OK, that's a wrap

The new digs seem to be working, so it is now officially time to update your bookmarks.

http://viv.id.au/blog/ is the URL of the new Hoyden About Town (note no more hyphenating)

From time to time posts may appear here if something happens to my webhost, but otherwise that's it.

Seeya over there, folks.

P.S. for anyone so moved, comments on all archived posts here remain open and I will still receive an email alert so that I can respond. And as Vicki reminded me, RSS details for the new blog are in the comments below.

Weekend flashback has taken a journey

I'm testing out some new digs, so this weekend's flashback is over at a shiny new Hoyden About Town.

Let me know either here or there if you run across any problems using the new site.

Scary!

New LP commenter tanja has a terrific blog - art and politics meet photoshop at Poligoths. If our muppets in Canberra confuse and infuriate you, head over for a point and a laugh.

And my perennial favourite Chris Clarke at Creek Running North reminds us why we should Hang Up and Drive already.

Look at this tree

Seems rather attractive doesn't it? Harmless? Innocent even?

Don't you believe it.

A close relative of this tree has been working fiendishly for several years now to lever up one of the large concrete slabs that makes up my driveway.

Today its nefarious scheme bore fruit, so to speak. As I was minding my own non-tree-related business, washing down the rear window of the togmobile before sallying forth, this tree's patsy, the concrete slab raised more than 5cm above the one adjacent, tripped me over!

I swear I heard a sussurative snigger. When I uprighted myself, I knew what had to be done.

Dear reader, I kicked it right in the damn trunk. Exactly where I'm going to drill the holes for the poison.

Amanda vs Hef

Amanda at Pandagon takes on the myth of Hugh Hefner as a sexual revolutionary. After noting a description of the lives of Hef's "girlfriends" where they are subject to strict curfews and other oppressive "house rules", she goes on to ask:

How can someone be considered a symbol of freedom when he thinks he's entitled to stifle, control, oppress and dictate the lives of adult women? Granted, his "girlfriends" are employees of his, but in this country we generally believe that part of freedom is the freedom of oppression from your employer - my boss is not allowed to tap my phones, tell me who I can date, or give me a curfew. (For the record, it's shit like this that makes it hard for me to imagine a world where prostitution is ever strictly a labor transaction instead of about giving men power and control over women's bodies, as I note in the comments of this thread. The "girlfriends" are well-paid whores, but they demonstrate what the problem is when discussing prostitution, which is we assume that it's about selling sex, but most of the time it's about selling the opportunity to abuse women.)

The argument that the sexual revolution has bifurcated into a misogynist "revolution" where women's sexuality is oppressed by being shoehorned into performing for men versus a genuine feminist sexual revolution where women's sexual pleasure is one of the tools for establishing egalitarian relationships between men and women is one I hadn't seen so clearly stated. before She's right that it's vital not to conflate the two. Read the whole thing.

Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics

From The Age:

A new survey shows that one in five Victorians believe women are just as likely as men to violently assault their partner.

The dramatic shift in public opinion stems from the rise in fathers' groups who say women are just as violent as men in relationships, reports Fairfax newspapers.
[...]
Mr Moodie said the change in attitude was disturbing given that domestic violence was the leading cause of preventable death for women in Victoria aged 15 to 44.
[...]
"There may be a reluctance to see men as the more violent sex, and an appeal in the idea of gender equality in regards to domestic violence. But the data simply doesn't support this view," La Trobe University men's issues expert Michael Flood said.

"Men's and fathers' rights groups have been pushing this myth for some time and draw on some actual research, but they are very selective in that research."

A longer post of mine discussing this Age article, with links to critiques of the studies cited by MRAs showing how they misrepresent the actuality of domestic violence, is up at Larvatus Prodeo.

Weekend flashback: boots on the bridge

I'm amazed at how difficult it is to find an image online of Uhura's boots.



Apparently all the screen-capture nerds were much more interested in the Mirror-Uhura, but they only show her from the waist up, so I had to resort to the action figure to show you the even better boots.




No wonder the bridge crew got all discombobulated.

A new superhero (swoon)

The mighty Fixateur D. Perspective!

image from here

Are you finding that relentless spin is making you dizzy and confused? Is the obsessive nit-picking over teeny-tiny reportage discrepancies by conspiracy theorists making you nauseous?

Let Fixateur guide you through the passages of purple prose to the safe harbour of proper perspective. Check out his work in The Case of Mountains v. Molehills today!