“What about male divers…will you ban them?” – Derryn Hinch

I’m rarely speechless, but I did find myself struggling for words in an interview with the ‘Human Headline’ Derryn Hinch on our campaign against lingerie football coming to Australia next month on Melbourne rado 3AW  last week.

You can listen to the interview here

Hinch employs an argument relating to male divers and their brief bathers. I pause then say I had hoped for a sensible discussion on the issue. Undeterred, Hinch presses on, at his blustery best. I respond: are male divers pulling each other’s bathers off? Do they have to sign contracts agreeing to accidental nudity? Are we watching them in action because we hope their bathers will fall down around their ankles?

Having dispatched the divers, I’m then faced with Warwick Capper and his footy shorts. I am not making this up. How can I stand up in the face of such compelling, blistering arguments? Warwick Capper wore tight shorts (and a mullet, but that’s not important right now), therefore women playing porn sport is fine. Put your sunglasses on or you will be blinded by the logic.

Trying to get Warwick Capper’s shorts out of my brain, onFriday I see the following twitter stream from journalist Latika Bourke capturing an exchange at Senate Estimates  between conservative Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi and Minister for Sport Kate Lundy over this piece she wrote, critical of the LFL.

Wish Senator Bernardi had done some homework beforehand. Er yes, they are running around in their lingerie actually. That’s the whole point. And I understand why he would wish to score points against a political nemesis and to point out what he believes are hypocrisy on other issues, but would he really be “delighted” to attend a game to learn more about it?

We spoke on the phone. While Bernardi said he is on the “same page”, he compared lingerie football to male wrestling. As Jan says when she’s inspecting the dinner in the oven while her bored and half starved guests wait, in an episode from The Office, “not even close”.

What I am realising is that many men who make these arguments think that we look at male sportsmen the way they look at women. Surely we are hoping to get a closer look at the bulge in a sportsman’s shorts/bathers/wrestling attire? Surely the skin shown by a male wrestler has the equivalent effect of women dressed in lingerie with garter and suspender belts? It’s the same male sexual lense focus applied to Stonemen underwear.

We don’t see promotions for True Fantasy Diving. Or True Fantasy Wrestling. That’s how lingerie football is promoted. Women in sex industry wear, getting hot and sweaty with other women on a sports field, catering for male fantasies.

As I’ve argued already, this game sets back the cause of equality in women’s sport.

And according to sport’s blogger Cleveland360  (see interviews with ex players here) there’s many other reasons to condemn the game Mitchell Mortaza is now about to export to our country:

• Mitchell Mortaza subjects players to verbal abuse

• Players have to pay for their own health insurance but the LFL do everything to stop injured players making a claim on the insurance fund

• Mitchell Mortaza rumoured to fix LFL games, and one coach has quit because of this

• Players have to submit regular pictures of themselves and are put on ‘fat watch’ and suspended from play if they are suspected of gaining weight.

• Mortaza uses ‘fat watch’ to rig games by benching key players

Please sign our petition at Change.org.  Tell the sponsors including including the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Allphones Stadium Sydney, Telecafe, Seven Yahoo, Yahoo Sports Triple M and Fuel TV what you think.

And please, if you can, spare me from any more arguments invoking men in speedos and Warwick Cappa’s shorts. I’d be eternally grateful.

‘Shine your light by taking a stand, not by taking part. It’s not too late’

US supergroup Switchfoot will be performing and signing posters at City Beach Queen Street store in Brisbane this afternoon.

While band members are at it with the pen and the posters, we’d like them to sign our Change.org petition calling on their special hosts, youth surf store City Beach, to remove porn-themed merchandise from sale.

It is a mystery to us why such a respected band would want to lend its good name to a company which trades in hyper-sexualised images of women and conditions and socialises young men to think of women only in terms of sexual gratification, as always available and ready for sex.

We don’t understand why a band known for its ethics in the industry would want to associate itself with a store selling a t.shirt with the image of a woman with a black eye, crying, under the wording “…It’s only illegal if you get caught”. Or the Hustler t.shirt “Talk Shit Get Hit”.

Why doesn’t Switchfoot come out and condemn these?

And is the band accepting money from the sale of porn and violence-themed t.shirts to do their gig today?

In a response to women who have protested Switchfoot lending their good name to City Beach in this cross promotion, the band says it has asked City Beach to remove porn themed products from the store while they are performing.

I wonder if there will be anything much left after that?

And sticking a pile of pornified tees behind the counter for an hour – what difference will that make? City Beach will be back pimping the same merchandise within seconds of the amps being unplugged.

Remember, this is a store which flogs ‘Two In The Shirt’, TITS brand, which uses famous porn stars on its clothing designs. TITS was also nominated for ‘Best apparel’ award in the pornography industry’s annual awards ceremony, the 2012 AVN Awards (alongside ‘Best double penetration’ and ‘Best young girl scene’, in case you didn’t know).

If you enter the URL on TITS t.shirts you find a series of blog posts of images of women, including one in underwear with a bag over her head with hole in it and ‘free blow job’ written on the bag.

Meanwhile back at City Beach HR, Anita Dorwald appears blissfully unaware of any connection with porn images or brands. (City Beach defends sale of porn themed clothing )

Last year Collective Shout published an open letter urging retailers to stop selling pornographic menswear. Signatories included Child Advocate Noni Hazlehurst, The White Ribbon Foundation and authors Steve Biddulph and Maggie Hamilton.

Here is Switchfoot’s response to our complaints

We received your email regarding the objectionable merchandise sold at City Beach. We appreciate you bringing your concerns to our attention.

Although we are not responsible for what a retailer promotes or sells to its customers, we are responsible for creating an enjoyable atmosphere for our fans. With this in mind, we have asked City Beach to remove these items during our performance.

We’ve always tried to bring our songs of hope across the globe to everyone- regardless of nationality, race, religious belief, or any other categorization. With this in mind, there are a wide variety of people with a wide variety of lifestyles represented at our concerts. That is our goal. And of course, not everyone who attends will agree with every other person there. Even the venues we play are dramatically different from night to night. If you are offended by an aspect of the venue or the crowd, we respect your decision if you choose not to attend; we hold you and your convictions in high regard.

However, we believe that these songs of light were meant to shine everywhere, including the dark. Thank you again for your concern. We hope that we’ll see you the next time we pass through Australia.

Switchfoot

They’ve missed the point.

Here’s a reply from activist Nicole. She nails it.

Dear Brandon,

Thanks for your reply.

Your response, however, is incredibly disappointing.

It is not the concert venue which is offensive. It is not even the presence of explicit and degrading material which is offensive. What is offensive, is the notion of a rock band with a youth following, promoting a company which unapologetically and deliberately sells p*rnographic material to Australian teenagers. What is even more offensive, is the notion that this band is doing so in the name of Jesus.

By playing this gig with the merchandise removed, you are creating an enjoyable atmosphere for your fans for one hour. But in doing so, you are losing the opportunity to create an enjoyable and safe atmosphere for them to live and grow in beyond that moment.

Please, look at the links which I have sent you. Consider the message you are sending about the acceptability of the way City Beach make their mark on the minds and bodies of young Australians. Shine your light by taking a stand, not by taking part. It’s not too late.

Sincerely,

Nicole

As Professor of Law at Flinders University and Vice-President of the Australian Council on Children and the Media, Elizabeth Handsley commented yesterday:

Nobody said they were responsible for what a retailer promotes or sells, but they ARE responsible for the retailers they choose to support and promote.

Nor is anybody suggesting it’s about people in the audience disagreeing with each other – like some people are going to be offended by the ABSENCE of porn?

And if you don’t mind me saying so, all this ‘songs of light’ business only clouds the issue.

We’re all into shining light into dark places.

But shining light doesn’t mean a co-branding exercise where lots of young people who come to see you perform are brought into a store trading in porno-inspired images of women and encouraged to see it as worthy of their custom because Switchfoot performed there.

Switchfoot needs to switch feet and back out.

See also:

Switchfoot please manage your responsibility to young people wisely, Family Factor

Collective Shout calls on Switchfoot to pull out of City Beach event

How City Beach conditions boys to porn: one dad’s plea for something better for our boys

Does the Human Rights Commission really care about gender equality?

UPDATE:Protests at City Beach, Sydney, Brisbane

Switchfoot meets with Collective Shout activists outside City Beach in Brisbane. Read more at Collective Shout.

Picture: Jon Foreman from Switchfoot meets with Melinda Liszewski during our City Beach Brisbane protest.

Read about Collective Shout’s recent protests in Sydney and Brisbane here.

And don’t forget to sign the petition  calling on City Beach to stop selling porn-themed products to young people.

Sign here

See also: PETA pimps its ethics, MTR, Weekly Times

 ‘Out of control…outdated damage control tactics…’

Fantastic post from Corporate Failings on Monday about Diva’s spectacular mis-management of the outrage over the company’s pimping of a major brand of the global sex industry to little girls. 

Why Diva founder should feel very sad

In an earlier post the same day, Corporate Failings asked ‘Has Diva lost its credibility?’ based on the words of Diva Australia founder Collett Hayman who, having sold the company a few years ago, said in an interview:

“Diva was my creation and a company that I am still very proud of….Nothing would make me sadder than to see it lose its credibility”.

Well, Collett, you should be feeling pretty damn sad about now.

Collective Shout has launched a caption competition for this photograph, taken outside a Sydney Diva store featuring a woman who will remain nameless (‘I’ve never seen her before in my life officer’) who wanted to make clear just what Diva is supporting, lest there be any doubt. There have been 100 entries so far, including ‘Diva: we weren’t porn yesterday’ and ‘Diva: for when your little girl doesn’t look cheap enough’. Entries close Friday and there’s a stack of books on the objectification of women and sexualisation of girls to be won. You can enter through our Facebook page.

Finally a Diva Facebook page you can like

Check out the alternative Diva FB page. It’s a wonder to behold. Please like it and share with you friends.

Tell Diva to stop channeling the pocket money of little girls to Hugh Hefner and cut its ties with the porn industry

In the past few days a number of Collective Shout supporters have reported Playboy posters removed from Diva shop windows, Playboy products either entirely removed or hidden behind counters (just like porn used to be…. “Pssst wanna have a look at some Playmate pendants?”). If you haven’t yet signed our petition, please do so today.

See also: ‘Ditch Diva’ by Michelle Janssen