Feminism// What it means to me

Hi!
   Today I'm going to be writing a topic I'm passionate about... FEMINISM!

I will explain to you Feminism and the reasons why I call myself a feminist (which I'm proud to do)

There are lots of misconceptions about feminism, so I will start with the basics.

Here is the definition of Feminism:

As it says in bold feminism is about GENDER EQUALITY FOR BOTH GENDERS! 

One of the most common questions I get asked is "If it's about equality for all genders, then why is it called feminism?"

Firstly the feminist movement and definition came about in the 1960's where women were second class citizens to men and didn't have the same opportunities/equality as men, hence why the feminist movement started.

Secondly the word "feminist" is still applicable to today's society. Even though in many first world countries women are now in a far better position there is still gender inequalities, e.g the gender pay gap. Also in 3rd world countries women are treated as second class citizens as they don't have the same rights as men and are often forced into marriage.

It also shocks me that there are hashtags on twitter such as #Idontneedfeminism, mainly it's because they haven't been oppressed/ abused by men. I find this an extremely weak excuse not to support feminism because I haven't experienced poverty yet I'll donate to charities such a Children in Need. 

With feminism there are so many misconceptions and it really frustrates me! Some people think feminists are man haters and that women want to dominate the world! NO NO NO, feminists are not man haters, I'm a feminist and don't hate men (plus see above point about the definition of feminism). However there is a tiny minority of feminists which have extreme views (like all groups in society). These are radical feminists who believe men and women should live separately and patriarchal lesbianism is the way to overcome patriarchy (Yes- I have studied this in sociology)

This is what feminism is about: 

• Equal rights for BOTH GENDERS
• Feminists don't hate men
• Feminism is about equality, NOT WOMEN BEING BETTER THAN MEN

Now I'm going to explain my reasons as to why I'm a feminist.

Why I'm a feminist:

(Apply to 3rd world countries)

These statistics shocked me and this is a reason why I support and believe in feminism. Girl's shouldn't have to suffer because of their gender, they should be allowed to live a safe, happy life which is full of opportunity.

Another reason I'm a feminist is it covers a wide range of issues from cat calling, body shaming to more serious issues such as rape culture and female genetic mutilation (FGM).
As a girl I want to wear what I want without being sexualised, feel comfortable in my own skin, but I also want to tackle the more serious issues as well.

As well as covering issues that affect women feminism tackles men's issues as well (contrary to beliefs that feminism is only about issues women face) such as men being victims of rape/ domestic abuse, men feel they have to be masculine ect. One issue that angers me the most is that if a man hits a women everyone flips out yet if a women hits a man there is barely a reaction, THIS IS WRONG and this is why we need feminism to tackle these issues.

These are all the reasons I'm a feminist and I'm proud to be one!

I'll leave you with Emma Watson's speech about Feminism which is very inspirational: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9SUAcNlVQ4

A to Z (of me!)

Hello chicks!
             Firstly a very happy Easter to you all, I hope everyone has a lovely day!

Today I thought I would share with you A to Z of me!

A is for Avril Lavigne

Avril Lavigne was one of the 1st artists I got into and the 1st song I listened to by her was SK8R BOI (although old I still love that song). Over the years I've listened to more of her songs and one of my favourites is What The Hell.

B is for Berry

My surname is Berry. I also like berries (strawberries are my favourite, hence why my blog is called Sweet Strawberries)

C is for Chocolate

Chocolate is one my favourite foods and snacks. I'm a massive chocoholic and my favourite brand of chocolate is Galaxy.

D is for Drama

My favourite subject is drama and I've loved the subject ever since Y7, currently I'm studying it at A-level! In 3 weeks I will be performing with my class for our drama exam (practical!)

E is for Eat, Pray, Love

I love this film and I have watched it twice now. After watching this  it make's me want to meditate and go on a life changing journey.

F is for Forests

I love to take walks in forests and be surrounded by nature. It leaves me feeling relaxed and I have gotten fresh air as well.

G is for Ginger

My hair is currently dyed ginger (although it's faded quite a lot so I'm sad about that). I wish my natural hair colour was ginger as it's such a beautiful, vibrant hair colour

H is for Horror

I hate horror movies and I refuse to watch them as they will give me nightmares. The last "horror" thing I saw was Women in Black be performed with my drama class, it was terrifying but funny at the same time

I is for Independent

I'm a very independent person and I don't like to rely on others. I'm hoping university will make me an even more independent person.

J is for Jigglypuff

Much to everyone's amusement my hamster was called Jigglypuff. Jigglypuff was my 1st ever pet which  I owned when I was a very tiny tot (sadly Jigglypuff is no longer with us)

K is for Kawaii

The Japanese word for cute! I love all things Kawaii and I've had an interest ever since I was 13 years old. Alot of my friends say I'm very kawaii!

L is for Lovely

I'm a nice person and I like to be nice to everyone, the world needs more kindness. There is a quote which is if you can't find a nice person, be one (which I try to be)

M is for Movies

I love to watch a movie and my movie taste consists of kids movies, disney, teenage movies and old(ish) movies. I have way to many favourite movie is Crocodile Dundee 1 and 2.

N is for Nocturnal

I'm the opposite of nocturnal! I go to bed early and I very very rarely stay up late.

O is for Orange

Oranges aren't my favourite fruit and I can't stand oranges that aren't juicy and are just all soggy. Also I don't like orange juice as it's far too acidic for me.

P is for Pink

Pink is one of my favourite colours and has been ever since I was little! I find it such a happy/ positive colour.

Q is for Quirky

I would describe myself as being quirky and having a quirky personality.

R is for Reader

One of my favourite hobbies is reading and my book shelf is over flowing. I really love teenage/ young adult fiction. Currently I'm reading All The Bright Places.

S is for Smiley

I love to smile and I'm a very smiley person. I like to spread positivity!

T is for Teacher

One of my dreams is to become a primary school teacher and I'm currently working towards that. I would like to make a positive difference to children's lives and I would find it such a rewarding job.

U is for University

Hopefully I'll be going to university in September to study Primary Education. I'm so excited and I'm working really hard so my place is confirmed. I will find out in August if I'm going or not

V is for Virgo

My star sign is Virgo although my rising sign is Leo (personality).

W is for Wanderlust

Another dream of mine is to travel the world. There are so many places I want to visit and there is so much to see.

X is for X-Ray

The most unusual X-ray I had was for my mouth when I was getting braces. We discovered I had a hidden tooth right in the middle of the palette of my mouth. A year later I had an operation to have it removed (just over 3 years ago)

Y is for You Belong With Me

This was the 1st ever Taylor Swift song I ever listened to. I really like this song and lead me to going on to listen to more of her songs.

Z is for Zebra

By the time I got to Z I was struggling for idea's and zebra was the 1st word that sprung to mind.

I hoped you enjoyed reading! If you could do and A to Z of you what 26 words would describe you?

Completing the couch to 5K programme

Hello!
      Tonight I want to share with you my personal achievement of completing the couch to 5K programme!

Before completing the programme the only time I ran was for the bus and even that left my out of breathe and needing to use my inhaler. However last summer I decided I'd had enough of being unfit and I wanted to get fitter through running.

My mum recommended me the couch to 5K programme which is free to download onto your device and you can get it on the google play/ app store.

Couch to 5K is a 9 week programme (it took me longer as I became busy at college then it was winter) which slowly gets you into running. You run 3 times a week (ideally having a rest day in between each run). For the first 5 weeks you alternate between running/ walking as the time increases. Then after that you run for long periods of time non-stop. It's extremely doable even if your not into running!

Week 1

This was a nice and easy week as I was only running for 60 seconds, maximum. You don't have to run as fast as you can either, it's all about finding a pace you can comfortably run at.

Week 2

Another easy week. I was slowly getting into the motion of running and I was starting to enjoy myself.

Week 3

This week was an interesting week as I was running for short periods of time followed by longer runs. I found it slightly challenging but I managed to keep on going.

Week 4

This was the week of doing longer runs but by now I was getting used to running for longer periods of time. I also found myself being less out of breathe.

Week 5

The 1st 2 days I was fine as I was alternating between running and walking. However day 3 of week 5 I was dreading as I was going to be running for 20 minutes straight. However I managed to do it by staying focused and running at a comfortable pace. I was really proud that I had managed to run for 20 minutes straight and to me that was such an achievement.

Week 6

This was my last week of running/walking. For the 1st 2 days I ran for 10 minutes and walked for 3. After running for 20 minutes straight I knew I could run for 25 minutes and I didn't dread it as much. By now I was feeling a lot fitter.

Week 7

This was my first proper week of running for long periods of time without walking. By now I knew I could easily do it, despite finding it challenging and tiring. 

(I completed week 8 but I don't have a photo to go with it, sorry)

Week 9

Before completing the 9 week runs I had a massive gap between week 8 and 9 as I was busy and then it was winter. 

This was the most challenging week as I was running for 30 minutes straight. On one of the 3 days my ankle became very sore but I managed to keep on running until the end. 

After completing this week and the programme I'm so proud of myself as I've improved so much and I feel fitter. Now I'm aiming to run 10K.

If your not very fit/ want to get into running but you're a beginner I would definitely recommend the couch to 5K. It's challenging in places but it's not impossible to complete and you'll feel amazing afterwards!

Liebster Award

Hello lovelies!
               Something very exciting happened yesterday and today,
I have received nominations for the Liebster Award. I'm so happy as this is my 1st every time being nominated!

Thank you to the lovely Channie (dailycupofmusings.wordpress.com) and Alice Lucie (www.daintyalice.com) for nominating me! 

The Liebster award helps to promote small bloggers. The rules for this award are:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and post a link to their blog in your post.
2. Show the award on your blog or in your post.
3. Answer the 11 questions asked by the person who nominated you.
4. Write 11 random facts about yourself.
5. Nominate 5-11 bloggers that you feel deserve the
6. Create a list of new questions for your nominees to answer.
7. Once your blog is published, let your nominees know that they have been nominated and link them to your post for more details.




So here are the questions I was asked (since I was nominated by 2 bloggers I will do a mixture of both)

If you were a colour what colour would you be?

I would be the colour pink as it's my favourite colour and it comes in many shades so it can be used to represent many different things.


What type of blogger are you?

Unique/ #MisfitBlogger. I don't have a particular style of blogging and I like to blog about anything that interests me/topics I'm passionate about.


Whats your star sign?

Virgo

Describe yourself in 3 words?

Bubbly, kind and determined


What is the best thing about blogging for you?

I really enjoy being able to express my opinions and thoughts. I also love getting involved with blogger chats and being part of the blogger community, you meet lots of new bloggers and it's so much fun

Which Season do you Prefer?

Summer- although it gets too hot for me sometimes, I love the sunny weather and it's filled with lots of fun and happiness

Describe your dream holiday?

Travelling the world. I'm a huge wanderlust and I want to see all the amazing countries, experience the culture, food and lifestyle. Places I want to go to include: Japan, Italy, Bali and America

Whats your favourite way to treat yourself?

I'm a shopaholic and I love retail therapy so my favourite way to treat myself is to buy myself something nice.

What are you favourite hobbies?

Blogging (obviously!), drama, reading, baking, shopping, hanging out with friends and running.

What inspired you to blog?

Seeing other blogs and how cool they looked and what they wrote about inspired me to start my blog. I wanted to share my thoughts,opinions and advice

Whats your opinion on the Kardashians?

I don't know very much about the Kardashians TBH. However I think they are very over represented and overrated in the media


11 Random Facts about myself

• My favourite animal is a meerkat
• I wear odd socks
• Where the wild things are makes me cry
• I want to be a primary school teacher
• I hate banana's 
• I once accidentally walked into a bus stop and gave myself a black eye
• I speak English and a bit of French, German and Makaton 
• I have a massive addiction to chocolate
• My favourite hot drink is hot chocolate
• I have a a fear of spiders, the dark and heights
• Once when leaving my science GCSE exam I tripped over in front of half the year group

My questions

Why did you start blogging?

Whats your favourite animal?

If you could have 1 superpower what would it be?

Favourite memory of 2015?

Favourite song?

Would you rather travel to the past or future and why?

Favourite place you've been on holiday?

Favourite blog post?

Your favourite bloggers?

Whats your biggest dream?

Favourite subject to study?

Finally I nominate:

Steph: lovestephx.blogspot.co.uk

Caitlin Reid: thelittlegingerblog.blogspot.co.uk

Sally: littlebudget.co.uk

Simmy: www.simmyhoonjan.co.uk

Hattie: hattieslittleworld.blogspot.co.uk

Cara Lynn: caralynn.co

Sarah: sarahinwonderland.co.uk

Reducing Stress

Hey there!
          We live in a very hectic world where we are pretty much busy 24/7. Plus with exams only a couple of months away (well for me anyway) you can soon be left feeling extremely stressed and tired out. 

Here are some tips to help reduce stress, I hope you find them useful.

Organisation: If you have lots of different things to do which come with deadlines this can soon leave you panicking about what to do first. Prioritize, make to do lists, organize what needs to be done. This allows you to set goals and prioritize what needs doing first, making all the things you need to do more manageable. 

Exercise: This can be one of the best ways to reduce stress! There are lots of different ways to exercise, such as: Running, jogging, dancing, doing a workout ect. Not only relaxes you but it helps to take your mind off things, plus doing a workout can leave you feeling great afterwards.  

Relaxing: Another really simple and effective way at reducing stress. Having me time and looking after yourself really does help! There are hundreds of ways to relax such as: Having a pamper night, reading a book, watching your favourite TV series ect.

Meditating: Meditating helps to unwind and relax your mind, it's leaves you feeling calmer. It doesn't have to be putting yourself in fancy yoga positions. One of my favourite ways to to meditate is by doing the one minute meditation (shout out to my ethics teacher for teaching me this) as 1 minute is sometimes all you need to feel more relaxed. Here is the link if you fancy trying it out yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6eFFCi12v8

Listen to music: Listening to music helps to blot out everything that's going on and it allows you to concentrate on the lyrics. I always find songs that have really uplifting/upbeat tune always help to perk me up.

Those are my tips on how to reduce stress! What do you do to reduce stress?

My favourite TV shows

Hello everyone!
               It's been rather cold and rainy where I live, however this afternoon we had sunshine and it was warmer for once.

Today I thought I would share with you my favourite TV shows (after reading this post it might tempt you to watch them!)

Sailor Moon

I first starting watching Sailor Moon a few years ago and I'm currently up to Season 4, it's also the only anime TV Show I've ever watched. Sailor Moon is also "Neo Queen Serenity" and she and her friends (the other sailor scouts) fight evil on planet Earth to protect the future and obviously Earth. I got into Sailor moon after reading a couple of the manga books and I loved the TV version (although there are a few differences). There are lots of cliff hangers, interesting plots and incredible plot twists! There is even a new series out called Sailor Moon Crystal.

Switched at Birth

I first saw my mum watching Switched at Birth and it looked really interesting so I decided to watch it for myself and I instantly loved the the programme. It's about 2 girls who were switched at birth (daphne/bay), Daphne is deaf and comes from a poor background and Bay lives with a rich family. Not only did the programme have so much drama which kept me entertained but I also learnt so much about deaf people/ the deaf community and it was very eye opening (it inspired me to take up Makaton after school). I spent my summer watching Switched at Birth and I'm so sad because Season 5 came out in America but it hasn't been aired in the UK yet *SOBS*.

Pretty Little Liars

Firstly I apologize as I'm very behind on the PLL bandwagon (I'm only halfway through Season 2 as I don't have Netflix so I watch PLL on DVD). I love PLL as there are so many mysteries and clues that I'm desperate to be revealed/find out about. I also love all the relationships the characters have with each other and the more series I watch the more interesting it gets.

Jonathan Creek

I first started watching Jonathan Creek a few months ago with my parents and I've been hooked ever since. Jonathan Creek is a kooky detective who solves what seem to be impossible mysteries (or as he would say "implausible but not impossible"). My favourite part is where he reveals the mystery and how he solved out. However I must admit I'm sad with Jonathan Creek as he companion (the girl in the picture AKA Maddie) is no longer in the show and he has a new companion now.

Do you watch any of these shows? What are your favourite TV shows?

International Women's Day

Hello!
      On March 8th, International Women's Day is celebrated every year and this year is the 105th anniversary. I thought I would write a post telling you all about this day, what it involves and why it all started

What is International Women's Day and why is it a day?

International Women's Day is the celebration of respect, appreciation and of women's economic, social and political achievements. It is a day where time is spent reflecting on progress made, calling for change and celebrating acts of courage and determination women have performed.

International Women's Day was 1st celebrated in New York on February 28th, 1909 in remembrance of the 1908 International Ladies Garment Worker Union Strikes, workers campaigned for the right to vote, better pay and to work shorter hours. In August, 1909 it was decided that International Women's Day would be established and be celebrated annually.

What's the point of International Women's Day?

International Women's Day aims to achieve full gender equality, recognize there is still gender inequality and celebrate women's achievements.

Each year International Women's Day has different themes where they address problems/Issues women face and goals they want to achieve.

Most Recent Themes

There are lots of things you can do to celebrate International Women's Day:

• Learn about the history of International Women's Day and the struggle women have had in achieving gender equality across the world
• Learn why this day is important
• Raise awareness of this day, issues women still face through social media
• Campaign
• Celebrate women's progress and achievement

Isn't this day sexist, why isn't there an International Men's Day?

This day ISN'T sexist as it's about celebrating women's achievement and NOT saying women are better than men (WE ARE BOTH EQUAL). Secondly there is actually a International Men's Day which is celebrated on the 19th November every year. International Men's Day focuses on health, improving gender relations and promoting gender inequality. International Men's Day is about men celebrating their achievements and contributions whilst highlighting discrimination against them.

Here are some quotes all about International Women's Day:

I hope I have managed to teach you a a bit about International Women's Day and why it's important. What do you know about International Women's Day and have you done anything to celebrate?