I read this story and part of me died.
Protest shuts down ‘bloke’ event
September 18, 2005 - 4:28PM
The shutting down of the Blokesworld Live event in Brisbane on the weekend was a victory for women, a female lobby group said today.
A group of women had protested outside the RNA Showgrounds against the event, inspired by the Ten Network program, saying it was demeaning to women.
Blokesworld Live had billed itself as the “ultimate weekend for the bloke of the species”.
It was to have featured lingerie pillow fighting championships, topless bullfighting, aerobics “Bloke Style”, national trailer reversing championships, the Australian beer games, Guinness World Record meat tray, lawnmower races and the Flirtmodel dancers.
Brisbane City Council late on Friday refused to issue an entertainment licence because of concerns over public health and safety issues and the adequate notification of neighbours about the nature of the event.
Blokesworld Live organisers went to the Supreme Court but Justice Anthe Philipides ruled in the council’s favour.
Women’s Forum Australia (WFA) claimed it was pressure from female protesters that forced the closure of the event.
“[It] promoted a stereotype of women as recreational objects, always available for male entertainment and pleasure,” WFA spokesperson Katrina George said.
"We feared that the combination of semi-naked women, guns, knives and alcohol could have contributed to a sexually dangerous environment for women.
“It’s time to declare zero tolerance against men who treat women like recreational sex toys.”
However a Brisbane City Council spokesman said there was no moral judgement on the event.
“So long as their activities are lawful, council cannot make a determination based on those moral grounds,” he said.
“If they were to fulfil their requirements under the law, council cannot stand in their way.”
Despite Blokesworld Live organisers saying the event would come back bigger and better than before, exhibitors will lose tens of thousands of dollars.
Renee Eaves, who is the managing director of Flirtmodels, also blamed the protesters for the ban, labelling them “misinformed annoying females”.
She said the action by the Brisbane City Council was “bizarre”.
“Anyone can find a loophole in anything if you want to and the council felt so much pressure from these feminist groups they just managed to find a loophole,” she said.
“This would never ever have happen in Melbourne or Sydney.”
Ms Eaves said Flirtmodels was a troupe of trained dancers and models who would have performed a “sexy but extremely classy choreographed” stage show.
She denied the featured events in Blokesworld was demeaning to women.
“Blokesworld is not driven by sex … but by blokey type things,” she said.
“It’s all very tongue-in-cheek … what the women were doing there was more in jest … there was nothing sexual about it.”
AAP