John Murray (Publishers)
2013
It’s possible I was bawling just a little when I finished this book.
Melissa Benn is an author, journalist, broadcaster and feminist. In her most recent book she discusses the connection between girls increasingly high academic results, and the incredible pressure to be ‘perfect’ in appearance and the effect that has in young women. She goes on to discuss the situation for women in the UK at the moment and has interviewed a range of women in order to gather a broad view for this book – politicians, business women, activists, health (mental and physical) professionals, and drawn on the work of others who have interviewed girls and young women, to explore their experiences of education, work, parenting and life in general.
Melissa Benn asks important questions about why women stand back and keep quiet, about the distribution of the burden of care for children and the elderly, and it’s fairness, about women in business and politics – why are there so few female MP’s and board members? How does the economic situation, the cuts to benefits and low cost childcare, low pay for women etc effect different social classes?
Her conclusions, that the current economic and political climate in the UK disproportionately adversely affects women, that young women have to be prepared to stand up and say enough is enough, and older women have to support them, and each other in the continuing fight for equality, are presented in a well argued manner. There is a useful bibliography and a fairly comprehensive index.
Some believe that we should encourage women to seek worldly success…I would place a greater…weight on the importance of genuine emotional and intellectual freedom, of young women feeling free to be, and live, as they wish, to refuse the dictates of obedience and conformity and fashion, to pursue civic and political action.
An interesting book, well worth reading.
Reading this book has pushed me to do something I wouldn’t normally do, but I’m sick of being quiet and standing back. I’m going to say something political in public. (I was always told to shut up, so I did. Now, I’m older and can get away with being a harridan.Although I can think of at least three people who would disagree with the statement that I keep quiet about my opinions.)
I’ve not always been interested in political matters, only in the last seven or eight years have I developed any sort of political consciousness. Since I started blogging more regularly, and reading more widely in the blogosphere, I have become fascinated by feminism, among other things. We live in a world that privileges certain people over others. If that privilege were based on merit, and nothing else, I’d have less of a problem with it. But privilege isn’t based on merit, but outdated ideas of who is worthy of a voice and who isn’t.
And it’s women and girls, of all backgrounds, who suffer. Have a look in a newspaper or on the internet – how many stories are there about violence against women (including those not born women) and girls – assault, rape, FGM? And how do the police, the media, politicians respond? With disbelief, objectification and mockery. The Everyday Sexism campaign has had 50,000 incidents reported to them in two years – that’s just those who have access to Twitter. What about all those that don’t get reported? And that’s in developed/first world countries!
How can we say that we are developed, ‘Western’ countries when 52% if the population are constantly told to shut up, don’t argue, be nice, be thin, do all the domestic work; are criticized for not meeting other people’s ideals of perfection, threatened by complete strangers if they do speak up and speak out, are constantly at risk of violence in private and public, and will be blamed if something horrible does happen to them? How is that civilised?
Society needs to grow up and treat everyone equally.
Posh boys, arrogant pricks who’ve never had to worry about too much month left at the end of the money, or how the hell they’re going to afford to heat the house or pay for fuel to get to work because they need to buy food, need to get their privileged heads out of their arses and actually do something useful. Like, I don’t know, make sure companies (e.g. Starbucks, Amazon) and those who earn ridiculously high wages pay their taxes properly. That way they might actually get the country out of debt and we’ll be able to keep vital services running- like decent benefits, and women’s refuges, decent cheap childcare so mothers can work if that’s what they want to do, or decent hospitals and schools for everyone, and care for the elderly. We’ve made so many advances in the last hundred years – universal suffrage, free education and healthcare, pensions, equal pay – we can’t go back now.
I’m not saying anything new or original, that much I know, but the more people say what they really think, the more chance we have to change things.
I wouldn’t normally air an opinion in public, preferring as I do spirited debates/arguments with/ranting at or with people who know and will forgive me, so if you come here for my book reviews, sorry about that. Sometimes it just escapes.
Normal service will be resumed
a.s.a.p.
Everything Is Better With Dragons 