England is a very progressive country in terms of feminism, no doubt. In fact, I would argue that, on the whole, the English are further ahead in this regard than Canada, at least from what I've observed as a noveau Britton over the past couple of months. For example, both of our countries have had female Prime Ministers, but can one really compare Kim Campbell with Margaret Thatcher (she who needs no web link)? Many women that you meet on the streets of London have a more confident air than in Canada, I can't put my finger on exactly why that is but it seems to simply be a prevalent, strong confidence that makes most Canadian women seem positively demure by comparison: the opposite seems to be true of men, I am seen as "gregarious," have "confident body language" and "carry myself well." One must take the bad with the good of course: England's most prominent and infamous criminal mastermind of recent decades had been Shirley Porter, who embezzled millions while leading the Westminster Council in London in the 1980's.
So it may seem surprising that one of the current ongoing debates in England at the moment is whether Jacqui Oately should be allowed to be the commentator on BBC's Match of the Day (which is to English football what Hockey Night in Canada is to hockey). People are up in arms: a woman? Commenting on football? Outrageous! An interviewee on BBC's Breakfast the other day said that he didn't want "some woman shrieking at him" during the exciting bits.
To many Canadians, this may seem just a bit patently ridiculous, I mean what does it matter whether a man or a woman is reporting the commentary during the football matches: so long as they know football, as Jacqui evidently does, isn't that the important thing? We can laugh at this typically British attitude, and say how backward the cause of English feminism must be to even have such a debate in the first place and who cares about football (soccer) anyway. However, keep in mind that football is to England as hockey is to Canada, to understand it is to understand the country itself. Can you ever imagine replacing Ron MacLean with a woman, no matter how much she may know about hockey? Why not? Isn't that more or less what progressive, modern feminism is all about: total equivalence in every respect?
And with that, I'm off to do some shopping at a nearby farmers' market (see entry below) and then have a pint or two in the nearest pub, before an afternoon of football and -- wait for it -- filling out tax forms online (yay, it's April). Watch for pictures of the London Marathon sometime tomorrow.
Peace,
Matt
