Sexualisation inquiry report takes soft optionsWFA Media Release | 26 June 2008 The Senate Standing Committee on Environment, Communication and the Arts has failed to deliver the strong recommendations needed to address the sexualisation of children, in its inquiry report tabled today. The Committee’s recommendations don’t go far enough. The advertising industry needed a big shake up - it didn’t get it. Read our press release here Read statements from Dr Clive Hamilton and Young Media Australia and Kids Free 2 B Kids Melinda Tankard Reist and Dr Clive Hamilton respond to the Inquiry report on ABC radio PM program. Listen to the interview with Real Player, Windows Media Player or mp3. Read the transcript here. Watch This!The issue of the sexualisation of girls in the media and popular culture received special attention on the NINE Network Sunday June 22, with features on 60 Minutes and Sunday. Julie Gale (Kids Free 2B Kids), Dannielle Miller (Enlighten Education), Amanda Gordon (Australian Psychological Association), Louise Newman (University of Newcastle), and Clive Hamilton (previously with the Australia Institute) presented a compelling case for the harm wrought especially on girls, through treating them as sexy little adults. We were pleased to see NINE treat the issue with the seriousness it deserved. You can view the Sunday program here by clicking on the image or the title. 
Sunday Interview - Part 1
Sunday Interview - Part 2 You can view the 60 Minutes program here by clicking on the image or the title. 
Watch the 60 Minutes story here The Butterfly Effect Danielle Miller from Enlighten Education answered questions online after the interview. She mentioned our work: "Women's Forum Australia have a publication entitled "Faking It" which does a tremendous job of combining the research on the sexualisation and objectification of women's bodies with a highly readable approach." Read the chat transcript here Announcing! "Get Real" Forum comes to Sydney for World Youth Day on July 18Women's Forum Australia will stage the Sydney launch of our highly successful Faking It at a "Get Real" forum as part of World Youth Day celebrations on July 18. This timely forum will examine issues around body image, premature sexualising of young girls and the objectification of the bodies of girls and young women in advertising, marketing and popular culture. Admission is free and open to everyone. Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre
Hall 4, Bayside Auditorium
7:30 - 9:00pm Download the flyer here WFA welcomes benching of Sam NewmanWomen’s Forum Australia welcomes news today that Channel Nine has decided to bench Sam Newman from further television appearances at least in the short term. While we would have preferred Nine’s announcement to have been stronger in condemning Newman for groping a mannequin designed to represent a female football journalist, rather than framing it in terms of concerns for Newman’s health, at least the executives have taken some action. Download press release. WFA writes to sponsors/advertisers of The Footy Show urging them to withdraw supportLetters have gone out from WFA to The Footy Show sponsors, asking them: "...to consider whether you want the hard-earned reputation of your company connected with The Footy Show, which has demonstrated its lack of respect for women on this particular show, as well as others. We doubt you wish to be associated with sexual harassment of any kind." Download a copy of the letter and a list of the advertisers and sponsors . Footy Show boycott threatChris Johnston and Samantha Lane | May 23, 2008 Women's Forum Australia is threatening to pressure companies that advertise on The Footy Show to boycott the program. ANZ has directed its Channel Nine advertising away from the top-rating show in protest at its attitude towards women. The director of Women's Forum Australia, Melinda Tankard Reist, said a wider boycott would have broad support. "This is definitely worth us doing," she said. "The program has caused a great deal of hurt to a lot of women and if The Footy Show can't respond in a proper manner, then maybe they will respond when they start losing money." Read full article at The Age. Body fix the wrong answer for teensMelinda Tankard Reist | May 9, 2008 The Iemma Government has announced a ban on intimate body piercing on children and teenagers. If you're under 16, you won't be able to get rings and studs through your nipples or genitals and any other piercings will require parental consent. "I can't see any reason why a child … would need to expose their intimate body parts to strange adults for the sake of fashion or a trend," the Minister for Community Services, Kevin Greene, said. It's a good move. But if the Government is serious about addressing the issue of body modification in young people, it needs to demonstrate it doesn't think fake breasts, celebrity-style noses or nerve-paralysing poison injections are a good idea for young people, either. While Queensland will ban cosmetic procedures for under-18s, "we're not heading in that direction", a spokeswoman for the NSW Health Minister, Reba Meagher, said recently. Read complete article at Sydney Morning Herald.
WFA welcomes end of legal action against
Australia InstituteWomen’s Forum Australia today welcomed the decision of David Jones to end legal proceedings against the Australia Institute related to its 2006 discussion paper Corporate Paedophilia: sexualisation of children in Australia. The report, written by Emma Rush and Andrea La Nauze, was responsible for kick starting the debate over the sexualisation of children in the media and popular culture in Australia. Anyone concerned about the sexualisation of children owes the Australia Institute a debt of gratitude for getting the issue the attention it deserved. Download full media release here. The sluts-r-us approach to childhood playMelinda Tankard Reist | May 8, 2008 “What do you want to be when you grow up darling?” a mother asks her little girl. A Bimbo!” she replies enthusiastically. Forget dreams of your precious daughter growing up to be Prime Minister or solving world poverty. Young girls are being given the message that their ultimate aim in life is to be a bimbo. Read full article at Online Opinion. Branding girls for s*xMelinda Tankard Reist | May 6, 2008 The insertion of long-acting, potentially dangerous, hormonal contraceptives into the bodies of young Indigenous girls does not protect them from sexual abuse. It actually sets them up for greater exploitation. Queensland Health recently admitted implanting contraceptive rods in girls as young as 12 after the practice was discovered in two Indigenous communities - Aurukun on Cape York and Woorabinda, west of Rockhampton. It has since emerged that girls in the Northern Territory are also being given the hormones. Read full article at Online Opinion. WFA welcomes changes to advertising codeTranscript of the Lateline interview with Melinda Tankard Reist. Faking ItHeard about our magazine-style research paper Faking It? Wondering why it has received so much attention? Find out by ordering your copy today. 
"Thank you for using real girls in the pages of your magazine (girls who haven't been photoshopped or pancaked in makeup). Thank you for creating awareness around the dangerous of dieting and not encouraging people to believe the misconceptions that all eating disorder sufferers are; a) looking for attention, b) have been sexually abused, c) are just spoilt brats, d) need to eat a sandwich. Thank you for making a mockery of the fashion/beauty industry. I was so disappointed to find that this magazine was not for sale as a continued publication. I would be proud to read this magazine" – Noelle, recovering eating disorder sufferer. Second edition available now! Read more... Recommended readingChild sexualisation shrouded in weasel words Clive Hamilton | June 29, 2008 IN A store one Saturday morning early in 2006, I became aware of a bank of television screens tuned to a music video showing a rap singer engaged in simulated sex with several barely clad dancers. The women were bent over while the rap singer rhythmically thrust his genitals at their backsides. There were quite a few children in the store with parents. I looked around to see if anyone was shocked that soft porn should be shown in a "family environment", in public on a Saturday. No one seemed to be taking any notice and I thought maybe it was just me. I considered complaining, but wondered whether I was so out of touch I would be regarded as weird. Read the full article at The Age Let's stop trying to turn girls into probationary sexpots Tracie Winch | June 23, 2008 I've just learnt to be an A+ kisser. I'm also totally in the know about hooking up, performing oral sex (with or without braces) and girl-on-girl pashing. I've read the sealed section too and know that 58% of readers lost their virginity between age 10 and 15. This, I guess, means I'm either hot — or not. As for rehab, that's a bit like staying in a really posh hotel isn't it? Read full article at The Age |
