https://hdl.handle.net/2123/5706 Tue, 09 Jun 2026 15:52:12 GMT 2026-06-09T15:52:12Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/35270 Queer Youth Articulating Wellbeing Through Reading and Writing Groups Gardiner, James In media, policy and research in Australia, queer youth have often been positioned as victims. This subject position has emerged in response to their very real disproportionate vulnerability, but tends to limit how these subjects are represented, by themselves and others. While alternative frameworks for understanding queer youth subjectivity, such as ‘queer thriving’, move beyond the victim, these can create new exclusions around what counts as an authentic, successful, or liveable queer life. This article explores the context for a mixed-methods research project with queer youth who participated in a reading and writing group. Using ethnography, semi-structured interviews and an action research approach, I investigate whether such groups offer practical possibilities for queer youth to make sense of and articulate their lives. Written while the field work is still underway, this article begins to reflect on how queer youth, through reading and writing together, might imagine, embody, and make visible under-explored modes of living ‘well’. Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/2123/35270 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/33573 Archiving Greer/Greer Archiving: Germaine Greer’s curatorial labour, feminist celebrity studies and archival methodologies Taylor, Anthea This article draws upon my engagement with the archive of controversial Australian celebrity feminist Germaine Greer to think through the role of archival methodologies within the field of feminist celebrity studies, especially given that the archive itself is heavily implicated in processes of celebrification. Sold in 2013 for AU$3 million, Greer’s extensive archive – consisting of over 500 boxes filled with notes and drafts of various books, press clippings, research files, personal and professional letters, diaries, audio-visual material, and assorted ephemera – is now held by the University of Melbourne. Amongst other things, this acquisition enables a mapping of the wider cultural reverberations of Greer’s celebrity feminist persona, as well as Greer’s own pronounced role in its strategic cultivation – including in and through the archive. As I will argue, the Greer archive is part of the performative practice and renown-building labour in which all living celebrities engage – as well as itself being evidence of it. That is, the archive does not only provide insights into Greer’s fame or the affective investments of her fans, it is a form of renown maintenance and extension in and of itself, which can be figured as a feminist practice consistent with Greer’s own recuperative feminist scholarship. In light of the above, and drawing upon insights from critical archival studies, I will consider Greer’s own curatorial practices and how they seek to shape the way the archive is consumed, the uses to which it is being put, and the kind of ‘Greers’ it seeks (not necessarily with success) to render visible. Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/2123/33573 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/33572 ‘The most revolting ideas I’ve read in a woman’s magazine’: The Female Eunuch, Affective (dis)investments, and McCall’s reader-writers’ Taylor, Anthea In March 1971, American women’s magazine McCall’s published an extract of Germaine Greer’s The Female Eunuch. Myriad unpublished letters to the editor contained in the Greer archive at the University of Melbourne reveal that the magazine’s readers were largely dismissive of Greer’s feminist vision. These reader-writers, best conceptualised as ‘anti-fans’, took both author and editor to task for criticising them as wives and mothers. Through an analysis of these letters, this article argues that their authors contested Greer’s burgeoning authority as a second-wave celebrity feminist largely by pathologising her; invoking essentialist assumptions about femininity; and mobilising discourses of ‘choice’ more commonly seen to be product of a ‘postfeminist’ representational environment. Through their anti-fan practices, they challenge Greer’s attempts to deprive housewives of agency, deploying rhetorical strategies that are at once reliant upon and highly critical of second-wave feminism. This article also problematises the notion that critically engaged audiences have emerged in any notable sense only recently due to digital media. Complicating dominant ways of framing the feminist past and the postfeminist present, this article demonstrates that celebrity feminists, including ‘blockbuster’ authors, have historically always elicited complex affective responses. Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/2123/33572 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/29007 COVID-19 and Well-Being of Non-local Students: Implications for International Higher Education Governance Amoah, Padmore Adusei; Mok, Esther Wing Chit Non-local students have been one of the worst affected groups during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of them live in foreign countries/regions with limited social and economic support. This study examines the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and its control measures on the well-being of non-local students globally. It also examines the effectiveness of university support for the well-being of non-local students. Data were derived from a global survey on non-local students’ knowledge, experiences, and well-being amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic, which was conducted in April 2020 (n = 583). A significant proportion (42.6%) of the students had low well-being. We found that being worried about COVID-19 (B = − 0.206, p = 0.048), perceived disruption of academic activities (B = − 0.155, p = 0.024), perceived disruption of social activities (B = − 0.153, p = 0.044), and feeling lonely (B = − 0.340, p = 0.000) were negatively associated with the students’ well-being. However, informational support from universities was positively associated with their well-being (B = 0.225, p = 0.004). These findings are discussed in the context of higher education governance and practical changes necessary to promote non-local students’ well-being during and after the pandemic. Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/2123/29007 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/25496 The reactivated bike: Self-reported cycling activity during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in Australia Fuller, G.; McGuinness, K.; Waitt, G.; Buchanan, I.; Lea, T. Highlights • 63% of respondents say they increased cycling during COVID-19 restrictions. • Recreational cycling has increased significantly, while there has been a significant decrease in commuter riding. • Women were more likely to rate improved cycling skills and confidence as important factors to post-COVID cycling. • Public transport restrictions and new bicycle lanes were not considered important factors in increased cycling activity. Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/2123/25496 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/25477 Injecting as a sexual practice: Cultural formations of ‘slamsex’. Race, Kane; Murphy, Dean; Pienaar, Kiran; Lea, Toby ‘Slamsex’ has emerged in gay vernacular in recent years to denote a particular way of taking drugs and a particular kind of sex. Slamming refers in this context to the practice of injecting drugs – typically crystal methamphetamine – intravenously. To pair ‘slamming’ with ‘sex’ is to propose that a particular mode of drug administration is constitutive of a particular kind of sex – a relatively novel idea that deserves some unpacking. What does it mean to make a route of drug administration definitional in the delineation of a sexual practice? What does this move reveal about contemporary practices of sex and drug consumption? In this article, we explore these questions with reference to theories of drug effects and practitioners’ accounts of slamsex. We conclude by considering the implications of our analysis for slamsex relations and associated harm reduction measures. Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/2123/25477 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/25472 Sexualities and Intoxication: “To Be Intoxicated Is to Still Be Me, Just a Little Blurry”—Drugs, Enhancement and Transformation in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Cultures Pienaar, Kiran; Murphy, Dean; Race, Kane; Lea, Toby Despite evidence that drug use is higher among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) populations, research that explores the gendered and sexual dynamics of LGBTQ substance use is limited. Responding to this opening in the literature, and drawing on 32 qualitative interviews from an Australian study, we consider how LGBTQ consumers pursue particular drug effects to change their experience of gender and/or sexuality. Our analysis suggests that for many consumers, drug use and the experience of intoxication enhances sexual pleasure. In the context of gender variance, intoxication can facilitate free gender expression and, in some cases, palliate bodily discomfort. Acknowledging the generative effects of drug use for gender and sexual transformation, we conclude by commenting on the implications of our analysis for LGBTQ health policy and practice. Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/2123/25472 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/25471 Problematising LGBTIQ drug use, governing sexuality and gender: A critical analysis of LGBTIQ health policy in Australia Pienaar, Kiran; Murphy, Dean; Race, Kane; Lea, Toby It is well-established that a high prevalence of substance use is found in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) populations; a finding that researchers attribute to the stigmatised status of non-normative sexual and gender expression, and the role of illicit drug use in the collective production of socio-sexual pleasures, expressivity and disclosure in LGBTIQ communities. Despite the connections between sexual experimentation and substance use, LGBTIQ consumption practices have rarely received the attention they deserve within the alcohol and other drug (AOD) field. In this paper, we draw on concepts from post-structuralist policy analysis to analyse how AOD consumption among sexual and gender minorities is constituted in the policies of three Australian LGBTIQ health organisations. Following Carol Bacchi’s (2009, p. xi) observation that we are “governed through problematisations rather than policies”, we consider how substance use in LGBTIQ populations has been formulated as a policy problem requiring intervention. Doing so allows us to identify the normative assumptions about minority sexual and gender identities that underpin dominant problematisations of LGBTIQ substance use. These include: a) high rates of AOD use in LGBTIQ populations constitute problems in and of themselves, regardless of individual patterns of use; b) LGBTIQ people are a vulnerable population with specialised needs; and c) sexualised drug use is associated with “disinhibition” and a range of risks (including HIV transmission, drug dependence and mental health issues). Addressing the implications of these assumptions for how LGBTIQ communities are governed, we suggest that problematisation is an embodied, situated process, and that there is much to be gained by reframing dominant problematisations of AOD consumption so that this process is better informed by the inventive practices of LGBTIQ consumers themselves. Mon, 01 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/2123/25471 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/25470 Drugs as technologies of the self: Enhancement and transformation in LGBTQ cultures Pienaar, Kiran; Race, Kane; Murphy, Dean; Lea, Toby The consumption of drugs has long been a mainstay of urban queer cultures and it is well-recognised that complex connections exist between sexual minoritisation and desires to chemically alter bodily experience. Yet despite evidence that rates of consumption are higher among LGBTQ populations, research exploring the gendered and sexual dynamics of these forms of consumption is limited and tends to frame such consumption as a response to stigma, marginalisation and discrimination. Against this dominant explanatory frame, this article explores the diverse experiences of LGBTQ consumers, and in so doing highlights both the pleasures and benefits of consumption, as well as potential risks and harms. Contributing to the growing body of ontopolitically oriented research that treats the materiality of drugs as emergent and contingent, we trace the ontologies of drugs, sexuality and gender that LGBTQ subjects generate through specific practices of consumption. Our analysis draws on qualitative interviews with 42 self-identified LGBTQ people from an Australian study designed to explore how sexual and gender-diverse minorities pursue particular drug effects to enhance or transform their experience of gender and/or sexuality. Our participants’ accounts illuminate how drug consumption materialises in relation to sex, desire and play where it enhances pleasure, facilitates transgression and increases endurance. In the context of gender variance, our findings suggest that drug use can transform gendered experience and enable the expression of non-normative gender identities, in the process challenging gender binarism. By considering the productive role of drugs in enacting queer identities, this article treats drugs as ‘technologies of the self’ (Foucault 1988) and explores how drug consumption, sex and gender shape each other across a range of settings. We conclude by reflecting on the implications of our findings for research and service provision, and suggest ways of engaging LGBTQ consumers in terms that address their diverse priorities and experiences. Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/2123/25470 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/18223 Culture, Value and Commensuration: The knowledge politics of indicators. Redden, Guy Thu, 01 Jan 2015 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/2123/18223 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/5860 The Great British Binge Drinking Debate Redden, Guy Guy Redden questions some of the assumptions behind recent measures to discourage binge drinking. Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/2123/5860 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/5859 Redden, G. (2003). "Read the Whole Thing: Journalism, Weblogs and the Re-mediation of the War in Iraq." Redden, Guy The Net’s uses are now diverse, covering many aspects of commerical, public and private life. The idea that it transforms all activities in the same or equivalent ways is no longer tenable. This paper examines a particular form of online activity—weblogging, and how it has allowed for specific new forms of popular political communication in the context of the Second Gulf War. After describing the basics of weblogging, the paper discusses Western media coverage of the war and then shows how ‘warbloggers’ positioned themselves vis-à-vis media coverage and propaganda, creating commentaries that frequently combined media and political criticism. While bloggers of every political hue offered a range of perspectives and personal styles, some general tendencies are evident in warblogging discourse. The piece ends by questioning the significance of warblogging in terms of its potential contribution to democratic communication. Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/2123/5859 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/5858 Grassroots and Digital Branches in the Age of Transversal Politics Redden, Guy Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/2123/5858 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/5783 Intellectual disability, sensation and thinking through affect Hickey-Moody, Anna Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/2123/5783 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/5729 Making over the Talent Show Redden, Guy Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/2123/5729 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z