…said Ann Veronica Stanley whilst fighting for her independence in a 1909 patriarchal society still in the grip of stuffed Victorian morals. Ann Veronica, the protagonist from H G Wells classic, flees to London, risking everything to fulfil her ambition of becoming a leading Biologist. She gets involved with the courageous women of the suffrage movement. When she said, “It’s not Father, or Morningside (where she lived) – it’s the order of things”, – she was talking about the fact that although her Father and the area that she lived in were holding her back – it was in fact the order of things that was holding her back from living the life that she dreamed of.
At this time, women were oppressed by society, unable to access training and jobs and not even having the right to vote. Whenever there is a group of people experiencing oppression, there will be people fighting for a solution to life this oppression.
The reason I am In Business
I read stories such as Ann Veronica’s and went to see it at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury by the Senior Youth Theatre. It really highlights the reason that I am in business. I truly want to change the world for deaf people. Some may look at this mission and think that I must have lost my mind wanting to make such a big impact to the world, but like Ann Veronica and others who have come before and after her – if there is a real need and desire to make this change happen, then it has been proven that this can happen.
Some of us wish to have such big goals and aims in life, which is crucial for incremental changes and improvements in society. Without people having ambition, we won’t see the change needed in the world.
I am not suggesting that we should not bother doing the smaller things. Let’s face it; in Ann Veronica’s case, the suffrage movement wouldn’t have had enough momentum without these individuals making small changes. They all added up to the change that needed to happen for women’s rights.
In addition to this, some of us need to put our heads above the parapet and be open and honest about our views, sharing unique and insightful views that will, in turn, make this necessary change.
Millicent Fawcett was a prominent figure in the suffragette movement who will now be commemorated with a statue in Westminster. She worked relentlessly to win women the vote.
This also happened with Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Mother Theresa and more recently with celebrities such as Leonardo Dicaprio. All want to make a change with climate change, and Jamie Oliver; pushing to improve the nutritional values of our school dinners.
Whether you are looking to make a small or substantial change, all of these efforts will make a difference and consolidate – the stuff that makes sustainable change happen.
I would love to hear about the change that you are inspiring in the world, however big or small…
