Womankind November 2016

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, “One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, speak a few reasonable words.” Today, in our technological age, it might be modified to, “One ought, every day at least, to hear a little traffic, check one’s phone countless times, see a reality TV show, and, if it were possible, click on ‘like’ buttons a few times.” Ever since the 18th century, the view that humanity is climbing towards a more intelligent, humane, and insightful future has been widely held. Today, the twin powers of technology and science push a similar mindset that technological progress is somehow synonymous with the good and happy life; that if something can be…

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Antonia Case Antonia Case is the editor of Womankind and the literary editor of New Philosopher. In 2014 she was awarded the AAP Media Professionals’ Award, and in 2016 she was a ‘philosopher-inresidence’ at the Brisbane Writers Festival. Christian Jarrett Christian Jarrett is a psychologist, author of The Rough Guide to Psychology, and columnist for BBC Future. Editor of the British Psychological Society’s Research Digest, his latest book is Great Myths of the Brain. Rhian Sasseen Rhian Sasseen is a journalist whose work has been published in Al Jazeera America, Salon and Modern Farmer, among others. She lives in Massachusetts. Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore writes for The Guardian, The Economist, Financial Times, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New Statesman, New Internationalist, The Huffington Post and Time magazine. Jennifer…

In the winter of 1947, a group of women of varied interests and occupations held a series of meetings to discuss ‘the feminine point of view’. The women, between 30 and 40 in total, included a college principal, a headmistress of a girls’ college, and even a writer from the (now tabloid) Daily Mail newspaper. The views expressed by these women were compiled in a little book, aptly titled, The Feminine Point of View, and included straight-talking discussions on such topics as work in the home, paid work, lack of self-confidence, and lack of economic power. Under the heading, The Tone Towards Women in Literature, the Press, etc. the conference reported: “The tone frequently used towards women is something to which we have become so accustomed that we hardly notice…

“WHAT APPLIES TO DRUGS APPLIES ALSO, WITHIN LIMITS, TO EVERY KIND OF EXCITEMENT. A LIFE TOO FULL OF EXCITEMENT IS AN EXHAUSTING LIFE, IN WHICH CONTINUALLY STRONGER STIMULI ARE NEEDED TO GIVE THE THRILL THAT HAS COME TO BE THOUGHT AN ESSENTIAL PART OF PLEASURE. A PERSON ACCUSTOMED TO TOO MUCH EXCITEMENT IS LIKE A PERSON WITH A MORBID CRAVING FOR PEPPER, WHO COMES AT LAST TO BE UNABLE EVEN TO TASTE A QUANTITY OF PEPPER WHICH WOULD CAUSE ANYONE ELSE TO CHOKE. THERE IS AN ELEMENT OF BOREDOM WHICH IS INSEPARABLE FROM THE AVOIDANCE OF TOO MUCH EXCITEMENT, AND TOO MUCH EXCITEMENT NOT ONLY UNDERMINES THE HEALTH, BUT DULLS THE PALATE FOR EVERY KIND OF PLEASURE, SUBSTITUTING TITILLATIONS FOR PROFOUND ORGANIC SATISFACTIONS, CLEVERNESS FOR WISDOM, AND JAGGED SURPRISES FOR…

Can you recall the very first time you logged on to your favourite social media platform? What external stimulus triggered you to log on? Was it an advertisement, an icon, a link, or word of mouth recommendation? Was it the nightly newsperson excitedly urging you to “log on and join in the discussion”? But now, what prompts you to log on? Do you just automatically do it when you’re feeling bored, lonely, or indecisive? Most likely you can’t remember what external, or situational trigger, got you using the product in the first place. And most probably you can’t really pinpoint the internal trigger prompting you to log on to your favourite social media site, photo sharing, or gaming platform today. You just find yourself doing it. In the 1950s psychologist…