#womensissues

[chronicillnesshumor]

[girltalkcollectives]

Being Considered Pretty By Society's Standards Is Both A Privilege And A Prison

Pretty privilege is real. The world treats you differently when you fit society's beauty standards. Doors open easier. People are nicer. Life seems smoother.

But here's what nobody talks about - the exhausting pressure of maintaining that privilege. The constant awareness that your value seems directly tied to how you look that day.

Because that's the thing about pretty privilege - it's conditional. It's fragile. It depends on:

Staying thin enough

Looking young enough

Being polished enough

Appearing effortless enough

Always being "enough"

The world is kinder when you're pretty, but it's also watching. Waiting. Ready to revoke those privileges the moment you:

Gain weight

Show age

Look tired

Stop trying

Just exist

Pretty privilege means people listen when you speak, but they're not always hearing your words. They're looking at your face, your body, your package. Your ideas come second to your appearance.

It means getting opportunities, but always wondering if you earned them or if your face did. It means constant impostor syndrome, wondering if your achievements are yours or your looks'.

Pretty privilege means easier dating - but it also means never quite knowing if someone likes you or just likes looking at you. If they're interested in your mind or just your appearance. If they want to know you or just be seen with you.

It means being treated better at work, but also not being taken as seriously. Being called "sweetie" in meetings where men are called "sir." Having your intelligence seem surprising rather than expected.

The pressure is constant:

Don't age

Don't change

Don't slip

Don't fail

Don't rest

Because pretty privilege isn't a gift - it's a loan. One that can be recalled the moment you stop meeting the requirements. One that charges interest in the form of your self-worth.

And the maintenance? It's expensive:

Time spent on appearance

Money spent on upkeep

Energy spent on presentation

Youth spent on preservation

Worth spent on perception

Pretty privilege means being seen - but often not for who you are. Being heard - but often not for what you say. Being valued - but often not for what you offer beyond your appearance.

It means being put on a pedestal that feels more like a stage. Where everyone's watching, waiting for you to fall. Where the spotlight feels more like a searchlight, looking for flaws.

The truth about pretty privilege is:

It's temporary

It's conditional

It's expensive

It's exhausting

It's a trap

Because while the world treats pretty girls better, it also punishes them harder for stepping out of line. For aging. For changing. For being human.

So yes, pretty privilege is real. But so is pretty pressure. And maybe instead of envying the privilege or denying its existence, we need to talk about how messed up it is that someone's face determines how human they're allowed to be.

At the end of the day, pretty privilege isn't actually privilege at all. It's just another way society controls women by making their worth conditional on their appearance.

Link to our website: https://girltalkcollectives.com/

[wqebelle]

Of Sound Mind and Someone Else's Body

Amazon: Kindle and paperback

Alan Maitland thinks he’s The Man.

It’s taken him years to navigate the man-to-man, testosterone-soaked battleground of Wall Street politics. He’s had to fight tooth and nail to climb each rung of the corporate ladder. However, Alan’s always believed it’s going to be worth it - and tonight, he’s going to bed convinced he’s on the verge of finally breaking big.

But then, the impossible happens.

Alan awakens in an unfamiliar hotel room, with an unfamiliar man, and inhabiting an unfamiliar body. Somehow, he switched places with a beautiful young stranger - and right when she was getting intimate!

Meanwhile, across the city, high-class escort girl Hana Toussaint finds herself similarly transported - into a lush bed, in a luxurious penthouse, and into Alan’s body! The two of them have inexplicably traded places, and after the desperate scramble to track each other down, they quickly realize that neither of them knows why.

So begins the frantic search for a solution, and the struggle to maintain each other’s lives long enough to return to them. As ambitious Alan learns firsthand how society treats women, he also witnesses how deftly Hana guides the future of his high-flying career. Soon, he comes to realize that he’s developing feelings for the woman who became the man he used to be.

Of Sound Mind and Somebody Else’s Body is a fast-paced, provocative science fiction story for adults, which poses the divisive question: “Are you man enough to be a woman?”

[amythystraine]

New Release coming, 2023

Yesterday I officially completed writing my 10th book. Let the editing begin. This book will see a March release date.

[mphodagadayt]

"Examining the Deep-Rooted Gender-Based Violence in South Africa: Causes, Impact, and Challenges"

#GenderBasedViolence #SouthAfrica #DomesticViolence #Femicide #EndGBV #ViolenceAgainstWomen #WomensIssues #Patriarchy #GenderInequality #ApartheidLegacy #MentalHealth #HIVRisk #GovernmentAction #Underreporting #SupportServices #SocialStigma #AwarenessNeeded from Mpho Dagada https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEP8DWCm4m0

[shreevishwamrut01]

Women's health is essential for overall well-being. Regular checkups and screenings are important for early detection and prevention of health issues . . . . #womenshealth #womenshealthcare #health #wellbeing #preventivecare #earlydetection #womensrights #stayhealthy #healthcare #doctor #womensissues #womanpower #selfcare #healthylifestyle #fitfam #gymme #fitnessmotivation #yoga #nutrition #exercise #womensupportingwomen

[frombehindthepen]

POETRY, PASTRIES, & PIES PODCAST: A Poetic Trilogy on Being a Woman with Michele Lee Sefton

POETRY, PASTRIES, & PIES PODCAST: A Poetic Trilogy on Being a Woman with Michele Lee Sefton #PoetryCommunity #Chapbooks #WomensIssues

Image credits and quotes courtesy of Michele Lee Sefton Poetry merging with art to create a poetic symphony of transformative stages of celebrating the life and times of a woman is what this poetic trilogy delivers throughout the Being a Woman series from author Michele Lee Sefton. This journey began with her poem “My Curves” which was a therapeutic composition moving from humiliation to…

[tamsenfadal]

*NEW SHOW starting Monday at 4pm !* Hi everyone! I am thrilled to be able to officially announce that @pix11news is launching a NEW 4pm hour! I’ll be anchoring alongside the fabulous @vanessafreetv and @mrgweather starting next week! And, we want to hear from YOU! Please reach out and let us know what is happening in your community - the events taking place, the issues you are facing and the people you think are making a difference. Each weekday at 4pm we will be covering all of the major news of the day, as well as women’s issues, parenting issues, social issues, culture, education, jobs, the community and what’s most important to you! Then, I will see you starting at 5pm with @koriontv for the rest of the days news at 5, 6, 10pm I can’t wait to have you join the conversation! 4PM MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13th @pix11news You can TEXT ME story ideas at: 917-540-9075 or DM me Tamsenfadal on social… Xo . . . . . #news #breakingnews #career #women #womensissues #parenting #schools #moreat4 #newyorksveryown #pix11news #community #newyorkcity (at PIX11 News) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTqKb8FFYuu/?utm_medium=tumblr

[vivianglitchet]

Nostalgia

How’s it going everyone!

I’ve been looking back at the things I used to post, comment, or say on my social medias and on some personal notes I have written as a kid. As I am reading the things I had used to say and stuff I realize that I had seemed excited over everything looking back it seemed like a kid who was happy just full of life!

I would exaggerate a lot about the things I would get so…

[deskofkelso]

#SquadGoals In The House

Black women ain't nuthin ta mess with

A group of (way more than three) wise men once said “Wu-Tang Clan ain’t nuthin ta f*** wit,” and we grabbed our pens and took notes because nobody wanted that smoke. Fast forward to 2019 when women of color took control of the House of Representatives and started shaking things up, taking on the system and holding corrupt politicians and unjust systems accountable. We ran for office, we formed allyships and got out the vote, electing one another for office. It was a realization of the power we hold. It was magical.

Now, as usual, anyone who takes on the current administration is automatically an enemy of the state but, suddenly, we are witnessing a different kind of fight. Racial tensions are at an all-time high, we’re in the middle of a life-threatening, global pandemic, the economy is worse than that of the Great Recession and Black communities and communities of color are being hit the hardest. We are fighting for the soul of our nation.

We saw, in 2019, four freshman congress members told to “go back to where they came from,” and receiving death threats for using their platforms to fight for what’s right. We've seen Senator Harris on the Senate Judiciary Committee going after the corruption of the current administration. We’ve seen Auntie Maxine leading the new generation and fighting alongside us. We have seen evidence of the political power of Black women. This is our moment. 

I guess the president missed the memo and, in case anyone else needs to be reminded, Black women ain’t nuthin ta mess wit.

The Squad

We must acknowledge the force that is Black women. We are bold, unapologetic and fierce. We’ve seen from the Black women and women of color in this political fight the strength, resilience, ambition and femininity they portray while remaining dogged and taking care of business. In essence, they’re a whole mood.

These women represent me and all the brown-skinned girls who look like me. They’re a prime example of what it looks like when women of color join together to take down the patriarchy, and it’s our responsibility to have their backs.

So with these things in mind, I took it upon myself to dub our theme song “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthin ta Mess Wit” because it takes guts to keep standing for what’s right despite persecution, whether literal or alluded. Yet, we refuse to be silenced.

The Legacy

Here’s the thing: this isn’t the first time we’ve been here. Shirley Chisolm, Angela Davis, Fannie Lou Hamer and a long list of others have been fighting for women and people of color long before some of us were born. 

​People judge our temperament, call us angry when we speak, call us nasty and attack us with racism because we fight for our families and communities, but we keep going because if we don’t stand for ourselves, no one will stand for us. The Squad, Senator Harris, Angela Rye, Auntie Maxine and the likes are on the front lines pushing for the Black woman’s agenda because, despite our political power, we remain unheard and under advocated for in policy.

“The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.” - Malcolm X

We have voting power and influence and we are not afraid to use it. We’ve seen it happen -- when we show up, we get results and, in my opinion, you can pretty much put that into any context and it’ll still apply. ​

Black women are the only racial or ethnic group with more business ownership than their male peers, according to the Federal Reserve.” - Forbes

The Boston Globe posted an article in April 2019 posing the question, “Will black women save us...again?”

My answer at the time would’ve been: we are coming up on the 100 year anniversary of the 19th amendment and, thus, the Women's Suffrage Movement -- a movement that didn’t do much, if anything, for us as women of color -- and now that folks finally see the value we add to this nation, they want us to play Captain Save ‘Em.

My answer now is an astounding yes -- well, astounding because we are making history but begrudging because it’s always up to us. But if we don’t do it, who will?

The Lesson

Women of all types can learn from what we are seeing right now. We should all be outraged that women’s rights to their bodies are being stripped away policy after policy. Many of the women’s issues that are being discussed disproportionately affect women of color. Black men and women are dying at the hands of systemic racism in healthcare and criminal justice, we are underrepresented in corporate leadership... Securing the 2020 election cannot be left only to Black women. It must take effort from all women. What is the point of feminism if it’s not intersectional?

We have to work together to demand smart policy on essential issues -- healthcare, affordable housing, immigration, LGBTQ rights and Black lives, to name a few. While folks like the squad and Harris are doing their part, we need to do ours. We should use our collective voice to press back against policies that keep women and people of color oppressed. And it’s going to take us ALL to do that.

​I applaud and stan for the BIPOC women representing us. They’re the meaning of #squadgoals. They’re the meaning of #blackgirlmagic, and I challenge you to follow their lead. If the past few years are any indication of how far gone America is, we have a lot of work to do. So grab your squad and start getting involved.

post updated August 12, 2020

[alysciacunningham]

"Losing my hair in my mid-30s was life-changing. The journey has made me better, more resilient."  ~Carrie, 44 Purchase @iammorethanmyhair book on #Amazon or a retailer near you. Link in @AlysciaCunningham bio. #IamNOTmyHAIR #MoreThanMyHair #HERstory #HAIRstory #photography #baldisbeautiful #beauty #bald #womensissues #womenshealth #health #alopecia #hairloss #documentary #film #Author #Filmmaker #book #photobook #portraitphotography #portrait #art #artist #womeninfilm #Director #Producer #womenempowerment #socialchange #change #changemaker https://www.instagram.com/p/BvMG_Zdg0oG/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=u2rektkr8om5

[sjerzgirl]

Ways others try to control women. Cookie cutter ideologies. #womensissues #persistence #womenshealth https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs8g1XuBCBs/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=7akmws5uuhsu

[louisesattler]

I will not be silent about THIS

I will not be silent about THIS

I know that THIS blog will stir a deluge of controversy. So be it. I won’t remain silent on a topic so important as why we need to not reverse ROE vs. WADE. If you have decided to just skip to the comments, please do me the favor of at least reading this blog before you type. The year was 1981. I graduated college early and before going to graduate school decided to take a job as a counselor in…

[internationalwomenday]

"Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow." is the theme of the International Women's Day 2022.

The theme for this year’s observance is “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”. The year 2022 is pivotal for achieving gender equality in the context of climate change, and environmental and disaster risk reduction, which are some of the greatest global challenges of the twenty-first century. Without gender equality today, a sustainable future, and an equal future, remains beyond our reach.

[soultrekkingmovies]

Lies and Deceit

Set in the island of Mallorca, the plot follows Laura Munar (Ángela Cremonte), a high school literature teacher who has dinner with Xavier Vera (Javier Rey), a noted surgeon. She wakes up unwell the morning after, suspecting she had been drugged and raped.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lies_and_Deceit

[newleasemusic]

Documenting the trials and tribulations of women keeping up appearances in today’s society, @rikuvoice’s single Rin Pun claims the blog’s #songoftheweek title . #music #toprelease #mustlisten #rockmusic #womensissues #japan #indieartist #indiemusic #unsignedartist #unsignedmusic #newleasemusic #musicblog https://www.instagram.com/p/CYSlyYGompQ/?utm_medium=tumblr