A few years ago I conducted a feminist analysis of the Liberal Democrats as my PhD thesis. During the research, people (both inside and outside of the party) would often say my project was “a bit niche…
EasyJet boss Carolyn McCall is one of few women at the top of UK business.
Steve Parsons/PA
In the UK, women make up just just 17.3% of FTSE 100 companies’ board members. This puts the UK 5th in the world behind Norway, Sweden, Finland and France. Things are certainly improving: 44% of new appointments…
Science is not always a safe space for women.
George Joch.
Martin Luther King said, “On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’ Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’ And Vanity comes along and asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’ But…
While just under half of all philosophy undergraduates in the UK are women, women account for less than a third of PhD completions and less than a quarter of permanent academic staff. So where did all…
The women of ENIAC, because you don’t need to see another picture of Titstare.
It would be tempting to say the tech industry was reeling this week from the blatant discrimination and misogyny that took centre stage at the TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon in San Francisco. It would be…
What do the various responses to Tony Abbott’s ‘sex appeal’ comment say about the role of gender in politics?
AAP/Alan Porritt
Since opposition leader Tony Abbott’s self-described “daggy dad” comments about Liberal candidate Fiona Scott’s sex appeal, gender issues have re-emerged in Australian politics. Labor frontbenchers claim…
British journalist Caroline Criado-Perez (far right) has been the latest victim of vitriolic online abuse.
EPA/Bloomberg
Germaine Greer once wrote that women have no idea how much men hate them. Thanks to the internet, now we do. - @PennyRed Since the 1990s, some social commentators have declared that we live in a post-feminist…
Sixties style - Mad Men characters Roger Sterling and Don Draper still show men how it’s done in business and politics.
AAP
Labor may have “ditched the witch”, but does the ejection of Julia Gillard from her seat of power close the book on the debate about sexism that she championed and the role of women in leadership? Our…
Now that the curtain has come down on Julia Gillard’s prime ministership, it should be asked: was she truly a female prime minister or a prime minister who was female?
AAP/Alan Porritt
By the time the sun set over Parliament House, and took Julia Gillard’s prime ministership with it in a party room vote, the dissection of her legacy as Australia’s first female prime minister had already…
Women traditionally rode side-saddle in order to preserve their hymen, a less-than-perfect signifier for virginity.
Miss Tessmacher/Flicker
More and more women are requesting surgery to replace their hymens, in an effort to “fake” virginity. But virginity is a psychological state, and a hymen is no reliable indicator it exists. The idea of…
How central should Julia Gillard’s identity as a woman be in political discourse?
AAP/Lukas Coch
Politics and identity have collided with unusual force in Australian politics over the past year, reaching a crescendo in the last week. Beginning with Julia Gillard’s “misogyny speech” to parliament…
The sexism surrounding Australia’s first female prime minister Julia Gillard is nothing new for women in power: Britain’s first female PM Margaret Thatcher suffered similar.
AAP/Tony McDonough
The denigration of the first female Australian prime minister on the basis of her gender echoes that endured by the first female prime minister of Great Britain. While Julia Gillard has suffered the juvenile…
The USA’s Christine Rampone celebrates with Hope Solo after defeating Japan in the Olympic football final.
Anthony Devlin/PA
Sepp Blatter, the 77-year-old president of FIFA, the international governing body of football, has put his foot in it – again. Having made suggestions in 2004 that women in sport should wear tight shorts…
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga thinks women’s tennis is affected by their unstable emotions.
AAP/Joe Castro
Two interesting and intersecting events occurred at the Australian Open this week. First, Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga questioned women’s ability to control their emotions while playing tennis at a press…
There was absolutely no evidence that reading bad news led to immediate increases in stress responses for either sex.
Dani/Flickr
Attention women of the world: according to a flood of recent news headlines (78 at last count), it’s time to stop watching the news because negative news stories stress you out more than they do men. These…
Julia Gillard’s speech to Tony Abbott put the issue of entrenched gender inequality squarely on the agenda.
AAP
When Tony Abbott discussed the fallout from Peter Slipper’s resignation on ABC 24, he argued that he would rather that women were judged on what their actions are, rather than on the basis of their gender…
Most Australian newsrooms have a blokey culture argues Louise North.
Andy Piper
Australia’s media sector refuses to acknowledge there is a sexism in newsrooms, despite female journalists experiencing sexual harassment at a rate more than twice that of the general workforce, says Monash…
Julia Gillard yesterday blasted those on the internet for recycling rumours about her, part of what she calls a sexist campaign.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
Prime minister Julia Gillard took aim yesterday at the “misogynists” and “nut jobs” on the internet posting about her conduct 17 years ago while working as an industrial lawyer. The Prime Minister said…
American Marissa Mayer, 37, held several senior roles at Google before becoming CEO at Yahoo last week in an appointment that made her the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
AAP
Exposure to sexism is the greatest threat to the work performance of women, who flourish when they have opportunities to develop new skills and flexible workplace arrangements, according to a report published…