What is the point of a Power List?

The following was published in the April edition of The Ophthalmologist magazine.

‘Lucy Mathen originally declined involvement with the 2021 Power List, as the concept of the list, and nominations we normally receive, and received this year, have proven controversial to her. However, as others placed her on the list, she decided to express her views on the topic in the In My View column in this issue. She believes this enables a wider range of opinions regarding Power Lists to be aired than it would otherwise be possible.’

And here is a shortened version of the Opinion piece I wrote.

For 2021, The Ophthalmologist decided to “readdress the gender imbalance” and to highlight the achievements of women in the field with an all-women Power List. I’d like to analyse this.

The Power List concept is a media construct. In the Forbes’ magazine list, slots are allocated based on “the amount of human and financial resources” that a person controls, as well as their influence over world events. As the list can include autocratic leaders responsible for pretty nasty events for humankind, it is generally accepted that “power” is not unambiguously good. 

Then, the interpretation of “power” was played with as different media outlets wanted to list and rank people they felt were the most famous in their field. More and more people got sucked into the belief that such lists were in some way important, informative, or even inspirational.

Power Lists, however, are full of pitfalls, and they tend to follow the same predictable path. They always start out all male – or predominantly male – and stubbornly remain so. Then, following criticism, and to “readdress the imbalance,” the relevant media outlet decides to compile a “women only” version. Inevitably, this, too, causes problems, as those who do the choosing normally come from a privileged background themselves and rank others accordingly. Then efforts are made to focus on “diversity,” and people coming from ethnic minorities are included. But these are, inevitably, men and women who are already in the media spotlight. The end result? A Power List with a split personality – like the BBC’s Woman’s Hour list – ranking the Queen, with her inherited power, alongside Doreen Lawrence, who continues to fight a prolonged battle to get justice over the murder of her son. 

What is the point of placing anyone in such a hierarchical, competitive, and ultimately misleading category? What purpose does it serve?

In The Ophthalmologist’s Top 100 Women Power List, nominees are described as “world-class,” “leading authorities,” “superstars,” and “experts.” Most are associated with well-known hospitals or institutions. So, in essence, far from being truly inclusive or diverse, it simply replaces one exclusive list with another. And, here lies the rub, in “honouring” women for rising to prominent positions in this way, we achieve the exact opposite: it highlights just how aberrant this success is – so outside the norm that these people need a special list. To quote Richard Ditizio of the Milken Institute: “Each time we offer or accept an accolade based on gender, race or sexual orientation, we are feeding into the troublesome way of thinking that landed us with such inequality in the first place.”

In ophthalmology, as in medicine generally, women are present in large numbers. And yet they face double standards at every stage of their careers, which result in lower salaries, less recognition for their work, and the persistence of stereotypes. Elevating a few on the pedestal of a Power List achieves little. It is too much like hand clapping in support of hard-working frontline nurses in the pandemic, but never campaigning to get them better working conditions.

In 1976, I became the first female British Asian news reporter on BBC TV. For 10-year-old Samira Ahmed, who had already decided that she, too, was going to be a broadcaster, my appearances reaffirmed her goal. Forty years later, and despite being a well-known broadcaster, she had to take the BBC to court to get equal pay. She won.’

Lucy Mathen

#powerlists #haloesareaccessories #outgrowingthebig #moreharmthangood

Studying international development? An alternative reading list.

I have been called many things since running Second Sight – a social worker (a favourite description in India), an anthropologist (because ‘you are curious about people and value variety in your hospital teams’), a ‘NGO-type (ouch!) and even an ‘international development expert’ (oh no, never).

I prefer the titles which took me so many years to earn – journalist and doctor.

However, I have dipped my toe into that world of International Development. Way back, when I first started Second Sight, I applied to the UK Department for International Development for funding. I was told that restoring sight to the blind was not ‘empowerment.’ Yes, truly. The gift of sight for a blind person living in abject poverty was not empowerment. The experts had spoken. So you can see why I don’t ever wish to be placed in this group!

On the other hand, I know so many intelligent, idealistic young people who want to make the world a fairer place. And as international development courses claim to be about poverty eradication and justice, they are inevitably drawn towards these. So I asked one of them, a friend of my daughter Leyla, if I could see one of her reading lists.

The publications were mostly by authors from institutions running ID courses and were grouped under the following categories: UNPICKING DEVELOPMENT & POVERTY/ COLONIALISM/ CULTURE & RECONSTRUCTION OF TRADITION /AID CORPORATIONS AND PHILANTHROCAPITALISM/ GENDER AND AID.

Covering some of the same topics but from an entirely different slant are my Five Top Reads:

1.     Lords of Poverty- The Power, Prestige, and Corruption of the International Aid Business by Graham Hancock. A riveting read. Given to me by an eye surgeon who has lived and worked on four continents.

2.     Banker to the Poor- by Muhammad Yunus. An economist humble enough to realise that Ivory Tower university economic theories had failed the poor in Bangla Desh and started all over again, getting a worm’s eye view of their lives. I love this book.

3.     We are poor but so many – the story of self-employed women in India by Ela Bhatt. Too often illiterate and uneducated women are seen be unable to change their lives and require the help of an educated elite. Ela knocks this fallacy on the head. This book resonates with me because via our work in India I have met so many wonderful uneducated but powerful rural women.

4.     Corona, Climate and Chronic Emergency by Andreas Malm. To remind you that the biggest global problem is still the Climate Emergency.

5.     Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand. A novel. Theories about discrimination are often flawed because approached with pity rather than empathy. Sometimes this is easier to demonstrate through a work of fiction.

Lucy Mathen

#internationaldevelopment #missedperspectives #lordsofpoverty #outgrowingthebig

Led by the nose? Or the last laugh

In a week when I was feeling unbelievably gloomy as a consequence of Red Nose Day and Comic Relief in the UK – for folks elsewhere, this is when BBC celebs sing, dance and make us laugh all evening in return for donations which this year netted a staggering £52million (oh and everyone wears a red nose)  – well, in the week of this annual monster-fundraiser, my friend Andrea Encinas did actually use one of the tips from my first blog i.e. she looked up Comic Relief on the UK Charity Commission website.

Her reaction?

‘First thing that jumps out is the amount spent on raising funds, quite a slice of overall spend.’ (Actual figure £16.8million from the year 2020 accounts).

‘Second thing is that 35 employees are enjoying a nice pay day.’ (Reference to 35 employees earning over £60,000 and 3 earning over £100,000).

Now Andrea knows a thing or two about running a great community organisation serving a multiple number of purposes. She runs the multinational multicultural B.I.G choir. They too sing and dance and crack jokes (no funny noses though) and make a shedload of people feel good. Andrea just about keeps it afloat with membership fees and donations. The B.I.G choir are also generous enough to do fundraisers for small charities chosen by them knowing that the money raised will be utilised with a sense of urgency.

Meanwhile, according to the BBC’s own Panorama programme, the huge amounts and huge bureaucracy involved in handling so much money means that the Comic Relief charity ‘pays out money it receives to other charities sometimes over several years. That means Comic Relief holds tens of millions of pounds at any one time. The charity uses a number of managed funds which invests that money on the charity’s behalf, including in the stock market.’

 So here are my 5 tips for getting the best out of Red Nose Day…next time round:

 1.     Bless the primary school children in Cardiff and Cornwall who refused to wear the original polluting plastic red noses and forced Comic Relief to, only this year, come up with a biodegradable alternative.

2.     In recognition of these wise children and the huge impact their action had on an organisation run by adults, look around your own home and see what you can do to cut down on plastic waste.   

3.     Enjoy the relief of the comedy on offer on the BBC.

4.     If a tale about a homeless person moves you, then promise yourself that you will buy a warm cup of coffee and a snack for the next person you see shivering on the streets. You are guaranteed to smile and make smile with that timely act of kindness.

5.     Don’t feel bad about not giving. Smile and feel happy that Comic Relief are already sitting on millions and that, if you do NOT donate, you might just help them to actually spend what they already have, more quickly. As the late Clive James once said : ‘Common sense and a sense of humour are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humour is just common sense, dancing.’

Lucy Mathen 

#commonsensedancing  #comicrelief   #ledbythenose  #outgrowingthebig  #bigchoir.co.uk

Accidental Blogging

One development my second sight never foresaw was that I would be writing a blog in March 2021.

But then I am not usually locked down in my London home at this time of year. I am normally in rural Bihar, with limited digital access and unlimited stimuli from people, places and ever-shifting circumstances.

Then, there were a series of phone calls. With more time on their hands people were surfing the net to find small charities to which to donate. And the title of my book Outgrowing the Big gave them a clue that I might well have some tips to share on this matter.
One caller sent an email after our phone conversation – ‘thank you for the tips about finding small and unsupported charities, they were so useful and I will tell others.’

Thus, an accidental blogger was born.

So, here are my 5 best ways to find a charity that you deserve and that deserves you.

1.     Put in your key words (e.g. domestic violence/ blind people/ girls’ education) and when the Google pages come up…go straight to around page 10, steering clear of the first few pages. This way the Usual Suspects – the largest charities- will not distract with their expensively presented websites and daunting statistics.

2.     If attracted by an entry, look for a telephone number. Ring it. The chances are that you will speak to a human being who is actually involved in the delivery of the charity’s work rather than a Publicity Officer or someone from a Donations Department with a scripted speech.

3.     Ask plenty of questions. Like -‘exactly what do you spend your money on?’ Don’t be fobbed off by percentages and jargon.

4.     If the charity in question is a registered UK charity, take the trouble to look them up on https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/charity-commission

5.     Return to Google – feed the charity’s name in again + scandal. This may seem like overly suspicious behaviour but this wee bit of investigative research is worth it. Either your confidence in the charity is strengthened. Or not. You can also try doing this with any of the largest charities and see what comes up.

Good luck and thanks for reading my very first blog.
Lucy Mathen

#smalliseffective  #outgrowingthebig #dropthejargon #haloesareaccessories