World War One Women

Every year we remember those who fought in the great war and sarcrificed their lives and we honour those who survived, the veterans and so we should. I always wear my poppy in pride and I'm thankful that I am able to live in a society that is ours. However, I do firmly believe more emphasis should be placed on the women of WW1, from those who worked in the munition factories to the suffragettes. For years Emmeline Pankhurst led her army of women in the form of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) in order for women to have the right to vote and to have equal opportunities in male dominated society. Emmeline was imprisoned for her political campaign, which turned violent, and Emily Wilding Davison lost her life by throwing herself at the King's Horse, the WSPU's first Martyr. However, their militant campaign came to a standstill in 1914 when WW1 broke out. In a display of patriotism, Emmeline Pankhurst instructed the Suffragettes to stop their campaign of violence and support in every way the government and its war effort. As men left to fight on the front line, women were employed in many areas – transport (Air force, buses, trams, mechanics), munitions' factories, farms and women volunteered to nurse the wounded at the western front (Voluntary Aid Detachments, VAD). Women were asked to help, the more that helped, the more obvious it was that they were needed. Progananda posters stating 'More aeroplanes are needed, women come and help! Free training and maintenance allowances' said it all. With all their great war effort, women had a chance to demonstrate that they really were more than just housewives, the passive sex. In 1918 The Representation of the People Act was passed, giving women the vote. Furthermore, women remained in employment and began to have a say in society. Today, however, do we really fully appreciate the work of WW1 women? They need to be remembered for liberating women and very helping the war effort, they may not have sacrificed their lives, but they have significantly helped make our society how it is today...

Bloody Brantano advert

I know I havn't posted for a while, but I've been meaning to, have a rant about that damn Brantano advert. I know its an advert and its meant to be funny and have a goood catchline that makes people remember the ad, but I hate it. Its obviously not based on fact and they by no means have to be, but it really annoys me how they present the women as irratcic and helpless where shoes are concerned. For those who are not familiar with the advert, it is advertising the shoe companyt Brantano. It depicts Professor Anne-Marie Brantano, a fictional psychologist portrayed as one of the giants of twentieth century psychology along with Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. She supposively discovered the "sling-back synapse", an imaginary part of the female brain which reveals what women want from their shoe shopping experience. It also describes the condition "shoe rage" and answers the question 'why do women act irrationally about shoes?'. The advert is of course meant to be an aid to selling their products, but I think it is an insult to women. Not because it depicts women as linking shoes, as then men in football and beer adverts would also be wrong, but because women are conveyed as irrational, helpless and have no sense of control. Also the advert excludes men, don't they want men to buy their shoes too? Anyway, I'm not going to go on about the advert being sexist, as I don't believe it is, but it does annoy me, its just patronizing.

Ciao for now.

P.S HEATHER MILLS, ARGH.