Blog posts by Louise Livesey: 2009
Round-Up
By Louise Livesey | 15 October 2009, 22:55
Here’s some things that have been interesting me over the past few days…. Further to previous coverage of the Roman Polanski (see here, here and here) I was interested to read this from Everyday Sociology about the difference in reporting…
UK Supreme Court starts work…
By Louise Livesey | 1 October 2009, 08:21
And guess how many are women? Yep tokenism is alive and well - the only woman on the panel of twelve judges (although one seat is unfilled) is Brenda Hale (Baroness Hale of Richmond) who was also the first (and…
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Polanski Part II
By Louise Livesey | 30 September 2009, 09:08
It appears this week, and this story, will just keep causing disappointment after disappointment for us all… First Whoopi Goldberg comes out and say that Polanski didn’t commit “rape-rape” in an interview on a US TV Chatshow. Goldberg (yes that…
End Violence Against Women Consultations
By Louise Livesey | 26 May 2009, 11:18
So it’s almost the deadline for responses to the EVAW national consultation from the Home Office and part way through the London and Welsh Consultations. In case you haven’t already responded to the national consultation here’s some ideas of where…
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European Union Campaign
By Louise Livesey | 21 May 2009, 09:35
Apparently the European Women’s Lobby have been told by “high-level European decision makers” that women obviously don’t care about equal gender representation in Europe. The reason? Apparently they didn’t get “enough” (define that for me!) individual signatures on a…
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International Day Against Homophobia
By Louise Livesey | 18 May 2009, 10:47
OK so a day late but it’s IDAHO time of year again. This year they are campaigning around an end to transphobia An Appeal to the United Nations, the World Health Organisation and the States of the World Every day,…
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Why (anti)fascism is a feminist issue…
By Louise Livesey | 18 May 2009, 08:49
The European elections are fast approaching (alongside some local elections) and the BNP are hoping to get MEP elected. Why is this a feminist issue? (We have covered some issues of this before here and here) The BNP, apart…
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BBC’s “Call Yourself a Feminist” programme
By Louise Livesey | 11 March 2009, 13:45
You can listen again here. What do you think?…
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100 Most Influential Women
By Louise Livesey | 11 March 2009, 11:51
There are discussions here and here about lists of the most influential women (in history). Who would you nominate?…
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14 year old girl in court for being an “Escort”
By Louise Livesey | 11 March 2009, 11:37
This story truly troubles me because we have a legal commitment to treating under 16 year old as victims of exploitation where they are prostituted not as perpetrators. Unless, apparently, they decide not to. As in this case in Tyneside…
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Activism
By Louise Livesey | 11 March 2009, 09:25
First up Fem Academ is starting an Oxfordshire Feminist Network - see “>here and here for details and sign up! Walls Come Tumbling Down highlights Alastair Campbell’s New Statesman initiative to find out what one sentence people would want in…
Trans Rights and transversal politics - some preliminary ideas
By Louise Livesey | 2 March 2009, 11:09
Global Comment asks the question of whether the US is going to move towards guaranteeing trans people’s rights. What the article makes clear is that the opposition has come from all sides - ultra-Conservatives, the religious right, supposed lesbian and…
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Would you Eve it?
By Louise Livesey | 26 February 2009, 14:15
We all know women are to blame for everything but three guesses where this question leads: Does the woman in your life really need a job? Yes apparently working women caused the credit crunch. Not those irresponsible bankers over lending…
Disabled woman “too scary” for TV according to some parents
By Louise Livesey | 25 February 2009, 16:10
Oh yes, presenter Cerrie Burnell has been slated by some parents - did she go topless in storytime? Did she eat a live animal on TV? No she was born with no lower right arm and apparently that makes her…
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Why everyone loves to hate clever women….
By Louise Livesey | 25 February 2009, 16:03
Gail Trimble has been declared amazing in the admittedly small world of University Challenge. The PhD student from Corpus Christi College Oxford demonstrated a remarkable degree of general knowledge recall and led her College to victory. So far so good….
Read 'Why everyone loves to hate clever women....'
Oxford International Women’s Festival is 20 years old!
By Louise Livesey | 24 February 2009, 15:28
So we managed to catch a few minutes with one of the organisers, Christine, to ask some questions…. I know this is really hard as an organizer but what are the highlights of this years’ programme? What are you most…
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You’re not designed to be alone…
By Louise Livesey | 24 February 2009, 13:56
Gold stars for anyone naming the song! Anyway here’s a round-up of interesting links…. Firstly can I recomment the fantastic Pink Stinks! campaign which aims to challenge the ubiquitous “culture of pink”. And whose blog highlights this delightful nugget that…
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Of interest?
By Louise Livesey | 23 February 2009, 17:05
This is a great piece about men’s responses to women talking about their abortion. Makes for interesting and awesome reading. This piece on Islamic Feminism is also exciting, sadly the only coverage of this I could find in my limited…
Every woman is a super woman
By Louise Livesey | 23 February 2009, 09:23
Unless you believe Coca Cola and singer Duffy in the latest ad campaign. I spotted a poster near Heathrow yesterday and intensely disliked it immediately. Why? Lets see Duffy who won a plethora of awards at the Brit Awards and…
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The F Word credited for major rethink of “Cervix Savvy” advertising campaign…
By Louise Livesey | 20 February 2009, 17:48
See here….. Just goes to show that activism online can and does have an impact! Lets just be very clear - it’s really important women are screened regularly for cell abnormalities on the cervix. Really important. Don’t put it off….
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OK I truly give up on PETA
By Louise Livesey | 20 February 2009, 10:59
Yes they have done it again…….
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Apparently Wales doesn’t count….
By Louise Livesey | 19 February 2009, 09:48
The Home Office’s integrated strategy on violence against women which is being drawn up as we speak will not apply to Wales. Secretary of State for Wales, Paul Murphy, has decided Wales should not be included because it already has…
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Take a Picture
By Louise Livesey | 18 February 2009, 12:14
My previous entry got me thinking about photo’s and who gets included and who doesn’t. So I did a quick content analysis of the Guardian’s The World in 24 Hours section. I did a basic gender content analysis and here’s…
Can someone explain to me….?
By Louise Livesey | 18 February 2009, 11:09
Why the ASA upholds complaints because the advert has the word S-E-X in it but doesn’t uphold complaints about the objectification and sexual exploitation of women? (See here and here and here and here and here and here and [OK…
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Some news
By Louise Livesey | 16 February 2009, 16:19
So first off, yes there are no depths to which PETA will not sink, Yes apparently the American Kennel Club is much like the KKK according to PETA. Not sure how that analogy works, given I’ve not heard about the…
Bodies are Important
By Louise Livesey | 4 February 2009, 12:08
Over at Sociological Images is an interesting piece on the downsizing of bodies. The pictures are particularly striking! The point I want to make is that these women have ALWAYS been beautiful. They were considered beautiful enough to be stars…
BBC and sexism - why it’s more complicated than that
By Louise Livesey | 4 February 2009, 09:02
So the BBC has said Carol Thatcher is dropped from reporting for The One Show for an obscenely racist comment made off-camera and out of studio in a conversation about a tennis player. The analogy she drew was grossly racist,…
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Some interesting worldwide stuff….
By Louise Livesey | 2 February 2009, 13:40
Rwanda has sworn in members of it’s gender observatory designed to ensure future generations of Rwandans grow up in a society with gender equality. The Chief Gender Monitor, Oda Gasinzigwa, was sworn in along with Eugenié Kabagema, Deputy Chief Monitor…
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Spot the difference
By Louise Livesey | 30 January 2009, 18:07
From Alas, a Blog…
PETA do it again (sigh)
By Louise Livesey | 30 January 2009, 17:53
This was PETAs attempt at a Super Bowl ad break advertisement: ‘Veggie Love’: PETA’s Banned Super Bowl Ad Yep that’s right, PETA again decide to sell “ethical” issues by massively exploiting women’s bodies and sexuality. Because obviously we all try…
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And whilst we’re on local government issues…
By Louise Livesey | 30 January 2009, 15:12
The Guardian reports that more than 100 local councils may be prosecuted for failure to provide adequate services for those experiencing sexual and domestic violence. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission has warned local authorities they need to explain why…
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“It’s not sexist, it’s a statement against political correctness” aka don’t mess with my male privilege
By Louise Livesey | 30 January 2009, 14:24
Councillor David Taylor (Nottinghamshire County Council) has put up a soft porn calendar on his office wall. The office being that of his official county council offices, just for clarity. His reasoning is that it’s a political statement against…
“You don’t have to be a rapist to have that bad boy rapist style”
By Louise Livesey | 28 January 2009, 17:04
OK so I admit this was first put up on YouTube in September 07, but I only just heard about it. Apparently it was promoted by Maxim magazine. Oh and he’s also done “paedophile beards” which he describes as “the…
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Some menstruation stories of interest….
By Louise Livesey | 26 January 2009, 18:40
First off, XKCD get it wrong, or is that right? My first response to this was annoyance that menstruation would be described as freaky but my second response was that XKCD have hit the nail on the head that this…
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Women and the Recession
By Louise Livesey | 21 January 2009, 17:22
The TUC has a new document out on the topic - it’s available free here. Some headlines from it: There are more women in paid work than in previous recessions but 29% of them are in low paid jobs (compared…
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The Olympics and Trafficking
By Louise Livesey | 21 January 2009, 11:09
Now before y’all jump on me, I want to clearly state something. Not all non-UK women in prostitution are trafficked but here I am talking specifically about two distinct things 1. trafficked women for purposes of prostituting them and 2….
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Triple Bill of Grumping….
By Louise Livesey | 20 January 2009, 17:40
Whilst I’m at it - this BBC story about a man running a child care centre annoyed me (but not as much as Ex-President Bush). Why? It insidiously presents the idea that childcare is usually all women because of some…
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Rapists sentenced for disabled woman rape
By Louise Livesey | 20 January 2009, 17:00
One rapist got 9 years, two got six years, at least another seven got away scott free. Most of the press has focussed on how that means they might be out in 2.5 years if they behave. As if reminder…
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Bush does it again (force his views on others)
By Louise Livesey | 20 January 2009, 16:28
I guess that’s the (ex)presidential privilege but it does strike me that declaring January 18th the Sanctity of Human Life Day smacks of desparation. The Press Release reads: All human life is a gift from our Creator that is sacred,…
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Fainting, mothering and other stories…
By Louise Livesey | 16 January 2009, 09:47
Natalie Antonova has an article up about fainting, not the most obvious feminist topic, however this little excerpt tells us an important story. It’s a conversation between her and her boyfriend about the experience of fainting fits (syncopes). “You know…
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Campari does gang rape
By Louise Livesey | 15 January 2009, 17:39
But apparently it’s OK to imply this in drinks adverts as it’s “sexy”. Plus they are wearing suits so are obviously fine upstanding men who’d never do that…. Hat-Tip to Sociological Images…
Some things of interest
By Louise Livesey | 15 January 2009, 12:43
Apologies all for my absence from this blog for a month - did you miss me? Festive seasons and the like over I’m back and today bring you some things of interest to read…. First up Chay magazine is a…
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