MEET OUR INTERNS

Name: Aimée Green

Age: Twenty Two

Location: Raglan, New Zealand. Although I’m currently writing this while I’m in a 24-hour pharmacy in Hawaii.

What are you most excited about working with Ramona: Collaborating with a mix of female artists, writers and editors! I’m still really very young (even though twenty two feels very old right now), and at this stage in my career -Ramona for me is my opportunity to connect with females within the artistic community.

What is your dream career? To be an artist without a side job would be pretty amazing!

If you could live in any city in the world, where would you choose? I think I’d like to live everywhere at least once. I’m moving to LA in August! Although, living somewhere that’s very far away (and very foreign) has the appeal of finally forcing me to learn another language.

Why is feminism important to you?

I believe in equality, be it in terms of race or gender. Just because my genitalia kind of looks like a petal doesn’t mean that I’m any less (or more) valuable than someone without.

Name: Sinead Simpkins

Age: 22

Location: Parramatta, Australia

What are you most excited about working with Ramona: Working with a team who has the same passions and interests as me. I got into Ramona recently, and reading all these great feminist articles, I knew that I wanted to work with them ever since.

What is your dream career? At the moment, I would love to be a diplomat or a politician. I love politics, interacting with people from different backgrounds and making change.

If you could live in any city in the world, where would you choose? Seoul. From the photos I have seen, it looks like a cool place to live.

Why is feminism important to you? Feminism is important for me because I feel like in the industry that I want to go in, a lot of backroom deals go in men only areas (e.g bathrooms) and  as well as men have the utmost say in a lot of deals and talks while there is little to no representation or say from women. Women should have the same opportunity to make deals and say their opinions without that barrier.

Name: Tara Presnell

Age: 22

Location: Melbourne, Australia

What are you most excited about working with Ramona: Working with like minded individuals in a positive environment where I can challenge myself.

What is your dream career? Hmm unsure but something creative, active and stimulating.

If you could live in any city in the world, where would you go? Argh way too many options but somewhere with snow!

Why is feminism important to you? To put it super simply, because I believe in equality.

Name: Olivia Ferrucci

Age: 16

Location: New Jersey

What are you most excited about working with Ramona: I’m looking forward to gaining experience in something I love and working with creative, like-minded women and femmes.

What is your dream career? Ultimately, I want to go into writing for film & television or magazines.

If you could live in any city in the world, where would you go? New York City!

Why is feminism important to you?  Multifaceted feminism protects every person around me. Gender, sexuality, race, class, and ability are cornerstones of true equality.

The Ramona Collective Interns:

Name: Alice Fairweather

Age: 20

Location: Melbourne, Australia

What are you most excited about working with Ramona: I am definitely most excited about being able to produce work for such a creative, and inspiring magazine! Not only do I have the opportunity to interview and write about amazing women, but I also get to share it in a space with other incredible, and like-minded people. It has actually been a dream of mine since I was eight to work with a ‘cool magazine’, so now I’m finally fulfilling that childhood dream!

What is your dream career? This is a pretty tough question, mainly because I am an incredibly indecisive person! I would have to say that my dream career would involve anything to do with film or television. I want to create stories about real people, and real things that happen to us in life, while especially focusing on women and their stories. Whether that be writing scripts, acting, or directing – anything I can to be apart of that world! *My legit dream career would be to simultaneously write and star in the TV series Girls by Lena Dunham…

If you could live in any city in the world, where would you go? This is definitely a toss up between Berlin and New York. Both are beautiful, big, vibrant, slightly chaotic, full of interesting people, and most importantly, filled with fantastic, creative vibes. I don’t think I can choose because either city would be an absolute dream!

Why is feminism important to you? Feminism is something that I reflect on and think about every single day. Feminism is important to me simply because of its over-arching ability to be inclusive of everyone everywhere, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, or religion. Feminism is about the equality of both sexes; it is about treating each other as equals, no more or no less. We should be striving everyday to make this world a better and more inclusive place, and I believe that it starts with the equality of women everywhere!

Name: Cecilia Nguyen

Age: 16

Location: VA, USA

What are you most excited about working with Ramona: I’m most excited to interview people and learn and grow as a person. I hope to expand my knowledge of current issues and what it’s like to be a part of a magazine.

What is your dream career? I’m not exactly sure as to what the specifics of my dream career would be, but as long as I am inspiring people, educating people, and opening people’s minds up to new ideas and/or concepts, then I think I’ll be content.

If you could live in any city in the world, where would you go? If I could live in any city, it would be New Your City. Something about the energy of the hustle and bustle really gets me going.

Why is feminism important to you? Feminism is important to be because I believe that peace can only be achieved with love. I’m not saying that everyone has to be infatuated with everyone else, but to love to a point where you accept everyone and come to the realization that everyone is equal. Love is the key to peace; therefore if to be loving and accepting of all genders means to create more peace, then I think feminism is very important.

Name: Emily Gray

Age: 24 (on May 8th!)

Location: Melbourne, VIC

What are you most excited about working with Ramona? Spreading the word! Developing my own knowledge about things I care about and being able to share it.

If you could live in any city in the world, where would you go? Montreal. Or Berlin. Or Rotterdam. The world is beautiful!

Why is feminism important to you? Because it taught me that I am important. Gender inequality in all its forms impacts too many aspects of my life and others’: from catcalls, to advertising, to representation, to policy, the list goes on. But with those injustices comes a band of people who are willing to fight with you and for you. To me that is really special.

Name: Hannah Forsdike

Age: 23

Location: Melbourne, Australia

What are you most excited about working with Ramona: To gain experience with a publication dedicated to turning out the kind of content I feel passionate about, writing the kind of articles I want to read and being a part of something I wish had been available to me as a teenager

What is your dream career? Running some kind of creative forum (Magazine, blog) for young women to share and talk about art, literature, feminism and advice.

If you could live in any city in the world, where would you choose? Tokyo. Coming from a country with such a young recorded history, I’ve always wanted to live somewhere like Japan. I’d admire a lot about Japans culture and modern art.

Why is feminism important to you? Feminism makes people think about how to treat each other fairly. Weather you subscribe to feminist views or not, it makes everyone think about being better to each other.

Writing Interns:

Name: Wen Hsiao

Age: 17

Location: Shanghai, China (In Brussels, Belgium this summer) 

What are you most excited about working with Ramona: To be experiencing the female empowerment and entrepreneurship in Ramona. Furthermore speed the message of female positivity!

What is your dream career? Writer, and if possible, a social media mogul.

If you could live in any city in the world, where would you choose? New York City (Planning on coming here for University).

Why is feminism important to you? Because I want my future kids  to grow up not being influenced by hate. I want them to experience life and venture on to the opportunities that weren’t given to me due to my gender.

Name: Amanda Finlayson Park

Age: 28

Location: Glasgow, Scotland

What are you most excited about working with Ramona: I am excited to work with Ramona because not only is it a worth-while and empowering publication for young women but it also offers contributors a great deal of artistic licence. I’ve found that you often don’t get the same level of creativity and freedom of expression with other publications because you’re forced to be mindful of their strict agendas. Ramona on the other hand encourages you to be truthful about your experiences with a view to helping others with the same issues.

What is your dream career? It’s a question I’ve asked myself a lot over the last few years and I keep coming back to journalism. There is nothing I love more than discovering new information, researching it then writing about it. It’s the only work that’s ever made me feel truly fulfilled and I think that’s what everyone should get out of their career. Although my animal-obsessed younger self would probably opt for opening up a homeless shelter for the world’s lost, maimed or unwanted animals.

If you could live in any city in the world, where would you choose? That’s a hard question. I’ve always wanted to live in just about any city in South America because I’d love to learn Spanish, trek the Andes, visit the Amazon, and immerse myself in its rich political history. I also think it would be magical to live in Toyko for a while because I don’t think there’s anywhere else in the world quite as vibrant and alive.

Why is feminism important to you? There are many misconceptions about what feminism actually is. To me it’s the belief that every woman and every man is equal in terms of their political, social and economic rights. I think it’s important because there are some people who believe that feminism is a thing of the past because they think the patriarchal system no longer exists. But we still need feminism for an endless list of reasons, not least of which includes: eliminating the gender wage gap; stopping rape; eradicating Female Genital Mutilation; ending infanticides; and ensuring equality of opportunity for everyone. People need to recognise that feminism isn’t about gender, it’s about humanity. And that message should be communicated to children as early as possible. That being said, it’s also important to recognise that women experience oppression in varying configurations and in varying degrees of intensity.

Name: Eloise Skeet

Age: 21

Location: Manchester, UK

What are you most excited about working with Ramona: I am most excited about learning more about the inside workings of a collective and magazine as I have never been a part of one before. The fact that it is feminist collective is the cherry on top. I am also excited about the opportunity to make connections with other like minded women across the globe.

What is your dream career? I would love to make documentaries or video media of any sort. I love watching films and connect with them so much. Wes Anderson is my favourite director and his aesthetic inspires me everyday. I also strongly believe in the power of cinema to make a difference. With documentary’s such as ‘White Helmets’, which was actually created by a graduate from my department at the University of Manchester, film can get people’s stories into the wider social sphere and raise awareness about the inequalities of the world. My dad is also the creator of BBC Stories which though short videos tells the story of a person or group of people. This has inspired me to follow in his footsteps.

If you could live in any city in the world, where would you go? I think I would live in Philadelphia. I visited a few years ago for only 3 days but had an instant connection with it. The people are so wonderfully sarcastic and unapologetically different from the rest of the country. The art scene was incredible and I loved the old European roads which are all a mess of one-way streets with Italian markets and pockets of people from all over the globe. I love the idea that it is a city based on the Quaker concepts of ‘brotherly love’. However I would like to wait until Donald Trump is no longer president.

Why is feminism important to you? Feminism is important to me because it should be important to everyone and I want people to see that. Equality between the sexes just makes sense and it angers me that people can’t see this as obvious. As an anthropologist I have studied all different types of societies including the Hadza which is a hunter-gather society based in the Tanzania region, who have been living the same way for thousands of years. This society is the most egalitarian on the planet. This example serves to proves that a patriarchal society is not the natural way that humans have always lived. Why should we go back on the tried and tested way of living of our ancestors? Women are wonderful why should we treat them as any less than men!

Music Interns

Name: Sandy

Age: 19

Location: Melbourne

What are you most excited about working with Ramona? To be a part of a greater voice that is demanding be heard.

What is your dream career? To make art and music forever and somehow survive.

If you could live in any city in the world, where would you go? Currently I am very obsessed with the idea of Barcelona.

Why is feminism important to you? Because it just makes sense.

Name: Paige Mathis

Age: 21 (in June)

Location: Oxfordshire, UK

What are you most excited about working with Ramona? To be working alongside equally passionate, positive and forward-thinking female writers and creators in a harmonious and encouraging environment, where educating and providing young girls with inspiring, empowering and integral creative content is at the very core.

What is your dream career? To be a writer (and secretly a cake decorator)

If you could live in any city in the world, where would you live? Edinburgh

Why is feminism important to you? I believe in inclusive feminism – intersectional feminism – and this is important to me because it recognises the disparities that do exist. It recognises that it is vital not to dismiss or discredit minority voices. It recognises that every human deserves to be equally treated. Feminism is truly inoffensive and unquestionably fundamental. It should always be talked about.