W.I. CIVIL WAR!

New generation are just ‘publicity-seeking hipsters’, says enraged traditionalist

IT has tried to stress that it is more than just ‘jam and Jerusalem’.

But attempts by the Women’s Institute to modernise itself have fallen foul of its older guard.

A leading member of the 103-year- old movement has written a blistering attack on the new generation of ‘ hipster’ WI groups that like a radical edge to go with their knitting and cake-making.

Stephanie Gaunt, 68, singled out the Shoreditch Sisters, formed in East London a decade ago, for particular criticism, saying their ‘radical energy’ does not represent the future she wishes for the WI.

Mrs Gaunt, who is on the East Sussex WI Federation board of trustees, wrote on her Hastings Battleaxe blog: ‘They are held up to the rest of us presumably uncool unregenerated “unwoke” old bats [and] battleaxes as the role-model future of the movement. If you actually look at what they do, it is no different from the activities of any other WI group.

‘They present it as ground-breaking – and it feels like they are presenting it as better than the boring nonsense the rest of us frightful old dinosaurs fiddle about with.’

Mrs Gaunt, president of Hastings Ore WI, accused the Shoreditch Sisters – founded in 2007 by a daughter of Joe

‘They don’t represent a future I’d like to see’

Strummer, frontman of punk rockers The Clash – of being publicity seekers.

Their ‘vulva quilt’, created to raise awareness of female genital mutilation, gained extensive media coverage. Mrs Gaunt wrote: ‘Do the women in our WI who do brilliant knitting make a song and dance about it? No. Modern, cool, hipster knitting seems to be about knitting for protest.

‘They are proud of knitting a Solidarity Blanket for the women in Yarl’s Wood Detention Centre. Is this any more commendable or interesting than the thousands upon thousands of WI women who quietly get on with knitting clothes for premature babies, twiddle muffs for dementia patients, daffodils for Marie Curie Cancer Care, toys to sell to benefit their chosen local charities and so on?’

Her outburst came after she attended an event at the Royal Albert Hall last month to mark 100 years of women’s suffrage.

At it, Daisy Cooney, president of the Shoreditch Sisters, spoke about how she encouraged her WI to explore women’s issues. Mrs Gaunt wrote: ‘ These women describe themselves as being different from the rest of us because they are “feminist”.

‘Well, we may not all be out with banners … but in fact the WI is one of the greatest women’s movements ever. The Shoreditch Sisters and their ilk do not represent the future I’d like to see for the WI.’

Mrs Gaunt declined to comment further yesterday and has edited the blog entry, explaining: ‘I got in trouble. I thought I was merely stating a personal opinion, with the aim of fostering healthy debate.’

Yesterday she wrote a new blog, A Sad Week, to say she was ‘ deplatforming’ herself – thought to mean she is withdrawing from speaking at public events.

No one from Shoreditch Sisters replied to a request for comment.

WI chiefs said Mrs Gaunt’s blog was personal and did not represent the organisation’s views.

Lynne Stubbings, who chairs the National Federation of Women’s Institutes, said: ‘All WIs are different and we are incredibly proud of the diversity within the WI. We encourage individual WIs to make their WIs a reflection of their members. Members, young and old, cherish the opportunity to meet people of different ages, as well as cultures and backgrounds.

‘These cross-generational friendships make the WI unique.’