Unreal and untrue: Refrigerator mother theory and the historic vilification of the mothers of disabled children

by Managing Editor Posted on March 19, 2025

In this blog Dr Kate McAnelly explores the underpinnings of refrigerator mother theory and how it was incorrectly used to blame and vilify mothers as being the cause of their children’s autism. Motherhood in and of itself has long been … Continue reading →

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“Vilification”

by admin Posted on March 10, 2025

VIDA editorial assistant and PhD candidate Michael Stockwell introduces a new blog series exploring historical and contemporary experiences of vilification through gender, sexual orientation and roles associated with them. Vilification, Scapegoats and Silence Vilification is a long held, unfortunate paradigm … Continue reading →

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‘You Can’t Wear A Red Ribbon If You’re Dead’: The Complex Rise of The Ribbon Project for People With AIDS

by Managing Editor Posted on February 18, 2025

In this blog, Caitlin Merlin explores the history of the Ribbon Project and its impact on reducing the AIDS stigma in the early 1990s. It has been said that, ‘there’s a ribbon for everything’. In other words, for every medical … Continue reading →

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Monte Punshon and the Forgotten Women of Australian Cultural History

by Managing Editor Posted on December 6, 2024

In this blog biographer Tessa Morris-Suzuki shares her research and insight into the life of Ethel May Punshon, an extraordinary woman whose 106-year life crossed many boundaries. Ethel May Punshon (1882‒1989) – known to all her friends as Monte – … Continue reading →

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A Man-to-Man Whipping and a Promotion in Byzantium

by Managing Editor Posted on November 26, 2024

In this blog, Mark Masterson explores the history of homoeroticism in histories from the tenth-century Byzantine empire. Sources from the tenth-century Byzantine empire give us glimpses of a culture of homoeroticism. Men, who were attractive to other men, got ahead … Continue reading →

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Reflection: 2024 Melbourne Feminist History Group Workshop

by Managing Editor Posted on November 15, 2024

Shouyue Zhang reviews the recent Melbourne Feminist History Group Workshop in Melbourne in October 2024. On 4 October 2024, I was privileged to present at the Melbourne Feminist History Group (MFHG) Workshop at the Australian Catholic University (ACU), Melbourne Campus. … Continue reading →

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