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!

Drunken Sex High

So you’ve finished your last HSC exam and need to blow off some steam. You’ve had your graduation dinner and perhaps even a function at the pub instead of the alcohol-dry, police-monitored formal.  Perhaps some teachers decided you’re mature enough to share a drink with them. Perhaps one of those teachers is young, attractive and can’t hold those drinks.

Are tales of teacher/student sex the ultimate online news stories because they appeal to almost every man’s school fantasy (not to mention they are scandalous, forbidden, deal with gender and power relations, etc.)?

Or are they just so easy to write, requiring almost no framing – find out what happened, interview the school, the police and some horny teenagers and presto! Then come back later to hear the court verdict.

The above story is basically a recount of a very exciting evening for one lucky fellow and a rather embarrassing one for the woman. It reads like a story, like any good story of young lust. But the peculiar thing is that because the teacher was rather wasted and confused, she is portrayed as a victim despite the typical zero-tolerance stance towards teacher/student sexual encounters.

I drank all those while writing this post

I must say I find the decision of the disciplinary panel surprising.  Rather than putting the teacher away for sex with a minor in her care, admitting that, in a moment of weakness, the pair had “consensual sex”, shows a lot of guts. It may not have been rape, but what kind of message does it send out to the community?

What’s more, the supplied photo is of 50+ bottles of booze and not of anything related to the story! What an easy journo piece!

Has there ever been a male teacher that got off the hook so easily? Probably not, at least not in high school. Male teachers can apparently get in trouble just by saying things. Perhaps making “obscene comments” about women goes a bit too far, but what exactly is wrong with inviting year 10 students to ask “anything they wanted to know about sex”? Anyone who taught 16 year old boys would know it’s all they want to hear about and satisfying their curiosity via a teacher beats other methods (go to Google and type in “can you get”).

It seems the Victorian Institute of Teaching is quite forgiving to its female teachers – last year a teacher was given back her certificate after an incident in 2005, in which the then-23 year old hooked up with an 18 year old student. But in the space of four years the pair got engaged and bought a house. Even the student’s parent was pleased. What a happy ending.

The accompanying photo makes it all better.

Hi, I'm a sex offender!

The stages of a juicy sexual harassment scandal

In this post I would like to revisit our fascination with sexual harassment in the media in the wake of the recent David Jones scandal.

Sexual harassment is a morally wrong act in which one dominant party (usually a male manager) employs dominance, bullying and bad touch on the subjected party (usually a young, attractive and ambitious woman). Often the subject is too embarrassed to come forward and justice does not always prevail.

But when it does come to light, it sure is enjoyable to read with its sex, money and celebrities (or people more famous than you!).

It tastes like what?!

One Daily Telegraph story starts off setting the scene and the significance of the $37m claim. Then come the juicy details:

-a mouth-watering dessert that tastes” like a f*ck in the mouth”,

-touching of lingerie,

-invitation for sex in a luxurious setting,

-“kissing on the neck”,

-something in the front pocket.

Then, after a phase of moral outrage and satisfying one’s curiosity, there is plenty of time for others to make confrontational comments like those of designer Alannah Hill, who offered herself to McInnes.

Another story (from AdelaideNow) follows a similar pattern of sexy news, putting the negative aspects of the incident aside. Hell, with Hill’s description of McInnes as a desirable hunk, doesn’t that (partially) restore his credibility and trivialise the wrongdoing that he has committed?

Then comes the designer’s apology and a laugh on the radio – the story focus shifts back to entertainment.

The ending of the story suggests that in the world of David Jones, even sexual harassment must give way to the Spring/Summer launch and the latest goss on Miranda Kerr.