being careful and dainty, but reckless and vivacious, all at once and one at a time;

it is beautiful.

So, I recently did a casual class. Yes, my limbs were stiffer. Yes, my feet cramped immediately and painfully. But the flow of my arms, the movement of my body, the sweat, the pain, the mental strain. This was a familiar joy that flooded through my body - I felt lighter than I had in a year. It brought me near to tears.

That was when I knew I had found something I truly loved.

It was the persistence I had learnt through hardship, that brought me back to where it all began.

Ballet broke me, but it put me back together again.

[ingrid--writes]

Melbourne Girls’ School to Introduce Pants and Shorts to Uniform After Student Campaign

22/10/2018

A Melbourne girls’ school will introduce shorts and pants as uniform garments next year after a student campaign at their Diversity Day a month ago.

Thirty Year Ten students at South Yarra’s Melbourne Girls’ Grammar School donned pants instead of the traditional skirt of the winter uniform, urging the school to implement a uniform change to promote the dismantling of traditional gender norms.

One of the students who peacefully protested in pants, Holly Hill, commented that the school’s Diversity Day encouraged girls to “wear accessories that they think show their personality and diversity”, but this “forward thinking…preached to us girls” did not match the “values…allowing us to express our individuality”.

This led to an announcement from current principal Catherine Misson that pants and shorts would be introduced to the uniform shop in the 2019 school year.

Consequently, the young women at Melbourne Girls’ Grammar School “were told that plans had been made for pants to be incorporated into the uniform in winter and shorts in summer”.

“We want to envisage and design pants and shorts that reflect the quality and image of MGGS as a leading girls’ school,” said Ms Nikki Kirkup, the Director of Senior Years.

Kirkup explained the newly instigated uniform committee “will meet for the inaugural meeting next week marking the official start of the process”.

Factors such as “different body types” and “consideration of fabric warmth” will be carefully considered with the three fashion companies Melbourne Girls’ Grammar School are intending to work with – Country Road, Ark Clothing and an unnamed source.

With the student campaigners “happy about the overall outcome and excited to wear pants”, the school board are excited to “see the launch of the official MGGS pants early next year”.

[ingrid--writes]

“A slut. Do you know what that means?”

A question to which I gave the answer;

“Of course.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Don’t be dumb, obviously I know.”

---

Clearly, ten-year-old me did not know what being a slut meant. I didn’t even know it was a bad word. I just felt embarrassed that my vernacular was inferior to that of the boy who had asked me in such a mocking tone.

In my next creative writing piece, I used the word, the meaning of which I did not know.

Slut.

I used it to describe the ringleader of the popular girls’ group in my story; I meant to indicate that she was conniving, nasty, a b*tch. I was proud of myself, because I thought I’d learnt a new word. Instead, my writing came back with a massive red cross and “you can’t use this” in glaring capitals. No other explanation. To say the least, I was confused. But I continued on with life and forgot all about it.

But today, I ask myself:

1. How did a young boy of ten years come to learn the meaning of the word ‘slut’ and go about relishing in my ignorance? 2. Why did my male teacher think zero explanation and a red cross would suffice, to make me ignore a word which was represented the struggles of so many women in the world?

The history of the word slut is long and blurred; it has been used to refer to females, males, dogs. Today, the word is highly derogatory, painting women as promiscuous, disrespected, ‘asking for it’. Slut-shaming is a form of victim-blaming inherent in Australian culture. In the wake of the rape and murder of Euridyce Dixon in Melbourne’s Carlton, the media erupted. Authorities implored girls to cover up, girls to stay at home at night, girls, sluts to behave in a way that would not attract the bad, but inevitable behaviour of boys. A step towards eliminating this perception of women as ‘asking for it’ is realising that ‘slut’ is not a word to be tossed around like it has no weight at all.

Primarily, we take the word ‘slut’ to represent women who a lot of sex. But instead of another root being another ‘notch on the belt’, as it is for men, women are labelled as dirty. Secondarily, we lessen the severity of the word to represent women who dress like they ‘want some’. Skirt-length and the cut of a top are indicators of a woman requiting disrespect, when it should just represent their personal style. Finally, greetings of ‘Hey slut!’ reverberate through the halls of girls’ schools everywhere. Normalised by shows such as J’amie, we strip the word slut of its true meaning, using it as an endearment. How can a word that has so many bad connotations be used between young, impressionable girls? In reducing the word to an endearment in some contexts, while deprecating its connotations in others, we are trivialising a matter which cannot be trivialised.

In contrast to my ten-year-old self, ‘slut’ is a word I am now very familiar with. Out of respect to myself and to all women, I don’t use it. Because of its connotations, it makes me extremely uncomfortable. At the age of ten, I knew I shouldn’t swear. I knew I shouldn’t utter the ‘f’ word, the ‘c’ word, the ‘s’ word. Sugar-honey-ice-tea was the closest I came. This knowledge was inherent in my upbringing. But for some reason, the word ‘slut’, I accepted with no qualms. I don’t believe this is okay, and I don’t believe that we should trivialise a word which is so demeaning.

That innocent boy should have been raised by his parents to respect, rather than mock.

That male teacher should have sat me down and explained, perhaps in a roundabout, tailored-to-year-five-way, why I could not use that word, rather than simply crossing it out, leaving me to wonder.

The girls at school shouting ‘Hey slut’ throughout the hallways should have realised they were and are undermining protests against slut-shaming and the wider feminist movement.

Gender equality and sexual harassment may seem unconquerable. It is immense. But slut-shaming and the vernacular used to demean women is a significant part of how we perceive the broader issue, and it is something which we can tackle head on in our daily lives. We must empower all people, not just women, by allowing freedom to choose what to wear, what to do with their bodies. Boys shouldn’t be pressured to have a lot of sex, and girls shouldn’t be pressured to hold onto their ‘virginity’.

I encourage you to do three things; recognise the power of words, check yourself before you speak and call other people out on their language. It’s only fair to the next ten-year-old who we hope can be raised in a society which has finally learnt to blame the criminal, rather than the victim.

[ingrid--writes]

A Crazed School-Leaver’s Guide On How To Enjoy Byron Bay

Gone are the days of crazed highlighting and to-do lists that accompany the last few years at school. Gone are the days of SAC-driven stress and common-room meltdowns. Gone are the days of pre-exam meditation and post-exam exaltation. Gone are the days of tears and goodbyes, school bells and uniforms, valedictories and speeches.

What better way to go out with a bang, to celebrate, to let loooose, than doing just that by riling up Australia’s most chilled-out beach location, Byron Bay?

With that definite vibe of a chilled-out week in the sun in mind, 98% of Melbourne’s most recent graduates flocked up the coast in plane and bus-fulls come the 25th November, myself included.

What did I expect?

In all honesty, a week of drinking and partying.

What did I get?

A week of drinking and partying. Throw in a sunburn that didn’t fade for literal months, a depleted bank account and a weakened liver. But amongst all this hot mess, I also managed to celebrate the end of an era with all the people I loved, in a very beautiful place. Here’s how it went.

Byron Bay is renowned for its long stretch of fine sand and its temperate waters. Whether it be a spot on the Main Beach or the more secluded Wategos Bay, finally enjoying summer as a carefree beach bum with no SACs or study in mind was a deserved paradise. For me, nothing can parallel the feeling of warmth from the sun on my body, book in hand, hat on head. In these moments, I closed my eyes, listened to the waves, and was the happiest I’d been all year. Of course, the extreme sport of watching girls all down the beach Get The Perfect Candid Insta, and the lowkey stress of bumping into familiar faces every five seconds came part and parcel with this relaxation, but what’s not to love?

We thought the beach was crowded during the day. But venturing out of our apartments to escape the boys from a single private school who had taken over the building (and to our distaste, the barbeque), we found out that Every Single Person in Byron Bay seemed to have congregated like ants on the darkened beach. The perfect place for midnight drunken deep-and-meaningfuls, late night hot chips (shout out to Bay Kebabs) or a boogie to tunes blasting from the Red Frogs tent, the beach by night, was ironically ‘lit’. But the Byron Bay nightlife wasn’t just about Will Sparks and Bag Raiders and wandering around smashed beyond belief, buying 2am Mars Pods (Snickers are for losers, case closed). Byron isn’t just a Schoolies destination; it has its own soul and its own culture. A highlight was strolling by laneways, listening to buskers play and sing in the warm balmy nights; a stark contrast to what lay on the beach metres away.

Getting ‘chocolate-wasted’ may not induce any repercussions the morning after, but for us, The Hangover was real. After awaking from deep slumbers and moping in bed for hours, the morning routine consisted of eating sliced bread, on account of no toaster and a lack of foresight to buy spreads at the supermarket, then trying to motivate ourselves to get up and do something. Of course, there was always that one Highly Motivated Friend who would go for an Early Morning ‘Refreshing’ Run every day. We peaked, when, intensely sunburnt and headache-ridden, we slathered ourselves in a hundred layers of 50+ and committed to the surprisingly taxing lighthouse walk. It was nightmarish, but also one of the best things we did that week. We chatted, spotted turtles, admired the view from the East-most point on Australian land, and made it to the top and back down again, just in time for a refreshing midday acai bowl, like the shameless millennials we are.

Travelling with friends was another highlight. And also a lowlight. It was blood, sweat and tears, living with the same group of eight girls for seven days. Those stats meant drama central. Friendships were tested. Arguments were had. Smirnoff was smashed. Tensions ran high. It sounds like the Real Housewives of Byron Bay, minus the husbands. And in a way, it was. It was a real team-building exercise to get through the week, but we came through it friends. We loved each-others company, and that’s what made the week so beautiful; we got to celebrate the end of an era, with the people with whom we shared that era.

So I guess Byron Bay Schoolies was all it was cut out to be and more. It was the stereotypical drinking and partying, but it was also discovering a new place, and cementing relationships and friendships. It was a once in a lifetime, and I shared it with the people I love.

[ingrid--writes]

Australian Ballet’s Spartacus exhibits the power of raw simplicity

Spartacus tells the story of a Thracian gladiator (Kevin Jackson) who channels his steely determination to spur on a rebellion against the aristocrat Crassus (Ty King-Wall) who owns his [Spartacus’] wife Flavia (Robyn Hendricks). A stock hero figure, Spartacus is beaten down in slavery, forced away from his wife and pushed to make the choice to slay his best friend. Lucas Jervies’ choreography expresses the inner turmoil Spartacus faces throughout his life when faced with hurdle after hurdle, representing well the oppressed slave figure.

Spotless white walls make the stage of Melbourne’s Arts Centre appear vaster than it is. The set of the Australian Ballet’s Spartacus, by Jerome Kaplan, is jarring, geometrical, and sparse, yet it is one of those situations where less is more. Utilising greyish monochromatic tones to represent the sad narrative and oppression in the society, Kaplan creates entrancingly simple imagery ridden with mystique. Prime examples are the steaming tubs of the bath-house, the vast gladiatorial arena and the ominous pillars upon which slaughtered slaves stand. All in tones of grey, Kaplan nevertheless manages to convey a wide range of moods.

The costumes, too, are minimal in coverage and colour. Dull, earthy tones hug the figures of the dancers. Exposed bare legs reveal the beautiful tension in their muscles. As a dancer myself, it is this raw exhibition of physicality and strength that stunned me the most in Spartacus; it is absolutely stunning to appreciate the toil and exertion that goes into such an intense and lengthy performance, but also relates back to the historical context of the work. Dealing with the theme of back-breaking slavery, the glorification of gladiatorial combat and inevitably, death which goes unmourned, Spartacus displays the incredible strength of the people whose lives were worthless, and their power in rebellion, through its focus on the beautiful physicality of the dancers.

The dancing itself is vulnerable and emotional. Symbolism in movement is used to portray the toxic class structure and the oppression of slaves as sub-humans; worthless. Tight, controlled movements juxtaposed with sustained and extremely expressive pas-de-deux pair with the unsettling music to create a constant undercurrent of intensity and drama. Although precision and unison in the corps-des-ballet is something the Australian Ballet often lacks, it is easy to overlook when the principal dancers demonstrate such beauty and grace. Amy Harris presents a venerable performance as the abandoned wife; her ability to tell a story with her body and her precise technique are a joy to watch, while the explosive passion and yearning which Kevin Jackson’s Spartacus provide an apt amount dramatic edge to the performance.

Male dominance is epitomised through the toxic masculinity of the villain Crassus, who abuses and torments his female slaves, rules over his domos and treats his wife Tertulla (Amy Harris) as a lesser being. By presenting Crassus as the bad and Spartacus as the good, Jervies elevates Spartacus’ morals and the respect and love with which he treats Flavia. Thus, when an iconic giant authoritarian hand representing the dictatorial aristocracy is pulled down by Spartacus and his men, the power of his resolve and morality is represented, as they take the opportunity and leap into fiery rebellion.

However as Spartacus and his army’s brief moment of freedom is interrupted by Crassus’ powerful forces, ending in bloodbath, the violence and gore is again glorified. The shockingly red blood that stains the dying bodies of the slaves offset the sparse greyness of all the sets. The death of the slaves is a sharp reminder that the world is a cruel place.

The Australian Ballet’s Spartacus is without doubt a beautiful piece of dance work. It seamlessly blends the traditional beauty of ballet with the harsh modernity of the set and costuming, and goes beyond to speak volumes about the pains of slavery in the past; but above all, the raw emotion and beautiful physicality demonstrated by the dancers are captivating and an excellent representation of the powerful nature of dance.

[ingrid--writes]

$150 t-shirts? Ugh, as if! Six ways to minimise spending and maximise style as a student…

The unemployed uni-student budget has definitely got us buggin’, but fear not; this deficit in funds need not fail you in your sartorial choices. Going from uniformed-knee-length-skirted-blazered-glory to casual clothes EVERY DAY is a familiar horror-story. Here’s how to turn this hurdle into happily-ever-after on a low budget:

1. End Of Financial Year Sales? More like End Of Financial Year Scams!

P.S.A.; Cher Horowitz can afford to crash her Jeep, but we certainly ain’t gonna be throwing our money down the drain for mediocre sale prices. Shop smart, kiddos.

2. Mood-board to your heart’s content

Cher doesn’t achieve her outfits with just a flick of her volumised hair. She resorts to her fashionista computer, which puts garments together for her every morning. Planning and sussing out our own style can help us buy what we really need.

3. Work with what you’ve got

Now that you’ve got your style in check, you might just find new inspiration in your existing wardrobe. Versatility is key here. 

4. X marks the spot; mum’s closet is a treasure trove

Every month or so I have another dig through my mum’s wardrobe to unearth a new retro goodie from her twenties. What’s not to love?

5. Pop some tags at your local Vinnies

With only $20 in your pocket, a day of opp-shopping can bring about treasures ranging from faux fur, to vintage Levi’s, to kooky 80s outfits. 

6. Keep your eyes peeled for warehouse sales

You’ll almost always exit a warehouse sale with large bags (or boxes) filled with fabulous finds and a bank account singing in praise of all the money you’ve saved. 

Fashion isn’t about spending or luxury; it’s putting together what you wear with care and creating your own style. Even on our lowly budget, we can have fun with mixing and matching and thrifting and hunting, to add some spice to our wardrobes.

[ingrid--writes]

“You’re a really cool person”

My article for Issue 5 of Teen Eye magazine. The Icons issue.

20/10/16

The TIME 100 has been released to readers annually since 1990, over two decades ago. A list of the 100 most influential people in America, as decided by ‘a debate among American academics, politicians, and journalists’. These people are considered the icons of our society. They were chosen because they represent something, and represent it well, earning them fame and power. Ranging from the likes of supermodel and computer coder Karlie Kloss, to the contentious and largely ridiculed Donald Trump, it is obvious that there is no clear correlation in personality or character among these 100 people. The world’s current metaphorical ‘Hall of Fame’ contains icons such as Martin Luther King, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, and Miley Cyrus. What they have in common, is that they are not common people with common beliefs and careers. They dare to diverge from the mainstream, and are idolised by society for their non-conformity. They were not necessarily loved or welcomed initially, but they stuck to their guns and made an influence on people with their individuality. What makes an icon an icon, is their ability to be different, and roll with it.

Google ‘pop-culture icons’ and you’ll find hundreds of links to thousands of websites and blogs with their own lists of icons. There seems to be an addiction to classification and structure, which has influenced the way our society works for as long as it has existed. We use lists and complex class structures to define ourselves as belonging to a certain sector of society. Now, in a rapidly progressing world, labels are supposed to mean less. Diversity is beginning to be celebrated, and our youth are told to express themselves and encouraged to form their own unique identities. But in reality, labels mean more than they ever have before, allowing people in the public eye to be respected for their diversity, while people in smaller communities still struggle to gain this respect.

Traditional ideas of conformity and social pressures come to mind when we use the word ‘labels’. It triggers memories of social cliques and that iconic scene in Mean Girls where all the girls rock up to school with holes in their tops, just because Regina George did. This may be an exaggerated example of conformity, and American teen movies may be an inaccurate representation of what high school is actually like, but the principle is there. Peer pressure and the fear of judgement lead a lot of today’s youth to subject themselves to conform to society’s standards and stereotypes which can ultimately limit their ‘potential’. It is easy to think about being different, but when you’re the only one not wearing Regina’s holy accidental fashion mess, it’s hard to avoid the strange looks. It takes grit and a whole lot of confidence to be the one to do something different. Lovable Friends character Phoebe Buffay’s penchant for telling the truth is slandered when she is fired for advocating animal rights to children. She sings “Then the farmer hits him on the head and grinds him up, and that how we get hamburgers.” The interesting part is that the children enjoyed her performance, but the parents put a stop to Buffay anyway. It is this recurring idea that tradition wins over change, that forces people to resort to tradition even though they want change. Buffay’s complete loyalty to her own opinions and individuality is hard to find, and marks her as an icon.

Diversity is something of a hot topic lately. The LGBTIQP+ community and the #blacklivesmatter campaign show that our society has a long way to go, until diversity becomes okay. An obsession with what’s ‘normal’ and having social norms means that diversity will always be an alien concept, and the diverse will always be alien people. Sure, progress is progress. Icons of equality like Miley Cyrus are accepted and loved for their voice. But when it comes to smaller communities in families, or schools, or towns, diversity becomes a much scarier concept to face. We idolise diversity in the media, but seem to be afraid of it in our personal lives. We can use these icons as a floatie in the pool of diversity. We can use them to inspire ourselves, and to conquer society’s norms. Australia’s Troye Sivan, now openly gay, struggled through his journey thinking that “If no one accepts me, at least Miley Cyrus will.” Cyrus’ presence as an advocate has probably helped thousands more accept their own identity. Icons like Cyrus can really use their platform to spread the message that diversity is okay.

Icons are usually different, but loved for their differences. Icons are something special, something irreplaceable. The classification of icons as icons means that ultimately, we remember the people who are different. The people who were not afraid to be different in a society that condemns and alienates difference. We are all different, but icons are those who are not afraid to show it. Let’s all take Phoebe Buffay’s mantra.

Repeat after her:

“I’m a really cool person.” Iconic? Maybe not. But icons may become a thing of the past, if we can all find the courage to make different the new normal.

http://www.teeneyemagazine.com/

[ingrid--writes]

D’Oh for Doughnuts

5/7/16

You could say Melbourne’s crazily intense brunch culture is epitomised by the long-standing reign of Morgan Hipworth’s ‘Bistro Morgan’ in all the coolest cafes. Waiting on the side of the street with your friends for forty five minutes to get a seat becomes okay when you can then go on to eat some smashed avocado which is just impossible to replicate at home (no matter how hard you try), with one of Morgan’s doughnuts for dessert. All around town, Homer Simpson’s image of an iced and sprinkled pink doughnut has been scrapped, and readily replaced with gastronomic combinations of salted caramel, rocky road, or tim tams; topped with colour, vibrancy and if you’re lucky, a syringe filled with delicious sauce. Morgan’s doughnuts have a unique quality which sets him above last year’s Nutella doughnut craze. His business is not just about money, or about churning out products. There exists an incredible creative flair in his work, in his weekly new flavours, that just cannot be replaced. Hipworth is young, talented, and definitely one to watch in the food industry; his business is no crazy week-long brunch fad; there is longevity in his culinary art. I was lucky enough to ask Morgan some questions.

What was the first doughnut you ever made?

Was it heart shaped?

What’s your favourite aspect of Melbourne’s food culture?

Cool cafes, forever changing food trends, diversity.

Increasingly, the word entrepreneur is being used to describe young people like yourself; how do you see yourself as an entrepreneur and what do you think the label means?

I see myself as a young person with a great work ethic and a passion. I think the label refers to a person with initiative and a willingness to give it a go, I am happy therefore to be referred to as an entrepreneur.

Why doughnuts? Do you ever see yourself expanding to other foods in your business in the future? (Not that we’re complaining about the doughnuts)

Doughnuts. Why not!  However you may be surprised to know I can cook pretty much anything put in front of me! Doughnuts and desserts are just a small part of what I can do!

Do you think social media has influenced your success, and if so, how?

Yes definitely, social media has been a very positive social platform for Bistro Morgan, people eat with their eyes so it is great being able to showcase the doughnuts by posting images. It has also been a very positive exercise posting for each cafe we supply and drawing customers to the cafes.

Do you consider your business a potential job or a hobby?

I guess it is a bit of both at the moment as I am limited as to how much I can grow the business just now as I am still in school, but judging by the hours, effort and dedication put in it is definitely leading to a potential job in the future.

What do you love most about what you do?

I love being creative, it is exciting creating new flavours each weekend and seeing the end result. I love the cool cafes I supply, and some of the amazing media, press and radio coverage I have been fortunate to be part of.

So aside from the weekend happiness which Hipworth’s doughnuts provide, I think we can all see something inspiring in his business. He makes hundreds of doughnuts every week, on top of his social media efforts, and still manages to take on all responsibilities of school and life as a 15 year old, and it beats me how he manages it. Head to his website http://www.bistromorgan.com.au/ to find out more, and on this week’s Sunday brunch, I’d recommend you hit up a café which stocks his creations. I promise #noregrets.

Photos from Gram Magazine and Buro 247

[ingrid--writes]

She Wears the Pants

29/2/16

My article on gender-related stigmas in the fashion world from the Roots issue of Teen Eye Magazine

The classic joke goes ‘A man walks into a bar.’ The punch line could be anything in the world, but my favourite is ‘Bang.’

The first image that comes to mind is one of a slick, suit-clad business-man strolling into a bar and getting struck with a bullet. You may conjure up any number of ideas about the nature of this man, but there are a few undeniable givens:

1. This is an age old joke.

2. The joke evokes the image of a man walking into a bar, ready for a few drinks.

3. The man is wearing pants.

Our society is used to accepting these types of traditions as the norm.  Breakfast, lunch and dinner, morning, noon and night. Quiet? Weak. Loud? Strong. Girl? Skirt. Boy? Pants. It is natural for humans to sink into habit and tradition, as it is easier to live without the need to adapt. Hence, most of us stick to our roots and lead our lives without thinking about change. In the fashion industry, the situation is much the same. Stigmas and the ‘rulebook’ rule supreme and form the foundation of even the most innovative design and styling. The stigmas existing in fashion correlate directly to our society. During this period of seemingly stagnant change, the lines around gender identity and clothing continue to be up-kept and broken in different spheres of designers and customers. In preparation for any outing, ranging from red carpet events to school dances, males will almost always turn up in a suit and pants, whereas women are most likely to wear a dress or skirt; pant and jumpsuits are a rare but more welcome occurrence than men in skirts. These strong associations between garment and gender have existed since the ‘beginning’ of fashion in 1100, when men were accustomed to wearing short tunics with pants, and women were confined to long, dress-like tunics; they have only continued to entrench themselves since.

It is the age of the gender debate, which now encompasses far more than just feminism and women’s rights. Society is becoming comfortable with discussing so many different perspectives on massive topic of gender; gender identity and comfort with one’s own gender identity is one of them. It is easy to get confused amidst all the different opinions, and I often do. However, in initially sorting through all the diverse beliefs and opinions, this confusion is a natural reaction. It then becomes necessary to accept that there will be differing views and diverse people in the world. That is gender equality; not pigeon-holing gender identities with definitions and rules, but accepting that everybody’s take will be slightly different.

This is where the fashion industry comes in. What we wear and how we look largely represents our chosen genders, and deep-rooted stigmas existent in the industry contribute in a major way to how different garments on different genders are perceived. It only takes walking into the correct toilet to realise how shallow gender identity can be. All over the world, the only difference between the two stick figures on toilet doors is that one is wearing pants, and the other is wearing a dress. This representation of the defining point between man and woman is almost comical in its shallow nature and simplicity. Reducing gender identity to wearing either pants or a skirt enforces the idea that in fashion, gender is defined by the garments you wear. However, lately, we have seen members of the industry begin to break down these walls in small ways. In 2015, Acne Studios’ Fall womenswear campaign saw a 12-year-old boy modelling the female garments. Female models Emilie Evander and Marland Backus have appeared on a Gucci menswear runway with no distinction or special reason. However, gender stereotypes still overpower these small protests.

Although clothes are only pieces of material shaped in various ways depending on the designer, they hold sentimental and moral value, which is why they can cause so much controversy and hold so much influence on the power of perception. We judge one another based on what we wear, which is evident in the thriving fashion industry. So when in 1919, Luisa Capetillo became the first woman to wear pants in Puerto Rico and was subsequently sent to jail for her ‘crime’ (charges were later dropped), we witnessed the true power of tradition, and our fear of change. Slowly but surely, pants became a fashionable and mainstream fashion choice for women. Gone are the days of ball gowns and petticoats. The phrase ‘she wears the pants’, often used in reference to relationships and households, is an implication of the association of pants with power. Women now possess the power to wear pants, and are praised for it. When Emma Watson wore pants to the 2014 Golden Globes, she was labelled by Huffington Post as ‘the coolest because she wore pants’. Wearing pants for women is not seen as ‘gender bending’ or wrong in any way. It is a positive fashion statement and widely accepted by society, overruling the toilet door stereotype of femininity.

In contrast, when Jaden Smith recently became the face of the Louis Vuitton SS16 womenswear campaign and was photographed wearing a skirt, it warranted harsh negative comments, questioning ‘Why you have a man Jaden Smith dressing like a woman?…the designs are fantastic but why is it okay for Jaden Smith to wear a skirt not a kilt?” To be entirely casual and frank, these comments upset and confused me. Why is a kilt more acceptable to wear than a skirt? Evidently, the kilt holds meaningful cultural tradition and sentimental value in a masculine sense as a garment, but realistically, it is pretty much a skirt for a man. Just because Smith made the conscious choice to dismiss the invisible ‘rule’ that men cannot wear skirts, doesn’t mean he must be labelled as a ‘woman’ for his actions. Men’s fashion stores sell suits, trousers, t-shirts, shirts and jumpers. I’ve always marvelled at how my brother manages to look different every day with the range of clothes he possesses. The truth is, men are highly marginalised in the fashion department. There is much less innovation and much less coverage on men’s fashion, due to the lack of change and the lack of acceptance of new concepts for men in the industry.

Fashion doesn’t have to relate to gender identity, but it can when and if one wants it to. The issue lies in the fact that we struggle to detach the concept of gender and the concept of fashion from one another. If she can wear the pants, then he should be able to wear the skirt. It’s as simple as that. So next time you are lacking conversation topics and decide to throw in a joke, visualise that man walking into a bar.

Wearing whatever he wants.

http://www.teeneyemagazine.com/

[ingrid--writes]

Jess Thomas for Teen Eye

31/10/15

I: What made you take part in Australia’s Next Top Model? How has the show impacted your life?

J: I thought it would be a great platform and a good experience. It has definitely had an impact on my confidence in the best way possible. I feel like I can go into any situation and face whatever comes my way now in this industry.

I: What does the word adrenaline mean to you? How do you deal with it in your day-to-day life?

J: To me it means experiencing something that makes you nervous and excited at the same time and then when that moment is happening you’re in such a good place you don’t want it to stop.  I try to go into everything that I do with excitement if that’s a casting or a job because it makes your mood better and the people you meet get a feeling of joy and adrenaline too.

I: What has been your favourite modelling experience so far?

J: One of my favourites is still the first shoot I ever did which was on the show shooting with Gary Heery. It was just an amazing experience and I loved getting the chance to be captured by him.

I: What is your advice to people trying to tackle the industry?

J: I’d say stay true to who you are and work hard! It’s not easy and there will be bad days but you get on with what’s happening and always be determined and respectful.

I: What do you think are the three characteristics which have helped you the most in your modelling career?

J: So far probably my manners, work ethic and authenticity.

I: Aside from modelling, what other career aspirations do you have?

J: That’s hard, I have a lot of interests, but business, psychology, and fashion interest me.

I: Do you think fashion is predominantly art or business?

J: I think it depends. I think that commercial fashion is predominantly more business focused whereas high fashion has a more artistic aspiration.

I: What are your perceptions of beauty? What makes a human beautiful?

J: I don’t think there is one person who doesn’t hold some type of beauty. Diversity and difference is one of my favourite beauties. But what makes a human beautiful is their soul.

I: What do you see in the fashion industry that excites you?

J: Constant change and passion that definitely excites me.

Find Teen Eye at http://www.teeneyemagazine.com/  @teeneyemag on Instagram and @teeneye on Tumblr, and Jess at @jessicagrace_thomas on Instagram.

[ingrid--writes]

Say Hi Hi to Hai Hai

17/9/15

Erin and Laura from Hai Hai Official are every bit as kawaii as their bubbly, colourful, cabochon-filled exterior makes out. After meeting them for the first time at the HowTwoLive book launch and making my very own DIY phone case (which has attracted many a complement), I just had to get in touch for an interview to find out more about their story.

I: What inspired you to create Hai Hai?

E: We are both really creative people and we have always loved anything Japanese inspired!

L: It was a trend already existing in Japan, we just put our own personal ‘spin’ on it.

I: Where do you see your brand going in 2 years time?

E: It will be a next level Kawaii empire!

L: We’d like to have more mega cute products for our customers to enjoy

I: What has been your most memorable experience from running Hai Hai?

E: Working together! Even though we fight sometimes! Sister-lyf!

L: All the cool stuff we’ve been lucky enough to be involved in because of the business - like the How Two Live DIY Book Launch.

I: What is your favourite place in the world?

E: Japan!

L: Japan! We should probably both just move there!

I: What do you like most about working together as sisters?

E: Its a great way to spend time in each other’s lives doing something we both love.. I’m defs the bossy one though!

L: We both have the same view on how the business should go and the direction we need to be in. Our work is very similar so everything always looks really cohesive!

I: If you could become one of your cabochons, which one would you choose?

E: Baby Pink Love Heart Popsicle!

L: Giant Hot Pink Donut!

I: As a part of the massive social media movement, what do you like and dislike about using things like Instagram and facebook as a part of your brand?

E: We sometimes get people saying negative things which isn’t nice when we’re just trying to work hard and be passionate about our products

L: A heaps of insta-celebs have endorsed our products which has been such a great help for us! And they have all been so generous to us! Some we would even call friends of ours now!

I: How did you develop your 'kawaii’ style?

E: We just woke up one day and realised Hello Kitty was our lives! Haha!

L: We just can’t get enough of the pink and the glitter – aren’t all girls like that?!

I: How have your aspirations changed from when you were at school to now?

E: Yes! I used to want to work in the Fashion Industry (which i currently do) but it is no longer the 'end goal’ for me, we have bigger more glittery dreams!

L: I want to put my design background and skills towards something I actually like doing, this is what’s great about our business! We can do what we WANT to do!

I: If you could have anyone in the world buy one of your cases, who would it be?

E: AHH!!! Kawaii QUEEN Katy Perry for sure!!!!

L: OMG!! Defs Miley Cyrus, we have a very similar style to her!!!!

Find Erin and Laura at http://haihaiofficial.com/ and @haihai_official on Insta!

[ingrid--writes]

HYPE to High Fashion

I recently met up with Zenji, who works at a luxury Australian fashion label, to have a chat about his past, present, and promising future in fashion.

Zenji is a name reserved for those with an extra level of subtle cool. I’m talking about the few people who can work drop-hem pants and transform a penchant for sneakers into a successful career in fashion.

Born in Tokyo and named after his great-grandfather, the name Zenji symbolises the values of sincerity, honesty and peace, epitomising his Japanese roots through his steely work ethic and calm approach to dealing with people. A living example of how one’s pathways can diversify after leaving school, Zenji recalls his consistent interest in sport and becoming a physiotherapist throughout his high school life. However, the tides turned when he joined the staff at a Hype shoe store. An initial passion for sneakers quickly diverged into a sixth sense for street style and a university degree in Design Technology. Focussing on the production aspect of fashion, Zenji has a remarkable level of professional experience under his belt. Having interned at Alexander Wang to help out with New York Fashion Week (this is when I completely lost my cool - NEW YORK) and worked at Prada in Sydney, he loved “Seeing what it’s [the fashion industry] like on a global scale and being in the thick of it.”

Nowadays, Zenji works at a luxury Australian fashion label and attributes his incredible achievements to his persistence from the very beginning, and the ‘element of luck’ which is predominant in the Australian fashion industry. In discussing his future, Zenji mentions his desire to shift into the production side of the industry. Embodying the 21st century dynamic, Zenji is influenced in his personal style by music and social media. Always suave and simple, the combination of dark colours, layering and shapes in his everyday street style emanates the very way he holds himself. With his constantly evolving style and focus on the garments rather than the brands, I am sure that Zenji’s transition into production and design will be a glorious one, full of futuristic edge.

Always cool in his Adidas (I’m pinning that trend on him), Zenji left me with the message that persistence, experience, and of course sneakers, really “take you that one step further.”

[ingrid--writes]

#freethenipple - Your Choice

My article on #freethenipple from the Summer issue of Teen Eye magazine.

1/7/15

At any given beach today, you will find three types of people: men without a shirt on, men with a shirt on and women with some sort of breast coverage.

Walking down the street, one sees men in thin t-shirts with visible nipples and women in thin t-shirts with hidden nipples.

The question we must ask ourselves, is why? What’s is so foul about women’s nipples that they must be concealed? The simple answer is nothing. Nipples shouldn’t be cringed at; everyone is born with them, so everyone should be able to show them as they desire.

The #freethenipple movement was initiated in late 2014 when gender equality activist and filmmaker Linda Esco released a 90 minute ‘Free the Nipple’ film, a powerful depiction of the future of gender equality. The movie and the movement are epitomised in Esco’s statement “I should be the only one with the power to sexualise my own body.” Free the Nipple has quickly become a worldwide campaign, a trending hashtag and a stepping stone towards achieving gender equality. It is not about burning bras. It is not, as critics charge, a “blessedly defunct and thoroughly ill-conceived social media campaign”, nor is it “Another Example Of Female Narcissism.”

The movement is about giving women the choice to ditch the bra, or ditch the top without judgement or shame. It is about showcasing the inherent sexism that continues to plague our world through an empowering, accessible lens. It is about demystifying the double standards that oppress women through sexualisation while liberating men through their desexualisation.

One of the biggest issues women battle in the gender equality war is their incessant sexualisation; no matter what, there always seem to be people who degrade women by defining them no as human beings, but as mere sexual objects. This behaviour specifically follows young girls around in comments on social media, in catcalls on the street and in language used every day. Provocative clothing is a constant false justification for the labelling of girls as ‘sluts’, ‘whores’, ‘thots’ and so on. #Freethenipple combats this normalised projection of sexism by internationally challenging the stereotypes women are often confined to, and calling for the respect and acceptance of women regardless of their clothing. Women are entitled to respect regardless of their dress, and it is imperative to understand that #freethenipple is about instilling a new set of values and morals in a society that condemns confident women who feel comfortable and empowered in what they choose to wear. #freethenipple is a reminder that prejudice against women is unacceptable in any form.

Every woman’s tale is different and it is important that we embrace and honour that variety. I personally would not feel comfortable walking down the street topless, and that’s okay. But, my friend who is confident enough to post an Instagram selfie with her nipples exposed deserves the same respect that I do. She certainly should not be degraded for her choice. This mutual respect extending deeper than our appearances is what #freethenipple is all about. Removing the censorship of women’s bodies is what #freethenipple is all about. And when embracing the underlying values that #freethenipple projects, we are a massive leap closer to achieving gender equality.

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