Former Her World editor Betty Khoo-Kingsley on why the term "super woman" is detrimental to women

During my tenure as an investigative journalist at New Nation, a now-defunct English language newspaper, I was assigned to magazine publisher Times Periodicals to breathe new life into Her World.

The magazine, first published in 1960, was once emblematic of household routines and traditional crafts, and seemed to have fallen behind newer and buzzier competitors.

Before that, perusing women’s magazines hadn’t been part of my routine, so I looked at best-selling women’s magazines abroad. I found the glamorous US-based Cosmopolitan, helmed by then editor-in-chief Helen Gurley Brown, to be the perfect reference. Her idea that a woman could have it all resonated with me.

A new vision

In 1977, I commenced the overhaul of Her World, ushering in a fresh image and content line-up. Our ambition was to embody the concept of a super woman who pursued a high-flying career while embracing motherhood.

Out went the old-fashioned attire and aprons – replaced by modern outfits, power suits and branded accessories. My beauty and fashion editor, Jennifer Schoon, and I took pride in our slender figures. Home-grown boutiques like Trend at Rabiah Ibrahim, known for its body-shaping dresses, or Bibi & Baba, for locally made jeans, were my favourites.

What were the markings of achievement for a super woman? It was what would be known as the “five Cs of Singapore”: car, cash, credit card, condominium, and country club.

I once wrote, “To maintain your professional position, you have to keep moving forward, or risk an immediate regression.” The revamped Her World mirrored the sweeping changes in the newly industrialised and urbanised world.

A shift in women’s mindsets had begun. In a bid to spend more quality time with their children after work, many of our readers arranged full-time help for childcare.

Gone were the days of multi-generational kampung living, as then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew advocated for the removal of outdated kampungs and Chinese villages for the development of modern public housing.

By the late 1970s to the 1980s, Her World’s new direction was a success. My portfolio then expanded to create Home & Decor, and Young Parents – lifestyle magazines catering to a new “me” generation.

Despite calls to halt the consumerist culture in the mid-1980s, the tide seemed unstoppable. Stressed? Retail therapy will solve your problems. We didn’t care that our habits could have been harming our planet.

Alas, with the creation of more fashion and lifestyle titles in the course of my career, I felt that I had inadvertently unleashed a Pandora’s box.

The turning point

Being a super woman brought immense stress to women who were juggling multiple roles and demands. I began to notice that many of our readers, who were in their 40s and married to high-earning husbands, chose to resign from their careers. They’d had enough.

As their daughters grew up, graduated, married, and started families, a familiar cycle began to emerge. Many of these women abandoned their careers to become full-time mothers. Yet, this shift birthed a downside: They turned into Tiger Mums, pressuring their children to excel in response to their career sacrifices.

Not surprisingly, many burnt-out women turned to antidepressants, unaware of the side effects of becoming reliant on these soft prescription drugs. I, too, succumbed.

Trading in the glitz & glamour

In 1994, I made the pivotal decision to walk away from the rat race.

My husband and I chose to start a new life in Darwin, Australia. I went from drinking champagne at product launches to getting my hands dirty alongside my new biodynamic friends, filling cow horns with manure.

I also decided to chronicle my journey in an autobiography 50 Years to Wake Up, and in my first book Conversations With My Spirit Guide, both published in 1995.

I’m an eco-warrior, gardener, and Ayurveda advocate. I’ve come to realise how important these contrasting experiences were all a necessary part of becoming who I am today.

From living in an apartment in Singapore, to the outskirts of Darwin, and now, in a Malay village by the sea in Johor, Malaysia, I’ve never been more fulfilled in my life with my garden of culinary and medicinal weeds, and tropical fruit trees.