My daughter was astonished when I received an invitation to a women leaders meeting. To daughters, mom is the one who drove the carpool, French-braided hair, decorated dinosaur-shaped cakes. Mom was never a leader.
But, to her amazement, the female partners at Riker, Danzig, a law firm with many female partners, have a list of women in leadership positions around the state and mom is on it.
So, she and I went to a cocktail party and presentation by Tina Sloan, author of Changing Shoes, a book about growing older with style. Sloan was a star of Guiding Light, a long-running soap opera. She is a "woman of a certain age" who knows how to look good, stay in shape and handle all the things we have to handle as we get older -- the fact that food becomes an enemy, parents become needy, children grow up and move out. . .things we all face, but Sloan faces with humor.
I can't relate to everything she writes about, but I do get it. She uses shoes as a metaphor for feeling like you can take on the world. Yep. That works. I have slutty shoes for those kind of parties. I have hiking boots for those kind of dates. Sneakers for every day. Practical shoes for work.
What I don't have are flip-flops. I worry sometimes about the generation of women who live in flip-flops. If you always wear casual (to say the least) sandals, how can you feel you can take on the world in various different circumstances? Flip-flops convey no power at all. You're better off barefoot.
I think the whole generation of flip-flop wearers should read Changing Shoes. They need to understand the ultimate symbols of power.
