Hags event in London tonight

[SapphosRock]

Hags: Misogyny and the Middle-Aged woman.

Was anyone there? Or watch it online?

It was such a brilliant event, a discussion with Victoria Smith, Hadley Freeman and Sonia Sodha.

Mumsnet got a special mention in particular the progressive left wing men on Twitter who are so disparaging of women and mothers discussing their lived experiences as women.

Although misogyny obviously still exists it made me realise how far we've come, feminism is covered in left-wing newspapers. Women are setting up grass roots women's orgs. Lots of activism is happening and believing in women's rights and biological reality is becoming mainstream again.

To me it felt really upbeat and hopeful.

I was there. I really like and admire all three speakers but I found the event a bit disappointing to be honest. I also love most of what Victoria Smith writes and sort of enjoyed Hags but I thought the same flaws came up in the conversation last night as I found in the book, in the sense that it makes many assertions around how middle-aged women are treated and despised but doesn't always back them up. I arrive at the content ready to be convinced but also wanting to BE convinced - and it didn't quite do that for me. Perhaps because Smith (I think, if I remember this) acknowledges the book is quite narrowly focused on middle-class women, especially white? That felt especially stark at the event (and I say that as a middle-class white woman). I thought in the questions too, there was one point for example when somebody said that women's experience of life would still today be invariably worse than men's. I fundamentally disagree with that. I absolutely believe inequality persists as does the patriarchy, but as we all know, the latter does a number on men too - and underlying all of this is our current model of capitalism. Which weirdly, for three women on the left, was never mentioned at all. So somehow it didn't quite work for me. Although I did enjoy it!

I see what you mean @Sizzlysausage but I think the event had to be narrow focused to make the point they were trying to make.

'Progressive' men are able to sneer at white, middle class woman in ways they would never sneer at any other demographic.

I thought the comparisons with 1970s mother in law jokes were interesting, showing how misogyny has been re-packaged.

I also thought it was interesting to hear how women have been conditioned never to speak up or complain. Any other protected characteristic would feel able to assert their rights. If women do it we are 'Karens'