Opinion Pieces

Below are links to all my opinion pieces written for sites including ABC’s The Drum and The Conversation. If you’re looking for links to my “Thinking Pop Culture” column from The Conversation, please click here. If you’re looking for something in particular, please use the SITE SEARCH function on the right – this site has been fully indexed.

“Armie Hammer and a Very Meaty Sexual Fantasy” (January 18, 2021)

“One Postcard and One Pandemic” Meanjin (April 20, 2020)

“COVID-19, the movie? Don’t hold your breath”, Crikey (April 9, 2020)

“Defending an American Parasite: why Hollywood remakes are good for the original”, Crikey (January 24, 2020)

“Do Men Need To See Little Women?”, Meanjin (January 21, 2020)

“2019 in Film: The Very Best and the Very Worst”, Medium (December 21, 2019)

“Amber Guyger and the Legal System’s Uncomfortable Embrace”, Medium (October 6, 2019)

“Why Greta Thunberg triggers the troglodytes among us”, ABC (September 28, 2019)

“The Princess Bride and the Remaking of Sacred Cows”, Meanjin (September 24, 2019)

“The Horrendous Timing of the deGrasse Tyson ‘Hot Take'”, Meanjin (August 5, 2019)

“Why We’re Fascinated With Putting Things Into Our Vaginas”, Meanjin (July 26, 2019)

“Sex and the Remake”, Pursuit (July 9, 2019)

“The Little Mermaid casting is designed to make certain people see red”, Crikey (July 9, 2019)

“The Socioeconomics of a Black Ariel”, Medium (July 9, 2019)

“Mayor Pete and the Contrition Conundrum”, Medium (July 2, 2019)

“On Writing, On ‘Yesterday’”, Medium (July 1, 2019)

“Trump and the Stagecraft of Policy”, Meanjin (June 26, 2019)

“School Shootings and Problematising the Hero Narrative”, Meanjin (May 24, 2019)

“Biden, Personal Space and Personal Upset”, Meanjin (April 5, 2019)

“#LukePerry and Grieving Celebrities”, Meanjin (March 5, 2019)

“Tales Tall and True at the Oscars”, Meanjin (February 22, 2019)

“Meerkats and pubic lice: when Valentines turn to revenge”, Meanjin (February 13, 2019)

“When we hate on bridezillas, what’s really going on?”, Sydney Morning Herald (January 28, 2019)

“The Good and the Wretched Films of 2018”, www.laurenrosewarne.com (December 31, 2018)

“Egg Rolls and Eggnog: Chinese Food in Christmas Movies”, Meanjin (December 13, 2018)

“The Online Overhaul of Courtship”, Pursuit (November 16, 2018)

“If Hillary Wants To Run, Let Her Bloody Well Run”, Meanjin (November 15, 2018)

“We each have our breaking points, for some it’s porn”, Sydney Morning Herald (November 07, 2018)

“ScoMo, Spotify and a Cock-Centric Curated Self”, Meanjin (November 07, 2018)

“Trump, Cruz, and the Firm Hand of Daddy”, Meanjin (October 24, 2018)

“Why do we burn and smash stuff after splits?”, Sydney Morning Herald (October 16, 2018)

“The problem is, Americans just don’t care enough”, Sydney Morning Herald (October 13, 2018)

“Burning Up, Burning Up for Trump’s Love”, Spike (Meanjin blog) (October 12, 2018)

“Sure We Believed Ford. Just Not Enough”, Spike (Meanjin blog) (October 08, 2018)

“Why don’t women report alleged abuse? Just look at the Kavanaugh saga”, Sydney Morning Herald (October 08, 2018)

“The Missteps of Mario Mushroom Memes”, Spike (Meanjin blog) (September 20, 2018)

“Bullying in politics is not just a Liberal problem: it’s a political ideology”, ABC (September 06, 2018)

“Slut-shaming and the double standards in Australian politics”, Broad Agenda (August 30, 2018)

“For God’s Sake, Just Masturbate Already”, Spike (Meanjin blog) (August 20, 2018)

“Shaming Trevor Noah doesn’t encourage others to apologise”, SBS The Feed (July 26, 2018)

“Ethics, economics and the errors of Hollywood”, Crikey (July 17, 2018)

“When Capitalism Saves Us from Ourselves: The Rise and Fall of the Roseanne Reboot”, Spike (Meanjin blog) (May 30, 2018)

“Philip Roth: arousing and appalling in equal measures, the divisive novelist had a complex relationship with his female readership”, ABC (May 24, 2018)

“Facebook dating: could the tech giant be the ultimate matchmaker?”, ABC (May 02, 2018)

“In Defence Of Wolf And Some A-Okay Ad Hominem”, Spike (Meanjin blog) (April 30, 2018)

“The deplorable media misunderstandings of the Roseanne reboot” (April 05, 2018)

“Facebook: The Tie that Binds”, Spike (Meanjin blog) (March 27, 2018)

“How Facebook has Changed Our Idea of Public Space”, SBS The Feed (March 22, 2018)

“The Burden of ‘Wokeness'”, SBS The Feed (March 12, 2018)

“And The Winner Is… Undeserving”, Spike (Meanjin blog) (March 05, 2018)

“The Faux-Feminism of Forbidding Fornication”, Spike (Meanjin blog) (February 19, 2018)

“Men and Motors and Modern Misogyny”, Spike (Meanjin blog) (February 5, 2018)

“Aziz Ansari and the Politics of Sexual Scripts”, Spike (Meanjin blog) (January 15, 2018)

“In (reluctant) defence of Oprah 2020”, Spike (Meanjin blog) (January 10, 2018)

“2017’s Best and Worst in Film”, www.LaurenRosewarne.com (December 30, 2017)

“I’m Dreaming Of A…”, Pursuit (December 19, 2017)

“Merry Medical Miracle”, www.LaurenRosewarne.com (December 19, 2017)

“Singing Up The Season”, www.LaurenRosewarne.com, (December 11, 2017)

“Making Your Yuletide Gay”, www.LaurenRosewarne.com (December 06, 2017)

“Cups, lingerie and home-made pads: what are the reusable options for managing your period?”, The Conversation (November 13, 2017)

“Radical feminists’ objection to sex work is profoundly un-feminist”, The Conversation (August 9, 2017)

“School dress ‘debate’ is a nonsense: just have a range of options, and let students choose”, The Conversation (January 11, 2017)

“Debate reveals Trump’s dated, dangerous masculinity – and how he just doesn’t get it”, The Conversation (October 11, 2016)

“Presidential Fireworks: The Verdict”, Pursuit (September 27, 2016)

“We can already see how a ‘debate’ about love will lead to violence and hate”, The Conversation (September 22, 2016)

“It’s time to put our ongoing obsession with single womanhood on the shelf”, Sydney Morning Herald (September 15, 2016)

“The Romance of Online Dating”, Pursuit (September 2, 2016)

“Tampon versus pad: why more women still choose the latter to manage periods”, The Conversation (30 August, 2016)

“Why dick doodles on the ballot paper are their own election statement”, The Conversation (4 July, 2016)

“When fans go feral (aka the ugly culture of obsession)”, ABC The Drum (2 June, 2016)

“Beyoncé’s Lemonade: tell all or fizzy, soap-operatic art object?”, The Conversation (28 April, 2016)

“A bake sale sparks rape threats – and you wonder why we need feminism”, ABC The Drum (5 April, 2016)

“More than a yes or no question”, Pursuit (23 March, 2016)

“When Councillors Go Wild: The folly of a red-blooded male politician”, ABC The Drum (8 March, 2016)

“Period drama: why menstrual leave does not strike a blow for gender equality”, The Conversation (4 March, 2016)

“What should the new sex discrimination commissioner do? Make ‘women’s issues’ everyone’s issues” The Conversation (12 February, 2016)

“How neckbeards have become a screen stereotype”, Pursuit (11 February, 2016)

“Bad films need to be called out each year”, Pursuit (25 January, 2016)

“What it feels like for a girl: Dutton and Briggs remind us of politics’ endemic sexism” The Conversation (5 January, 2016)

“Charlie Sheen and HIV: Why the interview shouldn’t have happened” ABC The Drum (19 November, 2015)

“Scarcity and sexism: does watching The Bachelor make you a bad feminist?” The Conversation (17 September, 2015)

“Chrissie Hynde and the problem with caring what celebrities think”, ABC The Drum (31 August, 2015)

“The hacking of Ashley Madison and the fantasy of infidelity”, ABC The Drum (23 July, 2015)

“The Mad Max monstrosity still pleases the hordes”, ABC The Drum (19 May, 2015)

“High brow dinner, low brow antics”, ABC The Drum (13 May, 2015)

“Struggle Street: what’s tacky is telling Western Sydneysiders how helpless they are”, ABC The Drum (6 May, 2015)

“Don’t blame Stephanie Scott’s murder on the internet”, ABC The Drum (15 April, 2015)

“The park as a bogeyman, and other violence fallacies”, ABC The Drum (20 March, 2015)

“Skinny models and our obsession with appearance”, ABC The Drum (17 March, 2015)

“Porn in classrooms? Right sentiment, wrong place”, The Conversation (17 March, 2015)

“Let’s talk about sexy, baby… well, with preteens, anyway”, The Ethics Centre (11 March, 2015)

“The real story behind Arquette’s Oscars speech”, ABC The Drum (24 February, 2015)

“Fifty Shades doesn’t break any kink barriers”, ABC The Drum (13 February, 2015)

“Who ya gonna call? Female actors!”, ABC The Drum (29 January, 2015)

“Page 3’s cookie cutter women no longer titillate”, ABC The Drum (20 January, 2015)

“El Capitan, El Presidente and El Testosterone”, ABC The Drum (15 January, 2015)

“The danger of exaggerating street harassment”, ABC The Drum (7 December, 2014)

“Star candidates and the celebritification of politics”, ElectionWatch, University of Melbourne (12 November, 2014)

“Virgin Galactic: when daredevilry goes wrong”, ABC The Drum (3 November, 2014)

“Offensive emails aren’t a window into the soul”, ABC The Drum (17 October, 2014)

“Is corporate egg freezing such a rotten idea?”, ABC The Drum (15 October, 2014)

“Social change from a selfie? You #WISH”, ABC The Drum (3 October, 2014)

“Please, spare us the details about celebrity suicides”, ABC The Drum (13 August, 2014)

“Jacqui Lambie’s treasonous interest in (gasp!) sex”, ABC The Drum (23 July, 2014)

“Thorpedo and the rewriting of history”, ABC The Drum (14 July, 2014)

“Guilty man, guilty art”, ABC The Drum (1 July, 2014)

“Looking to footy for moral lessons is a piss-take”, ABC The Drum (30 June, 2014)

“Marrying Harry and the ethics of idiot box deceit”, ABC The Drum (23 May, 2014)

“Lewinsky, Clinton and ‘Zippergate’ redux 2014”, The Conversation (7 May, 2014)

“Bondi’s game of groans”, ABC The Drum (6 May, 2014)

“Phone privacy is sacrosanct – even for racists”, ABC The Drum (1 May, 2014)

“Bubble-wrapping childhood, footy style”, ABC The Drum (4 April, 2014)

“Making meaning from celebrity death” ABC The Drum (24 February, 2014)

“Do feminists have a duty to care about ‘Our Schapelle’?” The Conversation (07 February, 2014)

“Our Schapelle: a smuggler for all seasons”, ABC The Drum (06 February, 2014)

“Miscarriage of emotions in abortion debate”, ABC The Drum (20 January, 2014)

“New Year’s Peeve: the folly of the fresh start”, ABC The Drum (1 January, 2014)

“The bitter pill of male contraception”, ABC The Drum (4 December, 2013)

“Sex, Lies and Hypocrisy”, Archer, issue 1 (Summer, 2013-2014)

“The key to female pleasure is all in her head”, ABC The Drum (2 October, 2013)

“Sex and the supermarket: Woolworths giving off bad vibrations”, The Conversation (30 September, 2013)

“Navy Yard shootings: what does an ‘immediate’ media response actually provide?” The Conversation (17 September, 2013)

“When the going gets tough, tough guys get the wife and kids out”, The Conversation (27 August, 2013)

“Big TV and our small screen vernacular”, The Conversation (16 August, 2013)

“Baby crazy: royal obsession of the poor-taste press”, ABC The Drum (23 July, 2013)

“There’s no gutter the shock jocks won’t plunder”, ABC The Drum (14 June, 2013)

“Dining out on the prime minister – time to change the ‘Menugate’?” The Conversation (13 June, 2013)

“Sexiness, surgery and the Jolie factor”, ABC The Drum (15 May, 2013)

“The mythology of last words”,  ABC The Drum (April 29, 2013)

“In our Bieber outrage, we forget Anne Frank was a teen”, ABC The Drum (April 16, 2013)

“Death shouldn’t change our minds about Thatcher”, ABC The Drum (April 10, 2013)

“Dogs in suspenders. Yep, it’s a thing. And here’s why”, The Conversation (April 9, 2013)

“Put away the champers: we can’t afford the Grand Prix”, ABC The Drum (March 5, 2013)

“The militancy of the mummy mafia”, ABC The Drum (February 7, 2013)

“An old dog with an old trick: why Lance Armstrong’s Oprah moment won’t save him”, The Conversation (January 16, 2013)

“Certain people we know… should keep their opinions in check”, ABC The Drum (December 14, 2012)

“For King and Country: the duty to conceive”, ABC The Drum (December 4, 2012)

“Terrible Tuesday: Australia’s failed Cyber Monday foray”, ABC The Drum (November 21, 2012)

“Easy virtue or easy outrage?”,  ABC The Drum (October 12, 2012)

“Dwelling on the demise of the department store”, ABC The Drum (September 21, 2012)

“Boob-flashing and fury do not a lady royal make”, ABC The Drum (September 18, 2012)

“Bullying and complicity in a social media world”, ABC The Drum (August 31, 2012)

“Schoolgirl innocence in Sierra Leone? Why selling fetish as fundraiser doesn’t fly”, The Conversation (August 28, 2012)

“Tramps like us: Target and modern day misogyny”, The Conversation (August 20, 2012)

“Puberty Blues: a timely reminder of female sexuality”, ABC The Drum (August 16, 2012)

“Totes TMI: how Kristen Stewart embodies the modern trend of online oversharing”, The Conversation (26 July, 2012)

“‘Hottest refugee’ search is cheap, nasty and revealing”, ABC The Drum (July 19, 2012)

“Where have all the menstruators gone? Exploring missing menstruation on screen”, Menstruation Matters (July 18, 2012)

“Carefree discharges the v-bomb – but who’s afraid of the word ‘vagina’?”, The Conversation (July 17, 2012)

“Child modelling no worse than the grown-up kind”, ABC The Drum (10 July, 2012)

“Masterchef and menstruation: how the media hijacks women’s fertility”, The Conversation (10 July, 2012)

“Sophie Mirabella shouldn’t be attacked for failing to emote”, The Conversation (3 July, 2012)

“Lingerie Football: ignore it and it will go away”, The Conversation (7 June, 2012)

“Men as horndogs and the problem with sex research”, ABC The Drum (4 June, 2012)

“Trailblazing sacrifices: the politics of discrimination suits”,  ABC The Drum (24 May, 2012)

“Monogamy: cheating on what nature intended, or a simple choice?”, The Conversation (22 May, 2012)

“Old sex, fat sex and the popularity of porn taboos”, The Conversation (14 May, 2012)

“Latex ladies and the delusion of sexbot domination”, ABC The Drum (24 April, 2012)

“Spank me silly: sadomasochism and the modern woman”, The Conversation (23 April, 2012)

“OMG Titanic was like for realz #wtf”, The Conversation (11 April, 2012)

“Ms, Miss, Mademoiselle … why titles for women matter”, The Conversation (27 February, 2012)

“Prime ministerial perceptions and the gender agenda”, ABC The Drum (23 February, 2012)

“Love is a (regulatory) battlefield: the ACCC takes on dating website scammers”, The Conversation (21 February, 2012)

“Grief tweets and the compassion performance”, ABC The Drum (13 February, 2012)

“Curses, Camelot and that fickle notion of consent”, ABC The Drum (9 February, 2012)

“Tailgating, the Superbowl and the ineffable mysteries of why people do the things they do”, The Conversation (6 February, 2012)

“Sex scandals should not render a leader impotent”, The Punch (25 January, 2012)

“In defence of Paula Deen, battered cheesecake and ‘food porn’”, The Conversation (24 January, 2012)

“Dumbing-down our political leaders”, ABC The Drum (19 January, 2012)

“The return to Middle Ages justice”, ABC The Drum (13 January, 2012)

“Jay-Z, Beyonce, baby Blue Ivy and the art of naming”, The Conversation (11 January, 2012)

“One quarterback under God: what Tim Tebow taught an Australian about America”, The Conversation (21 December, 2011)

“The Scourge of Sexuality Speculation”, ABC The Drum (8 December, 2011). Also published as “Is he or isn’t he? The tawdry pastime of sexuality speculation”, The Conversation, 7 December, 2011.

“Settling for second fiddle”, The Hoopla (5 December, 2011)

“Is sex a human right?”, The Conversation (30 November, 2011)

“United colours of hate”, ABC The Drum (18 November, 2011)

“Halloween fun police” ABC The Drum (31 October, 2011)

“The occupy movement needs a point, not Kanye West”, The Punch (24 October, 2011)

“A weighty issue for the USA. Can a fat man be president?”, The Conversation (5 October, 2011)

“Fat chance: if Christie runs, prejudice runs with him”, ABC The Drum (3 October, 2011)

“The agony of industry nights”, ABC The Drum (20 September 2011)

“Grindr, Blendr and why gays get all the cool stuff first”, The Conversation (17 September, 2011)

“Australia’s next top moron”, ABC The Drum (6 September, 2011)

“Hurricane politics”, ABC The Drum (30 August, 2011)

“Snobbery and stuffiness adds little to a mean”, ABC The Drum (23 August, 2011)

“Gay marriage? Is that the best you can do?”, ABC The Drum (15 August, 2011)

“Leopard-print, lurex and the lil’ supermodels”, ABC The Drum (10 August, 2011)

“Morrissey, Anders Breivik and the claim that all meat is murder”, The Conversation (3 August, 2011)

“The 27 Club: the one you don’t want to join”, The Conversation (25 July, 2011)

“Legacy in the age of manipulation”, ABC The Drum (25 July, 2011)

“Casey Anthony and the thirst for crocodile tears”, The Punch (22 July, 2011)

“Bodice-rippers and bad education: do romance novels lead to sexual mistakes?” The Conversation (11 July, 2011)

“Comic patriotism for kicks and giggles”, ABC The Drum (8 July, 2011)

“The wilding of women: why the media should ease up on girls”, The Conversation (5 July, 2011)

“Of man flu and female martyrdom,” ABC The Drum (27 June, 2011)

“You probably think this song is about you, don’t you?”, The Conversation (23 June, 2011)

“Gay girl in Damascus or straight bloke in Scotland? It’s the internet, stupid”, The Conversation (15 June, 2011)

“A model, not a messiah”, ABC The Drum (6 June, 2011)

“Living vicariously: porn provides a tasting plate for our unspoken fetishes”, The Conversation (30 May, 2011)

“What an orgasmic epiphany!” ABC The Drum (23 May, 2011)

“The blight of bedazzled babies,” The Conversation (23 May, 2011)

“Facebook ‘friends’ can pimp you out for kicks,” The Punch (20 May, 2011)

“No breeding with that bunch of plankers”, ABC The Drum (16 May, 2011)

“Sex, lies and slutwalking”, The Conversation (10 May, 2011)

“I want photos and I want them now”, ABC The Drum (9 May, 2011)

“The bridesmaid dilemma”, ABC The Drum (2 May, 2011)

“The Virginity Paradox”, The Conversation (19 April, 2011)

“The debates we have when we’re not quite debating”, ABC The Drum (5 April, 2011)

“Apple should have kept the anti-gay app”, The Punch (28 March, 2011) [Republished in MX 29 March, 2011)

“Jarryd Blair’s shocker and a hurdy gurdy of double standards,” ABC The Drum (18 March, 2011)

“The Big Blur Theory”, ABC The Drum (4 March, 2011)

“Women can critique each other without a catfight”, The Punch (1 March, 2011)

“The mile high club just got a whole lot weirder”, The Punch (21 February, 2011)

“The Big Book Bust”, ABC The Drum (18 February, 2011)

“We’re drips for swimming nostalgia”, ABC The Drum (16 February, 2011)

“Fire, rain, tears and fears”, ABC The Drum (9 February, 2011)

“Political correctness and Hollywood hypocrisy”, ABC The Drum (24 January, 2011)

“Defending the King of Spin”, ABC The Drum (16 December, 2010)

“Defending the KFC gift card”, ABC The Drum (14 December, 2010)

“A Win-Win For Mr 3,000”, ABC The Drum (6 December, 2010)

“Culture cringe and fever pitch”, ABC The Drum (2 December, 2010)

“The highs and lows of incumbency”, ABC The Drum (30 November, 2010)

“In your ear: the ticking iPod time bomb”, ABC The Drum (26 November, 2010)

“Love, Marriage, Image Salvage”, ABC The Drum (22 November, 2010)

“The ghost in the machine”, ABC The Drum (18 November, 2010)

“Sweet charity, sleazy catfight”, ABC The Drum (9 November, 2010)

“Class, prejudice and politics”, ABC The Drum (3 November, 2010)

“Sex will tear us apart again”, ABC The Drum (27 October, 2010)

“Advertising and moral panic”, ABC The Drum (22 October, 2010)

“A little bit sexually assaulted: a cup of Milo and a bad lie down”, ABC The Drum (6 October, 2010)

“Legitimacy, lunacy and the gender agenda”, ABC The Drum (September 13, 2010)

“Why I’m voting Labor tomorrow,” 2010 Federal Election Blog, University of Melbourne (August 20, 2010) [Link no longer active]

“Campaigns, crackpots and colourful characters”, Larvatus Prodeo (August 16, 2010)

“The wrong rudder”, 2010 Federal Election Blog, University of Melbourne (August 07, 2010) [Link no longer active]

“Reality bites”, 2010 Federal Election Blog, University of Melbourne (August 04, 2010) [Link no longer active]

“The women, the Weekly and the Worm”, Larvatus Prodeo (August 03, 2010)

“Voters want the darnedest things”, ABC The Drum (July 30, 2010)

“Lobes will tear us apart again,” 2010 Federal Election Blog (July 28, 2010), University of Melbourne [Link no longer active]

“Lady dials and the art of reading polls”, 2010 Federal Election Blog, University of Melbourne (July 26, 2010) [Link no longer active]

“What Masterchef has taught me about politics”, 2010 Federal Election Blog, University of Melbourne (July 24, 2010) [Link no longer active]

“Clothing maketh the man but destroyth the woman?”, ABC The Drum (July 20, 2010)

“The kids are alright”, ABC The Drum (July 13, 2010)

“Primping, preening and cleaning the slate”, ABC The Drum (July 06, 2010)

“Gender. Yes It Still Matters”, ABC The Drum (June 28, 2010)