1st May 2006
WHY GOOD WOMEN LOVE THEIR BAD FELLAS
by Clare Longrigg
Not all women who get involved with dangerous men want to save them:
some are looking for protection. Scottish comedian Janey Godley endured
a grim childhood, with two alcoholic parents and years of sexual abuse
by her creepy uncle. At 18, she met Sean Storrie, son of an East Glasgow
gangster. He didn't exactly
charm her off her feet, but she was interested in this hardman who worked
as a bouncer. "I couldn't
stand him," she recalls. "He was so moody. But when he asked
me out, I said yes out of curiosity." Being a tough lad from a rough family, young Storrie wasn't fazed when Godley told him about her traumatic history. He just listened to her, and she loved him for it. Not to say it was a perfect marriage: the couple ran a pub in the East End of Glasgow for her gangster father-in-law, where drugs were rife and violence an occupational hazard. |
A police raid on the pub uncovered caches of weapons
Storrie's father had hidden in the back yard. Storrie knocked Godley
about, and she ran away repeatedly. Unlike most of
the women who find themselves married to the mob, Godley seems to have
effected a transformation on her man. He became a reformed character
and stopped beating her, while she launched a successful career as a
stand-up comedian, using the dark material of her past for laughs. Last
year she published her memoir, Handstands in the Dark, including "handy
hints on how to get Semtex off your walls". Even though she
was a victim of violence herself, she admits it has its uses: she doesn't
need to worry about being sought out by the uncle who abused her, as
she's got protection. "I married into a family who really don't like men who abuse children," she says defiantly. "My husband's one of seven sons from the East End." |