Herstory Revisited

Margaret Thatcher has been all over the news, social media, and my group chats of late owing to the new series of the Crown. Growing up in Scotland, Thatcher was virtually a swear word. Like all Scots, I was raised to detest Thatcher and everything she stood for. She famously hated the Scots, and the feeling was definitely mutual. However, apart from the miners strikes (which I knew largely from my favourite film, Billy Elliot)and the fact that she was the first female prime minister of the UK, I knew shockingly little about her policies, personal life, or why she became the most controversial prime minister in British history. Whether you love her or hate her, she undoubtedly made, and changed, history. Her recent portrayal by Gillian Anderson in The Crown has left many confused about whether to feel sympathy or resentment towards her, so I thought now would be a good time to delve into this complex figure. Thatcher was a walking paradox - she was resolutely anti-feminist yet paved ...

Happy Diwali for those celebrating today! Last time I put my Religious Studies hat on and did a goddess, people were keen for me to do one again, so in honour of Diwali today’s post is about Lakshmi, one of the main deities celebrated during Diwali in the Hindu tradition. Diwali celebrations include puja (prayers) to Lakshmi and Ganesha. Many Hindus worship Lakshmi on Diwali, the festival of lights. It is celebrated in autumn, typically October or November every year. The festival spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil and hope over despair. In preparation for Diwali, people clean and decorate their homes which are then lit with candles and lanterns in the hope that this will guide Lakshmi into their homes and bring its occupents good luck and prosperity in the coming year. After worshiping Lakshmi, celebrations including food, family, and fireworks begin. Like Christimas in the West, Diwali is a time of huge economic activi...

  “Someday, somehow, I am going to do something useful, something for people. They are, most of them, so helpless, so hurt and so unhappy.” Edith Louisa Cavell  (1865 – 1915) was a British nurse who was killed by the Germans during the First World War. She is most praised for saving the lives of soldiers from both sides without discrimination, helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium. For this she was arrested and sentenced to death for treason. Despite international calls for mercy, she was shot by a German firing squad, provoking outrage across Europe. Cavell was born in 1865 in  Swardeston , a village near  Norwich , the eldest of four children of a vicar and his wife. After her eduction, she worked as a governess in Brussells, but returned home in 1895 to care for her father who was seriously ill. This inspired her to take up nursing once he had recovered. Aged 30, Cavell applied to become a nurse probationer at the  Lond...

 “My mother had a saying: 'Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you're not the last.” Slightly different, as I’ve never done a living woman on this page before. However, it’s nice to witness history being made so I thought for once why not make a first-hand account for future herstorians to work with. CHILDHOOD PA RT 1 Kamala Devi Harris (born 1964) is an American politician, lawyer and soon-to-be vice president of the United States of America. In January 2021, she will serve alongside President Joe Biden of the Democrats. Harris was born in California on 20 th October 1964. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was an Indian immigrant who held a PhD in biology and whose work on the progesterone receptor gene stimulated work in breast cancer research.   Her father, Donald J. Harris, is also a PhD, and works as an economics professor at Stanford. He arrived in the US from Jamaica in 1961. They had two daughters, and the family grew up in a significantl...