Hello Peeps.
Remember me? The 5foot4 & 3/4s bottle brunette with fabulous taste in sewing and knitting, and Viggo Mortensen’s True Love?
I went away, didn’t I? I was distracted by distracting things and, well I just stopped writing. Well that’s not entirely the truth. I just didn’t have a lot to say and am a firm believer that if you’ve nothing to say, then perhaps your time could be better spent listening. And maybe knitting. So I’ve been doing a lot of listening and a lot of knitting. And amongst all the knitting and listening, I met this rather fabulous woman at a party (as one does) and she said something to me that made me realise it was time to come back.
Now I’m sorry if that bothers you, if you were pleased that this wee corner of the blogging world had fallen silent. This is going to be a terrible way for you to start 2012, because I’m back, and I’m feistier than ever, and I have a lot – a lot, to say. So if you think women should be seen and not heard, that women should just get into the kitchen and get on with the business of making your dinner, then I strongly suggest you bugger off and go find another blog. And maybe learn to cook your own sodding dinner. Because Miss Alison is back. And I’m not going quietly.
I guess, like everyone at this time of year, I’ve been contemplating 2011, and setting my intentions for 2012. The usual suspects appear on my list, but there’s one wish I’ve got for 2012. And it’s this – I’d like women to be valued.
If you were watching the news last night, you might have seen this story.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-03/tortured-afghan-girl-to-be-treated-in-india/3755824?section=world
(I’d like to have posted the video link, but wordpress have moved things around a bit and posting a video wasn’t as straightforward as it used to be. If you pop onto abc.net.au, you should be able to find the video. Or try the link below.)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-02/child-bride-abused-by-in-laws/3755546?section=world
I’ve got a male friend, who is constantly banging on about how irrelevant feminism is. No, I haven’t removed his dangly bits, not yet anyway. Most of what he has to say on this subject just irritates me. But he got me thinking, and early this morning, unable to sleep, I got on the internet and found these Rather Fabulous Women.
I’m not one to tell people what they should and shouldn’t do. And the opinions expressed on this blog are just that – opinions, my own, not anyone elses. What you do with your time and your money is your business. But how cool would the world be if every woman in the western world had a Sister in The Congo, or Iraq, or somewhere where women were not valued?
Bobby Kennedy, in a speech to South African students in 1966 said
“It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope. And crossing each other, from a million different centres of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
Words to live by.
Happy New Year everyone.
x x x
