Cast the first stone..

I'm sure that i'm not the only feminist who squirms a little when the topic of Islam's treatment of women is raised. Not in a kind of cultural relativism we-can't-criticize-because-that-would-be-racist way but mainly because it seems to me that on questions of Islamic oppression of women, feminists end up with some rather unsavoury neo-con bedfellows.

After many rather heated debates over the last few weeks i found this article on Ayaan Hirsi Ali which is exactly what i've been trying to express but have not managed to do so quite succinctly. I had also never realized that this woman who is so against asylum seekers especially if they are found to have fudged any of the details of their claim fudged her own asylum application for the Netherlands.

The idea of a monolithic religion and culture seems so far removed from what i have heard about Islamic culture that it seems to make as much sense to equate the Taliban's treatment of women with that of Islam generally as it makes to equate the treatment of women by the Bulldogs as representative of all Australian attitudes. A monolithic view of Islam thus ends up propogating the arguments of the fundamentalists within the religion and not respecting the fact that many muslims are more progressive and are working to change and challenge their religion.
It's more than a little condescending to suggest to these people that they are so oppressed that they just don't know any better.

Considering how recent many developments in gender and racial equality are in western countries it's a little rich to suggest we have the monopoly on non-opressive social relations. Frankly, many of the conservatives who criticize Islam for its treatment of women have not made a peep about inequalities within their own societies and instead seem to spend an inordinate time calling uppity women "femonazis".

It is amazing how Ali has fought back against some of the more insidious parts of Islam and feminism can do with more outspoken and fearless advocates even if we do end up disagreeing with some of their conclusions..

A ticket a tusket

I love this story from the SMH about an elephant demanding road-toll in bananas and vegetables from motorists in India. It seems so wonderfully organised.

The elephant is referred to the article as "the Tusker". Makes him sound like an elephantine superhero...

I'm just waiting for my lycra people..

The headline you always wanted to write

Copy editors wait for years for this kind of opportunity:

"Bride search success for Google co-founder"

Hilarious.

Clash of cultures

I normally find most NineMSN most painful because of those insidious little opinion polls which you are faced with after logging out from hotmail.
Eg:
Do you think the Australian government is killing Iraqis for their own good? Yes No
Yes 25397 Votes
No 412 Votes

But today it got even better.

I present: Luxor Mahjong for your delectation and cultural collage purposes.














Cleopatra would not have approved.
And then she would have enjoyed some sushi chased down with a bud light.

Actually existing socialism

K.Rudd has nothing on the worker-related photo opps that Wen Jiabao pulls... This is just bewdiful:













And after raiding their lunchboxes, he pitches in to help:















Kissing babies is for pussies.

Snip snip.

I have not until this day felt such a passionate urge to Bobbit someone as when i read this interview with the lovely Bill Heffernan. It's a roller coaster of nasty things and dirty thoughts.

Firstly, to suggest that Julia Gillard is not fit for leadership because of her "deliberately barren'' state is utterly offensive and unworthy even of the Liberal party. The idea that even after years of feminism someone could still assert that women can't really fit in or be effective unless they have children is almost unbelievable. If it's all about understanding family, then surely the fact that we play parts in our own families (as sister, aunt, daughter, mother etc) gives us the experience that would be neccesary to fulfil this criteria. Really though, even this kind of supposition is ridiculous, it's not like women need children to make them more empathic or more able to take the human angle into account, we've pretty much got the monopoly on that one fellas.

Bills explanation is as stomach turning as it is incompreensible: "One of the great understandings in a community is family, and the relationship between mum, dad and a bucket of nappies." Is it particularly the fecal matter of children that bonds communities or could we substitute other animals i wonder?

Reasons Julia might need sprogs to lead the ALP:
1. Practice "time-outs" for when parliament gets too rowdy
2. Possible introduction of "naughty seat" technique
3. Developement of go-to-your-room arms (the ones that wobble for a little after the arm has been stretched out)
4. To learn the importance of wet-wipes (would have stood Bill CLinton in good stead after all)
5. So they can go to private schools and fool around with kids of the Liberal party hacks

and so it goes.