Bad Reputation

“For a long time I have hesitated to write a book on woman. The subject is irritating, especially to women; and it is not new. Enough ink has been spilled in the quarreling over feminism, now practically over, and perhaps we should say no more about it. It is still talked about, however, for the voluminous nonsense uttered during the last century seems to have done little to illuminate the problem. After all, is there a problem? And if so, what is it?”

The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir (1976)

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Devised physical theatre performance with collaborators Rosalia Chieppa, Meike Deveney, Alex Doble, and Michelle Dunlop. Presented in December 2013 at Lumley Theatre, University of Kent, Canterbury, England. What place does feminism have in the world today? Bad Reputation is an exploration of the movement, why people are so quick to dismiss it, and why they perhaps shouldn’t be. A social, political, and cultural revolution that has taken place over more than a century, feminism has experienced its ups and downs, with generations of women and men relating to it in different ways. Is feminism still a mobilising force that shapes our futures? We look into history to reflect upon our ties with it.