RTN 07

Again, we gathered in Trafalgar Square…

There was quite a buzz…

Object were there…

The NUS were there…

EMFems were there…

Laura was there – but I’ve only just spotted her in the pics. Didn’t see her to say hello…

And there was a band – they were fab.

We all waited patiently…

‘Til it was time to start gathering behind the banner

And then we were off.

There was a fair amount of support from bystanders – some even applauded as we passed.

Look out London!
See the phone booth on the right? EMFems went in all the phone booths along the route, taking down the pimp cards. Yay!

“No, sorry. You can’t proceed with your journey until the women have passed. You’re in for a fair wait because there are rather a lot of them.”
heh.

And they rock!

What a hat…

We marched on. We shouted. We chanted. We whistled. We made our presence felt in the streets of London.

But when we reached this ‘gentlemens’ club, the noise was deafening. Funnily enough, the doors were closed this year. No anxious looking doorman trying to pretend we weren’t there either. On a Saturday night too.
It seemed as if they were hiding from us.
Well, good.
So they should.
(I’ll adjust this pic later so that you can see better.)

See what the stickers say?
“SEXIST”

There was a massive amount of anger directed at that place; at the men who use it and the men who profit from it because their oppression of women underpins the oppression of all women.
No anger at all was directed at the women who service men there.

A woman who lives in the flats above that ‘gentlemens’ club opened her window, raised her hands above her head and applauded us. I couldn’t hear her shouts of encouragement above the din we were making but I knew she was yelling them. No pic, I’m afraid – you’ll just have to believe me when I say she looked like she felt the same way we do. Here’s a pic of even more women expressing that rage instead.

And more…

No wonder they closed their doors tonight, eh? Like so many men, they can only deal with women when we’re naked and vulnerable.

A bit later on there was some impromptu editing of sexist advertising…

…which the Met didn’t take too kindly to.

And we continued to march

With a young chant leader developing her feminist confidence

Isn’t that fab? She was shouting “Women, united, will never be defeated.”

But look. There’s that hat again, whistling and waving to people in their homes who were lending us their support.

There they are!

And here – although this lot seem to be enjoying their own party!

I love it that we get outriders. I love the bikes and I love the lights. I love it that they stop the Saturday night London traffic so that we can literally walk the streets. I love it that their presence lets everybody know that we’re saying something important.

Well, somebody saw something! I have no clue what it was – I just think this is a fab pic.

It’s hard work, marching, and sometimes, when you get to the end, you just gotta sit down…

Or pack up your stuff while you’re waiting to get in to the rally…

“I love doing RTN, yunno. Those women are just so nice.”
“Couldn’t agree more. What’s more, they’re right.”
“You can say that again.”
“Besides, who’s going to say it if they dont?”
“Well, no-one I suppose. We don’t, do we?”
“What, you mean us coppers?”
“No, I mean us men.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
“Job done. Let’s go.”
“Fancy a pint?”

With love and thanks to Kyndamagic for taking these pictures (plus at least 100 more!) and for the endless respect, love and support. It seriously helps.