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 ›
moral panics
Word of the Day – Hyperbole
Hyperbole (pronounced /ha??p??b?li/ hye-PER-buh-lee; “HYE-per-bowl” is a common mispronunciation) comes from ancient Greek “????????” (meaning excess or exaggeration) and is a figure of speech in which statements are exaggerated. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create… Read More ›
Sub-editing fail
AKA How the addition of a single word results in a headline that doesn’t provoke the Laura Norder crowd to clutch their pearls.
Assuming, of course, that one doesn’t want to confect a controversy via a plausibly deniable misrepresentation.
Censor board hacked
The Australian Government’s Classification board website has been hacked. The text:
More at
Somebody Think of the Children.
A bit juvenile? Nos. Not particularly helpful? Sure. Illegal? Yup.
But I can’t help but have a leetle soft spot lurking in my heart for humorous, non-destructive civil disobedience in the face of bulldozing authoritarianism.
More confected fat-baby epidemic panic? The “increasing trend” that isn’t.
This supposed ongoing upward trend in birthweight has been used as an excuse for absurd levels of inductions of labour and skyrocketing C sections, and a springboard for blaming lazy, old, fat, neglectful mothers for the “obesity epidemic”, childhood cancer,… Read More ›
Quickhit: Background Briefing on Australia’s Looming Internet Censorship
For those interested in Minister Stephen Conroy’s plans to introduce mandatory internet censorship to Australia, check out Wendy Carlisle’s show on the Background Briefing. ABC Radio National: Conroy’s clean feed It’s well-researched, and it explains the issue from square one,… Read More ›
Alcohol and Breastfeeding: NHMRC buys into abstinence-only messaging
Last month, I started talking a little bit about alcohol, pregnancy, and abstinence-only messages, in a takedown of one particular study which failed to link alcohol and preterm birth, but said it did. “Bad science on booze in pregnancy: Women… Read More ›
Quickhit: Maternity Services Review and Homebirth
Further to our thread on the Maternity Services Review, check out ABC Unleashed: Homebirth ban, by Alison Leemen The Maternity Services Review report, released last weekend, was an attempt to delivery continuity of care and midwife-led services to more Australian… Read More ›
Bad science on booze in pregnancy: Women infantilised with absolutist messages
I read this article in The West a little while ago, and it hit my bad-science peeve button. “Half of WA women drink throughout pregnancy“. This beat-up is certainly not alone in drawing conclusions that do not follow from the… Read More ›
Antibreastfeeding Bingo
We’ve done the other Bingos, and this one’s long overdue. With a nod to all the misogynist trolls out there who’ve provided the material for this card, I present: Antibreastfeeding Bingo! It’s focussed on public breastfeeding conversations, not “mommy wars”… Read More ›
Hoyden About Town 