Five Reasons Why Mothers Should Be Feminists

Feminist mothering is a perspective within feminism which positions the mother both as a feminist in her own right and as a mother who imparts her feminist values in the rearing of her children. Given the rise in the violence against females and the online abuse hurled at women who pose anything marked as 'feminist', never has the time been more ripe for mothers to practice feminist mothering. Here are the reasons why:

1. If you are teaching your child to be wary of a crime that is mainly male perpetrated i.e rape, sex abuse. This is as opposed to warning your child about ANY crime that can be committed by both genders i.e mugging, bag snatchers, gang violence etc.

2. If you are worried about your daughter's skirt being too short (even if it's at the knee!) for fear of something awful happening and she being accused of 'asking for it'.

3. If you are worried about your son being exposed to jibes about being 'gay' or 'a girlie' because he doesn't conform to the macho stereotype.

4. If you are worried about the constant gender stereo type images portrayed in the media about how girls and boys should behave and the effect this is having on your child.

5. If you are worried about the constant pressure on your daughter to conform with the early sexualisation of girls so as not to be different from others and not to waste her time by being too smart because boys will not like her. 

Women ARE Killed In 'Nice Streets'

Yvonne Walsh and baby Harry who were found dead at their home

When will people wake up and realise that violence against women does NOT have boundaries of any kind. It is not affiliated to a political system, economic system, class system and, most of all, is not defined by post codes or any geographical boundary.

Tragically, a mother and her 9 month old baby were killed in the West Midlands this week. Newspaper reports seem to suggest that the man arrested over the crime knew the victims. There is a strong hint that domestic violence was the cause of the deaths. Residents who live in the area were quoted as saying  that it was "quite a nice road with nice people". So, nice suburbia had been hit by violence thereby shattering the illusions of many who thought domestic abuse was only to be found in 'no-go'areas for bad folk.

According to Women's Aid, the UK's national domestic violence charity, at least 1 in 4 women experience domestic violence in their lifetime. That's a quarter of women living in the UK and they cannot all be housed in deprived areas implicit in the opinions given about 'nice road'.  Domestic violence perpetrated by males is caused by a desire to control and manipulate. Putting on a nice suit and tie is not a suit of armor against hurting women.

Postcode domestic abuse and violence is a theory probably discovered and propagated by the middle and upper classes to act as a lid on the truth of what really goes on behind closed doors in nice areas.

A Celebration of Pregnancy on 31 May

While maternal care and well being is an international concern in political and economic circumstances and a public provision in countries with state sponsored social care the celebration of pregnancy, by contrast, is often a private affair. The only time, in fact, when pregnancy is celebrated publicly is when a pregnant celebrity poses on the front of some well known magazine with her belly exposed.

I am choosing to mark the state of pregnancy in a different way. Yesterday was the Christian celebration of the 'Feast of Visitation' and has its' roots in the biblical verses found in Luke 1:41 to 56. It is the day when Mary, who is pregnant with Jesus, goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth who is pregnant with John the Baptist. Elizabeth's unborn baby leaps in her womb upon hearing the voice of Mary. Elizabeth is overcome and utters the words that have become the second line of the Catholic 'Hail Mary' prayer: 'Blessed Art Thou Among Women and Blessed Is The Fruit Of Thy Womb'.

The motherhood narrative is one of joy and expectancy. There is a particular poignancy associated with the first rush of the excitement of a happy pregnancy which is universal in the human dimensions of joy and hope that it contains. 

I Have A 13 Year Old Daughter-Hewson Can Get Lost

It's been 48 hours and I am still fuming over the article written by a barrister called Barbara Hewson in which she calls for the age of consent to be lowered to 13. While no politician or political party would ever dream of taking up her public utterances and parents need not worry about any of this becoming a reality Hewson's narrative is, nevertheless, disturbing.

There is a certain smugness in Hewson's words that smacks of one-upmanship and attention seeking verbal diarrhoea that would be far more suited in the plush dining rooms of upmarket homes on a Saturday night when high-flying intelligent types get together for a dinner party and indulge in too much alcohol. What spews forth isn't free speech, it's private talk. The right to free speech, surely, involves something more reasoned, especially from a human rights lawyer.

As a mother of a 13 year old I find her views particularly provocative because it lacks a monstrous recognition of the vulnerabilities of teenage girls and a huge disconnect between her views and the wider world of paedophilia which has been in the news just this week - the victims of Stuart Hall, April Jones, Tia Sharpe and the abduction of the young women while in their teens in Cleveland. There is only one thing that this week has shown us in these cases and it is that the issue of child protection is a human rights issue, not fodder for a public platform for gross opinion.

Hewson states that she does not 'support the persecution of old men. The manipulation of the rule of law by the Savile Inquisition-otherwise known as Operation Yewtree-and its attendant zealots poses a far graver threat to society than anything Jimmy Savile ever did'. 

This is muddled thinking. Is she accusing the police of age discrimination? If so, does that mean that old men are not capable of any crimes at all? The language used and thought displayed by Hewson is archaic. The reason that 'old men' are being brought to justice is because it is now, rightly, recognised that sexual acts against young girls is paedophilia. It is not 'old men' being 'old men' nor is it any form of persecution. It is time for the prosecution of those who took advantage of a bygone time and culture which allowed them to indulge their evil intentions.

Women like Hewson enjoy playing the patriarchal game which substitutes sentiment for substance. We saw this happen earlier this year when Shirley Williams defended Chris Rennard. Then there are other older women who think that men are being given a hard time because women don't like having doors opened for them anymore. Frankly, if these women cannot advance the cause of ordinary women and mothers like me who are bringing up children in a world where violence against female is on the increase then they should shut up. Not all women live in a cosseted worlds where 'men will be men' and women are there to indulge them.

A 13 year old girl is a vulnerable one because she still needs guidance while finding her way in the world. Education and harmless fun in equal measure ought to be the landscape of a 13 year old's life. There should not be a door opened to the vagaries of being a sexual conquest for a grown man. Hewson is a foolish woman who seems to enjoy using the language of legal jurisprudence to substantiate child abuse, for that is what it amounts to.

She cites the rule of law but I wonder if Tom Bingham would agree. In chapter 5 on page 55 of his book, The Rule of Law, Lord Bingham states that : "Children are, by definition, less mature than a normal adult, and should not be treated as a normal adult would expect to be treated".

This blog post is dedicated to the memory of Francis Andrade who killed herself at the age of 48 this year after having to relive the sexual abuse she suffered as a teenager. 

A female Freemason? I was one

A sense of disbelief always accompanies any statement that I make about being a Freemason. Infuriatingly, some especially macho men have refused to believe me despite the evidence that I possess of the apron and gloves. Long seen as a male bastion, it is a little known fact that women are able to be admitted into the order. In fact, this has been a practice since 1931.

I was admitted into the order of the Seton Challen lodge based in Central London in 2002. There is a tradition of freemasonry among the males in my family and I was strongly influenced by the camaraderie and sense of charitable giving that drove the movement. I let my membership lapse, sadly, because coping with a 2-year old, part-time work and everything else just made it impossible for me to keep up with the sessions. However, the ladies who welcomed me were model examples of the factors I describe above that attracted me to apply to the order. I have no regrets of joining, only of having to give it up.

My memories have been stirred by the press coverage this week of  how the International Order of Co-Freemasonry is trying to dispel an image of being an all male club that practises rituals which do not accord with modern day thinking. I went through my initiation 11 years ago and found it quite exciting. The warmth extended towards me when I passed was indicative of the strong union of friendship that exists in the Freemasonry. My father who died 17 years ago was a Lodge Master and his order still remembers to invite my mother to special events that they host.

I am a practising feminist Christian and nothing that went on in the meetings contradicted either of my beliefs. If anything, a traditional atheist female would probably find matters more offensive than someone like me. Feminists exist within different social groupings and the female freemasonry movement is one. I can't speak for the male order. According to an article in The Guardian this week the 'male masonry is peopled by old grey beards, the aristocracy, major generals of the army and they're nearly all male chauvinists'. Now, that is an outdated attitude in this day and age.

Lying, Thieving, Bastards? #ltb

When the Paralympics was being staged it seemed quite reasonable to expect that a golden moment had arrived given the accolades, excitement and enthusiasm shown towards the athletes. Disabled people, finally, could expect to be treated with respect and accepted as being 'one of everyone'.

It hasn't even been six months since the Paralympics ended. The Special Olympics are being held at the moment in Korea. Is change detected in the air? Not a bit as evidenced this week by Panorama which exposed how a company called Triage that is handling the Government's work programme refers to disabled people as 'lying, thieving, bastards'. So, rather than some sort of superb legacy coming out of all the efforts that went in last year to raising disability awareness the pendulum has swung back to the old fashioned channel of name calling.

'Lying, thieving, bastards' is now to be added to the list of horrendous adjectives already used to describe disabled people. One wonders what it will take for humankind to possess some sort of basic decency. 'Lying, thieving, bastards' are words that, for me, describe bootleggers and not honest citizens. 

"It's A Scary Dark Time for Disabled People"

Francesca Martinez is a stand up comedian, writer and actor. I had the privilege of watching her during the summer in 2012 when she did an act at the Southbank. Francesca suffers from cerebral palsy. Her act was funny. She was witty and after the first few awkward moments when people gasped softly and looked uncomfortable when she walked on stage they soon rolled about with laughter.

The politics of disability is something that affects me both professionally, as CEO of Powerhouse which is a charity for women with learning disabilities, and as a Christian. What intrigued me on that day I mention was how much people enjoyed her act after getting through the an obstacle of self-discomfort. It is the 'disability' versus 'the person with the disability' approach that many policy makers have ruminated on.

The attacks on disability benefits and the WCA judges the disability and not the person behind it. The 'Social Model' of disability attempted to change this mindset by attributing the disadvantage suffered by the disabled person to limitations in society, NOT the limitations within the person. However, the current policy has reversed this. Disabled people are being made to, as it seems, atone for their conditions by being made to go through WCA and being told that they are fit to work. The capitalist model of work is seeking to to level the playing field between an able bodied or disabled person without life inhibiting traits and a person with a disability who is having a life inhibiting condition. Institutional discrimination is targetting disabled people systematically and the outcome is, as As Francesca said: "It's a Scary Dark Time for Disabled People".

Many have already committed suicide, many have become even more ill because of WCA and many more will suffer. The most heart breaking story I read was on Michael Meacher's blog by a woman called Marilyn Sainsbury who left a moving tale about how a student of hers who is deaf and blind had to undergo WCA without fully understanding what was being asked of her. The student was so traumatised by the experience that she started to blame herself for being dependent on 'government handouts'.

There isn't a 'fault line' with disability. It disturbs me greatly when I hear disabled people blame themselves. This battle of the welfare state will carry on for sometime but I sincerely hope that eventually there will be a realisation that people's lives cannot be the political football in a quest for a small state government. Fault does not have a place in the politics of disability.