I have just spent the morning reading the paper. I have to say it was the first time in a long time that it has not left me feeling very depressed. And with some yummy fair trade coffee from Latin America and pancakes it was an hour well spent.

I was a little unsure yesterday but today I am feeling very sure that Kevin and Julia are going to be good, in fact I reckon I can say awesome. I am going to write him a letter saying congratulations on his win and remind him that he must take a stand against global poverty. I urge everyone to do the same. I was also very excited to see that Hillary Clinton is almost definitely going to run for president of the US and that Hugo Chavez was reelected as the president of Venezuala. I am excited by the prospect of living in a world with Hilary the President of the US, Kevin the Primeminister of Australia and Hugo Chavez the leader of socialist revolution in Latin America. My count shows that Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Cuba all have very socialist leaders and Chile, Argentina and Brazil have almost socialist leaders so it is looking good for some big changes to take place there. It could all go bad but it could also go really well and I chose to be hopeful.

I was however very disappointed that the article that was written on Julia Gillard spent the first five paragraphs talking about her hair and her boyfriend. In fact he got quoted before she did. Why is that whenever a woman gets a high profile position in governement we all have to hear about her hair or shoes or partner before we hear about her policies and what she has to offer. It makes me angry. I think we have become complacent in the face of sexism. Women have made many gains and I don’t want to take away from that. The fact that we have a woman deputy is great but if we still want to read about her hair before profile what does that say? People say that sexism doesn’t exist but I think that this speaks for itself:

“Julia Gillard, one of Labor’s arch headkickers has emerged as deputy leader groomed for the office by her partner, a former hairdresser Tim Mathieson. Until recently Ms Gillard appeared to be less fussy about her hallmark crop of red hair. Yesterday she made her first appearnce as deputy with Mr Mathison at her side sporting a slick hairdo. It was thanks to Mr Mathieson, her boyfriend of six months, who has shaped her hair for the big occasion recently. She had a little French flick last week, but this is more of a sophisticated coif. Mr Mathieson, who has a daughter from a previous marriage and does not live with Ms Gillard, prposed the more styled look…