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On any given day, acres of tanned flesh are on view at Bondi Beach: men wearing the briefest of briefs, women sunbathing topless. . . .Now, recall the feminist outrage over the topless women in the Danish washing-machine commercial. Why do feminists shout "sexism" over breasts in a TV commercial, but not when the same commodity is displayed on a beach in Australia? Answer: Because somebody's making a profit on the TV commercial.
A Christian fundamentalist politician, the Rev Fred Nile, is calling for topless sunbathing to be outlawed, and he has received backing from several mainstream MPs.
While nudity is illegal in Australia except on designated beaches, local councils consider toplessness acceptable. Mr Nile wants the legislation to be tightened. "The law should be clear," he said. "It must say: 'Exposure of women's breasts on beaches will be prohibited'."
Topless sunbathing exists outside the market nexus, which means that ugly women can participate equally, whereas when commercial considerations enter the calculation, good-looking women have an "unfair" advantage. This is the same envious instinct that caused so many feminists to condemn Melissa Beech and her "sugar daddy." It's Undeniable Truth #24 in action.
I am confused, how does an article on Christian fundamentalists trying to outlaw topless beaches have to do with your critique of Feminism? Talk about spinning in an opposite direction.
ReplyDeleteFred Nile's not a fundamentalist, he's a wowser. You don't need any doctrine on the Bible's literal truth to get up every morning wanting to deprive other people of any sinful pleasures they may be enjoying, you just need a kill-joy temperament.
ReplyDeleteHe's also not the one driving a push to ban topless bathing. He's thrown in his lot with the Muslims doing that.
The Muslims don't swim, but when not firmly discouraged from doing so they show up at the beaches to intimidate others (claiming the beaches they are nearest to as their turf), threatening to rape women in ordinary swimming gear (never mind topless) and generally behaving like skips (that's Skippies = kangaroos = Australians) are weak and Aussie girls are "pigs" like Muslim gang rapist Bilal Skaf said and "uncovered meat" like Sheikh Taj el-Din Al Hilali said, and either way asking for it.
This causes ill-feeling, hence the Cronulla riot, and hence a good deal of the popularity of surf clubs / drug gangs like the Bra Boys: they need the beach to be theirs so they can, ah, do business in peace; and unlike the Muslims they're perfectly happy to let everyone else get on with having a nice day at the beach. Due to "respect for community sensitivities" (that is political correctness and fear) the police didn't protect Australians against Muslims, so people got very tolerant of alternative sources of protection, which is human nature.
(Imagine if the Klu Klux Klan moved into your neighborhood and started making life intolerable, while the police did nothing, and then the Mafia kicked the Klan out because the Klan was bad for business. Might not a common reaction be: Please tell the don that this birthday cake is from the people of the neighborhood, and the very best of heath to his children.)
The Reverend Fred's picked his side, and it's the side of Islam putting the fear of Allah into Aussies on the beach. (link)
"Our beaches should be a place where no one is offended, whether it's their religious or cultural views," he said.
There's the call for political correctness. Political correctness is not normally Fred's line (for one thing, he's anti-gay), it's the Muslim line, which he's supporting.
"If they've come from a Middle Eastern or Asian country where women never go topless - in fact they usually wear a lot of clothing - I think it's important to respect all the different cultures that make up Australia."
One very aggressive and menacing culture in particular of course.
The practice was at risk of raising the ire of Muslim men in particular, Mr Nile said.
"I don't want to have any provocations or disturbances on our public beaches," he said.
And there's the menace. Christian Fred can't be responsible for what Muslim thugs might do if his advice isn't heeded.
In fact the leader of the (small) Christian Democratic Party seems no longer concerned with whether Australia is a Christian country. He just wants it to be repressive, and if Muslims do a better job at that it's OK by him if they call the shots.
And our host is right: feminists are not backing the Reverend Fred on this. But mainly that's because Sheikh Taj el-Din Al Hilali's doctrine that women who don't wrap up like Muslim women are "uncovered meat" and to blame if they get raped by excitable Muslim youths has not gone down well with Australian women.
"No feminists with support efforts to ban topless sunbathing in Australia"
ReplyDeleteThese "feminists with support" - are they ones who haven't burned their bras yet?