In the piece, where she mourns the cultural-annihilation San Francisco has faced since the birth of Big Tech, she quotes PayPal founder Peter Thiel who wrote in 2009, “I stand against confiscatory taxes, totalitarian collectives and the ideology of the inevitability of death of every individual.” 

Thiel recently demonstrated his libertarian agendas by signing on as an investor in the privately funded drug-friendly sports contest, The Enchanted Games.

The competition, which describes itself as “the modern reinvention of the Olympic Games that does not have drug testing,” is headed by Aron D’Souza, Thiel’s former lawyer. The backers of The Enchanted Games believe athletes should be allowed, encouraged even, to use every advantage they can to secure success: they should take as much performance enhancement drugs as they want — all in the name of becoming better, stronger, faster. They believe that banning performance enhancements is stifling scientific innovation. 

The Games will not test athletes for drugs or any performance enhancers at its events, because it “embra[ces] ways science and technology can enhance human performance,” D’Souza, president of the Enhanced Games, said in the statement. 

“The Enhanced Movement believes in the medical and scientific process of elevating humanity to its full potential, through community of committed athletes.”

“[We] see the vision of a new model of sports, that openly celebrates scientific innovation and honestly represents the use of performance enhancements in sports today.” 

The Games will focus on individual sports across athletics, aquatics, combat, gymnastics and strength. 

“By focusing on world records in popular sports such as track and field, swimming, gymnastics, weight lifting and combat sports, we can eliminate wasteful infrastructure spending and reinvest to fairly pay all athletes,” D’Souza said. 

“In the era of accelerating technological and scientific change, the world needs a sporting event that embraces the future, particularly advances in medical science.” 

But what’s really going on here? Who are the people behind this contest? And what are they really trying to do? 

It’s a men’s club

The Enchanted Games is backed by the world’s richest venture capitalists. We have Peter Thiel, the conservative tech billionaire and founder of companies such as Palantir, which monitors immigrants for the Department of Homeland Security in the US. Thiel has had a long history of defying public safety and policy regulations. He was also one of the early investors of Facebook. 

There’s Christian Angermayer, founder of Apeiron Investment Group — a private investment company with a biotech portfolio that includes Atai Life Science, who are currently developing a rapid-acting anti-depressant for home use. Atai has backing from Thiel. 

Angermayer is a big name in the psychedelic industry — he’s been open about how taking mushrooms since 2015 has changed the course of his life. 

He described The Enhanced Games as having “forward-thinking ethos”, and one that “…improves the safety and fairness of competition but also stimulates scientific breakthroughs and nurtures human advancement.”

“The Enhanced games will undoubtedly inspire the public’s imagination and reinforce the profound impact of science on human progress,” he said in a statement. 

Then we have Balaji Srinivasan, a cryptocurrency investor and former CTO of Coinbase, who has been described as a polymath and angel investor who believes that tech has the power to eventually initiate a nation-free world. 

Out of the eleven individuals on the leadership team, there’s one woman — Jodhi Ramsden-Mavric, who is listed as a creative assistant, and who has a background in the film industry. The six people on the company’s Scientific and Medical Advisory Commission come from various backgrounds, including a Harvard professor, a co-founder of OxWash (sustainable commercial laundry service-providers) and a naturopathic doctor. Two are women.

Thomas Rex Dolan, the 19-year old Victorian and Gen Z Party founder and president, is listed as head of executive operations. According to his LinkedIn page, Dolan is D’Souza’s godson. 

The Athletes Advisory Commission consists of five men and just one woman. On the games website, it explains that they “embrace[s] the inclusion of science in sports” and is “unencumbered by anachronistic legacy systems.”

I wonder how they can do this with an organisation that clearly lacks the most basic form of diversity?

Sketchy on the details 

Since the games started making headlines last month, many people have been left scratching their heads. The organisation hasn’t been clear about some details. 

For one, it has declared that it will pay the athletes who compete in the games, but it hasn’t said exactly how much. 

Athletes will be paid a base salary and will compete for additional prize money. According to the website, a prize pool and compensation model will be announced later this year. 

Who gets to compete?

Calling themselves the “most inclusive sports league in history,” the organisers said all adults are eligible to compete in the games regardless of whether they are “natural, adaptive, or enhanced, an amateur or a former Olympian.” 

Registration is set to open later this year, though the actual dates for the contest have not been announced. 

It’s dangerous for the athletes 

The Games insist they will be the “safest international sporting event in history” and will ensure every athlete undergoes full medical screenings to monitor any risks.

But critics believe the competition’s agenda will risk both athletes’ health and sport itself. Two experts from the University of Canberra feared that athletes will turn into “injectable avatars” who will endanger their health by taking medicines that have been approved for human use.

“There’s no shortage of evidence demonstrating the dangers of pharmaceutical abuse for performance enhancement, let alone what might happen when used in experimental combinations and dosages,” Professor Catherine Ordway said last week.

“Elite sport is not conducted on a level playing field. Access to money, knowledge, power and technology already gives some athletes an edge over others, and the Enhanced Games would exacerbate these inequalities.”

Travis Tygart, CEO of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), called the games “farcical,” and that it would be “a dangerous clown show, not real sport.” 

Jamie Crain, CEO of Sports Medicine Australia, took aim at the games’ PR material, which runs on the “anything is possible with science” ideology, pitting “science” as the gateway towards human progress and excellence.

“Science is the process of experimenting and observing and recording results and adjusting accordingly to get a certain outcome or just to understand a topic,” Crain told the ABC.

“And in this context that means they’re going to be giving otherwise fit people experimental substances to see what the outcomes is in the hope it might make them faster or stronger. Is that good science? If it produces a fast athlete who ends up with medical complications down the line, you would argue, no, it is not good science.”

Former Olympic swimmer Kieren Perkins said he could not see “any responsible and ethical person thinking the Enhance Games is even remotely sensible”.

“As soon as you start to go down the murky slope of allowing these sorts of drugs to be involved in the system you are completely setting aside the athlete’s physical and mental wellbeing and prioritising commercial gains and that’s not a place we want to be,” Perkins, now the CEO of the Australian Sports Commission, said.

Last week, retired Olympic swimming medalist James Magnussen announced he would compete in The Enhanced Games to try to break the 50m record for a reported $1.6 million. 

His reason? Money. 

“To be completely transparent, the money is a huge part,” he told News Corp. “A $1.6 million Australian dollar prize is hard to ignore.”

They’re out to make money

The carefully worded PR materials from the games’ website spruce their mission to enhance the “the medical and scientific process of elevating humanity to its full potential.”

But clearly, when you’ve got the world’s richest men backing this, it’s clear the end game is generating money. According to some media reports, D’Souza has plans to hold the games annually and stream it on platforms like YouTube to garner revenue. 

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At a Christmas family gathering in December last year, Dwan Young’s family surprised her with the Guinness World Record certificate, officially naming her as the record holder.

Young, who lives in Utah, USA, has been skiing for more than 60 years, trying her hand at the sport when she was 29 years old. Since then, she along with her family have been skiing at the family cabin at Bear Lake.

Speaking with KSL TV, Young said her granddaughter Becca contacted the Guinness World Records to see if her grandmother was eligible for the title. Then, at Christmas, the family presented her with the award.

“I thought it was a joke,” she said.

While Young has been skiing for years, she said it was her family that helped her transition from skiing on two skis to the slalom, which is no easy feat for anyone, let alone a 92-year-old.

“My kids kept saying, ‘Grandma, bend your knees! Keep your arms straight and let the boat pull you out!’” Young said.

“Now, at my age, I’m getting out of the water on two and just dropping one.”

Water skiing isn’t the only sport Young plays, and she doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.

“Actually, I’m still playing tennis twice a week, and I’m doing water aerobics in the winter,” she said.

While her grandkids want their grandmother to give surfing a go, Young is happy to stick with what she knows.

‘What an honour.’

Since 1961, Dwan Young, who is originally from Salt Lake City, has been water skiing. But she admitted to Guinness World Records last month that she still gets nervous before a ski.

“I always get butterflies before I get in the water,” Young said. “In the water, I feel excited.”

Young was thrilled to receive the record certificate from her family, which was totally unexpected for the 92-year-old.

“I could not believe it. I still can’t believe it,” Young said. “What a surprise and what an honour.”

These days, Young only skis in Bear Lake, where the family summer cabin is. But she told Guinness World Records that if she could ski anywhere in the world, Lake Geneva in Switzerland is her dream spot.

For anyone wanting to have a go at something new, Young said your age should not matter.

“Do not be afraid to try a new sport when you are older,” she said.

“You are more capable than you think.”

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Driving it on a two-lane country road in Barnawartha in regional Victoria wasn’t any easier. At one point in her first drive, another truck started barrelling towards her.

Kathy’s mind echoed the words of her dad, who used to tell her how powerful trucks are – and the damage they can do should you get on the wrong side.

When she shared her fear with her driving instructor, he had one thing to say to her.

“Kathy, you are a truck.”

A mere three months after passing her truck driving test, 48-year-old Kathy is driving trucks all around the country. She’s one of the very few women in Australia doing so: just three per cent of truck drivers are women, according to government statistics.

It’s also the most freedom, control and empowerment Kathy has ever had in her life, after she escaped from an abusive relationship. Her new job is a way to take her mind off her past trauma, put the foot on the pedal and leave it behind in the rearview mirror.

“You have control (in a truck) – with domestic violence, you don’t have any control. You never know when they’re gonna go off. You never know whether you’re gonna get a black eye. You never know whether you’re gonna end up in hospital.

“Now, with this truck, I have more control over my life.”

How did it start?

Twelve years ago, Kathy’s violent and abusive relationship came to a head when she was shot in the hip by her perpetrator. He was jailed for 18 months, but Kathy has done more time recovering from the incident than he ever spent in prison.

“It really affected my life,” Kathy said.

“It’s probably not until the last 2-3 years I’ve actually started living again – starting to get counselling, work, that type of thing.”

Kathy worked as a baker for Woolworths, but with her ongoing injury, she could never return to full-time work. But an advertisement for a truck driving program, specifically targeted at women, changed everything.

“I have no experience with trucks whatsoever. But I do like driving. It’s a form of freedom and escape. When you’re driving, and you put the music on, you don’t really think,” Kathy said.

In November last year, upon seeing the ad for the Iron Women truck driving program, Kathy signed up for the three-week course. After all, how hard could it be?

It turns out, there’s a lot more to driving a truck than meets the eye. Kathy participated in two weeks of classroom theory, then had one week of on-road heavy vehicle training.

But she passed the course and passed the driving test. Now, Kathy works as a truck driver for a major transportation company in Australia – and she couldn’t be happier.

Women in the industry

According to the Australian government’s Labour Market Insights, just three per cent of truck drivers in the country are women.

The stats stack up for Kathy: when she spoke to Women’s Agenda, she was at work and observed the other truck drivers in the lot.

“There’s probably about 100 trucks here all waiting to be taken out,” Kathy said, “and there’s only two females here.”

According to research from Volvo Trucks, 76 per cent of women have never even considered a career in truck driving.

The research found a third (33 per cent) of women are hesitant to pursue a career in truck driving because of the “blokey culture”. Meanwhile, 34 per cent are worried about being physically strong enough.

While women might feel uncomfortable breaking into the business, nothing changes without women like Kathy taking charge – and it might just change their lives, like it did for her.

“It’s important we get more women in here to change the dynamics,” Kathy said.

“But also give women the opportunity to gain a skill, to gain employment, to gain purpose and meaning.

“You never know what you’re gonna get out of life until you give it a go.”

If you or someone you know is experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, chat online via 1800RESPECT.org.au or text 0458 737 732. 

If you are concerned about your behaviour or use of violence, you can contact the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491 or visit www.ntv.org.au.

Feeling worried or no good? No shame, no judgement, safe place to yarn. Speak to a 13YARN Crisis Supporter, call 13 92 76. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

In an emergency, call 000.

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batyr Chair, Ellen Derrick described the incoming CEO as a “powerful voice” who is “deeply passionate about amplifying young voices and their lived experience, alongside equipping young people and their communities with the tools to live their lives and flourish.”

“Acheson’s leadership is centred around driving transformative change, with lived experience at the core of this,” Derrick said in a statement. 

As a prominent figure in the Australian youth sector, Acheson has served as the CEO of Youth Action, Chair of the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition and Executive Manager of Policy and Advocacy at Arafmi. She was the lead youth lived experience consultant for the United Nations World Youth Report in 2022, and earned the title of Financial Review’s Woman of Influence in 2019. Last year, she was a Bob and June Prickett Churchill Trust Fellow, researching the ways involving young people in decision-making can help address rising mental ill-health. 

She is also the Co-founder of Numbers and People Synergy, a data analytics company working to improve social development policies. 

Acheson said she is “beyond excited to join the batyr team.” 

“I have been championing batyr from the sidelines for many years and it’s an absolute honour to now be stepping into the role as CEO to lead this incredible organisation,” she said in a statement.

“Their expertise in prevention and championing lived experience is being recognised and acknowledged in Australia and abroad for its proven impact.”

“I’m already proud of batyr’s work on the ground to date, and can’t wait to amplify this further. I’ll continue to ensure the team are supported, motivated and inspired to keep driving positive change for young people now and for generations to come.”

Derrick added that Acheson’s “depth of knowledge and experience across youth and mental health” is “inspiring.”

“We are excited to officially welcome Katie into the batyr family and see her leadership build on our strong foundations and guide batyr into the future.”

Acheson begins her role on February 19. Last week, the organisation launched its fifth Splash the Stigma swim fundraiser that will continue through the month of February. Splash the Stigma is batyr’s annual drive to “turn the tide on mental health”, where people are invited to take up swimming challenge to raise money for the charity’s education programs to help young people better understand their mental health.

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The survey, funded by the Department of Social Services, the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) and managed by the Melbourne Institute, found that in the four weeks leading up to this year’s survey, almost one in five women reported working when they were physically unwell, while 16.8 per cent of employed men said they worked while feeling physically unwell. 

Roughly the same number of women reported working when they were mentally unwell, while just 11.1 per cent of men did the same. 

Those with a moderate or severe disability or in poor mental health were also much more likely to work when unwell. 

The 18th Annual Statistical Report of the HILDA Survey is a nationally representative longitudinal study of Australian households, following the lives of more than 17,000 Australians each year since 2001. 

Collecting information on many aspects of life in Australia, including household and family relationships, income and employment, and health and education, this year’s survey revealed some startling trends for women. Here, we look at a few of them. 

Working conditions

Men were less likely than women to be primarily working from home, the latest study found. In 2019, a mere 3.5 per cent per cent of people worked entirely from home, and 6.5 per cent worked at least 50 per cent of the time from home. In 2021, the figures shot up to 17.7 per cent and 24.3 respectively. 

The industries with the highest number of people mainly working from home are financial and insurance services, information media and telecommunications. Meanwhile, those working in retail, hospitality, education and arts were less likely to be working from home. 

The study also found a link between the number of employed parents and their use of formal child care. Unemployed mothers were less likely to seek formal child care. Unemployed fathers also lead to a decrease in using child care services, however the percentage reduced was much lower. 

The study concluded that the reason for these associations could either be that full-time employment could lead to the use of formal child care, or that having access to formal child care can be a precondition to seeking full time paid employment. 

The number of women in paid employment has also risen, especially in the group aged 65 to 69, where currently, one in four are employed.

Roughly 40 per cent of women aged between 18-64 are now employed full-time, while the proportion of men in that age group continue to be largely employed full time (70 per cent).

The gender pay gap is also slowly shrinking. In 2016, women earned just 78 per cent of what men earned. The latest study showed that now, women earn approximately 86 per cent of what men earn — still an extremely problematic figure. 

The average earnings made by a woman has also risen, though not to the heights of men. In 2021, the average female earning rose to 75 per cent of male average earnings, an increase from 2001 of 66 per cent. 

Marriage

Fewer Australians are now deciding to walk down the aisle compared to a few decades ago. The percentage of women who were married in 2001 was 54.5 per cent. In 2021, that number dropped down to 48.2 per cent. 

More women are now opting to be in de facto relationships. Between 2001 to 2021, the percentage went from 8.9 per cent to 14.3 per cent. Similar figures were found with men. 

The largest cohort of Australians who have decided to waive marriage are those aged between 25 to 34. Generally, less people are partnering up in conventional, romantic relationships. 

Between 2002 to 2004, 31.1 per cent of men and 26.8 per cent of women self-identified as being in a romantic relationship. Between the 2014 to 2016 period, that figure dropped to 26.7 per cent of men and 23.7 per cent of women. 

When it comes to self-assessed relationship satisfaction, women aged 40 to 59 reported lower relationship satisfaction than their male counterparts. 

Last year’s HILDA study already charted a growing number of Australians drifting away from living with their intimate partner. Dr Esperanza Vera-Toscano, an economist and senior research fellow at the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, attributed the “qualitative shift in our understanding of family” to a progressive framework of thinking.

“We need get used to the fact that the traditional pathway of meeting someone, having a relationship that ends up in marriage and children, has changed,” she said. “There are other situations that need to be brought into the picture. It’s important we understand them.”

Loneliness and psychological distress

Those aged between 15-24 now encompass the highest portion of lonely individuals. In the period between 2001 and 2009, the greatest proportion of lonely people were those aged 65 and older. 

The study’s co-author Dr Ferdi Botha, said “There is a clear trend of younger people becoming lonelier and feeling more isolated as time goes on.” 

“If there aren’t actions taken or policies implemented to intervene, we may see loneliness and psychological distress increasing in the younger generations and this may lead to lower mental and physical wellbeing and other wider societal issues,” he said in a statement. 

“Loneliness increased in the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, but for young people, there is a longer-term trend increase apparent. It may be that this is partly connected to growth in smart phones and social media use.” 

People in the youngest age cohort (15-24) also reported the highest average distress scores, with 42.3 per cent of them reporting they were psychologically distressed in 2021. Women aged 15 to 24 reported higher levels of distress than older women in the 35 to 54 and 65 and over age category, showing that the average psychological distress levels declined with age. 

Overall, women also reported higher levels of psychological distress. Between 2007 to 2021, the prevalence of psychological distress among women increased by roughly 63 per cent. In 2021, almost one in three women said they were in distress, compared to 22.7 per cent of men. The study measured participants’ psychological distress by asking them questions such as, “In the last four weeks, about how often did you feel tired out for no good reasons? Nervous? Hopeless? Depressed?”

Use of prescription drugs in Australia

More women are using strong painkillers than men, the latest study found. Almost thirty per cent of women reported using strong painkillers or pain-relievers with opioids in them, and 14 per cent reported using tranquillisers and/or sleeping pills. 

The strong painkillers may include Tramadol, Fentanyl, Oxycodone, morphine, codeine products such as Panadeine Forte. 

According to the study’s authors, most respondents were using the strong painkillers only infrequently, “…suggesting they are primarily used for temporary relief from pain, anxiety or sleep issues.” 

“However, it is crucial to acknowledge that these drugs have potential negative consequences, such as addiction, overdose and harmful interactions.” 

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While the 21-year-old fell to American Caitlin Simmers, 18, in the final, Picklum’s perfect score was nailed in what’s widely rated as one of the best-ever women’s heats on the Championship Tour against Hawaii-local Bettylou Sakura Johnson in a thrilling semifinal win. 

World No. 5 Picklum flew through the barrel on her backhand side to earn the only 10 in the women’s competition. 

“I feel like for me personally, there’s no more fitting place than Pipe to give me my first 10,” said the NSW surfer, who will also represent Australia at this year’s Olympics in Paris.  

“ I’m just so, so happy– 10 points, it’s hard to come by,” she said. 

“With the wave I needed a score and I know she’s capable of a 10, so I just took off and I just thought it’s got some draw to it and I may as well roll the dice and try.”

“But 10 points, I love it, I want more.”

In the end, Picklum finished with a score of 10.64,  behind Simmers’ 12.66 score. Nevertheless, even Simmers had praise to heap onto Picklum’s historic heat. 

“Molly’s a guru, she’s probably the best girl out here in my opinion,” said Simmers about Picklum. “One heat out here is like months of experience, and getting barrelled in a heat with your friend is the most fun thing in the world.”

Commenting on all of the “epic” performances of the day, Picklum wrote on Instagram after the event: “Wow what a day for women’s surfing. So inspired by the women before my time who charged and push the limits and of course my girls who are pushing it in todays generation.”

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“Pipeline is for the fucking girls!”

Despite this year’s epic performances from female surfers at Pipeline, women have only been allowed to surf the sport’s most challenging and dangerous wave since 2020.

Three years ago, Australia’s Tyler Wright claimed victory at the first women’s World Surfing League (WSL) tour event to be held at Pipeline. 

Before that, women surfed at a different Hawaiian location– Honolua Bay– for the findal event of the tour, while Pipeline was reserved for the men. Following a fatal shark attack during the 2020 Maui Pro, however, the women moved to Pipeline out of caution. 

Nevertheless, Picklum’s perfect 10 on the deadly wave seems to have cemented that “Pipeline is for the fucking girls,” as Simmers declared after her heat. 

“This wave is terrifying; I respect everyone who wants a part of it and everyone who doesn’t because it’s really scary out there,” said Simmers.

“It starts with all the girls that battled the guys and barely got any waves, and I hope that this event showed the girls can do it. We’re getting spat out all day, and it’s pretty cool to see. I’m really happy to be a part of it.”

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The Members Connect Series will provide a platform for women to engage in discussions concerning industry trends and pioneering programs, offering them unique insights and opportunities. The aim is to advance the careers of women and increase female participation in the sector.

Founder and Director of Franklin Women, Dr Melina Georgousakis says that members of Franklin Women bring diverse experiences and skills to the sector, so bringing them together through the Members Connect Series is a special opportunity. 

“By connecting these women outside of their day-to-day and linking them with innovative ecosystem partners, we are facilitating opportunities for them to thrive,” she said. 

Franklin Womn is a leading social enterprise championing women in the health and medical research fields.

The inaugural Members Connect event will be hosted by Organon, a the only global healthcare company of its size focused primarily on the health and wellbeing of women, at their Sydney office.

Managing Director of Organon ANZ, Nirelle Tolstoshev, says that the global healthcare company believes in this series’ ability to “drive real change” by investing in women in the sector. 

“Just 34 per cent of CEO and Head of Organisation roles in our biopharmaceutical sector are held by women – and whilst women tend to be well represented in middle management, they seem to be passed over for more senior opportunities,” says Tolstoshev. 

“At Organon, we believe that by investing in the bright pipeline of innovators and empowering these women through collaborations such as these, we can drive real change in this area.”

Following the Federal Government’s Senate Inquiry into Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and the recent announcement of an Australian-first inquiry into women’s pain in Victoria, the initiative’s goal to support women in the health and medical research sector is particularly critical. 

The Members Connect meetups are free to attend, and those who participate will be able to contribute to emerging women’s health priorities. Franklin Women and Organon say the events will “be instrumental in breaking down silos between different stakeholders and contributing to the improvement of health outcomes in communities”.

Interested members can register for Members Connect meetups here. 

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Janice, 31, has been fighting an aggressive sarcoma since 2021. Earlier this year, she received the devastating news that the rare form of cancer would take her life. 

With an uncertain timeline left to live, Janice decided to release a special song she had in her “vault”, writing on Instagram that she “knew this was the one”. 

Despite the incredibly sad diagnosis, the song Janice gifted to the world Dance You Outta My Head is a groovy, upbeat dance hit that, since being released on January 19th, has gone viral on TikTok and charted top 10 worldwide. Here in Australia, the song hit #1 in the charts. 

“I want to leave behind smiles, grooves and joy for you and I know this is the right song for that,” Janice wrote to her followers on Instagram upon its release.

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A post shared by Cat Janice (@cat.janice)

A mother’s gift to her son

Probably the most heartfelt part to Janice’s incredible story is that she’s signed over all the song’s royalties to her 7-year-old son, Loren, so that she can leave him with support after her passing. 

“I am leaving all proceeds to my son who is very musically inclined, hoping to give him the boost in music he will need later in life,” Janice said.

She’s asked people to stream/watch the song as much as possible.

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A post shared by Monica Alford (@monicaclarealford)

The song itself was born out of inspiration from a car ride she’d had with her son, Janice told the Washingtonian. The two were “grooving” and singing along to one another when they landed on the line, “dance until you love me”. 

Janice said this eventually turned into “Dance You Out of My Head”  when she began to write the labor of love. 

All over the world, people have resonated with the song, creating their own videos dancing to the catchy beat and leaving comments on Janice’s videos about how much her story has meant to them. 

Aussie musician, Jack River commented on one of her posts, saying: “Sending infinite love from Australia ~ from one music making mother to another xxx”.

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A post shared by Cat Janice (@cat.janice)

“I’m just honestly so blown away by everyone’s love and how they’ve support me through this and shared this story,” Janice told the Today Show. “I really do believe it’s a miracle to be able to witness this. I’m just very happy to be here.”

Even before her tragic diagnosis, Janice would update her social media with her journey battling cancer. She grew up around the Washington DC area and was recently married to her partner, Kyle Higginbotham. 

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Along with her prowess for music, Janice has worked as a geospatial information scientist, loves playing soccer and is known for organising neighbourhood cleanups, according to her little sister, Meredith, who set up a  GoFundMe page to help with Janice’s medical expenses. 

“Catherine (Cat) is one of the coolest, smartest and most loving people you will ever meet”, writes Meredith.

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Gerber, 22, is the daughter of 90s supermodel Cindy Crawford, and yes, she has inherited every single cell of her mother’s asymmetrically perfect features. She’s now a successful model in her own right but also a keen reader, a book reader, and in the past few years, she’s made it part of her public identity.

Since 2020, she’s worked hard to cultivate the image of a stylish book-worm. She’s made sure the world knows she reads and that we know she’s a thinker. Gone are the days of the bookworm image, of the girl with glasses reading in her pjs in bed. 

In September 2020, Gerber posted a screenshot to her 10 million followers on Instagram of a scene from Richard Benjamin’s 1990 movie Mermaids, starring Cher and Winona Ryder. 

The image shows Cher in a bathtub, reading Grace Metalious’ 1956 novel Peyton Place, looking beautiful, focused and cerebral. Next to her, Winona Ryder, who plays her daughter in the movie, peers up towards the corner of the camera, obviously distracted by some agitated feelings towards her mother, who seems lost in her book. 

Suddenly, I was interested. 

The book Gerber was promoting that week, Chloe Benjamin’s The Immortalists, had nothing to do with the film, but that single post piqued my interest. 

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A few months earlier in March, Gerber had started a virtual bookclub via her Instagram as a way for her to connect with writers, other celebrities and friends during the pandemic. The first book was Sally Rooney’s Normal People – whose fans are the OG of ‘the stylish reader’. In her first live chat, she spoke with Daisy-Edgar Jones and Paul Mascal, stars of the screen adaptation of the novel. 

Her book selections were diverse, and her intentions were noble. In May, she selected Spring Awakening, the late 19th century classic play by German dramatist Frank Wedekind, in order to “raise awareness for the performing arts industry in nyc. theaters are closed for the time being, putting so many actors, writers, and crew members out of work,” as Gerber described in a post on Instagram.

“It’s really important that we keep supporting the community that plays such a large & important role to the city.” 

Over the next few months and years, Gerber would invite the likes of Lena Dunham, Jia Tolentino, Michelle Zauner (Japanese Breakfast) and Raven Leilani onto her platform to talk about their books. These women have huge cultural capital and radiate an equal measure of affable coolness, intelligence and obtainable beauty. 

Gerber would continue to post images on Instagram of beautiful women reading, either from photos, or screenshots from movies. It didn’t matter that most of the images had nothing to do with the books themselves. Gerber knew how to get someone like me interested.

I’m a female reader, a book reader, and I aspire to be beautiful. Inevitably, in my own life, I separate these two pursuits. When I read, I’m mostly always in some loose, flimsy outfit, sprawled across my sofa chair in my study, looking more like a sloth on a tree than a presentable woman. The last thing on my mind is trying to appear beautiful. 

But these women, women like Gerber, and her fellow supermodel friends who read, including Dua Lipa, Emily Ratajkowski and Camille Rowe, have harnessed Instagram’s most fundamental currency — hot privilege, and began a movement to aestheticise book reading.

And by book reading, I mean, actual books. Physical, paper items. You won’t see a kindle anywhere here. 

The books on Gerber’s bookclub list are carefully selected to exude a certain sensibility. Think east-coast elites. Think oat-milk drinking hipsters who wear white linen shirts and own more than two pairs of Birkenstocks. Carrying a book, or at least, appearing to consume its content, has become another gesture towards aspirational living. Not only do we need to appear to be taking care of our outward appearances — we need to cultivate the right kind of intellectual and cerebral agendas. 

This week, Gerber, along with her friend Alyssa Reeder, (a New York City-bred writer and editor who writes for Into the Gloss) launched Library Science. 

The site collects all the books she’s had on her bookclub so far; all 34 books, it’s 33 authors, most of them American. Joan Didion appears twice. And of course she does. Her books (along with her cult status among liberal white women) is the basis upon which all the other books instantiate. 

Another late author on the list is Françoise Sagan, who has an equally pertinent status among women who pay very close attention to the fabric of their clothes. 

The majority of authors on Gerber’s list are women and out of the 33 authors, nine are people of colour, or mixed race. Five are late authors. There is one trans author. Most of them went to Ivy league colleges, or were born into privilege and celebrity, as Gerber has. 

Wealth and affluence can provide one with a certain cultural capital – in Gerber’s case, she’s used it to curate a literary milieu. They can be “taste” makers. But what does it mean to have “taste”? More importantly, who adjudicates this metric? Today, it seems that the answer is beautiful people who know how to market themselves. Personally, I believe the gay American writer, Ocean Vuong was the first to aestheticize that very singular, New York City-artist image. Just check out his IG to know what I mean.

Initially, I was drawn to Gerber’s ethereal beauty. I love looking at pretty people. But pretty people who read?! Irresistible. Before my private divorce from social media, my favourite Instagram account was @hotdudesreading. The female equivalent is @coolgirlsreadingbooks. Somehow, it feels less of a novelty to see an attractive woman reading than it is to see an attractive man reading. The Internet agrees with me, because the former account has more than a million followers, while the latter has only 48.7K followers. 

As I said before, Instagram runs on hot privilege. And Gerber knows how to milk it. Looking to be well read is now a visual pursuit. It’s aspirational to appear to be well-read. And though her Library Science hasn’t inspired me to amend my break-up with Instagram, I agree with the platform’s philosophy: “We learn the most from the stories that aren’t our own.”

The post The gentle, slow, agonising beautifying of book-reading appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Released on Wednesday, the data shows nearly 28 per cent of this group cited a lack of access to early childhood education and care as a barrier to employment, due to spots being booked out or inaccessible to them geographically. And 11.1 per cent said it was too expensive. 

The figures add to the mounting evidence of the “motherhood penalty“, the idea that becoming a mum in Australia comes with a high price for women. Last year, Treasury analysis found that women’s earnings falling by an average of 55 per cent in the first five years of parenthood, while men’s earnings are generally unaffected when they enter parenthood.

The ABS survey asked women with children under 15 what would help them in being able to take on a job. The majority (67.6 per cent) said the strongest incentive is the ability to work part-time hours. Many women also cited the ability to work during school hours and 53 per cent cited the ability to vary start and finish times. 

“These findings tell the story of the juggling act that so many women find themselves trying to balance– one that strikes the right balance between feeling financially stable and pursuing parenthood in a way that works for them,” said Georgie Dent, CEO of The Parenthood.

“Unfortunately, the structure of our society is still set up for an era that no longer exists, when dads worked and mums didn’t.

“In modern Australia it takes two incomes for most families to cover a mortgage or the rent, but it takes affordable early childhood education and outside school hours and care to earn two incomes.” 

Georgie Dent, CEO of The Parenthood

Unlocking $128 billion for the Australian economy

This isn’t just a personal issue either. The systemic barriers holding women back from the workforce are costing the Australian economy $128 billion, according to the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce. The tasforce released a final report at the end of last year, looking at how much money could be gained with women’s full and equal participation in economic activity. 

“Women’s economic inequality is so normalised that people assume it is a result of women’s choices, but Australia has the most highly educated female labour force in the world,” the Chair of the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce, Sam Mostyn AO told the National Press Club back in October. 

Considering this high price for the Australian economy, Dent says that “early childhood education and care centres in Australia should be funded by the government as critical infrastructure”. 

“Early childhood education and paid parental leave must be seen as critical infrastructure. You can’t go to work if you don’t have a road to get there. You can’t go to work if you don’t have an affordable and safe place for your kid. These things are synonymous.”

Gender equal parenting

Last month, The Parenthood launched The Dad’s Alliance Action Plan, showing that Australian men also want to see a cultural shift in which childcare and employment policies permit both parents to share the work and care loads. 

To do this, Dent says The Parenthood wants the Government to remove the Activity Test (a highly criticised requirement for parents to access subsidised early childhood education and care), make childcare more affordable for low and middle income families with young children and develop more early learning centres in regional and remote areas. 

“We also want to see an increase to paid parental leave entitlements for both mothers and fathers, so that less parents feel their care and career trajectories are at odds,” says Dent.

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“I had no concept of what any of that would mean, but I just held onto those goals,” says Steele, who can now boast a remarkable 13-year swimming career, with the titles of Paralympian and gold medalist under her belt. 

“We forget that we have this power within us to decide what it is that we want to have in our lives,” says Steele.

Connecting to this power from a young age, Steele won her first gold medal in competitive swimming at just 14. Then, at age 17, she represented Australia for the first time at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics in the 400-metre freestyle, breaking a national record. 

Steele was born with a congenital disability called Arthrogryposis, which affects the range of motion in the joints and impacts the cartilage in the body. She also developed Amniotic band syndrome (ABS) in the womb, affecting the shape of both her hands. 

“Sport has been everything,” says Steele. “It has shaped me. It has shaped how I react to things, and how I have managed my disability.”

“We create our own reality,” she says. 

“Things are always going to happen in your life, but it’s how you react to those things. And so when I was a kid – and when I was early in my swimming career – I would react in a way that was like a victim because the world was telling me I was a victim. But then I realised I could change that narrative and go ‘well, you might see me like that, but I don’t see myself like that’.”

Throughout her swimming career, Steele has represented Australia internationally five times, including at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics. She’s also been captain of a number of Aussie swimming teams and held a Victorian Institute of Sport scholarship for eight years. 

After swimming, Steele took up wheelchair rugby. She was the only woman to be selected to play for Victoria at a national level. 

Today, Steele is an award-winning sportswoman, experienced personal coach and motivational speaker, who works in the personal development space as The Self Belief Agent. 

She’s also the Project Manager for the ‘Building Inclusive Sport Clubs’ program to promote the access and inclusion of people with disabilities in sporting clubs across Australia, working with Disability Sport Australia.

Recently, Steele was selected by the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation to become a Change Our Game ambassador. Steele is joined by seven other inspiring women in this movement to raise awareness on key issues in women’s sport. 

Steele is using this advocacy platform to create equitable change for all people with disabilities in sport. 

Emphasising the importance of her role with the Change Our Game movement, Steele says she’s proud that she and the other ambassadors have a direct opportunity to help other people feel the positive, life-changing aspects of sport that they’ve experienced. 

She says they’re able to do this “by breaking down inclusion and access issues and being able to share our expertise and make it easier for people to access the sports that they want to play.”

Looking back at her own sporting career, Steele can see clearly the changes she wished had been in place when she was competing at such a high level. These are the changes she’s working to implement for the next generation. 

And while there are some days where this change might feel impossible, Steele remains optimistic about the future.

“There are going to be days when you feel like you’re hitting your head against a brick wall,” she says. “And on those days, you just need to go for a walk or a swim in the ocean.”

“We’re not going to change the world in 24 hours because there’s so many different ways that people view women and sport and disability.” 

“We’ve all got our own perceptions or ideals of how people are meant to behave, but sometimes we need to put them aside for a bit so we can learn from other people,” she adds. 

“It’s okay if you just go, and take a deep breath, and start again.”

Change Our Game Ambassadors are using their platforms to help drive change and raise awareness on key issues and barriers for women in sport. Change Our Game is led by the Office of Women in Sport and Recreation to level the playing field for women and girls. Be sure to follow the Ambassadors’ journeys through @ChangeOurGame on socials.

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At the half-way mark of his speech, he changed tuned and took a swipe at the Recording Academy’s failure to award his wife Beyoncé, a 32-time Grammy winner, with the most prestigious prize at the Grammys: Album of the Year.

“We want you all to get it right,” he said. “We love you all, at least get it close to right. And obviously it’s subjective, because it’s music, it’s opinion-based, but you know, some things — I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than everyone and never won album of the year,” he said, looking at Beyoncé. 

“So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work. Think about that. The most Grammys, never won album of the year. That doesn’t work.”

A few audience members cheered. He continued, addressing the wider crowd. 

“Some of you are going to go home tonight and feel like you’ve been robbed. Some of you may be robbed. Some of you don’t belong in the category.”

This last snark garnered the loudest jeers. He responded by saying, “When I get nervous, I tell the truth.”

He ended his speech with some advice, taking hold of his daughter Blue’s hands, who was standing beside him throughout his speech.

“Just in life, you’ve got to keep showing up, forget the Grammys, you’ve got to keep showing up, until they give you all those accolades you feel you deserve. Until they call you chairman, until they call you a genius, until they call you the greatest of all time.”

Users on social media responded to Jay-Z’s speech, with one user writing: “JAY-Z is 100% correct. The fact that Beyoncé has never won Album of the Year for Self-titled, Lemonade, and RENAISSANCE is shameful. The LAST Black woman to win AOTY was Lauryn Hill, and that was over 25 YEARS AGO. The Recording Academy is telling us that no Black woman has created an album worthy of that honor in all this time, and I find that to be very offensive.”

The post garnered over 72K likes. 

Beyoncé has been nominated for Album of the Year four times. In 2010, for I Am… Sasha Fierce, in 2015 for Beyoncé, in 2017 forLemonade and last year, for Renaissance. 

In 2010, she lost to Taylor Swift’s Fearless. In 2015, she lost again to Swift, this time to her fifth album, 1989. In 2017, the year Lemonade was tipped to be the winner, she lost to Adele, who won for her third album 25.

In her acceptance speech, Adele said, “I can’t possibly accept this award. And I’m very humbled and I’m very grateful and gracious. But my artist of my life is Beyoncé. And this album to me, the Lemonade album, is just so monumental.”

Perhaps Jay-Z’s comments were enlivened by the fact that Taylor Swift won her fourth Album of the Year, for Midnights on Sunday night. 

Among the 32 Grammys Beyonce has won, only one award was in a “big four” category: Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist. In 2010, Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) won Song of the Year. Most of her wins have been in genre categories, including Best Dance/Electronic Album, Best R&B Performance, Best Music Video and Best Rap Song. 

As arguably one of the most iconic and influential experimental and innovative artists of our generation, perhaps Jay-Z had a point when he called out his wife’s lack of recognition in the most coveted award. 

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