To me, there is no compliment to equal the epithet of a broad. I aspire to the title.
Think Bette Davis, Lauren Bacall and that uber (for the yougins, it was an adjective before a taxi) broad, Mae West. They evoke independence, hutzpah, admiration, all while we hear the whispered thought, ‘delivered in a womanly style.’ And there’s the rub. It means women can be independent as long as they don’t cross an invisible line that insists they remain sexy, alluring to men and stylish.
It’s ok to be brassy, but not so much as to scare the men folk. (To be fair, as Ivanna was fond of saying, ‘some men like being scared’. It may have been in another context…)
For those who watched the Barbie movie, America Ferreira’s rant summarizes the double-edged sword women daily navigate with the opening statement: “It is literally impossible to be a woman.”
The contradictions and no-win pressures are passionately described as she goes on to say:
“You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin. You have to have money, but you can’t ask for money because that’s crass. You have to be a boss, but you can’t be mean. You have to lead, but you can’t squash other people’s ideas. You’re supposed to love being a mother, but don’t talk about your kids all the damn time. You have to be a career woman, but also always be looking out for other people.”
Despite being a mysoginistic, testosterone fueled stewpot, Hollywood nails it.
Political correctness, covert pressure to conform, is killing the spirit of the broad. As a female business owner, that pressure is tangible.
The covert messaging is loud and clear: stay in your lane. Behaviour which is considered assertive in men is still deemed nasty in women. And why is a female dog a bad thing? Or women’s anatomy?
We snigger, but ultimately it is designed to breed shame. To keep women from taking up too much space. And many studies show we need women to succeed in positions of power for the economy to grow. Heck, for our own humanity to come to its own.
Ask one of your smart, effective, and ambitious female colleagues whether or not they feel pressure to conform to ancient parochial standards of remaining sweet while they paddle like hell underwater to get ahead.
Fortunately, travel still counts fabulous women who know who they are and aren’t afraid to show it. On International Women’s Day, Open Jaw celebrates the travel broad.
Women like Susan Webb, Vanessa Lee, Zeina Gideon, Suzanne Christie, Michelle Pinard, Nicole Bursey, Lesley Paull, Michelle Palma, Jackie Coulson, Susan Bowman, Denise Heffron, Nathalie Tanious, Chris Lackstrom, Rebecca Esterhuizen, Jen Savedra, Susan Lawson, Dianne Jackson, Stephanie Anevich, Lisa Pierce, Lynn Elmhirst, Wendy McLung, with an honorary nod to Edith Baxter, along with many, many, others.
We love you. We thank you for showing no fear.
