Why Australia is in hysterics over navy twerking
A video of dancers twerking in hotpants at an Australian military event has sent the country into a spin.
The scene was incongruous, bizarre and funny. So of course it went viral when it emerged on Wednesday.
But the music video-style choreography - featuring thumps, thrusts and butt shakes - also came under attack. Conservative lawmakers led the chorus of those calling it inappropriate .
Tabloids splashed headlines slamming military standards. But others found offence elsewhere - projecting shame onto the dancers, and labelling their routine as too sexualised .
That in turn sparked backlash over the policing of women s bodies and women dancing
CARTOON BY BRIAN DOYLE
Earlier this week there were volcanic eruptions of bile on Australian Twitter accounts at the news that the “homophobic” tennis legend Margaret Court had been made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), the country’s highest award.
Court is one of Australia’s greatest sporting heroes. In the 1960s and 70s she won 24 Grand Slam women’s singles titles, 19 Grand Slam doubles titles, and 21 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. After retiring from professional tennis, she found God and became a Pentecostalist pastor in Perth.
Court brought to her preaching the same vigour she displayed in her sport. She campaigned against the legalisation of same-sex marriage and has criticised homosexuality and the transgender movement. “I believe implicitly in what the Bible tells me,” she said in 2016. “I do not cherry pick to be popular. God has made his feelings clear, and they are my feelings, too.”
Please Enjoy This Interactive Graph of World Leaders Who Have Shat Themselves at Maccas
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If you were ever wondering the proclivity of world leaders who allegedly shit their pants in a McDonald’s, there is now a handy interactive graph for that.
The Ballad of Scott Morrison and Engadine McDonald’s
Twitter user, @BoundMaid, has created a deeply specific graph that tracks ‘countries who’s leaders shat themselves in a Mcdonalds’ from 1970 onwards.
Our analysis showed Liberal state MP Tim Smith was instrumental in making the #DictatorDan hashtag go viral.
It was in low circulation until May 17, when Smith created a Twitter poll asking whether Andrews should be labelled “Dictator Dan” or “Chairman Dan”.
Subsequent growth of #DictatorDan activity was driven largely by far-right commentator Avi Yemini and his followers, along with a key group for fringe right-wing politics in Australian Twitter.
Meanwhile, #DanLiedPeopleDied went viral later on August 12, sparked by another right-wing group led by a handful of outspoken members. This group managed to get the hashtag trending nationally.
This attracted Yemini’s attention. The same day the hashtag started trending, he posted seven tweets and seven retweets with it to his then 128,000 followers. A considerable increase in activity ensued.