Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Tuesday 20 October
6:15 PM - 7:15 PM
‘Can you give us a twirl and tell us about your outfit?’ – it was a lighthearted court-side request made of tennis player Roger Federer by a TV presenter at this year’s Australian Open.
Just kidding; male athletes aren’t obliged to twirl. The request was made of world number seven Eugenie Bouchard, sparking dismay among many viewers of the Open as well as commenters on social media. Billie-Jean King, who fought against no small amount of sexism herself as a 1970s tennis champion, once said that sports are a microcosm of society. If that’s the case, does Bouchard’s experience show that things haven’t progressed as far as we might have hoped since King’s day? Or does the vocal public reaction reveal that such comments are increasingly rare?
In the next conversation in our F Word series, we’re looking at feminism and sport. Our panellists – including world champion surfer Layne Beachley, and Olympic gold medallist swimmer Leisel Jones, whose physique was targeted by media just two days before the start of London 2012 – will discuss how media representation of women’s sport affects participation and attitudes at community level, and whether or not the importance of competitive sport as a feminist battleground can be overstated. Is there a case for ending gender segregation in sport altogether?
Featuring
Maxine Beneba Clarke
Maxine Beneba Clarke is the author of the acclaimed memoir The Hate Race, the award-winning short fiction collection Foreign Soil, the poetry collections Carrying The World and How Decent Folk Behave, and many other books for adults and children. Her forthcoming poetry collection is It's The Sound of the Thing: 100 new poems for young people. She is currently Poet in Residence at Melbourne University.
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Leisel Jones
Born in Katherine, NT, Leisel Jones burst onto the swimming scene at 14, winning silver at the Sydney Olympic Games. Leisel and her mum were left bankrupt after her father left, and as a teenager Leisel was the main breadwinner for the household. Along with Ian Thorpe, she holds the record for the most Olympic medals won by any Australian, as well as winning seven world championships.
Regarded as the world's greatest female breaststroker, Leisel retired from swimming in 2012. She was a commentator for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and recently appeared on the Australian I'm a Celebrity, Get Me out of Here.
Layne Beachley
Layne Beachley is widely regarded as the most successful female surfer in history. The only surfer, male or female, to claim six consecutive world titles (1998-2003), Layne then went onto win a seventh world title in 2006 before retiring from the ASP World Tour in 2008.
Layne currently serves on the board of Surfing Australia, Sport Australia Hall Of Fame, is an ISA Vice President, director of her own charity, the Layne Beachley Aim For The Stars Foundation and long time ambassador for Wyndham Vacation Resorts Asia Pacific. She also supports several other charities and organisations such as The National Breast Cancer Foundation, The Laureus Sport For Good Foundation, Planet Ark, SurfAid, Adopt Change and Sunnyfield.
2004 Laureus Alternative Sports Person of the year, 2006 Surfing Hall of Fame inductee, 2011 Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductee, 2011/13 ISA World Masters Champion, Athlete Liaison Officer at the 2012 Olympic Games, Layne’s unwavering commitment to success has seen her awarded on the world stage. In 2013 Layne was recognised and awarded 3rd Greatest Australian Female Athlete of all time, behind Dawn Fraser and Betty Cuthbert.
As part of this years Australia Day honours list, Layne was awarded with an Officer of the Order of Australia for her distinguished service to the community through support for a wide range of charitable organizations, as a mentor for women in sport and as a world champion surfer.
Angela Pippos
Angela is an award-winning journalist, presenter, documentary-maker, author and MC.
Her most recent documentary, The Record, follows Australia’s dramatic Women’s T20 World Cup campaign and the audacious bid to fill the MCG for the final on International Women’s Day 2020. The two-part documentary premiered globally on Amazon Prime in March 2021, and had a secondary release on ABC TV. Angela co-wrote and co-produced the film. Her next documentary idea is bubbling away.
Angela is a co-host on Broad Radio - a live-streamed radio show by and for women.
She also writes regular columns about sport and culture for a number of publications and is a tireless campaigner for gender equality in sport and society. In fact, her most recent book, Breaking The Mould – Taking a Hammer to Sexism in Sport made the Grattan Institute’s ‘Prime Minister’s Summer Reading list’, The Australia Institute’s ‘Essential Reading List’ and is on its third reprint.
Angela is a proud ambassador of the Adelaide Crows.