“Why can't I...?” was the start of many questions 6th Mitcham Brownies would ask me when we discussed being female.
“Why can’t I wear blue?”
“Why can’t I do certain jobs?”
“Why can’t I play football?”
It’s been 100 years since Parliament passed the Representation of the People Act 1918 which allowed the first women, and all men, to vote. But here we are in 2018 with girls as young as seven still being told they can’t because they are female. The girls often didn’t feel their voices were being heard and that they were made to feel they were not good enough because they were girls. The girls were so passionate that this was wrong and talked about how this could be changed.
When I saw EqualiTeas, a campaign run by the UK Parliament, I knew this was our moment to show Brownies that their voices were important and that being female is not a disadvantage.
We invited parents and siblings to join us for a tea party along with Charlotte Dobson, Senior Community and Outreach Officer at Parliament. Charlotte gave us a brilliant presentation on the Suffragists and Suffragettes along with an introduction to Parliament.
The Brownies all got the chance to discuss the importance of women voting and equality. We also had a visit from Siobhain McDonagh, MP for Mitcham and Morden. The Brownies heard about the lengths women went to so they could get their voices heard.
We discussed whether females are now being represented equally in politics, sport and beyond. The girls strongly believe that everyone should have rights and are firm believers in equality.