Simone Ashley has revealed that a frustrating encounter with a ‘man in a van,’ inspired her moving speech, as she was awarded the Game-Changing Actor prize at the Glamour Women Of The Year Awards.
The Bridgerton star, 29, was awarded the coveted honour by her co-star Nicola Coughlan, and in a lengthy speech, detailed how she’s been ‘frustrated’ by the problem that she and other women are told they’re ‘incapable’ of success.
Simone then noted an awkward encounter with a man just days earlier, who attempted to help her with parallel parking, describing his behaviour as ‘frustrating and intrusive.’
She explained: ‘The reality is sometimes in life the things we desire the most, they don’t fall unto our life. But I still believe within reason that doesn’t mean we shouldn’ have a dream, because maybe we will be surprised by what happens to us during the pursuit.
‘Society sometimes tells us that women aren’t capable of many things, I find that so frustrating because I know we’re capabale, we know we’re capable, we all know we’re capable.
Simone Ashley has revealed a frustrating encounter with a ‘man in a van,’ inspired her moving speech, as she was awarded the Actor gong at the Glamour Women Of The Year Awards
‘And that leads me to wanting to share something that happened to me literally about a week ago.
‘So, I was driving my car in London and I was parallel parking and my male best friend was in the car with me, and I was struggling to park my car on a really narrow London street.
‘Then a man with a van drove past, got out of his van, and decided to help me. He started giving me instructions ”lock it this way, move that, turn the car this way,” all of these things and I started to get overwhelmed.
‘But I thought ”it’s OK, just be patient, he’s just trying to help you.” Then his behaviour started to get increasingly more aggressive, and a little bit more intrusive.
‘He was like ”roll down your window I want to tell you something,” and I didn’t roll down my window, I very graciously and kindly said ”no thank you, I’m OK.”
‘I started to get a bit nervous and with this, he then looked at my male friend and then he put one arm up, and then he put the other arm up, and then he puffed his chest and went ”you should be driving” as if to say ”men can do it” and I’m sure they can, and yes in the moment I laughed, inside I felt a little bit embarrassed and really frustrated.
‘This is a really minor example of being told I wasn’t good at something because I’;m a woman. But we all know that there are constantly much more profund and serious examples that women face day to day, where we are told that something is impossible because they are a woman.’
Simone went onto urge any young fans who are watching to ‘plant their energy into believing what they already know,’ before paying particular address to ‘little girls with skin like her,’ urging them to remember that ‘they can do it.’
The Bridgerton star was awarded the coveted honour by Nicola Coughlan, and detailed how she’s been ‘frustrated’ by the problem that women are told they’re ‘incapable’ of success
Simone, best known for her role as Kate Sharma in Bridgerton (pictured), then noted an awkward encounter with a man who attempted to help her with parallel parking
She added: ‘This is a really minor example of being told I wasn’t good at something because I’m a woman.
‘But we all know that there are constantly much more profund and serious examples that women face day to day, where we are told that something is impossible because they are a woman.
‘Even though they know, we know that we are worth and we are capable. So the message that I want to convey, don’t listen to anything or anyone that deprives us of hope.
‘Instead plant your energy into believing what you already know, honour your dreams, fight for them and don’t surrender to anyone who tells you it’s not possible.
‘Lastly I want to highlight something I get asked in almost every press interview, and the question is: ”why does representation matter?” And I guess the answer for me is because that it makes us understand and trust that we belong.
‘So to any little girl watching this, and especially little girls and skin like me I hope you can trust that you do belong, you belong on this stage with me, with a microphone like this so your voice can be heard loud and clear.
‘I love the colour of my skin, I think it is strong and beautiful and I think it’s so wroth and so capable.
‘And to the same little girls, if someone ever tells you something isn’t possible because you’re a woman, I hope you can look in the mirror and put one arm up and the other one and puff your chest and say ”I can do it!”
Following her moving speech, Simone posed backstage with her award in hand, having already graced the red carpet in a stunning yellow suede dress.
Simone went onto address any ‘little girls with skin like her,’ urging them to remember that ‘they can do it’
Elsewhere during the ceremony, Jodie Turner-Smith was awarded the Trailblazer trophy by pal and fellow actor Naomie Harris, 48.
Keely Hodgkinson was awarded the Sporting Hero prize, while former Love Island star Cally Jane Beech was awarded Activist of the Year.
The coveted Glamour Impact Award was given to former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, while host Katherine Ryan also accepted the prize for Feminist Hero.
Chloe Bailey was awarded the Musician Gong, while Jameela Jamil accepted the award for Game-Changing Voice.
GLAMOUR’s Women of the Year Awards returned for another year to celebrate some of the biggest names in music, television, film, and sport.
The event, which is sponsored by Samsung and the new Galaxy Ring, honours the activists and record-breakers who are leading the charge for women’s equality.
Past winners have included Kim Cattrall, Naomi Campbell and Victoria Beckham.
