Web Business Woman

By Guest Blogger, Mary Schmidt, Marketing Troubleshooter

The other day I was reading about Season Three of Mad Men. One of the actresses noted,  “Women didn’t have much confidence back then.”   Well, maybe not, but it wasn’t a natural condition for the entire sex (just ask my Mom.) Most confidence problems – real or perceived – were caused by society’s restraints.  (Tough to charge ahead when you’re fired if you get married or have a baby. )

Then, as I was cleaning out a huge pile of old magazines, I ran across the article, Women Who Wandered, What Drove Victorian Ladies To Leave The Comforts of Home For The Dangers Of the Wilderness?

Hmmm…could it possibly have been to get away from the restraints of society? 

The article was written by Jan Morris, who was born a man, James Morris.  Which, as she notes, gives her a unique perspective on the courage of women.  As Morris notes, “It was Eve, after all, who plucked the apple in the Garden of Eden.”

Further, she believes that female is “instinctively more adventurous than the male, and that when we read of women being especially daring – venturing alone into howling wilderness, crossing limitless seas, climbing mountains of ghastly inaccessibility -they are demonstrating the not the exception but the rule.”

Petticoats, corsets, hats, parasols and all…and tea was served promptly at four, even in the steaming jungle.  I can’t imagine slogging through 100% humidity in “sweat-wicking” pants and state-of-the-art hiking boots, much less in four layers of “proper” clothing and tight high-button heels.

Of course, we’ve come a very long way, as evidenced by this blog.  (Although the ad industry has some catching up to do.)  However, we’ve still got a ways to go…

So, next time you’re faced with what seems an insurmountable obstacle…remember those Victorian ladies and forge ahead (parasols optional.

(P.S.  Ad Industry?  Looking good and charging ahead aren’t mutually exclusive activities.)

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