Return of the Big Ladies

by Ruth Barker, 26 Aug 2011

Hello,

Following my earlier posts on the subject, I noticed that the Guardian newspaper have also been doing a round-up of Big Ladies – in their Lifestyle section, for some reason. Click the link at the top of the article to see images of the works.

Are there really more of them about at the moment? Most of them smack of a real conservatism to me. It’s something that frustrates me I’m afraid: We have very little permanent civic statuary in this country to commemorate individual women’s contributions to history, society, or ideas, even though our streets are filled with memorials to men on horses. And yet generalised women are present, not memorialising or commemorating, but often just decorating or embellishing: just, it seems, “to be admired”.

Enough already!

R