Joan Beckwith, PhD Archive
By adding $0.25 to their supermarket bill, the people of Woodstock (Ontario, Canada) raise $75,000 to $90,000 per year, which is then transferred to cards that are distributed to local folk in need. The cards can be used to buy …
Thirteen-year-old Imogen Senior was not bogged down by entrenched views when she wrote about Australia’s offshore detention centres. Her clear eyes saw children younger than herself in awful circumstances who want to kill themselves while she “enjoys normal Tuesdays”. This …
A woman is killed in a park – women are advised to stay out of parks. A woman is killed on the street – women are told to stay home. Women are killed at home – they should have left, …
What sort of journey has feminism been on over the last five decades? No doubt volumes could be written on this topic, and I'm not silly enough to attempt an answer in a few hundred words of blogpost. All I …
International Women’s Day celebrates those who identify as (and with) women. It is also a day for thinking about the achievements of women, as well as the things that hold them back – including, importantly, violence. Violence against women occurs …
“Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” Rudyard Kipling’s verse, from 1889, makes a mockery of pride in 'progress'. The 'twain' takes many forms in contemporary Australia, and none more destructive than the …
In view of political trends to further marginalise socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, right now seems like a particularly important time to talk about suicide. Philip Nitschke, euthanasia campaigner, says we need more words FOR suicide. I think we mostly need more …
I first wrote about the tension between feminism and science some years ago, after a conference dinner at which the person next to me asked what sort of psychologist I was – probably expecting to hear about my ‘specialty’. My …
I lost faith in the power of political protest on 19 March 2003 – the day it became clear that millions of people out on the streets across the world had failed to avert allied invasion of Iraq. I …
Words come with baggage; some more than others; “sinful” more than most; and “illegal” is fast catching up, at least in its application to asylum seekers in Australia. This, anyway, is where my thoughts wandered as I watched “Philomena” at …
