After a successful collaboration last March between Kent Union and the Centre for Gender Sexuality and Writing, it was decided that a reprise was long overdue. After tackling the problem of women’s representation in the media in our inaugural session, and considering the University’s 50th Anniversary, we felt that a critical look at feminism, how far we’ve come and how far we have to go, would be in order. Continuing the theme of representation also, however, with Barbara’s sharp and insightful look at the new man that every woman loves, although they know they shouldn’t, Mr Grey, showing us how the trope of the brooding, dark, damaged anti-hero (Heathcliff, for example) is reproduced in Mr Grey. We were delighted to hear Jan Montefiore speak about how far things have come for women at the University, and her entertaining yet poignant stories of the struggle to get Women’s studies off the ground and to be taken seriously as a separate discipline. Victoria Bennett spoke about how working mothers still face barriers in the workplace, thinking about how entrenched sexism and outdated attitudes affect the UK’s working population who are mothers, but also questioning the neoliberal rhetoric of choice. This was a hotly debated point among the audience, and with some tough and probing questions posed to the panel we had a thought-provoking yet very enjoyable discussion.
Jan Montefiore, Barbara Franchi, Katja May, Victoria Bennett