The web was full of girly goodness this week, perfect for those deflated by the weather and in need of a pick me up. Here’s what’s gotten me excitedly jumping on my keyboard (comment spammer ahoy!).

Source: Magnation

Girls from Sydney to Texas to Singapore this week gave a moment’s silence for the end of Stevie Dance’s rein over at Russh. They then promptly recovered to spam Tumblr with images of the iconic editor in her endlessly flawless get-ups. Having reveled in the cult status and natural success of Australia’s #1 fashion magazine for 6 years, Stevie announced in the latest issue she’d be off to Morocco to burn incense and sail ships of the metaphorical variety. Carmen over at the Chronicles of Her bid adieu to the paragon of Australian fashion with this salutatory post.

Persephone magazine has a wake up call for girls who hate girls.

Why the need for an “I hate other girls” proclamation? Is there some underlying desperation for male approval, some need to prove that you’re so different from all the other girls out there, when all that boils down to is that you’re one of those chicks who just wants dudes to like her? And you do it by insulting and generalizing about other women. And here’s the thing, once you do it, you start to make it OK for everyone to do it. So saying, “Girls are bitches” or, “Girls are shallow and catty” just opens up the door for guys to say those things. It’s one of the ways that society at large helps to keep women down: by turning us against one another, even subtly. And I know that girls who hate other girls are the first one to say, “Oh, I’m not like that. I’m like a guy! I like guy things, and guys are easier to be friends with.” So you probably shouldn’t be surprised that all those women that you’re being a jerk about aren’t banging down your door to be your friend. Because by saying all of that, you’re being shallow and catty. You’re reducing women to stereotypes while somehow frantically begging everyone not to apply that stereotype to you.

I feel the need to make a huge placard that says FEMINISM: YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG.

I came across this trailer on my Tumblr for a documentary on female artists. The interviewer asks a couple exiting a New York art gallery if they can name 5 female artists. They can’t. Neither can I (without the help of Google that is).

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=/q9iLJFWlrdQ]

Lady Melbourne’s created a handy list of guidelines for playing nice in the blogosphere, lest we all run through the interwebs with our fists beating at our chest like a troll from 4Chan.

Speaking of webiquette, the Weekend Australian Magazine featured a story last week on anonymous flame wars. Speaking to anti-violence campaigner Nina Funnel (whom I had the pleasure of interviewing last year), Christine Jackman explores the web-semantic surrounding freedom of speech. Attacked in a park near her Sydney home back in 2007, Nina Funnel is an out-spoken survivor, sending a clarion call for all abuse victims to refuse to be silenced. But some people don’t really like what she has to say.

Why, after she wrote about the assault, would anonymous contributors to different websites attack her and threaten her? And why would that story, first told in a Sydney newspaper, prompt one website to run a public discussion, inviting guests to assess how “rape-able” she is? And why did one man read of her trauma and feel compelled to announce to the world: “what a conceited bitch for thinking she is even worthy of being raped. The guy just probably wanted to give her a good bashing in which case job well done.”

Tankard Reist, who has an ear for popular culture, chimes in: “When you ask for moderation or regulation, the people who oppose it claim it’s because they believe in free speech. But they want to shut my speech down. It reminds me of the chorus of that song Ode to Women [by Your Best Friend’s Ex]. They all demand their right to freedom of speech, and yet guys like that are using it to sing: ‘Bitch, shut your mouth’.”

I really recommend reading the whole article for an insight into how women are still being barred from public debate. Not that anything’s stopping Nina Funnell! She now writes for publication such as The Punch and the Sydney Morning Herald, and was a candidate in last year’s Cosmo Fun, Fearless Female awards. Rah!

Whilst we’re on the topic of fierce women, what’s is a femanust feminist? There’s a shitload of contention over what it means to abide firmly by the f-word. Do you have a right to your Rosie the Rivetter stamp of approval if you wear lipstick and mini skirts? Do you have to actively participate in placard wielding protests on Town Hall Steps? Some prefer the softly, softly approach. I would throw my mother on the Kwinana Highway to attend Slut Walk Sydney (jokes, ma! Just stop going through my room!), but I also really like making myself pretty. I’m all for equal opportunity, I’m pro-choice, and I almost bought this cool patch the other day that said GURLZ ROOL BOYS DROOL. Lena over at Chiktionairy says:

I do have a “feminist agenda” so to speak, but at the end of the day, the term honestly isn’t that important to me. Most of the time, it’s just a word that makes it easier to identify my politics. Occasionally, it actually makes that process more difficult, and I find myself correcting a lot of misconceptions. Rather than trying to define feminism and dictate who’s in the club and who’s not, we should focus on concrete social change. Does it really matter whether someone identifies as feminist as long as they’re doing good work?

And because this week, I’ve found myself feeling a little lost, sad and sorry for myself, here’s some G-rated happy juice for anyone else who needs a pick me up. I don’t know if you’ve ever moved across the country, but it ain’t all roses. The sun is shining every day but winter is still giving me Season Affective Disorder. So buck up, kiddo. The weekend’s over, so get amped for a new week with Jessica Mullen’s post on getting the best juice out life. It’s an extra strong multi-vitamin for the soul.

Photography: Camilla Peffer

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