Next month in Edinburgh will be the Festival of Politics. There are a number of interesting talks and discussions as always, but I noticed some this year that might be very relevant to women.
It might be a good opportunity to highlight key issues / problems to the general public coming to this festival (maybe handing out flyers before the specific talks?) and maybe those who are a bit bolshy and knowledgeable in these areas can attend these events and speak up / ask uncomfortable questions so the audience sees if the panel are able to answer them?
Women / Feminism
In Conversation with Baroness Helena Kennedy QC - www.festivalofpolitics.scot/events/baroness-helena-kennedy-qc
Friday, October 11, 2019 Time: 3pm to 4:30pm
Baroness Helena Kennedy QC talks about her campaigning work on legal reform for women. Expect a discussion that will enrage and inspire.
Join Baroness Kennedy in conversation with Linda Fabiani MSP, Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament.
Baroness Helena Kennedy QC is one of the UK’s most distinguished lawyers. Her high-profile work includes:
- legal reform on sexual and domestic violence
- campaigning for progress on equal opportunities within the legal profession
In 2018, she published Eve Was Shamed: How British Justice Is Failing Women. Her vital book highlighted the level of legal discrimination against women, including:
- lack of female judges
- conditions in female prisons
- the greater discrimination facing Black, Asian and minority ethnic women
Baroness Kennedy will also discuss populism and the rule of law.
(My own initial thoughts - transwomen being sent to female prisons, blatant disregard of Equality Act in so many areas, ethnic and religious women also affected by allowing transwomen into single-sex space, how can we monitor progress on justice and sexual violence if we are recording by gender and not sex etc.)
She's running! How women can stand and succeed - www.festivalofpolitics.scot/events/how-women-can-stand-and-succeed
Saturday, October 12, 2019 Time: 1:30pm to 3pm
Join the discussion about how inequalities can be overcome to fix the gender imbalance in politics.
The representation of women in British politics has improved in recent decades. Elected bodies like the Scottish Parliament have seen big improvements in the numbers of women voted in. But, still fewer than half of representatives in our elected bodies across the UK are women.
Progress is also uneven at different levels of government and local government.
This panel will assess the barriers women face when entering politics and discuss ways to fix this gender imbalance.
Chaired by Andrew Marr, BBC TV presenter, this panel includes:
- Rt Hon Ruth Davidson MSP
- Dr Meryl Kenny, Senior Lecturer in Gender and Politics at the University of Edinburgh
Danielle Rowley MP
- Talat Yaqoob, Director of Equate Scotland
This event is being held in partnership with the John Smith Centre for Public Service.
(Similar issues to above - conflating gender with sex, how do we track progress, why Equality Act ignored or not enforced especially for All Women Shortlists, who gets to speak on behalf of women? Equate? Engender? Other groups? Women being let down by all political parties at the moment with regard to self-identification)
Women in science - www.festivalofpolitics.scot/events/women-in-science
Saturday, October 12, 2019 Time: 3pm to 4:30pm
Join our panel to discuss how we raise the profile of women working in science.
A 2014 YouGov poll reported that most UK adults couldn't name a living female scientist.
This panel will debate whether efforts to improve public knowledge of female scientists are working.
Chaired by Christine Grahame MSP, Deputy Presiding Officer at the Scottish Parliament, this panel includes:
- Professor Niamh Nic Daéid FRS, Professor of Forensic Science and Director of Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science at the University of Dundee and expert witness in the Grenfell Tower public inquiry
- Professor Joanna Wardlaw, Chair of Applied Neuroimaging & Head of Neuroimaging Sciences and Edinburgh Imaging
The event is run in partnership with the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
(Unsure what angle to take on this. Possibly public perception of science is being eroded by very little opposition to ideas like people can change biological sex, male/female brains, no advantage of men competing with women etc. Again, if conflating gender and sex, how to emphasise profile of female scientists? There is definitely intimidation of women academics and scientists at universities for being gender critical and this will put women off from working in such institutions, how can we support them...)
LGBT
Stonewall at 50 - www.festivalofpolitics.scot/events/stonewall-at-50
Saturday, October 12, 2019 Time: 4pm to 5:30pm
Join the discussion about Scotland's LGBT+ equality journey, 50 years after the Stonewall Riots.
From debating Section 28 to having ‘the gayest parliament in the world’, Scotland's LGBT+ equality journey has not been simple.
Join the panel as they discuss what has changed and what still needs to change.
Chaired by Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP, Deputy Convener Equalities and Human Rights Committee, this panel includes:
- Sophie Bridger, Policy and Research Manager for Stonewall
- Hazel Marzetti, Doctoral Researcher, University of Glasgow
- Jo Clifford, Writer, Performer, Poet and Teacher
- James Morton, Manager at the Scottish Trans Alliance
(So many issues with this! From the blatant re-writing of LGBT and Stonewall history by saying we owe our rights to trans people, to Stonewall letting down and betraying Lesbians and Gays by re-defining same-sex attraction as transphobia. Everything is about trans these days, LGB issues ignored, why only Scottish Trans Alliance on panel? Where is LGB representation? Why are lesbians being harassed and demonised for saying definition of lesbian does not include men/penis? Why has Stonewall changed definition of trans to include everyone including cross-dressers? Pushing trans agenda in schools about sexist stereotypes under the guise of gender identity, what is gender identity anyway...)
Film - Before Stonewall - Festival of Politics - www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/film-before-stonewall-festival-of-politics-tickets-69273423675
Sat, 12 October 2019 18:00 – 19:35 BST
Released in 1984, this film shows what life was like in America for the LGBT+ community before the Stonewall riots.
Directed by Greta Schiller and Robert Rosenberg, it's rated 15.
As part of the screening there will be a question and answer session on the themes within the film.
(Might be interesting to see how much of gay and lesbian history is distorted and if trans stuff is highlighted as more important in the narrative. Also room to highlight issues during Q&A.)
Ex-muslim
Islamophobia – does it exist? - www.festivalofpolitics.scot/events/islamophobia
Friday, October 11, 2019 Time: 3:30pm to 5pm
How should we define Islamophobia and does it exist?
This panel will discuss the blurred lines on religion, race and freedom of speech and the issue of Islamophobia in the UK today.
Chaired by Anas Sarwar MSP, convener of the Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on Tackling Islamophobia, the panel includes:
- Dr Katy Sian, Senior lecturer in Sociology at the University of York
- Mohammed Amin MBE, former Chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum
- Safia Ali, Chief Executive Officer for the Amina Muslim Women’s Resource Centre
- Dr Khadijah Elshayyal, Visiting Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World at the University of Edinburgh
(If there are any Ex-muslim women and men who want to highlight that accusations of Islamophobia are used to silence dissent and stop people from raising difficult issues due to fear of being politically incorrect... Also, interesting that person from 'Conservative Muslim Forum' is invited - what about more liberal and secular Muslims, Ex-muslims?)
Mariam - film screening (uncertified) - www.festivalofpolitics.scot/events/mariam
Friday, October 11, 2019 Time: 2pm to 3:15pm
Watch this award-winning film about faith and education in France, written and directed by Faiza Ambah.
Faiza Ambah wrote and directed this 2016 unrated film. It stars Oulaya Amamra, Lou Lévy and Ahmed Hafiene.
This award-winning film explores faith versus education. A French teenager who must decide whether to wear her hijab or be expelled from school.
As part of the screening, there will be a question and answer session on the themes within the film.
(Another one that Ex-muslim women can comment on, especially on how hijab can be oppressive, why are girls sexualised from a young age by being told they have to protect modesty from males.....)
Hopefully some of you can make it to the events, even if only to listen to what's being said (and what's not being said). 