Love etc.

What do you wish you could tell your 20-year-old self if you had the chance? What wisdom would you impart if you could go back in time? Today, for our last episode of season three, we’re talking about all the things we would tell our 20-year-old selves about love. From romantic love to friendship to ourselves, we wrap up a season all about love and relationships and sex and mistakes by sharing some lessons of our own. Thank you so much for your support throughout season three of Love etc. - we’ve absolutely adoring putting these episodes together. If you’re new to the show, we have plenty of episodes in our back catalogue for you to check out. Some of our favourites include cheating from all sides, broken hearts club, swinging in your 20s, forbidden romance, and hating sex. Keep up to date with Bumble Australia via their Instagram, @bumble_australia. Sign up to Bumble Australia today, the social networking app where women make the first move. Love etc. is a production of Shameless Media.

How often do you hear honest stories about abortion in the mainstream media? How often do people talk openly about abortions they’ve had? Today, we’re talking about abortions. Terminating a pregnancy is, still, a lasting taboo. And yet, despite the hushed tones and whispers that we use to discuss it with, between one in three and one in four Australian women have aborted a pregnancy. In this episode, we speak to one such woman - Pip - who is sharing her story in the hopes that it makes you feel a little less alone. Then, we hear from the experts at Marie Stopes Australia about why abortion access is crucial in helping women determine their own future. A trigger warning for this one: this episode deals with issues surrounding abortion and may be triggering for some listeners. Keep up to date with Bumble Australia via their Instagram, @bumble_australia. Sign up to Bumble Australia today, the social networking app where women make the first move. Love etc. is a production of Shameless Media.

Is your friend in a kind-of-shitty relationship and you don’t know what to do about it? Or, have you told a friend before that their relationship isn’t what they deserve? Today, we’re talking about your friend’s crappy relationship. You know, the kind that may not be completely toxic, but a kind that makes them unhappy, that makes you feel like they’re settling, that makes you wonder if you should ever say something to them about it. After all, is it your place to tell someone their relationship isn’t what it should be? Keep up to date with Bumble Australia via their Instagram, @bumble_australia. Sign up to Bumble Australia today, the social networking app where women make the first move. Love etc. is a production of Shameless Media.

What the hell do you do if your partner’s parents are - well - kind of the worst? How do you progress with your relationship and the person you love if their family feels like something out of a bad movie? Today, we’re talking about monster in-laws. Yep, the kind you hear about in bad movies and TV shows: in-laws that don’t like you and let you know about it every chance they get. To do that, we’re hearing the stories of two different women - women who probably deserve to be in some sort of monster in-law support group after what they’ve endured. Keep up to date with Bumble Australia via their Instagram, @bumble_australia. Sign up to Bumble Australia today, the social networking app where women make the first move. Love etc. is a production of Shameless Media.

Do you believe the age-old idea that before you fall in love with anyone else, you first must love yourself? And do you believe that you need to actually love your body, rather than just accept it? Today, we’re talking about a different kind of love… body love. It was Caroline Caldwel who once said: “In a society that profits off your self-doubt, liking yourself is a rebellious act.” Today, we speak to three women - Jess, April, and Olivia - who have three very different experiences with their bodies. And, through these conversations, we asked them: When was the moment the world them their body was wrong? Is loving your body possible, let alone necessary? And how do the women listening enter a new year where their body is something to appreciate, not admonish? Keep up to date with Bumble Australia via their Instagram, @bumble_australia. Sign up to Bumble Australia today, the social networking app where women make the first move. Love etc. is a production of Shameless Media.

Have you ever had a friendship turn not just sour… but toxic? Or a friend gradually become something of an enemy - someone you dread seeing, but feel indebted to simultaneously? Today, we’re talking about toxic friends. How do you spot one? And once you know they’re toxic, how the hell do you… well… break up with them? If high school didn’t force you to prune the friendship weeds from your life, your twenties are bound to. Keep up to date with Bumble Australia via their Instagram, @bumble_australia. Sign up to Bumble Australia today, the social networking app where women make the first move. Love etc. is a production of Shameless Media.

How do you recover from an experience that completely changes your perspective on the world? How do you pick yourself up and heal when someone has tried to steal your agency, your freedom and your sense of self too? Today, we’re talking about reclaiming your power after sexual assault. It’s a heavy one, but a story that is so important to tell. We know that almost 2 million Australian adults have experienced at least one sexual assault since the age of 15. Today, we’re talking to two women - Tegan and Gabby - who have both decided they want to tell their story of assault in order to reclaim power over their own story. A trigger warning for this one: This episode details experiences of sexual assault and trauma and may be triggering for some listeners. Keep up to date with Bumble Australia via their Instagram, @bumble_australia. Sign up to Bumble Australia today, the social networking app where women make the first move. Love etc. is a production of Shameless Media.

Have you ever been ghosted? Have you ever wondered why the heartbreak feels so much worse when you never have any closure? Or - plot twist - have you DONE the ghosting? Today, we’re talking about ghosting. Yep, the experience of spending all your time, energy and hey - maybe love - with someone only for them to… out of nowhere… completely disappear from your life. Did they die? You ask yourself. Maybe their phone broke? Maybe they just haven’t seen my messages? Or maybe, you begin to wonder… maybe they really don’t want anything to do with me. Today we delve into it all: how ghosting became a phenomenon, how the lack of closure can drive you crazy and mainly, we ask ourselves: What the fuck is with our generation’s inability to send a quick message saying 'HEY! I’m not really that interested anymore'? Keep up to date with Bumble Australia via their Instagram, @bumble_australia. Sign up to Bumble Australia today, the social networking app where women make the first move. Love etc. is a production of Shameless Media.

Have you fallen into the dangerous trap of assuming those that are bisexual are actually just gay? Have you blindly accepted the stereotype that perhaps it’s just a phase? And have you spent much time considering how bi-erasure damages our discourse around sexuality? Today, we’re talking about bisexuality. To do that, we’re talking to two people - Jane and Isaac, who both explained to us their confusing path to fully understand and appreciate their own sexuality. Keep up to date with Bumble Australia via their Instagram, @bumble_australia. Sign up to Bumble Australia today, the social networking app where women make the first move. Love etc. is a production of Shameless Media.

We’ve all whispered about the engaged couples who split just before their wedding. What happened? How did everything go so wrong, so quickly? And what’s it like to inform your loved ones that the wedding you spent months planning together is now cancelled? If you’re anything like us, you know of someone who had to call off their wedding. You probably heard about it on the grapevine - maybe you trawled through the couple’s respective Instagram profiles, trying to figure out what happened. Maybe you hypothesized about what caused the split with your girlfriends over Sunday brunch. Well, today, we speak to someone who has been there; who, just five weeks out from the big day, had their life completely flipped upside down by the person they loved. Keep up to date with Bumble Australia via their Instagram, @bumble_australia. Sign up to Bumble Australia today, the social networking app where women make the first move. Love etc. is a production of Shameless Media.

Do you believe the saying “once a cheater, always a cheater”? If someone has been unfaithful before, does that mean they’re destined to do it again and again? Or are humans more complicated - more capable of change - than that? Today, we’re talking about taking back a cheater. How do you move past the fury? How do you ever trust them again? And how do you process the shame that society tells you you should feel? For the answers to those sticky questions, we’re turning to two women who have been there and done that - who were told the awful news that their partners had strayed but decided to stay; to stick it out and see what happened next. Keep up to date with Bumble Australia via their Instagram, @bumble_australia. Sign up to Bumble Australia today, the social networking app where women make the first move. Love etc. is a production of Shameless Media.

Most of us know the jagged contours of heartbreak. How they can slice your sense of self and see you crying into the nook of your couch for weeks. But what happens when that heartbreak is coupled with a nightmarish breakup - one so cruel and utterly bizarre that you question just about everything? Today, we’re talking about nightmare breakups. To do that, we’ll be hearing from three women who are still reeling from the fallout of theirs, even years down the line. Are there neat bows or easy lessons to take from any of these tales? Well, no. But maybe that’s the point - sometimes in life and love, the experiences we have can’t be explained away. All that’s left to say about them is, well, ‘what the fuck’? Keep up to date with Bumble Australia via their Instagram, @bumble_australia. Sign up to Bumble Australia today, the social networking app where women make the first move. Love etc. is a production of Shameless Media.

This is a bizarre time for the world. COVID-19 has been incredibly detrimental to the health of people right across the world, and has had massive impacts on the economy and job stability, too. But what about love? Relationships? Sex? What has this pandemic done to the way to relate to each other? That's precisely what we're exploring today. In this final episode of Love Etc season two, we share stories from YOU guys - and they're far more uplifting than we first imagined. Then, we hear from Lauren - a woman who found love on the cusp of it all. Thank you so much for listening over the last three months - it has been such a joy to bring you all this podcast and telling your stories. Keep up to date with Bumble Australia via their Instagram, @bumble_australia. Find Mich and Zara on Insta too, they're at @michelleandrews1 and @zamcdonald. Sign up to Bumble Australia today, the social networking app where women make the first move. Love etc. is a production of Shameless Media.

Have you always wondered what motivates someone to be the other woman? Why they knowingly choose to be with someone who has a partner? Today on the show we are talking to a woman who has been the other woman. It can be easy to demonise a person for knowingly dating someone who is in a relationship - after all, doesn’t it just come down to values? we think - but of course, the world isn’t as simple as that. So, today we’re talking to a woman called Michelle (yes, a different Michelle) who just happened to fall in love as she entered the police force with a man who had a girlfriend. Want to follow Michelle and Zara? They're on Instagram @michelleandrews1 and @zamcdonald. Sign up to Bumble Australia today, the social networking app where women make the first move. Love etc. is a production of Shameless Media.

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to work in the sex industry? Have you ever wondered how that work would read when it was eventually turned into a memoir? Today, we’re interviewing the powerhouse that is Rita Therese. Here’s the thing about Rita - she’s widely renowned for being one of the most in-demand sex workers in Australia, yes, but she’s also regarded as one of the country’s rising artistic talents. Because as Rita’s profile under her alias Gia James has grown, so too has has her profile as a prolific artist and writer. This interview is actually from a couple of months ago - before the world turned weird and what we consider “normal” changed drastically. We still wanted to share it though, not only as an escape from what’s going on, but to have a much-needed conversation around sex work and feminism, from a woman who isn’t just an expert in the field, but in philosophy too. At 26 Rita has just published her first book - a memoir called Come - which details her time in the sex industry as well a life of significant personal tragedy and trauma. Here, she tells us what sex work is actually like - even when she has struggled with what she calls “debilitating social anxiety” in the past. If you loved this chat with Rita Therese, please do buy her new memoir Come. It’s an arresting read, and unlike anything you’ve probably come across before. We can’t recommend it enough. You can also find her on Instagram @rita_therese__. Want to follow Michelle and Zara? They're on Instagram @michelleandrews1 and @zamcdonald. Sign up to Bumble Australia today, the social networking app where women make the first move. Love etc. is a production of Shameless Media.

Content note: this episode deals with issues around emotional abuse and may be triggering for some listeners. Today, we’re telling a story of emotional and psychological abuse. In the midst of a global pandemic where so many of us are self-isolating at home with our partners, it’s more important than ever we recognise what an unhealthy, abusive relationship looks like. Too, it’s important that we can recognise the signs from afar, to look out for our friends and the people we love to make sure they aren’t trapped or being controlled within the walls of their relationship. If this episode brings up issues for you - or of you or someone you know is experiencing psychological abuse, you can contact 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or through their online chat. Want to follow Michelle and Zara? They're on Instagram @michelleandrews1 and @zamcdonald. Sign up to Bumble Australia today, the social networking app where women make the first move. Love etc. is a production of Shameless Media.

Have you ever questioned your sexuality? Is there a possibility that your attraction to other people doesn’t fit into a neat box? Or, maybe - just maybe - have you walked away from a great love in search of who you really are, and what you really want? Today, we’re talking to one woman about the experience of discovering her sexuality in the midst of a committed relationship to a man. Here’s Livv. A woman who fell madly in love with a man named Jason, only to learn that deep down she’d always yearned for something he couldn’t offer. Want to follow Michelle and Zara? They're on Instagram @michelleandrews1 and @zamcdonald. Sign up to Bumble Australia today, the social networking app where women make the first move. Love etc. is a production of Shameless Media.

Are you feeling a little lonely? Are you yearning for connection in a period where we’ve been instructed to stay inside? Today, we’re talking about loneliness and connection at a time we are all physically further from each other than ever. You can read How Loneliness from Coronavirus Isolation Takes Its Own Toll by Robin Wright for The New Yorker here. Want to follow Michelle and Zara? They're on Instagram @michelleandrews1 and @zamcdonald. Sign up to Bumble Australia today, the social networking app where women make the first move. Love etc. is a production of Shameless Media.

Have you ever been in a secret relationship? Have you ever felt like if you told the world who you were dating they would instantly judge you? Or, have you always been intrigued by love that seems so much more dramatic than your own? Today, we’re talking about forbidden love. To do that, we’re bringing you three stories from three very different women who all have remarkable tales of keeping their relationship a secret. Want to follow Michelle and Zara? They're on Instagram @michelleandrews1 and @zamcdonald. Sign up to Bumble Australia today, the social networking app where women make the first move. Love etc. is a production of Shameless Media.

Have you ever been tempted to become a sugar baby? Does the prospect of being paid - literally paid - by an older, wealthier partner sound appealing to you? Today, we speak to a woman who did exactly that. Mia spent two years with a married man and gave her bank account a healthy boost after every dinner and fancy hotel stay. So, would she recommend being a sugar baby to other women? We guess you'll have to listen and find out. Want to follow Michelle and Zara? They're on Instagram @michelleandrews1 and @zamcdonald. Sign up to Bumble Australia today, the social networking app where women make the first move. Love etc. is a production of Shameless Media.