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.

personal positives: experiencing my mistakes

Maybe my answer will be different in two months' time, after I've moved home to Australia and settled back in to Melbourne. But right now, here in Beijing, far away from my home and my loved ones and loving (and hating) my life here and this city, the thing I do to make a difference is share.

Not share my opinions, though I'm perfectly capable of that. I share my experiences. I've made so many mistakes and I've done so many things right; I've tried so many new things and so many old things and some have been good and some have been bad and some have been anywhere in between. I've moved countries and cities and navigated new problems. 

I feel shame when I do something less than perfect, whether that thing be mix up jiao and mao (they are, in fact, the same thing), or misunderstand someone when they speak, or turn the wrong way down a street and have to come back again. What if someone notices? I feel horrible and terrible and wrong, which is almost certainly a marker of my anxiety. 

Whenever someone asks, I always try to say yes. This works for me and against me, at times. Sometimes I feel so guilty when it comes time to say no, because I do genuinely want to do as much as I can. Sometimes I think I want to share these experiences so badly because I wish someone else could help me from making any mistake ever. Sometimes I forget that part of learning and living and experiencing is making mistakes and mixing up mao and jiao and walking the wrong way down a street and learning to be okay with having those experiences yourself.

It pleases me to make a difference in this way, to help others avoid feeling this way and to maybe help others have awesome experiences the way I feel I have been able to. I feel like this is my personal positive, but maybe it isn't always a personal positive?