Does a ‘loving family man’ violently shoot his wife and kids?

The Hunt family murder-suicide. This is what needs to be said. Nina Funnell perfectly echoes my own thoughts on the murder of a mother and three children by their husband and father.  By NINA FUNNELL Trigger warning: This post deals with violence against women and children, suicide and other distressing topics. It may be triggering […]

Just kids being kids? Sexting and peer-to-peer porn

Historically debates about children and pornography have tended to play out in two directions. Either children are discussed as being the victims used in illegal child pornography, or alternatively they are constructed as the damaged consumers of adult pornography which they inadvertently or deliberately access. Both the “exploited victim” and “damaged consumer” approaches have produced […]

Bitch shut your mouth: e.bile against women who speak out

War of Words Christine Jackman, The Weekend Australian, June 04, 2011 THIS much Nina Funnell knows about the man who held a box-cutter blade to her throat on an autumn’s evening in May 2007. She knows he had an olive complexion. She knows he had bushy eyebrows and a five o’clock shadow. She knows – […]

Peta pimps its ethics

PETA deserves contempt for exploiting women, writes MELINDA TANKARD REIST PETA needs to be renamed. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals would more accurately be described as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals But Not Women. While the group calling itself the world’s largest animal-rights lobby protests loudly and sometimes violently against the […]

Dear Brian McFadden:I was damaged after being taken advantage of

Woman shares impact of McFadden ‘Can’t wait to do some damage’ song *Trigger warning for survivors of sexual assault Yesterday ABC The Drum Unleashed published my piece ‘New song by Delta’s man promotes rape myth’ about Brian McFadden’s new single, released Monday, titled ‘Just as you are (Drunk at the Bar)’ which contains the lines: […]

Brian McFadden’s fun song about sexually exploiting women

New song by Delta’s man feeds rape myth Can someone please tell Brian McFadden that ‘taking advantage’ of a woman when she’s drunk is sexual assault and against the law? Because he seems to have missed the announcement. The Irish singer-songwriter and ‘honorary’ Australian on account of his four-year engagement to songstress Delta Goodrem, McFadden […]

Showing respect for women the AFL Way: Buddy’s sexist tees

Nena + Pasadena’s fashion statement celebrating the objectification of women Wondering how some of our footballers are putting their Code’s ‘Respect and Responsibility’ policies into practice? Curious as to whether all the effort that has gone into addressing sexual misconduct, harassment, indecent exposure, violence and other myriad manifestations of disrespect for women? (You’ll find some […]

Nina Funnell on the sexualising of dead women

Nina Funnell, who I’m happy to say is become a regular contributor here on the MTR blog, has written a thoughtful analysis of the dead-women-are-sexy Monster video clip soon to be officially released by rapper Kanye West. It has been encouraging to see the issue attracting global coverage. Here’s Nina’s piece. Sex, death and Kanye […]

Vogue’s smouldering photo shoot of tarted up little girls no parody

Not satirising the culture. It is the culture Critics of the December-January French Vogue photo spread featuring little girls as mini women decorated in gaudy make up, swathed in luxurious adult women’s clothing, assembled on beds, fawning on animal skin rugs, pouting bright red moist lips under a banner ‘Cadeaux’ – little presents to be unwrapped – […]