Big Brother UK Season 10 is well underway. I’ll be posting the odd BB clip to illustrate common conversations and issues, as a discussion trigger. You don’t have to watch the show to join in; the issues are standalone and… Read More ›
bullying
More outrage over sex ed for youngsters: The Hormone Factory
Ostrich parents in Queensland are said to be up in arms today about a sex education website aimed at Grade 7 students. The site, thehormonefactory.com (warning:website sound), contains a selection of pubertal anatomy and physiology, basic sex information, talk about… Read More ›
Big Brother Friday Fauxpology: Mo’s been in the headmaster’s office before, hasn’t he?
Just thought I’d revisit Big Brother UK with a little “Oh no he didn’t!” post.
As clip one begins, Mikey, the blind cross-dressing Scotsman radio dude, has just had his hair shaved off as part of a task. The task involved the housemates cutting or clipping their hair such that the combined hair filled a flask to the top.
[Transcripts/summaries of clips are at the bottom of the post.]
I’m guessing Mo would justify this action, outside the house, as being just him, paragon of equalism, treating everyone equally badly. You can sure tell that he’s been in that hot chair before, and knows exactly the script to follow, though he still stumbles over it. It grates.
Misogyny hurting men
Here’s an example of misogyny hurting men — because the ultimate put-down of a man is to equate him to a woman. If we fight [for] the idea that being a woman is not something to be sneered at, we… Read More ›
Daria and other rebels
In comments to Lauredhel’s post about the princessification of Dora the Explorer, Helen and I have been discussing other animated girl characters whom we enjoy. We’re both fans of Daria, whom Helen epitomises beautifully as “dry as dust”. Daria is enduring high school until she can get away to further studies outside her conformist suburban community.
High-school homophobia
So my son, who turns 13 in a few months, started in high-school last week. This week, a class was disrupted when the teacher left for five minutes and a scuffle broke out between two boys. One boy had been… Read More ›