Gender a fluid concept
I THINK Colin Field doesn't know his Arthur from his Martha because he sure doesn't understand the difference between gender and sexuality.
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The idea that the Cheltenham Girls High School staff can no longer refer to students as girls, ladies and women is simply not true.
And the idea that the use of non-gender specific language is just to appease "the gays" is laughable.
It's laughable because transgender or intersex people are quite often heterosexual.
Now take a breath, I know this will probably be a mind-boggling notion for you. Sexuality is not static, it is a fluid construct.
This means that your attraction to people can vary from time to time.
Gay men may prefer a female partner every now and then and a straight woman may prefer a female partner when she needs the emotional comfort only a woman can provide.
Life, like sexuality, is not as rigid as you'd like it to be.
Diversity is nowhere near as dangerous as you propose.
Brett Elliott
Tolland
Queue-jumpers unwelcome
RAY Goodlass in his DA column “More to refugee deal than meets the eye” states that boat people have been proved to be real refugees.
Why are we so proudly and stubbornly merciless in this aspect of Australia’s refugee policies?
Simply because of the undeniable fact that the boat people try to force their way into Australian ahead of thousands of refugees who have been waiting for several years for processing and entry into Australia.
It would be grossly unfair to let boat refugees come in and say to all who endure a long waiting time in camps: “sorry but we allow the boat refugees to come in ahead of you.”
Moreover, that would be an incentive for the unscrupulous people smugglers to maximise their money making efforts.
It would be super naive not to see the reality of the whole issue; in other words you would have to be Blind Freddy.
Paul Bosman
Estella
Sold down the river
LANDHOLDERS from several regions have joined forces to condemn one group of politicians and applaud another.
They have congratulated both Labor and Coalition politicians who have taken a tough stand amidst unfair criticism to protect the jobs and livelihoods of people they represent.
On the other hand, federal Labor’s Tony Burke, alongside South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill and water minister Ian Hunter, have copped the landholders’ wrath.
The landholders, who are worried about their future as well as that of their local communities, live and work along the Murray River and its tributaries from Yarrawonga to Moulamein, the mid-Murrumbidgee, as well as the Goulburn River and its tributaries.
Their comments follow a week of contention around the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, as minister Barnaby Joyce leads a push to try and limit its adverse impact on rural communities.
However, Mr Burke and some South Australian politicians have taken a “we don’t care who it hurts” approach, supporting their stance with sensationalist and incorrect claims.
In particular there is an issue with the ability to push high volumes of water through the system in the name of environmental flows.
Quite simply, it will not fit without causing extensive flooding and, as a consequence, significant damage to property and communities along the way.
It has the potential to be a social and economic disaster.