Böcker av Bessie Rayner Parkes

Alex Mahon is the CEO of Channel 4. She is the first woman to be appointed Chief Executive of a major UK broadcaster.Martin Firrell is a public artist who uses language in public space to stimulate debate and promote change with the aim of making the world more humane.In conversation, Mahon and Firrell reflect on the different ways women and men regard and use power, the persistence of inequality and the risks of assuming that, simply because some women become CEOs, opportunity is available to all women.Firrell contrasts the contemporary views of Alex Mahon with the writing of Victorian women's rights activist Bessie Rayner Parkes on women and work.This publication is part of socialart.work, a mass public art project by Martin Firrell calling for greater social justice. It includes digital posters, publications and events supported in 2018-19 by leading out of home media company Clear Channel UK. A complete catalogue of works, commentaries and further reading can be found at www.socialart.work.

Bessie Rayner Parkes (1829-1925) was an English poet, writer and prominent early feminist best known for her campaigns for women's right to work and receive professional training. After meeting fellow feminist activist Barbara Bodichon (1827-1891) they founded the first English feminist journal, The English Woman's Review in 1858. Parkes served as its principal editor between 1858-1864. This volume, first published in 1865 and containing several essays from The English Woman's Review, advocates for young middle-class women to be given the opportunity to work and earn a living in safe conditions with fair pay. Parkes links the changes in society caused by the Industrial Revolution to the need for women to work. Her reassurance that married women should still be supported by their husbands illustrates how Parkes, like other contemporary feminists, worked within the contemporary social framework and used existing social norms to justify her aims.