As published on Collective Shout We recently spoke out about online clothing retailer “Cafepress” advertising vulgar, sexualised clothing for babies and children on its website. Onesies that were made available online included “I Love sluts”…”blow job instructor” and “No gag reflex.” We shared an image of just some of these products on Facebook. Thousands shared […]
‘Once a self is ceded it’s hard to get back’ Gosh this is good. It appeared on Huffington Post last month but I’ve only just read it. It is the kind of piece which needs to be read slowly, and a few times, it contains so much to absorb. Here’s an extract: The problem is […]
I was interviewed by Leigh Hatcher for Open House on Sunday night. If you’re interested, here’s what we talked about. OH_MelindaTankardReistSexualisation_2013-04-28
Dear Mr. Jónasson, We are writing to express our support for current efforts in Iceland to develop and implement legal limits on violent Internet pornography. As scholars, medical and public health professionals, social service providers, and community activists, we commend your government’s determination to confront the harms of pornography. As part of a comprehensive approach […]
On Saturday I appeared on Weekend Sunrise with Danielle Egan, US author of a new book which argues concerns about the sexualisation of girls are exaggerated. You can watch it here Beauty Redefined: Victoria’s Dirty Little Secret The time-wasting, body-hating self-objectification proved to go hand-in-hand with such “bold, sexy, powerful” ideals – though ideal for […]
Topless women in newspapers are not ‘tough, rough, challenging’ ideas’ In a piece titled ‘Politician-Led Attack on Media Freedom is a Sentence on the public’, in The Australian last Thursday, Spiked Online editor Brendan O’Neill wrote an impassioned defence of free speech. O’Neill argued that attacks on press freedom were not only attacks on those […]
There’s been a ton of media coverage on the adultification and sexualisation of children lately. This program aired on Channel 7’s Today Tonight Monday. Click picture below to view clip. And just a clarification re the KMart campaign. It wasn’t actually me who was instrumental in getting KMart to pull certain items – that win […]
IT WAS International Women’s Day last Friday. We were supposed to celebrate but I struggled to get into party mood. The 101st anniversary of the global event acknowledged the economic, political and social achievements of women. But the relentless onslaught of harms and injuries to women and girls continues and I wonder, has anything really […]
‘The pornification of culture and the normalization of (increasingly violent) porn is contributing to a society where pornography, even the most brutal forms, are in many ways sanctioned, defended as well as protected’ By Hennie Weiss Edited by Melinda Tankard Reist and Abigail Bray, Big Porn Inc: Exposing the Harms of the Global Pornography […]
Dr Caroline Heldman at TedxYouth@SanDiego What is sexual objectification? Is it empowering? Watch and learn. Chair of the politics department of Occidential College in Los Angeles, Dr. Heldman appeared in the acclaimed documentary, Miss Representation, and is co-editor of “Madame President: Are We Ready for a Woman in the White House?” She is a frequent […]
It’s time for a Love Your Mind campaign I ASKED a group of Year 12 female students what message they would like me to deliver on their behalf to an advertising conference I was about to address. Their profound and carefully worded message? You suck. Not exactly poetic. But they were tired of the way […]
‘If we all speak of our experiences of street harassment, loudly and unapologetically, then we can begin to effect change’ (L-R) Isabelle Burns, Jessica Vovers, Alanna Inserra, Kit Catterson I was so happy to learn that the US-based anti-street harassment movement Hollaback! was launching in Australia. I’d been wanting to get it started here myself, […]
