I popped into school this morning, with the aim of getting
some soundbites (well markerboardbites) about gratitude in preparation for
Sunday’s service (more of that later, or never.. )
It was snowing and so I ended up being a spare pair of hands
with a year five class for an hour. It was a lot of fun- I really enjoy being around
that age range.
As the remnants of the class appeared from bus and abortive
car journeys there were various activities going on in the room; games, a new
dance (called the Floss, which I have already consigned to the pile of
co-ordinated movements that I will never get the hang of), word searches and
some drawing.
It was the drawing that caught my attention. Three girls,
all focused and ready to go were setting themselves a fifteen minute time
limit. “What for?” I asked. “For our princess drawing competition”, came the
reply.
Now those of you who know me, will know that a) that made my
soul a little bit sad, and b) how much hard work it was to poker face it out.
I must have done OK, because as I was getting ready to go,
the girls wanted me to wait for a moment so they could give me the pictures.
Here they are.
But this isn’t entirely about that. There was a third
picture. Actually, it was a set of two. In the one on the left there was a
princess (I think discernible by its Disney princess shape, with a Manga edge
to it). She was wearing ‘fighting wear’
and holding a sword. I asked the artist, what’s that about?
“Well, she’s a princess, but she doesn’t like all the dressing
up stuff, she wants to be a bit like Brave, that she can look after herself”.
The second picture on the page was of the same princess in a
long dress, equally beautifully drawn.
You might ask why I don’t have a picture.
Well, I had the conversation about twelve minutes into the
time I was there. When I returned a little later, the drawings were there but
with- “fail” written in black ink underneath.
“What’s happened?”
“Oh, I ruined it with the black ink”.
It’s a silly story. Be assured I did all the things one does
when you want to encourage a clear talent.
I mooched home in the snow somewhat heavy of heart. I feel a
bit like this whole little tale might be a window to where I think we are on
International Women’s Day.
Some of us are Brave and Beyond. We eschew the world of
princesses and male privilege, seeking justice, equity and inclusion. I wonder
if the challenge to us is to pull our horns in when our sisters are not in the same
place as us on the journey. The princess drawings will go up in my study as I
try to remember that not everyone has to think alike. I cannot be tyrannically
progressive.
Some of us are getting brave, torn like my year five student
between the world where we want to imagine something different, and the norms
of princess drawing. I see the norms getting wider, as glass ceilings shatter
and we take tiny steps to wage equality. I want it to go faster but perhaps I
should celebrate its direction rather than its speed.
Above all, my prayer is that all of us will get brave. I
pray that we will each have confidence to move to a place where the smudge of
black ink (actually not good enough equipment, with a drawing pen it would have
worked), doesn’t spiral us out of difference, originality and courage. I pray
that girls and women all over the world will be resilient (as we ever have
been) as we pursue life in all its dimensions and fullness.
And my other prayer is this: the girls were the first to
start drawing. By the time I left a couple of the lads had picked up pencils.
Their subject? Swords. Bloodied swords.
On this International Women’s Day we remember that whilst
there has been much progress, two women each week in the UK are killed as a
consequence of domestic violence. Lest I rail, thirty men a year are also
killed. We don’t have to look far to know that there is an ongoing battle for the
soul of maleness. My prayer is that women will not feel that they too have to
raise swords to redress wrongs but that somehow we might move forward in
acknowledgement that we are each precious, intended and delighted in. It is
not, nor will not be easy, but may we be brave.
Comments