Guest post from Tansy Rayner Roberts: Joanna Russ is one of the mighty legends of the science fiction field that everyone needs to know about. As well as writing many important novels and short stories, she was a brutal literary critic, a brilliant academic, an unflinching feminist, and a devastatingly articulate commentator on gender, not only in science fiction but in the history of culture.
Politics
Numbers in the House
Speculation abounds as to whether the Gillard minority government will have the numbers on the House floor to pass the Budget on May 8 without Peter Slipper’s vote, especially since Andrew Wilkie remains rather miffed.
How turning voters off politics helps US pollies get elected – will it work in Australia too?
Intriguing analysis in this post from Steven Pearlstein in the Washington Post, although Jay Rosen notes that he doesn’t cover the complementary role played in this game by the news media playing up the confected outrage.
Friday Hoyden: Kathrine Switzer
In 1967 an angry race official tried to stop Kathrine Switzer from running the Boston Marathon. He failed, she changed her society.
LNP staffer quits after anti-feminist rant in email
He sent an email to a Queensland feminist about the superiority of men, telling her to “get a life” and calling her a “sourpuss” for writing an opinion piece about the need for more women in parliament. Some media advisor, eh?
Roseanne Barr wants the US presidential debate back on topic #righteousrant
Roseanne Barr on Ann and Mitt Romney and the Mommy Wars: “why bring out this fake issue again now? Could it be to divert the conversation from the continued restrictions being placed on women’s reproductive rights and make us forget that both parties are socialists for their own causes…?” – and Daily Beast puts this righteous rant from a woman who is running for POTUS in the Entertainment section.
Children and tantrums
A six year old in handcuffs. WTF?
Look what I found: a picture of mass murderer Breivik that doesn’t play to his script
Why can’t you do better than all those fist-salute photos, media? Why are you publishing the shot that he wants people to see?
Naomi Wolf on the problems with Western feminism
This is a very interesting article from Naomi Wolf about the future of global feminism and where she sees Western feminism as having gone wrong. It’s very optimistic about global feminism but not so much about Western feminism. To be… Read More ›
Sunday Singalong: M.I.A.
To prove that I am not just about the 90’s, here’s M.I.A. for Sunday Singalong. M.I.A. is the thrillingly clever Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam: a British musician, painter, and director of Sri Lankan descent. She readily incorporates politics into her music… Read More ›