As always, there have been many round-ups of the year. A bit of near nostalgia to reflect upon. A neat summary of twelve months deftly assembled so that we know where the world is right now. And the formula is familiar: young famous person is ridiculous, catastrophic natural disaster, distant war, old famous person is ridiculous, someone dies, someone else dies, even worse natural disaster, funny internet clip. The World can be so unoriginal.
But this year I noticed that lots of papers and journalists were reporting that 2013 was “a good year for women”. And they put a picture of Miley Cyrus next to it because she is both a woman AND 2013. And because you’re not allowed to publish words anymore without accompanying them with bared female flesh. HOW ELSE WILL THE READER KNOW WHO TO JUDGE?
So was 2013 Good? For women?
The word ‘good’ is itself subjective. And I suspect that I, like any individual, could reach a personal conclusion about whether it had been good for me, and then project that onto the rest of my gender. That is the human way isn't it? Let me give you some examples; if I was personally affected by the number of austerity cuts that are so damaging to mothers and carers then I would tell you this was a bad year - one in which women’s non-employed input into society continues to go unrecognised and where the vulnerable are not being correctly protected. If, on the other hand, I had successfully pressed for equal pay in my workplace, I would tell you it was a great year; where notions of women being less-able or less hardworking employees than men were evolving, and that I finally felt correctly valued.
If I was one of the 130,000 people campaigning to remove page 3 from The Sun newspaper, I might feel positive at this huge collection of like minds, at the amount of press and support we’d had, and I would feel optimistic that the way women’s bodies are daily displayed as titillation was changing. Good year. If I was a topless model who felt feminists were attacking me and my work choices, bad. If I loved the Lily Allen song ‘Hard out Here’ parodying the ubiquitous nudity and objectification of women in the music industry, I’d be telling you it was a good year. If I noticed that the slow-mo close ups on wiggling behinds were all of young black women while Allen stayed fully dressed during her video, I might feel that hypocrisy was apparent, that it was a bad year for women. Because even a statement song about how music videos portray women can’t exist without that same sexualisation - or nobody would play it. I would worry about the message inherent that it is only white women's objectification that is unacceptable. If I was a young black woman myself, I might feel angry with the middle class white women I saw discussing this in the media, and feel unrepresented - that feminism had no place for me.
This year I saw female genital mutilation being discussed in newspapers and online. I watched documentaries that described not only the physical reality of the practice, but also how girls born in Britain can be taken abroad and return ‘cut’. And even about women who might be conducting the practice in this country. I could feel that all this discussion is a good thing. That the fear of ‘different cultures’ has led us to be ignorant to abuse of human rights and a hatred of female sexuality for too long. Or I might note that the year ends with still no convictions for this crime. That despite all this attention, parents are harming or permitting this harm on their daughters, with little fear of repercussion. Not good.
Margaret Thatcher dies, and loads of people talk about what a strong and brilliant woman she was, good year. Or Margaret Thatcher dies, and everyone keeps going on and on about how she was a woman, like she was defined by her gender rather than her politics. Nelson Mandela dies, people don’t go on and on and on about how he was a man.
In 2013, 504 of the 650 MPs were male. Bad year. This is the same male-dominated parliament which decides the laws which affect women. Like Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt confirming he would favour a reduction in the time a woman can have an abortion from 24 to 12 weeks. Good or bad for women depends on your personal views and experiences of abortion - but gosh, I find it difficult to even hypothetically imagine a situation where it is positive that a woman’s option of whether to continue with a pregnancy is decided by Jeremy Hunt.
The second place law is made in the UK is in courts, with judges’ rulings becoming precedents for later cases. 2013 saw face veils banned in courts, and then later permitted. You may be a Muslim woman who feels that your personal choice of religious attire has been respected - good year. You may be a woman who feels that religious attire in general is a form of female suppression - bad year. You may not know what to think or feel on this issue. Or about whether young pop stars should keep their clothes on, whether Femen are practicing reclamation by getting their boobs out, or whether Blurred Lines should have been banned from radio play.
With its thousands of grey areas, it feels like 2013 contained more discussion than ever about women. About how the media portrays and affects us. About the crimes against us that go unpunished. About the abuse that TV presenters and reality TV contestants face based on their appearance. About the cuts to services that take care of vulnerable women. And so if 2013 was the year of debate, 2014 must be the year we begin to do something about it. And then that would be an objectively good year for women.
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Was 2013 a good year for women?
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MumsnetGuestBlogs · 31/12/2013 12:40
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