Female power might have taken a step in the right direction – but we’ve still got a long way to go

So the dust has settled on another turbulent week, and I don’t just mean in the Reprobate household.

That we are living in interesting times is so obvious as to have become cliche, but what has particularly struck me this week is that it’s an interesting time for women in power. I discussed this over a rather large glass of vino bought for me by my new female bosses female boss with my female CEO, and I pondered, as it’s the first time in my whole career this scenario has arisen, what it means to be living in a world where women are increasingly running the show.

It’s not sexist to say women tend to be more cautious. Car insurance companies used to base their payment structure on this very fact (until, to be fair, this was deemed sexist by some undemocratic body in the EU). But I can’t help but feel reassured by this, that there has been a sudden lurch towards female power in these most uncertain of times. I listened with interest to Thersa May’s inaugural speech, and certainly no Tory (I’m actually a paid up Lib Dem, for all the good that will ever do me) I couldn’t help but feel like she represents a shift in the political wind to a more moderate , considered and dare I say, fair, sort of system –

This week, I listened with interest to Thersa May’s inaugural speech, and certainly no Tory myself, (I’m actually a paid up Lib Dem, for all the good that will ever do me) I couldn’t help but feel like she represents a shift in the political wind to a more moderate , considered and dare I say, fair, sort of system – although for a moment, I listened agog to her diatribe on the poor, the disadvantaged and the disenfranchised as if it were a manifesto for everything the party has stood for before. I hope this signals change, for, if one’s things for certain, something’s gotta give.

Certainly, the women who reach positions such as these do appear to bristle with both the wisdom  and frustration that comes from a long hard slog. It’s not a surprise that many that make it to the top do so unencumbered, and often with the starched satisfaction of having proved some point or other that can make them appear unapproachable – or worse, rather than to smooth the way, see fit for every other woman who follows in their footsteps to have as rough a journey as they.

There is, then, little room for frivolity in female power, Theresa May’s shoes notwithstanding, and thank goodness for them, because at least she has given the rest of us a signal that one doesn’t have to lose all the trappings of femininity to play with the big boys.

And perhaps, this is what’s so interesting about this new wave of female power. Instead of behaving like a man to climb to the top, as women may have felt they ought in the past, this new breed of women generals are actually doing things in a far more ‘traditionally female’ way, rather than aping their ball busting compatriots. A calm consideration appears to be the order of the day,  with a sort of arch, blue stocking goody two shoes precision that makes figures of male charisma look all the more ridiculous and blundering than when shoulder to shoulder with their apex school tie chums.

But it is a tough act to follow, when for so long, schmoozing has been what was required to grease one’s way to the top, whereas now, it’s simply an ability to get things done without fuss. But what does this say to those of us further down the ladder, who may have been frustrated with the societal bars to  high office that have faced us in the past? It’s quite clear that women have to work harder to get where they get – the lack of mothers among this generation’s coterie of female top brass says much for the determination of those who make it. Perhaps a real test of feminism will be when, like David Cameron, and Tony Blair before him, a baby is born into number ten by a female prime minister. But until such time, there is an example being made by all the women who are accessing the annals of power today.

It will be a long time before the trappings of feminine power is expressed  by comfortable shoes and practical haircuts. For now, the message is, keep your head down, and your eye on the prize, work hard and be a good girl and you might just make it in a man’s world. But take a step wrong as a woman, and it’s still more likely to lead to a tumble, especially if you’re seen to be wearing heels.