In 2010 something really marvellous could have happened in Gravesham in Kent. The Liberal Democrats selected Anna Span as their local candidate. I have copied some information about Anna from her campaign website and you can see, she would have made a great local MP.
Anna’s father comes from Greenhithe and attended Gravesend Grammar and both he and Anna’s grandfather worked at Darenth Park Hospital. Anna has fond memories of time spent as a child in the Gravesend and Greenhithe areas.
Anna is a graduate from Central St Martin’s School of Art with a BA (Hons) Fine Art (Film and Video.) She has run her company Easy on the Eye Productions for twelve years producing over 250 professionally released programmes and managing hundreds of staff in this time. Anna became Britain’s first female adult film director upon graduating when she felt that her strong interest in women’s rights was best served changing the adult industry from within and proving women with examples of female and couple friendly films and by campaigning for women’s rights within the industry. She has gone on to win Best Director in the UK twice, Indie Pioneer at the international Good For Her Feminist Awards, Best British Film Brand, among other awards. Last year Anna was voted in as the Chair of the Adult Industry Trade Association.
Anna also has an MA in Philosophy from Birkbeck (majoring in Philosophy of Gender), which she uses to give talks and take part in debates on her work, feminism and film theory at universities and film festivals internationally. She has spoken at St Andrews, the University of Glasgow, Dublin and Malmo (Sweden) among others.
Anna is a member of Feminists Against Censorship and has been interviewed nationally and internationally about her work on Woman’s Hour (twice) The Times, The Telegraph, The Mirror, The Observer, Cosmopolitan, This Morning and Lorraine Kelly’s Breakfast show, among others. She has had two documentaries made about her work for Channels 4 and 5.
In her own words.....
I have fought long and hard for women’s right to sexual expression and consumption, as well as for freedom of speech. I have long since felt vindicated about my choices back at college and know my pro-sex feminist argument is based on sound principles and logic.
So why don’t I stay in my industry and continue to reap the rewards of my efforts? Because I am the type of person who needs a challenge. I achieved much in my last career and now I want to broaden my campaign to other pressing issues such as why this or previous governments don’t think they have a responsibility to give young people something productive and engaging to do with their spare time. I lived on a council estate in Bermondsey and saw first hand why the kids were taking drugs, fighting and committing crimes.
Sadly the only words in the above profile that mattered to Team Object were 'adult film' and 'adult industry' and Annas' commitment to feminism and social justice was considered irrelevant. We are fortunate to be able to see what was on Objects minds when they learned of Annas campaign...
Thats right, how could anyone that Object disapprove of stand for Parliament?...
So as we can see, yet another campaign was born, this time it was aimed at undermining local democracy, which is a surprise given how keen Object are on the people having their say when it comes to closing down strip clubs...
Team Object swung into action a delivered a lecture on liberal values to Nick Clegg, with an extra helping of how certain people should be denied freedom of expression, unless of course they are approved by Object.
You see the problem is that Anna was the wrong kind of feminist...
Happily, the Liberal Democrats had other ideas and explained that it is the candidates suitability for the post that is critical, not what they do for a living. They also point out that Annas business is not illegal. The Liberal Democrats embrace diversity, Object on the hand embrace a form of social Stalinism...
A predictable response, as you can see not a single reasoned argument was considered.
Above we can see Team Object sinking to the level of those they campaign against. If referring to someone as a 'bimbo' is not misogynistic, what is? But of course it doesn't count when Team Object use the phrase, because their understanding of feminism is so more well developed than that of anyone else and lets face it, they earned the right to comment as they see fit...
No, the sad thing is that the reason that Anna was not successful was the third form of misogyny, the misogyny that Object embraces with such relish. I find it deeply disturbing that an organisation that has received public funds should seek to interfere in the political process on the grounds of their personal bigotry. If for example BNP mounted a campaign against the selection of an MP on the basis that they worked with people from another country, the race hate laws would be justifiably applied.
I do not know what kind of MP Anna Span would have made, but I hope that she tries again because I for one would be on her campaign team.
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