Director/performer Candy Bowers has been a feminist for as long as she can remember.
“I remember when I was in university in my first year at Wollongong University, we had to go around the circle and introduce ourselves and say a few words. I said ‘yeah I’m a feminist’ and the girl next to me said ‘oh no, but she’s a nice feminist’,” Ms Bowers said.
As a woman and a person of colour, Ms Bowers says she has struggled more than most in a white, male-dominated industry. “I have written or directed or acted in at least three or four shows since I graduated from NIDA. I filled the Opera House and the Arts Centre. In the time I graduated I’ve only been offered for castings or auditions across the arts scene I think five times in nine years,” she said.
Today Ms Bowers tells her story through the autobiographical show Who’s That Chik. The show sees her rapping, telling jojes and performing dance routines as she goes back to her days growing up in Campbelltown as a half South African, half Zimbabwean woman.
“A lot of the girls [from Campbelltown] go on to do really great things, while coming from one of the most disadvantages parts of NSW, and in a zone where something like 30 percent of students go on to university whereas at our school 60 percent of the girls went on,” she says.
In 2008 , Ms Bowers traveled to England to receive an award from the British Council of the Arts. While there she was shocked to see an industry that was far more diverse than the one that existed in Australia. “Not that it’s much, much easier, it’s just much more diverse. There was a lot more female directors and people of colour in high-up positions than Australia. That’s not to say it’s even yet, but it’s much more than Australia.”
She said she would support a model of positive discrimination that would women and people of colour given equal opportunities to enter the arts industry. “Those glass ceilings and walls are definitely there and it’s really time to put some serious action into solution.
“I always think about young kids growing up – my nieces and nephews growing up – and looking out into a country that doesn’t reflect them. That for me is probably my major drive and that’s why I think positive discrimination, and getting that representation out is the beginning.”
Ms Bowers will be taking part in this year’s Feminism Conference in Surry Hills.
“What makes this special is that it’s the first conference on feminism in Sydney in 10 years,” she said.
“This event is put on by a collective. Also what makes it special for me is that they have an open-door policy for men and people from the trans community.”
Ms Bowers will be speaking on the Feminist Futures panel. Other speakers include, Indigenous activist and filmmaker Darlene Johnson, authors and activists Ann Summers, Eva Cox, Zora Simic, Feminist blogger Chally (zeroatthebone.wordpress.com) Federal sex discrimination commissioner Liz Broderick and sex worker advocate Elena Jeffries.
The event will run over two days – April 10 and 11 – at the NSW Teachers Federation, 39-41 Reservoir Street Surry Hills.
by Ehssan Veiszadeh
