Luke Pearson on the whole Delta business at AboriginalOz h/t to Cady on the Otterday thread

@ebswearspink comments on the defence of Delta by MammaMia, on her tumblr The Ramblings of that girl called Ebs

Eurasian Sensation with An Aboriginal perspective on blackface. This one dates back to the Hey Hey its Saturday controversy, but is still very relevant.

Sunili Govinnage on Mia Freedman’s comments on Delta’s tweet.

Ruby Hamad in Daily Life on When Racism becomes a white person’s issue.

Jennifer Wilson at No Place For SheepDear Clementine Ford. How I feel when you talk about me. I also need to note that Clementine has responded on Twitter to Jennifer and apologised. (TW for discussion sexual abuse)

Migrant Law on What Australia being excised from its own migration zone actually means.

Update: Racism 101: Black Face vs White Face whats the difference (speaking in theatrical terms)

Update 2: Saman Shad Why are we debating ‘blackface’ in 2013? via @horrorshowflick, @muminprogress (Saman’s Twitter handle) and @vivsmythe

Update 3: I don’t really understand how Tumblr works but anyway this is Karen Healy’s and this cartoon on Angelina Jolie is on it. Cartoon by rosalarian.

Update 4: Further thoughts from Sunili on her tumblr Calling it racist…

I’m sure there are many more that I have missed feel free to let me know in the comments. Thank you to those people on Twitter and in the media who have once again heaved a sigh, picked up their shovel and gone back to try and make a dent in the huge wall of ignorance and white privilege.

As always, read the comments on linked articles at your own peril.

ETA: lots of ableist language abounds in these links too.

Related posts:

1. Appreciation or Appropriation?
2. Quick Hit: Links I’m loving today
3. A few links about what is and what is not a ‘blood libel’

According to the founder of gut busters being thin nowdays is simply proof that you can afford someone to help you to be thin in a ‘obesogenic’ age. Which, quite frankly is crap.

Then Dapin meets Michelle Bridges. As two of his friends have recently lost a significant amount of weight using her new diet she obviously knows what she is on about. I disagree. I could write a restrictive diet and sell it and people would lose weight. I have absolutely no qualifications but with a smattering of googling you bet I could come up with something that helped people lose weight – short term just like Bridges does. It doesn’t mean that I have any idea what I am talking about. It doesn’t mean that the people who have lost the weight are in any way better off either.

Bridges: “As I said to one of my contestants, You’re standing on the corner of Man-Up Road and Pussy Street. Which way are you going?’”

I’m going down ‘F you and your sexist crap’ Way.

Out of all of this I think this is what I found most disturbing:

Bridges: “And a lot of exercises that used to be contraindicated are now the latest fad,” she says, “like burpees. Once upon a time in the fitness world, people were like, ‘Don’t give anyone burpees: they’re so bad for you.’ Now, I prescribe them in the newspaper.”

Now I prescribe them in the newspaper. For people I have never seen, for whom I am not there for to ensure they are doing it properly and not doing themselves an injury. I wonder if they are able to sue if they do get injured?

Luke Istomin: …even rolling the ab wheel is back. “That was ruled out a couple of years ago because people thought it was too bad for your lower back,” he says, “but if your core strength is fine, you can do that.”

I’m assuming that this guy works at a gym where they check that people’s core strength is fine. I certainly hope so. Where is this blase attitude about people’s bodies coming from? Is it be thin at all costs including your bodily integrity?

Shannon Ponton from TBL, scarily, comes closest to making sense.

He says people always ask him, “What’s the easiest way to lose weight?”

“There is no easy way,” says Ponton, “and the more fads and gadgets people come up with – the Abdomenizer 1000, 2000, 3000 or 4000, where you can get abs in three minutes a day – it makes business better for us.

“Because people know that once they’ve come home at three o’clock in the morning, drunk, and bought an Ab Sculptor off infomercials and it doesn’t work, that they’ve really got to come in and do some hard work.

“It takes commitment, it takes consistency and it takes discipline, which, at the moment, rules out about 85 per cent of our population because they’re just soft.”

Unfortunately he is also caught up in the thin is beautiful. What is wrong with being fit? Just being fit, as fit as you are able to be in your personal circumstances? Why are people soft if they don’t enjoy punishing workouts? How about trainers take up the challenge of making exercise fun before telling everyone they must do it? How about making it possible for everyone who wants to, to exercise? Or would that mean too much hard work? Who is soft now?

This comment also really pissed me off:

“In Australia we have an obesity crisis. We don’t really have a flexibility crisis.”

We don’t have an obesity crisis. We have a fat hate crisis. If everyone got over this ‘fat is bad m-kay’ reflex and concentrated on letting people live their own lives then we wouldn’t have a crisis. Personally I’d much rather be flexible than thin. I don’t care that pilates won’t make me thin because it makes me feel stronger and more flexible and more comfortable in my body. My fat body.

But how are we ever going to get any sort of acceptance of people’s bodies if we have this crap circulating constantly in the media? As a good friend of mine said “If you are looking for your business you won’t find it on my plate” to which I’d add “or on my body” unless of course I choose to share with you and that is strictly invitation only.

Related posts:

1. OMG Zombesity crisis, again.
2. Terminal Eye Roll again
3. Hey Dad – this time it’s all YOUR fault

A seven week old Otter explores an old boot at Paradise Park.

This river otter at Little Pend Oreille Wildlife Refuge looks like it is having a tough day.

River otter resting its head on a horizontal wooden post.

Please feel free to use this thread to natter about anything your heart desires. Anything great happening in your life? Anything you want to get off your chest? Books? News stories? What have you created lately? Commiserations, felicitations, temptations, contemplations, speculations?

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1. Otterday! And Open Thread.
2. Otterday! And Open Thread.
3. Otterday! And Open Thread

The lovely Blue Bec is hosting at her blog Opinions @ bluebec.com. The always wonderful Chally has all the details you need here.

Related posts:

1. The 52nd Down Under Feminists Carnival is up!
2. 38th Down Under Feminists Carnival is Up!
3. 29th Down Under Feminists Carnival, curated by bluebec

Australian men become, after a certain age, sexless. It’s as if they give up on their appearance once they’re into their fifties and they just look awful.
So says comedian Lawrence Mooney and I don’t think he was trying to be funny. He was talking on the fabulous Agony of Life, Adam Zwar’s latest series for the ABC which chronicles the life stages with pithy observations and timely advice from Zwar’s TV friends. Over the course of the series (sorry, it just ended) Mooney proved the most astute and intelligent of the lot.
“It was Catherine Deneuve who said that getting ready takes so much longer as you get older. That the older you get, the earlier you have to get up to get ready just to look OK.”

It’s worth considering what he has to say about ageing men.
Mooney believes that men age badly compared with their European counterparts. They get to a certain age or stage and then they stop making an effort for the opposite sex and even themselves. It’s trackie-daks and general dishevelment.

It’s as if they’ve given up, Mooney says.
But in other societies older men remain fascinating and alluring to women. They take pride in their appearance and look after their bodies. They do their hair and dress well.
Why are we so slack in Australia?
You do see men in their lateish fifties – though they could be any age – schlepping about looking disgruntled with life and themselves. There’s a bitterness, a resignation.
What’s happened and why? Is it because other things have taken priority over appearance – demanding teenagers, infirm parents, unmanageable mortgages, unwanted celibacy – what is it?
Or has looking good just become too difficult? Takes too much effort? Isn’t ”worth it” any more?
I think it was Catherine Deneuve who said that getting ready takes so much longer as you get older. That the older you get, the earlier you have to get up to get ready just to look OK. She’s French, of course, but why don’t Australian men seem to do that?
Do Australian men stop caring about how they look and become sexless frumps? Why?

This may read a little strangely, but that’s because I have substituted ‘men’ for ‘women’ throughout the article. Yes ladies those of us not already in our fifties are destined to become sexless frumps because we don’t take the time to dress up for public approval every time we have the temerity to leave the house. Apparently even if your sex life is going just fine thank you very much we will assume that you are a sexless frump if you even look like you might have thought about considering thinking about a pair of tracksuit pants. Oh no ladies, heels, stockings, perfectly coiffed hair (leave it long, don’t want anyone to think you might enjoy the ease of short hair, but mind that you can’t just wear it in a practical braid or pony tail either and straightened or curled if your hair is naturally straight) manicure and lippy for putting out the bins on bin night if you please. Don’t even think about letting the dog out for a wee if you haven’t put your eye liner on. Those of us already past the half century mark have apparently just given up without a fight and been swallowed up by tracksuit pants. Because surely we don’t have anything better to do than dress up for the male gaze and have our hotness rated? I mean really where are our priorities? Why worry about mortgage payments, kids, schools, university, or any of the other myriad worries of daily life if we don’t have a full face of makeup, flashy shoes and designer gear on first?

You think I’m joking? Unfortunately not.

Related posts:

1. It Gets Better: a message from Australian comedians
2. Femmostroppo Reader – May 5, 2010
3. Scooterblogging: I’m Right Here

Two women placing ears on top of the head of an enormous chocolate Easter bunny.

A teeny tiny tennis ball for a teeny tiny puppy. Although in keeping with the Easter theme it does look a little like a rabbit.

This is a rabbit. No really.

An extremely fluffy brown and grey rabbit facing the camera.

This post is for things that have recently amused or delighted you. Think of it as a brain bleach repository. Share the images or links in comments and I will do my best to remember how admin magic works.

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2. Whimsy: teeny-weeny echidnas
3. Wednesday Whimsy: So you’ve been accused of witchcraft…

Not being a scientist I can’t vouch for the scientific content but I do like the stuff it comes up with. From science teacher friends on FB it has been a boon for them because the kids in class suddenly realise that there are cool things about science and are more (at the moment at least) engaged in class.

So when I saw this on FB, via a complicated process whereby a person I am not friends with linked to it and a person I am FB friends with ‘liked’ it so it popped up on my feed, I thought ‘hang on, that’s got the whole premise of IFLS wrong.’ I should point out that this is just my feelpinion and indeed the creator of IFLS may feel completely differently again.

I don’t think that IFLS is designed to teach people science. I think it is designed to show people that there are some fascinating things you can find out more about through science. If people just like the fun stuff does it matter? Alternatively can’t it be about the founder sharing why she FLS? Does it have to be 100% accurate all the time? Can it ever be? When I was at school Pluto was a planet. Horrible Histories plays fast and loose with facts at times, but it packages history in an enjoyable fashion and gets kids, and I’m guessing a few adults too, interested in history. Some of those kids will carry on with a life long interest in history, some will remember it fondly as a show they liked when they were kids and some might even go on to have a career based around history. But it doesn’t mean that Horrible Histories has failed if a certain percentage of kids don’t become historians, archaeologists, or history teachers. It is designed to entertain, just as IFLS is.

That’s not to say that IFLS won’t inspire some kids to go onto a career in science. A family member of mine became an Electrical Engineer because they saw something on super conductors and thought ‘I want to know how they work’ and bang they had an interest to pursue. Before that they knew vaguely that they wanted to do something science and maths related but had no idea what. All it took was that spark. IFLS could provide that spark.

I just don’t see the problem with IFLS pointing out the wonders of the natural world on FB.

I’m not going into the rest of the post. Feel free to do so in comments if you wish.

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1. Manhattan Dreaming by Anita Heiss
2. Butterfly Song by Terri Janke
3. Me, Antman and Fleabag by Gayle Kennedy (non fiction) Ed: Thanks Gayle!
4. Too Flash by Melissa Lucashenko (YA)
5. Mum Shirl by Shirly Smith (non fiction)
6. The Flying Emu and other Australian Stories by Sally Morgan (Childrens)
7. Wandering Girl by Glenyse Ward (non fiction)
8. Is that you Ruthie? by Ruth Hegarty (non fiction)
9. Home by Larissa Berhendt
10. Swallow the Air by Tara June Winch

Except for The Flying Emu, all of these stories deal with young girls and Aboriginal families finding their way in a white world. Many of the stories are heartbreaking and gave me a whole new perspective on how Aboriginal people were treated and how Aboriginal families and in particular girls were dealt with often harshly for nothing more than being Aboriginal. These books should be school reading lists. I had no idea how harsh the conditions were that some children grew up in after they were taken from their families and I grew up in a town that had an Aboriginal mission although when I was a child it was no longer a mission but somewhere that Aboriginal families could choose to live (as I understood it). But I know people who can’t or won’t go back because of what happened there.

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1. #AWW 2013: Mum Shirl book review
2. Australian Women Writers Challenge 2013
3. Book Review: Am I Black enough for you? #AWWC2012

Helen Razer has written a post on how she thinks that Destroying the Joint may be in danger of destroying the point. I agree with some of what she says. Kings Tribune has an opposing view here. I agree with what Jane Gilmore has to say as well. This is the article Razer refers to as suggesting women would bring something ‘special’ to media leadership roles.

I agree with Razer that having women in management positions doesn’t equal Utopia. Women can and are just as capable of making bad decisions, behaving unethically and being selfish and self involved. What I don’t agree with is that she chooses three women: Rebekah Brooks, Marissa Mayer, and Gina Rinehart to represent all possible women in leadership positions. You can’t judge how an entire gender would act based on these three women and based on your opinions of these three women. Razer also ignores the figures that suggest that business productivity benefits from having women in leadership positions. There are still plenty of places that don’t have women in leadership positions to be contrasted with places that do. The figures speak for themselves, having women on board is good for business. So women are doing something different and that’s good.

I find any work that even considers the idea that privileged white women do things in any way that is markedly superior or different to the things done by privileged white men so ineffably deluded I want to take ALL of the Alanis Morissette CDs purchased in the 1990s and make a sculpture of an enormous plastic masturbating woman and win the Turner Prize with a piece I have called Enormous Plastic Masturbating Woman Wins the Turner Prize. (Helen Razer)

Privileged white women and privileged white men do have a lot in common and I would personally love to see a sculpture called Enormous Plastic Masturbating Woman Wins the Turner Prize. But just because Destroy the Joint is being run by, as far as I know, privileged white women doesn’t mean that PWW (like me) are the only ones to benefit. I don’t believe in trickle down economies but I do think that movement like this can get enough momentum for women to carry some of that into their own lives regardless of their privilege or colour.

I’m doing some cherry picking here, but this is where our views really start to diverge:

the average comedy of Daniel Tosh, the dressing of children in inappropriate clothing, the naming of a racehorse as a woman

For a start I don’t call what Daniel Tosh did comedy, he harrassed a woman and suggested that she be raped. That isn’t funny or comedy. If this is your idea of comedy I suggest you stop reading here. The children’s clothing issue is one that has feminists of every stripe at each other’s throats often but that doesn’t make it any less an issue, and if we accept a horse being named Woman of the Year doesn’t that belittle the efforts of actual human women? We see little enough of women’s sport as it is. Sure, in and of themselves each of these issues is a small thing. Just as one beesting (for people not allergic to bees) is a smallish thing. But many small things, like beestings, adds up to something dangerous and I would argue that ignoring the ‘small stuff’ that undermines and belittles women adds up to a big thing. Like rape culture.

Feminism is the struggle against masculinsed violence and feminised poverty. Or, the acknowledgement that physical violence is enacted disproportionately by men and poverty is experienced disproportionately by women. That’s it, really.

I’m going to leave the arguing of this point to the book learning feminists because I don’t have an answer for this. I think it is incomplete but can’t say why.

Razer believes that the calling out of sexism can become reflexive and lead to calling out situations that aren’t actually sexist. I can get on board with that, but I think that, like beauty, it is in the eye of the beholder.

I recall, for example, this moment in which DTJ ally Anne Summers called a urinal shaped like a mouth “misogynist”.

That the mouth urinals were very clearly referencing the famous John Pasche Rolling Stones male mouth logo was immaterial. That they had been present for years in the lavatory of a club for homosexual men was not deemed relevant.

Speaking as someone without any knowledge of the famous John Pasche Rolling Stones male mouth logo I always assumed it was a woman’s mouth and I don’t think I’d be Robinson Crusoe in that. So yes, if people think that they are pissing into a woman’s mouth then yes I do believe that it is sexist. Did all those hetero dudes pissing into those urinals believe that they were male lips? Does anyone wonder if there woud have been more pushback to remove them sooner if they did? Why should their presence in a homosexual men’s club bathroom make them any less sexist? I don’t know much at all about gay male culture being neither but can anyone guarantee me that no gay man ever thought of those lips as female when draining the main vein?

I do think that Razer has misjudged the point of Destroy the Joint, it won’t have failed if it doesn’t bring down the Patriarchy. That is a big ask for one organisation where three waves of feminism have failed to do that before. The same with Everyday Sexism – it is less about destroying the Patriarchy in one big gulp and more about pointing out how everyday things we often take for granted are sexist. Will it change the world, probably not, will it open a few eyes and start a few minds working – yes and that is a success right there.

For mine this comes down to a fundamental difference in how we do feminism.

You don’t need some ridiculous spin about inappropriate plumbing or sexist wallpaper or whatever the fuck it is this week to apprentice folk to The Struggle. You need to read some macroeconomics, bitches, and spread the fucking word.

Hey. I’m right. I was, in fact, appointed feminism’s door bitch. And, no, you can’t come in if all you have to talk about is The Need For More Women CEOs and Less Sexism in Ads.

Let me be one of many to wish Razer all the best in being feminism’s door bitch. It would be a thankless job and if she is willing to take it on then more power to her. But I’m going to have to disagree with her notion that DtJ and Everyday Sexism are just about the need for more women CEOs and less sexism in ads.

ETA: Another perspective from Team Oyeniyi.

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In time for International Women’s Day in Australia the first of Anita Sarkeesian’s Tropes vs. Women in Video Games has been released. This one is the Damsel in Distress trope.

Trigger warning: watching this may make  you want to smash the patriarchy. But seriously, this runs for about 24 minutes so find some time where you can watch it all at once if you can and take a stress ball because could make you seriously want to HULK SMASH things.

TW: for video game violence against women (towards the end)

In the game of Patriarchy women are not the opposing team. They are the ball.

If you don’t have time to watch the whole thing, fast forward to about 17:55 which will give you a quick overview of how male characters are treated in the video game world as compared to the treatment female characters get.

Related posts:

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2. Internet Misogyny Datapoint: the hatefest aimed at Anita Sarkeesian
3. Whoydensday quick link: new feminist Doctor Who blog!