To the Man who called me fat on Saturday night,

You probably don't remember me, but I won't forget you. I think that's funny. Something that may be a passing comment for one, will linger in the thoughts of others, floating up and down, coming into sight every so often and at points, consuming them. I won't think of you all the time, I may go for months without thinking about you, but I will remember.

The same way that when I was 11 years old, I remember that I came in crying to my parents because a boy who I was playing on the green with had called me fat. The exact same way that in Year 9 on a school trip to Newquay I wore a bikini as I felt comfortable around my friends, I was called fat by a different boy and haven't felt comfortable since. The same way a man did exactly what you did a few years previous and brought me to tears whilst out with my friends. I will remember like I remember all of these.

You don't know this, you don't know my history or how I have struggled with my body image virtually my whole life. You don't know that you have only added to how awful it makes me feel. You don't know that, that night before I went out, I was in tears because I didn't feel comfortable with how I looked.

Now the thing is Man, eating disorders are serious illnesses; it might not even shock you to find out that you may be part of the reason that anorexia exists, and that it has the highest fatality rate of any mental illness.

You are the reason that I have tried and I have once before made myself sick because I have felt so disgusted with myself.

You are the reason that I will go on believing that I am unattractive and therefore won't get undressed in front of my boyfriend, despite him telling me every single day that I am beautiful.

But the thing is, if I had to identify myself and could only choose one characteristic - it would not be that I am fat. I have fat, like you probably do yourself, but that is not what I am.

I am.

I am kind-hearted. I am happy. I am loved. But I am also human, so no matter how many times that I tell myself these things, your comments still sting.

Approximately 91% of women are unhappy with their bodies - so just remember that 9 girls out of 10 that you see on the street are likely to be deeply offended if you were to comment negatively on their appearance - don't do it at all.

I will probably never see you again, but I hope that you will one day know that what you say can have a lasting effect on people, like it has on myself. I am not alone in this, many other people will not forget things that have upset them. If what you're saying is purely negative, then it is never worth reaching your lips.

Think twice before saying something that will not benefit your character or contribute to the happiness of someone else,
Leah.

http://www.eatingdisorderhope.com/information/statistics-studies
https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-body-image

Too Pretty to Play Rugby

I am not a particularly observant individual. I have also not done too much research into this; so it comes entirely from what I have (badly) observed when I say that I'm pretty sure that women's sport has seen much better coverage over the last few years than it ever has. With the women's World Cup being shown on BBC this Summer, it bodes well for what looks like an upsurge of coverage in women's sports. Which will hopefully lead to an abolition of any sort of negative stigma towards women who play and will help people to see that women are no less important than males in sport.

Despite this, I do believe that there are some differences between men and women - they tend to play differently. Referring more to rugby, I would argue that in-play, women are more calculative in their decisions when playing whereas men tend to smash each other up and hope for a good outcome - both excellent methods, but still different. Of course, these are massive generalisations and are not always so black and white, women can be just as vicious as men, and men can be just as tactful in their decisions as I have seen women be.

This does not mean that we (women) are not made for contact! Our legs are fast, our bodies are strong and at times, playing rugby is not a walk in the park! Some girls I know have taken some bloody hard hits, sustained some pretty nasty injuries and have also been at the giving end of them.

Some LUWRU injuries, just in case you're interested -

Sian was given this gorgeous shiner only 10 days before starting her new job having graduated from Liverpool University. The other picture is of Amy Brady's leg after it endured a particularly rough game. No one (including herself!) realised quite now bad it was until we stepped off of the pitch. She may bruise like a peach, but no one ever hears her whinging!

Our Tammy dislocated her finger during one training session and STILL came back fighting to be awarded Back of the Season for this year.

Emily Oliver ruptured the cruciates in her knee and has subsequently been absent for the end of the season, we're wishing her a speedy recovery as she's currently undergoing a long course of physio and potentially another operation!

Buzzy Bee, one of the only two fresher second rows, broke her collar bone and had to be cut out of a shirt in A&E. No one had any idea that she'd actually broken anything as she didn't even feel any pain until we were almost back in Liverpool.

Eleanor, (conveniently, the other second row) was also badly injured this season before she'd even set foot on the pitch! In the same training session that left Tammy with a finger at a 90 degree angle, Eleanor broke two bones in her foot. She hopes to return this season with a vengeance!

They're a bunch of bloody hard girls! 

So why do we play if we end up getting smashed up and constantly look like we're wearing black and blue tights?

Because playing Rugby is exhilarating. There are few words on this Earth to accurately describe how you feel when you're on the pitch. The adrenaline is so intense you feel as though you're going to burst as you create an indestructible force against another team alongside your best friends. What feeling could top this? 

I was 14 when I first decided that I wanted to play rugby, but it wasn't until I was 18 and at Uni that I actually joined a team. Becoming involved in sport isn't always easy, especially when the sport you want to play isn't widely offered and therefore I played in my school team which only consisted of one game and a 7s tournament before the only female P.E. teacher willing to teach us left to work at another school. 

Although, I learnt that it is never too late to start! University opens up so many windows of opportunity and becoming involved in sport is one of the most rewarding and exciting ones. I can't recommend it enough, if you can't do it at Uni, when can you?! During my time with LUWRU, I have been lucky enough to play with players of all different abilities, from players who had never touched a rugby ball to some extremely experienced players. This is a photo of Catherine O'Donnell, she is part of the England u20s squad and she also plays for LUWRU. We have the pleasure of playing (and partying) alongside her in the BUCs league. The dynamic of having experienced and inexperienced players only makes us stronger as a team as we learn from each other and we develop pastoral relationships on and off the pitch.

Winning or losing, Rugby is an incredible sport and the people you play against generally mirror the attitude that you give to them. If you're looking for a good, clean game, that's what you'll get. Rugby is a game that is traditionally played by 'gentlemen' and any decent rugby player will recognise that this is a standard that is in our interest to maintain.

But how we feel about the sport doesn't change the sneers and comments that we get from people when they learn that we are rugby players. So I'm just going to share with you some of my least favourite things that have ever been said to me.

• "So you're a lesbian then?"

Something that I have heard way too many times. No I am not a lesbian, but if I was - who cares? The assumption that rugby players are all lesbians is uneducated and wrong. Some people who play rugby are lesbians, some people who play netball are lesbians and some people who don't play any sport at all are lesbians. The fact that a few people still have this ridiculous assumption only shows their ignorance not only to the sport, but to culture today.

• "Oh but don't you have to get up close with lesbians? Doesn't that make you feel uncomfortable?"

I would have absolutely no problem in getting up close to a lesbian on the pitch to tackle them/to scrum alongside them/etc. etc. etc.. Lesbians don't instantly fancy you just because you're female and if you think they do, then you need to deflate your ego. I don't care if there are lesbians on my team or lesbians on the opposing team, we are there for one reason - to play rugby. AND if you're referring to the relationship we have off of the pitch - I care even less about having friends that are lesbian/bisexual/straight/anything else under the sun, because I'm not an arse.

• "But you don't look like a rugby player!"

Of course I look like a rugby player! That is what I am. Whatever your idea is of what a stereotypical rugby girl looks like - forget it and look no further! We are rugby players and as you can see from the picture on the left - we are sexy, so the insinuation that you made that all rugby players are butch and ugly, couldn't be more wrong.

• "You're too pretty to play rugby!"

By far the worst. Since when has being pretty had anything to do with playing a sport and enjoying yourself? Never. You are never 'too pretty' to do anything that will make you happier or a better person. Besides, we can be pretty AND play rugby.

• "But aren't you scared of being hurt?"

I'm scared as much as I would have been had I taken up crochet knitting, except I try to live my life on the more exciting side. Every sport has the potential to injure you and I have seen some fairly brutal injuries during my time playing hockey. Not only this, but you rarely hear people saying to boys - "aren't you scared of being hurt?" No they're not, and no, we're not either.

But aside from the negativity occasionally shown from these imbeciles, joining Rugby was the best thing I could possibly have done at Uni. I have met some of my best friends through it. They are great girls; I don't have a bad word to say about any one of them and you're sure to find at least a couple of girls who are up for a night out, whatever day of the week it is.

Finally I would just like to say that Sport England's 'This Girl Can' campaign is absolutely brilliant. Women deserve to be able to play sport for enjoyment and not feel intimidated or like they're being judged. Although different sports will suit different people, I can't emphasise enough how rewarding it is to join a sports team; team sports improve your life in so many ways, fitness, friendships and your general happiness. No matter how old you are or what your ability is - do it, you won't regret it.



http://www.sportengland.org/our-work/national-work/this-girl-can/

The Assumptions made by Enola Gay

On the morning of the 6th of August 1945, the first ever nuclear bomb was used in war. Tens of thousands of people died instantly and the fires that came as a result of the bombs did not go out for three days; killing more and more people as each horrifying day went on. Three days later, a larger device was released over Nagasaki.

This week, people are celebrating the end of the Second World War and the end of the atrocities that it encompassed. By association, celebrating the dropping of these bombs and the obliteration of two cities. 129,000 - 246,000 people were sent to an early grave.

When I was younger (I'm talking until I was 17) I had no tolerance for other people's opinions but now, as far as politics students go - I would say that I'm pretty ok with people having viewpoints that are different to mine. I would argue that the key to peace is knowing and accepting that your opinions and beliefs are different to others. I understand that views on warfare are not easy things for people to agree on and my opinion will grate on the principles of others. However the purpose of this post is not to cause a fight, it is to give my personal understanding - or should I say - lack of understanding of the existence of nuclear weapons.

I feel that this is an appropriate time to make the announcement that I have incredibly good friends that are in the army and my Uncle was a solider. I respect wholly what soldiers have done for our country and how our lives in the UK are better because of what they have done. I believe that if becoming a soldier and fighting for this country is what they view as right, then they should be free to do so. Just because I don't support war, it doesn't mean that I don't understand that many people around the world believe that it is necessary for the betterment or defence of their country. I am not disrespecting soldiers or individuals - I want to make that very clear.

This blog could be the length of 50 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix copies explaining why some people believe that America were in the right for bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki, all being completely valid beliefs. Perhaps your view is that the bombings were an imperative last resort by the Americans as a desperate response to the attack on Pearl Harbour, the torture of American prisoners and most of all, to put an end the atrocities that at the time, the world could see no end to.

War makes no sense to me. I cannot give you a sufficient explanation as to why the Americans should not have used nuclear weapons as a response to what Japan had done, because I do not understand why political/economic/moral disagreements between the countries escalated to war in the first place. I cannot give you an explanation as to why war of any sense is needed to resolve issues, again, because I do not understand it. All I can tell you is that I disagree with it.

Got to be one of my favourite quotes. Some people may argue that Japan surrendered after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and so it created peace. Surprise, surprise! I don't agree. The millisecond after that bomb was dropped from the Enola Gay, world politics changed forever. The millisecond after that bomb was dropped, a premise was set, a moral level of what is acceptable was unveiled. A moral level which told the inhabitants of the Earth that it was ok to destroy others and the planet they live on. The above quote at first seems to be saying that bombing for peace is pointless, just as fucking for virginity is. But as an annoying English student, I see it to mean something different.

*Please excuse this next metaphor*
When a person loses their virginity, whether it's on their wedding night or down an alley - there is always some sort of build up, perhaps between yourself and your partner, or perhaps you haven't told anyone, but you have been wondering what it will be like. There is sense of almost not wanting to do it, not wanting to spoil what can seem so unblemished. But then it is done. It is not something that can be undone, you may not want it to be undone; whatever your view on the matter is - you cannot take back what has happened. That then sets the standard for what is held in the future. Some people find that the build up for the second time they have sex is not quite so big - and soon it may not become a big deal whatsoever. Some people find that the same goes for new partners - after a while it can start to lose its significance.

So rather than simply saying that bombing is pointless; is what these girls meant that when one bomb is dropped, it will simply become routine for countries to eradicate enemies in this manner? Leading ultimately, to the end of the world. This was shown when nuclear weapons were almost used once more only 6 years after Nagasaki when China joined the Korean war.

After the end of the Second World War, countries invested more and more money into defence because if  their enemies ever decided to drop a bomb on them - surely they would need weapons to attack back. But if they had weapons in the first place, then perhaps the enemy wouldn't attack them in the fear that they would react. This is what is known as the security dilemma. All these countries are armed with nuclear weapons and each country invests more and more money into them (see the Conservative's shitty plans for Trident) to seem the most powerful in order to prevent other countries from attacking.

And there you have it - that is Realist theory on defence in international relations - something arguably prominent in international politics today.

Realism was the leading school of thought during the Cold War which is arguably the closest the world has ever come to nuclear war. The event I'm referring to is the Cuban Missile Crisis. I wont go into it right now, but feel free to google it in your own time.

No, there has been no nuclear war in the last 70 years, but it came agonisingly close in 1962 between the USA and Russia and also the UK joined America in the invasion of Iraq over the supposed Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) (which have NEVER been found). This proves to me that even the idea of WMD is too dangerous to support to any degree. It also shows how close the world can come to nuclear confrontation if the time calls for it - and nuclear confrontation is not something that is taken lightly or should be seen as an option.

In the 2015 General Election the Green Party, contrary to Realist theory, campaigned for unilateral nuclear disarmament. This means that they would renounce Britain's nuclear weapons without seeking the equivalent from actual or potential rivals. Dangerous, some might think. Too dangerous to consider.

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is a campaign to non-violently rid the world of nuclear weapons and other WMD in order to create a safe world for the future. It is a campaign that I support as I don't support war and I don't support the use of or existence of nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons can only end in two ways, waste or death. The Conservative's plans to upgrade Trident has been estimated to cost £20bn. Why are we investing that money into something that if is used, will only begin the end of the world? Hospitals, schools, welfare, international aid, the environment. Think about where this dead money could have been spent. That's what it is when the WMD are sat underwater with virtually no purpose - dead money. If I'm proved wrong and the bombs are used, then it's likely that no one will be around to say "I told you so."






SOURCES
http://www.cnduk.org/campaigns/global-abolition
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/hiroshima-nagasaki-70th-anniversary-facts-aftermath-damage-first-nuclear-bombs-used-war-1514194
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jan/17/trident-future-election-agenda-costs-spiral-nuclear-submarines

10 things that I have learnt at Festivals

This week I'm keeping it very simple: I'm going to tell you 10 things I have personally learnt from going to festivals! If you've ever been to one, I'm certain that you'll be able to relate to several of these and if you haven't - ah well... Welcome.

1. Not showering for 5 days straight is not as horrible as it sounds
- Before I went to my first festival (Reading), I was nervous; mostly due to the fact that I was going to be horribly dirty and unable to shower for 5 days straight. The mere thought revolted me and it was the part that I was least looking forward to. However, it turned out that dry shampoo and a packet of wipes did me fine! Everyone was in the same boat as me and let's face it, in a muddy field full of people off of their faces, very few people give a toss what you smell like - there is no room for self consciousness. Getting home and having the longest bath of my natural life was tremendous and made me feel as clean as the day I was Christened. Although not showering isn't the most fun (or hygienic) thing I've done in my life, it was not as dreadful as I thought it would be.

2. I am not as tall as I thought I was
- Over the course of the few days I am at festivals, I hear a lot of music, but I do not actually see any acts (unless of course, they are on a big screen). BUT! Rather than letting this bother me, I tend to close my eyes and get lost in the music, though it is important to remember to put your sunglasses on (no matter how dark it is) so that people don't think that you're dying. This is something I thought was very individual of me until I told Hannah my cunning tactic and found out she was doing the exact same thing. Being short at festivals isn't something that will ruin your time, plus, if you're short enough then you will be the nominated friend to get on a stranger's shoulders when you've lost the squad which is an incredibly useful tool *ahem* Alex Asher.

3. There are evil people in this world that will attempt to mosh to house music
- My moshing days ended the day that my love for metal ended. Back in't day I went to a Bullet for my Valentine gig and at this particular gig, they were supported by Bring me the Horizon - so you can imagine, there was a lot of moshing. So in certain situations, I can understand why a load of angry adolescents would want to relieve their anger by angrily shoving each other to angry music. As a fan of drum and bass, I can even slightly understand it in this environment, but house? Absolutely not. I can tolerate a skank, even a shuffle, never a mosh. Stay out of my dancing space and I'll stay out of yours. As Hannah and I will tell you, when house music is allowing you to reach Nirvana, there is nothing worse than someone bursting your bubble just as soon as you are on the doorstep.

4. Toilets are more disgusting than I ever thought they could be
- I don't know if you've ever been to Reading festival, but if you have, you will know the extent of the hideousness that I am referring to. Nothing, not even the sincerity of my good friend Bella, could ever have prepared me for what I was about to experience. The "toilets" are a hole sitting above a giant hole filled with excrement that only rises throughout the weekend. Not only this, but each toilet seat is covered in bodily fluids and you can only guess what they are. If (like I did) you arrive on the Wednesday, you have two days before you can enter the music arena where the toilets there are only marginally better.

5. Pulling at festivals has to be the most grimey thing in the world
- Not showering for days on end makes you smell like ass, not showering for days on end when you're sleeping in a tent and surrounded by lots of people in a crowd - not even worth trying to describe. Sharing that filth and various other uninviting bodily fluids with another human that you don't know sounds like THE worst possible thing I could imagine. Trying to explain this reasoning to some random who attempted to get with me during Disclosure didn't go down too well as I'm sure you can imagine.

6. Wellies are a gift from God
- If you're at a festival in the UK, it is probably raining or has rained or will rain soon. Therefore wellies will help you from being knee deep in mud/whatever the hell is on the floor. I'm sure Jessica Clayton regrets her decision of not wearing wellies when her big toenail fell off following a heavy skank/sidestep at X. She has well and truly learnt her lesson regarding footwear. Bless her! (I would post a picture of it, but I'm scared she'll dump me as best friend.)

7. Drinks are atrociously expensive
- It is no wonder why UK festivals are notorious for their drug culture when they are able to charge £4 for a bottle of beer. I'm a giant lightweight and that would cost me over £20 to get mildly tipsy for a few hours, let alone sloshed for the whole weekend - which was the general aim of the festival. Unless (like myself) you are lucky enough to sneak in a bottle of vodka, you can end up paying another hundred or so pounds on top of what can already be a very expensive ticket, depending on which festival you have chosen. Best options (I would suggest) are either to rob a bank beforehand, take out a second mortgage or sell a kidney if you aren't planning to try and smuggle alcohol into the event.

8. I discovered music that I had no idea I liked
- From Flume to ScHoolboy Q, festivals have had me standing in a crowd, loving life and the music despite having no idea what I'm listening to. They have introduced me to new artists and new genres alike; I would probably have no idea how much I liked grime had I not been to a festival.

9. 95% of people want to be your best friend
- Almost everyone is so friendly. That guy pissing on your tent? Friendly! That dealer walking around the crowd repeating "Charlie, Mandy, Cat."? Friendly! And you are just another one of those super happy dappy clappy friendly people loving life. The small 5% are those who are just looking to get into fights, but I would argue that there is a similar (if not higher) percentage if you go out to town on a Saturday night, so to the untrained eye, they go largely unnoticed.

10. You have THE best time of your life
- It was only a year before my first festival that I was completely repulsed by the idea of one. I was beyond skeptical about them, vowed I would never go and it was only severe FOMO and an old friend that managed to persuade me. I discovered that I was so very wrong about them. I had an incredible time, from the awful toilets, to eating canned all-day breakfasts and everything that once sounded like hell, I discovered that it was actually just a muddy heaven. I urge anyone who hasn't been to one to go A$AP Rocky. If you're not a fan of camping and you're too precious to go a few days without showering - don't be put off! Ease yourself in with one where you don't have to camp - there are plenty! Or just throw yourself in the deep-end like I did and come back and try to tell me that you didn't enjoy it.

Healthy and Happy, Positive and Accepting - "Real Women" in 2015

Very few of you will have noticed that the blog is a wee bit late this week; I have been ill (I am never ill). So I am in quarantine, watching the 40 year old Virgin and feeling sorry for myself whilst drinking copious amounts of water and eating dry toast.

Moving swiftly along - this week my blog is discussing the attitudes towards different sized women in the modelling industry. The other week, I read an article and the link was entitled "Here's what Victoria's Secret swimsuits look like on real women." The use of the phrase "real women" made me squirm. To me, the title suggested that the writer thought that Victoria's Secret models aren't real women because they are simply smaller, more toned and let's face it, more Photoshopped than the average woman. But (and I might seem naive for saying this) I think that there's only so much Photoshop can do; if they want to show slim women, they will pick slim women to be the models in the first place. So that left the bigger issue - that the writer suggested that they were not "real women" because of what they looked like.

And so I thought to myself: What do we think a "real woman" is in 2015? Now, more than ever, more plus-sized women are on the modelling scene and I think we'd be stupid to ignore this new culture of "skinny shaming" that we're seeing all over the place now that (arguably) modelling isn't exclusive to those that are size 6 or below. This led me to the conclusion that the Victoria's Secret article was a covert form of skinny shaming.

All you need to do to know what skinny shaming is, is look at Meghan Trainor's lyrics in "All about that Bass" - awful song, awful message. I'm not even going to dissect the lyrics and tell you which bits are unacceptable, because I hope many of you will agree with me, and will already be able to tell me - it's plainly obvious.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's brilliant that larger women are finding happiness in their own skin, but putting others down to find that happiness? That is what I am not a fan of.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you'll probably have heard of this lady above - Tess Holliday. She is the first size 26 model to be signed by a major industry - Milk Management. In terms of making a statement - of course, she's done it! But is it the right way in which to challenge the norm? I'm not so sure. I don't believe that the way to combat unhealthy slim models saturating the modelling industry is to attempt to decrease their significance by replacing them with equally as unhealthy, plus-sized women. Whenever you put someone on a public platform, they become someone's inspiration. It could be 10 people, it could be 1 million people - setting the right type of inspiration is important in this business.

Another woman you may also know - Australian model Robyn Lawley. At size 12, she is also a plus-sized model. Yep, you read it right, plus-sized. I have insecurities, much like many of you reading this. I am a size 12, but am I plus-sized? I wouldn't class myself as plus-sized. And neither should anyone else, including the modelling industry. The average dress size in the UK is size 16, so I (like many others) am shocked that a woman as slim as this is being classed as this. By having size 12 models classed as plus-sized despite being 2 whole dress sizes below the national average, it implicitly shames larger women and signifies that it is more desirable and 'normal' to be less than plus-sized, which is depicted here as size 12. (Which may I just say, is a perfectly fabulous size to be, not that I am biased at all.)

Views of what is found typically beautiful in a woman has changed over history. We can see this if we look to the Renaissance period (1300 - 1700AD) where in art, everyone appears to be nakey. My good friend Faith Harvey (History of Art student; potentially the most pretentious degree I've ever heard of, but you've gotta love our Faith) told me that the reason for this was primarily to celebrate the human form. We can see that the 'ideal' is far from what we might see in modern art or photography today. This shows that without a doubt, the notion of beauty has not always been the same as we believe it is now.


Marilyn Monroe peaked as an international sex symbol in the 1950s and early 60s, before her untimely death in '62. Despite there being much disagreement over what size she may have been, the smallest that has been estimated with any real credibility was a UK 8. Small, but still larger than the average model today. Marilyn Monroe was and is still seen by many as classically beautiful - this is without being as slim as other models now and around that time period.

60s supermodel Twiggy - given this nickname due to her extremely thin figure, was one of the first models blamed for eating disorders in young women. She has however, always maintained that being slim was all down to genetics and she was never unhealthy. She has even spoken out against girls starving themselves in order to obtain bodies like those shown in magazines or on catwalks. Many models have quite literally starved themselves to death, for example the sisters Luisel and Eliana Ramos both died due to complications related to malnutrition and anorexia. Eliana aged only 18. The underlying issue of suggesting that to be thin is the only way we can be beautiful is not only that we pressure regular girls to attempt to achieve these unobtainable expectations, but unhealthy models with BMIs of 15 also feel that they are "too fat" to succeed in the industry. Making girls with anorexia nervosa models, such as Luisel and Eliana, can be detrimental to their mental and physical health. Which is why modelling should not be exclusive to thin girls - it should be exclusive to healthy girls.

Although if we look at models in recent centuries, it's easy to see how the idea that being thin is best hasn't really changed that much. In the 90s, the modelling industry was dominated by Kate Moss and now Cara Delevingne - two models I absolutely love for numerous reasons! Also two models who maintain that in terms of their weight - they are healthy and it is down to genetics (which is absolutely fair enough - some people are built that way!). However, they are both incredibly similar and like Twiggy - very slim. Showing that as a society, the type of model that we find appropriate has barely changed, thus putting pressure on women who weren't necessarily built this way to attempt to obtain these "ideals". By only having one popular image of what is beautiful, it ignores all the rest - and of course, there are many.

I'm under no illusions - I know that the use of this type of girl as a model is an advertising tactic based on the notion that clothes look better on slimmer women and therefore more people will want to buy the clothes. However, I don't believe this is true! Plenty of men and women find different body shapes in women attractive. Some people love the slim catwalk look, some love curvy girls and some love size 26 girls like Tess Holliday. It's all very personal, so why in the past have modelling agencies only had very slim (and sometimes unhealthy-looking) girls as their models? I would argue that with the plus-sized world making the impact it has recently, this could possibly change in future.

But unfortunately, I am still not satisfied. I don't feel that we should fight fire with fire. Why should we start a war between slim and large girls? Why can't we celebrate health rather than body shape? And why on Earth do we not have models of all shapes and sizes rather than only having those at separate ends of the spectrum? We need a more accurate representation of the women in our society. By this, I don't mean that we should have all models at a size 16 as that is the average - I mean some size 6s, some size 8s, some size 10s and so on. A little anecdote for you - I no longer shop online because I am sick of all the models being size 6 - when I buy the clothes they look astronomically different on me to how they do on the website so there's no point in me going on as I may as well be shopping with my eyes closed. This could be changed so easily by having different sized models to give a more accurate representation of what clothes would look like on a variety of girls and I am positive that the industry has enough money to do this.

So what we need is a change in industry and more importantly - a change in attitude.

The industry must be changed so that it is inclusive for women of all shapes and sizes. Not simply "fat" vs "skinny" which is not only a negative way of challenging the norm, but it actually excludes the vast majority of us.

And attitude? Well that's up to us to realise that what we see in magazines is not how we need to live our lives. When we accept this and show the industry that their standards are not something we need to live up to, then maybe they will see how stupid their suggestion is that one type of body shape is beautiful. We need to be comfortable in our own skin and comfortable in the knowledge that it's ok to be different. If being comfortable in your own skin means eating more healthily and going for a fortnightly jog - do it. If it means eating three good meals a day because you don't already - do it. The most important thing is that you are happy and healthy, finding a balance can be incredibly hard but it is not impossible.

Lastly, to compliment this change that we hope to see in the modelling industry, we need to celebrate diversity in a positive way. Body shaming in any proportion is not something we should need to do to empower ourselves. Do not be judgemental towards those who do not wish to look the same, or do the same things as you do. Positivity and acceptance for who you are and positivity and acceptance towards the choices that other people make for themselves is crucial to create a happy and healthy society.

Sources
http://www.buzzfeed.com/laraparker/heres-what-victorias-secret-swimsuits-look-like-on-real-wome?bffbstyle&utm_term=4ldqphh#.che3lEvyD
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/womens-blog/2013/nov/06/debenhams-size-16-mannequins-diversity?CMP=fb_gu
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/04/marilyn-monroe-was-not-even-close-to-a-size-12-16/

The Fox and the Hound

Take a look at the picture and think about what you see.

Love? Family? Do they remind you of a family pet? A member of your family? A particular person? Or do you just see animals? 

As far as I'm concerned, any of those thoughts are entirely valid. Many others that didn't come to my mind straight away, will be also. The point of that exercise, ladies and gents, was to humanize these animals. Looking at them, I find that they are not dissimilar to dogs - I don't think that even the most prolific meat eater can deny that. Dogs - an animal that we would be horrified to see anything bad happen to. Look to the dog eating festival in China and how many of us from the West were disturbed, despite chickens and cows going through the same experience simply for the satisfaction of our tastebuds. The point I'm trying to make is that which animals "should" and "shouldn't" be harmed is completely arbitrary and we are conditioned to believe so, based on our culture. 

Many of you will know that there is currently a ban on Fox Hunting; the Hunting Act of 2004 made it illegal to hunt wild mammals with a dog. But this week, there will be a vote on whether to repeal the act or not. 

For those of you that don't know, fox hunting is where posh people dressed like utter knobheads train dogs to find and kill/rip apart red foxes for "fun". They are training dogs to be killers when the dogs know no better. Hounds kill families of foxes while they attempt to flee for their lives, it would be a terribly different situation if the foxes were training the dogs to kill the hunters and their families, eh? If a dog killed an innocent human, it would be put down, so why should we celebrate and praise dogs for killing innocent foxes?

I find it very difficult to believe that this is even an issue in this day and age. I've said before that I was under the impression that we had been educated beyond seeing the body of a mutilated animal as amusing. If that's what you find amusing, then I suggest you lock yourself in a room with some sort of gaming console because you clearly haven't ventured into the 21st Century. I'm all for children getting out in the open and getting their heads into books instead of iPads, but it seems that they need to hand their iPads to hunters who appear to not be able to find anything better to do with their lives (in an age where there is more to do for fun than kill). 

The fact is, fox hunting (which originated in the 16th Century) is archaic and has no place in the UK where it is seen as cruel, barbaric and inhumane by many, many people.

We've all (hopefully) been shocked by Kendall Jones' and Rebecca Francis' pictures of their trophy hunting in Africa. 

N.B. I use these examples as people are likely to know who they are NOT because they are females. I believe that they have been unfairly targeted in the media as they are attractive females and we are not accustomed to seeing attractive females hunting. For the record, this does not mean that they are any better than any other trophy hunter. They are all awful.

So WHY if we've all been so shocked by trophy hunting in Africa, are some of the leaders of our country willing to regress to this inhumane, anthropocentric practice? The answer - for "sport".

David Cameron, with whom I have little beef, because as far as Conservative leaders go, he's been OK (still a bit of a bell, but OK), has said - "I have always been a strong supporter of country sports. It is my firm belief that people should have the freedom to hunt, so I share the frustration that many people feel about the Hunting Act and the way it was brought in by the last government. The Hunting Act has done nothing for animal welfare. A Conservative Government will give Parliament the opportunity to repeal the Hunting Act on a free vote, with a government Bill in government time." One of the many reasons why I did not vote Conservative.

Of course, this view is shared by many others, I was following a car with a "Countryside Alliance" bumper sticker saying something about repealing the Fox Hunting ban. Now, while I managed to refrain from ramming into the back of the imbecile, it showed me that the people that I personally find disgusting and barbaric are not too far from home. 

On the contrary, there is the organisation Blue Fox - Conservatives against Fox Hunting. These are members of the Conservative party who will be voting to keep the ban on fox hunting as they believe it is the right decision; good for animals, the countryside and society.  

However, we need to do everything we can to help, so I urge you all, if you agree with me, to sign the petitions on these links to show the lack of support there is for repealing the Hunting Act. 

http://www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/campaign/hunting/takeaction

https://www.change.org/p/david-cameron-mp-keep-the-ban-on-fox-hunting-2?source_location=search_index&algorithm=curated_trending

AND IF YOU DON'T AGREE WITH ME watch Disney's Fox and the Hound (easily one of my favourites) and be moved by the friendship that forms between Tod and Copper. If you still do not agree, you are a lost cause and I pray you step on an upturned plug.

But all hope is not lost! Many MPs have already decided that they are going to vote against it, however very few people have predicted the outcome - based on a few votes, it is pivotal.

Sources

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/david-cameron-says-he-wants-to-repeal-the-fox-hunting-ban-10091571.html

https://www.change.org/p/david-cameron-mp-keep-the-ban-on-fox-hunting-2?source_location=search_index&algorithm=curated_trending

http://www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/campaign/hunting/takeaction

Oobat Laurtsnem

This week I am writing about something that personally really, really irritates me.
Something that affects 100% of the population in one way or another.
Something so widely recognised that it has its own wikipedia page.

Some of you will probably disagree with me that this needs to be addressed and may dismiss this as another "whingy feminist rant". But I believe that today, this is one of the biggest things that is disadvantaging women. Living in the 21st century, I am optimistic about gender equality. We live in a tremendous time where, in my opinion, the glass ceiling is disappearing, women have the same rights as men (in terms of voting, etc.) and gender is becoming less and less of an object. Of course, we've got a long way to go, but look at how far we've come!

- Menstrual taboo. (The reverse spelling of the title; I had to do something clever and cryptic so you'd read it!)
Ironic really, that there is such an overt term for a subject so undoubtedly avoided in every day life.

From a young age, boys are hidden away from the harsh reality of periods: I remember in year 6 when we had sex education lessons, boys and girls split up while girls learnt about periods and boys learnt about something else. Still don't know what, dying to find out - let me know.

Women (because that's the cliché isn't it? That when a girl starts her period, she's a woman) are made to feel dirty or disgusting for something that is as natural as breathing. I know this because I (yes) am a woman. And too many times in my life have I felt embarrassed to admit it! Times including once to a male teacher, and many times in the P.E. changing rooms when shyly asking the other girls if they had any spare sanitary towels.

Women's bodies are incredible; we can endure childbirth, and although they plague us for a week a month, our periods have one of the most exciting functions. We've all (even boys) had the year 9 science lesson that explains what a period is, so I wont bore you with that. But I will bring in something of my expertise - reading into things too deeply. Vaginal bleeding can symbolise many things: that this person's body is ready for a change, she is a woman; that this person is not ready to conceive a child or that this particular child is not ready to be born. Men, as our physical counterparts, should respect this.

Some of us (me) at our time of the month, turn into the evil Period-Bitch-Monster from Hell. My mood swings are so bad that they give me whiplash (not to mention my boyfriend, who deals with me so well, thank you thank you thank you). But again, this is all very natural. You're not a moody, horrible person, you tend to release your frustration on those people you love the most. If they really love you, they will be able to deal with seeing you at your worst. People, especially those close to you, although they may already know this, should learn to respect and understand that sometimes, it may just happen. Of course, it's not an excuse, but it is a contributing factor.

But how can we expect the men in society to respect female menstruation when our society itself does not? We've all seen the posts circulating facebook that tell us that included in the price of tampons is VAT, a 5% reduced rate which is the lowest under EU law. The argument is that sanitary products are a luxury and women have menstrual cups, (read up on them, I'm considering switching as it's much better for the environment) but that's not for everyone! Tampons aren't for everyone! Some people prefer sanitary towels. Whatever your preference, "tampon tax" as it has been dubbed by the media, is in my opinion, ridiculous. If you'd like to know why I think it's ridiculous - please read this article which explains which items in the UK have VAT and which do not and try not to get as frustrated as I did - http://www.which.co.uk/money/tax/guides/what-you-do--and-dont--pay-vat-on/. Sanitary products aren't really a "luxury" when we can simply not go without them. With today's general attitude towards menstruation, we could not regress to the old days when we didn't have sanitary items and women used to have to carry a rag around with them to wipe (which is where the phrase "on the rag" comes from - crude, yet clever). Today that would seem like the most horrific thing a person could do, so no, I don't really see sanitary items as a luxury, but a necessity. They're hardly Prada handbags.

Having a period is nothing to be ashamed of - it is your body's way of telling you that you are a healthy woman. I'm not going to pretend I haven't experienced this, or be tactful because let's face it, when am I? All of us women will know the struggle of perhaps waking up having come on your period and you've bled onto the bed, or that awful feeling of coming on when you know you don't have any sanitary towels, or some of us may have come on while on holiday or at a swimming bath. We get desperately embarrassed and try to hide the sad fact, with the thought that if anyone did happen to notice that red spot on your jeans, they wouldn't understand.

Well no, up to 50% of the population will have personally experienced what you're going through.

But what some men genuinely don't understand (and this isn't me calling you stupid, you don't know simply because you don't have vaginas) is that women don't go to the toilet and menstruate in the same way they would go for a wee. It can happen anytime, anywhere and we do not have any control to be able to stop it. This is why it can be really embarrassing for women if one of the aforementioned situations happens, as people may categorise it in the same ballpark as women weeing themselves. Wrong. Very, very wrong.

I'm not saying that removing the taboo from menstruation will ever make this embarrassment that women feel completely go away - I can't predict how people will feel about the situation in future - but it will HELP.

If I've said it once, I'll say it a billion times more - language is the most powerful tool we possess. If you're sad, the best thing to do is open up to someone, if you're happy, tell others and infect them with your joy, if you want the period taboo to bugger off - TALK ABOUT IT. We are lucky enough to have the freedom of speech; the best thing we can do is utilise this and make a change. I truly believe that power lies within the masses and if we want to do something, we can do it. We can have gender equality - I want to live in an age where young girls aren't crying because they've started their period, where women can openly ask one another if they have a spare tampon, where we are not made to feel disgusting for something that is healthy and natural.

I want women to celebrate being women and not be ashamed of themselves. I want men to support women in celebrating this. Men are just as important as women in making this change. Together, we make something absolutely awe-inspiring - the human race. Homosexual, heterosexual, male, female, transgender, no gender - who cares?! We need to support each other and I believe that to abolish this taboo is absolutely fundamental to achieve gender equality.

Finally, I will enlighten you all on something that has inspired me - the #periodpositive campaign. Chella Quint developed this movement in order to counteract the mainly negative public discourse. She does this by using a positive approach explained on the website - https://periodpositive.wordpress.com/.

Although I strongly believe in this cause, individuals can only do so much - it's up to you, men and women, to end this taboo in a positive way.

Have a think, kids!

SOURCES
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/we-need-to-talk-about-periods-9638267.html
https://periodpositive.wordpress.com/
http://www.which.co.uk/money/tax/guides/what-you-do--and-dont--pay-vat-on/