Dana Johannsen: Perfect night for gender activism

Callan Ward of the Giants and his partner, Ruby Keddia, wowed TV presenters. Picture / Getty Images

AFL awards evening’s empty-headed red-carpet treatment of ‘WAGs’ offers platform for online campaigners

Acurious thing happened during Monday night's Brownlow medal ceremony - otherwise known as "AFL's night of nights" (which is another deeply curious thing about the evening).

While the AFL stars and their partners took to the red carpet before the ceremony, a small but vocal group used the event as a platform to draw attention to the media's portrayal of women. During the live television coverage of the red carpet, the group took to social media to express their dismay at how the partners of the players (irritatingly referred to as WAGs, but that's a whole other column) were dismissed as mere decoration.

As the television presenters oohed and aahed over the women's dresses and asked about how long it took them to get ready, their diet regime for the big occasion, what jewellery they wore, and if they weren't married, whether the absence of a rock on their left finger would be rectified some time in the near future, the hashtag #askhermore was getting a serious workout on Twitter.

From the few snippets of the red carpet coverage online, it is easy to see what they were getting worked up about. The partners of the AFL stars, many of them clever, accomplished women in their own right, were reduced to decorative elements with their fashion choices, hairstyle and figures picked apart before the coverage got on to the serious part of the evening - honouring the men.

Just as the whole "night of nights" was borrowed from the Oscars, the #askhermore movement's origins also lie in Hollywood.

The campaign was introduced by The Representation Project - an organisation that exposes sexism and harmful gender stereotypes in the media - and came about in advance of the Hollywood awards season, imploring presenters to ask female celebrities about more than just what designer they're wearing and whether they'll last the whole evening in those shoes.

It isn't the first time hashtag activism has spilled over into sport. It may have been late to board the bandwagon, but Campbell Live's #abstosamoa campaign got results, with the NZRU bowing to public pressure and scheduling a test match in Apia next year.

The difference between that and what happened on Monday night was that sport was used as a platform to promote a discussion about wider societal issues. Given the following and visibility of professional sporting organisations, sport has an important role to play in leading culture change. But gender issues is one area where most high-profile sports lag well behind the rest of society, which has been acknowledged by the AFL.

The organisation has been working hard on developing its "gender vision" aimed at improving gender diversity at all levels of the sport. One has to wonder how the "gownlow medal" - an initiative by one of their sponsors for the best-dressed "WAG" - gels with this vision.

Cruden debacle
As a columnist, it is not often you're given a free hit like Aaron Cruden has given the media this week. But there is little more that can be added to the incident other than Cruden's own summation - he messed up badly and he is deeply ashamed of his actions, which have come at great personal and professional expense.

Steve Hansen and his team have been applauded for their hardline stance in ruling Cruden out of this weekend's test against Argentina and the following clash against South Africa, but in reality they had no other option. Allowing Cruden to rejoin the All Blacks would have sent a dangerous message ahead of next year's World Cup that if you're a good enough player, then behavioural standards can be relaxed.