Call To The 'Beauty-Disadvantaged'
August 20th 2008 23:07
In a post-Sex and the City world, it has become a commonly held fact that some women in the metropolitan areas are having trouble finding a man, for one reason or another. Some are too picky. Some are too independent. Some are career focussed. And some just can’t get one to stick around. But those girls need fear no longer. Enter Mt Isa Mayor John Molony. The unlikely saviour of women everywhere.
Let me explain. Earlier this week Molony came out on the media and made a call for “beauty-disadvantaged” women to move to Mt Isa if they couldn’t find a man in the city, citing the city’s disproportionate ratio of men to women and saying that the boys in Mt Isa don’t expect ravishingly hot women. Now, he has since said that it was something of a publicity stunt for Mt Isa and if that is the case it definitely succeeded. The story ran on the front page of many national newspapers, on all national television broadcasts and was even carried on the front page of the CNN website and BBC. The Mayor may be a savvy media operator. But I see an element of sincerity in his words which leads me to believe that maybe he didn’t mean it as stunt at all. I mean, the outweighing number of men to women in the country is a well known problem. Towns like Mt Isa are mining towns and not a lot of single women are going to move there of their own accord. Which makes it hard because if the women won’t come, the men will have to leave to find them. Mt Isa has been struggling with bad publicity in the last few months, with serious environmental concerns and conflicts between Aboriginal tribes on the city outskirts. You can see a little desperation in Molony’s call. Please, anybody, give Mt Isa a break.
It didn’t quite work. Instead it’s divided the community. On one hand you have the men and country folk who say that Molony has hit on a real problem, and was complimenting women by saying that the men in Mt Isa are not superficial and can like a woman for her inner beauty. On the other side? Country women, and women in general, who say that the Mayor is objectifying women and insulting them by calling them ugly. The battlelines are drawn, the women have been protesting outside council chambers, and the first heated battle of the war began this morning on nationwide television. On one side, former women’s magazine editor and Today show presenter Lisa Wilkins. On the other? Friend of John Molony and northern Queensland icon Bob Katter MP. And boy, did it heat up. When Wilkins let fly the opinion that Malony was being misogynistic Katter exploded in a rage that is almost uncomfortable in breakfast television. He accused the television media of being the ones obsessed with beauty and propagating an image that most normal women can’t live up to. He said Molony was offering normal women an escape from the high expectations put on them by the media. Wilkins’ barely concealed contempt of Molony and Katter shone through as she accused the Mayor of being disrespectful to women and Katter of being a media whore willing to drive 800km to film this segment of the show. Katter shot back that the city-based media exploited the country image when it suited them but otherwise treated it neglectfully. He also brought up that the news media tore down country-folk when they spoke their mind, invoking the name of Pauline Hanson. He said that even though he didn’t agree with a lot of what Hanson said, a lot of people did, and the media destroyed her for her honesty. Katter said Molony’s demonisation was just another instance of the same.
The back and forth was a tad uncomfortable but Katter’s defence of the country-folk was passionate as ever. Katter has made a name for himself for being the most staunch supporter of the bush in Parliament, both State and Federal. He is known in the north as a kind of countrified ‘everyman’, someone who relates to the needs of the bush and fights for them. As I said earlier, the lack of women in the bush is something that all people in the bush understand is a serious problem.
You know who else see’s that it’s a problem? Channel Nine, the employer of Lisa Wilkins. That’s why they have their show, ‘Farmer Wants A Wife’. They understand that it’s hard to find women in the bush. And a hallmark of that show is that not everyone woman that is successful in the end is a stunning beauty. Normal women are on the show, just as Katter and Molony are encouraging to come to Mt Isa. Molony’s low rent version of ‘Farmer Wants A Wife’ seems to have struck a chord with women everywhere, while its television counterpart is generally lauded as a product of reality TV’s propensity to do good.
Maybe Molony should offer to host the next season of ‘Farmer Wants A Wife’ exclusively in Mt Isa. Otherwise, if the mountain won’t come to Muhammad, Muhammad will go to the mountain and it will be the death knell for bush communities.
Let me explain. Earlier this week Molony came out on the media and made a call for “beauty-disadvantaged” women to move to Mt Isa if they couldn’t find a man in the city, citing the city’s disproportionate ratio of men to women and saying that the boys in Mt Isa don’t expect ravishingly hot women. Now, he has since said that it was something of a publicity stunt for Mt Isa and if that is the case it definitely succeeded. The story ran on the front page of many national newspapers, on all national television broadcasts and was even carried on the front page of the CNN website and BBC. The Mayor may be a savvy media operator. But I see an element of sincerity in his words which leads me to believe that maybe he didn’t mean it as stunt at all. I mean, the outweighing number of men to women in the country is a well known problem. Towns like Mt Isa are mining towns and not a lot of single women are going to move there of their own accord. Which makes it hard because if the women won’t come, the men will have to leave to find them. Mt Isa has been struggling with bad publicity in the last few months, with serious environmental concerns and conflicts between Aboriginal tribes on the city outskirts. You can see a little desperation in Molony’s call. Please, anybody, give Mt Isa a break.
It didn’t quite work. Instead it’s divided the community. On one hand you have the men and country folk who say that Molony has hit on a real problem, and was complimenting women by saying that the men in Mt Isa are not superficial and can like a woman for her inner beauty. On the other side? Country women, and women in general, who say that the Mayor is objectifying women and insulting them by calling them ugly. The battlelines are drawn, the women have been protesting outside council chambers, and the first heated battle of the war began this morning on nationwide television. On one side, former women’s magazine editor and Today show presenter Lisa Wilkins. On the other? Friend of John Molony and northern Queensland icon Bob Katter MP. And boy, did it heat up. When Wilkins let fly the opinion that Malony was being misogynistic Katter exploded in a rage that is almost uncomfortable in breakfast television. He accused the television media of being the ones obsessed with beauty and propagating an image that most normal women can’t live up to. He said Molony was offering normal women an escape from the high expectations put on them by the media. Wilkins’ barely concealed contempt of Molony and Katter shone through as she accused the Mayor of being disrespectful to women and Katter of being a media whore willing to drive 800km to film this segment of the show. Katter shot back that the city-based media exploited the country image when it suited them but otherwise treated it neglectfully. He also brought up that the news media tore down country-folk when they spoke their mind, invoking the name of Pauline Hanson. He said that even though he didn’t agree with a lot of what Hanson said, a lot of people did, and the media destroyed her for her honesty. Katter said Molony’s demonisation was just another instance of the same.
The back and forth was a tad uncomfortable but Katter’s defence of the country-folk was passionate as ever. Katter has made a name for himself for being the most staunch supporter of the bush in Parliament, both State and Federal. He is known in the north as a kind of countrified ‘everyman’, someone who relates to the needs of the bush and fights for them. As I said earlier, the lack of women in the bush is something that all people in the bush understand is a serious problem.
You know who else see’s that it’s a problem? Channel Nine, the employer of Lisa Wilkins. That’s why they have their show, ‘Farmer Wants A Wife’. They understand that it’s hard to find women in the bush. And a hallmark of that show is that not everyone woman that is successful in the end is a stunning beauty. Normal women are on the show, just as Katter and Molony are encouraging to come to Mt Isa. Molony’s low rent version of ‘Farmer Wants A Wife’ seems to have struck a chord with women everywhere, while its television counterpart is generally lauded as a product of reality TV’s propensity to do good.
Maybe Molony should offer to host the next season of ‘Farmer Wants A Wife’ exclusively in Mt Isa. Otherwise, if the mountain won’t come to Muhammad, Muhammad will go to the mountain and it will be the death knell for bush communities.
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