Football Crazy

We have some books at home that I shall loosely call ‘loo books.’ They are the sort that can’t quite fit on the shelves of classic books, or artfully arranged ‘other,’ so are consigned to the smallest room in the house. My favourite of these is a cartoon book by Jacky Fleming called ‘Be a bloody train driver.’ I was given it a long time ago and it continues to make me smile and strike me with its relevance - particularly given the fantastic place in which we find ourselves with women’s football today. A picture I return to again and again is one of a little girl with a bow in her hair and a party dress covered in mud, with the caption ‘you said wear a dress.’ * I love it because - like Calamity Jane - it encapsulates so much of what it is - or should be - to be female. The ability to like pretty things - indeed to wear them - but equally to run, climb, throw and play messily. ‘Surely this should apply to boys too?’ I hear you say and yes - obviously - self expression and freedom for all is an important part of any civilised society. But I’m not talking about boys today; today is a day where we celebrate girls and where we have reached.

My Mum often tells a story which I don’t remember but certainly sounds plausible. Aged twelve, having messed about a bit on clarinet and piano, I watched some percussionists in our Saturday morning concert, and at the end of the performance, Mum turned round to me and said ‘you want to do that don’t you?’ Apparently my response was ‘are girls allowed?’ This line has been repeated with much mirth - especially as I have made my living since as a percussionist, teaching, playing and conducting. But the point is, given my life experience up to that point, it was a perfectly valid question. I have three older brothers and three younger sisters and it was clear to me that there were certain activities not available to girls; it was fine to kick a football around in the park with boys but not at school, there was no rugby or cricket for my generation either. In terms of crafts, the boys did metal work and wood work and the girls did sewing and cooking. I like all crafts and didn’t mind the sewing and cooking but was puzzled by wood and metal being treated as a mysterious world the girls were not allowed to enter. You have probably guessed that we were a large Catholic family which meant regular attendance to mass - a tedious undertaking which I nevertheless accepted as a normal part of family life. But my brothers were allowed to ‘serve’ in mass (a series of rituals that supported the priest during the ceremony) which looked a little less boring than sitting in the pews. When I asked if I could do this too, the answer was an inevitable ‘no.’

I always assumed that I accepted this fairly passively - like lots of women of my generation - who nevertheless went on to make relatively liberal career choices, earn money, obtain mortgages, have families (or not) and generally live a life of their choosing. Occasionally however, unspeakable rage has exploded out of me which I didn’t even know was there. Like racism, sexism has a drip drip effect which can erode or eventually combust into something red hot. I’m not proud of this, and perhaps it is too convenient to put bad behaviour down to chauvinism, but that feeling of being continually overlooked or undermined is something I am sure women of my generation will recognise and will have responded to in their own way - not always positively. (I have written about this in ‘Jazz Wives’).

So, as a woman watching England’s Women win the European Cup, last night meant so much more than sporting success. I watched it with my two sons and husband and it lifted my heart to think that this was barely even ‘a thing’ to my two teenage boys. They are already far more liberated than my generation (and indeed have reprimanded older male relatives for jokey but nevertheless casual sexism). We have come a long way but there is still much to do; in the world of sport girls are generally too inactive and this needs to be addressed urgently. Mental and physical health issues are always worse with children who don’t move enough and we already know that outdoor activity for all is an essential human need. As far as music is concerned, things are pleasingly changing - too slowly and not enough - but the journey has started. We need more female conductors, drummers, lead guitarists, bass players and brass players. We need girls to be in an environment where they are less intimidated, less embarrassed and more supported in the things they deep down, really want to do. Visual role models will help with this as well as mentors, teachers and writers.

It is for this reason that women footballers winning a major trophy is so profound. I hope these women go on to greater success and continue to educate and inspire. These awe-inspiring visual role models will have imprinted onto young minds as the aspirational, the possible. I can only say thank you to them for their bravery, skill and tenacity - and admit to a small tear in my eye and a big lump in my throat.

* Jacky has very kindly allowed me to use the illustration above, but if you want to see and/or purchase better copies please do check out her website and books.

Uplifting music of the day: ‘I never loved a man (the way I love you)’ - as performed by Aretha Franklin. I can’t believe I haven’t picked anything by Aretha up until now, and frankly, anything would have worked. I chose this because I can’t think of a single person that can phrase like she can - it’s a supreme gift. This song - with its relatively unchanging and slow moving melody - is hard to pull off convincingly and Aretha absolutely makes it her own.

Contemplative music of the day: ‘Trois morceaux pour piano’ - Lili Boulanger. I love all things French, early twentieth century and pianistic and LB is such a perfect example of this. She died tragically young - at only twenty-five - and her sister, Nadia went onto become one of the greatest composition teachers of the twentieth century. I have barely started listening to her works but the prospect of delving into more is exciting.