Last week Wikipedia hit the headlines after it was reported that Nobel Prize-winning physicist Donna Strickland didn’t have her own page until after her win. Authors and organisers Anna and Kelly Pendergrast delve into Wikipedia’s gender troubles, and tell us what we can do about it. Wikipedia is one of those websites that has woven … Read more
The NZ governor general, lawyer Dame Patsy Reddy, called out the “egregious” behaviour her generation endured from male colleagues in a powerful speech at the Women of Influence awards last night. Disruption, she said, is the only way to effect change The 125th anniversary of suffrage in New Zealand is the ideal time to come … Read more
The status of women in New Zealand universities as academic and professional leaders still has some way to go, writes Judy McGregor The good news is that women have seized the opportunity to enrol in university in unparalleled numbers in the 141 years since Kate Edger graduated in Auckland with a Bachelor of Arts in … Read more
The debate around girls playing in boys’ sports teams has resurfaced. Just let them play, says Madeleine Chapman. When Pennsylvania beat Tennessee in the opening round of the 2014 Little League World Series, it made the news. The Pennsylvania pitcher, who pitched a shutout, was congratulated by world famous athletes and invited to appear on … Read more
Sure, cheffing is a male-dominated industry, but shouldn’t food festivals be leading the way in promoting equality? An event at upcoming food festival Visa Wellington on a Plate insists “the future of food is female”, bringing together five woman chefs to chat about the topic with broadcaster Susie Ferguson. Meanwhile, the Auckland equivalent, American Express … Read more
Listen to Alex Casey, Leonie Hayden and Michele A’Court tackle the past month in women, news and popular culture, with thanks to our friends at The Women’s Bookshop. This month on On the Rag, we are reunited in the bowels of Mediaworks for another hour of shrill women’s chat. Alex and Leonie unpack their first experience being … Read more
Kirsty Johnston’s piece recounting an encounter with a creep in a pub has prompted an online response which leaves Morgan Tait happy to conclude that Johnston’s conclusion – that NZ has an issue with toxic masculinity – is 100% irrefutably wrong. Rejoice! A New Zealand journalist wrote about a run-in with a man in a Dunedin pub this … Read more
No, there is nothing cute or funny about mums spending Mother’s Day doing the housework, writes Angela Cuming. Between Damien Grant and Mark Richardson, you’d think there be little left for the mainstream media to do that belittles and demeans women and mothers but never underestimate the power of a click-hungry news editor, especially in … Read more
Listen to Alex Casey, Leonie Hayden and Madeleine Chapman tackle the past month in women, news and popular culture, with thanks to our friends at The Women’s Bookshop. This month on On the Rag, we tackle a Rebel Sport ad with a secret message, delve into the terrifying online world of incels and fill our moon cups … Read more
Alex Casey has lunch with The Red Hat Society in Auckland, a group of retired women who don’t give a hoot about growing old. It was honestly like Geoff’s Emporium threw up. An orgy of red tulle and faux fur, pearls, tiny top hats stapled onto larger top hats, diamantes, glitter and feathers. Whether intentional … Read more
Alex Casey talks to Ali Mau about the launch of #MeTooNZ, a nationwide investigation into sexual harassment and assault. Ali Mau has never been busier. Not even one week after she launched #MeTooNZ, a nationwide investigation into workplace sexual harassment, Mau has been inundated with calls from hundreds of survivors wanting to share their experiences from … Read more
Two witches at The Spinoff respond to Al Nisbet’s terrible cartoon this morning, one which is not only confused about the meaning of ‘witch hunt’ but could also work to silence women emboldened by #MeToo. What in the name of Anjelica Houston’s wig is this?! Look, we honestly don’t know. We’ve tried burning it at … Read more
Alex Casey rounds up the highlights from a very funny RNZ interview with David Seymour about his very stupid and sexist t-shirt. Everyone knows that meat = sex. Ham steaks? They are boobs. Chicken breast? Also boobs. Sausages? Phwoar. Rump? Come ON. It is in this hot and heavy climate of carnal carnivores that David … Read more
Earlier this week the Spinoff visited the prime minister at her Auckland home for a wide-ranging interview. So wide-ranging, not all of it made the cut. Below, Jacinda Ardern on Winston Peters, the arts, sexism in politics, Auckland, and Donald Trump Jacinda Ardern on working with Winston Peters “It had always been said to me, … Read more
PICK ONE: This content was made possible by the NZ Human Rights Commission. The Commission is calling on all Kiwis to stand up to racism by giving it no encouragement. No respect. No place. No power. For more information on how to get involved, visit www.givenothing.co.nz
Convicted domestic abuser Tony Veitch is returning to television, he has announced. Madeleine Holden wonders why abusers like Veitch continue to be given prominent public platforms. Yesterday, Tony Veitch took to social media to announce that he will be appearing on Sky TV’s new show, New Zealand Press Box. He promised it will be “a … Read more
When journalist Angela Cuming was sent a “grossly inappropriate and offensive” “joke” by a Hamilton City Councillor she called the behaviour out online. It sparked a discussion about the everyday sexism women face in the workplace, assembled by Emily Writes. Comments, “jokes”, microaggressions, and out-right hostility by insecure men were common. Here are some of … Read more
New verse by New Plymouth writer Elizabeth Smither. The man who wanted to stroke my hair The St Kilda tram. Bright summer air. Breeze through the window gap, stirring all manner of motes, tendrils of hair lifting their traces on my neck. Fine hairs of a different sort, underneath. Antennae not needed for … Read more
Listen to Alex Casey, Leonie Hayden and Michele A’Court tackle the past month in women, news and popular culture. As the stardust settles and the chicky-babes stop cheeping, the On the Rag team assemble to talk about what Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern means to them. Is she a Red Queen? Is she a Pink Princess? … Read more
The team from On the Rag weren’t able to get in the same room following Jacinda’s win, so here they are with their feelings. Leonie Hayden I write this from a room filled with Ngāpuhi Māori at the end of the final week of hearings in a Waitangi Tribunal inquiry that has taken seven years – … Read more
On the evening of the 19th of October 2017 a new government was anointed. Change might have been in the air, but a whole lot of men were still talking over women.
It finished over a week ago, yet we still all feel a bit gross. To while away time until Winston Peters decides who our next prime minister is, Madeleine Holden has compiled a handy list of the worst sexism of Election 2017. The 2017 general election is at a close, and as the main parties … Read more
As newsrooms push for their reporters and audiences to engage with each other on digital platforms, some women journalists say gendered harassment and abuse from media consumers has become an exhausting, and accepted, part of the job. Charlotte Graham investigates. I have worked in broadcast journalism for more than a decade, including in on-air roles, … Read more
Mary Sea has been gorging on pop music and she’s found the Top 40 is a different world at 40 when you have little ears to consider. But never fear, she has a solution to inane patriarchal ditties. Having kids changes you in ways you can never predict. One of the biggest surprises for me … Read more
Alex Casey watches the return of TVNZ’s So This Happened, the online series giving a voice to women’s experiences of harassment. There is an inevitable, incredible thing that happens when you put a bunch of women in a room together with enough space to talk freely. No, we don’t shriek like banshees at the moon, … Read more
Sometimes people (men) are a bit simple. They need help to talk to other people in a way that isn’t shitty and awful. Gem Wilder has provided this easy guide to not being a urine-soaked bag of burnt popcorn. So you’re talking to a woman. Congratulations! Isn’t she glorious? All women are. Most of them … Read more
The Spinoff Parents has taken positions before on serious matters around parenting. Today we are taking another position. After careful discussion with a diverse group of parents, our position is that Mark Richardson is being a massive tool and he needs to put himself in the bin and then be thrown into the sea. Here, … Read more
Huggies NZ just published a ‘helpful’ guide to toilet training for ‘girls‘ and ‘boys‘ and got a hell of a response to it. Angela Cuming hits back at the silly manual that seems like it’s straight out of the 1950s. Dear Huggies, I just wanted to drop you a line to say thank you for … Read more
Alex Casey, Leonie Hayden and Madeleine Chapman tackle the past month in women, news and popular culture. This month Alex and Leonie are joined by The Spinoff’s Madeleine Chapman, who also produces the podcast at the same time because women are notoriously good at multitasking haw haw haw. Together they chow down on some delicious Munchkins … Read more