Women's Views on News |
- Everyday Sexism Project is one year old
- Exciting times for women in motorsport?
- The quest for the ‘perfect nipple’
| Everyday Sexism Project is one year old Posted: 23 Apr 2013 08:11 AM PDT
Last week the Everyday Sexism Project celebrated its first anniversary. The project was launched by Laura Bates, aiming, among other things, 'to show the world that sexism does exist, it is faced by women everyday and it is a valid problem to discuss.’ The project catalogues everyday incidents of sexism that women have suffered, from being groped on the tube to being told to make sandwiches. Entries are also collected and disseminated through the website and using twitter. To date, over 25 000 have been collected. It is not limited to the UK either; the project spans 16 countries and eight languages, passing through Argentina, Austria and South Africa among others. It turns out women in Canada are just as likely as women in the UK to have expletives thrown at them for turning down unwanted drinks and advances. The project provides a place for women to share and report their experiences, an empowering and liberating process for those who have met with sexist incidents. Although the testimonies can make for depressing reading, they also provide women with the – strengthening - knowledge that they are not alone. Not alone in their experiences, but also not alone in their assertion that these incidents are not acceptable and that things must change. The project's ability to create this solidarity and online network is a winning trait, and particularly crucial when facing something as seemingly intractable as everyday sexism. Fighting sexism might feel like trying to empty the sea with a thimble, but when you find out that thousands of other women are also fighting back, it becomes a less daunting battle. But the testimonies have also revealed the sheer scale – and insidious nature – of the situation. And the scale here is not just one of frequency, but is one of gravity too. Many of these incidents, which women are so often told to shrug off or not overact to, amount to no less than sexual assault. Indeed, when Bates wrote 'an article on the definition of sexual assault, [she] received hundreds of tweets and emails from women who hadn't realized they had been sexually assaulted.' Why is fighting everyday sexism so important? Aren't there other, bigger fights? As the detractors would argue, are we kicking up a fuss over nothing? Hardly. Fighting everyday sexism is paramount. The 'it's no big deal' idea is very false – these incidents are a big deal. They hurt and upset, and we shouldn't be quiet about it. Telling women to be quiet is the oldest repartee in the 'how to be keep women down' handbook. Furthermore, if 'small' misdemeanours remain unaddressed, larger ones will follow. As Wilson and Kelling, the social scientists who in 1982 first proposed the broken windows theory, put it: 'one unrepaired broken window is a symbol that no one cares, and so breaking more windows costs nothing.' The theory became famous when it informed New York City's crime fighting policy in the 1990s, with Mayor Giuliani taking a zero-tolerance policy to crime, including petty crime such as graffiti or fare dodging on the tube, as a means to fighting the violent crime that characterised the city. This isn't to say that catcalling is necessarily a gateway activity to sexual assault. But every time we allow catcalling to go unaddressed, every time we allow rape jokes to flourish, we contribute to the normalisation of violence and assault against women. This creates a culture – and society – where rapists aren't sent to prison and where women are blamed for being attacked. All these supposedly 'trivial' incidents of sexism underpin and buttress a world where women are not, and cannot, be equal. Initiatives such as the Everyday Sexism Project help women bring down this structure, so that catcalling and condescension can become a thing of the past.  |
| Exciting times for women in motorsport? Posted: 23 Apr 2013 04:00 AM PDT
You'll have heard of Sir Stirling Moss? Of course; one of Britain's sporting greats. He's been in the news recently for comments he made on a BBC Five Live programme on women in motorsport. "I think they have the strength, but I don't know if they've got the mental aptitude to race hard, wheel-to-wheel,” he said. This article had the potential to become a rant against Moss's "archaic headline-making tripe" as Suzi Perry aptly puts it in a piece for The Mirror, but I didn't want that. So, this is a tribute to those women who have blazed a trail in Formula 1 or motorsport generally, hopefully leaving the reader with the message that progress has been made and more is surely to come. So yes, you've heard of Sir Stirling Moss. And before we leave him trailing in our wake, here are a couple more of his bon mots from the programme. On his female contemporary Maria Teresa de Filippis, noted as being the first woman to race in Formula One: “I used to blow a kiss if ever I’d lap her. “The good news is she knew there was a race going on around her and she’d keep an eye on her mirrors and she’d always pull over. Her manners and everything were terrific." On women in motorsport: “We’ve got some very strong and robust ladies, but, when your life is at risk, I think the strain of that in a competitive situation will tell when you’re trying to win.” That's enough from Sir Stirling. More than enough. As driver Susie Wolff put it, "it makes me cringe hearing that." So, have you heard of Dorothy Elizabeth Levitt? No? I'm not surprised, but in her day Levitt was an adventuring, motoring, star. Born in 1882 or 1883 (the records are not clear) she became famous as a racing driver, speedboat driver, motoring writer and activist. At one time she was holder of both the water speed record and the women's land speed record. She would have laughed at Moss's put-downs. "I never think of the danger," she said in 1906. "That sort of thing won't do. But I know it is omnipresent. The slightest touch of the hand and the car swerves, and swerves are usually fatal. “But I am a good gambler, and always willing to take the chance." Since then women have not made the progress they should, it is true. But then we can say this about many walks of life. More recently, motorsport has been seen as only a man's sport. Most women around have been hanging ‘decoratively’ on the arms of their driver boyfriends, ‘adding glamour to the paddock’. Indeed, it is 38 years since a woman last drove in Formula 1. The first woman to take part was the aforementioned De Filippis, who started just three races between 1958 and 1969. Next came Lella Lombardi, with 12 starts between 1974 and 1976. There were then three drivers, Divina Dalica (1976 and 1978), Desire Wilson (1980) and Giovanna Amati (1992) who between them went into qualifying for seven races but didn't qualify for a race itself. Currently, in driving terms, we may have lost Maria de Villota as a driver, hopefully only temporarily, but Susie Wolff is testing for the Williams F1 team and rising star Alice Powell, racing in F3 cup and GP3 at the moment, is hoping to break into F1 soon. Red Bull has also just signed its first female test driver, Beitske Visser. But there is more to motorsport life than Formula 1. Danica Patrick is making waves in both Nascar and Indycar in the United States, taking her first pole position at the Daytona 500 in 2013. Katherine Legge has also gone from karting to Indycar. Steps forward may be painfully small and frustrating, but they are there all the same. Formula 1 head Bernie Ecclestone admitted in the Five Live programme that “there’s no reason why a woman shouldn’t be able to compete with a man.” But he then went on to say, “Unfortunately, the way things are, I don’t imagine a lady will ever get the chance to drive a Red Bull or a Ferrari.” This is a disappointing, but realistic view, as top teams are reluctant to put money into untried women drivers who they perceive to be more of a risk than men. The area in which women are making real progress is in administration. Monisha Kaltenborn was appointed team principal at F1 team Sauber in 2012. In the last few weeks Sir Frank Williams has named his daughter, Claire, as deputy principal at Williams, with a view to her taking over as principal on his retirement. “With Claire being appointed deputy team principal, I know the future of Williams is in extremely safe hands," he said in an interview with the BBC. Claire is clearly up for the role. “I feel well equipped for this new challenge. I understand the commitment that every person within the team gives each day to see our car out on the track and I am determined to see us back at the top,” she said. “I don’t underestimate the challenges that lie ahead but I have the full support of the Board and a very talented executive committee … it will be a privilege to play a part in taking the team into what I hope will be a successful next chapter.” Women are also making their name in motorsports broadcasting. Suzi Perry and Jennie Gow are confident, knowledgeable assets to the BBC's F1 coverage. Suzie Wolff will lend her expertise in the commentary box during qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix. It would be even better if someone else was commentating on her driving on the track, but this is still progress. These are exciting times for women in motorsport. A regular female F1 driver in under ten years – probably. More women in all aspects of motorsport – definitely. We should never accept less than we deserve, but we must take our triumphs, however small, where we can, and celebrate them accordingly.  |
| The quest for the ‘perfect nipple’ Posted: 23 Apr 2013 01:09 AM PDT
There's a new ‘beauty trend’ in town. According to the Daily Telegraph, women in the UK are increasingly getting cosmetic nipple tattooing 'to darken, enlarge and define their nipples and the surrounding areola'. A beauty clinician, interviewed for the article, said that she has seen a 'huge increase' in the number of women seeking out the procedure. And it might be that women are self-conscious about their 'pale' nipples or, because ‘their boyfriends want them done'. Although the Guardian has poured cold water on the idea that this practice constitutes a 'craze', the fact that the story is all too believable, and has gained so much traction, shows just how far we have gone in imposing beauty standards on women's bodies. Women are made to worry about their looks daily. Are we thin enough or curvy enough? Is our hair big and shiny enough? Are we hairless in the right places? It turns out those only mark a fraction of insecurities piled onto women, as the beauty ideal – already so unforgiving and pervasive – has expanded to cover, quite literally, every nook and cranny. Perhaps it would be less worrying if the trend for ‘perfect nipples’ was an isolated case, but it joins the quest for the 'perfect vagina', which has been growing over the past decade. In 2007- 2008 there was a 70 per cent increase in labiaplasty operations – also known as female cosmetic genital surgery – carried out by the NHS. The increase for those getting work done privately could be much higher. Labiaplasty involves trimming or removing the labia. There are also medical reasons for this procedure, but iit is usually done for cosmetic reasons. The concern about this burgeoning trend isn't a criticism directed towards the women who take the decision to undergo surgery; it would be hypocritical to criticise the choices another woman makes about her own body, and reading too much into her reasons for doing so, too, would be patronising. The worry is directed to how far the beauty ideal has gone. It seems absurd that beauty qualifications are being ascribed to the most intimate parts of women's bodies, particularly when women differ so much from one to another. It reflects just how much women's bodies, even in the 21st century, still belong to society. What we should criticise, and vehemently so, is the fact that we have reached a stage where a 19 year-old is embarrassed about her labia because she thinks it is 'ugly'. That a woman might be concerned her are aerolas are 'too pale'. That both would feel pressured to undergo surgery to have this 'rectified'. There are a million things for women to worry about, from mortgages to jobs to making enough time for friends; surely we don't need to add having a big labia or wrong coloured aerolas to the list? In 2011, UK Feminista organised a muff march along Harley Street in London, a street famous for its plastic surgeries. With slogans such as 'nothing finer than my vagina' and 'I love my labia' the march was in protest at 'the intrusion of pornified culture' and the 'unashamed profiteering' of female insecurities by surgeons. If cosmetic nipple tattooing really is sweeping the nation, perhaps it will soon be time for another, similar, march.  |
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