Sophia Network

Record-breaking women

Congratulations to Kathryn Bigelow, who won the best director Oscar on Sunday for her film The Hurt Locker - the first woman to win best director in the 82-years of the awards. How fantastic to see a woman celebrated for her creativity and vision in such a male-dominated industry. It was indeed the moment of a lifetime. The film also won five other Oscars including best picture.

Congratulations should also be showered on Helen Skelton, Blue Peter presenter, who has completed a 2,010 mile solo kayak down the length of the Amazon river in aid of Sport Relief, one of the toughest physical challenges ever. She picked up two world records on the way - ‘longest solo journey by kayak’ and the ‘longest distance in a kayak in 24 hours by a woman’. Helen was interviewed on Woman's Hour yesterday, which you can hear again here. And her adventure will be shown on Blue Peter next week, on 16th and 17th March. I was talking to some youth work students last week about gender, and we were discussing whether it was appropriate to ask girls to move tables at the end of the youth club or whether you should always get the boys to do it. I wonder what Helen would say?!

Hidden herstories

Hidden herstories is a documentary created by young people in London that tells the stories of four influential women who were mavericks in their time: Octavia Hill who co-founded the National Trust and was a key player in the development of social housing in her time; Amy Ashwood Garvey the activist for African rights; Claudia Jones, the 'mother of the Notting Hill Carnival' and the founder of the West Indian Gazette, and Jayaben Desai who was a key figure in the strike at the Grunwick factory in 1976. They've also created a magazine that you can download. I always find it fascinating to hear the stories of women who have agitated for change. The documentary is being screened a number of times across London in the next few weeks - details on the website. There's a screening on Saturday 6 March at LSE, with a free lunch if you fancy seeing it this weekend.

Reflection: say thank you and well done!

When Mary heard that she was to be the mother of God's son, she said, effectively, 'bring it on!' But I wonder how she felt when the news sank in, and the implications hit home? Luke tells us that she went to stay with Elizabeth her relative who was also unexpectedly pregnant. (Luke 1:39-45) Elizabeth greets her with joy and excitement, and affirms what has happened to her, melting any doubts that Mary might have had about what was going to happen. This picture by Corby Eisbacher imagines the moment well.

Who has been an Elizabeth to you? An older woman who has listened to your worries, allayed your fears, believed in you when you doubted yourself?

And who can you be an Elizabeth to? Who can you support and encourage? Who can you open doors for? Who needs your friendship at a difficult time in her life?

8 March is International Women's Day, a day to celebrate the achievements of women past, present and future. Why not make a point on that day of saying thank you to someone who has been an Elizabeth to you and making sure she knows how important she has been in your life. And then send words of encouragement to a younger woman who will value your support.  If you want to celebrate them more widely, leave their names in the comments below!

The stained glass ceiling

The March edition of Christianity magazine has an article by Michele Guinness called The Stained Glass Ceiling which is well worth a read. She explores how, even though there has been progress for women in leadership within the church, many women are still struggling to fulfil their calling. She begins:

'Three summers ago, a talk at Soul Survivor ended with hundreds of women coming forward, many of them weeping. They were responding to an invitation from director Mike Pilavachi to come forward if they felt they had been denied leadership or felt stuck and disempowered simply for being a woman. To the men watching, Pilavachi said, ‘You may be wondering what’s going on, but remember, you have no idea what these women have been through.’

The following morning, the mood at the leaders meeting was sombre. Maggie Ellis, now a Christianity columnist, summed it up. ‘I thought we’d come a lot further than that,’ she said.'

You can read a few more paragraphs here for the next few weeks, but to enjoy it in full you'll need to buy a copy of the magazine, or borrow one from someone at church!

A playwright making history

Nell Leyshon may be feeling the hand of history on her shoulders as she sits down to finish her next play. She is the first female playwright ever to be commissioned to write a play for the Globe since it opened in 1599. The play is entitled Bedlam and is 'an 18th-century ­costume drama set in a ­fictionalised version of the notorious lunatic ­asylum'.

To be fair, Nell's lack of predecessors is not that surprising. The Globe was only open for 14 years before it burned down and at that time it was illegal for a woman to act on a stage, never mind write a play. The Globe was reopened in 1992 with the intention of showcasing Shakespeare's plays so not that many other playwrights get a look in, regardless of gender.

But let's give her a moment of glory. Arguably, the world of theatre is is still largely male. Only 23% of ­directors are female, ­and fewer than a fifth of playwrights getting work staged are women. According to this report, Leyshon believes that Western theatre hasn't moved on as much as it should. "When I started writing for theatre, people would say, 'She's a woman writer,' and I didn't ­understand that. You'd never say, 'She's a woman novelist' or, 'She's a woman journalist.' But in theatre, you do."

Sail away from the safe harbour

Sixteen-year-old Jessica Watson left Sydney on Sunday morning in a bid to become the youngest person ever to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world. She hopes to complete the 22-23,000 nautical miles in 240 days. You can find more details on her website and follow her blog here. Some people have questioned whether she'll be able to cope with the pressure and the time spent on her own at such a young age, but she seems pretty determined. 17-year-old Mike Perham became the youngest person to sail round the world earlier this year and he was 16 when he set off. I liked this quote from Mark Twain on her site:

“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed
by the things you did not do than by the things you did do.
So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour.
Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

That seems a good place to start if you talk about Jess's exploits with young people. Few would want to copy exactly what she's doing, but talking about dreams and the seduction of safety can help young people articulate for themselves what's on their hearts and encourage them to step into new things, recognising that it may take as much courage for them to start a new course at college as it did for Jess to set off round the world on her own.

Heather Watson is another young woman setting off on a sporting adventure as she starts her professional tennis career at the age of 17. Heather, the US Open Junior champion, moved to America to be coached in Florida when she was 12, leaving her family behind in Guernsey. An interview with her in the Guardian shows how close she came to giving up recently and going to college instead. But she and 15-year-old Laura Robson, the reigning Wimbledon girls' champion, are predicted to change the face of British women's tennis in the next few years. Knowing how much pressure we put on our tennis players, I hope they're up to the challenge.

Manchester needs Women like you

Manchester-based artist Charlotte Newson is creating a portrait of Emmeline Pankhurst, Manchester's famous suffragette daughter, to celebrate International Women's Day next year. Manchester residents are invited to submit photos of women who have inspired them, and these will then be scanned and used to create the portrait. Charlotte Newson says about the project: "We want photographs of women that you feel have made an impact on your life.  It really could be anyone - your mother, grandmother, friend, teacher, historical figure or even a contemporary personality.  We would like them all."

The portrait will be part of an exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery from 6 March to 9 May 2010. Photos can be submitted at special boxes at the Pankhurst Centre, 60-62 Nelson Street M13 and at Manchester Art Gallery and Manchester Central Library between 1 November and 1 December 2009. More details from Manchester City Council.

HT: Ben Edson

Medals and championships

Kate Nesbitt is the first woman in the Royal Navy to be awarded the military cross, and only the second woman in the armed forces. She tended wounded colleagues while they were under attack from the Taleban in Afghanistan in March this year, which the MOD said made the difference between life and death. According to the BBC, Kate who is 21 said "I can't believe I am worthy of anything like this and I can't believe anyone would go out of their way to thank you in a more formal way. It was so overwhelming just to have a pat on the back really so this is just completely out of this world.' She will be awarded the medal later this year.

Heather Watson has won the US Open Junior tennis title, the first British girl ever to do so. Heather, aged 17, is originally from Guernsey, and has been training at the Nick Bollettieri academy in Florida since she was 12. Her days include tennis from 6.45am until 11am, schoolwork from 12.45pm to 4.30pm and more tennis and homework in the evening. Andy Murray won the US Open boys' title five years ago, so expect lots of comparisons! She and Laura Robson, who won the 2008 Wimbledon juniors title, are tipped to be future stars of British women's tennis, but I hope they have wise people who can protect them from unrealistic expectations and hype. 

And still on tennis, Kim Clijsters won the US Open title at the weekend, two years after she gave up competitive tennis to start a family, becoming the first mother to win a grand slam title in almost three decades. Most top women athletes don't have children but Clijsters joins Paula Radcliffe who won the New York marathon nine months after giving birth to Isla and Catriona Matthew who won the British Women's Open golf tournament just 11 weeks after giving birth to her second daughter. That's not to say that all new mums should rush back to what they did before they had children - heaven knows we don't need that pressure - but it's great to have examples of women who combine parenting with what they're passionate about.

Women tackling climate change

One of the highlights of Greenbelt for me was listening to Tamsin Omond talk about how just before she started her job as a parish administrator she was given a book on research into climate change at the Heathrow Climate Camp that changed her life.  Weeks later, she had been arrested for locking closed the gates of Biggin Hill airport to protest about flights into the city of London, a short drive away, and joined the campaigning group Plane Stupid. She has since launched Climate Rush, a direct action group modelled on the actions of the Suffragettes. Their first event was a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Suffragette Rush. Over 1000 women, men and children, dressed as Suffragettes and wearing red sashes emblazoned with 'Climate Code Red', rushed The House of Commons and forced them to lock all their doors. The MPs inside were not allowed to leave and instead sat listening to the chant of 'Deeds not Words' echoing through their chamber. This month they are 'on the run' visiting key locations in the south-west to highlight the potential solutions that are available for climate change. They are visiting Sipson - the village due to be razed if the third runway at Heathrow goes ahead, Bristol - the first cycling city, Totnes - the pioneer transition town and Taunton where regeneration of the town is planned to be carbon neutral. Whether you agree with direct action that challenges the law or not, I think it's inspiring to see someone act on her convictions and provide strong leadership.

 Another woman at the forefront of climate change activism and information is Franny Armstrong, the director of the film The Age of Stupid which imagines a man living alone in the devastated future world of 2055, looking at old footage from 2008 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance? Franny has made a number of films with very little financial backing that highlight issues of injustice. She worked on the Age of Stupid from 2004, facing innumerable challenges: 'It was non-stop challenges every day, for three and a half years. How to raise 450 thousand pounds, how not to get kidnapped in Nigeria, how to switch the new camera on, how to minimise our carbon footprint, how to write drama, how to contact Pete Postlethwaite, how to encode OMFIs, how to rock-climb, how to pay for 17 animators. But there's nothing like continual challenges, towards a worthwhile goal, surrounded by inspiring people, to really feel alive.' In an interview with her on the film website she says about her decision to make the film, 'Either we seriously tackle climate change or we wipe out most life on Earth. So it's not a tricky decision, as a filmmaker, to decide which subject to work on. I find it hard to understand how anyone who grasps the problem can work on anything else.'

Lubna Hussein fined for wearing trousers

Lubna Hussein has been convicted by a court in Sudan for indecency after wearing trousers in public. As reported earlier, she was arrested on 3 July along with a dozen other women who were all wearing trousers at a restaurant. She resigned her job with the UN in order to fight the charge and highlight the arbitrary nature of the indecency law. The judge ruled that she shouldn't face the punishment of 40 lashes that had been expected, perhaps because of the international attention the case has gathered. Lubna has said she will not pay the fine and is prepared to face a month in prison instead. Amnesty says that the decision to fine Lubna is 'disgraceful and has revealed that in spite of international outrage and attention, authorities in Sudan will continue to approve laws which so flagrantly discriminate against women.' According to the Independent, one of her supporters said, 'Lubna has given us a chance. She is very brave. Thousands of girls have been beaten since the 1990s, but Lubna is the first one not to keep silent.'

Lubna Hussein

Lubna Hussein is currently on trial in Khartoum for wearing trousers in public. She was arrested on 3 July along with a dozen other women who were all wearing trousers at a restaurant. Ten of the women accepted the punishment of 10 lashes, but Hussein and two others decided to take things further. Hussein has now resigned from her job with the UN which would have granted her immunity in order to try and prove her innocence. She says that Sudan's decency laws are not consistent with the teachings of Islam, and sent out printed invitations to her trial in order to publicise what's going on. According to this report, there's no criteria within the law as to what is considered indecent or not; it's down to individual police officers to make a call. Supporters at her trial were beaten and had tear gas fired at them. Respect to Lubna for standing up to oppression and being willing to take her punishment. I hope the Sudanese government cave in to the pressure of the world's eyes on them and move towards freedom and equality for both men and women.

Interview with Vicky Beeching

Vicky Beeching is best known for writing songs of deep resonance – ‘Yesterday Today and Forever’ and ‘Breath of God’ – songs which move the soul with their fusion of theology, engaging choruses and thoughtful melodies.  She regularly leads worship at Spring Harvest.  Later this year she’ll be leading worship at Hope for Justice’s training day and at Youthwork the conference in Eastbourne. Vicky shares her journey – her songs and life on the road – at www.vickybeeching.com

Vicky, tell us about yourself – where do you live and what do you do?
I'm originally from Canterbury in the UK, but I now live in San Diego California. I've been involved in worship ministry since I was old enough to shake a tambourine at the age of three! I first led songs for a congregation when I was about 12, and from my early teens knew that was what I wanted to do with my life - help people connect with God through music and lyrics. Now I lead worship across the States and Europe, record albums of worship songs and also speak and teach. I love it!
 
What’s your advice to young women who want to become worship leaders?
My advice would be - go for it! You can do it!  Sadly there were few women leading worship when I was growing up. My Mum led the songs in our local church, so thankfully I had a role model to watch. But many young girls say to me after I play "I've only seen guys leading worship on platforms until I saw you. I feel called to worship leading, but until now I felt a bit disqualified. Now I've seen you up there, I know God can use me to lead worship someday too!" That really motivates me to keep going, and show the younger girls they can step into this calling.
 
A survey in the UK said that men want to sing proper ‘macho songs’ in church and don’t like touchy feely worship songs, and yet most worship leaders and song writers are male. What’s going on there? Is this true in your experience?
Maybe it’s because the male songwriters writing the more emotional songs are artists and creative types who are more in touch with their feelings and more used to expressing them publicly and musically? Overall, I don't think that it's really about church or God. I think many men (and women) find it hard to express emotion in any public setting if they aren't used to it. And public corporate singing is an unfamiliar practice to many.  So I think it has more to do with that, than the type of songs we sing in worship. When I lead some congregations I can tell they are struggling to express themselves...so I'll use less intimate songs and take the pressure off them rather than push them where they aren't wanting to go.

Review: Woman: the full story - a dynamic celebration of freedoms by Michele Guinness, Zondervan

Last autumn, I was sipping a caramel latte opposite a woman I hugely admire and respect. A few years my senior, she was sharing her insights and lessons learned the hard way in the art of marriage, ministry and God’s design for women. As time ran away and we grabbed our bags to leave, she scribbled a title on the back of a receipt and said ‘Whatever you do – read this’.

And so it was that I came across Michele Guinness’ metaphorical box of delights. In fact, reading Woman: The Full Story feels like a extended coffee time with a friend. Guinness, author of the bestseller Child of the Covenant (the telling of her conversion from Judaism), has an easy style, combining a rich blend of good humour and personal experience with biblical and sociological insights. It is an extremely readable, personal and passionate exploration of womanhood.

The book starts at the very beginning, in Genesis, but in the 25 pages of the first chapter we visit Augustine, Afghanistan, oppression and redemption among many other topics. In a scholarly tour de force Guinness tackles all the common issues around women, their history, role and place in the Church. The pace is such that the reader could be swept into unquestioningly accepting every one of Guinness's assumptions, but with that in mind, this busyness of style makes the book entertaining; the illustrations are memorable and the applications moving. Her central motive is the reclaiming of the nobility of women and from this point Guinness pursues her thesis into a vast array of topics, from Old Testament character sketches, to her own birth stories (male readers could skip these), the role of women in the church to her daughter's body image.

Christianity21

Christianity21 is an interesting event taking place in Minneapolis in October. The website has this description:

'We live in a time of epochal change. Many find this change exciting; for others, it’s a challenge. Call it globalization, pluralization, or postmodernism, this change affects our economy, politics, government, and education—all of society. And, of course, our faith and our churches are not immune to change.

So we have gathered 21 of the most important voices for the future of Christianity—21 voices for the 21st century—to speak into our future as people of faith in this age. They represent a diverse array of backgrounds, interests, and passions, and they will provide a wide range of innovative and challenging presentations.'

The nice thing is that the 21 voices are all women's. Tony Jones, one of the organisers says on his blog: 'That's not a gimmick, nor is it an affirmative action decision. Instead, it's our attempt to catalyze a chemistry at an event that's never been achieved before. It's an attempt to do something different. (If you're a guy (or a woman) who feels uncomfortable about that, probably all the more reason that you should be there!) ... We also thought it's high time that speaker/authors like me, Doug, Joe Myers, Shane Claiborne, Peter Rollins and others should be sitting behind the registration table, handing out nametags. And that's just where you'll find us.'

Interesting that they feel they have to namedrop a few guys who will be there, but how refreshing that they're taking risks and that they've given the platform away. I think some of the best speakers I've heard at Christian events have been people who I hadn't come across before, and maybe didn't agree with 100 per cent, but who spoke from the heart, made me think and gave me plenty to talk about over a drink afterwards. I know it's tempting to go for the safe names who always deliver, but there can be something rather dull and predictable about that. Could this kind of conference happen here in the UK? I don't think so at the moment. But I do think we need something radical like this to shake up our ideas of what it means to be a 'good' speaker and who is worth going to listen to.

Breaking new ground - in poetry, cricket and the Royal Chelsea hospital

This week marks the 30th anniversary of Margaret Thatcher becoming Prime Minister in 1979, still the only woman to have held that post and to have been leader of the Conservative Party. She's often criticised for being too 'masculine' in her leadership style and for not being a good role model for women, but at the very least she showed that a woman can lead a country and raised aspirations for a generation of young women who grew up with her in that role.

This week has also seen the first female poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, appointed not because of her gender but because of her talent and skill, which is the way it should be. In an interview she said, 'I feel a mixture of humility and delight in becoming the new poet laureate. The humility comes from my awareness of the great talent of my peers, but the delight comes from accepting this honour as the first woman to do so.'

Last month, Claire Taylor was named one of Wisden's five cricketers of the year, the first woman to feature in the 120-year-old tradition, in recognition of her role in retaining the ashes and in the World Cup. According to this report,  'Wisden said it had never set any parameters of gender or nationality for the five cricketers, and there was "no element of political correctness" about her selection."The best cricketers in the country are recognized, and Taylor has been chosen on merit, for being pre-eminent in her form of the game," said a spokesman', although the fact they felt they needed to explain that says a lot!

And then in March, two women became the first female Chelsea pensioners reflecting the growing number of women who have joined the army since the 1950s. Winifred Phillips, 82, served in the army for 22 years and first asked why women couldn't be Chelsea pensioners a decade ago. Her verdict on joining the ranks of the Chelsea pensioners was, "It's been fabulous. It's just like the Army all over again but you don't have so much to do."

UPDATE: Kirsty Moore has become the first female pilot for the Red Arrows and will join the team in September.

Helen Alexander has been named as the first female President of the CBI business lobbying group. Her appointment will be ratified at vote in June. 

The first women have been elected to the Kuwait parliament, after they were given the right to run for office and vote in 2005. Four women won seats ending 50 years of their parliament being the sole preserve of men.

Bethany Hamilton

Bethany Hamilton was brought up in Hawaii, in a Christian surfing family. Bethany made a commitment to Christ aged five, and she entered her first major surfing competition at the age of eight. By the age of 13, she was a talented surfer, well-respected in the amateur surfing world. Then in October 2003, she was attacked by a 14-foot tiger shark while surfing with friends. The shark took a huge chunk out of her board and severed her left arm. Her friends managed to get her back to shore where an emergency crew saved her life after she lost nearly 60% of her blood.

Determined not to give up, Bethany tried surfing again just one month after the attack and returned to surfing competitively just two months after that. Officials offered to give her concessions, but she wanted to compete at the same level as everyone else; she came fifth in the Open Women's division. Since then she has continued to pursue her dream of becoming a world champion surfer. You can read more about Bethany on her website, and also find details of her book and the film that is being made of her life. (HT: Martin Saunders in Youthwork magazine.)

The 'inspiring women' category on this blog tries to address the need that is often expressed for positive female role models for both youth workers and young people. None of the women featured are perfect; none of them will prove inspiring to everyone, but I hope it will go some small way to increasing the visibility of women of faith, initiative, leadership or action - and sometimes all four characteristics in one! The women we have interviewed for this site also fall into the category of inspiring women so have a look at them too. Maybe you could sit down with some friends and come up with a list of the women who inspire you. This is the list that Sanctus1 came up with. Add your suggestions to the comments.

Jo Dolby in Faithworks magazine

Jo Dolby was the first person we interviewed for the Sophia Network back in November 2007 as one of our first members, and Faithworks magazine have just caught up! There's a great feature on Jo's work with skaters in Bath on the Faithworks website.

Chance to change

How far would you go to pursue a project you believe in? According to this article, Emma Morris sold her house and used her savings to set up a course called Chance 2 change that works with young people in the criminal justice system, aiming to reduce antisocial behaviour and reoffending rates through cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). Chance 2 change is an eight-week course that runs for two hours a week with up to eight 14 to 16 year olds. Emma says: 'The course aims to help them see that in order to function in our society we need to learn to take the role of another. We also need to learn that things need to be earned, so we set goals, you need to meet these goals to earn things. There is no instant gratification.'

Women of distinction

I tend to buy my stamps in books of 12 first class - convenient but boring as they are always the same. I'd almost forgotten that the Royal Mail still does stamps with pictures on. Their special stamp issue on 14 October features women of distinction. According to the Royal Mail, 'Each of these women took on the establishment and won. Some, such as Marie Stopes who took the lead on family planning and Barbara Castle, who championed equal pay for women, are household names. Others are less familiar, but equally worthy of inclusion: Eleanor Rathbone, who fought to pay the family allowance to women, Civil Rights activist Claudia Jones, who worked tirelessly to wipe out discrimination, Millicent Garrett Fawcett, an early campaigner for votes for women and Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, the first female doctor.' I might just have to brave the queues at the post office to buy some when they're out.

Who does she think she is?

'Everyone expects women to choose - between raising children, partner, family, care-giving, community, responsibility on the one hand, and career, painting, writing, changing the world, finding your voice on the other. But what if you didn't?'

That's the introduction to the documentary 'Who does she think she is?' by Pamela Boll which explores the lives of five women who have combined creating art with being a mother. The film came from Boll's own experience of having children. She says, 'On becoming a mother, the buried part of myself - the emotional and creative, the curious - roared back to life. I wrote, then began painting again. Mothering had returned me to my creative, expressive self. Over the next 20 years I painted and wrote, but always in the spaces left over after my family's needs. If I did the work it was with guilt. At the studio I felt I should have been reading to the children. At home with the boys I often felt bored by the routine of feeding, cleaning, comforting and caring.' She then heard about an artist Maye Torres who had managed to create art while being a mother and she wondered if other women had done the same.

I wonder if this has any resonance for those of you who have children and are working. Your 'art' may be empowering young people and communicating the love of Christ rather than creating with paint or words, but do you feel that tension? How do you combine the two? The link above takes you to a trailer for the film. I don't know if or when it will be released in the UK, but look out for it.

(HT: Jen Lemen)