The Women Unbound Challenge

I am so all over the ‘Women Unbound’ challenge it is useless to remind me about my challenge ban. The idea is to read fiction and non-fiction books related to a very broad definition of women’s studies. I’m going to smush all the initial challenge business into one post, so this may get a bit long. First let’s look at what I might read to qualify for the ‘Suffragette’ level (eight books, including three volumes of non-fiction):

Fiction

'An Equal Silence' – Francesca Kay: A female artist finds her marriage struggling when her work becomes more successful that her husbands.

'Emma' – Jane Austen: How does Austen free her women, while keeping them respectable enough for her readers? I’m intrigued by this book after the recent BBC series and my book came free as part of a free offer, by a woman’s razor company.

'Twelve Miles' – Cara Hedley: Women in playing ice hockey and probably being tough? Rocking.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan – Lisa See : As far as I can remember this is about the brutal practice of foot binding.

Then I need something new and shiny to read for my fifth book. Perhaps ‘The Thirteenth Wife’ or ‘The Chosen One’ which both deal with polygamous societies.

Non-fiction

Warrior Queens – Antonia Fraser: I’m a bit worried about including this, as I tried it before and found it impenetrable, but this seems like the perfect challenge to try a book about historical women of power who physically fought.

Daughter of Desert: The Life of Gertrude Bell - Georgina Howell: Explorer, spy, map maker, pioneering women, why wouldn’t I want to read about Gertrude Bell?

No Place for Ladies – Helen Rappaport/Bluestockings – Jane Robinson: I realised the only other non-fiction I own, that fits this challenge is another Antonia Fraser book. All other non-fiction about women seems to be about women in the war and I think they’re going to be a bit general and not really about gender. So I’d have to buy, or borrow one of these fascinating books, how awful that would be.

Now for a few recommendations from my own shelves for anyone who is compiling their lists, or just likes female centred fiction:

'The Carhullan Army' – Sarah Hall: Britain’s society disintegrates and the heroine finds herself living in a closed community, where women are forced to wear the coil. It’s probably one of the best and the most brutal dystopian novels I’ve read so far.

'The Handmaid’s Tale' – Margaret Atwood: Another dystopian novel about reproductive rights. I love books form this genre which reflect the idea that women’s rights tend to appear, or disappear in relation to the state of the general world.

'The Virgin Suicides' – Jeffrey Eugenides: Four young women are kept in a house, with little access to the outside world.

'The Red Tent' – Anita Diamant: A Biblical retelling (the first part is the best) and a treatise on how women are bound together, even as they’re set against each other.

‘Flygirl’ – Sherri L Smith: A historically based novel about the WASPs, women who flew planes for the army during the second world war.

‘The Crimson Petal and the White’ – Michael Faber: Sugar is a most accomplished Victorian prostitute who dreams of writing a novel, decrying male control over women.

‘The Bitch Goddess Notebook’ – Martha O’Connor: Honestly I can’t remember that much about this one, except that three friends who have separated remember events past, but I remember loving it when I was reading it. It’s one of those spiky little books that dig themselves under your skin.

Finally my answers to the introduction meme the organisers devised:

1. What does feminism mean to you? Does it have to do with the work sphere? The social sphere? How you dress? How you act?

First two links, the Wikipedia entry on feminism and some thoughts on what modern feminists are trying to achieve. For me, feminism is all about a woman’s right to choose and to take control of her own life (I guess that makes me a typical third-waver). I also believe that the fact that feminism has splintered into different, specific groups is a good thing, as long as we encompass all those views under some main rights we can all agree on (the right for women to be educated, the right for women to be free from abuse, the right for women to control their own reproduction and sexual health, the right for a woman to work if she wants to and probably a few more thing I can’t think of right now). As long as a woman approaches herself and other women with the respect they deserve then I believe she’s aligning herself with feminism.

2. Do you consider yourself a feminist? Why or why not?

Plenty of people I know say they believe in equality of the sexes, but they’re not a feminist, in the same way you might say ‘I believe anarchy, but I’m not an anarchist’. They identify feminism as the set beliefs of a specific group of activists and although they believe in the values these people uphold, they don’t identify with that group of people and they wouldn’t support all the actions of feminists. Unfortunately when these people say ‘I’m not a feminist, but...’ all the world hears is the first four words and all feminists like me hear is ‘I don’t want to say I’m a feminist because of I do not want to be associated with negative image certain men perpetuate about feminists’ (must get better about hearing that differently).

I think these people are put off self-identifying as feminists by this negative visual image that certain men and women push on to the word feminism, but also by the archaic version of feminism, as an ideaology that is opposed to housewives, mothers and women who take care of their appearance. Feminism has moved on to become all encompassing and has broken off into so many shoots, but many people assume that being a stay at home mother, sets them at odds with feminism. This is pretty frustrating, because the domestic sphere, where it is so easy for a woman to lose her own self-identity and her control on her life choices, because of the baggage of easy assumptions and traditional roles that daily domestic life brings with it is probably one of the places where a knowledge and belief in feminism is most practically useful.

I’m a feminist, that’s how I self-identify. I feel proud of the history of the movement (although mistakes were made, it was generally on the right track and every movement goes through a period of development) and I feel that feminism allows me to express my own views, without feeling excluded by the movement. I’d say that most women who are reluctant to align themselves with feminism probably haven’t found the right branch of feminism for them.

3. What do you consider the biggest obstacle women face in the world today? Has that obstacle changed over time, or does it basically remain the same?

There are about a billion obstacles that women face today. The most visible problems, like opposition to reproductive choice, extreme violence based on outdated ideas associated with women and the lack of legal support for women occur mostly overseas. Opposition to making birth control available is pretty big obstacle, because it leaves women raising too many children to be able to save money, or go out to work, or to gain an education. Then their daughters face the same problems and their sons perpetuate the cycle. I think that western feminists need to get more involved with these problems abroad, or risk being branded insular.

In the UK there is the media to contend with, as well as ordinary people’s assumptions, which box women into particular roles because of how they look and act. Cultural baggage is a hard thing to shake off. Since old cultural ideas also encourage men to believe they have the right to rape and beat women I’d say it’s a pretty big obstacle.

The idea that women are somehow now a privileged group that is eroding the rights of men, sits right alongside the racist idea that black, or asian groups now receive too many special privileges and is gaining a following. That’s a dangerous idea, because when men feel their way of life is threatened, they’ll hit back and block women’s progress either in an official capacity, or in their own homes. Masses of men are not being won over to feminism and while I don’t encourage pandering to them, I think there must be a way of encouraging them to see the benefits of feminism (many already do) and the fact that we’re striving for equality, not control.

All the answers to this meme strike at something important, but I just wanted to spotlight Amanda’s answers Amanda's answers , because they highlight such an interesting slant on feminism. Amanda says she was always more interested in equality and focused on male rights (paternity leave etc) as she’d seen a negative side of feminism.

I leave you today with the news that when forced to meet pay equivalency equality standards Leeds Council opted not to pay its female employees more, but to cut the pay of 3,500 male bin men and street cleaners. There’s been a strike among the male employees, and people is calling it disgusting behaviour (not least because the bins are starting to smell and attract rats according to the One Show. What everyone seems to be forgetting is that these men have never been concerned enough to strike over the low pay of their female colleagues.