Thursday 12 May 2005

Got your mother in a whirl. She's not sure if you're a boy or a girl.

In a recent speech to the senate, Australian Democrats deputy leader Senator Andrew Bartlett quoted parts of a very moving post about Anzac Day made by Jellyfish on her own blog: and as Jellyfish says in this follow-up post, the senator got her gender wrong, referring to her as a "him". Good on the senator for what he's doing with his own blog, and especially for reading and paying attention to the blogs of other people around the place, and also for apologising handsomely for the mistake, which was undoubtedly an honest slip of the tongue; but I do think the switch is a very revealing example of a general and sad tendency where blogging and political engagement is concerned.
At the blogging coalface, on and among actual blogs, my impression is that gender identities and assumptions about them really don't have that much impact on how seriously bloggers and commenters are inclined to take other's statements. (Maybe that has something to do with how easy it is to pretend and how impossible it is to patrol boundaries.) But once blogs and things that happen on them become topics of conversation in other environments, old and narrow beliefs about the separate provinces of men and women tend to step in and take over.


On an unambiguously bright and shining note, excellent and venerable Melbourne blog Loobylu, officially the best-looking blog in the world, is being archived for posterity by the National Library of Australia, on account of its "lasting cultural value." Terrific news, for posterity's sake - imagine what a resource this will be for researchers a hundred years from now - and also because an event like this acknowledges the enormous value of what a blogger like Claire contributes to the wider community.



Oh: and is anybody else finding themselves disturbed, repelled and irresistibly attracted by the mountains of Darth Vader Coco Pops looming in supermarket aisles? Reminds me of this.

8 comments:

Jellyfish said...

Yes, that was sort of what was running through my head, too. But as you said, a massive high-five to Andrew Bartlett for his swift apology. I was more excited to have been quoted than I was cranky to have been called a boy.

By the way, what is the title of you post from? What an adorable quote, I wish I'd thought of using it!

lucy tartan said...

It's from a fab fab fab David Bowie song called "Rebel Rebel".

lucy tartan said...

I think your reference to Ms Fits' tit-flashing technique is just about right too. But I'm not going there ;-)

Jellyfish said...

I knew I knew the song from somewhere. As a Bowie fan I am ashamed I didn't get it right away!

And to be honest, if my tits looked as good as hers, I'd be posting photos of them every other day. Oh well.

Ben.H said...

I haven't seen the Darth Vader Coco Pops, but a friend swears she's seen a new cereal endorsed by Basil Brush, disturbingly named "Basil's Boom-Booms". Yes, they're little brown pellets.

lucy tartan said...

That's revolting Ben.
My cat's called Basil.

Ben.H said...

And what a fine cat he is - I've been admiring his photo portfolio. However, I can't help being the bearer of bad news: the Boom-Booms are real. I'm pretty disturbed by the image on the top right of that page, too.

Anonymous said...

looby lu is loooovely.

O yus.

- barista