RE your lead post which included; "... She does not like Tony Abbott - I get that - but this is going too far - way too far. If he was to go on the attack like that - he would be slaughted."
No-one should feel sorry for Tony Abbott in this matter. With all his education and experience in law-making he knew exactly what he was doing! Abbott has brought all the attention on himself. He chose to ignore earlier feedback.
In regurgitating the words Alan Jones used linking the death of John Gillard to Julia Gillard's performance as PM, Abbott behaved in a 100% disrespectful and cruel manner. His words were carefully chosen to inflict maximum embarrassment and damage.
"Misogyny is the hatred or dislike of women or girls. According to feminist theory, misogyny can be manifested in numerous ways, including sexual discrimination, denigration of women, violence against women, and sexual objectification of women. ..."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misogyny
Did any of Tony Abbott's actions / comments discriminate against Julia Gillard on the basis of her gender?
Have any of Tony Abbott's actions / comments denigrated Julia Gillard as a female?
Have any of Tony Abbott's actions / comments objectified Julia Gillard?
What matters is how the target of Abbott's vitriolic attack felt and Gillard was clearly outraged. Loving one's own family does not equate to treating other females with the respect to which they are entitled and Abbott failed that test miserably.
Abbott needs to take account of Gillard's retort and change the mannner in which he speaks about other people [not just women either]. He might start by affording some respect to his very loyal Deputy; who never even scored a mention when Abbott listed the 'strong women' in his life:
