Sunday, October 12, 2003
UNISON have called for it's London members who are going on strike on Thursday over London Weighting to assemble in the city for a demo and march-past of the place where the negotiations are supposedly taking place. I'm in two minds whether to go and I suspect my final decision will be based on how cold it is and whether it's raining or not. But it'll only be a few hours (or, if I am involved, I'll only be involved for a few hours) so I'm thinking of nipping along to the Imperial War Museum after lunch for the Women and War exhibition which looks at the role of women in the conflicts of the twentieth century. Unfortunately the Independent website isn't carrying the fascinating article publisising the event, otherwise I'd recommend you read that too. It does however, end with the words:
The organisers of the exhibition at the IWM had intended to include some mention of Private Jessica Lynch, promoted to heroic stature by the US Government following her capture in Iraq in the spring, until confusion about whether she actually deserved her Bronze Star for bravery began to arise. The questionmarks that hang over Jessica Lynch's status as a Modern American Military Heroine are just part of the wider arguments that still deny women full gender equality in the armed forces.
Umm, no. The 'questionmarks' are all to do with how Lynch's patrol were attacked and how much she actually needed to be saved when she was 'rescued' from an Iraqi hospital, they aren't anything to do with the fact she was a woman. An otherwise excellent article though.
The organisers of the exhibition at the IWM had intended to include some mention of Private Jessica Lynch, promoted to heroic stature by the US Government following her capture in Iraq in the spring, until confusion about whether she actually deserved her Bronze Star for bravery began to arise. The questionmarks that hang over Jessica Lynch's status as a Modern American Military Heroine are just part of the wider arguments that still deny women full gender equality in the armed forces.
Umm, no. The 'questionmarks' are all to do with how Lynch's patrol were attacked and how much she actually needed to be saved when she was 'rescued' from an Iraqi hospital, they aren't anything to do with the fact she was a woman. An otherwise excellent article though.
