EVENTS
#FalkirkWontWheesht
We travelled to Scotland for the last weekend of August, where we met with some male allies and also attended #FalkirkWontWheesht organised by the amazing Women Won’t Wheesht. You can find images from the event on this Twitter thread and watch the speeches on YouTube. All the speeches and songs are worth watching, but we particularly recommend you watch Olivia speak about what is happening to children at Scottish schools her and her peers’ experiences, including being accosted by an LGBTQIA+ intervention officers and teachers.
After the event, we all went to a local pub and enjoyed talking to many feminists and some male allies, including Dr. Em, Elaine Miller (a.k.a. Gussie Grips) and women from Glasgow Tactical Feminists.
FIFA Women’s Football World Cup 2023
Like so many, we watched the Fifa Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. It was a great tournament and we were incredibly happy with the quality of play, the fact that record after record was broken in terms of attendance and viewership in Australia, Spain and the UK and undoubtedly many other places.
There were quite a few of shadows looming over the tournament from the start. From women not being paid by their associations and experiencing poor working conditions to Jamaica having to crowdfund their journey to the world cup, reports of Zambia head coach Bruce Mwape sexually assaulting a player and 15 players boycotting Spain’s coach Jorge Vilda. Unfortunately it did not end there. During the awards ceremony RFEF President Luis Rubiales sexually assaulted Spanish player Jenni Hermoso and after a long time in which he tried to deny and deflect eventually resigned. Spain’s coach Jorge Vilda, who was initially supportive of Rubiales, was fired shortly after the World Cup and Montserrat Tomé was appointed the first female coach of the Spanish women’s team.
PETITIONING & OTHER SUPPORT
Some of our support to women in August was closely linked to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia in New Zealand. We signed a petition to Nike, who refused to sell any female goalkeepers’ shirts, including that of Mary Earps (the best goalie in the world) and petitioned FIFA to recognise the Afghanistan women’s national football team in exile.
Chris submitted written evidence to the Women and Equalities Committee’s inquiry ‘The escalation of violence against women and girls‘ on behalf of MACS. You can read his submission here.
Some of us residing in Calderdale were shocked to hear that some ‘gender critical’ books by female authors had been removed from public view in our local libraries and decided to write to the council regarding this decision using a template from the WRN Calderdale & Bradford as part of their #LetWomenRead campaign. Whilst we did receive an initial response to our Freedom of Information request, stating that there will be a review, we will follow this up with the council and keep you informed.
We also signed the Green Declaration for Women’s Sex-based Rights, which calls on the Green Party of England and Wales to actively support essential freedoms of women.
In addition we made a donation to the Virago Women’s Workshop in Leeds, which provides a space for women “to drop in for a coffee and a rant, to learn a new skill, to access information, to enjoy company and support of a women only space”.
FILM REVIEW
Following the huge amount of press and discussion online about Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, we of course had to go to the cinema to see what everybody was talking about. The film became not only the first movie by a sole female director to make over $1 billion but also quickly became the most talked about film of 2023, especially due to the film’s focus on objectification, misogyny and the treatment of women in our society. You can read our full review, ‘Barbie(land) vs the patriarchy’ here.
DISCUSSION GROUP
There was no discussion group in August. The meeting will take place on 25 September at 7pm, where we will be discussing Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality by Helen Joyce.
To find out more and to join our discussion group, please email us.
