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Clementine Ford (writer)

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This article is about the feminist writer. For the actress, see Clementine Ford.

Clementine Ford
Ford at a book signing in Christchurch, New Zealand, September 2017
Ford at a book signing in Christchurch, New Zealand, September 2017
OccupationWriter, feminist
NationalityAustralian
Alma materUniversity of Adelaide
Children1

Clementine Ford is an Australian feminist writer, columnist, broadcaster and public speaker.[1][2][3][4] Throughout her career, Ford has received substantial media attention for social media comments concerning women's rights and other social and political issues.

Background

Ford spent much of her childhood growing up in the Middle East, specifically in Oman on the eastern border of the United Arab Emirates.[5] At the age of 12, her family relocated to England.[5][6] Ford spent the remainder of her teenage years growing up in Adelaide, South Australia. As a teenager, she struggled with body image, body dysmorphia and an eating disorder.[7]

Ford studied at the University of Adelaide, where she took a gender studies course; she describes this as a personal catalyst for her decision to become a women's rights activist.[8] During her time at the university she also worked as an editor and contributor for the student newspaper On Dit.[9][10]

Ford moved from Adelaide to Melbourne in 2011.[11] She announced the birth of her son in August 2016.[12][13]

Writing career

Ford's writing career includes her contributions as a columnist. Ford wrote a regular column for Daily Life[14] for seven years.[15] In 2007, Ford began writing a column for Adelaide's Sunday Mail and also began writing for The Drum.[1][2] Topics Ford wrote about included distigmatising abortion; she described having an abortion herself as an easy decision that she feels no shame for.[16] In 2014, she wrote of her outrage towards comments made by Cory Bernardi which labelled pro-choice advocates "pro-death" soldiers of the "death industry".[17] Later that year, she wrote an opinion piece against a Victorian bill that would change the state's abortion laws, arguing that if politicians really cared about the lives of women and girls that they would advocate for improved access to birth control, including terminations.[18]

In September 2016, Allen & Unwin published Ford's first book, Fight Like a Girl.[3][19] Her second book, Boys Will Be Boys: Power, Patriarchy and Toxic Masculinity, was published in 2018.[20]

Ford resigned from her role as a columnist with The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in January 2019, alleging that in September 2018 she had been disciplined over a tweet calling then prime minister Scott Morrison "a fucking disgrace" following negative comments of his concerning transgender education of teachers, and that she had been told it was the paper's new policy to refrain from "disrespect[ing] the office of the PM". Fairfax Media responded that their social media policy, which covered contributors, prohibited the use of "abusive language"[15]

In February 2020, Ford began a podcast called Big Sister Hotline in which she talks about current feminist issues and questions with guests such as Florence Given, Salma El-Werdany, Gemma Carey, Aileen Quinn and Yasmin Abdel-Magied.[21]

Social media

On White Ribbon Day in 2015, Ford made public some of the sexist and abusive messages that she had received online.[22] Meriton Group, the employer of a man who had labelled Ford with a derogatory term, investigated Ford's complaint and the man was dismissed from his job.[23] Three Adelaide High School boys were suspended from their school for lewd comments they wrote about Ford.[24]

In March 2016, Ford was banned from Facebook for 30 days for using profanity toward another user who had verbally abused her on her Facebook page. Ford accused Facebook of having a double standard, as the social networking site meanwhile declined to take action against a user who had posted a graphic internet meme making light of domestic violence.[14]

In 2018, a Lifeline event featuring Ford was cancelled following a petition calling for her removal, after she had made several Twitter comments including the phrase "all men must die".[15] Ford states those tweets were sarcastic and are only taken seriously by those opposing her, using an example of a tweet saying Ford would not be happy until she had all men fired, to which she responded she would not be happy until all men were "fired ... into the sun". According to Ford, despite the "clear jest", many men publicly accused her tweet of advocating for their mass murder.[25]

In May 2020, Ford was criticised for her tweet stating that the coronavirus was not "killing men fast enough", which has since been deleted.[26][27] A Melbourne City Council arts grant that had been awarded to Ford was afterwards said to be "under review" as a result of her comments. Lord Mayor Sally Capp stated that Ford's statement was "deliberately divisive and incredibly unhelpful when we are trying to keep our community together" during the COVID-19 pandemic.[26][27] While initially defending her tweet, Ford later responded on Twitter by stating that although she still stood "100% behind [her] fury at men exploiting women's unpaid labour", she had "reconsidered [her] flippancy in discussing it" and was "a big enough person to admit when [she had] misjudged something".[26]

In 2022, Ford posted a Facebook video in a response to a man's proposal to his then-girlfriend at her graduation from LaTrobe University, stating he had "taken a moment from her he can never take back", labeling it "entrapment" and telling her not to marry him. LaTrobe University later described allowing the proposal an "error in judgement".[28] The bride-to-be later responded, saying she "[didn't] appreciate being spoken for" and asking Ford to remove the video.[29]

In 2024, Ford was criticised by Australian Jewish community leaders for her involvement in the doxing of a group of 600 Jews.[30][31][32] The doxxing involved the public sharing of names, images, and social media accounts of hundreds of Jews working within academia and creative industries. The data was leaked from a WhatsApp group which the administrator said "was formed in October last year to support and advocate for Jewish people who felt alienated or isolated from their professional peers because of the war".[33] As the group grew significantly, a minority began discussing campaigns against pro-Palestinian figures, including Ford.[34] Ford said the group was "working to silence voices calling for Palestinian liberation” and that "people whose livelihoods and professional reputations are mendaciously – and successfully – targeted in secret by others invested in silencing their criticism of a genocide are entitled to defend themselves".[31] According to MP Josh Burns, members of the leaked group and their families had faced death threats.[35] Reportedly, one affected family had been forced into hiding.[36][37]

Personal life

Ford commenced a relationship in 2000, which she ended in 2004. She had a son during this time, and has stated raising her son with little assistance from her partner put pressure on the relationship.[38]

Bibliography

Nonfiction

  • Ford, Clementine (2016). Fight Like a Girl. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9781760292362.
  • Ford, Clementine (2018). Boys Will Be Boys. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9781760632335.
  • Ford, Clementine (2021). How We Love: Notes on a Life. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9781760877187.
  • Ford, Clementine (2023). I Don't. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9781761069666.

Contributed chapter

  • "There's Nothing Funny About Misogyny", pp. 189–197, in: Destroying the Joint, edited by Jane Caro, Read How You Want (2015, ISBN 9781459687295).

References

  1. ^ a b "The year that made me: Clementine Ford, 2007". Radio National. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 15 January 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  2. ^ a b Delaney, Brigid (28 September 2016). "Clementine Ford: 'There's something really toxic with the way men bond in Australia'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 31 December 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  3. ^ a b Baird, Julia; Ford, Clementine (27 September 2016). "Clem Ford: Why you should fight like a girl". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 12 December 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  4. ^ "Clementine Ford". ABC News. 30 September 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  5. ^ a b Ford, Clementine (2016). Fight Like a Girl. Melbourne: Allen & Unwin. p. 26.
  6. ^ "Ford - Q + A". ABC. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021.
  7. ^ Ford, Clementine (20 December 2011), "'The lifetime struggle to accept my body'", Mamamia, archived from the original on 25 December 2016, retrieved 17 January 2017
  8. ^ Handley, Erin; Ford, Clementine (11 October 2012), "Interview with Clementine Ford", Right Now, archived from the original on 16 January 2017, retrieved 16 January 2017
  9. ^ Capper, Sarah; Ford, Clementine (20 March 2014), "A Bonza Clementine", Sheilas, Victorian Women's Trust, archived from the original on 8 March 2017, retrieved 19 December 2016
  10. ^ Richardson, Tom (22 January 2015), "On Dit's Young Libs begin anti-leftist crusade", In Daily, archived from the original on 16 January 2017, retrieved 16 January 2017
  11. ^ Ross, Annabel (21 May 2012). "My Melbourne: Clementine Ford". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  12. ^ Curtis, Rachel (30 August 2016). "Clementine Ford announces surprise three-week-old baby". Mamamia. Archived from the original on 31 August 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  13. ^ Elliot, Ellen-Maree (6 October 2016). "It continues to divide, but the issue of breastfeeding in public is a no-brainer for author Clementine Ford". The Courier Mail. News Corp. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  14. ^ a b "This woman is highlighting Facebook's ridiculous double standards". Independent.co.uk. 29 March 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  15. ^ a b c "Clementine Ford quits Nine newspaper column, saying she was almost fired over tweet about Prime Minister", 31 January 2019, ABC. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  16. ^ Ford, Clementine (15 October 2009). "Clementine Ford reveals her two no guilt, no shame abortions". News.com.au. News Corp. Archived from the original on 29 January 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  17. ^ Ford, Clementine (7 January 2014). "'Pro-choice' doesn't equal 'pro-death'". Daily Life. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 8 April 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  18. ^ Ford, Clementine (9 May 2014). "Hands off our hard-fought abortion rights". The Drum. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 10 May 2014.
  19. ^ "Fight Like A Girl - Clementine Ford - 9781760292362 - Allen & Unwin - Australia". www.allenandunwin.com. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  20. ^ Smith, Michelle (26 September 2018). "Clementine Ford reveals the fragility behind 'toxic masculinity' in Boys Will Be Boys". The Conversation. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  21. ^ "Clementine Ford's Big Sister Hotline". Great Australian Pods – Podcast Directory. 10 March 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  22. ^ Caggiano, Anthony (25 June 2015). "Man shamed for trolling Clementine Ford apologises for online attack". Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  23. ^ Levy, Megan (1 December 2015). "Hotel worker Michael Nolan sacked over Facebook post to Clementine Ford". Archived from the original on 1 December 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  24. ^ Wright, Jessica (26 June 2015). "'Enough is enough': Clementine Ford to lodge police complaint over trolling". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  25. ^ Ford, Clementine (2016). Fight Like a Girl. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9781760292362.
  26. ^ a b c Hore, Monique (24 May 2020). "Council grant under review following Clementine Ford's 'offensive' tweet". Herald Sun. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  27. ^ a b "Clementine Ford apologises after tweeting 'coronavirus isn't killing men fast enough'". News.com.au. 25 May 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  28. ^ "Boyfriend blasted for 'stealing' girlfriend's moment in public wedding proposal". News.com.au. 22 December 2022.
  29. ^ "'Take it down': Graduate hits back after proposal outrage". News.com.au. 23 December 2022.
  30. ^ Greyman-Kennard, Danielle (9 February 2024). "'Jew List' published by Australian pro-Palestinian activists forces families into hiding". The Jerusalem Post.
  31. ^ a b le Grand, Chip (8 February 2024). "Hundreds of Jewish creatives have names, details published online following Whatsapp leak". Sydney Morning Herald.
  32. ^ Ford’s festival gig challenged over doxxing role. The Australian.
  33. ^ le Grand, Chip (8 February 2024). "Hundreds of Jewish creatives have names, details published online following Whatsapp leak". Sydney Morning Herald.
  34. ^ Keane, Bernard (13 February 2024). "My transparency is your doxxing: Hypocrisy and power on display from Labor and the media". Crikey.
  35. ^ "Australian Jews alarmed after list of 'Zionists' publicized, fueling harassment". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  36. ^ "Publication of Jewish creatives WhatsApp group led to death threats, MP says". The Guardian.
  37. ^ "Australian Jews alarmed after list of 'Zionists' publicized, fueling harassment". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  38. ^ Saunders, Anna (30 October 2021). ""I Became A Mother. And Then I Left My Partner"". primer. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
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