On BBC Radio 4 the other day, I listened to an item about public statues. The main nub of it was that there is a dearth of statues that honour women.
I thought to myself - Well that's no surprise! Let me explain why. In past times, women had far fewer opportunities than men to become famous by leading armies, exploring the planet, making scientific discoveries, composing symphonies and becoming political leaders. Women invariably played supportive domestic roles - running households, raising children. There was little time left over to do anything else.
Besides, the way that societies were structured meant that men were the principal breadwinners. A woman's place was usually in the home. Here in Great Britain, ordinary women only got the vote in 1928 - less than a hundred years ago - which is like the blink of an eye in our history.
In World War One, my grandmother Phyllis White joined the war effort by working in a Sheffield munitions factory alongside hundreds of other young women. It was a dangerous, dirty occupation and yet it sent out a message to the British establishment. It said women are not stay-at-home wallflowers, they are vital players in our society and deserve equality. The times were indeed a'changing.
Next to Sheffield City Hall there is a statue called "Women of Steel" that recognises the key role that women played in munitions and steel production during the two world wars. See the picture at the top which I snapped in 2017.
Generally, I much prefer statues that honour ordinary working people rather than specific famous individuals. The domestic duties that women undertook and continue to undertake in the majority of homes should not be sniffed at. Such work enabled societies to develop, allowing men to fight wars, build houses, make political speeches, sail ships across the seas and till the soil. Without women quietly plugging away in the background far less would have been achieved.
Rather than scraping away trying to find individual women to honour, it might be better to make statues that memorialise the underpinning but unsung domestic roles that women have played through the centuries. Here are four possibilities - thanks to A.I.:-
from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/JbzokVK