I was particularly fond of the sitcom Frasier, still screening on Channel 4 (and first thing in the morning!). When my husband became so disabled that he had no mobility at all, Frasier was the one television programme that unfailingly cheered him up.
The wisecracking repartee between John Mahoney, as the slightly cranky but decent father – a retired policeman – and his two oh-so-sophisticated sons, Frasier and Niles, was always great fun. And the subtext was that Martin, the dad, who came from a working-class background, had more common sense than his hipster sons, and often got the better of them.
The death of John Mahoney, who played Martin, occurred earlier this month, at the age of 77, and the actor emerged as a heroic pathfinder for another reason: he was a late starter. Born in Blackpool of Irish parents, he migrated as a young man to the United States, and worked in a series of respectable but prosaic jobs until the age of 40. He then felt inspired to follow his dream of becoming an actor and enrolled on an acting course under the playwright David Mamet. His career took off and he enjoyed success on stage as well as on screen.
So Mahoney became a great example to all those who dream of switching career mid-life: of quitting steady jobs to follow a calling.
And yet he himself issued a warning: he could only have done this because he was a single man, with no family commitments. He didn’t advise those who were married, or had children, to follow his path. He had taken a risk and been lucky, but if you have responsibilities you could land your family in a mess by “following your dream”.
As it happens, Mahoney was – and remained – a Catholic, and you could say he was also making the point for a celibate priesthood. Only those who have no family responsibilities are free to take up a new vocation, especially in middle life. (Unless, like Paul Gauguin, they choose to abandon spouse and children to possible destitution.)
Most Catholics favour a married priesthood and there’s much to be said for it. But John Mahoney – who might have made a good priest himself – illuminates the case for the single state.
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It’s been suggested – first by Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson – that in this year of celebrating women getting the vote, the Suffragettes should be retrospectively given a pardon for the jail sentences they received. Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, will “consider” it.
There should certainly be some kind of apology for the force-feeding to which they were subjected during hunger strikes. Even King George V, no supporter of feminist ideas, was appalled by the cruelty of this measure.
But pardons for acts of vandalism, aggression or assault? I don’t think that would comply with justice. Some of the activists went in for arson, and what we would now categorise as terrorism – bombs placed in letter boxes. They also attacked works of art. Anthony Baker, writing to the Daily Telegraph last week, reminds us that the Suffragette Mary Richardson slashed the priceless Rokeby Venus. She later became head of the women’s section of the British Union of Fascists.
Oswald Mosley’s BUF attracted quite a number of Suffragettes, who were attracted to the militancy of the BUF, as well as to the equal status accorded to women by British fascists. There’s a fine study of this phenomenon by the historian Julie Gottlieb, Feminine Fascists, published in 2000, which describes the path from active Suffragette activities to active participation in the BUF.
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It has transpired that a number of MPs donned the Muslim head-covering, the hijab, on “World Hijab Day” – which was on February 1 – to support Muslim women in their choice of apparel.
I wouldn’t be averse to trying out the hijab myself: it solves the vexatious problem of what to do with your hair if you can’t get to the coiffeur. I wouldn’t mind trying on a full burka and walking around in it. It must be strangely empowering to be able to see everyone, while no one can see you!
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