Politics

Media Circus: Blaming/Shaming Women Edition

In just the last week Anita Sarkeesian, Zoe Quinn and over 100 female showbiz celebrities brought it all on themselves, doncha know.

Also in the last week our current Federal LNP government has kept on working to push its ideological agenda through Parliament, against what seems horribly likely to be insufficient opposition despite the best efforts of the Greens.

What news story/commentary/analysis has grabbed your attention lately?

Media Circus: No Snappy Title edition

I have been mostly speechless/typingless at the latest news, taking refuge in offline activities. But I should still put up a post for the rest of you to vent/rant or even ideally substantively discuss these issues, because disengagement is never going to be a solution, even if it’s sometimes necessary for some self-care. Go for it.

What news story/commentary/analysis has grabbed your attention lately?

Friday Hoyden: Emma Goldman

Emma Goldman was a Russian Jewish immigrant to the USA, who spent her life being persecuted for her work campaigning for the rights of workers and marginalised groups of all kinds.

Procedure Fail: WisCon, Feminism and Safe Spaces

Readers who are already part of SF fandom have probably seen a lot of this WisCon 38 fallout already, but since this sort of institutional memory-holing of relevant history regarding serial harassers is precisely the sort of social convention that serial harassers rely upon in order to keep getting away with what they do, alongside the fallacy that harassers are obvious deviants who could never be part of my well-ordered community (when in fact they are commonly those with the well-liked/respected status to be given the benefit of the doubt when/if reports are made against them), it’s worth reading about the mistakes of communities with which one isn’t familiar so that one can learn about patterns to watch out for and procedural standards which need to be known and practised by decision-makers.

Media Circus: Hockeynomics edition

Good news everybody! Our esteemed Treasurer Joe Hockey just told the Kiwis that the Australian economy is not in crisis nor even in trouble!

What news story/commentary/analysis has grabbed your attention lately?

Friday Hoyden quick hit: Linda Brodsky

A piece came across my Twitter feed a few weeks ago about an American doctor who died earlier this year. Rebecca Greenfield wrote describing the pay discrimination her mother experienced, the retaliation she suffered when she protested, and the enormous personal cost of the years she spent fighting the injustice.