daily feminist news 16.09.13
Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott announces cabinet and, as expected, it’s a sausage-fest.
Today Tony Abbott announced his new Prime Ministerial cabinet, and as expected, it is explicitly lacking in ladies. Due to the Coalition agreement with the National Party, although Julie Bishop is the deputy leader of the Liberal Party, it is National Party leader, Warren Truss who will sit in the Prime Minister chair when Abbott is away. Bishop has been named the minister for foreign affairs, but other than her it’s a complete sausage-fest, with Joe Hockey as Treasurer, Christopher Pyne as minister for education and Malcolm Turnbull as minister for communications.
ACT to legalise same-sex marriage.
The ACT is set to become the first Australian jurisdiction to legalise same-sex marriage, when the government will introduce a bill on Thursday. And good news for those of us who don’t live in Canberra, the laws are set to not include a residency requirement, meaning that same-sex couples from elsewhere can have a legal ceremony! But it’s not all rainbows just yet, as the legislation could be open to challenges from Christian lobbyists who have warned that they will pressure the Abbott government to override the law in the federal parliament. Uh-oh.
United Nations conducts largest international study of rape.
The UN has released findings from the world’s largest scientific study of rape, spanning two years and six countries. The study surveyed over 10,000 men from Bangladesh, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Sri Lanka and found that on average, one in four men had committed rape at some point in their lives. The study’s findings are significant in that they demonstrate how rape and issues around consent are largely misunderstood and that unhealthy attitudes towards sexuality formulate at an early age. Also, the idea at the crux of rape culture- that rape is inevitable because men can’t help themselves, was clearly visible in the study, with a large proportion of rapists expressing sentiments of ‘sexual entitlement’ to women’s bodies.
Fitness pole dancing: a new trend for children?
Pole dancing for fitness has become a popular trend for women in recent years. This has been often criticized in itself, but now the trend is apparently spreading to also involve children, particularly girls. Is this cause for moral panic about the sexualisation of young girls and the normalization of ‘Raunch Culture’? Or is it just a bit of harmless fun, promoting fitness and wellbeing with a phallic piece of gym apparatus?
