As a businesswoman, a mother of two young daughters, and a Brownie leader to 16 incredible girls, a significant part of my life is focussed on empowering and inspiring young women. Through my work at jamjar, a female-led communications agency, and as founder of the Wales STEM Awards-created to address the diversity gap in STEM-I strive to create a world where women and girls can thrive, unburdened by outdated expectations and systemic bias.
We tell girls their worth isn’t in their looks – but do we mean it?
But then, I see posts like Millie Bobby Brown’s latest on Instagram, and I feel a deep pang of frustration and anger. Despite the strides we have made, women-no matter their talent, success, or strength – are still judged first and foremost on their appearance, reducing their worth to how they look rather than what they achieve.
Millie, a young woman who should be free to celebrate her success, instead speaks out about the relentless scrutiny of her appearance, where her looks are picked apart rather than her talent being recognised.
And her story is not unique. It is the reality for women everywhere-an exhausting, demoralising battle where their worth is judged by their looks rather than their talent, stripping away their confidence, their joy, and their right to be recognised for who they truly are.
Every week, I stand before my Brownie group, watching their eyes light up as they discover new skills, take on challenges, and embrace the belief that they can do anything. I see my own daughters brimming with ambition, unafraid to take up space, to ask questions, to lead. But I cannot help but wonder: how long before the world tries to silence them? How long before they are told—through words, actions, or the insidious weight of expectation—that their worth is determined not by their brilliance, but by how they are perceived?
This is not just about teaching our girls resilience; it is about dismantling the toxic culture that fixates on women’s appearances and undermines their achievements. It is about demanding more from a society that continues to make excuses for those who belittle, harass, and diminish women.
This International Women’s Day, I celebrate the remarkable women and girls I am privileged to work with every day. But I also feel a deep frustration for a world that still forces them to fight so hard to be seen beyond face value, to be valued for who they are rather than how they look, and to receive the respect, safety, and freedom that should be theirs by right.
We tell our girls they can do anything…Now it’s time to prove we mean it!