It's been an interesting week for women in the news. First there was the "entertainment" at the climate change conference dinner.
Outraged scientists stormed out of a government-sponsored climate change conference dinner in Canberra last night, after female entertainers stripped down to their underwear as part of a burlesque show.
And one of the performers, who was covered in balloons, walked around the venue inviting scientists to burst parts of her costume.
I'm not to sure what I think about burlesque in general. The freedom of expression part of me says that people should be able to do what they want. Burlesque dancers practice hard to develop the skills they use, take pride in their work on no-one forces them to do it. On the other hand, burlesque is about objectifying women in mens' eyes and that's something I am passionate about changing. Hmmmm?
There's no doubt that arranging burlesque entertainment for the closing dinner of a scientific conference is inappropriate. I can just imagine the (what surely must have been) male organisers salivating at the thought of the event. It is another example of how so many men just don't get it when it comes to women. Sure you can (as I did above) argue the merits of burlesque. But the final decision as to which way you come down on it has to be an individual one. I would hazard a guess that there would be some women who would have no problem with it and perhaps even enjoy the spectacle of it. That's not the point.
This entertainment was forced on all delegates by male organisers primarily for the enjoyment (titillation/sexual desires, call it what you will) of the male delegates, with absolutetly no thought to the female delegates. The clear message is that men, and what men want is what matters. Women, regardless of the years of hard work, dedicated, scholarly and rigorous research, don't matter. I think this is what would stick in the gut. "It doesn't matter how much we try to prove our credentials as equals. It doesn't matter how much the men say they respect us and our work. When it comes down to it, we are still invisible when it comes to what we might want."
I will continue the theme of women in the news with my next post on the reaction to Germaine Greer's comments on Steve Irwin's death
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