Quick hit: Catholic boys' school does good thing

From the North Shore Times, on Stuff, earlier in the week:

Teenage boys are learning a thing or two about fatherhood at Rosmini College.

The year 12 students are taking part in a Plunket tots and toddlers course as part of their NCEA studies.

Director of religious education Steve Mills says it is just as important for boys to learn about parenting as it is for girls. They need to know it is a team effort to raise a child.

"Society to some extent still expects women to be the ones to care for children and that needs to change," says Mr Mills.

Click through for the rest.

Hurrah!

thank you, mr borrows

backbenchers on channel 7 had a gem of a moment this week. on the panel were hon annette king, john boscowan, sue bradford and chester borrows. as you would expect, there was a debate about the amendment to s59 of the crimes act. as many of you will know, mr boscowan has a member's bill drawn from the ballot which seeks to amend s59 even further. mr boscowan's describes his bill as bringing in the "chester borrows" amendment, which would have brought in a detailed description of what "reasonable force" might entail.

well, the gem was to hear mr borrows tell mr boscowan that the bill was in fact a "nanny state" state amendment that sought to go into people's homes and tell them exactly in what manner they were allowed to hit their children. i'm sure i haven't got the wording exactly right, but it was in effect what mr borrows said. he totally disowned it the bill, and was thanked both by ms king and ms bradford later in the programme. it was absolutely brilliant.

i would also like to sincerely thank you mr borrows for your change of stance. please be more vocal about it.

A new lhow

This quote this morning:

"If we gave $10,000 to certain people and said 'we'll voluntarily sterilise you' then all of society would be better off. There'd be less dead children and less social problems.

"Do we really expect these children to become doctors or brain surgeons?"

Guess who?

Quick Hit: Michelle Obama on relationship stuff

From today's Herald:

..."Cute is good. But cute only lasts for so long, and then it's, Who are you as a person?," she said. "Don't look at the bankbook or the title. Look at the heart. Look at the soul.

"When you're dating a man, you should always feel good. You shouldn't be in a relationship with somebody who doesn't make you completely happy and make you feel whole."

Click through for the whole thing.

Although my favourite bit is right at the end:

In answer to a question from Couric on how she keeps her sanity, Mrs Obama replied: "I have always tried to put my kids first, and then put myself a really close second, as opposed to fifth or seventh.

"One thing that I've learned from male role models is that they don't hesitate to invest in themselves."

Awesomeness!

things i've been reading lately...

... which i'd like to share. most of them were posted a little while back, but nonetheless, if you haven't come across them yet, i'd recommend you have a read.

i'll start with this excellent post on rape culture 101 up at shakesville. it should be required reading for absolutely everyone.

then there's this from queen of thorns on the whole "it's not sex, it's rape" meme, with a grammatical take on the issue which is quite enlightening.

on the issue of ACC support for victims of sexual abuse, ludditejourno shows us that the number of claims has not been increasing, but the rejection of claims is.

the standard also has an excellent series of posts on ACC, amonst other things, proving that ACC is not in crisis.

i put up a post a while back about david letterman sleeping with female employees, and the sexual harassment issues it raises. i recall that rosemary mcleod wrote about this some time back, writing off feminist concerns as foolish because people at work have sex with each other all the time (really? i must have been working at the wrong places. or maybe not). way to miss the point rosemary. this post over at shakesville might help you understand the point a little better. here's an excerpt:

...a boss who makes a habit of sleeping with subordinates creates a workplace environment that has the potential to communicate to all female staffers that sleeping with the boss is an expectation of the job. … It's an issue of the workplace culture being created...

And the women who had affairs with Letterman aren't the only consideration. Did any women feel compelled to leave their jobs because they didn't feel safe or comfortable in a workplace environment in which the boss made a habit of sleeping with female subordinates?

And did Letterman's habit tacitly condone the same behavior among senior male staff? In which case it's not just one boss who makes a habit of sleeping with female subordinates, but multiple male bosses who have the same habit. And, if that's the case, were all of them responsible partners who never overtly coerced anyone?

It's just not as simple as Letterman's individual relationships with individual women -- and pointing out how this stuff reverberates through an office environment doesn't require infantilizing the women who were sexually involved with Letterman. They could still have agency, and other women still could have felt coerced by the workplace culture.

there has been further disclosure by a former employee about the hostile atmosphere created by mr letterman's behaviour, also posted at hoydens, which proves the point even further.

this very long post at hoydens about a recent law and order episode entitled "dignity" provides really useful and in-depth discussion of issues around disability and abortion.

and in case you missed it, here's sue bradford's valedictory speech (no video link - if anyone has one, feel free to add into comments). and a rather nice extended interview with her on radio nz (nine to noon, 10.06am). definitely a huge loss to parliament.

Quick hit: World gender gap survey out - Aotearoa fifth best

Here's some bits of the article in the Herald:

New Zealand has maintained its fifth placing on the Global Gender Gap Index, an annual list compiled by the World Economic Forum to assesses countries on how well they divide their resources and opportunities between their male and female populations.

Women remain far behind men in economic and political power globally, but the Nordic countries come closest to closing the gender gap, according to the survey of 134 nations released yesterday.

Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden have topped the index since it was first released in 2006.

They did so again this year, but Iceland replaced Norway at the top of the list with a score of 82.8 per cent, meaning it came closest to 100 per cent gender equality...

New Zealand, with a score of 78.8 per cent, was fifth in the rankings...

At the bottom of the list were Qatar, Egypt, Mali, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Benin, Pakistan, Chad and Yemen in last place with a score of 46.1 per cent.

...While many nations have made some progress toward gender equality, no country has closed the gap when it comes to economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, political empowerment, and health and survival.

"Girls and women make up one half of the world's population," the forum's founder and executive chairman, Klaus Schwab, said in a statement, "and without their engagement, empowerment and contribution, we cannot hope to achieve a rapid economic recovery nor effectively tackle global challenges such as climate change, food security and conflict."

Saadia Zahidi, head of the forum's Women Leaders and Gender Parity Program, told a news conference launching the survey that of the 115 countries in the original index four years ago, 99 have made progress in closing their gaps - but 16 haven't "and have actually deteriorated".

The survey shows that on health, "the world is doing fairly well," closing over 96 per cent of the gap in resources between women and men, Zahidi said.

On education, about 93 per cent of the gap has been closed but on economic participation and opportunity only 60 per cent has been closed and on political empowerment only 17 per cent.

There's much more there if you make with the clicky. Although quite why the Herald has put it in the Life & Style section, as opposed to like you know News, I don't know.

And Idiot/Savant has more lovely linkage, including the actual report itself and a pretty picture. Awww.

Pope goes the weasel

Mr Scott has hit the nail right on its shiny flat head for me this morning:


I'm not a Catholic, although I used to pretend to be one. Were I still within the bosom of Mother Church I'd be deeply reconsidering about now, as the Pope gives the least progressive elements of the Anglican church an out.

My partner is Anglican. The church he attends has co-vicars - a married couple in fact. Both of them are amazing and inspired me to have a wee re-think about my rejection of organised religion. While I've discovered that I still lack the essential element of the religious (faith) I have a lot of respect for the good work that many Anglicans, and indeed Catholics, do in the areas of social justice. I fail to see how the Vatican's basic endorsement of discrimination towards those who are not straight men can be a step forwards for humanity. For me Christianity must surely be about love, and this is so clearly not.

MMP means more representation

The 2009 social report has some interesting figures of women's representation in the house:

The majority of women elected to Parliament in 2008 were list MPs (54 per cent). List MPs have outnumbered electorate MPs among women elected to Parliament in four of the last five general elections.

New Zealand has considerably higher female representation in national government than Australia (27 per cent), Canada (22 per cent), the United Kingdom (20 per cent) and the United States (17 per cent). Interestingly all these countries have non-proportional electoral systems.

modern life

i like to think of myself as someone who cares about the environment. i'm concientious with recycling & separate out all my paper, vegetable scraps, plastics/glass/cans and other rubbish. i try to reuse plastic containers and bags as much as i can. i avoid buying bottled water unless i'm desperate, use discarded boxes at pak'n'save to take my groceries home, and carry my shopping sans plastic bags from as many retailers as i'm able. i haven't planted trees myself, although my garden is full of them.

but there is one area of my life where i am unable (or more accurately, unwilling) to reduce my carbon footprint. appliances. i love them. i can not possibly imagine living a life without my dishwasher, clothes dryer, dehumidifier, heater, rice-cooker, food-processor, microwave, computer, mobile phone and electric blanket.

i'm talking about the (basically) non-essentials here, ie not just the stove, vacuum cleaner, telephone and washing machine which the majority of households couldn't manage without. i'm talking about all those extra devices which exist purely to save time or to provide comfort. in this regard, i'm a total urbanite. for me, a fun holiday does not involve camping in a tent, cooking on an open fire, relieving myself in a hole in the ground, and bathing in the nearest lake or river. no way. i want a decent motel/hotel with all the modern comforts available.

i know it's naughty, and i often feels quite decadent when the dishwasher, the dryer, the laptop and the dehumidifier are all going at the same time. but i can't seem to help myself. some of these appliances are crucial to me as a working mum with a hectic lifestyle. i just don't have energy at the end of a busy day to be doing a whole pile of dishes or hanging out and taking in the clothes. the dehumidifier is a health requirement - i find that my asthma is a lot worse if i don't use it in the winter months.

but most of them are just habit, a part of modern living. but i wouldn't have any of them taken away. i grew up in the era before mobile phones, but now i can't imagine living without mine. i grew up writing with pen and paper, but now i only feel comfortable composing on the computer. i love the concept of electronic books and MP3s (even though i don't own these), so that you can have access to thousands of songs or books in one easy and small device.

generally, i think progress is a wonderful thing, and i don't tend to look back into the past with any kind of nostalgia. what i'd really like, though, is to be able to enjoy my appliances without any kind of guilt. to me, they represent freedom. in the sense that they free up my time, which means that i can blog, i can volunteer for various organisations, i can be politically active, i can do all sorts of things that i wouldn't have been able to do if i didn't have these appliances.

i think of most of my appliances as feminists devices that enable to me achieve and that give me choices i wouldn't otherwise have had. so what's the best way to mitigate my huge carbon footprint without giving up my beloved appliances?

Today in 1942 women finally allowed to be on juries

From NZ History:

The [Women Jurors] Act provided for women between the ages of 25 and 60 to have their names placed on the jury list on the same basis as men – if they so desired. New Zealand’s first woman juror was Miss E.R. Kingsman, who sat on a case at the Auckland Supreme Court in 1943. When she was interviewed by a National Film Unit crew, she raised the possibility that one day there might even be woman judges – a thoroughly radical idea at that time.

The introduction of women jurors was one of a number of important milestones for New Zealand women in the 1940s which were in part driven by the demands of war and the absence of servicemen overseas. The first women police officers completed their training in October 1941. In June 1945 Mary Anderson, who had been a Justice of the Peace since 1943, became reputedly the first woman in New Zealand to sit on a Magistrate's Court bench. In January 1946 Anderson and Mary Dreaver became the first women appointed to the Legislative Council.

Relatively few women took up the offer of voluntary service on juries in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1963 the Act was amended to include the names of all adult women on the jury list, with an absolute right of withdrawal. Later changes standardised the jury responsibilities of women and men. Today, everyone between the ages of 20 and 65 (with some exceptions) who is resident within a specific distance from a court is required to attend if summoned. A person may be excused if jury service would cause serious inconvenience or hardship.

Click through for links to further interesting articles about this issue.

Quick hit: Sexual Violence Taskforce report out

From today's Herald:

The justice system could be tilted to make it easier to convict sex offenders if the Government adopts proposals in a controversial taskforce report.

The report from the two-year taskforce for action on sexual violence, issued yesterday, would reverse the usual rules of evidence for sex cases only - disclosing previous offences and complaints against an accused offender, directing juries that they may draw an "adverse inference" if an accused opts to stay silent, and directing them that "beyond reasonable doubt" does not mean "no doubt" that the accused is guilty.

Other proposals include full funding for rape crisis agencies and an entitlement to two years of counselling for all sex abuse victims - a stark contrast to new Accident Compensation Corporation rules restricting counselling to victims with diagnosed mental illnesses and for a maximum of 16 weeks at a time.

Click through for the rest.

Sorry I don't have time to write more about this (and won't until next week, so any other THMers feel free to pick this up!), but do check it out - there are some real fish hooks mentioned in the article and they are only proposals at this stage (which is probably good, I'm personally uncomfortable about the one about negative inference from silence on the part of the accused).

For wrath, fury, etc, read anger

Italy's worst advertisement, Brain-dead Berlusconi, is at it again, this time with what Reuters reporter Deepa Babington calls his "cutting remark about a female rival's lack of beauty": that she is "more beautiful than intelligent". Rosy Bindi is a senior left-wing politician, but Ms Babington can't rely on us getting Berlusconi's point from her photo - she has to describe her immediately as "matronly, bespectacled", nudge nudge.

Italian women have reacted strongly to this "insult", with 97,000 signing the "Women offended by the premier" appeal, Facebook sites and protests. Bindi's response, "I'm not a woman at your disposal" has appeared on T-shirts and placards.

So how is this anger described? As a "rare public backlash/feminist backlash" - a term much more accurately used for right-wing attacks on feminism.

Reporters must have a handy little compenidum of well-worn phrases lurking somewhere on their computers, ready to leap to their fingers as soon as the words "women", "feminist" and "protest" appear. Women objecting to sexism never, you understand, express justifiable anger -no, behaviour such as Berlusconi's always "unleashes their fury", or, as here, "opens the floodgates of female wrath".

And for good measure, Ms Babington (who clearly knows what her bosses want) saw fit to end the story by reminding us of S.B.'s earlier "swipe" at Bindi (which I won't deign to repeat here). The Dom-Post subs liked this so much that they used it as the large boldface caption for the PM's photo, even though it was months old and had little to do with the current story.

Quick hit: How dare our Nanny State offer girls a vaccine against cancer!

From Stuff:

A letter sent to a 13-year-old girl offering her a free cervical cancer vaccine has outraged her mother, who accuses health authorities of going behind parents' backs.

Rangiora mother Nancye Price said the letter from her family's medical practice was addressed to her daughter, Hannah, who has just turned 13.

"She just twisted her face up and handed me the letter saying, 'I don't know what they want."'

Mrs Price said the unsigned letter included no information about the Gardasil vaccine, except the fact it was free.

"It was like they were inviting kids in for a lollipop," she said.

"My concern is they have bypassed parental consent. They don't know anything about our family or our children or our lifestyle."

Click through for the whole article.

Found via Family First who are of course quoted within it, and predictably manage to shoehorn in a swipe at abortion rights too.

gender testing kits

found this clip from morning report yesterday (radio nz, 8.39am) about testing kits that will tell you the gender of your baby from 2 months into the pregnancy. these are seen as controversial, in that there are fears that people will choose to abort if they have the wrong gender baby. and of course, the fear is that they are more likely to abort if there is a female feotus.

when i got pregnant, i wanted to find out the gender of my baby as soon as i was able. however, i was disappointed when the specialist who was looking after me announced that she never revealed this information to parents. it really annoyed me at the time, and it still really annoys me. i wonder if a medical professional actually has the right to withhold that information. at the time, i assumed that the doctor was always right and that i had to accept whatever i was told. "patient's rights" were a concept that had never occured to me. now that i'm older and wiser (or maybe just older!), i might actually have thought about challenging her position.

as for the fear about increased abortions, if i remember correctly, someone mentioned in the clip that there was no evidence for this happening in other countries where the test was already available. and if someone really doesn't want a daughter, they'll find ways to get rid of her, whether this test is available or not. i've heard some pretty nasty stories about female infanticide which i don't feel the need to repeat here, but it certainly isn't a modern concept. not by a long shot.

the point is that if you want to stop abortion of female foetuses, you have to improve equality for women. there's no point mucking around trying to withhold technology. it's the underlying societal values which must change. otherwise all you get is people working around the ban to achieve the same thing.

Quick hit: Work-life balance a problem for dads too

Found on the Herald's site:

A report published in the UK today suggests that more men are giving up the battle for a better work-life balance. Almost half of fathers there fail to take up their right to two weeks' paternity leave.

Research published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission also reveals that two out of five men are afraid to ask for flexible working arrangements because they think it would harm their career prospects.

They fear their commitment to their job would be questioned and it would negatively affect their chance of promotion.

"While there have been huge changes in women's participation in employment over the last 30 years, men's contribution to childcare has not increased at the same rate," say the authors of the report.

Click through for the whole thing.

It seems to me that until we give fathers access to many of the supportive provisions mothers can get then we'll continue to struggle to come to an equitable share of the child-rearing work. In my own situation if my partner wasn't keen to stay home then on days like today, when our son is sick, I guess it would be most often me who had to take the day off from my paid job.

who's exploiting who?

ok, so this my first effort at cross-posting, and am a little nervous in putting this one up here, so please can we avoid any nastiness in comments? thanx.

so, another one of the things i was thinking about but hadn't written on was the rt hon winston peters' speech recently about immigration. i haven't read the speech, and have no intention of doing so. i'd much rather beat myself around the head with a blunt instrument frankly!

but. i was having a discussion about his basic approach to immigration issues over the weekend. obviously he is trying to push buttons to generate some media coverage and support. but the problem is that there are serious issues to be discussed about immigration.

the biggest one for me is the importation of workers who will be prepared to work for worse pay and conditions than local workers, simply to avoid the level of poverty they face in their country of origin. i have a strong objection to this type of thing, and i've written about it previously at the hand mirror, particularly in regards to workers in the aged care sector. the two evils of such an approach is that 1) it reduces the wages and conditions of workers in this country and 2) it just adds to the fact that we do little to resolve poverty in their country of origin (through trade or aid).

now, we need to be having some decent and serious public debate about this issue. but we rarely are able to, mostly because of the dog-whistling and underlying racism of the winston peters approach. the fundamental difference between his approach and the one that i would take is this: he sees immigrants as exploiting this country, but i see this country as exploiting immigrants.

of course, it's not just this country - many others do the same. illegal immigrants keep the horticultural industries of many countries viable. as soon as the picking season is over, there will often be a much publicised raid that captures some number of illegals and deports them. but nothing serious is ever done, because economic prosperity depends on cheap labour.

and it never happens that any politician of note stands up and says "our country is exploiting immigrants". because there's no votes in it, of course. it's a reality that no-one wants to hear. but funnily enough, people are quite happy to hear about and absorb the myth that immigrants are exploiting our country and somehow ripping us off. which is why mr peters has been able to thrive for so many years.

pawns

and yet again, someone thinks they can tell women how they should dress:

Egypt's Al-Azhar University, the most prestigious centre of religious learning in the Sunni Muslim world, said on Thursday it will ban the face veil from female-only classrooms and residences.

"The Supreme Council of Al-Azhar has decided to ban students and teachers from wearing the niqab inside female-only classrooms, that are taught by women only," a statement said.

The ban extends to women's dormitories and to schools affiliated with the university, it said.

The face-veil, or niqab, is worn by some devout Muslim women. Local press reported that Mohammed Tantawi, head of Al-Azhar, said last week that he intended to ban the practice in the university.

The supreme council's statement added that Al-Azhar does not oppose the niqab, which it said only a minority of Muslim scholars consider an obligation, but it opposes "imprinting it on the minds of girls."

The decision came after female students who wear the niqab were banned from the women's dormitory of the state-run Cairo University.

now let me be clear, even the most staunch defenders of the niqab (face covering) will tell you that it's not required when there are only women in the room. so on the face of it, there's absolutely no harm in this ban, because there is no requirement to cover in this situation. but even so, i feel very strongly about the state (or any of its institutions) not telling women what they can wear, and in what circumstances.

and i can understand the desire by egyptian authorities to combat extremism growing in their society, of which they see the niqab being a symbol. but i can't stomach the thought that the fight against extremism has to be by control over women's bodies.

egypt is a country that has a very poor human rights record, and there is a lot of evidence that political dissent results in some extremely nasty and violent consequences. there is a history of extremism by the state to combat extremism in society. in that context, this move is much more of a worry.

al-azhar is, of course, an institution of quite some reknown. possibly the oldest ever university, it has a long and distinguished history and has produced some of the finest scholars. i'd say that it is well known to have a strong liberal bias, and certainly doesn't tend to produce scholars of the bent of, for example, the saudi conservatives.

i have to say that i'm not particularly surprised by this move. i understand that some scholars at al-azhar provided support for the french government's ban of the headscarf in public schools. and there is certainly precedent for bans like this in other countries with a muslim majority population - tunisia, turkey and the sultanate of oman come immediately to mind.

though not surprised, i'm definitely not happy with this move. it smacks too much of ends justifying means, and of women being pawns in a political game. the best way i know of combatting extremism is through social justice and poverty reduction.

A few events this week

Monday 19th October - National Day of Action against funding cuts to sexual abuse counselling:
AUCKLAND: Meet at 12pm, Albert Park band rotunda, CBD

WELLINGTON: Meet at 12.30pm, Cenotaph

CHRISTCHURCH: Meet at 12.30pm, Speakers Corner, Cathedral Square (beside Chess
Board)

DUNEDIN: Meet at 3pm, ACC offices (Corner Maclaggan & Clark Streets)
Facebook page here.


Wednesday 21st October - Drinking Liberally Akl w Bunny McDiarmand from Greenpeace:
London Bar, cnr Queen & Wellesley Sts, from 7pm.
More on Facebook


Thursday 22nd October - Drinking Liberally Wgtn w Celia Wade-Brown on the future of local government in Wellington
The Southern Cross, Abel Smith St, from 5.30pm
Also more on Facebook

On ACC...

When writing about my analysis of sexual violence and prisons, one of the points I keep coming back to is how centred it is on the perpertrator. It's not a new or original thought to point out that everything about the way a criminal law system deals with sexual violence is entirely focused on 'the offender'. The follow-on from this is our society's way of dealing with sexual violence revolves around the court system.

A few year ago, I wrote about a nursing student, who was raped by a fellow student, after a typical, ridiculous, defence, the rapist got off. She had to drop out of school, because the school wouldn't do anything to ensure she wouldn't have to see her rapist regularly. I think it's important to understand how structural the problems within our justice system are. These systems are not designed to support survivors of sexual abuse, and therefore they will always fail at that task.

But...

But, in New Zealand, we do have a system that is set up to meet, to revolve around, what survivors of sexual violence need. There are many things it cannot provide - ACC will not help student find a way to continue to study without seeing her rapist. But it can provide counselling and income support.

I don't have any personal experience, or depth of knowledge, of ACCs sensitive claims system. I am sure, as it currently operates, it has flaws, and some people fail to get the help that they need. But, at the moment, it can be centred around what a survivor needs, based on her relationship with her counsellor (or his).

If these changes go through, it will be much harder, maybe impossible for ACC to be survivor-centre. Currently, a survivor can have up to four sessions of counselling to disclose their abuse, but the changes will cut this down to one session (or maybe two, Peter Jensen, the person in charge of the proposal, was unclear on nine to noon).

At the moment a survivor can access up to 50 sessions with a counsellor before they have to obtain a psychological assessment. The changes will require psychological assessments much earlier in the process, and that process will be directed much more by clinicians. In order to get funded counselling, a survivor of sexual abuse will require a DSM IV diagnosis.

This is not a survivor-centred approach to sexual abuse; it is a clinician-centred approach.

ACC has already begun tightening the screws. And in doing so it has turned funded counselling into another area where a survivor has to prove her (or his) experience – maybe not beyond reasonable doubt, but close.

Dr Kim McGregor explained how ACC restricts access to counselling on an interview on 9 to Noon 9 to Noon. ACC declined cover for a young boy who had been sexually abused as the behaviour described: mood swings, tearfulness, and sitting alone sucking his thumb, did not necessarily have a clinical link with sexual abuse. They said these behaviours could just as well have been caused by settling into school and a new environment rather than the sexual abuse events.

Imagine the difficulty of someone who has survived sexual abuse will have in proving that the difficulties she (or he) is experiencing are directly and only a result of the abuse. Those who had what insurance companies call ‘pre-existing conditions’, could find support denied – if they had previously been depressed, how can they know that depression after the sexual abuse is a result of that abuse? (not a question that could be asked by anyone who cared about the experiences of survivors of sexual abuse, but a question that is being asked by ACC). While those who do not seek help for a long time, will have to prove the effects the abuse has had on them, and the more complex their survival strategies in the intervening time, the harder it will be for them to access the support they need.

The parallels between the perfect victim of the court system and the perfect survivor of ACC are strong. In both cases the onus of proof falls on those have been abused to prove either that there was abuse, or that that abuse affected them. Just as previous sexual history is used against survivors in the court system, ACC can use previous mental health history against survivors.

My point is not just that the changes to ACC need to be fought (although they do – Monday is a national day of action – come along), but to show how important, and how fragile, a survivor centred approach to sexual violence there is.

As well as pushing against these threats to survivor support, I want us to push further. I want us to imagine what a response to sexual violence which prioritised survivors look like.

A real knees-up

Enough doom and gloom - I thought my first post as a Hand-Mirrorista should be up-beat. As an ancient 70s feminist I always get a real buzz from stories like the one in today's Dom-Post about Dr Vickie Shim.

She's just beaten 600 other people from around the world to take out the Young Investigator Award from the International Federation of Medical and Biological Engineering. She did it by creating a computer model of the human knee - the most complex and most injured joint in the body - to "predict what's happening inside without having to cut it open".

When I left school you didn't see stories like this. Ever. So I read this and I think "Young woman. Brilliant bioengineer. You go, girl!"

On the other hand... the same rugby game playing at the same time on no less than three TV channels???

Linkage

Unsafe abortions kill 70,000 women worldwide each year

This woman has founded a (not vacuous) good news website

The Indian army is hiring prostitutes to cut suicide rates amongst soldiers stationed on the Kashmir border:

Catholic Church goes berserk once more

A couple of events at the University of Auckland this week

1. Campus Feminist Collective's AGM - Friday at 1pm at Strata

2. Free screening of "8" - tonight (Wednesday) at 6.30pm in Engineering Lecture Theatre 1401. Here's a little bit about the film from the Stand Up NZ group who have organised the showing:

This is a great movie that we think you will enjoy. 8 directors give their impression of one millennium goal in 8 short films. Run time is approx 107min long and will start at 6.30pm. If you cant come for the whole thing, thats fine, you're still welcome!

The directors who have contributed include Jane Campion, who shot in Australia on the goal of ensuring environmental sustainability. While all the Millenium Development Goals are relevant to women, readers may be particularly interested in the short films on Goals 3 (promote gender equality) and 5 (improve maternal health).

Researcher looking for women for study

Thanks to Gloriann for sharing this information with me in the hopes that it will help identify some more women who can take part:

Hi. I am looking for 6-8 women to take part in a university research project aimed at assisting women:

Wishing to leave an abusive relationship

If you have left an abusive relationship over 6 months ago, I invite you to share your knowledge of the steps required in leaving.

The three areas the research will cover are:
1. What resources helped you?
2. What were the barriers you encountered?
3. What solutions did you find?

Your identity will be kept strictly confidential.

Please contact Gloriann Cini
Ph. 021 900 154
glorianncini at hotmail dot com

THANK YOU

This project has been reviewed and approved by the Massey University Human Ethics Committee: Northern, Application 09/039. If you have any concerns about the conduct of this research, please contact Dr Denise Wilson, Chair, Massey University Human Ethics Committee: Northern, telephone 09 414 0800 x9070, email humanethicsnorth@massey.ac.nz

Yes you have found us out

Srsly, what drugs do these people take?

Quick hit: Gee, why doesn't Lagerfeld just tell us what he really thinks?

Via the Herald:

German designer Karl Lagerfeld has waded into the debate on too-thin models, telling a German publication that no one wants to look at chubby women on the runway.

His comments come a week after popular German women's magazine Brigitte announced it would no longer use professional models for its photo shoots.

"Fat mummies sit there in front of the television with their chip packets and say skinny models are ugly," Lagerfeld told Focus magazine in an interview published yesterday.

The world of beautiful clothes was ultimately about "dreams and illusions", he added, and no one really wanted to see overweight women.

Click through for the rest.

I guess I'm confused about what Mr Lagerfeld considers "overweight."

Also I prefer popcorn to chips, but otherwise, yep I'm all about the sitting in front of telly calling skinny people ugly. It's my preferred leisure activity. /sarcasm

Stops Cut to ACC Funding - action stations!

Click here for the Stop Cuts blog and over here for the No to ACC blog.

Click here for the Facebook group.

And keep your eyes peeled for the forthcoming event - plans are underway for a national day of action on the issue on the 19th of October, in at least Dunedin, Auckland and Wellington.

Plus for those in the Queen City there is an information and campaign stall at 281 Karangahape Rd today, where you can sign a petition to oppose the cuts. As of right now almost 3500 people have signed already.

Well done to all those people involved in organising this stuff. It's important, and worthwhile, and I hope the campaign succeeds.

Anne Else joins The Hand Mirroristas

We are beyond stoked to be adding to the team here Anne Else, who currently blogs at Elsewoman, and describes herself as an "editor, writer, grumpy second wave feminist." Thanks so much to AnneE for contacting us to volunteer, we are really really looking forward to your contributions!

Quick hit: Have women gone off manly men?

Dita de Boni looks at this in her Keeping Mum blog on the Herald site:

There's evidence, according to this report, to suggest that when women are more fertile, they are attracted to masculine men and those with 'dissimilar' genetics, while when they are not fertile they like the caring, sharing type of man with boyish features.

The millions of women currently taking the contraceptive pill worldwide do not have fertile days, and are therefore - the theory goes - rejecting Neanderthal man as a potential mate at an alarming rate.

Conversely, it has also been shown that a woman is more attractive to men during her fertile time, and so, if she's never fertile, she is 'restricting' her ability to be attractive to the type of man that also wants a real "opposite" as a mate.

Result: men and women really are becoming more alike.

It would be amazing to think the contraceptive pill had that much of an impact on our evolution as a species (though of course it's had a monumental effect on our social life and culture).

But perhaps there are other factors at play?

Click through for the whole thing.

NZ Herald sparks facepalm

From this article.

Auckland City Council parks officer Graeme Davies followed a woman and child around the Domain's Wintergardens pavilion yesterday afternoon concerned that the little girl, who looked to be about 2 years old, was Aisling... She looked a lot like the girl that's been in the media. A council ranger approached the woman and asked who the little girl was. She said, 'My daughter', but she was Asian with long dark hair and the girl was European."

I am glad to see the police making the [I can't believe it is necessary] move of asking Aucklanders not to persecute Asian woman over this. Perhaps the time is also right to remind Aucklanders that there are a number of very legit reasons why an "Asian" woman's daughter might look "European".

Campus security, yeah right

Shame on Auckland Uni for not allowing Uighur human rights activist Rebiya Kadeer to speak on campus. Great to show their commitment to free speech, academic freedom and critic and conscience and all that.

Unwed mothers in South Koreas

The New York times ran an interesting article on unwed mothers in South Korea who have set up their own lobby group.

Money quote:

"The fledgling group of women — only 40 are involved so far — one of the great ironies of South Korea. The government and commentators fret over the country’s birthrate, one of the world’s lowest, and deplore South Korea’s international reputation as a baby exporter for foreign adoptions.

Yet each year, social pressure drives thousands of unmarried women to choose between abortion, which is illegal but rampant, and adoption, which is considered socially shameful but is encouraged by the government. The few women who decide to raise a child alone risk a life of poverty and disgrace.

Nearly 90 percent of the 1,250 South Korean children adopted abroad last year, most of them by American couples, were born to unmarried women, according to the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs."

A post about irrelevancies

Further to Deborah's Ground Rules Post of Awesomeness months back, let's just clarify a few things. This has been rattling around in my head for some time now, particularly in the wake of what happened to the women who raised concerns about Richard Worth.

In order to be the victim of harassment is it not necessary that you be:

• a virgin, or at the least virginal in conduct
• married
• a parent
• uninterested in, or disliking of, sexual activities
• a woman
• heterosexual
• demurely dressed
• brunette
• not considered attractive by the mainstream media (apologies for the double negative)
• wearing little or no makeup

I'm sure readers can add suggestions of their own.

I really really hate this stupid idea that harassment, rape, abuse, etc can only happen to someone who fits some ridiculous stereotype of innocence straight out of fairytales from Ye Olden Tymes. All that should matter is that the attention and/or actions are unwanted. Full stop.

Cupcake's little sister

Feminist cookies, by sajbrfem, here's an, errr, taster:


sajbrfem defines feminist cookies as follows:

we talk about feminist cookies all the time, that idea that sometimes people expect to be rewarded for doing the the things that, really, when examined, come down to meeting the minimum standards of decent behavior anyway.

There's quite a range up there and I am jealous of her icing writing abilities.

More Sarah Haskins fun

A tale of two t-shirts

aka Feminism and Misogyny are not opposites that cancel each other out.

Here's a t-shirt for all the Anti-Feminazi crew out there:

Eh, we don't hate women in general. In fact we are all for the advancement of women. This shirt design was brought about with the FEMENAZI in mind. And being equal opportunity offenders, check out our MISOGYNIST T - shirt ( don't grab your dictionary there Einstein ).

What's that I hear you say? Where's the equal opportunity hating in this? Well look no further because the T-Shirt Binge brains have you covered with their dandy Mysoginist t-shirt:

I particularly liked how they spelt Misogynist* two different ways. And the whole thing with the FEMENAZI. Call me old-fashioned but I think it's a bit dangerous for people who can't spell to be making up t-shirts with words on them and stuff.


* I think I have an idea for a new cocktail - Miso soup and gin. Mmmm, yummy.

Event: Pay Equity High Tea at the Alberton

Come along to this great afternoon tea served on Alberton china. Asparagus rolls, scones and cupcakes galore.

We will hear from Hon Professor Margaret Wilson, DCNZM about the crucial importance of Pay Equity and why we are talking about women’s issues...again!

Scrumptious High Tea and access to Alberton house and gardens is included in the charge of $30 waged and $20 unwaged.

Mrs Kerr‐Taylor was a leading Auckland suffragist, so her former house is a fitting setting for a rally for Pay Equity and a renewal of activism on issues affecting women.

Please RSVP to Arna Metcalfe on 027 672 8148 or at arnametcalfe@xnet.co.nz or Pam Nuttall at pam.nuttall@xtra.co.nz

mr letterman in trouble again

now dave letterman is in the news again, and if you haven't followed the scandal, i'll summarise it very briefly. mr letterman has admitted to sleeping with some of the female staff that work on his show. he made this revelation because some guy blackmailed him about it. mr litterick has an excellent post about the value of that action, and i need say no more about it here. mr letterman went to the police, and they managed to catch the blackmailer. there was a grand jury convened to determine whether or not there was a case against the blackmailer, at which event mr letterman testified.

at this point, he realised he may as well put the whole story in the public arena, as he knew it would get out sooner or later. by doing so, he could at least have his version of events out there and pre-empt the negative publicity that he couldn't hope to avoid. of course, in doing so, he spoke mostly about the blackmail and about how awful the experience had been. it wasn't until well into his spiel that he actually came out with the fact that he had been having sex with staff members.

of course blackmail is a terrible thing, and i'm glad that he has managed to deal with that terrible situation. and he has apparently apologised to his wife and to current female staff members who are now having to face speculation as to whether or not they are having sex with him. but there is no acknowledgement of the power imbalance between him and the staff members he has slept with, and the fact there is a strong possibility of sexual harassment involved.

obviously he is not going to point out how totally inappropirate his behaviour has been, simply because it is likely to result in court action against him. but it really is troubling, in an industry already rife with sexual exploitation, that he should get away with such behaviour without any censure. and none has been forthcoming from his employers as yet.

Guest post: Getting over the diagnosis

Thanks very much to reader Gina for this thoughtful contribution for Mental Health Awareness Week.

I bring awareness...

I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder when I was 19 years old. From that point it took me about 3 years to accept my disorder and get my illness under some kind of “control.” But it’s taken me about 7 years total to deal with the fact that I have this diagnosis. I wouldn’t say I’m completely over the diagnosis because I still have days when I think I feel a bit ‘mental’ and I tend to ask those around me- do I seem a bit crazy to you today?

I do feel like I’m getting to a point where I am realising, that experiencing a degree of unwellness from time to time, is in fact ok- maybe even a little healthy if it means I deal with some emotional stuff that I need to process. Keeping well is a work in progress and I measure my success one day at a time. I celebrate the days when I achieve things. Even if it’s a small thing- like getting the dishes done. I’m also learning that the only person that can hold me back is me- that if I show everyone around me what I girl like me, with my diagnosis can do, then I am capable of inspiration.

I spent 3 years in and out of the hospital system. I had to do that to learn that I didn’t want to be in the hospital system anymore. I tried a range of medications, until I found the right ones. I had to go through some horrible side effects- to learn about the drugs that were right for me. I had to argue with my family, to learn where the boundaries were, to test their love, and to find out that yes in fact, they love me a lot, all in their own special ways.

I am learning that friendship is hard work. And that, when I thought I didn’t have a lot of friends, the opposite, is in fact true.

I still don’t know if wearing my illness on my sleeve helps or hinders. Some people don’t think it’s necessary for you to talk about it a lot and would rather not hear a lot about it. Others want to talk to you incessantly about it while they are testing their own theories about themselves and their wellness.

At some point I would like to work with teenagers as they go through the process of receiving their first diagnosis. Our mental health system still needs a lot of work. And a lot of money. And I would like to bring some awareness to that - in this - Mental Health Awareness Week.

http://www.mentalhealth.org.nz

My favourite pay equity cartoon

I remember seeing this a few years back, it's another one from Ampersand's leftycartoons:


To me this explains really well how the pay gap works for many individual women. Also in a broader sense it comments on the attitude that says that the gap doesn't need to be fixed in a systematic way, as the actions of individual men and women will eventually do the trick.

Cartwight comes of age? Seminar in Akl

Here's a message (and pic) I got via the Working Women's Resource Centre:

Attached is a flyer for the up-coming Women's Health Action one day seminar 'Cartwright Comes of Age?' which will be held in Auckland on the 6th November. Given the claims made by Linda Bryder in her recently published book 'A History of the 'Unfortunate Experiment' at National Women's Hospital', we think the seminar will provide a timely and important opportunity to consider how we will keep the spirit of Cartwright alive in the 21st century.

For more information contact Womens Health Action on 09 520 5295 or email info at womens-health.org.nz.

Plus you can book online here.

It sucked and I cried

*warning lots of medical gore and mentions of girly parts to follow* click through at your own risk.


I honestly thought my run-in with anti-abortion protester would be the last chapter in my miscarriage story. I was fairly determined that a D&C was the route to go because I didn't want to be waiting days or even weeks for my body to pass the contents of my failed pregnancy down the toilet. And when I woke up from the procedure I felt like a giant weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I wasn't carrying around a dead baby anymore and I could move on with my life.

But then I stood up and I realized something wasn't right.

Nurses were scuttling around and my bed looked like one of those war movies. There was blood everywhere, and now it was all over the floor. Crap. Two shots of some mystery drug later, I'm up and and about without any bleeding. It's time for me to go but I've good god do I feel weird, like after I've given blood or something. Perhaps that was more to do with wonderful effects of morphine and not having eaten since last night. Plus they've already called The Suit, who by that stage left 7 increasingly panicked messages on my cellphone. We had not parted on good terms that morning and I guess he was worried I'd do something stupid like stomp around Auckland in an enraged state like I had the previous evening during what turned out to be a highly dramatic thunderstorm. So we left the surgical clinic for a late lunch and then the Suit went off to the visit the child at her mother's house while I slept for a while. When he got back 30 minutes later I was standing in our dining room with my phone in one hand and a blood clot the size of my fist in the other.

'Umm, do I need to take you back to the hospital?'
'I just called the surgical centre. They didn't seem too worried, I suppose this stuff happens a bit post-procedure.'
'It looks like a hunk of placenta'
'What should I do with it?'
'Dunno'
'I suppose I should flush it, do you think it will clog the toilet?'
'Your call'

*Plop*

I don't remember much about those days after the procedure. It all passed in a haze. The Suit was trying desperately to cheer me up with minigolf and the movies. I played along but the only thing that really kept me sane was going back to work because I hated my job. Hating my job is something I had done before I got pregnant, whilst I was pregnant and now I was no longer pregnant. It was something to hold on to, something normal in amongst all these other emotions I'd rather not deal with.

But underneath the 'I'm fine thank you and you' exterior, I was still feeling a bit sore and bothered my bleeding had started to pick up a week post-procedure. The Suit finally called bullshit on the whole facade, and by the time I had made it back to my GP's office a few days later I had gone a ghostly shade of white. The GP wondered how I had managed keep working despite showing signs of being very ill. She wanted me to take some time off, but I wasn't having a bar of it and headed off to a friend's birthday party later that night. I really didn't feel that sick, just a bit tired and uncomfortable, but the last thing I wanted to do was spend anymore time at home feeling sorry for myself.

Thus began my first cocktail of antibiotics and a rinse and repeat the cycle of my brain wanting things to go back to 'normal' and do normal things like running while my body wasn't up to it. Anything more physical than walking at a nana-like speed was giving me cramps, back pains and extra bleeding. I wasn't feeling any worse, but I wasn't feeling any better either. But the worst thing was that it felt like my miscarriage was NEVER going to end. Again it was the Suit acting as the canary in the mine shaft that forced me to go back to the GP again. More blood tests, and an excruciatingly painful emergency scan where some mention was made of possible 'retained product.' But I hadn't heard anything from my GP after the scan and over the weekend things seemed to have calmed down. I was still a bit tired, but surely I had my fill of medical malady for the year right?

Nope.

I should have known trouble was brewing when my GP's office called at 9 in the morning and my doctor herself called me again not long after that. And then again 30 minutes later. Apparently the scans from the previous weekend hadn't made their way back into her hands until the previous night, but they weren't good and I needed into the hospital right then for some IV antibiotics. Thinking I'd be hooked up for a few hours and then be free to go about my day, I went up to Auckland hospital. More rehashing of my seemingly never-ending miscarriage story, yet another exam and then the doctor mumbled something about admitting me for at least 24 hours.

WTF?

First of all aren't you a little too young to be a doctor and second what do you mean admit me to hospital? I'm not feeling that sick, can't you just hook me up to the drugs for a few hours and then let me go home Doogie? Of course I already knew that if I a doctor was telling me that I needed to be admitted to hospital, then it was about time to give up on the idea that I was fine. Clearly I wasn't fine and hearing the word 'septicemia' mentioned during the explanation of why going home would be a bad idea sealed the deal.

Apparently a lifetime of watching various medical dramas had led me astray. Hospitals are actually very boring places if you happen to be a patient. You spend most of your time waiting. Waiting to see a doctor, waiting for food, waiting for drugs, waiting to go home. And because I had no idea that I wouldn't be going home that evening, I had nothing to do but stew in my own thoughts.

Rather than feeling sad I was mostly envious. Envious of the heavily pregnant women I had seen on my way in, the women in the adjoining ward who were in labour, I was even envious of other women who had natural miscarriages during the early stages of pregnancy. Why did it take my body take 5 weeks to catch on that there was no baby? Why didn't the D&C work properly? Why wasn't I more assertive earlier when I had an inkling something wasn't quite right so I didn't up in here? Why me?

I eventually summoned up the courage to call The Suit to tell I wouldn't be home that night. He sprung into action immediately bringing books and then a few hours later showed up with my ipod and most importantly a home cooked dinner to make my hospital stay slightly more palatable. While I wasn't happy about being in hospital he was relieved that I was in the right place to get my problems taken care of.

The next day I had another visitor. She turned out to be a grief counselor who noted that being in hospital due to complications and how might be helpful for me to talk about my loss.

I glared at her.

In the past four weeks I had notched up 4 hospital admissions in 2 countries, 2 consults, 2 GP visits, 1 D&C, 4 blood tests, 3.5 weeks of bleeding, 3 external examinations, 2 internal examinations, 2 external scans, 1 internal scan, 2 lots of oral antibiotics and I was now well into what would be a 2 night hospital stay being pumped with antibiotics every 8 hours through my arm (to be followed up by a 10 day drug cocktail, yet another blood test and GP visit) and here was another bloody person coming in to rehash all the details of this failed pregnancy.

My journey from the land of the un-pregnant to that of the not pregnant had take far too long for my liking and I was done. Done thinking about my miscarriage, done talking about it and that point would have gladly handed over my uterus just to get the hell out of the hospital.

'Well it sucked and I cried what more do you want me to say?'

The NY Times on Roman Polanski

I was talking to a friend recently about the arrest of Roman Polanski. My friend hadn't been following this story but had been aware that several high profile people, including Whoopi Goldberg, had come out in support of releasing Polanski. So my friend assumed that the situation must have been unclear somehow, ie, that he thought she was really 16 etc. However, obviously the crime to which Polanski confessed was one that seems indefensible: the premeditated drugging and rape of a 13-year-old girl. Who could support such a person?

This article from the New York Times seeks to explain some of the support that Polanski has received, particularly from the French "intelligentsia" who have been prominent in calling for his release. The writer situates Polanski in a tradition almost of intellectuals who have committed terrible crimes and have been "forgiven" by polite society, including the philosopher Louis Althusser who murdered his wife in 1980.

France is a nation that worships aesthetes and philosophers, and some moral tension arises from this. Art and philosophy test boundaries. Artists demand their own social compass. Taken to its extreme, the argument implies that simply being an exceptional artist or intellectual can mitigate even criminal behavior.

The writer is most definitely not seeking to defend Polanski and goes on to make the point that newspaper polls in Poland and France have found that "ordinary people" overwhelmingly say that Polanski should not be released.

More than 70 percent of 30,000 respondents to an online poll by the right-leaning newspaper Le Figaro said Mr. Polanski should face justice. Hundreds of letters poured in to the magazine Le Point condemning the director’s defenders. One of them lambasted “the crypto-intelligentsia of our country,” which in France is something like the ultimate insult. The letters sounded like the bloggers and right-wing commentators in America who heaped scorn on Hollywood figures like Mr. Weinstein and Ms. Goldberg, who was parodied on “Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update Thursday,” just as Mr. Mitterrand had been on the French show. It was almost possible, from their comments, to think France and America were alike, after all.

The article finishes with a depressing story about a rock star who murdered his girlfriend in 2003 and whose supporters referred to his good politics (he apparently opposed the Iraq war) when defending him.

I don't know much about France so I find it difficult to imagine how widespread and influential these views might be. I find it incomprehensible that a moral climate exists in parts of both the US and France in which people believe that such terrible crimes can be shrugged off as the forgivable transgressions of great men.

I heart Chris Rock

Firstly for calling bullshit on the 'he made good movies 30 years ago' defence put up by the Polanski apologists.

Secondly his upcoming doco on self-hatred by black women as expressed through their relationship with their hair looks like it will be awesome. I love that Chris Rock was inspired to make a film about the beauty industry in response to his daughter’s sad plea, “how come I don’t have good hair?”. The sad thing was his daughter was only five years old at the time.

Family Planning concert coming up - supporting maternal health in the Pacific

When watching the news of the tsunami devastation last week I kept thinking about those parenting young children in such an emergency and how hard it would be, even if you had all survived without injury. How would women breastfeeding find enough potable water to keep their milk up? How do you make sure you haven't left any children behind? What explanations can you give to young children?

So this seems like a timely fundraiser - thanks to reader Sue for sending it to me.

Another laydee in Blogland

Keriflower, blogging from the beautiful Bay of Islands
Honest Lying, by Megan Rose of Frou Frou Frippery

Feel free to add more in comments :-)

Doing something about ACC counselling funding cuts - Wgtn

Thanks very much to reader Ali for passing this on - I know there has been a bit of interest in doing something in the comments, so hopefully this will be well attended.

Please pass this on to anyone who may be interested:

From October 12 changes to ACC's funding for sexual abuse counseling will mean survivors of abuse will only be eligible for ACC covered counseling if they have been diagnosed with a mental injury under the US Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Version 4 (DSM-IV). This will severely limit survivors' access to counseling.

More info in these two articles.

Meeting to organise against the funding cuts:

Monday, October 5, 5:30 pm at 128 Abel Smith St, Wellington

Any info about stuff happening in the rest of the country would be much appreciated, you can email it to me julie dot fairey at gmail if you prefer not to write a comment.

master chef

i have to admit to being a fan of master chef. well the british version at least. which is odd because i really don't enjoy cooking and i avoid most cooking shows like the plague. gordon ramsey i avoid just because of his bullying nastiness. and jamie oliver i never bothered with as soon as i found out that he didn't actually cook with no clothes on.

but the thing with master chef is that they aren't trying to teach the viewer how to cook. you don't have to sit through endless explanations of techniques that are never practical for a home kitchen or try to learn recipes with exotic and expensive ingredients you'd have to spend hours trying to find (yes, even you jamie oliver). it's more about the competition and the celebration of excellence, and that i can relate to.

i've been following the australian version as well, but don't enjoy it much. mostly cos it's like big brother in some aspects, and i really don't want to watch a popularity contest, i want to watch a cooking contest. there is so much repetition, and waste-of-time interview excerpts with contestants that it drives me crazy. in between, there have been some really good bits like when julie won against the celebrity chef, but it's just not as riveting as the UK version.

now we're getting a nz version, and i can't say i was inspired by the judges that were "revealed" on close-up today (aside: what is with tvnz, and using a current affairs slot to advertise it's own programmes?? can they at least stop calling it a current affairs show and call it an infomercial!). in any case, i hope the format follows the UK version than the aussie one.

the one thing i do notice though, is that aside from the contestants, there are very few women on the show. how is it that so few professional chefs are women? is it something about the industry that creates barriers? or is it the working hours, which aren't very family friendly? or are the programme makers just not finding them?

it bothers me that none of the judges on any version of the show are female, and very few of the critics or celebrity chefs are either (although there was a great female chef on the aussie show this week). most of the domestic cooking is still done by women, but when it comes to serious cooking, women are absent. grrrr.

Au revoir Anna

It seems that spring has been bringing on employment changes here at The Hand Mirror, and sadly for us that means that Anna is leaving us as a regular blogger.

Anna's posts have been amongst our most controversial to date, I think it's fair to say, and provoked much discussion. I hope she will continue as a commenter, and guest poster when the righteous indignation calls, and that she may be in a position to come back and blog for us again one day.

Best wishes Anna, thanks for all your contributions, even the ones I disagreed with ;-)

Quick hit: Masculinity to join feminity as an Olympic sport?

From the Herald a while back (sorry I thought I had posted this at the time but hit the wrong button):

The Independent's Liz Hoggard on the pressures facing Hollywood's new-look male stars...

A friend has just had dental surgery. They put her on morphine.

"What does it make you feel like?" I ask.

"Normal," she tells me brutally.

"For the first time ever, my body didn't feel out of control. I didn't worry about my stomach, my legs didn't feel like giant Alice in Wonderland limbs."

So excuse me if I don't worry too much about the crisis in male beauty. Women have been feeling alienated from their bodies for centuries. No wonder we have to be medicated to feel normal.

At the weekend, the story broke that male actors were suffering. The rugged look is out as Hollywood signs up young pretty-boys (Twilight's Rob Pattinson, baby-faced Ed Westwick and cherub-cheeked Chace Crawford in Gossip Girl).

...It gets worse: movie directors admit that these boys with the faces of adolescent girls are perfect fodder - they can replace one with another with barely a pause for thought.

I had to laugh out loud when I read that one. As women we've lived through decades of identikit blonde women. I hate the fact that there are 14-year-old girls pretending to be 30 on my magazine covers - who weigh less than my hanging rail.

Because increasingly, femininity is a performance art. It's not enough any more just to brush your hair and wear a nice frock, there's a whole new bag of tricks.

Click through for the whole thing. Because it's worth it.

Grab-bag

Thanks so much to the readers who have sent these links in over the last little while and sincere apologies for not getting to them sooner!

Changing the law on rape - cheers to Caro
Government funded feminist porn (in Sweden) - ta to George
Girls top of the class for trouble - well spotted Anna
Taxes and Abortion Part II - thanks to captiver (and also for those who were keen for ALRANZ' blog to include RSS feeds you'll be pleased to know they have made it so)
It's time to challenge casual sexism - big ups to Mrs Skin
Where is your line (film project) - again good work George

(And any one who wants to pick up any of these as the subject for a blog post here go for it!)

Is Feminism Relevant? event at UOA tomorrow

Sounds like a fantastic discussion topic!

When: Friday 2nd October, 6pm
Where: AUSA Exec Chambers, Student Union complex, University of Auckland (city campus)
Who: Featuring past AUSA president Kate Sutton, who will kick off the discussion with an introductory address.

Wish I could be there!

Here's the Facebook event page.

Quick hit: Family violence reporting and recording up

From the Herald this morning:

Police statistics released today showed reported violence crime rose 7 per cent, on top of an increase last year of 11.1 per cent, driven almost entirely by increased recording and reporting of family violence.

The increase in reported family violence increased 13.5 per cent on top of a 28.8 per cent increase the previous year.

Police responded to 82,692 incidents and offences relating to family violence and 23 murders were classified as family violence murders.

Families Commission chief commissioner Jan Pryor said the rise was to be expected because more people were reporting incidents and society was becoming less tolerant of violence.

..."The existing level of family violence did not occur overnight and the increased reporting is a testament to the lower acceptance of violence in our society."

...Dr Pryor said the reasons for violence were varied -- including income, power and societal support.

"We know that the formative years of a child's development significantly impacts on how children handle conflict as adults."

Research made it clear that deprivation was a significant cause of family violence.

"Encouragement and support for families such as paid parental leave will go a long way toward reducing the consequences of family dysfunction, including family violence."

Click through for the whole thing.

At a time of rising unemployment it seems unlikely deprivation with decrease, sadly.