To the left - the first listening group, all those months ago!
And the latest one , Friday 28th March.
Hey! That was another good Listening Group, even though a few days beforehand we almost cancelled: only one woman had confirmed!
The problem was that Jo and Francois, the documentary makers following ‘Knitting a Nation’ are hoping to trace whether or how the views of the women involved change over time. They knew one of the knitters had already taken part in a listening group, and asked if she’d be prepared to be filmed taking part in another one. She agreed, but no-one else wanted to be filmed! However, at the last minute there was a surge of interest and we ended up with nine women – the highest number so far, the biggest age range we’ve ever had and the widest range of views.
I’d say the only problem was that because there was such a free ranging discussion, it was too easy for them to slip away from controversial issues. There just wasn’t enough time to pause over people’s fears of ‘separation’, to challenge attitudes towards Trident missiles and benefit scroungers, to develop the arguments on mainstream media bias.
But it was a great meeting: vibrant, with strong opinions voiced. Women can talk about serious subjects, and do, given the chance.
The man of the house, who’d been in an upstairs room, appeared at the end of the meeting. He expressed surprise that while he’d heard animated conversation all the time, there was only ever one voice speaking at a time... now why would that surprise him?
And the latest one , Friday 28th March.
Hey! That was another good Listening Group, even though a few days beforehand we almost cancelled: only one woman had confirmed!
The problem was that Jo and Francois, the documentary makers following ‘Knitting a Nation’ are hoping to trace whether or how the views of the women involved change over time. They knew one of the knitters had already taken part in a listening group, and asked if she’d be prepared to be filmed taking part in another one. She agreed, but no-one else wanted to be filmed! However, at the last minute there was a surge of interest and we ended up with nine women – the highest number so far, the biggest age range we’ve ever had and the widest range of views.
I’d say the only problem was that because there was such a free ranging discussion, it was too easy for them to slip away from controversial issues. There just wasn’t enough time to pause over people’s fears of ‘separation’, to challenge attitudes towards Trident missiles and benefit scroungers, to develop the arguments on mainstream media bias.
But it was a great meeting: vibrant, with strong opinions voiced. Women can talk about serious subjects, and do, given the chance.
The man of the house, who’d been in an upstairs room, appeared at the end of the meeting. He expressed surprise that while he’d heard animated conversation all the time, there was only ever one voice speaking at a time... now why would that surprise him?