As a gender equality adviser in education in the 1980s I was greatly influenced by Cora Kaplan. I would like to mention her wicked sense of humour. At a conference of feminist educationists, she began speaking about feminist literature and then suddenly broke off, looked round at us all and said: “Put up your hands if you have been watching Thorn Birds,” (a popular TV soap at the time: certainly not promoting women’s rights).
About three-quarters of us slowly and somewhat sheepishly raised our arms. We all burst into laughter. It reminded us that we all have contradictory and conflicting emotions, and that being po-faced and inflexible is not the best way for feminism to flourish.
