Keith Wilson
One of the many things that attracted me to Quakers was the Quaker commitment to equality. I like to see myself as a passionate believer in equality, but I was recently challenged to consider whether I translate this supposed passion into reality. Sadly, the answer was that I must do better. However, the challenge came with a suggestion for at least making a start along that route. Let me tell you my tale.
I had a spare copy of a fascinating little book called Crowther’s Encyclopaedia of Phrases and Origins, published in 1945. Its entries are intriguing and idiosyncratic. I offered my spare copy to a university colleague and, by way of illustration, I sent her the text of the entry for ‘ill-starred’. This concludes “Among the credulous, the belief [that the stars influence the fate of humans] still exists … providing a good living for alleged horoscope preparers, whose victims are mostly stupid women.”
I chose this entry because I saw it as illustrative of the author’s idiosyncratic style, because I thought it somewhat amusing, and because I thought it showed in some small way how attitudes to women have moved on since 1945. My colleague saw it differently and asked me whether I would have been comfortable passing on a similar quote had it been racist rather than misogynistic.
I wriggled (metaphorically and literally) but in truth the answer was no.
I was upset – I had never intended to cause offence or to promote misogyny, yet it seemed I had done both. However, my colleague suggested that the way forward was to make myself better informed. She also suggested that a good starting point would be to read Invisible Women: exposing data bias in a world designed for men by Caroline Criado Perez. I read it and, as I did, I ran through a range of emotions that included shock, anger, sadness, and frustration.
As the title suggests, the theme of the book is that women miss out in almost every aspect of life simply because few people bother to collect data that represents their needs or their points of view. This is why, for example, car seat belts are less effective for women than for men, heart attacks frequently go undiagnosed in women (which is how my own mother died), transport systems don’t meet the needs of women, drugs are not properly tested on women, working environments favour men over women, unpaid work carried out by women is routinely ignored – and much, much more. These are not unsupported claims – they are backed by 70 pages of references.
For me, the book was a real eye-opener. I like women, most of my close friends are women and I thought I respected the equality of women. Now I know that I must do better. Might that also apply to you? If so, I urge you to read the book – especially if you’re of the male gender! It’s currently out of stock at the Quaker Bookshop, but Blackwell’s has it and is offering free UK delivery.
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Forty-Three Newsletter • Number 502 • February 2021
Oxford Friends Meeting
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