The Queen Victoria Women’s Centre and City of Melbourne were pleased invite Catherine Deveny to deliver the International Women’s Day Oration on 7 March in the Victoria Room.

In her oration, ‘Destroying the Joint in 12 Easy Lessons’, Catherine enthralled the audience as she discussed the accepted social norms for women that have been constructed over time by the patriarchal values of society.

Some of her most memorable lessons included:

• Question the language used around women and their roles.  When was the last time you heard a man with an opinion called feisty, bitter, sassy, shrill or ‘a piece of work’?

• The worst thing you can encourage a girl to be is nice and the second is pretty.  Girls should be encouraged to stand for something, even if it’s not the popular opinion.

• Don’t placate men if you don’t want to.  You do not have to stop and give change, or directions, or the time if you feel it will leave you in a vulnerable position

• Don’t have more debt or children than you can afford on your own

In her own forthright style, Catherine also shared some frank advice given to her at age 19 by restrauteur Patricia O’Donnell, “aim for f*** off status”.  Aim to achieve financial security on your own: work towards having a business or house in your own name so that you have the flexibility and independence to be involved with, or move away from, anyone you choose.

We thank Catherine for her refreshingly candid and honest perspective and for fostering a sense of unity among the women who attended the oration.

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The first-ever shortlist of the Stella Prize, the major new award celebrating Australian women’s contribution to literature, has just been announced.

This wonderfully diverse shortlist contains a collection of short steries and a verse novel; it includes fantasy, speculative fiction, two historical novels and an Australian Gothic novel.

There are stories set in the past, the present and the future; there are stories set in both urban and rural Australia as well as in other countries and in imagined places.

The inaugural Stella Prize will be presented in Melbourne on 16 April to the best book published in 2012 by an Australian woman.  The prize is worth $50,000, and both fiction and non-fiction books were eligible.  The winner will join Stella Prize judge Kerryn Goldsworthy, Chair Aviva Tuffield and founding patron Ellen Koshland for an event at the Wheeler Centre on the evening of Thursday 18 April.

Read more about the shortlisted books and Stella prize here.

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In this photographic installation, Women’s Health West asked women to take a photo of what represents equity and justice (or inequity and injustice) in their daily lives.

From the cradle to the grave…  from the time girls start earning pocket money
to the time women retire, they are paid less than men.

It doesn’t matter if you’re male or female…
Big or small…
Pretty or plain…
Masculine or feminine…
We’re all humans and we’re all capable of doing the same job

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The Mosaic Festival celebrates multicultural women in Victoria while sharing their stories with the wider community.

QV Square will be transformed into a cultural marketplace with each marquee featuring a different geographic region – be introduced to the community groups of Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, Pacific Islands, South East Asia and many more.

This free public event will also feature traditional ceremonies and celebrations, music, cooking demonstrations and a vibrant art and craft marketplace.

Come along to the festival and wear your traditional dress!

For more information, visit www.virwc.org.au or phone the Victorian Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Coalition on 03 9654 1243.

“A mosaic is a collection of pieces that are different colours, shapes and sizes, but together, form a complete picture. The Mosaic Festival is about multicultural women – with different backgrounds, cultures and stories – coming together to form a single picture of our society.”
- Melba Margison, CEO Victorian Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Coalition

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