FIGHTING TALK May, 1954. a -NATIONAL WOMEN’S CONFER1

By HILDA WATTS

A LTHOUGH women’s rights were fea­ tured at the National Conference of Women held in Johannesburg over the week-end, they did not appear as the over-riding issue of the Conference.

The emphasis was clearly on the strug­ gle for full rights and freedom for all, . and on the role that women can and must play in winning those rights. If the women delegates who attended the Con­ ference are typical of women from their various areas, then it is certain that the force for freedom in South Africa is more powerful than many think.

Delegates numbering more than 150 came from many different areas, in­ cluding many towns in the Cape, as well as Durban, Port Elizabeth, East Lon­ don, Bethal, and Kimberley. They re­ presented approximately 230,000 peo­ ple, and included a representative num­ ber of African, Indian, Coloured and European women.

The Conference was opened by Ray Alexander, who spoke of the important in role that women played in the past, and A delegate from the Eastern Province wearing her national dress,

•HK.> ttlij noiliil'i- .! 11 nit / 11:>i w... AND THE MEN TAKE THEIR PL A MJiO'tllio ">»’} t!;'*. • ' s i ‘)n o li By PAUL JOSEPH. ■rtiniM ■ i!S I:'? '/ ••J WIEL| not easijv' fpj;get Saturday, 18 served two terms of imprisonment dur­ The delegates were trade unionists, Apr^il. 1954. 'It was one' of the most ing the defiance campaign; Mrs. Debi housewives, social workers, nurses, fac­ exc/itlfigfand .inspiring days of the nat- Singh, defier wife of the Natal Indian tory hands and farm workers, women ional liberation movement. Congress secretary; Mrs. Dora Tamane, with a diversity of religious and social the inspiring secretary of the Retreat outlooks, yet all determined to remove (Cape) branch of the African National their social, economic and political dis­ It 'was inspiring for it was then that Congress; and scoies of others with abilities and to make life free and hap- the' Women of different nationalities similar records. came forward to launch the first wo­ py- men’s national organisation to fight for ' ' / . r I • v-f. . . f,* Above the platform was a banner: their rights and the protection of their On the platform was the veteran anti­ “Greetings to the Women of all Lands”; children. It was inspiring because the pass fighter from Durban, Miss Mkize; an on the walls round the Conference founders of the organisation each have hard-working and rousing freedom song hall: “No more war! Let our Children a proud record in our struggle for libe­ leader Miss Ida Mntwana; powerful ora­ Live! Ban the H and A Bombs!” and ration. tor and energetic worker Miss Hilda so forth. -nr.'-- 1 1,: Watts; arid Miss Ray Alexander, one of 1 As I looked round the crowded hall, the most inspiring women of our time, I saw Mrs. Njongwe and her comrades a woman who has reared dozens of The level of debate and discussion in their traditional dress, her entire de­ trade union leaders, and brought hap­ was impressive. The only practised pub­ legation consisting of defiers; veteran piness. to thousands of workers. Ray lic speakers were Ray Alexander and trade unionist Hetty du Preez; Mrs. was indeed the brains and driving force Hilda Watts. The rest of the women Fatima Seedat, a steeled fighter who behind the conference. ' °b made impromptu speeches -i-r but rous- May, 1954. FIGHTING TALK 9

today, for themselves, their children and their families. The Charter forms the ENCE FOR FREEDOM basis for the organisation that was form­ ed, and for the work of the Committee that was elected at the end of the Con­ ference. must play in the present and future of gate spoke with bitterness of the West­ The purpose of the Conference was our country. Ida Mntwana spoke of the ern Areas Removal Scheme, describing position of women in South Africa, and the terrible conditions under which achieved — to advance the role of wo­ a most interesting report on the posi- families lived in the Orlando shelters, men in our fight for freedom. Without . tion of Indian women in South Africa while the Government threatened the the active part of women, — one half was given by Mrs. Fatima Meer, of forcible removal of people from their of the population — that j fight cannot Durban. Mr. D. Nokwe, deputising for homes in Sophiatown. succeed. To organise the women, we Mr. W. Sisulu who was unable to be must also fight against those traditions, present, read a paper on the position of Women from Durban, Cape Town women in China today, and I spoke on and other areas spoke of the conditions customs or habits that relegate women the role of women in the struggle for under which children were brought up to an inferior place in our society and peace. today, the lack of proper family life, prevent them from playing their, part to the lack of amenities and education and the fullest extent. In fighting against Delegates Spoke Up other opportunities, the need for schools, this inferior position of women, we are creches, maternity homes, the high rents The most interesting and inspiring also fighting for freedom for all. and poor houses. But over and over part of the Conference was provided by again delegates emphasised the fight the many delegates who spoke during against unjust laws the Bantu Educa­ the discussion. The subjects covered all the delegates’ accommodation And tion Act, the Industrial Conciliation showed the real political awareness of Amendment Act, the Population Regis­ transport problems while they ‘ in1 the delegates, who linked up the ques­ Johannesburg. ' -1'1 tration Act and the Pass Laws. tion of women’s rights with their own . r: Iu ji .i: . struggles and problems, the Bills now In the early hours of the morning of before Parliament, and the political is­ Resolutions were passed on these Acts, the conference the men folk were' up1 sues of the day. as well as on the issue of peace, Kenya, and about, taking arrivals to their plates and support for the Freedom Congress. of accommodation. At 6 a.m. on the One delegate was loudly applauded Saturday we were at Park Station to, when she said that if it were not for the A Charter of Women’s Rights was meet the Port Elizabeth and Cape Town husbands, many more women would adopted, and this Charter summarises delegates. *jj' i . ° it.) II >11 >1 1 have amended the Conference. This dele­ the demands of women in South Africa A visit to the kitchen showed a hub of activity. You would find John ,Motsa- bi, banned Secretary of the Transvaal African National Congress, ai^Youth kCE IN THE KITCHEN Leaguer Harrison .Mptlana sljpingj ham (and too often slipping ,a mpr^unto their mouths!). Young Faprrjed,Adams was preparing biscuits, and,, munching ing and impressive ones, at that. One some at the same time. Leon, ’Woul • ■ ■ fliiw .11 v/oJ-oMftii -lir.)! .TI/LI 1 t !>;•'■ • •'< i-.J near midnight, fagged out, but hdping- The men Wtfte.-in the’. kitchen -jWC*|»a|s :,r< \ A' /l»r contribution -from the that I, for one, would not be “swept! ing teas and lunch.".Thtfy slfco [tackled,,| }j 111 l |(H|<|II , floor. aside”. ’I GRIN&ff'TS POVERTY & MASSIVE WEALTH - THE CARNEGIE REPORT ... The first Carnegie Commission in the 1920s studied the conditions of poor whites. Its report was the basis of effective state in­ tervention to alleviate the ‘poor white pro­ blem’ — often at the expense of poor blacks. Carnegie II was a very different investigation. Initiated in 1980^MheJJniversity^of Caps, Town, its premise was that black South Africans were the main victims of the widespread poverty and destitution in the country. The second Carnegie enquiry drew in researchers from universities and organisa­ tions around SA. The Carnegie conference at the Universi­ ty of Cape Town in 1984 was attended by some 450 people who presented over 300 papers, describing the dimensions of pover­ ty, analysing its causes and exploring possi­ ble solutions. In addition, several post­ conference studies addressed gaps in the research which participants had identified. The scope of the research, funded largely by the same US-based trust as the first com­ mission, was encyclopaedic. Topics ranged from micro studies of small rural com­ munities to macro-economic analysis; from malnutrition to fuel; from health care systems to trade unions. The data and debates have been brought together in Uprooting Pover­ ty: The South African Challenge published this week. Its authors are UCT’s Professor Francis Wilson, director of the second Carnegie en­ quiry, and Dr Mamphela Ramphele, senior research officer in UCT’s Department of An­ thropology and Paediatrics. The report presents a devastating picture through poison her children. She cannot stand the than twice as many people were murdered in statistics, which, for example, show half of anguish of listening to them cry from hunger. the tiny Cape peninsula as in the UK. SA’s population has a living standard below ‘I feel like feeding them Rattex.’ • Untold thousands ‘ride the blue train’. the subsistence level, while over 80 percent South Africa, write the authors, is a coun­ The ‘blue train’ is meths; the ’white train’ is of Africans in reserves live in dire poverty. try where hunger and malnutrition haunt — I a lethal cocktail of meths and detergent. But, more powerfully, the report paints in or perhaps hunt — the poor. It is a country Citing what they term ‘apartheid’s assault painstaking detail a picture of what it is to be where diseases associated with deprivation — on the poor’, the authors blame government poor in SA, often portrayed through the kwashiorkor, marasmus and marasmic- policies aimed at defending white political voices of the poor themselves ... kwashiorkor take a heavy death toll, especial­ and economic privilege. ‘The superficial calm Weekly Mail 24.1.89 ly among children. of the Casspirs (police armoured cars) and They quote the carefully considered con­ censorship is not a sign of peace as many ... Whites, who constitute less than a sixth clusion of Dr John Hanson, a leading whites in the protected suburbs wish to of the population, earn nearly two-thirds of paediatrician: ‘It can be said that approx-l believe. It is the enforced silence of people the income; blacks, who account for nearly imately a third of black, coloured and Asian under occupation,’ they say. two-thirds of the population, earn a quarter children below the age of 14 years are ‘Renewal of South African society is not ... Nearly two-thirds of the black people live underweight and stunted for their age.’I possible without the defeat of the racist below the minimum living level. The MLL, Malnutrition is usually associated with high ideology which sustains the current ruling fixed in 1985 at R350 a month, is determin­ infant-mortality rates. SA is no exception. 61ite ... Underlying all strategies against ed by the cost of a list of items needed for While there has been a sharp decline in in­ poverty must be a clear recognition of the a household to survive. fant mortality among urban blacks in recent necessity for a fundamental redistribution of Pioneered by the University of SA, it in­ years, it is still high in rural areas and marked­ power. ’ The authors contend that dismantl­ cludes the following items: food, clothing, ly higher than it is in the white community ing apartheid would not be enough to fuel/lighting, washing/cleaning, rent, trans­ Expressed as deaths per 1 000 live births,] eradicate poverty, however, and call for port, tax, medical expenses, education and the infant mortality rate for black people is I radical land reforms and massive state replacement of household equipment. Profes­ between 94 and 124 (incomplete data ac­ assistance. In particular, they suggest slashing sor Wilson and Dr Ramphele quote the find­ counts for what the authors refer to as the defence spending ... ings of Dr Charles Simkins, a University of ‘range of uncertainty’). For whites, Asians The evidence presented by the University Cape Town economist, whose studies of and coloureds the rate is 12,18 and 52. Black of Cape Town academics is compelling in poverty and unemployment have won wide children are eight to 10 times more likely than three specific areas: recognition. According to Dr Simkins, more white children to die before their first birth­ • Hunger and sickness: A third of black, than 80 percent of blacks in the reserves or day. For coloured infants the risk is four times. coloured and Asian children are stunted for homelands live in dire poverty. Within the as great... Star 24.1.89 their age. In two Cape villages, the propor­ reserves or ‘national states’ there is a high tion is 80 per cent. At a conservative estimate, degree of inequality. Jessie could not bear to see her two children up to 27 000 children under five years died In the Lower Roza administration area in suffering. Unable to feed them or pay for their from malnutrition in 1975. Transkei, the income ratio between the richest education she decided to kill herself. She Blacks account for more than 80 per cent 10 percent of households and the poorest is poured a gallon of paraffin over her clothes of known tuberculosis cases, and whites 1 per 15.1 ... Ail the important indicators of pover­ and looked for a match. She did not utter a cent. In Cape Town the notification rate (per ty are present in the black community: large- sound as she walked around the yard burning. 100 000) among young children in 1987 was scale unemployment, widespread hunger and The death of Jessie Tambour, aged 36, in 649 for blacks and five for whites. Gastro­ disease, and high rates of infant mortality ... a black township last June is recorded with enteritis is the biggest killer in the coloured Even in the relatively wealthy cities there academic dispassion in a survey of poverty community (176 per 100 000) and the second is unemployment in the black community: in in SA published last week. It is a catalogue most common cause of death among blacks townships around Grahamstown unemploy­ of appalling misery, documenting an (86 per 100 000). The corresponding figure ment has been estimated to be between 60 and epidemic of hunger and hopelessness far for whites is four. Measles kills nine times 70 percent of the workforce; in Port worse than official statistics indicated. as many black children as white. EITzaBethf s townships it was calculated to Uprooting Poverty, the South African • Housing: Between 1983 and 1985, fluctuate between 45 and 55 percent in the Challenge, by Professor Francis Wilson and 172 000 houses were built for whites, mid-1980s; in Johannesburg it has been Dr Mamphela Ramphele of the University of resulting in a surplus of 37 000. Some 41 000 reckoned to vary from between 20 and 30 per­ Cape Town, draws from hundreds of research were built for blacks and the net deficit top­ cent. Despair settles on people who are papers from the past decade... Amid a welter ped half a million. In Alexandra township, retrenched and cannot find work. It wraps of depressing statistics, several stand out to north of Johannesburg, the population den­ ItielTaround them, suffocating them and illustrate the severity of the crisis and the sity is more than 10 times that of the nearest destroying their self-respect. violence it spawns: white suburb. Professor Wilson and Dr Ramphele speak! • SA has the widest gap between rich and The address of many black workers to individual people and allow them to talk poor of 57 countries for which data is separated from their families is a bed number back. Their words are poignant: ‘My children available ... in a maze of concrete bunks accommodating are not living,’ says one man. ‘It is like these • Two million children are physically 90 men in one room. Sanitation is woefully hands of mine have been cut off. I am deformed for lack of calories in a country that inadequate. In 1985 police fired rubber useless.’ ‘I feel like a dead person’, says exports food ... bullets, birdshot and tear gas to disperse another. A fellow unemployed man echoes • SA has a per capita gross national product residents protesting against the toilet-bucket his statement: ‘It is a death sentence. The more than seven times that of China, but life system in the township. countryside is pushing you into the cities to expectancy is substantially lower (54 years • Fuel and water: One of the clearest im­ survive, the cities are pushing you into the compared with 69). ages of poverty is elderly black women car­ countryside to die.’ • In some black townships there are almost rying huge bundles of firewood on their “^Unemployment brings three difficulties,’ 20 people to each house and 66 to each pit heads, passing underneath high-tension elec­ comments a woman. ‘Sickness, starvation toilet. tricity cables. In the high grasslands of and staying without clothes. ’ The wife of an • The murder rate in Cape Town is nearly KwaZulu, the average distance walked to col­ unemployed man confesses to wanting to three times that of New York. In 1986 more lect one load for cooking, warmth and light is more than five miles. Severe brain damage ‘Our refusal to participate in the pro­ George Mathe, Johannes Maleka. Peter in black children has been traced to the burn­ ceedings stems from our belief that this court Maluleka, Phuti Mokgonyana, Joseph Nkosi, ing of discarded battery casings for fuel. and this judicial system is founded on injustice Thapelo Khotsa. Reginald Legodi and Alfred A black district in the Eastern Transvaal and oppression. We state that such a judicial Kgasi. face a main charge of treason and 28 has one water tap for every 760 people. Most system cannot operate independently from the alternative charges, including four charges of white suburban homes have two or three taps political system within which it functions.’ murder. The state alleges the accused were per inhabitant. Extreme poverty, over­ The statement said that all four men were all members or supporters of the ANC and crowding and a sense of hopelessness con­ held in solitary confinement without access Umkhonto we Sizwe ... Citizen 31.1.89 tribute to alcoholism and violence... to legal representation for eight months. All Times (UK) 2.2.89 were tortured and brutally assaulted. During ANC Three Found Guilty this process information was extracted from The ANC now boasted more representative ; EXECUTIONS, POLITICAL TRIALS them by the security police. They believed offices in foreign capitals than did Pretoria. AND DETENTIONS that this information would be used against Dr Ian Phillips of the Department of Political Workers en masse face the Noose them, the statement said. Science, University of Natal, told the Maritz- | At least six trade unionists are on death row ‘We, as members of Umkhonto we Sizwe, burg Supreme Court. He was giving evidence 1 as a result of violence at three strikes during are involved in a war of national liberation. in mitigation of sentence for three ANC men 1986. They include William Ntombela of the We, as soldiers, cannot and should not stand found guilty of terrorism before Mr Justice Commercial, Catering & Allied Workers’ trial in a civilian court.’ They said that as Booysen. They are Derrick Muthwa. 27. of Union of SA, and Tyelevuyo Mgedezi and trained soldiers and freedom fighters they had Empangeni; Mafi Mgobhozi, 21. ofUmlazi Lucky Nomganga of the National Union of taken up the struggle on behalf of their peo­ and Ntela Skhosana. 23. of Ntabamhlope. Mineworkers ... Three Transport and ple ‘to rid this country of a system which is near Estcourt. Dr Phillips said this growth in General Workers’ Union members are also evil and which degrades and dehumanises the ANC's representative offices to between on death row after the shooting of a driver people on the basis of skin colour.’ They said 40 and 45 was unique in the history of libera­ during the Putco dispute in 1986. T&G is the international community had condemned tion movements, and that for all the recogni­ gathering signatures for a petition. apartheid as a crime against humanity. tion in the international arena, it had shun­ 15 members of the SA Railway and Har­ After their refusal to plead, Mr Justice De ned the status of being the sole representative bour Workers’ Union are currently appear­ Klerk entered a plea of not guilty. The accus­ of the people. Star 27.1.89 ing on charges of murdering four men accus­ ed have refused representation by advocates, ed of breaking the strike. Eight o f the accus­ but attorneys will be present during the trial. ... Ntele Skhosana and Mafi Mgobhozi have ed have pleaded guilty. Judgement is expected Sowetan 2.2.89 each been sentenced to 12 years after being next month. 25 members of the Print, Paper, found responsible for an attack on the Wood and Allied Workers' Union are charg­ Cape Town 14 Charged with Treason Esikhawini police station near Empangeni. ed with the killing of five non-strikers dur­ The 14 accused in the major treason trial start­ AK-47 rifles had been used in the attack. ing the Afcol furniture dispute last year. ing in the Cape Supreme Court on Wednes­ Mgobhozi was also found to have planted South 2.2.89 day represent each sector of SA’s divided anti-personnel mines at the Sanlam Centre society: classifed black, coloured and white, and at the Post Office at Empangeni, and Upington 26: In the Shadow of the Gallows they come from the ranks of the unemployed, another at a speed trap outside Gingindlovu An ex-mayor, a 60-year-old couple, a former the working class and the educated elite. They in 1987. Derrick Muthwa, 27, was jailed for policeman, high school pupils and three sets include Jennifer Schreiner, 32; Tony five years after he was found to have possess­ of brothers. These are just some of the ac­ Yengeni, 34, who is married to co-trialist ed a firearm and an anti-personnel mine. The cused in the Upington 26 trial set to make Lumka Nyamza, 26; Gary Kruser, 28; court found that while Muthwa was not a legal history ... In the wake of the Sharpeville Christopher Giffard, 28; Gertrude Fester, 36; trained terrorist, he was a supporter of the Six controversy comes an even bigger ‘com­ Richmond Nduku, 27; Sitlaboch Mahlale, 38; ANC. Sapa mon purpose’ trial — that of the Upington 26, Mongameli Nkwandla, 31; Mzimkulu BBC Monitoring Report 30.1.89 the largest group ever convicted of murder Lubambo, 36; Alpheus Ndude, 46; Mthethe- in SA legal history ... As SA law stands, any leli Titana, 26; Colleen Lombard and Suraya Bethal Three: Appeal Granted person who is part of a mob that becomes in­ Abass, 36 ... Most of the accused have been Three convicted Bethal treason trialists — tent on murder is equally guilty if the mob in prison since September 1987. They were Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim, Acton Mandla action results in someone being killed, even held incommunicado for six months before Maseko and Simon Dladla — who were if that person did not inflict the fatal blow. the first of several court appearances ... sentenced to a total of 55 years’ jail by the An all-out effort will be launched to save Charged with offences ranging from a spate Pretoria Supreme Court, have been granted them from the gallows. The defence team of Peninsula bomb attacks, propaganda work, leave to appeal against their sentences ... have gathered an array of experts to prove ex­ recruitment activities and courier tasks for the City Press 5.2.89 tenuating circumstances when the trial ANC, the accused have shown high levels of resumes next week. The accused are con­ morale and militancy during their court ap­ Mayekiso Treason Trial victed of murdering municipal policeman pearances with their toyi-toyis and chanting. Moses Mayekiso, the treason accused whose Lucas Sethwala ... The trialists are all from ’ Weekly Mail 3.2.89 trial re-opened yesterday after he was releas­ the township of Paballelo, near Upington. ed on bail in December, had participated in South 2.2.89 Pretoria 12 Face Treason Trial various meetings in an effort to end the unrest The case of 12 alleged ANC members, who in Alexandra township during 1986, the Rand Masina & Comrades: Soldiers of MK were allegedly responsible for the Sterland Supreme Court heard. Giving evidence Mr Four men yesterday refused to plead to bomb blast in Pretoria last year, a similar at­ Ricky Valente, former chairman of the Sand- charges including treason, saying they were tack at a Pretoria city centre restaurant a ton town council, told the court he had soldiers of the ANC’s military wing, month later, and a hand grenade attack on the organised several meetings with former Alex­ Umkhonto we Sizwe, and did not recognise house of a Mamelodi policeman, was refer­ andra mayor, Sam Buti, as well as with the civilian court. They are Jabu Masina, red by the Pretoria regional court for sum­ members of the Alexandra Action Commit­ Frans Masango, Neo Potsane and Joseph mary trial in the Supreme Court. tee. of which Mr Mayekiso was an executive Makhura. The statement read by Masina on The accused, Moeketsi Koka, Godfrey member, following the ‘six-day war’ in the behalf of the accused said: Mokuba, Francis Pitse, Ernest Ramadite, township early in 1986.

7 < II I L I) I I 0 01)

i letter from a bratuUiiew m other to her turn pint father. Jane has a son!

This month we have a *' Letter From Jane,” to her there" when Peter Ian was actually godfather, Professor W. I. C. Morris, F.R.C.S.(Ed-), born. I shall never forget the surge F.R.C.O.G., whose letters of advice and explanation of relief and triumph when the doc­ tor =aid. “A lovely boy for you.” and helped her right through her pregnancy. then thal first indignant yell from the newrest Peter in the family. not be regarded as a firm fixture. /Ae/' Then, while I was having a cup Peter Ian evidently thought other­ of tea when it was all over -— only wise. as my labour started late on He arrived just twelve hours ago. one small stitch you will be pleased the 26th and he was born at ten Yes, it is a boy. Peter pretended that to hear — the doctor told me that minutes past eleven on the night of he did not mind whether we had a Peter weighed 7 lb. 10 oz. and t hat girl or boy. but if you could have the 2.7th. he was “complete and perfect.” seen the proud look on his face when I was so grateful you had insisted Now, of course, I cannot wait for he came to see me for the first time on relaxation exercises, for as sOon you to come and stay with us and see you would have known that a son as I had a "show” and knew this our son. lie really is almost as much was his dearest wish. was really the beginning I was able one of “your babies” as the many I can hardly believe yet that I am to relax and keep calm straightaway. you have brought into the world. a mother. The world seems to have It was a most exciting feeling. like You have given me inestimable help changed completely since he was Christmas morning, especially when and confidence towards a happy born and made us a family of three. we drove in the hired car through pregnancy and childbirth and Peter I never knew such wonderful hap­ the empty streets in the early hours. and I think our best thanks would piness and such a feeling of achieve­ Quite soon after I arrived at the be to show you the bonny result — ment. I feel as if I had climbed hospital the waters broke but, be­ P eter Ian. Everest and could do it again at a cause you had told me it did not moment’s notice! necessarily mean a complication. I Yours in gratitude and affection. I have just fed the baby for the tried not to worry. As it turned out first time and I am afraid I spent it did not seem to make any differ­ most of his meal-time examining his ence at all. From that time, all fingers and toes and eyebrows and through the day. I managed to relax marvelling at their perfection. He well and dozed off between contrac­ has a lot of dark hair and is smooth tions. T had your last letter with me and pink but his only likeness at the and re-read it several times. It gave minute is to a frowning little old me a great feeling of comfort to m an. know just what was going on. Peter Ian is his name. Ian after I think I went into the delivery you. who. through your letters, have room late in the evening and was given me such confidence and know­ given some trilene soon afterwards, ledge while he was on the way thal so my memories of what followed 1 can almost say I really enjoyed his are a little hazy. But I remember birth. Certainly there was discomfort when I had the feeling of bearing and some pain but. as you rightly down, which you told me about, and -aid. never was pain so worth-while. felt so pleased that this meant the All I can recall now is the wonderful beginning of the second stage. And moment of his birth and the deep I remember the doctor sayring. in a sense of peace after it. delighted voice — ‘‘Ah. here’s the If you remember, you calculated head” just when I was feeling a little the date of arrival to be about the exhausted. 27th but warned me that this could I am also delighted that T was “all 22 M £ 1 . 19 5 6 KINDERJARE

FAMILY LIFE BY VERA WAUL A GARDEN IS A LOVESOME THING..

When we bought our house, just after the war, we Later on, when we had become educated to the com­ chose it for the garden more than for the house. All post heap and seed bed, we managed to achieve some­ you could say about the house was that it lacked most thing of a show in some of the beds — but only with of the worst features of the hundreds of other houses that great toil, care, some considerable expense, and by we had seen and rejected, without possessing any out- abandoning anything at all fancy or delicate in the way of-the-ordinary attractions. of flowers. But it was set in half an acre of ground, with a spaci­ We did not lack ambition, even after a few years. J ous stretch of lawn in front, flowerbeds, a drive bordered still remember how we tried to grow Barberton Daisies. with six magnificent jacaranda trees, and a high, thick Having been warned that the seeds were not good in hedge all round. At the back were fruit trees, fig trees, germinating, we bought only the freshest, and planted grape vines, almond trees, and tall trees down the bot­ them in boxes of earth that had been sifted, sterilised and tom. Everything wras in a state of sad neglect and dis­ mixed like, the formula for a baby’s bottle. I can't tell order, but this did not scare me at the time — foolish you the whole long story — only that after a year or two amateur that 1 was. we gave up, and bought some roots, and at the end of a I did not know anything about gardening in Johannes­ considerable period of protection and care, a bud finally burg. I had never heard of cutworm: I thought snails appeared on a stem. Each day 1 watched that bud grow, were rare objects collected by little boys: I thought until the morning came when it was ready to come to centipedes were harmless creatures: 1 knew nothing of full flower. That morning one of our toddlers walked the nocturnal habits of the rose beetle: aphis, thrip . . . past and decapitated my Barberton Daisy. I've never they had never entered my life. tried to grow them again. I did not know that our soil was not only of the Our lawn is ideal for playing cricket, except that daC' poorest, but sadly exhausted into the bargain. I did not to the slope of the ground, the stum; s are always placed knowr that after rain it would set as solid as a piece of against my best flower-bed. If T am watching through concrete, on which you could bend your garden tools the window, the children run round the bed to get the without making much impression; that after years of ball; when 1 am not watching, or when the game gels compost and fertilisers and all sorts of things, many hot, they run through the flower-bed. common annuals would still refuse to thrive in it fancL Not a dog walked up our street (and let me say there why - I do not know to this dayk^-^--— are huge packs of dogs in our neighbourhood I without 1 did not know^thaL jacurafida trees are the messiest relieving himself on the red-hot pokers and agapanthus trees in the world; that they keep their leaves after the next to our gate. And our own dogs developed such a other are bare, then shed these infinitesimal objects one liking for flowers in bloom that they would often make by one: and after the leaves, shed sticks: and after the a bed of flowers their bed. sticks, that large flat seedpods would hurtle on the iron We had many ‘garden boys’ in our time. One of them roof of the house; and after a brief glory of blossom, dug up all the new seedlings I had carefully planted in the blossoms would pile in brown drifts, and the whole planned groups, laid them out in the hot sun. and re­ process would start again. planted them in spaced rows that he measured exactly T did not know that the high, protective hedge would with a piece of string. Another dug up and threw away make it impossible to grow almost anything in the beds it a few hundred bulbs of anemones, ranunculas and freezias surrounded, since the hedge greedily took both sun and that I had planted. moisture from the soil in such quantities that scarcely Finally I have reached a compromise with my garden anything else could grow. and my family. We grow quite good vegetables at the But most of all. I did not know that beautiful gardens back, away from marauding children and animals. And don’t go with children and dogs; that if you have the in the front we are building up more and more of those one, you must sacrifice the other. wonderful perennials that nothing seems to discourage— .411 these things I only learned through years of experi­ shasta daisies, agapanthus, pokers, and others. For the ence. rest, a fewr of the hardiest annuals survive the cricket The first Spring, we blithely and ignorantly planted matches, and in mid-summer give us a pleasant display, masses of seeds directly into our iron-hearted soil, mak­ even if we would not even qualify for “also-ran” in the ing little plans that would show where groups of glorious annual garden competitions. annuals were to grow. I still remember how we cherished But on the windowsill of my kitchen, 1 have a wonder­ the few stunted, isolated and miserable flowers that sur­ ful display of pot-plants. Completely safe from all four­ vived the rigours of the earth. legged and two-legged things, my beautifully-coloured doo, J. B. Marks and others were arrested. As each national leader FREEDOM SONGS was arrested his name was fitted into the song. by THEMBEKILE KA TSHUN UN G W A As the struggle in the liberation movement entered each new phase, Wherever Africans assemble When this song was sung at a new songs sprang up. Each cam­ there is music — road work­ meeting, hundreds of young Afri­ paign developed its own songs. ers wielding their picks and shov­ cans would come forward to vol­ During the boycott of Verwoerd’s els, miners, the men who till the unteer for action. Bantu Schools, many songs emerg­ land, prisoners in the cells, in the There are many other songs ed, e.g. churches and in the grave yards. which were the first introduction “Abazali bam banqand uVelevutha Even under adverse conditions the to Congress for many thousands ayek’ Imfundo. people sing and the musical hum of Africans who warmed to their Xelelan’ uVelevutha brushes away the sorrow. spirit and answered their call. Aseyifun ‘Apartheid.” There is great variety in the Here are a few examples : This is a Cradock “special” com­ music and the rhythm of each song “Thina sizwe esimnyama, posed by a prominent leader of that characterises the occasion. The Sikhalela izwe lethu town who has composed many road-digger singing as he takes his Elathathwa ngabamhlophe other songs, many of which have place in the line, pick poised above Ma bazeke umhlaba wethu.” still to be written down and cir­ head, and then brought down in culated. unison with the row, makes music, “We the black nation shall I say, without pulse or beat, Cry for our country This song says: but each singer keeps perfectly to Tliat was taken by the white men. “Our parents! Stop Verwoerd the tempo with remarkable beauty They must let our country go.” To interfere not with education. of harmony. The number of parts Tell Verwoerd that we do not in such music is not fixed, as each H o! Malan vul’itilongo Want Apartheid.” man comes in with his own con­ H o! Malan vul’itilongo In 1952, in Peddie, Cape, a wo­ tribution, yet, with striking Thina sizongena s’ngama Volun- man volunteer was shot dead by strangeness the part fits in with tiya the police. The Cape A.N.C. org­ exquisite harmony. On the land in Thina sizongena s’ngama Volun- anised all its branches to erect a springtime, during the ploughing tiya.” tombstone at her grave. The Min­ season, the very air is filled with “Hey! Malan, open the jail doors ister of Justice banned the gather­ music as each young man, whip We are to enter, we volunteers.” ing planned to pay tribute to a re­ over one shoulder, sings out praises nowned fighter for freedom. A to his father’s span that draws the Organisers travelling from one song which tells the whole story deep-sinking plough. centre to another and conferences movingly was composed. Most African songs have devel­ held from time to time, have help­ And there are other songs — oped from specific occasions, and ed to spread the songs throughout songs which tell of the Bandung the national Freedom Songs are no the country. The tunes of the Afro-Asian Conference; Seretse exception. Rhythm, gesture, move­ songs are nearly all original, the Kliama; the Battle of Blood River ment, mime, all play their part in composers unfortunately unknown and others. These songs are per­ the characterisation of a particu­ in most cases. But this confirms haps not yet written down. Some lar song. The songs vary from the fact that the Africans are a are known only in restricted areas, area to area, but everywhere the musical people with hundreds and yet through them the history of words are simple and everywhere hundreds of composers, albeit at the whole Congress movement is the singing is in harmony — as the moment living in obscurity. depicted. with all folk songs. Many songs derive their music The year 1952, when the African The collection of this music in from Church hymns. All that the book form would be no mean con­ National Congress embarked on Congress people have done is to the historic Defiance Campaign, tribution to the recording of the substitute new words for the ori­ history of the liberation movement brought with it innumerable songs ginal ones, e.g. of freedom that sprang up like in South Africa. The composer “Sophiatown likhaya lam who puts his music to paper is mushrooms after rain. Some of (Repeat four times). these songs were composed in pri­ making a similar contribution. For son and the defiers sang them as Sophiatown is my home the young generation throughout they came out to rejoin their com­ (Four times). the country yearns and thirsts for rades after serving their sentences. our national freedom songs. They Other words are added from are the people who sing these Among these was the volunteer time to time for the sake of vari­ recruiting song: songs on the streets and thereby ety. This song gave a magnificent popularise them and the Congress “Joyinani madodana impetus to the Western Areas Re­ movement. Our leaders may be Ixesha lifikile. moval Scheme protests. When banned from addressing gather­ Balani madodana sung with feeling this song charg­ ings, but let us sing to the world Ithesaba lethu nini.” ed the very atmosphere with the as did the children of the Israel­ “Join ye youths, opposition of the people to the re­ ites when they sat down on the The time has come, movals. banks of the river of Babylon and Write down your names Another song that is a Church sang in sorrow when they thought Our hope lies on thee.” tune was sung soon after Dr. Da- of Zion. Let the people sing!

Fighting Talk - August, 1957 Page Thirteen Report on the Colombo Conference WORLD PEACE COUNCIL PLEA TO END H-BOMB TESTS by GORDON SCHAFFER

/~|ur aircraft swooped down on Colombo worlds, a world that is dying and a Peace and Plenty airport. The tropical sun was world that is struggling to be born. We Prof. K. Yasui of Japan spoke about shining after a fierce monsoon storm. are living in a period of transition from the dangers to his country and I won­ The scent of the earth and the trees, one civilisation to another. Ideologies dered how long other peoples who are the beauty of the palms and the flower­ and isms are made for man and not man in similar peril would remain unrespon­ ing shrubs set against the dazzling blue for them. We must think in terms of sive. “We are a small island,” he said, of sky and sea were perfect. A Ceylon mankind. If we can ensure peace for “studded with U.S. bases. We are an girl came with garlands of jasmine to 25 years, I feel confident the danger time outpost for atomic war. We are mak­ welcome us. “This is paradise,” I said. will have passed. Every effort for peace ing the utmost efforts to liberate our “Many people and a number of religi­ deserves the sympathy and support of country from this disastrous position. ons say Ceylon was the original Garden us all.” This struggle is life or death for the of Eden,” she replied and added: “We A message from Joliot-Curie, presi­ Japanese country.” think it is a very good place to start dent of the Council and one of the building peace.” world's greatest atomic experts, called This conference, like the meeting of The customs officials waved us on the delegates to rally all the immense governments at Bandung, has helped to through all the formalities. ‘“Welcome forces who have joined in protest crystallize the massive forces of peace to our country,” said one, “and long against the tests. here in Asia. We who came from the live peace." West realised with new force that we So we came to the first country of the Gandhi's Wish are a small minority of the human race. Commonwealth to agree to the holding But we also understand how great has of a meeting of the World Peace Coun­ Joliot-Curie called for a truce on been the achievement of the peace move­ cil. But as far as the Ceylon govern­ tests and said that once a truce is agreed ment in welding us into an unbroken ment and the leaders of opinion in the upon, it will be very difficult for any front of friendship and common strug­ country are concerned, it is more than power to start again: "It is no longer gle. possible to settle international disputes just granting permission for the confer­ One other truth forced itself on our by war. Public opinion is against it. ence. Ceylon’s Minister of Justice is consciousness: Asia is poor. In this is­ Already we have seen public opinion chairman of the committee of Ceylon land “paradise" many men, women and stopping wars when the armies were citizens who prepared the conference. children are near starvation. Since our still able to fight.” The Mayor of Colombo made a welcom­ leaders exploited them for so long, we ing speech and Prime Minister Bandara- Inevitably, in a conference set in Cey­ in the West have a duty not only to join naika sent a message of greeting and lon, the theme of colonialism came up with them in the struggle for peace, invited all the delegates to an official again and again. Dr. S. Kitchlew, one but to share our wealth and our indus­ reception. In every country, West and of India's best loved leaders, appealed to trial and scientific techniques. Peace in East alike, the diplomatic representa­ the “great and cultured people of our modern world must not be mere tives of Ceylon were instructed to give France” to cease waging a hopeless war freedom from war, but abundant life visas to any member or guest of the in Algeria and to abandon the relics of for all mankind. World Peace Council. Representatives a period that has passed. “Britain and of 75 nations came. India”, he said, “are well fitted to work together for peace. That was the wish Remember Sheffield of Gandhi. But Britain must learn that As the Mayor, resplendent in red and the peoples of Asia, Latin America and Juno Furnishing Co. gold, took his seat to the beating of Africa are no longer content to remain drums, my mind went back seven years poor and hungry and the hunting ground 64 KNOX STREET for foreign powers.” to the last time a world peace conference Phone 51-1106 GERMISTON was called in a British Commonwealth Dr. Kitchlew put forward proposals country. We stood then on the steps of which command support not only in In­ For A Square Deal Sheffield Town Hall and had to tell the dia’s peace movement but among most Contact Us people with shame and sorrow that fa­ of her leaders and her people. “We mous men and women from all over the must put a stop to the lust for domina­ world had been turned back, in some tion by certain powers. Countries are cases insulted, because they came to us being subjected to pressure in the Mid­ in the name of peace. Then Giles, one dle East and West Asia to prevent them STAR CYCLE of our famous cartoonists, summed it from exercising their sovereignty. We WORKS all up with a picture of a little boy writ­ welcome the decision of Britain and la GUSTAV STREET ing “PEECE” on the wall, and his sister other nations to extend trade with China ROODEPOORT shouting, “Ma, Cyril's wrote a wicked and we say China must no longer be ex­ —o--- w ord.” cluded from U.N. and from the coun­ The memory served to emphasise how cils of the world. East and West Ger­ Stockists: far we had come. A message from many must be kept out of military blocs Raleigh, Rudge, Humber Prime Minister Bandaranaike was being and foreign soldiers must be with­ Cycles read: “We are living between two draw n.”

Page Fourteen Fighting Talk - August, 1957 • Inside Story: Linda Grant It was received wisdom. Girls excelled at school in the early stages. But boys overtook them, because boys were brighter. New evidence suggests the opposite is true. Could women be the weaker, fairer, cleverer sex?

N 1954 a front-page story appeared by girls. Throughout primary school and in the Hunts Post, the county in the early years of secondary educa­ paper for Huntingdonshire, under tion, girls did better than boys in most, if the headline: “Girls Brainier not all, subjects. Than Boys”. Too many girls had The accepted theory held that this was been passing the 11-plus, and the because girls “matured” earlier than education authority, despite the boys and that in later years the boys formal protests of teachers, had would catch up. This case seemed to be decided to limit their numbers. “As a proved by GCE results at 16 where girls result,” the paper wrote, “some boys will did poorly, particularly in sciences and Ibe admitted to the school, although their maths. If girls were outperforming boys educational performance may be inferior at the ll-plus, but later slowed down their to some of the girls who are excluded... progress, something had to be done to tilt The scholarship sub-committee the balance in the.favour of those late- announced that it was aware that no use­ developing boys. ful purpose would be served by allowing In places where there were single-sex the admittance of boys who were clearly grammar schools, generally in matching incapable of taking a grammar school pairs for each area, there was a fixed course.” number of places and there wouldn’t be It was not an isolated incident. For enough room for the lower scorers on the many years English education authori­ entrance exam anyway. ties operated a quota system similar to The old 11-plus largely used IQ tests in those used by American Ivy League col­ order to select. So if girls were brighter leges to limit the admission of Jews and than boys at 11, a girl competing against Blacks to their courses. lots of other bright girls needed an IQ of, If quotas had not been imposed in for example, 127, to get a grammar school mixed grammar schools, two-thirds of the classroom would have been occupied Continued on page 40 Continued from page 37 models and celebrate women’s achieve­ teachers and better behaved. The differ­ • Class divisions: ‘School,’ argues one ment. But the results revealed something ence is most evident in relation to moti­ expert, ‘is essentially a linguistic experience. place, while a boy, with less stiff very different. Boys, she found, were far vation, where the gap widens to 10 While girls relate to each other by talking, competition, would only need an IQ of less likely to get over five A-C grades at percentage points by the mid-teens... boys tend to relate to their peers by doing' 123. GCSE, and when she looked more closely Furthermore, on the question which asks Thus there is every reason to believe she noticed that boys were failing badly the pupils to assess their own ability, the themselves what is going on? Why are that some girls who had passed the 11- in language-based subjects such as Eng­ answers reveal that more boys than girls boys under-achieving? But there is plus were sent to secondary modern lish and history. But the greatest sur­ think they are able or very able, and another, deeper question. Have girls schools, while boys who had also passed prise was that girls were doing as well, if fewer boys than girls think they are always been brighter than boys, as that but with lower marks, were marching off not better, in maths and science. below average. Yet the actual results at newspaper headline of 40 years ago in the autumn term in their grammar GCSE shows these perceptions to be the asserts? Was it not the case that boys school blazers. HE FIGURES were not reverse of the truth.’’ caught up, but rather that girls have, Those girls who did go to grammar one-offs, they reflected a And it is not only clever girls who are until now. slowed themselves down to school would continue to meet quotas as national trend. The outstripping boys. Peter Downes, vice meet the limited expectations of their they attempted to maintain their early effect of the publication president of the Secondary Schools Asso­ potential by schools, family and the potential. Girls applying to do medical of GCSE league tables is ciation and head of Hinchingbrooke wider society? There is a devastating cri­ degrees in the Sixties were not informed that they make obvious School, the school which was once Hunt­ tique of the way researchers have that there was a 20 per cent limit on what were previously ingdon Grammar, now a mixed compre­ assessed girls’ historic failure to do as female candidates. Until the Oxbridge hidden patterns. Statis­ hensive of 1,800 pupils, asserts that in the well as boys, in A Fair Test: Assessment, colleges went co-educational, only a tics issued by the Departmentfigures of Educa­ he has examined for Cam­ Achievement And Equity, by Caroline small fraction of places were available to tion show that only 37 per cent of boys bridgeshire schools (where girls out­ Gipps of the Institute of Education and women. At Cambridge, with three areT achieving five or more A-C grades perform boys by 9 per cent) “the gap Patricia Murphy of the Open University. women’s colleges, the quota in favour of compared with 46.4 per cent of girls, and between boys and girls gets greater the Researchers, they argue, assumed that boys was 11 to one, so girls had to be con­ while the boys are making progress on lower down the academic league table there were sex differences in intellectual siderably more able than boys to get a 1988 figures so are the girls, and the gap you go”. So the least able girls are still abilities, and then went looking for an place. Barrier after barrier impeded between them is getting wider. The doing better than the least able boys. In explanation which would explain what girls’ progress, but why not? The exam results in English and sciences show the fact, the group that one might expect to was considered the “natural order”. Dar­ results proved time and time again that same pattern. Of those achieving grades be faring most poorly, Asian girls who do win, for example, observed that man’s despite their early advantage, boys were A-C in 1992 in English, 61.8 per cent were not have English as a first language with superior intellectual powers were based brighter than girls. Until now. girls and 45.9 per cent boys. English is families who oppose further education on the “fact” that they had always pro­ When, in 1992, Mary Meredith was traditionally a “girls” subject, but for their daughters, are not at the bottom vided for and defended women. appointed to the equal opportunities post physics isn’t. Here 73.7 per cent of girls rung of achievement. Women’s intellectual ability remained at the Vale of Ancholme Secondary were getting A-C grades, while only 69.2 That place, according to Dr Diane unknown and unproven until little over a School, a Humberside comprehensive, per cent of boys achieved these grades. Sammonds, of London University’s Insti­ hundred years ago because there was vir­ she went at once to look at the recent And even in maths, where boys did do tute of Education, is taken by white work­ tually no provision for their education.. GCSE results. better, it was by the tiniest of margins: ing class boys who were born in the The establishment of the Girls Public Equal opportunities, she thought, were boys obtained 44.9 per cent of A-C grades, summer and therefore are young for their Day School Trust (GPDST) in 1872 set up so often criticised as a vehicle for promot­ girls were just behind with 43 per cent. year. Other educational theorists have the first schools across the country offer­ ing left-wing feminist values that, in A wealth of evidence is coming in to tentatively suggested that the parents of ing academic courses (the earliest girls order to protect herself against accusa­ support these findings. In a report by ethnic minority children, aware of what schools, St Paul’s and North London tions of political correctness, she chose to Keele University’s Centre for Successful is stacked against them by a racist soci­ Collegiate, were foimded by the Misses place equality in terms of raising stan­ Schools, of a survey of over 7,000 young ety, place a greater value on educational Buss and Beale, Victorian feminists and dards. What she expected to find was people accumulated during 1993-4, achievement as a way to success than the pioneers of women’s education). Until the girls doing poorly in maths and sciences, Michael Barber argues that “girls are parents of white children who may, in the 1944 Education Act, there was no free the traditional boys’ subjects, and she consistently more positive, better past, have regarded jobs as guaranteed. was prepared to wheel in her female role motivated, better at getting on with their Teachers and theorists are asking Continued on page 43

4 0 THE GUARDIAN WEEKEND OCTOBER 22 1994 Continued from page 40 maturity like this: “You look at their ago, it would not matter at all if a boy left • Eyes down: The publication of GCSE behaviour. Maturity is a value judgment school with few qualifications and little league tables has revealed that only 37 per secondary education for any children on how they behave. The boys run around in the way of verbal ability, because cent of boys are achieving five or more A-C except for those who passed what used to kicking balls and the girls stand around there was plenty of manual work about. grades compared with 46.4 per cent of girls be called “the Scholarship”. While talking. If you’re a £5-million footballer, But now the economy has changed, and it theoretically this was open to both girls then running around with a football is is the language-based service sector that force. The participation of women in the and boys, many parents declined to allow mature, but if you’re a 12-year-old, it isn’t. will make up the bulk of new jobs, jobs labour market has increased from 53 per their daughters to “go on”. The expense Thirteen-year-old girls say that boys are for which it is girls, not boys, who are cent in 1973 to 65 per cent in 1991, while of the uniform was one reason cited, childish, compared with them. If you lis­ qualified. male involvement has dropped from 93 to while others argued that it was pointless ten to the girls, it’s clear that what they If girls were always as bright as the 86 per cent with the sharpest rise among for girls to be educated beyond the needs say is the subject of mature considera­ boys, if not brighter, why have they been graduates. Women now account for 54 of marriage. tion. Boys verbalise less than girls.” underachieving up to now? In part, the per cent of all newly-qualified solicitors, When, after the 1944 Act, girls began to existing barriers impeded their progress, an increase of 9 per cent in seven years. sit the 11-plus in large numbers, the HE PROBLEM with but even so, why the poorer exam grades One can see these changes sharply theory developed of girls’ earlier “matu­ kicking a football at 16 in the past? According to Helen illustrated by the achievements of two rity” to account for their initially higher around at school is that, Wilkinson’s recent report, No Turning sixth-form classes, 25 years apart. In achievement and apparent slump later. unless you are going to Back: Generations And The Gen- 1969, Belvedere, in Liverpool, was a What does the word “mature” mean in be a sportsman, it derquake published by the independent GPDST direct-grant secondary school this context? While there have been doesn’t lead anywhere. think-tank Demos, it is because women’s with an intake two-thirds drawn from many theories arguing for or against sex The value of talking, aspirations and their image of them­ the fee-paying daughters of the middle differences in the acquisition of different even if it’s about that selves has profoundly altered in the past classes and a third attending on local types of skill, there is no conclusive evi­ swoony babe in 4B, is that it quarteruses skills of a century. The report is the authority scholarships. The pupils in the dence, one way or the other, particularly that are going to be needed in the work­ first to track the advances of the Seven sixth form were among the brightest in physiological evidence. One study, cited force:T verbal reasoning. Peter Downes’s Million, the men and women between the the city and the teaching staff were by Gipps and Murphy, found that girls up Cambridgeshire study shows that, while ages of 18 and 34 who came of age after almost exclusively unmarried women, to the age of 18 months were ahead in boys play sports or computer games, girls the ground-breaking equal opportunities most not far off retirement, teachers response to verbal stimulation, compre­ read. “School,” he argues, “is essentially legislation of the Seventies. who had themselves been educated hension and vocabulary, but later a linguistic experience and most subjects Wilkinson describes a generation of before women obtained the vote. The research confirms or contradicts these require good levels of comprehension and confident, assertive, ambitious women ethos of the school was academic and suggestions. On mathematical ability, a writing skills. Whereas girls relate to with goals and expectations far beyond tacitly blue-stocking feminist: its most 1972 study concluded that the male and each other by talking, boys tend to relate those of earlier generations, partly as a notable old girl was Rose Heilbron, the female brains are differently lateralised, to their peers by doing... In the crucial result of earlier gains made by the country’s first woman QC. While m ar­ the female brain promoting overall better lower secondary years... girls are less women’s movement. “When you are see­ riage and motherhood was rarely, if linguistic performance while the male is likely to be allowed out by their parents ing more and more women in the econ­ ever, mentioned, it had high ambitions conducive to better visual-spatial for safety reasons. They are more likely to omy, it’s now girls who have the right to for its highest achievers and very little functioning. But this hypothesis, like spend time at home doing homework and feel optimistic about the future,” she to say to the rest. many others, is disputed. reading.” argues. Seventy-nine per cent of the The class of 1969 did as well as would be Another view of “maturity” holds that, A picture is beginning to emerge of women surveyed say that they want to expected. Around 12 girls out of 29 went because girls reach puberty before boys, boys viewing the crucial reading and lin­ develop their careers or find employment to university, almost all to read tradi­ they quickly become distracted from guistic skills as “sissy”. “The girls are while only 50 per cent regard having chil­ tional arts subjects such as English, his­ academic work and turn their attention blossoming and the boys badly need dren as a goal. Less than a quarter of tory and classics. But what happened to to those familiar subjects, clothes, make­ help,” Peter Osborne says. “What is wor­ young women between 16 and 24 feel that the others? The school does not keep up and the opposite sex. But Peter rying is that the male sex does not yet a woman needs a stable relationship to be records but collective memory recalls Osborne, head teacher at Shenfield know what is going to hit it. One teacher fulfilled. that most were awarded the school’s sec- School in Essex, a comprehensive with told me that the boys are worried because The effect of these aspirations is appar­ nearly a thousand pupils, describes the girls are so assertive.” Thirty years ent in the changing nature of the work- Continued on page 46

OCTOBER 22 1994 THE GUARDIAN WEEKEND 4 3 Continued from page 43 • Peter Osbome: The head teacher at Shenfield School in Essex contends that ond prize, teacher training college which ‘maturity’ among girls is illustrated by their then offered a non-degree certificate of willingness to verbalise their experiences education. Careers advice was rudimen­ tary and it was as if the school had no appear on the team at all, the male other idea of what to do with its pupils students are far more willing to take who did not take the full course of three risks, answering questions when they A-leVels, or whose grades were too poor have only a vague idea of the answers. to guarantee university admission. Women usually don’t put their hand on Twenty-five years on, the direct-grant the buzzer unless they are sure they are status no longer exists. The school is correct. But the men still get more independent but a third of pupils are still answers right because they are prepared on assisted places. The headmistress is to guess and strike lucky. Mrs Carole Evans, who had left school Osborne put the girls at the front and only a year before the 1969 group. “There made them answer questions and very are now 106 girls in the combined senior quickly, the numbers of girls who were and junior sixth,” she says, “and they are taking physics increased by 300 per cent? encouraged by me to go for it. I tell them, But before he could find out whether the don’t go out there and expect to be a per­ trial had been effective in terms off GCSE sonal assistant to the boss, go for being results, the National Curriculum was the boss yourself. The image has long introduced which subsumed physics into gone of my girls considering themselves general science. second-class citizens.” Intense efforts are At the beginning of this school year made to ensure the girls succeed: inter­ Osborne brought back single-sex classes. view techniques are practised, mock The girls, he assumes, “will blossom interviews held, girls go on work experi­ while the boys, who badly need help to ence, videos of universities are shown make them like school more, will have and Mrs Evans has recently appointed teachers who will put down peer group an Oxford co-ordinator and a Cambridge pressure. You will also take their audi­ co-ordinator who will take any girl who ence away. Even 11-year-old boys are say­ wishes to attend on a visit to the univer­ ing that they aren’t concentrating sities. This week the GPDST launches the because they are paying so much atten­ Minerva Trust, an organisation of old tion to girls. We’re open to accusations girls committed to networking and that we’re neglecting the social mixing advancing women’s careers. but we’re fostering the extra-curricular The 1993 and 1994 Figures for A-level activities.” results and final destinations initially If Osborne’s experiment pays off, per­ reveal the same core group achieving haps both sexes will benefit: boys will high-level grades and going to the same overcome their resistance to learning “old” universities. But the subjects are and actually do better in exams, while different. In 1993,52 per cent of the girls girls develop a realistic idea about their read science subjects, 36 per cent arts and own abilities. What may help is the 12 per cent went into the professions of increasing view outside educational cir­ law, medicine and veterinary science. cles that the future is, officially, female. Where did the others end up? One went to A report issued in July by the Institute of teacher training college. Most of the Management predicted the extinction of remainder won places at what used to be the male manager: team working, con­ the polytechnics in a breathtaking vari- sensus management, negotiating, the etyof subjects: countryside management, ability to handle several projects at a hotel management, business studies, time and interpersonal skills, regarded environmental science and computing. by the Institute as typically “female” are For 1994 we see degree courses in genet­ predicted to be replacing the traditional ics, pharmacology, environmental stud­ hierarchical structures of the contempo­ ies, business studies and Japanese, social rary workplace. policy with film and TV, environmental This is the real issue when we speak of engineering, women’s studies and girls’ aspirations. Whether more girls go human movement and science. into engineering is to miss the point. The Twenty-five years ago, 69.5 per cent of because they didn’t work hard enough. hensive system made co-education the problem is the large numbers of women those who went to university were men. When girls are asked the same ques­ norm. “What boys have told researchers who currently graduate in arts subjects, Now the numbers are virtually equal. If tion, they reply that they are not clever is that they don’t like school, that they go into professions that are relatively the best and the brightest of 1969 had such enough. Girls and boys are continuing to don’t work hard,” he says. “The girls on open to women, like the media, law teach­ limited aspirations (and such limited operate against the facts and this is not the other hand, feel undervalued, they ing or social work and still hit the glass choices — many of these courses didn’t just a case of that vague American syn­ feel that teachers spend more time with ceiling. A few hundred more women even exist in 1969) compared with their drome “low self-esteem”. In the past, boys the boys and this leads to the girls feeling engineers won’t equal the impact of one successors in the 1990s, what was happen­ have been educated to become breadwin­ undermotivated. ” woman at the head of a major British ing to those girls who passed the 11-plus ners, to take on responsibility and sup­ company or editing a quality newspaper, but were shunted off to secondary mod­ port a family. A positive approach was IANE Sammonds’s in charge of opinion forming. ems because there weren’t enough places vital to finding and staying in work. To research indicates that One Guardian colleague who has read for them? Low pay, early marriage, part- not be up to it was to fail as a man. In con­ boys do indeed get the Demos report remarked that it was time work after the children had gone to trast, girls were not expected to succeed, more attention in the all very well for a younger generation of school and more low pay? A generation of so to assert their own intelligence classroom, not because women to believe that they had nothing timid, underachieving middle-aged required not only self-confidence but a they are favoured over to gain from feminism, that the future women, bossed about by some 20-year-old violation of social norms. girls but because their was going their way, that they could trainee manager, accepting it because 30 Despite their success in school, girls behaviour is more dis­ achieve anything they liked. What hap­ years ago the council told them they still undervalue their achievements. “I ruptive and requires morepens of the when teach­ you reach 30 and when you didn’t make the grade? interviewed someone yesterday with five Ders’ time and energy, while the girls tend have children, she asks? Just as your Helen Wilkinson has described the suc­ A-levels, three at grade A, two at grade B to sit quietly getting on with their work. career should be accelerating into the cess of the current generation of girls as a and I wondered why she hadn’t gone to “So in class,” Osborne argues, “the girls fast track, you shift down into the slow genderquake. She believes that we are Oxbridge,” a senior woman manager at have a problem, but in the GCSE results, lane for the next few years. The extraor­ “in the middle of a historic change in the the BBC told me. “Then I saw a male can­ they’re wiping the floor with the boys.” dinary paradox of the British education relations between men and women: a didate who had got two Bs and a D and Talking to women in their twenties, system is that we are educating the shift in power and values that is unravel­ he’d gone to Cambridge. My hunch is that Osborne found that they complained that brightest people in society, giving them ling many of the assumptions not only of fewer girls apply.” The hunch was cor­ the male disruptive behaviour continued unlimited aspirations and then dumping 2,000 years of industrial society, but also rect. Figures for Cambridge entrance at university. them when they want to fulfil another millennia of traditions and beliefs.” Yet indicate that 58 per cent of those who How then, to begin to dissolve girls’ role. The changes can’t just happen in the later in her report she concedes that a apply for places are men, although pro­ lack of self-confidence, an instinct which classroom, they will have to permeate survey of women directors undertaken portionately more of those girls who do will continue with them when they start every part of society. As Clare Short two years ago found that 70 per cent apply are accepted than boys, presum­ applying for university or jobs? remarked on the subject of using quotas thought that women still do not have ably because they get better grades. Osborne’s first experiment was in his to get more women into parliament, equal opportunities in the workplace and Boys’ underachievement and girls’ own subject, physics, where girls were “We’ve got a rifle range in the House of male attitudes were cited by 37 per cent faulty image of themselves has returned not doing as well as boys. He noticed that Commons and no creche.” G as the most common problem. some teachers to a debate about whether the boys sat at the front of the class and Back in those schools, what is happen­ the two sexes need to learn in different answered most of the questions. One only ing to the underachieving boys and the ways and different environments. This has to observe a line-up on the newly- A Panorama documentary investigating this over-achieving girls? When boys are asked has led Peter Osborne to re-introduce sin- resurrected University Challenge to subject, The Future Is Female, will be broadcast on why they are not doing well, they say it is gle-sex classes, 20 years after the compre­ notice that, where female students Monday, October 24 at 9.30pm on BBC1.

46 THE GUARDIAN WEEKEND OCTOBER 221994 m u g V SUNDAY TRIBUNE, APRIL 26,1998______It’s official... Women are superior beings

OWN CORRESPONDENT ing why women live for an aver­ age of five years longer,” says the t may be a man’s world at the report. moment - but not for too much The statistical slaughter goes longer. Women are outperform­ on. Men are more accident prone ing men in every area, and will and more likely to commit suicide. eventually rule the planet. Considering the figures on the The message to men is clear: work front, that’s hardly surpris­ you could soon find yourselves ing. In the 1980s, one in 15 homes surplus to requirements. had a woman as main breadwin­ After a study of the sexes, scien­ ner. Today the figure is one in five. tists concluded the “world natu­ By 2010, three in five women rally belongs to women”. Women could be earning more than their are both psychologically and phys­ partners, says the report, which ically stronger, says the report in also found that “women managers the science magazine Focus. score better in decision-making Girls are smarter, more socia­ and planning skills”. ble and kinder to themselves than Men are more likely to be un­ boys. And when they grow up, employed than women. In J they get further along the career Europe, the ranks of jobless men J ladder, earn more and manage have jumped from 8% in 1968 to J their families better. 22% in 1993. The reverse is true of The findings suggest the world women. “Women are putting off I could soon be under the control having children to concentrate on $| of remarkably superior beings. their jobs,” the report said. “For ^ Test and exam results last year the first time in decades, more showed girls were way ahead of are having babies in their 30s boys in the classroom from the than in their 20s.” age of seven to 16. And that is the other area Studies show boys also fall where men may no longer be ; behind girls in their ability to needed. With sperm banks cutting read, concentrate and cope with out the need for a partner for tricky situations. They are also reproduction, fathers could find less productive and tend not to themselves out of the family unit. persevere as long as girls. Dr Ian Banks, an expert on Physical strength is one area men’s health, told the study: “It is where men could usually feel wrong to say that women are out­ confident of coming out ahead. shining men in every area. Not any more. More women are “We men are very good at killing muscling into the realms of en­ ourselves, killing other people, durance sports, such as climbing having more accidents, getting Everest and trekking to the South more sports injuries and we excel Pole. And thanks to their pear- at not seeing our doctors.” shaped build, their level of He said there was no reason endurance outstrips men’s. why society could not “overcome Men also tend to collect fat some of the pressures which drive around their stomachs, making men to self-destruction”. them more prone to heart disease “Men need to be encouraged to and diabetes. Women are natural­ look after their bodies and ly in better shape to avoid these health,” he said. “If they don’t, illnesses - without even trying. men will become more and more 11 “This goes some way to explain­ marginalised.” |i

Collection Number: A3299 Collection Name: Hilda and Rusty BERNSTEIN Papers, 1931-2006

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