Project leader Kirstin Sillitoe describes her work with young women in Manchester as "inspirational"
Of all the bold and positive work Manchester’s Urbis Centre has taken part in, one of the most successful was last year’s A Woman’s Place initiative.
Aiming to inspire and empower modern women through education and creativity, the project drew upon history and social change to present feminist struggles across the world through the decades. A recent report rewarded the efforts of leader Kirstin Sillitoe and her team with a glowing summary of the productive results.
International campaigns for equal rights, domestic violence and role models were on the agenda in A Woman's Place. Pic: Bec Garland
In one experiment during the five-month campaign, workshop participants greeted a picture of a certain high-profile supermodel with descriptions including "slag”, “slut” and “big boobs”, recalls Sillitoe.
“But when asked to consider her role as a mother and how she cares for her children and holds down a successful career, suddenly they started to consider her in a different light,” she adds.
The project spawned an exhibition of work inspired by the issues raised. Pic: Bec Garland
“Questioning women's role in society and a woman's ability to be successful, beautiful and a strong role model was a great way of opening up that debate about feminity.”
Partly funded by The Co-Operative Archive and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, the Urbis Learning Team devised several innovative highlights, including The Suffragette City tour, a walk exploring the legacy of the suffragette movement through ten important sites while highlighting contemporary examples of women’s activism.
Ethnic tolerance was a strong issue for many of the participants. Pic: Bec Garland
“A Woman’s Place was all about female identity,” says Sillitoe, who launched the project on International Women’s Day in March 2008. “It grew to a series of workshops for local girls schools, a city centre tour around sites of specific interest pertaining to women, a photographic exhibition and the celebration day itself.
"The school workshops were inspirational. We worked with young women from 12 -19 years of age and found a real range of attitude towards female identity and empowerment.”
Letters from Kenya and Uganda were exhibited. Pic: Bec Garland
A letter on display from one activist spoke of the barriers women face on flower farms in Kenya, including flimsy employment rights, sexual harassments and routine exposure to chemicals.
“If you are wearing a ‘made in Kenya’ label, think of the labour behind the label,” it read, comparing the gender gap to a tennis court which men had turned into a football pitch. An accompanying despatch from Uganda challenged women to fight illiteracy and cross-sector rights abuses.
The scheme has created a walking tour of important sites of social change in Manchester. Pic: Bec Garland
“Manchester’s women pioneered the way for many aspects of life that we take for granted today – for example a woman's right to vote,” explains Sillitoe.
“We were keen for young women to look beyond the facade of the female celebrities that are held in high esteem in today's society and find good, strong role models to aspire towards.
Leader Kirstin Sillitoe sees Manchester as one of the cities which introduced female political liberation. Pic: Bec Garland
“I'm not into burning my bra, but I am into understanding that a successful woman doesn't have to flaunt her sexuality in order to get somewhere in life,” she reflects, looking back on the scheme as “a joy to work on.”
“I know that's not true in all walks of life or for every industry, but in some areas of business it seems that lipstick and a Wonderbra still gets you a pay rise, and I am into saying there's something wrong with that."
The success of A Woman's Place has pleased Sillitoe. Pic: Bec Garland
