When Rosalind Brunt first brought MA Women’s Studies to Sheffield Hallam University in the 1970s, she was belittled for teaching a ‘trivial’ subject. She tells Victoria Collins about the feminism movement, women’s rights and how she made a name for women in communication studies.
When I sit down to meet Rosalind Brunt, I know immediately that it will be an interesting interview. Her bold leopard print coat exemplifying her individuality and highlighted how significant she is. And, at 69, she has spent more than half her life campaigning and bringing justice for women.
She founded the first MA in Women's Studies at a UK polytechnic. She still teaches and researches mainly in the areas of popular culture and media studies.
It was back in the seventies when Rosalind Brunt first defined herself as a feminist by definition of the word and understood how important it was to fight for equal rights and more.
“Back then we didn’t use the term feminist; we called ourselves women’s libbers,” she says.
“Even though we didn’t like the term women’s libbers, we were a bit stuck for a name. ‘Feminist’ was seen more as middle class women who just wanted equal rights. This was women’s liberation who wanted much more than that.”
Women’s Liberation consisted of groups of people who would campaign for improvements on issues such as domestic violence, maternity leave, reproductive rights, equal pay, sexual harassment and women's suffrage.
“The exciting thing about the Seventies was that there were various different types of feminism. It no longer became a movement, and part of its success was that it went into institutions,” Brunt says.
The movement brought recognition to various issues that would mainly affect women; one in particular was domestic violence. “The big thing was the battered wives campaign. Refuges for battered wives were set up and then that became an institution which focused on domestic abuse,” she says.
“Women were the first to say that this abuse which happens in private has to stop. We’ve got to set up refuges for battered wives. It was set up by local women, it then became institutionalised and you could put money towards it. It started to get domestic abuse recognised by the government, local authorities and charities.”
The exact definition of feminism is equal rights for both sexes. Brunt and her colleagues wanted so much more than that. They wanted the opinions of women to matter and to change things.
“It was about saying ‘Yes we have a different perspective’. The fact that women’s history and women’s experiences are different from men’s. We have something to offer, we come from a different place than men do, our history is different, therefore we can see things and contribute in a different way,” she says.
As someone who wanted to bring female faces into higher education and allow women to have the choices to succeed, she was the first female course leader at Sheffield Hallam University back when it was called Sheffield Polytechnic.
“My thing in the eighties was to bring feminism into Sheffield Hallam University. I set up an MA in Women Studies, which at first was incredibly controversial.”
“I was recruited then to set up a communications degree which was the first in the country. Before this we did a Polycert course on women and communication.”
As the only female in an all-male department, she would often face exclusion and be the brunt of sexist remarks. She says, “A man I worked with famously mocked [the course] in this place by saying ‘You may as well teach budgerigar studies’ – implying it’s just a trivial thing to do. I fought very hard to learn how to work within the institution, which was done very successfully and it was the first women’s studies MA in the polytechnic sector.”
“There was only one other MA in women studies at the other universities. So it was quite a landmark thing,” she adds.
She found the lack of women in the department odd. “Just in terms of numbers, when I first came here I was the only woman.” She says.
“I don’t think you could’ve been at work [in higher education] without experiencing sexism.
“There was only one man I shared a room with who talked to me like an ordinary person. It was very, very strange.
“It was almost as if I was excluded, from the sort of social aspect, the men would interact and mainly discuss hifis – this is how long ago it was, back when there were gramophones,” she jokes.
As a whole, it was a very male dominated institution which needed an injection of the feminism movement. “You’d walk down the corridor and most of the lecturers were men and the students we taught were mainly men. The big subjects were science and engineering and those subjects in particular were almost exclusively taught by men. In communication, I was the only woman.”
Two years later, when another woman was brought in, in the same area of Media Studies, Brunt thought there would be an improvement. Instead a different type of sexism emerged. “We were the only two women [in this department]. We got on really well and the rest of the men would call us ‘the media studies’ ladies’. They would also call me by her name and her by mine – even though they knew me first. Because we were seen as interchangeable, we were seen as ‘the women’.”
As the years went on, she believes they were included more into the department. “It improved a few years later. There were several other men who weren’t like that and we sort of joined forces with them. They had experienced, by living with feminists, what it was like, so they knew the score and they did treat us like ordinary colleagues.
“But then we were seen by the original men as subversive,” she adds.
The MA in Women’s Studies was the first time women had a profile in the place. From then on things did start to improve. “In the mid-eighties the Principal of the Polytechnic set up a committee called ‘The Place of Women in the Polytechnic’. He was very good at bringing certain things about women into the institution.
“So for instance, the technicians would have their pornographic calendars on the walls of their office and he would walk in and say ‘this is unacceptable’. It was very good that he - as the Principal - walked in. He took it away from the women having to deal with this kinda thing.
“So I think we did make a huge impact.”
It was in the Nineties that even though Women’s Studies had helped improve the status of women in higher education, these same women no longer wanted the course to be called ‘Women Studies’. “Women wanted it changed to ‘Gender Studies’.”
“So that was me and other women, coming from women’s liberation and working here as young lecturers, developing women’s studies as an academic subject.”
So does Brunt, as a woman who has focused her attention on the progressive state of women think the way women are treated had improved?
She believes feminism as a movement has changed over the years. “I think part of its success is that it stopped being a movement. In the Seventies especially, there emerged a big division between those who called themselves Socialist feminists and those who called themselves Radical feminists, who believed patriarchy was the real thing to fight against. Men were not necessarily the enemy but that’s the thing we should focus on. Whereas Socialist feminists believed that it was more than that: it was also about the state of the world.
“It also used to be quite unfashionable to call yourself a feminist in the Eighties, especially amongst younger women. What I think is very exciting now as an old feminist is to see young women getting involved in things like Everyday Sexism.”
In terms of sexism, she believes things may not have necessarily improved, but that gender discrimination is certainly more visible. “Laura Bates, one of the founders of Everyday Sexism, said about things that happen on the tube. Men exposing themselves and rubbing up against women and things, they had a torrent and I think she was blown away by the responses.
“And certainly, in terms of the underground, you hear that they’ve stepped up policing of the underground. They’ve said that all women must report.”
What has emerged within the past year is women who are stepping forward and coming out as feminists. Celebrities especially (Beyoncé, Emma Watson, Tina Fey) have jumped on this ‘trend’ which has encouraged a younger generation of women to also label themselves as feminists.
The fight for women’s rights is still apparent and needed. In some ways Rosalind Brunt believes the Seventies feminists have failed in their goals because women are still fighting for the same causes. “It’s sad to see women still having to attack what we were attacking 40 years ago.”
“There’s still Page 3 in The Sun and in some ways sexism has got worse because, before Everyday Sexism was introduced, we thought things were improving. And it’s quite shocking to see what other women have had to put up with on social media.”
“But there’s a tax on women to stand up and say things. So I think it’s very exciting to see that energy there and that women are saying ‘No we’re not putting up with this.’
“What’s good about anything that feminism does is that it brings issues to the surface.
“There is absolutely still a need for feminism.”
She founded the first MA in Women's Studies at a UK polytechnic. She still teaches and researches mainly in the areas of popular culture and media studies.
It was back in the seventies when Rosalind Brunt first defined herself as a feminist by definition of the word and understood how important it was to fight for equal rights and more.
“Back then we didn’t use the term feminist; we called ourselves women’s libbers,” she says.
“Even though we didn’t like the term women’s libbers, we were a bit stuck for a name. ‘Feminist’ was seen more as middle class women who just wanted equal rights. This was women’s liberation who wanted much more than that.”
Women’s Liberation consisted of groups of people who would campaign for improvements on issues such as domestic violence, maternity leave, reproductive rights, equal pay, sexual harassment and women's suffrage.
“The exciting thing about the Seventies was that there were various different types of feminism. It no longer became a movement, and part of its success was that it went into institutions,” Brunt says.
The movement brought recognition to various issues that would mainly affect women; one in particular was domestic violence. “The big thing was the battered wives campaign. Refuges for battered wives were set up and then that became an institution which focused on domestic abuse,” she says.
“Women were the first to say that this abuse which happens in private has to stop. We’ve got to set up refuges for battered wives. It was set up by local women, it then became institutionalised and you could put money towards it. It started to get domestic abuse recognised by the government, local authorities and charities.”
The exact definition of feminism is equal rights for both sexes. Brunt and her colleagues wanted so much more than that. They wanted the opinions of women to matter and to change things.
“It was about saying ‘Yes we have a different perspective’. The fact that women’s history and women’s experiences are different from men’s. We have something to offer, we come from a different place than men do, our history is different, therefore we can see things and contribute in a different way,” she says.
As someone who wanted to bring female faces into higher education and allow women to have the choices to succeed, she was the first female course leader at Sheffield Hallam University back when it was called Sheffield Polytechnic.
“My thing in the eighties was to bring feminism into Sheffield Hallam University. I set up an MA in Women Studies, which at first was incredibly controversial.”
“I was recruited then to set up a communications degree which was the first in the country. Before this we did a Polycert course on women and communication.”
As the only female in an all-male department, she would often face exclusion and be the brunt of sexist remarks. She says, “A man I worked with famously mocked [the course] in this place by saying ‘You may as well teach budgerigar studies’ – implying it’s just a trivial thing to do. I fought very hard to learn how to work within the institution, which was done very successfully and it was the first women’s studies MA in the polytechnic sector.”
“There was only one other MA in women studies at the other universities. So it was quite a landmark thing,” she adds.
She found the lack of women in the department odd. “Just in terms of numbers, when I first came here I was the only woman.” She says.
“I don’t think you could’ve been at work [in higher education] without experiencing sexism.
“There was only one man I shared a room with who talked to me like an ordinary person. It was very, very strange.
“It was almost as if I was excluded, from the sort of social aspect, the men would interact and mainly discuss hifis – this is how long ago it was, back when there were gramophones,” she jokes.
As a whole, it was a very male dominated institution which needed an injection of the feminism movement. “You’d walk down the corridor and most of the lecturers were men and the students we taught were mainly men. The big subjects were science and engineering and those subjects in particular were almost exclusively taught by men. In communication, I was the only woman.”
Two years later, when another woman was brought in, in the same area of Media Studies, Brunt thought there would be an improvement. Instead a different type of sexism emerged. “We were the only two women [in this department]. We got on really well and the rest of the men would call us ‘the media studies’ ladies’. They would also call me by her name and her by mine – even though they knew me first. Because we were seen as interchangeable, we were seen as ‘the women’.”
As the years went on, she believes they were included more into the department. “It improved a few years later. There were several other men who weren’t like that and we sort of joined forces with them. They had experienced, by living with feminists, what it was like, so they knew the score and they did treat us like ordinary colleagues.
“But then we were seen by the original men as subversive,” she adds.
The MA in Women’s Studies was the first time women had a profile in the place. From then on things did start to improve. “In the mid-eighties the Principal of the Polytechnic set up a committee called ‘The Place of Women in the Polytechnic’. He was very good at bringing certain things about women into the institution.
“So for instance, the technicians would have their pornographic calendars on the walls of their office and he would walk in and say ‘this is unacceptable’. It was very good that he - as the Principal - walked in. He took it away from the women having to deal with this kinda thing.
“So I think we did make a huge impact.”
It was in the Nineties that even though Women’s Studies had helped improve the status of women in higher education, these same women no longer wanted the course to be called ‘Women Studies’. “Women wanted it changed to ‘Gender Studies’.”
“So that was me and other women, coming from women’s liberation and working here as young lecturers, developing women’s studies as an academic subject.”
So does Brunt, as a woman who has focused her attention on the progressive state of women think the way women are treated had improved?
She believes feminism as a movement has changed over the years. “I think part of its success is that it stopped being a movement. In the Seventies especially, there emerged a big division between those who called themselves Socialist feminists and those who called themselves Radical feminists, who believed patriarchy was the real thing to fight against. Men were not necessarily the enemy but that’s the thing we should focus on. Whereas Socialist feminists believed that it was more than that: it was also about the state of the world.
“It also used to be quite unfashionable to call yourself a feminist in the Eighties, especially amongst younger women. What I think is very exciting now as an old feminist is to see young women getting involved in things like Everyday Sexism.”
In terms of sexism, she believes things may not have necessarily improved, but that gender discrimination is certainly more visible. “Laura Bates, one of the founders of Everyday Sexism, said about things that happen on the tube. Men exposing themselves and rubbing up against women and things, they had a torrent and I think she was blown away by the responses.
“And certainly, in terms of the underground, you hear that they’ve stepped up policing of the underground. They’ve said that all women must report.”
What has emerged within the past year is women who are stepping forward and coming out as feminists. Celebrities especially (Beyoncé, Emma Watson, Tina Fey) have jumped on this ‘trend’ which has encouraged a younger generation of women to also label themselves as feminists.
The fight for women’s rights is still apparent and needed. In some ways Rosalind Brunt believes the Seventies feminists have failed in their goals because women are still fighting for the same causes. “It’s sad to see women still having to attack what we were attacking 40 years ago.”
“There’s still Page 3 in The Sun and in some ways sexism has got worse because, before Everyday Sexism was introduced, we thought things were improving. And it’s quite shocking to see what other women have had to put up with on social media.”
“But there’s a tax on women to stand up and say things. So I think it’s very exciting to see that energy there and that women are saying ‘No we’re not putting up with this.’
“What’s good about anything that feminism does is that it brings issues to the surface.
“There is absolutely still a need for feminism.”