Women's money and the echoes of history

I realised I hadn’t done an International Women’s Day blog, so here’s a quick link to a relevant podcast episode from the archives.

Back in September 2019, I and my former podcast co-host, Alex, were guests on The Couragemakers Podcast. Couragemakers is a podcast for creative women, many of whom struggle with life at the nexus of the starving artist myth and all our cultural baggage about women and money.

We talked about how recently women were not allowed to hold financial products in their own names. How easily within living memory woman had to get their father or husband’s permission to open a bank account or (gasp!) get a credit card.

This still has an impact on how many women relate to money and how both women and men respond to women who have money and are clearly happy, confident and competent around money. There are some ugly stereotypes about women who are cheerfully good with money that really should have been left behind at the turn of the millenium. We’re gradually seeing a change but it’s worth remembering how recent this is because otherwise we lose the context for so many people’s views.

Personal finance is still annoyingly seen as a male domain and the preferred role for women is ‘damsel in distress’ asking a man for advice or indeed giving up her financial independence entirely, so he can ‘look after’ her. Sadly, as the saying goes, ‘help is the sunny side of control’.

We talked about the macho culture of financial services and how this plays out in creating complex systems with impenetrable language and then condescending to those who don’t understand those systems.

We also talked about how understanding and taking control of money brings you a firm foundation to build the life you want, especially for women. Having clear financial goals and being educated about money brings a confidence that goes beyond your conversations with the person in the bank or at the insurance company. Knowing what you have to spend money on means you know what’s left for pursuing your pleasures and life goals and that is very liberating.

I created a set of links for listeners of the show who wanted to learn more about money. It’s still up, but this is a better and more up to date list.

During the show I also wished that I had a good book recommendation for women who want to know more about personal finance, and nowadays I do. You can find books I like, including personal finance guides, here (I make a few pennies of affiliate income if you buy something).

We also referred to this episode of Squanderlust about using money in line with your values, this one on financial self-care , this one about the Change Cycle and this one about creativity, drama and money.