Inspiring women in art and architecture

Only a few days left to see this incredible exhibition. I love how these timeless women look like someone you'd like to hang out with. Refreshing to see paintings of strong, inspiring women in an appealing painterly style.


Meanwhile I went to visit the new Serpentine gallery on saturday with the unmistakable Zaha Hadid extension. I loved the smell and sound of the loose brickfloor with freshly finished interior. In the cafe the brand new tea pots were melting and sticking to the brand new table tops as the sun poured through the new glass surrounds. It looks beautiful and is amazing that this is her first permanent building in London. While in the queue I hear two people talking about how 'people here just dont apreciate her'. Is it because her designs arent fallic glass and steel structures that compete to be the tallest?

Radio 4 are looking for suggestions for a 'Women's Power List', which comes accompanied by the ongoing debate about why there are still so few women that hold powerful roles. Or rather, so few that are publicly prominent and recognised. I was really shocked to hear John Humphrey's on the Today programme saying that they couldn't find a female expert to discuss breast cancer so asked a male expert to 'imagine' he was a woman. Luckily some women have taken the initiative to address this with a new website listing experts.

One obvious change that I never hear suggested is to reduce the crazy work hours of these senior roles. The macho culture of staying in the office for 10 to 14 hours is ridiculous. Its bad for our health, social life, relationships. And I'm convinced that long hours doesn't necessarily mean you are more productive. Granted when you have a very senior role you do have to work harder, as your responsibility grows and there are more decisions to take, but this shouldn't mean that you spend long days in the office every day. There is this amazing invention, the internet, which has removed the need to physically be in an office all day at certain hours. So why not work when you can, arranging it around all the other commitments life has? And if you are working from 8am to 8pm 5 days a week, and on the weekend, perhaps you are actually doing two people's jobs.

you don't need to look this to be superwoman

If you are in a senior role, you have it within your power to change this working culture, to lead by example, and to create a more positive working environment for those lower down the pay scale. This is the revolution that will enable more women to go back to work once they've had children, and for more men to spend time sharing childcare without the stigma that less hours means less commitment. Or for those that don't become parents, they should be able to finish work at a reasonable hour without having to pick up the slack for those leaving to pick up their kids from school.

A friend told told me about her (female) director who denied a part time working application for a new mother on the basis that 'I had to work full time whilst being a mother, I found it hard but had to make sacrifices, so why shouldn't you too?' Where's the sisterhood! If I ever get to a senior role where I can shape the working environment, top of my list will be making sure everyone is able to work around their life, not live around their work.

Internet inspiration

Just in case you missed this inspiring story from t'interweb.

When a Sikh woman was ridiculed on the social news site, Reddit, for having facial hair, she responded not with anger or shame but with a calm and enlightening explanation. Heck she even apologised herself if her looks were confusing for some people.

It got even better when the idiot that posted the surreptitiously taken photo then apologised with humility. The power of her straightforward acceptance and lack of concern about her looks is amazingly refreshing and inspiring.

I'm not embarrased or even humiliated by the attention [negative and positve] that this picture is getting because, it's who I am. Yes, I'm a baptized Sikh woman with facial hair. Yes, I realize that my gender is often confused and I look different than most women. However, baptized Sikhs believe in the sacredness of this body - it is a gift that has been given to us by the Divine Being [which is genderless, actually] and, must keep it intact as a submission to the divine will. Just as a child doesn't reject the gift of his/her parents, Sikhs do not reject the body that has been given to us. By crying 'mine, mine' and changing this body-tool, we are essentially living in ego and creating a seperateness between ourselves and the divinity within us. By transcending societal views of beauty, I believe that I can focus more on my actions. My attitude and thoughts and actions have more value in them than my body because I recognize that this body is just going to become ash in the end, so why fuss about it? When I die, no one is going to remember what I looked like, heck, my kids will forget my voice, and slowly, all physical memory will fade away. However, my impact and legacy will remain: and, by not focusing on the physical beauty, I have time to cultivate those inner virtues and hopefully, focus my life on creating change and progress for this world in any way I can. 

The response from the guy who posted the photo was also a delight to read:

I've read more about the Sikh faith and it was actually really interesting. It makes a whole lot of sense to work on having a legacy and not worrying about what you look like. I made that post for stupid internet points and I was ignorant.

So reddit I'm sorry for being an asshole and for giving you negative publicity.
Balpreet, I'm sorry for being a closed minded individual. You are a much better person than I am
Sikhs, I'm sorry for insulting your culture and way of life.
Balpreet's faith in what she believes is astounding.