Vanguard: Cindy "Abigale" Bowens talks about her legacy

If you check out the FemDevs recurring column today, you'll find a comment provided by the OCR for Sigil Games Online, one Cindy "Abigale" Bowens. Here's the excerpt:

Well, I am guessing I am a lot older than most of you on this list. So my perspective may be a little different. I am from a generation of women that were told as little girls that we could grow up to be a teacher, a nurse, a secretary or a mommy. Growing up, I did not know of any women that did anything but the jobs on that very short list of professions. I can remember people I knew being outraged that women were "taking over" jobs that "should" belong to men.

Ok, now that I have shown my age and sound completely ancient, I have to say that I am thrilled every time I hear my teenaged daughter weighing her options for her future. She is a junior in high school and is wavering back and forth between a number of different things she would like to do. Honestly, I could not care less which path she chooses for herself. I am just happy that she has so many options from which to choose. The idea that there might be a field that is dominated by men and might be difficult for her to enter has not occurred to her.

She has seen me leave a very unhappy marriage to pursue my own dreams. And thankfully, I have been successful at what I set out to do. So it is my hope that my legacy to her is to teach her that it is possible to do things that might be difficult and to succeed at finding what you want. I am also pleased that she sees me in a male dominated industry, with all of its ups and downs. She has had the opportunity to meet many strong women in this field and see what they have accomplished. I could not ask for better role models for her.

While that may not translate to being a legacy to all young women, in my little corner of the world, it has meant a lot. I can get very emotional when looking at young women today and seeing the choices they have before them. I feel a little proud of all of us for forging ahead into yet another field that has not always been welcoming to women. The more we contribute to this industry in our own ways, the more this field will be seen as an option to young women as they choose their own paths.

You can check out the rest of the article here.