Sexism is not ‘all good fun’

A nightclub in Singapore held an event on January 16 encouraging women to have their breast size judged in exchange for alcohol. Material for the event titled Fill my Cups invited women to “step right up to the Boobie Booth and flaunt what you’ve got”. Two judges visually assessed the breast size of the women. They gave them one free drink for an A cup, two for a B cup, three for a C cup and a bottle of vodka for a D cup. Cheryl Ho, spokesperson for The Lo & Behold Group, which runs the nightclub, said the promotion “was really a play on the guest DJ’s name. When we heard that it was DCUP, we decided to give the event an added spin.”

Why capitalism needs racism

The recent murder of Nitin Garg highlighted continuing violence against Indian students. It has led some to ask “Is Australia a racist country?” and put others on the defensive about Australia’s racist image. The ongoing Northern Territory intervention, which required the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act, and the demonisation and persecution of refugees by both government and opposition politicians suggests that racism is alive in Australia. The following article is from the new and updated What Resistance Stands For, which Resistance branches around the country will launch in coming weeks. To find out more, order your copy, or attend a launch near you, visit www.resistance.org.au. The capitalist social pyramid is black at the base and white at the top. In South Africa, until apartheid was formally abolished in 1994, this pyramid was legally sanctioned. Elsewhere, while slavery and segregation have been outlawed, the richest people are still the whitest and the poorest are the blackest. Racism suits capitalism because it’s an important way of justifying economic discrimination. It’s no accident that wherever you find racism, someone seems to be making money from it. Racist ideas help capitalism get away with super-exploiting racial and ethnic minorities, and all non-white people. “Those Arabs” or “Those Asians”, we’re told, “are used to doing dirty, hard work, and they’ll be glad to get a job at all.” Or when unemployment is on the rise, it’s always handy to blame “Asians”, or whichever ethnic group is being demonised at the time, for taking jobs away from “real” Australians. And when governments in the rich countries impose welfare funding or wage cuts on working people, they always start by targeting the most vulnerable groups — non-Anglo migrants or indigenous people. International students are often the first to cop attacks on higher education.