feminist news round-up 09.09.12
Women Destroy the Joint
Late last week broadcaster Alan Jones accused women of ‘destroying the joint’ (presumably, he’s referring to the nation when he says ‘the joint’), pointing to Julia Gillard, Clover Moore, and Christine Nixon as examples of what a destructive force women in politics are. Who knows why policies like the carbon tax and bicycle lanes are tantamount to destruction in Jones’ bizarre mind, though it isn’t the first time he has attacked female politicians (and female sympathisers, by the sounds of it). Let’s not forget the time he wanted to put Julia Gillard in a chaff bag and drown her in the ocean.
While Jones’ comments are just another example of how difficult it is to be a woman with influence, the social media comeback has at least been heartening. Sydney media personality Jane Caro and hand surgeon Jill Tomlinson urged their Twitter followers to join an online movement by circulating tweets with the hashtag #destroythejoint. You can see the results for yourself. It’s been a celebration of the awesome work women leaders have done.
Leigh Sales wins at life, gets called a ‘cow’
In an excellent interview with Tony Abbott, Leigh Sales basically made him look completely lost and stupid. Admittedly, that’s not too difficult, but she was really on fire (here’s the YouTube clip if you haven’t seen it already). The afterglow was ruined somewhat when Liberal strategist and former Howard adviser Grahame Morris called Sales a ‘cow’ in relation to the interview on ABC radio. Leigh Sales’ response: ‘I’d rather be a cow than a dinosaur’. Gold! Morris has since apologised.
Trolls send Dawson to hospital
After a barrage of tweets were made under the hashtag #diecharlotte, media personality Charlotte Dawson was admitted to hospital for a suicide attempt. While ordinarily this would be celebrity news and not necessarily feminist news, commentators have pointed out that the level of vitriol dished out to outspoken women does constitute a gender issue. In her commentary and reflection on the matter, former Triple J radio host Helen Razer writes, ‘I hope that somewhere the daughters that Charlotte and I never got around to having are preparing to enter a world where loudmouth ladies are just loudmouth ladies and not women who asked to be beaten down.’
Things Germaine Greer Says
It seems each time Germaine Greer speaks up she makes news; this week has been no different. She has been criticised for claiming (inaccurately) that about half of Queenslanders don’t know how to read and also criticised the Brisbane Writers Festival (the event she was speaking at). Additionally, when she appeared on QandA and defended the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in parts of Africa, the associated commentary has tended to be ambivalent at best. Greer also said controversial things at the Melbourne Writers Festival. So it goes.
Covered in Brief
This week, lip has also posted articles about how India has been named the worst of all G20 nations for women and the controversy surrounding the Australian Christian Lobby’s head, Jim Wallace, suggesting that gay marriage is worse for one’s health than smoking which resulted in Prime Minister Julia Gillard pulling out of their upcoming conference.
