Bloody Brilliant Women: The Pioneers, Revolutionaries and Geniuses Your History Teacher Forgot to Mention

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While a few of the women in this book are now household names, many have faded into oblivion, their personal and collective achievements mere footnotes in history. We know of Emmeline Pankhurst, Vera Brittain, Marie Stopes and Beatrice Webb. But who remembers engineer and motorbike racer Beatrice Shilling, whose ingenious device for the Spitfires’ Rolls-Royce Merlin fixed an often-fatal flaw, allowing the RAF’s planes to beat the German in the Battle of Britain? Or Dorothy Lawrence, the journalist who achieved her ambition to become a WW1 correspondent by pretending to be a man? And developmental biologist Anne McLaren, whose work in genetics paved the way for in vitro fertilisation? Newman points out that the likes of the Brontës and Florence Nightingale, though great figures, have almost become “brands” (I am sure there are tote bags and mugs). She also corrects further historical wrongs in including diverse women often sidelined: women of colour, trans women and those with disabilities. In particular, asylums play a prominent role. The campaign is already inspiring young people both boys and girls across the country with its honest, straight-talking messages, which focuses on normalising periods and period health. It has had more than 2.5 million impressions on social media so far. It explores the earliest battles for women’s liberation, starting with the fight against restrictive Victorian marriage laws. You’ll learn how – within a matter of decades – women went from being the property of men to independent citizens with a vote and control over their bodies. And you’ll see how the seeds of dissatisfaction sown in the 1940s bloomed into the sexual revolution of the 1960s, which helped secure the freedoms so many women enjoy today. Only in the late nineteenth century did the law begin to change, and women gradually gained protection from domestic offenses.

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Martha Gwion from Merched Cymru said: “The Period Dignity Action Plan, that went out to consultation at the beginning of the year, used awkward and confusing language, deliberately avoiding the use of the words women and girls. Instead of being person centred so that it can reach women and girls in marginalised or vulnerable groups effectively, it is focused on bodily functions and on avoiding sex-based language completely. “Those who menstruate” is not clear language. Following the release of the book, we caught up with Cathy to find out about some of her favorite “bloody brilliant women.” Your book is so much fun to read. Why did you choose this playful tone? She said the group has been told by professionals that the whole topic of periods has now become so taboo that children starting high school are “anxious” talking about them - but for new reasons: “Our supporters and members include teachers, ALN specialists, health educators, social workers, women involved with Girl Guiding and youth workers, none of whom endorse this kind of language. They’ve told us that children are starting secondary school unclear about who has or doesn’t have periods and anxious about expressing a view that it is a female-only process. I hugely respect anyone who campaigns to end violence against women—from Avon & Somerset Constabulary’s brilliant DCI Leanne Pook to the former foreign secretary William Hague’s aides Baroness Helic and Chloe Dalton. They pioneered a new approach to combating sexual violence in war zones and are now doing inspirational work with actor Angelina Jolie in this field. With the fight for gender equality ongoing, and feminists banding together like never before, it’s important to understand where it all started. Bloody Brilliant Women shines a light on some of the unsung women whose contributions to British history are just as important as any man’s.The Welsh Government's Period Action Plan, which was sent out for consultation earlier this year, says “person who menstruates” will be the most frequently used phrase to describe who has periods, in the document.

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We’ll also talk about women like Rosalind Franklin and Dina St Johnston, who accomplished incredible things in science and technology, only to be written out of history by their male counterparts. I’m glad you like [it]. I had great fun writing it as the women I “met” — I feel I met them even though sadly most of them are no longer with us — were such vibrant, colorful characters. My history teaching at school was a bit patchy, to say the least, so I devour history books as an adult now. As a busy person, I don’t have a lot of time for dry-as-dust dreary tomes, so I wanted to make my own history book as accessible and entertaining as possible. Out of all of those featured in Bloody Brilliant Women, which figure surprised you the most during your research and why? A fresh, opinionated history of all the brilliant women you should have learned about in school but didn’t. Merched Cymru said: “The adverse consequences of deliberately adapting language to be impersonal, ideological, based on body parts and bodily functions, or being ‘gender-neutral’ on an issue so clearly related to biological sex will be experienced by the very groups a Period Dignity Strategy needs to reach."And Shard structural engineer Roma Agrawal and Crossrail tunneller Alex Mitchell are an inspiration to girls who want to know that no job is just for the boys in 2018. How important is the current zeitgeist to the timing of this book’s release? The Welsh Government and Welsh NHS have been criticised for removing the words women and girls from a campaign on periods and using the phrases “people who bleed across Wales” and “those who menstruate” instead. The Bloody Brilliant campaign has said it will be making changes to its materials following widespread criticism of its decision not to use the words women or girls. It follows the omission of the terms male and female in the new curriculum. The Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) Code does not explicitly reference “boys”, “girls”, “straight” or “heterosexual”. Mary Wollstonecraft’s 1798 novel The Wrongs of Woman tells the tale of Maria – a woman who loses custody of her infant daughter and is unjustly imprisoned in a mental asylum by her husband. Though a work of gothic fiction, Maria’s fate was a sad reality for many women in Britain’s Georgian and Victorian eras. At the time, marriage for a woman meant being robbed of her fortune and freedom. A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “Our intention is always to use inclusive language and not exclude anyone from learning about and discussing these important topics. Research and focus groups with young people from Wales helped to design and inform the Bloody Brilliant campaign, as well as our upcoming Period Dignity Plan. We will be publishing our Period Dignity Plan in the autumn and will take into account views expressed in the consultation.”