Platform 51

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Categories: education and skills, general
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
No one to look up to

Women's history and girls' aspirations

Kealy Hastick, 21, comes to Platform 51's women's centre in West London.

She says: "That first day I came to Platform 51 changed everything. I thought I'm going to grab every single chance I can get. Without Platform 51 I would just be lost; I wouldn't know anything, it would be so different."

Kealy has been thinking about women's history and asks:

Is it any wonder girls don't aspire to more?

"This year, on 8 March, is the one hundredth anniversary of International Women's Day. I only found out that this day even existed last year, thanks to Platform 51, a charity whose women's centre I go to. Not once during my five years at an all-girls secondary school was there any mention of it. How are girls meant to celebrate and learn from the achievements of other women if they don't know about them?

"Last month, I attended the pre-launch of Women's History Month at the House of Commons. I had no idea that it existed either until, once again, Platform 51 told me. I never learnt about women's history in school. Some men might ask: 'what about a men's history month'? But just think about the focus of school history lessons or programmes on TV and it's easy to see they have HIStory all year round. It's like Black History Month; when I was back in school, some students asked: 'what about a white history month', I would answer: 'The other eleven months of the year seem to cover it quite well!'

"At the pre-launch event I gave a speech in which I explained how difficult it was for women to find female role models. My peers at Platform 51 and I only came up with three that were in the public eye: Oprah, Beyonce and Kelly Holmes. We admire these women because they are successful, determined, hard workers and they had a dream and made it happen, despite the criticism they have faced. But we were shocked that we couldn't think of any more. The others we thought of were either family or people we've worked with. So why was it so hard for us to think of female role models? Is it because there simply aren't any? I just don't believe that. So why aren't we being told? Why are the women that truly deserve to be well-known for their achievements overshadowed by the puppets of pop and the harlots of Hollywood?

"All the many fascinating speakers at the event - poets, authors, activists - were united in understanding that women's history is crucial for girls, so that when they look around for women to look up there is someone other than Katie Price and Cheryl Cole. No offence, ladies, but I don't want my daughter thinking that being beautiful and skinny like them is the best she can aspire to be in life.

"Throughout the month of March, Women's History Month, my peers and I at Platform 51 will celebrate the great women of the past as well as the many unsung women of the present: women who are not just famous for their dress, looks and figure; but real women who have made a difference - those we can genuinely look up to.

"And that's why women's history is essential."

Check out the Women's History Month newsletter.