Laura Bates - The obituaries of women

[OddBoots]

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/apr/27/cheer-up-love-why-is-harriet-tubman-being-told-to-smile-100-years-after-her-death

This is something I have only had an awareness of over the past couple of years but it really is shocking, isn't it? The number of people who think the time for feminism has past and that we have equality now yet this is the kind of pervasive thing that just happens as standard making sure gender roles are reinforced even after death.

Blimey that sucks.

I saw a comment on Twitter about how Victoria Woods weight was mentioned several times in her obit

I don't even know what to say really, I just wanted to comment to acknowledge I'd read it and felt very upset. By the article that is, I was fucking disgusted by the comments under it.

Oh I have long since given up reading the comments at the bottom of articles, snarky ignorance is very bad for my blood pressure.

I played some BTL Bingo and got:

• where are your stats? I want a controlled scientific experiment to prove that women are told to smile more often than men
• what about the menz? I got told to cheer up once
• oh men just aren't allowed to say anything nice to women any more
• it's not that big a deal, feminists should be discussing other issues that I think are more important

then I got bored.

There was an obituary in the Times last month of Dame Marion Kettlewell that enraged me. It referred twice to the women under her command (she was Director of the Women’s Royal Naval Service) as her "charges" - no male officer would have their male subordinates referred to as charges. Also, a photo accompanied the obituary with the caption (and I won't have this verbatim, but it is accurate) "DMK with two senior naval officer and a WREN". She outranked both the "senior" naval male officers (the more senior of the two was only a Lt Cdr, so hardly senior!) and the WREN was the same rank as the more junior of the two men, so if they rank "officer" status, surely she does too?!

I have just seen this thread and read the linked article.

This part just completely encapsulates the issues women, even really fucking successful women, face:

When Victoria Wood, writer, actress, director, comedic genius and five time Bafta winner, passed away at the age of 62, the Times published an obituary that mentioned either her weight, relationship with food, or appearance six times. It also stated that: “It was her relationship with her husband, the magician and television personality Geoffrey Durham (aka the Great Soprendo), that boosted her confidence and did much to help her further her career.” Her multiple awards were finally mentioned – in the penultimate paragraph.

So bloody depressing.