Girls have long been taught not to take up too much space.
It’s more ladylike to cross your legs. It’s more polite to hold back your opinions. Play down your talents to be less intimidating. Don’t dress like that or you’ll attract the wrong attention… All this is to say that we’ve grown up believing it’s better to be invisible.
Well, not anymore. In 2023, women are challenging the status quo and unapologetically taking up space in every industry across the globe.
ICYMI, the Matildas smashed sporting records, Barbie was the highest-grossing film of the year, and female musicians dominated the VMAs nominations entirely for multiple categories.
These major milestones and significant achievements prove that women are (finally) breaking into places seemingly once reserved for the members of old boys’ clubs. And in more ways than you might expect.
Here we discover the surprising places women are taking up space in 2023. Who runs the world? Girls!
In Outer Space
Yes, you read that correctly. In 2023, more women flew to space than ever before. NASA astronauts completed the fourth ever all-female spacewalk, and SpaceX launched the first female Saudi Arabian astronaut into space (which is monumental considering women only gained the right to drive in the country a few years ago).
In the USA, astronaut Kellie Gerardi flew to space on a science mission earlier this year wearing a stack of friendship bracelets. The mother and Swiftie took to TikTok prior to her flight with a ‘GRWM to fly to space’ video that shatters stereotypes and proves you don’t have to sacrifice your ‘girliness’ or passions to be successful.
“Fewer than 1,000 humans have ever been to space. Fewer than 100 women. Only a handful of mothers. Delta [Kellie’s daughter] gets to watch her Mommy become one of them and will grow up knowing not even the sky is a limit,” Kellie says on TikTok.
Looking ahead and skyward, NASA’s Artemis mission aims to land the first woman on the moon by 2024. Watch this space (pun intended).
At The Whisky Bar
When you think of whisky bars, scenes of older men clinking glasses on a time-worn leather couch spring to mind. But the perception of the spirit as a ‘man’s drink’ only serves to erase female whisky drinkers and distillers.
In reality, research shows that women now account for over 35% of whisky drinkers in Australia. There are also more ‘women in whisky’ working in the industry than ever before across marketing, distilling, production and distribution.
Ready to take on tradition? Order the spirit with confidence or turn to whisky cocktails. The smooth and fruity flavour profile of the The Glenlivet’s Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky makes it the perfect drop to add to fresh cocktails, expanding the world of scotch whisky through approachable mixed drinks.
Behind The Camera
Hi, Barbie! Produced and directed by women, the standout movie of the year hit a number of incredible milestones.
One of the most significant achievements occurred off screen, as writer and director Greta Gerwig became the first solo female director to exceed USD $1 billion (approx. AU $1.5 billion) in box office sales just over two weeks after its release.
“I remember when I finished reading the script, I was so thrilled as a woman in the world, that this movie was getting made: that this version of this movie was getting made by these women—by Greta and Margot,” star America Ferrera told marie claire Australia.
There’s still a long way to go until we reach gender equality (286 years to be exact, according to a UN Women’s report). But it’s about time we ripped up the rulebook of the old boys’ club and wrote our own.
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