10 things that changed my life: feminist academic Lesley Orr

IF it wasn’t for the Iona Community I wouldn’t exist. My dad was a Church of Scotland minister and a member of the community. He was sent to work in West Pilton in Edinburgh where he met my mum, who was a member of a youth organisation at the church he was working in. We lived in Oxgangs (below), where my dad ended up working. It’s one of these post-war housing schemes, built with hope. Everything was new: the house, the church, the community centre, my school. It wasn’t perfect of course, but it was a place of optimism, where people thought that the world was getting better and there would be more opportunities for ordinary people.

There were really committed, funny, talented, diverse people that were inspiring and trying to build a community – I still remember them to this day. Community was so important because of the effect of Iona. We spent a lot of time on the island where there were so many connections for me. My sister was leader of the community, as was my husband Peter Macdonald, who is also a minister.

It’s even more than that, however. The community’s ethos and outlook have what I would describe as a quite radical and progressive Christian commitment to justice. It really has shaped the things that matter to me.

2. Boroughmuir High School

I WENT to Boroughmuir High School (below) in 1969. Now it’s a comprehensive but at that time it was what they call a senior secondary school, part of the selective education system.

I remember the contrast of going into this old building in the city centre, where boys and girls had to go into separate entrances, and they did different subjects.

In my family there were two boys and two girls, and we were always treated equally; there was no lack of encouragement or expectation for us as girls.

I think when I went to Boroughmuir I realised that the world was not as fair as I had thought or hoped it was. There were so many issues around not only gender but also a wee bit about class.

The whole system really fed that idea of separation and segregation. I didn’t particularly enjoy being at secondary school. They were good things about it. There were good teachers at the school and obviously my friends, but it really brought home some of the issues of inequality; it was structural and systemic.

When people asked what I wanted to do when I left school I would say, just for devilment really, that I wanted to be the first female prime minister. It certainly made me think more politically, coming out of my Oxgangs world and into another.

3. Edinburgh University Rowing club

I LOVED playing football with my brothers but at that time there were no opportunities for girls to play football and I found it difficult to relate to any of the other sports that were on offer.

During Freshers Week, however, my friend and I decided to sign up for the rowing club. I spent quite a lot of my university time on it, it partly because of the sport, the sociability of it, and definitely being on boats and lakes and rivers. We travelled to lots of different regattas and so on and I even became a Scottish rowing champion. More importantly, I became fit and strong and that has stood me in good stead.

The social element of it was like a microcosm of the university. We had old Etonians and various other public-school types, from private schools in Edinburgh and elsewhere. Then there were women like me, who were there because they were thinking “this is typically a very male thing” ... even though, as I found out later, women have been rowing competitively for a long time.

But it was good fun. We drank a lot and we partied a lot and it shone a light on the privilege and opportunity and exclusion that were operating in the university more generally. I think that has stayed with me.

4. Ruchill Youth Project

MY first job after university was leading a youth project in Ruchill (below) in Glasgow. At that time, it was a real place of multiple deprivation. I had done a bit of voluntary work but had no specific qualifications. However, I did have a commitment to that kind of community.

There was a wee team of volunteers, three guys who were living in a flat together, and I also lived in the area. We didn’t have a base. It was about meeting people where they lived and, in a sense, sharing the life of that community.

We got to know so many people in the community; young people who had been labelled as completely useless and worthless.

The fact that we were there befriending them and wanting to get to know them and their families was alien; it was the first time someone showed that they cared.

I saw how such a deprived community was being dumped on from a great height in the time of Thatcher. All we could do, in our small way, was to try to counteract some of that and offer opportunities that allowed young people to explore and find their own talents. Over the three years I was there it made a profound impact on me, particularly the levels of resilience shown by the women.

5. Meeting Peter Macdonald

WE met on Iona in 1982 when I was there with a group from Ruchill. Peter was working there and I found out that, like my dad, he was born in Dumbarton.

We had so much in common – football, politics, religion ... all the things you supposedly can’t talk about because they lead to arguments. But we love arguing.

It became clear over only a few weeks that we wanted to spend our lives together. He’s generous, kind, funny, good-looking of course, and we’ve been a good partnership over nearly 40 years. Like everyone else we’ve had our ups and downs but support and respect, encouragement and love have always been there. The fact that we have been parents together has also been important.

6. A wider world view

IN 1994 I visited Corrymeela at Ballycastle in Northern Ireland for a European-wide consultation on violence against women.

It was organised partly by the World Council of Churches in its Decade of the Churches in Solidarity with Women, which showed what a lack of solidarity the churches have with women.

But anyway, what mattered was the opportunity to be part of a European consultation, which brought me into a global network. I learned so much through consultations and projects all over the world. It was important to be part of a movement of Christian feminists because I have a very turbulent relationship with the Christian institutions.

Breaking down barriers to be part of a movement of radical resistance to patriarchal religion has been important to me.

7. Kirkcaldy Women’s Aid

I WENT from a family of ministers to marrying Peter, who became a Church of Scotland minister. We moved to Kirkcaldy when he went to work at Torbain Church in 1990. I was just setting out on a PhD on women in the church in the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly in Presbyterianism, but it all connected with the reform movement and women’s opportunities.

Kirkcaldy was a new place to me, and I wanted to connect with the community. I was on the lookout for something that would be interesting to me as a feminist doing women’s history research and spotted that Kirkcaldy Women’s Aid were looking for new people to join as volunteers. I did the training and was accepted.

I found my vocation here, to challenge all forms of domestic abuse and violence against women. It is definitely my cause. I’ve done a lot of different things in my life, but I think that’s the one that has been the absolute constant, and this was the point of practical entry into doing that kind of work. It was tackling some of the kinds of issues that I had seen in Ruchill and that I had known about growing up. Now I could bring some of my own skills to it and feel that as part of the women’s movement I have made a contribution to Scottish society.

8. The right road

IN 2005 I was looking for work after a short-term contract at Glasgow University ended. Initially I took a well-paid job that I was unsure of and ended up leaving on the first day. I applied for and got a job as learning and development worker for the Scottish Government’s Violence Against Women strategy. I travelled across Scotland looking at training needs. I was glad that the Scottish Executive and Scottish Parliament had this commitment to funding the strategic approach to violence against women.

9. Women for Independence

BY that I mean the movement. It had its beginnings in 2012 and not long after a friend contacted me to say they were having a meeting to see how women might be engaged in the referendum campaign.

I had to stop and think. I was always committed to devolution and socialist politics, but I hadn’t made up my mind where I stood on the independence question. Then I thought about that the difference that devolution had made in my field of the work. I was interested to go along and explore more, and in the end I did come out for independence.

Most of my pre-referendum involvement wasn’t directly through Women for Indy – it still wasn’t that formalised a movement at that time.

I was more involved in civic engagement. Remember how engaged people became and wanted to talk to one another about what the possibilities were. Party politics isn’t my thing, but Women for Indy is non-party political and non-aligned.

Thinking about Women for Indy, it’s the first real grassroots women’s movement that had appeared since the suffrage movement in Scotland.

I think it’s been a game changer and has brought a lot of women into politics that might not have been there without it. It has helped to build confidence and women are claiming their place at the table of politics.

10. Our sons

OUR sons Callum and Lorn have Peter’s name. Obviously having children changes your focus, particularly as they’re growing up. It’s a blessing to have healthy children who have grown up into impressive young adults. They share the same values to me and Peter – that commitment to equality – and challenge male friends if necessary. I really enjoy their company.

Callum is perhaps more like me with a critical, analytical mind. He is interested in politics but likes to do things from behind the scenes. Lorn (above) is an actor and totally different. He is building his career with successful appearances in theatre, TV and film, winning a Scottish Bafta last year for Beats. I’m immensely proud of them and it makes me so happy that they are good friends as well as brothers.