In this section of the website, you can read previous blog posts from 2019 and earlier. Enjoy!
El International
21 September 2019
Good morning from wonderful Spain!
I’m in Sitges this weekend for my friends Vicky and Albert’s wedding in a cute little town near Barcelona. Legs up, coffee on the table, and a sunbed on the balcony – exactly what I need right now! Wishing my friends a great and happy life together, full of love, joy and positivity!
As I’m away this weekend, I figured I’ll have an internationally themed blog post today. So here is the latest and (not always) greatest from around the world:
Have a good weekend, and talk soon!
Good morning from wonderful Spain!
I’m in Sitges this weekend for my friends Vicky and Albert’s wedding in a cute little town near Barcelona. Legs up, coffee on the table, and a sunbed on the balcony – exactly what I need right now! Wishing my friends a great and happy life together, full of love, joy and positivity!
As I’m away this weekend, I figured I’ll have an internationally themed blog post today. So here is the latest and (not always) greatest from around the world:
- Recent research by Lean In shows that across different demographic groups, majority of US voters say they are “very ready” or “extremely ready” for a woman president. Sadly, the two main predictors for Democratic and Independent voters planning to vote for a woman or man in the Democratic primary are how “presidential” and “electable” the candidates appear to be, which in itself is fine, but unfortunately these exact two words are rooted in stereotypes which tend to favor men over women. Read here on this latest research as well as Lean In’s campaign #GetOutTheBias which is highlighting gender dynamics in the 2020 election.
- Over here in Europe, the French President recently visited a domestic violence hotline center – only to find out Police are refusing to help victims in times of desperate need. The visit was supposed to be a showcase of the French government’s new initiatives to reduce domestic violence but instead Macron happened to listen in to the morning’s calls and heard in real time how a local police officer refused to help a woman in danger of abuse by her partner. The shocking case and the reality of women’s lives in France is covered in this Guardian piece.
- Let’s move to Asia – The Philippines’ President Duterte has been known for his inappropriate and sexist comments. But if you wanted an article that lists his major offences one by one – here is the one to read. His “top” seven insults are described and my personal “favourite”, i.e. most shocking one is the joke about who got to rape a woman first.
- And finally, a look at the African news shows a teenage Kenyan girl recently killed herself after “period shaming” by her very own teacher! While in Zimbabwe they run programs to educate kids about periods (see below), in Kenya the very wrongdoers in this situation were the teachers who are meant educate about periods and make children feel included. This girl’s educator called her “dirty” after she got her period in school and her uniform got stained and made her stand outside the classroom! She then got home and told her mum, and shortly after killed herself. Incredibly sad and it makes me angry such people call themselves teachers. There’s nothing the little girl should have been ashamed of! More on the story here.
Have a good weekend, and talk soon!
September Updates
4 September 2019
I'm pleased to report our next initiative within my company focusing on diversity and inclusion will be dedicated to World Mental Health Day on 10 October. We've planned a great range of healthy activities for our office, including meditation and mindfulness practice, and I can't wait to celebrate the importance of mental health with the team :)
While that prep is going on, below is a roundup of recent articles and events that have taken place in the UK and beyond:
- Detailed research and analysis on UK banks' responsiveness to victims of economic abuse. Read here the story of Claire who was abused by her husband, and who moved to a safe house - only to then find out her bank accidentally sent a letter to her abusive husband with her new safehouse address on it. How are banks training their employees to recognise signs of potential abuse amongst customers, what are they legally obliged to do, and what additional measures are they taking to protect victims - all is included in the BBC research above.
- My Zimbabwean boyfriend enjoyed this article about menstrual hygiene lessons in schools in Zimbabwe. It's a letter by a 15 year old girl who openly talks about her period and the confidence she's gained from learning more about it from her teacher. Enjoy the read!
- Speaking of Africa, this year's winner of the Miss South Africa pageant is openly queer - the first woman to admit so in the competition's history. Read up the story of Sibabalwe Gcilitshana here.
- And finally, 2-5th October will see the Red Smart Women event taking place in London. Join The Red magazine team organising a week of live talks, interviews, workshops and masterclasses, focusing on careers, beauty, fashion, fitness and mindfulness. Any feedback is welcome as it does promise to be a strong event!
Last but not least, I can't conclude without a thank you to my Mum again - it's the time of year right before my birthday, and there's no one else in this world who's done more for me than her. It's the love, inspiration and support that I get from her that have made me who I am today. Blagodarya ti, Galche!
I'm off to Bulgaria this weekend to see the family and Muffin - will report when I get back! Talk soon!
I'm pleased to report our next initiative within my company focusing on diversity and inclusion will be dedicated to World Mental Health Day on 10 October. We've planned a great range of healthy activities for our office, including meditation and mindfulness practice, and I can't wait to celebrate the importance of mental health with the team :)
While that prep is going on, below is a roundup of recent articles and events that have taken place in the UK and beyond:
- Detailed research and analysis on UK banks' responsiveness to victims of economic abuse. Read here the story of Claire who was abused by her husband, and who moved to a safe house - only to then find out her bank accidentally sent a letter to her abusive husband with her new safehouse address on it. How are banks training their employees to recognise signs of potential abuse amongst customers, what are they legally obliged to do, and what additional measures are they taking to protect victims - all is included in the BBC research above.
- My Zimbabwean boyfriend enjoyed this article about menstrual hygiene lessons in schools in Zimbabwe. It's a letter by a 15 year old girl who openly talks about her period and the confidence she's gained from learning more about it from her teacher. Enjoy the read!
- Speaking of Africa, this year's winner of the Miss South Africa pageant is openly queer - the first woman to admit so in the competition's history. Read up the story of Sibabalwe Gcilitshana here.
- And finally, 2-5th October will see the Red Smart Women event taking place in London. Join The Red magazine team organising a week of live talks, interviews, workshops and masterclasses, focusing on careers, beauty, fashion, fitness and mindfulness. Any feedback is welcome as it does promise to be a strong event!
Last but not least, I can't conclude without a thank you to my Mum again - it's the time of year right before my birthday, and there's no one else in this world who's done more for me than her. It's the love, inspiration and support that I get from her that have made me who I am today. Blagodarya ti, Galche!
I'm off to Bulgaria this weekend to see the family and Muffin - will report when I get back! Talk soon!
Ad-ditional Bans
16 August 2019
Earlier this year, the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK introduced a ban on showing men and women performing gender-stereotypical activities in order to stop “limiting how people see themselves and how others see them and the life decisions they take”.
Philadelphia cream cheese and the Volkswagen car company have now become the first to have their ads banned from British TV for these reasons. The cheese ad shows two dads eating food while their babies are whisked away on the food conveyor belt - something many point out as harmful messaging that fathers cannot take care of their children and keep them safe. In the car ad, on the other hand, there are scenes of a man and a woman in a tent on a sheer cliff face, two male astronauts, a male para-athlete and a woman sitting on a bench next to a pram. There was also a text that read: “When we learn to adapt we can achieve anything.” This woman seen in a care-giving role was again seen as stereotypical and as such the ad was banned.
It's good to see the authorities taking action to address what we see on TV. At the end of the day, for many people what you see is what you believe. So let's show positive images and expanding horizons, not limiting and damaging messages to men and women alike.
On another note, I recently moved offices in London, and left my old building at WeWork - now some news have emerged that the global company for sharing co-working spaces does not have a single woman on its board. WeWork filed for IPO earlier this week and not only did we see it's not been doing very well financially, but also we got to see its board composition - which is disappointing to say the least. The company has faced accusations of discrimination in the past already, so you'd think they'd open up their doors to a wider diversity of talent. On the bright side they've gone all veggie in WeWork so they only serve meat-free options in the canteen - one good thing for society and the environment.
Have a good weekend, ladies and gents, chat soon!
Earlier this year, the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK introduced a ban on showing men and women performing gender-stereotypical activities in order to stop “limiting how people see themselves and how others see them and the life decisions they take”.
Philadelphia cream cheese and the Volkswagen car company have now become the first to have their ads banned from British TV for these reasons. The cheese ad shows two dads eating food while their babies are whisked away on the food conveyor belt - something many point out as harmful messaging that fathers cannot take care of their children and keep them safe. In the car ad, on the other hand, there are scenes of a man and a woman in a tent on a sheer cliff face, two male astronauts, a male para-athlete and a woman sitting on a bench next to a pram. There was also a text that read: “When we learn to adapt we can achieve anything.” This woman seen in a care-giving role was again seen as stereotypical and as such the ad was banned.
It's good to see the authorities taking action to address what we see on TV. At the end of the day, for many people what you see is what you believe. So let's show positive images and expanding horizons, not limiting and damaging messages to men and women alike.
On another note, I recently moved offices in London, and left my old building at WeWork - now some news have emerged that the global company for sharing co-working spaces does not have a single woman on its board. WeWork filed for IPO earlier this week and not only did we see it's not been doing very well financially, but also we got to see its board composition - which is disappointing to say the least. The company has faced accusations of discrimination in the past already, so you'd think they'd open up their doors to a wider diversity of talent. On the bright side they've gone all veggie in WeWork so they only serve meat-free options in the canteen - one good thing for society and the environment.
Have a good weekend, ladies and gents, chat soon!
Power
2 July 2019
June has passed but the memories from Women Deliver 2019 remain! A week in beautiful Vancouver, with tons of sunshine, gorgeous mountain and ocean views, provocative discussions, healthy debates and inspiring speeches.
Women Deliver 2019 was the world’s largest conference on women and girls with over 8,000 participants from around 170 countries. Nearly 1,400 of the participants were youth – people who are passionate about gender equality and want to see change happen! Myself as a Women Deliver Young leader alumna (make sure you check out their leadership program, it’s incredibly inspiring and resourceful), I attended the Young Leader pre-conference event on 2 June where we spoke about the program and our achievements in the past decade, as well as what world we’d like to live in moving forward and how we make it happen.
On the next day the Young Leaders joined the remainder of the 1,400-strong youth cohort and spoke about the power of young people and how we earn our place at the decision-making table. This was part of the Youth Pre-conference which also included performances and inspirational panels, poetry and dancing.
From July 3rd to 6th the main conference event took place, with presidents, prime ministers, royalties, politicians, international agency representatives, governmental and non-governmental workers, and private businesses all joining forces together to discuss the advancement of women and girls’ rights around the globe. The theme of the conference was “Power, Progress and Change”, and for me personally the main focus was on power. The favourite question every guest had to answer on stage was “How will you use your power to make change happen” and I asked myself the same thing – how do I use my power to drive progress? Do I even have any power? If yes, what is it? Am I doing enough? What more could I do? And so I thought…
Power for me is the ability and confidence to speak up in a meeting when someone is repeatedly interrupting me or claiming credit for my ideas. Power is negotiating for a starting salary in a new firm. Power is to earn a manager promotion at 25 and prove my potential. Power is to voice my opinion no matter how unpopular it is in a conservative culture where the man’s word is last in the family (not at mine it isn’t!) Power is accepting that I’m not a failure because I’m not married and without children (for now). Power is walking out of an unhealthy relationship. Power is helping someone who’s a minority in a group, making them feel supported and encouraging them to develop their strengths. Power is educating those around me about subjects they know little about (or think they know everything) and raising awareness – about sexual assault, women in Tech, the gender pay gap, the confidence gap, women’s representation in politics and business and at home… Power can be in anything and everything and this blog is one of my most powerful tools to communicate exactly what I think and feel about subjects impacting me and other women. So I’ll continue using my power and do exactly that – speak up and speak out. Please do the same!
June has passed but the memories from Women Deliver 2019 remain! A week in beautiful Vancouver, with tons of sunshine, gorgeous mountain and ocean views, provocative discussions, healthy debates and inspiring speeches.
Women Deliver 2019 was the world’s largest conference on women and girls with over 8,000 participants from around 170 countries. Nearly 1,400 of the participants were youth – people who are passionate about gender equality and want to see change happen! Myself as a Women Deliver Young leader alumna (make sure you check out their leadership program, it’s incredibly inspiring and resourceful), I attended the Young Leader pre-conference event on 2 June where we spoke about the program and our achievements in the past decade, as well as what world we’d like to live in moving forward and how we make it happen.
On the next day the Young Leaders joined the remainder of the 1,400-strong youth cohort and spoke about the power of young people and how we earn our place at the decision-making table. This was part of the Youth Pre-conference which also included performances and inspirational panels, poetry and dancing.
From July 3rd to 6th the main conference event took place, with presidents, prime ministers, royalties, politicians, international agency representatives, governmental and non-governmental workers, and private businesses all joining forces together to discuss the advancement of women and girls’ rights around the globe. The theme of the conference was “Power, Progress and Change”, and for me personally the main focus was on power. The favourite question every guest had to answer on stage was “How will you use your power to make change happen” and I asked myself the same thing – how do I use my power to drive progress? Do I even have any power? If yes, what is it? Am I doing enough? What more could I do? And so I thought…
Power for me is the ability and confidence to speak up in a meeting when someone is repeatedly interrupting me or claiming credit for my ideas. Power is negotiating for a starting salary in a new firm. Power is to earn a manager promotion at 25 and prove my potential. Power is to voice my opinion no matter how unpopular it is in a conservative culture where the man’s word is last in the family (not at mine it isn’t!) Power is accepting that I’m not a failure because I’m not married and without children (for now). Power is walking out of an unhealthy relationship. Power is helping someone who’s a minority in a group, making them feel supported and encouraging them to develop their strengths. Power is educating those around me about subjects they know little about (or think they know everything) and raising awareness – about sexual assault, women in Tech, the gender pay gap, the confidence gap, women’s representation in politics and business and at home… Power can be in anything and everything and this blog is one of my most powerful tools to communicate exactly what I think and feel about subjects impacting me and other women. So I’ll continue using my power and do exactly that – speak up and speak out. Please do the same!
Canada Countdown
31 May 2019
The countdown is on! I’m flying off to Canada tomorrow for Women Deliver 2019 – the world’s largest conference on gender equality and the health, rights, and wellbeing of girls and women! I’m so excited for the pre-conference activities which I’ll be attending together with hundreds of other young leaders from around the world, thanks to the generous invitation of Women Deliver. I’ll also be attending the main conference event between all of next week where world leaders like the Canadian Prime Minister and the Ethiopian President will be delivering key note speeches.
Vancouver is considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world and I’m well excited to visit and explore the Canadian culture, cuisine and nature. Judging by the previous Women Deliver conference in 2016 in Denmark though, I am expecting very busy days full of empowering and inspiring sessions on all topics women-related: from women in STEM and equal pay for equal work, to maternal mortality, to access to education, to contraception and abortion rights.
In an effort to limit my luggage, I won’t be taking almost any tech with me, so the earliest updates on my blog will be coming when I get back to the UK. In the meantime though, here are some Canada-related news from the last few weeks:
Talk soon, ladies and gents! Au revoir!
The countdown is on! I’m flying off to Canada tomorrow for Women Deliver 2019 – the world’s largest conference on gender equality and the health, rights, and wellbeing of girls and women! I’m so excited for the pre-conference activities which I’ll be attending together with hundreds of other young leaders from around the world, thanks to the generous invitation of Women Deliver. I’ll also be attending the main conference event between all of next week where world leaders like the Canadian Prime Minister and the Ethiopian President will be delivering key note speeches.
Vancouver is considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world and I’m well excited to visit and explore the Canadian culture, cuisine and nature. Judging by the previous Women Deliver conference in 2016 in Denmark though, I am expecting very busy days full of empowering and inspiring sessions on all topics women-related: from women in STEM and equal pay for equal work, to maternal mortality, to access to education, to contraception and abortion rights.
In an effort to limit my luggage, I won’t be taking almost any tech with me, so the earliest updates on my blog will be coming when I get back to the UK. In the meantime though, here are some Canada-related news from the last few weeks:
- US Vice President Pence met with Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau and amongst the topics discussed was abortion rights in the US: “I raised the concerns many Canadians have about these new anti-choice laws,” Trudeau said. “We are a country, a government that will always defend a woman’s right to choose.” – kudos to you!
- Next week a report will be released on violence against indigenous women in Canada – here’s more on why that’s an issue and what recommendations to expect.
- The government of Canada has a new humanitarian policy placing a primary focus on women and girls – how will that affect Canada and the world, more here.
Talk soon, ladies and gents! Au revoir!
Boards and Bodies
21 May 2019
I wanted to share some good news about tech companies' commitment to increasing the proportion of women on their boards - a list of 45 tech giants promised last week to increase the % of women on boards to 30% by 2022. Although this is still a low and unfair number, and it'll take them another 3 years to even get there, it is a commitment nevertheless. Recognising the current lack of balance is a step forward on its own. 30% on boards has been the magic number for a while now, and voluntarily imposed quotas seems to be the way forward. More about the “Tech for good” summit in Paris where the decision was made, can be found here.
And secondly, the week just gone 13-19 May 2019, was Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK. Unfortunately my own mental health was not 100% healthy and stable during those 7 days due to various work and personal life issues, which in turn limited my ability to blog about the awareness week. But as always, mental health remains on top of the agenda for my blog, so below are a couple of resources to help you understand the significance of mental health and ways to address any issues you or your loved ones may be experiencing:
- This year's theme is Body Image: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/body-image-report/exec-summary
- What's it's like to live with cystic acne: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-hampshire-48256108/how-a-personal-trainer-learnt-to-live-with-cystic-acne
- How to look after your health: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/how-to-mental-health
- A to Z mental health: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/a-z-mental-health/
- Mental Health Calendar of year-round events and days of celebration: https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/get-involved/tackle-stigma-workplace/make-impact-your-workplace/mental-health-calendar
Hope this helps, a small difference for one person makes for a big difference in the world!
Have a fab week, everyone!
I wanted to share some good news about tech companies' commitment to increasing the proportion of women on their boards - a list of 45 tech giants promised last week to increase the % of women on boards to 30% by 2022. Although this is still a low and unfair number, and it'll take them another 3 years to even get there, it is a commitment nevertheless. Recognising the current lack of balance is a step forward on its own. 30% on boards has been the magic number for a while now, and voluntarily imposed quotas seems to be the way forward. More about the “Tech for good” summit in Paris where the decision was made, can be found here.
And secondly, the week just gone 13-19 May 2019, was Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK. Unfortunately my own mental health was not 100% healthy and stable during those 7 days due to various work and personal life issues, which in turn limited my ability to blog about the awareness week. But as always, mental health remains on top of the agenda for my blog, so below are a couple of resources to help you understand the significance of mental health and ways to address any issues you or your loved ones may be experiencing:
- This year's theme is Body Image: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/body-image-report/exec-summary
- What's it's like to live with cystic acne: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-hampshire-48256108/how-a-personal-trainer-learnt-to-live-with-cystic-acne
- How to look after your health: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/how-to-mental-health
- A to Z mental health: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/a-z-mental-health/
- Mental Health Calendar of year-round events and days of celebration: https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/get-involved/tackle-stigma-workplace/make-impact-your-workplace/mental-health-calendar
Hope this helps, a small difference for one person makes for a big difference in the world!
Have a fab week, everyone!
Partnerships
10 April 2019
On 8 April I had the honour to attend “The Power of Partnerships” – a great event with Women Deliver and UK Members of Parliament, NGO’s and young leaders, which was hosted by Canada House in London. This was a pre-conference event ahead of Women Deliver 2019 – arguably the world’s largest gathering on women and girls coming up in June this year.
It was a great opportunity, as a Women Deliver fellow myself, to attend and chat to like-minded young leaders and professionals working to advance women’s rights in the UK and beyond. While the focus of the event was on developing partnerships between governments, non-governmental organisations (national and international), informal groups, and the private sector, the messaging we were all familiar with already – that we must work together to achieve maximum and most sustainable results. Nothing new under the sun, yet we as an international society we are still not quite 100% there yet… It’s events like this that remind us of the bigger picture and the group effort needed to achieve gender equality for all – and that also has to be cross-sector and cross-generational!
The UK Secretary of State for International Development addressed us, as well as other accomplished panelists and guests. And it definitely got me looking forward to my Canadian travel in June and the Women Deliver 2019 conference!
On 8 April I had the honour to attend “The Power of Partnerships” – a great event with Women Deliver and UK Members of Parliament, NGO’s and young leaders, which was hosted by Canada House in London. This was a pre-conference event ahead of Women Deliver 2019 – arguably the world’s largest gathering on women and girls coming up in June this year.
It was a great opportunity, as a Women Deliver fellow myself, to attend and chat to like-minded young leaders and professionals working to advance women’s rights in the UK and beyond. While the focus of the event was on developing partnerships between governments, non-governmental organisations (national and international), informal groups, and the private sector, the messaging we were all familiar with already – that we must work together to achieve maximum and most sustainable results. Nothing new under the sun, yet we as an international society we are still not quite 100% there yet… It’s events like this that remind us of the bigger picture and the group effort needed to achieve gender equality for all – and that also has to be cross-sector and cross-generational!
The UK Secretary of State for International Development addressed us, as well as other accomplished panelists and guests. And it definitely got me looking forward to my Canadian travel in June and the Women Deliver 2019 conference!
Companies Getting in Formation
7 April 2019
Couple of weeks ago I flew to Glasgow to deliver a workshop on women and self-confidence at the HPE offices there. The event was attended by more than 40 employees, both men and women, and generated great interest in the confidence gap we’re experiencing as a society in the 21st century. This is the theory that women tend to believe in their own abilities less so than men do, and as a result get left out when it comes to promotions, pay raises and big work opportunities. More on the topic below in my posts from last month. Exciting news now is that I’ll be presenting the same topic to HPE employees in Bristol this summer as well! Thank you to the HPE Women’s Network for inviting me and for engaging on these important diversity conversations especially in an industry like IT where women are underrepresented to begin with.
Speaking of women in IT, I also recently hosted my company’s first London-based diversity-themed event. We had fab representation of men and women, and watched a TED talk on the “anxity gap” at work (you know that feeling of being the ONLY one in a large group who’s female/ ethnic minority/ disabled/ gay/ etc. and being consistently anxious to speak, present, ask for anything, or even be noticed!) I also presented on self-confidence here too (yes, it’s my thing!) and we had a great group discussion on ways to improve diversity in the company and the industry in general, as well as ways to make everyone feel included and part of the team. I’m very grateful to my colleagues and leadership team for being so supportive and proactively addressing the issue. Look forward to more to come at my place and in general in the STEM world in the UK.
With that, I’ll leave you for tonight and go read about the newest female billionaire - MacKenzie Bezos. If you were curious, Fortune has summarised the latest figures as of March 2019 which show there are 2,153 billionaires in the world; and of them, just 244 were women... Here’s to powerful women and hopefully their wise and sustainable investments - like Beyonce says, they just might be the next Bill Gates in the making.
Talk soon!
Couple of weeks ago I flew to Glasgow to deliver a workshop on women and self-confidence at the HPE offices there. The event was attended by more than 40 employees, both men and women, and generated great interest in the confidence gap we’re experiencing as a society in the 21st century. This is the theory that women tend to believe in their own abilities less so than men do, and as a result get left out when it comes to promotions, pay raises and big work opportunities. More on the topic below in my posts from last month. Exciting news now is that I’ll be presenting the same topic to HPE employees in Bristol this summer as well! Thank you to the HPE Women’s Network for inviting me and for engaging on these important diversity conversations especially in an industry like IT where women are underrepresented to begin with.
Speaking of women in IT, I also recently hosted my company’s first London-based diversity-themed event. We had fab representation of men and women, and watched a TED talk on the “anxity gap” at work (you know that feeling of being the ONLY one in a large group who’s female/ ethnic minority/ disabled/ gay/ etc. and being consistently anxious to speak, present, ask for anything, or even be noticed!) I also presented on self-confidence here too (yes, it’s my thing!) and we had a great group discussion on ways to improve diversity in the company and the industry in general, as well as ways to make everyone feel included and part of the team. I’m very grateful to my colleagues and leadership team for being so supportive and proactively addressing the issue. Look forward to more to come at my place and in general in the STEM world in the UK.
With that, I’ll leave you for tonight and go read about the newest female billionaire - MacKenzie Bezos. If you were curious, Fortune has summarised the latest figures as of March 2019 which show there are 2,153 billionaires in the world; and of them, just 244 were women... Here’s to powerful women and hopefully their wise and sustainable investments - like Beyonce says, they just might be the next Bill Gates in the making.
Talk soon!
International Women's Day
8 March 2019
Happy International Women’s Day! May it be full of joy, inspiration and strong female role models for all of us!
On today’s special day I wanted to recognize my mother and grandmother for being the best role models I could ask for – independent and fierce, and also empathetic and kind!
To all the fierce women out there, enjoy our special day today!
Happy International Women’s Day! May it be full of joy, inspiration and strong female role models for all of us!
On today’s special day I wanted to recognize my mother and grandmother for being the best role models I could ask for – independent and fierce, and also empathetic and kind!
To all the fierce women out there, enjoy our special day today!
YES GPS
5 March 2019
I’m writing this post mid-way through my flight from Beirut to London. I’m squashed in seat B (I definitely think people in middle seats should get special privileges! Like extra leg room or more drinks or more deserts, to compensate for the lack of elbow room and general discomfort...) I’m also a bit overwhelmed by the wonderful experience I just had in the Lebanese capital where I attended the YES GPS (Gender Parity Specialists) workshop organised by AMIDEAST and sponsored by the US State Department. The event was a four-day workshop on gender equality with participants from 17 different countries - from The Philippines and Indonesia, to Morocco, South Africa, Tanzania and Jordan. I had the pleasure and honour to represent Bulgaria and to share my experience advocating for women’s rights and gender equality in Bulgaria and in the UK.
As part of the event every participant presented on a topic of their choice that relates to gender parity (mine was on self-confidence and women in the workplace, some of that I mentioned in my pre-departure post below). I got to hear about amazing young people fighting sexual harassment in Bangladesh through women’s self defence classes; about women hosting Vagina Monologues in South African universities to break the stigma around sexual assault and women’s sexuality; about activists working with deaf women and men in Ghana; and young female IT specialists training young girls how to code and develop their own apps in Kenya. These are just some of the amazing projects the attendees were hosting and participating in, and I can’t stress enough how inspired I felt after hearing about all the amazing work going on around the world to make it a better and safer place for women to live and prosper.
We also had guest speakers from international NGOs and UN Women, which shared their experiences working to advance women’s rights especially in the Middle East. Did you know that if a Lebanese man gets married to a non-Lebanese woman, he passes over his citizenship to her and their kids; but if a Lebanese woman does the same with a foreigner, they can’t get Lebanese citizenship, nor can the kids?
Other facts I learnt this week include that homosexuality is only legal in Jordan out of all Arab countries. Women in Tanzania must look away when talking to a man, especially an elderly man as a sign of respect - they can’t look into their eyes even though the man does look into the woman’s eyes and face. In the South East of Europe less than 9% of mayors are female, and in the whole of the EU the number is 14%! What equality can we demand when the decision makers themselves benefit from inequality and keeping onto power? Also, have you ever heard of Dr Petersen in Canada - a professor arguing sexism doesn’t exist and that women are taking over everything in life and men are now discriminated against and disadvantaged? Check him out, for real! It’s important to understand the opposing point of view in order to have stronger and more sustainable arguments for our own position.
I must say, the highlight of the weekend was definitely the visit to a women’s crisis center in the Lebanese mountains. It’s a secret women’s shelter for survivors of domestic abuse - and after speaking to the staff who work there, walking around the facility, and reflecting on my own experiences of violence, I was so overwhelmed that emotional strength found a new meaning for me. An eye-opening experience that was - because women have gone and continue going through so much that every act of strength must be applauded and encouraged!
I’m now heading back to the UK and will immediately start prepping for a new presentation on self-confidence and rocking the IT world as a woman. I’ll be delivering a seminar to the Women’s network at HP Enterprise in Glasgow later this month - thanks to the kind invitation of my dear friend and feminist sister Daniela. Will report back after the event - and until then, let’s start prepping for International Women’s Day this coming Friday. Another reminder of women’s achievements and strong spirit all over the world, and the need to cherish and encourage more women to thrive!
Have a fab week!
I’m writing this post mid-way through my flight from Beirut to London. I’m squashed in seat B (I definitely think people in middle seats should get special privileges! Like extra leg room or more drinks or more deserts, to compensate for the lack of elbow room and general discomfort...) I’m also a bit overwhelmed by the wonderful experience I just had in the Lebanese capital where I attended the YES GPS (Gender Parity Specialists) workshop organised by AMIDEAST and sponsored by the US State Department. The event was a four-day workshop on gender equality with participants from 17 different countries - from The Philippines and Indonesia, to Morocco, South Africa, Tanzania and Jordan. I had the pleasure and honour to represent Bulgaria and to share my experience advocating for women’s rights and gender equality in Bulgaria and in the UK.
As part of the event every participant presented on a topic of their choice that relates to gender parity (mine was on self-confidence and women in the workplace, some of that I mentioned in my pre-departure post below). I got to hear about amazing young people fighting sexual harassment in Bangladesh through women’s self defence classes; about women hosting Vagina Monologues in South African universities to break the stigma around sexual assault and women’s sexuality; about activists working with deaf women and men in Ghana; and young female IT specialists training young girls how to code and develop their own apps in Kenya. These are just some of the amazing projects the attendees were hosting and participating in, and I can’t stress enough how inspired I felt after hearing about all the amazing work going on around the world to make it a better and safer place for women to live and prosper.
We also had guest speakers from international NGOs and UN Women, which shared their experiences working to advance women’s rights especially in the Middle East. Did you know that if a Lebanese man gets married to a non-Lebanese woman, he passes over his citizenship to her and their kids; but if a Lebanese woman does the same with a foreigner, they can’t get Lebanese citizenship, nor can the kids?
Other facts I learnt this week include that homosexuality is only legal in Jordan out of all Arab countries. Women in Tanzania must look away when talking to a man, especially an elderly man as a sign of respect - they can’t look into their eyes even though the man does look into the woman’s eyes and face. In the South East of Europe less than 9% of mayors are female, and in the whole of the EU the number is 14%! What equality can we demand when the decision makers themselves benefit from inequality and keeping onto power? Also, have you ever heard of Dr Petersen in Canada - a professor arguing sexism doesn’t exist and that women are taking over everything in life and men are now discriminated against and disadvantaged? Check him out, for real! It’s important to understand the opposing point of view in order to have stronger and more sustainable arguments for our own position.
I must say, the highlight of the weekend was definitely the visit to a women’s crisis center in the Lebanese mountains. It’s a secret women’s shelter for survivors of domestic abuse - and after speaking to the staff who work there, walking around the facility, and reflecting on my own experiences of violence, I was so overwhelmed that emotional strength found a new meaning for me. An eye-opening experience that was - because women have gone and continue going through so much that every act of strength must be applauded and encouraged!
I’m now heading back to the UK and will immediately start prepping for a new presentation on self-confidence and rocking the IT world as a woman. I’ll be delivering a seminar to the Women’s network at HP Enterprise in Glasgow later this month - thanks to the kind invitation of my dear friend and feminist sister Daniela. Will report back after the event - and until then, let’s start prepping for International Women’s Day this coming Friday. Another reminder of women’s achievements and strong spirit all over the world, and the need to cherish and encourage more women to thrive!
Have a fab week!
The Confidence Code
27 February 2019
I’m heading off to Lebanon this weekend to participate in a gender parity workshop sponsored by the US State Department. As part of our discussions, I’ll be presenting on self confidence and women in the workplace. Specifically what factors shape our confidence and behaviour at work, and what can we do to bridge the so-called confidence gap between men and women.
As part of my research, I read an invaluable book called “The confidence code” by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman. I can’t recommend it enough for any woman - or man – who would like to understand the science and art of self-assurance.
One of the interesting factors covered in the book is around genetics and our brains and bodies – and how that influences our behaviour at work and in life. For example, did you know that in women, most of the brain cells are concentrated into the frontal cortex (the home of reasoning) and the limbic cortex (our emotional center). In men, on the other hand less than 50% of their cells are in the frontal cortex, and instead they’re more evenly spread around the whole brain. Not only that, but women have more white matter which helps us integrate different pieces of information together, while men hold more grey matter which is necessary to resolve isolated problems. While women’s brains are generally speaking more active and more neurons get fired that in men’s brains, we also have a whole area of the brain called cingulate gyrus that is much larger in women – and that area is in fact responsible for weighing options and recognising errors. Not surprising perhaps that we then sometimes overthink and ruminate over mistakes and their consequences.
If we look at our hormonal differences, women produce about 50% less serotonin than men do – and this by the way helps keep anxiety under control. We also have 10 times less testosterone, which drives competitive instincts and provokes risk taking – critical elements to appear and feel more self-confident. While testosterone might be down for us, estrogen is instead up – the hormone of bonding and social connections, one that makes us want to be liked and avoid conflict. Men have less of that and also less of a problem being disliked – instead they often concentrate on being respected.
In summary, our genes signal that women are more empathetic, intuitive and collaborative, that we tend to take the long view in decision making instead of short term risks, and that we avoid conflicts where possible. Women are also however more anxious on average, more likely to develop depressive thoughts and to worry, and more likely to overthink and ruminate on problems, instead of looking for solutions.
Unfortunately, it’s the problem-solvers that usually get recognitions and promotions. So if I learnt one thing in my research for this presentation it’s that women need to learn to worry less, think less, and do more. Voila!
Talk to you all when I return, have a fab weekend!
I’m heading off to Lebanon this weekend to participate in a gender parity workshop sponsored by the US State Department. As part of our discussions, I’ll be presenting on self confidence and women in the workplace. Specifically what factors shape our confidence and behaviour at work, and what can we do to bridge the so-called confidence gap between men and women.
As part of my research, I read an invaluable book called “The confidence code” by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman. I can’t recommend it enough for any woman - or man – who would like to understand the science and art of self-assurance.
One of the interesting factors covered in the book is around genetics and our brains and bodies – and how that influences our behaviour at work and in life. For example, did you know that in women, most of the brain cells are concentrated into the frontal cortex (the home of reasoning) and the limbic cortex (our emotional center). In men, on the other hand less than 50% of their cells are in the frontal cortex, and instead they’re more evenly spread around the whole brain. Not only that, but women have more white matter which helps us integrate different pieces of information together, while men hold more grey matter which is necessary to resolve isolated problems. While women’s brains are generally speaking more active and more neurons get fired that in men’s brains, we also have a whole area of the brain called cingulate gyrus that is much larger in women – and that area is in fact responsible for weighing options and recognising errors. Not surprising perhaps that we then sometimes overthink and ruminate over mistakes and their consequences.
If we look at our hormonal differences, women produce about 50% less serotonin than men do – and this by the way helps keep anxiety under control. We also have 10 times less testosterone, which drives competitive instincts and provokes risk taking – critical elements to appear and feel more self-confident. While testosterone might be down for us, estrogen is instead up – the hormone of bonding and social connections, one that makes us want to be liked and avoid conflict. Men have less of that and also less of a problem being disliked – instead they often concentrate on being respected.
In summary, our genes signal that women are more empathetic, intuitive and collaborative, that we tend to take the long view in decision making instead of short term risks, and that we avoid conflicts where possible. Women are also however more anxious on average, more likely to develop depressive thoughts and to worry, and more likely to overthink and ruminate on problems, instead of looking for solutions.
Unfortunately, it’s the problem-solvers that usually get recognitions and promotions. So if I learnt one thing in my research for this presentation it’s that women need to learn to worry less, think less, and do more. Voila!
Talk to you all when I return, have a fab weekend!
Legal Stuff
6 February 2019
In addition to the changes in legislation for domestic violence survivors (see below), the UK has taken another important step in addressing gender inequality and women's safety by making upskirting illegal in England and Wales. Taking pictures up someone's skirt will now be punishable by up to two years in prison - a victory for Gina Martin, 26 year old campaigner from London. This new law will now aligned England and Wales with Scotland, which criminalised this action back in 2010 already. The story of the campaigner started in the summer of 2016 when a man took a photo up her skirt at a music festival in Hyde park and which she soon discovered was perfectly ok as there was no law against it. She then got over 100k signatures on an online petition against upskirting and even the PM Theresa May spoke in support of her initiative. The government introduced a bill and here we are now - in line with 21st century reality where no one should have the right to invade others' privacy and take photos of them uninvited.
And another legal update from the UK again - a mother of three-year-old just became the first person convicted of female genital mutilation in UK. A Ugandan woman and her Ghanaian partner from east London are accused of cutting their daughter in the summer of 2017. Just as a point of reference, FGM was made illegal in the UK more than 30 years ago but prosecutors had not secured a single conviction so far. This crime is punishable by up to 14 years in prison and so far there have been three other trials involving FGM – two in London and one in Bristol – although all defendants were acquitted. The sentence of the woman will be on 8 March and expectations are of a long sentence this time around. FGM is finally getting the legal and media attention it deserves and hope is, this will be the first of other successful convictions. Or better yet, the last of any FGM procedures in this country altogether.
And finally, if you'd like a laugh - please read through this article about the UAE's gender equality awards 2019. FYI, there wasn't a single woman at these gender awards - what were they thinking, I can only wonder. And laugh...
In addition to the changes in legislation for domestic violence survivors (see below), the UK has taken another important step in addressing gender inequality and women's safety by making upskirting illegal in England and Wales. Taking pictures up someone's skirt will now be punishable by up to two years in prison - a victory for Gina Martin, 26 year old campaigner from London. This new law will now aligned England and Wales with Scotland, which criminalised this action back in 2010 already. The story of the campaigner started in the summer of 2016 when a man took a photo up her skirt at a music festival in Hyde park and which she soon discovered was perfectly ok as there was no law against it. She then got over 100k signatures on an online petition against upskirting and even the PM Theresa May spoke in support of her initiative. The government introduced a bill and here we are now - in line with 21st century reality where no one should have the right to invade others' privacy and take photos of them uninvited.
And another legal update from the UK again - a mother of three-year-old just became the first person convicted of female genital mutilation in UK. A Ugandan woman and her Ghanaian partner from east London are accused of cutting their daughter in the summer of 2017. Just as a point of reference, FGM was made illegal in the UK more than 30 years ago but prosecutors had not secured a single conviction so far. This crime is punishable by up to 14 years in prison and so far there have been three other trials involving FGM – two in London and one in Bristol – although all defendants were acquitted. The sentence of the woman will be on 8 March and expectations are of a long sentence this time around. FGM is finally getting the legal and media attention it deserves and hope is, this will be the first of other successful convictions. Or better yet, the last of any FGM procedures in this country altogether.
And finally, if you'd like a laugh - please read through this article about the UAE's gender equality awards 2019. FYI, there wasn't a single woman at these gender awards - what were they thinking, I can only wonder. And laugh...
Mommy and Some Good News
20 January 2019
Happy new year! May it be full of love and joy for you and your loved ones! And a very special happy birthday to the one and only best mother in the world - Gali! The woman who taught me about hard work, resilience and strength of the body and the mind. Mum, you're truly inspirational and I wish you at least 52 more birthdays like today's!
For my first blog post this year I wanted to share some good news - namely, new legislation is coming in the UK which will ban domestic abusers from cross-examining their former partners in family courts dealing with domestic abuse cases. The new bill, to be introduced tomorrow 21 January, will be a landmark piece as it will include the first statutory government definition of domestic abuse. It will also introduce a new role of a commissioner dedicated to working on the issue, and new protection orders requiring perpetrators to attend rehabilitation or behaviour change programmes. It also includes measures on raising awareness and providing more extensive support for survivors of violence.
The bill is welcomed by campaigners and hopefully a great step towards eradicating violence once and for all. In a world where one in every three women is a victim of violence, more countries should be looking to expand their legislation following the UK's example.
Have a fab week ahead and talk soon!
Happy new year! May it be full of love and joy for you and your loved ones! And a very special happy birthday to the one and only best mother in the world - Gali! The woman who taught me about hard work, resilience and strength of the body and the mind. Mum, you're truly inspirational and I wish you at least 52 more birthdays like today's!
For my first blog post this year I wanted to share some good news - namely, new legislation is coming in the UK which will ban domestic abusers from cross-examining their former partners in family courts dealing with domestic abuse cases. The new bill, to be introduced tomorrow 21 January, will be a landmark piece as it will include the first statutory government definition of domestic abuse. It will also introduce a new role of a commissioner dedicated to working on the issue, and new protection orders requiring perpetrators to attend rehabilitation or behaviour change programmes. It also includes measures on raising awareness and providing more extensive support for survivors of violence.
The bill is welcomed by campaigners and hopefully a great step towards eradicating violence once and for all. In a world where one in every three women is a victim of violence, more countries should be looking to expand their legislation following the UK's example.
Have a fab week ahead and talk soon!
Turning to 2019 With Joy and Love
31 December 2018
Hope those of you who celebrated had a fantastic Christmas! In my last post for 2018, I'd like to look back and reflect - because reflection is my therapeautical method to maintain a healthy and positive mindset and mental health.
In 2018 I changed my job, got promoted in the new job in the space of 3 months, travelled a lot (Portugal, Denmark, Germany, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Spain, Poland, Ireland and the US), got 2 more tattoos (I'm at 4 now), had the scariest yet very important laser surgery on my eyes, and even had my heart broken (wasn't fun). My family and friends also had major moments - my grandma turned 70 this year, my mum continued to kick ass with her own consulting company for yet another year, one of my best high school friends got married (yes, I cried), other friends of my close circle changed jobs, had exams, got in and out of relationships, bought flats and had babies. Overall, it's been an intense year with loads of emotions and for the sake of our own mental health we should look back, see what we've done well and not so well, and come up with resolutions for 2019 to make it ever better and more successful.
For me personally, I've decided to continue blocking negative emotions and people out of my life in 2019, and also taking time out for myself whenever I need it, and that includes travelling on my own again which btw is unbelievably refreshing! Those who only speak of themselves or are constantly negative - I'm sorry but no, we won't be going forr coffees in 2019, and no I won't spend hours on the phone over-analysig yet another text from an ungrateful ex. Work-wise I will try my best to balance my hours better and have more free time for family and friends, and again for myself. 2019 will have to be Plamena's year to relax and find meaning in the little things. Gym every day will also be my thing, as well as less social media and more face-to-face time with people.
In March I'll be going to Lebanon for a workshop with American Councils for International Education and the US State Department focusing on gender parity, and in June I'll be at Women Deliver 2019 - the world's largest conference on girls and women which will take place in Canada. These are my feminist activities in the first half of 2019, and am sure much more will come and I'll keep you all updated as always.
I'd like to finish off with a special shoutout to my grandma who's turning 71 tomorrow, 1st Jan. Rachi, the whole family and I wish you much health, joy and long years of relaxed and happy life! You're the best!
Have a great celebration tonight and see you in 2019!
Hope those of you who celebrated had a fantastic Christmas! In my last post for 2018, I'd like to look back and reflect - because reflection is my therapeautical method to maintain a healthy and positive mindset and mental health.
In 2018 I changed my job, got promoted in the new job in the space of 3 months, travelled a lot (Portugal, Denmark, Germany, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Spain, Poland, Ireland and the US), got 2 more tattoos (I'm at 4 now), had the scariest yet very important laser surgery on my eyes, and even had my heart broken (wasn't fun). My family and friends also had major moments - my grandma turned 70 this year, my mum continued to kick ass with her own consulting company for yet another year, one of my best high school friends got married (yes, I cried), other friends of my close circle changed jobs, had exams, got in and out of relationships, bought flats and had babies. Overall, it's been an intense year with loads of emotions and for the sake of our own mental health we should look back, see what we've done well and not so well, and come up with resolutions for 2019 to make it ever better and more successful.
For me personally, I've decided to continue blocking negative emotions and people out of my life in 2019, and also taking time out for myself whenever I need it, and that includes travelling on my own again which btw is unbelievably refreshing! Those who only speak of themselves or are constantly negative - I'm sorry but no, we won't be going forr coffees in 2019, and no I won't spend hours on the phone over-analysig yet another text from an ungrateful ex. Work-wise I will try my best to balance my hours better and have more free time for family and friends, and again for myself. 2019 will have to be Plamena's year to relax and find meaning in the little things. Gym every day will also be my thing, as well as less social media and more face-to-face time with people.
In March I'll be going to Lebanon for a workshop with American Councils for International Education and the US State Department focusing on gender parity, and in June I'll be at Women Deliver 2019 - the world's largest conference on girls and women which will take place in Canada. These are my feminist activities in the first half of 2019, and am sure much more will come and I'll keep you all updated as always.
I'd like to finish off with a special shoutout to my grandma who's turning 71 tomorrow, 1st Jan. Rachi, the whole family and I wish you much health, joy and long years of relaxed and happy life! You're the best!
Have a great celebration tonight and see you in 2019!
'Tis the Season
21 December 2018
Hi beauties,
In my last post before the Christmas holidays, here are the latest feminist updates:
This week 18 government departments published their gender pay gap figures for 2018 and sadly, nearly a third (5 out of 18) have had their gap widened. Despite promises to make pay fairer, the numbers show worse results than they did last year. Given this is government and supposedly should serve as an example to the private sector when it comes to gender equality, the results are disappointing. Read more here.
UN Women's Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman announced on Monday that she's donating $500,000 to the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women. Another great example amongst celebrities that money and a position of influence should be used to do good for the world. Well done Nicole.
If you're looking for a book to read over the holidays, and you care about refugees and women's rights, A Thousand Splendid Suns is the book for you. Word of warning, it's an upsetting story of the wars in Afghanistan since the 1970s till today, and the destiny of two women beaten and tortured by their husband. It's an emotional story, but an eye-opening one, which hopefully opens up our hearts a bit more especially in the season of giving and love. Speaking of which - do something nice for someone in need over the next few weeks please, be kind and be loving.
And lastly, as it's the holiday season, many pressures apply on people and their mental health. Social anxiety at parties and events, social pressures on gift buying and decorations, loneliness and bereavements, are just some of the issues people are facing on a larger scale come December time. Tips on how to look after your mental health this season are available here.
Thank you everyone for still reading my posts after nearly 5 years of blogging! I appreciate the support and wish you all and your families love, joy and happiness! Merry Christmas and a very happy new year!
Hi beauties,
In my last post before the Christmas holidays, here are the latest feminist updates:
This week 18 government departments published their gender pay gap figures for 2018 and sadly, nearly a third (5 out of 18) have had their gap widened. Despite promises to make pay fairer, the numbers show worse results than they did last year. Given this is government and supposedly should serve as an example to the private sector when it comes to gender equality, the results are disappointing. Read more here.
UN Women's Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman announced on Monday that she's donating $500,000 to the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women. Another great example amongst celebrities that money and a position of influence should be used to do good for the world. Well done Nicole.
If you're looking for a book to read over the holidays, and you care about refugees and women's rights, A Thousand Splendid Suns is the book for you. Word of warning, it's an upsetting story of the wars in Afghanistan since the 1970s till today, and the destiny of two women beaten and tortured by their husband. It's an emotional story, but an eye-opening one, which hopefully opens up our hearts a bit more especially in the season of giving and love. Speaking of which - do something nice for someone in need over the next few weeks please, be kind and be loving.
And lastly, as it's the holiday season, many pressures apply on people and their mental health. Social anxiety at parties and events, social pressures on gift buying and decorations, loneliness and bereavements, are just some of the issues people are facing on a larger scale come December time. Tips on how to look after your mental health this season are available here.
Thank you everyone for still reading my posts after nearly 5 years of blogging! I appreciate the support and wish you all and your families love, joy and happiness! Merry Christmas and a very happy new year!
Be Fearless
12 December 2018
Hey beauties,
Bulgaria's chilly winter is on again, but what's better than being at home with family, a cup of hot chocolate and a gorgeous baby dog Muffin to play with! My energy is running high so here's the latest update of feminist news prepared for you:
Hope you have a great rest of the week and talk soon!
Hey beauties,
Bulgaria's chilly winter is on again, but what's better than being at home with family, a cup of hot chocolate and a gorgeous baby dog Muffin to play with! My energy is running high so here's the latest update of feminist news prepared for you:
- It's a known fact that women tend to be the care-givers in a family, especially when it comes to young children. This impacts women's promotion and career growth opportunities, but it also appears to impact their place of work - recent research has found out that a "disproportionate share of childcare responsibilities results in women working closer to the home, potentially contributing to the gender pay gap". On the other hand, those who travel for over an hour to their work place tend to be men - 61% of all long distance commuters. Women may consider long commute constraining when it comes to caring for children, and as result they are limited in their choice of work, even if it's for less money. That in turn means the gender pay gap remains a big issue. Read more on the commuting gap here.
- If you get a minute over the holidays, please do read this interview with Lauren Simmons - the youngest ever female broker on the New York Stock Exchange. She's 24, from an ethnic minority background, intelligent and inspirational, and she looks to be a great role model for young women in the trading world. Read her story here.
- Speaking of the NYSE, the Fearless Girl bronzed statue which was first installed in March 2017 across from Wall Street's iconic "Charging Bull", was moved earlier this week to a new spot in front of NYSE. The statue is a symbol of female empowerment and change - in business and in society in general, and it's fantastic to see its presence is now permanent (it was supposed to be a seven day installation - but then everyone loved it and here we are 2 years later! Also, btw I got to see it earlier this year in NYC and I loved it too! The strength you get from just looking at it, cannot be described in words!) More on its meaning here.
- My last update today is on Robin Wright's sleepwear company Pour Les Femmes. This is a socially conscious company founded by House of Cards superstar and designer Karen Fowler. They launched a line "to make simple, beautiful, and quality pieces while creating economic opportunity for women in conflict regions around the globe". Meaning, they sell PJs, nightgowns, robes and more, and all of these are made by women in the Congo who get taught how to sue, and how to provide for themselves and their families. Every single purchase made directly impacts the livelihood of a woman in the Congo, her dreams and her future - so please check it out this Christmas season and why not give such a worthy gift this year.
Hope you have a great rest of the week and talk soon!
Hey Girls
2 December 2018
Hey beauties,
While the UK is considered one of the richest countries in the world, period poverty is still an issue here on the Island. I’ve posted multiple times about reports of UK charities that thousands of girls can’t afford tampons and pads and often miss school during their periods. However, a social enterprise I recently found out about is trying to change that - Hey Girls tackles period poverty by giving a girl or woman one pack of period products for every pack you buy from their website. This initiative was kicked off by a British woman and her two daughters and it aims to match the purchases of pads and tampons and send to those less fortunate to afford their own. They also have a section on their site educating boys about periods and what girls go through. All in all, great idea, and a perfect gift to send your female friends this Christmas. Check it out here.
In line with the upcoming Christmas holidays, I wanted to send my best wishes to all my blog readers and to wish you a fabulous holiday season! Love and be loved, and don’t forget to help people in need if you can.
Talk soon!
Hey beauties,
While the UK is considered one of the richest countries in the world, period poverty is still an issue here on the Island. I’ve posted multiple times about reports of UK charities that thousands of girls can’t afford tampons and pads and often miss school during their periods. However, a social enterprise I recently found out about is trying to change that - Hey Girls tackles period poverty by giving a girl or woman one pack of period products for every pack you buy from their website. This initiative was kicked off by a British woman and her two daughters and it aims to match the purchases of pads and tampons and send to those less fortunate to afford their own. They also have a section on their site educating boys about periods and what girls go through. All in all, great idea, and a perfect gift to send your female friends this Christmas. Check it out here.
In line with the upcoming Christmas holidays, I wanted to send my best wishes to all my blog readers and to wish you a fabulous holiday season! Love and be loved, and don’t forget to help people in need if you can.
Talk soon!
Doubts
28 October 2018
A very personal confession is about to follow.
Few weeks ago an opportunity for an internal promotion came up at work, and although I read the requirements and knew I ticked all 100% of the boxes, I initially ignored the posting. It wasn't until I spoke to my best friends about it the next day that I decided to actually apply - and guess what, I got it! Now the annoying thing is, I preach for women's empowerment every day and how we need to grab the power because no one will hand it to us. However, I was exactly one of those doubtful women few weeks ago, who knew they'd be perfect for the job, yet I almost passed on a great manager role just because I guessed they'd never pick the only woman on a team of 10 men, and also the youngest member of the team as well. Not to mention I'm a foreigner with an accent. Gender, age and ethnicity were the main reasons in my head why I'd not get it and as such there was no point in even trying. Funny - because all they judged on was experience, contributions and potential, which has nothing to do with my genitals or the birth date on my passport.
In situations like this, I'm incredibly grateful to my best friends who immediately questioned me and encouraged me to apply. In fact, I'm one of the most qualified people on my team in number of years of experience with the specific software we work with, so neither the age, not the gender, nor anything had any impact on my application. I'm now promoted to manager and quite frankly, I can't wait to work with my teammates and grow together as a team. I don't think it makes me weak in any way that I had those thoughts in the first day of the application process, the more important thing is that I looked past those thoughts and still went for it. And in a workplace where the individual is valued most, I feel I can thrive and develop even more now.
This experience has thought me two things. One, it's always easier to give advice to others than to act on it yourself. And doubt as well as the general dynamics in a male-dominated industry can be very loud voices in your head. And two, having people around to encourage you and support you is precisely what we all need to move forward and grow. Special thanks to Dan, Tonia and Ivan, and also to my mom for always being there for me and having my back. Onward and upward!
Have a fab weekend, and talk soon!
A very personal confession is about to follow.
Few weeks ago an opportunity for an internal promotion came up at work, and although I read the requirements and knew I ticked all 100% of the boxes, I initially ignored the posting. It wasn't until I spoke to my best friends about it the next day that I decided to actually apply - and guess what, I got it! Now the annoying thing is, I preach for women's empowerment every day and how we need to grab the power because no one will hand it to us. However, I was exactly one of those doubtful women few weeks ago, who knew they'd be perfect for the job, yet I almost passed on a great manager role just because I guessed they'd never pick the only woman on a team of 10 men, and also the youngest member of the team as well. Not to mention I'm a foreigner with an accent. Gender, age and ethnicity were the main reasons in my head why I'd not get it and as such there was no point in even trying. Funny - because all they judged on was experience, contributions and potential, which has nothing to do with my genitals or the birth date on my passport.
In situations like this, I'm incredibly grateful to my best friends who immediately questioned me and encouraged me to apply. In fact, I'm one of the most qualified people on my team in number of years of experience with the specific software we work with, so neither the age, not the gender, nor anything had any impact on my application. I'm now promoted to manager and quite frankly, I can't wait to work with my teammates and grow together as a team. I don't think it makes me weak in any way that I had those thoughts in the first day of the application process, the more important thing is that I looked past those thoughts and still went for it. And in a workplace where the individual is valued most, I feel I can thrive and develop even more now.
This experience has thought me two things. One, it's always easier to give advice to others than to act on it yourself. And doubt as well as the general dynamics in a male-dominated industry can be very loud voices in your head. And two, having people around to encourage you and support you is precisely what we all need to move forward and grow. Special thanks to Dan, Tonia and Ivan, and also to my mom for always being there for me and having my back. Onward and upward!
Have a fab weekend, and talk soon!
Catchup This Side of the Pond
11 October 2018
I’ve now come back from the US and what a wide range of news has followed me this side of the Pond.
First, California became the first US state to require female representation on corporate boards. By the end of 2019, every public company headquartered in the state must have a minimum of one woman on their board of directors, or else they’ll face a fine. By 2021, this quota will grow to two women required for five-person boards and three women for six-person boards (pretty much bringing it to 50/50 representation). I gotta say, I’m massively in favor of this move – after all, women are more than half of US population, and not being in positions of decision-making is simply not tolerable anymore. Putting it into a CA context – there are 445 publicly traded companies based in the state and recent reports show 25% of them still don’t have any women on their boards. If you need evidence to prove the quota system works – just check out Europe where this is common practice in many countries now. More info here.
Next, I recently wrote about the Violence Against Women’s act in the US which directs the national response to domestic violence, sexual assaults and stalking. The act was at risk of expiring in September and it looked like Senate was busy with confirming Supreme Court judges, and other matters, so “naturally” women’s safety took a backstep. Thankfully it’s been temporarily extended for two months now, however, come 7 Dec, the act will still need to be renewed or it’ll expire for good. The Act has been in place since 1994 and provides vital support and funding for victims of domestic violence – so let’s hope priorities are reordered again now and we get to see a permanent extension.
Speaking of busy times for Congress, Brett Kavanaugh was finally confirmed as the next US Supreme Court justice after a highly controversial confirmation process and multiple accusations of sexual assault. I am leaving this one with no comment because my disappointment can’t even be put into words. All I can say is – my admiration goes to the brave survivors who spoke up. We believe you, and we must continue to fight for justice and fairness!
Before I sign off - yesterday was World Mental Health Day! This year’s theme is young adults and awareness of mental health amongst peers, family, teachers and co-workers. Please take a moment and consider just how much we’ve spoken about mental health in recent years, yet how misunderstood and stigmatized this topic still is! Let’s all educate ourselves and make our lives, and those of our loved ones, healthier and more sustainable!
Today’s also a reason for celebration – it’s the International Day of the Girl. To all the girls and young women who make a positive difference in their communities and in the world – you rock! Let’s not let recent events affecting women take us backwards – instead, let’s continue to progress already made!
Talk soon, ladies and gents, have a fab weekend!
I’ve now come back from the US and what a wide range of news has followed me this side of the Pond.
First, California became the first US state to require female representation on corporate boards. By the end of 2019, every public company headquartered in the state must have a minimum of one woman on their board of directors, or else they’ll face a fine. By 2021, this quota will grow to two women required for five-person boards and three women for six-person boards (pretty much bringing it to 50/50 representation). I gotta say, I’m massively in favor of this move – after all, women are more than half of US population, and not being in positions of decision-making is simply not tolerable anymore. Putting it into a CA context – there are 445 publicly traded companies based in the state and recent reports show 25% of them still don’t have any women on their boards. If you need evidence to prove the quota system works – just check out Europe where this is common practice in many countries now. More info here.
Next, I recently wrote about the Violence Against Women’s act in the US which directs the national response to domestic violence, sexual assaults and stalking. The act was at risk of expiring in September and it looked like Senate was busy with confirming Supreme Court judges, and other matters, so “naturally” women’s safety took a backstep. Thankfully it’s been temporarily extended for two months now, however, come 7 Dec, the act will still need to be renewed or it’ll expire for good. The Act has been in place since 1994 and provides vital support and funding for victims of domestic violence – so let’s hope priorities are reordered again now and we get to see a permanent extension.
Speaking of busy times for Congress, Brett Kavanaugh was finally confirmed as the next US Supreme Court justice after a highly controversial confirmation process and multiple accusations of sexual assault. I am leaving this one with no comment because my disappointment can’t even be put into words. All I can say is – my admiration goes to the brave survivors who spoke up. We believe you, and we must continue to fight for justice and fairness!
Before I sign off - yesterday was World Mental Health Day! This year’s theme is young adults and awareness of mental health amongst peers, family, teachers and co-workers. Please take a moment and consider just how much we’ve spoken about mental health in recent years, yet how misunderstood and stigmatized this topic still is! Let’s all educate ourselves and make our lives, and those of our loved ones, healthier and more sustainable!
Today’s also a reason for celebration – it’s the International Day of the Girl. To all the girls and young women who make a positive difference in their communities and in the world – you rock! Let’s not let recent events affecting women take us backwards – instead, let’s continue to progress already made!
Talk soon, ladies and gents, have a fab weekend!
I Stop Somewhere
27 September 2018
One of the best books I've read recently is "I stop somewhere". It's the story of a raped and murdered girl who lives in her city as a ghost now and observes what the world looks like after she's gone. She shares her experiences of a bullied high school student, one who was lonely and fell in love with the wrong guy. And that same guy then raped her and killed her. He's now raping another girl. And another. And another. Until one of these girls finally speaks up.
The book is intense on another level, and I have to admit - it's made me cry multiple times on the train or at home. It's one of those readings you can't put down even though it's making you sick to your stomach. And while I'd never wish anyone to experience what the story is about, I wish more people read it so they get a taste of the reality of teenage life and the fear young girls live with. Even now in 2018.
Speaking of, recent statistics in England and Wales show that less than a third of prosecutions brought against young men result in a conviction. Additionally, men aged 18 to 24 are consistently less likely to be found guilty than older men on trial - perhaps because younger victims may not be believed, or because jurors may think the defendant was too young and didn't know what they were doing. These are public perceptions which will take years to change, but regardless of that, 32% conviction rate for the one of the most hideous and damaging crimes to both the body and the soul, is just not good enough.
More on the Guardian's Rape series, read here. To find the book I Stop Somewhere, check out WHSmith.
Have a fab weekend, ladies and gents! I'm off to NYC for a week of sightseeing and adventures and will report back when I return! Talk soon!
One of the best books I've read recently is "I stop somewhere". It's the story of a raped and murdered girl who lives in her city as a ghost now and observes what the world looks like after she's gone. She shares her experiences of a bullied high school student, one who was lonely and fell in love with the wrong guy. And that same guy then raped her and killed her. He's now raping another girl. And another. And another. Until one of these girls finally speaks up.
The book is intense on another level, and I have to admit - it's made me cry multiple times on the train or at home. It's one of those readings you can't put down even though it's making you sick to your stomach. And while I'd never wish anyone to experience what the story is about, I wish more people read it so they get a taste of the reality of teenage life and the fear young girls live with. Even now in 2018.
Speaking of, recent statistics in England and Wales show that less than a third of prosecutions brought against young men result in a conviction. Additionally, men aged 18 to 24 are consistently less likely to be found guilty than older men on trial - perhaps because younger victims may not be believed, or because jurors may think the defendant was too young and didn't know what they were doing. These are public perceptions which will take years to change, but regardless of that, 32% conviction rate for the one of the most hideous and damaging crimes to both the body and the soul, is just not good enough.
More on the Guardian's Rape series, read here. To find the book I Stop Somewhere, check out WHSmith.
Have a fab weekend, ladies and gents! I'm off to NYC for a week of sightseeing and adventures and will report back when I return! Talk soon!
Mental Health at Work
11 September 2018
Yesterday, 10 September, was World Suicide Prevention Day 2018. Also yesterday, the UK mental health charity Mind released a report showing half of employees in the UK are affected by poor mental health, including stress, anxiety and low mood. And only half of those affected had discussed it with their employers. Fear, shame and job insecurity are considered the leading factors for avoiding mental health discussions at work.
Mind says up to 300,000 people lose their jobs every year due to mental health problems in the UK. To raise awareness about this, a number of charities have launched a new online resource for Mental Health at Work – great website collecting ideas to make workplaces more inclusive and proactive in addressing mental health issues.
The mental health taboo can only be broken if we choose to speak about it, so in line with yesterday’s suicide prevention day, I wanted to share the website above, this article and a podcast around the topic. If you get a moment to read and listen to these, I hope you’ll find them informative and beneficial to yourselves and the people around you.
I’ve also asked all my friends attending my birthday drinks this weekend to replace gifts with cash donations to Samaritans – an organization known for supporting people with mental health issues and working to prevent suicides. If you’d like to join me in fundraising for Samaritans, please do donate at https://www.samaritans.org/support-us/donate-online.
Have a wonderful week ahead!
Yesterday, 10 September, was World Suicide Prevention Day 2018. Also yesterday, the UK mental health charity Mind released a report showing half of employees in the UK are affected by poor mental health, including stress, anxiety and low mood. And only half of those affected had discussed it with their employers. Fear, shame and job insecurity are considered the leading factors for avoiding mental health discussions at work.
Mind says up to 300,000 people lose their jobs every year due to mental health problems in the UK. To raise awareness about this, a number of charities have launched a new online resource for Mental Health at Work – great website collecting ideas to make workplaces more inclusive and proactive in addressing mental health issues.
The mental health taboo can only be broken if we choose to speak about it, so in line with yesterday’s suicide prevention day, I wanted to share the website above, this article and a podcast around the topic. If you get a moment to read and listen to these, I hope you’ll find them informative and beneficial to yourselves and the people around you.
I’ve also asked all my friends attending my birthday drinks this weekend to replace gifts with cash donations to Samaritans – an organization known for supporting people with mental health issues and working to prevent suicides. If you’d like to join me in fundraising for Samaritans, please do donate at https://www.samaritans.org/support-us/donate-online.
Have a wonderful week ahead!
Mum
6 September 2018
I recently read that Goldman Sachs now pays for express shipping costs for mums to send their milk to their babies, and that made my day. Whenever a female employee in the US and UK branches of the firm is travelling for business, they can send their breastmilk home and expense the cost to the company.
To be fair, EY, Accenture, IBM and Twitter have been doing this across the Pond for years. However, Goldman was once known for giving employees only 4 hours allowed time off for bereavement, so moving from that policy to the current support for new mums - now that’s a positive change.
As a European myself I still find it shocking how mums in the US don’t even get paid parental leave at many companies, and the ones who do usually only take 6 weeks for their baby. Then of course you’re still breastfeeding and need to make use of this company “perk” for shipping costs wherever it’s available. In Bulgaria, by the way, maternity is 3 years. Of which 2 years are paid. And even in the UK which is not known for generous social policies, women get to stay home for up to 1 year and care for their children. Just thinking, if I am to move back to the US again, I better do it after I have kids…
Speaking of having kids – my annual post to thank my mother is here again: it’s my birthday tomorrow and after carrying me (literally) for nearly 10 months, and then caring for me for another 25 years, mum deserves more than just a Thank You. She’s the best ever and I couldn’t have asked for a more supportive and wonderful parent. Blagodaria, Gali, obicham te!
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone, catch you next week!
I recently read that Goldman Sachs now pays for express shipping costs for mums to send their milk to their babies, and that made my day. Whenever a female employee in the US and UK branches of the firm is travelling for business, they can send their breastmilk home and expense the cost to the company.
To be fair, EY, Accenture, IBM and Twitter have been doing this across the Pond for years. However, Goldman was once known for giving employees only 4 hours allowed time off for bereavement, so moving from that policy to the current support for new mums - now that’s a positive change.
As a European myself I still find it shocking how mums in the US don’t even get paid parental leave at many companies, and the ones who do usually only take 6 weeks for their baby. Then of course you’re still breastfeeding and need to make use of this company “perk” for shipping costs wherever it’s available. In Bulgaria, by the way, maternity is 3 years. Of which 2 years are paid. And even in the UK which is not known for generous social policies, women get to stay home for up to 1 year and care for their children. Just thinking, if I am to move back to the US again, I better do it after I have kids…
Speaking of having kids – my annual post to thank my mother is here again: it’s my birthday tomorrow and after carrying me (literally) for nearly 10 months, and then caring for me for another 25 years, mum deserves more than just a Thank You. She’s the best ever and I couldn’t have asked for a more supportive and wonderful parent. Blagodaria, Gali, obicham te!
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone, catch you next week!
Catchup
31 August 2018
I’m back from laser surgery and ready to rock ya feminist world 😊 Here’s a summary of some of the stories these past three weeks which caught my eye and thought I’d share:
I hope this provides some useful reading and thought-provoking articles for you, and hope you all have an amazing sunny weekend. Catch you next week!
I’m back from laser surgery and ready to rock ya feminist world 😊 Here’s a summary of some of the stories these past three weeks which caught my eye and thought I’d share:
- Microsoft will now only do business with suppliers which offer paid parental leave (in the US). Great incentive to get more companies on board with this otherwise standard practice in any other country. https://www.axios.com/microsoft-require-suppliers-offer-paid-parental-leave-dc573198-123c-4c51-ab78-432863003165.html
- Magazines seem to feature black women on their covers more than ever. Beyonce is on this month’s Vogue US cover, and Rihanna is on Vogue UK. Multiple other actresses, singers, etc. are the faces of prints at home and abroad. Is this a new trend or is it tokenism? The BBC explores.
- A fifth of 14-year-old girls in the UK have self-harmed, a recent report by the The Children’s Society suggests. Common causes of such behavior are depression, bullying, school pressure, abuse, grieving and relationship problems. Why girls are more likely to self-harm than boys, and what can be done to address this issue? More here.
- To help address this issue and to provide better mental health support at school, a new website has been launched by mental health organisations and is supported by the Royals: Mentally Healthy Schools. https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/
- And finally, the Violence Against Women Act in the US directs the national response to crimes of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking, and will expire at the end of September 2018. No definitive action has been taken by the authorities so far, so after the lawmakers come back from recess on 4 September, one can only hope they’d renew it before the expiration date.
I hope this provides some useful reading and thought-provoking articles for you, and hope you all have an amazing sunny weekend. Catch you next week!
Days to Remember
10 August 2018
This coming Sunday, 12 August, is International Youth Day – a day of global celebrations of the critical role that young people play in shaping societies and making positive change happen! Make sure you recognize this day and do your part to motivate, celebrate and inspire young people around you so they continue to build a more inclusive and gender-equal world.
Speaking of special days, earlier this week, on 7 August, it was Black Women’s Equal Pay Day (in the US). Black women are paid 38% less than white men in the US, and if that pay gap was closed, the average Black woman would earn $870,000 more over the course of her career. That’s a massive figure and very disappointing one indeed. More detailed overview of numbers and statistics is available on the Lean In website here: https://leanin.org/data-about-the-gender-pay-gap-for-black-women
We should all be aware of these international or national days as their purpose is to raise awareness and highlight positive developments or the need for a positive change. Hopefully that serves to inspire us all to make that change happen.
Have a wonderful weekend and I’ll be back in a few weeks – I’m off to get my eyes lasered and won’t be able to type for a while. Chat soon and don’t forget to keep an eye out on all feminist news out there – be informed and get inspired!
This coming Sunday, 12 August, is International Youth Day – a day of global celebrations of the critical role that young people play in shaping societies and making positive change happen! Make sure you recognize this day and do your part to motivate, celebrate and inspire young people around you so they continue to build a more inclusive and gender-equal world.
Speaking of special days, earlier this week, on 7 August, it was Black Women’s Equal Pay Day (in the US). Black women are paid 38% less than white men in the US, and if that pay gap was closed, the average Black woman would earn $870,000 more over the course of her career. That’s a massive figure and very disappointing one indeed. More detailed overview of numbers and statistics is available on the Lean In website here: https://leanin.org/data-about-the-gender-pay-gap-for-black-women
We should all be aware of these international or national days as their purpose is to raise awareness and highlight positive developments or the need for a positive change. Hopefully that serves to inspire us all to make that change happen.
Have a wonderful weekend and I’ll be back in a few weeks – I’m off to get my eyes lasered and won’t be able to type for a while. Chat soon and don’t forget to keep an eye out on all feminist news out there – be informed and get inspired!
Vamos!
31 July 2018
I was in Spain recently and today’s story is dedicated to Spain taking action to ensure justice for survivors of sexual violence.
Earlier this year Spain saw mass protests over the trial of a group of five men who gang-raped an 18-year-old girl in 2016 and filmed the incident. They were found guilty of sexual abuse but acquitted of rape. During the rape, the victim is seen on video being silent and with closed eyes – which was the basis for the gang’s layers claiming if she didn’t say no, that meant she gave them consent. As a result, the judges found them innocent when it came to the rape charges.
Now the Spanish government has decided to take action directly and ensure justice is served in cases of rape. The newly proposed law against sexual violence will make such arguments by the defence invalid and prosecutors would no longer have to prove that violence occurred in order to secure a rape conviction. Such laws already exist in Sweden, Germany, Belgium and Iceland.
The Spanish government’s move is welcome and I sincerely hope other legislative bodies around the world follow suit. At the end of the day, if there’s no explicit consent, the sexual act should be seen as undesired, and being quiet and clearly helpless is not an justification for rape.
By the way, I read about this case on the Global Citizen website – a great resource for anyone interested in feminist updates and human rights in general. Make sure to add it to your weekly list and also please do take action by signing this petition calling on governments to increase their efforts on ensuring justice for sexual violence survivors.
Well done, Spain, now it’s everyone else’s turn!
I was in Spain recently and today’s story is dedicated to Spain taking action to ensure justice for survivors of sexual violence.
Earlier this year Spain saw mass protests over the trial of a group of five men who gang-raped an 18-year-old girl in 2016 and filmed the incident. They were found guilty of sexual abuse but acquitted of rape. During the rape, the victim is seen on video being silent and with closed eyes – which was the basis for the gang’s layers claiming if she didn’t say no, that meant she gave them consent. As a result, the judges found them innocent when it came to the rape charges.
Now the Spanish government has decided to take action directly and ensure justice is served in cases of rape. The newly proposed law against sexual violence will make such arguments by the defence invalid and prosecutors would no longer have to prove that violence occurred in order to secure a rape conviction. Such laws already exist in Sweden, Germany, Belgium and Iceland.
The Spanish government’s move is welcome and I sincerely hope other legislative bodies around the world follow suit. At the end of the day, if there’s no explicit consent, the sexual act should be seen as undesired, and being quiet and clearly helpless is not an justification for rape.
By the way, I read about this case on the Global Citizen website – a great resource for anyone interested in feminist updates and human rights in general. Make sure to add it to your weekly list and also please do take action by signing this petition calling on governments to increase their efforts on ensuring justice for sexual violence survivors.
Well done, Spain, now it’s everyone else’s turn!
"Hepeat" It For Me, Please
20 July 2018
It's been a month of non-blogging - my longest period yet. Perhaps one of the reasons why I've been feeling a bit down lately. So here I am on a Friday night, home alone, with Ben and Jerry's and my laptop, and ready to report on the latest news and developments in the feminist world.
Last night I went to an event at McKinsey & Company which was dedicated to the next generation of women leaders. I'm thrilled to have been invited to it and really enjoyed meeting like-minded young female professionals from across London. We also had a story telling workshop and a useful exercise with feedback about our story telling style. Something I was told by other participants is that while sharing my story (work-related...) I kept saying ''we'' did this, ''we'' did that. And I didn't stress enough on my own contribution towards the team success. That's quite interesting as I never thought of it that way, but it does appear that consulting has transformed me fully into a team player just like all our projects we work on are on team level. And as part of that I've almost forgotten to push my own way and focus on my own growth and achievements while at the same time giving credit to others even when I've done most of the work. Equally, last night I didn't even mention which of the creative ideas were mine - another area to improve on, as typical for women, we don't always take credit where we deserve it.
In fact there's a word now that describes the act of a man repeating a woman's idea which was previously ignored and is now recognised as soon as a man has voiced it. This is called "hepeat"ing. Nicole Gugliucci, an astronomer and professor, coined the term on Twitter last year, and since then the online community just loves it. And so do I. It's been more than once that I've been ignored in a meeting but someone else gets approving nods and praises. Sometimes it's been a question of age. Sometimes a question of experience and rank. And sometimes - a question of gender... So I'll take credit this time and say I'm super thrilled McKinsey invited me to this event and saw potential in me as a young, relatively inexperienced, female leader - thank you, and I promise to work even more tirelessly towards my personal goals and professional and personal development!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone, talk soon, and remember to take credit where you deserve it! Go rock it!
It's been a month of non-blogging - my longest period yet. Perhaps one of the reasons why I've been feeling a bit down lately. So here I am on a Friday night, home alone, with Ben and Jerry's and my laptop, and ready to report on the latest news and developments in the feminist world.
Last night I went to an event at McKinsey & Company which was dedicated to the next generation of women leaders. I'm thrilled to have been invited to it and really enjoyed meeting like-minded young female professionals from across London. We also had a story telling workshop and a useful exercise with feedback about our story telling style. Something I was told by other participants is that while sharing my story (work-related...) I kept saying ''we'' did this, ''we'' did that. And I didn't stress enough on my own contribution towards the team success. That's quite interesting as I never thought of it that way, but it does appear that consulting has transformed me fully into a team player just like all our projects we work on are on team level. And as part of that I've almost forgotten to push my own way and focus on my own growth and achievements while at the same time giving credit to others even when I've done most of the work. Equally, last night I didn't even mention which of the creative ideas were mine - another area to improve on, as typical for women, we don't always take credit where we deserve it.
In fact there's a word now that describes the act of a man repeating a woman's idea which was previously ignored and is now recognised as soon as a man has voiced it. This is called "hepeat"ing. Nicole Gugliucci, an astronomer and professor, coined the term on Twitter last year, and since then the online community just loves it. And so do I. It's been more than once that I've been ignored in a meeting but someone else gets approving nods and praises. Sometimes it's been a question of age. Sometimes a question of experience and rank. And sometimes - a question of gender... So I'll take credit this time and say I'm super thrilled McKinsey invited me to this event and saw potential in me as a young, relatively inexperienced, female leader - thank you, and I promise to work even more tirelessly towards my personal goals and professional and personal development!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone, talk soon, and remember to take credit where you deserve it! Go rock it!
Stress Management and #Selfcare
15 June 2018
Things have changed so much over the last 10 days that I don’t even know where to begin. A lot of stressful situations at work, as well as personally, to the point where I decided attending a stress management class was needed.
So earlier this week I went to the London Tech Ladies regular meetup and the organised class for stress management techniques. It was an excellent event delivered by Ruth from Champs Consulting who openly spoke about her mental health history and did exercises with us to help us manage stress better.
I learnt on the day that 45% of all absences from work in the UK have a stress-related reason attached to them. About 91 million days are lost every year in the country due to stress and mental health disturbance. And lastly, it’s not just stress but loneliness that can cause serious mental health issues and there are 9 million people in the country (that’s 1 in 7) who are classified as feeling consistently lonely. It’s not only the elderly and it does have significant effects on our social interactions and overall wellbeing.
A few book recommendations on the topic of stress and wellbeing in general included “Thrive” by A. Huffington and “The Happiness Track” by E. Seppala. An app that was also recommended to me for mindfulness and meditation was Brain FM. I’ll aim to try it and also to read these books and report back in due course.
In the meantime the practice of selfcare was the main focus of the event – how it’s critical that we block time in our calendars for ourselves, that we do not feel guilty for saying no to people, that we focus on things that make us feel happy and fulfilled instead of a duty to tick a chore off your list, and to always focus on the present. I thus decided to book a week off in Spain now and to enjoy my own company for 7 peaceful days (well not sure if they’ll be just peaceful 😊). Point is though, the beach, the sun, sangria, and tapas is what I need at the moment and I’m about to get just that – because if I don’t put myself first, no one else will.
Talk soon ladies and gents, and remember to practice selfcare and love yourselves! Perfect route to be happy and stress-free!
Things have changed so much over the last 10 days that I don’t even know where to begin. A lot of stressful situations at work, as well as personally, to the point where I decided attending a stress management class was needed.
So earlier this week I went to the London Tech Ladies regular meetup and the organised class for stress management techniques. It was an excellent event delivered by Ruth from Champs Consulting who openly spoke about her mental health history and did exercises with us to help us manage stress better.
I learnt on the day that 45% of all absences from work in the UK have a stress-related reason attached to them. About 91 million days are lost every year in the country due to stress and mental health disturbance. And lastly, it’s not just stress but loneliness that can cause serious mental health issues and there are 9 million people in the country (that’s 1 in 7) who are classified as feeling consistently lonely. It’s not only the elderly and it does have significant effects on our social interactions and overall wellbeing.
A few book recommendations on the topic of stress and wellbeing in general included “Thrive” by A. Huffington and “The Happiness Track” by E. Seppala. An app that was also recommended to me for mindfulness and meditation was Brain FM. I’ll aim to try it and also to read these books and report back in due course.
In the meantime the practice of selfcare was the main focus of the event – how it’s critical that we block time in our calendars for ourselves, that we do not feel guilty for saying no to people, that we focus on things that make us feel happy and fulfilled instead of a duty to tick a chore off your list, and to always focus on the present. I thus decided to book a week off in Spain now and to enjoy my own company for 7 peaceful days (well not sure if they’ll be just peaceful 😊). Point is though, the beach, the sun, sangria, and tapas is what I need at the moment and I’m about to get just that – because if I don’t put myself first, no one else will.
Talk soon ladies and gents, and remember to practice selfcare and love yourselves! Perfect route to be happy and stress-free!
Anniversary and Good News
4 June 2018
Exactly four years ago today I started this blog. Can’t believe it’s been this long and that I’ve never felt like I’ve run out of topics to discuss (not yet anyway)! Women’s rights and empowerment remain in the spotlight, and are there even more so today than they were in 2014. It’s great to see the world noticing and discussing these issues and I’d like to thank all of my devoted readers for the interest in my writing and following my posts.
Today’s mention will be about Ireland’s vote last week to repeal the 8th amendment and effectively legalise abortions. Up until now women in the country have not been allowed to abort even in cases of rape or incest. The national referendum on 25th May resulted in a landslide win for YES campaigners however and the Prime Minister has now promised a change in law to legalise abortions before the end of this year. What a fantastic result of over 65% in favour of the change, and what an amazing example of grassroots movements coming together to advance women’s rights!
Well done, Ireland, and hopefully Northern Ireland is next now! As you may know, Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that doesn’t allow abortions. Wales, Scotland and England differ but unfortunately the North thinks otherwise. Only cases where the mother’s life is in danger allow for abortion. Theresa May has recently been urged to hold a referendum in NI, but says that’s not possible as the Northern Irish government has to decide to hold that themselves. Let’s see – somehow doubt there will be a vote soon though…
Hope you have a fantastic week ahead and I’ll leave you with this inspirational quote reminding you to fight for what you believe in: “The most common way women give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any” (Alice Walker). Grab that power and make change happen!
Exactly four years ago today I started this blog. Can’t believe it’s been this long and that I’ve never felt like I’ve run out of topics to discuss (not yet anyway)! Women’s rights and empowerment remain in the spotlight, and are there even more so today than they were in 2014. It’s great to see the world noticing and discussing these issues and I’d like to thank all of my devoted readers for the interest in my writing and following my posts.
Today’s mention will be about Ireland’s vote last week to repeal the 8th amendment and effectively legalise abortions. Up until now women in the country have not been allowed to abort even in cases of rape or incest. The national referendum on 25th May resulted in a landslide win for YES campaigners however and the Prime Minister has now promised a change in law to legalise abortions before the end of this year. What a fantastic result of over 65% in favour of the change, and what an amazing example of grassroots movements coming together to advance women’s rights!
Well done, Ireland, and hopefully Northern Ireland is next now! As you may know, Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that doesn’t allow abortions. Wales, Scotland and England differ but unfortunately the North thinks otherwise. Only cases where the mother’s life is in danger allow for abortion. Theresa May has recently been urged to hold a referendum in NI, but says that’s not possible as the Northern Irish government has to decide to hold that themselves. Let’s see – somehow doubt there will be a vote soon though…
Hope you have a fantastic week ahead and I’ll leave you with this inspirational quote reminding you to fight for what you believe in: “The most common way women give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any” (Alice Walker). Grab that power and make change happen!
I Feel Pretty
20 May 2018
Earlier this week I went to see “I Feel Pretty” – the new Amy Schumer film which just hit cinemas across the UK earlier this month. It’s a movie about a woman who has always dreamt of being “pretty” and having confidence and self-love for her own body. Amy plays this woman with curves who one day has an accident and coming out of it, she has a brain trauma affecting her own view of herself and seeing herself as completely changed, slim and confident. She gets her dream job, a boyfriend, and all the things she’d previously wanted but didn’t have the confidence to “get”. Fast-forward a few months, she falls again and the “spell” is broken – she now sees her “real” self again. Of course a million other story lines develop simultaneously, but the main point is, Renee (Amy) plays brilliantly in her role and shows the vulnerability any woman can and does feel at times when she questions her own body image. I absolutely loved the film – not just because it was funny and well done as a film itself, but also because of the social message it sends – that we should all love our bodies, and our souls, regardless of how we look or how others see us. Especially for women it’s a damn strong mantra and we – myself included – should really stop for a min and think of exactly that.
Two years ago I had a post on my Guest Post section of the blog which covered self-confidence and body image. I absolutely loved it then and still do now and want to remind that girl who wrote it to keep slaying as that’s exactly what she’s doing! Watch Amy S. and remember – you’re perfect!
Thank you all, talk soon!
Earlier this week I went to see “I Feel Pretty” – the new Amy Schumer film which just hit cinemas across the UK earlier this month. It’s a movie about a woman who has always dreamt of being “pretty” and having confidence and self-love for her own body. Amy plays this woman with curves who one day has an accident and coming out of it, she has a brain trauma affecting her own view of herself and seeing herself as completely changed, slim and confident. She gets her dream job, a boyfriend, and all the things she’d previously wanted but didn’t have the confidence to “get”. Fast-forward a few months, she falls again and the “spell” is broken – she now sees her “real” self again. Of course a million other story lines develop simultaneously, but the main point is, Renee (Amy) plays brilliantly in her role and shows the vulnerability any woman can and does feel at times when she questions her own body image. I absolutely loved the film – not just because it was funny and well done as a film itself, but also because of the social message it sends – that we should all love our bodies, and our souls, regardless of how we look or how others see us. Especially for women it’s a damn strong mantra and we – myself included – should really stop for a min and think of exactly that.
Two years ago I had a post on my Guest Post section of the blog which covered self-confidence and body image. I absolutely loved it then and still do now and want to remind that girl who wrote it to keep slaying as that’s exactly what she’s doing! Watch Amy S. and remember – you’re perfect!
Thank you all, talk soon!
Stress Management and Stuff
17 May 2018
Loads going on this week! First off, it’s mental health awareness week in the UK and this year’s focus is on stress and how we cope with it. Mind, the mental health charity I have written many times about, has great resources on ways to reduce stress and improve your quality of life. Find our more here and remember to always seek help if you need it.
More tips on boosting your mental health are available here.
Now on a different note, if you are a liberal mind, open, tolerant, and all for gender equality (of course you must be, otherwise why would you be reading my blog :)) then you may question why would people ever object to women having the right to vote. A recent publication by the BBC reveals the exact reasons that were put forward in 1918 when (some) women won the right to vote in the UK, and you may be surprised by some of the arguments against. Some Lords in the UK Parliament made me laugh, some made me angry, and some were just whatcha-say. Read quotes from the debates on the BBC website above.
And now I’ll transition to another favourite topic of mine, The Tech She Can Charter has been launched to inspire girls and young women to pursue a career in technology. The Charter is a commitment by organisations to work together to increase the number of women working in tech roles in the UK and to share best practices. PwC is amongst the leaders who initiated and signed the charter, and I’m happy to have been part of that organisation valuing female talent so much! More info on the initiative is available here, as well as info on how to join the UK organisations already committing to it.
I’m off to see I Feel Pretty tonight – a film by Amy Schumer about body confidence and image. I’ll report back this weekend. Talk to you all then!
Loads going on this week! First off, it’s mental health awareness week in the UK and this year’s focus is on stress and how we cope with it. Mind, the mental health charity I have written many times about, has great resources on ways to reduce stress and improve your quality of life. Find our more here and remember to always seek help if you need it.
More tips on boosting your mental health are available here.
Now on a different note, if you are a liberal mind, open, tolerant, and all for gender equality (of course you must be, otherwise why would you be reading my blog :)) then you may question why would people ever object to women having the right to vote. A recent publication by the BBC reveals the exact reasons that were put forward in 1918 when (some) women won the right to vote in the UK, and you may be surprised by some of the arguments against. Some Lords in the UK Parliament made me laugh, some made me angry, and some were just whatcha-say. Read quotes from the debates on the BBC website above.
And now I’ll transition to another favourite topic of mine, The Tech She Can Charter has been launched to inspire girls and young women to pursue a career in technology. The Charter is a commitment by organisations to work together to increase the number of women working in tech roles in the UK and to share best practices. PwC is amongst the leaders who initiated and signed the charter, and I’m happy to have been part of that organisation valuing female talent so much! More info on the initiative is available here, as well as info on how to join the UK organisations already committing to it.
I’m off to see I Feel Pretty tonight – a film by Amy Schumer about body confidence and image. I’ll report back this weekend. Talk to you all then!
T-shirts, Politics and Parties
6 May 2018
I wrote in the last post below about the new statue of a suffragette in Parliament Square in London – a first in history! Now I’d like to add about a new fashion line that’s been launched in celebration of the suffragette movement and the unveiling of the statue – a capsule collection by Bella Freud x Gillian Wearing on matchesfashion.com to celebrate Millicent Fawcett’s achievements and to collect money for the Fawcett Society. You can buy a Suffragette City T-shirt and part of the proceeds will be donated to the organisation fighting for gender equality.
On another note, the local elections in England which took place this past Thursday 3rd May saw the first ever ethnic minority woman being directly elected as a Mayor of a London borough. Rokhsana Fiaz, a British-Pakistani woman, won over 73% of the votes in the council of Newham – my old borough which I still feel very much connected to (and proud of, with these latest results)! Well done and a great example for young women willing to get into local politics!
Further, 8th May is the deadline to register to vote in the Irish referendum on abortion – if you’re eligible to vote make sure to check the register and make your voice heard later this month. The first step is to register though, and from there history will hopefully be made.
Lastly, last night was my gran’s 70th birthday celebration and I just wanted to take a minute on here to note the special moment. She’s inspirational, strong and a true leader. I love her to bits and want to thank her for showing me how to kick ass. Love you, Rachi!
Have a wonderful weekend, ladies and gents, and talk soon!
I wrote in the last post below about the new statue of a suffragette in Parliament Square in London – a first in history! Now I’d like to add about a new fashion line that’s been launched in celebration of the suffragette movement and the unveiling of the statue – a capsule collection by Bella Freud x Gillian Wearing on matchesfashion.com to celebrate Millicent Fawcett’s achievements and to collect money for the Fawcett Society. You can buy a Suffragette City T-shirt and part of the proceeds will be donated to the organisation fighting for gender equality.
On another note, the local elections in England which took place this past Thursday 3rd May saw the first ever ethnic minority woman being directly elected as a Mayor of a London borough. Rokhsana Fiaz, a British-Pakistani woman, won over 73% of the votes in the council of Newham – my old borough which I still feel very much connected to (and proud of, with these latest results)! Well done and a great example for young women willing to get into local politics!
Further, 8th May is the deadline to register to vote in the Irish referendum on abortion – if you’re eligible to vote make sure to check the register and make your voice heard later this month. The first step is to register though, and from there history will hopefully be made.
Lastly, last night was my gran’s 70th birthday celebration and I just wanted to take a minute on here to note the special moment. She’s inspirational, strong and a true leader. I love her to bits and want to thank her for showing me how to kick ass. Love you, Rachi!
Have a wonderful weekend, ladies and gents, and talk soon!
News
26 April 2018
This past few days have been busy-busy on the feminist news front.
Perhaps the headliner is the unveiling of the statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square. This happened exactly a century after (some) women in the UK won the right to vote and was celebrated by the Mayor of London and the Prime Minister, amongst others. The statue is of a suffragette who dedicated her life to the cause. It's the first statue of a woman in Parliament Square – ever! – and it’s also the first by a female artist (Gillian Wearing was the sculptor).
On another note, Uber just released its second annual diversity report. Fortune reports that the main finding is that things haven’t changed massively since last March. Overall, the numbers show women making up 38% of Uber’s global workforce in 2018 (+1.9% from last year); the percentage of women in leadership roles has dropped from 22% in 2017 to 20.9% in 2018. And women in technical leadership roles still stands very low – at only 15.6% although slightly improved by 4.3% compared to last year’s tragic results. All in all, not a surprise, and still a long way to go, but at least they are reporting on the problem, which many others don’t even do.
And lastly, local elections are coming up in England and the Women’s Equality Party is backing a number of candidates running for council seats. Check out what they’ve got to say on http://www.womensequality.org.uk/local-candidates2018 and use it as desired while making your voting choices.
Talk soon!
This past few days have been busy-busy on the feminist news front.
Perhaps the headliner is the unveiling of the statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square. This happened exactly a century after (some) women in the UK won the right to vote and was celebrated by the Mayor of London and the Prime Minister, amongst others. The statue is of a suffragette who dedicated her life to the cause. It's the first statue of a woman in Parliament Square – ever! – and it’s also the first by a female artist (Gillian Wearing was the sculptor).
On another note, Uber just released its second annual diversity report. Fortune reports that the main finding is that things haven’t changed massively since last March. Overall, the numbers show women making up 38% of Uber’s global workforce in 2018 (+1.9% from last year); the percentage of women in leadership roles has dropped from 22% in 2017 to 20.9% in 2018. And women in technical leadership roles still stands very low – at only 15.6% although slightly improved by 4.3% compared to last year’s tragic results. All in all, not a surprise, and still a long way to go, but at least they are reporting on the problem, which many others don’t even do.
And lastly, local elections are coming up in England and the Women’s Equality Party is backing a number of candidates running for council seats. Check out what they’ve got to say on http://www.womensequality.org.uk/local-candidates2018 and use it as desired while making your voting choices.
Talk soon!
Compassion
22 April 2018
I was in Dublin last weekend - and this happened (see below)... There were MANY posters around the city, and for every Yes, I saw at least one, if not two No's...
If you're Irish, make sure you vote on the abortion referendum on 25th May. If you're not allowed to vote, make sure you show support for women in Ireland and their right to decide their own faith.
For compassion in a crisis #YES.
I was in Dublin last weekend - and this happened (see below)... There were MANY posters around the city, and for every Yes, I saw at least one, if not two No's...
If you're Irish, make sure you vote on the abortion referendum on 25th May. If you're not allowed to vote, make sure you show support for women in Ireland and their right to decide their own faith.
For compassion in a crisis #YES.
Give Me My Money
10 April 2018
Today is Equal Pay Day in the US. However, according to new research conducted by Lean In and SurveyMonkey, over 30% of Americans are not aware of the gender pay gap (37% of men and 20% of women surveyed). On average, the gender pay gap is around 20% in the US. And today Fortune ran an interesting article on the myths surrounding the gender pay gap and the realities of it. http://fortune.com/2018/04/10/gender-pay-gap-myths/
Interestingly, in my favourite city Chicago, the Mayor is taking public matters on gender pay equality in his own hands. He’s now signed an executive order banning members of his cabinet from asking job applicants what they were paid at their previous jobs. These questions are considered harmful to women candidates specifically as it’s believed they are systematically underpaid so if that was the case in their old job, it may well influence the offer they get in the new place and once again go into low pay cycle. This executive order follows similar laws already introduced in other US states. More here: https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/emanuel-hails-significant-step-toward-closing-gender-pay-gap/
Meanwhile, the deadline passed for UK companies with over 250 staff to report on their gender pay gap. This is now an annual requirement in the country but apparently over 1000 companies failed to report by the 5th April deadline. The government is now investigating those companies and penalties may well follow. The summary is that 8 out of every 10 firms in the UK pay men more than they pay their female employees. Fantastic news that makes me very appreciated and grateful to be a woman.
And just as a reminder, according to the World Economic Forum, women are not expected to reach full economic parity with men globally until 2234. That’s 216 years from now. CNBC analyses what is possible to happen before that year and the results are quite interesting. Read here about flying cars and driverless vehicles, both of which will hit the road (and air) well before 2234: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/10/10-things-predicted-to-happen-before-the-pay-gap-closes.html
That’s all from me for today. A very happy week ahead and talk soon!
Today is Equal Pay Day in the US. However, according to new research conducted by Lean In and SurveyMonkey, over 30% of Americans are not aware of the gender pay gap (37% of men and 20% of women surveyed). On average, the gender pay gap is around 20% in the US. And today Fortune ran an interesting article on the myths surrounding the gender pay gap and the realities of it. http://fortune.com/2018/04/10/gender-pay-gap-myths/
Interestingly, in my favourite city Chicago, the Mayor is taking public matters on gender pay equality in his own hands. He’s now signed an executive order banning members of his cabinet from asking job applicants what they were paid at their previous jobs. These questions are considered harmful to women candidates specifically as it’s believed they are systematically underpaid so if that was the case in their old job, it may well influence the offer they get in the new place and once again go into low pay cycle. This executive order follows similar laws already introduced in other US states. More here: https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/emanuel-hails-significant-step-toward-closing-gender-pay-gap/
Meanwhile, the deadline passed for UK companies with over 250 staff to report on their gender pay gap. This is now an annual requirement in the country but apparently over 1000 companies failed to report by the 5th April deadline. The government is now investigating those companies and penalties may well follow. The summary is that 8 out of every 10 firms in the UK pay men more than they pay their female employees. Fantastic news that makes me very appreciated and grateful to be a woman.
And just as a reminder, according to the World Economic Forum, women are not expected to reach full economic parity with men globally until 2234. That’s 216 years from now. CNBC analyses what is possible to happen before that year and the results are quite interesting. Read here about flying cars and driverless vehicles, both of which will hit the road (and air) well before 2234: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/10/10-things-predicted-to-happen-before-the-pay-gap-closes.html
That’s all from me for today. A very happy week ahead and talk soon!
Ireland Calling
4 April 2018
You may have already heard that 25th May is going to be a historical date in Ireland as the country is hosting a referendum on the 8th amendment banning abortions in the country.
This year the people of Ireland will decide if abortions should be legalised. Currently, even in cases of rape or incest, or when there is a foetal abnormality, women cannot access abortion services and are instead forced to travel overseas. Countless numbers of women travel to the UK as the closest destination every single year.
The Together for Yes campaign is now launched and it’s being supported by the London-Irish Abortion Rights Campaign – a group based in London which promotes reproductive rights for Irish women. As I have been involved in a few of their activities and campaigning efforts, I wanted to call your attention to the organisation itself and to the campaign ahead of 25th May. Abortion rights are of paramount importance if Ireland is to keep its status as a progressive and modern 21st century country, and it’s essential that women are granted the right to control their own bodies. Read more about Together for Yes here and sign up for regular email updates. Fundraising is encouraged for leaflets and other campaign materials, and please do raise awareness regardless if you’re based in Ireland or not.
Every little helps and as someone with (female) friends in the country I’d personally contribute in any way I can.
Have a great week and talk soon, ladies and gents!
You may have already heard that 25th May is going to be a historical date in Ireland as the country is hosting a referendum on the 8th amendment banning abortions in the country.
This year the people of Ireland will decide if abortions should be legalised. Currently, even in cases of rape or incest, or when there is a foetal abnormality, women cannot access abortion services and are instead forced to travel overseas. Countless numbers of women travel to the UK as the closest destination every single year.
The Together for Yes campaign is now launched and it’s being supported by the London-Irish Abortion Rights Campaign – a group based in London which promotes reproductive rights for Irish women. As I have been involved in a few of their activities and campaigning efforts, I wanted to call your attention to the organisation itself and to the campaign ahead of 25th May. Abortion rights are of paramount importance if Ireland is to keep its status as a progressive and modern 21st century country, and it’s essential that women are granted the right to control their own bodies. Read more about Together for Yes here and sign up for regular email updates. Fundraising is encouraged for leaflets and other campaign materials, and please do raise awareness regardless if you’re based in Ireland or not.
Every little helps and as someone with (female) friends in the country I’d personally contribute in any way I can.
Have a great week and talk soon, ladies and gents!
Jet Nightmares
30 March 2018
Last few weeks have been crazy to say the least. But it’s end of March now and the end of the tax year as well. With that comes the deadline for companies with more than 250 staff in the UK to declare their gender pay gap (deadline is 5 April!) And one of those companies who have already announced their numbers is Easyjet – a well known low-budget airline.
Easyjet revealed in November last year that its female staff earn on average 52% compared to men. This is supposedly because its pilots are mostly male and their salaries are significantly higher than those of majority-female cabin crew. Bonuses are similarly unequal - women’s mean bonus pay is 43.8% lower than men’s. This is hardly surprising having looked at other companies reporting their gaps on the government’s website, but nevertheless I’m always left with a bitter taste in my mouth whenever I see such figures.
Interestingly, in late January this year, Easyjet’s CEO departed and a new one came in with a fierce mission – to prove his personal commitment to pay equality. The new boss, Johan Lundgren, has volunteered to have his salary cut to the same level of his female predecessor Dame Carolyn McCall as a gesture of goodwill and personal commitment to the cause.
While I’m somewhat impressed by Lundgren’s decision, I’m not impressed that he was offered more to begin with – and it must have been considerably more for this to become news now, and I’m also not pleased at his company’s paygap being so massive in general.
Jet2.com is a bit worse, and so is Thomas Cook. While the latter’s gap is almost 58%, the bonus gap is way lower – at only 6.4%. Virgin Atlantic are my favourites though – their mean bonus pay gap is a shocking 72.2%! Will think twice before booking with unethical airlines like that every again.
On this greatly positive note, I’m jetting off to Portugal next week. But until then, have a fun and enjoyable Easter break everyone! Talk soon!
Last few weeks have been crazy to say the least. But it’s end of March now and the end of the tax year as well. With that comes the deadline for companies with more than 250 staff in the UK to declare their gender pay gap (deadline is 5 April!) And one of those companies who have already announced their numbers is Easyjet – a well known low-budget airline.
Easyjet revealed in November last year that its female staff earn on average 52% compared to men. This is supposedly because its pilots are mostly male and their salaries are significantly higher than those of majority-female cabin crew. Bonuses are similarly unequal - women’s mean bonus pay is 43.8% lower than men’s. This is hardly surprising having looked at other companies reporting their gaps on the government’s website, but nevertheless I’m always left with a bitter taste in my mouth whenever I see such figures.
Interestingly, in late January this year, Easyjet’s CEO departed and a new one came in with a fierce mission – to prove his personal commitment to pay equality. The new boss, Johan Lundgren, has volunteered to have his salary cut to the same level of his female predecessor Dame Carolyn McCall as a gesture of goodwill and personal commitment to the cause.
While I’m somewhat impressed by Lundgren’s decision, I’m not impressed that he was offered more to begin with – and it must have been considerably more for this to become news now, and I’m also not pleased at his company’s paygap being so massive in general.
Jet2.com is a bit worse, and so is Thomas Cook. While the latter’s gap is almost 58%, the bonus gap is way lower – at only 6.4%. Virgin Atlantic are my favourites though – their mean bonus pay gap is a shocking 72.2%! Will think twice before booking with unethical airlines like that every again.
On this greatly positive note, I’m jetting off to Portugal next week. But until then, have a fun and enjoyable Easter break everyone! Talk soon!
Celebrate!
9 March 2018
Yesterday was International Women’s Day – a day to recognise and celebrate the achievements of women in every sphere of life! Also a day to call for more progress towards gender equality – so that it won’t take 217 years to close the gender pay gap for example, but much less! Happy Women’s Day to all the fierce women out there!
It was a wonderful day yesterday – I received flowers in the office from my lovely friend Ivan, and we also held a bake-off at work dedicated to International Women’s Day. From 4.30 pm onwards we had a Women’s day happy hour with activities and conversations around gender equality and the actions and steps still needed to achieve it.
In the evening I attended a Solace Women’s Aid event with female survivors of domestic abuse. It was not just inspirational, it was beyond amazing. A number of female speakers walked us through their journeys of recovery and activism, and other female leaders spoke about women with disabilities, the #MeToo movement, and more. Various other events are coming up still relating to Women’s Day – please check my Campaigns page to find out more.
If you’re curious what big global brands did for the occasion – here’s a good overview of actions taken to raise awareness: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/08/international-womens-day-2018-what-brands-are-doing.html
Have a wonderful weekend, ladies and gents, and remember to celebrate – we’ve achieved a lot and we’re getting closer to equality every day! Talk soon!
Yesterday was International Women’s Day – a day to recognise and celebrate the achievements of women in every sphere of life! Also a day to call for more progress towards gender equality – so that it won’t take 217 years to close the gender pay gap for example, but much less! Happy Women’s Day to all the fierce women out there!
It was a wonderful day yesterday – I received flowers in the office from my lovely friend Ivan, and we also held a bake-off at work dedicated to International Women’s Day. From 4.30 pm onwards we had a Women’s day happy hour with activities and conversations around gender equality and the actions and steps still needed to achieve it.
In the evening I attended a Solace Women’s Aid event with female survivors of domestic abuse. It was not just inspirational, it was beyond amazing. A number of female speakers walked us through their journeys of recovery and activism, and other female leaders spoke about women with disabilities, the #MeToo movement, and more. Various other events are coming up still relating to Women’s Day – please check my Campaigns page to find out more.
If you’re curious what big global brands did for the occasion – here’s a good overview of actions taken to raise awareness: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/08/international-womens-day-2018-what-brands-are-doing.html
Have a wonderful weekend, ladies and gents, and remember to celebrate – we’ve achieved a lot and we’re getting closer to equality every day! Talk soon!
International Women's Day and More
3 March 2018
Please check out my Campaigns page here which provides details of upcoming initiatives and events around 8th March - International Women's Day.
Tomorrow, 4th March, the annual Women's March is taking place in London Bridge, orgaised by Care International. Last year's event was fabulous and I can't recommend it enough for this year too. I'll be travelling tomorrow and unable to join but look forward to getting updates and photos from the day.
Next week multiple events are taking place across the world to celebrate women's achievements and call for more progress towards gender equality. Some that I have selected are listed on my campaigns page and most of them are either free or the entries are at a low cost. Make sure to check them out and hopefully see you there!
I'll also be talking on feminism and skin at an event on Friday 9th March as a panelist invited by my lovely friend Karen. I was part of her photography project 'Honest You' last year which took on the streets to take pictues of women without makeup. I'm super excited about our talk at the Calder Bookshop. While tickets are limited, please do let me know if you'd like to join.
And lastly, Karen herself had written a guest post for me on her project 'Honest You' - you can read it on my Guest Posts page. You can also read there the latest post from lovely Emily who attended the everywoman 2018 forum for women in technology. Amazing event and a great post sharing her views on the conference and women in tech more broadly. Check it out here.
Have a lovely weekend - and Happy Indeendence Day, Bulgaria!
Please check out my Campaigns page here which provides details of upcoming initiatives and events around 8th March - International Women's Day.
Tomorrow, 4th March, the annual Women's March is taking place in London Bridge, orgaised by Care International. Last year's event was fabulous and I can't recommend it enough for this year too. I'll be travelling tomorrow and unable to join but look forward to getting updates and photos from the day.
Next week multiple events are taking place across the world to celebrate women's achievements and call for more progress towards gender equality. Some that I have selected are listed on my campaigns page and most of them are either free or the entries are at a low cost. Make sure to check them out and hopefully see you there!
I'll also be talking on feminism and skin at an event on Friday 9th March as a panelist invited by my lovely friend Karen. I was part of her photography project 'Honest You' last year which took on the streets to take pictues of women without makeup. I'm super excited about our talk at the Calder Bookshop. While tickets are limited, please do let me know if you'd like to join.
And lastly, Karen herself had written a guest post for me on her project 'Honest You' - you can read it on my Guest Posts page. You can also read there the latest post from lovely Emily who attended the everywoman 2018 forum for women in technology. Amazing event and a great post sharing her views on the conference and women in tech more broadly. Check it out here.
Have a lovely weekend - and Happy Indeendence Day, Bulgaria!
Votes For Women
20 February 2018
This month, we mark 100 years since women in the UK gained the right to vote! Some women, rather (only those meeting certain criteria, like being over 30, owning property or working/ being related to someone working in the councils). While that still excluded significant proportion of poorer and younger women, it was nevertheless a significant success in the suffragette struggle of the early 20th century, and a great reason to celebrate a step forward in building a more gender-equal society.
A couple of friends and I went to “Votes For Women” this past Sunday – an exhibition at the Museum of London, dedicated to the 100th anniversary.
While the exhibition itself was not as big as I would expect/ like, it was still recognition to the women who fought for us to be where we are today. I say fought because ever since the early 19th century women started getting more involved in civil society and actively interested in politics. Various campaigns kicked off in the years prior to winning the right to vote, including violent campaigns by the Women's Social and Political Union which was formed in 1903. The media at the time was not very interested in suffragette’s ideas but the newly formed union decided to change that – they held public rallies, speeches, fundraising campaigns, even hunger strikes in prison after many of its members were detained for obstructing the order of a peaceful society (e.g. printing illegal newspapers, spreading the propaganda that women’s rights were considered at the time). The Union even stormed the House of Commons in 1908 and was accused of facilitating arsons of their enemies’ homes. While WWI brought a cease to the militant efforts of the suffragettes, they continued lobbying in those years too and it was in 1918 that the final success came – women finally had a say on who governs them.
It was 10 years later that the voting age for women was reduced to 21 and property ownership restriction were lifted – e.g. the same terms as men at the time.
Importantly, in November 1918 women also won the right to run for Parliament – another significant achievement, also being marked at 100 years this year. In 2017, we were still at around 30% female MPs though, just as a reminder…
Emmeline Pankhurst is considered the mastermind of the women’s suffrage movement in the UK, together with her daughters and likeminded supporters. In her memory, and in that of everyone who fought, this exhibition was a powerful reminder of the sacrifices some made to plant the seeds of a more gender-equal Britain.
Please do visit the Museum of London, or even better – join in at one of their Votes for Women events coming up in March and April. Details available here.
This month, we mark 100 years since women in the UK gained the right to vote! Some women, rather (only those meeting certain criteria, like being over 30, owning property or working/ being related to someone working in the councils). While that still excluded significant proportion of poorer and younger women, it was nevertheless a significant success in the suffragette struggle of the early 20th century, and a great reason to celebrate a step forward in building a more gender-equal society.
A couple of friends and I went to “Votes For Women” this past Sunday – an exhibition at the Museum of London, dedicated to the 100th anniversary.
While the exhibition itself was not as big as I would expect/ like, it was still recognition to the women who fought for us to be where we are today. I say fought because ever since the early 19th century women started getting more involved in civil society and actively interested in politics. Various campaigns kicked off in the years prior to winning the right to vote, including violent campaigns by the Women's Social and Political Union which was formed in 1903. The media at the time was not very interested in suffragette’s ideas but the newly formed union decided to change that – they held public rallies, speeches, fundraising campaigns, even hunger strikes in prison after many of its members were detained for obstructing the order of a peaceful society (e.g. printing illegal newspapers, spreading the propaganda that women’s rights were considered at the time). The Union even stormed the House of Commons in 1908 and was accused of facilitating arsons of their enemies’ homes. While WWI brought a cease to the militant efforts of the suffragettes, they continued lobbying in those years too and it was in 1918 that the final success came – women finally had a say on who governs them.
It was 10 years later that the voting age for women was reduced to 21 and property ownership restriction were lifted – e.g. the same terms as men at the time.
Importantly, in November 1918 women also won the right to run for Parliament – another significant achievement, also being marked at 100 years this year. In 2017, we were still at around 30% female MPs though, just as a reminder…
Emmeline Pankhurst is considered the mastermind of the women’s suffrage movement in the UK, together with her daughters and likeminded supporters. In her memory, and in that of everyone who fought, this exhibition was a powerful reminder of the sacrifices some made to plant the seeds of a more gender-equal Britain.
Please do visit the Museum of London, or even better – join in at one of their Votes for Women events coming up in March and April. Details available here.
Music, Politics and Royal Business
3 February 2018
These past two weeks have been busy and full of feminist news and updates:
Have a fab weekend, ladies and gents, and chat next week!
These past two weeks have been busy and full of feminist news and updates:
- The Grammys took place last Sunday 28th Jan. Women or female-led bands won 17 of the 85 awards. That’s right about 20%.
- Sadly the only female nominee for Album of Year (Lorde) wasn’t even asked to perform solo, unlike all other men in the same category. And only one woman won in a major award category – Alessia Cara who smashed the best new artist competition.
- Kesha performed ‘Praying’ which is about sexual abuse. And it was powerful!
- Two days later was the State of the Union, which was an occasion for many Democrat politicians to wear black and Time’s Up pins. Melania Trump on the other hand wore all white. Read into it as you will.
- Florida unanimously passed a bill this week which bans child marriage under any circumstance. Until now kids of 16 and 17 years of age could get married with their parents permission, and those younger could do if there was pregnancy involved and the judge allowed it. Between 2010 and 2016 over 3,000 minors were married, 72 of whom were under 16. So glad to hear about the new law and the brighter future for Florida’s children.
- And Meghan Markle is expected to make her own speech in her royal wedding to Prince Harry in May. This would be a break to tradition where the bride just listens and all speeches are made by the prince. The fierce feminist is about to have it another way though – and I can’t wait to see it! Go kick butt, Meghan!
Have a fab weekend, ladies and gents, and chat next week!
More on #MeToo
20 January 2018
Happy birthday, mum! Wishing you all the health, love and joy in the world! Love you to the moon and back!
Now, let me share another issue - a lot of news coverage over the past week has been happening on the letter written by a number of French actresses denouncing the #MeToo movement and claiming it’s gotten too extreme. Not only that but now men have no chance of defending themselves and the outcry is getting out of hand, they seem to think. I read the letter and quite frankly I’m not even going to use up words on here to comment on it – all I’ll say is, you’re entitled to an opinion, but as someone who’s personally experienced unpleasant situations myself (multiple times), I feel we desperately need MeToo and I stand behind the idea of it 100%. That’s my two cents.
Speaking of #MeToo, it’s been announced now that PBS is launching a new TV series exploring the movement’s development and ideas. #MeToo, Now What? will be a five-part series hosted by author and Women for Women International founder Zainab Salbi. Tune in on PBS at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time on 2 February for the first episode – interviews and reporting on the issue is what will be covered. Enjoy and let me know your thoughts.
And lastly, I wrote about the Golden Globes in my last post, so now the latest update is that 39 black gowns and tuxedos from the ceremony are being auctioned on eBay to benefit the Time’s Up Legal Defence Fund. More here.
Thanks everyone and chat next week!
Happy birthday, mum! Wishing you all the health, love and joy in the world! Love you to the moon and back!
Now, let me share another issue - a lot of news coverage over the past week has been happening on the letter written by a number of French actresses denouncing the #MeToo movement and claiming it’s gotten too extreme. Not only that but now men have no chance of defending themselves and the outcry is getting out of hand, they seem to think. I read the letter and quite frankly I’m not even going to use up words on here to comment on it – all I’ll say is, you’re entitled to an opinion, but as someone who’s personally experienced unpleasant situations myself (multiple times), I feel we desperately need MeToo and I stand behind the idea of it 100%. That’s my two cents.
Speaking of #MeToo, it’s been announced now that PBS is launching a new TV series exploring the movement’s development and ideas. #MeToo, Now What? will be a five-part series hosted by author and Women for Women International founder Zainab Salbi. Tune in on PBS at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time on 2 February for the first episode – interviews and reporting on the issue is what will be covered. Enjoy and let me know your thoughts.
And lastly, I wrote about the Golden Globes in my last post, so now the latest update is that 39 black gowns and tuxedos from the ceremony are being auctioned on eBay to benefit the Time’s Up Legal Defence Fund. More here.
Thanks everyone and chat next week!
Black Matters
14 January 2018
I’m sure by now you must have heard about the Golden Globes initiative to wear black in protest against sexual harassment in Hollywood. The announcement came back in December by several actresses who had spoken out as part of the #MeToo movement (which later won the Time Person of the Year award for 2017 – see blog post below). While some people doubted the reasoning behind the all-black wear on 7 January at the Golden Globes, and asked what exactly this will accomplish in real terms, it was nevertheless a statement by actors on the importance of harassment as an issue in Hollywood. Something that must no longer be ignored. Not only that, but the Globes sparked another wave of black wear at other major events in the public eye – such as the upcoming State of the Union speech by President Trump. Some female Congress women have already said they’ll wear black on the day in order to call out sexual assault in politics and in life in general.
Of course there were some who did not wear black at the Globes. And there will be more who won’t wear it on 30 Jan at Trump’s speech. The point is, it was a thing – and it will remain to be a thing, thanks to brave individuals who speak up and who have initiative to unite against injustice.
One of these brave women is Oprah Winfrey who’s speech particularly struck me. She said, “a new day is on the horizon… and when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women… and some pretty phenomenal men, fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say, ‘Me too,’ again.”
Let’s hope that time comes very soon and until then – wear black if you will, be brave and speak out!
I’m sure by now you must have heard about the Golden Globes initiative to wear black in protest against sexual harassment in Hollywood. The announcement came back in December by several actresses who had spoken out as part of the #MeToo movement (which later won the Time Person of the Year award for 2017 – see blog post below). While some people doubted the reasoning behind the all-black wear on 7 January at the Golden Globes, and asked what exactly this will accomplish in real terms, it was nevertheless a statement by actors on the importance of harassment as an issue in Hollywood. Something that must no longer be ignored. Not only that, but the Globes sparked another wave of black wear at other major events in the public eye – such as the upcoming State of the Union speech by President Trump. Some female Congress women have already said they’ll wear black on the day in order to call out sexual assault in politics and in life in general.
Of course there were some who did not wear black at the Globes. And there will be more who won’t wear it on 30 Jan at Trump’s speech. The point is, it was a thing – and it will remain to be a thing, thanks to brave individuals who speak up and who have initiative to unite against injustice.
One of these brave women is Oprah Winfrey who’s speech particularly struck me. She said, “a new day is on the horizon… and when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women… and some pretty phenomenal men, fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say, ‘Me too,’ again.”
Let’s hope that time comes very soon and until then – wear black if you will, be brave and speak out!
Resolutions
11 January 2018
A very happy new year once again! May it be successful and positive for all of you lovely readers!
The new year traditionally calls for resolutions for the next 365 days and I noted mine down last weekend. In 2018 I’ve decided to build on last year’s progress and take anything – and anyone – negative out of my life. I’ll also aim to say no to things I don’t want to do (and not agree due to pressure from anyone or society in general), continue with my healthy regime and working out regularly, judge people less (hello patience!) and lastly – to experiment! The latter is my most radical promise to myself because it’s experimenting with food, with people and with experiences. The food bit I already kicked off last weekend over Japanese dinner (nope, I had never had Japanese in my life before). For anyone who knows me they’d probably be surprised! And as for people and experiences, I’m basically aiming to say yes to any action/ event/ trip that sounds remotely exciting and on a personal level to give more chances to relationships with diverse range of people.
Right, my resolutions are on here so that makes them official and I feel more accountable now too! Let’s get this going!
PS: Feminist news blog article coming up this weekend…
A very happy new year once again! May it be successful and positive for all of you lovely readers!
The new year traditionally calls for resolutions for the next 365 days and I noted mine down last weekend. In 2018 I’ve decided to build on last year’s progress and take anything – and anyone – negative out of my life. I’ll also aim to say no to things I don’t want to do (and not agree due to pressure from anyone or society in general), continue with my healthy regime and working out regularly, judge people less (hello patience!) and lastly – to experiment! The latter is my most radical promise to myself because it’s experimenting with food, with people and with experiences. The food bit I already kicked off last weekend over Japanese dinner (nope, I had never had Japanese in my life before). For anyone who knows me they’d probably be surprised! And as for people and experiences, I’m basically aiming to say yes to any action/ event/ trip that sounds remotely exciting and on a personal level to give more chances to relationships with diverse range of people.
Right, my resolutions are on here so that makes them official and I feel more accountable now too! Let’s get this going!
PS: Feminist news blog article coming up this weekend…
Special Mentions and New Years Wishes
1 January 2018
Happy new year!
I’d like to kick off the new year with a special greeting to my grandmother Rada who turns 70 today! Such inspiration and so much fire in this woman – in the last 70 years and surely in the next minimum 30! Love you, Rachi, and thank you for everything!
I’d also like to call out my cousin Marti who published his first book last week. It’s been a great honour and pleasure to see his poems and short stories develop and the launch of the book ‘Traces of colour’. Well done and may 2018 be even more successful for you!
And last, but not least, my girl Nicole (Koley) has released her first song and I’m so proud and happy for her! Beautiful voice, and a beautiful person full of positivity and joy every time I talk to her. Her debut was ‘I heard’, followed by ‘Birthmark’ and more. Check out her art at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZIPKQftLUssB8c75oZupeA
May 2018 be full of creativity and love, we all need it!
Happy new year!
I’d like to kick off the new year with a special greeting to my grandmother Rada who turns 70 today! Such inspiration and so much fire in this woman – in the last 70 years and surely in the next minimum 30! Love you, Rachi, and thank you for everything!
I’d also like to call out my cousin Marti who published his first book last week. It’s been a great honour and pleasure to see his poems and short stories develop and the launch of the book ‘Traces of colour’. Well done and may 2018 be even more successful for you!
And last, but not least, my girl Nicole (Koley) has released her first song and I’m so proud and happy for her! Beautiful voice, and a beautiful person full of positivity and joy every time I talk to her. Her debut was ‘I heard’, followed by ‘Birthmark’ and more. Check out her art at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZIPKQftLUssB8c75oZupeA
May 2018 be full of creativity and love, we all need it!
Word of the Year
20 December 2017
I was presenting today at my work’s Lean In circle on the UK-China roundtable I attended the other week. I’m all hyped up and so I wanted to write a quick blog about another recognition of the year which was announced last week by Merriam-Webster: word of the year 2017 - “feminism”. In 2017, lookups for feminism increased 70% over 2016 on the dictionary’s website (Merriam-Webster.com): https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/12/12/us/ap-us-merriam-webster-word-of-the-year.html
The word has already been in their annual Top 10 for the last few years, and in 2015 it shared the word-of-the-year prize with socialism, fascism, racism, communism, capitalism and terrorism.
The online dictionary describes feminism as the "theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes" and "organised activities on behalf of women's rights and interests."
While I 100% agree with the definition of equality of the sexes in all domains, I spoke to someone last week who refused to call himself as feminist although he said he believes in gender equality and fully supports it. So why wouldn’t you call yourself that, I asked. And he said it’s because he doesn’t like labels and he’d rather show support through actions than words. Cool, I respect that and appreciate a man who openly promotes equality and takes action to make it happen.
I wish though feminism didn’t have the negative connotation so many people think it does, from associating it with women burning their bras and not shaving their legs, to men-hating lesbians. Or if you say you’re a feminist suddenly you need to defend all feminists’ actions, including the two above. Calling yourself a feminist is not about having a responsibility to agree and act like all other people calling themselves feminists. It’s simply the belief men and women should be treated equally – always! Promote that belief and defend it!
Let’s practice what we preach – have a very merry Christmas and aim to take at least one feminist action in the new year. As change only happens when people do stuff!
I was presenting today at my work’s Lean In circle on the UK-China roundtable I attended the other week. I’m all hyped up and so I wanted to write a quick blog about another recognition of the year which was announced last week by Merriam-Webster: word of the year 2017 - “feminism”. In 2017, lookups for feminism increased 70% over 2016 on the dictionary’s website (Merriam-Webster.com): https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/12/12/us/ap-us-merriam-webster-word-of-the-year.html
The word has already been in their annual Top 10 for the last few years, and in 2015 it shared the word-of-the-year prize with socialism, fascism, racism, communism, capitalism and terrorism.
The online dictionary describes feminism as the "theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes" and "organised activities on behalf of women's rights and interests."
While I 100% agree with the definition of equality of the sexes in all domains, I spoke to someone last week who refused to call himself as feminist although he said he believes in gender equality and fully supports it. So why wouldn’t you call yourself that, I asked. And he said it’s because he doesn’t like labels and he’d rather show support through actions than words. Cool, I respect that and appreciate a man who openly promotes equality and takes action to make it happen.
I wish though feminism didn’t have the negative connotation so many people think it does, from associating it with women burning their bras and not shaving their legs, to men-hating lesbians. Or if you say you’re a feminist suddenly you need to defend all feminists’ actions, including the two above. Calling yourself a feminist is not about having a responsibility to agree and act like all other people calling themselves feminists. It’s simply the belief men and women should be treated equally – always! Promote that belief and defend it!
Let’s practice what we preach – have a very merry Christmas and aim to take at least one feminist action in the new year. As change only happens when people do stuff!
Person of the Year
12 December 2017
It’s that time of December when they announce the TIME Person of the Year . Last week we heard that this year’s choice are the Silence Breakers – the movie stars and the regular people who spoke out against sexual harassment in Hollywood and elsewhere. All those women and men who participated in the #MeToo social media campaign and all those who didn’t but still shared their experiences and pains. I’m so happy to see the recognition of the movement, and even happier that it wasn’t Donald Trump who got Person of the Year (if you don’t remember, he was convinced he’d be chosen and bragged about it on Twitter. Guess what, he wasn’t.) Because yes, it’s time to give women the voice and freedom to share their frustrations and to make a positive societal change so that such harassment and assaults become a thing of the past.
More here: http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2017-silence-breakers/
Because #MeToo. Multiple times.
It’s that time of December when they announce the TIME Person of the Year . Last week we heard that this year’s choice are the Silence Breakers – the movie stars and the regular people who spoke out against sexual harassment in Hollywood and elsewhere. All those women and men who participated in the #MeToo social media campaign and all those who didn’t but still shared their experiences and pains. I’m so happy to see the recognition of the movement, and even happier that it wasn’t Donald Trump who got Person of the Year (if you don’t remember, he was convinced he’d be chosen and bragged about it on Twitter. Guess what, he wasn’t.) Because yes, it’s time to give women the voice and freedom to share their frustrations and to make a positive societal change so that such harassment and assaults become a thing of the past.
More here: http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2017-silence-breakers/
Because #MeToo. Multiple times.
UK-China Round Table
11 December 2017
As mentioned last week, on Thursday 7th December I attended the first ever UK-China Round Table on Gender Equality and Women’s Economic Empowerment. It was part of the high-level UK-China People-to-People Dialogue taking place this year on various issues of interest to both countries. This event was the first gender discussion taking place between the two states and covered important issues around women in the workplace, work-life balance, and initiatives to improve gender equality in general.
I was invited as a volunteer of Inspiring the Future – a charity connecting professionals with school children and delivering career sessions, events and talks aiming to inspire students to pursue varied careers. As I had previously spoken at a few schools on careers in technology and what it feels like to be a woman in tech, they asked me to participate in last week’s roundtable event as well.
The organisers of the event were the British Council, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Government Equalities Office and the All-China Women’s Federation and the two-hour morning session took place at the Southbank centre in central London. The chair was the artistic director of South Bank, Jude Kelly CBE, and the two keynotes were by Joanna Roper, the FCO Envoy on Gender Equality, and by Madame Xia Jie, Vice President of the All-China Women’s Federation. In case you didn’t know, earlier this year the UK established the position of Ambassador for gender equality and appointed Mrs Roper to it – in doing so the country joined a handful of other states around the world with appointed ambassadors for gender equality. Very important yet surprisingly uncommon move.
It was interesting to hear the speakers’ views on how to make our countries more gender-equal and some statistics they mentioned particularly struck me. Did you know in China nearly 53% of undergraduates are women, and 51% of Masters students are female – yet, only 43% of the workforce is female. Meaning women get educated but don’t necessarily continue into paid employment. More interestingly amongst Chinese entrepreneurs, 41% are female which is surprisingly high given the low female employment rate in general. And in e-commerce and a few other sectors, female entrepreneurs outnumber men with nearly 56% female presence. China does see the connection between ridding the country of poverty and advancing women’s rights as deeply interlinked – you can’t achieve one without the other, they said. They also emphasised multiple times on the importance of education, training and mentoring for women, as well as on investing in their health. In more and more provinces in China, there’s increasing financing of programs to screen unborn babies for potential syndromes early on and by reducing the rate of disabled children the government hopes to increase female workforce participation. Because in China, just like anywhere else really, the expectation is that the mother will take care of the children and if the child is disabled, it is even less likely for the mom to work outside of home.
On the UK side, STEM careers were the major focus, and so was the importance of engaging young boys and men into gender equality initiatives and ideas more broadly. At the end of the day, if men don’t join the fight, and actively fight it, it’s very unlikely we’ll reach equality anytime in the next 200 years. And btw, the number is not random – according to the latest research of the World Economic Forum, it will take right about 217 years to achieve gender equality worldwide. If only I could stay alive to see it happen, or maybe my great grandkids will. Will it even happen for them?...
The last point discussed that I wanted to mention was specifically on women at work and how important it is to have a sponsor – not just a mentor, but a sponsor too. Sheryl Sandberg talks a lot about this in her book Lean In, in the chapter discussing women’s progress on the career ladder with the endorsement and advice of her sponsors and mentors. The key difference between the two is that a mentor can provide ideas and advice behind closed doors. It may be a formal or informal relationship but it is usually limited between two people. Sponsorship on the other hand is the visible endorsement of someone for a promotion or a career change. It’s lobbying on someone’s behalf and it usually takes place either openly or at least between more than two people who make the company decisions. I have to admit when I got assigned my ‘sponsor’ at my current work, my first thought was, what on earth does that even mean. Now I’m thinking, why did I not have a sponsor in my previous jobs to begin with…
The event concluded with a lot of inspiring stories and some angry stats, but I’m really happy I got to participate and see the viewpoint of two of the world’s biggest powers. Without the UK and China on board with gender equality initiatives, change is even less likely to happen, so yay to the event and yay to even having these conversations in the open. Way to go!
As mentioned last week, on Thursday 7th December I attended the first ever UK-China Round Table on Gender Equality and Women’s Economic Empowerment. It was part of the high-level UK-China People-to-People Dialogue taking place this year on various issues of interest to both countries. This event was the first gender discussion taking place between the two states and covered important issues around women in the workplace, work-life balance, and initiatives to improve gender equality in general.
I was invited as a volunteer of Inspiring the Future – a charity connecting professionals with school children and delivering career sessions, events and talks aiming to inspire students to pursue varied careers. As I had previously spoken at a few schools on careers in technology and what it feels like to be a woman in tech, they asked me to participate in last week’s roundtable event as well.
The organisers of the event were the British Council, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Government Equalities Office and the All-China Women’s Federation and the two-hour morning session took place at the Southbank centre in central London. The chair was the artistic director of South Bank, Jude Kelly CBE, and the two keynotes were by Joanna Roper, the FCO Envoy on Gender Equality, and by Madame Xia Jie, Vice President of the All-China Women’s Federation. In case you didn’t know, earlier this year the UK established the position of Ambassador for gender equality and appointed Mrs Roper to it – in doing so the country joined a handful of other states around the world with appointed ambassadors for gender equality. Very important yet surprisingly uncommon move.
It was interesting to hear the speakers’ views on how to make our countries more gender-equal and some statistics they mentioned particularly struck me. Did you know in China nearly 53% of undergraduates are women, and 51% of Masters students are female – yet, only 43% of the workforce is female. Meaning women get educated but don’t necessarily continue into paid employment. More interestingly amongst Chinese entrepreneurs, 41% are female which is surprisingly high given the low female employment rate in general. And in e-commerce and a few other sectors, female entrepreneurs outnumber men with nearly 56% female presence. China does see the connection between ridding the country of poverty and advancing women’s rights as deeply interlinked – you can’t achieve one without the other, they said. They also emphasised multiple times on the importance of education, training and mentoring for women, as well as on investing in their health. In more and more provinces in China, there’s increasing financing of programs to screen unborn babies for potential syndromes early on and by reducing the rate of disabled children the government hopes to increase female workforce participation. Because in China, just like anywhere else really, the expectation is that the mother will take care of the children and if the child is disabled, it is even less likely for the mom to work outside of home.
On the UK side, STEM careers were the major focus, and so was the importance of engaging young boys and men into gender equality initiatives and ideas more broadly. At the end of the day, if men don’t join the fight, and actively fight it, it’s very unlikely we’ll reach equality anytime in the next 200 years. And btw, the number is not random – according to the latest research of the World Economic Forum, it will take right about 217 years to achieve gender equality worldwide. If only I could stay alive to see it happen, or maybe my great grandkids will. Will it even happen for them?...
The last point discussed that I wanted to mention was specifically on women at work and how important it is to have a sponsor – not just a mentor, but a sponsor too. Sheryl Sandberg talks a lot about this in her book Lean In, in the chapter discussing women’s progress on the career ladder with the endorsement and advice of her sponsors and mentors. The key difference between the two is that a mentor can provide ideas and advice behind closed doors. It may be a formal or informal relationship but it is usually limited between two people. Sponsorship on the other hand is the visible endorsement of someone for a promotion or a career change. It’s lobbying on someone’s behalf and it usually takes place either openly or at least between more than two people who make the company decisions. I have to admit when I got assigned my ‘sponsor’ at my current work, my first thought was, what on earth does that even mean. Now I’m thinking, why did I not have a sponsor in my previous jobs to begin with…
The event concluded with a lot of inspiring stories and some angry stats, but I’m really happy I got to participate and see the viewpoint of two of the world’s biggest powers. Without the UK and China on board with gender equality initiatives, change is even less likely to happen, so yay to the event and yay to even having these conversations in the open. Way to go!
More Activism
6 December 2017
As 16 days of activism continues, I thought I’d get some extra inspiration by reading Sheryl Sandberg’s best seller Lean In. It took me a week to finish this phenomenal read and I must say, inspired is not even the right word as to how I feel right now. Every single chapter, whether on mentorship at work, on domestic work and raising children, or on female leadership and climbing the career ladder at work – every single page of the 173 in the book were full of inspirational stories and lessons learnt. I’m so glad I read and I’m even more excited now that I’ve also joined a Lean In circle at my new workplace. I’ll be joining on my first meeting this month, can’t wait to hear more about leaning in and to discuss the importance for women to speak up at work and in society in general.
Now I’ve started reading Hillary Clinton’s latest book, What Happened (more on her appearance at the London Literature Festival in October, see my post below). Another exciting woman with a lot of experience in a male-dominated world – look forward to reading what she has to say.
On another note, tomorrow I’ll be heading to a round table discussion on women’s economic empowerment, thanks to a special invitation from the UK and Chinese Governments. I’m thrilled to be chosen as a young 20-something woman to represent my generation in the UK in the discussion of issues relating to women in the workplace and maintaining work-life balance. I’ll report back on that this weekend. And I promise to learn at least one phrase in Chinese (at least how to say it, not so much in writing :))
Have a fab rest of the week, everyone!
As 16 days of activism continues, I thought I’d get some extra inspiration by reading Sheryl Sandberg’s best seller Lean In. It took me a week to finish this phenomenal read and I must say, inspired is not even the right word as to how I feel right now. Every single chapter, whether on mentorship at work, on domestic work and raising children, or on female leadership and climbing the career ladder at work – every single page of the 173 in the book were full of inspirational stories and lessons learnt. I’m so glad I read and I’m even more excited now that I’ve also joined a Lean In circle at my new workplace. I’ll be joining on my first meeting this month, can’t wait to hear more about leaning in and to discuss the importance for women to speak up at work and in society in general.
Now I’ve started reading Hillary Clinton’s latest book, What Happened (more on her appearance at the London Literature Festival in October, see my post below). Another exciting woman with a lot of experience in a male-dominated world – look forward to reading what she has to say.
On another note, tomorrow I’ll be heading to a round table discussion on women’s economic empowerment, thanks to a special invitation from the UK and Chinese Governments. I’m thrilled to be chosen as a young 20-something woman to represent my generation in the UK in the discussion of issues relating to women in the workplace and maintaining work-life balance. I’ll report back on that this weekend. And I promise to learn at least one phrase in Chinese (at least how to say it, not so much in writing :))
Have a fab rest of the week, everyone!
16 Days of Activism
2 December 2017
We’re in the middle of 16 Days of Activism – an international campaign against domestic violence running between 25 Nov (International day against violence against women) and 10 Dec (Human Rights Day). These are 16 days where you can join in on campaigns, events and initiatives aiming to eliminate gender-based violence.
The campaign is hosted by UN Women and is an annual initiative since 1991. It’s characterized by the colour orange – the international symbol of fighting gender-based violence. I wrote last year about many government and private buildings around the world going orange at night in order to support the campaign, and this year ever more events are taking place across the globe. Find out more on the campaign’s Facebook page.
For me personally, one action I took was joining the women’s rally in London last week calling for a stop on domestic violence (see post below). I also donated to a charity this past Tuesday – the international day of giving, known as Giving Tuesday. However, I also joined the campaign unconventionally this week by watching the brand new Netflix series ‘She’s gotta have it’. I’m so glad this series was produced and that I saw it exactly during this past week as it kicks butt big time and really motives me and inspires me to be an ever stronger woman.
(Spoilers ahead) The show is based around the life of a young female black artist from Brooklyn. She dates three men at the same time, struggles to make it on the art scene and also as a teacher in a secondary school, and on top of it – she gets assaulted while walking home one night and has to deal with the emotional baggage that comes with that. The way she deals with the assault, the way she handles all those men (and one woman) in her life, and the way she still makes it as a successful artist by the end of the first season, is inspiring beyond words. You can only understand it if you watch it. Big round of applause to the show creators, I must say!
The point I’m trying to make is that thanks to Netflix and other platforms of the sort, we have easy access to empowering shows which have the potential to change our lives. Taking action during 16 days of activism can be anything from posting on Facebook or your blog, to joining rallies, donating to women’s charities, or even watching an inspirational show and showing support to someone who needs it. Action can still be effective even in the shadows of big publicity, so any little activity helps. Get inspired and make a change because it’s on us to change our own world for the better!
We’re in the middle of 16 Days of Activism – an international campaign against domestic violence running between 25 Nov (International day against violence against women) and 10 Dec (Human Rights Day). These are 16 days where you can join in on campaigns, events and initiatives aiming to eliminate gender-based violence.
The campaign is hosted by UN Women and is an annual initiative since 1991. It’s characterized by the colour orange – the international symbol of fighting gender-based violence. I wrote last year about many government and private buildings around the world going orange at night in order to support the campaign, and this year ever more events are taking place across the globe. Find out more on the campaign’s Facebook page.
For me personally, one action I took was joining the women’s rally in London last week calling for a stop on domestic violence (see post below). I also donated to a charity this past Tuesday – the international day of giving, known as Giving Tuesday. However, I also joined the campaign unconventionally this week by watching the brand new Netflix series ‘She’s gotta have it’. I’m so glad this series was produced and that I saw it exactly during this past week as it kicks butt big time and really motives me and inspires me to be an ever stronger woman.
(Spoilers ahead) The show is based around the life of a young female black artist from Brooklyn. She dates three men at the same time, struggles to make it on the art scene and also as a teacher in a secondary school, and on top of it – she gets assaulted while walking home one night and has to deal with the emotional baggage that comes with that. The way she deals with the assault, the way she handles all those men (and one woman) in her life, and the way she still makes it as a successful artist by the end of the first season, is inspiring beyond words. You can only understand it if you watch it. Big round of applause to the show creators, I must say!
The point I’m trying to make is that thanks to Netflix and other platforms of the sort, we have easy access to empowering shows which have the potential to change our lives. Taking action during 16 days of activism can be anything from posting on Facebook or your blog, to joining rallies, donating to women’s charities, or even watching an inspirational show and showing support to someone who needs it. Action can still be effective even in the shadows of big publicity, so any little activity helps. Get inspired and make a change because it’s on us to change our own world for the better!
Reclaim the Night
26 November 2017
Last night I went to the annual ‘Reclaim the night’ walk in central London to protest against gender-based violence. The event was held on the International day for the elimination of violence against women, and consisted of an hour-and-a-half long walk from Trafalgar square to Euston. It was organized by the London Feminist network and there were representatives of various women’s charities, NGOs, political parties, and everyday activists and citizens concerned with the issue of gender-based violence. Hundreds of us walked the walk and expressed our protest against male perpetrators of violence and a society where women are still blamed when they get raped or when they don’t leave their abusive partners.
The start of this initiative was given in 1977 when there was curfew imposed on women due to the Peter Sutcliffe killing spree. At the time, 13 women were killed by the Yorkshire Ripper and 7 more were nearly killed by him. Women protested against violence but they also protested about having to hide in order to be safe, as opposed to having safe streets to begin with. 40 years later, we’re in a better position for sure, but still our streets are not safe and neither are our homes. One in every three women around the world is a victim of violence in her lifetime – be it emotional, physical or sexual abuse. This is still valid in 2017 and protests like the one last night aim to shed light on these statistics and events. So inspirational to be part of such an active network of women, and equally important to see many of the passers-by last night joining in or at least saluting us on the streets. YES to active civil engagement and improved policies and justice system!
Pictures from the event can be found here.
Please do join next year and until then, let’s all do what we can to make the world safer for everyone.
Last night I went to the annual ‘Reclaim the night’ walk in central London to protest against gender-based violence. The event was held on the International day for the elimination of violence against women, and consisted of an hour-and-a-half long walk from Trafalgar square to Euston. It was organized by the London Feminist network and there were representatives of various women’s charities, NGOs, political parties, and everyday activists and citizens concerned with the issue of gender-based violence. Hundreds of us walked the walk and expressed our protest against male perpetrators of violence and a society where women are still blamed when they get raped or when they don’t leave their abusive partners.
The start of this initiative was given in 1977 when there was curfew imposed on women due to the Peter Sutcliffe killing spree. At the time, 13 women were killed by the Yorkshire Ripper and 7 more were nearly killed by him. Women protested against violence but they also protested about having to hide in order to be safe, as opposed to having safe streets to begin with. 40 years later, we’re in a better position for sure, but still our streets are not safe and neither are our homes. One in every three women around the world is a victim of violence in her lifetime – be it emotional, physical or sexual abuse. This is still valid in 2017 and protests like the one last night aim to shed light on these statistics and events. So inspirational to be part of such an active network of women, and equally important to see many of the passers-by last night joining in or at least saluting us on the streets. YES to active civil engagement and improved policies and justice system!
Pictures from the event can be found here.
Please do join next year and until then, let’s all do what we can to make the world safer for everyone.
The Gap
Hey beauties, 20 November 2017
New week, fresh beginnings and what better topic to discuss on a Monday morning than how much less women will be paid for equal work this week.
One of my friends asked recently what the stats are on the gender pay gap per industry and job level. Interestingly, the UK government hosts a tool for assessments of the gender pay gap in your job. It’s available at https://visual.ons.gov.uk/find-out-the-gender-pay-gap-for-your-job/ and you can see the latest data from 2016 for full-time, part-time, or both, types of employees.
It turns out for IT business analysts, architects and systems designers, men get paid 18% more than women. Not only that, but in the UK women hold only 13% of those jobs. Underrepresented and underpaid – my dream scenario!
Midwifery is the highest paid female profession – a massive 62% more than men.
And if you’re curious which jobs have no gender pay gap at all – the following stood at 0% in the UK last year: Market research interviewers, Further education teaching professionals, Cleaners & domestics, Nurses, Bar staff, Waiters & waitresses, Fishmongers & poultry dressers, Podiatrists, Social workers, Retail cashiers & check-out operators. At least some people can claim equal pay for equal work.
On this very bright note, I’ll conclude with one actually positive fact – more and more companies are reporting their gender pay gap through the government requirements for transparency and the new legislative deadline of 5 April 2018. It’s all publicly available at https://gender-pay-gap.service.gov.uk/Viewing/search-results. The more visibility, the better, because we can’t solve a problem if we don’t know it exists. Happy Monday, everyone!
New week, fresh beginnings and what better topic to discuss on a Monday morning than how much less women will be paid for equal work this week.
One of my friends asked recently what the stats are on the gender pay gap per industry and job level. Interestingly, the UK government hosts a tool for assessments of the gender pay gap in your job. It’s available at https://visual.ons.gov.uk/find-out-the-gender-pay-gap-for-your-job/ and you can see the latest data from 2016 for full-time, part-time, or both, types of employees.
It turns out for IT business analysts, architects and systems designers, men get paid 18% more than women. Not only that, but in the UK women hold only 13% of those jobs. Underrepresented and underpaid – my dream scenario!
Midwifery is the highest paid female profession – a massive 62% more than men.
And if you’re curious which jobs have no gender pay gap at all – the following stood at 0% in the UK last year: Market research interviewers, Further education teaching professionals, Cleaners & domestics, Nurses, Bar staff, Waiters & waitresses, Fishmongers & poultry dressers, Podiatrists, Social workers, Retail cashiers & check-out operators. At least some people can claim equal pay for equal work.
On this very bright note, I’ll conclude with one actually positive fact – more and more companies are reporting their gender pay gap through the government requirements for transparency and the new legislative deadline of 5 April 2018. It’s all publicly available at https://gender-pay-gap.service.gov.uk/Viewing/search-results. The more visibility, the better, because we can’t solve a problem if we don’t know it exists. Happy Monday, everyone!
Women of NASA
Hey beauties, 14 November 2017
Because of my recent Danish travels, I thought I’d dedicate a post to LEGO - the world-famous Danish toy-making company.
LEGO announced earlier this month the release of their “Women of NASA” toy set. This is a 231-piece set that includes models of the Hubble Space Telescope, a space shuttle aaaaand four female scientists who have contributed to space exploration. These are Sally Ride (astronaut), Mae Jemison (astronaut), Nancy Roman (astronomer) and Margaret Hamilton (computer scientist). Their stories are available here: http://fortune.com/2017/10/18/women-of-nasa-lego-set-legos/
The original plan was to include a toy of Katharine Johnson as well – the scientist who was featured at the box-office hit Hidden Figures earlier this year. The African-American scientist’s toy was not released though as there wasn’t a permission obtained to depict her in the LEGO set.
Either way, it’s good news for young female scientists-to-be that such a powerful company like LEGO is focusing on female contribution to space science. We can hope more girls will now be inspired by these powerful figures and develop their studies and careers in these fields. Well done, LEGO, for the good example of corporate social responsibility – because it is a responsibility for all companies to do what they can to inspire and promote equality in every sector of our society!
Happy Tuesday!
Because of my recent Danish travels, I thought I’d dedicate a post to LEGO - the world-famous Danish toy-making company.
LEGO announced earlier this month the release of their “Women of NASA” toy set. This is a 231-piece set that includes models of the Hubble Space Telescope, a space shuttle aaaaand four female scientists who have contributed to space exploration. These are Sally Ride (astronaut), Mae Jemison (astronaut), Nancy Roman (astronomer) and Margaret Hamilton (computer scientist). Their stories are available here: http://fortune.com/2017/10/18/women-of-nasa-lego-set-legos/
The original plan was to include a toy of Katharine Johnson as well – the scientist who was featured at the box-office hit Hidden Figures earlier this year. The African-American scientist’s toy was not released though as there wasn’t a permission obtained to depict her in the LEGO set.
Either way, it’s good news for young female scientists-to-be that such a powerful company like LEGO is focusing on female contribution to space science. We can hope more girls will now be inspired by these powerful figures and develop their studies and careers in these fields. Well done, LEGO, for the good example of corporate social responsibility – because it is a responsibility for all companies to do what they can to inspire and promote equality in every sector of our society!
Happy Tuesday!
COP23
Hey beauties, 10 November 2017
I did promise a quick return this time, so here I am blogging again.
On Monday this week, world leaders gathered in Germany to discuss climate change and its major impact on our lives – a global meeting which will continue for 2 weeks and marks the start of COP23 (the United Nations Climate Change Conference). While everyone’s clearly affected, the biggest burden really lies on women and girls around the world. The reasons are many and simple – women tend to be the farmers in the family who grow food; women again are responsible for collecting water and walking miles every day to bring it home; women once again are in charge of preparing meals at home and as such have to collect fuel and bring it home (and are also exposed to the dangerous emissions coming from unsafe stoves!); and lastly women and girls are often lacking food security and nutrition which are critical for their health, well-being and life expectancy.
Take a moment and consider this during this week, or better yet – remember the impacts of climate and climate change on us as individuals and especially us women. The impact is unequal and as such gender-sensitive responses are required. More on climate change and women at http://womendeliver.org/investment/invest-women-tackle-climate-change-conserve-environment/
Have a fab weekend, everyone, chat next week!
I did promise a quick return this time, so here I am blogging again.
On Monday this week, world leaders gathered in Germany to discuss climate change and its major impact on our lives – a global meeting which will continue for 2 weeks and marks the start of COP23 (the United Nations Climate Change Conference). While everyone’s clearly affected, the biggest burden really lies on women and girls around the world. The reasons are many and simple – women tend to be the farmers in the family who grow food; women again are responsible for collecting water and walking miles every day to bring it home; women once again are in charge of preparing meals at home and as such have to collect fuel and bring it home (and are also exposed to the dangerous emissions coming from unsafe stoves!); and lastly women and girls are often lacking food security and nutrition which are critical for their health, well-being and life expectancy.
Take a moment and consider this during this week, or better yet – remember the impacts of climate and climate change on us as individuals and especially us women. The impact is unequal and as such gender-sensitive responses are required. More on climate change and women at http://womendeliver.org/investment/invest-women-tackle-climate-change-conserve-environment/
Have a fab weekend, everyone, chat next week!
The Elephant in the Room: Weinstein
Hey beauties, 7 November 2017
Three weeks without blogging has been the driest spell I’ve had ever since I started my blog 3 years ago. So my apologies to all the regular readers and all curious new visitors. Reasons are starting a new job and two weeks straight travel around Europe. No more excuses though and I’m going to get right onto the topic of today’s post: sexual harassment and abuse in Hollywood.
Due to the magnitude of the problem and its visibility in the press in the last month, I wanted to dedicate a moment to all female and male survivors of violence in Hollywood (and beyond). Such as the 57 women who have come forward so far against Harvey Weinstein claiming he groped/ assaulted/ raped them. Same for the other survivors of assault and harassment who have come forward in recent weeks against major stars like Kevin Spacey, Dustin Hoffman, Brett Ratner and Michael Oreskes. Some ‘incidents’ going as far back as 30 years ago haven’t been forgotten yet, and perhaps never will be. I use the word incident in inverted commas on purpose because none of the reported cases of sexual assault are really incidents in my eyes. An incident implies no planning and no wilful contribution from any of the sides – it happens outside of your control. These recent allegations against actors, editors and film producers though do not sound like incidents at all. Let’s focus here on the survivors facing Harvey Weinstein in particular, the first reports of which surfaced through an investigative journalism piece in the New York Times and the New Yorker in early October.
Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Lena Headey and Cara Delevingne are just a few of the women who have spoken up in the US and in the UK against the Hollywood producer so far. Other women from other countries shared similar stories soon after. To be exact, the number stands at 57 as of today. He appears to have targeted young actresses at the start of their careers, and cornered them in hotel rooms or offices. Often the demand was to perform a sexual act in exchange for a film part. One line that struck me was an Instagram post by Cara Delevingne who said she didn’t initially report Weinstein’s imposing behaviour demanding she kissed another woman and then kissed him. She said online: ‘’I was so hesitant about speaking out. I didn't want to hurt his family.’’ This statement, although not surprising, makes me truly said. The victim being worried about hurting the perpetrator and his family. No, that should not be our concern, justice and fairness should be!
So many women reported they got into their cars after an encounter with Weinstein and cried their hearts out. Yes, they were disgusted, scared and most likely ashamed. Because that’s how victims feel – belittled and powerless at the hands of the strong perpetrator. As horrible as these stories are that we’re reading in the newspapers this month, I’m glad the issue has reached a point where it can no longer be ignored. Sexual harassment, assault, or any form of emotional or physical violence against men and women alike, must stop. And I sincerely hope the current investigations will be the kickstarter we need for even more survivors to speak up and for justice to be finally served. Let’s stay tuned and see what happens.
Have a fab week everyone, chat soon!
Three weeks without blogging has been the driest spell I’ve had ever since I started my blog 3 years ago. So my apologies to all the regular readers and all curious new visitors. Reasons are starting a new job and two weeks straight travel around Europe. No more excuses though and I’m going to get right onto the topic of today’s post: sexual harassment and abuse in Hollywood.
Due to the magnitude of the problem and its visibility in the press in the last month, I wanted to dedicate a moment to all female and male survivors of violence in Hollywood (and beyond). Such as the 57 women who have come forward so far against Harvey Weinstein claiming he groped/ assaulted/ raped them. Same for the other survivors of assault and harassment who have come forward in recent weeks against major stars like Kevin Spacey, Dustin Hoffman, Brett Ratner and Michael Oreskes. Some ‘incidents’ going as far back as 30 years ago haven’t been forgotten yet, and perhaps never will be. I use the word incident in inverted commas on purpose because none of the reported cases of sexual assault are really incidents in my eyes. An incident implies no planning and no wilful contribution from any of the sides – it happens outside of your control. These recent allegations against actors, editors and film producers though do not sound like incidents at all. Let’s focus here on the survivors facing Harvey Weinstein in particular, the first reports of which surfaced through an investigative journalism piece in the New York Times and the New Yorker in early October.
Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Lena Headey and Cara Delevingne are just a few of the women who have spoken up in the US and in the UK against the Hollywood producer so far. Other women from other countries shared similar stories soon after. To be exact, the number stands at 57 as of today. He appears to have targeted young actresses at the start of their careers, and cornered them in hotel rooms or offices. Often the demand was to perform a sexual act in exchange for a film part. One line that struck me was an Instagram post by Cara Delevingne who said she didn’t initially report Weinstein’s imposing behaviour demanding she kissed another woman and then kissed him. She said online: ‘’I was so hesitant about speaking out. I didn't want to hurt his family.’’ This statement, although not surprising, makes me truly said. The victim being worried about hurting the perpetrator and his family. No, that should not be our concern, justice and fairness should be!
So many women reported they got into their cars after an encounter with Weinstein and cried their hearts out. Yes, they were disgusted, scared and most likely ashamed. Because that’s how victims feel – belittled and powerless at the hands of the strong perpetrator. As horrible as these stories are that we’re reading in the newspapers this month, I’m glad the issue has reached a point where it can no longer be ignored. Sexual harassment, assault, or any form of emotional or physical violence against men and women alike, must stop. And I sincerely hope the current investigations will be the kickstarter we need for even more survivors to speak up and for justice to be finally served. Let’s stay tuned and see what happens.
Have a fab week everyone, chat soon!
Hillary and Vienna
Hey beauties, 16 October 2017
Last night I watched Hillary Clinton at the London Literature Festival speaking about her latest book ‘What Happened’. London being London, tickets for the event ran out before Hillary even decided to attend. But me being me, I was desperately searching until the very last minute. So at the end I had to satisfy my desires by live-streaming only. Still, many thanks to The Guardian for making the live-stream available, and special thanks to Mrs Clinton and the organisers for the fantastic event. I have to say I was super impressed by her determination even after the loss and was totally inspired by her encouragement for women to get into politics and fix the mess we’re all in at the moment. She focused on feminism and women in politics, on the elections last year and the factors that led to her loss, on Trump’s current path and on the upcoming midterm elections in 2018 for Congress and for the House of Representatives. I have to say if I was American myself I’d totally consider running or at the very least actively support other female candidates because as Hillary put it, the only way to break misogyny and sexism is by having more women at the top – be it the top of the government or the top of businesses. Either way, we gotta work harder than ever to be heard and to make change happen.
On another note, I also thought of writing up on my visit to the contraception and abortion museum in Vienna the other week. It was the Night of Museums and over 120 museums in the city opened their doors till 1 am for tourists and locals to visit. Some places were the usual suspects, the Fine Art Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Belvedere Castle… But then there were the chocolate museum, the coffee one, the funeral one, the heat one, and the contraception and abortion museum. Due to limited time we had to choose 5-6 places for the night and out of the ‘unusual’ ones we picked the abortion museum. It was quite a long queue and once we got in we were surprised to find out that this was the only museum we had visited that night that was only in German! And we didn’t speak any, soooo that was our hope crushed. I did research it though so I still got at least some bits overall – the exhibition shows everything, from contraception to the moment of getting pregnant through abortion to giving birth. A very graphic video showed the exact nature of sexual acts, and interestingly they also had some of the old-school condoms on display – e.g. when they were using the insides of a fish as a condom. Did you know that there were times in history when condoms were also made out of goats’ insides? Or of linen… Then rubber came through in 1855 and latex did in 1920. And then the UK made the revolution actually real by introducing the first lubricated condom in 1957. Also, did you know the 14 of February is National Condom Day in the US? Nope, I didn’t either.
Anyway, the point is, I’m glad Vienna has its own place to discuss contraception and abortions and I only wish I spoke better German to understand it all. Either way, the website of the museum has an English section, so please feel free to check it out here.
Have a great week ahead!
Last night I watched Hillary Clinton at the London Literature Festival speaking about her latest book ‘What Happened’. London being London, tickets for the event ran out before Hillary even decided to attend. But me being me, I was desperately searching until the very last minute. So at the end I had to satisfy my desires by live-streaming only. Still, many thanks to The Guardian for making the live-stream available, and special thanks to Mrs Clinton and the organisers for the fantastic event. I have to say I was super impressed by her determination even after the loss and was totally inspired by her encouragement for women to get into politics and fix the mess we’re all in at the moment. She focused on feminism and women in politics, on the elections last year and the factors that led to her loss, on Trump’s current path and on the upcoming midterm elections in 2018 for Congress and for the House of Representatives. I have to say if I was American myself I’d totally consider running or at the very least actively support other female candidates because as Hillary put it, the only way to break misogyny and sexism is by having more women at the top – be it the top of the government or the top of businesses. Either way, we gotta work harder than ever to be heard and to make change happen.
On another note, I also thought of writing up on my visit to the contraception and abortion museum in Vienna the other week. It was the Night of Museums and over 120 museums in the city opened their doors till 1 am for tourists and locals to visit. Some places were the usual suspects, the Fine Art Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Belvedere Castle… But then there were the chocolate museum, the coffee one, the funeral one, the heat one, and the contraception and abortion museum. Due to limited time we had to choose 5-6 places for the night and out of the ‘unusual’ ones we picked the abortion museum. It was quite a long queue and once we got in we were surprised to find out that this was the only museum we had visited that night that was only in German! And we didn’t speak any, soooo that was our hope crushed. I did research it though so I still got at least some bits overall – the exhibition shows everything, from contraception to the moment of getting pregnant through abortion to giving birth. A very graphic video showed the exact nature of sexual acts, and interestingly they also had some of the old-school condoms on display – e.g. when they were using the insides of a fish as a condom. Did you know that there were times in history when condoms were also made out of goats’ insides? Or of linen… Then rubber came through in 1855 and latex did in 1920. And then the UK made the revolution actually real by introducing the first lubricated condom in 1957. Also, did you know the 14 of February is National Condom Day in the US? Nope, I didn’t either.
Anyway, the point is, I’m glad Vienna has its own place to discuss contraception and abortions and I only wish I spoke better German to understand it all. Either way, the website of the museum has an English section, so please feel free to check it out here.
Have a great week ahead!
Days to Celebrate
Hey beauties, 14 October 2017
This week there were two important celebrations across the world – that of World Mental Health Day on Tuesday, 10 October, and the International Day of the Girl on Wednesday, 11 October.
I was meant to discuss abortions in this post but with both mental health and girls’ and women’s rights being at the core of my blog, I wanted to dedicate a post to these events this week and what they mean for me specifically and more broadly for society.
We do need a mental health day because for far too long anxiety, depression and eating disorders (to name just a few) have been a source of worry and stigma as opposed to an open topic of conversation. Having previously been diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety myself, I feel it’s critical to open up conversations to more people and providing them (us) with the tools of how to deal with such issues. It’s not always easy to mention it even to your loved ones, let alone to be brave enough to seek help professionally or amongst society more widely speaking. So yes, we need a special day for this, and we also need the education and awareness of how to support others in need.
As for the girl child and the need for a special day for girls – I was asked this week, why is there one for girls but nothing for boys. How discriminatory! I can ask the same thing – why are girls in various places around the world still being killed before (or immediately after) they are born just because of their gender, why are girls not given equal access to study, marry and practice the profession of their choice, why are girls being assaulted, beaten and raped disproportionately more than boys, why are girls underrepresented in studying towards money-making degrees like engineering, science and technology. It’s not to turn this debate into boys vs girls, it’s to highlight the unequal start to life that girls have and to give them that extra support and confidence to challenge themselves and follow their dreams whatever they may be. And FYI, there is an International Day of Men and Boys. It’s on 19 November and it aims to raise civil awareness of men and boys’ role models, promote their health and promote gender equality and understanding.
I vote yes for both these events this week and I’m glad to have heard a lot of noise in the media and amongst my friends. The more informed we are, the stronger society we build.
Have a fab weekend, everyone!
This week there were two important celebrations across the world – that of World Mental Health Day on Tuesday, 10 October, and the International Day of the Girl on Wednesday, 11 October.
I was meant to discuss abortions in this post but with both mental health and girls’ and women’s rights being at the core of my blog, I wanted to dedicate a post to these events this week and what they mean for me specifically and more broadly for society.
We do need a mental health day because for far too long anxiety, depression and eating disorders (to name just a few) have been a source of worry and stigma as opposed to an open topic of conversation. Having previously been diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety myself, I feel it’s critical to open up conversations to more people and providing them (us) with the tools of how to deal with such issues. It’s not always easy to mention it even to your loved ones, let alone to be brave enough to seek help professionally or amongst society more widely speaking. So yes, we need a special day for this, and we also need the education and awareness of how to support others in need.
As for the girl child and the need for a special day for girls – I was asked this week, why is there one for girls but nothing for boys. How discriminatory! I can ask the same thing – why are girls in various places around the world still being killed before (or immediately after) they are born just because of their gender, why are girls not given equal access to study, marry and practice the profession of their choice, why are girls being assaulted, beaten and raped disproportionately more than boys, why are girls underrepresented in studying towards money-making degrees like engineering, science and technology. It’s not to turn this debate into boys vs girls, it’s to highlight the unequal start to life that girls have and to give them that extra support and confidence to challenge themselves and follow their dreams whatever they may be. And FYI, there is an International Day of Men and Boys. It’s on 19 November and it aims to raise civil awareness of men and boys’ role models, promote their health and promote gender equality and understanding.
I vote yes for both these events this week and I’m glad to have heard a lot of noise in the media and amongst my friends. The more informed we are, the stronger society we build.
Have a fab weekend, everyone!
Pills and IUDs
Hey beauties, 9 October 2017
A lot of developments these days across the world - Norway announced it was going to pay female football players the same amount as men (i.e. double their current rate; hallelujah!). Lady Hale became the UK Supreme court's first ever female President (hallelujah). Tomorrow Liberia is electing a new President after they already had the first female President in Africa, Ellen Sirleaff. And today through to Wednesday, Fortune is hosting the World's Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington DC - an international gathering of female power all under one roof.
What I'd like to concentrate on right now though, is the newest idea in America of how best to destroy Obama's legacy and women's lives all in one go. President Trump has now introduced a new rule to medical insurance in the US which is an opt-out feature for employers to refuse to cover birth control as part of their employees' healthcare plans. The number of women who get their birth control covered free of co-pays and other out-of-pocket costs is 62,400,000. They are now all threatened as their employers may choose not to fund that on religious or moral grounds. It's not just about the cost rising and women not being able to afford the pill or IUDs. It's also about the administration's consistent message that women's choices don't really matter. A woman doesn't get to enjoy sex freely and control her own body. Her employer now can do that for her.
Don't forget there are now also states in the country which require the father's permission for an abortion even in cases of rape. I love how liberal, modern and realistic this is, totally in line with 21st century reality.
To oppose this new measure, and to keep up to date on everything else going on at the moment regarding women's rights in the US, please follow The United State of Women.
Have a fab week you guys! I'll report next on my weekend visit to Vienna and some interesting abortion museum business I attended to while there. Chat soon!
A lot of developments these days across the world - Norway announced it was going to pay female football players the same amount as men (i.e. double their current rate; hallelujah!). Lady Hale became the UK Supreme court's first ever female President (hallelujah). Tomorrow Liberia is electing a new President after they already had the first female President in Africa, Ellen Sirleaff. And today through to Wednesday, Fortune is hosting the World's Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington DC - an international gathering of female power all under one roof.
What I'd like to concentrate on right now though, is the newest idea in America of how best to destroy Obama's legacy and women's lives all in one go. President Trump has now introduced a new rule to medical insurance in the US which is an opt-out feature for employers to refuse to cover birth control as part of their employees' healthcare plans. The number of women who get their birth control covered free of co-pays and other out-of-pocket costs is 62,400,000. They are now all threatened as their employers may choose not to fund that on religious or moral grounds. It's not just about the cost rising and women not being able to afford the pill or IUDs. It's also about the administration's consistent message that women's choices don't really matter. A woman doesn't get to enjoy sex freely and control her own body. Her employer now can do that for her.
Don't forget there are now also states in the country which require the father's permission for an abortion even in cases of rape. I love how liberal, modern and realistic this is, totally in line with 21st century reality.
To oppose this new measure, and to keep up to date on everything else going on at the moment regarding women's rights in the US, please follow The United State of Women.
Have a fab week you guys! I'll report next on my weekend visit to Vienna and some interesting abortion museum business I attended to while there. Chat soon!
Behind the Wheel
Hey beauties, 4 October 2017
It’s October already, can’t even believe it! As soon as the temperatures drop under 15 degrees, I know I’m ready to go on holiday again to some hot summer-ish destination. Exactly two years ago this time, my mom and I were in Dubai for my graduation celebration, and boy was it hot! Because I’m in that mood right now too, I thought I’d comment on the latest story from the region – namely, Saudi Arabia now allows women to drive! What a shocker that was last week when it first got announced!
Under the new law, women can legally obtain a driving licence without asking a male guardian for permission. The existing “guardianship” system allows men to exercise virtually all rights over their wives, daughters or sisters, whereby they need to give permissions for the issue of a passport, for crossing a border, for starting a job, for going to court or for having a medical procedure.
Driving, thankfully, is now excluded from this list, and women are relieved to say the least. The Guardian interviewed women from the across the Kingdom, and one said “It’s nice to see women behind the wheel metaphorically I believe it’s like her leading her life now”. True, this is a basic right which all other countries in the world guarantee for women, and it’s great that women in Saudi Arabia finally join the world family of ‘empowered’ females. Not just behind the wheel of their cars, but hopefully soon with more freedoms and rights in general.
One step closer to freedom, one step closer to equality. We may have reached 20th century standards now, yay!
Have a fab day everyone, and stay warm!
It’s October already, can’t even believe it! As soon as the temperatures drop under 15 degrees, I know I’m ready to go on holiday again to some hot summer-ish destination. Exactly two years ago this time, my mom and I were in Dubai for my graduation celebration, and boy was it hot! Because I’m in that mood right now too, I thought I’d comment on the latest story from the region – namely, Saudi Arabia now allows women to drive! What a shocker that was last week when it first got announced!
Under the new law, women can legally obtain a driving licence without asking a male guardian for permission. The existing “guardianship” system allows men to exercise virtually all rights over their wives, daughters or sisters, whereby they need to give permissions for the issue of a passport, for crossing a border, for starting a job, for going to court or for having a medical procedure.
Driving, thankfully, is now excluded from this list, and women are relieved to say the least. The Guardian interviewed women from the across the Kingdom, and one said “It’s nice to see women behind the wheel metaphorically I believe it’s like her leading her life now”. True, this is a basic right which all other countries in the world guarantee for women, and it’s great that women in Saudi Arabia finally join the world family of ‘empowered’ females. Not just behind the wheel of their cars, but hopefully soon with more freedoms and rights in general.
One step closer to freedom, one step closer to equality. We may have reached 20th century standards now, yay!
Have a fab day everyone, and stay warm!
Nasty Women
Hey beauties, 27 September 2017
It’s a lovely Wednesday morning and I’m on my way to work in a crowded yet air-conditioned train. Think of the positives, always :)
Couple of days ago, a friend of mine and I went to an exhibition in east London which was organised by Nasty Women UK. The art works on display were being sold and the money raised went for funding a charity working with survivors of domestic violence. Below are some of the photos I took on the day – quite interesting and creative paintings, photos, letters, and other stuff. There was also a Virtual Reality room which screened videos on sexual harassment on the streets of London.
Followed by a lovely brunch on a boat in the canals of east London, the day was full of positive energy despite the theme of domestic violence. Well done to the organisers and the creative artists who donated their work to the cause.
Nasty Women is a global art movement that serves to demonstrate solidarity among artists who identify with being a Nasty Woman in the face of threats to roll back women’s rights, individual rights, and abortion rights. For more info on their activities and events in the UK, please go to http://www.nastywomenuk.com/.
It’s a lovely Wednesday morning and I’m on my way to work in a crowded yet air-conditioned train. Think of the positives, always :)
Couple of days ago, a friend of mine and I went to an exhibition in east London which was organised by Nasty Women UK. The art works on display were being sold and the money raised went for funding a charity working with survivors of domestic violence. Below are some of the photos I took on the day – quite interesting and creative paintings, photos, letters, and other stuff. There was also a Virtual Reality room which screened videos on sexual harassment on the streets of London.
Followed by a lovely brunch on a boat in the canals of east London, the day was full of positive energy despite the theme of domestic violence. Well done to the organisers and the creative artists who donated their work to the cause.
Nasty Women is a global art movement that serves to demonstrate solidarity among artists who identify with being a Nasty Woman in the face of threats to roll back women’s rights, individual rights, and abortion rights. For more info on their activities and events in the UK, please go to http://www.nastywomenuk.com/.
Camping
Entrepreneurship
Hey beauties,
Between 8 and 11 September this year I hosted a summer camp on female entrepreneurship in Silistra, Bulgaria. The post below in Bulgarian was a summary of the project ‘Entrepreneurship as a reflection of female empowerment’, which is funded by the US State Department and administered by the American Councils for International Education.
The project got approved couple of months ago through this year’s round of project funding for YES student grants. You all know my deep American connection and I couldn’t miss an opportunity to partner up with the US government and deliver for a positive change in my own community in Silistra.
The four-day camp in a village near Silistra covered topics around starting and developing a business – coming up with a problem and a business idea to solve it, researching the market and potential clients, developing one’s unique selling point, advertising and budgeting, to name a few.
We also had practical skills training on presentations, phone calls, ethical behaviour and clothing. Shout out to my mom who delivered these skills sessions.
SWAT analysis practice was also part of the training and Rossy Ivanova kindly led on that front.
As for the final, fifth day, we organized a conference in Silistra where we invited the Deputy Mayor, the Manager of the Regional Informational Centre (of the EU) and representatives from a youth organisation fund raising for youth projects and ideas in the city. They all spoke on our panel and we also had female business owners and reps from government institutions also attending, as well as all participants in the summer school. The project was presented to the audience by some of the girls who got trained themselves.
It’s been a great experience organizing and running this five-day event, and a million thanks go to my mom, Rossy, and the grant funders for the support throughout the last few months.
Photos are coming up! Meanwhile, an article that got published (in Bulgarian) in the local press is available here.
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
Between 8 and 11 September this year I hosted a summer camp on female entrepreneurship in Silistra, Bulgaria. The post below in Bulgarian was a summary of the project ‘Entrepreneurship as a reflection of female empowerment’, which is funded by the US State Department and administered by the American Councils for International Education.
The project got approved couple of months ago through this year’s round of project funding for YES student grants. You all know my deep American connection and I couldn’t miss an opportunity to partner up with the US government and deliver for a positive change in my own community in Silistra.
The four-day camp in a village near Silistra covered topics around starting and developing a business – coming up with a problem and a business idea to solve it, researching the market and potential clients, developing one’s unique selling point, advertising and budgeting, to name a few.
We also had practical skills training on presentations, phone calls, ethical behaviour and clothing. Shout out to my mom who delivered these skills sessions.
SWAT analysis practice was also part of the training and Rossy Ivanova kindly led on that front.
As for the final, fifth day, we organized a conference in Silistra where we invited the Deputy Mayor, the Manager of the Regional Informational Centre (of the EU) and representatives from a youth organisation fund raising for youth projects and ideas in the city. They all spoke on our panel and we also had female business owners and reps from government institutions also attending, as well as all participants in the summer school. The project was presented to the audience by some of the girls who got trained themselves.
It’s been a great experience organizing and running this five-day event, and a million thanks go to my mom, Rossy, and the grant funders for the support throughout the last few months.
Photos are coming up! Meanwhile, an article that got published (in Bulgarian) in the local press is available here.
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
Self Defense, Anyone?
Hey beauties, 17 September 2017
I’m on a midnight train from the airport to my house in London and pretty much freaking out – I got less than 20% battery left on my phone and no charger on the train. It’s close to 1 am now and I just endured a 3 hour flight delay with ZERO compensation or even food or a drink (by the most careless airline, Wizz Air). I’ve now missed all last tube trains home so my only hope is in Uber to take me to my doorstep. And basically praying no man around me on the train, nor the Uber driver, would want anything to do with me whatsoever. A bit hard not to freak out when you’re a woman, alone, at this hour somewhere in the middle of nowhere.
Happy days, don’t you think. It’s 2017 and I’m still worried for my personal safety as a woman. I have no way of getting a cab if my phone’s not working to book the mentioned cab. And I basically have no way of protecting myself, let alone my three bags worth of luggage.
Have a blessed eve y’all, and I may (hopefully will) see you soon! Until then remember, self-defense classes aren’t such a ridiculous idea after all. Even on trains with CCTV on. I’m taking a class, it’s decided.
PS: that promised article on the summer school in Bulgaria this week – coming up next!
I’m on a midnight train from the airport to my house in London and pretty much freaking out – I got less than 20% battery left on my phone and no charger on the train. It’s close to 1 am now and I just endured a 3 hour flight delay with ZERO compensation or even food or a drink (by the most careless airline, Wizz Air). I’ve now missed all last tube trains home so my only hope is in Uber to take me to my doorstep. And basically praying no man around me on the train, nor the Uber driver, would want anything to do with me whatsoever. A bit hard not to freak out when you’re a woman, alone, at this hour somewhere in the middle of nowhere.
Happy days, don’t you think. It’s 2017 and I’m still worried for my personal safety as a woman. I have no way of getting a cab if my phone’s not working to book the mentioned cab. And I basically have no way of protecting myself, let alone my three bags worth of luggage.
Have a blessed eve y’all, and I may (hopefully will) see you soon! Until then remember, self-defense classes aren’t such a ridiculous idea after all. Even on trains with CCTV on. I’m taking a class, it’s decided.
PS: that promised article on the summer school in Bulgaria this week – coming up next!
Предприемачество
* Post in English about my summer camp on female entrepreneurship and pictures to follow*
Във вторник, 12 септември, в хотел "Дръстър", Силистра, се състоя заключителната конференция по проекта "Предприемачеството като отражение на женската сила". Това е инициатива на Пламена Солакова с подкрепата на Държавния Департамент на САЩ и администрирана от Америкън Каунсилс. Проектът се състоя от четири-дневно лятно училище по предприемачество в село Ветрен, Силистренско, и финален пети ден конференция в хотел "Дръстър", Силистра. 11 млади дами до 25 годишна възраст бяха обучени по темата за предприемачеството и се срещнаха с други жени предприемачи и управители на бизнеси в Силистренския регион.
Целта на проекта бе да помогне на младите хора да обмислят и развият свои бизнес идеи, както и да им предостави ценни съвети в началото на реализирането на проектите им. Целевата група бяха млади дами, за да се съчетае таматиката на проекта с темата за правата на жените в региона и държавата.
Проектите, които момичетата създадоха във Ветрен, бяха разнообразни и обхванаха идеи за летен театър в Силистра, аптека, мелница за брашно, магазин за маркови облекла и център за мотивация на млади хора в града.
На конференцията вчера специални гости в панелната дискусия бяха заместник кметът г -жа Денка Михайлова, Ани Караджова, Управител на Областен Информационен Център, и млади представители на Младежка Банка-Силистра. Сред публиката имаше представители на държавни институции, както и на бизнеса, а също и млади участници в обучението и други мотивирани лица с интерес в сферата на предприемачеството.
Повече информация за проекта може да намерите на фейсбук страницата "Предприемачеството като отражение на женската сила".
Във вторник, 12 септември, в хотел "Дръстър", Силистра, се състоя заключителната конференция по проекта "Предприемачеството като отражение на женската сила". Това е инициатива на Пламена Солакова с подкрепата на Държавния Департамент на САЩ и администрирана от Америкън Каунсилс. Проектът се състоя от четири-дневно лятно училище по предприемачество в село Ветрен, Силистренско, и финален пети ден конференция в хотел "Дръстър", Силистра. 11 млади дами до 25 годишна възраст бяха обучени по темата за предприемачеството и се срещнаха с други жени предприемачи и управители на бизнеси в Силистренския регион.
Целта на проекта бе да помогне на младите хора да обмислят и развият свои бизнес идеи, както и да им предостави ценни съвети в началото на реализирането на проектите им. Целевата група бяха млади дами, за да се съчетае таматиката на проекта с темата за правата на жените в региона и държавата.
Проектите, които момичетата създадоха във Ветрен, бяха разнообразни и обхванаха идеи за летен театър в Силистра, аптека, мелница за брашно, магазин за маркови облекла и център за мотивация на млади хора в града.
На конференцията вчера специални гости в панелната дискусия бяха заместник кметът г -жа Денка Михайлова, Ани Караджова, Управител на Областен Информационен Център, и млади представители на Младежка Банка-Силистра. Сред публиката имаше представители на държавни институции, както и на бизнеса, а също и млади участници в обучението и други мотивирани лица с интерес в сферата на предприемачеството.
Повече информация за проекта може да намерите на фейсбук страницата "Предприемачеството като отражение на женската сила".
London Feminist Film Festival
Hey beauties,
Yesterday, 17 August, my girlie and I went to the 5th edition of the London Feminist Film Festival – long weekend of screenings in East London. Each day, Thursday through Sunday, had a different theme of feminist topics, and yesterday’s was honour killings and violence against women.
An Israeli film, Women of Freedom, totally shook me – not only because it was about honour killings, which is a topic I’m deeply interested in, but also because it was really well made with a lot of personal stories touching you emotionally on every level. It was a 60-min documentary on Palestinian women who have been killed or almost killed by their families for breaking their unwritten honour codes – e.g. having sex before marriage, wanting to study, living independently, etc. Very sad but very real. Totally recommend it!
The second one was on a family of four sisters who got raped by Russian soldiers during WW2 in Nazi Germany. Also very interesting approach of the director and showed the issue of war from a different angle – not just the deaths that occurred in the 1940s, but also the deep effects on women’s lives in the case where they got raped. War can kill you but it can also leave you alive and dead inside.
And the last screening was a 12-min documentary on black women and their protest in 2015 against the government’s cuts on black women’s organisations helping survivors of violence. Not as impressed by this one as the movie wasn’t very informative or interestingly made, but still it’s a topic worth exploring further. Should women of colour be referred to organisations for women of colour, or the ‘mainstream’ white services? Is it racist if the government proposes cuts to organisations like Apna Haq but not necessarily to other organisations in areas of the UK with fewer minorities in them? I don’t know the answer to either of those but I do know cutting women’s services is wrong – regardless of colour or affiliation. We should be putting people first, then austerity.
Next year the London Feminist Film Festival will be taking place again and I strongly recommend visiting it. Highly informative, inspirational and eye-opening – make sure you save the dates for August 2018!
Have a fab week, everyone!
Yesterday, 17 August, my girlie and I went to the 5th edition of the London Feminist Film Festival – long weekend of screenings in East London. Each day, Thursday through Sunday, had a different theme of feminist topics, and yesterday’s was honour killings and violence against women.
An Israeli film, Women of Freedom, totally shook me – not only because it was about honour killings, which is a topic I’m deeply interested in, but also because it was really well made with a lot of personal stories touching you emotionally on every level. It was a 60-min documentary on Palestinian women who have been killed or almost killed by their families for breaking their unwritten honour codes – e.g. having sex before marriage, wanting to study, living independently, etc. Very sad but very real. Totally recommend it!
The second one was on a family of four sisters who got raped by Russian soldiers during WW2 in Nazi Germany. Also very interesting approach of the director and showed the issue of war from a different angle – not just the deaths that occurred in the 1940s, but also the deep effects on women’s lives in the case where they got raped. War can kill you but it can also leave you alive and dead inside.
And the last screening was a 12-min documentary on black women and their protest in 2015 against the government’s cuts on black women’s organisations helping survivors of violence. Not as impressed by this one as the movie wasn’t very informative or interestingly made, but still it’s a topic worth exploring further. Should women of colour be referred to organisations for women of colour, or the ‘mainstream’ white services? Is it racist if the government proposes cuts to organisations like Apna Haq but not necessarily to other organisations in areas of the UK with fewer minorities in them? I don’t know the answer to either of those but I do know cutting women’s services is wrong – regardless of colour or affiliation. We should be putting people first, then austerity.
Next year the London Feminist Film Festival will be taking place again and I strongly recommend visiting it. Highly informative, inspirational and eye-opening – make sure you save the dates for August 2018!
Have a fab week, everyone!
Salary Concerns
Hello beauties,
The other morning, I was sitting at the airport at 4 am reading the article below from Grazia UK's edition from 31 July.
It's on pay transparency and it came in the aftermath of the BBC's revelations in late July on the salaries of their 96 highest earners. At the top came a male name (Chris Evans) earning over 2 million GBP a year, followed by 7 other men at the very high end of the table. The highest earning woman (Claudia Winkleman) was at number 9 and was barely making 450,000 a year - four times less than the highest-paid man.
While news reporting may be a female-dominated job, or so it seems on the evening news where women are interviewing A LOT, the top positions are indeed reserved for men. So it came as no surprise the table was heavily male-dominated (not just at the top but overall in the list of 96). What did come as a surprise was the huge gap in pay between men and women for a roughly comparable job.
Grazia interviewed a number of women on why it's good to have transparency on who earns how much at work, and I couldn't agree more. It's not just about men to women and vice versa (female dominance happens too!), it's about fairness overall. If I know someone on my level, with the same responsibilities and experience, is earning more than me, I'd ask for a salary review straight away. If there's gender bias/ ethnicity bias/ age bias, or all of the above, the company's in trouble. Similarly, if I was one to get pay raises year after year and always ask for more, if I knew what my colleagues were getting that would be a good reality check for me to see if I'm really worth yet another pay rise, or really I'm treated fairly based on the market and company progress for the year.
All in all, the BBC story is very disturbing but not surprising. What I'm hoping this would bring is more honesty and transparency at UK firms where talking about one's salary is still a taboo. If we're all more open about it and treat it as just another aspect of freedom of information, all employees would be better off and so will the reputation of firms. I don't see how anyone would boycott the BBC and stop watching it altogether just because the woman on the screen is paid two times less the man next to her. But at the same time, let's use this information now and call for a change not just in the BBC but also on the mindset of companies and people in this country altogether. A legislative change on transparency wouldn't harm if you ask me...
Have a fab week everyone!
PS: I'm back from Montenegro and full speed with work. Talk very soon and remember to be fierce in the meantime :)
The other morning, I was sitting at the airport at 4 am reading the article below from Grazia UK's edition from 31 July.
It's on pay transparency and it came in the aftermath of the BBC's revelations in late July on the salaries of their 96 highest earners. At the top came a male name (Chris Evans) earning over 2 million GBP a year, followed by 7 other men at the very high end of the table. The highest earning woman (Claudia Winkleman) was at number 9 and was barely making 450,000 a year - four times less than the highest-paid man.
While news reporting may be a female-dominated job, or so it seems on the evening news where women are interviewing A LOT, the top positions are indeed reserved for men. So it came as no surprise the table was heavily male-dominated (not just at the top but overall in the list of 96). What did come as a surprise was the huge gap in pay between men and women for a roughly comparable job.
Grazia interviewed a number of women on why it's good to have transparency on who earns how much at work, and I couldn't agree more. It's not just about men to women and vice versa (female dominance happens too!), it's about fairness overall. If I know someone on my level, with the same responsibilities and experience, is earning more than me, I'd ask for a salary review straight away. If there's gender bias/ ethnicity bias/ age bias, or all of the above, the company's in trouble. Similarly, if I was one to get pay raises year after year and always ask for more, if I knew what my colleagues were getting that would be a good reality check for me to see if I'm really worth yet another pay rise, or really I'm treated fairly based on the market and company progress for the year.
All in all, the BBC story is very disturbing but not surprising. What I'm hoping this would bring is more honesty and transparency at UK firms where talking about one's salary is still a taboo. If we're all more open about it and treat it as just another aspect of freedom of information, all employees would be better off and so will the reputation of firms. I don't see how anyone would boycott the BBC and stop watching it altogether just because the woman on the screen is paid two times less the man next to her. But at the same time, let's use this information now and call for a change not just in the BBC but also on the mindset of companies and people in this country altogether. A legislative change on transparency wouldn't harm if you ask me...
Have a fab week everyone!
PS: I'm back from Montenegro and full speed with work. Talk very soon and remember to be fierce in the meantime :)
Update from Montenegro
Hey beautiful people, 3 August 2017
I'm writing from lovely Montenegro where I'm prepping a human rights and gender equality training for US government program alumni from the Balkan region.
The students are arriving today and we're kicking off with a session on the history and theory of human rights, and then tomorrow we'll cover gender equality and LGBT rights. Saturday will be focusing on people with disabilities and mental health issues, and then Sunday we'll present all our great work to the rest of the streams in this workshop (anti-corruption, civil society and arts).
We'll also be meeting the President's Human Rights Adviser here in Montenegro - a super exciting visit for all of us! We'll hear what the Adviser role is and what the President's office is prioritising on their agenda for their current term.
While I'm prepping, I've come across multiple great resources on gender equality, so here's a TINY selection of good reads and videos for you all to enjoy this week and hopefully learn something new:
- This Monday, 31 July, was Black Women's Equal Pay Day. In the United States, if you break the gender pay gap down by race and ethnicity, Black women are paid 37% less than white men. If we were to close that gap, Black women could afford 155 more weeks of food! More here.
- Tesco just dropped the cost of period products by 5% last week so that would cover for the unfair period tax of 5% VAT in the UK. This is all part of the amazing campaign by Laura Coryton who successfully managed to convince the UK government to get rid of VAT on tampons and sanitary products in the country from 2018.
- Speaking of big market chains, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service successfully petitioned Boots to reduce the price of the morning-after pill in the UK. It's selling it for up to 30 GBP, where in competitive stores like Tesco and Superdrug it sells for half the price. In France for example, it actually costs around 6 GBP - what a difference that is! The petition on change.org gathered over 25,000 signatures and the store saw some sense into reducing its prices and making emergency contraception more accessible. What a great achievement for petition-makers and well done to all civil society members campaigning for fairness for women!
- On a different note, large numbers of women in STEM professions is not quite the standard yet, but a new exhibition is aiming to show the female face behind innovation. What does a female innovator look like – see here.
- And lastly, the Advertising Standards Authority in Britain recently announced a crackdown on ads which promote gender stereotypes. New strict rules will judge whether an ad is pressuring women into taking care of the housework, while men are portrayed as bad at cleaning or cooking for example. While I can't wait to see the fruits of the new regulations, such rules were not always in place. Here's a collection of SHOCKING ads that have circulated TV and printed editions in the UK in the past and which sometimes even questioned if killing a woman would be ok...
A big story which I have intentionally not covered over the last 2 weeks was the BBC revealing a massive gender pay gap amongst its highest paid employees. I'll have a special blog article on this coming up next!
See you all very soon and in the meantime, happy summer!
I'm writing from lovely Montenegro where I'm prepping a human rights and gender equality training for US government program alumni from the Balkan region.
The students are arriving today and we're kicking off with a session on the history and theory of human rights, and then tomorrow we'll cover gender equality and LGBT rights. Saturday will be focusing on people with disabilities and mental health issues, and then Sunday we'll present all our great work to the rest of the streams in this workshop (anti-corruption, civil society and arts).
We'll also be meeting the President's Human Rights Adviser here in Montenegro - a super exciting visit for all of us! We'll hear what the Adviser role is and what the President's office is prioritising on their agenda for their current term.
While I'm prepping, I've come across multiple great resources on gender equality, so here's a TINY selection of good reads and videos for you all to enjoy this week and hopefully learn something new:
- This Monday, 31 July, was Black Women's Equal Pay Day. In the United States, if you break the gender pay gap down by race and ethnicity, Black women are paid 37% less than white men. If we were to close that gap, Black women could afford 155 more weeks of food! More here.
- Tesco just dropped the cost of period products by 5% last week so that would cover for the unfair period tax of 5% VAT in the UK. This is all part of the amazing campaign by Laura Coryton who successfully managed to convince the UK government to get rid of VAT on tampons and sanitary products in the country from 2018.
- Speaking of big market chains, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service successfully petitioned Boots to reduce the price of the morning-after pill in the UK. It's selling it for up to 30 GBP, where in competitive stores like Tesco and Superdrug it sells for half the price. In France for example, it actually costs around 6 GBP - what a difference that is! The petition on change.org gathered over 25,000 signatures and the store saw some sense into reducing its prices and making emergency contraception more accessible. What a great achievement for petition-makers and well done to all civil society members campaigning for fairness for women!
- On a different note, large numbers of women in STEM professions is not quite the standard yet, but a new exhibition is aiming to show the female face behind innovation. What does a female innovator look like – see here.
- And lastly, the Advertising Standards Authority in Britain recently announced a crackdown on ads which promote gender stereotypes. New strict rules will judge whether an ad is pressuring women into taking care of the housework, while men are portrayed as bad at cleaning or cooking for example. While I can't wait to see the fruits of the new regulations, such rules were not always in place. Here's a collection of SHOCKING ads that have circulated TV and printed editions in the UK in the past and which sometimes even questioned if killing a woman would be ok...
A big story which I have intentionally not covered over the last 2 weeks was the BBC revealing a massive gender pay gap amongst its highest paid employees. I'll have a special blog article on this coming up next!
See you all very soon and in the meantime, happy summer!
LGBT
Hey beauties, 27 July 2017
President Trump is banning transgender people from the military. The announcement came yesterday on Twitter - the most appropriate means of communication for important announcements. He said too many resources are spent on admitting transgender people and accommodating them as part of the forces - a 'disruption' that is, he said. The move comes after last year President Obama committed to paying transgender people's medical costs if they serve in the forces. Not only is Trump rejecting them now, but we all know of his intentions to block affordable healthcare in the US altogether and then perhaps even fewer people would be able to afford the necessary medical procedures to change their gender.
To put things in perspective, the US military spends $6.2 billion on healthcare for people in the army, navy, air force and marines.
Rand, a research company in the States, estimates in the BBC article above, that only 0.13% of that money is spent on transgender service personnel - that's $8.4 million. Clearly it would be a massive saving to remove this funding, and even better for the reputation of the government and the President's administration. At the end of the day, it's all about Twitter reads and ratings.
The world's basically gone mad once again, and it's hard to find motivation and inspiration to talk happy stuff when there's so much worrying signs around us that everything's going wrong. In the middle of this, I'm prepping my sessions for Human Rights and Gender Equality and the importance of being open, tolerant and gender-neutral - sessions that I'll be leading for students of US government-funded academic programs next week.
While I'm super excited for my trip to Montenegro and for the upcoming workshops, I also feel rather sad that one of my sessions is on LGBT rights and what we can do to make these people feel truly equal and accepted in our societies. As a bare minimum, the institutions should lead the way and have equal treatment - something that I don't see at present, not in the developing world, and not in the US either.
I'll keep you all updated how this goes. Talk soon!
President Trump is banning transgender people from the military. The announcement came yesterday on Twitter - the most appropriate means of communication for important announcements. He said too many resources are spent on admitting transgender people and accommodating them as part of the forces - a 'disruption' that is, he said. The move comes after last year President Obama committed to paying transgender people's medical costs if they serve in the forces. Not only is Trump rejecting them now, but we all know of his intentions to block affordable healthcare in the US altogether and then perhaps even fewer people would be able to afford the necessary medical procedures to change their gender.
To put things in perspective, the US military spends $6.2 billion on healthcare for people in the army, navy, air force and marines.
Rand, a research company in the States, estimates in the BBC article above, that only 0.13% of that money is spent on transgender service personnel - that's $8.4 million. Clearly it would be a massive saving to remove this funding, and even better for the reputation of the government and the President's administration. At the end of the day, it's all about Twitter reads and ratings.
The world's basically gone mad once again, and it's hard to find motivation and inspiration to talk happy stuff when there's so much worrying signs around us that everything's going wrong. In the middle of this, I'm prepping my sessions for Human Rights and Gender Equality and the importance of being open, tolerant and gender-neutral - sessions that I'll be leading for students of US government-funded academic programs next week.
While I'm super excited for my trip to Montenegro and for the upcoming workshops, I also feel rather sad that one of my sessions is on LGBT rights and what we can do to make these people feel truly equal and accepted in our societies. As a bare minimum, the institutions should lead the way and have equal treatment - something that I don't see at present, not in the developing world, and not in the US either.
I'll keep you all updated how this goes. Talk soon!
WHO?
I have a friend who's totally into Doctor Who - a British TV drama since 1963. The TV series created by the BBC relaunched in 2005 and shows the sci-fi adventures of an alien and his/her companions who travelling through time. While I was never a fan of sci-fi nor of this show in particular, my girls deserve a mention here as they opened up my immature film eyes to a new update into the Doctor Who cast. Last Sunday, for the first time ever, a woman was confirmed to play Doctor Who. This comes after 11 changes of the main role in the series, all of whom have been men. Jodie Whittaker is about to make history into the new episodes launching later this year yet many fans took to social media to complain against the nature of the show being shaken completely and how it was ‘PC GONE MAD’. See an example to the right, hurray for freedom of speech, as ridiculous as it is.
On the other hand, others are happy. They say the new role Jodie will play will prove to little girls that they can aspire to be a female superhero and will motivate and empower them. I am (obviously) in the second group here who fully supports the new cast, and by the way, so is Prime Minister Theresa May who recently welcomed the news: http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-40632475 I completely disagree just because something has been going one way for 50 years, that we should keep it that way because it works. It doesn't and it's time that TV and films keep up with the reality of the 21st century - women ARE empowered and deserve to be cast in critical roles as much as men do. And so do minorities, transgender and everyone else who'd normally not even make it to auditions. Well done, BBC, and no it's not PC gone mad - it's reality knocking on their door and them realising women have just as much potential as male actors do. Happy Tuesday! |
Abortions and Things
Hey beauties, 12 July 2017
On a casual, hot, Wednesday afternoon, I’m drinking Ayran (you’d only know this if you’ve got the Balkans in your heart – on that please see below), and reading the August edition of Cosmopolitan UK. My casual Wednesday read is on abortions. Now, I’m lucky enough to be living in a country where the National Health Service (the NHS) in the UK funds over 90% of abortions. That’s not the case in other countries around the world which are still penalizing abortions. Examples include Chile, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Vatican City and Malta – the six most restrictive states which outlaw abortions under any circumstances, even when that endangers the woman’s life and in cases of abortion.
Then, there are the countries where abortions are legal but almost impossible to access and fund – one such country is now becoming the US! In 1973, the Roe vs Wade Supreme Court case made abortions legal in the whole of the country; however since then states have slowly been reducing access to the service. For example, in Texas, 5 million women are served by only 20 abortion clinics. In states like North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Mississippi, there’s only ONE remaining clinic in each – all due to hostile environments and mostly Republican-backed policies and state decisions. Medicaid which helps the country’s poorest to access healthcare also does not cover abortion in various states. While access to abortion is a polarizing political issue in the country, it’s getting even more so at the moment with Mr Trump at the White House, and with the recent appointment of Republican Supreme Court judge, Neil Gorsuch. If the Supreme Court for one reason or another decides to overturn the 1973 ruling, then the states will have the power to decide for themselves whether to penalize it or not. It’s estimated that 22 states have laws to make abortion immediately illegal if that was to happen, and another 11 states may follow their example. That leaves us with only 1/3 of states allowing abortion for women (and yes, that’s hypothetical, but nothing is that far from a hypothetical reality these days).
While the prospects of abortion becoming illegal in the greatest democracy on Earth is rather worrying, it’s even more worrying what one American state will enforce as of the end of July: women in Arkansas will have to obtain permission from the man who impregnated them before they can have an abortion. This would apply even in the case of rape, with their attacker or abusive partner having full power to refuse the procedure. The law is currently being fought against by pro-choice activists, but if it comes to it, women will have even less access to abortion services even under the pretense of it being a legal practice nation-wide.
It’s disappointing and it makes me angry that we are taking steps back instead of forward. Four decades of American women having the ultimate power over their own bodies and life choices are getting threatened. So I’ll revert back to the sentence I started off with: I’m so lucky to be living in England where women can enjoy these ‘freedoms’ (rather ‘rights’ as I understand it) and yes, I sincerely hope we don’t lose them elsewhere.
On a casual, hot, Wednesday afternoon, I’m drinking Ayran (you’d only know this if you’ve got the Balkans in your heart – on that please see below), and reading the August edition of Cosmopolitan UK. My casual Wednesday read is on abortions. Now, I’m lucky enough to be living in a country where the National Health Service (the NHS) in the UK funds over 90% of abortions. That’s not the case in other countries around the world which are still penalizing abortions. Examples include Chile, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Vatican City and Malta – the six most restrictive states which outlaw abortions under any circumstances, even when that endangers the woman’s life and in cases of abortion.
Then, there are the countries where abortions are legal but almost impossible to access and fund – one such country is now becoming the US! In 1973, the Roe vs Wade Supreme Court case made abortions legal in the whole of the country; however since then states have slowly been reducing access to the service. For example, in Texas, 5 million women are served by only 20 abortion clinics. In states like North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Mississippi, there’s only ONE remaining clinic in each – all due to hostile environments and mostly Republican-backed policies and state decisions. Medicaid which helps the country’s poorest to access healthcare also does not cover abortion in various states. While access to abortion is a polarizing political issue in the country, it’s getting even more so at the moment with Mr Trump at the White House, and with the recent appointment of Republican Supreme Court judge, Neil Gorsuch. If the Supreme Court for one reason or another decides to overturn the 1973 ruling, then the states will have the power to decide for themselves whether to penalize it or not. It’s estimated that 22 states have laws to make abortion immediately illegal if that was to happen, and another 11 states may follow their example. That leaves us with only 1/3 of states allowing abortion for women (and yes, that’s hypothetical, but nothing is that far from a hypothetical reality these days).
While the prospects of abortion becoming illegal in the greatest democracy on Earth is rather worrying, it’s even more worrying what one American state will enforce as of the end of July: women in Arkansas will have to obtain permission from the man who impregnated them before they can have an abortion. This would apply even in the case of rape, with their attacker or abusive partner having full power to refuse the procedure. The law is currently being fought against by pro-choice activists, but if it comes to it, women will have even less access to abortion services even under the pretense of it being a legal practice nation-wide.
It’s disappointing and it makes me angry that we are taking steps back instead of forward. Four decades of American women having the ultimate power over their own bodies and life choices are getting threatened. So I’ll revert back to the sentence I started off with: I’m so lucky to be living in England where women can enjoy these ‘freedoms’ (rather ‘rights’ as I understand it) and yes, I sincerely hope we don’t lose them elsewhere.
Balkan Pearls
Hello beauties, 10 July 2017
I'm in wonderful Bulgaria where the sun is shining and the temp is hitting 35 degrees. Perfect summer spot and even more so when you have your family around and your grandma's amazing food in the oven. That life!
Later this summer, I will be travelling to another Balkan spot - Montenegro. I've never been and do look forward to seeing this hidden pearl on the coast, where in August myself and 40 other alumni will gather and celebrate with the US State Department and American Councils for International Education. The event is a week-long workshop for Peace Corps volunteers and YES and FLEX alumni of American-funded educational programs across the Atlantic. I'm particularly thrilled as I was invited to lead and be a mentor on one of the workshop streams - that on human rights and ender equality. When the invitation arrived in my mailbox few weeks ago I was happy to say the least! Not only am I going to meet more people interested in gender issues but also, I'll be the one teaching them about history of human rights, the role of women at home, in politics and in business, and even about gay rights and disabilities and mental health. Other themes of the IDEAL workshop will be things like civil engagement and anit-corruption. I'm counting the days till 1st August and in the meantime, I'm browsing the web and enjoying a cocktail on the beach. As you do on a hot summer day!
Here's to the Balkans and our tourist potential, and to America for allowing me to transfer my knowledge and experience to other youth from my region. Talk soon!
I'm in wonderful Bulgaria where the sun is shining and the temp is hitting 35 degrees. Perfect summer spot and even more so when you have your family around and your grandma's amazing food in the oven. That life!
Later this summer, I will be travelling to another Balkan spot - Montenegro. I've never been and do look forward to seeing this hidden pearl on the coast, where in August myself and 40 other alumni will gather and celebrate with the US State Department and American Councils for International Education. The event is a week-long workshop for Peace Corps volunteers and YES and FLEX alumni of American-funded educational programs across the Atlantic. I'm particularly thrilled as I was invited to lead and be a mentor on one of the workshop streams - that on human rights and ender equality. When the invitation arrived in my mailbox few weeks ago I was happy to say the least! Not only am I going to meet more people interested in gender issues but also, I'll be the one teaching them about history of human rights, the role of women at home, in politics and in business, and even about gay rights and disabilities and mental health. Other themes of the IDEAL workshop will be things like civil engagement and anit-corruption. I'm counting the days till 1st August and in the meantime, I'm browsing the web and enjoying a cocktail on the beach. As you do on a hot summer day!
Here's to the Balkans and our tourist potential, and to America for allowing me to transfer my knowledge and experience to other youth from my region. Talk soon!
Weekly Summary
Hello beauties, 27 June 2017
Last week brought in a lot of developments for women's position and rights in British society. The Queen's speech revealed the new government's plans for the next couple of years and they included tougher rules against domestic violence, amongst other things. Theresa May also remained the Prime Minister (for now) and is still only the second woman to hold this post in British politics' history. She also made a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland to support her minority government; a party which happens to hate on abortions.
So a lot going on these days in the UK. In the meantime Uber's CEO went on indefinite leave of absence after an independent review made recommendations of how best to change the company culture - one full of sexist and PR scandals in recent months. As a reminder, a top official was found to have obtained the private medical records of a woman raped in India by an Uber driver, and multiple other remarks were made recently by top management, including that women are 'difficult'. Great leadership with extremely well thought-out language, I love Uber. That's why I've not taken it for a little while and will avoid doing so in the future unless dying. Their profits are down 7% in America for the last couple of months - significant drop by any giant's standards.
And lastly, I can't go without mentioning the current global phenomenon - the film Wonder Woman. It has generated more than $620 million in global revenue since it hit the movies three weeks ago, which makes the superhero film the highest-grossing live action film ever directed by a woman (Patty Jenkins). Well done, and I'm most certainly seeing this one asap!
That's the weekly summary for ya, enjoy a beautiful Tuesday and talk soon x
Last week brought in a lot of developments for women's position and rights in British society. The Queen's speech revealed the new government's plans for the next couple of years and they included tougher rules against domestic violence, amongst other things. Theresa May also remained the Prime Minister (for now) and is still only the second woman to hold this post in British politics' history. She also made a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland to support her minority government; a party which happens to hate on abortions.
So a lot going on these days in the UK. In the meantime Uber's CEO went on indefinite leave of absence after an independent review made recommendations of how best to change the company culture - one full of sexist and PR scandals in recent months. As a reminder, a top official was found to have obtained the private medical records of a woman raped in India by an Uber driver, and multiple other remarks were made recently by top management, including that women are 'difficult'. Great leadership with extremely well thought-out language, I love Uber. That's why I've not taken it for a little while and will avoid doing so in the future unless dying. Their profits are down 7% in America for the last couple of months - significant drop by any giant's standards.
And lastly, I can't go without mentioning the current global phenomenon - the film Wonder Woman. It has generated more than $620 million in global revenue since it hit the movies three weeks ago, which makes the superhero film the highest-grossing live action film ever directed by a woman (Patty Jenkins). Well done, and I'm most certainly seeing this one asap!
That's the weekly summary for ya, enjoy a beautiful Tuesday and talk soon x
Lists
Hey beauties, 18 June 2017
I was reading Glamour Magazine mid-flight this week and one of the articles was on making lists. The author spoke about the importance of putting lists together of things you’re grateful for and things you’re proud of, as a way to reflect and think positively. So here I am, with my list for this week of three things I’m proud of:
1. I took four planes to and from Belfast and Amsterdam (all for work), yet I was out every night socializing with friends. I did not stay in the hotel and watch TV, as much as I was tempted to, and I also had a great time with friends last night at my girl Antonia’s birthday. It’s about making effort even when you’re drained and need a bath and a Jacuzzi.
2. I walked over 10,000 steps every day. Staying healthy’s got to be my summer goal.
3. I packed most of my house in less than a day this weekend and am ready to move out this coming week. Lost count of how many bags and suitcases I got, but hey at least my wardrobes are almost empty now.
Sounds weird as none of the above would normally be an ‘achievement’ for me to be proud of, and in the business of my days I often forget of the good small things I’ve managed to do. But the key is to stay grateful and proud and positive, and good things will follow. This post is also a part of my thinking for a work blog on the topic of mental health – we recently kicked off an internal initiative to raise awareness internally about mental health and what our company does for us. In multiple posts below I’ve already posted on mental health, but once again here I am. Staying busy is good for me, but taking a moment to appreciate the beauty of my day-to-day life is even better. Have a happy Sunday, everyone, and remember to stay positive!
I was reading Glamour Magazine mid-flight this week and one of the articles was on making lists. The author spoke about the importance of putting lists together of things you’re grateful for and things you’re proud of, as a way to reflect and think positively. So here I am, with my list for this week of three things I’m proud of:
1. I took four planes to and from Belfast and Amsterdam (all for work), yet I was out every night socializing with friends. I did not stay in the hotel and watch TV, as much as I was tempted to, and I also had a great time with friends last night at my girl Antonia’s birthday. It’s about making effort even when you’re drained and need a bath and a Jacuzzi.
2. I walked over 10,000 steps every day. Staying healthy’s got to be my summer goal.
3. I packed most of my house in less than a day this weekend and am ready to move out this coming week. Lost count of how many bags and suitcases I got, but hey at least my wardrobes are almost empty now.
Sounds weird as none of the above would normally be an ‘achievement’ for me to be proud of, and in the business of my days I often forget of the good small things I’ve managed to do. But the key is to stay grateful and proud and positive, and good things will follow. This post is also a part of my thinking for a work blog on the topic of mental health – we recently kicked off an internal initiative to raise awareness internally about mental health and what our company does for us. In multiple posts below I’ve already posted on mental health, but once again here I am. Staying busy is good for me, but taking a moment to appreciate the beauty of my day-to-day life is even better. Have a happy Sunday, everyone, and remember to stay positive!
Records and Appointments
Hey beauties,
This week, we had a general election in the UK aaaand there were a record number of women elected into Parliament! 207 female MPs will now serve their constituencies, which is 16 more than the previous record of 191 women (elected in 2015). This is now a total of 32% of all seats, how great is that! While it may sound unsatisfactory for some of us seeking a complete 50/50 parity, it is still a step ahead in the political game. 32% is still one-third of all seats, so let's all take a moment and celebrate this incredible achievement.
Theresa May is also still the Prime Minister, and she's about to announce her Cabinet as we speak, so we're yet to find out how many women there will be. Judging by her actions last summer, there was no parity and increasing female participation in politics was hardly Theresa May's concern on day 1. We can only hope this will change, especially given her history of supporting the 50/50 campaign for Parliament and verbally calling for equality. At the end of the day, verbal support is one thing, and actions and appointments is another. Let's keep our fingers crossed!
Something I didn't get a chance to comment on few weeks back, was that Emmanuel Macron, the newly elected French President, held up to his election promise and appointed exactly equal number of women and men to his Cabinet. Even further, the list of people running from his party for elections was chosen as half-female and half-male. One thing we can learn from the French and from the French Canadian PM too - equality starts by example, so when you're in a position of power you may as well use the resources you have and make a statement. Not to mention that including women in leadership positions can only benefit as using untapped potential, unlocking different perspectives and providing a voice to those who may not always be heard.
Let's wait and see how French-like we'll be here in the coming weeks and months. Have a fab weekend, everyone!
This week, we had a general election in the UK aaaand there were a record number of women elected into Parliament! 207 female MPs will now serve their constituencies, which is 16 more than the previous record of 191 women (elected in 2015). This is now a total of 32% of all seats, how great is that! While it may sound unsatisfactory for some of us seeking a complete 50/50 parity, it is still a step ahead in the political game. 32% is still one-third of all seats, so let's all take a moment and celebrate this incredible achievement.
Theresa May is also still the Prime Minister, and she's about to announce her Cabinet as we speak, so we're yet to find out how many women there will be. Judging by her actions last summer, there was no parity and increasing female participation in politics was hardly Theresa May's concern on day 1. We can only hope this will change, especially given her history of supporting the 50/50 campaign for Parliament and verbally calling for equality. At the end of the day, verbal support is one thing, and actions and appointments is another. Let's keep our fingers crossed!
Something I didn't get a chance to comment on few weeks back, was that Emmanuel Macron, the newly elected French President, held up to his election promise and appointed exactly equal number of women and men to his Cabinet. Even further, the list of people running from his party for elections was chosen as half-female and half-male. One thing we can learn from the French and from the French Canadian PM too - equality starts by example, so when you're in a position of power you may as well use the resources you have and make a statement. Not to mention that including women in leadership positions can only benefit as using untapped potential, unlocking different perspectives and providing a voice to those who may not always be heard.
Let's wait and see how French-like we'll be here in the coming weeks and months. Have a fab weekend, everyone!
Summer School
Hey beauties, 7 June 2017
It’s been a tough few months with plenty going on at work and at home. Having reduced a little the frequency of my blog posts, I need to get back at it with full force – and so I will do.
I’ll start today with some great news that I received last week which is that a project of mine has received US State Department funding to conduct a summer school in Bulgaria on female entrepreneurship. The project will be funded with 2,400 USD for a four-day training course in Silistra, Bulgaria, and a final day conference on female entrepreneurship in my city. I’m super proud to see this being approved and planning has now officially kicked off for a September 2017 implementation. I’ll be home for two weeks in September not only enjoying my birthday with family but also leading the training and the conference and involving local women up to the age of 25 in both events. My mom, as always, is helping me organise these, and so are my wonderful lovelies Rossy, Mariya and Reneta. Can’t wait for a full-on autumn with a lot of positivity and actual impactful change on the local community.
Have a fab week everyone and I’ll keep you updated how we’re progressing!
It’s been a tough few months with plenty going on at work and at home. Having reduced a little the frequency of my blog posts, I need to get back at it with full force – and so I will do.
I’ll start today with some great news that I received last week which is that a project of mine has received US State Department funding to conduct a summer school in Bulgaria on female entrepreneurship. The project will be funded with 2,400 USD for a four-day training course in Silistra, Bulgaria, and a final day conference on female entrepreneurship in my city. I’m super proud to see this being approved and planning has now officially kicked off for a September 2017 implementation. I’ll be home for two weeks in September not only enjoying my birthday with family but also leading the training and the conference and involving local women up to the age of 25 in both events. My mom, as always, is helping me organise these, and so are my wonderful lovelies Rossy, Mariya and Reneta. Can’t wait for a full-on autumn with a lot of positivity and actual impactful change on the local community.
Have a fab week everyone and I’ll keep you updated how we’re progressing!
Girls' Globe
Hey beauties, 27 May 2017
The crazy dynamics of life continue. And a big part of it for me lately is travelling for work. A shot piece that I recently published on my blog (see below on City Gems) has now found its way on the Girls’ Globe website. As you may know, I’m a guest blogger to this international outlet for girls and women’s rights and am happy to see my latest publication live here: https://www.girlsglobe.org/2017/05/16/fight-your-battle-one-seat-at-a-time/ It’s a travel diary of my experiences at London City airport and how women are almost nowhere to be seen at this very expensive and high-end airport in central London. Happy reading and enjoy the long bank holiday weekend for those of you in the UK.
The crazy dynamics of life continue. And a big part of it for me lately is travelling for work. A shot piece that I recently published on my blog (see below on City Gems) has now found its way on the Girls’ Globe website. As you may know, I’m a guest blogger to this international outlet for girls and women’s rights and am happy to see my latest publication live here: https://www.girlsglobe.org/2017/05/16/fight-your-battle-one-seat-at-a-time/ It’s a travel diary of my experiences at London City airport and how women are almost nowhere to be seen at this very expensive and high-end airport in central London. Happy reading and enjoy the long bank holiday weekend for those of you in the UK.
Marriage
Hi beauties, 14 May 2017
Positive news not only in Saudi Arabia (see below) but across the world over the past week.
Malawi is the latest nation to ban child marriage – a country where nearly 1 in every 2 girls get married before they reach 18 years of age! Back in February Parliament voted to make marriage under 18 illegal, removing a provision that allowed children to marry at 15 with parental consent. The President has now officially signed off on the new law and girls in the African country are hopefully looking at a safer and brighter future ahead of them.
Meanwhile, in Indonesia, one of the most populous Muslim countries in the world, female clerics recently issued a fatwa calling against child marriage. A conference at the end of April gathered female Islamic clerics in the state and demonstrated their leadership position in a Muslim-majority country which ranks amongst the top 10 in the world for child marriage. The practice was now declared ‘harmful’ and prevention was deemed ‘mandatory’. While the fatwa is not a law, it’s still regarded highly within Muslim culture and may well be a starting point for increased measures to reduce underage marriages. We’d certainly hope so!
Somewhere in the world, a girl is married before the age of 18 every two seconds. Let us remember that and let us appreciate the small wins and progress made around the globe. It will get better! It already is getting better!
Have a fab weekend and chat soon!
Positive news not only in Saudi Arabia (see below) but across the world over the past week.
Malawi is the latest nation to ban child marriage – a country where nearly 1 in every 2 girls get married before they reach 18 years of age! Back in February Parliament voted to make marriage under 18 illegal, removing a provision that allowed children to marry at 15 with parental consent. The President has now officially signed off on the new law and girls in the African country are hopefully looking at a safer and brighter future ahead of them.
Meanwhile, in Indonesia, one of the most populous Muslim countries in the world, female clerics recently issued a fatwa calling against child marriage. A conference at the end of April gathered female Islamic clerics in the state and demonstrated their leadership position in a Muslim-majority country which ranks amongst the top 10 in the world for child marriage. The practice was now declared ‘harmful’ and prevention was deemed ‘mandatory’. While the fatwa is not a law, it’s still regarded highly within Muslim culture and may well be a starting point for increased measures to reduce underage marriages. We’d certainly hope so!
Somewhere in the world, a girl is married before the age of 18 every two seconds. Let us remember that and let us appreciate the small wins and progress made around the globe. It will get better! It already is getting better!
Have a fab weekend and chat soon!
Progress
Hello beauties, 6 May 2017
Breaking news from today has come our way from Saudi Arabia: women will now be able to work, study and receive medical treatment in hospitals without a permission of their male guardians! For those who aren’t aware, the guardianship system is typical of Middle Eastern societies where a woman’s husband (or sometimes her father or even son) has to grant her a permission to do the above activities. The rules in Saudi are particularly strict (much more so than in other surrounding states) and women are not even allowed to drive under any circumstances, ride a bike nor to travel without permission. Even applying for a passport requires your guardian’s signature. Strict public segregation also dictates that women and men can’t mix at work or in public spaces such as restaurants or parks unless they are married or related to the man who’s with them. And as far as courts are concerned, women can’t represent themselves, so imagine fighting for your rights against your guardian who also may happen to be your abusive husband or father.
What’s new today is that the country's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud issued an order allowing women to benefit from government services such as education and healthcare – and that’s without getting the consent of a male guardian. In the last couple of years women have also been allowed onto the government advisory Shura Council, they were granted the right to vote in municipal elections (only!), and can even work in some retail and hospitality jobs in public now. Some may say how can this be considered an achievement in the 21st century, but it’s still better to have baby steps than no steps. As The Independent reminds us, women were even allowed to compete in the Olympics for the first time in London in 2012 – so who knows, maybe we’ll see women’s rights flourishing further in the years to come. About time indeed!
And while some are progressing, even if slightly, others are going backwards. Check out the new health care bill in the US which considers domestic violence and sexual assault as pre-existing conditions and thus limits the responsibility of insurance companies to pay for women’s treatment. Now THAT is not something I expected from 21st century America…
Breaking news from today has come our way from Saudi Arabia: women will now be able to work, study and receive medical treatment in hospitals without a permission of their male guardians! For those who aren’t aware, the guardianship system is typical of Middle Eastern societies where a woman’s husband (or sometimes her father or even son) has to grant her a permission to do the above activities. The rules in Saudi are particularly strict (much more so than in other surrounding states) and women are not even allowed to drive under any circumstances, ride a bike nor to travel without permission. Even applying for a passport requires your guardian’s signature. Strict public segregation also dictates that women and men can’t mix at work or in public spaces such as restaurants or parks unless they are married or related to the man who’s with them. And as far as courts are concerned, women can’t represent themselves, so imagine fighting for your rights against your guardian who also may happen to be your abusive husband or father.
What’s new today is that the country's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud issued an order allowing women to benefit from government services such as education and healthcare – and that’s without getting the consent of a male guardian. In the last couple of years women have also been allowed onto the government advisory Shura Council, they were granted the right to vote in municipal elections (only!), and can even work in some retail and hospitality jobs in public now. Some may say how can this be considered an achievement in the 21st century, but it’s still better to have baby steps than no steps. As The Independent reminds us, women were even allowed to compete in the Olympics for the first time in London in 2012 – so who knows, maybe we’ll see women’s rights flourishing further in the years to come. About time indeed!
And while some are progressing, even if slightly, others are going backwards. Check out the new health care bill in the US which considers domestic violence and sexual assault as pre-existing conditions and thus limits the responsibility of insurance companies to pay for women’s treatment. Now THAT is not something I expected from 21st century America…
City Gems
25 April 2017
It's Tuesday morning and I'm sitting in a very comfortable seat at London City airport. This is the most expensive one out of the five airports located in and around London, and I have the honour of flying out and into City every week due to work commitments in Northern Ireland. My regular 08:50 outbound flight is boarding soon and I'm killing the time till then with an overpriced coffee and fruit salad from a local cafe. I'm looking around and what I see is starting to frustrate me a little - just like it did last week and the week before, and the week before that.
I see men. Men everywhere! In dark suits and with suitcases more expensive than the entire contents of my suitcase combined. They hold Financial Times or City AM newspapers, chat to each other (they are clearly here in groups or pairs at least) and discuss the latest football match of the FA cup this weekend and/ or their golf plans for the bank holiday coming up. And there I am - fed up to see middle aged white men in expensive suits chatting about boys stuff while women are nowhere to be seen. I'm literally counting and out of the 17 people immediately in my surroundings, there are myself and 3 other women. Just that.
The average traveller from London City airport earns 92,000 GBP a year - that's pretty damn high even by Financial district measures which is where the airport is located - just outside of Canary Wharf and a comfortable 15 min journey from Bank in central London. Then logically City also has way more expensive flights than the other airports, doesn't exactly host very many low-cost airlines, and you wouldn't see a Starbucks the minute you walk in - instead you see a fancy bar/ restaurant with 20 GBP price tag for a burger and a Coke. Because it's a fancy airport for usually high-paid travellers and companies which can afford to have their employees fly from here, it also reflects what the employee base is like at those financial (and not only) companies. More specifically, it shows the higher echelons who go on business trips and not exactly their secretaries or assistants. Those higher echelons do happen to be largely male, and you guessed it - women are pretty much rare species around here.
I'm frustrated because I hear all this talk that women have equal opportunities at work and they can get promoted based on merit just like men do. However, looking around at this morning hour I don't see those women, where are they? Yes, on paper we are equals in a country with really advanced legal system ( thankfully!) but in reality women in senior positions are still not that many in total numbers or in proportion to men. We haven't even passed 30% on boards of UK companies yet, let alone reach the full 50/50 parity we so desperately want. And while some will say promotions should be based on merit and I'd agree with that, I also find it very hard to believe that for every 13 men around me there's just 4 women who've made it to the glorious City airport seats. It's just not acceptable.
And before anyone tells me this might be a one-off, I see this and I count every week. So yes, I'm a rare species in the big boys world of financial management.
Yes, I'm frustrated - not at the airport but at the fact that people tell me Britain is equal and there's no gender inequality. Then how are we such rare gems in a sea of city travelers?
PS: And before I end this note, I also can't believe newspapers and plastic bags are free at this airport - how so when the average salary is 92k? How do I pay 1 pound for a plastic bag in Stansted airport where the 'poor' commoners fly from, and why do we get them for free here where everyone can surely afford them!...
Fly safe, ladies and gents, and remember that what you hear is not always true - question it and fight to change it. One seat at a time.
It's Tuesday morning and I'm sitting in a very comfortable seat at London City airport. This is the most expensive one out of the five airports located in and around London, and I have the honour of flying out and into City every week due to work commitments in Northern Ireland. My regular 08:50 outbound flight is boarding soon and I'm killing the time till then with an overpriced coffee and fruit salad from a local cafe. I'm looking around and what I see is starting to frustrate me a little - just like it did last week and the week before, and the week before that.
I see men. Men everywhere! In dark suits and with suitcases more expensive than the entire contents of my suitcase combined. They hold Financial Times or City AM newspapers, chat to each other (they are clearly here in groups or pairs at least) and discuss the latest football match of the FA cup this weekend and/ or their golf plans for the bank holiday coming up. And there I am - fed up to see middle aged white men in expensive suits chatting about boys stuff while women are nowhere to be seen. I'm literally counting and out of the 17 people immediately in my surroundings, there are myself and 3 other women. Just that.
The average traveller from London City airport earns 92,000 GBP a year - that's pretty damn high even by Financial district measures which is where the airport is located - just outside of Canary Wharf and a comfortable 15 min journey from Bank in central London. Then logically City also has way more expensive flights than the other airports, doesn't exactly host very many low-cost airlines, and you wouldn't see a Starbucks the minute you walk in - instead you see a fancy bar/ restaurant with 20 GBP price tag for a burger and a Coke. Because it's a fancy airport for usually high-paid travellers and companies which can afford to have their employees fly from here, it also reflects what the employee base is like at those financial (and not only) companies. More specifically, it shows the higher echelons who go on business trips and not exactly their secretaries or assistants. Those higher echelons do happen to be largely male, and you guessed it - women are pretty much rare species around here.
I'm frustrated because I hear all this talk that women have equal opportunities at work and they can get promoted based on merit just like men do. However, looking around at this morning hour I don't see those women, where are they? Yes, on paper we are equals in a country with really advanced legal system ( thankfully!) but in reality women in senior positions are still not that many in total numbers or in proportion to men. We haven't even passed 30% on boards of UK companies yet, let alone reach the full 50/50 parity we so desperately want. And while some will say promotions should be based on merit and I'd agree with that, I also find it very hard to believe that for every 13 men around me there's just 4 women who've made it to the glorious City airport seats. It's just not acceptable.
And before anyone tells me this might be a one-off, I see this and I count every week. So yes, I'm a rare species in the big boys world of financial management.
Yes, I'm frustrated - not at the airport but at the fact that people tell me Britain is equal and there's no gender inequality. Then how are we such rare gems in a sea of city travelers?
PS: And before I end this note, I also can't believe newspapers and plastic bags are free at this airport - how so when the average salary is 92k? How do I pay 1 pound for a plastic bag in Stansted airport where the 'poor' commoners fly from, and why do we get them for free here where everyone can surely afford them!...
Fly safe, ladies and gents, and remember that what you hear is not always true - question it and fight to change it. One seat at a time.
Girls Like Us
Hey beauties, 23 April 2017
It’s a beautiful Sunday today and by default, it’s time for a blog update while my tea is cooling off beside me (yes, I’m cutting down on coffee because you know, caffeine and that).
So on Tuesday this week, a friend of mine and I went to an event at BFI Southbank which introduced the new film season for spring 2017 – a season dedicated to women and WWII cinema. Girls Like Us is the slogan this year and the season will have 11 movies shown at BFI throughout April which include ‘Millions Like Us’, ‘In Which We Serve’, and ‘Demi Paradise’. At the intro event the other night, one of British cinema’s most respected producers, Stephen Woolley, showed us clips from various movies portraying women during WWII and also a couple of short videos from his upcoming film ‘Their Finest’ – again, focusing on women in wartime cinema. A panel discussion followed and rounded up a well thought-out event putting women in the limelight.
I didn't know all movies were screened by the Ministry of Information back in the 1940s before they were shown in cinemas, and even more importantly – there was also a massive push for propaganda films (short, as well as actual long movies) which served to get women to support the war and keep the country moving at home while their men were fighting overseas. Equally, movies also tried to elevate the role of the woman at home for the first time in cinema – showing women are caregivers and housewives whose work is just as important as those occupying paid jobs outside of the home at the time. In those years women also started going to the cinema a lot more than they did before and they had more freedom to choose what film they watched as their husbands weren’t there (who’d normally choose of course…) Going with friends and on dates was the new trend, and women made up a considerable portion of the audience. Churchill was also a massive film fan and even had his own private cinema at home, so he pushed for wartime cinema to flourish even more.
While more women were getting lead characters to reflect the growing interest of the audience, the same was not exactly true for female directors and writers. Yes, more women got to write however, they were still paid considerably less than their male counterparts and were almost seen as filling a gap to get more women supportive of the war, than actually creating a more gender-equal environment itself. Only one female director is known to have succeeded at the time, but even that was short-lived and she soon moved on to other engagements.
It’s truly interesting exploring the 1940s era and seeing what that meant for women both working in the film industry but also for female audience members and for female movie characters. Do make sure you check out the Girls Like Us season at BFI this month, more info here.
It’s a beautiful Sunday today and by default, it’s time for a blog update while my tea is cooling off beside me (yes, I’m cutting down on coffee because you know, caffeine and that).
So on Tuesday this week, a friend of mine and I went to an event at BFI Southbank which introduced the new film season for spring 2017 – a season dedicated to women and WWII cinema. Girls Like Us is the slogan this year and the season will have 11 movies shown at BFI throughout April which include ‘Millions Like Us’, ‘In Which We Serve’, and ‘Demi Paradise’. At the intro event the other night, one of British cinema’s most respected producers, Stephen Woolley, showed us clips from various movies portraying women during WWII and also a couple of short videos from his upcoming film ‘Their Finest’ – again, focusing on women in wartime cinema. A panel discussion followed and rounded up a well thought-out event putting women in the limelight.
I didn't know all movies were screened by the Ministry of Information back in the 1940s before they were shown in cinemas, and even more importantly – there was also a massive push for propaganda films (short, as well as actual long movies) which served to get women to support the war and keep the country moving at home while their men were fighting overseas. Equally, movies also tried to elevate the role of the woman at home for the first time in cinema – showing women are caregivers and housewives whose work is just as important as those occupying paid jobs outside of the home at the time. In those years women also started going to the cinema a lot more than they did before and they had more freedom to choose what film they watched as their husbands weren’t there (who’d normally choose of course…) Going with friends and on dates was the new trend, and women made up a considerable portion of the audience. Churchill was also a massive film fan and even had his own private cinema at home, so he pushed for wartime cinema to flourish even more.
While more women were getting lead characters to reflect the growing interest of the audience, the same was not exactly true for female directors and writers. Yes, more women got to write however, they were still paid considerably less than their male counterparts and were almost seen as filling a gap to get more women supportive of the war, than actually creating a more gender-equal environment itself. Only one female director is known to have succeeded at the time, but even that was short-lived and she soon moved on to other engagements.
It’s truly interesting exploring the 1940s era and seeing what that meant for women both working in the film industry but also for female audience members and for female movie characters. Do make sure you check out the Girls Like Us season at BFI this month, more info here.
City Action
Hello beauties and happy Wednesday! 19 April 2017
I read some good news last night around cities in the US taking active measures to close the gender pay gap:
Massachusetts and Philadelphia have already banned employers from inquiring about the previous salaries of candidates, and New York City is soon to join in as well! This is a move meant to help close the gender pay gap as it’s believed a candidate's salary history may hurt women who might not have been paid enough/ much in a previous job and carry on the low figures into their new workplace. Multiple local legislatures across the US are considering similar measures in a bid to close up on the 20% pay gap in the country. Read more on the positive developments in the US here.
And in the meantime, my girl Andrea and I went to a special event last night about women during World War II and their contribution to British cinema at the time - both as viewers and as directors/ writers/ actresses, etc. A write-up on the event at BFI Southbank is to follow later this week x
I read some good news last night around cities in the US taking active measures to close the gender pay gap:
Massachusetts and Philadelphia have already banned employers from inquiring about the previous salaries of candidates, and New York City is soon to join in as well! This is a move meant to help close the gender pay gap as it’s believed a candidate's salary history may hurt women who might not have been paid enough/ much in a previous job and carry on the low figures into their new workplace. Multiple local legislatures across the US are considering similar measures in a bid to close up on the 20% pay gap in the country. Read more on the positive developments in the US here.
And in the meantime, my girl Andrea and I went to a special event last night about women during World War II and their contribution to British cinema at the time - both as viewers and as directors/ writers/ actresses, etc. A write-up on the event at BFI Southbank is to follow later this week x
Happy Easter
Hi beauties and happy Easter! 16 April 2017
Hristos Voskrese, as we say in Bulgaria! Today's a holy day for Christians around the world and especially for Orthodox Christians, Easter is an even bigger celebration than Christmas. It's a day to reassess your life, to be grateful and to value what you have. It's a day to be thankful that you're alive and to show empathy and love. The latter is especially scarce in today's world and we need more of it! Please show love - today and always!
In relation to this blog, it's impotant to note on this special day that in the history of Christianity, there are two women from the inner circle of Jesus who hold a particular place of honour - his mother, Mary, and St. Mary Magdalene who discovered His empty tomb. While the church remains very patriarchical today, just as it started centuries ago, and women are still not priests and/ or in positions of the leadership structures of churches around the world, today's the day to show gratitude and get inspiration from Mary and Mary Magdalene - two figures in a male-dominated world, who fought for what they believed in. Be grateful today and be inspired - by love and determination.
Happy Easter!
Hristos Voskrese, as we say in Bulgaria! Today's a holy day for Christians around the world and especially for Orthodox Christians, Easter is an even bigger celebration than Christmas. It's a day to reassess your life, to be grateful and to value what you have. It's a day to be thankful that you're alive and to show empathy and love. The latter is especially scarce in today's world and we need more of it! Please show love - today and always!
In relation to this blog, it's impotant to note on this special day that in the history of Christianity, there are two women from the inner circle of Jesus who hold a particular place of honour - his mother, Mary, and St. Mary Magdalene who discovered His empty tomb. While the church remains very patriarchical today, just as it started centuries ago, and women are still not priests and/ or in positions of the leadership structures of churches around the world, today's the day to show gratitude and get inspiration from Mary and Mary Magdalene - two figures in a male-dominated world, who fought for what they believed in. Be grateful today and be inspired - by love and determination.
Happy Easter!
The Force of Salesforce
10 April 2017
On Tuesday last week (4 April), the US celebrated Equal Pay Day. On average American women make 20% less than their male counterparts for equal work.
I wanted to have this post dedicated to companies which make a positive change for women at the workplace, and one of these is Salesforce. Two years ago Salesforce started an assessment into their gender pay gap and invested $3 million in correcting employees’ salaries as a result. This month they’ve done it again – 11% of their 25,000 employees received salary increases to make the workforce paid more equally. Almost 70% of these underpaid employees were female. Great example of deep analysis and responsibility to equality shown by the company! Read more on their good practices here.
And in addition to that, make sure to check out Lean In’s website who have just launched #20PercentCounts — a public awareness campaign that highlights the unfairness of the gender pay gap. They managed to get LUNA, Lyft, P&G, Salesforce, and businesses in over 25 U.S. cities to join forces and offer 20% discounts or special offers for Equal Pay Day. 20% difference can be quite a bit after all!
Let me know your thoughts and happy to spread the word of the many other wonderful places which do good for their female employees and customers and who care for the gap as much as they can about their businesses’ success.
Lean In, people! :)
On Tuesday last week (4 April), the US celebrated Equal Pay Day. On average American women make 20% less than their male counterparts for equal work.
I wanted to have this post dedicated to companies which make a positive change for women at the workplace, and one of these is Salesforce. Two years ago Salesforce started an assessment into their gender pay gap and invested $3 million in correcting employees’ salaries as a result. This month they’ve done it again – 11% of their 25,000 employees received salary increases to make the workforce paid more equally. Almost 70% of these underpaid employees were female. Great example of deep analysis and responsibility to equality shown by the company! Read more on their good practices here.
And in addition to that, make sure to check out Lean In’s website who have just launched #20PercentCounts — a public awareness campaign that highlights the unfairness of the gender pay gap. They managed to get LUNA, Lyft, P&G, Salesforce, and businesses in over 25 U.S. cities to join forces and offer 20% discounts or special offers for Equal Pay Day. 20% difference can be quite a bit after all!
Let me know your thoughts and happy to spread the word of the many other wonderful places which do good for their female employees and customers and who care for the gap as much as they can about their businesses’ success.
Lean In, people! :)
Run for Office
Hey beauties, 2 April 2017
I mentioned in my last post that I was voting in the Bulgarian parliamentary elections last Sunday. The results of it have now been published but there’s still uncertainty as to what kind of coalition government we’ll get and in respect to this blog – what that will mean for women.
I also said however, that I’ll share a resource on women in politics and decision making, which I found recently and which shocked me to say the least. The Inter-Parliamentary Union released a map on the situation of women in national politics in all countries around the globe as of 1 January 2017. Bulgaria, shockingly, is on number 101 (out of 193 states). We only have 46 female Members of Parliament (out of 240 in total) which equals 19.2%. We also rank lower in percentage terms than countries like the United Arab Emirates, Eritrea and Zimbabwe. In case you were wondering, the top spot is for Rwanda – long lasting champion with 61% females in its lower house of Parliament. Closely follows Bolivia with 53% female representation.
It’s important to note that it’s not always about the percentages – it’s also about the positions that women hold in government. In Bulgaria we’ve never had a female President for example. But then again, neither has the US – the one country considered by most as the most powerful and relevant on the planet. All in all, I got depressed by looking at the IPU map but also inspired to aim for a change – locally, nationally and internationally. We need more women to run for office and to get elected, because only when we all get close to Rwanda and Bolivia could we say we’re using women’s full potential.
Have a fab weekend!
I mentioned in my last post that I was voting in the Bulgarian parliamentary elections last Sunday. The results of it have now been published but there’s still uncertainty as to what kind of coalition government we’ll get and in respect to this blog – what that will mean for women.
I also said however, that I’ll share a resource on women in politics and decision making, which I found recently and which shocked me to say the least. The Inter-Parliamentary Union released a map on the situation of women in national politics in all countries around the globe as of 1 January 2017. Bulgaria, shockingly, is on number 101 (out of 193 states). We only have 46 female Members of Parliament (out of 240 in total) which equals 19.2%. We also rank lower in percentage terms than countries like the United Arab Emirates, Eritrea and Zimbabwe. In case you were wondering, the top spot is for Rwanda – long lasting champion with 61% females in its lower house of Parliament. Closely follows Bolivia with 53% female representation.
It’s important to note that it’s not always about the percentages – it’s also about the positions that women hold in government. In Bulgaria we’ve never had a female President for example. But then again, neither has the US – the one country considered by most as the most powerful and relevant on the planet. All in all, I got depressed by looking at the IPU map but also inspired to aim for a change – locally, nationally and internationally. We need more women to run for office and to get elected, because only when we all get close to Rwanda and Bolivia could we say we’re using women’s full potential.
Have a fab weekend!
Periods
Hey beauties, 26 March 2017
I’m on my period. A phrase that is rarely pronounced in public and still surrounded by a taboo, some mystic air around it as if it’s something shameful for a woman.
Unfortunately, it’s shame and lack of knowledge and experience with this, that’s prompting young girls from across the world, including in the UK, to hide their periods even from their families, and even more so – at school. A recent article on the BBC website nearly made me cry while they were researching school girls in Leeds (one of the biggest English cities) who were not able to afford sanitary towels and tampons and who were too afraid or embarrassed to ask for money or tampons from their families. As a result, there’s a growing tendency of girls missing school days while on their period, and even worse – using unsanitary products to keep their bleeding hidden (including socks, toilet tissue and sticking it all with tape to their underwear).
While shocking for the UK, the revelations of this article are not coming as a complete surprise for the rest of the world. Girls in Africa and the developing world more generally have long been deprived of access to sanitary products and clean water and as result, they miss school and they are prone to catching infections, etc. This is why, a new campaign has kicked off on change.org which calls on the UK government to ensure free access to tampons and towels for girls at UK schools. There’s already an initiative to do so in Scotland, and now the campaign is expanding nationally.
Please do read more and sign the petition here.
And in the meantime, in Austria, they’ve just launched a new sister campaign to get rid of VAT on tampons. I’ve long supported the UK, Italian and US campaigns so please do read more and sign here.
Have a fab sunny weekend everyone, I’m off to vote in the Bulgarian Parliamentary elections now. Speaking of which, more on female participation in politics and power, coming next.
I’m on my period. A phrase that is rarely pronounced in public and still surrounded by a taboo, some mystic air around it as if it’s something shameful for a woman.
Unfortunately, it’s shame and lack of knowledge and experience with this, that’s prompting young girls from across the world, including in the UK, to hide their periods even from their families, and even more so – at school. A recent article on the BBC website nearly made me cry while they were researching school girls in Leeds (one of the biggest English cities) who were not able to afford sanitary towels and tampons and who were too afraid or embarrassed to ask for money or tampons from their families. As a result, there’s a growing tendency of girls missing school days while on their period, and even worse – using unsanitary products to keep their bleeding hidden (including socks, toilet tissue and sticking it all with tape to their underwear).
While shocking for the UK, the revelations of this article are not coming as a complete surprise for the rest of the world. Girls in Africa and the developing world more generally have long been deprived of access to sanitary products and clean water and as result, they miss school and they are prone to catching infections, etc. This is why, a new campaign has kicked off on change.org which calls on the UK government to ensure free access to tampons and towels for girls at UK schools. There’s already an initiative to do so in Scotland, and now the campaign is expanding nationally.
Please do read more and sign the petition here.
And in the meantime, in Austria, they’ve just launched a new sister campaign to get rid of VAT on tampons. I’ve long supported the UK, Italian and US campaigns so please do read more and sign here.
Have a fab sunny weekend everyone, I’m off to vote in the Bulgarian Parliamentary elections now. Speaking of which, more on female participation in politics and power, coming next.
The Bigger Picture
Hi beauties, 17 March 2017
My usual positive mood when I type on here is this time replaced by frustration. Frustration with the last two weeks being so busy professionally and personally speaking, that I can’t find time to even remove my nail polish (yes, I’ve been one of THOSE women these past few days). Frustration that nothing seems to be going the right way at all, not my morning commute with trains constantly delayed, nor my to do list coming down to anything less than 3 pages minimum. And then, my eating habits are out the window, my communication with my friends is down to a minimum, and the pain in my stomach is really nerves getting the best of me every single day.
With frustrations though, come realizations and lessons learnt. Lessons of the things that matter and that should really count on your last day on Earth. Lessons of how to smile more and be happier even in difficult times.
One thing that’s been helping me is an app called Shine Text, which sends you messages every morning on Facebook Messenger which focus on positivity and good vibes. Make sure to check it out as they do have very good ideas on there on how to make your day a little shinier.
Another bit is speaking to my mom every evening after work, as she always manages to ground me and make me appreciate the big picture and not focus too much on the daily problems I face.
And lastly, I went out for a run this morning, and have also been doing yoga every morning as of late, which is also improving my body and my soul. Asana Rebel is you yoga app, that’s for sure!
What the point of this post is, is that we all need to let go of daily frustrations and really appreciate the beauty of life. This is why I’ve decided to host a mental health event at work in the beginning of April, where we’ll discuss general mental health awareness and problems, as well as what our own company does for us as employees. It’s been a while since I last wrote on this topic, but really I’m getting back to what I said couple of years ago when I narrowly escaped death in a car crash: I am thankful to still be alive but I’ll always remember than being alive is not enough. You also have to live!
That’s why I’m off to Germany tomorrow to see my baby niece. Shine on, people and keep living!
My usual positive mood when I type on here is this time replaced by frustration. Frustration with the last two weeks being so busy professionally and personally speaking, that I can’t find time to even remove my nail polish (yes, I’ve been one of THOSE women these past few days). Frustration that nothing seems to be going the right way at all, not my morning commute with trains constantly delayed, nor my to do list coming down to anything less than 3 pages minimum. And then, my eating habits are out the window, my communication with my friends is down to a minimum, and the pain in my stomach is really nerves getting the best of me every single day.
With frustrations though, come realizations and lessons learnt. Lessons of the things that matter and that should really count on your last day on Earth. Lessons of how to smile more and be happier even in difficult times.
One thing that’s been helping me is an app called Shine Text, which sends you messages every morning on Facebook Messenger which focus on positivity and good vibes. Make sure to check it out as they do have very good ideas on there on how to make your day a little shinier.
Another bit is speaking to my mom every evening after work, as she always manages to ground me and make me appreciate the big picture and not focus too much on the daily problems I face.
And lastly, I went out for a run this morning, and have also been doing yoga every morning as of late, which is also improving my body and my soul. Asana Rebel is you yoga app, that’s for sure!
What the point of this post is, is that we all need to let go of daily frustrations and really appreciate the beauty of life. This is why I’ve decided to host a mental health event at work in the beginning of April, where we’ll discuss general mental health awareness and problems, as well as what our own company does for us as employees. It’s been a while since I last wrote on this topic, but really I’m getting back to what I said couple of years ago when I narrowly escaped death in a car crash: I am thankful to still be alive but I’ll always remember than being alive is not enough. You also have to live!
That’s why I’m off to Germany tomorrow to see my baby niece. Shine on, people and keep living!
International Women's Day
Hello beauties and happy International Women’s Day! 8 March 2017
It’s a day that recognizes and appreciates women and all the struggles they have gone through in history (and still are going through today), all their amazing achievements and the inspiration that they bring to their families, friends and society in general!
I was scrolling through my Facebook feed today and I must say my heart is full of love for all my friends who have been posting updates and kind wishes for Women’s Day. It’s incredible to see so many people care and that also includes the men I have in my life! Women’s day is for women, but it’s also for men because they can and should support us and together we can reach equality for all!
On this day, if you can do just one thing to make the world more gender equal, then please visit https://www.internationalwomensday.com/BeBold and sign the pledge for at least one action you’ll take today and in the future. The theme of international women’s day this year is #BeBold and it calls on people to challenge bias, campaign against violence, forge women’s advancement, celebrate women’s achievements and champion women’s education – all in all, it asks that we are Bold For Change! Please visit the page, make your pledge and do your part to make this world better for all!
It’s a day that recognizes and appreciates women and all the struggles they have gone through in history (and still are going through today), all their amazing achievements and the inspiration that they bring to their families, friends and society in general!
I was scrolling through my Facebook feed today and I must say my heart is full of love for all my friends who have been posting updates and kind wishes for Women’s Day. It’s incredible to see so many people care and that also includes the men I have in my life! Women’s day is for women, but it’s also for men because they can and should support us and together we can reach equality for all!
On this day, if you can do just one thing to make the world more gender equal, then please visit https://www.internationalwomensday.com/BeBold and sign the pledge for at least one action you’ll take today and in the future. The theme of international women’s day this year is #BeBold and it calls on people to challenge bias, campaign against violence, forge women’s advancement, celebrate women’s achievements and champion women’s education – all in all, it asks that we are Bold For Change! Please visit the page, make your pledge and do your part to make this world better for all!
F1
Hey beauties, 26 February 2017
I was in a taxi the other day in Belfast, and the driver was very much willing to explain to me just how awful female drivers are. He not only elaborated on this verbally, but also took it upon himself to show me in action. I.e. he leaned forward and grabbed the wheel, was manically looking around and kept pressing and releasing the breaks like a ‘woman would’. I was not pleased, to say the least! And of course I confronted him about it but seemed impossible to convince him otherwise, as he has ‘loads of experience driving on the streets like any cab driver does’. He did conclude by saying he wasn’t sexist though. At all.
That made me think though, how are females represented in the world’s premier driving sport, e.g. Formula 1. I did some research over the weekend and here’s what I found out:
Formula 1 kicked off in 1950 and it was in 1958 that the first female driver joined the race, Italian Maria Teresa de Filippis, who sadly passed away last year. All in all in the history of Formula 1, there have been FIVE women participating in at least one Grand Prix. Five… Of those, only two qualified and started a race. The first woman to score points was another Italian, Lella Lombardi, in 1975 in Spain. And the first race with more than one woman entering was the 1976 British Grand Prix. More on the history of female pioneers in F1 can be found here.
What’s important to note though, is a comment by the F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone made in April last year where he said female F1 drivers 'aren't strong enough (to drive quick enough)' and 'will never be taken seriously.'. That coming from a top figure in the driving world – NOT ok. Of course a massive backlash followed on Twitter, but really - it’s not acceptable that someone in such a high position dares make statements of the sort. Yes, there aren’t many women in F1 and certainly they don’t earn as much as men do, but we should concentrate on making the sport more gender inclusive and equal, instead of smashing one’s hopes to get into it. Because the next F1 world champ may be listening/ reading now, and I want her to know she’s got this! You go, girl!
I was in a taxi the other day in Belfast, and the driver was very much willing to explain to me just how awful female drivers are. He not only elaborated on this verbally, but also took it upon himself to show me in action. I.e. he leaned forward and grabbed the wheel, was manically looking around and kept pressing and releasing the breaks like a ‘woman would’. I was not pleased, to say the least! And of course I confronted him about it but seemed impossible to convince him otherwise, as he has ‘loads of experience driving on the streets like any cab driver does’. He did conclude by saying he wasn’t sexist though. At all.
That made me think though, how are females represented in the world’s premier driving sport, e.g. Formula 1. I did some research over the weekend and here’s what I found out:
Formula 1 kicked off in 1950 and it was in 1958 that the first female driver joined the race, Italian Maria Teresa de Filippis, who sadly passed away last year. All in all in the history of Formula 1, there have been FIVE women participating in at least one Grand Prix. Five… Of those, only two qualified and started a race. The first woman to score points was another Italian, Lella Lombardi, in 1975 in Spain. And the first race with more than one woman entering was the 1976 British Grand Prix. More on the history of female pioneers in F1 can be found here.
What’s important to note though, is a comment by the F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone made in April last year where he said female F1 drivers 'aren't strong enough (to drive quick enough)' and 'will never be taken seriously.'. That coming from a top figure in the driving world – NOT ok. Of course a massive backlash followed on Twitter, but really - it’s not acceptable that someone in such a high position dares make statements of the sort. Yes, there aren’t many women in F1 and certainly they don’t earn as much as men do, but we should concentrate on making the sport more gender inclusive and equal, instead of smashing one’s hopes to get into it. Because the next F1 world champ may be listening/ reading now, and I want her to know she’s got this! You go, girl!
Hidden Figures
Hey beauties, 20 February 2017
This weekend I had the pleasure of watching one of the first UK screenings of 'Hidden Figures' - the movie about African American female scientists who helped put a man in space and who played a pivotal role in America winning the space war in the 1960s and 1970s. [Spoilers ahead!] The movie can be summarised in one word: amazing! It made me mad 80% of the time, sad, another 15%, and shocked the whole 100%. It tackles racism as much as sexism in the science world, and NASA more specifically, but also in the American society in the 1960s in general. Things like a black woman going to an all-white school was against the law, black people were sitting at the back of public transport vehicles, there was no mixing of races whatsover, and even bathrooms were segregated based on colour. One of the three main characters in the movie thus had to run for half a mile to pee in the designated area for 'coloured women' in a whole different section to where she was working at NASA. And by the way, she was the one mathematician who returned a man safe from space, and who helped to get a man on the moon. Another one couldn't become an engineer because she lacked certain extension courses and would not be allowed to study in an all white school. She thus took the state of virginia to court, won, and managed to graduate as the first African American woman in the whole of the state, and also the first black female engineer at NASA. Another star of the movie became the first black supervisor at NASA as well. All of these success stories are coupled up with a LOT of negative stories and a LOT of discrimination. However, a movie like this one is SO worth the watch and is so incredibly inspiration with its successful and positive finale, that I still cried well after the ending moments. Definitely recommend it - a perfect example of power, strength and determination of women and black women more specifically.
Speaking of female engineers, mathematicians and computer scientists, it's worth mentioning the following article by the BBC which covers another set of hidden women - those of India, who put their own space programme into action. Also inspirational and also very much recommended the read.
Enjoy everyone, and talk soon!
This weekend I had the pleasure of watching one of the first UK screenings of 'Hidden Figures' - the movie about African American female scientists who helped put a man in space and who played a pivotal role in America winning the space war in the 1960s and 1970s. [Spoilers ahead!] The movie can be summarised in one word: amazing! It made me mad 80% of the time, sad, another 15%, and shocked the whole 100%. It tackles racism as much as sexism in the science world, and NASA more specifically, but also in the American society in the 1960s in general. Things like a black woman going to an all-white school was against the law, black people were sitting at the back of public transport vehicles, there was no mixing of races whatsover, and even bathrooms were segregated based on colour. One of the three main characters in the movie thus had to run for half a mile to pee in the designated area for 'coloured women' in a whole different section to where she was working at NASA. And by the way, she was the one mathematician who returned a man safe from space, and who helped to get a man on the moon. Another one couldn't become an engineer because she lacked certain extension courses and would not be allowed to study in an all white school. She thus took the state of virginia to court, won, and managed to graduate as the first African American woman in the whole of the state, and also the first black female engineer at NASA. Another star of the movie became the first black supervisor at NASA as well. All of these success stories are coupled up with a LOT of negative stories and a LOT of discrimination. However, a movie like this one is SO worth the watch and is so incredibly inspiration with its successful and positive finale, that I still cried well after the ending moments. Definitely recommend it - a perfect example of power, strength and determination of women and black women more specifically.
Speaking of female engineers, mathematicians and computer scientists, it's worth mentioning the following article by the BBC which covers another set of hidden women - those of India, who put their own space programme into action. Also inspirational and also very much recommended the read.
Enjoy everyone, and talk soon!
Lead by Example
Hey beauties, 15 February 2017
It’s early morning and I’m heading to a work conference in a bit. It’s been a week now since the Super Bowl took place in Houston, TX, and a week of very intense discussions about women in the workplace and equal pay for equal work. One of the drivers of these discussions, was the ad that Audi showed on TV during the Super Bowl game on 5 Feb. It was a pretty impressive one visually speaking, but also one with an admirable message that no girl should grow up thinking she’s worth less than her brother or other male peers. Equal pay for equal work, is what Audi called for, and of course they also praised themselves on excluding gender bias and discrimination from their compensation reviews and salary plans. Great, except Audi’s board of directors is 100% male, and that to me speaks ‘We want to promote equality but we won’t really do it ourselves’. Pretence.
Not just that, but President Trump also nominated two MEN to lead his Women in the workforce initiative. These are the CEOs of EY and Walmart, both of which companies are almost entirely dominated by men on their boards. That naturally brought up the question whether it’s okay really to have male-dominated companies lead women-in-the-workforce initiatives, and what good does it really do us seeing ads for equal pay when you aren’t willing to promote a single woman to the same ranks as your top senior men. A very interesting article on the issue was published in the Harvard Business Review just few days ago, and I can’t recommend it enough – great read and very valid arguments. All in all, it’s not about whether you’re a man or a woman, if you want to promote equality you should most definitely do so! But do it by example, not by chatter. Claiming you do and then going for an exec meeting at the golf club with your male buddies – not so ok.
Let me know your thoughts either way. Have a fab week, everyone!
It’s early morning and I’m heading to a work conference in a bit. It’s been a week now since the Super Bowl took place in Houston, TX, and a week of very intense discussions about women in the workplace and equal pay for equal work. One of the drivers of these discussions, was the ad that Audi showed on TV during the Super Bowl game on 5 Feb. It was a pretty impressive one visually speaking, but also one with an admirable message that no girl should grow up thinking she’s worth less than her brother or other male peers. Equal pay for equal work, is what Audi called for, and of course they also praised themselves on excluding gender bias and discrimination from their compensation reviews and salary plans. Great, except Audi’s board of directors is 100% male, and that to me speaks ‘We want to promote equality but we won’t really do it ourselves’. Pretence.
Not just that, but President Trump also nominated two MEN to lead his Women in the workforce initiative. These are the CEOs of EY and Walmart, both of which companies are almost entirely dominated by men on their boards. That naturally brought up the question whether it’s okay really to have male-dominated companies lead women-in-the-workforce initiatives, and what good does it really do us seeing ads for equal pay when you aren’t willing to promote a single woman to the same ranks as your top senior men. A very interesting article on the issue was published in the Harvard Business Review just few days ago, and I can’t recommend it enough – great read and very valid arguments. All in all, it’s not about whether you’re a man or a woman, if you want to promote equality you should most definitely do so! But do it by example, not by chatter. Claiming you do and then going for an exec meeting at the golf club with your male buddies – not so ok.
Let me know your thoughts either way. Have a fab week, everyone!
Girls' Globe
Hey beauties, 5 February 2017
Today’s THE day for football fans, with the Super Bowl taking place in Houston, TX.
Now, two years ago I wrote an article about major sports events and tournaments and their impact on domestic violence rates. Sadly, in England alone, there’s 25% increase after football matches. What’s just as important is that top athletes are perpetrators of gender-based violence themselves and there’s very little talk and even less action taken on it.
This is why, I’m very proud to introduce my first ever article for Girls’ Globe where I discuss violence by top US athletes in American football. Today’s the perfect day we should raise this, but also it’s just ONE of the days for this conversation. And Girls’ Globe is an absolutely fantastic platform for me to do so. It’s a world-famous website where young feminists get to share their thoughts on the world we live in, and it’s a must-follow for all you, amazing readers of mine!
Check out the post here and let me know your thoughts xx
PS: Tomorrow, 6 February, is International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation. Let us all say NO to GFM and NO to violence against women!
Today’s THE day for football fans, with the Super Bowl taking place in Houston, TX.
Now, two years ago I wrote an article about major sports events and tournaments and their impact on domestic violence rates. Sadly, in England alone, there’s 25% increase after football matches. What’s just as important is that top athletes are perpetrators of gender-based violence themselves and there’s very little talk and even less action taken on it.
This is why, I’m very proud to introduce my first ever article for Girls’ Globe where I discuss violence by top US athletes in American football. Today’s the perfect day we should raise this, but also it’s just ONE of the days for this conversation. And Girls’ Globe is an absolutely fantastic platform for me to do so. It’s a world-famous website where young feminists get to share their thoughts on the world we live in, and it’s a must-follow for all you, amazing readers of mine!
Check out the post here and let me know your thoughts xx
PS: Tomorrow, 6 February, is International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation. Let us all say NO to GFM and NO to violence against women!
Men's Rights
Since we launched Feminist Fursdays in our office, people have been contributing with positive stories about gender equality both in the tech world we’re in, and also on feminism and equality in general. This week’s post was a contribution by my girl Emily M. who shared the following article about male rights activists: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/55285fcb-81a4-424b-92ab-6c10278b5ab5?intc_type=promo&intc_location=news&intc_campaign=mensrights&intc_linkname=bbcthree_fac_article
Some facts to take away from this BBC read are that men are sentenced to over 60% more prison time for the same crime as women; men represent the majority of suicides; they are more likely to become homeless, be autistic, and die young.
And as Emily put it, sympathising with men's rights and understanding their needs is all part of being a feminist!
Very well said! Feminism is not about hating men, it's about having an equal world where everyone’s valued and appreciated for who they are.
Some facts to take away from this BBC read are that men are sentenced to over 60% more prison time for the same crime as women; men represent the majority of suicides; they are more likely to become homeless, be autistic, and die young.
And as Emily put it, sympathising with men's rights and understanding their needs is all part of being a feminist!
Very well said! Feminism is not about hating men, it's about having an equal world where everyone’s valued and appreciated for who they are.
March for Life
Hi beauties,
It wouldn’t be fair blogging about the Women’s March last weekend without also mentioning another women’s demonstration which took place in Washington DC just this Friday, 27th January. It was the 44th annual March for Life – demonstration of anti-abortion activists who first initiated the rally back in the 1970s to protest against the Supreme Court’s decision to legalise abortion in the US. This year thousands of people marched in DC and were even addressed by the newly elected Vice President, Mike Pence. While I’m all pro civil movements and demonstrations of one’s stance on social issues, this one for me is beyond clear. A woman’s right to abortion and contraception is undoubtedly one of the most important freedoms we’ve won in the last century and must not be repealed, ever. It’s the woman’s right to make choices for her own body and it’s only fair she preserves that right, no matter what the new President, or his aides, or the Republican party might think. Having gotten this far in the battle for a woman’s freedom of choice and her sovereignty over her body, it will be disgraceful and truly frightening if the new Supreme Court judges bring us back 50 years in time.
But let’s not be too grim just yet and see what happens. In the meantime, check out photos from the protest here and let us respect their own views and the beauty of democracy.
Have a great Sunday, everyone!
It wouldn’t be fair blogging about the Women’s March last weekend without also mentioning another women’s demonstration which took place in Washington DC just this Friday, 27th January. It was the 44th annual March for Life – demonstration of anti-abortion activists who first initiated the rally back in the 1970s to protest against the Supreme Court’s decision to legalise abortion in the US. This year thousands of people marched in DC and were even addressed by the newly elected Vice President, Mike Pence. While I’m all pro civil movements and demonstrations of one’s stance on social issues, this one for me is beyond clear. A woman’s right to abortion and contraception is undoubtedly one of the most important freedoms we’ve won in the last century and must not be repealed, ever. It’s the woman’s right to make choices for her own body and it’s only fair she preserves that right, no matter what the new President, or his aides, or the Republican party might think. Having gotten this far in the battle for a woman’s freedom of choice and her sovereignty over her body, it will be disgraceful and truly frightening if the new Supreme Court judges bring us back 50 years in time.
But let’s not be too grim just yet and see what happens. In the meantime, check out photos from the protest here and let us respect their own views and the beauty of democracy.
Have a great Sunday, everyone!
More Events
Hi beauties, 26 January 2017
I introduced an upcoming FGM conference for school authorities and professionals earlier this month, and in the spirit of events and conferences, here are two more opportunities to get involved in this winter:
I introduced an upcoming FGM conference for school authorities and professionals earlier this month, and in the spirit of events and conferences, here are two more opportunities to get involved in this winter:
- Coercive Control and Honour Based Abuse – on 23 March 2017 in Leeds, organised by Karma Nirvana (charity helping survivors of honour-based violence in the UK). 99 GBP for delegates, 89 for charities. To register go to http://www.karmanirvana.org.uk/event/coercive-controlling-behaviour/
- The WOW - Women of the World Festival. Takes place the whole week of 7 – 12 March at the Southbank Centre in London. Special guests who have previously given talks include Malala Yousafzai, Gordon Brown, Christine Lagarde, and others. I attended last year's festival and can't recommend it enough J Agenda, tickets and more info at https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/festivals-series/women-of-the-world
The Women's March!!!
Hi beauties, 23 January 2017
I first heard about the Women’s March on Washington few weeks back when I got my regular mail list update from the United State of Women (if you’re not signed up yet, it’s time!)
Now, I thought at that point, great idea, but I wonder how many people will turn up in DC on 21st Jan to protest Trump and to call for sustaining women’s rights and gender equality in America and globally.
That was skeptical of me, though, very skeptical I dare say! This past Saturday, 21st Jan, close to 2.5 MILLION people marched together in solidarity with women! Over 600 marches took place in DC and other major and not so major American cities, plus multiple other places around the globe – in London, Paris, Berlin, Sydney, Hong Kong, Tokyo, everywhere! I’m SO happy that so many of my own friends attended and I got photos and snapchats from people in DC, New York, Boston, London and Paris. Incredibly proud and that just goes to show we’re stronger together and serve as inspiration for each other, every minute of every day!
I was in Rome at the time, rather in the Vatican, where there was no march (if you ask me the church needs some marching too, but let’s not get into that sensitive issue just now). As a result, I didn’t march myself and I’m gutted! But I was there in spirit 1000%! Another notable missing figure was actually Hillary Clinton who didn’t attend the march in DC. Instead, she tweeted, “Thanks for standing, speaking & marching for our values @womensmarch. Important as ever. I truly believe we’re always Stronger Together”. Better than silence altogether and in all honesty, perhaps it is indeed better she didn’t turn up as that gives no opportunity to Trump now to call this a Hillary-initiated protest action and shenanigan (am just waiting to hear what he’ll say btw). It’s important she was there in spirit though, just as Beyonce was (she also posted in support of the event), and millions of other women and men!
I’ve seen multiple posts in newspapers with collections of the best and most inspiring signs people carried, but here’s one of those posts summarising the event in pictures.
Also, in case you don’t know, museums across the world are already collecting Women’s March signs! And why wouldn’t they when this was the biggest march in US history!
Once again, so proud, and so happy of what this weekend turnt into! Read more here of what’s to potentially come next.
Have a fab week, everyone, and stay inspired!
I first heard about the Women’s March on Washington few weeks back when I got my regular mail list update from the United State of Women (if you’re not signed up yet, it’s time!)
Now, I thought at that point, great idea, but I wonder how many people will turn up in DC on 21st Jan to protest Trump and to call for sustaining women’s rights and gender equality in America and globally.
That was skeptical of me, though, very skeptical I dare say! This past Saturday, 21st Jan, close to 2.5 MILLION people marched together in solidarity with women! Over 600 marches took place in DC and other major and not so major American cities, plus multiple other places around the globe – in London, Paris, Berlin, Sydney, Hong Kong, Tokyo, everywhere! I’m SO happy that so many of my own friends attended and I got photos and snapchats from people in DC, New York, Boston, London and Paris. Incredibly proud and that just goes to show we’re stronger together and serve as inspiration for each other, every minute of every day!
I was in Rome at the time, rather in the Vatican, where there was no march (if you ask me the church needs some marching too, but let’s not get into that sensitive issue just now). As a result, I didn’t march myself and I’m gutted! But I was there in spirit 1000%! Another notable missing figure was actually Hillary Clinton who didn’t attend the march in DC. Instead, she tweeted, “Thanks for standing, speaking & marching for our values @womensmarch. Important as ever. I truly believe we’re always Stronger Together”. Better than silence altogether and in all honesty, perhaps it is indeed better she didn’t turn up as that gives no opportunity to Trump now to call this a Hillary-initiated protest action and shenanigan (am just waiting to hear what he’ll say btw). It’s important she was there in spirit though, just as Beyonce was (she also posted in support of the event), and millions of other women and men!
I’ve seen multiple posts in newspapers with collections of the best and most inspiring signs people carried, but here’s one of those posts summarising the event in pictures.
Also, in case you don’t know, museums across the world are already collecting Women’s March signs! And why wouldn’t they when this was the biggest march in US history!
Once again, so proud, and so happy of what this weekend turnt into! Read more here of what’s to potentially come next.
Have a fab week, everyone, and stay inspired!
Mommy and Granny
Tomorrow I'm off to Rome with mommy as it's her birthday coming up on Friday. I've posted on numerous occasions just how proud I am of my mom and how grateful I am for everything she's done for me, and today is no exception. I can only wish her at least 46 more years of joy, happiness and success. Love you, Gali!
It's also my grandma's special celebration on Saturday - the National day of midwives in Bulgaria. After assisting in the births of thousands of babies in her 45-year-long career, grandma has brought more joy to the world than anyone can ever dream of! She's now officially retiring from nursing as well, and is a full time grandma as of this month. With nearly 50 years of work experience and help and devotion to the life and health of others, my grandma is my health hero, but she's also my hero - period.
With such ladies surrounding me, how can I not be grateful and inspired!
Stay blessed y'all and be inspired x
It's also my grandma's special celebration on Saturday - the National day of midwives in Bulgaria. After assisting in the births of thousands of babies in her 45-year-long career, grandma has brought more joy to the world than anyone can ever dream of! She's now officially retiring from nursing as well, and is a full time grandma as of this month. With nearly 50 years of work experience and help and devotion to the life and health of others, my grandma is my health hero, but she's also my hero - period.
With such ladies surrounding me, how can I not be grateful and inspired!
Stay blessed y'all and be inspired x
FGM and the Internet
Hi beauties, 14 January 2017
You may remember FORWARD as a UK-based charity aiming to tackle Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) which I've previously posted updates about on their activities and events in London. One more event coming up now which is strongly recommended for anyone able to attend on 23 Feb 2017 in Westminster: join FORWARD and the European End FGM Network for their one-day pan European conference "Tackling Female Genital Mutilation in Schools: Adopting a Holistic and Proactive Approach". The event will focus on tackling FGM in schools and education settings and hopes to improve the understanding of school professionals about the critical role that they play in addressing FGM and to share best practices for safeguarding and preventing young girls from this violation of their dignity and human rights.
If you're interested, register for the the event here.
In the meantime, if access to internet is your thing and you'd like to ensure no girls are left without access to the world wide web and thus left in poverty, check out my Campaigns tab and support ONE's newest campaign. More on that here.
Have a fab weekend, everyone x
You may remember FORWARD as a UK-based charity aiming to tackle Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) which I've previously posted updates about on their activities and events in London. One more event coming up now which is strongly recommended for anyone able to attend on 23 Feb 2017 in Westminster: join FORWARD and the European End FGM Network for their one-day pan European conference "Tackling Female Genital Mutilation in Schools: Adopting a Holistic and Proactive Approach". The event will focus on tackling FGM in schools and education settings and hopes to improve the understanding of school professionals about the critical role that they play in addressing FGM and to share best practices for safeguarding and preventing young girls from this violation of their dignity and human rights.
If you're interested, register for the the event here.
In the meantime, if access to internet is your thing and you'd like to ensure no girls are left without access to the world wide web and thus left in poverty, check out my Campaigns tab and support ONE's newest campaign. More on that here.
Have a fab weekend, everyone x
Kinga
A very happy new year to everyone! May it be your most prosperous and successful year yet!
In my last post I was reflecting on major events in my life over the past year. I intentionally left out one of the highlights I had in terms of female empowerment which was the world conference I went to in Denmark in May 2016. Women Deliver was the most successful and inspirational event I’ve attended in recent years and I’m very grateful to the charity Women Deliver themselves who fully funded my visit and that of 200 other young scholars from across the world, as part of their 2014-2016 fellowship on girls’ and women’s rights. There, I met some absolutely fabulous people, from royalties, to Prime Ministers and other politicians, to UN and EU personnel, to regular citizens who actively fight for gender equality day in and day out.
I also met a young lady from Poland, Kinga, who lives in the UK like me, and who’s recently been featured in TeenVogue for her fantastic work and educating young people in Poland on their sexual and reproductive health and rights. Check out the article on Kinga’s efforts to build a more educated and active world and get some inspiration here.
Well done, miss, and well done for everyone who does their little bit day by day to make the world more equal and more positive.
Talk soon and stay active this new year!
Happy New 2017!
Hello beauties, 31 December 2016
On the last day of the year, I'm reflecting. Reflecting how I changed my job in July and gave up a name and a brand known across the world to be in a smaller but more suitable place for me. Reflecting how I traveled four times to my home country this year, and always for happy celebrations - be it Christmas or Easter with family, or my grandfather's 70th anniversary, or my own birthday, or my cousin's wedding. All of which with family and loved ones. Reflecting how I spent the most transforming three weeks in the US this April where I not only learnt a great deal work-wise, but also met people who changed my view of success and sense of fulfillment. Reflecting how I helped mom launch her own consulting business in Bulgaria and how I'm definitely going to support her into the new year as well. Reflecting how I taught 21 kids on social entrepreneurship and shared with many more my career path and life choices through various charities in London and back home. And reflecting how I managed to still keep in touch with amazing people, friends who love and support me. Love is what I think we're lacking these days - worldwide that is. We need more love and we need more positive thoughts and actions. Because it's great to reflect but we also need to carry over into the new year all the good things - and most of all, our love for each other and for humanity in general.
It's tough times in the world nowadays and today's post is not about women or girls or my feminist themes - it's about humanity. Let's all be more kind and more human this new year!
Happy celebrations x
On the last day of the year, I'm reflecting. Reflecting how I changed my job in July and gave up a name and a brand known across the world to be in a smaller but more suitable place for me. Reflecting how I traveled four times to my home country this year, and always for happy celebrations - be it Christmas or Easter with family, or my grandfather's 70th anniversary, or my own birthday, or my cousin's wedding. All of which with family and loved ones. Reflecting how I spent the most transforming three weeks in the US this April where I not only learnt a great deal work-wise, but also met people who changed my view of success and sense of fulfillment. Reflecting how I helped mom launch her own consulting business in Bulgaria and how I'm definitely going to support her into the new year as well. Reflecting how I taught 21 kids on social entrepreneurship and shared with many more my career path and life choices through various charities in London and back home. And reflecting how I managed to still keep in touch with amazing people, friends who love and support me. Love is what I think we're lacking these days - worldwide that is. We need more love and we need more positive thoughts and actions. Because it's great to reflect but we also need to carry over into the new year all the good things - and most of all, our love for each other and for humanity in general.
It's tough times in the world nowadays and today's post is not about women or girls or my feminist themes - it's about humanity. Let's all be more kind and more human this new year!
Happy celebrations x
Honesty
A very Merry Christmas, ladies and gents! May the festive season bring you love and happiness - to you and your loved ones!
Good news have come my way from Karen Liu (check out her recent post in the Guest Posts section). The picture she took of me with no makeup earlier this fall has made it into her project 'Honest You'! It's a project which investigates the feelings women have towards makeup and she has interviewed and photographed tens of women in London - myself included. Check out the website and the makeup-less photos here.
Let it be known that with, or without, makeup, women are all beautiful and it's entirely a woman's right to wear it or not. As long as there's freedom of choice and no social pressure, this is what matters.
Talk soon :)
Good news have come my way from Karen Liu (check out her recent post in the Guest Posts section). The picture she took of me with no makeup earlier this fall has made it into her project 'Honest You'! It's a project which investigates the feelings women have towards makeup and she has interviewed and photographed tens of women in London - myself included. Check out the website and the makeup-less photos here.
Let it be known that with, or without, makeup, women are all beautiful and it's entirely a woman's right to wear it or not. As long as there's freedom of choice and no social pressure, this is what matters.
Talk soon :)
Bank Qubator
Hey beauties, 22 December 2016
As you all know I was hiking the Macedonian mountains in October this year while I was training in Krushevo on social entrepreneurship concepts. That was part of the StartQube programme funded by the US State Department through American Councils. I already wrote on here about some of the highlights of that week in mid-October, but what has followed since then is ''Bank Qubator'' - an initiative of mine funded by the US Embassy in Sofia. It involves the training of 20 young people from my hometown Silistra on the topic of social entrepreneurship. Yesterday, 21 December, I passed on the knowledge from my own training to youth from the local charity ''Youth Bank'' during a day-long traning, and the issues discussed were what's social entrepreneurship, how do you develop a business idea, how do you find funding, what's a customer base and how do you come up with a budget. Partners of the training were the Regional Informational Office of the European Union in Silistra, who hosted the group of youngsters on their premises, and local NGO ''Civil Unity'' who works with the Youth Bank volunteers in the city.
The training was conducted through highly interactive methods, group work and games, which aimed to encourage the teens from 15 to 18 years of age to develop their own thinking of problems in the city and innovative ways to solve them. The feedback was overwhelmigly positive with 100% of the students declaring the training day was 'superb', that they were 'extremely satisfied' with the content and structure of the workshop, as well as with the trainer, and that they felt 'inspired to make a positive change'. Multiple students indicated they had loved working in groups which is not always present in the educational system in Bulgaria, and that their exepctations were met and even exceeded. As entrepreneurship is not taught in schools in the country (with the exception of Year 12 in Economics high schools), the topic, as well as the activities, proved highly motivational for the teens to get further economic knowledge and to start developing their own solutions to common social problems in the city.
I must say I'm very happy that there were plenty of young girls attending and they were just as active in the business discussions as their male counterparts (unlike the female presence you see at the top levels of global firms these days, sadly...) In addition to that though, while I was handing out certificates for the students at the end of the day, I was surprised to receive one myself - from the students on the day. I was told I was 'unstoppable' despite living and working full time in London, yet stll giving back to the local community on a regular basis.I'm thrilled and do look forward to new events and projects planned for the new year and beyond.
Happy holidays, everyone!
As you all know I was hiking the Macedonian mountains in October this year while I was training in Krushevo on social entrepreneurship concepts. That was part of the StartQube programme funded by the US State Department through American Councils. I already wrote on here about some of the highlights of that week in mid-October, but what has followed since then is ''Bank Qubator'' - an initiative of mine funded by the US Embassy in Sofia. It involves the training of 20 young people from my hometown Silistra on the topic of social entrepreneurship. Yesterday, 21 December, I passed on the knowledge from my own training to youth from the local charity ''Youth Bank'' during a day-long traning, and the issues discussed were what's social entrepreneurship, how do you develop a business idea, how do you find funding, what's a customer base and how do you come up with a budget. Partners of the training were the Regional Informational Office of the European Union in Silistra, who hosted the group of youngsters on their premises, and local NGO ''Civil Unity'' who works with the Youth Bank volunteers in the city.
The training was conducted through highly interactive methods, group work and games, which aimed to encourage the teens from 15 to 18 years of age to develop their own thinking of problems in the city and innovative ways to solve them. The feedback was overwhelmigly positive with 100% of the students declaring the training day was 'superb', that they were 'extremely satisfied' with the content and structure of the workshop, as well as with the trainer, and that they felt 'inspired to make a positive change'. Multiple students indicated they had loved working in groups which is not always present in the educational system in Bulgaria, and that their exepctations were met and even exceeded. As entrepreneurship is not taught in schools in the country (with the exception of Year 12 in Economics high schools), the topic, as well as the activities, proved highly motivational for the teens to get further economic knowledge and to start developing their own solutions to common social problems in the city.
I must say I'm very happy that there were plenty of young girls attending and they were just as active in the business discussions as their male counterparts (unlike the female presence you see at the top levels of global firms these days, sadly...) In addition to that though, while I was handing out certificates for the students at the end of the day, I was surprised to receive one myself - from the students on the day. I was told I was 'unstoppable' despite living and working full time in London, yet stll giving back to the local community on a regular basis.I'm thrilled and do look forward to new events and projects planned for the new year and beyond.
Happy holidays, everyone!
Activism (2)
Hey beauties, 11 December 2016
After a very busy week, not just work-wise, but more so in Christmas shopping and social events terms, I couldn’t go to bed on a Sunday eve without my regular blog post:
It’s already been three weeks since we launched Feminist Thursdays at my office – an initiative to share positive stories of gender equality on our internal communication channels. Every Thursday different themes are discussed, from education and gender stereotyping, to equal pay for female tech engineers, to maternity and paternity leave policies. The focus is not just on the tech world, which our IT firm is clearly a part of, but also of our general lives and all aspects where equality plays a part (e.g. everywhere!) The name has now evolved into ‘Feminist Fursdays’ and we also had an educational talk on equality, diversity, and charity opportunities to make the world more gender equal. Couldn’t be more proud of my place where there are significantly more women than the UK average of the digital industry standing at 26%. And step by step, I’m convinced we’ll all make London, the UK and the world, a little more gender-equal!
Have a good eve, everyone, and a very successful week ahead!
After a very busy week, not just work-wise, but more so in Christmas shopping and social events terms, I couldn’t go to bed on a Sunday eve without my regular blog post:
It’s already been three weeks since we launched Feminist Thursdays at my office – an initiative to share positive stories of gender equality on our internal communication channels. Every Thursday different themes are discussed, from education and gender stereotyping, to equal pay for female tech engineers, to maternity and paternity leave policies. The focus is not just on the tech world, which our IT firm is clearly a part of, but also of our general lives and all aspects where equality plays a part (e.g. everywhere!) The name has now evolved into ‘Feminist Fursdays’ and we also had an educational talk on equality, diversity, and charity opportunities to make the world more gender equal. Couldn’t be more proud of my place where there are significantly more women than the UK average of the digital industry standing at 26%. And step by step, I’m convinced we’ll all make London, the UK and the world, a little more gender-equal!
Have a good eve, everyone, and a very successful week ahead!
Activism (1)
Hey beauties, 3 December 2016
Because we are in the middle of the 16 days of activism (see below), I’ve published a great guest post of a young activist photographer who’s working to change the perception of makeup amongst women and society in general. While this is not around domestic violence and this month’s UN theme of activism, it’s still pretty inspirational and Karen Liu deserves a big shout out. See more in the 'Guest Post' page.
In the meantime, at my company we launched another great initiative for gender equality last week – what is Feminist Fursdays and what we have already achieved – coming up next time :)
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Because we are in the middle of the 16 days of activism (see below), I’ve published a great guest post of a young activist photographer who’s working to change the perception of makeup amongst women and society in general. While this is not around domestic violence and this month’s UN theme of activism, it’s still pretty inspirational and Karen Liu deserves a big shout out. See more in the 'Guest Post' page.
In the meantime, at my company we launched another great initiative for gender equality last week – what is Feminist Fursdays and what we have already achieved – coming up next time :)
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Time to Eliminate Violence Against Women
Hi beauties,
Nov 25th was the international day to eliminate violence against women. Last year, I posted a video on Facebook to call on people to recognise this day and the struggles billions of women go through every day. Everywhere.
This year, I thought I’d call on people to get involved in the ‘16 days of activism’ – a campaign by the United Nations which is running from Nov 25th to Dec 10th (Human Rights Day). Through this campaign, the UN aims to “raise public awareness and mobilize people everywhere to bring about change” – a change which seems desperately needed considering the facts: 1 in 3 women has suffered from violence in her lifetime. Further to that, Foreign Policy gives us eight more reasons why we need to solve this societal problem once and for all: http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/11/28/8-reasons-for-the-u-n-s-16-days-of-activism-against-gender-based-violence/
So the campaign is needed, it’s already under way around the world, and what have activists been up to in the past week, you may ask. Keep track of what’s happening through the global Facebook page of the campaign: https://www.facebook.com/SayNO.UNiTE and make sure to update your profile picture in solidarity with female SURVIVORS of violence. That’s right – not victims. Survivors!
I’m 'orranging' the world today in solidarity with my grandma, my auntie, my best friend, and myself, who’ve all been victims of violence or harassment in the past. And survived it.
Nov 25th was the international day to eliminate violence against women. Last year, I posted a video on Facebook to call on people to recognise this day and the struggles billions of women go through every day. Everywhere.
This year, I thought I’d call on people to get involved in the ‘16 days of activism’ – a campaign by the United Nations which is running from Nov 25th to Dec 10th (Human Rights Day). Through this campaign, the UN aims to “raise public awareness and mobilize people everywhere to bring about change” – a change which seems desperately needed considering the facts: 1 in 3 women has suffered from violence in her lifetime. Further to that, Foreign Policy gives us eight more reasons why we need to solve this societal problem once and for all: http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/11/28/8-reasons-for-the-u-n-s-16-days-of-activism-against-gender-based-violence/
So the campaign is needed, it’s already under way around the world, and what have activists been up to in the past week, you may ask. Keep track of what’s happening through the global Facebook page of the campaign: https://www.facebook.com/SayNO.UNiTE and make sure to update your profile picture in solidarity with female SURVIVORS of violence. That’s right – not victims. Survivors!
I’m 'orranging' the world today in solidarity with my grandma, my auntie, my best friend, and myself, who’ve all been victims of violence or harassment in the past. And survived it.
Sisters Uncut
Hi beauties,
It’s been a while since my last story on domestic violence but the Evening Standard did remind me this week I have to get right back on it:
It’s been a while since my last story on domestic violence but the Evening Standard did remind me this week I have to get right back on it:
While more crimes are taking place against women in London, and fewer charges and prosecutions, the government is also planning on cutting the budget for supporting victims. As a result, a national protest took place this week, where bridges and roads were blocked by the Sisters Uncut movement in order to raise awareness and public support against the domestic violence funding cuts. Read more on what they want to achieve and how far they’ve gotten here.
Have a great day, everyone!
Have a great day, everyone!
Games and Fires
Hello beauties, 22 Nov 2016
You all know my usual blog topics are around domestic violence, human trafficking, equal pay, women in politics and women in technology.
Now, in a truly surprising fashion as 2016 has been for all of us worldwide, today’s post will defy the odds and cover women in gaming and women in the forest firefighters’ worlds.
Recent research by the Pew Center shows men and women are equally likely to say they play video games, but men are twice as likely to consider themselves "gamers". The gaming industry actually generates $500m (£406m) of profits annually across the world (Deloitte, 2016). It is when gaming becomes competitive though that women’s participation drops drastically. On 21 November the gaming industry awards took place in London and guess what – not a single woman was nominated! There are SOME women there though and the BBC lets us meet two truly inspirational figures – learn more here.
As for forests and wildfires, women hold just 12% of the U.S. government's permanent wildfire suppression jobs at the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the National Parks Service. This week, the Washington Post ran a pretty interesting story on women fighting fires in California, who are often driven out by discrimination, sexual harassment and verbal abuse. What does it feel like to work in a chauvinist culture of male dominance for decades, read here.
We all have to step out of our comfort zone every now and then, don’t we! And I’ll do more diverse posts from now on, pinky promise!
Have a good week, everyone!
You all know my usual blog topics are around domestic violence, human trafficking, equal pay, women in politics and women in technology.
Now, in a truly surprising fashion as 2016 has been for all of us worldwide, today’s post will defy the odds and cover women in gaming and women in the forest firefighters’ worlds.
Recent research by the Pew Center shows men and women are equally likely to say they play video games, but men are twice as likely to consider themselves "gamers". The gaming industry actually generates $500m (£406m) of profits annually across the world (Deloitte, 2016). It is when gaming becomes competitive though that women’s participation drops drastically. On 21 November the gaming industry awards took place in London and guess what – not a single woman was nominated! There are SOME women there though and the BBC lets us meet two truly inspirational figures – learn more here.
As for forests and wildfires, women hold just 12% of the U.S. government's permanent wildfire suppression jobs at the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the National Parks Service. This week, the Washington Post ran a pretty interesting story on women fighting fires in California, who are often driven out by discrimination, sexual harassment and verbal abuse. What does it feel like to work in a chauvinist culture of male dominance for decades, read here.
We all have to step out of our comfort zone every now and then, don’t we! And I’ll do more diverse posts from now on, pinky promise!
Have a good week, everyone!
Homeless Periods
Hello beauties, 18 Nov 2016
While the last two weeks haven’t been particularly cheerful for feminism and gender equality supporters worldwide, it’s worth mentioning at least one positive development from few days ago.
The Homeless Period project in the UK aims to improve the provision of sanitary products in homeless shelters. They’ve already launched a petition to Parliament to provide sanitary products (got over 110 000 signatures online!) Now as of yesterday, they are also campaigning and petitioning to get Procter&Gamble (the producer of ‘Always’) to donate free tampons and pads for ladies in need.
In the meantime, P&G is already doing some good over in Africa where they are providing pads and education to school girls in relation to their periods and body maturity. In partnership with the Department of Basic Education of South Africa, UNICEF, the Small Projects Foundation and other stakeholders, the Always Keeping Girls in School programme has already reached 80 000 girls around the world and over 28 000 girls in South Africa and Kenya through this programme launched in 2006. Corporate social responsibility for the win! Now only need to invest some money and support for homeless women too J
Sign the great petition here.
While the last two weeks haven’t been particularly cheerful for feminism and gender equality supporters worldwide, it’s worth mentioning at least one positive development from few days ago.
The Homeless Period project in the UK aims to improve the provision of sanitary products in homeless shelters. They’ve already launched a petition to Parliament to provide sanitary products (got over 110 000 signatures online!) Now as of yesterday, they are also campaigning and petitioning to get Procter&Gamble (the producer of ‘Always’) to donate free tampons and pads for ladies in need.
In the meantime, P&G is already doing some good over in Africa where they are providing pads and education to school girls in relation to their periods and body maturity. In partnership with the Department of Basic Education of South Africa, UNICEF, the Small Projects Foundation and other stakeholders, the Always Keeping Girls in School programme has already reached 80 000 girls around the world and over 28 000 girls in South Africa and Kenya through this programme launched in 2006. Corporate social responsibility for the win! Now only need to invest some money and support for homeless women too J
Sign the great petition here.
Disappointment
Hey beauties,
I think we all need a moment – or a week – or four years - to mourn Hillary’s loss in America last week. Hence my silence on here for the last 7 days. I’m so incredibly disappointed in the women-hater, racist and misogynist individual that the US elected, that I couldn’t even find the words to comment on the results over the last few days.
In Bulgaria, in the meantime, the potential for the first female president also faded away – on 13 Nov we elected a male Air Force General instead. His female Vice President though – I like the lady! She’s currently a Member of the European Parliament and I look forward to see what new ideas she brings back home, especially for the advancement of women – a top priority for her as she recently declared. Let’s hope for a change at least in the patriarchic Bulgarian setting, if clearly nothing will progress for women in the next four years across the Pond in the US.
God Bless Humanity is what I’m saying now, not just Women.
Have a good week everyone!
I think we all need a moment – or a week – or four years - to mourn Hillary’s loss in America last week. Hence my silence on here for the last 7 days. I’m so incredibly disappointed in the women-hater, racist and misogynist individual that the US elected, that I couldn’t even find the words to comment on the results over the last few days.
In Bulgaria, in the meantime, the potential for the first female president also faded away – on 13 Nov we elected a male Air Force General instead. His female Vice President though – I like the lady! She’s currently a Member of the European Parliament and I look forward to see what new ideas she brings back home, especially for the advancement of women – a top priority for her as she recently declared. Let’s hope for a change at least in the patriarchic Bulgarian setting, if clearly nothing will progress for women in the next four years across the Pond in the US.
God Bless Humanity is what I’m saying now, not just Women.
Have a good week everyone!
Elections Day
Hello beauties, 8 November 2016
It’s US elections day! How nervous am I, can’t even tell you – and I’m not even American myself.
Here’s a couple of articles that are well worth reading – regardless of whether you can vote today or not. It’s not like we can be passive observers when women are getting humiliated on a daily basis in this campaign, right! A complete ‘misogynistic horror show’, as the Guardian calls it – time to end this and put Hilary Clinton in the White House! I can only hope this time tomorrow we’ll have results reflecting just that!
Read the opinions of The Guardian here and The Huffington Post here.
PS: In Bulgaria, our female front-runner for President narrowly lost the first round on Sunday. Now she’s got a runoff to fight this coming Sunday 13th Nov. Let’s see what happens there...
It’s US elections day! How nervous am I, can’t even tell you – and I’m not even American myself.
Here’s a couple of articles that are well worth reading – regardless of whether you can vote today or not. It’s not like we can be passive observers when women are getting humiliated on a daily basis in this campaign, right! A complete ‘misogynistic horror show’, as the Guardian calls it – time to end this and put Hilary Clinton in the White House! I can only hope this time tomorrow we’ll have results reflecting just that!
Read the opinions of The Guardian here and The Huffington Post here.
PS: In Bulgaria, our female front-runner for President narrowly lost the first round on Sunday. Now she’s got a runoff to fight this coming Sunday 13th Nov. Let’s see what happens there...
Youth Activism
Well hello beauties, 6 November 2016
Now that I’ve voted today, I’m all yours with the promised story of last Sunday and the youth activism event I went to at Global Justice Now.
Global Justice Now is a campaigning organisation headquartered in London which works for alleviating poverty and social inequality worldwide. Their ideas are internationalist in nature and hope to better the standards of living of the world’s poorest, and bring in fairer distribution of resources amongst the different populations irrespective of class, race, gender, etc. They organised a day-long youth event on 30th October which I was invited to and which covered issues as wide-ranging from Why shall young people care and be socially active, to Black Lives Matter, to climate change, to refugees and migration, and to free trade agreements. The event was well organised and targeting youngsters up to 28 years of age, based mainly in London, but with a global outlook on society. The ultimate aim is that such activism and inspiration events will bring us together and gradually a London network of youth activists will develop, which will then kick off a national network for the whole of the UK.
In regards to this blog’s concern with women’s issues, we discussed refugees, which we know is a very feminine problem, with nearly 70% of the world’s internally and internationally displaced people being women and children. Particularly touching was the story of two Syrian sisters that we saw as part of the Precarious Trajectories documentary on migrants crossing the sea into Europe in 2015 and 2016. Their sad account of being on a crowded boat in the middle of the sea, crossing from Turkey into Greece, when their vessel ran out of fuel in the middle of the night, really did make me shiver.
On another note, it’s a fact that Syrian and Iraqi women refugees struggle on horrifying journeys on their way to freedom in Europe - research by Amnesty International earlier in 2016 showed that women and girl refugees face violence, assault, exploitation and sexual harassment at every stage of their journey, including on European soil. Hungary, Croatia and Greece are considered the hot spots of fear and violence, but even outside those zones women searching refuge are not safe. And that’s why, in light of the sad discussions we were having last week, but also as a general awareness point, it’s crucial we all stay educated AND alert of people who may need our help – be it women, or children, or men!
Visit the Women for Refugee Women website and learn more of what you can do to help in this challenging time for all of us in Europe. Let’s all show humanity, tolerance and understanding.
Now that I’ve voted today, I’m all yours with the promised story of last Sunday and the youth activism event I went to at Global Justice Now.
Global Justice Now is a campaigning organisation headquartered in London which works for alleviating poverty and social inequality worldwide. Their ideas are internationalist in nature and hope to better the standards of living of the world’s poorest, and bring in fairer distribution of resources amongst the different populations irrespective of class, race, gender, etc. They organised a day-long youth event on 30th October which I was invited to and which covered issues as wide-ranging from Why shall young people care and be socially active, to Black Lives Matter, to climate change, to refugees and migration, and to free trade agreements. The event was well organised and targeting youngsters up to 28 years of age, based mainly in London, but with a global outlook on society. The ultimate aim is that such activism and inspiration events will bring us together and gradually a London network of youth activists will develop, which will then kick off a national network for the whole of the UK.
In regards to this blog’s concern with women’s issues, we discussed refugees, which we know is a very feminine problem, with nearly 70% of the world’s internally and internationally displaced people being women and children. Particularly touching was the story of two Syrian sisters that we saw as part of the Precarious Trajectories documentary on migrants crossing the sea into Europe in 2015 and 2016. Their sad account of being on a crowded boat in the middle of the sea, crossing from Turkey into Greece, when their vessel ran out of fuel in the middle of the night, really did make me shiver.
On another note, it’s a fact that Syrian and Iraqi women refugees struggle on horrifying journeys on their way to freedom in Europe - research by Amnesty International earlier in 2016 showed that women and girl refugees face violence, assault, exploitation and sexual harassment at every stage of their journey, including on European soil. Hungary, Croatia and Greece are considered the hot spots of fear and violence, but even outside those zones women searching refuge are not safe. And that’s why, in light of the sad discussions we were having last week, but also as a general awareness point, it’s crucial we all stay educated AND alert of people who may need our help – be it women, or children, or men!
Visit the Women for Refugee Women website and learn more of what you can do to help in this challenging time for all of us in Europe. Let’s all show humanity, tolerance and understanding.
Presidential Inspirations
While the eyes of the world are all on Clinton and Trump, in my own country Bulgaria we’re having our own Presidential elections tomorrow, 6 Nov.
I’ll be heading to cast my vote early in the morning, in one of the 53 Bulgarian polling stations in the UK (how’s that, ha?) It’s interesting to note, the front runner this year is actually a woman – Tsetska Tsacheva who’s representing the main political party in Bulgaria for the last few years. She’s currently the president of the Parliament back home. Another very powerful woman is running for Vice President (for another party) – Iliana Yotova, who’s currently a Member of the European Parliament and who has publicly declared she’d create a Ministry for gender equality if she wins. Now the latter I have to say I support very much. Whether we’ll have a female president for the first time ever or a female vice-president, remains to be seen, but by the looks of it, one of the two will happen.
Remember to vote if you’re Bulgarian – not because it’s mandatory, but because it’s your constitutional right and your duty as a responsible citizen.
PS: As for the US, if you need a little inspiration, check out my favourite Beyonce and her endorsement of Hillary Clinton last night in Cleveland. Adorable all the way!
YES Publication
Hello beauties,
My reflections on the social entrepreneurship workshop in Macedonia (see post below) have now been published on the Youth Exchange and Study website of the US State Department.
Please check out the story and the pictures here:
http://www.yesprograms.org/stories/reflections-on-the-startqube-social-entrepreneurship-workshop
Have a fab week and I’ll fill you in on my youth activism day last Sunday in due course.
My reflections on the social entrepreneurship workshop in Macedonia (see post below) have now been published on the Youth Exchange and Study website of the US State Department.
Please check out the story and the pictures here:
http://www.yesprograms.org/stories/reflections-on-the-startqube-social-entrepreneurship-workshop
Have a fab week and I’ll fill you in on my youth activism day last Sunday in due course.
Redraw the Balance
Hello beauties, 29 October 2016
Tomorrow I’ll be heading to an event in south London on youth activism and campaigns and I hope to report back to you on here all the good things I’ve learnt and interesting people I’ve met. In the meantime though, I wanted to share a quick 2-min video I found on YouTube which aims to tackle gender stereotypes in children aged 5 to 7. This is the age when kids start to develop stereotypes, some of which may well last a lifetime. So an experiment was conducted where children get asked to draw a fire-fighter, a surgeon, and a jet pilot. And not-quite-surprisingly, 90% of them drew men in those life-saving roles. Turns out, their school had actually invited women with such professions to come and talk to the kids instead. Check out the video which is part of the Redraw the Balance campaign, and share your thoughts here. Clever and inspirational it is, I must say.
Let’s all redraw the balance and challenge at least one gender stereotype this week – be it questioning why a small girl is dressed all in pink, or a boy is not allowed to cry because ‘boys don’t do that’, or a sexy nurse shows up trick-or-treating at your door this weekend, because you’d expect us ladies to be all errrm attractive on this incredibly important event in our social calendar year. Maybe we should question these developments a bit more…
Have a great weekend and happy Halloween, beauties! I’m headed off to a Halloween party as we speak, I’ll catch you later!
Tomorrow I’ll be heading to an event in south London on youth activism and campaigns and I hope to report back to you on here all the good things I’ve learnt and interesting people I’ve met. In the meantime though, I wanted to share a quick 2-min video I found on YouTube which aims to tackle gender stereotypes in children aged 5 to 7. This is the age when kids start to develop stereotypes, some of which may well last a lifetime. So an experiment was conducted where children get asked to draw a fire-fighter, a surgeon, and a jet pilot. And not-quite-surprisingly, 90% of them drew men in those life-saving roles. Turns out, their school had actually invited women with such professions to come and talk to the kids instead. Check out the video which is part of the Redraw the Balance campaign, and share your thoughts here. Clever and inspirational it is, I must say.
Let’s all redraw the balance and challenge at least one gender stereotype this week – be it questioning why a small girl is dressed all in pink, or a boy is not allowed to cry because ‘boys don’t do that’, or a sexy nurse shows up trick-or-treating at your door this weekend, because you’d expect us ladies to be all errrm attractive on this incredibly important event in our social calendar year. Maybe we should question these developments a bit more…
Have a great weekend and happy Halloween, beauties! I’m headed off to a Halloween party as we speak, I’ll catch you later!
StartQube
As promised, a summary of my recent trip to the Balkans :)
In the evening of Wednesday, 12th October, after more than 12 hours traveling, a group of enthusiastic young entrepreneurs-to-be arrived in Krushevo, Macedonia. This is us, 32 alumni from the Youth Exchange and Study Program in South East Europe. As participants from Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Albania and Kosovo, we all had different backgrounds and ages (seven generations of YES were present!) but what united us was the passion to be heard and make a positive difference in our communities through social entrepreneurship.
So there we were! At the StartQube Social Entrepreneurship workshop organized for us by American Councils and STARTUP Development Association. From 12th to 16th October we came up with business ideas, learnt how to structure a team, plan our finances and attract investors, build our brand, and finally – pitch to investors in a real-time challenge on our last day in Krushevo. The pitch challenge asked of us to prepare three-minute presentations in teams where we discuss one social problem in our communities and our solution to it. While we were pressed for time, the results were outstanding – from parenting classes for young moms and dads in Tirana, to a health information app for tourists in Bulgaria, to Amazon for schoolbooks in Belgrade. Out of 10 teams, the top three winners of the challenge were invited to various entrepreneurship conferences in Europe and to additional incubator programs – prizes well deserved and certainly intended to inspire the future leaders of tomorrow to act and not just leave their great ideas on paper (or powerpoint…)
Part of the Macedonian experience was to also visit local businesses – a tour of Krushevo and its hotels, restaurants and lokum-makers. Precisely because of the real-life interaction with business owners, we as participants managed to see some of their challenges and battles and to prepare ourselves for what’s to come when we are in their shoes. Because it’s true, things will never be 100% simple, however it’s thanks to programs like YES and workshops like this one in Macedonia that we learn how to face what life throws at us, to challenge it, and to come out better people and leaders of our communities. And hopefully, to pass on this inspiration to our peers and the next generations to come!
In the evening of Wednesday, 12th October, after more than 12 hours traveling, a group of enthusiastic young entrepreneurs-to-be arrived in Krushevo, Macedonia. This is us, 32 alumni from the Youth Exchange and Study Program in South East Europe. As participants from Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Albania and Kosovo, we all had different backgrounds and ages (seven generations of YES were present!) but what united us was the passion to be heard and make a positive difference in our communities through social entrepreneurship.
So there we were! At the StartQube Social Entrepreneurship workshop organized for us by American Councils and STARTUP Development Association. From 12th to 16th October we came up with business ideas, learnt how to structure a team, plan our finances and attract investors, build our brand, and finally – pitch to investors in a real-time challenge on our last day in Krushevo. The pitch challenge asked of us to prepare three-minute presentations in teams where we discuss one social problem in our communities and our solution to it. While we were pressed for time, the results were outstanding – from parenting classes for young moms and dads in Tirana, to a health information app for tourists in Bulgaria, to Amazon for schoolbooks in Belgrade. Out of 10 teams, the top three winners of the challenge were invited to various entrepreneurship conferences in Europe and to additional incubator programs – prizes well deserved and certainly intended to inspire the future leaders of tomorrow to act and not just leave their great ideas on paper (or powerpoint…)
Part of the Macedonian experience was to also visit local businesses – a tour of Krushevo and its hotels, restaurants and lokum-makers. Precisely because of the real-life interaction with business owners, we as participants managed to see some of their challenges and battles and to prepare ourselves for what’s to come when we are in their shoes. Because it’s true, things will never be 100% simple, however it’s thanks to programs like YES and workshops like this one in Macedonia that we learn how to face what life throws at us, to challenge it, and to come out better people and leaders of our communities. And hopefully, to pass on this inspiration to our peers and the next generations to come!
Pimlico
I’m back from Macedonia (summary post of that to follow) and already engaged in new activities here in London – yesterday, 21 October, I attended the Pimlico Academy careers fair where I spoke to students about careers in technology and finance. I was particularly keen to get groups of girls to talk to me as I’m certain we’ve still got a long way to go till it becomes ‘normal’ to have 50/50 female and male engineers and IT developers, or maybe even longer to get half of financial heads of companies and boards of directors to be women. The careers fair was a massive success and after 3 hours of repeating my life story and lessons learnt to kids from 13 to 17 years of age, I can definitely say I’m proud of what we achieved yesterday. I was invited as part of my voluntary work for Inspire the Future – the charity which I’ve already mentioned in my blog posts and which connects women – and men – with young students and helps the latter get inspiration and tips on education, careers, interviews, etc. Inspiration is the key word here because only when you see people who’ve gotten where you want to get to, do you really see for yourself that it IS actually possible. Real-life examples and interaction works best and many thanks both to the organizers and the 50 career coaches who participated in the event yesterday. Hopefully we’ve inspired the future leaders of Pimlico!
Learn more about volunteering for Inspiring the Future here.
Man Tax
Hey beauties, 16 October 2016
This week I've been working with a team of three other fab Balkan people on an idea to develop a health app for tourists in Bulgaria. Now that I'm on a health-wave, I must share this story I read yesterday about a pharmacy in New York which now charges 'man tax'. 7% are added on male products to promote awareness of gender pricing discrimination. Meaning, studies have previously shown that products for women are charged at higher prices than the same products offered to men. And to make customers aware of this unfair treatment, the Thompson Chemists, located in Manhattan, has now announced all female customers would shop tax-free (sales tax in NY is 7% which the chemists will still pay but will cover the costs themselves). Male customers in the meantime will be charged the equivalent 7% “man tax.” How's that for a fair yet quite brave approach by the pharmacy! Love it and can't wait to see what customers think of it - YES to equality and justice!
Have an awesome Monday, ladies and gents - catch you in London next week!
This week I've been working with a team of three other fab Balkan people on an idea to develop a health app for tourists in Bulgaria. Now that I'm on a health-wave, I must share this story I read yesterday about a pharmacy in New York which now charges 'man tax'. 7% are added on male products to promote awareness of gender pricing discrimination. Meaning, studies have previously shown that products for women are charged at higher prices than the same products offered to men. And to make customers aware of this unfair treatment, the Thompson Chemists, located in Manhattan, has now announced all female customers would shop tax-free (sales tax in NY is 7% which the chemists will still pay but will cover the costs themselves). Male customers in the meantime will be charged the equivalent 7% “man tax.” How's that for a fair yet quite brave approach by the pharmacy! Love it and can't wait to see what customers think of it - YES to equality and justice!
Have an awesome Monday, ladies and gents - catch you in London next week!
Winter Days
I’m writing from a beautiful mountain resort in Macedonia where I’m currently attending a week of social entrepreneurship workshops with American Councils. The US State Department is kindly sponsoring our stay and providing us with skills for creating and leading a business and so far so great (if we exclude the 3 degree temperature outside). I’ll write up some more on this once I return to the UK next week, but while I’ve been here, a number of things have happened which I just need to mention on my blog:
On Tuesday, 11 October, it was the International Day of the Girl Child. Happy to all of us young and older girls – hope we all stay as fierce as we always are!
In South Africa in the meantime, this week saw the launch of a new campaign to challenge the period taboo and to lobby the South African government to end tampon tax. Did you know that 7 million girls in the country regularly miss school because tampons or pads are too expensive to purchase? Yep, we thought so! Currently VAT on sanitary products stands at 14% and I can’t state just how happy I am to see the launch of this campaign in SA as well! We in the UK truly did inspire the whole world to challenge this unfair taxation, oh yes we did!
And lastly, going back to my Trump story of last week – now not only has he made a complete fool of himself with his sexist comments and bragging about sexual assault against women, but he’s also picked a fight with none other but Beyonce! Trump’s adviser said this week Beyonce’s lyrics are actually worse that Trump’s comments – oh how dare she! It’s one thing to be singing about consensual sex and female empowerment both in the bedroom and in life in general by owning and expressing their sexuality, and completely different to talk about forcing them into unwanted sexual acts. How about we don’t even start with Beyonce, ok? Read about the fight here.
I’ll see you all next week, stay healthy in these *winter* days!
When You Are a Star
Hey beauties, 8 October 2016
Saturday morning live and here I am reading the news with a cup of hot coffee in my hands. What do I see first thing? US Presidential elections update. Mr Trump, once again, causing uproar with comments he made in 2005 that you can do anything to women when you’re a ‘star’ and bragging about kissing women in a newly released video by the Washington Post. He’s now apologised for his remarks, but are we even surprised by those? Nope, we most definitely aren’t. For someone who’s made similar comments on various occasions already and someone who thinks that women should be punished for having abortions – what else can we expect?
Hilary Clinton has called the remarks in the latest leak ‘horrific’ and yes, I do agree 100%. How can we even have someone with such disrespect for half of the population lead the said population as a President? We can only hope the Americans will make the logical choice on Nov. 8th – fingers crossed!
Have a good weekend everyone, I’m off to watch How to get away with murder – and update on the latest episode with a domestic violence survivor is to follow. Talk soon x
Saturday morning live and here I am reading the news with a cup of hot coffee in my hands. What do I see first thing? US Presidential elections update. Mr Trump, once again, causing uproar with comments he made in 2005 that you can do anything to women when you’re a ‘star’ and bragging about kissing women in a newly released video by the Washington Post. He’s now apologised for his remarks, but are we even surprised by those? Nope, we most definitely aren’t. For someone who’s made similar comments on various occasions already and someone who thinks that women should be punished for having abortions – what else can we expect?
Hilary Clinton has called the remarks in the latest leak ‘horrific’ and yes, I do agree 100%. How can we even have someone with such disrespect for half of the population lead the said population as a President? We can only hope the Americans will make the logical choice on Nov. 8th – fingers crossed!
Have a good weekend everyone, I’m off to watch How to get away with murder – and update on the latest episode with a domestic violence survivor is to follow. Talk soon x
Jessica
28 September 2016
Starboy by The Weeknd on repeat, and this is the first night in some time that I’m home relatively on time with no pending work or home assignments to complete. How’s that for a Wed eve – time for some serious series catch up!
I am intentionally mentioning my series addiction as for a whole week now I’ve been meaning to write about the Suits season finale and Jessica’s major character revival (spoilers ahead, sorry guys). So Jessica – the one and only black woman at the top of Manhattan’s corporate law firms, a lady with class and a brain sharper than you can ever imagine. Not only is she a woman in the tough corporate and law worlds, but she’s also happens to be African American – double the challenge, please. You add to that unsupportive parents (we now found out her dad didn’t want her to do law), lack of male romantic presence and any relationship (up until now that is, but as of next season Jessica will be sharing her somewhat-new man’s bed in Chicago), and quite frankly – not many female friends, if any friends at all. All that combined makes her life difficult and unappealing to say the least, yet she’s proven to rock the courtroom and pretty much anything she touches throughout the season. She got her firm back on track after a major media disaster (almost), she saved a man’s life from death row, and she inspired her protégé Rachel to believe in justice. She also finally decided to move away from greed and corporate lust for fame and money and to focus on saving lives instead. I just can’t begin to explain how much I love her as a character and as an actress, but also how happy I was to see her rediscover her own self in the season’s last episode. Jessica just made me believe nothing’s lost really and yes, you may be going through deep s* at the moment, but you should never let life lead you – you lead it and you kick ass. That’s how it’s done. Oh, and if you're like Jessica, you wear sky-high stilettos even when you are 6 ft tall, just remember that :)
It’s great to see such role models on screen so be inspired but also be yourselves, ladies!
Catch you over the weekend x
Starboy by The Weeknd on repeat, and this is the first night in some time that I’m home relatively on time with no pending work or home assignments to complete. How’s that for a Wed eve – time for some serious series catch up!
I am intentionally mentioning my series addiction as for a whole week now I’ve been meaning to write about the Suits season finale and Jessica’s major character revival (spoilers ahead, sorry guys). So Jessica – the one and only black woman at the top of Manhattan’s corporate law firms, a lady with class and a brain sharper than you can ever imagine. Not only is she a woman in the tough corporate and law worlds, but she’s also happens to be African American – double the challenge, please. You add to that unsupportive parents (we now found out her dad didn’t want her to do law), lack of male romantic presence and any relationship (up until now that is, but as of next season Jessica will be sharing her somewhat-new man’s bed in Chicago), and quite frankly – not many female friends, if any friends at all. All that combined makes her life difficult and unappealing to say the least, yet she’s proven to rock the courtroom and pretty much anything she touches throughout the season. She got her firm back on track after a major media disaster (almost), she saved a man’s life from death row, and she inspired her protégé Rachel to believe in justice. She also finally decided to move away from greed and corporate lust for fame and money and to focus on saving lives instead. I just can’t begin to explain how much I love her as a character and as an actress, but also how happy I was to see her rediscover her own self in the season’s last episode. Jessica just made me believe nothing’s lost really and yes, you may be going through deep s* at the moment, but you should never let life lead you – you lead it and you kick ass. That’s how it’s done. Oh, and if you're like Jessica, you wear sky-high stilettos even when you are 6 ft tall, just remember that :)
It’s great to see such role models on screen so be inspired but also be yourselves, ladies!
Catch you over the weekend x
Tech Experience
Hello beauties,
Good news is, I passed my exam on Friday and I now have one more tech certification which in turn means more work opportunities and personal development, hooray to that :)
As I'm on a tech wave these days, I thought I'd share the latest research by Accenture which claims that women with technology expertise and experience have increased chances of reaching boards of directors in companies. It's a well known fact that women on boards is uncommon still, with the average female representation in the UK's top corporations being less than 1/3 of all seats. So what helps the ladies to get to the top then? Accenture conducted a study in 39 countries and examined the background of female board members in more than 500 top companies and the results are now in: women are twice as likely to have professional tech experience as their male counterparts, and that applies to pretty much all industries and all examined countries (incl the UK, the US, Australia, Japan, Germany, etc). So shout out to my girl Daniela from HPE Bulgaria and to all my other lovely ladies in Accenture, IBM, PwC, Kainos and every other tech force - seems we got a chance of getting somewhere with these tech diplomas after all :)
Talk soon, everyone, have a lovely weekend!
Good news is, I passed my exam on Friday and I now have one more tech certification which in turn means more work opportunities and personal development, hooray to that :)
As I'm on a tech wave these days, I thought I'd share the latest research by Accenture which claims that women with technology expertise and experience have increased chances of reaching boards of directors in companies. It's a well known fact that women on boards is uncommon still, with the average female representation in the UK's top corporations being less than 1/3 of all seats. So what helps the ladies to get to the top then? Accenture conducted a study in 39 countries and examined the background of female board members in more than 500 top companies and the results are now in: women are twice as likely to have professional tech experience as their male counterparts, and that applies to pretty much all industries and all examined countries (incl the UK, the US, Australia, Japan, Germany, etc). So shout out to my girl Daniela from HPE Bulgaria and to all my other lovely ladies in Accenture, IBM, PwC, Kainos and every other tech force - seems we got a chance of getting somewhere with these tech diplomas after all :)
Talk soon, everyone, have a lovely weekend!
Exams and Stuff
Hello beauties,
You’d think once you’re done with uni, exam period is just a non-existent term in your dictionary. Well, for me it’s an ongoing life reality and my 12345th work certification exam is due this week. This being said, I’ll just quickly share a couple of this week’s feminist news highlights and welcome any more news submissions from yourselves (Thanks for all the links, everyone, trying hard to keep up with all the wonderful – or frustrating - pieces of info coming through).
You’d think once you’re done with uni, exam period is just a non-existent term in your dictionary. Well, for me it’s an ongoing life reality and my 12345th work certification exam is due this week. This being said, I’ll just quickly share a couple of this week’s feminist news highlights and welcome any more news submissions from yourselves (Thanks for all the links, everyone, trying hard to keep up with all the wonderful – or frustrating - pieces of info coming through).
- The UK Parliament has officially confirmed we’ll be scrapping tampon tax by 2018, the latest. This comes after a two-year campaign in the country which has called for an end to the 5% VAT being charged on pads and tampons as a sign of direct and institutionalised discrimination against women’s basic needs. Well done, Parliament!
- In the meantime, across the Pond, the Governor of California decided totally the opposite – that tampon tax must stay because his state needs the money. But of course, it should be women and their bleeding vaginas who pay for the Governor’s private trips here and there, how dare you think otherwise?...
- Jumping to another geographic location, Iran, the police chiefs there have warned that women must not cycle and if they are caught doing so, they’d be prosecuted. (FYI, it’s the same rules in Saudi Arabia as well) But women don’t seem to agree! And a new online campaign has kicked off called #IranianWomenLoveCycling where ladies post pictures and videos of themselves riding bicycles. And yep, we are all in full support!
- Last for today, the latest trend in employee benefits seems to be companies paying for women’s breast milk shipments. Fortune has written a piece on the companies which are caring for their working mother employees in innovative ways, and the read is well inspirational! Good job for all these employers who think a woman should be motivated and incentivised for coming back from maternity, instead of penalised for it! We need more of those companies indeed!
#IAmAllWoman
It’s London Fashion Week full on at the moment, and it’s the perfect timing for me to bring back up the issue of body image, self-confidence and body shapes. The Evening Standard reported the other night how plus-size models, Instagram stars and bloggers have launched a campaign at the opening of LFW to encourage the presence of more realistic body types on the catwalks. Very relevant indeed, considering size 0 seems to be a norm these days, yet in reality most of us women significantly expand the 0 to at least a 10 or more. The All Woman Project “illuminates the idea that all women are more similar than we’re made out to think. We all have physical flaws and imperfections, and that does not make us more or less beautiful. Rather than retouching or shying away from them, we should embrace them.” – what better way to put it! Check out the campaign and remind yourselves and the people around you, that we are all human after all, and regardless of whether I’m a size 10 or 12, I’m still me. And I deserve the same chance to shine as everyone else does!
PS: Yes, my bum is big and yes, it’s size 12.
Love you all, have a great Sunday!
PS: Yes, my bum is big and yes, it’s size 12.
Love you all, have a great Sunday!
Dilma, Dilma
Hello beauties, 13 September 2016
A week after my last post, here I am 23 years old! What a week I had back home in Bulgaria – a birthday, a wedding (not mine…) and my mom’s new office opening. Oh and a new tattoo. These days it’s all about fast life and busy work schedule, so I’ll cut the life stories and share a quick update on the life story of Brazilian (ex-)President Dilma Rousseff: the lady who’s now officially impeached by the Brazilian Parliament and whose departure from the Presidential seat may have devastating consequences for women in her country altogether.
In a recent piece for New America, Chayenne Polimedio writes about Rousseff breaking the glass ceiling when she was elected in 2010 as the first ever female President of her country. She had never held political office; she did not have a traditional path into her political career; and she was divorced – what a dramatic combination, especially when it refers to women trying to break into politics. Great that she got in! But six years later, she’s now gone because of fraudulent activities she allegedly did while in office, and the situation for Brazilian women is back to where we were before Rousseff – no female President, and less than 10% of all Parliamentary seats being held by women. FYI, that’s as bad as Botswana and Liberia – some of the lowest ranking countries when it comes to female participation in politics and gender equality in general. Oh, and Brazil ranks at No.85 in the Global Gender Gap index. Well well, as much as Dilma was our Bulgarian pride (her roots are Bulgarian), it’s a sad story she’s going through at the moment, and even sadder that not much progress has been made for her Brazilian female sisters. More on the impact of Dilma’s impeachment, read here.
Let’s not be too sad on a Tuesday – have a fab week, everyone, and talk soon!
A week after my last post, here I am 23 years old! What a week I had back home in Bulgaria – a birthday, a wedding (not mine…) and my mom’s new office opening. Oh and a new tattoo. These days it’s all about fast life and busy work schedule, so I’ll cut the life stories and share a quick update on the life story of Brazilian (ex-)President Dilma Rousseff: the lady who’s now officially impeached by the Brazilian Parliament and whose departure from the Presidential seat may have devastating consequences for women in her country altogether.
In a recent piece for New America, Chayenne Polimedio writes about Rousseff breaking the glass ceiling when she was elected in 2010 as the first ever female President of her country. She had never held political office; she did not have a traditional path into her political career; and she was divorced – what a dramatic combination, especially when it refers to women trying to break into politics. Great that she got in! But six years later, she’s now gone because of fraudulent activities she allegedly did while in office, and the situation for Brazilian women is back to where we were before Rousseff – no female President, and less than 10% of all Parliamentary seats being held by women. FYI, that’s as bad as Botswana and Liberia – some of the lowest ranking countries when it comes to female participation in politics and gender equality in general. Oh, and Brazil ranks at No.85 in the Global Gender Gap index. Well well, as much as Dilma was our Bulgarian pride (her roots are Bulgarian), it’s a sad story she’s going through at the moment, and even sadder that not much progress has been made for her Brazilian female sisters. More on the impact of Dilma’s impeachment, read here.
Let’s not be too sad on a Tuesday – have a fab week, everyone, and talk soon!
If You Don't Ask, You Don't Get!
Hello beauties, 6 September 2016
It’s been almost a week since I attended a Meet up/ Lean in event in central London where the London Tech Ladies group invited Hayley Barnard – an entrepreneur and public speaker - to talk about diversity in businesses and how in life, if you don’t ask, you don’t get! Hayley has set up three companies on her own already and is making a life out of going to corporations and convincing them why getting more women on their boards is actually a pretty damn good idea. You’d think in 2016 that wouldn’t need any convincing but sadly, there’s still the need to explain to businesses why it benefits them to be more diverse, and even to explain to some women how to go about getting what they want in their careers and lives. The talk was quite interesting and thought-provoking, despite the fact that we all ‘know’ we should get life by the balls and not just wait for things to happen to us. A few brief points (not in a synced order) that I noted down for you all:
PS: I’ll be celebrating my 23rd tomorrow with the one and only most amazing mom in the world! Thank you mom, for everything you’ve done for me!
It’s been almost a week since I attended a Meet up/ Lean in event in central London where the London Tech Ladies group invited Hayley Barnard – an entrepreneur and public speaker - to talk about diversity in businesses and how in life, if you don’t ask, you don’t get! Hayley has set up three companies on her own already and is making a life out of going to corporations and convincing them why getting more women on their boards is actually a pretty damn good idea. You’d think in 2016 that wouldn’t need any convincing but sadly, there’s still the need to explain to businesses why it benefits them to be more diverse, and even to explain to some women how to go about getting what they want in their careers and lives. The talk was quite interesting and thought-provoking, despite the fact that we all ‘know’ we should get life by the balls and not just wait for things to happen to us. A few brief points (not in a synced order) that I noted down for you all:
- Women’s career paths can broadly be defined in three stages: high flyers (women in their early 20s to mid-30s where they aim high and achieve a lot at work); jugglers (mid-30s to mid-40s where having kids and families means your career may be slightly less of a priority and where multiple responsibilities have to be juggled); and authentic contributors (50s onwards, where women return to calmer waters at work and in their personal lives).
- Why should women get promoted more often? Because businesses become more profitable (multiple studies demonstrate a correlation of higher profits when more women sit on boards); group think is avoided and thus risks are reduced; women can reflect the customer base more broadly and understand them, and not just consider them from a male point of view; women are innovative and creative; and yes – we are fun!
- And by the way, did you know that men who share housework and child care are healthier? Both physically and psychologically, AND studies show they have more sex! How’s that!
PS: I’ll be celebrating my 23rd tomorrow with the one and only most amazing mom in the world! Thank you mom, for everything you’ve done for me!
The White House Pledge
Hello beauties, 1 September 2016
I’ve been talking a lot about equal pay in the past two weeks but it’s very much worth pushing it a bit further and sharing the latest White House initiative to encourage companies to review their compensation policies and balance them out based on gender. The White House pledge was launched at the first ever United State of Women conference in June 2016, and companies are signing up at an increasing rate to highlight the critical role businesses must play in reducing the pay gap nationally (and internationally, really). So far 57 private companies have signed up a promise to review their practices and ensure no gender pay gap exists – and where it does, to correct it (see below on what Salesforce.com did just recently, and by the way, yes, they’ve signed the pledge). Just last week, a total of 29 new companies signed Obama’s initiative, and some of these include well-known players such as Apple, Facebook, IBM and Microsoft. Well done, all, we do seem to be moving in the right direction!
The pledge can be signed here (by companies only, not individuals).
PS: Last night I went to a Meet Up/ Lean In event in central London entitled ‘If you don’t ask, you don’t get’. Some pretty inspirational talk was going on of how women should just go and grab opportunities instead of shy away from them. More on this in my next post.
I’ve been talking a lot about equal pay in the past two weeks but it’s very much worth pushing it a bit further and sharing the latest White House initiative to encourage companies to review their compensation policies and balance them out based on gender. The White House pledge was launched at the first ever United State of Women conference in June 2016, and companies are signing up at an increasing rate to highlight the critical role businesses must play in reducing the pay gap nationally (and internationally, really). So far 57 private companies have signed up a promise to review their practices and ensure no gender pay gap exists – and where it does, to correct it (see below on what Salesforce.com did just recently, and by the way, yes, they’ve signed the pledge). Just last week, a total of 29 new companies signed Obama’s initiative, and some of these include well-known players such as Apple, Facebook, IBM and Microsoft. Well done, all, we do seem to be moving in the right direction!
The pledge can be signed here (by companies only, not individuals).
PS: Last night I went to a Meet Up/ Lean In event in central London entitled ‘If you don’t ask, you don’t get’. Some pretty inspirational talk was going on of how women should just go and grab opportunities instead of shy away from them. More on this in my next post.
Employers For The Win!
Hey beauties, 29 August 2016
It's bank holiday Monday in the UK, people are off from work and Notting Hill Carnival is full on! I did my share of carnival-ing yesterday and will be taking today a lot easier. What I did promise though was a note on here about employers that go the extra mile when it comes to their female employees. On the Fortune's 'Change the world' list of the top 50 companies in the world which make a positive change for their own people and their societies, a few appear to be particularly concerned with female empowerment and gender equality.
One such company is Coca Cola (ranked 11 in the list) who has pledged to turn five million impoverished women into entrepreneurs by 2020. By the end of 2015—the halfway mark of this ambitious decade-long goal—the company had reached about 1.2 million women across 60 countries and had created market-specific programmes such as female farming initiatives in Kenya and South Africa. Coca Cola still has a long way to go to reach the 5mil target, but is definitely on the right track. And with partners such as UN Women and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we are all hoping for a success!
Another company to note is No. 17, retailer Crystal Group. They've promised to reach up to 40,000 female employees and improve their labour conditions. Female workers now get mental coaches in all Crystal Group factories, and in-house training courses equip them with computer literacy and leadership skills.Well done for taking the initiative, especially in an industry where majority of factory workers are women, and where the public is particularly sensitive to labour practices.
No 26 on the list, cloud market giant Salesforce.com, is one of my favourite employers though when it comes to gender equality! They made a public research (public is the key word) about their gender pay gap and discovered that 6.6% of its employees needed a salary adjustment to ensure each person, based on job function and location at each level, received comparable pay. $3 million were invested by the company to close any gaps, and by the way, men benefited from some of this as well! Love some Cloud initiative by the way, of course I do when consulting for a cloud software myself.
And lastly, No. 40 - retailer GAP - also invests in its female workers in the whole of their supply chain. GAP has launched the 65-hour long Personal Advancement & Career Enhancement programme for female workers. The curriculum, tailored to local context and delivered in weekly courses, covers problem solving, decision-making and financial literacy, to name a few. Well done, GAP!
There you go, four great examples of care - for their people, and for the societies those people live in. Because women will deliver, and so will their societies!
Have a great week y'all!
It's bank holiday Monday in the UK, people are off from work and Notting Hill Carnival is full on! I did my share of carnival-ing yesterday and will be taking today a lot easier. What I did promise though was a note on here about employers that go the extra mile when it comes to their female employees. On the Fortune's 'Change the world' list of the top 50 companies in the world which make a positive change for their own people and their societies, a few appear to be particularly concerned with female empowerment and gender equality.
One such company is Coca Cola (ranked 11 in the list) who has pledged to turn five million impoverished women into entrepreneurs by 2020. By the end of 2015—the halfway mark of this ambitious decade-long goal—the company had reached about 1.2 million women across 60 countries and had created market-specific programmes such as female farming initiatives in Kenya and South Africa. Coca Cola still has a long way to go to reach the 5mil target, but is definitely on the right track. And with partners such as UN Women and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we are all hoping for a success!
Another company to note is No. 17, retailer Crystal Group. They've promised to reach up to 40,000 female employees and improve their labour conditions. Female workers now get mental coaches in all Crystal Group factories, and in-house training courses equip them with computer literacy and leadership skills.Well done for taking the initiative, especially in an industry where majority of factory workers are women, and where the public is particularly sensitive to labour practices.
No 26 on the list, cloud market giant Salesforce.com, is one of my favourite employers though when it comes to gender equality! They made a public research (public is the key word) about their gender pay gap and discovered that 6.6% of its employees needed a salary adjustment to ensure each person, based on job function and location at each level, received comparable pay. $3 million were invested by the company to close any gaps, and by the way, men benefited from some of this as well! Love some Cloud initiative by the way, of course I do when consulting for a cloud software myself.
And lastly, No. 40 - retailer GAP - also invests in its female workers in the whole of their supply chain. GAP has launched the 65-hour long Personal Advancement & Career Enhancement programme for female workers. The curriculum, tailored to local context and delivered in weekly courses, covers problem solving, decision-making and financial literacy, to name a few. Well done, GAP!
There you go, four great examples of care - for their people, and for the societies those people live in. Because women will deliver, and so will their societies!
Have a great week y'all!
Pay Gap
Hello beauties, 25 August 2016
We’ve had some rather disturbing news over here in the UK this week, when the Institute for Fiscal Studies released a report on the gender pay gap in the country and showed women get paid on average 18% less than men for the same work (per hour)! For some sectors, the percentage reaches 20, especially for professions which require university qualification and highly-skilled backgrounds. What’s much worse, is that women who return from maternity leave get 33% lower wages in their first year back! How’s that for a shocker for all the expectant moms! In case you were wondering, that’s due to reduced hours for moms, as well as them missing out on promotions and pay rises while away and on their immediate return. Also, as a reminder, the Equal Pay Act of 1970 forbids companies from paying different sums of money for employees doing the same work, regardless of their gender. 46 years later, here we are!
Not all is bad news, the gap has narrowed between 1993 and today (it was 28% back then, so down 10 percentage points!) Well, I was born in 1993 but don’t quite want to wait another 40 years till the gap disappears (if not more!) – let’s hope this doesn’t happen!
PS: As I’m working for a Northern Irish company as of last month, it’s good news to note, women in NI actually surpass men in earnings in a number of sectors! Damn right, me love this news!
Happy bank holiday weekend, everyone, and I’ll hit you in the next few days with some more news on employers who care about their female employees! Stay tuned!
We’ve had some rather disturbing news over here in the UK this week, when the Institute for Fiscal Studies released a report on the gender pay gap in the country and showed women get paid on average 18% less than men for the same work (per hour)! For some sectors, the percentage reaches 20, especially for professions which require university qualification and highly-skilled backgrounds. What’s much worse, is that women who return from maternity leave get 33% lower wages in their first year back! How’s that for a shocker for all the expectant moms! In case you were wondering, that’s due to reduced hours for moms, as well as them missing out on promotions and pay rises while away and on their immediate return. Also, as a reminder, the Equal Pay Act of 1970 forbids companies from paying different sums of money for employees doing the same work, regardless of their gender. 46 years later, here we are!
Not all is bad news, the gap has narrowed between 1993 and today (it was 28% back then, so down 10 percentage points!) Well, I was born in 1993 but don’t quite want to wait another 40 years till the gap disappears (if not more!) – let’s hope this doesn’t happen!
PS: As I’m working for a Northern Irish company as of last month, it’s good news to note, women in NI actually surpass men in earnings in a number of sectors! Damn right, me love this news!
Happy bank holiday weekend, everyone, and I’ll hit you in the next few days with some more news on employers who care about their female employees! Stay tuned!
Visual Entertainment
Hey beauties, 22 August 2016
The Rio Olympics are now officially over and I simply cannot conclude a cycle of Olympic blogging without mentioning the phenomenal success the Bulgarian rhythmic gymnastics group achieved yesterday, 21 Aug. We won the bronze medals in the group all-around finals (which many say should have been silver, or even gold!) and basically continued decades of tradition of strong rhythmic gymnastics performances and numerous medals for our small nation. Such a pride these Golden girls are! And as a reminder, this comes two months after one of the team members attempted a suicide back in Sofia, Bulgaria – the struggles of depression and other mental health issues are covered below in my post of 20 June entitled ‘Rhythmic Gymnastics’.
And additionally, as promised, I wanted to drop a note on here about the London feminist film festival which took place in East London 18-21 Aug. I went this Saturday, 20 Aug and saw the screenings of an Irish film on abortions (‘Terminal’) and a French Canadian one on women who choose not to have children (‘No kids for me, thanks!’). The two films were followed by a panel discussion with the two directors who flew into London specifically for the screenings, and who were some totally inspirational chicas. 'Terminal' shows two Irish women to meet at an airport terminal on their way to Manchester to have an abortion. Legal and safe abortion does not exist in the Irish Republic, and by the way, neither are laws on the side of women in Northern Ireland! As a result, every year thousands of women travel to mainland Great Britain to have abortions. The feeling of being a ‘criminal’ in your own country and having to travel and pay for transport, accommodation and services overseas, is rather frustrating in a 21st century Europe. Almost as bad, in Canada, society simply does NOT accept women’s decisions not have children and judges them consistently, as demonstrated in the second film. The director also travelled to France and Belgium to show the situation isn’t any better in Europe either, when it comes to conservative societies where continuing the family line – and the nation! - is seen as top priority. Core themes that arose as part of the discussions in this film is that very often people assume women will change their minds eventually and don’t trust them in making a decision all by themselves. Society also tends to judge childrfree women as assuming they don’t know enough about life and aren’t matured enough unless they bring in a child to this world. And let’s not even mention the argument that people with no kids are selfish! Well, they may well be, but that’s their human right to make choices about their bodies and lives in general, so too bad for those who are unhappy with it. All in all, the movie just rocks and if you ever had doubts of whether to give birth, and/ or are just curious about this very little discussed subject, check it out here.
Have a great Monday and a great week, everyone!
The Rio Olympics are now officially over and I simply cannot conclude a cycle of Olympic blogging without mentioning the phenomenal success the Bulgarian rhythmic gymnastics group achieved yesterday, 21 Aug. We won the bronze medals in the group all-around finals (which many say should have been silver, or even gold!) and basically continued decades of tradition of strong rhythmic gymnastics performances and numerous medals for our small nation. Such a pride these Golden girls are! And as a reminder, this comes two months after one of the team members attempted a suicide back in Sofia, Bulgaria – the struggles of depression and other mental health issues are covered below in my post of 20 June entitled ‘Rhythmic Gymnastics’.
And additionally, as promised, I wanted to drop a note on here about the London feminist film festival which took place in East London 18-21 Aug. I went this Saturday, 20 Aug and saw the screenings of an Irish film on abortions (‘Terminal’) and a French Canadian one on women who choose not to have children (‘No kids for me, thanks!’). The two films were followed by a panel discussion with the two directors who flew into London specifically for the screenings, and who were some totally inspirational chicas. 'Terminal' shows two Irish women to meet at an airport terminal on their way to Manchester to have an abortion. Legal and safe abortion does not exist in the Irish Republic, and by the way, neither are laws on the side of women in Northern Ireland! As a result, every year thousands of women travel to mainland Great Britain to have abortions. The feeling of being a ‘criminal’ in your own country and having to travel and pay for transport, accommodation and services overseas, is rather frustrating in a 21st century Europe. Almost as bad, in Canada, society simply does NOT accept women’s decisions not have children and judges them consistently, as demonstrated in the second film. The director also travelled to France and Belgium to show the situation isn’t any better in Europe either, when it comes to conservative societies where continuing the family line – and the nation! - is seen as top priority. Core themes that arose as part of the discussions in this film is that very often people assume women will change their minds eventually and don’t trust them in making a decision all by themselves. Society also tends to judge childrfree women as assuming they don’t know enough about life and aren’t matured enough unless they bring in a child to this world. And let’s not even mention the argument that people with no kids are selfish! Well, they may well be, but that’s their human right to make choices about their bodies and lives in general, so too bad for those who are unhappy with it. All in all, the movie just rocks and if you ever had doubts of whether to give birth, and/ or are just curious about this very little discussed subject, check it out here.
Have a great Monday and a great week, everyone!
Honour + Rome
Hello beauties, 20 August 2016
It’s a very rainy Saturday in London, and I’m off to the London feminist film festival in a bit. Of course I’ll be blogging all about it after, but in the meantime, I thought I’d share two ongoing stories.
First, Donald Trump for ONCE made an acceptable comment about women in his campaign speeches. He actually called against governments which tolerate honour killings and confirmed his administration would work towards the eradication of this cultural practice where innocent women are killed by their families simply because they want to marry for love or own a cell phone or put on makeup. Thousands of honour killings happen every year, predominantly in India and Pakistan, but not just there, sadly… This time something sensible has come out of Trump’s talkative mouth and myself being so touched by the honour killings subject, I’m glad to see him taking a stand against it.
And another ongoing story – after Tokyo elected its first ever female leader, the lady is already rocking it by taking action to convert the city into the new world hub for Financials. She’s also determined to smash it at the 2020 Olympics and preparations are under way already. Speaking of female mayors and governors, Rome elected its first ever female mayor in June this year. Virginia Raggi literally swept it all with nearly 70% of the votes. She’s a lawyer turned politician, and said Rome will have its first female mayor “in an age where equality of opportunity remains a mirage.” Italy in particular isn’t quite the most open country when it comes to female participation in politics, but maybe that’s a sign for a change! Remains to be seen.
Talk soon with reports from the Feminist festival x
It’s a very rainy Saturday in London, and I’m off to the London feminist film festival in a bit. Of course I’ll be blogging all about it after, but in the meantime, I thought I’d share two ongoing stories.
First, Donald Trump for ONCE made an acceptable comment about women in his campaign speeches. He actually called against governments which tolerate honour killings and confirmed his administration would work towards the eradication of this cultural practice where innocent women are killed by their families simply because they want to marry for love or own a cell phone or put on makeup. Thousands of honour killings happen every year, predominantly in India and Pakistan, but not just there, sadly… This time something sensible has come out of Trump’s talkative mouth and myself being so touched by the honour killings subject, I’m glad to see him taking a stand against it.
And another ongoing story – after Tokyo elected its first ever female leader, the lady is already rocking it by taking action to convert the city into the new world hub for Financials. She’s also determined to smash it at the 2020 Olympics and preparations are under way already. Speaking of female mayors and governors, Rome elected its first ever female mayor in June this year. Virginia Raggi literally swept it all with nearly 70% of the votes. She’s a lawyer turned politician, and said Rome will have its first female mayor “in an age where equality of opportunity remains a mirage.” Italy in particular isn’t quite the most open country when it comes to female participation in politics, but maybe that’s a sign for a change! Remains to be seen.
Talk soon with reports from the Feminist festival x
Hijabs and Period Taboos
Hello beauties,
I’ve done some blogging already on the Rio Olympics and women and sports, but I can’t really stop just yet – not only because the Olympics are still ongoing, but also because sexist scandals and/ or positive feminist news seems to overwhelm the internet still. When the whole world is talking feminism in Rio, who am I not to do the same :)
One thing is that Saudi Arabia sent four female athletes this year to compete at the Olympics – up from just two last time in London. BUT ever more shocking has been the choice of American fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad who became the first American woman to compete wearing a hijab. She was immediately pronounced as the spokesperson for Muslim female athletes and inspired others to fight for the same right. One like-minded American Muslim weightlifter, Kulsoom Abdullah, wrote an inspirational op-ed in the New York Times this weekend - check it out here and find out for yourselves just how hard it is being not just a female athlete but also from a religious and/ or ethnic minority. And on a related note, the UK government recently released the results of a study showing which societal groups are most discriminated against in our beautiful country – guess who? Muslim women from ethnic minority background, you guessed it right. Fighting with three stigmas at the same time, tough job it is...
On a bright note, Chinese swimmer Fu Yuanhui broke the internet in an honest interview remark after her team competed in the 4x100m medley relay on Sunday – she said she did not swim well, and was sorry for letting her teammates down. She also said that was partially down to her being on her period and feeling unwell! She smashed it with that remark as traditionally the period taboo is no-go zone for female athletes to discuss publicly. Not to mention that many people think you can’t even swim when you are on your period! So well done to Fu for bringing it up and showing this is nothing to be ashamed of! And by the way, in China studies show that only about 2% of women wear tampons – mainly due to a cultural stigma around it and wide-spread societal preference for pads. Well, tampons are not that bad after all and at the very least they allow you to compete and get a prestigious 4th place. Well done, Fu!
Talk soon, ladies and gents!
I’ve done some blogging already on the Rio Olympics and women and sports, but I can’t really stop just yet – not only because the Olympics are still ongoing, but also because sexist scandals and/ or positive feminist news seems to overwhelm the internet still. When the whole world is talking feminism in Rio, who am I not to do the same :)
One thing is that Saudi Arabia sent four female athletes this year to compete at the Olympics – up from just two last time in London. BUT ever more shocking has been the choice of American fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad who became the first American woman to compete wearing a hijab. She was immediately pronounced as the spokesperson for Muslim female athletes and inspired others to fight for the same right. One like-minded American Muslim weightlifter, Kulsoom Abdullah, wrote an inspirational op-ed in the New York Times this weekend - check it out here and find out for yourselves just how hard it is being not just a female athlete but also from a religious and/ or ethnic minority. And on a related note, the UK government recently released the results of a study showing which societal groups are most discriminated against in our beautiful country – guess who? Muslim women from ethnic minority background, you guessed it right. Fighting with three stigmas at the same time, tough job it is...
On a bright note, Chinese swimmer Fu Yuanhui broke the internet in an honest interview remark after her team competed in the 4x100m medley relay on Sunday – she said she did not swim well, and was sorry for letting her teammates down. She also said that was partially down to her being on her period and feeling unwell! She smashed it with that remark as traditionally the period taboo is no-go zone for female athletes to discuss publicly. Not to mention that many people think you can’t even swim when you are on your period! So well done to Fu for bringing it up and showing this is nothing to be ashamed of! And by the way, in China studies show that only about 2% of women wear tampons – mainly due to a cultural stigma around it and wide-spread societal preference for pads. Well, tampons are not that bad after all and at the very least they allow you to compete and get a prestigious 4th place. Well done, Fu!
Talk soon, ladies and gents!
Sports: Still On It
Hello beauties,
Back to my Rio2016 theme! Did you see the other day Iranian activist Darya Safai at a men’s volleyball match carrying a sign to allow Iranian women to attend sports games at Iranian stadiums? I LOVE her determination to fight for the rights of her fellow Iranian sisters who have been banned from male-only sporting events since 1979! She says this is unfair and that women should be able to watch if they want to – and showed her opinion to the world with a massive poster in Rio reading ‘Let Iranian women enter their stadiums’! Security tried to kick her out, of course, but she refused to leave and kept the sign up for the whole duration of the game! That’s what we call determination, ladies! Shout out to my girl Esy for sending me the analysis on this event yesterday.
And meanwhile, a new study of English language by Cambridge University press reveals wide discrepancies in how the media and fans talk about men and women in sport. Of course I always get frustrated when I see newspaper titles around a female athlete’s husband who’s also her coach and without whom she wouldn’t have made it to an Olympic medal. Oh dear! In regards to the study, let’s start with the fact that ‘man’ and ‘men’ are mentioned at least 2-3 times more often in journalism than ‘woman’ and ‘women’ when it comes to sporting events and achievements. Notable terms describing women, but not men, in sport include ‘aged’, ‘older’, ‘pregnant’ and ‘married’ or ‘un-married’. Also, discussions of how long one’s tennis skirt is a typical thing, ya know! How would this not make you annoyed now! Please do read the full research findings at http://www.cambridge.org/about-us/news/aest/ – but be warned of high annoyance levels on a Monday ;)
Have a great week, ladies and gents!
Back to my Rio2016 theme! Did you see the other day Iranian activist Darya Safai at a men’s volleyball match carrying a sign to allow Iranian women to attend sports games at Iranian stadiums? I LOVE her determination to fight for the rights of her fellow Iranian sisters who have been banned from male-only sporting events since 1979! She says this is unfair and that women should be able to watch if they want to – and showed her opinion to the world with a massive poster in Rio reading ‘Let Iranian women enter their stadiums’! Security tried to kick her out, of course, but she refused to leave and kept the sign up for the whole duration of the game! That’s what we call determination, ladies! Shout out to my girl Esy for sending me the analysis on this event yesterday.
And meanwhile, a new study of English language by Cambridge University press reveals wide discrepancies in how the media and fans talk about men and women in sport. Of course I always get frustrated when I see newspaper titles around a female athlete’s husband who’s also her coach and without whom she wouldn’t have made it to an Olympic medal. Oh dear! In regards to the study, let’s start with the fact that ‘man’ and ‘men’ are mentioned at least 2-3 times more often in journalism than ‘woman’ and ‘women’ when it comes to sporting events and achievements. Notable terms describing women, but not men, in sport include ‘aged’, ‘older’, ‘pregnant’ and ‘married’ or ‘un-married’. Also, discussions of how long one’s tennis skirt is a typical thing, ya know! How would this not make you annoyed now! Please do read the full research findings at http://www.cambridge.org/about-us/news/aest/ – but be warned of high annoyance levels on a Monday ;)
Have a great week, ladies and gents!
Gotta Love These Two
Hey beauties,
After the publication of a guest post on body confidence and self-respect, I wanted to share an article I recently saw where a girl responds to her Tinder date who says she’s too fat for love. She basically rocks it with her message back and tells him to kiss her beautiful arse! Read the story here.
And another inspiration came from President Obama last week who posted an essay on feminism on Glamour. What it means being a father, husband – and a leader of the world – who’s also a feminist and wants other men to be too? Read on at http://www.glamour.com/story/glamour-exclusive-president-barack-obama-says-this-is-what-a-feminist-looks-like
An ordinary woman puts a man in his place for saying some extra kilos matter more than personality, and a man puts on paper inspirational thoughts on feminist leadership in the White House and in his own household – gotta love these two!
Have an awesome weekend, everyone!
After the publication of a guest post on body confidence and self-respect, I wanted to share an article I recently saw where a girl responds to her Tinder date who says she’s too fat for love. She basically rocks it with her message back and tells him to kiss her beautiful arse! Read the story here.
And another inspiration came from President Obama last week who posted an essay on feminism on Glamour. What it means being a father, husband – and a leader of the world – who’s also a feminist and wants other men to be too? Read on at http://www.glamour.com/story/glamour-exclusive-president-barack-obama-says-this-is-what-a-feminist-looks-like
An ordinary woman puts a man in his place for saying some extra kilos matter more than personality, and a man puts on paper inspirational thoughts on feminist leadership in the White House and in his own household – gotta love these two!
Have an awesome weekend, everyone!
Every Road Leads to Rio
Hello beauties, 8 August 2016
What a great reaction to the guest post from last week on the beauty of all body sizes and shapes and the importance to live your life how you want it regardless of what others think of you. Positive self-image and respect for oneself is crucial here and I’m very happy to see so many likes and shares on Facebook since the article was published.
Staying on a healthy living note, the Rio Olympics kicked off on Friday 5th Aug, and hope is for a record number of women to participate in this year’s Olympics. In ancient times, women were not actually allowed to participate in the Games, and it wasn’t until 1900 that the first women competed in Paris. In 2012, London saw 44% of all athletes being women, and maybe this year we’ll near gender parity for the first time ever!
In a great piece last weekend (http://www.wsj.com/articles/at-the-rio-olympics-women-athletes-bump-against-a-gold-ceiling-1470425132), the Wall Street Journal noted that female athletes at the Olympics are still treated unfairly though – for example, women won’t swim 1,500 m at Rio. They only swim up to 800 m at the Olympics, while men do the longer distances. Similarly, the men’s cycling road race is 62 miles longer than the women’s. This appears to doubt female strength and endurance and by the way, that being said, American swimmer Katie Ledecky recently beat (by a massive margin) the world record in the exact same discipline of 1,500 m. Shame she can’t re-live the record at Rio but seems women can do it after all!
I’m all for women in sports and equal participation – AND pay! – at the Olympics, and any other sporting events. But equally, I don’t think we need to be given an easy challenge and special treatment just because of biology!
Have a fab week, ladies and gents!
What a great reaction to the guest post from last week on the beauty of all body sizes and shapes and the importance to live your life how you want it regardless of what others think of you. Positive self-image and respect for oneself is crucial here and I’m very happy to see so many likes and shares on Facebook since the article was published.
Staying on a healthy living note, the Rio Olympics kicked off on Friday 5th Aug, and hope is for a record number of women to participate in this year’s Olympics. In ancient times, women were not actually allowed to participate in the Games, and it wasn’t until 1900 that the first women competed in Paris. In 2012, London saw 44% of all athletes being women, and maybe this year we’ll near gender parity for the first time ever!
In a great piece last weekend (http://www.wsj.com/articles/at-the-rio-olympics-women-athletes-bump-against-a-gold-ceiling-1470425132), the Wall Street Journal noted that female athletes at the Olympics are still treated unfairly though – for example, women won’t swim 1,500 m at Rio. They only swim up to 800 m at the Olympics, while men do the longer distances. Similarly, the men’s cycling road race is 62 miles longer than the women’s. This appears to doubt female strength and endurance and by the way, that being said, American swimmer Katie Ledecky recently beat (by a massive margin) the world record in the exact same discipline of 1,500 m. Shame she can’t re-live the record at Rio but seems women can do it after all!
I’m all for women in sports and equal participation – AND pay! – at the Olympics, and any other sporting events. But equally, I don’t think we need to be given an easy challenge and special treatment just because of biology!
Have a fab week, ladies and gents!
Big Girls
Hey beauties,
Happy sunny Saturday! Now, I have to talk to you about Obama, the Rio Olympics, women with no make-up, and a whole lot of other issues, all lined up in blog posts for you. But first I'd love it if you read the most personal and honest confession I've received as a guest post on my blog - probably ever! A guy tells a woman: 'You are amazing, and I want to be with you but first you have to lose weight'. And the (anonymous) woman then messages me and shares her story. Of course she also tells him 'Boy Bye!' - like any self-respecting badass woman would do! Read it @ the Guest Posts tab and please feel free to share - because by speaking up about body size and image we break stigmas! Happy weekend xx
Happy sunny Saturday! Now, I have to talk to you about Obama, the Rio Olympics, women with no make-up, and a whole lot of other issues, all lined up in blog posts for you. But first I'd love it if you read the most personal and honest confession I've received as a guest post on my blog - probably ever! A guy tells a woman: 'You are amazing, and I want to be with you but first you have to lose weight'. And the (anonymous) woman then messages me and shares her story. Of course she also tells him 'Boy Bye!' - like any self-respecting badass woman would do! Read it @ the Guest Posts tab and please feel free to share - because by speaking up about body size and image we break stigmas! Happy weekend xx
History
Hello beauties,
Sooo Hillary Clinton made history last week by accepting the Presidential nomination of the Democrats and the becoming the first female to ever have done so in the name of a major political party in the US.
Two things to note here – firstly, she wore an all-white suit at the Convention. Not that what women wear is important (hell no, we ain’t discussing Obama’s outfits every time, are we?) – but this time it IS indeed significant as white was the suffragette colour! So the impact on the night was even bigger in her feminist statement that after a hundred years, a woman could finally reach the White House.
Second though, I saw this absolutely CUTEST article on Cosmo which shows pictures of families who made their little girls stay up late and watch the Convention to show them ‘girls can and will run the world’. See the sweetest little girl below - literally my heart is full of joy at the moment!
By the way, in Japan last week another very significant event happened – a woman was elected as governor of Tokyo for the first time. And that’s in a VERY conservative country where women at work are just, hmmmm undermined, to say the least. Quite a big statement that election was! If you’d like to hear more news on powerful women all around the world, you can sign up to Fortune’s Powerful Women daily newsletter – it will make your day, trust me!
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Sooo Hillary Clinton made history last week by accepting the Presidential nomination of the Democrats and the becoming the first female to ever have done so in the name of a major political party in the US.
Two things to note here – firstly, she wore an all-white suit at the Convention. Not that what women wear is important (hell no, we ain’t discussing Obama’s outfits every time, are we?) – but this time it IS indeed significant as white was the suffragette colour! So the impact on the night was even bigger in her feminist statement that after a hundred years, a woman could finally reach the White House.
Second though, I saw this absolutely CUTEST article on Cosmo which shows pictures of families who made their little girls stay up late and watch the Convention to show them ‘girls can and will run the world’. See the sweetest little girl below - literally my heart is full of joy at the moment!
By the way, in Japan last week another very significant event happened – a woman was elected as governor of Tokyo for the first time. And that’s in a VERY conservative country where women at work are just, hmmmm undermined, to say the least. Quite a big statement that election was! If you’d like to hear more news on powerful women all around the world, you can sign up to Fortune’s Powerful Women daily newsletter – it will make your day, trust me!
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Inspiring Woman
Hey queens and kings, 31 July 2016
Today’s post is in honour of my mom – the most inspirational woman I know.
After 17 years of public and private sectors experience dealing with European projects, as well as national and regional initiatives in Bulgaria, my mom has decided to launch her own consulting business! I’m so proud of her for taking this step, and while entrepreneurship may be risky at times, it’s also proof of one’s character and their own belief in themselves and their skills. Me, on the other hand, believe in her more than anyone else! She’s smart, energetic and very experienced, and she’ll rock it!
Check out my mom’s recently launched website here, and feel free to find her on LinkedIn @ Galina Daskalova.
What we see around us is what influences us the most, and mother is the best influence I can ask for!
PS: To be inspired by other fab women, please read on my Campaigns page and join in on a national school campaign ‘Inspiring Women’.
Today’s post is in honour of my mom – the most inspirational woman I know.
After 17 years of public and private sectors experience dealing with European projects, as well as national and regional initiatives in Bulgaria, my mom has decided to launch her own consulting business! I’m so proud of her for taking this step, and while entrepreneurship may be risky at times, it’s also proof of one’s character and their own belief in themselves and their skills. Me, on the other hand, believe in her more than anyone else! She’s smart, energetic and very experienced, and she’ll rock it!
Check out my mom’s recently launched website here, and feel free to find her on LinkedIn @ Galina Daskalova.
What we see around us is what influences us the most, and mother is the best influence I can ask for!
PS: To be inspired by other fab women, please read on my Campaigns page and join in on a national school campaign ‘Inspiring Women’.
Something Old and Something New
Hey beauties,
Today I’m doing something old and something new for my blog post.
The old is pretty well known now, only that it just got confirmed at the Democratic National Convention last night that Hillary Clinton is the first woman ever to be nominated by a major party for President of the United States. Congratulations, Mrs Hillary, you just HAVE to take power in your hands now!
One more piece of news which is well known already: New York became the first state in the US this week to officially announce stopping the taxation of female sanitary products! The governor has now signed the bill and as of September women in the state will save on 4% of their pads, tampons, etc. Wonderful news for our sisters there, hope is for the rest of the US – and the world – to follow!
And now something new: women in transport is not something I’ve really covered in my blog posts in the past 2 years. But thanks to my girl Tsvetelina I’ve learnt now that Transport for London and the House of Commons are kicking in big efforts to get more women into the industry. Did you know that only 18% of UK transport jobs are occupied by women? To address this and to promote best practice the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Women in Transport was recently created. Let’s wish them a cheerful journey and success in their quest to get more females interested in the field – we will indeed follow what they do!
Have a good eve, everyone! Talk over the weekend!
Today I’m doing something old and something new for my blog post.
The old is pretty well known now, only that it just got confirmed at the Democratic National Convention last night that Hillary Clinton is the first woman ever to be nominated by a major party for President of the United States. Congratulations, Mrs Hillary, you just HAVE to take power in your hands now!
One more piece of news which is well known already: New York became the first state in the US this week to officially announce stopping the taxation of female sanitary products! The governor has now signed the bill and as of September women in the state will save on 4% of their pads, tampons, etc. Wonderful news for our sisters there, hope is for the rest of the US – and the world – to follow!
And now something new: women in transport is not something I’ve really covered in my blog posts in the past 2 years. But thanks to my girl Tsvetelina I’ve learnt now that Transport for London and the House of Commons are kicking in big efforts to get more women into the industry. Did you know that only 18% of UK transport jobs are occupied by women? To address this and to promote best practice the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Women in Transport was recently created. Let’s wish them a cheerful journey and success in their quest to get more females interested in the field – we will indeed follow what they do!
Have a good eve, everyone! Talk over the weekend!
The Good Parliament
Hi beautiful people and happy Saturday!
So after a number of posts below on increasing female voices in politics, it’s logical to trace HOW exactly do we get more representative governments? This is precisely the topic of a recent report launched in the House of Commons this week, appropriately named ‘The Good Parliament’. It discusses 43 practical recommendations on how to get more women elected as Members of Parliament, how to make MPs more effective, and Parliament – more highly regarded by the public. The author of the report is Professor Sarah Childs from the University of Bristol. In today’s Parliament women are still only 29.4% of the House of Commons, and that is simply not good enough! What the different committees in the Commons can do, and how the Minister for Women and Equalities needs to step up her game – read in the report here.
PS: Thanks to everyone who’s been sending me stories lately, it’s proving difficult to keep up with all the news articles coming out and the recommendations people have for writings on here. But fear not, I got a list of resources and topics you’ve sent through and I’ll be posting accordingly over the news couple of weeks. Thanks for your support!
So after a number of posts below on increasing female voices in politics, it’s logical to trace HOW exactly do we get more representative governments? This is precisely the topic of a recent report launched in the House of Commons this week, appropriately named ‘The Good Parliament’. It discusses 43 practical recommendations on how to get more women elected as Members of Parliament, how to make MPs more effective, and Parliament – more highly regarded by the public. The author of the report is Professor Sarah Childs from the University of Bristol. In today’s Parliament women are still only 29.4% of the House of Commons, and that is simply not good enough! What the different committees in the Commons can do, and how the Minister for Women and Equalities needs to step up her game – read in the report here.
PS: Thanks to everyone who’s been sending me stories lately, it’s proving difficult to keep up with all the news articles coming out and the recommendations people have for writings on here. But fear not, I got a list of resources and topics you’ve sent through and I’ll be posting accordingly over the news couple of weeks. Thanks for your support!
Where Are All the Women At?
Hey beauties, 21 July 2016
Particularly intense last few days on an emotional level with a new job starting in London, combined with a nostalgic feeling for family I left back home. As per usual, stressful times call for therapy and in my case that includes loads of reading and blogging, so here I am.
We are complaining that despite hopes, not much has changed for women on the British political scene last few weeks, other than Mrs May heading Parliament. But hey, it’s equally bad in the US, where a recent article on Cosmopolitan magazine’s website discusses this week’s Republican convention and the lack of young women attending. The fact that women are not present at the election of the party nominee, and are equally reluctant to support Donald Trump is pretty concerning. Although for the latter – no surprise there, honestly! As of this month, 70% of Republican women disapprove of Trump, as an FYI. But back to the main issue at hand, females are largely non-existent at decision-making in American Republican elections, not in 2012, not now either. The article claims young people were similarly underrepresented, with female youngsters even less so. This signals once again of the desperate need to engage more women in decision- and policy-making, as well as in running for elections and being elected in office. Once again, not because I am a democrat at heart, and a feminist praying for a female president, but I really do think it’s high time for us as responsible citizens to make right choices – choices which consider the other half of our populations, listen to them, and get them involved in politics.
Ataturk said in 1920s Turkey: ‘Everything we see in the world is the creative work of women. Our society failed because we ignored and misbehaved our women.’ And we now have to make sure this doesn’t happen again – in America and elsewhere!.
Have a lovely eve, everyone, talk this weekend!
Particularly intense last few days on an emotional level with a new job starting in London, combined with a nostalgic feeling for family I left back home. As per usual, stressful times call for therapy and in my case that includes loads of reading and blogging, so here I am.
We are complaining that despite hopes, not much has changed for women on the British political scene last few weeks, other than Mrs May heading Parliament. But hey, it’s equally bad in the US, where a recent article on Cosmopolitan magazine’s website discusses this week’s Republican convention and the lack of young women attending. The fact that women are not present at the election of the party nominee, and are equally reluctant to support Donald Trump is pretty concerning. Although for the latter – no surprise there, honestly! As of this month, 70% of Republican women disapprove of Trump, as an FYI. But back to the main issue at hand, females are largely non-existent at decision-making in American Republican elections, not in 2012, not now either. The article claims young people were similarly underrepresented, with female youngsters even less so. This signals once again of the desperate need to engage more women in decision- and policy-making, as well as in running for elections and being elected in office. Once again, not because I am a democrat at heart, and a feminist praying for a female president, but I really do think it’s high time for us as responsible citizens to make right choices – choices which consider the other half of our populations, listen to them, and get them involved in politics.
Ataturk said in 1920s Turkey: ‘Everything we see in the world is the creative work of women. Our society failed because we ignored and misbehaved our women.’ And we now have to make sure this doesn’t happen again – in America and elsewhere!.
Have a lovely eve, everyone, talk this weekend!
Saturday Night Live (Sort Of)
Hello beauties, 16 July 2016
A couple of short and sweet messages for you all on this Saturday evening:
The day before yesterday was the birthday of the most important man in my life - my grandfather! He turned 70 and I'm so proud and happy for him and everything that he has done both as a teacher in his working years, and as a husband, father and grandfather. Love you, Pepi, and thank you for being a man of inspiration and for teaching me to stand up for myself as a woman!
Theresa May, on the other hand, is also relying on men around her, it turns out! Five of the six key positions in her newly formed Cabinet this week went to men! And only one lady got to be the Home Secretary of the UK (her own vacated position). She then hired six more women on Thursday - but all of them in less important positions, nothing in the ranks of finance, foreign relations, or the new Brexit ministerial job. Not surprised, yet annoyed that a woman who personally promoted getting more women in Parliament (!) now decided they were not worthy of being actual decision-makers of major significance. Not impressed...
And lastly, Japan and Asia in general is not an area I focus much on when it comes to my writings. This time though, it's worth mentioning Tokyo will host the next "Global Summit of Women" (nicknamed "Davos for Women") organised for the 25th consecutive year by the Washington-based charity Globe Women. If you follow the news, you'd know Japan has the lowest % of women on boards in the entire developed world (2% that is!) and faces a whole lot of other issues when it comes to women in the workplace, including recently women having started to go to classes of how to wear high heels and walk 'properly' so they no longer look like 'ducks' in their colleagues' eyes (that's not a joke). However, I'm glad to see the country hosting the next global summit as hopefully that would bring attention to the issue - and who knows, maybe Japanese women's rights and authority will blossom after all!
Happy rest of the weekend y'all!
A couple of short and sweet messages for you all on this Saturday evening:
The day before yesterday was the birthday of the most important man in my life - my grandfather! He turned 70 and I'm so proud and happy for him and everything that he has done both as a teacher in his working years, and as a husband, father and grandfather. Love you, Pepi, and thank you for being a man of inspiration and for teaching me to stand up for myself as a woman!
Theresa May, on the other hand, is also relying on men around her, it turns out! Five of the six key positions in her newly formed Cabinet this week went to men! And only one lady got to be the Home Secretary of the UK (her own vacated position). She then hired six more women on Thursday - but all of them in less important positions, nothing in the ranks of finance, foreign relations, or the new Brexit ministerial job. Not surprised, yet annoyed that a woman who personally promoted getting more women in Parliament (!) now decided they were not worthy of being actual decision-makers of major significance. Not impressed...
And lastly, Japan and Asia in general is not an area I focus much on when it comes to my writings. This time though, it's worth mentioning Tokyo will host the next "Global Summit of Women" (nicknamed "Davos for Women") organised for the 25th consecutive year by the Washington-based charity Globe Women. If you follow the news, you'd know Japan has the lowest % of women on boards in the entire developed world (2% that is!) and faces a whole lot of other issues when it comes to women in the workplace, including recently women having started to go to classes of how to wear high heels and walk 'properly' so they no longer look like 'ducks' in their colleagues' eyes (that's not a joke). However, I'm glad to see the country hosting the next global summit as hopefully that would bring attention to the issue - and who knows, maybe Japanese women's rights and authority will blossom after all!
Happy rest of the weekend y'all!
Women Taking Over Politics
Hi ladies and gents, Ironically, just as I posted my last post, yesterday afternoon Mrs Andrea Leadsom dropped out of the Prime Minister race at the British Conservative Party and as of tomorrow we'll have a new PM - Theresa May. In my eyes it's a somewhat of a compromise and balanced option, but let's see what the future brings us. One thing is for certain - she's got tough decisions to make and promises to deliver on, and an organised, ambitious and motivated lady like her should be more than capable of doing the job (on capability debates, see below). However, an article on the BBC caught my eye yesterday - no, women have not taken over British politics completely. In fact, there are 140% more male MPs in this Parliament, than female. So we've still got very far to go to reach complete gender balance in policy and decision making. Check out my Campaigns tab please, where you can sign the 50:50 Parliament petition and make your voice heard that female participation in politics is crucial for the development of the nation. Talk soon! |
Capable Men. And Women.
Hey all, 11 July 2016
Writing from veeery hot Bulgaria today.
Since last week a lot has happened! I left my job. Yup, I did. I also went to Beyonce's concert which was the most magical experience e.v.e.r. Then I flew back home to Bulgaria and saw my lovely family. Now I am at the beach in Varna and wishing I had put more cream on as the skin on my chest is burning hot and red. Problems, you know...
On a feminist note here, I was told today a shocking statement, and what's worse - by someone I know well: "How is it possible that such a great country like Britain doesn't have even one capable man and so you guys will have a woman as the next Prime Minister - how bad is this!" I was honestly beyond stunned by this question and genuinely lost words for a second. I can NOT comprehend how it is bad to have a female Prime Minister and even worse, the comment of how there are no capable men and so as last resort we'll choose a woman - now that's beyond ridiculous! Theresa May, the frontrunner, has been the Home Secretary for six years now, and Andrea Leadsom has been a banker in the City, and an MP for six years now. Both ladies have support from their Party, although on a different scale, and now it's at the hands of the Conservative voters to choose a new party leader who will subsequently become the new PM. Please note I'm not writing on here about their families, which has been in the public eye a lot over the weekend with a rather disgusting comment by Leadsom that she'd be a better PM because she's a mum of three (vs May who does not have children). Backstabbing and completely irrelevant comments are not needed, Mrs Leadsom. Not least against another woman. Show some respect. We've now got enough men already complaining about the female 'dominance' in UK politics, we don't need female hatred too.
Have a fab week, everyone!
Writing from veeery hot Bulgaria today.
Since last week a lot has happened! I left my job. Yup, I did. I also went to Beyonce's concert which was the most magical experience e.v.e.r. Then I flew back home to Bulgaria and saw my lovely family. Now I am at the beach in Varna and wishing I had put more cream on as the skin on my chest is burning hot and red. Problems, you know...
On a feminist note here, I was told today a shocking statement, and what's worse - by someone I know well: "How is it possible that such a great country like Britain doesn't have even one capable man and so you guys will have a woman as the next Prime Minister - how bad is this!" I was honestly beyond stunned by this question and genuinely lost words for a second. I can NOT comprehend how it is bad to have a female Prime Minister and even worse, the comment of how there are no capable men and so as last resort we'll choose a woman - now that's beyond ridiculous! Theresa May, the frontrunner, has been the Home Secretary for six years now, and Andrea Leadsom has been a banker in the City, and an MP for six years now. Both ladies have support from their Party, although on a different scale, and now it's at the hands of the Conservative voters to choose a new party leader who will subsequently become the new PM. Please note I'm not writing on here about their families, which has been in the public eye a lot over the weekend with a rather disgusting comment by Leadsom that she'd be a better PM because she's a mum of three (vs May who does not have children). Backstabbing and completely irrelevant comments are not needed, Mrs Leadsom. Not least against another woman. Show some respect. We've now got enough men already complaining about the female 'dominance' in UK politics, we don't need female hatred too.
Have a fab week, everyone!
Mentoring
Hi beauties, 3 July 2016
Last night it was Beyonce night here at Wembley, but I am still under so much emotion that I can't even write about it just yet! Promise to make it my next post!
Now however, I wanted to talk about the mentoring scheme I'm currently participating in which is for women in business and sports.
The aim of the programme administered by the 30% Club and Women Ahead is to build the pipeline and presence of women in leadership roles in sport – and build sport-to-business relationships. With monthly meetings and regular events, the programme matches a mentor from a corporate background, to a woman from the English sports industry and is rooted in the belief that no matter what our choice of career, 'we can all benefit profoundly from escaping our silos and engaging with different perspectives'. Very well said as I'm already experiencing this myself. In my case I'm matched with an absolutely fab lady from English squash and as someone who knows nothing about squash, I'm super pleased that I'm learning as much from her, as I'm trying to offer as a 'business' mentor.
What's very important to me is that my mentee is 100% rocking it when it comes to getting more girls in sports, especially into squash - a traditionally male-dominated discipline, and usually boys from white ethnic background. Heidi has launched a scheme to attract more girls into squash in her local county (a bit outside of London) and she's working with schools to get teenagers up to the age of 18 to be active and to dedicate time and effort to a healthy extracurricular activity such as squash. I've asked her to share a bit more of her experience of expanding the gender lens on the sport and we should be hearing from her soon. In the meantime, you can check out the England squash website and their national campaign to increase female participation into the sport here. #SquashGirlsCan
Also, if you are currently a mentor, or a mentee, regardless in what field or scheme, make sure to check out Lean In which has a brand new campaign on women supporting each other including tips on mentoring. More info and daily updates here.
I'm now off to Bulgaria but promise to write in the meantime!
Talk soon, ladies and gents, and stay on top of your game - now and always :)
Last night it was Beyonce night here at Wembley, but I am still under so much emotion that I can't even write about it just yet! Promise to make it my next post!
Now however, I wanted to talk about the mentoring scheme I'm currently participating in which is for women in business and sports.
The aim of the programme administered by the 30% Club and Women Ahead is to build the pipeline and presence of women in leadership roles in sport – and build sport-to-business relationships. With monthly meetings and regular events, the programme matches a mentor from a corporate background, to a woman from the English sports industry and is rooted in the belief that no matter what our choice of career, 'we can all benefit profoundly from escaping our silos and engaging with different perspectives'. Very well said as I'm already experiencing this myself. In my case I'm matched with an absolutely fab lady from English squash and as someone who knows nothing about squash, I'm super pleased that I'm learning as much from her, as I'm trying to offer as a 'business' mentor.
What's very important to me is that my mentee is 100% rocking it when it comes to getting more girls in sports, especially into squash - a traditionally male-dominated discipline, and usually boys from white ethnic background. Heidi has launched a scheme to attract more girls into squash in her local county (a bit outside of London) and she's working with schools to get teenagers up to the age of 18 to be active and to dedicate time and effort to a healthy extracurricular activity such as squash. I've asked her to share a bit more of her experience of expanding the gender lens on the sport and we should be hearing from her soon. In the meantime, you can check out the England squash website and their national campaign to increase female participation into the sport here. #SquashGirlsCan
Also, if you are currently a mentor, or a mentee, regardless in what field or scheme, make sure to check out Lean In which has a brand new campaign on women supporting each other including tips on mentoring. More info and daily updates here.
I'm now off to Bulgaria but promise to write in the meantime!
Talk soon, ladies and gents, and stay on top of your game - now and always :)
Vaginas and Things
Hi All, 29 June 2016
Today's post is vagina-related. Yep, I said it.
All three stories are good news from across the Pond, and we'll start with the nearest one to Europe - namely, what New York City officials decided just recently: NYC public schools, shelters and jails will provide FREE TAMPONS! Amid a national discussion of the costs relating to menstruation, NYC is on track of becoming the first US city to provide sanitary pads and tampons for free to all women in public schools, prisons and homeless facilities. How great is that, way to go NYC!
Secondly, moving down south, Texas has been told off by the Supreme Court this Monday for attempting to close all but nine abortion clinics in the whole of Texas State. Officials were planning on introducing a strict law which would force abortion providers to shut down due to numerous new requirements such as meeting expensive, hospital-like building and equipment standards. This would have effectively limited women's access to clinics and jeopardised their reproductive health and rights. The Supreme Court ruling of 5-3 is now called the biggest victory for women since abortion became legal in 1973. Hurray!
And lastly, in my very own state, Washington, pharmacists have been told by the Supreme Court they are required to still sell emergency contraception to women, even if this goes against their religious beliefs. Individual pharmacists with moral objections against contraception have previously denied serving women and this can no longer be acceptable, the Court has said. So far, pharmacists could refer the patient to another colleague within the same store, but the State is now allowed to require pharmacies to dispense Plan B and other pills despite personal believes. As much as I understand this is a sensitive matter, we are discussing life-changing decisions here and one's perosnal beliefs shouldn't be forced onto another individual! Once again a victory for reproductive rights!
I'll leave you for today with these good news, have a fab week!
PS: Happy Name Day to my most wonderful and amazing grandfather, love you Pepi!
Today's post is vagina-related. Yep, I said it.
All three stories are good news from across the Pond, and we'll start with the nearest one to Europe - namely, what New York City officials decided just recently: NYC public schools, shelters and jails will provide FREE TAMPONS! Amid a national discussion of the costs relating to menstruation, NYC is on track of becoming the first US city to provide sanitary pads and tampons for free to all women in public schools, prisons and homeless facilities. How great is that, way to go NYC!
Secondly, moving down south, Texas has been told off by the Supreme Court this Monday for attempting to close all but nine abortion clinics in the whole of Texas State. Officials were planning on introducing a strict law which would force abortion providers to shut down due to numerous new requirements such as meeting expensive, hospital-like building and equipment standards. This would have effectively limited women's access to clinics and jeopardised their reproductive health and rights. The Supreme Court ruling of 5-3 is now called the biggest victory for women since abortion became legal in 1973. Hurray!
And lastly, in my very own state, Washington, pharmacists have been told by the Supreme Court they are required to still sell emergency contraception to women, even if this goes against their religious beliefs. Individual pharmacists with moral objections against contraception have previously denied serving women and this can no longer be acceptable, the Court has said. So far, pharmacists could refer the patient to another colleague within the same store, but the State is now allowed to require pharmacies to dispense Plan B and other pills despite personal believes. As much as I understand this is a sensitive matter, we are discussing life-changing decisions here and one's perosnal beliefs shouldn't be forced onto another individual! Once again a victory for reproductive rights!
I'll leave you for today with these good news, have a fab week!
PS: Happy Name Day to my most wonderful and amazing grandfather, love you Pepi!
Call the Police. If Not, Who Else?
Hello beauties, 26 June 2016
As promised, a few lines below on police violence against women – a topic discussed at the first ever United State of Women conference at the White House last week.
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear violence against women? Probably the grim statistic that 1 in every 3 women is abused in her lifetime by someone she knows – usually her partner. Yet, when they are abused women sometimes (sadly, only sometimes!) go to the police as first help against their abusers. At the same time, however, sexual misconduct is the 2nd most reported type of police misconduct in the US. And often, it is precisely victims of domestic violence who then suffer from police abuse as well.
Other vulnerable groups of women include indigenous women, and even more so - sex workers. Because of fear they might be prosecuted for their work, they are often abused by police forces in return for the policemen’s 'silence'. Minority women, mainly black and Latinas, and females from low income background, are the other common groups of victims of police sexual violence in the US.
The CATO institute in DC currently has a national project on police misconduct reporting, and it has found out precisely that excessive force and sexual abuse are the two most common crimes committed by policemen while on duty. If you are interested, the Institute has a daily recap on all misconduct by policemen, registered in any of the 50 states in America and what action has been taken against those policemen. As an FYI, the latest sexual accusation against an officer was just 4 days ago in Michigan…
I have to admit, police violence is not what I’d first associate women with: maybe because of well known images in the media where black male teenagers get shot by policemen, or other similar stories run way too often in the press (unfortunately...) Yet, it is an extremely serious issue and one which must be spoken more about. And lastly, if you have already finished the latest season of Orange is the New Black, you’d know exactly what I mean by authority figures exercising physical force on females (in this case in prison), and cases where such force leads to death. More on Orange is the New Black another time, pinky promise!
Have a great weekend, everyone, and talk next week.
PS: Yes, I’m still mad about Brexit.
As promised, a few lines below on police violence against women – a topic discussed at the first ever United State of Women conference at the White House last week.
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear violence against women? Probably the grim statistic that 1 in every 3 women is abused in her lifetime by someone she knows – usually her partner. Yet, when they are abused women sometimes (sadly, only sometimes!) go to the police as first help against their abusers. At the same time, however, sexual misconduct is the 2nd most reported type of police misconduct in the US. And often, it is precisely victims of domestic violence who then suffer from police abuse as well.
Other vulnerable groups of women include indigenous women, and even more so - sex workers. Because of fear they might be prosecuted for their work, they are often abused by police forces in return for the policemen’s 'silence'. Minority women, mainly black and Latinas, and females from low income background, are the other common groups of victims of police sexual violence in the US.
The CATO institute in DC currently has a national project on police misconduct reporting, and it has found out precisely that excessive force and sexual abuse are the two most common crimes committed by policemen while on duty. If you are interested, the Institute has a daily recap on all misconduct by policemen, registered in any of the 50 states in America and what action has been taken against those policemen. As an FYI, the latest sexual accusation against an officer was just 4 days ago in Michigan…
I have to admit, police violence is not what I’d first associate women with: maybe because of well known images in the media where black male teenagers get shot by policemen, or other similar stories run way too often in the press (unfortunately...) Yet, it is an extremely serious issue and one which must be spoken more about. And lastly, if you have already finished the latest season of Orange is the New Black, you’d know exactly what I mean by authority figures exercising physical force on females (in this case in prison), and cases where such force leads to death. More on Orange is the New Black another time, pinky promise!
Have a great weekend, everyone, and talk next week.
PS: Yes, I’m still mad about Brexit.
Birthday Exercise
Hello beauties,
It's been two years! Happy birthday to my baby blog! Special thanks to the couple of individuals who personally congratulated me on LinkedIn on my 'anniversary' i.e. work anniversary on this beautiful online platform. It does feel like work due to how serious I'm taking writing, but also it's not work per se as it's what I absolutely love and enjoy doing on a weekly basis. Thanks to all my readers, we are nearing 30 000 reads! I can't hide how excited I am and how I can't wait to continue on this blogging journey together!
While I had promised an article on police violence against women (not forgotten!), I think it's more appropriate to have a 'happy' article first to celebrate the anniversary. Thus, a few lines below on girls and sports and how much more kick-ass we become if we actively exercise and participate in sports!
At the Women Deliver 2016 conference in Denmark last month I chatted to a lady from the International Olympic Committee, who was SO passionate to get more girls and women into sports! She gave me some reading materials and briefed me on the IOC's efforts to encourage gender equality at Olympic games tournaments and in general. Did you know the first time women competed at Olympic games was in 1900 in Paris? That was before many countries even allowed women to vote, including Britain by the way. There were 997 athletes that year, of whom only 22 were female - however, it was a breakthrough nevertheless as it defied discrimination and social tensions. The record female participation was reached at the last Games - in London, 2012 - with 44% of all athletes being women. And by 2020 the plan is to reach complete equality (50%).
While female leadership in the IOC and national OCs is beyond disappointing (some countries and sports have 0! women on boards), it is still important to point at the integral role sports can play for female empowerment at all levels. Sport brings people together, it fights stereotypes and breaks down barriers. Including cultural ones with the example of the first Saudi woman to compete at Olympic Games in London 2012 (she did judo). Sports also teach discipline, tolerance and organisational skills. They make better leaders - with EY quoting survey stats that amongst women in a C-suite position, up to 96% have done sports at some point in their lives. In the same survey, 72% of women agree that individuals who do sports participate more effectively within teams than those who have not had this experience.
I hope the above inspires you to do some sporting this weekend, even if that's not a team organised activity - any physical activity is good! I'll leave you with an update that I'm currently participating in a mentorship scheme where business ladies are matched with sports representatives in England, to share experiences and learn from each other - from the boardroom to the sports rooms. What I'm learning on English squash is coming up soon, stay tuned!
It's been two years! Happy birthday to my baby blog! Special thanks to the couple of individuals who personally congratulated me on LinkedIn on my 'anniversary' i.e. work anniversary on this beautiful online platform. It does feel like work due to how serious I'm taking writing, but also it's not work per se as it's what I absolutely love and enjoy doing on a weekly basis. Thanks to all my readers, we are nearing 30 000 reads! I can't hide how excited I am and how I can't wait to continue on this blogging journey together!
While I had promised an article on police violence against women (not forgotten!), I think it's more appropriate to have a 'happy' article first to celebrate the anniversary. Thus, a few lines below on girls and sports and how much more kick-ass we become if we actively exercise and participate in sports!
At the Women Deliver 2016 conference in Denmark last month I chatted to a lady from the International Olympic Committee, who was SO passionate to get more girls and women into sports! She gave me some reading materials and briefed me on the IOC's efforts to encourage gender equality at Olympic games tournaments and in general. Did you know the first time women competed at Olympic games was in 1900 in Paris? That was before many countries even allowed women to vote, including Britain by the way. There were 997 athletes that year, of whom only 22 were female - however, it was a breakthrough nevertheless as it defied discrimination and social tensions. The record female participation was reached at the last Games - in London, 2012 - with 44% of all athletes being women. And by 2020 the plan is to reach complete equality (50%).
While female leadership in the IOC and national OCs is beyond disappointing (some countries and sports have 0! women on boards), it is still important to point at the integral role sports can play for female empowerment at all levels. Sport brings people together, it fights stereotypes and breaks down barriers. Including cultural ones with the example of the first Saudi woman to compete at Olympic Games in London 2012 (she did judo). Sports also teach discipline, tolerance and organisational skills. They make better leaders - with EY quoting survey stats that amongst women in a C-suite position, up to 96% have done sports at some point in their lives. In the same survey, 72% of women agree that individuals who do sports participate more effectively within teams than those who have not had this experience.
I hope the above inspires you to do some sporting this weekend, even if that's not a team organised activity - any physical activity is good! I'll leave you with an update that I'm currently participating in a mentorship scheme where business ladies are matched with sports representatives in England, to share experiences and learn from each other - from the boardroom to the sports rooms. What I'm learning on English squash is coming up soon, stay tuned!
Rhythmic Gymnastics
Yesterday I learnt that in Bulgaria, one of our Golden girls from the National Rhythmic Gymnastics team attempted a suicide! She jumped from the 6th floor of an apartment building, right before an international championship abroad last week. I was shocked when I heard and am still processing the little information that is known about the girl's mental health and team problems in relation to an upcoming championship.
Because of this situation, and in general my deep interest in mental health resilience, I wanted to drop a line on here in honour of all the millions of people who suffer from depression, anxiety or problems relating to stress. One in every four people gets affected by a mental disease in their lifetime, and not only is this deeply impactful on them as people, their families and loved ones, but also mental health issues have a significant impact on the society and on labour force in general.
Did you know that the total cost to UK employers of mental health problems among their staff is estimated at nearly £26 billion each year*. That equates to £1,035 for every employee in the UK workforce. The average employee takes seven days off sick each year of which nearly half are for mental health problems. Reduced productivity at work in another issue - ‘presenteeism’ accounts for 1.5 times as much working time lost as absenteeism and costs more to employers as it is more common among more senior staff who are also paid more.
Every year, of the 60 million people in the UK, 12 million adults see their GP with mental health problems. And yes, it is difficult to talk about these things, but we must or else we end up with lack of support to those most in need!
Have a great and stress-free week, everyone! My prayers are with the girl's family back home!
*Data from a PwC and Mind publication, 2016.
Because of this situation, and in general my deep interest in mental health resilience, I wanted to drop a line on here in honour of all the millions of people who suffer from depression, anxiety or problems relating to stress. One in every four people gets affected by a mental disease in their lifetime, and not only is this deeply impactful on them as people, their families and loved ones, but also mental health issues have a significant impact on the society and on labour force in general.
Did you know that the total cost to UK employers of mental health problems among their staff is estimated at nearly £26 billion each year*. That equates to £1,035 for every employee in the UK workforce. The average employee takes seven days off sick each year of which nearly half are for mental health problems. Reduced productivity at work in another issue - ‘presenteeism’ accounts for 1.5 times as much working time lost as absenteeism and costs more to employers as it is more common among more senior staff who are also paid more.
Every year, of the 60 million people in the UK, 12 million adults see their GP with mental health problems. And yes, it is difficult to talk about these things, but we must or else we end up with lack of support to those most in need!
Have a great and stress-free week, everyone! My prayers are with the girl's family back home!
*Data from a PwC and Mind publication, 2016.
Solutions
Hi world, 19 June 2016
It’s been an intense week in all aspects of life, and I’ve been meaning to write on the United State of Women conference and a topic which affected me greatly while streaming the DC event. The topic is police violence against women, mainly sexual violence, and I promise to write on the issue as my next blog post, but until then, I also wanted to share an article on solutions – not problems, for once.
In the latest issue of Impact magazine (dedicated to health and other issues affecting women and girls), Raj Kumar from the online development platform Devex, wrote on which 3 things can change everything for women. A solution, that is, with three simple yet powerful tools which can change every woman’s life around the world:
First, it’s an ID card. Why you’d ask? Because in many parts of the world, newborns are not even legally registered and so they remain as non-existent for the law and insitutions, in some cases up until their death. Girls are less likely to be registered than boys (which also implies legal fees! and access to a hospital to begin with), and thus women in parts of the world never even exist on paper, let alone be aloud to have bank accounts and be independent from their families and husbands, or register to vote, be elected, etc.
Secondly, a bank account – without financial independence no woman can be 100% empowered! Did you know that in 93 countries around the world there’s mobile money services available, which can tremendously help to provide access to money funds, transfers, insurance and other necessary services especially for female entrepreneurs kicking off their own businesses. Technology can help massively here.
And that brings us to the last point – the internet! Without internet connection and the connectivity and access to information and services that it provides, women’s potential may remain untapped. For female farmers (they are majority of the world’s farmers, by the way!) it’s particularly important to track the weather and the markets, so how much easier can this be through the internet!
With these three simple things (or simple they are for us in the West) a girl and a woman can seize their own opportunities in life! Let’s make sure they can!
It’s been an intense week in all aspects of life, and I’ve been meaning to write on the United State of Women conference and a topic which affected me greatly while streaming the DC event. The topic is police violence against women, mainly sexual violence, and I promise to write on the issue as my next blog post, but until then, I also wanted to share an article on solutions – not problems, for once.
In the latest issue of Impact magazine (dedicated to health and other issues affecting women and girls), Raj Kumar from the online development platform Devex, wrote on which 3 things can change everything for women. A solution, that is, with three simple yet powerful tools which can change every woman’s life around the world:
First, it’s an ID card. Why you’d ask? Because in many parts of the world, newborns are not even legally registered and so they remain as non-existent for the law and insitutions, in some cases up until their death. Girls are less likely to be registered than boys (which also implies legal fees! and access to a hospital to begin with), and thus women in parts of the world never even exist on paper, let alone be aloud to have bank accounts and be independent from their families and husbands, or register to vote, be elected, etc.
Secondly, a bank account – without financial independence no woman can be 100% empowered! Did you know that in 93 countries around the world there’s mobile money services available, which can tremendously help to provide access to money funds, transfers, insurance and other necessary services especially for female entrepreneurs kicking off their own businesses. Technology can help massively here.
And that brings us to the last point – the internet! Without internet connection and the connectivity and access to information and services that it provides, women’s potential may remain untapped. For female farmers (they are majority of the world’s farmers, by the way!) it’s particularly important to track the weather and the markets, so how much easier can this be through the internet!
With these three simple things (or simple they are for us in the West) a girl and a woman can seize their own opportunities in life! Let’s make sure they can!
The United State of Women: Today!
Hello beauties, 14 June 2016
Today's post is on the United State of Women initiative kicked off by the White House.
I wrote last month of the upcoming summit United State of Women which is taking place TODAY in Washington, DC. The summit is a historic occasion where thousands of women and girls’ advocates gather to discuss six key areas of female empowerment and gender equality: from health and wellness, to education, to leadership and civic engagement.
On Youtube a great clip is circulating showing well-known female achievers such as Kerry Washington, Michelle Obama, Meryl Streep and Oprah Winfrey (amongst others) declaring their readiness to help other women to stand together and achieve result together! Together is the key word of the summit and the whole campaign - to unite women because at the end of the day, only together today can we change our common tomorrow.
Check out the video and details and live stream from today's summit at http://www.theunitedstateofwomen.org/.
Key ideas on how to get involved, including by taking a pledge to empower yourself and others, listings of local events, and a photo generator to update your profiles on social media, can be found here. Be sure to subscribe to the newsletter as well!
See you all later this week!
Today's post is on the United State of Women initiative kicked off by the White House.
I wrote last month of the upcoming summit United State of Women which is taking place TODAY in Washington, DC. The summit is a historic occasion where thousands of women and girls’ advocates gather to discuss six key areas of female empowerment and gender equality: from health and wellness, to education, to leadership and civic engagement.
On Youtube a great clip is circulating showing well-known female achievers such as Kerry Washington, Michelle Obama, Meryl Streep and Oprah Winfrey (amongst others) declaring their readiness to help other women to stand together and achieve result together! Together is the key word of the summit and the whole campaign - to unite women because at the end of the day, only together today can we change our common tomorrow.
Check out the video and details and live stream from today's summit at http://www.theunitedstateofwomen.org/.
Key ideas on how to get involved, including by taking a pledge to empower yourself and others, listings of local events, and a photo generator to update your profiles on social media, can be found here. Be sure to subscribe to the newsletter as well!
See you all later this week!
Bodies
Hello beauties, 10 June 2016
You know my favourite call to you all is 'beauties', because I believe each one of us has their inner beauty which should be cherished at all times. But today's blog post reflects this more than ever, because my focus will be on girls and their body image and self esteem:
Research shows that six in 10 girls avoid participating in fundamental life activities because of concerns about the way they look. In the US, 81% of 10-year-old girls are afraid of being fat. Their Australian peers say that body image is one of their top three worries in life. And more than 110,000 girls in Brazil underwent cosmetic surgery in 2009.
How's that for depressing stats on a Fri afternoon, right before I'm about to hit the pub. Oh, the GYM, I meant.
No, no gyms for me tonight, and I'm not one of the hundreds of millions of young women who are worried for their appearance. I used to be extremely slim when I was a ballerina (up until I was 15), yet in the last few years my curves are coming in more than nicely as a great flavour to my young adulthood life. However, I can still relate to girls' and young women's worries over their kg's, and that's why I believe it's fundamental to help youngsters boost their self confidence from early age. Teasing and bullying can be particularly damaging to their mental - and even physical - health, hence the need to act early and help them talk about body confidence.
Dove, a world-known company, has worked for years on the topic and offers useful resources on conversations and workshops to hold with young girls in relation to body image and esteem. Check them out here.
And in the meantime, enjoy a lovely, stress-free, EURO-charged, and treat-full weekend!
You know my favourite call to you all is 'beauties', because I believe each one of us has their inner beauty which should be cherished at all times. But today's blog post reflects this more than ever, because my focus will be on girls and their body image and self esteem:
Research shows that six in 10 girls avoid participating in fundamental life activities because of concerns about the way they look. In the US, 81% of 10-year-old girls are afraid of being fat. Their Australian peers say that body image is one of their top three worries in life. And more than 110,000 girls in Brazil underwent cosmetic surgery in 2009.
How's that for depressing stats on a Fri afternoon, right before I'm about to hit the pub. Oh, the GYM, I meant.
No, no gyms for me tonight, and I'm not one of the hundreds of millions of young women who are worried for their appearance. I used to be extremely slim when I was a ballerina (up until I was 15), yet in the last few years my curves are coming in more than nicely as a great flavour to my young adulthood life. However, I can still relate to girls' and young women's worries over their kg's, and that's why I believe it's fundamental to help youngsters boost their self confidence from early age. Teasing and bullying can be particularly damaging to their mental - and even physical - health, hence the need to act early and help them talk about body confidence.
Dove, a world-known company, has worked for years on the topic and offers useful resources on conversations and workshops to hold with young girls in relation to body image and esteem. Check them out here.
And in the meantime, enjoy a lovely, stress-free, EURO-charged, and treat-full weekend!
POWERful Women
Hello beauties, 7 June 2016
Today's post will be on POWERful women, aka women in the energy sector in the UK.
PfW is a an industry body that promotes female leadership in energy and this year PwC released a report with them on female progress in the industry.
Some key findings of where women stand are:
- Of the top 100 UK-headquartered energy firms, only 6% (compared with 5% last year) of board members are women.
- 61% of the top 100 UK-headquartered energy companies have no women on their boards AT ALL!
- The proportion of female board members in each key sector stands at 8% in nuclear, 7% in oil & gas, and power & utilities is at the shocking (yet still ridiculously low) 18%.
Majority of the POWERful Women Ambassadors believe the most compelling reason for increasing gender diversity is better decision-making. Different perspectives are key for every business to be successful and by completely ignoring the say of women those 61% of companies are probably losing our on a lot more than they even realise. That's the key in fact, realising how much better things can be if there's true diversity and equality, and powering companies' efforts into changing their mindsets and getting more women in leadership roles.
To read the full report and its findings, go to http://www.powerfulwomen.org.uk/images/powerfulwomen/filer/igniting-change-building-the-pipeline-of-female-leaders-in-energy__14.pdf
Today's post will be on POWERful women, aka women in the energy sector in the UK.
PfW is a an industry body that promotes female leadership in energy and this year PwC released a report with them on female progress in the industry.
Some key findings of where women stand are:
- Of the top 100 UK-headquartered energy firms, only 6% (compared with 5% last year) of board members are women.
- 61% of the top 100 UK-headquartered energy companies have no women on their boards AT ALL!
- The proportion of female board members in each key sector stands at 8% in nuclear, 7% in oil & gas, and power & utilities is at the shocking (yet still ridiculously low) 18%.
Majority of the POWERful Women Ambassadors believe the most compelling reason for increasing gender diversity is better decision-making. Different perspectives are key for every business to be successful and by completely ignoring the say of women those 61% of companies are probably losing our on a lot more than they even realise. That's the key in fact, realising how much better things can be if there's true diversity and equality, and powering companies' efforts into changing their mindsets and getting more women in leadership roles.
To read the full report and its findings, go to http://www.powerfulwomen.org.uk/images/powerfulwomen/filer/igniting-change-building-the-pipeline-of-female-leaders-in-energy__14.pdf
Boys from New Haven
Hello beauties, 6 June 2016
My day today was made by a group of high school boys in New Haven, Connecticut, who recently started a fundraiser to make tampons and pads freely available to their menstruating classmates.
How's that for fantastic news of engaged youth who take initiative and view gender equality in its full spectrum, including by providing sanitation services to girls who cannot afford them and/ or have no towels on hand in times of need. Love it!
May this be your positive news for a positive Monday and even more positive week!
My day today was made by a group of high school boys in New Haven, Connecticut, who recently started a fundraiser to make tampons and pads freely available to their menstruating classmates.
How's that for fantastic news of engaged youth who take initiative and view gender equality in its full spectrum, including by providing sanitation services to girls who cannot afford them and/ or have no towels on hand in times of need. Love it!
May this be your positive news for a positive Monday and even more positive week!
#SGdebate
Hey beauties, 4 June 2016
Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the first ever public debate with candidates for United Nations Secretary General held in the UK. The event was organized by The Guardian and the UN Association in the UK, and saw a couple of thousand of people join in at the Barbican Center and online. The three candidates were Antonio Guterres from Portugal, Vuk Jeremic from Serbia, and Igor Luksic from Montenegro. Check out coverage here.
There were three candidates at the debate, all men, and a man was also the moderator (a Guardian journalist). These gentlemen were sitting like men, talking like men, and acting like men: legs spread in power positions, hands put together in the most political way possible (check out the photo below), hand gestures while explaining basic facts to the audience, contra remarks to each other in rather mean political ways, and so on. It was a picture where I genuinely got concerned with just how fair the selection process will be for the world’s chief job. What concerns this blog, is the ONLY one time they touched the issue of women and girls and when an audience member asked them if they were feminist, only 1 said Yes I am straight on. As if being a feminist man was an embarrassment for the other two. I’m kind of tired of the term feminism to be made fun of or politically disregarded. So I wasn’t pleased with that at all. Then, they proposed their ways of how they’ll make the world better for women and girls. And the main consensus was that they’ll have exact parity in the number of UN Under-Secretary Generals they will appoint. By the way, in 2015, do you know how many men and women were appointed? 84% of all Under-SecGens were men. 84%! So at least it’s good that all three of these candidates now promised to have it 50-50 if they get elected. To have that as a symbol of female empowerment and equal representation, but also to dedicate more time and resources to girls’ empowerment around the globe, not just at the UN HQ.
I am sad the one candidate that I wanted to see, Mrs Irina Bokova, wasn’t there. As the current head of UNESCO, Mrs Bokova appeared to have another engagement for the night. But I most definitely look forward to hearing more from her precisely on the issue of women and girls, and more broadly on development, peace, conflict, climate change and more.
Well done to the debate, at least it’s the first time the world is allowed to see these discussions, and not just the Security Council members. For once slightly more transparency. We seem to be heading in the right direction nevertheless!
Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the first ever public debate with candidates for United Nations Secretary General held in the UK. The event was organized by The Guardian and the UN Association in the UK, and saw a couple of thousand of people join in at the Barbican Center and online. The three candidates were Antonio Guterres from Portugal, Vuk Jeremic from Serbia, and Igor Luksic from Montenegro. Check out coverage here.
There were three candidates at the debate, all men, and a man was also the moderator (a Guardian journalist). These gentlemen were sitting like men, talking like men, and acting like men: legs spread in power positions, hands put together in the most political way possible (check out the photo below), hand gestures while explaining basic facts to the audience, contra remarks to each other in rather mean political ways, and so on. It was a picture where I genuinely got concerned with just how fair the selection process will be for the world’s chief job. What concerns this blog, is the ONLY one time they touched the issue of women and girls and when an audience member asked them if they were feminist, only 1 said Yes I am straight on. As if being a feminist man was an embarrassment for the other two. I’m kind of tired of the term feminism to be made fun of or politically disregarded. So I wasn’t pleased with that at all. Then, they proposed their ways of how they’ll make the world better for women and girls. And the main consensus was that they’ll have exact parity in the number of UN Under-Secretary Generals they will appoint. By the way, in 2015, do you know how many men and women were appointed? 84% of all Under-SecGens were men. 84%! So at least it’s good that all three of these candidates now promised to have it 50-50 if they get elected. To have that as a symbol of female empowerment and equal representation, but also to dedicate more time and resources to girls’ empowerment around the globe, not just at the UN HQ.
I am sad the one candidate that I wanted to see, Mrs Irina Bokova, wasn’t there. As the current head of UNESCO, Mrs Bokova appeared to have another engagement for the night. But I most definitely look forward to hearing more from her precisely on the issue of women and girls, and more broadly on development, peace, conflict, climate change and more.
Well done to the debate, at least it’s the first time the world is allowed to see these discussions, and not just the Security Council members. For once slightly more transparency. We seem to be heading in the right direction nevertheless!
Cookstoves
Hello beauties, 30 May 2016
Let me start today’s post with a Thank You to Miss Hristina Dyakova who created my new website logo covering my initials and the feminist sign – thanks so much, Icke! The style of the blog is now different, and I hope you guys like it!
As for today’s topic, it’s on an issue I had personally never thought about as a feminist problem. But it definitely is! At the conference last week I met some ladies from the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, who shared some pretty interesting facts with me. For example, do you know that every year 4.3 million people die worldwide from exposure to cookstove smoke. Majority of these deaths are women and children as women are the housekeepers and cooks in most developing countries where the problem of unsafe cooks persists. There are in fact 3 billion people who rely on polluting, inefficient stoves to cook every day – and every 8 seconds someone dies because of this unsafe smoke.
Meanwhile, women can spend up to 5 hours a day gathering fuel in some developing countries. And in the time that women go and collect firewood to be able to cook later, they can be attacked on the way and often are assaulted! In Chad, for example, a 6-month study showed 42% of households reporting gender-based violence during firewood collection. How scary is this! Not to mention to obvious health risks to unsafe cooking and smoke exposure such as pneumonia, lung cancer, heart disease, and even cataracts leading to blindness.
We in the West, can be blessed with state-of-the-art kitchens and household appliances, but others are not as lucky! Check out what the Global Alliance is doing to help these households, and specifically women, here.
Let me start today’s post with a Thank You to Miss Hristina Dyakova who created my new website logo covering my initials and the feminist sign – thanks so much, Icke! The style of the blog is now different, and I hope you guys like it!
As for today’s topic, it’s on an issue I had personally never thought about as a feminist problem. But it definitely is! At the conference last week I met some ladies from the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, who shared some pretty interesting facts with me. For example, do you know that every year 4.3 million people die worldwide from exposure to cookstove smoke. Majority of these deaths are women and children as women are the housekeepers and cooks in most developing countries where the problem of unsafe cooks persists. There are in fact 3 billion people who rely on polluting, inefficient stoves to cook every day – and every 8 seconds someone dies because of this unsafe smoke.
Meanwhile, women can spend up to 5 hours a day gathering fuel in some developing countries. And in the time that women go and collect firewood to be able to cook later, they can be attacked on the way and often are assaulted! In Chad, for example, a 6-month study showed 42% of households reporting gender-based violence during firewood collection. How scary is this! Not to mention to obvious health risks to unsafe cooking and smoke exposure such as pneumonia, lung cancer, heart disease, and even cataracts leading to blindness.
We in the West, can be blessed with state-of-the-art kitchens and household appliances, but others are not as lucky! Check out what the Global Alliance is doing to help these households, and specifically women, here.
In Pictures...
WD2016 - Day 4 Recap (Final Day)
Morning beauties,
5.45 am start it is for me today, but hey, no better way to go about it than with a quick blog entry.
Thursday, 19 May, was the last day of the Women Deliver 4th Global Conference. The day for me kicked off with a regional caucus for Eastern Europe and Asia which was on the issue of pregnancy and maternal health. As someone who’s grandma has been a midwife for 40 years, and now a nurse for seven more, and someone from that region anyway, I went along. A few key things to call out:
- UN Women is the newest UN agency created, and the only one created in the 21st century. I had not even thought of it this way!
- 830 women die every day due to pregnancy-related complications.
- in the 53 member states in the World Health Organisation Europe division, maternal mortality varies from 1 in 30,000 in Western Europe to 1 in 390 in Kyrgyzstan.
- Health providers’ rights are just as important as the rights of those receiving care! (also I can testify to this from the perspective of a family member of a health provider – those people give us all care and deserve NO abuse in return!)
Lunchtime discussion was with powerful men on how they can empower women! Kofi Anan was meant to attend, but sadly couldn’t make it. Quite inspiring still, the other guests included a Director from UNFPA, the EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Mr Mimica, the Ethiopian Foreign Minister, and a man who completely blew my mind – Willie Parker, one of the only three remaining doctors providing abortion services in Mississippi. This last gentleman was tough! His commitment to helping women in need was beyond admirable and his public speaking skills would definitely make anyone listen to him and believe him. I know I did – every word!
In the afternoon, I went to a talk on Female Genital Mutilation where survivors shared their journeys and ideas were discussed with charities as to how to end the harmful practice in many African states. There were success stories by the way! And that matters as much as the impact of the sad ones.
And lastly – the closing! What amazing performances from Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Abelone Mesele! And Jessica Biel was there too talking about vaginas! You know she got pregnant last year with Justin Timberlake’s baby, right? And she confessed she had no idea what was going to happen to her body system. Sound familiar, I’d say! Check out her partnership with WomenCare on naming and shaming on our female bodies in the internet space.
Thank you, Women Deliver, for a fantastic conference! Amazing speakers, talks, workshops, post-conference events, and just a smooth and inspirational event altogether! I can’t wait to put all of my new knowledge in practice!
5.45 am start it is for me today, but hey, no better way to go about it than with a quick blog entry.
Thursday, 19 May, was the last day of the Women Deliver 4th Global Conference. The day for me kicked off with a regional caucus for Eastern Europe and Asia which was on the issue of pregnancy and maternal health. As someone who’s grandma has been a midwife for 40 years, and now a nurse for seven more, and someone from that region anyway, I went along. A few key things to call out:
- UN Women is the newest UN agency created, and the only one created in the 21st century. I had not even thought of it this way!
- 830 women die every day due to pregnancy-related complications.
- in the 53 member states in the World Health Organisation Europe division, maternal mortality varies from 1 in 30,000 in Western Europe to 1 in 390 in Kyrgyzstan.
- Health providers’ rights are just as important as the rights of those receiving care! (also I can testify to this from the perspective of a family member of a health provider – those people give us all care and deserve NO abuse in return!)
Lunchtime discussion was with powerful men on how they can empower women! Kofi Anan was meant to attend, but sadly couldn’t make it. Quite inspiring still, the other guests included a Director from UNFPA, the EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Mr Mimica, the Ethiopian Foreign Minister, and a man who completely blew my mind – Willie Parker, one of the only three remaining doctors providing abortion services in Mississippi. This last gentleman was tough! His commitment to helping women in need was beyond admirable and his public speaking skills would definitely make anyone listen to him and believe him. I know I did – every word!
In the afternoon, I went to a talk on Female Genital Mutilation where survivors shared their journeys and ideas were discussed with charities as to how to end the harmful practice in many African states. There were success stories by the way! And that matters as much as the impact of the sad ones.
And lastly – the closing! What amazing performances from Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Abelone Mesele! And Jessica Biel was there too talking about vaginas! You know she got pregnant last year with Justin Timberlake’s baby, right? And she confessed she had no idea what was going to happen to her body system. Sound familiar, I’d say! Check out her partnership with WomenCare on naming and shaming on our female bodies in the internet space.
Thank you, Women Deliver, for a fantastic conference! Amazing speakers, talks, workshops, post-conference events, and just a smooth and inspirational event altogether! I can’t wait to put all of my new knowledge in practice!
WD2016 - Day 3 Recap
Hi wonderful people,
I’m aware I’m quite late with this post, unfortunately due to a bad illness I’ve gotten in very cold Copenhagen. Fever is down now, so time to catch you all up on days 3 and 4 of the Women Deliver 2016 conference.
On Wednesday, 18 May, the day kicked off with Peter Singer from Grand Challenges Canada, as well the CEO of Plan International Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, the Danish Foregin Minister Mr Jensen, Nobel Peace Laureat Muhammad Yunus, the Executive Director of UNICEF Mr Lake, and the CEO of Ericsson company.
Did you know that:
Other highlights of the day were the stories around technology and its transformative power to advance women’s health and rights – check out the IGNITE project to connect girls and technology here.
Human trafficking was also discussed today for the first and only time (sadly for me) – as a resource, check out the Global Alliance against Traffic in Women here.
Mr Jim Kim, the President of the World Bank, and Her Majesty Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, also voiced their opinions on women and their access to finance as a driver for economic empowerment. What great speakers those two were, and by the way – one theme that kept emerging was that in many places around the world, people don’t even get registered when they are born. Girls are less likely than boys to have birth – and even death – certificates, and as such if anything, we need to COUNT them to make their voices and needs COUNT.
And last for the day, Cecile Richards, a lady I truly admire, spoke about women’s access to family planning and other health services; then other speakers calling for women’s and children’s rights also included the Former Prime Minister of Denmark and CEO of Save the Children Mrs Thorning-Schmidt, Graca Machel from the Graca Machel Trust, Ms Tawakkol from Yemen, the fierce lady calling for Yemeni revolution and change of the constitution to allow for more freedoms for women, and Toyin Saraki from Nigeria calling for advancement of training and development for midwives.
The day finished with a cultural night at the world’s oldest amusement park, Tivoli Gardens, photos from which I’ll be posting soon...
I’m aware I’m quite late with this post, unfortunately due to a bad illness I’ve gotten in very cold Copenhagen. Fever is down now, so time to catch you all up on days 3 and 4 of the Women Deliver 2016 conference.
On Wednesday, 18 May, the day kicked off with Peter Singer from Grand Challenges Canada, as well the CEO of Plan International Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, the Danish Foregin Minister Mr Jensen, Nobel Peace Laureat Muhammad Yunus, the Executive Director of UNICEF Mr Lake, and the CEO of Ericsson company.
Did you know that:
- Girls are up to 4 times more likely than boys to suffer from depression in their adolescent years.
- 94% of girls in New Delhi claim they feel unsafe on the city’s streets.
- Entrepreneurship is claimed to live into every human’s body, we just have to unleash it, says Dr Yunus. He also says we all have creative power and should not be ‘job seakers, rather – job creators’! Be Entrepreneurial, the lesson of the day! And quit the job that makes you unhappy, find one – or even better, CREATE one which makes you realize your full potential.
Other highlights of the day were the stories around technology and its transformative power to advance women’s health and rights – check out the IGNITE project to connect girls and technology here.
Human trafficking was also discussed today for the first and only time (sadly for me) – as a resource, check out the Global Alliance against Traffic in Women here.
Mr Jim Kim, the President of the World Bank, and Her Majesty Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, also voiced their opinions on women and their access to finance as a driver for economic empowerment. What great speakers those two were, and by the way – one theme that kept emerging was that in many places around the world, people don’t even get registered when they are born. Girls are less likely than boys to have birth – and even death – certificates, and as such if anything, we need to COUNT them to make their voices and needs COUNT.
And last for the day, Cecile Richards, a lady I truly admire, spoke about women’s access to family planning and other health services; then other speakers calling for women’s and children’s rights also included the Former Prime Minister of Denmark and CEO of Save the Children Mrs Thorning-Schmidt, Graca Machel from the Graca Machel Trust, Ms Tawakkol from Yemen, the fierce lady calling for Yemeni revolution and change of the constitution to allow for more freedoms for women, and Toyin Saraki from Nigeria calling for advancement of training and development for midwives.
The day finished with a cultural night at the world’s oldest amusement park, Tivoli Gardens, photos from which I’ll be posting soon...
WD2016, Day 2 Recap
Hi beauties, 17 May 2016
Pretty busy schedule here at WD2016 and even busier social life (Copenhagen is amazing!), that’s how we can summarise Day 2 of WD2016!
Tuesday, kicked off with Melinda Gates delivering a keynote speech to us all and committing to providing 80 mln US dollars over he next three years to collect data on women and girls in the global attempt to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Data and research turned out to be the main topic also of the following sessions in the day, and throughout the conference overall. A panel after the announcement consisted of various Prime Ministers and activists, but the former Primer Minister of Australia Julia Gillard totally rocked it with her insistence on providing young girls with access to and quality education. She graduated Statistics by the way. And no, there were no girls in her Physics class!
The Global Financing Facility was my next focus with speeches from Ministers from Canada, Liberia and Senegal, as well as a session on 10 key things about the SDGs. A walk around the booths at the conference exhibition hall followed, as well as a youth talk with Johnson & Johnson on key employability skills in today’s world. Apparently I am yet to improve my conflict resolution skills (yes, I do avoid conflicts at all cost), but the good news is, I’m quite good at positive self-image and self-control. Other skills to be aware of would be communication skills and higher-thinking, e.g. problem solving. Lastly, a session entitled ‘Dear Diary’ touched us all with personal stories from business women, Ministers, female football players and celebrities on how they got where they are and what challenges they faced along the way. Yes, there were a lot of challenges…
My dear colleague from university, Carolin Albrecht, was the biggest surprise of the day though – we randomly ran into each other at the conference and she also gave a speech on girls’ education in her role within the ‘Global Citizen’ initiative. So great to see ambitious young women who basically rocks it!
Pretty busy schedule here at WD2016 and even busier social life (Copenhagen is amazing!), that’s how we can summarise Day 2 of WD2016!
Tuesday, kicked off with Melinda Gates delivering a keynote speech to us all and committing to providing 80 mln US dollars over he next three years to collect data on women and girls in the global attempt to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Data and research turned out to be the main topic also of the following sessions in the day, and throughout the conference overall. A panel after the announcement consisted of various Prime Ministers and activists, but the former Primer Minister of Australia Julia Gillard totally rocked it with her insistence on providing young girls with access to and quality education. She graduated Statistics by the way. And no, there were no girls in her Physics class!
The Global Financing Facility was my next focus with speeches from Ministers from Canada, Liberia and Senegal, as well as a session on 10 key things about the SDGs. A walk around the booths at the conference exhibition hall followed, as well as a youth talk with Johnson & Johnson on key employability skills in today’s world. Apparently I am yet to improve my conflict resolution skills (yes, I do avoid conflicts at all cost), but the good news is, I’m quite good at positive self-image and self-control. Other skills to be aware of would be communication skills and higher-thinking, e.g. problem solving. Lastly, a session entitled ‘Dear Diary’ touched us all with personal stories from business women, Ministers, female football players and celebrities on how they got where they are and what challenges they faced along the way. Yes, there were a lot of challenges…
My dear colleague from university, Carolin Albrecht, was the biggest surprise of the day though – we randomly ran into each other at the conference and she also gave a speech on girls’ education in her role within the ‘Global Citizen’ initiative. So great to see ambitious young women who basically rocks it!
WD2016, Day 1 Recap
Hello beauties, 16 May 2016
It's Monday night, the day of the official opening of the Women Deliver 4th Global Conference!
Today kicked off for the young leaders of Women Deliver with welcome words from Their Royal Highness the Crown Princess of Denmark and Norway. Princess Mary and Princess Mette-Marit were elegant in the true sense of the word, but more importantly they acted as real role models for us, young female leaders. Check out Princess Mary's Foundation website here (helps survivors of domestic violence, loneliness, and bullying), and Princess Metter-Marit's efforts into the field of HIV/ AIDS prevention and female empowerment in general here.
Another highlight of the day was Femi Oke's panel on meaningful youth engagement. Let me mention that Women Deliver has consulted with 600 young people to share their ideas and perspectives on what needs to be done to improve the engagement of young people in advocacy for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). The results of this consultation were presented today and a discussion paper is now published and info about it can be read here. As a hint, education and training for young people, the existence of financial resources and media tools and partnership opportunities for intergenerational dialogue are all at the heart of youth engagement agenda.
As to the afternoon, wow - I'm speechless! We had the official opening of WD2016 today, and what an opening that was! The Crown Princess of Denrmark, the Prime Minister Lars Rasmussen, and eight FANTASTIC panelists all spoke about the importance of discussing women's and girls' health, rights and wellbeing. I was genuinly teary when WD's CEO Katja Iversen told her story of her Dannish grandma not getting education nor access to contraception back in the early 20th century - a story which many women relate to today in many of the developing countries. Another speaker shared how drinking tea with the Taliban in Afghanistan every day for three months in a row helped her convince them that girls had to be allowed to go to school. And so she built many schools! Another guest, Nobel Peace laureat and female journalist from Yemen, shared the struggles of Arab women in the Arab spring and beyond, and government and UN agency representatives, including the WHO Director-General Margaret Chan made the case for female advancement in medical and other sciences and labour force and the development of science to the point of saving human lives even against viruses like Zika. Annie Lenox rocked us all with stories about women and girls with HIV infections, not to mention the other absolutely amazing speakers and greeters, including the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon through a video conference. I was genuinely so impressed and inspired by all these amazing individuals on stage, that I am seriously considering a new female empowerment project idea just as I am about to head to the hotel now. Talk to you all tomorrow, let's keep the momentum going!
It's Monday night, the day of the official opening of the Women Deliver 4th Global Conference!
Today kicked off for the young leaders of Women Deliver with welcome words from Their Royal Highness the Crown Princess of Denmark and Norway. Princess Mary and Princess Mette-Marit were elegant in the true sense of the word, but more importantly they acted as real role models for us, young female leaders. Check out Princess Mary's Foundation website here (helps survivors of domestic violence, loneliness, and bullying), and Princess Metter-Marit's efforts into the field of HIV/ AIDS prevention and female empowerment in general here.
Another highlight of the day was Femi Oke's panel on meaningful youth engagement. Let me mention that Women Deliver has consulted with 600 young people to share their ideas and perspectives on what needs to be done to improve the engagement of young people in advocacy for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). The results of this consultation were presented today and a discussion paper is now published and info about it can be read here. As a hint, education and training for young people, the existence of financial resources and media tools and partnership opportunities for intergenerational dialogue are all at the heart of youth engagement agenda.
As to the afternoon, wow - I'm speechless! We had the official opening of WD2016 today, and what an opening that was! The Crown Princess of Denrmark, the Prime Minister Lars Rasmussen, and eight FANTASTIC panelists all spoke about the importance of discussing women's and girls' health, rights and wellbeing. I was genuinly teary when WD's CEO Katja Iversen told her story of her Dannish grandma not getting education nor access to contraception back in the early 20th century - a story which many women relate to today in many of the developing countries. Another speaker shared how drinking tea with the Taliban in Afghanistan every day for three months in a row helped her convince them that girls had to be allowed to go to school. And so she built many schools! Another guest, Nobel Peace laureat and female journalist from Yemen, shared the struggles of Arab women in the Arab spring and beyond, and government and UN agency representatives, including the WHO Director-General Margaret Chan made the case for female advancement in medical and other sciences and labour force and the development of science to the point of saving human lives even against viruses like Zika. Annie Lenox rocked us all with stories about women and girls with HIV infections, not to mention the other absolutely amazing speakers and greeters, including the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon through a video conference. I was genuinely so impressed and inspired by all these amazing individuals on stage, that I am seriously considering a new female empowerment project idea just as I am about to head to the hotel now. Talk to you all tomorrow, let's keep the momentum going!
Youth Pre-Conference Day
Hi beautiful people,
It’s Sunday, 15th May, a.k.a the youth pre-conference day over here in Copenhagen, where the Women Deliver World Conference 2016 is kicking off tomorrow!
It’s been an exciting day of events at the Bella Center in the Danish capital, and thankfully we’ve been indoors all day vs the cold 10-degree weather in beautiful Scandinavia.
So what waere the highlights of today’s pre-conference activities for the charity’s 200 Young Leaders from around the world? Well, we had a number of welcome speeches from Women Deliver and some of the event sponsors, as well as two skill-building workshops. After meaningful discussions on sexual rights and youth engagement (in my case, we were all split into groups), we moved on with media training and a digital workshop of how to navigate our way through social media and use it for our advocacy campaigns for women and girls.
Now as you know me, I love my blogging, so the afternoon sessions on communications and media were particularly useful for me. I did learn about the power of THREE, a.k.a always count in three words when listing important issues. This number, it is proven, stays onto people’s minds more easily. E.g. ‘I care about women’s health (1), rights (2) and wellbeing (3)’ vs a list of more or fewer than three issues. Also, any issue discussed with the media should have three core elements: the problem, a suggested solution, and a call to action. While presenting these in actual interviews, body language accounts for 55% of your communication, plus 38% for your tone. Only a mere few % reflect your word choices, it is claimed - interesting, no? And as for digital media, it’s crucial to stay consistent with your writings, show people why they should care about a particular problem, and always aim for appropriate tone and strategy – formal vs casual, inclusive vs distant and objective vs subjective. You know me, I’m in my casual, inclusive and subjective mindset, and most definitely passionate attitude for girls’ empowerment. Can only hope it comes across this way :)
With all the great interactions today, I will talk to you all after the official launch of the conference tomorrow! We are expecting more than 5,000 attendees and a number of royalties and ministers, can’t wait for it all!
It’s Sunday, 15th May, a.k.a the youth pre-conference day over here in Copenhagen, where the Women Deliver World Conference 2016 is kicking off tomorrow!
It’s been an exciting day of events at the Bella Center in the Danish capital, and thankfully we’ve been indoors all day vs the cold 10-degree weather in beautiful Scandinavia.
So what waere the highlights of today’s pre-conference activities for the charity’s 200 Young Leaders from around the world? Well, we had a number of welcome speeches from Women Deliver and some of the event sponsors, as well as two skill-building workshops. After meaningful discussions on sexual rights and youth engagement (in my case, we were all split into groups), we moved on with media training and a digital workshop of how to navigate our way through social media and use it for our advocacy campaigns for women and girls.
Now as you know me, I love my blogging, so the afternoon sessions on communications and media were particularly useful for me. I did learn about the power of THREE, a.k.a always count in three words when listing important issues. This number, it is proven, stays onto people’s minds more easily. E.g. ‘I care about women’s health (1), rights (2) and wellbeing (3)’ vs a list of more or fewer than three issues. Also, any issue discussed with the media should have three core elements: the problem, a suggested solution, and a call to action. While presenting these in actual interviews, body language accounts for 55% of your communication, plus 38% for your tone. Only a mere few % reflect your word choices, it is claimed - interesting, no? And as for digital media, it’s crucial to stay consistent with your writings, show people why they should care about a particular problem, and always aim for appropriate tone and strategy – formal vs casual, inclusive vs distant and objective vs subjective. You know me, I’m in my casual, inclusive and subjective mindset, and most definitely passionate attitude for girls’ empowerment. Can only hope it comes across this way :)
With all the great interactions today, I will talk to you all after the official launch of the conference tomorrow! We are expecting more than 5,000 attendees and a number of royalties and ministers, can’t wait for it all!
Off to Denmark
Hello beauties, 14 May 2016
It’s been an intense week, to say the least, but it’s the weekend once again, yay! And in a couple of hours I’m off to Denmark for the Women Deliver World Conference 2016. I’m super excited and look forward to meeting other like-minded young feminists from around the globe. In the meantime, I’ll try and be blogging on here throughout the next week with regular updates on our discussions and conference developments. Can’t wait to see Melinda Gates and co. Way to go for women!
Talk soon! #WD2016
It’s been an intense week, to say the least, but it’s the weekend once again, yay! And in a couple of hours I’m off to Denmark for the Women Deliver World Conference 2016. I’m super excited and look forward to meeting other like-minded young feminists from around the globe. In the meantime, I’ll try and be blogging on here throughout the next week with regular updates on our discussions and conference developments. Can’t wait to see Melinda Gates and co. Way to go for women!
Talk soon! #WD2016
WE
Hi world, 10 May 2016
As most of you are aware by now, London elected a new mayor last week! Sadiq Khan became the first Labor mayor since 2008 and the first Muslim mayor of any western EU capital. While I’m not necessarily concerned with his background, the election is something I’d like to mention in my blog posts, namely in relation to the first ever Women’s Equality party representative running for mayor. Sophie Walker, the leader of the newly established party, has called for an end to domestic violence, equal pay for men and women, and an end to the glass ceiling for women in our beautiful city. She’s a former journalist, same age as my mom, 45, and properly fierce. As I’m saying this, results have shown that 1 in 20 Londoners voted for her in the elections last week, and yes I was one of them. Not only is she calling for an end to gender discrimination and introducing practical policies to help women achieve their true potential in a safe environment, but also she’s raising the profile of an issue long existing yet basically ignored by all other mainstream political parties. Yes, she didn’t win the elections, but she caused major disturbance on the voting arena and transferred many votes from both Labour and the Conservatives, the votes of people who are fed up with injustice and inequality. It’s good to have a women’s party existing – it was time to see it to life in our country and city. And who knows, maybe one day their – our – voices will be heard ever more.
Thanks for setting the precedent, Mrs Walker!
As most of you are aware by now, London elected a new mayor last week! Sadiq Khan became the first Labor mayor since 2008 and the first Muslim mayor of any western EU capital. While I’m not necessarily concerned with his background, the election is something I’d like to mention in my blog posts, namely in relation to the first ever Women’s Equality party representative running for mayor. Sophie Walker, the leader of the newly established party, has called for an end to domestic violence, equal pay for men and women, and an end to the glass ceiling for women in our beautiful city. She’s a former journalist, same age as my mom, 45, and properly fierce. As I’m saying this, results have shown that 1 in 20 Londoners voted for her in the elections last week, and yes I was one of them. Not only is she calling for an end to gender discrimination and introducing practical policies to help women achieve their true potential in a safe environment, but also she’s raising the profile of an issue long existing yet basically ignored by all other mainstream political parties. Yes, she didn’t win the elections, but she caused major disturbance on the voting arena and transferred many votes from both Labour and the Conservatives, the votes of people who are fed up with injustice and inequality. It’s good to have a women’s party existing – it was time to see it to life in our country and city. And who knows, maybe one day their – our – voices will be heard ever more.
Thanks for setting the precedent, Mrs Walker!
#Lemonade
So hello beauties, 7 May 2016
It's the weekend, 24 degrees in London (!) and I'm fully up for a trip to the park. Music in my ears, I'm off to see one of my girlies in a bit, and yes, you guessed it right - I'm listening to Beyonce's Lemonade. AGAIN.
Now what's the deal with Lemonade? It's her second visual album, and it caused quite a conversation across the globe. It shares the story of a woman being cheated on by her partner, and yes - it's referring to Jay Z's cheating on her with a 'Becky with the good hair'. Rumours aside as to who that Becky is, and/ or if it even happened to begin with, but the album itself is about a lot more than just a woman recovering from the pain of her cheating husband. It's about women in general surviving hardship and picking up the broken pieces, getting on their feet, and even more - forgiving!
Not only that, but Beyonce's album is starring some of the most talked-about women (black women) these days in America: a top model with a skin condition who appeared on the 21st cycle of America's next top model, the two mothers of American black teenagers who got killed by police, young actresses, singers, and others. And it's a celebration of womanhood, even more so - of black womanhood and endurance.
Now I have a very close person to me who was in Beyonce's situation and was being cheated on by her husband for six years. At the end she took him back. And she was questioned for being weak. Well let me tell you that - it's not about being weak, on the contrary this showed she's strong and overcomes betrayal and moves on for the good of both herself and her family. Not because she can't live without the man - because she feels she loves him and goes above and beyond to make the relationship work. Because she doesn't give up!
So yes, regardless whether the rumours actionally happened, the idea of moving on and forgiving is somethign many women can relate to. And should't be blamed for it.
Thanks guys, have a lovely weekend!
It's the weekend, 24 degrees in London (!) and I'm fully up for a trip to the park. Music in my ears, I'm off to see one of my girlies in a bit, and yes, you guessed it right - I'm listening to Beyonce's Lemonade. AGAIN.
Now what's the deal with Lemonade? It's her second visual album, and it caused quite a conversation across the globe. It shares the story of a woman being cheated on by her partner, and yes - it's referring to Jay Z's cheating on her with a 'Becky with the good hair'. Rumours aside as to who that Becky is, and/ or if it even happened to begin with, but the album itself is about a lot more than just a woman recovering from the pain of her cheating husband. It's about women in general surviving hardship and picking up the broken pieces, getting on their feet, and even more - forgiving!
Not only that, but Beyonce's album is starring some of the most talked-about women (black women) these days in America: a top model with a skin condition who appeared on the 21st cycle of America's next top model, the two mothers of American black teenagers who got killed by police, young actresses, singers, and others. And it's a celebration of womanhood, even more so - of black womanhood and endurance.
Now I have a very close person to me who was in Beyonce's situation and was being cheated on by her husband for six years. At the end she took him back. And she was questioned for being weak. Well let me tell you that - it's not about being weak, on the contrary this showed she's strong and overcomes betrayal and moves on for the good of both herself and her family. Not because she can't live without the man - because she feels she loves him and goes above and beyond to make the relationship work. Because she doesn't give up!
So yes, regardless whether the rumours actionally happened, the idea of moving on and forgiving is somethign many women can relate to. And should't be blamed for it.
Thanks guys, have a lovely weekend!
Sustainability At Its Finest
Hello beauties, 4 May 2016
You may remember now that in December 2015, I implemented my project ‘SilisTRAffic’ in my home city of Silistra, Bulgaria, as part of the TLT program of American Councils and the US State Department. The Transformational Leadership Training grant provided funding for the training of 53 high school students in my hometown on the dangers of human trafficking. Our aim to raise awareness also included making a video on the issue and inviting a couple of the trained students to lead peer-to-peer anti-trafficking trainings at their school next academic year. The idea of the project was to increase the reach of the current activities and allow it to span for a few years ahead and thus leave a sustainable footprint onto the school. I also hoped it would help for the building up of a community of engaged young people.
What a surprise it was for me though, when last week I went back to the school and discovered a whole lot more has been happening since the training took place in December: a group of students applied for a local grant from the Municipality of Silistra with a youth project named after my own, SilisTRAffic. The funding covered the training of 350 students now! All of them were trained by their peers attending the December seminar, who also organized a student play around the issue of human trafficking and an essay competition. The results of the competition will be announced next week and in the meantime, T-shirts and other materials have been produced with a logo for the new project, again led by the students. What a great example of engaged young people who take deep interest in an issue and work together for raising awareness and advancing education against trafficking! Well done to Atanas Burov high school and their Principal and Psychologist, and most of all well done to the great students who don’t stay still! Sustainability and youth engagement at its finest!
You may remember now that in December 2015, I implemented my project ‘SilisTRAffic’ in my home city of Silistra, Bulgaria, as part of the TLT program of American Councils and the US State Department. The Transformational Leadership Training grant provided funding for the training of 53 high school students in my hometown on the dangers of human trafficking. Our aim to raise awareness also included making a video on the issue and inviting a couple of the trained students to lead peer-to-peer anti-trafficking trainings at their school next academic year. The idea of the project was to increase the reach of the current activities and allow it to span for a few years ahead and thus leave a sustainable footprint onto the school. I also hoped it would help for the building up of a community of engaged young people.
What a surprise it was for me though, when last week I went back to the school and discovered a whole lot more has been happening since the training took place in December: a group of students applied for a local grant from the Municipality of Silistra with a youth project named after my own, SilisTRAffic. The funding covered the training of 350 students now! All of them were trained by their peers attending the December seminar, who also organized a student play around the issue of human trafficking and an essay competition. The results of the competition will be announced next week and in the meantime, T-shirts and other materials have been produced with a logo for the new project, again led by the students. What a great example of engaged young people who take deep interest in an issue and work together for raising awareness and advancing education against trafficking! Well done to Atanas Burov high school and their Principal and Psychologist, and most of all well done to the great students who don’t stay still! Sustainability and youth engagement at its finest!
Trains, Boyfriends and Lilly
Well hello beautiful people! 27 April 2016
Here's a fun selection of women-related news and updates I've come across this week:
1. Transport for London is running once again a campaign to highlight unwanted sexual behaviour on London transport services and to encourage victims to report such acts to the Transport Police. In 2013, a survey by TfL found out that one in seven women had experienced unwanted sexual behaviour on trains/ buses/ etc in the previous 12 months. Now that's a lot and as one of those women myself (on more than one occasion, although not always in London), I wanted to remind you of the 1-minute ad 'Report it to Stop it' released last year - yes, I did blog about sexual crimes on British transport services back then. Please do remind yourself of TfL's efforts to reduce these grim stats and do report any unwanted behaviour full stop!
2. Did you know there's an online service to make men better boyfriends: Betterboyfriend.me offers gentlemen special treats for their wives and girlfriends for as low as 70 USD a month, to help bring them gifts/ flowers/ special treats even if the men themselves forget about little things like anniversaries/ birthdays/ etc. Check out their website - I think it's a great idea and definitely fun - but if you are really keen to show your loved one your true care and love, please just don't forget those little things to begin with.
3. And lastly, a bit after after my world conference in Copenhagen (see post below), the White House will host its own event, The United State of Women (14 June 2016, Washington DC). To highlight key gender equality issues and set the agenda for the future, the Department of State, the Department of Labor, the Aspen Institute, and Civic Nation will all come together to mark the progress made by and for women and girls domestically and internationally over the course of the Obama Administration and to discuss solutions to the challenges they still face.You may not know this, but the very first piece of legislation President Obama signed once he came into office in 2009, was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. This law, named after a woman who discovered her employer was paying her less than men doing the same job, made it easier for Mrs. Ledbetter and others like her to challenge unequal pay. Learn more about the Act here and Obama's continuous efforts to challenge the gender pay gap here. Not bad record for women's and girls' rights for this President, I must admit. Maybe time for a female one to continue his work? I thought so :)
Have a good day y'all, catch up when I get back to London next week!
PS: Yes, I am totally blogging about Beyonce's 'Lemonade' next week - LOVE it!
Here's a fun selection of women-related news and updates I've come across this week:
1. Transport for London is running once again a campaign to highlight unwanted sexual behaviour on London transport services and to encourage victims to report such acts to the Transport Police. In 2013, a survey by TfL found out that one in seven women had experienced unwanted sexual behaviour on trains/ buses/ etc in the previous 12 months. Now that's a lot and as one of those women myself (on more than one occasion, although not always in London), I wanted to remind you of the 1-minute ad 'Report it to Stop it' released last year - yes, I did blog about sexual crimes on British transport services back then. Please do remind yourself of TfL's efforts to reduce these grim stats and do report any unwanted behaviour full stop!
2. Did you know there's an online service to make men better boyfriends: Betterboyfriend.me offers gentlemen special treats for their wives and girlfriends for as low as 70 USD a month, to help bring them gifts/ flowers/ special treats even if the men themselves forget about little things like anniversaries/ birthdays/ etc. Check out their website - I think it's a great idea and definitely fun - but if you are really keen to show your loved one your true care and love, please just don't forget those little things to begin with.
3. And lastly, a bit after after my world conference in Copenhagen (see post below), the White House will host its own event, The United State of Women (14 June 2016, Washington DC). To highlight key gender equality issues and set the agenda for the future, the Department of State, the Department of Labor, the Aspen Institute, and Civic Nation will all come together to mark the progress made by and for women and girls domestically and internationally over the course of the Obama Administration and to discuss solutions to the challenges they still face.You may not know this, but the very first piece of legislation President Obama signed once he came into office in 2009, was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. This law, named after a woman who discovered her employer was paying her less than men doing the same job, made it easier for Mrs. Ledbetter and others like her to challenge unequal pay. Learn more about the Act here and Obama's continuous efforts to challenge the gender pay gap here. Not bad record for women's and girls' rights for this President, I must admit. Maybe time for a female one to continue his work? I thought so :)
Have a good day y'all, catch up when I get back to London next week!
PS: Yes, I am totally blogging about Beyonce's 'Lemonade' next week - LOVE it!
Cakes
Hello everyone, from rainy Bulgaria! 25 April 2016
Am so glad to be back home with family and eagerly anticipating Easter this weekend (Orthodox Easter for those who don't know). While relaxing in my childhood bed, I came across this story this morning about a Romanian bakery which puts gender inequality statistics on its cakes to remind customers of the seriousness of the issue and the need to talk and address it. French bakery chain Paul has its stores in Romania sell 'bittersweet pies' with icing on them showing grim stats on the country's gender equality position in the world. The mastermind of the idea, Mr Refuah, says many Romanians think the gender gap does not exist in their country, due to high participation of women in the workforce - BUT in reality, in 2015, Romania was rated No. 114 out of 145 countries in political equality, as measured by the World Economic Forum.
Co.Create reports that this first-ever "social desserts" line in the world will see 5% of revenue donated to the Filia Foundation and will go toward diversity projects. How fantastic is that!
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to the bakery to get some cake, although Bulgarian in my case.
Have a great week, everyone!
Am so glad to be back home with family and eagerly anticipating Easter this weekend (Orthodox Easter for those who don't know). While relaxing in my childhood bed, I came across this story this morning about a Romanian bakery which puts gender inequality statistics on its cakes to remind customers of the seriousness of the issue and the need to talk and address it. French bakery chain Paul has its stores in Romania sell 'bittersweet pies' with icing on them showing grim stats on the country's gender equality position in the world. The mastermind of the idea, Mr Refuah, says many Romanians think the gender gap does not exist in their country, due to high participation of women in the workforce - BUT in reality, in 2015, Romania was rated No. 114 out of 145 countries in political equality, as measured by the World Economic Forum.
Co.Create reports that this first-ever "social desserts" line in the world will see 5% of revenue donated to the Filia Foundation and will go toward diversity projects. How fantastic is that!
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to the bakery to get some cake, although Bulgarian in my case.
Have a great week, everyone!
Women Deliver 2016 Conference
Hello beauties, 21 April 2016
There's less than a month left till I head off to Copenhagen for the Women Deliver 2016 conference (16-19 May). This international event will be the largest gathering on girls’ and women’s health and rights in the last decade and one of the first major global conferences following the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals last year. Solutions will be at the heart of the conference - in particular maternal, sexual & reproductive health, gender equality, education, environment, and economic empowerment solutions that deliver most impact for girls and women across the globe.
I'm particularly thrilled to be attending as I'll be one of the 200 Young Leaders from all over the world who got sponsored by WD last year for a two-year-long fellowship. There will be special activities for us as Young Leaders and I just CANNOT wait to report back to you guys about the exciting discussions we are having over in Denmark.
Stay tuned for more on the conference from me, and in the meantime, here are a few facts to get you thinking:
See you, ladies and gents, soon!
There's less than a month left till I head off to Copenhagen for the Women Deliver 2016 conference (16-19 May). This international event will be the largest gathering on girls’ and women’s health and rights in the last decade and one of the first major global conferences following the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals last year. Solutions will be at the heart of the conference - in particular maternal, sexual & reproductive health, gender equality, education, environment, and economic empowerment solutions that deliver most impact for girls and women across the globe.
I'm particularly thrilled to be attending as I'll be one of the 200 Young Leaders from all over the world who got sponsored by WD last year for a two-year-long fellowship. There will be special activities for us as Young Leaders and I just CANNOT wait to report back to you guys about the exciting discussions we are having over in Denmark.
Stay tuned for more on the conference from me, and in the meantime, here are a few facts to get you thinking:
- What difference can a toilet make to a young girl in school? Sometimes it’s the difference between staying in school or dropping out. Access to sanitary and private toilets in school increases girls’ enrollment by 11%. The time to act is for girls and women is now, the place to act is #WD2016.
- Every year in the developing world there are: 74 million unplanned pregnancies, which means there are 203,000 unplanned pregnancies every day, 3,194 unplanned births every hour, and 68 abortions every minute. Solutions and stories will be shared at #WD2016.
See you, ladies and gents, soon!
Women in Business
Hello beauties, 19 April 2016
I'm continuing the topic of women in business over the past couple of weeks and would like to recommend you the following article on CultureWizard (a cultural awareness website for business people travelling around the world). It gives an interesting account of how female business leaders shall behave in different countries around the world. For example, in India, if a woman says she is not authorised to make decisions, that may very likely cause her to lose credibility. Also, in the Czech Republic women raising their voice is seeing as particularly unapealing and is actively discouraged if a woman is to be a successful business leader. In Qatar on the other hand, a woman may need to include more adjectives and adverbs than normal if she comes from a direct culture, as the locals perceive that as more emotional and embellishing.
Although nothing is said on there about my country Bulgaria, I did like reading the stories and learnt a thing or two. You might too! But then again do keep in mind that these are just cultural understandings and to be entirely honest, in a completely equal world there will be no such expectations of women to begin with! Interesting nevetheless: http://blog.rw-3.com/blog/global-businesswomen-establish-credibility
I'm continuing the topic of women in business over the past couple of weeks and would like to recommend you the following article on CultureWizard (a cultural awareness website for business people travelling around the world). It gives an interesting account of how female business leaders shall behave in different countries around the world. For example, in India, if a woman says she is not authorised to make decisions, that may very likely cause her to lose credibility. Also, in the Czech Republic women raising their voice is seeing as particularly unapealing and is actively discouraged if a woman is to be a successful business leader. In Qatar on the other hand, a woman may need to include more adjectives and adverbs than normal if she comes from a direct culture, as the locals perceive that as more emotional and embellishing.
Although nothing is said on there about my country Bulgaria, I did like reading the stories and learnt a thing or two. You might too! But then again do keep in mind that these are just cultural understandings and to be entirely honest, in a completely equal world there will be no such expectations of women to begin with! Interesting nevetheless: http://blog.rw-3.com/blog/global-businesswomen-establish-credibility
Reverse Mentoring
Hi beauties, 17 April 2016
Hope you' ve had a lovely sunny weekend! Here's some good news coming our way today: Ernst & Young, international audit and consulting giant, is tackling the problem of sexism with “reverse mentoring” in their offices. The firm has introduced a new scheme where junior female employees coach their bosses about how to behave in the 21st century. While they might lack the years of experience or job title their male bosses already have, the young female employees are helping their more senior male colleagues understand how behaviour actions and words impact on others.This practice was already introduced in 2012 by Cisco and other firms and now EY reports the new initiative has helped propel more women into leadership positions. Sounds like a great programme to me and I look forward to seeing more firms introduce the same forward-looking schemes in the future.
Have a great week, ladies and gents, and talk next week!
Hope you' ve had a lovely sunny weekend! Here's some good news coming our way today: Ernst & Young, international audit and consulting giant, is tackling the problem of sexism with “reverse mentoring” in their offices. The firm has introduced a new scheme where junior female employees coach their bosses about how to behave in the 21st century. While they might lack the years of experience or job title their male bosses already have, the young female employees are helping their more senior male colleagues understand how behaviour actions and words impact on others.This practice was already introduced in 2012 by Cisco and other firms and now EY reports the new initiative has helped propel more women into leadership positions. Sounds like a great programme to me and I look forward to seeing more firms introduce the same forward-looking schemes in the future.
Have a great week, ladies and gents, and talk next week!
Women in Financial Services
Hello beauties, 10 April 2016
So glad to be back to normal London life - although I am already suffering from Chicago withdrawal symptoms. I need more of this city asap!
So to celebrate this fantastic trip over the past 2 weeks and the accompanying course I completed in Financial Management software, I thought I'd share with you about my firm's latest report findings on women in finance. Common misconceptions that men are more likely than women to want to travel and work abroad have created barriers to the development of women in financial services and to the growth of the industry, it has been concluded in ‘Women of the world: Aligning gender diversity and international mobility in Financial Services’. 42% of hundreds of surveyed women say their organisation has no clear view of employees who would be willing to be internationally mobile when, really, more women (66%) than men (60%) say they would be happy to work abroad at any stage in their career.
What does it mean for women in Finance to travel and work abroad and what stops them from doing so? FInd out in PwC's latest report below.
Have a lovely Sunday, everyone, I'm off to catch up on hundred of emails while I was gone - happy new life as a both HCM aaand Finance consultant now :)
So glad to be back to normal London life - although I am already suffering from Chicago withdrawal symptoms. I need more of this city asap!
So to celebrate this fantastic trip over the past 2 weeks and the accompanying course I completed in Financial Management software, I thought I'd share with you about my firm's latest report findings on women in finance. Common misconceptions that men are more likely than women to want to travel and work abroad have created barriers to the development of women in financial services and to the growth of the industry, it has been concluded in ‘Women of the world: Aligning gender diversity and international mobility in Financial Services’. 42% of hundreds of surveyed women say their organisation has no clear view of employees who would be willing to be internationally mobile when, really, more women (66%) than men (60%) say they would be happy to work abroad at any stage in their career.
What does it mean for women in Finance to travel and work abroad and what stops them from doing so? FInd out in PwC's latest report below.
Have a lovely Sunday, everyone, I'm off to catch up on hundred of emails while I was gone - happy new life as a both HCM aaand Finance consultant now :)
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BET
Hello beautiful people, 6 April 2016
It's the night before my final exam for the work course I've been doing these past two weeks. And to distract myself from worrying too much what's going to happen to my life from tomorrow onwards (gotta think positive right!), I thought I'd share two quick stories with you all.
Firstly, the company where I'm doing my training at is providing free tampons and pads for female employees and trainees. I'm super proud of you, Workday! It's great to see some employers actually taking care of their people, love it! if this was reality in every single company, I would have been the happiest feminist employee ever!
And secondly, last night I watched the Black Girls Rock awards show on BET tv and I loved it! Black women of all ages celebrated the 10-year anniversary of Black Girls Rock!, a mentoring organization set up by DJ Beverly Bond. It was a great eve with amazing performances from stars like Brandy and Lauryn Hill. There were also strong messages of empowerment from kick-ass ladies like Shonda Rhimes, Amandla Stenberg and Rihanna. Coca Cola also sponsored awards for under-18-year-old M.A.D. girls who are working to promote equality based on gender and race throughout America and the world. Some of these 11-year-olds properly impressed me! See more of the evening here.
And by the way, presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton also joined the stage at one point - call it publicity stunt right before the elections, but I love it how she continuously appears and calls for gender equality, now that's what I care about.
Have a good eve y'all!
It's the night before my final exam for the work course I've been doing these past two weeks. And to distract myself from worrying too much what's going to happen to my life from tomorrow onwards (gotta think positive right!), I thought I'd share two quick stories with you all.
Firstly, the company where I'm doing my training at is providing free tampons and pads for female employees and trainees. I'm super proud of you, Workday! It's great to see some employers actually taking care of their people, love it! if this was reality in every single company, I would have been the happiest feminist employee ever!
And secondly, last night I watched the Black Girls Rock awards show on BET tv and I loved it! Black women of all ages celebrated the 10-year anniversary of Black Girls Rock!, a mentoring organization set up by DJ Beverly Bond. It was a great eve with amazing performances from stars like Brandy and Lauryn Hill. There were also strong messages of empowerment from kick-ass ladies like Shonda Rhimes, Amandla Stenberg and Rihanna. Coca Cola also sponsored awards for under-18-year-old M.A.D. girls who are working to promote equality based on gender and race throughout America and the world. Some of these 11-year-olds properly impressed me! See more of the evening here.
And by the way, presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton also joined the stage at one point - call it publicity stunt right before the elections, but I love it how she continuously appears and calls for gender equality, now that's what I care about.
Have a good eve y'all!
NOT-to-Miss Updates
Well hello, beauties! 3 April 2016
Writing to you all from sunny Chicago on a beautiful Sunday afternoon (even though, yes - it snowed yesterday and I'm not even joking!)
So many news from the past week - and I know I said I won't be getting online due to my training course and busy schedule across the Pond, but I just couldn't resist it.
Here's a quick summary of the NOT-to-miss feminist updates:
- It's no surprise that women across the world do more unpaid work than men - in every single country! And that of course includes house chores and childcare. Melinda Gates took on this issue as a gender imbalance in her Annual Letter for 2016 - see what she's got to say about housework and the ladies' responsibilities here.
- Donald Trump - another non-surprise - is getting ever lower female approval ratings these days due to his claim that women who have abortions should be punished. Later on he retracted his statement and said he ''misspoke'. What a 'misspeakation' I'd say, beyond insulting and completely against gender equality principles and human rights values! See his interview from earlier this week and the obvious outcry from women across the US and the world here.
- And lastly, if you haven't had a chance to read BBC's latest article on human trafficking, check out Shandra Woworuntu's blog submission here.
She arrived in the US intending to start a new career in the hotel industry. Instead, she found she had been trafficked into a world of prostitution and sexual slavery, forced drug-taking and violence. A sad - yet very realistic - story, well worth the read!
I'll talk to you all when I get back to the UK next week, but in the meantime, please enjoy these NBA bootylicious photos I took for you all on Monday during the live Chicago Bulls vs Atlanta Hawks game. What a treat for the eye that was! :)
Writing to you all from sunny Chicago on a beautiful Sunday afternoon (even though, yes - it snowed yesterday and I'm not even joking!)
So many news from the past week - and I know I said I won't be getting online due to my training course and busy schedule across the Pond, but I just couldn't resist it.
Here's a quick summary of the NOT-to-miss feminist updates:
- It's no surprise that women across the world do more unpaid work than men - in every single country! And that of course includes house chores and childcare. Melinda Gates took on this issue as a gender imbalance in her Annual Letter for 2016 - see what she's got to say about housework and the ladies' responsibilities here.
- Donald Trump - another non-surprise - is getting ever lower female approval ratings these days due to his claim that women who have abortions should be punished. Later on he retracted his statement and said he ''misspoke'. What a 'misspeakation' I'd say, beyond insulting and completely against gender equality principles and human rights values! See his interview from earlier this week and the obvious outcry from women across the US and the world here.
- And lastly, if you haven't had a chance to read BBC's latest article on human trafficking, check out Shandra Woworuntu's blog submission here.
She arrived in the US intending to start a new career in the hotel industry. Instead, she found she had been trafficked into a world of prostitution and sexual slavery, forced drug-taking and violence. A sad - yet very realistic - story, well worth the read!
I'll talk to you all when I get back to the UK next week, but in the meantime, please enjoy these NBA bootylicious photos I took for you all on Monday during the live Chicago Bulls vs Atlanta Hawks game. What a treat for the eye that was! :)
VAT, NBA and Other Abbreviations
Hi beauties, 24 March 2016
The UK has now officially scrapped VAT on female sanitary products! What an incredible campaign this has been over the past two years and how great is it that we've now all succeeded together and made this change happen! Congratulations to all the ladies in the UK! Read more on the #EndTaxingOurPeriods campaign and the fantastic results here: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/laura-coryton/tampon-tax_b_9516794.html
Now that I've delivered the great news, I also wanted to wish all of those celebrating a very happy Easter! May you and your families be healthy, happy - and SAFE!
Speaking of safety and holiday plans, I'm taking off to the US tomorrow and won't be around to update you all on feminist news over the next two weeks. Apologies in advance - pretty sad! But the reason for travel is good and I'm really excited to also be going to my first ever NBA game next week - just in time to see the stars who have now announced support for Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In campaign for female empowerment. The NBA is now an official campaign partner and you can check out some pretty inspirational stories here.
Talk to you all very soon - happy spring and happy Easter once again!
The UK has now officially scrapped VAT on female sanitary products! What an incredible campaign this has been over the past two years and how great is it that we've now all succeeded together and made this change happen! Congratulations to all the ladies in the UK! Read more on the #EndTaxingOurPeriods campaign and the fantastic results here: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/laura-coryton/tampon-tax_b_9516794.html
Now that I've delivered the great news, I also wanted to wish all of those celebrating a very happy Easter! May you and your families be healthy, happy - and SAFE!
Speaking of safety and holiday plans, I'm taking off to the US tomorrow and won't be around to update you all on feminist news over the next two weeks. Apologies in advance - pretty sad! But the reason for travel is good and I'm really excited to also be going to my first ever NBA game next week - just in time to see the stars who have now announced support for Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In campaign for female empowerment. The NBA is now an official campaign partner and you can check out some pretty inspirational stories here.
Talk to you all very soon - happy spring and happy Easter once again!
Victory!
Major alert: TAMPON TAX WIN! 20 March 2016
This week, ALL EU member states have unanimously agreed on granting greater taxation flexibility across the continent. This means that when the legislation goes through next week, every country will be able to set its own tampon tax rates and for the UK that means no rates at all! George Osborne had promised to scrap the tax altogether if the EU allows it and so that has happened now - wohoo, get ready for cheaper tampons and pads, ladies! Looking forward to the formal announcement next week and in the meantime - well done to Laura Coryton who initiated the campaign and totally ruled the world with her feminist activism for justice and equality! Well done Laura and co. - super well deserved victory for women around Europe!
This week, ALL EU member states have unanimously agreed on granting greater taxation flexibility across the continent. This means that when the legislation goes through next week, every country will be able to set its own tampon tax rates and for the UK that means no rates at all! George Osborne had promised to scrap the tax altogether if the EU allows it and so that has happened now - wohoo, get ready for cheaper tampons and pads, ladies! Looking forward to the formal announcement next week and in the meantime - well done to Laura Coryton who initiated the campaign and totally ruled the world with her feminist activism for justice and equality! Well done Laura and co. - super well deserved victory for women around Europe!
Bloody Periods
Hello beauties, 16 March 2016
It's been a difficult week so far not least because of work commitments and feeling very ill, but good news has come our (European) way - Green MEP Molly Scott has launched a campaign inside the European Union to end tampon tax across the continent! She is now lobbying the Union to grant all Member States the freedom to axe tampon tax if they want to.Read her accoount on why tampon tax should be brought down to 0% across the Union here.
On another note, in early March five women filed a class action lawsuit in New York against tampon tax. Currently NY State exempts "medical necessities" from sales tax, which include Viagra, Rogaine, Chapstick, and dandruff shampoo. But not tampons and pads — an exclusion that the plaintiffs and their lawyers consider a violation of New York State Tax Law, the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment, and the New York Constitution's Equal Protection clause. How's that for kick-ass ladies who seek their rights in all official ways possible! Love it and can't wait to hear how the case goes - stay tuned here.
Now have a lovely Wed night, beauties and talk to you this weekend! x
It's been a difficult week so far not least because of work commitments and feeling very ill, but good news has come our (European) way - Green MEP Molly Scott has launched a campaign inside the European Union to end tampon tax across the continent! She is now lobbying the Union to grant all Member States the freedom to axe tampon tax if they want to.Read her accoount on why tampon tax should be brought down to 0% across the Union here.
On another note, in early March five women filed a class action lawsuit in New York against tampon tax. Currently NY State exempts "medical necessities" from sales tax, which include Viagra, Rogaine, Chapstick, and dandruff shampoo. But not tampons and pads — an exclusion that the plaintiffs and their lawyers consider a violation of New York State Tax Law, the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment, and the New York Constitution's Equal Protection clause. How's that for kick-ass ladies who seek their rights in all official ways possible! Love it and can't wait to hear how the case goes - stay tuned here.
Now have a lovely Wed night, beauties and talk to you this weekend! x
Working Women 2.0
Hey beauties, 14 March 2016
I'll continue this month's hot topic discussion around women in the work place and share an article sent over to me by Miss Kristina - check out The Economist' ranking of best and worst places to be a working woman these days. Iceland, Norway and Sweden rank at the top - unsirprisingly, and Hungary is the great achiever (similar to PwC's latest index findings). South Korea, Turkey and Japan are at the other end of the spectrum - and by the way, in case you didn't know Japan has exactly 2% female participation on boards of businesses! 2%! For one of the most advanced world economies...
Without getting too sad if you are based in Japan these days, I do hope you have a lovely week, everyone! :)
I'll continue this month's hot topic discussion around women in the work place and share an article sent over to me by Miss Kristina - check out The Economist' ranking of best and worst places to be a working woman these days. Iceland, Norway and Sweden rank at the top - unsirprisingly, and Hungary is the great achiever (similar to PwC's latest index findings). South Korea, Turkey and Japan are at the other end of the spectrum - and by the way, in case you didn't know Japan has exactly 2% female participation on boards of businesses! 2%! For one of the most advanced world economies...
Without getting too sad if you are based in Japan these days, I do hope you have a lovely week, everyone! :)
Women in Work Index
Hey beauties AND happy International Women's Day! 10 March 2016
I am well aware I am two days late for one of the most important celebrations I'm marking on my blog evey year, but my excuse is being well occupied with students I am mentoring - i.e. spreading the young female empowerment idea, sharing the female spirit through internal comms at work, and social media campaigning for Women for Women UK. Do check my Campaigns tab to see the latest and greatest initiative of the private sector support female charities. Now apologies for the delay either way - I'm here now though and happy to share the latest news in relation to women's position at work:
This week, to mark International Women's Day, PwC launched its fourth Women in Work Index. This index ranks 33 OECD countries on five key indicators of female economic empowerment: the equality of earnings with men; the proportion of women in work (in absolute terms and relative to men); the female unemployment rate; and the proportion of women in full-time employment. Check out the PwC website for detailed info on this, but here is a snapshot of all the key findings:
- Iceland, Norway and Sweden are the top 3 performing OECD countries
- Hungary has achieved the most significant year-on-year improvements, due to a significant narrowing of the wage gap, a rise in female labour force participation and a fall in unemployment.
- However, the Netherlands has seen a significant fall in its position, driven largely by a rise in the female unemployment rate.
- Australia continues to fall in the rankings.
- Across the OECD more women are in work than ever before and unemployment rates have gradually declined following 2008 global financial crisis. However, the gender pay gap remains unacceptably wide.
- Closing the gender wage gap by increasing the wages of female workers to those of male workers in the UK would increase total female earnings by an estimated $100 billion (c.£80 billion at current exchange rates).
Improving female employment across the OECD to match Sweden’s performance could yield a boost to GDP of almost US$5 trillion! Greece, Mexico and Italy would gain the most for their GDP if that was to happen!
Now feeling motivated? I hope so! Both the government which has to take active steps in battling gender pay inequality, as well as businesses, and us - the society - in general! We've just GOT to change stereotypes and demand accountability and transparency by our employers and politicians. As the report says, there is a massive improvement compared to decades ago, but we still have to keep pushing - and we'll get there!
I am well aware I am two days late for one of the most important celebrations I'm marking on my blog evey year, but my excuse is being well occupied with students I am mentoring - i.e. spreading the young female empowerment idea, sharing the female spirit through internal comms at work, and social media campaigning for Women for Women UK. Do check my Campaigns tab to see the latest and greatest initiative of the private sector support female charities. Now apologies for the delay either way - I'm here now though and happy to share the latest news in relation to women's position at work:
This week, to mark International Women's Day, PwC launched its fourth Women in Work Index. This index ranks 33 OECD countries on five key indicators of female economic empowerment: the equality of earnings with men; the proportion of women in work (in absolute terms and relative to men); the female unemployment rate; and the proportion of women in full-time employment. Check out the PwC website for detailed info on this, but here is a snapshot of all the key findings:
- Iceland, Norway and Sweden are the top 3 performing OECD countries
- Hungary has achieved the most significant year-on-year improvements, due to a significant narrowing of the wage gap, a rise in female labour force participation and a fall in unemployment.
- However, the Netherlands has seen a significant fall in its position, driven largely by a rise in the female unemployment rate.
- Australia continues to fall in the rankings.
- Across the OECD more women are in work than ever before and unemployment rates have gradually declined following 2008 global financial crisis. However, the gender pay gap remains unacceptably wide.
- Closing the gender wage gap by increasing the wages of female workers to those of male workers in the UK would increase total female earnings by an estimated $100 billion (c.£80 billion at current exchange rates).
Improving female employment across the OECD to match Sweden’s performance could yield a boost to GDP of almost US$5 trillion! Greece, Mexico and Italy would gain the most for their GDP if that was to happen!
Now feeling motivated? I hope so! Both the government which has to take active steps in battling gender pay inequality, as well as businesses, and us - the society - in general! We've just GOT to change stereotypes and demand accountability and transparency by our employers and politicians. As the report says, there is a massive improvement compared to decades ago, but we still have to keep pushing - and we'll get there!
Girls Learning How to Code
To mark International Women's Day on 8th March, Acorn Aspirations, in partnership with Ada's List, Girls In Tech, GeekGirls Meetup, Geekettes, Blooming Founders and wearedotdotdot, is organising a TEDx-style event in London where inspiring female founders, entrepreneurs and computer engineers will share their stories with young girls. The idea is to inspire the next generation of female tech entrepreneurs and improve equality and diversity in the tech sector. This will be followed by a 2-day hackathon-style event on 12th &13th March. The heckathon will consist in teaching the young girls from London schools and colleges how to code, programme, design and brand, and will be followed by continuous mentoring and support on the youngsters' entrepreneurial journeys. Join me in congratulating Acorn for their efforts to bring in more girls into technology and let us all be reminded that women comprise only 12% of all technology teams in the UK! And that's even a decrease from 15% last year!
Let's all get united and challenge stereotypes together!
Check out further details on these two events, how to get involved, and what else Acorn Aspirations does at http://acornhackgirls.acornaspirations.co.uk/
Let's all get united and challenge stereotypes together!
Check out further details on these two events, how to get involved, and what else Acorn Aspirations does at http://acornhackgirls.acornaspirations.co.uk/
The Walk - As It Happened
Hello beauties, 6 March 2016
Today's walk organised by Care International in central London was a fantastic event, well thought-through, and inspirational, with speeches by politicians, activists and campaigners, and even commedians. The Secretary of State for International Development made a brief appearance and so did two of the candidates for London Mayors (did you know there is only ONE female candidate in the race this year, and fyi she's representing the Women's Equality Party - you rule, ladies!). Also, starts from the movie Sufragettes came by as well as famous ladies capaigning for an end to female genital mutilation, humane treatment of domestic workers, support for women refugees, etc. My summary of the event has now been published in a video form here: https://www.facebook.com/plamena.solakova
Below are some more photos of the event which saw thousands of women, children AND men walk the streets of central London today. So ready to rock International Women's Day on Tuesday!
Today's walk organised by Care International in central London was a fantastic event, well thought-through, and inspirational, with speeches by politicians, activists and campaigners, and even commedians. The Secretary of State for International Development made a brief appearance and so did two of the candidates for London Mayors (did you know there is only ONE female candidate in the race this year, and fyi she's representing the Women's Equality Party - you rule, ladies!). Also, starts from the movie Sufragettes came by as well as famous ladies capaigning for an end to female genital mutilation, humane treatment of domestic workers, support for women refugees, etc. My summary of the event has now been published in a video form here: https://www.facebook.com/plamena.solakova
Below are some more photos of the event which saw thousands of women, children AND men walk the streets of central London today. So ready to rock International Women's Day on Tuesday!
Women's Walk
Hey world, 5 March 2016
On Tuesday it’s International Women’s Day and to mark the occasion, Care International is organizing a women’s walk in central London. Myself and a couple of other ladies are joining the initiative at 10 am tomorrow, Sunday 6th March. Come by at More London Riverside to hear inspiring stories and speeches by some of the most active feminists in the UK. This combined with uplifting entertainment and Mothers’ Day celebrations – your support to women and girls around the world will be heard!
See you at 10 tomorrow at The Scoop, Queen's Walk, More London, London SE1 2DB – and it’s free!
Love, x
On Tuesday it’s International Women’s Day and to mark the occasion, Care International is organizing a women’s walk in central London. Myself and a couple of other ladies are joining the initiative at 10 am tomorrow, Sunday 6th March. Come by at More London Riverside to hear inspiring stories and speeches by some of the most active feminists in the UK. This combined with uplifting entertainment and Mothers’ Day celebrations – your support to women and girls around the world will be heard!
See you at 10 tomorrow at The Scoop, Queen's Walk, More London, London SE1 2DB – and it’s free!
Love, x
Baba Marta and Jameela Jamil
Evening wonderful people, 1 March 2016
1st March is a national celebration in Bulgaria which we call ‘Baba Marta’ – i.e. Granny Marta. Marta comes from March, so the first day of the month is linked to an almighty old lady who can transform the weather and make it spring just as quick as she can bring back the winter. This just serves my point of reminding everyone not to mess with kick-ass ladies!
On a more serious cultural note though, every single Bulgarian person puts on a martenitsa on today’s day (see below a mini doll version which I have decorated my room with), either on their coats or on their wrists. These are red and white striped decorations which symbolize purity, strength and health. Happy Baba Marta, everyone, stay healthy and strong!
And on another note, please do check out the blog of another absolutely kick-ass woman: Jameela Jamil. She’s a TV and radio presenter, model and writer – one who submits monthly columns to Cosmopolitan UK and totally inspires me every single time I read her words. Be it on healthy lifestyle and how all women should feel themselves regardless of their shapes and sizes, or on the reality of feeling lonely in a completely new city (Jameela was in LA while I was in Paris), or on love drama, on breast cancer, or any other women-related issue – Jameela totally rocks. Follow her on Twitter as well, trust me, you’ll get proper life lessons!
1st March is a national celebration in Bulgaria which we call ‘Baba Marta’ – i.e. Granny Marta. Marta comes from March, so the first day of the month is linked to an almighty old lady who can transform the weather and make it spring just as quick as she can bring back the winter. This just serves my point of reminding everyone not to mess with kick-ass ladies!
On a more serious cultural note though, every single Bulgarian person puts on a martenitsa on today’s day (see below a mini doll version which I have decorated my room with), either on their coats or on their wrists. These are red and white striped decorations which symbolize purity, strength and health. Happy Baba Marta, everyone, stay healthy and strong!
And on another note, please do check out the blog of another absolutely kick-ass woman: Jameela Jamil. She’s a TV and radio presenter, model and writer – one who submits monthly columns to Cosmopolitan UK and totally inspires me every single time I read her words. Be it on healthy lifestyle and how all women should feel themselves regardless of their shapes and sizes, or on the reality of feeling lonely in a completely new city (Jameela was in LA while I was in Paris), or on love drama, on breast cancer, or any other women-related issue – Jameela totally rocks. Follow her on Twitter as well, trust me, you’ll get proper life lessons!
China Rocks
Hello beauties, 28 February 2016
Beautiful day today in London (although quite cold!) and miss Antonia and I went to the flower market at Columbia Road. Significantly improved mood and one skin tone darker (we actually got sun!) I felt inspired to update you all on three of my fav topics:
Starting with human trafficking: please check out the final video on my project 'SilisTRAffic' which was recently published and summarises our key points of the training at Atanas Burov High School in Silistra (18 December 2015). Part of the 'SilisTRAffic' project funded by the US State Department through American Councils, this initiative aimed at raising awareness on trafficking and informing students how to better protect themselves in potential dangerous situations. 60 students and teachers debated the topic and I'm happy to see the buzz still ongoing today. Happy to hear feedback and thanks to everyone who got involved once again!
Then periods: earlier in February a Chinese province, Anhui, allowed female workers ‘menstrual leave’ during their period. Women are now permitted to take up to three days off if experiencing serious pain and/ or other symptoms and I'm super happy to see some states are actually taking the period issue seriously. Two other chinese provinces had previously allowed the same rights to female workers - how great is that! And here in the UK, by the way, we are still refusing to scrap the 5 % period tax so that women finally stop paying unfair and unequal taxes. What a disparity...
And finally, women and girls in science! EDF Energy is a well know firm which recently launched a competition to urge more girls to get into science. Great! Except the competition was just won by a 13-year-old BOY! The 'Pretty Curious' initiative might have had good intentions at heart in wanting to inspire girls to counter stereotypes and get into science and engineering, but hey what proves more correct these stereotypes than a boy winnin over female applicants. Disappointing with a major D here.
Those were my updates for today, ladies and gents, talk again next week x
Beautiful day today in London (although quite cold!) and miss Antonia and I went to the flower market at Columbia Road. Significantly improved mood and one skin tone darker (we actually got sun!) I felt inspired to update you all on three of my fav topics:
Starting with human trafficking: please check out the final video on my project 'SilisTRAffic' which was recently published and summarises our key points of the training at Atanas Burov High School in Silistra (18 December 2015). Part of the 'SilisTRAffic' project funded by the US State Department through American Councils, this initiative aimed at raising awareness on trafficking and informing students how to better protect themselves in potential dangerous situations. 60 students and teachers debated the topic and I'm happy to see the buzz still ongoing today. Happy to hear feedback and thanks to everyone who got involved once again!
Then periods: earlier in February a Chinese province, Anhui, allowed female workers ‘menstrual leave’ during their period. Women are now permitted to take up to three days off if experiencing serious pain and/ or other symptoms and I'm super happy to see some states are actually taking the period issue seriously. Two other chinese provinces had previously allowed the same rights to female workers - how great is that! And here in the UK, by the way, we are still refusing to scrap the 5 % period tax so that women finally stop paying unfair and unequal taxes. What a disparity...
And finally, women and girls in science! EDF Energy is a well know firm which recently launched a competition to urge more girls to get into science. Great! Except the competition was just won by a 13-year-old BOY! The 'Pretty Curious' initiative might have had good intentions at heart in wanting to inspire girls to counter stereotypes and get into science and engineering, but hey what proves more correct these stereotypes than a boy winnin over female applicants. Disappointing with a major D here.
Those were my updates for today, ladies and gents, talk again next week x
Lena
'Girls' is back and Lena Dunham (Hannah) totally rocked the season premiere in a Beyonce-style feminist sweater 'I woke up like this'! Love them both to bits!
Tune in for Girls Monday nights US time and let the feminists in you flourish!
Tune in for Girls Monday nights US time and let the feminists in you flourish!
Women at War
Hi world, 22 February 2016
Apologies for the slight delay in getting into blogging this past week, busy days they've been, plus a fantastic trip to visit my girl D in Coventry. So with no rain at all (well hello, Midlands!), even with sunshine, and a lot of positive cultural and social activities over the weekend, I've now returned from Coventry and wanted to share with you some facts and visuals from our visit to the Coventry Cathedral and Blitz museum.
Did you know that in January 1940 Winston Churchill called for one million British women to help with war work, mainly through making munitions? In the next two years, 'mobile women' between 20 and 30 years of age who had no major responsibilities at home, were enlisted into helping at factories and in the forces. By 1943, nine out of ten single women were involved in the war effort. As for married women, eight out of ten married ladies with kids over 14, were helping! Not only were women making munitions but they were also running everyday life in the country, including driving taxis and buses, glazing broken windows, emptying dustbins, delivering the post, and mending roads. The so-called Land Girls were crucial in the food-making industry. And yes, women were also helping returning soldiers to recover and reintegrate back into society as volunteers in the Social services.
The museum in Coventry which tells the story of the city in the 1940s truly inspires the visitors, especially the female ones as it demonstrates perfectly well how the war effort is never only by those fighting on the frontline - it's also shared by all those at home, and thanks to women it is that Britain freed itself by the mid-40s. Thank you is in order!
Have a great night ladies and gents, talk soon x
Apologies for the slight delay in getting into blogging this past week, busy days they've been, plus a fantastic trip to visit my girl D in Coventry. So with no rain at all (well hello, Midlands!), even with sunshine, and a lot of positive cultural and social activities over the weekend, I've now returned from Coventry and wanted to share with you some facts and visuals from our visit to the Coventry Cathedral and Blitz museum.
Did you know that in January 1940 Winston Churchill called for one million British women to help with war work, mainly through making munitions? In the next two years, 'mobile women' between 20 and 30 years of age who had no major responsibilities at home, were enlisted into helping at factories and in the forces. By 1943, nine out of ten single women were involved in the war effort. As for married women, eight out of ten married ladies with kids over 14, were helping! Not only were women making munitions but they were also running everyday life in the country, including driving taxis and buses, glazing broken windows, emptying dustbins, delivering the post, and mending roads. The so-called Land Girls were crucial in the food-making industry. And yes, women were also helping returning soldiers to recover and reintegrate back into society as volunteers in the Social services.
The museum in Coventry which tells the story of the city in the 1940s truly inspires the visitors, especially the female ones as it demonstrates perfectly well how the war effort is never only by those fighting on the frontline - it's also shared by all those at home, and thanks to women it is that Britain freed itself by the mid-40s. Thank you is in order!
Have a great night ladies and gents, talk soon x
One Billion Rising
Hello beauties, 17 February 2016
This past Sunday was Valentine’s Day – a celebration of love and romance. On the same date, for the fourth consecutive year, we also had One Billion Rising – a world-wide campaign with events and marches in thousands of international cities which aims to end violence against women. Globally.
This year’s theme was One Billion Rising for Revolution and saw an ever-more active artistic and creative uprising from Australia all the way around the globe to Hawaii. More than 200 countries participated through diverse events and activities and raised awareness about the injustice women are facing today, in the form of violence in and outside of their homes, labour and sexual exploitation, discrimination and inequality. What happened this weekend – read some of the city stories here.
And in addition to that, 8th March is coming up soon which you all know is International Women’s Day. In London, at the Southbank Center, the annual festival Women of the World will take place with talks and discussions with active UK and international feminists. I had the pleasure of going last fall thanks to my girl Antonia, and definitely recommend you attend this time around – dates are 11,12 and 13th March. More feminist news from me soon x
This past Sunday was Valentine’s Day – a celebration of love and romance. On the same date, for the fourth consecutive year, we also had One Billion Rising – a world-wide campaign with events and marches in thousands of international cities which aims to end violence against women. Globally.
This year’s theme was One Billion Rising for Revolution and saw an ever-more active artistic and creative uprising from Australia all the way around the globe to Hawaii. More than 200 countries participated through diverse events and activities and raised awareness about the injustice women are facing today, in the form of violence in and outside of their homes, labour and sexual exploitation, discrimination and inequality. What happened this weekend – read some of the city stories here.
And in addition to that, 8th March is coming up soon which you all know is International Women’s Day. In London, at the Southbank Center, the annual festival Women of the World will take place with talks and discussions with active UK and international feminists. I had the pleasure of going last fall thanks to my girl Antonia, and definitely recommend you attend this time around – dates are 11,12 and 13th March. More feminist news from me soon x
Her Majesty's Land
Hello beauties, 13 February 2016
UK news today:
After a two-year dispute, British Airways finally agreed to allow all cabin crew, male and female, to wear trousers! Established crew have long been allowed to cover their legs, but the new “mixed fleet” of crew (i.e. those employed in the past 5 years with special terms and conditions) did not enjoy the same freedom. Female flight attendants on the 3,000-strong mixed fleet had to wear skirts unless for medical or religious reasons. Now this is no longer the case – surprised this was still happening in 2015 but glad the rule is now scrapped.
And secondly, the UK’s first-ever red-light district has been made a permanent part of Leeds as of last month. There’s now a ‘managed zone’ in the Holbeck area of the city which allows prostitutes to practice their profession openly between 7 pm and 7 am and promises lower likelihood of arrest for offences of loitering, soliciting and kerb crawling. This is in response to years of crimes incidents with prostitutes and in an attempt to improve the relationship between sex workers and the police. To improve the safety of the workers, Leeds says, there’ll be special protection for them. As a reminder, prostitution in the UK is legal, but soliciting to prostitution and pimping aren’t. I’m all up for free practice if the ladies – AND gents – want to be sex workers and good for the attempts to make them feel safer. Altogether though am still slightly skeptical as to how exactly protection will be guaranteed – let’s wait and see…
Have a great Valentine’s day tomorrow, people! And if you are Bulgarian – happy national Wine day! Xx
UK news today:
After a two-year dispute, British Airways finally agreed to allow all cabin crew, male and female, to wear trousers! Established crew have long been allowed to cover their legs, but the new “mixed fleet” of crew (i.e. those employed in the past 5 years with special terms and conditions) did not enjoy the same freedom. Female flight attendants on the 3,000-strong mixed fleet had to wear skirts unless for medical or religious reasons. Now this is no longer the case – surprised this was still happening in 2015 but glad the rule is now scrapped.
And secondly, the UK’s first-ever red-light district has been made a permanent part of Leeds as of last month. There’s now a ‘managed zone’ in the Holbeck area of the city which allows prostitutes to practice their profession openly between 7 pm and 7 am and promises lower likelihood of arrest for offences of loitering, soliciting and kerb crawling. This is in response to years of crimes incidents with prostitutes and in an attempt to improve the relationship between sex workers and the police. To improve the safety of the workers, Leeds says, there’ll be special protection for them. As a reminder, prostitution in the UK is legal, but soliciting to prostitution and pimping aren’t. I’m all up for free practice if the ladies – AND gents – want to be sex workers and good for the attempts to make them feel safer. Altogether though am still slightly skeptical as to how exactly protection will be guaranteed – let’s wait and see…
Have a great Valentine’s day tomorrow, people! And if you are Bulgarian – happy national Wine day! Xx
Exercise
Hello beauties, 9 February 2016
Last week I went on my first group therapy session that I’ve ever been at. It was a real shocker as there was a lady who had just given birth, an elderly man, a corporate-looking-all-successful-40-something man, at least three or four very young girls and boys, younger than me that is, then there was me, and a couple of other representatives of very diverse ages and ethnic and religious backgrounds.
After all, I do live in the most diverse council in London, but that’s not the point – what I wanted to stress is that low mood, anxiety and depression can hit just about anyone regardless of their looks or backgrounds – or gender! Although, at tonight’s session, our second, there were six females and one male. Now that kind of proves the researchers’ point that women get affected by mental health issues more often than men. And it’s good some of us are willing to admit it. Without going into much more detail as to my troubled summer, car crashes and other issues, in our session tonight we covered helpful and unhelpful strategies to deal with negative experiences and upsetting situations. What was recommended to us, amongst other pieces of advice, was to plan out a weekly activity diary where we’d record anything we’d like to achieve, any connections we’d make with people we haven’t seen in a while, any enjoyment activities we’d embark on, AND especially any physical exercise we’d get on with.
Physical exercise, turns out, plays a massive role in overcoming not just stress, but also negative thoughts and unhealthy behaviours. Cosmopolitan UK are running an article on this in their March edition and some bits which I definitely wanted to share include:
Stay motivated and talk to you later in the week! :)
Last week I went on my first group therapy session that I’ve ever been at. It was a real shocker as there was a lady who had just given birth, an elderly man, a corporate-looking-all-successful-40-something man, at least three or four very young girls and boys, younger than me that is, then there was me, and a couple of other representatives of very diverse ages and ethnic and religious backgrounds.
After all, I do live in the most diverse council in London, but that’s not the point – what I wanted to stress is that low mood, anxiety and depression can hit just about anyone regardless of their looks or backgrounds – or gender! Although, at tonight’s session, our second, there were six females and one male. Now that kind of proves the researchers’ point that women get affected by mental health issues more often than men. And it’s good some of us are willing to admit it. Without going into much more detail as to my troubled summer, car crashes and other issues, in our session tonight we covered helpful and unhelpful strategies to deal with negative experiences and upsetting situations. What was recommended to us, amongst other pieces of advice, was to plan out a weekly activity diary where we’d record anything we’d like to achieve, any connections we’d make with people we haven’t seen in a while, any enjoyment activities we’d embark on, AND especially any physical exercise we’d get on with.
Physical exercise, turns out, plays a massive role in overcoming not just stress, but also negative thoughts and unhealthy behaviours. Cosmopolitan UK are running an article on this in their March edition and some bits which I definitely wanted to share include:
- Regular exercisers earn 9% more than people who don’t exercise often; i.e. exercises clears your head and helps you focus on getting the job done – and gets you a promotion along the way. Also, two hours after exercise creativity is at its peak. Sweet.
- 79% of office workers enjoy smoother interactions with their colleagues on days they exercise; i.e. you are feeling less stressed and more communicative. Even sweeter.
- Working out makes one in every five people in the UK finish work on time! Now THIS is as sweet as Nutella – said by a regular ‘I’ll stay late because I have so many things to do’-person. Oh my – gotta change this one.
Stay motivated and talk to you later in the week! :)
Hurray
Hello gorgeous people, 6 February 2016
In January, The Times published the results of an investigation of high-street stores and their pricing policies, which revealed that women and girls are charged on average 37% more than men and boys for equivalent products. We are talking razors, anti-ageing creams, t-shirts and underwear or children's toys – to name a few! I had already written about the differences in pricing based on gender as far back as last year (scroll further down on my blog), but hearing the numbers once again was still painful. As a result of the study, an active feminist Stevie Wise launched a petition on change.org urging Boots – one of the well respected drug stores on our high streets – to lead the way in reviewing its prices and remove gender discrimination standards. After all, it ain’t fair that we are paying £9.99 for eye cream for women, but £7.29 for men. £2.29 for 8 women's razors, and £1.49 for a pack of 10 for men…
Now, as of two days ago, we have great news coming our way: Stevie’s petition gathered over 40,000 signatures in literally a few days, and managed to convince Boots' CEO to review their prices. "This review has reassured us that for Boots own brands the two reported examples, Boots disposable razors and Botanics eye roll on, are indeed exceptional cases which do not completely meet our principles and we are taking action to correct these prices.” – HURRAY! Both products will now be cheaper for the ladies – what a quick and great success that is! One at a time, all retailers should do the same really. Way to go Stevie, and way to go Boots!
Have a fantastic weekend!
In January, The Times published the results of an investigation of high-street stores and their pricing policies, which revealed that women and girls are charged on average 37% more than men and boys for equivalent products. We are talking razors, anti-ageing creams, t-shirts and underwear or children's toys – to name a few! I had already written about the differences in pricing based on gender as far back as last year (scroll further down on my blog), but hearing the numbers once again was still painful. As a result of the study, an active feminist Stevie Wise launched a petition on change.org urging Boots – one of the well respected drug stores on our high streets – to lead the way in reviewing its prices and remove gender discrimination standards. After all, it ain’t fair that we are paying £9.99 for eye cream for women, but £7.29 for men. £2.29 for 8 women's razors, and £1.49 for a pack of 10 for men…
Now, as of two days ago, we have great news coming our way: Stevie’s petition gathered over 40,000 signatures in literally a few days, and managed to convince Boots' CEO to review their prices. "This review has reassured us that for Boots own brands the two reported examples, Boots disposable razors and Botanics eye roll on, are indeed exceptional cases which do not completely meet our principles and we are taking action to correct these prices.” – HURRAY! Both products will now be cheaper for the ladies – what a quick and great success that is! One at a time, all retailers should do the same really. Way to go Stevie, and way to go Boots!
Have a fantastic weekend!
World Issues
Hello beautiful people, 3 February 2016
Last week the World Economic Forum had its annual summit in Davos, Switzerland – arguably a demonstration of luxurious life which only highlights the differences between the richest and poorest economies in the world. At this annual event, there’s an informal space set up as a destination for women attendees known as “the 18%”. Why the 18? You may ask – well, because men outnumber women by five to one at this forum. And with less than 20% of participants being female it only makes sense to cosy them up together in an area known as The Girls’ Lounge. The issues discussed in this space include the gender pay gap and the position of women on corporate boards, as well as the drastic inequality levels around the globe whose most apparent victims are women (that’s a fact!). The story of one participant and what it feels to be ‘at the top’ of the world’s economic ladder but also in ‘the lounge’ of feminist participants, read all about it here.
And speaking of world problems, please do see the latest updates on tampon tax around the world in a recent article for Marie Claire magazine. Some success stories already – in Canada and France, to name a few, but about time we all raise our voices once again and get rid of the tax on female sanitary products altogether – globally! Stop taxing our periods. Period.
Talk over the weekend, ladies and gents x
Last week the World Economic Forum had its annual summit in Davos, Switzerland – arguably a demonstration of luxurious life which only highlights the differences between the richest and poorest economies in the world. At this annual event, there’s an informal space set up as a destination for women attendees known as “the 18%”. Why the 18? You may ask – well, because men outnumber women by five to one at this forum. And with less than 20% of participants being female it only makes sense to cosy them up together in an area known as The Girls’ Lounge. The issues discussed in this space include the gender pay gap and the position of women on corporate boards, as well as the drastic inequality levels around the globe whose most apparent victims are women (that’s a fact!). The story of one participant and what it feels to be ‘at the top’ of the world’s economic ladder but also in ‘the lounge’ of feminist participants, read all about it here.
And speaking of world problems, please do see the latest updates on tampon tax around the world in a recent article for Marie Claire magazine. Some success stories already – in Canada and France, to name a few, but about time we all raise our voices once again and get rid of the tax on female sanitary products altogether – globally! Stop taxing our periods. Period.
Talk over the weekend, ladies and gents x
Software and Stuff
Hello beauties,
Couple of weeks ago I got officially certified as a Principal Consultant for a Human Capital Management software called Workday. For all who know me, am sure you are surprised (let’s be honest – shocked!) that the least techy person on this planet has moved into a Tech career and can now build an entire software system for an imaginable multinational company. Well guess what, I’m surprised with myself too, but am also quite proud – if anything, I’m proud I’m now one of the not-so-many women in Tech in London.
With this in mind, I strongly recommend you read the following interview with Stephanie Buscemi, the COO of Salesforce’s cloud business – an inspiring story which also gives plenty of advice of how to be a female leader in a man-dominated world.
And further to that, please DO read the February edition of Cosmopolitan UK where on page 67 you’d find an interview with Whitney Wolfe – the co-founder of Tinder and founder of Bumble. The latter, you must know by now, is a dating app where women have to message first – a truly revolutionary and empowering platform for women to be bosses not just in their work lives, but in their personal ones too. And Whitney, by the way, was just 22 when she co-founded Tinder! How’s that for a techy lady, who didn’t even have a degree in computer science or anything of the sort!
Have a lovely eve, ladies and gents, and happy Monday!
Couple of weeks ago I got officially certified as a Principal Consultant for a Human Capital Management software called Workday. For all who know me, am sure you are surprised (let’s be honest – shocked!) that the least techy person on this planet has moved into a Tech career and can now build an entire software system for an imaginable multinational company. Well guess what, I’m surprised with myself too, but am also quite proud – if anything, I’m proud I’m now one of the not-so-many women in Tech in London.
With this in mind, I strongly recommend you read the following interview with Stephanie Buscemi, the COO of Salesforce’s cloud business – an inspiring story which also gives plenty of advice of how to be a female leader in a man-dominated world.
And further to that, please DO read the February edition of Cosmopolitan UK where on page 67 you’d find an interview with Whitney Wolfe – the co-founder of Tinder and founder of Bumble. The latter, you must know by now, is a dating app where women have to message first – a truly revolutionary and empowering platform for women to be bosses not just in their work lives, but in their personal ones too. And Whitney, by the way, was just 22 when she co-founded Tinder! How’s that for a techy lady, who didn’t even have a degree in computer science or anything of the sort!
Have a lovely eve, ladies and gents, and happy Monday!
Shirley Chisholm
Did you know that the US had another female candidate for President from the Democrat party as far back as 1972? And on top of that, she was black? Now that was a surprise to me when I read it in this week's BBC magazine edition, especially when compaing to the fuss around Hilary Clinton at this very moment. I absolutely love Mrs Clinton and can't wait for her to win, but it's definitely worth looking back in history and seeing what this other lady in 1972 had achieved and what obstacles she faced along the way of her Presidential run. Her name is Shirley Chisholm by the way. And she said she faced more discrimination because she was a woman than because of her skin colour. Now that's a powerful statement that just shows what we all encounter in a man-dominated world. It was the case in the 1970s and it's still far from gone now, in 2016. Read her story here and stay inspired!
The Importance of Words
Hi beauties, 25 January 2016
Wording will be very important today as this blog post will be on the Oxford English Dictionary and its sexist implications. Earlier today a scandal broke out after academic Michael Oman-Reagan tweeted the dictionary publisher and asked for a change of the example sentence used to describe the adjective 'rabid'. In the present edition of the dictionary, the word is defined using the phrase 'rabid feminist'. For those whose first language is not English, rabid means being overly enthusiastic borderline fanatical about something, and in this case Oxford points at fanatical feminists. Also, Mr Oman-Reagan picked on the dictionary using the following word examples in a sexist way: 'grating' is defined as 'sounding harsh and unpleasant', with the description 'HER high, grating voice'; 'nagging' = constantly harassing someone to do something, example: 'a nagging wife'; and my personally favourite: 'bossy' = fond of giving people orders, domineering, example: 'a bossy, meddling woman'! While other words such as 'housework' are also described as predominantly female work, the BOSSY example was the worst in my eyes. Clearly shows the need for Sheryl Sandberg's campaign to ban the word bossy! No woman shall be deemed bossy while men are seen as 'leaders' when demonstrating the same behaviour and characteristics. As I recently shared on Facebook, the post below depicts my position on Bossy quite well. And in the meantime Oxford have said they'd review their examples. Oh Goodness, they better! It's 2016 we are at, not 1516.
Wording will be very important today as this blog post will be on the Oxford English Dictionary and its sexist implications. Earlier today a scandal broke out after academic Michael Oman-Reagan tweeted the dictionary publisher and asked for a change of the example sentence used to describe the adjective 'rabid'. In the present edition of the dictionary, the word is defined using the phrase 'rabid feminist'. For those whose first language is not English, rabid means being overly enthusiastic borderline fanatical about something, and in this case Oxford points at fanatical feminists. Also, Mr Oman-Reagan picked on the dictionary using the following word examples in a sexist way: 'grating' is defined as 'sounding harsh and unpleasant', with the description 'HER high, grating voice'; 'nagging' = constantly harassing someone to do something, example: 'a nagging wife'; and my personally favourite: 'bossy' = fond of giving people orders, domineering, example: 'a bossy, meddling woman'! While other words such as 'housework' are also described as predominantly female work, the BOSSY example was the worst in my eyes. Clearly shows the need for Sheryl Sandberg's campaign to ban the word bossy! No woman shall be deemed bossy while men are seen as 'leaders' when demonstrating the same behaviour and characteristics. As I recently shared on Facebook, the post below depicts my position on Bossy quite well. And in the meantime Oxford have said they'd review their examples. Oh Goodness, they better! It's 2016 we are at, not 1516.
Good and Bad News for my V
Hello beautiful people, 21 January 2016
My momma's been visiting me these days and life has been exceptionally busy. Apologies to my dear readers who got worried what's going on with Miss P in the past week - I'm well, I promise. If anything, I'm here with updates for you on my very dear tampon tax issue:
Would you like the good or the bad news first? Let's start with the good ones: President Barack Obama announced last week his support for women's fight against tampon tax! He said he was 'shocked' when he learnt about the VAT on sanitary products for women and blamed male dominance in politics and policy making for the 'unfair' tax. He continued by saying it is only 'sensible' to campaign against it. In 2015, there are still 40 US states and numerous other countries that currently implement tampon tax. Good the President's officially on our side now!
The bad news is that two Italian MPs put forward legislation to lower tampon tax in Italy from 22% to 4%. However, during short discussions in Parliament, they were laughed at in response! The proposed legislation has indeed be tabled and there will be official discussions on the issue coming up this spring - let's just hope though that this ugly incident of Italian MPs showing disrespectful behaviour in relation to a sexist tax rule will NOT be repeated ever again. Italy and the EU are much better than laughing at people who campaign for women's rights and fair policies.
If you feel like reading some more on menstruation, reproductive health, sexuality and women's needs, please see the latest eddition of the Reproductive Health Matters journal. Articles are available for free at http://www.rhm-elsevier.com/current
Have a great weekend and see you soon!
My momma's been visiting me these days and life has been exceptionally busy. Apologies to my dear readers who got worried what's going on with Miss P in the past week - I'm well, I promise. If anything, I'm here with updates for you on my very dear tampon tax issue:
Would you like the good or the bad news first? Let's start with the good ones: President Barack Obama announced last week his support for women's fight against tampon tax! He said he was 'shocked' when he learnt about the VAT on sanitary products for women and blamed male dominance in politics and policy making for the 'unfair' tax. He continued by saying it is only 'sensible' to campaign against it. In 2015, there are still 40 US states and numerous other countries that currently implement tampon tax. Good the President's officially on our side now!
The bad news is that two Italian MPs put forward legislation to lower tampon tax in Italy from 22% to 4%. However, during short discussions in Parliament, they were laughed at in response! The proposed legislation has indeed be tabled and there will be official discussions on the issue coming up this spring - let's just hope though that this ugly incident of Italian MPs showing disrespectful behaviour in relation to a sexist tax rule will NOT be repeated ever again. Italy and the EU are much better than laughing at people who campaign for women's rights and fair policies.
If you feel like reading some more on menstruation, reproductive health, sexuality and women's needs, please see the latest eddition of the Reproductive Health Matters journal. Articles are available for free at http://www.rhm-elsevier.com/current
Have a great weekend and see you soon!
Space
Hello lovely people! 13 January 2016
Wednesday it is, and the week is almost gone. I said that to a friend of mine over drinks tonight and she laughed saying the week isn’t even half way through yet. Technically yes, but how quickly time flies, doesn’t it! Now speaking of time - and space - I thought I’d switch the conversation to women in space – literally. This week, a lot of media sources ran reports on the four women who might be going to Mars – and that deserves a mention on here too! NASA’s class of astronauts-to-be in 2013 was the first ever 50/50 equal split class of both men and women. And now after over 200,000 applications by people interested in travelling to Mars, four women have reached the final stages of the selection process and may well be taking off to the new planet. And yes, they are mothers, they are married, and definitely they are brave! Read more about them here, and if you are also interested in hearing what it’s like being the first woman in your country to go into space, read the story of Soyeon Yi from South Korea here.
I’ll now make good use of my time and big free space on my bed tonight with a movie and pizza. See you all this weekend!
Wednesday it is, and the week is almost gone. I said that to a friend of mine over drinks tonight and she laughed saying the week isn’t even half way through yet. Technically yes, but how quickly time flies, doesn’t it! Now speaking of time - and space - I thought I’d switch the conversation to women in space – literally. This week, a lot of media sources ran reports on the four women who might be going to Mars – and that deserves a mention on here too! NASA’s class of astronauts-to-be in 2013 was the first ever 50/50 equal split class of both men and women. And now after over 200,000 applications by people interested in travelling to Mars, four women have reached the final stages of the selection process and may well be taking off to the new planet. And yes, they are mothers, they are married, and definitely they are brave! Read more about them here, and if you are also interested in hearing what it’s like being the first woman in your country to go into space, read the story of Soyeon Yi from South Korea here.
I’ll now make good use of my time and big free space on my bed tonight with a movie and pizza. See you all this weekend!
Cologne
Hello beauties and happy Sunday! 10 January 2016
Unfortunately not so happy is this first week of 2016 for hundreds of women in the German city of Cologne, which saw mass sexual assaults and robberies taking place outside Cologne cathedral on New Year’s Eve. Much has been written in the media in the past few days about the incident and the basic facts are that at least 150 reports of sexual assault have been filed, out of 379 complaints of robbery and violence, and the crimes were committed by mostly drunk, young men of Arab or North African origin. While these news have largely transformed the assault cases into political propaganda against immigrants and refugees, both in Germany and abroad, it remains the case nevertheless that over 100 women have been harassed on a night when joy and celebrations should have taken place instead. Four days ago the Mayor of Cologne, Henriette Reker, faced ever more criticism not only because of the lack of an adequate response from the Police, but also due to her proposed new ‘code of conduct’ for women in the city. Moving around in groups and asking strangers for help is highly recommended now, in addition to a much more controversial piece of advice – to stay at ‘arms length’ of men. Now that is particularly worrying as that implies the women had a part to play in the mass assault just because they were in physically close location to the attackers, instead of stressing their complete innocence. Victim blaming is the last thing we should be hearing about now. I won’t take any stand on the discussions of the attackers’ origin and reasons of being in Germany, but the sad reality of women suffering because of some people’s sick behaviour and ideas undermining the human body and female presence, makes me sick myself.
Let’s hope justice is brought on those responsible asap.
Further updates and more news – next week.
Unfortunately not so happy is this first week of 2016 for hundreds of women in the German city of Cologne, which saw mass sexual assaults and robberies taking place outside Cologne cathedral on New Year’s Eve. Much has been written in the media in the past few days about the incident and the basic facts are that at least 150 reports of sexual assault have been filed, out of 379 complaints of robbery and violence, and the crimes were committed by mostly drunk, young men of Arab or North African origin. While these news have largely transformed the assault cases into political propaganda against immigrants and refugees, both in Germany and abroad, it remains the case nevertheless that over 100 women have been harassed on a night when joy and celebrations should have taken place instead. Four days ago the Mayor of Cologne, Henriette Reker, faced ever more criticism not only because of the lack of an adequate response from the Police, but also due to her proposed new ‘code of conduct’ for women in the city. Moving around in groups and asking strangers for help is highly recommended now, in addition to a much more controversial piece of advice – to stay at ‘arms length’ of men. Now that is particularly worrying as that implies the women had a part to play in the mass assault just because they were in physically close location to the attackers, instead of stressing their complete innocence. Victim blaming is the last thing we should be hearing about now. I won’t take any stand on the discussions of the attackers’ origin and reasons of being in Germany, but the sad reality of women suffering because of some people’s sick behaviour and ideas undermining the human body and female presence, makes me sick myself.
Let’s hope justice is brought on those responsible asap.
Further updates and more news – next week.
More Great News
Hey beauties, 7 January 2016
Some more great news from across the Pond - a bill has been introduced to end tampon tax in California! California Assemblywoman, Democrat Cristina Garcia, called the bill a “step in the right direction to fix a gender injustice". She’s supported in her legislative initiative by Republican Ling Ling Chang – a great example of cross-party cooperation on an issue truly important for all women in the state (and beyond)! According to the latest stats, women in California pay over $20 million every year in taxes on tampons and pads – 2016 may well be the year to see this end. Time to restart campaigning in the UK again with fresh strength after the holidays – stay tuned for latest updates on my favourite #EndTamponTax campaign.
Have a great eve and talk to you over the weekend!
Some more great news from across the Pond - a bill has been introduced to end tampon tax in California! California Assemblywoman, Democrat Cristina Garcia, called the bill a “step in the right direction to fix a gender injustice". She’s supported in her legislative initiative by Republican Ling Ling Chang – a great example of cross-party cooperation on an issue truly important for all women in the state (and beyond)! According to the latest stats, women in California pay over $20 million every year in taxes on tampons and pads – 2016 may well be the year to see this end. Time to restart campaigning in the UK again with fresh strength after the holidays – stay tuned for latest updates on my favourite #EndTamponTax campaign.
Have a great eve and talk to you over the weekend!
Positive Vibes
Hey queens and kings, 5 January 2016 I got two positive posts for you today - one is on the importance of good manners and the efforts of one mom to teach her young son how to treat and respect women. See to the left a wonderful Facebook post which totally made my day and gave me hope there's going to be at least one more good man out there. And secondly, I went for a morning run today and there was a girl running opposite direction of me. She stopped and came my way to tell me 'You go girl, well done!' A complete stranger, this girl made my day not just because she encouraged me for a healthy living, but because she also said something none of the MANY men I see in the park ever said - thanks for the girl support! #GirlPower Have a fantastic day, people, I'm off to work, talk to you soooooon! |
2016
Hello beauties and a very happy new year! May 2016 be full of positive emotions, love and happiness, and may women get ever closer to true gender equality across the globe this year!
It's time for New Year resolutions but before that it's worth reflecting on the previous year and why it was called “a pivotal year for feminism” (by Gloria Steinberg that is). Check this piece out and remind yourself of all the great achievements of women in 2015 and all wonderful steps we've taken to raise our voices - including JLaw protesting against the gender pay gap, women in the UK, Canada and other countries standing together against tampon tax, the UK Parliament getting more women elected than ever before, Hillary Clinton announcing her Presidency campagn, Malala winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Nigeria banning FGM, Saudi women getting the right to vote, and much more! Just the other day China passed its first ever domestic violence law and brought ever better news for women on the Asian continent (athough that does not apply for individuals in same-sex relationships...) And as you all know, my feminist self also tried to end the year on an active note and I ran my US State Department-funded project on human trafficking last month - now the promised published article is available here for you to enjoy.
As for personal resolutions for 2016, I've promised myself to be ever more active and healthy physically speaking, including running 3 times a week and going to the gym. I've also decided to rid myself out of toxic relationships and people who bring me down instead of up in this new year. And one more feminist resolution - to blog more often starting Jan 2016 as lately I do realise I've neglected this baby due to work commitments. Work is important but what this blog gives me is proper sense of accomplishment and motivation for my everyday life, so I'll be seeing you ever more often now, ladies and gents.
A million hugs from me and Happy 2016 once again! xxx
It's time for New Year resolutions but before that it's worth reflecting on the previous year and why it was called “a pivotal year for feminism” (by Gloria Steinberg that is). Check this piece out and remind yourself of all the great achievements of women in 2015 and all wonderful steps we've taken to raise our voices - including JLaw protesting against the gender pay gap, women in the UK, Canada and other countries standing together against tampon tax, the UK Parliament getting more women elected than ever before, Hillary Clinton announcing her Presidency campagn, Malala winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Nigeria banning FGM, Saudi women getting the right to vote, and much more! Just the other day China passed its first ever domestic violence law and brought ever better news for women on the Asian continent (athough that does not apply for individuals in same-sex relationships...) And as you all know, my feminist self also tried to end the year on an active note and I ran my US State Department-funded project on human trafficking last month - now the promised published article is available here for you to enjoy.
As for personal resolutions for 2016, I've promised myself to be ever more active and healthy physically speaking, including running 3 times a week and going to the gym. I've also decided to rid myself out of toxic relationships and people who bring me down instead of up in this new year. And one more feminist resolution - to blog more often starting Jan 2016 as lately I do realise I've neglected this baby due to work commitments. Work is important but what this blog gives me is proper sense of accomplishment and motivation for my everyday life, so I'll be seeing you ever more often now, ladies and gents.
A million hugs from me and Happy 2016 once again! xxx
Happy Holidays!
Hello you beautiful people and happy holidays! 23 December 2015
It’s the 23rd December, nearly Christmas eve, my favourite holiday of the year. To celebrate the wonderful family occasion and reason to be happy and positive in our lives, some wonderful news can be shared from Saudi Arabia where women were allowed to vote for the first time ever earlier this month. In the country's third-ever elections, the monarchy gave women the right to vote in the municipal council race this December, as well as the right to seek election to office. Over 130,000 women registered to vote as a result and nearly 1,000 women ran for office, of whom 21 were elected! What a great success for a country where women can’t even drive – STILL! While over a million men voted and thousands more ran as candidates and got elected , it is still one step in the right direction that women could finally run and cast votes in a somewhat of an equal right to representation. What it feels like to be a candidate in an ultra-conservative and male-dominated sharia society, ready an interview with one of the brave ladies here.
As for us, I hope you all have a fantastic time this Christmas and spend it with those most important in your lives. My mom and I were invited by the Bulgarian National Radio to broadcast tomorrow on the ways a mom and her daughter celebrate the holidays when they only see each other few times a year and what it feels like to have a proper family spirit this Christmas eve. I’m well excited and already can’t wait for the interview, nor for the gifts under the tree.
Happy holidaaaaays, everyone!
It’s the 23rd December, nearly Christmas eve, my favourite holiday of the year. To celebrate the wonderful family occasion and reason to be happy and positive in our lives, some wonderful news can be shared from Saudi Arabia where women were allowed to vote for the first time ever earlier this month. In the country's third-ever elections, the monarchy gave women the right to vote in the municipal council race this December, as well as the right to seek election to office. Over 130,000 women registered to vote as a result and nearly 1,000 women ran for office, of whom 21 were elected! What a great success for a country where women can’t even drive – STILL! While over a million men voted and thousands more ran as candidates and got elected , it is still one step in the right direction that women could finally run and cast votes in a somewhat of an equal right to representation. What it feels like to be a candidate in an ultra-conservative and male-dominated sharia society, ready an interview with one of the brave ladies here.
As for us, I hope you all have a fantastic time this Christmas and spend it with those most important in your lives. My mom and I were invited by the Bulgarian National Radio to broadcast tomorrow on the ways a mom and her daughter celebrate the holidays when they only see each other few times a year and what it feels like to have a proper family spirit this Christmas eve. I’m well excited and already can’t wait for the interview, nor for the gifts under the tree.
Happy holidaaaaays, everyone!
#SilisTRAffic 2.0
Hey beauties, 20 December 2015
It's Sunday, I'm at home in Bulgaria, and life is proper good these days! I have to say, my good mood is very much the result of a very successful implementation of my project "SilisTRAffic" this Friday, 18th December. At 1.30 pm, myself and my team of awesome ladies (my mom and my friend Rossy Ivanova) organised a training course at "Atanas Burov" High School in Silistra, Bulgaria, on the issue of human trafficking. The training lasted for two hours and aimed to raise awareness on the issue, which many people consider irrelevant in our city. The sad reality is, there are increasingly more people being trafficked from Silistra and Bulgaria more generally towards Western Europe, and in the whole of the European Union there are more than 500,000 trafficked people, according to estimates by the International Labour Organisation. We discussed the very nature of trafficking in human beings, the estimated profits of this activity, categories of countries (source, transit and destination states), typical profiles of a trafficker and a victim, ways to protect oneself and institutions to contact in times of need.
A questionnaire, which the students completed before the training, showed shocking results that 40% of the 50 trained students thought Bulgaria was not affected at all by trafficking. In reality, we are at the top 5 countries which send victims of trafficking in the European Union. On another question, agencies for work were considered the main way of recruiting victims, while in reality the most common way is through acquaintances and friends (1 in every 6 victims). Further, 48% of the students had never ever discussed trafficking, neither at school, nor at home or socially; and 1 in every 3 students thought it was exactly the school which was responsible for teaching them on the issue. The vast majority fo the students already knew traffickign is done mainly for sexual exploitation and mainly for women aged 18-24.
After the training, the same questionnaire was run and the trend showed more students wanting information from the police, the media, non-governmental organisatioons and their families, and not just from their school. The theoretical questions of common ways to recruit, typical victims' age and gender, and Bulgaria's role in trafficking routes was much better understood after the training as well.
Special guests were representatives of the Border Police, the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime, the Bulgarian Red Cross, '"Ekaterina Karavelova" women's charity for women, victims of violence, and local and national media.
We're expecting articles on the event to run online in the next few days, which I'll happily share with you, my readers. Also, pictures can be found at https://www.facebook.com/SilisTRAffic
Special thanks to Mrs Milusheva, the High School's Principal, to the school's psychologist Mrs Lipcheva, and to Mrs Ivanova for their assistance with the project. This was truly a female-run and implemented project from start to finish and I'm very happy to have had Rossy and my mom by my side throughout the whole experience.
Thanks to American Councils and the US State Department for the funding - we now have the Red Cross' promise to run further projects on the issue, and three of the trained students volunteered to run the training again next year amongst their peers.
Thank you, Deb, for being my coach on this journey!
Can't wait to see the final video on the project - coming up soon!
It's Sunday, I'm at home in Bulgaria, and life is proper good these days! I have to say, my good mood is very much the result of a very successful implementation of my project "SilisTRAffic" this Friday, 18th December. At 1.30 pm, myself and my team of awesome ladies (my mom and my friend Rossy Ivanova) organised a training course at "Atanas Burov" High School in Silistra, Bulgaria, on the issue of human trafficking. The training lasted for two hours and aimed to raise awareness on the issue, which many people consider irrelevant in our city. The sad reality is, there are increasingly more people being trafficked from Silistra and Bulgaria more generally towards Western Europe, and in the whole of the European Union there are more than 500,000 trafficked people, according to estimates by the International Labour Organisation. We discussed the very nature of trafficking in human beings, the estimated profits of this activity, categories of countries (source, transit and destination states), typical profiles of a trafficker and a victim, ways to protect oneself and institutions to contact in times of need.
A questionnaire, which the students completed before the training, showed shocking results that 40% of the 50 trained students thought Bulgaria was not affected at all by trafficking. In reality, we are at the top 5 countries which send victims of trafficking in the European Union. On another question, agencies for work were considered the main way of recruiting victims, while in reality the most common way is through acquaintances and friends (1 in every 6 victims). Further, 48% of the students had never ever discussed trafficking, neither at school, nor at home or socially; and 1 in every 3 students thought it was exactly the school which was responsible for teaching them on the issue. The vast majority fo the students already knew traffickign is done mainly for sexual exploitation and mainly for women aged 18-24.
After the training, the same questionnaire was run and the trend showed more students wanting information from the police, the media, non-governmental organisatioons and their families, and not just from their school. The theoretical questions of common ways to recruit, typical victims' age and gender, and Bulgaria's role in trafficking routes was much better understood after the training as well.
Special guests were representatives of the Border Police, the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime, the Bulgarian Red Cross, '"Ekaterina Karavelova" women's charity for women, victims of violence, and local and national media.
We're expecting articles on the event to run online in the next few days, which I'll happily share with you, my readers. Also, pictures can be found at https://www.facebook.com/SilisTRAffic
Special thanks to Mrs Milusheva, the High School's Principal, to the school's psychologist Mrs Lipcheva, and to Mrs Ivanova for their assistance with the project. This was truly a female-run and implemented project from start to finish and I'm very happy to have had Rossy and my mom by my side throughout the whole experience.
Thanks to American Councils and the US State Department for the funding - we now have the Red Cross' promise to run further projects on the issue, and three of the trained students volunteered to run the training again next year amongst their peers.
Thank you, Deb, for being my coach on this journey!
Can't wait to see the final video on the project - coming up soon!
SilisTRAffic
Hello beauties, 13 December 2015
I'm back from Amsterdam and have so many updates for you all:
Firstly, this week, for the first time since 1986 a woman was named Time magazine's "person of the year". Angela Merkel has been recognised for her role in the 2015 Greek debt crisis and her commitment to helping migrants to Europe.Well done to Mrs Merkel and her tremendous influence in Europe and beyond - a lady who has proved that small but careful steps and firm words can take you a long way in politics and other spheres of life - regardless of your gender.
Also this week, another fantastic piece of news: on 11 December the French National Assembly voted in favour of reducing tampon tax in France from 20% to 5.5%! What a great achievement for the French anti-tampon tax campaign (http://goo.gl/vp8v6M) - and best of luck to finally bring it down to 0%, in France and the rest of Europe and the world!
Next, 10 December was the world's Human Rights Day and it marked the end of a 16-day international campaign which used the colour orange to symbolise a brighter future without violence against women. The campaign entitled Unite to End Violence Against Women's Orange the World included events planned in more than 70 countries and lighting major landmarks orange - including the Niagara Falls (see below; photo credit: UN Women/ James Neiss) and governmental and cultural buildings around the globe. See pictures from the orange buildings and this fantastic campaign supporting women survivors of violence here.
And last off for today, I'd like to kindly ask you to go on Facebook and like my page 'SilisTRAffic' which is part of my anti-human trafficking project 'SilisTRAffic' funded by the US State Department. SilisTRAffic aims to train a minimum of 50 high school seniors and juniors in the city of Silistra, Bulgaria, on the danger of human trafficking. The training planned for 18 December 2015 will cover issues such as What is human trafficking, why and how does it occur, how to recognise the signs that someone is a victim, how to protect themselves from getting trafficked and where to seek help if it did happen. Visit my page to learn more and watch my intro videos in Bulgarian (and in English - to be added today).
PS: Special thanks to Rossy Ivanova who is managing the social media campaign - you're doing a great job, miss R!
A million hugs to all and have a fantastic rest of your Sunday :)
I'm back from Amsterdam and have so many updates for you all:
Firstly, this week, for the first time since 1986 a woman was named Time magazine's "person of the year". Angela Merkel has been recognised for her role in the 2015 Greek debt crisis and her commitment to helping migrants to Europe.Well done to Mrs Merkel and her tremendous influence in Europe and beyond - a lady who has proved that small but careful steps and firm words can take you a long way in politics and other spheres of life - regardless of your gender.
Also this week, another fantastic piece of news: on 11 December the French National Assembly voted in favour of reducing tampon tax in France from 20% to 5.5%! What a great achievement for the French anti-tampon tax campaign (http://goo.gl/vp8v6M) - and best of luck to finally bring it down to 0%, in France and the rest of Europe and the world!
Next, 10 December was the world's Human Rights Day and it marked the end of a 16-day international campaign which used the colour orange to symbolise a brighter future without violence against women. The campaign entitled Unite to End Violence Against Women's Orange the World included events planned in more than 70 countries and lighting major landmarks orange - including the Niagara Falls (see below; photo credit: UN Women/ James Neiss) and governmental and cultural buildings around the globe. See pictures from the orange buildings and this fantastic campaign supporting women survivors of violence here.
And last off for today, I'd like to kindly ask you to go on Facebook and like my page 'SilisTRAffic' which is part of my anti-human trafficking project 'SilisTRAffic' funded by the US State Department. SilisTRAffic aims to train a minimum of 50 high school seniors and juniors in the city of Silistra, Bulgaria, on the danger of human trafficking. The training planned for 18 December 2015 will cover issues such as What is human trafficking, why and how does it occur, how to recognise the signs that someone is a victim, how to protect themselves from getting trafficked and where to seek help if it did happen. Visit my page to learn more and watch my intro videos in Bulgarian (and in English - to be added today).
PS: Special thanks to Rossy Ivanova who is managing the social media campaign - you're doing a great job, miss R!
A million hugs to all and have a fantastic rest of your Sunday :)
Spare Time
Hey beauties, 29 November 2015
Short and sweet today: tomorrow I'm off on my first work trip overseas - thus, I won't be around for the next two weeks to entertain you with feminist news.
While I'm gone though, here are some suggestions for you to fill in your (spare) time:
- read "Why we need quotas on boards?" (I'm all up for it and have written about this previously - check out my earlier pieces below; in the mean time though, Vicky Pryce makes the case FOR quotas once again): http://www.theguardian.com/women-in-leadership/2015/nov/23/why-we-need-quotas-for-women-on-boards?CMP=ema-1694&CMP=
- watch Downton Abbey, season 3 - in this season, lady Edith decides to start her feminist column in a newspaper - all of this is happening in the 1920s when English women did not have the full right to vote (only if they were over 30 years old and if they owned their own estate). The lady's take on voting rights and other feminist issues is portrayed in a truly inspiring season of the series - check it out and learn some history + badass feminism.
Alright, ladies and gents - see you all in two weeks!
Short and sweet today: tomorrow I'm off on my first work trip overseas - thus, I won't be around for the next two weeks to entertain you with feminist news.
While I'm gone though, here are some suggestions for you to fill in your (spare) time:
- read "Why we need quotas on boards?" (I'm all up for it and have written about this previously - check out my earlier pieces below; in the mean time though, Vicky Pryce makes the case FOR quotas once again): http://www.theguardian.com/women-in-leadership/2015/nov/23/why-we-need-quotas-for-women-on-boards?CMP=ema-1694&CMP=
- watch Downton Abbey, season 3 - in this season, lady Edith decides to start her feminist column in a newspaper - all of this is happening in the 1920s when English women did not have the full right to vote (only if they were over 30 years old and if they owned their own estate). The lady's take on voting rights and other feminist issues is portrayed in a truly inspiring season of the series - check it out and learn some history + badass feminism.
Alright, ladies and gents - see you all in two weeks!
The Autumn Statement
Hey beauties, 26 November 2015
Yesterday we had the Autumn Statement in the UK, aka the announcement of the new budget by Chancellor George Osborne before the House of Commons. In his speech, Osborne mentioned the now-infamous anti-tampon tax campaign, which I have written about on numeous occasions and which I fully support. He said “300,000 people have signed a petition arguing that no VAT should be placed on sanitary products...and we are committed to getting the EU to change its regulations.” This is great news as the campaign appears on the top of the political agenda and it may finally happen that women no longer need to pay tax on buying tampons and pads - in the UK and in Europe.
In the meantime though, the 15 million GBP currently generated through this tax has now been promised to women's charities, including domestic abuse shelters. In a way, that makes sense, because at least the tax is targetting those in need and not benefiting a male-dominated parliament (71% men in the House of Commons this year! In 2015 that is!) On the downside though, these issues such as domestic abuse are societal ones and need to be addressed on a broader level than merely funding a bit of money for shelters. AND even more so, it shouldn't be a woman's duty to pay for this, as if when the tax is abolished (if it is, hopefully), shelters will run out of funding? Forcing a social group to pay for certain services may not be the best approach here, I believe not.
Some food for thought http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/autumn-statement-george-osborne-says-tampon-tax-will-fund-womens-charities-a6748241.html
See you all in the weekend!
Yesterday we had the Autumn Statement in the UK, aka the announcement of the new budget by Chancellor George Osborne before the House of Commons. In his speech, Osborne mentioned the now-infamous anti-tampon tax campaign, which I have written about on numeous occasions and which I fully support. He said “300,000 people have signed a petition arguing that no VAT should be placed on sanitary products...and we are committed to getting the EU to change its regulations.” This is great news as the campaign appears on the top of the political agenda and it may finally happen that women no longer need to pay tax on buying tampons and pads - in the UK and in Europe.
In the meantime though, the 15 million GBP currently generated through this tax has now been promised to women's charities, including domestic abuse shelters. In a way, that makes sense, because at least the tax is targetting those in need and not benefiting a male-dominated parliament (71% men in the House of Commons this year! In 2015 that is!) On the downside though, these issues such as domestic abuse are societal ones and need to be addressed on a broader level than merely funding a bit of money for shelters. AND even more so, it shouldn't be a woman's duty to pay for this, as if when the tax is abolished (if it is, hopefully), shelters will run out of funding? Forcing a social group to pay for certain services may not be the best approach here, I believe not.
Some food for thought http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/autumn-statement-george-osborne-says-tampon-tax-will-fund-womens-charities-a6748241.html
See you all in the weekend!
Mockingjay Part 2
Hey beauties and happy Sunday! 22 November 2015
As promised, updates from the week:
Great news coming from the US State Department – they’ve agreed to fund a project of mine on human trafficking awareness in my home city in Bulgaria. For a couple of days next month I’ll be teaching high school juniors and seniors about the dangers of trafficking, how to recognise sings and how to protect themselves. There will also be a social activity and I’d like to say a huge Thank you to American Councils and the State Department for funding this initiative!
Another development from this week is the release of Mockingjay Part 2, the last movie from the Hunger Games franchise. While the whole world congratulates Jennifer Lawrence for embodying a strong female character and for proving to Hollywood that strong female leads in action movies CAN be successful and CAN make loads of money, this is not necessarily the case in Israel – in Jerusalem and a couple of other Israeli cities J Law’s face has been erased from the movie posters as showing female faces in public apparently ‘offends certain religious audiences’. As a result, posters in the past have gotten torn down by the public and now, Hunger Games only features a mockingjay picture, not the female star behind it. Although I am aware of cultural and religious differences around the world, if showing a strong female in public is deemed unacceptable, this is a very disappointing fact indeed! By the way, the movie is expected to make $300 million globally just THIS weekend, and I’ll definitely go and support J Law – now and in her future movies too!
And lastly, on Wednesday next week, 25th November, it is the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. I’ll publish a video on Facebook encouraging everyone in my network to take action this 25th November, but a quick note on here too: please do raise your voice on social media, do say something nice to a woman you know is a survivor of violence, and do visit the whiteribboncampaign.co.uk website to pledge to never stay silent if you observe violence. This is a topic very dear to my heart and I ask you all to make at least one step on Wednesday (and beyond). One in every three women around the world is a victim of violence in her lifetime, and it’s us who need to break the stigma of women reporting and sharing their experiences, and to discourage perpetrators from committing these crimes.
Have a lovely sunny (although chilly) day!
As promised, updates from the week:
Great news coming from the US State Department – they’ve agreed to fund a project of mine on human trafficking awareness in my home city in Bulgaria. For a couple of days next month I’ll be teaching high school juniors and seniors about the dangers of trafficking, how to recognise sings and how to protect themselves. There will also be a social activity and I’d like to say a huge Thank you to American Councils and the State Department for funding this initiative!
Another development from this week is the release of Mockingjay Part 2, the last movie from the Hunger Games franchise. While the whole world congratulates Jennifer Lawrence for embodying a strong female character and for proving to Hollywood that strong female leads in action movies CAN be successful and CAN make loads of money, this is not necessarily the case in Israel – in Jerusalem and a couple of other Israeli cities J Law’s face has been erased from the movie posters as showing female faces in public apparently ‘offends certain religious audiences’. As a result, posters in the past have gotten torn down by the public and now, Hunger Games only features a mockingjay picture, not the female star behind it. Although I am aware of cultural and religious differences around the world, if showing a strong female in public is deemed unacceptable, this is a very disappointing fact indeed! By the way, the movie is expected to make $300 million globally just THIS weekend, and I’ll definitely go and support J Law – now and in her future movies too!
And lastly, on Wednesday next week, 25th November, it is the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. I’ll publish a video on Facebook encouraging everyone in my network to take action this 25th November, but a quick note on here too: please do raise your voice on social media, do say something nice to a woman you know is a survivor of violence, and do visit the whiteribboncampaign.co.uk website to pledge to never stay silent if you observe violence. This is a topic very dear to my heart and I ask you all to make at least one step on Wednesday (and beyond). One in every three women around the world is a victim of violence in her lifetime, and it’s us who need to break the stigma of women reporting and sharing their experiences, and to discourage perpetrators from committing these crimes.
Have a lovely sunny (although chilly) day!
Crowdfunding
Hey beauties, 18 November 2015
Did you know that women are 13% more likely than men to meet their crowdfunding goals? Female participation in crowdfunding platforms is precisely the research topic of my roommate for her uni report 'Women in Crowdfunding'. She's exploring how crowdfunding managed to change the game of raising funds on the winning side for women and wants to find out what drives women to crowdfunding compared to other funding options that are available. D has thus published a survey on the issue and if you have 3 spare minutes, please do fill it in here and help her get her conclusions right. None of the questions are mandatory and all information collected will be kept in strict confidentiality and solely for the purpose of this research.
Thanks beauties, and talk to you over the weekend! It's meant to be snowing in London this Sunday, so I promise to have a collection of various feminist news from the week, all piled up for ya!
Did you know that women are 13% more likely than men to meet their crowdfunding goals? Female participation in crowdfunding platforms is precisely the research topic of my roommate for her uni report 'Women in Crowdfunding'. She's exploring how crowdfunding managed to change the game of raising funds on the winning side for women and wants to find out what drives women to crowdfunding compared to other funding options that are available. D has thus published a survey on the issue and if you have 3 spare minutes, please do fill it in here and help her get her conclusions right. None of the questions are mandatory and all information collected will be kept in strict confidentiality and solely for the purpose of this research.
Thanks beauties, and talk to you over the weekend! It's meant to be snowing in London this Sunday, so I promise to have a collection of various feminist news from the week, all piled up for ya!
FGM, Diversity and Leaning In
Hello beauties, 14 November 2015
On a very rainy Saturday morning, if you have a minute to go to L'oreal Paris' US website and vote for the 2015 Woman of Worth Award, that would be awesome. It would be even more so, if you support a lady called Jaha Dukureh, founder of NGO Safe Hands for Girls. This is an organisation which works with survivors of female genital mutilation, and Jaha is a survivor herself. Recognized for making a beautiful difference in her community in the US and in the fight against FGM, Jaha can receive up to 25,000 USD for her ongoing work if supported by more engaged individuals like ourselves. Spare a minute of your time this afternoon and make a difference to millions of women's lives by finding our more about SFG and joining in the vote here.
Second for today, my company PwC has been honoured in the top ten list of The Economist for global companies' women's employee networks. Our own PwC Gender Balance Network, of which I am a member (surprise!) is ranked alongside giants such as UN Women and General Electric. Learn more about employers and how they try to make their environment more diverse and gender-equal, by following this link. I feel I've made a pretty good choice for my job - well done to PwC and I'm looking forward to our next event in a couple of weeks (updates on here to follow)!
And last off, this week my girl Antonia and I attended our first meeting with London Tech Ladies - a Lean In circle for women in tech jobs in London. Inspired by Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In book and campaign, this group of ladies meets up every month and holds workshops and discussions around Tech, feminism, and other issues. We had a session the other day on how to influence a meeting even if you are not the chair and it shared some interesting insights on people management, organisational behaviour and employee engagement. If you are interested in joining a Lean In circle, browse your options here. It's not just in the US, so don't get discouraged - better yet, form your own circle and let us know how it goes!
Have a lovely weekend, everyone, and talk soon!
On a very rainy Saturday morning, if you have a minute to go to L'oreal Paris' US website and vote for the 2015 Woman of Worth Award, that would be awesome. It would be even more so, if you support a lady called Jaha Dukureh, founder of NGO Safe Hands for Girls. This is an organisation which works with survivors of female genital mutilation, and Jaha is a survivor herself. Recognized for making a beautiful difference in her community in the US and in the fight against FGM, Jaha can receive up to 25,000 USD for her ongoing work if supported by more engaged individuals like ourselves. Spare a minute of your time this afternoon and make a difference to millions of women's lives by finding our more about SFG and joining in the vote here.
Second for today, my company PwC has been honoured in the top ten list of The Economist for global companies' women's employee networks. Our own PwC Gender Balance Network, of which I am a member (surprise!) is ranked alongside giants such as UN Women and General Electric. Learn more about employers and how they try to make their environment more diverse and gender-equal, by following this link. I feel I've made a pretty good choice for my job - well done to PwC and I'm looking forward to our next event in a couple of weeks (updates on here to follow)!
And last off, this week my girl Antonia and I attended our first meeting with London Tech Ladies - a Lean In circle for women in tech jobs in London. Inspired by Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In book and campaign, this group of ladies meets up every month and holds workshops and discussions around Tech, feminism, and other issues. We had a session the other day on how to influence a meeting even if you are not the chair and it shared some interesting insights on people management, organisational behaviour and employee engagement. If you are interested in joining a Lean In circle, browse your options here. It's not just in the US, so don't get discouraged - better yet, form your own circle and let us know how it goes!
Have a lovely weekend, everyone, and talk soon!
Student Writing Competition
Hey beauties, 10 November 2015
Today’s post is a call for papers for the 2016 International Girls’ Health Student Writing Competition. The Institute for Development and Human Security (IDHS) at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea, invites high school, undergraduate and graduate students from across the globe to help focus attention on the critical issue of girls’ health in developing countries. It’s a well documented fact that the world needs to put greater effort into improving the health of girls in order to achieve the health and gender equality targets set under the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. Innovative ideas of how to achieve these universal goals and/ or the sharing of personal stories relating to women’s health are welcome under the 2016 writing competition. Either individual or group entries will be accepted, and high school, undergrad and post-grad students are all eligible to apply. See more details below for a chance to win a trip to Seoul, S. Korea! Deadline for entry forms is 31st Dec, and papers are due on 31st Jan!
Every story makes a difference!
Today’s post is a call for papers for the 2016 International Girls’ Health Student Writing Competition. The Institute for Development and Human Security (IDHS) at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea, invites high school, undergraduate and graduate students from across the globe to help focus attention on the critical issue of girls’ health in developing countries. It’s a well documented fact that the world needs to put greater effort into improving the health of girls in order to achieve the health and gender equality targets set under the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. Innovative ideas of how to achieve these universal goals and/ or the sharing of personal stories relating to women’s health are welcome under the 2016 writing competition. Either individual or group entries will be accepted, and high school, undergrad and post-grad students are all eligible to apply. See more details below for a chance to win a trip to Seoul, S. Korea! Deadline for entry forms is 31st Dec, and papers are due on 31st Jan!
Every story makes a difference!
call_for_papers_essay_competition.pdf | |
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Racing, Consent and Careers - This Week's Picks
Hey beauties, 7 November 2015
I’ve been missing from the blogging scene most of this week due to an incredibly busy time at work and a lot of personal events happening on the side. What’s great news to share though with all of you feminist readers, is that this Wednesday, a woman won the most prestigious horse race in the world, for the first time in 155 years. Michelle Payne won the Melbourne Cup and made history on 4th Nov, and although that was not mentioned in the post-ceremonial speeches of the organizers, she certainly took her chance to highlight just how sexist racing really is. She stressed she knew some of the owners “ were keen to kick [her] off” because “they think women aren’t strong enough”. Gender stereotypes in sports continue to prevail in the 21st century, and racing is probably one of the most “masculine” sports one could imagine Yet, a note of this was made on high-level discussions around the world now and Miss Michelle is doing a good job of highlighting the wrongs and shaping a more open path for other girls to join the sport in the future. Congrats to her for her hard work and not giving up to discouragements, and way to go for other female athletes in the field.
On another note, Thames Valley Police has also left an interesting mark in public discussions this week, with their latest campaign promoting full consent in sexual encounters. The #ConsentisEverything campaign now released a new video which compares consent with making a cup of tea – a very relatable subject to the British public. Quite an interesting 3-min video with an unusual script, yet quite effective in it being understandable and relatable. Check it out and pass on the message to anyone you know, because sex without consent is rape – always.
And last off for today, if you are a 18-22 year-old female university student or graduate, check out the following event by The Guardian and RBS on 18th Nov in London. A half-day on careers and networking for young women, sounds like well worth spending your afternoon there. Wish I could attend but job duties on Wednesdays call for a different focus this time. Let me know though if anyone of you goes – feedback is welcome!
Thanks beauties, and enjoy your weekend!
I’ve been missing from the blogging scene most of this week due to an incredibly busy time at work and a lot of personal events happening on the side. What’s great news to share though with all of you feminist readers, is that this Wednesday, a woman won the most prestigious horse race in the world, for the first time in 155 years. Michelle Payne won the Melbourne Cup and made history on 4th Nov, and although that was not mentioned in the post-ceremonial speeches of the organizers, she certainly took her chance to highlight just how sexist racing really is. She stressed she knew some of the owners “ were keen to kick [her] off” because “they think women aren’t strong enough”. Gender stereotypes in sports continue to prevail in the 21st century, and racing is probably one of the most “masculine” sports one could imagine Yet, a note of this was made on high-level discussions around the world now and Miss Michelle is doing a good job of highlighting the wrongs and shaping a more open path for other girls to join the sport in the future. Congrats to her for her hard work and not giving up to discouragements, and way to go for other female athletes in the field.
On another note, Thames Valley Police has also left an interesting mark in public discussions this week, with their latest campaign promoting full consent in sexual encounters. The #ConsentisEverything campaign now released a new video which compares consent with making a cup of tea – a very relatable subject to the British public. Quite an interesting 3-min video with an unusual script, yet quite effective in it being understandable and relatable. Check it out and pass on the message to anyone you know, because sex without consent is rape – always.
And last off for today, if you are a 18-22 year-old female university student or graduate, check out the following event by The Guardian and RBS on 18th Nov in London. A half-day on careers and networking for young women, sounds like well worth spending your afternoon there. Wish I could attend but job duties on Wednesdays call for a different focus this time. Let me know though if anyone of you goes – feedback is welcome!
Thanks beauties, and enjoy your weekend!
Boardrooms
Hey beauties, 1 November 2015
Happy Halloween (to those of you celebrating) and to the Bulgarian ladies and gents reading this, Happpy National Day of the Enlighteners.
This week we got some good (?) news over here in the UK with the announcement of the 5-year review results of Lord Davies' recommendations for female presence on boards of directors. Turns out, a target which was set in 2011 to reach 25% of female presence on boards in the top 100 companies in the country has been reached. There are actually 26% females now. The review this week very much praised businesses for their engagement and for promoting more women to key positions. While this is not an official government quota (just a target, unlike other European states where legal requirements demand 20-30-40% female participation), it is both good news we've passed the 25% benchmark, and not so good news that we are still ridiculously far away from 50/50 equality. And further to the call for continuous work on this, it's worth mentioning that having more women on boards is great, but perhaps it's also worth setting targets (or even quotas if you ask me) for executive level positions - those people who know the day-to-day work but who also set up long-term goals and strategies for the companies AND for their employees.It;s the next step that needs to be addressed now.
See below the 'dramatic' progress made already in the past five years and also the situation for women in other EU states. Photo credit goes to Lord Davies' review and report-writing teams. Do celebrate the progress but better yet, hope for a more equal change and on other levels of management too.
PS: You can read a journalist's reaction to the news here.
Have a lovely Sunday eve, beauties!
Happy Halloween (to those of you celebrating) and to the Bulgarian ladies and gents reading this, Happpy National Day of the Enlighteners.
This week we got some good (?) news over here in the UK with the announcement of the 5-year review results of Lord Davies' recommendations for female presence on boards of directors. Turns out, a target which was set in 2011 to reach 25% of female presence on boards in the top 100 companies in the country has been reached. There are actually 26% females now. The review this week very much praised businesses for their engagement and for promoting more women to key positions. While this is not an official government quota (just a target, unlike other European states where legal requirements demand 20-30-40% female participation), it is both good news we've passed the 25% benchmark, and not so good news that we are still ridiculously far away from 50/50 equality. And further to the call for continuous work on this, it's worth mentioning that having more women on boards is great, but perhaps it's also worth setting targets (or even quotas if you ask me) for executive level positions - those people who know the day-to-day work but who also set up long-term goals and strategies for the companies AND for their employees.It;s the next step that needs to be addressed now.
See below the 'dramatic' progress made already in the past five years and also the situation for women in other EU states. Photo credit goes to Lord Davies' review and report-writing teams. Do celebrate the progress but better yet, hope for a more equal change and on other levels of management too.
PS: You can read a journalist's reaction to the news here.
Have a lovely Sunday eve, beauties!
Tomorrow's People
Hey beauties, 28 October 2015
Last night I had the pleasure of attending the very first event from the series “Inspiring Women” held by “Tomorrow’s People” – a national charity which finds jobs for young people and helps them keep them. The very special guest of the night was Jenny Campbell, winner of the Business Woman of the Year Award in 2014 and CEO of YourCash, who shared her story with the 40+ guests (100% of whom were female by the way). Jenny’s journey of 30 years in banking and then switching to managing her own business and soon after, owning the business herself, has now led her to a multi-million-pound piédestal. She’s also married with two sons and she does believe that Yes, women can have it all: ‘You just need to figure out what you want to achieve and how to go about doing it’. After sharing her personal life story, Jenny left us with a couple of key messages – be bold, be brave, accept that you can’t get everything right every time, and be happy!
Echoing the same messages were also a number of other inspirational panelists, such as a young lady called Natasha who works as a lawyer at the firm which sponsored the event (Pinsent Masons). Natasha had 2 ‘E’s and a 'D' in her A-levels, she moved away from home at just 16 and yet managed to climb the ladder to the corporate world of law where she works now and faces billionaire clients on a regular basis. With determination and a couple of phone calls to HR departments demanding explanation why she has not been accepted onto a program, Natasha really got a seat at the table, and that she was convinced she deserved. Oh, so was I just by listening to her passionate speech. She was bold and she is more than happy now as a result.
Another lady, Theo works for Tomorrow’s People and she shared just how much you can learn from young people on a daily basis and how fulfilling it is to work with girls towards clarifying and achieving their life goals. One of those girls, a client of Tomorrow’s People, was Zainab who came in and also spoke to the audience – she was very young when her family moved to the UK from Nigeria and she couldn't get past the embarrassment of her African accent. Instead of getting shy about it though, Zainab now ‘owns it like Cheryl Cole does’. Indeed, even if we may seem different than our surroundings and even if we feel we don’t always ‘fit in’, it’s by putting ourselves out there and learning to believe in ourselves that we manage to reach heights. And that was a lesson by a 17-year old!
So much learnt from the personal stories of these ladies last night and so much inspiration to never give up and follow your dreams. A successful event of some very successful women of all ages and backgrounds.
Be bold, be brave and be happy, ladies and gents!
PS: Learn more about Tomorrow’s People and their work at http://www.tomorrows-people.org.uk/
Last night I had the pleasure of attending the very first event from the series “Inspiring Women” held by “Tomorrow’s People” – a national charity which finds jobs for young people and helps them keep them. The very special guest of the night was Jenny Campbell, winner of the Business Woman of the Year Award in 2014 and CEO of YourCash, who shared her story with the 40+ guests (100% of whom were female by the way). Jenny’s journey of 30 years in banking and then switching to managing her own business and soon after, owning the business herself, has now led her to a multi-million-pound piédestal. She’s also married with two sons and she does believe that Yes, women can have it all: ‘You just need to figure out what you want to achieve and how to go about doing it’. After sharing her personal life story, Jenny left us with a couple of key messages – be bold, be brave, accept that you can’t get everything right every time, and be happy!
Echoing the same messages were also a number of other inspirational panelists, such as a young lady called Natasha who works as a lawyer at the firm which sponsored the event (Pinsent Masons). Natasha had 2 ‘E’s and a 'D' in her A-levels, she moved away from home at just 16 and yet managed to climb the ladder to the corporate world of law where she works now and faces billionaire clients on a regular basis. With determination and a couple of phone calls to HR departments demanding explanation why she has not been accepted onto a program, Natasha really got a seat at the table, and that she was convinced she deserved. Oh, so was I just by listening to her passionate speech. She was bold and she is more than happy now as a result.
Another lady, Theo works for Tomorrow’s People and she shared just how much you can learn from young people on a daily basis and how fulfilling it is to work with girls towards clarifying and achieving their life goals. One of those girls, a client of Tomorrow’s People, was Zainab who came in and also spoke to the audience – she was very young when her family moved to the UK from Nigeria and she couldn't get past the embarrassment of her African accent. Instead of getting shy about it though, Zainab now ‘owns it like Cheryl Cole does’. Indeed, even if we may seem different than our surroundings and even if we feel we don’t always ‘fit in’, it’s by putting ourselves out there and learning to believe in ourselves that we manage to reach heights. And that was a lesson by a 17-year old!
So much learnt from the personal stories of these ladies last night and so much inspiration to never give up and follow your dreams. A successful event of some very successful women of all ages and backgrounds.
Be bold, be brave and be happy, ladies and gents!
PS: Learn more about Tomorrow’s People and their work at http://www.tomorrows-people.org.uk/
Women Sport-ing
Hey wonderful people, 25 October 2015
Great news is, I've passed the 20,000 views benchmark of my blog posts! A bit over a year ago, I started with this beauty on women's issues and gender equality and see where we've all gotten together - over 100 posts, and numerous publications in youth-led websites on issues from Women and Football, to Tampon tax, to Human Trafficking, to Hillary Clinton's foreign policy ideals. This baby also got me a global fellowship opportunity with Women Deliver US and I simply can't wait to blog live from our global Women's conference in Denmark next year. A million thanks to everyone who's following me - this really WILL get big!
On a positive weekend note today, I wanted to share the findings of a recent US survey with 400 business women: 74% said a background in sports can help accelerate a woman's career! Reasons there are many: sports help girls perform better at school, gain confidence and improve their health. Also, women who play sports tend to see projects through to completion and build strong teams. Sports ethics are often reflected in work ethics and behaviour, and statistics show 7% higher annual wages for former athletes vs non-athletes (US data). Out of the C-suite female leaders in the US, 94% have played sports, majority of whom continued with sports throughout their university and not just at early age. Determination, team work and ethics are the most quoted examples of athlete's advantages in the workplace - and women must take advantage of that from the start of their education. Say YES to girls in sports and join the ongoing campaigns on and off social media - read more about these in my Campaigns tab!
And it's never too late to start with sports or continue what may seem an ambitious goal with a 9-5 working schedule. Myself, for a fact, have gotten back to running now few months after my car-crash - and yes, I feel better and happier every day!
Talk to you ladies and gents soon! Keep up the positive mood!
Great news is, I've passed the 20,000 views benchmark of my blog posts! A bit over a year ago, I started with this beauty on women's issues and gender equality and see where we've all gotten together - over 100 posts, and numerous publications in youth-led websites on issues from Women and Football, to Tampon tax, to Human Trafficking, to Hillary Clinton's foreign policy ideals. This baby also got me a global fellowship opportunity with Women Deliver US and I simply can't wait to blog live from our global Women's conference in Denmark next year. A million thanks to everyone who's following me - this really WILL get big!
On a positive weekend note today, I wanted to share the findings of a recent US survey with 400 business women: 74% said a background in sports can help accelerate a woman's career! Reasons there are many: sports help girls perform better at school, gain confidence and improve their health. Also, women who play sports tend to see projects through to completion and build strong teams. Sports ethics are often reflected in work ethics and behaviour, and statistics show 7% higher annual wages for former athletes vs non-athletes (US data). Out of the C-suite female leaders in the US, 94% have played sports, majority of whom continued with sports throughout their university and not just at early age. Determination, team work and ethics are the most quoted examples of athlete's advantages in the workplace - and women must take advantage of that from the start of their education. Say YES to girls in sports and join the ongoing campaigns on and off social media - read more about these in my Campaigns tab!
And it's never too late to start with sports or continue what may seem an ambitious goal with a 9-5 working schedule. Myself, for a fact, have gotten back to running now few months after my car-crash - and yes, I feel better and happier every day!
Talk to you ladies and gents soon! Keep up the positive mood!
Female Millennials
Hi beauties, 21 October 2015
Following up on my most recent posts on the gender pay gap and women negotiating for better salaries, I'd recommend three recent publications:
First, "It’s good to be the Queen . . . but it’s easier being the King" is an October 2015 McKinsey&Company article which compiles a number of findings on gender and work. For example, Linda Babcock and Sara Lascherer found out in 2007 that 52% of male MBA students negotiate for a better salary when they receive a job offer, while only 17% of female MBA students do; the remaining 83 percent of women simply accepted their offers. What a tremendous difference that is. Also, another Babcock survey shows what happens when men and women behave assertively in salary negotiations - even when both demonstrate exactly the same behaviour, women get punished for not accepting first offers and for asking for more. That is not necessarily the case with men pushing for more. Gender bias that is. Read more interesting facts here.
Second, a September 2015 report "How advancing women’s equality can add $12 trillion to global growth" claims that if every country matched the progress towards gender equality of its fastest-improving neighbour, global GDP could rise by 12 trillion US Dollars in 2025. In Western Europe alone, the growth would be nearly 10% ($2 trillion). The McKinsey Global Institute offers six ways of bridging the gender gap: financial incentives and support to women; improving technology and infrastructure; the creation of economic opportunity; capability building; advocacy and shaping attitudes; and laws, policies, and regulations.My domain on this blog is particularly shaping attitudes - while I can't change the laws all by myself, I'm pretty glad to see so many readers on here and really hope my writings inspire some change, as minor as it may be. And the more people are inspired, the more chances are for demanding policy changes as well.
And last for today, my own employer, PwC, published this year its own report on the Female Millennials and the challenges they are facing in the workplace. These are the women born between 1980 and 1995, who are highly educated, have high career ambitions and career confidence and higher level of workforce participation. That's us (myself plus majority of my blog readers judging on my readership stats)! Some of the issues discussed in the report include the shortage of female role models at the top levels of companies and the misleading gender stereotypes, such as Women leave work because of their families. In fact, the top reasons women point out for leaving their jobs are finding a job elsewhere which pays better, lack of career progression opportunities, unsatisfactory work-life balance, and insufficient learning and development opportunities. A minor percentage of Millennial women actually leave to spend time with their partners or children. Read more of the PwC findings here.
Now we know we all need to negotiate better, change our attitudes about gender and the workspace and act as role models for other women regardless of our grade or position. If you are looking for further inspiration, watch Sheryl Sandberg's interview with PwC US. Let's LeanIn together, ladies and gents! :)
Following up on my most recent posts on the gender pay gap and women negotiating for better salaries, I'd recommend three recent publications:
First, "It’s good to be the Queen . . . but it’s easier being the King" is an October 2015 McKinsey&Company article which compiles a number of findings on gender and work. For example, Linda Babcock and Sara Lascherer found out in 2007 that 52% of male MBA students negotiate for a better salary when they receive a job offer, while only 17% of female MBA students do; the remaining 83 percent of women simply accepted their offers. What a tremendous difference that is. Also, another Babcock survey shows what happens when men and women behave assertively in salary negotiations - even when both demonstrate exactly the same behaviour, women get punished for not accepting first offers and for asking for more. That is not necessarily the case with men pushing for more. Gender bias that is. Read more interesting facts here.
Second, a September 2015 report "How advancing women’s equality can add $12 trillion to global growth" claims that if every country matched the progress towards gender equality of its fastest-improving neighbour, global GDP could rise by 12 trillion US Dollars in 2025. In Western Europe alone, the growth would be nearly 10% ($2 trillion). The McKinsey Global Institute offers six ways of bridging the gender gap: financial incentives and support to women; improving technology and infrastructure; the creation of economic opportunity; capability building; advocacy and shaping attitudes; and laws, policies, and regulations.My domain on this blog is particularly shaping attitudes - while I can't change the laws all by myself, I'm pretty glad to see so many readers on here and really hope my writings inspire some change, as minor as it may be. And the more people are inspired, the more chances are for demanding policy changes as well.
And last for today, my own employer, PwC, published this year its own report on the Female Millennials and the challenges they are facing in the workplace. These are the women born between 1980 and 1995, who are highly educated, have high career ambitions and career confidence and higher level of workforce participation. That's us (myself plus majority of my blog readers judging on my readership stats)! Some of the issues discussed in the report include the shortage of female role models at the top levels of companies and the misleading gender stereotypes, such as Women leave work because of their families. In fact, the top reasons women point out for leaving their jobs are finding a job elsewhere which pays better, lack of career progression opportunities, unsatisfactory work-life balance, and insufficient learning and development opportunities. A minor percentage of Millennial women actually leave to spend time with their partners or children. Read more of the PwC findings here.
Now we know we all need to negotiate better, change our attitudes about gender and the workspace and act as role models for other women regardless of our grade or position. If you are looking for further inspiration, watch Sheryl Sandberg's interview with PwC US. Let's LeanIn together, ladies and gents! :)
J Law and The Pay Gap
Hey beauties, 18 October 2015
Staying on a movie-wave, Hollywood superstar Jennifer Lawrence caused major debate this week when she published her blog piece entitled “Why do I make less than my male co-stars?” The short article, written for Lena Dunham’s newly established feminist newsletter, showed J Law’ frustration when she found out her male co-stars were making significantly more money than her – news, leaked through Sony’s hacked emails last year. So for a role in "American Hustle" she only 7% of the profits, while Bradley Cooper and co. got 9% each. While these revelations are nothing new, we’ve known about them for over a year, J Law now wrote this essay to explain why she thinks that happened – and guess who she blames? Herself. Because, she says, she could have negotiated harder, and instead, she didn’t want to be seen as unlikeable in Hollywood – so she agreed pretty quickly to the package on offer. It’s a very disturbing fact that women in the movie industry still make much less money than their male colleagues, but it is also sad to hear these personal insights on why this is ongoing practice in the 21st century. Because negotiating a pay rise is a tricky one, and especially for women who tend to agree quicker and/ or don’t even negotiate in the first place, "The Guardian" just published some tips on how to land that pay rise in reality; read more here.
And PS: In case you haven’t subscribed to Lena Dunham’s newsletter yet, do so asap for a daily injection of interviews and feminist news, including their first ever publication, an interview with Presidential hopeful H. Clinton.
Enjoy the read and remember that the gender pay gap will only end if we all do our little bit and negotiate for what we are worth!
Staying on a movie-wave, Hollywood superstar Jennifer Lawrence caused major debate this week when she published her blog piece entitled “Why do I make less than my male co-stars?” The short article, written for Lena Dunham’s newly established feminist newsletter, showed J Law’ frustration when she found out her male co-stars were making significantly more money than her – news, leaked through Sony’s hacked emails last year. So for a role in "American Hustle" she only 7% of the profits, while Bradley Cooper and co. got 9% each. While these revelations are nothing new, we’ve known about them for over a year, J Law now wrote this essay to explain why she thinks that happened – and guess who she blames? Herself. Because, she says, she could have negotiated harder, and instead, she didn’t want to be seen as unlikeable in Hollywood – so she agreed pretty quickly to the package on offer. It’s a very disturbing fact that women in the movie industry still make much less money than their male colleagues, but it is also sad to hear these personal insights on why this is ongoing practice in the 21st century. Because negotiating a pay rise is a tricky one, and especially for women who tend to agree quicker and/ or don’t even negotiate in the first place, "The Guardian" just published some tips on how to land that pay rise in reality; read more here.
And PS: In case you haven’t subscribed to Lena Dunham’s newsletter yet, do so asap for a daily injection of interviews and feminist news, including their first ever publication, an interview with Presidential hopeful H. Clinton.
Enjoy the read and remember that the gender pay gap will only end if we all do our little bit and negotiate for what we are worth!
Movies and Series - Cosy Times Ahead
Hi beauties, 13 October 2015
It’s Wednesday tomorrow and people tend to go to the movies – with Orange Wednesday on the way, I suggest we all go watch ‘The Suffragettes’. It’s out now in the UK and if Helena Bonham Carter and Meryl Streep are not good enough reasons to go see it, you may consider doing so because of the very feminist theme of the movie. We have all heard of the strong women’s movement in the late 19th and early 20th century fighting for the women’s right to vote, and it is the British perspective on it that is being released this week in a film version. Inspiring it is, as the story is shared from the point of view of a young working-class woman, the type of character we don’t see broadcasted very often. I am yet to see the film myself although I’ve read quite a few reviews already. Have a look yourselves and let me know opinions please.
And if you decide to stay in instead – I got a series recommendation for you too: this season of America’s Next Top Model is getting increasingly hot (both dramatic and also hot hot, as the models have just been sent to 50-degree Las Vegas). Tyra Banks though is as fierce a producer as ever and tasked the models last week to produce short videos promoting increased female participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). I’ve written already on STEM and why it matters to get more girls into ‘traditionally’ male settings, but it’s great to see rising numbers of powerful women (like Tyra) take the lead and spread the message. ANTM is well worth the watch, if anything because it’s all about female empowerment and gender equality! Well done for getting a social message into otherwise commercial series.
See you all this weekend; keep yourselves warm in front of the TV - winter is coming! Zzzz
It’s Wednesday tomorrow and people tend to go to the movies – with Orange Wednesday on the way, I suggest we all go watch ‘The Suffragettes’. It’s out now in the UK and if Helena Bonham Carter and Meryl Streep are not good enough reasons to go see it, you may consider doing so because of the very feminist theme of the movie. We have all heard of the strong women’s movement in the late 19th and early 20th century fighting for the women’s right to vote, and it is the British perspective on it that is being released this week in a film version. Inspiring it is, as the story is shared from the point of view of a young working-class woman, the type of character we don’t see broadcasted very often. I am yet to see the film myself although I’ve read quite a few reviews already. Have a look yourselves and let me know opinions please.
And if you decide to stay in instead – I got a series recommendation for you too: this season of America’s Next Top Model is getting increasingly hot (both dramatic and also hot hot, as the models have just been sent to 50-degree Las Vegas). Tyra Banks though is as fierce a producer as ever and tasked the models last week to produce short videos promoting increased female participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). I’ve written already on STEM and why it matters to get more girls into ‘traditionally’ male settings, but it’s great to see rising numbers of powerful women (like Tyra) take the lead and spread the message. ANTM is well worth the watch, if anything because it’s all about female empowerment and gender equality! Well done for getting a social message into otherwise commercial series.
See you all this weekend; keep yourselves warm in front of the TV - winter is coming! Zzzz
Women, Peace and Security
Hi ladies and gents, 11 October 2015
Happy International Day of the Girl Child! Please check out my Campaigns tab for more info on the current United Nations Foundation initiative to recognise the girl heroes of our lives. I already got involved and urge anyone on Facebook or Instagram to do the same – at least today, on this celebratory occasion!
And now, on 8th October I went to the inaugural public lecture of the Centre for Women, Peace and Security at the London School of Economics. It was the kick-off event for the new academic centre which was launched in Feb this year by former Foreign Secretary W. Hague and none other but Mrs Angelina Jolie Pitt. The aim of the centre is to bring issues of violence against women in conflict-related situations to the political agenda of the UN Security Council, a natural follow-up to the now approved UN resolutions 1325 (2000) and some from 2013, all of which recognise rape as a weapon of war and the different experiences people have in conflict depending on their gender. The lecture was 1.5 hours at the host institution LSE, and led by the Director of the Centre, Professor Christine Chinkin. While 1.5 hours of talking is difficult to summarise in a short blog post, and frankly, most of the talking of violence against women in war and refugee camps scenarios did not cover any ground-breaking news, a few things do deserve mentioning. First, in the audience there were only a few men (that I saw), and that is slightly disappointing considering it’s men that we need to be on board with us to solve VAWG. Also, Professor Chinkin stressed UN peacekeepers still remain involved with violence and even human trafficking on occasions (check out the fantastic movie The Whistleblower - 2009), and it is disappointing that there is still only ONE woman ever being appointed as chief of a UN peacekeeping mission abroad (in Cyprus in 2014). Thus, those who are there to ‘protect’ us may sometimes be the perpetrators of violence instead, and further, women still need to be included more in negotiations, peace-making deals and post-conflict reconstruction, as well as peacekeeping itself. And lastly, the three legal regimes which govern VAWG penalties in times of conflict are International Humanitarian law, International Criminal law and Human Rights law. All of these though, while they may provide for sentences against using rape or mass enslavement and other crimes against women, perpetrators don’t seem to get convicted and punished. Not to mention victims may not be willing to witness in the first place because they fear for their safety and/ or due to stigma and shame. With all this in mind, the Security Council needs Centres such as this one at LSE to help it find other solutions and not merely rely on legal convictions. Well done to those who set it up but let’s hope future events and research will involve more news than just recap of women’s suffering that we are already aware of. Way to go!
I’m off to write a project proposal for another women’s related issue, but will talk to you about it if/ when it gets funded, fingers crossed! Talk soon, beauties!
Happy International Day of the Girl Child! Please check out my Campaigns tab for more info on the current United Nations Foundation initiative to recognise the girl heroes of our lives. I already got involved and urge anyone on Facebook or Instagram to do the same – at least today, on this celebratory occasion!
And now, on 8th October I went to the inaugural public lecture of the Centre for Women, Peace and Security at the London School of Economics. It was the kick-off event for the new academic centre which was launched in Feb this year by former Foreign Secretary W. Hague and none other but Mrs Angelina Jolie Pitt. The aim of the centre is to bring issues of violence against women in conflict-related situations to the political agenda of the UN Security Council, a natural follow-up to the now approved UN resolutions 1325 (2000) and some from 2013, all of which recognise rape as a weapon of war and the different experiences people have in conflict depending on their gender. The lecture was 1.5 hours at the host institution LSE, and led by the Director of the Centre, Professor Christine Chinkin. While 1.5 hours of talking is difficult to summarise in a short blog post, and frankly, most of the talking of violence against women in war and refugee camps scenarios did not cover any ground-breaking news, a few things do deserve mentioning. First, in the audience there were only a few men (that I saw), and that is slightly disappointing considering it’s men that we need to be on board with us to solve VAWG. Also, Professor Chinkin stressed UN peacekeepers still remain involved with violence and even human trafficking on occasions (check out the fantastic movie The Whistleblower - 2009), and it is disappointing that there is still only ONE woman ever being appointed as chief of a UN peacekeeping mission abroad (in Cyprus in 2014). Thus, those who are there to ‘protect’ us may sometimes be the perpetrators of violence instead, and further, women still need to be included more in negotiations, peace-making deals and post-conflict reconstruction, as well as peacekeeping itself. And lastly, the three legal regimes which govern VAWG penalties in times of conflict are International Humanitarian law, International Criminal law and Human Rights law. All of these though, while they may provide for sentences against using rape or mass enslavement and other crimes against women, perpetrators don’t seem to get convicted and punished. Not to mention victims may not be willing to witness in the first place because they fear for their safety and/ or due to stigma and shame. With all this in mind, the Security Council needs Centres such as this one at LSE to help it find other solutions and not merely rely on legal convictions. Well done to those who set it up but let’s hope future events and research will involve more news than just recap of women’s suffering that we are already aware of. Way to go!
I’m off to write a project proposal for another women’s related issue, but will talk to you about it if/ when it gets funded, fingers crossed! Talk soon, beauties!
Two Ladies in the UAE
Hey beautiful people, 6 October 2015
I'm back from the United Arab Emirates and ready to get back to London life. Of course I got stories for you from my Middle East adventures in Dubai and Sharjah and here's a (quick) summary of what I liked/ did not quite like about the place. I'm typing this off on the plane, so please excuse moi if I go beyond 'quick' summary.
My momma took me to the UAE as my graduation gift for my MA and because I spent the last 2 years studying about the Middle East it only made sense to go there at the end. Because Dubai is portrayed as probably the most advanced of all ME states, we figured why not do that. Upon arrival last week I was stunned by the roads from Al Maktoum airport to our hotel -a road which connects all 7 Emirates and has ONLY 16 lanes! 8 each way - and wow, do these people drive fast! 140 km/ h is the usual and we changed lanes so many times that I lost count at some point of what was going on around me. The buildings - no words to describe how incredibly advanced construction is, we saw more skyscrapers in 4 days there than I have seen in my entire life. And I've lived in the States... Other than my initial impressions of great buildings and roads and ultra modern airports and 5-star hotels (ours was the most amazing place I have ever stayed at and thanks to the hotel staff for letting us stay in the most luxurious Executive apartment on the top floor), my mom and I had a major issue - the heat! 40 degrees in October and even more problematic was the constant aircon Eeeeverywhere - and I mean, 20 degrees difference between outside and inside! My dislocated shoulder and sensitivity to cold does not need to be described further. The largest shopping mall in the world, Dubai Mall, was cool but that's pretty much all the fun there is in that city. The Dubai aquarium was way overpriced (like everything else if we are to be frank), the underwater zoo as well; we went to the world's tallest building Burj Khalifa but again, only saw similar height buildings around and desert as far as you could see. The beach we went to was quiet - as in, dead! It was beautiful indeed but 10 people were there, mom and I inclusive. 2 of those were women covered from head to toe who went inside the water with their niqabs on - and got all wet, but could not take them off for obvious religious reasons. And the rest were men, men who stared at us 99% of the time and kept on coming closer and closer to our towels. Then there was a sign that women in swimwear were not allowed to go out like that more than 20 meters away from the water or else, it is considered indecent behaviour. And there are fines. Oh, and Wednesdays are ladies-only days at that beach. I get it why. And speaking of indecency, in our hotel room there was an entire booklet on how to dress and behave decently in public spaces in the UAE. I am serious that read was interesting! If you don't know, keep in mind that a woman and man found together in "suspicious" circumstances can be charged unless they are in a legal union. Otherwise, indecency that is.
The best part of the trip was the Dancing fountains show in central Dubai on Sunday night. Although it was only 3 mins, the fountains were literally "dancing" to Arabic and other music and there was a light show as well. And it was the only free thing you could enjoy in the country.
One other thing shocked me - women don't sit at the front seat of taxis - and all taxi drivers are men. Also, they trick you a lot, especially if you are white and female. And finally, the traffic is incredible - 24/7! And out of the thousands of cars I saw, only 8 had female drivers! I literally counted and that is way below my expectations for an advanced state where female driving IS actually legal.
We are now back and happy with our experience although we are Not planning on going back there anytime soon. At least we went and saw what the talk was about. Not the safest and most female-friendly place though, and my feminist self learnt some lessons for acceptable clothing and behaviour. Will keep you updated on future trips - until then, stay tuned for more feminist news weekly :)
I'm back from the United Arab Emirates and ready to get back to London life. Of course I got stories for you from my Middle East adventures in Dubai and Sharjah and here's a (quick) summary of what I liked/ did not quite like about the place. I'm typing this off on the plane, so please excuse moi if I go beyond 'quick' summary.
My momma took me to the UAE as my graduation gift for my MA and because I spent the last 2 years studying about the Middle East it only made sense to go there at the end. Because Dubai is portrayed as probably the most advanced of all ME states, we figured why not do that. Upon arrival last week I was stunned by the roads from Al Maktoum airport to our hotel -a road which connects all 7 Emirates and has ONLY 16 lanes! 8 each way - and wow, do these people drive fast! 140 km/ h is the usual and we changed lanes so many times that I lost count at some point of what was going on around me. The buildings - no words to describe how incredibly advanced construction is, we saw more skyscrapers in 4 days there than I have seen in my entire life. And I've lived in the States... Other than my initial impressions of great buildings and roads and ultra modern airports and 5-star hotels (ours was the most amazing place I have ever stayed at and thanks to the hotel staff for letting us stay in the most luxurious Executive apartment on the top floor), my mom and I had a major issue - the heat! 40 degrees in October and even more problematic was the constant aircon Eeeeverywhere - and I mean, 20 degrees difference between outside and inside! My dislocated shoulder and sensitivity to cold does not need to be described further. The largest shopping mall in the world, Dubai Mall, was cool but that's pretty much all the fun there is in that city. The Dubai aquarium was way overpriced (like everything else if we are to be frank), the underwater zoo as well; we went to the world's tallest building Burj Khalifa but again, only saw similar height buildings around and desert as far as you could see. The beach we went to was quiet - as in, dead! It was beautiful indeed but 10 people were there, mom and I inclusive. 2 of those were women covered from head to toe who went inside the water with their niqabs on - and got all wet, but could not take them off for obvious religious reasons. And the rest were men, men who stared at us 99% of the time and kept on coming closer and closer to our towels. Then there was a sign that women in swimwear were not allowed to go out like that more than 20 meters away from the water or else, it is considered indecent behaviour. And there are fines. Oh, and Wednesdays are ladies-only days at that beach. I get it why. And speaking of indecency, in our hotel room there was an entire booklet on how to dress and behave decently in public spaces in the UAE. I am serious that read was interesting! If you don't know, keep in mind that a woman and man found together in "suspicious" circumstances can be charged unless they are in a legal union. Otherwise, indecency that is.
The best part of the trip was the Dancing fountains show in central Dubai on Sunday night. Although it was only 3 mins, the fountains were literally "dancing" to Arabic and other music and there was a light show as well. And it was the only free thing you could enjoy in the country.
One other thing shocked me - women don't sit at the front seat of taxis - and all taxi drivers are men. Also, they trick you a lot, especially if you are white and female. And finally, the traffic is incredible - 24/7! And out of the thousands of cars I saw, only 8 had female drivers! I literally counted and that is way below my expectations for an advanced state where female driving IS actually legal.
We are now back and happy with our experience although we are Not planning on going back there anytime soon. At least we went and saw what the talk was about. Not the safest and most female-friendly place though, and my feminist self learnt some lessons for acceptable clothing and behaviour. Will keep you updated on future trips - until then, stay tuned for more feminist news weekly :)
No Hymen
Hi beauties, 30 September 2015
I'm off on holiday first thing tomorrow morning, BUT I felt I couldn't leave you for an entire week with nothing to read. And so my bestie miss D sent me over the following Facebook page, which I think you MUST check out. Funny it is - a group of men 'activists' got together to create the No Hymen No Diamond page to glorify women virgins and the importance of that in order to get married. Things like the post below also show they acively dislike women with tattoos. Wow, I am totally bad now it appears - and will possibly never get married either! What's funnier though is that Twitter has now started mocking the group and thosands of posts have appeared in the last few days against such old-fashioned believes and incredibly rude comments on women being 'trash' when they've 'popped their cherries'. Openly sexist they are and yet, worth a read - for the fun of it.
Enjoy the read and see you all next week! Am off to the Middle East, let's see how THAT will go on a women-only trip...
I'm off on holiday first thing tomorrow morning, BUT I felt I couldn't leave you for an entire week with nothing to read. And so my bestie miss D sent me over the following Facebook page, which I think you MUST check out. Funny it is - a group of men 'activists' got together to create the No Hymen No Diamond page to glorify women virgins and the importance of that in order to get married. Things like the post below also show they acively dislike women with tattoos. Wow, I am totally bad now it appears - and will possibly never get married either! What's funnier though is that Twitter has now started mocking the group and thosands of posts have appeared in the last few days against such old-fashioned believes and incredibly rude comments on women being 'trash' when they've 'popped their cherries'. Openly sexist they are and yet, worth a read - for the fun of it.
Enjoy the read and see you all next week! Am off to the Middle East, let's see how THAT will go on a women-only trip...
Implicit Associations
Hey queens – and kings! It seems I am getting a rising male crowd reading this blog so thank you gentlemen – please do keep it up! :)
I’ll start off tonight with an interesting resource on leadership again – and this is for those of you who have 10 spare minutes and want to check their Implicit Associations thinking. What I mean is, my company strongly supports the He for She global campaign and as part of that, I was able to take an Implicit Associations Test at work today which measures how you associate leadership with gender. I’m glad to say I have just about equal perceptions of male and female leaders’ roles and capabilities. Harvard University has come up with this great test online which will show just how much you associate gender with words such as Leaders and followers, Managers and helpers, etc. It’s an interesting resource well worth your time. Check it out here. PS: there are IA tests on other topics too.
And before I go, I wanted to share about a great new initiative which was kicked off in Bulgaria this weekend by my former boss MEP Mariya Gabriel. Mrs Gabriel has launched a national campaign entitled "Violence against women: Let us open our eyes and break the silence!" which aims at raising the public’s sensitivity to and awareness of violence against women and girls in our country. 1 in every 4 Bulgarian ladies will be abused in her lifetime and it’s great that Mrs Gabriel is holding public discussions and press conferences across the country this fall to address the problem. A number of EU organisations and top European Commission representatives have all expressed support for the initiative – go here to read more.
Have a wonderful eve, people, I still got a Stanford Uni course to attend just now, talk soon!
I’ll start off tonight with an interesting resource on leadership again – and this is for those of you who have 10 spare minutes and want to check their Implicit Associations thinking. What I mean is, my company strongly supports the He for She global campaign and as part of that, I was able to take an Implicit Associations Test at work today which measures how you associate leadership with gender. I’m glad to say I have just about equal perceptions of male and female leaders’ roles and capabilities. Harvard University has come up with this great test online which will show just how much you associate gender with words such as Leaders and followers, Managers and helpers, etc. It’s an interesting resource well worth your time. Check it out here. PS: there are IA tests on other topics too.
And before I go, I wanted to share about a great new initiative which was kicked off in Bulgaria this weekend by my former boss MEP Mariya Gabriel. Mrs Gabriel has launched a national campaign entitled "Violence against women: Let us open our eyes and break the silence!" which aims at raising the public’s sensitivity to and awareness of violence against women and girls in our country. 1 in every 4 Bulgarian ladies will be abused in her lifetime and it’s great that Mrs Gabriel is holding public discussions and press conferences across the country this fall to address the problem. A number of EU organisations and top European Commission representatives have all expressed support for the initiative – go here to read more.
Have a wonderful eve, people, I still got a Stanford Uni course to attend just now, talk soon!
Leadership
Hey wonderful people, 19 September 2015
It’s Saturday and I’m super ill but no better way to recover than to listen to some loud Beyonce and get all my (feminist) energy up.
So today is going to be on leadership – my girl Esy shared with me earlier this week an article in Harvard Business Review on men and women in leadership roles. The author claims the reason why we end up with so many men in top positions and women just somewhere in the middle is because we as humans tend to confuse confidence and competence. And because very often men may appear more confident than women do, it is only ‘natural’ to put those male individuals in leadership roles. In reality though, women tend to perform better in emotional intelligence surveys which in reality drives modest behaviour, empathy and humble attitude. Very interesting findings and quotes – have a read through and make up your own mind if it’s genetics or societal structure and understanding that really promotes some arrogant and ‘confident’ men to the top at the expense of more competent people in general, ladies inclusive.
And speaking of leadership, a moving company in California has set an excellent example of helping domestic abuse survivors to move from their homes to safer places – free of charge. Meathead Movers have also teamed up with a local shelter and partnered up with the Police to ensure the moves are always safe, both for the women (and their children) and the company staff. The owners say that since 1997, “these moves became very personal to us, made all the employees so proud, and became part of our mission statement”. What a fantastic initiative and proof that people can genuinely be supportive and generous and being in the business world does not make you a villain – instead, it provides you with opportunities to be an excellent leader. Leaders that we all need more of. Both male and female.
Thanks everyone and see you soon!
It’s Saturday and I’m super ill but no better way to recover than to listen to some loud Beyonce and get all my (feminist) energy up.
So today is going to be on leadership – my girl Esy shared with me earlier this week an article in Harvard Business Review on men and women in leadership roles. The author claims the reason why we end up with so many men in top positions and women just somewhere in the middle is because we as humans tend to confuse confidence and competence. And because very often men may appear more confident than women do, it is only ‘natural’ to put those male individuals in leadership roles. In reality though, women tend to perform better in emotional intelligence surveys which in reality drives modest behaviour, empathy and humble attitude. Very interesting findings and quotes – have a read through and make up your own mind if it’s genetics or societal structure and understanding that really promotes some arrogant and ‘confident’ men to the top at the expense of more competent people in general, ladies inclusive.
And speaking of leadership, a moving company in California has set an excellent example of helping domestic abuse survivors to move from their homes to safer places – free of charge. Meathead Movers have also teamed up with a local shelter and partnered up with the Police to ensure the moves are always safe, both for the women (and their children) and the company staff. The owners say that since 1997, “these moves became very personal to us, made all the employees so proud, and became part of our mission statement”. What a fantastic initiative and proof that people can genuinely be supportive and generous and being in the business world does not make you a villain – instead, it provides you with opportunities to be an excellent leader. Leaders that we all need more of. Both male and female.
Thanks everyone and see you soon!
Tori James and How to Challenge Yourself
Hey beauties, 16 September 2015
I’d like to start off with a link to my newest article on Future Foreign Policy UK – read here about US foreign aid regulations and why I believe they are failing survivors of sexual violence in the developing world. Feedback is welcome as always!
And secondly for today, you probably already know I started a new graduate job this week with PricewaterhouseCoopers. I’m super thrilled and what really got to me was our Monday Welcome event where an external guest speaker totally blew my mind of what life and adventure and ambition really mean. Tori James, at the age of 25, became the youngest British woman and the first Welsh woman to climb to Mount Everest. In 2005 she was also part of the first ever all-female team to complete The Polar Challenge (360 mile race to the Magnetic North Pole, with -40 degree temperatures and polar bears along the way). Last year she broke yet another record and joined a team to complete the first ever straight-line journey across all of Britain - from Land’s End to John O’Groats, a total of 1,100km, including 34 hours of non-stop kayaking. When you look at the tiny Welsh lady, just 33 years old at present, you may be deceived by first impressions and think this woman is too short/ too young/ too sociable to really be able to go to such remarkable physical lengths and follow her adventurous spirit. What she thought me with her speech this week though was that you can always aim higher than yourself or others expect of you, and you will very often achieve those high goals. And if you don’t – learn to fail fast so at least you can learn your lesson and move on to new challenges with new strength and motivation. Such an inspirational woman! Check out Tori’s amazing achievements and other endeavors as a speaker, writer and film-maker here.
Have a fantastic Wed eve, people, half-way through the week already! Xx
I’d like to start off with a link to my newest article on Future Foreign Policy UK – read here about US foreign aid regulations and why I believe they are failing survivors of sexual violence in the developing world. Feedback is welcome as always!
And secondly for today, you probably already know I started a new graduate job this week with PricewaterhouseCoopers. I’m super thrilled and what really got to me was our Monday Welcome event where an external guest speaker totally blew my mind of what life and adventure and ambition really mean. Tori James, at the age of 25, became the youngest British woman and the first Welsh woman to climb to Mount Everest. In 2005 she was also part of the first ever all-female team to complete The Polar Challenge (360 mile race to the Magnetic North Pole, with -40 degree temperatures and polar bears along the way). Last year she broke yet another record and joined a team to complete the first ever straight-line journey across all of Britain - from Land’s End to John O’Groats, a total of 1,100km, including 34 hours of non-stop kayaking. When you look at the tiny Welsh lady, just 33 years old at present, you may be deceived by first impressions and think this woman is too short/ too young/ too sociable to really be able to go to such remarkable physical lengths and follow her adventurous spirit. What she thought me with her speech this week though was that you can always aim higher than yourself or others expect of you, and you will very often achieve those high goals. And if you don’t – learn to fail fast so at least you can learn your lesson and move on to new challenges with new strength and motivation. Such an inspirational woman! Check out Tori’s amazing achievements and other endeavors as a speaker, writer and film-maker here.
Have a fantastic Wed eve, people, half-way through the week already! Xx
Africa Utopia
Hey beautiful people, 13 September 2015
Today I had the pleasure to attend the Africa Utopia festival in central London (Southbank). As part of the 4-day festival, tickets for which I was given by my awesome friend Antonia, there was a feminist talk today entitled “R-E-S-P-E-C-T: African Women Speak”. For an hour at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, three awesome guest speakers, female activists, were talking about their experiences and history of campaigning and advocacy. Jessica Horn, a poet and women’s rights activist with Ugandan origin, talked about her 15 years of work with the African LGBT community, with women on abortion issues, their sexuality and HIV transmission. She stressed that nowadays there are in fact very few activists in the world, and only once they start the real work, do people rally behind them. The initial push is needed, she says, and we must be grateful to have some people already doing this. Better yet, use social media and other means of communication and make a real change happen yourselves!
Toni Stuart of South Africa read us some of her poems and also spoke about African HIV initiatives and women’s use of art to embrace their sexuality. Lastly, Janet Fyle from the Royal College of Midwives spoke about health issues African women in the UK face as well as the fact that very often the National Health Service and their practitioners may be biased and have certain racial assumptions about body types and sexuality habits.
A powerful powerpoint was running behind the screen as the ladies spoke and while Theo Sowa from the African Development Fund was chairing the discussion.
I must admit I was stunned by how young and cool those activists looked and yet what an enormous experience they got. They stressed there was no need to have studied feminism or health to become an activist in the field of women’s rights, nor that discussions should be held with community leaders – reason being, they are male, and it’s in fact the women’s point of view that matters in this case. FGM and the danger facing 60 000 British girls was brought up as well, just as the fact that African female bodies is often associated with violence – FGM, rapes, genocides, etc. In fact though, those women’s bodies and sexualities need to be embraced and more talk on their independence and strength should be held. Including through the now-very-popular Nollywood movies which happen to reach out to millions of Africans. Considering 40% of the continent’s population of 460 million are now youth, it is essential that these discussions are held soon – and consistently!
What a pleasure it was today, very happy to have been part of Utopia this year J PS: Pictures to follow!
Have a wonderful week ahead, people! Xx
Today I had the pleasure to attend the Africa Utopia festival in central London (Southbank). As part of the 4-day festival, tickets for which I was given by my awesome friend Antonia, there was a feminist talk today entitled “R-E-S-P-E-C-T: African Women Speak”. For an hour at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, three awesome guest speakers, female activists, were talking about their experiences and history of campaigning and advocacy. Jessica Horn, a poet and women’s rights activist with Ugandan origin, talked about her 15 years of work with the African LGBT community, with women on abortion issues, their sexuality and HIV transmission. She stressed that nowadays there are in fact very few activists in the world, and only once they start the real work, do people rally behind them. The initial push is needed, she says, and we must be grateful to have some people already doing this. Better yet, use social media and other means of communication and make a real change happen yourselves!
Toni Stuart of South Africa read us some of her poems and also spoke about African HIV initiatives and women’s use of art to embrace their sexuality. Lastly, Janet Fyle from the Royal College of Midwives spoke about health issues African women in the UK face as well as the fact that very often the National Health Service and their practitioners may be biased and have certain racial assumptions about body types and sexuality habits.
A powerful powerpoint was running behind the screen as the ladies spoke and while Theo Sowa from the African Development Fund was chairing the discussion.
I must admit I was stunned by how young and cool those activists looked and yet what an enormous experience they got. They stressed there was no need to have studied feminism or health to become an activist in the field of women’s rights, nor that discussions should be held with community leaders – reason being, they are male, and it’s in fact the women’s point of view that matters in this case. FGM and the danger facing 60 000 British girls was brought up as well, just as the fact that African female bodies is often associated with violence – FGM, rapes, genocides, etc. In fact though, those women’s bodies and sexualities need to be embraced and more talk on their independence and strength should be held. Including through the now-very-popular Nollywood movies which happen to reach out to millions of Africans. Considering 40% of the continent’s population of 460 million are now youth, it is essential that these discussions are held soon – and consistently!
What a pleasure it was today, very happy to have been part of Utopia this year J PS: Pictures to follow!
Have a wonderful week ahead, people! Xx
Barbie/ Ken/ Gender and Pay
Hey beauties, 10 September 2015
I'm 22 now yaay! Thank you Taylor Swift for coming up with the 22 song, totally feeling free and happy and confused right now - fits in well! :)
Also, I was in Brighton for a few days now, getting some more sunshine this summer, and here is what picture I took at Brighton pier (see to the left) Turns out the barbie doll, the female one, is saving the male one from drawning (I presume) - how's that for changing gender stereotypes from early child age - well done to the great man or woman or team who came up with this pier decoration!
And on an ever more serious note now - you know I love the question of equal pay for men and women, and imagine how dazzled I was when I read in the Evening Standard few nights ago that female apprentices in the UK get paid on average 21% less than their male counterparts. A recent study found out than a woman apprentice working 35 hours a week would normally be 2,000 GBP worse off than her male colleagues. In the UK that is, and yes - how disappointing. Adding to my earlier post last week about women spending 500 GBP a year on their periods, now we are totally 2,500 down from our male buddies. Not the coolest feeling ever... And yes, one of the explanations is the fact that guys dominate the engineering and building sectors, while ladie work more in admin, retail and health care which are of course paid less. Now is the time then to change job stereotypes and get some machines working - just as Barbie is saving Ken over in Brighton!
Enjoy your weekend, beauties!
PS: Happy birthday to my Manager Miss Rossy I. - love you, lady!
I'm 22 now yaay! Thank you Taylor Swift for coming up with the 22 song, totally feeling free and happy and confused right now - fits in well! :)
Also, I was in Brighton for a few days now, getting some more sunshine this summer, and here is what picture I took at Brighton pier (see to the left) Turns out the barbie doll, the female one, is saving the male one from drawning (I presume) - how's that for changing gender stereotypes from early child age - well done to the great man or woman or team who came up with this pier decoration!
And on an ever more serious note now - you know I love the question of equal pay for men and women, and imagine how dazzled I was when I read in the Evening Standard few nights ago that female apprentices in the UK get paid on average 21% less than their male counterparts. A recent study found out than a woman apprentice working 35 hours a week would normally be 2,000 GBP worse off than her male colleagues. In the UK that is, and yes - how disappointing. Adding to my earlier post last week about women spending 500 GBP a year on their periods, now we are totally 2,500 down from our male buddies. Not the coolest feeling ever... And yes, one of the explanations is the fact that guys dominate the engineering and building sectors, while ladie work more in admin, retail and health care which are of course paid less. Now is the time then to change job stereotypes and get some machines working - just as Barbie is saving Ken over in Brighton!
Enjoy your weekend, beauties!
PS: Happy birthday to my Manager Miss Rossy I. - love you, lady!
£500 a Year
Hey ladies and gents, 6 September 2015
A regular update from me on my favorite UK campaign - new research has shown that on avarage women spent £492 a year on their periods, which adds up to £18,450 in your lifetime, ladies! Of those, £922 goes to the government in taxes - unfair and discriminatory taxes which treat tampons and pads as a luxury instead of a necessity. You know already why you should sign the petition calling on David Cameron and co. to end the tax - but listen to this news about the costs of being a menstruating woman:
The study of a couple of thousand British women, just published on Huffington post, revelaed the average amount of money they spend each month on different areas relating to their period - surprisingly to me, these include not only pads/tampons/panty-liners/menstrual cups (£13 per month on average), but also things like new underwear (due to spillages), pain relief pills, chocolate/sweets/crisps and other goodies (magazines/toiletries/DVDs etc.) Did you ever think of these added expenditures as part of the challenge of being a woman? Well now you may want to consider all of the above - and they do add up to nearly 500 GBP a year. Oh well - it's my Birthday tomorrow and you can totally give me some checks to cover up these costs in the future, will be much appreciated! ;) If not, at least sign the petition to end tampon taxes here :)
See you all when I turn 22! xx
A regular update from me on my favorite UK campaign - new research has shown that on avarage women spent £492 a year on their periods, which adds up to £18,450 in your lifetime, ladies! Of those, £922 goes to the government in taxes - unfair and discriminatory taxes which treat tampons and pads as a luxury instead of a necessity. You know already why you should sign the petition calling on David Cameron and co. to end the tax - but listen to this news about the costs of being a menstruating woman:
The study of a couple of thousand British women, just published on Huffington post, revelaed the average amount of money they spend each month on different areas relating to their period - surprisingly to me, these include not only pads/tampons/panty-liners/menstrual cups (£13 per month on average), but also things like new underwear (due to spillages), pain relief pills, chocolate/sweets/crisps and other goodies (magazines/toiletries/DVDs etc.) Did you ever think of these added expenditures as part of the challenge of being a woman? Well now you may want to consider all of the above - and they do add up to nearly 500 GBP a year. Oh well - it's my Birthday tomorrow and you can totally give me some checks to cover up these costs in the future, will be much appreciated! ;) If not, at least sign the petition to end tampon taxes here :)
See you all when I turn 22! xx
Flawless
4 September 2015
Happy birthday to the one and only feminist artist and my personal role model, Beyonce – this I think is sufficient as a post today ;)
Night night, beauties, promise a longer post this weekend!
Happy birthday to the one and only feminist artist and my personal role model, Beyonce – this I think is sufficient as a post today ;)
Night night, beauties, promise a longer post this weekend!
One Movie at a Time
Hello beauties, 3 September 2015
I’ve been watching movies more regularly these days (mostly because all my TV series are still on summer break) and I felt inspired to share with you all this movie-related article. It’s a compilation of 50+ feminist movies which will change the way you think of the world – issues from sex-selective abortion, to rape, to media representation of women, are all discussed. Check them out and if you see even just one of these documentaries/ movies by the end of this month, that’s still one step taken to a changed mentality in our societies.
Happy Thursday :)
I’ve been watching movies more regularly these days (mostly because all my TV series are still on summer break) and I felt inspired to share with you all this movie-related article. It’s a compilation of 50+ feminist movies which will change the way you think of the world – issues from sex-selective abortion, to rape, to media representation of women, are all discussed. Check them out and if you see even just one of these documentaries/ movies by the end of this month, that’s still one step taken to a changed mentality in our societies.
Happy Thursday :)
Costa Coffee and 9 Meals a Day
Hey Queens (yes, I'm using the Magic Mike terminology here), 29 August 2015
I have a few brief stories for you today, both based in my beloved UK:
Firstly, a woman was refused service at a Costa coffee in Sutton earlier this week because she was wearing a sports bra in the coffee shop. Allegedly, the customer service assistant asked Davina Ward, a personal trainer coming in from work, to 'cover herself' in order to get her coffee. That she's paying for, by the way. Can't believe this is happening in 21st century Britain, nor that it was in my fav coffee chain which is otherwise seen as progressive. They are one of the very few UK coffee companies that pay their taxes in the UK after all. So much for my sympathies towards Costa for now. PS: They apologised later and are reportedly investigating the situation. Oh my days...
Another shocker article, Daily Mail claimed the other day that women are now fatter because they don't do as much HOUSEWORK as they used to. Hence, obesity and curvy chicas. "The average woman now spends almost 20% less time on chores than her counterpart in the early 1980s. Researchers say this drop has contributed to the obesity epidemic", the newspaper announced two days ago. Advances in technology arre also to blame, it was added, as they make it easier for women to do chores. With the persistant gender pay gap in the UK, I can't believe we are now judged at home too. If anything, men are fatter too than they used to be decades ago, but I doubt the blame for that is because they don't go out to throw the trash away or don't cook 9 meals a day. That people are now exercising less and stress levels have gone up, I do agree, but the houswork argument - really?!
And last for today, I wanted to share the results of my short enquette (see below) on which languages I should continue blogging in. Thanks for those who shared their opinions; the majority has now spoken - English is great as it is. Thanks, guys, I'll make sure to keep the blogging up :) See you all xx
I have a few brief stories for you today, both based in my beloved UK:
Firstly, a woman was refused service at a Costa coffee in Sutton earlier this week because she was wearing a sports bra in the coffee shop. Allegedly, the customer service assistant asked Davina Ward, a personal trainer coming in from work, to 'cover herself' in order to get her coffee. That she's paying for, by the way. Can't believe this is happening in 21st century Britain, nor that it was in my fav coffee chain which is otherwise seen as progressive. They are one of the very few UK coffee companies that pay their taxes in the UK after all. So much for my sympathies towards Costa for now. PS: They apologised later and are reportedly investigating the situation. Oh my days...
Another shocker article, Daily Mail claimed the other day that women are now fatter because they don't do as much HOUSEWORK as they used to. Hence, obesity and curvy chicas. "The average woman now spends almost 20% less time on chores than her counterpart in the early 1980s. Researchers say this drop has contributed to the obesity epidemic", the newspaper announced two days ago. Advances in technology arre also to blame, it was added, as they make it easier for women to do chores. With the persistant gender pay gap in the UK, I can't believe we are now judged at home too. If anything, men are fatter too than they used to be decades ago, but I doubt the blame for that is because they don't go out to throw the trash away or don't cook 9 meals a day. That people are now exercising less and stress levels have gone up, I do agree, but the houswork argument - really?!
And last for today, I wanted to share the results of my short enquette (see below) on which languages I should continue blogging in. Thanks for those who shared their opinions; the majority has now spoken - English is great as it is. Thanks, guys, I'll make sure to keep the blogging up :) See you all xx
It's Raining Men
Hey beautiful people, 28 August 2015
So much talk on women on my blog, I thought it was now time to switch the focus on men for a day - and so, here are some male-centered facts I found out in the past week.
Firstly, I was on a plane the other day, Sofia-London, and a lovely couple tried to sneak in the bathroom - together. The flight attendant saw them and kicked the man out. At the time I was eating, drinking, reading magazine and listening to music, yet that suspicious tricky attempt to get some naughty action in tact (?) did not escape my otherwise divided attention. And I found out for you all that in a recent survey by Cosmo magazine, 33% of men want to have sex on board of a flying plane. Thought you may wanna know the stats on that (I'm not aware of the numbers for women, curious to know though).
Then, do you know why men don't say 'best mate', but more often just 'mate'? Well, they are competitive creatures it appears, and putting a comparative scale of mate-ness means one wins and another loses. Men don't like losing so to avoid frictions and tension, they avoid 'best' adjectives to describe their boys. That's what some of them say apparently.
And last bit for the day, as recently as 1977 there were whole compartments on British trains that did not accept men on board. Ladies-only compartments were in use up until the 1980s and guess what, politicians now in 2015 are discussing their re-introduction. If prevention of (sexual) crime is the aim here, I may sort of understand the logic behind it. But on the other hand, what's with the no-mixing rule, almost reminds me of some highly-traditional and strict religious communities, of which Britain is not exactly one; plus, 'saving' women by isolating them hardly sounds like a convincing societal tactic. Ups, I kind of deviated towards women again. I guess I couldn't help it, you know me.
Off to flat hunt, my beauties, talk to you soon - till then, feel free to share more facts and opinions. Love all your links I'm getting with feminist news - keep it up, please :)
So much talk on women on my blog, I thought it was now time to switch the focus on men for a day - and so, here are some male-centered facts I found out in the past week.
Firstly, I was on a plane the other day, Sofia-London, and a lovely couple tried to sneak in the bathroom - together. The flight attendant saw them and kicked the man out. At the time I was eating, drinking, reading magazine and listening to music, yet that suspicious tricky attempt to get some naughty action in tact (?) did not escape my otherwise divided attention. And I found out for you all that in a recent survey by Cosmo magazine, 33% of men want to have sex on board of a flying plane. Thought you may wanna know the stats on that (I'm not aware of the numbers for women, curious to know though).
Then, do you know why men don't say 'best mate', but more often just 'mate'? Well, they are competitive creatures it appears, and putting a comparative scale of mate-ness means one wins and another loses. Men don't like losing so to avoid frictions and tension, they avoid 'best' adjectives to describe their boys. That's what some of them say apparently.
And last bit for the day, as recently as 1977 there were whole compartments on British trains that did not accept men on board. Ladies-only compartments were in use up until the 1980s and guess what, politicians now in 2015 are discussing their re-introduction. If prevention of (sexual) crime is the aim here, I may sort of understand the logic behind it. But on the other hand, what's with the no-mixing rule, almost reminds me of some highly-traditional and strict religious communities, of which Britain is not exactly one; plus, 'saving' women by isolating them hardly sounds like a convincing societal tactic. Ups, I kind of deviated towards women again. I guess I couldn't help it, you know me.
Off to flat hunt, my beauties, talk to you soon - till then, feel free to share more facts and opinions. Love all your links I'm getting with feminist news - keep it up, please :)
Balkanika - Still
23 August 2015
Since we are on a "Balkans" thematic (see below), I thought I'd share about a new law that was introduced in Croatia earlier this summer. It's the first ever compensation law for Croatian survivors of sexual violence in conflict. Since 29th May rape is now recognized by the Croatian Parliament as a war crime, and rape survivors will now start receiving compensations in the form of monthly stipends and counselling therapy and legal and medical aid paid for by the government. The new rules enter into force from January 2016 and women's rights activists say that “Before this law, the problem [of war rape] was not visible and if women spoke out about it, there was a stigma; but now – if they can get something to improve their lives and the lives of their families – they will have some motive to ask for their rights.” Many women survivors of war rape are indeed stigmatised or ashamed to tell anyone about their experience, and now, 25 years after the Yugoslav wars of the early 90s, these women finally get a chance to be heard and properly compensated for their struggles. Well done to Croatia!
Since we are on a "Balkans" thematic (see below), I thought I'd share about a new law that was introduced in Croatia earlier this summer. It's the first ever compensation law for Croatian survivors of sexual violence in conflict. Since 29th May rape is now recognized by the Croatian Parliament as a war crime, and rape survivors will now start receiving compensations in the form of monthly stipends and counselling therapy and legal and medical aid paid for by the government. The new rules enter into force from January 2016 and women's rights activists say that “Before this law, the problem [of war rape] was not visible and if women spoke out about it, there was a stigma; but now – if they can get something to improve their lives and the lives of their families – they will have some motive to ask for their rights.” Many women survivors of war rape are indeed stigmatised or ashamed to tell anyone about their experience, and now, 25 years after the Yugoslav wars of the early 90s, these women finally get a chance to be heard and properly compensated for their struggles. Well done to Croatia!
Albania
Hey wonderful people,
Some of you already know I've been spending these days in Tirana, Albania, on a training on transformational leadership, funded by the US State Department and organised by American Councils for International Education. While the conference itself has been fantastic and has included useful sessions on communication skills, project planning and budgeting, and social media campaigning, amongst others, for the purposes of my blog I wanted to share two very important bits with you all.
First, I have been living with an absolutely amazing and inspirational young woman from Kosovo, Adea Gafuri, who recently gave a 15-min talk in Tunisia on her Message of Peace. Adea spoke at an event simulating the popular TED talks, and shared her personal story of a family tragedy that transformed her vision of life, international relations, wars and peace. I cried for about half an hour after this, but enough words from me - make sure to see the video and spread a word of peace. Stay inspired just as this wonderful lady is inspiring others herself. We need more active and involved girls in world diplomacy, more girls like Adea!
And secondly, we met up with another great professional working in the field of domestic violence in Albania - Iris Luarasi. She gave a speech to us as a representative of the first - and only - national counseling line for domestic violence victims. The line was created in 1996 and until recently operated on a toll-free 0800 number, while now the government has finally stepped in and the number is changing to 3-digits and will be co-financed by the government. The line provides initial response and advice to victims on the phone, and the invites them to the office where they can discuss further plans and/ or be immediately placed in protective care homes in Tirana or one of three other Albanian cities. The prevalence of domestic violence in Albania is 1 in 3 women, and 99% of all perpetrators are male. Every day up to 10 women call the line for help and 10 paid staff members are there to answer their calls and guide them through the journey of recovery and re-adaptation in the Albanian society. There are said to be quite a few cases of violence of mothers-in-law towards their daughters-in-law, and vice versa, as well. However, the one most important bit for me was the fact that until very recently women in Albania thought violence was a regular and normal part of everyday life - an attitude which is only starting to change now, especially in the furthest rural areas. Indeed, societal change is what we are all fighting for as the stepping stone for increased reporting of the crime, then better response by the Police and the court system, and more and increased penalties for the perpetrators. Rehabilitation for the latter is also needed so once and for all the cycle would be closed and hopefully the overall rates of violence will drop. Well done to all those already doing something to fight this injustice!
That's it from me for today, beauties, see you all soon!
Some of you already know I've been spending these days in Tirana, Albania, on a training on transformational leadership, funded by the US State Department and organised by American Councils for International Education. While the conference itself has been fantastic and has included useful sessions on communication skills, project planning and budgeting, and social media campaigning, amongst others, for the purposes of my blog I wanted to share two very important bits with you all.
First, I have been living with an absolutely amazing and inspirational young woman from Kosovo, Adea Gafuri, who recently gave a 15-min talk in Tunisia on her Message of Peace. Adea spoke at an event simulating the popular TED talks, and shared her personal story of a family tragedy that transformed her vision of life, international relations, wars and peace. I cried for about half an hour after this, but enough words from me - make sure to see the video and spread a word of peace. Stay inspired just as this wonderful lady is inspiring others herself. We need more active and involved girls in world diplomacy, more girls like Adea!
And secondly, we met up with another great professional working in the field of domestic violence in Albania - Iris Luarasi. She gave a speech to us as a representative of the first - and only - national counseling line for domestic violence victims. The line was created in 1996 and until recently operated on a toll-free 0800 number, while now the government has finally stepped in and the number is changing to 3-digits and will be co-financed by the government. The line provides initial response and advice to victims on the phone, and the invites them to the office where they can discuss further plans and/ or be immediately placed in protective care homes in Tirana or one of three other Albanian cities. The prevalence of domestic violence in Albania is 1 in 3 women, and 99% of all perpetrators are male. Every day up to 10 women call the line for help and 10 paid staff members are there to answer their calls and guide them through the journey of recovery and re-adaptation in the Albanian society. There are said to be quite a few cases of violence of mothers-in-law towards their daughters-in-law, and vice versa, as well. However, the one most important bit for me was the fact that until very recently women in Albania thought violence was a regular and normal part of everyday life - an attitude which is only starting to change now, especially in the furthest rural areas. Indeed, societal change is what we are all fighting for as the stepping stone for increased reporting of the crime, then better response by the Police and the court system, and more and increased penalties for the perpetrators. Rehabilitation for the latter is also needed so once and for all the cycle would be closed and hopefully the overall rates of violence will drop. Well done to all those already doing something to fight this injustice!
That's it from me for today, beauties, see you all soon!
#TakeBackTheNight
Hi world,
Despite my shoulder troubles and typing difficulties, I just wanted to share this with you: A Kosovan colleague of mine shared with me today about the TakeBackTheNight campaign which has been running in Kosovo over the last few months. Take Back the Night is an international foundation which aims to fight against sexual harassment in public spaces.1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men around the world will be assaulted in their lifetime and to promote awareness and activism, TBTN organises various events and campaigns across the globe. The Kosovan edition was a December 2014 event in Prishtina which gathered citizens to protest against sexual violence, and since then the hashtag #TakeBackTheNight has been present in all Kosovan social media conversations. For 10 days women are requested to tweet/ facebook a different message which promotes non-violent behaviour and gender equality. For example, Intelligence is Sexy #TakeBackTheNight, or Don't teach your daughter not to leave at night, teach your son not to harass her on the street. It appears the campaign has been hugely popular and social change has been initiated indeed - in Kosovo, and from what I read online - worldwide too. Great example of people having an opinion on a popular issue and using social media to affect their communities' attitudes and way of thinking. Well done, Prishtina. Maybe Bulgaria could use some of this too. PS: Speaking of involvement, I'd love to hear from you - my readers, if you would like to see blog posts from me in other languages? I'm considering writing in Bugarian and Spanish (to spice up my English writings and reach out to more women, girls - and men!) so I would VERY much appreciate it if you could click on the poll to your right and let me know if you think that's necessary/ interesting/ etc. Many thanks in advance and have a wonderful weekend, you all xx |
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Period Stuff
Hey beauties, 13 August 2015
Big apologies for the delay in this post (a whole week!) but I was on a holiday at the beach (nice!) and then I dislocated my shoulder (not so nice!). I.e. haven't been able to type really.
Important women-related update though is the recent announcement by the European Commission that it will consider giving each Member State the right to set their own reduced VAT rates. If this becomes true (will be discussed in September), the UK will no longer have an excuse not to reduce the VAT for female sanitary products - a campaign long discussed in the UK public space and my blog here. See more on posts below and let's all congratulate ourselves with this massively positive signal from Brussels that good times may be awaiting us all as women.
And since we are discussing menstruation, check out this brand new social enterprise set up in the UK on sanitary pads and tampons tailored to your own personal needs. You order them and get them delivered to you in intervals throughout the year, and 20% of all profits will always go to women's health and advocacy initiatives in the UK and around the world. Read more about Monthlies here.
And last for today, let us all remember about Kiran Gandhi, who recently ran the London Marathon without a tampon. Gandhi let herself get covered in her own blood so she could raise awareness about women who have no access to feminine products and to encourage us all NOT to be embarrassed about our periods. Cheers to that!
I'm off for treatment now but see you all soon xx
Big apologies for the delay in this post (a whole week!) but I was on a holiday at the beach (nice!) and then I dislocated my shoulder (not so nice!). I.e. haven't been able to type really.
Important women-related update though is the recent announcement by the European Commission that it will consider giving each Member State the right to set their own reduced VAT rates. If this becomes true (will be discussed in September), the UK will no longer have an excuse not to reduce the VAT for female sanitary products - a campaign long discussed in the UK public space and my blog here. See more on posts below and let's all congratulate ourselves with this massively positive signal from Brussels that good times may be awaiting us all as women.
And since we are discussing menstruation, check out this brand new social enterprise set up in the UK on sanitary pads and tampons tailored to your own personal needs. You order them and get them delivered to you in intervals throughout the year, and 20% of all profits will always go to women's health and advocacy initiatives in the UK and around the world. Read more about Monthlies here.
And last for today, let us all remember about Kiran Gandhi, who recently ran the London Marathon without a tampon. Gandhi let herself get covered in her own blood so she could raise awareness about women who have no access to feminine products and to encourage us all NOT to be embarrassed about our periods. Cheers to that!
I'm off for treatment now but see you all soon xx
Qatar and Somalia On for a Change
Hey world, 7 August 2015
More good news from the week - an article of mine was just published by the Future Foreign Policy think tank on human trafficking in Qatar in light of the 2019 World Athletics and 2022 Football championships. Hope you enjoy the read and feedback is welcome as always.
And moving from the Middle East and Qatar to eastern Africa - good news for women in Somalia. In a country where 98% of women aged 15-49 have experienced female genital mutilation (UNICEF data), the Minister for Women Affairs and Human rights just announced this week that they are planning on introducing a new law banning FGM nationwide. "Time has come for us to eradicate this bad practice and protect the rights of girls and women in our country", the female Minister said in Mogadishu on 3 August. AllAfrica reminds us that FGM is a practice that involves "the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for no medical benefit" and was officially banned by the United Nations in 2012. The procedure is still widely practiced though and around the world, more than 140 million women are thought to be affected by this barbarian tradition. Most of these women live in Africa and the recent announcement in Somalia is more than welcome, bringing hope that actual legal and societal change is to follow soon. We remain awaiting.
More good news from the week - an article of mine was just published by the Future Foreign Policy think tank on human trafficking in Qatar in light of the 2019 World Athletics and 2022 Football championships. Hope you enjoy the read and feedback is welcome as always.
And moving from the Middle East and Qatar to eastern Africa - good news for women in Somalia. In a country where 98% of women aged 15-49 have experienced female genital mutilation (UNICEF data), the Minister for Women Affairs and Human rights just announced this week that they are planning on introducing a new law banning FGM nationwide. "Time has come for us to eradicate this bad practice and protect the rights of girls and women in our country", the female Minister said in Mogadishu on 3 August. AllAfrica reminds us that FGM is a practice that involves "the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for no medical benefit" and was officially banned by the United Nations in 2012. The procedure is still widely practiced though and around the world, more than 140 million women are thought to be affected by this barbarian tradition. Most of these women live in Africa and the recent announcement in Somalia is more than welcome, bringing hope that actual legal and societal change is to follow soon. We remain awaiting.
Man Utd
Hey beauties, 6 August 2015
Brief one today. Because yesterday I was talking about female purchasing power and decision making influence and mentioned the clothes and shoes business, my flatmate's recent contribution to my blog nicely fits the topic. Namely, she sent me the latest updates on Manchester United (my fav football club ever) who have just released their new kit for 2015/16 in partnership with Adidas. And guess what, they've been branded 'sexist' and 'discriminatory' as the women's shirt shows off a plunging neckline and very different design than the men's. See for yourselves under this post and decide whether the neckline is going down a biiiiiit too much or not. I personally think the design is cool, wouldn't claim it's 'sexist' per se, and in case some women don't want to show off as much flesh, they can always buy the men's one. It's even sexy in a way, and some women love to own their sexuality even in sportswear. Overall though, in order to avoid controversies perhaps in the future no such major differences should be noticed between the designs for the two genders.
Have a wonderful day and I'll see you all laterz x
Brief one today. Because yesterday I was talking about female purchasing power and decision making influence and mentioned the clothes and shoes business, my flatmate's recent contribution to my blog nicely fits the topic. Namely, she sent me the latest updates on Manchester United (my fav football club ever) who have just released their new kit for 2015/16 in partnership with Adidas. And guess what, they've been branded 'sexist' and 'discriminatory' as the women's shirt shows off a plunging neckline and very different design than the men's. See for yourselves under this post and decide whether the neckline is going down a biiiiiit too much or not. I personally think the design is cool, wouldn't claim it's 'sexist' per se, and in case some women don't want to show off as much flesh, they can always buy the men's one. It's even sexy in a way, and some women love to own their sexuality even in sportswear. Overall though, in order to avoid controversies perhaps in the future no such major differences should be noticed between the designs for the two genders.
Have a wonderful day and I'll see you all laterz x
Purchasing Power
Hello, beautiful people! 5 August 2015
The good news of the day is that I've successfully completed the first stage of my fellowship for Women Deliver (US) and also, that I've now officially started another course on women's rights - this time with Stanford University. I'm really trying to make the best use of my summer (in addition to getting out of my personal troubles lately) and what better way to do that than to learn about women across the world and their everyday struggles. Motivation and inspiration is what I'm feeling today - and more info on my Stanford Uni progress is to follow.
As for today, I wanted to share some findings I read on an in-flight magazine Bulgaria On Air. They are on female purchasing power and some surprising or not-so-surprising det's follow.
So a Bloomberg Businessweek study recently found out that women make the purchasing decisions in 94% of home furniture, 92% of holiday packages, 91% of homes and - WAIT FOR IT - 60% of car purchases! The latter really surprised me, but that only goes to show the real power women have on the market and how they can dictate trends across the globe. This also means that companies that target women specifically are more likely to make higher profits these days. Beauty products are generally seen as feminine, but imagine what a new marketing strategy for skin care can do if the annual turnover for this product is over 20 billion US dollars. Fitness can offer even more space for marketing geniuses - 23 billion dollars are generated annually in this industry and if it's made more accessible for women the profits can go even higher. Still though, clothes and shoes are the one key industry driven so much by women - 47 billion dollars a year in turnover. Not only are the likes and desires of women important to sell your products, but also the right size and fit are crucial here. And Swedish giant H&M has gone even further in its efforts to understand women and their purchasing needs by allocating 80% of its employees positions to women, 77% of shop managers are also female and nearly half of all country managers are ladies. This is what I call an entrepreneurial spirit with a feminine touch.
Interesting stuff this is (credit goes to Valeri Tsenkov from Bulgaria On Air). More up-to-date feminist news for you all tomorrow :)
The good news of the day is that I've successfully completed the first stage of my fellowship for Women Deliver (US) and also, that I've now officially started another course on women's rights - this time with Stanford University. I'm really trying to make the best use of my summer (in addition to getting out of my personal troubles lately) and what better way to do that than to learn about women across the world and their everyday struggles. Motivation and inspiration is what I'm feeling today - and more info on my Stanford Uni progress is to follow.
As for today, I wanted to share some findings I read on an in-flight magazine Bulgaria On Air. They are on female purchasing power and some surprising or not-so-surprising det's follow.
So a Bloomberg Businessweek study recently found out that women make the purchasing decisions in 94% of home furniture, 92% of holiday packages, 91% of homes and - WAIT FOR IT - 60% of car purchases! The latter really surprised me, but that only goes to show the real power women have on the market and how they can dictate trends across the globe. This also means that companies that target women specifically are more likely to make higher profits these days. Beauty products are generally seen as feminine, but imagine what a new marketing strategy for skin care can do if the annual turnover for this product is over 20 billion US dollars. Fitness can offer even more space for marketing geniuses - 23 billion dollars are generated annually in this industry and if it's made more accessible for women the profits can go even higher. Still though, clothes and shoes are the one key industry driven so much by women - 47 billion dollars a year in turnover. Not only are the likes and desires of women important to sell your products, but also the right size and fit are crucial here. And Swedish giant H&M has gone even further in its efforts to understand women and their purchasing needs by allocating 80% of its employees positions to women, 77% of shop managers are also female and nearly half of all country managers are ladies. This is what I call an entrepreneurial spirit with a feminine touch.
Interesting stuff this is (credit goes to Valeri Tsenkov from Bulgaria On Air). More up-to-date feminist news for you all tomorrow :)
Cosmo
Hello beauties, 4 August 2015
As promised, I'm back from a new location for a new week of new (and hopefully ever-more interesting) posts.
Because last night I was out for cocktails, I thought I'd focus today on Cosmopolitan - not the cocktail though, but the magazine. Apparently, retailers in the US have agreed to hide Cosmopolitan covers from their stands as the magazine promotes porn and nudity. Retailers RiteAid and Delhaize America will even stop selling Cosmo to minors because it promotes sexual violence, they claim. Mamma mia! Was I shocked when I read this - I'm sure you know by now I'm one of Cosmo's biggest fans with yearly subscription year after year. And I haven't missed an edition in the past 5-6 years for sure. With this in mind, I've definitely read enough of it by now to be able to judge for myself if porn and violence is what this magazine actually promotes. The answer is No. It promotes an image of women taking control of their lives in all domains, including at work and in the bedroom for that matter. Women owning their sexuality is a common theme in many editions of Cosmo but that doesn't make it pornographic. To be honest, it gives quite good tips every now and then ;) And either way, some men's magazines shock with very-naked-looking-covers and SEX words and sexual references too. And for real, do I need to even hide my Cosmo off my purse now cuz some woman/ man on the tube might see it and get all shocked? Pfff can't believe this.
And btw, since we are on a Cosmo wave (and I declare my full support for the mag), here's an interesting piece Cosmo US recently published about women with big breasts. Empowering is how I see it.
As promised, I'm back from a new location for a new week of new (and hopefully ever-more interesting) posts.
Because last night I was out for cocktails, I thought I'd focus today on Cosmopolitan - not the cocktail though, but the magazine. Apparently, retailers in the US have agreed to hide Cosmopolitan covers from their stands as the magazine promotes porn and nudity. Retailers RiteAid and Delhaize America will even stop selling Cosmo to minors because it promotes sexual violence, they claim. Mamma mia! Was I shocked when I read this - I'm sure you know by now I'm one of Cosmo's biggest fans with yearly subscription year after year. And I haven't missed an edition in the past 5-6 years for sure. With this in mind, I've definitely read enough of it by now to be able to judge for myself if porn and violence is what this magazine actually promotes. The answer is No. It promotes an image of women taking control of their lives in all domains, including at work and in the bedroom for that matter. Women owning their sexuality is a common theme in many editions of Cosmo but that doesn't make it pornographic. To be honest, it gives quite good tips every now and then ;) And either way, some men's magazines shock with very-naked-looking-covers and SEX words and sexual references too. And for real, do I need to even hide my Cosmo off my purse now cuz some woman/ man on the tube might see it and get all shocked? Pfff can't believe this.
And btw, since we are on a Cosmo wave (and I declare my full support for the mag), here's an interesting piece Cosmo US recently published about women with big breasts. Empowering is how I see it.
The Darkness of Summer
Hi there, 30 July 2015
My summer school work is nearly over now (tomorrow) and I’m about to go for some travel – and now comes the time to look back at what’s soon-to-be-end-of-summer season and what’s happened/ hasn’t happened yet.
I did happen to graduate top of the class with my MA, I did happen to complete a month of wonderful work with Year 12 students at my old uni in London, and I do happen to have a pretty nice job waiting for me in September. I’m working on a two-year fellowship on women’s rights (thank you, Women Deliver). And, I got a place at an exciting US-led Leadership training (coming up in August in Albania). Eventful summer, you may think.
But now comes the other side of the coin – I nearly lost my life in May this year, and I’ve been suffering from physical injuries and serious emotional trauma ever since. Oh, and I saw a dead body for the first time in my life just today outside of More Place London. And that moment when the Police pulled the sheet on top of the corps. Dios! I also don’t have a boyfriend or anyone around to support me through these difficult emotional times lately - and I don’t live with my family either. Which is another story of disappointing parenting on my father’s side who never even called to see if I was alive after my accident. I’ve been crying every single day for the past two months as if the world will end any minute – which I’ve felt like it would. I feel that every day.
Reason why I’m saying all this is because I recently had my first therapy session talking about my now-infamous car accident and all the impact it’s had on my life in the past couple of months. And I was told I have to talk about my feelings and sadness. Just to let out the negative and sad emotions so that there will be space for new and positive ones instead. Sounds easy – but it isn’t. And there comes the moment when for the first time in my life I’ve admitted to myself I’m currently not that much of a strong woman like I would like myself to be. Or the type of badass female I’m blogging about every week. Right now I’m a crying, depressed and irritable woman, one with no desire for life whatsoever. But the point is, you don’t always have to be strong – you can allow yourself some weakness. You can cry or you can laugh at yourself if you want to. You can spend all night watching Mistresses crying over Joss’s hopeless love for Harry. And then you can cry some more if there’s no man to make your bed warm and cosy either, and to give you a hug when you most need (aka now). But I guess this will pass. I hope it will pass. Because it’s hope that dies last, right! Stay strong, ladies, but allow yourself some freedom to be weak too – whenever and however you need it.
Much love from LDN, see you next week in Bulgaria!
PS: A massive THANK YOU to my girl D - if it wasn't for you, I may not have been here today to write this. 17,352 hugs xx
My summer school work is nearly over now (tomorrow) and I’m about to go for some travel – and now comes the time to look back at what’s soon-to-be-end-of-summer season and what’s happened/ hasn’t happened yet.
I did happen to graduate top of the class with my MA, I did happen to complete a month of wonderful work with Year 12 students at my old uni in London, and I do happen to have a pretty nice job waiting for me in September. I’m working on a two-year fellowship on women’s rights (thank you, Women Deliver). And, I got a place at an exciting US-led Leadership training (coming up in August in Albania). Eventful summer, you may think.
But now comes the other side of the coin – I nearly lost my life in May this year, and I’ve been suffering from physical injuries and serious emotional trauma ever since. Oh, and I saw a dead body for the first time in my life just today outside of More Place London. And that moment when the Police pulled the sheet on top of the corps. Dios! I also don’t have a boyfriend or anyone around to support me through these difficult emotional times lately - and I don’t live with my family either. Which is another story of disappointing parenting on my father’s side who never even called to see if I was alive after my accident. I’ve been crying every single day for the past two months as if the world will end any minute – which I’ve felt like it would. I feel that every day.
Reason why I’m saying all this is because I recently had my first therapy session talking about my now-infamous car accident and all the impact it’s had on my life in the past couple of months. And I was told I have to talk about my feelings and sadness. Just to let out the negative and sad emotions so that there will be space for new and positive ones instead. Sounds easy – but it isn’t. And there comes the moment when for the first time in my life I’ve admitted to myself I’m currently not that much of a strong woman like I would like myself to be. Or the type of badass female I’m blogging about every week. Right now I’m a crying, depressed and irritable woman, one with no desire for life whatsoever. But the point is, you don’t always have to be strong – you can allow yourself some weakness. You can cry or you can laugh at yourself if you want to. You can spend all night watching Mistresses crying over Joss’s hopeless love for Harry. And then you can cry some more if there’s no man to make your bed warm and cosy either, and to give you a hug when you most need (aka now). But I guess this will pass. I hope it will pass. Because it’s hope that dies last, right! Stay strong, ladies, but allow yourself some freedom to be weak too – whenever and however you need it.
Much love from LDN, see you next week in Bulgaria!
PS: A massive THANK YOU to my girl D - if it wasn't for you, I may not have been here today to write this. 17,352 hugs xx
Brunette, Anyone?
Since we are on an Latin American wave, I thought I’d share what I read recently about women in El Salvador and Colombia. 28 July 2015
As you may know, El Salvador is one of the most violent countries in the world, with incredibly high levels of gang murders, and with the highest femicide rates in the world (killings of women due to their gender). In 2011, 600 women lost their lives and many more have done so since. Recently, rumors have spread around the country that blondes and redheads who are not the girlfriends of gang members could be murdered. And so, women have now headed to the hair salons to go brunette. I wish that was a joke, but it is a true fact – and hair stylists confirm it. Women are also banned from dressing in red and yellow in the South American country and there was a case previously where a woman was attacked on a public bus because of her clothing being too bright yellow. Horrific and disappointing is the reality these women have to face and I can only sympathize with them from a few thousand miles away.
A bit brighter is the picture in Colombia these days, which is where the Embera Chami, an indigenous group, has been challenged for its sacred practice of cutting female genitalia (more commonly known as FGM). While the practice for these women has been called a “cure” for hundreds of years, now indigenous women are standing up against it and are demanding safer childbirth and female lives in general. In 2007, a newborn Embera girl died after an FGM procedure and since then a change in attitudes has occurred. “Latina” reports that now women primary assistants during childbirth “are coming together to hold workshops and discussions about the dangers of FGM, how and why women should protect themselves and to demystify what has long been held as a venerated cultural practice”. Indeed, around the world, more than 130 million women are affected by FGM and their lives and wellbeing are at constant risk. It’s a great change to see in Colombia recently and hope is for safer practices to be employed in the future to come – in Colombia and beyond. And attitudes are changing – well done for that!
Thanks everyone, and see you in a couple of days – off to Summer Schools work now, talk soon x
As you may know, El Salvador is one of the most violent countries in the world, with incredibly high levels of gang murders, and with the highest femicide rates in the world (killings of women due to their gender). In 2011, 600 women lost their lives and many more have done so since. Recently, rumors have spread around the country that blondes and redheads who are not the girlfriends of gang members could be murdered. And so, women have now headed to the hair salons to go brunette. I wish that was a joke, but it is a true fact – and hair stylists confirm it. Women are also banned from dressing in red and yellow in the South American country and there was a case previously where a woman was attacked on a public bus because of her clothing being too bright yellow. Horrific and disappointing is the reality these women have to face and I can only sympathize with them from a few thousand miles away.
A bit brighter is the picture in Colombia these days, which is where the Embera Chami, an indigenous group, has been challenged for its sacred practice of cutting female genitalia (more commonly known as FGM). While the practice for these women has been called a “cure” for hundreds of years, now indigenous women are standing up against it and are demanding safer childbirth and female lives in general. In 2007, a newborn Embera girl died after an FGM procedure and since then a change in attitudes has occurred. “Latina” reports that now women primary assistants during childbirth “are coming together to hold workshops and discussions about the dangers of FGM, how and why women should protect themselves and to demystify what has long been held as a venerated cultural practice”. Indeed, around the world, more than 130 million women are affected by FGM and their lives and wellbeing are at constant risk. It’s a great change to see in Colombia recently and hope is for safer practices to be employed in the future to come – in Colombia and beyond. And attitudes are changing – well done for that!
Thanks everyone, and see you in a couple of days – off to Summer Schools work now, talk soon x
Gender Alert
Hey beauties, 25 July 2015
My English teacher back home has sent me this infographic with some shocking facts on violence against women. Believe it or not, in 2012 a woman died almost every hour in India in disputes over a dowry. More than 8 000 women die in a year in the Asian state over disagreements of the marriage gift which is given to the groom’s family by the bride’s.
Meanwhile, in 2007, every single hour 48 women were raped in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
And one in nine women in the developing world are married before they reach 15-years of age.
As shocking as these stats are, they are the reality. And one particular story caught my attention in a region which I don’t cover in this blog as extensively as I should (trying to change this though, Latin America – I’ll get there). So in Mexico this Monday dozens of Congresswomen and activists demonstrated in the capital against violence against women. In country where six women are killed every day and 67% of women have suffered domestic violence at least once in their lifetime, a group of enthusiastic activists lay still on the ground, appearing dead, in front of Mexico's Interior Ministry. They imitated a crime scene with dead bodies and chanted "gender alert in the State of Mexico". A new movement, precisely called “gender alert” was created recently in Ciudad Juarez to combat gender-based violence, and with the rally and death simulations in Mexico City this week, hope is that similar movements will start in the capital and other states as well. After all, Mexico is declared by the United Nations as one of the world’s 20 worst countries for violence against women. And it only takes eye-opening initiatives such as this one to really call attention on the problem and put pressure on the government for more funding for victims’ protection and rehabilitation, and for crime prevention in general. Fingers crossed for the new movements.
My English teacher back home has sent me this infographic with some shocking facts on violence against women. Believe it or not, in 2012 a woman died almost every hour in India in disputes over a dowry. More than 8 000 women die in a year in the Asian state over disagreements of the marriage gift which is given to the groom’s family by the bride’s.
Meanwhile, in 2007, every single hour 48 women were raped in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
And one in nine women in the developing world are married before they reach 15-years of age.
As shocking as these stats are, they are the reality. And one particular story caught my attention in a region which I don’t cover in this blog as extensively as I should (trying to change this though, Latin America – I’ll get there). So in Mexico this Monday dozens of Congresswomen and activists demonstrated in the capital against violence against women. In country where six women are killed every day and 67% of women have suffered domestic violence at least once in their lifetime, a group of enthusiastic activists lay still on the ground, appearing dead, in front of Mexico's Interior Ministry. They imitated a crime scene with dead bodies and chanted "gender alert in the State of Mexico". A new movement, precisely called “gender alert” was created recently in Ciudad Juarez to combat gender-based violence, and with the rally and death simulations in Mexico City this week, hope is that similar movements will start in the capital and other states as well. After all, Mexico is declared by the United Nations as one of the world’s 20 worst countries for violence against women. And it only takes eye-opening initiatives such as this one to really call attention on the problem and put pressure on the government for more funding for victims’ protection and rehabilitation, and for crime prevention in general. Fingers crossed for the new movements.
It's Not For Girls - ?!?
Right. So over the past few weeks I have been working at summer schools organised by my London uni and welcoming year 12 students from across London. And as part of the program, of course we have lunch together with the students. And the other day, I'm eating the little tasty bits I find in my lunch box and what do I see - a bar of Yorkie (for the non-English people, that's a chocolate desert - Nestle style). Now if you grew up in England, you'd know the now-infamous PR campaign of the Yorkies who have advertised the chocolate bar as a "MAN fuel", and one that is "NOT for girls". Indeed, I was disgusted to find out food companies really do such impermissable gender-bias campaigns even today in 2015. The roots of these came years ago when Nestle featured truck drivers to signify the difference of Yorkie to the more female oriented target market for Dairy Milk chocolate bars. Now, since last year, the slogan is "Man Fuel for Man Stuff", which replaced the ever-more controversial 'it's not for girls' from before. Still though, it's disappointing there needs to be the gender aspect of this at all. Can't we be equal at least when we eat chocolate???
PS: photo credit goes to my colleague Renzo who pictured me while I was protesting against the Yorkie's with hand-made male beard. His idea that was :)
PS: photo credit goes to my colleague Renzo who pictured me while I was protesting against the Yorkie's with hand-made male beard. His idea that was :)
Generations
Hey world, 20 July 2015
I know, I’ve been a horrible mommy to my baby blog over the past one week. I’ve completely neglected him (him, because I actually want my first kid to be a boy – no joking here) and I have a lot of making up to do. In my defence, I had a ton of personal issues to deal with and those unfortunately took my whole attention, but here I am with some great news actually:
The UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, announced earlier last week new efforts aiming to end the gender pay gap in a generation! His idea is to require every UK company with 250 staff or more to publish the salaries of their employees – meaning, putting shame on those employers who pay men more than they pay women. This, he claims, will even salaries out and women will finally get the recognition and pay they deserve – for a job well done! Well overdue suggestion and about time pay equality really happens, but welcome announcement nevertheless!
In London the situation is considered better than the average, with women making about 90 p on every 1 pound made by a man. Inequality still persists though. Please just note what The Guardian quotes: “A recent report by recruiters Michael Page found that, among a highly paid group of financial managers, male earnings were almost £45,000 a year more than women. Similarly, the annual salary of female health professionals is less than half the salary of their male colleagues.’
How about that for shameful employers!
I’m so glad I’m moving to work at a firm which takes gender quality pretty seriously and they continuously promote female employees, including onto top senior positions. And I do hope I will never have to find out my male colleagues make more than me. Because boyyys – I’m serious on this – everyone should get what they deserve, based on merit, not on what peepee you got in your pants when you were born. Let’s all raise a glass to that and end the gender pay gap in LESS than a generation!
I know, I’ve been a horrible mommy to my baby blog over the past one week. I’ve completely neglected him (him, because I actually want my first kid to be a boy – no joking here) and I have a lot of making up to do. In my defence, I had a ton of personal issues to deal with and those unfortunately took my whole attention, but here I am with some great news actually:
The UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, announced earlier last week new efforts aiming to end the gender pay gap in a generation! His idea is to require every UK company with 250 staff or more to publish the salaries of their employees – meaning, putting shame on those employers who pay men more than they pay women. This, he claims, will even salaries out and women will finally get the recognition and pay they deserve – for a job well done! Well overdue suggestion and about time pay equality really happens, but welcome announcement nevertheless!
In London the situation is considered better than the average, with women making about 90 p on every 1 pound made by a man. Inequality still persists though. Please just note what The Guardian quotes: “A recent report by recruiters Michael Page found that, among a highly paid group of financial managers, male earnings were almost £45,000 a year more than women. Similarly, the annual salary of female health professionals is less than half the salary of their male colleagues.’
How about that for shameful employers!
I’m so glad I’m moving to work at a firm which takes gender quality pretty seriously and they continuously promote female employees, including onto top senior positions. And I do hope I will never have to find out my male colleagues make more than me. Because boyyys – I’m serious on this – everyone should get what they deserve, based on merit, not on what peepee you got in your pants when you were born. Let’s all raise a glass to that and end the gender pay gap in LESS than a generation!
#RememberShafilea
Hi world, 14 July 2015
Two very important bits tiday:
First, happy birthday to my grandfather! He brought me up and made of me the person I am today, thank you Pepi!
And second, today is the first ever Day of Memory in the UK for victims of honour-based violence. July 14th would have been the birthday of Shafilea Ahmed, a young British woman who was suffocated to death by her parents in 2003 when she was just 17. She was thought to have brought shame on the family, just as 10-12 other women die every year in the UK - all because their families disagree with their partner choices, or the fact that they want to go to university, or that they wear make up or own a cell phone. These 'crimes' are truly shocking and to remember Shafilea and all other forgotten women, charity Karma Nirvana and Cosmopolitan magazine have teamed up for a social campaign. Join the effort and tweet or facebook-tag with the hashtag #RememberShafilea’ to help physically create a a 3D permanent memorial statue of Shafilea.And remember that there is absolutely NO honour in any act of violence.
#RememberShafilea
Two very important bits tiday:
First, happy birthday to my grandfather! He brought me up and made of me the person I am today, thank you Pepi!
And second, today is the first ever Day of Memory in the UK for victims of honour-based violence. July 14th would have been the birthday of Shafilea Ahmed, a young British woman who was suffocated to death by her parents in 2003 when she was just 17. She was thought to have brought shame on the family, just as 10-12 other women die every year in the UK - all because their families disagree with their partner choices, or the fact that they want to go to university, or that they wear make up or own a cell phone. These 'crimes' are truly shocking and to remember Shafilea and all other forgotten women, charity Karma Nirvana and Cosmopolitan magazine have teamed up for a social campaign. Join the effort and tweet or facebook-tag with the hashtag #RememberShafilea’ to help physically create a a 3D permanent memorial statue of Shafilea.And remember that there is absolutely NO honour in any act of violence.
#RememberShafilea
OMG
Hey beautiful people, 13 July 2015
I had a pretty random day today so tonight I decided to write an OMG-type of article. I.e. things that you wouldn’t have expected to happen, but happened somewhere around the world in the past few days. Read through and I promise ya, it’s all true!
First: a strange car crash in Cirencester, Gloucestershire happened today (that’s a county in the UK btw, I know – I hadn’t heard of this town either). A woman crashed her car in a minivan during traffic jam. What’s the OMG-factor? The fact that she was pleasuring herself with a vibrator and as a result did the crash. That’s absolutely hilarious but dangerous at the same time. And I know you may be tempted to say “female driver, what-cha expect” and on this occasion I’d agree – girl, intimate pleasures at home please! Or at least in some safe place.
Next up, in Mexico in the beginning of July a woman was arrested for refusing to do her husband’s laundry. For real! I swear that made me mad. Cosmopolitan US reports “Edgar Ivan Perez Alvarado, 26, says that he asked his wife, Dulce Requena Garcia, 21, to wash and iron his laundry, and she refused, saying she thought he just needed clean clothes to wear so he could go visit his mistress.” Then, he called the police on the counts of “disturbance” – and, wait for it: he also complained that she spent all day watching TV and not doing anything around the house. She was then jailed for 12 hours. Not hilarious this one, but beyond disappointing! Read the full story here.
And last but not least: an app was made which allows users to video their date agreeing to sex to protect them against possible rape claims later. We-consent is a new creation which means to reduce false accusations of rape, aka providing protection in hypothetical law suits. Critics say though that rape is due to sexual violence and not due to misunderstanding hence the app is inappropriate and useless. How terrible is this to begin with, since when do we have to record our faces and names and confirm on camera we want to sex up?!? Not to mention that consent is not a 10-second recorded decision, it’s a whole process throughout the act. Now thanks but we need to change the culture and understanding of sexual assault instead of coming up with pretencious apps like this. Yep, think you may agree.
So ya know, OMG is what I’m saying today. See you all soon!
I had a pretty random day today so tonight I decided to write an OMG-type of article. I.e. things that you wouldn’t have expected to happen, but happened somewhere around the world in the past few days. Read through and I promise ya, it’s all true!
First: a strange car crash in Cirencester, Gloucestershire happened today (that’s a county in the UK btw, I know – I hadn’t heard of this town either). A woman crashed her car in a minivan during traffic jam. What’s the OMG-factor? The fact that she was pleasuring herself with a vibrator and as a result did the crash. That’s absolutely hilarious but dangerous at the same time. And I know you may be tempted to say “female driver, what-cha expect” and on this occasion I’d agree – girl, intimate pleasures at home please! Or at least in some safe place.
Next up, in Mexico in the beginning of July a woman was arrested for refusing to do her husband’s laundry. For real! I swear that made me mad. Cosmopolitan US reports “Edgar Ivan Perez Alvarado, 26, says that he asked his wife, Dulce Requena Garcia, 21, to wash and iron his laundry, and she refused, saying she thought he just needed clean clothes to wear so he could go visit his mistress.” Then, he called the police on the counts of “disturbance” – and, wait for it: he also complained that she spent all day watching TV and not doing anything around the house. She was then jailed for 12 hours. Not hilarious this one, but beyond disappointing! Read the full story here.
And last but not least: an app was made which allows users to video their date agreeing to sex to protect them against possible rape claims later. We-consent is a new creation which means to reduce false accusations of rape, aka providing protection in hypothetical law suits. Critics say though that rape is due to sexual violence and not due to misunderstanding hence the app is inappropriate and useless. How terrible is this to begin with, since when do we have to record our faces and names and confirm on camera we want to sex up?!? Not to mention that consent is not a 10-second recorded decision, it’s a whole process throughout the act. Now thanks but we need to change the culture and understanding of sexual assault instead of coming up with pretencious apps like this. Yep, think you may agree.
So ya know, OMG is what I’m saying today. See you all soon!
Just Dance
Hey ladies and gents, 12 July 2015
So last night I suffered from nomophobia – namely, the fear of being without a mobile phone. After a whole day and eve out, my phone battery died at 10 pm and for the rest of the night I was left entirely without connection to the world. What if something happened to someone and they couldn’t reach me? What if the world ended and I wouldn’t even find out on Facebook? What if I fell asleep on the night bus and my alarm wouldn’t go off to wake me up before my stop? 478 scenarios and sad endings later, I realized it was probably one of the best nights it could be – I wasn’t checking my phone every two seconds for texts from – anyone – and I wasn’t taking selfies, and I wasn’t taking anyone’s number, and I wasn’t even checking what time it was. It was just a night free of interruptions and fitting very well with what Lady Gaga and Beyonce once said that we should leave out phones off the dancefloor. And Just Dance. Anyway, the word of the day was precisely “nomophobia” and the female-centric fact of the day is that 70% of people admit they have sext-ed at least once in their lives. And 40% of us youngsters have sent a naked photo to someone via text. This is according to a survey by Glamour Magazine (UK), which both made me laugh and upset slightly – with all these stories about revenge porn and tricky ex’es sending off your photos to your family and friends, I just wanted to say: Be careful whom you text, what exactly you send through, and remember that a night without a phone can be a lot more fun than a night spent entirely on sexting.
And as I am on a weekend wave right now, I must recommend you a piece in The Guardian which TOTALLY made my day – on 7 July a bar in New York decided to charge its female customers 77% of the bar tab, which is exactly the gender pay gap in the United States. Because women in America make on average 77 cents on every dollar their male counterparts earn, the bar owner of The Way Station decided to charge the ladies what he considered fair price. Absolutely loved the idea and their creativity. And I would totally go to this place now. Next time I am in the States. Meanwhile, if only could more bars join in the effort too and tackle gender pay inequality – it can most certainly be done!
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, and see you all next week!
So last night I suffered from nomophobia – namely, the fear of being without a mobile phone. After a whole day and eve out, my phone battery died at 10 pm and for the rest of the night I was left entirely without connection to the world. What if something happened to someone and they couldn’t reach me? What if the world ended and I wouldn’t even find out on Facebook? What if I fell asleep on the night bus and my alarm wouldn’t go off to wake me up before my stop? 478 scenarios and sad endings later, I realized it was probably one of the best nights it could be – I wasn’t checking my phone every two seconds for texts from – anyone – and I wasn’t taking selfies, and I wasn’t taking anyone’s number, and I wasn’t even checking what time it was. It was just a night free of interruptions and fitting very well with what Lady Gaga and Beyonce once said that we should leave out phones off the dancefloor. And Just Dance. Anyway, the word of the day was precisely “nomophobia” and the female-centric fact of the day is that 70% of people admit they have sext-ed at least once in their lives. And 40% of us youngsters have sent a naked photo to someone via text. This is according to a survey by Glamour Magazine (UK), which both made me laugh and upset slightly – with all these stories about revenge porn and tricky ex’es sending off your photos to your family and friends, I just wanted to say: Be careful whom you text, what exactly you send through, and remember that a night without a phone can be a lot more fun than a night spent entirely on sexting.
And as I am on a weekend wave right now, I must recommend you a piece in The Guardian which TOTALLY made my day – on 7 July a bar in New York decided to charge its female customers 77% of the bar tab, which is exactly the gender pay gap in the United States. Because women in America make on average 77 cents on every dollar their male counterparts earn, the bar owner of The Way Station decided to charge the ladies what he considered fair price. Absolutely loved the idea and their creativity. And I would totally go to this place now. Next time I am in the States. Meanwhile, if only could more bars join in the effort too and tackle gender pay inequality – it can most certainly be done!
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, and see you all next week!
BBHMM
Hey there, 8 July 2015
We talking feminism and music today. More specifically, we talking Rihanna’s new video to BBHMM – her second single from her latest album. The video just came out a week ago and already seen by 18 million people, it has sparked outrage and debates across the globe. The 7-minute production, co-directed by Rihanna herself, shows a simple plot: her accountant steals money off her, she kidnaps his wife and tortures her, and since that doesn’t get her money back – she kills the accountant at the end herself. What has sparked the debates however is not the revenge plot – more, the violent treatment of his white wife by Rihanna and her crew. While many say this video glorifies violence against women and should be banned altogether due to its unacceptable nudity, language and misogynistic violence, others see it as empowering. They say, for once a black woman winning over and for once Rihanna, a victim of domestic violence herself, tackling the issue full-on. Questions about race also arise – in a time of rather unstable racial relations in the US and beyond. Racial discussions aren’t my thing though, and so - my verdict on the woman-to-woman violence? No thank you! The video is way too much and I understand Rihanna wants to be provoking and spark conversations, which in itself is a good thing as it raises the profile of the issue, I have to admit she’s gone to extraordinary lengths to portray this. Brutality is not what a woman would like to see being done to another woman. Ever. Thanks.
We talking feminism and music today. More specifically, we talking Rihanna’s new video to BBHMM – her second single from her latest album. The video just came out a week ago and already seen by 18 million people, it has sparked outrage and debates across the globe. The 7-minute production, co-directed by Rihanna herself, shows a simple plot: her accountant steals money off her, she kidnaps his wife and tortures her, and since that doesn’t get her money back – she kills the accountant at the end herself. What has sparked the debates however is not the revenge plot – more, the violent treatment of his white wife by Rihanna and her crew. While many say this video glorifies violence against women and should be banned altogether due to its unacceptable nudity, language and misogynistic violence, others see it as empowering. They say, for once a black woman winning over and for once Rihanna, a victim of domestic violence herself, tackling the issue full-on. Questions about race also arise – in a time of rather unstable racial relations in the US and beyond. Racial discussions aren’t my thing though, and so - my verdict on the woman-to-woman violence? No thank you! The video is way too much and I understand Rihanna wants to be provoking and spark conversations, which in itself is a good thing as it raises the profile of the issue, I have to admit she’s gone to extraordinary lengths to portray this. Brutality is not what a woman would like to see being done to another woman. Ever. Thanks.
Lionesses
Hello, beautiful people! 7 July 2015
UK-centered post today. It’s 7/7 – i.e. 7th July 2015, the 10th anniversary of the London tube bombings. A date full of sadness and regrets, one that in 2005 left a beautiful city without 52 wonderful men and women, victims to terrorism. Our prayers and thoughts go to their families and hope is the country – and any other country – will never have to endure such pain again.
On a different note, more feminism-topical than ever, the English Football Association suffered a major blow over the past 48 hours since it tweeted the following:
UK-centered post today. It’s 7/7 – i.e. 7th July 2015, the 10th anniversary of the London tube bombings. A date full of sadness and regrets, one that in 2005 left a beautiful city without 52 wonderful men and women, victims to terrorism. Our prayers and thoughts go to their families and hope is the country – and any other country – will never have to endure such pain again.
On a different note, more feminism-topical than ever, the English Football Association suffered a major blow over the past 48 hours since it tweeted the following:
This message was for the English female football team which got bronze medals at the World Championships in Canada last week and which just returned home. Sadly, as soon as they came back, their status was immediately ‘reduced’ to that moms, daughters and wives. While the author of the tweet and the FA in general have not apologized for this sexist post, it has indeed been deleted – not from the minds of millions of readers though. It’s incredibly sad that in 2015, in a modern country such as England, female sports still remain seen more as hobbies than real jobs, and gender stereotypes are so prevailing too. Male footballers haven’t really been called great sons and husbands when returning back from Cups now, have they? Then again, that’s probably because they haven’t really won anything in the past 1000 years to begin with. Seriously though, disappointing this is – and ever more relevant to read why female participation in sports should be encouraged and cherished. Well done, Lionesses, you are way more than that – and you are an example and inspiration to follow! #GirlsCAN
Europe
Hey all, 4 July 2015
I graduated, yaaay! My Cum Laude Masters degree from the Paris School of International Affairs is now one of my biggest achievements and as promised, please see below some photos from the ceremony I attended with my mom and my friend Theodora at UNESCO this Thursday.
Because I was traveling around Europe last few days, I am thinking 'Europe' as topic for my post today. Firstly, an article recommendation to you all, written by a colleage-contributor to the Future Foreign Policy think tank, on the progress towards gender equality in the Czech Republic since it entered the European Union. Interesting read with a lot of stats and comparisons. Bottom line is, the EU should exercise greater control over its policies implementation in the country, or otherwise key gender inequalities, such as gender stereotypes and gender-based violence, will continue to spread and flourish. Read more here.
Also, the Netherlands is one of my favourite countries to visit on the Old Continent (so clean, with super kind people who ALL speak English and SMILE - not always the case for my time in France for example). And the Dutch are a peculiar case, mostly because of their tolerance to certain drugs, but also because of their stand on prostitution and the infamous Red Light districts of Dutch cities. Turns out though, comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is a pretty important part of the Dutch education system - an interesting article now details the approach they use, including the training of kids from early age not just to have safe sex but also to treat their partner as equal - including the discouragement of any form of physical or mental aggression and abuse. Meanwhile, teen pregnancy rates in the Netherlands are some of the lowest in world, and so are rates of HIV infection and sexually transmitted diseases. Further, majority of teens in the Netherlands say their first sexual experiences were “wanted” and “fun", and over 90% of teens use some sort of protection when they are having sex. A very interesting article which does demonstrate the benefits of CSE - make sure to learn more here.
And last, I just HAD to end this European piece with some updates on my beloved UK. Not only because people are now paranoid Britain may leave the EU (I sincerely hope not), but also because i have now moved back to London officially and my life is set to become - hopefully - ever more joyful. So, if you are an African woman, or if you are just interested in African policies on development and gender equality, make sure you attend the "Raising Our Voice" women's forum in London on 25 July. This one-afternoon event will focus on women's role in development interventions and will be a great chance to share ideas, network and inspire other like-minded people. The event is organised by Forward UK and for more information, please go here.
Thanks everyone and have a great weekend ahead, xx
I graduated, yaaay! My Cum Laude Masters degree from the Paris School of International Affairs is now one of my biggest achievements and as promised, please see below some photos from the ceremony I attended with my mom and my friend Theodora at UNESCO this Thursday.
Because I was traveling around Europe last few days, I am thinking 'Europe' as topic for my post today. Firstly, an article recommendation to you all, written by a colleage-contributor to the Future Foreign Policy think tank, on the progress towards gender equality in the Czech Republic since it entered the European Union. Interesting read with a lot of stats and comparisons. Bottom line is, the EU should exercise greater control over its policies implementation in the country, or otherwise key gender inequalities, such as gender stereotypes and gender-based violence, will continue to spread and flourish. Read more here.
Also, the Netherlands is one of my favourite countries to visit on the Old Continent (so clean, with super kind people who ALL speak English and SMILE - not always the case for my time in France for example). And the Dutch are a peculiar case, mostly because of their tolerance to certain drugs, but also because of their stand on prostitution and the infamous Red Light districts of Dutch cities. Turns out though, comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is a pretty important part of the Dutch education system - an interesting article now details the approach they use, including the training of kids from early age not just to have safe sex but also to treat their partner as equal - including the discouragement of any form of physical or mental aggression and abuse. Meanwhile, teen pregnancy rates in the Netherlands are some of the lowest in world, and so are rates of HIV infection and sexually transmitted diseases. Further, majority of teens in the Netherlands say their first sexual experiences were “wanted” and “fun", and over 90% of teens use some sort of protection when they are having sex. A very interesting article which does demonstrate the benefits of CSE - make sure to learn more here.
And last, I just HAD to end this European piece with some updates on my beloved UK. Not only because people are now paranoid Britain may leave the EU (I sincerely hope not), but also because i have now moved back to London officially and my life is set to become - hopefully - ever more joyful. So, if you are an African woman, or if you are just interested in African policies on development and gender equality, make sure you attend the "Raising Our Voice" women's forum in London on 25 July. This one-afternoon event will focus on women's role in development interventions and will be a great chance to share ideas, network and inspire other like-minded people. The event is organised by Forward UK and for more information, please go here.
Thanks everyone and have a great weekend ahead, xx
Awards and Ceremonies
30 June 2015
For today, I'd like to firstly congratulate MEP Mariya Gabriel who has just received an award for Member of European Parliament of the year - 2015, from the European Association of Communication Agencies. She was chosen last week in the category for defenders of social causes, and her work on domestic violence is what earned her this great honour. Bulgarian MEP Mariya Gabriel has actively been promoting gender equality and defending women's rights at home, including advocating for better prevention and protection for domestic violence victims. Inspiring work and inspiring lady who has just won an honour for Bulgaria - it was my pleasure to work with her in the summer of 2012 and I'm still a huge fan - follow her on Facebook @ Mariya Gabriel.
And also, while we are discussing awards and ceremonies, I'm off today for my MA graduation in Paris and will be on and off flights for the next couple of days. Thus, sadly you'll be missing me from the virtual world of blogging, but I promise to post pictures and updates first thing this weekend. Many hugs to all and thanks again to the wonderful ladies - my family and friends - who helped me get through the last two years of my life and be graduating Cum Laude at Sciences Po. this week. Love you all - and a very special Thank you-quote below x
For today, I'd like to firstly congratulate MEP Mariya Gabriel who has just received an award for Member of European Parliament of the year - 2015, from the European Association of Communication Agencies. She was chosen last week in the category for defenders of social causes, and her work on domestic violence is what earned her this great honour. Bulgarian MEP Mariya Gabriel has actively been promoting gender equality and defending women's rights at home, including advocating for better prevention and protection for domestic violence victims. Inspiring work and inspiring lady who has just won an honour for Bulgaria - it was my pleasure to work with her in the summer of 2012 and I'm still a huge fan - follow her on Facebook @ Mariya Gabriel.
And also, while we are discussing awards and ceremonies, I'm off today for my MA graduation in Paris and will be on and off flights for the next couple of days. Thus, sadly you'll be missing me from the virtual world of blogging, but I promise to post pictures and updates first thing this weekend. Many hugs to all and thanks again to the wonderful ladies - my family and friends - who helped me get through the last two years of my life and be graduating Cum Laude at Sciences Po. this week. Love you all - and a very special Thank you-quote below x
STEM
Hey, beauties! 26 June 2015
A lot of changes happening in my life these days. I got my first tattoo done couple of weeks ago. I passed my final driving exam (finally will be able to tick that license checkbox on my CV). And I got published again on the Future Foreign Policy think-tank website with a research article on outsourcing defence and security support by Western governments. Oh, and I’m graduating CUM LAUDE (top 10% of the class) next week at UNESCO, which is most definitely going to be the highlight of my life so far.
While my life is changing, so are the lives of many women in science, technology, engineering and maths. In light of the UK national Women in Engineering Day on 23 June, I promised an updated piece with news on the ladies changing the face of the UK as women-enginneering powerhub.
So, couple of weeks ago, Tim Hunt, an English biochemist and Nobel scientist: said that female scientists cause trouble for men in laboratories. The comments caused outrage in the UK and beyond as he claimed women in laboratories ‘fall in love with you and when you criticise them, they cry’. I waited for the right time to comment on this on my blog, and this week with the celebrations on women in engineering apeears the right time. The words in themselves are offending and subjective to say the least. What matters more for me though is the overall picture: the sectors of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) employ only 13% women in the UK, and in academia, these subjects are taught by only 16% females. While some claimed Tim Hunt’s comments were a “disaster for the advancement of women”, others took them as a positive and now encourage a steady increase in female employment and education in STEM. So hHere is a commentary how to solve the stereotypes issues surrounding women in science, and here is a list of the top 10 female role models in STEM that young girls could look up to. In the list is my fav Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO, and I take this as a sign I’m looking up to the right person not only for feminism, but also for success in traditionally male-dominated industries.
In one word, go kick ([Tim Hunt’s]) ass.
A lot of changes happening in my life these days. I got my first tattoo done couple of weeks ago. I passed my final driving exam (finally will be able to tick that license checkbox on my CV). And I got published again on the Future Foreign Policy think-tank website with a research article on outsourcing defence and security support by Western governments. Oh, and I’m graduating CUM LAUDE (top 10% of the class) next week at UNESCO, which is most definitely going to be the highlight of my life so far.
While my life is changing, so are the lives of many women in science, technology, engineering and maths. In light of the UK national Women in Engineering Day on 23 June, I promised an updated piece with news on the ladies changing the face of the UK as women-enginneering powerhub.
So, couple of weeks ago, Tim Hunt, an English biochemist and Nobel scientist: said that female scientists cause trouble for men in laboratories. The comments caused outrage in the UK and beyond as he claimed women in laboratories ‘fall in love with you and when you criticise them, they cry’. I waited for the right time to comment on this on my blog, and this week with the celebrations on women in engineering apeears the right time. The words in themselves are offending and subjective to say the least. What matters more for me though is the overall picture: the sectors of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) employ only 13% women in the UK, and in academia, these subjects are taught by only 16% females. While some claimed Tim Hunt’s comments were a “disaster for the advancement of women”, others took them as a positive and now encourage a steady increase in female employment and education in STEM. So hHere is a commentary how to solve the stereotypes issues surrounding women in science, and here is a list of the top 10 female role models in STEM that young girls could look up to. In the list is my fav Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO, and I take this as a sign I’m looking up to the right person not only for feminism, but also for success in traditionally male-dominated industries.
In one word, go kick ([Tim Hunt’s]) ass.
War Crimes and School Absences
Hey people, 23 June 2015
Today's is Women in Engineering Day. I already blogged about this last year and shared some pretty interesting facts and stats (to read more scroll down, down, down this page), but of course women in the Tech industry is still pretty topical and will be sharing more on the issue in the upcoming days too. As for today, I'll deviate a bit as I got some updates for you on two of my favourite American strong female leaders:
First, Angelina Jolie-Pitt and her inspiring work to end sexual violence in war zones: earlier this month she spoke ahead of the African Union Summit in Johannesburg and highlighted the fact that sexual crimes against women are becoming the weapon of choice for armed groups all over the world. The fact is, such crimes often go unpunished and Africa is one of the continents with alarming rates of rape as a weapon of war for example. Angelina said 50 million people have been displaced by war today, more than half of whom are women and children. "This means more women and children are exposed to violence, countless more girls out of school who are vulnerable to rape and sexual slavery, generations whose talents are lost to their home communities and to humanity as a whole," she added further. Let us not forget that Angelina is also the special envoy to the UN High Commission on Refugees and has previously organised high-level worldwide events to address the issue such as the Global Summit in London last summer. I had the pleasure to attend that and must admit, her work is beyond admirable. Her partnership with UK former Foreign Secretary W.Hague is also worth stressing, as for once politics and humanitarianism needed to unite on this. In practical terms, not just in words during speeches at expensive hotels. War has no place in today's world, neither does (female) suffering.
And my other fav, Presidential hopeful Hillary R.Clinton: just check out below the SWEETEST Facebook post she put up last week. A young student is turning in his absence note at school and who is it signed by - Hillary. The real one. And btw, never seen one of those sweet things being posted by any male Presidential candidate. So cute - just wanted to say that :)
Have a great week ahead, everyone, and smile more.
Today's is Women in Engineering Day. I already blogged about this last year and shared some pretty interesting facts and stats (to read more scroll down, down, down this page), but of course women in the Tech industry is still pretty topical and will be sharing more on the issue in the upcoming days too. As for today, I'll deviate a bit as I got some updates for you on two of my favourite American strong female leaders:
First, Angelina Jolie-Pitt and her inspiring work to end sexual violence in war zones: earlier this month she spoke ahead of the African Union Summit in Johannesburg and highlighted the fact that sexual crimes against women are becoming the weapon of choice for armed groups all over the world. The fact is, such crimes often go unpunished and Africa is one of the continents with alarming rates of rape as a weapon of war for example. Angelina said 50 million people have been displaced by war today, more than half of whom are women and children. "This means more women and children are exposed to violence, countless more girls out of school who are vulnerable to rape and sexual slavery, generations whose talents are lost to their home communities and to humanity as a whole," she added further. Let us not forget that Angelina is also the special envoy to the UN High Commission on Refugees and has previously organised high-level worldwide events to address the issue such as the Global Summit in London last summer. I had the pleasure to attend that and must admit, her work is beyond admirable. Her partnership with UK former Foreign Secretary W.Hague is also worth stressing, as for once politics and humanitarianism needed to unite on this. In practical terms, not just in words during speeches at expensive hotels. War has no place in today's world, neither does (female) suffering.
And my other fav, Presidential hopeful Hillary R.Clinton: just check out below the SWEETEST Facebook post she put up last week. A young student is turning in his absence note at school and who is it signed by - Hillary. The real one. And btw, never seen one of those sweet things being posted by any male Presidential candidate. So cute - just wanted to say that :)
Have a great week ahead, everyone, and smile more.
Sugar Babies
Hi world, 20 June 2015
On a rainy Saturday morning, I wanted to share some brighter news for women and minorities in Canada. The Barbaric Cultural Practices bill is set to become a law now - the bill, which I wrote about last year and which will outlaw forced marriage, prevent polygamist practices and tackle “honour killings”. In more detail, the new law would raise the marriage age to 16, it will add forced marriage to the Criminal Code (check out the first UK conviction of forced marriage last week), it would also prevent immigration by those who engage in polygamy and make it easier to deport immigrant people who do the practice. And, it would make it impossible to claim provocation as grounds of honour killings. “Protecting women and girls who are victims of those crimes” is the main goal of the new bill; yet, there are critics who mainly concentrate on the title as being cruel and culturally insensitive. I am wondering though, why would 'barbaric' be cruel, are these not real barbaric practices indeed? In any case, the bill is now set to enter into force and hope is for better protection of the most vulnerable women immigrants and their daughters and moms.
And while some are making legal advancements against barbaric practices, one other article in the BBC magazine this week totally deserves mentioning here: a growing number of British female students start sleeping with older men in order to get enough money to pay their university tuition fees. The new trend of 'sugar daddies' and 'sugar babies' is phenomenal as some call it entrepreneurship, and others stigmatize it as selling your body for sex and equalize it with immorality. In a country where the average student spends 735 GBP per month (according to 'Future Finance') and in London the amount needed to live is way higher, it is no wonder some girls choose alternative methods to cover their expenses. As one girl says, sleeping with a man for a night may get me the same money as working 200 hours in my bar job. Read more and decide for yourselves whether morality or survival is what matters more here. For myself, as long as the girls are doing it willfully, as long as they enjoy it and it brings mutual benefits, it may not be the worst job ever. Just saying.
PS: It was Esy's birthday on 17th June - Happy birthday, girlie, love you always!
On a rainy Saturday morning, I wanted to share some brighter news for women and minorities in Canada. The Barbaric Cultural Practices bill is set to become a law now - the bill, which I wrote about last year and which will outlaw forced marriage, prevent polygamist practices and tackle “honour killings”. In more detail, the new law would raise the marriage age to 16, it will add forced marriage to the Criminal Code (check out the first UK conviction of forced marriage last week), it would also prevent immigration by those who engage in polygamy and make it easier to deport immigrant people who do the practice. And, it would make it impossible to claim provocation as grounds of honour killings. “Protecting women and girls who are victims of those crimes” is the main goal of the new bill; yet, there are critics who mainly concentrate on the title as being cruel and culturally insensitive. I am wondering though, why would 'barbaric' be cruel, are these not real barbaric practices indeed? In any case, the bill is now set to enter into force and hope is for better protection of the most vulnerable women immigrants and their daughters and moms.
And while some are making legal advancements against barbaric practices, one other article in the BBC magazine this week totally deserves mentioning here: a growing number of British female students start sleeping with older men in order to get enough money to pay their university tuition fees. The new trend of 'sugar daddies' and 'sugar babies' is phenomenal as some call it entrepreneurship, and others stigmatize it as selling your body for sex and equalize it with immorality. In a country where the average student spends 735 GBP per month (according to 'Future Finance') and in London the amount needed to live is way higher, it is no wonder some girls choose alternative methods to cover their expenses. As one girl says, sleeping with a man for a night may get me the same money as working 200 hours in my bar job. Read more and decide for yourselves whether morality or survival is what matters more here. For myself, as long as the girls are doing it willfully, as long as they enjoy it and it brings mutual benefits, it may not be the worst job ever. Just saying.
PS: It was Esy's birthday on 17th June - Happy birthday, girlie, love you always!
'Glamour'-ous Campaign
Hey, beautiful people! 18 June 2015
I was sitting at the beach the other day, enjoying the beautiful summer weather and reading Glamour magazine's June edition (Glamour Bulgaria). So the cover of the magazine was an amazing picture of Michelle Obama, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kerry Washington and the intriguing title was: What cause is bringing those three women together? Namely, the inside pages reveal, the three powerful ladies (whom I personally adore, especially Kerry and her Scandal feminist persona) are teaming up on a campaign for female war veterans and their families, as well as the wives of military men in the US. For those who served, it turns out the rates of post-traumatic stress disorder are higher for female veterans than for their male counterparts, not to mention the possibilities of experiencing sexual assault while in service (one in three American servicewomen!). Also, being a working mother, serving, returning from Iraq or Afghanistan or wherever else, is challenging to say the least. For military wives, the situation isn't easier either - they are often moving around the country and abroad with their husbands and kids, have to find new friends at every new location, sign up their kids at new schools and help them adapt, and also maintain their own careers. These are just some of the challenges the famous Trio of Mrs Obama, Parker and Washington are trying to raise awareness about as we speak. I found the English version of the interview - make sure you read it here.
Also, four years ago, Mrs Obama and Dr Jill Biden (the Vice-President's wife) launched a nationwide initiative called Joining Forces, which calls on all Americans to 'rally around service members, veterans, and their families and support them through wellness, education, and employment opportunities'. Combining public and private money on initiatives such as job seeking training and educational opportunities for returning service(wo)men are just some of the tools financed through Joining Forces. If you wish to learn more, and advance the cause - in the US and beyond - please visit their webpage and share widely. Well done to the Trio and especially Mrs Obama's efforts. We all know as a First Lady she got an opportunity to make powerful changes - and she's using that power well.
Happy Thursday and remember to say thank you to a service(wo)man should you see one today - or any day :)
I was sitting at the beach the other day, enjoying the beautiful summer weather and reading Glamour magazine's June edition (Glamour Bulgaria). So the cover of the magazine was an amazing picture of Michelle Obama, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kerry Washington and the intriguing title was: What cause is bringing those three women together? Namely, the inside pages reveal, the three powerful ladies (whom I personally adore, especially Kerry and her Scandal feminist persona) are teaming up on a campaign for female war veterans and their families, as well as the wives of military men in the US. For those who served, it turns out the rates of post-traumatic stress disorder are higher for female veterans than for their male counterparts, not to mention the possibilities of experiencing sexual assault while in service (one in three American servicewomen!). Also, being a working mother, serving, returning from Iraq or Afghanistan or wherever else, is challenging to say the least. For military wives, the situation isn't easier either - they are often moving around the country and abroad with their husbands and kids, have to find new friends at every new location, sign up their kids at new schools and help them adapt, and also maintain their own careers. These are just some of the challenges the famous Trio of Mrs Obama, Parker and Washington are trying to raise awareness about as we speak. I found the English version of the interview - make sure you read it here.
Also, four years ago, Mrs Obama and Dr Jill Biden (the Vice-President's wife) launched a nationwide initiative called Joining Forces, which calls on all Americans to 'rally around service members, veterans, and their families and support them through wellness, education, and employment opportunities'. Combining public and private money on initiatives such as job seeking training and educational opportunities for returning service(wo)men are just some of the tools financed through Joining Forces. If you wish to learn more, and advance the cause - in the US and beyond - please visit their webpage and share widely. Well done to the Trio and especially Mrs Obama's efforts. We all know as a First Lady she got an opportunity to make powerful changes - and she's using that power well.
Happy Thursday and remember to say thank you to a service(wo)man should you see one today - or any day :)
One Conviction, One Film and One Tampon Ahead
Morning, beauties! 15 June 2015
New week, new start, and today is the birthday of Miss Antonia T, the one and only-always positive and funny girl. Happy birthday, miss! Get the wine glasses ready for my return to London town xx
Now today's focus will be on three of my most favourite feminist issues: forced marriage, Female Genital Mutilation, and female prisons:
South Wales became the first place in the UK where the new law forbidding forced marriages has been implemented successfully and for the first time in UK history this month there is a conviction on forced marriage grounds. A 34 year old businessman was sentenced to 16 years having admitted to 4 counts of rape, voyeurism, bigamy and forced marriage. Four years are to run concurrently for the forced marriage conviction and the defendant will be subject to 5 years licence on release. The convicted man is said to be “arrogant, manipulative and devious”, and it is a great success for justice in the country that such individuals are put behind bars for forcing their family and relatives into unwanted unions. Well done, South Wales!
Two, 'Needlecraft' is a short animated film on Female Gential Mutilation (FGM), just released by Forward UK. It was developed to raise awareness of FGM in the UK and to encourage support for the campaign to end FGM and Forward as the main charity working on the issue within Britain. It's a four-minute film available on YouTube which strongly portrays the reality which girls and women have to go through when they female bits are cut. Watch it and spread the word that 125 million women in the world suffering such abuse is NOT ok! Word of mouth can go a long way and with this practice in particular conviction is what matters most - let's change the world's arttitutes on FGM together! (If you or someone you know is in danger of FGM, contact 0800 028 3550 (UK) immediately)
And lastly, Orange is the New Black is BACK and I'm jumping to the ceiling in happiness and excitement. Piper and co. are rocking the Netflix screen for the third year in a row, but what matters to mention is not their funny dialogues and behaviour - more, the reality of female prisons in the US and beyond. I've already written a blog post on this series and the importance of availability of pads and tampons for female prisoners (check the post from last year by scrolling down this page), but a new piece in The Guardian the other day made it more relevant than ever to mention it again. Do you know that women can get as little as 10 pads per month, meaning only one change on an average of 5-day period? Or sometimes they may not get free pads at all. How disgusting is this and how unfair is it as treatment of women regardless of what they have done to get into prison or how expensive it may be to provide sanitary products for them. No excuse is acceptable on this. Read the story of one inmate from Connecticut here.
So, one conviction, one animated film and one tampon ahead, and I'm off to the beach for some sunlight. Talk to you all tomorrow x
New week, new start, and today is the birthday of Miss Antonia T, the one and only-always positive and funny girl. Happy birthday, miss! Get the wine glasses ready for my return to London town xx
Now today's focus will be on three of my most favourite feminist issues: forced marriage, Female Genital Mutilation, and female prisons:
South Wales became the first place in the UK where the new law forbidding forced marriages has been implemented successfully and for the first time in UK history this month there is a conviction on forced marriage grounds. A 34 year old businessman was sentenced to 16 years having admitted to 4 counts of rape, voyeurism, bigamy and forced marriage. Four years are to run concurrently for the forced marriage conviction and the defendant will be subject to 5 years licence on release. The convicted man is said to be “arrogant, manipulative and devious”, and it is a great success for justice in the country that such individuals are put behind bars for forcing their family and relatives into unwanted unions. Well done, South Wales!
Two, 'Needlecraft' is a short animated film on Female Gential Mutilation (FGM), just released by Forward UK. It was developed to raise awareness of FGM in the UK and to encourage support for the campaign to end FGM and Forward as the main charity working on the issue within Britain. It's a four-minute film available on YouTube which strongly portrays the reality which girls and women have to go through when they female bits are cut. Watch it and spread the word that 125 million women in the world suffering such abuse is NOT ok! Word of mouth can go a long way and with this practice in particular conviction is what matters most - let's change the world's arttitutes on FGM together! (If you or someone you know is in danger of FGM, contact 0800 028 3550 (UK) immediately)
And lastly, Orange is the New Black is BACK and I'm jumping to the ceiling in happiness and excitement. Piper and co. are rocking the Netflix screen for the third year in a row, but what matters to mention is not their funny dialogues and behaviour - more, the reality of female prisons in the US and beyond. I've already written a blog post on this series and the importance of availability of pads and tampons for female prisoners (check the post from last year by scrolling down this page), but a new piece in The Guardian the other day made it more relevant than ever to mention it again. Do you know that women can get as little as 10 pads per month, meaning only one change on an average of 5-day period? Or sometimes they may not get free pads at all. How disgusting is this and how unfair is it as treatment of women regardless of what they have done to get into prison or how expensive it may be to provide sanitary products for them. No excuse is acceptable on this. Read the story of one inmate from Connecticut here.
So, one conviction, one animated film and one tampon ahead, and I'm off to the beach for some sunlight. Talk to you all tomorrow x
Smile, Girl!
So my friend Andrea J. is one of the most intelligent and gorgeous girls I know. And this positive and funny human being is lately increasingly upset by the phenomenon of complete strangers commenting on her facial expressions: she says she’s tired of having random people on the street telling her to lighten up/stop looking so depressed. Not only that, but also women (usually elderly) who notice that, usually ask empathetically what’s going on and show genuine concern; while with men/ boys the situation is different: they state it as a matter of fact and declare their expectation you should smile. 'You look angry/sad/not smiley. You're a girl. Hence you should be smiling'. I bet this has happened to a lot of us actually, but I personally never thought about it as a specific phenomenon of concern to our beloved feminism. Andrea is right though, men do appear to expect from us totally positive attitude and expressions regardless of what’s going on in our lives at the time. I’ve had about 500 such comments in the past month due to the consequences of my crash and my mood swings which are really getting to me at times. And then there is my granddad, whom I absolutely LOVE, who has also told me a number of times already ‘but why are you crying, be strong, girl!’ I know he means it with only positive feelings, but I bet he wouldn’t be saying anything like that to my male cousins. He’d let them be and live through their pain, as it wouldn’t be quite 'manly' for another man to interfere with their personal stuff. And not only my granddad - also male neighbors and acquaintances, not to mention people in bars or clubs. That’s the most common I’d think: ‘Hey, I’d love for you to join me for a drink, but you gotta give me a smile first’. Well not really, I don’t need to give you anything and I’ll do just fine without your drink. In the words of Andrea: ‘If I've had a bad day I can look as miserable as I damn please’. Think about that next time you approach someone. Thanks :)
PS: I’m with you, AJ! xx
PS: I’m with you, AJ! xx
Women Rule Big Time
9 June 2015
While los Americanos are having some serious issues with gender-based violence (see post below), there is a place in India which has truly impressed me with its progressive rights for women. Mawlynnong, a small Indian village bordering Bangladesh, has become world-famous not only because of tourism in the area, but also because women there rule - big time! In this remote place, the youngest girl in a family inherits all its wealth and property, and children take their mother’s surname. Khasi women also have the freedom to marry whoever they want (no arranged marriages which may be typical in other parts of India and the Asian continent). Divorce by women's choice also results in NO stigma or loss of inheritance or rights over the children (common in the Arab world). Now Karolin Klüppel, a German photographer, has captured a series of photographs of Khasi women, which series are travelling around the world and showing off a different culture with values for the family and motherhood. The gender imbalance, for once in favour of women!, is inspiring and breath-taking. See the photos for yourself on the NYT blog page here.
Well done to the photographer, and most of all to the people in the village - great example for the nation, and for the world!, to follow.
While los Americanos are having some serious issues with gender-based violence (see post below), there is a place in India which has truly impressed me with its progressive rights for women. Mawlynnong, a small Indian village bordering Bangladesh, has become world-famous not only because of tourism in the area, but also because women there rule - big time! In this remote place, the youngest girl in a family inherits all its wealth and property, and children take their mother’s surname. Khasi women also have the freedom to marry whoever they want (no arranged marriages which may be typical in other parts of India and the Asian continent). Divorce by women's choice also results in NO stigma or loss of inheritance or rights over the children (common in the Arab world). Now Karolin Klüppel, a German photographer, has captured a series of photographs of Khasi women, which series are travelling around the world and showing off a different culture with values for the family and motherhood. The gender imbalance, for once in favour of women!, is inspiring and breath-taking. See the photos for yourself on the NYT blog page here.
Well done to the photographer, and most of all to the people in the village - great example for the nation, and for the world!, to follow.
The Americas
Hey people, 8 June 2015
While I was praising Canada the other day with the scrapping of taxes on female sanitary products, it's worth mentioning that just few days ago the country failed to pass a National action plan to address violence against women. NDP Member of Parliament Niki Ashton proposed a notion in the Canadian House of Commons on 28 May but unfortunately the idea was not met with enthusiasm by other Parlamentarians and consequently, no new money has been spared for initiatives to curb violence against women. Also, the UN has criticised the country for its insufficient efforts to address violence against indigenous women. Seven years ago the UN asked the Canadian government to consider new ways to raise awareness and reduce violence against tribal women but it appears not enough has been done, and by now 1,000 indigenous Canadian females have been killed.
Taking a journey down South, in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay demonstrations took place last week against violence against women. "Not One Woman Less" was the rallying cry for protests in Buenos Aires and other Argentine cities, as well as in neighbouring states. Thousands of women and men marched on the streets to call for an end to femicides (killings of women) and even Leo Messi wrote on Facebook: "Enough femicides. We join all Argentines today in shouting out loud 'not one woman less'." Impressive initiative and much needed cry for attention to the issue.
Meanwhile, Brazil passed a law in March which drastically increased penalties for femicides. While its implementation may not be clear yet as to evaluate it just two months after passing the law, at least proper penalties are introduced (between 12-30 years in prison + the tariff can be increased by a third if the victim is pregnant, is under 14, is older than 60 or has a disability or if the crime happens in front of the woman’s parents or children). Fingers crossed justice will be served indeed for such a terrifying crime.
And one more American piece of reading for you today, The Economist published a great article last week on the suffering of Latin American children, particularly girls. Domestic abuse, teen pregancies and lack of access to abortions are just some of the troubles young South American women are facing. Read more on the issue here.
That's it from me for today, enough of the Americas, back to London tomorrow with some new stuff to share. Happy Monday!
While I was praising Canada the other day with the scrapping of taxes on female sanitary products, it's worth mentioning that just few days ago the country failed to pass a National action plan to address violence against women. NDP Member of Parliament Niki Ashton proposed a notion in the Canadian House of Commons on 28 May but unfortunately the idea was not met with enthusiasm by other Parlamentarians and consequently, no new money has been spared for initiatives to curb violence against women. Also, the UN has criticised the country for its insufficient efforts to address violence against indigenous women. Seven years ago the UN asked the Canadian government to consider new ways to raise awareness and reduce violence against tribal women but it appears not enough has been done, and by now 1,000 indigenous Canadian females have been killed.
Taking a journey down South, in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay demonstrations took place last week against violence against women. "Not One Woman Less" was the rallying cry for protests in Buenos Aires and other Argentine cities, as well as in neighbouring states. Thousands of women and men marched on the streets to call for an end to femicides (killings of women) and even Leo Messi wrote on Facebook: "Enough femicides. We join all Argentines today in shouting out loud 'not one woman less'." Impressive initiative and much needed cry for attention to the issue.
Meanwhile, Brazil passed a law in March which drastically increased penalties for femicides. While its implementation may not be clear yet as to evaluate it just two months after passing the law, at least proper penalties are introduced (between 12-30 years in prison + the tariff can be increased by a third if the victim is pregnant, is under 14, is older than 60 or has a disability or if the crime happens in front of the woman’s parents or children). Fingers crossed justice will be served indeed for such a terrifying crime.
And one more American piece of reading for you today, The Economist published a great article last week on the suffering of Latin American children, particularly girls. Domestic abuse, teen pregancies and lack of access to abortions are just some of the troubles young South American women are facing. Read more on the issue here.
That's it from me for today, enough of the Americas, back to London tomorrow with some new stuff to share. Happy Monday!
Happy Birthday
Hey, world! 4 June 2015
Exactly one year ago I started blogging on women's issues - and today, 4th June 2015, my baby blog has its very first birthday! One of many to come, I hope! I am very thankful to all my readers and all the people who send me updates and stories on gender equality and female empowerment as your almost daily input is what has made this blog grow so much and so fast! Hugs and kisses to all, and keep up the great work xx
To celebrate this first anniversary and the numerous benefits this blog has brought me personally in terms of professional achievements and development, here is some excellent news to women in Canada and all around the world. This week, the Canadian government became the first in the world to bow to public pressure and scrap taxes on female sanitary products. Being taxed at 5%, tampons and pads in Canada will now no longer be on taxation from 1st July this year. New Democratic Party politician Irene Mathyssen called the announcement “a victory for all women” - and indeed, the campaign started by Jill Piebiak and her amazing team with Change.org has brought in the first major change in a state's policy regarding gender bias taxation and everyday sexism. What a great piece of news - and well done to other numerous countries which have launched their own campaigns to get rid of taxes on the essential products we women use every month. Check out our campaign in the UK and sign the petition here.
And as we are talking menstruation, have you ever considered exactly how much you know about female menstruation? All the basics + some interesting facts can be found in a great new Women Deliver article here.
So, ladies and gents, celebrate today - and always. And stay healthy and happy.
Talk soon x
Exactly one year ago I started blogging on women's issues - and today, 4th June 2015, my baby blog has its very first birthday! One of many to come, I hope! I am very thankful to all my readers and all the people who send me updates and stories on gender equality and female empowerment as your almost daily input is what has made this blog grow so much and so fast! Hugs and kisses to all, and keep up the great work xx
To celebrate this first anniversary and the numerous benefits this blog has brought me personally in terms of professional achievements and development, here is some excellent news to women in Canada and all around the world. This week, the Canadian government became the first in the world to bow to public pressure and scrap taxes on female sanitary products. Being taxed at 5%, tampons and pads in Canada will now no longer be on taxation from 1st July this year. New Democratic Party politician Irene Mathyssen called the announcement “a victory for all women” - and indeed, the campaign started by Jill Piebiak and her amazing team with Change.org has brought in the first major change in a state's policy regarding gender bias taxation and everyday sexism. What a great piece of news - and well done to other numerous countries which have launched their own campaigns to get rid of taxes on the essential products we women use every month. Check out our campaign in the UK and sign the petition here.
And as we are talking menstruation, have you ever considered exactly how much you know about female menstruation? All the basics + some interesting facts can be found in a great new Women Deliver article here.
So, ladies and gents, celebrate today - and always. And stay healthy and happy.
Talk soon x
Forbes' Most Powerful Women 2015
Hey world, 2 June 2015
Forbes has now released its annual list of Most Powerful Women in the world. For the fifth year in a row, German Chancellor Angela Merkel tops the list, while US Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton is positioned at No 2. Meanwhile, my love Beyonce leads all entertainment world representatives and is placed at No 21, while Taylor Swift is a surprising newcomer in this year's rankings (at No 64). Not surprised myself though, after all, I've noticed this lady has way too many videos with half a billion Youtube views or more. And Queen B, well of course - not least because her tour with Jay Z last year got them some $100 million in profits. And the two of them together stock up over a billion dollars in net worth. As for Angela and Hillary - couldn't be more right, and personally I admire them both, hoping their voice will continue to be heard and their influence to be felt. Good examples of power and leadership - and we, young women, need more of those! PS: My other fav, Sheryl Sandberg, is at No 8 - another awesome lady, amongst many. PS2: We got some major news for women in Canada - since yesterday, their country became the first in the world to announce scrapping extra taxes on female sanitary products! What a tremendous victory! More det's on this after tomorrow x |
Manels
Good morning on a grey Sunday, 31 May 2015
Today’s first feature is a brand new blog started in Finland in February this year, which publishes photos of all-male panels of major events, or "manels". The site is a Tumblr blog, started by feminist researcher and artist Saara Sarma, and is called "Congrats! You Have an All-Male Panel". Check out the 200+ photos submitted from people all over the world of events where not a single woman has participated as a panel speaker, including on world-famous conferences such as the Global Summit of Women (see picture below, 2014 in Paris). An interesting and original idea and a powerful message of exactly how much female voices are heard around the world; well done to the creator!
Second for today, some London news. I was shocked to hear that an ultra-orthodox Jewish sect in London has banned Jewish moms from driving their kids to school last week. Leaders of the Belz sect in north London sent letters to parents of a Jewish school saying "no child will be allowed to learn in our school" if their mother drives.They went on to clarify that females driving is “something that goes against the laws of modesty within our society". Because we’ve heard much about ultra-conservative Islamic scholars in Saudi Arabia for example banning on women driving, it was a bit surprising to hear the exact same thing happening in another religious group and in a super-developed state like the UK. Not only is this saddening for female rights and freedom of movement, but also unrealistic in a fast-moving city such as London; not to mention the example given to young girls going to that Jewish school is worrying to say the least, just as the potential restriction to their schooling rights just if their moms defy the ban. In the words of UK education secretary, this ban is “unacceptable”. And “cruel”, I would add.
To finish it off for today, have a look at my second piece for the Future Foreign Policy think-tank which covers Malala Yousafzai and the recent sentencing of her attackers in Pakistan. What does that mean for her, for her country and for women and girls in Pakistan and beyond – read more here.
Today’s first feature is a brand new blog started in Finland in February this year, which publishes photos of all-male panels of major events, or "manels". The site is a Tumblr blog, started by feminist researcher and artist Saara Sarma, and is called "Congrats! You Have an All-Male Panel". Check out the 200+ photos submitted from people all over the world of events where not a single woman has participated as a panel speaker, including on world-famous conferences such as the Global Summit of Women (see picture below, 2014 in Paris). An interesting and original idea and a powerful message of exactly how much female voices are heard around the world; well done to the creator!
Second for today, some London news. I was shocked to hear that an ultra-orthodox Jewish sect in London has banned Jewish moms from driving their kids to school last week. Leaders of the Belz sect in north London sent letters to parents of a Jewish school saying "no child will be allowed to learn in our school" if their mother drives.They went on to clarify that females driving is “something that goes against the laws of modesty within our society". Because we’ve heard much about ultra-conservative Islamic scholars in Saudi Arabia for example banning on women driving, it was a bit surprising to hear the exact same thing happening in another religious group and in a super-developed state like the UK. Not only is this saddening for female rights and freedom of movement, but also unrealistic in a fast-moving city such as London; not to mention the example given to young girls going to that Jewish school is worrying to say the least, just as the potential restriction to their schooling rights just if their moms defy the ban. In the words of UK education secretary, this ban is “unacceptable”. And “cruel”, I would add.
To finish it off for today, have a look at my second piece for the Future Foreign Policy think-tank which covers Malala Yousafzai and the recent sentencing of her attackers in Pakistan. What does that mean for her, for her country and for women and girls in Pakistan and beyond – read more here.
Asia + Australia
Hey, ladies and gents! 27 May 2015
We are talking Asia today as a regional focus:
Say you are an ambitious Indonesian woman who wants to defend her country and its interests and thus decides to join the Army. All good, except you must be a virgin in order to be admitted - and if you are not, if you are naughty" you wouldn't qualify. The Army spokesperson re-affirmed virginity tests will continue to be used, despite objections by NGOs such as Human Rights Watch who claim the policy is “discriminatory and invasive”. Couldn't agree more, and I believe morality and virginity shouldn't be equalized at all. A woman's private matters and her job in the Army shouldn't be linked just as no other job should care about her intimate life. So disappointing.
Off to Myanmar where a controversial pregnancy law was signed off few days ago - women are now required to space their children at least three years apart. This new rule which aims to regulate births is specifically targeting religious minorities, it is claimed (Muslims and others). While sometimes it may be necessary to regulate birth numbers in hugely populated states such as China (I'm not saying I agree with the practice, just that I see some logic in it), Myanmar's case appears more to aim to guarantee superiority of one ethical/ religious group over the others, and women's reproductive rights and personal worth are what gets repressed at the end. Aldo disappointing.
So to conclude on a happy note, I'll move on to Australia instead, which has made some important progress in its #StopTaxingOurPeriods campaign. Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey has just agreed to lobby the states and territories to make sanitary products exempt from the Goods and Services Tax. This tax, at 10%, currently exempts condoms and sunscreams, but not pads and tampons. Australia's stand on this will be further discussed in July and meanwhile, over 100 000 people have already signed a student's petition to end tampon tax. As you know, I am continuously supporting the UK campaign on the issue, make sure you stay tuned on these developments.
Happy mid-week, everyone!
We are talking Asia today as a regional focus:
Say you are an ambitious Indonesian woman who wants to defend her country and its interests and thus decides to join the Army. All good, except you must be a virgin in order to be admitted - and if you are not, if you are naughty" you wouldn't qualify. The Army spokesperson re-affirmed virginity tests will continue to be used, despite objections by NGOs such as Human Rights Watch who claim the policy is “discriminatory and invasive”. Couldn't agree more, and I believe morality and virginity shouldn't be equalized at all. A woman's private matters and her job in the Army shouldn't be linked just as no other job should care about her intimate life. So disappointing.
Off to Myanmar where a controversial pregnancy law was signed off few days ago - women are now required to space their children at least three years apart. This new rule which aims to regulate births is specifically targeting religious minorities, it is claimed (Muslims and others). While sometimes it may be necessary to regulate birth numbers in hugely populated states such as China (I'm not saying I agree with the practice, just that I see some logic in it), Myanmar's case appears more to aim to guarantee superiority of one ethical/ religious group over the others, and women's reproductive rights and personal worth are what gets repressed at the end. Aldo disappointing.
So to conclude on a happy note, I'll move on to Australia instead, which has made some important progress in its #StopTaxingOurPeriods campaign. Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey has just agreed to lobby the states and territories to make sanitary products exempt from the Goods and Services Tax. This tax, at 10%, currently exempts condoms and sunscreams, but not pads and tampons. Australia's stand on this will be further discussed in July and meanwhile, over 100 000 people have already signed a student's petition to end tampon tax. As you know, I am continuously supporting the UK campaign on the issue, make sure you stay tuned on these developments.
Happy mid-week, everyone!
Stilettos
Good morning, everyone! 25 May 2015
Today's focus is on Egypt, Nigeria and France:
Recently, the Egyptian Prime Minister declared one of his government's top priorities to be women's affairs and reducing violence against women. Ibrahim Mahlab announced gender-based violence was a "community matter that affects society as a whole" and a "violation to cultural and religious values". Egypt is thus due to launch a strategy for women's protection 2015-2020. State organizations and NGOs are to cooperate in reducing violence and rehabilitating victims. In a country where over 95% of women have experienced some form of abuse (according to the UN) it was about time their lives and needs were put on central stage.
In Nigeria, meanwhile, Nike Okundaye has made history. She is a poor village woman born in 1951, who never got formal education - yet, she created the Nike Art empire. An artist, Nike has made astounding strides in textile, visual arts and mixed media painting, her works are held in the White House and museums worldwide, AND she is lecturing at Harvard. Meanwhile, her Nike Centre for Art and Culture in Osogbo has so far trained more than 3,000 young Nigerian girls (mostly) to love arts and develop their talents. Remarkable contribution to the Arts and Humanities world and remarkable story of a poor rural girl from the 50s - read more here.
And lastly, the film festival in Cannes (France) has been heavily criticized this year due to their discriminatory policy of allowing women in heels only. Last week, the story of Valeria Richter, film producer and scriptwriter, gathered international attention: the lady has part of her foot amputated, yet she was not allowed to watch the Sea of Trees premiere because she was wearing flats. Soon after, more accounts appeared of women with moving difficulties who were not allowed entry into premieres due to inappropriate shoes. Beyond ridiculous, this policy can be summed up as Harriet Minter put it the other day: "Until Brad Pitt is regularly stalking the red carpet on a pair of stilettos, there is no reason that any woman should feel she has to either". Thanks :)
Today's focus is on Egypt, Nigeria and France:
Recently, the Egyptian Prime Minister declared one of his government's top priorities to be women's affairs and reducing violence against women. Ibrahim Mahlab announced gender-based violence was a "community matter that affects society as a whole" and a "violation to cultural and religious values". Egypt is thus due to launch a strategy for women's protection 2015-2020. State organizations and NGOs are to cooperate in reducing violence and rehabilitating victims. In a country where over 95% of women have experienced some form of abuse (according to the UN) it was about time their lives and needs were put on central stage.
In Nigeria, meanwhile, Nike Okundaye has made history. She is a poor village woman born in 1951, who never got formal education - yet, she created the Nike Art empire. An artist, Nike has made astounding strides in textile, visual arts and mixed media painting, her works are held in the White House and museums worldwide, AND she is lecturing at Harvard. Meanwhile, her Nike Centre for Art and Culture in Osogbo has so far trained more than 3,000 young Nigerian girls (mostly) to love arts and develop their talents. Remarkable contribution to the Arts and Humanities world and remarkable story of a poor rural girl from the 50s - read more here.
And lastly, the film festival in Cannes (France) has been heavily criticized this year due to their discriminatory policy of allowing women in heels only. Last week, the story of Valeria Richter, film producer and scriptwriter, gathered international attention: the lady has part of her foot amputated, yet she was not allowed to watch the Sea of Trees premiere because she was wearing flats. Soon after, more accounts appeared of women with moving difficulties who were not allowed entry into premieres due to inappropriate shoes. Beyond ridiculous, this policy can be summed up as Harriet Minter put it the other day: "Until Brad Pitt is regularly stalking the red carpet on a pair of stilettos, there is no reason that any woman should feel she has to either". Thanks :)
Justice
Dear world,
24th May is a national holiday in Bulgaria due to us being the mother country of the Cyrillic alphabet - in the 9th century Cyril and Methodius constructed a script for Slavonic, known today as "glagolithic", i.e. followed by modern-day "cyrillic". It is currently used exclusively or as one of several alphabets for more than 50 languages, including Bulgarian and Russian. It is worth taking a moment today to celebrate our culture and language, as well as our traditions and proud heritage as a Slavic country.
Back to my everyday feminist writings, a few stories for you all today:
The Italian sister campaign of #StopTaxingOurPeriods was launched this week - it calls on the talian government to scrap additional taxes on female sanitary products and classify them as essential goods. Pads and tampons are now taxed with 22% in Italy, and if you already support the massive UK campaign (check my regular blog posts on this), make sure you sign the Italian petition too: https://www.change.org/p/le-mestruazioni-non-si-tassano-iva-al-minimo-sugli-assorbenti The EU needs to hear the voices of at least 8 major states on this for a change in tax laws to happen, so please take a minute and put your name down. It will be worth it.
I'm sure you are all familiar with Tumblr - social media/ blogging platform for people from all across the world. Well, they've made some serious contribution to feminism, check it out here - by the way, № 18 is totally my fav!
And lastly, because I am in the middle of an insurance battle after the car crash last week where I miraculously survived, here's to another girl who got justice: a woman who can't be named has just won £20,000 in payout, after detectives accused her of lying about rape in 2012 in Winchester. She was 17 when a man raped her after a night out with friends and the crime got reported by her mom a few hours later. Instead of helping the victim though, the Police accused the girl, who has mental health problems, of lying and arrested for perverting the course of justice. She was even told by one detective: “This is what happens when you lie.” Three years later her case was proven and she got justice for what happened to her - read her courageous story here. And remember that no matter what the circumstances, rape is rape and you should never blame the victim. Yet another problem we are still to eliminate from our societies.
That's it from me for today, I'll see you all soon, x
24th May is a national holiday in Bulgaria due to us being the mother country of the Cyrillic alphabet - in the 9th century Cyril and Methodius constructed a script for Slavonic, known today as "glagolithic", i.e. followed by modern-day "cyrillic". It is currently used exclusively or as one of several alphabets for more than 50 languages, including Bulgarian and Russian. It is worth taking a moment today to celebrate our culture and language, as well as our traditions and proud heritage as a Slavic country.
Back to my everyday feminist writings, a few stories for you all today:
The Italian sister campaign of #StopTaxingOurPeriods was launched this week - it calls on the talian government to scrap additional taxes on female sanitary products and classify them as essential goods. Pads and tampons are now taxed with 22% in Italy, and if you already support the massive UK campaign (check my regular blog posts on this), make sure you sign the Italian petition too: https://www.change.org/p/le-mestruazioni-non-si-tassano-iva-al-minimo-sugli-assorbenti The EU needs to hear the voices of at least 8 major states on this for a change in tax laws to happen, so please take a minute and put your name down. It will be worth it.
I'm sure you are all familiar with Tumblr - social media/ blogging platform for people from all across the world. Well, they've made some serious contribution to feminism, check it out here - by the way, № 18 is totally my fav!
And lastly, because I am in the middle of an insurance battle after the car crash last week where I miraculously survived, here's to another girl who got justice: a woman who can't be named has just won £20,000 in payout, after detectives accused her of lying about rape in 2012 in Winchester. She was 17 when a man raped her after a night out with friends and the crime got reported by her mom a few hours later. Instead of helping the victim though, the Police accused the girl, who has mental health problems, of lying and arrested for perverting the course of justice. She was even told by one detective: “This is what happens when you lie.” Three years later her case was proven and she got justice for what happened to her - read her courageous story here. And remember that no matter what the circumstances, rape is rape and you should never blame the victim. Yet another problem we are still to eliminate from our societies.
That's it from me for today, I'll see you all soon, x
Mark Ruffalo on Feminism
All I gotta say for today is: You all know who Mark Ruffalo is? If you don't, he's an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter - and, he's got some pretty bad-ass views on feminism. Hats off. Check him out here: http://9gag.com/gag/aVW56Y8 |
Females At "Unexpected" Places
Hey, people! 20 May 2015
Today's summary will focus mainly on extraordinary women who are not where you'd expect them to be:
For starters, Carissa Yip is just 11 years old, yet she is already the youngest US chess master. The sweetest little girl winning against all-time male champions is the cover story of a BBC Magazine feature few weeks back - check out her story here.
Then we got Ellen Pao, the CEO of tech giant Reddit - she announced earlier in April that there will no longer be salary negotiations at Reddit. How's that relevant, you may ask - well, only 7% of all women are said to negotiate their first job offer, while 57% of men do so, often resulting in much higher starting salaries for them, as well as faster career progression. Harvard researchers further found out that no matter how women ask for higher compensation (face-to-face, in-person, talking to an objective party, or asking a senior manager), they are penalized more than men So to avoid this, Mrs Pao put an end to any negotiations whatsoever. While some may see it as unfair to future Reddit employees, I see it as fair to female candidates at least - rules are rules and hope is for more just treatment for all genders now.
Did you know that on building sites 99% of construction workers worldwide are male? And in the entire industry, 89% of all employees are male while the rest are usually women behind the desk secretaries and office admin workers. The problem appears to be rooted mostly in perceptions - how do we change that and how do we encourage more women to join construction jobs? Read here.
And two more interesting reads for you all: the world's top powers do not feature a single woman on their bank notes: American bills have portraits of the country's Founding Fathers and former presidents - no females as of yet; Chinese notes have Mao Zedong; India features Mahatma Gandhi; Canada has no females either, and the UK will only put Jane Austin on the 10-GBP bill in 2017 after a campaign by the public to do so (which I covered on this blog last year). Well, as disappointing as this all is, and I don't mean the Queen featuring on notes, after all she's been there always, she didn't earn the honour, just inherited it - but now it appears Sweden and Australia are leading the way as the world's least sexist money makers: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32204664
And last, for the first time in history the United Nations came up with a resolution condemning gender-based violence in and around schools worldwide, check it out here.
That's it from me for today, off to see my private nurse, aka my grandma - see you soon, people! x
Today's summary will focus mainly on extraordinary women who are not where you'd expect them to be:
For starters, Carissa Yip is just 11 years old, yet she is already the youngest US chess master. The sweetest little girl winning against all-time male champions is the cover story of a BBC Magazine feature few weeks back - check out her story here.
Then we got Ellen Pao, the CEO of tech giant Reddit - she announced earlier in April that there will no longer be salary negotiations at Reddit. How's that relevant, you may ask - well, only 7% of all women are said to negotiate their first job offer, while 57% of men do so, often resulting in much higher starting salaries for them, as well as faster career progression. Harvard researchers further found out that no matter how women ask for higher compensation (face-to-face, in-person, talking to an objective party, or asking a senior manager), they are penalized more than men So to avoid this, Mrs Pao put an end to any negotiations whatsoever. While some may see it as unfair to future Reddit employees, I see it as fair to female candidates at least - rules are rules and hope is for more just treatment for all genders now.
Did you know that on building sites 99% of construction workers worldwide are male? And in the entire industry, 89% of all employees are male while the rest are usually women behind the desk secretaries and office admin workers. The problem appears to be rooted mostly in perceptions - how do we change that and how do we encourage more women to join construction jobs? Read here.
And two more interesting reads for you all: the world's top powers do not feature a single woman on their bank notes: American bills have portraits of the country's Founding Fathers and former presidents - no females as of yet; Chinese notes have Mao Zedong; India features Mahatma Gandhi; Canada has no females either, and the UK will only put Jane Austin on the 10-GBP bill in 2017 after a campaign by the public to do so (which I covered on this blog last year). Well, as disappointing as this all is, and I don't mean the Queen featuring on notes, after all she's been there always, she didn't earn the honour, just inherited it - but now it appears Sweden and Australia are leading the way as the world's least sexist money makers: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32204664
And last, for the first time in history the United Nations came up with a resolution condemning gender-based violence in and around schools worldwide, check it out here.
That's it from me for today, off to see my private nurse, aka my grandma - see you soon, people! x
Celebrating Life
Morning, world! 19 May 2015
Some of you already know I was run over by a car this past Saturday, 16 May, at a zebra crossing in my city in Bulgaria. Now that the pain and the shock are slowly moving away from my system, I am convinced returning to blogging is the one therapy I need urgently. And so I wanted to share about a new campaign, started by Tania Katan, an activist, author and programmer at Axosoft software. She programmmed a new lady sign for female bathrooms, which is no longer a dress, but a superhero outfit - with the aim of “shifting perceptions and assumptions about women and the audacious, sensitive, and powerful gestures they make every single day.” The campaign #ItWasNeverADress is not only aimed at changing the bathroom perceptions we all got as little girls of what's feminine (dresses) and what's not, but also it aims at encouraging more girls to join the IT sector and make technological change. Traditionally this industry is male-dominated so a campaign such as this is a powerful reminder of where we can and should be! In the words of the campaign organisers: When we see women differently… we see the world differently! Thanks Geri, for sharing this news with me, and everyone - let's tech up!
PS: I missed a lot of feminist news while under doctors' care but will be sharing a summary of those over the next few days. Happy Tuesday and celebrate life - it's the most valuable thing we all have!
Some of you already know I was run over by a car this past Saturday, 16 May, at a zebra crossing in my city in Bulgaria. Now that the pain and the shock are slowly moving away from my system, I am convinced returning to blogging is the one therapy I need urgently. And so I wanted to share about a new campaign, started by Tania Katan, an activist, author and programmer at Axosoft software. She programmmed a new lady sign for female bathrooms, which is no longer a dress, but a superhero outfit - with the aim of “shifting perceptions and assumptions about women and the audacious, sensitive, and powerful gestures they make every single day.” The campaign #ItWasNeverADress is not only aimed at changing the bathroom perceptions we all got as little girls of what's feminine (dresses) and what's not, but also it aims at encouraging more girls to join the IT sector and make technological change. Traditionally this industry is male-dominated so a campaign such as this is a powerful reminder of where we can and should be! In the words of the campaign organisers: When we see women differently… we see the world differently! Thanks Geri, for sharing this news with me, and everyone - let's tech up!
PS: I missed a lot of feminist news while under doctors' care but will be sharing a summary of those over the next few days. Happy Tuesday and celebrate life - it's the most valuable thing we all have!
Going Commercial
15 May 2015
All "Scandal" fans - last week's episode was so ME-style! Absolutely loved it! Olivia helped this woman from the US Navy who had been raped by her superior in the military force, all at a time when neither the girl wanted to testify due to fear and stigma, nor did the US President want to intervene and condone the assault as this was a "strictly military" issue. The girl got justice at the end, but the point was that 1 in 3 women in the US military may get sexually assaulted during her time on duty. Shocking, but thanks to "Scandal" for raising awareness on this issue - and for making my day and inspiring me to blog once again.
And as I'm on a commercial mode, I so shall recommend Fifth Harmony's latest song with Kid Ink - Worth it. And especially the video. It's feminist, it's strong, and it's sexy - enjoy! And take a look at the flashlights at the start of the video which call for more women in powerful positions - yes please! Well done to these ladies for using their musical influence and social exposure in the hope of changing attitudes - it's what all of the singers should do, not rap on rape or female genital parts and their sweetness. Thanks.
All "Scandal" fans - last week's episode was so ME-style! Absolutely loved it! Olivia helped this woman from the US Navy who had been raped by her superior in the military force, all at a time when neither the girl wanted to testify due to fear and stigma, nor did the US President want to intervene and condone the assault as this was a "strictly military" issue. The girl got justice at the end, but the point was that 1 in 3 women in the US military may get sexually assaulted during her time on duty. Shocking, but thanks to "Scandal" for raising awareness on this issue - and for making my day and inspiring me to blog once again.
And as I'm on a commercial mode, I so shall recommend Fifth Harmony's latest song with Kid Ink - Worth it. And especially the video. It's feminist, it's strong, and it's sexy - enjoy! And take a look at the flashlights at the start of the video which call for more women in powerful positions - yes please! Well done to these ladies for using their musical influence and social exposure in the hope of changing attitudes - it's what all of the singers should do, not rap on rape or female genital parts and their sweetness. Thanks.
10-Year-Old and Pregnant
Hi again, ladies and gents, 14 May 2015
Fresh, fresh news from last night - the US House of Representatives approved a bill that will ban abortions in the entire country after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Republicans claim around 18 000 babies a year will be saved if the new bill becomes a law (has to be approved by the Senate first + President Obama may veto it anyway). Their reasoning is that babies feel intense pain after 20 weeks when they are being killed so this pro-life bill is humane and considerate - so kind and compassionate. Unfortunately politics appears to play the starring role in this decision making (Republicans vs Democrats, traditional party line voting), as opposed to considerations about the right to choice by every woman, her health conditions (which may sometimes make abortion after 20 weeks needed), nor the possibility of late diagnosis of the child with life-long syndromes. There are even some women who don't realize they are pregnant until the 5th or 6th month, which is now well beyond the 20 week limit, and their potential decision not to bring up the child may mean abandoned kids in the already slow adoption system. Most of all though, it is disappointing that the government is trying to take a stand on a very personal matter which involves only the woman and her doctors, not the Federal authorities, not even the State ones. As Hillary Clinton said it herself, “the bill puts women’s health and rights at risk, undermines the role doctors play in health care decisions, burdens survivors of sexual assault, and is not based on sound science.” We remain awaiting for the Senate vote with a hope for Presidential intervention, should it be needed after.
And while some are debating abortions after 20 weeks, in Paraguay (and in most of Latin America for that matter), abortions are banned altogether, not even when they concern a 10-year-old raped girl. She was taken to hospital by her mother two weeks ago after complaining of stomach ache - instead, the doctors discovered she had been raped by her stepdad and was now 21 weeks pregnant. The authorities though refuse to grant her safe abortion even though according to their own laws it is legal in cases where the life of the mom is in danger - which is clearly the case now. Amnesty International has started a petition to call on Paraguay and help the girl urgently, please go to https://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions/child-denied-abortion-after-rape-save-her-life?utm_source=FBPAGE&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=20150430175800&utm_campaign=Maternal_reproductive and sign the plea.
Fresh, fresh news from last night - the US House of Representatives approved a bill that will ban abortions in the entire country after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Republicans claim around 18 000 babies a year will be saved if the new bill becomes a law (has to be approved by the Senate first + President Obama may veto it anyway). Their reasoning is that babies feel intense pain after 20 weeks when they are being killed so this pro-life bill is humane and considerate - so kind and compassionate. Unfortunately politics appears to play the starring role in this decision making (Republicans vs Democrats, traditional party line voting), as opposed to considerations about the right to choice by every woman, her health conditions (which may sometimes make abortion after 20 weeks needed), nor the possibility of late diagnosis of the child with life-long syndromes. There are even some women who don't realize they are pregnant until the 5th or 6th month, which is now well beyond the 20 week limit, and their potential decision not to bring up the child may mean abandoned kids in the already slow adoption system. Most of all though, it is disappointing that the government is trying to take a stand on a very personal matter which involves only the woman and her doctors, not the Federal authorities, not even the State ones. As Hillary Clinton said it herself, “the bill puts women’s health and rights at risk, undermines the role doctors play in health care decisions, burdens survivors of sexual assault, and is not based on sound science.” We remain awaiting for the Senate vote with a hope for Presidential intervention, should it be needed after.
And while some are debating abortions after 20 weeks, in Paraguay (and in most of Latin America for that matter), abortions are banned altogether, not even when they concern a 10-year-old raped girl. She was taken to hospital by her mother two weeks ago after complaining of stomach ache - instead, the doctors discovered she had been raped by her stepdad and was now 21 weeks pregnant. The authorities though refuse to grant her safe abortion even though according to their own laws it is legal in cases where the life of the mom is in danger - which is clearly the case now. Amnesty International has started a petition to call on Paraguay and help the girl urgently, please go to https://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions/child-denied-abortion-after-rape-save-her-life?utm_source=FBPAGE&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=20150430175800&utm_campaign=Maternal_reproductive and sign the plea.
Female Directors 2.0
I mentioned Hollywood in my post the other day about the newest blog which gathers disrespectful remarks female directors receive in the film industry. Now some more news on the topic: the American Civil Liberties Union has called on the State of California and on civil rights organisations there to investigate what they call "the systemic failure" to hire women directors in the film and television industry. Turns out, according to the latest studies, that fewer women are working as directors today than 20 years ago, and even worse - in 2014, women represented only 7% of directors on the 250 top-grossing films. The University of Southern California further states that overall in the past two decades, women have directed only 5% of the top films. And let's finish this by the general perceptions study of USC which also found out that stories by or about women are "more niche than mainstream, and therefore less profitable". Well, well - I already did two social experiments for this blog by watching female-centric movies around Valentine's Day and the International Women's Day this year. I already said it then it was rather hard to find good movies with strong female characters in them - now it seems it must be even harder to find good movies with female directors behind the scenes. Disappointing it is - women simply deserve a fairer chance to prove themselves, thank you!
Female Members of Parliament - Where Are We?
Hi, ladies and gents! 12 May 2015
With the UK General Election results coming in as a major surprise last week, I was already asked a few times what I thought of David Cameron's great win (and that of the Scottish Nationalist Party) and pretty much everyone else's big time loss. Well, I'll leave my political preferences aside and only concentrate on what the election results mean for women - namely, there are more female Members of Parliament this year, that there were in the last elections in 2010. The Fawcett Society (check them out, really good work on gender equality) has made a table with all political parties and the number of women who will represent them in Parliament in the next five years, plus this expression in % points. So the number one female-led party are the Greens - but that's only because there's one MP elected and she's female. The Conservatives will have almost 20% of their MPs as women, 43% of Labour is female (good, near parity I see there), and 32% of the Scots will be female MPs. Overall, 187 MPs are now female, which means close to 29% of the whole Parliament. Ridiculous, when you think about it, especially since much less developed states like Rwanda have more women in the legislative than men, so even 50/50 parity seems far away on the UK political horizons for now. BUT this year's results are still better than 2010 - only 22% of MPs were female back then. So, an improvement it is, albeit a minor increase. Let's hope it's a trend in the right (equal) direction.
Also an improvement - this time significant, is the number of female party leaders now - with the resignations of so many political figures after the elections last week we now have Harriet Harman for Labour, Nicola Sturgeon for SNP, Suzanne Evans for UKIP, Leanne Wood for Plaid Cymru and Natalie Bennett for the Green Party - all in power! Hope lies with you, ladies, that you will make some meaningful changes for the lives of over 30 million females in the country.
And speaking of women in power, here's an interesting piece on how to get more females in leadership positions - you know, things like, watch your language and don't say he's a "leader", but she's "bossy". How about we ban "bossy"?!? Check my Campaigns page for Sheryl Sandberg's campaign on "Bossy" for more info.
Happy Tuesday, everyone :)
With the UK General Election results coming in as a major surprise last week, I was already asked a few times what I thought of David Cameron's great win (and that of the Scottish Nationalist Party) and pretty much everyone else's big time loss. Well, I'll leave my political preferences aside and only concentrate on what the election results mean for women - namely, there are more female Members of Parliament this year, that there were in the last elections in 2010. The Fawcett Society (check them out, really good work on gender equality) has made a table with all political parties and the number of women who will represent them in Parliament in the next five years, plus this expression in % points. So the number one female-led party are the Greens - but that's only because there's one MP elected and she's female. The Conservatives will have almost 20% of their MPs as women, 43% of Labour is female (good, near parity I see there), and 32% of the Scots will be female MPs. Overall, 187 MPs are now female, which means close to 29% of the whole Parliament. Ridiculous, when you think about it, especially since much less developed states like Rwanda have more women in the legislative than men, so even 50/50 parity seems far away on the UK political horizons for now. BUT this year's results are still better than 2010 - only 22% of MPs were female back then. So, an improvement it is, albeit a minor increase. Let's hope it's a trend in the right (equal) direction.
Also an improvement - this time significant, is the number of female party leaders now - with the resignations of so many political figures after the elections last week we now have Harriet Harman for Labour, Nicola Sturgeon for SNP, Suzanne Evans for UKIP, Leanne Wood for Plaid Cymru and Natalie Bennett for the Green Party - all in power! Hope lies with you, ladies, that you will make some meaningful changes for the lives of over 30 million females in the country.
And speaking of women in power, here's an interesting piece on how to get more females in leadership positions - you know, things like, watch your language and don't say he's a "leader", but she's "bossy". How about we ban "bossy"?!? Check my Campaigns page for Sheryl Sandberg's campaign on "Bossy" for more info.
Happy Tuesday, everyone :)
"Go Back to Working in Porn"
Hello, beautiful people, 10 May 2015
The highlight for today (thanks, D) is a new blog which sees female directors anonymously reporting the shocking sexist remarks made to them by men in the film industry. As we all know, women are still rare in Hollywood and in general in the film-making industry, just as female actors getting paid less than their male counterparts. But I was SO shocked by some of these comments I read on the new blog, that I thought 'I gotta share this asap!'
So I'd say enjoy the read, except there's nothing to 'enjoy'. Do read it though as talking about it is the first step towards tackling the problem altogether.
The highlight for today (thanks, D) is a new blog which sees female directors anonymously reporting the shocking sexist remarks made to them by men in the film industry. As we all know, women are still rare in Hollywood and in general in the film-making industry, just as female actors getting paid less than their male counterparts. But I was SO shocked by some of these comments I read on the new blog, that I thought 'I gotta share this asap!'
So I'd say enjoy the read, except there's nothing to 'enjoy'. Do read it though as talking about it is the first step towards tackling the problem altogether.
More Beyonce and More Hillary
Speaking of Beyonce (see post below), I laughed out loud when I saw THIS - an American girl made her boyfriend take a Beyonce test in order to decide whether to keep dating him. Take a look at the questions - this is hillarious, yet I'd totally replicate it - after all, if he ain't into Beyonce's music, we ain't clicking at all, and relationships are about sharing common interests. (PS: The test was a joke, but he passed anyway so the girl kept dating him)
And on a more serious note, I had my first article up on the Future Foreign Policy website this morning - it focuses on yet another strong female character from the US - Hillary Clinton. BUT this time I'm talking politics and foreign policy, and not feminism. Check it out here and feel free to share far and wide :)
And on a more serious note, I had my first article up on the Future Foreign Policy website this morning - it focuses on yet another strong female character from the US - Hillary Clinton. BUT this time I'm talking politics and foreign policy, and not feminism. Check it out here and feel free to share far and wide :)
Catch Up
Hello, ladies and gents, 7 May 2015
After a few rough days, I got plenty of news for you to catch up on:
- A lady in Chile adopts dead babies just so she could give them a proper burial. Most fo the time they are thrown away by their teenage moms who were victims of either rape or incest, and as the lady understands their pain (she was raped at 16 herself), she now adopts their dead children. How heart-warming is that!
- Few days ago, on 1 May 2015, the Iranian & Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation opened the first specialist refuge for Middle Eastern and North African women in London. The refuge will accommodate and support vulnerable single women at risk of honour-based violence, forced marriage, female genital mutilation and domestic violence. The residents of the refuge will receive specialist support from IKWRO’s expert team (they speak six community languages + English) and will receive advice, advocacy, training and counselling. Well done, IKWRO, it was high time Middle Eastern Women received the support they need and as they are one of the most vulnerable groups in the UK when it comes to honour crimes, the new refuge is a great step in the right direction!
- A Women's rights party has been launched in the UK just now - the Women's Equality party will aim to field candidates at the next elections in 2020, and say it is “very possible” they would get an MP elected. Speaking of elections, today are the General Elections in the UK - make sure you express your right to vote, ladies and gents! As for the new Women's party - awesome idea, I'll totally put you at the top of my list for 2020!
- "Save The Children" recently released their annual State of the World’s Mothers report and for 2015, the UK ranks at 24th place in the world as best place to be a mom. FYI Norway, Finland and Iceland are at the top 3 places - anyone off to Scandinavia to raise their kids, please let me know.
- Some happy news: "The Independent" launched their search for Britain's happiest people! If you know someone who has changed the lives of others and has positive vibes all aroudn them, make sure you nominate them here. Nominations from all corners of the UK and all cultural backgrounds are welcome. The Independent on Sunday’s Happy List 2015 will be released in June.
- And finally, check out Queen B and her outfit at the Met Gala 2015 - BEAUTIFUL is all I got to say, and whatever haters claim, that she was trashy, etc - oh well, I see nothing wrong in a beautiful woman showing off her assets - nor in some provocative fashion. Thank you.
Talk to you over the weekend, xx
After a few rough days, I got plenty of news for you to catch up on:
- A lady in Chile adopts dead babies just so she could give them a proper burial. Most fo the time they are thrown away by their teenage moms who were victims of either rape or incest, and as the lady understands their pain (she was raped at 16 herself), she now adopts their dead children. How heart-warming is that!
- Few days ago, on 1 May 2015, the Iranian & Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation opened the first specialist refuge for Middle Eastern and North African women in London. The refuge will accommodate and support vulnerable single women at risk of honour-based violence, forced marriage, female genital mutilation and domestic violence. The residents of the refuge will receive specialist support from IKWRO’s expert team (they speak six community languages + English) and will receive advice, advocacy, training and counselling. Well done, IKWRO, it was high time Middle Eastern Women received the support they need and as they are one of the most vulnerable groups in the UK when it comes to honour crimes, the new refuge is a great step in the right direction!
- A Women's rights party has been launched in the UK just now - the Women's Equality party will aim to field candidates at the next elections in 2020, and say it is “very possible” they would get an MP elected. Speaking of elections, today are the General Elections in the UK - make sure you express your right to vote, ladies and gents! As for the new Women's party - awesome idea, I'll totally put you at the top of my list for 2020!
- "Save The Children" recently released their annual State of the World’s Mothers report and for 2015, the UK ranks at 24th place in the world as best place to be a mom. FYI Norway, Finland and Iceland are at the top 3 places - anyone off to Scandinavia to raise their kids, please let me know.
- Some happy news: "The Independent" launched their search for Britain's happiest people! If you know someone who has changed the lives of others and has positive vibes all aroudn them, make sure you nominate them here. Nominations from all corners of the UK and all cultural backgrounds are welcome. The Independent on Sunday’s Happy List 2015 will be released in June.
- And finally, check out Queen B and her outfit at the Met Gala 2015 - BEAUTIFUL is all I got to say, and whatever haters claim, that she was trashy, etc - oh well, I see nothing wrong in a beautiful woman showing off her assets - nor in some provocative fashion. Thank you.
Talk to you over the weekend, xx
Women Deliver
I'm thrilled to announce that I've been selected as one of this year's 200 worldwide Women Deliver Young Leaders. Together with young feminist activists from around the world, Miss Plamena will be participating in an online-based program managed by the WD New York office, and will be receiving a full scholarship for the Women Deliver international conference in 2016 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Main reason I was chosen was this very baby you are reading now - my blog which had hit the 15 000 views mark within a few months of its creation last summer. I'm good at social marketing, it appears, and so I'll be joining Women Deliver to promote gender equality and fair treatment and empowerment of women and girls. So excited, can't wait to get ever more readers and leave an ever more visible mark in the social media world - let's get debating, ladies and gents! And as Rossy says, I might as well start delivering feminist speeches at Beyonce concerts - yes, please!
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Female Bus Drivers
2 May 2015
Last week Delhi hired its first ever female bus driver with the hope that women would feel safer on the Indian campital's public transport. The appointment of a 30-year-old female driver comes as the country has struggled to fight rape and sexual harassment, especially in public spaces. The infamous gang rape on a bus in December 2012 led to the death of a 23-year-old medical student. Then, a Uber driver was put on trial last year for allegedly raping a female passenger, and in December 2014, two young females fought a group of male attackers by hitting them with their belts on a public bus. Radhika Sanghani from the Telegraph further reminds us that some Indian states have had female bus drivers for years, while this is a brand new New for Delhi. And, in January 2015, Nepal launched a women-only bus service to stop cases of sexual harassment. This precaution was taken due to horrifying statistics that one in every four young women up to the age of 35 living in Nepal has experienced sexual harassment on public transport.
Oh well, ladies, I might be joking with men flexing muscles on Parisian metro and biting their lips Anastasia Steele-style (see post below), but this is some serious stuff over in India and Nepal, and we must congratulate the governments for considering these innovative ways of fighting harassment. Let us hope a change in mindsets happens too – after all, that’s what really matters.
Last week Delhi hired its first ever female bus driver with the hope that women would feel safer on the Indian campital's public transport. The appointment of a 30-year-old female driver comes as the country has struggled to fight rape and sexual harassment, especially in public spaces. The infamous gang rape on a bus in December 2012 led to the death of a 23-year-old medical student. Then, a Uber driver was put on trial last year for allegedly raping a female passenger, and in December 2014, two young females fought a group of male attackers by hitting them with their belts on a public bus. Radhika Sanghani from the Telegraph further reminds us that some Indian states have had female bus drivers for years, while this is a brand new New for Delhi. And, in January 2015, Nepal launched a women-only bus service to stop cases of sexual harassment. This precaution was taken due to horrifying statistics that one in every four young women up to the age of 35 living in Nepal has experienced sexual harassment on public transport.
Oh well, ladies, I might be joking with men flexing muscles on Parisian metro and biting their lips Anastasia Steele-style (see post below), but this is some serious stuff over in India and Nepal, and we must congratulate the governments for considering these innovative ways of fighting harassment. Let us hope a change in mindsets happens too – after all, that’s what really matters.
Tampon Situation
THIS totally made my day!
Read more on Jose Garcia's Instagram campaign here: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/teenage-boy-tells-men-to-carry-tampons-to-help-out-their-girlfriends-in-viral-instagram-post-10214822.html And please, if you are a boy - do join him and carry a pad or a tampon to help a girl in need. One small gesture can go a long way! PS: The UK Treasury finally responded to Laura Coryton's petition to end VAT on female sanitary products. They said this week that sanitary tax is "not possible to change" because it has never been done before. They say EU regulations mean a large number of people and countries must support such a change for an actual tax rule to be accepted EU-wide. Oh well - if 1 million signatures are gathered across Europe, the EU will HAVE to consider the proposal, so let's make sure this happens - 226 k people in the UK alone have already signed the petition - make sure you join them and spread the word amongst your European friends. A sister campaign has already been launched in France and another one is coming up in Italy. Plus a few from outside Europe (Australia, Canada, Malaysia). This can totally happen! |
Confessions of a Parisian Girl
Here is my very last post from two years of life in Paris, a post which aims to sum up all of the difficulties and exciting moments I experienced since August 2013. I will try and not get too sad while writing this – as I am on the plane and I already cried big time on my series (“Lost” – how can you not cry; yes, I’m re-watching it starting with season 1, and yes, I know it’s probably wrong to watch plane-crash series while you are on the plane (ooops)), so the person next to me probably already thinks I’m mentally unstable.
So I first moved to Paris on 28 August 2013 even though I had visited the city before and I had loved it. Since day 1 of my move though, I changed my mind rather quickly. I had major trouble finding a place to live, my birthday was exactly one week away and I had NO one to celebrate it. Everyone appeared super rude, from the service at restaurants which is the worst I’ve seen anywhere I’ve traveled, to school administration (weren’t you meant to help me, you guys?!?) Then my ex-housemate and super-cool girl friend Bertille came from London and thanks to her I had a great birthday to remember despite the initial difficult adjustments. And I even got my very first flower from an admirer that night – some random person outside the club whom I did not even go out on a date with, but still the gesture was sweet :)
I found a place and things with uni picked up but the whole first semester was challenging big time, not only academically (what a strange system!), but mainly socially. I had been used to having tons of friends wherever I go, and now I was alone – both literally, and emotionally-speaking. Throughout my first 6-7 months the only thing I was thinking about was when the hell is this torture going to end, am I not worth anyone’s attention, why don’t I click with these people, what am I even doing here, shall I go back to the UK?... One time I was passing by Gare du Nord (which is where you take the train to London) and I nearly went in the Eurostar lounge to buy a last-minute ticket. I stopped myself though as I knew I’d disappoint not only everyone around me who was expecting to see me with a very prestigious MA from a top-of-the-tables political school, but also I would have disappointed myself. I am not a quitter, I kept telling myself – if I managed surviving so long in the States back when I was 15, 10 time zones away from family and loved ones, surely I could manage a funky French place for a few more months. I did manage until May, which was when I went back to the UK to do my internship (which was absolutely amazing btw). And in January this year I returned once again for my very final semester at the Paris School of International Affairs.
Three months, that’s how long this semester has lasted. I got here with a rather negative feeling that life would suck again so I might as well not expect anything. But things got very different within a short period of time – thanks to my girl Daniela, I was put in touch with another super cool chic Teddy – with whom I became besties in no time. The three months passed very quickly and I even enjoyed them this time around – thanks to friends’ support and especially the crazy nature of this Teddy girl who would NOT let me stay in on a Saturday night – oh hell no! We got partying to do and life to live. And so now I’m leaving for future adventures. Prospects are better-looking now, I’m much more positive than I was a few months back, and most importantly – I’ve grown incredibly as a person. I learnt I could enjoy myself BY myself, my own company being the best friendship I can have in life. I learnt staying in on a Friday night with a glass of wine and my favourite series did not mean I was lame – it meant I appreciated my own company (and that of Jake from Scandal ha!) I learnt I could survive four essays of 3,000 words each in one week. I learnt to speak French! And I learnt that whoever wanted me in their lives was going to be there for me – even if I was away, sad and depressed. My friends back in London and in Bulgaria, as well as all my international chicas around Europe and the world were regularly checking on me, and I can’t stress enough how grateful I am to all of you! My family of course, was always there for me too and my mom heard me crying more in the past 18 months that in my entire life – but she stayed by me till the very end. So thank you, momma!
So I guess THANK YOU is all I need to say to everyone around me these past two years. As Ne-Yo says, I'm a movement by myself, but I'm a force when we're together! #BringItOn
So I first moved to Paris on 28 August 2013 even though I had visited the city before and I had loved it. Since day 1 of my move though, I changed my mind rather quickly. I had major trouble finding a place to live, my birthday was exactly one week away and I had NO one to celebrate it. Everyone appeared super rude, from the service at restaurants which is the worst I’ve seen anywhere I’ve traveled, to school administration (weren’t you meant to help me, you guys?!?) Then my ex-housemate and super-cool girl friend Bertille came from London and thanks to her I had a great birthday to remember despite the initial difficult adjustments. And I even got my very first flower from an admirer that night – some random person outside the club whom I did not even go out on a date with, but still the gesture was sweet :)
I found a place and things with uni picked up but the whole first semester was challenging big time, not only academically (what a strange system!), but mainly socially. I had been used to having tons of friends wherever I go, and now I was alone – both literally, and emotionally-speaking. Throughout my first 6-7 months the only thing I was thinking about was when the hell is this torture going to end, am I not worth anyone’s attention, why don’t I click with these people, what am I even doing here, shall I go back to the UK?... One time I was passing by Gare du Nord (which is where you take the train to London) and I nearly went in the Eurostar lounge to buy a last-minute ticket. I stopped myself though as I knew I’d disappoint not only everyone around me who was expecting to see me with a very prestigious MA from a top-of-the-tables political school, but also I would have disappointed myself. I am not a quitter, I kept telling myself – if I managed surviving so long in the States back when I was 15, 10 time zones away from family and loved ones, surely I could manage a funky French place for a few more months. I did manage until May, which was when I went back to the UK to do my internship (which was absolutely amazing btw). And in January this year I returned once again for my very final semester at the Paris School of International Affairs.
Three months, that’s how long this semester has lasted. I got here with a rather negative feeling that life would suck again so I might as well not expect anything. But things got very different within a short period of time – thanks to my girl Daniela, I was put in touch with another super cool chic Teddy – with whom I became besties in no time. The three months passed very quickly and I even enjoyed them this time around – thanks to friends’ support and especially the crazy nature of this Teddy girl who would NOT let me stay in on a Saturday night – oh hell no! We got partying to do and life to live. And so now I’m leaving for future adventures. Prospects are better-looking now, I’m much more positive than I was a few months back, and most importantly – I’ve grown incredibly as a person. I learnt I could enjoy myself BY myself, my own company being the best friendship I can have in life. I learnt staying in on a Friday night with a glass of wine and my favourite series did not mean I was lame – it meant I appreciated my own company (and that of Jake from Scandal ha!) I learnt I could survive four essays of 3,000 words each in one week. I learnt to speak French! And I learnt that whoever wanted me in their lives was going to be there for me – even if I was away, sad and depressed. My friends back in London and in Bulgaria, as well as all my international chicas around Europe and the world were regularly checking on me, and I can’t stress enough how grateful I am to all of you! My family of course, was always there for me too and my mom heard me crying more in the past 18 months that in my entire life – but she stayed by me till the very end. So thank you, momma!
So I guess THANK YOU is all I need to say to everyone around me these past two years. As Ne-Yo says, I'm a movement by myself, but I'm a force when we're together! #BringItOn
Train Troubles (the April Edition)
Morning, beautiful people! 27 April 2015
I have some exciting news to share with you all – I’ve just been invited to join the team of contributors of the Future Foreign Policy online-based think-tank. It’s a brand new, youth-led initiative, for people up to the age of 30 who are interested in foreign affairs. I’ll be joining the team and will be posting some insights and updates on here on my latest articles for FFP. Stay tuned for my first piece coming up shortly.
And as I’m in an especially good mood today, I thought I’d share a compilation of some funny (and not so funny) experiences I’ve had throughout the month of April on Parisian public transport. So here we go:
First week of April. I’m on line 4 between Chatelet and Cite. A guy sitting opposite of me leans WAY too close and starts talking to me:
- I am about to get off at the next station, you have about 10 seconds to give me your number and make a life-changing decision! - hands me over his iPhone.
- Eeeerm, sorry I'm already taken. And not interested anyway.
- Blah, I feel sorry for you, you are missing out.
Right, I missed out on a GREAT guy that day, one with great manners and respect for women. I must feel sorry for myself indeed, must I not!
Two weeks later, I’m on line 5 between Stalingrad and allllllll the way up to Bobigny. A guy is staring at me SO much and he is licking and biting his lips throughout the entire journey. I start feeling way too uncomfortable to the point where I move seats towards the rear of the train. He follows me! Sits opposite and continues biting his lips. For God’s sake – this is not 50 Shades, and I’m NOT Anastasia Steele, boy!
Last week, a guy stares at my chest for about 10 mins on line 5 rights after Gare de l’Est. And I strongly suspect he tried taking a picture too, but too many people would have seen it – thank God he did not do it (I think he did not do it. Oh my, did he do it??? He couldn’t have done it.)
Four days ago – a guy was holding up on those thingies you hold when the train is going crazy fast (what’s with Paris metro, really, hold off those breaks!) – and he starts flexing his muscles so intensively so as to attract female attention around him. And he winks at me. Oh dear, you ain’t even got the arms I’m used to – so please! ;)
Sooo, in a way I’m glad I’m leaving Paris tomorrow as certain acts of people on the public transportation system are not attractive at all. And no, I have never had a person in any other city around the world feel “sorry” for me just because I refuse to give him my number. Anyway, if more serious stuff happens though, make sure to report any acts of harassment etc to the transport police. And enjoy your journey (And mind the gap. And beware of pickpockets.)
I have some exciting news to share with you all – I’ve just been invited to join the team of contributors of the Future Foreign Policy online-based think-tank. It’s a brand new, youth-led initiative, for people up to the age of 30 who are interested in foreign affairs. I’ll be joining the team and will be posting some insights and updates on here on my latest articles for FFP. Stay tuned for my first piece coming up shortly.
And as I’m in an especially good mood today, I thought I’d share a compilation of some funny (and not so funny) experiences I’ve had throughout the month of April on Parisian public transport. So here we go:
First week of April. I’m on line 4 between Chatelet and Cite. A guy sitting opposite of me leans WAY too close and starts talking to me:
- I am about to get off at the next station, you have about 10 seconds to give me your number and make a life-changing decision! - hands me over his iPhone.
- Eeeerm, sorry I'm already taken. And not interested anyway.
- Blah, I feel sorry for you, you are missing out.
Right, I missed out on a GREAT guy that day, one with great manners and respect for women. I must feel sorry for myself indeed, must I not!
Two weeks later, I’m on line 5 between Stalingrad and allllllll the way up to Bobigny. A guy is staring at me SO much and he is licking and biting his lips throughout the entire journey. I start feeling way too uncomfortable to the point where I move seats towards the rear of the train. He follows me! Sits opposite and continues biting his lips. For God’s sake – this is not 50 Shades, and I’m NOT Anastasia Steele, boy!
Last week, a guy stares at my chest for about 10 mins on line 5 rights after Gare de l’Est. And I strongly suspect he tried taking a picture too, but too many people would have seen it – thank God he did not do it (I think he did not do it. Oh my, did he do it??? He couldn’t have done it.)
Four days ago – a guy was holding up on those thingies you hold when the train is going crazy fast (what’s with Paris metro, really, hold off those breaks!) – and he starts flexing his muscles so intensively so as to attract female attention around him. And he winks at me. Oh dear, you ain’t even got the arms I’m used to – so please! ;)
Sooo, in a way I’m glad I’m leaving Paris tomorrow as certain acts of people on the public transportation system are not attractive at all. And no, I have never had a person in any other city around the world feel “sorry” for me just because I refuse to give him my number. Anyway, if more serious stuff happens though, make sure to report any acts of harassment etc to the transport police. And enjoy your journey (And mind the gap. And beware of pickpockets.)
Networking, Anyone?
Good morning, everyone! 25 April 2015
The Guardian Women in Leadership network sent out a great piece this week on networking and why it matters for career success. Indeed, the chief of the newsletter, Harriet Minter, claims that we all must spend at least 60% of our time networking, to make sure we get the right contacts, maintain them, and make the right connections at times of need. She explains, “don't assume that because you're having a nice chat with someone that you aren't working, you are. This is still part of your job, don't feel bad for it”. Indeed, men are generally considered better at networking and the Economist claims this is one of the top reasons why they get promoted more often than women do. Going out for golf or for a basketball game can make wonders, people! And so, taking out a fellow lady for a cup of coffee and/ or a glass of wine (in my case), can do the same :) If you haven’t signed up for the Guardian Women in Leadership free weekly newsletter yet – do so ASAP for more great career and leadership advice for ladies worldwide: https://register.theguardian.com/women-in-leadership/
And because we are on networking, here’s my plea to anyone in my network that I know, who knows anyone who knows anyone working in defence economics or security: I am in a major hurry to finish my written thesis for my final oral exam (yes, in France we still do this kinda oral examinations stuff…) and would like some final advice on my arguments on the legality, efficiency and ethics of private companies in the defence sector. Anyone every worked for a private military/ security company, or a defence-related think-tank/ ministry/ agency/ NGO/ etc – please do contact me with any references and/ or if you’d be kind enough to review my final paper before submission. Thanks, everyone (especially those few people who already helped out, much love!)
The Guardian Women in Leadership network sent out a great piece this week on networking and why it matters for career success. Indeed, the chief of the newsletter, Harriet Minter, claims that we all must spend at least 60% of our time networking, to make sure we get the right contacts, maintain them, and make the right connections at times of need. She explains, “don't assume that because you're having a nice chat with someone that you aren't working, you are. This is still part of your job, don't feel bad for it”. Indeed, men are generally considered better at networking and the Economist claims this is one of the top reasons why they get promoted more often than women do. Going out for golf or for a basketball game can make wonders, people! And so, taking out a fellow lady for a cup of coffee and/ or a glass of wine (in my case), can do the same :) If you haven’t signed up for the Guardian Women in Leadership free weekly newsletter yet – do so ASAP for more great career and leadership advice for ladies worldwide: https://register.theguardian.com/women-in-leadership/
And because we are on networking, here’s my plea to anyone in my network that I know, who knows anyone who knows anyone working in defence economics or security: I am in a major hurry to finish my written thesis for my final oral exam (yes, in France we still do this kinda oral examinations stuff…) and would like some final advice on my arguments on the legality, efficiency and ethics of private companies in the defence sector. Anyone every worked for a private military/ security company, or a defence-related think-tank/ ministry/ agency/ NGO/ etc – please do contact me with any references and/ or if you’d be kind enough to review my final paper before submission. Thanks, everyone (especially those few people who already helped out, much love!)
100 Years Since the Armenian Genocide
Good morning, world! 24 April 2015
Today, 24 April, marks the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide committed in 1915 by Ottoman Turks. 1.5 million people are said to have been killed in the massacres and deportations by the Turks, whose empire was disintegrating at the time. The events are described as “genocide” by most non-Turkish scholars, many governments and international organisations. However, Turkey itself rejects the term “genocide” and claims the death toll was much smaller. Regardless, people died and their memory should be preserved today. Get to know history better and read more on the issue here.
What concerns us here on this blog is the double pain of thousands of women during the genocide: very few studies have been conducted on the numerous accounts of rape as weapon of war and there’s largely reluctance to discuss it, not least because of shame, stigma and long-lasting traumatic memory. Many women and girls were also sold as sex-slaves. Further, some 200,000 women are believed to have been converted to Islam or assimilated into Turkish or Arab culture. “Grandma’s Tattoo’s”, a movie by Syuzanne Khardalian, which came out in 2011, tells the story precisely of a woman who was converted to Islam, married a Muslim man and used henna to cover her body (as the tradition said she should). Years later, her family discovered however that her “tattoos” were not really “tattoos”, but scars of something much darker – do watch the movie and share opinion.
I’ll leave you there and hopefully today (and not only) the Armenian genocide will be remembered, with a special mention on women and their double plight.
Have a great weekend, everyone, and stay safe!
Today, 24 April, marks the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide committed in 1915 by Ottoman Turks. 1.5 million people are said to have been killed in the massacres and deportations by the Turks, whose empire was disintegrating at the time. The events are described as “genocide” by most non-Turkish scholars, many governments and international organisations. However, Turkey itself rejects the term “genocide” and claims the death toll was much smaller. Regardless, people died and their memory should be preserved today. Get to know history better and read more on the issue here.
What concerns us here on this blog is the double pain of thousands of women during the genocide: very few studies have been conducted on the numerous accounts of rape as weapon of war and there’s largely reluctance to discuss it, not least because of shame, stigma and long-lasting traumatic memory. Many women and girls were also sold as sex-slaves. Further, some 200,000 women are believed to have been converted to Islam or assimilated into Turkish or Arab culture. “Grandma’s Tattoo’s”, a movie by Syuzanne Khardalian, which came out in 2011, tells the story precisely of a woman who was converted to Islam, married a Muslim man and used henna to cover her body (as the tradition said she should). Years later, her family discovered however that her “tattoos” were not really “tattoos”, but scars of something much darker – do watch the movie and share opinion.
I’ll leave you there and hopefully today (and not only) the Armenian genocide will be remembered, with a special mention on women and their double plight.
Have a great weekend, everyone, and stay safe!
Tech Up, Ladies!
Hey, ladies and gents! 22 April 2015
This week has been passing by so quickly and with my thesis due, I didn’t even realize it was 11 pm by the time I managed to post this – apologies!
There’re some great news though – just the other day, the Scottish Nationalist Party announced support for the Stop Taxing Our Periods campaign in the UK and has committed to ending VAT tax on female sanitary products should they get elected into UK Parliament next month. This has been the third major party which has promised to scrap tampon tax – after Labour and the UK Independence Party already announced their plans earlier this month! Way to go – and let’s hope the follow through with their promises! #EndTamponTax
And second for today – here’s the list of the five richest women in the technology world (compiled by Wealth-X):
- Meg Whitman from HP (with $1.3 billion net worth)
- Sheryl Sandberg from Facebook (1.22 billion)
- Lucy Peng from Alibaba (1.2 billion)
- Wang Hong from HTC (890 million)
- Marissa Mayer from Yahoo (410 million)
FYI, in all these cases the ladies are occupying key positions in the IT firms, be it as CEOs, Presidents, etc. And it’s great that they’ve managed to achieve such great career success, financial benefits and meanwhile are maintaining very well their family lives – an example being my favourite Mrs Sheryl, a mom, a wife, and super inspiring feminist leader. Sadly though, the wealthiest IT woman is still about 65 times poorer that the wealthiest man in IT – Bill Gates who is worth $85 billion. What can I say about this – let’ just take it as proof that more of us, ladies, should tech – the - hell – up!
This week has been passing by so quickly and with my thesis due, I didn’t even realize it was 11 pm by the time I managed to post this – apologies!
There’re some great news though – just the other day, the Scottish Nationalist Party announced support for the Stop Taxing Our Periods campaign in the UK and has committed to ending VAT tax on female sanitary products should they get elected into UK Parliament next month. This has been the third major party which has promised to scrap tampon tax – after Labour and the UK Independence Party already announced their plans earlier this month! Way to go – and let’s hope the follow through with their promises! #EndTamponTax
And second for today – here’s the list of the five richest women in the technology world (compiled by Wealth-X):
- Meg Whitman from HP (with $1.3 billion net worth)
- Sheryl Sandberg from Facebook (1.22 billion)
- Lucy Peng from Alibaba (1.2 billion)
- Wang Hong from HTC (890 million)
- Marissa Mayer from Yahoo (410 million)
FYI, in all these cases the ladies are occupying key positions in the IT firms, be it as CEOs, Presidents, etc. And it’s great that they’ve managed to achieve such great career success, financial benefits and meanwhile are maintaining very well their family lives – an example being my favourite Mrs Sheryl, a mom, a wife, and super inspiring feminist leader. Sadly though, the wealthiest IT woman is still about 65 times poorer that the wealthiest man in IT – Bill Gates who is worth $85 billion. What can I say about this – let’ just take it as proof that more of us, ladies, should tech – the - hell – up!
'Feminist' is Not a Dirty Word
Hey, beautiful people! 20 April 2015
I am thiiiiiis close to finishing all my Masters assignments and as part of it all I had to prep a briefing on the propaganda used by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria to recruit more fighters and advertise itself amongst Westerners. While I was researching ISIS I came across this great report by Human Rights Watch which sums up interviews with 20 Yazidi girls who have managed to escape ISIS hostage and are now telling their stories. Moving and sad, it is a recommended reading to you all if you are interested in Middle East affairs, Islamism, feminism and human rights in general.
And second for today, a truly positive and powerful message sent from across the Pond – a 13-year-old Ohio student was wearing a black T-shirt with the word “Feminist” written on it, which was photoshopped by the school at a class picture. Reason being – to avoid “unintended controversies”, the school Principal explained. Sophie, the teen who was wearing the T-shirt, protested and since last week mass social media outcry caused the Principal to apologize both to Sophie and to her mom, and reportedly she has promised the young girl to bring someone to speak about feminism at the school and promote gender equality. Oh, I can do that by the way! Hehe, seriously though – truly disappointing first move by the school, but well done to the girl for wearing the shirt, for speaking up and for following through with her wishes to expand dialogue on feminism. You go, girl!
I am thiiiiiis close to finishing all my Masters assignments and as part of it all I had to prep a briefing on the propaganda used by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria to recruit more fighters and advertise itself amongst Westerners. While I was researching ISIS I came across this great report by Human Rights Watch which sums up interviews with 20 Yazidi girls who have managed to escape ISIS hostage and are now telling their stories. Moving and sad, it is a recommended reading to you all if you are interested in Middle East affairs, Islamism, feminism and human rights in general.
And second for today, a truly positive and powerful message sent from across the Pond – a 13-year-old Ohio student was wearing a black T-shirt with the word “Feminist” written on it, which was photoshopped by the school at a class picture. Reason being – to avoid “unintended controversies”, the school Principal explained. Sophie, the teen who was wearing the T-shirt, protested and since last week mass social media outcry caused the Principal to apologize both to Sophie and to her mom, and reportedly she has promised the young girl to bring someone to speak about feminism at the school and promote gender equality. Oh, I can do that by the way! Hehe, seriously though – truly disappointing first move by the school, but well done to the girl for wearing the shirt, for speaking up and for following through with her wishes to expand dialogue on feminism. You go, girl!
Time To Vote
Ladies and gents, 18 April 2015
The UK being my love, I thought I’d reminder those of you eligible to vote in the General Elections in May that you should register by this Monday, 20th April (you may do so here: https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote?utm_term=English&utm_content=0). Because it’s important for all citizens to exercise their democratic right to vote and express their opinions on a variety of socially-important issues, I’d suggest you guys read the following excellent piece by BBC magaizine which treats the question of different voting groups and whether at all there’s such a thing as “women’s vote”. From a feminist point of view, it’s sad yet important to note that there were more male MPs in the 2010 House of Commons (502) than the 370 female MPs there have been since 1918! Read more fascinating facts in the BBC piece and make up your mind on the issues that really matter to you and who can actually bring those higher up on their agenda and make an actual change!
PS: Surely, certain feminist issues are being exploited by political parties when it gets closer to elections time – for example, yesterday Ed Miliband, Labour leader, coined tampon tax “ridiculous”. Indeed, I agree with Mr Ed that it’s extremely unfair for us females to spend over 1000 GBP in our lifetime to pay taxes on our tampons and pads. And yes, it might be an attempt to win “women’s vote” by making such a statement live on radio, but hey – if Labour would cut the VAT on tampons, they’ve already gathered some of my attention and sympathy as a potential voter. Stay tuned on Elections news and do vote!
The UK being my love, I thought I’d reminder those of you eligible to vote in the General Elections in May that you should register by this Monday, 20th April (you may do so here: https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote?utm_term=English&utm_content=0). Because it’s important for all citizens to exercise their democratic right to vote and express their opinions on a variety of socially-important issues, I’d suggest you guys read the following excellent piece by BBC magaizine which treats the question of different voting groups and whether at all there’s such a thing as “women’s vote”. From a feminist point of view, it’s sad yet important to note that there were more male MPs in the 2010 House of Commons (502) than the 370 female MPs there have been since 1918! Read more fascinating facts in the BBC piece and make up your mind on the issues that really matter to you and who can actually bring those higher up on their agenda and make an actual change!
PS: Surely, certain feminist issues are being exploited by political parties when it gets closer to elections time – for example, yesterday Ed Miliband, Labour leader, coined tampon tax “ridiculous”. Indeed, I agree with Mr Ed that it’s extremely unfair for us females to spend over 1000 GBP in our lifetime to pay taxes on our tampons and pads. And yes, it might be an attempt to win “women’s vote” by making such a statement live on radio, but hey – if Labour would cut the VAT on tampons, they’ve already gathered some of my attention and sympathy as a potential voter. Stay tuned on Elections news and do vote!
Equal Pay Now
Good morning from a 26-degree Paris! 15 April 2015
I didn’t get a chance to post this earlier last night due to an enourmous amount of work I’m due to submit this week, but here it is:
14th April is Equal Pay Day in the US! In 2015, women in America still receive on average 78% of the pay their male counterparts get for the same jobs. In the UK, thankfully, this is closer to 90%, especially in London, but still it is not quite 100% yet. President Obama posted the picture below on his Facebook yesterday – sad, but true reality... How do you make sure you are treated equally and you get what you deserve – talk to your HR manager and ask them to do a salary review – and follow up with them to see what exactly you might be missing on. Transparency is the way to go. #EqualPayNow
And another memorable day yesterday – one year since the abduction of the 200 Nigerian girls in Chibok by Islamic millitants Boko Haram. The teenage girls are still not found – possibly sold/ raped/ married/ dead. But they aren’t forgotten. #BringBackOurGirls
Keep these in mind, ladies and gents, while you are enjoying the beautiful weather. Meanwhile, I’m off to two pending courseworks, xx
I didn’t get a chance to post this earlier last night due to an enourmous amount of work I’m due to submit this week, but here it is:
14th April is Equal Pay Day in the US! In 2015, women in America still receive on average 78% of the pay their male counterparts get for the same jobs. In the UK, thankfully, this is closer to 90%, especially in London, but still it is not quite 100% yet. President Obama posted the picture below on his Facebook yesterday – sad, but true reality... How do you make sure you are treated equally and you get what you deserve – talk to your HR manager and ask them to do a salary review – and follow up with them to see what exactly you might be missing on. Transparency is the way to go. #EqualPayNow
And another memorable day yesterday – one year since the abduction of the 200 Nigerian girls in Chibok by Islamic millitants Boko Haram. The teenage girls are still not found – possibly sold/ raped/ married/ dead. But they aren’t forgotten. #BringBackOurGirls
Keep these in mind, ladies and gents, while you are enjoying the beautiful weather. Meanwhile, I’m off to two pending courseworks, xx
Let 2016 Bring A Female President
Good morning, world! 14 April 2015
The news of the week – Hillary Clinton announced she’d be running for US President in 2016! Super excited to see her back in the race after her last election’s unsuccesssful bid, and wish her all the best this time around. Couldn’t be any prouder of strong women like her who follow their life-long ambitions (and don’t let their husbands take them down with them when stuff happens…) She’s already set off on a tour of key states and Twitter reacted accordingly to her announcement (see below).
www.hillaryclinton.com it is – join the support team and let 2016 be women’s year in the White House!
And another quick update for today: Elonë Kastrati, a young feminist from Germany, recently caused a social media storm with her spontaneous campaign #PadsAgainstSexism in Karlsruhe, Germany. On International Women’s Day she walked around her city and posted pads (not used of course) with messages for men to read, such as “Imagine if men were as disgusted with rape as they are with periods”. The campaign had a very quick ripple effect around the world and has been reproduced in India, Brazil, South Africa and other places already. Join the convo online with the hashtag #PadsAgainstSexism and share your message for others to read – let’s fight sexism together!
The news of the week – Hillary Clinton announced she’d be running for US President in 2016! Super excited to see her back in the race after her last election’s unsuccesssful bid, and wish her all the best this time around. Couldn’t be any prouder of strong women like her who follow their life-long ambitions (and don’t let their husbands take them down with them when stuff happens…) She’s already set off on a tour of key states and Twitter reacted accordingly to her announcement (see below).
www.hillaryclinton.com it is – join the support team and let 2016 be women’s year in the White House!
And another quick update for today: Elonë Kastrati, a young feminist from Germany, recently caused a social media storm with her spontaneous campaign #PadsAgainstSexism in Karlsruhe, Germany. On International Women’s Day she walked around her city and posted pads (not used of course) with messages for men to read, such as “Imagine if men were as disgusted with rape as they are with periods”. The campaign had a very quick ripple effect around the world and has been reproduced in India, Brazil, South Africa and other places already. Join the convo online with the hashtag #PadsAgainstSexism and share your message for others to read – let’s fight sexism together!
Hristos Voskrese! (Happy Easter!)
Morning, beautiful people! 12 April 2015
Today is Orthodox Easter, and myself included, we eastern Orthodox Christians are celebrating the rising of Christ. Happy Easter from me and my roommie, who’s visiting from London, and from our girl Theodora Radkova, with whom we’ll be having our family celebrations today. Parisian Easter it is! A thousand hugs go to my grandma who’s in hospital back home and who’s special day is not so special today – I love you, grandma, and hope you recover asap!
And while we are celebrating, there are some who are less fortunate and are living in homeless shelters without access to eggs to paint or “kozunak” to eat (our traditional Easter bread in Bulgaria). Femele sanitary products are yet another luxury for those homeless women and a great initiave launched recently calls on the [UK] government to start providing free pads and tampons at homeless shelters (just as condoms are currently free?!?) I’ve already called a numerous times for the abolition of taxes on female sanitation in the UK as part of the #StopTaxingOurPeriods campaign (and for the whole of the EU), but this new Homeless initiative is another step closer to humanity! They’ve already got 61, 000 signatures but need to reach at least 100, 000 before being able to present it to the Government. I urge you all to sign the petition and help a desperate woman save at least her dignity while she’s on her period! Read more on the issue in my latest article published nationally here and sign the Homeless Period petition here.
Thank you and let’s all be a bit kinder today and do a stranger some good! Xx
Today is Orthodox Easter, and myself included, we eastern Orthodox Christians are celebrating the rising of Christ. Happy Easter from me and my roommie, who’s visiting from London, and from our girl Theodora Radkova, with whom we’ll be having our family celebrations today. Parisian Easter it is! A thousand hugs go to my grandma who’s in hospital back home and who’s special day is not so special today – I love you, grandma, and hope you recover asap!
And while we are celebrating, there are some who are less fortunate and are living in homeless shelters without access to eggs to paint or “kozunak” to eat (our traditional Easter bread in Bulgaria). Femele sanitary products are yet another luxury for those homeless women and a great initiave launched recently calls on the [UK] government to start providing free pads and tampons at homeless shelters (just as condoms are currently free?!?) I’ve already called a numerous times for the abolition of taxes on female sanitation in the UK as part of the #StopTaxingOurPeriods campaign (and for the whole of the EU), but this new Homeless initiative is another step closer to humanity! They’ve already got 61, 000 signatures but need to reach at least 100, 000 before being able to present it to the Government. I urge you all to sign the petition and help a desperate woman save at least her dignity while she’s on her period! Read more on the issue in my latest article published nationally here and sign the Homeless Period petition here.
Thank you and let’s all be a bit kinder today and do a stranger some good! Xx
Build them a School, Build them a Future!
Morning, world! 8 April 2015
Starting off with today’s word of the day: "potty parity" – aka the equal or equitable provision of washroom facilities for women and men within a public space. So my comms exchange with the Mayor of London was all in the name of potty parity – anyone tried out Tesco’s and Sainsbury’s free bathrooms yet? Make sure to keep me updated (and check out my blog posts below on my lady right to pee)!
Secondly, my former English teacher back in Bulgaria has contacted me with details of an ambitious project her current class of students has launched under the guidance of Michael Pelehach (Fullbright teaching volunteer) – they want to fundraise $25 000 in 25 school days in order to help build a school in Laos, Ghana or Guatemala. Their project “Build them a School. Build them a Future” has already reached $10 000 in donations but has 15k more to go until the deadline of 1st May. Make sure to read more about it (clink on the link in green), spread the word and donate any sum you deem appropriate – every dollar can make a difference! Well done, proof of ambition and dedication to social justice and equality!
And last for today, my momma sent me this story the other day which both of us thought is worth sharing: The Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria is currently involved in consultations of a new gender equality law in Bulgaria, which is set to be adopted in summer 2015. Mrs Kristalina Georgieva, Eurocommissioner for Bulgaria, the country’s Vice Priseident Meglena Kuneva and the Minister for social policies Ivailo Kalfin have all joined forces in a recent public debate on the place of women in management and leadership positions in an European context. Mrs Georgieva encouraged more businesses to hire women and promote them in leadership positions, and in her own words: “When a woman takes a leadership position, it changes her; when many women do – it changes society”! In addition, Credit Suisse has found out that firms with at least one woman on their board of directors are traded 26% more than companies with no women on their boards. Let that be a good business incentive for more Bulgarian companies to progress and give women the right positions they deserve!
Starting off with today’s word of the day: "potty parity" – aka the equal or equitable provision of washroom facilities for women and men within a public space. So my comms exchange with the Mayor of London was all in the name of potty parity – anyone tried out Tesco’s and Sainsbury’s free bathrooms yet? Make sure to keep me updated (and check out my blog posts below on my lady right to pee)!
Secondly, my former English teacher back in Bulgaria has contacted me with details of an ambitious project her current class of students has launched under the guidance of Michael Pelehach (Fullbright teaching volunteer) – they want to fundraise $25 000 in 25 school days in order to help build a school in Laos, Ghana or Guatemala. Their project “Build them a School. Build them a Future” has already reached $10 000 in donations but has 15k more to go until the deadline of 1st May. Make sure to read more about it (clink on the link in green), spread the word and donate any sum you deem appropriate – every dollar can make a difference! Well done, proof of ambition and dedication to social justice and equality!
And last for today, my momma sent me this story the other day which both of us thought is worth sharing: The Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria is currently involved in consultations of a new gender equality law in Bulgaria, which is set to be adopted in summer 2015. Mrs Kristalina Georgieva, Eurocommissioner for Bulgaria, the country’s Vice Priseident Meglena Kuneva and the Minister for social policies Ivailo Kalfin have all joined forces in a recent public debate on the place of women in management and leadership positions in an European context. Mrs Georgieva encouraged more businesses to hire women and promote them in leadership positions, and in her own words: “When a woman takes a leadership position, it changes her; when many women do – it changes society”! In addition, Credit Suisse has found out that firms with at least one woman on their board of directors are traded 26% more than companies with no women on their boards. Let that be a good business incentive for more Bulgarian companies to progress and give women the right positions they deserve!
French Prostitution, Breastfeeding, Women in History,
YouTubing and Child Brides
Hi, ladies and gents! 6 April 2015
I’m back to Paris reality and unfortunately quite ill, so I’ll have to be brief today with just the latest highlights on women-related news:
- The French Senate just overturned a new law which was going to criminalise sex buying. Please note this is not criminalization of prostitution but rather giving fines on the clients of prostitutes – a model applied already in the Scandinavian countries and with very successful results! I have argued for a while now why this should really be the case and how instead of penalizing women, demand should be targeted. Sad reality is my next-door Parliamentarian neighbours chose not to do so…
- I had written on my Campaigns page before about the Free to Feed charity in the UK which promotes public breastfeeding as an acceptable social practice. Speaking of breastfeeding, now the latest research has shown benefits of long-term breastfeeding include FOUR extra points of IQ, an extra year’s education and a significantly enhanced income at the age of 30. Just so you know.
- Next, the SPARK movement in the US has teamed up with Google to put women on the historical map: when app users log into Field Trip Google app, and switch on the history notifications, they are alerted when they are approaching a location where a woman has made history at one point in time. Users can then read about her story and achievements. Well done to you guys!
- And speaking of technology, my girl Bertille Niyonzima has just started a YouTube blogging endeavor: starting yesterday, Easter Sunday, she’ll be posting a video every Sunday on various social issues and her personal experiences. Make sure to keep an eye out for her and defo watch her first video on bullying and social judgment. Well done for speaking up, my lady!
- And last, an article my roommate shared with me a while ago (a month to be exact, sorry!) but I didn’t get a chance to post it up just yet. It’s on teenage Roma girls in Bulgaria getting matched-up with their future husbands on an open-air market exchange in Stara Zagora. It’s a truly shocking bit which I certainly recommend reading – and yes, we are talking child marriages, in a EU state, in 2015…
Have a wonderful week ahead, I’m off to my meds and douvet, so hopefully I can do another bit for you all tomorrow x
I’m back to Paris reality and unfortunately quite ill, so I’ll have to be brief today with just the latest highlights on women-related news:
- The French Senate just overturned a new law which was going to criminalise sex buying. Please note this is not criminalization of prostitution but rather giving fines on the clients of prostitutes – a model applied already in the Scandinavian countries and with very successful results! I have argued for a while now why this should really be the case and how instead of penalizing women, demand should be targeted. Sad reality is my next-door Parliamentarian neighbours chose not to do so…
- I had written on my Campaigns page before about the Free to Feed charity in the UK which promotes public breastfeeding as an acceptable social practice. Speaking of breastfeeding, now the latest research has shown benefits of long-term breastfeeding include FOUR extra points of IQ, an extra year’s education and a significantly enhanced income at the age of 30. Just so you know.
- Next, the SPARK movement in the US has teamed up with Google to put women on the historical map: when app users log into Field Trip Google app, and switch on the history notifications, they are alerted when they are approaching a location where a woman has made history at one point in time. Users can then read about her story and achievements. Well done to you guys!
- And speaking of technology, my girl Bertille Niyonzima has just started a YouTube blogging endeavor: starting yesterday, Easter Sunday, she’ll be posting a video every Sunday on various social issues and her personal experiences. Make sure to keep an eye out for her and defo watch her first video on bullying and social judgment. Well done for speaking up, my lady!
- And last, an article my roommate shared with me a while ago (a month to be exact, sorry!) but I didn’t get a chance to post it up just yet. It’s on teenage Roma girls in Bulgaria getting matched-up with their future husbands on an open-air market exchange in Stara Zagora. It’s a truly shocking bit which I certainly recommend reading – and yes, we are talking child marriages, in a EU state, in 2015…
Have a wonderful week ahead, I’m off to my meds and douvet, so hopefully I can do another bit for you all tomorrow x
Due Date
Hey, beautiful people! 4 April 2015
It’s 4th April and exactly 10 months ago, on 4th June 2014, I started blogging on women’s ‘stuff’. This is 40 weeks of blogging and if my blog were a baby it would have been due to be born today yaay! With over 15,000 views and four articles featured on the Opinion Panel UK and two in the InFocus Review of International Affairs, it is most certainly a reason to celebrate. And to celebrate I thought I’d get some Ben and Jerry’s ice-cream – speaking of which I found this amazing article on Ben and Jerry’s company policy of naming ice-cream flavours on famous people. In the thirty-years history of name branding, only two females have ever had a Ben and Jerry’s flavour named after them, and currently not a single female is featured by the American company – unlike over 20 males! Read on to see some funny proposals for female ice-cream names and why it matters to have ice-cream gender equality!
PS: Other reasons to celebrate this weekend are the publishing of my latest article on sanitary products tax in the UK on the Opinion Panel website, as well as myself getting a brand new graduate job in London :) And do enjoy tomorrow’s Easter celebrations as much as possible, ladies and gents – be happy!
It’s 4th April and exactly 10 months ago, on 4th June 2014, I started blogging on women’s ‘stuff’. This is 40 weeks of blogging and if my blog were a baby it would have been due to be born today yaay! With over 15,000 views and four articles featured on the Opinion Panel UK and two in the InFocus Review of International Affairs, it is most certainly a reason to celebrate. And to celebrate I thought I’d get some Ben and Jerry’s ice-cream – speaking of which I found this amazing article on Ben and Jerry’s company policy of naming ice-cream flavours on famous people. In the thirty-years history of name branding, only two females have ever had a Ben and Jerry’s flavour named after them, and currently not a single female is featured by the American company – unlike over 20 males! Read on to see some funny proposals for female ice-cream names and why it matters to have ice-cream gender equality!
PS: Other reasons to celebrate this weekend are the publishing of my latest article on sanitary products tax in the UK on the Opinion Panel website, as well as myself getting a brand new graduate job in London :) And do enjoy tomorrow’s Easter celebrations as much as possible, ladies and gents – be happy!
V is for Vagina Tax
Young Indian lady Rupi Kaur recently published this picture on Instagram. It was then removed from the website as it did not comply with their “community standards”. She put it up again. They removed it once more. Finally after social uproar, Instagram apologized and restored the photos up online.
The picture itself is quite telling of the sort of experiences every girl has during her lifetime. Bleeding and “ruining” your clothes is normal. PJ’s – even more so. But it still seems off-putting to people and a taboo subject that does not get discussed publicly. Yeah, it’s happened to me as well back in the days. And so what? I love the picture and I only think it’s a natural process and experience. Well done to Rupi and especially for her follow-up letter to Instagram where she discusses societal expectations and censorship on women’s bodies and body functions (which by the way, her body was fully covered and it was herself on the picture so it’s not like she was offending anyone by posting it up, or looking inappropriate in some provocative Victoria’s Secret angel attire). Thank you.
Speaking of bleeding, I have drafted my latest article for the Opinion Panel UK which will focus on the ongoing UK campaign to scrap VAT on female sanitary products. I have managed to interview Miss Laura Coryton, the amazing leader of the campaign, and have included some of her insights and quotes into my piece which is coming up this week on the OP website. Stay tuned! And meanwhile, if you are curious what V stands for in the official A-Z guide of the current Coalition government in the UK, it stands for Vagina Tax! Great work of The Guardian to include the issue in the top priorities list politicians should be concerned about and controversies they will be remembered for.
PS: I'm off on "binez", as Beyonce says, and won't be back next few days, will miss you dedicated readers, but wish you a wonderful Easter in the mean time!
The picture itself is quite telling of the sort of experiences every girl has during her lifetime. Bleeding and “ruining” your clothes is normal. PJ’s – even more so. But it still seems off-putting to people and a taboo subject that does not get discussed publicly. Yeah, it’s happened to me as well back in the days. And so what? I love the picture and I only think it’s a natural process and experience. Well done to Rupi and especially for her follow-up letter to Instagram where she discusses societal expectations and censorship on women’s bodies and body functions (which by the way, her body was fully covered and it was herself on the picture so it’s not like she was offending anyone by posting it up, or looking inappropriate in some provocative Victoria’s Secret angel attire). Thank you.
Speaking of bleeding, I have drafted my latest article for the Opinion Panel UK which will focus on the ongoing UK campaign to scrap VAT on female sanitary products. I have managed to interview Miss Laura Coryton, the amazing leader of the campaign, and have included some of her insights and quotes into my piece which is coming up this week on the OP website. Stay tuned! And meanwhile, if you are curious what V stands for in the official A-Z guide of the current Coalition government in the UK, it stands for Vagina Tax! Great work of The Guardian to include the issue in the top priorities list politicians should be concerned about and controversies they will be remembered for.
PS: I'm off on "binez", as Beyonce says, and won't be back next few days, will miss you dedicated readers, but wish you a wonderful Easter in the mean time!
Our Girls Lean In
30 March 2015
It’s Monday morning and on Mondays I always watch Girls. This season of the show has just finished however, and as sad as that makes me feel (and grumpy at the prospects of another 9 month wait till the next series comes out), it was also a great finale last week that I thought I’d share on here. Hannah chose herself and her new future with a new guy over instable and not-so-certain-of-what-he-wants Adam. Marnie got left by her fiancé but still continued singing and pursuing her career goals. Shoshana is taking a job in Japan despite her new boyfriend’s wishes to stay in NYC. And Jessa – oh, Jessa – is becoming a therapist (I wonder how THAT will go down). Overall, all four girls picked themselves over the men in their lives, and one particularly inspirational moment was the speech to Shoshana referring to Lean In (remember Sheryl Sandberg’s great initiative – scan through my “Campaigns” tab for more info, especially on the “Ban Bossy” campaign). So during her internal dilemma whether to leave for Japan or stay, Shoshana was told she needs to “Grab a seat at the table and lean the f--k in. If this guy is worth his salt he’ll be waiting for you – at the airport when you return”. And so it is – just like our Girls did, it may be time to consider your own future and aspirations and not solely wait for the big Love to come and make you happy. Happiness is what you make out of your own life. And as my sister Alex said “I’m not looking for my other half. Because I’m not a half!”
Stay happy, ladies, and show them who run the world!
It’s Monday morning and on Mondays I always watch Girls. This season of the show has just finished however, and as sad as that makes me feel (and grumpy at the prospects of another 9 month wait till the next series comes out), it was also a great finale last week that I thought I’d share on here. Hannah chose herself and her new future with a new guy over instable and not-so-certain-of-what-he-wants Adam. Marnie got left by her fiancé but still continued singing and pursuing her career goals. Shoshana is taking a job in Japan despite her new boyfriend’s wishes to stay in NYC. And Jessa – oh, Jessa – is becoming a therapist (I wonder how THAT will go down). Overall, all four girls picked themselves over the men in their lives, and one particularly inspirational moment was the speech to Shoshana referring to Lean In (remember Sheryl Sandberg’s great initiative – scan through my “Campaigns” tab for more info, especially on the “Ban Bossy” campaign). So during her internal dilemma whether to leave for Japan or stay, Shoshana was told she needs to “Grab a seat at the table and lean the f--k in. If this guy is worth his salt he’ll be waiting for you – at the airport when you return”. And so it is – just like our Girls did, it may be time to consider your own future and aspirations and not solely wait for the big Love to come and make you happy. Happiness is what you make out of your own life. And as my sister Alex said “I’m not looking for my other half. Because I’m not a half!”
Stay happy, ladies, and show them who run the world!
Body Armour and Stadium Bans
29 March 2015
As we are on Afghanistan, I came across this piece on Kubra Khademi (Afghani female artist), who recently conducted an eight-minute experiment walking in Kabul while wearing steel armour that emphasised her body shape. This resulted in anger and death threats from Afghan men in a society where women’s appearance is strictly monitored in public. As an artist, 27-year-old Kubra aimed at provocation to see men’s reactions to female body exposure. Despite physical attacks on her in the aftermath of her work, she claims “I would never be stopped … artists can’t be stopped.” Well done, Ms Khademi, inspiring and creative!
And from one Islamic regime, off to others: since the 1980s in Iran and Saudi Arabia, women can’t watch football at stadiums. This is because the public is all-male and concerns over gender mixing prevent women from gaining access to sport facilities. Last year, I wrote about Ghoncheh Ghavami, a dual Iranian-British citizen, who got arrested in Tehran for attepting to attend a male volleyball match. Subsequently, she was convicted of “propaganda against the state,” got jailed for one year and has a two-year ban on travel abroad. She is now out on bail and appealing the court decision. Human Rights Watch recently reminded us of the injustices done to women at those countries for not allowing them access to sporting events and preventing them from practicing many sports too (it was in London 2012 that women FINALLY joined the Saudi Olympic delegation). And in March 2015 Sepp Blatter, the chief of FIFA, asked Iran to end its stadium ban for women once and for all. Let’s see how this one unfolds – at the very least more public attention to the issue and appeals at the higher echelons of international sports power may be useful.
As we are on Afghanistan, I came across this piece on Kubra Khademi (Afghani female artist), who recently conducted an eight-minute experiment walking in Kabul while wearing steel armour that emphasised her body shape. This resulted in anger and death threats from Afghan men in a society where women’s appearance is strictly monitored in public. As an artist, 27-year-old Kubra aimed at provocation to see men’s reactions to female body exposure. Despite physical attacks on her in the aftermath of her work, she claims “I would never be stopped … artists can’t be stopped.” Well done, Ms Khademi, inspiring and creative!
And from one Islamic regime, off to others: since the 1980s in Iran and Saudi Arabia, women can’t watch football at stadiums. This is because the public is all-male and concerns over gender mixing prevent women from gaining access to sport facilities. Last year, I wrote about Ghoncheh Ghavami, a dual Iranian-British citizen, who got arrested in Tehran for attepting to attend a male volleyball match. Subsequently, she was convicted of “propaganda against the state,” got jailed for one year and has a two-year ban on travel abroad. She is now out on bail and appealing the court decision. Human Rights Watch recently reminded us of the injustices done to women at those countries for not allowing them access to sporting events and preventing them from practicing many sports too (it was in London 2012 that women FINALLY joined the Saudi Olympic delegation). And in March 2015 Sepp Blatter, the chief of FIFA, asked Iran to end its stadium ban for women once and for all. Let’s see how this one unfolds – at the very least more public attention to the issue and appeals at the higher echelons of international sports power may be useful.
#JusticeForFarkhunda
26 March 2015
By now you must have heard the news of Afghani woman Farkhunda, who was beaten and burnt in Kabul last week for allegedly burning the Koran. Her mob attackers on Thursday “kicked her back and exchanged their feet for stones and wooden planks”. Her body was then “thrown from a rooftop, run over by a car and then set ablaze on a bank of the muddy Kabul River”. Since then, it was admitted by Afghani investigators of the crime that the woman had NOT in fact committed a crime and her death was one of shame. Five men have been arrested so far but no further details have been provided. In a mass funeral on Sunday, women carried Farkhunda’s coffin across the Afghani capital and chanted: “Farkhunda is a daughter of Afghanistan. Today it is her, tomorrow it could be us”. As terribly sad and unfair as this act of killing was, at the very least triggered a very negative social reaction and caused women – AND men alike – to mobilize and demand justice and equality. Read this heart-breaking account by BBC’s Karim Haidari on why he is ashamed to be a man in Afghanistan, and show solidarity with Farkhunda and her family - and all women in Afghanistan, potential victims of similar crimes - via the hashtag #JusticeForFarkhunda.
And another update for today, this one from the ISIS-controlled Syrian- and Iraqi territories in the Middle East. The Kurdistani Regional Government said this week that there are now more than 3,000 Yazidi women under the control of the Islamic State army. Yazidi women (minority group in north-west Iraq), have been targeted increasingly since August 2014 and have repeatedly been taken hostage, raped and sold to human traffickers and other organized crime groups. There is only one female Yazidi Member of Iraqi Parliament and her story – despite the overall gruesome reality in the region – is quite inspiring. Read here on why it matters to speak out and rescue your sisters. Well done, Mrs Dakhil, keep up the great work and inspiration!
By now you must have heard the news of Afghani woman Farkhunda, who was beaten and burnt in Kabul last week for allegedly burning the Koran. Her mob attackers on Thursday “kicked her back and exchanged their feet for stones and wooden planks”. Her body was then “thrown from a rooftop, run over by a car and then set ablaze on a bank of the muddy Kabul River”. Since then, it was admitted by Afghani investigators of the crime that the woman had NOT in fact committed a crime and her death was one of shame. Five men have been arrested so far but no further details have been provided. In a mass funeral on Sunday, women carried Farkhunda’s coffin across the Afghani capital and chanted: “Farkhunda is a daughter of Afghanistan. Today it is her, tomorrow it could be us”. As terribly sad and unfair as this act of killing was, at the very least triggered a very negative social reaction and caused women – AND men alike – to mobilize and demand justice and equality. Read this heart-breaking account by BBC’s Karim Haidari on why he is ashamed to be a man in Afghanistan, and show solidarity with Farkhunda and her family - and all women in Afghanistan, potential victims of similar crimes - via the hashtag #JusticeForFarkhunda.
And another update for today, this one from the ISIS-controlled Syrian- and Iraqi territories in the Middle East. The Kurdistani Regional Government said this week that there are now more than 3,000 Yazidi women under the control of the Islamic State army. Yazidi women (minority group in north-west Iraq), have been targeted increasingly since August 2014 and have repeatedly been taken hostage, raped and sold to human traffickers and other organized crime groups. There is only one female Yazidi Member of Iraqi Parliament and her story – despite the overall gruesome reality in the region – is quite inspiring. Read here on why it matters to speak out and rescue your sisters. Well done, Mrs Dakhil, keep up the great work and inspiration!
Delhi + Walmart
Speaking of quotas, the Indian government announced this weekend that 33% of all police force in Delhi will be reserved for women. It is a direct move to tackle widespread sexual abuse and violence against women in the Indian capital and hopes to make the force, ‘more gender sensitive’. The government hopes the higher level of female participation in the law enforcement authorities will “instill confidence among women to enable them to approach the police without hesitation for seeking protection and assistance as and when required". Thumbs up from me on this move. And also while we are on India, the controversial BBC documentary on the rape of a female medical student in 2012, “India’s Daughter”, is now available on YouTube, can’t wait to see it myself. Looking forward to your insights.
And second follow-up for today, on the issue of fashion and public image: American retail giant ‘Walmart’ launched a new campaign this month to support women in business. They have now put “women-owned” logos on six of their products that are produced by women-owned businesses. Indeed, 7.8 companies in the US are women-owned nowadays, and this campaign is hoped to raise awareness about gender equality in American – and international – business. Of course, there are critics who argue Walmart is already downgrading women by its low wages which disproportionately affect females, and has already been sued by pregnant employees for their inflexible and intolerant policies. They are also marking only six of their products as “women-owned” and not the potentially thousands of bits which could make a much higher impact on their campaign. I personally believe some is better than none, and while clearly there’s marketing involved, it is important to give women-owned companies visibility at the very least - and what better way than in a shop millions of people go to. So thank you, Walmart, for your promotion of women in business, as limited and self-centered as it may be.
And second follow-up for today, on the issue of fashion and public image: American retail giant ‘Walmart’ launched a new campaign this month to support women in business. They have now put “women-owned” logos on six of their products that are produced by women-owned businesses. Indeed, 7.8 companies in the US are women-owned nowadays, and this campaign is hoped to raise awareness about gender equality in American – and international – business. Of course, there are critics who argue Walmart is already downgrading women by its low wages which disproportionately affect females, and has already been sued by pregnant employees for their inflexible and intolerant policies. They are also marking only six of their products as “women-owned” and not the potentially thousands of bits which could make a much higher impact on their campaign. I personally believe some is better than none, and while clearly there’s marketing involved, it is important to give women-owned companies visibility at the very least - and what better way than in a shop millions of people go to. So thank you, Walmart, for your promotion of women in business, as limited and self-centered as it may be.
A Word on Quotas and Equal Pay Day 2015
The promised bit on Germany’s recent introduction of gender quotas for companies' board of directors: 21 March 2015
On 11 December 2014 the German grand-coalition government announced a 30% minimum requirement for board seats to be held by women in all listed companies that are subject to “co-determination” (i.e. those that required by law to have representatives of their workers on their supervisory boards). While controversial, the law was defended by hard facts and figures: women make up 43% of the labour market in the country, as well as 53% of graduates, but hold just 4% of managing-board seats and 15% of supervisory-board seats in Germany’s top 200 companies. Now if companies fall below the 30% quota and a board seat becomes empty, it will need to be kept empty until 30% is reached again. Hope is that the legal shift will also bring about cultural change and attitude/ mindset switch so more women will be promoted to top positions, which of course they’d prove they rightfully deserve.
Of course, dangers exist – for one, promoting someone just because they are female and in order to fit into a quota system, does not mean that is the most qualified person, nor that they would be given actual responsibility once in the job (risk is, becoming a trophy-business-woman). Secondly, in the current German system supervisory boards only exercise oversight anyway, so the quotas may not have such an all-transformational effect on the position and responsibilities of women in business. And thirdly, long-term speaking, quotas may become ever more unproductive and risky – women should earn their place at the top, not merely ‘inherit’ it from another female.
While I do agree very much with the short- and long-term possible repercussions of the quota system, I also believe that at the very minimum an initial push should be given by the government - not just of Germany, but in other otates. I don’t think that voluntarily ‘suggesting’ to businesses to promote women and hoping they'd include them more in decision-making has any actual effects: look at the UK. In 2011, Lord Davies’ review of women on boards stated: “FTSE 100 boards should aim for a minimum of 25% female representation by 2015 and we expect that many will achieve a higher figure”. As of few months ago, 61 of these 100 firms still had not met the target. If you look at the top 250 firms, it’s much worse: women’s representation in boardrooms was merely 17.4% in October 2014. Note that 29 FTSE 250 firms had no female directors at all. With this rate of ‘progress’ I may never have the same chances of being promoted as my less-capable male peers. I thus believe that an initial LEGAL push is essential to make companies rethink their structures, culture and values, and hopefully from then on no official law should require female presence and contribution on boards, but it will be the businesses themselves who will see the benefits of promoting women. Not forever, but quotas might be a good initial step. And in case you were wondering why hire women – read this great piece by the almighty Mrs Melinda Gates which should answer your questions straight to the point.
PS: Germany is also discussing equal pay legislation for female and male workers as we speak – very much pro the current German government I am, well done! And yesterday, 20 March, was Equal Pay Day! Massive rally was organised in Berlin, check in out.
On 11 December 2014 the German grand-coalition government announced a 30% minimum requirement for board seats to be held by women in all listed companies that are subject to “co-determination” (i.e. those that required by law to have representatives of their workers on their supervisory boards). While controversial, the law was defended by hard facts and figures: women make up 43% of the labour market in the country, as well as 53% of graduates, but hold just 4% of managing-board seats and 15% of supervisory-board seats in Germany’s top 200 companies. Now if companies fall below the 30% quota and a board seat becomes empty, it will need to be kept empty until 30% is reached again. Hope is that the legal shift will also bring about cultural change and attitude/ mindset switch so more women will be promoted to top positions, which of course they’d prove they rightfully deserve.
Of course, dangers exist – for one, promoting someone just because they are female and in order to fit into a quota system, does not mean that is the most qualified person, nor that they would be given actual responsibility once in the job (risk is, becoming a trophy-business-woman). Secondly, in the current German system supervisory boards only exercise oversight anyway, so the quotas may not have such an all-transformational effect on the position and responsibilities of women in business. And thirdly, long-term speaking, quotas may become ever more unproductive and risky – women should earn their place at the top, not merely ‘inherit’ it from another female.
While I do agree very much with the short- and long-term possible repercussions of the quota system, I also believe that at the very minimum an initial push should be given by the government - not just of Germany, but in other otates. I don’t think that voluntarily ‘suggesting’ to businesses to promote women and hoping they'd include them more in decision-making has any actual effects: look at the UK. In 2011, Lord Davies’ review of women on boards stated: “FTSE 100 boards should aim for a minimum of 25% female representation by 2015 and we expect that many will achieve a higher figure”. As of few months ago, 61 of these 100 firms still had not met the target. If you look at the top 250 firms, it’s much worse: women’s representation in boardrooms was merely 17.4% in October 2014. Note that 29 FTSE 250 firms had no female directors at all. With this rate of ‘progress’ I may never have the same chances of being promoted as my less-capable male peers. I thus believe that an initial LEGAL push is essential to make companies rethink their structures, culture and values, and hopefully from then on no official law should require female presence and contribution on boards, but it will be the businesses themselves who will see the benefits of promoting women. Not forever, but quotas might be a good initial step. And in case you were wondering why hire women – read this great piece by the almighty Mrs Melinda Gates which should answer your questions straight to the point.
PS: Germany is also discussing equal pay legislation for female and male workers as we speak – very much pro the current German government I am, well done! And yesterday, 20 March, was Equal Pay Day! Massive rally was organised in Berlin, check in out.
A Moment of Weakness
Hey, people! 20 March 2015
First off – happy birthday to the best roommie in the history of the world! Dee, love you, sunshine!
Also, I had originally planned to post on quotas for female board of directors members in Germany, but have decided to leave that for tomorrow. Today I just wanted to share a rather personal insight of what it’s like to feel down and the desperate need people may sometimes have for support.
This past week was rather negative for me. I failed to get a job I wanted. I had uni trouble with not-straight-A's-standard performance. I accidentally ripped my favourite skirt off from end to end – while I was wearing it (tragedy, I know). I got into a serious fight with someone I care(d) about. I didn’t manage to click fast enough on a registration web-platform to get a place and see Mr Kofi Annan who’s coming to my uni in a week (that actually IS disappointing, big time, but not going to get into my university first-come-first-served internet politics). My mom also had personal stuff that I had to be there for her. So with all this, it felt at the time that the world was about to end. And it still kind of does – when I look at my ripped off skirt. But when I have the amazing girlies that I do, and a greatly supportive family, I know I must look at the positives rather than the negatives. My girl Tonia told me once, Everyone's allowed a moment of weakness and lack of clarity, even you! So yes, I failed to get the job this week, but I’ve still got high chances in other positions I have applied for. Yes, I won’t be able to see Mr Annan, but I might as well become the next Miss UN, could I not! In moments like this, two things definitely help me (in addition to friends and family support, that is). One, Olivia Pope – fierce as always, today’s 'Scandal' got my mood up! Ladies as strong and as bad-ass as her, just always make me get on my own feet and go grab life by the balls. Including today’s guest star performance by Lena Dunham – my FAVOURITE Girls actress ever! And two – thank you Mr Jamie Foxx (and Chris Brown) for your latest creation – 'You Changed Me' has been on replay on my phone 75 times as of 4 pm today.
On an ever more serious note, as mild depressive mood as that is for me these days, there are millions of women out there who are in desperate need of physical and emotional support. The World Health Organization says women are 2 times more likely than men to develop certain mental health conditions like depression, eating disorders, and panic disorders. Women are also 2-3 times more likely to attempt suicide. And 1 in 4 women will require treatment for depression at some time (compared to 1 in 10 men). So thanks, everyone, who stands by me when I’m feeling a bit down, and let’s all offer the same assistance to those more in need. And most of all – talk about it, as writing this very post alone already helped me to get the negativity off my chest.
Happy weekend, people!
First off – happy birthday to the best roommie in the history of the world! Dee, love you, sunshine!
Also, I had originally planned to post on quotas for female board of directors members in Germany, but have decided to leave that for tomorrow. Today I just wanted to share a rather personal insight of what it’s like to feel down and the desperate need people may sometimes have for support.
This past week was rather negative for me. I failed to get a job I wanted. I had uni trouble with not-straight-A's-standard performance. I accidentally ripped my favourite skirt off from end to end – while I was wearing it (tragedy, I know). I got into a serious fight with someone I care(d) about. I didn’t manage to click fast enough on a registration web-platform to get a place and see Mr Kofi Annan who’s coming to my uni in a week (that actually IS disappointing, big time, but not going to get into my university first-come-first-served internet politics). My mom also had personal stuff that I had to be there for her. So with all this, it felt at the time that the world was about to end. And it still kind of does – when I look at my ripped off skirt. But when I have the amazing girlies that I do, and a greatly supportive family, I know I must look at the positives rather than the negatives. My girl Tonia told me once, Everyone's allowed a moment of weakness and lack of clarity, even you! So yes, I failed to get the job this week, but I’ve still got high chances in other positions I have applied for. Yes, I won’t be able to see Mr Annan, but I might as well become the next Miss UN, could I not! In moments like this, two things definitely help me (in addition to friends and family support, that is). One, Olivia Pope – fierce as always, today’s 'Scandal' got my mood up! Ladies as strong and as bad-ass as her, just always make me get on my own feet and go grab life by the balls. Including today’s guest star performance by Lena Dunham – my FAVOURITE Girls actress ever! And two – thank you Mr Jamie Foxx (and Chris Brown) for your latest creation – 'You Changed Me' has been on replay on my phone 75 times as of 4 pm today.
On an ever more serious note, as mild depressive mood as that is for me these days, there are millions of women out there who are in desperate need of physical and emotional support. The World Health Organization says women are 2 times more likely than men to develop certain mental health conditions like depression, eating disorders, and panic disorders. Women are also 2-3 times more likely to attempt suicide. And 1 in 4 women will require treatment for depression at some time (compared to 1 in 10 men). So thanks, everyone, who stands by me when I’m feeling a bit down, and let’s all offer the same assistance to those more in need. And most of all – talk about it, as writing this very post alone already helped me to get the negativity off my chest.
Happy weekend, people!
What Do Crocodile Steaks and Helicopters Have in Common?
Morning, beautiful people! 19 March 2015
Today’s update is on the now-very-popular StopTaxingOurPeriods campaign in the UK:
On Wednesday last week a petition signed by over 208,000 people was handed over to George Osborne in the UK government (Chancellor of the Exchequer, aka the guy in charge of the Treasury for those not-familiar with the British political jargon). So Mr Osborne got the petition and he had a week till yesterday’s budget announcement for 2015 to consider whether or not getting rid of tampon tax will be part of his last agenda before the UK General elections this spring. Sadly, yesterday the budget was announced and the wishes of 208,000 people were not taken into account – no plans to scrap the extra 5% on our pads and tampons. While disappointing, this is not the end of the campaign – firstly, the Labour Party officially announced they’d get rid of the tax should they be elected in power in May 2015. And secondly, even if they don’t, there’s still at least two practical steps you can take to support the ongoing campaign:
- tweet at George Osborne now and let him know you are unhappy with the new women-unfriendly budget: http://bit.ly/1CpKn9F
- write to your MP and ask them to sign Early Day Motion 866 by Charlotte Leslie MP, calling on Osborne to support the removal of this tax. You can do that here: https://www.writetothem.com/
In the upcoming months the UK organizers of the campaign will also team up with other female lobbying groups around Europe so tax-free tampons and pads can finally be considered a necessity, not a luxury!
Reminder: helicopters and crocodile steaks are on the tax-exemption list. Personal hygiene of women doesn’t seem to be high enough on the government’s priority list as of now. Let’s make that change!
PS: If you are interested in further discussion on the upcoming UK General elections, have a look at this fantastic overview of the recent Marie Claire-hosted live elections debate with female leaders from all five main political parties. #MCElection
Today’s update is on the now-very-popular StopTaxingOurPeriods campaign in the UK:
On Wednesday last week a petition signed by over 208,000 people was handed over to George Osborne in the UK government (Chancellor of the Exchequer, aka the guy in charge of the Treasury for those not-familiar with the British political jargon). So Mr Osborne got the petition and he had a week till yesterday’s budget announcement for 2015 to consider whether or not getting rid of tampon tax will be part of his last agenda before the UK General elections this spring. Sadly, yesterday the budget was announced and the wishes of 208,000 people were not taken into account – no plans to scrap the extra 5% on our pads and tampons. While disappointing, this is not the end of the campaign – firstly, the Labour Party officially announced they’d get rid of the tax should they be elected in power in May 2015. And secondly, even if they don’t, there’s still at least two practical steps you can take to support the ongoing campaign:
- tweet at George Osborne now and let him know you are unhappy with the new women-unfriendly budget: http://bit.ly/1CpKn9F
- write to your MP and ask them to sign Early Day Motion 866 by Charlotte Leslie MP, calling on Osborne to support the removal of this tax. You can do that here: https://www.writetothem.com/
In the upcoming months the UK organizers of the campaign will also team up with other female lobbying groups around Europe so tax-free tampons and pads can finally be considered a necessity, not a luxury!
Reminder: helicopters and crocodile steaks are on the tax-exemption list. Personal hygiene of women doesn’t seem to be high enough on the government’s priority list as of now. Let’s make that change!
PS: If you are interested in further discussion on the upcoming UK General elections, have a look at this fantastic overview of the recent Marie Claire-hosted live elections debate with female leaders from all five main political parties. #MCElection
The Agender Project
Last week a revolutionary change started at Selfridges - the iconic Oxford St store in London introduced a gender neutral shopping experience. For six weeks between 12 March and end of April 2015, Selfridges will be merging its separate women’s and men’s departments over three floors. The Agender project, as they call it, aims to ‘act as a test bed for experimentation around ideas of gender — both to allow our shoppers to approach the experience without preconceptions and for us as retailers to move the way we shop fashion forward.’ In addition to the floors merger, the store will also change up its window displays - no more gendered mannequins, rather androgynous ones dressed with agender clothes. Selfridges is also hosting photography, film, music and design pieces. So if you can't be bothered to go between floors and want to flexibly swap your attire to that of your boyfriend, Selfridges is the place to go: London, Birmingham and Manchester. Plus online. All till 30 April.
And while we are on the fashion theme, quick commentary on the importance of looks and clothes choices - particularly if you are in the public eye and -oh, dear- if you are a woman. The new Greek Prime Minister has attracted a lot of attention lately because of his choice to dress rather sporty and not wear a tie, even when meeting the almighty Angela Merkel and Francois Holland. The world press went on him and yet, they said not wearing a tie gives Mr Tsipras a 'symbolic power'. Now I somehow feel more criticism was going to come his way if he were female. Just look at Margaret Thatcher's evolution of clothing choices between her first election as an MP and her subsequent re-elections as Prime Minister in the 80s. Or the critical eye of everyone on Kate Middleton - how dare she wear RED in the presence of the Queen?! Who does that? Or what about the rule of the knee-long skirt? Why such rules for women in public - why colour restrictions, why are we perceived as 'eccentric' and even 'provocative' when we wear short dresses and open neck blouses. Even looking back at myself, why did I not wear my favourite red dress when I went to meet the Qatari Foreign Minister last spring? I have to admit being a woman and aiming to be fashionable, yet dressing appropriately, is a challenge. And of course there is a double standard, wearing a red tie will certainly not be considered as big of a threat to 'power' and 'status' as my red dress may have been. Point is, it's about time we break the rules - whenever and wherever possible.
And while we are on the fashion theme, quick commentary on the importance of looks and clothes choices - particularly if you are in the public eye and -oh, dear- if you are a woman. The new Greek Prime Minister has attracted a lot of attention lately because of his choice to dress rather sporty and not wear a tie, even when meeting the almighty Angela Merkel and Francois Holland. The world press went on him and yet, they said not wearing a tie gives Mr Tsipras a 'symbolic power'. Now I somehow feel more criticism was going to come his way if he were female. Just look at Margaret Thatcher's evolution of clothing choices between her first election as an MP and her subsequent re-elections as Prime Minister in the 80s. Or the critical eye of everyone on Kate Middleton - how dare she wear RED in the presence of the Queen?! Who does that? Or what about the rule of the knee-long skirt? Why such rules for women in public - why colour restrictions, why are we perceived as 'eccentric' and even 'provocative' when we wear short dresses and open neck blouses. Even looking back at myself, why did I not wear my favourite red dress when I went to meet the Qatari Foreign Minister last spring? I have to admit being a woman and aiming to be fashionable, yet dressing appropriately, is a challenge. And of course there is a double standard, wearing a red tie will certainly not be considered as big of a threat to 'power' and 'status' as my red dress may have been. Point is, it's about time we break the rules - whenever and wherever possible.
UNESCO and Women
Hello, ladies and gents! 14 March 2015
Been off the blogging radar for a few days due to a London visitor and crazy busy schedule (incl an incredibly exciting Usher concert on Wednesday). But now, I’m back and first off I wanted to focus on UNESCO and particularly an exhibition I visited at UNSECO’s HQ yesterday. It was on women around the world and featured female painters and sculptors from Argentina, Egypt, Ghana, Nepal, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic. While it was not as big an exhibition as I had expected, it was very interesting nevertheless and my personal favourite piece is below – by Ghanaian Constance Swaniker, called ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’. It makes powerful impact with its reference to rape as a weapon of war, especially in the African context where Rwanda, Darfur and the Democratic Republic of Congo are just a few examples of the tragedy of female victims of mass rape. The exhibition was only open to the public for five days this week, but if you did get a chance to see it – well done, as it was both good art (said by a non-arty person), and impactful in its historical references and still message for hope and improvement of the fate of women and girls across the globe.
Meanwhile, as UNESCO is after all the UN body responsible to promote girls and women’s education and empowerment, here is the Director-General’s message to us on 8th March, International Women’s Day (Mrs Bokova also happens to be Bulgarian as we know, a huge pride for our country and inspiration to us aspiring young diplomats and civil servants): http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002318/231806e.pdf
Further updates on UNESCO’s and Mrs Bokova’s work: on 4th March, a high-level international conference took place at UNESCO’s HQ in Paris, which focused on education for girls and women and the importance of women’s empowerment for sustainable development. “Re-Thinking Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality in 2015 and beyond” had six top-panelists (including Mrs Tsetska Tsacheva ot Bulgaria) whom all stressed gender equality is critical for development and ‘must be included on the post-2015 development agenda’. As a reminder, this year is the 20th anniversary of the Beijing conference on women, which gathered 17,000 participants together in the Chinese capital and drafted the Declaration of Beijing and its Platform for Action: they still remain ‘a powerful source of inspiration regarding women’s rights, women’s empowerment and gender equality’. With conferences such as this now in Paris, the issue remains in the public eye and we must all continue to maintain the importance of the inclusion of gender matters as part of the post-2015 UN agenda. Tell the UN about the world you want to see post 2015 here and choose ‘equality between men and women’ - the more pressure on the UN, the better.
Been off the blogging radar for a few days due to a London visitor and crazy busy schedule (incl an incredibly exciting Usher concert on Wednesday). But now, I’m back and first off I wanted to focus on UNESCO and particularly an exhibition I visited at UNSECO’s HQ yesterday. It was on women around the world and featured female painters and sculptors from Argentina, Egypt, Ghana, Nepal, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic. While it was not as big an exhibition as I had expected, it was very interesting nevertheless and my personal favourite piece is below – by Ghanaian Constance Swaniker, called ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’. It makes powerful impact with its reference to rape as a weapon of war, especially in the African context where Rwanda, Darfur and the Democratic Republic of Congo are just a few examples of the tragedy of female victims of mass rape. The exhibition was only open to the public for five days this week, but if you did get a chance to see it – well done, as it was both good art (said by a non-arty person), and impactful in its historical references and still message for hope and improvement of the fate of women and girls across the globe.
Meanwhile, as UNESCO is after all the UN body responsible to promote girls and women’s education and empowerment, here is the Director-General’s message to us on 8th March, International Women’s Day (Mrs Bokova also happens to be Bulgarian as we know, a huge pride for our country and inspiration to us aspiring young diplomats and civil servants): http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002318/231806e.pdf
Further updates on UNESCO’s and Mrs Bokova’s work: on 4th March, a high-level international conference took place at UNESCO’s HQ in Paris, which focused on education for girls and women and the importance of women’s empowerment for sustainable development. “Re-Thinking Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality in 2015 and beyond” had six top-panelists (including Mrs Tsetska Tsacheva ot Bulgaria) whom all stressed gender equality is critical for development and ‘must be included on the post-2015 development agenda’. As a reminder, this year is the 20th anniversary of the Beijing conference on women, which gathered 17,000 participants together in the Chinese capital and drafted the Declaration of Beijing and its Platform for Action: they still remain ‘a powerful source of inspiration regarding women’s rights, women’s empowerment and gender equality’. With conferences such as this now in Paris, the issue remains in the public eye and we must all continue to maintain the importance of the inclusion of gender matters as part of the post-2015 UN agenda. Tell the UN about the world you want to see post 2015 here and choose ‘equality between men and women’ - the more pressure on the UN, the better.
No Tax on Periods + Event Invitations
Hello, beautiful people! 10 March 2015
Very brief today, just wanted to remind you of tomorrow’s handing of the #StopTaxingOurPeriods petition of Laura Coryton and co to the UK government. More than 195 000 people have already signed the letter to George Osborne to change the legislation (UK and EU wide, as taxing specific products is a EU-regulated matter). In the UK 5% is put on top of our pads and tampons because of tax – but in other EU states such as Hungary, this figure is as high as 27%! What a robbery from females across the continent! Make sure you come at 2 pm tomorrow at 11 Downing Street in London to hand over the petition and to pressure the UK government for reform. Also, read this great article on The Independent on 5 easy steps to get rid of period taxing.
And secondly, have a look at these two event invitations below:
Art exhibition by Forward (charity against FGM; all of this week at The Red Gallery in London) + Film screening of ‘The Supreme Price’, a Nigerian-based movie on women, politics and society, at ICA London on 17th March, 8.15 pm.
Meanwhile, Miss Ralitsa Ganevska and I are heading to the international arts exhibition on women, taking place at UNESCO HQ this week. We’ll be there Friday pm, if you fancy a Paris walk - please do join!
Very brief today, just wanted to remind you of tomorrow’s handing of the #StopTaxingOurPeriods petition of Laura Coryton and co to the UK government. More than 195 000 people have already signed the letter to George Osborne to change the legislation (UK and EU wide, as taxing specific products is a EU-regulated matter). In the UK 5% is put on top of our pads and tampons because of tax – but in other EU states such as Hungary, this figure is as high as 27%! What a robbery from females across the continent! Make sure you come at 2 pm tomorrow at 11 Downing Street in London to hand over the petition and to pressure the UK government for reform. Also, read this great article on The Independent on 5 easy steps to get rid of period taxing.
And secondly, have a look at these two event invitations below:
Art exhibition by Forward (charity against FGM; all of this week at The Red Gallery in London) + Film screening of ‘The Supreme Price’, a Nigerian-based movie on women, politics and society, at ICA London on 17th March, 8.15 pm.
Meanwhile, Miss Ralitsa Ganevska and I are heading to the international arts exhibition on women, taking place at UNESCO HQ this week. We’ll be there Friday pm, if you fancy a Paris walk - please do join!
Movies Experiment 2. 0
As promised, here’s a short review of my movies social experiment (No 2) last week in honour of International Women’s Day, featuring strong female characters:
PS 2: I’m not saying I support Mrs Thatcher’s political views or actions, but I definitely found her persona very interesting and I admire her as a female political leader.
Overall, it was not very easy to find movies with very strong female characters, it’s not like typing in ‘spy movies’ and you get a million results with a man in the center, always. I tried to combine the choices of movies to show other aspects than just gender, incl race, religion, prostitution and politics. And I am happy with all that I saw (except ‘GirlHouse’ as I said). We should be reminded female actresses still get paid less than their male counterparts (5-10-to 20% less for co-starring roles) and inequality in Hollywood is still evident in movie productions. But still I got to see amazing women with strong personalities and great achievements and I’m perfectly happy I spent 14.5 hours of my week on this. I’m off to make a change in the world myself now (starting with writing my French homework for tomorrow, as I gotta graduate first, you know, before even more amazing things could happen) :)
- Monday eve was ‘Diary of a Mad Black Woman’. It was fun, as in, I was laughing out loud quite a few times, despite having seen this movie years ago already. It deals with racial stereotypes, stay-at-home wife, ungrateful husband-lawyer, illness, new love and dedication to God. There was one bit too much reference to church and God, than I would have prefered, but the movie was deeply emotional, showed the depths of a woman’s love and dedication to her partner, and most certainly gave us, the viewers, hope that kindness will someday be rewarded. And I cried for the last 30 mins of the movie non-stop, so get your tissues ready.
- Tuesday I did ‘Million Dollar Baby’, on which I cried even more. A girl who wants to become a professional boxer follows through her dream and reaches the world championship finals. Then her advisory cheats and punches her in a way that her spine gets broken. She spends months in bed, together with her coach who stays to support her, and at the end she dies. But it is so truly emotional and inspiring, the whole movie is, that even I want to become a professional sportswoman after this. Amazingly moving as well!
- Wednesday was day for ‘Girlhouse’. I do NOT recommend this movie at all, it was brutal and scary, Halloween-thriller like, and quite offputting to, I have to say. A girl starts working in a porn house, Big Brother style, in order to pay for college. Nothing bad in that, I’m all for independent women who willfully decide to engage in prostitution as means of livelihood. But the movie then moves on to a stalker to tracks her down and kills everyone in the GirlHouse and she’s the last the remain. She does survive but the killings are way too brutal and I wouldn’t even say she’s an exceptionally strong character herself.
- Thursday was ‘The Iron Lady’. Now here we’ve got the real deal. Margaret Thatcher’s life is shown from her early adult ages (Oxford education and first aspirations in politics) to her 80s after the Premiership. Very interesting movie, great actress play by Meryl Streep, and overall very, very close depiction of real historical events and speeches. The movie was criticized for portraying the Lady as mentally unstable (she’s got hallucination towards her late years), and while we can’t know to what extent Mrs Thatcher had those in reality, the production is a very good portrait of her as a leader, as a mother and as a wife. Well done, all the way.
PS 2: I’m not saying I support Mrs Thatcher’s political views or actions, but I definitely found her persona very interesting and I admire her as a female political leader.
- Friday was the time to calm down from crying and horror movies, and to do something more fun – I re-watched the series finale of Desperate Housewives (for the 199th time). You know it’s my favourite show of all times and I just had to remind myself of why being a housewife is not a shameful job (all four housewives), nor is it easy to juggle business and five kids (Lynette), nor having a home business (Bree), finding a way for your passionate to become a source of income (Gabby), nor losing your loved one at such an early stage of your life (Susan). We all face difficulties throughout our lifetime and those four women show us that patience, love and dedication go a long way! Of course I cried one more time when Lynette and Tom got back together, sweetest scene in the world!
- Saturday was the final day of my pre-IWD experiment and I saw ‘The Help’. It’s again a truly inspirational movie, based in the 1960s, and it stars one of my favourite actresses at present (Analise Keating from ‘How to get away with murder’) as a black maid to a rich white woman. The movie is about race, social classes, inequality amongst women, and gratitude as humans. Very moving once again and got me to decide I will not be hiring a maid, ever, no matter how rich/ busy I may get, and her job will instead be done by myself and my husband. Equally. Just sayin.
Overall, it was not very easy to find movies with very strong female characters, it’s not like typing in ‘spy movies’ and you get a million results with a man in the center, always. I tried to combine the choices of movies to show other aspects than just gender, incl race, religion, prostitution and politics. And I am happy with all that I saw (except ‘GirlHouse’ as I said). We should be reminded female actresses still get paid less than their male counterparts (5-10-to 20% less for co-starring roles) and inequality in Hollywood is still evident in movie productions. But still I got to see amazing women with strong personalities and great achievements and I’m perfectly happy I spent 14.5 hours of my week on this. I’m off to make a change in the world myself now (starting with writing my French homework for tomorrow, as I gotta graduate first, you know, before even more amazing things could happen) :)
Can't Hold Us Down
Yesterday afternoon, International Women's Day, I had the pleasure to take part in the Global march for women's rights in central Paris. On an absolutely beautiful Sunday afternoon with 18 degrees weather and sunshine, around 4000 people walked from Republique to Hotel du Ville and expressed their support for gender equality across the globe. There was a variety of women, majority white and Middle Eastern, but a few black and Asian as well. All ages, as young as teenagers (seemingly) and as old as 60-70 years of age. There were men as well, which I particularly liked. And while at first I did not understand what they were shouting, pretty soon my ear for French improved and I joined in the call for solidarity and equality. What I was personally not very fond of, was the switch as some point to call against fascism (?), racism (?), and ban on all prostitution (?). While I do not support in any way fascism or racism (for prostitution I've said already I think it should remain legal but demand should be targeted and prosecuted instead), I did not understand the shift to politically causes like fascism or common-society problems like racism. I think this kind of diverted the attention to other problems as opposed to the fundamental issue of gender which was meant to be the focus of the march. But neverheless it was a great experience to be part of, and I am glad to see so many women and men standing up to injustice and unfairness. Well done, Paris! And well done to the world - check out this link with pictures from all cities across the globe where manifestations took place yesterday. Impressive! The world can't hold us down!
I Woke Up Like This: Flawless!
Happy International Women's Day!
Happy International Women’s Day!
8 March was first celebrated 100 years ago in New York by the Socialist Party of America in honour of the strike organised by the International Ladies' Garment Workers union one year before – i.e. IWD started off as a celebration of working women’s achievements and drive for progress and fairness in the world!
I take today as my very first professional celebration as a young self-discovered feminist and would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the best in your careers, personal lives and those of your families and friends! We all ‘woke up like this – flawless!’
To share a few inspirational stories, in line with the celebratory spirit today, have a look at this great campaign by Afghan men, who marched through Kabul’s streets this week in burqas, to protest against women’s oppression in the country.
Also, speaking of burqas and veils, check out The Guardian’s gallery collection of the evolution of veils throughout the years. Beautiful ladies and amazing fashion choices, I must say!
Further, ‘The Dress’ (you must have heard of it last week, a dress tweeted was seen by half the world in black and blue, and by the other half – in white and gold; no, it’s not a question of being colour-blind, rather on the light it was shown in front of), has now been launched as a social campaign against violence against women. Check out the new Salvation Army poster at the link above – well done to whoever Marketing genius came up with this – great example of using #trends to address social inequalities and violence!
And one final positive piece of news – YouTube launched this week a brand new campaign, #DearMe, which aims to empower young women who are struggling with self-doubt and pressure. YouTube is encouraging people to upload a video on the site, ‘addressing their younger selves and the issues they faced growing up’. Loving this innovative thinking and can’t wait to see your (and my) letter to #DearMe!
Now, people know that my family consists of some pretty bad-ass women: Mom, divorced two years into a marriage, despite what ‘people would say’ (back in the early 1990s that was a major No), she’s got two Masters now, a pretty successful career, and very go-and-get-it attitude in life. Fighter. Granny – same: 45 years professional life as a midwife and nurse, gone from poverty to building a five-bedroom apartment in the centre of our city, having two grown-up and successful kids and me – of course ;) But one person, whom I grew up with, hasn’t been the topic of my feminist blogging just yet – and that is the one MAN in my life to whom I owe my entire childhood and values since: my grandfather!
Granddad was a teacher but retired early and he was the one who brought me up while mom had two jobs to pay the bills and manage as a single parent. Granddad was there when I ate sand on the street, because I thought it was food (I did, really – I was five and still remember it); when I also ate grass for the same reason (I was very edible back then, haha); when I had my first ballet concert at 8 years old, and at my first ever parents’ evening at first grade in school. He told me after that night that I was a ‘girl on fire’, and that I should keep up my excellent performance at school and beyond, to make mommy and grandparents proud. And that they will always love me and that I’d go far. I am teary now that I am typing this up because if it wasn’t for my granddad and all the time and efforts he invested into me, I’d never be what I am today. He still cries every time I go back home and then leave for abroad (I’ve forbidden mom and grandparents from tears as it gets me too emotional – but he still can’t stop his emotions). And today – on Women’s Day – I pay my tributes to the one MAN who made me the WOMAN I am today!
Love you, dedence!
PS: My movies discussion on women at home and in business is coming up tomorrow!
8 March was first celebrated 100 years ago in New York by the Socialist Party of America in honour of the strike organised by the International Ladies' Garment Workers union one year before – i.e. IWD started off as a celebration of working women’s achievements and drive for progress and fairness in the world!
I take today as my very first professional celebration as a young self-discovered feminist and would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the best in your careers, personal lives and those of your families and friends! We all ‘woke up like this – flawless!’
To share a few inspirational stories, in line with the celebratory spirit today, have a look at this great campaign by Afghan men, who marched through Kabul’s streets this week in burqas, to protest against women’s oppression in the country.
Also, speaking of burqas and veils, check out The Guardian’s gallery collection of the evolution of veils throughout the years. Beautiful ladies and amazing fashion choices, I must say!
Further, ‘The Dress’ (you must have heard of it last week, a dress tweeted was seen by half the world in black and blue, and by the other half – in white and gold; no, it’s not a question of being colour-blind, rather on the light it was shown in front of), has now been launched as a social campaign against violence against women. Check out the new Salvation Army poster at the link above – well done to whoever Marketing genius came up with this – great example of using #trends to address social inequalities and violence!
And one final positive piece of news – YouTube launched this week a brand new campaign, #DearMe, which aims to empower young women who are struggling with self-doubt and pressure. YouTube is encouraging people to upload a video on the site, ‘addressing their younger selves and the issues they faced growing up’. Loving this innovative thinking and can’t wait to see your (and my) letter to #DearMe!
Now, people know that my family consists of some pretty bad-ass women: Mom, divorced two years into a marriage, despite what ‘people would say’ (back in the early 1990s that was a major No), she’s got two Masters now, a pretty successful career, and very go-and-get-it attitude in life. Fighter. Granny – same: 45 years professional life as a midwife and nurse, gone from poverty to building a five-bedroom apartment in the centre of our city, having two grown-up and successful kids and me – of course ;) But one person, whom I grew up with, hasn’t been the topic of my feminist blogging just yet – and that is the one MAN in my life to whom I owe my entire childhood and values since: my grandfather!
Granddad was a teacher but retired early and he was the one who brought me up while mom had two jobs to pay the bills and manage as a single parent. Granddad was there when I ate sand on the street, because I thought it was food (I did, really – I was five and still remember it); when I also ate grass for the same reason (I was very edible back then, haha); when I had my first ballet concert at 8 years old, and at my first ever parents’ evening at first grade in school. He told me after that night that I was a ‘girl on fire’, and that I should keep up my excellent performance at school and beyond, to make mommy and grandparents proud. And that they will always love me and that I’d go far. I am teary now that I am typing this up because if it wasn’t for my granddad and all the time and efforts he invested into me, I’d never be what I am today. He still cries every time I go back home and then leave for abroad (I’ve forbidden mom and grandparents from tears as it gets me too emotional – but he still can’t stop his emotions). And today – on Women’s Day – I pay my tributes to the one MAN who made me the WOMAN I am today!
Love you, dedence!
PS: My movies discussion on women at home and in business is coming up tomorrow!
'There Is No Honour In Killing'
Hey, ladies and gents! 7 March 2015
This week, the Pakistani Parliament passed an anti-honour killings bill! Its purpose is to amend the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 and the Qanoon-e-Shahadat Order, 1984 to provide justice to the victims’ of this heinous crime by convicting the criminals responsible for this offence’, explained the Senator responsible for the bill drafting. While I am not particularly clear what exactly the bill consists of, and there’s not much info and details out there, it is nevertheless a step towards justice and more and fairer convictions. The state is far from examplous (it has the highest number of honour killings in the world, on average 1000 per year, and majority of them against women), and yet discussing the issue and bringing it to the attention of Parliament is somewhat of a move still. To celebrate the wider attention given to honour killings globally, have a look at these two exceptional TED speeches by Khalida Brohi (how embroidery helps women in Pakistan to stand up against inequality and honour killings), and Dianna Nammi (culture can never justify honour killings). Enjoy!
I’m off to a ‘Women and cities’ exhibition now, but I’ll be back tomorrow with a lot of news on International Women’s Day and a personal tribute to a very important MAN in my own life. See you, ladies and gents!
This week, the Pakistani Parliament passed an anti-honour killings bill! Its purpose is to amend the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 and the Qanoon-e-Shahadat Order, 1984 to provide justice to the victims’ of this heinous crime by convicting the criminals responsible for this offence’, explained the Senator responsible for the bill drafting. While I am not particularly clear what exactly the bill consists of, and there’s not much info and details out there, it is nevertheless a step towards justice and more and fairer convictions. The state is far from examplous (it has the highest number of honour killings in the world, on average 1000 per year, and majority of them against women), and yet discussing the issue and bringing it to the attention of Parliament is somewhat of a move still. To celebrate the wider attention given to honour killings globally, have a look at these two exceptional TED speeches by Khalida Brohi (how embroidery helps women in Pakistan to stand up against inequality and honour killings), and Dianna Nammi (culture can never justify honour killings). Enjoy!
I’m off to a ‘Women and cities’ exhibition now, but I’ll be back tomorrow with a lot of news on International Women’s Day and a personal tribute to a very important MAN in my own life. See you, ladies and gents!
'True' Rape is 'Rare' - Is it?
Hey, world! 6 March 2015
So I was thinking of a much more fun topic for today’s post, but I saw this article this morning, which shocked me to the point where I decided to write on rape – again! Please have a read through the piece on The Guardian and feel free to share your comments on what Monica Tan shares – namely, how a-few-month old relationship turned into a somewhat-of-a-rape by the man she was with. They had sex after a major fight, and he came inside her despite her refusal to let him do so. Is that rape? Or is the fact that they were already having a consensual act enough to justify his actions? For me personally, it is a definite rape – and I agree with the author that there is a big shady life between a ‘No’ and ‘Enthusiastic consent’. So even if it started with an agreement and they were both enjoying, the ending is what determines the act as unlawful, disrespectful and psychologically brutalizing towards the female in this scenario. Which also brings me to an article I wrote few months back on rape on UK university campuses, which was re-published this week by the Opinion Panel UK. Unfortunately, one of the comments underneath, which I found beyond appaling, says that ‘true’ rape is ‘rare’ nowadays. Maybe, if you live in a fantasy world. But on the planet Earth, in developed states like the US, UK and others, one in five girls will get raped during her college career. So don’t tell me it’s a rare crime and that if a girl has already consented to sex and/ or she is drunk, it’s her fault. Read an Oxford girl’s testimony on rape while at uni, and please do consider the pain, shame and stigma victims go through. It only helps if we talk about these things!
Have a safe weekend, ladies – AND gentlemen!
So I was thinking of a much more fun topic for today’s post, but I saw this article this morning, which shocked me to the point where I decided to write on rape – again! Please have a read through the piece on The Guardian and feel free to share your comments on what Monica Tan shares – namely, how a-few-month old relationship turned into a somewhat-of-a-rape by the man she was with. They had sex after a major fight, and he came inside her despite her refusal to let him do so. Is that rape? Or is the fact that they were already having a consensual act enough to justify his actions? For me personally, it is a definite rape – and I agree with the author that there is a big shady life between a ‘No’ and ‘Enthusiastic consent’. So even if it started with an agreement and they were both enjoying, the ending is what determines the act as unlawful, disrespectful and psychologically brutalizing towards the female in this scenario. Which also brings me to an article I wrote few months back on rape on UK university campuses, which was re-published this week by the Opinion Panel UK. Unfortunately, one of the comments underneath, which I found beyond appaling, says that ‘true’ rape is ‘rare’ nowadays. Maybe, if you live in a fantasy world. But on the planet Earth, in developed states like the US, UK and others, one in five girls will get raped during her college career. So don’t tell me it’s a rare crime and that if a girl has already consented to sex and/ or she is drunk, it’s her fault. Read an Oxford girl’s testimony on rape while at uni, and please do consider the pain, shame and stigma victims go through. It only helps if we talk about these things!
Have a safe weekend, ladies – AND gentlemen!
Women's Day
+ Women's Week (For Me)
Morning, beautiful people! 4 March 2015
Short and sweet today - partly because I got no internet at home so am sitting at a Costa, trying to finish uni assignments, and partly because I got a uni presentation in a couple of hours that I need to prep for.
So it's Wednesday already and I must encourage you all to join the events and activities at this week's Women of the World festival in London. It's the fifth annuversary of the festival, taking place at Southbank, and it will conclude with a talk on Sunday eve by the irreplaceable Miss Salma Hayek. Every day a talk, workshop or a performance is taking place (check the schedule of what's on at the link above), and it would be a shame if Londoners - and visitors - missed this great celebration of women around the world and their contribution to peace, development and prosperity.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, 8 March, International Women's Day, the Walk in Her Shoes fundraising campaign will be launched by CARE UK and supporting celebrities during the Women's Day Walk organised by the charity - read about it on my campaigns page and make sure to join the march in the morning at Scoop at More London (near Tower Bridge).
Last for Sunday - BBC is going to broadcast India's daughter, an explicit documentary of the infamous gang rape of an Indian medical student in Delhi in December 2012. And by the way, in case you hadn't heard, one of the rapists that night gave an interview this week in which he claimed the girl victim shouldn't have resisted the rape and should not have been out on a bus at 9 pm at all - no decent girl would do that, he said. Outrageous and truly shocking - read more about his testimony here.
Before I leave you for today, I wanted to announce that i am conducting a second movie experiment. Followng the success on my previous post on women and sex (see below: Read it like it's hot) around Valentine's day, I now decided to conduct a similar experiment on movies with strong female characters (at home or in business) in honour of the International Day of the Woman this Sunday. I am following the same method - one movie each day this week, and then observations ans discussion on Sunday. I have already seen Diary of a Mad Black Woman and Million Dollar Baby, plenty left till the weekend. Will keep you updated! Xx
Short and sweet today - partly because I got no internet at home so am sitting at a Costa, trying to finish uni assignments, and partly because I got a uni presentation in a couple of hours that I need to prep for.
So it's Wednesday already and I must encourage you all to join the events and activities at this week's Women of the World festival in London. It's the fifth annuversary of the festival, taking place at Southbank, and it will conclude with a talk on Sunday eve by the irreplaceable Miss Salma Hayek. Every day a talk, workshop or a performance is taking place (check the schedule of what's on at the link above), and it would be a shame if Londoners - and visitors - missed this great celebration of women around the world and their contribution to peace, development and prosperity.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, 8 March, International Women's Day, the Walk in Her Shoes fundraising campaign will be launched by CARE UK and supporting celebrities during the Women's Day Walk organised by the charity - read about it on my campaigns page and make sure to join the march in the morning at Scoop at More London (near Tower Bridge).
Last for Sunday - BBC is going to broadcast India's daughter, an explicit documentary of the infamous gang rape of an Indian medical student in Delhi in December 2012. And by the way, in case you hadn't heard, one of the rapists that night gave an interview this week in which he claimed the girl victim shouldn't have resisted the rape and should not have been out on a bus at 9 pm at all - no decent girl would do that, he said. Outrageous and truly shocking - read more about his testimony here.
Before I leave you for today, I wanted to announce that i am conducting a second movie experiment. Followng the success on my previous post on women and sex (see below: Read it like it's hot) around Valentine's day, I now decided to conduct a similar experiment on movies with strong female characters (at home or in business) in honour of the International Day of the Woman this Sunday. I am following the same method - one movie each day this week, and then observations ans discussion on Sunday. I have already seen Diary of a Mad Black Woman and Million Dollar Baby, plenty left till the weekend. Will keep you updated! Xx
Mr Johnson Has Spoken
Hey ladies and gents!
The much-awaited response of the Mayor of London to my inquiry into access to public toilets in London and gender discrimination at those same facilities has now reached my mailbox! See below what Mr Johnson has said and by the way, I am surprised myself at some of this info. I’ve sent off an army of girls to check on Tesco and Sainsbury’s, etc and will report back in a new social experiment post end of March 2015. And I’ll personally go around and check those tube toilets he quotes. Overall though, I’m pleased to see someone actually thought of this problem and it’s not just me finding it unfair to have to pee on the street in times of desperate need (see blog post below).
Dear Mr Johnson,
I hope this finds you well and that London town’s issues are well under control in your office.
I am writing in regards to one specific issue myself and other (young) women like me find particularly disturbing and discriminatory in London – access to female public toilets.
I recently read an article by Soraya Chemaly at Time magazine ('The Everyday Sexism of Women Waiting in Public Toilet Lines') that inspired me very much to write to you personally and address the problem: namely, we are all humans and as much as I feel like a (modest) lady, I do need to use the bathroom slightly more often than my male counterparts, and this very need proves highly challenging in London – borderline impossible.
Specifically, I have two questions which I would kindly ask you to consider:
Firstly, why are there male ‘toilet’ facilities in between Leicester Sq and Trafalgar Sq (Charing Cross Rd, if I am not mistaken) and none for females? Rather rephrased, my question is how hygienic and esthetic is it for men to literally urinate in the street, undisturbed by police or anyone else, while women have no facilities to do so? This is the center of the world’s greatest city and yet it is full of various body smells and liquids – all of which disgusting and discriminatory as for us, girls, we have to go to McDonald’s or somewhere else to have our personal body needs met. And of course, pay for using those same private facilities of restaurants, etc.
Secondly, the public toilets located right next to the London Eye, on the right hand side in direction towards the Millennium Bridge, are about 15 in total. Yet, five of them are male-only, and all the rest are unisex. Again my questions are, why aren’t there female-only facilities, how high on the priorities list is hygiene and where exactly is the equality of genders: in physical space but also in waiting time and quality of the service? These bathrooms, by the way, are paid – so I’d rather pay 50 p extra and not have to sit down on a seat just-now-peed-on by a representative of the male species. Yet, I don’t see why I need to pay extra as a woman to have this ‘luxury’.
Please let me know your views on these issues when you get a chance. I started blogging about women’s rights six months ago and two of my blog posts were on these two specific questions which I pledged to my readers to address to you personally. With over 11,000 views of my blog and numerous support messages, I would imagine more than one person would be interested in your responses.
Thank you very much in advance and kind regards,
Plamena Solakova
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Plamena
Thank you for your email of 28 January 2015 to the Mayor of London about public toilet facilities in the capital. I have been asked to respond.
The Mayor shares your concern about public toilets in the capital and believes everyone should be able to go out and enjoy what London has to offer without worrying about the location or cost of the nearest accessible facility. The Mayor would always want to see more toilets open to the public across the capital.
Although the Mayor does not have a specific duty to provide public toilets in London, he is happy to champion and encourage those that do to take on the issue of provision. That is why early in his first term as Mayor Mr Johnson announced a scheme called Open London to encourage businesses to allow the public to use their facilities during opening hours without the need to make a purchase. John Lewis, Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury's and Tesco agreed to join the scheme. This scheme remains open and the Mayor will endeavour to gain continued support from the private sector where possible.
Transport for London has produced a 'Tube Toilet map' which shows stations that have male, female and accessible toilets for wheelchair users, whether they are inside or outside the ticket gates, and whether they have baby changing facilities. If you have access to the internet you can find this map online at http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/toilets-map.pdf, or we would be happy to send you a hard copy.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact the Mayor.
Yours sincerely
Bottom line: make use of the Open London scheme and the tube toilets and get back in touch with updates.
Much love from ultra cold and equally toilet-unfriendly Paris!
The much-awaited response of the Mayor of London to my inquiry into access to public toilets in London and gender discrimination at those same facilities has now reached my mailbox! See below what Mr Johnson has said and by the way, I am surprised myself at some of this info. I’ve sent off an army of girls to check on Tesco and Sainsbury’s, etc and will report back in a new social experiment post end of March 2015. And I’ll personally go around and check those tube toilets he quotes. Overall though, I’m pleased to see someone actually thought of this problem and it’s not just me finding it unfair to have to pee on the street in times of desperate need (see blog post below).
Dear Mr Johnson,
I hope this finds you well and that London town’s issues are well under control in your office.
I am writing in regards to one specific issue myself and other (young) women like me find particularly disturbing and discriminatory in London – access to female public toilets.
I recently read an article by Soraya Chemaly at Time magazine ('The Everyday Sexism of Women Waiting in Public Toilet Lines') that inspired me very much to write to you personally and address the problem: namely, we are all humans and as much as I feel like a (modest) lady, I do need to use the bathroom slightly more often than my male counterparts, and this very need proves highly challenging in London – borderline impossible.
Specifically, I have two questions which I would kindly ask you to consider:
Firstly, why are there male ‘toilet’ facilities in between Leicester Sq and Trafalgar Sq (Charing Cross Rd, if I am not mistaken) and none for females? Rather rephrased, my question is how hygienic and esthetic is it for men to literally urinate in the street, undisturbed by police or anyone else, while women have no facilities to do so? This is the center of the world’s greatest city and yet it is full of various body smells and liquids – all of which disgusting and discriminatory as for us, girls, we have to go to McDonald’s or somewhere else to have our personal body needs met. And of course, pay for using those same private facilities of restaurants, etc.
Secondly, the public toilets located right next to the London Eye, on the right hand side in direction towards the Millennium Bridge, are about 15 in total. Yet, five of them are male-only, and all the rest are unisex. Again my questions are, why aren’t there female-only facilities, how high on the priorities list is hygiene and where exactly is the equality of genders: in physical space but also in waiting time and quality of the service? These bathrooms, by the way, are paid – so I’d rather pay 50 p extra and not have to sit down on a seat just-now-peed-on by a representative of the male species. Yet, I don’t see why I need to pay extra as a woman to have this ‘luxury’.
Please let me know your views on these issues when you get a chance. I started blogging about women’s rights six months ago and two of my blog posts were on these two specific questions which I pledged to my readers to address to you personally. With over 11,000 views of my blog and numerous support messages, I would imagine more than one person would be interested in your responses.
Thank you very much in advance and kind regards,
Plamena Solakova
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Plamena
Thank you for your email of 28 January 2015 to the Mayor of London about public toilet facilities in the capital. I have been asked to respond.
The Mayor shares your concern about public toilets in the capital and believes everyone should be able to go out and enjoy what London has to offer without worrying about the location or cost of the nearest accessible facility. The Mayor would always want to see more toilets open to the public across the capital.
Although the Mayor does not have a specific duty to provide public toilets in London, he is happy to champion and encourage those that do to take on the issue of provision. That is why early in his first term as Mayor Mr Johnson announced a scheme called Open London to encourage businesses to allow the public to use their facilities during opening hours without the need to make a purchase. John Lewis, Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury's and Tesco agreed to join the scheme. This scheme remains open and the Mayor will endeavour to gain continued support from the private sector where possible.
Transport for London has produced a 'Tube Toilet map' which shows stations that have male, female and accessible toilets for wheelchair users, whether they are inside or outside the ticket gates, and whether they have baby changing facilities. If you have access to the internet you can find this map online at http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/toilets-map.pdf, or we would be happy to send you a hard copy.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact the Mayor.
Yours sincerely
Bottom line: make use of the Open London scheme and the tube toilets and get back in touch with updates.
Much love from ultra cold and equally toilet-unfriendly Paris!
Sex-Selective Abortions, Tampons and Gangs of Thugs
Hey, world! 1 March 2015
On a cold Sunday eve, my wrap up post for the week… (Finally back from my travel in the past eight days + couldn’t wait to blog for y’all ;))
First off, this week was very important for abortion rights in the UK: a new amendment to the Serious Crime bill was proposed by Conservative MP Fiona Bruce which was going to make sex-selective abortion a criminal matter. I.e. women who have abortion based on the gender of the expected child would be put in jail. Ms Bruce argued that would prevent certain communities from aborting girls simply because they favour male babies (sons take on the family line and earn more – ex. South Asian people in Britain have particularly strong views on this). In reality though, not only would this constitute a limitation to women’s reproduction rights, but it’s also the wrong way to go about fighting patriarchy in general. Certain communities may favour sons over daughters, but it’s those same daughters who are usually forced into aborting female babies – so criminalizing abortion is only going to punish women victims, and not address the root cause of the problem – cultural and/ or religious patriarchic beliefs reigning at families across the country. Thankfully, the Conservative-backed amendment failed on 23 February and abortion rights remain protected for now. There will also be a review into the extent to which women in the UK make selective abortions based on gender. The results will be awaited. More on the issue here.
Second, important update on the #StopTaxingPeriods campaign (to remove taxes from female sanitary products): originally started in the UK (but with EU-wide focus), the campaign has now expanded to France and Canada. Yay! Two simultaneous petitions to the French and Canadian governments have been launched on change.org. Meanwhile, in the UK, the Prime Minister has said ending taxes on tampons will be ‘very difficult to do but I’ll have to go away and look and come back to you’. Tampons may really be put on the no-tax list of consumer products in the country but to achieve this more pressure needs to be put on the government: Join Laura Coryton and co. on 11th March outside No.11 Downing Street in central London to deliver the petition (you and I) all signed. If you can’t make it, make sure to join the Facebook movement here and check if your university is one of the 23 start-up institutions in the UK which now offer discounted price for female sanitary products (as much as 50% off market price). My admirations for this! Last option I’d suggest is to buy your very own Ruby Cup – in case you hadn’t heard of it, it’s a silicon cup which is reusable for up to 10 years and is way more comfortable and cheaper in the long run (30 EUR split into 10 years, how’s that!). This innovative solution to our menstruation problems is also a generous way of helping a girl in need – if you buy one, a free cup will be sent to a girl in the developing world. Did you know 29% of girls in Afghanistan stop going to school when they are on their period (because of lack of hygienic products)? Or that 48% of Irani girls think menstruation is a disease? Well, this is your chance to educate them and change the world one cup at a time! Thanks, Sandra, for bringing this to my attention!
And last, a movie recommendation: this weekend a new British movie was released, treating the subject of honour killings in the UK – 'Catch Me Daddy'. It is a much-appraised thriller of a British-Pakistani girl running away with her white Scottish boyfriend, contrary to her parents’ wishes. A gang of thugs (sent by the girl’s family) starts chasing the young couple in what turns out to be a very dark night in West Yorkshire… All that I’ve posted on honour killings in the UK is coming to a very real(istic) light, can’t wait to see it myself! Opinions are welcome!
I’ll see you all tomorrow with exciting det’s on the response of the Mayor of London to my public toilets and gender discrimination inquiry.
On a cold Sunday eve, my wrap up post for the week… (Finally back from my travel in the past eight days + couldn’t wait to blog for y’all ;))
First off, this week was very important for abortion rights in the UK: a new amendment to the Serious Crime bill was proposed by Conservative MP Fiona Bruce which was going to make sex-selective abortion a criminal matter. I.e. women who have abortion based on the gender of the expected child would be put in jail. Ms Bruce argued that would prevent certain communities from aborting girls simply because they favour male babies (sons take on the family line and earn more – ex. South Asian people in Britain have particularly strong views on this). In reality though, not only would this constitute a limitation to women’s reproduction rights, but it’s also the wrong way to go about fighting patriarchy in general. Certain communities may favour sons over daughters, but it’s those same daughters who are usually forced into aborting female babies – so criminalizing abortion is only going to punish women victims, and not address the root cause of the problem – cultural and/ or religious patriarchic beliefs reigning at families across the country. Thankfully, the Conservative-backed amendment failed on 23 February and abortion rights remain protected for now. There will also be a review into the extent to which women in the UK make selective abortions based on gender. The results will be awaited. More on the issue here.
Second, important update on the #StopTaxingPeriods campaign (to remove taxes from female sanitary products): originally started in the UK (but with EU-wide focus), the campaign has now expanded to France and Canada. Yay! Two simultaneous petitions to the French and Canadian governments have been launched on change.org. Meanwhile, in the UK, the Prime Minister has said ending taxes on tampons will be ‘very difficult to do but I’ll have to go away and look and come back to you’. Tampons may really be put on the no-tax list of consumer products in the country but to achieve this more pressure needs to be put on the government: Join Laura Coryton and co. on 11th March outside No.11 Downing Street in central London to deliver the petition (you and I) all signed. If you can’t make it, make sure to join the Facebook movement here and check if your university is one of the 23 start-up institutions in the UK which now offer discounted price for female sanitary products (as much as 50% off market price). My admirations for this! Last option I’d suggest is to buy your very own Ruby Cup – in case you hadn’t heard of it, it’s a silicon cup which is reusable for up to 10 years and is way more comfortable and cheaper in the long run (30 EUR split into 10 years, how’s that!). This innovative solution to our menstruation problems is also a generous way of helping a girl in need – if you buy one, a free cup will be sent to a girl in the developing world. Did you know 29% of girls in Afghanistan stop going to school when they are on their period (because of lack of hygienic products)? Or that 48% of Irani girls think menstruation is a disease? Well, this is your chance to educate them and change the world one cup at a time! Thanks, Sandra, for bringing this to my attention!
And last, a movie recommendation: this weekend a new British movie was released, treating the subject of honour killings in the UK – 'Catch Me Daddy'. It is a much-appraised thriller of a British-Pakistani girl running away with her white Scottish boyfriend, contrary to her parents’ wishes. A gang of thugs (sent by the girl’s family) starts chasing the young couple in what turns out to be a very dark night in West Yorkshire… All that I’ve posted on honour killings in the UK is coming to a very real(istic) light, can’t wait to see it myself! Opinions are welcome!
I’ll see you all tomorrow with exciting det’s on the response of the Mayor of London to my public toilets and gender discrimination inquiry.
50 Shades of Oh-My-God
So I went to see ’50 Shades of Grey’ last weekend with my friend Esy in Brussels. We were rather chilled, I personally didn’t expect too much. I didn’t like the book, and so the movie wasn’t even No 1 on my list-of-movies-to-see this year. BUT, was I surprised! Firstly, I found the acting very good – especially Anastasia’s. The guy, Christian, was incredibly hot, no doubt, but his role itself was a bit limiting, so we didn’t quite see his acting as much as his body. Not complaining, FYI. Then Rita Ora – we barely saw her, so all the fuss and her personal PR prior to the movie wasn’t what I expected… Christian’s mom – you definitely need to watch the new series ‘How to Get Away With Murder’, where she recently joined the cast. And she’s good. As for the effects of the movie – awesome. The SOUNDTRACK: oh my! I am still getting goosebumps when I think of Beyonce’s great remixes of ‘Haunted’ and ‘Crazy in Love’, or the Weeknd’s ‘Earned it’. Amazing!
Now, the storyline itself is what concerns me here on this blog – I had read prior to watching the movie, that many people opposed it because they worried it encouraged violence against women, and some even boycotted it in the US. A group in the States suggested people donate money for abuse shelters instead of spending it on movie tickets. Indeed, it demonstrates very freaky, unusual and/ or intimidating scenes of male sexual dominance over the female body in desperate need of protection. It can be recreated to dangerous levels too: look at this story from Chicago where a 19-year-old college student was arrested for ‘tying up classmate with belts in his dorm before whipping and raping her in attempt to recreate scene from ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’. It is very disturbing indeed and I agree that sexual violence is often interlinked with violence more generally. Aggressive people may have difficulty separating kinkiness from the bedroom and aggression in the kitchen or elsewhere in a non-sexual setting.
However, we also need to remember that BDSM is not as dark and secret, it’s been out there for centuries and it might as well be more common than we are aware of. Also, the movie showed some pretty negative images of Christian in the Red Room, but some equally positive signs of his personality and love for Anastasia outside, in front of his family and his colleagues. He cared how she felt, what she did, where she was and if she was happy. Plus, he was doing BDSM because of a possible trauma from childhood, from a sexual experience which pre-determined his entire sex-life for years to come. On the other hand, Anastasia didn’t protest against hurtful actions, she even enjoyed them. Just at the very end, she had enough and told him NO (great scene, my favourite, for once she spoke up in this movie!). Throughout however, and if you’ve read the books, you’d know that Anastasia actually likes BDSM herself and she re-discovers a hidden personality which Christian in a way helps her explore.
Long story short, I personally wouldn’t agree to the practices shown in the movie, I think they are too much and pain can’t be enjoyable to the extent demonstrated. But there are other men and women who do enjoy it. So let them be and let them have their privacy and happy lives. If however, a woman is ever sexually abused and forced into actions AGAINST her will, she needs to speak up, she needs to say NO and to leave. As Anastasia did.
Now, the storyline itself is what concerns me here on this blog – I had read prior to watching the movie, that many people opposed it because they worried it encouraged violence against women, and some even boycotted it in the US. A group in the States suggested people donate money for abuse shelters instead of spending it on movie tickets. Indeed, it demonstrates very freaky, unusual and/ or intimidating scenes of male sexual dominance over the female body in desperate need of protection. It can be recreated to dangerous levels too: look at this story from Chicago where a 19-year-old college student was arrested for ‘tying up classmate with belts in his dorm before whipping and raping her in attempt to recreate scene from ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’. It is very disturbing indeed and I agree that sexual violence is often interlinked with violence more generally. Aggressive people may have difficulty separating kinkiness from the bedroom and aggression in the kitchen or elsewhere in a non-sexual setting.
However, we also need to remember that BDSM is not as dark and secret, it’s been out there for centuries and it might as well be more common than we are aware of. Also, the movie showed some pretty negative images of Christian in the Red Room, but some equally positive signs of his personality and love for Anastasia outside, in front of his family and his colleagues. He cared how she felt, what she did, where she was and if she was happy. Plus, he was doing BDSM because of a possible trauma from childhood, from a sexual experience which pre-determined his entire sex-life for years to come. On the other hand, Anastasia didn’t protest against hurtful actions, she even enjoyed them. Just at the very end, she had enough and told him NO (great scene, my favourite, for once she spoke up in this movie!). Throughout however, and if you’ve read the books, you’d know that Anastasia actually likes BDSM herself and she re-discovers a hidden personality which Christian in a way helps her explore.
Long story short, I personally wouldn’t agree to the practices shown in the movie, I think they are too much and pain can’t be enjoyable to the extent demonstrated. But there are other men and women who do enjoy it. So let them be and let them have their privacy and happy lives. If however, a woman is ever sexually abused and forced into actions AGAINST her will, she needs to speak up, she needs to say NO and to leave. As Anastasia did.
Paychecks at the Oscars
Morning, everyone! 25 February 2015
While on the London-bound train under the Channel today, I’m compiling some feminist stories for you all, and I’ll start off with the most recent and influential one from the movies industry this past weekend. The Academy Awards took place in LA on Sunday (21 February) and upon accepting her award, Best Supporting Actress winner Patricia Arquette took the chance to protest against sexism in Hollywood and demanded equal pay for women across all industries: “To every woman who gave birth, to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation: We have fought for everybody else’s equal rights. It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all and to fight for equal rights for women in America”. Forbes magazine has shown indeed that in the top ten paid actors and actresses in the US for 2014 (combined list), there are only two women (Sandra Bullock and Jen Lawrence). Further, a hacked report, cited by CNN, has demonstrated just recently that ‘Charlize Theron was able to negotiate a large pay raise to more than $10 million after she discovered that her co-star Chris Hemsworth was to be paid significantly more than she was for the film "The Huntsman"’ (2016). Not only in Hollywood, but in general, American women get paid on average between 70-85% of what men receive for work done in different sectors, and a World Economic Forum survey has just put this estimate down to 66% wage inequality. Surprised, are you?... In the US that is, in 2015, and still so much to be done...
While on the London-bound train under the Channel today, I’m compiling some feminist stories for you all, and I’ll start off with the most recent and influential one from the movies industry this past weekend. The Academy Awards took place in LA on Sunday (21 February) and upon accepting her award, Best Supporting Actress winner Patricia Arquette took the chance to protest against sexism in Hollywood and demanded equal pay for women across all industries: “To every woman who gave birth, to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation: We have fought for everybody else’s equal rights. It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all and to fight for equal rights for women in America”. Forbes magazine has shown indeed that in the top ten paid actors and actresses in the US for 2014 (combined list), there are only two women (Sandra Bullock and Jen Lawrence). Further, a hacked report, cited by CNN, has demonstrated just recently that ‘Charlize Theron was able to negotiate a large pay raise to more than $10 million after she discovered that her co-star Chris Hemsworth was to be paid significantly more than she was for the film "The Huntsman"’ (2016). Not only in Hollywood, but in general, American women get paid on average between 70-85% of what men receive for work done in different sectors, and a World Economic Forum survey has just put this estimate down to 66% wage inequality. Surprised, are you?... In the US that is, in 2015, and still so much to be done...
Heartbeat
Hello, ladies and gents! 20 February 2015
A couple of briefs for you today:
Do you know which the number one killer of women is? – It’s not breast cancer. Or any other cancer for that matter. It’s heart disease. In the US for example, one in three women die from heart disease! Every minute, one woman dies from a heart-related condition. And yet, only a fourth of all participants in heart-related research studies are women. Clearly, the medical industry has some more exploring to do and a major problem to address in order for female lives to be saved. To raise funds for heart-disease research and awareness, Mrs Barbara Streisand, supported by a group of celebrities, incl my fav Kerry Washington, has designed a ‘Fight the LadyKiller’ scarf. If you are feeling like you can afford 155 USD for a new scarf these days, please do buy it here and half of the money will be donated to the Women’s Heart Alliance. And if you are on a student budget instead, you might still want to check out this website with more info on the issue and raise awareness! That’s the first step to increase check-up rates and thus early detection and life saving interventions. Take action while you still can!
Second, 158 women and kids have just been reunited with their families after Boko Haram kidnapped them in Northern Nigeria a month ago. Yesterday they were freed (under unclear circumstances). Boko Haram has been using kidnapping as tactics for ransom for years now, but the good news of today still reminded me (us) of the 200 school girls still missing since last April. Too bad this is no longer even part of the media discourse – we haven’t forgotten though. And hope still remains for a positive outcome!
And last off, I saw this poster published by Indian teachers which shows their students’ ideas of what constitutes a ‘bad girl’ in Indian culture. I find it super amusing as some of these actions (walking outside with your hair open, drinking and eating too much) make me feel like one of the worst gals out there – had I been living in India. It’s also quite telling to see what little kids draw as these are still massively-widespread gender stereotypes in many other places, not just India. Boy, I am feeling guilty now that I flirt in the park and that I pout! Ha, no – I don’t!
Go get naughty, ladies, and have a great weekend ahead! I’m off on a European trip so you won’t hear from me in the next week, but I’ll stock up as many stories as I can for after ;)
A couple of briefs for you today:
Do you know which the number one killer of women is? – It’s not breast cancer. Or any other cancer for that matter. It’s heart disease. In the US for example, one in three women die from heart disease! Every minute, one woman dies from a heart-related condition. And yet, only a fourth of all participants in heart-related research studies are women. Clearly, the medical industry has some more exploring to do and a major problem to address in order for female lives to be saved. To raise funds for heart-disease research and awareness, Mrs Barbara Streisand, supported by a group of celebrities, incl my fav Kerry Washington, has designed a ‘Fight the LadyKiller’ scarf. If you are feeling like you can afford 155 USD for a new scarf these days, please do buy it here and half of the money will be donated to the Women’s Heart Alliance. And if you are on a student budget instead, you might still want to check out this website with more info on the issue and raise awareness! That’s the first step to increase check-up rates and thus early detection and life saving interventions. Take action while you still can!
Second, 158 women and kids have just been reunited with their families after Boko Haram kidnapped them in Northern Nigeria a month ago. Yesterday they were freed (under unclear circumstances). Boko Haram has been using kidnapping as tactics for ransom for years now, but the good news of today still reminded me (us) of the 200 school girls still missing since last April. Too bad this is no longer even part of the media discourse – we haven’t forgotten though. And hope still remains for a positive outcome!
And last off, I saw this poster published by Indian teachers which shows their students’ ideas of what constitutes a ‘bad girl’ in Indian culture. I find it super amusing as some of these actions (walking outside with your hair open, drinking and eating too much) make me feel like one of the worst gals out there – had I been living in India. It’s also quite telling to see what little kids draw as these are still massively-widespread gender stereotypes in many other places, not just India. Boy, I am feeling guilty now that I flirt in the park and that I pout! Ha, no – I don’t!
Go get naughty, ladies, and have a great weekend ahead! I’m off on a European trip so you won’t hear from me in the next week, but I’ll stock up as many stories as I can for after ;)
Guest Posts and an Article Contest Winner
Hey world! 18 February 2015
A quick note to let you all know of my new page that I had re-done: 'Guest Posts + Q&A'. The Questions and Answers bit was there before, but due to incoming guest posts I decided to include that as a seperate section than my general news feed. Many thanks to Rositsa Ivanova and Sandra Dickel who have already submitted written pieces, and for the rest of you who are in the process of writing for me and/ or thinking of writing. Keep an eye out - this was the original aim of my blog in June 2014, to inspire other young women to speak up and share their thoughts on local, national and international 'female' problems. And it has worked! Thank you all!
And before I head off to a Chinese New Year celebration tonight (that's a definite FIRST for me), a quick thank you also goes to the InFocus Review for choosing me as the magazine's 100th article contest winner. Read my piece on President Obama's speech in India in the end of January 2014 and the link between development and gender equality: http://infocusrevue.com/2015/02/17/for-a-nation-to-be-successful-women-must-have-the-opportunity-to-succeed/
See you all tomorrow!
A quick note to let you all know of my new page that I had re-done: 'Guest Posts + Q&A'. The Questions and Answers bit was there before, but due to incoming guest posts I decided to include that as a seperate section than my general news feed. Many thanks to Rositsa Ivanova and Sandra Dickel who have already submitted written pieces, and for the rest of you who are in the process of writing for me and/ or thinking of writing. Keep an eye out - this was the original aim of my blog in June 2014, to inspire other young women to speak up and share their thoughts on local, national and international 'female' problems. And it has worked! Thank you all!
And before I head off to a Chinese New Year celebration tonight (that's a definite FIRST for me), a quick thank you also goes to the InFocus Review for choosing me as the magazine's 100th article contest winner. Read my piece on President Obama's speech in India in the end of January 2014 and the link between development and gender equality: http://infocusrevue.com/2015/02/17/for-a-nation-to-be-successful-women-must-have-the-opportunity-to-succeed/
See you all tomorrow!
Are You Sleeping Well?
16 February 2015
Last week a new survey revealed shocking results that one in five British women, who are victims of physical violence, are attacked while unconscious or asleep. I was so surprised to read this that I first I thought no one can possibly be as cruel as attacking a sleeping female. Unfortunately though, this does happen and in fact, in close to 60 percent of cases the abuse occurs because men attempt to coerce victims into having sex, often by strangling and choking, the Office for National Statistics says. Further, last year 1,5 million British women reported some form of abuse to the Police - and many more did NOT, I am guessing.
With these highly disturbing numbers in mind, a positive event took place at the London School of Economics on Thursday: Angelina Jolie launched the first ever war rape centre for education on women, conflict and sexual violence. The Centre for Women, Peace and Security at LSE aims to raise awareness globally on women's struggles at war zones and to abolish the use of sexual violence as a weapon.
Angelina said: 'There is no stable future for a world in which crimes committed against women go unpunished; a world in which young girls are unable to reach their potential; where children see their mothers disrespected, violated and murdered, where it is considered acceptable for a husband to reject his wife and the mother of his children because she was raped, or normal for a woman to be forced to marry her rapist.' She further dedicated the centre to a 13-year-old Iraqi girl who had been raped and sold by ISIS, and consequently cast out of her community. They left her alone and unprotected in a UN refugee camp, where Jolie met her recently.
From September 2016 students will be able to study towards an MSc degree in Women, Peace and Security at the new centre. Yep, I am thinking of a second Masters! And I am super pleased to see such a powerful woman taking a stand on the issue - my respect to Mrs Jolie for her continuous global fight with injustice on behalf of women. Read more on this ground-breaking new initiative at http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/lifestyle/548431/angelina-jolie-opens-warzone-violence-centre-in-london.html#XMmDPswDxcdLyzg0.99
Last week a new survey revealed shocking results that one in five British women, who are victims of physical violence, are attacked while unconscious or asleep. I was so surprised to read this that I first I thought no one can possibly be as cruel as attacking a sleeping female. Unfortunately though, this does happen and in fact, in close to 60 percent of cases the abuse occurs because men attempt to coerce victims into having sex, often by strangling and choking, the Office for National Statistics says. Further, last year 1,5 million British women reported some form of abuse to the Police - and many more did NOT, I am guessing.
With these highly disturbing numbers in mind, a positive event took place at the London School of Economics on Thursday: Angelina Jolie launched the first ever war rape centre for education on women, conflict and sexual violence. The Centre for Women, Peace and Security at LSE aims to raise awareness globally on women's struggles at war zones and to abolish the use of sexual violence as a weapon.
Angelina said: 'There is no stable future for a world in which crimes committed against women go unpunished; a world in which young girls are unable to reach their potential; where children see their mothers disrespected, violated and murdered, where it is considered acceptable for a husband to reject his wife and the mother of his children because she was raped, or normal for a woman to be forced to marry her rapist.' She further dedicated the centre to a 13-year-old Iraqi girl who had been raped and sold by ISIS, and consequently cast out of her community. They left her alone and unprotected in a UN refugee camp, where Jolie met her recently.
From September 2016 students will be able to study towards an MSc degree in Women, Peace and Security at the new centre. Yep, I am thinking of a second Masters! And I am super pleased to see such a powerful woman taking a stand on the issue - my respect to Mrs Jolie for her continuous global fight with injustice on behalf of women. Read more on this ground-breaking new initiative at http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/lifestyle/548431/angelina-jolie-opens-warzone-violence-centre-in-london.html#XMmDPswDxcdLyzg0.99
Read It Like It's Hot
So… Now’s the time to type up my impressions from my very spontaneous ‘sexual’ social experiement this week: in the ‘week of love’, I decided to watch a random sex-related movie every day and observe how women are portrayed in the various scenarios, which stereotypes are battled and which ones aren’t, how much nakedness do you see of either gender, and just in general what do sex movies teach us about women – intentionally or not so much. [No, I haven’t seen '50 Shades' just yet, doing so next weekend, so expect a follow-up post] Now, six days and six movies later, I am too shocked by what I’ve seen, to the point where I do NOT want to see/ touch/ even imagine a naked human being for quite a while, thanks! Read on to see why.
I started on Monday, 9 February, with ‘Addicted’ (2014). Movie-wise it was great: super sexy actors, great outfits, effects, music, etc. The story-line was also cool as it showed a WOMAN in the leading role of a sex addict, who after years and years with her high-school love, falls into sex addiction and starts sleeping with random men, in random places, and with that comes drug use, public sex in suspicious Red Rooms, club toilets, and all sorts of weirdness – and sadness. She contemplates leaving her kids and husband for another man. And that was the first time I saw a female movie character considering such actions, not the traditional daddy figure who just takes off with the secretary. My friend Bertille said the same after watching the movie, and long story short, after long therapy, some intense scenes of thrilling murder attempts and break-ups, the girl and her husband reunite at the end. Turns out she was raped as a kid. Of course I cried, but that’s rather expected of me during movies. So from this I got: women can have the same leave-or-stay dilemmas, can slip up once too often, cheat, use drugs and other illegal actions, but at the end the female character did try to make up for her mistakes and put back the broken family pieces together. Motherhood and wifehood proved stronger than an unhealthy addiction.
Tuesday and Wednesday – terrible! 'Nymphomaniac' 1 and 2 were the most offputting movies I’ve seen, probably ever! The first part was somewhat more manageable, but the second – I cut it half-way through and just deleted it off my computer – and memory! - for good! The movie shows a 30-something woman, beaten almost to death by a violent man, who’s found by an elderly religious man, helped by him and at some point of her recovery she tells him her story as a sex addict since childhood. She goes into a hell lot of details, and the movie directors show EVRYTHING, I mean – everything. I saw more penises on there than I’d like in my entire life, and the hygiene and looks of those people were most certainly not a priority. The storyline is very disturbing, it shows the lady as completely senseless, totally focused on her own satisfaction, except she doesn’t ever get satisfied, emotional or even remotely interested in what’s happening inside her vagina. Very vulgar movie and as much as I find it disgusting for my own taste (too much violence and threesomes, etc), it is good in the sense that it shows a lady in a new light: one who doesn’t care about men or their desires. It fights the stereotype that women are overly emotional and attaching themselves to everything breathing. Tough ladies do exist too, in the bedroom and beyond. Can’t comment on the ending as I didn’t get that far, apologies.
Thursday was the day for ‘A Diary of a Sex Addict’ (2001). Rather old production, but interesting still. Almost as disturbing as Nymphomaniac, but not quite so. The first movie of the week where a man was the main character and he was an addict too; one who goes to a therapist and tells of all his sex acomplishments (all while being married to a loveable lady, with whom they got kids, and she’s pregnant again). A minimum of two-three cheating plots per DAY + super violent stories with prostitutes and HIV positivity = disturbing and sad at the same time. At the end, his wife discovers his dirty secrets, but she agrees to go to therapy with him and help him recover. Here the woman was portrayed as very naive throughout the movie, one who doesn’t even question her husband’s late night arrivals or absences on family occasions. One who forgives her husband after the numerous acts of cheating. And the female prostitutes are shown as enjoying violence to the extent where I’m questioning who even invented the storyline and how realistic this is at all…
Friday – ‘Shame’ (2011). Probably the best of all movies of the week. For once the focus wasn’t on the sexual acts but on the mental problems of the guy-sex addict and his loneliness. I loved how emotional the movie was and how towards the end, when his sister nearly died, there was finally a chance for a positive change in his own attitude and life. The girl in this movie who impressed me particularly was the sister of the addict: persistent and caring, she tried to keep in touch and help someone in need even when pished away. Demonstration of women’s nature of love, care and high regard for family values.
And yesterday – ‘Sex Tape’ with Cameron Diaz. I deliberately chose it as I finally needed somethign FUNNY. I couldn’t bare one more depressing plot, or anymore naked butts and boobs. Indeed, the movie was fun and easy to watch, the actors were positive and there was a happy end – the sex tape of the couple was retrieved successfully and they realised why their marriage needed a sex tape fix in the first place. The main actress, Annie (Cameron) was funny, loving and devoted mom, and also A BLOG STAR – remind you of anyone? Ha, except the mommy part. What I learned here was how important it was to communicate with your partner as opposed to hoping a crazy night out– or indoors – will magically solve your issues. And Annie was a great example of a successful home-based working woman who managed to break through with her blogging business. Well done, miss, you just inspired me :)
So… That was it really: one funny movie, two intense-and-thought-provoking ones, and three completely WRONG ones. It’s hard to make any common conclusions on these six productions as they were way too different (as similar as they may sound), but one thing is for certain – in none of these cases (except the loving sister in ‘Shame’) were women portayed in the ‘typical’ female way: there was always a twist, always a surprising trait you would not expect to see in a woman, and always more psychological factors shaping a woman’s behaviour than you may think. Yes, we are loving and nurturing, but oh-dear, some of them girls went ‘wiiiiiild’. Just saying. Point is – break stereotypes but always be you!
Happy Sunday, everyone! :)
I started on Monday, 9 February, with ‘Addicted’ (2014). Movie-wise it was great: super sexy actors, great outfits, effects, music, etc. The story-line was also cool as it showed a WOMAN in the leading role of a sex addict, who after years and years with her high-school love, falls into sex addiction and starts sleeping with random men, in random places, and with that comes drug use, public sex in suspicious Red Rooms, club toilets, and all sorts of weirdness – and sadness. She contemplates leaving her kids and husband for another man. And that was the first time I saw a female movie character considering such actions, not the traditional daddy figure who just takes off with the secretary. My friend Bertille said the same after watching the movie, and long story short, after long therapy, some intense scenes of thrilling murder attempts and break-ups, the girl and her husband reunite at the end. Turns out she was raped as a kid. Of course I cried, but that’s rather expected of me during movies. So from this I got: women can have the same leave-or-stay dilemmas, can slip up once too often, cheat, use drugs and other illegal actions, but at the end the female character did try to make up for her mistakes and put back the broken family pieces together. Motherhood and wifehood proved stronger than an unhealthy addiction.
Tuesday and Wednesday – terrible! 'Nymphomaniac' 1 and 2 were the most offputting movies I’ve seen, probably ever! The first part was somewhat more manageable, but the second – I cut it half-way through and just deleted it off my computer – and memory! - for good! The movie shows a 30-something woman, beaten almost to death by a violent man, who’s found by an elderly religious man, helped by him and at some point of her recovery she tells him her story as a sex addict since childhood. She goes into a hell lot of details, and the movie directors show EVRYTHING, I mean – everything. I saw more penises on there than I’d like in my entire life, and the hygiene and looks of those people were most certainly not a priority. The storyline is very disturbing, it shows the lady as completely senseless, totally focused on her own satisfaction, except she doesn’t ever get satisfied, emotional or even remotely interested in what’s happening inside her vagina. Very vulgar movie and as much as I find it disgusting for my own taste (too much violence and threesomes, etc), it is good in the sense that it shows a lady in a new light: one who doesn’t care about men or their desires. It fights the stereotype that women are overly emotional and attaching themselves to everything breathing. Tough ladies do exist too, in the bedroom and beyond. Can’t comment on the ending as I didn’t get that far, apologies.
Thursday was the day for ‘A Diary of a Sex Addict’ (2001). Rather old production, but interesting still. Almost as disturbing as Nymphomaniac, but not quite so. The first movie of the week where a man was the main character and he was an addict too; one who goes to a therapist and tells of all his sex acomplishments (all while being married to a loveable lady, with whom they got kids, and she’s pregnant again). A minimum of two-three cheating plots per DAY + super violent stories with prostitutes and HIV positivity = disturbing and sad at the same time. At the end, his wife discovers his dirty secrets, but she agrees to go to therapy with him and help him recover. Here the woman was portrayed as very naive throughout the movie, one who doesn’t even question her husband’s late night arrivals or absences on family occasions. One who forgives her husband after the numerous acts of cheating. And the female prostitutes are shown as enjoying violence to the extent where I’m questioning who even invented the storyline and how realistic this is at all…
Friday – ‘Shame’ (2011). Probably the best of all movies of the week. For once the focus wasn’t on the sexual acts but on the mental problems of the guy-sex addict and his loneliness. I loved how emotional the movie was and how towards the end, when his sister nearly died, there was finally a chance for a positive change in his own attitude and life. The girl in this movie who impressed me particularly was the sister of the addict: persistent and caring, she tried to keep in touch and help someone in need even when pished away. Demonstration of women’s nature of love, care and high regard for family values.
And yesterday – ‘Sex Tape’ with Cameron Diaz. I deliberately chose it as I finally needed somethign FUNNY. I couldn’t bare one more depressing plot, or anymore naked butts and boobs. Indeed, the movie was fun and easy to watch, the actors were positive and there was a happy end – the sex tape of the couple was retrieved successfully and they realised why their marriage needed a sex tape fix in the first place. The main actress, Annie (Cameron) was funny, loving and devoted mom, and also A BLOG STAR – remind you of anyone? Ha, except the mommy part. What I learned here was how important it was to communicate with your partner as opposed to hoping a crazy night out– or indoors – will magically solve your issues. And Annie was a great example of a successful home-based working woman who managed to break through with her blogging business. Well done, miss, you just inspired me :)
So… That was it really: one funny movie, two intense-and-thought-provoking ones, and three completely WRONG ones. It’s hard to make any common conclusions on these six productions as they were way too different (as similar as they may sound), but one thing is for certain – in none of these cases (except the loving sister in ‘Shame’) were women portayed in the ‘typical’ female way: there was always a twist, always a surprising trait you would not expect to see in a woman, and always more psychological factors shaping a woman’s behaviour than you may think. Yes, we are loving and nurturing, but oh-dear, some of them girls went ‘wiiiiiild’. Just saying. Point is – break stereotypes but always be you!
Happy Sunday, everyone! :)
The Two C's
Hey ladies and gents! 15 February 2015
This morning I wanted to quickly share with you two recent successful stories on pro-abortion rights:
In July 2014, Morgentaler Clinic in Fredericton, Canada closed after 20 years, which meant the entire area was left with no local abortion provider. Residents protested but instead of waiting for the government to change its mind or redirect resources who-knows-when, they organised themselves through an online crowdfunding platform and raised over 100,000 dollars in less than a month. Impressive results and great example of initiative and usage of contemporary technology and the advantages of internet. In Jan 2015 the clinic re-opened. And women can safely and freely have abortions again! Hats down to this community!
Meanwhile, in Chile – one of the strictest states with complete ban on abrotions – there’s hope for legalisation! The Chilean President (a lady, in case you don’t know), announced few weeks ago her plans to legalize abortion in cases where the woman's life is at risk, in rape or incest, or if the fetus isn't expected to survive. While this would only allow women to have an abortion up until the 12th week (girls up to age 14 - up to the 18th week), this is still progress in a very-conservative Catholic country which also had military rule traditions completely forbidding women from choosing. Currently abortion is punishable with up to five years in prison and it’s great news there’s hope for recent change (as limited as it will be).
These two stories remind us that it matters for women to have access to legal, safe and free abortions and for their right to choose to be respected. Well done, to the two C’s today, Canada and Chile!
As for Turkey and the ongoing civil unrest due to a young woman’s rape and murder this week, my girl Esy (who’s lived in Turkey up until few weeks ago) kindly offered writing a guest post on the issue. Stay tuned!
This morning I wanted to quickly share with you two recent successful stories on pro-abortion rights:
In July 2014, Morgentaler Clinic in Fredericton, Canada closed after 20 years, which meant the entire area was left with no local abortion provider. Residents protested but instead of waiting for the government to change its mind or redirect resources who-knows-when, they organised themselves through an online crowdfunding platform and raised over 100,000 dollars in less than a month. Impressive results and great example of initiative and usage of contemporary technology and the advantages of internet. In Jan 2015 the clinic re-opened. And women can safely and freely have abortions again! Hats down to this community!
Meanwhile, in Chile – one of the strictest states with complete ban on abrotions – there’s hope for legalisation! The Chilean President (a lady, in case you don’t know), announced few weeks ago her plans to legalize abortion in cases where the woman's life is at risk, in rape or incest, or if the fetus isn't expected to survive. While this would only allow women to have an abortion up until the 12th week (girls up to age 14 - up to the 18th week), this is still progress in a very-conservative Catholic country which also had military rule traditions completely forbidding women from choosing. Currently abortion is punishable with up to five years in prison and it’s great news there’s hope for recent change (as limited as it will be).
These two stories remind us that it matters for women to have access to legal, safe and free abortions and for their right to choose to be respected. Well done, to the two C’s today, Canada and Chile!
As for Turkey and the ongoing civil unrest due to a young woman’s rape and murder this week, my girl Esy (who’s lived in Turkey up until few weeks ago) kindly offered writing a guest post on the issue. Stay tuned!
The Day of Wine, and More
Hello, world! 14 February 2015
On Valentine’s day, we Bulgarians celebrate a different kind of day – that of St Trifon, i.e. the day of wine and professional wine-makers. You might think we are a rather alcoholic nation if we have a national holiday for wine, but hey, we also have one for fish and another for lamb. So technically we are just good Christians who celebrate a lot of Saints for various reasons. On a more serious note though, the day of love and wine, is also celebrated today as the day that the 2015 national campaign 1 Billion Rising – Bulgaria has been launched to raise awareness on violence against women. 1 Billion Rising – Bulgaria starts today and a good intro to the campaign and why Bulgarian celebrities say NO to violence can be found here. Pledge to say NO to violence and help victims against their aggressors: read more on the global movement 1 Billion Rising: http://www.onebillionrising.org/
Meanwhile, across the Pond, New York Fashion Week was rocked yesterday by the first ever female model with Down Syndrome walking the catwalk. Jamie Brewer made history during the Carrie Hammer show, part of the designer’s “Role Models Not Runway Models” campaign. Hammer had decided last year that body types of skinny young girls did not fit her designs and instead she invited doctor and sex therapist Danielle Sheypuk to the runway in her wheelchair. Other invitees to this admirable initiative have been a transgender woman, a racing car driver, an Army veteran and government workers. Well done, Miss Carrie – showing off women with all types of jobs and from all circles of social life serves to promote positive body image for young girls, good example of motivation and achievement in life, and proves that size, shape and age don’t matter. You/ we are all perfect, as Pink says.
And last for today, Rihanna – who is not a role model in my opinion on ANY level – did for once prove she can use her powers for something different than promotion of smoking weed on Twitter and Instagram. Her lipgloss collection for MAC Cosmetics reached 50 million dolllars in profits and she donated all of it to the company’s charity helping HIV positive people. Nauble cause and my admirations to Rihanna for standing up as a young responsible woman for once and bringing in a positive change in the world!
That’s it from me for today, ladies and gents – stories on abortion and sex coming up tomorrow, including my rather-anticipated article on women and sex addictions which I promised you all earlier this week.
Be loved! Tonight and always!
On Valentine’s day, we Bulgarians celebrate a different kind of day – that of St Trifon, i.e. the day of wine and professional wine-makers. You might think we are a rather alcoholic nation if we have a national holiday for wine, but hey, we also have one for fish and another for lamb. So technically we are just good Christians who celebrate a lot of Saints for various reasons. On a more serious note though, the day of love and wine, is also celebrated today as the day that the 2015 national campaign 1 Billion Rising – Bulgaria has been launched to raise awareness on violence against women. 1 Billion Rising – Bulgaria starts today and a good intro to the campaign and why Bulgarian celebrities say NO to violence can be found here. Pledge to say NO to violence and help victims against their aggressors: read more on the global movement 1 Billion Rising: http://www.onebillionrising.org/
Meanwhile, across the Pond, New York Fashion Week was rocked yesterday by the first ever female model with Down Syndrome walking the catwalk. Jamie Brewer made history during the Carrie Hammer show, part of the designer’s “Role Models Not Runway Models” campaign. Hammer had decided last year that body types of skinny young girls did not fit her designs and instead she invited doctor and sex therapist Danielle Sheypuk to the runway in her wheelchair. Other invitees to this admirable initiative have been a transgender woman, a racing car driver, an Army veteran and government workers. Well done, Miss Carrie – showing off women with all types of jobs and from all circles of social life serves to promote positive body image for young girls, good example of motivation and achievement in life, and proves that size, shape and age don’t matter. You/ we are all perfect, as Pink says.
And last for today, Rihanna – who is not a role model in my opinion on ANY level – did for once prove she can use her powers for something different than promotion of smoking weed on Twitter and Instagram. Her lipgloss collection for MAC Cosmetics reached 50 million dolllars in profits and she donated all of it to the company’s charity helping HIV positive people. Nauble cause and my admirations to Rihanna for standing up as a young responsible woman for once and bringing in a positive change in the world!
That’s it from me for today, ladies and gents – stories on abortion and sex coming up tomorrow, including my rather-anticipated article on women and sex addictions which I promised you all earlier this week.
Be loved! Tonight and always!
The Social Message of the 2015 GRAMMYs
11 February 2015
Probably you have all seen or at least heard that the 2015 GRAMMY awards ceremony took place last weekend in the States. Music icons gathered together to see who has done well – or not so well – in the past year, listen to each others’ performances and occasionally create a scandal or two. Yes, I heard about the Beck/ Beyonce situation of who should have won album of the year, and Kanye West’s emotional reaction to Beyonce’s loss (not taking sides here but you all know how much I adore Bey!). So anyway, that little scandal aside + 3 Beyonce wins in between and an amazing Bey performance, what I wanted to mention on here was Brooke Axtell’s emotional introduction of Katy Perry and President Obama’s great message on domestic violence. The two speeches were both referring to domestic abuse as a prime threat to women’s lives in the US (and globally, I’d add). Brooke is a domestic violence survivor, who after a year of passionate romance with a guy, found herself beaten and threatened with death. She confided in her mum and managed to escape her abuser, and is now speaking up about her story hoping to empower other women to leave too. She was by the way, also a victim of human trafficking as a child – sold by her nanny!
President Obama’s video message on the other hand covered rape in the US and the importance to take a stand and help those in need. ‘It’s On Us’ is the President’s favoured campaign, launched by himself and the Vice President in September 2014. If you visit their website, you can take a pledge and promise to never stay silent if you suspect or observe signs of sexual assault against someone else. Or if you experience it yourself – God forbid – to seek help.
I am thrilled to see the awards took a social stand and addressed this major issue, whereby one in three women will get physically beaten or psychologically abused in her lifetime and one in five will be raped. Well done to both speakers for their strong messages, and to Katy Perry for joining efforts with Brooke, even if it is for mere intro at music awards. No better way to raise the profile of an issue than at an event watched by millions domestically and abroad.
And to finish off for today, women and sex is the topic of my latest idea of a social experiment: this week, ‘the week of love’ (this Valentine’s day stuff is already getting on my nerves but anyway) I will be watching one sex-related movie every day and observe how women are portayed in the productions. I will then review those movies and sum up my observations in a blog post on Sunday. So far I’ve done ‘Addicted’ on Monday, and ‘Nymphomaniac, Vol I’ on Tuesday. Today is Nymphomaniac, Vol II, and so on with other movies. Stay tuned for more info and results :)
Have a lovely sunny day, everyone!
Probably you have all seen or at least heard that the 2015 GRAMMY awards ceremony took place last weekend in the States. Music icons gathered together to see who has done well – or not so well – in the past year, listen to each others’ performances and occasionally create a scandal or two. Yes, I heard about the Beck/ Beyonce situation of who should have won album of the year, and Kanye West’s emotional reaction to Beyonce’s loss (not taking sides here but you all know how much I adore Bey!). So anyway, that little scandal aside + 3 Beyonce wins in between and an amazing Bey performance, what I wanted to mention on here was Brooke Axtell’s emotional introduction of Katy Perry and President Obama’s great message on domestic violence. The two speeches were both referring to domestic abuse as a prime threat to women’s lives in the US (and globally, I’d add). Brooke is a domestic violence survivor, who after a year of passionate romance with a guy, found herself beaten and threatened with death. She confided in her mum and managed to escape her abuser, and is now speaking up about her story hoping to empower other women to leave too. She was by the way, also a victim of human trafficking as a child – sold by her nanny!
President Obama’s video message on the other hand covered rape in the US and the importance to take a stand and help those in need. ‘It’s On Us’ is the President’s favoured campaign, launched by himself and the Vice President in September 2014. If you visit their website, you can take a pledge and promise to never stay silent if you suspect or observe signs of sexual assault against someone else. Or if you experience it yourself – God forbid – to seek help.
I am thrilled to see the awards took a social stand and addressed this major issue, whereby one in three women will get physically beaten or psychologically abused in her lifetime and one in five will be raped. Well done to both speakers for their strong messages, and to Katy Perry for joining efforts with Brooke, even if it is for mere intro at music awards. No better way to raise the profile of an issue than at an event watched by millions domestically and abroad.
And to finish off for today, women and sex is the topic of my latest idea of a social experiment: this week, ‘the week of love’ (this Valentine’s day stuff is already getting on my nerves but anyway) I will be watching one sex-related movie every day and observe how women are portayed in the productions. I will then review those movies and sum up my observations in a blog post on Sunday. So far I’ve done ‘Addicted’ on Monday, and ‘Nymphomaniac, Vol I’ on Tuesday. Today is Nymphomaniac, Vol II, and so on with other movies. Stay tuned for more info and results :)
Have a lovely sunny day, everyone!
The Lessons I Learnt from Desperate Housewives
So I am subscribed to receive monthly Cosmo deliveries (my happiest day of the month), and in this month's Bulgarian edition there was an article on the life lessons learnt from ‘Sex and the City’. I found it pretty amusing and got inspired to write a short similar post on the life lessons and advise I got from my other favourite series - Desperate Housewives.
1. Ladies' friendships are of prime importance for the living female organism. We girls are sociable human beings and we need like-minded girlfriends to talk to, laugh with and share our stories, be it on best baking recipees, gossip on who dates who, or life advise when to break up with that ungrateful mister someone who still doesn't appreciate you after years together. And the four ladies in this series share everything. Literally. Including murder (not recommended, please). But that’s also how you know those girls are your true friends.
2. Being a housewife is not shameful - on the contrary, it is a real JOB. Anyone who knows how difficult it is to bring up five kids (Lynette), build a successful business while at home (Bree) or help your blind husband through his recovery (Gabby) would know how real those women are and how hard they work! Respect!
3. It may be hard to talk about painful moments from your childhood, or your past more generally, but we all sympathised with Gabby for the abuse by her stepdad, or Renee whose mother killed herself, or Lynette's sisters whom she was taking care of since she was a teenager. So if you have something on your mind, the best people to talk to and get it off your chest, are your besties. And yes, that includes sharing overly personal things like when I was last in the bathroom – don’t kill me, please :)
4. Homosexuals are great. And they are just as great parents as the rest of us – look at Lee and family! Love’em!
5. Not having kids is ok. Renee, I am with you on this.
6. Having many kids is ok too – but make no mistake, it takes effort! And time! And nerves! Hats down to Lynette who is also a successful businesswoman on the side of motherhood. Tough but not impossible – and we can all do it. Hint, it helps to have a supportive husband on this one.
7. Addictions can be overcome. Bree was an alcoholic, ruined every meaningful relationship she had had in her life and nearly killed herself. But she managed to get back on her feet. It is only human to break down and have sad moments in your life. But we need to step back up again and friends are there to help us with this. Or in my case - my mom who banned me from drinking Coca Cola completely. Boy, was that tough! But I am 'clean' now and proud I made it.
8. Having an ultra-hot football player as a boyfriend/ husband practically increases the chance that you get cheated on. And if that does happen, you are fully entitled to choosing yourself over him. Well done, Renee. Example of opting for self-worth over petty love.
9. Cancer can kill you physically but your soul and personality can never be killed or forgotten. Mrs McCluskey, your personal sacrifice for Gabby, Bree and the rest of the team at the very final season was beyond admirable. Hats down again.
10. True love exists. At the series finale I cried about 199 times, but the most emotional moment was Lynette’s reunion with her life-long love and partner Tom. Got me to think – and I still do – that true love is there somewhere and I will find it.
Got a bit emotional here; before I move on to my essay writing for uni – Daria, this was for you as the most sincere DH fan and friend ever! And for the birthday girl Miss Gergana! Love you xxx.
1. Ladies' friendships are of prime importance for the living female organism. We girls are sociable human beings and we need like-minded girlfriends to talk to, laugh with and share our stories, be it on best baking recipees, gossip on who dates who, or life advise when to break up with that ungrateful mister someone who still doesn't appreciate you after years together. And the four ladies in this series share everything. Literally. Including murder (not recommended, please). But that’s also how you know those girls are your true friends.
2. Being a housewife is not shameful - on the contrary, it is a real JOB. Anyone who knows how difficult it is to bring up five kids (Lynette), build a successful business while at home (Bree) or help your blind husband through his recovery (Gabby) would know how real those women are and how hard they work! Respect!
3. It may be hard to talk about painful moments from your childhood, or your past more generally, but we all sympathised with Gabby for the abuse by her stepdad, or Renee whose mother killed herself, or Lynette's sisters whom she was taking care of since she was a teenager. So if you have something on your mind, the best people to talk to and get it off your chest, are your besties. And yes, that includes sharing overly personal things like when I was last in the bathroom – don’t kill me, please :)
4. Homosexuals are great. And they are just as great parents as the rest of us – look at Lee and family! Love’em!
5. Not having kids is ok. Renee, I am with you on this.
6. Having many kids is ok too – but make no mistake, it takes effort! And time! And nerves! Hats down to Lynette who is also a successful businesswoman on the side of motherhood. Tough but not impossible – and we can all do it. Hint, it helps to have a supportive husband on this one.
7. Addictions can be overcome. Bree was an alcoholic, ruined every meaningful relationship she had had in her life and nearly killed herself. But she managed to get back on her feet. It is only human to break down and have sad moments in your life. But we need to step back up again and friends are there to help us with this. Or in my case - my mom who banned me from drinking Coca Cola completely. Boy, was that tough! But I am 'clean' now and proud I made it.
8. Having an ultra-hot football player as a boyfriend/ husband practically increases the chance that you get cheated on. And if that does happen, you are fully entitled to choosing yourself over him. Well done, Renee. Example of opting for self-worth over petty love.
9. Cancer can kill you physically but your soul and personality can never be killed or forgotten. Mrs McCluskey, your personal sacrifice for Gabby, Bree and the rest of the team at the very final season was beyond admirable. Hats down again.
10. True love exists. At the series finale I cried about 199 times, but the most emotional moment was Lynette’s reunion with her life-long love and partner Tom. Got me to think – and I still do – that true love is there somewhere and I will find it.
Got a bit emotional here; before I move on to my essay writing for uni – Daria, this was for you as the most sincere DH fan and friend ever! And for the birthday girl Miss Gergana! Love you xxx.
Pissoars: The Dutch Edition
Hi people! 8 February 2015
One thing I noticed this weekend while in Amsterdam were these beautiful male toilet facilities at the photo below. Yes, exactly the same as the ones in London, and yes – I am still confused why we don’t have female equivalents and/ or why we gdon't et rid of these disgusting facilities all together. That was just a thought. Btw, no answer from the Mayor of London just yet in regards to my access to female public toilets inquiry. Oh, and Amsterdam and the whole prostitution issue made my most recent article for the Opinion Panel UK be very topical, at least in my own head :)
Now, you know how much of a great fan of Desperate Housewives I am – well, Eva Longoria, who is also one of my favorite characters in the show (as Gabby), and in real life, has just joined the ongoing effort of Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn to address poverty facing women and girls around the world: A Path Appears. This is originally a book, published in the US, and now it will be made into a PBS documentary where Eva will take part. Other celebrities joining will be Blake Lively, Ashley Judd, Jennifer Garner and more. Longoria’s portion of the documentary series will be about poverty and teen pregnancy in Colombia. In it, she visits the Juan Felipe Gomez Escobar Foundation, which provides education, counseling and job training for teenage mothers. Eva says that in her view, ‘If you help a woman, she helps her family, and if she changes her family then you start to change communities…I always believe the key to breaking the cycle of poverty lies within the women of any community.’ I couldn’t agree more and can’t wait to see the documentary as well as to read the book. Join the movement on Facebook @A Path Appears, or visit their website: http://apathappears.org/
And last for today, two international conferences took place in the end of January in Europe – one was a youth conference on FGM, which was organized through the CREATE project (funded by the EU). On 22 January in London, youth advocates from five organisations across Europe came together to share their experiences in working on female genital mutilation and forced marriage and to learn about effective prevention methods. The other event was the European Commission’s Conference on raising awareness on FGM on 28 January in Brussels. This was part of a similar EU funded initiative which promotes behaviour change towards the abandonment of FGM in practicing communities across the European Union. Learn more at their website and spread the word of why FGM matters for us Europeans - http://www.change-agent.eu/
Enjoy your Sunday, ladies and gents!
One thing I noticed this weekend while in Amsterdam were these beautiful male toilet facilities at the photo below. Yes, exactly the same as the ones in London, and yes – I am still confused why we don’t have female equivalents and/ or why we gdon't et rid of these disgusting facilities all together. That was just a thought. Btw, no answer from the Mayor of London just yet in regards to my access to female public toilets inquiry. Oh, and Amsterdam and the whole prostitution issue made my most recent article for the Opinion Panel UK be very topical, at least in my own head :)
Now, you know how much of a great fan of Desperate Housewives I am – well, Eva Longoria, who is also one of my favorite characters in the show (as Gabby), and in real life, has just joined the ongoing effort of Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn to address poverty facing women and girls around the world: A Path Appears. This is originally a book, published in the US, and now it will be made into a PBS documentary where Eva will take part. Other celebrities joining will be Blake Lively, Ashley Judd, Jennifer Garner and more. Longoria’s portion of the documentary series will be about poverty and teen pregnancy in Colombia. In it, she visits the Juan Felipe Gomez Escobar Foundation, which provides education, counseling and job training for teenage mothers. Eva says that in her view, ‘If you help a woman, she helps her family, and if she changes her family then you start to change communities…I always believe the key to breaking the cycle of poverty lies within the women of any community.’ I couldn’t agree more and can’t wait to see the documentary as well as to read the book. Join the movement on Facebook @A Path Appears, or visit their website: http://apathappears.org/
And last for today, two international conferences took place in the end of January in Europe – one was a youth conference on FGM, which was organized through the CREATE project (funded by the EU). On 22 January in London, youth advocates from five organisations across Europe came together to share their experiences in working on female genital mutilation and forced marriage and to learn about effective prevention methods. The other event was the European Commission’s Conference on raising awareness on FGM on 28 January in Brussels. This was part of a similar EU funded initiative which promotes behaviour change towards the abandonment of FGM in practicing communities across the European Union. Learn more at their website and spread the word of why FGM matters for us Europeans - http://www.change-agent.eu/
Enjoy your Sunday, ladies and gents!
Prostitution and Campaigns
First off for today, nice surprise by the Opinion Panel UK who have just published another piece of mine - this time on legalization of prostitution and protection for those women forced into sexual slavery. Have a look and feel free to comment and/ or share widely: http://www.opinionpanel.co.uk/2015/02/05/99-billion-a-year-from-forced-sexual-services/
Next, my bestie from Bulgaria was visiting me in Paris this week and of course we did a lot of cultural activities, incl going to the Louvre. While we were there, I noticed the following Italian arts creation from the Middle Ages - see below. As you can see the Holy Mother is shown breastfeeding baby Jesus, which surely back in those days was NOT something to be ashamed of. On the contrary, genious artists included moms in their work. As you know I was quite frustrated with criticism against breastfeeding moms in the UK - please do read my short post in the Campaigns and Global Action section and show your support to the Free to Feed charity.
Also on the topic of campaigns, the Walk in Her Shoes charity walk is taking place on 8 March this year in London. Join CARE International in their efforts to provide access to drinkable water to women and girls across the world to ensure they don't waste any more hours and days walking to get water, and get education instead. More info @Campaigns. PS: it seems my News page gets veeery many views (thanks for that, really!) but that isn't so much the case for 'Campaigns' - please make sure to check my regular updates on there too and take at least local, if not global action :)
And last for today, I know I have been a bit off the radar last few days but as I said I've had a long-awaited special guest over and will be traveling this weekend myself. But proper analysis on women's issues from the week will follow in due course. Have a happy weekend, everyone! And if you get bored, you might wanna watch Katy Perry's Super Bowl performance from last week. Hmmmm not that I am any expert in singing, but I can't really recommend it per se; anyway, see for yourselves :)
Next, my bestie from Bulgaria was visiting me in Paris this week and of course we did a lot of cultural activities, incl going to the Louvre. While we were there, I noticed the following Italian arts creation from the Middle Ages - see below. As you can see the Holy Mother is shown breastfeeding baby Jesus, which surely back in those days was NOT something to be ashamed of. On the contrary, genious artists included moms in their work. As you know I was quite frustrated with criticism against breastfeeding moms in the UK - please do read my short post in the Campaigns and Global Action section and show your support to the Free to Feed charity.
Also on the topic of campaigns, the Walk in Her Shoes charity walk is taking place on 8 March this year in London. Join CARE International in their efforts to provide access to drinkable water to women and girls across the world to ensure they don't waste any more hours and days walking to get water, and get education instead. More info @Campaigns. PS: it seems my News page gets veeery many views (thanks for that, really!) but that isn't so much the case for 'Campaigns' - please make sure to check my regular updates on there too and take at least local, if not global action :)
And last for today, I know I have been a bit off the radar last few days but as I said I've had a long-awaited special guest over and will be traveling this weekend myself. But proper analysis on women's issues from the week will follow in due course. Have a happy weekend, everyone! And if you get bored, you might wanna watch Katy Perry's Super Bowl performance from last week. Hmmmm not that I am any expert in singing, but I can't really recommend it per se; anyway, see for yourselves :)
The Super Bowl
As I said last night, this weekend is a big one for American football fans as the Super Bowl game takes place today. For all we know, a minute worth of advertising during the most watched TV event in American history, costs between 1-2-3 million dollars. This year however, one minute TV time will be dedicated to domestic violence victims. The play is of a famous 911 call made by a woman who pretends to order a pizza delivery while in fact she needs urgent police help. The transcript is below and here is a link to the ad online. Incredibly powerful, it ends with “When it’s hard to talk, it’s up to us to listen.” The video has been seen by nearly 5 million people on YouTube for the past week and it is very important that we pass on this message. Make sure to take the pledge to support domestic violence victims at www.nomore.org. And WELL DONE to the No More Association for bringing public attention to this issue and making such a powerful statement nation- and world-wide. 115 million Americans are expected to watch the game, and millions more will do so from abroad.
Go Seahawks (I’m a WA girl, after all), but also please spare a minute and honour survivors of abuse!
Transcript of the call:
- “911, where is you emergency?”
- “123 Main St.”
- “Ok, what’s going on there?”
- “I’d like to order a pizza for delivery.” (oh great, another prank call).
- “Ma’am, you’ve reached 911″
- “Yeah, I know. Can I have a large with half pepperoni, half mushroom and peppers?”
- “Ummm…. I’m sorry, you know you’ve called 911 right?”
- “Yeah, do you know how long it will be?”
- “Ok, Ma’am, is everything ok over there? do you have an emergency?”
- “Yes, I do.”
- “And you can’t talk about it because there’s someone in the room with you?”
- “Yes, that’s correct. Do you know how long it will be?”
- “I have an officer about a mile from your location. Are there any weapons in your house?”
- “Nope.”
- “Can you stay on the phone with me?”
- “Nope. See you soon, thanks”
Go Seahawks (I’m a WA girl, after all), but also please spare a minute and honour survivors of abuse!
Transcript of the call:
- “911, where is you emergency?”
- “123 Main St.”
- “Ok, what’s going on there?”
- “I’d like to order a pizza for delivery.” (oh great, another prank call).
- “Ma’am, you’ve reached 911″
- “Yeah, I know. Can I have a large with half pepperoni, half mushroom and peppers?”
- “Ummm…. I’m sorry, you know you’ve called 911 right?”
- “Yeah, do you know how long it will be?”
- “Ok, Ma’am, is everything ok over there? do you have an emergency?”
- “Yes, I do.”
- “And you can’t talk about it because there’s someone in the room with you?”
- “Yes, that’s correct. Do you know how long it will be?”
- “I have an officer about a mile from your location. Are there any weapons in your house?”
- “Nope.”
- “Can you stay on the phone with me?”
- “Nope. See you soon, thanks”
'Scandalous' Football
Look what I got in the mail yesterday thanks to Miss Emily (see below). It’s the end of January, people, so time to buy the new Cosmo UK and learn about honour-based violence in the UK and our honour killings report at the Henry Jackson Society. Proud and happy – time to raise awareness!
Further, I promised a Kenyan story today, and it comes from The Kibera Girls Soccer Academy. This school started as one room with two tables, rented chairs, and eleven girls who wanted to learn. But today it’s a two-story building with four classrooms, a science lab and a library. The school founder, Abdul Kassim, born in Kibera to a single mum 43 years ago (who died when he was just nine), fought against gender stereotypes and started providing soccer training to girls in the Kenyan city. His girls eventually started beating boys teams and showed that football is no longer a man’s game (yes, I’m referring also to my piece on women and football at this year’s World Championships in Brazil). Because Abdul’s players got older and some started dropping out of school and getting pregnant, he opened a school for them, making it possible for them to receive free education. Now ‘KGSA provides free secondary education to over 130 girls annually, in addition to offering artistic and athletic programming to the students and microfinance opportunities to the families to help create stronger, more resilient households’. What a success and what a great example of entrepreneurship, social responsibility, commitment to education and sports as a healthy lifestyle, and broader understanding of social challenges in communities and beyond. Get inspired and fund/ volunteer/ come up with ideas for other girls’ projects across the world. For inspiration for to http://www.chimeforchange.org/
And secondly, piece of advice for all fans (and non-fans) of Olivia Pope and ‘Scandal’ in general. The Huffington Post came up with some recommendations how to look and act like Miss Pope – well-known role model for integrity, professionalism and strong female leadership combined with compassion. So apparently the key is to ‘ask the hard questions, throw serious shade with your eyes and always roll deep in fashion. Oh, and work, work, work’. Oh, and try to wear a white coat. Better yet, if you ask me – get Kerry Washington’s-designed purple purse which is raising funds for victims of domestic abuse. Buy it on http://purplepurse.com/
PS: Before I go offline and because we are on a football-wave here, quick reminder for Sunday’s Super Bowl 2015 – there will be an add during the match, which recreates the scenario with a woman being beaten at home and calling 911 pretending she’s ordering a pizza delivery (see my previous posts for more info). Super powerful, I’m not going to share the preview just yet – more comments on this tomorrow.
Further, I promised a Kenyan story today, and it comes from The Kibera Girls Soccer Academy. This school started as one room with two tables, rented chairs, and eleven girls who wanted to learn. But today it’s a two-story building with four classrooms, a science lab and a library. The school founder, Abdul Kassim, born in Kibera to a single mum 43 years ago (who died when he was just nine), fought against gender stereotypes and started providing soccer training to girls in the Kenyan city. His girls eventually started beating boys teams and showed that football is no longer a man’s game (yes, I’m referring also to my piece on women and football at this year’s World Championships in Brazil). Because Abdul’s players got older and some started dropping out of school and getting pregnant, he opened a school for them, making it possible for them to receive free education. Now ‘KGSA provides free secondary education to over 130 girls annually, in addition to offering artistic and athletic programming to the students and microfinance opportunities to the families to help create stronger, more resilient households’. What a success and what a great example of entrepreneurship, social responsibility, commitment to education and sports as a healthy lifestyle, and broader understanding of social challenges in communities and beyond. Get inspired and fund/ volunteer/ come up with ideas for other girls’ projects across the world. For inspiration for to http://www.chimeforchange.org/
And secondly, piece of advice for all fans (and non-fans) of Olivia Pope and ‘Scandal’ in general. The Huffington Post came up with some recommendations how to look and act like Miss Pope – well-known role model for integrity, professionalism and strong female leadership combined with compassion. So apparently the key is to ‘ask the hard questions, throw serious shade with your eyes and always roll deep in fashion. Oh, and work, work, work’. Oh, and try to wear a white coat. Better yet, if you ask me – get Kerry Washington’s-designed purple purse which is raising funds for victims of domestic abuse. Buy it on http://purplepurse.com/
PS: Before I go offline and because we are on a football-wave here, quick reminder for Sunday’s Super Bowl 2015 – there will be an add during the match, which recreates the scenario with a woman being beaten at home and calling 911 pretending she’s ordering a pizza delivery (see my previous posts for more info). Super powerful, I’m not going to share the preview just yet – more comments on this tomorrow.
Oh My God, You Are So Great!
To start off with for today, when I sent my letter to the Mayor of London (see below) I also sent it to the Time/ Huffington Post journalist Soraya Chemaly whose article originally inspired me to take action on female public toilets in the UK. I am super thrilled that Miss Chemaly actually responded to my message and started with ‘Oh my God, you are so great!’ Now I can die proud knowing that my work has been seen and appreciated by the big names in the business and I can’t even explain how much it means for a small-scale female rights advocate like me to be encouraged by someone way high up on the feminist ladder. Thank you! And to move on from this, a thought for you all from Pablo Picasso: ‘Action is the foundational key to all success’. Keep that in mind whenever in doubt whether to do something or not :) Even if it is just complaining you got nowhere to pee.
Speaking of taking action, I am thrilled that my university in Paris has FINALLY made some progress in the fight against sexual harassment on- and off-campus. We’ve all been informed that new university guidelines on harassment have been published this week. Just five pages long but very much on point, with all the necessary info and the right contacts to reach in times of need. I don’t think I can republish and/ or even refer to the internal paper on here, but one big Well Done this time to Sciences Po. Unlike my British uni, as much as I love it. Just a thought there.
More: Yes, I saw that Mrs Obama didn’t wear a veil when she arrived with her husband on a visit in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. Some got mad she wasn’t respecting the local customs (women covered head-to-toe – a law for the locals, not merely a custom, to be honest). There was even a hash tag on Twitter, in Arabic, translating into "Michelle Obama with no headscarf" which started ‘trending’ and came down to about 2,500 tweets in total. However, for a country where there are more than five million Twitter accounts, the number of 2,500 really does not look that impressive after all. So the Saudis didn’t get mad. And I think we should be proud of Mrs Obama for her choice, there isn’t neither a law for foreign women to be covered, nor would that have been a good message sent from a state where half its population isn’t allowed to drive, travel alone, have bank accounts or even leave the house without a male’s permission. Moreover, Madeleine Albright in 1999, Angela Merkel in 2010 and Hillary Clinton in 2012 all ‘dared’ visiting the Kings with no veils on.
For all my French readers, I know I’ve been neglecting you and I do apologize for that – to make up for it, here’s an interesting article in French (that I understood completely – ya see!) covering the issue of Mrs Obama’s appearance (or the lack of an ‘issue’, rather): http://www.liberation.fr/monde/2015/01/29/en-arabie-saoudite-michelle-obama-non-voilee-n-a-choque-presque-personne_1191131
And lastly, I also read that Libby Lane finally became the first female bishop at the Church of England this week. Historical moment for the church as an institution and for the English society as a whole. In Bulgaria I don’t recall ever seeing a woman in ANY position of power in the Bulgarian orthodox church, so at least my second home England is making up for this. On a rather serious note though, it is a historical step which brings gender equality one step closer to covering all spheres of life. Interested and want to read more? Go to http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-30974547.
Enjoy your weekend, ladies and gents! I’ll be back tomorrow with a girls’ story from Kenya and some fierce advice on how to be Olivia Pope-act-alike. Yes, I’m talking 'Scandal' and I’m talking strong women. Stay tuned! Xx
Speaking of taking action, I am thrilled that my university in Paris has FINALLY made some progress in the fight against sexual harassment on- and off-campus. We’ve all been informed that new university guidelines on harassment have been published this week. Just five pages long but very much on point, with all the necessary info and the right contacts to reach in times of need. I don’t think I can republish and/ or even refer to the internal paper on here, but one big Well Done this time to Sciences Po. Unlike my British uni, as much as I love it. Just a thought there.
More: Yes, I saw that Mrs Obama didn’t wear a veil when she arrived with her husband on a visit in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. Some got mad she wasn’t respecting the local customs (women covered head-to-toe – a law for the locals, not merely a custom, to be honest). There was even a hash tag on Twitter, in Arabic, translating into "Michelle Obama with no headscarf" which started ‘trending’ and came down to about 2,500 tweets in total. However, for a country where there are more than five million Twitter accounts, the number of 2,500 really does not look that impressive after all. So the Saudis didn’t get mad. And I think we should be proud of Mrs Obama for her choice, there isn’t neither a law for foreign women to be covered, nor would that have been a good message sent from a state where half its population isn’t allowed to drive, travel alone, have bank accounts or even leave the house without a male’s permission. Moreover, Madeleine Albright in 1999, Angela Merkel in 2010 and Hillary Clinton in 2012 all ‘dared’ visiting the Kings with no veils on.
For all my French readers, I know I’ve been neglecting you and I do apologize for that – to make up for it, here’s an interesting article in French (that I understood completely – ya see!) covering the issue of Mrs Obama’s appearance (or the lack of an ‘issue’, rather): http://www.liberation.fr/monde/2015/01/29/en-arabie-saoudite-michelle-obama-non-voilee-n-a-choque-presque-personne_1191131
And lastly, I also read that Libby Lane finally became the first female bishop at the Church of England this week. Historical moment for the church as an institution and for the English society as a whole. In Bulgaria I don’t recall ever seeing a woman in ANY position of power in the Bulgarian orthodox church, so at least my second home England is making up for this. On a rather serious note though, it is a historical step which brings gender equality one step closer to covering all spheres of life. Interested and want to read more? Go to http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-30974547.
Enjoy your weekend, ladies and gents! I’ll be back tomorrow with a girls’ story from Kenya and some fierce advice on how to be Olivia Pope-act-alike. Yes, I’m talking 'Scandal' and I’m talking strong women. Stay tuned! Xx
Dear Mr Johnson
So I think the current season of 'Girls' is by far the best this show has had. In the latest episode, Jessa decided to pee on the street as she couldn't hold it anymore and there were no toilets around (sound familiar, Londoners?) I found this funny and very much Jessa-like, yet the more interesting bit happened five seconds after when a police car passed by and saw her while doing IT. She got a fine of 50 bucks despite her attempt to argue with the officers, which by the way also resulted in her arrest. Now, I find this very relevant to my numerous attempts to address the issue of access to female toilets (see blog posts below on why urinating is just as important to us girls, and even more so than to men). And as promised, I wrote to Mr Boris Johnson - the almighty Mayor of London. Of course I've promised to keep you all in the loop of any developments in my comms with the Mayor, so please stay tuned for when I hear back.
Meanwhile, my message follows:
Dear Mr Johnson,
I hope this finds you well and that London town’s issues are well under control in your office.
I am writing in regards to one specific issue myself and other (young) women like me find particularly disturbing and discriminatory in London – access to female public toilets.
I recently read an article by Soraya Chemaly at Time magazine ('The Everyday Sexism of Women Waiting in Public Toilet Lines') that inspired me very much to write to you personally and address the problem: namely, we are all humans and as much as I feel like a (modest) lady, I do need to use the bathroom slightly more often than my male counterparts, and this very need proves highly challenging in London – borderline impossible.
Specifically, I have two questions which I would kindly ask you to consider:
Firstly, why are there male ‘toilet’ facilities in between Leicester Sq and Trafalgar Sq (Charing Cross Rd, if I am not mistaken) and none for females? Rather rephrased, my question is how hygienic and esthetic is it for men to literally urinate in the street, undisturbed by police or anyone else, while women have no facilities to do so? This is the center of the world’s greatest city and yet it is full of various body smells and liquids – all of which disgusting and discriminatory as for us, girls, we have to go to McDonald’s or somewhere else to have our personal body needs met. And of course, pay for using those same private facilities of restaurants, etc.
Secondly, the public toilets located right next to the London Eye, on the right hand side in direction towards the Millennium Bridge, are about 15 in total. Yet, five of them are male-only, and all the rest are unisex. Again my questions are, why aren’t there female-only facilities, how high on the priorities list is hygiene and where exactly is the equality of genders: in physical space but also in waiting time and quality of the service? These bathrooms, by the way, are paid – so I’d rather pay 50 p extra and not have to sit down on a seat just-now-peed-on by a representative of the male species. Yet, I don’t see why I need to pay extra as a woman to have this ‘luxury’.
Please let me know your views on these issues when you get a chance. I started blogging about women’s rights six months ago and two of my blog posts were on these two specific questions which I pledged to my readers to address to you personally. With over 11,000 views of my blog and numerous support messages, I would imagine more than one person would be interested in your responses.
Thank you very much in advance and kind regards,
Plamena Solakova
Meanwhile, my message follows:
Dear Mr Johnson,
I hope this finds you well and that London town’s issues are well under control in your office.
I am writing in regards to one specific issue myself and other (young) women like me find particularly disturbing and discriminatory in London – access to female public toilets.
I recently read an article by Soraya Chemaly at Time magazine ('The Everyday Sexism of Women Waiting in Public Toilet Lines') that inspired me very much to write to you personally and address the problem: namely, we are all humans and as much as I feel like a (modest) lady, I do need to use the bathroom slightly more often than my male counterparts, and this very need proves highly challenging in London – borderline impossible.
Specifically, I have two questions which I would kindly ask you to consider:
Firstly, why are there male ‘toilet’ facilities in between Leicester Sq and Trafalgar Sq (Charing Cross Rd, if I am not mistaken) and none for females? Rather rephrased, my question is how hygienic and esthetic is it for men to literally urinate in the street, undisturbed by police or anyone else, while women have no facilities to do so? This is the center of the world’s greatest city and yet it is full of various body smells and liquids – all of which disgusting and discriminatory as for us, girls, we have to go to McDonald’s or somewhere else to have our personal body needs met. And of course, pay for using those same private facilities of restaurants, etc.
Secondly, the public toilets located right next to the London Eye, on the right hand side in direction towards the Millennium Bridge, are about 15 in total. Yet, five of them are male-only, and all the rest are unisex. Again my questions are, why aren’t there female-only facilities, how high on the priorities list is hygiene and where exactly is the equality of genders: in physical space but also in waiting time and quality of the service? These bathrooms, by the way, are paid – so I’d rather pay 50 p extra and not have to sit down on a seat just-now-peed-on by a representative of the male species. Yet, I don’t see why I need to pay extra as a woman to have this ‘luxury’.
Please let me know your views on these issues when you get a chance. I started blogging about women’s rights six months ago and two of my blog posts were on these two specific questions which I pledged to my readers to address to you personally. With over 11,000 views of my blog and numerous support messages, I would imagine more than one person would be interested in your responses.
Thank you very much in advance and kind regards,
Plamena Solakova
A Nation's Success Comes With The Success of Her Women
28 January 2015
It was with great pleasure that I listened to President Obama’s speech in India yesterday where he insisted nations can achieve success only if their women are successful too. Mr Obama, who was on a three-day official visit in the South-Asian country, spoke in front of around 2,000 people packed into a South Delhi auditorium and stressed: "This is one of the most direct measures of whether a nation is going to develop effectively - how it treats its women. When a girl goes to school, it doesn't just open up her young mind, it benefits all of us". The President continued: "If nations really want to succeed in today's global economy, they can't simply ignore the talents of half their people"… and later concluded with "And as husbands and fathers and brothers, we have to step up because every girl's life matters, every daughter deserves the same chance as our sons, every woman should be able to go about her day, to walk the streets, or ride the bus and be safe and be treated with respect and dignity. She deserves that." Great speech and very important message – especially in a country where women are often gang-raped, beaten and killed in the name of ‘honour’. Well done, Mr Obama, hope your message gets across to both the policy-makers and the general population, who may start to consider a girl’s education as equally important as a boy’s. Read more highlights from yesterday’s event here: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/01/27/us-india-obama-women-idUKKBN0L01GQ20150127
And speaking of nations’ success, a very interesting piece on poverty was published on The Guardian this week. Have a read through and note a pretty good explanation is also given on why abused women don’t leave their abusers as quickly and as easily as one would expect. Getting out of abuse is just as difficult as getting out of poverty and if you don’t understand that, you must be a ‘sociopath’ (in the author’s words herself).
The Mayor of London next, as soon as I get some proper internet connection to post it up – France ain’t Bulgaria when it comes to WiFi, believe me! In case you were wondering, Bulgaria has the second highest internet speed connection in the world. Now with all the applauses for my homeland, I’ll be back later tonight xx
It was with great pleasure that I listened to President Obama’s speech in India yesterday where he insisted nations can achieve success only if their women are successful too. Mr Obama, who was on a three-day official visit in the South-Asian country, spoke in front of around 2,000 people packed into a South Delhi auditorium and stressed: "This is one of the most direct measures of whether a nation is going to develop effectively - how it treats its women. When a girl goes to school, it doesn't just open up her young mind, it benefits all of us". The President continued: "If nations really want to succeed in today's global economy, they can't simply ignore the talents of half their people"… and later concluded with "And as husbands and fathers and brothers, we have to step up because every girl's life matters, every daughter deserves the same chance as our sons, every woman should be able to go about her day, to walk the streets, or ride the bus and be safe and be treated with respect and dignity. She deserves that." Great speech and very important message – especially in a country where women are often gang-raped, beaten and killed in the name of ‘honour’. Well done, Mr Obama, hope your message gets across to both the policy-makers and the general population, who may start to consider a girl’s education as equally important as a boy’s. Read more highlights from yesterday’s event here: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/01/27/us-india-obama-women-idUKKBN0L01GQ20150127
And speaking of nations’ success, a very interesting piece on poverty was published on The Guardian this week. Have a read through and note a pretty good explanation is also given on why abused women don’t leave their abusers as quickly and as easily as one would expect. Getting out of abuse is just as difficult as getting out of poverty and if you don’t understand that, you must be a ‘sociopath’ (in the author’s words herself).
The Mayor of London next, as soon as I get some proper internet connection to post it up – France ain’t Bulgaria when it comes to WiFi, believe me! In case you were wondering, Bulgaria has the second highest internet speed connection in the world. Now with all the applauses for my homeland, I’ll be back later tonight xx
Did You Know Your Husband Had Already Divorced You?
Hey guys! 27 January 2015
To start off for today, I’d suggest you watch this new Canadian-Punjabi movie ‘Work Weather Wife’ (2014) which has just been shortlisted for the Oscars. It is apparently a joint production of Bollywood and Canada (and the only Canadian movie shortlisted for the awards this year) and it covers the issue of honour killings. While I haven’t watched it myself just yet, I heard the social message is expected to be powerful. Others criticize the production as mere love story in Indian style, but I guess we can’t be sure until we watch it ourselves – let me know if you manage to find it before me J And by the way, our report on Honour Killings in the UK (see below) has been handed onto the British Prime Minister. My days!!!
Secondly, I was reading the new Human Rights Watch report released just few days ago on the issue of women and divorce rights in Lebanon. The main message – and I recommend you scan through it at least – is that regardless of their religious group, women in Lebanon are generally discriminated against in their personal status, their ways to petition for divorce are limited, their inheritance taken away, incl any shared marital property remains for the man, the children are also usually given to the father. A particular curious bit of the interview states that : ‘Sunni, Shia, and Druze men can divorce their wives at will. Sunni and Shia men can even do this outside of a courtroom, sometimes in the absence and without the knowledge of their wife. They only need to pronounce the divorce – so literally just say “I divorce you” out loud – and it’s done, as far as the religious laws are concerned. It doesn’t need to be in front of an official. In one case we reviewed, a woman went to court to divorce her husband only to discover that he had already divorced her!’ If you’d like to learn more on religious inequality and how this affects women’s lives in the country read the full report here.
And finally, speaking of Lebanon – we all know of the massive issue of Syrian refugees in the whole of the Middle East (and in particular in neighbouring Lebanon). UNGEI – the UN agency which works for the promotion of girls’ education and empowerment – has specific guidelines on eliminating/ reducing violence against girls at refugee schools. If you work in the humanitarian or education sector, make sure to read the report here.
That’s it from me for today – Canada and the Middle East as the main focus; tomorrow I’ll update you on the public toilets situation in London and my comms with the Mayor of London. Stay tuned! :)
To start off for today, I’d suggest you watch this new Canadian-Punjabi movie ‘Work Weather Wife’ (2014) which has just been shortlisted for the Oscars. It is apparently a joint production of Bollywood and Canada (and the only Canadian movie shortlisted for the awards this year) and it covers the issue of honour killings. While I haven’t watched it myself just yet, I heard the social message is expected to be powerful. Others criticize the production as mere love story in Indian style, but I guess we can’t be sure until we watch it ourselves – let me know if you manage to find it before me J And by the way, our report on Honour Killings in the UK (see below) has been handed onto the British Prime Minister. My days!!!
Secondly, I was reading the new Human Rights Watch report released just few days ago on the issue of women and divorce rights in Lebanon. The main message – and I recommend you scan through it at least – is that regardless of their religious group, women in Lebanon are generally discriminated against in their personal status, their ways to petition for divorce are limited, their inheritance taken away, incl any shared marital property remains for the man, the children are also usually given to the father. A particular curious bit of the interview states that : ‘Sunni, Shia, and Druze men can divorce their wives at will. Sunni and Shia men can even do this outside of a courtroom, sometimes in the absence and without the knowledge of their wife. They only need to pronounce the divorce – so literally just say “I divorce you” out loud – and it’s done, as far as the religious laws are concerned. It doesn’t need to be in front of an official. In one case we reviewed, a woman went to court to divorce her husband only to discover that he had already divorced her!’ If you’d like to learn more on religious inequality and how this affects women’s lives in the country read the full report here.
And finally, speaking of Lebanon – we all know of the massive issue of Syrian refugees in the whole of the Middle East (and in particular in neighbouring Lebanon). UNGEI – the UN agency which works for the promotion of girls’ education and empowerment – has specific guidelines on eliminating/ reducing violence against girls at refugee schools. If you work in the humanitarian or education sector, make sure to read the report here.
That’s it from me for today – Canada and the Middle East as the main focus; tomorrow I’ll update you on the public toilets situation in London and my comms with the Mayor of London. Stay tuned! :)
Photoshop + Cosmo
Hey world! Two bits from me today: 25 January 2015
Firstly, the Paris terrorist act at Charlie Hebdo and the subsequent solidarity march have been discussed quite widely in the past two weeks. Indeed, as terrifying and sad as it is to hear about the incident and the related hostage crisis, etc. it was almost as shocking to see this: an Israeli newspaper photoshopped the picture of world leaders marching in Paris so that the female faces would not appear (see below). So Angela Merkel who was in fact right next to French President Hollande, suddenly disappeared, just like other (Scandinavian) women leaders. On its third page on January 13, HaMevaser demonstrated its traditional ultra-orthodox views backed up by ‘modesty’. I think there are far more concerning images of women out there in public than to really be 'modest' about women leaders who have achieved great things and battled stereotypes at home and abroad. Disappointing publication...
And from this, moving on to another sensitive topic much talked about lately in the UK – honour killings. My colleague and friend Emily Dyer had all her efforts in the past 6 months rewarded with the launch of her report ‘Honour Killings in the UK’ last week at the House of Lords. Cosmopolitan Magazine and Charity Karma Nirvana announced a day of memory for the victims of honour crimes in the UK is to be held annually on 14 July, and February’s edition of Cosmo will feature a cover of suffocated girl Shafilea Ahmed by her parents (see below). I can NOT wait to buy the next Cosmo and meanwhile, due to my research assistance on this project, I would like to share the final report with you all – please read and spread the word.
PS: It feels amazing having my name down on such an important piece of work and many thanks to Emily for having me on board for this project! Xx
Firstly, the Paris terrorist act at Charlie Hebdo and the subsequent solidarity march have been discussed quite widely in the past two weeks. Indeed, as terrifying and sad as it is to hear about the incident and the related hostage crisis, etc. it was almost as shocking to see this: an Israeli newspaper photoshopped the picture of world leaders marching in Paris so that the female faces would not appear (see below). So Angela Merkel who was in fact right next to French President Hollande, suddenly disappeared, just like other (Scandinavian) women leaders. On its third page on January 13, HaMevaser demonstrated its traditional ultra-orthodox views backed up by ‘modesty’. I think there are far more concerning images of women out there in public than to really be 'modest' about women leaders who have achieved great things and battled stereotypes at home and abroad. Disappointing publication...
And from this, moving on to another sensitive topic much talked about lately in the UK – honour killings. My colleague and friend Emily Dyer had all her efforts in the past 6 months rewarded with the launch of her report ‘Honour Killings in the UK’ last week at the House of Lords. Cosmopolitan Magazine and Charity Karma Nirvana announced a day of memory for the victims of honour crimes in the UK is to be held annually on 14 July, and February’s edition of Cosmo will feature a cover of suffocated girl Shafilea Ahmed by her parents (see below). I can NOT wait to buy the next Cosmo and meanwhile, due to my research assistance on this project, I would like to share the final report with you all – please read and spread the word.
PS: It feels amazing having my name down on such an important piece of work and many thanks to Emily for having me on board for this project! Xx
honour-killings-in-the-uk.pdf | |
File Size: | 1561 kb |
File Type: |
Abortions, Sex Trade, Topless Women and Hold-On-A-Second:
Naked Men on the Runway?!?
24 January 2015
Due to my disappearance over the past week, I received concerned messages from a couple of flawless fans. Why, thank you! Truth is, I was on holiday with my mom and access to laptop/ internet/ etc was very limited, then I moved house back in Paris and have been running errands up and down. Now I’m back though and ready to supply a lot of news to you, ladies and gents! Quick overview of the past week and important gender news:
- On 22 January 1973, the Supreme Court decision on the case Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in the whole of the US. Since then, and due to the 42nd anniversary of the date, according to data released this week, there have been 57,762,169 abortions in America. Much or not so much – your view counts, but surely the very fact that abortion has been legal for over 4 decades and women have the right to choose is admirable enough (compare to other ‘developed’ states…)
- In a couple of days, a book on sexual slavery is about to be released in the UK and abroad, written first-hand by a British girl, survivor of the sex trade in Greece and Italy. Megan Stephens gave an interview for The Guardian earlier this week where she summed up the key messages of the book and called for the readers to be aware of the dangers when going on holiday, and especially when falling in love with strangers. Turned out her boyfriend she was madly in love with for years, was a pimp and sold her off, forced her to have sex with as many as 110 men a night and then took everything she earned. What a story! Read the interview here and buy the book at discounted price on Guardian.com.
- After 44 years, the SUN Newspaper in the UK stopped publishing naked women’s pictures on its page 3. Landmark moment. Except two days later there were still pictures of women, this time with bras. What this means for us and how the quiet move from topless to bra photos impacts our generation, see experts opinions here.
- The Duke of York, Prince Andrew, was accused of raping a woman when she was 17. This week, he was forced to make a public statement on the accusations and he denied them (unsurprisingly). Meanwhile, he hosted a reception at the Davos Forum of some of the world’s top economic leaders. What better move to clear his image. What is this scandal all about? Read here.
- Athletes and periods – how menstruation impacts female athletes and what it means to NOT talk about bleeding – read Rose George’s great piece here.
- And my personal favourite this week: MEN with bare penises walked the Rick Owens’ menswear show in Paris on Thursday. Shockingly enough, the American designer had four of his models walk down wearing clothes with peepholes that showed their male prides underneath. I was laughing at the pictures published here but in fact, I love this – why should just female models wear revealing clothes, no bras, etc. Here’s to men also showing off some flesh, you see what it feels like to be centre of the attention due to your bodies now. This resembles true gender equality on the runway for once.
More from me tomorrow, have a good weekend, people! Xx Miss P
Due to my disappearance over the past week, I received concerned messages from a couple of flawless fans. Why, thank you! Truth is, I was on holiday with my mom and access to laptop/ internet/ etc was very limited, then I moved house back in Paris and have been running errands up and down. Now I’m back though and ready to supply a lot of news to you, ladies and gents! Quick overview of the past week and important gender news:
- On 22 January 1973, the Supreme Court decision on the case Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in the whole of the US. Since then, and due to the 42nd anniversary of the date, according to data released this week, there have been 57,762,169 abortions in America. Much or not so much – your view counts, but surely the very fact that abortion has been legal for over 4 decades and women have the right to choose is admirable enough (compare to other ‘developed’ states…)
- In a couple of days, a book on sexual slavery is about to be released in the UK and abroad, written first-hand by a British girl, survivor of the sex trade in Greece and Italy. Megan Stephens gave an interview for The Guardian earlier this week where she summed up the key messages of the book and called for the readers to be aware of the dangers when going on holiday, and especially when falling in love with strangers. Turned out her boyfriend she was madly in love with for years, was a pimp and sold her off, forced her to have sex with as many as 110 men a night and then took everything she earned. What a story! Read the interview here and buy the book at discounted price on Guardian.com.
- After 44 years, the SUN Newspaper in the UK stopped publishing naked women’s pictures on its page 3. Landmark moment. Except two days later there were still pictures of women, this time with bras. What this means for us and how the quiet move from topless to bra photos impacts our generation, see experts opinions here.
- The Duke of York, Prince Andrew, was accused of raping a woman when she was 17. This week, he was forced to make a public statement on the accusations and he denied them (unsurprisingly). Meanwhile, he hosted a reception at the Davos Forum of some of the world’s top economic leaders. What better move to clear his image. What is this scandal all about? Read here.
- Athletes and periods – how menstruation impacts female athletes and what it means to NOT talk about bleeding – read Rose George’s great piece here.
- And my personal favourite this week: MEN with bare penises walked the Rick Owens’ menswear show in Paris on Thursday. Shockingly enough, the American designer had four of his models walk down wearing clothes with peepholes that showed their male prides underneath. I was laughing at the pictures published here but in fact, I love this – why should just female models wear revealing clothes, no bras, etc. Here’s to men also showing off some flesh, you see what it feels like to be centre of the attention due to your bodies now. This resembles true gender equality on the runway for once.
More from me tomorrow, have a good weekend, people! Xx Miss P
Cats
17 January 2015
I went to see Cats – the Musical this week and I was super impressed not just with the production (amazing dancing, singing, tech effects and decors), but also with one of the main characters in the musical – old grey cat Grizabella, played by Nicole Scherzinger. Because she sang so well and had quite a bit of acting talent, I got inspired to share some of Nicole’s interview with British Cosmopolitan this summer, where she spoke about her eating disorder. Despite suffering from bulimia for years, Nicole is a great example of bravery and strength and shows other women that loving yourself is what you should love the most!
After nearly losing her twenties in the fight with bulimia, Nicole admits: “I had started losing my voice, I couldn’t sing at shows, and then I remember my manager finding me passed out on the floor in Malta or in the south of France… I thought, ‘I’m going to lose everything I love if I don’t love myself.’ One day when you feel like you’ve reached the end, you just say, ‘I’m not doing this anymore.’ It’s sad to see how I wasted my life. I had such a great life on the outside, the Dolls were on top of the world but I was miserable on the inside. I’m never letting that happen again; you only get one life – I was 27 only once.”
The National Health Service defines bulimia as an eating disorder where people ‘severely restrict the amount of food they eat, then binge eat and purge the food from their body by making themselves vomit or using laxatives.’ It is however also a secretive mental illness that is more easily concealed unlike anorexia nervosa. This is because sufferers of bulimia don’t tend to lose and gain weight so easily and so friends and family are less likely to notice changes and thus discover the illness.
It is important to note that in all eating disorders women are much more affected than men. In the UK, the leading charity to beat eating disorders is BEAT. Spokespeople there claim that loneliness is the single biggest challenge for sufferers and we as society need to be there to support them. It is extremely brave of Nicole to speak up how she felt ugly on the inside and yet found courage to stop eating disorderly and share her fears with her family and friends, and now with the world. And she’s not lonely anymore.
To find out more about eating disorders and their effects on women, go to b-eat.co.uk, call 0845 634 1414, or email [email protected].
I went to see Cats – the Musical this week and I was super impressed not just with the production (amazing dancing, singing, tech effects and decors), but also with one of the main characters in the musical – old grey cat Grizabella, played by Nicole Scherzinger. Because she sang so well and had quite a bit of acting talent, I got inspired to share some of Nicole’s interview with British Cosmopolitan this summer, where she spoke about her eating disorder. Despite suffering from bulimia for years, Nicole is a great example of bravery and strength and shows other women that loving yourself is what you should love the most!
After nearly losing her twenties in the fight with bulimia, Nicole admits: “I had started losing my voice, I couldn’t sing at shows, and then I remember my manager finding me passed out on the floor in Malta or in the south of France… I thought, ‘I’m going to lose everything I love if I don’t love myself.’ One day when you feel like you’ve reached the end, you just say, ‘I’m not doing this anymore.’ It’s sad to see how I wasted my life. I had such a great life on the outside, the Dolls were on top of the world but I was miserable on the inside. I’m never letting that happen again; you only get one life – I was 27 only once.”
The National Health Service defines bulimia as an eating disorder where people ‘severely restrict the amount of food they eat, then binge eat and purge the food from their body by making themselves vomit or using laxatives.’ It is however also a secretive mental illness that is more easily concealed unlike anorexia nervosa. This is because sufferers of bulimia don’t tend to lose and gain weight so easily and so friends and family are less likely to notice changes and thus discover the illness.
It is important to note that in all eating disorders women are much more affected than men. In the UK, the leading charity to beat eating disorders is BEAT. Spokespeople there claim that loneliness is the single biggest challenge for sufferers and we as society need to be there to support them. It is extremely brave of Nicole to speak up how she felt ugly on the inside and yet found courage to stop eating disorderly and share her fears with her family and friends, and now with the world. And she’s not lonely anymore.
To find out more about eating disorders and their effects on women, go to b-eat.co.uk, call 0845 634 1414, or email [email protected].
'Honour' Killings in the UK - Event Invitation
Thousands of individuals (mainly women) living in the United Kingdom are at risk of losing their lives to an unwritten code of conduct known as ‘honour’. Up until recently ‘honour’-based violence was an issue not-much-talked about, but now in 2015 it is a high-profile problem with 10-12 people losing their lives every year because they dress 'inappropriately', have mobile phones, marry for love or simply go away to study. While several women’s groups (like Karma Nirvana) are working tirelessly to fill the large gap in support for victims and raising awareness, successful efforts are sadly still not being matched by those whose responsibility it is to protect British citizens. As a result, victims are being let down by those who are failing not only at dealing with crises, but at preventing them from happening in the first place.
I had the pleasure this summer to work with Emily Dyer on a report by The Henry Jackson Society (‘Honour’ Killings in the UK), which uses first-hand interviews and original data analysis to address why ‘honour’ killings remain a widespread problem in the UK. Having documented all UK ‘honour’ killings and attempted killings that have been reported by the media in the last five years, this report helps give a clearer picture of the nature and scale of the problem that exists in Britain today.
This week, it is my pleasure to extend an invitation to you all to attend the report launch and discussion with Baroness Butler-Sloss GBE PC, Louise Court, Editor-in-Chief of Cosmopolitan Magazine, Emily Dyer, HJS Research Fellow, and Jasvinder Sanghera, Chief Executive of Karma Nirvana.
Louise and Jasvinder are leading the ‘Britain’s Lost Women’ campaign to remember women and girls killed in the name of ‘honour’. Join the group of panellists on 14 January between 1 and 2 pm at the House of Lords to hear about the findings of the new report, as well as the announcement Britain’s first ever day of memory for the victims of ‘honour’ killings (14 July 2015). To RSVP, please email [email protected].
I had the pleasure this summer to work with Emily Dyer on a report by The Henry Jackson Society (‘Honour’ Killings in the UK), which uses first-hand interviews and original data analysis to address why ‘honour’ killings remain a widespread problem in the UK. Having documented all UK ‘honour’ killings and attempted killings that have been reported by the media in the last five years, this report helps give a clearer picture of the nature and scale of the problem that exists in Britain today.
This week, it is my pleasure to extend an invitation to you all to attend the report launch and discussion with Baroness Butler-Sloss GBE PC, Louise Court, Editor-in-Chief of Cosmopolitan Magazine, Emily Dyer, HJS Research Fellow, and Jasvinder Sanghera, Chief Executive of Karma Nirvana.
Louise and Jasvinder are leading the ‘Britain’s Lost Women’ campaign to remember women and girls killed in the name of ‘honour’. Join the group of panellists on 14 January between 1 and 2 pm at the House of Lords to hear about the findings of the new report, as well as the announcement Britain’s first ever day of memory for the victims of ‘honour’ killings (14 July 2015). To RSVP, please email [email protected].
I Am Still a Lady, And I Still Need To Pee
11 January 2015
There is one particular article by Soraya Chemaly for Time magazine from few days ago ('The Everyday Sexism of Women Waiting in Public Toilet Lines') that inspired me so much that I pledge to actually write to the Mayor of London Boris Johnson and take proper social action to address the issue of access to female public toilets in the capital (read my blog post below titled ‘I am a lady but I need to pee’). I literally BEG you to read this piece by Ms Chemaly, as it is very well researched, argues very much in favour of feminism and explains pretty clearly why we as women are discriminated with the size, design and location of female public toilets in Britain and elsewhere: http://time.com/3653871/womens-bathroom-lines-sexist-potty-parity/?ns_mchannel=email&ns_source=inxmail_newsletter&ns_campaign=bbcnewsmagazine_news__&ns_linkname=na&ns_fee=0
Just consider this: you go out in a club and you wait in line to get to the bathroom, as opposed to guys, whose toilet is entirely free. Or you are in a museum. Or in a library. Or at university. Wherever public you imagine. Truth is, while waiting in line we are practically being discriminated because there is equal space for men’s and women’s toilets, but in reality, women need to use bathrooms more often and for longer periods of time. Why? In the words of the author of the piece, it is because: ‘we sit to urinate (urinals effectively double the space in men’s rooms), we menstruate, we are responsible for reproducing the species (which makes us pee more), we continue to have greater responsibility for children (who have to use bathrooms with us), and we breastfeed (frequently in grotty bathroom stalls). Additionally, women tend to wear more binding and cumbersome clothes, whereas men’s clothing provides significantly speedier access.’ I.e. while the physical space for men and women is equal, it actually favours the male part of the public and their bodies and needs.
I have complained more than once because of the toilet ‘facilities’ near Trafalgar sq where men pee in the middle of the pavement and there’s nothing of the sort for women, because of the lack of female-only toilets near major attractions such as the London Eye and the London Aquarium, and now this bit which covers an actual situation at the British Museum (50 women waiting in line and ZERO men in the men’s room). Anyone wants to join me in my letter to Mr Johnson, please feel free to write to me before 25 January (‘Contact’ tab above). Stories are welcome and I promise I am joining the fight; after all as Ms Chemaly puts it, it is about time that we stop having our bodies ‘shamed, ignored, and deemed unworthy of care and acknowledgement’. Thank you!
There is one particular article by Soraya Chemaly for Time magazine from few days ago ('The Everyday Sexism of Women Waiting in Public Toilet Lines') that inspired me so much that I pledge to actually write to the Mayor of London Boris Johnson and take proper social action to address the issue of access to female public toilets in the capital (read my blog post below titled ‘I am a lady but I need to pee’). I literally BEG you to read this piece by Ms Chemaly, as it is very well researched, argues very much in favour of feminism and explains pretty clearly why we as women are discriminated with the size, design and location of female public toilets in Britain and elsewhere: http://time.com/3653871/womens-bathroom-lines-sexist-potty-parity/?ns_mchannel=email&ns_source=inxmail_newsletter&ns_campaign=bbcnewsmagazine_news__&ns_linkname=na&ns_fee=0
Just consider this: you go out in a club and you wait in line to get to the bathroom, as opposed to guys, whose toilet is entirely free. Or you are in a museum. Or in a library. Or at university. Wherever public you imagine. Truth is, while waiting in line we are practically being discriminated because there is equal space for men’s and women’s toilets, but in reality, women need to use bathrooms more often and for longer periods of time. Why? In the words of the author of the piece, it is because: ‘we sit to urinate (urinals effectively double the space in men’s rooms), we menstruate, we are responsible for reproducing the species (which makes us pee more), we continue to have greater responsibility for children (who have to use bathrooms with us), and we breastfeed (frequently in grotty bathroom stalls). Additionally, women tend to wear more binding and cumbersome clothes, whereas men’s clothing provides significantly speedier access.’ I.e. while the physical space for men and women is equal, it actually favours the male part of the public and their bodies and needs.
I have complained more than once because of the toilet ‘facilities’ near Trafalgar sq where men pee in the middle of the pavement and there’s nothing of the sort for women, because of the lack of female-only toilets near major attractions such as the London Eye and the London Aquarium, and now this bit which covers an actual situation at the British Museum (50 women waiting in line and ZERO men in the men’s room). Anyone wants to join me in my letter to Mr Johnson, please feel free to write to me before 25 January (‘Contact’ tab above). Stories are welcome and I promise I am joining the fight; after all as Ms Chemaly puts it, it is about time that we stop having our bodies ‘shamed, ignored, and deemed unworthy of care and acknowledgement’. Thank you!
Gender Price Discrimination
9 January 2015
Yesterday, my roomie send me a great article by the Finance department of Yahoo, which discusses the so-called ‘gender price discrimination’. This occurs when there is a difference in pricing of products or services depending on the target group being men or women. We all know that women usually pay more for a haircut than men, our dry-cleaning is more expensive, and our deodorants, razors and shampoos are more costly than the equivalents for men. But this is actually illegal in various places across the world.
So what exactly does this mean? According to Yahoo, a quick online search shows xx type of deodorant at Walmart at $3.88 for women and the same product at $2.47 for men. In another chain of supermarkets a 3-pack of razors is $11.99 for women and $10.99 for men. And Gap asks for $69.95 for female jeans versus the same fit at $59.95 for men.
It sucks indeed! Studies in 2010 and 2011 found out that it is precisely grooming products and services which show the biggest price difference. Interesting, considering the obsession nowadays with make-iup and other cosmetics and the almost-required grooming before a date/ interview/ night out, etc. Certainly ladies are more affected by this. And apparently if the retailer can prove that the product requires more time or resources to manufacture, then it is reasonable to be priced as more expensive. And likewise, if a woman’s hair is more difficult to cut, it is totally acceptable to charge us 2-3-4-even 5 times more than a man.
Bottom line is – buy blue, instead of pink razors; ask for a man’s price for a haircut next time you go to your salon, and notify your Trade Commission if you notice other such anomalies which require investigation.
+ Read the original Yahoo article for further inspiration: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-extra-cost-of-being-a-woman-214445601.html
Yesterday, my roomie send me a great article by the Finance department of Yahoo, which discusses the so-called ‘gender price discrimination’. This occurs when there is a difference in pricing of products or services depending on the target group being men or women. We all know that women usually pay more for a haircut than men, our dry-cleaning is more expensive, and our deodorants, razors and shampoos are more costly than the equivalents for men. But this is actually illegal in various places across the world.
So what exactly does this mean? According to Yahoo, a quick online search shows xx type of deodorant at Walmart at $3.88 for women and the same product at $2.47 for men. In another chain of supermarkets a 3-pack of razors is $11.99 for women and $10.99 for men. And Gap asks for $69.95 for female jeans versus the same fit at $59.95 for men.
It sucks indeed! Studies in 2010 and 2011 found out that it is precisely grooming products and services which show the biggest price difference. Interesting, considering the obsession nowadays with make-iup and other cosmetics and the almost-required grooming before a date/ interview/ night out, etc. Certainly ladies are more affected by this. And apparently if the retailer can prove that the product requires more time or resources to manufacture, then it is reasonable to be priced as more expensive. And likewise, if a woman’s hair is more difficult to cut, it is totally acceptable to charge us 2-3-4-even 5 times more than a man.
Bottom line is – buy blue, instead of pink razors; ask for a man’s price for a haircut next time you go to your salon, and notify your Trade Commission if you notice other such anomalies which require investigation.
+ Read the original Yahoo article for further inspiration: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-extra-cost-of-being-a-woman-214445601.html
Cosy Time for Movies
7 January 2015
On a day when it’s (-14) degrees outside my beautiful home in Bulgaria and snow has long transformed into proper ICE, I thought I’d share with you a link to some of the best feminist movies of 2014. Use the time indoors for some feminist action and let the screen get feisty! http://msmagazine.com/blog/2014/12/29/the-year-of-the-fighter-the-top-10-feminist-films-of-2014/ Enjoy!
On a day when it’s (-14) degrees outside my beautiful home in Bulgaria and snow has long transformed into proper ICE, I thought I’d share with you a link to some of the best feminist movies of 2014. Use the time indoors for some feminist action and let the screen get feisty! http://msmagazine.com/blog/2014/12/29/the-year-of-the-fighter-the-top-10-feminist-films-of-2014/ Enjoy!
Sharks and Evans
Hey guys; two stories from me today: 5 January 2015
One, did you know that men are nine times more likely to be eaten by sharks than women? A recent study revealed just that, plus the fact that even if they survive at first, men are more likely to die of their shark injuries than the ladies. But as curious as that is, it is most likely due to the fact that more men enter dangerous waters and again men are those more likely to provoke the sharks. So proportionately, more (naughty) men in the sea means more men eaten up.
And two, Oldham Athletics is set to offer a training contract to convicted rapist Ched Evans. I wrote about Mr Evans last month and the opposition his old club Sheffield United faced when they considered rehiring him. Now, this new team are about to do the same. As a reminder, footballer Evans raped a 19-year old girl in a hotel room in 2011 and since then has been in prison. Released in Oct 2014 half-way through his five-year sentence, Evans is not quite wanted back on the field by fans who think this would set a bad example for tolerating abuse and rape. Agreed by me.
Have a fabulous week, everyone!
One, did you know that men are nine times more likely to be eaten by sharks than women? A recent study revealed just that, plus the fact that even if they survive at first, men are more likely to die of their shark injuries than the ladies. But as curious as that is, it is most likely due to the fact that more men enter dangerous waters and again men are those more likely to provoke the sharks. So proportionately, more (naughty) men in the sea means more men eaten up.
And two, Oldham Athletics is set to offer a training contract to convicted rapist Ched Evans. I wrote about Mr Evans last month and the opposition his old club Sheffield United faced when they considered rehiring him. Now, this new team are about to do the same. As a reminder, footballer Evans raped a 19-year old girl in a hotel room in 2011 and since then has been in prison. Released in Oct 2014 half-way through his five-year sentence, Evans is not quite wanted back on the field by fans who think this would set a bad example for tolerating abuse and rape. Agreed by me.
Have a fabulous week, everyone!
May 2015 Be More Spicy!
Due to a reader’s insights parts of this post have been modified on 7 January 2015 and certain paragraphs omitted. Please accept my apologies.
Happy New Year! May it be healthier, more relaxed and more successful than any year you’ve had!
Special Thanks to Miss Noelia for sending me the best-yet New Year’s wish: a kiss from Usher! Yes, please!
Let’s be more serious now: as a first post for 2015, I thought to satisfy readers’ demands and post on a sex-related issue. Once again I was criticized I cover too much ‘serious’ and ‘negative’ issues and stories. Which, in my defence, is the reality for women all over the world, so please bear with me on this. But indeed, what better way to spice things up on here than with some sex and relationship advice from Miss P’s ‘extensive’ life experiences. Enjoy, ladies!
First, I’d say – in an age where meeting new people is incredibly easy, with websites and dating apps, Facebook and other social media, and countless events and gatherings you may go to in your neighbourhood/ city/ country - please, just PLEASE don’t complain you can’t meet anyone. Of course you can – you just have to actually want it and take some initiative. Get Tinder, go to Pof.com, add that cute guy on Facebook or Whatsapp – show some interest! And from there, things get much easier.
Two, don’t get stuck with the same guy for too long if you see things aren’t interesting/ serious/ exciting enough as you’d like them to be. There are 4 billion men out there, surely at least one will be better than him. Don’t settle for less than what you deserve.
Three, don’t be jealous. It’s ridiculous. If he’s decided to cheat, he’ll do it regardless of what you try to do to stop him. It’s a signal of fundamental problems between the two of you – so don’t blame other girls for looking too hot/ too proactive towards him. He’s got a head on his shoulders and surely the decision is his. If you do feel insecure – address the issue, but no begging! That’s beneath any woman who has some sense of self-worth.
Four, try to accept that the definition of ‘cheating’ differs massively amongst people. I just had this conversation with Kate the other day and I completely agree with her psychological conclusions. For me, even sex isn’t necessarily cheating. If he still loves me and thinks about me and has an emotional connection with me – the physical act of having sex with someone else on a one-night thing might not make me end things. For others, even a kiss is unacceptable – define your boundaries well in advance and make sure not to hurt your other half. Preferably ever.
Five, spice things up. Come on, ladies, I don’t need to give you advice on this, do I? Just one short piece of insight from me: unfortunately there are still no proper laws in many countries addressing revenge porn specifically. Meaning, do not always trust everyone you share a bedroom with. Don’t take the risk as you may not even get justice at the end.
Let 2015 roll and be loved! xx
PS: If you believe in horoscopes, here is the one annual one you MUST read: http://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/a34308/cosmos-2015-bedside-astrologer/?click=_artTopTout_5
Happy New Year! May it be healthier, more relaxed and more successful than any year you’ve had!
Special Thanks to Miss Noelia for sending me the best-yet New Year’s wish: a kiss from Usher! Yes, please!
Let’s be more serious now: as a first post for 2015, I thought to satisfy readers’ demands and post on a sex-related issue. Once again I was criticized I cover too much ‘serious’ and ‘negative’ issues and stories. Which, in my defence, is the reality for women all over the world, so please bear with me on this. But indeed, what better way to spice things up on here than with some sex and relationship advice from Miss P’s ‘extensive’ life experiences. Enjoy, ladies!
First, I’d say – in an age where meeting new people is incredibly easy, with websites and dating apps, Facebook and other social media, and countless events and gatherings you may go to in your neighbourhood/ city/ country - please, just PLEASE don’t complain you can’t meet anyone. Of course you can – you just have to actually want it and take some initiative. Get Tinder, go to Pof.com, add that cute guy on Facebook or Whatsapp – show some interest! And from there, things get much easier.
Two, don’t get stuck with the same guy for too long if you see things aren’t interesting/ serious/ exciting enough as you’d like them to be. There are 4 billion men out there, surely at least one will be better than him. Don’t settle for less than what you deserve.
Three, don’t be jealous. It’s ridiculous. If he’s decided to cheat, he’ll do it regardless of what you try to do to stop him. It’s a signal of fundamental problems between the two of you – so don’t blame other girls for looking too hot/ too proactive towards him. He’s got a head on his shoulders and surely the decision is his. If you do feel insecure – address the issue, but no begging! That’s beneath any woman who has some sense of self-worth.
Four, try to accept that the definition of ‘cheating’ differs massively amongst people. I just had this conversation with Kate the other day and I completely agree with her psychological conclusions. For me, even sex isn’t necessarily cheating. If he still loves me and thinks about me and has an emotional connection with me – the physical act of having sex with someone else on a one-night thing might not make me end things. For others, even a kiss is unacceptable – define your boundaries well in advance and make sure not to hurt your other half. Preferably ever.
Five, spice things up. Come on, ladies, I don’t need to give you advice on this, do I? Just one short piece of insight from me: unfortunately there are still no proper laws in many countries addressing revenge porn specifically. Meaning, do not always trust everyone you share a bedroom with. Don’t take the risk as you may not even get justice at the end.
Let 2015 roll and be loved! xx
PS: If you believe in horoscopes, here is the one annual one you MUST read: http://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/a34308/cosmos-2015-bedside-astrologer/?click=_artTopTout_5
10,000 Views in 2014
+ Facts, Figures, Tips and... Resolutions for 2015
Hey world! In my last post for 2014, I wanted to start with a big THANK YOU for the continuous support and for actually hitting 10,000 views of my blog this year! Six months of blogging and so much excitement – I am so ready for 2015! Please keep on reading!
And in line with retrospective thinking for 2014 and new hopes and resolutions for 2015, here are a couple of facts, figures, tips and promises I thought may be of interest to you, my flawless fans :)
1. My friend Gergana eats fish at least once a week since I’ve known her (right about 15 years!) – I recently found out that eating fish once a week actually reduces the risk of breast cancer by 14%! Well done, G! So ladies, increase the seafood intake next year!
2. Research shows that people who say Thank You more often and are genuinely grateful for what they have in their lives, are more positive and thus their immune system is stronger. This also means they are less likely to get cancer. So, Thank You, blog fans!
Be more grateful in 2015!
3. Experts have found out that 57% of women get excited by – errm – harder, more intense sex where they are dominated. This type of bedroom exercise seems to be getting more popular in recent years (not least thanks to 50 Shades of Grey coming out in 2011, etc) and it does not reflect in any way the feminist views of women in everyday life. That’s what experts say. So if you are strong and independent and ‘bossy’ everyday in your work or university, or wherever, feel free to let go at least in the bedroom department. Experiment, ladies! (PS: Always remember to be safe!)
4. Connected to point 3: read the Crossfire books in 2015! Sylvia Day is extremely talented as a writer and she has managed to create a hell lot of excitement in her 4 books, the latest of which came out last month. Think 50 Shades of Grey, but way more interesting, exciting and engaging. And damn sexual!
5. Women take on 75% of all work worldwide, but only get 10% of the income from it. Talk to your HR next year and ask for equal pay review of your company. We are 15 years into the 21st century, and we all deserve equal recognition for our work.
6. Be more positive online! Use the hashtag #100happydays on Facebook or Twitter and post a picture every day of something that has made you happy today, for 100 days. My friend Dina did it, and I am totally ready for the challenge in 2015 myself!
7. Volunteer for a woman/ girl in need! (Or donate, at least!) – there are thousands of charities which work with women, survivors of domestic violence/ rape/ assault, others working against female genital mutilation, third cover the issue of child marriage and honour-based violence, there are those working towards equal access to education and jobs, and equal pay, etc. Sign up to an organisation of your choice, in your country or abroad, and follow their newsletters – make sure to help with whatever you can. Because if you are fortunate enough in your life, others are less so. Not to mention that it was recently estimated that 1.56 million girls in the world were never born because their parents learnt they would be girls and thus aborted them. In countries like India and Afghanistan this practice is more common. But it exists everywhere. This is 1.56 million lives lost! Let’s support those who made it alive and need us!
And lastly – I was constructively criticised by my girl Esy just recently, who said I don’t cover enough - errrrm - sex topics for women. True, I realised, and that is indeed an important part of women’s lives. If I am to cover (almost) everything feminist on here – I am meant to cover up my own mistakes: here is a link to a very naughty and… informative… article by Cosmopolitan US, which gives you interesting ideas for some 2015 sex resolutions. Do you pledge to keep them? http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/news/a34563/sex-resolutions-you-should-keep-in-2015/?click=_lpTrnsprtr_3
Let the New Year begin and see you all in January!
And in line with retrospective thinking for 2014 and new hopes and resolutions for 2015, here are a couple of facts, figures, tips and promises I thought may be of interest to you, my flawless fans :)
1. My friend Gergana eats fish at least once a week since I’ve known her (right about 15 years!) – I recently found out that eating fish once a week actually reduces the risk of breast cancer by 14%! Well done, G! So ladies, increase the seafood intake next year!
2. Research shows that people who say Thank You more often and are genuinely grateful for what they have in their lives, are more positive and thus their immune system is stronger. This also means they are less likely to get cancer. So, Thank You, blog fans!
Be more grateful in 2015!
3. Experts have found out that 57% of women get excited by – errm – harder, more intense sex where they are dominated. This type of bedroom exercise seems to be getting more popular in recent years (not least thanks to 50 Shades of Grey coming out in 2011, etc) and it does not reflect in any way the feminist views of women in everyday life. That’s what experts say. So if you are strong and independent and ‘bossy’ everyday in your work or university, or wherever, feel free to let go at least in the bedroom department. Experiment, ladies! (PS: Always remember to be safe!)
4. Connected to point 3: read the Crossfire books in 2015! Sylvia Day is extremely talented as a writer and she has managed to create a hell lot of excitement in her 4 books, the latest of which came out last month. Think 50 Shades of Grey, but way more interesting, exciting and engaging. And damn sexual!
5. Women take on 75% of all work worldwide, but only get 10% of the income from it. Talk to your HR next year and ask for equal pay review of your company. We are 15 years into the 21st century, and we all deserve equal recognition for our work.
6. Be more positive online! Use the hashtag #100happydays on Facebook or Twitter and post a picture every day of something that has made you happy today, for 100 days. My friend Dina did it, and I am totally ready for the challenge in 2015 myself!
7. Volunteer for a woman/ girl in need! (Or donate, at least!) – there are thousands of charities which work with women, survivors of domestic violence/ rape/ assault, others working against female genital mutilation, third cover the issue of child marriage and honour-based violence, there are those working towards equal access to education and jobs, and equal pay, etc. Sign up to an organisation of your choice, in your country or abroad, and follow their newsletters – make sure to help with whatever you can. Because if you are fortunate enough in your life, others are less so. Not to mention that it was recently estimated that 1.56 million girls in the world were never born because their parents learnt they would be girls and thus aborted them. In countries like India and Afghanistan this practice is more common. But it exists everywhere. This is 1.56 million lives lost! Let’s support those who made it alive and need us!
And lastly – I was constructively criticised by my girl Esy just recently, who said I don’t cover enough - errrrm - sex topics for women. True, I realised, and that is indeed an important part of women’s lives. If I am to cover (almost) everything feminist on here – I am meant to cover up my own mistakes: here is a link to a very naughty and… informative… article by Cosmopolitan US, which gives you interesting ideas for some 2015 sex resolutions. Do you pledge to keep them? http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/news/a34563/sex-resolutions-you-should-keep-in-2015/?click=_lpTrnsprtr_3
Let the New Year begin and see you all in January!
Good and Bad News - UK & US
Hello world!
First off for today, bad news for David Cameron and his government this year: it was announced that less than 40% of appointments made by Whitehall departments went to women in 2013-14, with only two departments the government hitting targets of 50/50 female and male split. Labour reacted by saying the government was not likely to meet its target of 50-50 representation by the end of the current parliament in the Spring of 2015. Too bad for Cameron, but also too bad for us as women aiming to get into government jobs in the next couple of years. Maybe the elections could change that...
Secondly though, good news for FGM [female genital mutilation] survivors in the UK and those at risk of the practice: to help end FGM and the so called ‘honour’ based violence in the UK, earlier in December 2014 the Government announced £270,000 in funding to 17 frontline community projects. In the case of Bristol, The Integrate Bristol project was awarded £19,807 to train 10 young people from FGM affected communities who will travel to schools and colleges across the country delivering presentations and workshops about the practice. The final goal is delivering 60 sessions and reaching more than 1,200 students across Britain. A national conference on FGM and violence against women and girls will also be organized and will train 250 to 300 students and teachers on how to protect girls at risk of FGM and how they could contribute to ending the practice in the country. Well done to the organisation and to the Government for stepping up its communal efforts to address the issue.
And lastly, positive developments for Native American women in the US next year: curently, on Native American reservations one in three women is sexually assaulted. Until recently, tribal courts could not hear those cases when the act was committed by a non-Native American but after the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, a provision to try non-Indians for certain cases was added for three tribes. As reported by Al Jazeera, by March 2015, the provision will take effect for all U.S. tribes. This is certainly good news for aboriginal women on the North American continent and hope is for more justice now with the new rules. As I’ve said numerous times, the only way to encourage more women to report rape and assault and seek justice is by guaranteeing the perpetrators will receive the appropriate punishment by the law (as opposed to getting away like in the case of Tahiry Jose – see below). When the authorities AND the law side with the survivors of assault, much more can be achieved! And only then will society start to resemble true equality.
First off for today, bad news for David Cameron and his government this year: it was announced that less than 40% of appointments made by Whitehall departments went to women in 2013-14, with only two departments the government hitting targets of 50/50 female and male split. Labour reacted by saying the government was not likely to meet its target of 50-50 representation by the end of the current parliament in the Spring of 2015. Too bad for Cameron, but also too bad for us as women aiming to get into government jobs in the next couple of years. Maybe the elections could change that...
Secondly though, good news for FGM [female genital mutilation] survivors in the UK and those at risk of the practice: to help end FGM and the so called ‘honour’ based violence in the UK, earlier in December 2014 the Government announced £270,000 in funding to 17 frontline community projects. In the case of Bristol, The Integrate Bristol project was awarded £19,807 to train 10 young people from FGM affected communities who will travel to schools and colleges across the country delivering presentations and workshops about the practice. The final goal is delivering 60 sessions and reaching more than 1,200 students across Britain. A national conference on FGM and violence against women and girls will also be organized and will train 250 to 300 students and teachers on how to protect girls at risk of FGM and how they could contribute to ending the practice in the country. Well done to the organisation and to the Government for stepping up its communal efforts to address the issue.
And lastly, positive developments for Native American women in the US next year: curently, on Native American reservations one in three women is sexually assaulted. Until recently, tribal courts could not hear those cases when the act was committed by a non-Native American but after the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, a provision to try non-Indians for certain cases was added for three tribes. As reported by Al Jazeera, by March 2015, the provision will take effect for all U.S. tribes. This is certainly good news for aboriginal women on the North American continent and hope is for more justice now with the new rules. As I’ve said numerous times, the only way to encourage more women to report rape and assault and seek justice is by guaranteeing the perpetrators will receive the appropriate punishment by the law (as opposed to getting away like in the case of Tahiry Jose – see below). When the authorities AND the law side with the survivors of assault, much more can be achieved! And only then will society start to resemble true equality.
A Quickie
Ladies and gents, I will be quick today: one, I wrote in September about Love and Hip Hop star Tahiry Jose being assaulted backstage of New York Fashion Week. Apparently, her attacker has now received the court decision for his case – he got probation! For beating her and assaulting her. All at the workplace. His plea was ‘guilty’ and he got away with it. Disappointing. Just shows how serious such actions are taken…
And two, rather more positive, congrats to Ina Ananieva (coach) and the whole National Rhythmic Gymnastics team of Bulgaria who won Coach of the Year and Team of the Year at the 2014 Sportsmen of the year awards in Bulgaria. Earlier in September they won gold at the world championships, 18 years after their last big win. Well done, ladies, you are living proof how persistence and hard work get rewarded.
Have a lovely weekend, I’m off to a partaaay!
xx Miss P
And two, rather more positive, congrats to Ina Ananieva (coach) and the whole National Rhythmic Gymnastics team of Bulgaria who won Coach of the Year and Team of the Year at the 2014 Sportsmen of the year awards in Bulgaria. Earlier in September they won gold at the world championships, 18 years after their last big win. Well done, ladies, you are living proof how persistence and hard work get rewarded.
Have a lovely weekend, I’m off to a partaaay!
xx Miss P
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas, world! I wish you all health, happiness, success at your workplace/ uni/ etc, much love and more positive emotions during the holidays this year and after, in 2015! And as for me, I wish myself what one of my friend, Dina, wished to me yesterday – many more readers of my blog and more success than ever in my blogging endeavors next year. May that become reality!
In a spirit of thanks and wishes – I would certainly like to thank you all for reading my posts in the past six months and for your constant feedback, comments and suggestions for more stories. Much appreciated and I hope to see you again online in 2015.
Because it’s Christmas and I feel particularly sentimental, and also because I appealed to all of you to do the same in a post from few days ago - I would like to also thank three very special women who have been incredible help to me throughout my living existence: Firstly, my mom and my grandma for being the best examples of working mums, greatly successful women at their workplaces, and amazing role models as independent, strong and self-reliant women in my life; and also – my ex-roommate and best-est friend in London – D! I can’t stress enough how thankful I am to you for ALWAYS being there for me, be it to rescue me from a mouse when I’ve got my legs on the table and crying the mouse may eat me, to move my 17352 suitcases from a house to another house during my numerous moveouts the last couple of years, to cook me a deep pan pepperoni pizza and pour me a glass of wine while listening to my endless boy drama, and yet – to always make me laugh at myself and see the positive side of life! My life in London, away from my family, will never be as pleasant if it’s not for you to feel as my sister and my mum, both at one! Thank you!
Pass along the Christmas wishes and thanks, ladies and gentlemen and be happy this very merry holiday season!
In a spirit of thanks and wishes – I would certainly like to thank you all for reading my posts in the past six months and for your constant feedback, comments and suggestions for more stories. Much appreciated and I hope to see you again online in 2015.
Because it’s Christmas and I feel particularly sentimental, and also because I appealed to all of you to do the same in a post from few days ago - I would like to also thank three very special women who have been incredible help to me throughout my living existence: Firstly, my mom and my grandma for being the best examples of working mums, greatly successful women at their workplaces, and amazing role models as independent, strong and self-reliant women in my life; and also – my ex-roommate and best-est friend in London – D! I can’t stress enough how thankful I am to you for ALWAYS being there for me, be it to rescue me from a mouse when I’ve got my legs on the table and crying the mouse may eat me, to move my 17352 suitcases from a house to another house during my numerous moveouts the last couple of years, to cook me a deep pan pepperoni pizza and pour me a glass of wine while listening to my endless boy drama, and yet – to always make me laugh at myself and see the positive side of life! My life in London, away from my family, will never be as pleasant if it’s not for you to feel as my sister and my mum, both at one! Thank you!
Pass along the Christmas wishes and thanks, ladies and gentlemen and be happy this very merry holiday season!
Feeling inspired for 2015? Yep, I do. I thought I’d give you some stuff to think about in the last few days of this year and into the new one! Happy holidays, ladies and gents! :)
Cool, Dutch, Music-Lovers
One Christmas story coming over from the Netherlands really got me as a very innovative and unusual way of fundraising for a positive cause in the season of giving. Every year since 2004 around Christmas time a different Dutch city is chosen and three deejays are locked in a glass house playing music for three days non-stop. People can request the songs they want and pay for them, and the money collected goes for a different initiative every year. To add to the challenge, the DJs are not allowed to eat any food during the three days of the performance - they can only have fruit or vegetable juice. This year, the chosen city is Haarlem and the chosen campaign is Hands Off Our Girls – i.e. awareness about domestic violence against women and girls. Apparently in last year’s addition in Leeuwarden, over 12 million EUR were collected – shout out to my girl Esy in Leeuwarden and to Rossy in Eindhoven for passing this interesting info onto me. I personally applaud this super cool, new, and different fundraising method and believe that the cause this year deserves even more money being raised for it. Please do join in Haarlem’s city centre if you are around these days and spread the word even if you aren’t. Maybe more countries and cities may consider this for the future :)
I Am Back!
Now, apologies for my absence in the past week, it's been a crazy busy one. Being back home in Bulgaria for the holidays now, I am ready for some more proper blogging.
First, one quick update from me, I reported to the Police few days ago the guy who tried to attack me last week. I am proud of myself for doing this as even though nothing physical happened to me, it could happen to some other woman some other night. So I believe it's our duty to attract the authorities' attention whenever injustice has been done and when action needs to be taken to protect other women (or even men in this case). The police said they'd check up on him, I truly hope they will.
And secondly, two African stories from me today - firstly, Malawi has launched a three-year campaign to reduce violence against women and girls by 15% by 2017. The Minister for Gender, Child and Social Welfare said that 'violence accounts for the largest outlay of public and private funds in the society and increases absenteeism and many long-term effects on the victims'. This is a new initiative for the small African nation which has recently commited to various international conventions and aims to drastically improve the welbeing of women and children in their territory.
And meanwhile, fellow African nation Nigeria, has seen a rise in domestic violence cases recently. The Al-Mu’minaat Social Advocacy Project has expressed its displeasure with the high levels of violence against women and claims that 'The tedious, rigorous and unsympathetic processes victims have to face to seek redress in the law courts are very discouraging. And worse of all, the Nigerian community continues to treat victims of sexual abuse like damaged goods.' At the same time, the African Union is seeking to make Nigeria an official partner in a project to educate the population better about violence in an effort to rescue the adducted Chibok girls, to fight against women violence in general terms and to combat the worsening insurgency in the country. Considering I may likely become a Nigerian princess one day (joking, that's what my roommie says due to my interest in Nigerian guys) I am especially sympathetic with Nigerian women on this issue and can only hope more massive and engaging efforts will be made by the authorities to counter these worrying trends, and most of all to find the 200 missing girls who've been gone for over 250 days now. What a shameful situation that is, and sad indeed...
No more thoughts on violence - let's move on a happier note and wish ourselves a very merry holiday season. Go and tell at least one woman in your life that you love her - your mum, your grandma, your sister, your girlfriend, your wife, your friend. Show some love this Christmas and appreciate what has been done for you by these ladies. They deserve your gratitude and a simple Thank You may make your whole celebrations even happier. Cheers everyone!
First, one quick update from me, I reported to the Police few days ago the guy who tried to attack me last week. I am proud of myself for doing this as even though nothing physical happened to me, it could happen to some other woman some other night. So I believe it's our duty to attract the authorities' attention whenever injustice has been done and when action needs to be taken to protect other women (or even men in this case). The police said they'd check up on him, I truly hope they will.
And secondly, two African stories from me today - firstly, Malawi has launched a three-year campaign to reduce violence against women and girls by 15% by 2017. The Minister for Gender, Child and Social Welfare said that 'violence accounts for the largest outlay of public and private funds in the society and increases absenteeism and many long-term effects on the victims'. This is a new initiative for the small African nation which has recently commited to various international conventions and aims to drastically improve the welbeing of women and children in their territory.
And meanwhile, fellow African nation Nigeria, has seen a rise in domestic violence cases recently. The Al-Mu’minaat Social Advocacy Project has expressed its displeasure with the high levels of violence against women and claims that 'The tedious, rigorous and unsympathetic processes victims have to face to seek redress in the law courts are very discouraging. And worse of all, the Nigerian community continues to treat victims of sexual abuse like damaged goods.' At the same time, the African Union is seeking to make Nigeria an official partner in a project to educate the population better about violence in an effort to rescue the adducted Chibok girls, to fight against women violence in general terms and to combat the worsening insurgency in the country. Considering I may likely become a Nigerian princess one day (joking, that's what my roommie says due to my interest in Nigerian guys) I am especially sympathetic with Nigerian women on this issue and can only hope more massive and engaging efforts will be made by the authorities to counter these worrying trends, and most of all to find the 200 missing girls who've been gone for over 250 days now. What a shameful situation that is, and sad indeed...
No more thoughts on violence - let's move on a happier note and wish ourselves a very merry holiday season. Go and tell at least one woman in your life that you love her - your mum, your grandma, your sister, your girlfriend, your wife, your friend. Show some love this Christmas and appreciate what has been done for you by these ladies. They deserve your gratitude and a simple Thank You may make your whole celebrations even happier. Cheers everyone!
Katniss, 'the Obese One'
And another story about a celebrity-role model for girls. Jennifer Lawrence, aka Katniss of Hunger Games, has spoken out on numerous occasions about food, diets and positive body image in young girls. She says that according to Hollywood standards she is considered fat but that she would never get on a diet and starve herself for a movie role. While majority of us may consider her slim still, it is very positive what she is speaking up about the pressure on women in the film industry to look like stunning models at all times, while in reality these same women are role models for many girls and their 'starved' figures may provoke unnecessary dieting amongst teenagers. I'd much rather see Jennifer and others like Nicki Minaj (The Other Woman), Jennifer Lopez (various) and Beyonce (Obsessed) on screen as that means promoting healthy living and eating and happiness in your own skin, as opposed to self-imposed diets and pressure. It's one's own choice but well done to Miss Lawrence for having the courage to speak up on this. Long live Nutella is what I am saying!
Kate, the Great (17 December)
And from one tragic story, I thought I'd share something a bit more positive and a bit more royal.
Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, impressed me once again yesterday when she went on a surprise visit to a school in East London and helped local boy and girl Scouts get trained in disability awareness. She decorated a cupcake with her eyes blindfolded and then switched roles with boys and girls at the age of seven. The lesson - learn to love and tolerate people with disabilities even if they can't complete the same tasks as you. That is what makes us human - once again. Well done to Kate and her dedication to working with the Scouts and children in general. She has set a great example as an engaged mom - while she is expecting her second baby from Prince William - one that invests time and effort into helping the future generations. Great work and inspiration for all of us, Duchess/ Future Princess/ Queen/ whatever-title-the-future-holds-for-you!
Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, impressed me once again yesterday when she went on a surprise visit to a school in East London and helped local boy and girl Scouts get trained in disability awareness. She decorated a cupcake with her eyes blindfolded and then switched roles with boys and girls at the age of seven. The lesson - learn to love and tolerate people with disabilities even if they can't complete the same tasks as you. That is what makes us human - once again. Well done to Kate and her dedication to working with the Scouts and children in general. She has set a great example as an engaged mom - while she is expecting her second baby from Prince William - one that invests time and effort into helping the future generations. Great work and inspiration for all of us, Duchess/ Future Princess/ Queen/ whatever-title-the-future-holds-for-you!
Katrina Dawson
If you follow the international news, you must have heard of the hostage situation in Sydney, Australia, which shook the world for 16 long hours on Monday, 15 December - and still is shaking us all off. A Muslim fanatic calling himself The Brother took dozens of people hostage at the Lindt Cafe in downtown Sydney during which time he demanded a live radio dialogue with the Australian Prime Minister, plus deliver of the Islamic State flag to the cafe and Australia's withdrawal from the war in the Middle East. While politics, wars and foreign relations in general are not things I wish to cover and discuss on my blog, one aspect of the siege really shocked me and nearly brought me to tears when I was reading the paper last night:
There are two victims who were killed in the cafe, all the while the Australian special forces stormed the place, killed the hostage taker and saved all the rest of the hostages (a few managed to escape beforehand). These two victims were the cafe manager, Tori Johnson, and a female barrister and mother-of-three Katrina Dawson. Mrs Dawson, 38 years old and married, is what made my eyes water - the revelation that she died protecting a pregnant colleague of hers who was also amongst the hostages. Mrs Dawson put someone else's life before hers and saved two people instead of one. Everyone is mourning her loss, and especially her family, friends and her lawyer-colleagues who often went to her for advice on how to combine motherhood and their demanding career successfully.
All my respects for the heroic actions of Mr Johnson as well who also tried to wrestle the hostage taker and save the rest of the people in the cafe, but instead was shot and killed as a result.
Heroism like the one demonstrated by Tori and Katrina are what makes us all human and Katrina's actions in particular should only serve as an example of a heroic mother putting life and future above everything else.
Rest in peace, heroes!
There are two victims who were killed in the cafe, all the while the Australian special forces stormed the place, killed the hostage taker and saved all the rest of the hostages (a few managed to escape beforehand). These two victims were the cafe manager, Tori Johnson, and a female barrister and mother-of-three Katrina Dawson. Mrs Dawson, 38 years old and married, is what made my eyes water - the revelation that she died protecting a pregnant colleague of hers who was also amongst the hostages. Mrs Dawson put someone else's life before hers and saved two people instead of one. Everyone is mourning her loss, and especially her family, friends and her lawyer-colleagues who often went to her for advice on how to combine motherhood and their demanding career successfully.
All my respects for the heroic actions of Mr Johnson as well who also tried to wrestle the hostage taker and save the rest of the people in the cafe, but instead was shot and killed as a result.
Heroism like the one demonstrated by Tori and Katrina are what makes us all human and Katrina's actions in particular should only serve as an example of a heroic mother putting life and future above everything else.
Rest in peace, heroes!
'Get Home Safe' - Now I Get Why Girls Say That
On Friday night I had a really scary situation whereby I was attacked by a mentally ill male individual on my very own street at night. I was coming home at 12.30 am from drinks with colleagues and I had my headphones in my ears when this guy, whom I had seen before but was never aggressive, started running towards me, yelling and waving his hands angrily towards me. I was so shocked at the speed he crossed the street and was a meter away from me that I had literally no time to react or do anything at all. Just as I was turning around ready to run in the opposite direction (what else could I have done?), and two Polish-looking guys behind me saw what was happening. One of them – God bless him – intervened and crossed the way of the mentally ill before he managed to get to me physically, started yelling at the guy to leave me alone and walked me home. Which by the way was about 20 meters away from my door! I came home, hands shaking so hard that I barely found my keys and unlocked the door, but I am convinced if it was not for the Polish guy I could have easily been raped/ strangled/ killed, etc. Whoever that person was – my savior – thank you for stepping in and not leaving a girl all by herself in the middle of the night in an empty street with a crazy psycho few feet away! I realized there and then how yes – I might be a strong girl, really independent and opinionated, but in reality I am also quite vulnerable, especially when it comes to men who can do anything they like in no time at all. Even worse when they are mentally unstable and/ or on drugs as I believe this one was. I accept this weakness and vulnerability and that is something I would like to work on – to take self-defence classes, to carry a spray with me, and to remain calm in life-and-death situations. Everyone has something to learn and for me that learning process must begin asap, or I might risk facing that person again some other night after work. And as for my lesson for the day – weakness is not necessarily bad as long as you learn something from it and you take steps to improve yourself. Fingers crossed such situations don’t happen ever again!
Mommies and Babies
Violence against women is a serious issue, but ever more serious, in my opinion at least, is violence against pregnant women. Recently, a study was conducted in the Spanish province of Andalucia and it showed that amongst 779 sampled pregnant women, 22% had experienced some form of violence during their pregnancy – most often psychological, but in 4% of the cases – physical as well. This shockingly high percentage (that is one in five pregnant women being abused) is claimed to be higher in Spain than in nearby countries, which register around 10% violence instead. And still – I can only wonder what kind of a partner would abuse their pregnant wife/ girlfriend when the consequences for the health not just of the women, but of the foetus as well, can be critical. Sad reality it is.
Depressing News Week? (8-12 December)
On the last day of the working week (not for me though, still got Saturday school projects to run), news round-up for this week - warning, a bit depressing, just a bit:
- in Pakistan on Tuesday a woman was killed, together with her husband and three children, in an honour-killing which took 28 years to be put in place. Apparently the woman's family wasn't happy with her choice of husband and to restore their honour, they murdered her and her entire family brutally with only the fourth child barely surviving. Ans that's after 28 years of marriage. Not much to say there - despite the progress few weeks ago of giving death sentences to the killers of Farzana (see piece below), the societal attitude in Pakistan is what needs to change in the very first place and finally to consider such honour-killings unacceptable!
- Meanwhile, in the UK, a conservative MP was arrested end of last week for rape. Mark Pritchard, who's in Parliament since 2005, surrendered himself in central London and investigations are currently under way. Again, what kind of an example is that I do not wish to comment. Innocent until proven guilty but as an MP that's the last type of scandal one needs their name attached to....
- Also in the UK, a Labour MP was heard saying a woman should not be a Fisheries minister. That ain't suitable for a lady, he thinks, and wait for the explanation - because he 'knows the industry'. Right, with this attitude women may never break the glass ceiling.
- And lastly, on 10th December each year the Nobel prizes are awarded to the yearly winners - this year Malala made the headlines in every country across every continent. What's less known and discussed is that another woman also won - May-Britt Moser who won the prize for medicine (together with her husband). And also - did you know that only 5% of all Nobel laureats EVER have been women? We better put ourselves forward a bit more, ladies, as there's plenty of work to be done and plenty of recognition to be claimed for our amazing achievements!
That's it from me for today, I'm off for office drinks - even I deserve a break from running the world; kidding! More seriously though - stay motivated and fierce, and stay tuned for more (feminist) news from me over the weekend. Happy Friday!
- in Pakistan on Tuesday a woman was killed, together with her husband and three children, in an honour-killing which took 28 years to be put in place. Apparently the woman's family wasn't happy with her choice of husband and to restore their honour, they murdered her and her entire family brutally with only the fourth child barely surviving. Ans that's after 28 years of marriage. Not much to say there - despite the progress few weeks ago of giving death sentences to the killers of Farzana (see piece below), the societal attitude in Pakistan is what needs to change in the very first place and finally to consider such honour-killings unacceptable!
- Meanwhile, in the UK, a conservative MP was arrested end of last week for rape. Mark Pritchard, who's in Parliament since 2005, surrendered himself in central London and investigations are currently under way. Again, what kind of an example is that I do not wish to comment. Innocent until proven guilty but as an MP that's the last type of scandal one needs their name attached to....
- Also in the UK, a Labour MP was heard saying a woman should not be a Fisheries minister. That ain't suitable for a lady, he thinks, and wait for the explanation - because he 'knows the industry'. Right, with this attitude women may never break the glass ceiling.
- And lastly, on 10th December each year the Nobel prizes are awarded to the yearly winners - this year Malala made the headlines in every country across every continent. What's less known and discussed is that another woman also won - May-Britt Moser who won the prize for medicine (together with her husband). And also - did you know that only 5% of all Nobel laureats EVER have been women? We better put ourselves forward a bit more, ladies, as there's plenty of work to be done and plenty of recognition to be claimed for our amazing achievements!
That's it from me for today, I'm off for office drinks - even I deserve a break from running the world; kidding! More seriously though - stay motivated and fierce, and stay tuned for more (feminist) news from me over the weekend. Happy Friday!
Them Curvy Girls
I am sure you MUST have heard Meghan Trainor's 2014 song 'All about that bass', which made the world explode with booty talks from Africa.. to Bulgaria. The song, which has close to 400 million views on YouTube as we speak, was the first big hit of Meghan and set a bright future for her music career, with a second hit out now - 'Lips are moving'. The booty song also got recently nominated for record of the year and song of the year at the 57th Grammy Awards.
Now, what matters is not necessarily the tune itself - which is quite catchy anyway - but the lyrics. Meghan signs about girls not being ashamed of their size and how being a skinny supermodel/ Barbie doll should not be the ultimate aim in your life. As her momma says, 'boys they like a little more booty to hold at night' and that you must constantly be reminded that 'every inch of you is perfect, from the bottom to the top'. Of course I couldn't agree more - loving your own body and feeling comfortable in your skin is what makes you really attractive, not those diets and wight loss pills and gym obsession exercises. I was once told by a (white) guy I was 'a bit too curvy' and my own father gave me a gift for my 17th Birthday consisting of a book for weight loss (his one and only gift as far as I can remember in my life). And there and then I thought: Hey, who are you to make judgements about my curves? I started embracing them instead and here I am, nearly five years later with enough guys on speed dial all of whom would love to hold that booty at night. Just saying. And if you do want to have a laugh about your curves and all the 'troubles' they sometimes create, read this Cosmo piece: http://www.cosmopolitan.com/style-beauty/beauty/advice/a5168/curvy-girl-problems/
One last thing, ladies: Oxford research has shown that girls with bigger bums are on average more intelligent than those with flat ones, so don't be ashamed to shake that booty off :)
Now, what matters is not necessarily the tune itself - which is quite catchy anyway - but the lyrics. Meghan signs about girls not being ashamed of their size and how being a skinny supermodel/ Barbie doll should not be the ultimate aim in your life. As her momma says, 'boys they like a little more booty to hold at night' and that you must constantly be reminded that 'every inch of you is perfect, from the bottom to the top'. Of course I couldn't agree more - loving your own body and feeling comfortable in your skin is what makes you really attractive, not those diets and wight loss pills and gym obsession exercises. I was once told by a (white) guy I was 'a bit too curvy' and my own father gave me a gift for my 17th Birthday consisting of a book for weight loss (his one and only gift as far as I can remember in my life). And there and then I thought: Hey, who are you to make judgements about my curves? I started embracing them instead and here I am, nearly five years later with enough guys on speed dial all of whom would love to hold that booty at night. Just saying. And if you do want to have a laugh about your curves and all the 'troubles' they sometimes create, read this Cosmo piece: http://www.cosmopolitan.com/style-beauty/beauty/advice/a5168/curvy-girl-problems/
One last thing, ladies: Oxford research has shown that girls with bigger bums are on average more intelligent than those with flat ones, so don't be ashamed to shake that booty off :)
Stansted-Bound
This morning I was travelling from Stansted Airport and as I went to the bathroom I was pleased to see a campaign info poster against forced marriages (see below). It was put up above the hand dryers and at least three women before me all saw it and were reading it by the time it was my turn to dry my hands. This poster is part of a Foreign and Commonwealth Office campaign to inform against forced travel abroad for the purposes of marriage against someone’s will. This is practiced mostly by some British Pakistani families who take their kids back to Pakistan on ‘holiday’ and instead they force them to get married there, often underage and often in return for money. Girls are particularly vulnerable in this regard. Karma Nirvana, a UK charity which deals with forced marriages in the country, has campaigned for these posters to be introduced at all airports to inform girls and women who to contact last-minute to get help before their forced departure. It is your right to choose, they say, and the government’s Forced Marriage Unit is there to assist in emergencies. Since June this year, forced marriage is officially a crime in the whole of Britain and can result in up to seven years imprisonment. Do seek help if needed and please do spread the word as posters alone may not be enough. Emergency phone number: 020 7008 0151. For more info, please go to https://www.gov.uk/stop-forced-marriage.
Jimmy Carter for the Win
Last night, 2 December, in an open forum at Yale University (I wasn't present but boy, do I wish I was) Jimmy Carter, the 39th U.S. President, spoke about the world's discrimination and violence against women and girls and called it the most serious, pervasive, and ignored violation of basic human rights.
In his recent book 'A Call to Arms: Women, Religion, Violence and Power', he calls the discrimination and abuse of women the most serious worldwide challenge of our time.
Also, he added that while slavery was abandoned in the 19th century, today still millions of people are being sold involuntarily across and within borders. It is a well-known fact that over 80% of those are females being sold into sexual slavery. 'These facts are hard to believe, but they should be ever-present in your mind,' Carter told his audience.
To learn more about the positive examples that The Carter Center (his non-profit foundation) sets through its peace and health programs, please visit http://www.cartercenter.org/index.html Good job, Mr President!
In his recent book 'A Call to Arms: Women, Religion, Violence and Power', he calls the discrimination and abuse of women the most serious worldwide challenge of our time.
Also, he added that while slavery was abandoned in the 19th century, today still millions of people are being sold involuntarily across and within borders. It is a well-known fact that over 80% of those are females being sold into sexual slavery. 'These facts are hard to believe, but they should be ever-present in your mind,' Carter told his audience.
To learn more about the positive examples that The Carter Center (his non-profit foundation) sets through its peace and health programs, please visit http://www.cartercenter.org/index.html Good job, Mr President!
- False Rape Allegations
At least 109 women have been prosecuted in the last five years for making false rape allegations in the UK, according to charities' figures released last week. Based on recent campaign revelations, the UK seems to have a rather aggressive approach towards women who lie about rape - it prosecutes them for perverting the course of justice (i.e. a maximum life jail term) as opposed to the lesser offence of wasting police time (maximum sentence: six months in prison or a fine). In the US on the other hand, false allegations are treated as a misdemeanour offence, not a felony – and most women are not jailed if found guilty. Same for Canada and Australia.
With this in mind, I read an extremely moving letter by a 21 year-old man falsely accused of rape at the age of 15, which the Guardian published over the weekend. Please do read it and give it a thought, it's touching and painful to the point of tears: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/nov/29/letter-to-girl-accused-me-of-rape?CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2
Everyone deserves to have their word taken seriously when it comes to an act as extreme as rape, but falsefully accusing others of things they have done to you is an awfully quick and painful way to ruin their lives completely. Just saying.
With this in mind, I read an extremely moving letter by a 21 year-old man falsely accused of rape at the age of 15, which the Guardian published over the weekend. Please do read it and give it a thought, it's touching and painful to the point of tears: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/nov/29/letter-to-girl-accused-me-of-rape?CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2
Everyone deserves to have their word taken seriously when it comes to an act as extreme as rape, but falsefully accusing others of things they have done to you is an awfully quick and painful way to ruin their lives completely. Just saying.
Red Ribbons
Every year on 1 December we mark a day of solidarity with HIV/ AIDS victims and the world dresses in red with ribbons on our warm winter coats. This year, no exception, awareness campaigns were organised, vigils held and demonstrations and marches led through busy cities and small towns alike. I have to admit I did not see almost any people wearing a red ribbon in London yesterday, but I'd like to think it's just me not noticing and not that no one cares really. Then again, I do notice too many things and it might well be that people are slowly getting uninterested/ tired of this tradition. Let's hope not.
As much as I would like to encourage everyone to wear a ribbon and show support and solidarity with HIV-infected people and those who can't be cured (ever...), I also wanted to make a quick note of the relevance of yesterday to women across the world and to my blog in particular. Globally, more than 35 million people live with HIV, in the UK this is 110.000 as of 2013-14. Of these, very low percentage are women in the developed world (as little as 10-120% in most Western states), but in the developing world the percentage is much higher and even exceeds 55-70% in sub-Saharan Africa. Charities note than women are more likely to get infected than men in those regions as it is more difficult for them to negotiate condom use and because they are more likely to be subjected to non-consensual sex. Also, women do pass on the infection to their children upon birth. On the other hand, in homosexual relationships, men are much more likely to become infected for pure biological reasons of the sexual intercourse between two men in cases where it is unrpotected, compared to that of two women.
The good news is that HIV-infections globally have fallen by 33% since the start of this millennium.
The bad news is that we still need to educate our children that unprotected sex is dangerous and that you can DIE from AIDS. Unless both men and women take this seriously, the numbers of infections and deaths will continue to be high.
As much as I would like to encourage everyone to wear a ribbon and show support and solidarity with HIV-infected people and those who can't be cured (ever...), I also wanted to make a quick note of the relevance of yesterday to women across the world and to my blog in particular. Globally, more than 35 million people live with HIV, in the UK this is 110.000 as of 2013-14. Of these, very low percentage are women in the developed world (as little as 10-120% in most Western states), but in the developing world the percentage is much higher and even exceeds 55-70% in sub-Saharan Africa. Charities note than women are more likely to get infected than men in those regions as it is more difficult for them to negotiate condom use and because they are more likely to be subjected to non-consensual sex. Also, women do pass on the infection to their children upon birth. On the other hand, in homosexual relationships, men are much more likely to become infected for pure biological reasons of the sexual intercourse between two men in cases where it is unrpotected, compared to that of two women.
The good news is that HIV-infections globally have fallen by 33% since the start of this millennium.
The bad news is that we still need to educate our children that unprotected sex is dangerous and that you can DIE from AIDS. Unless both men and women take this seriously, the numbers of infections and deaths will continue to be high.
All the Single Ladies
And while Pakistan sets a good example, Saudi Arabia continues to shock everyone with its absurd laws and policies treating women as second-hand citizens and humans in general. Look at this: on 24 November, restaurants in Saudi Arabia woke up to new announcements on their front doors which ban single women from entering their premises. The reasoning is because of their 'mentally unstable' behaviour such as using flirting, smoking and using mobile phones.Apparently one restaurant owner said: 'We put up these signs because we have seen numerous incidents of flirting taking place inside the restaurant. We'll only remove these signs when we make sure such incidents never happen again on our premises because such type of behaviour negatively impacts our business.' Bloggers in the country also described women who smoke and use mobile phones as 'mentally unstable'. I can NOT wait to go to Saudi Arabia for field research one day and I pray this ban be gone by then. Nothing can be as ridiculous and unfair as this treatment of women, I am mortified!
Justice for Farzana
On 19 November, Pakistan set an incredibly positive example for states to condemn honour killings of women by handing death sentences to the four male relatives of 25-year-old Farzana Parveen, who was stoned to death in May this year right outside a courthouse in Pakistan. The girl woman married without her relatives' consent and the four men who are now sentenced and who started throwing stones at Parveen and later killed her, were her father, brother, cousin and another male relative. It is a common practice in Pakistan to get men to kill their daughters or wives for unacceptable acts such as wearing make-up, dating unapproved men, going out without permission, etc. - all acts which bring shame to the family. In order to restore their pride, the men then kill the girl and/ or her partner. Unfortunately however, if family members carry out such killings the law allows the murdered women's next of kin to "forgive" the criminals, and thus most honour killers go free. This month's sentence is an incredibly positive development in an incredibly sad situation, and we can only hope other countries with similar practices will follow the example.
I Am a Lady But I Do Need to Pee!
I am a ‘lady’ but for goodness sake, I am a human and I do need to pee! I have to admit I was meant to write a piece with this theme weeks ago, but never got down to it, until last night when I was mortified once again by a simple fact – in central London there are certain facilities where men can pee on the street, but no equivalents for females. As gross as it is, it is a somewhat acceptable solution for late nights out when you are about to get on the night bus and desperately need to use a toilet before another 60 mins travel home. BUT again, the Mayor (or whoever it is who installs these public toilets) only thought about fellow male buddies and not about the ladies, who need to hold it all the way home! Or go to McDonald’s at 5 am and use theirs, i.e. buy something obviously in order to be able to use the facilities, and thus technically spend extra money for already expensive nights out. The alternative is to pee straight on the street which is neither attractive, nor safe. Not lady-like. But human-like. So yeah – I am disappointed and I demand equal access to facilities for girls! Thank you very much.
PS: Same thing applies for the toilets outside of the London Dungeon towards Millennium Bridge, why are there 10 unisex toilets, a couple of all-male ones, and not a single all-female toilet? That’s slightly unfair, if you know what I mean.
PS: Same thing applies for the toilets outside of the London Dungeon towards Millennium Bridge, why are there 10 unisex toilets, a couple of all-male ones, and not a single all-female toilet? That’s slightly unfair, if you know what I mean.
Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Or at least to the American side of me and to my family and friends there! As it’s a festive occasion, you may expect the ladies in the house to prepare a nice little turkey dinner for everyone to share and enjoy together. Well well, just remember it doesn’t need to be the lady in the house – we do live in a rather developed world with no need for additional pressure of home-cooked meals. They might as well be ordered in or if you insist, the men in the house may want to join in the preparations. Just saying :) Either way, have fun ladies and gents, and see you tomorrow for a ‘quick’ Black Friday shopping!
UK Campuses Tolerate Rape, Expel for Plagiarism
Hey world,
Good news for the start of the week: an article of mine on sexual assault on campus has been published by the Opinion Panel UK earlier today. This is my second piece that the Panel has decided to have online (after my Women and Football article in July which also won Article of the Month: http://www.opinionpanel.co.uk/2014/07/14/women-with-balls-is-football-turning-into-a-womens-game/#comments). I’m especially proud of this one as it’s a topic very dear to my heart and I’d be happy to hear your comments and see you share it widely. I got over 12,600 views on the last one, I’m sure we can do even better this time around :)
Many thanks and enjoy reading: http://www.opinionpanel.co.uk/2014/11/24/sexual-assault-on-college-campuses/
Good news for the start of the week: an article of mine on sexual assault on campus has been published by the Opinion Panel UK earlier today. This is my second piece that the Panel has decided to have online (after my Women and Football article in July which also won Article of the Month: http://www.opinionpanel.co.uk/2014/07/14/women-with-balls-is-football-turning-into-a-womens-game/#comments). I’m especially proud of this one as it’s a topic very dear to my heart and I’d be happy to hear your comments and see you share it widely. I got over 12,600 views on the last one, I’m sure we can do even better this time around :)
Many thanks and enjoy reading: http://www.opinionpanel.co.uk/2014/11/24/sexual-assault-on-college-campuses/
Girls and Fashion
My girl Bertille, a fashion fan at heart, rocked it with her latest blog post today, in which she discusses the fashion industry and whether it's a product of low self-esteem or serves to bring in a sense of belonging. Read it here and feel free to comment/ subscribe: https://afabulousthought.wordpress.com/2014/11/23/the-fashion-industry-low-self-esteem-or-a-need-of-belonging/
PS: She mentions Kelly Cutrone, PR maven and America's Next Top Model judge for a few cycles now, one word only - AMAZING! Tune in to the Tyra crew for the season finale on 5 December.
PS: She mentions Kelly Cutrone, PR maven and America's Next Top Model judge for a few cycles now, one word only - AMAZING! Tune in to the Tyra crew for the season finale on 5 December.
Any Volleyball Girls Out There?
You may have heard of the story of British-Iranian woman Ghoncheh Ghavami who was jailed in June this year for attempting to attend a men's volleyball match. Ghoncheh and 20 other women had the indecency to walk into the volleyball venue, which according to Iranian law is forbidden - women can't watch men's sports, the regime says. Only Ghoncheh was detained and she was later accused of conspiracy and links to the opposition. She received a jail sentence of one year in prison. Following a massive international campaign calling for her release, the good news is that as of last night, Miss Ghavani has been freed on bail and is now staying with her parents in Tehran awaiting a decision by the Court of Appeal. She has previously staged hunger strikes and her health seems to be unstable, which was the reason why she was allowed to leave. Her brother called yesterday's release "quite unexpected but a welcome move". Indeed great news both for the woman and her family especially as it is her 26th birthday today. What a moving story - and yet, what a horrific story for the Iranian regime jailing and prosecuting women for mere attempts to watch a sports game. Really sad example of the state trying to control women's lives on a daily basis and imposing its extremely conservative religious views onto Iranian citizens.
Please join the international campaign here and call on the Iranian government to free Ghoncheh completely. One appeal can turn into thousands and millions and can make a difference after all.
Please join the international campaign here and call on the Iranian government to free Ghoncheh completely. One appeal can turn into thousands and millions and can make a difference after all.
Weekend News + Junior Eurovision
I recently wrote a UN report claiming violence against women in Venezuela is widespread and escalating and criticizing the government for not doing enough to address the issue. Just two weeks later, the Venezuelan Ministry for Women and Gender Equality launched a campaign ‘Words Kill: If you love, then you don’t abuse’ aiming to reduce psychological violence against women and girls. The Minister in Caracas said the campaign aims to address ‘day-to-day’ acts of sexism, such as catcalling or sexist language, that can lead to emotional and psychological damage amongst women. The initiative will end on 7 December and as much as I’d like to congratulate the Venezuelan government for taking action, it should not have had to wait for UN criticism first; neither should it conduct just 2-week campaigns. Much more commitment is required by the authorities and much longer time is needed for effective prevention and long-lasting results to appear.
Speaking of violence against women, a new study released this week shows gender-based violence is still shockingly high, and focusing on the consequences of violent acts needs to be substituted for more active prevention programs. George Washington University's Global Women's Institute found out that ‘multi-pronged programs that involve entire communities are the most effective in preventing violence against women and girls’ and recommends dedicating ‘more resources and time to prevention programs that are community based, involving women, girls, men and boys of all ages and diverse backgrounds’. Today still, one in every three women around the world has experienced either physical or sexual partner violence, and 7 percent of women will experience sexual assault by a non-partner at some point in their lives. Thus, as much as it is important to reintegrate victims into society and show them support for what they’ve been through, it’s also crucial to address the issue early enough to prevent it from happening altogether.
And lastly – on a much more positive note, you guys should all see Krisia Todorova’s performance at this year’s Junior Eurovision. She was Bulgaria’s contestant last week in the 2014 competition in Malta and our girl showed incredible grace and talent on stage and won second place! She was a runner-up for the biggest award in European kids’ singing-contests and I’m super proud of her and her achievement. Krisia has since met with the President of Bulgaria, been on TV a number of times performing her hit song together with co-performers Hassan and Ibrahim, and won the hearts of all Bulgarians, at home and abroad. Well done, Miss Krisia, you are a great example for young girls to follow!
See her performance here: http://www.junioreurovision.tv/page/participant-profile?song=32473
Speaking of violence against women, a new study released this week shows gender-based violence is still shockingly high, and focusing on the consequences of violent acts needs to be substituted for more active prevention programs. George Washington University's Global Women's Institute found out that ‘multi-pronged programs that involve entire communities are the most effective in preventing violence against women and girls’ and recommends dedicating ‘more resources and time to prevention programs that are community based, involving women, girls, men and boys of all ages and diverse backgrounds’. Today still, one in every three women around the world has experienced either physical or sexual partner violence, and 7 percent of women will experience sexual assault by a non-partner at some point in their lives. Thus, as much as it is important to reintegrate victims into society and show them support for what they’ve been through, it’s also crucial to address the issue early enough to prevent it from happening altogether.
And lastly – on a much more positive note, you guys should all see Krisia Todorova’s performance at this year’s Junior Eurovision. She was Bulgaria’s contestant last week in the 2014 competition in Malta and our girl showed incredible grace and talent on stage and won second place! She was a runner-up for the biggest award in European kids’ singing-contests and I’m super proud of her and her achievement. Krisia has since met with the President of Bulgaria, been on TV a number of times performing her hit song together with co-performers Hassan and Ibrahim, and won the hearts of all Bulgarians, at home and abroad. Well done, Miss Krisia, you are a great example for young girls to follow!
See her performance here: http://www.junioreurovision.tv/page/participant-profile?song=32473
Skills London 2014
Going back to my participation at the inspirational young leaders' forum last weekend, this Saturday I'll be representing my university at Skills London - a massive fair of employers and universities offering employment and studying opportunities to young people between 16 - 24. I'm thrilled to see anyone up for personal development and career growth and especially young girls - this is particularly suitable for teenagers unsure of whether they want to get into university at all and I hope we'll be able to provide enough info for the visitors to make an informed decision.
With this in mind, I found a number of inspirational quotes by some of my favorite female celebrities which I hope will brighten your day and motivate you to join us tomorrow (22 November) at Excel London between 10 am and 4 pm.
Beyonce:
''I am a woman and when I think, I must speak."
"I’m a workaholic and I don’t believe in ‘no.’ If I’m not sleeping, nobody’s sleeping."
"I felt like it was time to set up my future, so I set a goal. My goal was independence."
Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO:
"Careers are a jungle gym, not a ladder."
"Success for me is that if my son chooses to be a stay-at-home parent, he is cheered on for that decision. And if my daughter chooses to work outside the home and is successful, she is cheered on and supported."
So - make your own decision, independently and decisively. And if you are unsure, you don't believe in yourself and your ideas and/ or you are being stopped on the way to success by external factors, remember what Tinder co-founder Whitney Wolfe did in June: she filed a high-profile lawsuit against her co-founder and former partner Justin Mateen, alleging gender discrimination and sexual harassment. According to Wolfe, Mateen had said that "he was taking away her 'Co-Founder' title because having a young female co-founder 'makes the company seem like a joke," Vice reported. Surely, a joke - one that brings in millions of dollars every day. Don't be ashamed from being young, independent and 'girly' - feel proud to be a woman and go show them who runs the world!
xx Miss P
With this in mind, I found a number of inspirational quotes by some of my favorite female celebrities which I hope will brighten your day and motivate you to join us tomorrow (22 November) at Excel London between 10 am and 4 pm.
Beyonce:
''I am a woman and when I think, I must speak."
"I’m a workaholic and I don’t believe in ‘no.’ If I’m not sleeping, nobody’s sleeping."
"I felt like it was time to set up my future, so I set a goal. My goal was independence."
Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO:
"Careers are a jungle gym, not a ladder."
"Success for me is that if my son chooses to be a stay-at-home parent, he is cheered on for that decision. And if my daughter chooses to work outside the home and is successful, she is cheered on and supported."
So - make your own decision, independently and decisively. And if you are unsure, you don't believe in yourself and your ideas and/ or you are being stopped on the way to success by external factors, remember what Tinder co-founder Whitney Wolfe did in June: she filed a high-profile lawsuit against her co-founder and former partner Justin Mateen, alleging gender discrimination and sexual harassment. According to Wolfe, Mateen had said that "he was taking away her 'Co-Founder' title because having a young female co-founder 'makes the company seem like a joke," Vice reported. Surely, a joke - one that brings in millions of dollars every day. Don't be ashamed from being young, independent and 'girly' - feel proud to be a woman and go show them who runs the world!
xx Miss P
Africa-Bound
Hey, world!
Two African stories for you today:
This week, in Kenya's capital Nairobi hundreds of women gathered to speak up against male interference in their dress choices. The demonstration called #MyDressMyChoice followed an attack on a young girl last week who was stripped naked in plain day light by a group of men because she dressed 'indecently'. The girl was wearing a short skirt and was apparently attacked verbally and physically at a bus stop in the Kenyan capital. Following the demonstration on Monday, however, another woman went through the same ordeal in the east of Nairobi, and since then over 100 suspects have been detained until the case is clarified by the Police. As a reminder, Nairobi is one of the African cities with highest criminal rates and it's competing with South African cities like Cape Town and Johannesburg for the most risky place of robberies, kidnappings and violent attacks. Apparently dress code is particularly important on the streets, especially if you are a woman, fair world it is not!...
And moving up north, a report emerged last week that more than 200 women were mass raped in Darfrur on 7 and 8 November. Soldiers from the well known for its brutalities Sudanese Army went on a raping spree between Friday evening and 4am the following morning. Despite denial from the Special Prosecutor for crimes in Darfur, articles 151, 152, 154 and 156 of the criminal code "enforce restrictions on women and the way they dress and behave in public". If they commit an act "deemed by an officer of the law to be in violation of these articles, they may face a lashing sentence [or] be forced to pay a fine". Meanwhile soldiers and police officers are largely excluded from punishments when raping women and abusing them. Also, as a reminder in early October, 70 female college students were forcibly displaced from their dorm and 17 were held without charge in detention - like that, for the sake of it. Torture, rapes, abductions and sexual slavery are all daily reality for Sudanese women, what a nightmare!
Two African stories for you today:
This week, in Kenya's capital Nairobi hundreds of women gathered to speak up against male interference in their dress choices. The demonstration called #MyDressMyChoice followed an attack on a young girl last week who was stripped naked in plain day light by a group of men because she dressed 'indecently'. The girl was wearing a short skirt and was apparently attacked verbally and physically at a bus stop in the Kenyan capital. Following the demonstration on Monday, however, another woman went through the same ordeal in the east of Nairobi, and since then over 100 suspects have been detained until the case is clarified by the Police. As a reminder, Nairobi is one of the African cities with highest criminal rates and it's competing with South African cities like Cape Town and Johannesburg for the most risky place of robberies, kidnappings and violent attacks. Apparently dress code is particularly important on the streets, especially if you are a woman, fair world it is not!...
And moving up north, a report emerged last week that more than 200 women were mass raped in Darfrur on 7 and 8 November. Soldiers from the well known for its brutalities Sudanese Army went on a raping spree between Friday evening and 4am the following morning. Despite denial from the Special Prosecutor for crimes in Darfur, articles 151, 152, 154 and 156 of the criminal code "enforce restrictions on women and the way they dress and behave in public". If they commit an act "deemed by an officer of the law to be in violation of these articles, they may face a lashing sentence [or] be forced to pay a fine". Meanwhile soldiers and police officers are largely excluded from punishments when raping women and abusing them. Also, as a reminder in early October, 70 female college students were forcibly displaced from their dorm and 17 were held without charge in detention - like that, for the sake of it. Torture, rapes, abductions and sexual slavery are all daily reality for Sudanese women, what a nightmare!
Beauty Queen, Birth Control and ISIS -
Today's News Round-Up (20 November)
After my post on El Salvador and its increasing violence against women, abuse and murders, in a tiny country with over 300 murders per month, yet another shocking story emerged yesterday. In neighbouring Honduras, the world's most dangerous country with the highest homicide rates, Miss Honduras 2014 was killed on 18 November. Maria José Alvarado, 19, had been due to travel to London today in preparation for the Miss World competition next month. Her body was found by a river in Santa Bárbara, alongside her 23-year-old sister Sofía, a primary school teacher in northern Honduras. They both disappeared a week ago following the birthday party of Sofía’s boyfriend in a spa close to Santa Bárbara. Reportedly, the bodies were found by Police thanks to hints by Sofía’s boyfriend who is by the way the primary suspect of the murders. Shocking indeed, such high-profile figures and beautiful young girls with their whole future ahead of them...
Secondly, The Guardian reports on a recent study claiming birth control might be making your boyfriend ugly. More specifically, the science suggests that a woman taking the pill when she meets her boyfriend might find him less attractive when she stops taking it, 'especially if he wasn’t all that hot to begin with' (quoted Guardian comment). I found this hilarious but believable indeed as the pill does mess around with all sorts of physical or mental aspects of a woman's body/ mind. It has long been discussed that the pill may cause panic attacks, depression, fatigue and chronic health issues, not to mention increased risk of certain types of cancer. So yes, as much as I am pro a woman's right to control her own body, take birth control and/ or abortion if necessary, I also understand the risks behind such actions and can only advise careful consideration beforehand.
And lastly, the Kurdish and Middle Eastern Women's organisation has called on all concerned citizens to join them in a demonstration against ISIS' cruel practices of torture, enslavement, rape and killings of women. The protest will take place in Trafalgar Square, London, on 23 November from 1 to 4 pm. Join in and express your sympathy with Middle Eastern women in desperate need of support.
More updates tomorrow, ladies and gents! Have a fab Thursday! xx Miss P
Secondly, The Guardian reports on a recent study claiming birth control might be making your boyfriend ugly. More specifically, the science suggests that a woman taking the pill when she meets her boyfriend might find him less attractive when she stops taking it, 'especially if he wasn’t all that hot to begin with' (quoted Guardian comment). I found this hilarious but believable indeed as the pill does mess around with all sorts of physical or mental aspects of a woman's body/ mind. It has long been discussed that the pill may cause panic attacks, depression, fatigue and chronic health issues, not to mention increased risk of certain types of cancer. So yes, as much as I am pro a woman's right to control her own body, take birth control and/ or abortion if necessary, I also understand the risks behind such actions and can only advise careful consideration beforehand.
And lastly, the Kurdish and Middle Eastern Women's organisation has called on all concerned citizens to join them in a demonstration against ISIS' cruel practices of torture, enslavement, rape and killings of women. The protest will take place in Trafalgar Square, London, on 23 November from 1 to 4 pm. Join in and express your sympathy with Middle Eastern women in desperate need of support.
More updates tomorrow, ladies and gents! Have a fab Thursday! xx Miss P
Gangsta Girls
As promised, I thought I'd take a look at female members of gangs.
In El Salvador, which was the focus of my latest story (below), women are absent form the highest ranks of gangs - not in the leadership, not as spokespeople, not as negotiators of the gang truce. Yet, they are far from absent in prisons and on the streets as gang members and criminals.
Looking at the history of female participation in gangs, Stanford University published in 1999 a good account of the history, causes and consequences of this phenomenon:
Female participation in gangs, they say, is not a new development. In fact, girl gangsters have been registered in New York as early as the 1800s". However, throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, female gang activity has seen the sharpest increase in participation, especially in comparison to boys. Statistics show arrests of girls under 18 for violent crimes rose 393% between 1960 and 1978, compared to 82% for boys".
According to research on female gang members the most common causes of them joining gangs are poor home life, a search for an identity, and a search for social interaction and belonging. The families of female gang members are often dysfunctional and marked by poverty, and they may often been victims of physical and/ or sexual abuse. Gangs thus appear as the new loving family for these girls and this is noticeable even in the language they use to describe each other as 'sisters' or 'homegirls'. It is also a demonstraton of a sense of belonging and identification, which often serves to ensure gang members are loyal to each other.
Additionally, economic needs may influence female gang membership - selling drugs, Stanford explains, may be much easier as means of living when you are part of a group than when you try to make it on your own. This also ties in with protection needs - in violent regions of cities, membership in a gang effectively means safe and secure daily life against abuse, assault or physical violence.
The BBC further reports female roles in mixed gangs include sleeping with boys as young as 10 to initiate them into the gang, and 'girls and young women are frequently used to hide weapons and drugs - sometimes in pushchairs - because they are less likely to be stopped and searched by police'. The Telegraph also reminds us that 'in London alone there are said to be over 250 criminal street gangs. Thousands of girls and young women are associated with these gangs but at present local authorities don't collect data on the number of so-called 'gangster girls' in Britain, instead focusing on typical gang members, most of whom are male'.
Lastly, and non-exhaustive of the causes mentioned above or the lack of actual statistics and understanding of female roles in gangs, the consequences of gang membership for girls often mean pregnancies (in nearly 95% of cases in the 1990s), STDs, single parenthood for their children, extensive drug and alcohol abuse and arrests for various crimes. Dependence on welfare is also frequently observed for female (ex)gang members.
Pretty picture I've just illustrated here. But a realistic one indeed. As for the solutions, educational and job opportunities remain the single best shot at reducing gang membership both for men and especially women gangsters. Way to go with that
In El Salvador, which was the focus of my latest story (below), women are absent form the highest ranks of gangs - not in the leadership, not as spokespeople, not as negotiators of the gang truce. Yet, they are far from absent in prisons and on the streets as gang members and criminals.
Looking at the history of female participation in gangs, Stanford University published in 1999 a good account of the history, causes and consequences of this phenomenon:
Female participation in gangs, they say, is not a new development. In fact, girl gangsters have been registered in New York as early as the 1800s". However, throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, female gang activity has seen the sharpest increase in participation, especially in comparison to boys. Statistics show arrests of girls under 18 for violent crimes rose 393% between 1960 and 1978, compared to 82% for boys".
According to research on female gang members the most common causes of them joining gangs are poor home life, a search for an identity, and a search for social interaction and belonging. The families of female gang members are often dysfunctional and marked by poverty, and they may often been victims of physical and/ or sexual abuse. Gangs thus appear as the new loving family for these girls and this is noticeable even in the language they use to describe each other as 'sisters' or 'homegirls'. It is also a demonstraton of a sense of belonging and identification, which often serves to ensure gang members are loyal to each other.
Additionally, economic needs may influence female gang membership - selling drugs, Stanford explains, may be much easier as means of living when you are part of a group than when you try to make it on your own. This also ties in with protection needs - in violent regions of cities, membership in a gang effectively means safe and secure daily life against abuse, assault or physical violence.
The BBC further reports female roles in mixed gangs include sleeping with boys as young as 10 to initiate them into the gang, and 'girls and young women are frequently used to hide weapons and drugs - sometimes in pushchairs - because they are less likely to be stopped and searched by police'. The Telegraph also reminds us that 'in London alone there are said to be over 250 criminal street gangs. Thousands of girls and young women are associated with these gangs but at present local authorities don't collect data on the number of so-called 'gangster girls' in Britain, instead focusing on typical gang members, most of whom are male'.
Lastly, and non-exhaustive of the causes mentioned above or the lack of actual statistics and understanding of female roles in gangs, the consequences of gang membership for girls often mean pregnancies (in nearly 95% of cases in the 1990s), STDs, single parenthood for their children, extensive drug and alcohol abuse and arrests for various crimes. Dependence on welfare is also frequently observed for female (ex)gang members.
Pretty picture I've just illustrated here. But a realistic one indeed. As for the solutions, educational and job opportunities remain the single best shot at reducing gang membership both for men and especially women gangsters. Way to go with that
Abuse and Murders on a Daily Basis
El Salvador is the second most dangerous country in the world (after Honduras), according to UN data looking at homicide rates. More than 300 murders a month (between 7 and 11 a day) happen in a country of less than six million. Five of the state’s most notorious gangs agreed in 2012 to a truce which saw murder rates cut back by 40% almost immediately. The government didn’t support the truce, however, and by early 2014 the horrific picture was the same again. Now, since August 2014, the truce re-entered into force and gangs have committed to not attack police and prison guards and their families (often as revenge tactics for imprisoned gang members), and also to avoid civilian attacks as much as possible. One thing is certain, however – the fact that femicides (murders of women), rape and assault remain prevalent and are even on the rise.
Last year, nearly 4,000 El Salvadoran women ended up in hospital because of domestic and or sexual abuse in the home. Human rights groups fear the numbers are much higher though, as women are often too scared or embarrassed to seek medical help and/ or to report domestic abuse to the Police. Also, a minimum of 2,250 femicides have been reported in El Salvador from 2010 to September 2014, according to the Organisation of Salvadoran Women for Peace. Rape and kidnappings appear widespread as well with 201 women reported missing in the first 8 months of this year and 361 girls and women victims of rape in the same period. These however, are again only the official numbers which may be up to five times higher, based on human rights group estimates. And all this is a tiny nation the size of Bulgaria's population.
The most likely explanation for these developments is El Salvador’s macho culture, which views women as child-bearers and mothers, experts explain. This is also supported by religious understanding of conservative Catholic women taking care of the children and the house. Further, the state judicial system often fails to punish perpetrators of crimes against women and effectively encourages wrong-doing. It wasn’t until 2012 that the country introduced a law categorizing femicides as a specific crime, and El Salvador has in fact been the last of Latin American states to do so (the first of which was Costa Rica in 2007).
Lastly, a very worrying trend registered in the United States in the past year shows a dramatic increase in the number of women and girls from Central America seeking asylum in the US after rape and kidnappings. Much like war-fleeing women in Africa.
Sad reality it is, but gangster culture seems to be a major cause of women’s suffering in central America and threats, beatings and murder appear as daily occurrences for millions of women. This doesn’t mean of course, that women do not join gangs and do not commit such crimes themselves and this will actually be my post topic for tomorrow. Women ain’t always loving and caring and sharing, that’s for sure, and so we will see mañana. But meanwhile if only men could prove their masculinity lies in treating women well and not raping and killing them...
Last year, nearly 4,000 El Salvadoran women ended up in hospital because of domestic and or sexual abuse in the home. Human rights groups fear the numbers are much higher though, as women are often too scared or embarrassed to seek medical help and/ or to report domestic abuse to the Police. Also, a minimum of 2,250 femicides have been reported in El Salvador from 2010 to September 2014, according to the Organisation of Salvadoran Women for Peace. Rape and kidnappings appear widespread as well with 201 women reported missing in the first 8 months of this year and 361 girls and women victims of rape in the same period. These however, are again only the official numbers which may be up to five times higher, based on human rights group estimates. And all this is a tiny nation the size of Bulgaria's population.
The most likely explanation for these developments is El Salvador’s macho culture, which views women as child-bearers and mothers, experts explain. This is also supported by religious understanding of conservative Catholic women taking care of the children and the house. Further, the state judicial system often fails to punish perpetrators of crimes against women and effectively encourages wrong-doing. It wasn’t until 2012 that the country introduced a law categorizing femicides as a specific crime, and El Salvador has in fact been the last of Latin American states to do so (the first of which was Costa Rica in 2007).
Lastly, a very worrying trend registered in the United States in the past year shows a dramatic increase in the number of women and girls from Central America seeking asylum in the US after rape and kidnappings. Much like war-fleeing women in Africa.
Sad reality it is, but gangster culture seems to be a major cause of women’s suffering in central America and threats, beatings and murder appear as daily occurrences for millions of women. This doesn’t mean of course, that women do not join gangs and do not commit such crimes themselves and this will actually be my post topic for tomorrow. Women ain’t always loving and caring and sharing, that’s for sure, and so we will see mañana. But meanwhile if only men could prove their masculinity lies in treating women well and not raping and killing them...
Every Second Counts
Yesterday I had the honour of attending the Every Second Counts Forum, organized by The Guardian and sponsored by Rolex. The half-day event at Kings Place, London, got 250 young people between 20 and 30 years old together to discuss world problems and potential innovative solutions. While the focus of the forum was slightly more technology-based than I had expected, with example stories on health devices, cave exploration and anti-biotic resistance, it was still a truly inspirational event even for me as a non-technology person. In addition to the five laureates of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise 2014, who presented their winning projects, the two highlights of the day were Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, and Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, space scientist and research fellow at UCL.
Sir Tim gave the opening keynote speech where he told us how he started the WWW in 1989 and the lack of progress and support he faced at first. We all laughed when he said his boss’s evaluation of the WWW idea in the 1990s was ‘vague, but exciting’. Wow, exciting indeed, now that the Internet has billions of users worldwide and access to WiFi and communications is even more urgently desired than food by teens in the developed world. Successful project it was, but one lesson Sir Tim told us we should keep in mind in the interconnected technology world of today is that ‘the cost of people getting involved should be really, really low’ – this would lead to a change in people’s behaviour, which will then lead to a changing world as a whole. So set up your own business, but be ready to face drastic challenges and to not get funding for your ideas, especially in the short-to-medium term.
In the afternoon, I absolutely LOVED Dr Maggie’s speech on ‘Desire to Aspire’. As a black woman with PhD in mechanical engineering she represents a tiiiiny proportion of all space scientists who are mostly male and mostly white. She’s currently teaching at UCL and giving talks to middle school kids inspiring them to pursue a career in science and space in particular. She shared her experience at the World Economic Forum in Dubai last week as part of the Space committee and her thrilling contributions in Germany throughout this week during the Rosetta Mission landing on 12 November on Comet 67P half a billion kilometers away from Earth. The lessons for all of us from Dr Maggie were that we can all make a contribution to the world, regardless of how small or insignificant we may sometimes feel; we can generally do more than we think; we need to embrace risks and draw lessons from them even if they seem to result in a failure at first glance; and we need to celebrate success whenever it occurs and motivate ourselves more day by day. As a feminist, my heart was full of inspiration and admiration when listening to this lady – read about her for yourselves at http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/sep/21/maggie-aderin-pocock-interview-bbc-nasa-space
To learn more about the Rolex Awards for Enterprise, please go to http://www.rolexawards.com/
For event coverage of yesterday, go to http://www.theguardian.com/technology/series/every-second-counts
Stay inspired, ladies and gents, and prove that we can all make a contribution little by little. Have ideas and pursue them – it’s all about having ideas!
Sir Tim gave the opening keynote speech where he told us how he started the WWW in 1989 and the lack of progress and support he faced at first. We all laughed when he said his boss’s evaluation of the WWW idea in the 1990s was ‘vague, but exciting’. Wow, exciting indeed, now that the Internet has billions of users worldwide and access to WiFi and communications is even more urgently desired than food by teens in the developed world. Successful project it was, but one lesson Sir Tim told us we should keep in mind in the interconnected technology world of today is that ‘the cost of people getting involved should be really, really low’ – this would lead to a change in people’s behaviour, which will then lead to a changing world as a whole. So set up your own business, but be ready to face drastic challenges and to not get funding for your ideas, especially in the short-to-medium term.
In the afternoon, I absolutely LOVED Dr Maggie’s speech on ‘Desire to Aspire’. As a black woman with PhD in mechanical engineering she represents a tiiiiny proportion of all space scientists who are mostly male and mostly white. She’s currently teaching at UCL and giving talks to middle school kids inspiring them to pursue a career in science and space in particular. She shared her experience at the World Economic Forum in Dubai last week as part of the Space committee and her thrilling contributions in Germany throughout this week during the Rosetta Mission landing on 12 November on Comet 67P half a billion kilometers away from Earth. The lessons for all of us from Dr Maggie were that we can all make a contribution to the world, regardless of how small or insignificant we may sometimes feel; we can generally do more than we think; we need to embrace risks and draw lessons from them even if they seem to result in a failure at first glance; and we need to celebrate success whenever it occurs and motivate ourselves more day by day. As a feminist, my heart was full of inspiration and admiration when listening to this lady – read about her for yourselves at http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/sep/21/maggie-aderin-pocock-interview-bbc-nasa-space
To learn more about the Rolex Awards for Enterprise, please go to http://www.rolexawards.com/
For event coverage of yesterday, go to http://www.theguardian.com/technology/series/every-second-counts
Stay inspired, ladies and gents, and prove that we can all make a contribution little by little. Have ideas and pursue them – it’s all about having ideas!
Football, Boxing and Fake Rapes - 15 November
Hey world, a few follow-up stories today:
Yesterday I posted on my Campaigns page about Circles – an initiative gathering volunteers who help sex offenders be re-integrated into society. This post was provoked by the recent revelations about Chad Evans – a Sheffield United footballer who was convicted of rape and served prison sentence but now, it seems, will be back onto the field playing for his team. Jessica Ennis-Hill is just one of the many who loudly oppose potential come-back of rapist Evans. Jessica, an Olympic gold medalist, said she will withdraw her name from a stand at Sheffield United’s stadium if Ched is hired again. I support her view that the club should set a positive example that sexual abuse must not be tolerated but what shocked me was a piece at the news today – apparently Jessica has received abusive tweets because of her withdrawal decision, including one saying ‘Jessica Ennis-Hill is a stupid cunt. Saying she will remove herself if Ched Evans is signed. I hope he rapes her’. And another from a different account – ‘Hope Ched Evans gets you you little cunt’. I am so disgusted by these posts that I can’t even believe this is really happening in a 21-century Britain. Such negativity in such an open-minded society and taking rape so aggressively – I am disappointed to say the least. All my support to Jessica and well done for speaking up. As for the haters – let them be.
Secondly, the good news is – I got 11,000 views of my summer article of the month for the Opinion Panel UK which talked about football being a women’s game as well men’s. Bad news is – some readers’ comments continue to show they didn’t get the article at all. I quote the ending of the latest comment on 12 November of someone called Scot Brooks:
‘… At the end of the day, football is a man’s game, in that it suits the male psyche far better than the female. Arts and crafts are better suited for the typical woman. Play footy by all means, but if you want to be recognised for something, bring up your kids right, cook a nice roast dinner on a sunday, decorate your house nice. You know…that sort of thing!!!’
Again, I am so shocked by people’s reactions – this precise stereotypical thinking is what’s stopping society from really reaching true equality – at home in the kitchen, as well as on the pitch or at work. Not happy at all to hear advice I need to bring up kids and cook dinner, in fact I am about to go watch boxing as we speak – yep, good luck Kubrat Poulev tonight, you are our pride! And I am not ashamed to do a ‘’manly’ thing by watching you tonight.
And lastly – speaking of ridiculous statements by famous people – see below some of the ‘great’ quotes of Polish politician Korwin-Mikke – Lincoln University President Robert Jennings recently said that ‘Women lie about rape when sex doesn’t turn out the way they wanted’. So disappointing hearing this from an influential head of uni, and then he also claimed 'men treat you — treat women — the way women allow us to treat them'. Goodness gracious, can we have him not address gender and sex ever again? That would be a relief.
PS: I had the honour of meeting Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, today as well as Space scientist Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock and other inspirational speakers at the Every Second Counts forum. The event, organised by The Guardian and Rolex was truly amazing and I can't wait to write more about it tomorrow - stay tuned! xx
Yesterday I posted on my Campaigns page about Circles – an initiative gathering volunteers who help sex offenders be re-integrated into society. This post was provoked by the recent revelations about Chad Evans – a Sheffield United footballer who was convicted of rape and served prison sentence but now, it seems, will be back onto the field playing for his team. Jessica Ennis-Hill is just one of the many who loudly oppose potential come-back of rapist Evans. Jessica, an Olympic gold medalist, said she will withdraw her name from a stand at Sheffield United’s stadium if Ched is hired again. I support her view that the club should set a positive example that sexual abuse must not be tolerated but what shocked me was a piece at the news today – apparently Jessica has received abusive tweets because of her withdrawal decision, including one saying ‘Jessica Ennis-Hill is a stupid cunt. Saying she will remove herself if Ched Evans is signed. I hope he rapes her’. And another from a different account – ‘Hope Ched Evans gets you you little cunt’. I am so disgusted by these posts that I can’t even believe this is really happening in a 21-century Britain. Such negativity in such an open-minded society and taking rape so aggressively – I am disappointed to say the least. All my support to Jessica and well done for speaking up. As for the haters – let them be.
Secondly, the good news is – I got 11,000 views of my summer article of the month for the Opinion Panel UK which talked about football being a women’s game as well men’s. Bad news is – some readers’ comments continue to show they didn’t get the article at all. I quote the ending of the latest comment on 12 November of someone called Scot Brooks:
‘… At the end of the day, football is a man’s game, in that it suits the male psyche far better than the female. Arts and crafts are better suited for the typical woman. Play footy by all means, but if you want to be recognised for something, bring up your kids right, cook a nice roast dinner on a sunday, decorate your house nice. You know…that sort of thing!!!’
Again, I am so shocked by people’s reactions – this precise stereotypical thinking is what’s stopping society from really reaching true equality – at home in the kitchen, as well as on the pitch or at work. Not happy at all to hear advice I need to bring up kids and cook dinner, in fact I am about to go watch boxing as we speak – yep, good luck Kubrat Poulev tonight, you are our pride! And I am not ashamed to do a ‘’manly’ thing by watching you tonight.
And lastly – speaking of ridiculous statements by famous people – see below some of the ‘great’ quotes of Polish politician Korwin-Mikke – Lincoln University President Robert Jennings recently said that ‘Women lie about rape when sex doesn’t turn out the way they wanted’. So disappointing hearing this from an influential head of uni, and then he also claimed 'men treat you — treat women — the way women allow us to treat them'. Goodness gracious, can we have him not address gender and sex ever again? That would be a relief.
PS: I had the honour of meeting Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, today as well as Space scientist Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock and other inspirational speakers at the Every Second Counts forum. The event, organised by The Guardian and Rolex was truly amazing and I can't wait to write more about it tomorrow - stay tuned! xx
Booch Tooch - As Tyra Taught Me
I haven’t had a chance to post about the now-super-famous street harassment video in New York City, which was published by non-profit Hollaback! in the end of October. It has had over 35 million views since then and is now a much-talked about topic on various world-leading outlets such as The Economist and The New York Times. The video producers film a 20-something year old girl walking down the streets of NYC for ten hours, during which time she gets more than 100 men verbally harassing her asking her how she’s doing, if she would talk to them if they gave her their number, what she was up to, not to mention calling her ‘babes’, ‘baby’, ‘sweety’, etc. Once made into a video, the idea was to show how widespread street harassment is on the streets of the world’s biggest cities and to prove decisive action is needed to deal with the problem. Special thanks to Kate Krasimirova for reminding me this NEEDS to be on my blog – it sure does!
It’s true women get catcalled every hour of every day in every city of the world, including numerous approaches to myself that I have experienced while living in London, Madrid, Brussels and Paris. I first got called ‘bonita’ on the street by a short sweaty gentleman when I was 16 and was on holiday in Mexico. But at that point I felt rather embarrassed than annoyed – I didn’t realise what he was doing put HIM in the wrong, and not ME. I went back to our hotel and changed my swimsuit for the rest of the trip for a pair of halves much less revealing of my booty. Since then though, I’ve gotten increasingly irritated by men’s attempts to get close to me in public. The peak was this summer when I made an experiment and wore the shortest of my shorts for an entire day in London and Southend-on-Sea, and got 17 requests for my number, for a kiss or a hug, or making compliments to my body. Right, I counted. With this in mind, yes – I do sympathize with the girl in the NYC video and I strongly call on all men out there – please be a bit more respectful and do not interfere with our privacy just like we don’t interfere with yours.
While we are on the topic of public involvement in your own business: this morning on the train, this lady starts staring at me. One minute, two minutes, three minutes. She looks at my skirt, then my blouse, then my scarf, then down to my shoes and back up. And the entire time she makes the worst of the worst facial expressions of disapproval – of what exactly I don’t know. She wasn’t happy with my appearance for some reason and just as I was starting to feel uncomfortable by her gaze and judgemental attitude and was thinking of the most gracious way to handle this, a random guy stepped in and told her (about me): ‘She looks beautiful doesn’t she!’ As he did that I thought to myself: why are we ladies so critical of each other and why is she expressing her disapproval so bluntly? And two, THANK you, gentleman, for stepping in and reminding the forgetful that minding your own business is what you should really be doing at 8 am on a busy train. The guy only smiled after, didn’t ask for my number, and I didn’t offer it either – obviously. It was a nice reminder though that people can be genuinely nice and should be appraised for it. As for the lady – we should really support each other as women and not judge ourselves. And not that I need to defend myself, but just for the record – having killer heels, a hot red skirt and a sexy booty underneath is probably what really got me those looks in the first place :)
Stay fierce, ladies! #BoochTooch
It’s true women get catcalled every hour of every day in every city of the world, including numerous approaches to myself that I have experienced while living in London, Madrid, Brussels and Paris. I first got called ‘bonita’ on the street by a short sweaty gentleman when I was 16 and was on holiday in Mexico. But at that point I felt rather embarrassed than annoyed – I didn’t realise what he was doing put HIM in the wrong, and not ME. I went back to our hotel and changed my swimsuit for the rest of the trip for a pair of halves much less revealing of my booty. Since then though, I’ve gotten increasingly irritated by men’s attempts to get close to me in public. The peak was this summer when I made an experiment and wore the shortest of my shorts for an entire day in London and Southend-on-Sea, and got 17 requests for my number, for a kiss or a hug, or making compliments to my body. Right, I counted. With this in mind, yes – I do sympathize with the girl in the NYC video and I strongly call on all men out there – please be a bit more respectful and do not interfere with our privacy just like we don’t interfere with yours.
While we are on the topic of public involvement in your own business: this morning on the train, this lady starts staring at me. One minute, two minutes, three minutes. She looks at my skirt, then my blouse, then my scarf, then down to my shoes and back up. And the entire time she makes the worst of the worst facial expressions of disapproval – of what exactly I don’t know. She wasn’t happy with my appearance for some reason and just as I was starting to feel uncomfortable by her gaze and judgemental attitude and was thinking of the most gracious way to handle this, a random guy stepped in and told her (about me): ‘She looks beautiful doesn’t she!’ As he did that I thought to myself: why are we ladies so critical of each other and why is she expressing her disapproval so bluntly? And two, THANK you, gentleman, for stepping in and reminding the forgetful that minding your own business is what you should really be doing at 8 am on a busy train. The guy only smiled after, didn’t ask for my number, and I didn’t offer it either – obviously. It was a nice reminder though that people can be genuinely nice and should be appraised for it. As for the lady – we should really support each other as women and not judge ourselves. And not that I need to defend myself, but just for the record – having killer heels, a hot red skirt and a sexy booty underneath is probably what really got me those looks in the first place :)
Stay fierce, ladies! #BoochTooch
Canadian Vibes
Morning everyone! Two latest stories from Canada:
A joint community effort launched last week to help deal with violence against women will offer educational workshops for men and boys across Ottawa. The campaign, I Can MANifest Change, is organised by the Coalition to End Violence Against Women, along with Crime Prevention Ottawa and Ottawa police. It aims to “mobilize” boys and men in an effort to change attitudes toward violence and sexual assault. Everyone interested can upload a profile picture at www.manifestchange.ca and take a personal pledge to not commit or be silent about violence against women. Registered participants will also be able to access advice and community resources on the campaign website. MANifesting change is more than a positive step in engaging the whole society into the problem of physical or emotional violence and as the organisers put it themselves: This is not just a women's problem. Well done, Ottawa for setting an example for other cities - and states - to follow.
And secondly, with its new Immigration Act, Canada plans to ban entry to the country for migrants who practice 'barbaric cultural practices' such as polygamy, forced marriages or honour-killings. In the past ten years Canada has seen a growing number of honour killings in immigrant families of Middle Eastern and South Asian origin. The Immigration minister proclaimed last week: 'We are strengthening our laws to protect Canadians and newcomers to Canada from barbaric cultural practices... We are sending a strong message to those in Canada and those who wish to come to Canada that we will not tolerate cultural traditions that deprive individuals of their human rights.' The Act will also set the legal marriage age to 16 and limit acceptable defences in honour killings and many spousal murders. As a reminder, Canada also approved its new prostitution laws recently, according to which demand will be targeted and buyers of sex punished, while prostitutes themselves will not be charged. Impressive efforts by the Canadian authorities lately - hopefully will be reciprocated around the world.
That's it from me today - and by the way, yes, I have seen that women have died in India following a state-sponsored sterilisation campaign; Keira Knightly has gone topless to protest against the fact that “women’s bodies are a battleground”; six in ten Indian men admit they beat their women; and that a self-ruling region in Syria has rebelled against ISIS practices and has issued a degree claiming both women and men have equal right to divorce and that "honour killings" and other violence against women was illegal. Please see these for yourselves and share more. So many stories on women's rights daily - thanks again for feeding me with news stories to share and campaigns to support. Super excited to be doing this!
xx Miss P
A joint community effort launched last week to help deal with violence against women will offer educational workshops for men and boys across Ottawa. The campaign, I Can MANifest Change, is organised by the Coalition to End Violence Against Women, along with Crime Prevention Ottawa and Ottawa police. It aims to “mobilize” boys and men in an effort to change attitudes toward violence and sexual assault. Everyone interested can upload a profile picture at www.manifestchange.ca and take a personal pledge to not commit or be silent about violence against women. Registered participants will also be able to access advice and community resources on the campaign website. MANifesting change is more than a positive step in engaging the whole society into the problem of physical or emotional violence and as the organisers put it themselves: This is not just a women's problem. Well done, Ottawa for setting an example for other cities - and states - to follow.
And secondly, with its new Immigration Act, Canada plans to ban entry to the country for migrants who practice 'barbaric cultural practices' such as polygamy, forced marriages or honour-killings. In the past ten years Canada has seen a growing number of honour killings in immigrant families of Middle Eastern and South Asian origin. The Immigration minister proclaimed last week: 'We are strengthening our laws to protect Canadians and newcomers to Canada from barbaric cultural practices... We are sending a strong message to those in Canada and those who wish to come to Canada that we will not tolerate cultural traditions that deprive individuals of their human rights.' The Act will also set the legal marriage age to 16 and limit acceptable defences in honour killings and many spousal murders. As a reminder, Canada also approved its new prostitution laws recently, according to which demand will be targeted and buyers of sex punished, while prostitutes themselves will not be charged. Impressive efforts by the Canadian authorities lately - hopefully will be reciprocated around the world.
That's it from me today - and by the way, yes, I have seen that women have died in India following a state-sponsored sterilisation campaign; Keira Knightly has gone topless to protest against the fact that “women’s bodies are a battleground”; six in ten Indian men admit they beat their women; and that a self-ruling region in Syria has rebelled against ISIS practices and has issued a degree claiming both women and men have equal right to divorce and that "honour killings" and other violence against women was illegal. Please see these for yourselves and share more. So many stories on women's rights daily - thanks again for feeding me with news stories to share and campaigns to support. Super excited to be doing this!
xx Miss P
Where Will I Sleep?
This weekend I attended the Lord Mayor's Parade in the City of London and I was so inspired by what I saw that I thought it was worth sharing.
The Lord Mayor's Show is one-day event every year in November which celebrates the new Lord Mayor of the City of London and the achievements of the old Lord Mayor - this is a ceremonial role for 1 year which aims to raise the public profile of the City and gather money for selected charities every year. On 8 November 2014, all organisations - public and private - which are centered in the City gathered together for a day of Parade, followed by massive fireworks on the Themes. This event has been happening for 800 years now and I am proud to have participated in it as part of the London Met delegation.
What most surprised me and fits well within this blog was that majority of the hundreds of delegations were Army paraders - from various forces and regiments, the Royal Air Force, the Army, the Navy, the accordion band, etc. And what caught my eye was that MANY of the marching soldiers were female, including teenage girls from local schools prepping for the Army.
I did some reading after and I found out that the British Army official website lists a number of questions most asked by female soldiers: the FIRST one apparently is 'Where will I sleep' - the LAST one is: 'Do men and women get paid and promoted equally?' All due respect, but I think the order of the FAQ section must be reordered.
Also, in May this year the UK defense secretary announced women will finally be allowed to participate in battle - it's already being done in other countries and thus so it should be in the UK, he said. So far women have only been allowed on the frontline and not in battle, with the two most wide-spread arguments against it being that they would 'distract' male soldiers and vice versa (?!?!? whatever happened to professional behaviour in a work environment - my good-looking male colleagues may also be distracting me at my London office, couldn't they!) and that 'chivalry' (the need to protect little women) would impact badly male soldiers' behaviour on the battlefield. One would have expected that soldiers' commitment to the job and to their co-workers would mean 'chivalry' and looking out for each other regardless if the soldier next to you is a man or a woman.
Anyway, my main point was that I was positively surprised by the number of women parading with the Army this weekend and also from the fact that women are advancing and allowed to go onto the battlefield. What does not impress me are the continuous old-fashioned statements of women being physically inferior and incapable of battleground fighting due to their handsome-ness and that women are more concerned with where they would sleep than whether they would be promoted - get your priorities straight, website people!
The Lord Mayor's Show is one-day event every year in November which celebrates the new Lord Mayor of the City of London and the achievements of the old Lord Mayor - this is a ceremonial role for 1 year which aims to raise the public profile of the City and gather money for selected charities every year. On 8 November 2014, all organisations - public and private - which are centered in the City gathered together for a day of Parade, followed by massive fireworks on the Themes. This event has been happening for 800 years now and I am proud to have participated in it as part of the London Met delegation.
What most surprised me and fits well within this blog was that majority of the hundreds of delegations were Army paraders - from various forces and regiments, the Royal Air Force, the Army, the Navy, the accordion band, etc. And what caught my eye was that MANY of the marching soldiers were female, including teenage girls from local schools prepping for the Army.
I did some reading after and I found out that the British Army official website lists a number of questions most asked by female soldiers: the FIRST one apparently is 'Where will I sleep' - the LAST one is: 'Do men and women get paid and promoted equally?' All due respect, but I think the order of the FAQ section must be reordered.
Also, in May this year the UK defense secretary announced women will finally be allowed to participate in battle - it's already being done in other countries and thus so it should be in the UK, he said. So far women have only been allowed on the frontline and not in battle, with the two most wide-spread arguments against it being that they would 'distract' male soldiers and vice versa (?!?!? whatever happened to professional behaviour in a work environment - my good-looking male colleagues may also be distracting me at my London office, couldn't they!) and that 'chivalry' (the need to protect little women) would impact badly male soldiers' behaviour on the battlefield. One would have expected that soldiers' commitment to the job and to their co-workers would mean 'chivalry' and looking out for each other regardless if the soldier next to you is a man or a woman.
Anyway, my main point was that I was positively surprised by the number of women parading with the Army this weekend and also from the fact that women are advancing and allowed to go onto the battlefield. What does not impress me are the continuous old-fashioned statements of women being physically inferior and incapable of battleground fighting due to their handsome-ness and that women are more concerned with where they would sleep than whether they would be promoted - get your priorities straight, website people!
"When Women Say No, They Don't Always Mean It"
My flatmate shared the following article with me over the weekend which tells of the women-related views of Polish far-right leader at the European Parliament Janusz Korwin-Mikke - and because we were both so completely shocked by the statements in it, I thought I'd share it on here: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/nov/08/nigel-farage-ukip-europe-janusz-korwin-mikke?guni=Keyword:news-grid%20main-1%20Main%20trailblock:Editable%20trailblock%20-%20news:Position5
A few selected quotes with no comment needed at all:
"When women say no, they don’t always mean it"
“Semen probably is not wasted, because nature usually makes use of the material it has, and there is a hypothesis that the attitudes of men are passed to women by way of the semen which penetrates the tissue... There is a very strong argument for this hypothesis, that now when contraceptives are much more in use, women become much more independent.”
"Women are less tall, less heavy, less intelligent, on the average”.
“Women usually vote for the more handsome man.”
“Women want to be led by men... They particularly like to be led to the bedroom... Women usually pretend that they don’t want [sex]. You must be competent enough to differentiate whether she seriously doesn’t want. The percentage of women who pretend that they don’t want to have sex, but they do want in fact, is about 30 or 40%.”
On rape: “If you don’t have two testimonies, he must be acquitted. Or some proof or some visible sign of rape, but if it is only her words and his words, there cannot even be a trial.”
This CANNOT possibly be happening in a 21st century Europe!
A few selected quotes with no comment needed at all:
"When women say no, they don’t always mean it"
“Semen probably is not wasted, because nature usually makes use of the material it has, and there is a hypothesis that the attitudes of men are passed to women by way of the semen which penetrates the tissue... There is a very strong argument for this hypothesis, that now when contraceptives are much more in use, women become much more independent.”
"Women are less tall, less heavy, less intelligent, on the average”.
“Women usually vote for the more handsome man.”
“Women want to be led by men... They particularly like to be led to the bedroom... Women usually pretend that they don’t want [sex]. You must be competent enough to differentiate whether she seriously doesn’t want. The percentage of women who pretend that they don’t want to have sex, but they do want in fact, is about 30 or 40%.”
On rape: “If you don’t have two testimonies, he must be acquitted. Or some proof or some visible sign of rape, but if it is only her words and his words, there cannot even be a trial.”
This CANNOT possibly be happening in a 21st century Europe!
Freelance Sex Workers - All for the Fun?
You may have heard about the British banker Rurik Jutting who’s currently being tried in Hong Kong for killing two sex workers - Seneng Mujiasih and Sumarti Ningsih. While a lot has been heard in the past few days about Mr Jutting being educated at Winchester and Cambridge and taking on high-ranking positions at top US and British banks, not as much has been said about the victims – both of whom freelance sex workers coming from the Philippines and Indonesia into Hong Kong in search for better pay and life. I’ve posted much about sex trafficking on here, but haven’t said as much about women who voluntarily get into the business and work freelance to pay the bills. I do understand that may be their choice as a short-term solution or for some women – even the preferred option to earn plenty of cash from rich clients in Western Europe or the States. BUT I can’t be convinced in any way that especially in dangerous regions such as South-East Asia, women become prostitutes just because. Surely they must be doing it because of economic hardships and desperation, not because they enjoy it greatly or because it brings amazing financial gains. And understanding those women’s motivation in Hong Kong is crucial to deal with sex workers’ abuse and killings – more economic opportunities are needed from the State and the business sector, better benefits for young moms and their families, equal pay for both genders, and for those who still choose to work as prostitutes – better heath services and certainly better protection in case things go wrong.
Hopefully justice will be brought for the killings of those two women in Hong Kong – and hopefully no similar news will emerge ever again.
Hopefully justice will be brought for the killings of those two women in Hong Kong – and hopefully no similar news will emerge ever again.
Equal Pay at the Cost of Two Cups of Coffee
Harriet Minter from The Guardian once again impressed me with her latest post for The Guardian Women in Leadership – read below and see how to solve the pay gap problem:
“My first regular job was as a waitress at the Lemon Tree Cafe. It paid £2.50 an hour, plus tips and a free lunch or dinner depending on the shift. Glamorous it was not, but it gave me a salary for the first time. 17 years later and I still have a salary but the excitement of earning my own money has been tarnished.
Economic independence has been hard won for women, so it's frustrating that we're still not where men are. However, getting angry about this is only the starting point. If we want to change it, then we have to be the instigators of that change. Let's start with the HR team.
We all know that Human Resources is one area dominated by women. So buy your HR head a cup of coffee, sit down with them, ask them to instigate a pay review and make sure that all salaries going forward are equal. If they seem resistant to this remind them that we look back on the women who opposed suffrage with scorn and they don't want the same thing to happen to them. Then ask your brother / husband / father / male friend to do the same. Equal pay, all at the cost of two cups of coffee.”
Get to it, ladies!
“My first regular job was as a waitress at the Lemon Tree Cafe. It paid £2.50 an hour, plus tips and a free lunch or dinner depending on the shift. Glamorous it was not, but it gave me a salary for the first time. 17 years later and I still have a salary but the excitement of earning my own money has been tarnished.
Economic independence has been hard won for women, so it's frustrating that we're still not where men are. However, getting angry about this is only the starting point. If we want to change it, then we have to be the instigators of that change. Let's start with the HR team.
We all know that Human Resources is one area dominated by women. So buy your HR head a cup of coffee, sit down with them, ask them to instigate a pay review and make sure that all salaries going forward are equal. If they seem resistant to this remind them that we look back on the women who opposed suffrage with scorn and they don't want the same thing to happen to them. Then ask your brother / husband / father / male friend to do the same. Equal pay, all at the cost of two cups of coffee.”
Get to it, ladies!
Moving South
After my latest story on First Ladies in the US, I thought I’d move south for quick news updates:
In Guatemala this week more than 400 women from Guatemala, Costa Rica, México, Spain and El Salvador participated in the arts Festival Ixchel which concluded yesterday. Musical group Naik Madera organized the week-long event aiming to increase female participation in the arts sphere and to allow for women to speak creatively against injustices by the state, communities and families in Guatemala. Music, theatre, dance and graphic design gave expression to hundreds of women and there are already proposition for next year’s festival – job well done!
In Venezuela, the United Nations is concerned of widespread and rising violence against women. In a report released Friday, 7 November, the UN criticized the "lack of information on the forms, prevalence, and causes of violence against women" and "insufficient shelters for the victims" and urged the Venezuelan State to establish "specialized courts on violence against women in each state of the country, including rural and bordering areas," as well as to open shelters for women nationwide. Meanwhile it’s worth noting that abortion in Venezuela is illegal, even in cases of rape, incest or health risk to the mom; there are high rates of maternal mortality, and teenage pregnancies is a long-lasting matter of concern. Seems like a lot of areas for improvement for Venezuelan authorities.
In Guatemala this week more than 400 women from Guatemala, Costa Rica, México, Spain and El Salvador participated in the arts Festival Ixchel which concluded yesterday. Musical group Naik Madera organized the week-long event aiming to increase female participation in the arts sphere and to allow for women to speak creatively against injustices by the state, communities and families in Guatemala. Music, theatre, dance and graphic design gave expression to hundreds of women and there are already proposition for next year’s festival – job well done!
In Venezuela, the United Nations is concerned of widespread and rising violence against women. In a report released Friday, 7 November, the UN criticized the "lack of information on the forms, prevalence, and causes of violence against women" and "insufficient shelters for the victims" and urged the Venezuelan State to establish "specialized courts on violence against women in each state of the country, including rural and bordering areas," as well as to open shelters for women nationwide. Meanwhile it’s worth noting that abortion in Venezuela is illegal, even in cases of rape, incest or health risk to the mom; there are high rates of maternal mortality, and teenage pregnancies is a long-lasting matter of concern. Seems like a lot of areas for improvement for Venezuelan authorities.
First Ladies
This piece has long been promised to my friend Rossy, whom I have also now hired as my personal manager - yep, I do have a manager as of last week who'll be doing my PR - Beyonce, being your feminist blogger is the ultimate goal here, watch me as I get there! On a rather serious note, Business-student Rossy will be promoting my blog here and there and who knows, I might get even bigger exposure - thanks all for the 5,000 views since I started this five months ago. MUCH appreciated!
Because both Rossy and I are huge fans of 'Scandal', last week's episode on Mellie and another former first lady inspired us both to do some research on First Ladies in the US and to write a quick post about it.
Indeed, the role of the first lady in American politics is of massive importance - for the image of the White House and the President and for preserving the core American values such as family and unity, but also for fundamental causes which every first lady takes upon once in office - issues such as access to education (e.g. Laura Bush), women's rights (Hilary Clinton) and child nutrition and improved lives of military families (Michelle Obama). A 2014 survey of historians in the US revealed the names of the most influential and loved first ladies - Eleanor Roosevelt comes first for her active human rights efforts and her contribution to the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Mrs Obama came in 5th and Mrs Clinton - 6th. Meanwhile, Laura Bush was pushed aside because 'she could have done more', according to the survey participants.
What matters really is not the position each First Lady got, but rather the issues she worked on and the achievements she had while at the White House - and after! Mrs Clinton, in my personal opinion, does deserve a medal for her activities 'after' - she's still actively involved in promoting women's rights, not to mention her own personal drama and recovery from cheating husband Bill Clinton and the mark he left on his wive's career and life. After all, few people blame him for cheating, but many others still call on Hilary as the one being cheated on. Yet another example of double standards and gender mistreatment.
As for the current First Lady - she's left her mark on the White House both literally (re-decorated it, if reports are true) and also in terms of her campaigns for children's healthy lifestyles and for the well-being of military families. She's given powerful speeches, while also dressed very elegantly throughout. She's smiled when she had to, but been serious too - a true example of leadership and strength. And her skin colour really shouldn't be what she's remembered for, rather her great work and contributions, well done Mrs Obama!
Because both Rossy and I are huge fans of 'Scandal', last week's episode on Mellie and another former first lady inspired us both to do some research on First Ladies in the US and to write a quick post about it.
Indeed, the role of the first lady in American politics is of massive importance - for the image of the White House and the President and for preserving the core American values such as family and unity, but also for fundamental causes which every first lady takes upon once in office - issues such as access to education (e.g. Laura Bush), women's rights (Hilary Clinton) and child nutrition and improved lives of military families (Michelle Obama). A 2014 survey of historians in the US revealed the names of the most influential and loved first ladies - Eleanor Roosevelt comes first for her active human rights efforts and her contribution to the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Mrs Obama came in 5th and Mrs Clinton - 6th. Meanwhile, Laura Bush was pushed aside because 'she could have done more', according to the survey participants.
What matters really is not the position each First Lady got, but rather the issues she worked on and the achievements she had while at the White House - and after! Mrs Clinton, in my personal opinion, does deserve a medal for her activities 'after' - she's still actively involved in promoting women's rights, not to mention her own personal drama and recovery from cheating husband Bill Clinton and the mark he left on his wive's career and life. After all, few people blame him for cheating, but many others still call on Hilary as the one being cheated on. Yet another example of double standards and gender mistreatment.
As for the current First Lady - she's left her mark on the White House both literally (re-decorated it, if reports are true) and also in terms of her campaigns for children's healthy lifestyles and for the well-being of military families. She's given powerful speeches, while also dressed very elegantly throughout. She's smiled when she had to, but been serious too - a true example of leadership and strength. And her skin colour really shouldn't be what she's remembered for, rather her great work and contributions, well done Mrs Obama!
Libyan Women in Peace Deals
“In war-torn societies, women often keep societies going… We must ensure that women are enabled to play a full part in peace negotiations, in peace processes
and in peace missions.” - Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary General, 24 October 2000.
I read an article yesterday that women members of Libya’s House of Representatives and of the Constitutional Drafting Assembly, together with Libyan women activists, attended a four-day workshop in Cairo from 1 to 4 November 2014. Over 60 Libyan women gathered under the banner of the Women’s Empowerment Section of the UN Development Programme and the UN Women Regional Office of Arab States. The Libya Herald reports that the aim of the workshop was 'to build the capacity of women leaders in Libya and provide them with knowledge about international good practices in the constitution-making process. It culminated with participants drafting a list of demands that will be further worked on by civil societies inside Libya and then submitted to the CDA'.
After I saw this, I couldn't help but think of popular debates whether the inclusion of women in peace-deals and state building leads to more stable and peaceful environment in the long-term. Surely, women play a crucial role in maintaining harmony in their own homes and communities, and yet they are massively excluded from peace negotiations and agreements: a study in 2008 of 33 peace negotiations found that only 4-11% out of 280 negotiators were women.
Another report in 2012 says that, women often take a broader view of peace that includes basic human rights such as freedom from violence in the home, access to education and healthcare. In contrast, men are much more likely to associate peace with just the absence of formal conflict and fighting without necessarily including other aspects of stability and development as women do.
With this in mind, well done to the UN for organising the Libyan women leaders' workshop and for actually trying to increase female participation in peace-making, peace-keeping and state-building. More efforts of similar nature may in fact lead to a safer and more stable world for the next generations to come.
and in peace missions.” - Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary General, 24 October 2000.
I read an article yesterday that women members of Libya’s House of Representatives and of the Constitutional Drafting Assembly, together with Libyan women activists, attended a four-day workshop in Cairo from 1 to 4 November 2014. Over 60 Libyan women gathered under the banner of the Women’s Empowerment Section of the UN Development Programme and the UN Women Regional Office of Arab States. The Libya Herald reports that the aim of the workshop was 'to build the capacity of women leaders in Libya and provide them with knowledge about international good practices in the constitution-making process. It culminated with participants drafting a list of demands that will be further worked on by civil societies inside Libya and then submitted to the CDA'.
After I saw this, I couldn't help but think of popular debates whether the inclusion of women in peace-deals and state building leads to more stable and peaceful environment in the long-term. Surely, women play a crucial role in maintaining harmony in their own homes and communities, and yet they are massively excluded from peace negotiations and agreements: a study in 2008 of 33 peace negotiations found that only 4-11% out of 280 negotiators were women.
Another report in 2012 says that, women often take a broader view of peace that includes basic human rights such as freedom from violence in the home, access to education and healthcare. In contrast, men are much more likely to associate peace with just the absence of formal conflict and fighting without necessarily including other aspects of stability and development as women do.
With this in mind, well done to the UN for organising the Libyan women leaders' workshop and for actually trying to increase female participation in peace-making, peace-keeping and state-building. More efforts of similar nature may in fact lead to a safer and more stable world for the next generations to come.
Sexual Education at Schools - The Right to Know
Two weeks ago I wrote to my local MP – Stephen Timms (Labour) – to vote in favour of the Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (Statutory Requirement) Bill 2014-15. This bill, which was to be read for the second time at the House of Commons on 24 October 2014, would have made it compulsory to study sexual education at every stage of school in England. With the shocking numbers of domestic violence cases, rapes and assaults daily across the country, one would have thought it necessary to include such education into English kids’ upbringing. Girls in particular are not taught at any stage – not even at university – how to protect themselves and who to contact to seek support. I used to hate those classes back home in Bulgaria where they thought us how to put a condom on a banana and why it was necessary to speak up if you are not consenting to a sexual act – now, however, I can’t imagine my 21-year-old self without such education. It would be extremely beneficial indeed, if my future children in the UK are taught the same too. And so I contacted Mr Timms, and I am glad to say I got a pretty quick answer – he is in full support of the bill and of sexual education in general. Sadly, though, the bill reading was re-scheduled for February 2015 instead of last week in Parliament. Which is disappointing considering how important the issue is and how lightly it seems to be taken by our representatives at Westminster. Let’s hope at least next year something is going to be done.
PS: You may also support the Right to Know campaign which encourages UK schools to talk about violence against women and honour-based violence by going onto http://ikwro.org.uk/right-know-campaign/ |
Make-up, Camera, On!
So I got up this morning, put my hot new pants on, creamy blouse, black eye liner, black mascara and peach lipstick - and off I went to work. Everyday routine for billions of women around the world - except for female make-up artists in India, who for the past 59 years have not been allowed to work on set of Bollywood films. Yes, that's right - women cannot put make up on other women - or men - in Indian movies. That was valid up until yesterday when the Indian Supreme Court finally declared this practice unconstitutional and ordered Unions to start employing female artists and not discriminate any further.
For an industry entertaining over 1 billion people in India and abroad, Bollywood was only using male artists until now and shocking stories have emerged such as that of Charu Khurana, who learnt make-up from a school in California, but was banned from working in Bollywood: "I have worked on a couple of films but it has been tough. The unions are strong and come to the set to stop the film [when they find out that women make-up artists have been employed]. Producers have to pay fines". How unbelievable is this! Thankfully, in January 2013, a group of nine women, Ms Khurana inclusive, petitioned the Supreme Court and asked for lifting the ban on the basis of discrimination - and now, in November 2014, their wish finally came true.
Well done, ladies, you have proved initiative and strength to go against the wind can be rewarded - and speaking up even when no one wants to hear you IS admirable.
For an industry entertaining over 1 billion people in India and abroad, Bollywood was only using male artists until now and shocking stories have emerged such as that of Charu Khurana, who learnt make-up from a school in California, but was banned from working in Bollywood: "I have worked on a couple of films but it has been tough. The unions are strong and come to the set to stop the film [when they find out that women make-up artists have been employed]. Producers have to pay fines". How unbelievable is this! Thankfully, in January 2013, a group of nine women, Ms Khurana inclusive, petitioned the Supreme Court and asked for lifting the ban on the basis of discrimination - and now, in November 2014, their wish finally came true.
Well done, ladies, you have proved initiative and strength to go against the wind can be rewarded - and speaking up even when no one wants to hear you IS admirable.
'Please Mind the Gap' and Other News - 3 Nov
A study by the Thompson Reuters Foundation released last week shows which of the world's largest cities have the most dangerous public transport systems for women. Unsurprisingly, Latin American capitals top the list, with Bogota (Colombia) being the world's worst place for female commuters, followed by Mexico City (Mexico) and Lima (Peru). At the other end of the scale - New York City seems to be the safest of the 16 surveyed cities (not too sure about that, any New Yorkers back me on this?) And London Underground also comes as one of the safest - that I certainly agree with. So piece of advice for anyone off to South America - be careful, ladies, verbal and physical harassment seem to be widespread all over the capitals.
And from under the ground to high up on the career ladder - have you listened to Sheryl Sandberg's inspirational Harvard speech (2012)? If you haven't and you think you know a thing or two about careers and how to be a successful young female leader nowadays - think twice and watch this amazing 20-minute video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Db0_RafutM Certainly a lot to learn from Facebook's COO, a mom of two and an outspoken women's rights defendant - i.e. a woman who dares to be 'bossy' without calling herself 'bossy'. Well done, Mrs Sandberg!
And last for today - are you, girls, fans of Girls? This being one of my favourite shows, I just HAD to share the latest Lena Dunham interview with you. Lena is the main character in - and writer of - Girls and a popular feminist who absolutely loves to show herself naked in pretty much every episode of the series. She's fun, sweetly confused with what she wants to do with her job - and life - and slightly crazy when it comes to dating and relationships. In the real world, Lena has spoken frequently about feminism and female empowerment, to see her in action, go to http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/nov/02/lena-dunham-interview-q-and-a-girls-nudity-feminism
And from under the ground to high up on the career ladder - have you listened to Sheryl Sandberg's inspirational Harvard speech (2012)? If you haven't and you think you know a thing or two about careers and how to be a successful young female leader nowadays - think twice and watch this amazing 20-minute video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Db0_RafutM Certainly a lot to learn from Facebook's COO, a mom of two and an outspoken women's rights defendant - i.e. a woman who dares to be 'bossy' without calling herself 'bossy'. Well done, Mrs Sandberg!
And last for today - are you, girls, fans of Girls? This being one of my favourite shows, I just HAD to share the latest Lena Dunham interview with you. Lena is the main character in - and writer of - Girls and a popular feminist who absolutely loves to show herself naked in pretty much every episode of the series. She's fun, sweetly confused with what she wants to do with her job - and life - and slightly crazy when it comes to dating and relationships. In the real world, Lena has spoken frequently about feminism and female empowerment, to see her in action, go to http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/nov/02/lena-dunham-interview-q-and-a-girls-nudity-feminism
Halloween Spirit
Last night’s Halloween spirit could clearly be felt in central London where I celebrated with a couple of my girls. In the name of preserving the naughty spirit, I thought of a quick Halloween commentary on here. And indeed – there was a lot to observe!
90% of people were dressed up – great! I wasn’t one of them for the simple reason I didn’t have to buy a costume, but hey – a little black dress works for every occasion, Halloween inclusive. But see here is a thing - of those 90% dressed up people, nearly three quarters of all girls were nurses. Sexy nurses. With short skirts and red ‘blood’ on their breasts and thighs. And heels, of course. And there were numerous comments in the lines of ‘look at that sexy nurse’.
Sure. Except it’s really annoying how girls feel the need to transform Halloween in a sexy leg parade and wearing as revealing clothes as possible is a must nowadays. And dare you, as a girl, be dressed actually scary – you get neglected by male admirers. And same if you are dressed funnily – ‘can’t you come up with something sluttier’?
It’s sad but when you think about it, it’s the truth. On us, women, there is this constant pressure to dress up naughtily for Halloween even if it’s freezing outside – it’s November, for Goodness’ sake! So no, I am not in the mood to be a slutty nurse, not tonight, not ever. I am not in the mood to show off my bloody breasts and I am most certainly not in the mood to be called names and judged all eve by men and women alike. And meanwhile I didn’t see even ONE male nurse, what to mention a ‘sexy’ one.
Let’s all go back to Halloween’s core spirit – be scary, be exciting but also be yourself!
Thank you.
90% of people were dressed up – great! I wasn’t one of them for the simple reason I didn’t have to buy a costume, but hey – a little black dress works for every occasion, Halloween inclusive. But see here is a thing - of those 90% dressed up people, nearly three quarters of all girls were nurses. Sexy nurses. With short skirts and red ‘blood’ on their breasts and thighs. And heels, of course. And there were numerous comments in the lines of ‘look at that sexy nurse’.
Sure. Except it’s really annoying how girls feel the need to transform Halloween in a sexy leg parade and wearing as revealing clothes as possible is a must nowadays. And dare you, as a girl, be dressed actually scary – you get neglected by male admirers. And same if you are dressed funnily – ‘can’t you come up with something sluttier’?
It’s sad but when you think about it, it’s the truth. On us, women, there is this constant pressure to dress up naughtily for Halloween even if it’s freezing outside – it’s November, for Goodness’ sake! So no, I am not in the mood to be a slutty nurse, not tonight, not ever. I am not in the mood to show off my bloody breasts and I am most certainly not in the mood to be called names and judged all eve by men and women alike. And meanwhile I didn’t see even ONE male nurse, what to mention a ‘sexy’ one.
Let’s all go back to Halloween’s core spirit – be scary, be exciting but also be yourself!
Thank you.
Black History Month 2 .0
On the last day of Black History Month, I thought I'd pay tribute to a very delicate part of black women's lives - taking care of their hair. And this goes very special for my roommate Miss Bertille and her random request for me to 'relax her hair' 3 years and 8 month ago. Yep, I am still shocked you thought I knew how to do it ;) And I'm glad I didn't ruin it.
I've seen this extraordinary video made by some African-American ladies in New York which praises black women's hair and criticises the upbringing of many black girls thinking that their hair is 'wrong', 'unsual' and 'difficult'. Because their hair is actually unique and it being natural should be socially acceptable as opposed to using wiggs, extensions and braids all the time, the video producers have managed to raise the voice of many African-American women and their friends and organize an entire movement around it. They are also saying 'You can't touch my hair' to any stranger who is willing to get a feel of a stranger girl's hair - oftentimes without even asking. It is rude, invasive of privacy and certainly offputting especially if it comes from the opposite sex as a flirtation technique.
To see some of these girls' stories, go to http://www.upworthy.com/what-happens-when-3-black-women-ask-people-to-touch-their-hair-2?g=2&c=reccon3
So yes, ladies, don't be ashamed of your hair, it's beautiful and unique and a lot of us, white girls, even envy you for your hairstyles all too often. The more unusual, the more proud you should be of it. Oh yeah, and for me personally (let's include the boys in here) - there's nothing more attractive than touching a black man's curly black hair. Not a stranger's though - permission needed. Voila :)
I've seen this extraordinary video made by some African-American ladies in New York which praises black women's hair and criticises the upbringing of many black girls thinking that their hair is 'wrong', 'unsual' and 'difficult'. Because their hair is actually unique and it being natural should be socially acceptable as opposed to using wiggs, extensions and braids all the time, the video producers have managed to raise the voice of many African-American women and their friends and organize an entire movement around it. They are also saying 'You can't touch my hair' to any stranger who is willing to get a feel of a stranger girl's hair - oftentimes without even asking. It is rude, invasive of privacy and certainly offputting especially if it comes from the opposite sex as a flirtation technique.
To see some of these girls' stories, go to http://www.upworthy.com/what-happens-when-3-black-women-ask-people-to-touch-their-hair-2?g=2&c=reccon3
So yes, ladies, don't be ashamed of your hair, it's beautiful and unique and a lot of us, white girls, even envy you for your hairstyles all too often. The more unusual, the more proud you should be of it. Oh yeah, and for me personally (let's include the boys in here) - there's nothing more attractive than touching a black man's curly black hair. Not a stranger's though - permission needed. Voila :)
Pizza, Death Letters, Hell and Football - Random, I know
Hey beautiful people,
Today was the first time in my life that I took an entire day off due to illness – five days of fever really got to me at the end. Anyway, so I was resting at home and then I went through my email with numerous alerts and ideas of possible stories for my blog – thanks for the contributions to all my friends AND teachers, you are really making this a hell of an interesting activity for me :)
So there we go, few stories for today:
- A very smart lady in the US managed to get 911 help through her creativity while pretending she was ordering pizza: see the extraordinary transcript here: http://www.xolxol.ph/2014/10/emergency-hotline-911-receives-pizza-order-from-lady-who-needs-help.html This just shows how creative and strong women can be, even in emergency situations and with death threats hanging upon them. My admirations!
- An Iranian woman was hanged in April for killing her rapist – of course victim blaming is a big thing in the Middle East, why was she even talking to an unknown male, what was she thinking?!? Or perhaps she was dressed in an unacceptable/ provocative way? Either way, it was her fault, it always is… This week, a letter emerged that the hanged woman wrote before her death and sent to her mom, where she also insisted her organs be donated to save someone else’s life. Get ready to cry and read it here: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/10/26/reyhaneh-jabbari-letter_n_6049846.html
- Madeline Albright is the first female Secretary of State in the US and the first female US Ambassador to the UN. She gave an amazingly funny and inspirational speech at TED few years ago, see it here and you will know why there is ‘a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women’: http://www.ted.com/talks/madeleine_albright_on_being_a_woman_and_a_diplomat
- And lastly, my own piece from this summer on Women and Football published by the Opinion Panel has been seen by nearly 8 000 people already. Wow, thank you for the love! http://www.opinionpanel.co.uk/2014/07/14/women-with-balls-is-football-turning-into-a-womens-game/
That’s it from me for today – be back tomorrow for more :)
Today was the first time in my life that I took an entire day off due to illness – five days of fever really got to me at the end. Anyway, so I was resting at home and then I went through my email with numerous alerts and ideas of possible stories for my blog – thanks for the contributions to all my friends AND teachers, you are really making this a hell of an interesting activity for me :)
So there we go, few stories for today:
- A very smart lady in the US managed to get 911 help through her creativity while pretending she was ordering pizza: see the extraordinary transcript here: http://www.xolxol.ph/2014/10/emergency-hotline-911-receives-pizza-order-from-lady-who-needs-help.html This just shows how creative and strong women can be, even in emergency situations and with death threats hanging upon them. My admirations!
- An Iranian woman was hanged in April for killing her rapist – of course victim blaming is a big thing in the Middle East, why was she even talking to an unknown male, what was she thinking?!? Or perhaps she was dressed in an unacceptable/ provocative way? Either way, it was her fault, it always is… This week, a letter emerged that the hanged woman wrote before her death and sent to her mom, where she also insisted her organs be donated to save someone else’s life. Get ready to cry and read it here: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/10/26/reyhaneh-jabbari-letter_n_6049846.html
- Madeline Albright is the first female Secretary of State in the US and the first female US Ambassador to the UN. She gave an amazingly funny and inspirational speech at TED few years ago, see it here and you will know why there is ‘a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women’: http://www.ted.com/talks/madeleine_albright_on_being_a_woman_and_a_diplomat
- And lastly, my own piece from this summer on Women and Football published by the Opinion Panel has been seen by nearly 8 000 people already. Wow, thank you for the love! http://www.opinionpanel.co.uk/2014/07/14/women-with-balls-is-football-turning-into-a-womens-game/
That’s it from me for today – be back tomorrow for more :)
Ice- Ice- Baby (Iceland, that is)
The World Economic Forum released its annual gender survey yesterday (27 October) which shows 'sweeping change' in the narrowing gender gap in as many as 105 of the world's countries.
The survey looked at economic factors, health, education and political participation of women and men and a comparison between 2005 and 2014 shows a substantive gain in women's empowerment in many geographical areas. The world's best country for gender equality appears to be Iceland, followed by Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark - all Nordic states with long-lasting traditions of equality and female empowerment. Two 'surprises' however are Nicaragua ranking 6th and Rwanda at 7th place. Did you know that there is the highest proportion of women Parliamentarians in Rwanda than in any other country in the world (70% of all MPs)? Or that Nicaragua is number one for female ministers globally?
FYI, the UK is at 26 th position and the US is 20 th.
AND: analysis suggests it will be in the year 2095 that gender parity may finally be achieved in the work place. If only I could live that long to see it happen.
Read more here: http://www.weforum.org/news/2095-year-gender-equality-workplace-maybe
The survey looked at economic factors, health, education and political participation of women and men and a comparison between 2005 and 2014 shows a substantive gain in women's empowerment in many geographical areas. The world's best country for gender equality appears to be Iceland, followed by Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark - all Nordic states with long-lasting traditions of equality and female empowerment. Two 'surprises' however are Nicaragua ranking 6th and Rwanda at 7th place. Did you know that there is the highest proportion of women Parliamentarians in Rwanda than in any other country in the world (70% of all MPs)? Or that Nicaragua is number one for female ministers globally?
FYI, the UK is at 26 th position and the US is 20 th.
AND: analysis suggests it will be in the year 2095 that gender parity may finally be achieved in the work place. If only I could live that long to see it happen.
Read more here: http://www.weforum.org/news/2095-year-gender-equality-workplace-maybe
Dilma Rousseff: Re-elected
On a brighter note, Dilma Rousseff got re-elected as Brazil's President yesterday (26 October). The Bulgarian/ Brazilian lady with warm Balkan and Brazilian blood successfully completed her first term and has now won another four years in office. She's pledged to tackle inequality and increase the standard of living, especially in the country's poor rural areas. Well done, Mrs Rousseff, Bulgaria is proud of you and I'm sure so is Brazil! For anyone not familiar with the President's family tree - her roots on her father's side are from Gabrovo, mid-Bulgaria. So yes, we all congratulate you on your re-election and wish you a successful new term - continue to be an inspiration for girls in Europe and South America alike!
How to Get Away With Murder
I have to admit yesterday I cried a tiny little bit at the 5th episode of How to Get Away With Murder (if you haven't started watching it yet - you must!). So this show is about a law professor in Pennsylvania who employs five of her most successful students to help out at her private law firm and they act as defense to clients charged with murder. Last week's episode was a case of a 17 year old boy who shot his dad, who also happens to be a police officer, because of his constant abuse and attacks on the boy's mom. What shocked me was the prosecutor's statements throughout the trial - a female lady who claimed that from legal perspective even if there was constant abuse for years, because the life of the mom was not in imminent danger the night of the murder (she had not been physically attacked that night), then legally speaking the boy was guilty and deserved life sentence for murder. At the same time, she ignored the years and years of manipulation, control, physical and mental attacks, subordination and lack of any respect whatsoever. At the end the boy got juvie and probation, but it was a super narrow win. Worst of the worst was the fear in the mom's eyes expecting to see her little boy going to jail for the rest of his life for the simple reason of defending her when she's been defenseless for years. And it was unbelievably sad to watch the mom's testimony and tears in court while the female prosecutor was yelling at her saying she's exaggerating... Got me to think of all those children who watch one of their parents suffer in silence and take it upon themselves to save the family. And yes, women are abused at nearly one third of all homes in the world - how sad is that!...
Bottom line is - 1) start watching How to Get Away With Murder and 2) a 'legal perspective' - honestly? 'Imminent danger', you say? FYI, this constant bias and lack of evidence is exactly what discourages women from reporting abuse in the first place.
Bottom line is - 1) start watching How to Get Away With Murder and 2) a 'legal perspective' - honestly? 'Imminent danger', you say? FYI, this constant bias and lack of evidence is exactly what discourages women from reporting abuse in the first place.
Happy United Nations Day! - 24 October
Happy United Nations Day! On 24 October every year the world celebrates the creation and the continuous work of the UN as well as remembers all the great successes this organisation has had throughout its existence from 1945 till today. On this happy day, it's my pleasure to direct your attention to one of the newest and yet most inspirational organisations part of the UN family - UN Women.
UN Women was set up in July 2010 by the UN General Assembly and in doing so UN Member States took an historic step in advancing the Organization’s goals on gender equality and the empowerment of women.
The main roles of UN Women defined on their website are:
- To support inter-governmental bodies in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms.
- To help Member States to implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it, and to forge effective partnerships with civil society.
- To hold the UN system accountable for its own commitments on gender equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide progress.
Women around the world suffer abuse, discrimination and bias every day. Women are also the majority of the world's poor and illiterate people while also the primary health careers and bread-earners of the family in a number of geographic areas. To be a woman is difficult in the 21st century and the more bodies concentrate on female issues and empowerment, the bigger the chances are that the next generations of girls will live happier, healthier and safer lifestyles.
Happy Birthday, UN, and well done for thinking of the world's women!
PS: Check out UN Women's website and their current posts available - including for internship and consultants' positions. Best of luck if inspired to apply!
UN Women was set up in July 2010 by the UN General Assembly and in doing so UN Member States took an historic step in advancing the Organization’s goals on gender equality and the empowerment of women.
The main roles of UN Women defined on their website are:
- To support inter-governmental bodies in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms.
- To help Member States to implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it, and to forge effective partnerships with civil society.
- To hold the UN system accountable for its own commitments on gender equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide progress.
Women around the world suffer abuse, discrimination and bias every day. Women are also the majority of the world's poor and illiterate people while also the primary health careers and bread-earners of the family in a number of geographic areas. To be a woman is difficult in the 21st century and the more bodies concentrate on female issues and empowerment, the bigger the chances are that the next generations of girls will live happier, healthier and safer lifestyles.
Happy Birthday, UN, and well done for thinking of the world's women!
PS: Check out UN Women's website and their current posts available - including for internship and consultants' positions. Best of luck if inspired to apply!
Slavery is Closer Than You Think
Speaking of Human trafficking in Europe, I thought it was worth mentioning about the new ad campaign of the UK Home Office since this July - 'Slavery is closer than you think'. Watch the video here: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/jul/31/home-office-campaign-modern-day-slavery and remember that over 1700 cases of human trafficking for labour and sexual exploitation were reported in the country in 2013. These of course are only the reported cases, and thousands more may be left aside. "It's horrifying that 180 years after slavery was officially abolished, children and adults in the UK are still victims today," the NSPCC's director of national services, Peter Watt, said few months ago. And when you put this in a global perspective with over 27 million people being used as slaves today - in 2014 - the picture gets even grimmer. Needless to say the majority of them are female. So next time someone says this year's Nobel Peace Prize for child slavery and exploitation is not deserved - think again of the millions of kids who need help and then speak.
The Power of Women
I would like to congratulate the BBC for organizing a day of events focusing on the power of women on the 28 October 2014 - those women who have changed the world around them and inspired others to do the same. Women from all professions will be taking part in the one-day conference at the heart of London. They will debate on current hot topics such as refugees, underage marriages, everyday sexism, health issues and female entrepreneurship.
The conference will be streamed online and broadcast live in English on BBC News online, as well as interpreted in other languages on BBC World.
If you are watching, make sure to get in touch via email, text and social media, using the hashtag #100Women.
Also, if you have photographed a woman who has defied a stereotype and want to share it globally, please send your pictures over to [email protected].
Same if you were a victim of sexism at work, home or on the street - share your experience with BBC journalists at [email protected] - speaking up is the first step to changing the world we live in. All of us.
The conference will be streamed online and broadcast live in English on BBC News online, as well as interpreted in other languages on BBC World.
If you are watching, make sure to get in touch via email, text and social media, using the hashtag #100Women.
Also, if you have photographed a woman who has defied a stereotype and want to share it globally, please send your pictures over to [email protected].
Same if you were a victim of sexism at work, home or on the street - share your experience with BBC journalists at [email protected] - speaking up is the first step to changing the world we live in. All of us.
Today's News - You Feeling Depressed Yet? - 21 October 2014
If you've read the news today already, you would have noticed the following serious announcements (and equally depressing too):
- Oscar Pistorius was jailed FIVE years for killing his girlfriend in South Africa - five years is apparently how much a woman's life is worth.
- Zainab Hawa Bangura, the UN special representative on sexual violence in armed conflict, announced today that a two-year old girl was raped in South Sudan - the civil war there is so severe and sexual violence so widespread that even babies can't be safe from rape any more.
- The President of the Russian Tennis Federation, Shamil Tarpischev, has been suspended for 12 months and fined 25 000 USD for calling Serena and Venus Williams 'the Williams Brothers' - a comment beyond inappropriate and sexist. The Internaitonal Olympic Committee has demanded last night an explanation from Mr Tarpischev who claims his words were taken out of context. Right.
If the above doesn't inspire you to change the world we live in - I don't know what would.
Have a lovely Tuesday everyone :)
- Oscar Pistorius was jailed FIVE years for killing his girlfriend in South Africa - five years is apparently how much a woman's life is worth.
- Zainab Hawa Bangura, the UN special representative on sexual violence in armed conflict, announced today that a two-year old girl was raped in South Sudan - the civil war there is so severe and sexual violence so widespread that even babies can't be safe from rape any more.
- The President of the Russian Tennis Federation, Shamil Tarpischev, has been suspended for 12 months and fined 25 000 USD for calling Serena and Venus Williams 'the Williams Brothers' - a comment beyond inappropriate and sexist. The Internaitonal Olympic Committee has demanded last night an explanation from Mr Tarpischev who claims his words were taken out of context. Right.
If the above doesn't inspire you to change the world we live in - I don't know what would.
Have a lovely Tuesday everyone :)
Strong Girls, Strong World
'Strong Girls, Strong World' is an initiative organized by the Canadian government taking place on 22 October 2014. The event will bring together young girls from across the country and well-known public figures and 'will highlight the power of education to reduce poverty and inequality, raise awareness and create sustainable development'. I especially applaud the Canadian government for taking the lead on girls' education as it is key for development and gender equality: UNESCO estimates 122 million youth globally are illiterate, of which girls represent 60.7%. This then translates into 775 million illiterate adults nowadays, of which two thirds are women. Grim statistics and a lot of room for improvement. Follow Canada's lead here: http://www.canada.ca/en/stronggirls.html?utm_campaign=stronggirls_20141023_canada-world&utm_source=federal-dept&utm_medium=site-feature&_ga=1.70138515.2090375929.1412859955
PS: Canada is already a leading force in the global fight against maternal deaths - the PM hosted a global Summit on maternal, newborn and child health in Toronto in May 2014, learn more: http://mnch.international.gc.ca/mnch-summit-en.html
PS: Canada is already a leading force in the global fight against maternal deaths - the PM hosted a global Summit on maternal, newborn and child health in Toronto in May 2014, learn more: http://mnch.international.gc.ca/mnch-summit-en.html
European Anti-Human Trafficking Day - 18 October
On 18 October - this past Saturday - we marked the European anti-human trafficking day. Every year, events and speeches take place in Brussels and elsewhere hoping to raise awareness about trafficking and the risk it poses mainly on women - over 80% of victims are women and girls and mostly for sexual exploitation purposes. The European Commission says that in Europe alone 500 000 people are trafficked! And then there is the list of countries where most victims originate from - and guess what, for years and years in row, Bulgaria is in the top five, 2014 inclusive.
Me being obsessed with human trafficking and crime networks, I'd like to recommend to you all the film 'The Whistleblower' from 2010 which tells the real-life story of a female UN official discovering trafficking networks in the aftermath of the Bosnian war. Also, please feel free to read my piece on trafficking at the InFocus magazine of Sciences Po here: http://issuu.com/lauragounon/docs/infocus_issue_8 (pages 29-30).
The more awareness and education there is, the fewer victims of trafficking - it's time!
Me being obsessed with human trafficking and crime networks, I'd like to recommend to you all the film 'The Whistleblower' from 2010 which tells the real-life story of a female UN official discovering trafficking networks in the aftermath of the Bosnian war. Also, please feel free to read my piece on trafficking at the InFocus magazine of Sciences Po here: http://issuu.com/lauragounon/docs/infocus_issue_8 (pages 29-30).
The more awareness and education there is, the fewer victims of trafficking - it's time!
Does Malala Deserve the Nobel Peace Prize?
A couple of days ago, an impressive piece was published by Akhilesh Pillalamarri on The Diplomat. And by 'impressive' I mean something different than amazing, convincing, well-argued or even appropriate. In the article, the author argued Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi - this year's recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize - see my comment three articles down - were not worthy of the award for a number of reasons:
1. As noble as their causes are - fighting for girls' education and against child slavery - they have nothing to do with peace itself, rather with chidlren's rights alone.
2. This was not a joint struggle between the two awardees and was not coordinated, as they worked on different aspects of children’s rights, so they should not receive the prize together.
3. The prize was a political statement and a religious statement - a Pakistani and an Indian individual, trying to calm down the conflict between the two states over territories, and also a Muslim and a Hindu - again making reference to the Kashmir situation.
Now, whether or not a political statement I am not going to comment, but the criticism that these two individuals haven't done enough 'peace-work' is absolute nonsense. Peace nowadays does not only refer to conflict-solving between two state entities; it also refers to peace between genders - Malala's struggle for girls to go to school and have equal rights as their male counterparts - and peace and freedom of exploitation - physical and mental as child labourers. Both Malala and Kailash are working for the future generation which will one day take power and what better way to build a more sustainable and peaceful world than teach kids about their rights and freedoms from a young age. Peace does not just mean ceasefire right here and now, it also means building a safe and sustainable world for the ones coming after us. So instead of criticising Malala and Kailash, better congratulate them for speaking up against injustices and setting an example for our daughters and sons to follow.
Thank you.
1. As noble as their causes are - fighting for girls' education and against child slavery - they have nothing to do with peace itself, rather with chidlren's rights alone.
2. This was not a joint struggle between the two awardees and was not coordinated, as they worked on different aspects of children’s rights, so they should not receive the prize together.
3. The prize was a political statement and a religious statement - a Pakistani and an Indian individual, trying to calm down the conflict between the two states over territories, and also a Muslim and a Hindu - again making reference to the Kashmir situation.
Now, whether or not a political statement I am not going to comment, but the criticism that these two individuals haven't done enough 'peace-work' is absolute nonsense. Peace nowadays does not only refer to conflict-solving between two state entities; it also refers to peace between genders - Malala's struggle for girls to go to school and have equal rights as their male counterparts - and peace and freedom of exploitation - physical and mental as child labourers. Both Malala and Kailash are working for the future generation which will one day take power and what better way to build a more sustainable and peaceful world than teach kids about their rights and freedoms from a young age. Peace does not just mean ceasefire right here and now, it also means building a safe and sustainable world for the ones coming after us. So instead of criticising Malala and Kailash, better congratulate them for speaking up against injustices and setting an example for our daughters and sons to follow.
Thank you.
#BringBackOurGirlsNOW
Six months ago, on 14 April 2014, over 200 schools girls disappeared from their school in Chibok, Northern Nigeria, in the hands of Boko Haram. The latter, a terrorist group both according to the US and the UK governments, and also by consensus at the UN Security Council earlier this year, has denied any information on the girls' whereabouts. Wild guesses go from The girls were married off to the terrorists and are now converted in Islam and being exploited in the most exhaustive ways imaginable - to - They were trafficked abroad and paid ransom for and are now prostitutes in Cameroon or elsewhere. What's more shocking than the continuous inability of Nigeria, the US and other international forces to locate and rescue the girls for over six months now, is the response of the Nigerian government itself - why was the school left with no security, why did the Government refuse to admit the kidnappings until weeks after, what is it doing now to find the girls, and how can Cameroon free 27 Boko Haram hostages just few days ago and Nigeria can't for over six months now? With my affinity towards Nigerian people and culture, it's getting ever more difficult to comprehend how things may evolve in the short- and long-term. #BringBackOurGirls clearly hasn't helped as the social pressure does not seem to be enough on the Nigerian government to take this issue seriously and the international community also seems to have moved on to other problems at hand like ISIS in Iraq and Syria, and hurricanes in Japan and Bermuda.
Protests took place this week in Abuja to bring back the attention of Goodluck Jonathan and the international helpers where it should be anyway - on the girls and their families. Surely 200 human beings can't just be left off to survive by themselves - and these are girls, teenage, young and helpless girls! For Goodness' sake - please try harder and find them!
#BringBackOurGirlsNOW
Protests took place this week in Abuja to bring back the attention of Goodluck Jonathan and the international helpers where it should be anyway - on the girls and their families. Surely 200 human beings can't just be left off to survive by themselves - and these are girls, teenage, young and helpless girls! For Goodness' sake - please try harder and find them!
#BringBackOurGirlsNOW
Barclays Woman of the Year
It is with great pleasure that I was told yesterday Mrs Diana Nammi from the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Organisation has been awarded Woman of the Year for her active work combating 'honour'-based violence, female genital mutilation and forced marriage. Having met Mrs Nammi numerous times at events and talks, it's a great honour to know someone close to me has been awarded such a significant and prestigious title. Every year a number of women in the UK receive the award for their active work in promoting women's rights and fighting discrimination and stereotypes. Mrs Nammi's award was presented by Barclays and upon receiving it on Monday 13th October, she said:
“I am deeply touched and honoured to be recognised as one of the Women of the Year, in the company of such inspirational women. This will shine a light on the vital work that my wonderful team, IKWRO is doing; working with survivors of “honour” based violence to enable them to recognise that they are heroines, not victims and that all shame lies with the perpetrators.”
She continued, “As a Kurdish-Iranian woman, who fought as a Peshmerga (freedom fighter) for women’s rights and equality, I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the women who are today at the frontline, trying to prevent fundamentalist men from returning us to the dark ages. I also remember all those women and girls whose lives have been stolen through “honour” killing and those who have been robbed of their rights by forced and child marriage.”
More on this inspiration woman and her life-changing initiatives and campaigns, please visit: http://www.womenoftheyear.co.uk/women-of-the-year/ and http://ikwro.org.uk/
“I am deeply touched and honoured to be recognised as one of the Women of the Year, in the company of such inspirational women. This will shine a light on the vital work that my wonderful team, IKWRO is doing; working with survivors of “honour” based violence to enable them to recognise that they are heroines, not victims and that all shame lies with the perpetrators.”
She continued, “As a Kurdish-Iranian woman, who fought as a Peshmerga (freedom fighter) for women’s rights and equality, I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the women who are today at the frontline, trying to prevent fundamentalist men from returning us to the dark ages. I also remember all those women and girls whose lives have been stolen through “honour” killing and those who have been robbed of their rights by forced and child marriage.”
More on this inspiration woman and her life-changing initiatives and campaigns, please visit: http://www.womenoftheyear.co.uk/women-of-the-year/ and http://ikwro.org.uk/
"Women"
Few days ago, my friend Rossy sent me info about this great initiative started by Brazilian illustrator Carol Rossetti. Miss Rossetti is an active female rights defender who had heard just about enough of offensive statements about girls and women. In May 2014 she created a series of supportive illustrations called “Women” with which she hopes to motivate women in their struggle against gender prejudices and discrimination. The project is still ongoing and Rossetti is periodically publishing new work on Facebook. Clear message to everyone in Brazil and beyond - the time to judge women and discriminate them has long gone! Way to go, Carol!
Black History + Breast Cancer
October is Black History Month in the UK, and so is Breast Cancer campaigning month. For the latter - please check my Campaigns and Global Action page for ideas on how to contribute to Breakthrough research and/ or support Estee Lauder's 'We are stronger together' campaign. As for the former - I thought it was time I dedicated a small piece to one of the celebrity women I admire the most and who also happens to be black: Tyra Banks. Yes, she's definitely changed history.
You may know about my obsession with America's Next Top Model - the hit show that since 2003 rocked the fashion world not just in the US, but internationally. Miss Banks is the executive producer and presenter of the show which marked the transition of her career as a supermodel to a coach of new rising stars. Tyra was the first African-American woman to headline the cover of GQ, the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, and the Victoria's Secret lingerie catalogue. She also hosted her own hit talk show for five years, The Tyra Show. In 2012, Miss Banks graduated from a selective cource for top executives at Harvard Business School. Through ANTM, Tyra is using her power - and millions - to encourage women and girls unsure of their potential to aim high and achieve their dreams. One of my favourite moments was this week's episode of cycle 21 (episode 7), where she made reference to girls who are reluctant to take the lead because they are afraid to be called bossy. She told the 18-year-old Mirjana: I am not bossy, I am the boss! This is a direct reference to the on-going campaign of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (supported by Beyonce) to ban the word 'bossy'. I've written previously about the campaign also on my Campaigns and Global Action page, and having been called bossy myself, I couldn't agree more with Sheryl, Beyonce and Tyra - we women should not be afraid to be leaders and stand up for ouselves. If we don't do it, no one else will do it for us! Thank you, Tyra, for combining TV with feminism and leadership so well, you are an excellent role model for black and white/ hispanic/ Asian, etc girls to follow and you are making history not just in fashion, but in people's hearts as well!
You may know about my obsession with America's Next Top Model - the hit show that since 2003 rocked the fashion world not just in the US, but internationally. Miss Banks is the executive producer and presenter of the show which marked the transition of her career as a supermodel to a coach of new rising stars. Tyra was the first African-American woman to headline the cover of GQ, the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, and the Victoria's Secret lingerie catalogue. She also hosted her own hit talk show for five years, The Tyra Show. In 2012, Miss Banks graduated from a selective cource for top executives at Harvard Business School. Through ANTM, Tyra is using her power - and millions - to encourage women and girls unsure of their potential to aim high and achieve their dreams. One of my favourite moments was this week's episode of cycle 21 (episode 7), where she made reference to girls who are reluctant to take the lead because they are afraid to be called bossy. She told the 18-year-old Mirjana: I am not bossy, I am the boss! This is a direct reference to the on-going campaign of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (supported by Beyonce) to ban the word 'bossy'. I've written previously about the campaign also on my Campaigns and Global Action page, and having been called bossy myself, I couldn't agree more with Sheryl, Beyonce and Tyra - we women should not be afraid to be leaders and stand up for ouselves. If we don't do it, no one else will do it for us! Thank you, Tyra, for combining TV with feminism and leadership so well, you are an excellent role model for black and white/ hispanic/ Asian, etc girls to follow and you are making history not just in fashion, but in people's hearts as well!
Congratulations, Malala!
With a slight delay in getting this post up, I want to congratulate Malala Yousafzay who became the youngest person ever to be awared the Nobel Peace Prize this weekend. She shares the 2014 prize with Kailash Satyarthi for his fight against child traficking and child labour in India. Malala herself became internationally famous two years ago when she was shot by the Taleban for her efforts against the ban on girls to go to school in Pakistan. Malala was shot in the head and the neck and after recovering she spoke at various world forums raising awareness on girls' education. She was previously a blogger for the BBC (since she was 11!) and was second in the Times' magazine Person of the Year award listing in 2012 (after President Obama). Malala's efforts are beyond inspiring and her award is well deserved for speaking up for girls around the globe - what a great recognition in light of this weekend's celebrations of the International Day of the Girl Child. Well done, Malala, you are a role model for all of us - younger or older alike!
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International Day of the Girl Child - 11 October
Nearly everyone knows that on the 1st June we celebrate the International Day of the Child; however nearly no one knows that 11th October is the International Day of the Girl Child. The day was first announced by the UN in 2012 and for the second year in row local and national events are organised to mark it around the globe. One of my favourite was this year's anniversary commemoration of the Chime for Change concert last summer, which headlined Beyonce and J Lo. Beyonce herself has just donated 500 000 USD yesterday to the Chime for Change project she is co-chairing and words aren't enough to express my admiration for this amazing woman who is using her money and power to make the world more just and fair! Please do watch https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10154774332480601&set=vb.28940545600&&theater as a summary of all the project's achievements in the past year and like their Facebook page for daily updates: https://www.facebook.com/ChimeForChange As for the International Day of the Girl Child - yes, we deserve to have it and me as a somewhat still a little girl at heart, I want to wish a fabuluous day full of smiles and positive emotions to all my sisters around the globe! xx
Vamos a Colombia
Because of my recent change of jobs and heavy focus currently on consulting work in the emerging markets of Latin America, I thought a blog post on a country from this region is in order (especially as I haven't really covered news from the Spanish-speaking world lately).
So, some of you may have heard about the Colombia prostitution scandal in 2012, which saw a few secret agents from the US being fired because of sleeping with Colombian prostitutes while on duty protecting President Obama during a visit in Cartagena in February 2012. Back then, the White House denied any knowledge of the situation but just yesterday news emerged that they did in fact know about the secret activities of their staff while on the working trip in Colombia. In any case, the rights and wrongs of sleeping with prostitutes isn't what concerns me - rather the situation of Colombian prostitutes themselves. And I mean both those who provide sex services voluntarily and those who are forced into it. Underage prostitution is illegal in the country and yet, there are at least 40 000 child prostitutes, of which up to 10 000 work in the capital Bogota. Because of sexual diseases transmission, violent clients, unwanted pregnancies and HIV, a brand new campaign has been launched this week to counter demand for prostitutes in the country's second largest city - Medellin. The initiative includes a poster campaign which will draw attention to the darker side of the tourist trade of sex and especially its linkage with drugs - not surprising considering the readily available use of drugs in the city for pretty much anyone, anytime. Promoting sustainable tourism and a positive image of the city is the ultimate goal, in addition to protecting (mostly female) prostitutes and their families. It is a good sign that action is starting to be taken in this direction and we may hope for more active campaigning in the upcoming weeks. The more targeting of demand, the fewer dangers for female suppliers. Que bien, Medellin, bravo!
So, some of you may have heard about the Colombia prostitution scandal in 2012, which saw a few secret agents from the US being fired because of sleeping with Colombian prostitutes while on duty protecting President Obama during a visit in Cartagena in February 2012. Back then, the White House denied any knowledge of the situation but just yesterday news emerged that they did in fact know about the secret activities of their staff while on the working trip in Colombia. In any case, the rights and wrongs of sleeping with prostitutes isn't what concerns me - rather the situation of Colombian prostitutes themselves. And I mean both those who provide sex services voluntarily and those who are forced into it. Underage prostitution is illegal in the country and yet, there are at least 40 000 child prostitutes, of which up to 10 000 work in the capital Bogota. Because of sexual diseases transmission, violent clients, unwanted pregnancies and HIV, a brand new campaign has been launched this week to counter demand for prostitutes in the country's second largest city - Medellin. The initiative includes a poster campaign which will draw attention to the darker side of the tourist trade of sex and especially its linkage with drugs - not surprising considering the readily available use of drugs in the city for pretty much anyone, anytime. Promoting sustainable tourism and a positive image of the city is the ultimate goal, in addition to protecting (mostly female) prostitutes and their families. It is a good sign that action is starting to be taken in this direction and we may hope for more active campaigning in the upcoming weeks. The more targeting of demand, the fewer dangers for female suppliers. Que bien, Medellin, bravo!
Gambia For the Win!
In relation to my post on religion and gender earlier this week, a follow-up short note is in order:
Yesterday, a first-of-its-kind youth summit took place in Gambia where more than 100 young students discussed the issue of Female Genital Mutilation, its effect on girls and its (lack of) justification in religious and cultural terms. The highlight of the event, supported by The Guardian, was Hama Jaiteh - young Muslim scholar - who told the participants that FGM is not Islamic: Islam is being used to “shield an evil intention [that is] harmful to a person’s development”. Indeed, in a country where more than 80% of girls are cut at a very young age to 'purify' them or even to 'grow taller' (?!?) and 'guarantee' they will find husbands, it is imperative that the young generation are educated about FGM and how incredibly dangerous it is. The possibility of getting infections, sterility and even dying cannot be justified by any religion or culture. Hama Jaiteh's comments are welcomed for their firm stand against mutilation and hope is for more similar events which cast light on the unacceptable linkage between cutting and killing a woman and explaining it in the name of God.
Well done, Gambia, keep going with these great initiatives, awareness is key!
Yesterday, a first-of-its-kind youth summit took place in Gambia where more than 100 young students discussed the issue of Female Genital Mutilation, its effect on girls and its (lack of) justification in religious and cultural terms. The highlight of the event, supported by The Guardian, was Hama Jaiteh - young Muslim scholar - who told the participants that FGM is not Islamic: Islam is being used to “shield an evil intention [that is] harmful to a person’s development”. Indeed, in a country where more than 80% of girls are cut at a very young age to 'purify' them or even to 'grow taller' (?!?) and 'guarantee' they will find husbands, it is imperative that the young generation are educated about FGM and how incredibly dangerous it is. The possibility of getting infections, sterility and even dying cannot be justified by any religion or culture. Hama Jaiteh's comments are welcomed for their firm stand against mutilation and hope is for more similar events which cast light on the unacceptable linkage between cutting and killing a woman and explaining it in the name of God.
Well done, Gambia, keep going with these great initiatives, awareness is key!