Misogyny in the 70s
By Philip Sidney
- 2734 reads
The things they said:
loose - went to the pub without her husband
threw herself about a bit
put herself on show as a woman of loose morals
wanted to pull fellas
a bad man is a bad man but a bad woman is a bloody bad woman
and you can’t say 'owt else about them
they deserve all they get
He said:
she looked about 18 or 19 walking down the lane
so I thought she must be one of these prostitutes
They said:
he had a twisted passion – was on a bloodstained crusade - had a difficult wife - a prostitute short-changed him
That there were: innocent victims – respectable - mistakes
the others? call a spade a spade
not of the same character -
most of his victims of doubtful moral character
She said:
she went out on the game to get food for her kids - I’ve got to keep meself living
There were:
4000 cars a night in red light Moss Side - teenagers forced out on the streets by violent pimps
They said:
arrest the prostitutes
keep women indoors - for their own safety
the streets are for women blah blah blah - the feminists got hold of it - these women are out of control
He used:
stone-in-a-sock ball-peen hammer vegetable-knife sharpened-screwdriver knife hammer rope
They were: more than victim
alive, mother, doctor, shop assistant, office cleaner, entrepreneur, student, prostitute, social worker, school child, homeless, destitute, working-class, middle-class…
violated – vivacious - value – ed –less – voiceless - in-visible – diminished - cast into the past as
grainy black and white photos
illustrating the northern folkore
that gave rise to the male-voice football chant:
there’s only one jack the ripper
cat-calls from passing cars:
are you looking for jack tonight? come with me instead.
They are:
the unknown, Anna: 36, Olive: 46, Tracey: 14, Wilma: 28, Emily: 42, Marcella: 20, Irene: 28, Patricia: 32, Jayne: 16, Maureen: 42, Jean: 20, Marilyn: 25, Yvonne: 21, Helen: 18, Vera: 40, Ann: 22, Josephine: 19, Barbara: 20, Marguerite: 47, Upadhya: 34, Theresa: 16, Jacqueline: 20
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Comments
I watched that documentary.
I watched that documentary. It made me so sick and angry. I remember the times - and I was in the area - but it was a shock seeing those attitudes up front again. There are echoes of them in some of the coverage of Claudia Lawrence's disappearance, but at least, I suppose, it's now more muted and less 'acceptable'.
Great poem.
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Powerful. Do you remember
Powerful. Do you remember they said women shouldn't go out on their own at night until he was caught? Sadly I'm not so sure that much has changed : (
'and you can’t say out else about them' owt?
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listing the names at the end,
listing the names at the end, highlighting, "cast into the past / as grainy black and white photos"
victims become numbers, filed away, only the aggressor stays outside the drawer, people always wanting to know why. Your poem is brilliant
And the 70's often syrupy light of nostalgia, important reminder it had its own horror
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a bad man is a bad man but a
a bad man is a bad man but a bad woman is a bloody bad woman' yes, I recognise this from the documentary. Not real victims, only prostitutes. So much hate.
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The 'bad woman is a bad woman
The 'bad woman is a bad woman' quote was from a woman, too. The poison runs very deep.
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The documentary was gripping
The documentary was gripping and astonishing. I was very tiny while these killing were taking place but I remember my mum talking about a man who kills ladies and being terrified. I was particularly moved by Richard the son of Wilma McCann and the way he told his story. Peter Sutcliffe was shocking but the Yorkshire police were bloody shocking. Powerful piece. We musn't forget.
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I did a quick review of it
I did a quick review of it (here) https://www.abctales.com/blog/celticman/yorkshire-ripper-files-very-brit...
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