Things that pissed me off in the news today...

A pole dancing kit for girls 4-6 year old has just been launched in the UK. What the..? The toy kit which promises to help little kids "unleash the sex kitten inside" includes a pole, sexy gear and a dvd showing little girls how to make suggestive and sexy moves.

Seriously, which depraved parent is going to buy that for their children? And which depraved person came up with that idea?

And I thought the padded bras for girls under 10 was bad enough.

And then there was the Muslim cleric who said women in immodest clothing aka not wearing the hijab invited sexual assault. He claims the 4 women who were ganged raped in 2000 invited it upon themselves because they were not covered up.

"He said there were women who "sway suggestively" and wore make-up and inappropriate clothes, "and then you get a judge without mercy (rahma) and gives you 65 years".

"If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it ... whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat," the sheik asked.

"The uncovered meat is the problem."

"If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijib (head scarf), no problem would have occurred."

So, in 2005, two pastors were hauled to court over vilifying statements against Muslims, but in the cleric's case, he was given a warning when what he said was vilifying against ALL women. Why is it for the christian case, it was judged by a court, and for his case, he was only judged by seniors in the Mosque. Someone tell me there isn't inconsistency here.

I am all for multiculturalism, and my internship at the Ethnic Communities Council Victoria opened up my eyes to the need for everyone to be sensitive to the beliefs of others. Note: Sensitive. I am happy that town councils have special times in the day where the public bath and pools are women only. I am all for neighbourhood centres having women only activities. I am glad there are laws against assaulting a woman in her traditional hijab. And I am glad for translation services across most public services. And I am happy the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act is here and standing. However, there is a tension between freedom of speech and multicultural sensitivity, and it has to work both ways. Fanatics from both sections of society have to be disciplined. There is a difference between appreciation for the freedom to wear any traditional/ethnic clothing including the burka in the public, and closing down nude beaches, and getting assaulted for suntanning in your bathers just because it offends the staunch religious fanatic. It is the same theory. I will not force my neighbour to eat meat if he is vegetarian, but it will not stop me from eating meat on the same table as him. If he wants, he can get up and leave. Just as I, as a guest in Australia, know that I should never be physically or verbally assaulted for my race, but if something in the society, for e.g people saying Good Day Mate, offends me so much, I should pack up and leave instead of expecting them to stop saying it.

Maybe what he said was indeed taken out of context. No doubt, I don't believe in the objectivity of the media. But if you want others to watch their speech around you, you have to watch your speech around others too.

And of course there is the case of the girl who was sexually assaulted and filmed on DVD. I don't even want to start on that...it makes my blood boil.