Watercooler: Greer says Katie Price sold her womanhood

Germaine Greer lays into Katie Price, but not Gillard

Australia’s most infamous feminist export Germaine Greer has delivered a speech in which she describes the Prime Minister as a ‘good kid’ but derides Katie Price for selling her womanhood to fame. “We have a terrible situation where young girls look at Katie Price and want that life, the pink wedding dress and the pink carriage… at what cost is that,” Greer said. “I don’t see Katie Price making old bones — unless she has some extraordinary epiphany, takes out those implants, has a steak and chips and starts enjoying her life.” Katie Price retorted on Twitter: “Its interesting what germaine greer has said about me not making ‘old bones’ and my life being a nightmare (sic),” Price wrote. “Well I have 3 beautiful children so i would never say my life is a nightmare. I have regrets, hopes and fears but don’t we all?? Ive taken her advice and maybe the first step to the ‘epiphany’ i apparently need – i had steak and chips tonight xx”

Oscar nominee in trouble for ‘sexist’ ads

French Oscar contender for Best Actor Jean Dujardin (nominated for his role in the silent movieThe Artist) has appeared in racy movie posters for his latest romantic comedy about an adulterous male in France. The only problem is the French advertising regulator ARPP said the posters degraded women and requested them to be removed just days after they went up. The authority said it received four complaints from people offended by the ads and said it believed the posters depicted women as sexual objects. They “present a degrading image of women, because in both cases you do not see the woman’s face … This is certainly presenting an image of women as objects, in this case sexual objects,” said ARPP head Stephane Martin. The slogan for the ad shown here is ‘I’m going into a meeting’. The buzz created in France by the ruling has led some to question whether Dujardin’s Oscar chances had been damaged. Thoughts on the posters?

Former slave’s letter goes viral

Jourdan Anderson was a slave in America’s deep south in the 1800s when he was finally freed and allowed to move on to a life with his family where he worked for income. But his former master Colonel P.H. Anderson wrote and asked for his return which prompted a gloriously acidic reply from Jourdan which was first published in the New York Tribune in 1865. He wrote: “Sir: I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jourdon, and that you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me than anybody else can. I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the Yankees would have hung you long before this, for harboring Rebs they found at your house. I suppose they never heard about your going to Colonel Martin’s to kill the Union soldier that was left by his company in their stable. Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living.” He wrote that he was doing ‘tolerably well’ and was keeping a good home for his family on $25 a month. He added: “As to my freedom, which you say I can have, there is nothing to be gained on that score, as I got my free papers in 1864 from the Provost-Marshal-General of the Department of Nashville. Mandy says she would be afraid to go back without some proof that you were disposed to treat us justly and kindly; and we have concluded to test your sincerity by asking you to send us our wages for the time we served you. This will make us forget and forgive old scores, and rely on your justice and friendship in the future. I served you faithfully for thirty-two years, and Mandy twenty years. At twenty-five dollars a month for me, and two dollars a week for Mandy, our earnings would amount to eleven thousand six hundred and eighty dollars. Add to this the interest for the time our wages have been kept back, and deduct what you paid for our clothing, and three doctor’s visits to me, and pulling a tooth for Mandy, and the balance will show what we are in justice entitled to.” Oh snap.

Gina Rinehart kidnap fears and family ‘secrets’

The battle between Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, and her three eldest children has revealed family concerns about kidnap plots, extortion concerns and the possible need to hire bodyguards. It’s estimated Ms Rinehart, having double her wealth earlier this month, is worth around $20 billion and one email revealed in court from daughter Hope said she was worried as her mother was going to be ‘wealthier than Bill Gates’. “I don’t think you understand what it means now that the whole world thinks that you’re going to be wealthier than Bill Gates – it means we’ll all need bodyguards and very safe homes,” daughter Hope Welker wrote. “I don’t have the money to protect myself or my children and it scares me. I should have enough money to have bodyguard, housekeeper and cook [worth up to $225,000]. Even my friends who have nothing compared to your wealth have more staff.”

Ms Rinehart had applied to suppress the details of the family court battle – in which her children are trying to have her removed as the head of the family trust, which owns a quarter of Ms Rinehart’s prospecting business. She used a 44 page security report to detail the apparent risks to her and her family’s safety.

Doctors to recommend smacking ban on kids

Smacking should be banned says The Royal Australasian College of Physicians paediatric and child health division president Dr Gervase Chaney. Dr Chaney said the body was reviewing its policy on smacking children and would likely officially support a ban and would then call on the Australian Government to do the same. “There has been good evidence that in countries where it has been banned there is a reduction in child abuse,” he said. “Though many people have used physical discipline, and it is still regarded in most of our society as an acceptable form of parenting, there is no clear delineation between what is acceptable as a smack and what is child abuse.” Britain’s equivalent body also reviewed its policy this month saying ‘today’s smack becomes tomorrow’s punch’. Mr Chaney said it was no longer OK for parents to say ‘it never did us any harm’.

Look what they did to Rachel Weisz…

If you missed the Week in Pics, there’s plenty in here (including a really old Barbie).

Michelle Obama and Ellen get down on the floor – for push-ups

Ellen has released a sneak peek of today’s episode in which she challenges the United States First Lady Michelle Obama to a push-up contest, as you do. Ms Obama was on the show to promote her healthy eating and fitness lifestyle. Oh, and Michelle won.

What else is in the news and on your mind?