Feminist News Round-up 25.03.12

Israel’s New Photoshop Law

Legislation has been passed in Israel which bans underweight models and requires advertisers to disclose where they have used Photoshop to alter images to make a model appear thinner than they are in every instance. The legislation is an effort to change idealised perceptions of beauty that, according to evidence presented to the Knesset, encourages eating disorders such as anorexia. Images of models who appear to have an ‘underweight’ BMI will also be banned. While this move is probably overall positive for the body image of Israeli women, there has been some condemnation from the modelling industry, who say that many of their ‘underweight’ models are perfectly healthy and eat well.

Most Teen Girls Don’t Like Their Appearance

Okay, it’s hardly breaking news, especially for lip readers, but a new Girlfriend survey showed that at least 54 per cent of girls aged between 13 and 20 skip meals, while 96 per cent would change their body if they could. Only 9 per cent were proud of how they looked.  Girlfriend has said that they are attempting to tackle the problem by putting more pictures of readers in the magazine and fewer pictures of models.

Prostitute Set Alight in Sydney

Disturbingly,  this week in the Sydney suburb of Chippendale, a woman has been set alight outside of a brothel.  The woman is currently in hospital with severe burns. While this news item is still in its early stages and it is not clear what actually happened, it serves as an important reminder of the dangers people in the sex industry face in their job.

The Rise of Mormon Feminist Bloggers

The Guardian has published an article focused on how Mormon feminists are using blogs and social media to challenge the patriarchal nature of their religion. Blogs such as The Exponent, Feminist Mormon Housewives, and Wave try to  negotiate considerations of faith with feminism and feminist values, equality, motherhood, and society. (They make for interesting reading.) A specific issue is how Mormon women are supposed to marry and bear children from quite a young age, which some bloggers feel quite uneasy about. Blogging about this stuff can also be quite risky business, as in the past dissidents within the religion have been excommunicated (thus threatening their chance of going to heaven). On the other hand, blogging is surprisingly congruent with Mormon doctrine which encourages journaling.

The Glitter Bombing of Germaine Greer

While on a visit to New Zealand last week, Germaine Greer was ‘glitter bombed’ by protesters (The Queer Avengers) because of her views on trans-gender women. As reflected on her Wikipedia page, Germaine Greer has a history of denouncing trans people. For instance, in 1989 Greer unsuccessfully opposed the election to a fellowship of her transsexual colleague Rachael Padman. Greer argued that Padman had been born male, and therefore should not be admitted to Newnham, a women’s college. She has also labelled transwomen as being ‘ghastly parodies of womanhood’. In any case, Glitter bombing, or throwing glitter on public figures, has become a relatively safe and popular way to highlight transphobia and gay prejudice.

(Image source: 1)