[BITList] Fwd: [From: Mike Feltham] Below the belt: Australian submarine chief in hot water over bikini gaffe

[Michael Feltham]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "guardian.co.uk" <noreply at guardian.co.uk>
Date: 15 January 2009 17:50:10 GMT
To: mj.feltham at madasafish.com
Subject: [From: Mike Feltham] Below the belt: Australian submarine  
chief in hot water over bikini gaffe

Mike Feltham spotted this on the guardian.co.uk site and thought you  
might like to see it.

To see this story with its related links on the guardian.co.uk site,  
go to http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2009/jan/16/australia-navy-bikini-submarine

Below the belt: Australian submarine chief in hot water over bikini  
gaffe
Was the skipper wrong to play along when asked if women wore bikinis  
it would help recruitment?
Alexandra Topping
Friday January 16 2009
guardian.co.uk


An Australian navy submarine skipper has got himself into, erm, hot  
water, by suggesting that attractive females wearing bikinis could  
reverse a recruitment crisis.

Commander Tom Phillips, appointed to the Australian navy's HMAS  
Farncomb last year, also joked that the submariner equivalent of the  
notorious "mile-high club" for people having sex in aircraft was the  
"going down club".

Now then, the original Reuters story says he suggested female sailors  
"should" wear bikinis, which isn't quite true. If we scroll down the  
story we find that, in fact, he was asked by Ralph Magazine: "If  
female sailors all had to be hot and had to wear bikinis, would that  
help recruitment?"

To which he responded: "It would certainly get the right demographic  
of young men in. I'm not sure how feasible it is, however."

Does that make it all right?

The defence, science and personnel minister Warren Snowden called the  
remarks "utterly unacceptable", while the Australian MP Bob Baldwin  
said: "If these comments are to be attributed to this newly appointed  
commander, I think it will go down as one of the shortest careers in  
naval history."

But Real Admiral Davyd Thomas, the deputy navy commander, said the  
Australian navy did not value "bodies over brains" as some angry  
women's rights groups have suggested.

Phillips was merely responding to a "flippant question".

"The commanding officer's response was not intended to be serious," he  
said.

The Australian blogger Amarinda Jones doesn't find it funny: "This is  
bloody stupid and it begs the question ? if female sailors dress to  
attract male recruits, what do the male sailors do to attract women to  
enlist in the navy?" She writes: "I find it not only offensive to  
women in general but also to the members of the defence forces as it  
suggests they join under the influence of sex. Once again ? as far as  
we have come as women, there is always some nitwit man trying to hold  
us back."

Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited 2009

If you have any questions about this email, please contact the  
guardian.co.uk user help desk: userhelp at guardian.co.uk.
Guardian News & Media will begin a phased move to new offices during  
December.  If sending post or a package,  please check where the  
recipient is located before sending.

Our new address is:

Kings Place
90 York Way
London N1 9GU
Tel:  020-3353 2000

Guardian Professional will remain at 3-7 Ray Street, London EC1R 3DR  
and Ad Services will remain at 3-7 Herbal Hill, London EC1R 5EJ.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit guardian.co.uk - the UK's most popular newspaper website
http://guardian.co.uk http://observer.co.uk
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Please consider the environment before printing this email

This e-mail and all attachments are confidential and may also
be privileged. If you are not the named recipient, please notify
the sender and delete the e-mail and all attachments immediately.
Do not disclose the contents to another person. You may not use
the information for any purpose, or store, or copy, it in any way.

Guardian News & Media Limited is not liable for any computer
viruses or other material transmitted with or as part of this
e-mail. You should employ virus checking software.

Guardian News & Media Limited
A member of Guardian Media Group PLC
Registered Office
Number 1 Scott Place, Manchester M3 3GG
Registered in England Number 908396