International Women's Day: so much achieved, such a long way to go

[oursin]

But surely you did not expect us to win in the first round?? My goodness! when I remember the fights for Contraception, even in my time, long after the mid-nineteenth century initial struggles - not to mention the first years after a public demand for legalized abortion by qualified persons.--! also, the fights for suffrage, divorce reform, etc.

Comments

[oursin]

I well know from friends' accounts, that life in London... is very difficult. The same is true of provincial places, without London's positive advantages and charms.
Stella Browne to Alice Jenkins, 25 Jul 1954

[sauvagerie]

I'm more worried about complacency than discouragement: the young women I teach (university students) DO seem to think the battle is over. Recently, a smart, perceptive 19-year-old told me confidently that she had neither seen nor experienced firsthand any kind of gender discrimination. I didn't know whether to tell her to look harder, tell her to wait longer, or simply hit her with a fish.

Is "discouragement" a real word? I have a cold (STILL) and my brain has stopped working.

[sauvagerie]

Thanks...it just hit my ear wrong somehow and I started to doubt myself.

[aquaeri]

I think it's a sign that I'm turning into an old and cranky feminist that I might (might) have said something similar at that age, and now, looking back...

"You're soaking in it" springs to mind.