ANYONE passing No 42 Woodstock Road in London in the next few days may notice that a small plaque has appeared on the front wall of the house. But how many will recognise the name on the plaque: Mary Macarthur?
As historians of the trade unionism will know, Macarthur was a campaigner for working women. She fought for equal pay in munitions factories during the First World War and campaigned against sweated labour which saw women work horrendously long hours for slave-labour pay and as such is credited with beginning the long fight for the minimum wage. It is entirely fitting that English Heritage has recognised her with one of its famous blue plaques.
However, the fact that Macarthur’s name is still relatively unknown is a reflection of the fact that significant female figures in history often do not get the recognition that is enjoyed by their male counterparts. The Royal Bank of Scotland, for example, has only just started to feature women on their notes - most recently the poet and novelist Nan Shepherd who appears on the new £5 notes.
It is also extraordinary that there is still a need for the cause Mary Macarthur fought for. Macarthur’s great hope was for equal pay and yet only last month new figures showed that women in full-time jobs are still being paid an average of 6.2 per cent less than men doing the equivalent job. None of this is likely to change until more women are in leadership roles across the country and on that too, there has been a depressing lack of progress. A study in the last few days revealed that across business, politics, the public sector and the media, only 27 per cent of the top jobs are filled by women.
Recognising the work of extraordinary female figures on bank notes and blue plaques could well help to make a difference by celebrating the pioneers of equality and achievement. But the new blue plaque at No 42 Woodstock Road is also a reminder of how much is still left to do. Mary Macarthur achieved so much in the cause of equality, but nearly 100 years after her death, would she be struck by how little has changed?
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here