March 15, 2013

On the (Rest of the) Net.

By Scarlett Harris ¶ Posted in On the (Rest of the) Net, On the Net ¶ Tagged abortion, AFL, Anne Hathaway, condoms, Daily Life, Erin Riley, feminism, Film.com, Frank L. Baum, Girls Gone Wild, gossip, Jennifer Lawrence, Jezebel, male body image, NYTimes, Oz The Great & Powerful, prostitution, Sweet Valley High, The Feminine Mystique, The Kenyon Review, The Wizard of Oz, Vice, YouTube ¶ 1 Comment

Considering Frank L. Baum was writing about Dorothy and Oz over one hundred years ago and those tales were more progressive than Oz the Great & Powerful paints a pretty bleak picture of women in Hollywood. [Film.com]

“Vale Girls Gone Wild.” [Daily Life]

Division of household labour between couples. [Jezebel]

On male vanity. [Jezebel]

Celebrity gossip as anthropological experiment: why gossiping about John Travolta’s sexual orientation, whether or not Rihanna should take back Chris Brown and Kristen Stewart’s motivations for cheating on Robert Pattinson tells us more about us as people that in does about celebrities. [YouTube]

AFL fandom: women need not apply. [Erin Riley]

Using “Abortion Humour” to destigmatise it. [Daily Life]

Is My Kitchen Rules racist? [Daily Life]

I was a Sweet Valley High ghostwriter:

“The O[xford] E[nglish] D[ictionary] says the word ‘ghostwriter’ was first used in the 1920s to mean a ‘hack’ hired to write another person’s story. OK, hack, then. So be it. But a hack-in-demand. A hack they wanted. A type-A hack, the Elizabeth Wakefield of hackdom!” [The Kenyon Review]

If you’re a woman, particularly of a minority, carrying condoms in New York City, watch out: you could be arrested for prostitution. I’d better clean out my handbag before I jet off there in October, then… [Vice]

“Anne Hathaway, Ourselves”: why Jennifer Lawrence is your cool bestie, and why you are awkward Anne. [Jezebel]

Does it really matter if you do or don’t call yourself a feminist, as long as you’re advancing feminist causes? Hmm… I still think it’s really important to call yourself a feminist if you believe in and are advancing feminist causes, because it emphasises that gender equality (hell, equality of any kind) isn’t a dirty notion. But who knows? Maybe in the future we won’t need to call ourselves feminists because everything we’re working for will just be part of daily life… [Jezebel]

The Feminine Mystique, 50 years on. [NYTimes]

Image via Ace Showbiz.

March 1, 2013

On the (Rest of the) Net.

By Scarlett Harris ¶ Posted in On the (Rest of the) Net, On the Net ¶ Tagged Academy Awards, Celebrity Swan, cunt, Daily Life, dating, feminism, food, Hilary Mantel, Jezebel, Julia Gillard, Kate Middleton, Katharine Hepburn, Katherine Heigl, London Review of Books, misogyny, Monica Lewinsky, porn, rom coms, Said to Lady Journos, Seth MacFarlane, sexism, The Atlantic, The Cut, Vulture, weight ¶ Leave a comment

From Katharine Hepburn to Katherine Heigl: the decline of the rom-com. [The Atlantic]

In defence of “cunt”. [Jezebel]

Monica Lewinsky gets a shot at redeeming herself (in physicality only) by becoming a (rumoured) contestant on cosmetic surgery-makeover show, Celebrity Swan. [Daily Life]

Seth MacFarlane’s misogynistic Oscar hosting gig. [Vulture]

Is it anti-feminist to disagree with Julia Gillard’s policies? [Daily Life]

Hilary Mantel’s “Kate Middleton’s-a-machine-made-baby-making-mannequin” speech published on the London Review of Books’ website is so much more, in which Mantel uses famous royal women such as Anne Boleyn, Marie Antoinette and Princess Diana to illustrate a larger public obsession with royal women and their bodies:

“… [A] royal lady is a royal vagina. Along with the reverence and awe accorded to royal persons goes the conviction that the body of the monarch is public property. We are ready at any moment to rip away the veil of respect, and treat royal persons in an inhuman way, making them not more than us but less than us, not really human at all.”

Actresses, weight and the Oscars. [The Cut]

Making feminist porn. [Jezebel]

How to get dating results. This sounds like a really good idea. I think I’m going to adopt it myself and I encourage all other singletons to, too. I know from experience, the confidence boost you get from interacting with one potential suitor pays dividends when it comes to dipping your toes in the rest of the dating pool after a long, dry spell… [Jezebel]

Food as luxury. [Jezebel]

It’s hard out there for a lady journo. [Said to Lady Journos]

Image via Brookfield Film Society.

February 22, 2013

On the (Rest of the) Net.

By Scarlett Harris ¶ Posted in On the (Rest of the) Net, On the Net ¶ Tagged Anne Summers, beauty, Camille Paglia, Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, Clementine Ford, Creepy White Guys, Daily Beast, Daily Life, Diablo Cody, Downton Abbey, Female Gaze Review, feminism, Girls, James Deen, Jezebel, Jon Milward, Kurt Cobain, Lena Dunham, Men Are From Mars Women Are From Venus, New York Fashion Week, News with Nipples, Nice Guys of OK Cupid, Oscar Pistorius, porn, Princess Diana, racism, Reeva Steenkamp, Rihanna, sexism, The Age, The Sunday Times Magazine, Vulture ¶ 1 Comment

Are Princess Diana and Rihanna one in the same? Camille Paglia misguidedly seems to think so. [The Sunday Times]

Clementine Ford interviews Anne Summers as part of Daily Life‘s first birthday celebrations. Brilliant!

The face of porn (SFW). [Jon Millward]

Speaking of porn, is James Deen harmful to his young female fans? [Daily Life]

Lena Dunham isn’t “brave”. [Vulture]

How many models of colour walked in New York Fashion Week? Not many. [Jezebel]

Why have so many “contestants” on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew died? [Jezebel]

Downton Abbey VS. Girls. [Daily Beast]

Why do we flinch when a woman says she’s beautiful? [Daily Life]

“Is There Such a Thing as ‘Asian Privilege’?” [Daily Life]

Stop the presses: Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus debunked. [The Age]

Reporting Reeva Steenkamp’s murder at the hands of her Paralympian partner, Oscar Pistorius. [News with Nipples]

“In Defence of Diablo Cody.” [Female Gaze Review]

Kurt Cobain: feminist? [Daily Life]

In the vein of Nice Guys of OKCupid comes the racist guys of OKCupid: Creepy White Guys.

Image via Jezebel.

February 15, 2013

On the (Rest of the) Net.

By Scarlett Harris ¶ Posted in On the (Rest of the) Net, On the Net ¶ Tagged beauty, Chris Brown, Daily Life, Destiny's Child, Elsevier, Girls, Hannah Horvath, intimate partner violence, James Bulger, Jezebel, Lena Dunham, Michelle Williams, Poor Michelle, racism, Richard Scarry, Rihanna, Rolling Stone, sex, TheVine, What Do People Do All Day? ¶ Leave a comment

Is Girls‘ Hannah Horvath physically worthy of the sexual interest of a successful, hot, rich doctor? While detractors thought this week’s episode was the worst in the series, presumably because Lena Dunham’s “refreshing, yet displeasing to the eye” (to borrow a line from Elizabeth Banks in Pitch Perfect) naked body was front and centre perhaps more than any other episode, I actually thought it was the best of this season’s bunch, and I had no qualms buying Patrick Wilson’s character being so sexually into Hannah that he begs her to stay in his apartment for a 48-hour fuck- and naked ping-pong-fest. I will say that the gratuitous nudity and the continuous lack of people of colour is really getting my goat, though. [Jezebel]

Let’s all stop bagging Rihanna for taking Chris Brown back and maybe look at why she did and what support we can give domestic violence victims. [Jezebel]

That time someone made a blog about all those times Michelle Williams was ostracised from the Destiny’s Child fold. Funny but cruel but also kinda true? [Poor Michelle]

Class divisions in Richard Scarry’s What Do People Do All Day. [Elsevier]

James Bulger: 20 years on from his abduction and brutal murder. [Daily Life]

More equal opportunity nudity and sex on camera, please. [Jezebel]

The beauty myth: are people we perceive as beautiful really just average? [TheVine]

Following on from last week’s links on whitewashing in Hollywood, check out the ten most racist portrayals of characters of colour by white actors. [TheVine]

Image via Rolling Stone.

February 8, 2013

On the (Rest of the) Net.

By Scarlett Harris ¶ Posted in On the (Rest of the) Net, On the Net ¶ Tagged Beyonce, Breakfast at Tiffany's, child sexualisation, Daily Life, Iron Man 3, Jezebel, Kotaku, Liz Lemon, Paris Hilton, race, Snow White & the Huntsman, Super Bowl, The Last Airbender, The Lone Ranger, TheVine, Thought Catalog ¶ 2 Comments

What was so great about Beyonce’s SuperBowl performance, anyway? In fact, the article could be titled, “What’s so good about Beyonce, period?” Don’t get me wrong, she’s an incredible performer with an amazing voice and I love pretty well all of her songs, but she does push a pretty conservative message (“Independent Women” really just want to “Cater 2 U” and “Put a Ring On It”) and is blandly uncontroversial. Her most scandalous moments are the rumoured fake baby bump and lip synching at the Inauguration. What do you think? Is Beyonce a positive black female role model, another pop star pandering to the patriarchy or do you just not care that much about her? [TheVine]

A 5-year-old girl was caught with her mouth on a 5-year-old boy’s penis: cue outrage. This article brilliantly highlights the importance of letting kids be kids, and that sometimes means “playing doctor”, playing “the sex game” and mucking around pretending to be “sexy” and “do sex” when they have no idea what those words mean.

“Kids aren’t gonna stop rubbing themselves, each other, and tetherball poles, so what’s the point of making it a scary, bad thing? Besides, this isn’t really about sex, so let’s not make it about sex. It’s learning about our bodies and the bodies of other kids, and doing things that feel good.

“You have to wonder how a big hubbub over truly normal shit can affect a kid in the long run. Will they eventually develop a sex-negative attitude? Will developing a happy, healthy sexuality be more difficult for them? As many of us know, childhood scars run deep.” [Jezebel]

Iron Man 3 is just the latest in a long line of films (Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Last Airbender, The Lone Ranger, and Snow White & the Huntsman when it comes to able-bodied actors playing the seven dwarves) to use a white actor portraying a character of colour. [Kotaku]

In a similar vein, whitewashing non-white stories in Hollywood. [Daily Life]

The conundrum of being sexy but not sexual in the Japanese pop world. [Daily Life]

Reexamining Paris Hilton as a cultural icon. [Thought Catalog]

In praise of Liz Lemon. [Jezebel]

Image via Buzzfeed.

February 1, 2013

On the (Rest of the) Net.

By Scarlett Harris ¶ Posted in On the (Rest of the) Net, On the Net ¶ Tagged blogging, Daily Life, Don't Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23, freelancing, Gala Darling, India, Jezebel, MamaMia, masculinity, Mia Freedman, One Direction, porn ¶ 1 Comment

One Direction and performing straight-queer masculinity. [Daily Life]

Why India is the worst country in which to be a woman. [Daily Life]

FOMO (fear of missing out) on YOLO (you only live onc e). I can totally relate to Mia’s predicament: at the moment I’m kind of experiencing a guilt or anxiety about not getting out and being social enough and doing things, but at the same time, as Mia writes, no matter how much you want to want to do something, you can’t force yourself to want to do it. So I’m taking solace in that fact. [MamaMia]

I’ve been in two minds about the show in recent episodes, but looking back, I’m sad to see Don’t Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23 go. [Jezebel]

We need to talk to our partners about porn. [Jezebel]

Gala Darling has some fab tips for getting inspired and your time organised as a blogger. For those of you who visit this site regularly, you’ll have noticed that I’ve been pretty slack with content over the past couple of months, and that’s because I’ve been so uninspired. Now, as I start to get back into the swing of things and I’ve made a concerted effort to get inspired and start thinking of blog and freelance ideas, I think The Scarlett Woman will start looking more like the blog you know and (hopefully!) love. Thanks, Gala!

January 25, 2013

On the (Rest of the) Net.

By Scarlett Harris ¶ Posted in On the (Rest of the) Net, On the Net ¶ Tagged Alan Jones, Alecia Simmonds, American Horror Story, Andrew Bolt, Arab Spring, Barbie, breastfeeding, bystander effect, Chris Brown, Daily Life, feminism, Hurricane Sandy, intimate partner violence, Jezebel, Kasey Edwards, Lena Dunham, Miss America, NYTimes, Occupy protests, race, Reclaim the Night, reproductive rights, Return of Kings, Rihanna, Roe VS. Wade, Show Your Vagina, Slate, SlutWalk, TheVine, Vogue ¶ Leave a comment

To pay tribute to the emergency and service personnel who helped in Hurricane Sandy, Vogue does a fashion spread inspired by the superstorm. Naturally. [Daily Life]

Apparently young Australians just aren’t into protesting the injustices we face today. Um, hello? Reclaim the Night, the Occupy movement, SlutWalk, the Arab Spring… all activist events started by Gen Y on social media which encouraged Time magazine to name the Protestor as its 2011 Person of the Year. Writer Alecia Simmonds does make a fair point that Aussies are particularly apathetic towards causes, but her assertion that online petitioning, blogging and social media doesn’t compare to on-the-ground activism kind of undercuts fellow Daily Life columnist Kasey Edwards’ argument last week that “Big social changes don’t just happen… Social and cultural change evolves out of a meandering path of small victories. Seeds need to be planted and ground needs to be fertilised.”

The latest trend in labiaplasty: the Barbie, in which the entire labia minora is cut out. [Jezebel]

And, in an attempt to counteract the alarming trend of wanting your vulva to look like a plastic doll’s, check out this (NSFW) Tumblr, Show Your Vagina.

What is it about our twenties that make us who we are? [Slate]

Miss America and race. [NYTimes]

Is freedom of speech overrated? Personally, I think so, as it allows those with abhorrently narrow-minded views to spill hate speech. This article makes the observation that free speech only seems to be defended when people like Alan Jones and Andrew Bolt put their foot in their mouth. [Daily Life]

Lena Dunham thinks that perhaps Rihanna should have been the one to sing “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” to Chris Brown. [TheVine]

American Horror Story: feminist or anti-feminist? [Jezebel]

Jane Roe—of Roe v. Wade fame, which had its 40th anniversary this week—ain’t what she used to be: now she’s an anti-choicer. [Vanity Fair]

Glee‘s Puck is a rapist, allegedly. [TheVine]

Nine of the ugliest feminists. [Return of Kings]

Breast feeding-shaming. [Daily Life]

A photojournalist documents an abusive relationship. Should she have stood by and photographed an incident of domestic violence or does her work portray an important aspect of lower socio-economic partnerships “unflinchingly”? [Fotovisura, Kiwiana (Inked)]

Image via Daily Life.

January 18, 2013

On the (Rest of the) Net.

By Scarlett Harris ¶ Posted in On the (Rest of the) Net, On the Net ¶ Tagged allisms, atheism, Australian Women Writers Challenge, Beyonce, Bret Easton Ellis, cosmetic surgery, Daily Life, Disney princes, Disney princesses, Girls, GQ, James Deen, Jezebel, Kelly Osbourne, Lady Gaga, Lindsay Lohan, Little Monsters, NYTimes, Paul Schrader, rape culture, Sharon Osbourne, South Korea, The Canyons, The King's Tribune, victim-blaming, Wronging Rights ¶ Leave a comment

Here’s what happens when Lindsay Lohan is cast alongside James Deen in Bret Easton Ellis and Paul Schrader’s The Canyons. [NYTimes]

Do you keep a “list”? You know the one… [Jezebel]

For the perils of Disney princesses; let’s examine the damaging notion of the Disney Prince. [allisms]

How about instead of responding to rape culture with the view that women should be more careful, what can men do to make our society safer from sexual violence? [Wronging Rights]

Gender disparity and front page news. [The King’s Tribune]

In defence of Girls’ “ugly sex”. [Daily Life]

Dissecting Beyonce’s interview with GQ in which she admonishes the gender pay gap and the fact that men determine what’s feminine and sexy, but is posing in a decidedly male-gazey, feminine and sexual way on its cover. Hmm… [Daily Life]

Are you sick of the lack of books published and reviewed by women? Then enter the Australian Women Writers Challenge in a bid to make a difference.

Why are South Korean women so obsessed with cosmetic surgery? [Jezebel]

Well here’s a convoluted catfight between Kelly Osbourne and Lady Gaga: Gaga’s Little Monsters have apparently been cyberbullying Kelly, which she mentioned in an interview, which prompted Gaga to write an open letter to Kelly. Then Sharon Osbourne got involved… [LittleMonsters, Facebook]

What it’s like to raise an atheist 7-year-old. [Jezebel]

Image via E! Online.

January 11, 2013

On the (Rest of the) Net.

By Scarlett Harris ¶ Posted in On the (Rest of the) Net, On the Net ¶ Tagged abortion, Alan Jones, Catherine Deveny, Chris Brown, Daily Life, feminism, Gina Rinehart, Gretel Killeen, HuffPo, intimate partner violence, io9, Irene Adler, Jenny Macklin, Jezebel, Les Miserables, Midsumma Festival, Nice Guys of OKCupid, rape, Rihanna, Sherlock Holmes, Steubenville High School, Tara Moss, The Atlantic, The Atlantic Wire, The Peach, The Pursuit of Harpyness, The Wood, Tony Abbott, Two Can Play That Game, Women Say Something, Zooey Deschanel ¶ 1 Comment

Think many rapes are reported falsely and the few actual rapists are punished for their crime? As this graph shows, you can think again. [Daily Life]

Interested in Melbourne’s gay culture and history? Go on this walking tour of Melbourne’s beats as part of Midsumma next weekend.

And while you’re at it, book tickets for Women Say Something‘s “Should We Destroy the Joint”, as Alan Jones so misogynistically termed women’s involvement in public life, panel featuring Gretel Killeen, Tara Moss and Catherine Deveny, on Saturday 19th January. [Midsumma]

Yay! Finally a famous female who identifies as a feminist. Although I wish it was someone I actually liked, beggars can’t be choosers… [Daily Life]

Where did all the African American rom-coms go? As a lover of black rom-coms like Two Can Play That Game and The Wood, I can certainly empathise with this author’s plight… [HuffPo]

Here’s a smorgasboard of articles attempting to unpack the now-defunct Nice Guys of OKCupid. [Jezebel, The Pursuit of Harpyness, The Atlantic, Daily Life]

What the modern incarnations of Sherlock Holmes get wrong about Irene Adler. [io9]

Abortion facts infographics. [Jezebel]

For those of you unfamiliar with the Steubenville High School Big Red football team rape and cover-up scandal, here’s a history of the town’s corrupt ways. [The Atlantic Wire]

Boycotting Chris Brown’s music is all well and good, but are we at a point where Rihanna’s blatant disregard for the impact her very public decision to get back with her abuser has on her impressionable fans and fellow battered partners alike means shunning her, too? Or is it just victim-blaming? Interesting piece. [The Peach]

Why does Tony Abbott keep ducking the “MamaMia crowd”? [MamaMia]

Is Gina Rinehart a feminist? [Daily Life]

A breakdown of exactly what you can afford when you live on $35 a week as a family of four on the Newstart Allowance, as Families Minister Jenny Macklin asserted last week. [MamaMia]

Is Les Mis anti-feminist? [Daily Life]

Image via Daily Life.

January 4, 2013