An Ode to Jessica Clayton

For a few years now I've wanted to venture to Eastern Europe and this year I was going to do it, regardless of what happened. It got to the point where I was so determined to go that I was going to go alone, something I was originally completely opposed to. Then came the legend that is J Clay.

Cliche, but when you leave school, you really do realise who your real friends are; you no longer are forced to spend 6 hours a day with people. Regardless of how hard you try not to, you inevitably part ways when you go to university or take jobs that make you old and boring and stop you being able to spend time with your friends. On paper, myself and Jess probably shouldn't still be friends; her job requires her to travel away to events and uni for me means that I'm constantly drunk, so I break my phone a lot and therefore have no point of contact.

We also have other friends that are undoubtedly our bests that we throw into the mix, some common and some not. Megham Clements, the beautiful giraffe-like creature who we love dearly, Curly and Tammy and of course the rest of my LUWRU girls. But we know that our friends that we don't have in common would love each other and we're happy to introduce them as and when and we know they'll all get on - this is when you know that the people who you surround yourselves with are awesome.

But yes, Clay and I are best friends. We go through periods of talking everyday which is wondrous, but sometimes life gets in the way and we will only manage to speak properly once a month if we can. The incredible thing about this is that despite how much time we've had away from each other, each time we talk, it's as if we'd never left each other and this was proven by spending twenty days away together this summer. Spending twenty days with only one person is pretty intense, you'll be exposed to the person's strengths, their weaknesses and most importantly of all - how much of a nutter they are.

Jess and I discovered on this trip that we balance each other out VERY very well. There were times on the holiday where one of us (usually me) messed up and the other was there to provide solitude. E.g. When my bag got "robbed" and therefore the bank of Jess was there to help me out for the remainder of the trip when I had to cancel my card (my bag definitely did not turn up somewhere that I might have put it when I was drunk). And at times when Jess was being over-pragmatic and stressing that we wouldn't get things done in time or that things "weren't going to be ok," I was there to provide the hippie, (apparently radical) left wing, chill out vibes.

Some memories will live with me for a very long time, despite being drunk for the duration of the trip. The Drunken Monkey bar crawl in Prague where we first had a true taste of each others' limits, the Sparty in Budapest, lovingly referred to by Jess' soulmate Larry as the "Reservoir of Sin" and Benicassim festival which was honestly the best time of my life.

We met some interesting people from all over the world throughout our trip and were reconciled with our lovely friends Megan and Georgie in Spain for the festival. A festival which by the way, I cannot recommend highly enough. From the guaranteed weather to the brilliant acts the festival was always going to be insane, it was only the company that could have made it any better, which of course it did by miles.

We had some funny times, some scary times (Munich) and some crazy times and I wouldn't change a single part of it.

We absolutely had the trip of a lifetime and I can safely say that along the way, we've made friends for life. The important thing to remember is that your friends are important, you need to make time for them, you sometimes need to spend a shit tonne of money to go on holiday with them when you're close to not being able to afford it. This holiday (if you can even call it that) was phenomenal and despite ruining my body in every way it could be ruined, it has consolidated and reminded me why this utter knob head/absolute legend is my best friend and I love her.

This blog post however, does not weaken me. I still don't have feelings, this wasn't me, it was Bev.
CYA.

#NotInMyName

So while I should be putting myself to bed absolutely ecstatic that I've had one of the best days in a very long time, defending our title as Liverpool's best university women's rugby team and having a curry night with some of my best friends, I find myself writing this blog.

Tonight I go to bed more worried for the future of the world than I was when I woke up this morning. In the same week that we saw our government vote to cut the bursary for NHS funded courses, the politicians of our country have voted to kill innocent civilians, they have voted to destroy the homes of families and they have voted to encourage people towards radicalisation.

Well they didn't... But they might as well have.

I am just another small fish in a big pond with an opinion, which a lot of the time means nothing. But yes, I disagree with the air strikes. Now I'm not purposefully going all - "I do a degree in politics so I know what I'm talking about and you know nothing." Because it's not entirely true, but I believe that with my education in politics thus far and mere observation of previous international relations, I am somewhat qualified to have an educated opinion on this subject that isn't simply sharing a Bush/Gandhi/Martin Luther King Jr quote on facebook to illustrate the opinion.

So of course, many of you will disagree with me. But if you're sharing mirror articles, George Bush quotes and Britain First-esque posts, then this is what I say to you - sign up for the army. Air strikes will not be enough and in time they will need ground troops, some of them to torture innocent Syrian men, women and children as we have seen before in Abu Ghraib. So please, sign yourselves up.

Some of you may disagree with me with completely valid reasons and that's ok, that's your prerogative. We will each have different ideologies, different thoughts and different minds. We are inherently individual so anyone who has actually attempted to make an educated point on why we should bomb ISIS strongholds in Syria, which many argue is only logically following on from the current troubles in Iraq and Afghanistan (which I don't agree with either) - thank you for adding intelligence to this debate rather than mindless racism. I still don't agree with you and you won't agree with me - but like I said, we wont, that is what democracy is for.

In 2015 I voted for the Green Party, a party I knew from the outset would not advocate war and the destruction of our planet. However the UK voted in a Conservative party majority, currently led by a man who thinks that killing people will educate the people that kill people that killing people is wrong - find this confusing? I think so too.

But yes, as "democracy" will fail us time and time again, our unrepresentative, elitist, disproportionate House of Commons has voted for the air strikes. I'm not going to go into the deeply ingrained unfairness of our democracy because I can't be arsed - read a book.

A quote I saw from someone who reckons they're an academic in International Relations on Facebook - "We need to take our country back!" What is our country? We're an island. We are part of something much bigger that the United Kingdom, United Nations or the European Union - it's the world. Of which we have only one (get where I'm coming from? If not what I'm trying to say is this - let's not screw it up). The world is currently a place where I can't see myself ever wanting to bring a child into, I'd see myself as selfish for having to leave the Earth before a person that I had brought into the destruction, pain and suffering of the world has to endure it.

We can jump into bed with America, we can legitimise crusades in the name of democratic peace, we can bomb ISIS strongholds and we can get rid of terrorism by fighting fire with fire, right?

Wrong.

Muslims who believe their culture has been oppressed by the intrusive West will only feel more marginalised - fueling more movements to extremism. The exact thing we should be educating against.

And hello? A small percentage (of the already small percentage worldwide) are already in this country, so bombing Syria isn't already going to antagonise them? Of course it is. We can grab our giant red white and blue balls and bomb ISIS strongholds, but this is a global movement - bombing their strongholds will only awaken extremists around the world, we don't know who they are, where they are or where they can or will strike next. Paris being a prime example.

"CLOSE THE UK BORDER PETITION." Sweet. So we're going to force people out of their countries and leave them on the border?

Syrians who have fled from the exact people we are waging war against are seeing the superpowers of the world bombing their homes and in turn, the world doing next to nothing to give them a place of refuge. It's a vicious circle and it doesn't matter who is causing it, it matters that these are lives and the people are terrified. The only luck we have over these refugees is the country that we have been born into, it could just as easily be you.

But don't even get me pissing started on the arms trade or the situation regarding oil in the middle East - we are giving these people their weapons so that our country's economy doesn't suffer. I've given up on hope that the government may one day put people before profit in all aspects from job losses to providing people they intend to fight with, with weapons. And oil? If I start, I won't stop talking about it.

All we really need to do is look at what happened with Iraq, history is repeating itself. And remember this - the people who are at the most risk of  being killed by terrorists are living in these Eastern countries. In America, you are 187 times more likely to starve to death than be killed by terrorism, which only says to me that the world's priorities need seriously shifting. But again, following an attack on white people from the West (Paris) we are all prepared to go to war. Does this sound similar to the events following 9/11? No? Well I think so and look how that has 'ended'. Many of you who are making a case for these air strikes are the same people that want Tony Blair tried as a war criminal. Cross reference and make one opinion.

Now I don't have the answers on how to solve any of this, many of you will ask me "well, if not air strikes, then what?" My simple answer is - I have no idea. The more I learn about politics, the less I want to be involved with it. I don't understand violence because I can safely say that there is nothing on this Earth that I care about enough that would make me want to bomb for it. So no David Cameron, I am not a "terrorist sympathiser" for not wanting to kill another human being, but I'll tell you what I'm not - a monster. One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter - so while we're bombing Syria and reciprocating to them what they have done to the West, what jargon do you think they're branding us with? Turning more of the East against the West. We are NOT divided, we are a human race, we are one. Killing is killing and now we're just as monstrous as the perpetrators.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-terrorism-statistics-every-american-needs-to-hear/5382818

Bigger and better than Crohn's Disease

This morning I saw a trending post on Facebook and I couldn't help but write about it. It was an article from the Independent about a young man called Ste Walker who suffers with Crohn's disease. Many of you do already know, but for those of you that don't, my boyfriend and best friend Sam suffers with the disease. Luckily, Sam's condition doesn't seem as severe as Ste's, but of course, all his struggles are relative to him.

Sam was diagnosed earlier this year, however it was something that we knew had been happening for a while - he now manages his condition with a hefty amount of tablets and has just finished a course of steroids. His steroids have given him bad skin and he has a very weak immune system, meaning that small cases of what we'd see as a bit of a cold, can really affect him and make him ill.

Now - if you met Sam, you would have no idea that this was all going on inside of him. Although he is 23 next week, he is often referred to as "the man-child" for being so hyper and upbeat so unless he comes out and tells you (which he does tend to, as he's quite open about the disease), then you probably would never guess.

Talking to someone everyday, you don't really see the effect that the disease is having on their body, but when I look back to pictures of him at his worst, when he couldn't eat properly and was under 10 stone - I can really see how ill he was.

If I'm honest, I find Sam's disease hard to understand - I'm ashamed to say that sometimes I'll forget and get frustrated if he's too tired to do something or if he's being short tempered with me and it has really tested our relationship. But I always make it clear that he knows that no matter what happens, I'm always here for him - because if I find it difficult to understand, one of the people closest to him, then how can we expect others to? It doesn't matter how much literature I read on the subject or how much people try and explain it to me, Crohn's is a disease that is very hard to understand if you're not going through it. Which I assume is true for many 'invisible' diseases.

There is a very strong link between Crohn's and depression. This is for many, many reasons. The disease can give you extremely painful stomach cramps - making day to day activities difficult such as simply going to work or even leaving the house. This can leave you feeling not only in pain, but helpless - 'normal' people can go to work and go out with their friends with no problem, so why can't you? It doesn't seem fair. It's important that anyone with an 'invisible' disease knows that it's not invisible, people do care and understand and they do want to help you and make you feel better.

A lot of Sam's friends are at University and a few of them have just left for 6 months in Australia and so he feels as though there's very little to do with his time - although he's played football pretty much all his life, even that can be difficult. I know this gets him down, but luckily he has incredibly supportive family and friends, although they may not always be around, myself included. He probably wouldn't say it to many people as he likes to come across as the happiest guy around, but in reality, he's not necessarily. He has good days and bad days, luckily the good outweigh the bad. However, it's important to remember that what's going on, on his face is not always exactly how he feels and we need to be mindful of that. 

Later this year (or it could be next year, I'm not sure!), he has signed up to do two marathons in two days in order to raise money for Crohn's and I think it's very important that we all get behind him. It's something that has affected his life in a way that he never could have anticipated and it's something that anyone can develop; there's no known cause or cure.

Reading Ste's story this morning really hit home because although it's hard and it doesn't make Sam's struggle any less of a struggle, you can see that it is not as bad as it could be. I wish Ste all the best on his journey as I know that he is probably going through some very similar experiences to Sam. Something I know too well. 

Although it has strained our relationship in the past, it is part of who Sam is and it has made him who he is. I wish I could make his life easier and make it go away, but I wouldn't change our experiences. I believe that everything happens for a reason and Sam is dealing with it incredibly. He is such a strong person and I love him for it.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/ste-walkers-facebook-post-about-living-with-crohns-disease-is-shared-more-than-33000-times-a6720451.html

Just doing my Best - My day at the Sky Academy

Long time no speak! I haven't blogged in a month as apparently University gets harder the longer you're there. Meaning that I have much less free time and when I'm not reading articles on Colombian Paramilitary Demobilisation or chapters regarding the Speech Act Theory, I do try to maintain some sort of a social life. However! Something has happened to me in the last week that I couldn't possibly go without blogging about!

Last Tuesday I took a trip down to London to take part in the Journalism Insight Day at the Sky Academy. For those of you who know me, please be extremely proud that I managed to get there and back safely. I got on all the right trains at the right times and I didn't even get lost (bravo, bravo).

When I arrived at Syon Lane station, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Rather than being nervous I walked into the room feeling excited, open-minded and ready to take whatever the day threw at me. The room was welcome, the staff open and the other young people and fellow students were exactly like myself.

It was refreshing to be around ambitious, like-minded people, people who I could definitely envisage in the competitive industry of broadcast journalism.

Firstly, we were sat down and told that we were very privileged to be there, as there were so many applications and so very few places. I couldn't help feeling extremely proud of myself, and the day had barely begun! After being told what to do in the event of a fire and various other formalities, we were given a talk from the legend that is Jim White. He told us riveting stories about his career to date and gave us his invaluable advice which stressed two main points - get contacts in the industry and learn shorthand. This was particularly useful information to me; it further consolidated my knowledge that in the industry of journalism it's ok to be bolshy, to build friendships and ask for phone numbers/emails and it also informed me for the first time that shorthand was an incredbly useful skill that could put you a cut above the rest.

(image from http://www.mainlinemenswear.co.uk/blog/2014/january-transfer-window-round-up)

The day continued with talks from Martin Stanford, Laurie Tucker and Mike Kumar - a deputy news editor. Martin highlighted the vast change in journalism with the growth of technology and reminded us that the industry we were looking at that day could change as quickly as overnight. They then led a workshop in which we created a 'mini news show'. We had to write headlines, an introduction, a piece to camera and then decide in which order the stories would be told. A challenging, but fun activity that was highly interactive and got those of the group who may have been slightly more quiet, right in the spotlight.

After lunch we were taken on a tour of the studios which was absolutely breathtaking. The feeling of being in a newsroom was indescribably exciting and (if it's at all possible) made me even more ambitious than I already was! This was followed by another talk concerning internal communications and more active workshops which taught me much more than I could ever learn sat in a lecture theatre.

The day was wrapped up with a "speed networking session" in which we met and talked to many people who worked in all different positions within Sky. They told us a great number of things about their careers and gave us advice on how we could enrich our own. The main thing that I took from this exercise was that education is important but experience is crucial. In order to succeed, we need to put ourselves out there, make our names and go from strength to strength as no one can or will do it for you, but you.

And this goes for anything, going to the Sky Academy taught me that in life it's ok to apply for a position that you may believe is slightly out of your reach, it's ok to ask that question that you might feel is a little risky and it's imperative take any opportunity that is thrown at you, whether expected or not. Because 99 times out of 100, you aren't losing anything, you're building your character and getting ready to jump over the next hurdle that you come across.

This is why after almost a week of reflection, I feel ready to go forth with my life confident that a career in journalism is within my reach if I work hard enough. I can't recommend the Journalism Insight Day enough to anyone aspiring for a career in the field. It has further encouraged me in a way I didn't think was possible, to continue to do my best in order to achieve. My best is all I can do and of course, it's what I'll do.

Cameron, Cocaine and a Pig Carcass

You would have had to have been living under a rock to not have heard of pig-gate over the last couple of days. Oh, and that David Cameron has hosted what the media have called “cocaine parties.”

And as a nation we are shocked - disgusted that the Prime Minister of our country once had wild days where he put his “private part” into a pig carcass and snorted a few lines of cocaine. Or are we?

Those of us who have been to University will know all about initiations of some description. Granted, I have never sexually assaulted a dead pig, but I’ve done some pretty silly things in the name of trying to prove myself in similar situations. In those situations, you want to show your new pals how fun you are, how much of a party animal you are and that you're not a bore and if that means doing what David Cameron did – then many would say, so be it.

Bloody hell – I know members of sports teams that have done things of equal craziness; this story, although a great conversation starter, isn’t really THAT shocking coming from the nature of what he was expected to do.

So the question is, why do we hold public figures to such high standards?! Why are they expected to never have any skeletons in their closet? If you ask me, anyone with a bit of character has made some questionable decisions in their life and why would you want a leader without that type of character? David Cameron probably didn't think - "one day I'll be Prime Minister and I will be held to higher standards than another normal human. So I'd best not do what you tell me to do, I'd rather be known as the disobedient fresher and have to do forfeits during my whole University course."

Chances are, Mr Cameron didn't want to disrespect a pig in such a way (it's disgusting), so why did he do it? And why am I not shocked?

Some of you are probably thinking, "well if he's strong willed enough he would just say no and would never do anything horrible that he didn't want to do." But anyone who has been involved in initiations will tell you that, that just isn't how it works. As a fresher, you look to all of your seniors and you know that they have all been through the same things. In a sick sort of way, it makes you closer as a team or group of friends. Again, pretty twisted, but if you prove that you will do whatever it takes to gain their respect, a reciprocal respect grows and you both know what you will do for each other. Which is something that I imagine is really hard to grasp unless it's something you have experienced.

But it’s not just politicians, it’s influential people in the media. For example when Hunger Games actress Jennifer Lawrence’s nudes got leaked (by some awful, awful person who obviously has nothing better to do), she had the best response that I have ever seen. She wrote – 

"I started to write an apology, but I don't have anything to say sorry for. I was in a loving, healthy, great relationship for four years. It was long distance, and either your boyfriend is going to look at porn or he is going to look at you."

It is and was always her body, it was up to her who she decided to share these pictures with, whereas now she has been exploited and her personal images (that she has every right to take and share them with whomever she pleases) are now out there for everyone to see.

I know for a fact that if I got famous the internet would have a field day. I’ve made comments on facebook, sent texts and done things that wouldn’t necessarily be seen as “angelic” but who cares? I should not have to answer to anyone and right now, I don’t need to, but what if one day I am wrongly expected to? I would argue that there are very few people that haven't at least put one bad thing on social media, sent one mean text or done something that they wish they hadn't because if they were ever in the public eye, they would get slaughtered.

When I was younger, I had vile facebook arguments, I declared that I followed the BNP and I did things that now, I would never ever do and that are so not like me. We underestimate how much people change over the years and the choices they make and their points of view. (Cameron probably (probably) wouldn't violate a pig now).

I suppose this argument is completely irrelevant if do you believe that public figures should be held to higher standards, but I personally, do not. Of course they have done things in their life that are a bit (or a lot) nuts, but they probably didn't expect anyone else to hold them to judgement for it in the future! I think it's sad that we have to stop and think "what would others think?" to such an extent before making decisions for ourselves. The public doth protest too much, methinks.

The thing we forget about these people is that (believe it or not) they are people. They’ve done stupid things, they’ve made mistakes, they’ve sexually assaulted a dead pig at uni and we need to get the bloody hell over it.

I read the Bell Jar not so long ago and something that was quite memorable for me was that a character said - before you do something, imagine how you would feel if it was printed on the front page of a newspaper. I disagree with this from this perspective because it's not the person that is perpetrating the act that is in the wrong, it's the person that is holding them to account and furthermore, those who criticise. So I've changed the perspective of the idea and made it this: Before you criticise anyone else for the decisions they’ve made, imagine if all the mistakes you’d ever made were on the front page of a newspaper.

Much ado about Nipples

Get your nips out for the lads feminism.

I'm not talking radical Andrea Dworkin - "violation is a synonym for intercourse", scream at a man for holding the door open for you style. I'm talking healthy, contemporary feminism that everyone can fight for, men and women alike.

The F word (feminism, not food) is one that makes me cringe due to its negative connotations. But technically yes, I am a feminist. According to the dictionary, feminism is "the advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes." I think by this definition, most of us by now have realised that men and women need to be equal and we all are therefore "feminists" (huzzah!).

The issue that I'm blogging about today is one that you've probably heard of. It's quite prevalent in Western feminism today - the Free the Nipple campaign. The point of the campaign is relatively simple on paper - to make it socially acceptable for women to go completely topless in public if they choose to and to get websites such as Facebook to relax their censorship rules and make them the same as the rules regarding male nipples. But in practice, it is so much more difficult!

Social networking sites such as Facebook and Instagram remove pictures of topless women as they "violate their community standards". It says on the Facebook Community Standards page, "We remove photographs of people displaying genitals or focusing in on fully exposed buttocks. We also restrict some images of female breasts if they include the nipple."

This condition specifically singles women's nipples out as something so inappropriate that it is not fit for the public to see. Why? Anatomically, men and women's chests are the same, all that is different is that generally, women have more breast tissue. So if you disagree and feel that women shouldn't be allowed to expose their breasts, then ask yourself why. Why is something that is anatomically the same treated differently between males and females? That my friends, is pretty much the definition of double standards.

A reason why you may disagree with the Free the Nipple campaign may be that you think that children shouldn't see such things, they're too young and people would get too aroused etc.. Let me dispel that for you - you believe this because you have grown up in an era where women are hyper-sexualised. If the only place that we see female nipples is porn or during sex, then of course women's nipples will continue to be associated with sex, despite sex being their secondary purpose. Meaning that "Freeing the Nipple" will remain a taboo. Not only this, but as that is the only place we see them, women are expected to have perfectly symmetrical, perfect sized, perfectly coloured, perfect perfect nipples, which is hardly ever the case. This leads to body confidence issues, despite them being totally unnecessary; although we are all different, there is nothing to be ashamed of.

As a world, we are able to picture, exploit and buy women's bodies. In magazines, on videos and in the flesh. But as women ourselves, we are unable to expose ourselves or live with the freedom to make our own decisions regarding our bodies. Thus they are not our own, they belong to those who can objectify and sell them. But we are not products - we are more powerful than those who can sell us. Only when women have stopped being hyper-sexualised will they gain their full and deserved respect; allowing women to have the choice on whether or not to go topless (like men already have) will be a massive step towards this and equality.

Freeing the nipple will, with time, take away the skewed view of women's nipples as sexual objects and they will finally be normalised, as normal as a man's nipple.

I won't lie, if tomorrow we woke up and it was socially acceptable to bare all if we wanted to, it wouldn't be the first thing on my to do list. I don't particularly want people to see my nipples (I have grown up in an era where women are hyper-sexualised, remember?) but it's the element of choice which is an issue. Men are allowed to have the privilege of choice as to whether they would like to go topless, women are not. I would argue that few women's first priority would be to walk around the streets wearing no top or bra, but few men do. It's not the act itself, it's the principle.

I've read so many different opinions on this, including a man calling the activists "sluts" for wanting to "Free the Nipple," - no this is not a bunch of sluts itching for the chance to show a nipple, this is 21st Century feminism.

Having read this, you may still think that women should cover up and have more self respect and decency - but then you are only fueling the fallacy that men and women are equal and have equal rights. If you really think about the logical reasons as to why women are not allowed this privilege, I doubt you can - because really, there aren't any.

To finish off I just want to say how our troubles that we can't show a little nip may seem like a drop in the ocean compared to Malala Yousafzai, the young girl who was shot in the head by Taliban fighters for voicing her views upon girls in education - but all struggles are relative. So while we pray for (and join!) Malala's fight, we will also fight our own - one nip at a time.

Sources
http://mashable.com/2015/03/16/facebook-new-community-standards/#LpMpSm9KB5km
http://freethenipple.com/

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