The latest theory out of America about rape is not just wrong, it’s dangerous. AMERICAN band Green Day’s Nice Guys Finish Last came in at No. 89 in this summer’s Hottest 100 on Triple J. But if the social Darwinian theories of American academics Randy Thornhill and

A lot has been said in the past two weeks about the devastation wrought on children by bullies. I wince when I hear the stories, wince through identification and with shame. I was bullied in school – but I was also a bully. It is easier to talk about being a

JENNY McCARTNEY’S hand-wringing about the preoccupation of the modern Western woman with vanity and consumption (on this page, 6/1) has a familiar ring to it. I am 34 now, and for as long as I can remember, responsible society has been exhorting me and my fellow female travellers

Protecting our loved ones is only natural in a world of un-met misery. TALK of human failings has been rife in The Age these past few weeks. First Peter Singer castigated us for spending spare dollars on luxuries rather than the needs of the world’s poor. Then Pamela Bone

Late abortions are emotive fodder for those who deny women moral agency. ABORTION is in the news again, and once more the terms of the debate are heavily weighted against women. As usual, the anti-choice movement is trying to stir up anxiety about second-trimester abortions as a means of depicting

Knowing the identity of their biological parents gives children a sense of who they are. IS IT right for doctors to create embryos from donor eggs and sperm for random donation to infertile couples? Should couples with ``spare‘’ embryos left over from successful IVF treatment ``donate’’ them to couples still

IVF advances may make the working lives of women harder, not easier. EVERY woman knows that children scuttle careers. It starts with pregnancy and the salary rise and promotions that never come. Then on to maternity leave, rarely paid, usually begrudged; that is, if there are no plots to restructure

Victoria’s intellectuals are blind to the Premier’s popular appeal. Here’s why. ROBERT Manne on this page on Monday (``The state of silence‘’) bemoaned the apathy of Victorians towards Jeff Kennett’s undercutting of democracy. Such indifference, argued Manne, means Victorians must ultimately bear responsibility for anti-democratic outcomes

The issue: Will making women equal change anything? YES – Frank Donovan, Clinical Social Worker NO – Leslie Cannold, Feminist Academic Dear Leslie Our aggressive, competitive marketplace is a reflection of men’s power and control, according to the women who want to break it down. How serious are they when, far

Court and legislative battles have embroiled this nation in an uneasy search for the definitive answer to the vexing question: Who are dads anyway? The deliverers of DNA or the conveyers of care and concern? And if the answer is the latter, can the law insist each child have one?

Taking a tiny risk can serve overall community interests. THE horror of the case in which a Melbourne girl was infected with the HIV virus through an anonymous blood donation, graphically demonstrates the clash between the best interests of the public and the best interests of a particular individual – in

Reproductive technology will never provide the answer to inequality. QUESTION: What do frozen eggs and ovaries, donor eggs, and hormone replacement therapy have in common? Answer: They have all helped women overcome age-related infertility or “beat” their biological clocks – or may be used to do so in the future. Julian

Just like John Howard, Martin Ferguson wants to take us back to the future. MARTIN Ferguson, the federal Labor frontbencher and former ACTU head, argues that to win power, the ALP must re-embrace its core working-class constituency: the shrinking pool of blue-collar workers and the great majority of Australians employed

Don’t blame the movement, blame the system. SIAN Prior (on this page last month) gave us an insight into the stresses successful young women experience in attempting to fit motherhood into their high-powered lives. Prior protested against repeated attempts by Cathy Sherry on this page to blame feminism and

All workers, not just parents and not just women, need a life. ONE of the hallmarks of the feminism of Generation X is a more peaceable attitude towards men. This is good, because if women are to enter the next stage of the revolution, we’re going to need them.

TO circumcise our sons or not? Before our first children were born, a Jewish friend and I argued the question. Our non-Jewish partners looked on, unsure what the fuss was about. While 80 per cent of Australian boys were circumcised in the 1960s, only one in 10 is today. The

IN A new book, A Return to Modesty, 23-year-old American Wendy Shalit argues that women’s problems spring from their lack of modesty – or, to put it more crudely, their inability to keep their knickers above their knees. Weighing in on the Clinton-Lewinsky affair, Shalit concludes that the core social

First Diana, now Monica. They became superstars, but that doesn’t make them admirable. THE canonisation of Saint Monica has begun. Before our very eyes the media is transforming Lewinsky from a dumb-assed slut to an admirable young woman. She’s tamed her white-trash haircut and thrown away her baseball

THE evidence is everywhere. On the radio, where popular new group Cake sing “I need your understanding, I need your love so much/you tell me that you love me so, you tell me that you care/but when I need you baby, you’re never there”, and The Whitlams

Why both women and men resent this modern parable. WE MAY think we know the real story behind this week’s report that 67-year-old billionaire media magnate Rupert Murdoch intends to marry his 31-year-old girlfriend Wendy Deng after he divorces Anna Murdoch. But what do we know, and what do