So, yesterday whilst in Harrogate I stopped by at BHF books and music shop, my sole criteria being that I wanted an 'Inspirational female biography'. By inspirational I meant someone who had succeeded in business or politics or had set some other aspirational standard for women. I was sorely disappointed. I scoured 3 shelves of biographies, and had I been a man, my choice would have been limitless, Richard Branson, Johnson Beharry, Richard Attenborough and so on. As a woman, I was faced with a demotivating plethora of talentless celebrity, Colleen Rooney, Jordan or Cheryl Cole.
Eventually, I managed to stumble upon two books to choose from, Mo Mowlam or Doreen Laurence, Mo won out on the basis of her being from my hometown, Coventry, but I couldn't help but feel a bit deflated. I know for a fact there are many books around, the life stories of famous sports women, war journalists, politicians and business women, so why, in an age when more possibilities are open to hard working women than ever before, are we more interested in the fodder of tabloids? The so called celebrities who only manage to remain in the spotlight by airing their dirty washing in public as opposed to the strong willed and determined women who should be the perfect role models for this generation of women.
Maybe it's a lack of faith in our own abilities that makes us reluctant to read about the inspirational successes of other women. Maybe the Colleen Rooney's and Kerry Katona's of this world seem like a more attainable way of gaining fame and fortune, but the truth is that all of us are capable of brilliance in something, okay so we aren't all going to discover a miracle cure for cancer, or progress the peace effort in Northern Ireland, but whatever we are good at, I certainly think we can get more inspiration to take it to the top from reading about determined and hardworking women than from worshipping at the alter of easy come, easy go celebrity.
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