The Feminist Quiz Book

First published in the UK by Blink Publishing

An imprint of Bonnier Books UK

Wimpole Street, London, W1G 9RE

Owned by Bonnier Books

Sveavgen 56, Stockholm, Sweden

facebook.com/blinkpublishing

twitter.com/blinkpublishing

Hardback 978-1-788703-56-7

Ebook 978-1-788703-57-4

All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or circulated in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing of the publisher.

A CIP catalogue of this book is available from the British Library.

Designed by IDSUK (Data Connection) Ltd

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

Copyright Blink Publishing, 2020

Foreword copyright Sara Pascoe, 2020

All answers correct as of August 2020

Every reasonable effort has been made to trace copyright holders of material reproduced in this book, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publishers would be glad to hear from them.

Blink Publishing is an imprint of Bonnier Books UK

www.bonnierbooks.co.uk

To excellent women everywhere

CONTENTS

Gosh, I love a quiz! Its where competitiveness and being a know-it-all meet. Footballers might score once or twice a match (if theyre lucky). A quizzer will feel that sublime rush of achievement several times a round. Theres the satisfaction of knowing something and buzzing in with absolute certainty because you studied Jane Eyre at school or read an article on Napoleon Bonaparte last week. Such smugness, such unadulterated pride. Even more enjoyable than that is the answer which emerges from the mist. Looming elusively, half-remembered, tip-of-the-tongue Ssh, ssh, everyone, let me think...who was the second man on the moon? Just as you give up, Buzz Aldrin hits your brain like lightning, and you snatch the pen with adrenaline pumping and no manners. Answer scribbled, you lean back with arms folded, all is well in your intellectual kingdom. But nothing beats a correct guess. A plucked-from-the-air, baseless, clueless guess. I dunno when Ted Heath was Prime Minister, it was before I was born, 1979? I dunno, write 1970. No, 1960! No, 1970. When your knowledge-less conjecture is pronounced EXACTLY RIGHT, your self-confidence does a victory lap, high-fiving angels as you wonder Maybe I am a genius ... should I get my A-levels remarked?!

While theres much delight in knowing and point-scoring, I believe the most pleasurable part of a quiz is the learning.

Ooooh, I had no idea Louis Theroux was Justin Therouxs cousin! I cant believe cucumbers can be used as pen erasers! I didnt know that Google was originally named Backrub!

Like going for a run makes you fitter, every quiz leaves you a little bit cleverer. Its a knowledge explosion, and when its over, you mentally tidy all the new dates, names and places away neatly and hope youll be able to find them again when you need them.

Thats why The Feminist Quiz Book is such a good idea you can show off how much you do know while simultaneously discovering brilliant women that you should have heard of but havent. Its something I have to brush up on as much as anyone.

A couple of years ago, I was invited to perform stand-up comedy for Ada Lovelace Day. The name sounded familiar, but rather than do any research, I trusted my assumption that Ada Lovelace was the name of a high-street retailer of fancy knickers and sex toys. This is bound to be a saucy gig, I thought as I prepared my material, I bet the audience will be screeching ladies wearing leopard print and furry handcuffs. My set list included jokes about padded bras, spicing up a relationship and a routine about pornography. Sure, it was a bit weird to hold this event at the Science Museum, but I didnt appreciate my mistake until after my tumbleweed accompanied, ill-judged set.

Turns out Ada Lovelace wasnt Ann Summers, but a mathematician. Her input to computer science was as vital as my jokes were inappropriate. The organiser kindly filled me in as I sipped a consolatory wine. Ada Lovelace was Lord Byrons daughter; her mother had encouraged her to pursue maths so that she didnt follow in her dads philandering footsteps. Adas exceptional ability led to her working alongside Charles Babbage on his Analytical Engine. Her notes are described as visionary and shes believed to be the first person who saw the potential for the engine to act upon more than numbers. The Analytical Engine is the worlds first computer and thanks to an algorithm scribbled alongside an article, Ada Lovelace is the worlds first computer programmer.

I was sad to be hearing about Ada for the first time. Mainly because Id just told a roomful of science professors and PhD students my feelings on Wonderbras. But I also wondered if perhaps Id known more about the fascinating, gifted women in technology and maths, I wouldve been more interested in those subjects myself? Youll already be aware that many kids experience residual sexism in their education: boys are better at sums and angles while girls excel at sewing their feelings onto blankets. But many teachers are working to improve this, hence the existence of Ada Lovelace Day, a celebration of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) for me to come along and ruin.

The under-represented need representation. As Billie Jean King told us, You have to see it, to be it. How different will the ambitions and career expectations of young women be when they are taught of female achievements in equal measure with men? When they know that the entire world of knowledge is open and waiting for their study, and every intellectual mountain can be conquered if they choose?

Billie Jean King was pressured into playing a male tennis player in a 1973 match known as Battle of the Sexes. She beat her opponent (I cant remember his name) and gained respect and recognition for female athletes. But women shouldnt have to compete with men to achieve those things feminism is not a contest, its working on the creation of a level playing field (although if you are doing these quizzes with your brothers, I hope you thrash them). No one is trying to argue the women in this book are better than men, but they need their own space to be noticed at all. They deserve these pages.

Wanting to know more about Virginia Woolf and Ada Lovelace does not mean obscuring the genius of Charles Dickens and Isaac Newton. It actually gives us a better understanding of all the people whose brainy creativity our civilisation was built upon. Our world was shaped by all who preceded us, the technology we currently enjoy was a team effort. Thats something of which we can all be proud. Even though we personally didnt do any of it.

So, sit down comfortably, with pen in hand, ready to eviscerate your opponents or to simply test your own knowledge in The Feminist Quiz Book.

NOTES

Research the date now as it IS coming up later!

Joke! It was Bobby Riggs. Three points to me.

The Feminist Quiz Book brings together a collection of over 100 questions to test your feminist knowledge. Challenge your friends and family on what they really know, and delve into the fascinating history of women who refused, dared, led, questioned and discovered.

From the modern dishwasher to windscreen wipers, find out what you know about Mary Anderson and Josephine Cochrane just two of the many women who created items that we use every single day. Discover the women who werent afraid to be the first: Sojourner Truth, while fighting for the right to reclaim her son from slave ownership, was the first African-American woman to win a lawsuit against a white man in the United States; Jeanne Baret, the first woman to circumnavigate the globe; Mae Jemison, the first black woman to go into space. Test yourself on the women who have fought and keep fighting, dreaming and working to make the world a better place.