Reds v Dead (Woman).

My weigh in on the media's coverage of the death of Maggie Thatcher: Late on the uptake as ever, here’s my reaction to the reactions. 

Grief-Encounter

Whatever you think about Thatcher, old ladies, strokes, strikes, Tories, the dead; your view was probably echoed thousands of times across the internet last week. At lunchtime on Monday, the web experienced an almost instantaneous sea-change as people uploading pictures of their soups and sandwiches were suddenly drowned out by the swaths of people expressing sorrow, cheer, voicing disgust, advertising party venues, publicising condolances, moralistically chiding cheerers and shouting chiders down from high horses. ‘Shouldn’t we remember what she did in the Falklands?’ ‘Can we get Hefner to number 1 this week?’ ‘This isn’t a victory, lets be perfectly clear, boys and girls …’



Social media became a verbal riot. In half an hour, my facebook feed was transformed from the usual continuous drone of cat pictures and football results to political essays abound, expostulating about the reactions of both right and left. Monday’s twitterverse confirmed that, as we were all aware, Maggie polarized opinion, leaving no one on the fence. I can’t help feeling like die-hard Thatcherites who are also big fans of Frank Turner and Irvine Welsh must have spent the day in quite the emotional pickle, wrestling with an inner beast. (Although in my opinion, that must be how they spend most of their lives. Can an extreme exercise in doublethink such as singing along to Different Class whilst concurrently harbouring a mistrust of welfare-recipients stem from anything other than deep-seated confusion? David Cameron can’t listen to Morrissey and live with himself simultaneously, CAN HE!?) But that dichotomy is for another time.

We have no control over what is said on the internet. So naturally, sitting at our computers, like we do all day, we are exposed to an uncensored and unpoliced view of what people have to say. Especially in the aftermath of an event as emotionally evocative as the death of the Iron Lady. The reaction on the internet, varied and discursive as it was, was a lot less troubling than the coverage that has since graced our ears and screens for the past week from official news outlets. The television, and the papers. The professional correspondents, and politicos. Even the satirists. Watching news (the local, the national, the rolling; the Newsnight extended edition; the specialist Question Time, etc …) as I - masochist that I am - am wont to do of 5 consecutive evenings, I was a little disturbed. Not by the lack of debate, but the nature of the debate which did take place. 

The news did not erase the fact that she was divisive, or that her policies hurt people. Insults or disrespect were not what I was hoping for, anyway. Given that I felt uneasy watching the celebrations taking place after Osama bin Laden was killed, I knew I could not join the revelers in Brixton. Such action would make me an unparalleled hypocrite, and probably not a very nice person. Given that I disapproved of the way the Americans denied Bin Laden the correct muslim funeral, I’m wondering whether it’s even okay for me to condemn the expensive, sappy vom-fest that tomorrow most probably will be. (But I can’t help a little bit of me hoping that someone throws an egg … or a carton of milk …) No, I didn’t feel like there was any attempt by the media to paint her as something she wasn’t.



However, there were a few moments of news coverage in the aftermath of Thatcher’s death that I found very disconcerting, and very telling. One was David Cameron’s speeches on the subject, first outside Downing St, and then a couple of days later in the House of Commons. His choking up at the phrase ‘she didn’t just lead this country, she saved it.’ His visible, full bodied wince as he admitted that ‘she … divided opinion.’ His fairy-tale reference to the position of Prime Minister as 'the greatest position in the land.' His waxen forehead, reflecting the weak sun as it bowed in sorrow and grief ... his pudgy finger subtley and yet oh so obviously wiping back a tear from his soulless eyes … But I'm getting carried away. Whatever, it was the most histrionic bumlick of a speech I have ever witnessed outside of the Academy Awards. Ken Livingstone is labelled ‘absurd’ on Newsnight for harking back to the banking regulations of the 70s, and yet Davey C's theatrics go unchecked and un-mocked?



Leftwing ideology has lost a lot of credibility in the last 30 years; these days, 'unionisation', ‘tight regulation’, and ‘high taxation’ are buzzwords for political suicide. And the media are playing the same game. Thatcher was an unwavering Conservative, and everyone feels the need to appease her slightly in their policies. Shirley Williams desperately trying to make it apparent that she respected Thatcher as a woman, did nothing for her Socialist Democratic Party whatsoever, and the sight of it made me squirm almost as much as she did in that Newsnight chair. 

While the coverage of the Lady herself may have been reasonably fair and not too airbrushed, it was an odd post-Thatcher world the media coverage showed us. One in which there seems to be an unwritten rule that we cannot question the goodness of markets and money. One in which broadcasting voxpops of people who clearly weren't alive under Thatcher's government shouting ‘She’s a witch, I’m glad she’s dead’ constitutes an uncontroversial and newsworthy representation of leftwing opinion, but for informed commentators, uttering the word ‘socialism’ gets you the verbal backhand, and the label ‘absurd’.

Why Today is Exciting

Today is the 102nd International Women's Day (can I get a 'hells yeah'?)

I could tell it was today, because I walked past six building sites on the way into town this morning and didn't get whistled or winked at once. 

I mean, that's a lie. But wouldn't that have been cool!?

Unfortunately celebrations have not been quite so universal as they are in my mind-world. I'm not surprised to see the tabloids steering clear of the subject ('what does Tina, 22, 34DD from Leicester think about equality!?') but I'm disappointed to find the Independent's coverage, given the context in which this year's IWD falls, is conspicuously half-arsed. And the Times has a Star Wars quiz more visibly positioned on it's homepage than any mention of women, let alone IWD. If you are in search of some interesting, comprehensive coverage, I direct you to the Huffington Post's dedicated page - it's really great. But on the whole, I'm feeling a little let down.

I once thought that just identifying as feminist was, well, kind of me done? That sticking the label on myself was a form of fighting for the cause; some sort of modern day equivalent to signing up to the suffragettes. I put a little feminist badge on, joined FemSoc and thought that constituted making a stand. But this isn't suffrage any more. Feminism is a very different thing in the 21st century. The word alone doesn't have a single manifesto attached to it like it did 100 years ago. It requires explanation, and more nuanced definition. In the last few years I have learned that the need for feminism clearly isn't as self-evident as I thought it was. That a lot of people are complacent about the state of equality, and don't see a need for a vast culture shift. No matter how much I bury my head in The Vagenda and Jezebel, in the wider world, feminism does still carry with it the old misinformed tags of 'whiners' 'man-haters' and 'humourless militants', for men and for women. I need to stop ignoring those people, as if they don't matter. Because this complacency and these stereotypes are more easily enforced when there is no conversation at play. When protest and change is sporadic, a needful cause can be hard to identify. 

Recently, there has been a build up of events, sparking continuing debate around women's rights and the state of equality, both in the western world and globally. With the horrific case of gang rape in Delhi, and the shooting of Malala Yousafzai in Pakistan, to the NoMorePage 3 campaign and the Lord Rennard allegations here in the UK, it feels like we could be approaching a tipping point. Anger, noise and, most importantly, discussion about sexism are ever increasing. We need to keep this momentum going. Whether it's exposing the culture in Westminster or responding violence against women overseas, issues of equality are frequently making the headlines. This is promising. It's important that coverage of feminism (that broad, blanket term that is SO SO useful) stays this mainstream. I really hope that this struggle becomes a permanent media narrative. You know, like how we get every UK company's quarterly profit margins reported to us as news since the financial crash in 2008? Yeah, that kind of narrative. After reading the morning paper or watching the 6 O'Clock News, I want people's heads to be brimming uncontrollably with gender injustice and pay gap statistics. I want the discussion down the local pub to be about the pros and cons of introducing quotas. I want 5 year olds to be shouting at eachother in the playground 'Ew, you play with lego?? They advertise with page 3!'. I want women's rights to be that pervasive. We need to keep people talking, and not be sidelined or forgotten by everyone who has had to take notice in the last few months (Nick Clegg, for example). 

So, to celebrate this day, I give you all a few things you can do to up the anti, and to make a difference, none of which take more than 5 minutes. Take your pick. 

Read this little introduction on IWD, what it means and why it might be important to you


Read this and get angry:
Men and Women Must Unite for Change 
'women aged 15-44 are more at risk from rape and domestic violence than from cancer, car accidents, war and malaria combined' 

Read this synopsis of a nationwide (well, radio 4 listeners) discussion of feminism; a gauge of general opinion

And read this, for a bit of optimism. 'we can want equality before we achieve it'

Watch this funny video

and sign this: http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/dominic-mohan-take-the-bare-boobs-out-of-the-sun-nomorepage3 

And take a little look at this: http://www.everydaysexism.com/  And add to it. Because I bet you all can, boys too. I bet you'll have to choose from a list which scenario you'd like to post. 

Or just comment here. Start up a discussion, Get involved!