The battle for women...
The battle for women...
To celebrate International Women's Day, we dig into the Battle archives for some of our favourite female freedom fighters.
Does International Women’s Day leave you cold? You’re not the only one. While the UN and other bodies and organisations might be putting out statements about inclusivity, most women are getting on with their Fridays. Indeed, when faced with the question of who should be included in International Women’s Day, lots of those tweeting ‘solidarity sisters’ aren’t comfortable defining what a woman actually is. We live in strange times - where trans-rights campaigner India Willoughby can seriously threaten to report JK Rowling to the police for believing in biological reality. Women - as a sex category and as a word - has been called into question by an increasingly ugly and sexist gender war.
But beyond the platitudes and confusions on International Women’s Day, there are still many issues facing women. This month, parliament will be debating whether to stop sending women to jail for procuring an abortion - potentially amending a law that was passed in the nineteenth century that still police’s women’s bodies. In the upcoming election, many voters will be looking to the parties’ promises on issues like childcare - which, for many women and their families, has become unaffordable. From battles over safety and domestic violence stats to concerns about young girls and body image, despite many refraining from using the f-word - feminism - most of us still recognise that women’s liberation is a live and necessary battle.
Over the years at the Battle of Ideas festival, we’ve had many impressive women - from barnstorming speakers to attendees standing up to challenge the debate. Instead of being cynical about IWD, we’ve decided to celebrate it, by championing the women who have taken open debate seriously, and taken to our stage to argue their ideas. With that in mind, here are our top 10 debates and discussions for International Women’s Day…
Feminism: in conversation with Camille Paglia
At the 2016 Battle of Ideas festival, internationally renowned American social critic Camille Paglia sat down with Academy of Ideas director Claire Fox to discuss the past, present and future of feminism, and to discuss the themes in her seventh book, Free Women, Free Men: Sex, Gender, Feminism.
Fay Weldon in conversation with Brendan O’Neill
At the Battle of Ideas festival 2017, the late Fay Weldon - writer, author and radical thinker - spoke in conversation with spiked’s chief political writer Brendan O’Neill about her book Death of a She Devil, and a no-holds-barred critique on feminism, literature and everything in between.
Interrogating anti-Semitism with Deborah Lipstadt and Frank Furedi
At the 2019 festival, world-eminent historian Deborah Lipstadt joined Professor Frank Furedi to discuss how to define anti-Semitism in the modern era, and, most importantly, if anti-Semitism is on the rise - how can we best combat it?
Diversity: does it matter?
How far should we go as a society in the pursuit of diversity? Can diversity, with its elevation of particular identities and rights over universal political freedom, create a sense of common loyalty within everything from corporations to counties? Or do diversity policies invite a permanent war of cultures, with society increasingly segmented along the lines of identity? Watch this debate from the Battle of Ideas festival 2017 featuring Manifesto Club director Josie Appleton, the CEO of Code First: Girls, Amali De Alwis, author and journalist Dreda Say Mitchell, and US journalist and commentator Cathy Young.
Have we given up on sexual freedom?
With all its flaws, didn’t the sexual revolution and reproductive technologies give women the ability to choose which and how many sexual partners they have? Does the backlash against sexual freedom risk turning back the clock on women’s freedom? And should governments, schools and institutions care about how often a nation is knocking boots? Watch this debate from the Battle of Ideas festival 2023 featuring author Ralph Leonard, philosopher and editor Nina Power, author and journalist Ella Whelan, and comedian and author Rosie Wilby.
Gross-out feminism: is the political now too personal?
In 1969, Carol Hanisch, an American feminist activist, published an essay titled ‘The Personal is Political’, a rallying cry used by the feminist movement. Fifty years later, it seems that contemporary feminism is now more concerned with the personal than ever before – at the most visceral, physical level – from campaigns around periods to debates about body weight. Where has this new ‘gross-out feminism’ come from? Is a younger, more liberated generation simply more comfortable about talking about their personal lives? Or should a political movement for women’s freedom be more focused on changing the public sphere, rather than focusing on the private self? Watch this debate from the Battle of Ideas festival 2019 featuring journalist Julie Burchill, barrister Samantha Davies, higher-education outreach co-ordinator Beth Hayden, chief economic adviser Professor Vicky Pryce, and editor and author Rebecca Reid.
Women vs Feminism: do we all need liberating from the gender wars?
Why, instead of taking full advantage of the freedom gained, the focus of much feminist campaigning seems to be logging complaints about how bad women feel and promoting the idea that women and girls are victims of a misogynistic world outlook? How equal are women and men today? And is there still a role for feminism? Watch our 2017 festival debate with Joanna Williams discussing her book, Women versus Feminism: why we all need liberating from the gender wars, along with editor and writer Eszter Kovats, the author of A Good Time to be a Girl, Helena Morrissey, and author of The XX Factor, Professor Alison Wolf.
The moral case for abortion
Is it moral for women to choose abortion? Should campaigners for abortion focus on issues of health and mental well-being or argue for an absolute right to abortion? Given that access to terminations is currently only allowed via an exemption to a Victorian criminal law, is it time to decriminalise abortion? At our 2016 Battle of Ideas festival, author and former chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (bpas) Ann Furedi discussed her book: The Moral Case for Abortion. Ann was joined by journalist and author Mary Kenny and the director of the Centre for Parenting Culture Studies, Dr Ellie Lee.
Feminism’s civil war
Who, then, does contemporary feminism speak for? While everyone from politicians to film stars claims to be a feminist these days, few women call themselves a ‘feminist’. Some argue that Western women’s lives have never been better, and that feminism’s claims of patriarchy and misogyny don’t ring true any longer. But from poor quality childcare to restrictive abortion law, others point out that the current divides in contemporary feminism represent little more than Twitter spats, ignoring the real issues still blocking women’s freedom. Watch this debate from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021, with a panel featuring journalist and author Julie Bindel, former MEP Belinda de Lucy, journalist Naomi Firsht and the director of The Equiano Project, Inaya Folarin Iman.
Contraception: a hard pill to swallow?
The dream of a pill that could give women reproductive control and increase their sexual and social freedom has a long history - and has been presented as a genuinely socially disruptive technology. Today, ‘natural’ and non-hormonal methods of contraception are promoted as better for women. So what assessment should be made of the contribution of the Pill to women’s freedom? What do women need, in the twenty-first century, when we think about the future of contraception? Watch this debate from the Battle of Ideas festival 2018 with speakers including the vice president and consultant of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Dr Jane Dickson, the former chief executive of bpas, Ann Furedi, historian Dr Lesley Hall and journalist Ella Whelan.
Early-bird tickets are now available for the Battle of Ideas festival 2024, which will take place at Church House, Westminster on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 October. Get your tickets here.
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