What Time Is It Really?

The world clock shows that its either today or tomorrow, depending which country you're in. "Our" time has been adjusted for summer time, so what time is it really?

Look at your watch. What's the time? Where did that fleeting moment go? Body clocks, world clock, and jet lag. Time travel is possible since by phoning the other side of the world, you can have a conversation, or Skype, and exist in tomorrow or yesterday.

Well then everything is up for grabs. Don't be an overlooked woman.

You can change your reality! If time is this flexible, so is reality, so choose what you would like. Whether it's a spring or autumn clean, again depending where you are, we should be up for re-invention at least every six months. Now we are learning that the aging brain is not heading towards dementia, but wisdom!

One of the most interesting re-inventors, an Inspiring and Amazing woman is Maggie Aderin, who at school always claimed to be Nigerian, although British born. If she said she was British, the other children would say, 'You can't be you're black'. That's another thing you can choose, your nationality: citizen of the world, European, British, Scottish or Welsh, what will you choose? Clue; you can have more than one. Don't let the form fillers and box tickers tie you down.

It's worth quoting Cordelia Fine again, in the light of David Willets' comments in his book "The Pinch" that feminism robbed men of their jobs, to which Suzanne Moore retorted: "It wasn't feminism that closed the mines Mr Willets."

Apparently he's to address the BFWG COLLOQUIUM. I do hope they give him a hard time.

Cordelia's opening paragraph of Delusions of Gender:

"Suppose a researcher were to ask ... what are males and females are like?

Would you stare at the researcher blankly and exclaim, "But what can you mean? Every person is a unique, multifaceted, sometimes even contradictory individual, and with such an astonishing range of personality within each sex, and across contests, social class, age, experience, educational level, sexuality and ethnicity, it would be pointless and meaningless to attempt to pigeonhole such rich complexity and variability into two crude stereotypes?" 

Weather or Climate Change?

Since the last news, there have been major upheavals across the world, both for people and serious weather events. Perhaps Gaia is sending us a message?

Mary Robinson certainly was. She is now devoting her time to the foundation she's set up for climate change, and won't be available for interview for some time.

http://www.mrfcj.org/

An apology to Dr Elizabeth Gordon who is actually a Former Consultant General surgeon and Urologist.

She was involved in kidney transplants in the early '70s and early '80s. Currently she interviews prospective live kidney donors on behalf of the government, to try to make sure all is above board. 

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Without Comment

The woman who smashed the glass ceiling: In an age when women didn't even have the vote, she edited TWO of Britain's most venerable newspapers:

As usual the Mail is to the fore with a review of an extra-ordinary woman.

Click here to read more or use the Tiny URL: 
http://tinyurl.com/6gnungw 

Suzanne Moore in the Mail On Sunday - "It wasn't feminism that shut the coal mines, Mr Willetts.  Sometimes the Tory mask of reasoned modernity slips and a simple truth is revealed. That truth is this: the place of women in the recession is prone. For Tories, women are funny chaps. You can have a sprinkling of them in the Cabinet, ignore the increasing pay gap, point to the lovely outfits of the leader's wife and simply pay lip service to any notion of equality."

Combat Barbie - http://tinyurl.com/3vlel8x

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International Women's Day

If you blinked, you missed International women's Day. You'll certainly need to make a pretty strong mark to have any attention paid by the main stream media.

The Guardian featured Lady Gaga for International Women's Day, but largely the event was ignored in London. WOW (Women of the World) at the Festival Hall, curated by Judy Kelly, was an exciting 3 days of women luminaries. Judy Kelly has made tremendous changes in The Southbank, and plans to make the WOW celebration an annual event following the March on Tuesday 8th, lead by Annie Lennox, who also guest edited the Observer. 

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Serendipity Nicola Williams

Most surprising and most serendipitous meet at WOW:

We call it serendipity.  Meeting Nicola Williams at the WOW weekend, as a Justice who is now Ombudsman in the Cayman Islands, I caught her in one of her rare incursions to the UK.

"A woman of many talents, Williams is the author of the legal thriller, 'Without Prejudice', published in 1997 in both the UK and US. She has been listed three times (1998, 2007-8, 2008-9) as one of the 100 most influential black people in the UK, and is the former chair of the London Regional Advisory Council of the BBC." Cayman News Service, March 2009

Her experience includes sitting on the Virdi Enquiry Panel, which found that the Metropolitan Police Service had discriminated against a police officer on the grounds of his race. Williams is also a member of the Bar Council Equality & Diversity Committee (from January 2008), and a trustee and mentor of African Caribbean Diversity, a group of black professionals who aim to make a positive contribution to the African and Caribbean communities and to the economy of the UK. Cayman News Service

Read an extract from her interview here

When did you decide to become a Barrister?

One incident crystallized it for me. My brothers were stopped and searched out side our house, though they were both in school uniform, because we lived in a white area. It took one of the neighbours, who came out to verify that they lived there.

At one point my family returned to Guyana, intending to stay, but returned to Britain 4 years later. Those 4 years were formative for me; an experience lived in a society where race didn't hold you back. At School in South Londonm there were low expectations for black girls. One Careers Adviser suggested that I get a job in Woolworth's.

How would you describe, define equality and rights?

As a black woman I have a perspective on that. It's what Sandi Toksvig said: "Equality is where women (everyone) can live the lives they want, without being fettered in any way."

Women end up as carers for children or elderly, and then as advocate and carer in a nursing home. School friends thought I should have given up my opportunity to go to Cayman and stayed to look after my dad, when he was ill, but I have brothers. I don't regret that I took it up, but it took an emotional toll. My mum was reticent, but my dad was very encouraging. He wanted me to go and was happy with my judicial role.

It's what Maya Angelo said: "I am the hope and dreams of a slave."

It's the future generation who lives out the ambitions of the parents. It's also true for other people, after the depression, the war, etc. 

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Australian Comedy Festival Has More Women

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival celebrates its 25th year. When the festival began in 1987, not a single woman had a solo stand-up show. This year many of the high-profile solo shows are by women. Six female headliners and one duo are from the US and Europe, and there are Australian women appearing in big rooms and small, solo shows and within ensembles. Festival director Susan Provan describes the festival she has managed for the past 17 years as a type of comedy democracy. She is proud of the gender mix in the program and says, "it is how radio and television would look if those media were not almost exclusively run by men."

Very interesting to see that when BBC does feature brilliant women, i.e the top UK neuro scientist and the top rocket scientist, it has to be early in the morning, rarely after the watershed. As Maggie says, they're the ones who will get up early. To be fair Maggie was featured last month:

"Do we really need the Moon?"

A "lunatic", in her own words, Maggie Aderin gave the lecture to the U3 A at the Royal Institution. The only black woman in a room of over 400 women and men. Her interview to follow soon. 

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SbS: Southbank Sinfonia

Pretty amazing month for them as well; Ashkenazi at the Southbank, Opera in the country side, and best of all, with the Parliamentary Choir in Cardogan, featuring Laurence Meikle, along side Dame Emma Kirkby. Someone to watch. Something special happens when great musicians get together.

The rush hours concerts get better and better, with more and more people attending. Do come along Thursdays 6pm.

Look at their diary for the year. 

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Check Out The Archive

If this month's interview extract has whetted your appetite, you can click through to the Archive to read other Interview Extracts, as well as old newsletters.

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