Piece spot-on

I agree that comments like ‘girly’ and being ‘such a girl’ are often used as insults these days.

I believe these are insults wrapped up as jokes; if women object to the insult, they are labelled as being humourless, so, in the end, women tend to say nothing.

I also agree that Julia Gillard is the ‘most maligned politician in Australia’.

It saddens me that Australians, and Australian women particularly, seem to have so little pride in Australia’s first female prime minister.

Sad indeed is the fact that the article ends with a prediction of stone-throwing in your direction.

Well I, for one, think your ‘ridiculous’ theory is absolutely valid.

A weekly column I have also enjoyed in your newspaper is by West Coast Fever’s Shae Bolton.

It’s been great to read one of the team’s personal comments after each week’s game. I hope the column continues and it returns next year.

West Coast Fever are a strong and feisty team, who I believe are great role models for young women, but you hardly hear a peep about them in the press.

Although the spectator numbers for male sports may well be higher and thus a reason to ignore netball as a ‘smaller’ sport, I think the thousands of girls and women who play netball each week at Matthews Netball Centre in Floreat are proof that netball is a major sport for women, yet we read so little about it in the news.

I do hope your paper would occasionally cover netball and perhaps redress this imbalance.

Other sporting centres seem to get attention, such as your front-page article on the Shenton Park Rugby Club.

Maybe there are thousands of boys and men playing rugby each week for Shenton Park Rugby Club, but somehow I doubt it.

There are plenty of grievances and frustration with the disruptive construction works down at Matthews at the moment, but these don’t seem to make it into the local press.