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It's Boudicca v Bank of England in the battle of the banknotes It's Boudicca v Bank of England in the battle of the banknotes
(3 months later)
"What do we want?" shouted a couple of scores of fancy-dressed women, of whom I was one, on the steps of the Bank of England. We were there to deliver a petition, signed now by 34,000 people, but increasingly I think the petition is the least of the Bank's problems."What do we want?" shouted a couple of scores of fancy-dressed women, of whom I was one, on the steps of the Bank of England. We were there to deliver a petition, signed now by 34,000 people, but increasingly I think the petition is the least of the Bank's problems.
"Women on banknotes!""Women on banknotes!"
I was dressed as Radclyffe Hall, author of The Well of Loneliness. There were, among others, quite a few Rosalind Franklins, three Emmeline Pankhursts, an Amy Johnson, a very convincing George Eliot and a Boudicca. I thought I could just dress as a generic 1930s lesbian, and my normal wardrobe would suffice. In fact, Hall was a very eccentric dresser, who would go nowhere without a wide-brimmed fedora (who knew? This, people, is one of the many reasons we need her on a banknote).I was dressed as Radclyffe Hall, author of The Well of Loneliness. There were, among others, quite a few Rosalind Franklins, three Emmeline Pankhursts, an Amy Johnson, a very convincing George Eliot and a Boudicca. I thought I could just dress as a generic 1930s lesbian, and my normal wardrobe would suffice. In fact, Hall was a very eccentric dresser, who would go nowhere without a wide-brimmed fedora (who knew? This, people, is one of the many reasons we need her on a banknote).
"When do we want it?""When do we want it?"
"Within a reasonable time scale, but certainly sooner rather than later.""Within a reasonable time scale, but certainly sooner rather than later."
In April this year, Mervyn King announced that Winston Churchill would replace Elizabeth Fry on the £5 note; henceforward, the currency, surely the only showcase for achievement and power and legacy that everybody in the country will regularly see, would be entirely male. I didn't take much notice at the time, but just writing that sentence makes my face contort with outrage.In April this year, Mervyn King announced that Winston Churchill would replace Elizabeth Fry on the £5 note; henceforward, the currency, surely the only showcase for achievement and power and legacy that everybody in the country will regularly see, would be entirely male. I didn't take much notice at the time, but just writing that sentence makes my face contort with outrage.
On Friday Ailsa Burkimsher Sadler, dressed as a Franklin, said: "This is part of a wider pattern of cultural femicide, where women are simply missing, across the arts, painting, music, in business, across every platform. But also," she added, a bit later, "we've got to ask whether they follow the Equality Act. What was the process by which this decision was reached? Where are the minutes? Who was in the meeting?"On Friday Ailsa Burkimsher Sadler, dressed as a Franklin, said: "This is part of a wider pattern of cultural femicide, where women are simply missing, across the arts, painting, music, in business, across every platform. But also," she added, a bit later, "we've got to ask whether they follow the Equality Act. What was the process by which this decision was reached? Where are the minutes? Who was in the meeting?"
This will, if no concession is reached, come out in court, thanks to the £13,000 already raised by the campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez (who also created the Women's Room, as a database of female experts, to break the mainly BBC fallacy that women are only useful in debate when you want to talk about childbirth).This will, if no concession is reached, come out in court, thanks to the £13,000 already raised by the campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez (who also created the Women's Room, as a database of female experts, to break the mainly BBC fallacy that women are only useful in debate when you want to talk about childbirth).
"This isn't an anti-Churchill campaign," said the redoubtable Criado-Perez, dressed as another Franklin. "But it does seem a shame to use someone who voted against female suffrage to erase the last woman from our currency." Doesn't it, though?"This isn't an anti-Churchill campaign," said the redoubtable Criado-Perez, dressed as another Franklin. "But it does seem a shame to use someone who voted against female suffrage to erase the last woman from our currency." Doesn't it, though?
Betty Harris, rather half-heartedly dressed as Mary Wollstonecraft in a modest outfit from M&S (I think of Wollstonecraft as more of a goth), said: "This is the problem in a nutshell – when I looked up Mary Wollstonecraft in a dictionary, it said: 'See under Godwin.'" Modesty is a mug's game in the posterity business – the forces of convention are ranged against you, itching to forget your contribution and file you under your husband's name.Betty Harris, rather half-heartedly dressed as Mary Wollstonecraft in a modest outfit from M&S (I think of Wollstonecraft as more of a goth), said: "This is the problem in a nutshell – when I looked up Mary Wollstonecraft in a dictionary, it said: 'See under Godwin.'" Modesty is a mug's game in the posterity business – the forces of convention are ranged against you, itching to forget your contribution and file you under your husband's name.
Emma Dixon, who is dressed as Johnson, the mighty British aviator, remarked: "Until recently, the Bank just didn't get it. They weren't understanding what people were so upset about. But I think it's one of the most important feminist issues of our age."Emma Dixon, who is dressed as Johnson, the mighty British aviator, remarked: "Until recently, the Bank just didn't get it. They weren't understanding what people were so upset about. But I think it's one of the most important feminist issues of our age."
Already, the mood has changed – Mark Carney's approach, although he has yet to concede anything, has been markedly different from the stonewalling of the last governor. He said on his first day that he would be reviewing King's decision for a single-sex currency. And the way the conversation has changed, even though there is an element of coincidence – with the governor changing, and the new guy having no skin in the game and nothing to gain from coming across like a bigot – has been characterised as a victory for social media as much as anything else.Already, the mood has changed – Mark Carney's approach, although he has yet to concede anything, has been markedly different from the stonewalling of the last governor. He said on his first day that he would be reviewing King's decision for a single-sex currency. And the way the conversation has changed, even though there is an element of coincidence – with the governor changing, and the new guy having no skin in the game and nothing to gain from coming across like a bigot – has been characterised as a victory for social media as much as anything else.
"Social networking is very significant from a feminist point of view," Boudicca, AKA Vicky Beeching, observed. And it's true that 10 years ago, King's original response – a sort of moleish bafflement that anybody would question his decision or expect him to account for it on the grounds of equality – would most likely have been the Bank's final answer. It's true that Twitter keeps the pressure on and forges the links with the mainstream media. It's also true that the online petition site Change.org gives a sense of the scale of the opposition."Social networking is very significant from a feminist point of view," Boudicca, AKA Vicky Beeching, observed. And it's true that 10 years ago, King's original response – a sort of moleish bafflement that anybody would question his decision or expect him to account for it on the grounds of equality – would most likely have been the Bank's final answer. It's true that Twitter keeps the pressure on and forges the links with the mainstream media. It's also true that the online petition site Change.org gives a sense of the scale of the opposition.
But social media wouldn't amount to hill of beans without this feminist fourth wave, from the Women's Room, to No More Page Three (whose co-founder, Lucy Holmes, came as Emily Wilding Davison) to UK Feminista (who are leading the Lose the Lads Mags campaign), a generation of status quo refuseniks to whom the experience of being patronised and dismissed is just Powerade to their protest engine.But social media wouldn't amount to hill of beans without this feminist fourth wave, from the Women's Room, to No More Page Three (whose co-founder, Lucy Holmes, came as Emily Wilding Davison) to UK Feminista (who are leading the Lose the Lads Mags campaign), a generation of status quo refuseniks to whom the experience of being patronised and dismissed is just Powerade to their protest engine.
That's the Bank of England's big problem – not that there are women on its steps, or a petition in its doorway; but that they're not going to go away.That's the Bank of England's big problem – not that there are women on its steps, or a petition in its doorway; but that they're not going to go away.
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