For the first time ever, the WOW (Women Of The World) event graced Australian shores, taking place at Brisbane’s QUT Garden Point Campus and QPAC theatres, 19-21 June.
WOW is a global movement of festivals and the people who make them, bringing individuals and communities together to discuss various issues that are universally important to women around the world.
Launched in 2011 at London’s Southbank Centre by WOW Founder, Jude Kelly, the movement has grown to now feature in 15 cities across five continents and has had guest speakers such as UK singer and feminist, Annie Lennox, UK author, Hannah Pool, and UN Human Rights Prize Winner, Angelina Atyam.
The Honourable Quentin Bryce is the WOW Australian Patron and took part in several discussions held during the three-day event, which featured a packed programme of notable key speakers and workshops.
'Let’s Talk About Sex' was one of the sessions held on Saturday and was hosted by 612 ABC Radio Afternoons host, Kelly Higgins-Divine, who with her wicked sense of humour was the perfect choice for an hour of discussing female sexual being and identity.
With a panel featuring author Krissy Kneen, sexologist Jocelyn Klug, sex researcher Dr Anne Frances Watson and feminist pornographer, Ms. Naughty, the audience were given short presentations from each speaker and their background, all with the focus of promoting the idea that it’s OK for women to enjoy and embrace their sexuality just as much as men do.
Krissy Kneen writes women’s erotica novels and read an insert from a steamy scene of one of her books, which had everyone on the edge of their seat. It was an open, non-judgemental environment, the epitome of the WOW spirit, and she had the audience gripped as they listened intently to the intimate details of her characters’ sexual acts.
Krissy is all about empowering women and giving women control over the situation (or not, if she so desires) and she believe that the problem with society is the fact that women are not taught that it’s OK to want to have sex or to say yes to it as then she’s labelled a 'slut'. Women are always told about the damage sex can cause – getting pregnant; STIs etc. – rather than sex being a pleasure in life.
Jocelyn talked about a study involving 20,000 participants that explored a number of issues for both men and women in terms of sexuality. The data found from this study sees that over the last 15 years, depressingly, there has been no progression in terms of sexual cohesion. Again the idea of ‘slut-shaming’ was quite prominent and that 'bad girls have sex with everyone and good girls only have sex with the one partner for life' is still a common way of thinking throughout all levels of society.
Dr. Anne Watson has conducted a study focusing on 14 to 16-year-olds and their knowledge of sex, which she described as disappointing because everyone assumes that kids nowadays know more because of the internet, when in fact they are still just as lost as they ever have been. She stressed the importance of comprehensive sexual education in schools, as well as the opportunity to speak with their parents about it. She explained that what is currently taught in schools is very scientific based and focuses on the “three P's – Puberty, Procreation and Penetration.”
Finally, feminist pornographer, Ms. Naughty spoke about the feminist porn she makes for straight women aka the “fair-trade, organic style of porn” as she likes to call it, and runs adult websites, For The Girls and Ms Naughty.
Ms. Naughty came to making porn as she discovered at a young age that she enjoyed it, but didn’t like the idea of mainstream porn as it is made with the male orgasm the main focus of the film and sees women used and abused for the pleasure of the man/ men. Her porn is therefore based on consent and safe sex and is about empowering women and promoting sex positivity, women embracing sex and leaving all judgement behind. All of her movies use respectful language that speaks to women’s fantasies and takes back that space for women.
Interview with WOW speaker Michelle Law.
'What Is She Wearing' was a session focusing on the pressures of women in the media/ the public eye, and how women are constantly the focus of criticism regarding their looks while their male counterparts aren’t.
Featuring on this panel were the Managing Director of Nine Queensland, Kylie Blucher, former press secretary for Senator Penny Wong and former Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Laura Chalmers, ABC Radio presenter, Rhianna Patrick, and CEO of the Australian Film & Television School (AFTRS), Sandra Levy.
All women on the panel agreed that it definitely makes a difference having women in positions of power in the media, but that it’s still to this day, a challenge for women in these roles because they’re competing with what the stereotype of the 'perfect Australian worker' which is ultimately 'a bloke who can work 24/7'.
Kylie has had her fair share of discrimination working as one of the country’s top media influencers and has even had one of her male colleagues call her “one of those Queensland women who would eat their young to get ahead.”
She talked about her female presenters and journalists and how they are noticed and commented on far more than their male colleagues and often victims of vicious feedback coming from the audience and on social media, generally based on what they are wearing rather than their actual performance.
Rhianna shared her experience not only as a female broadcaster, but also as a Torres Straight Islander woman and therefore a representative of her community and the responsibility that comes that role entails.
Laura Chalmers witnessed first-hand the level of criticism and derogative treatment over what female politicians, particularly former PM Julia Gillard, received at the hands of the public. She described one time, after announcing a major new campaign, the number of phone calls received asking about what kind of jacket Julia had worn, whether she had she had her hair cut and what glasses she wore. Penny Wong apparently copped a lot less slack as she decided to keep the same style of clothing all the time, whereas Julia liked bright colours, high heels etc. and therefore copped a lot for her appearance.
Sandra Levy’s experience working in the film industry has generally been positive, but she believes that women are far too often seen as one-dimensional creatures and that they just have one interest – family – and that’s where it ends, where in fact we have just as many diverse interests and passions as men. She is also quick to point out that women are often tougher on other women than men and that’s likely because in this world, the prettier you are the more 'value' you have, and we’re all conditioned to know this from an early age.
Finally, 'Things My Father Taught Me' was a session chaired by 612 ABC Morning's host, Steve Austin, and included 2015 Young Australian Of The Year, Yassmin Abdel-Magied and her dad, Michat, WOW Executive Producer, Leigh Tabrett, McCullough Robertson Lawyers Chairman, Dominic McGann and Bristish author, Hannah Pool (‘My Father’s Daughter’). These speakers held a powerful discussion about what was important to these women regarding their fathers and for Dominic and Michat, the importance of their relationship with their daughters.
Hannah’s story was particularly interesting, growing up the adopted daughter of a single, British, white male and whom later went on to meet her birth parents in her late 20s. Hannah spoke about the importance of feeling accepted and the feeling of belonging to both her fathers and her fear of being sent back to the orphanage.
Yassmin talked about the importance of being treated equally to her brother which in her culture and religion is often not very common and she was grateful to her father that he had always pushed her to always do better and strive to be the best she could be. Education was Michat’s #1 gift to his children and he wanted to foster that gift to the best of his ability.
Dominic spoke about his relationship with his daughter and how it was important to her that she felt he treated her equally to her brothers and that she was showing him a side to himself that he never knew existed, which he said was really special.
Finally, Leigh spoke about her dad, a former soldier and timberman and how he had taught her the importance of having respect for every living thing and that the only pest on the planet were in fact humans. She also talked about him taking her into his world of work and feeling safe in that environment and that a father’s time and attention towards his daughter is so important to a woman’s emotional development.
Overall WOW was an incredible success and one step closer for women all over Australia to bridging the gender inequality gap that still lies deep in the Australian psyche.
