canberratimes.com.au/story/891…

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Never has a women's revolution been so desperately needed. Right here. Right now.

Australian women kickstarted one 50 years ago. We need to crank it up again.

On this day, International Women's Day, 1975, prime minister Gough Whitlam called for a "revolution in people's heads".

This was straight out of the feminist manifesto of the Australian Women's Liberation Movement, with whom Whitlam wholeheartedly agreed.

The United Nations had declared '75 International Women's Year and called on every nation to step up. Whitlam was all in. He urged women to "give the world a shove in the right direction."

Appalled by media misogyny and overt sexism, Whitlam told his audience, "... our overriding task and challenge for this year is to strike out at the attitudes".

Female oppression was "deeply embedded ... in the psychology of the society", he said. That must change.

As Whitlam knew, driving real change - transformative social and cultural change, that attempts to take the nation with you - takes moral leadership. And political capital.

International Women's Day has a way of focusing our attention. For the past decade it has become performative, overtaken by purple ribbons and cupcakes. While we sit on our hands.

This year, listening to the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese's dreary words about "marching forward", reflecting on how far "Australia has come" and "the foundations we've laid", was like floating mindlessly inside the bubble of a parallel universe, disconnected to the real world that real women live in.

Albanese's IWD speech at the annual parliamentary breakfast, hosted by UN Women, did nothing to acknowledge, much less address, the almighty anti-woman sentiment and backlash whipping women around the globe right now. Including we meek sods sitting in front of him.

According to UN Women, one in four nations report backlash on women's rights. They report "higher levels of discrimination and weaker legal protections" across the world.

Fascist plutocracies are literally ripping up reproductive rights - exciting conservative men in places such as Queensland and South Australia, who sniff the changing winds of patriarchal power.

Others, such as misogynistic theocracies in Iran and Afghanistan, are playing the God card to justify dehumanising women and banning basic human rights and freedom of movement.

In Australia women's freedom of movement, voice and expression have all taken a serious hit, now that "radical anti-feminism" is an official thing. Research from Melbourne University shocked but confirmed what women can see for themselves - female hatred is coming out of the closet. The data found "20 per cent of Australian men believe that feminism should be violently resisted."

We know that men "frustrated out of their brain" because they can't "get a girlfriend", can hunt down women in a Bondi shopping mall stabbing spree, and yet still authorities don't call it "terrorism", because it wasn't "ideologically" motivated.

"Radical anti-feminism", as detailed by the Melbourne researchers, sounds like a dangerous ideology to me.

Albanese says we need to be "clear about where we still have a long way to go."

Well, two out of every five Australians are already clear. They think "women's equal rights have gone far enough", according to research out this week from the Global Institute of Women's Leadership. Young men think this most.

Misogyny doesn't die out with the old dinosaurs. It's new, hip, cool and likes a bet on bitcoin. It's all the rage in the US these days.

The death of DEI was swift. As if suffering battered wife syndrome, American institutions learnt quickly to shut up and submit. The US National Science Foundation is not the only research organisation to remove the words "woman", "female" and gender from its website.

So, what can we take from those revolutionaries of five decades ago? Those women who set about changing their world and themselves along the way? Women whose stated goal was not "equality", but "liberation!"

When Whitlam's Women's adviser, Elizabeth Reid, walked on stage at the inaugural UN World Conference on Women, in Mexico City, 1975, to mark International Women's Year, she had steel in her spine. Over 6000 women activists, 1300 government delegates from 133 nations, and 1000 media representatives had arrived. The UN called it the "greatest consciousness raising event in history".

The world was watching and Australia's representative was there to prize open the one subject the UN did not want on the agenda - sexism. Reid let rip.

"We live in societies ... ruled by men - our societies are patriarchal," she said, eyeballing world leaders.

"None of us live in, and it is impossible to imagine living in, a non-sexist society."

The word sexism had never been used in an official UN forum before. UN member states were squirming. Reid pushed on.

"The basis of racism, racial discrimination, colonialism and neo-colonialism ... is similar to that violence against women which we call sexism. It is based on the need ... for power over other human beings. Patriarchy is yet another form of colonising people."

It is, she said, "a colonisation by mute consent".

The New York Times called Reid a "militant feminist". Historians call her an international "feminist rockstar". By the end of the UN conference, Australia was lauded for its bold, progressive approach to ending discrimination against women. Even the UN secretary-general praised Whitlam's International Women's Year program, with its focus on changing women's attitudes to themselves, and men's attitudes towards women.

But such transformative change demands nothing short of revolutionary thinking. Elizabeth Ried, her fellow femocrats and the Australian women's movement lit a feminist fire that burned bright, but now is fading from history. It worked for them. And we need it now.

In recent years, Reid asked a Canberra audience, "Why does such a movement seem so anachronistic today? What happened to this social movement? Don't women need liberating anymore?"

I asked ChatGPT. The computer said "yes".

• Virginia Haussegger AM is a Canberra journalist and writer.

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#AusPol #Greens #VoteGreens #ProgIndies #WeAreTotallyFscked #WeAreSelfishCruelBastards #Misanthropy #FsckOffDutton! #ShitParty1 #ShitParty2 #ComeOnTanya! #WhyIsLabor #NatsAreNuts #NoNukes #racism #FuckRacists #TuckFrump

#FsckRWNJs #FsckThePatriarchy #FsckMisogynists #FsckSexists 🖕
#Feminism #WomensRights #WomensRepresentation #misogyny #sexism #DomesticViolence #DieDickswingersDie #WomanNeedsManLikeFishNeedsBicycle #MaleViolence #WomensSafety

#Women #WomensRights #Equality #Gender #Sociology #Demographics

International Women's Day 2025: Radical anti-feminism on the rise

Research f confirmed what women can see for themselves - female hatred is coming out of the closet. 20 per cent of Australian men believe that feminism should be violently resisted.

^{Virginia Haussegger (The Canberra Times)}

Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News

The war against woke is really a war against empathy

smh.com.au/national/queensland…

Paywalled, so... have at ya.

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In this Brave New World of might over right, of supremacy over collaboration, the term “woke” has been bandied around with gay abandon (sorry, I meant to say supreme masculine abandon – forgot what timeline we were in for a moment).

Conservative politicians, their kindred spirits in the media, and that uncle on Facebook you always try to avoid at Christmas are seemingly in endless competition to see who can most ferociously and numerously denounce woke.

If I had 5¢ every time I heard or saw an attack on woke in the past week, well, I’d probably have about $7.85. If limited to commentators who knew what the word actually meant, I’d be lucky to have 35¢.

Woke wasn’t always a pejorative, of course.

Before George Floyd’s horrific murder, it had long been in use among the African-American community – “stay woke” meant, essentially, “stay alert to systemic injustice”. The kind of systemic injustice, for example, that might lead to you gasping for air with a police officer’s knee to your throat.

Following Floyd’s death, it gained global ascendancy through the Black Lives Matter movement.

Since then, the meaning has shifted. Some in the cultural and political right seized on the word – much as they did “political correctness” – to use it as a catch-all for any policy or movement that did not align with their worldview.

As a branding exercise, it was genius. Any time “woke” passes through sneering lips at a media conference, or appears in the op-ed pages, you know it’s some conservative – or regressive – voice intent on maintaining their privileged status in society.

Political leaders such as Donald Trump and Peter Dutton call out woke like Joseph McCarthy once called out communists – it’s a vibe thing.

And not a day goes by without frothing social media comments in response to even the most innocuous posts – “so sick of this woke crap!” etc etc.

I imagine you’ll see it in response to this piece, too.

But what, exactly, is woke these days? It seems to be any policy, activity or movement with even a hint of empathy at its core.

Welcome to Country ceremonies, which can have the added benefit of reminding people of our nation’s (ahem) complicated history, have been described as “divisive and woke ceremonial practices with no meaning”.

An acknowledgement of First Nations people prior to an event? That’s woke. A rainbow flag outside a business? That’s woke. Giving the disadvantaged a leg up? That’s woke.

Not adequately celebrating Australia Day? That’s woke. Recognising that particular national holiday may not be a cause for celebration for all Australians? Woke.

Diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) programs? Woke.

To a degree, I get it. Change is hard. I’ve been known to struggle with the “they/them” pronouns – not through any issue with trans people, but rather with the words’ plural nature (just how many of them are there?).

But if adjusting my language can make life a little easier for someone already having to navigate so much, I’m happy to oblige (even if I wish they – in the traditional plural sense of “they” – adopted a new word).

Of late, though, the right’s mask has been coming off.

Never was that more obvious than when an eminently qualified black, lesbian fire chief in Los Angeles came under attack as a “DEI hire”. Even Kamala Harris was ludicrously described as the “DEI vice president”.

Woke has become the right’s word du jour, in part because, even in the age of Donald Trump, the N-word is still frowned upon.

I’ve never really considered myself woke – in fact, I find usage of the word a little stupid. But if its accepted new definition is embracing, seeking and fighting for empathy and fairness – across race, gender, sexuality and culture – count me in.

At a time when the most vulnerable are increasingly targeted, a little empathy and understanding has never been more important.

And if you’re offended by that, you’re not “anti-woke”, you’re just a jerk.

• Cameron Atfield is a journalist at Brisbane Times.

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#Atheism #fsckALLreligion #FsckChristoFacists #FsckSkyfairyDelusionists #FsckRWNJs #FsckThePatriarchy 🖕 #Feminism #FreedomFromReligion #RemoveALLReligiousTaxPreferencesFromALLAspectsOfSociety #religion #FsckRWNJs #FsckThePatriarchy #FsckMisogynists #FsckSexists 🖕
#Feminism #WomensRights #WomensRepresentation #misogyny #sexism #DomesticViolence #DieDickswingersDie #WomanNeedsManLikeFishNeedsBicycle #MaleViolence #WomensSafety #LGBTQIA+ #GenderDysphoria #Transphobia #Trans #TransRightsAreHumanRights #FsckThePatriarchy #fsckALLreligion #RWNJs #FsckRWNJs #FsckChristoFacists #ChangeTheSystem #FuckAroundAndFindOut #Misanthropy #TransRepresentation #transwoman #transwomen #transkids

The war against woke is really a war against empathy

^{Cameron Atfield (The Sydney Morning Herald)}

Someone pls remind me why horrific dickswinger monsters like this should not be simply put up against the wall & hockeysticked into maggot food? 😡

canberratimes.com.au/story/888…

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A man previously jailed for manslaughter threw a woman into his ute intending to kill her after she knocked back his advances, a judge has heard.

Robert Joseph Keene, 44, of Longreach, faced Brisbane District Court on Thursday having pleaded guilty to one count each of assault and armed assault causing bodily harm.

Chief Judge Brian Devereaux heard Keene had been jailed in Tasmania in 2011 after being found guilty of bashing to death his housemate John Douglas Wilson.

Crown prosecutor Sam Poplawski said Keene had repeatedly attacked a 26-year-old female neighbour at Loganlea, south of Brisbane on February 15, 2022 after she rejected his attempt to start a relationship.

The assaults culminated in Keene lifting the woman by the back of her neck and throwing her into the back of his ute, lacerating her leg as he closed the tailgate.

"When asked by police why he put the victim in the back of the ute, (Keene) said he was 'probably going to knock her', which he clarified meant to kill her," Mr Poplawski said.

"He decided against doing so, which he seemingly regretted at the time of the police interview."

Judge Devereaux heard Keene had earlier entered the woman's home and started verbally abusing her before punching her four times in the head.

The woman then went to Keene's home and started hitting his car with a golf club.

Keene invited the woman to hit him with the club, which she did, breaking off the clubhead in his hand.

"He disarmed the victim and repeatedly struck her (with the club) on the arms and legs," Mr Poplawski said.

Neighbours told Keene to stop but he grabbed the woman and threw her in the ute.

The woman was able to leave the scene after several people called police and her leg injury was later treated with sutures.

Mr Poplawski said Keene had a history of assaulting police, correctional services, a young female shop assistant and an elderly couple in Queensland.

"(Keene) has a propensity for violence over a large span of time that this offending is just a continuing of," Mr Poplawski said.

Defence barrister Joshua Fenton said Keene was removed from his parents at a young age and suffered abuse while in institutional care.

"He suffers abnormality short of insanity ... he has been diagnosed with complex PTSD. He was prescribed anti-psychotic medication," Mr Fenton said.

Judge Devereaux told Keene he had committed serious violent offences while unprovoked.

"Your conduct was worryingly violent. Hitting her with the (golf club) was bad enough. When people saw what was happening, you threw the victim into your ute," the judge said.

"It was demeaning. It would have been absolutely terrifying."

Keene was sentenced to two-and-a-half years' imprisonment and was ordered to be released on parole immediately due to his 417 days on remand.

Judge Devereaux also imposed a six-month suspended sentence and told Keene he would have a return to prison "hanging over your head" if he reoffended in the next two years.

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#Women #WomensRights #Equality #Gender #Sociology #Demographics #FsckRWNJs #FsckThePatriarchy #FsckMisogynists #FsckSexists 🖕
#Feminism #WomensRights #WomensRepresentation #misogyny #sexism #DomesticViolence #DieDickswingersDie #WomanNeedsManLikeFishNeedsBicycle #MaleViolence #WomensSafety

Killer attacked after woman knocked back his advances

A convicted killer told police he regretted changing his mind and not taking the life of a young...

^{Rex Martinich (The Canberra Times)}

smh.com.au/national/tame-grace…

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Grace Tame was Australian of the Year in 2021. She received her award for outspoken advocacy on behalf of sexual assault survivors and her successful campaign to eliminate Tasmania’s gag laws which, at the time, prevented sexual assault survivors – like Tame – from identifying themselves publicly. Her case was a catalyst for the “Let Her Speak” campaign.

Tame has been speaking ever since. She continues to be clear, precise and blunt in her advocacy. Sometimes, she uses words, sometimes, her facial expression, including her famous stony side-eye to Scott Morrison at the 2022 Australian of the Year celebration.

Morrison was a prime minister, it should be remembered, who had claimed to need his wife to explain why he should launch an investigation into workplace culture after a sexual assault allegation in parliament. It was Morrison who had admonished hundreds of thousands of Australian women – who marched for gender equality in 2021 – that they should be grateful that their demonstrations had not been met with bullets.

For last weekend’s Australian of the Year morning tea at The Lodge, Tame chose to use her clothing to make her point. Specifically, she wore a rather smart white T-shirt with “F--- MURDOCH” emblazoned across her chest.

The usual pearl-clutching has ensued, no doubt as Tame knew it would. As a brilliant and strategic campaigner, Tame understands how much our society loves to police the behaviour of women (hello, March for Justice participants), especially young women. Indeed, the prettier they are, the more we delight in wagging our fingers, pursing our lips and turbocharging our radio mics, if lucky enough to have them.

Certain sections of the community – usually older men with aforementioned mics, conservative politicians and their acolytes, various pulpits and those spouting family values – particularly enjoy policing women’s clothes. There has been a recent minor kerfuffle about the fashion for thong bikinis.

’Twas ever thus. Back in my day, beach inspectors went around with tape measures to check that a girl’s bikini bottom was wide enough. Valuable learning time was once spent measuring the distance a schoolgirl’s tunic was from the floor. Some girls’ private schools had knicker inspections! But the same critics are also down on hijabs and burkhas, even burkinis. Seems women are always wearing either too much or too little.

Many column inches can be filled fulminating about young women’s behaviour, morals, language, ideas and ambitions. Chick-bait masquerading as clickbait. But Tame regularly and gleefully tramples such nonsense. Tame understands, perhaps as the Murdoch empire and its creation Donald J. Trump does, that attention is power.

The difference is that Tame uses attention to expose injustice and inequality, whether for sexual assault survivors, Indigenous Australians, Australians with a disability or merely as the victim, as she has been, of the personal crusades often launched by one of the world’s largest media companies against individuals they happen to disagree with.

And Tame is in good company. Another young renegade has stood up to the behemoth right at the eleventh hour. Prince Harry has been stalwart in his campaign against intrusive activities, such as phone hacking and searching through dustbins, by Murdoch-owned newspapers. He only settled last week, having taken the 93-year-old to the brink of having to face another “humblest day”. Harry is not very popular in the UK, but perhaps his holding Murdoch to account, not just on his own behalf but in memory of his mother, has gained him some respect.

Some of the criticism of Tame is about her pulling focus from this year’s winners. Actually, I think we’ve done that by being so incredibly easy to bait. If we’d all just shrugged, her activism would have failed. Indeed, a word to other winners, maybe take a leaf from Tame’s playbook. If you care about a cause and want to draw attention to it, be prepared to take flak.

That is the lesson courageous young women like Grace Tame continue to teach me. As a lifelong feminist – yes, I was one of those women lucky not to get shot – I delight in witnessing the refusal of younger women to pipe down, behave, and stifle their opinions and their rage. I am inspired by their rejection of shame about their age, their beauty, and their bodies. Flaunt them, cover them up, I don’t care. Women’s bodies belong to them to be used and accessorised as they see fit. My generation, with a few honourable and mouthy (bless them) exceptions, were more easily cowed.

And where did that get us? The good girls who behaved like ladies and put other people’s needs ahead of their own from dawn to dusk, from cradle to grave? A fast track to an old age of poverty and fear, including the very real possibility of living in our cars.

Speak up, girls. Don’t be tame. Be wild.

• Jane Caro AM is a Walkley-winning columnist, author, novelist and social commentator.

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#FsckRWNJs #FsckThePatriarchy #FsckMisogynists #FsckSexists 🖕
#Feminism #WomensRights #WomensRepresentation #misogyny #sexism #DomesticViolence #DieDickswingersDie #WomanNeedsManLikeFishNeedsBicycle #MaleViolence #WomensSafety #GraceTame

Tame Grace? Good luck with that. I delight in her brave belligerence

As a lifelong feminist, witnessing the blunt and precise advocacy of women like Grace Tame fills me with joy.

^{Jane Caro (The Sydney Morning Herald)}