The Alston cartoon published in The West Australian  on Saturday,   November 7, depicted a group of women discussing the aftermath of the historic Melbourne Cup winning ride by Michelle Payne.
In short, the cartoon had the women deferring action on further important, ground-breaking issues until after their latte, book club, waxing, hairdo and shopping.
Heather Old complains that the cartoon was "completely and utterly degrading to women" and that "this 'cartoon' basically tells men that they are right to think 'wimmin' are not able to contribute to society and 'let's all have a good laugh at the woman jockey who thinks she is better than us'". 
The West Australian  seeks to justify the cartoon on the basis of irony - that it used language, stereotype or cliche in such an absurd way that it would normally mean the opposite. In other words, that by saying women were more interested in doing inconsequential things that, in context, the reader would somehow understand this to mean the opposite.
The hostile reaction to the cartoon, both anecdotally and through letters to the editor, suggests that many of The West Australian 's readers view the matter very differently - that there was no irony, only old-fashioned sexism.
The role of the Independent Media Council is not to be the arbiter of good taste, nor what is offensive. The IMC Code of Conduct lays down the principles by which any complaint will be adjudicated. 
Two relevant principles are that reports should not unnecessarily refer to personal characteristics such as gender, nor give distorting emphasis to any report. Cartoons are to be judged differently from news reports because they are often not meant to be taken literally, and the cartoonist's tools of trade will include satire, lampoon, parody, irony and stereotyping - all in the name of humour or to make a point.
While we do not think this cartoon achieved any of its stated objectives and would be highly offensive to a great number of readers, we find that there is nothing in the Code of Conduct which has been breached by its publication.
Peter Blaxell, chairman, Independent Media Council