Workplace bullying

At the moment, there is a case going through the Victorian courts in regards to workplace bullying, wherein the family of one teenager who was seriously bullied is pushing for a change in the laws that would make bullying a crime. This is all well and good, but now an employers' group is questioning the necessity of changing the legislation on the basis of one case (which you can read about here). The triggering case to begin with was the suicide of a 19 year old waitress, Brodie Panlock, who was seriously bullied by her coworkers. The business in question was later fined around AUD$300 000 for this. The proposed changes to the Crimes Act would mean that workplace bullies could face up to ten years in prison.

As much as Brodie Panlock's story is horrendously sad, I'm actually inclined to side with those opposed to changing the legislation. Let's face it, bullying is already a delicate and difficult issue for employers to deal with, and by introducing stricter laws, it veers towards impossible for employers and business owners to deal with this kind of situation without involving the law.

I am also of the opinion that quite often, it is within the power of the victim to remove themselves. There are places both within their own workplaces and at a higher level where the bullying activities can be reported; if they don't feel comfortable with that, then as adults they have the ability to remove themselves from their job. Australia's job market is not currently in the position where, if choosing to leave one job, they will find it impossible to become re-employed. I am not saying this condone the actions of the bullies or to put their actions on the shoulders of the victims. But jobs are not necessarily permanent, and really - at what cost stay?

I will just reiterate: I do not want to trivialise Brodie Panlock's story. It is incredibly sad that a young woman got to the point where she did not think that she had any other options, and my heart goes out to her family. It's just that I can't help but feel that perhaps her death could also be attributed to an underlying mental illness, that was triggered by the bullying. Maybe, in cases such as this, more time could be spent into removing the taboo around mental illnesses such as depression that can lead people to make decisions to end their lives, rather than changing laws and removing any control the business owner or manager may have had.

Wow. So it has definitely been a while since I've come on here. I thought I'd forgotten my password, and then got distracted by my exchange in Sheffield (which was awesome), then rediscovering Tumblr and signing up for Twitter (which I thought was vastly overrated, but now I find strangely addictive). The world is a different place now... for one thing, I have my driver's licence now, and Australia officially has the carbon tax. Gruen Transfer is back on our TVs. I have learned about fandoms and seen them close-up (scary). And we've jumped from Twilight to Hunger Games and now (creepily) onto Fifty Shades of Grey. It's actually on this that I want to write a bit about today.

I have absolutely no opposition to erotic fiction. Not specifically talking from personal experience, I just think that it's an incredibly underrated way to get "in the mood". It's more subtle and portable than videos of the same thing, and apparently it's good for the imagination. And if it's really bad, it's really funny. The thing about erotica though, is that (and maybe I'm just a prude) I think it should be more private than anything else. So while I think it's great (in a way) that E. L. James's book is topping the best seller lists, at the same time, I'm a bit uncomfortable. Not because of the book itself - which I haven't read yet, but am expecting to be morish and awful in a good way - but because people are just so open about reading it.

On Facebook, I have a couple of hundred friends. Most of them are people around my age, who I know from school, work, travels, uni, friends and bfs/gfs of my friends. I also have some younger people (cousins etc) and some older people (from work, and more cousins). It's maybe 50/50 male:female, if I were to take a guess. What does this have to do with Fifty Shades of Grey? Well. What I find weird, is that many of the bracket of women who are older than me are openly admitting to reading it. And then writing statuses about it. And broadcasting it to the whole world. While I haven't read the book, I know exactly what it's about and what it involves, and now I feel like I have waaaaaay too much insight into the sex lives of the mums and wives who would otherwise keep quiet about it. I know that it's a really sexy book. But I don't need to know who is reading it, where or why... and I really don't need to know what they think about Christian Grey. It's icky. Mind you, I guess it's kind of like telling people that you're trying for a baby - you're really just telling people that your sex life is incredibly active for a while.

Maybe I am just not as sexually liberated as some of the people I know in their online lives. But I wouldn't want to tell my married coworker that I'm reading erotic fiction for fun. I feel that by doing that, you're kind of missing the point - being open is all well and good, but really, isn't most of the appeal in that it's illicit, that you're involved in something really juicy and secret? Maybe I'm overanalysing, and it's not creepy at all. But I just feel like now I know too much.

Also... apparently a movie is in the works. I don't know if it's the kind of thing that will be allowed to get cinematic release, but also, even if/when I do read it, I don't know if I'll want a most likely censored version of the novel...