There is a myth we’ve been sold: that once a woman earns a seat at the table, the war is over.
That once she is elected, selected, appointed or applauded, the path clears and her voice finds easy air.
But for every woman who has fought her way into positions of power, there lies a hidden architecture.
A network of invisible rooms.
Some with ceilings so low they crush ambition.
Some with mirrors that distort truth into distraction.
Some with no corners to hide in when the laughter turns dangerous.
This is not metaphor for metaphor’s sake. It is a language of survival. It is how women describe the spaces they navigate, not just physically, but emotionally and politically, when they dare to lead.
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan did not just walk into a Senate chamber.
She walked into a legacy of resistance.
Into male-dominated rooms steeped in tradition, entitlement, and entitlement disguised as jokes.
She walked in with ideas, policies and conviction, and was met, instead, with innuendos about her body, suspicion about her place, and orchestrated efforts to unseat her.
But this story isn’t just about one woman.
It is about all women who carry power with grace and yet are asked to shrink.
Who are told they’re ‘too much’, too loud, too emotional, too bold, simply because they refuse to be silent.
It is about the unspoken cost of public service for women: the gropes that become jokes, the whispers that become headlines, the dismissals wrapped in faux courtesy.
This narrative, Rooms of Her Own, is a fictionalised journey through symbolic spaces that represent what many women in leadership, from politics to boardrooms, face daily.
Each vignette is rooted in truth, inspired by lived experience, and crafted to offer not just critique but clarity.
Because sometimes, the best way to expose injustice is not to shout facts but to tell stories.
And in telling this story, we hope not only to honour Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s courage, but also to build solidarity with every woman who dares to enter the room and refuses to leave quietly.
