Why is Britain’s minister for women writing feminism out of history?
Why is Britain’s minister for women writing feminism out of history?
Nicky Morgan, ironically also education secretary, must answer as to why this important political movement is being erased from the A-level politics syllabus
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‘Is Nicky Morgan really saying that there are no other women who contributed to developing the theories of liberalism, socialism and conservatism?’ Photograph: John Stillwell/PA
When I heard about the proposed changes that would see the removal of feminism from A-level politics I sighed, grabbed my politics textbook and went off to a lesson. Someone will do something about it, I thought. Someone will complain to the minister for women and equalities about the steps that the Department for Education is planning to take.
Oh the irony – Nicky Morgan is not only the secretary of state for education but also the minister for women and equalities. It is surprising that the very person whose role is to ensure that women’s equality is considered by the government, and to ensure that we do not do young people a disservice by what we teach them, was encouraging the deliberate erasure of women from history.
. . . .
It wasn’t actually the removal of feminism from the curriculum that particularly annoyed me, or even the insulting move to classify the suffragettes as a “pressure group”. Rather, that of the 16 key political thinkers students would be learning about, only one of these is a woman: Mary Wollstonecraft. Are Nicky Morgan and Ofqal really saying that there are no other women who contributed to developing the theories of liberalism, socialism and conservatism? I find it hard to believe that there were no female political thinkers that contributed to these ideas and movements. I won’t accept that. Of the 16 key political thinkers students would be learning about, only one of these is a woman: Mary Wollstonecraft
There is obviously a huge problem with this writing women out of history. It is not hard to ensure that you have a gender-balanced curriculum. It is just lazy not to do so. I should not have to ask the government to create a curriculum that isn’t full of mostly white men, when there are women and people of colour who deserve to be studied. Having the opportunity to learn about these much-needed role models is essential for ensuring that young women know they can pursue a career in politics, have influence and make a difference.
. . .
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/27/feminism-a-level-politics-nicky-morgan
