Inclusive Feminism | Woman UP!

Woman Up provides spaces and a platform for women to share their ideas, stories and achievements with other women, challenging discrimination and stigma, breaking down barriers and creating unique, lasting and impactful connections. Through our events and workshops, we’ve reached a wide and diverse audience, celebrating women, and tackling some of the issues that affect them. We’ve got plenty of exciting projects underway for the year ahead and beyond, including, of course, Young Woman Up:

Woman Up on the Outside seeks to provide access for marginalised groups of women to natural spaces in the Lake District that may otherwise prove inaccessible.

You Up is an education project that will help young people to explore issues surrounding equality and the harm done by gender stereotyping.

Woman Up Health is 2024’s annual Woman Up event, in which we will shine a spotlight on issues surrounding women’s health.

Young Woman Up is a branch of the charity and is dedicated to helping young women deal with the many issues that they face in society today.

We want to hear from young people about the issues they face and what support they feel they need. Young Woman Up also aims to make sure that feminism is accessible to everyone, regardless of their gender: We believe that feminism is about every person having equal opportunities and rights.

The charity plans to run a number of workshops for young people that aim to educate and empower. There are also plans for drop in sessions where young women can meet up and share their stories, concerns, and thoughts. We want to help young people form communities In the future, we hope to hold an event where we celebrate the achievements of Young Woman Up and the growth of the feminist movement.

We spoke to Sam and Kirsty about the new charity:

M: “Why do you believe Young Woman Up is important?’’

S: “Our young woman need an anchor when living in a world of beauty standards and life expectations which can be unrealistic and possibly harmful. Young Woman Up provides a thoughtful creative, welcoming space to explore and question why such pressure is instilled in young women to exist in such a constricted manner. I see this work as essential in raising young people, fundamental to actively understanding the world in which we live and therefore be able to make informed decisions and create positive change’’.

M: “What do you hope Young Woman Up can lead to?’’

S: ‘’I hope that as my daughter grows into a young woman she has a Young Woman Up network in her school or collage that allows her to be critical of the systems she is beginning to experience, to feel supported in her ideas and the exploration of her understanding of the world. ’’

M: “Why do you believe Young Woman Up is important?’’

K: “I wholeheartedly believe that young women need a space to discuss, share, vent, support, and organise. Patriarchy still exists and young women need to fight not only to progress, but even to keep the rights they already have. Rights can easily be taken away without notice or reason, two examples being abortion and LGBTQ+ rights in the USA. We must never sit back and relax thinking we have won. I also see the sea change in gender fluidity and in my opinion feminism needs to reunite in support of trans women and non- binary people to regonise the unique challenges they face. Young Woman Up is for all and should not define what a woman is or is not.’’

M: “What do you hope Young Woman Up can lead to?’’

K: “I hope that Young Woman Up outlives me! I hope it can be a vehicle for change and better lives for young women. I hope that the young women we work with will contine the fight for women’s rights in all areas”.

By Young Writer Millie Campbell

Image Mina Banisaeid

@ukwomanup