Some things about women.,

 It might be officially spring but nobody seems to have told the weather. I ran through hailstones this morning. Between showers we have blue sky and sunshine but unless you are sheltered from the wind it still feels very cold. Okay, not midwinter cold but still almost-April cold! 

One of the articles I read online this morning was about MP Diana Johnson, who chairs the home affairs select committee, and her proposal to the houses of parliament to abolish the criminal offence associated with a woman ending her own pregnancy. The legal situation dares back to the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, which outlawed terminations and is still used to prosecute women today. Which is odd because I remember reading some time ago that it was quite common for women from wealthy families using early stage abortion as a way of controlling their fertility. Things changed in 1967 - yes, 100+ years later - when abortion became legal under certain circumstances but still not a “right”. And in England and Wales it is a criminal offence to have an abortion after 24 weeks, carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Clinics have been investigated by the police. Women have been arrested and prosecuted, usually without cause, at a very traumatic time in their lives. Diana Jahnson wants to change things, to decriminalise it. Others oppose this idea, some completely, others wanting to keep the illegal status but to prevent women getting a criminal record as a result. 

Oh boy! The debate about women’s bodies goes on. 

I must say that when I saw the headline “Senior Labour figures seeking to water down plans to decriminalise abortion”, I found myself thinking this was another case of Labour not wanting to appear too left wing and socialist.

Today must be a day for me noticing articles about women. Here’s a link to an article about a talk given by a PhD student as part of the Cambridge Festival. Alexandra Zhimova has been researching poerceptions of women’s appearance.”Many of the ideas that govern how we perceive women’s appearance today have their roots in the middle ages,” she maintains. It all goes back to religion to some extent, of course. It’s strange how many religions feel the need to control women and how they look and behave. So often it seems that if a woman makes herself look attractive she does so to provoke men. Thus she needs to cover her hair, wear no makeup or jewellery, dress in sombre colours. I think most of us dress up to please ourselves above all! Perhaps the men need to learn to control themselves. 

Then there is this article about the difficulty women still have convincing courts that mental abuse is as harmful as physical abuse. Apparently a frequent question or justification for ruling against the complainant is , “But he didn’t hit you, did he?” This in 2024.

And finally, there’s Kate Middleton, as she will undoubtedly be forever known, and her revelation that she has cancer and is having chemotherapy. It’s not a fate you would wish on anyone. Various cancer charities are declaring that this will perhaps help others deal with their own illness. Probably so. 

And maybe now the conspiracy theorists will stop speculating on her absence from the public eye. On the whole she and William have done quite a good job of keeping their private life private. There really is no reason why we should know their intimate secrets but it seems to be part of the life of almost anyone in the public eye. A bit of them becomes public property. 

It’s very harder nowadays to remain private. Equipped with our smart phones we are all amateur paparazzi. In the midst of the attack on the concert hall in Moscow yesterday people were still getting their phones out and filming it! But I find myself thinking of another Princess of Wales, “hounded” by the press. There’s a part of me that has long maintained, and still does, that if Diana and her driver had driven away from the press, quickly yes, but calmly, not at the breakneck, racing through the streets of Paris as if in a thrilling film, then the crash in that tunnel might not have taken place and she might still be alive today.

But then, who am I to speculate on such things. I’ve never been the object of media scrutiny. The most that seems to happen is that someone sees my comment on a Facebook post and decides to request me as a “friend”. Esay to ignore.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!