The hijacking of mateship, last refuge of blokey scoundrels
It’s ironic isn’t it? The two men traipsing around our sunburnt country this week, patting firefighters on the back and extolling the virtues of Australian mateship, are perhaps the least likely of all men to enjoy the company of real ”mates”.
Self-censoring journalists fail their obligation to the public
It’s been an emotional week in politics. There have been tears, heavy sighs, and long televised pauses. So in the spirit of the week, let’s pause to reflect.
At a hectic time of the year, think of slowing down
There are 16 movements of your foot each time you take a small step: lifting, swinging, placing, feeling, pressing, and so on. If you paid full attention to each of these movements, it might take half an hour to walk a few paces. You won’t get far. But you will experience slowness.
Chick flick: TV’s misuse of women goes beyond a blonde joke
Breasts, beauty and babies are a poisonous mix for commercial television presenters. The first two are perhaps mandatory for prime time success. But throw in the third, and you’ve got a ticking time bomb.
Bikini bombshell sends shockwaves through French elections
Did France’s leading presidential aspirant take a leaf out of Jon Stanhope’s book? If you’ve got a good body, strip down to ”minimal attire” – as the French quaintly put it – and flaunt it.
Fighting violence with violence stains the white ribbon
If you’ve never seen a severed limb, it’s hard to know how you will react.
America’s first woman Speaker makes a Nancy boy of Bush
Nancy who? It seems I’m not the only one who’d never heard of Nancy Pelosi until this week’s mid-term Congressional elections. Despite just becoming the most powerful elected woman in United States history, a CBS newspoll found 55 per cent of Americans don’t know enough about Pelosi to form any opinion of her.
Feminist silence on Islam’s oppression of women is deafening
To see Muslim women stand in silent vigil outside Sydney’s Lakemba mosque yesterday was heartbreaking. Heavily robed, veiled and silenced, these passive creatures stand like mute foot-soldiers for Allah.
This one sheik’s meat is another man’s poisonous preaching
As one of Australia’s ”most senior imams” and a respected Muslim cleric, Sheik Taj Aldin Alhilali has every right to suggest women are nothing more than Satan’s ”best weapon” and little more than slabs of ”meat” ripe for rape.
Buying babies? I call it a gift to children in need
There is a home I know that’s close to my heart. It is built on love and full of laughter. In that home live a mum, a dad, their six-year-old son, Max, and a cat called Stripy-dot- com. The mum and dad are both child-care workers with a passion for preschool education. Their home is a favourite place for gatherings, and fills with the noise of children – siblings, cousins, playmates. Every room rings out – except one. It’s kept quiet and tidy, ready and waiting for China Girl.
Tween preening: the perils of commercialising childhood
Since when did 10-year-old girls become worried about a VPL? I was about 20 before I’d even heard of such a thing and probably 30 before I cared.
A country out of step on gender balance in Parliament
The evening security guard at Old Parliament House thought he had me pegged: a Floriade tragic attempting a rose bushel heist from the House of Reps Garden. I’m innocent. But I understand his concern. It was pitch black, dead of night and I was pacing up and down The Centenary of Women’s Suffrage Commemorative Walk, just inside the Members Gate.
Spare us the blokeish conga line of the misogynist Latham
To suggest the former leader of the Labor party Mark Latham hates women is perhaps too simplistic and a little too blunt: although I suspect it’s true. But let’s face it, one needs to keep the dialogue simple and blunt when talking about Latham, otherwise you’ll lose him.
Sorry, Pete, there’s much more behind baby boom than you think
Have you ever noticed how the Treasurer, Peter Costello, tries to suppress a little smirk when he has sex on his mind? To be fair, it may not be the lacy, bodice-ripping, kind of lust he’s thinking about. It’s perhaps something a little more prosaic. Nevertheless, it seems to make him happy.
