On “Women of the Raj”

I’ve just finished reading “Women of the Raj” by Margaret MacMillan,  purchased for the bargainous price of 1p from Amazon Marketplace (this second-hand book buying thing is my token nod towards economy whilst I’m on my sabbatical;  I’m still buying just as many books as before but I’m trying to pay less for them … but the volume,  no pun intended, continues).

“Hello”,  said the postman on Wednesday morning. “Here’s your daily Amazon delivery.”

So, “Women of the Raj” continues my fascination with all things from India,  telling as it does the story of some of the British women who were part of Britain’s involvement in India over three centuries,  but particularly between 1850 and the “end of the empire” in 1947. The role of the women of the Raj was to create a replica of British society and the book,  using source material such as letters, memoirs and novels of the period looks at how this was done and how British women from all walks of life adjusted to a country in which almost everything was “foreign” – described in the book as:

“The women … press on with their daily tasks, creating homes for their men, bringing up their children, and trying always to live the life of an English gentlewoman in the midst of an alien people.”

I’ll be going to India myself next month (more to come on this in a bit) and I know that I’ll mostly be packing lightweight clothing in loose, light fabrics … so try to imagine being in 80-100 degree F heat and yet being:

 “ … expected to dress as if you are still at Home [England]. Even on the hottest days, they wore stockings and dresses, which fell, until after the First World War, in heavy folds to the ground; and, until standards were relaxed during the Second world War, they never went out with their arms bare.”

I also liked this analogy, comparing the women’s’ clothing with the infrastructure of the British presence in India:

“Underneath, they wore petticoats and camisoles and, for much of the Raj, the inevitable stays [corsets] – the iron frame for the memsahib just as the Indian Civil Service was the iron frame for British India.”

And this bit also struck me as so very true; the likenesses between the British class system and the Indian caste structure had not previously occurred to me:

“In their love of rank and complicated social rules, the British were also influenced by their surroundings.  The Indian love of ritual, the whole elaborate structure of caste with its rules that governed how you ate, how you married, even how you dresses, seeped into their collective outlook.”

As well as providing a good overview of the history of the British in India in general,  and of the associated experiences of the “women of the Raj” in particular, MacMillan also tells the stories of a few specific women. I particularly enjoyed reading about Annette Akroyd, who, in 1873, with some help from her Indian friends, opened a school for Hindu girls.

(Further reading led me to the discovery that her son, William Beveridge, was the author of the report which became the foundation of the British Welfare State in the late 1940s).

So, a recommended read;  well worth a penny of your cash and a few hours of your reading time.

“All the world’s a stage …

… and all the men and women merely players.”

And this link to a Vanity Fair article on the difficulties experienced by female writers trying to break into the closed circle world of writing for the US male chat show hosts shows that the issues faced by women in corporate life are no different.

October 2009: Nell Scovell on David Letterman Hollywood: vanityfair.com

This bit particularly resonated with me; swap “late-night-TV” for “investment banking” and “writers” for “executives” and the identikit situation is more than clear:

“One frequent excuse you hear from late-night-TV executives is that “women just don’t apply for these jobs.” And they certainly don’t in the same numbers as men. But that’s partly because the shows often rely on current (white male) writers to recommend their funny (white male) friends to be future (white male) writers.”

OK. I do concur that perhaps male investment bankers may not be as funny as the guys who knock out the gags for Jay Leno’s monologue. But apart from that … same scenario, different dress code, yes?

The kindness of a (relative) stranger

Wow.

The woman who interviewed me last week has just made a donation to the “Because I Am A Girl” fundraising page.

How amazing!

Thank you so much.

A “Girls’ Night In” – in numbers

15 women (and one man, TLS);

9 bottles of wine;

2  bunches of flowers (received, with thanks!);

48 chocolate brownies – demolished;

1 large leg of lamb;

2 boxes of chocolates (“as it’s chocolate covered fruit,  does it count as one of my Five a Day?”)  – also received with thanks;

1 plate of donated chocolate crispie cakes – diabetic coma? Optional extra;

A lot of laughter!

1 cardigan left behind in error;

Nearly £200 raised for “Because I Am a Girl”, with more still to come;

Bed at 3am.

A lot of washing up the next day … but all very well worthwhile.

Thank you so much, everyone – you’re the best.

Let the fund raising commence!

So, it’s Wednesday evening, I’ve been cooking for most of the day (other than travelling across London and back for an 8am interview …) and my guests are due to start arriving in 90 minutes’ time.

And we’ve already raised £95 for “Because I Am A Girl” before the first fabulous woman has arrived!

A couple of people have emailed me and asked: “what will you be serving up, Cleo?” – so here’s my menu:

Marinated leg of lamb
Potato & mushroom gratin (v)
Falafels (v)
Tomato salad (v)
Couscous (v)
Cacik (cucumber, yoghurt & mint) (v)
Hummus (v)
Lentil, feta cheese & mint salad (v)

Nigella’s brownies (n)
Almond tart (n)
Fresh strawberries, cream

Cheese board

Coffee, mint tea

I think that’s quite good value for £15 per head, don’t you?

On raising money to support “Because I Am a Girl”

Today I’ve actually had one of those days on my “sabbatical” that I always imagined, when I was working, that I’d have when I wasn’t: I went to the gym and met a friend for coffee this morning, I read a magazine, I had a lovely lunch with my husband … and I then spent the afternoon baking brownies and other goodies in my kitchen.

In the seven weeks since I finished gainful employment, I can count the number of days like today on the fingers of one thumb, so it’s been pleasing to finally achieve the Nirvana of a tranquil and domesticated day. My house smells of chocolate and vanilla and lavender polish; I’ve spent no time at all on either a job hunting website or fiddling with my CV. Instead, I’ve been preparing to host a “Girl’s Night In” event tomorrow night, when around fifteen great women (friends, neighbours, colleagues, contacts) will arrive and join me for dinner, wine and conversation.

But this is no ordinary dinner party: everyone will be making a donation of between £10 and £15 per head. I’m donating the food and wine and every penny raised tomorrow night will be gifted to Plan International’s “Because I am a Girl” campaign, which works to ensure that girls in some of the worlds’ poorest countries (such as Liberia, Sierra Leone and Bangladesh) are able to finish school.

Launched in 2007 by Plan UK, the campaign aims to improve the lives of girls throughout the developing world, many of whom are denied the right to an education, healthcare and a career.

This is a campaign about which I first read an article last month, on the plane on my way to California and I decided there and then, mid-Atlantic, to join in and be part of the solution in my own small, brownie-baking, way.

Here’s a quote from Cherie Blair (and there’s a link to her website on the blogroll on the right, if you’re interested in further details of her work to support women, globally):

“There is plenty of evidence that girls face greater disadvantage and discrimination in many parts of the world. For example, it’s estimated that, globally, 7.4 million more girls than boys don’t get a primary school education, and 70% of those in absolute poverty are female. So it’s good news that Plan has launched its “Because I am a Girl” campaign to draw attention to these abuses and what can be done to overcome them.”

The links that I’ve provided above in the text will take you to the relevant parts of the Plan website and, if you want to learn more, you can download their annual report or take the “Five Friends Challenge” and send e-cards to your friends to encourage them to pledge their support for girls’ rights worldwide.

The link to my fundraising page is here; with your help, we can help millions of girls out of poverty and towards a safer and brighter future.

Thank you.

On learning to listen

What an interesting, if exhausting, weekend. I spent it at a venue in central London on an “Introduction to Personal Performance Coaching” course and felt, particularly at the end of the first day, as if I had, to quote me ould Irish granny, been “ridden hard and put away wet.”

(That’s a saying about horses. In case you were wondering).

Unlike, I think, about 98 of the 100 people there, I was pretty sure when I booked the course that I was unlikely to be paying for future coaching courses and so I went in with the mindset that learning more about what coaching is and how I could acquire those skills in order to be a better people manager in my next job would be a really good outcome for me. On Sunday afternoon, we were asked by the trainer if we saw ourselves having either a part-time coaching business (two thirds of the room), a full time business (most of the rest) or just using the skills: me and one other person.

So, what did I learn? Well, first of all, it was good to spend two days with a very nice and amazingly diverse group of people and to hear their stories. A lot of coaching is focussed on listening to the “client” and so, when we were having our “peer coaching” sessions, I, as the “coach” closed my mouth, opened my ears and really, truly, listened. At first, that felt, and here I’ll be brutally honest … extremely hard. But, like any other muscle, you can train it to do your bidding and so I felt that my listening skills were much improved by the end of the two days. We also had to act as “observers” to others when they were, respectively, the “coach” and the “client” and that was a great object lesson in listening, observing but also giving thoughtful and constructive feedback.

As my own life is still in something of a tsunami of thoughts, decisions, options and confusion following on from my redundancy, I found the sessions on goal setting to be really helpful, albeit they did open up quite a can of worms for me when I thought about what I’ve achieved so far and where I hope to be. The trainer-cum-coach, Ann Skidmore , was just fabulous at working with us as a group and helping us to understand so much more about the goal setting process and why people find it so hard.

We also spent time working with Pam Lidford on our beliefs and she explained to us that, when we align goals with our values, success will follow. Pam clarified all of this with a series of great exercises around the concept of moving from a comfort zone to a stretch zone to a panic zone (and back again) and helped us to recognise where we are and how we feel (familiar and cosy – or stressed and unhappy, depending!)

I was also fascinated to learn how those who wanted to set up their own coaching businesses planned to do so and I met several women who hope to, for example, coach and support other women who want to return to the workplace after a career break, or who would like some coaching help in coping with the curve ball that can be new motherhood. Others wanted to break into the corporate/executive coaching and leadership space and we had some interesting debates around the issues facing women in business. And some men and women wanted to do the youth coaching diploma and work with young people; it was wonderfully heartening to see their passion and commitment to making a difference to the lives of the next generation.

The final session was applicable to the 98% but not to the one other bloke and me who didn’t want to set up our own coaching business, as it was all about how to get going, how to get clients, what to charge and so on.

However, on the premise that nothing is ever wasted, I listened in and hence took away the suggestion that using Twitter can be a great way to connect with people and get your message out there. As I’m nothing if not a late adopter … The Gender Blog is now on Twitter and you can see a link to my “tweets” on the right of the screen. Come and find me and join in.

My tweets thus far have been about the “Girls’ Night In” charity event I’m organising for later this week; I’ll be blogging about that tomorrow and there’s also a link to my “Just Giving” page here and on the right under the “Blogroll” section.

Thank you in advance if you feel able to make a donation to support Plan International’s work for girls and women around the world.

On the refusing of a marriage licence …

… for a mixed race couple.

Yes, really.

In Louisiana.

In 2009, just in case any of us thought that we’d entered some weird space-time continuum and were back in 1959.

The full story is reported here in “The Guardian”, but can be summarised with this extract – my use of bold:

“A Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage licence to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have.

Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa parish, said it was his experience that most interracial marriages did not last long.

“I’m not a racist. I just don’t believe in mixing the races that way,” Bardwell said. “I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else.”

Bardwell said he asked everyone who called about marriage if they were a mixed race couple. If they were, he did not marry them.”

The bit about the bathroom usage immediately reminded me of a wonderful (and recommended) book I read a few months ago called “The Help”, set in Mississippi in 1962, about a group of maids who work with one white woman to tell their stories (“black women raise white children but can’t be trusted not to steal the silver”) as part of the then burgeoning civil rights movement. In the book, it is very much the norm for “the help” to have their own toilet/washroom facilities and one employer feels societal pressure to build such an arrangement for her maid in a corner of the garage, rather than risk her family being contaminated by sharing the same facilities within the house.

Doesn’t it come across that this attitude lingers on in Louisiana, 47 years later? Quite incredible that permitting people of a different race to share your urinating environment is viewed as a mark of racial tolerance …

And how can it even be legal for anyone to refuse to marry two people on the grounds of race? Will watch the outcome of this story with interest.

On female spending – making a world of difference?

Can women be the key to moving the world forward and out of recession? Goldman Sachs’ economists seem to think so, judging by their recently published report entitled “The Power of the Purse: Gender Equality and Middle-Class Spending”.

The report reveals the enormous potential for companies in specific sectors due to the expected growth in female consumer spending in emerging markets – countries such as China, India, Russia, Vietnam, Mexico and Brazil.

Goldman Sachs, by identifying what they dub the “sweet spot”, is especially interested in the countries where the middle class is projected to rise the fastest, along with significant improvements in the status of women.

It detects significant improvements in women’s status due to changes in health care, fertility rates, education, legal protection, and political involvement, as well as a slight increase in the proportion of women working (with fewert women working in low-pay sectors in some countries).

And the report says female spending patterns in emerging markets will be similar to those in developed nations, where women are responsible for three-quarters of consumer spending on child care, food, and education.

You can download it from this link and it was referenced in the Observer a while ago, when Ruth Sunderland commented that:

“Goldman Sachs … reckons that improvements in female status and earnings potential are likely to support the development of human capital and bolster economic growth.

The interesting point in a business context is what it means for companies and investors. Improvements in gender equality in the developing world coincide with the emergence of an expanding global middle class, with annual incomes of $6,000 to $30,000, whose numbers will swell over the next two decades from 1.7 billion to 3.6 billion. Industry sectors likely to gain are food, healthcare, education, clothing and consumer durables. Financial services should also do well, since women are more likely to save than men, partly to offset their economic vulnerability.

This is a vast new market, and the companies that benefit most will be those recognising the value of these potential female customers and employees. Another argument, if one were needed, for more women on male-dominated company boards.”

Along similar lines, I’ve also just downloaded Harvard Business Review’s paper on “The Female Economy”, which, in urging companies to re-position themselves out of recession by changing their female attraction strategy, comments that:

“As a market, women represent a bigger opportunity than China and India combined. So why are companies doing such a poor job of serving them?”

Why, indeed – take note and heed, those who manufacture pink laptops and cars with special lipstick holders and the like.

I’m currently reading … “Nella Last’s Peace”

From time to time, I thought I’d share the details of a book which I’m reading; as of today, I’ve read 90 books so far this calendar year, but don’t worry; I’m only going to review or mention the really great ones which have a gender angle.

“Nella Last’s Peace” is a sequel to, yes, “Nella Last’s War” (filmed for TV a couple of years ago, with Victoria Wood in the title role, as “Housewife, 49”) and it’s also written as diary entries. Nella was a housewife living in Barrow-on-Furness, an English north western ship-building town, when the second world war broke out in 1939, and she contributed her bit to the war on the home front’s efforts by working for the Red Cross, running a mobile canteen to feed servicemen and, most memorably, writing a diary about her wartime experiences for Mass Observation.

(For more examples of published and edited WW2 MO diaries, check out Simon Garfield’s three compilations, which are all quite wonderful if the war on the Home Front is of interest or fascination: “We Are At War”, “Private Battles” and “Our Hidden Lives”).

However, unlike most of MO’s contributors, Nella not only stuck like glue to the concept of writing regular diary updates and posting them off to the MO team each week (I’m sure if she was around today, she’d be a dedicated blogger), she also continued once the war was over, and this is where the second book, post war and set in austerity Britain, picks up her story. I’m currently up to late 1946 and this particularly poignant extract resonated with me, as Nella ponders to the pages of her diary about how she feels post-war and asks herself what she will do with her life now that she is no longer “needed” or employed in useful wartime service:

“I sat so quiet and still … longing for a job of some kind. There seems so little to do in Barrow and so many to do it. Women like myself who have been busy and useful, feeling they were helping, cannot find a way to help the peace as we did in wartime. With 2000 women on the Labour exchange [ie, unemployed], it would not be not be right to do anything [men] could do, yet I know many who, like myself, long to do something.”

I wonder how many other “Nellas” found themselves in a similar position sixty-odd years ago: unemployed, unwanted in a commercial sense, and yet brimming with energy, feeling they had contributions to make and wanting to be part of a wider world beyond the domestic environment?