CW: death, suicide, mental illness By Ella McKelvey, Head of Online Engagement (Blog)  “6 out of 8 suicides are committed by men… depression plays a contributing role to the big difference in suicide rates for men and women” - Beyond Blue “Men pay a high price for the straightjackets we put them in as boys - don’t show emotion… They suicide at alarming levels” - Gay Alcorn, writing for The Guardian “The men’s mental health crisis Australia can no longer ignore” - ABC news  “While it’s undoubtedly true that fame and fortune does not insulate you from severe depression, suicid ..read more

By Maggie Mackenzie (she/her)    CW: mentions of sexual assault, homophobia, racism, ableism, toxic masculinity, mental health, eating disorders   Over the last four weeks, OWP has been sharing a bunch of content to help upskill youth in their ability to discern representations of gender, sexuality, and relationships within media. We’ve focused on some of our favourite, or most popular, TV shows and movies of the last ten years, noting areas of toxic masculinity, toxic femininity, and unhealthy representations of relationships.   ..read more

By Cristina Cabrera-Ayers CW: discussions of toxic masculinity, VAW, sexual assault, mental health and suicide, gendered behaviours There is a lot of talk these days about toxic masculinity. It is one of those terms that gets thrown around so much it can start being difficult to figure out what people mean when they use it. Are they referring to a behaviour that actually reinforces traditional gender norms, transphobia, and all the other fun things that are inherent to patriarchy? Or are they using the wrong word to complain about a behaviour they just don’t like? Criticisms of toxic masculini ..read more

By Ellie Brooks (they/she)  Many feminists I know were born believing in equality. But few grew up knowing how to articulate this. And many had a long and winding journey to come to a place of proudly calling oneself a feminist.  But before arriving at that place of like-minded people passionate about equality, I like many others, had an “I’m not like other girls” phase. (Turns out I’m not a girl but that’s a story for another time). The modern term for this phenomenon is a “pick me girl”. Let’s unpack.  An imitation of a “pick me girl ..read more

By Maggie Mackenzie (she/her) CW: mentions of sexual assault, male aggression, rape, toxic masculinity   Last Sunday marked the official first day of our collab campaign with YouthCan! Throughout the month, OWP’s blog will be discussing a range of topics surrounding the depictions of relationships in media, gendered behaviours and toxic masculinity, and consent. Keep an eye out on our socials and check back each week for a new blog!   A few months ago, I decided to head down memory lane and do a re-watch of The Vampire Diaries. Something I had been putting off for a while – 2000’s sh ..read more

By Ellie Brooks (They/She) A lesson in basic grammar and gender expression. Pronouns. You may be very familiar with them, or you may be completely unaware of them. Either way, you just read them three times in the past two sentences. Pronouns are alternatives to nouns. We use them to talk about people without using their name.  This may seem incredibly obvious, but as it becomes increasingly common to identify with pronouns other than those typically prescribed to a certain sex or gender presentation, bigots are denying their existence altogether. This article is a recap on ..read more

By Cristina Cabrera-Ayers Content warnings: racism; medical abuse; unnecessary surgical interventions; racist systemic abuse; coercion into medical interventions Term definitions: IAAF/ International Association of Athletics Foundation = a governing body within international sports that can make rulings on who is allowed to compete in a number of elite athletic competitions, for example, the Olympics. Nanomole = a chemical unit of measurement, dealing with microscopic amounts of substances such as hormones. Testosterone = popularly known as the ‘male’ sex hormone, often in contrast to estroge ..read more

By Madeline Price (she/they)   I must admit, I have spent a lot of time procrastinating writing this blog post.   Not because I did not care to say farewell to the incredible supporters of the One Woman Project, but rather, because I was not yet ready.   Since founding the One Woman Project in mid-2013, the past eight years have brought me the happiest, most fulfilling and exciting times of my life. It has been the greatest joy to see the organisation grow from where we started, to flourishing into what it has become today.  ..read more

CW: mentions of abortion, forced pregnancy, rape By Kaye Starke  Introducing us to Texas’ new abortion ban  On the 19th of May this year, the US Senate passed a bill which has become the latest weapon in the anti-choicer's arsenal against legal abortions. The bill, known as Senate Bill 8, is similar to other so-called ‘heartbeat’ bills passed in Texas’ red sister-states: Alabama, Missouri, Georgia, and Ohio. This is because it tries to prevent a pregnant person from accessing an abortion once a fetal heartbeat has been detected, whic ..read more

By Jeannine Taleyratne   Content warning: mentions of First Nations women experiences, disabilities, and domestic and family violence     Indigenous women with disabilities are identified as having experienced domestic violence at a much greater rate than the rest of the population (Cripps, Miller and Saxton-Barney, 2010). According to Aboriginal Justice Council (1999), 69% of assault cases against First Nations women are carried out by their spouse or partner. Compounding this issue, is that Indigenous w ..read more