A lot of people are saying on social media today that a public campaign against Premier Jacinta Allen using the phrase “Ditch the Witch” isn’t sexist because they’ve heard of MFW and know we proudly use the word witches.
Please.
They must not have heard about how we started, which was as the result of an extraordinarily sexist text message sent by Peter Dutton to a mate, and which he accidentally sent to a woman journo instead.
They must not understand history, in which all women who were in the slightest way outspoken or different or not perfectly aligned with patriarchal requirements were called witches and often viciously murdered for their so-called sins.
And they must not understand parody, in which we witches have re-claimed the word “witch” to mean all women who protest the outrageous misogyny so many men practice with barely any constraint.
Because we’re here to clearly say that yes: the campaign against Allen is deeply sexist, just as it was sexist when it was used to denigrate then-PM Julia Gillard (pic in comments), and when it’s been used to stir up hatred towards any women with power or influence or anything other than simply being perfectly pretty and perfectly unheard.
What’s more, the campaign couldn’t be anything BUT deeply problematic, funded as it has been by a consortium of what appears to be a deeply right-wing group of men who want nothing more than to oust Allen from her job, and promoted widely in #NewsCorpse publications in ways which further harm Allen and her government:
“‘[Allan] doesn’t answer questions. She’s not accountable to everything … It’s just how people are feeling. That’s what they’re resorting to’ Puleo said. ‘That’s not a political ad. It’s basically what the Victorian public feel’.”
https://t.co/GQ2N1VsQiN?
The campaign is despicable, and the billboards should be banned. Today. Anything else is unacceptable, and does nothing but show the endemic hatred for women among large sections of conservative men and politics in this country (and among many progressive men and groups too, but that’s another story).
For fuck sake, ban these billboards. They’re hate speech. And us calling ourselves witches as a way to parody that hate will never make the use of the word okay in other settings and formats.
That’s all.
_______
We won’t stop till advertisers stop funding filth. Go to https://t.co/gefVqPNei2 to learn how to contact advertisers. Or go directly to FOE lists for ongoing campaigns here: https://t.co/Es49qK4lMQ . Send all responses you get. From companies to [email protected].
Please also support our work to get rid of Vile Kyle: it’s a subscription to the future for the price of a coffee (or two) each month:
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🚨This short film exposes the true story of Israel's creation, entirely through the words of its own founders
For decades, Israel’s lies have been carefully designed to demonize its victims. To ensure that no matter the crimes it commits, the children it slaughters, the world remains incapable of empathy for Palestinians, or at best, treats it with the same apathy that has allowed this to go on for as long as it has
On the 78th anniversary of its creation, it's time the world knew that Israel's past is not different from the brutal present the world is finally seeing
@MoiraDeemingMP You will not be lectured? Of course not, because those women actually support women’s rights. You’re just a transient culture war grifter who’s yet to meet some community you’re not willing to punch down on in order to make a $
My good mate @aaronsmith wrote this stunning piece about his week as a temp political staffer in Canberra. 👇🏽
Australians become inured to reading about Canberra and federal politics through the mainstream lens, but Aaron walks us through it warts and all.
Apart from his illuminating insights, I think it's one of the most beautiful pieces of political writing, in fact, beautiful pieces of writing, that I have ever read - seriously.
Aaron crafts a tale of a tumultuous week in Australian politics, a tale of Parliament House and its operatives and inhabitants, like only a master storyteller can.
Congratulations Aaron, this piece will go into my very special book of writing that I will read again and again. I hope everybody does. We need to savour and cherish voices like yours, not just now, but forever.
https://t.co/7qUsGBvpG7
Ed Husic is spot on!
Crushing legitimate debate over AUKUS is counterproductive, weakens Labor and stifles sensible policy development.
“Left” MP’s attempting to isolate Ed, spouting warmongering nonsense and using a warped sense of “solidarity” and “discipline” is pathetic.
@DougCameron51 The party system in Australia is stifling representative democracy. MPs are beholden to party position rather than representing the interest of their voters. Labor need to acknowledge this and evolve or follow the LNP into obscurity.
"The briefing pack contains details of a discussion between the Australian Govt and the United States ... If these details are released, the Govt risks undermining diplomatic trust and failing to meet international disclosure obligations."
So how and why is Jillian Segal in charge of this high security, incredibly sensitive information then?
Gotta love Grace Tame’s response to Charlie Pickering’s attack, well said & all correct.
“Charlie Pickering made a direct choice to cosy up to a man found guilty of abusing his wife, while denouncing me as ignorant. Surely I needn’t point out the irony here.”🔥 #auspol
Avi Yemini, who this week interviewed Charlie Pickering over Grace Tame's ABC podcast series, has previously mounted campaigns against the former Aust of the Year — including using a website domain that bears her name and redirects users to a petition
https://t.co/kzcvYVsnRx
Apart from anything else, I’d say that Charlie Pickering has seriously offended a large chunk of his potential audience that was prepared to give him a go. Dumb with a capital D.
Every morning you wake up to a new piece of Trump stupidity, vulgarity, mendacity, or just plain psychopathic aggression. The Ugly American, writ large.
"The repression of free speech on Palestine on university campuses betrays the core mission of a
public university and presents a broader threat to our human rights and democracy." Read the report of the Peoples Inquiry into Campus Free Speech on Palestine https://t.co/uYHjIQtW0s
Personally if I was ambushed by a known provocateur outside my workplace at the far-right protest attacking my workplace I would simply decline to be interviewed