New Zealand’s problems with masculinity are deeply embedded in its social and cultural history. New Zealand men are notorious for being excessively repressed and emotionally unavailable: tightly-wound machines with an aversion to mechanics.
I’m sorry, what? Have we ended the Kim got robbed news cycle with an All Black having sex in a disabled toilet news cycle?
Although we are a small country about as far away as you can get from Israel and Palestine, New Zealand has punched above its weight in the past in terms of calling out racist regimes, the most notable example being our protests against the 1981 Springbok Tour.
NZs best poet, Tourettes returns with his brand new video
…Kiwi’s love punishing criminals more than they hate crime, so in a culture as tiny minded as ours, we refuse to see connections between culture and personal choice. It’s part of our 30 year neoliberal mythology, I succeed because I’m great and hard working, you fail because you are a loser.
It is difficult to put aside our righteous disgust at his bullying violence on that night, but that’s what we as citizens in a liberal and progressive democracy must do. We have a Judiciary who is asked to stand above the anger and make decisions on punishment that are beneficial to the wider community.
I met Tatyana Kulida at the New Zealand Art Show, where I was interviewing artists for my YouTube series “A Taste of LaQuisha”. Her art was unlike the other art on display. It was from another era. An era, I later discovered, before photography, where a portrait painter would train as long as a doctor. Studying not only light and colour, but detailed human anatomy.
As older generations struggle to deal with the untarnished manner in which younger generations can use social media to tell them how much they hate them, larger fracture lines are starting to emerge between Baby Boomers, Gen Xers and Millennials.
There’s a hand on my arm. Gripping my arm, pulling me back. I sway slightly in my heels. Both adrenal glands, perched above my kidneys, deep in my viscera, squirt their load of adrenaline into my bloodstream. My pupils dilate, my heart rate and breathing increase sharply. All of a sudden I’m not sleepy, I’m not thinking about my day. I’m right here, right now. Deadly calm.
…so it was an encouraging and female friendly environment where Scarlette performed graphic acts for the lads in a really pro-feminist setting?