New public artwork revealed
A new addition to St George's Terrace was revealed yesterday, in another art coup for The City of Perth.
A bronze statue of the first woman elected to Western Australia's parliament, Edith Cowan, was unveiled out the front of ANZAC House's Karrakata Club in a fitting tribute to her contribution to women's rights in Western Australia.
Deputy Lord Major Bruce Reynolds said Cowan helped shape the course of the nation.
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'The Edith Cowan statue now sits at the heart of our City, and I hope it inspires people of all ages to learn more about her remarkable life and the legacy she left behind,' he said.
As the founding secretary of the Karrakatta Club, Cowan was instrumental in helping women understand the social issues of the day and give them confidence to have their opinions and needs heard - a radical idea at the time.
She also formed the Soldiers Welcome Institute that later became the RSL to assist with the hardships that wounded veterans faced upon their return from war.
The statue was gifted to the City of Perth by former councillor Sandy Anghie and her husband, Michael and was created by artists from Smith Sculptors.
In an Instagram post the architect and co-founder of Perth Design Week wrote, 'it was an honour for Mike and I to dedicate the statue of Edith Dircksey Cowan yesterday, enabling city visitors to enjoy the beautiful artwork... and to prompt us to celebrate Edith Cowan's incredible story for generations to come. She led the way for many.'
It comes after the City of Perth was gifted a piece by internationally acclaimed artist Brendan Murphy 'The Boonji Spaceman' that has a temporary home out the front of Council House in Stirling Gardens.
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Herald Sun
2 days ago
- Herald Sun
South Australian high school trad wife debate question divides
A hot button topic put forward for Year 9 students to discuss during a statewide debate competition has caused a stir online. Debating SA, a non-profit organisation that runs debating competitions in South Australia, revealed its latest topics ahead of next week's debates. However, it was the topic for round three — 'The 'Trad Wife' movement is good for women' — that has raised eyebrows and sparked fierce discussion. The 'Trad Wife' movement has been popularised by the likes of influencer Hannah Neeleman, also known as Ballerina Farm, who has more than 10 million followers on Instagram, and Nara Smith, a US-based model and influencer with nearly 5 million followers. The movement is often rooted in 'traditional' values, based on the idea of a woman looking after the home and children while the woman's husband goes off to work and earn money. Typically, it is associated with conservative values where the woman is seen as submissive, however defenders say those who follow it, do so as a matter of personal choice. The topic will start being debated next week as part of the third round of Debating SA's competition, for which all schools in the state are eligible. Picture: Getty Images Debating SA's topic choice left many questioning whether it was appropriate for Year 9 students to research and discuss, let alone be aware of the phrase 'Trad Wife'. 'Personally I think being able to debate around a topic even one that is clearly terrible is still an important skill,' one social media user said. 'But the point of contention is that tradwife stuff promotes not only staying at home, but actual straight up misogyny. And it would always be controversial to debate 'is it okay to hate women?'.' Nara Smith is one of the biggest faces in the 'tradwife' movement. Picture: Instagram/Nara Smith Another said: 'This is a huge misstep by the debating orgs (and I'm saying this as a former high school debater and coach).' 'Sounds like those who champion 'critical thinking, cultural nous and debate' to set this topic have NFI of the current cultural implications of the 'tradwife' movement online, especially its direct pipeline to white supremacy and misogyny,' another added. But others argued there was no real issue. 'I thought one of the points of debating was arguing for a side you don't necessarily agree with. My son recently was involved with a school debate where the topic was 'Is the current climate change man made?'. I don't see a trad wife debate being much different,' one parent wrote. Another weighed in: 'Honestly, if the goal is to teach kids how to think critically about the content they're bombarded with online, this isn't the worst topic to explore. 'The tradwife movement is something they'll run into on TikTok or YouTube eventually, so better to unpack it in a guided, moderated classroom than leave them to figure it out through algorithm-fed echo chambers. Context and intent matter. If this was framed as a critical discussion — not an endorsement — then it's literally education doing its job.' Students are set to debate whether the 'trad wife' movement is 'good for women'. Following the outrage, Debating SA sent a clarification to schools, saying that students 'must look critically at sources'. 'It goes without saying that any websites that denigrate women (or any person) are not a good source of information and are not relevant to the topic,' the clarification, which also appeared on its website, said. 'To avoid any confusion about the topic, the following definitions for the purpose of the debate apply: 'Tradwife is a portmanteau for 'traditional wife', a woman who embraces traditional gender roles, primarily focusing on home making and family care, while her husband is the primary breadwinner. This can include cooking, cleaning, child-rearing, and maintaining the home. 'This term is intended to be synonymous with the idea of a stay at home parent.' It caused uproar, and the organisation has since clarified that it meant 'stay at home' mum. Picture: Instagram/@ballerinafarm 'The tradwife movement is therefore a group of people who support a lifestyle such as the above. Note that this does not include any concept of 'submission' as some sources may define. 'Good for women generally refers to something that has a positive impact on women's lives and wellbeing. Note specifically that the definition does not infer 'all women'.' 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It is very necessary for young people to be able to develop the skills to navigate their way in what is now a very complicated social landscape and those skills are perfected and refined by debating,' she said. 'Debating is an intellectual and academic discipline that allows the participants to examine both sides of a topic regardless of their own personal beliefs. This ability to explore both sides makes us tolerant of other views. Thinking is hard work and we should not surrender our intellectual independence because a topic may be difficult or in this case deemed unacceptable by some of the public.' But some were not satisfied with the reasoning from Debating SA. 'This isn't moderated in class discussion, it's a discussion topic for a Debating Competition, and the organisers have said that they used trad-wife as a synonym for 'stay at home parent',' one said. 'Honestly, their excuse sounds pretty pathetic – trad-wife is not a synonym for stay at home parent, it's a controversial social movement with significant connections to right-wing politics and influencers.' Another added: 'They're engaged enough to know the term, but not the context. 'Tradwife' is absolutely not a synonym for 'stay at home parent'. They've gone awry from the outset.' 'The issue is them conflating SAHM with Trad Wife. Trad wife is a social movement. They are vastly not the same thing. And the Trad Wife may not necessarily have children,' another said. Originally published as High school 'Tradwife' debate topic divides
Perth Now
2 days ago
- Perth Now
New public artwork revealed
A new addition to St George's Terrace was revealed yesterday, in another art coup for The City of Perth. A bronze statue of the first woman elected to Western Australia's parliament, Edith Cowan, was unveiled out the front of ANZAC House's Karrakata Club in a fitting tribute to her contribution to women's rights in Western Australia. Deputy Lord Major Bruce Reynolds said Cowan helped shape the course of the nation. Your local paper, whenever you want it. 'The Edith Cowan statue now sits at the heart of our City, and I hope it inspires people of all ages to learn more about her remarkable life and the legacy she left behind,' he said. As the founding secretary of the Karrakatta Club, Cowan was instrumental in helping women understand the social issues of the day and give them confidence to have their opinions and needs heard - a radical idea at the time. She also formed the Soldiers Welcome Institute that later became the RSL to assist with the hardships that wounded veterans faced upon their return from war. The statue was gifted to the City of Perth by former councillor Sandy Anghie and her husband, Michael and was created by artists from Smith Sculptors. In an Instagram post the architect and co-founder of Perth Design Week wrote, 'it was an honour for Mike and I to dedicate the statue of Edith Dircksey Cowan yesterday, enabling city visitors to enjoy the beautiful artwork... and to prompt us to celebrate Edith Cowan's incredible story for generations to come. She led the way for many.' It comes after the City of Perth was gifted a piece by internationally acclaimed artist Brendan Murphy 'The Boonji Spaceman' that has a temporary home out the front of Council House in Stirling Gardens.
The Age
2 days ago
- The Age
St Georges Terrace gets its first statue of a woman
A statue of the first female parliamentarian in Australian, Edith Cowan, has been unveiled along St Georges Terrace in Perth's CBD – bringing to fruition the vision of former councillor and deputy mayor Sandy Anghie. Anghie's campaign began in August 2021 when she posted her views on the absence of statues of women in Perth on social media, and put a notice of motion to council seeking to address the issue. In March 2022, intending to start a fundraising campaign for a statue of a woman on St Georges Terrace, Anghie contacted then-president of the Karrakatta Club Lesley Williams, who made Anghie aware of an existing proposal for a statue of Edith Cowan by the Studio of Smith Sculptors. It was then Anghie committed to commissioning and funding the statue herself, and hired sculptors Charles Smith and Joan Walsh-Smith to create it. The statue received approval from the City of Perth in October 2022. Loading 'When you look around our city, it's clear more needs to be done to publicly recognise the significant achievements of Western Australian women,' Anghie said. 'There are so many remarkable women who have helped shape our great state and yet the vast majority of artworks commemorate only men. 'The powerful and majestic statue honouring Edith Cowan will stand proudly in the heart of our city.' At the statue's unveiling on Thursday afternoon, WA Governor Chris Dawson said there was no doubt Cowan was one of the greatest leaders in the state and the country, and the statue was 'a wonderful addition to our city'.
