♡Slut Shaming♡

An issue that has been around for a while now that always makes me frustrated is slut shaming. It's not just the ignorant that tend to do it either - I know so many pro-feminist women who have many a bad thing to say about a woman's choices which is ridiculous because there are so many people out there, especially the patriarchal society that we live in, that limits our choices as women and shame us for making choices that they don't approve of themselves.

So for those that don't know what slut shaming is, it is when people judge women for having sex with "too many people", having sex with people that "aren't their partner" and even for wearing particular things or acting a particular way. When it comes to costumes, clothing, and sexual behavior, women are judged by a very different rubric than men. This is not to say that men are't judged at all, because of course they are to some degree but if a woman is to have a lot of sex people label her as a "whore", “dirty”, "slut", etc and many people believe that women with these labels don't deserve to be treated with respect and they also believe that this means they can say whatever they want about that woman or to that woman.

Obvisouly when it comes to men some people may use the terms “manslut” or “manwhore” but the consequences for the  man being called these things are not nearly as extreme and they are not disrespected nearly as much as women who are called similar names. He won’t be degraded, bullied, or have lies and rumours spread about him and his reputation won’t be destroyed in response because I mean, c'mon, that's just what men do right? They can't and shouldn't control their urges, right? They're just sex crazy right? No no no no no. Patriarchy is damaging to men as well as women because of these ideas.

Slut shaming is another way of controlling women and telling them what they are and are not allowed to do. Women who slut shame each other is an example of internalised sexism which is harmful when it comes to women's relationships with each other. After all, women are in this together and instead should be helping each other instead of harming each other.
Slut shaming pits women against each other and creates a divide. Instead of building women up and cultivating healthy friendships, slut shame turns women against each other so that the slut-shamer can prove she’s “not like that” and therefore worthy of respect.  It puts women into harmful categories based on nothing more than how someone dresses or is perceived by others.

It also limits women's freedoms and choices because if a woman "breaks the rules" in regards to how you or society believes, for some bizarre reason, they have to dress and have to behave then you are basically saying that they don't have the same rights as men and cannot do what they want unless they want to "pay the price".

An alarming fact is that because people see “sluts” as unworthy of respect, people believe that they are therefore not entitled to say no.  In this mentality, “sluts” become a target of harassment, assault, and even rape.  After the violence, the woman is occasionally blamed for it.  After all, she was just a dumb slut….she asked for it, right?

I am interested to hear what you guys think!

Lots of love,

♡MAC Lipstick Reviews♡

Sorry again for being a bit MIA, my schedule has been pretty busy but I have now finished uni for the year (Woo! Still can't believe my first year is over!) and so I should have a bit more time on my hands, which means, fingers crossed, my posts will become a bit more regular.

It was my birthday at the beginning of October and two presents that I received, that I had been wanting for a long time, were MAC lipsticks. I have always wanted a bullet to call my own and finally that dream became a reality! For ages I had been trying to limit it down to the two that I wanted the most after lots of research - of course there are still many other colours that I am wanting.

I first decided to pick a shade that I can wear everyday if I want, one that is more natural. This is where Creme in Your Coffee comes in.

It is just a few shades darker than neutral which means it is very natural looking on the lip; it's a beautiful, warm brown with a slight mauve undertone. The finish is Cremesheen and the pigmentation is amazing - the creamy texture of the lipstick lives up to the name of the colour!  Since it is Cremesheen, it melts in extreme hot weather so I would not recommend carrying it with you in warmer weather, this aside, it doesn't bleed on the lips.It feels very comfortable and is definitely hydrating. Due to the creamy formula it doesn't always last long on the lips, particularly if you are drinking from a water bottle, but does last 3-4 hours and glides on when you apply.

When deciding on the other lipstick I wanted a unique shade that I could wear on nights out, something a bit more special that would stand out so I decided on Up the Amp!

The colour is described on the MAC website as a "lavender violet", which I believe is a great way to describe it. It is violet in colour as it is a blue-toned purple and it has a hint of lavender that lightens it up and brings a milkiness to the color. The colour really does look different on different skin colours as well, as this shade looks slightly different on all of my friends.

This shade is one of the Amplified formulas which means it is very pigmented and glides on smooth, creamy and the colour is opaque. It is great at keeping lips feeling soft and moisturised. Personally it is one of my favourite MAC colours and lasts a whole night out on the lips without needing to reapply.
Both lipsticks have MAC's signature vanilla scent, which is absolutely delicious!

What are your favourite MAC lipsticks or colours that you are wanting to try?

xx

♡Boobs♡

Sorry for the delayed post but I've been fairly busy:

♡ Finishing a major final assignment for uni
♡ Picking up extra shifts for work
♡ Working at an internship I was recently offered
♡ Procrastinating from studying A LOT

I have my final exam next week and after that I will be able to post a LOT more, yay! All that aside, I'm back and there's something that I wrote a little while ago that I wanted to share with you guys! It's something that I believe strongly about too.

Boobs. Breasts. Tits. Mammaries – many women have them, whatever you like to call them and there is an everlasting debate over them, the debate over natural vs. unnatural.

Personally when I think of plastic surgery and breast enhancements I just think “You go for it gurl! As long as it is your own decision, you’re not being pressured into it and it’s not to make anyone else happy but yourself… Heck! If it’s to make someone else happy that’s ok too, as long as you’re not being persuaded by someone else and it is still your own decision at the end of the day!”

I know many people disagree with this opinion, one of them being my mum, but just hear me out for a second. A few weeks ago my mum and I were watching Big Brother (don’t judge me, I’m a people watcher, I find them interesting) and one of the female intruders once had an operation to have her boobs enlarged a couple of sizes. When the contestants were discussing it my mum said, “Hang on, is she meant to be the smart one?”

‘Yeah, she’s the lawyer,” I replied.

“Well she’s not very smart if she did that then!”

I paused for a second after hearing this. Did my mother, the strong feminist, hardworking, intelligent, kind, compassionate and beautiful woman just say that?

“Mum, just because she got a boob job doesn’t mean she isn’t smart.”

I was shocked to hear that come from her mouth, one of my earliest memories was her teaching me about feminism and gender equality at the tender age of four.

“She’s simply morphing into the unrealistic standards of women’s bodies that society and men have. She’s feeding the problem!”

I mulled her words over for a bit and realised that we both have grown up in completely different eras of feminism. My mother was a young woman in the 70s, when many women said “Screw you!” to the patriarchy and refused to conform to the norm as they did not shave and burnt their bras. This was in comparison to me, who as a feminist and as a human being believes that women should be able to do whatever they want as long as they are not hurting themselves or anyone else. I believe that this new wave of feminists mainly hold the idea that women can do what they want when they want. There are already enough people in the world policing our bodies, us as women don’t need to be doing it as well. We need to stick together and be supportive of one another, whatever our decisions may be, even if we don’t agree with them.

The world is changing and our views need to change along with it. Although I understand what my mum meant and where she was coming from, I didn’t agree with it. Our discussion just showed our differences in regards to feminism. People are already not accepting enough of others as it is, we should not be adding to the problem.

No matter what shape or size we are or how we identify ourselves, no matter what our skin colour is or no matter what our appearance may be, we all deserve to be treated as equals, fake boobs or no fake boobs.

I am interested in what you think on this topic too guys! Do you disagree/agree? Why or why not?

Next post we will be back with regular programming. I have a few posts in the works too for you guys to look forward to such as a Mac lipstick review, a post about slut shaming, a review for a bracelet from Etsy and a post on why I chose to go Vegan, just to name a few.

I hope you're all well!