Kezia Lubanszky

The Disney Channel has featured its first same-sex couple.
The family sitcom Good Luck Charlie features a family preparing for a play date. Pre-school aged Charlie is having a visit from her friend Taylor. Charlie’s parents a bit confused about who Taylor’s mum is, until they realise that it’s not Susan or Cheryl, it’s both.
The fact that Taylor has two mums is met by mild surprise, yet acceptance. As the first lesbian couple to appear on the Disney Channel, and one of the first in kid’s show...

It’s the kind of thing nightmares are made of: a group of young men who go around raping women just for fun. They call themselves the ‘Roast Busters.’ They seek out girls as young as 13, fill them with alcohol and take advantage of them. Then, they post their exploits on Facebook for all to see.
But this isn’t a nightmare. This is real, and it’s been happening for over two years. The New Zealand men, aged 17 – 18, have recently begun recruiting others to join their club. In a video posted onl...

There’s something about the prevalence of love triangles in young adult fiction that doesn’t sit well with me. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not against romance. I love love, Elizabeth and Mr Darcy, Kathy and Heathcliff, Romeo and Juliet.
But there’s a big difference between a romance and young adult fiction with romantic subplots. Again, I’m not against these subplots. That is, if they contribute to the story, feel natural and serve some kind of purpose.
I feel that the love triangle has almost b...

Marvel, the US comic book giant behind Spiderman, The Hulk and Captain America, are bringing back 1960s heroine, Ms Marvel. But rather than the tall, blonde air force officer, her new persona will be a 16-year-old Muslim girl from New Jersey.
Ms Marvel’s new alter ego, Kamala Khan, is a high school student living with her Pakistani parents. She has the ability to grow and shrink different parts of her body and shape shift into other forms. Khan is the first Muslim character to have a lead in ...

Trans women and men could one day become pregnant, too.
Surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic have become the first in the United States to perform a uterus transplant. The nine-hour surgery took place on Feb. 24 when an organ from a deceased donor was successfully implanted into a 26-year-old patient.
If the trial’s success continues, it may give women born without a uterus, or who have had one removed due to uterine damage, their only chance to carry a child. This transplant is one of ten test p...

How holograms are allowing female performers to take control of their lives.
29-year-old Ela Darling is taking back her power via virtual reality. Beginning as a teen model and librarian, the now co-founder of VR adult entertainment company VRtube [NSFW], and secretary of the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee (APAC) is making a keen dip into the world of holograms.
With a passion for technology and a career in adult entertainment, Darling eagerly signed up for a VR trial advertised on Reddit...

Detect sexually transmitted infections from the comfort of your own home.
Cervical cancer is the 14th most prevalent cancer in the world. According to the World Health Organization, the disease affects 530,000 women each year and takes 275,000 lives.
However, it is the easiest cancer to prevent among women when proper screening and follow-up take place. Lesions found via pap smears can be treated before they become cancerous, and early stage cervical cancer can be managed relatively well. The...

Open source your own sexual health tools and bio lab.
Despite the achievements of feminism, thousands of women around the world remain deprived of safe gynaecological treatment. Sex workers, immigrants, and the uninsured are just a few who fall through the bureaucratic gaps that deny them life-changing service. However, a collective of biohackers and feminists aims to change this. By harnessing recyclable electronics and information sharing, this group of “Gynepunks” is riding the wave of do-...

Artist uses Oculus Rift to offer new perspective on feminism.
The SECOND SEX WAR exhibition by Sidsel Meineche Hansen uses an Oculus Rift and three-dimensional (3D) animations to explore how gender is reproduced in virtual reality (VR) sex videos.
Hansen is well known for her exhibitions and seminars that review the body and its industrial complex. Her latest exhibition, commissioned by Gasworks, London, uses common sexual representations of the female form to highlight the polarity of gender...

How mobile tech puts safe sex into your own hands.
Sexual health app Screet is getting a “super-queer reboot.”
Originally conceived during the 2015 Startup Bus Competition, a three-day bus ride/hackathon, the app spawned from a sleepy, 5am suggestion to create an “Uber for condoms.” But after learning the market had been filled by providers like L International and Durex, a group of innovators changed focus.
Instead, Screet co-founder Creatrix Tiara found a gap in on-demand sexual health prod...

Learn to read and understand your body to boost your chances of conceiving.
For many women, trying to conceive can be a far more complex and systematic process than the natural miracle we often imagine. It’s estimated that fertility problems will affect one in seven couples in the UK, and that almost 11% of U.S. women aged 15 to 44 will have trouble becoming pregnant. Thankfully, there is a sea of products and services that can help.
Using health apps has become a daily ritual for many women....

Wearable technology emits alarms and distress signals
Athena, a wearable smart device intended to protect women from assault, is the first product released by social justice innovators Roar for Good.
Easily clipped to bags or clothing, the piece of smart jewelry allows women a subtle way to call for help should they ever feel unsafe or threatened.
How Athena works
Pressing the button for three seconds causes Athena to emit a loud alarm while sending a distress message with its wearer’s GPS lo...

Facial recognition and text analysis are preventing women from meeting attackers.
There was no way for Katia to know the man she’d met online was planning to rape her. Like many women using online dating apps and websites, she was cautious and did everything right.
On the night of their first date, the college graduate told her mother and best friend where she would be. She presumed safety in the public locale of a city bar, and she was right, for a time.
Katia continued to see the man, text ...