Archive for the 'Feminism' Category

Disability and body image and reality tv

Published
by
Kim
1 month, 1 week ago
in Activism, Advertising, Consumerism, Culture, Disability, Ethics, Europe, Feminism, Film, TV, Video etc, International, Life, Media, Photography, Sexuality, Sociology and Women
. 128 Comments

I’m not sure if it’s in the BBC’s charter, but the venerable public broadcaster is allegedly trying to reach out to people with disabilities, and to increase social awareness of disability issues. Through such charming initiatives as their online Paris Hilton like trash celeb persona - “Disability Bitch”:

“Hi, I’m Disability Bitch. I’m disabled and I love it. Everyone should be disabled. Everyone should be like me.

“I own an extensive collection of colour-coordinated wigs and an even more extensive collection of colour-coordinated mobility aids, all of which complement my natural beauty…

Whatevs, darl. But there’s more. She’s not an all purpose disability bitch, but part of a reality tv franchise. In pursuit of its social inclusion agenda, the BBC is running a reality tv show - “Britain’s Missing Top Model” - the premise of which is that chicks missing limbs or in chairs can also be teh hotness and get to be in glossy fashion mags. It’s “Stylish, sassy, chic … disabled?”… The idea, I guess, is supposed to be that disability is no barrier to objectification. Continue reading ‘Disability and body image and reality tv’

Is criticism of World Youth Day automatically Catholic bashing?

Published
by
Kim
1 month, 2 weeks ago
in Authoritarianism, Ethics, Feminism, History, Lesbian and Gay, Media, NSW Government, Politics, Religion, Sexuality, Sydney and Urbanism
. 82 Comments

It’s no secret that “the sectarian strand” is one of the less attractive aspects of Australian history, and interestingly, probably not one featured highly either in the so-called “black armband” or triumphalist narratives so beloved of our home grown Antipodean culture warriors. That may be because the deep cleavages - overlapping but not identical to class and ethnicity - around Catholicism and Protestantism needed to be elided and to be buried in order to construct the “Anglo-Celtic” identity which came into its own at the same time that the state aid controversy was settled into its grave and multiculturalism launched on its career. And not coincidentally. “Anglos” and “Celts” were on different sides of the political and cultural coin in the Great Southern Land of the Holy Spirit for most of its whitefella history. In a way, Gough Whitlam is probably the progenitor of the “mainstream” Anglo-Celtic Australian. But sectarianism typically rears its head as a defensive accusation whenever the Catholic Church is particularly prominent in public debate, and whenever criticism is directed at the Church’s institutional power.

In the context of World Youth Day in Sydney this week, this accusation has been levelled both with regard to criticism of the extraordinary powers granted to police by Greg Craven and with regard to the ABC’s highlighting of Cardinal George Pell’s ethically very questionable handling of clergy sexual abuse complaints by Andrew Bolt. More broadly, the media sponsors of World Youth Day at News Limited have worked themselves into a lather of holy righteousness, denouncing “aggressive secularism” and lauding all the Popey goodness they’re sponsoring - without disclosing that sponsorship in their journalistic or opinion pieces.

It may well be that a residue of sectarian anti-Catholicism might be in play on the margins of all this, but one of the big ironies is that while Tony Abbott and others speculated that Pope Benedict’s message might not be communicated effectively, the Pope himself has seemingly become a football to be kicked around by the usual suspects in distinctly Australian culture wars which often have only a tenuous connection with his concerns. But are there not genuine issues - of public interest - that can and should be raised at a time when Catholicism is top of the pops in the media stakes?

Continue reading ‘Is criticism of World Youth Day automatically Catholic bashing?’

Second Down Under Feminists’ Carnival

Published
by
Kim
1 month, 3 weeks ago
in Culture, Feminism and Notices
. 1 Comment

… has been posted at In A Strange Land.

Blog readers and political polarisation

Published
by
Mark
1 month, 3 weeks ago
in Activism, Australiana, Culture, Feminism, International, Lesbian and Gay, Life, Media, Philosophy, Policy, Politics, Sociology and USA
. 9 Comments

Henry Farrell at Crooked Timber posts about a paper he co-authored with Eric Lawrence and John Sides - “Self-Segregation or Deliberation? Blog Readership, Participation and Polarization in American Politics”. The paper, which is a work in progress, can be downloaded from here [registration required] or here [direct link to pdf].

There is active debate among political scientists and political theorists over the relationship between participation and deliberation among citizens with different political viewpoints. Internet based blogs provide an important testing ground for these scholars’ theories, especially as political activity on the Internet becomes increasingly important. In this article, we use the first major dataset describing blog readership to examine the relationship between deliberation, polarization and political participation among blog readers. We find that, as existing theories might predict, blog readers tend to read blogs that accord with their political beliefs. Cross-cutting readership of blogs on both the left and right of the spectrum is relatively rare. Furthermore, we find strong evidence of polarization among blogreaders, who tend to be more polarized than both non-blog-readers and consumers of various television news, and roughly as polarized as US Senators

The data on which they rely in order to form their conclusions is American, of course, but I doubt the picture would be very different in Australia. It’s interesting, in passing, to note that those blog readers who do look at blogs outside their ideological comfort zone are more likely to be left-wing than right-wing. As the authors state in the abstract (part of which is reproduced above), the jumping off point for the research is partly the political science debate about the value of deliberation.

Continue reading ‘Blog readers and political polarisation’

Guest post by Peter Murphy - Zimbabwe: Despotism or Democracy?

Published
by
Guest Poster
2 months ago
in Developing world, Elections, Feminism, Health, Imperialism, International, Politics, Poverty and Women
. 48 Comments

Peter Murphy from the Zimbabwe Information Centre writes:

Opening Remarks

This story of Zimbabwe and its political, economic and social turmoil is really a story about how women are trying to have their human right to a say in their society, about how the people want to help those millions who have HIV, about how the trade unions want to develop a prosperous, peaceful and just society, about how the professional classes want to create a way of governing that is straightforward, fair and works.

It is a story for the whole of Africa, and that is why all of Africa and in particular South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, Tanzania and Botswana are part of this story.

As I write the people of Zimbabwe are being called out to a one-horse election that they don’t want, because it has already been drowned in blood, violence and cheating.

Between the March 29 presidential and parliamentary elections and today, almost 100 activists from the Movement for Democratic Change have been murdered, often in the most terrible way, over 3,000 have been very badly injured through torture, and now about 100,000 have been internally displaced because their homes and property have been looted or completely destroyed.

Zimbabwe now faces a chaotic regime collapse, with perhaps a minimal role for the international community in the immediate crisis.

Continue reading ‘Guest post by Peter Murphy - Zimbabwe: Despotism or Democracy?’

I left my heart in San Francisco…

Published
by
Kim
2 months ago
in Australiana, Brisbane, Culture, Feminism, Foreign Elections, History, International, Life, Melbourne, Politics, Sociology, USA, Urbanism and Women
. 72 Comments

Stock image courtesy of the Italian Cultural Institute.

I have to defend the town I lived in from 1996 to 2002 from the all too flippant calumny in this comment. (And incidentally Nancy Pelosi, one of whose Congressional campaigns I worked on, as well as heaps of local ones for both the Democrats and the Greens… - she’s so right in this comment about the Clinton campaign.) As I’ve said about a thousand times before, pro-Americanism or anti-Americanism is the dumb. It’s far too complex a country to condemn or praise in toto, and - incidentally - one I’m proud to be a citizen of. But I will say, as someone largely brought up in Brisneyland, that San Francisco is one part of the world where there’s enough cultural similarities that we can feel, not at home, but able to negotiate our way into feeling like this is Heimat, as it were. Or, at least, I felt that way. Continue reading ‘I left my heart in San Francisco…’

Now that Pamela Bone is dead…

Published
by
Kim
2 months ago
in Activism, Apocalypse, Crime, Culture, Developing world, Donation challenge, Ethics, Feminism, History, Howardia, Imperialism, International, Iraq, Masculinity, Media, Politics, Polls, Race, Religion, Sexuality, Sociology, USA, War and Women
. 46 Comments

Yeah, you might have noticed already. I’m in a Truthiness mood tonight, as Stephen Colbert might say. Remember all the loud denunciations I copped from Harry Clarke, Tim Blair et al et al etc. - all the feminists of total convenience - for not denouncing the female genital mutilation loudly enough? Coz it’s all about teh Islam and threats to Western Civ, etc., and that mob are all on the side of women’s rights, and that manly man of steel John Howard is taking us to war to free Afghani women from burqas. And George W. Bush is going to hunt those Al-Qaeda evildoers down. (And Islam is not a race, and some of my best friends… oops, hang on?) While Laura and Condi look after the oppressed women. Or something… Oh yeah, it isn’t 2003 any more… Remember that word fistula - you might not have read that on teh Blair blog - being a word of three syllables and all. And in Latin.

But I talked about it at the time. Now that Pamela Bone is dead (and God rest her soul, may she be blessed with eternal rest, and may perpetual light shine upon her), where are the voices with the loud condemn? What’s with that Australian crusade for women’s rights in benighted Islamic Middle Eastern countries? After all, we - Dolly Downer and John Howard and Tim Blair and Andrew Bolt and Planet Janet told us so - are all (post?) feminists now. It’s on the citizenship test, dude - and dudette a la 50s pinup style no doubt. (Ps - don’t use that politically correct, activist judge f-word though…)

Well, never mind. Here’s a post from The Global Sociology Blog for the benefit of anyone who wanted to continue highlighting the horrors perpetrated on women in the developing world even if there’s not a convenient culture wars damn the left angle in it. (And that’s not to say that women in the developed world don’t still cop a lot - but there’s something to celebrate about a very large majority of Australians agreeing - at least in theory when asked by pollsters - that women have rights over their own choices and bodies - even if that masks continued gender inequality in oh, so many ways…).

You can donate to Medicins San Frontieres here.

And you might be interested in the fact that rape has finally been recognised by the UN as a war crime, something I wrote about last year, but something the keyboard warriors seem to… well, gloss over is far too kind. Because the fact that women are overwhelmingly the victims of war seems to be recognised neither by the pro-war Right nor the “humanitarian intervention” so-called Left. Continue reading ‘Now that Pamela Bone is dead…’

Bill Henson controversy: But what about the children?

Published
by
Kim
2 months, 1 week ago
in Art, Ethics, Feminism, Media, Parenting and Photography
. 36 Comments

Bill Henson image from the Robert Miller Gallery.

Writing in the Australian Review of Public Affairs, Kylie Valentine proves that it is possible to say something new about the Bill Henson controversy. It struck me that one huge absence in all the debate that swirled around Henson’s images of adolescents was any contribution from the subjects themselves. Lots of adults jumped into the breach to fill this void, speculating about how the models would feel about being the subjects of this sort of art, or how they might feel at a later date. It was an entirely defensible position, of course, for the photographer’s subjects to maintain silence on grounds of privacy, and it’s worth noting that a number of Henson’s former models did speak out, though their voices seemed to be almost entirely ignored in the “debate” that took place.

Valentine picks up on this theme, and argues:

Continue reading ‘Bill Henson controversy: But what about the children?’

Laboring the point? … or liberal socialism and/or social liberalism

Published
by
Mark
2 months, 1 week ago
in Culture, Feminism, History, Howardia, Lesbian and Gay, Philosophy, Policy, Politics, Religion, Sexuality, Sociology and Women
. 30 Comments

I was intrigued yesterday to see Assistant Treasurer Chris Bowen writing one of the more substantive pieces in the Sydney Morning Herald’s regular feast of op/eds written by pollies. Bowen argues that social liberals within the Liberal Party are as marginalised now as they were under John Howard, and concludes:

But the move to the right by the Liberal Party means that traditional small l liberals are looking for a home. As a social liberal in the Labor Party, I can tell you that it is a very welcoming home.

I’m not so sure that’s absolutely accurate, but more of that later. First, I wanted to explore why Bowen thought this was an apposite point to make at this time. He refers to the amalgamation talk with the Nationals, and certainly Barnaby Joyce’s recent musings might give some small l liberals something to ponder. But I suspect what’s prompted Bowen’s article is actually some shenanigans going on in the Senate, which aren’t unrelated to the Liberal leadership.

Continue reading ‘Laboring the point? … or liberal socialism and/or social liberalism’

“It’s the hair, stupid”, claims BBC journalist

Published
by
Darlene
2 months, 2 weeks ago
in Feminism and Women
. 19 Comments

marge-simpson-with-blue-hair-beehive2.jpg 

According to the Webb hair theory, would the woman in the picture above be a supporter of Obama or Clinton? First person to answer correctly gets a can of hairspray.

Just when you thought the BBC had been taken over by The Feminists™, along comes Justin Webb from From Our Own Correspondent and his ideas about the hairdos of women supporters of Hillary Clinton. Before he embarked on an interesting analysis of Ms Clinton’s courting of The White Racists™ (playing in a good ol’ bar near you soon), and other reasons why she lost, Webb indulged on 7 June 2008 in a bizarre rant about how Clinton’s female fans, with “faces gripped in steely determination”, don’t, to soften his words, have particularly natural hair. While Webb claimed the gals from Team Obama™ have “loose” locks that generally haven’t seen a dye bottle, the sisters of Hillary “dominate” their tresses (e.g. teasing and crimping). Although Webb might’ve been using his prerogative as a BBC journalist* to have a joke at the expense of The Hillarys™, it sounded an awful lot like a bloke with issues with assertive older women (“mummy, please don’t make me go to boarding school”).  Anyway, you can listen to Webb’s views by going to this page and clicking on the relevant link.           

*BBC journalists are known for their senses of humour.

Bookfest II (…and political fiction)

Published
by
Mark
2 months, 2 weeks ago
in Art, Books, Writers & Writing, Brisbane, Feminism, History, Politics and Sociology
. 64 Comments

As I’ve mentioned a couple of times before, I’m currently existing in the rather strange zone of being just about to complete a first draft of my PhD thesis, which means that my social life is on hold, as are outings generally. (And I’ve just been saved from impending insanity by getting an extension from my supervisor til Monday.) Anyway, I blogged on Sunday about visiting the Lifeline Bookfest, which as a bibliophile is always one of the highlights of my bookshopping year. I did take some more time out on Monday to pop back in for an hour or so, to remedy the ommission of fiction from my previous visit - so I could relax and get back to writing, feeling as if I’d “done” Bookfest properly.

My modest haul was all Australian fiction, with the exception of a Robertson Davies novel I unaccountably no longer seemed to own - perhaps lent to one of those nasty book thiefs many years ago (I have a good memory for these things, and I’ll be chasing down my obscure Robert Graves and my Montaigne one of these days).

I can’t say I’ve ever been an enthusiastic reader of Australian prose fiction, as such, and I’m not even sure such an enthusiasm would make a lot of sense to me. Continue reading ‘Bookfest II (…and political fiction)’

“Sacred institution of marriage” may have something to learn from same-sex relationships

Published
by
Kim
2 months, 2 weeks ago
in Feminism, Lesbian and Gay, Masculinity, Relationships, Sexuality and Women
. 31 Comments

There’s a really fascinating article in the New York Times‘ health section by Tara Parker-Pope - accessed via Feministing:

For insights into healthy marriages, social scientists are looking in an unexpected place.

A growing body of evidence shows that same-sex couples have a great deal to teach everyone else about marriage and relationships. Most studies show surprisingly few differences between committed gay couples and committed straight couples, but the differences that do emerge have shed light on the kinds of conflicts that can endanger heterosexual relationships.

The findings offer hope that some of the most vexing problems are not necessarily entrenched in deep-rooted biological differences between men and women. And that, in turn, offers hope that the problems can be solved.

Aggregating a number of studies, the article suggests:

Continue reading ‘“Sacred institution of marriage” may have something to learn from same-sex relationships’

Inaugural Down Under Feminists’ Carnival

Published
by
Mark
2 months, 3 weeks ago
in Australiana, Culture and Feminism
. Closed

… has been posted at Hoyden.

Why Hillary shouldn’t be Veep

Published
by
Kim
2 months, 3 weeks ago
in Feminism, Foreign Elections, Race, USA and Women
. 68 Comments

Hillary Clinton is right about one thing - the question is “where do we go now?”

So should she slot in at #2? I’m not convinced that there are a large number of women who supported Hillary who won’t back Obama. It’s more likely that there are quite a few white men around who… etc. Without dissing at all the women who really are concerned about the incredible wave of misogyny (much more culturally acceptable, it seems, than open racism) that hit the Clinton campaign, as with most of what’s gone on, there’s some positioning going on here from Clinton. Positioning for power and influence. Forget superdelegates for a moment - there are a whole host of ex-thises and thats and a sort of “government in exile” from Bill’s time in office who will be looking for gigs come January, if Obama defeats McCain. And Clinton needs to shore up her own power in the Senate and the party - one way the switcheroo from some Democratic establishment types to Obama can be read is an attempt to protect their power against voters, by going with voters. If Obama continues the movement aspect of his campaign, there really is the potential for a huge shakeup of the hierarchies - and it’s those same hierarchies Clinton will be trying to protect. “Bringing the party together” could well be code for locking the people out.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of her current manoeuvring is the suggestions that she’d like to be asked to be Vice-President, but would turn down any such offer. Continue reading ‘Why Hillary shouldn’t be Veep’

Abortion debate begins in Victoria

Published
by
Robert Merkel
3 months ago
in Feminism, Law and Women
. 50 Comments

After sitting on it for an eternity, the Victorian Law Reform Commission’s report into abortion law reform has finally been tabled. The Age has an article here which provides a quick summary of the three proposed options. Very briefly, The first would be to, essentially, encapsulate the Menhennitt ruling into legislation, by requiring a doctor to decide that continuing a pregnancy poses harm to the mother. The second would legalize abortion on request up to 24 weeks, but require the doctor’s agreeance of harm of continuing the pregnancy beyond that. The third would remove all criminal sanctions entirely. The full report - which I haven’t yet had time to read - is here.

The Greens have come out in support of the third, most liberal option. Both major parties will be having a conscience vote; both premier John Brumby and Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu have supported decriminalization, but haven’t announced which option they will support yet. But, of course, it’s not the leaders that matter this time around. It’s all those backbenchers.

As noted the last time this came up, anti-abortion types will flood our MPs with mail. Let’s make sure they get some supporting change to stiffen their resolve a bit.