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Author: Brenna Dempsey

  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Heartbreak High brings authentic autism onscreen

    • Brenna Dempsey
    • 05 October 2022
    1 Comment

    I only wish when I was growing up there had been examples of autistic characters on television like Heartbreak High’s Quinni (Chloé Hayden), played by actors who are themselves autistic. Chloé Hayden is one of the first autistic actors to play an autistic character in a major TV series, and I feel angry that I didn’t see this sort of representation when I was younger. If I had, I may have realised I was autistic before I was in my 20s, which may have made my journey easier.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    The surprising joys of the Olympics in lockdown

    • Brenna Dempsey
    • 14 September 2021

    I have never paid much attention to the Olympics or Paralympics. The games always seemed too patriotic while simultaneously being too individualistic. Plus, I don’t enjoy watching people push themselves so hard for something to the point where they need to throw up. That said, I’m in Melbourne in lockdown, I’m working from home, and living alone and I need to have something on in the background while I work, or I feel too lonely. If I play music, I get distracted. So I decided to tune into the games and have them on in the background, volume low, to see if it helped me focus.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Don't move to New Zealand, stay and fight

    • Brenna Dempsey
    • 20 May 2019
    34 Comments

    My social media feeds were awash with posts from my friends — many of whom are queer, disabled or on low incomes — worrying about their futures and the future of our earth. I saw countless posts with people saying 'That's it, I'm moving to NZ'. I completely understand the desire people had to give up — I felt it too.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Fighting back against period stigma

    • Brenna Dempsey
    • 10 March 2019
    7 Comments

    Last week, a man decided to show his expertise on menstruation and educate menstruators on how to cut down on the costs of having a period. He concluded by suggesting we ought to 'cut down on [our] starbucks venti frapps and stop whining'. The scariest thing about this is that this lack of understanding is not uncommon.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Millennials work for free? Muffin doing

    • Brenna Dempsey
    • 01 March 2019
    5 Comments

    Natalie Brennan, general manager of Muffin Break, accused 'millennials' of no longer seeing the value in 'experience', and of having an 'inflated view of their self-importance'. Ironically, she has an inflated view of her company's importance if she believes 'millennials' should jump at the opportunity to work for her in an unpaid internship.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Can men be feminists?

    • Brenna Dempsey
    • 15 February 2019
    18 Comments

    The #metoo movement has seen a rise in men coming forward and proclaiming themselves as feminists. But are they really doing this to encourage and support the women around them? It appears at least some men are voicing their pro-equality opinions in order to avoid suspicion and criticism and stay out of the spotlight.

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