Category Archives: FFS!

“All the big guns”

Posted on January 31, 2012 | 6 Comments

I know Bidisha’s already covered this, but I couldn’t let the all male line-up for Amnesty’s upcoming 50th anniversary Secret Policeman’s Ball pass without comment, especially in light of today’s report criticising the BBC’s Question Time and Mock the Week “for featuring “token women” on their panels.“

To grudgingly give them their due, at least Question Time and Mock the Week do feature some women, albeit women are grossly under-represented and tokenised on those and other panel shows. Amnesty on the other hand, “an international human rights organisation with more than three million supporters worldwide” (some of whom are no doubt women), doesn’t appear to have invited any women to take part in its “legendary” show.

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Posted in angry? what me?, campaigning, cynical? what me?, feminism, FFS!, music, sexism, the boy's club, You couldn't make it up

Media sexism

Posted on January 25, 2012 | 14 Comments

Not all media sexism is as overt and in your face as the examples given by women’s groups during their awesome testimony to the Leveson Inquiry yesterday. Media sexism, (or #mediasexism if you want to do a Twitter search for coverage of Tuesday’s morning’s hearing) isn’t always about Page 3 ‘girls’, victim blaming, sexual objectification or downright misogyny: often it’s a lot more subtle than that.

Take the erasure of women from the MSM for example. The way women are ignored or marginalised, treated as though we don’t exist or as though our issues are unimportant in the grand scale of things, that’s also media sexism.

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Posted in blogging, campaigning, churnalism, cynical? what me?, Daily Mail shite, feminism, FFS!, gender, misogyny, sexism, the Internet, the meeja

Regrets, I’ve had a few…

Posted on January 2, 2012 | 23 Comments

….and having now seen this piece of unmitigated misogynist shite – Fake Bitch Anthem – one of my biggest regrets  is for ever endorsing the wanker concerned on Comment is free: The Andrew Lansley Rap perfectly skewers its target.

Truth be told I regretted that piece within days. Not because I didn’t agree with the message in the rap, but because I didn’t know at the time of writing that UNISON was behind the video. And even after my CiF piece had been published, no one from UNISON had the decency to tell me they’d funded the whole thing, which considering I’m a UNISON activist as well as a writer, left me (I felt) looking like a bit of a UNISON stooge. And that’s not a position I’m very comfortable with. At all.

So there you go: I’ve (finally) said my piece. All that’s left is to hope that someone from UNISON will now issue a statement disassociating the union from MC NxtGen and his vile misogyny…..

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Posted in angry? what me?, blogging, FFS!, me, music, sexism, trade unions, violence against women, what?, you really couldn't make this shit up

Petition UK government to sign convention

Posted on November 29, 2011 | 2 Comments

From the Council of Europe website:

“On 7 April 2011, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted of a landmark new Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Convention CETS No. 210).

This Convention is the first legally binding instrument in the world creating a comprehensive legal framework to prevent violence, to protect victims and to end with the impunity of perpetrators. It defines and criminalises various forms of violence against women (including forced marriage, female genital mutilation, stalking, physical and psychological violence and sexual violence).

It also foresees the establishment of an international group of independent experts to monitor its implementation at national level.

The Convention was opened for signature in Istanbul on 11 May 2011 and was signed by 13 countries.”

The convention (CAHVIO) has now been signed by 17 countries. But guess which country still hasn’t signed…..

Yep. The UK government has not signed the landmark new convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.

Here’s a link to the convention – Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence

And here’s the explanatory report – Explanatory report

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Posted in 16 days of blogging, a bit of politics, campaigning, ConDems, crime, domestic violence, feminism, FFS!, gender, misogyny, rape, stalking, the cuts, trafficking, violence against women, what?

Guest Post: It doesn’t make it all right

Posted on November 21, 2011 | 26 Comments

This is a guest post by Polly

I have, as of yesterday, an ex friend. And as with all exes, friends or otherwise, I am currently doing that thing where you mentally  punch yourself round the head  going “WTF did I EVER see in you?” Although the punched in the head feeling may be to do with the quintuple vodka that accompanied my extended rant to some other (still current, rant notwithstanding, patience-of-saint-like) friends  about why I was SO ANGRY.

Anyways, the EF is a postgrad student, and the source of the exness (potted version) is that she thinks I just don’t understand why Ghanaian people (or more specifically a group of Ghanaian men living in England) are homophobic, and I should really really try to because it’s not because they’re Stupid and Evil, it’s just that with my “white western gay” persepective, I just don’t get it. Too fucking right I don’t.

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Posted in angry? what me?, campaigning, FFS!, guest post, homophobia, lesbophobia, Polly, racist shits, religion, what?, you really couldn't make this shit up