Inspiring girls to aim higher

Call for professional women to give an hour each year to talk to young women in local state schools.

Last week the The Inspiring the Future campaign launched  'Inspiring Women', a campaign is to see 15,000 women from a wide range of occupations going into state schools, over the next year, to talk to 250,000 young women about the range of jobs available and entry routes into them.

The campaign was launched by Miriam González Durántez, an international lawyer and a partner at Dechert LLP and wife of the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg.

In the event brochure, she said: 'Women suffer from stereotyping all over the world, including in Europe and in the UK: if we succeed in our professional lives, we’re branded “scary”; if we follow fashion, we’re “shallow”; if we like science, we’re “geeks”; if we read women’s magazines, we’re “fluffy”; and if we defend our rights, we’re “hard”.

'It is little wonder that girls struggle, amid so many absurd labels, to identify the right path for them.

'According to research by Girlguiding UK, 55 per cent of girls aged between 11 and 21 say they feel there are not enough female role models.

'However, in reality, there are not only enough female role models, but a surplus of them. Our new national campaign will encourage women from all walks of life to form a network of role models to talk about their lives and share their experiences in with state schools girls.'

The launch, at Lancaster House in London, saw a hundred girls from eleven state secondary schools talk about jobs and careers with ten high profile successful women, and a 'career speed networking' event which Miriam González Durántez hosted.

Other high profile women taking part included BBC Journalist Fiona Bruce, EasyJet CEO Carolyn McColl and Athene Donald DBE, Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Cambridge.

'Inspiring Woman' was set up after research revealed that girls respond best to other women and that 75 per cent of women still work in stereotypically female sectors such as cleaning, catering, caring, cashiering and clerical work.

There is nothing wrong at all with that, Miriam González Durántez said, but girls should also feel free to make a difference in science, IT, engineering or maths if that is what they like.

The campaign is run by the Education and Employers Taskforce charity with support from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Speaking at the event, Miriam González Durántez said: “Every woman can be a role model for the new generations, no matter the path they have chosen in their lives.

“Through taking women into state schools to talk face-to-face with girls around the country this campaign will help to remove the stereotypes and absurd labels that still surround women. Young girls deserve to feel free to aim high.”

Inspiring Women is calling on professional women to give up an hour of their time each year to support young women in local state schools.

Anyone can volunteer with Inspiring the Future - you can be a young apprentice, graduate recruit or a seasoned chief executive, or you can offer insight into working for yourself.

To find out how to volunteer, or how your school can register, visit their website.

Story published in Women's Views on News on 21 October 2013

Is UK immigration policy putting women at risk?

And the Immigration Bill, critics warn, puts migrant women and children at risk of sub-standard housing - or destitution.

On 22 October the UK parliament's Immigration Bill 2013-2014 is expected to have its second reading debate.

The Bill requires short-term migrants such as international students and those working in the UK for less than two years to pay a levy for NHS services when they apply for their visas.

Private landlords will have to check the migration status of tenants, banks will have to carry out checks on those wishing to open a current account and illegal migrants will not be able to obtain or retain a driver’s licence.

These measures have led to widespread concerns that women and migrant families will be denied access to healthcare, risk homelessness or be placed at the mercy of landlords offering poor quality and dangerous accommodation.

Although the government has given assurances that no patient in urgent need will ever be denied access to NHS treatment, there are concerns that the new restrictions will cause confusion and discourage migrants from seeking treatment.

The Roman Catholic Bishop for Migrants, Patrick Lynch, said: “The expectation placed on private landlords to conduct immigration status checks on tenants before providing accommodation, will deny many vulnerable migrants the right to suitable housing and could lead some migrant families into destitution”.

“The [NHS] charging proposal will not only deny access to healthcare but increase inequalities among members of society and will have a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable migrants particularly women and children."

Writing on the National Union of Students blog, international students' officer Daniel Stevens explained why the NUS was against the bill.

Among other points, he said that the new proposals would make international students feel less welcome and deter them from coming to this country to study.

And, he pointed out, the new landlord checks would turn ‘certain students over to a dangerous and illegal subsector of non-law abiding landlords, many of whom already prey on those who are unable to find accommodation elsewhere’.

The Home Affairs Select Committee has already criticised the standard of the accommodation that asylum seekers are forced to live in.

In a report published earlier this month, they said they were ‘alarmed’ by the ‘sub standard’ housing provided by companies like G4S, Serco and Clearel.

The committee also found that asylum seekers have to wait longer for a decision, some as much as 16 years.  It also criticised the authorities for forcing pregnant women to move around the country.

Committee Chair Keith Vaz said: "These companies must be held accountable and deliver a satisfactory level of service. It is unacceptable that in 21st century Britain thousands of people are forced into destitution due to the inefficiencies of the system."

Story published on Women's Views on News on 21 October 2013.

Getting England's women cycling

British Cycling's biggest-ever programme to get women to ride bikes for fun.

While cycling is becoming more and more popular in the UK, the proportion of women getting involved is actually declining.

Through their Breeze network a British Cycling  initiative aims to help thousands of women feel confident and comfortable about going on a ride.

Breeze has spoken to lots of women and done research to understand the reasons why more women aren’t cycling and they include lack of time and confidence and not feeling safe riding a bike.

So Breeze is going to try and provide as many cycling opportunities as they can in a nurturing and friendly environment.

They currently run about 200 bike rides for women each week; their website shows women how to find their nearest ride and hook up with a local cycling buddy.

Breeze currently has a network of over 1,000 volunteer champions - women who organise fun, social, local bike rides for women.

Rides go at a speed that suits everyone, and they often start or finish at a cafe so everyone can have a drink and a chat.

Breeze is looking for more Breeze champions across the country. They are looking for enthusiastic people to get involved in the Breeze network and inspire women to get more out of their bike, have fun with friends and get a recognised qualification at the same time.

There is no need to be a cycling expert – just be confident on a bike and keen to help others.

To become a Breeze champion you will take part in a fun one-day ride leadership course where you will have a chance to meet other Breeze champions and gain a certificate which qualifies you to independently plan, deliver and promote rides to groups of women,.

Breeze will provide you with kit, British Cycling Ride membership and plenty of support.

Furthermore, to ensure you are able to run safe bike rides, British Cycling will help you get a first aid qualification.

In return they ask champions to deliver on average 12 rides over the year to local women in their area.

A course will take place in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, on 12 October; to apply, fill in this form and contact Breeze.

Breeze has also been trying to make bikes more accessible to women, through hire schemes and female-friendly bike shops.

And the sustrans website is still offering advice.

Story published on Women's Views on News, 8 October 2013.

Rebranding Elle or feminism?

Or jumping on the bandwagon? Fashion magazine launches project to 'Rebrand Feminism'.

Elle magazine has arranged for three feminist groups to team up with three leading advertising agencies to create marketing campaigns with the aim of persuading more women, and men, to realise that they are - and to call themselves - feminists.

Make them Pay is a campaign to end the gender pay gap, and is one result of this Rebranding Feminism project.

British women earn on average 15 per cent less than their male colleagues; Make Them Pay is asking women to talk to male colleagues who do the same job about how much they earn and, if they earn more, to ask their bosses for a pay rise.

A website has been created where men and women can select from a list of broad occupational groups, and enter their pay and the level they are at. They then receive a message showing them how much more, or less, they earn compared to people of the opposite sex who are doing the same job. Women earning less than their male counterparts are encouraged to e-mail their bosses.

Ad agency Mother worked with newly-launched Feminist Times  to come up with Make Them Pay.

Equality Minister Jo Swinson has backed the campaign, saying that if bosses refuse to co-operate she will force companies to publish data about how much they pay men and women.

A second element of the project features a flow chart exploring the possible reasons why only one in seven women identify themselves as feminist ‘feminism is too extreme’ against 'extreme' facts like, for example, that 400,000 women are sexually assaulted each year in the UK, created by Jinan Younis, who was trolled for setting up a feminist society at her school, working with ad agency Brave.

Vagenda's co-founders, Holly Baxter and Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett collaborated with Wieden + Kennedy (W+K) on a poster entitled ‘Sod the Stereotypes’.

It reads: ‘I am not an apple shape nor a pair...’. and lists words and phrases commonly associated with women like ‘mistress’, ‘princess’ and ‘have it all’, before concluding, ‘I’m a woman, the rest is up to you’.

Any attempt to highlight the gender pay gap, or challenge stereotypes and discrimination against women must be a good thing and this campaign has certainly generated a lot of media attention.

And it may reach women who would not normally identify with these issues.

Some may even get a pay rise out of it.

So why do I still feel a little queasy?

And why is Elle suddenly so concerned about feminism?

It may be that only one in seven women describe themselves as feminist, but you would have to be living on a different planet not to notice that feminist ideas are very popular at the moment.

Campaigns like No More Page Three, Everyday Sexism, One Billion Women Rising and #TakebackTwitter have had massive support from women and men.

Elle is a fashion magazine. Feminist ideas are fashionable. Elle is beginning to realise that, if you want to sell magazines to women in the 21st Century you have write about things that women are interested in, and that means offering more than just fashion, beauty, celebrity and horoscopes.

It’s not feminism that is being rebranded, it’s Elle.

Story published on Women's Views on News, 8 October, 2013.

Maternity campaign to probe impact of cuts

Valuing Maternity to investigate the impact of welfare reform on pregnant women and new mothers.

The Valuing Maternity campaign, which is made up of advice providers such as Citizens Advice, specialist charities like Maternity Action and trade unions and is asking women to come forward with their stories about how cuts to welfare benefits have affected them and their families

Valuing Maternity say that in last year’s Autumn Statement the Chancellor announced that Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance would increase by 1 per cent per year over the next three years.

This was below inflation and would result in a reduction in income of up to £221.87 by 2015, compared to indexing in line with inflation.

They say that this reduction in statutory payments comes on top of a series of recent cuts to maternity and child benefits, for example the Health in Pregnancy Grant, a £190 payment to all mothers in the later stages of pregnancy, which ceased in 2011.

The Sure Start Maternity Grant (SSMG), a one-off payment of £500 for parents on lower incomes to assist with the costs of a new baby, was restricted from 2011 to first babies and multiple births.

Child Benefit, a weekly payment of £20.30 a week for the first child and £14.30 for subsequent children, was frozen from 2011 and will be restricted from 2013. The payment was previously paid to all parents and will now be phased out where one parent earns between £50,000 and £60,000.

Valuing Maternity believes that the cumulative loss of benefits and reductions in maternity payments leaves women with up to £911.87 less during pregnancy and maternity leave. For women on low incomes, this is a clearly a significant amount of money.

They believe that concerns about finances may be forcing women to cut short their maternity leave, and that added stress during and after pregnancy could lead to more cases of post natal depression.

They point out that mothers also face new costs in exercising employment rights; new legislation brought in by the coalition government means that from 2013 it will cost £1,200 for a woman to take a pregnancy discrimination claim to the employment tribunal.

Valuing Maternity say research from 2005 found that 30,000 women each year lost their jobs as a result of unlawful pregnancy discrimination. This is 8 per cent of all pregnant women in the workforce.

They say Maternity Action and other advice agencies have observed an increase in pregnancy discrimination since the onset of the recession.

Valuing Maternity is continuing to push for parents to have the right to return to the same job after taking leave.

They want better protection against unfair selection for redundancy during pregnancy and leave, and are also exploring new ways to strengthen the hand of parents negotiating with their employers to balance work and caring responsibilities.

Valuing Maternity is working with the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) to prepare guidance on breastfeeding on returning to work but will continue to push for the legal right to breastfeed at work.

They will also be documenting and critiquing the impact of austerity policies on NHS maternity services and services for pregnant women and new parents.

Valuing Maternity is urging supporters to sign up to the campaign.

Join them on Twitter using the #ValuingMaternity hashtag.

Story published on Women's Views on News, 25 October 2013.

Review, Blue Stockings by Jessica Swale

A new play at Shakespeare's Globe examines women’s struggle for higher education.

It is Girton College Cambridge 1896 and its principal Elizabeth Welsh (Gabrielle Lloyd ) is determined that her small group of female students will be allowed to graduate at the end of their studies.

Welsh had sacrificed everything to establish the college and provide an education for women. She has had to beg lecturers to teach them.

Some, like Mr Banks (Fergal McElheron), are happy to help.

The play opens with him enthusiastically leading a session on the mechanics of the bicycle, but we soon learn what the young women are up against when one, Tess Moffatt (Ellie Piercy) is thrown out of a lecture by the misogynist Professor Maudsley (Edward Peel) for daring to argue that hysteria was not caused by the womb floating around the body.

It may be hard to believe now, but that is what medics believed then.

They also believed that education, or the exercise of the brain, harmed a woman’s ability to perform other functions, like childbirth.  Even Queen Victoria subscribed to this view.

Women who pursued an education were effectively assigning themselves to a life of spinsterhood and financial hardship - for who would employ an educated woman?

The men will graduate, but the women will leave empty handed, with nothing but the stigma of being a ‘blue stocking’- an unnatural, educated woman.

The young women grapple with these dilemmas as they struggle to motivate themselves to finish their studies and match the grades of their male counterparts.

Tess thinks she has found a kindred spirit when she falls for Ralph, until he bows to peer pressure and drops her for a student at the less political Newnham College.

The women have their supporters, but they too have to make sacrifices; Mr Blake is forced to turn down a fellowship as it would mean he was no longer able to teach the women.

Other women lend their support. The women are not supposed to leave their quarters at night, but a maid smuggles Tess out through the kitchen so she can meet her sweetheart.

And the audience broke into spontaneous applause as a female shop assistant tells a particularly offensive group of male students to get out of her shop.

There are arguments among the women about tactics. Miss Walsh wants to operate by stealth, focusing on the fight for degrees, but her colleague Miss Blake (Sarah MacRae) wants to link the struggle for women’s education to the wider suffragist movement.

Blue Stockings is the first play written by Jessica Swale, artistic director of the Red Handed Theatre 

Company. In 2010 she directed Bedlam, the first play by a female playwright - Nell Leyshon - to be staged at Shakespeare’s Globe.

Swale believes the Girton women’s struggle for education is relevant today.

She began researching Blue Stockings when Malala Yousafzai was shot for standing up for girls’ education in Kashmir - and has dedicated Blue Stockings to her.

Swale also recognises that the right to higher education is under threat nearer to home.

In the programme Swale writes: “Recently a young friend was devastated when he realised that university was no longer a feasible option because of the fee increases.

“After so many years fighting for access to higher education, how are we once again in a position where able, passionate students don’t have access to higher education?”

Blue Stockings is on at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London, until 11 October.

Story published on Women's Views on News, 25 September 2013.

Discovering Shakespeare's feminine side

This Autumn Shakespeare’s Globe will host Women’s Wit, a major conference and series of discussions about women in Shakespeare.  The season will explore the Bard’s attitude towards women and the role women have played in Shakespearean theatre, then and now. We spoke to Dr Farah Karim-Cooper, head of higher education and research, Globe Education, at Shakespeare’s Globe.

Why have you decided to put on a season about women in Shakespeare?This season was sparked by the retirement of a very eminent Shakespearean scholar Ann Thompson, Emeritus Professor at King’s College London, who has been a pioneer in feminist studies in Shakespeare.  She was the first woman to be elected to the English National Theatre Education Committee and she was the first female editor of Hamlet andthe Taming of the Shrew. She has been a great mentor to other scholars both male and female.  There will be a conference dedicated to her as well as a book.

What are the highlights?Besides the conference there is going to be a great platform event called ‘To Kill a Wife with Kindness’, about misogyny and stereotyping in the Taming of the Shrew. It was really brought home to me last season that the play is very difficult to swallow; people laughed at all the places that feminists find tricky.
I have invited Samantha Spiro, the actress who played Katherina and Lucy Bailey, who directed the Taming of the Shrew for the Royal Shakespeare Company to have a chat about delivering this comedy to a 21^st century audience.

We will also run an event called These are the Youths that Thunder at the Playhouse, an attempt to showcase the work of young scholars.  This year will feature two female scholars. Dr Edel Semple of University College Cork will be looking at Women’s Wit in Shakespeare’s comedies of the 1590s and Dr Sarah Lewis, King’s College London, will be examining the wit and wisdom of patient wives and prodigal husbands in All’s Well that Ends Well.

What do you hope to achieve from the season?I think it’s about making people aware of the huge part that women had to play in the development of Shakespeare.  We all know that Shakespeare had all-male casts and he wrote female parts for young boys and that’s a very important part of early modern theatre history. But I think sometimes we forget the role that women have had in developing those parts from when Shakespeare was writing.  He was thinking about real women when he was writing his parts and there were women working back stage as hire women and women who made costumes. Women played an important part in company business.

We tend to worship the Great White Shakespeare, the Big Man, but there are a lot of women doing work in Shakespeare studies and in the Shakespeare industry, so it’s about shining a light on them.

Women’s Wit runs from October to December as part of Globe Education’s Autumn season at Shakespeare’s Globe, London. More information can be found at shakespearesglobe.com/education/events. Picture credit Manuel Harlan

Story published in Libertine, 1 October, 2013.