Category Archives: sexism

“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

Women’s organisations get their say at Leveson

Posted on January 24, 2012 | 1 Comment

For those of you who missed it here’s the link to this morning’s Leveson Inquiry hearing where representatives from women’s organisations finally got their say on sexism in the media. The relevant bit starts at around 105:00, and it’s well worth watching: Leveson Inquiry Tuesday am

And here’s my Storify of some of the tweeting that went on during it: Women at Leveson

In other news, I did the interview about lap dancing clubs on BBC Radio Norfolk’s breakfast show that I mentioned in my previous post  – you can listen to the full thing here. And yes I know, I said Camden when I should have said Hackney, but never mind.

Anyway, here’s the money quote from that interview: I’m still ridiculously chuffed that I managed to get that line in. Hey Norfolk, have some radical feminist theory with your cornflakes…….

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Posted in blogging, campaigning, churnalism, Daily Mail shite, feminism, local politics, me, misogyny, sex industry, sexism, the Internet, the meeja, violence against women

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

Guest post: See the violence inherent in the system

Posted on December 12, 2011 | 44 Comments

This is a guest post by Polly

A few months back I was sat in the hairdressers and noticed a simply enormous frown line. Fuck, I thought, that looks really terrible. So passing one of those cosmetic surgery lite places I went in to inquire about Botox. Having beaten them down to match the price of somewhere cheaper, I went for a consultation with a somewhat slimy doctor who put me off the whole idea, by telling me how much more ‘confident’ it would make me and basically implying that having 150 quids worth of poison injected into my face would transform my life. I was insulted by this,  mainly the suggestion that I wasn’t already full of myself as it was, not to mention his patronising manner, and decided to sack the whole thing off. That and on reflection I didn’t really fancy the syringe full of botulinum/paralysed face scenario.

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Posted in campaigning, ConDems, feminism, FGM, guest post, health, mental health, Polly, porn, sexism, trade unions, violence against women