Comments on: Woman’s Hour http://thumbsforhire.co.uk/outofthearchives/?p=156 The Women's Library Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:52:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Gail Cameron http://thumbsforhire.co.uk/outofthearchives/?p=156&cpage=1#comment-42 Gail Cameron Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:44:11 +0000 http://thumbsforhire.co.uk/outofthearchives/?p=156#comment-42 Hi Gill Thanks for your comment and I'm pleased that the Woman's Hour piece was a trigger for you to think about stories connected with your own objects. Also many thanks for the offer of your childhood slippers; we'll contact you directly to discuss their possible donation to the Library. Best wishes Gail Cameron Curator The Women's Library Hi Gill

Thanks for your comment and I’m pleased that the Woman’s Hour piece was a trigger for you to think about stories connected with your own objects.

Also many thanks for the offer of your childhood slippers; we’ll contact you directly to discuss their possible donation to the Library.

Best wishes

Gail Cameron
Curator
The Women’s Library

]]> By: Gill Cawley http://thumbsforhire.co.uk/outofthearchives/?p=156&cpage=1#comment-20 Gill Cawley Tue, 18 May 2010 21:59:34 +0000 http://thumbsforhire.co.uk/outofthearchives/?p=156#comment-20 I heard the Women's Hour piece, and found myself wanting to donate a small item to the Library. It is a pair of slippers and the story of how I acquired them mark my epiphany as a feminist and my passion for justice. They do not represent any significant political or historical movement, just unimportant people - the woman who wore them, the schoolgirl and the teacher - deeply affected by the customs and beliefs of their times. The story is this: When I was nine, in 1957, I came top in the class exam at my primary school. The teacher told us that a missionary had visited the school in the 1930s and given some items of interest from China. These had been in a cupboard for a long time, so she had decided to give them to the three children who had done best in the exams. The best item was a beautiful model boat. I knew that as I had come top, I would get first choice, and I wanted that boat. But the teacher called out the boy who had come second, and of course he chose the boat. I protested, but she told me that he got first choice because he was a boy. I got second choice. The next best item was this pair of embroidered silk slippers which had been worn by a woman with bound feet. At the time I was only aware of the injustice that being the best wasn’t good enough if you were a girl. The irony only struck me later. I have never forgotten the lesson. May I send you the slippers, or are they not the sort of thing you could house? If not, do you know of another institution who would appreciate them and their story? regards, Gill Cawley. I heard the Women’s Hour piece, and found myself wanting to donate a small item to the Library. It is a pair of slippers and the story of how I acquired them mark my epiphany as a feminist and my passion for justice. They do not represent any significant political or historical movement, just unimportant people – the woman who wore them, the schoolgirl and the teacher – deeply affected by the customs and beliefs of their times.

The story is this:

When I was nine, in 1957, I came top in the class exam at my primary school. The teacher told us that a missionary had visited the school in the 1930s and given some items of interest from China. These had been in a cupboard for a long time, so she had decided to give them to the three children who had done best in the exams.

The best item was a beautiful model boat. I knew that as I had come top, I would get first choice, and I wanted that boat. But the teacher called out the boy who had come second, and of course he chose the boat. I protested, but she told me that he got first choice because he was a boy.

I got second choice. The next best item was this pair of embroidered silk slippers which had been worn by a woman with bound feet.

At the time I was only aware of the injustice that being the best wasn’t good enough if you were a girl. The irony only struck me later. I have never forgotten the lesson.

May I send you the slippers, or are they not the sort of thing you could house? If not, do you know of another institution who would appreciate them and their story?

regards, Gill Cawley.

]]>