Nancy

Mostly lurking and ting

[Nancy @houseminion]

@DerryBanShee @JournalistJill Me too - I'm going for a visit on the day of the film release 😀

[Tracy Edwards @TracyEdwardsMBE]

Every. Single. Word. This! 👇👇👇

[JamesFennell MBE @FennellJW]

The last match up this big between England and Norway was at Stamford Bridge... in 1066...

We won that one, but lost to France in the final. 960 years of hurt..

[Lily Craven @TheAttagirls]

Woman of the Day company secretary and WW2 Air Transport Auxiliary pilot First Officer Gabrielle Patterson, born OTD 1905 in London, the first woman in the UK to hold a flying instructor’s certificate. If there was an aircraft type she couldn’t fly, the RAF didn’t have one.

Gabrielle gained her aviator’s ‘A’ certificate in 1931 and qualified as a flying instructor in 1933. By the late 1930s, she was leader of, and flying instructor for, the 125-strong National Women's Air Reserve at Maylands Aerodrome, Romford. As the daughter of a wealthy family, it worried her that other women would be put off from qualifying as flying instructors as “Women Pilots hitherto have consisted only of those with large enough Bank Balances”.

Gabrielle had strong opinions on equality for women. In 1938, writing about “women flying instructors in the event of war”, she said, "The instructor always starts with the advantage of his pupil's spontaneous respect for a (relative) master of his subject, coupled with a very natural wish to shine. The woman instructor has the added advantage that this respect is enhanced by her supposed greater difficulties in acquiring that (relative) mastery and with the instinctive desire of the male to impress the female. By tactfully and subtly indicating the conduct in the air and on the ground which does win her confidence and does impress her, she can obtain it in nine cases out of ten, and in the face of such a proportion she could certainly count on disciplinary measures for the tenth."

In other words, a woman need not be put off by the male trait of wanting to show off to women. Nine times out of ten, she can set the boundaries for a professional working relationship with a male pupil, but if he crosses the line, nick him. A woman after my own heart.

When WW2 broke out, Gabrielle was 34, living in Bristol, and had clocked up 1,530 flying hours. She applied to the Air Transport Auxiliary as soon as it opened its doors to women in 1940. She had already mastered nearly twenty types of aircraft, had owned "a Miles Whitney Straight, a Puss Moth, two Gypsy Moths, and two Swallows (only one any good)", and had flown in Germany, Belgium, Holland and France as well as the UK.

Gabrielle was one of the First Eight, the highly experienced women pilots who joined the ATA on 1 January 1940 after being recruited by Pauline Gower. They knew each other. They’d competed in the Ladies Flying Event at Reading in May 1931 alongside Amy Johnson, another ATA pilot.

Initially, they were restricted to flying non-operational types of plane such as trainers or communications aircraft and paid 20% less than the men but Pauline Gower secured equal flying opportunities for women in 1941, and in 1943, only after a long battle, equal pay. It was the ever equal pay settlement in the UK.

Retaliation was subtle — call it an invisible tariff that only applies to women who dare to work in a male-dominated field. First Officer Lettice Curtis, for example, was required to make ten perfect landings in a Halifax bomber before she was cleared to fly them, not the seven required of her male colleagues.

Gabrielle graduated to flying Hurricanes, Spitfires, Hudsons, Wellingtons, Lysander and Mosquitoes among others, adding another 29 types of aircraft to her record. She was regarded as "a polished pilot whose capabilities are limited by her physique.” She was quite small.

After WW2, Gabrielle served as Commandant of the Women’s Junior Air Corps for four years, writing the syllabus, and was the first woman appointed to the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators’ Panel of Examiners. Later, she taught foreign pilots how to communicate clearly in English over the radio.

Gabrielle died in 1968, aged 63. Her ashes were scattered from the air over White Waltham Airfield, home of the No.1 Ferry Pool and also then the home of the ATA Museum.

[Akua Reindorf KC @akuareindorf]

What AI was invented for. Terrific.

[Nancy @houseminion]

@TheVikingDane Al Stewart wrote a lovely song about her https://t.co/EW931qxdk4

[Lammie_Art @Lammie_Art01]

A fly will enter your house through a microscopic gap in the space time continuum but cannot locate a fully open patio door for 6 8 business hours

[Nancy @houseminion]

@JournalistJill A very modest £243 onion 😢

[Women in the Chilterns @WomenChilterns]

Hi @emily4MK here are the thoughts of women in your constituency. We matter too. And we vote. We would like to invite you to meet with us to discuss why single sex spaces matter to women.
#WomenInTheChilterns

[Nancy @houseminion]

@BertDalziel Would watch

[suzanne moore @suzanne_moore]

"Once you replace “sex” with “gender,” and/or allow men to identify as women, women lose ALL protections in law.
Everything we have fought for, gone in an instant. The clock is wound back a century.
We have to fight this. Worldwide".

Saw this sorry dunno who to credit but YES

[Sam Morgan @CrunchAlias]

If a girl of 3, or 9 years old insists she is a boy, it's not because she is a boy inside.

It's because someone has taught her there is a correct way to be a girl, and she doesn't like it.

[Nancy @houseminion]

🌍->🚀->🌙

[NASA @NASA]

Liftoff.

The Artemis II mission launched from @NASAKennedy at 6:35pm ET (2235 UTC), propelling four astronauts on a journey around the Moon.

Artemis II will pave the way for future Moon landings, as well as the next giant leap — astronauts on Mars.

[Janet Murray @jan_murray]

Dear friend (who thinks I’m unkind - or even homophobic),

Remember how much we loved Boy George and Marilyn when we were growing up? Our parents weren’t thrilled by men in make-up and dresses - but we thought they were cool. They were expressing individuality and challenging rigid gender stereotypes.

You and I both grew up supporting gay rights for a simple reason: people shouldn’t be punished, excluded or shamed for who they love.

That belief hasn’t changed.

But being gay, lesbian or bisexual is about who you’re attracted to. Gender identity is about how someone understands or describes themselves.

Those are not the same thing. And treating them as if they are puts women and girls at risk.

Here’s the crucial difference.

Many of the pop stars we grew up with played with gender expression - flamboyant clothes, make-up, theatrical performance. David Bowie made a whole art form out of it.

But we still understood they were men - and so did they.

They weren’t demanding entry to women’s spaces.

They weren’t claiming women’s awards or competing in women’s sporting categories.

And women weren’t being forced to agree that the man standing in front of them was a woman - or risk social or professional consequences.

We both have daughters now - young women just starting their adult lives. I’ve taught mine that no means no and I’m sure you’ve taught yours the same.

But that message becomes meaningless if our girls are also being told they must say “yes” to any man who says he’s a woman - even when their instincts say otherwise.

If a girl isn’t interested in make-up or stereotypically feminine things, she may be told she’s actually a man - rather than simply a strong, independent young woman who dresses and behaves as she pleases.

And if she’s same-sex attracted, she may face pressure from men who identify as “lesbians” and expect access to her spaces - and her body - something we'd never have accepted as progressive or 'kind' when we were younger.

Single-sex spaces - toilets, changing rooms, hospital wards, refuges, prisons - exist because women need them. Not because all men are dangerous, but because male violence is a reality and sex-based boundaries reduce risk.

Women cannot know which men pose a threat and which don’t.

That’s why all must stay out of women's spaces. Good men understand this - without question.

I know you want to be kind. So do I.

But kindness isn’t asking women and girls to surrender their privacy, dignity or safety in order to prove they’re “tolerant”.

Or calling them 'homophobic' or bigoted for saying no.

With love,
Janet

[Nancy @houseminion]

@VictoriaCoren @BBCTwo Anton Lesser could read the phone book to me and I'd still be in raptures - what a voice!

[Frank Gardner @FrankRGardner]

One to end the week on: Robin singing in London today

[J.K. Rowling @jk_rowling]

@c3naaX @HillelNeuer @gghamari Iran appears to be unusually full of Gryffindors.

[Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing @MWGoneFishing]

What a lovely lovely man ❤️

[VenetiaJane's Garden @VenetiaJane]

17 Dec: Saturnalia, held 17th–23rd December, was the Romans’ midwinter festival marked by gift-giving, feasting, and role reversal between masters and slaves. It is thought mistletoe may have been hung over doorways during the festivities to bring peace and good fortune. #history

[Carlyanne McConnell @CarlyanneMcCon1]

Good morning lovely friends 🙋‍♀️💜❄️

🎨Lennart Helje