Upskirt, downskirt

I thought for this entry it’s about time I step out of the Aussie mediascape and look for something similar in another country, like UK for instance. Luckily, guardian.co.uk has plenty of social stories that fit perfectly within the confines of this blog.

Sexist, feminist or educational???

It seems that miniskirts are turning heads again, this time parents and teachers  suddenly realising the long-established tradition of plaid skirt uniforms is sexually suggestive and promotes “inappropriate thoughts among boys”.

School authorities are frantic to introduce skirts of standard length that don’t get in the way of education, or replace them with pants. The notion of “sexually suggestive clothing encourages rape” immediately comes to mind.

Before discussing the entire discourse of feminism and how the dress/skirt projects women as the weaker, subjected sex, Gaby Hinsliff cools it down. In her commentary piece, she points out that schoolgirls have always shortened their skirts when they wanted to be noticed and that boys’ thoughts are, well, pretty much always inappropriate (Yours Truly will confirm this).

It seems rather ironic that school authorities are realising this now.

Having said that, both stories work extremely well in the online environment because a) they concern parents and their precious children, b) they provoke discussion about gender and society; c) schoolgirl uniforms are so hot.

I wonder how the nation of Japan will react to this?

"You are a criminal!", extraordinary errata says

Annoying administrativia and bureaucratic blunders count amongst some of the most evil things invented by mankind save perhaps the really malcontent acts like war, murder and rape.

But being falsely accused of such acts by a simple clerical error can certainly lead to outrage.

The local paper story describes how a 64 year-old man fought against the System that accused him of the terrible crime; effectively preventing him from seeing his own grandchild because he supposedly fathered her with his own daughter.

It turned out the man’s surname and initial were the same of a currently jailed criminal. Naturally, the System refused to allow the incarcerated subject to see the innocent little girl.

The story works because the reader shares the frustration of the grandfather, who unsuccessfully contacted four different officials before The Australian came to his aid (thus restoring our faith in the Fourth Estate!)

He also spent a large amount of money on a DNA test and one can imagine his chances of seeking compensation through the legal system are slim.

You are a rapist, Sir!

The follow-up article in The Australian was short and sufficient; it captured the outrage of the grandfather and presented the story in the light of the Communities minister’s lukewarm apology.

But I question the choice to include rape-themed stories in the ‘related coverage’ section next to the article. It looks like the falsely-accused man’s name will go down in the online media memory as a despicable rapist.

Suck on that maggots!

Hear me roar!

Stephanie Rice may be out of the Commonwealth Games, but her big nose found its way into the spotlight to deliver another winner for the Herald Sun.

The resulting outrage was well deserved – sportspeople and other public figures in general would do best to avoid tweeting tweets that could be interpreted as offensive to certain social groups, let alone the ‘F’ word.

And gay sports stars, particularly singularities like Ian Roberts, have absolutely every right to fight back.

Having removed the comment with least required apology Rice sends a clear message that she doesn’t give [another 'F' word].

The question is, could Steph’s seemingly careless demeanour be more than a premature verbal ejaculation aimed at minorities?

One could argue that the darling swimmer simply projects a hegemonic image of a woman on top of her game, who enjoys watching Australia win at footy and every so often engages in healthy heterosexual activities with her fellows, unlike our former son. 

Aussie hero, pays her taxes

Why would Davenport un-sponsor this Aussie icon now?

Edit: Bad Jaguar, bad!