Just 3 days ago I wrote a post about how the media has been a little on the disappointing side. It’s also not the first time I’ve written about that. Alan Jones last year pissed me off to so much that I just had to offload on my blog.
Yay for blogging.
Media types, bloggers and commenters on sites all….well a lot, turned against Julia Gillard this week claiming she was playing the gender card.
Here’s what I think, until the day comes that her gender isn’t an issue then it’s going to be on the cards.
Julia Gillard has had a rough week. First, in an idiotic move “someone” prints a menu ridiculing her breasts, thighs and her vagina. (Rudd was also ridiculed on this menu, but no Rudd body parts were harmed in the making of this menu).
I’ve also read this
And then Howard Sattler of 6PR does the most monumentally retarded thing by asking Ms Gillard whether her partner Tim is gay because he’s a hairdresser. And before anyone tells me that this isn’t about her gender, it is. Do you think any male politicians would be asked this question? Or perhaps it’s because of her marital status?
SMH said that Sattler is a 25 year veteran known for his polarizing style.
25 years!!!! So that to me says that:
A) he should have known better or
B) he did know better; but he’d rather be a disrespectful twat and become gossip fodder.
Either way; it’s time to go, Sattler. It’s time to go all shock jocks.
I’m mad. And you want to know why? Because I’m trying to raise children here and look what I’m up against. Moronic behaviour of the highest order.
Why? Why? Why
Many people have said that this country is going down hill fast because Ms Gillard and the Labor Party have done a lousy job. I’m not even going to enter the debate of policy but…BUT she is still the Prime Minister of Australia. The highest office in our country. The Prime Minister of Australia deserves respect.
Just like you would respect a boss in a workplace. Just like you teach your children to respect their teachers.
I’m just gobsmacked to be honest. The personal attacks on Ms Gillard have been astounding over the past 3 years. I don’t know how she gets up in the morning; but hats off to her for doing so.
I asked someone on Facebook this week whether they thought Ms Gillard has had to endure sexist comments. The response;
Absolutely, but so has Julie Bishop, Penny Wong, Sophie Mirabella and many other female members of parliament. The key issue is certain segments of Australia and the Labor party are using it as an excuse and distraction.
So, what? Because it’s wide spread we should just let it be?
So the message is to endure the sexist comments, and please don’t play the gender card. It’s just weak.
How am I supposed to tell my daughter, if she wants to lead this country one day that she should chase that dream? Because right now, I’d be steering my daughter away from politics; but that’s not the answer either. So what do I do?
“Go forth and put yourself in harm’s way sweetheart for the good of the cause. You’ll be under more scrutiny than your male counterparts but you just gotta keep on keepin’ on.”
I also have boys that I’m trying to grow into men; gentlemen. Howard Sattler you need to bugger off because you are screwing with my message with your thoughtless questions.
People lament about the youth of today; I lament about the establishment of today.
But I know, I know. It’s my job to teach my job to teach my children how to interpret media, how to critically think, to read widely, to be more informed. And that’s fine, I’m happy to do that. But for God’s sake world, give me a break for one day.
Sexist remarks, racist remarks, any offensive remark comes down to a cultural mentality. There needs to be shift.
Hell, even the soccer coaches my son has had over the years have made sexist remarks in the past.
“Boys, you want to sit around chatting, join the netball team”, “Hey, we’re not a bunch of girls having a tea party, get into your positions”.
Other than that, I think the coaches do a great job but those underhanded remarks I don’t like.
On the upside, the only upside this week, is Chief of Army David Morrison came out with an absolute stellar speech about changing the culture. I implore you to watch.
It’s weeks like these that make you want to vote, but not for policy or politics. In a slightly different field, the topic of sexism flared up at E3 (though you’re only likely to encounter that if you keep an eye on the Games industry) as well, and it’s not surprising that the comments by defenders of the status quo sound remarkably similar.
The problem, though, is one of those ones that’s impossible to tackle head on, evidenced by the fact we have a woman Prime Minister – the highest office in the land – and it’s STILL a problem. These attitudes are tremendously difficult to change in adults, so it’s the sort of change that takes an entire society to enact. Hopefully we’re moving in that direction!
Great post, Maria. It’s disgusting how our PM is being treated. Appalling.
We sit here complaining how our politics is going completely haywire and that nothing is being achieved. It’s because idiotic shock jocks like Sattler are steering the public from what the real focus should be.
Thank god they’ve fired him!
Yes, we certainly need to stamp out bigotry. http://www.r-word.org/mobile/default.aspx