Philobiblon

.. a rare piece of good news, or at least sanity. From today’s Guardian:

“Europe, led by the UK, last night signalled a major split with the United States over curbing the Aids pandemic in a statement that tacitly urged African governments not to heed the abstinence-focused agenda of the Bush administration.
The statement, released for World Aids Day today, emphasises the fundamental importance of condoms, sex education and access to reproductive health services. “We are profoundly concerned about the resurgence of partial or incomplete messages on HIV prevention which are not grounded in evidence and have limited effectiveness,” it says.”

I’m now reading Margaret Oliphant’s Hester, published 1883. It is a classic three-volume novel – we might call it a family saga – of strong women and weak and hopeless men. (At least so far … I’m at the end of Volume I, but I get the feeling it is going to continue that way.) Catherine Vernon, the family matriarch, saves the family bank at the beginning of the book, and her niece, Hester, a strong-minded young woman, is shaping up as her replacement.

But I was particularly taken with its view of the Victorian era: “Mrs John Vernon” is Hester’s mother, the wife of the man who almost destroyed the bank. and obviously not admired by the author.

“Mrs. John Vernon was considered very refined and elegant according to the language of the day, a young lady with many accomplishments. But it was the fashion of the time to be unpractical, just as it is the fashion of our time that women should understand business and be ready for any emergency.”

Not a customary view of the 1880s …

Historical memory is a fickle thing. Look at London. The Roman city has always loomed large, but Anglo-Saxon London – or rather Lundenwic (c. 600-886) – was forgotten. For centuries, scholars scoffed at Bede’s description of a thriving trading centre. It has only been in the past two decades that archaeologists have found what he described, a large, rich settlement in the area that is now Soho and Charing Cross.

It is thus apt that the Museum of London should decide to revamp its medieval gallery now, when some sense has been made of the glorious finds. The new display – which contrary to its name covers more than a thousand years, nearly half the city’s history – was opened last week, and was worth the wait.

The Museum is well known for its accessible presentations, and the new gallery fits the mould, although with fewer reconstructions than its justly celebrated Roman displays. In presenting the newly rediscovered Ludenwic in particular, for which there is so little other information, the history has to be “read” from the objects found. These might have been what were once called the “Dark Ages”, but beautiful things were still celebrated and sought after.

Some would have belonged to the aristocrats of the age, such as the still stunning brooch of gold and gold wire, set with garnets, that was buried in a woman’s grave in what is now Covent Garden in the mid-600s. Read more

My 19th-century “blogger”, Frances Williams Wynn, is today setting out her views on the great Shakespearean actors of her age. She’s definitely a partisan of Kean, but thinks little of Kemble. I think our modern tastes might have agreed, if this article is anything to go by:

By the standards of the time, he was unsuited to the great tragic roles. The style then in vogue was artificial, declamatory, and statuesque, and its leading exponent, John Philip Kemble, was an actor of classic good looks, imposing figure, and vocal eloquence. Though Kean had handsome features, notably unusually expressive eyes, he was small, with a voice that was harsh, forceful, and commanding rather than melodious. He could never have hoped to compete with Kemble on Kemble’s terms, so he had to become an innovator as well as a virtuoso. On Jan. 26, 1814, when he made his Drury Lane debut as Shylock in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, the measure of his triumph was not to outshine Kemble but to outmode him.

I was going to write an extensive post on this, but it is so depressing I couldn’t face it. From the Unicef press site:

An estimated three million girls in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East undergo genital mutilation/cutting every year, according to a UNICEF report released today.
Yet the study says that with adequate commitment and support, this millennium-long custom could be eliminated within a single generation.

It will be on The Happy Feminist on December 7 – deadline for submissions is December 5.

And due to popular request a theme – or suggestion for posting topic – is added:

This theme is optional, and I fully intend to include a variety of posts that do not relate to this theme. If you have already submitted a post to me, there is no need to submit a new post.

What I am most interested in hearing about is how you first came to identify yourself as a feminist. What made you adopt that designation for yourself? Was it a slow process or a Eureka moment? When did you realize that you were a feminist? I am especially interested in hearing from people who grew up in communities where feminism was a rarity.

See the full call here or send submissions direct to veryhappyfeminist AT yahoo DOT com.