Women's Views on News |
- New show shatters myths about female teenage sexuality
- Will the world now wake up to the atrocity of rape?
- Women’s sporting success ignored again
- Women’s sports round up: 7-13 January
| New show shatters myths about female teenage sexuality Posted: 15 Jan 2013 10:37 AM PST
The much-hyped My Mad Fat Diary exploded on to our screens last night, promising to brighten our long bleak January evenings, or at the very least, shake some action into the usual E4 schedule, grown stale with of too many Hollyoaks omnibuses and re-runs of Made in Chelsea. The new drama charts the adventures of Rae Earl, a sexually frustrated Lincolnshire teenager struggling with anxiety and self harm. It's based on My Fat, Mad Teenage Diary, the memoir of the real life Rae Earl growing up a lonely and confused teenager in the 1980s. E4 bosses have seen fit to tweak the title of the memoir slightly for its TV adaptation, presumably so it doesn't evoke too loudly shows like Embarrassing Teenage Bodies, My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding and others from the Channel 4 production vehicle that take a more sneering, voyeuristic look at the pain of adolescence. Frank depictions of teenage girls suffering mental illness are few and far between in film and television. This seems a glaring oversight when you consider one in ten 16-24 year-olds have self harmed in their life-time. And if you sit down and try to find examples from pop culture where the female protagonist is not only suffering from mental health problems but also funny, horny and over nine stone, you'll be left scratching your head long into the night. It certainly had me stumped. My Mad Fat Diary (MMFD) is not a po-faced, esoteric exploration of the female mind in angst. Rae Earl is not Sylvia Plath and this isn't a PJ Harvey B-side. MMFD is more Shameless meets Adrian Mole, if Adrian Mole had been female and had a history of self harm. The show pitches itself exactly where it should, to teenagers and young people who now more than ever are dangerously bereft of reassuring, authentic portrayals of what it feels like to be growing up. Rae confronts mental health problems which affect one in ten young teenagers but she also confronts the crushing social anxiety and intense feelings of inadequacy that affect, I'd hasten a guess, ten in ten young teenagers. But it's in the attitude to female teenage sexuality that MMFD stands out for me as truly heroic. "Expert moistener of Lady Gardens" is how Rae describes dishy Dr Nick as she finally leaves the mental hospital where she's been living. I'm not going to wax lyrical about the fact that Sharon Rooney, the actor who plays Rae, is "unconventional looking" for a young female lead. I'll leave that to the glut of writers and commentators who will doubtlessly follow in the wake of MMFD. In his review of MMFD Keith Watson in the Metro described Rae as "part big girl game for a laugh, part neurotic teenager". But the depiction of female teenage sexuality where the central function is not to titillate male lust is extremely rare. MMFD has a similar coarse, audacious quality to The Inbetweeners. As much as I love The Inbetweeners, for the most part it upholds the well-oiled myth that teenage boys are basically raging libidos with body odour and girls are just the unwitting objects of those libidos. With all too vivid memories of my own adolescence, I can vouch for this being utter crap. Rae shatters this myth in style when she declares, of her new crush: "I'd shag him till there was nothing left. Just a pair of glasses and a damp patch." I can say with some confidence that My Mad Fat Diary is unlike anything I've ever seen on TV before.  |
| Will the world now wake up to the atrocity of rape? Posted: 15 Jan 2013 02:59 AM PST
On 7 January around 1,000 people demonstrated outside India House in London against the horrific rape and murder of a young woman in Delhi. This is part of a growing wave of demonstrations against violence towards women sweeping not just the Indian sub-continent, but the whole world. "We felt a great sense of outrage. We wanted to express our solidarity with Indian women," Rahila Gupta, of Southall Black Sisters, who organised the demonstration, said to WVoN. "Sexual abuse is happening all over the world. The difference in India is the frequency, the intensity, the rate, the range, the culture that there is in India. "And also people get away with stuff in India. There isn't really any prosecution for police and others who are treated with impunity. “At least in the West the police are accountable to some extent, but even here the clear-up rate for rape is only 6 per cent," she added. Many of the women on the demonstration believed that the sheer ferocity of the Delhi attack had proved a tipping point. "It came to a point when women in India thought enough was enough. There was so much tolerance but that incident is where it came to a boiling point," said Jos Juvah, who is originally from India but has lived in the UK for many years. But Gupta provides an economic explanation for the apparently sudden upsurge of protest. "There is very rapid economic growth going on in India and it is providing opportunities for young women to get educated and have jobs. "Young women need to be out and have the freedom of the city. They need to have the safety of the city. "Here is an example of a woman who did all the 'right' things – I use that term ironically. She was accompanied by a man, there was no suggestion that her clothes were to blame, her behaviour was not to blame, nothing, and yet she suffered the most horrific rape. "A newly awoken Delhi, particularly Delhi, as there is a lot of multinational activity on the outskirts of Delhi, and there's a sense of, 'how do we ensure that our daughters are going to be safe when they go out to work'." "We know that a lot of rape goes on against domestic workers for example. I hope this case will open the door to debate about other women who suffer domestic violence," she said. And it certainly seems to be doing that, for now at least. A report by the Small Arms Survey finds that Kenya's capital Nairobi is in 'profound' crisis, with grotesque levels of violence against women spiraling out of control, as poverty increases in its fetid slums, which house more than a million people. And according to figures recently issued by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, ninety per cent of South African women have experienced emotional and physical abuse; seventy-one per cent have experienced sexual abuse; as many as five out of seven children are abused. In Peru, where an estimated 35,000 pregnancies a year come about as a result of rape, women are forced either to have an illegal abortion and face a possible three-month jail term, or give birth to a rapist’s child. A coalition called Dejala Decidir, Let Her Decide, aims to collect the 60,000 signatures they need to petition Congress to consider a Bill decriminalising abortion in the case of rape. This may not be easy, as signatories have to provide their government ID. Some may feel intimidated by this and many women, particularly in rural areas, most affected by these issues, do not have IDs. Even if they get the signatures, a debate is not guaranteed the Catholic Church still exerts great influence in Peru. But despite this, George Liendo, director of rights group PROMSEX, said the time is ripe for a national dialogue. "It's not always easy to build a coalition in Peru, but there is real energy for this campaign. People across the country want to put this on the political agenda." In October 2012, the Uruguayan Congress voted to decriminalise abortion in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy. And as Clare Abbot, who traveled down from Northampton to attend the demonstration on 7 January said: "Hopefully this demonstration will raise awareness of women's issues and hopefully have some impact. "Hopefully this will maintain momentum. That's got to be a positive thing."  |
| Women’s sporting success ignored again Posted: 15 Jan 2013 02:00 AM PST
On 7 January 2013, Abby Wambach of the USA won the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year 2012 award. This news did not make national or international media headlines. What did make the headlines was the predicted result of Lionel Messi winning his fourth consecutive Ballon d'Or. Such lack of media coverage typifies the current situation – only five per cent of sports media coverage is of women's sport. An online search for the winner of the women's footballer of the year competition brought up football-specific websites. Other than a BBC headline from the previous year's award, none of the major national or international news outlets were on the first page of search results. The majority of the coverage of the women's competition appeared to be from sport-specific websites. An additional search that included the names of various UK media outlets and the phrase 'women's player of the year' brought up a much larger number of results – about Lionel Messi. It is obvious from the need to tag sports coverage of women's events with the word 'women's' that the norm is male. When headlines ask 'Who is the best footballer in the world?', there is no doubt that the question is being asked about male athletes. Messi was actually crowned the best male footballer in the world, not best footballer. Unfortunately, the lack of media coverage of women's sports is proving to be a very difficult cycle to break. When there is no coverage, it is difficult to increase audience numbers and interest in the sport. With no easily accessible role models to inspire audiences, it is difficult to build a dedicated following. Without established and vocal supporters, there are no financial incentives for investors and media outlets to increase their support and coverage. The BBC is supposed to be hiring a women's sports editor, which may be a small step towards more comprehensive and consistent coverage of women's sports. Women make up only three per cent of sports journalists, which many believe to have affected the 2011 BBC Sports Personality of the Year shortlist – an all-male list chosen by 27 newspaper and magazine sport editors. Following the outcry that the all-male list provoked, the BBC acknowledged the problem, reviewed its shortlisting process and introduced an expert panel with three positions reserved for national press editors. Female athletes were then duly recognised with five women on the 12-person shortlist in 2012. Change does seem to be happening, but probably far more slowly than fans of women's sports teams would like. With football the most popular participatory sport for women and girls in Britain, many believe this industry could lead the way in opening doors to increased funding and media coverage of women's sports in general. In October 2012, the FA announced its Game Changer plan to develop women's professional football with £3.5 million of investment over five years. The figure seems paltry when compared to men's football salaries that consistently reach £100,000 a week, but in this case is better than nothing. As part of the Game Changer plan, for the first time the FA has a commercial development programme for women's football, which could be significant in influencing media coverage of the sport. Additionally, the BBC recently secured broadcast rights for every match in the 2013 UEFA Women's European Championship. This year will be an interesting one for women's sports fans as they wait to see if the 2012 Olympic legacy is strong enough to improve the quantity and quality of media coverage of women's sport.  |
| Women’s sports round up: 7-13 January Posted: 15 Jan 2013 12:00 AM PST
As you may have noticed, we thoroughly enjoyed the vintage year of sports that was 2012, so since our relaunch in October, we've been doing our bit in the effort to improve coverage of women's sport. Last year was full of positivity about the coverage of women's sport, but already this seems to be dropping off. There is no shortage of articles about how women need more coverage and more funding, but when it comes to actually reporting women's results… very little. The problem is widespread: a quick scan of the front sports pages of the Telegraph, Guardian, Daily Mail and BBC websites brings up a whopping one story about sportswomen. Our voice may be a small one in comparison, but we think that the existing coverage is just not good enough. So from today, we'll be producing a weekly round-up of as many British women's sporting results as we can muster. Feel free to point out anything we've missed, and we'll be on the case for next time. Tennis: A big week for British tennis – in comparison with the last few decades, at least – we now have two women inside the top 50 for the first time since 1987. Laura Robson reached the second round of the Shenzen Longgand Gemdale Open in China last week, gaining just enough ranking points to reach the number 50 spot. She is just 3 places behind Heather Watson, who broke into the top 50 at the end of last year. Robson and Watson both reached the main draw of the Australian Open, which begins on 14 January, without needing to qualify, and both are ranked well above their first round opponents. Watson plays Romania's Alexandra Cadantu, ranked 89th, who has never won a match in a Grand Slam tournament. Robson has a slightly tougher start to the tournament. She is drawn against Melanie Oudin of the USA, who is ranked 82nd but once reached the 4th round of Wimbledon; in the second round, she faces 8th seed Petra Kvitova, or former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone. Anne Keothavong and Johanna Konta, British numbers three and four, did not make it through qualifying. In our final piece of tennis news, BT have signed a deal with the Women's Tennis Association to broadcast as much as 800 hours of women's tennis per year. The deal is for four years, and allows BT to broadcast from 21 tournaments, including Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, and Beijing, as well as the tour championships in Istanbul in November. Rugby: In rugby, the fixtures for the Women's Six Nations are out: England's women will play Scotland, France and Italy at home. Defending champions England have won their last seven tournaments, and thrashed world champions New Zealand to a 3-0 series win last autumn. However, many of that series' squad, including captain Katy McLean, will miss the Six Nations due to World Cup Sevens training. The Six Nations squad will be captained by stand-in Sarah Hunter, who admits the tournament will be a challenge, but describes it as a chance for some of the squad's less experienced players to shine. Dressage: Double Olympic dressage champion Charlotte Dujardin and her horse Valegro have regained the number one ranking, after winning the Reem Acra FEI World Cup event at the London Olympia last month. Dujardin, who won gold in the individual and team dressage events at London 2012, also recorded a world record score in the Grand Prix at the event. Laura Bechtolsheimer, also part of the winning Olympic dressage team, remains fourth in the world rankings. Cricket: In cricket news, the eight teams playing in the ICC Women's World Cup revealed their squads this week; head over to the excellent Sportsister for full details. The World Cup starts on 31 January. Check out our preview here. In the week to come: The first rounds of the Australian Open; young athletes including weightlifter Zoe Smith in action at the Australian Olympic Youth Festival; and Olympic Judo medallist Gemma Gibbons back in competition at the British Championships.  |
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