Women's Views on News |
| New: Rosa Luxemburg biography comic book Posted: 12 Nov 2015 05:03 AM PST
‘Red Rosa’ tells the life story of philosopher, economist, publisher, writer, organiser, political leader and martyr Rosa Luxemburg in full-colour, graphic form. This beautifully drawn graphic life gives ‘Red Rosa’ her due as an iconic radical, but also portrays a fascinating woman with a rich love life, struggles with physical disability and an abiding love of literature and theatre. It is, quite simply, a comic book that will contribute to the growing understanding of one of the twentieth century’s greatest revolutionaries. The story follows Rosa from her family life in Jewish Poland where she became the leader of a general strike at age fifteen and was exiled from her homeland at eighteen to her immersion into the then largest radical party in the world, the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), to her founding of the German Communist Party and leadership of the German revolution of 1919. Kate Evans is a radical cartoonist, artist, author and activist who draws a weekly strip for The Morning Star and feature-length cartoons in The Spark magazine. She is also the author of numerous books, comics and zines, including ‘Funny Weather: Everything you Didn’t Want to Know About Climate Change but Probably Should Find Out’ and ‘The Food of Love’. Red Rosa is also pretty much the perfect book for socialist-curious: Red Rosa: A Graphic Biography of Rosa Luxemburg is somewhat in the spirit of the ‘For Beginners’ and ‘Introducing’ graphic novel series. But this is better; longer, and with more detail about Luxemburg's really fascinating life. She was a supersmart Polish immigrant in France/Germany who got her PhD in Economics when most women couldn't even go to college, and who fought for democracy and workers' rights at a time – around the beginning of the 20th century – when women couldn't even vote. It is an independent work put out by Verso Books, a publisher willing to put out something with more 'adult' content: and there is some actual nudity in here, because people, even famous thinkers (gasp) have sex. Not that it's gratuitous, nor titillating – is just part of Luxemburg's life. Luxemburg had lovers, some of them younger than her, and she practised birth control. Evans also includes personal details about Luxemburg having to wear – and hating – corsets, and discovering the French invention of the bra. And Evans also provides, sometimes in Luxemburg's own words, some good short introductions to or reviews of Marxism, and Marx's critique of capitalism. And then, for her, there is Socialism, which is really the idea that the government regulates business to protect people, and sets up systems outside the business world to take care of people. Worth reading with most of us still floundering in our supposed economic recovery – for what Rosa Luxemburg wrote about and predicted is scarily relevant today.  |
| F1 test driver Susie Wolff retires at 32 Posted: 12 Nov 2015 04:36 AM PST
In an interview with BBC Breakfast, Susie Wolff said, “It was a decision I made at the end of the summer. There was very little opportunity to carry on in Formula 1. “My goal was to get on to the starting grid and that didn’t look achievable. So I had to call it a day. “I always said that as soon as I couldn’t get any further I would stop and that time has come.” Wolff will make her final appearance in the Race of Champions at the Olympic Stadium in London on 20-21 November. She began her F1 career with Williams in 2012 after a establishing her credentials in the Touring Car Championship in Germany, built her reputation as a test driver and took part in four practice sessions. She had her first F1 test at the end of 2012 and was then asked to increase her role in the team for the 2013 season. She was the first driver to test the new 2013 car and has been attending every F1 Grand Prix in her capacity as development driver Wolff had hoped to be named as racing cover for Valtteri Bottas in Malaysia this year, but when she was denied this it was clear that this was a blow to her progression. Deputy team principal Claire Williams said Wolff would not be under consideration – although she refused to confirm who it would be. “Susie Wolff is our test driver not our reserve driver,” Williams said in March. “I don’t think it was the pivotal moment, but it was one of the moments where I could just see it getting harder and harder,” Wolff said. It will not be the last we see of her in the sport, but she has said that she doesn't see a woman racing in Formula 1 any time soon. Wolff is now dedicating herself to getting more women and girls into motorsport. She is, she said, planning to work with the UK’s motorsport authority the Motor Sports Association: “We will launch a new initiative aimed at celebrating the woman succeeding in motorsport on and off the track now, plus highlighting to the next generation that motorsport is an option for them. “I dared to be different, I want to inspire others to do the same.” There are also rumours that she has been asked to be a presenter on the revamped BBC Top Gear programme. There is no doubt that this is a sad indictment of the position of women in motorsport. In 2012 I wrote an article praising the improvement of the chances for women, but now I fear we are going backwards again. In 2012 the Federation Internationale de l'automobile (FIA) instituted its much-vaunted Women in Motorsport Commission. This now has 32 members, but seems to have accomplished little, which riases several questions: Is it turning into a talking-shop? Where are the up and coming drivers? Where are the role models for young girls? Hopefully Susie Wolff will be instrumental in ensuring there are more role models for future generations in this country, but I fear for the future of women in motorsport as a whole. On 29 October 2015, Joe Wilson, sports correspondent for the BBC tweeted, "Wonder if I'll live to see the day when there is a female F1 winner flanked by beaming 'grid boys'? Just a thought." Unfortunately, Joe, probably not. With the loss of Susie Wolff, that is, at the moment, very much "just a thought". But one thing is clear: "I do believe a woman can compete at that level," Wolff said. "I showed that in testing."  |
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