Posts by Jackie Clark
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I'm a human, a woman, a teacher, a wife, a sister, an aunt, a cousin, a daughter, a friend. All of those things are labels which define what I do, who I am, my relationships to others. But the word which informs them all, is feminist. I am a thoughtful, conscious, supportive friend to other women because I'm a feminist. I'm a subversive, gender questioning teacher of little girls because I'm a feminist. I'm a fantastic, stroppy wife because I'm a feminist. To water it down, to deny it's importance to me, to try to make it anything other than what it is devalues my relationships, my work, my beliefs. I may not have the same ways of being a feminist as other women, I may beg to differ or argue about what constitutes empowerment for women, but I am no less a feminist, and neither are the women I count amongst my closest and dearest friends. None of whom, incidentally, call themselves feminists. They use other words, such as strong, stroppy, characterful and so on. And that's up to them. I don't love them any the less, neither does it injure my relationships with them. For them, that label doesn't necessarily ring true. TBH, we don't even talk about the word, feminism, but we do talk about ourselves, our work and struggles and triumphs as women. We support each other, and try to make life better for each other. That's feminism, whichever way you look at it. And it makes me very happy. My name is Jackie and I am a feminist.
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Up Front: Say When, in reply to Megan Wegan,
Me too. But it wouldn't apply to me really, as much as I would want it to.
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My head, it hurts. Feminism is, as Ben suggested, a very wave-y sort of thing. My feminism was based on a very strict sort of ideology. I was brought up to be a feminist, and at University, I was a staunch supporter of Wimminspace and other joyous organisations. It was a movement of it’s time, my feminism. Women were being stranger raped, in fairly large numbers, so all the marches to claim the night were necessary. You didn’t walk alone at night. You learned how to keep yourself safe because men were the enemy. Our answer to being jumped on by strange men was defiance. I happened to have been jumped on, and attempted to be jumped on, a bit. And my feminism worked for me. It made me loud, and proud, and really fucked off. At a lot of things. As I have aged, I am less fucked off about those things, and more fucked off at others. I believe, still, I suspect, in very different things to the contemporary feminists (many of whom I greatly admire for their open mindedness and ballsiness – we were ballsy but we weren’t particularly openminded, because we couldn’t really afford to be). But the differences lead to useful discussions – discussions which lead feminism into a brighter future, I think. One where choice, anyone’s choice, is important. Where men can be feminists, or suuportive of feminism, in a really genuine and nonpatronising way. And hopefully, a future where men like Steve Crowe don’t exist. Oh, there’s the oldfashioned feminist in me coming out again…….Once a Unifem, always a Unifem.
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Up Front: Say When, in reply to recordari,
Oh, absolutely. Say what you like about George, he belts it out like a good 'un.
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Up Front: Say When, in reply to recordari,
They were at the St James in 2007? Jesus wept, why do I never know about these things?
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Up Front: Say When, in reply to recordari,
Where did you see them? Do you have photos? Pet Shop Boys are my boyfriends. Do you have their album Concrete (Live)? Oh, I am so jealous.
And as for Wham, all those people wearing headphones grooving at 6am on their little walks? They are listening to the same thing I'm listening to. And if they aren't, they should be. -
@ Tamsin - We are agreed on most of that. I would, however, venture to suggest that people are fat for many reasons, as Gio pointed out - heredity, disease, age, enjoying eating and not exercising amongst many. It's your last comment that intrigues me - that fat is not to be celebrated, it is just fat. I invite you to think of it differently. I say that being aware that I think differently - and yes, I am also aware that some of my thinking is akin to believing in unicorns. Your fat is your body. If you don't celebrate it, and how you got it, then you dishonour your body. If you are unhappy, and you eat to excess, it may be a constant physical reminder of your unhappiness. But it isn't your unhappiness. It's simply a manifestation. And people don't like being reminded about what miserable bastards they are. As you age, I would encourage everyone to consider their fat, their wrinkles, their grey hair as being the physical telling of your life's story, both to you and to others. Some remind you of sadness but there are as many others, that are about the joys. Celebrate your body. Celebrate all of it. It has, after all, taken you to lots of amazing places, and given you a lot of pleasure.
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Muse: TV Review: Good Gods Almighty!, in reply to Jacqui Dunn,
Is this where I get to tell my Hercules brush with fame story? It is? Oh, well then. Many years ago, whilst I was training to be a teacher, I worked as a nanny for a young boy whose mum was a makeup artist on Hercules. Did I meet Kevin Sorbo? Did I what. Did I have my photo taken with him? Why, yes I did. Did I lose that photo? Absolutely. What a very good looking man he was. <sigh>
And I really enjoyed quite a few moments in Super City. I thought Georgie was gorgeous. -
Up Front: Say When, in reply to Tamsin6,
Of course, some people do eat more/drink more/smoke more when they're unhappy, Tamsin. But there is no real correlation between body size and unhappiness. If someone's unhappy, they're unhappy. They can name why they are unhappy, but in my experience, when they attribute their unhappiness to the fat content of their body? Usually, that's just a very convenient thing to blame, and very often not the real issue. I'm not fat because I was unhappy. I'm fat because once upon a time, I had a fantastic time eating all sorts of fantastic food. Now, my body is changing shape because I'm fit and strong. Doesn't change my happiness or unhappiness. Once again, in my experience, Tamsin, fat has become a very convenient thing to blame for a myriad of problems.
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Up Front: Say When, in reply to Sacha,
It was Bette Midler. Hello?