Archive for the ‘Biographies’ Category
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Women of the Left: Djamila Bouhired
25 Feb 2013
Djamila Bouhired, the only daughter of her Tunisian mother and Algerian father's eight children, was born in the Al-Qasaba area of Algeria in 1935. An active revolutionary in the National Liberation Front she was arrested after a bombing and tortured in detention. Her trial and conviction drew international condemnation. After her …
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Women of the Left: Meena Keshwar Kamal
21 Jul 2012
Almost universally known by just her first name, Meena Keshwar Kamal was born in 1957, two years before Afghan women gained the right to appear unveiled in public. Women's rights in Afghanistan were in the ascendancy with women gaining the right to vote in five years later, as increasing …
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Women of the Left: Funmilayo Anikulapo-Kuti
10 Jun 2012
Funmilayo Anikulapo-Kuti, born in 1900, was the Nigerian daughter of a returned slave who lived in the Yuroba Region. Well educated with a colonial education and a Christian background, she was radicalised through the actions of the British occupation of Nigeria: its racism, sexism and economic violence. Traditionally, Yuroba society …
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Women of the Left: Helen Keller
29 Apr 2012
I first heard of Helen Keller in Primary Four when I was around eight years old. I can't say I was awful impressed with her. I mean yes, of course it was good that she had overcome her naughty ways, no longer broke her toys in anger and very clever …
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Women of the Left: Juana Belen
12 Feb 2012
The Mexican Revolution was a remarkable period in the country's history, and the stories of the women within it well worth a retelling. Many remarkable revolutionaries emerged through this period, including Dolores Jimenez y Muro, a political advisor to Zapata and Hermila Galindo, who advised Venustiano Carranza on womens rights. Yet one woman still stands …
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Thatcher: A Feminist Retrospective
13 Jan 2012
With the Iron Lady released in cinemas last week, prompting protests by some of her victims, there has been a wave of renewed interest in the evil cunt, including attempts to portray her as some kind of feminist icon. Thatcher was no feminist icon - she had no feminist principles and once …
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Ada Lovelace Day: Donna Haraway
07 Oct 2011Today is Ada Lovelace day, a day to celebrate the achievements of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. As a former mathematician and a bit of a geek, I remember feeling both surprised and pleased when at eleven years old I discovered that the ADA computer language was named …