Young, left-wing women are now leading political trends

In 1918, when Britain and Ireland were still politically conjoined, the vote was finally extended to women. Yet it was initially restricted to women over 30 years of age who were property owners.

The male politicians who still held the reins were nervous of the ‘flapper’ element among younger women: fearful that those under thirty would vote “frivolously”, or, worse, be easily swayed by revolutionary Bolshevik ideas.

More than a century later, an altered version of those old anxieties have come to pass: study after study has shown that young women in Generation Z (aged 15 to 29) are now the most influential cohort in progressive liberal-left politics.

In many instances, the wellsprings of this liberal progressiveness are well-intended”

In other words, young women are the key influences of ‘woke’ movements: campaigning for social justice, race and gender equality, LGBT causes, pro-immigrant issues and Palestinian rights. Across the US, the UK, Germany and South Korea, the same outcomes have been found: young women are significantly more left-wing than young men.

This is not the same as the ditzy ‘flapper’ vote – flappers were obsessed with dancing, partying and heady cocktails – but today’s ‘woke’ vote of young women (and quite a few mature ones) is emerging as a driven political demographic.

In many instances, the wellsprings of this liberal progressiveness are well-intended. Tender-hearted young women are sorry for migrants, want to be kind to Trans people, and are desperately upset about images of war. Arguably, their reflexes are a by-product of the maternal instinct to care for the vulnerable.

Rise

Indeed, plenty of crusty old conservatives (and Christians) share similar sympathies, at a human level, although with more awareness of boundaries. It was a liberal philosopher, Karl Popper, who warned that limitless tolerance eventually leads to intolerance and extremes.

But the rise of this cohort of left-wing young women is certainly a significant phenomenon. For most of the 20th century, the women’s vote has been right-of-centre. Since the dawn of the Internet age (circa 2008), that has all changed.

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One of the most striking remarks Pablo Picasso ever made was, “All artists borrow. Great artists steal.” He was acknowledging that originality is very rare – even geniuses draw on the accomplishments of others.

And Picasso’s maxim is surely borne out by the latest exhibition of his art – most unusually, now displayed at Burgos Cathedral. Unusually, too, the Picasso paintings are based on religious themes: despite his atheism (and Communism), he was inspired by religious art, and incorporated themes of the Crucifixion and of ‘biblical iconography’ into his own art.

Besides being inspired by Christian and Catholic art and sculpture, it’s claimed that Picasso retained his essential sense of ‘spiritual transcendence’; his memories of his mother’s religious values endured. (And his father had made a sculpture of Our Lady of Sorrows, which had hung in his family home.)

He borrowed from religious art, it seems, even if he didn’t ‘steal’ from it.

Paradoxically, Picasso had his son Paulo baptised as a Catholic almost at the same time he joined the French Communist Party. People can have contradictory attitudes and feelings – drawn one way by political ideas, and another by spiritual instincts.

The exhibition, ‘Picasso: Biblical Roots’, launched by Queen Sofia of Spain, and presided over by Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, of the Vatican’s cultural and educational sector, is continuing until June 29. Worth a trip to Burgos.

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The most popular names for baby boys in Ireland are currently Rían, Jack, Noah, James and Oisín, with Levi, Dáire, Noaise, Connell, Elijah and Teidí rising in the polls. Patrick has been declining in recent years, but its derivative ‘Paddy’ has recently gained ground.

We grew up with St Patrick as a national legend, but modern research is increasingly establishing the authentic sources of his life. He is the first Irish autobiographer as well as Ireland’s evangelist. “Patrick’s testimony is of crucial importance because he is the only contemporary witness to the goings-on in Britain and Ireland at the turn of the fifth century,” writes the TCD historian Roy Flechner in his biography Saint Patrick Retold. Patrick also launched the Golden Age of Celtic spirituality, whose monks saved Christian civilisation.

I’m sure ‘Patrick’ babies will make a comeback – it’s a great name (and in France, très chic).

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Speaking about his Irish background, John Banville, the novelist, told the Daily Telegraph that “The Catholic Church was a state terrorist organisation.” That was the sensational headline: his actual words were: “the Catholic Church is no longer a state terrorist organisation.”

Back in 1970, I worked at The Irish Press at the same time as Banville, then a sub-editor given the job by the Editor, Tim Pat Coogan. Banville seemed as quiet as a mouse. If he thought the Catholic Church was practising state terrorism, you’d imagine he might have said it at the time.

Prudently, cutely, he waited some fifty years to voice his views.