If the "victim" had been a gay, Asian lawyer (Penny Wong) or an aboriginal lawyer (Pat O'Shane) both of whom are equally able to defend themselves and would have been used to some rough language in their time, this article would have been written with a completely different orientation.

What is astounding is the way in which the person who delivered the insult is portrayed as the victim in this article. There are so many double standards here where do I start:

Male demeaned as a brainless sex object

Victoria Cross winner demeaned for doing his duty to country

Male demeaned as sexually incapable just because he is good looking and macho

Imagine if the following judgemental claims were made about women:

Good looking aboriginal woman in high profile profession (Cathy Freeman) called brainless and only good for running

Well known politician (Nicola Roxon) called fat and probably "bad in bed" and a bad example of good health in her former job as Health Minister

The howls of indignation would be feral from all the usual suspects. Where are they today?

Hi
Slight sidetrack but when I was growing up in the sixties and seventies the Anzac 'legend' was not so settled, and was attacked as part of the opposition to the Vietnam War by young people. As a man now in my fifties I still wonder how the public attitude to the ANZAC concept has changed in particular the fact that Anzac Cove is now a tourist and party destination.

Phillip Hyde, I believe that the matter deserves to be written about. I think the point is that this young woman had been vilified in sexist and racist terms for making a bad call for which she has since apologised. How did George Negus escape the censure?

Interesting how Roberts-Smith accepted the apology and express a desire to focus on other things yet his “defenders” keep wanting to drag him back into the debate.

They don’t respect HIS wishes to be left alone; he has stated previously that he finds public engagements uncomfortable and would prefer to return to his life away from the glare of media.

So it is ironic that the defenders have no desire to protect Roberts-Smith or his family on a personal level by demanding even more public apologies and demonstrations.

They are too busy with pitch fork and torches to hear. Forgetting the man, Roberts-Smith is being used as a rallying point al la Cronulla riots style.

I just hope he and his family are being insulated from all the dross that is being bandied about in his name.

Ben

Let me first say I'm a Vietnam Veteran, and while there served with Kiwi's. I suppose I can say I am an Anzac.

I agree wholeheartedly that the term Anzac has taken a (distasteful) cult status. Nevertheless, I suggest it has been elevated to that status for reasons quite different to those advocated by Marilyn Lake. I'm inclined with your take that it's militaristic, but from a different perspective of antecedent issues.

The Anzac tradition (the cult) ought not be confused with Anzac Day.

Anzac Day is a day of reflection, acknowledgement and remembrance.

My view is that we Vietnam Veterans have been in large part the reason why the Anzac cult has developed.

I suggest the basis of the current perception of the Anzac cult stems from the lack of recognition given Vietnam Veterans during the 1970's through to the Welcome Home Parade (in 1987).

Especially from the early 1980's, Australian Veterans (and their relatives) looked at the way US media portrayed the American Vietnam Veteran. To take the national focus away from the way the Vietnam (or is it the American?) War ended, the US media glorified both the soldier and his capabilities. This newly emerging heroic status was in stark contrast to the portrayal of we Vietnam Veterans in the Australian media.

Not to be outdone, Australian Vietnam Veterans progressively highlighted events that mirrored those celebrated by US media. At first, this was a way to raise the national psyche towards the tasks undertaken by those who served in Vietnam. Later, this raising of status flowed into the national political stage and took a different turn.

Like you, my take on post WW2 perspectives is that the Anzac 'tradition' reflected all military endeavours, and in any theatre.

Importantly, the elevation of the Vietnam Veteran status in the Australian national psyche was accompanied by an emergence in Australia of US style right wing politics (whereby militaristic endeavour is adulated as a necessary means for US hegemony). This adoption of US right wing focus was most pronounced as a means used by the Australian government to justify Australian involvement in the 1991 Gulf War.

In large part because Australian media were 'embedded' with US forces, and presented stories in the same (almost) sensationalist manner, I contend that there is now a fusion of the US adulation of the military - as expressed in both US right wing politics and the US media - into media presentations of Australian military exploits since 1991.

I also believe that successive Australian Governments have found electoral advantage to give tacit approval to Australian media presentations of the Australian military in terms similar to that used by US media.

I suggest that while this cult style glorification of 'tradition' has its roots in the Gulf War, the seeds were sown by Vietnam Veterans seeking to contrast their poor portrayal in the local media to the glorification process undertaken in the US to 'recover' national pride from their defeat in Vietnam.

Cheers

@Phillip - there were actually three people who insulted Ben Roberts-Smith. One is being crucified, the others mentioned as an afterthought.

Yumi Stynes (and the two other people on the show) made a mistake. That happens to everyone, just that for most people its not on live TV and not blown up into a national issue! She has apologized publicly, quickly and sincerely but this will haunt her for years to come, not just in terms of sponsorship but in terms of comments, approaches in the street, abusive messages and threats. Not sure at all why her ethnic background or sexuality is relevant?!
Also not sure how was this was a slight to the ADF, or Ben’s Victoria Cross?? Suddenly its an attack on elderly veterans everywhere - what?!

"There are so many double standards here where do I start:........The howls of indignation would be feral from all the usual suspects. Where are they today? "
Ummmm… almost everywhere? This is not exactly a festival of approval we are seeing!

I reckon that Cathy Freeman and Nicola Roxon have both received far worse and likely on more than one occasion, by various means (email, verbal comments, articles written about them, blog posts etc).
The fact that this is considered such a "big deal" is illustrative of the pro-military, pro-male culture we currently have in Australia.
If you want to talk about double standards, when will we be discussing the Footy Show / Sam Newman? Why has no male been crucified in such a way? Its certainly not because men always behave and speak appropriately! This a small clanger compared to some of the ongoing execrable displays…Alan Jones, anyone??!

Every day aspersions are cast on the usual targeted groups (sexuality, gender, ethnic identity, religion etc). This situation has been given soooo much airtime, is this because its offensive to hetero, white, middle class, relatively wealthy blokes (probably you included?) for a change?

yes, 'hot' Male demeaned as a brainless sex object. Maybe the lack of outrage from other men is because many of them would look at a similar image of a wet bikini and think 'too gorgeous to have any brains', whereas, Cindy Crawford a multiple Sports Illustrated covergirl has a first rate degree in chemical engineering.
Our VC recipient is tough enough to brush this off. I wonder if the fiance of Ms Stynes is?
The apparent threats to her innocent children though, are a different matter completely.

The Meeja is merely chanting Fight! Fight! Fight! as they do.

Why even mention the Facebook site? Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith and The Circle had nothing to do with that. The offensive comments which targeted one individual aren't mellowed because a few members of the hugely populated ADF lout around on Facebook.

"The posters, disproportionately men, many with military and neo-conservative connections reflected a level of community and coordination"

Where is your evidence Mr Wadham? I've been viewing that site since the controversy erupted and I would estimate most are actually female; they appear like stay at home mums for the most part with many featuring kids in their profiles.

Ben has earned a Victoria Cross. For soldiers, he is revered as a top practitioner of their trade. For Yumi to insult the best of their organization with such a stereotypical insult to his intelligence is to point a finger to all serving members and say: “well he’s the best and he’s a moron – what does that say about you?”. So why are we surprised that some of them, and their supporters, have lashed out?

But more importantly, I think there are some outsized claims here that Australia has become ‘militarised’. For example, it is claimed that the vitriolic and damning comments came mostly from soldiers and neoconservatives. Do we think that these comments reflect the values of the majority of the ADF? Do these few comments from a group that represents a very small percentage of the population reflect the general perspective of Australians? We have to be careful not to make mountains from molehills here. There are evidently individuals within the ADF that have put forward racist or sexist comments - but I highly doubt that these cut to the core values of the majority of soldiers, and certainly not the majority of Australians.

Hi, You have tainted everyone that has grievances with the same white supremacist brush and that is unfair, almost racist in itself. Not everyone has made disgusting comments, been racist, abusive or offensive. Many posters have placed very well thought out arguments that require critical thinking on behalf of the readers. These posts are being deleted and the posters blocked from having their opinions viewed. I also must point out that the comment Yumi So Sorry I believe came from the Circles own website who at the top of one threads stated We are So Sorry for the comments.....Unless you have proof otherwise this is where I believe it came from. The stories coming out about Yumi Stynes being targeted are only telling half the story. Unfortunately it is telling the story of the minority of posters who are being racist, threatening, abusive and offensive. Comments such as these I am totally against and appalled.

Ben Roberts-Smith may look like a muscled killing machine but the rest of his family seem to have been high achievers in different fields so from genetic factors alone he is probably quite smart.

Slightly off topic, but am I the only one who read Ben Roberts-Smith's citation and thought that that with the amount of air support and high tech weaponry available these days that had the scenario described in the citation actually occurred, the commanding officer should have been court-martialed for dangerous incompetence.

While I presume Ben Roberts-Smith must have done something that elevated him above his comrades, I have the feeling that the modern ADF sees these medals as simply part of the a slick PR machine and they bear only a passing resemblance to reality.

Another lefty making academic hay by polarising a nuanced and complex issue. Yawn.

I believe in total equality of gender, race, and sexuality. That means no discrimination, no exclusion and no targeting of anyone for their sex, love life or ethnicity. Crucially, it involves no free lunches for anyone either, and thats where I seem to part company with most lefties.

One day perhaps one of them will articulate a rational argument to explain why its ok for them to slander, sneer at and exclude one ethnic group, sex or sexuality but not another. So far all the excuses I've seen are of playground standard: ie. 'he did it first', 'she always gets to play with the toys' etc.

Until leftists work out that equality means absolutely no-one has a right to go around making judgements about others based on their colour, sex or relationships they will all remain an ineffectual peripheral minority, and an embarrassment to those of us with genuinely progressive views.

And besides- since when was the left synonymous with pacifism?

Australian's have an inability to laugh at themselves and are quick to jump on a high horse about any joke that even hints at slandering anything that is remotely connected with their image of themselves. You can see this when a poorly aimed joke like Yumi's fires so many people to the defense of a man who clearly doesn't need it. You can see it when the Prime Minister comes out and comments on a joke the Chaser made on TV the night before. (No wonder the PM is so busy if she has to censor all our jokes.)

Many Australians are clearly confused about their image and cultural heritage and creation myths like the failed Gallipoli campaign become so important that Anzaz Cove is now a site of pilgrimage and a guy like Ben, who personifies the Anzac myth in so many ways, is deified by a cringing public.

My understanding of the VC is that it is very hard to win one and live to accept it. He's an amazing and heoic man. But I doubt he's without a sense of humour or perspective. Sadly, the Australian public is.