Why did Nine go to such lengths to subtly undermine the seriousness of Purcell’s message? Managing editor Michelle Pini examines how the patriarchy still manages to control everything.
FOR THOSE who may not know, Georgie Purcell is a lawyer and the Victorian Legislative Council Member for Northern Victoria.
Nine Entertainment is the sensationalist media organisation headed by former Liberal Party MP Peter Costello, that screens Married at First Sight — and also the place where once-respected mastheads, like the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, now die and get recycled as bin liners.
Of course, Purcell is also considered an attractive woman by conventional standards, a member of the Animal Justice Party and the youngest female member of the Victorian Parliament.
All of these things make Ms Purcell an open target for the commonplace misogyny we have complacently come to accept. Obviously.
This week, Nine Entertainment, in a news broadcast on Monday night (29 January), featured an image of Georgie Purcell MLC — a digitally altered image which replaced the dress she was wearing with a midriff-baring top and skirt ensemble, complete with a metaphorical boob job.
It was Adobe’s artificial intelligence that did it! cried Nine’s management.
Georgie Purcell said:
“Let’s be clear – this is not something that happens to my male colleagues.”
And, of course, it would not.
(Independent Australia apologises in advance if our depiction of Nine Entertainment CEO Peter Costello has been digitally interfered with in any way.)
Unfortunately for Nine’s suit-clad, old, white, male chairman, Costello, and suit-clad, middle-aged, white male CEO, Mike Sneesby, Adobe was having none of it.
A spokesperson for Adobe advised IA in a statement:
'Edits to this specific image would have required human intervention and approval.'
Not only did Nine interfere with Ms Purcell’s image, then, it openly and rather stupidly lied about it.
Also unfortunately for Nine Entertainment, this has now attracted international news coverage from organisations such as the BBC and New York Times.
Why would a media organisation go to such lengths to subtly undermine the seriousness of Purcell’s message?
Georgie Purcell is a smart young woman and unapologetic about her views.
Purcell stands up for defenceless animals against powerful organisations, such as the gambling industry and the gun lobby. She supports unionism and a dignified retirement for working people. And the Animal Justice Party's website tells us that Purcell has 'noticed the way young people, particularly young women, are not represented in our halls of power. Georgie wants to change that'.
She is an activist and a disruptor and this is contrary to the role Australia’s patriarchy – which still manages to control everything – has prescribed for her and "dissident" females everywhere.
Purcell is, of course, hardly the first woman to be interfered with, whether digitally, physically, emotionally, mentally, sexually or otherwise.
Prominent female figures have been photoshopped, harassed, trolled, degraded, mercilessly ridiculed, hounded out of office and even chased out of the country.
Former Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard was treated with open and unashamed contempt by members of the Opposition and the mainstream media.
Among other demeaning acts to which she was subjected, Gillard's Opposition colleagues – including Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey – publicly called her a witch and chanted along with placard-clutching nutjobs that she should be hanged. Rabid shock jocks like Alan Jones recommended she be put in a chaff bag and drowned at sea.
And her body was referred to on a highbrow Liberal fundraiser menu as follows:
'Julia Gillard Kentucky Fried Quail – Small Breasts, Huge Thighs & A Big Red Box'
Yassmin Abdel-Magid was hounded out of the country for daring to offer an opinion about Anzac Day.
Those of the female sex brave enough to allege sexual abuse, like Brittany Higgins, can expect to be publicly vilified and then persecuted incessantly — even if they manage to escape to distant shores.
Women, such as Antoinette Lattouf, who are too outspoken by conventional Australian media standards and also dare to challenge the system, can expect to be summarily dismissed. Their employers will likely pull out all stops to have them silenced. In this case, Lattouf’s employer – the public broadcaster – has hired a notoriously anti-worker U.S. law firm to fight against her unlawful dismissal case.
Current gender-based violence statistics in Australia aren't pretty, with 63 women dead in 2023 and four losing their lives so far in 2024 as a result of violence.
Women who protested gender-based violence at Parliament House were told by former PM Scott Morrison they were lucky not to be shot.
These women, like Purcell, all share a common trait: they refuse to conform to acceptable conservative norms which dictate that they are allowed to be pretty but only if they are also subservient, smart but only if they are also complacent and outspoken but only if they speak for the patriarchy.
You can follow managing editor Michelle Pini on Twitter @vmp9. Follow Independent Australia on Twitter @independentaus and Facebook HERE.
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