Good morning!
Unfortunately, I am not able to copy the video and add it here but please click here or click on the title to view it; it is a must see. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard does not hold anything back in her impassioned attack on opposition leader’s views of women. You go girl!
Australian prime minister’s impassioned attack on opposition leader’s views of women provokes debate over word’s meaning
Australian prime minister Julia Gillard accuses the opposition leader, Tony Abbott, of misogyny Link to this video
When Australian prime minister Julia Gillard launched a ferocious attack on the leader of the opposition for his repeated use of sexist language, she was feted by feminists the world over. But critics in Australiarounded on her for supposedly misusing the word misogyny and falsely accusing Tony Abbott of hating women.
Now, however, Gillard’s critics no longer have semantics on their side. In the wake of the row, the most authoritative dictionary in Australia has decided to update its definition of the word, ruling that a modern understanding of misogyny would indeed imply “entrenched prejudice against women” as well as, or instead of, pathological hatred of them. Sue Butler, editor of the Macquarie Dictionary, said that, on this occasion, it had failed to keep pace with linguistic evolution.
“Since the 1980s, misogyny has come to be used as a synonym for sexism, a synonym with bite, but nevertheless with the meaning of entrenched prejudice against women rather than pathological hatred,” she said in a statement.
While the Oxford English Dictionary reworded its definition a decade ago, staff at the Macquarie had been alerted to the issue only in the aftermath of Gillard’s extraordinary speech in parliament. “Perhaps as dictionary editors we should have noticed this before it was so rudely thrust in front of us as something that we’d overlooked,” Butler told the Associated Press.
Gillard – Australia’s first female leader – accused Abbott, head of the centre-right Liberal party, of repeated instances of sexism and misogyny, including his description of abortion as “the easy way out”, his apparent characterisation of Australian women as housewives doing the ironing, and appearances at political rallies in front of posters urging voters to “ditch the witch”.
She told MPs: “The leader of the opposition says that people who hold sexist views and who are misogynists are not appropriate for high office. Well, I hope the leader of the opposition has got a piece of paper and he’s writing out his resignation because if he wants to know what misogyny looks like in modern Australia, he doesn’t need a motion in the House of Representatives; he needs a mirror.”
Abbott had sparked the Labor prime minister’s fury by calling for the speaker of parliament, Peter Slipper, to be sacked over a series of sexist and vulgar texts he had sent to a former member of staff. Slipper has since resigned as speaker.
Seized with indignation and pointing her finger across the despatch box, she retorted: “I will not be lectured about sexism and misogyny by this man. And the government will not be lectured about sexism and misogyny by this man. Not now, not ever.”
In an attempt to defend himself, Abbott has claimed the attack was part of a government smear campaign. His supporters have also accused Gillard of hyperbole, citing the Macquarie Dictionary as proof that, when she claimed Abbott was a misogynist, she was saying he had a visceral hatred of the opposite sex.
Those figures have not welcomed the dictionary’s decision to expand its definition, and Butler said she had received letters accusing it of a political move. “It would seem more logical for the prime minister to refine her vocabulary than for the Macquarie Dictionary to keep changing its definitions every time a politician mangles the English language,” Fiona Nash, a senator in Abbott’s coalition, said.
Speaking to the Australian newspaper, the manager of opposition business, Christopher Pyne, also criticised the decision. “If Macquarie changes its definition of misogyny to something other than what it is, it undermines Macquarie Dictionary in its entirety,” he said. “The prime minister knew when she used the term misogyny that she was calling Tony Abbott a women hater and she should bear the burden of that vicious personal smear.”
Gillard’s impassioned speech endeared her to feminists throughout the world, with media in Britain, the US and elsewhere praising her for arguably the most outspoken attack on sexism in political life in history. In France, her attack was lauded as an impressive and “implacable tirade”, while the New Yorker said that, while her motivation may have been political, Gillard had started a discussion about “something much more important” in the process.
In Australia, however, her performance received rather more mixed reviews, with many concerned about what they saw as her attempt to defend Slipper. Much of the mainstream media wrote off Gillard’s speech as a disaster, with one commentator claiming she would “rue yet another bad call” and another decrying her “flawed” judgment, which, they said, had lost her credibility.
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Readers: Instead of the men supporting Gillard, they decided to just change the definition of the word, so men won’t feel so bad. This is just sickening. The men in Australia didn’t like being accused of hating women. Boo hoo.
So rather than doing something to protect women from men who hate them, they changed the definition to remove accusation of hate from the woman’s term “misogynist”.
Instead of getting real with their hate for women and changing their sick behavior and attitude toward women, let’s just change the word to suit their needs, giving them an excuse to continue being the sick men that they are.
This is something like accusing blacks of playing the race card to prevent them from calling racial discrimination or racial acts of hate, what they are. The message in both cases is shut up and bear it.
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Aussie girls: You are being screwed by these men – get off of your asses and protest – don’t let these men screw you by allowing them an excuse for them to continue to treat you this way. Now is the time to do something. And if any men in your country have any balls, they’ll be protesting right along side you. But what I can see from the video, these men don’t show any compassion for your girls – you girls might all be on your own, like many of us are in the world. Now is the time to come together in support, like all women across the world must do.
Gill: I liked your take on Romney’s view of women. No doubt if he could have some words in the dictionary changed he would.
Derek: Life is all about the small issues especially when it comes to women, because the small nuances against women happen daily, that for you it is just the “norm”…acceptable. Let me tell you it will never be acceptable even if it is the “norm”.
So of course, you a man, are like most men who can’t see the harm it does or the place it throws and keeps women in. So you make a big deal seem like it is small issue, just because it doesn’t directly affect you.
You are like the arab men. What does it matter to a woman if there is unemployment when if that woman gets a job she is certain not to get equal pay. The reason why you are focusing on the “big” issues is because you are probably a man who is out of a job and part of that unemployment rate you speak of. You are being affected. But were you helping women reach equality when you knew that you were making more money for doing the same same job when you had one?
In my opinion, YOU are the problem – people like you who vote, and will continue to vote for candidates who discriminate. We wouldn’t be in this situation if it weren’t for people like you who vote in candidates who are narcissistic and self-serving.
And from your last comment, you are no doubt for the party who put us in the disastrous economic environment in the first place. YOU, wannabee, need to wake up! YOU need to live in reality and start supporting the candidates that really care about women and the country. That is when good change will happen for everyone and not just the elite 1%.
Ruth, SM: The Romney’s are so gung-ho to send other peoples’ sons and daughters to war, but theirs have the protection behind the Mormon religion. As always, nice to see you here. Love and hugs to you et al.
I’m out the door now…Your turn, start flappin’ – blog me.
Peace out.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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