May ‘68 - fifty years on?

In France they are wondering how to celebrate, if celebrate is the word, May 1968. President Macron is too young to remember it - born ten years after the event. Here’s an article about it. According to one of the historians quoted in the article May ‘68 as such didn’t do much for women’s liberation. He said: “Today, when we talk about the society changes of May 1968, we’re actually talking about the years that followed. There wasn’t sexual liberation in 1968 France, that is false; it was an extremely macho society, where the girls were expected to make the sandwiches while the boys demonstrated. The advances on women’s rights came later in the 1970s.”

And here we are still fighting for those advances all over the place.

I read that in Nepal a woman died in a remote village because she was made to sleep in an unheated hut when she had her period. This is a Hindu tradition based on the belief that women will anger the gods if they remain in the house while they menstruate. The gods will then punish the family with death or sickness to people or livestock. And so women sleep more or less outdoors in temperatures of 0C and below. This woman is thought to have died from smoke inhalation when she tried to light a fire to keep warm.

We should not scoff. It is not not all that long ago that women were considered unclean when they menstruated and had to be “churched”, given a special kind of blessing, after giving birth to ensure that they were once again clean and fit for purpose!!!

All is not lost, however. In Saudi Arabia women are now allowed to watch football matches live ... but only in three stadiums which have been specially prepared to receive women and families. Other stadiums will follow suit by next season and they will have separate cafes and prayer rooms for women football fans!

Step by little step!