Last year, many women enthused about the TV series Riot Women by Sally Wainwright.
For once, we saw angry and rebellious women trying to hold their lives together as best they could through everyday challenges such as menopause, ageing parents, growing children, and relationships going pear-shaped. It's home, for once, a series that truly reflected the lives of many women without the gloss and ageing women, too. It felt rebellious, riotous to have this group of women refusing to be silenced or put down for their age - made no longer invisible (as is often how it is felt in real society).
Central to the story line is how the different characters form a punk band, singing about the things that affect women’s lives, and practicing in a pub in Hebden Bridge. The entire series plays out with the beauty and grit of Calderdale surroundings.
What was also outstanding about the series is that we had (perhaps) a first on TV: a trans woman character simply living her life, not included as a prop or to be questioned about being trans, but simply there as a form of total acceptance.
We chose this theme for the route because of its strength and the inspiration the series portrayed: sisterhood, friendship, resilience, and women supporting women through life's challenges and the misogyny women (all too regularly) encounter.
The series is still available for viewing: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002hd7x/riot-women
