The Looking Glass

Yvonne Evans Ms Summers, thank goodness someone is unpacking these issues and dynamics and presenting a clear and focused lens. Many commentators are so entrenched in their own chauvinism and misogyny that they fail to recognize the shocking offences they commit towards females, including the so called... – Jun 19, 12:52 AM
Tanya I'm currently reading the scorecard chapter. On many occasions I was made to feel bad because I could not participate in my children's school activities, I often felt uncomfortable around the other school mums because I was not involved with fundraising and canteen. Some women... – Jun 16, 11:02 AM
bill ifland In all fairness Sandra, I, and a lot of working fathers left the raising of our children to our wifes ''because i was always out working [nights & weekends] to support them'' – Jun 14, 6:31 AM
punch Evening Anne I just sent this to Guardian Australia - Everyday I witness/hear such relentless, ingrained sexist abuse of our PM by a thuggish opposition supported across all the media. Its unprecedented. Abbotts LNP is ripping up the fabric of our country with his stupid,... – Jun 14, 12:26 AM
margiemagdala I am ordering this tomorrow! "The Truth will set us Free" – Jun 11, 9:48 PM
Kate Look forward to reading the book also. I am very aware that the gender equality project is a work in progress and can see structural and cultural issues galore, but on a personal level I confess that in my day-to-day life, I don't feel held... – Jun 10, 7:55 AM
Kate Really looking forward to purchasing and reading this book. I am currently writing a thesis on the impact of gender on perceptions of Julia Gillard's legitimacy, which was in part inspired by your fantastic speech, 'Her Rights At Work'. – May 28, 2:58 PM
Sue Simmonds My daughter, highly educated and working, informed me last week that she was pregnant, and then reminded me that she is 42 years old, as if I needed reminding. Her partner has no interest in children so she has to sort this out. I'm pro-choice... – May 28, 2:38 PM
Sandra Hey Tony Abbott is just following in the footsteps of the Howard/Costello policies of appealing to woman for the Liberal vote. I don't believe Tony Abbott has any interest in Children, he was not at home to assist in the rearing of his own Children, maintaining... – May 27, 7:47 PM
Catehrine Gee, imagine if a woman was grown up enough to say "I could get pregnant if I have sex, therefore I won't have sex. Or jeepers, I'll be responsible for my contraception - not" conceiving. What about the mass femanicide - 51% of all babies... – Apr 11, 2:06 PM
MJSlattery "Imagine if all men who did NOT want to have a child insisted on using a condom every time he had intercourse?" Many a time a woman has pleaded for me to remove a condom because it diminished her pleasure and ability to orgasm. Men... – Apr 11, 10:54 AM
David I strongly believe that Julia will be judged to be one of the most incompetant Prime Ministers that we have ever had. This is not base on her gender.. I think Margaret Thatcher was an excellent PM.. but based of the legacy that her government... – Apr 11, 10:52 AM
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ARTICLES, SPEECHES, NEWS

It’s Gillard’s right to fight back

Does Julia Gillard have a woman problem? On Tuesday she launched Women for Gillard, a campaigning organisation designed to boost her support and to raise funds, which is modelled on the highly effective Women for Obama campaign run in the US last year.

At this forum the Prime Minister spoke on how women might fare in political representation and in policy outcomes under an Abbott government. What on earth else would you expect her to speak about at such an event: the defence white paper?

There is evidence that many other women are cheering her on.

Yet she has been roundly attacked for doing so, and not by the usual misogynist mainstream media crowd.

Photo: Jackson Flindell

» Continue reading It’s Gillard’s right to fight back »

Abbott needs more women at the top

You need only to look at the gender composition of the government and opposition’s front-bench teams to judge the accuracy of Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s statement the election is about ”whether, once again, we will banish women’s voices from our political life”.

If Tony Abbott is elected prime minister on September 14 the number of women at the Cabinet table will drop by 50 per cent.

Australia will go from having one of the highest representations of women in government in the democratic world to a very ordinary presence when compared with similar countries.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop

» Continue reading Abbott needs more women at the top »

Abortion and federal policy: here are the facts

Voters need to be mindful that there are men in Federal Parliament who, to quote Julia Gillard, would make abortion access their “political plaything”. A bill by Senator John Madigan is a salutary reminder that Federal Parliament does have the power to regulate access to abortion, writes Anne Summers.

Those who claim that abortion is not a federal election policy issue are ignorant of both facts and history.

Abortion and federal policy