Catherine Deveny

For anyone who still cares, I thought it might be interesting to compare and contrast the recent public outbursts of arguably Australia’s greatest female controversialists, Catherine Deveny and Miranda Devine, and see if we can get to the bottom of this tirade titlefight.

In the pinko lefto red corner we have Deveny. Weighing in as a self-proclaimed “serial pest”, and “cultural terrorist”, this fiery feminist heavyweight from Melbourne is best known for her quick left jabs and rapid fire uppercuts, such as “I do so hope Bindi Irwin gets laid tonight”, and the other cracker about Rove McManus’s dead wife.

In the neo-conservanista blue corner we have Devine. Weighing in as a devout Roman Catholic and smug upholder of our dwindling moral high ground, this Sydney based journalist is best known for her elusive footwork and sneaky right hooks, such her now classic gay sledge, “You’ve had enough of rogering gerbils I see”.

Continue reading "To err is Deveny, to be a hypocrite Devine" »

If you thought the Catherine Deveny-Fairfax-Twitter saga was over, think again. Another similar but less blockbusting sequel has unfolded which has already, uncharitably, been labelled Gerbilgate.

It began on Saturday night when columnist Miranda Devine became involved in a “tweet war” with a 20-year-old university student named Justin Barbour. Devine suggested that Barbour “rogers” gerbils.

In the wake of Catherine Deveny’s sacking last week, Twitterers have started baying for Devine’s blood – but before you make up your mind on this latest development, here is some background. (Justin Barbour’s reaction is below, too.)

Continue reading "Gerbilgate" »

The more air-headed exponents of social media have had a busy time of it this week, trying to transform Melbourne comedian Catherine Deveny into a cause celebre for the anti-censorship cause.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet, all the hoopla about the British poll being “the first twitter election” has evaporated as the campaign has turned on the work of traditional journalism and conventional public discourse.

It hasn’t been a great week for social media. Despite its many benefits – sharing content with like-minded people, engaging in conversation about topics of mutual interest – two of its key limitations have been laid bare by these unrelated events.

Continue reading "Twitter overloaded with the abusive and inane" »

The response to The Age’s decision to sack Catherine Deveny says a lot about the Australian media and Australian media audiences. In particular, it shows how selective both can be depending on whether they like or dislike the person — and whether it’s a man or woman at the centre of a scandal.

Soon after Deveny’s sacking was announced, some of her supporters in the Twittersphere claimed that she had been a victim of censorship.

It makes Deveny seem heroic, but it’s hard to see this as censorship.In the first place, Deveny wasn’t prevented by The Age from expressing herself. On this occasion at least, they didn’t spike her writings.

Continue reading "Deveny, Kyle, Matty Johns and TT’s rank hypocrisy" »

Context/ noun 1. the parts of a discourse or writing which precede or follow, and are directly connected with, a given passage or word. 2. the circumstances or facts that surround a particular situation, event, etc. (Macquarie Dictionary Third Edition).

I’m not a fan of comedians being censored or sacked for going over the top, and think The Age has probably just cut off the most interesting thing about itself. But Catherine Deveny, who likes to think she’s holding up an unforgiving mirror to Australian society, has mounted an intellectually limp defence of her Logies night idiocy.

The belligerent iconoclast has relied on the same weak “out of context” argument, which is usually the fallback of misogynist clerics, the likes of whom Deveny would rightly pillory with relish.

Continue reading "Don’t take this out of context: Deveny is full of it" »