6. Learning from young women in Huddersfield

Dr Grainne McMahon, University of Huddersfield. Photo by Anthony McKeown.

Dr Grainne McMahon from the University of Huddersfield is researching young women’s political participation – what are the barriers and what do young women want?

Grainne tells us: “We keep saying young people don’t have a voice. Young people do have  voice – they never stop talking. We aren’t listening, that’s the problem…”

Her research shows that young women want a less adversarial political system… “the world would simply be a better place if we had a more gender equal politics. Everyone has got to contribute.”

This talk was one of the Notwestminster 2018 Lightning talks at The Media Centre in Huddersfield on Saturday 17th February 2018. You can watch Grainne’s talk on YouTube:

---

100 little deeds for local democracy

To celebrate Vote 100, we’re sharing 100 little ways that citizens in Kirklees are doing something to strengthen our local democracy. If you’ve been inspired by Grainne’s talk, why not do something to find out more about what young women in Kirklees think about politics? We’d love to hear how you get on: Share your little deeds for local democracy

---

 

Advertisement

5. Democracy in the Making – suffragette rosettes

In 1908, the  Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) chose a colour scheme to unify participants in an enormous demonstration in London’s Hyde Park. The three colours they chose became the visual identity for the women’s suffrage movement that we still recognise today – purple for dignity, white for purity and green for hope.

As part of the Democracy in the Making event, artist Amy Hirst showed people how to make their own suffragette rosettes, using a choice of papers and ribbons in purple, white and green.

Democracy in the Making – twitter moment

 

---

100 little deeds for local democracy

To celebrate Vote 100, we’re sharing 100 little ways that citizens in Kirklees are doing something to strengthen our local democracy. If you’ve been inspired by Amy’s creativity, why not have a go at making your own rosettes, badges, ribbons or sashes? We’d love to hear how you get on: Share your little deeds for local democracy

---

 

4. Young women in politics

Mehrissa Sufi, who is one of our fantastic Kirklees Youth Councillors, took time out from revising for her GCSEs to share her thoughts about women in politics – a subject that really matters to her – with participants at a busy annual event in Huddersfield.

Mehrissa says that being a youth councillor has really opened her eyes to the world of politics and how people can directly influence what happens in their communities and beyond. She also talks about her amazing male friends in the audience and says we need to “find a way to empower young women without disempowering young men”.

This talk was one of the Notwestminster 2018 Lightning talks at The Media Centre in Huddersfield on Saturday 17th February 2018. You can watch Mehrissa’s talk on YouTube:

---

100 little deeds for local democracy

To celebrate Vote 100, we’re sharing 100 little ways that citizens in Kirklees are doing something to strengthen our local democracy. If you’ve been inspired by Mehrissa’s talk, why not do something to help young people have voice and learn about local democracy? We’d love to hear how you get on: Share your little deeds for local democracy

---

 

2. Reasons to Vote

This year artist Amy Hirst is asking people what their reasons are for voting.

Inspired by a 105 year old pamphlet from the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies called “Some Reasons Why Working Women Want the Vote”, Amy ran a market stall at Huddersfield Open Market on Thursday 15th February 2018. She asked shoppers why they think it’s important to vote. Their reasons were really interesting and you can have a look at some of them here:

Amy hopes to repeat this exercise later in the year – so look out for more reasons to vote, and please share your own. You can see more of Amy’s activities in this twitter moment:

Democracy in the Making – twitter moment

---

100 little deeds for local democracy

To celebrate Vote 100, we’re sharing 100 little ways that citizens in Kirklees are doing something to strengthen our local democracy. If you’ve been inspired by Amy’s little deed for democracy, why not show people the pamphlet, spend some time talking about reasons for voting and collect some more reasons? We’d love to hear how you get on: Share your little deeds for local democracy

---

 

1. The Democracy of Presence

Rose Condo, Friday 16th February 2018. Photo by Anthony McKeown.

At the Notwestminster 2018 PechaKucha Night, performance poet Rose Condo gave an inspiring talk about understanding her place in the world and how we all benefit from the presence of women.

A PechaKucha is a fast-paced event full of exciting speakers and topics. Each speaker talks for 6 minutes 40 seconds on a theme of their choosing, following a “20 slides for 20 seconds” format. In this special democracy-themed PechaKucha hosted by The Media Centre in Huddersfield, Rose showed just how much insight and experience you can pack into those few minutes.

Rose talked about how we need to pay attention to where women are absent, and what all people might miss by not seeing how women look at the world. She talked about what we all gain when women engage in communities, and how we can be inspired by our rich history of democratic engagement.

Rose wanted to acknowledge that she has the right to be present, to be engaged, to be here, because of the work of so many women before her.

Our thanks to Rose, and to Brent Woods at The Media Centre who recorded Rose’s ‘Democracy of Presence’ talk so that you can listen in full:

Listen to Rose’s talk

---

100 little deeds for local democracy

To celebrate Vote 100, we’re sharing 100 little ways that citizens in Kirklees are doing something to strengthen our local democracy. If you’ve been inspired by Rose’s talk, have a think about whether you could share your own experiences at a local community event or meeting. We’d love to hear how you get on: Share your little deeds for local democracy

---