Georgie Dent

A few weeks ago I wrote about my disappointment when former Prime Minister John Howard dismissed Julia Gillard’s speech about misogyny as “nonsense”.

On Wednesday I sat alongside Women’s Agenda associate publisher, Angela Priestley and former New South Wales MP Jodi McKay on a panel to discuss female leadership at the Sydney office of law firm K & L Gates.

Imagine this.

A Sydney man sought to have a female judge disqualified from hearing his court case on the basis of his suspicion that she was “a feminist with leftist leanings”.

On Monday our Prime Minister threatened to “shirtfront” Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, triggering one of the more unusual diplomatic dialogues in recent memory.

Channel 10’s game show Family Feud attracted some criticism this week for the way it answered the question: name a woman’s job.

On Monday night I was still a tiny bit hopeful that the finance minister Mathias Cormann – or anyone in the government – might acknowledge the bigger picture about sexist language.

Last year something of a furore broke out about victim blaming, sexual assault and alcohol.

Flicking through the papers with a coffee on a Sunday is one of life’s most consistent pleasures.

Would society flourish under female rule? That was the question debated in Sydney last night at an Intelligence2 Debate hosted by the St James Ethics Centre.

So Julie Bishop doesn’t identify as a feminist.

The front page of The Australian newspaper today carries some welcome news.