Feminist radio takes on the world
- Author:
- Millicent Caffrey
- Posted:
- Thursday, 4 November 2010
Radio avoids the visual assault that a blaring television can often inflict. Its blindness creates a certain intimacy and appeals to the imagination of the audience. However, sustaining the interest of the listener for thirty minutes each week can be a challenging task for producers and presenters.
It is then no mean feat that Sydney’s 2SER FM has won a national award for excellence at the Community Broadcasting Conference for the weekly half hour program “Double X”. Produced and presented by Rosie Lentini and Jeanavive Mcgregor with a small team of volunteer journalists, including Louisa Olsen and Farah Ahmed, the show tackles everything from the recent Kristy Fraser Kirk sexual harassment lawsuit to tantric sex.
Inheriting the role of producer almost a year ago, Rosie Lentini changed the format of the program with the aim of showing everyday women that being a feminist isn’t all about burning bras and growing a monobrow.
“There is a stigma around feminism and admitting you believe in equal rights for women. I wanted to break down the concept of feminism,” Ms Lentini says. “Making it more accessible, looking at issues like female sexuality and providing women with the information to make the choices that are right for them.”
This notion of female empowerment has been noticeably absent from recent mainstream media coverage of Kristy Fraser Kirk’s allegations against David Jones then-CEO Mark McInnes. Unsurprisingly, it has been proven in court that Ms Fraser-Kirk suffered psychiatric harm after being ravaged by the media in their unabashed sexual interest of the case.
“There was also a lot of media attention on the size of the lawsuit,” Ms Lentini says. “And I think that many people missed the point. What we tried to do was recast debate over the case and give a voice for people to express their reactions to sexual harassment.”
Based on a different theme every week, with an interesting array of guests, “Double X” is an often hilarious but always informative program. For a medium born in the late 19th century, radio has survived and evolved through the digital age, proving that radio is certainly not a dying art. The award to “Double X” is well-deserved recognition for a feminist program that challenges those who believe feminism to be irrelevant in contemporary society. As Ms Lentini asks, “Who can say that feminism doesn’t mean anything anymore?”
By Milly Caffrey
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November 5th, 2010 @ 11:30 am
Great work Double X team and 2ser