While I had a go at the Sydney Morning Herald for its blatant hagiography of the PM over the weekend, they must get 100 brownie points for employing Gwyn Topham from the Guardian who goes after the deep contradictions in the whole so-called cultural divide in this country with a perspective that is truly admirable. The Zoo mentioned, is a new soft porn magazine launching an Aussie edition. If you do nothing else today, read A cultural paradox stripped bare. The money paragraphs.
Howard and others find it easy to identify the "problematic" attitudes and societal pressures within Muslim communities that may affect women's choice of whether to cover their heads; less so to acknowledge the gradual pornification of the West, the "raunch culture" documented by writers such as Ariel Levy, that ends up with professional women such as Terresa Lee, 21, deciding it is a good career move to strip for a magazine that weans teenage boys on to porn.
Last week, Howard said he found women wearing veils "confronting". Meanwhile, Zoo has as a regular feature the Real Girls Strip Search, in which "we hit the street and convince young ladies to get their kit off". It seems it's now more acceptable for Australian women to appear naked in a magazine than wear the hijab in public.
While Howard agonises over Muslim attitudes towards women, his well-balanced constituents are pushing magazines for young men in which the only possible female role is semi-naked and gagging for it.
Exactly. Thanks Sydney Morning Herald, this time a good job being done.
Comments