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VIDEO: Have You Ever Lied About Your Age In a Relationship?
Have you ever lied about your age in a relationship? What do you think of online dating? Do you think social media affects relationships? Urban Fit went on a mission to find out what Bristol’s public thinks about these sex and relationship issues, and more…
See the results below, and read on to find out how our Adibah worked with the Urban Fit team to rinse the public of their juiciest gossip.
Have you ever lied about your age in a relationship?
In August we worked with Urban Fit, an organisation set up in response to a lack of opportunities in Easton and St Pauls. The club seeks to inspire and motivate girls aged 13-24 every Tuesday at three-hour fitness sessions based in Easton, an area prone to a number of social problems.
Does social media affect relationships?
Leaders Emma and Ayana are two fun-loving, energised women who are confident, passionate, and hilarious. When we first met the group they were leading we knew they were perfect for the job: they were up for any challenge we set them. Because we wanted the group to lead the project, it was up to them to come up with the topic. There was no hesitation whatsoever: it had to be sex and relationships. Having had little opportunity to talk about these issues in school, they felt it was a very important topic to cover, and as someone who felt they knew more about plant reproduction than human relationships and sex during school, I was totally on board with the idea. We watched a couple of short films to lead our thinking about what kind of project we could create, and they came up with the idea of interviewing the public about their experiences of relationships and sex.
What advice would you give your thirteen-year-old self?
Having no previous experience in interview techniques, camera operation or sound recording, we supported the group while they practised on one another. Soon they were ready for the big scary world, and once they got started, damn, they did not hold back. They were ready to ask about everything. And I mean, everything. Test questions included: ‘what would you consider cheating?’, ‘what is a healthy relationship?’, and ‘how old should you be to start dating?’. When they discovered people were happy to answer these questions, they unleashed the big guns. Grittier questions included: ‘when did you lose your virginity?’, and ‘have you experienced cheating?’
With cameras rolling, mics set up, and questions prepared, the girls were more than ready to grill the public. These videos are the result.
This was an amazing experience for everyone who took part. It’s not often a group of young people are given the opportunity to represent themselves and feel confident enough to talk about issues that directly affect their lives. This project not only that gave them the platform to openly discuss things they feel should be talked about, but filming, interviewing and sound recording it all, too. Pretty damn impressive if you ask me.
If you’d like to know more about Urban Fit or go along to one of their sessions, here’s their Twitter and Facebook
Urban Fit is:
A ladies-only sports and personal development group for 14-25 year olds that meets every Tuesday at 6pm at Muller Hall on Seymour Road in Easton. They provide fitness sessions, personal training, aerobic dance and much much more!
Their aim is to encourage you young women to improve their self esteem, confidence, fitness levels, social circle and improve their skills so that they can look forward to more positive and rewarding future.
Since their birth in January 2012 they have already made a huge impact on their local community, providing young women a place to meet new people, be themselves and raise their expectations.
Related articles from Rife:
‘I Set Up the Speak Out Project of my Experience with Emotional Abuse’: An Interview with Chlo by Adibah Iqbal
Four Reasons Not To Sleep With a Virgin by Adibah Iqbal
Why Are We So Unwilling to Recognise Rape Culture? by Zahra Wynne
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About the author
Adibah Iqbal
Adibah Iqbal is a young filmmaker, using media and the arts to highlight topical issues affecting her community. She is currently working on a play that discusses motherhood in the Asian community and is soon to start directing a film on feminism and young women. She is actively involved in the Bristol voluntary sector, working with Salaam Shalom Youth Council, Watershed and Icon Films. She believes that minority voices are not always represented fairly in mainstream media and that the best way to tackle this is to create your own media. She was part of the Creative Talent Lab in Bristol in February 2014 and a founding Young Journalist for Rife magazine.
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