As a 48-year-old brown woman, I’ve been invisible as long as I can remember

Our first guest columnist, Saima Mir, knows how it feels to be disregarded for nothing more than your appearance

In the most recent episode of The Shift podcast, writer Jojo Moyes talks about the first time she felt invisible. It happened in an Italian restaurant, when she realised the waiter wasn’t flirting back but, instead, was smiling the way he might at his mother. It was a shock to her system, as an attractive blonde woman, she had always been valued.

As a 48-year-old woman of British Pakistani heritage, I found this conversation fascinating because I’ve been invisible for as long as I can remember.

It took me a while to recognise that some of us were out of focus, whilst others were centre shot. As I’ve passed through the workplace, marriage, divorce, motherhood, and now perimenopause, this invisibility has turned from irritant to annoyance, and then to righteous outrage.

It has been with me throughout my career. As a journalist in local papers, TV…