A Sweet Tooth

I want these and then I want someone to chew them off. Is that too much to ask?

The Art of Choosing a Calendar

Rene Gruau

I'm very much in love with the joyful and flirty work of fashion illustrator and artist Rene Gruau, who sadly died this year at age 95. Tendresse (above) dates back to 1978. It's a lovely example of how a few fluid lines can convey a sumptuous glamour. Earlier this week I went through the gruelling "Choosing of the Calendar" ritual in my favourite local bookshop. It may well only be October and I've no reason to wish the rest of the year away, (I need from now until December 31st to come up with a New Year's Resolution) it's just that the choosing of the calendar usually takes some considerable time depending on the quality and variety of offerings. I live with the thing on my office wall all year long, it's got to be wonderful. There amongst the classy black and white nudes, the Da Vinci inventions, the pages filled with Picasso, and the world architecture shots shone the work of Rene. Bold, brash, sensuous, sexy, playful and irresistible.

Just one minor problem.

The Haute Couture calendar filled with Rene's gorgeous illustrations is so beautiful that I think I'm going to have a hard time writing on it. The birthdays and such will have to go in as the merest shadows of blacklead pencil...Does my calendar need an understudy? Something I can bear to deface with the details of domestica? Could it be time to get with the times and get high tech? Does anyone feel the same kind of regret at typing in their schedule on their lifeplanner of choice?

Rene Gruau

Twisted Knickers

For a while there the twist in my knickers over the state of censorship in Australia seemed to have eased. You know, it takes a lot energy to sustain being furious and outraged and to be honest, sometimes a weary apathy creeps over me. Either that or I've gotten used to the discomfort. Or just sometimes, not often mind you, I get an occasional brief glimpse of hope on the horizon that lulls me into the kind of false sense of security and confidence that only a smooth panty line can bring.

Then, last weekend I went and read Helen Vnuk's Snatched, Sex and Censorship in Australia and there it is again, the knot, the knickers in a bunch, the biting discomfort of something definitely and deeply lodged where it shouldn't be. A full scale "wedgie" of the worst kind. The fabric of that wedgie is the substance of Vnuk's insightful book, her excellent and engaging expose of the "censorship by stealth" that's going on in Australia and has been for some time.

If you ever wanted to know how we got to the place where a photograph of a woman's genitals have to be photoshopped into a more acceptable state, that is no inner labia or protruding lips are visible, you need to read this book.

The Office of Film and Literature Classification Guidelines for Unrestricted Category magazines, under the heading of nudity, say that 'realistic depictions may contain discreet genital detail but there should be no genital emphasis'. If magazines show more than 'discreet genital detail', they are classified Category One - which means being banned from sale in Queensland and sealed in plastic bags in the other states of Australia. Not surpisingly these restrictions have a severe impact on sales.

When Helen Vnuk, ex editor of the now defunct Australian Women's Forum magazine wanted to run a health story on woman seeking genital surgery because they think there vulvas are abnormal, she was unable to illustrate that story with photos of a variety of so-called normal genitals. The OFLC decided there was too much genital detail.

Vnuk knew then that something was very wrong with the censorship guidelines, the judgements being made with those guidelines and the very principles that the guidelines are based on. She was vexed enough to write a persuasive exploration of the kind of censorship that has seen Australia significantly tighten restrictions on the sexual content of magazines, film and other media over the last decade. I highly recommend her book. And yes, my knickers are still in a twist and they make riding my hobby horse sheer hell.

More on this topic can be read at my blog entry "You and Your Unacceptable Vulva."


Review 1 of Snatched

Review 2 of Snatched

More reading on Censorship In Australia

Libertus, intelligent information on the history of censorship in Australia

What real women look like at Betty Dodson's great site.


"The threat to our liberty lies not with the evil-minded ruler - for men born to freedom are quick to resist tyranny - rather it lies with men of zeal - well meaning, but lacking in understanding."

- Justice Louis Brandeis - USA Supreme Court

On Being Yellow

I still find it hard to resist these quiz things. I guess I should be grateful I didn't turn out pink or red. That would have clashed terribly with the colour scheme around here. Oh and of course it's completely correct...how else would I have got that result? I may be yellow but I'm no coward. In fact I'm feeling inordinately (and a little foolishly) proud of having found my way into and around this whole blogging thing. Yes I know the rest of the civilised world has been at it for some time now but you have to understand I'm slow on the technology uptake. I've only had a microwave oven since 2001, bought a vibrator in 2003 and a mobile phone this year. I'll let you guess which of those appliances is the most fun and gets the most use.

YELLOW You are very perceptive and smart. You are clear and to the point and have a great sense of humor. You are always learning and searching for understanding. Find out your color at Quiz Me!

Snowflakes

Recently weaned myself from a serious addiction to this. Be warned!

My Provocateur

My
Provocateur's
A secret

A
Secret
Agent

So polite
Gentle
And precise

That my body reads
His provocations
As caresses

Clever, soft strokes
Of a single fingertip
Rendering me slick

Seducing
And reducing me
To a simple suspect

Inciting me
To illegal acts
And wicked misdemeanors

Provoke me
I sigh,
Harder


Ell

Danger Bunnies

Ridiculous but cute, Danger Bunnies.