Today I am reminded how grateful I am. 2022 is the first International Women's Day I have celebrated as my own boss, something that scared me for a long time.
Now that I have taken that first step, the rest seem much easier. Stepping into the dark is always a bit scary, but once you have done it, it often it isn't as dark and scary as you thought it was.
One of the things I have become more conscious of as I age, is how I have been affected by gender stereotype when growing up.
I have never been a 'girly girl' - growing up, I was often referred to as a 'Tom Boy', although that shoe never quite fitted - I did occasionally play around with makeup and heels - but most of the time I was happy playing with boys and climbing trees.
Even today, I don't wear a lot of makeup - certainly not every day. Heels are a rarity, despite my small 5 foot 1" stature, and nail polish is once in a blue moon - I'm far too heavy handed for it to last very long, and too busy to constantly redo it. I like to do things with my hands, and polish gets in the way.
Looking back to my teenage years (largely the late 90's), there was an expectation from society as to the type of woman I should be. There were countless articles from 90's girl magazines such as Sugar, Bliss, Just 17 and Mizz, on how to be a better girl, or how to attract a boyfriend. Being surrounded by this meant that other girls would react with horror if I dared to go out without makeup, or didn't dress in the right way. This stereotype pressure made me begin to feel that I wasn't 'girly' enough - that maybe I wasn't enough.
Fast forward to 2022, and I am heading steadily towards my fourth decade on this planet.
Last week I did something for the first time as an adult...I got the train to London on my own, without a handbag in tow.
This might not sound like a big deal, but one of these stereotypes that became ingrained into my psyche as I became an adult, was the notion that 'proper' women carried handbags.
I know that I have a sloped shoulder from years of carrying around mostly unnecessary items in a handbag on the same side of my body. So I decided enough is enough, and this day, I would not take a handbag.
One of the problems, I realised - as many women do - is that the few items I DID need to take with me, didn't fit into any of my jeans pockets.
Fortuitously my husband recently cleared out his wardrobe of clothes that no longer
fit him, and I found a lovely pair of Diesel jeans that fitted me perfectly (once taken up at the bottom!)
And of course, being men's jeans, they have pockets for days! I managed to fit everything I needed to take into one pocket, with room to spare!
It was very liberating to be able to walk freely and hop on and off the tubes without the worrying that someone might grab my bag from me, or panic that I'd forgotten to pick it up after sitting down for lunch.
Whilst it is great that I found a pair of my husband's jeans superior to any that I own, I can't help but feel aggravated that in 2022, women are still being pushed into these stereotypes. In future, I will most likely shop in the men's section for jeans, and spend a little time sewing shorter hems, but really, shouldn't manufacturers be providing clothing ranges for women that is as functional as men's clothing?
This is one of the reasons that I am celebrating International Women's Day 2022. There is still work to be done. Break the bias. Break the stereotypes. Be you.
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