I am woman, hear me roar...

This is probably less personal than the posts I usually write, but it is something that I feel very strongly about, so I guess that makes it personal. And there’s only so many times you can write about being fed up!

My husband, my best friend but above all, my equal

Yesterday saw the one hundred year anniversary of women getting the vote in the UK. It would be another ten years before they enjoyed that right on an equal footing with men. It astonishes me that, a century later, there are still institutions and companies that find it acceptable to pay women less than men, despite the fact that they are doing the same job. You only have to look at the machinations at the BBC to see that.

Gripping...

Coincidentally, yesterday was also the day that I went to see ‘The Post’, Stephen Spielberg’s latest film about the events leading up to the publication of the damning Pentagon Papers. Im a real sucker for a good journalism movie - All the President’s Men, It Happened One Night, Spotlight - and found The Post absorbing and thought provoking. The main thrust of the story, and the reason that the director rushed to make it, was the role of the press in shining a clear and rational light on things that administrations would prefer the public not to know, and the freedom to publish. It was truly gripping, and actually evoked a fist pump from me when the printing presses started to roll! But, as with all great films, there was an intriguing subplot - the role of women. 

I want to read this...

Katherine (Kay) Graham was the first female publisher of a major American newspaper, but only because her husband died. She has been quoted as saying that she was proud that her father ‘gave’ the paper to her beloved Phil, and that it never occurred to her that she would be considered suitable to take on such an important job. Astonishing! The Post is punctuated by scenes depicting how women were regarded in the early seventies - the male advisor taking over in a key meeting, the bankers assuming they know best, female clerks waiting outside the doors of the New York Stock Exchange and even Graham herself demanding more columns about fashion to please her female friends. Watching Meryl Streep portray Graham’s shift towards doing what she felt was right, in the face of all opposition and the possible loss of all she held dear was breathtaking.

Nearly an adult!

I was slowly emerging as an adult in the mid-seventies, and spent time railing against inequality in my youth. I never actually burnt a bra, but I flirted with Women’s Lib when I was at college. There is no doubt that since I waved a placard in 1975, major strides have been made, but there are still circumstances when women are discriminated against, purely because of their gender. 

My placard waving friends in 1975 - where are they now?

I never had to break through a glass ceiling in my career, but very few men worked in the Special Needs or Primary sector of education when I started out. I don’t think thats true anymore, but I’m willing to bet that its the females on the staff that get asked to do the more ‘pastoral’ or ‘care’ aspects of the job, while the men play football with the lads. I appreciate that’s a sweeping statement, but I’m sure there’s a grain of truth in it.

Looking forward, the #metoo campaign has served to shine a clear light on how people, largely female, have been exploited by those in power, Carrie Grace has fallen on her sword to demonstrate the inequalities at the BBC, and there is a heartening number of women in politics. And yet there are still clubs that refuse the admittance of woman (although, to be fair, would you really want to be a member?) and  young women who do nothing to promote the cause - if I hear one more say, ‘I didn’t bother to vote, I don’t get politics’ I will tie them down and make them watch the footage of Emily Davison being trampled by the King’s horse in 1913. 

On a stamp...must be important!

I’m sure that if they had to endure the lot of women in less enlightened times, they’d pretty soon see that ‘politics’ isn’t only about men (and women) in suits, Brexit and the budget, it’s what underpins the entire structure of our lives. You’ve got to be in it, to win it!

Woman's Rights are Human Rights!

So, women’s rights. Not a light hearted topic for a blog post, but many things have conspired to make me feel the need to write this. 

Being retired has given me considerably more time to contemplate personal and world events. Now that I don't need to stress about work I find myself reacting more vehemently to things that I read or see on tv. At the end of last week I started a new book - The Letter by Kathryn Hughes. Whilst it’s never going to pull up any trees in the literary world, or challenge for a Booker prize, the plight of its protagonists affected me in a primal way. One, living in the early seventies, was trapped in a marriage with a violent, manipulative and abusive man, whilst the other, in thirties Britain, had her life outcomes controlled and altered irrevocably by her equally controlling father. As I read, I became increasingly incensed and angry, but also anxious as I imagined how these characters were feeling - no doubt as the author intended. 

Then I watched Call the Midwife…On one level this is Sunday night tosh, but it also serves as a reminder of what life was like for some communities in the late fifties, early sixties. Again the storyline revolved around a woman in an abusive marriage who was effectively trapped because men had all the power, both socially and legally. In the way of Sunday night, pre-watershed dramas, an escape was found for her, although, in reality, the first women’s refuge did not open until the early seventies. Sometimes though, even they didn't help. If you can bear it, read this article about how the system continues to fail some women. 

Women's March, Chicago 

My reading of the book and my watching of the tv programme coincided with the inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States of America. It will never cease to amaze me that this misogynistic and reactionary man was elected to the most powerful position in the Western world. His treatment of, and language around women has been abhorrent, and now he has the power to impact on their lives in a very real and scary way. I feel it especially keenly as my step son and his wife live in Chicago and will be directly affected by any chipping away of rights for individuals. 

It is difficult to believe how things have changed for women within my lifetime, but it is a constant battle to maintain rights that were hard fought for and won in the seventies. Every time funding is threatened for health and fertility advice and support, women suffer though ignorance and lack of care. Whatever your personal feelings are about abortion v. the pro-life debate, I am old enough to remember that if women and girls are desperate enough, they will seek to terminate a pregnancy in whatever way they can. Making it difficult for them to receive advice and care will not change the outcome, just the woman’s safety. And, however much we continue to do so, it is never possible to judge an individual’s situation and why they make the choices that they do.

I have been lucky in my life - my parents treated me, my sister and two brothers equally. We all grew up believing anything was possible. When my first marriage broke down, laws were in place that enabled me to extract myself from it, relatively painlessly, and society did not shun me or my children. I worked in an environment that was predominantly populated with woman, and progressed in my career as far as I wanted to, with equal pay and no apparent glass ceiling. Nobody told me I needed to wear particular shoes, make up or clothing, as reported on the BBC website this morning, and I largely felt, and feel valued as a person. I am remarried to a lovely man, who is not above cooking, cleaning and ironing (as long as it’s not  bed linen). I don't know if these things are true for every woman of my generation.

Womens' March, Chicago

I marched for Women’s Rights in the seventies and I fully support what the thousands of women (and men) across the World who marched on Saturday were saying. It appals me that Trump implied that these people had not voted in the recent election, simply because they were objecting to him. Women are humans first, women second, and as my daughter-in-law’s banner said, “Women’s rights are human rights”, and these rights should not be threatened or eroded by anyone.