You see them everywhere with a spring in their step – ladies of a certain age with all the day’s essentials in a day pack on their backs. Sometimes the packs are seriously smart and the rest of the outfit too. More often, the clothes – and especially the shoes – have practical comfort first.
But whatever, the women bounce along as if a weight has lifted from them, especially if theyr’e alone.
The chances are that they started their working lives carrying handbags until motherhood left them unable to go out of the house without a baby, a buggy and a bag of nappies, bottles, raisins, wipes, spare clothes. By the time they got back to work there were briefcases, laptops to carry and a handbag big enough to carry emergency essentials for everyone in the family.
(I once emptied mine for a radio programme and as well as the usual – makeup, Tampax, Ibuprofen – discovered a penknife, corkscrew, football studs and a bike pump…)
These women have gone through their adult lives literally weighed down by work, family and responsibility for other people.
And suddenly they’re free…
So you see them in galleries and theatres, shopping, strolling, sitting in pavement cafes in foreign cities soaking up the sun and a glass of wine.There are lots of them in National Trust properties, country pubs and anywhere interesting. They have time and energy to look around them, explore new places, new experiences.
Hands-free, hands in pockets, alert, lively and free, literally, of the baggage they’ve had to carry for years.
Women’s liberation for grown ups.