As I was considering stating in the
general elections 2015, I've spent a lot
of time talking to women in Bristol about what is keeping them from being more
engaged in the political process. Five main reasons have emerged, and although
they are not the only ones, they kept on coming up again and again.
1. Lack
of confidence came up in all conversations, and I
can't say that I am unfamiliar with this feeling. As women, we are faced with
confidence issues all the time - from our bodies and the way we parent our
children, to the way we take care of the extended family and express ourselves
at work. We often suffer from what is known as the "impostor syndrome"
- a feeling that we are not as good as people think we are, and we are going to
be found out any minute now.
Remember that time when you stood in a
meeting and you had so much to say? But just before you came in you were unable
to verify that data with a thousand sources, so you did not want to say
anything for the fear of everybody discovering that you are not so clever? I
do! But guess what - we are clever, we have a lot to contribute, so it's time
to take off the cover up and step in the way we are!
