SISTERHOOD AND STRENGTH

Scary sisters

The Graeae, three sisters in Greek mythology, managed to survive by sharing one eye and one tooth, which is really rather impressive. Sadly it all went a bit downhill for them when Perseus stole the eye for blackmail purposes, but since the sisters’ names in translation are Dread, Horror and Alarm,  we needn’t really get too upset.

Sisters as stock villains - wicked, ugly, conspiratorial, wild or seductive, regularly appear in literature, religion, history, show-business and folklore. The more wholesome sisters, the Marys and the Marthas, don’t get such good publicity.

Cinderella certainly had a bad time with her sisters, but at least didn’t suffer the gruesome fate of Cordelia in ‘King Lear’, who had no support at all from her nasty sisters. Mary Tudor and Elizabeth 1 didn’t get on at all well; neither did Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Haviland.  The Weird Sisters definitely had it in for Macbeth, and ‘Whatever happened to Baby Jane?’ is a film not recommended for watching if you ever have the slightest doubts about your own sister.  Remember too, that if a children’s book is entitled ‘My Naughty Little Sister’, good sales are guaranteed for many years.

Literary sisters

Novelists introduce us to some splendid sets of sisters. Think of the March sisters in Little Women and the Bennets in Pride and Prejudice. Nancy, the eldest of the Mitford sisters, recreated her own notorious family in her semi-autobiographical novels and in Angela Carter’s wonderful novel ‘Wise Children’, we are treated to the twin chorus girls Nora and Dora Chance as they celebrate their 75th birthday:

‘Our fingernails match our toenails, match our lipstick match our rouge…….The habit of applying war paint outlasts the battle.’

Significant sisters making a difference

A more careful examination reveals how ‘real’, living and breathing sisters have changed the world in so many different ways. Here are just a few examples.

In 39AD in Vietnam, the Trung sisters, Truc and Nhi, established a matriarchal state, having successfully rebelled against Chinese rule. In the 20th Century, the three Mirabel sisters, known as Las Mariposas (The Butterflies), opposed the dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. They were assassinated on November 25th 1960, and the international day for the elimination of violence against women (White Ribbon Day) was established in their honour.     

Culturally, those giantesses, the Brontë sisters, bashed away at their novels in the Haworth parsonage, Virginia Woolf and her sister Vanessa Bell were key to the Bloomsbury Group, and the (very different) novelist sisters Margaret Drabble and A.S.Byatt are important literary figures.

You may never have heard of them, but in 1920s Australia, the three Mcdonagh sisters were pioneering the production of silent films. Katia and Marielle Labeque are internationally renowned concert pianists. And of course in tennis, we have the  magnificent  Venus and Serena William, whose fore-sisters, Margaret and Roumania Peters, were black superstars, winning 14 doubles titles between 1938 and 1953.

Hollywood and the music business have always been bursting at the seams with actors like the Mills sisters, the Richardsons and the Arquettes and  performers like Beyoncé and Solange Knowles. Add your own names to these lists – significant sisters go on for ever once you start thinking about them.

Millicent and her sisters 

Millicent Fawcett was born Millicent Garrett, one of a large, liberal Victorian family. The Garrett sisters were enterprising women.  Millicent focused on women’s suffrage and Elizabeth Garrett was registered as the first female doctor in England, founding the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital and also becoming the first female mayor. Agnes Garrett in the meantime, studied architecture and interior design and in 1888 established The Ladies Dwelling Company, which provided single sex accommodation for professional women.

The sisters supported each other’s causes and worked with other influential women like Elizabeth Blackwell and Emily Davies, building remarkable networks that extended well beyond Britain and which had a significant impact on women’s lives. In essence, they developed a sisterhood.

Powerful and Global

This article has focused primarily on sister siblings,  but of course, the broad notion of sisterhood is vitally important to feminism. 

Robin Morgan, the American feminist, produced two anthologies written by women from all over the world. ‘Sisterhood is Powerful’ in 1968, was followed by ‘Sisterhood is Global’ in 1984, and this eclectic mixture of writings reveals strong world wide commitment to freedom for women.
Every woman is encouraged to: 

                  'Carry yourself as one who will change the world, because you will.'

So, let’s make a start……

Take yourself out of the gloom for a few delirious moments and find a clip or a recording of The Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin performing ‘Sisters doing it for themselves’ and sing along to remind yourself that sisterhood is alive and kicking. 

Guaranteed to cheer you up.