Page 1750 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 18 August 1992
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If we accept the premise that advertising cigarette smoking and overindulging in alcohol had a direct impact on the acceptance of those behaviours in our society - and there have been a number of moves to change that, particularly with reference to cigarettes - why are we finding it so difficult to accept that constant and prolific advertising of women in such a degrading manner has a direct impact on society's attitudes and expectations of women? Do men really think that they would be taken seriously if they were confronted with similar implied statements about men on such a saturated level in our community?
When raising the possibility of equal representation of men in magazines to that of women, it has been a revelation that many women would be horrified to see men degraded in that way. It is not a case of wanting to see males share in the humiliation of being thus depicted - unless, of course, nothing is done to address the situation; it is a case of women wanting to be treated with the same respect as that endured unquestionably by males in our society. It is, in other words, an issue about sexism. It is about equal treatment in our society for both sexes. If we cannot have a situation where a woman has a right to choose not to be confronted with this material on a daily level, perhaps we should ensure that men are depicted in magazines, and other advertising material, in equal amounts, in equal positions, with equal implications regarding their bodies, their intelligence, their sexuality and their submissiveness to the opposite sex.
So the two options seem to be equal treatment in depictions in magazines for both men and women and action taken to ensure that these magazines are restricted to designated areas so that those who choose to purchase them can do so. It seems to me, Madam Speaker, that if we take this issue seriously, if we take appropriate action with due respect to all in our society, then we might cry, "All's well that ends well".
MRS CARNELL (3.51): It is important at this stage in the debate to draw on what I think is an interesting analogy. That is the analogy with something that is near and dear to all of our hearts and is a problem for all of us - that is, Canberra bashing. We see that in various newspapers and publications all over Australia. This has led, as we know, many Australians to believe that Canberra is a soulless, heartless city full of public servants - a situation that we all know is untrue. Why do people outside Canberra believe that? They believe it because they constantly see it in publications. They constantly read it. This shows the very real danger of constantly depicting anything or anybody or any group in a particular way. People start believing it. This is the crux of the problem of constantly depicting women in a degrading or, shall I say, sexual manner in places where people cannot but see these depictions. Women, as we know, are depicted in less than human ways, and we all know about the lady on the People cover, but I think we should look past that.
I think Mr Connolly brought up some good issues. It is not necessarily women without any clothes on that we are talking about. It is women as in the community calendar advertisement that we all had somewhat of a problem with. That woman was clothed. She had on a leopard-skin bikini, but she was behind bars in a position where she looked like she was fairly desperate. It was fairly obvious what the advertisement attempted to suggest she was desperate for. This sort of advertisement cannot but cause problems for other women in the community because of the attitudes that it is obviously trying to portray. It also has the added problem of suggesting that women seem to be on heat from time to
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