woroni VOL. 69, issue 6, 2019
CONTENTS 4 NEWS
24 CREATIVE
48 DISCOVERY
5 An Interview With ANU Rapper Kirklandd Elena Couper
25 The Judith Butler Effect Rachel Chopping
49 Are Women Bearing the Cost of Climate Change? Annie Liddy-Corlett
6 An Interview With ANU Artist Eben Ejdne Elena Couper
8 CAMPUS 9 Retro in the Modern Era Luis Burns 10 Vintage is Back, Baby Ellie Nicholls 11 We Used to be Happy Samia Ejaz 12 Standing Together Against Wage Theft Rosie Proctor
26 Barbie Movies and Third Wave Feminism Rachel Chopping 27 A Pot from Damascus Freya Cox 28 21 Sophie Johnson 30 A View from Outer Space David Gill 31 Andragogy Vy Tsan
32 CULTURE
50 Environmentalism: Our World at a Glance Tash Salisbury 53 Is Vintage Clothing Eco-Friendly? Canada Gavin 54 The Business of Audio Edward Andreyev 56 Wealth, Inheritance and Millennial Money Livvy Carney 57 The Science of Overthinking Yasmin Potts 58 Can Nuclear Bomb Stop a Hurricane? Sophie Burgess
14 Promises of Change Eleanor Cooper
33 Julia Gillard’s A Postcast of One’s Own Aurora Muir
16 Justice Forfeit Eammon Gumley
34 Sapiens: A Cautionary Tale Lucy Pennington
17 Is Greenland for Sale? Riddhi Mehta
36 The Imagined Italian Language Cahill Di Donato
62 ‘Life’ and ‘Modernity’ in D.H. Lawrence’s ‘The Blind Man’ Anthony Moore
18 Cinderella vs. Polyamory Annabelle Motteram
38 A New World Emily Fursa
63 Photography Showcase Jiaqi Yan
20 The Dilemma of Polyamory Elvin Zhang
40 Australian/Chinese Beryl JeAnns
22 The Advent of Technology Tom Opie
42 Sustainable Fashion: An Interview With Aubrey Chayson Chanel Nguyen
23 Photography Showcase Jiaqi Yan
46 My Life In Books Phoebe Lupton
Cover page art : Georgie Kamvissis
60 Chernobyl: Putting a Figure on the Fallout Murray Jobbins
4
editors
Welcome to Edition 6 of Woroni, our final magazine of 2019! The theme of this edition is Retro, so we’ve asked our editors to go back in their own timelines and reflect on what they were like as children.
J UL IA FAR AGHER EDI T OR -IN-C HIEF
When I was young, all our family holidays were spent at the beach. We went to the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast every year. Eventually, we started going to Phillip Island regularly as well. My memories are filled with sand, sun and the smell of the ocean. Recently, at the age of 22, I visited home to find that my parents had finally started moving stuff into my childhood bedroom. I opened my bedroom door to see a pile of four boogie boards.
KA R A N DH A MIJA MA NAGIN G EDIT OR
It’s a bit sad how boring my life as a child was. Unfortunately, all my memories before the age of sevenish are of world events and me being able to remember where I was. My mum tells me that I only watched the news, sports and slept in a lot. Nothing has changed at all. My weird disdain for chocolate also started very early and every gift which included a chocolate was accompanied by a frown and quite possibly a tantrum. Apparently, I only ate bananas till I was three.
JOSIE GA NKO DEPUTY EDIT OR-I N-C HI EF
When I was growing up in the early 00s, I was a lot like how I am today. My hobbies included bossing around other kids, dressing up as various princesses and playing with Barbies. Apparently, when I was around four years old, I asked my mum, “when can I start doing what I want to do?”, which I think should have been her first warning of the teenager, and eventually the woman, I would become.
JA IME HOWELL TV
I was a happy child, as my photo suggests. When I wasn’t yelling at youths to get off my lawn (see picture for reference), I spent my time crying about the fact that Fiona stayed an ogre at the end of Shrek and asking my parents about all the gin and tonics you could make from lemon trees. I might have learned to be less superficial with age, but some things never change.
5
PHOEB E LU P T ON C ON T EN T
I was a very weird child. There are countless home videos of me running around in circles to The Wiggles with pieces of fabric on my head, which I think perfectly sums up little Phoebe’s personality! I tended to spend my early years reading, playing dress-up or simply just staring off into space, something that I still have the propensity to do to this day. I’d like to think that I’ve become more mature and less naive as I’ve grown older, but there’s inevitably a part of three year old Phoebe that still exists within 21 year old Phoebe.
N IC K R IC H AR DS ON N EWS
I was a sport obsessed kid. Every second of every day growing up was either hitting a golf ball, kicking a footy or endless bowling gas at my Dad. I was incredibly stubborn and impatient, so as an individual sport, golf won out. I was very lucky to be the child of the two most loving parents. However, both my parents frequently remind me how unlucky they were to have me.
GE OR GIE KAMVISSIS A RT
My childhood love was my pet guinea pig, Angel. I would spend hours every day trying to teach her tricks, like jumping through hoops. Alas, she never learnt. She did however, thourally enjoy eating the entirety of my parents’ vegie patch that I would feed her!! But it was all fun and games until I came outside one day and found she had been eaten by my dog.
is ob el lindsay-ge yer radio
Oh how I love to reflect on my youth! My past self was a sharp shooter, a crocs owner and biscuit baker. I paid no mind to people who thought I would never make it as a professional Hula Hooper. Turns out I should have listened to the haters, and realise that not all dreams should come true.
NEWS 6 // NEWS
NEWS
// 5
An interview with ANU Rapper Kirklandd AUTHOR // ELENA COUPER Daniel Kirkland (Kirklandd) is an ANU commerce student and rapper. Daniel’s interest in music developed during his time at Canberra Grammar School, where he played and composed music for the cello. Growing up, he was inspired by the work of his cousins, who were breakdancers and rappers. One of his cousins, Mutu, has supported Jason Derulo, Flo Rida, Akon, Pitbull and Kelly Rowland. Motivated by the prospect of impressing his familial idols, Daniel was set on a “really creative abstract story-telling route, and so [he] started writing.” When first introduced to the genre of rap, Daniel “went backwards and listened to the history of hip hop to kind of educate [him]self with that musical mind.” Of a Serbian/Scottish background, he was raised on soul and funk. Daniel eventually moved away from playing instruments and turned to songwriting as his outlet for artistic expression. After releasing music on Soundcloud, Daniel was picked up by Melbourne producer, Cam Bluff. Bluff, who produces for other Australian rappers Allday and Illy, is signed to Universal Music, and also produced Amy Shark’s ‘Adore.’ He and Daniel have worked together for five years to make original and personalised pieces, and have developed “a really strong chemistry and likemindedness for music”. Daniel released ‘Impulse’ earlier this year, and was subsequently chosen by Triple J Unearthed to play at Groovin the Moo on the Triple J stage. Daniel was also the featured artist of the week, and was interviewed at the station in Sydney. A one-take video clip was filmed, which employs various lighting techniques to convey Daniel’s introspective, emotional exploration. The ANU has provided a platform for Daniel to develop his stage presence by playing at Kambri, Molo Live and college events. These opportunities have lent him “the opportunity to perform with some really cool artists from interstate.” Daniel has already completed three tours with his drummer, Josh Bates, who is also a Canberra local. He performed at Sweet Dreams, an RnB and Hip-Hop festival held at the Truffle Farm in Majura, alongside his Canberra-based sound engineer, Citizen Kay. Fans of Daniel’s have gone so far as to get his stage name permanently tattooed on themselves.
Being a part of the newest generation of Australian rappers, Daniel directly addresses entrenched issues in the genre: “… unfortunately, although Hip Hop is a beautifully expressive artform, the general public can often view it as misogynistic, materialistic and glorifying of drug use.” The Australian rap scene is much younger than its international counterparts, and thus its malleability allows it to respond better to the current political climate. Daniel is particularly attuned to issues of misogyny in rap, and prioritises his female and non-binary fans to ensure that his shows are “a safe and comfortable environment” for everyone. Daniel is more concerned with executing authentic explorations of self-identity and has only depicted women lyrically in regards to the dynamics of personal relationships. This social conscience undermining the Australian genre is the vehicle by which Daniel believes it will establish itself on the international stage. RnB and Hip-Hop are burdened with a particularly heavy social responsibility, as they are consistently the most popularly consumed genres world-wide. Thus, modern rappers bear an unprecedented duty in ensuring that the necessary shift occurs towards an inclusive and respectful sound. For Daniel, this is achieved by writing music with a diverse audience in mind. He has played alongside numerous female and non-binary rappers over the years, and books gender diverse electronic and band acts for his events. He applauds and encourages the rising number of women and non-binary individuals in the Australian rap scene. He is also the first Australian Artist Ambassador for Global Citizen, an actiontaking advocacy group striving to end global poverty by 2030. Daniel recently debuted his new single, Knowbody, at Sideway. It took 700 unused takes and three five-hour sessions to perfect the single, which is an exploration of “figuring out how to best understand yourself, and how social media can distract from that journey.” He has an upcoming Australian tour and will be performing at Spilt Milk 2019 in Canberra.
6 // NEWS
An Interview with ANU Artist Eben Ejdne AUTHOR // ELENA COUPER Eben is a fourth-year science and visual arts student at the ANU, currently creating portraiture and electronic music. He began creating art at a young age in his hometown of Ballarat by experimenting with watercolours and crafts, a practice which has since developed into a personalised and striking style of painting. Eben is also practised in the cello, piano and guitar, and has been producing electronic music since the age of 16. Displaying a keen interest in various forms of art from infancy, Eben developed a distinctive artistic expression by resourcing much of his inspiration and technique online. His Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) artwork was selected for Top Arts, and he has gone on to major in painting at the ANU. Eben has sold a handful of his artworks privately, as some universities discourage students from exhibiting work publicly while studying. Students at the ANU do have an opportunity to present at their graduation show, although the School of Art takes a 40 per cent commission for each artwork that a student sells. The ANU’s policy, however, is a sad reality for art graduates, as galleries generally take high commissions. As a result, young artists such as Eben have turned to more accessible platforms, such as social media, to exhibit and access art. The relationship between art and the internet is reflected in some of Eben’s most recent work, where the subject matter for his portraits are sourced from social media. “I’m exploring how I, or people like me, consume content online, and how men portray themselves online … [and] how people see themselves ... because I think that’s a big part of queer identity.” Not only was the internet a platform on which Eben was able to investigate the artistic world, but it was also one of the only viable options by which he was able to explore his identity. For Eben, identifying as queer led to much of his personal expression being internalised, as “a lot of young gays sort of grew up on the internet, and that’s how they discovered themselves.”
Creative communities tend to be more open, providing an opportunity for people to “ma[ke] their own spaces, not necessarily to protect themselves, but to create their own avenue of creating queer art.” This is further investigated in Eben’s recent portraits, which depict faces taken from scenes in same-sex pornography. Eben’s own identity was explored and expressed through the internet in his socially formative years. He can translate this experience through the sourcing of his subject matter. Initially avoiding depicting men in his art, Eben’s content has shifted into questions of masculinity and how “that ties into male queer identity.” Masculinity can be a particularly prevalent issue within the queer community due to the aesthetic categorisation exacerbated by pornography and dating apps. Such pornographic ‘tribes’ can be inherently problematic due to labelling, which can discriminate “in terms of body image, [and] racism.” “I’m interested in the relationships people have with themselves and also with other people’s image, like how people perceive themselves in relation to how that affects how they interact with the world or their own circle, …. that’s always in the back of my mind I guess…” By focusing explicitly on the faces of men in pornographic scenes, Eben completely removes the sexual context and its inherent labels. What is left is a raw depiction of human identity, as even in the throes of sex, regardless of physique or sexual identity, exists a person. Such a focus is the mechanism by which Eben can encompass an exploration of “broader identity,” which is so powerful and resonates deeply with viewers. In addition to his work in the sphere of visual art, Eben produces electronic music in which he samples his own voice, and for which he designs the cover art. Eben (Ekzander) will be supporting Assembler Code at Sideway on October 13. Following graduation, Eben plans to pursue music and art further in Melbourne, and potentially complete postgraduate studies in Europe.
CAMPUS
CAMPUS | FEATURES
ARTWORK : MADDY MCCUSKER // 9
rETRO IN THE MODERN ERA AUTHOR // LUIS BURNS
CONTENT WARNING: Oppression, Abortion The world has never been so deeply connected yet also so irrefutably fragmented as it is in 2019. Age-old divisions of race and culture are being fought on new battlefields such as the internet. Yet, with all these steps backward, if we look retrospectively to the icons of the past (those that took leaping jumps forward) they could point us in the direction of a better, brighter future. Yes, we’ve all seen how younger generations have taken old trends and icons and adapted them to their own culture, making something that is ‘retro’ or even hipster. Look no further than the return of the fanny pack: an item once worn by disco icons like Donna Summer, now a streetwear favourite produced by great fashion houses like Gucci. But these trends that lit up past culture may just be the right guide for that same culture in the present time. We can see by the way we dress today that retro has a deep influence in shaping the clothing we identify with. However, looking beyond the superficial layer of clothing, let’s see how the ‘retro’ influence reflects our solidarity with tacit ideas and movements. For example, the cotton maxi-dresses, sandals and widebrimmed white hats so popular amongst young girls today are reminiscent of the clothes worn by the women of the flower-power hippy movement of the 1960s. This movement idealised peace, freedom and love against their warring administrations, a message essential to the modern world. Likewise, the return of African-American women arranging their hair in a complex system of braids and knots shows solidarity with the indigenous African cultures in the United States. This peaceful and silent protest actively defies the nation’s history of oppression. Perhaps these retro influences, as well as shared pasts and political
movements, could help us identify with each other in a world that is coming apart. The inherent power of retro extends beyond hairstyles and maxi dresses, of course. We need look no further back than the trailblazing icons of the 1970s and 1980s. Recently, we have seen a regression in the rights of women across the world as societies titter backward towards old oppressive systems that would stymie the rights of women. An example of this backward movement is the banning of abortions across America. Yet, looking to self-empowered retro female icons who are in touch with their worth, abilities and talents might just be the divine inspiration needed for women today continuing their fight. Look at Madonna: the original ‘Material Girl’ brought female sensuality and sensibility to the forefront of pop culture, successfully competing with male juggernauts like Michael Jackson and Bruce Springsteen. Who better to imbue young girls with the confidence to simply live uninhibited in a world full of (mostly unwanted) male opinions about women? Retro icons such as Madonna are symbols of empowerment, confidence and self-love. Looking to them might just point us in the direction of a better tomorrow. ‘Retro’ is coming back despite today’s modernity, and it’s exactly what we need. The positive symbolic icons of the retro era represent the identity they create, be it a maxi dress, box braids or even Madonna. They say that those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it, and it seems that with the return of retro, school is in session.
12 // CAMPUS | NOSTALGIA
ARTWORK : ELIZA WILLIAMS
Vintage is Back, Baby AUTHOR // ELLIE NICHOLLS
Vintage could never be considered a new trend, not when it’s been a factor in the price of watches, jewelery, books and even electronics for decades. But the importance of the trend for the younger generations of today exists in interesting contradiction to our portrayals in the media. The contrast between the widespread desire for tangible ‘old’ items against our prescribed world of the internet (as the digital generation) could give anyone a headache. ‘Retro’ as an idea is primarily the product of recent decades, with its separation from vintage seemingly resting in the decades from which specific ideas stem. Retro doesn’t appear in popular media from the 1950s or 1960s, but those are the eras we would now consider to fit this description most accurately. Why? Probably because these were some of the most innovative and original periods for fashion, consumer items and popular culture. So, why do we love vintage and retro items so much? Maybe we crave the things that we can hold in our hands and own. You can’t exactly hold your Netflix or Spotify subscription in your hands or put them on a bookshelf. We are a generation that is painted as desiring all things digital and instantaneous, and maybe we do. But our desire for retro items that have been around for longer than most of us (and will survive all we put them through) is hopefully confusing for those generations that would try to pigeonhole us. The tangibility of vintage items and ideas appeals to a very specific part of the digital generation’s soul. Ideas of retro games, vinyl records or Polaroid pictures encapsulate this to the extreme. Fashion is also a very notable and accessible aspect. Clothing is already a necessity, so it may as well be something that also expresses our individuality.
Interestingly, as retro and vintage items re-entered the mainstream appetite for younger generations, so too were they taken up by brands as the next source of trend building. This is not just something to be witnessed in the fashion of big retailers like H&M and Cotton On, but in other physical items. Vinyl records, for example, have witnessed a huge resurgence, and not only with genuinely vintage ones. Huge numbers of modern artists have also piled onto this seemingly outdated technological trend, making it just one of the stranger modern concepts to get your head around. A recent jaunt into Typo revealed entire tabletops of miniature ‘Game Boy’ style games or the classic Tamagotchis that were banned at many a primary school. The desire for these retro-style items (games that we could probably find higher quality versions of on our phones, or vintage records that will never fit in our pockets) seemingly stems from a markedly different desire than ease and accessibility. Nostalgia is a powerful force. We linger over personal memories and concepts that we can re-create, like our yearning for childhood and Tamagotchis. Simultaneously, we crave the simpler years that we haven’t experienced, holding this nostalgia even for time periods we were never a part of. Maybe our love for vintage plays into the same idea of escapism that makes shows like Game of Thrones so popular: they provide us with a way to escape aspects of the reality which we have been dealt. Or, maybe the tangibility of the items contrasts with the intangible nature of so much of our modern entertainment. But whatever it is, retro and vintage in all their forms seem like they’re here to stay. The cycle will likely continue to serve the purpose of filling the nostalgia of the next generation, but I do wonder whether digital services will ever fit into the vintage narrative. Instead, they may simply exist as fixed points of fashion, technology and popular culture: static points in ever-changing tapestries.
CAMPUS | SOCIETY
ARTWORK : ADRIAN SCHMIDT // 13
We Used To Be Happy AUTHOR // SAMIA EJAZ
1950
1970
Now
2030
2050
CONTENT WARNING: Brief Mentions of Hate Crime and Discrimination Controversy is the highlight of the first world experience. In a time when disagreement is substituted for being opinionated, we pride ourselves on our abilities to argue and debate – to get our points across irrespective of the confirmatory value of our assertions. Having an opinion, even as invalid as they come, has become the norm. Seemingly trivial, this has massive implications on our functioning as a society, particularly when a large number of us start living by certain erroneous ‘facts of life’. Not only are these ‘facts of life’ damaging, but they also mislead us in far too many ways. While I don’t have the time or resources to censor everything that is ruthlessly brought to light by the larger, uninformed public, I do reserve the right to correctly stand by what I care for, and I stand by the notion of happiness and what exactly it means to us. No one here needs any convincing that we are unhappy. There are constant reminders in the form of unpaid student loans and low job prospects postgraduation. We are lying about the status of diversity and acceptance, because even at our best, hate crime and discrimination are ripping away at the fabric of our society faster than ever. At the micro-level, there is the falling number of likes, comments and followers on Instagram, your empty DMs and the lack of notifications on your mobile phone. Facebook is held together by the forces of depressed teenagers, unwilling young adults and exhausted seniors. It is the universe telling us that we are even more alone despite the hundreds of connections on social media. So the question, then, is what now? I think we would all benefit from a little sanity check. Remember the good old times? The pre-internet era when people had to physically come knocking at your door just to say, “Hi, how’s it going?” And you had to purposefully go shopping, because buying handbags and other goods was not simply a click away? When binge-watching was not particularly an issue because there was next to nothing to binge on? Probably not. Allow me to help you visualise that. We are talking about a time when the only creepy stalkers in existence were the shady people lurking around the takeaway drive-through after dark. A time when people only ever spent their lives with others of the same colouring and heritage as them, those who shared their morals and founding beliefs. Foreigners
were exactly that, foreign: exotic and exquisite. It was a time of global peace because the world, in its entirety, was tossed from one colonising empire to another, so the very concept of a civil war was trivial. Back then, things were good. We used to be happy. Today, our inboxes threaten to explode from the persistent message requests from never-before-met strangers. There is a constant red-flag flashing in the back of our minds whenever a mildly-stalkerish person materialises out of thin air. In this era, there is socio-political turmoil surrounding the very concepts of racial, ethnic and gender diversity. Education and empowerment seem to do too little to help us here. Wars break out with every dawn, spanning the surface of the earth and leaving nothing but a volatile minefield of catastrophic destruction and dire hopelessness. No matter where we go, what we do, who we pretend to be, disaster plagues our existence. But guess what? We, in all our first-world glory, are living behind the veil of a fabricated experience. We make weak attempts to mend the tainted, dysfunctional face of reality, thinking that a social media shout-out, an online campaign, or even a passionate word-vomit on Facebook is sufficient for the job. That maybe if we got another dozen likes and shares, we could package all the grief and mishap and toss it away and out of our lives for good. Maybe then, we could be happy. The issue is, we are close to this point, but not close enough. We are doing things right, but not quite right enough. For you see, the 21st century is both gifted and tested with the intimidating power of awareness. Interconnectedness has become a liability after it started as our saviour. And now, what if I told you that perhaps we never were happy? Perhaps the sole distinction between now and then was that we didn’t have as many conventions for our unhappiness. That the mere development of the concepts of privacy, equality, peace and prosperity has been our ultimate undoing. Perhaps we were happier then because we could not characterise the world’s shortcomings as crucially as we do today. We were happier because life’s unlabeled inconveniences seemed trivial. Or was that just another pretense of happiness in itself?
14 // CAMPUS | WORK
STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST WAGE THEFT AUTHOR // ROSIE PROCTOR
CONTENT WARNING: Economic Inequality This article comes after another high-profile chef, Shane Delia, joins the list of leading industry personalities accused of stealing wages from their employees. I watched on as MasterChef’s George Calombaris gave his public pleas, and if I digested anything it is that now is no time to listen to apologies from corporate celebrities. We must centralise the voices and experiences of over 500 individual workers and their families affected by systemic patterns of wage theft. If George reads this article and remembers one thing, it is that he is welcome to come over anytime for a hearty (vegetarian) roast. Often as young workers, we might feel that it is easier to just move on from employers who say that we are helping their small business and then are blatantly underpaying us. We are treated as valuable employees one day and disposable workers the next. Our struggles are reduced to temporary, inevitable experiences that somehow toughen us up and prepare us for the ‘real world’. I gradually spoke up, not because I suddenly woke up and realised what my rights were, but because I saw patterns of exploitation in our menus, in our streets, from 7/11’s to vegan cafes. Despite the fact that I’d worked in the same industry for a longer time period than my university degree, like many other young workers I considered my work temporary and did not consider joining a union. By reassuring our co-workers that we all deserve fair pay and good working conditions, we can together play a role in normalising paying workers fairly. Wage theft manifests in a variety of forms, from underpaying wages, penalty rates, superannuation and overtime to making unauthorised deductions. Wage theft reduces consumer demand by cutting incomes and reducing discretionary spending, and its anti-competitive behaviour allows businesses that break the law to gain a competitive edge over those that comply with the law. Currently, the fines for ignoring requests for back pay and not paying up are too low and are skewed in favour of bosses. We resort to using the media as a tool to redress injustice instead of the law. Reduced power to unions and the limited resources of the Fair Work Ombudsman mean that costs involved in prosecution can outweigh the likelihood of discovering evidence of stolen wages and superannuation. Noncompliance is addressed with such impunity that our minimum standards are next to redundant. Ultimately, it has become part of a thrifty business model for businesses to underpay employees and assume any potential requests to repay wages or pay fines as part of its operational costs. Data collected by Industry Super Australia reveals that almost one in two of us are underpaid in superannuation. According to a 2019 Report into
Young Workers experiences in ACT workplaces released a few weeks ago, 62.4 per cent of respondents stated that they experienced underpayment in the last 12 months, and 38.4 per cent of these individuals said that they would not attempt to recover stolen wages out of fear of losing their jobs. Even with the committed organising, campaigning and strong backing from unions, we cannot expect just outcomes within a system built on the exploitation of young workers, temporary work visa holders and unprecedented corporate avoidance. It also doesn’t help that certain groups and political stakeholders continue to advocate for laws that threaten the right to strike. Their attempts actively discourage young workers from joining a platform that aims to provide them with a voice and protection against injustice. If over time an employee laundered $7.8 million from their employer, I suspect that the consequences might differ and result in greater penalties and a criminal conviction. If wage theft is often accidental, why have most of us never experienced overpayment? George Calombaris admitted that he’s not shying away from the ‘mistake’, and yet he also admitted that he asked for a pay rise and received every cent. The MasterChef judge also explained on ABC’s 7:30 Report that he and his co-workers lacked the necessary experience back then, but the truth is that no business starts off as being experienced. I suspect, like anyone who has climbed up the food chain in hospitality, Calombaris invested long, difficult hours as an apprentice chef, not always receiving what he was owed and performing surplus duties to what was expected of him. It’s not as complicated as making gravy to know that following the law and treating workers’ rights is important. There are some promising changes to look out for. Recently proposed ACT laws hope to restore workers’ accessibility to seek justice quickly and simply. These laws would clarify referral powers to allow state and territory magistrate courts to hear small claims matters. The changes seek to address some of the barriers involved in hearing matters at the Fair Work Commission or Federal Court, often involving a lack of resources, high costs and lengthy delays. For the sake of all the underpaid workers out there, for the young female, LGBTQIA+, non-binary, migrant and non-native English speakers who face even higher rates of discrimination and poor treatment at work, for those who try to speak up but struggle to be heard, let’s together call it out for what it is. I refuse to hear corporate celebrities substantiate their ‘accidents’ and protect their reputations. By standing together we can amplify the voices of our co-workers loud and clear, making sure we receive the justice we deserve.
ARTWORK : MADDY MCCUSKER // 15
Who to talk to if you think you’re experiencing wage theft/know someone who is currently? Young Workers Centre The Young Workers Centre provides free, confidential information and support to workers aged under 25 years. Check out up-to-date fact sheets and articles, find out about upcoming RAW (rights at work) workshops and events, hear about the latest campaigns and use the online chat at www.youngworkerscbr.org.au/advice Join the Facebook group and chat with other young workers: Young Workers CBR Phone: 02 6225 8104 ANUSA Legal Service Email: sa.admin@anu.edu.au or parsa.legal@anu. edu.au Phone: 02 6125 2444 Fair Work Ombudsman Know a workplace that isn’t doing the right thing, but don’t want to get involved? You can report it anonymously. Website: https://fairwork.gov.au/contact-us Australian Capital Territory Human Rights Commission Phone: 02 6205 2222 Why you should join a union ? While young workers disproportionately experience wage theft, they are the least likely to hold a union membership. Particularly given the casual and unreliable nature of the work young people engage in, it is important that young people are aware of the role of unions. By standing in solidarity with other workers, union members can feel less isolated and better able to have their voices heard. If you are not a union member, you can contact the Australian Council of Trade Unions at www.actu.org. au or UnionsACT to find out more information. United Voice (a range of industries including hospitality, health and education) Member contact line: 1800 805 027 Fax: (02) 6273 1628 Address: Unit 5, 2nd floor 40 Brisbane Ave, Barton ACT 2600 Email: act@unitedvoice.org.au
SDA (Retail, Fast Food and Warehouse) Email: secretary@sdansw.asn.au Phone: 02 9281 7022 or 131 732 Website: www.sdansw.org.au RAFFWU (for restaurant and fast food) Email: contact@raffwu.org.au HospoVoice This is Australia’s first digital union’, offering a range of online services and starting up campaigns such as ‘Respect is The Rule’, for $10 a month. This is only available in Victoria, but you can follow their Instagram for recent campaigns and stories.
16 // CAMPUS | ADVOCACY
Promises of change AUTHOR // ELEANOR COOPER
CONTENT WARNING: Mentions of Sexual Assault and Harassment
ARTWORK : MADDY MCCUSKER // 17
This year the ANU has opened two new residential halls and relocated two others. In light of this, the residential forum in Week 4 was long overdue. After months of advocacy from the Interhall Council (IHC) and other student organisations, the ANU arranged for a one-hour forum in which students from all halls, lodges and colleges could provide feedback on their residential experiences. To put this in context, with the 10 halls at ANU, this equates to only six minutes each to put forward every issue they had. The forum took place on the top floor of Marie Reay, but the crowd of students could have filled Manning Clark. The tables were full and students lined the walls three or four deep, with Fenner Hall, Bruce Hall, Wright Hall and Wamburun Hall merch abounding. Every table had a few feedback sheets where students could write what was going well and what should be changed. From what I saw, the side for criticism had far more writing. The first half of the forum was dedicated to hallspecific recommendations. The opening suggestion was the re-introduction of deputy heads and was repeated by students from Wright, Bruce and Wamburun. Bruce Hall lost their deputy head when they moved location. They were promised three onsite counselors to replace the deputy head, as well as a review of the new residence to be completed before the end of Semester One 2019. This turned out to be an unfulfilled commitment, and there was no student consultation about the feasibility of building two new residential communities from scratch with only one head and, in Wamburun’s case, only one community coordinator. The loss of a deputy meant a huge increase in the heads’ workloads, and consequently diminished the amount of support available for residents. Halving the amount of fulltime pastoral staff was a decision made without adequate consultation, let alone the lack of post hoc discussions with the affected halls. Another recurrent issue was the lack of transparency or action around the ‘Nous Review’. To date, it was only made available to the heads of halls in 2018 and to no other residential staff or student leaders. This review, as acknowledged at the forum by Belinda Farrelly and Chris Grange, contained specific recommendations for dealing with sexual assault and sexual harassment in residential halls. No representative from the ANU gave an explanation as to why it had not been made available to the first responders to such incidents, such as staff and pastoral care leaders. The call for true accountability for the ANU was made from every hall present. Students living on campus have been facing rising fees for years. In spite of this, there have been concurrent cuts to residential services and scholarships, and recently a contract extension of two weeks to begin next year. There were also requests for better fiscal transparency from hall management and the Division of Student Life itself. A Bruce Hall resident noted that the Division of Student Life receives hundreds of thousands of dollars of
funding each year, yet provides comparatively little account of how that money is spent. Perhaps they can learn from the student organisations at the ANU that provide detailed information about their spending. Accountability extended to the hidden disparities between halls, especially regarding pastoral care. UniLodge and Wamburun Hall have a ratio of 40 to 50 residents to each senior resident , while other halls enjoy the one to 25 ratio to which the vicechancellor committed back in 2016. This level of disparity in pastoral care is unacceptable, especially considering the number of international students at UniLodge who are often most at risk of alienation due to language and cultural differences. However, regardless of the demographic make-up of the hall, there were calls from multiple residents for changes to the existing system. The tone of the evening was one not only of frustration from students who were trying to make their halls better, but also of support from more stable halls. A student from Ursula Hall noted the conspicuous absence of Burgmann College, Ursula Hall and other established colleges who have deputy heads, the recommended ratio of senior residents to residents, and steady rent. As the student said, the best practice for pastoral care is common knowledge, and student demands to reach those standards are not unreasonable. At the end of the forum, cutting into the hour promised to residents to voice their concerns, the ANU panel (Chris Grange, Tony Foley and Belinda Farrelly) acknowledged and replied to the issues raised. Grange made a commitment to create a system of student consultation on the changes that need to be implemented in the pastoral care system. He also stated that he would commit to finding the money for those changes. The idea of IHC as a feedback mechanism seemed to be well-received. The panel identified the pastoral issues as the most critical issue, including the senior resident systems and the missing deputy heads and community coordinators. They acknowledged that the lack of these systems fed into issues such as sexual assault on campus and mentioned the need to implement the ‘Nous Review’ recommendations. There was also a specific mention of another forum to be held within the next few weeks. Finally, there was a lot of talk of working together and taking student feedback into account when making decisions. This sounds promising. However, considering the dearth of student consultation by the ANU in the past, these promises have to be taken with a grain of salt. As pointed out by a member of the IHC at the conclusion of the forum, the university has committed to some really progressive changes in the past. These commitments just haven’t been met.
18 // CAMPUS | INTERNATIONAL
ARTWORK : ADRIAN SCHMIDT
Justice forfeit AUTHOR // EAMMON GUMLEY
CONTENT WARNING: Suicide On August 10, financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein died in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York. Under investigation for allegedly running an underage sex trafficking ring, Epstein was housed in Manhattan in a prison referred to as the Guantanamo of New York. The prison is notorious for holding terrorists, drug kingpins and gang members as they await trial. In good company, it is officially reported that Epstein committed suicide by hanging himself in his prison cell. This was his second attempt at suicide at the same facility.
This brings us to why Cruz was so outraged about Epstein’s suicide. It removed the ability of the US legal system to hold him responsible for his alleged crimes, and limited solutions for his victims. Epstein’s move to place nearly all his assets in a trust two days before the suicide suggests that Epstein knew this as well. Estates make it difficult for victims to gain access to damages, and lawyers estimate that it will take years for an outcome. Epstein took full advantage of the limitations of modern justice, ensuring that justice would no longer be properly administered.
Outrage at Epstein’s suicide was almost immediate. United States Attorney General William Barr vowed ‘accountability’, while senior Texas Republican Ted Cruz voiced his indignation that prison authorities had allowed Epstein “to take the coward’s way out.” Cruz added that Epstein deserved the ninth circle of hell, a reference to the frozen subterranean wasteland in Dante’s Inferno. Cruz’s hyperbolic discourse successfully conveyed his contempt for Epstein. It also inadvertently demonstrated the contrasts between past and modern Western conceptions of justice. In particular, it highlighted the issue of posthumous justice within modern justice.
Epstein’s case makes it obvious that modern conceptions of justice have an issue with posthumous justice. Without a person to punish and with the legal difficulty of suing estates, the modern legal system finds itself at an impasse in respect to furthering justice. On the other hand, past conceptions have little difficulty with creating the perception that justice has been served.
Posthumous justice has not always been an issue. The Medieval Catholic Christian perception of justice contained strong views on the issue. Cruz unconsciously channeled this view in his reference to Inferno. Cruz’s chosen destination for Epstein, the ninth circle of hell, is reserved for perpetrators of treachery: in Epstein’s case, treachery in the special relationships between adult and child. The average person would not find it unreasonable to expect that, if the ninth circle were a destination in which one could end up, Epstein would be in the frozen lake in the company of Satan, Judas and Brutus. The key feature of this dark fantasy is that Epstein’s hellish punishment is posthumous. Criminals in the past were imprisoned while still alive, but it was believed that the real punishment awaited them in the afterlife. In the Abrahamic world, death was thought of as little consolation for perpetrators. In the Middle Ages, Epstein’s suicide would have been of little relevance given the eternal damnation that lies ahead of him. This is in stark contrast to modern secular conceptions of justice. In the western world, criminal justice centers upon the idea of material punishment and restorative justice. Common punishments include prison time, community service and financial penalties. The most important part of these approaches is that they require the subject be alive to experience their punishment.
It should be made clear that this isn’t an argument for past conceptions. Perceptions of justice remain merely perceptions. Modern conceptions are also more coherent and just. However, reflecting upon the past has highlighted the current issue with posthumous justice. Given the difficulties with bringing Epstein’s victims justice, it is obvious that more effort needs to be directed into posthumous justice. These could be reforms to estate legislation, posthumous trials and better suicide prevention to prevent posthumous justice being an issue at all. Small actions like these could prevent individuals like Epstein from shortcircuiting modern justice, abrogating responsibility and furthering injustice.
CAMPUS | POLITICS
ARTWORK : ELIZA WILLIAMS // 19
IS GREENLAND FOR SALE? AUTHOR // RIDDHI MEHTA
If you recently read a headline that you assumed was from The Onion or The Betoota Advocate, you might want to look back to make sure it was satire, because lately the line seems to be getting progressively blurrier. At the risk of sounding unabashedly biased against President Donald Trump, if his theatrical antics have not been troubling enough, his quest to burn bridges is outright problematic. Three years into the most tumultuous presidency the country has ever seen, it is still hard to tell if the president of the United States of America understands the consequences of his words – whether they are presented in his ridiculous tweets or his equally falsified speeches. When dealing with internal politics, calling fellow politicians ‘crooked’, ‘crazy’ and ‘lyin’ may not amount to much. After all, Trump supporters believe that Trump ‘says it like it is’. Temper tantrums in international politics, however, can have far-reaching consequences. This means heating up things even in the coolest of places – the Arctic. Trump’s proclamation to buy Greenland caused quite a stir amongst the Greenland government and Danish politicians, escalating an avoidable situation and resulting in tensions between the two countries. Denmark holds a strong stance on their autonomous territory, dismissing Trump’s proposal as insane. They also reaffirmed that “Greenland is not for sale. Greenland is not Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland”, while still maintaining that they were “open for business”. Trump retorted by canceling his trip, since Greenland negotiations were not on the table, and added that Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was “nasty”. These events might seem incredibly outlandish, however these actions are rooted in calculated objectives. US ambitions for the Arctic and Greenland in particular are not new, and the Trump administration is not the first to express interest in Greenland, with three prior presidents attempting, and to some extent succeeding, in doing so. However, colonialist expansionist tendencies are generally frowned upon in this century, and the blatant disregard for Greenland’s autonomy only highlights Trump’s ignorance. But what is it about Greenland that makes it so strategically important? Most literature in popular media surrounding Greenland has largely been about the visibly tremendous effects of climate
change in the region and the prospects of disastrous consequences. Greenland is considered to be ‘ground zero’ for climate change. 80 per cent of Greenland is a vast ice sheet, and if it were to completely melt it would contribute to a 20 foot rise in global sea levels. The rapid melting of the ice sheet is opening up new sea routes that make accessing the economically strategic parts of Greenland easier. The world’s largest island possesses vast amounts of undisclosed reserves of natural gas and oil as well as a trove of rare earth minerals. Besides natural resources, Greenland is also important because of its geographical location and its political implications. The US has retained a beachhead on the Thule Air Base since 1943, and with the increased flurry of activity from its Russian and Chinese counterparts, is likely looking to expand their military, as well as economic, footprint. There have been reports of Russia reviving its Cold War-era facilities and rapidly militarising the arctic region. China is not an arctic nation, but this has not stopped it from bidding to buy land in Greenland and Iceland alongside increasing economic and scientific investments. In light of these events, it is important for the US to stand their ground in the Arctic, however Trump’s version of diplomacy has cost him muchneeded cooperation to make a practical deal with Denmark and Greenland. On the other hand, Greenland is integral for Denmark to maintain its position with big players such as Canada, Russia and the US in the Arctic. While Greenland is autonomous, it does receive a large portion of its funding from Denmark, which makes their interdependent relationship critical. It is obvious that the Arctic is increasing in importance, and as part of the Danish realm Greenland enables Denmark to punch above its weight to benefit its position and standing in the international arena. It is clear that there is a race for Arctic dominance, and no one wants to lag behind. The major powers are willing to do anything to secure their own capabilities, be it through military expansionism or reverting to colonial ideals of buying out nations. If the inaction on climate change is not enough, the countries we look to as world leaders are now capitalising on the negative effects to exploit areas they could not reach before for their own gains.
20 // CAMPUS | RELATIONSHIPS
CINDERELLA VS. POLYAMORY AUTHOR // ANNABELLE MOTTERAM
“What are your thoughts on polyamory?” My friend looked at me, puzzled, prompting the instinctive reply: “Oh no, I’m doing an article – it’s not about me!”.
I was mortified at the accusation that I had strayed from a monogamous relationship model sold to me by Disney princesses from the age of five. However, as I would come to learn, Cinderella-style relationships might not be as wonderful as I once thought, especially with the popularity of open relationships on the rise.
ARTWORK : MADDY MCCUSKER // 21 But my reaction did get me thinking, why had I never considered it? When I discussed polyamory with both men and women, without fail they all commented on how it would affect their self-esteem and remarked on, of course, the inherent jealousy factor. The thought of their partner (or potential partner) sleeping with other people was a clear source of insecurity. When I considered how polyamory could realistically manifest in my life, the defeating questions that came to my mind were, “is she better?”, “is she prettier?”, and, if I’m being perfectly and despondently honest, “is she skinnier?” A Freudian moment, to say the least, as I was still only focusing on the physical. I hadn’t even factored in the emotional and intellectual connections that my imaginary partner could form when engaging in other relationships. I decided to consult my loving 49-year-old mother about polyamorous relationships. She sighed, alluding to how exhausting it sounded after 20 years of monogamous marriage, and horrifyingly explained how it would be a logistical nightmare. Despite the pragmatic flexibility of polyamory, choosing an open relationship would mean reconstructing my entire idea of love. A friend of mine, once the poster girl for anti-marriage, is now a committed monogamist after finding a partner whom she describes as being “my person”. She acknowledges how fundamentally different they are (and how often they argue...), but with a small smile tells me how he has shifted her perspective on relationships. It was just a matter of finding someone who was right for her. Maybe the reverse could happen for people like me, who choose monogamy because it’s all most of us have ever known. Upon reflection, these initial assumptions about polyamorous relationships were incredibly naïve and maybe a little self-centred. What about the positive aspects of polyamory that most of us refuse to acknowledge? The television network ABC airs a thought-provoking show titled You Can’t Ask That, which interviews groups of marginalised Australians. In one episode, they interviewed advocates for polyamory. One man said that one of the greatest aspects of polyamory was watching his two partners fall in love with one another. Perhaps judgmentally, I experienced discomfort at that prospect. However, I soon realised it was my own cognitive dissonance that has, and probably always will, prevent me from accepting polyamory as a suitable form of relationship for myself. Even though I will probably die a serial monogamist, my imagined polyamorous journey has led me to believe that they truly are a misjudged group. More than anything, they are members of society who perhaps have the most open hearts and minds of all in the pursuit of love. Nevertheless, so many of us perceive polyamorous people as distinctly ‘Other’: as sex-crazed, amoral beings who exist on the fringe of society. In reality, they might just be human beings taking a radically practical approach to their romantic relationships. Monogamy expects us to meet perfectly with our
chosen partner at every juncture – career, kids, family. I can acknowledge how monogamy puts pressure on individuals in ways that polyamory never will. Given that one in two marriages end in divorce, open relationships might just give people the freedom to change in accordance with their lives. Yet, admittedly, monogamy can be incredibly romantic in ways that polyamory isn’t. The prospect of dealing with the trials and tribulations of life beside one special person day in and day out is incredibly appealing, regardless of how profoundly impractical it is. I believe we seek out monogamy not because it’s infallible, but because the comfort and self-esteem gained in knowing that we have been exclusively chosen by another human being is crucial to us. The longevity manufactured in the Disney construct of everlasting love, albeit extremely idealistic, might serve as the greatest contrast to the unpredictability of our 21st century existence. We hold onto it like a lifeline, not only because it fulfills our perpetual desires for security and comfort, but also because we believe it will protect us from our intrinsic fears of change and rejection. The monogamous task of finding one perfect life partner who will just happen to grow with us seems almost impossible to me. The romantic Hollywood fantasy sold to us is arguably saturated in perfectionism, and exists only in film and dreams. It is the building block of the Australian Dream, alongside nuclear families, barbecues and ‘happy wife, happy life!’. The Australian monogamy fairy tale is an antiquated fantasy that deludes us. I’m not saying we need to trade in monogamy for polyamory, I’m saying that in order for either to work we need to readjust our perceptions of what relationships should be. I believe in committed relationships which are limitlessly nuanced. They consist of hard work, pain, happiness, love, communication, monotony and longevity. A committed relationship isn’t artificial, it’s real. It operates mercurially, as it reflects the erratic nature of human feeling and the turbulence of life. It looks nothing like the fairy tales portrayed in romance films, the contrived sexual energy in the notorious Fifty Shades, or the ineffable bond between Adam and Eve – it sits somewhere in between. Whether it be monogamy, polyamory or something else, I don’t think it matters. At the end of the day, it comes down to which form of relationship is the most compatible with who we are and what we want. I don’t think we can place relationships in the ‘one-size-fits-all’ category along with life jackets and falsely advertised socks. If I have learned anything from my imagined polyamorous explorations, it’s how important it is to be honest with yourself about who you are and what you need from romantic relationships. Monogamy cannot, and will not, suit everyone who chooses it. In the wise words of my beloved mother, I truly think it’s a matter of horses for courses.
22 // CAMPUS | RELATIONSHIPS
THE DILEMMA OF POLYAMORY AUTHOR // ELVIN ZHANG
CONTENT WARNING: Violence, Allusion to Incels, Brief Mention of War If you’ve ever watched a nature program on television, you may have noticed that primates often operate under polygamous or sexually promiscuous mating structures. Although this is by no means definitive evidence that humans, left without their social constructs, are a naturally non-monogamous species, perhaps it does point us in the right direction. Most evidence suggests that the type of monogamy witnessed in human civilisations is largely a consequence of social pressures. Put simply, we have not biologically evolved past our natural desire to have multiple sexual partners, we simply use social tools to repress this desire.
Upwards of 80 per cent of early human societies were polygamous, with many previously isolated groups having been documented as practising polyamory. Eskimos used to share their wives with household guests as a gesture of hospitality and brotherhood, while tribes in the Himalayan regions had customs where women were impregnated by multiple men so that the child could be fostered by multiple fathers. Though these customs may seem offensive to many of us now, they are undeniable facts of human history. Naturally, then, it would seem logical to ask: if polyamory is a traditional part of our existence, why did groups of humans use social codes to transform monogamy into the norm?
ARTWORK : ADRIAN SCHMIDT // 23
Broadly speaking, polyamory breeds conflict and can even leave entire countries war-torn. The top 20 most fragile states in the world are all somewhat, or very, polygamous. As one article by The Economist put it, “If the richest and most powerful 10 per cent of men have, say, four wives each, the bottom 30 per cent cannot marry. Young men will take desperate measures to avoid this state”. In response, advocates of polyamorous relationships typically suggest that polyamory is a broad term which encompasses many different types of relationships. It does not have to result exclusively in polygyny where it is only men who have multiple wives. Women can have multiple husbands as well. Polyamory also differs from polygamy in the lack of necessity for marriage or any form of commitment from both parties. Where a polygamous marriage would lock in the multiple women married to a single man, a polyamorous relationship would leave those women free to pursue other romantic interests, should they be so inclined. Theoretically, this might prevent the form of inequality witnessed in polygamous states and consequent violence. In practice, however, the unfortunate truth is that any society that is non-monogamous on a large enough scale will inevitably find itself having to deal with conflict. One of the main reasons for this is the fact that women are biologically inclined to be more selective of their sexual partners than men. This is an aspect of human sexuality that is almost universally acknowledged, as the burden of possible pregnancy is much higher for women. As a result, men with the most desirable traits will have access to many women, while men with fewer will be left without sexual choice. This creates and follows a Pareto distribution similar to the distribution of wealth. It is understandably difficult to sympathise with groups of men who would turn to violence and misogyny in response to their inability to find a sexual partner. However, this does not take away from the fact that these people will continue to exist and be problematic as long as there is inequality of outcome, even with the elimination of the patriarchy. The human desire for a sexual partner is so deeply rooted that, as any respectable psychologist would tell you, large groups of men unable to find one will, unfortunately, cause violence. What is truly interesting is that evolutionary biology appears to suggest that polyamory is the optimal way for humans to improve upon their genes. Males with desirable traits are able to pass on their genes on a large scale, while the genes of males with undesirable traits are left behind. Conflict seems also to be a natural part of this equation: most species of male primates compete with other males to access mates, which often involves physical violence. Unfortunately, the consequences
of conflict between primates are incomparable to the destructive possible consequences of modern human conflict. As a result, it is worth avoiding human conflict, even if it means going against our nature. But is it worth lying to ourselves? It is here that the dilemma arises. Throughout human history, monogamy has largely been enforced by social norms and moral guidelines. But there appears to be nothing immoral about polyamory in and of itself. Indeed, human nature dictates that we desire multiple sexual partners, the consequences associated with it just happen to be negative. Surely, we cannot continue to lie to ourselves by saying the reason we practice monogamy is that it is morally just. The problem, however, is that without this method of moral enforcement, we risk allowing a culture of polyamory to take hold. As mentioned, in practicality this could be disastrous. The alternatives to moral enforcement are mostly impossible to achieve. State enforcement of monogamy would be both tyrannical and impractical. On the other hand, it seems impossible for us to change human nature in a way that eliminates the inequality a polyamorous society would produce. Although there is no clear answer to this dilemma, evidence does indicate that monogamy, for the large part, is here to stay in western society. The large majority of women in rich western countries eventually seek a monogamous relationship in order to start a family. In particular, monogamous relationships can be beneficial to women and children as a man with only one partner can focus his full attention on them, allowing for full bi-parental care. Women’s attitudes are also changing towards how they pick their partners. A new wave of feminism has begun to critique the post-sexual revolution culture. It suggests female sexual liberation has simply benefited a small select group of men while achieving little for women. As feminist author Ariel Levy opines in her book Female Chauvinist Pigs, a sex-positive feminist culture has, at its core, the aim to please men. But the way women’s attitudes are changing towards how they pick their partners is also a positive indication that monogamy is here to stay. In essence, a committed, meaningful relationship with someone with less traditionally suitable traits might be preferable to being used by a desirable male with no fundamental respect for women.
22 // CAMPUS | TECHNOLOGY
ARTWORK : GEORGIE KAMVISSIS
the advent of technology AUTHOR // TOM OPIE, Woroni Features Sub-Editor
The year is 1999, with the countdown of the new millennium on everyone’s minds. The two major world wars are over, and the world slowly breathes out as we recover from the tit-for-tat of the Cold War. While the fashion choices are questionable, one thing is becoming ever more popular and permanent in society: technology has arrived. Two years earlier, 1997, saw the creation of WiFi: the technology that today allows us to connect to the Internet and share everything from funny photos to poorly written essays. However, just over two decades ago, WiFi was no faster than one megabit a second. In more accessible terms, this is about 40 times slower than the speed to which we are accustomed now. Also, as technology at the time was not mainstream, the general appeal of WiFi would have been limited at best. The application of WiFi was at first restricted to a few lab experiments to ensure that the technology was safe and reliable. Jump forward to 2007, and the world is being introduced to the iPhone. While Apple had already established itself as the hip, cool technology brand thanks to the iPod, they completely reset the expectations of a technology company with the release of the iPhone. Sure, there had been phones before this, but none to the quality or innovative standard of the iPhone. As with the introduction of the Mac in 1984, part of Apple’s process involved teaching people how to use their revolutionary iPhones. Concepts such as tapping, swiping and pinching were unfamiliar to the standard person. By contrast, today there are babies who know how to use an iPhone before they can string together their first sentence. And while these are just two examples of technological advancement, there have been many more. People separated by miles of oceans or land can connect and easily see each other, thanks to video calling. Children can see inside the Earth and explore its many layers from within classrooms, thanks to augmented reality. And, even more recently, we can almost live our entire technological lives without wires because of advancements in wireless charging technology.
The advent of technology has been rapid and has greatly impacted the world in many ways. But imagine for a moment if technology had not developed in this manner. Say, for example, that Apple had never invented the iPhone. What would the world look like now? In such a case, we might be less connected on a global level, but on a community level we could be better connected than ever before. People might be more engaged in conversations, valuing faceto-face interactions over sharing pictures of those same faces. If the iPhone had never been invented and people hadn’t created a tradition of buying a new phone every two years or so, would the environment be in a better situation than it is now? Given how much production goes into making the iPhone, there is a strong argument that without this technology we would be mining fewer natural resources and producing fewer emissions. Our environment could be substantially less destroyed than it is now. Child labour and grotesque working conditions may not have reached the levels they are at today if the iPhone hadn’t been invented. Even with the creation of such technology, if people simply did not buy a new phone as often there would be less demand for iPhones, which could have hugely beneficial consequences. In no way am I singling out the iPhone, or by extension Apple, as the key perpetrator of the environmental and social decline that is unfolding in today’s times. Technology existed before Apple, and even without the invention of the iPhone there is a high chance that similar devices would lead us to where we are today. Rather, my point is this: technology has advanced the world in unprecedented and unpredictable ways. If you were a journalist living in the 1950s teleported to today’s times, nobody from the period would believe your reports of modern technology. It is leading us toward greater opportunities for advancements and improvements for both individuals and communities, on a local and global level. However, if our advances are not closely monitored and moderated at a stable pace, we may just lose control of technology. And when that happens, it’s all over red rover.
PHOPTHPHOTOGRAPHY : JIAQI YAN // 23
CREATIVE
CREATIVE | SATIRE
ARTWORK : GEORGIE KAMVISSIS // 25 ARTWORK : DAVID GILL
the judith butler effect AUTHOR // RACHEL CHOPPING
Hey babe we need to talk Sure what’s up? I’ve been thinking... Don’t think we can be together any more :( What why?? Look I’ve been reading Judith Butler
The gender lady?? Josh I literally gave you Gender Trou ble for your birthday...you told me you thought it was woke... OK I skimmed it and it was SO hard to read Anyways...I’ve decided that your gender performativity adheres to the heterosexual matrix in ways that are too toxic for me to condone I plan to practice gender subversion throughout all aspects of my life and that means we have to break up soz Babe please can we just talk about this You’ll find my rea sons in Chapter 1, pp. 22-26 of the edition I gave you xx
I can’t believe you’re doing this Sorry but I’ve de cided to become a nonbinary ideological concept, really hope I have your support Maybe I’ll see you at Moose sometime?
28 // CREATIVE | SATIRE
ARTWORK : MADDY MCCUSKER
BARBIE MOVIES AND THIRD WAVE FEMINISM AUTHOR // RACHEL CHOPPING
The ANU has declared this morning that a new course examining the influence of Barbie’s golden era of cinema (2001-2009) on third-wave feminism is to be run in 2020. The course will be available to all students undertaking film and gender studies and is expected to draw huge amounts of interest, both academic and otherwise. The College of Arts and Social Sciences have congratulated the course creator, Dr Wendy Wigglepiggle, on its landmark ambition while the Colleges of Science and Engineering have maintained what can only be described as a shocked silence. “I think it’s a fantastic opportunity,” Dr Wigglepiggle informs us. “For this era of Barbie to be academically recognised in a research university like ANU is outstanding and long overdue.” Students may now enroll through the course code BARB1300 on ISIS and Dr Wigglepiggle encourages anyone with inquiries to contact her without hesitation. Due to the overwhelming response, a snippet from the working course outline has also been released: Week 1: Barbie of Swan Lake (2002) and Postfeminist Bodily Transformations Week 2: Postcolonial Discourse as seen in Barbie as the Island Princess (2007) Week 3: Empowering Dialogues in the Domestic sphere in Barbie in the Nutcracker (2001) Week 4: Guest Lecture: A Critical Comparison of Barbie as Rapunzel (2002) and Bratz: Passion 4 Fashion (2006) Week 5: Fairytopia Part 1 – The Female Gaze as seen in Barbie: Fairytopia (2005) Week 6: Fairytopia Part 2 – Barbie Fairytopia: Mermaidia (2006) and the Female Saviour Narrative Mid-Semester Break Week 7: Ethics of Violence and Justice in Barbie and the Three Musketeers (2009) Week 8: The Gothic Double in Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper (2004) Week 9: Dickens and Intertextuality: Barbie in a Christmas Carol (2008) Week 10: Discourses of Sisterhood, Skating and Song in Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus (2005) Exams
CREATIVE | POETRY
ARTWORK : ELIZA WILLIAMS // 29
a pot from damascus AUTHOR // FREYA COX
Encased behind glass, enshrined in a museum it stands under warm lights which reflect off its rounded ceramic curves lighting up the centuries-old aquamarine glaze the same colour as the Mediterranean Sea No doubt we paid to fly it here on a plane, swaddled in soft packaging I doubt it was shoved onto a leaky boat that threatened to sink and dump it into the sea Its body will never be tossed by careless waves its mouth submerged and filled with salty water pushing it down, down, down to arrive a broken and empty vessel on a desolate foreign shore It’s too precious for that It would be passed between nations for large sums of money welcomed by anyone There are no queues, no lines, no wait lists Doors are held open and officials smile Its city has been leveled to the ground like an anthill stomped upon by careless children scattering the ants in a flurry of alarm their tiny legs struggling to evade descending boots but now it is held safely by another nation They could not leave it to such ruin such catastrophe It must be preserved from the destruction preserved and protected What does it say when nations value people from Damascus less than a pot?
30 // CREATIVE | POETRY
21 AUTHOR // SOPHIE JOHNSON I’ve felt things before. I’m not some cold monster With a heart too frozen to be warmed. I’ve never been made of stone.
I adore my family. My heart is so full it’s almost bursting When we’re sitting on the couch Just being, just existing.
I treasure my friends. Smiles and laughter warm my veins, I trust them with the closest parts of me. It’s all familiar and comfortable.
I fall for strangers. I watch what people read As I sit quietly across from them, Imagining a life with someone I’ll never know.
I open my heart to characters. Reading is easier than breathing, I meet people so beautiful and flawed. I let them into my heart, giving them a home.
I’m used to all of these things. I’ve felt so much before. My heart is open and loud and easy But this is something new.
ARTWORK : GEORGIE KAMVISSIS // 31 It’s something new when I look at you And I know that how I feel Is written all over my face. I have nowhere to hide.
I’m obvious and artless. There’s nothing subtle or seductive, Nothing mysterious or dangerous. For me, you’ve hung the moon and stars.
I pour my broken soul into your hands, I lay strands of golden hair at your feet, I blow eyelashes into your path, I shout until my voice fades out.
There’s nothing confident or proud, Nothing flirty and self-assured, Nothing familiar or well-trodden About the way I’ve given you my heart.
But my soul runs through your spread fingers. You pick hair from your clothes and let it fall, Treading on lashes that wish you’d tarry a moment. I can’t tell if you’re refusing to hear me yell.
You’ve taken my heart from me, Like I didn’t have a say in the matter, But you glance away because you don’t want it, Even as it decides that it belongs to you.
I’ve felt things before, But never been so swept out to sea. Now I’m caught in the current of unrequited, And my heart breaks and beats and breaks again.
32 // CREATIVE | COMIC
ARTWORK : DAVID GILL
CREATIVE | POETRY
ARTWORK : ELIZA WILLIAMS // 31
ANDRAGOGY AUTHOR // VY TSAN
Midnight breakfast, sunless cereal and teaching myself how to come home again from instructions printed on the back of the box Practising, re-practising, recalling: couch seat, still warm from when you and I sat there last residual taste of a TV dinner microwaved by soft hums of self-conscious nostalgia French double-doors: no locks, just windows – no, just curtains open-wide like Mother’s arms Then Her far more Mother to me than the womb that knitted flesh into famine. To part with Her marks my time Before Christ, my own Anno Domini in technicolor But tonight Poor pupil to my own andragogy I’ve forgotten my keys, again. Outside, I think about how when people write love letters to cities, they are never about Sydney.
CULTURE
CULTURE | REVIEW
ARTWORK : GEORGIE KAMVISSIS // 33
Julia Gillard’s A Podcast of One’s Own AUTHOR // AURORA MUIR
CONTENT WARNING: Misogyny Julia Gillard is currently chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London, which is headquartered in the Virginia Woolf Building. She has recently taken to the airwaves to deliver A Podcast of One’s Own. Riffing on her iconic 2012 misogyny speech, the first and only female prime minister of Australia is offended by the lack of women in leadership. She aims to interview women in leadership positions across different fields in order to inspire and educate. She hopes that this will lead to a rectification of this lack of women in positions of power. The series’ first guest is Sandi Toksvig, whose voice you might recognise as the host of QI or the Great British Bake Off. They wonder why there are so few pages about women on Wikipedia and talk about Toksvig’s grand plan to remedy these historical gaps. They also discuss the Women’s Equality Party, which Toksvig co-founded in the United Kingdom. It is the only party, she says, which hopes to one day never exist. The second episode features Kathy Lette, author of Puberty Blues, who apparently, and hilariously, has had some ‘amazing’ nights out with Gillard. They discuss the treatment of women and mothers in the publishing industry and the necessity of female humour. Tanya Plibersek joins Gillard on episode three for a discussion about social media, affirmative action for gender equality and how Plibersek combines family life and a life in politics. There is something almost heartwarming about this episode. They obviously have a close relationship, and the interview feels real and particularly unguarded. The most recent episode is similarly a highlight. It features Pamela Hutchinson, the global head of diversity and inclusion for Bloomberg L.P., an international private financial, software, data and media company. This conversation focuses on Hutchinson’s career shift from law to ‘doing diversity and inclusion’ in a corporate world. Tying the series together are the ‘Big Questions’ at the end of each episode. In this segment Gillard asks her guests
what they would change about the world and what is the worst misogyny they have experienced. Gillard also presents a ‘fun’, or rather depressing, fact about women in leadership and a Virginia Woolf quote for each guest. It is satisfying and inspirational for Gillard and her guests to bring Woolf into their conversation, especially as they hope that their work encourages female leaders of the future. On a technical note, the podcast could do with a little fine tuning. Sometimes the intro is significantly quieter than the interview, and the audio is not always very professional: and, yes, most of the featured women are white and middle-aged, so there is room to improve on the diversity front. Undoubtedly Gillard and the team are aware of this. Finally, the four episodes have been sporadically released, and this feels like it could be another podcast that simply fizzles out. I’m crossing my fingers that this is not the case. Overall, I would recommend A Podcast of One’s Own, especially to women, as I think it truly achieves its goal. Julia (having spent these hours with her in my ears I think we are on a first-name basis) seems comfortable with her guests. She has worked with and been friends with them for many years. This podcast reminds me of being a ten-year-old raging feminist with little to no understanding of politics, business or the economy. It feels like sitting at the table with my mum and her friends, listening and absorbing their anger, pain and jokes. Only now, I’m closer to getting it. For young women, this podcast tells us that success is possible, but that nothing will be easy. It is equal parts fun, frustrating and inspirational – just what a podcast of one’s own should be. A Podcast of One’s Own is available wherever podcasts are found. It is theoretically released monthly, but appears to be without a clear set schedule. The most recent episode at the time of writing was released on August 1.
CULTURE | REVIEW
ARTWORK : GEORGIE KAMVISSIS // 35
Sapiens: A Cautionary Tale AUTHOR // LUCY PENNINGTON “We study history not to know the future but to widen our horizons, to understand that our present situation is neither natural nor inevitable, and that we consequently have many more possibilities before us than we imagine.” (Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens) Although they have only occupied a brief moment in the history of the universe, Homo sapiens’ time spent walking the Earth has been far from insignificant. In Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Dr Yuval Noah Harari traces the cognitive and technological development of the Homo genus over the past two and a half million years. It is a multidisciplinary mustread for social and natural scientists alike. The book is wittily written in a journalistic style, uniting colloquial language and academic subject matter. As such, Sapiens plays a crucial role in the debate between popular and academic history. This book is not an academic text, but it shouldn’t be criticised for that. History need not be confined to academia. It is vital that the raw information given to the public through ‘infotainment’ style texts is factually accurate. The ‘sprucing’ of historical texts for entertainment or economic value may render them less valuable than academic analyses. Yet as long as the information is accurate, texts such as Sapiens remain an important form of historical writing. Harari’s thesis includes a crucial observation on human history: that the struggles facing modern society are far from unprecedented. They are the consequences of clear historical trends in human actions that, despite often repeating themselves, open up human society to infinite opportunities. Language, according to Harari, is the key to unlocking these possibilities. Homo sapiens have the unique ability to create ‘social constructs’ and ‘imagined realities’, or more simply, to conjure myth. He uses the Peugeot corporation as an example. If every Peugeot car were to disappear along with its employees and offices, Peugeot would still exist as an entity without any physical connection to the world. In short, it is a ‘legal fiction’ or a ‘figment of our collective imagination’. Our ability to create institutions, religions and corporations gives us something no other animal has achieved: a purpose that fosters the cooperation of millions of individuals en masse. The possibilities for advancement are endless. However, more often than not, we limit ourselves to a small number of these conceivable options.
Across the world, forests are ablaze and ice caps are rapidly disappearing. This causes rampant loss of habitat, leaving many endangered species of flora and fauna in dire straights. Despite the plethora of alternatives at our fingertips, environmental degradation is accelerating exponentially. Here, Sapiens offers a simple, yet crucial, insight: such environmental damage has happened before, and humans have always been at fault. Mass extinctions occurred all over the globe as settlers reached the ‘Outer World’. At that time, most plant and animal species were unable to adapt to the new pinnacle of the food chain. For example, within a few 100 years of the Maori people’s arrival in New Zealand, 60 per cent of the country’s bird species and most of its megafauna were extinct. Harari demonstrates that despite our limitless cognitive potential, we often fall into the same historical cycles. We fail to confront unprecedented challenges, continuing on the path our ancestors once travelled. Throughout the carefully structured sections of the book, which chart various periods of history, Harari demonstrates that Homo sapiens tend to repeat themselves. As a species, we often fail to consider that we have infinite possibilities for development, and instead become very predictable. Despite all of humanity’s ‘advancements’, Harari’s book ends on a pessimistic note with the chilling question: “Did we decrease the amount of suffering in the world?” What next? Will we pursue a new path or fall back into old habits? Harari attempts to answer these questions in the second book in this series, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow. We have so much knowledge at our fingertips, but do not know what to do with it. There is a cosmic number of possibilities for advancement, and history tells us we have the capacity to fulfill them. Harari leaves us with one final question: “Is there anything more dangerous than dissatisfied and irresponsible gods who don’t know what they want?” Will humans, “the animal[s] that became god[s]”, fall into the same dangerous cycles as our ancestors? Harari proposes that the purpose of studying history is to be ‘liberated’ from the past. But can we move beyond it?
38 // CULTURE | MULTILINGUAL
LA LINGUA IMMAGINATA DELL’ITALIA AUTHOR // CAHILL DI DONATO
‘Parlo Italiano,’ è discutibilmente una delle frasi più fraintese che un Italiano possa sentire. Parlo Italiano, i miei nonni parlano Italiano ma sarebbe praticamente impossibile per noi avere una conversazione comprensibile. Ho studiato Italiano nella scuola superiore e nell’università dove ci hanno insegnato il dialetto dell’Italiano più comune nel mondo di oggi: il Toscano. D’altro canto, i miei nonni lo imparavano dai propri genitori in Calabria, la regione più sud della penisola, dove si parla un dialetto fortissimo composto dal calabrese e napoletano. English
Cheese
Glass
Angel
Cold
Fox
Latin
Caseus
Vitrium
Angelus
Frigida
Vulpes
Venetian
Formajo
Véro
Ánxelo
Fret
Bolpe
Dialect
Le Invasioni barbariche e straniere in tutta la penisola durante il 5° e 9° secoli hanno influenzato la formazione delle lingue romanze che si sono sviluppate dal volgare. Le Tribù germaniche orientali e occidentali come i Goti, i Longobardi e i Franchi occuparono il centro, gli Unni invasero il centro-nord e l’Islam fu introdotto nel sud dagli Arabi musulmani. Le migrazioni di massa dei popoli e tribù con l’introduzione delle variazioni linguistiche in regioni diverse portarono alla graduale divergenza di lingue locali e usanze. La prima istanza del volgare (e gli inizi dell’Italiano moderno) fu a Capua, apparso in quattro documenti che si chiamano, ‘I Placiti Cassinesi.’ Risalgono a marzo 960 D.C I Placiti Cassinesi delineano una controversia tra un proprietario terriero e tre monasteri benedettini in Capua e Teano. Latin
(Northern)
Sapio quod eccelle terre, per eccellas fines quas eccit continet, triginta annis illas possedit pars Sancti Benedicti
Tuscan
Formaggio
Vetro
Angelo
Freddo
Volpe
Dialect
Original Text (Early Romance)
(Central)
Sao ko kelle terre, per kelle fini que ki contene, trenta anni le possette parti Sancti Benedicti
Neapolitan
Caso
Vrito
Anglo
Friddo
Vórpa
Dialect
Italian
(Southern)
So che quelle terre per quei confini che qui sono contenuti trent’anni le possedette la parte di San Benedetto
L’Italia ospita circa 28 dialetti nazionali, ognuno con il proprio categorie di forme scritte e parlate, localizzati ai comuni e città. La forma più comune è il dialetto Toscano usato principalmente nel centro. Dal centro, i dialetti regionali cambiano sempre più nord e sud si va. Di conseguenza, diventano virtualmente irriconoscibili a quelli che vivono dalla parte opposta della penisola. Un denominatore comune fra i tre dialetti elencati sopra (e per estensione fra tutti i dialetti esistenti) è le loro origini dal Latino volgare. Il Latino volgare era una forma di Latino colloquiale, che si diffuse in tutto l’impero. Questo cambiamento sottile si presenta nell’Appendix Probi, un documento il quale elenca 227 parole Latine e le loro pronunce corrette contro le forme volgari sempre più comuni. Classical Latin
Masculus
Vitulus (Article
Occulus
Articulus
(Article 33)
6)
(Article 111)
(Article 8)
Vulgar Latin
Masclus
Viclus
Oclus
Articlus
Tuscan
Maschio
Vitello
Occhi
Articolo
English
Male
Calf
Eyes
Article
La tabella sopra dimostra un esempio di cambiamenti dal classico al volgare. La rimozione della ‘U’ postnominale si riflette un favore per i Romani di parlare rapidamente che con precisione.
English
I know those lands, whose borders are shown in the map, have been owned by the part of Saint Benedict for 30 years
Placiti Cassinesi I (Marzo 960) La spinta finale importante verso l’Italiano Toscano di oggi fu una serie di dibattiti nel Cinquecento che si chiamano, ‘La Questione Della Lingua.’ In una penisola fratturata con 14 volgari e più di 1000 subvarietà di lingue, ciascuno di tre studiosi più rinomati in Italia propose tre tesi su come si potesse unificare la lingua. La tesi vincente fu la quella di Cardinale Pietro Bembo chiamata, ‘La Posizione Toscano Arcaico.’ Questa tesi sosteneva che la lingua italiana dovesse guardare indietro alle gloriose tradizioni linguistiche di Firenze durante il 14° secolo – Ed in tal modo, cominciarono le prime radici di Italiano moderno. È interessante notare che la nozione intera dell’Italia come uno “Stato Nazione” è un fenomeno anche relativamente nuovo. è stato solo durante il Risorgimento nel 1861, che ha creato la prima Italia unita, Il Regno d’Italia. Nonostante questo, l’assenza di una singolare identità Italiana, ha giocato un ruolo importantissimo nel come percepiamo la lingua Italiana oggi. Non può essere semplicemente associata con uno Stato Nazione moderno, ma piuttosto con comuni e città diversi e individuali – tutti con le proprie storie linguistiche e usanze uniche.
ARTWORK : MILLIE WANG // 37
THE IMAGINED ITALIAN LANGUAGE AUTHOR // CAHILL DI DONATO
“I speak Italian” is arguably one of the most misconstrued phrases an Italian could hear. I speak Italian, my grandparents speak Italian, but it would be practically impossible for us to have a comprehensible conversation with each other. I learned Italian in high school and university, where the teaching is based off today’s most common Tuscan derivative of Italian. My grandparents, on the other hand, learnt it from their parents as a Neapolitan/Calabrese dialect growing up in Calabria, the southernmost region of the peninsula. Italy is home to around 28 national dialects each with their own subset of spoken and written forms localised to communes and cities. The most common of these is a Tuscan dialect used primarily in central Italy. From the centre, regional dialects transfigure more and more the further north and south you go. As a consequence, they become virtually unrecognisable to those living on the opposite sides of the peninsula. English
Cheese
Glass
Angel
Cold
Fox
Latin
Caseus
Vitrium
Angelus
Frigida
Vulpes
Venetian
Formajo
Véro
Ánxelo
Fret
Bolpe
during the fifth century to the ninth century shaped the way early Romance evolved from the Vulgar. Eastern and Western Germanic tribes such as the Goths, Lombards and Franks occupied central Italy, Eastern Huns invaded the Central North and Islam was introduced into the South by Arab Muslims. The mass migration of people, tribes and the introduction of linguistic variation to different regions lead to the gradual divergence of local languages and customs. The first instance of ‘Latin’ as an early Romance vernacular, and the first beginnings of modern Italian, was in Capua on four documents called the Placiti Cassinesi. Dated from March 960 AD, the Placiti Cassinesi outlined a land-ownership dispute between three Benedictine monasteries and a local landowner in Capua and Teano. Latin
Sapio quod eccelle terre, per eccellas fines quas eccit continet, triginta annis illas possedit pars Sancti Benedicti
Original Text (Early Romance)
Sao ko kelle terre, per kelle fini que ki contene, trenta anni le possette parti Sancti Benedicti
Dialect (Northern)
Italian
So che quelle terre per quei confini che qui sono contenuti trent’anni le
Tuscan
Formaggio
Vetro
Angelo
Freddo
Volpe
possedette la parte di San Benedetto
Dialect (Central)
English
I know those lands, whose borders are shown in the map, have been owned by
Neapolitan
Caso
Vrito
Anglo
Friddo
Vórpa
the part of Saint Benedict for 30 years
Dialect
Placiti Cassinesi I (Marzo 960)
(Southern)
A key common denominator between all three of these dialects (and by extension, all existing dialects) is their derivation from the Vulgar in Ancient Rome. The first hint of this transformation was the slow degradation from Classical Latin to Vulgar Latin — a slang or colloquial form of Latin which spread across the peninsula with the expansion of the Byzantine Empire into Europe. This subtle change is evidenced by the Appendix Probi, a list written in the third century on the correct pronunciations of Latin opposed to the increasingly common colloquial. Classical Latin
Masculus
Vitulus (Article
Occulus
Articulus
(Article 33)
6)
(Article 111)
(Article 8)
Vulgar Latin
Masclus
Viclus
Oclus
Articlus
Tuscan
Maschio
Vitello
Occhi
Articolo
English
Male
Calf
Eyes
Article
The above table demonstrates an example of changes from Classical Latin to the Vulgar. The removal of the post-nominal ‘U’ reflects a favour for Romans to speak quickly, as opposed to accurately. Barbarian and foreign invasions across the peninsula
The final momentous push towards the Tuscan Italian was a series of debates in the 16th century called La Questione Della Lingua. Faced with a fractured peninsula with 14 vernaculars and over a thousand sub-varieties of languages, three of Italy’s greatest linguistic scholars each proposed three theses on how to unify the Italian language. The prevailing idea was put forward by Pietro Bembo called the Archaic Tuscan Position. This thesis sustained that the Italian language should look back to the glorious linguistic traditions of 14th century Florence — and thus, the first roots of modern-day Italian began. It’s interesting to note that the entire notion of Italy as a nation-state is also a relatively new phenomenon. It wasn’t until the Risorgimento movement in 1861 which brought together the first united peninsula, the Kingdom of Italy. Despite this, the absence of a singular Italian identity played a crucial role in how we perceive the Italian language today. It cannot simply be associated with a modern-day nation or state, but rather with individual and separate communes — all with their own unique linguistic histories and customs.
40 // CULTURE | MULTILINGUAL
Un Mondo Nuovo AUTHOR // EMILY FURSA
Penso che ogni persona debba fare uno scambio in un altro paese ad un certo punto della propria vita scolastica. È un’esperienza che sicuramente ti farà crescere come persona, che ti aprirà gli occhi ad un altro mondo. Quando si va a vivere in un altro paese, si ha l’opportunità di imparare un sacco di cose nuove — una nuova lingua, una nuova cultura, ed anche un nuovo modo di pensare. Quando avevo 16 anni, sono andata in Italia per due mesi, e quest’esperienza mi ha completamente cambiato la vita. Avevo studiato l’Italiano per un bel po’ di tempo alla scuola superiore prima di questa esperienza ma quando sono arrivata lì, non sono riuscita neanche a dire cose semplicissime, perché avevo così tanta paura di fare sbagli di fronte alle persone. Ma dopo un po’ mi sono abituata, e piano, piano potevo comunicare con la gente — in questo caso la tendenza Italiana di gesticolare mi aiutava tantissimo, perché con i gesti potevo spiegare le cose che non riuscivo a dire con le parole. A dire la verità il fatto che la mia capacità di parlare e di spiegare i miei pensieri fosse come quella di una bambina di cinque anni era un po’ frustrante. Non volevo solo imparare la lingua ma anche mostrare il fatto che non ero una sempliciotta. Adesso, posso capire che l’unico modo in cui si può migliorare la propria capacità di parlare in una lingua straniera è molto semplice: si deve solamente parlare tantissimo, e si deve per forza lasciare tutta la paura, tutta l’ansia che si ha di sbagliare. Quando si impara una nuova lingua, si fanno sempre tanti sbagli. Questa non è una cosa che si può evitare — quindi avere paura di una cosa che si farà sempre non ha senso. È come avere paura di respirare. Mi ricordo che una cosa con cui facevo sempre fatica in Italia erano i vari modi di dire che si usano in Italiano. Ad esempio, mi ricordo che un modo di dire che non capivo per niente era, ‘ti sto prendendo in giro,’ che vuol dire che la persona con cui stai parlando sta scherzando. Ma la prima volta in cui la mia sorella ospitante me l’ha detto, non ho capito che parlava di uno scherzo — tutto il tempo pensavo, “Ma dove dobbiamo andare? Dov’è questo giro? Perché dobbiamo andare a quest’ora della notte?”
Il mio ricordo preferito dell’Italia è sicuramente il giorno di Natale. In generale, penso che gli Italiani conoscano il miglior modo in cui si deve festeggiare. Non ho mai visto prima così tanta gente, e così tanto cibo, in una sola stanza. Era davvero incredibile. Si poteva proprio sentire il livello di felicità nell’aria durante quella giornata. Direi che per la maggior parte dell’anno, gli Italiani sono molto felici, carini, ospitali — ma durante il periodo natalizio, secondo me tutto questo si moltiplica al 200 percento. Tutti sorridevano, ridevano, chiacchieravano. Mi sentivo parte di quella famiglia, invece di una strana ragazza straniera. Questa giornata mi ha colpita tantissimo a causa del fatto che ho visto più o meno tutti i buoni stereotipi Italiani in un solo giorno. Quella famiglia mi ha insegnato tantissimo e mi ha fatto vedere la propria cultura. Mi hanno insegnato come comunicare con le persone, come esprimermi, come ci si deve rilassare e come adattarsi alle sfide della vita — ed ovviamente, come fare la lasagna nel miglior modo… Per questo, li dovrei ringraziare per tutta la mia vita. Se non si viaggia mai, se non si esce mai dalla piccola parte del mondo in cui si abita, non si avrà mai l’opportunità di vedere tutte le gioie del mondo. Quindi, se avete qualche opportunità di andare a vivere all’estero, cogliete l’occasione. L’Australia è un paese molto isolato, ed è molto semplice dimenticare tutte le cose belle che si possono trovare all’estero — basta solo avere voglia di andare.
CULTURE | MULTILINGUAL
ARTWORK : GEORGIE KAMVISSIS // 41
A New World AUTHOR // EMILY FURSA
I think that every person should go overseas on exchange at some point in their lives, if they have the opportunity. It’s an experience that will let you grow as a person and that will change your outlook on the world forever. When you spend time living in another country you have the chance to learn an immeasurable amount of new things – a new language, a new culture and even a new way of thinking. When I was 16 years old I spent two months in Italy on exchange. This experience completely changed my life. I had studied Italian at school for a while before my exchange, however when I arrived I couldn’t even get myself to say the most basic sentences. I was afraid of making mistakes, of making a fool of myself in front of other people. But after a few weeks I eventually got used to living there, and I was gradually able to communicate with others. In this case, the Italian tendency of gesticulating and talking with their hands helped me a lot, because I could use gestures to explain the things that I couldn’t with words. The fact that my capability of expressing myself had reverted to that of a five year old child was slightly frustrating. After a certain point, I honestly wanted not only to learn the language, but also to demonstrate that I wasn’t completely simple-minded and capable of having a coherent, intelligent conversation. Now, I understand that the only way to improve your ability of speaking a foreign language is simple. You just have to talk and talk and talk as much as you can and stop worrying about making mistakes. This is easier said than done, of course. But when you’re learning a new language you will always make mistakes. It’s something that you can’t avoid doing. So logically, being scared of something that you’re always going to do just doesn’t make sense. It’s like being afraid of breathing.
I remember something that I found difficult to
understand in Italy were the various idioms that people used. For example, I remember the first time my host sister used the phrase ti sto prendendo in giro I just stared at her blankly for about 30 seconds straight. I now know that those words literally mean, ‘I’m taking you for a trip’, but they actually mean, ‘I’m joking’. During our entire conversation I was just stuck on that phrase thinking, “But where are we supposed to go? Where is this trip exactly? And why do we have to go at this time of night?” In the end I think it took about 10 minutes for me to understand her explanation… My most beloved memory of Italy was definitely Christmas Day. In general, I think it’s fair to say that the Italians know the best way to throw a party. I had never, ever seen so many people and so much food in just one room before. It was truly incredible to see. I’d say that for most of the year the Italian people are usually quite happy, kind and hospitable, but during Christmas all of this multiplies by a factor of at least 200. Everyone was smiling, laughing and talking. I felt like a true part of that family, instead of just a strange girl from Australia. That experience left an impression on me, because that was the day I saw just about all the positive Italian stereotypes that you can think of. That family really welcomed me into their lives and showed me their culture. They taught me how to communicate and express myself, how to relax and adapt to life’s challenges without getting caught up in all the minute details – and of course, how to make the best lasagna in the world. For this, I will be grateful to them for the rest of my life. If you don’t ever travel or leave the town in which you’ve grown up, you will never be able to truly experience all the world has to offer. Australia is a very isolated country, and it’s easy to forget all the wonderful things you can find if you go traveling. So if you ever get the opportunity to go on exchange, don’t think twice about it. It will change your life completely.
42 // CULTURE | MULTILINGUAL
AUSTralienne/chinoise AUTHOR // BERYL JEANNS En 2016, quand j’avais seulement 15 ans, je suis partie toute seule pour faire un échange en France pour 11 mois. J’avais peur, mais également trop de hâte d’enfin débarquer sur ce que je m’attendais d’être une belle aventure. Je n’aurais jamais pu imaginer d’avoir ma façon de penser être totalement bouleversé. Mes parents viennent de la Chine. Ils ont grandi dans l’époque après le règne de Mao Zedong, qui a laissé après sa mort, un pays pauvre et affamé. Pour son 9eme anniversaire, ma mère a reçu un œuf. Sa famille n’avait pas en plus les moyens d’acheter la viande. En 1989, mes parents ont été témoins aux manifestations de la place Tiananmen. Ils en avaient marre de la Chine. Mes parents ont immigré en Australie pour me donner une meilleure vie que les leurs. Pendant mon enfance, ils me disaient sans-cesse que j’avais beaucoup de chance de vivre en Australie. Dans ma tête, j’ai commencé à associer la Chine à un pays horrible. En plus, il n’y avait pas beaucoup d’actrices asiatiques sur l’écran. En tant qu’enfant impressionnable, j’ai cru que les filles les plus jolies et populaires devait être blanches, comme Sharpay Evans, ou Hannah Montana. En plus, j’étais quasiment la seule asiatique dans mon école, et je ne me considérée pas être très populaire. J’ai pensé que c’était parce que j’étais différente. J’avais envie d’être exactement comme eux: blanche, jolie, et d’avoir les sandwiches pour mon déjeuner au lieu du riz cantonais. Je voulais crier à tout le monde que, « je suis née à Sydney et je ne sais pas parler le chinois, exactement comme vous! » J’avais honte d’être chinoise. L’année est 2016 et je suis dans un lycée dans la commune Villefontaine, 30km à Lyon. Au début de mon échange, tout le monde m’a évidemment demandé plein de questions comme, « C’est comment l’Australie? Pourquoi as-tu décidé d’apprendre le français? Est-ce que tous les surfeurs sont beaux? » Mais ils m’ont également demandé « As-tu visité la Chine? C’est comment la Chine? La Chine a l’air d’être magnifique, c’est vrai? » Ils étaient vraiment intéressés par la Chine et mes racines chinoises (il n’y avait pas beaucoup de Chinois dans la région). Je ne pouvais pas comprendre cet intérêt. En fait, j’étais totalement choquée quand ils m’ont tous dit qu’ils voulaient visiter la Chine un jour.
La moitié de mes camarades de classes n’était pas blanche, ils étaient musulmans. J’ai été invité à la fête d’anniversaire d’une amie musulmane. Sa fête a été incroyable, j’ai gouté des plats de la cuisine arabe pour la première fois de ma vie et on m’a fait un tatouage au henné. Je me suis vraiment éclaté ce jour-là. Cette nuit dans mon lit, j’ai commencé à réfléchir sur mes idées de la Chine et de moi. Tous mes amis musulmans étaient fiers de leur racines et culture. C’était évident pendant la fête. Je n’ai jamais vu si beaucoup de fierté d’une culture qui n’était pas européen. Je n’ai également jamais rencontré des gens si curieux de la Chine. Pour la première fois de ma vie, je me suis demandé « pourquoi as-tu honte de tes racines et de ta culture chinoise? » Pendant mon échange, j’ai appris que le fait que j’étais « chinoise » n’était pas « horrible ». Grace à mon échange, on m’a permis de voir le monde d’un point de vue différent. Je me suis enfin rendu compte qu’il y avait plein de cultures belles et différentes et cela ne veut pas dire qu’elles sont mauvaises. Mon père visite la Chine souvent pour le travail. Après mon échange, je lui ai demandé si je pouvais l’accompagner pour son prochain voyage en Chine. Il était choqué que je voulais revenir à mes racines, parce que la dernière fois que j’ai été en Chine, j’ai passé le voyage entier à critiquer le pays. Je vais aussi commencer à apprendre le chinois encore. Je n’ai eu aucune envie de le faire avant mon échange. J’ai appris plein de choses pendant mon échange en France. J’ai évidemment appris le français. Mais j’ai aussi appris que je ne dois pas avoir honte de ma culture chinoise. Les langues ouvrent des portes. Si vous avez jamais l’opportunité d’apprendre une langue ou de faire un échange, il faut le saisir. Vous ne le regretterez pas.
ARTWORK : CLAIRE GASPAR // 43
AUSTRALIAN/CHINESE AUTHOR // BERYL JEANNS
CONTENT WARNING: Brief Mention of the Tiananmen Square Protests When I was 15 years old, I went to France on exchange alone for 11 months. I was terrified, but also extremely excited to leave for what I was expecting to be an incredible adventure. I could have never imagined that my way of thinking would completely change. My parents come from China. They grew up in the era after the reign of Chairman Mao, who had left China a poor and starving country. For my mother’s ninth birthday, she received an egg as her present. Her family could not even afford to buy meat. In 1989, my parents also witnessed the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Frankly, they were both sick of their lives in China. My parents emigrated to Australia with the hope of giving me a better life than they had had in China. Throughout my childhood, they told me nonstop how lucky I was to live in Australia. And somehow those words equated China to a horrible country in my mind. This impression was also reinforced by the fact that there were not many Asian actresses in the media when I was growing up. As an impressionable child, I believed that the prettiest and most popular girls had to be blonde, like Sharpay Evans or Hannah Montana. I was also one of the only Asians in my school, and I did not consider myself to be popular. I thought it was because I was different. I wanted to be exactly like everyone else: blonde, pretty and to have sandwiches for lunch everyday instead of fried rice. I wanted to yell at the top of my lungs that I was born in Sydney and could not speak Chinese – just like everyone else at my school. I was ashamed of my Chinese background. In 2016, the high school I attended while on exchange was in Villefontaine, a city 30 kilometres from Lyon. At the beginning of my exchange, everyone asked me questions along the lines of, “What is Australia like? Why did you decide to study French? Are there really a lot of hot surfers in Australia?” But they also asked me questions like, “Have you visited China? What is China like? China seems magnificent, is that true?” They were fascinated by China and by my Chinese background, because there were not many Chinese people in that area. I could not understand this interest. In fact, I was completely shocked when they
all told me that they wanted to visit China one day. At my high school, about half of my classmates were not white – they were actually Muslim. Early on during my exchange, I was invited to the birthday party of one of my Muslim friends. It was incredible, I got to try new dishes from their culture and I also got henna done on my hand. I had a blast that day. That night in my bed, I started to reflect on my views regarding China and myself. All my Muslim friends were extremely proud of their culture. It was evident during the party. I had never seen such pride in a culture that was not European before. I had also never met so many people intrigued by my own heritage, my Chinese culture and background. For the first time in my life I asked myself, “Why are you so ashamed of your Chinese background?” During my exchange, I learnt that being Chinese was not ‘horrible’ like I had grown up thinking. I was able to see the world from a different perspective. I was finally able to realise that there were so many different, yet beautiful, cultures in the world, and just because they are different, that does not make them ‘wrong’. My dad often travels back to China for work. After my exchange I asked him if I could accompany him during his next trip back to the motherland. He was shocked that I wanted to go back to my roots, especially because the last time I went to China I spent the entire trip criticising the country and complaining. As a child I desperately tried to forget Chinese so I could fit in with my white friends. Just a few months after coming back home to Australia from my exchange, I started learning the language again. I don’t think that I would have ever wanted to be fluent in Chinese prior to my exchange. I learnt many things during my French exchange. Obviously, I learnt French. But I also learnt that I should not be ashamed of my Chinese cultural background. Languages open doors. If you ever have the opportunity to learn a language or go on exchange, you have to take it – you will never, ever regret it.
44 // CULTURE | FASHION
Sustainable Fashion: An Interview with Aubrey Chayson AUTHOR // CHANEL NGUYEN The increased interconnectedness caused by globalisation has created trends in fashion that are widely accessible to consumers. Fast fashion industries continue to exploit workers, placing them in structurally unsound factories, underpaying workers and ultimately profiting off cheap labour in developing countries. Consumers, however, remain unaware or may turn a blind eye to this human exploitation. Sustainable fashion utilises sustainable or environmentally friendly materials and ethical labour practices. It has been significant in reshaping the fashion industry in the right direction and giving more ethical alternatives to consumers. Aubrey Chayson, a designer and law student at the ANU, is very conscious about sustainability in her designs. After shadowing designers in Paris, Chayson has developed her own sustainable brand Aubrey Chayson using 100 per cent silk and 100 per cent ethical labour. Chayson’s up and coming brand seeks to utilise all aspects of fashion through philanthropic engagement. She has worked in both France and South Korea. Q: Can you tell us a bit about your brand and how you came about starting your own label? A: My brand is about 100 per cent ethical labour and 100 percent silk. I really want to champion sustainability. I first started sewing when I was in high school, and I always thought of creative arts as a hobby – probably because of where I was brought up. I then realised during my second year of law that I was feeling burnt out and not fulfilling that creative side of me. I always knew deep down that I wanted to pursue fashion. I moved all my stuff, went to Korea didn’t come back. I got scouted by YG Entertainment, segued into TV and shadowed fashion designers. I also shadowed four lawyers when I was there, and I found out that law was definitely not for me. I worked with four fashion designers and snuck into the shows at Paris Fashion Week. I was working for free from 7am to 3am under three different designers from Greedilous, LIE and Tibaeg. I got to know the designers more and got the opportunity to have them as mentors. Everyone in the creative industry has had a hand reached out to them in some way which lets them get noticed.
Q: Considering the rise of sustainable fashion, how do you make yourself different on the market? A: I don’t think sustainability should be a trend. It should be something we should be conscious about. I really want people to be conscious about the power they have as a consumer. I entered Miss World Australia wearing my own design saying we should not have human slaves, we should be conscious about how clothes are produced and who made them. I was talking about ethical labour, as well as sustainability, in terms of materials, anti-consumerism and minimalism. In terms of making myself different, I have a diverse cast of models, I always want to make my models dance and I make sure that people are having fun. I have models over [the age of] 50, because it’s not often that we see older women being portrayed as strong or beautiful. Being pretty and young is not the rent we pay to exist in society. I want to continue being authentic. At the moment it is really easy to subscribe to the traditional standard of beauty, but I want to make sure everyone feels beautiful. We are not doing nearly enough to target racial diversity, height diversity and age diversity. It was my dream to be a petite model, and I [wished] so bad that I could have four extra centimetres, but it was such a silly thought to have. It took a lot of auditions and rejections to make me feel like I was more than the shell I presented on the outside. I’ve always known what I like and don’t like, and as I get more life experience I become more specific about that. So I think that will help me be different. No one has the exact experience I have [nor] the heart I have. No one will have the same way of expressing what I feel. I want to save the world with sustainability. I want people to care about the effects that choices have, and realise the power they have to make change.
ARTWORK : CLAIRE GASPAR // 45
Q: How did your passion to be sustainable in the fashion industry come about?
Q: What was the most eye opening experience you have had since pursuing this career?
A: That would have to be when I was working in the fashion industry and I saw a lot of exploitation. It opened my eyes and I realised it was not okay. I think it takes a fresh mind to see a bad situation. Everyone accepts an idea when it is a working system. It’s not a broken system, but it’s just a bad system. To revolutionise it, it takes a lot of work. I really want to make a difference. When you see something or feel something, sometimes it hits your heart, and I think I had that moment when I was working in Paris and in Korea.
A: I realised that perseverance is a big one, especially with any creative industry. I feel like creativity exposes a lot of who you are and being vulnerable. Expressing yourself fully can take a lot out of you, and there is the inevitability of rejection and unwanted opinions from all sides, and you have to learn to filter them out. I was told by a designer that you must be two of three things: be good to work with, on time or very skilled. An example is Rick Owens. He is one of my favourite designers. His start was filled with negativity and so much criticism. However, he was authentic to himself, and 30 years later he has still been consistent and doing what he wants for his brand. We need to surround ourselves with people who are passionate.
Q: What was the driving force behind wanting to be in the fashion industry? A: My mum has always taught me and stressed that I should always try to help other people. I felt slack in that department. I had this moment when I was doing all these internships, and I realised that if time passed and I get caught in this routine, would I be content with what I am doing with my life? And my answer is, honestly, ‘no’. I felt that I should change that. We all have the potential to be so great if we allow ourselves to work hard and be disciplined. I have decided to focus to make change and progress. If we all focused on making the world a better place, how cool would that be? Q: Can you tell me about your experience of working in Paris? A: It was the best time of my life. I learnt so much in such a short, concentrated period of time. I realised [while] working in fashion that it was more about business than creativity. If you are the designer, it is 10 per cent creative work and 90 per cent business. It is more about admin things and commercialisation, which, in the beginning, I thought would allow me to do creative work, but also with more freedom. You can only have so much power and control when you are the person in charge. The designers (whom) I met were so charismatic. You see them from afar that they are a normal person, and then you talk to them for a second and you fall in love with their ideas, their visions of their clothes and their message, and then you just want to support them. Paris Fashion Week is always going to be a culmination of people who are passionate, driven and worked really really hard for a long time to get there. I would literally just talk to everyone, ask so many questions and try to absorb as much information as possible. Paris in particular has an air of exclusivity. It is literally where the best of the best come together to do art.
Q: How do you balance being a student and your career? A: I personally love being a student. I crave freedom, but I also need structure and stability. So for me it’s having the analytical side of law to balance me out, but it is also a lot. I am either studying or sewing or having something constant in my life. It kind of helps me sleep well at night. I have become better at time management. Q: What upcoming projects do you have in store for us? A: On October 13, I am hosting a fashion show and dance at Vancouver Fashion Week. I have Vivian Westwood’s choreographer, Jojo Dancer, who will be helping me out with this creative process. Q: What words do you have for people aspiring to be in the fashion industry? A: My biggest barrier was not knowing anyone and not having the extra financial support for it. The burning question on my mind at all times was, ‘What can I do to be better?’ The hardest thing is the bursts of passion and motivation. You can’t be 100 per cent at all times. You think you can, but nobody can. Eventually there will be a moment of self-doubt, and that will be the hardest moment to overcome. You have to learn to rest, try again and not give up.
46 // CULTURE | ART
ARTWORK : AUBREY CHAYSON // 47
48 // CULTURE | LITERATURE
my life in books AUTHOR // PHOEBE LUPTON
There are few things that are more powerful than the written word. This is something I have thought since a very young age. I have always been a voracious reader. I love words, stories, anything that can come from someone’s imagination and be brought onto a page. I often think of my life in terms of the books I’ve read and the impact each book has had on me. From a toddler to my twenties, literature has been my constant companion. My Childhood I was born into an incredibly privileged family. My parents, being universityeducated and working high-income jobs, were able to supply me with books even before I could read them. As soon as I was old enough, my parents started reading me children’s literature classics such as Spot the Dog by Eric Hill, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh. Eventually, I discovered the writing of Australian literary legend Alison Lester. I devoured Clive Eats Alligators and its many sequels, which chronicled a group of seven kids around my age whom I vicariously accompanied on their many adventures. In the realm of nonfiction, around this time in my life, my mum introduced me to Children Just Like Me by Barnabas and Anabel Kindersley. This book depicts real children from different parts of the world in photographs and life stories. Reading this book was the first time I realised that, in fact, not all children were like me. Not all children lived with the privilege of a house full of books, or running water, or even parents who were alive. This was such a valuable lesson to learn as a child, and I credit Children Just Like Me for teaching me that lesson. As I got a bit older, I was introduced to the book series that perhaps had the greatest impact on my life: the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. I’m well aware that I’m not the only 90s kid to say this! These books sparked my imagination like no other book had done previously or has done since. Rowling’s detailed world building, complex characters and gripping plot had me hooked from the very first sentence of Philosopher’s Stone. Reading Harry Potter was also likely the first time I read well-developed, three-dimensional female characters. I loved the clever and studious Hermione Granger, the strict but powerful Professor McGonagall and the spiritual and original Luna Lovegood. Every once in a while I reread the series, and each time I do so I love it even more.
ARTWORK : ADRIAN SCHMIDT // 49
My Teenage Years My love for reading remained as I entered my adolescence. Like most people my age at the time, I was obsessed with The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. This series brought me into a phase of reading science fiction and fantasy. I later became a huge fan of Divergent by Veronica Roth and The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare. While I now look back and recognise the flaws of these books, I didn’t care about the inconsistent plots or underdeveloped characters when I first read them. I just loved being a part of these worlds. One series that, in my opinion, didn’t suffer from such flaws was the Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness. These books were unlike anything I had ever read before. They touched on the themes of gender, war and morality in a way which was entertaining and left you wanting more. When I was 15 or 16, I discovered Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta. This is possibly the greatest young adult novel I have ever read. It tells the story of Josephine Alibrandi, a young girl who has never fitted in, who keeps finding herself stuck between her working-class Italian immigrant family and her predominantly Anglo-Saxon private school. Marchetta’s depiction of Josephine’s voice is so realistic, so undiluted, that reading the book felt like having a conversation with the character. As a teenager myself, I felt a deep and strong connection with this story. My Adulthood Now, as an adult, my love for reading is only growing stronger. At 18, I started studying literature at university, which has made me appreciate books not just for how they’ve made me richer, but for how they’ve made society richer. My favourite books now come from all genres and styles, whether they be fiction and nonfiction. Last year, I read Bad Feminist Essays by Roxane Gay, a collection of thoughts about gender and society. I was already a militant feminist by this point, but reading this book solidified some of my beliefs and challenged others. The piece of fiction that I think has impacted me the most in recent years is Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, which tells the story of a woman who is somewhat of a social outcast. This book spoke to so many parts of me: the part of me that’s confused by society, the part of me that can’t let go of my past, the part of me that feels lonely sometimes. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way about Eleanor Oliphant. I will never stop reading. I will never stop immersing myself in new worlds, learning about people who are different from me, throwing myself into the magic of storytelling. So many people love books, and it’s not hard to see why.
DISCOVERY
DISCOVERY | ENVIRONMENT
ARTWORK : MILLIE WANG // 51
ARE WOMEN BEARING THE COSTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE? AUTHOR // ANNIE LIDDY-CORLETT
Women are significantly impacted by the consequences of climate change. This is especially the case for women in rural developing areas. Of course, it is true that women aren’t a homogeneous group, however they do constitute the majority of the world’s poor. In addition to this, women are often more reliant on natural resources for survival and continuously face social, economic and political barriers. This gender inequality is made worse by short-term changes to the environment, such as natural disasters. This is mainly due to the fact that women often have limited access to sources of mobility and economic wealth, limiting their ability to evacuate areas. This was seen clearly after the 2004 Tsunami in Sri Lanka, where the survival of men outnumbered women by a ratio of 3:1. Arguably, the most damaging and complex challenges to the livelihoods of these women are long-term environmental impacts, which have the potential to damage or remove resources that are critical for survival. In rural developing areas, a gender division of labour is evident, where women are responsible for unpaid labour as well as paid work. Unpaid labour may sometimes include sourcing water, food and heat for homes, as well as caring for children and the elderly. Paid work is often conducted through agricultural practices, in addition to the expected unpaid labour. For example, women comprise 50 to 60 per cent of the agricultural workforce in parts of Asia and subSaharan Africa, whilst also completing unpaid labour tasks. Increased water scarcity and reductions in the quality and availability of land to source food often mean that women are forced to spend more time working on unpaid tasks. Oxfam estimates that women and girls spend up to 200 million hours per day collecting water, a number which will only increase as water scarcity intensifies. When environmental degradation inhibits the ability to simultaneously participate in both paid and unpaid work, it is common for young girls to be removed from school to complete these tasks. This educational gender bias is evident in Papua New Guinea, where the mean average of girls’ schooling is three point seven per cent compared to five point seven per cent for boys. The absence of nearby clean water sources means women (and therefore girls) are required to spend a minimum of three hours per day collecting it, ultimately limiting the opportunity for paid income and education.
We must view women in these situations as not simply vulnerable or powerless, but with the skills and abilities to play effective roles in mitigation and adaptation to climate change. In situations where women are in control of resources rather than men, they are more likely to act and adapt in response to problems. For example, in Bangladesh, female farmers noticed a rise in chickens drowning during flood season, resulting in a decrease in profit. In response, they worked with a non-government organisation to raise ducks instead, overcoming the issue and increasing profits. It became evident that women were more motivated to adapt to changes and test new techniques on their farms because they had a greater reliance on it for income and survival. Clearly, women should not be viewed as victims of the changing climate, but rather as catalysts for effective solutions. The consequences of climate change concerning women in these areas have the potential to shift the focus away from the underlying issues of inequality that are present. The issues exacerbated by the changing environment are not simply environmental, but they reflect existing political and social inequalities throughout the world. The societal and cultural expectations of women and their limited decisionmaking roles shape the ability of women to not only survive, but to prosper. Unpaid work needs to be seen as a valuable asset to countries’ economic and social developments, and women must be included in formal decision-making processes to ensure that they do not have to bear all the consequences of a changing climate. It is evident that addressing the effects of climate change must focus on restructuring these formations of power and inequality, rather than reacting solely to climate issues. Climate change is a global problem, which reveals the inequalities present throughout the world. In the power dynamic between men and women lies the power dynamic between economic wealth and poverty. Ultimately, the largest contributors to climate change are the top-tier of consumers, yet it is the poorest and most vulnerable members of society that suffer the most severe consequences.
52 // DISCOVERY | ENVIRONMENT
ARTWORK : MILLIE WANG
ENVIRONMENTALISM: OUR WORLD AT A GLANCE AUTHOR // TASH SALISBURY
CONTENT WARNING: Brief Mention of Death
ARTWORK : GEORGIE KAMVISSIS // 53 1950s – AIR POLLUTION For the first time, people across the world began dying from air pollution released from unfiltered industrial waste. A single smog incident in November 1953 resulted in the deaths of approximately 250 people in New York City. In 1955, the first Air Pollution Control Act was passed in the United States as a response to these deaths.
1960s – SILENT SPRING In 1962, scientist Rachel Carson published her book Silent Spring outlining the dangers of pesticides, particularly the now prohibited Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (more commonly known as DDT) on the wider environment. The book received heavy criticism from the chemical industry, particularly due to her accusation that the industry had spread misleading information about the safety of pesticides. However, it provided immense fire for the new, and relatively small, environmental activism movement of the time. It led to a campaign later in the decade to ban DDT in the United States and throughout the world.
1970s – EARTH DAY On April 22 1970, the first Earth Day occurred. Around 20 million people in the United States alone protested to bring climate change and the impact of human activities on the Earth into the spotlight. In Australia, environmental activism also became more mainstream due to the case of Lake Pedder. The revoking of Lake Pedder’s National Park status in order to proceed with damming was heavily protested by the Australian public. The extent of the protests led to the proposed Franklin Dam never being constructed, instigated by the fact that the area was deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was therefore protected.
1990s – SUMMITS & AGREEMENTS In this decade, world leaders come together for the first time to seriously discuss climate change. In 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development hosted a Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Initial commitments to the use of renewables and respecting Indigenous peoples were made. In 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was adopted by 192 countries in a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
2000s – AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH The American film An Inconvenient Truth documenting Al Gore’s political campaign to inform the public about the dangers of climate change had a ripple effect through the United States and across the world. Some research suggests that many people genuinely changed their habits and carbon footprint following the release of the film.
1980s – OZONE HOLE
2010s – SCHOOL CLIMATE STRIKES
In 1987, the world came together to recognise the risk that the depleting ozone layer poses to life on Earth, including humans. The Montreal Protocol was agreed on by 197 nations, banning the use of certain chemicals that contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer. The most important of these is chloroflurocarbons (CFCs), previously used in refrigerators. Hydrochloroflurocarbons (which are less damaging than CFCs) were banned in a later revision of the protocol, and still continue to be managed today.
More recently, there has been a global movement throughout schools and universities to strike for climate action, initiated by 16 year old Greta Thunberg of Sweden. In 2018, she began to skip school on Fridays to sit outside the Swedish Parliament. Her mentality, that we are in a crisis that will most heavily affect the younger generation, has been echoed throughout the world. Most notably, her blunt comments to politicians and policy makers questioning why they are not taking any action are refreshing for many millions of people around the globe. As a result of this youth, climate strikes are becoming frequent occurrences across the globe. They demand change in a plea instigated by the generations who will have to bear the burden of climate change and environmental degradation in the future.
54 // DISCOVERY | ENVIRONMENT
ARTWORK : CLAIRE GASPAR // 55
IS VINTAGE CLOTHING ECO-FRIENDLY? AUTHOR // CANADA GAVIN With so much commotion around the environmental impacts of fast fashion and clothing production in general, many people have been turning to op-shops and vintage stores for more sustainable fashion options. Whilst clothing found in an op-shop has no requirements on the age of the garment, vintage fashion is defined as a garment produced over 20 years before the time of its re-purchase. Vintage fashion has often been hailed as the future for sustainable fashion, but what are the main benefits of vintage clothes? Well, for the most part, the production of clothing items in the first instance is the same between fast fashion items and vintage clothes. However, the difference lies in the fact that a fast fashion item is likely to have a shelf life of four weeks in a store and will be worn by its owner a handful of times. This contrasts directly with vintage items, which become vintage only after remaining in use for more than 20 years. This comes down to the fundamental principle that recycling and reusing clothing that has already been produced seriously saves resources, thus being more environmentally sustainable. Many people believe that recycling clothing is in itself a sustainable fashion solution. However, there are currently exorbitant amounts of donated clothes filling up warehouses across the globe. This is heavily due to people believing that they can counteract the negative implications of fast fashion by donating their old clothes, which is not the case. If we continue to donate clothes as quickly as we produce them in order to make room for new purchases, it continues the negative cycle of fast fashion. If donating and recycling clothes is to be a sustainable option, it is essential to follow up donations with purchases for new items at second-hand or vintage stores, or even trading clothes. It is this process of keeping clothes in use for long periods of time that creates vintage clothing and supports the slow fashion movement, making it a more sustainable option. However, the vital element in making vintage clothing sustainable is that we as consumers don’t continue to purchase new non-renewable clothing, as this still encourages excess levels of fashion waste.
In order to sustain the option of purchasing vintage clothes into the future, there are a few things we can do now. Firstly, purchasing better quality clothing is essential in ensuring that garments are still usable in years to come. Fast fashion clothing, which is designed to have a short lifespan, is not viable to be re-worn (or easy to repurpose) in the long-term. This makes it essential for individuals to invest in better quality products whenever possible. Secondly, repurposing or upcycling into new items is an extremely effective way to ensure that clothes that are slightly damaged are re-used in the clothing cycle. This reduces overall waste and increases the longevity of garments. Thirdly, repairing and donating clothing is extremely crucial in the process of ensuring that there are vintage items in the future. If we repair all the clothes we are likely to donate, it makes them easier for people to sell, and therefore less likely to be discarded as waste in factories. Ultimately, by donating or reselling clothing, we are helping to reduce waste, which in itself promotes more long-term sustainability in the fashion sector.
56 // DISCOVERY | BUSINESS
ARTWORK : MILLIE WANG // 57
The Business of Audio AUTHOR // EDWARD ANDREYEV My podcast addiction began three years ago with The Tim Ferris Show, a podcast in which bestselling author, entrepreneur and investor Timothy Ferris interviews high-performing people across a wide range of disciplines. Since then, I’ve listened to countless conversations between bestselling authors, billionaires, television personalities, athletes, presidential candidates, philanthropists and justices of the Victorian Supreme Court. Russell Brand to Jordan B. Peterson. Elon Musk to Melinda Gates. History, politics, marriage counseling and book reviews: Apple Podcasts has it all. The idea of listening to podcasts might still seem like something your overcommitted friend studying law and commerce might do (guilty). But the reality is that a greater number of people are choosing Revisionist History over Coldplay. It seems that every day a new celebrity announces their foray into the ‘audio space’, armed with nothing but a quirky ‘personality’ and ‘a story to tell’. It is also true that an increasingly large number of companies are using podcasts to promote their message, inform their client base and recruit new people. Being a commercially orientated student with an interest in this audio space, I decided to determine just how commercially viable podcasting as a medium is. What actually is a podcast? For the few readers unaware, a ‘podcast’ is a type of digital content, produced episodically, usually in the form of an audio or video file. Common genres involve dramatic retellings of historical events, ‘round-table’ conversations on a particular topic and interviews with interesting high-achievers. Popular podcasts like The Joe Rogan Audio Experience and Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History usually release long-form content unsuitable to the traditional platforms of radio and TV – we’re talking three or more hours of content per episode. There are a number of common reasons to start a podcast: to promote a book, a business or a cause, to produce interesting content that can be monetised, or a mixture of both – to produce content that promotes a certain message and can be monetised due to the insightful nature of its material. How do podcasters make money? True to form, Tim Ferris has produced an insightful article which breaks down this question nicely. Podcasters who are taking the ‘monetisation’ approach usually produce interesting content that users are willing to either: (1) support through the purchasing of sponsored goods, or (2) support through the use of donations. Hardcore History is a podcast that makes usage of the latter model, producing 12-hour-long epics and asking for $1 donations at the end of each episode. Clearly, it
works, as they pay an entire team to research for and produce the podcast all year round. Tim Ferris uses the former approach, monetising his podcasts using a CPM (cost-per-thousand) approach. After approaching a sponsor, Tim will set a price – usually between $25-$100 CPM – and is paid depending on how well the podcast does. He’s quick to note that despite the possibility of his podcast generating $2 to $4 million USD per year using this approach, he likes to ‘cap’ the amount sponsors will pay in order to retain his audience. If that number seems incredible, Tim’s podcast barely breaches the Top 50 podcasts on Apple Podcasts. In 2015, The Joe Rogan Experience was seeing approximately 15 million downloads per month, and Rogan usually includes about three sponsors per episode. How big is podcasting? These figures prompt the question, how big is the podcasting industry? This is a multi-faceted question with a complicated answer. Like with YouTube, actually identifying an exact figure is difficult. Podcasters do not always publish their listener numbers, let alone their earnings, and the process of identifying either is usually a matter of speculation. In addition, many podcasts are designed to promote external content and businesses, so the monetary value they generate is even harder to identify. A good example of this approach is the The GaryVee Audio Experience, with which the company Vayner Media promotes its vision and mission in the form of a podcast called the Ask GaryVee Show. The original production involves the company’s CEO sitting down with another influential business and sports personality as they answer a number of usersubmitted questions. The program runs for about 30 to 60 minutes. This content is then dissected into 10 to 15 minute long pieces of content, distributed on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. Particularly impressive anecdotes are further transformed into cartoon panels for distribution on these same platforms, or one-minute long ‘insights’ that viewers can easily share with their unsuspecting family members. Instagram and Snapchat stories are next, hosting their fair share of insights that divert viewers back to the long-form content where the message is clear: Vayner Media knows what it’s talking about when it comes to Topic X. All in all, the company is able to produce around 30 to 60 pieces of content a day – all from a single 60 minute podcast. Clearly, podcasting is on the rise, and with larger numbers of celebrities, companies, and even government departments using this platform to connect with their respective audiences, it is bound to grow even more in the years to come.
58 // DISCOVERY | FINANCE
ARTWORK : CLAIRE GASPAR
Wealth, Inheritance and Millennial Money AUTHOR // LIVVY CARNEY
CONTENT WARNING: Allusions to Economic Inequality Over the next 30 years, it is predicted that Gen-X and Millennials are going to receive an accumulative $30 trillion USD from their preceding generations. Baby Boomers’ enjoyable reign of wealth accumulation during periods of crazy growth is soon drawing to a close, and it’s time to turn our attention to the next chapter – wealth distribution. Intergenerational wealth transfers in an economy have major impacts on us as both individuals and as a society. Determining how to structure inheritances and, more importantly, what the values are behind those structures, is becoming increasingly important to discuss. Our organisation of societal inheritance will play a very large role in shaping our future, which is why not addressing it could be detrimental.
It doesn’t come as a surprise, then, that one of the most obvious mechanisms up for debate is inheritance tax. Australia currently has no inheritance tax per se, but we do have a capital gains tax. Depending on the structuring of someone’s assets and estates, an inheritance may be considered a gain in capital, and thus part of the inheritor’s tax deductible income. Rationales for not having an inheritance tax often lie in feelings of values and legacy. People work hard throughout their lives to build up wealth in the hopes of passing it on to their families, and for many there is no point in even building up wealth if they can’t transfer it to those they love. When thinking about wealth collectively being passed down, there is also hesitation. Why should our generation be burdened by the extra cost of inheritance tax when its purpose is to invest in us?
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In the age of supply-side economics, where tax cuts were emphasised over government spending, our grandparents and parents were able to generate wealth more quickly and efficiently than ever before. In Australia, Baby Boomers make up 25 per cent of the population but own over 50 per cent of private wealth. Now we Millennials are about to become the recipients of the largest intergenerational transfer of wealth in recorded history. But it’s a topic that seems rather hard to have a discussion about. People are hesitant to see where their current wealth stands, what they want the future to look like, and negative family dynamics can pop up far too easily around this subject.
Many argue that a lack of inheritance tax perpetuates wealth inequalities in a society that already feels unequal. The rich keep passing down to children who have lived a life reaping the financial benefits of their parents, while the poor have a continuous uphill battle of wealth accumulation. But when we look at it, it’s the middle class that bears the penalties of inheritance tax. The richest have the resources to avoid heavy taxation through lawyer loopholes and good asset configurations, while the poorest won’t be passing on wealth. Economists argue that the most crucial thing, however, is setting up an economic climate that incentivises investment into the future. Environmental, social, governance-based and technological investments must be prioritised. Passing on ideas, values and other forms of human capital resources, such as knowledge and skills, is also going to be an important strategy to ensure that we are best set up for the road ahead. Most importantly, we need to open up dialogue about what both parties of this upcoming wealth transfer want the future to look like and how we are going to shape the economic frameworks to support those visions.
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We all benefit from the constant trickle of wealth that flows down, most obviously from our parents. It means having education paid for, good health care or perhaps the ability to travel and experience other places. Some people clearly get a better deal than others though. Some have the luxury of parents paying their way through university, while others may be working two or three jobs just to afford rent, let alone save up to pay off university debt later in life. For some, they will receive most of their inheritance later in life after their parents pass on.
DISCOVERY | PSYCHOLOGY
ARTWORK : ELIZA WILLIAMS // 59
the science of overthinking AUTHOR // YASMIN POTTS
“If the human brain were so simple we could understand it, we would be so simple we couldn’t” – Emerson M. Pugh Overthinking – it’s a blessing and a curse. It allows you to jump steps ahead in an exam problem to save time, but it also causes you to stay up late wondering if what she said was because of what he said, or did she just say it as a joke? We know the definition of overthinking and the emotions that come with it, but what’s happening chemically as these thoughts race through our brains? To start off the game that is overthinking, we have a few key players: dopamine – our own personal coach who motivates us and produces feelings of risk and reward, and adrenaline – the noisy child who, once let loose, increases your heart rate and blood pressure. From here on, we have two players who are barely ever in the same room together: serotonin, who brings nothing but happiness, and cortisol, who modulates stress levels. Cortisol is the type that you’re happy to have small how’s-the-weather type conversations with. If you’re placed right next to them at a dinner party, however, then your mood will take a turn for the worse and your stress levels will rise higher and higher. Cortisol is the main villain who creates unhealthy overthinking and is released in the hypothalamus – a region very near to the centre of your brain. So, how do we stop this villain if we aren’t in the mood for overthinking? Change the chemical structure of your brain After cortisol is released it must be captured by cortisol receptors to have an impact. Therefore, if you block the path to these receptors then cortisol cannot cause you any stress. Change the physical structure of your brain Research has found that an area of your brain called the orbitofrontal cortex, located just behind your eyes and in front of the hypothalamus, is associated with stress levels. Those with a thicker orbitofrontal cortex on the left side have higher levels of optimism and less anxiety. So, instead of having to directly face the cortisol villain yourself, you can combat its negative effects by modifying another structure in your brain. Sleep, exercise and recognise that the cortisol villain is annoying you before it progresses to engage you in a very long and unenjoyable dinner conversation.
Okay, I’ll admit that the first two suggestions were a bit far-fetched. Still, the first suggestion underlies the workings of mood control drugs and the second suggestion serves as important information for neural projects that look to create a human brain from scratch. But this last suggestion does work – and lots of research has been done to prove it. So, what’s the difference between your relaxed, easygoing self and the one with a million thoughts racing through? A few milligrams of cortisol, so science tells us. But, of course, the story goes on… we all know that the human brain just isn’t that simple!
60 // DISCOVERY | PHYSICS
Can a Nuclear Bomb Stop a Hurricane? AUTHOR // SOPHIE BURGESS
“Why don’t we nuke them?” – Donald J. Trump, in reference to hurricanes [allegedly]. It was this moment, when this [alleged] suggestion from the President of the United States of America began circulating the Internet, and an unprecedented wave of elation struck the science precinct. It was here: the moment of reckoning for each and every graduate of Paul Francis’ PHYS1101 course. All of these years of training, of hard work, of approximating pi = 1 had prepared us for this exact situation. So, can a nuclear bomb stop a hurricane and how is it that all of your first-year friends, who have never even completed a tax return, can tell you with such confidence? The answer is ninja physics. Ninja physics is the practice of simplifying complicated situations to achieve a quick and approximate solution. The purpose of this technique is to arrive at a ballpark answer to get a rough idea of what the result
will be and thus, if more accurate calculations are even needed. Firstly, the key facts of the problem are gathered and any irrelevant information is discarded. Then, complicated numbers are approximated to the nearest integer (whole number) or nearest order of magnitude (1, 10, 100 or 100, 000). For example, depending on how rough we want our approximation to be, we can have π = 3.14159 ≈ 3 or π = 3.14159 ≈ 1. From then, simple formulas – which you would probably recognise from Year 10-12 Science – are used to come to an approximate result. While it is unlikely that this is the type of physics that won Brian Schmidt his Nobel Prize, it is incredibly useful for factchecking scientific claims in media, determining a starting point for measurements and plenty of other daily uses. So, how would we use ninja physics to determine if a nuclear bomb can halt a cyclone?
ARTWORK : ADRIAN SCHMIDT // 61
Step 1: Gather our facts and discard irrelevant information Firstly, we would need to find any relevant information and facts about the hurricane as well as a nuclear bomb. We know that hurricanes are fueled by energy released when water vapour condenses into liquid water, with the energy produced termed the latent heat of condensation. This energy released causes huge amounts of air to heat and rise higher into the atmosphere, where it cools and promptly descends again. In the same way that water circles a sink drain, the rotation of the Earth causes the air currents to twist in a phenomenon known as the Coriolis effect. This leads to incredibly fast circular winds that reach speeds of hundreds of kilometres per hour – several times faster than cars on a highway! Data we might try to gather would include the size of the storm system, wind speeds, density of air and water within the hurricane, as well as energy produced by water condensing. For the nuclear bomb, we need to find the energy released upon explosion so that we can compare the energies and predict the effect. Step 2: Approximate and calculate The next step is to determine how to make this information at all useful for us through simple calculations and approximations. At the end, we need to be able to compare the nuclear explosion to the hurricane in some terms, so calculating the energy within each system would be useful. For the hurricane, this can be done in many different ways – here are two of the main methods: Option 1: Calculating the kinetic energy (EK) of the air caused by the wind movements Knowing data on the wind speeds and the size of the hurricane, we could approximate the average velocity of air (v) and the total mass of air (m) within the system. We could then use EK = 12mv2 to approximate the total energy of the hurricane! Option 2: Find the total energy produced by the latent heat of condensation in the storm Knowing the energy produced when one kilogram of water vapour condenses and the density of water within the hurricane, we can approximate the total energy. Once we use either of these methods, we’ll end up with a quantity in joules, which is the main unit of energy. We can then compare this to the energy released in a nuclear explosion, which can be found online!
Step 3: Compare your numbers Using hurricane data provided in PHYS1101, the above techniques gave me approximate results ranging from 10-100 exajoules, with one exajoule being equivalent to 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 joules! The explosion of a nuclear bomb releases around one petajoule, which is equivalent to 1,000,000,000,000,000 joules. What we can conclude from these numbers is that one hurricane is 100 to 1000 times more powerful than a nuclear bomb. So, trying to stop a hurricane with a nuclear bomb? You’d probably have better luck trying to fight a lion with a parakeet! Using the wonderful technique of ninja physics, any student of PHYS1101 can safely inform The White House that no, you can definitely not stop a hurricane with an atomic bomb. At best, the explosion would minorly disrupt the cyclone. At worst, the additional energy introduced would worsen the storm and introduce huge amounts of highly radioactive material to the area. In conclusion: President Trump, please don’t try to nuke a storm anytime soon. As it turns out, you can solve an entire suite of wacky questions with the employ of ninja physics by using this exact same technique! For example, how many times would a dragon have to flap its wings to stay in the air for two minutes? How high can you safely drop an elephant? Can you make a car fly? If you ever find yourself needing answers to these mysteries of life, ask your friendly neighbourhood physics major!
62 // DISCOVERY | SCIENCE
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Chernobyl: Putting a Figure on the Fallout AUTHOR // MURRAY JOBBINS
33 years ago, reactor four at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded, showering northern Ukraine and the world with radioactive debris. Four months ago, HBO released a six-part miniseries retelling the immediate response to the incident, and it was quickly showered with praise. With the miniseries, the world’s greatest nuclear accident was once again brought under the scrutiny of the general population. One voice of scrutiny was from the conservative columnist and commentator Andrew Bolt. Bolt stirred up much interest and controversy with his comments regarding the death toll of 4,000 to 96,000, which was included in the series’ final episode. He argued that the show was “eco-porn” designed to tap into antinuclear hysterics peddled by activists and journalists, going on to claim that “fewer than 100” died due to the accident. Many were quick to dispute Bolt’s claim, and it soon became clear that the commentator had stumbled unwittingly into a topic of depth and repercussion: how do we calculate the death toll from the Chernobyl accident?
If you were following the discussion sprouted by Bolt’s column, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to conclude that the science of the matter was settled: the nuclear accident caused thousands of deaths and Bolt was categorically wrong. The actual value of the death toll depends on whom you ask: the United Nations says 4,000 whilst Greenpeace claims 96,000. Bolt is far from the first to put forward such a comparatively low number, and the reason for this is that technically, Bolt is right. Outside of two workers exposed to the core explosion and 29 firefighters who developed fatal acute radiation sickness, every other death we chalk up to the accident has an uncertainty. Some, such as the deaths of 15 children in relative proximity to the power plant, have a very low uncertainty, meaning that we can be largely confident that exposure to radiation caused the fatalities. The vast majority, however, of the deaths attributed to Chernobyl have far larger uncertainties attached.
ARTWORK : ADRIAN SCHMIDT // 63
There are two main reasons for this large uncertainty: If you aren’t exposed to enough radiation to experience radiation sickness, the only way it can kill you is by doing enough damage to your DNA to cause a deadly cancer down the line. Excluding the initial 31 deaths, this is the process by which the fallout of Chernobyl claimed lives. To complicate matters, it’s impossible to determine if a cancer was caused by radiation from the disaster, some other radiation or random biological processes. The finer details of the relationship between radiation exposure, risk of cancer and death are largely unknown. This is unsurprising given the generally low likelihood of a population to experience an event in which they are exposed to levels of radiation far higher than background levels, such as from Chernobyl. The rarity of these large-scale nuclear events prevents scientists from developing datasets from which conclusions can be drawn. Additionally, we are unable to scientifically study an exposed population without a ‘control’ population that experience the exact same living and genetic conditions. This second cause is the primary reason for the large variation in estimates, as ultimately any potential peak in cancer rates and fatalities where we would expect to see them are small enough to be obscured in the overall data. This is due to the statistical noise caused by yearly variation due to unknown or uncontrollable factors, such as diet, pesticides and living conditions. This leaves the actual calculation of the number of deaths to scientific guesswork. There are some areas in the science, however, where we can find some certainty. In epidemiological studies comparing populations living in areas of higher and lower natural background radiation, rates of cancer do not differ enough to be statistically significant. Inhabitants of Denver are no more likely to develop cancer than those of Canberra, despite proximity to naturally occurring uranium deposits which cause background radiation levels to be seven times higher. From this we can conclude that there must be some limit of exposure, above which humans are more likely to develop potentially fatal cancer. This can also be extended to nuclear accidents, such as studies investigating the long-term effects of a partial nuclear meltdown at the Three-Mile Island Plant in Pennsylvania. The findings showed that despite exposure to a slight but statistically significant increase in radiation compared to background levels, nearby populations showed no increase in rates of cancer or deaths.
Even with this evidence of a threshold, our estimates on the Chernobyl death-toll are based off the linearno-threshold (LNT) model. This model assumes that there is no safe level of exposure to radiation and that the amount of exposure is linearly related to the likelihood of developing cancer. This model is employed by governments and regulatory bodies in setting radiation limits precisely because of this inaccuracy: as there is no lower threshold, the model is widely considered to provide an overestimation of the danger of exposure. Over time, the LNT model has been increasingly considered outdated and inaccurate by nuclear scientists and public health specialists for examining long term effects of radiation. It’s due to this uncertainty that a difficult and unpopular conclusion must be drawn: we will likely never be able to accurately determine how many people died as a result of the Chernobyl accident. Between insufficient and inaccurate modeling, incomplete data and a lack of scientific knowledge on the effects of large-scale exposure to radiation, the estimates of the death toll will likely remain varied and open to over or underexaggeration. This means that when it comes to the debate on whether nuclear power belongs in our society, misguided proponents on either side of the debate will be able to reach for whichever number supports their conclusions for many years to come. Ultimately, we should hope this remains the case, as the only way this accuracy will improve is if another massive nuclear incident unleashes potentially dangerous amounts of radiation into the environment. As frustrating as it may be, these limitations in our knowledge may well be a good thing…
64 // DISCOVERY | RESEARCH
‘Life’ and Modernity in D.H. Lawrence’s ‘The Blind Man’ AUTHOR // ANTHONY MOORE
CONTENT WARNING: Allusion to Homophobia Dissatisfaction with the societal changes that constituted modernity can be traced back to writers and social movements of the Romantic period, such as William Blake and the Luddites. The later cultural movement known as Modernism, dating approximately from the fin-de-siècle to World War II, counted among its critics the novelist D.H. Lawrence, throughout whose oeuvre one finds a recurrent and categorical opposition between modernity and an idealised notion of ‘life’. Preferring to valorise the instinctive, the sexual and the premodern with which he conceived ‘life’, Lawrence opposed the intellectualism, individualism, and other socio-political transformations that characterised modernity. The division between these two terms is apparent in Lawrence’s 1918 short story ‘The Blind Man’. Set against the backdrop of the Great War, it introduces several themes associated with Lawrence’s vague and elusive notion of ‘life’, such as ‘bloodprescience’, sexuality and fraternity. However, before exploring this dichotomy, let us begin by discussing Lawrence’s notion of ‘life’. Although it is difficult to comprehend precisely what Lawrence meant by ‘life’, one can garner some sense of it by examining its use in the following quotation: “My belief is in the blood and flesh as being wiser than the intellect. The body-unconscious is where life bubbles up in us. It is how we know that we are alive, alive to the depths of our soul and in touch somewhere with the vivid reaches of the cosmos.” Evidently, for Lawrence, ‘life’ is not only intimately related to the corporeal, rather than the intellect, but the corporeal would also appear to be the source of ‘life’. And, contrary to Western tradition, Lawrence seems to believe that the corporeal should be valued over the intellect, believing that ‘life’ endows one with wisdom that cannot be achieved by the intellect, in addition to knowledge of a profound connection with creation. These qualities link this quotation with ‘The Blind Man’, in which all are repeatedly employed in association with the story’s blinded soldier, Maurice Pervin, and his ‘blood-prescience’. The most striking aspect of Lawrence’s story is its description of Maurice’s ‘new way of consciousness’, an ontology to which the narrator variously refers
as ‘blood-prescience’, ‘blood- consciousness’, and ‘blood-knowing’, and which is synonymous with ‘life’ as described above. Lawrence, in a manner reminiscent of Freud and Blake, postulates the existence of two contrary states of human consciousness: ‘mental-consciousness’ and ‘bloodconsciousness’, which are illustrated by the characters of Bertie Reid and Maurice, respectively. As the term suggests, blood-prescience is characterised by an instinctive foreknowledge, or heightened intuition, whose source is the corporeal. This is exemplified by Maurice’s ability to “know the presence of objects before he touched them.” Given that this intuition is unrelated to the intellect, this ability coincides with an absence of the necessity of thought, as the reader is informed that Maurice “did not think or trouble much.” Although derived from the Latin praescientia, meaning ‘foreknowledge’, Lawrence’s use of ‘prescience’ might also be understood as ‘prescience.’ By this, I mean that Lawrence’s concept of bloodprescience, and promotion of the intuition over the intellect, contains something of the ‘primitive’. Indeed, throughout the story, Lawrence appears to suggest that Maurice, the ‘primitive’ man, is more attuned to ‘life’ than Bertie, the representation of modern man. Lawrence’s elevation of the intuition can be regarded as a reaction to modern society’s excessive reliance on scientific enquiry and intellect. According to F.R. Leavis, Lawrence “inveighs against the misuse of the mind that makes it an enemy of life,” and posits that “that misuse is the distinctive mark of our scientificoindustrial civilisation.” Lawrence illustrates this misuse through Bertie Reid, “a barrister and a man of letters, a Scotchman of the intellectual type,” whose name, bearing similarity to that of Lawrence’s one-time friend and philosopher Bertrand Russell, in addition to its homonymous similarity to the verb ‘read’, is suggestive of his highly intellectual nature. Bertie’s failure to rationalise Maurice’s new mode of being demonstrates the limitations of his purely intellectual mental-consciousness. Lawrence addressed these limitations a few years earlier, writing that “We can go wrong in our minds. But what our blood feels and believes and says, is always true. The intellect is only
ARTWORK : CLAIRE GASPAR // 65
a bit and a bridle.” Indeed, Bertie’s inability to ‘see’ as Maurice does provides the irony of the story’s title and reveals that Bertie is also, in a sense, ‘blind’. Bertie’s overreliance on his intellect is further suggested by his close proximity to sources of light throughout the text, most notably in his decision to take a lantern to find Maurice rather than embrace the darkness in the way that Maurice’s wife, Isabel, does earlier in the text. A cursory glance at Lawrence’s oeuvre reveals the recurrent themes of romantic relationships and sexuality, both of which are central to the concepts of ‘life’ and blood-consciousness. This is evident in the following excerpt from one of Lawrence’s letters: “There is the blood-consciousness, with the sexual connection, holding the same relation as the eye, in seeing, holds to the mental consciousness . . . When I take a woman, then the blood-percept is supreme, my blood-knowing is overwhelming. There is a transmission . . . between her blood and mine, in the act of connection.” This statement is echoed in the narrator’s discussion of Maurice’s blood-consciousness: “The rich suffusion of this state generally kept him happy, reaching its culmination in the consuming passion for his wife”. Both statements suggest that the apex of ‘life’ is to be found in sexual intercourse. More importantly, given the many descriptions of the Pervins’ ‘connubial felicity’ and ‘unspeakable nearness’ following Maurice’s return from war, it appears that Lawrence believes that this aspect of ‘life’ contains a restorative power, responsible for Maurice’s curious lack of shell-shock and for the equally curious lack of sentimentality following the death of their first child. If the forces of modernity have had a withering effect on Bertie’s instincts and intuition, it appears that they have also contributed to his emasculation. Contrasting against the Pervins’ ‘unspeakable intimacy’, Bertie is depicted as a sexually dysfunctional bachelor, who “could not marry, could not approach women physically,” despite his wish to do otherwise. Although Lawrence credited Christianity for widening the division between mind and body in Western culture, and particularly for its negative regard toward the latter and its sexual function, David Ayers states that Lawrence believed that modern civilisation had had the further “effect of turning sexual relationships into verbal meetings accompanied by mechanical sex.” This is relevant to Bertie’s character, whose relationship with Isabel is entirely verbal and lacking
sexual tension. Indeed, the narrator reports that all of Bertie’s relationships with women are similarly devoid of any sexual element, and that he has been so alienated from his masculinity that “if they seemed to encroach on him, he withdrew and detested them.” In addition to the importance of sexuality to ‘life’, Lawrence’s concept emphasises the importance of fraternity and passionate friendship between men. In his brief discussion of Lawrence’s notion of ‘life’, novelist Anthony Burgess claims that Lawrence believed that men must develop deep, emotional ties with one another, once present in pre-modern society, and involving “physical contact between man and man.” Agreeing, Pericles Lewis adds that, despite his strong disapproval of homosexuality, Lawrence “emphasised the regenerative powers of an authentic male friendship, and valued nonsexual intimacy between men highly.” It is with this in mind that one should understand the culminating scene in which Maurice and Bertie come to ‘know’ one another through the intimacy of touch. Not only is the regenerative effect of this event evident in Maurice, who is consequently “filled with hot, poignant love, the passion of friendship,” but its description borders on the sacred and religious, evoking the laying on of hands of the Christian tradition. This aspect of ‘life’ is positioned against the individualism of moderns like Bertie, who, lacking the community of premodern society, are subject to the fragmented social experience (and consequent alienation and isolation) of urban centres. ‘The Blind Man’ reveals subtle criticism of the changes occurring in Western society during the early 20th century. Through it, the reader discovers Lawrence’s conservative attitude toward modernity, which he believed had alienated people from their true nature and from each other. Rather than embracing the rapid changes to Western society, Lawrence adopts a reactionary position and engages in primitivism. He particularly privileges the instincts and intuition, as seen in his concept of blood-consciousness, promoting healthy sexuality and pre-modern community, all of which are present in his notion of ‘life’.
PHOTOGRAPHY: JIAQI YAN // 66
PHOTOGRAPHY: JULIA FARAGHER
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We acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, who are the traditional owners of the land on which Woroni is written, edited and printed. We pay respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge that this land – which we benefit from occupying – was stolen, that sovereignty was never ceded and that no acknowledgement will ever bring it back.