Gloria Steinem, holding court in Australia, plays softball with the MSM

So Gloria Steinem is in Australia and local frightbats are all aflutter. Gotta say the high level of adulation does seem a bit odd because we've got heaps of sassy sisters fearlessly fighting the patriarchy here already. Take those world class paradigm busters Vanessa "Van" Badham, and Clementine "Clementine" Ford. You could say we already suffer an embarrassment of, er, riches.

So all this unseemly Gloria-fication seems to confirm that our notorious cultural cringe also applies to victim feminism. It's kind of a "whinge cringe" innit? (Hmmm. I should submit that to the Macquarie Dictionary. They're always looking for new words and phrases along with updated definitions for old ones.)

Still, there's no denying that Steinem, whom Camille Paglia so neatly dubbed the "crafty dowager empress of feminism", really knows how to keep that victim bleat going. Hell, she's been milking the same spurious gripe for decades now. Talk about mega-miles per gallon! If she and her fellow leftie slebs all used fossil fuels with the same level of efficiency then the threat of "catastrophic global warming" would be halved by now, no kidding!

In any case, given how toxic her divisive brand of feminism has been to the developed world, Australia needs Gloria Steinem like a fish needs ... mercury. Yet there are clearly squillions of sob sisters here who reckon she's the duck's nuts -- er, or maybe that's the owl's ovaries ... She really packed 'em out in Melbourne to flog her new tome, don't ya know. Well, nice to know the assembled throng were supporting a book for once. Makes a nice change from wanting to burn 'em, eh! 

But it must be said that to any objective observer, such as myself, Steinem's Oz tour just looks really ... sad. It's a bit like Herman's Hermits singing "Mrs Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter" to 70 year-olds in Dubbo. She's way past her use by date, let's face it. 

Sadder still is the way that feminist chicks in the local meeja have conducted fawning interviews with her. Take the cozy chat she had with Leigh Sales. It was just one softball question after another that evoked a predictable series of sisterhood statements. 

The conversation did veer toward the upcoming US election. But Sales studiously avoided quizzing her on that dreadful faux pas she committed regarding Bernie Sanders's female support base. (She said many young women were only there for the boys, remember.) Can do better, Leigh! 

Speaking of the wily ol' Bernster, did you know that a while back Gloria Steinem actually dubbed him an "honorary woman"? And no snip required! You couldn't make it up, could you? 

Apparently it was a somewhat controversial decision at the time. Upon hearing of it many of her fellow frightbats yelled "Eeek! Boy germs!" and fell onto their fainting couches. 

I seriously doubt Bernie/Bernadette used any female bathrooms upon receiving this official amendment to his/her gender (which as we all know, is an entirely social construct). But if he/she retained the woman card issued to him/her at the time he/she certainly could now. (And he/she may actually need to. Bladder weakness tends to increase with advancing years. So it's nice to have extra options available.)