Feminist News Round-up 12.02.12

Bob Brown: Media Attacks on PM are ‘sexist’

In the last week, Bob Brown has publicly stated that the media coverage of Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been sexist in nature. He says that the ‘unrelenting criticism’ she has received from media outlets during her time in office are discriminatory and that she ‘deserves a break’ from them. He also said that the way the media has been covering politics in recent times has taken the emphasis away from substantive discussions of policy and towards gossip. You can read more about his comments here. Meanwhile, other commentators have claimed that Brown’s ‘knightly defence’ of the Prime Minister is in itself sexist.

Women graduates surpass targets

Over 40 per cent of Australian young women have a bachelor’s degree or higher tertiary qualification. This exceeds Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s target of turning Australia into a high skill economy and was achieved ten years earlier than anticipated.  However, men are lagging with only 30 per cent of young men holding a university qualification. You can read more here.

Radical proposal: discrimination a matter of conscience

In a controversial, and frankly bizarre, proposal from the Australian office of Attorney-General, laws are being considered which would allow people to discriminate against other people if their religious beliefs hold that such discrimination is appropriate. So, for instance, a fundamentalist Christian could be allowed to discriminate against same-sex couples on the basis that their religion does not allow such unions. Those who made the policy submission – Patrick Parkinson, the architect of John Howard’s child custody reforms, and Nicholas Aroney from the University of Queensland – say that people should have ‘freedom to manifest and practise one’s religious beliefs at work, and not be compelled to provide services where one has conscientious objections against doing so and where the services can readily be provided by other employees who do not have the same religious convictions’. You can read more here.

Soldier rape claim

A female soldier has claimed that she was raped in an Australian army barrack dormitory while her boyfriend was overseas serving in Afghanistan. She made a complaint in September of 2010, but later withdrew it from fear of harassment. She said, ‘I knew I was telling the truth but I didn’t know if I would be believed’. After her relationship with her boyfriend broke down, she renewed the allegations in November of the same year. The hearing will now resume in April and is yet another instance which highlights the problematic nature of the culture of the Australian Defence Force. You can read more here.

Pussy Riot takes Revolt to the Kremlin

Russian feminist punk band, Pussy Riot, has become a symbol of the youth of the nation’s discontent with Putin’s politics. Pussy Riot is an anonymous band which incites revolution and affirms women’s rights in their lyrics. Despite fears of being arrested, the band is actively undermining Putin’s government under the hope that change in Russia is possible. You can read more here.

Twitter Backlash has UniLad Mag pull rape article

UK lad magazine aimed at university men recently printed an article which incited rape as a valid way to get sex with a low chance of repercussions. An article called ‘Sexual Mathematics’ says (literally!): ‘If the girl you’ve taken for a drink… won’t “spread for your head”, think about this mathematical statistic: 85% of rape cases go unreported. That seems to be fairly good odds.’ At the end of the article, it says ‘Uni Lad does not condone rape without saying “surprise”’. Unsurprisingly, the magazine has experienced a great deal of backlash, particularly via Twitter. In addition, the UK National Union of Students has called for the magazine to be shut-down. The magazine has released an apology and has removed the original article. You can read more about it (and the details of the Twitter backlash) here.

Equal Billing for Boat Race

For the first time in Oxbridge history, the women’s boating race will have equal billing to the traditionally more famous men’s race. The women’s boat race is set to gain a better location and be held within an hour of the men’s race. Sponsors have increased funding to the women’s event, making such move possible. The move is also predicted to allow women’s sport to thrive within an elite educational setting. You can read more here.