Chemist Warehouse forced to remove ‘virgin’ sex toy
Company slammed for aiding sexual fantasies for young girls On Tuesday night, young Melbourne supporter (and kayaking buddy) Verity Thompson sent me a link through Facebook messenger, to the website of Chemist Warehouse, which featured a disembodied ‘virgin pussy’ – a replica vagina of a young girl with ‘realistic hymen’ just waiting for a man […]
Julien Blanc may be gone but looks who’s here. Matthew Berryman on the rise and influence of pick-up culture in Australia
Australian pick-up artist accused of sexual harassing, exposing himself to women: I reported him to Crimestoppers By Dr Matthew Berryman Following the online campaign started by Jennifer Li to #takedownjulienblanc, I’ve started looking into the world of “Real Social Dynamics” (RSD), the company Blanc is a part of, and I’m highly disturbed by what […]
My online harasser tried to pimp me out online
Activist speaks out about mock twitter account, rape, death threats and police inaction By Caitlin Roper Earlier this year, Germaine Greer argued that women now are worse off than ever, citing the proliferation of pornography and the level of harassment and abuse directed toward women on social media as evidence. I tend to agree. For […]
A Wicked Victory
People power forces Wicked Campers to withdraw misogynistic marketing Wicked Campers withdraws sexist slogans from vans after 110,000-strong change.org petition; petition starter Paula Orbea says it’s a “people powered win against sexism” The campervan company at the centre of a people-powered revolt over sexist van slogans has today issued an apology and committed to reviewing […]
Twitter, feminism and mean girls
‘What I’ve learned from Twitter is that it doesn’t matter what I do. It didn’t matter what I’ve done, what I’ve said, what I’ve written. My body of work doesn’t matter and my actual thoughts don’t matter. Not to those who have decided to hate me’ I’ve got a problem with Meghan Murphy and her […]
Nakedness Isn’t Activism: Here’s Why
Just read this on Exiled Stardust. Had to share it with you. And also this morning, I had to explain to someone why stripping and nudity aren’t actually acts of feminist defiance, but the same old male appeasement in a shiny new package. There’s always some group of so-called feminists trying to get away with this. It doesn’t […]
Why I’m calling on Twitter to stop abuse
US Rapper Tyler The Creator unleashes a torrent of hate on Sydney activist By Talitha Stone I’m a 23-year-old psychology student from Sydney and in June this year, I was subjected to a horrific torrent of abusive tweets from fans of touring American rapper Tyler Okonma. I challenged Okonma’s lyrics which encourage rape and violence […]
When men threaten to rape you: this is what twitter abuse looks like
The price you pay for activism – but it won’t stop us [Warning: threatening, sexually violent language] Caitlin Roper, my fellow Collective Shout activist in the West, has put together this montage of some of the abusive and threatening tweets we receive on a regular basis. We want people to know just how bad this […]
Women should be able to speak out without facing rape threats: please sign petition!
Twitter: Add a Report Abuse Button to tweets My friend and fellow Collective Shout activist Talitha Stone has launched this petition calling on Twitter to add a report abuse button to tweets. Please support this brave and gutsy young woman. In June this year, I was subjected to an horrific torrent of abusive tweets from […]
Threatened and objectified: schoolgirls receive flood of abuse from boys for launching feminist group
‘I hadn’t anticipated the massive backlash from the boys’ … I started to notice how much the girls at my school suffer because of the pressures associated with our gender. Many of the girls have eating disorders, some have had peers heavily pressure them into sexual acts, others suffer in emotionally abusive relationships where they are […]
Girlfriend trifecta: three positive reviews and big ticks for global perspective in May issue
My last two reviews (‘Excellent advice on helping a friend with an eating disorder and dealing with stalking’, ‘Pressures to sext and give oral sex’) have been almost entirely positive. That’s pretty unusual. The May issue makes this a trifecta. Whenever I pick up the latest issue of teen girl mags, I hope to find […]
Why Big Porn Inc had to be written: an interview with Hennie Weiss
Feminist Conversations is a regular feature here at Feminists for Choice. Today we are talking to Melinda Tankard Reist, co-editor of Big Porn Inc: Exposing the harms of the global pornography industry. Melinda is also the co-founder of Collective Shout: for a world free of sexploitation. How did you become interested in researching pornography? There […]