Alice Blogs Gender & Sexuality

Under the new Civil Partnership Act, which came into force in the UK this month, same-sex couples will be able to enjoy all the rights of heterosexual married couples, including rights in areas such as pensions, inheritance and the division of assets in case of separation. Elton John and his long-term partner David Furness were among the first 700 couples to register their relationship under the civil union scheme (SMH 21/12/05).

However, the new system doesn’t recognise registered same-sex relationships as real marriages, unlike in Belgium, Spain and Canada.

Despite the fact that this is UK news, The Herald’s coverage of the lead up to the implementation of the legislation and the subsequent “marriages” has been broad and extensive. They’ve covered everything from the legal/social factors surrounding the legislation, to the more personal side by focusing on same-sex couples who are taking advantage of the scheme (both celeb & ordinary unknown couples). See article on Elton John & partner, George Micheal & partner, Christopher Flangan & partner Henry Kane, as well as females Grainne Close and partner Shannon Sickels. The Herald has also covered the impact the UK legislation has had on the gay community in Australia.

Under Australian federal law, same-sex couples are prohibited from marrying, however limited recognition was given to same-sex couples by most state and territory governments. So now, as expected, gay activists are urging Australia to introduce a similar national civil union scheme for gay relationships (SMH 21/12/05).

Australian Coalition for Equality (ACE) spokesman Rod Swift said Australia was increasingly out of step, with same-sex civil unions or marriage possible in many countries including NZ, South Africa, countries across Western Europe, several US states, and now the UK.

Certification of any de facto relationship is crucial in diverse issues such as child custody, superannuation death benefits, passport applications and during medical emergencies. Gay couples deserve the same property, pension, immigration, tax and inheritance rights as married heterosexuals.

Unsurprisingly, this Herald article seems sympathetic to the plight of Australian same-sex couples who seek formal recognition of their relationships. It presents the views of gay activists and doesn’t balance these with contrasting views about why gay marriage should not be allowed - I’d say these would be harder to find and would predictably come from religious groups. But nevertheless, I’d like to hear opponents try to make rational and convincing arguments.

So, it seems that the Herald is using the UK legislation to set the agenda on the rights of same-sex couples.

On the other hand, the Telegraph has given limited coverage to the issue - it only published one article on this issue. This article took an angle the Herald never took - it told the story of a terminally ill gay British man (Matthew Roche), with only days to live, who became one of the first to take advantage of the new law. The article ends with a quote from Roche: “We’re very lucky to live in Britain. I cannot think of a more tolerant place to live”.

Like in the Herald, the Telegraph article presents the UK legislation as positive, and it doesn’t present any opposing or negative views.

The Sydney Star Observer published a report on the legislation, though it didn’t seem to give it as much coverage as the Herald did either. However, as a gay publication, the SSO gives regular and extensive coverage to issues related to gay marriage around the world. See articles on gay marriage issues in Tasmania, Canada, the US and Spain.

Using sex to sell in advertisments is nothing new, but I’m starting to realise that the ads displayed on the online version of The Sydney Morning Herald tend to be even sexier than those featured in the hardcopy paper versions of publications. Not just in style, but also in content. And after monitoring the websites of the major Australian newspapers, eg. The Courier-Mail, The Adelaide Advertiser and even The Daily Telegraph, it seems that SMH is the sexiest of the lot.

Many SMH ads promote dating services, something that I don’t think would feature in the actual newspaper. Others feature half-naked men and women in tropical holiday destinations, and attractive men and women to promote cosmetics. There don’t seem to be as many business related ads as there are in the paper, though there is the odd credit card and home loan ad.

There’s a little box on the top right-hand side of the online SMH homepage which constantly flashes from one picture and headline to the next. It usually features juicy little stories with sexy little pictures - today one of the flashes featured a pic of Kylie Minogue’s famous arse in gold hotpants.

Another flash displayed the heading Sexist, Moi! and a picture of a male and female in a passionate embrace on a bed - the article was a review for a new film titled Russian Dolls. Another is about sexual harassment claims against halfback Craig Gower, and the other flash reads Brunettes Have More Fun.

All of these articles would have been in the paper version also, however the web seems to allow for a sexier format and style. Plus I guess the online versions of publications appeal to a younger, more savvy market and this is why the ads are getting sexier and promoting sexier products. But I am surprised to find that Fairfax’s site seems sexier than the Murdoch publications’ sites, when the SMH is generally considered to be a more serious, intelligent, left-wing newsy newspaper, as opposed to a tabloidy celebrity-obsessed mainstream publication.

An article titled Why do parents spend more on boys than girls? was recently published in The Guardian. A UK survey found that “parents spend an average of £223 on Christmas presents for sons, whereas the equivalent figure for daughters is £127.”

The article commented that although the figures may seem to be a sign of parental sexism, the figures relate more to the fact that boys and girls have very different gift preferences. Predictably, the top boys’ toys this season are technological, while girls ask for toys that combine cutesiness with budgetary modesty. Moreover, girls tend to keep their toys for longer and are not as demanding for the latest craze. Boys tend to ask for the newest toys as soon as they’re released.

Although the study was conducted in the UK, I’d say the figures would reflect Australian trends.

A SMH article titled What Women Want features a new mobile phone being marketed to women this Christmas. The pink Samsung E530 mobile includes a shopping list, a fat calculator, biorhythms and an ovulation calendar.

Marketing manager Jenny Goodridge believes that most mobiles on the market are skewed towards men, while this phone is one of the only ones designed specifically for women.

“According to AMR Interactive analyst Jason Juma-Ross, women are big buyers of technology. If there’s any surprise there, it’s that manufacturers are not pushing more girly gadgets into the shops. Marketers are becoming more aware of the buying power of women in the technology market place and responding with more targeted products,” Mr Juma-Ross says.”

So, maybe males tend to desire technological products more than women do because they are generally marketed to men…..

A number of Australian and international publications reported that a Canadian man was acquitted of sexual assault early this month after a judge ruled that he was asleep during the attack.

See articles published by SMH, The Courier Mail, Herald Sun and The Sunday Times. All these newspapers reported the story in the same way, but none of them were very comprehensive.

Thirty-three year old Jan Luedecke met a woman at a party and after drinking, both of them fell asleep on a couch. The woman woke to find the man having sex with her and pushed him off.

He told the court he only suspected they had had sex after finding he was still wearing a condom in the bathroom.

“A sleep expert testified at his trial that the man suffered from sexomania, a sort of sleep walking that includes sexual acts, likely brought on by alcohol, sleep deprivation and genetics” (SMH 1/12/05)

The court heard that the man had previously had “sleep sex” with four girlfriends.

According to the report, the judgement has outraged women’s groups. Suzanne Jay of the Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres said: “This is infuriating. It’s another case of the courts not taking a woman seriously, adding yet another item to the list of excuses which men use for sexual assault”.

This point relates to long-term debates regarding sexual assault and gender relations. There have always been legal and sociocultural disputes about what constitutes rape and sexual harassment. It’s difficult to disagree with the fact that this apparently new medical/psychological condition does blur the already blurry definitions of rape. But it’s also difficult to think of having sex while asleep as rape. If this is a genuine condition, the motive of rape just isn’t there.

And it seems that there are many people who are familiar with the condition, either because they, or their sexual partner has the condition….

Another report regarding sexomania, published by Indiatimes mentioned other cases of sexomania. Some girlfriends of men with the condition prefer having sex with their boyfriends when they’re sleeping. One woman describes her boyfriend as a “more amorous and gentle lover and more orientated towards satisfying” her while he’s having sleep sex.

Yet another 37-year-old man is described as “more aggressive and more amorous” during sleep sex.

There’s been a strong focus on STDs in the news recently, particularly in the SMH. Yesterday the Herald featured a Summer Survival Guide that included a section for Sexual Health. Here’s an excerpt:

“Sun, sand, sex? Many travellers take a holiday with the planned intention of having casual sex. Factor in diminished inhibitions due to alcohol and drugs and you have a potentially dangerous combination given that travel is known to be a major contributing factor in the global spread of sexually transmitted infections.”

Another recent SMH article (1/12/05) deals with STDs and the stereotypical assumptions that most people make about the sexuality and lifestyle of those people who contract HIV/AIDS. It reports that if you’re an HIV positive man, people generally assume that you’re homosexual, and if you’re an HIV positive woman, it’s assumed that you’re either a junkie, a prostitute or a slut. It deals with the discrimination of HIV positive people and the perception “that HIV only happens to bad people.”

These perceptions are in conflict with the fact that more Australian women contract HIV/AIDS than ever, and that many of these are well-educated and have been in long-term sexual relationships before becoming HIV positive.

The same paper also recently reported that health experts believe schools should introduce screening for sexually transmitted diseases in an attempt to educate students about the risks of unprotected sex (4/12/05).

Yet another SMH article (1/12/05) covered the story of a Chinese province that’s being ravaged by an HIV pandemic after a flawed blood-selling venture and an official cover-up. Five hundred and eighty of the village’s 3000 inhabitants have been infected over the last decade, many of who have died.

The Herald seems to be focusing on many different issues related to STDs, particularly HIV, in an effort to bring public awareness to the huge problem.

An SMH article titled The other kind of country women’s club caught my attention today. It tells the story of a 36 year old sex-worker from rural NSW. She is a wife and mother, and her husband is supportive of her occupation - particularly because she makes good money (usually about $100 for half an hour’s work). She enjoys her job, not only because of the money, but because of the flexible work hours, because she likes meeting people, and she enjoys being able to provide a service that gives pleasure to other people.

This woman took place in a study of rural sex workers, conducted by Dr John Scott, from the University of New England’s School of Social Science.

An interest finding of the study was that most of the women identified with a religion and several practised, and that some had university degrees.

This article presented the issue of prositution in quite a positive way, in comparison to the negative way it’s usually conveyed in newspaper reports.

I found another article regarding prostitution in the UK publication, The Guardian, titled It’s all about what you want and when you want it. It’s sell line reads:

“A new [British] study shows the number of men visiting prostitutes has doubled [over a 10-year period]. But should we be surprised when attitudes to sex have shifted so dramatically?”

The study found that more men now feel comfortable with the idea of paying for sex and that there has been a change in the nature of the sex industry overall - it’s bigger and better organised than ever.

Dr Helen Ward who co-authored the study believes that sex has become a commodity, with products such as men’s mags, internet porn, raunchy films, television and song lyrics (which relates back to my blog on 1st blog on pornography). She states that most products, sex has become more about what you want, when you want it.

She states: “Strip clubs have became a common sight on our high streets; women learn to pole-dance…Celebrities are also far more candid about their sex lives”.

Susie Swallows, a prostitute who joined the profession 7 years ago, is keen to stress the normality and respectability of paying for sex: “We’re not streetwalkers…we’re not those alcoholic druggies, we don’t have pimps, we do it ourselves and the guys we see wine and dine us, and take us to the theatre and that sort of thing. It’s not seedy. The guys are gentlemen. And we pay our taxes like everybody else.”

The article also argued that men are now keener to pay for sex because in a society that edges closer to gender equality, paying a woman for sex affords men a degree of the power they feel is diminishing.

Although the article applauds an increasingly open attitude towards sex, it also states that the sex-industry is still largely dictated by men for men.

Both these articles have supported the idea that perceptions of prostitution aren’t necessarily as taboo as they’ve been in the past, but also that issues related to prostitution, and sex in general, are more open for public debate. I think it’s positive that prostitutes have been given a voice in both these articles, to comment on their profession from their insider’s perspective.

I read an interesting little column sourced from AAP and published in the SMH recently, about a study that assessed video pornography and found that the majority of it represents women in active sexual roles. I’ve typed out the whole column here, as I couldn’t find it on the SMH site:

Women’s porn roles examined
A study has challenged the commonly held view that pornography shows women as nothing more than sex objects. The study analysed 50 of the best-selling pornographic videos in Australia, and suggested “that mainstream pornography in Australia doesn’t represent women as sex objects, it shows them as active sexual agents”, said Professer Alan McKee, of Queensland University. “We were surprised at just how active and in control the women were in these videos.”
(Sydney Morning Herald 25/11/05)

I was interested that the study had been conducted and I was satisfied with the fairly unexpected findings of the study…. It’s not that I have a great interest in porn myself, but I don’t have anything against it and I’m very interested in people’s views about porn, particularly the general disparities between men’s and women’s perceptions of, and attitudes towards porn.

It’s assumed that men generally have a greater passion for porn than women do, but I don’t think the reasons for this are obvious or natural.

I’m not saying that all women hate porn, but a lot of women I know denounce porn, for some of these reasons:
- because they believe porn portrays women in derogatory ways, usually as sex objects
- because they believe porn represents only a specific type of woman as sexy (eg. young, busty, blonde bimbos) and that it perpetuates an attitude of this type of woman as the unrivalled sex symbol
- because porn just doesn’t turn them on
- because they’re pissed off and jealous because they’ve found the porn their boyfriend hides under his bed

But I think most of these views arise from misconceptions, basically because women don’t expose themselves to porn. I know from discussions with many males, that they’re all interested in different types of porn, just as they’re all interested in different types of women. I know that some porn presents big-busted women (which not every guy likes) and others with flat-chested women (that really turns some men on). Some displays stick-thin models and others present very large women. Some men like pornographic stories without pictures, others are only interested in the photos.

My view is that porn has actually benefited women over the centuries, as it has presented female genitalia to men in a fashion deemed as attractive. Due to an apparent disinterest in porn by females, male genitalia has never really had so much exposure as being beautiful and desirable.

I was interested in the way the article stated “mainstream pornography in Australia”. We all know sex sells, and much of our society’s popular culture has become so sexual that many mainstream advertisements, video clips, films etc, that appeal to both men and women, have become as explicitly salacious as a lot of the pornography on offer in magazines, videos and on the internet. For instance, see an SMH article about sexpot popstar Shakira and her products.

Look in any women’s fashion or lifestyle magazine and you’re bound to find more scantily-clad girls, staring at the lens seductively, than you would in many men’s magazines.

I was disappointed that the article was so short and wasn’t looked into any further by an SMH journalist but I guess that just goes to show that porn isn’t generally an issue considered appropriate for mainstream discussion.

Anyway, I guess this has become a bit of a rant….but I’d be interested to hear all your views on this matter, and I’ll try to monitor other stories about gender, sexuality and pornography in the media.