Irony?

Perhaps a sexist view, I'm not sure and it's not intended as such.

We've just had what businesses call 'Black Friday', where the aim is to get as many people buying stuff as possible....but go back a hundred years or so and there was another Black Friday, when women marched because then prime minister Herbert Asquith went back on his word to reform the voting laws. The women marched, the police and some men reacted to the march with violence where a lot of women were injured and some died...

So what's the point of the thread? I wonder if we have changed much in our acceptance of equality of the sexes? would any of the women on here march and protest as those women did? would the men on here react as the men then did? would I be too 'WOKE' (whatever that means - I've never payed much attention to it) suggesting the phrase black friday be returned to what it originally marked?
Lot of questions, sorry, feel free to respond as you see fit - or not if you prefer.

""would any of the women on here march and protest as those women did?""""


Yes..I would and have done - it was a peaceful respectful march 2017.  Not too sure how far I'd get these days.  My old Mancunian nan was a suffragette and am so proud of her - although I didn't find out until after she'd passed.  There was a lot that made sense about her life when we found out.  I have stood up to inequality most of my working and personal life [oft alone] but am proud to be a woman. I don't want to be a 'person' or 'officer' etc - a woman will do me - just fine.  We live in a patriarchal world [and I'm not anti-male.  Far from it]  and in this world I've found my Achilles heel was childbearing. 

 I almost lost a job when an assistant manager who interviewed me [a bank - about 1982] asked me how long it would be before I had children and then it would be a waste of time giving me a job.  Thankfully the Manager stepped in, apologised and gave me the job.  By this time I'd already come up against discrimination a few times.  Oh ...the tales I can tell which now are being written in my memoirs for my granddaughter!



One good book  I have read from cover to cover [and there is just a handful] and has just joined about 10 others I treasure is "A Wild Soul Woman by Mary Thompson.  If I had to give away the many in my library [and there are] I would never give them up.  

These days I'm not intimidated by much and deffo not by men or women who think they have to be male-orientated to succeed - and I've come across a few!

Sadly, we still live in a world where violence against women by men goes on.  [yes...it does happen the other way around. ]  Entering harsh economic times we'll see it escalate- no doubt.  

I would of done and feel the same as Lindy. I don't care if I'm woke or not, I just can't be doing with injustice, institutionalised racism, sexism, homophobia and the rest. 110 women were killed by 57 of them by current or ex-partners 77% of them at their or thier partners home. Womens rights feel more fragile now than they have for a long time, everybodies rights in fact, men and womens. I wonder how these new plans for people to have to produce proof of identity when voting will effect people, I can see quite a lot disenfranchised, Mummyhen for example, dosen't drive, has never driven, so no driving licence, dosen't travel anymore so no passport either, how many more are there like her in the same situation?


Slightly off topic but sort of related was the founder of Sistah Space, a charity that helps women who are victims of DV, was repeatedly asked by a member of the Royal Household where she was from, has this woman ben living in a sack for the last 40 years?

This was so awful W'hen.
I found myself trying to make excuses for her.
I wondered if she'd maybe got dementia. I just can’t understand how anyone who's spent 60 years working in the Royal household doesn't know what's acceptable.

I sometimes cant keep up with new expressions.  Had to go google WOKE.  You can see I don't have too much modern vocabulary and it's not a word I'll use any time soon.  WH....I've not had a passport for many years though treasure my driving licence and my car.  Have driven since I was 18.  And I have a postal vote...

I was told a whole back that I couldn't use my expired passport for ID purposes.  It had only expired by a couple of months, but I had accidentally picked up the wrong one on the way out of the house.  The picture was plainly me, even if it does make me look a bit like a serial killer.  I was incredulous, at the time.  I said to the women, what you think it is no longer me, just because it has just passed the expiry date?  I'm not trying to leave the country with it, I just want to collect my post. Jobsworth!

W'hen; 'I wonder how these new plans for people to have to produce proof of identity when voting will effect people, I can see quite a lot disenfranchised, Mummyhen for example, dosen't drive, has never driven, so no driving licence, dosen't travel anymore so no passport either, how many more are there like her in the same situation?'

I have no passport at present.
I still have my old paper driving licence.
So, this is me!
Trying to prove who I am to a solicitor, I had to get an up to date photo signed by our local post mistress to say it was me!

MtM; Jobsworth indeed!
I have to confess when checking ID for age restricted items, I don't check that it's still valid.

W'hen; 'I wonder how these new plans for people to have to produce proof of identity when voting will effect people, I can see quite a lot disenfranchised, Mummyhen for example, dosen't drive, has never driven, so no driving licence, dosen't travel anymore so no passport either, how many more are there like her in the same situation?'

I have no passport at present.
I still have my old paper driving licence.
So, this is me!
Trying to prove who I am to a solicitor, I had to get an up to date photo signed by our local post mistress to say it was me!

MtM; Jobsworth indeed!
I have to confess when checking ID for age restricted items, I don't check that it's still valid.

Mummyhen and I were talking about it last night, whilst watching Question Time where it was the first question asked, Mummyhen is older than Susan Hussy and didn't think age was an acceptable excuse for this sort of rudeness and insensitivity. Apparently she did the same to another attendee at the same event, that time she was happy with the answer of Manchester. I wonder if Hussy would of touched a white womans hair to move it out of the way of a name badge?

I guess one of the things we won't be aware of is has she done this before? Maybe she was asked to step aside because she has a history of this sort of thing? Coming at the same time as the Sussex's are doing thier documentary about why they left royal life and Megans experience of racism gives it more credence.

My neighbour uses the age excuse.
I tell him, that's not acceptable.

Anti-racism has been around since the 70's and 80's so theres no excuse to say it was OK when they were young, I think its an excuse and I wonder if some people have been living in a sack for the last 50 years?

How we perceive racism has changed an enormous amount in the past few years and many of the older generation are not aware of that. It's more often a lack of awareness rather than racism.
I don't think asking someone where that come from necessarily reflects any racism and it's something I have often been asked by people trying to be friendly and genuinely interested. I have asked the same question myself due to a person's colour, accent or even their mode of dress.

Black Friday, like so many things, started in the USA and for some reason we in the UK felt we had to go along with it. Or at least businesses did.
It's all to do with thanksgiving and shops selling excess stock left over from that holiday I do believe.
So, I can guarantee whoever came up with it had no idea about the original Black Friday 100 years ago. Americans have no idea what's happening in the rest of the world, that's why they think they're better than all of us.

On the Susan Hussey thing I don't think I've heard such an obvious overreaction as that. The media have stirred it up brilliantly.
Do we honestly think a woman so close to the Queen would have survived 60 years in the job if she was a blatant racist?
She was asking about the woman's heritage.
The black woman's real name is Marlene Headley and she's an activist, sista space is funded by BLM. All you have to do is join the dots.
She's done all the media interviews since it happened and stated Buckingham Palace have tried to get in touch but she's not conversed with them. In other words she's ignoring them and yet she pretends all along she didn't want to make a big thing of it.
It's hilarious people are blaming her perceived dementia, have you listened to the utter shambles that is President Biden lately?
We make excuses for him though cos he's a lefty.....

Hiero

I read and delved into the Susan Hussey thing.. I'm no lover or supporter of the Royals but it is how my own mother would ask and want to know a person's heritage. She would have no intention of hurting or discriminating against anyone but having worked with dementia a wee bit of tolerance and kindness is needed.

On the Susan Hussey thing I don't think I've heard such an obvious overreaction as that. The media have stirred it up brilliantly.
Do we honestly think a woman so close to the Queen would have survived 60 years in the job if she was a blatant racist?
She was asking about the woman's heritage.
The black woman's real name is Marlene Headley and she's an activist, sista space is funded by BLM. All you have to do is join the dots.
She's done all the media interviews since it happened and stated Buckingham Palace have tried to get in touch but she's not conversed with them. In other words she's ignoring them and yet she pretends all along she didn't want to make a big thing of it.

I've pinched a part of your text Hierophant and I couldn't agree more. I'm not sure what has happened or should I say what has not happened but the way it has been blown up out of all proportion is an insult to everyone's intelligence whatever their colour.

I would love to hear Susan Hussey's version, but I doubt we ever will.
All except one person ripped her to shreds on Question Time.

Does any footage exist or is it all ngozis version. I havent followed much of it, but i had a quick look for footage so that i could make my own mind up, and no footage seemed to come up, just loads and loads of people talking about it.
I immediately dont trust a story that hasn't got backup. Did others hear it, see it, Maybe they did, and ngozi could be perfectly right to be offended, but i want to see and hear something myself.
Also, she looks African, she seems to dress african, ngozi seems one of those african names. Even if she was born in england, surely people can ask about an african background for a person who looks and dresses like she does. I doubt whether any offence was really intended, but maybe the repeated questions were not a good choice, but bloody hell, what is everything coming to?

Indeed, it's hilarious when someone dresses to attract attention then gets all arsey when that attention duly comes.
For me the more concerning thing is how quickly King Charles dropped Hussey given the fact he personally asked her to fill the role after the Queen died.
Clearly he can't spot a blatant racist in plain sight.....

Is it just me who wonders why this lady was still working at her age.
Are you not allowed to retire in or from the Royal household?

Not everyone wants to rretire!

I.ve never understood black Friday, most sale signs are red, so why isn't it called red Friday? As for the racist royal oh please, I have soldiers turn up to work in our unit and I ask all of them where do you come from? Because most are not scousers  some say their original birth country, Ghana, Nigeria etc and I say no I don't mean where you are born, so they then usually say Sandhurst,

I.m learning to say where have you transferred from now incase I offend ffs

I'm always asking people where they come from lol.

True Andromeda, not everyone's like me, desperate to get off the tread mill!

Good post Mazer. Where are you from? :)

No one ever knows where I'm from!
In Essex, they think I'm posh.