I am woman in my 50s, hear me roar

Barbara Scully rails against the notion that older females become invisible. What’s more, she has finally discovered her ‘inner creativity’.

WHEN I was a little girl I used to dream about having the power to become invisible. I figured that I could explore all kinds of places and situations that would normally be off limits to a child. I could overhear conversations, gain wisdom and have the power to blackmail all around me. I thought it would be the ultimate superpower.

Needless to say I never achieved invisibility. In fact, much of my childhood, while not quite blighted, was certainly marked out by the fact that I was the most visible of my classmates. As the tall girl I had to be very careful about getting up to no good because, while my smaller mates would get away with blending into the scenery, I stood out like the proverbial sore thumb and so managed to get caught every single time.