Abstract

For a period of several weeks in 2008, Mind Australia, a large government-funded, community-managed mental health organization, displayed massive banners and billboards, saturating the advertising spaces of Southern Cross Station, the main interstate and regional train and bus interchange in Melbourne. During this period, I passed through Southern Cross Station a number of times on my way to visit a friend in the country; whether I wanted to engage with these texts or not, I was unable to avoid them.On the left-hand side of one of these billboards is an image of a confident, carefree woman shopping for fruit and vegetables; she is slim and neatly dressed, wearing tight blue jeans with a bright orange top and jacket...