‘‘Feminism is alive and well and living in Bristol” , you’ll be pleased to hear—at least that’s according to one workshop held at a conference celebrating 40 years of Women’s Lib.
The weekend, held at Ruskin College, Oxford a couple of weeks ago, as part of the city’s International Women’s Festival, attracted almost 200 people (a mixture of 20-something alternative-looking ladies, and veterans of the Sixties, who looked weary, but by no means beat). We came together to celebrate the last four decades, and consider the question: “Where are we now?”
The conference included discussion panels, creative writing workshops, films (some great shorts from film-maker Anne Marie Sweeney), updates on contemporary feminist action (where I learnt that Bristol is the place to be), and some great keynote speakers.
Beatrix Campbell particularly grabbed my attention. As a socialist feminist running for parliament with the Green Party, she demonstrates the need for feminism to flow into and mould our interaction with other issues, particularly climate change: she argued that the dual cultures of patriarchy and capitalism have meant that a male power structure has exploited women, along with nature.
By far the most pressing challenge for me, however, came with a session on violence against women. Academic and campaigner Tobe Levin has dedicated her working life to the study of female genital mutilation (FGM) and told us that there are around 150 million women living in the world today, whose clitoris, or entire labia, has been excised as part of this cultural practice.
Levin works with majority-world activists to advocate alternatives to initiation rites that include circumcision. She spoke about the widely reported case in Sierra Leone, where FGM was used as a political tool—with the President’s wife paying for the cutting of 1,500 girls to gain votes for her husband. For me, this one example is enough to necessitate the continuation of the movement against women’s oppression.
The conference also reminded me that while gains have been made in the name of feminism, patriarchy is a changeable beast. Yes, there are laws on equal pay, but women on average still take home less pay than men. And in many parts of the world, equal pay is a distant dream. So, as a way of bringing women together in solidarity to combat this mutating enemy the conference was well worth a visit.
Perhaps Bristol is not the only place to look for feminism.