Tag: Art

Humans Edition

The Harsh Realisations of Growing Up

Words by: Daisy Henry
Art by: Stephanie Wong

Being in your twenties is a confusing time. Graduating from Year 12 feels like it could have been mere years ago and the idea of people you know getting engaged or owning property seems absurd — surely we’re too young for that! Yet as I think about it, my valedictory was six years ago, some of my friends are in long-term relationships and a lot of young people are already saving for house deposits.  Um, when did everyone turn into grown-ups?

… The Harsh Realisations of Growing Up
Humans Edition

An Ode to the Talking Stage

Words by: Chanttel Forbes

Now how many times have you been telling your friend about a new guy, and it goes something like this? 

Example A: omg he’s so amazing he says good morning to me

Example B: omg he checks up on me throughout the day

To which she replies: I can literally do that for you, that is the bare minimum.

That was the wake-up call I needed to realise I was accepting far too little, forcing me to take a deep dive into why that is and just how influential seeing positive relationships around you can be. 

… An Ode to the Talking Stage
Humans Edition

How I Got Here: A Recipe

Words by: Felice Lok
Art by: L. Ching

I love writing, but I didn’t always realise I did. It must have begun when my uncle would return from Sydney every Christmas and pull beautifully wrapped storybooks out of his denim satchel for me like Mary Poppins. I soon fell in love with the touch of textured paper under my fingers as I diligently sounded out the ‘big words’. When I was 12, my mum sent me to an English tutor who left me in tears after every lesson because my stories were simply not interesting enough. In hindsight, I have both of them to thank because my stories were, in fact, not interesting at all. This tutor had made me realise it wasn’t that I lacked great ideas, but that writing was a skill I had to patiently practise in order to captivatingly convey what I wanted to say. When I reached uni, I began watching Gilmore Girls and started living vicariously through the protagonist, Rory Gilmore, who inspired me to study journalism. All these people (real and fictional) made me realise the value of words. Through words, I get to read the most interesting stories, pen thoughts to paper when I am anxious, and shamelessly share carefully crafted puns with my friends. For me, words are a vehicle for self-expression which have become a significant part of who I am. 

… How I Got Here: A Recipe
Humans Edition

Food For the Soul

Words by: Gabriela Fannia
Art by: Stephanie Wong

You can ask anyone from different backgrounds and cultures, and they would agree that food is a  huge part of their lives. Food is universal — universally enjoyable. According to trusty ol’ Oxford  Languages, ‘Comfort Food’ describes edibles that provide consolation and a feeling of wellbeing.  Put simply, it could be anything of sugar, spice and everything nice, right? Well, it’s still subjective. As a foodie myself, all things can be comfort food at this point; some days, Flipboard’s fudge chocolate brownie is my comfort food, sometimes it’s the $3 salmon sushi rolls. Yes, our comfort food is never consistent!  

… Food For the Soul
Humans Edition

A Guide To Dealing With Partners You Cannot Stand

Words by: Emma Sudano
Art by: Lauren Easter

We all want our BFFs to be happy in love, on one condition: that I’m happy, too. It’s an age-old dilemma, you don’t like your friend’s partner. So, what do you do? 

You probably want to yell ‘you can do so much better!’, maybe even grab their arms and shake some sense into them. You think back to all the wine-induced hours spent mapping out their ideal partner, based on everything from personality to how they will look in the wedding photos. For fuck’s sake, there were probably even Pinterest boards made. Why didn’t they listen to the Pinterest boards?! You love your friend and vow to always be there for them — yet any time they mention their significant other, you cringe with every fibre of your being. But what are you going to do? Tell them that their partner is a jerk? Is it truly your place? Should you shut the fuck up, keep your head down and secretly loathe their spouse? None of these seem to be viable possibilities. 

… A Guide To Dealing With Partners You Cannot Stand
Humans Edition

Women We Stan

Words by: Sarah Arturi

To the women of today: you are nothing short of unstoppable. 

You’re fearless, empathetic and strong. 

Women are shapeshifters. Gone are the days when the role of a woman was restricted to ‘mother’ or ‘wife’, and when human shapeshifters were considered a ‘fictional element’. In fact, women have been shapeshifting for years — adopting the many roles expected of them and more to keep the world moving. 

… Women We Stan
Humans Edition

Making Money Moves

Words by: Ashmitaa Thiruselvam

Cardi B once said, “I don’t dance now, I make money moves”. Well in my case, only half of that statement is true. I don’t dance — in other words, strip — for money because one, I’m just way too insecure for that and two, my Asian parents would straight up disown me. As for the second statement, I do make some money but I quite envy Ms Cardi. Money naturally falls into her bank account, must be nice. But enough about Cardi B — in the most humble way possible, let’s talk about me. 

… Making Money Moves
Sex Edition (2022)

Mind the Gap

Words by: Kiera Eardley

It’s a phrase that’s all too familiar for women who grew up quickly, matured early, felt ahead of their years as a teenager: “you just need to meet an older guy”. All the shortcomings of the seemingly clueless boys our own age could easily be attributed to immaturity and slower brain development, so the obvious solution for us was to date older. With age comes inherent maturity and life experience and security, they say, and that was an appealing prospect as a young girl whose eyes glazed over at the mention of any testosterone-fuelled pastime. But when the age gap is substantial, is it really all it’s cracked up to be? 

… Mind the Gap
Sex Edition (2022)

Body Hair, Don’t Care

Words by: Eden Hopgood

Here we are in 2022, and female body hair somehow continues to be taboo. Having permeated gender dynamics for centuries, it’s always been regarded as yet another beauty standard women are expected to abide by, and a lack of body hair in the female-identifying population has long signified the ‘ideal body’. But this has begun to shift. More attention in the beauty industry is being given to gender fluidity, body positivity, and more inclusive messaging. In recent years, norms are finally beginning to shift; almost one in four women under 25 no longer shave their armpits, compared with just one in 20 in 2013.

… Body Hair, Don’t Care
Sex Edition (2022)

The Rise and Fall of the Pill

Words by: Amelia Swan
Art by: Jessica La

“I think you should go on the pill.”

It seemed like an odd thing to say to me at 15. With a curly bob and a generous spread of bulging pimples, I was in the low-risk category for an unplanned teenage pregnancy. But still, here I was watching my GP write me a script for Femme-Tab ED 20/100.That story was the same for my sister a few years later, who was also put on the pill to help with her skin. Then a friend. And then another. It seemed every second girl was on the pill before they left high school, and almost all of us had an alternative reason for being on it rather than preventing pregnancy.

… The Rise and Fall of the Pill
Sex Edition (2022)

Sexual Desire Does Not Expire

Words by: Juliette Capomolla
Art by: Shreya Mishra

I think it’s safe to say that we’d all be horrified if sex wasn’t a part of our futures. The thought that, at the ripe old age of 65, I might no longer be having sex, makes me shudder.  We twentysomethings are expected to be crazed hornbags (sorry, I hate that expression too) and a lot of the time, we sure as hell live up to it. But do we really want to get shacked up, be intimate for mere procreation purposes, create a sex schedule (read: only Wednesday nights at 9pm) and then eventually just never have sex again? Dearest reader, I know our answers are both a firm no. 

… Sexual Desire Does Not Expire
Sex Edition (2022)

Into the Camp: A Journey

Words by: Zayan Ismail
Art by: Therese Dias

Much had changed when the world witnessed the closing of the early noughties. It was an era of anticipation for transformation. On the internet, in music, on television: the zeitgeist  of the 2010s ushered in something different — something reminiscent of love, transformation and yearning for tolerance and acceptance. I saw it first on MTV. Gaga, in a bright blue swimsuit and a blond bob singing ‘Poker Face’. The theatrics of ‘Paparazzi’, and then came ‘The Fame’, in which she coins the famous line “obsessively opposed to the typical”. I saw the outlandish outfits, chiffon and latex, shades and long trains — how camp and how strange. I was thoroughly intrigued. With ‘Born This Way’, I began to realise  my uniqueness and accept that it was in many ways, totally okay. 

… Into the Camp: A Journey
Sex Edition (2022)

The STIs Have It

Words by: Ruby Ellam

There are some things that are way more embarrassing than having an STI. Like shitting your pants twice. Thankfully, Azithromycin, a common antibiotic used to treat chlamydia, exists just to remind us how much worse it can get. Azithromycin causes side effects in about 1 in 100 people including diarrhoea, vomiting and thrush. And like Lady Gaga says, there could be 100 people in the room, but only one (me) will shit their pants after getting chlamydia. 

… The STIs Have It
Sex Edition (2022)

Toxic School Culture: Up in Flames

Words by: Emma Sudano 
Art by: Gabrielle Poh

I remember clearly when the Year 12s of a nearby all-boys school sprawled sexist comments across their school uniforms. Or when boys in my year created a ‘Holy Trinity’ of the ugliest girls at my school. Or nicknamed girls a ‘bike’ based on their weight or looks. I remember when boys I was forced to go to school events with proudly shared a video titled “Jordan Peterson destroys triggered feminist” on social media. For so long, there has been denial of a clear cultural problem in all-boys schools that is obvious from every angle. 

… Toxic School Culture: Up in Flames
Sex Edition (2022)

The Heavy Burden of my DDs

Writer: Ashmitaa Thiruselvam
Artist: Gabrielle Poh

The big titty committee. A term that I am all too familiar and have a bittersweet relationship with. Growing up, bra shopping was and still is an absolute nightmare for me. I try to put it off for as long as I can, to be honest. Just the idea of having to stand in the changing room, half naked while a slightly older woman wraps her measuring tape around all areas of my chest, gives me second-hand embarrassment. I know that this is just a fragment of my already-existing insecurities and that the bra lady literally does not care, but that whole ordeal makes me uncomfortable. By the time it’s over, I am directed to a tiny rack of nude or black bras tailored to my DDs, looking like they have come straight from my grandmother’s wardrobe. Comfortable, sure, but not sexy in the slightest. 

… The Heavy Burden of my DDs
Sex Edition (2022)

Fake It ’Til You Make It 

Writer: Surbhi
Artist: Mon Ouk

My first experience with a fake orgasm was watching a moaning Meg Ryan, aka Sally, throwing her head back in a New York deli and chanting “yes, yes, yes!”. The first time I pulled a Sally myself was a few years back, under the expectant gaze of a partner who asked if I had finished after a few minutes of rock ‘n’ roll, and I giggled awkwardly and nodded. 

… Fake It ’Til You Make It