Feminist activists take part in a choreographed performance at the Brion square in Caracas, Venezuela on Dec. 7, 2019. Ten women performed the song "The Rapist is You." Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images
As a fitting end to this year let’s marvel at the audacity of Australian feminists leading the world in their outstanding achievements in remaking our society.
Their goals are far from modest, aiming for nothing less than a “gender transformative” program (pdf) for “social, cultural, and structural and systemic change.” This includes actively challenging (pdf) “dominant forms and patterns of masculinity that operate at and across structural, systemic, organisational, community, interpersonal, and individual levels of society.”
That’s quite an ask. “No one’s ever tried to change the gender norms, structures and practices in a society at population level before,” boasts Emma Partridge, one of the women responsible for setting up this lofty goal. She’s a key member of the scheme controlling this entire operation, a neat little unit titled Our Watch.
Our Watch was originally set up as the engine room for the government’s massive $3 billion (US$2.1 billion) decade-long campaign to reduce domestic violence against women. But Partridge and her colleagues have said this requires “primary prevention,” by which they mean remaking society.
There’s abundant evidence disproving their claim that tackling domestic violence requires reducing gender inequality. Yet the premise that domestic violence is all about respect for women is now prevailing wisdom, thanks to the influence of feminist thinking in key organisations across the country.
Women march along Castlereagh Street in solidarity with those in South America during the Sydney International Women's Day march in Sydney, Australia, on March 7, 2020. Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images
That’s what is extraordinary about Our Watch. This small organisation, using its modest $12 million (US$8.5 million) annual revenue, is spreading its influence across our society, controlling a mighty industry aimed at gender transformation (pdf).
Naturally, that means talk of quotas, targets, strategies to insert more women into traditionally male-dominated areas and you could see Our Watch’s influence in the final report from the House of Representatives Inquiry into the National Plan for Violence Against Women, which recommended “gender equality” initiatives, like:
Courses in schools to improve financial literacy—but only for girls.
Initiatives to upskill and reskill people in STEM—but only for women.
Just a taste of how they propose to address gender inequality through the “redistribution of power, resources, and responsibilities between men and women.”
Pretty radical stuff, eh? Not according to the leaders of most of our major institutions.
Already, under Our Watch’s guidance, each year thousands of employees in large commercial organisations, like Linfox, Aurizon, and not-for-profits and government agencies, are being required to go through re-education programs teaching them about the evils of male privilege and toxic masculinity.
That’s not half of it. In 2020, Our Watch published a document, Tracking Progress in Prevention (pdf), surveying the huge network of feminists all working to promote their cause.
They surveyed over 2,000 people and found about half their fellow advocates were funded by state and federal government departments, but a quarter acknowledged they do the work without any targeted funding. These bears inquiry because it would appear that these “femocrats” are getting paid to do other jobs yet secretly devote themselves to this cause.
A woman waves a feminist flag as student protesters shout slogans during a demonstration marking International Women's Day in Barcelona, Spain, on March 8, 2019. Pau Barrena/AFP via Getty Images
The progress report is a revelation, revealing in detail the full manifesto of this Great Feminist Reset of our society. There’s nothing off-limits for this group. Midst a huge list of legislative changes claimed to support gender equality include the “removal of GST from feminine hygiene products.”
Further, the group monitors Australia to ensure we are all following the prescribed social attitudes. But they are not at all impressed when not all believe their propaganda.
They describe as a “disturbing backlash” the fact that 40 percent of Australians “deny the continued persistence of gender inequality” by agreeing that “many women exaggerate how unequally women are treated in Australia.”
They are also alarmed by data showing that in 2017 less than half of the people surveyed believed that women experience greater fear of domestic violence than men, and almost half believed that the level of fear is equal for women and men.
“This represents a drop of 6 percentage points in the proportion of Australians who recognise the gendered nature of fear of domestic violence since 2009,” Our Watch said.
Thus, it is no wonder they have decided to double down on their push, with their latest policy framework emphasising the need to drive public debate by using the media and communications/social marketing campaigns.
Take a look at the Stop it at the Start campaign, which they claim as their “signature” primary prevention campaign which aims to “reset young people’s attitudes.”
That means showing horrid, abusive boys tormenting little girls by pelting them with tennis balls. Mean fathers berating their sons for playing football like a girl. Mothers dismissing rowdy boys with, “It’s just boys being boys.”
A young boy is seen pointing during the Cobar Races at Cobar Miners' Race Club in Cobar, Australia on May 8, 2021. Jenny Evans/Getty Images
It’s all about teaching boys to be ashamed of being male and convincing girls that they are victims and boys the enemy.
Early childhood education is top of the list of Our Watch’s priorities. They produced the content for the infamous Respect Matters program which hit the headlines last year when boys were forced to stand and apologise for being male. But despite this adverse publicity, the feminists are having no problem getting their latest course into schools Australia wide.
“There have been fantastic high-level commitments to make changes to curriculum and to syllabus,” applauds Cara Gleeson, a member of the Our Watch.
“Give me a child till he is seven years old, and I will show you the man,” said Jesuits’ founder, St Ignatius Loyola.
But the idiom is also true for girls. These ideologies are grooming future generations of feminists to take up the mantle and continue the work of gender transformation.
It’s been happening in Australia for decades. And while we sit back and let them get away with it, it is our sons and their sons who will ultimately pay the price.
Bettina Arndt
Author
Bettina Arndt is an Australian writer and social commentator on gender issues. She was the country’s first sex therapist and feminist, before focusing on men’s rights. She has authored several books and has written for major newspaper titles, magazines, and has featured regularly on television. She received the Order of Australia in 2020 for her work in promoting gender equity through advocacy for men. Find her online at her blog, BettinaArndt.substack.com.
