To celebrate Women’s History Month this March, we asked our writers to tell us about the female figure from the wide and wonderful world of arts and theatre who inspires them the most.
Here’s what they had to say!
- Margaret Atwood (chosen by Lucy)
Canadian author Margaret Atwood swiftly became one of my favourite authors after I read The Handmaid’s Tale for the first time in sixth form. She’s most well-known for her dystopian fiction like this, but in my opinion she is one of the few true literary jack-of-all-trades, and has tackled successfully both the real and the surreal, the contemporary and the dystopian. Atwood’s ability to encapsulate the female experience so accurately and to sustain this across a range of literary genres, novel settings, plots and characters, has always astounded me. For example, take this quote from her 1993 novel The Robber Bride, which popularised discussions of the internalised male gaze in feminist discourse:
‘Male fantasies, male fantasies, is everything run by male fantasies? Up on a pedestal or down on your knees, it’s all a male fantasy: that you’re strong enough to take what they dish out, or else too weak to do anything about it. Even pretending you aren’t catering to male fantasies is a male fantasy: pretending you’re unseen, pretending you have a life of your own, that you can wash your feet and comb your hair unconscious of the ever-present watcher peering through the keyhole, peering through the keyhole in your own head, if nowhere else. You are a woman with a man inside watching a woman. You are your own voyeur.’
Her expert mix of caustic humour and unnervingly relatable description offers readers an authentic taste of that bittersweet dish that is being a woman in a world designed for men. Born in 1939, Atwood has been a published author since 1961, and since then she has churned out a monumental number of novels, poetry and essays, 66 to be exact. She writes so much and so often that it wouldn’t be remiss to assume that maybe her style falters a bit with this rapidity, or perhaps her narratives and characters repeat themselves. But I can assure you that the Atwood flair never fades, from her 1980s works now considered ‘modern classics’ to her newest short story collection Old Babes in the Wood, published just last year.
I must say, however, that one of my favourite things about Margaret Atwood is her Instagram page. 84 years old, Atwood is decidedly not a part of social media’s target audience. That said, she uses it regularly to let us know what she’s dressing up as for Halloween, show us some mushrooms she’s foraged, and even to share a video of her blowtorching a new ‘unburnable’ edition of The Handmaid’s Tale, produced as an extremely badass backlash to the increasingly worrying phenomenon of book banning in the Western world.
Margaret Atwood is both a fabulous writer and all-around character. Her literary contributions have shaped global feminism for decades, and her public image truly cements her as an icon. I think she’s great.
- Amy Trigg (chosen by Sophie)
Whilst she may not currently be a historical figure in the Arts & Theatre world, she is certainly going to be, trailblazing a new path which will hopefully take hold across the country! Amy Trigg is a theatrical performer from Essex, and the first wheelchair-user to graduate from a performance course at Mountview Academy. Trigg recently starred as physiotherapist Agnes in the hit new West End musical The Little Big Things. She was nominated for a WhatsOnStage award for her work, and is currently awaiting the Olivier Awards to see whether she will win Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical.
Trigg has been inspiring fans of the stage for a while, primarily at the only accessible West End theatre, @sohoplace, starring in Medea before her latest musical. She is also famous on camera, appearing in episodes of Father Brown, Everything Now and the movie musical Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!. And if all that wasn’t enough, Trigg has written her own material, with Reasons You Should(n’t) Love Me winning The Women’s Prize for Playwriting in 2020.
Amy Trigg is a phenomenal artist, trailblazing her way through the Arts & Theatre world and helping to catalyse conversations about accessibility and outlook, primarily through her work on The Little Big Things. Whilst her most recent show has now closed, I cannot wait to see what Amy Trigg goes onto next. As her character Agnes proudly proclaims during the show, we should all strive for the very best we can be, and ‘stop being such a bunch of bloody can’ts!’
