Where are the women? The gender gap at the heart of Britain‘s blue plaques

Walking around UK cities, you have most likely noticed the small, circular blue plaques on the front of buildings. But have you stopped to consider who they commemorate? Starting in London, and continued in other cities by various organisations, the ‘blue plaque’ schemes aim to commemorate famous people by highlighting their connection, having resided in it, to a sig started in 1866 and now has over 950 plaques around the city, aiming to “link the people of the past with the buildings of the present.“ English Heritage, who run the London scheme, state that the person must have been dead for at cant attachment to an existing building. from the public, which are then considered by the organisation. Despite the considerable number of plaques created, and the scheme's there is still a glaring gender imbalance at its centre. By 1905, there were only and currently only around 14% of the existing plaques commemorate women. Anna Eavis, Curatorial Director and Secretary, says this gender imbalance “a historic blindness to both the role women have played in our society and the types of roles deemed worthy of celebration.“

English Heritage is, however, trying to solve this problem. In 2016 they launched the ‘plaques for women’ campaign, aiming to increase nominations impact, and 2020 saw more women Amongst these was WWII spy Noor Inayat Khan, and recognition for the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies and the Women’s Social and change which needs to happen. In 2018, English Heritage reported that over the past two years only a third of nominations were for women. As they rely on nominations from the public, English Heritage have said that in order to see a “ “ in plaques commemorating women they “will need more suggestions.“ us to the question: why are we suggesting considerably more men than women? Across society women are consistently under-represented, and this lack of awareness of successful women in everyday life creates a culture which automatically values male achievements women association aims to address the gender representation gap in civic statues around the country, and they acknowledge how part of the reason for under-representation is due to the doesn’t mean that there are less women worthy of celebrating, just that they are less visible than their male counterparts. Some people suggest that creating a scheme of women-only plaques could provide a solution to the gender imba fairly represented and would perhaps widen the variety of representation, space to be represented alongside the A Woman Lived Here: Alternative Blue Plaques details the forgotten women overlooked by the scheme. But should women have to create a separate space to be commemorated? By creating plaques only for women, you are setting them apart from men and creating a scheme which is automatically inferior to the iconic, nationally recognised Blue Plaques. It is also important that not only representation of women is increased, but also representation of ethinic minorities relevant and engage a modern audience, it is the current scheme which must adapt to represent all of the British population. gap, the launch of ‘plaques for women’ is having a positive impact. It is important, however, that this is continued and built upon to create fairer representation within the scheme and not allow any more courageous and inspiring women to be forgotten.

Maddy Murdoch