You’ve heard it all before…

Women are ‘tap happy’ and ‘frivolous’ spenders with a penchant for heels and handbags, while men are the breadwinners who spend ‘their’ money on ‘important things’. Women are painted as nervous, anxious and ‘overawed’ by the complexity of the financial landscape, while men are confident, savvy investors and money managers ready to tackle the stock market with ease. Never mind the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) or anything...

The way society speaks about women and money perpetuates damaging gendered stereotypes. In fact, a recent study of the language used in over 300 financial articles around the globe found that 65% of stories aimed at women spoke about them as excessive spenders with poor judgment who need to “rein in” and “limit” their reckless spending habits. 

With this dialogue ringing in our ears, is it any wonder that women internalise these messages and are confined to a vicious cycle of low money confidence? And worse still, men have historically benefitted from reinforcing these messages and stereotypes to maintain power over and control of the financial reigns. Unless we stop and have serious conversations with ourselves, our friends, and our colleagues - both men and women - about the language we use and the way we characterise the relationship between women and their money - things won’t change. As women, we can’t afford to have another hundred years of financial inequality and damaging stereotypes. Literally, cannot afford it. 

So, ladies, it’s time to change the way we speak about women and money. It’s time to tear up the script, reconstruct the narrative and create a new language for how we speak about women and money. When we change the narrative, we can change our realities, and it’s high time that the reality for women changed. Are you in?

Episode 1

Episode 2