Women’s rights in Afghanistan are at risk of being undermined in the peace process, according to a United Nations watchdog. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women says patriarchal attitudes and the country’s political turmoil are partly to blame for existing problems and that the peace process may have a twofold…
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Last week the world was shocked after a video of a young Yemeni girl made the rounds on the internet. In the clip, 11-year-old Nada Al-Ahdals tells of how she ran away from her family in order to escape a forced marriage. ‘What have the children done wrong?’ she asks, her dark brown eyes pleading…
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Bindi Irwin has joined the birth control debate, saying she is upset that young girls in poor countries are having children they simply cannot feed. The daughter of the late Steve Iriwn turns 15 today. In an interview with News Corp, Ms Irwin said she wanted to use her time in the media spotlight…
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More and more young Australian women are choosing to freeze their eggs for future use. While the chance of having a baby from a frozen egg was extremely low a couple of years ago (less than one per cent in 2011), new technology has ensured that women are just as likely to get pregnant from…
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Last week’s successful leadership spill was bad news for Julia Gillard. For the rest of the women in the Labor party though, there is something worth celebrating. Yesterday Kevin Rudd placed a record number of women in Cabinet (there are now six female politicians instead of four). The women ministers include newcomers Jacinta Collins…
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While Australians debate the country’s leadership, women overseas continue to suffer brutal attacks over things we take for granted. Less than a week ago, an 18-year-old Pakistani woman was attacked in her home. The actress, known as Bushra, suffered burns to her face and shoulder. ‘A man climbed the wall of our house in…
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The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has claimed that feminism could destroy Russia. On Tuesday last week, Patriarch Kirill denounced feminism as ‘very dangerous’ and a form of ‘pseudo-freedom’. He explained that feminism was threatening the fabric of Russian society because it ‘must appear outside of marriage and outside of the family’. ‘Man has…
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Monday night’s episode of Q&A featured a panel comprised entirely of women. Brooke Magnanti, Germaine Greer, Mia Freedman, Deborah Cheetham and Janet Albrechtsen answered questions put to them by Toni Jones and the audience. I was really looking forward to the show—I expected rigorous debate (and, in particular, for Germaine Greer to intellectually body-slam the…
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We all knew Seth MacFarlane was going to say something offensive right from the moment he stepped on stage at The Oscars. After all, Family Guy is a very offensive show—it plays off our idea of what is considered good and bad taste to great effect. Indeed, most humour is offensive. I myself initially laughed…
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The literary journal The Lifted Brow was recently accused of gender discrimination because their sixteenth edition published eighteen men compared with fourteen women. On their Facebook page, The Brow wrote: ‘Are we doing publishing wrong?’ The status received over thirty comments in a matter of hours. Responses ranged from ‘what a joke’ to longer, more…
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It is rare for a discussion on feminism these days to consist of only female voices. More and more men are taking up the cause of gender equality and discussing women’s issues. However there still seems to be a bit of controversy whenever a man claims to be a feminist. When I tell people I…
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A recent report by RMIT University claims that cycling has received disproportionate government attention because cycling is by far the most male-dominated mode of transport. Paul Mees and Lucy Groenhart published their report in December last year. They analysed the way residents in Australia’s capital cities travelled to work during the past 35 years. The…
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By now you’ve probably heard of Julie Burchill’s column and the subsequent outrage it provoked. The piece, which was published in print and online, attracted more than 2000 comments before it was removed from The Guardian’s website. In essence, Burchill—a freelance writer and feminist—outright attacked transgender people in her article ‘Transsexuals should just cut it…
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The Lingerie Football League has announced a major re-branding process so as to gain recognition as a serious sport. Changes will include a switch from lingerie to performance-wear uniforms in order to increase protection for players. New logos will remove ‘any sexy female figures’ and the tagline will change from ‘True Fantasy Football’ to ‘Women…
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