Challenge to Make a Change

Last year an ‘Inspiring Young Women’ conference took place at the Scottish Parliament. This event was about encouraging young women to develop the confidence and leadership skills needed to help them to achieve in their chosen field. The young women invited to attend were delighted to take part in such a grand event, but in 2015, why was there a need for such an event to take place?

Women, be it for religious, biological or sociological reasons, have been condemned to second-class status since the beginning of ‘mankind’. The ‘first wave’ of feminism was led by the notorious Pankhurst family who fought for the political emancipation of women. The lesser known Indian Princess and godchild of Queen Victoria, Sophia Singh, was also a militant member of the Women's Social and Political Union throughout the early 20^th century. These upper-class women shook the foundations of our oligarchic political system which was ruled by white, privileged men. But more importantly, they sparked a social revolution which over time led to a change in society’s attitudes towards women.

In the past one hundred years, women have gained monumental rights, including, but not exclusively, the right to vote. However, women’s suffrage continues to be a topical issue. A ‘fourth wave’ of intersectional feminism has now replaced the outdated ‘first wave’ feminist ideologies, which were inherently classist, homophobic and racist. However, Scotland is now led by a female First Minister and doesn’t that speak volumes for how far we have come as a society in achieving complete gender equality? So why on earth are these, ‘batty birds’, with their bra-burning fiascos, still lining the streets to demand equal rights? 

Well, in fact, it doesn’t take a genius to work out why and the need for an ‘Inspiring Young Women’ conference signifies that Scotland still has a long way to go in reaching gender equality. Having recently reverted to the ‘dark side’ and joined the feminist ranks, I was indeed, jumping for joy at the prospect of attending the ‘Inspiring Young Women’ conference at the Scottish Parliament. But equally disheartened that society was still having these very basic conversations. The conference was held during the academically busy month of March last year and, although a breath of fresh air from the textbooks and past papers which dominated my world, the event posed a real mental challenge.

As I sat alongside one hundred and twenty seven other young women in the debating chamber, we listened to the heart-rendering stories of the sexism that senior politicians, including Kezia Dugdale and Ruth Davidson faced, not only in politics, but in the workplace in general. It didn’t matter that these inspirational women had ruffled the feathers of the political establishment, nor did it matter that they were leaders of major political parties. What mattered was that they were women. And what mattered most to the media was scrutinising their sense of style, their hair and makeup and their choice of romantic partners. The conference ended in stunned silence as these women pleaded with us, the next generation, to unite and end gender inequality.

This message, or perhaps, this request, echoed in my mind over the coming months. The four of us who had represented Perth and Kinross Council at the event decided that it was our duty to follow through with this request. The conference opened our eyes to the barriers that are faced by all women in Scotland, even those at the very top. I knew that I would never be the Emily Davidson or the Pankhurst of the 21^st century, but I did feel a personal obligation to take small steps in my local community to tackle gender inequality.

The four of us who attended the conference, now in our final year of school, discussed how we could tackle these hard-hitting issues in an engaging way and inspire other local women in the same way that we had been inspired. Our idea was small to begin with, but as we thought about Nicola Sturgeon, the first female leader of Scotland, we realised that we needed to think bigger. But more importantly, to think outside the box. So we thought about it. And with clearer minds, we put together a plan to recreate our own ‘Inspiring Young Women’ conference that would highlight the issues faced by young women on a local level, but also on a global level too. The conference at the Scottish Parliament planted these seeds of inspiration in our minds, but it was our own fearsome passion that allowed our ideas to blossom.

 In the hope of gaining the support of our local authority, for what we knew would be an empowering event, we scheduled a meeting with the Chief Executive of Perth and Kinross Council who instantly fell in love with our pitch and shared her own experience as a woman who broke through the glass ceiling of a male-dominated profession. With her enthusiasm and commitment, both financially and emotionally, to our project we set about insuring that our conference would be thought-provoking and challenge the young women of Perth and Kinross to make a change in our local community. And so our event became a ‘Challenge to Make a Change’.

With our new slogan, we sat around a meeting room table, week in and week out, to ensure that our ‘Challenge to Make a Change’ conference would be everything we hoped it to be, and more. Over the course of six months, we wrote dozens of letters to local schools, politicians, musicians, philanthropists and different charities. Although exhausted, I felt blessed as this had given me the opportunity to meet many inspiring and influential people from all walks of life. Our fleeting idea of hosting our own conference soon became a daunting reality as eight local authority schools confirmed their places at our event.

Last month we took to the grand stage at Perth Concert Hall, a sleek modern building which contrasts with the medieval churches which dominate the skyline of our city. With an audience of two hundred young women, I felt awash with nerves under the bright lights, however, I grew in confidence throughout the day as I talked about the issues closest to my heart. Our conference was centred around four workshop areas: sexism, sexualisation, leadership and confidence. Throughout the day, the young women listened to talks from Polly Murray, the first Scottish woman to climb Mount Everest, and other talented and inspiring women from our local community. To finish our event, our audience participated in an interactive floor debate with a panel made up of politicians, lecturers and business people. Being the avid debater that I am, I was keen to participate in the question and answer session myself. When I was asked by a young woman from the audience for words of advice on how to go about tackling gender inequality, I spoke to the two hundred young women who eagerly awaited my response and said that we first must challenge our own attitudes and then begin to challenge the attitudes of the people around us. I believe that these words accurately reflected the hopes for our conference and that these young women in the audience would begin to challenge negative stereotypes and make a positive change in our local community.

I saw our conference as the opportunity to spark our own little social revolution in the heartland of Scotland. And we did just that. In the weeks that followed our event, we received emails and letters from dozens of young women who said that our conference had been successful in challenging their own internalised sexism, and had even helped them to grow in confidence. The positive feedback that we received made me realise how important it is to encourage young people, but more importantly, to challenge their attitudes. It’s not, as some have suggested, about excluding men from the conversation, nor is it about female ‘superiority’. Instead it is about women, from all backgrounds, coming together and talking about these important issues, for the only way that we can overcome these problems is through open discussion.

Well, Kezia Dugdale, Ruth Davidson, Khaleda Noon and all the other strong and determined women at last year’s ‘Inspiring Young Women’ conference, I hope we have done you proud. I sure am proud of myself and all of those who made the conference an unforgettable experience. We honoured your request and were successful in taking steps towards tackling gender inequality. Throughout my life, I will do everything I can to ensure that one day, there will no longer be a need for a fifth, sixth or seventh wave of feminism. And instead, we can live as one body of humanity, united.