no award: social justice. media. fandom. drop bears.

Hey so all my apologies! I have a brand new blog that I'm super excited about. That makes blog number eleventy million for me of course, and I am in no way neglecting this one, or the vegan blog or the tumblr, but this new one makes all others PALE IN COMPARISON in terms of my passion and drive for it. At least right now.

Liz and I have combined to bring you No Award, a blog where we talk about social justice and media and intersectionality all specifically keeping in mind that we are Australians of varying backgrounds. So far in our first three weeks of posting I've spent a lot of time blogging about racial and infrastructure and political issues in Pacific Rim, and also about the exotic as shorthand in dystopic future fiction. Liz has looked at lots of things including the deconstruction of masculinity in Dance Academy, and an old school Melbunnie SF novel. It has been a lot of fun so far, and I look forward to continuing this project.

Come say hi! It is super fun.

mqff is upon us! prepare for queer cinema!

The Melbourne Queer Film Festival starts next week, and as always I'm super excited! I missed out on the Festival last year (because China), and I'm really looking forward to this year's festival.

I volunteer every year, which is something I recommend for anyone who is in to films, is in to queer films, or wants to support their queer community. It's a great festival, everyone is always really lovely and there's a great feeling around it.

Also, this year, there are vegan lollies available for sale! Which is pretty awesome, please feel free to thank your local vegan for the idea (me) and everyone at MQFF who let me suggest it and then just Did It. I love when people accomodate dietary requirements, I hope there's no gluten in the lollies hmm. And there's an app for iPhone and Android, and most of the movies screen at ACMI which as you know (Melbourne) is one of the best cinemas and spaces ever.

Here is my short list, in screening order:

When Hainan Meets Teochew (当海南遇上潮州) (Saturday 16 March, 16:00)

When Hainan Meets Teochew tells a unique story about love between a butch and a femme woman. The two meet in the most unusual circumstances (involving a falling bra), become enemies in the most unpredictable situation and become friends in the most unforgettable manner. Just as they gradually develop feelings for each other, Hainan’s ex-girlfriend appears and puts their relationship under the most challenging test. The ensuing love triangle results in much misunderstanding and hilarity. What will become of Hainan and Teochew’s romance, and who is the owner of the falling bra?

 

Oz Docs (Monday 18 March, 18:00)

This is a series of Australian documentaries, including 'The La La Road' on Chinese lesbians, and the Aquaporko Documentary, featuring a whole lot of awesome, fat, queer ladies of my acquaintance.

Cockpit (Thursday 21 March, 18:30)

Mrs. Doubtfire meets Tootsie, meets Some Like it Hot - 10,000m up, in this over-the-top comedy of mistaken identities from Sweden. After losing his job as an airline pilot when his company downsizes, Valle is thrown out by his materialistic wife, who takes the kids with her and immediately begins a new relationship with a wealthy elderly man. After countless knock backs by airlines, he hears that Silver airlines are looking for a female captain. In desperation, and with little in the way of a plan, Valle dons a pair of high heels, borrows his staunchly feminist and queer friendly sister’s identity and transforms himself into attractive Maria and wins himself a pilot’s job. The plan begins to unravel when his lesbian airline colleague Cecilia starts to fall for him/her, and a narrowly averted plane crash, lands Maria all over the news.

Queens! Destiny of Dance (Friday 22 March, 20:30)

Guru Amma presides over a community of hijras (male to female transgenders) inside a huge palace, with love and severity in equal measure. The apple of her eye is the talented Mukta who is the best dancer among them and also the potential next leader of the community. Mukta adores Guru Amma with all her heart, to the point of worshipping her. One day, a beautiful young girl turns up at their door without any explanation. Awed by her beauty, Amma takes the mysterious girl under her wings and names her Nandini.

Soon, Nandini becomes the centre of attraction for the other hijras and for Amma as well, thereby sidelining Mukta. Mukta’s jealousy soon turns to paranoia about Nandini, and Mukta leaves the community after threatening Amma. But Mukta soon realises that she will never be taken back into her house or the community. Determined to set things right, Mukta returns to Amma and the community, but behaves kindly towards Nandini this time around, until enough is enough and events unfold leading to a shocking climax.

True to the essence of Bollywood films, Queens! is chock full of colourful characters, and fantastic dance scenes.

Strange Frame: Love and Sax (Saturday 23 March, 14:00)

The first lesbian, science fiction, rock ‘n’ roll animated film is here! Hold on tight as we head off into the 29th Century.

200 years after the human race has left a decimated Earth behind, life on Ganymede, one of Saturn’s moons, is a world of space pirates, indentured slaves and genetic mutations. Parker, a saxophonist, meets a gutsy singer, Naia, who’s a ‘debt slave’, and the two quickly fall in love and form a band. Gaining cult notoriety, the band catches the eye of the authorities, and Naia is recaptured. As Parker begins a desperate search for her love, Naia is repackaged by ‘the man’ as a generic rock star and achieves immense fame. Will Naia be saved before her soul is forever destroyed?

(quotes are from the mqff programme)

I always keep my short list short, because I burn out fast during festivals, but others I wouldn't mind seeing eventually are:
Gayby
My Best Day
The Mermaids
Speechless (无言)

down under feminists carnival: 54th edition

Hello and welcome to the 54th Down Under Feminists Carnival! For your reading pleasure (or rage, I guess, there is some rage going on), I present this month's links; for your listening pleasure, I have also embedded a song at the end that is about presentation and jerks and shaking your fist. It is in Mandarin Chinese but I've included a super rough translation into English.


Sexuality and Society 

In the coming out post, Elizabeth at Spilt Milk talks about coming out, and divorce, and erasure. Pondering Asexuality and Living Arrangements sees Jo at A Life Examined looking at non-partnered living and options and relationships. And at My Scarlett Heartt: Narratives of Kinky Sex.


Harassment 

The News with Nipples shares how to respond when you see sexism happening, and Mary at the Ada Initiative shares what to do when there's a harassment report at your conference.

Luddite Journo looks at Imagining a World without Sexual Violence and Mike Tyson: the Undisputed Truth at the Hand Mirror. There's at the risk of sounding like *that* feminist, on violence and blame and Jill Meagher, by Danni at Crosslegged on the Front Lawn, and Justine Larbalestier writes about the Brad Pitt Defence of harassment. Stargazer looks at targeting young women and a culture of silence at the Hand Mirror.


On Prime Minister Gillard and Australian Politics 

Because there was a lot of it this month, I'm not going to include a description for every one of these links, and I haven't included every post on this, but I have included ones that I thought were particularly interesting or important or different.

 Some of Tony Abbot's Best Friends are Women at the News with Nipples; Yesterday in Politics at Ariane's little world; Bluemilk shares a lot of links about the prime minister's speech (including the video); Why Julia Gillard's Smackdown Speech was Brilliant at Mamamia; Raivans talks about the difference a good speech makes; and Now the Dust has Settled at HaT; Singing our Song 2 at A Bee of a Certain Age; and Perceptions of Gillard and Misogyny at Emma in Oz. Tigtog brings us a collection of links at Hoyden About Town about the media circus that is particularly relevant to ladies in Australian politics.

A few posts on silence, and anger: At HaT, Mindy asks When is Anger Allowed? There is some great linking and discussion in the comments as well. Bluemilk has a lesson in silencing women and the video of Penny Wong being awesome in OMG! Australia is discussing the nuances of misogyny, sexism, privilege, silencing and moral equivalence (and when I grow up I would like to be Penny Wong, or at least, a fierce, queer, intelligent, Chinese-Malaysian Australian woman who knows where she's at).

Flexing my mussel and the Real Gillard Hypocrisy at No Place for Sheep


Ada Lovelace Day 

For Ada Lovelace Day, Danni at Scrambled Tofu profiled colleague Elaine Miles, a researcher at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. The Bureau followed this with profiles on its FB page of four of its awesome Bureau Women (scroll to Oct 16 on the timeline). Mary profiled Marita Cheng, Robogals Founder, and Else Shepherd, leading Australian electrical engineer.


Representation and Women in the Media 

Gladly, the Cross-Eyed Bear discusses Kate Elliot's appearance on Q&A and how the boys are jerks. You can find An Open Letter to Usborne Books: who are you calling famous? at Jill in a Box; and So it's okay so long as there are no women around? by Mindy at HaT. At My Scarlett Heartt, Let me tell you a secret Chaka Khan…I am not every woman.


Performance and Art and Bodies

A review of The Wizard of Auslan at the UQ Wom*n's Collective; and a visit to Fat Stories: An Exhibition written up at Fat Heffalump.

Things about performativity and bodies: In pursuit of a political argument for exercise by Stephanie at Ginger and Honey; How not to Market to Fat Customers, Om Nom Nom and My Fat Body is Me at Fat Heffalump; A Frocktober Checkin and on bras and breasts in do they wobble too and fro at Rantings of an Aboriginal Feminist; Public Knowledge / Private Performances at Definatalie.


On Families and Motherhood 

On homebirth as a feminist issue at Bluemilk and No surprise here: Family First doesn't really put families first and Paid parental leave: zombies/babies - they sound similar for a reason at Idealogically Impure.  Idealogically Impure also has a series of posts on anti-choice and abortion: Name the Dentists; Abortion in Southland: Alison McCulloch kicks ass edition; Irony in Action: antichoice whinge edition.



A, Miscellany 

I post about two short-film projects featuring Asian-Australian ladies that are currently fundraising via indiegogo.

International Day of the Girl links at HaT.

At Leftover Words, Sky Croeser asks that we please tell Labor not to excise the mainland from our migration zone. Continuing with Chally's Feminists of Faith series, we have anjum rahman. On the demands on time and marginalised users in what are all these cars doing on my road? at a Bee of a Certain Age. A collection of links on Pinktober at HaT.

On Privacy, anonymity, pseudonymity, outing, and accountability by tigtog at HaT. Sh*t this feminist says (that she shouldn't) by Katherine Klaus at Can be Bitter. Jo at a Life Unexamined writes on feminism as a way of life (and being a good feminist).

In I wonder if I am too weak to write, Utopiana talks about Anthony Mundine's comments and the media reaction to it.


Thank you for visiting the carnival! Next month's carnival will be hosted by the News with Nipples! Submissions to newswithnipples at gmail etc.

No No　你說的全都不對 說我高貴我根本不配 這幾年我到底得罪了誰 經常招來一些討厭的嘴 紅頭髮　黑指甲 有什麼奇怪什麼驚訝 沒表情　話太少 被你說成　無可救藥 我就這樣 沒辦法討好所有的人 我只能這樣 你喜歡　不喜歡　跟我全都無關  算了吧　無所謂　隨便你　去說吧 好幾次　我試圖　對你微笑 可你覺得我在　強顏　歡笑 既然這樣　我只好　做自己 轉過身　還有　一大片天空 紅頭髮　黑指甲 有什麼奇怪什麼驚訝 沒表情　話太少 難道真的　無可救藥 我就這樣 沒辦法討好所有的人 我只能這樣 你喜歡　不喜歡　跟我全都無關 算了吧　無所謂　隨便你　去說吧 你說對的　他說錯 都不在乎　let it be 他說對的　你說錯 都不在乎　let it go Hey Hey Hey 來　瞄准我方向 隨便你要怎麼對待我 我就站在這裡　微笑著　盯著你看 面對那些軟弱的子彈 優雅的　轉過身　我根本不怕 我已經　受夠啦　受夠啦　受夠啦 無所謂　無所謂　算了吧

No no   you say it’s all wrong Said my awesome self wasn’t worthy These years, who have I insulted Usually provoked by some gross mouth Red hair, black fingernails What’s strange, what’s surprising No feelings, words missing You say hopeless This is the way I am No way to please everyone I can only be this way You like me or not, it’s nothing to do with me Forget it, whatever you tell me Several times I tried to smile at you You thought I was laughing (at you) But that was just you Turned the body in the sky Red hair, black fingernails What’s strange, what’s surprising No feelings, words missing You say hopeless This is the way I am No way to please everyone I can only You like me or not, it’s nothing to do with me Forget it, whatever you tell me You say he was wrong Don’t worry about it let it be He said you were wrong Don’t worry about it let it be Hey hey hey Come, aim in my direction However you want to treat me I stand here smiling, staring at you In the face of weak bullets I shift gracefully, I’m unafraid I’ve had enough had enough had enough Forget it, it doesn’t matter, let it go

54th Down Under Feminist's Carnival

Okay, wow, the last time I hosted the Down Under Feminist's Carnival was the eighth edition, and now we're up to the 54th! Nobody point out to me what a terrible number that is.

The next edition of the Down Under Feminists Carnival is planned for 5 November, 2012 and submissions can be made up until November 2, though it would be excellent for me if you would submit before that. Submissions can be sent to yiduiqie [at] gmail [dot] com for those who can’t access the blogcarnival submissions form.

Submissions must be of posts of feminist interest by writers from Australia and New Zealand that were published in October. So submit early and often, please, and tell your friends!

There is no official theme for this edition of the carnival, though the unofficial theme of this blog is always race and ethnicity representation, so please definitely feel free to use that for guidance! (Do you sense a post brewing on exoticism and feminism and my experiences in China? oh yes indeed)

The 53rd edition of the carnival is available now at Opinions @ bluebec.com and is filled with all sorts of awesome and interesting posts.

queer australian teevee

I’m not watching much Australian television at the moment, because I’m in China and sadly ABC iview isn’t available outside of Australia, but I have been making an effort to watch two shows: Outland and The Newtown Girls. Coincidentally, these are both humourous shows about Australian Queers.

Outland is a six-part series that just finished on ABC1. It's a comedy about a gay science fiction club in Melbourne. I’ve been watching it via iTunes (AUD2.99 an episode; AUD16 for the lot).

The Newtown Girls is a ten-part webseries, a dramedy about the dating lols that accompany "returning to the scene." I didn't realise dressing up as Xena counted as a part of returning to the scene but it's all good. I’ve been watching it on the website (no cost).

Both of these shows are not only Australian and set in queer communities, but my favourite characters on both are queer ladies of colour. This makes me so happy.

Rae is an Indigenous sci-fi fan in a wheel chair. She wears awesome clothes and is a little insecure about her body but she’s not afraid of calling bullshit when it hits her. She’s played by Christine Anu, who is a super awesome TSI with a twitter.

Alex is a young Asian woman living it up in Newtown. She’s addicted to coffee (looks like an espresso) and she’s cheerful and forthright and she wears awesome clothes. She’s played by Renee Lim, who is an Asian actress from Perth who is a doctor in her spare time.

How could I not love them? I love them.

It took me a long time to become comfortable with being a queer Australian woman of an Asian background, and sometimes it’s still something I have to fight with other people about (more on that later), but it is my identity and I love it. And I’m so happy that there are two queer Australian women of a not-white ethnicity on my television (well, on my laptop), who speak like me and are portrayed by actresses I already liked and also one of whom is a science fiction fan like meeeee.

wind farming the countryside

Last week I was talking to my boss (a USAmerican), who actually didn't believe me at first when I started talking about one of the arguments against wind farms in Australia being the health impact of noise levels.

I should have told him about daylight savings fading the curtains.

So this will go well: NSW landowners to get veto on wind farms

Just two days out from Christmas, Planning Minister Brad Hazzard revealed draft planning guidelines which give landowners the right to veto wind farms proposed within two kilometres of their homes.

Of course I am all for community consultation. I love community consultation. I just don't trust Australians to go into this as informed as they need to be.

The British Acoustics Bulletin has just published what is now the 10th independent review of the evidence on wind farms causing annoyance and ill health in people. And for the 10th time it has emphasised that annoyance has far more to do with social and psychological factors in those complaining than any direct effect from sound or inaudible infrasound emanating from wind turbines.

Much angst over wind turbines is just hot air explains part of why I'm so skeptical at this consultation process. We have a significantly-sized anti-wind farm lobby in Australia, and it preys on fears of things that are widely considered to not be an issue.

One of the most recent major reports on the health impacts of wind farms was issued by a Canadian Working Group (The Potential Health Impact of Wind Turbines). It drew no conclusions, unable to find any direct causal link between wind turbine noise and health impacts. The only thing it highlighted is that "some people may find it annoying" (pg10). A reading of the report implies to me that the report has drawn the same conclusion the opinion piece above does, that "[c]oncerns about fairness and equity may also influence attitudes towards wind farms and allegations about effects on health." That is, people are more likely to report health effects from wind farms if they're not getting a financial benefit. And most reports find that the only significant noise coming from wind farms are during construction and maintenance, rather than during operation.

There’s Australian research into the topic as well. As recently as the beginning of December, an article in Adelaide Now (I know, hush) has been talking about the fallacy of the health impacts of wind farms. And a senate committee handed down findings in July that there was no conclusive evidence around wind turbine syndrome.

It pains me to dismiss someone else’s medical issues just because they’re not internationally recognised, but even if wind turbine syndrome exists and is a real problem, how does it compare to the health impacts of coal?

A few health impacts of coal: particulate related issues such as cardiopulmonary and lung impacts, the injection of mercury and selenium into the water systems and then potentially into people, leading to neurological issues, and the potential for respiratory and cardiovascular issues.

As someone who currently lives in Beijing, is anticipating coming home with a respiratory issue, and who has lived in apartments in Beijing and Melbourne situated on major road traffic routes, let’s just say the potential buzzing of wind farms is probably not an issue for me.

"i have seen firsthand the devastation and misery and death that result from homosexual and bisexual practices"

Following the removal of the RipNRoll ads from Adshel shelters, and the reinstatement today, I spent this afternoon reading the complaints and loling big time. They are an excellent read (seriously amazing stuff), and (unsurprisingly) reading the complaints brings me even more questions. They are freeform for you below!

Adshel has cited being unaware that the complaints were coordinated by the ACL as the major reason why they agreed to pull the ads, thinking they were coming from a wide range across society. Looking at this sample of letters, a number of them are word for word identical, down to the SHOUTING CAPITALISATION, which makes me wonder how closely ad companies (or adshel at least) look at this stuff.

A number of the complainants appear to think that condoms are only required for gay sex, which is making me wonder about the levels of safe sex amongst other groups.

It is apparently all about the children! And also the Christians ("Please, for the sake of all Christians and children"). Which, uh, do people not want their children to know about safe sex? IT IS A GOOD THING. Also apparently many parents don't want to explain things to their children ("Also it is something that children shouldn't see or enquire about" ARE YOU KIDDING ME?). The complaints also reveal that it is all about not owning up to one's own bigotry. All the comments are about the children, and filled with 'it's too PC' and 'I'm not against homosexuals' sort of comments.

JUST SAY IT.

YOU DON'T LIKE TEH GAYS.

ALSO YOU LIKE PEARL CLUTCHING.

Seriously the complaints are amazing.

on melbourne's feminist future

So behind in the blogging, but just quickly, three really great posts on the crap going down around the Melbourne Feminist Futures conference:

Nixwilliams: NOT MY FEMINIST FUTURE:

So, Melbourne Feminist Collective is holding a 'Feminist Futures' conference in late May. Sounds good, and there are some interesting speakers on the list, and a good range of links on their site.

But Sheila Jeffreys? Really?

This is a woman who says trans people are delusional and calls trans-related surgeries mutilation. A woman who is famously anti-sex-worker. Why on earth would such a relic be invited to a conference on 'futures'?

And before anyone comments saying that it's only fair to include such viewpoints, I want you to read this excellent post by Ika Willis. It breaks down the expectation that people whose very existence is being challenged should do massive amounts of unpaid emotional, political and academic labour in such situations[.

(I really recommend reading the linked post by Ika Willis, it is excellent)

Genderqueer 2 genderqueer: Feminist pasts:

I feel, as a feminist that the moment has a lot to apologise for, white middle class feminisms have ignored and pushed out trans women, sex workers women of colour and other minorities, so I am heartened to see that the Melbourne feminist futures conference is reminding us just how far we haven’t come. But inviting speakers and programs with the most bigoted backward looking agenda I have seen in a while.

Hexpletive: Melbourne Feminist Conference demonstrates anti trans and anti sex work position:

A participants agreement has been distributed to all panelists and workshop presenters requesting, amongst other things, that they abstain from oppressive behaviour, including transphobia and whorephobia. The organising collective apparently sees no conflict between this request and allowing Sheila Jeffreys to present a workshop entitled "Why Prostitution is Violence Against Women". Considering her track record and complete lack of remorse for her hate speech against trans* people and sex workers, the Melbourne Feminist Collective has failed to provide a safe space for those groups simply by inviting her to speak. And that's not even getting into the problematic history that is the racism and anti-choice politics inherent to the "feminism" of other anti sex work speakers like Tankard Reist.

"Gay marriage against my upbringing" I just I don't even

PM Julia Gillard: Gay marriage against my upbringing

Ms Gillard said she was "on the conservative side" of the gay marriage issue "because of the way our society is and how we got here".

"I think that there are some important things from our past that need to continue to be part of our present and part of our future," she said. "If I was in a different walk of life, if I'd continued in the law and was partner of a law firm now, I would express the same view, that I think for our culture, for our heritage, the Marriage Act and marriage being between a man and a woman has a special status.

"Now, I know people might look at me and think that's something that they wouldn't necessarily expect me to say, but that is what I believe.

"I'm on the record as saying things like I think it's important for people to understand their Bible stories, not because I'm an advocate of religion - clearly, I'm not - but once again, what comes from the Bible has formed such an important part of our culture."

Ms Gillard said she had a "pro-union, pro-Labor upbringing in a quite conservative family, in the sense of personal values".

This is like some sort of word salad, a mish mash of sentences randomly squished together in the hopes of confusing us, or distracting us, or something. I don't even know what this is.

Here is a list of possibilities:

• Erasure of every Australian who doesn't believe the bible
• Erasure of every Australian who wasn't brought up as a Christian
• Erasure of Australians who have a background which supports gay marriage
• Erasure of non-Australians who live here
• The most amazing toeing of the party line I've ever seen
• Perpetuation of the idea that culture is immutable and what has come before is what we should aim toward
• Really shitty

Please feel free to add to the list.

Also you know how "we" got "here"? Through things so gross we don't actually talk about them (though we should). So maybe 'denial of evvverything' should also go on that list.

So far my favourite responses have been on twitter:

Hannah Gadsby:

I had a conservative upbringing too, Julia Gillard. That's why I hated myself when I found out I was gay. You could help prevent this cycle.

and my friend Josie:

You can't fault the logic, marriage equality is not traditional. Neither are women prime ministers, so I expect her resignation post haste.

Now, in this time of our atheist PM reminding us to read our bibles, I'd like to remind everyone that there is an equal marriage rally in Melbourne this saturday at 1pm. You should go if you can. And I know it's not quite the same, but go see a movie whilst MQFF is on. Though I guess it's not a part of our culture, whatever that means.

tuesday afternoon why can't i log in to the network links

I'll totally post some words up soon! But for now, have some links whilst I continue hoping IT will sort out all my issues.

Race/ethnicity stuff

Some comments on New Age Appropriation, particularly about Yoga.

Also a bit on appropriation and yoga, and also about copyright, this is not a post about yoga!, by colorblue.

Awesome article by Lia Incognita at Peril, Fissures and friendships: how I became a woman of colour, on identity and identification.

In the Age, Absent faces, on the lack of representation of Asian women in Australian modelling.

Religion

A book review and a look at stereotypes up at Dove Grey Matter, Between worlds: the jilbab and being transgender in Indonesia (the book review is for Jangan lepas jilbabku! (Please do not remove my jilbab!)).

Nationalism and identity in a disaster, an interesting piece at the Drum, about how the use of nationalism erases a spirit of shared humanity.

A bit related to the yoga stuff, and a bit not: On White Women and Buddhism at Angry Asian Buddhist.

Brought together to discuss these questions are the brilliant minds of Grace Schireson, Christina Feldman, Lama Palden Drolma, Rita Gross, Lama Tsultrim Allione, and Joan Sutherland. These authors delve into the history of women bringing balance to the Buddhist community, current forward-moving trends and the outlines of a more equitable future for us all. But apart from these great women and their compelling discussion, I found something missing.

Namely, Asians.

Sexuality stuff

Ardhra has a post filled with links about resources for LGBTQ people from non-white/non-Western cultures. It is a fantastic reference list and I recommend checking it out.

An analysis of Scar (from the Lion King) as queer, first by charlie danger and then more by srawr.

Class

At Flat 7, Ana Australian comments on Gender and Urban Inequality, specifically on older single women as 'the new face of homelessness' in Australia.

on marriage

I am so grossed out by the hypocrisy of all of this. I am not like wooo marriage, but the ridiculousness of it all is just something.

Australians, do you live in the electorate of Gippsland? Please write to your federal MP, and tell him your thoughts on gay marriage (and that he's wrong), because:

Mr Chester says he speaks to Gippsland residents regularly and there is little support for gay marriage in the region.

"I don't need to do a survey to get a sense of where my community sits right now," he said.

"Like everyone, I've had emails and they are probably evenly divided. The ones within my community haven't been evenly divided. They've been quite strongly against the position of gay marriage.

"My community is one where I believe that I have a good sense of what it expects me to do and it expects me to stand up for the tradition of marriage as it stands today."

at the abc

A lot of people were upset by Penny Wong's apparent hypocrisy, what with her being gay and yet still toeing the party line, talking about how marriage is between a man and a woman, so it was intriguing to read in this article that maybe she was, in fact, part of some secret deal-making to set a timetable within the ALP for talking about/advancing the issue, and so her words were just a placeholder until she could effect change within the party. Certainly I am predisposed to always want to think better of her (like me, she is a queer Chinese-Malaysian and I one day want to be in parliament so we shall see), but it's an interesting thing to think about.

Yesterday there was lots of commentary (at least on twitter) about an opinion piece up at the Herald Sun that didn't make everyone really angry: Time for gay marriage to get the nod in Australia. It's not a bad read, and I wonder how much of the discourse has been about people having to say why they don't support it. And also, if supportive pieces are getting published in the Herald Sun, then surely it is obviously time for legislation to catch up.

More ridiculousness, also yesterday, an excerpt from Hansard, pg 97, of Phillip Ruddock's chatter in parliament:

All [the Marriage Act] does is recognise that marriage has always been seen to be different and that that basis ought to be kept, primarily because marriage deals with issues that arise when children can possibly be conceived.

People who cannot marry under this definition: Some people with disabilities. People who have gone through menopause. What about people who will have trouble conceiving, but could potentially conceive, but might be best if it was done with assistance like IVF? People who choose not to have children. People whose circumstances mean they can't have children. People for whom giving birth might cause severe injury. People who are infertile.

h/t to danni for finding the right page in Hansard and reading through Ruddock's rant.

reviews and commentary on tomorrow when the war began

The Tomorrow, When the War Began movie came out earlier in the month. I ranted about it a few months ago, in preparation, and have been reading some reviews and commentary and things, in lieu of actually subjecting myself to this. For your reading (dis)pleasure:

Opinion in the Age: Unsettling echoes of yesterday, when the yellow peril hysteria began:

As the Longford silent demonstrates, Australia has a long tradition of xenophobic fears of being swamped by Asia, whether by Indonesian armed forces or, in more recent years, by boatloads of refugees from Vietnam, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.

Even though it could not have been predicted by the filmmakers, it's hard to ignore the fact Tomorrow has been released directly following an election campaign in which one of the parties' main slogans was Stop the Boats, aimed squarely at Asian refugees.

On LJ, butterscotch711 reviews it in more of a movie-style (less social justice style).

This SMH article had me keyboard mashing: The fight for Australia:

But the political and cultural landscape is now very different. Since the book was first published, we've had the Bali bombings, terrorist arrests and Australian troops have served in East Timor, Iraq and now Afghanistan, where 18 soldiers have died. Could Tomorrow, When the War Began escalate from a piece of entertainment to a political touchstone?

And this article was okay: Invasion of the Asians is fiction, not a fact:

When I complained about this to a journalist friend, he said, quite sensibly, that I should not get too anxious about the invader issue in the movie. The film is pure escapism and they needed a credible candidate for invasion. The alternative, he suggested ironically, was New Zealand.

But that's the point. Apparently, we think Asian invasion is credible.

what a jerkface

via lauredhel at Hoyden About Town, is a really great graphic about the election promises so far, and why Tony Abbott is a jerkface. You can click the link for a transcript of the jpg.




More election links soon.

linkies of local stuff

"local" hee

Here are some links about things going on in Australia:

Aged care forcing gays 'back into the closet': Australia's homosexual population is being sorely neglected when it comes to aged care, according to new research.

Trans death in custody: inquiry demanded

A different indigenous death in custody: Aboriginal Legal Service 'flabbergasted' by death in custody decision

Deep in the heart of Adelaide with Tony Zappia, on street corner politics.

Is Mining Truly Good For Indigenous People?

Sleepless in Canberra, written pre-spill, on Rudd being a workaholic.

dear sbs

Dear SBS,

Souvlaki to star power, the changing face of SBS

THEY have made sense of Inspector Rex and Ingmar Bergman, translated Mongolian yak herders and Zulu warriors. But it seems the show will soon be over for SBS's internationally acclaimed subtitling unit.

News that 10 members, or one-third of the unit, will soon be made redundant has been greeted with disbelief by staff and viewers, who see it as one more step in the Anglicising of Australia's once proud multicultural broadcaster.

SBS, you have always been my favourite. When I see that the translation on the thing I am about to watch was done by you, I have faith that it will be an accurate translation, both linguistically and of intent. I know that when I turn to you, I will get to see non-Anglo faces, hear non-Anglo words, regardless of whether I can understand them or not. I know that you will give me things that are difficult to find in our Anglo-monoculture.

When I was tiny, you gave me Akira, and the Ninja Scrolls, and all those Chinese Ghost Stories; as I grew older, you gave me news in languages I was learning, and Inspector Rex, and movies that allowed my mother to use languages she'd spoken well before she'd learnt English. Now that I am grown(ish), I don't watch you so much, but you're my first stop when I'm buying movies in languages I don't speak. I want to give you money for these things, to support you in these endeavours, because the things you give us back are so important; by which I mean, translating the world for Australia, ensuring that those of us from non-Anglo cultures can share ourselves with our friends, or ensuring that we can learn about and access cultures not of our own, and not of Anglo-ness.

If I wanted to watch that other stuff, I'd turn to some other station.

SBS, I am going to miss your awesomeness. Sorry it had to end this way.

All the best,
A Penguin

#spill #spillard

I'm so excited, but I'm also worried. I don't trust people, my own country in particular. I don't trust the ALP, not any more. I'm worried about the people who will think she's doing a bad job, and assume it's because she's doing a bad job and not because of their unconscious misogyny.* I'm also worried because of the number of people, main stream media, who think 'Will you vote for Julia Gillard?' is a valid question. WE HAVE THE WESTMINSTER SYSTEM, unless you live in Lalor she will NOT BE ON YOUR BALLOT. Seriously. Our system is not that difficult to understand.

I liked lauredhel's summary:

Walking out to speeches, Gillard looked strong, happy, composed, and ready to forge ahead to contest Abbott in the election. Rudd, suppressing obvious emotion, wore a long, loose navy blue suit, hands thrust in his pockets and with the slightest smile as he sashayed towards the speeches, shoes shined beautifully but his silver locks just a little disheveled at the front. Wayne Swan, who has outie genitalia and is on the cusp of Cancer, left his three children this morning to accept his new position as Deputy PM.

I was in classes all day, so I don't have many links yet, but I had the drum's twitter running all day in the background, and I'd check in every so often. Danni also kept me updated, which was excellent.

At Something Changed, Thank You, Kevin, because, well, you were certainly better than the last guy, and for that I'll always be thankful. I quote it almost in its entirety, because I like it:

We can’t focus on the instability. If you have to throw over a sitting PM, is there any better way than being disciplined for months, calling a meeting at 7pm and having a spill at 9am? Labor’s a tight as a drum. The Liberals mustn’t be allowed to say “if they can’t govern themselves, how can they govern the country?”

We can’t focus on the manner in which we got our first woman PM, as extraordinary as it is. We can’t even spend to long patting Julia on the back because she broke the glass ceiling and - sure, with no kids herself- just taught every Australian woman and their daughters that we can do anything. The Libs will say she’s a puppet of the factions or a backstabber. But Julia will become Prime Minister today because she’s the smartest, hardest working woman in the parliament.

Lastly, we can’t forget the good stuff Kevin has done for us. The Liberals will want to paint Kevin Rudd as a complete failure. Rudd the Dudd. All talk no action. What little he did, he messed up. They’ll taint the whole Government with how Rudd left the Prime Ministership, and hurt Julia because she stood by and let him do it.

But think of what he achieved in his two years and seven months. The Apology. Killing WorkChoices stone dead so we can do our jobs without the uncertainty that haunted everyone under John Howard. Signing Kyoto. And - with Wayne Swan, Lindsay Tanner, and Julia- getting us through the global financial crisis. Our economy’s not perfect, but we’re okay and getting better.

She's athiest, she's living in sin, she's childless, she's left,, she's our first female prime minister, she's not going to take your Old Boys Club shit. I welcome our new OverLady.

I hope she's awesome.





*

IT ILLUSTRATES MY POINT

tomorrow, when the war began and the myth of the imminent invasion

So, the remake of Red Dawn, where USAmericans beat up Chinese Communists, has been delayed indefinitely. I'm totally cool with that.

A movie project that has not been delayed is the Tomorrow, When the War Began movie. It comes out later this year in Australia. I had thought that maybe I would have to explain for ages and ages my issues with this movie, but then I found an article to explain it for me:

“If I named a country, it wouldn’t be that book; it would be something else entirely. What the book and the movie are about is these eight teenagers and what happens to them when their country is invaded, not who’s doing it or why. The ethnicity just makes common sense. If anyone is going to invade Australia, it’s not going to be Europe, and it’s not going to be Africa. It won’t be Antarctica or New Zealand. It’s going to be someone in Asia. It’s the logical thing. It’s common sense enough for an audience to say ‘ok, that’s who it would be’” he explained.

Okay, wait, here is my explanation: as much as I loved this series for giving me a young Asian-Australian who wasn't 'exotic,' who was just struggling with stuff and living his life and having romantic teenage entanglements with people who weren't Asian, I hated this series for giving me an agressor who fed into the Australian zeitgeist of imminent invasion by the yellow hordes to the North.

This idea that permeates this country, imminent invasion by the hordes to the North, is not new and it's not yet gone; Prolonged Symptoms of Cultural Anxiety: The Persistence of Narratives of Asian Invasion within Multicultural Australia is a paper that looks at just this idea. It's a good read, and highlights basically everything I dislike about the genre (including his use of racial stereotypes, and his erasing of Indigenous Australians with White (settler) Australians), and this series in particular;

The popular reception of Marsden’s invasion narrative signifies the historical continuity of Australian invasion anxiety within changing cultural contexts.

Shouldn't we be past this by now? Can't we be past this? I've had to deal with this for so long, and this idea is a key element of the undertones of xenophobia so many of us have to put up with (regularly or irregularly), and it's so frustrating that it's the basis of this Australian classic that doesn't even have the excuse of being written during Federation or whatever. It was the big text when I was a teenager, when I was trying to figure out what it meant to be Australian and Chinese and all the rest of it.

If you think this is an over-reaction, that people don't seriously believe this stuff - well, check out the comments on any online Australian paper when there's an article on immigration, any country in Asia, or border crossings. Or sometimes crime involving people of Asian descent. It's awesome reading.

At least we always had the ambiguity, in the book, teeny tiny though it was.

And now we get the whole freaking movie.

no english = no babies

I don't want to be accused of leaping to wild conclusions here, especially because I already have such huge issues with adoption, but I'm actually too busy keyboardmashing with rage over this article to do the usual linking/research to prove my point.

Adoption approved, despite wrongful removal at birth

THE NSW government's welfare agency seized a baby girl from her Chinese immigrant parents and, against their wishes, adopted her out to an Australian-born couple, prompting a judge to observe that the infant may have been "wrongly taken away".

BECAUSE THE MOTHER DIDN'T SPEAK ENGLISH. The article also goes into the fact that the mother was distrustful of government processes. So when the baby was finally discharged from hospital four months later, that's a great reason for DOCS to foster her out.

MAYBE PROVING HER DISTRUST IN GOVERNMENT PROCESSES?

The article doesn't really mention the father, except for this: Her father, who is also Chinese but speaks better English, has not seen her either. So would this outcome have been the same had it been the mother who spoke 'better English'?

Mothers who can't speak English are bad? OR SOMETHING, I don't know.

And if you think the comments don't contain things like, 'sounds like the kid is better off where she is' then YOU ARE VERY WRONG. And if you want to say, 'maybe it wasn't racially-motivated' you are also very wrong.

VERY WRONG INDEED.

[links] adventures in australian racism

oh i know you love it.

Veiled Censorship, at Media Watch, about banning the burqa.

I linked this yesterday, but again: Indigenous Trans Woman’s Death in Custody in Australia Last Year; and also at the Curvature: Demand for Open Investigation Into Death of Aboriginal Trans Woman in Custody

Release of Innocent Man Shows Huge Flaws in Sexual Assault Prosecutions. If you read this article, it's pretty clear how much racism played into this prosecution.

Police media played gatekeeper over brazen attack on Indian man Narendrakumar Patel | Courier Mail, about the police cover up/non-publicisation of an attack on an Indian man.

I think I've linked these last two before, but in case I haven't: Police racially abusing African youths: report; and Pricking the culture, on gentrification, and a chat with the guys from Fear of a Brown Planet.

I <3 Fear of a Brown Planet. I can't wait to be the brown majority. It'll be awesome.

'stuck at home' kind of misses the point

Ardhra linked to this article, Gen Ys stuck at home for longer, and I'm so sick of these articles. They're so 'Anglo is the central experience' and I really don't enjoy how they ignore the experience of many, many Australians.

I don't talk about my family very much, but here is a little thing I would like to share with you: my sister lives with my parents (I hope she doesn't mind the reveal! Also her favourite food is noodles*). She is in her mid-twenties. I moved out the year I turned twenty, and with the exception of a brief period where I had to avail myself of their hospitality for a few months before moving in to Animal House, I have stayed out for the last eight years. I moved out in order to be closer to uni, and *I* am the black sheep in our family. Not my sister, for living with my parents. I am, for moving out of their house.

Before my Ahpoh passed away a couple of years ago, there were five people living in my Aunt's two bedroom apartment. That's crowded, but that's not something I think even twice about. It's cultural, I know that, and I don't know if it comes from being Chinese or Malaysian or what, but it's not something that's unusual to my family - so many family friends, both here and in Malaysia, have multi-generational living arrangements.

Anyway, my point is kind of: although this article says this:

The factors converging to keep young adults in their 20s and early 30s living at home are many. Delayed marriage, extended study, later house purchasing, a propensity not to get serious about career until their mid-20s, and an attitude that places lifestyle factors – living close to the city, public transport and mum's seemingly automatic washing machine and oven – over chasing the home ownership dream that was popular with older Generation Xers and the boomers. Another factor affecting the official statistics is that families who have moved from overseas to Australia in recent years are more likely to come from cultures where young people stay at home for longer.

which is nice, thanks for giving us a nod, the entire article is super duper Anglo-centric. Like - hey, guess what? Those of us who fit into that category are automatically excluded by your title! ('stuck at home for longer' sort of doesn't apply, is what I mean).




Also, petty side note: when we're included as a nod to blah blah blah, it makes me really frustrated because it is a tiny bit more difficult for me to get my words together in order to criticise the article! What a hard life! (I criticise things anyway)





*I made that up. I think it's claypot rice