Because they [the characters in Toxic Town] blamed themselves, it prevented them from speaking up sooner and from questioning what was going on around them,’ says Michelle Tant.
I recently watched Toxic Town on Netflix, a retelling of the Corby poisonings, one of the biggest environmental scandals in UK history. After a long fight in the courts, the women involved, finally saw justice for their children who had been born with limb differences because of the improperly disposed of toxic waste in the town. It is an incredible ‘David and Goliath’ story of resilience, of strength in female friendships and even of holding power to account and I highly recommend it.
The moment that caught my eye [however] was when two of the women, Tracey Taylor and Susan McIntyre talked about how they questioned and even blamed themselves for what happened to their children.
The moment that caught my eye however was when two of the women, Tracey Taylor and Susan McIntyre, talked about how they questioned and even blamed themselves for what happened to their children. Because they blamed themselves, it prevented them from speaking up sooner and from questioning what was going on around them. This is important to note in society on two levels. First is the long history of blaming women, starting with Eve in Genesis. Secondly, relying on this pattern of blaming and self-blaming behaviour ensures women are not heard, in turn perpetuating the power difference between men and women.
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The guilt and blame trap are well known to women thanks to social conditioning. Women will often blame themselves before others and yes, you guessed it, patriarchy benefits as a result. This is seen in healthcare where women will assume that certain conditions are inevitable due to having babies, not ‘doing their pelvic floor’ or in fact, just being a woman, and so are less likely to speak up.
Fully acknowledging the full lived experience of being a woman, both in research and healthcare, would be costly.
Fully acknowledging the full, lived experience of being a woman, both in research and healthcare, would be costly. It is also seen in the criminal justice system where the rate of conviction for rape for example is so low that it is effectively decriminalised in the UK. The reason? Having realised they are not to blame for what happened, women are routinely not believed when they do speak up. It comes as no surprise therefore that diligently pursuing conviction for this heinous crime is also costly in terms of societal and judiciary change.
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So, let’s look briefly at Eve and what she has to do with all this. The scholarly theories about this moment are varied but one thing that has been consistent through the ages is the blaming of Eve, starting with Adam (Gen 3:12). Many historical church fathers took up this narrative and as a result women have subsequently been viewed as unreliable witnesses, only being granted legal standing as a witness in the UK in 1919, and unfit for ministry, a dogma still seen in many churches today.
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The painful irony being that none of this behaviour is mirrored in the Bible. There are many incidences of women in ministry in both the Old and New Testaments. Miriam, Debora, Esther and Huldah led with fierce strength, wisdom and devotion to God. Paul himself highly valued the women in his ministry circles including Junia, Priscilla and Phoebe as elders and teachers. Then of course Jesus relied on women to provide that first witness testimonial that he had risen from the dead. Listening to and valuing women was not an optional extra, it was vital for the inception period of the church, leaving no room to bend to the Eve blaming narrative.
The cost to women of these old patriarchal-serving norms of self-blame and silence are unacceptably high. It was countercultural for men in those times to behave in a way which honoured and valued women’s voices. However, they considered the cost worth it because it represented the best our loving God had intended for humanity and his beautiful bride, the Church.
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