John 8:7-11 (a.k.a. I don’t care about Shane Jones’ movie viewing)
To all the people to whom I have said today “Yes, I am a feminist, but I really don’t care” I would like to offer this longer explanation… I care a great deal about how politicians behave in the roles,...
View ArticleDepicting Julia Gillard
I’ll be watching with interest the characterisation — and caricaturisation — of Australia’s new PM, especially as compared to Helen Clark. Some of you might be aware that I once wrote a research paper...
View ArticlePC priorities
The media beat-up du jour is the non-story of Te Papa Tongarewa “barring” (or “banning”, “forbidding”, other such absolute terms) pregnant and menstruating women from entry due to the nature of some...
View ArticleJohn Key’s re-election strategy: letchery, fantasy and condoning spousal abuse.
John Key either has very poor PR advice, is grossly insensitive or has some darkness in his heart, to say nothing of his small head, when it comes to women. I am less concerned by his choice of words...
View ArticleEnough rope
On Mike Hosking’s Newstalk ZB show this morning, a discussion of the gender pay gap and Catherine Delahunty’s bill on the topic — and an object lesson in not believing your own hype: Alasdair Thompson...
View ArticleTen strategic communication lessons from the Alasdair Thompson fiasco
Today has been a remarkable day. Rarely do we see such an epic failure of communication as we have seen from Alasdair Thompson. Because these events have played out mostly in public, they also present...
View ArticleMaster-race baiting
[Updated 10 July 2011 to account for Don Brash's statements in response to John Ansell, and Ansell's resignation from ACT.] Many have remarked on the appropriateness of the website of the ACT Party...
View ArticleClint Rickards and the Waipareira Trust
My first reaction to the news that Clint Rickards was elected to the Waipareira Trust Board was outrage. The second was a stern lecture to myself about the fact everyone, even rapists, deserves a...
View ArticleWhen the media says a woman is no more than a whore
A man moves in with his girlfriend. A few months later, in an argument over the rent, he strangles her to death. Media coverage: Prostitute killer’s appeal rejected Killer of sex worker loses appeal...
View ArticleWhen the media says a cop is no more than a woman
If Hayden Donnell of the Herald didn’t have a head full of preconceptions about policewomen and women fighting this is how his article would start Female cCop bashed, loses hair A policewoman officer...
View ArticleGaming Gay Marriage
I have never quite understood the argument that gay sex is “unnatural.” Unless one believes that the only natural sex is that which reproduces the species, then how one chooses to express sexuality is...
View ArticleA Day in the Life.
On a recent day in New Zealand we were treated to the following news. A group of rapists who openly bragged about having pack sex with drugged or drunk underage girls on social media were outed by a...
View ArticleIt was not me.
Yesterday the Herald published an op ed that started out with the following: “I was asking an American professor a complicated question about Anzus in a university lecture theatre when he started...
View ArticleMore sexist headlines.
So this was the headline that greeted me when I opened the Herald on line: “Chris Cairn’s wife accuses Marc Ellis of harassment.” Now, I am not a fan of either Chris Cairn Cairns or Marc Ellis, so...
View ArticleDarkness at heart.
Lets consider a hypothetical scenario. A group of women appear to be well on their way to intoxication at a polite venue on an island known to cater to the affluent. They are not caucasian. A...
View ArticleAngry losers who can’t get laid.
What do Islamic extremists, alt-Right adherents and the Incel movement have in common? Many people might say “nothing,” but the truth is that for all their differences when it comes to socio-economic,...
View ArticleThe misogyny of the alt-Right.
Comments about Green MP Golriz Ghahraman by ACT MP David Seymour on a reactionary radio talk show, and the threats that followed and which the Police deemed serious enough to merit a security detail...
View ArticleA democratic peace or a feminist peace?
Many years ago when I was in mid academic career, two theoretical strands emerged in the field of international relations and comparative foreign policy. One was the basis for a school of thought that...
View ArticleOn the darkness behind the PM’s departure.
Over the weekend I was interviewed by a media outlet about the threats that Jacinda Ardern and her family have received while she has been PM and what can be expected now that she has resigned. I noted...
View ArticleThe zero-sum logic of rightwing culture wars.
Many years ago a sister-in-law of mine and I were debating about gay marriage. I have no issue with it but she did. When I asked her what the problem was, she said something to the effect that “giving...
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