Jeni Harvey's speech at Cardiff WPUK

[christinarossetti]

Absolutely brilliant speech - transcript below.

medium.com/@GappyTales/a-womans-place-is-speaking-out-60e0bdede52f

Jeni was fabulous. To my shame I hadn't come across her before and went and told her how much I'd appreciated what she'd said in a particularly clueless sort of way, so she probably thinks I'm a right idiot. She nailed the essentials beautifully and got the discussion off to a great start.

Excellent and powerful speech.

Should be a sticky!

Fantastic as always :)

Thank you Jeni

Ah, a friend just sent me a link to this thread, so wanted to say thank you all so much for the vote of confidence, and whoever it was that approached me afterwards, I definitely did not think you were an idiot. It was amazing to meet so many other women prepared to stand up on this issue. I'm just glad you didn't think I was a gibbering wreck (I find public speaking pretty nerve wracking.)

Just read it! Wish I was there. Have saved it and yes agree with mums above should be a sticky. Thank you for your bravery.

Jeni was brilliant, so clear and straightforward. It is an excellent speech.

Jeni, I was there, and you were inspiring! (And so were the other speakers, too!) It was a wonderful gathering. Sincere thanks to all of you!

Brilliant speech.

That was a fabulous speech. I’m so jealous of the women who are able to attend all these wonderful meetings. Well done Jeni and welcome to Mumsnet.

@Gappyonthetwits thank you so much.
And thank you for the transcript, for those of us who haven't heard you speak.

Seriously considering changing my nn to ClimbAWallOfDicks.

That was an amazing speech.

Was the meeting recorded or do I need to do actual reading? 😱

The meeting was recorded, with a fixed camera on a tripod situated towards the front, focusing on the stage and the official speakers.

Thanks. Do you know if it’s available anywhere? Quick YouTube search hasn’t found it. :(

And this is the woman who was scolded and sidelined by her employer for having the nerve to object to being told by a certain India W that women not shaving our legs is dirty?

Dunno how you could make everything that's wrong with the way society sees and treats women more obvious than that. This brilliant woman, pushed aside out of deference to someone whose ideas about womanhood are as shallow as a paddling pool.

@AngryAttackKittens
I think you're getting your Jeni/Jenni's mixed up here!

*...the woman who was "scolded and sidelined by her employer for having the nerve to object to being told by a certain India W that women not shaving our legs is dirty?" is Jenni Murray of Radio 4.

The woman who spoke at the Cardiff WPUK is Jeni Harvey, who describes herself as "writer, feminist, mother."

She did not make any mention at all of leg-shaving, thank goodness!

I was at the meeting in Cardiff, this speech was excellent, inspirational and amusing.
The meeting was respectful and informative, all the speakers and the chair were well-informed and fair. I was inspired and glad that I attended,
Mumsnet got a shout out, and rightly so.
Thank you Jenni, you are a good speaker and I loved that your personality shone through.
This is a raggedy post as I am tired but I wanted to thank you for making the transcript available.

That's what I get for staying overseas for so long...

Both are marvellous, then.

Oh dear. My "Jenni's" in my previous post. Sorry.

Sorry, sorry, sorry for that errant greengrocer's apostrophe, there!

Oh my, I’ve just read it. Amazing piece.

I have to get to a meeting.

Amazing well done .

Thank you so much everyone. When I have PMT and the world is coming to an end, I will return to this thread to cheer myself up

Videos of the speeches will be available to watch on Youtube soon. There tends to be a delay of a couple of weeks or so. Watching myself back will no doubt be excruciating, but we want as many people as possible to be able to hear what we have to say.

Also, can I just say, you women on here are brilliant. Thank goodness for this forum where women can explore these issues and debate them freely. I have a huge amount of respect for you all, and for Justine's bravery in taking a principled stand for freedom of speech and information. It's so important in this toxic climate.

Keep trucking on.

Anyone have any idea if A Woman's Place is planning another London event? I missed the last but would really like to attend.

Watching yourself back shouldn’t be excruciating Jeni, you spoke so brilliantly , with humour, strength and clarity, truly inspiring. When women are being told left right and centre that they need to put their own (“bigoted, hateful” ) needs for safety, boundaries and privacy aside, to shore up the idendities of male people who have no idea what it is to truly live in this society as a woman, then voices like yours are vital.