Opinion

A blight on our lexicon

When did lamb roasts and vaginal births become beautiful?

NATALIE REILLY How one overly effusive word infected our lexicon.

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Turn-of-the-century tv

Turn-of-the-century TV: the true horror exposed

CLEMENTINE FORD Why the shows that 'defined a generation' were actually appalling.

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Inexperience now a trend

CLEM BASTOW TV deflowerings officially 'hot in Hollywood' but they're not conforming to tried and tested tropes.

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20s v 30s

The problem with '30 is the new 20'

CANDICE CHUNG Are 20-somethings really wasting the most important decade of their lives?

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Viral campaign

The six things wrong with the most watched ad in the world

NATALIE REILLY Or, why I hate Dove beauty sketches.

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Orgasmic birth: most ridiculous concept ever imagined?

JEN VUK "The term induces in me an uncontrollable paroxysm."

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Missing the point

Is Feminism just for the lucky few?

CLEMENTINE FORD And does this mean that the rest of us are doing it wrong?

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Opinion

In defence of the skywhale

ALECIA SIMMONDS Is there really that much wrong with the giant hot air balloon created for Canberra's centenary?

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video games

Why grown men still play video games

DOM KNIGHT Dom Knight on his unswerving dedication to Super Mario Brothers.

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When racism becomes a white person's issue

RUBY HAMAD Ruby Hamad on why it's important to hear from women of colour.

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Politics of fat

The curious appeal of 'power paunches'

ANNIE STEVENS Why men can get fat and get away with it, but the same can't be said of women.

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Gendered covers

Making books 'women-friendly'

SARAH MACDONALD Author Sarah MacDonald reveals the surprising link between gendered covers and book sales.

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What Cleveland tells us about the cycle of abuse

CLEMENTINE FORD There were several red flags leading up to Castro's capture. Why were they ignored?

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Q&A

Why Australia hates thinkers

ALECIA SIMMONDS Australia is a vast, sunny, intellectual gulag. But why?

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Can we change the way men 'pick up' women?

HUGO SCHWYZER The problem with the pick-up artist culture is that women are viewed as either adversaries or objects.

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The Woman Upstairs

Why are we so afraid of angry women?

ANNIE STEVENS Claire Messud's latest book makes us re-think likeability as an essential personality trait.

Complaining about being 'broke'

Is there such a thing as the 'privileged poor'?

RACHEL HILLS The awkward moment when well-off folks complain about being 'broke'.

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Paid parental leave scheme

What does a 'woman of calibre' look like?

CANDICE CHUNG Abbott promises an attractive paid parental leave scheme -- but not everyone will get to reap the benefits.

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Writing about sex

The untapped wisdom of sex workers

CLEM BASTOW Or the dos and don'ts guide to editorialising on sex work. How editorialising on sex work effects already deeply ingrained perceptions and prejudices.

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Racial stereotypes

Everything you know about burqas is probably wrong

AMAL AWAD Truth is, you've probably never even seen one in real life.

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Gendercide

The three deadliest words in the world

CLEMENTINE FORD Where is it still dangerous for parents to say: "It's a girl"?

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Compulsory prettiness

How good looking should we expect to be?

NICOLE ELPHICK Since when has the pursuit for beauty become an obligation?

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Measuring happiness

How happy is Australia?

CHRISTOPHER SCANLON Governments are measuring their citizens' happiness. But is it working?

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Who's better?

The 'Melbourne vs Sydney rivalry' is boring

ANNIE STEVENS And, surely it doesn't exist anymore either?

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Why Pretty Girls should shut up

Tracey Spicer Tracey Spicer responds to Geoffrey Barker.

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Sexism in the media

How to spot a real female journalist

JACQUELINE MALEY Jacqueline Maley responds to criticisms that our TV screens are filled with young, vacuous, ill-trained female reporters.

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Sex education

Anne Frank's diary isn't pornographic

CLEM BASTOW Why editing out sexual references in Anne Frank's diary is so bad for young readers.

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Sex anxiety

How much sex is 'normal'?

RACHEL HILLS Our urge to compare ourselves to others can obscure what we really desire. OR A look at sexual status anxiety.

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Same sex parents

Are we as comfortable with same sex parents as we think we are?

KASEY EDWARDS Uncovering the hidden prejudices against Mumbians.

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Size wars

Is life kinder to short girls?

SARAH MACDONALD How kids' stature in the school yard affects their psyche.

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Factory collapse

The role we all played in the Bangladesh tragedy

ALECIA SIMMONDS We won't buy battery hen eggs - so why are we able to turn a blind eye to clothes made in similar conditions? And what are the consequences.

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Male rage

Is Testosterone to blame for the Boston Bombings?

HUGO SCHWYZER Why one hormone is being held responsible for male violence.

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Clem Ford

'Finding a way of being a girl that doesn't hurt'

CLEMENTINE FORD Clementine Ford on the one true test of equality.

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Gender politics

Forced to be in separate classes

RUBY HAMAD Why Hamas' enforced gender segregation at schools is bad news for girls and women.

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Modelling scouts target eating disorders clinic

JEN VUK How do you respond to news of model scouts preying on eating-disorders patients?

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Social media rage

Are we hooked on outrage?

JACQUELINE MALEY Earlier this week Justin Bieber mobilised the outrage army. But at what cost reasoned debate?

Are we selling our universities short?

LEE RHIANNON The problem with taking from one education funding bucket to boost another.

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Women's rights

Is sexual harassment on the rise in China?

MONICA TAN A new survey of Chinese women reveals a growing frustration over inappropriate behaviour in public.

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Cellulite

‘The only cure for cellulite is good lighting.’

KASEY EDWARDS Has Dita Von Teese just confirmed what we all know deep down?

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Confronting racism

I stood up to a racist on the train

S.A. Jones And why this writer wouldn't do it again. Even if not intervening might mean that you are racist too.

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US v Australia

Could this happen here?

CLEMENTINE FORD The US has a terrible record on women's reproductive rights. And we look set to follow their lead.

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Fear of the red lip

Is lipstick 'too sexy' for China?

MONICA TAN Monica Tan on the real reasons behind Chinese women's fear of a bright red lip.

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Burn the bra?

Are we better off without our bras?

JEAN HANNAH EDELSTEIN Scientists found that "medically, anatomically, physiologically', there's no benefit to wearing bras . Great.

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body image

Why I won't have any more surgery

REBECCA GOLDEN After losing 112 kilograms Rebecca Golden is done with making changes to her body.

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Sorcery violence

Tortured for being ‘sorcerers’

Amelia Freelander Why the Papua New Guinea government is still condoning modern day witch hunts.

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Why 'Can you have it all?' is this century's dumbest question

CLEMENTINE FORD Clementine Ford on the middle class obsession of our time.

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Gender violence

There's no honour in murder

AMAL AWAD Author Rana Husseini on why we need to re-think the semantics of so-called 'honour killings'.

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women's looks

Why Women's looks still count

RUBY HAMAD That's the message we're getting after Obama referred to fellow Democrat Kamala Harris as "the best-looking attorney general".

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Anti-rape underwear

Is anti-rape underwear a step forward?

CLEMENTINE FORD Three engineering students have developed anti-rape underwear in India. Does this signal change or more victim blaming?

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Missing children

Why did nobody help a child?

JEN VUK Why we should stop being concerned about interfering and start asking questions.

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Obituaries

Where are all the female obituaries?

Tara Murphy A New York Times obituary that focused on the cooking skills of a female astrophysicist prompted an investigation in to how the media treat the deaths of prominent men vs women. Are men's deaths more important than women's - a statician looks to the obituatires section Do the media care more when men die?

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Racism v sexism

Are we letting down our Muslim sisters?

SARAH MACDONALD Is our fear of racism stopping us from reaching out to non-western women?

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Fat shaming

Why airlines charging by weight is a bad idea

KASEY EDWARDS Making bigger people pay more for air travel just takes our cultures’ obsessive moralising around weight to new altitudes.

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One-child policy

Is China's one-child policy over?

MONICA TAN There is a growing sense that the one-child policy has become irrelevant. Is it time to let it go?

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Controversy

What if you don’t love your children?

KASEY EDWARDS Should it be more socially acceptable to be ambivalent about motherhood?

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Feministpalooza

Is Feminism Fashionable?

NATALIE REILLY And if it is, is this a bad thing?

Seven convincing reasons to have babies

DOM KNIGHT You get complete power over them, can buy piles of junk you don't need and have a ready excuse for never leaving the house again.

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Women outnumbered

Women Still Outnumbered Where it Counts

TARA MOSS In the ''year of the woman'', men continue to dominate in ways that affect us all.

Crying at work

Is crying at work career suicide?

NATALIE REILLY Some top executives say it's ok but for the rest of us the reality is a little more complex.

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Retro values

Is it a man's job to look after a woman?

Is it still the man's job to look after a woman? The question was asked ahead of All About Women, a discussion at Sydney Opera House