Child neglect and social isolation
Social isolation has been identified as the cause of quite a few problems, not the least of which are problems faced by women. Some research undertaken by WIRE in 2007 linked women's social isolation and problem gambling. I thought of this research when I was reading Jenny Macklin's statement on the 'Wellbeing of Australia's Children' in which she paints a pretty dismal picture of how well we are looking after Australia's children.
Who is telling whom to wear what?
The same week that we saw the young women of Iran, in their burkas, fighting with their lives for democracy, Nicholas Sarkozy declared a ban on the burqa as it is, in his opinion, a symbol of repression and he is going to rescue Muslim women in France from being oppressed.
Women's pay regresses further
The slippery slope of women's pay has taken another turn for the worse. Not only do we earn less, but the way we are paid also determines how much less we will earn.
Actions speak louder than ockerisms
What is it about our Prime Minister lately? By talking like an ocker he totally succeeded in distracting the media from the question of why the new jobs in the recent Ministerial reshuffle went to blokes and not to women, and then he refers to Kate Ellis, the only woman given a bigger job in the reshuffle, as 'Young Kate''.
Review of equal what?
The government announced a review of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act recently, and I think I might propose that the Act be renamed the Hollow, Empty Act Promising Equality for Every Woman at Work (HEAP of EEWW).
Racism? Sexism? No worries, we have it all!
Sexism? Racism? No worries, Australia's got it all! It is good to see that the Human Rights Commissioner on Race Discrimination has finally made a statement about the attacks against Indian students in Australia. The claims of Australian racism from ex-Telstra boss Sol Trujillo and now from hundreds of students from India aren't exaggerated, and I'm adding sexism into the mix.
Resilience and awards
I spent a couple of days this week with over 100 winners of the Australian Rural Women's Award. This Award which recognises the contribution that women make to the sustainability of rural Australia is into its 10th year. What impressed me most about these winning women was their resilience so I thought I'd spend a bit of time reflecting on the subject'
Football, wars and sex
I like football (AFL, actually) and used to think it was a healthy way of discharging boyish high spirits. But it has all become a bit serious lately. It seems rather than discharging high spirits, football encourages unhealthy attitudes to women, and football culture is now more about blokes exercising dominating and aggressive behaviour, with a heavy emphasis on normalising brutish behaviour toward women.
Take big bites
I am reliably informed that I was recently accused of biting off more than I could chew. That gave me something to chew on...but then I realised, it is true. Not only is it true, but I am glad it is true. Taking big bites is much better than never risking breaking a tooth, don't you think? But the accusation also caused me to reflect on the fellowship of women. Yes, you guessed, my accuser is a woman.
18 weeks in 18 months
Looks like I was right, and wrong. We are getting paid maternity leave, but not right now. In fact, we won't get it until we vote the Rudd government back into power in 2010. Sounds a bit like a game to me.
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