What a difference a century makes
What a difference a century makes.
100 years ago, Emily Davison died an outcast; branded as a mad woman and a terrorist. Even her mother wrote to chastise her as she lay dying. Today she is a heroine; championed and revered; Reclaimed by the women of Britain.
That she is being reclaimed by women she died giving a voice to tells us two things:
It tells us that women are rewriting their history - and re-assessing their present too.
For some, this centenary is a moment to reflect on the progress that has been made in the name of female equality. Some see it as proof that we are over the finish line, or at least touching it.
We live in a country where women enjoy freedoms Ms Davison could never have imagined. It’s a world where the issue of women's rights is both popular and populist. Singers like Beyonce can sell tickets to a concert with a "women's theme" and talk about giving women a "voice".
But for others this is a moment to reflect on the battles which still lie ahead - feminist Laurie Penny spoke of the inequalities that some women who are poor and from the ethnic minorities still endure, pointing out that this debate - and most progress made so far - has been largely confined to the privileged women at the top of our society.
But today, talking to young women from all walks of life, as well as academics and Emily Davison's own descendants, I sensed something is changing.For a start, this centenary has been on every TV channel and I'm pleased to say discussed and written about by women old enough to have lived through the last feminist wave of the 70s.
But more importantly, away from the mainstream media, there is something far edgier going on than Beyonce's global slick girl power suggests.Not since the 1970's have I seen young women so engaged with the feminist cause.Once again we are seeing edgy, daring campaigning: The recent clean up Facebook movement which successfully forced Facebook to promise to remove all its anti-woman content, is a case in point.
There is a new army of bloggers, tweeters and campaigners, like @everydaysexism, fighting for equality in the digital age. The internet is once again uniting a sisterhood. Something has changed. Women are rewriting the rules and reclaiming their history.Emily Davison would be proud.