The First Move
'Being the maximum version of yourself is a political act in a world where women continue to shrink themselves to build up or appease the men in front of them.'
Today's young women are told we can be anything, so we search for a love to back us, not hold us back. We want the Prince Harry and Meghan Markle kind of love, not Prince William and Kate. Yet, while we unapologetically own our careers and lives and Bumble accounts, we're still unsure whether men truly accept-let alone desire-the women we have become. We are told to lean in at work, but wait for him to call. To ask for the pay rise, but not his number. We are ambitious at work but confused in love.
Women's dating behaviour does not yet reflect the gender-equal partnerships we desire and dating literature has remained so focused on helping us lock down a partner, it has ignored what independent women actually want from men: more.
The First Move is an insightful body of social research and a critique of our dating culture, interwoven with a young woman's call to finding contemporary love. Writer Emily J. Brooks explores women's socialisation, real negotiation, and the unwavering benefits of equality in our romantic relationships. When women demand a love that backs us, it lifts up the rest of our lives - so it is time for us to step into our power.
Significant Contributions
Untold Resilience
A timely and uplifting book of true stories from 19 women whose resilience has seen them survive extraordinary global and personal tragedy.
'This is an extraordinary book. Outrageously brilliant and insightful.' Turia Pitt
What does it take to find courage in the midst of deprivation and devastation? Why are some people able to continue living with purpose, even when faced with loss and despair? How does our community turn challenge into triumph? And what can we learn from the exceptional women in our midst who have done just that?
It might feel like we are living in unprecedented times but ours is not the first generation to withstand upheaval as seismic as the COVID-19 pandemic has caused. In every town and suburb in Australia, there are women from older generations who have encountered unimaginable difficulties before; women who have endured and survived. Their stories are proof of the incredible resilience of the female spirit.
Based on hours of interviews from their homes during lockdown, in Untold Resilience the all-female journalistic team at Future Women uncovers the real-life accounts of a diverse and fascinating collection of women. In doing so they have drawn on the deep wisdom and perspective that can only be gained from a life fully lived.
Our history books have long been dominated by men’s triumphant tales but there are also lessons to be learned from the quiet, modest and largely untold experiences of women. With warmth and candour, 19 ordinary, and yet truly remarkable, individuals share their experiences of pandemic, poverty, famine, war, violence and discrimination.
Through these hope-filled stories from women who have gone before, we can find inspiration and comfort, and rebuild faith in our own futures.
Work. Love. Body.
The future lives of women have changed drastically. As a growing number of women agitate for change, it is time to demand what women want. Through the lenses of work, love, and body, this powerful and essential essay collection asks: Will the Australia of tomorrow be more equal than the one we were born into? Or will it be a country where women and girls remain left behind? One thing is very clear: The future is now and it is female.
While our country was shrouded in smoke in the early months of 2020, Australian women went about their daily business. They went to work. Picked kids up from school or checked in on sick neighbours. Made dinner. Ticked off their to-do list and postponed looking after themselves because life and commitments got in the way.
Then, in March, everything changed. Australians were told to lock down. Women held the health of our communities in their hands as they took on the essential jobs to care, to nurse and to teach despite an invisible danger. For all the talk of equality, it was primarily women who juggled the intense demands of work, kids, schooling and care of ageing parents. We were told to stay home and to keep each other safe. But one year later, women across the country would march on behalf of those who were not safe in their own homes.
Never before has change been thrust so abruptly on modern Australian women. 2020 impacted our working lives, relationships, and our health and wellbeing. So where do we go from here? Future Women have the answers.