Unconventional Mentor no. 35 - Gertrude Bell

“It's so nice to be a spoke in the wheel, one that helps to turn, not one that hinders”

Up until now, the Unconventional Mentors I have chosen to feature have been people that I have admired. I’ve wanted to take advice from people I respect and whose life I admire, but I guess it is possible to take advice from people you don’t like or even disagree with.

I’ve wanted to write about Gertrude Bell for some time but haven’t quite known how I feel about her and her life’s work. When I first discovered her, I thought she had lived a rather remarkable life. Gertrude Bell was born to a wealthy family in 1868 and went on to have a good education, studying at Lady Margaret Hall college, Oxford. She was one of the first women to graduate with a modern history degree, along with Alice Greenwood. Her uncle lived in Persia, and after graduating she travelled to visit him and this began her life long relationship with travel. Throughout her life she travelled all over the Middle East, venturing into the desert and learning Arabic and Persian. She was heavily involved with the Arab and British governments in the establishment of Iraq.

On the face of it, she was a brave, bold woman defying the conventions of her time to travel half way around the world and take part in in events that were usually the preserve of men, which at the time she lived (1868 to 1926) was really quite an achievement. But then you consider where she went to and you realise that she is part of the wider problem of British colonialism and her work becomes more difficult to judge. Just because women weren’t often able to be in these spaces, with their roles limited to being society hostesses as the wives of the government officials, doesn’t mean that the work she was able to do should have been happening. Who were the British Government to say what should or shouldn’t have been happening in the Middle East in the early 20th Century.

Rather surprisingly, she was also outspoken in opposing women’s suffrage, becoming the secretary of the northern branch of the Anti-Suffrage League in 1909. Her family background and privilege allowed her to do the remarkable things she did with her life, and I get the impression that she was happy with the status quo. She wasn’t held back by not having the vote and was quite happy with how things were, which when you have everything you need is an easy view to hold.

So, was she a bold and fearless woman which is inspiring to women today, or is she part of the problem of entitled British people traveling the world to claim places that are not their own? I think she is actually a very problematic person, so I am not featuring her because I admire her as a person, but rather to look at who gets to be convention defying in their life.

I’ve decided for now that I can appreciate the conventions she defied and the path in life she took, being mindful to question the actions she took in countries like Iraq and also the immense privilege she had that she was quite happy to maintain, rather than champion to dismantle.

When women are not commonplace in an area of work, it is always interesting to look at how they succeeded and how they are viewed by their peers. They are often seen as being “not like other women” which I feel highlights that they have been successful in spite of their sex and the opportunity for other women to succeed is unlikely. Until women are accepted in all the shapes and forms that we exist in, and not in ways which are “not like other women” then we don’t really have true progress. Gertrude Bell was very much seen to not be like other women and I think that in part contributed to her success.

Mentor advice: Other people’s success is not always as it seems

The lesson I have learnt from writing about Gertrude Bell is not to assume that people’s success in the world is a positive thing, and to continually question what their motivations might be. When I first came across Gertrude Bell, I thought what she had achieved was brilliant, but I hadn’t even thought to question whether or not she should have been trying to be successful in the world she worked in. I also didn’t know anything about her views of women’s suffrage, I had assumed that if she was breaking down barriers in her way as a woman that she would want other women to have the same opportunity,

We often look at the disadvantage of one person in isolation and therefore see any success they have as overcoming adversity, so it must be a good thing. I have been guilty of seeing the disadvantage a woman faces and not also seeing the privilege that they might have. I would like to think that my feminism is now intersectional, recognising that a woman can both face challenges in the world due to her sex, but also be at an advantage because of their race and class.

The whole purpose of this project is about looking for advice and inspiration in unusual places and this post is a warning to be alert to question whose advice you take.