Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Sex roles and stereotyping in a tragic context

By Darlene Taylor - posted Friday, 12 January 2007


It’s old news that Dianne Brimble died on the floor of a cruise ship cabin after ingesting a combination of booze and Fantasy.

Whether Brimble chose to take the so-called “date-rape” drug or someone else made that decision for her is yet to be ascertained, but what can be gathered from discussion regarding the case is that the need to present some females as non-sexual and almost saintly is as strong as it ever was.

Some time ago, I wrote an item about Mary Phagan, a 13-year-old who was murdered in 1913 in the factory where she worked in Atlanta, Georgia.

Advertisement

Instead of acknowledging that a life like Mary’s was tough and undoubtedly resulted in a girl growing up too fast, public discourse about her quickly bordered on the hagiographic.

Of course, a political agenda always accompanies the creation of victims who are deemed to be worthy of our grief.

I argued that:

It was the “Little Mary Phagan” of popular imagination that peered out at newspaper readers before “real” Mary ever got the chance. With a desire to reassert a masculinity eroded by the employment of young women in the burgeoning manufacturing sector, the creation of doll-like “Little Mary Phagan” by the press, politicians and the “people” might have confirmed to some that the traditional Southern patriarchy still existed.

Given the dehumanising and vile language used by some of those involved in the Brimble case, it’s unsurprising that loved ones and others with good intentions would want to fight back with words of kindness and respect.

Nevertheless, we have to wonder how much it progresses the status of women when we’re infantilised and or desexualised.

Advertisement

In last month’s edition of The Monthly, Malcolm Knox’s overly subjective article “Cruising” contained the following sentence:

I am standing on the escalator where Dianne Brimble was photographed in a blue smock with her group, waving like a child on her first overnight excursion.

When the Sydney Morning Herald’s Miranda Devine joined the debate about the Brimble case with “Dignity rises in the midst of tragedy” she claimed that:

  1. Pages:
  2. Page 1
  3. 2
  4. All

First published in Larvatus Prodeo on October 17, 2006. It is republished as part of "Best Blogs of 2006" a feature in collaboration with Club Troppo, and edited by Ken Parish, Nicholas Gruen et al.



Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

4 posts so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Darlene Taylor writes for the popular group blog, Larvatus Prodeo.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Darlene Taylor
Related Links
Dianne Brimble - Lavatus Prodeo

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Photo of Darlene Taylor
Article Tools
Comment 4 comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy