credit: Handsome Her

Handsome Her

This Melbourne-based café’s name is not the only interesting thing about it. It is currently making efforts to raise awareness about the increasing  gender pay gap in the country; and it has been in the news lately for all the right reasons.

Many of the women who live and work in English-speaking environments probably don’t give too much thought these days to o the simple two-letter title that often precedes our names on official letters and envelopes.

India’s Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) made headlines this week after finally lifting its ban on the theatrical screening of “Lipstick Under My Burkha”. The film opens in the cinemas on 21 July. Directed by Alankrita Shrivastava, it follows four Indian women and their quiet acts of rebellion against cultural, religious and societal restrictions.

Like a lot of women in our generation, I wake up each morning and refresh my social media feeds to get an update on the world. Mostly it’s stuff that I don’t really need to know or about people I’m not so close to. But I find these people and their lives interesting anyway. Often I end up scrolling mindlessly, not only first thing after waking up or falling asleep but also countless times in between…. and you know what, it’s exhausting.

For their project “Eyes As Big As Plates,” Norwegian photographer Karoline Hjorth and Finnish artist Riitta Ikonen have photographed people from ten countries, dressed in plants from where they live.

Summer is finally upon us in the northern hemisphere. With rising temperatures, clothes are getting scantier, regular bodies are being exposed to the critical eyes of the tabloid press and those who prey on our insecurities. This in turn has led to the next head-scratching body trend.

I have a daughter who is 17 months old. She is bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and full of wonder, usually running in the face of danger and always in search of adventure. As her mum, I love her free spirit even though it is tiring to chase after her when she ventures away from the playground in search of something more. Raising her away from the land I was raised in has brought about its own set of challenges.