The spaces women need
Life is full of spaces. The literal rooms we sit in—waiting rooms, boardrooms, living rooms—and the figurative ones we navigate—spaces for reflection, connection, ambition, and rest. For women, these spaces are often complicated. Sometimes, they’re welcoming and supportive. Other times, they’re restrictive, designed with someone else’s needs in mind.
And too often, they’re simply missing.
When I think about my own journey, I realise how much of it has revolved around these spaces. The waiting room of a fertility clinic where I sat alone, wrestling with questions about motherhood. The crowded, competitive spaces of workplaces where I had to advocate not just for a seat at the table but for my voice to be heard. The quiet corners I’ve carved out to dream, to cry, to just breathe. And the invisible spaces between friendships, relationships, and societal expectations, where I’ve found connection and clarity—sometimes both, and sometimes neither.
Virginia Woolf famously wrote in A Room of One’s Own that “a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” But beyond writing, Woolf’s words still resonate today—women need space, both literal and figurative, to create, think, and simply be. The challenge is that these spaces are not always available. Whether it’s physical spaces in the workplace, as Joan C. Williams explores in What Works for Women at Work, or emotional spaces in relationships, as Audre Lorde describes in Sister Outsider, women are often asked to fit into structures that weren’t built for us.
As women, we’re taught to navigate these spaces with grace. To sit quietly in waiting rooms, to lean in at work, to hold the space for others without ever asking for too much ourselves. But what happens when we start to reimagine these spaces? When we claim them, shape them, or even build new ones entirely? Glennon Doyle’s Untamed challenges the idea that women must adapt to existing expectations; instead, she urges us to break free and create new spaces that honour our needs.
This series, The spaces women need, is about exploring these questions. It’s about the rooms we wait in, the ones we’ve outgrown, and the ones we dream of creating. Over the coming weeks, I’ll dive into the spaces women need to thrive—physical, emotional, and societal. From carving out time for creativity and reflection to challenging the culture of boardrooms (as explored in Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg) and the invisible pressures of motherhood (which Angela Garbes examines in Essential Labor), each article will look at how we can create more room for ourselves and each other.
Because here’s the truth: women are often asked to fit into spaces that weren’t built for us. And when those spaces don’t serve us, we’re told to make do. But we don’t have to accept that. We can advocate for spaces that uplift us, connect us, and empower us. And we can learn to say no to the ones that don’t.
The waiting room concept has always been about pausing, reflecting, and choosing differently when life doesn’t go as planned. But it’s also about the spaces we occupy while we wait—and the ones we step into when we’re ready to move forward. Whether you’re navigating career challenges, exploring motherhood, or just trying to carve out time for yourself, I hope this series will resonate with you.
I’d love to hear from you—what spaces have been most meaningful in your life, and which ones are still missing? Let’s start the conversation. Drop a comment or tag me in your own reflections.
Some incredible writers exploring women’s experiences and spaces on Substack:
on race, gender, and economics
on balancing domestic and professional spaces for women
Stay tuned for the first article in the series next week: “A room of one’s own.”
Let’s figure out how to make room for more of what matters.