Month: August 2013

Feminism at the festival

Published by

The sexism experienced by Julia Gillard isn’t anything unusual for women in Australia said Maxine McKew. “It’s no secret that women have a tough time of it in Australian life. Whether they are in politics, or academia or the corporate sector,” said McKew. Despite recognising the misogynistic nature of some of the commentary surrounding Australia’s first female Prime Minister, McKew said that Gillard should have kept quiet. “It seems to me Julia had a choice. Outrageous things were said about her, but I think she could have taken the moral high ground.” If Gillard wanted a debate about gender she shouldn’t have made it about herself, said Mc Kew. The idea that women should ‘be nice’ is a hugely limiting concept. Catherine Deveny pointed out that girls would be described as bossy, where the same behaviour in a boy would just be considered good leadership skills. “And then women are opinionated where men just have opinions, women are mouthy but men just talk,” said Deveny. Promotions and pay rises are awarded to men more often …

Can Labor ascend from the badlands?

Published by

The heated debate in the SCU marquee on Saturday afternoon at the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival was over the current problems associated with Australia’s Labor Party. The session was brimming with punters just as passionate about Labor’s fate as the panel of expert political journalists and ex-politicians. Disillusionment with the Labor Party and indeed politics in general is widespread in Australia— as serious debates around policy are continuously overshadowed by endless polls, PR campaigns and election stunts. According to James Button, political journalist, author and former speechwriter to Kevin Rudd, Labor has been the main vehicle for change in Australian policy over the last fifty years. However, for the last ten years the party has been in a terrible state. “Unfortunately it’s not a great party anymore,” Button said. “It’s not embedded in the life of Australia anymore and its policy making is opaque.” Veteran political journalist Alex Mitchell, agreed that Labor no longer had the same ethos as it held earlier. “The notion that the Labor party is still working for the working classes …

The end of the age of deference: liberating the sexuality spectrum

Published by

Sexuality has come a long way, but why is being gay, lesbian, queer or transgender or why are certain sexual behaviors still categorized and stigmatised? The panelists at the SCU tent opened up this controversial topic on Saturday morning with lighthearted wit, yet the debate still had serious undertones. Author of Gasia: Adventures in the Queer East and self-confessed gay, Benjamin Law talked about the challenges of growing up in a conservative Queensland community as both Asian and gay. “People would tell me that they didn’t consider me to be Asian, which was meant as a compliment,” Law said. “When you’re a teenager, you want to fit in, so you defer to your friends.” Another proud gay man, gold Olympic medalist and author of Twists and Turns, Matthew Mitcham, also faced challenges growing up gay. “I knew I was gay from an early age but I tried to be straight,” he explained. “Kids pick-up on hetero society and see it as ‘normal’. They just want to become invisibilised.” The other panelists, Mary-Lou Stephens and Tom …

‘I’m a feminist and…’

Published by

Jane Caro doesn’t hate Alan Jones. He’s the gift that just keeps on giving. Jones’ misogynistic remarks gave life to the Destroy the Joint Twitter hashtag and it was his comments a week later that bolstered #destroythejoint, and stopped its initial viral run from dying out. What Caro had started one night after a couple of glasses of wine has been picked up by Jenna Price and others and has morphed into a movement. The group’s lobbying cost 2UE over $3 million in advertising pulled from Jones’ show and saw Mercedes reclaim Jones’ personal Mercedes Benz. “Now that is real clout. That represents real world consequences for sexism and for continuing to bank roll sexism,” said Caro. Destroy the Joint was the rebrand that feminism needed, said Catherine Deveny. “There are so many men, but mostly women, who have been listening to the radio, making phone calls, tweeting and having an impact” said Deveny. “It’s enabled women whose personal circumstances might prevent them being involved in more hands on campaigning to be involved.” Although she confesses …