Posts Written by Antigone

Consent and sexuality – the murky waters of the Assange rape allegations

Hello all! Even though it has been extensively covered by the feminist community, I thought I’d post some reflections on the lessons for the Left from the Assange rape allegations. Enjoy!

Trigger warning: this article contains references to sexual assault that may cause distress to survivors.

When I heard reports that Julian Assange, co-founder of whistleblower organisation Wikileaks, had been accused of sexually assaulting two women I was shocked and reluctant to believe them. The possibility that someone so seemingly committed to holding governments accountable for their human rights crimes could themselves be a perpetrator of such a fundamental assault on a person’s autonomy is a hard one to stomach. As a community blogger from Feministing.com commented, “most people have a resistance to believing that people ‘like us’ – people who do things we like and admire – could be guilty of acts we don’t like or admire”. I was no exception.

And I was not the only one shocked or in denial about the allegations. Michael Moore urged us “not be naive about how the government works when it decides to go after its prey” and to “never, ever believe the ‘official story’”. Journalist John Pilger called the sexual assault allegations a “political stunt”, while Assange’s UK lawyer Mark Stephens stated “The honeytrap has been sprung”. Assange himself claimed to be a victim of “revolutionary feminism”. It was at this point that something seemed to have gone wrong. Two women had alleged that they had been sexually assaulted, ...

Feminist critiques of marriage – tell me what you think!

Hello wonderful Feministing readers! For my amazing gender studies course I am writing about feminist critiques of marriage and, in particular, whether queer folk should be seeking same-sex marriage or defining our relationships outside of the marriage norm. What better place, I thought, to gain inspiration than the wonderful Feministing community discussion boards!

So…. marriage.

I think that gaining same-sex marriage is an important first step. As it is, marriage is often used as a vehicle for homophobia and hated (“marriage is between a man and a woman”, “think of the children!!). Legalising same-sex marriage would go some way towards greater institutional recognition.

However… as a bisexual woman, the idea of rejecting the norms surrounding marriage greatly appeals to me.

Hello wonderful Feministing readers! For my amazing gender studies course I am writing about feminist critiques of marriage and, in particular, whether queer folk should be seeking same-sex marriage or defining our relationships outside of the marriage ...

Australia gets first female Prime Minister!

This morning, the current Labor party Prime Minister Kevin Rudd decided not to contest an internal party leadership ballot against him – handing power to Australia’s new PM Julia Gillard.
This change will hopefully have an effect on the under-representation of women in politics in Australia. Currently, women occupy 26.7 percent of Lower House seats and 35.5 percent of Senate seats, although women represent 45% of Australia’s workforce.
From what we know, Gillard is not a particularly feminist politician. She has not made any explicit statements about improving the status of women in Australia. Politically, the change in Prime Ministers will likely not mean much at all. Labor has been edging toward the centre right since gaining power in 2007, ...

This morning, the current Labor party Prime Minister Kevin Rudd decided not to contest an internal party leadership ballot against him – handing power to Australia’s new PM Julia Gillard.
This change will hopefully have an effect ...

Kagan on ‘Religious Freedom’- Should I be worried?

First post.
The New York Times just published a piece on Elena Kagan and a memorandum she wrote in 1996 as White House counsel. She criticized a California case which found that a landlord could not refuse to rent to an unmarried couple because of her religious beliefs because California bans housing discrimination based on marital status. Kagan found this ‘outrageous’ and said it threatened the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (later struck down by the Supreme Court).
Beyond the particulars of this case, the idea that people have the right to discriminate as long as it’s for religious reasons disturbs me. Does Kagan also approve of pharmacists right to refuse to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception ...

First post.
The New York Times just published a piece on Elena Kagan and a memorandum she wrote in 1996 as White House counsel. She criticized a California case which found that a landlord could ...

Challenging Privilege

I have a good male friend who, in many ways, has been moving along the path towards being a good feminist/pro-feminist ally.
However, every now and again I still catch him saying something that screams of privilege, such as “do you really think women are oppressed in Australian society?” (To which I replied, that although it’s not as extreme as in a country like Iran, there are a multitude of lesser oppressions that Australian women have to cope with.)
Or “men and women will never be completely equal because men will always be physically stronger and better able to do things like open jars etc” Get real!
He calls himself a feminist and is interested in being active in the ...

I have a good male friend who, in many ways, has been moving along the path towards being a good feminist/pro-feminist ally.
However, every now and again I still catch him saying something that screams of privilege, ...

Pornography Vs Reality

Warning: this post is about pornography, so be prepared for a massive feministing-style debate (I hope!).
When Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series appeared in the public consciousness, a lot of feminist commentators rightly took the series to task for its potential to negatively influence teenage girls in regard to the sort of partners they would deem desirable – overly-protective, stalkerish ‘bad-boys’ in this case. The prevalent view seemed to be that the books were sexist and potentially damaging to young women.
For the most part, I agree with this conclusion, but it strikes me as interesting that in this instance it is taken as a given that a fantasy novel can have a significant impact on a teenage (and older) person’s ...

Warning: this post is about pornography, so be prepared for a massive feministing-style debate (I hope!).
When Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series appeared in the public consciousness, a lot of feminist commentators rightly took the series to task ...

Sydney anti-feminist Christian group runs program to brainwash young women

OK, first I am going to say that I am angry. I am really furious. Lately I’ve been reading this awesome book by Naomi Wolf called Promiscuities about growing up in the 60’s and how confusing and hurtful (as well as amazing) becoming a woman in modern society can be.
And then I hear about this: a program being run in Sydney by Christian evangelist group Hillsong, called SHINE, which brainwashes young women to adhere to ‘traditional’ Christian values. This program targets girls as young as 10 (going up to 20) and is PAID by schools for its services.
Here is some more information about the program, which is sure to make you as mad as me!

OK, first I am going to say that I am angry. I am really furious. Lately I’ve been reading this awesome book by Naomi Wolf called Promiscuities about growing up in the 60’s and how confusing and ...

Effects of pornography

There has been quite a lot of discussion in the community lately about pornography, although this has mostly been personal stories about the merits or disadvantages it causes. In exploring the issue myself i came across the website which presents some fairly persuasive feminist-oriented arguments for the negative effects of porn.

In particular, these two studies caught my eye. Now I don’t know the background of these studies. I don’t know whether they were conducted correctly. However, I would be interested to hear a what others think, as they seem to paint a pretty bleak picture of the effects of stereotypical misogynistic porn.

There has been quite a lot of discussion in the community lately about pornography, although this has mostly been personal stories about the merits or disadvantages it causes. In exploring the issue myself i came across ...

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