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'Technology businesses applying for lucrative Australian government contracts should be required to have a gender diversity action plan before securing that funding, says Girl Geek Academy CEO Sarah Moran.

Ways to increase the participation of women, girls, and other underrepresented groups in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields are currently under consideration by the Diversity in STEM Review, a major government initiative led by the Department of Industry, Science, and Resources.

The long-running review published a list of draft recommendations in August, proposing more than a dozen ways to expand access to STEM education and industry access for underrepresented groups.

Key recommendations include a call for government funding bodies to formally commit to diversity in STEM programs and initiatives.

Moran’s Girl Geek Academy is a social enterprise focused on building gender equity in the technology sector.

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'In a 21-second TikTok video, which has amassed 2.2 million views, vlogger ShearingShedVlogs wanted to share what “shocked [him] as an Aussie in Japan.”

The tourist recorded himself walking onto a train carriage intended for women only, with big pink signs written in English and in Japanese. “It’s like Saudi Arabia in here,” he said, looking less than impressed.

As he walked through the car, he filmed several female passengers who appeared somewhat uncomfortable with his presence. “I am the woman inspector, checking there’s only women on this carriage,” the TikToker said in the clip.

“This ‘women-only’ carriage is the last thing I would expect to be seeing in such a free country like Japan,” he wrote in the video caption, adding that it and reminds him of something he would see “in a country with strict segregation rules.”

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'One of the most important voices on men’s issues right now is Richard Reeves, the former Brookings scholar and current president of the American Institute for Boys and Men. Reeves’s latest, Of Boys and Men, is, in my view, the most comprehensive review of how men declined so rapidly following the feminist waves.

Reeves published an essay yesterday on challenges plaguing the modern male. Men don’t have a solid definition of “masculinity,” and regardless of how it’s defined, masculinity is usually perceived negatively, anyway, Reeves argues. His own understanding of manhood seems to be a good model:
...
Four out of five people think that “masculine” is a negative quality when applied to men, according to a 2018 Pew study. That’s not too shocking a number, considering the status male identity has occupied for decades. Men, it’s clear, need better examples of masculinity to remind them that they are not redundant — and to end the war on masculinity, for good.'

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'A recent article in 'The West Australian' headlined 'How We Stop This Kid Becoming A Monster', with the sub headline stating, 'Call for DV lessons at all schools to address menace of toxic masculinity' came to my attention on Tuesday evening. In the current cultural climate, seeing the terms ‘toxic’ and ‘masculinity’ side by side is nothing unusual. In fact, in 2018 the word ‘toxic’ was voted Word of the Year and the phrase ‘toxic masculinity’ ranked second only to ‘toxic chemicals’, which in a climate of environmental concern only further highlights the phrases popular use. However, this article was quite unique in its deplorability in suggesting the expression of ‘unhelpful’ masculinity is in itself destructive and dangerous, and insinuating that if not properly ‘stopped’ young men and boys are destined to be monsters and menaces.'

Video report here.

Sky News host Rita Panahi has criticised a recent front page from The West Australian newspaper, calling it disgraceful.

“There was an image of a young boy with the headline: 'How we stop this kid becoming a monster ... but really, what a disgraceful front page,” Ms Panahi said.

“These sort of attacks against boys and young men under the guise of tackling domestic violence are not only idiotic and damaging, but they are counterproductive.”

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'"This is why I do not like or use the term 'toxic masculinity' and what term I think should replace it," Kwiatkowski began in his video.

He prefaced by admitting that he isn't personally offended by the term, even though some others are, but claimed that for him, he doesn't think the term clearly identifies the root of the problem and actually makes it harder to see and find the solution.

He explained that seeing something as toxic doesn't always mean that it is harmful, breaking down the three aspects of masculinity that are fairly common effects of the patriarchy and are considered to be the most harmful.

He acknowledged that, for the most part, people aren't usually motivated to do something because they're harmful, but do things because they're adaptive or protective to them in their environment, which Kwiatkowski said was the case during his Ph.D. research about teen boys and why they will often restrict their emotions.

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'Say you have a project that needs completing, like fixing a leaky faucet, or retiling your bathroom. Matriarchy Build allows you to consult with a trustworthy expert in the field, for a fee ranging from $25 for a 10-minute consultation to $150 for a 55-minute talk. (Some consultants charge more than others.) As Soslow points out, the consultant “has no skin in the game.” They won’t be trying to upsell you, and more often than not aren’t in your city, so they aren’t pitching their services for the job. (Ainslie, who lives in Austin, is spearheading a local subscription service for in-person work, which rolled out in July.) The consultants are there to answer your questions, and tell you what questions to ask, or who else to ask. They can also give advice on how to educate yourself if you’re trying to go the DIY route.

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'Football Federation is stepping down after weeks of pressure following his allegedly unwanted kiss with Spanish forward Jenni Hermoso, he revealed Sunday to Piers Morgan.

Luis Rubiales was suspended after kissing the soccer player on the lips following Spain’s victory in the Women’s World Cup.

Initially refusing to resign, Rubiales referred to his critics as “false feminists,” before ultimately ceding to them, announcing his resignation in an exclusive interview with Piers Morgan.

“About my resignation, yes, I’m going to do,” Rubiales told Piers Morgan “You’re going to resign?” Morgan asked. “Yes, because I cannot continue my work,” Rubalies said.

Rubiales cited his daughters, his father and conversations with friends as the reasons for his change of heart. “They say to me, ‘Luis, now you have to focus on your dignity and continue your life, because if not, probably you are going to damage people you love'” he told Morgan.'

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'The process to get more women on the New Zealand Rugby board has been described as “tortuous” in a damning review. Its findings also reinforced how women faced “chauvinism, misogyny and racism” in the sport, a leading women’s rugby advocate says.

The review into NZ Rugby’s governance processes and structures – led by chair David Pilkington, Anne Urlwin, Whaimutu Dewes and former All Blacks captain Graham Mourie – also highlighted how some in rugby thought gender equity would be an “impediment”, that appointments of women to the board was down to “political correctness”, and qualified women were not willing to put themselves through a “barbaric” process to sit on the board. There was also a “strong resistance” to change.

Women in Rugby Aotearoa board chair Traci Houpapa said the review states “very clearly that women have been subjected to chauvinism, misogyny and racism”.

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'The conference’s main focus was toxic masculinity and how it leads to other forms of discrimination in hockey, including racism, sexism, and homophobia. Fowler also presented findings about how young minor hockey players are when they first learn to adopt the locker room “code of silence” and how Canada’s pioneer and colonialist history have shaped the sport.

Hockey Canada board chair Hugh Fraser, former NHLer Sheldon Kennedy (now an advocate for safe sport), NHLPA agent Bayne Pettinger, Vancouver Canucks assistant general manager Emilie Castonguay and others shared their experiences with hockey culture and toxic masculinity.

Federal sports minister Carla Qualtrough spoke as well. Most levels of the sport, including the NHL, PWHL, IIHF, and CHL were represented at the two-day event, along with all 13 provincial and territorial governing bodies.'

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'"Toxic masculinity” and “testosterone poisoning” are widely blamed for many problems, but you don’t hear much about “toxic femininity” or “estrogen poisoning.” Who criticizes “femsplaining” or pretends to “believe all men”? If the patriarchy really did rule our society, the stock father character in television sitcoms would not be a “doofus dad” like Homer Simpson, and commercials wouldn’t keep showing wives outsmarting their husbands. (When’s the last time you saw a TV husband get something right?) Smug misandry has been box-office gold for Barbie, which delights in writing off men as hapless romantic partners, leering jerks, violent buffoons, and dimwitted tyrants who ought to let women run the world.

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'“I think it's healthy for women to bitch about men and complain about the way they're treated,” says journalist Marie Le Conte, author of Escape: How a Generation Shaped, Destroyed and Survived the Internet. “But not only have brands ruined the internet, they are the internet. They encroach on all our conversations, identities and personalities. They just want to make money and the problem is social media has offered them such an efficient way of targeting us, what we’re talking about and what we feel strongly about.”

“Female rage has earnt a cultural capital that’s lucrative for brands,” continues Cole. “Women are more likely to spend their disposable income than men, and are also earning more money as workplace inequality evens out. This means women’s trust is super valuable to brands.”

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'This week the Labour Party reshuffled its top tier and unveiled a shadow minister for women’s health and women’s mental health.

But what about men? Are there no issues with men’s health and mental health? Tory MP Nick Fletcher is making waves today by campaigning for a Minister for Men.

The feminist blowback has been as swift as it is predictable. One commentator quipped that “as long as rooms of men are writing policy…every minister is already a minister for men.”

This research group said there’s simply no problem for men because men are rich CEOs who run the male-domimated world.

But the facts say otherwise. Nearly three quarters of adults who go missing are men. 87 per cent of rough sleepers in the UK are men.

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'The first thing to say about the idea of appointing a minister for men, as suggested last week by Tory MP Nick Fletcher and taken rather seriously by many, is that it is insulting.

Some people seem to have missed this, perhaps because sexism is less taboo than some other types of discrimination. So let’s make it clearer. Imagine appointing a minister for any other dominant group – a minister for white people, say, or heterosexuals, or the able-bodied.

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'Sheldon Kennedy feels the weight of what will be discussed at Hockey Canada’s summit in Calgary.

The two-day “Beyond The Boards Summit” on Friday and Saturday is designed to tackle one root cause identified at the heart of racism, sexism, homophobia, discrimination and exclusion in hockey.

How masculinity is defined in hockey – glorifying toughness and violence, the “bro culture”, the “code of the locker room” – and how elite men’s hockey dominates the sport’s culture in Canada are on the agenda.

The agenda was developed based on research by Teresa Fowler, an assistant professor at Concordia University in Edmonton, who has written hockey works well for white heterosexual males and not as well for others.

“To get to the root, we have to start peeling off all of those layers,” Fowler told CP. “What spills out from hypermasculinity are those things racism, homophobia.'