feminist news round-up 03.03.13

The Oscars, Seth and all in between

The Oscars happened, and so did Family Guy creator Seth Macfarlane, as Lip has covered here and here. Macfarlane took to the stage to host the three hour show on Monday, managing to offend Jews, women and family audiences with humour that included barbed insults aimed at a Hollywood stars, songs taking aim at women’s nudity in film and reflections throughout the show that it wasn’t ‘gay enough yet’. The fallout this week has included comments from women in film groups and audience members, but ultimately this year’s ceremony rated pretty highly–so there’s a chance the offence may be short lived.

Gender not on Julia’s side?

As Julia Gillard begins a campaign in Western Sydney in the longest election ever, it looks like women might like Tony Abbott as much, or more, than the Prime Minister. A Fairfax poll reports that of women surveyed in key Western Sydney seats, only 20% rated Gillard’s performance positively, while Tony Abbott rated favourably twice as often. While Abbott’s problem with the ladies is supposed to be a key factor in the September result, such commentary could swing more female voters towards the Opposition Leader.

Harassment of women in Tahrir Square still rising 

Violence against women in Egypt’s Tahrir Square continues to grow, with several mob attacks against protestors in the square occurring in the last few months. It has been reported that women who come to protest in the square have been subjected to mob violence, harassment and sexual assault in attempts to get them to leave the protest space entirely. In February the Egyptian Human Rights Committee in the Upper House met to look at the instances of  violence against women, but instances are still strong a month later.

Housework stops the bulge, supposedly

More evidence that household appliances are evil? A US study claims to have found a link between a decrease in the hours women spend doing housework and increase in average weight. The University of South Carolina found that while women in 1965 spent 27.5 hours per week cleaning up, in 2010 women spent just 13.3 hours a week, and were on average 22 pounds heavier. If the research is sound, guess we should all pick up the iron…

Also covered on lip this week: 

Political trailblazer Joan Childs dies aged 91