If you read about them in the mainstream media you'll know that selfies are the end of civilisation as we know it, especially if women and girls are taking them. But we've always found ways to subvert the male gaze and represent ourselves as we want to be seen, and the rise of the selfie has happened at a nexus of culture, technology, politics and art. So whether you think selfies narcissistic and vain or a powerful tool for self-knowledge…

Have you ever felt frustrated about the representation of women in journalism? I have! I'd love to see more women journalists reporting in all fields but I know there are serious structural forces working against this. I also think there's a problem with selecting women as subjects and experts, with the same long-held ideas that women only know certain things, or that audiences don't trust female voices. Recently we've had national discussions about harassing women journalists at work (Mel McLaughlin,…

We know that gender discrimination doesn't stand in isolation from other oppressive forces, such as the marginalisation of people based on race, disability and sexuality. But one of the most broad-reaching intersections of inequality is one that’s often overlooked in mainstream public discourse on gender equality: class. It’s a fact that working class women are more likely to experience disadvantage when it comes to the gender pay gap, superannuation, housing, healthcare and childcare. But despite these wider systems of inequality,…

Are you at university? Been there, done that? Teach in one? Hoping to go one day? Women were officially allowed to enrol in university in Australia as early as 1880 and they now outnumber men as students. It might be a rite of passage for many but the barriers to higher education are still firmly in place for many women. That said, the academy is still a pretty big part of Australian cultural life, and the way women are treated…

Did you know there was a fat acceptance movement? Or that fat activists campaign for the right to reclaim the word “fat”, demand better “fatshion” and advocate for social acceptance of good health at any size? This month's CLF will be a recap of one of our most powerful shows: Feminism and Fat. It was one of those knock out topics, because the discussion ranged across body acceptance and positivity, bodily autonomy, fashion, and the policing of women's appearances -…

image credit to Valentin Brown, from http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-chelsea-brown.html A message from KP: CLF started six years ago because I thought feminists would love to discuss complex ideas around gender, power and culture over a few drinks, and that we'd all benefit from sharing different perspectives. I've definitely made some mistakes over the years, and we're grateful for all the constructive criticism that's helped make the show better, smarter, and more inclusive. For years we've wanted to bring…

Do you feel like there are more trans folk visible in the public sphere right now? There seems to be a huge amount of interest and energy converging around transgender people and their lives, though not always in a way that is respectful or constructive. This show has been a long time in the works and we're incredibly proud to finally be presenting Feminism and Transfeminism. We're lucky in Melbourne to have an incredibly engaged, hard-working and beautiful feminist community,…