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January 8, 2025Learn New Skills in the New Year
January 8, 2025I’m a long-term fan of Annabel Crab and her work. So I was pleased to get a chance to listen to a book she wrote a while back, called The Wife Drought: Why Women Need Wives and Men Need Lives. It didn’t disappoint.
There was an old adage that behind every successful man, there was an awesome woman. That’s a view that needs updated wording, but it’s true that the people who really get ahead in the world, have a supportive partner who fits the role that wives traditionally did. And still today, that’s mostly still wives in that role not husbands, even though that proportion is slowly changing.
In the book, Annabel discussed the long road that we’ve taken as a society. I particularly enjoyed the discussions about early female politicians in Australia like Edith Cowan, and the struggles that she endured. Annabel even started her discussion basically from the first fleet onwards.
A large part of the book discusses women in politics, and those who know the Australian personalities involved would probably get the most out of it, even though I think there are pearls of wisdom there for everyone.
I found myself laughing when hearing a number of Annabel’s stories, particularly those from behind politics. That’s an area that she has a far better ability to cover than most, particularly given her Kitchen Cabinet TV series, where she interviewed leading politicians while cooking with them, mostly in their own kitchens. Annabel has a disarming style that gets them to share information that most would never think they would.
Fortunately, in the area that I mostly work (i.e. data), there is a much higher percentage of women than in other areas of IT. We used to run weekend code camps for developers and for data people, and we’d get around 5% female participation for developers, but 40% for data people.
Summary
An enjoyable listen. Sometimes, I thought it belaboured the points and could have been shorter, but still enjoyable. It was clearly well researched, and the text is well written. I also appreciate the fact that she read it herself.
Recommended !
7 out of 10
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