Evening all,
Sorry I'm only just writing to you all this evening. I've had a bad case of writers block! I still do if I'm honest but I couldn't let you go a whole week without an update so here I am!
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| The suffragists protest for their rights in October 1916 |
I thought I would start with a few things I've heard in the news over the past week. This week marked 100 years since women first got the vote. This historical event is obviously an amazing one and I'm so glad that women got the vote and still have the vote now. Some will argue there is still a way to go for equality but 100 years ago marked the start of some kind of equality and I'm grateful for that. However, what I don't quite agree with (and yes, you may hate me for this) is why people want all the suffragette's prison sentences pardoned. I'm not disputing that the issue of gender equality back in the early 20th Century was a very emotionally charged one and the journey for equality was tough, but what most media won't shed light on is the violence it took to get to that right to vote. Arson, inciting violence and vandalising communities is not the way to go about getting anything you want, let alone when you want to try and persuade government officials that you deserve the right to vote. "Oh yes, you vandalised that building over there, well of course you can vote!" I can't help but think we would see this kind of action differently now. What media will also side-step is the work of the suffragists. I certainly don't remember ever learning about anyone else but the suffragette's in my education. The suffragists were in fact the first to spark a campaign movement towards women's right to vote- and they did it in a non-violent and civilised way. It was then a member of this movement- Emily Pankhurst- who splintered off and got the suffragettes movement off the ground and tapping into women's increasing frustrations and using this as a driving force for their movement. In fact in 1913, the suffragists marched in London to show that suffragettes did not represent them, despite later mentioning Emily's bravery in her fight for the suffrage cause when she threw herself in front of the King's horse. The two movements running side by side, if not adopting completely different attitudes, were often mixed up and history would later argue between which movement ultimately "won" women the right to vote. The first World War did help the suffrage cause somewhat in the way that it showed just how much the women did contribute to society during those times of hardship and could arguably be the start of the change of attitude towards women's right to vote. I believe that the suffragists deserve a lot more recognition for the roles they played. They wanted change just as passionately as the suffragettes did, but they went after that goal in a respectful way and even today, peaceful protests are the best way to get across your point of view. Violence never solves anything and it shows yourself and your cause in a bad light.
Next up, that fateful decision from June 2016. Yes, Brexit. I won't bore you with all the politics as we hear enough of it already but what frustrates me (apart from Brexiting in the first place) is that people are still clinging onto the hope of getting a "good deal". I'll put this simply. We won't get a good deal. Why? Because otherwise every other country would follow suit- something the EU do not want. In fact, we are going to be utterly humiliated. Basically, our end 'deal' will be the EU saying "Look at these fucking idiots, they left the EU and they're now up shit creek with no canoe! Don't follow suit!" To think it's going to go any other way is naive. Yes, there are other options like America which may offer us something more than nothing, but this is Donald Trump dealings we'll be delving into. Everyone knows what a prized prat that man is. He doesn't believe climate change is real- something that is ever present in the world now. All he's good at is pissing people off and being on Twitter all day. You can train a monkey to do that- any old monkey.
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| Plastic pollution is now an ever growing threat to the wildlife of the world |
As for the climate, more sad news about the state of the environment and the animal kingdom has come to light- and sadly it's no surprise. More plastics are getting into our oceans and ruining the live and habitats of some of the worlds most loved creatures. An image has emerged recently of a polar bear tangled in a discarded fishing net. While in this photo, plastics are involved, a quick Google will bring up harrowing images where plastics are certainly to blame for the predicaments the animals are in. In a Country file episode I watched this morning, they did a feature on plastics and waste polluting the oceans and harbours around the country and it was horrible to see how bad the situation is. Most of us saw Blue Planet 2 and were shocked by David Attenborough's words of warning about the environment so I for one hope that with more exposure, more people will listen and start to think about their actions, and more importantly, where their waste ends up. It' not much of an ask to just pick up your rubbish after yourself. You may think "oh, it's just one bottle." But that one bottle, or one crisp packet or plastic bag could cause one animal's worst nightmare to come true. If we want to carry on seeing wildlife and incredible shows like Blue Planet 2, we have to protect wildlife and if that means picking up our waste and putting it in a bin? Well, I for one am up for that.
So, that brings me to the end of the blog tonight. Thanks for reading and baring with the scatty posts recently. I'll be back next week but for now, have a great weekend!
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