Women's Views on News |
- Feminist comedian wins Edinburgh award
- Events: 9 September – 15 September
- Sports round-up: 2 – 8 September
- Running without vanity
| Feminist comedian wins Edinburgh award Posted: 09 Sep 2013 08:02 AM PDT
Reader, she won it. Those funny lot up there at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland have gone and awarded Bridget Christie the Foster's 2013 comedy award for best show. The show, called 'A Bic for her' and described as 'one of the most talked about shows of the festival this year', was an hour long event dedicated to feminism. Punchy and energetic, it managed, according to Chortle website, to pack in the laughs while giving the audience a fair amount to think about. The Independent newspaper said Christie was: 'a rare, quirky and immensely likeable talent'. She lightly caricatures herself in performance gestures and enunciations but managed to retain an utter, effortless genuineness. Enjoyed for her silly yet smart, direct style, she has featured on Stewart Lee's alternative circuit and is a frequent voice on BBC 4 radio. She hosted her own programme on the BBC 4 radio channel titled 'Mind the gap' earlier this year, a four part series about modern feminism in Britain, concluding with an evocative discussion tearing the crotch out of the 'are women funny?' misogynistic debate. And she performed one of her solo shows 'War Donkey' at the Women of the World festival at London's Southbank Centre in March this year. She was born a human baby as she herself might say in Gloucester, left school at 14 and moved to London in her late teens, a powerful mass of change under her belt in her formative years. Working for the Daily Mail gave her cannon fodder for her 2009 show satirising her experiences called 'My Daily Mail Hell'. She jokes that the show was enjoyed by Daily Mail readers as well as decent people. Bridget Christie is the third woman to win the Edinburgh comedy award for best show, the other female winners are Laura Solon in 2005 and Jenny Eclair in 1995. The award has been given since 1981. It was bandied about that she wanted to leave stand up earlier this year, but now it looks like she's here to stay. Long may it be so. Check out Bridget Christie's website here.  |
| Events: 9 September – 15 September Posted: 09 Sep 2013 03:30 AM PDT
Bolton: 14 September: Bolton Protest and March against the Bedroom Tax at 1pm at Victoria Square, Bolton. Those affected and/or offended by the government’s bedroom tax are invited to meet on the steps of Victoria Square in Bolton for a short rally prior to a march through the city. Bristol: 13 September: Professor Elemental at The Tunnels Bristol, Arches 31 and 32, Bristol and Exeter Mews, Bristol from 7.30pm Professor Elemental is a unique and award-winning hip-hop artist. He is a steampunk mad professor who'll brew you a nice hip-hop number, stir in some comedy, then serve it with scones and a nice warm cuddle. On this night he will be entertaining to support Womankind, Kinergy, and The Green House which are three local charities who all offer individual and group therapy to those affected by childhood sexual abuse. Tickets £10 13 September: What the Frock! comedy show at The Mauretania, Park Street, Bristol from 7pm This regular Bristol comedy show which promotes talented female comedians will be hosted by resident MC Jayde Adams and features Amy Howerska ("Gnarly, gutsy", comedian Phil Kaye, "Her comic timing is wickedly accurate", Venue), India Macleod ("hits the spot", The Londonist) and Miranda Dawe ("more than a little funny", Comedy Club 101). Tickets £10 in advance, £12 at the door. Glasgow: Every Thursday until 17 October: Read, Relax, Recharge at Glasgow Women's Library, 23 Landressy Street, Glasgow from 12-2pm Are you a book lover? Or maybe you want to get back into reading again after a long break and don't know where to start? This friendly read-aloud group, led by Magi Gibson and Librarian Wendy Kirk, offers the perfect chance to relax and recharge for a couple of hours. Bring along your lunch and explore stories and poems by a range of amazing women writers from around the world, all washed down with lots of tea and friendly chat. A small donation of £2 (or whatever you can afford) is requested, to cover the costs of running the group, but free places are also available. Click here to register your interest or contact the library on 0141 248 9969 for more information. Liverpool: 15 September: We Can Hollaback Liverpool from 4-7pm at Next to Nowhere, 96 Bold Street, Liverpool. Street harassment, catcalling and sexual harassment are something that women face on a regular basis, some of us even experience it daily. When faced with it, deciding how to react is difficult – do we ignore it, hollaback, tell ourselves its a compliment? What do we do if we see another woman experiencing harassment? There isn’t necessarily a right or wrong answer, no right or wrong way to react, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk about it, pool ideas and help each other feel more confident in confronting street harassment. And so that’s what this event is going to do! This space is completely inclusive and welcoming to all self-identifying women and Next to Nowhere has a lift which will fit small to medium wheelchairs, but is not yet fully wheelchair accessible. London: 11 September: Choicework #4 at The Feminist Library, 5 Westminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 from 7pm Choicework is a participatory patchwork piece celebrating and increasing awareness of the worldwide growing pro-choice movement. In this series of workshops held at the Feminist Library, you can learn new craft skills whilst participating in the project and in engaging in conversations around reproductive rights and issues. The quilt will grow over time, with participants sought across the globe using the website, and exist as a lasting memory of the fight to protect our rights and to extend them. The peaceful piece-work will aid the pro-choice movement in showing anti-choicers that ours is a fight of love. This event is open to all – if you’d like to be involved but do not wish to sew, you are just as welcome. Please invite friends. Materials will be provided. The workshop is free but donations to the Feminist Library for allowing us to use the space and generally being an excellent resource, are very welcome. Accessible venue. 11 September: She Grrrowls Spoken Word Launch Party! at The Gallery Café, 21 Old Ford Road, London, E2 from 7.30pm This is the official launch party of She Grrrowls Spoken Word, an event which showcases a range of female spoken word – including poetry, comedy and a music finale. Go along and take part in an all-inclusive open mic session, with this month's theme: POLITICS Tickets £5 12 September: DocHouse presents Camera/Woman and No Burqas Behind Bars at Riverside Studio, Crisp Road, London, W6 from 7.30pm A double bill of extraordinary insights into hidden women's lives in Morocco and Afghanistan. Camera/Woman is about Khadija, a woman refusing to succumb to taboos around working women in conservative Moroccan society by making a successful living as a camera woman at weddings in Casablanca, despite her family's disapproval. In its UK premiere, No Burqa's Behind Bars follows 40 Afghan women serving long sentences in Takhar prison for 'moral crimes'. These crimes largely involve the defiance of men, from rejection of forced marriage to infidelity to fleeing violent relationships. 13 September: Carbon Bubble at London Liverpool Street Station, London EC2M. If you liked the housing bubble, you’ll LOVE the carbon bubble! Not content with speculating on people’s right to a roof over their head, our banker friends are now gambling on catastrophic climate change! We can’t burn 80 per cent of fossil fuel reserves without causing dangerous climate change, but in the City traders are still gambling huge sums, including workers’ pensions, on these reserves! Organised by Occupy the London Stock Exchange, Louise Rouse of Share Action and energy expert Jeremy Leggett will explain the issues, with climate poetry from Pete the Temp, followed by a discussion/debate on how we can together help the City to tackle its addiction to carbon. Until 28 September: Collagism FREE PUSSY RIOT! at The Vestibule, 81 Redchurch Street, London, E2. Collagism and friends present an exhibition of collaged screen prints in support of Freedom for Pussy Riot. It's a year since the shockingly unjust trial and imprisonment of Russian Feminist punk rock protest group Pussy Riot. A series of works have been created for exhibition in protest of this atrocity and support for the group. Proceeds from the sales will be donated to the band in aid of their continued appeal for justice. The campaign aims to raise awareness and support for the freedom of speech, equality for women and basic human rights for all. Until 11 October: Blue Stockings by Jessica Swale at Shakespeare's Globe, 21 New Globe Walk, London, SE1 from 2pm and 7.30pm It is 1896 at Girton College, Cambridge, and Elizabeth Welsh is preparing for battle. Girton is the first college in Britain to admit women. The girls risk their reputations for their education. They study ferociously and match their male peers grade for grade. Yet, when the men graduate, the girls leave empty handed, with nothing but the stigma of being a 'blue stocking' – and unnatural, educated woman – to their names. They are unqualified and unmarriageable. Principal Elizabeth Welsh is determined to win the girls the right to graduate, whatever the cost. Can they persuade the University? Not if the average fellow or undergraduate can prevent it. Meanwhile, Cambridge offers far more than merely educational opportunities to the Girton Girls. The battle for the vote, it seems, is the least of Elizabeth's worries. Blue Stockings follows Welsh and the Girton Girls over this tumultuous year in their fight to change the history of education. Until 12 January 2014: Margaret Desenfans: The Woman Behind the Dulwich Picture Gallery at the Dulwich Picture Gallery Gallery Road, Dulwich London SE21 7AD. When plans to build the Dulwich Picture Gallery were in jeopardy because of a lack of funding in 1811, Margaret Desenfans (1731-1813), the wife of the paintings collector and dealer Noël Desenfans, stepped forward and provided the missing funds to enable Britain's first ever purpose-built public art gallery to be built. She also contributed a lasting legacy to the Gallery by donating her fine collection of furniture and establishing a tradition of Royal Academician visits to the Gallery. This special display restores her reputation as the remarkable woman she was, and a key figure in the founding of the Gallery. Newcastle: 10 September: Centrefold, first public screening, at Tyneside Cinema, Electra 6pm The ethics of plastic surgery in the UK is the subject of this event, with particular focus on the increasing trend for women to undergo labia surgery (labiaplasty) to neaten the appearance of their genitals. This event will feature the first public screening of 'Centrefold', an animated documentary film made right here in the North East, which presents the personal accounts of three women who have had a labiaplasty. There will also be a screening of 'What the Experts Say', which provides commentary from a medical and psychological viewpoint. Following the screenings a panel discussion and audience debate will take place. The panel will include experts in the field, including the director Ellie Land. Tickets £4 Sheffield: 13 September: LaDIYfest presents Carol Robson, Chella Quint, Sarah Thomasin at Harland Café, 72 John Street, Sheffield from 8pm LaDIYfest are putting on an evening of poetry and comedy to celebrate a new collection of poems by Carol Robson entitled "Finding Me". Carol will talk about and read her poetry that relates to her life, coming to terms with her gender identity and sexuality. It will also include some of her first collection "Words of Darkness and Light", which reflects the journey she's made in finding herself. Support comes from comedian and writer Chella Quint who will be performing some of her work as well as being the compere for the event, alongside poetry from Sarah Thomasin. Donations will be collected for VIDA (formerly the Sheffield Domestic Abuse Forum).  |
| Sports round-up: 2 – 8 September Posted: 09 Sep 2013 03:00 AM PDT
Cricket: England's women regained the Ashes, winning the series by 12-4. For a longer write-up of the series, watch out for my article later on in the week. Elsewhere, Kent won the women's T20 title after beating reigning champions Sussex by eight wickets on 7 September. Finals day took the same format as the men's tournament, with the two semi-finals and final all taking place on the same day. In the first semi, Kent beat Nottinghamshire to go through to the final. They posted 131 for 4 in their 20 overs. Nottinghamshire fell 10 runs short in their chase. The second semi was reduced to 15 overs because of the weather. Berkshire were put in by Sussex, but without their inspirational skipper, Heather Knight, they struggled to a poor 59 for 7 in their 15 overs. The result was never in doubt as Berkshire only managed to take two wickets and Sussex hit the winning runs in the fourteenth over. In the final, Sussex won the toss and elected to bat. However, they didn’t managed to push on though, and finished on a lowly 107 for 5. England captain Charlotte Edwards led by example, with 49 in response, but was out in the eighth over. Kent were never in trouble, though, and got home with 11 balls to spare. Golf: The other major event was the stunning performance of the European Solheim Cup team to defeat the USA by a record margin of 18 points to 10 in Colorado. It was the first time Europe had won the title on American soil, and they did it with style. By the time the singles came around, Europe needed only 3.5 points to retain the trophy. Star of the weekend was 17 year old Charley Hull, the youngest player ever to compete for Europe. She topped off a peerless appearance with a thumping 5&4 win over former world number one, Paula Creamer. Hull’s win gave the European team just the impetus they need to finish the job. Tennis: It was a disappointing first week for Britain's women at the US Open at Flushing Meadows. Heather Watson succumbed in the first round to the in-form Romanian 21st seed Simona Halep, 4-6 6-4 6-2. British number one Laura Robson made it through to the third round but was beaten in straight sets by fifth seed Li Na 6-2 7-5. Athletics: Commonwealth heptathlon champion Louise Hazell has announced her retirement from the sport at the age of 27. She has not ruled out competing in other events, but will not defend her title at Glasgow 2014. Archery: Paralympic archer Danielle Brown has announced she will not be attempting to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio. She has just won her first able-bodied national title, but to qualify for the Olympics she would have to switch from the compound bow to the recurve. In an interview with the BBC she said, “I love shooting the compound and think I still have a lot to give. “Paralympic sport is my job and I have to go out there and perform well, so that’s the main thing.” She will be unable to defend the gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, as archery is no longer in the programme, but is looking forward to going for gold again at the 2016 Paralympics. Sailing: Eight wins from 12 races saw Annalise Murphy secure the title at the Laser Radial European Championships in Dun Laoghaire this weekend. The 23 year-old Irishwoman was competing on her home waters. She finished 22 points ahead of Holland's Marit Bowmeester, with Alison Young from Britain in third. Murphy was understandably pleased with her success, saying, “I have been pretty focused these last few months and I knew I had a goal here. "I was not too sure how everyone else was going to perform. I am so delighted. It is so special to win here at my home club.” Football: The FA has removed Hope Powell from her job as England coach after 15 years in the job. Speculation had been rife since England's poor performance in the European Championships, but it had been thought that another position would be found for her. In an interview with BBC Breakfast, she said the sacking came as a surprise to her. “I am disappointed, but I have accepted it and have to move on. I need some time to recharge and see what opportunities come up,” she said. I, for one, am sure she will return to football in some capacity after her break. Meanwhile, things are heating up in the Women’s Super League (WSL). On September 4, Birmingham City Ladies came from one down to take all three points against Everton in their final home game of the season. Everton took the lead through Nikita Parris, but in the second half Jade Moore and Melissa Lawley scored to secure the 2-1 win. Liverpool became the first side to score 40 or more goals in a league season with a 2-0 win over Doncaster. Goals from Natasha Dowie and Lousie Fors saw the Merseyside team go five points clear at the top of the WSL. Reigning champions Arsenal saw their title hopes fade after a goalless draw with Lincoln on September 5. They pulled back a point to be only four points behind Liverpool, but really three points were vital to maintain their challenge. Meanwhile, Bristol took all three at Chelsea with an excellent performance, winning 3-1. They took the lead after just nine minutes through Natasha Harding, and Natalia Pablos Sanchon got a second 13 minutes later. Bristol scored a third before half time with a header by Anne-Marie Heatherson. Chelsea pulled back a consolation goal in the second half through Ayane, but the points belonged to Bristol. On September 7, Doncaster Rovers Belles came from behind to secure a point with a 1-1 draw at home to Everton. Toni Duggan put the visitors ahead in the first half, but a dogged performance by Doncaster saw them equalise through Leandra Little to earn a draw.  |
| Posted: 09 Sep 2013 01:09 AM PDT
Female runners, it seems, have an incredible amount to worry about. And I'm not talking about the kind of workaday, logical worries all runners face, such as the ever-present spectre of stress injuries or those pride-out-the window runners trots. Not either the gender-blind street harassment; the gnarled and blackened toes; the chafes and the blisters and the red-rawness that clings warning-bright to the crevices of the body. Instead, hidden behind reams and reams of pseudo-science or leaching from the bitter pen of essentialism, are the numerous, gender-specific, reasons women should probably fling out their running shoes and sit quietly and demurely on that static bike. The most prevalent of these, and also the most irksomely erroneous, are those admonishments that preface their warnings on the assumption that women are motivated in every area of their lives by the pursuit of vanity. Now, I should preface this by mentioning the fact I do not know anyone who runs for the purposes of vanity. The concept is self-defeating; running is an act so demanding, and so often brutal, that it eventually strips you of all vanity. Anyone who has seen the action shots they take of you at event races will know this, and will have had their running self-conception shattered and reformed My inner vision of a strong, sinewy, purposeful woman was quite quickly replaced with the more corporeal reality of crunched up features and bent-limbed perseverance. One shot of the most recent race I participated had caught me in an exceptionally unflattering pose. Close to the finish, and determined to come in under my personal best, I had a head-back and mouth-open stance of determination; the winter's day pallour of my skin almost deathly translucent against my black lycra. I looked, by the most conservative estimate, about twice my age. This barely registered, except in the undeniable fascination of seeing yourself in the grip of competition and being able to visualise what inner determination might resemble from without I certainly wasn't going to rush out and purchase the print but the physical contortions and unflattering aesthetics of running bothered me not on a day I conquered my personal best and finished in the top 3 per cent of women in my field. There is, of course, the flip side to this; some women do look naturally beautiful and composed and are able to withstand long, competitive races without the same kind of facial upset others are afflicted with. And if this happens, they are mocked or pilloried for being vain or self-centred. Just remember the way Jan Moir attacked Kathryn Jenkins for retaining her gorgeousness through 26 miles of the London marathon. Jenkins ran 26 miles. 26 miles. What happens to the face and body after that sort of distance is largely due to chance rather than design. But the point is it shouldn't matter. Running long distances takes guts, drive, dedication and no small amount of passion. These aren't aesthetic attributes and it appears it is only women whose remarkable feats are shifted in this direction. 'Runner's Face' is a term any woman who runs has probably heard of, or been warned about. ‘Runner's Face’ is one of those nefariously created 'pitfalls' female runners are constantly mired in. It is an offensive term seemingly manufactured to distill women’s often bubbling beneath the surface self-consciousness about public exercise; a cruel way to suggest that women exercise for vanity, and will cease to consider bodily empowerment, physical strength, stress relief or general health if they sniff even the vaguest hint of an idea that it might make them less pretty. Apparently, when you run, you irreparably burn off layers of fat beneath the skin on your face, leading to a prominence of bones and the appearance of deep wrinkles. As one endearingly concerned for your welfare plastic surgeon puts it "though you may look like a 20-year-old from the neck down, your face will easily give away your age”. It's a shame, that, because when I took up running again my primary motivator – if not sole aim – was to look ten years' younger. Because, you see, I have not one iota of a clue about biology or the natural processes of time and genuinely thought physical activity – high intensity, difficult and often painful activity – would iron out my creases and perform time-bending, youth-bestowing feats. 'Runners Face', as a scare tactic, or a beauty warning, or even just as a thing is an unmitigated crock of neuroses-fueling nonsense. It is an oppressive tactic directed towards women, in order to misdirect female achievement and quell autonomy; leading us to think our bodies should only be used for certain purposes, and for certain pursuits. And lest we forget, there was a time not so long ago that women were actively discouraged from running and barred from competing in organised distance races, lest our uteruses fall out or we become de-sexed, over large, or hairy. Lest we also forget that until 1972 women were banned from competing in the Boston Marathon, and it was not until 1984 that the women's marathon was included as an Olympic event. It took brave and bold women like Kathrine Switzer to fight for female distance running to even be allowed, let alone accepted. And this is partly why I run. I run because I'm told I shouldn't, or that I'll never be as fast as the men. I run because we're told we look old and ungraceful, or that it actually makes us fat, or because some convoluted and shakily plausible science says our bodies are the wrong shape. I run for Katherine Switzer, and Zola Budd, for Paula Radcliffe and for Joan Benoit. I do not run to lose weight, or to look beautiful, or to sculpt some kind of amazonian figure. I'm fairly certain no other woman does either. You see, you can't run passively. Running is incredibly hard work. It takes dedication, determination and the ability to live with the physical fallout of hours and hours of repeated impact on concrete. Running can also make you feel wonderful. The sense of bodily strength, empowerment and autonomy you gain from running for hours and clocking up miles is freeing; almost benedictory. Not to mention the fact running can increase positivity and self-image, decrease depression, increase mental agility, reduce illness and encourage positive personality traits. But then I suppose, as the received misogyny goes, women would rather curse through a sludge of misery, illness and anxiety than attempt something that might, just might, change their lives for the better yet simultaneously reduce their chances of looking like a walking experiment in photoshop.  |
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