Sexpression 2014

Thoughts from Sexpression conference 2014 from Yas Necati.

We never talk about sex. At least, not openly and honestly. Sex is everywhere. It’s 

in our relationships, on our minds and used to sell things. It’s how the majority of 

us came into this world. Sex is everywhere… but in our conversations.

It was rare and refreshing to be surrounded by a room full of people having 

conversations about sex. At Sexpression’s Annual Conference last Saturday, 

everyone was honest for once. All the workshops were about sex, the gift bags 

included condoms and the whole reason for gathering was to discuss sexuality 

and sexual relationships.

We live in a society where sex is used to sell everything, from holidays to 

toothbrushes. Yet having conversations about sex is still considered a massive 

taboo. We live in a society where gay marriage has been recognised (rightly so!) 

by our government, yet gay relationships are never mentioned in our 

classrooms. We live in a society where porn culture has dominated our media 

and mainstream pornography depicts unhealthy ideas about relationships to 

children as young as 8. Yet Sex and Relationships Education isn’t even 

compulsory in our schools, and consent is almost always un-discussed.

We need to move towards sexuality without sexualisation and sex without 

sexism. And the only way forward is through starting the conversation. The 

Sexpression conference was fantastic. It’s time we bring the discussions started 

there into our relationships, our thoughts and our everyday conversations.

Profile: Lucienne Boyce

Name: Lucienne Boyce

Lives in: Bristol

Contact: lucienne@lucienneboyce.com

Create: In 2013 I published The Bristol Suffragettes, a history of the militant suffrage campaign in Bristol, which includes A Walk with the Bristol Suffragettes and a map. I have also set up a Bristol Suffragette Project on my website, which offers further resources. I also hope that people will get in touch to share their suffragette stories. I have given numerous talks about the women’s campaign, looking at the history and how it relates to activism and women’s status today. I’m currently researching the impact of the First World War on the women’s suffrage movement, with a special interest in the peace movement – which goes back to the days of Greenham Common (when I joined demonstrations though I didn’t live in the camp). In 2006 I completed an MA in English Literature with the Open University, specialising in eighteenth-century women’s literature, particularly the work of Frances Burney and Charlotte Smith.

Other creative stuff: My first historical novel, To The Fair Land, was published in 2012. A thriller set partly in Bristol, it’s about a voyage to the South Seas.

I’m currently working on a murder mystery about a Bow Street Runner investigating a crime near Bath, and doing research for a novel to be set in 1910, during the suffrage campaign.

I’ve written a play about the suffragettes in Bristol (Follow the Colours).

I blog about suffragettes, fiction, the 18th century, theatre, books etc.

I’m a member of the Women’s History Network and the Historical Novel Society, and I set up and run the HNS’s local group for readers and writers which meets monthly at Bristol Central Library http://hnsbristol.wordpress.com/


One thing you love about Feminism... the energy and creativity. 

Website - http://www.lucienneboyce.com/

On Twitter - @LucienneWrite

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/lucienne.boyce

Interview: Sian Norris

Emilia di Girolamo, Sian Norris and Biddisha, Bristol Womens LIterature Festival, 2013

Hello and welcome to our first interview of 2014 with Bristol's Sian Norris!

Sian, can you tell us something about your daily life at the moment?

Well, in my day job I'm an advertising copywriter. I work for lots of different charities, writing their fundraising creative advertising. It means every day I get to come up with ideas and then write lots of inspiring words about a whole range of different topics, from human rights, environmental issues and health. 

Outside of my day job, I'm a writer too. What this generally means is getting up early on the weekends, turning on my computer and working on my novel. Sometimes I'll mix it up with a side project or a short story, but right now the novel really has to take priority! 

Part of being a writer is reading. I read a lot. I don't know anyone who reads as much as I do! I can quite happily spend the whole day in the same position on my sofa and read a book. Reading helps me to understand more about telling stories, about how to use language. 

My day job does this too. Every day at work I have to tell emotive, human stories - sometimes in 35 words, sometimes in 2,000. 

Then there's my literature festival which involves coming up with a concept for an event, researching speakers, liaising with writers and the venue, and managing publicity. 

How does creativity get to be part of your life?

I'm really lucky that I get to think creatively in my day job as that means every day I am thinking and writing and using my creativity. This helps me to be creative outside work too. I've found that since doing creative work in my working week, I've had so much more energy to do and make more outside of work. 

I've always wanted to be a writer, it's all I've ever wanted to do (except from be a ballet dancer but that's another story...) and so I can't imagine it not being part of my life. I love writing, I love creating stories and using words. But it is hard work. My job is very stressful and very intense, so I have to be very motivated to get up and  turn the computer on and get writing. But once I do, once I enter the world of the story, I don't want to leave! It's exciting. 

What do you love about what you create?

There's a real satisfaction about seeing something finished - from a book to the literature festival events. And then knowing that other people have got something out of it, that it has had an effect on them. I think to do creative work - especially writing which is very solitary - you have to be very self-motivated and so you have to feel proud of the work you've done.

Where or how did you learn you creative practices?

I don't know really, that's quite a hard question. I haven't had any formal training in creative writing - I've just always told stories and written stories. When I was five I made a book about a duck and I never stopped. So I never did a course or an MA or anything. I guess I learnt from reading - reading great novels and classic novels and trashy novels and bad novels, reading books that no one reads and reading books that everyone reads. Books teach me to write. 

I've always been quite bolshy about 'doing' things. So when it came to the festival, for example, I didn't think I couldn't do it because I had no training or experience. I was just very determined to do it, to make it happen. So I just started asking people and luckily lots of women said a huge, resounding YES! I've always had this confidence that I can and will do creative things - which is weird because there are areas in my life where I don't feel confident at all. But with creative work I've always felt like I need to make it happen and I will make it happen. There's no sense of 'no, I can't do it', because I am so determined to ensure I do. 

Work helps as well - I learn a lot on the job. 

When did feminism come to be a part of your life and what did you do about it?

I've always considered myself a feminist but there was definitely a point in my life when it stopped being a theoretical concept for me that I read about, and instead became a way of life. I started getting involved in activism in 2007 when I was 22/23 and organised Ladyfest Bristol. From there, I got involved in the Bristol Feminist Network and then ended up running it for six years - organising discussion groups, marches, protests, awareness raising events. Loads of things! Plus writing my blog. And now I don't run BFN anymore, but I'm focusing a lot of my activism on cultural femicide through running my festival. Most of my feminist writing focuses on issues around VAWG. I think VAWG underpins everything. 

How would you describe how creativity and feminism combine for you?

They're inseparable. For women to create in a world where women's creativity is de-valued - that is a feminist act in itself. Men dominate the creative world - from creative depts in advertising agencies (only 3% of creative directors are women) to Booker prize lists (although that is improving...but even with a women-dominated list last year all the MSM articles led on Crace and Toibin). Recently Elizabeth Jane Howard died and so many of the obits introduced her as "Kinsley Amis' ex". As if her own work was subordinate to her former marriage! It is so present, this de-valuing of women's creative contribution that we don't even notice it. 

Feminism has always found creative forms of protest too, and that's important. Writing, publishing, art, exhibiting, performing - this has always been part of feminism. 

In my own way I try to combine the two by giving creative women a platform at the festival, and by writing interesting (i hope!) women and girl characters. 

Can you say something about your experience of DIY and feminism?

I don't really feel part of any DIY scene. I have done a lot of things myself, such as the festival, with no money. But I worked closely with existing creative businesses and had a lot of support from Watershed, Festival of Ideas and Foyles.  I think it is really inspiring that we have these places in Bristol that nurture and foster creativity in our city - it's a really important aspect to what makes Bristol such an interesting and creative place to live. There are so many creative communities in Bristol. It's inspiring to know that these communities are there, supporting innovation in the city. 

I think it's been - and continues to be - an important part of feminism - finding ways to create and perform and publish our work, lifting our voices up in a patriarchal and capitalist culture. Finding a way to hold on to and express our creative power. 

I'd love to hear about something you are really excited about and pleased about you and your life at the moment?

As I say, I'm working on a novel which I'm really excited about. But it is hard work and time is an issue. It's going to a long process, but that's ok. And I've a couple of side projects going on but I can't say too much else about them until a few things are confirmed! And I'll continue with the festival - I plan to do some one-off events this year and then hopefully a longer programme in the future. 

Can you name some of your creative and feminist influences; living or dead!

There are so many! At the moment I am really inspired by Gertrude Stein. She was a genius and she knew it. But although her work was ignored by publishers for a long time, she never stopped in her single minded determination to to do with writing what Picasso was doing with art - revolutionising everything! She also was an incredible mentor and teacher for modernist writers but unfortunately her importance has become subordinate to those very men she supported, and she's largely ignored. The fact of her being a woman and a gay woman can't be ignored in this. Living writers - I'm really inspired by Ali Smith, and Margaret Atwood - they are two of my favourite authors. I love how Ali Smith plays with form and the shapes of words and sentence. 

And please say more about the literature festival, what inspired you, did you already know the people you wanted to be involved, what are your dreams for it?

The seeds of the idea came from a panel discussion I organised with Anna Brown back in 2011. It was called 'Where are the Women' and it featured me, Dr Sue Tate and Bidisha talking about cultural femicide. The fact that women are so overwhelmingly absent from our cultural stage - from Glastonbury line-ups to the fact only one woman director has EVER won Best Director Oscar to literary festival line ups. There was a literature festival happening at the same time as the panel and the gender imbalance was so shocking. 

I've always believed very strongly that if I can do something about an issue I care about, then I should. And I care about cultural femicide and I love literature - as a writer and a reader. So I decided to put on my own festival, showcasing women's creativity and celebrating women's writing. 

It was important to me that I had a range of panels to cover lots of different subjects, with a diverse range of speakers. I also knew they had to be panels that interested me - after all, if I wasn't inspired by it, why would anyone else be? I also knew I wanted it to have a feminist angle. 

In terms of who I wanted to be involved - yes and no. I knew I wanted Bidisha involved because she is such a champion of women's creativity and activism. She is an incredible woman who I feel very lucky to work with. Then, I thought about what panels would be interesting and what writers I love and admire and it all went from there. I was also approached by some writers/publishers and that was fantastic.

Since the weekend programme I've organised a one off event on Jane Austen and I plan to do a few more one-offs over 2014. And then, hopefully, another weekend long programme. The response I had to the festival was so brilliant, it's inspired me to keep going with it. 

Also I'd love to hear more about what you did with BFN and your decision to step back?

What didn't I do! I co-ordinated BFN for six years. In that time, I organised and supported a range of member-led discussion groups on all sorts of issues - from body image to men in feminism to abortion to FGM. These discussion groups were the core of our work - they involved consciousness raising, awareness raising - they gave us a space to talk with confidence about our own experiences, learn from one another - as well as discover new perspectives and new issues. The solidarity and sisterhood I often felt in discussion groups was very special - particularly ones around harassment where we shared tears and laughter about our own experiences. 

I also co-organised three Reclaim the Night marches, a huge amount of work which I am very proud of. I spoke at conferences, went to visit young women in schools, and organised a range of awareness raising events on FGM, violence against women in the Congo, cultural femicide - so many issues! I also organised a series of women's performance nights. 

Then there were the petitions, the letter writing campaigns, our work campaigning to protect VAWG spending in the council, our campaigns around Hooters and sex entertainment venue licensing. 

We also had day long workshops, worked with other organisations to deliver feminist content, wrote articles, had a pro choice vigil - we really did so much and I am so proud of everything we achieved with BFN. 

However, after six years I really felt that it was time to move on. I am now so busy with work, with my own writing and with the festival that I couldn't commit the physical and emotional energy to BFN that I once could. It was a hard decision but it was the right one. 

Thanks so much to Sian for taking the time to do this interview and to you for reading it, and remember Feminist Create has an OPEN SUBMISSIONS policy; which means anyone can get in touch if you'd like to tell more creative Feminists about you or your work/project.

Profile: Sian Norris

Lives in: Bristol 

Create: Ever since I can remember, I have written. As a child I wrote stories, odd fairy tales and then moved on to angsty poetry. As a student I mixed political and creative writing in my zine, Crooked Rib, which evolved into my blog:

www.sianandcrookedrib.blogspot.com

In 2011, I self-published an anthology that brought together women's and men's experiences of becoming a feminist. The Light Bulb Moment is available to buy here:  http://www.lulu.com/shop/sian-norris/the-light-bulb-moment-the-stories-of-why-we-are-feminists/paperback/product-18726169.html  and brings together funny, painful, inspiring and poetic narratives of our feminist lives. 

In 2013, my first novel, 'Greta and Boris: a daring rescue' was published by Our Street Books. A book aimed at children and adults from 7+, it tells the story of Greta as she goes on a magical adventure to rescue Boris, her cat, from the Rat King. 

I'm now working on my second novel and laying plans for the third. 

As well as fiction, I do feminism - and write about it. I've published articles on feminism in the Guardian, Liberal Conspiracy and The F Word. For six years I coordinated the Bristol Feminist Network - organising marches, demos, petitions, gigs, film nights, panels and discussion groups. In 2013 I founded and organised the first ever Bristol Women's Literature Festival - an event that will continue to grow and flourish (I hope) for years to come. 

Interview: Yas Necati

Welcome to Feminist Create's first email interview with YAS NECATI!

So Yas, tell us a bit about your self and where you're from?

I’m a student, writer and feminist living in North London. I play guitar, and enjoy making fine art and writing poetry. I’m also writing a novel. I will complete it. I will.

How or where did you hear about the Feminist Create blog and what do you like about it?

I came across the blog whilst I was browsing my news feed on Facebook. It’s fantastic that there is a place for people to express themselves and share their passion and talents with others in such a cool space with a great format and awesome leadership.

Describe any creative work, projects, fun things you do.

Currently I’m working on a personal blog (http://yassayshi.blogspot.co.uk/) and also writing for an activist blog in America titled PBG (http://poweredbygirl.org/). On the side of those projects I post cute pictures of cats with feminist captions (http://feministcats.blogspot.co.uk/)! I’ve created two installations in the past year, and written lots of music and poetry! I’m hoping to finally finish the novel I’m writing about a very cool feminist with blue hair.

At the moment I’m organising a peaceful protest outside the News International headquarters addressing The Sun newspaper’s Page 3. We’ll be asking Dominic Mohan – very politely – to stop sexualising and objectifying women in Britain’s biggest-read family newspaper. Feel free to come along! The gathering’s on Saturday 6th July.

What inspired you to be a creative person?

I’ve always enjoyed writing and have been an aspiring novelist since the age of just 10! I’m also into journalism, but the quirky, activist-driven kind. I’m very inspired by recent writers like Laurie Penny and Caitlin Moran. It wasn’t until I was older that I got really into art. The contemporary fine artist Sarah Maple (http://www.sarahmaple.com/) heavily influenced a lot of my artwork. Not only did she inspire me to create drawings, paintings and photography to be thought provoking and controversial, but she also drew me into the feminist movement. Other influences include music and poetry. I’m a massive fan of Hollie McNish (http://holliemcnish.com/), Kate Tempest (http://katetempest.co.uk/) and Carol Ann Duffy. A lot of Madonna’s creative work, particularly her shows, is another of my influences. I love the music of Ani DiFranco, Ryan Amador and Dani Shay. Although I think the biggest thing that has driven my creativity is just activism in general. When I see things at home or school or work – or even just on the television or the street – that are upsetting and wrong, I think that that is the biggest provoker. There are a lot of personal stories from other people, but I have my own as well. Things that scream: “I need to be changed!” And those things are the ones that have inspired me to make music, and draw and write, because that really is the best way to get a message across and promote change. 

Is there something (or some things) that you find hard/difficult in order to continue to be creative?

Sometime’s I get writer’s block. That isn’t fun! I guess the biggest difficulty with being creative is making a living out of it. A lot of people discourage picking creative subjects to study because they see them as inferior to the academic ones. There’s so much competition to be a writer, artist or musician nowadays that a lot of people chose to only pursue it as a hobby. But then they get caught up with their job or something else, and there’s no time left to be creative because people have been absorbed into the rigidity of the system.

Can you talk about the cross over of being creative and being a Feminist for you or in your work/project/art?

Practically all of my artwork is based around feminism, (such as the installation above), and also a lot of my poetry. All of the blogs I write for/am involved in are largely feminist. Moreover the book I’m writing is like a modern feminist fairy-tale! So I guess there’s quite a big crossover between my creativity and the movement for equality. 

How important are specifically-feminist spaces in your life?

Very! It is extremely difficult to find other people, particularly of my age, who have even a vague interest in feminism. Specifically-feminist places are awesome! They allow people who think similarly to interact with one another and share their ideas in a place where they won’t be penalised, ignored or scoffed at.

Do you have a vision of, or an idea about, a more feminist-centred world?

Definitely, although it’s hard to explain in just a few sentences! At the moment women in the UK get paid 73p for every £1 a man earns in the same job. In a feminist-centred world there would be no pay gap. And women wouldn’t have to strip to become famous musicians, and actresses could have hairy underarms on the red carpet! And there would be an equal number of women to men in parliament, and abortion rights would be human rights and un-debatable. And female footballers wouldn’t be “women players” but just “players,” and there would be a female pope. And men would be able to dress a little less formally in the work-place like women always do, and fathers would get longer paternity leave. I think the most important thing about feminism is the emphasis on equality for everyone. You can’t have true equality if only women are liberated – in the few cases where men are oppressed, they need to be dealt with too. And I’m a strong believer that feminism is linked closely with other basic human rights. A more feminist-centred world would see women from all ethnicities and backgrounds being represented fairly in women’s magazines, and more gay comic-book characters! Ultimately, we’ll know we’ve reached equality when the words “cunt” and “pussy” are seen as empowering, just as it’s empowering to tell someone “You’ve got balls.”

Tell us something that you're really pleased about your self, in your life or creative work at the moment? (Show off or brag as much as you can or want! It's important that as creative Feminists we get to take up lots of space, especially on this blog, about stuff that we're totally excited about!!!)

I once posted a picture of my underarm hair on Facebook. At the time I thought it was the bravest thing I’d ever done! I got a lot of nasty comments, but also some really positive ones. I wanted to challenge the idea of the “hairless female” that is so widely adopted in modern culture. I still get people shouting “underarm hair” at me in the corridors today – but I think it’s great. It just proves that I had a point. That feminism still has a point.

If today you got to choose a person, living or dead, to positively influence the world and it's governments, who would you choose and why?

Ooh… this is a tough one! (Thinks in deep concentration for quite a few minutes) If I had to pick I guess I’d choose Rosa Parks. She was an extremely epic lady and I think she’d change everything and ask for no one’s permission.

Thanks so much for the interview!

Yas x

Profile: Carmina Masoliver

Lives in: South west London, UK

Create: I am a writer and performer from London. I have studied at CSM and UEA. I recently completed an MA in Creative Entrepreneurship with Distinction. I am the Editor of Poetry&Paint, an anthology exploring the relationship between words and the visual arts. I am the co-creator of a Feminist group and arts production organisation 'She Grrrowls'.

Other creative stuff: I sometimes sing in my bedroom and post embarrassing videos of my self on YouTube. I started off writing song lyrics, have sung as part of my poetry sets and secretly want to sell-out to music. That said, I may buy a ukulele but my love for poetry will always keep me going.

  One thing I love about Feminism is... people are trying to change the world for the better! It is a very hopeful thing.


www.carminamasoliver.com