Work. Love. Body.

by Jamila Rizvi, Helen McCabe

In 2020, the lives of Australian women changed irrevocably. With insight, intelligence and empathy, Jane Gilmore, Santilla Chingaipe and Emily J. Brooks explore this through the lenses of work, love and body, and ask: Will the Australia of tomorrow be more equal than the one we were born into? Or will women and girls remain left behind?

While our country was shrouded in smoke in the early months of 2020, Australian women went about their daily business. They worked, studied, cleaned, did school runs, made meals. And they postponed looking after themselves because life got in the way.

Then, in March, Australians were told to lock down. For all the talk of equality, it was primarily women who 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. One year later, women across the country would march on behalf of those who were not safe in workplaces and 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. And as a growing number of women agitate for change, it is time to demand what women want. So where do we go from here?

One thing is very clear: the future is now, and it is female.

Genres: Feminism, Gender

304 pages, Paperback

Published September 15, 2021

Reviews

[Meghan]

DNF. Hoping to come back to this book some day just ran out of time before it needed to be returned and I’d only read the intro

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frustrating in parts, because the information all collected and written in haste during the last year, is already out of date - and the haste prevents deeper reflection that time would have permitted. It's frustrating also because it's clear that many of the opportunities that the past two years presented have already been ignored and cast aside. This book is a necessary time capsule and logbook of all that we looked forward to holding onto in the early parts of 2020. Finally, a natural side-effect of engaging writers to reflect on their experiences of the pandemic is a somewhat limited perspective - albeit punctuated with short observations from women in other fields- on lockdown.

[Cris David · Rating 5 out of 5]

HIGHLY RECOMMEND / ESSENTIAL READING

You probably already knew that women have only been allowed to vote for the last 100 years, but did you know that only 50 years ago in Australia abortion was illegal but rape in marriage wasn’t? Did you know that Australia is currently ranked 50th in the global measure of gender pay gap? To give you perspective New Zealand is ranked 4th. Did you know that before the Covid supplement was introduced people on welfare were/are living on $284 a week? And did you know that more women aged 50+ are facing homelessness now more than ever?

Work.Love.Body is a collection of 5 essays by 5 incredible women @mccabehelen @jamilarizvi @janetribune @santigrams @emjbrooks, that deep dive into the female experience during the pandemic, from across different demographics and socio economic backgrounds. It explores how the pandemic has changed the way we WORK, wfh and the flexibility they told us pre covid wasn’t possible. The way we LOVE, how do you even date in a pandemic? And how we look after BODY and our mental wellbeing. WLB effectively takes a magnifying glass to the cracks of society’s inequalities and blows it up for all to see. Stuff we should really care about.

What I love most about this book is the focus on data and statistics, yet manages to read easily while keeping the Australian experience at its core. It was eye opening to learn what other countries are doing in response to long Covid, mental health during the pandemic and the rise in DV.

If nothing else WLB is a wake up call, a call to arms, a reminder that though we’ve come along way in the last 100 years the work is far from being finished.

My review doesn’t even do this book justice, if I’ve peaked your interest I suggest you jump on the @futurewomen FB page, there’s a talk on there with Jane and Jamila definitely worth your time.

Thank you @hachetteaus for my arc, what a phenomenal read!

PS. I don’t usually dog ear or write in my books, but I just couldn’t help it with this one!

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three Australian writers explore the titular topics and how women's experiences were affected by the pandemic, looking at poverty, abuse, mental health and the way that emergency measures gave us a glimpse of how the system could change.

[Larissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here’s to women supporting women and themselves and to big changes coming in the future ✨

[Karisma · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read on how covid-19 has impacted upon the lives of women in different ways.

[Gemma Handley · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF :(

[Maddie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt a bit underwhelmed by this book. It wasn't bad - some of the discussions in it were quite thought-provoking - but it seemed like it was written in a rush and without a strong purpose. Across all three sections, I felt like the authors lacked structure and constantly jumped from one train of thought to another, with the topics of Work, Love and Body blending together too much. Again, there were interesting insights and it's a valuable snapshot of how the 2020 pandemic affected women, but my feelings are lukewarm.