Welcome to Monday ~ 2 January 2012

Posted on January 2, 2012 by IsBambi

The Spire on Fire - bring on 2012 (Photo: Michelle Griffin)

Oh. My. God. It’s 2012! Welcome to the new year feminausts, we hope you had a great NYE and are looking forward to a fulfilling year ahead.

She who must not be named Award

I love any post that makes it obvious that in most mainstream discussions about gender equality it is men who are absent from the discussion – and that is a major factor for why we aren’t going towards the Feminist Mecca very quickly. While men are absent in these conversations in many ways, the most damaging way is when they are not discussed as solutions/agents for change to solve the gender inbalance. It puts the emphasis on solving this gender equality thing on women. I.e., how do we fix gender equality in boardrooms? Quotas for women (not caps for men), or, make it easier for women to work longer hours through childcare, flexi time (not ask men to provide equal support in the domestic sphere), or my favourite – maternity leave (not paternity leave).

And the Award goes to News With Nipples who points out that “she who must not be named” is actually a “he”. (And no, she doesn’t just mean Voldermort, though he could start cleaning up after himself once in a while).

Continue reading →

Welcome to Monday ~ September 12 2011

Posted on September 12, 2011 by aimlesspanther

Welcome to Monday fellow feminausts! Hope the weekend treated you as well as it did me, aside from the inevitable Melbourne-Spring-Drenching I experienced on Friday. And Saturday. And Sunday. But no matter! There was beer and St Kilda losing a final and mates and tasty, tasty pub parma. What else could one ask for? Well aside for Monday sodding off for a few more days. Still, lets get into it! Here’s what the gang here has been reading this week, and remember that the opinions contained here do not necessarily reflect our views.

Panther Award

Obviously, this article on mselouise’s dad, who was in the running to be the mentally sexy dad of the year but sadly didn’t quite make it. Top 5 will have to do.

And then this one from Scientific American on the origins of the idea of the “menstrual toxin”, thought to be found in the sweat of menstruating women. Yeah, you read that right.

Continue reading →

Welcome to Monday ~ August 8th 2011

Posted on August 8, 2011 by aimlesspanther

Welcome to the Monday round up, my fellow feminausts! I bring you a list of articles that caught our eye over the last week, from falsity in advertising to scientific proof that the clitoris is nice. Yes, its been a week of revelations here in the world of feminism.

As always, don’t shoot the messenger; we don’t necessarily agree or disagree with these articles, we’re just interested in the debate. If you violently agree or disagree, why not write a response and send it on in to us?

Continue reading →

Tutus, Turks and Tear gas: Istanbul Pride 2011

Posted on June 30, 2011 by MsElouise

As some of you are well aware, I’ve recently been hanging out in Istanbul with about 30 amazing people from around the world talking about sex more or less 20 hours of the day (and dreaming about it for the other four). So it seemed somewhat serendipitous when we realised that we were in Istanbul for pride week and more importantly that the Istanbul Pride March was going to be on the afternoon of the last day of our institute. For some members of our group it would be their first march, coming from countries where homosexuality is illegal and can result in harsh punishment; from beatings, imprisonment and even execution (state sanctioned or other). So for these individuals, pride was more than just a party, it was a real opportunity to be proud, something like the true spirit of pride which can be somewhat lost in the big events with their choreography and flash. Not that I don’t love a bit of glitz and hairspray, but Istanbul pride was really about making the LGBTIQ population of Turkey’s presence known and appreciated.

Istanbul is the only pride march in a muslim majority country in the world and this, it’s 9th year, drew thousands of marchers from across the country and international visitors as well. It is a demonstration of solidarity, an opportunity to show the people of Istanbul that the LGBTIQ community exists and generally just a good excuse to party. There was no registration, no requirement to march as a part of a group, you just turned up, grabbed a rainbow flag or banner from one of the organisers and marched through Taksim, an area of Istanbul full of colourful nightlife, including many gay majority and gay friendly bars and cafes. Continue reading →

Welcome to Monday ~ 27th June 2011

Posted on June 27, 2011 by MsElouise

Artist: Vernon Grant.

Welcome to Monday dear feminausts! Hopefully it’s not too painful, but here, let us help you deal with it by providing some excellent feminist reads from around the world.

Ps. Half of the feminaust team is currently in Istanbul hanging out with some seriously cool and diverse people from around the world, all passionate, active and outspoken about sexual and gender rights. Stay tuned for posts!

ENJOY! (and don’t kill the messenger, just write a rant for us instead!)

Continue reading →

Welcome to Monday ~ 20th June 2011

Posted on June 20, 2011 by MsElouise

Image by Brian Brown

Welcome to Monday!!

We hope you’ve had a great weekend. Here’s some excellent links to get you through the first day of the week. We don’t necessarily endorse the content but we endorse any discussion that comes out of it!

An american export that we really don’t want.

Revenge of the feminerd!

The diversity of femme - quite the stunning speech.

hexpletive points out what she thinks is wrong with the WA prostitution bill

Urine odor-prevention, be very scared ladies and gents

Women’s health is a citizenship and democracy issue

In defence of fathers – good men project

For those who want to read a rant about ‘independent ladies’

Day 30 – Indigenous rights

A poem from the fbomb – sick

The disappearance of pubic hair - from a male perspective

Porn, or just advertising?

An excerpt from “Men can stop rape” - well worth a read!

Baffling rhetoric that fuels violence against women.

Enjoy feminausts! xx

Welcome to Monday ~ 6th June 2011

Posted on June 6, 2011 by MsElouise

Welcome to Monday is a bit underfed this week. The feminausts have been CRAZY busy preparing for interviews and attending the Roller Derby and getting ready for trips to Europe.

This is what we did read this week though!

Nigella: Baking is a feminist act

On women and humour… an interesting analysis

Gay men create shit storm if you haven’t noticed this public issue you’ve clearly been asleep. By the time this post goes live it will probably have blown over but I think it’s worth noting that as of 11pm Wed 1st June, nearly 70,000 had joined the FB group canning Adshel for taking the ads down and they had already reversed their decision. Well done people!

Nigerian baby factory raided. 32 teenagers freed.

Not racist but… Now we need “Not feminist but…” “Not an arsehole but…” ahhhh, the possibilities!

Support has a new website!

Not one, Not two but THREE plus sized models on the cover of Italian Vogue (if you consider a size 12 plus sized!)

Rhianna on rape and violence. Man Down

Looking like Senator Barbie takes a whole lot of effort

friday feminaust: Damon Young

Posted on May 27, 2011 by MsElouise

My feminism is a small, intimate thing.

Just a moment ago, I helped my sick two-year-old daughter put her doll into her toy pram. What’s feminist about this safe, gendered play?

Photo used with permission from Dr Damon Young

I’m here, for starters. My wife Ruth and I share the labours and rewards of child-raising, domestic work. I don’t leave at six in the morning, and return after dinner, bath and bed. I don’t vanish on weekends, for ‘boys afternoons’ on the bike or golf course. I can clean, cook, empty the potty, do the school run. Ruth can fix a broken door, mow the lawn, upholster furniture. We can swap jobs, and often do. It’s what Zorba the Greek called the ‘full catastrophe’, and we share it.

We do this, not because of laziness, or a perverse longing for eccentricity. And certainly not for the money, which is less than average wage between us. At the heart of this is a strangely radical idea: Ruth is a human, not simply a woman. As I put it in The Age, “I recognise that she’s an educated, intelligent person with a vocation of her own – and she deserves to cultivate it. She’s a loving mother who wants to see her kids between the hours of seven and seven. And, finally, she’s a grown woman, who likes to spend time with her handsome husband.”

In other words, this is feminism as a relationship; as the character of our bonds, rituals, ambitions. Hopefully this is part of a new movement, irreverently celebrated in the ‘Most Mentally Sexy Dad’ competition: couples who enrich and expand the idea of partnership. Continue reading →

Welcome to Monday! ~ 16th May 2011

Posted on May 16, 2011 by MsElouise

Welcome back to another Monday of insightful, interestings, engaging and thought provoking articles, content, letters and comment that we at feminaust were reading this week. With the global movement SlutWalk that’s been making ripples and WAVES all over the world, this roundup is pretty SlutWalk heavy. Enjoy it ladies and gentlement, whether you subscribe to reclaiming the word, or just living your life free from violence SlutWalk is for everyone. My dad’s basketball team are marching and one of my colleagues is taking his wife and children. This isn’t just for the short skirts and thigh high boots girls, it’s for everyone who believes in a woman’s right to live free from the threat of violence.

Used under Creative Commons License from Flickr user sijeka.

Remember we’re just putting the info out there and don’t necessarily endorce the content. Please feel free to comment if you have something to say!

SlutWalk Melbourne and the SlutWalk Melbourne site

You should all buy this cushion

Ethical debate on deserving what you get

Plug for a friend: The Victorian Roller Derby League

Sex, lies and SlutWalking by Melbourne’s own Lauren Rosewarne

Another site to love and cherish: Men and Feminism

It’s been shown before but I’m in this Age article about SlutWalk. I’m the one in the back in the orange… no not the orange beard, the orange cardigan! Oh and we may as well throw in the HS one too. Actually worth checking out the journalists blog on this issue. Some good debate… well HS readers saying stupid things followed by the journalist (and me) telling them they’re wrong.

What DFAT says about not getting raped in a foreign country… very handy… maybe?

In honour of SlutWalk and Eve Ensler, here’s the fabulous verse MY SHORT SKIRT wear it!

Canada’s in for a long four years

Girl’s Report on gender as a lived experience

Peace Corps volunteers speak out about rape

No justice on earth until there is justice for women

You thought it was bad here? 1,100 women raped EVERY DAY in DRC

Why we need more women in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics

Are you having Amelie Sex??

On being relevant: Sexuality Gender and Nationalism in Palestinian Society

How Jane Austen taught me to be a man

Gender in Islam: It’s not just about women