Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Friday 14 October
6:15 PM - 7:15 PM
It’s hard to know whether to cheer or groan at the success of Lena Dunham’s hit TV show Girls. On one hand, it’s encouraging to see real, imperfect female bodies on screen. On the other hand, it’s depressing that such images are still revolutionary. ‘There's people who don't want to see bodies like mine, or bodies like their own bodies,’ Dunham has said.
At this panel discussion, hosted by comedian Judith Lucy, we’ll look at girls on screen. Girls is just one show that has inspired some fiery debates about female representation and diversity in popular culture. Our panel – comprising some of the smartest young women we know – will also respond to clips from Broad City, Freaks and Geeks, The Katering Show, Puberty Blues and, of course, Mean Girls. Can we see ourselves in these characters? Who is left out in representations of girls on screen? What power do these representations hold over our imaginations? And could there ever be a show about girls as gross as The Inbetweeners?
This conversation is suited to girls, anyone who was once a girl and anybody who knows a girl. Join us as we dissect some of our funniest and fetchest pop-culture favourites.
Presented in partnership with ACMI and Plan International Australia.
Featuring
Judith Lucy
Judith Lucy is one of Australia’s most popular comedians. A best-selling author, her work in radio, television and film and her sell-out national live tours have made her a household name.
A standup comedian for over 20 years, she sprang to national prominence in 1993 when she joined the cast of ABC TV’s The Late Show. Her television appearances since then have been many and varied. ABC TV’s current season of Judith Lucy’s Spiritual Journey represents her first solo TV project.
On radio, she was a presenter on Triple J and was a regular on the legendary Martin Molloy program. In 2004 she was announced as co-host of the 2DAY-FM breakfast show in Sydney, and was famously sacked the following year, which became the subject of one of her most successful live touring shows, I Failed.
Her live stage shows, filled with sharply observed and painfully funny, honest personal monologues, have a huge and devoted following. In addition to her appearances at comedy festivals in Edinburgh and Montreal, she regularly sells out theatres in Australia’s capital cities and regional centres, from her 1995 hit, King of the Road, through to her most recent solo show, Judith Lucy’s Not Getting Any Younger. She was also one of the award-winning trio behind Comedy Is Not Pretty and Comedy Is Still Not Pretty, with Denise Scott and Lynda Gibson.
In feature films, she has appeared alongside Mick Molloy and Bill Hunter in both Crackerjack and Bad Eggs, written and directed by her old Late Show buddy Tony Martin and also featuring Bob Franklin, Shaun Micallef, Robyn Nevin and Alan Brough.
As a writer, Judith has contributed features and columns to publications including The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and Madison magazine, but it was her 2008 memoir, The Lucy Family Alphabet, which established her as an author. The book, which recounted life with her much-loved but nutty Irish parents and her discovery, at age 25, that she was adopted, was a roaring success, garnered rave reviews and was reprinted several times.
Mel Campbell
Mel Campbell is a freelance journalist and critic who co-hosts the fortnightly literature and culture podcast The Rereaders. She is a columnist on writing at Overland magazine, and a university lecturer and writer-for-hire on film, TV and media. Her first book was the nonfiction investigation Out of Shape: Debunking Myths about Fashion and Fit (2013), and she’s currently co-writing a second romantic comedy novel with Anthony Morris; their first was The Hot Guy (2017).
Billie Tumarkin
Billie Tumarkin is a young writer and musician. She is currently studying classical voice at the University of Melbourne. Her work has appeared in Birdee Mag, the Hoopla, the Under Age and at wheelercentre.com. In 2015, she was one of Melbourne Writers Festival’s '30 under 30'.
Candy Bowers
Candy Bowers is an award-winning writer, actor, social-activist, comedian and producer. The co-artistic director of Black Honey Company, Candy has pioneered a fierce sub-genre of hip hop theatre that delves into the heart of ...
Aretha
Aretha is an Indigenous activist based in Melbourne. She is from the Gumbangarri clan in Northern NSW. She represented her mob in Gallipoli for the Centenary last year. Aretha is a passionate public speaker and Youth Activist with Plan International Australia.
Monica
Monica is a youth advocate and social worker. She is co-founder of the Afro-Australian Student Organisation, a mentor in the Immigration Museum’s Sarah Myer Leadership Program, a member of the Multifaith Multicultural Youth Network, and youth advisor for the Ghana Association of Australia.
In 2015, she was a finalist at the National Youth Awards for Youth Leadership by the Department of Education and Training.
Monica is passionate about advocating for multicultural youth to be engaged in youth led organisations, education and employment. She wants to make a positive change to inspire and work directly with other young people to change the perceptions society holds about multicultural youth – and hopefully make the world a bit easier for the next generation to live in.
Christine
Christine is a qualified organisational psychologist and has over 7 years experiences in psychology consulting with various organisations including ASX Top 100 professional services firms and government departments. She brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in designing and implementing effective and sustainable people solutions, not only aim to accelerate organisations’ performance, but most importantly to develop healthier, happier and fairer Australian workplaces.
She is a strong advocate in ethnic equality. She is passionate about developing innovative and effective cultural diversity and inclusion solutions to bring equality to the Australian community. She actively involves in working with many purposeful organisations such as ASRC and Melbourne City Mission to empower refugees, people who seek asylum and migrants to enter, adapt and excel in the Australian workforce.
She is also the founder of Beyond Story. A social enterprise which is on a mission to inspire mindset change by challenging the way we currently think, feel and interact with each other. Through arts and storytelling, she cultivates a creative space for all to learn about different culture from people who seek asylum, refugees and migrants. The goal is to discover the true qualities each person possesses beyond these socially constructed cultural stories.
Mimi
Mimi has over seven years’ experience using media and communication for social change. She is passionate about women’s rights and strives for a world where girls are empowered and have equal opportunities. Mimi appears as key note speaker for Jesuit Social Services at schools and community events. Her inspiring presentation includes her personal journey, messages of empowerment and following your dreams.
Ella
Ella is currently studying her undergraduate of sociology at Monash University. She has a keen interest in the constructions of sexual identities, and experiences of bisexual, fluid and non-monosexual people. She hopes to pursue this in research and social work.
Milla
Milla is a queer Melbourne musician and co-founder of feminist, black comedy group; Spoon Eyes Productions. Drawn to all things advocacy, absurd and alien in being “the other”, Milla feels most at home exploring the transient nature of identity or debating the existence of Joe Hockey’s discography of Nickleback. With a disturbingly large sock collection and a fierce dedication to equality, Milla strives to create art that allows people to access empathy and shift dominant ideologies.
Alex
Alex is a 25-year-old law graduate who has developed a strong passion for disability human rights during her time at Melbourne Law School. Originally from Bendigo, Alex moved to Melbourne to live and study independently in 2010, overcoming many of the barriers often associated with having a disability.
Alex has a strong passion for travel and loves watching the looks on airport staff faces as she wheels away from them after landing with a giant ‘lap-pack’ and no one waiting to pick her up. Alex has experienced working in a private law firm, Victoria Legal Aid, the Department of Health and Human Services and as a research assistant at the University of Melbourne. Alex hopes to pursue a career in disability human rights advocacy.