Posts by Emma Hart
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Up Front: Not Uniform, in reply to James Littlewood*,
Those stats on trans kids are enlightening. I’d have thought uniformity (neutral or otherwise) was a poor way to allow someone to explore and identify their identity. But then, I’m not trans. Anyone?
I'm always rather reluctant to write on trans* and intersex issues because they're not my issues. But the Ministry didn't just make this stuff up. They consulted with LGBTI communities, and the report is full of references to international research.
Also, my underlying point is that uniform is one small, not terribly significant, part of a much larger picture of making schools a better place for kids who don't fit gender or sexuality 'norms'. I'm pretty sure that I'd have benefitted from sexuality education that acknowledged the existence of same-sex attraction, and I didn't get it. There was at least one gay teacher at my school, and he was thoroughly closeted.
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Up Front: Not Uniform, in reply to Lucy Telfar Barnard,
It was just really, really convenient.
My kids went to non-uniform high schools, and that was way more convenient. I didn't have to worry about having uniform clean and dry in the mornings, and they just got dressed, like they did every other day.
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Up Front: Not Uniform, in reply to steve black,
Those are staff, yeah.
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I hope you might enjoy I use a wheelchair and people are condescending as fuck from Captain Awkward. The comments are full of stories about people with visible physical disabilities being treated as if they're children, and the bitchiest come-backs. The thing with bitchy come-backs, of course, is that you have to have the energy to make them.
A friend of mine used to have conversations with himself when faced with this. For example if someone asked me “does he want an ice cream?” He would jump in and say “Simon, do you want an ice cream? Yes please I do. What flavour would you like? I would like the chocolate berry ripple. Do you want it choc dipped? Nah, not today. All right Simon, I’ll tell them.” And then he would give his order. The trick was to sit there without laughing as the server gaped at us.
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Hard News: The epitome of reason, in reply to Russell Brown,
your #3 does not apply to the Greens, right?
You’re saying Steffan Browning made his list ranking on merit?
So the Greens send out a party list to their membership, who then vote on it, and the final list is determined by those votes. I can think of two people on the list I was paying particular attention to, who ended up placed significantly higher after the membership voted. So the most the party hierarchy can do is put a candidate up there to start with, and hope the membership accepts that.
I think one of the most significant differences between Labour and the Greens is that the Greens are currently having a leadership battle, and the media is completely ignoring it. Labour should be so lucky.
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When we went to Midnight Movies at the Westend in the early 90s, they would play God Save the Queen before The Rocky Horror Picture Show, or A Clockwork Orange or whatever we'd gone to see. And we would fucking stand.
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Speaker: Sex, monsters and outrage, in reply to Cecelia,
I think it’s sinister and that it’s dangerous for Year 11 students to be exposed to anything by these people.
Do you not think most 13 year olds have already heard this kind of stuff? And having it given some kind of context, being asked to think critically about it, surely that can only be helpful.
If we don't teach this stuff, that certain groups of people are subject to the most vile, hateful shit, then we erase their experience of this kind of bullying.
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So I read the original story, because pretty much my wheelhouse, and thought, I bet there’s more to this. Then the gaynz story turned up – far from the first time their reporting on something like this has outdone mainstream media, I assume they’re less concerned with pageviews. I tweeted it, posted it on Facebook, and then decided that no, I wouldn’t spend the entire rest of the day correcting other people’s outraged Facebook posts. I also got this reply on Twitter:
this is my sister. She has been harassed by that journo for the last week. Absolutely no respect.
There is a follow-up on Stuff this morning, and the whole thing appears to still be spiralling down.
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Up Front: Stand for... Something, in reply to Russell Brown,
I’m beginning to suspect you’re a quite unusual person, frankly
HOW long have we known each other?
Flag waving didn’t figure, you didn’t start the day at primary school with a pledge to anything or anyone
I have a very vague memory of a proposal when I was at intermediate - so, 83, 84 - for schools to start the day by ceremonially raising the flag. I was Really Mad about it: what a crushing, senseless waste of time. I guess they were worried about our lack of patriotism.
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Up Front: Stand for... Something, in reply to Patrick Xavier,
I think that’s probably (a) an accurate description of the quality, and (b) not something I can really be bothered with.
I think it's a good description of that kind of jingoistic patriotism we associate with America, "We're number one!" I think ours is more like, "I think my country's done some good shit." I would in fact argue that the most patriotic thing you can believe is that your country is capable of being better.
3) NZer’s tend to cringe at campaigns of any sort rather than joining in.
I do wonder if, were the general thrust of the campaign was in favour of retaining the flag, quite the reverse would have happened with submissions.