With thanks to all my sitters and volunteers whether they be just your legs and feet, family, or paid models. And of course my granddaughter, Evie, and for that reason it’s never been for sale but remains available for exhibition. It was made about 2014.
What are you seeing?
It’s another quilt in the continuation of a series called The Life Story quilts. In “The Glass Ceiling” I was trying to carry on showing the struggle against gender inequality and the pervasive barriers that women face both in their professional and personal lives. The quilt shows a group of women standing together, looking up through an almost transparent, unyielding glass ceiling. This ceiling is supposed to symbolize the invisible barriers that prevent women from advancing to the highest levels not only in their careers but in wider life struggles.
- Women Looking Up: The expressions of these six women range from determination to frustration, and resignation and try to show the emotional and psychological impact of barriers.
- Glass Ceiling: The glass ceiling above the women was an attempt at a clear, almost invisible barrier. This ceiling reflects the insidious nature of gender discrimination that is not always overt, but deeply entrenched.
- Men’s Legs: Above the glass ceiling, only the legs of men are visible. The anonymity of the men – showing only their legs – underscores the systemic nature of the problem – it’s entrenched. I didn’t want to put clothes on them and I wanted to hide individual identities as they not as important as the exclusion they signify. Extra thanks to my husband who volunteered despite strong objections to showing his bunions.
- Stitched Statistics: The legs of the men are free hand machined with stark statistics that were available at the time, (see details below) and that I thought highlighted the various forms of prejudice and injustice faced by women in the workplace. These might include data on the gender pay gap, representation in leadership positions, and instances of workplace harassment.
- Small Child: Among the women, there is a small child who stands out. This child is not looking up like the others but directly at the viewer. The child’s expression is poignant, seeming to ask “Why?” or to accuse the viewer of complicity in the perpetuation of these injustices. The child represents the future generation and the pressing need for change to ensure that they do not face the same barriers.
Words for The Glass Ceiling
The stitched words are taken from Government stats and World Health Stats as well as articles in the Independent and Guardian. Most of the cementing text is my own though. I have had people in the past saying I should state my sources, but I’ve refrained thank you. It’s a piece of art work and my voice not a GCSE history essay!!
Leg 1 “Silly Girl, Silly Girl, you’re only good for one thing” My God says that it is a woman’s place to have babies and look after them and obey her husband. It’s the mans job to protect woman by marrying her. In 10 countries around the world women are legally bound to obey their husbands. 99.3% of women and girls in Egypt have been subjected to sexual harassment. 38% of all murders of women worldwide are committed by a woman’s intimate partner.
Leg 2 Misogyny is the hatred or dislike of women or girls. Misogyny can be manifested in numerous ways, including sexual discrimination, denigration of women, violence against women and sexual objectification of women.
Leg 3 In the UK the gender pay gap is 15 percent On average women earn £5,000 less a year than their male colleagues. For part time work it rises to 35 per cent. Globally only 24 percent of senior management roles are filled by women. In 1997 9 out of 10 senior civil servants in Northern Ireland were men.
Leg 4 The Equalities and Human Rights Commission have said it will take at least 70 years at the current rate of progress to see an equal number of male and female directors in the FTSE 100 companies. Closing the gender gap in agriculture and using the skills of women, we could reduce the worlds hungry by 12 to 17 percent.
Leg 5 There are as many men in the cabinet who went to Eton as there are women MPs in the whole of Westminster, which is 147 female MP’s out of 650 or approximately 24%.
Leg 6 If the skills and qualifications of those women currently out of work in the UK were fully utilised the UK would have an extra £15 to 20 BILLION, which is double the value of the UK exports to China. Females out perform males at 0 level and A level, and undergrad and post grad qualifications by approximately 1.6 to 1.0. There are 1705 male and 1090 female staff in higher education establishments.
Leg 7 73% of the Police force are male and 82% are male above the rank of Chief Inspector. There are 10,100 male barristers and 5,300 female. 77% of UK parochial clergy are male and 89% of senior clergy are male. The UK is rated at 59th in the world for numbers of women in Parliament under Rwanda, Andorra, Cuba, Senegal and Nicaragua. SHAME on the UK.
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