Level Up

The topic of women's rights is often linked to a historical movement primarily centered on women's suffrage, typically simplified into two stages:

1. Women protested, 2. Women gained the right to vote. However, this did not mark the conclusion of women's struggle against the societal and political power structures.

The Match Girls strike in 1888 was a pivotal moment when women organized a strike over safety concerns while working with hazardous chemicals, shedding light on workplace safety for semi-skilled laborers for the first time. Decades later, the Gunwick strike in 1978, led by African-Indian women, protested unfair dismissals and poor working conditions outside the Gunwick factory. This history raises questions about ongoing workplace discrimination against women and the perpetual fight for equality. The notion of women challenging boundaries and advocating for equality persists to this day. Women continue to shape societal norms and establish new platforms to empower other women. In popular culture, women challenge stereotypes. The Spice Girls embodied the spirit of girl power as a bold movement. However, the concept of 'girl power' was not new and was initially championed by the punk rock band Bikini Kill in 1991, who directly addressed feminist issues and gender biases in society. In contrast, the Spice Girls emphasized female unity and strength, resonating with the emerging millennial generation. 

The 1990's saw significant change in society, women were no longer pressured to fulfil the housewife role and women were putting their stamp on the world of employment. However, what did the 90s teach us that the previous waves of women's rights did not? Well, the 90's girl power train exploded onto the scene giving women a new way of ownership of who they were, what they liked, and what they wanted. It was no longer about equal pay or voting rights, the movement introduced self-love and self empowerment. It can be argued that entering into the 90's women were still judged on their femininity, which meant they  remained boxed into a stereotype created by culture and society.

The 90's demanded that women were representative of their true selves and embrace their needs and desires. Underground Bhangra scenes made a significant impact on the South-Asian community where professional DJ Ritu gained a huge following. Ritu became the face of the dance scene in the South-Asian community in the UK challenging representations in the media. The 90's boom had no intentions of stopping and the ‘do
what you want to do’ attitude spiralled into a phenomenon changing attitudes in workplaces across the country. Patterns of changes in women's employment and education changed in the late 90's and early 2000's, young women became more career focused and aimed for managerial roles.
Movies such as Bend it like Beckham in 2002 depicted a young Asian woman struggling to make it as a footballer, which challenged stereotypes of the submissive Indian girl, which is often depicted on television. Movies such as this, inspired and changed the course of South-Asian women's perception of what they could do and success in other occupations rather than education. Amanprit Kaur Dosanj was an example to many aspiring young women in 2002, when she signed for Arsenal Ladies as a goalkeeper and was offered a scholarship at Lee University in Tennessee, USA.

In more recent years, inspirational Golfer Nicole Bennet has competed in the Women's Professional Association (WPGA) and works alongside The Golf Foundation to encourage people from the BAME community to get involved in golf. Again, Golf has a lack of representation of the ethnic community, creating a taboo. However, Bennet has taken the opportunity to change the outlook of the sport by encouraging an inclusive environment. Success is endless and these women have proven that women have moved on drastically since the first wave of the women's rights movements. Men have also been instrumental in highlighting inequalities on screen: London born actor Riz Ahmed's breakthrough to the big
screen has seen him star in movies such as Venom alongside Tom Hardy. However, before his US success, Ahmed played smaller roles in movies such as Trishna with Freida Pinto, where Ahmed acts as the hero in rescuing Pinto from harassment in the street however, his kindness is soon reverted to a depiction of an entitled young man determined to control her through manipulation, using sex as a weapon. The movie based in
India set the scene of the imbalance of power, class, and gender depicting the global problem of violence against women as well as gender biases.
The importance of representation is very powerful, the media is often guilty of not doing enough to show diversity within tv roles, sports, or story lines. However, in more recent years the growth of women's rights campaigns expanding out into the #MeToo Movement has changed direction and now challenges powerful people, who decide to hire or fire, in turn further challenging people's attitudes to existing prejudices.