The Office Space is run by a team of uniquely skilled women – and as such we support and applaud those business women who are boldly and creatively writing their own rules. This Saturday 8 March is International Women’s Day and the All About Women festival is taking over the Sydney Opera House, as a part of the Ideas at the House program. The festival aims to invigorate discussion on important issues and ideas that matter to women, and to bring global and Australian perspectives to the stages of the Opera House. International guests such as Elizabeth Gilbert, Roxane Gay, and Anita Sarkeesian join local icons Germaine Greer, Annabel Crabb, Helen Garner and more, for talks, panels and performances exploring the experiences and voices of fascinating women. Tickets are selling fast – here is our selection of what not to miss.
Can Men’s Roles Change?
Research tells us that while women’s responsibilities have shifted to include paid work, their male partners still don’t share equally in the work at home. In fact, men are often stuck at the office, expected to be the ‘ideal worker’ and to have fewer family demands on their time. Can men break this cycle? Do they want to? And will their workplaces let them? Panel with Annabel Crabb, Richard Glover, Graeme Russell & Brigid Shulte. 8 March, 1pm, from $25.
How to be Creative
Pursuing creative work provides special challenges for women, and many of the qualities required are ones that are harder for women to acquire, such as unshakeable self-confidence or fearlessness. With Elizabeth Gilbert, best known for her international bestselling memoir Eat, Pray, Love, which has sold over 10 million copies worldwide. Time Magazine named her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. 8 March, 1pm, from $35.
Bad Feminist
“If I am, indeed, a feminist, I am a rather bad one. I am a mess of contradictions.” So writes Roxane Gay in her brilliantly funny and forthright essay collection, Bad Feminist, in which she explores the apparent impossibility of living feminist values 24/7, while also being an actual woman, living in the flawed world we have now. Roxane Gay is the co-editor of PANK. Her writing has appeared inThe New York Times Book Review,Time, The Los Angeles Times, and many others. 8 March, 4pm, from $35.
Overwhelmed: stop doing it all
Millions of women “manage”, “juggle”, and “balance” the various demands on their time and energy, but if getting through every day is such a high-wire act, how long can it be sustained, let alone actually enjoyed? With Brigid Schulte, staff writer for Washington Post and author of Overwhelmed: Work, Love and Play when no one has the time. 8 March, 11.30am, from $25. aaw.sydneyoperahouse.com
