daily feminist news 25.09.13
Liberal Democratic Party senator, David Leyonhjelm, is calling for a change to self defence laws, claiming that Australia should have similar gun laws to the US. In order to support his argument, Leyonhjelm argued that if Jill Meagher had been carrying a gun, she would have been able to defend herself against her rape and murder. So we should all have guns. All the time. Just in case. Um. Is anyone else not really that cool with this?
Former Prime Minister, Julia Gillard to publish autobiography next year.
Wondering what Julia’s up to these days? Well, today it was announced that Gillard will publish her autobiography with Random House, due to hit the stores in October next year. Gillard said that she is ‘very excited at having this opportunity to use my own words to describe my political and personal journey. I want to distil for readers what I achieved; what drove me, where I erred; my personal resilience and how I coped. I want to share my perspective on the issues of our times and how I strove to make a difference for the better every day I had the privilege of serving as Prime Minister.’ Can’t wait to read it!
Teenage girl and former nude child model discusses the ethics of selfies
Olympia Nelson first made headlines in 2008, when she was 11, during the Bill Henson child pornography/art controversy. Around this time her acclaimed photographer mother, Polixeni Papapetrou, depicted Nelson naked in a similarly controversial artwork. Years have passed, and now Nelson has written a series of essays discussing the ‘selfie phenomenon’ and the impact of social media on young girls. Nelson is critical of the ‘liking phenomenon,’ which she believes drives girls and women to compete for popularity, going to increasingly sexualised lengths to gain approval.
Should this heavily pregnant woman be weightlifting?
Mum-to-be, Lea-Ann Ellison, caused a social media storm when she posted images of herself lifting heavy weights at 8 and a half months pregnant to her gym’s Facebook page. The body builder intended the picture to be inspirational, commenting that she ‘strongly believe[s] that pregnancy is not an illness, but a time to relish in your body’s capabilities to kick ass.’ The wash of negative comments in response to the article reflect the familiar themes of the ‘mummy wars,’ with commenters arguing that Ellison is selfish, putting the baby’s health at risk and hence being a ‘bad mother.’
New Grand Theft Auto V only depicts ‘tasteful rape.’
Grand Theft Auto 5 has recently been released, however, it has met some criticism for its representation of women, particularly the inclusion of a rape scene where the player has the opportunity to intervene or ignore. A recent blog post on Playstation Universe clarified that the attempted rape in the game is a meaningful vehicle for players to not only experience empathy, but also to feel ‘important, influential to the game’s playspace, and, to this woman, like a hero.’ Aww how nice for you. The author goes on to state that the representation of sexual violence in video games is ‘shown tastefully–with a fully clothed victim, a flaccid aggressor, and the opportunity for the player to intervene.’ Wow, tasteful rape. Lovely.
Miley Cyrus is topless in Rolling Stone.
You’re probably sick of Miley by now, but hey, guess what? She’s on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Naked. And with her tongue out. She’s also got a lot to tell you about THAT performance, her break up with what’s-his-name and the fact that OMG EVERYONE keeps asking her to twerk now and its totes getting old guys geez.
