By: Monica Gupta,
on 2/19/2016
International Women’s Day अंतर्राष्ट्रीय महिला दिवस हो या भारतीय महिला दिवस हो … बात महिला सशक्तिकरण की होनी बहुत जरुरी है. शहरी महिलाओं को फिर भी बहुत बातों की जानकारी रहती है पर ग्रामीण महिलाएं सिर्फ घर की चार दीवारी में ही दिन बिताती हैं उन्हें बाहर की दुनिया की जरा भी जानकारी नही होती जोकि […]
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By: SoniaT,
on 3/8/2015
In 1878, Frances Power Cobbe had published in Contemporary Review an essay entitled ‘Wife Torture in England’. That essay is noted for the its influence on the Matrimonial Causes Act 1878 that, for the first time, allowed women living in violent relationships to apply for a separation order. In the intervening 150 years, concern about violence experienced by women at the hands of their husbands, boyfriends, ex-husbands, ex-boyfriends, and other family members has reached around the world.
The post Domestic violence: still a women’s issue? appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Alice,
on 3/7/2015
In May 2014, in Sudan, Meriam Ibrahim was sentenced to death for the ‘crime’ of ridda (apostacy) and to 100 lashes for the ‘offence’ of zena (sexual immorality). The case generated international outrage among those who care about women’s rights and religious freedom.
The post Remembering women sentenced to death on International Women’s Day appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Melinda Palacio,
on 3/13/2014
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| Peter Nu accompanies hostess, singer, and poet Delia Tomino Nakayama |
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| Cafe Du Monde, where locals and tourists stop for beignets and chicory coffee. |
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| Poet Amanda Emily Smith |
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| Singer and Pianist Kanako Fuwa |
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| Gina Ferrara, Ava Leavell-Haymon, Melinda Palacio at the Latter Library on St. Charles |
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| I caught the first of three coconuts at the Mardi Gras Indian celebration at Woldenberg Park. |
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| My King Cake turned out crescent shaped rather than round, but delicious. |
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| This is what a round, store-bought King Cake looks like. |
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| People watching is so much fun during carnival. |
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| Marilyn Monroe came to watch the parade with us. Photo by Anthony Posey |
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| Photo by Anthony Posey. I caught a rose with a broken stem, so I blew the petals to the wind. |
By: Julia Callaway,
on 3/8/2014
“March 8 is Women’s Day, a legal holiday,” I wrote to my mother from Moscow. “This is one of the many cute cards that is on sale now, all with flowers somewhere on them. We hope March 8 finds you well and happy, and enjoying an early spring! Alas, here it is -30° C again.”
Soviet-era Women’s Day card. Public Domain via Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty.
I spent the 1978-79 academic year working in Moscow in the Soviet Academy of Science’s Institute of Crystallography. I’d been corresponding with a scientist there for several years and when I heard about the exchange program between our nations’ respective Academies, I applied for it. Friends were horrified. The Cold War was raging, and Afghanistan rumbled in the background. But scientists understand each other, just like generals do. I flew to Moscow, family in tow, early in October. The first snow had fallen the night before; women in wool headscarves were sweeping the airport runways with birch brooms.
None of us spoke Russian well when we arrived; this was immersion. We lived on the fourteenth floor of an Academy-owned apartment building with no laundry facilities and an unreliable elevator. It was a cold winter even by Russian standards, plunging to -40° on the C and F scales (they cross there). On weekdays, my daughters and I trudged through the snow to the broad Leninsky Prospect. The five-story brick Institute sat on the near side, and the girls went to Soviet public schools on the far side, behind a large department store. The underpass was a thriving illegal free-market where pensioners sold hard-to-find items like phone books, mushrooms, and used toys. Nearing the schools, we ran the ever-watchful Grandmother Gauntlet. In this country of working mothers, bundled bescarved grandmothers shopped, cooked, herded their charges, and bossed everyone in sight: Put on your hat! Button up your children!
At the Institute, I was supposed to be escorted to my office every day, but after a few months the guards waved me on. I couldn’t stray in any case: the doors along the corridors were always closed. Was I politically untouchable?
But the office was a friendly place. I shared it with three crystallographers: Valentina, Marina, and the professor I’d come to work with. We exchanged language lessons and took tea breaks together. Colleagues stopped by, some to talk shop, some for a haircut (Marina ran a business on the side). Scientists understand each other. My work took new directions.
I also tried to work with a professor from Moscow State University. He was admired in the west and I had listed him as a contact on my application. But this was one scientist I never understood. He arrived late for our appointments at the Institute without excuses or apologies. I was, I soon surmised, to write papers for him, not with him. I held my tongue, as I thought befits a guest, until the February afternoon he showed up two weeks late. Suddenly the spirit of the grandmothers possessed me. “How dare you!” I yelled in Russian. “Get out of here and don’t come back!” “Take some Valium” Valentina whispered; wherever had she found it? But she was as proud as she was worried. The next morning I was untouchable no more: doors opened wide and people greeted me cheerily, “Hi! How’s it going?”
International Women’s Day, with roots in suffrage, labor, and the Russian Revolution, became a national holiday in Russia in 1918, and is still one today. In 1979, the cute postcards and flowers looked more like Mother’s Day cards, but men still gave gifts to the women they worked with. On 7 March I was fêted, along with the Institute’s female scientists, lab technicians, librarians, office staff, and custodians. I still have the large copper medal, unprofessionally engraved in the Institute lab. “8 марта” — 8 March — it says on one side, the lab initials and the year on the other. The once-pink ribbon loops through a hole at the top. Maybe they gave medals to all of us, or maybe I earned it for throwing the professor out of the Institute.
Women’s Day medal, courtesy of Marjorie Senechal.
I’ve returned to Russia many times; I’ve witnessed the changes. Science is changing too; my host, the Academy of Sciences founded by Peter the Great in 1724, may not reach its 300th birthday. But my friends are coping somehow, and I still feel at home there. A few years ago I flew to Moscow in the dead of winter for Russia’s gala nanotechnology kickoff. A young woman met me at the now-ultra-modern airport. She wore smart boots, jeans, and a parka to die for. “Put your hat on!” she barked in English as she led me to the van. “Zip up your jacket!”
Marjorie Senechal is the Louise Wolff Kahn Professor Emerita in Mathematics and History of Science and Technology, Smith College, and Co-Editor of The Mathematical Intelligencer. She is author of I Died for Beauty: Dorothy Wrinch and the Cultures of Science.
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The post 8 марта 1979: Women’s Day in the Soviet Union appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Alice,
on 3/8/2014
On Saturday, 8 March, we celebrate International Women’s Day. But is there really anything to celebrate?
Last year, the United Nations declared its theme for International Women’s Day to be: “A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women.” But in the United Kingdom in 2012, the government’s own figures show that around 1.2 million women suffered domestic abuse, over 400,000 women were sexually assaulted, 70,000 women were raped, and thousands more were stalked.
The United Nations talks about a context of deep-rooted patriarchal systems and structures that enable men to assert power and control over women.
In a nutshell, this means that men’s violence against women is simply the most extreme manifestation of a continuum of male privilege, starting with domination of public discourse and decision-making, taking the lion’s share of global income and assets, and finally, controlling women’s actions and agency by force if necessary.
Throughout history and in most cultures, violence against women has been an accepted way in which men maintain power. In this country, the traditional right of a husband to inflict moderate corporal punishment on his wife in order to keep her “within the bounds of duty” was only removed in 1891. Our lingering ambivalence over the rights and wrongs of intervening in the face of domestic violence (“It’s just a domestic” as the police used to say) continues more than a century later. An ICM poll in 2003 found more people would call the police if someone was mistreating their dog than if someone was mistreating their partner (78% versus 53%). Women recognise this culture of condoning and excusing violence against them in their reluctance even today to exert their legal rights and make an official complaint. The most recent figures from the Ministry of Justice show that only 15% of women who have been raped report it to the police. And when they do, they’re likely to be disbelieved: the ‘no-crime’ rate (where a victim reports a crime but the police decide that no crime took place) for overall police recorded crime is 3.4%; for rape it’s 10.8%. All this adds up to a culture of impunity in which violence can continue.
And it’s exacerbated by our media. When the End Violence against Women Coalition, along with some of our members, were invited to give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry, we argued that:
“reporting on violence against women which misrepresents crimes, which is intrusive, which sensationalises and which uncritically blames ‘culture’, is not simply uninformed, trivial or in bad taste. It has real and lasting impact – it reinforces attitudes which blame women and girls for the violence that is done to them, and it allows some perpetrators to believe they will get away with committing violence. Because such news reporting are critical to establishing what behaviour is acceptable and what is regarded as ‘real’ crime, in the long term and cumulatively, this reporting affects what is perceived as crime, which victims come forward, how some perpetrators behave, and ultimately who is and is not convicted of crime.”
acts of violence against women?
The UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) says in its General Recommendation No. 19 that states may be responsible for private acts “if they fail to act with due diligence to prevent violations of rights or to investigate and punish acts of violence.”
Due diligence means that states must show the same level of commitment to preventing, investigating, punishing and providing remedies for violence against women as they do other crimes of violence. Arguably, our poor rates of reporting and prosecution suggest that the UK is not fulfilling this obligation.
The last Government developed a national strategy to tackle this problem and the current Government has followed suit, adopting a national action plan that aims to coordinate action at the highest level. This has had the single-minded backing of the Home Secretary, Theresa May — who of course happens to be a woman. Under this umbrella, steps have been taken to focus on what works — although much more needs to be done, for example on the key issue of prevention –changing the attitudes that create a conducive environment for violence. Research by the UN in a number of countries recently showed that 70-80% of men who raped said did so because they felt entitled to; they thought they had a right to sex. Research with young people by the Children’s Commissioner has highlighted the sexual double standard that rewards young men for having sex while passing negative judgment on young women who do so. We need to rethink constructions of gender, particularly of masculinity.
End Violence Against Women welcomes the fact that the main political parties now recognize that this is a key public policy issue, and we’ll be using the upcoming local and national elections in 2014 and 2015 to question candidates on their practical proposals for ending violence against women and girls. We need to make sure that women’s support services are available in every area. And we’ll be working on our long-term aim of changing the way people talk and think about violence against women and girls — starting in schools, where children learn about gender roles and stereotypes — much earlier than we think. We hope Michael Gove will back our Schools Safe 4 Girls campaign. We also look forward to a historic milestone in April, when the UN special rapporteur on violence against women makes a visit to the UK to assess progress.
As Nelson Mandela said: “For every woman and girl violently attacked, we reduce our humanity. Every woman who has to sell her life for sex we condemn to a lifetime in prison. For every moment we remain silent, we conspire against our women.” While women across the world are raped and murdered, systematically beaten, trafficked, bought and sold, ending this “undeclared war on women” has to be our top priority.
Janet Veitch is a member of the board of the End Violence against Women Coalition, a coalition of activists, women’s rights and human rights organisations, survivors of violence, academics and front line service providers calling for concerted action to end violence against women. She is immediate past Chair of the UK Women’s Budget Group. She was awarded an OBE for services to women’s rights in 2011.
On 22 March 2014, the University of Nottingham Human Rights Law Centre will be hosting the 15th Annual Student Human Rights Conference ‘Mind the Gender Gap: The Rights of Women,’ and Janet Veitch will be among the experts on the rights of women who will be speaking. Full details are available on the Human Rights Law Centre webpage.
Human Rights Law Review publishes critical articles that consider human rights in their various contexts, from global to national levels, book reviews, and a section dedicated to analysis of recent jurisprudence and practice of the UN and regional human rights systems.
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Image credit: Crying woman sitting in the corner of the room, with phone in front of her to call for help. © legenda via iStockphoto.
The post International Women’s Day: a time for action appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Kyle Zimmer,
on 3/7/2014
496 million. That’s how many women in the world can’t read or write even the most simple sentence. Many women never have the opportunity to reach 6th grade, and some don’t get to go to school at all.
Today, we join citizens around the world in celebrating International Women’s Day, and I want to share the stories of Dinah Mwangi and Katie Hendricks, two special women whose lives exemplify the theme of this year’s celebration, “Equality for Women is Progress for All.”
Dinah makes progress for all in Nairobi, Kenya. While waiting in line at a carwash, Dinah noticed two young boys straining to see what she was reading – a children’s book she had purchased for her niece. When she asked if they would like to join her, the boys lit up.
They read, and laughed and shared stories with Dinah. Then they told her they had no books of their own.
Dinah started buying books with her own salary and recruited volunteers to read and distribute them to kids each Saturday. In less than three months, she had over 500 kids participating. Now she’s pursuing relationships with Kenyan publishers, corporations and funders in order to expand her reach and deepen her impact.
On the other side of the world, Katie makes progress for all by helping girls from low-income families in California’s East Bay bridge the gap between school and home.
As a young teacher, Katie yearned to improve all aspects of her students’ lives, inside and outside the classroom. Her holistic approach led her to create Girls Inc. of Alameda County, a program that inspires girls to be strong, smart and bold. Katie and her team reinforce what their girls learn at school, help them become fluent English speakers, provide them with healthy meals and expose them to subjects girls aren’t always encouraged to study, like science, technology and athletics.
By improving the lives of girls in California’s East Bay, Katie also improves the lives of their family members, teachers, friends and classmates.
Dinah and Katie represent what’s possible when women have the education, resources and motivation to make progress for all. Their immediate impact on the kids they serve is immense. Equally powerful, however, is how their spirit and service ripple through entire communities, transform lives and change the future.
In addition to celebrating heroic women like Dinah and Katie, I invite you to join me in recommitting ourselves to becoming a powerful force for equality.
The gender gap has closed significantly over the past few decades, but we still have a long way to go. In some countries, less than a quarter of women finish primary school; 496 million women around the world cannot read or write a simple sentence; and globally, women only reach 93 percent of men’s educational attainment.
I believe the path to equality is through access to quality education. That’s why First Book is equipping educators like Dinah and Katie with brand-new books and resources for the kids they serve, expanding our network to reach women and girls around the globe and lifting up the voices of an unprecedented community of individuals serving children at the base of the economic pyramid.
Please consider a gift to First Book today. Together, we can support the work of heroic women like Dinah and Katie around the world.
The post 496 Million Women appeared first on First Book Blog.
Storybook heroine Maggie Steele’s Audiobook Campaign has been selected to receive bonus funds during the International Women’s Day Celebration, March 3-8, to honor her inspiring message for young women and girls. On Monday March 3rd, Maggie’s campaign will receive an … Continue reading 
By: Michelle,
on 3/8/2013
In recognition of International Women’s Day, we’re excited to share the cooperative efforts of some of our wonderful women writers! They’ve decided to review each other’s new spring titles in the spirit of collaboration. Here, Karen Krossing showcases four new YA titles from fellow authors Leanne Lieberman, Shelley Hrdlitschka and Robin Stevenson!
Check out Karen’s reviews on her website.
By: Heidi Mordhorst,
on 3/7/2013
March 8 was declared International Women’s Day in 1911 (see International Women’s Day 1911-2011) and has evolved in the US into a month-long celebration honoring the contributions of women to the human story. This year, the National Women’s History Project (NWHP) theme for Women’s History Month is Women Inspiring Innovation Through Imagination: Celebrating Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (see this blog’s posts: Science Technology Engineering Math– Stem , Sally Ride 1951-2011, and Developing Literacy page for STEM links).
About 20 years ago, I participated in the Bay Area Science Project (BASP) through Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science. It was a fabulous six-week teacher workshop conducted at St. Mary’s High School in Berkeley. We covered lots of STEM topics, and, explored the FOSS and GEMS programs. A focus of the workshop was to bring hands-on science into the schools. One of the lead instructors brought in a lovely science themed calendar demonstrating one small way to include science on a daily basis in the classroom. Marie Curie was the only woman celebrated in the calendar. I commented about the lack of gender equity in the calendar and was surprised to hear the instructor declare, “Well, there really aren’t any of note.” This was Berkeley! I was motivated to find and share the legions of women scientists who had not received public acclamation for their work. Fast forward 20 years, and I was delighted to read about the STEM theme of Women’s History Month.
NWHP honors 18 STEM women.
The 2013 Honorees represent a remarkable range of accomplishments and a wide diversity of specialties including medicine, robotics, computer programming, atmospheric chemistry, architecture and primatology. These women’s lives and work span the centuries of American history and come from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. We are proud to honor them and all women seeking to advance these important fields.
Drum roll please:
Graphic Rosie Tech from Claremont Port Side.
March 8 was declared International Women’s Day in 1911 (see International Women’s Day 1911-2011) and has evolved in the US into a month-long celebration honoring the contributions of women to the human story. This year, the National Women’s History Project (NWHP) theme for Women’s History Month is Women Inspiring Innovation Through Imagination: Celebrating Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (see this blog’s posts: Science Technology Engineering Math– Stem , Sally Ride 1951-2011, and Developing Literacy page for STEM links).
About 20 years ago, I participated in the Bay Area Science Project (BASP) through Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science. It was a fabulous six-week teacher workshop conducted at St. Mary’s High School in Berkeley. We covered lots of STEM topics, and, explored the FOSS and GEMS programs. A focus of the workshop was to bring hands-on science into the schools. One of the lead instructors brought in a lovely science themed calendar demonstrating one small way to include science on a daily basis in the classroom. Marie Curie was the only woman celebrated in the calendar. I commented about the lack of gender equity in the calendar and was surprised to hear the instructor declare, “Well, there really aren’t any of note.” This was Berkeley! I was motivated to find and share the legions of women scientists who had not received public acclamation for their work. Fast forward 20 years, and I was delighted to read about the STEM theme of Women’s History Month.
NWHP honors 18 STEM women.
The 2013 Honorees represent a remarkable range of accomplishments and a wide diversity of specialties including medicine, robotics, computer programming, atmospheric chemistry, architecture and primatology. These women’s lives and work span the centuries of American history and come from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. We are proud to honor them and all women seeking to advance these important fields.
Drum roll please:
Graphic Rosie Tech from Claremont Port Side.
By: Lucy,
on 3/8/2012
As you may know, today is International Women’s Day. Although it has become a bit of a Valentine’s Day sequel in some communities, many countries are still recognizing the holiday for it’s original purpose. The United Nations created this day to recognize women who have impacted our world, as well as a way to focus public service efforts towards women in need around the world.
Each year since 1975 (when the United States began celebrating IWD), the United Nations selects a theme to focus the day’s efforts. This year’s theme is “Empower Rural Women- End Hunger and Poverty”, and I encourage you to find out more about what you can do to participate in this important cause.
Another way to celebrate women is by learning about a woman who has changed history, particularly those who have not received recognition for her contributions. Remembering these women, many of whom weren’t recognized in their own day or have since been forgotten, is an important aspect of realizing how far we have come, and how far we have yet to go, in terms of women’s rights. Click on the image below for a selection of Lee & Low titles that introduce you to some such women, each of whom, we believe, should have her own holiday.
By: Kirsty,
on 3/11/2011
For the 100th International Women’s Day this week, The Guardian chose their Top 100 inspirational women living today from a range of backgrounds and subjects. This is possibly the only time you’ll see Lady Gaga and Margaret Thatcher in the same list. [The Guardian]
A football (soccer) player was sent off the pitch this week after tackling a pitch intruder wearing a mankini. There’s video. [BBC News]
Bootlegged toys: yes, you too can own ‘Spaderman’. [Cracked.com]
One man’s experience of being a giver on World Book Night. [The Bookseller]
Two-thirds of lawyers said Facebook was the ‘primary source’ of evidence in divorce proceedings. [Shiny Shiny]
British book blogger extraordinaire Dovegreyreader celebrated the fifth birthday of her blog. [Dovegreyreader Scribbles]
If you can’t get to SXSW, perhaps you might be interested in NSEW. [Londonist]
Leona Lewis is London’s most influential woman? Really? [The First Post]
A guide to T A office hours. [PHD Comics]
‘If membership is restricted to men, the lose will be ours.’ [Letters of Note]
And finally… Daniel Craig in a dress for International Women’s Day:
Click here to view the embedded video.
Image by George via Flickr
In honor of International Women’s Day what has been your biggest challenge as a woman?
By: HannaO,
on 3/8/2011
Today on OUPblog we’re celebrating the 100th International Women’s Day. I’ve invited intern extraordinaire Hanna Oldsman to contribute her thoughts on “The Yellow Wall-Paper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. A groundbreaking and important early piece of American feminist literature, it was first published in January 1892 in The New England Magazine and has been subject to countless interpretations, as it powerfully illustrates 19th century attitudes about women’s physical and mental health.
By Hanna Oldsman (Publicity Intern)
For me, one of the most interesting lines of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wall-Paper” appears near the very beginning of the story. The words are an aside, a nervous excuse—and the only part of this rambling, uncomfortable tale to be cordoned off with parentheses: “John is a physician,” the narrator writes furtively, “and perhaps—(I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind—) perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster.”
“The Yellow Wall-Paper” is a story in which dead things come to life. The narrator, ill with what her husband calls a “temporary nervous depression—a slight hysterical tendency,” imagines that the wallpaper that covers her bedroom moves, that behind the “sprawling” pattern creeps a woman, trapped, who shakes the bars that confine her. When I first read this story, I found it odd that the narrator believes the pages of her diary to be dead while the wallpaper sprouts heads like hydras and its curves “commit suicide—plung[ing] off at outrageous angles,” while its “pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare.” Odd, and also devastating: later in the story, she wishes that she had someone to whom she might divulge her thoughts—someone who might provide “any advice or companionship about [her] works.” There is some connection between the paper on which she writes and the papered walls on which her imagination paints a Gothic tale; it is as if her first imaginative impulses, suppressed, press themselves into the walls.
The irony of the words “but this is dead paper,” is, of course, that they don’t remain hidden: as we read this story, we are made party to the narrator’s madness and forced to take the place of her friends and family who refuse to listen. Her words make the nightmarish hallucinations seem real to us. Reading Gilman’s private writings is a similar experience. I recently had the chance to peruse two books from OUP on the work and life of Charlotte Perkins Gilman: the Oxford World’s Classics edition of The Yellow Wall-Paper and Other Stories, edited by Robert Shulman, and Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz’s Wild Unrest: Charlotte Perkins Gilman and the Making of “The Yellow Wall-Paper”. Wild Unrest, in contrast to other books about this late 19th-century feminist and author, is less about Charlotte Perkins Gilman the public figure and activist than it is about Charlotte’s p
By: Kirsty,
on 3/8/2011
Today on OUPblog we’re celebrating the 100th International Women’s Day with posts about inspirational women. Here, OUPblog Contributing Editor Kirsty Doole writes about why she’s chosen 19th century writer Mona Caird and brings us an excerpt from Caird’s Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry.
These days, not many people outside of academia seem to know who Mona Caird was. I certainly didn’t until I was studying for my Masters degree and decided to write on the New Woman writers of the late 19th century. Through that I came to read her novel, The Daughters of Danaus (1894), which is the story of Hadria, a girl from the Scottish Borders who wants to be a composer. However, the pressure to fulfil the traditional roles of wife and mother is insurmountable and her musical ambitions are ultimately sacrificed to her family obligations. The book is rightly regarded as something of a feminist classic, and it has become one of my very favourite books.
Caird is most often remembered as the woman who wrote an essay in 1888 for the Westminster Review on marriage and the many injustices that she believed it forced onto women. The Daily Telegraph, in response, asked readers to write in with their answers to the question ‘Is Marriage a Failure?’, which prompted something in the region of 27,000 responses from readers (male and female). She went on to write more essays on marriage, as well as on anti-vivisectionism and animal rights. Both her feminism and her animal rights position made her very controversial in her day, and it’s for her bravery and outspoken ways that I admire her.
As far as I can tell, there are only two of her novels still in print (The Daughters of Danaus and The Wing of Azrael), which is a shame as I really think she deserves to be better-known. So, in the spirit of International Women’s Day (which didn’t exist in Caird’s lifetime, but of which she would surely have approved) here’s an excerpt from her entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. You can read the full entry here.
* * * * *
Caird [née Alison], (Alice) Mona (1854–1932), writer, was born on 24 May 1854 at 34 Pier Street, Ryde, Isle of Wight, to John Alison, an inventor from Midlothian, and Matilda Ann Jane, née Hector. As a child she wrote plays and stories. It seems that she spent part of her childhood in Australia and she uses this experience in her first novel, Aunt Hetty, published anonymously in 1877. On 19 December 1877 she married James Alexander Caird (d. 1921), son of Sir James Caird, at Christ Church, Paddington, London. The couple resided at Leyland, Arkwright Road, Hampstead, London, for the remainder of their forty-four-year marriage. Their only child, Alison James Caird, was born at Leyland on 22 March 1884.
At the beginning of her writing career, Caird briefly used the pseudonym G. Noel Hatton, but of the five novels she published between 1883 and 1915, The Wing of Azrael (1889), A Romance of the Moors (1891), and The Daughters of Danaus (1894; repr. 1989), published under her own name, have received the most attention from literary critics…
…Her general ideas are focused on equality for women in marriage and for equal partnerships in the home which will ‘bring us to the end of the patriarchal system’ which she described as repressive both for men, who were trained to see only ‘the woman’s-sphere and woman’s-responsibility condition of things’, and for women, whose ‘
By: Kirsty,
on 3/8/2011
Today on OUPblog we’re celebrating the 100th International Women’s Day with posts about inspirational women. In this post, Patricia Fara, author of Science: A Four Thousand Year History, writes about the 18th century mathematician and physicist Émilie du Châtelet.
Émilie du Châtelet, wrote Voltaire, ‘was a great man whose only fault was being a woman.’ Du Châtelet has paid the penalty for being a woman twice over. During her life, she was denied the educational opportunities and freedom that she craved. ‘Judge me for my own merits,’ she protested: ‘do not look upon me as a mere appendage to this great general or that renowned scholar’ – but since her death, she has been demoted to subsidiary status as Voltaire’s mistress and Isaac Newton’s translator.
Too often moulded into hackneyed stereotypes – the learned eccentric, the flamboyant lover, the devoted mother – du Châtelet deserves more realistic appraisals as a talented yet fallible woman trapped between overt discrimination and inner doubts about her worth. ‘I am in my own right a whole person,’ she insisted. I hope she would appreciate how I see her …
Émilie du Châtelet (1706-49) was tall and beautiful. Many intellectual women would object to an account starting with their looks, but du Châtelet took great care with her appearance. She spent a fortune on clothes and jewellery, acquiring the money from her husband, a succession of lovers, and her own skills at the gambling table (being mathematically gifted can bring unexpected rewards.) She brought the same intensity to her scientific work, plunging her hands in ice-cold water to keep herself awake as she wrote through the night. This whole-hearted enthusiasm for every activity she undertook explains why I admire her so much. The major goal of life, she believed, was to be happy – and for her that meant indulging but also balancing her passions for food, sex and learning.
Born into a wealthy family, du Châtelet benefited from an enlightened father who left her free to browse in his library and hired tutors to give her lessons more appropriate for boys than for marriageable girls. By the time she was twelve, du Châtelet could speak six languages, but it was not until her late twenties that she started to immerse herself in mathematics and Newtonian philosophy. By then, she was married to an elderly army officer, had two surviving children, and was developing intimate friendships with several clever young men who helped her acquire the education she was not allowed to gain at university.
When Voltaire’s radical politics provoked a warrant for his arrest, she concealed him in her husband’s run-down estate at Cirey and returned to Paris to restore his reputation. Over the next year, she oscillated between rural seclusion with Voltaire and partying in Paris, but after some prompting, she eventually made her choice and stuck to it. For fifteen years, they lived together at Cirey, happily embroiled in a private world of intense intellectual endeavour laced with romance, living in separate apartments linked by a secret passage and visited from time to time by her accommodating husband.
For decades, French scholars had been reluctant to abandon the ideas of their own national hero, René Descartes, and instead adopt those of his English rival, Newton. They are said to have been converted by a small book that appeared in 1738: Elements of Newtonian Philosophy. The only name on the title-page is Voltaire’s, but it is clear that this was a collaborative venture in which du Châtelet played a major role: as Voltaire to
photo by isafmedia Flickr.com
Basically, on March 8, women and men around the world will join together on bridges for peace and to take a stand against violence towards women. This event started in Africa in the countries of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo when country directors from Women for Women programs stood together on a bridge between the two countries. When you stand with at least one other person on a bridge, you are supporting the theme: “Stronger Women Build Bridges of Peace.” To find events in your area, go to the website through the link above. If you can not stand on a bridge, which I know many of you cannot because you will be teaching or with your kids, then you can look into other ways to do something special for women around the world on March 8. You can blog about it like I am, tweet about it, write it on your Facebook page, or how about donating to water.org?
I learned about water.org helping women and children around the world when I saw Matt Damon on the Ellen show. He co-founded this organization, which is helping to bring clean water to ALL people in the world. As he said on the Ellen show, it is ridiculous that there are still people dying from drinking dirty water when we have known forever how to purify it and make it safe. He talked about some water bottles you can buy for $25, which is how much it costs to give someone a lifetime’s supply of clean water. Anyway, I went on the website to find these water bottles and show you a picture, but they are currently on back order. You can donate $25 there, however. Matt Damon is not just another pretty face. 
So, how will you celebrate International Women’s Day? I just had another thought. You can celebrate it by calling a girlfriend who is down in the dumps and building her up, giving your mom a kiss, or offering to help out your sister. You can do a big thing for the world like stand up for peace or a small thing for the women in your family. It doesn’t really matter. Just be aware that tomorrow is the day to honor women (and make sure the men in your life know it)!
PS: I am reading an amazing book right now about the sex trafficking problem in Russia (and the world). It is a fiction book, but it is excellent. Please check it out.
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Oh, I love that forest like a door on loose hinges! Lovely scene.
I'm in with "Ordinary," a cinquain about a pencil. And a video poem starter. At http://laurasalas.wordpress.com/2013/03/07/ordinary/
Thanks for hosting, Heidi!
Heidi,
I'll have a Spring poem up with original art and a picture of me in my new Poetry Friday Anthology for Middle School t-shirt up after midnight MST.
Joy Acey
www.poetryforkidsjoy.blogspot.com
Love this poem, Heidi - thanks for sharing. Welcome back. I'm in with a nod to your theme - and to my mother, my daughter, and Anne Bradstreet.
http://www.robynhoodblack.com/blog.htm?post=901404
Thanks for hosting, Heidi!
Here's a sample poem from FIRST KISS, a new YA novel in verse, in progress at the FATHER GOOSE Blog
Thanks for hosting Heidi. I'm not sure what to think about your poem. Is it about this young girl, venturing out, growing self-aware (in a more adult way)? Or is it the environment linking itself to someone young, alert? Thank you for sharing such an unusual poem. My link today is a poem for children, or perhaps teachers, then children. http://teacherdance.blogspot.com/2013/03/double-duty-on-fridays-8-of-31poetry.html
Thanks for hosting. Please include my review of Blue Lipstick on the list.
http://books4learning.blogspot.com/2013/03/poetry-friday-blue-lipstick-by-john.html
Hello there Heidi, thanks so much for hosting this week. I'm in this week with some love for ee cummings (somewhere i have never traveled).
http://gatheringbooks.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/poetry-friday-somewhere-i-have-never-traveled/
And yes, happy international women's day!
The Poetry Friday anthology, Middle School edition sounds like something we should have here in Singapore! Will definitely check it out. :)
What a stunning poem, Heidi. Thank you for sharing that and for hosting Poetry Friday.
Today I'm featuring Stephen Cahill, the winner of the 2012 March Madness Poetry Tournament. Stephen has done a video of one of his winning MM poems, "Girlzilla Gorilla," and lets us know how he plans to take us all down this year!
http://www.nowaterriver.com/poetry-friday-girlzilla-gorilla-by-stephen-w-cahill/
Hi, Heidi - I'm up with an original called Sequester the Tester
Thanks for hosting!
Heidi, I love that poem. Imagine, the forest as a door loose on its hinges, opening and closing!
Over at The Drift Record I offer up a short poem by Walter de la Mare, and I think a bit about lions and lambs.
"Bracketology" is taking over my life, what with Ed DeCaria's #MMPoetry13, our 5th grade Battle of the Books, and now this:
http://readingyear.blogspot.com/2013/03/poetry-friday-bracketology.html
I can remember being that sapling, but not exactly when I became one of the old, scarred trees who speak in sentence fragments.
Missed you, Heidi! Thanks for rounding us up. Happy almost birthday, too!
I've got a poetic smorgasbord today:
http://tabathayeatts.blogspot.com/2013/03/poetry-here-poetry-there.html
Heidi,
Thanks for hosting. I love your fruit banner. I was playing with poetry this morning on an early walk.
http://enjoy-embracelearning.blogspot.com/2013/03/slice-2013-8-of-31.html
Thanks for hosting! At 100 Scope Notes I have a book spine poem. http://100scopenotes.com/2013/03/08/poetry-friday-shadow-on-the-stairs/
Hmmm. Am I the first? I hope this is the right spot for a link to my poem today "May I Have a Word?" in preparation for the MMPoetry2013 Tournament. http://mainelywrite.blogspot.com/2013/03/may-i-have-word.html
Heidi,
Welcome back! What a thought provoking poem. I loved the line, "she combs the dreams out of her hair" and took pause with "but the forest is our subject, not the girl."
I'm excited to be joining the Poetry round-up today. It's been a goal of mine for some time. Now I've made it two weeks in a row. Thanks for hosting!
Right now I'm participating in Slice of Life writing challenge so writing has been on my mind a bit.
The Writer:
http://merelydaybyday.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-writer-slice-of-life-8-of-31.html
Cathy
Thanks for hosting today...and marking Women's History month! At A Teaching Life I have a poem about daughters and too-quick hugs:
http://tmsteach.blogspot.com/2013/03/poetry-fridayslice-of-life-challenge-8.html
Heidi what a charming and wonderful poem for Woman's Day!! I adore that forest scene.
Today I have some haiku with a flower story and photos at a wrung sponge Thanks for doing the round up!
Good morning, Heidi! Welcome back and thanks for hosting Poetry Friday today. To me, the poem you posted has almost a haunting quality to it and then it turns more light-hearted in the third stanza. Love the persona(s) of the trees. Great choice.
Speaking of persona, today, in celebration of the release of GONE FISHING A Novel in Verse I’m sharing “The One That Got Away,” a poem I wrote that didn’t make the final cut.
http://tamerawillwissinger.squarespace.com/the-writers-whimsy/2013/3/8/gone-fishing-on-poetry-friday-the-one-that-got-away.html
Thanks again - Tamera
Good morning! I'm in today with an original poem at Write Time http://lindakulp.blogspot.com/
Thanks for hosting! Have a great weekend!
Happy International Women's Day! Over at Random Noodling I have a bunch of haiku stuff!
Kurious Kitty has a Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem, "Ode to the Swallow." And at KKs Kwotes there's a quote by Browning as part of a month of women's quotes.
Lovely imagery and quite a contrast to the view out my window, which is what I'm sharing today:
http://readingtothecore.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/slice-8-of-31poetry-friday-march/
Thanks for hosting!
Magical and mysterious poem, Heidi. Can't help but think of Red Riding Hood venturing out in the woods . . .
Today I'm featuring a poem by Frances Kakugawa, recognized as one of the Outstanding Women of Hawai'i for her work advocating the use of poetry to help Alzheimer's caregivers cope:
http://jamarattigan.com/2013/03/08/friday-feast-caregiving-through-poetry/
Thanks for hosting today and have a nice weekend!
As the father of two girls, I think this is a great poem for young girls to read and ruminate on! Thanks for sharing & hosting.
Today at Radio, Rhythm and Rhyme, we're going on "A Search:" http://mattforrest.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/poetry-friday-the-search/
It's so wonderful to have you back, Heidi! And the poem you shared makes me very happy - thank you.
Today I have a poem that started with a drawing - it's called "Shell Teeth". I'm also sharing a fascinating new book that inspired the whole thing and is inspiring me lately.
Happy week! xo, a.
Thanks for hosting!
I'm in with "Chopped--March Madness Edition," some doggerel about what a March Madness contestant might feel like in an episode of the Food Network's Chopped. It's HERE.
http://wp.me/pC77F-mQ
Heidi,
Good to see you and thanks for hosting. I have a few haiku this morning about late winter or is that early spring?
http://elizabethsteinglass.com/2013/03/haiku-for-late-winter-or-early-spring/
Happy Poetry Friday!
Liz
What a beautiful poem. Thanks for posting. Tried to post from my phone, but I don't think it worked. But just in case it did and you have two of me, that's why!
March Madness Poetry jitters has the focus at DoriReads today.
http://dorireads.blogspot.com/2013/03/march-madness.html
I have a poetry collection today, A Poem of Her Own, over at MotherReader:
http://www.motherreader.com/2013/03/a-poem-of-her-own-voices-of-american.html
Thanks for hosting!
I love "combing the dreams out of her hair." Thanks for the poem -- and for hosting!
I have "Mailboxes in Late Winter" by Jeffrey Harrison.
http://www.acrossthepage.net/2013/03/poetry-friday-waiting/
Happy International Women's Day! And thanks for hosting the roundup today. I'm sharing a couple poems from the Feb 2013 issue of Ladybug Magazine, including one of mine :) http://kerryaradhya.blogspot.com/2013/03/poetry-friday-fun-with-ladybug-magazine.html
I posted Sail On by The Good Mad at Bildungsroman this morning. Thanks for hosting! Happy weekend to you!
Wow, what an impressive crew gathering here today and what a powerful, tingly poem to showcase, Heidi. Extra thanks for the plug for our new middle school Poetry Friday anthology. You're the best. We've got a contest for a free book going at that blog (PFAMS.blogspot.com) and are featuring wordplay by J Patrick Lewis at PoetryFridayAnthology.Blogspot.com Thanks for hosting, Heidi!
Thanks for hosting, Heidi! I'm posting for the first time (gulp) at
http://kerirecommends.com/2013/03/08/poetry-friday-an-introduction-and-a-poem.aspx
Keri
http://thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com/2013/03/poetry-friday-puppy.html
I've got an original poem today - a first draft, really, since it's about what happened at my house this morning.
Hi There, I have two today:
an original haiku: http://deowriter.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/solsc-2013-poetry-friday/
and
student poems: http://maclibrary.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/poetry-friday-poetry-postcards-getting-ready/
Thank you for hosting today. And that poem...
Hi There, I have two today:
an original haiku: http://deowriter.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/solsc-2013-poetry-friday/
and
student poems: http://maclibrary.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/poetry-friday-poetry-postcards-getting-ready/
Thank you for hosting today. And that poem...
Heidi, I would love to share some poetry quotes and poems with you. I am a former elementary teacher of thirty-three years, children's poet, and performer.
This is my email address and website:
[email protected]
www.joesillysottile.net
Thanks for your time, and a great blog.
Joe Sottile
Heidi, I am a former elementary teacher of thirty-three years, children's poet, and performer. I would love to send you some poetry quotes and poems. Could you please send me your email address. And, incidentally, your blog is lovely.
www.joesillysottile.net
[email protected]
Write on,
Joe Sottile
Welcome back and thanks for hosting! At Booktalking I'm sharing Do You Have a Dog? by Eileen Spinelli. (Hooray for women poets!) http://asuen.com/blog/?p=1067
Thank you so much for hosting, Heidi.
At On Point, I have a new haiku, Winged Words and at readertotz we have Paul Simon.
Lightning Dance, from Dia Calhoun
http://diacalhoun.blogspot.com/2013/03/poetry-friday-lightning-dance_8.html
Hi Heidi,
Latest poem in The Drawer is "Spinning Seymour" http://mmsocks.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/spinning-seymour/
ENJOY!
by the way - get ready to rumble on Monday! MMPoetry
Thanks for hosting on what is a beautiful day here in Michigan! All the sun inspired me to write a poem about a dandelion, which has been happening a lot lately. Thanks again.
http://teachingyoungwriters.blogspot.com/2013/03/dandelion.html
Thanks for hosting.
My selection is "Words, wit, and wonder: writing your own poem written by Nancy Loewen with illustrated by Christopher Lyles.