Striking tales: A wife’s story
The article “Striking Tales: A wife’s story” discusses how Barbara Williams, a miner’s wife and a support group activist, feels about the miners’ strike in 84/85 and the women’s role during- and after the strike. Her husband worked as an electrician at the mine, and therefore she experienced the strike at first hand. She talks about how, the strike changed the women, and how they suddenly experienced a new power. The women wanted to help the miners in their fight because the men clearly couldn’t win the fight themselves. Barbara herself, like many other women, was very enthusiastic about fighting for the miners cause. The article explains how it for the women all happened like a big blur, at the start they were just helping their husbands, but suddenly, they found themselves in the pit shouting at scabs and fighting against the police. Barbara says that the women were very surprised by how much power and influence they had, compared to how little they thought they had. She talks about that the women also opened food stands, where they would hand out food to the strikers, and how nobody had seen that coming. In addition, Barbara points out how the women had found a newborn power and independence.…show more content… After a few months of the strike, Barbara was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and she had to use a wheelchair wherever she went. In the start, she felt it as a big struggle, but later on, she discovered that it actually ended up being very useful. She was convinced that the chair actually worked in her favor, because whenever they were out collecting money for the miners, Barbara would earn more money than all the other women collecting, and Barbara says that in the end, she found a way to use the chair as an ability instead of a