When I started blogging in 2014, my idea was to inspire other women to speak up and discuss women-related issues, be it on local, national or international level. On this page you can find some of my readers' guest posts - thanks to those who wish to guest-write!
Can't wait for more ideas - please submit your tips at the bottom of this page!
2018 everyWoman in Tech Forum
everyWoman in Tech has over 200,000 members in over 100 countries across the world. That is a LOT of people (not just women) that recognise that women can and do make a big difference in the world of technology - so why don’t we see more of them in the workplace?
An overwhelming majority of Women that have left the technology industry to work in other sectors, have said that the main thing that would have kept them in the industry would be seeing more women in senior positions within their companies - how do we get more women in these positions to be help inspire others?
A major theme of the 2018 everyWoman in Tech Forum, which I attended in Belfast on 8 February 2018, was how to support women into getting those senior positions; advice on skills to work on, a new perspective on the career ladder, working with a mentor and more. Something that struck me, was that as women, we don’t push ourselves forward enough.
Did you know that when a woman looks at a job specification, if she meets 8/10 of the criteria she is unlikely to apply for the position, where a man is more likely to apply when he meets far fewer of the criteria? This means that right from the start of the interview process, there are less women in the candidate pool. Unless there are more women applying for the senior positions in companies, we can’t expect women to fill the senior positions.
What can be done to help women realise that we can apply for these positions?
One of the best pieces of advice was from Melissa Di Donato - get a mentor. A mentor should be someone that you feel like you can talk to, about worries, concerns, things that make you feel good, what skills you have, what skills you need to work on, for advice or to steer you in the right direction and importantly to push you when you are unsure.
On top of this, be a mentor. This doesn’t always mean that you will actively be mentoring people (but hopefully you will in the future!), but be someone that people will want to look up to. Aim to be someone that others will inspire to be like.
Melissa also provided an interesting visualisation for your career - don’t think about it as a ladder, think about it as a New York fire escape. You go up diagonally, then along a bit, before going up again. This signifies that you have to work to progress upwards towards the next level (a promotion) then show that you can work at the new level before beginning to show the progression towards the next level again.
Promotions are a good way of moving towards the more senior positions within a company and here are a few tips from Tanya Mathews from Kainos, for when thinking about a promotion that are obvious really, but not if you haven’t thought about them before:
• Ask for a Promotion. Don’t wait for someone to suggest it to you, by that time you will have already been ready for months. If you aren’t ready, it will prompt a conversation about what you need to do to get ready.
• Don’t underestimate your readiness. This relates to something mentioned earlier, you do not have to meet every single criteria to be ready for a promotion or be able to do a job, believe in yourself and your abilities.
• Timing is everything. Why wait for someone else to mention a promotion to you when you have already been doing the job for months/ years.
• Speak up. Make it known that you want to be recognised for your work, you are ready for a promotion and you want one soon. If someone doesn’t think you are ready, this will be an opening to having a conversation about what you need to do to get a promotion.
• Judged by potential, not experience. Sometimes there are no opportunities to prove that you can do all of the requirements on a job specification, but working with a mentor will help to show that you have the potential to meet all of those requirements
Tabitha Goldstaub spoke about the constantly changing technology industry and how remembering a few good tips will make you more desirable for the future:
• Stay curious.
• Be adaptive.
• Focus on the question (and ask the right questions).
• Talk.
• Experiment.
• Decide your role.
• Be Empathetic.
The future is unknown, feeling comfortable with change, talking through change, investigating and experimenting are important for being desirable for the future.
One thing to remember that as women, we are empathetic. As technology progresses, there is one thing that computers will not be able to do - empathise. Remember and use this to your advantage.
I definitely took a lot away from the conference. While the theme was related to getting more women into the tech industry, the advice provided is useful for everyone and are things that everyone can aim to do/improve.
The major take away points for me were to make better use of my mentor, to learn more about what I should be using a mentor for and aiming to be somebody that people would like to go to for advice.
The simplest are sometimes the easiest things missed and I would have never thought to ask for a promotion or to apply for a job that I didn’t meet at least 95% of the criteria for!
By Emily Mathieson, 14 February 2018
An overwhelming majority of Women that have left the technology industry to work in other sectors, have said that the main thing that would have kept them in the industry would be seeing more women in senior positions within their companies - how do we get more women in these positions to be help inspire others?
A major theme of the 2018 everyWoman in Tech Forum, which I attended in Belfast on 8 February 2018, was how to support women into getting those senior positions; advice on skills to work on, a new perspective on the career ladder, working with a mentor and more. Something that struck me, was that as women, we don’t push ourselves forward enough.
Did you know that when a woman looks at a job specification, if she meets 8/10 of the criteria she is unlikely to apply for the position, where a man is more likely to apply when he meets far fewer of the criteria? This means that right from the start of the interview process, there are less women in the candidate pool. Unless there are more women applying for the senior positions in companies, we can’t expect women to fill the senior positions.
What can be done to help women realise that we can apply for these positions?
One of the best pieces of advice was from Melissa Di Donato - get a mentor. A mentor should be someone that you feel like you can talk to, about worries, concerns, things that make you feel good, what skills you have, what skills you need to work on, for advice or to steer you in the right direction and importantly to push you when you are unsure.
On top of this, be a mentor. This doesn’t always mean that you will actively be mentoring people (but hopefully you will in the future!), but be someone that people will want to look up to. Aim to be someone that others will inspire to be like.
Melissa also provided an interesting visualisation for your career - don’t think about it as a ladder, think about it as a New York fire escape. You go up diagonally, then along a bit, before going up again. This signifies that you have to work to progress upwards towards the next level (a promotion) then show that you can work at the new level before beginning to show the progression towards the next level again.
Promotions are a good way of moving towards the more senior positions within a company and here are a few tips from Tanya Mathews from Kainos, for when thinking about a promotion that are obvious really, but not if you haven’t thought about them before:
• Ask for a Promotion. Don’t wait for someone to suggest it to you, by that time you will have already been ready for months. If you aren’t ready, it will prompt a conversation about what you need to do to get ready.
• Don’t underestimate your readiness. This relates to something mentioned earlier, you do not have to meet every single criteria to be ready for a promotion or be able to do a job, believe in yourself and your abilities.
• Timing is everything. Why wait for someone else to mention a promotion to you when you have already been doing the job for months/ years.
• Speak up. Make it known that you want to be recognised for your work, you are ready for a promotion and you want one soon. If someone doesn’t think you are ready, this will be an opening to having a conversation about what you need to do to get a promotion.
• Judged by potential, not experience. Sometimes there are no opportunities to prove that you can do all of the requirements on a job specification, but working with a mentor will help to show that you have the potential to meet all of those requirements
Tabitha Goldstaub spoke about the constantly changing technology industry and how remembering a few good tips will make you more desirable for the future:
• Stay curious.
• Be adaptive.
• Focus on the question (and ask the right questions).
• Talk.
• Experiment.
• Decide your role.
• Be Empathetic.
The future is unknown, feeling comfortable with change, talking through change, investigating and experimenting are important for being desirable for the future.
One thing to remember that as women, we are empathetic. As technology progresses, there is one thing that computers will not be able to do - empathise. Remember and use this to your advantage.
I definitely took a lot away from the conference. While the theme was related to getting more women into the tech industry, the advice provided is useful for everyone and are things that everyone can aim to do/improve.
The major take away points for me were to make better use of my mentor, to learn more about what I should be using a mentor for and aiming to be somebody that people would like to go to for advice.
The simplest are sometimes the easiest things missed and I would have never thought to ask for a promotion or to apply for a job that I didn’t meet at least 95% of the criteria for!
By Emily Mathieson, 14 February 2018
'Honest You'
‘Honest You’ is a photography project that I created this summer to discuss female recognition of makeup and self-acceptance. The idea occurred to me in June this year, when I was reading a Chinese newspaper over breakfast. Everything was as usual until one headline caught my eyes, that a Hong Kong actress, Sheree Lo, had died at the age of 47 and that the tragedy was reportedly caused by a heart attack due to weight-loss. I wasn’t really aware of her much, but I still remember her performance, in the sensationally successful ‘Happy Ghost’ comedic movie series in the 1980s, around the same time as I was born. Compounding this is the fact that another actress in the same film, Fennie Yuen, was then diagnosed with Anorexia in 1994.
Looking back to my reality, my entire social life with other girls was filled with the topics of losing weight, wearing makeup, and an increasingly popular one - plastic surgery. Certainly, these are personal choices, after all, and I am not advocating a boycott of makeup. I, myself, do wear makeup on occasions. However, I would like to discuss the trend of standardization of people’s appreciation of beauty. That is to say, some people, either consciously or unconsciously, define beauty in a single way. It seems to me that the biggest problem of a narrow perspective of beauty is its negative impacts on self-acceptance. As a result, I am not opposed to wearing makeup, but the pressure that makes girls think that they must need makeup. To me, there is no need to set these two choices as mutually exclusive. We surely have the right to put on makeup if we would like to enjoy some colour on our faces, and we have the right to appreciate our natural beauty as well.
Soon after I realized that I should do something to explore my reflections, I started a photography project called ‘Honest You’, in which I take portrait photos of participants without makeup and interview them on their thoughts about this topic. So far, I have worked with a number of women coming from various industries in London, but the one thing they have in common is that they all believe in the free rights of women around the world. I feel that they are the most beautiful and wise women that I have ever met in my life and their faith encourages me to keep moving on with the project.
A few months ago, I met with lovely Plamena Solakova in London as part of this project. As other participants that I have met, Plamena is so passionate and smart, who works in an industry that is believed to be difficult for women and calls for actions to increase female participation in the science and technology sectors. Then I found out that she is also a blogger who cares about various issues on gender equality and social justice. I am happy to write this article for her to introduce my project, which I will also post on the project page, and admire her and so many participants who have demonstrated female power to me.
More delightfully, I heard that one of my favorite singers, Alicia Keys, has started a no-makeup movement in recent months. It is really inspiring to know that more and more people are sharing the same view. However, I have also heard about some different voices. In an article called ‘Here’s why people are annoyed at Alicia Keys’ by Nicole Bitette in New York Daily News, the author listed a few reasons why the no-makeup idea is not welcome and cited several studies with statistics representing how people judge females in terms of appearance and whether they wear makeup or not. However, I personally think women should not feel unconfident to go out or take photos without makeup, nor should they feel ashamed when they see the so-called ‘perfect body’ or ‘perfect face’ in the media. More importantly, women should not be judged by their appearance or makeup instead of their skills or experiences in professional spheres, as the Bitette article claimed, because those references are not the proof, they are actually the problems that should be tackled.
When I searched similar projects online, I found a U.S.-based photographer called Steve Osemwekhae has created the ‘No Makeup Series’ in 2010 to “not only showcase natural beauty through mediums that included photos and videos, but to also tell the stories surrounding makeup”. I am very glad that someone has already taken action and I believe that there are other people in other countries who are making the same efforts. I would like to be one of them and to try my best to develop this on-going project and I hope that one day people’s attitudes towards makeup or no makeup will be more open and diverse.
Please visit the Facebook page (@honestu) or my Instagram (@kaarenliuu) if you would like to take part in or know more about my project.
By Karen Liu, 3 December 2016
Looking back to my reality, my entire social life with other girls was filled with the topics of losing weight, wearing makeup, and an increasingly popular one - plastic surgery. Certainly, these are personal choices, after all, and I am not advocating a boycott of makeup. I, myself, do wear makeup on occasions. However, I would like to discuss the trend of standardization of people’s appreciation of beauty. That is to say, some people, either consciously or unconsciously, define beauty in a single way. It seems to me that the biggest problem of a narrow perspective of beauty is its negative impacts on self-acceptance. As a result, I am not opposed to wearing makeup, but the pressure that makes girls think that they must need makeup. To me, there is no need to set these two choices as mutually exclusive. We surely have the right to put on makeup if we would like to enjoy some colour on our faces, and we have the right to appreciate our natural beauty as well.
Soon after I realized that I should do something to explore my reflections, I started a photography project called ‘Honest You’, in which I take portrait photos of participants without makeup and interview them on their thoughts about this topic. So far, I have worked with a number of women coming from various industries in London, but the one thing they have in common is that they all believe in the free rights of women around the world. I feel that they are the most beautiful and wise women that I have ever met in my life and their faith encourages me to keep moving on with the project.
A few months ago, I met with lovely Plamena Solakova in London as part of this project. As other participants that I have met, Plamena is so passionate and smart, who works in an industry that is believed to be difficult for women and calls for actions to increase female participation in the science and technology sectors. Then I found out that she is also a blogger who cares about various issues on gender equality and social justice. I am happy to write this article for her to introduce my project, which I will also post on the project page, and admire her and so many participants who have demonstrated female power to me.
More delightfully, I heard that one of my favorite singers, Alicia Keys, has started a no-makeup movement in recent months. It is really inspiring to know that more and more people are sharing the same view. However, I have also heard about some different voices. In an article called ‘Here’s why people are annoyed at Alicia Keys’ by Nicole Bitette in New York Daily News, the author listed a few reasons why the no-makeup idea is not welcome and cited several studies with statistics representing how people judge females in terms of appearance and whether they wear makeup or not. However, I personally think women should not feel unconfident to go out or take photos without makeup, nor should they feel ashamed when they see the so-called ‘perfect body’ or ‘perfect face’ in the media. More importantly, women should not be judged by their appearance or makeup instead of their skills or experiences in professional spheres, as the Bitette article claimed, because those references are not the proof, they are actually the problems that should be tackled.
When I searched similar projects online, I found a U.S.-based photographer called Steve Osemwekhae has created the ‘No Makeup Series’ in 2010 to “not only showcase natural beauty through mediums that included photos and videos, but to also tell the stories surrounding makeup”. I am very glad that someone has already taken action and I believe that there are other people in other countries who are making the same efforts. I would like to be one of them and to try my best to develop this on-going project and I hope that one day people’s attitudes towards makeup or no makeup will be more open and diverse.
Please visit the Facebook page (@honestu) or my Instagram (@kaarenliuu) if you would like to take part in or know more about my project.
By Karen Liu, 3 December 2016
Squash: Women’s Sport Week 2016
Female role models, Coaches, Mums, Grans, Aunties, Sisters, Friends:
I coach squash, a sport undeniably seen as a middle aged, man’s game. This sport has been a part of my life since I was 17 (now 46) and then coaching entered about six years ago. My daughter started playing and shortly after, I was asked to volunteer and help coach. Coaching badges soon followed. And yes, my daughter has watched me play sport competitively and socially since she was in nappies and she understands that her mother appreciates being active.
Squash is an amazing sport! (Everyone thinks this about their chosen sport, I know!) It is fast, tactical and has the ability to expose all of your weaknesses. There are few sports that can challenge your mental resilience more than squash! The game is wonderfully social and a fantastic work out. Find a friend or someone who you are equally matched and this beats a run or the gym any day! But of course you do have to have coordination and enjoy chasing a little ball around the court.
My passion is to encourage more girls and women to give squash a go. I work with a local girls’ school and feedback from the girls has been that rather than turn up to one of the mainstream sports clubs where there are dozens of girls, many prefer smaller groups and more individual attention from a female coach.
There is a group of naturally competitive girls; however Sport England research shows that this is a very small percentage of all girls. Most girls fall into a different group where skills and confidence require nurturing. The short primary school PE lessons are probably not going to achieve that. Parents and grandparents have massive influence (speaking from personal experience.) My grandparents and in particular, my grandmother had a huge impact on how I view competition and sport. She competed at croquet against mostly men (this sounds familiar). I think Nana had an incredible impact on my outlook of sport and her actions spoke volumes.
I read somewhere that at a young age, girls consider their mums to be their most significant role model. Our influence as parents and female coaches is vital to inspiring our girls to be more active - competitive or not!
Most squash coaches are male. It is the way of the coaching world at the moment. I hope as a female coach I offer a different perspective on sport to the girls I meet. Just last week I coached over 150 girls and will see another 90 this week. It is incredibly rewarding to inspire, even if, just a few to try a new sport, nurture skills, grow confidence and have fun!
Women, whatever your role (Coach, Mum, Gran, Auntie, Sister or Friend), you can help make a difference as a role model to our young generation of girls. They need all of us to say and show that being more active (and possibly competitive) is actually, ’OK’.
Find our more about where and how to play squash:
https://www.englandsquash.com/get-involved/play/ways-to-play/squash-girls-can
By Heidi, my amazing mentee from England Squash (3 October 2016)
I coach squash, a sport undeniably seen as a middle aged, man’s game. This sport has been a part of my life since I was 17 (now 46) and then coaching entered about six years ago. My daughter started playing and shortly after, I was asked to volunteer and help coach. Coaching badges soon followed. And yes, my daughter has watched me play sport competitively and socially since she was in nappies and she understands that her mother appreciates being active.
Squash is an amazing sport! (Everyone thinks this about their chosen sport, I know!) It is fast, tactical and has the ability to expose all of your weaknesses. There are few sports that can challenge your mental resilience more than squash! The game is wonderfully social and a fantastic work out. Find a friend or someone who you are equally matched and this beats a run or the gym any day! But of course you do have to have coordination and enjoy chasing a little ball around the court.
My passion is to encourage more girls and women to give squash a go. I work with a local girls’ school and feedback from the girls has been that rather than turn up to one of the mainstream sports clubs where there are dozens of girls, many prefer smaller groups and more individual attention from a female coach.
There is a group of naturally competitive girls; however Sport England research shows that this is a very small percentage of all girls. Most girls fall into a different group where skills and confidence require nurturing. The short primary school PE lessons are probably not going to achieve that. Parents and grandparents have massive influence (speaking from personal experience.) My grandparents and in particular, my grandmother had a huge impact on how I view competition and sport. She competed at croquet against mostly men (this sounds familiar). I think Nana had an incredible impact on my outlook of sport and her actions spoke volumes.
I read somewhere that at a young age, girls consider their mums to be their most significant role model. Our influence as parents and female coaches is vital to inspiring our girls to be more active - competitive or not!
Most squash coaches are male. It is the way of the coaching world at the moment. I hope as a female coach I offer a different perspective on sport to the girls I meet. Just last week I coached over 150 girls and will see another 90 this week. It is incredibly rewarding to inspire, even if, just a few to try a new sport, nurture skills, grow confidence and have fun!
Women, whatever your role (Coach, Mum, Gran, Auntie, Sister or Friend), you can help make a difference as a role model to our young generation of girls. They need all of us to say and show that being more active (and possibly competitive) is actually, ’OK’.
Find our more about where and how to play squash:
https://www.englandsquash.com/get-involved/play/ways-to-play/squash-girls-can
By Heidi, my amazing mentee from England Squash (3 October 2016)
I'm a Big Girl
So, I am a big girl and I wear plus size clothes since I can remember myself. My whole life people have been telling me how I look like and what I should do to change my appearance. Somehow it is considered normal for strangers to approach and tell you a secret diet plan or what did they read in a magazine to be healthy and that it has a great effect on losing weight. What shocks me the most is that guys that I have had only one date with approach me afterwards and tell me that I am beautiful, intelligent and make them very happy but I should change the way I look like if I want a future with them.
WHAT THE HELL?!?
How can you tell a person there is something wrong with them in their eyes and not be bothered at all? Would you go to a disabled person and tell them you don’t approve their disability? I am not comparing my condition with the one of people with disabilities but the bottom line here is that I was born this way. My parents are plus size people, I spent my whole childhood hiding my legs and arms and belly and doing diets, went to a camp specifically to lose weight, I did all kinds of sports, I was bullied then I starved myself and I was the most unhappy when I lost my weight. What made me unhappy was the attention I got from people that otherwise wouldn’t notice me. I hated it. I hated that everybody approved what I did with my body when it was actually wrong for a child to do. I remember even drinking weird stuff I saw on the TV for losing weight or things the guys in the gym were offering as supplements to the program I was doing. I hated the guys that approached me for the first time. Then I stopped. All of the things I did to my body backfired. I felt sick, I had to stop the diet, I started drinking pills prescribed from my doctor and I regained all my weight plus more. The one thing I always had were my friends which happen to be only girls. Yes, I am a girls girl. I don’t trust guys and their superficial needs. I’ve had a case of a guy “friend” of mine talking out loud to another person how beautiful I am but…... Yeah, I got it. That was the first time I felt really hurt. Then my first boyfriend told me before we started dating that we can’t be together because of the way I look like. Needless to say somehow he overcame his discomfort and we were together for almost two months. The damage was already done, how can I trust the guy? And again, and again the story repeats with guys dating me once and then giving me ultimatum to lose weight or leave. What is wrong with you, people?
Now is time to speak my mind. I like myself! I like my personality, I like my friends, I adore my sister, I am grateful for everything I have and that happens to me, I am happy 99% of the time, I love joking around, love sarcasm, can’t have enough of travelling and exploring, I am always curious about things people don’t notice, I am naïve to some point, positive and dare to say intelligent. Yeah, I don’t mind losing some weight but not because of a guy or anybody else in particular. I would do it for me if I want to. I am sick of wearing shirts with sleeves, no dresses or “shorts” under the knee. I don’t hate people but I hate the constant speeches of random people telling me during lunch how to eat healthier, how many calories does this sandwich consists of or what magical pill to buy to lose weight. I am confident but I will admit that I do get into mile depressions when somebody tells me I don’t look according to the social standard and the funny thing is these people aren’t even my friends giving me friendly advice or recommendation, but just random people giving me piece of their mind without being asked. I am confident but I feel like I started losing my confidence when I am with someone I like and this is why I decided to put everything on paper and self analyze what is happening with me. I don’t want to be a victim, I don’t understand why when you have extra pounds you are less of a person and less important and people treat you with less respect. It may sound as a cliché but it is really important what’s inside because looks fade and you have to live with the person you choose for the rest of your life hopefully. I have never perceived myself as a BIG girl believe it or not. My sense of humor and my friends helped me through the moments of judgment and I preserved myself and my personality intact. This is why I feel shocked when somebody points out my looks. I feel normal. Aren’t BIG girls normal too?
I am not asking for attention from the guys. All I ask for is to shut their mouth and think before saying something because BIG girls have feelings too and what they say is not an opinion but an insult. People, next time you go to that girl or boy, no matter the age and you want to tell him/her to do something about their weight you should know you are actually body shaming them. You think we don’t know how we look like? We do! And we may actually be alright with it! Our body doesn’t define us.
People say that others perceive you the way you feel about yourself. Well, I will keep my head high, I will sing and dance without being afraid of judging eyes. I will buy a shirt with no sleeves! I will never let anyone tell me again there is something wrong with me. There are too many troubles to worry in this life, but my body won’t be one of them!
What you just read is a confession, a self medication, my opinion, observations and experience, this is me speaking out loud for the first time but most of all it is an appeal to everybody to think before speaking. To abandon the judgment because it is repellent and to stop trying to fit everybody into the “normal” frame of looks and behavior, you are not the person who decides how I should live my life.
Big Girl, 6 August 2016
WHAT THE HELL?!?
How can you tell a person there is something wrong with them in their eyes and not be bothered at all? Would you go to a disabled person and tell them you don’t approve their disability? I am not comparing my condition with the one of people with disabilities but the bottom line here is that I was born this way. My parents are plus size people, I spent my whole childhood hiding my legs and arms and belly and doing diets, went to a camp specifically to lose weight, I did all kinds of sports, I was bullied then I starved myself and I was the most unhappy when I lost my weight. What made me unhappy was the attention I got from people that otherwise wouldn’t notice me. I hated it. I hated that everybody approved what I did with my body when it was actually wrong for a child to do. I remember even drinking weird stuff I saw on the TV for losing weight or things the guys in the gym were offering as supplements to the program I was doing. I hated the guys that approached me for the first time. Then I stopped. All of the things I did to my body backfired. I felt sick, I had to stop the diet, I started drinking pills prescribed from my doctor and I regained all my weight plus more. The one thing I always had were my friends which happen to be only girls. Yes, I am a girls girl. I don’t trust guys and their superficial needs. I’ve had a case of a guy “friend” of mine talking out loud to another person how beautiful I am but…... Yeah, I got it. That was the first time I felt really hurt. Then my first boyfriend told me before we started dating that we can’t be together because of the way I look like. Needless to say somehow he overcame his discomfort and we were together for almost two months. The damage was already done, how can I trust the guy? And again, and again the story repeats with guys dating me once and then giving me ultimatum to lose weight or leave. What is wrong with you, people?
Now is time to speak my mind. I like myself! I like my personality, I like my friends, I adore my sister, I am grateful for everything I have and that happens to me, I am happy 99% of the time, I love joking around, love sarcasm, can’t have enough of travelling and exploring, I am always curious about things people don’t notice, I am naïve to some point, positive and dare to say intelligent. Yeah, I don’t mind losing some weight but not because of a guy or anybody else in particular. I would do it for me if I want to. I am sick of wearing shirts with sleeves, no dresses or “shorts” under the knee. I don’t hate people but I hate the constant speeches of random people telling me during lunch how to eat healthier, how many calories does this sandwich consists of or what magical pill to buy to lose weight. I am confident but I will admit that I do get into mile depressions when somebody tells me I don’t look according to the social standard and the funny thing is these people aren’t even my friends giving me friendly advice or recommendation, but just random people giving me piece of their mind without being asked. I am confident but I feel like I started losing my confidence when I am with someone I like and this is why I decided to put everything on paper and self analyze what is happening with me. I don’t want to be a victim, I don’t understand why when you have extra pounds you are less of a person and less important and people treat you with less respect. It may sound as a cliché but it is really important what’s inside because looks fade and you have to live with the person you choose for the rest of your life hopefully. I have never perceived myself as a BIG girl believe it or not. My sense of humor and my friends helped me through the moments of judgment and I preserved myself and my personality intact. This is why I feel shocked when somebody points out my looks. I feel normal. Aren’t BIG girls normal too?
I am not asking for attention from the guys. All I ask for is to shut their mouth and think before saying something because BIG girls have feelings too and what they say is not an opinion but an insult. People, next time you go to that girl or boy, no matter the age and you want to tell him/her to do something about their weight you should know you are actually body shaming them. You think we don’t know how we look like? We do! And we may actually be alright with it! Our body doesn’t define us.
People say that others perceive you the way you feel about yourself. Well, I will keep my head high, I will sing and dance without being afraid of judging eyes. I will buy a shirt with no sleeves! I will never let anyone tell me again there is something wrong with me. There are too many troubles to worry in this life, but my body won’t be one of them!
What you just read is a confession, a self medication, my opinion, observations and experience, this is me speaking out loud for the first time but most of all it is an appeal to everybody to think before speaking. To abandon the judgment because it is repellent and to stop trying to fit everybody into the “normal” frame of looks and behavior, you are not the person who decides how I should live my life.
Big Girl, 6 August 2016
Guest Post:
'Emerge for Africa'
‘The Best feeling in the whole world is watching things finally fall into place after watching them fall apart for so long’ – This quote describes so well the kind of feeling Emerge For Africa’s Team is experiencing for the past few months!
After two years of long hours spent on developing our education project in Uganda, ‘Young Mothers’ Education & Research Initiative’ is finally taking off and showing great progress.
Our CEO, single mum of two children, also studying for a MA in Education, Gender and International Development and working as an Independent Consultant, is convinced that her determination and relentless battle to pursue her dream despite numerous obstacles is finally about to pay off: Our Educational Centre in Uganda that will welcome hundreds of young mothers aged 12 to 16, who have been denied schooling due to early pregnancy precipitated by violence against girls, is close to completion!
Yes! It is true indeed! We now have 3 classrooms, 2 offices, 2 teacher’s quarters, 1 small security guard house at the entrance, 2 toilets and the girls’ dormitory is currently being built. This has been made possible thanks to the continuous generous donations of two main sponsors – Barbers’ Ink and Société Eric Pré. If you are curious to find out more, photos of our amazing progress are on our Website (www.emergeforafrica.org) and on our Facebook pages (Emerge For Africa Ltd / Young Mothers’ Education and Research Initiative).
As with many charitable organisations these days, funds are hard to come by and we, as a newly formed charity are in particular need of support at this vital stage of our development. Our primary source of funding is from corporate sponsors; yet… after many funding proposals to key donor organisations, we have finally got the right attention from one organisation about to fund our project for a year. This is wonderful news! We are hoping to obtain a firm funding agreement by November, following their visit of our premises in October.
Since we have been given this unique opportunity to prove ourselves and demonstrate that our project has great potential, what we need before their visit, is to make sure our premises are equipped to welcome young mothers and their babies and ready to start the project. And right now, they aren’t. We still need to fence the premises to secure our girls and make sure we have access to electricity and water. That’s all we need!
We are therefore hoping to either raise another £4000 or obtain sponsorships from companies or organisations working in the energy and water sectors (e.g. solar energy). We have a couple of months ahead of us to make sure our premises are up to the required standard… and so close to finally succeeding and offering these girls the education and support they need, now we cannot give up.
Our mission is to give alternative opportunities to these marginalised girls and to maintain a continuous improvement in their socio-economic through the provision of comprehensive educational, professional and vocational programmes suited to their specific needs. Our holistic curriculum is ready to be issued; and our dedicated personnel are ready to change lives… We just need that ultimate support!
So please do not hesitate - visit our website and Facebook pages; witness our determination and hard work; understand the need to educate these girls; be part of the post-2015 Development Goals… Spread the word, support us, contribute to our accomplishment! Thank you for believing in us.
Warmest regards from Emerge For Africa’s Team!
By Stephanie Soria, London (14 August 2015)
After two years of long hours spent on developing our education project in Uganda, ‘Young Mothers’ Education & Research Initiative’ is finally taking off and showing great progress.
Our CEO, single mum of two children, also studying for a MA in Education, Gender and International Development and working as an Independent Consultant, is convinced that her determination and relentless battle to pursue her dream despite numerous obstacles is finally about to pay off: Our Educational Centre in Uganda that will welcome hundreds of young mothers aged 12 to 16, who have been denied schooling due to early pregnancy precipitated by violence against girls, is close to completion!
Yes! It is true indeed! We now have 3 classrooms, 2 offices, 2 teacher’s quarters, 1 small security guard house at the entrance, 2 toilets and the girls’ dormitory is currently being built. This has been made possible thanks to the continuous generous donations of two main sponsors – Barbers’ Ink and Société Eric Pré. If you are curious to find out more, photos of our amazing progress are on our Website (www.emergeforafrica.org) and on our Facebook pages (Emerge For Africa Ltd / Young Mothers’ Education and Research Initiative).
As with many charitable organisations these days, funds are hard to come by and we, as a newly formed charity are in particular need of support at this vital stage of our development. Our primary source of funding is from corporate sponsors; yet… after many funding proposals to key donor organisations, we have finally got the right attention from one organisation about to fund our project for a year. This is wonderful news! We are hoping to obtain a firm funding agreement by November, following their visit of our premises in October.
Since we have been given this unique opportunity to prove ourselves and demonstrate that our project has great potential, what we need before their visit, is to make sure our premises are equipped to welcome young mothers and their babies and ready to start the project. And right now, they aren’t. We still need to fence the premises to secure our girls and make sure we have access to electricity and water. That’s all we need!
We are therefore hoping to either raise another £4000 or obtain sponsorships from companies or organisations working in the energy and water sectors (e.g. solar energy). We have a couple of months ahead of us to make sure our premises are up to the required standard… and so close to finally succeeding and offering these girls the education and support they need, now we cannot give up.
Our mission is to give alternative opportunities to these marginalised girls and to maintain a continuous improvement in their socio-economic through the provision of comprehensive educational, professional and vocational programmes suited to their specific needs. Our holistic curriculum is ready to be issued; and our dedicated personnel are ready to change lives… We just need that ultimate support!
So please do not hesitate - visit our website and Facebook pages; witness our determination and hard work; understand the need to educate these girls; be part of the post-2015 Development Goals… Spread the word, support us, contribute to our accomplishment! Thank you for believing in us.
Warmest regards from Emerge For Africa’s Team!
By Stephanie Soria, London (14 August 2015)
Guest Post:
'The Importance of Education'
When I think of education in the Western world then it is sort of a norm to have school education here, BA there and MA in yet another place. When you hear conversations in Brussels’ famous “Place Luxembourg” next to the European Parliament, you can see people throwing names of universities where they have been and many of them have couple of degrees. It makes me think that sometimes we don’t imagine how it would be in a setting where education possibilities are limited. In some countries of Africa, Middle East, Asia and Latin America many struggle to go to school and many just don’t have opportunity to do so, due to lack of money, lack of schools, conflict in the country, necessity/or being forced to earn money for parents, forced marriages, etc.
Especially I would like to stress on the education of girls as in many poorer countries and countries in conflict, young girls suffer the most as they are the first ones whose education is cut off - they need to help family to earn living or they are forced to work under quite severe conditions. Therefore, I would like to emphasize how important it is to help for young girls and also women to gain education as it could help them stand up for themselves as well as to think more creatively how to improve the living of the family and their community. Here I would like to quote one of my favorite books (”Half the sky” by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn): “Education and empowerment training can show girls that feminity does not entail docility, and can nurture assertiveness so that girls and women stand up for themselves.” Moreover, education is a very important condition for a development of the person and the whole society. First and foremost value of education should be promoted in the family as it is the first place where we learn and develop our core personality.
From personal point of view, I am coming from a family where education is seen as a value and since early age I have been motivated to study and strive for self-development. I have gone path of BA in Translation Studies until MA in European Studies and MA in Human Rights. I appreciate opportunities for education and I think nowadays many Western youngsters have sometimes lost the motivation to study as they take it for granted. Some respect towards the value of education has been lost in this modernized world where books have been replaced by Ipads and Iphones. I don’t deny the role of modern technologies in the education process but it seems that in my childhood it was easier to appreciate education through books and the wisdom of teachers.
To sum up, education forms also our values and points of view on the world. Moreover, besides education at school and university we have “life” education that we acquire from our work and personal experiences. Therefore, in my opinion, no one should be denied the possibility to have at least basic education at school, because it is crucial for the further development of the person and the possibility of that individual to contribute to the whole society.
By Dina Berzina, Senior Desk Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia (15 March 2015)
PS: Latest research shows that girls significantly outperform boys at school and at university; check out the OECD findings: http://www.economist.com/news/international/21645759-boys-are-being-outclassed-girls-both-school-and-university-and-gap?spc=scode&spv=xm&ah=9d7f7ab945510a56fa6d37c30b6f1709
Especially I would like to stress on the education of girls as in many poorer countries and countries in conflict, young girls suffer the most as they are the first ones whose education is cut off - they need to help family to earn living or they are forced to work under quite severe conditions. Therefore, I would like to emphasize how important it is to help for young girls and also women to gain education as it could help them stand up for themselves as well as to think more creatively how to improve the living of the family and their community. Here I would like to quote one of my favorite books (”Half the sky” by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn): “Education and empowerment training can show girls that feminity does not entail docility, and can nurture assertiveness so that girls and women stand up for themselves.” Moreover, education is a very important condition for a development of the person and the whole society. First and foremost value of education should be promoted in the family as it is the first place where we learn and develop our core personality.
From personal point of view, I am coming from a family where education is seen as a value and since early age I have been motivated to study and strive for self-development. I have gone path of BA in Translation Studies until MA in European Studies and MA in Human Rights. I appreciate opportunities for education and I think nowadays many Western youngsters have sometimes lost the motivation to study as they take it for granted. Some respect towards the value of education has been lost in this modernized world where books have been replaced by Ipads and Iphones. I don’t deny the role of modern technologies in the education process but it seems that in my childhood it was easier to appreciate education through books and the wisdom of teachers.
To sum up, education forms also our values and points of view on the world. Moreover, besides education at school and university we have “life” education that we acquire from our work and personal experiences. Therefore, in my opinion, no one should be denied the possibility to have at least basic education at school, because it is crucial for the further development of the person and the possibility of that individual to contribute to the whole society.
By Dina Berzina, Senior Desk Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia (15 March 2015)
PS: Latest research shows that girls significantly outperform boys at school and at university; check out the OECD findings: http://www.economist.com/news/international/21645759-boys-are-being-outclassed-girls-both-school-and-university-and-gap?spc=scode&spv=xm&ah=9d7f7ab945510a56fa6d37c30b6f1709
Guest Post:
'Being a Woman in Turkey'
I am a twenty-one-year old girl with Turkish roots but born and raised in Bulgaria. Till 2012, I had never been in Turkey. I only remember that when I was growing up I was watching Turkish TV and honestly - I don’t have quite as good memories in my mind about Turkey and life there (it’s all the fault of Turkish news): I clearly remember two things always shown on the news - 1. Women harassment and abuse (especially foreign girls during New Year’s Eve in Taksim Square, Istanbul) and 2. Female murders and family tragedies. Years later, I am now a third year Media & Entertainment student in the Netherlands, and this year I had to choose a destination for Erasmus where I was to make unforgettable memories for six months. I chose Turkey - a country with nice weather, delicious food and warm people. Before leaving though, I was a little worried about one thing - the mindset of the local people about women…
11 February 2015. A brutal murder of a young girl shocked Turkey. Ozgecan Aslan, 20-year-old psychology student, was killed by beating and stabbing after she resisted a rape attempt by the minibus driver who was supposed to take her home.
The murderer of Ozgecan was Ahmet Suphi Altındoken, the 26-year-old minibus driver who was arrested on 13 February. He confessed. He told the policemen that after he tried to rape her, Aslan pepper- sprayed him and scratched his face. After this act of self- defence, Ahmet Suphi lost control of himself and he stabbed Ozgecan and beat her to death with an iron bar. He also cut her hands off from the wrists so the police cannot find his DNA, under the nails of the victim. He panicked and called his 50-year-old father and a 20-year-old friend, and asked them for help to get rid of the body. They burnt the body of the young Ozgecan and threw it in a river near Tarsus. The body was found on 13 February after the murderer confessed the crime. His father and his friend were also arrested that day.
This terrible murderous act caused nationwide outrage and sparked protests across Turkey to end violence against women. Using the hashtag #sendeanlat (tell your story) lots of women have told their stories of sexual harassment and violence. In addition to that, a lot of celebrities wrote down their experience with the hope that this would help to change the mindset in Turkey. Well, it was a high time for Turkish people (mostly women) to raise their voices against this gender inequality in their country. Turkish men also took to the streets and to social media last weekend with the hashtag #ozgecanicinminietekgiy (wear a miniskirt for Ozgecan) while wearing miniskirts – an act of support to female victims of violence and a sign of respect to the murdered Ozgecan.
While I was an Erasmus student in Turkey last year, I experienced what it is to be a woman there. During my time in Izmir, I noticed that women could be harassed, abused and mistreated in public places and no one did anything about it because “it is a family/private matter”. But if a couple, kisses or hugs in a public place people will warn them because it is inappropriate act. Yes, it actually happens there! Let me give you an example: a close friend of mine, living in Istanbul (a rather “modern” city of Turkey), once told me how there was an argument between her boyfriend and a taxi driver who warned them not to kiss in his car and if they were going to do that, it was better to reserve a hotel room and do whatever they want in there (which is rather an insult). Her boyfriend got pissed and they started to argue. Then they called the police. They went to the police department and surprisingly after the testimony part, the police officers told the couple that the taxi driver is right and they should not behave in this way in public places because it is inappropriate. Personally, I don’t understand and I don’t accept this sick mindset! And by the way, I didn’t even listen to music while I was walking home because I was scared that something might happen and someone could hurt me.
I also remember how a boy was talking about two girls for whom he was sure they were whores just because they were in a night club, having fun, looking gorgeous and drinking on their own, without any boys with them. I asked him, why he thinks that (because you know IT IS NORMAL to go out with your girlfriends and have fun) and he replied “because there are no boys with them in a night club and they have short dresses on, they are drinking and dancing just on THEIR OWN, so it means that they are whores”.
Personally, I think this people’s attitude is very disturbing. I also think that this kind of thoughts and acts might be imposed on the population by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Don’t get me wrong, I DO NOT want Ozgecan’s murder to be turned into a political problem, but I believe this – and many more injustices towards women in Turkey – have intensified because of the political beliefs of AKP.
Why? It might not be a coincidence that AKP often agitates that “women cannot be treated as equal to men” (President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan), also that “women should not laugh in public” (Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc), that “each woman should give birth to at least three children” (Recep Tayyip Erdogan, when he was a Prime Minister of Turkey), and that “abortion is a crime worse than the rape” (Ayhan Sefer Üstün, Chairperson of the National Assembly’s Commission of Human Rights and AKP legislator).
Further, the statistics and facts speak for themselves: according to research, the number of women murdered in Turkey skyrocketed from 66 in 2002 (when AKP started to rule the country) to 847 in the first nine months of 2013. In addition to that, numbers show that between 2008 and 2011, 47% of murdered women were killed by their husbands or ex-husbands, however this rate is now 69%. I tend to worry that these numbers are not a coincidence with the fact that exactly in this period the AKP has been the ruling party in Turkey. You may make up your own mind, but the worrying signs are there – they must be noted and women’s rights must be protected and ensured. For a better, happier and more equal Turkey!
By Esin Galib (23 February 2015; Leeuwarden, the Netherlands)
11 February 2015. A brutal murder of a young girl shocked Turkey. Ozgecan Aslan, 20-year-old psychology student, was killed by beating and stabbing after she resisted a rape attempt by the minibus driver who was supposed to take her home.
The murderer of Ozgecan was Ahmet Suphi Altındoken, the 26-year-old minibus driver who was arrested on 13 February. He confessed. He told the policemen that after he tried to rape her, Aslan pepper- sprayed him and scratched his face. After this act of self- defence, Ahmet Suphi lost control of himself and he stabbed Ozgecan and beat her to death with an iron bar. He also cut her hands off from the wrists so the police cannot find his DNA, under the nails of the victim. He panicked and called his 50-year-old father and a 20-year-old friend, and asked them for help to get rid of the body. They burnt the body of the young Ozgecan and threw it in a river near Tarsus. The body was found on 13 February after the murderer confessed the crime. His father and his friend were also arrested that day.
This terrible murderous act caused nationwide outrage and sparked protests across Turkey to end violence against women. Using the hashtag #sendeanlat (tell your story) lots of women have told their stories of sexual harassment and violence. In addition to that, a lot of celebrities wrote down their experience with the hope that this would help to change the mindset in Turkey. Well, it was a high time for Turkish people (mostly women) to raise their voices against this gender inequality in their country. Turkish men also took to the streets and to social media last weekend with the hashtag #ozgecanicinminietekgiy (wear a miniskirt for Ozgecan) while wearing miniskirts – an act of support to female victims of violence and a sign of respect to the murdered Ozgecan.
While I was an Erasmus student in Turkey last year, I experienced what it is to be a woman there. During my time in Izmir, I noticed that women could be harassed, abused and mistreated in public places and no one did anything about it because “it is a family/private matter”. But if a couple, kisses or hugs in a public place people will warn them because it is inappropriate act. Yes, it actually happens there! Let me give you an example: a close friend of mine, living in Istanbul (a rather “modern” city of Turkey), once told me how there was an argument between her boyfriend and a taxi driver who warned them not to kiss in his car and if they were going to do that, it was better to reserve a hotel room and do whatever they want in there (which is rather an insult). Her boyfriend got pissed and they started to argue. Then they called the police. They went to the police department and surprisingly after the testimony part, the police officers told the couple that the taxi driver is right and they should not behave in this way in public places because it is inappropriate. Personally, I don’t understand and I don’t accept this sick mindset! And by the way, I didn’t even listen to music while I was walking home because I was scared that something might happen and someone could hurt me.
I also remember how a boy was talking about two girls for whom he was sure they were whores just because they were in a night club, having fun, looking gorgeous and drinking on their own, without any boys with them. I asked him, why he thinks that (because you know IT IS NORMAL to go out with your girlfriends and have fun) and he replied “because there are no boys with them in a night club and they have short dresses on, they are drinking and dancing just on THEIR OWN, so it means that they are whores”.
Personally, I think this people’s attitude is very disturbing. I also think that this kind of thoughts and acts might be imposed on the population by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Don’t get me wrong, I DO NOT want Ozgecan’s murder to be turned into a political problem, but I believe this – and many more injustices towards women in Turkey – have intensified because of the political beliefs of AKP.
Why? It might not be a coincidence that AKP often agitates that “women cannot be treated as equal to men” (President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan), also that “women should not laugh in public” (Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc), that “each woman should give birth to at least three children” (Recep Tayyip Erdogan, when he was a Prime Minister of Turkey), and that “abortion is a crime worse than the rape” (Ayhan Sefer Üstün, Chairperson of the National Assembly’s Commission of Human Rights and AKP legislator).
Further, the statistics and facts speak for themselves: according to research, the number of women murdered in Turkey skyrocketed from 66 in 2002 (when AKP started to rule the country) to 847 in the first nine months of 2013. In addition to that, numbers show that between 2008 and 2011, 47% of murdered women were killed by their husbands or ex-husbands, however this rate is now 69%. I tend to worry that these numbers are not a coincidence with the fact that exactly in this period the AKP has been the ruling party in Turkey. You may make up your own mind, but the worrying signs are there – they must be noted and women’s rights must be protected and ensured. For a better, happier and more equal Turkey!
By Esin Galib (23 February 2015; Leeuwarden, the Netherlands)
Guest Post:
'Man Up, Girls... But Not Too Much!'
My friend and classmate at Sciences Po Sandra Dickel wrote her Master thesis on women and leadership and its potential implications for international conflict. I was honoured to help her edit the final piece and can testify it's a super interesting read - girl, remember me when you become the new Angela Merkel one day ;)
You can see below an abstract from the thesis, kindly provided by Sandra. Due to the length of the abstract, you can find it as an attached PDF file, but please make sure you comply with copywrite laws and do not cite or re-print any contents without the author's explicit permission.
(18 February 2015; Germany)
You can see below an abstract from the thesis, kindly provided by Sandra. Due to the length of the abstract, you can find it as an attached PDF file, but please make sure you comply with copywrite laws and do not cite or re-print any contents without the author's explicit permission.
(18 February 2015; Germany)
abstract_ma_sandra_dickel.pdf | |
File Size: | 58 kb |
File Type: |
Guest Post:
'Perfection is a Disease of a Nation'
I am completely fascinated how a person’s mind can be so easily manipulated just by creating a trend and how one music video can set the standards for the whole world.
I am a plus size woman and probably I would be considered sexy if I was born in another century. But now I have to fit in some norms that change constantly which makes them a bit irrelevant, don’t you think? It’s weird that today I will be considered pretty because Meghan Trainor said that a little more booty is okay but tomorrow somebody else will sing that skinny is the new sexy and I will be off the charts again.
It may be the biggest Facebook cliché but I think it is completely appropriate to mention the comparison of the swimming suit of Marilyn Monroe that embraces her body and still shows her beautiful curves and what we find sexy today- 3 pieces of fabric as big as our Smartphone each. What happened with the “leave to the imagination” part?
Tie gap. This trend topped everything. Check out what the beautiful model Robyn Lawley has to say about it. I have one question: who the hell sets these standards? Do guys really care if you have a gap in between your ties… never mind, sounds so wrong even when it's written :D And the fact that there was such a drama with one of the Beyonce’s photos is so sad. You can see the (completely false accusation in my opinion) of Wendy in this video at 3:26. Beyonce proved everybody wrong with her 7/11 video. But even if she didn’t have a tie gap so what?
As a contribution to your perfect body you should also have huge boobs. It’s a standard set waaay back from Pamela Anderson and continues today with Max and Sophie from 2 Broke girls.
And I will finish with the booty. J Lo, Beyonce, Nicki Minaj, Iggy Azalea are some of the singers that created the Era of the Big Booty (that’s how “Vogue” describes it). But somehow I don’t feel like a “celebrated curvy woman”, probably because the twerking trend ruined it all.
Overall, if you want to be sexy in the 21st century you should have big boobs, big booty that you twerk with 24/7, tie gap and be dressed as the first woman (and no, I am not talking about Michelle Obama, I am referring to Eve).
To all of the ladies out there: Looks aren’t everything! Don’t live to please the others, please yourself and do whatever makes you happy. What better end than another quote of Queen B: “It’s the souls that need the surgery!”
By Rositsa Ivanova (12 January 2015; Eindhoven, Netherlands)
I am a plus size woman and probably I would be considered sexy if I was born in another century. But now I have to fit in some norms that change constantly which makes them a bit irrelevant, don’t you think? It’s weird that today I will be considered pretty because Meghan Trainor said that a little more booty is okay but tomorrow somebody else will sing that skinny is the new sexy and I will be off the charts again.
It may be the biggest Facebook cliché but I think it is completely appropriate to mention the comparison of the swimming suit of Marilyn Monroe that embraces her body and still shows her beautiful curves and what we find sexy today- 3 pieces of fabric as big as our Smartphone each. What happened with the “leave to the imagination” part?
Tie gap. This trend topped everything. Check out what the beautiful model Robyn Lawley has to say about it. I have one question: who the hell sets these standards? Do guys really care if you have a gap in between your ties… never mind, sounds so wrong even when it's written :D And the fact that there was such a drama with one of the Beyonce’s photos is so sad. You can see the (completely false accusation in my opinion) of Wendy in this video at 3:26. Beyonce proved everybody wrong with her 7/11 video. But even if she didn’t have a tie gap so what?
As a contribution to your perfect body you should also have huge boobs. It’s a standard set waaay back from Pamela Anderson and continues today with Max and Sophie from 2 Broke girls.
And I will finish with the booty. J Lo, Beyonce, Nicki Minaj, Iggy Azalea are some of the singers that created the Era of the Big Booty (that’s how “Vogue” describes it). But somehow I don’t feel like a “celebrated curvy woman”, probably because the twerking trend ruined it all.
Overall, if you want to be sexy in the 21st century you should have big boobs, big booty that you twerk with 24/7, tie gap and be dressed as the first woman (and no, I am not talking about Michelle Obama, I am referring to Eve).
To all of the ladies out there: Looks aren’t everything! Don’t live to please the others, please yourself and do whatever makes you happy. What better end than another quote of Queen B: “It’s the souls that need the surgery!”
By Rositsa Ivanova (12 January 2015; Eindhoven, Netherlands)