Sex & Relationships.
Men find us more desirable when we’re incapacitated. [Reuters]
Rachel Hills on sex then and now. [Time]
Three former sex workers tell their stories. [Cosmopolitan]
Sometimes human bodies are just human bodies; do we have to sexualise them all the time? [SBS]
Race & Racism.
People of colour can be racist, too. [Daily Life]
“Every 28 hours a black person is killed by police or vigilantes”: what Aboriginal deaths in custody have in common with America’s current protesting of the murders of unarmed black people by police. [Daily Life]
Please don’t act so surprised that Indigenous children are 5.2 times more likely to die than non-Indigenous children. [The Koori Woman]
“When is anthropology going to start taking Indigenous theories seriously instead of subjecting them to their own analyses and theorising about them?” [Fieldnotes & Footnotes]
A guide to therapy for Asian Australians. [No Award]
Is two upper-middle-class white guys agreeing about the fate of Indigenous Australians in the constitution really the best way to go about it? [New Matilda]
Punjabi migration to New Zealand. [Stargazer]
The cycle of poverty and homelessness continues for one West Australian Indigenous family of women and girls. [The Stringer]
Reflections on #illridewithyou from the woman who started the hashtag. [Silence Without]
Australia’s racism problem in ten incidents from 2014. [The Koori Woman]
Racism in Australian media: some choice examples. [No Award]
Pop Culture & The Media.
The Australian ran a photo of Christmas-ruiner and Greens senator Larissa Waters’ young daughter wearing pink because journalism. [Junkee]
“Dear Mark Latham, Mothers Are Not the Natural Enemy of Stay-At-Home Dads.” [Daily Life]
Sarah MacDonald called the Australian Financial Review to complain about Mark Latham’s column. They called her husband back. [Women’s Agenda]
Lena Dunham and the Slenderman attempted murder both make us confront our fears of women and girls not behaving in socially prescribed ways. [Bitch Flicks]
Further to that, we’re still as captivated by witches in popular culture as we were during the medieval and Salem witch inquisitions.
What does Miss Julie have in common with Gone Girl? [Flaming Moth]
The responsible reporting of sexual assault and intimate partner violence. [Women’s Agenda]
On that note, Junkee published a guide on responsible social media use in the wake of Sydney’s hostage situation.
Why did The Guardian give a platform to an allegedly falsely accused rapist when alleged victims of rape are so rarely afforded the same? [Women’s Agenda]
“The Best Misandrist Films of 2014.” [Brocklesnitch]
Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is in dire need of an update. [Hoyden About Town]
How many times do we have to read news reports on sexual assault that focus on the victim’s actions not the perpetrator? [The News With Nipples]
Ju’s Australian Women’s Writers Challenge wrap up. [The Conversationalist]
Girl-friendly video games. [On the Left]
Violence Against Women *trigger warning*.
Has 2014 been the year of the stalker?
“The Worst Time I Was Street Harassed.”
“Why Rape Jokes Are Never Okay”. [Feminaust]
We don’t need to ask why Man Haron Monis perpetrated the Sydney siege. His miles-long rap sheet of sexual and physical violence towards women speaks volumes. [Women’s Agenda]
And in the wake of the siege, a dissection of the Change.org petition calling for stricter bail laws and the impact that might have. [Hoyden About Town]
This is what happens to women who fight back against street and sexual harassment. [Daily Life]
Reproductive Rights.
Abortion should be safe, legal and be performed as often or as rarely as the woman who finds herself with an unwanted pregnancy wants and needs it to:
“We are a society that can land a rocket on a comet, splice fish genes into strawberries, and invent cars that reverse park all by themselves; we’re people that fight for marriage equality, dig deep during natural disasters and legislate overnight against ‘coward punch’ violence in the street. And yet our attitudes to the simple procedure of discontinuing a pregnancy remain shrouded in misconception.” [Daily Life]
We can’t forget informed consent when it comes to medical procedures. [On the Left]
Politics.
Tony Abbott plays that “gender card” he so often accused Julia Gillard of. [Women’s Agenda]
Further to that, it’s “too little, too late”. [No Place for Sheep]
Women lawyers have a fat chance of being considered for appointment to High Court judge. [Women’s Agenda]
A Very Tony Abbott Christmas. [Brocklesnitch]
Just like the Labor government they said they’d be nothing like, the Coalition has had their fair share of surprises and excuses since taking office. [No Place for Sheep]
The way we report on politicians’ personal lives proves that “understanding and empathy aren’t dependent on one’s relationship status or parenthood”. [No Place for Sheep]
Prime Minister Tony Abbott misses the mark on why the repealing of the carbon tax is good for women. [Curl]
Why don’t our politicians have any personality? [No Place for Sheep]
Miscellaneous & General Feminism.
Depression around Christmastime (trigger warning: suicide). [Brocklesnitch]
On identity politics: “You’re Not Really X”. [The Rainbow Hub]
“Adventures in Free-Boobing.” [Jessica Hammod]
“How to Be a Good Parent to Your Bisexual, Lesbian or Gay Child.” [Opinions @ BlueBec]
The history of cyberfeminist group VNS Matrix. [Motherboard]
How to be alone as a woman:
“To be alone is to be eccentric. To be alone and a girl is to be nuts.” [Spook Magazine]
Rachel Hills has just started a newsletter: sign up for updates on her blog, book and more! [Emails of an Inappropriate Woman]
How personal feminism evolves. [Skud]
“Pregnant Refugees Left in Sun, Denied Food & Water, Removed with Force: Advocates.” [ABC]
I said goodbye to friend and colleague Stella Young.
More farewells to Stella, from Maeve Marsden and Brocklesnitch.
On Old Fartism: “a position of social insecurity… Old Fartism can be found in people of any age or gender, but it is most prevalent among those who have lived in a world where their viewpoint and interests were reflected by default, to the exclusion of other subject categories.” [Junkee]
Critiquing modern motherhood doesn’t equate to being anti-children:
“It is indeed the opening of these doors that has rendered work-family balance problematic in the first place since it is the entry of women into the public domain, and specifically into paid employment, that problematises liberal-capitalist conceptions of the ideal worker, which presupposes a wife at home.” [Online Opinion]
Who are the top game-changing women medievalists? [Australian Medievalists]
Rosie Batty is Daily Life’s Woman of the Year.
The ugly girls club. [Daily Life]
The Scarlett Woman 