(Taken from a Chapel assembly given by Deputy Head, Mrs Diana Harrison, to the girls) You may be surprised to learn that I am a bit of a Lady Gaga fan. No, I am not going to burst into a tuneless rendition of Bad Romance or any other of her songs but I am going to do something I never thought I would: start a Chapel with a quote from her:
“Fight and push harder for what you believe in, you’d be surprised, you are much stronger than you think.”
And she is right. Everyone should stand up for what they believe in but it is not easy.
Recently I re-read a book about the five Mitford Sisters. For those of you who are not aware of this remarkable group of women – go and find out about them! In summary, one left her husband (a huge scandal in the 1930s) to marry the leader of the British Fascist movement, one eloped to Spain to fight in the Civil War and became a communist, one was a famous author, one was a friend of Hitler and one became the Duchess of Devonshire. Not a homogenous family by any means but they certainly knew what they believed in and had the courage of their convictions.
So what do you believe strongly in? What are the values you hold so sacred that you would be prepared to stand up and be counted for them?
Unsurprisingly as someone who has worked in a very male dominated environment, some of the values I strongly believe in are: a woman’s right to an education, to vote and to be treated equally.
We all know that there are countries in the world where an education is not easy for girls. It is right and proper that we stand in solidarity with them. I have very vivid memories of getting up at 5.30am on a dark October morning with my entire boarding House to walk two hours to the school I then worked in. We did this to mimic what girls all over the world do each day to get to school. The sun coming up over the Berkshire countryside was actually quite a pleasant experience but I’m sure that doing it every morning in all kinds of weathers would make the novelty soon wear off. Incidentally the Fourth Form will do something similar in a couple of weeks’ time as part of the World Wide Walk to draw attention to girls’ education. Do feel free to join them.
Here at St Mary’s we take the great education on offer for granted. You may think it is tedious to put on a jacket for Chapel, tuck your shirt in or put your hair up but the effort required to do that just does not register on the two hour walk scale. Those girls really hunger for an education and are willing to risk being shot at in order to get it.
At least women have got the vote now and yes, in all but two countries (Saudi Arabia and the Vatican), women have the vote all over the world. It is not that long ago though, that things were different even in Europe. If I had been born in Switzerland just a few months earlier than I was, I would have been born in a country where I could not vote in the national elections. Why did it take so much longer for Switzerland to give women the vote?
There will be a school of thought that will spot that Switzerland was neutral during both World Wars so the women did not take over the men’s jobs in the same way. However, women got the vote in England before France so probably it was because of our very active suffragette movement rather than any wartime work as that was also done by women in France. Thank you Emily Pankhurst and co.
Equality in the work place is more subjective and it is not something that only affects women but everyone. In the 90s it was quite usual in one organisation I worked in that women were known as TFs (token females) or alternatively we were called ‘lumpy jumpers’. This is why I don’t think positive discrimination is the answer: either you get the job on your own merits or you don’t. Don’t be fooled, though – this mentality can still occur. Neither is it all one way, I know of situations in previous schools where boys have felt very uncomfortable in groups that are predominantly female because of the behaviour of the group. We all have a duty to stop prejudice and discrimination against everyone.
Hopefully you have managed during the last few minutes to think of something that is important to you, if not come on – there must be something! So what next, what can you do to change things.
Here at school there are ways to voice your opinion:
• Make suggestions in House
• Join the School Council or Catering Committee
• Drop in to see Dr Kirk or me and tell us what you think. We do listen and consider alternatives, even when we do not agree with you!
You cannot complain if you have not tried to change things.
If there is a cause you believe in:
• Take a Chapel to let the school know about it
• Start up a group of like-minded girls in school e.g. an Amnesty International group
• Think about potential Gap Year plans. Are you going to help in a third world country or are you planning to party your way around the world?
When you are older: go and vote. There is a general election in May – if you are over 18 you must vote. Even if you put a cross against every candidate to spoil your vote, remember that women died so you had the right to choose your government. Use your vote: it is a privilege that was earnt for you by others. In the more immediate future, later this term, you will have a chance to have your say in the Head Girl’s Team – use your vote wisely.
On a day-to-day basis, do you let people do and say things that you know are wrong? Do you stand by and let people be ignored or gossiped about? What are your values that you are willing to defend? What would you risk being unpopular for?
I would like to close with a poem by Friedrich Niemöller who lived in Germany during the Second World War. You may have heard it before; it is about standing up for what is right.
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn’t a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.