Quotation Marks, Saving The World From Pesky “Assault” Victims, One At A Time

We have discusssed newspapers’ use of rogue inverted commas in reportage and headlines before, and fellow feminist blogger Audrey has just provided a fine reminder of why such a seemingly simple editorial tool can be so punitive over at her Audrey & The Bad Apples. As she puts it:

‘I’ ‘do’ ‘not’ ‘understand’ ‘why’ ‘it’ ‘is’ ‘that’ ‘so’ ‘many’ ‘news’ ‘reports’ ‘about’ ‘rape’ ‘include’ ‘quotation’ ‘marks’ ‘as’ ‘if’ ‘somehow’ ‘already’ ‘preparing’ ‘for’ ‘the’ ‘moment’ ‘when’ ‘they’ ‘can’ ‘gleefully’ ‘reveal’ ‘the’ ‘female’ ‘bitch’ ‘boner’ ‘killer’ ‘was’ ‘lying’ ‘as’ ‘chicks’ ‘do’ ‘because’ ‘they’ ‘want’ ‘to’ ‘see’ ‘men’ ‘suffer’.

Well, it’s good to see that such pointless “reportage” continues across the pond (and then some). Witness The Daily Mail‘s follow-up piece on Rihanna today:

Okay, as I discussed in my last piece on the spurious use of quotation marks in headlines, it’s true that right now, Chris Brown is “only” (see? I can use them, too!) accused of assault; he hasn’t been found guilty. Thus, I can only assume the Mail‘s use of inverted commas has something vague to do with Brown’s being considered innocent until proven guilty.

But you would think, based on the leaked police photos – which, in true classy style, The Daily Mail has helpfully re-printed (Feministing’s Jessica Valenti efficiently sums up why Feministing, The Dawn Chorus, and many others have not shown said photos) – of Rihanna taken immediately following the assault that led to Brown’s arrest, they could leave out the quotation marks, just this once. Whether or not it is found that Brown was the one who “assaulted” Rihanna that night, there’s no questioning the fact that the woman was viciously beaten.

(All of this is to say nothing of “…but she can’t raise a smile”; hmm, you think? A young woman is – “allegedly” – assaulted by the man she thought was her whole world, who then goes on to issue piddling excuses for an “apology”, and she doesn’t look very happy? Stop the presses!)

Wake up, sub-editors of the world: stories like this (and so many others) aren’t Kevin Smith movies, so put away your air quotes.

Challenges against Pink…

I was excited to read about Pink Stinks, a campaign created by a couple of woman in the UK  which aims  aims to counteract the slurry of media obsession on women who are ‘famous’, ‘thin’ ‘rich’ or ‘married to famous men’, by celebrating those women that we see as inspirational, important, ground-breaking and motivating.

The campaign includes a media watch, websites for young women and their parents respectively and an extensive list of positive role models for young women across a diverse range of life areas (modelling and acting thankfully excluded).
PinkStinks posits a variety of stats which highlight he need for positive media role models for young women, in particular that

44% (of girls questioned) admit they can name more WAGS [wives and girlfriends of professional footballers] than female politicians.
Girlguides survey 2008 (I can’t remember the Guides ever doing surveys when I was involved, interesting…”

And also this charmer:

A poll of people under 25 found the Amy Winehouse was the ultimate Heroine, with Pete Doherty voted second most popular male hero.
Sky.com Poll

 It’s an encouraging effort and I’ll certainly keep reader’s posted.

On Adulthood And Gender

I have been pondering the difference between boys and men and between girls and women. I don’t know if I am a girl, a woman, or Britney Spears. But there have been shifts in what adulthood really means – not just the traditional milestones of acquiring houses and babies, or losing interest in hedonism, but “putting away childish things”. So many people are adults on their birth certificates but not in the way they conduct their lives.

There’s also been a fair bit of discussion online recently about the Manic Pixie Dream Girl (never Manic Pixie Dream Woman). She is a stock character who whose free-spirited whimsy and excellent taste in indie culture awaken in the sensitive but emotionally constipated hero a new lust for life. She has no inner life of her own, and seems to exist purely to interact with the male protagonist. Cases in point: Elizabethtown, Garden State, Along Came Polly, Breakfast At Tiffany’s.

Are there Manic Pixie Dream Boys (who are not gay)? Back in 2004 we met the whimpster – that sensitive, boyish hipster who is passive-aggressive in a relationship, draining his girlfriend of emotional energy, yet when she finally gets sick of trying to ‘fix’ him and leaves, he’s shocked and devastated, as if he never saw it coming.

More recently, Jezebel coined the term new bromantic for the more charming and masculine but still sensitive and fragile dude (eg Forgetting Sarah Marshall) who yearns for a woman to believe in him.

It’s not an especially original thought, but I can’t help feeling resentful that men are repelled by a woman with needs and insecurities, whereas women are not only expected to put up with neediness in a man but also to actively seek it out. Women quickly learn that they must hide their needs and insecurities from men, lest they be branded ‘neurotic’, ‘obsessive’ or ‘high-maintenance’.

Aren’t neediness and insecurity childish traits? Surely a key marker of adulthood is a certainty about what you want and your ability to get it for yourself, rather than a reliance on someone else, a parent-figure, to get it for you?

Happy Corporate Love Day, all. Buy yourself some flowers. Take yourself out to dinner. Don’t wait around for someone to tell you you’re special and cherished; know it in your own heart.

Indian Women Fight Valentine’s Day Bullies With Pink Undies

I like a good pub session as much as the next girl. But if I lived in India, this might earn me a bashing.

Members of a radical Hindu nationalist organisation known as the Sri Ram Sena (Lord Ram’s Army) recently went into a pub in the southern university town of Mangalore and physically attacked female students. SRS leader Pramod Mutalik, who was arrested but bailed after the attack, called his followers “custodians of Indian culture” who were merely guarding the morality of the women at the pub.

Mutalik has since publicly vowed to force any unmarried couples found together on Valentine’s Day either to marry, or to tie string bracelets known as rakhis on their wrists to signify that they’re brother and sister.

As you might imagine, Indian feminists haven’t taken kindly to this. Journalist Nisha Susan has founded the Facebook group A Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women, which at the time of writing has 14,975 members. She says the members are ordinary men and women who are horrified by the way fundamentalist groups trample on civil rights.

“These people [the SRS] are not loonies – they’re guys looking for political capital,” Susan told The Times (UK). “The worrying thing is that we’ve seen before in this region how there can be a period of freedom and then it’s taken away. Look at Afghanistan.”

India’s Minister for Women, Renuka Chowdhury, agrees. She has publicly condemned the Mangalore attack as a sign of the increasing “Tale-banisation” of Indian culture.

As a protest, the consortium is planning to mail the SRS thousands of pairs of pink underpants, or ‘chaddi’ in Hindi slang. Not only are the undies a cheeky symbol of femininity; they also allude to the fact that members of the country’s largest Hindu nationalist group, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, are often called “chaddi wallahs” because of their baggy uniform shorts.

Mutalik has rubbished the chaddi campaign, calling for a proper debate on the issue and saying, ‘Since they are women, stooping to the level of gifting undergarments will defame them only.”

However, the campaign has galvanised women across the country – and by making headlines across the world, it’s putting public pressure on a chauvinistic organisation that has a surprising amount of legitimacy in India.

Toiletries & Sanitary Items For Bushfire Victims – Appeal Closed (For Now!)

By now everyone will be aware of the dreadful bushfires that are currently razing Victorian towns and leaving hundreds homeless. There are a variety of fundraisers and collections going on, and we’d like to draw your attention to a small but vital need expressed by those currently in the respite centres.

I’m organising a collection of toiletries, women’s sanitary items, disposable razors and shampoo/conditioner (and any other small bathroom/toiletry essentials) to be delivered to the major “base camp” refuges in the fire zone. The command centres and volunteers have expressed a need for these items and what exists in the shops that remain won’t last long as (obviously) there are no deliveries being made.

In monetary terms it’s not even a drop in the ocean (i.e. $10 for some pads and tampons, or a set of shampoo and conditioner, or some kids’ toothbrushes – just pop them in the trolley along with your other groceries) but will make a huge difference to someone who has nothing and needs to restore a bit of humanity and dignity amongst the destruction. The small relief of something as simple as having a preferred brand of tampon or the ability to have a shave in these circumstances should not be underestimated.

I will be doing a “drop-off”/pick-up at Triple R (corner of Nicholson & Blyth Streets, East Brunswick; end of 96 tram line) on WEDNESDAY of this week, during office hours: 10am to 6pm. The time and day is non-negotiable but we hope this won’t be an obstacle to people’s charity!

PLEASE NOTE: we will NOT be able to accept food/perishables, or clothes/blankets. There are other drives doing so including the Salvos and Coles (etc). We don’t want to discourage you from giving generously, just that we won’t have the people-power/infrastructure to include food and clothing delivery.

What we WILL be glad to accept:

* pads and tampons (and maternity and incontinence pads)
* disposable razors (both “genders”) and shave creams
* shampoo and conditioner
* hand sanitizer
* nappies in a variety of sizes (and Pull-Ups, Goodnights etc)
* toothbrushes and toothpaste
* soap
* toiletry bags (preferably stuffed with all of the above!)

Hope to see some of you there to fill some “Coles bags” for the bushfire victims.

Any questions (or if you’d like to be “on call” to volunteer/sort in case we get swamped – which we hope we do!) email clembastow[AT]gmail.com with a relevant subject.

UPDATE AS OF 8:14PM, WEDNESDAY 11TH FEB

The collection is continuing tomorrow after a HUGE and amazing day of support for the bushfire victims; seven truckloads of supplies were delivered to the relief centres in Wallan, Diamond Creek and Whittlesea. We have received updated needs/lists from the relief centres and will now also accept:

* Towels
* Torches
* Batteries
* Washing Powder and cleaning wipes
* Nokia and other phone chargers
* Outdoor Gloves
* Sunglasses, hats
* Lipbalm and Chapstiks (etc)
* Sunblock

More details can be found on the RRR website here.

UPDATE: TUESDAY 17th FEBRUARY

Thanks to all who donated and volunteered for your amazing efforts – we will be unable to accept any more donations for the time being, but will be running similar drives again once bushfire victims have been housed, so keep an eye on the RRR website (and The Dawn Chorus!) for more information in the future. Once again, thank you all!