Comments for HerStoria magazine editor's blog

Comment on The woman who invented child benefit by Linda

Linda — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 09:48:32 +0000

At last Eleanor Rathbone will get some public recognition! Some say she was the greatest female politician – greater than Thatcher.
Yes – i firmly believe that she would be horrified that yet another ‘right’ is being eroded from women.
We would all acknowledge that we live in a different society than that of Eleanor Rathbone’s generation but many of the basic needs remain. And why does it seem that the first areas to suffer any cuts are those that affect women and those they care for.
If we buy into the argument of a defecit, which is questionable, surely tax increases would be more equitable. Or a tax on bank profits – oops that would affect men ! I wonder if the family allowance if reduced/abolished will be re-instated when the loans to the banks are re-paid.
We could do with Eleanor Rathbone today – her straight talking and non party political stand in defense of the poor/ working people [ which most of still are] would be welcomed. She would sort out the banks.

Comment on The Royal Society and female Fellows, why so few? by Athene Donald

Athene Donald — Thu, 27 May 2010 20:04:58 +0000

The IoS reporter was not very accurate in what she quoted me as saying, and I am afraid you are further distorting the comments I made in your own post. First of all, not even the IoS story claims that my comments referred to committees at the Royal Society, an institution I have always found very supportive – both when I was a University Research Fellow many years ago, and over the past 10+ years since I have been a Fellow. The Royal Society is proactive in encouraging heads of departments and institutions to nominate more women for consideration for the fellowship but sadly senior women – particularly in the physical sciences and engineering – are still few and far between in the UK. Nevertheless the percentage of female fellows is slowly increasing, so that whereas there were around 50 female fellows elected during the 50 years from 1945 when the first two were elected, there have been another 50 in the 15 years since then.

The story about the tea-making was not mine (although I alluded to it to the reporter), having heard another senior woman mention this happening to her; the anecdote about me being taken for a secretary refers to something that happened to me when I first joined a Research Council committee about 20 years ago and I cannot imagine anyone being so crass today. The comment about being addressed as ‘gentlemen’, well yes that was recent but it was not at the Royal Society and the chair of that particular committee apologised profusely when he realised what he had done and said – and I can imagine it – it was force of habit because he was used to committees that genuinely were all male. That such single sex committees can still persist is of course a cause for concern and one that all organisations should work hard to overcome, without allowing committee membership then to overburden the senior women they do have. You should take the incredibly negative tenor of the IoS article as reflecting the reporter’s take on things much more than those of us she interviewed. The world is changing and organisations by and large – notably including the Royal Society – work hard to be gender blind. Of course it does require such work, but oversimplification is not helpful.

Comment on Another Starkey soap opera… by John

John — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 11:15:51 +0000

Unfortunately, it’s also “here we go again” with your response to Starkey’s comments. Accusing him of misogyny is way over the top. But more importantly there is a fundamental contradiction in such a counter-argument – feminists argue that women have (in general) been denied access to power and influence throughout history, yet when a man such as Starkey states that a history of the powerful and influential is a history of men (and so effectively endorses the feminist view of history), he is shouted down as a misogynist.

Comment on Another Starkey soap opera… by Melisende

Melisende — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 01:34:56 +0000

Can I suggest: The Six Wives of Henry VIII – by – David Starkey!

Comment on Love Independent Booksellers! by Claire

Claire — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:08:24 +0000

Thanks – good news! Claire

Comment on Love Independent Booksellers! by Claire

Claire — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:06:55 +0000

Thanks Claire – have contacted Cornerhouse, so fingers’ crossed!

Comment on Love Independent Booksellers! by Claire

Claire — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 09:43:54 +0000

Hi, I saw the add for HerStoria in Mslexia, it looks really exciting, I’m looking forward to getting a copy. Re independents have you tried the cornerhouse (http://www.cornerhouse.org/) as a stockist in Manchester, they stock a good range of magazines.

Comment on Launching HerStoria – fun and frustration! by Hannah Rapley

Hannah Rapley — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:25:45 +0000

Just seen your blog regading the difficulty in getting the magazine into the shops. Have you tried the news from nowhere bookshop on bold st in liverpool? They have a wide range of magazines that don’t seem to b available anywhere else, and I think it is independent so their rates might be reasonable.

Comment on Launching HerStoria – fun and frustration! by Adelaide Dupont

Adelaide Dupont — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 06:06:48 +0000

Subscription only is a good start.

I have been ‘let known’ about it because of Girlsown and especially the Ju Gosling article. I should be most interested to see that she covers more than hockey sticks and concentrates especially on the history of girls school stories. Particularly over the last 10 years and more since her PhD thesis ‘Virtual Worlds of Girls’.

I too have flipped through history magazines ‘with more adverts than copy’ – none of them even to do with history, unless you look at them twenty years hence, and you will do that for the information which is contained within them.

It gets difficult to distinguish advertisements from editorial, particularly if one has a limited experience of the media.