Mourning Maggie?

In the few short hours since the death of Margaret Thatcher a number of posts have appeared on my Facebook newsfeed along the lines of "Show some respect, she was still a person". It got me thinking about how we mourn, and how the deceased informs that process. I've touched on it here a little after the death of Christopher Hitchens, where I argued that it was inappropriate to say RIP for him.

As a public figure, I believe that it is not only appropriate, but necessary to point out that Thatcher has been a hugely divisive figure. Indeed, for many, Thatcher will be remembered as the woman who destroyed their industries and savaged communities, creating divisions that are still painful today.

There is a temptation at times like these to almost deify the dead. To make it clear, Thatcher was no angel, and we need to be able to say that. To ignore the bad political decisions she made is disingenuous to those who have been, and are still being, affected by those same decisions. We may weep for Thatcher, but what about the generation of youngsters who've grown up in old industrial communities where jobs are in low supply? Personally, that is a much sorrier case, and more deserving of my laments.

I respect Thatcher for reaching the top - I don't think I can remember any other women who has seemed at all likely to make PM ever since. Fair play to her for that.

I don't recall an outpouring of sadness at the deaths of more unpopular leaders - Kim Jong Il, Hugo Chavez etc, even if there has been a solid base of support amongst their own subjects, like Chavez did.

As I said at the start, how we mourn (or not) is affected by who the person who has died. Just as importantly, the context in which we speak of the dead. It would be inappropriate to rock up to the front doors of her children and tell them that she was a terrible political leader who has ruined lives. They would be entirely delusional if they believed that everybody agreed with everything she did and said, but I really doubt that reading about other people's disagreements with her political conduct will increase their sadness at her passing.

I didn't agree with her as a political leader and I can't say that I am particularly sad to see that she has died. I wish comfort on her family, and good judgement on those who will appraise her time in government.

Gender-Based Violence Bingo and How Not to Get Raped: A Checklist

So my dissertation came and went, and with it went my motivation to write, or even think, for a few months. Thankfully I've been kicked into gear by this amazing commitment to feminism both older and new:

This beauty was done by Cesar at Body Garden Tattoo in Birmingham, credit to them for the photo and the tattoo!

This beauty belongs to my good friend and chief inspiration Camilla, who can be found giving terrifically erudite and passionate thoughts on feminism and Catholicism, especially women and priesthood, in her blog which can be found here.

In the time I've been away, I've been heartened to find that a number of feminist issues have been debated more widely in the public domain. From the seriously disturbing to the hang on a cotton pickin' minute, I've been keeping a whole heap of rage to myself, so apologies for the mega-post, but there is a reward at the end!

India's Sexual Violence Problem and GBV Bingo

Perhaps the biggest issue has been the case of an Indian student who was gang raped and eventually died of the catastrophic injuries she was left with. The case has brought the raw tensions of those fighting for women's safety to the surface in India and beyond, but I am wary of the tendency of many in the UK to consider violence against women to be a third world problem. Perhaps I should create a form of Gender-Based Violence Bingo, where we can mark off the old cliche's that crawl from the woodwork at times like this:

• It's because they don't have the respect for women that we do (HA!)
• It's because they are Muslim/Hindu/Sikh/Asian/Poor/Insert any other group that otherises both victim and perpetrator
• It's because the men are so sexually repressed
• I'm glad that never happens here

Keep an eye out as the accused have their day in court - bearing in mind that this is something that Assange has not yet seen.

Absolute Madness with Joanna Lumley - How Not to Get Raped and Other Tales of Ridiculousness from Showbiz

In pull-your-hair-out-WTF-were-you-thinking-please-stop-talking-I'll-do-anything-to-shut-you-up-including-gouging-out-my-own-eyes-with-rusty-spoons-and-using-them-as-earplugs?! news, we have the startling case of Joanna Lumley, who dons her best Lion King suit to inform young women that they should avoid the following to avoid being raped:

• Being laddish - I don't know how one is 'laddish', perhaps donning a rugby shirt and being a jolly-good fly-half (which I believe to be some form of rugby lad terminology?!)
• Don't look like trash - hopefully not literally, as I would caution all that dressing as trash, perhaps in a pedal-bin dress with banana moccasins that this is just not a good idea. Think of the germs. Ew.
• Don't get drunk - how drunk I don't know, maybe a touch tipsy and you emit a signal which tells all potential rapists that you would in fact like to engage in sex that you don't consent to?
• Don't be sick down your front - but sick down your back is a repellent.
• Don't break your heels - I have strange visions of women deliberately breaking their heels at the end of an evening. Maybe it's to use as a potential weapon against men who've seen their vomit-strewn front and can't help themselves? Eh Joanna, EH? Never thought about that, did ya?
• Don't stagger about in the wrong clothes at midnight - I *think* that she may have got this mixed up with another misogynist myth that led to the murders of innocent women, given that 12 is indeed the witching hour. Maybe time to set her straight?
• Don't behave badly - I'm not even going to attempt a definition of bad behaviour here, she's definitely lost me.

But Ms Lumley is not simply there to point out our faults, she has solutions - handy if, like me, you don't relish the thought of rape!

• Look after yourself properly
• Behave properly
• Be polite
• Be punctual (Seriously, WTF?!)
• Dress properly, but NOT dully - just not in a "silly dress"

And with that, you are immune from the predatory advances of all would-be rapists. Simples!

Also in celebville, there is the mind-boggling choice of the American programme Special Victims Unit, which dramatises the policing aspect of sexual violence, to cast the convicted rapist Mike Tyson. You do wonder sometimes, eh?

Ach, Stop Your Yammering, it Doesn't Matter - Or Does It?

This week saw the decision of the Advertising Standards Agency to dismiss 600 complaints about the sexism of an ASDA Christmas advert. I'm not going to link the ad in question, as most will have imbibed it over the length of December, but for anyone else, hark your mind back to ye olde adverts for cleaning products to scrub your house top to bottom each day before you greet your husband with a pair of warm slippers and you'll be on the right lines. 

I find it interesting that ASDA justified the campaign by market research which found that 8 out of 10 cats mothers found this to be their experience of Christmas rather than an outdated stereotype. HA! Meanwhile, the ASA found that it did not condone any negative stereotypes of gender or harmful discriminatory behaviour. I question how the ASA can not find the placing of the entire burden of Christmas (including present-buying, cleaning, preparing for guests, cooking and looking after children) as a negative or harmful stereotype.

All of this is fascinating when seen in the context of the debate that has been ongoing in the Guardian this week on women trying to attain Professorships. Less women are being promoted to Professorships than men, and those who do tend to take longer to make it there. I wonder how much of this is down to the expectation that they undertake the second shift at the expense of their career?

Anyway, as a reward for reaching the end of my ramblings, a wee song: