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:: Monday, March 26, 2007 ::

"The F Word"

There was an interesting article about the new wave of feminism in the Big Issue a couple of weeks ago. In particular it sited as issues pushing this resurgence as the growth of anti-abortion groups that obviously contradict pro-choice values and the commercialisation of the female form in lads rags like Nuts and FHM.

It notes that The Nuts website has an "Assess my Breasts" section for women to upload pictures of their tits to so men can letch at them. The terms and conditions when uploading photos include "[I agree] that I waive all moral rights or any similar personal rights" and "[I agree] that all photographs... whether or not retouched, altered or worked-up... and any statement and or words published in conjunction therewith… shall be deemed to represent and refer to an imaginary person and not myself."

Pretty disrespectful, no?

A collection of links to feminist blog and websites was included at the end of the article. I've corrected the mistakes in the URLs:
www.object.org.uk
www.ussu.info/women
charliegrrl.wordpress.com
www.antisexism.org
www.nusonline.co.uk/
mindthegapcardiff.blogspot.com

The only point I'd pick up on was the comment about the role of the internet, saying, "It's ironic that something so negative in so many ways – which has brought us the worst of the pornography industry – is also helping bring feminists together." The internet is a communication tool. It can be used for good and used for bad, just as any other tool could be. But that's another argument.

Coinciding with seeing this I also heard an interview on Radio 4 on the same day about council pay scales:

"This month is the deadline by which local authorities in England and Wales must implement an equal pay structure for men and women." [RealAudio link]

I can't believe that they were arguing that there simply isn't the budget to pay women the same! That should have been budgeted for LONG ago, and if the money still isn't there it should come from the men's pay. Simple as that.

Labels: Feminism, News

:: Dan 26.3.07 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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