Wilma Rudolph: Feminist of the Day?

Wilma RudolphOlympic athlete, protestor for racial equality "I tell them that the most important aspect is to be yourself and have confidence in yourself. I remind them the triumph can't be had without the struggle."

One of the reasons I decided to do this feminist of the day feature on my blog is to read about cool women that I'd never heard of before. Wilma Rudolph was certainly an impressive woman. She was the 20 of 22 children, born in the pre-civil rights movmeent American South - although she was premature she wasn't able to go to the hospital because it was a white hospital. She got one disease of poverty after another, and ended up crippled from polio. Skip forward ten years and she was at the Rome Olympics (same as Alex), and the first American woman to win the 100m, 200m, and 400m, track events.

That's impressive, what hapened next is the reason I'm glad I heard of her. She went back to her hometown in Clarksville Tennessee, and insisted that the parade and dinner her honour were integrated (both firsts for Clarksville). Then she joined in the civil rights protests in the years that followed.

There are always a few people born without much in our society, and through a combination of luck, hard work, and the support of those around them, manage to get somewhere. Some of them turn their back on where they came from and claim that because they can do it anyone can - I hate those people (I'm trying to think of a NZ equivalent of Clarence Thomas, possibly John Tamihere - I don't know a lot about his background). But then there are the ones who don't turn away - those people rock.

The other bit of Wilma Rudolph's story which really resonated with me is the role of Wilma's mother. Blanche Rudolph wouldn't give up when the doctor's told her that her daughter wouldn't be able to walk again. She found a black teaching hospital that would treat her, and took her twice a week, even though it was 50 miles away.

A huge part of my feminism is respect and awe for what women have had to do under our patriarchal capitalist society to raise their children. I think that relationship is an example of the hope that we may be able to build that other world.

Conclusion: I'm not much of a sports fan, but I love the civil rights movement. It's as an example of one of the many women who were the people who built and ran the civil rights movement that Wilma Rudolph rocks.

hate, Hate, HATE

I've been reading about Dove's "Love your body" campaign on various feminist blogs. The campaign has finally hit New Zealand and it makes me hideously depressed and incredibly angry

The short version is that using these women:



to advertise cellulite cream is apparently some kind of great step forward for women everywhere, an advertisement for type II diabetes, or an insightly intrusion on men's right to control their visual environment (unfortunately I'm not kidding - see the kick ass Wendy for more details).

Most of what needs to be said about this campaign has already been said by feminists in Britain, America and Canada, where this campaign has been run. But what surprised me was my own reaction. I hate those ads with a passion - I probably hate them even more than I hate the guy who complained about how he didn't want to see chunky women in their underwear, or the guy who said the only time he wanted to see thighs that big was on chicken.

I hate it when capitalism pretends to sell my politics back to me. Because if it can be sold to me, it's not my politics. The purpose of these ads isn't too make women feel better about their bodies - it's to make them buy cellulite cream. By definition if you're buying cellulite cream you don't feel OK about your body.

I don't want to celebrate the fact that cellulite cream ads use this particular group of women in their advertisments. I want a world without advertisments and without cellulite cream.

Like I said it's all been said before so I'll end by quoting my favourite statement from the debate, from a feminist blog from Cardiff:

"What really bothers me is not the fact that the Dove campaign is not radical, it is the frightening probability that, in the context of our current culture, this campaign is extremely radical. As feminists, this is what we should be worried about."

Henry Sidgwick: Feminist of the Day?

Henry SidgwickAdvocate for women's education "I see no adequate reason for refusing the franchise to any sane self-supporting adult otherwise eligible, on the score of her sex alone."

I'd never heard of Henry Sidgwick before today. He was a nineteenth century learned gentleman, and campaigner for women's access to university. I doubt he idenitified as a feminist, but I'm glad to recognise him for the work he did for women's rights. He didn't just set up a college for women, he resigned from one of his roles in protest of Cambridge refusing to give degrees to women. That's the action that earns my respect, when men give up some of their power and privilege I start to take them seriously (particuarly when it actually has some affect - it's not just an attention gathering/self pity exercise).

Fights for women's rights in the nineteenth century - particularly issues like access to university - can be easy to dismiss. They seem so remote, and they don't seem to have made that much difference, so it's quite easy to forget how important they were. The basic rights had to be fought for, even if gaining them didn't make that much difference, because it's one less thing that we have to fight for now, it shows us what might make a difference, and it gives us a place to stand.

He seems to have been a bit of a grumpy old codger as well - not providing greek and latin at his college - not because he thought that these ancient languages would ruin women's uteruses (you have to wonder how the original greeks and romans reproduced), but because he thought that degrees for men placed too much importance on dead languages. He wasn't above a discipline fight in his principled crusade, and I find that amusing.

It does raise a wider question about whether men can be feminists. Which I have to admit I've always found a bit academic, because I've never really known a man who wanted to be. Despite moving in activist circles I've never known, in person, a man who prioritises feminism in their work. I'm sure they exist (I suspect Barry from Amptoons is one), but until I meet them it seems like a pointless argument. The best I can say for the guys that I know, is that some of them want to fight to make this a better place for women, but they don't want it enough that they actually find a way to be part of the fight.

Conclusion: I doubt Henry called himself a feminist - but he seems kind of cool - better than Maggie anyway.

When will Frank Haden support the rights of women?

When he sees an opportunity to bash Maori of course.

Josie Bullock, a corrections officer, was fired a couple of days ago for talking to the media about a complaint she’d made about a warning she’d received for refusing to sit at the back of a graduation ceremony for inmates who had participated in an anti-violence programme. I think this is supposed to be the sort of thing that the Right eats up with a spoon while shouting 'they're fighting each other, they're fight each other', while vague liberals wring their hands anxiously about the whole thing. But I don't actually think the specifics of this case are that complicated.

First of all I don’t think she should have been fired for speaking to the media. Employers don’t actually buy a person lock stock and barrel when they decide to pay them a weekly pittance for their labour.

As for the rest I think that context is important – I don’t really support prisons existing (and before you disagree go read Jessica Mitford’s Kind and Usual Punishment – or commit some kind of crime and experience prison – then get back to me). I’m not going to be turning cartwheels about anything the prison system do. The prison system is about control. The idea that the Corrections department is some careful guadian of Tikanga is ridiculous, when the tremendous racism of the entire justice system is considered. This is not a situation of culture and self-determination of different groups in conflict. The corrections department aspires for total control in prison and objected when one of it's employees challenged that (if it had been a prisoner who had challenged that control then the punishment would have probably been swifter and harsher). To me this sort of action by government departments is the same as writing the "principles of the treaty" into legislation rather than any meaningful idea of Tino Rangatiratanga - and lefties shouldn't be afraid of rejecting it.

There’s also something a little creepy about insisting women go to the back at the graduation of an anti-violence seminar. A fragile sense of masculinity – an idea that catching girl germs must be avoided at all costs - is a huge part not just of male on female violence, but also male on male violence, as men use machoism to prove themselves.

So to recap a union organiser/lefty doesn't believe someone should have been fired and thinks prisons sucks - breaking news huh?

Also I hate Frank Haden: "We should also remember that it was cultural differences that got many of Bullock's violent offenders into trouble. Their spiritual values gave them the idea that the law doesn't apply to them because they are the victims of institutional colonialism, or whatever the latest excuse is for bad behaviour."

Yes it's those of us who occasionally draw attention to the affect of New Zealand's past on the present who are responsible for the things we point out. If we just kept our big mouths shut no one would notice colonialism and poverty, and therefore we'd all grow up to be grumpy middle-class white men like Frank Haden, and there would be no crime ever.

Margaret Thatcher: Feminist of the Day?

Margaret ThatcherFirst female Prime Minister of Britain "If you want anything said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman."

When I first started wondering round feminist blogs I saw the “feminist of the day” feature and I thought it was really nifty. I thought that one day I might get myself a blog and have a feminist of the day down the side, people could read my blog, learn about feminism, and all would be good. So I visited the feminist of the day website to see who they considered a feminist – and Margaret Thatcher was on the list.

Now I’m not particularly fussy about who is a feminist and who isn’t, I don’t have a programme – I don’t have a password or an initation ceremony. But Margaret Thatcher? Not a feminist. So it occurred to me that rather than having a straight 'feminist of the day' feature I'd discuss each feminist of the day, and use it as a way of yabbering on endlessly about what I think about feminism. Sounds fun huh?

Since today it is Margaret Thatcher’s turn to be feminist of the day it seemed a good day to begin my blog, and its feminist of the day analysis.

I'm one of those 'feminism is a broad church' people - I don't have a problem sharing an ideology with people who are annoying, wet, batshit crazy or some combination of the above. But I have standards (well only two standards really):

1. You don't get to call yourself a feminist if you have power and use it to shit on other women.

2. You don't get to call yourself a feminist if you organise to limit other people's choices.

VAT, union busting, the nuclear arms race, the Pit closures, privatisation, cutting welfare, the poll tax and bombing Iraq (first time around) weren’t exactly great steps forward in advancing women’s rights. Any measure that increases inequality and poverty effects more women than men and entrenches sexism.

I don’t think Margaret Thatcher even self-identified as feminist, she certainly didn’t feel any solidarity with other women, even of her own class, (she never promoted another woman to cabinet.

Conclusion: Margaret Thatcher, Milk Snatcher, probably did more to harm women in Britain in the 1980s than anyone else – she ain’t no feminist. Try these women, or these women instead.

Never Give Up

The cartoon is by Jacky Fleming - who totally rocks. Everyone should visit her website and buy her books, in fact they should buy extra copies and give them to their friends.