feminist news round-up 23.09.12
Marriage Equality in Parliament
Lovers of philosophy and online debaters will know that the ‘slippery slope’ argument is a logical fallacy. This week, we saw one of the more absurd examples of it when Liberal senator Cory Bernadi suggested that marriage equality may lead to bestiality. As a result, Tony Abbott decided to relegate him to the Senate back bench, but the fact that he’s still in the Senate at all has attracted criticism.
This week, a bill for marriage equality was positively shut down in Parliament. Just 42 MPs supported the private members bill put forward by Labor backbencher Stephen Jones, while 98 MPs voted against. While the fight continues and it’s probably just a matter of time until marriage equality is realised in Australia given the nation’s overwhelming support for it, this week was full of mostly harsh reminders of the kinds of people who have been democratically elected to govern the nation.
Rush Limbaugh claims that feminism causes shorter penises
The title says it all really. Rush Limbaugh, who is like the Allen Jones of the US, read an Italian study which claimed the average male penis was 10 percent smaller than 50 years ago. Clearly, him being well versed in statistical causal relationships took it upon himself to blame feminism. He said: ‘I think it’s feminism. If it’s tied to the last 50 years, the average size of a member is 10 percent smaller than 50 years, it has to be the feminazis, the chickification and everything else. Give ‘em time and they’ll blame Bush. But air pollution vs. feminazis? Ha!’
Jesus had a wife?
Christian feminists may be pleased to know that an historian of early Christianity at Harvard Divinity School has identified a scrap of papyrus that she says was written in Coptic in the fourth century and contains a phrase never seen in any piece of Scripture: ‘Jesus said to them, “My wife …” ‘ The finding became public earlier this week and included the controversial statement that Jesus’ wife was able to be one of his disciples. The implications of this finding isn’t so clear, but it may go towards challenging some of the patriarchal structures of the church.
Women speak less when surrounded by men
A recent study published in American Political Science Review has revealed that in collaborative group settings, ‘the time that women spoke was significantly less than their proportional representation—amounting to less than 75 per cent of the time that men spoke.’ Additionally, According to the study’s authors, women contributed to the conversation much more when it was framed as consensus-building rather than a majority-rules vote. And when women’s voices were included, the group’s conclusions were profoundly different.
Iran Cleric Pummeled by ‘Badly Covered’ Woman After Warning
An Iranian cleric said he was beaten by a woman in the northern province of Semnan after giving her a warning for being ‘badly covered’. Hojatoleslam Ali Beheshti said he encountered the woman in the street while on his way to the mosque in the town of Shahmirzad, and asked her to cover herself up, to which she replied, ‘you, cover your eyes,’ according to Mehr. The cleric repeated his warning, which he said prompted her to insult and push him.
Covered in brief
Lip also reported this week on the cover of Vogue Hommes International which included a picture that seems to glorify domestic abuse as well as US Senator Todd Akin’s attempts to relate to women after his bizarre ‘legitimate rape’ statement.
