**By Rose Mills **
Do you ever wonder who's world you're living in? Are you really wearing the trousers in your life? Or is it dictated by the rising prices, fast paced city lifestyle and the demanding catwalk fashionistas - overly skinny, overly pretty and damn expensive to copy!
As a woman, an engaged woman at that, I often question my existence in relation to the things around me. A quickly emptying bank account (but I only got paid 5 days ago and haven't even been food shopping yet!), what my friends are doing and talking about and how can we ignore the current failing bank system.
So where do I fit in?
As a trained secondary school teacher I am struggling to find a job that's local enough so I don't have to drive for 4 hours every day. Is that too much to ask? I'm not only trying to preserve my car/bank account - fuel costs rising (that's another thing) and my life but also holding off the bags-under-eyes-oh god I look 50 already enevitable with 17 hour days! The job's hard enough - abusive, rude and uberconfident teens 5 days a bloomin week - without topping that off with a drive that imposes on MY time... or rather the time when I have to complete house keeping, go shopping so that I'm not living off fruit and school canteen lunches (yuk!) and yes - sometimes - spend some quality tine with my fiance.
So maybe you're with me when I wonder where MY time has gone. It certainly doesn't feel like it's been spent on me. No wonder women are ever more filling their wardrobes with the newest style or that sale item impulse buy. Trying to 'spend' time on themselves only to be criticised by their parent, partner or interfering work colleague. "Oh, another new top?" "New shoes?" "How can you afford another bag..."
I hope you weren't hoping to find the answer at the bottom of this article, because just like you I often wonder who is running the show. We women strive for independence, aspire to be the bread winner and yet don't seem to reap the same rewards as men. They claim to not know how to iron, wash the dishes or do the shopping. But they certainly know how to turn on the TV as they enter the room, remain secured to the sofa or computer screen until dinners ready. Prepared by who? Oh yes, that'll be me.
Maybe i'll be a kept woman or write romantic fiction... the Jane Austen of 2008?