55Upitty

Liz

November 13, 2012 by 55Upitty

…I don’t see being gay as a lifestyle, it’s not just that I prefer women, it’s more than that because I am in a world, and in a culture where that is not the norm. You can only deal with it by having a political framework… I think sex is wonderful. Always was, hopefully always will be. And you really shouldn’t neglect it…For me, it hasn’t changed as I’ve got older. I talk about my age like a little kid. […]

Categories: Academics, Activists, Artists, Feminist, Grandparents, Lesbians, Mothers, Sport, Uncategorized • Tags: age, ageing, ageism, art, artist, australia, australia centre for gay and lesbian research, australian politics, bodybuilder, bodybuilding, books, bowler hat, butch, cats, children, conjoint professor, dance, discrimination, dyke, edna ryan, edna ryan award, ednas, emeritus professor, exercise, fashion, female bodybuilder, female bodybuilding, feminism, feminist, first mardi gras, gay, gay and lesbian arts association, gay games, gay games 2002, gay games sydney, gold medal, gold medal gay games, governor of NSW, gym, health, history, homosexual, illustrator, lesbian, lesbian aging, lesbian art, lesbian art an encounter with power, LGBT, love, mardi gras, Marie Bashir, mother, newcastle university, older people, order of australia, painter, pets, photography, politics, portraits, power, professor, protest, queer, relationships, retirement, sex, sex in public, sexuality, student, sydney, teaching, university, university of NSW, viv mcgregor, viv mcgregor photography, woman, women

Ludo

September 19, 2012 by 55Upitty

I knew I was different when I was sixteen, but couldn’t put my finger on it, metaphorically speaking. Dusty Springfield was the only person I’d ever heard of who was a lesbian. I couldn’t do the big hair… These days, I’m a retired lesbian. Women have been the focus of my life, but I’ve got to the point where I think, ‘that will do’. I have a wide circle of friends and I never really was the domestic or […]

Categories: Activists, Feminist, Lesbians, Musicians • Tags: 1970s, activism, activist, age, ageing, ageism, animals, architecture, assisted suicide, aunt, Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearing House, cancer, children, chosen family, coming out, discrimination, dog, domestic violence, Dusty Springfield, DV, dying, dyke, edinburgh, elsie women's refuge, euthanasia, feminism, feminist, france, friends, gay, Gay Liberation, history, homeless, homeless women, homosexual, horse, industrial protections, industrial reform, jillaroo, Kent University, lesbian, lesbian feminist, lesbian feminist conference, LGBT, LGBTI, LGBTIQ, life, Margaret Coulson, music, musician, older, older people, older woman, older women, Older Women's Network, oral history, paris, pets, photography, politics, portrait, portrait photography, punk, queer, refuge, relationships, retire, retirement, Robin Archer, rock climbing, saxophone, scooter, sex, sexuality, Stray Dags, surfing, sydney, violence against women, viv mcgregor, viv mcgregor photography, women's liberation conference, women's movement, women's music, women's warehouse, work, youth

Kaye

August 21, 2012 by 55Upitty

…I remember going to see Peter Pan, and being so impressed by a woman, dressed as a boy, who could fly around with her companion, Wendy. I realised that a girl could live like that… That’s how I came to be jailed by the Bjelke-Petersen government. I got three weekends in jail – the men got five! You can imagine how happy my parents were when I rang them from the Watch House. Dad refused to go bail. I’m fifty-nine […]

Categories: Disability, Feminist, Lesbians • Tags: 1978, 1978 mardi gras, 78rs, aboriginal, age, ageism, aging, androgyny, animal blood, australia, australian politics, bill hayden, Bjelke-Petersen, brisbane, brisbane stock exchange, brownies, cat, cats, childhood, crutches, disability, discrimination, dog, dogs, domestic violence, dyke, elsie women's refuge, equal marriage, family, fashion, feminist, first mardi gras, france, friend, friendship, gay, gay marriage, gender, gender equality, girl guides, gough whitlam, history, homosexual, lesbian, lesbianism, LGBT, LGBTI, love, mardi gras, memoir, mobility, mother, MS, multiple sclerosis, older people, oral history, paris, parisian, people with a disability, peter pan, pets, photography, politics, poodle, portrait photography, portraits, protest, publishing, queensland trades and labor council, queer, refuge, relationships, retirement, retiring, revolution, romance, russian blue, scooter, sex, sexuality, social justice, social work, springbok rugby tour, stripes, sydney, sydney gay and lesbian mardi gras, sydney mardi gras, sydney morning herald, sydney symphony, ti-grace atkinson, travel, union, unionism, vietman war, vietnam, vietnam moratorium, viv mcgregor, viv mcgregor photography, walking stick, wendy, wheelchair, whitlam, woman, women, women's lib, women's liberation, work

Jude

July 3, 2012 by 55Upitty

…the older I get the more serenity I find. When I was a young feminist we called respected older women crones – that would suit me. As time passes I grow more comfortable with myself – age empowers me… I saw the film of Calamity Jane when I was ten, and it just stuck with me. I always wanted a cowgirl suit, not one with a skirt, the boy’s one with pants. When I see that film now the lesbian sub-text is such […]

Categories: Academics, Fashion, Feminist, Grandparents, Lesbians, Mothers • Tags: academia, academic, adventure, age, ageism, annapurna, australia, australian centre for lesbian and gay research, calamity jane, campervan, children, corporatism, cowgirl, creative writing, crone, difference, discrimination, doris day, dress, dyke, east timor, equality, exercise, family, feminism, feminist, french, friendship, gay, gender, gender equality, girlfriend, grandma, grandmother, grandparent, gym, health, himalayas, homeless, homelessness, homosexual, horses, hunter valley, inca trail, inequality, injustice, jodhpurs, language, lesbian, lesbian feminist, LGBT, mardi gras, motorbike, older people, partner, phd, photography, politics, portraits, professor, purple, queer, relationships, retirement, riding, sexuality, social justice, social work, social worker, soul mate, style, sydney, transgender, travel, university, violence against children, violence against women, viv mcgregor, viv mcgregor photography, walking, west, woman, women, youth, youth homelessness

Gabrielle (Gail)

June 2, 2012 by 55Upitty

… I don’t think much about age. Mind you, it’s very strange to feel more or less the same as you have always felt but catch sight of yourself in a mirror every now and then and wonder, who is that? To have been beautiful, and to accept wrinkles and still feel beautiful. I like queer as a label – to me, it’s inclusive. I don’t like phobia of any kind – and early on I had to stand up […]

Categories: Fashion, Feminist, Lesbians • Tags: 1978, 78er, 78ers, age, ageing, ageism, androgyny, anzac day, art, beauty, bessie smythe clinic, bicycle, bike riding, books, bookshop, cats, conference, discrimination, dyke, exercise, F collective, feet, feminism, feminist, feminist bookshop, first mardi gras, gay, germaine greer, green, gym, health, international womens day, international womens year, LGBT, lilyfield, love, mardi gras, medal of the order of australia, older people, older people and technology, painting, pets, photography, pilates, politics, portraits, protest, purple, queer, relationships, retirement, revolution, riding, sexuality, simone de beauvoir, strong seniors, suffragette, sydney, technology, transphobia, viv mcgregor, viv mcgregor photography, watercolour, woman, women

Teresa

April 18, 2012 by 55Upitty

Being seen as an older woman is another new challenge. I notice a general disdain for older people, and I’m becoming very attuned to ageism – it’s everywhere. Older women are invisible, it seems. Or “cute”. Either way, we’re not perceived as having any power or status. So, we’ll have to take it, grab it with both hands and shake it. It was a traumatic time for me – I didn’t know a single other lesbian, I didn’t know that […]

Categories: Fashion, Lesbians, Librarians, Mothers, Vegetarians • Tags: ageing, ageism, art, australia, australian politics, books, children, cufflinks, discrimination, dyke, england, fashion, feminism, feminist, gay, gay parenting, hair, history, homosexual, homosexuality, invisibility, jewellery, lesbian, lesbian mother, lesbian parent, librarian, library, literature, mother, motherhood, older people, patricia chingwile, pearl, pearls, photography, politics, portraits, queer, quiff, relationships, retirement, rockabilly, sexuality, shoes, suits, sydney, vegetarian, viv mcgregor, viv mcgregor photography, woman, women