Skip to main content
A weekend of tears, laughter – and feminism
LYNNE WALSH reports from two action-packed and emotional days at FiLiA conference in Portsmouth

IT’S astonishing the things you can learn on a brief visit to a new city.

Most of us know that Portsmouth, nicknamed Pompey, is famous for its military and maritime connections. Some among you might win a pub quiz by recognising it as the birthplace of Charles Dickens, or knowing that the city crest includes a unicorn with a fish tail.  How many realise it was also the country’s “corsetry capital”?

It seems more than 7,000 women were employed, post World War II, in making corsets. It’s hard to image any image less feminist than this restricting, painful garment designed to gratify a “male gaze.” 

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You can read five articles for free every month,
but please consider supporting us by becoming a subscriber.
More from this author
Lynne Walsh piece webpic.jpg
Features / 22 April 2025
22 April 2025

LYNNE WALSH previews the Bristol Radical History Conference this weekend

REMARKABLE: The Danish writer Karen Blixen as a recipient of
International Women's Day 2025 / 8 March 2025
8 March 2025
With most of recorded history dominated by the voices of men, LYNNE WALSH encourages sisters to read the memoirs of women – and to write their own too
International Women's Day 2025 / 8 March 2025
8 March 2025
LYNNE WALSH attempts to unravel the latest advice from local authorities on tackling violence against women and girls
A unit of the Bulgarian International Brigade, 1937
Features / 25 January 2025
25 January 2025
Anti-fascists from around the world will soon be travelling to Spain to commemorate the International Brigades and walk in the footsteps of the bravest of their generation, writes LYNNE WALSH
Similar stories
Features / 24 November 2024
24 November 2024
GEORGINA ANDREWS and CAROL STAVRIS introduce a new conference on women’s oppression under capitalism to take place in December, with the central theme of ending violence against women and girls
Campaigners for Women Against State Pension Inequality Campa
Labour Conference 2024 / 24 September 2024
24 September 2024
Gunda Schumann gives a perspective from Germany, where lesbi
Features / 3 August 2024
3 August 2024
LYNNE WALSH reports from a recent conference in London organised by the Women’s Declaration International
Rebecca Hyde in The Last One by Zoe Alker, 2024
Books / 6 June 2024
6 June 2024
LYNNE WALSH deplores how laudable commitments to battling discrimination have displaced the fight against women's sex-based oppression