Heteronormative

Legal, economic, political, and social independence from a heteronormative family unit was not feasible for most women in this context. The moral burdens of a particular historical construction of womanhood continued to shape women’s lives for much of the twentieth century.

I pop into Central Hall for a morning of conference sessions and networking. I cruise the exhibits, collecting stamps for an iPad competition, making connections with companies we could work with. It's what I do well. <sigh/>

After lunch (fish curry), I hop a Boris-bike, pack my bags, Uber to St. Pancras and jump an East Midland train to Nottingham. Leila is held up in traffic, so I wait outside the St James hotel for her arrival among an ever changing crowd of smokers and guests.

We go to Browns for pre-theatre food - butternut squash soup and steak frites for me - which we have to scarf pronto to get to the Playhouse for 7:45. We manage to finish the wine too.

Sarah Pascoe's adaptation of Pride and Prejudice is every bit as light-hearted and entertaining as I had hoped. It includes parallel tales of school children studying the book, television producers having an affair while editing the film, and a meta thread of the cast discussing the characters' motivation. "My problem with the script is that my character isn't portrayed sympathetically. After all, Wickham is the hero."

Then there's a dark, rainy, halting journey back to Sheffield. Gin is waiting, as is a selection of fine beers. I retire early, exhausted as usual.