If you work in social change, you need to be aware of and open to the influence of feminine values. Peace. Tolerance. Flexibility. Communication. And more. Today, we should all be taking note of the fact that one of the founders of feminism, Mary Wollstonecraft, is 250. A writer and a philosopher to boot, her most famous work was A Vindication OF The Rights Of Woman, in 1792, at the height of the French Revolution. In it, she argues, quite reasonably, that women are not naturally inferior to men. If they appear to be inferior, it’s all down to lack of education. In tune with her age, she posited that both men and women should be treated as rational beings. The social order she had in mind was very much founded on reason. I like her stance and am proud of the feminist in myself. I couldn’t do the work I do without it. But my experience on this planet has largely informed me of the unreasonability of human beings. As a result, I spend my whole life pursuing and provoking the subjectivity that rules human hearts and minds, male and female. Apart from occasional and uncapturable moments of enlightenment, we all hide from ourselves most of the time. Of necessity, we are pirates of our own imaginations. Which typically masculine point, brings me, obtusely, to the celebration of the 50th birthday of one Marco Pirroni. You remember Marco – the chubby one who made Adam Ant look good when he was standing and delivering, on the highway and in the rigging. Well, Marco is still at it. His career is as long as his belt. What began with punk band The Models, in 1977, had progressed to the constantly gigging, little known but music media-reviled Adam And The Ants in 1980. When Malcolm McClaren got hold of the Ants, Adam left. While Malcolm made the antsy rump into Bow Wow Wow, Marco helped Adam convert Adam and the Ants into the dandily successful early 80s group that sold 18 million records worldwide. OK, Marco’s post-Ants career has been wasted on the likes of Sinead O’Connor (no Mary Wollstonecraft, to be sure), but we’ve all made mistakes. Now, Marco is glamming it up with The Wolfmen. No great shakes, but plus ça change…Anyway, well done, Marco, you too made it to 50!
Mark Griffiths www.idealconsulting.co.uk
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I'm so glad you are celebrating Mary Wollstonecraft's birthday! I have been doing what I can to publicise events around her anniversary. Yesterday the congregation of the Newington Green Unitarian Church (where she became radicalised in the 1780s) held a tombstone tribute, and some psychogeographers led a walk through Bloomsbury to the St Pancras Churchyard. Today there will be readings from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by young people in North America. Helen Irving, an Australian law professor, wrote movingly of MW's importance in the struggle for women's rights in Afghanistan.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.smh.com.au/opinion/let-women-be-enlightened-20090423-agky.html
Mary is on Twitter and Wikipedia and all over the place.
And now you too! Happy birthday!