Greetings feminists, allies, men’s rights activists et al. We are humbled and excited to be your wom*n’s officers for 2015. I (Xiaoran) am a law student with an arts degree who has been told she’s a mix between Jane Lane and Daria, although I’m beginning to question whether comparisons to angsty fictional teenagers are really all that flattering. I (Subeta) am also a law student and my greatest achievement/the point at which my life changed was when a waitress on King St mistook me for MIA.

Forget about us though, this is about Wom*n’s Collective and the year of activism, creativity and knowledge ahead. WoCo is a radical, autonomous, feminist space open to all who identify in whole or in part as a wom*n, trans or non-binary person because “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house” (Audre Lorde – we really need to find a new quote, we use this one a lot). We’ll be meeting on Thursdays at 1pm, starting from March 5 in the Wom*n’s Room in Manning, level 1. If you’re interested in getting involved, hit us up on our email, usydwomenscollective@gmail.com or on the Facebook group, Usyd Wom*n’s Collective.

Unfortunately, we were both away over the holidays but aided by dodgy wi-fi (and Eastern European dial-up), talented collective members and friends, we’ve put together some goodies for our O-week stall, including T-shirts designed by the amazing Elizabeth Mora, as well as printed canvas “show bags” with a mixed CD, badge, vagina activity book, educational zine, DIY wheatpasting poster, flashcards of useful terms, our activist handbook, Growing Strong and more inside.

Speaking of which, the WoCo annual publication Growing Strong was also born over the holidays. Come celebrate with us at the launch on March 7 at the 5 Eliza ballroom in Newtown! There will be live music and good food, so look out for more details soon.

Collective is also going to the Mardi Gras Film Festival screening of “She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry” on March 3. It will be our first collective “field trip” for the year and a great opportunity to meet your fellow feminists.

Lastly, don’t hesitate to say hi or ask questions if you see us around! We promise that future reports will be less a list of things we did over the summer.

Until then,

Xiaoran & Subeta