The Posh Paradox: Why We Love to Underestimate Women

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CULTURE

The Posh Paradox: Why We Love to Underestimate Women

From Posh Spice sceptic to Victoria Beckham convert: how one documentary made me realise we’ve all been a little too quick to judge — and what it says about how we treat ambitious women (ourselves included).

BY HARRIET ISHBEL SWEENEY / 24 OCTOBER 2025

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If you’ve seen the new Victoria Beckham documentary, you might have found yourself squirming in your seat, whispering, “Wait… have we actually been mean to her this whole time?” Because yes, the woman who went from Posh Spice sneer to global fashion icon has somehow been punished at every stage of her evolution. And yet, despite a career that could make most of us weep with envy, she’s still underestimated. So why do we do this to women like her?

Full disclosure: I’m not ashamed to admit that I was Posh Spice in our local newspaper at their very height in primary school. I wore that title like a badge of honour, even if it came with side-eye from the teachers. And yet, decades later, when watching the documentary, I found myself quaffing at the idea that Victoria seemed to be deliberately cultivating her fashion icon image. Honestly? I had never rated her in the fashion world - overly priced viscose pieces that were eye-wateringly expensive didn’t exactly scream “visionary designer” to me. I probably assumed she hadn’t even designed them herself, completely forgetting how much is actually involved in running a business and how many missing pieces go unnoticed behind the curtain.

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By the third episode, though, I was hooked. Watching her navigate setbacks, I kept thinking: Wow. She’s an incredible woman. How has she managed to keep her business afloat, even when it was in the red for so long? And the honesty in her moments of self-doubt - admitting she never felt “good enough,” not even to make cheese toast - was disarming. Here’s someone who has conquered the world of music, fashion, and motherhood, and yet she still wrestles with the same insecurities that most of us do over our morning matcha.

The documentary pulls back the curtain on her life, showing moments of vulnerability that the tabloids never bothered to notice. She’s funny, warm, and clearly has a sense of humour about her own image. Yet, there’s this cultural itch to undermine her. Why? Part of it is that women who succeed quietly - or, in Victoria’s case, with impeccable posture - make people uncomfortable. She defies the trope of the “messy, relatable woman” who always needs rescuing. She just works and succeeds, and somehow that’s threatening.

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Let’s be real: we also love to underestimate women. It’s a weird, collective pastime. We celebrate their ‘failings’ more than their wins. We notice when they’re distant, controlling, or ambitious - but rarely when they’re brilliant, resilient, or quietly revolutionary. Victoria’s story is a perfect case study: a woman who has spent her life carefully curating her image and empire, only to be subjected to endless public opinion like a reality show participant in perpetuity.

And yet, maybe that’s the point. Maybe we need to ask ourselves why we’re still surprised when a woman can be multifaceted. Why do we assume that if a woman is ambitious, she can’t also be empathetic? That if she’s stylish, she can’t also be smart? That if she’s successful, she can’t also be human? Victoria Beckham isn’t just Posh Spice or a designer; she’s an emblem of the contradiction we refuse to accept in women: that they can be all of it at once.

Watching her story made me reflect: I wish as women we weren’t always trying to drag each other down. And how can we stop underestimating ourselves, holding ourselves to impossible standards, or measuring our worth against curated Instagram feeds? Maybe the answer lies in celebrating ambition, elegance, and resilience—without guilt, without commentary, and without underestimation.

So yes, perhaps we have been mean. But the bigger shame isn’t Victoria’s reputation - it’s our collective reluctance to let women be extraordinary without judgement. Here’s to Victoria, here’s to laughing at our insecurities, and here’s to finally giving ourselves—and each other - the credit we deserve.