The Australian Women's Weekly

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WORDS OF WISDOM A very profound read about actress Susan Sarandon (My Year of Letting Go, AWW, March). Her wisdom about what is important and her empathy as an actor made this story a very giving one. S. Yarrow, Tamborine Mountain, Qld NO HOLDING BACK Sexual abuse and rape is not new. However, what is new is seeing an individual like Grace Tame, who has been serially raped, named as our Australian of the Year (AWW, March). This courageous young woman has given voice to so many others who are now coming forward to speak their truth, and she is emboldening yet more women to realise they are not to blame. Considering the events in Australia’s Parliament House over recent months, the choice of Grace, back in January, was almost divine insight. C. Jolliffe, Buderim,…

royal news & views

PRINCESS MARY has shared a conversation she had with daughter Josephine about International Women’s Day. “Equality is not about being equal, but about gender not having a role when opportunities present themselves and decisions are made … or when following one’s dreams.” PRINCESS EUGENIE said words can’t express the love she and husband Jack Brooksbank feel for their newborn son August Philip Hawke Brooksbank, who she’s introduced to the world. “Our hearts are full of love for this little human,” she said. THE QUEEN virtually visited Australia to unveil a statue of herself in Adelaide. She joked it might alarm people to suddenly see the statue out the window. “Gracious! Has she arrived here unexpectedly?” she said of the piece by Robert Hannaford.…

women we love

SONG OF SURVIVAL Singer Maria Venuti (right) has celebrated her 80th birthday by returning to the stage for the first time since her stroke in 2016. She sang to raise funds for the Stroke Foundation. AUSSIE IN VOGUE Sydney Uni alumnus Margaret Zhang, 27, has become the youngest ever Vogue editor-in-chief, taking the top job at Vogue China. She was anointed by Vogue icon Anna Wintour. SAM STEPS DOWN After eight years at the helm of Sunrise, Sam Armytage is taking time out to “enjoy a bit of slow living” and spend time with her family, new husband Richard Lavender and her dog, Banjo.…

virtual awards still bring sparkle!

THE PARED-BACK format couldn’t dull the Golden Globes, and while the red carpet was sparse, Jamie Lee Curtis (above right) brought enough glamour for a dozen stars in an Alex Perry creation. Jane Fonda (above left) received the Cecil B. DeMille Award and made a plea for on-screen diversity, and Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban and daughters Sunday Rose, 12, and Faith Margaret, 10, attended via Zoom. In a touching tribute, Emma Corrin thanked Princess Diana, whom she played in The Crown, as she accepted her Best Actress award. “You’ve taught me compassion and empathy beyond any measure. On behalf of everyone who remembers you wonderfully and passionately in our hearts, thank you.” Sacha Baron Cohen, who won two Golden Globes, also collected an AACTA, to the delight of his Aussie…

‘we’re continuing to break the cycle’

Maryam Chimosa was just two years old when her family set up home in Brisbane, Queensland. She’d been born in a Kenyan refugee camp, the safe sanctuary her parents and two older siblings had arrived in after fleeing Somalia’s civil war. “We didn’t know what to expect,” Maryam says now of those early, disorientating years in Australia. “My parents didn’t speak English. We weren’t familiar with the system in the same way that people who grow up in Australia have parents who are aware of the things that happen in schooling. It was difficult, definitely, with us not having English as our first language, and our parents not being able to support us because they didn’t speak it either.” Meanwhile, James Cosentino grew up as an only child in a single-parent household…

role model royals

IN the fallout from Harry and Meghan’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, the spotlight falls glaringly on the Cambridge family to keep the British (and Australian) monarchy moving forward. More than ever, Prince William, Catherine and their three children are seen as the – hopefully – shining future of what, as The Weekly goes to press, is a royal family under attack. It’s pertinent that the first member of the House of Windsor to publicly deny the shocking claim of racism within the royal family that Harry and Meghan alluded to in their interview was Prince William. He and Catherine were visiting a school in East London when a reporter shouted: “Is the royal family racist, Sir?”. Off-the-cuff media questions are frowned upon by royal aides and consequently usually ignored, but a…