The Media Menace

RooshV has being filling facebook timelines over the last 24 hours for his recent planned trip to Scotland.

To start, I watched one of his talks on the BBC documentary "Reggie Yates Extreme UK" and it infuriated me, like it would most women and no doubt men too. This man is incredibly mysgonistic and in my opinion an giant attention seeker. However in the last 24 hours a petition has surfaced to stop him coming to Scotland to give a talk on his views.
I will not be signing this petition and here is why.

First of all, we are not a nanny state - we are a democracy and we cant stop people from sharing their views. Just because he speaks to a few people in Scotland doesn't mean he will change the way men see women, I have more faith in our men than that!


Secondly, the fact that RooshV has covered my timeline in the last 24 hours has angered me. Why does he deserve this publicity? As a man with extremist views, like every extremist, he thrives on media and public attention. Therefore all these petitions and outcries are playing right into his hands, afterall its free advertising for him!

Therefore in summary, I may not agree with his views and I can assume most of you wont either, however he is still a human being with the right to an opinion, and we can't stop that!
How to tackle this problem? Ignore it! Ignore him and don't give him the attention that he wants and does not deserve.

To find out more about RooshV and why he is so unpopular, check out http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-35474206

Poor Female Role Models?

Hello to everyone! Sorry I have been such an absent blogger recently!

So last week I was selected to attend the “Women of the World” conference in LONDON, as part of Dove’s “Change makers of tomorrow” team – which was an absolute privilege. The conference was incredible and it gave a platform for so many inspiring women from all over the world to speak about their life experiences and all the amazing things they have been doing! However ever since I have been pondering why we have so few women in powerful positions in our society when women are doing such amazing things. Following that, why do we never hear about all the amazing things that women have been doing all around the world?

A few of the team beside the stage!! 

I have entitled this blog “poor female role models?” because in terms of media representation of female role models in our society, the outlook is grim. Just take a look at the front page of a magazine or tabloid and you’ll find awful role models for young women. Our politicians wearing some horrendous skirt and shoes that don’t match, our celebrities who are “gaining 10lbs” or who are looking “less than glamorous with a make-up free face” So do we have poor female role models?

I completely disagree that we have poor female role models. There are so many amazingly incredible female role models in the world today, however we just don’t hear about them, or they simply get silenced behind the medias blaring horn of judgment.

Last week I attended the Women in the World conference in London, a conference that gave these amazing women a platform to tell their stories, seemingly away from the media judgment horn. Let me share some of the stories of these amazing women, to prove that we have a multitude of great female role models.

Dr Von der Leyen speaking to Tina Brown

Firstly my personal inspiration, Dr Ursula Von der Leyen – ever heard of her?

She is Germany’s Minister of Defence, and mother of 7 and a medically trained doctor, this women is definitely a positive role model to all young women,  who are constantly told by the media and society that you can’t be a mother and be successful; you have to choose. If you get a chance, I would recommend a look at her political policies on the German army, as she is definitely very switched on in terms of her thinking. She also made amazing reforms in Germany in her past positions as minister, introducing 2 months of paid paternal leave that only the father can take, encouraging men to have a more active role as a dad and allowing mothers to engage more with their career or other aspirations. She is also fighting hard for a culture shift in society, where more women are involved in politics, she said “We want diversity. Women are not better than men, they are different” eluding to the fact that we need a balance of men and women in high power positions to achieve a diverse society.

As you can tell I was completely inspired by her, but then I sat back and wondered why I’d never heard of her?

Cara onstage, with her shoes off!

Next someone who is particularily famous with the youth of today, Cara Delevinge. Cara started out in the media eye as a Model for Burberry, then moved into acting and recently singing.

As a Dove generation girl delegate I got the opportunity to meet this wonderful woman, and discovered she was a normal 23 year old female, just like me! When I first saw her, I actually became quite starstruck, shocked by the fact she was a normal human being, not some robot that the media has created.

Later when she spoke, she revealed she struggled with mental health issues, and some self confidence issues when she started out in her career. To have the strength to speak out and tell her story to a crowd of 900 people is immense, and I respect her massively for doing so. Some things that she said really stuck with me, “Flaws are the things that make us special. The cracks within us make us great and they need light shone into them”. In our idealistic society, where the media reports on every silly little flaw of every women in the limelight, it is hard to be able to accept ourselves as the wonderful women that we are. We need more role models like Cara Delevinge to remind us that our flaws make us not only beautiful, but they make us who we are.

However, if you google search “Cara Delevingne at the Women of the World conference” the first option that comes up is a daily mail article talking about what Kendall Jenner is wearing to support her friend at the event, rather than the amazing things that were said or the incredibly brave women who stood up and told their story to the masses.

My horrifying Google search after the conference had finished

This is the media and their portrayal of a woman in our society. A woman who could have such a positive influence in the world and be an amazing role model to young women but instead she is locked out of her potential by the media’s coverage of her.

Living with a media where our politicians are judged more on what they are wearing than what they are saying, and celebrities with an opinion are getting them dimmed down by the media criticism of their weight and makeup is not a media that I want to engage in. It is not only damaging to society as a whole, but it degrades the amazing role models that we do have that should be promoted. So do we have poor female role models?

So in conclusion, we don’t have poor role models at all, we simply have poor media coverage of amazing role models.

 Me promoting Dove's new campaign #NoLikesNeeded, to promote self-esteem in young people when posting "selfies" on social media! Check it out! 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/beauty/body/Dove-No-Likes-Needed-campaign/

Never too young....

A common misconception among the youth of today is this simple statement ...."Im too young to make a difference"
Maybe its something we tell ourselves - I'll do that when I'm older- or maybe its something that has been indoctrinated into the youth of today.

I recently turned 18 ... but I'm still too young to change the world... right? Wrong!
By the age of 18, Alexander Graham Bell had started to invent the telephone, Louis Braille started creating the Braille alphabet for the blind when he was just 16! Worse than that, Thomas Edison was only 14 when he started to invent the light bulb! Hearing this personally puts me to shame! There are no excuses for being too young, it is often said that a youthful mind is a more open mind so maybe this is the optimum period for new discoveries.

However we are all unique, its our Human of Being!
We all have different talents, passions, interests, tastes ... It makes us who we are!
Therefore each person has their own skills to put forward and make use of, because I say, you're never too young to change the world! Or at least do something that people wouldn't expect of a young person today.

So get out there, leave your mark on this world, be unforgettable... and always remember to be happy! I guess this is the point where I use the overused but highly relevant phrase YOLO ('You Only Live Once' for those of you have been living in a bubble!) or as I was taught by a French exchange student this week "On ne vit qu'une fois!"

Enjoy
Vicky xx

PS: If you are a science nerd like me, check out this video for the Google Science fair, and be inspired!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3Rqcg7BJwJM

Love is love, right?

Same sex marriage. Whats your view?

Im devoting this blog post to my views on the issue. On speaking to my mum earlier, she just told me "I dont have an opinion", so whether if you are sympathetic to my mother dearest or you oppose it extremely, I hope this post will enlighten you slightly on why I support it! (Disclaimer: I am honestly not trying to tell you that your opinion is wrong, however I simply want to express my opinion as this is an issue that is a part of the Human of being) Im an equalitist! 

In my personal opinion, love is love at the end of the day. I am straight, however I can understand that not all people are! If a man loves another man, then he should be granted the right to marry that man, and if a woman has found her soulmate in another woman, she should be able to marry that woman and live a happy life, 2 husbands or 2 wives - Whats wrong with that? Just because it doesn't fit the bill of tradition doesn't mean that it is wrong, does it?

We have people in uproar daily at the fact that the homosexual minority in society are bullied, however in not allowing equal marriage, we are alienating this minority in society further.About 30% of suicides have been related to sexual identity crisis, and the fact that people cant accept this, as it isnt the "norm"... what is normal anyways?! If we want to tackle the problem of homophobia, we need to give rights to the men who want to marry men and the women who want to marry a woman. What is difficult about this - its equality at the end of the day. 

One of the many reasons that people who are opposing the same sex marriage bill argue that It Always Denies a Child Either a Father or a Mother and that it ignores a child's best interests. In the Girlguiding UK Girl's Attitude survey, only 32% of girls surveyed agreed with the statement "Married couples make better parents than unmarried ones" - at this point, unmarried couples would have been single parent families or same sex couples who were deinied the right to be married. However opposition will tell you that it ignores the child's needs to have a mother and father figure, whereas girls believe that actually, they dont agree! Another statistic that stands out to me on the Girls Attitude survey is that 69% of those surveyed agreed that "Some types of family are treated less fairly, such as single parents, same sex and not married" - Which up to now is very true, with same sex couples being denied the right to marriage. 

One other thing that I have heard been argued is that "Gays have civil partnerships, why do they need marriage", well actually, these people are arguing for the irrelevance of marriage, so therefore I will go a step further and say, why should anyone get married. In my personal opinion, marriage is a declaration of love and wholehearted trust in a significant other, and committing yourself to them for the rest of your life in every way possible. But I suppose we all have our own definitions and expectations of marriage. In the Girls Attitude surveys, 72% of those surveyed disagreed that "marriage is just another piece of paper" proving that marriage still holds some worth for future generations, therefore why should we discriminate? Why should we make it exclusive to a man marrying a woman? 

One argument that I was shocked to read, was the fact that same sex marriage imposes acceptance. I think this is a great reason to why it must be implemented. Same sex relationships shouldnt be seen as any different to any other type of relationship .... they should be accepted, I see no reason why they should not. 

I suppose my underlying feelings on the issue are based on the fact that I see that love is love, no matter who it is towards, whether you are express love to someone of the same gender as you, or the opposite gender... its love at the end of the day - crazy. Irrational. Overflowing Love <3 

Love never fails, Love conquerors, Love is essential to life 

Vicky 

xx

Saying Hi and inspiring thoughts

So finally my January exams are finished! Thank goodness! Its been a lot of stress and a lot less blogging has been occurring, and for that I apologise! However, this is a quick post to say HI to you all out there, who are reading this post.

Its a quick post because early tomorrow morning I will be heading to the mainland to attend some Girlguiding Advocate meetings which I am very excited about, so be waiting in anticipation next week for me to share some of my experiences at our meetings as we talk gender equality and positive female role models!

So its a quick hello and goodbye from me, as I need my sleep, however there is an article I would like to share. Its called "What women lose in the fight to be thin", it is incredibly well written by Kate Orazem, with all too true statements such as "Whole nations of women spend their hours not reading books or loving bands or making goddamn change but instead agonizing over the inches of a waist." It is definitely worth a read, and Kate leaves us on a very positive challenge .... "For a generation of brilliant, driven, angry, wonderful women who get up, and look in the mirror, and demand so much less of themselves"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kate-orazem/body-image-what-women-lose-in-the-fight-to-be-thin_b_2551124.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

So I will leave with a thought, what do we, both men and women, sacrifice for external "beauty", do we sacrifice passion and motivation ... or even our individuality, to be clones of what the media perceive as perfection?! 

Love 

Vicky x

Tweet your way to change the world

Today I found a collection of inspiring stories about a twitter campaign called #NotBuyingIt
Basically what happens is if you see a product or ad that misrepresents or degrades women, use Twitter to post a description or upload a picture of the offensive item. By using the hashtag #notbuyingit the campaign can be followed by the campaign leaders "Miss Representation" - http://www.missrepresentation.org/take-action/notbuyingit/


And for all you male tweeters, you dont have to be female to join the campaign! One male tweeted recently "Really? A woman's body is a billboard or car? My daughter and wife are not commodities #NotBuyingIt"
In an example of the power of your twitter voice, I will tell you one of the success stories of this campaign - one where a few women used Twitter to eliminate a really terrible Hallmark greeting card in a matter of hours.






To the right is the card that caused the controversy.
Stated on this happy birthday card to a 13 year old says "If you had a rich boyfriend he'd give you diamonds and rubies. Well, maybe next year you will, when you've bigger boobies" - Found by a woman in Hallmark who tweeted about it.
What was pointed out was the subliminal message to young and impressionable adolescents that when your "boobies" are bigger you will get a rich boyfriend and he will buy you whatever your heart desires

What was incredible was that the picture was posted on twitter and hastagged and It was soon re-tweeted, blogged about and posted across the Internet. By this afternoon the mainstream press had even picked up the image and the story building on Twitter.
The results came instantly,  with Hallmark apologising and pledging to track down all existing copies of the card still in circulation. 

This is such a success story! The campaign Miss Representation stated that "passionate consumers were able to call-out, organize around and ostensibly eliminate a seriously problematic piece of media from the world’s most recognizable greeting card company (within the span of a single day!) is an awesome reminder of just what we are capable of as a community. And, in particular, the fact that this campaign was sparked, led and won by women is proof that new media is empowering the marginalized in a way that old media never did." From: http://www.missrepresentation.org/notbuyingit/how-twitter-defeated-a-hallmark-greeting-card/

So you can "use your consumer voice" or tweets, to help to
Its really that easy!  A simple message with the hashtag #NotBuyingIt could actually make a real impact!
So... Get Tweeting! 
Love 
Vicky 
xx

Happy New Year!

2012 .. When this year is stated, what will be your memory? The year the world was supposed to end? The year the Olympics came to London? The year you smiled more than you cried? 

I guarantee that all of us will have great laughs and funny times that 2012 could relive for them, but I'm sure all of us have some memories of 2012 that they want to keep there... Losing a loved one, Getting your heart broken, Not getting what you want - life doesn't always go to plan, and we can't predict what's instore for us in 2013 - But that's life, and we need to embrace it unpredictability, as -regardless of religious beliefs- I believe that everything happens for a reason. We may not always see it at the onset, but it will somehow reveal itself.

When I thought over 2012 for me, a number of things stood out for me. I shortlisted these things into a list of 12! Some of them are slightly comical so feel free to laugh...

1. Don't fall asleep with people around... You'll end up with photos like this on facebook ....

                                                                                                   

2. Coke is NOT a good drinks mixer 

3. Duke of Edinburgh Gold is rough! Worse than rough - it could be described as hell.... train everyday before you even think about doing it!

4. When on a ski trip with friends, it is NOT a good idea to do the cinnamon challenge - people will vomit, your room will stink for the whole week of cinnamon and vomit, and you'll be coughing up chunks of cinnamon from your lungs for a good couple of days.

5. Life has a lot of ups and good times 

6. But a heck of a lot of challenging, hard times

7. Being a little bit crazy is not a bad thing 

8. The Mayans were wrong! 

9. I am surrounded by people who love me dearly and have AMAZING friends and family - Love you all! <3 

10. I am stronger than I think 

11.  Boys are mean ... Don't make your car a target! 

12. I can make a difference in the world.

And my last one for 2013 ...The years go by so quickly - cherish every second 

Reflecting on 2012, what memories does it bring back to you? Good or bad, embrace them! They are in the past! And just remember, the experiences you had in 2012, have shaped your character for moving into 2013!

Lots of love and Happy New Year!

Vicky 

xx