Shattering Stereotypes
by Kerry Cue
You can find more information about Her Magnificence (above) here along with more fab fashion at WOMAD, Adelaide, here and our very special Chemo Fashionista, Jules, here. Meanwhile, here are some more Cool & Classy fashionistas at WOMAD.
Mother and Daughter with the WOW Factor.
Dazzling African Print
Spot on style.
The Fabulous Hazel
Officialish & Classy too
by Kerry Cue
This is the Funky and Fabulous Jules at WOMAD 2015. She caught my attention because she radiated such a positive vibe. But she had a story to tell. Jules started a Chemo regime of treatment every two weeks – 6 months ago. She was heading back into ‘the chair’ the day after this photograph was taken. She is an example to us all. Grab life now. Celebrate now. Non of us know the future.
We, The Sibyls, thank Jules for sharing her positively contagious spirit and wish her a speedy recovery.
by Kerry Cue
I’ve just been to WOMAD 2015 in Adelaide. The spanish pair, Osadia (Left in action) enthralled the crowd with their hair art. One could only pay homage to the Her Magnificence (Pictured above), sporting one of Osadia’s many magisterial creations at the Festival. Osadia made me think that we are all rather dull with our own creative coiffures. Meanwhile, I wandered around the crowd asking fellow festival goers if I could take their photos for a Festival Vibe post on Sibylesque. Here is the first (There will be two more in posts) of some of the Funky & Fab festival goers:
The Sibyls
by Kerry Cue
Who are the Food Police? Epidemiologists. They juggle statistics and advise governments. They do good work with diseases. Where? Why? How?
But their diet advice is often iffy.
‘At best they can show only association, not causation. Epidemiological data can be used to suggest hypotheses but not to prove them.’
Nina Teicholz, The Government’s Bad Diet Advice, NYT, 20 FEB, 2015
So what are some of the backflips in Government dietary advice in recent years:
See Why we eat ourselves crazy on this blog.
The US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s hysterical fear of fat in recent decades gave support to low-fat foods, which, because of their high-sugar content, may have significantly contributed to obesity and therefore other chronic diseases.
‘Over the past 50 years, we cut fat intake by 25 percent and increased carbohydrates by more than 30 percent, according to a new analysis of government data. Yet recent science has increasingly shown that a high-carb diet rich in sugar and refined grains increases the risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease — much more so than a diet high in fat and cholesterol.’ Mark Bittman, How Should We Eat?, NYT, 25 FEB 2015.
Meanwhile, cholesterol has come in from the cold. All those eggs you didn’t eat and all those egg white omelets you did eat have not helped your cholesterol levels. The US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee has recommened that dietry cholesterol is not much of a problem. Mark Bittman, How Should We Eat?, NYT, 25 FEB 2015.
In other words, when dealing with the Food Police take their recommendations with a grain of salt, a lashing of cream, a scrambled egg and some leafy green vegetables (everyone thinks they’re a good idea).
Photo source: unsourced
by Kerry Cue
Fifty years ago on 31 March 1965 Merle Thornton* and Rosalie Bogner chained themselves to the Regatta Hotel bar rail in a strategic and planned protest for women’s rights.
The protest was aimed at lifting the marriage bar whereby women were forced to resign from the public service when they married. Merle had not informed her employer, the ABC, of her marriage, but when she fell pregnant she was forced to resign.
Merle and Ro staged the protest in a hotel opposite the ABC buildings in Brisbane in time for the evening news. Their husbands handed out leaflets and both news reporters and the police turned up. Following the publicity that ‘the wives of two well know university lecturers’ had staged a protest, both Merle and Ro received death threats and abuse over the phone but also some support.
Questions asked in the Queensland parliament included: ‘Where were their children?’, ‘Should the children be put in care?’ and ‘Should their husbands be psychologically examined to see if they are fit to be academics?’
Merle and Ro went on to form The Equal Opportunities for Women Assoc, the first in Australia and possibly the world. Neither the unions nor the political parties were interested in lifting the Marriage Bar.
After much lobbying Bill Hayden, a member of this association and a federal member of parliament introduced a private members bill to lift the ban. An emergency Cabinet meeting was called, followed by an announcement that the ban would be lifted under a Commonwealth Act.
In August 1966, 18 months after Merle and Ro’s bar protest, the lifting of the marriage bar was signed into law along with the introduction of the first accouchement leave or (unpaid) Maternity leave.
We, the Sibyls, salute Merle Thornton and Ro Bogner for their strategic brilliance, gutsy determination and political nous. We also thank them for kick-starting the 2nd Wave Feminist Agenda 50 years ago to the benefit of all Australian women.
*Merle is the mother of well-known actress Sigrid Thornton. In 2014, the Regatta Hotel named a bar after Merle Thornton.
More details:
TV interview Merle Thornton and Ro Bogner, ABC, aired 10 April, 1965.
The National Library of Australia
Photo Source: DYIDESPAIR Website
Thanks to all our Sibyls who came along to our FEB SALON and Celia for the Sibyl Cake. As the Salons evolve we will invite public participation.
Sibyl Kerry and Sibyl Doris
Following our honest and lively discussions in a safe, non-judgement and non-competitive forum here are a few things we learned this time.
1. Food is a language for women. We communicate through food. Some do. The rest of us dial-a-pizza
2. A strong character can step out of the cover of a novel to teach you about life. If, however, your interest in the character involves shagging them on a cold and windy Scottish moor, you may not learn much.
3. You do not get to write your own eulogy, but if you start early … you never know.
We also raised some modest funds for Sue’s Global Community work in Nepal.
sibylesque 