Melbourne paper under fire for nude cartoon of premier

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has slammed a cartoon in a Melbourne newspaper depicting her in the nude. Politicians and gender equality advocates have thrown their support behind the new premier saying the caricature is sexist and demeaning. But the illustrator is defending the depiction as fair political comment.

Transcript

00:00 Jacinta Allen naked on a fashion catwalk.

00:05 The Herald Sun drawing on the folktale of the Emperor's new clothes to highlight the

00:09 premier being exposed by the Commonwealth Games cancellation.

00:14 It's 2023.

00:15 I think it's pretty reasonable to expect, very reasonable to expect, that women can

00:21 be depicted without using sexualised imagery.

00:24 The Mark Knight caricature has been labelled misogynistic and sexist.

00:29 The cartoon is demeaning of women.

00:31 But its illustrator says it's simply a political analogy.

00:35 I'm a big supporter of women's movement.

00:37 I think it's fantastic.

00:38 I basically work with women all day.

00:41 This cartoon is not just, it's not sexualisation, it's a political comment.

00:47 Jacinta Allen says she doesn't recall any male MPs being depicted in the same way.

00:53 All women deserve to be able to open the paper, look at images that are there for public consumption

01:01 and not see sexualised imagery being used to represent them.

01:05 Both sides of politics have called out the behaviour.

01:08 I think it's disappointing to see women depicted in this way and as I've said, I do believe

01:13 it's in poor taste.

01:14 It is inappropriate, disrespectful and demeaning.

01:17 In 2023, to be going through that sexualised imagery, that misogynistic type betrayal is

01:25 just not on.

01:26 Steve Brack says he was Premier for almost eight years and not once was he subjected

01:31 to the awful sexualised treatment Premier Jacinta Allen has received in less than a

01:36 month.

01:37 Gender equality advocates have drawn comparisons to the way former Prime Minister Julia Gillard

01:42 was treated.

01:43 When I saw the cartoon I thought, here we go again.

01:46 What else has changed?

01:47 He genuinely thinks that drawing a man naked and drawing a woman naked are the same thing.

01:53 They actually aren't.

01:54 It's not the first time Mark Knight's come under fire.

01:57 He was accused of sexism and racism for depicting Serena Williams throwing a tantrum in 2018.

02:04 The cartoon has provoked anger among women as yet another example of the hurdles they

02:08 face to pursue a career in politics.

02:12 Jacinta Allen says she hopes this doesn't discourage women in any profession from taking

02:16 on a leadership role.

02:18 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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