I spoke to Seventies feminist and lecturer Viv Thom about sexism, the growth of feminism and how it has rebirthed. So what does feminism mean to Thom, now 63?
When Viv Thom was 25 and a young feminist, she was bewildered at the ways in which society acknowledged women.
“When I was 25 and applying for a mortgage, I had to get my father to say I was financially stable, and then you’d get asked things like “are you planning for children?” when you were applying for a job, and you don’t necessarily get asked that anymore.” She says.
This was the 1970s and feminism has undoubtedly changed since then. Thom who has three children agrees that, “Feminism has become much more mainstream. In the fact that back in the day, they saw feminists as cranks, a bit like how they saw the suffragettes in the early part of the nineteenth century, there were very stereotypical attacks of these women.”
That being said, there is still a need for it in today’s society. “I think a lot of people don’t deem it necessary to fight for women’s rights.”
Oh how wrong those people are, Thom says “We don’t have enough power in society; we don’t earn as much money as men. There are more women working part time jobs, women aren’t in board rooms making decisions and there are very few women in parliament so it’s a huge issue still, but we have made huge increases and improvements in women’s rights.”
Despite the recent trend in celebrities coming out and calling themselves feminists (Emma Watson, Lena Dunham, Beyoncé) – Thom who leads International Student Support for Student and Learning Services at Sheffield Hallam University doesn’t really see it as a fashion statement. “I suspect that it isn’t fashionable, actually I think a lot of women are probably afraid of calling themselves a feminist because it makes them less attractive to men.”
However, she believes “Some people may say they’re a feminist to shock others.”
“It has become a bit of a revival amongst young women.”
Although we can all agree women in the UK have more rights than they did than when Thom and other women were growing up.
“I mean growing up in the fifties and sixties, it was assumed that it was perfectly alright for men to touch you up or make passes at you.”
And in no way does she believe it was only her who was a victim of sexual discrimination, “I don’t suppose there’s a woman from my generation who hasn’t been a victim of something like that as a normal commonplace thing.
“I’ve acknowledged myself as a feminist since I was about 20, 21; I suppose I don’t think people really talked about feminism until then. I was in at the beginning: in 1972/73.” She says.
“Feminism to me is a belief that women have the same skills and capacities as men,” she says. “It is a belief in gender equality and any activity that is designed to help women and protect women’s rights and to forward the agenda of women’s freedom and equality.”
Sexism in the workplace has often been a feminist issue. “It was assumed that people could make remarks about women, about your appearance.” She says.
She remembers once when working at a college when her appearance became a talking point amongst her male colleagues, “I went to a senior member of staff and complained so that one of the men I worked with wouldn’t keep making remarks about my hair, and people thought it was funny and it was normal for people to do that.”
“In terms of sexual discrimination, I’m fairly certain that I didn’t get jobs because I was a woman. And [especially] because I was a woman with children.”
“I think people take older women more seriously and I’m lucky because I’m middle class and professional.”
Overt sexism has become less apparent to her over the years, she says: “as you become grey and old you don’t get quite so much male attention of that kind.”
However, she admits that there is a different kind of sexism older women face. “The different sort of sexism that applies to older women is that you don’t get served in shops but young blonde women do.”
“It makes you kind of invisible.”
Viv Thom is a member of the Learner Development Team who provides guidance to students and staff on a wide range of issues, mainly related to managing cultural transition, learning and teaching.
“When I was 25 and applying for a mortgage, I had to get my father to say I was financially stable, and then you’d get asked things like “are you planning for children?” when you were applying for a job, and you don’t necessarily get asked that anymore.” She says.
This was the 1970s and feminism has undoubtedly changed since then. Thom who has three children agrees that, “Feminism has become much more mainstream. In the fact that back in the day, they saw feminists as cranks, a bit like how they saw the suffragettes in the early part of the nineteenth century, there were very stereotypical attacks of these women.”
That being said, there is still a need for it in today’s society. “I think a lot of people don’t deem it necessary to fight for women’s rights.”
Oh how wrong those people are, Thom says “We don’t have enough power in society; we don’t earn as much money as men. There are more women working part time jobs, women aren’t in board rooms making decisions and there are very few women in parliament so it’s a huge issue still, but we have made huge increases and improvements in women’s rights.”
Despite the recent trend in celebrities coming out and calling themselves feminists (Emma Watson, Lena Dunham, Beyoncé) – Thom who leads International Student Support for Student and Learning Services at Sheffield Hallam University doesn’t really see it as a fashion statement. “I suspect that it isn’t fashionable, actually I think a lot of women are probably afraid of calling themselves a feminist because it makes them less attractive to men.”
However, she believes “Some people may say they’re a feminist to shock others.”
“It has become a bit of a revival amongst young women.”
Although we can all agree women in the UK have more rights than they did than when Thom and other women were growing up.
“I mean growing up in the fifties and sixties, it was assumed that it was perfectly alright for men to touch you up or make passes at you.”
And in no way does she believe it was only her who was a victim of sexual discrimination, “I don’t suppose there’s a woman from my generation who hasn’t been a victim of something like that as a normal commonplace thing.
“I’ve acknowledged myself as a feminist since I was about 20, 21; I suppose I don’t think people really talked about feminism until then. I was in at the beginning: in 1972/73.” She says.
“Feminism to me is a belief that women have the same skills and capacities as men,” she says. “It is a belief in gender equality and any activity that is designed to help women and protect women’s rights and to forward the agenda of women’s freedom and equality.”
Sexism in the workplace has often been a feminist issue. “It was assumed that people could make remarks about women, about your appearance.” She says.
She remembers once when working at a college when her appearance became a talking point amongst her male colleagues, “I went to a senior member of staff and complained so that one of the men I worked with wouldn’t keep making remarks about my hair, and people thought it was funny and it was normal for people to do that.”
“In terms of sexual discrimination, I’m fairly certain that I didn’t get jobs because I was a woman. And [especially] because I was a woman with children.”
“I think people take older women more seriously and I’m lucky because I’m middle class and professional.”
Overt sexism has become less apparent to her over the years, she says: “as you become grey and old you don’t get quite so much male attention of that kind.”
However, she admits that there is a different kind of sexism older women face. “The different sort of sexism that applies to older women is that you don’t get served in shops but young blonde women do.”
“It makes you kind of invisible.”
Viv Thom is a member of the Learner Development Team who provides guidance to students and staff on a wide range of issues, mainly related to managing cultural transition, learning and teaching.